Newshoggers.com

HCR -- Wijit, Next Generation Wheelchair

By John Ballard

Someone in our audience may benefit from this or knows someone who can. 
Pass the word.
A friend of many years, Brad Ansley, posted this on his Facebook page. 

My old high school buddy Brian Watwood, adventure sportsman exraodinaire was hit by a car while riding his bike back in th 80s and hauled off and invented the Wijit. Very Cool.

http://wijitcom.ipage.com/

Time to put Greece out of its misery

By BJ Bjornson

I swear that watching the ongoing Greek debt debacle is like watching some guy with broken legs in a wheelchair getting “helped out” by a bunch of thugs who proceed to break his arms and then demand he get rid of the “luxury” wheelchair to pay for his medical treatment. Every so-called bailout package, thanks to their ever-more-onerous austerity measures that will crash a weak economy even further, seem designed to make the situation worse rather than better.

And as bad as this latest deal is, it is merely another stopgap measure, since the numbers simply don’t add up.

The problem, of course, is that all the observers and “segregated accounts” in the world can’t turn Greece’s economy around when it’s burdened with an overvalued currency and has no ability to implement any kind of stimulus. Quite the opposite: in order to get this deal done, Greece had to find yet another €325 million in “structural expenditure reductions”, and promise a huge amount of front-loaded austerity to boot.

The effect of all this fiscal tightening? Magic growth! A huge amount of heavy lifting, in terms of making the numbers work, is done by the debt sustainability analysis, and specifically the assumptions it makes. Greece is five years into a gruesome recession with the worst effects of austerity yet to hit. But somehow the Eurozone expects that Greece will bounce back to zero real GDP growth in 2013, and positive real GDP growth from 2014 onwards. Here’s the chart:




Note that the downside, here, still looks astonishingly optimistic: where’s all this economic growth meant to be coming from, in a country suffering from massive wage deflation? And under this pretty upbeat downside scenario, Greece gets nowhere near the required 120% debt-to-GDP level by 2020: instead, it only gets to 159%. And to make things worse for the Eurozone, the report explicitly says that under the terms of this deal, “any new debt will be junior to all existing debt” — in other words, there’s no way at all that Greece is going to be able to borrow on the private markets for the foreseeable future, so long as this plan is in place.

Magic growth is about right, given Greece is being forced to find 325 billion euros in savings with a GDP that is only 220 billion euros and falling. And yet look at that chart! The cripple, being forced to even further cripple himself, is expected to make a miraculous recovery almost immediately! The wishful thinking of this scenario is simply mind-boggling.

This is what happens when you replace empirical evidence and critical thought with ideology, stupidity parading as sense. Unfortunately for the Greeks, the real world consequences of such are going to be quite painful indeed.

A little history on U.S.-Iran relations

By BJ Bjornson

Nothing new or even surprising here, and all pretty much just a basic overview, but it is still nice to be reminded of the history every now and again, particularly given the increased drumbeat towards military action these days.

Yet Another Warning From the Scientific Community

By John Ballard

If you don't read anything else today, read this...

Most scientists, on achieving high office, keep their public remarks to the bland and reassuring. Last week Nina Fedoroff, the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), broke ranks in a spectacular manner.

She confessed that she was now "scared to death" by the anti-science movement that was spreading, uncontrolled, across the US and the rest of the western world.

"We are sliding back into a dark era," she said. "And there seems little we can do about it. I am profoundly depressed at just how difficult it has become merely to get a realistic conversation started on issues such as climate change or genetically modified organisms."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Those of us who grew up in the sixties, when we put men on the Moon, now have to watch as every Republican candidate for this year's presidential election denies the science behind climate change and evolution. That is a staggering state of affairs and it is very worrying," said Professor Naomi Oreskes, of the University of California, San Diego.

Santorum's Cherry Picking

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Because of his Catholic faith Rick Santorum opposes birth control.  But just how strong is Santorum's faith - how often does he actually listen to the Bishops?  Juan Cole reminds not very often.

Top Ten Catholic Teachings Santorum Rejects while Obsessing about Birth Control

1. So for instance, Pope John Paul II was against anyone going to war against Iraq I think you’ll find that Rick Santorum managed to ignore that Catholic teaching.
2. The Conference of Catholic Bishops requires that health care be provided to all Americans. I.e., Rick Santorum’s opposition to universal health care is a betrayal of the Catholic faith he is always trumpeting.
3. The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty for criminals in almost all situations. (Santorum largely supports executions.)
4. The US Conference of Bishops has urged that the federal minimum wage be increased, for the working poor. Santorum in the Senate repeatedly voted against the minimum wage.
5. The bishops want welfare for all needy families, saying “We reiterate our call for a minimum national welfare benefit that will permit children and their parents to live in dignity. A decent society will not balance its budget on the backs of poor children.” Santorum is a critic of welfare.
6. The US bishops say that “the basic rights of workers must be respected–the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions…”. Santorum, who used to be supportive of unions in the 1990s, has now, predictably, turned against them.
7. Catholic bishops demand the withdrawal of Israel from Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. Rick Santorum denies that there are any Palestinians, so I guess he doesn’t agree with the bishops on that one.
8. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops ripped into Arizona’s law on treatment of immigrants, Cardinal Roger Mahony characterized Arizona’s S.B. 1070 as “the country’s most retrogressive, mean-spirited, and useless anti-immigrant law,” saying it is based on “totally flawed reasoning: that immigrants come to our country to rob, plunder, and consume public resources.” He even suggested that the law is a harbinger of an American Nazism! Santorum attacks ‘anchor babies’ or the provision of any services to children of illegal immigrants born and brought up in the US.
9. The Bishops have urged that illegal immigrants not be treated as criminals and that their contribution to this country be recognized.
10. The US Conference of Bishops has denounced, as has the Pope, the Bush idea of ‘preventive war’, and has come out against an attack on Iran in the absence of a real and present threat of an Iranian assault on the US. In contrast, Santorum wants to play Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove and ride the rocket down on Isfahan himself.

So as it turns out Rick Santorum is not a particularly good Catholic but just another political hack and homophobe.

Cross posted at The Moderate Voice

Andy Carvin Reports from Benghazi

By John Ballard

Andy Carvin is one of the NPR guys in the Middle East. He is in Benghazi on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Libyan chapter of the Arab Spring. This morning, the "morning after," he Tweets out a brief report on last night's festivities.

[Last night...]
Just got back to the hotel after five hours on the streets of Benghazi. Only thing I can compare it to was New Years 2000 in Paris. Epic.
The streets of Benghazi were one long caravan of celebrations: kids hanging out the window waving flags; guys surfing on the car roofs.
One shabab with an AK-47 demanded my camera. I gave it to him. He handed me the AK and began taking pics of his buddies.
[End of last night's Tweets]
The courthouse square was jammed with people waving Libyan flags and singing songs about Benghazi. Mostly men, but women and kids too.
Sorry I couldn't tweet too much last night; the Internet in Benghazi was just as swamped as the phone lines and I couldn't tweet any more.
About half a dozen lantern balloons were launched by Benghazi courthouse, but the wind was so strong they kept crashing into people.
People also set off their own fireworks - some of them way too low. Amazing to watch, but startled the crap out of us.
We then went to Keesh Square, where dozens of would-be stunt drivers were drifting: racing across at high speed then spinning out of control
Some of the drifters would wheel their cars in tight donuts, burning rubber, as a crowd surrounded them so close they almost got hit.

Spent most of the night with @LibyaSupreme and guys from Midnight Fort & Blackwize - basically, almost the entire Benghazi hip hop scene.
One of the guys from Blackwize was working on new rhymes and I got to see him demo them in front of the other hip hop guys. Pretty cool.
We then spent the better part of 90 minutes driving around Benghazi to find food, but all the restaurants had run out. Lots of customers.

Photo captions -- And check out these two kids; the little girl is hilarious.-- Shabab blocking traffic on one of the busiest streets in Benghazi - just so they can dance.-- A very happy girl holding a Libyan flag that's bigger than she is Superman was there last night at martyr square..hundreds of lanterns released too

Benghazi man showed me a pic of him with UN amb Susan Rice. "She had excellent perfume; I told my wife I wouldn't shower for two days!"
Another man told me his brother was a doctor in Kansas. "Where in Kansas?" I asked. "Who knows. Kansas. It's a big state, yes?"
Some shabab celebrated by using aerosol cans as flamethrowers. Others danced on top of cars while they drove down the street.
And I swear I even saw a couple dozen Libyan soldiers in a conga line, waving their AKs in air.

"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" Part II

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Probaly the smartest thing the British have done since WWII is not joining the Eurozone.   Yesterday I posted a rant by the crazy Nigel Farage. But he's not alone.  Here is a more reasonable MEP Daniel Hannan saying the same thing:

Yes it's time for the Greek people to say no to the bankster tehcnocrats.

"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"

Commentary By Ron Beasley

There is a lot not to like about MEP Nigel Farage but when he is right he's right:

For the actual people of Greece there is only one solution - default and leaving the Eurozone.  The attempts at "bailout" are designed to bail out the big banks and give Germany an economic occupation of Greece.  The austerity being forced on the Greeks only guarantees that the country will officially slip into depression followed by civil war and the debts will never be re-payed.  Make no mistake - this is war.  Unlike WWII it's economic rather than military.  But the goal is the same - German domination.

This is not meant to be an excuse for the Greek economic  irresponsibilty, this is what happens when you spend money but don't collect taxes, but it's not the Greek people who should suffer.

Via Zero Hedge

Running Out Of Fat Cats

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Mitt Romney is running out of rich people.

The former Massachusetts governor’s gold-plated fundraising machine has depended almost exclusively on big checks from the wealthy individuals — business leaders, Mormon allies, longtime Republican Establishment donors — whom Romney and his team have been cultivating for years, pressing the cases that resonate for those crowds: That he’ll cut taxes; that he’ll beat Barack Obama; that he’s inevitable and they’d better get on board.

But Romney has proved unable to tap into the emotion-driven small-dollar contributions that helped power Barack Obama in 2008, and which fueled even his more Establishment rival, Hillary Clinton, this time four years ago when she too began to run out of big donors. The result: Republican fundraisers say that despite his success so far, they think Romney is fast approaching a wall, and that he will likely be forced to pay for the campaign out of his own deep pockets.

Dependence on rich people is a problem, you can only give $2,500 once but you can give $25 a 100 times. In addition there is a limited number of rich people.  Santorum like Obama is able to tap the small donor and that's a well that won't go dry.  This may be a test of just how effective the Super-Pacs can be.

Mitt Romney - Face Dancer

Commentary By Ron Beasley

Face Dancer:

A Face Dancer is a type of human in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. A servant caste of the Bene Tleilax, Face Dancers are shapeshifters, and their name is derived from their ability to change their physical appearance at will.

Of course in Romney's case it's an ability to change his ideological appearance at will.  As David Frum reports this is how Grover Norquist sees Romney. 

Norquist: Romney Will Do As Told

The most quoted speech at CPAC this year was Mitt Romney's, but my vote for the most significant goes to Grover Norquist's. In his charmingly blunt way, Norquist articulated out loud a case for Mitt Romney that you hear only whispered by other major conservative leaders.

They have reconciled themselves to a Romney candidacy because they see Romney as essentially a weak and passive president who will concede leadership to congressional conservatives:

 

All we have to do is replace Obama. ... We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. ... We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don't need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.

 

The requirement for president?

 

Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.

 

From mistermix at Balloon Juice:

Mitt Romney’s new anti-Detroit-bailout Op Ed in the Detroit News includes bonus union bashing to prove the severity of his conservatism. Since 62% of Republicans in Michigan oppose the bailout, versus 36% of the overall population, Romney has to double down on bailout bashing in a desperate effort to erase Santorum’s 15 point lead in that state.

We all know that Santorum is toxic as a national candidate, but the problem for Romney is the only way to beat Santorum is to adopt the same anti-gay, anti-woman and anti-progress positions in the primaries and bet that he can somehow reverse course this Fall. The longer the contest draws out, the more Romney has to pander, and the more he turns himself into the Goldwater-like candidate that the Republican establishment is desperate to avoid.

Romney is an ideological Face Dancer who will assume whatever face his masters require.  The problem is Romney is going to have dance to the extreme right to beat Santorum.  The longer the primary fight continues the more difficult it will be for Romney to dance to the center. 

Cross posted at The Moderate Voice.