Vladimir Putin hints at return to presidency | World news | guardian.co.uk

Vladimir Putin has given his clearest hint yet that he is preparing to get his old job back as president during a masterful performance at his annual question and answer session with the Russian public.

Putin, currently prime minister, spent more than four hours answering carefully screened questions from across Russia on subjects including the Lada car and whether the Iranians have built a nuclear bomb yet.

Asked by a mining student whether he wants to be president again, Putin replied: "I will think about it," adding "There's still plenty of time."

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PM accused of 'muzzling' Iraq inquiry - UK Politics, UK - The Independent

Gordon Brown has been accused of "muzzling" the Iraq inquiry after refusing to alter rules that allow Government departments to withhold crucial documents from the public.

Concerns over the agreement were raised by the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, during Prime Minister's Questions last week. But in a letter written to Mr Clegg, seen by The Independent, Mr Brown has ruled out any changes to an agreement that effectively gives Whitehall the final say over which documents it will release.

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Action on disability hate crimes - Crime, UK - The Independent

Local authorities that fail to protect disabled people from persistent harassment or anti-social behaviour will face legal action if they are found to be ignoring disability hate crimes, the Equality and Human Rights Commission will announce today.

The EHRC is to launch a nationwide survey early next year to investigate the level of discrimination faced by disabled people across the country. It will be the first time any authority has tried to assess exactly how prevalent violence and anti-social harassment towards disabled people is. It will also assess which local authorities are adequately tackling discrimination.

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German supreme court revises law on neo-Nazi gangs | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 03.12.2009

The German supreme court made it easier to prosecute alleged neo-Nazi groups Thursday, after overturning a decision made by the state court in Dresden. The ruling clarifies the definition of a criminal organization. 

German state prosecutors will find it much easier to define suspected neo-Nazis as members of a criminal organisation, rather than just a gang, thanks to a new ruling by the Federal Court of Justice.

From now on, prosecutors do not need to provide formal evidence such as member lists, evidence of membership fees or guidelines, in order to be able to classify a far-right wing group as a criminal organisation. Instead, a group can be classified as criminal if the crimes it has committed can be proved to be part of a "superior group intention".

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German ministers decide the fate of thousands asylum-seekers facing deportation | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 03.12.2009

The fate of thousands of asylum-seekers in Germany is being decided at a meeting in Bremen. Although some have lived here for over a decade, their residency permits expire this month, leaving them open to deportation. 

If the current rules run their course, up to 30,000 foreigners seeking asylum in Germany face the prospect of living illegally in the country, or being deported, as of January 2010.

Refugee and human rights advocates are calling for an overhaul of Germany's residency rules.

Temporary rules agreed upon in 2006 give thousands of rejected refugee applicants a deadline of December 2009 to find enough work to support themselves, and their dependents, without state assistance, or face the loss of their residency permits.

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European court says Germany discriminates against single fathers | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 03.12.2009

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld a German father's right to joint custody of his daughter. The ruling spells trouble for German law, which denies single fathers joint custody. 

The court in Strasbourg ruled that German courts had discriminated against a single father when they denied him joint custody of his 14-year-old daughter.

According to German law, single fathers are only entitled to joint custody of their children if they have the mother's consent.

The situation is different for married couples. Husbands are automatically entitled to joint custody, and the European court found this violated European conventions against discrimination.

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Mandelson would have liked EU foreign policy job | UK | Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said on Thursday he would have liked to have been the European Union's new foreign policy chief, but added that the circumstances were not right.

Catherine Ashton, who was little known even in Britain, was selected last month to fill the new post of high representative for foreign affairs.

"In other circumstances I would of course have liked to have done that job as it combines my interest in Europe and foreign affairs," Mandelson told BBC radio.

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French plan to force gender equality on boardrooms | World news | The Guardian

* Proposal would turn Paris stockmarket 50% female

* Scepticism but also seen as 'necessary evil'

Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party has put forward legislation that would see women make up half the figures in France's leading boardrooms by 2015, under a bold plan to impose gender equality on the male-dominated business world.

In a bill submitted to the French parliament this week, all companies listed on the Paris stock exchange would have to ensure female employees made up 50% of their board members by 2015. If passed, a gradual implementation of the law would see businesses obliged to have women in 20% of board seats within 18 months, and 40% within four years.

Jean-François Copé, president of the majority UMP party, said it could give a "much-needed electro-shock" to the French corporate world, long considered a bastion reserved for the male elite in which only 10.5% of board members in CAC 40 (French stock market index) companies are female.

Referring to France's move in 2000 to encourage gender equality in politics, he said: "We must do to companies what we did in the public domain a few years ago and impose parity."

Today, December 4, over 200 reporters from throughout the world will attend the hearing in Turin in the appeals trial of Senator Marcello Dell'Utri. The judges accepted the prosecutors' request to submit the testimony of Gaspare Spatuzza, one of the major mafia figures in the mafia terror phase of the 1990's.

Senator Dell'Utri was condemned to nine years imprisonment for external association with the mafia. He is best known for having created Berlusconi's political machine, Forza Italia, as of 1992- two years before it was publicly announced.

Since Gasparri Spatuzza began talking one year ago his testimony before judges in Palermo, Caltanissetta and Florence has caused the reopening of investigations into the obscure, unsolved aspects of the mafia terror season. Spatuzza has asserted that both Dell'Utri and Berlusconi were the individuals who negotiated with the mafia at the time. He has gone so far as to assert that the two actually indicated the historical monuments that were then bombed by the mafia causing numerous deaths.

Another key witness who is currently giving evidence against Dell'Utri and Berlusconi is Massimo Ciancimino, the son of the historical mafia-state go-between, Vito Ciancimino.

While abroad the accusations would appear to be outright wingnut conspiration- a prime minister that murdered his own citizens in the past- it appears within the norm of republican Italian history, characterized by state-covered massacres and mutually profitable collusion with the mafia since the birth of the republic.

Nicolas Sarkozy's 'Life in France' video shot in US - Telegraph

President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party was left red-faced after it emerged last night that its promotional video showing the joys of the French way of life was shot in America.

The film, "La France change, ma région doit changer" (France is changing, my region should change) shows an eco-friendly house with solar panels on the roof, smiling schoolchildren and a mother hugging a little girl in a sunny garden.

A voice-over boasts about Mr Sarkozy's achievements since 2007, and the benefits of living in France.

But the French TV channel Canal+ has discovered most of the footage was bought from Getty Images, and shot thousands of miles away in the US.

From U.K. Ministry of Defense

The MOD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life.  However, in over fifty years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom.  

The MOD has no specific capability for identifying the nature of such sightings.  There is no Defence benefit in such investigation and it would be an inappropriate use of defence resources.  Furthermore, responding to reported UFO sightings diverts MOD resources from tasks that are relevant to Defence.

Accordingly, and in order to make best use of Defence resources, we have decided that from the 1 December 2009 the dedicated UFO hotline answer-phone service and e-mail address will be withdrawn.  MOD will no longer respond to reported UFO sightings or investigate them.

Shouldn't "would be an inappropriate use of defence resources" read "was an inappropriate use of defence resources"?

Mandelson urges banks to show 'restraint' on pay | Business | guardian.co.uk

Lord Mandelson has urged the banking sector to show "restraint" on pay, amid government estimates that 5,000 City bankers will earn more than £1m this year.

The business secretary called on all banks to avoid excessive payouts to senior staff, when quizzed this morning on the ongoing row about Royal Bank of Scotland's bonus pool.

"I think it's banking practice, not only in this country but around the world, for these bonuses to form an integral part of the salary structures of those they employ at senior level," Mandelson told BBC Radio 4.

"But equally we believe that there has to be restraint exercised by these banks."

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EUobserver / EU states clinch painful deal on financial watchdogs

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU member states hammered out a compromise deal on Wednesday (2 December) that will see three new European supervisory authorities watch over the region's financial sector.

In a bid for greater pan-European oversight, authorities in the banking, insurance and securities sectors will be set up in London, Paris and Frankfurt.

The decision - coming after five hours of laborious negotiation - is an important part of the EU's response to the financial crisis that saw the region plunged into its worst recession since World War II.

Finance ministers meeting in Brussels agreed on a complex appeals mechanism as part of the political accord, designed to assuage UK fears that the new bodies could overly infringe on areas of national sovereignty.

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EUobserver / Member states set to perform shoe tariff U-turn

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission pushed ahead with a formal proposal to extend tariffs on certain Asian shoe imports on Wednesday (2 December), amid new signs that member states are likely to support the measure in a vote later this month.

The move was overseen by the commission's current stand-in trade chief Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who has temporarily taken over the commerce reigns until a new EU executive is up and running early next year.

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Strike shuts doors of French landmarks | France 24

Tourists were shunned from the Louvre museum and other French tourist sites on Thursday, as striking staff voiced their opposition to job cuts in the public sector.

AFP - Striking staff shut down the Louvre museum and other French tourist sites on Thursday, cranking up their fight against public sector job cuts just as Paris prepares for the Christmas holiday season.
   
Strikers blocked the entrance to the Louvre, turning tourists away as Wednesday's strike in other venues spread to one of the capital's biggest attractions, whose art masterpieces draw eight million visitors a year.
   
The action also closed popular monuments including Notre Dame cathedral, the Sainte Chapelle -- a 13th-century chapel in the heart of Paris -- and the Arc de Triomphe war memorial, said the National Monuments Centre that runs them.

FT Alphaville » Blog Archive » Managing CEE's FX addiction

Here's a great chart from Reuters showing just how addicted many countries in emerging Europe have become to borrowing in foreign currency for everything from second homes to TV sets :

As Reuters notes, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is concerned that despite FX loans nearly blowing out the region earlier this year, most countries and institutions have failed to learn anything from the episode. In fact FX borrowing is supposedly back on the rise in many emerging European countries as talk of recovery propels many to take a more positive view on things like euro adoption.

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

AP: Obama open to every good idea to stop job losses

Obama said chronic unemployment is "a struggle that cuts deep and touches people across the nation."

Seeking to set a can-do tone, he claimed progress has been made toward an economic recovery since the depths of the recession last winter, while saying much more work needs to be done.

Obama said the leading question of the day is "how do we get businesses to start hiring again" and asked his guests to "bring their A-game."

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

Comcast strikes deal to buy NBC Universal from GE   LA Times

In a momentous shift in the balance of power of the entertainment industry, cable television giant Comcast Corp. announced this morning that it was acquiring control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co.

The proposed $30-billion transaction is the fruition of a longtime ambition by Comcast's 50-year-old chief executive, Brian Roberts, to recast his family-controlled Philadelphia company into a leading producer of movies and television shows and a purveyor of prominent cable and broadcast networks, including the venerable NBC.

Under terms of the deal, Comcast will contribute its entertainment channels, including E and Versus; nine regional sports networks; and about $6.5 billion in cash in exchange for 51% of the new venture, which will continue to be called NBC Universal for the immediate future.

The deal underscores how cable television -- not a broadcast network or a Hollywood movie studio -- has become the new profit center for media conglomerates.

GE, which has owned the NBC network for 23 years, will reduce its ownership in the company to 49%. The deal sets up GE for a gradual exit from the entertainment business, granting Comcast the right to buy out GE's interest within eight years. GE placed a value of $30 billion on its NBC Universal businesses.

The National Broadcasting Company, NBC, is now owned by a cable TV company, following the money.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Japan Says No Plan to Sell Treasuries to Fund Budget (Update1)

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's government has no plan to sell some of its holdings of U.S. Treasuries to fund its economic programs, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said.

Market News yesterday reported speculation that Japan, the world's second-largest holder of Treasury debt, will tell the U.S. it plans to sell $100 billion to finance domestic spending. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is set to announce his first stimulus package today, and has said he won't increase domestic bond sales to fund it because of record government debt.

"There's absolutely no such plan right now," Hirano told reporters today in Tokyo. "That kind of talk often surfaces at this season."

Japan bought $20.3 billion in Treasuries in September to raise its holdings to $751.5 billion, while China purchased $1.8 billion to increase its total to $798.9 billion, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Nov. 17.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Financial Armageddon: Red Ink: Not an Illusion

Since the crisis began, banks and other financial institutions worldwide have written off or lost a staggering $1.7 trillion, though the losses have been cushioned by capital-raising to the tune of $1.5 trillion.

However, that $200 billion differential -- which doesn't include current-quarter losses or red ink hidden from view by "flexible" accounting treatments -- could easily widen out to far more troublesome levels amid a renewed downturn in the economy and an abrupt return to reality in the stock market (which would, of course, make it difficult to raise capital by selling shares).

In fact, I think it is going to be a very long time before the financial sector is (legitimately) profitable or in financial good health, regardless of whatever those firms say in their quarterly and annual reports.

For more on the subject of financial sector accounting, check out "The Bank Profit Mirage," by Annaly Capital Management.

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

Elizabeth Warren: America Without a Middle Class

Can you imagine an America without a strong middle class? If you can, would it still be America as we know it?

Today, one in five Americans is unemployed, underemployed or just plain out of work. One in nine families can't make the minimum payment on their credit cards. One in eight mortgages is in default or foreclosure. One in eight Americans is on food stamps. More than 120,000 families are filing for bankruptcy every month. The economic crisis has wiped more than $5 trillion from pensions and savings, has left family balance sheets upside down, and threatens to put ten million homeowners out on the street.

Families have survived the ups and downs of economic booms and busts for a long time, but the fall-behind during the busts has gotten worse while the surge-ahead during the booms has stalled out. In the boom of the 1960s, for example, median family income jumped by 33% (adjusted for inflation). But the boom of the 2000s resulted in an almost-imperceptible 1.6% increase for the typical family. While Wall Street executives and others who owned lots of stock celebrated how good the recovery was for them, middle class families were left empty-handed.

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

US 'did not believe Britain would refuse to send forces to Iraq' | UK news | guardian.co.uk

The US believed that Britain would take an active part in the Iraq war even if there were no attempts to solve the crisis through the UN, the inquiry into the conflict heard today.

During the first evidence so far from senior military and defence ministry figures, Admiral Lord Boyce, the chief of the defence staff from 2001 to 2003, told the inquiry panel that US generals and America's then-defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, seemingly refused to countenance the possibility that Britain would not commit troops.

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Bin Laden not in Pakistan, says prime minister | World news | guardian.co.uk

The Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, today claimed that Osama bin Laden was not in Pakistan - just days after Gordon Brown criticised the Islamabad government for not doing enough to capture the al-Qaida leader.

Bin Laden is widely believed to be sheltering in the north of Pakistan - a belief reiterated by the CIA director, Leon Panetta, over the summer - and on Sunday Brown criticised the Islamabad government for not doing more to track him down.

But quizzed by British journalists at a joint press conference with the UK prime minister in London as to why the al-Qaida leader remained at large, Gilani said the Pakistani administration had not been provided with any "credible or actionable intelligence" as to his whereabouts.

"I don't think Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan," he said.

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No justice for Bhopal, 25 years on | Anindita Sengupta | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

It's 25 years since the world's worst industrial disaster struck Bhopal, a town in central India. On 3 December 1984, a toxic leak in Union Carbide Corporation's factory unleashed 40 tonnes of lethal gas into the sleeping town. It killed 3,500 people instantly and an estimated 20,000 have died from complications since. According to activists, the actual figures are much higher.

The compensation paid by Union Carbide to the Indian government was laughably low: nowhere near enough to pay for the actual numbers of people affected by the gas spill. For victims, getting the money from the government proved a Sisyphean task. For those who did manage to obtain compensation, the measly amount quickly ran out in the wake of new or persistent medical complications, hospital bills, and economic problems compounded by disabilities. Many have still not been paid.

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Inside the world's most hostile city - Africa, World - The Independent

Cooking pots and pans stained with blood were still scattered around the courtyard of the Martini Hospital. A mortar bomb had landed in the garden of this war veterans' retirement home in the Somali capital the day before, killing nine people and injuring 23. In the kitchen, weeping relatives and angry civilians had gathered to mourn the victims. Corpses covered with sheets were being prepared for burial and the air was heavy with incense burned to cover the stench of death. Sunlight filtered in through cracks in the roof, lending the scene a hellish air. "These two were 13 and 14," said a Red Crescent volunteer, pointing to the bodies of two victims. "Nobody knows who did it."

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EUobserver / Afghanistan surge tops Nato ministers' meeting

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European, American and Canadian foreign ministers are later today (3 December) meeting at Nato headquarters in Brussels to discuss the new strategy for Afghanistan, Nato enlargement and relations with Russia.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton expects some of her European colleagues to signal willingness to increase their national contribution to the Nato mission in Afghanistan, after President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined his new strategy for the country.

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I'm not a killer, says Knox - Europe, World - The Independent

Amanda Knox told a court today she did not want to be branded an assassin.

The 22-year-old American, on trial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, addressed the courtroom in Perugia, Italy, in a voice trembling with emotion just days before a verdict is due.

Prosecutors accuse her of stabbing 21-year-old Leeds University student Ms Kercher to death in November 2007, but she said today that they are only doing so because it is their job to do so.

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Questions remain over Kazakhstan's fitness for OSCE chair | World | Deutsche Welle | 03.12.2009

Kazakhstan takes over the chairmanship of Europe's top security body next month. But many question whether the Central Asian country, with its weak record on human rights and basic freedoms, should even have the job.  

At state-run Radio Astana in the Kazakh capital, journalists choosing the stories to cover in their newscasts at the top of the hour have some of their work done for them. Even before the newscasts air, listeners know, at least partly, what to expect.

The first story will almost always be about Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and invariably positive. The second item will cover the government - a program, a parliamentary vote or an election - which will also be presented in glowing terms.

Only then do journalists have the freedom to broadcast what they think are the newsworthy items of the day.

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Suicide bomber kills three Somali govt ministers | World | Reuters

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber disguised as a veiled woman killed at least 19 people including three Somali government ministers on Thursday at a medical graduation ceremony in a Mogadishu hotel, witnesses and officials said.

It was the worst attack in the lawless Horn of Africa nation since June, when hardline al Shabaab insurgents killed the security minister and at least 30 other people in a suicide bombing at a hotel in the town of Baladwayne.

The U.N.-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed controls little more than a few streets of the capital. In the days ahead of Thursday's attack, residents said it had apparently been planning a new offensive against the rebels.

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'City of a thousand minarets' disgruntled at Swiss vote - Telegraph

Muslims in Cairo - once dubbed the City of a Thousand Minarets - have described a referendum in Switzerland banning new minarets as intolerant, but few have called for a boycott of Swiss goods.

At the prestigious al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's main seat of learning, authorities were dismayed after more than 57 per cent of Swiss voters on Sunday approved the Right-wing motion to ban minarets on mosques.

Sheikh Mohammed Abdel Aziz, secretary general of Al-Azhar's Fatwa Council, which issues religious edicts, described the vote as an attack on religious freedom.

"European countries are supposed to be democratic and free. If there is freedom, why ban the construction of minarets? Will they also ban church bells?," said Abdel Aziz.

Marvin Santiago had a phrase for this: Guayacol con uña raya!

(3 de diciembre, 2009) La recuperación de las economías de América Latina y el Caribe tras la crisis financiera internacional tomó impulso y ha alcanzado niveles más positivos que los previstos apenas hace algunos meses.  La magnitud de esa recuperación y los desafíos para el año 2010 son analizados en el informe de la CEPAL Balance preliminar de las economías de América Latina y el Caribe 2009, que se presentará el jueves 10 de diciembre.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

Jane Hamsher leads left away from White House  Politico

MoveOn is one of the handful of groups breaking from the White House's hold on big liberals to raise money, activate volunteers and threaten for the first time, Obama's left flank. And so is a pixie-ish 50 year old former Hollywood producer who named her blog after her dog, and is taking what she calls "the next step in our evolution."

The campaign launched by Jane Hamsher, whose blog Firedoglake first came to national attention for obsessive coverage of the Valerie Plame investigation, is called, "One Voice for Choice," and uses the nifty online phone banking tools that helped power Obama's campaign to put a scare into House Democrats who voted to attach the anti-abortion Stupak Amendment to health care legislation.

The calls will target, in particular, pro-choice Democrats in those typically conservative district, threatening to cut the base out from under Democrats who are straining to reach out to the other side.

"We're taking something that was like gold to them and that they were counting on having and saying they can't take it for granted," she said, describing House Democrats' tendency to take the progressive base for granted.

The initiative is Hamsher's latest assault on what she calls "the Veal Pen" - the tightly-managed coalition of Democratic groups centered financially around the Democracy Alliance and organizationally around the Center for American Progress, both in turn creations of the left in exile in the Bush years. She borrowed the phrase from Douglas Coupland's 1991 "Generation X," in which he used it to describe a generation trapped in cubicles.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Exclusive: Republican To Place Additional Hold On Bernanke In Senate Banking Committee  FIRECDOGLAKE

As Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearing begins in the Senate Banking Committee, a source tells FDL News that one Senate staffer and an outside source confirmed to him that at least one Republican on the committee will also place a hold on the Federal Reserve chairman, throwing the process into potential turmoil and giving Chris Dodd a difficult series of choices to make.

....

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of his work behind the scenes on the Bernanke confirmation, told me that two separate sources assured him that the Republican hold would be made public after today's hearing. One staffer said that two Republicans would place the hold, while the other said it would just be one. The source said that the trans-partisan nature of opposition to Bernanke, with a conservative Republican and a socialist independent uniting to block the appointment, shows the intensity of the feelings on the issue. "It's great to see everyone come together - Democrats, Republicans, progressives and libertarians, against this Federal Reserve, which is not federal, and not a reserve, just a group printing money and giving it to their buddies," the source said.

While most people think that the multiple holds would delay the process, it's unclear whether or not it would succeed. Dodd would probably have the discretion to roll over the hold in committee, though he may be reluctant to do so, experts in Senate procedure said. Harry Reid could also seek cloture on the motion to proceed on Bernanke's nomination on the floor, which would require 60 votes.

At the very least, this delay and the publicity surrounding bipartisan opposition to Bernanke would bring attention to the issue of the Federal Reserve and the desire for transparency, like the movement to audit the Fed. That provision has already passed in the large financial reform bill in the House Financial Services Committee, and Barney Frank said yesterday that he didn't expect any changes to the bill as it passed the House, citing the public anger over the issue of transparency. There is language on Fed audits in the draft financial reform bill written by Sen. Dodd, which also strips the Fed of some of its power, but it is not the same as Bernie Sanders' audit the Fed bill, which has as many as 30 cosponsors.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

DeMint Will Hold   FIREDOGLAKE

UPDATE: Sen. Jim DeMint announces through Twitter that he will become the third Senator to place a hold on Bernanke's confirmation:

    "I will oppose Bernanke and hold his nomination until we get a vote to audit the Fed."

DeMint joins Jim Bunning and Bernie Sanders. The bedfellows, they are strange.

Bunning and DeMint are Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee. Bernie Sanders is the Socialist from Vermont and he caucuses with the Democrats but is not on the Banking Committee.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

From today's Ha'aretz

In what is believed to be the first legal action of its kind in the world, a Haifa Theater may be hit with a class-action lawsuit for allowing an actress to smoke on stage as part of her role.

The application to have the suit recognized by the court was filed by lawyer Amos Hausner, chairman of the National Council for the Prevention of Smoking, on behalf of a fellow lawyer, Einav Avrahami.

Copenhagen climate change talks must fail, says top scientist | Environment | The Guardian

The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming says it would be better for the planet and for future generations if next week's Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse.

In an interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, the world's pre-eminent climate scientist, said any agreement likely to emerge from the negotiations would be so deeply flawed that it would be better to start again from scratch.

"I would rather it not happen if people accept that as being the right track because it's a disaster track," said Hansen, who heads the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

"The whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation. If it is going to be the Kyoto-type thing then [people] will spend years trying to determine exactly what that means." He was speaking as progress towards a deal in Copenhagen received a boost today, with India revealing a target to curb its carbon emissions. All four of the major emitters - the US, China, EU and India - have now tabled offers on emissions, although the equally vexed issue of funding for developing nations to deal with global warming remains deadlocked.

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Rich nations to offset emissions with birth control | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Consumers in the developed world are to be offered a radical method of offsetting their carbon emissions in an ambitious attempt to tackle climate change - by paying for contraception measures in poorer countries to curb the rapidly growing global population.

The scheme - set up by an organisation backed by Sir David Attenborough, the former diplomat Sir Crispin Tickell and green figureheads such as Jonathon Porritt and James Lovelock - argues that family planning is the most effective way to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic global warming.

Optimum Population Trust (Opt) stresses that birth control will be provided only to those who have no access to it, and only unwanted births would be avoided. Opt estimates that 80 million pregnancies each year are unwanted.

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EUobserver / Paul McCartney calls for meat-free Mondays in Europe

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Paul McCartney has called on Europeans to make at least one day a week meat-free in order to save the planet.

Speaking in the European Parliament on Thursday, the former Beatle warned that eating meat was doing more damage to the earth's climate than any other activity.

"The livestock industry produces more greenhouse gases than all of transport put together - cars planes trains trucking," he said.

"They used to be what we thought were the villains, but it turns out the livestock industry is worse," he continued, noting that agriculture as a whole was responsible for between 20 and 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,

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Fraction too much fiction in climategate

Hacked emails point to leading climate scientists withholding data, subverting the peer-review process, and distorting information. These are stunning accusations of serious misconduct, but are they true?

They are not. Even if we presume that the stolen material is authentic, the notion that climate data is being nefariously withheld is fantastical. Most of the world's climate data, including programming code for climate models, is freely available on the web. Anyone can download it and apply their instantly acquired expertise for the betterment of humanity.

Police shut 1,200 scam shopping websites | Money | guardian.co.uk

UK police this week shut down more than 1,200 scam websites that claimed to be selling designer clothes and jewellery, in what is thought to be the biggest single swoop of its kind in the world.

The 1,219 websites purported to sell items ranging from Ugg boots and Tiffany & Co jewellery to GHD hair straighteners. Police said the fact the sites had ".co.uk" web addresses meant innocent British shoppers were duped into making what appeared to be bargain purchases, but they received either counterfeit products or nothing at all.

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Warning: Do not take this picture - Home News, UK - The Independent

Police have been accused of misusing powers granted under anti-terror legislation after a series of incidents, ranging from the innocuous to the bizarre, in which photographers were questioned by officers for taking innocent pictures of tourist destinations, landmarks and even a fish and chip shop.

Police are allowed to stop and search anyone in a designated "Section 44 authorisation" zone without having to give a reason. But amateur and professional photographers have complained that they are frequently being stopped and treated as potential terrorists on a reconnaissance mission. Last night the Government's independent reviewer of anti-terrorism laws warned police forces to carefully examine how they use the controversial legislation.

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University turns iPhones into musical instruments | Technology | Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Welcome to an orchestra of the 21st century. iPhones are being used as musical instruments in a new course at an American university.

Students at the University of Michigan are learning to design, build and play instruments on their Apple Inc. smartphones, with a public performance planned for December 9.

The university said it believed the course, called Building a Mobile Phone Ensemble, is a world first. It is taught by Georg Essl, a computer scientist and musician who has worked on developing mobile phones and musical instruments.

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Berlin's History Res-Erected: Giant Penis Sparks Bizarre Media War - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Four decades ago, the mass-circulation tabloid Bild did its best to squelch the 1968 student movement in Berlin. This year, the German capital has seen the conflict swell once again. And it has resulted in some rather stiff competition.

The shimmering, gold-colored high-rise building that publisher Axel Springer had built in the 1960s is just a stone's throw from the offices of Berlin's legendary left-wing Tageszeitung newspaper, more commonly known simply as the "Taz." But for someone looking from the 17th floor of the Springer building, where the main editorial offices of the influential tabloid newspaper Bild are located, a few trees block the view of the gray building that houses the editorial offices of the Taz, a publication that appears to believe even today that it has the right to dictate what it means to be left-wing in Germany.

But what exactly does it mean to be "left-wing" these days? Is it left-wing to attach to the outside of the Taz building a sculpture of Bild editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann showing him naked, wearing red glasses and cheap brown loafers and equipped with a penis that extends all the way up the front of the Taz building? Or is it just in poor taste?

Diekmann, 45, is standing in front of the Taz building on Rudi Dutschke Street. He is wearing a gray pinstriped suit and brown brogues that look like they cost several hundred euros. He tilts his head back to take a look at his enormous pink doppelganger. "I came all the way down here to see it because there are trees blocking my view," says Diekmann. "But I still haven't quite figured out who the sculpture on the front of this building is supposed to depict."

Daughter slams GM over chief's dismissal - Americas, World - The Independent

A woman claiming to be the daughter of former General Motors chief executive Fritz Henderson launched an expletive-laden attack on his dismissal on Facebook.

Within an hour of the car giant's board of directors announcing Mr Henderson's resignation on the social networking site, Sarah Henderson posted an angry comment in block capital letters which branded chairman Ed Whitacre a "selfish piece of shift (sic)".

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Ronnie Wood arrested on suspicion of assault | Top News | Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood was arrested by British police late on Wednesday on suspicion of assault and released on bail after questioning on Thursday.

Surrey police said the 62-year-old rock star was arrested in Claygate, Surrey in southern England on suspected assault "in connection with a domestic incident." He was released "until a date in January pending further inquiries."

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Polanski transferred from jail for 'security reasons' | France 24

Police have moved film-maker Roman Polanski from jail to an undisclosed location for "security reasons", Swiss officials say. Polanski, who is fighting extradition to the US, is due to be placed under house arrest on Friday.

AFP - Film-maker Roman Polanski was transferred on Thursday from jail in northeastern Switzerland to an undisclosed location ahead of house arrest at his chalet in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad.
   
The transfer was made for "security reasons and protection of the person," Swiss justice ministry spokesman Folco Galli told AFP.
   
The justice ministry had announced that Polanski, who is fighting extradition to the United States on a child sex conviction, would be released on bail and arrive on Friday at his chalet in the western Swiss Alpine village.

Would you like a pony for Christmas?  LA Times

NORWALK - Authorities are looking for the owner of a tiny male Shetland pony found wandering down a street in Norwalk. Deputies spotted the tan pony about 7 a.m. near Studebaker Road and Hayford Street, said Capt. Aaron Reyes of the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority.

Reyes said he figures the fat and happy pony just wandered away from a yard or stable sometime Thursday morning in the city of Norwalk. SEAACA Officer Robby Gochicoa was sent to corral the animal. "She was a bit skittish at first when I approached, but warmed up to me and let me put the lead rope around her neck," Gochicoa said.

Gochicoa transported the pony to SEACCA's animal care center in Downey. "She may be used for pony rides; we're not sure," Gochicoa said. "I do know that she is not bothered by the dogs here, and she likes people. "I'm sure she'd like to be home for the holidays," Gochicoa said.

Reyes describes the pony as about 3 feet tall and 4 feet long, like a giant dog.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Elf Arrested After Threatening to Blow Up Santa   KTLA News

 

MORROW, Ga. -- A man dressed as an elf is jailed after police in Georgia say he told a mall Santa that he was carrying dynamite. Police say Southlake Mall in suburban Atlanta was evacuated but no explosives were found.

Morrow police arrested 45-year-old William C. Caldwell III, who was being held without bond Thursday in the Clayton County jail. He was not part of the mall's Christmas staff.

Police say Caldwell got in line Wednesday evening to have his picture taken with Santa Claus. Police say when Caldwell reached the front of the line, he told Santa he had dynamite in his bag. Santa called mall security and Caldwell was arrested.

He might look like an elf, but he is no David Sedaris.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Prostitutes offer free climate summit sex - Politiken.dk

Copenhagen Council and Lord Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard have sent postcards out to 160 Copenhagen hotels urging COP15 guests and delegates to `Be sustainable - don't buy sex'.

"Dear hotel owner, we would like to urge you not to arrange contacts between hotel guests and prostitutes," the approach to hotels says.

Copenhagen prostitutes are up in arms at the project saying that the council has no business meddling in their affairs, and have now offered free sex to anyone who can produce one of the offending postcards and their COP15 identity card, according to avisen.dk.

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith