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'Celebrity Fit Club' In Their Underwear: K-Fed, Bobby Brown, Nicole Eggert & More (PHOTOS)

2010-02-10T04:00:51Z

VH-1's new season of "Celebrity Fit Club" has premiered with a hodgepodge of C- and D-list celebs fighting the battle of the bulge.

Below are all 8 at the time of their weigh-in, dressed in camouflage undergarments with their vital stats listed. From Britney Spears' ex Kevin Federline, to his ex Shar Jackson, to Whitney Houston's ex Bobby Brown, who do you hope drops their extra pounds?

Lindsay Lohan Poses As Jesus For Purple Magazine (PHOTO)

2010-02-10T03:59:15Z

Lindsay Lohan covers French fashion magazine Purple as Jesus Christ, complete with outstretched arms, crown of thorns and low-cut robe. Lindsay is not the first Lohan to pose as the son of God--Michael Lohan channeled baby Jesus in a Times Square nativity scene a couple of years ago.

PHOTO:

Here is behind the scenes video from her holy shoot:

Lindsay Lohan by Terry Richardson from Purple Magazine on Vimeo.

Tom Cruise Set For 'Mission: Impossible IV'

2010-02-10T03:57:11Z

LOS ANGELES — Tom Cruise is starring in another impossible mission.

Paramount Pictures announced Tuesday that Cruise will be back in front of the camera for "Mission: Impossible IV," due in theaters over Memorial Day weekend in 2011.

Cruise and "Mission: Impossible III" director J.J. Abrams previously agreed to produce a fourth movie in the action franchise. But it had not been known if Cruise would star again.

Abrams will stick to producing this time, with the search on for a director to shoot the new installment. Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are writing the script, based on a story idea from Cruise and Abrams.

The movie reunites Cruise and Paramount, which cut the actor loose from a long-term development deal in 2006.

Noah Mallin: Social Media: Is Google Buzz More Than Just Hype?

2010-02-10T03:51:10Z

Google has been known to launch products (hello Wave) that get a lot of initial hype but end up being curiosities at best in the hands of users. This is not to diminish the areas in which Google still holds strong - search and e-mail. So the unveiling of their new Buzz tool for Gmail users is being met with skepticism in some quarters even as it seems to hold out several promising features. Here's the YouTube video from Google that discusses the product's features.

Buzz is designed to allow Gmail users to tap into social media activity and updates from their existing social contacts, without leaving the popular e-mail platform.

What struck me about Buzz is that it is the connective membrane between several Google initiatives. It's geolocation feature which allows users to tag updates with their location ties together Google's push into mobile with mail, and the Buzz overlay brings in Google Maps functionality so you can see, for instance, folks posting about bad traffic ahead. It even ties into Google voice by allowing users to speak updates into their phones rather than typing them (soon to be a menace to drunk updaters and their contacts everywhere if it takes off.)

Whether or not you use a mobile device, Buzz also ties in Google's profiles since so far you need to have one to use Buzz. Here is Google's YouTube video that talks about Buzz and mobile platforms.

Google's photo sharing site Picasa and the Google Reader news feed are tied in with easy sharing functionality, as is their YouTube service and all of this benefits from the design and tools first shown in their wave product.

So how does the core Google search product factor in?

Buzz will recommend posts based on your interests or on what's been popular with your friends whether or not the post is from someone you are connected with. The ability to do this is clearly developed from both the algorithms used to match relevant search advertising with user queries on the engine as well as to display ads contextually in the Gmail platform based on the content of mail.

Even though Google Buzz allows users to share updates privately with friends, it also allows these updates to be public and presumably, available to be read and displayed by anyone using Google search provided they are relevant. This ties in nicely to Google's recent launch of their Google Social Search tool.

It will be interesting to see how Google aggregates all of their data on an individual user once they are signed into the system, and whether this will have a further effect on the results they see in search as well as Buzz.

It's too early to know yet whether the possibilities inherent in Buzz will come to full fruition. Right now your Twitter updates can be shared with your Buzz followers. Oddly, as Mashable points out, you can't share Buzz updates (yet) through Twitter so functionality is somewhat hobbled. More importantly, Facebook isn't integrated at all and for most Americans there isn't really another comparable social network.

While I expect Twitter to become more fully integrated Facebook has shown a traditional reluctance to open up access to their platform on a similar level. As Mashable also points out, the existence of Facebook's own under-development e-mail platform complicates things further.

Whether or not this means that a showdown with Facebook is in the cards, if Google can deliver fully on what this product taps into - namely almost every other Google product - it could have a value beyond even the sum of it's parts.

Tony Blankley: Palin Delivers Sparkle, Warmth

2010-02-10T03:44:01Z

"No new ideas." That was the most prominent of the criticisms of Sarah Palin's speech at MSNBC's too-cool-for-school Morning Joe on Monday. The more general critique of former Gov. Palin's future was that while she certainly had star power, she could never speak to more than a fraction of even Republicans. The proof of the latter point was made with the evidence that many important Washington Republicans could never support her for more than cheerleader to her marginal people.

They also pointed out that she had kept out of races in Massachusetts and Virginia, where it was thought she might not help. Gosh, a lack of ego paired with shrewd political judgment - that is surely not wanted in a leader. (In both those incidents, the president himself couldn't resist going in and contributing to his candidates' losses.)

If I hadn't still been lying in bed, I would have fallen over laughing at this summary rejection by the guardians of the existing order of the only national figure who both: (1) unabashedly but politely criticizes President Obama where it hurts him most; and, (2) eye-catchingly articulates the central values and objectives of the about 60 percent of the public that views the current administration's actions with slack-jawed horror and fear.

The American people have had a belly full of new ideas in the last year. The next winning politician and party will only have to offer two "new ideas": Stop it now! (and) Start rolling it back immediately! It may take decades just to execute those two new ideas.

Almost everything that is disturbing Americans about the current administration, domestically, can be found in one of the most shocking documents ever issued by the U.S. government - last week's 2011 federal budget. It not only shocked America, it even shocked the New York Times, which led, top right above the fold with David Sanger's spot-on analysis piece headlined: "Deficits May Alter U.S. Politics and Global Power."

"In a federal budget filled with mind-boggling statistics, two numbers stand out as particularly stunning, for the way they may change American politics and American power.

"The first is the projected deficit in the coming year, nearly 11 percent of the country's entire economic output. ...

"But the second number, buried deeper in the budget's projections, is the one that really commands attention: By President Obama's own optimistic projections, American deficits will not return to what are widely considered sustainable levels over the next 10 years. In fact, in 2019 and 2020 - years after Mr. Obama has left the political scene, even if he serves two terms - they start rising again sharply, to more than 5 percent of gross domestic product. His budget draws a picture of a nation that like many American homeowners simply cannot get above water."

The truly shocking part of the budget is what was left out: a road map out of the economic calamity.

We have faced hard times before, but, with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech, never before has a president, essentially, thrown up his hands and not even offered a plan for how to fix a problem.

And yet, the 2011 budget proposes a budget that if carried out to the letter would assure "unsustainable deficits" (above 3 percent of GDP) forever. By unsustainable, economists mean that we would get steadily poorer as a country. Think of Spain in the 1700s - the richest country in the world then has steadily gotten poorer for the last 300 years - and counting.

Americans rightly believe that we can build anything that needs building and fix anything that is broken. And, that we can do that by living out our nation's founding principles and values: constitutional government, respect for private property and life, a free market - and the gumption of hard-working, inventive Americans.

Those are the principles and spirit that Sarah Palin articulated with sparkle and sincerity last weekend. Those are the principles that have brought the Tea Party movement into being. They are the same principles that inspired the conservative movement that arose in the 1950s-60s.

As an early foot soldier for Ronald Reagan (starting in his 1966 California primary campaign for governor against San Francisco Mayor George Christopher), I well remember with what bemused scorn the political establishment of both parties held for Mr. Reagan. Then moderate state Assemblyman Caspar Weinberger told the New York Times that "Christopher will do much better than Rockefeller did. Reagan will get the great bulk of the Goldwater support, but it does not represent much more than one-third of the party."

In the general election in which Reagan overwhelmed incumbent Democrat Pat Brown, years later Mr. Brown reminisced: "We thought the notion was absurd and rubbed our hands in gleeful anticipation of beating this politically inexperienced, right-wing extremist and aging actor."

Reagan was the Palin of his time. I am not equating the two yet. She still has much to prove to the public (as Reagan did in 1966).

But the smarty pants who have driven America into the ditch by discarding traditional American values and principles should be cautious in writing off the most effective national advocate for such values precisely at the time that leftist programs have so conspicuously failed and outraged the public.

Amanda McCall: Cloudy with A Chance of Bullsh*t

2010-02-10T03:34:33Z

It is being reported that a major snow storm is threatening to ravage New York City tonight, and it very well might. The weather reports might be right. But what we seem to be able to erase from our communal memory every time a new big, scary snow storm approaches, is that, most of the time, the weather reports are wrong. Really, really wrong.

This past weekend, for example, the big snow storm that hit D.C. was also supposed to hit New York City. In the days leading up to the storm, every local news channel's lead story was the same hysteria-inducing weather reports, which all had titles like Accu-Tracker's StormWatch Report, or Doppler Weatherscan: Eye of the Storm. Not only do these titles sound more like excessively violent video games than simple weather forecasts, these logos were always presented in large, intimidating fonts and enhanced by scary graphics of lasers, lightning bolts and surrounded by aggressive-looking high-def clouds. If these logos alone weren't enough to convince you to drop everything, buy up all the water, flashlights and duct tape left in the city and go hide in your basement for the next three days, then maybe the weatherman's snowpocolyptic weather report will: "New York Snow Slam: Are you Ready?" "Weekend Strom Warning in NYC: Is this weekend's storm putting your children at risk?", "Up next...Blizzard Dangers: What you can do to be prepared", "Weather Safety Report: What you'll need to survive the storm". Every weather forecaster on every network was preaching about a Snowmageddon like some public access televangelist. However, unlike televangelists, TV weather people have a lot of high-tech-looking and scientific-sounding gear to back them up... Or, at least they seem to. Despite the fact that, with the exception of Al Roker, almost all weather forecasters look like they majored in Gym and minored in spray-tanning at whatever weather college they may claim to have attended, we're meant to believe that they are "scientists" with meteorological knowledge far too complicated for us weather-novices to understand. Their StormTracker forecasting system is presented as a complex scientific method so high-speed, high-res, high-def, and high-tech that it would be a waste of time to even try to explain it to the average viewer, so instead they just break it down into simpler, more straight-forward statements like, "The snow is coming, run for your lives!" And we do.

What was even more shocking than the pre-snowpocolyptic frenzy was the aftermath of The Storm. Not only was there no snow storm, but there wasn't even any snow. Not one freakin' flake. Upon realizing this, I immediately turned tuned in to my local news station, expecting some sort of explanation, some sort of recognition from my local Accu-weather forecaster that his forecast had been In-Accu, and that maybe he was sorry. But there was nothing. No apologies, no indication of embarrassment, nothing. And it was the same on every channel. The very meteorologists who, just twelve short hours ago, had been prophesizing a full-blown Snowmageddon were now just smiling and continuing on as if nothing had happened. They even had the gall to start warning me about another storm that would undoubtedly ravage the entire city sometime in the near future. I sat there in my apartment for the rest of the day, surrounded by jugs of water, flashlights, snow shovels, and duct tape, waiting for the apology that I knew deep down would never come.

Until now...

I want to believe that TV weather people are not just evil, that they are just "following orders", and that, if given the opportunity, they would turn off all those accu-storm-trackers, step away from that digital weather map green screen for a moment, relax their twinkling smile, look humbly and directly into the camera and say, "I'm sorry." Well, until then, I am offering all of America's TV weathermen and women the next best thing: a TV Weatherperson Official Letter of Apology. Weather people: here is your quick n' easy chance to make things right! Just fill out the form below with your appropriate information and either e-mail it or print up and send it to anyone you feel you've harmed over the years with your careless and shamefully false predictions. Relieve yourself of all that pent-up guilt. Lift off the heavy shame of knowing that you have single-handedly ruined millions of family trips to the lake, ski weekends, outdoor birthday parties, weekend getaways, sports activities, weddings, festivals, dates, graduations, boat rides, car rides, and picnics, just to name a few. One TV Weatherperson Official Letter of Apology is not going to bring back the sunny day you promised little Billy for his 9th birthday party in the park, or young Jane's beautiful wedding, which was cancelled due to the thunderstorms you warned her about, but which never arrived. Give little Billy and poor young Jane the satisfaction of knowing that you, at the very least, admit your mistake and are sorry for what you did. Let the healing begin:

TV Weatherperson Official Letter of Apology

(Form to be completed by TV weatherperson only)

Dear _______________ (forecast victim(s)),

Words cannot express how deeply sorry I, _____________________ (your name), your local TV weatherman/woman, am for any anxiety, frustration and inconvenience I have caused you.

On __/___/____ (mm/dd/yy of false weather report), I inaccurately reported that the weather would be __________ (rainy, sunny, snowy, windy, balmy, mild), when it was actually__________ (rainy, sunny, snowy, windy, balmy, mild). Due to my inaccurate forecasting, your _______________ (wedding, birthday, funeral, weekend, vacation, picnic, graduation, party, car ride, general mood) was ruined, and I accept full responsibility for my careless actions.

I, _____________________, (your name), the weather____ (man, woman, person) at Channel ___ News in ____________, ___ (City, State) admit that meteorology is almost 100% bullsh*t. A bunch of monkeys throwing their own shit at a weather map would make more accurate predictions than my weather team. The high-tech weather simulations and flashy graphics are merely an effort to hide the fact that we have absolutely no idea what we're talking about. I'm not even really sure what a "meteorologist" is. I got my meteorology certification card free with my gym membership. To be honest, I just really, really like being on TV.

I, ______________________ (your name) cannot promise you that I will my weather forecasts will be more honest or accurate from now on. But as long as there are elevators and awkward silences, people will need to talk about the weather and, as long as they do, I will keep on giving them things to talk about, even if everything I say is complete bullsh*t, which, I, ______________________ (your name), hereby admit that it is.

Sincerely,

Your local weatherman, _________________________ (signature) Date:____

Dan Persons: Mighty Movie Podcast: Shutter Island Press Conference

2010-02-10T03:29:50Z

The embargo on the Shutter Island press conference has lifted, so I'm putting it out for your entertainment and enrichment. However, I believe the embargo on criticism is still in place, so I can't really set this up in the way that I'd like. You're just going to have to wait for the BRAND NEW Cinefantastique Podcast to get my opinion (as well as that of editor Steve Biodrowski) on the film.

Suffice it to say that Shutter Island is Martin Scorsese's latest work, a dark exploration of the human psyche that has Leonardo DiCaprio's U.S. Marshal going to the titular island to investigate the disappearance of an inmate from a hospital for the criminally insane. There, he discovers more than a smattering of sinister doings, and a couple of doctors -- played by Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow -- whose ministrations may or may not figure in the conspiracy. Curiosity piqued? The film opens on February 19th.

Click on the player below to hear the New York press conference that featured Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ben Kingsley.

More MMP on HuffPost:
Nicole Opper on Off and Running
Michael Hoffman on The Last Station
Davis and Heilbroner on Waiting for Armageddon

Check out the Mighty Movie Podcast homepage.

Pam Bristow: Flirty Thirties: Sumptuous Interiors of the SS Normandie on Display in New York

2010-02-10T03:16:12Z

From Audrey Tatou's star turn as Coco Chanel in Anne Fontaine's Coco Avant Chanel to the recent, major exhibition devoted to thirties designer Madeleine Vionnet by Paris' Les Arts Decoratifs, French Art Deco is once again, a la mode. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has recently put 75 percent its Art Deco collection on display (the most it has ever shown at once) and the cloche hat is everywhere - from the pages of Vogue, to the shelves of Saks, to the racks of Forever 21.

Right on cue arrives DECODENCE, an exhibit at New York's South Street Seaport Museum dedicated to the largest collection of interior artifacts and furnishings from the S.S. Normandie, the majestic transatlantic liner that boasted one of the most opulent expressions of Art Deco styling the world had ever seen.

Upon her maiden Voyage in 1935, Normandie was heralded as a triumph of the modern age and inevitably became the pride of the French Line as an estimated 100,000 spectators lined New York Harbor for her triumphant arrival. Her innovative, award-winning hull design was rivaled only by her unprecedented interior luxuries. The defining roster of Art Deco masters that worked on her fittings and furnishings included Rene Lalique, Jean Dupas, Jean Patou, and Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann.

Normandie's legendary three-deck-high First Class dining room, a marvel of the Art Deco era (and one this writer studied in design school) was, I believe, the most awe-inspiring feature of her interior design. At three hundred five feet long, it was longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Yes, VERSAILLES! The room, which could accommodate 700 diners, boasted twelve tall illuminated pillars of original Lalique glass flanked by thirty-eight matching columns along the walls, and 20-foot tall entrance doors adorned with bronze medallions by artist Raymond Subes.

The spectacle continued into the staterooms. Normandie's finest First Class suites featured dining rooms, baby grand pianos, multiple bedrooms, and private decks, a selection of which can be seen at the exhibition. Other exhibit standouts include a full Ruhlmann dining room set from the famed dining hall, and the body of Normandie, replicated as an evening bag by Hermes. Most of these items, on loan from New York collector Mario Pulice, are in near perfect condition, surprisingly since Normandie met an untimely fiery death in 1942.

As sumptuous as the decor was, it was merely a backdrop for the illustrious passengers that Normandie delivered safely to both shores - a list that includes Ernest Hemmingway, Marlene Dietrich, Walt Disney, Salvador Dali, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., James Stewart, Bing Crosby, and the von Trapp Family Singers. DECODENCE also features large-scale photographs and videos of some of Normandie's most acclaimed travelers enjoying the view from her decks.

As if all of this eye candy weren't enough, Lalique has issued a special engraved edition of its famed Cabochon cocktail ring, which was originally released during the days of Normandie. And fashion's enfant terrible, Jeremy Scott has designed the exhibition t-shirt in his signature cheeky style. Both are available in the museum's shop for those of us who want to take the dream home.

DECODENCE: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie
February 25 - January 2011
South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton Street (Between Front and Water Streets)
New York City

Evan Handler: Reconsider. Think Again. Do More.

2010-02-10T03:15:10Z

Many commenters poo-pooed my earlier posts about Anthem Blue Cross's intention to dramatically lower reimbursement rates for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy. Some said, "Physical Therapy? Who cares?" Others, of course, mocked my model in which the federal government might take any action to merely oversee or - gasp! - regulate the insurance industry (or any industry, for that matter; there are many who seem convinced that corporations are benevolent parents to us all).

I warned that Anthem's actions would be only the beginning of a terrible situation for everyone, and urged all readers to contact a number of Anthem and government officials, as well as print reporters. (Interestingly, while many of my posts here receive hundreds of responses, the one urging readers to take action received exactly 17.)

Now, Anthem Blue Cross is announcing raises in subscription rates of 30 to 39 percent, beginning March 1, 2010. That's after its parent company, Wellpoint, already announced record profits in 2009.

Lucky for Blue Cross subscribers, President Obama, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are publicly demanding explanations from Anthem Blue Cross.

Unfortunately for us all, there is nothing the law allows them to do, other than try to expose the horrific greed and inhumanity associated with these rate changes, along with reimbursement reductions (so long as they're not applied "selectively" to only some customers).

Let me be as clear as I can: Should Anthem Blue Cross succeed (as they are doing), your insurance company is going to quickly do exactly the same thing - to you, to your company, or to your union, when you or they purchase insurance. If you think not, you are deluding yourself.

THIS IS ALL HAPPENING BECAUSE U.S. CITIZENS HAVE NOT UNITED IN HUGE NUMBERS TO DEMAND A COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL BILL THAT ENSURES THAT HEALTH INSURERS CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS KIND OF PRICE GOUGING.

In fact, the difficulty of passage of such a bill thus far has made it clear to them that they can do whatever they like.

Short of single payer, European-style health care coverage (which, regardless of those who say otherwise, is by far the most successful public health care strategy every implemented on planet Earth, and is by far our best protection against such corporate greed) a strong, competitive option to buy publicly guaranteed insurance is the only thing that will protect people here.

I'm not kidding. Reconsider, if you've been opposed. Think again, if you've had reservations. Get involved, if you agree. Do more, if you've done anything already. Make calls, if you've only passed on these posts. Write letters, if you've only made phone calls. Raise your voice now, if you think you might ever need to see a doctor in your life, or we're all going to sink like stones on this.

Oh, and since I've written these recent posts, my Anthem Blue Cross insurance has begun denying portions of my medical claims, requiring lengthy, costly delays and appeals, in percentages I've never experienced before. I'm hoping it's coincidental.

Air Force Super Bowl Ad (VIDEO): White Stripes Outraged

2010-02-10T03:13:29Z

DETROIT -- The White Stripes say the Air Force Reserve used one of their songs without permission in a Super Bowl ad, and that they are insulted their song was used to encourage recruitment during a war they don't support.

The two-member band, which is originally from Detroit, said the ad made unauthorized use of their song "Fell in Love With a Girl."

"The White Stripes support this nation's military. ... We simply don't want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict," the band said in a statement posted to its Web site.

WATCH THE AD (starts a few seconds in):

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WATCH THE WHITE STRIPES SONG:

"The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserve presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support." They did not specify which war.

The Air Force Reserve, in a statement, denied the song was the White Stripes' and said it had hired a company through its advertising agency to score original music for the commercial.

"There was never any intention to utilize any existing music or to sound like any music by the band White Stripes or any other musical performer," the Air Force Reserve statement reads. "Any similarity or likeness to any other music is completely unintentional."

The spot ran in selected markets, including Dallas, Las Vegas and San Francisco, during the Super Bowl telecast, said Mike Speciale, a spokesman for Blaine Warren Advertising, the Las Vegas agency responsible for the ad.

The White Stripes, who are known for their raw, garage-rock sound, provided links on their Web site to their recording of "Fell in Love With a Girl" as well as the ad so viewers could compare the two, but as of Tuesday afternoon, the Air Force ad wasn't viewable.

"It was specifically produced for airing regionally during the Super Bowl in some local markets," Speciale said. "It was scheduled to be pulled right after the Super Bowl. It was only a one-time shot."

The Go Daddy Group Inc., which registers Internet domain names, pulled one of its Super Bowl ads for GoDaddy.com in the days leading up to the game because movie studios said it made unauthorized use of their films and the sides weren't able to reach licensing arrangements.

In the ad, which the company still hopes to air, race car driver Danica Patrick, the star of a number of GoDaddy ads, plays the lead female role in parodies of the films "Weird Science," "Flashdance" and "The Seven Year Itch."

Robert L. Borosage: Rogue Nation: How Does the US Deal With China?

2010-02-10T03:10:48Z

China has surpassed Germany as the world's largest exporter. It is the largest holder of American Treasury bonds, nearly $800 billion. America runs its largest trade deficit by far with China. The low price flood of goods - the Wal-Mart trade - is pervasive. Now the US even runs a growing deficit in advanced technology products.

China flaunts the rules and the spirit of the "free trade" global economic order that the US constructed and, under Bill Clinton, invited China to join, granting both permanent normal trading relations and membership in the WTO.

China is a mercantilist nation, largely copying the successful Asian model developed by the Japanese and the Asian tigers. Its communist dictators plan and guide an economy geared to develop through exports. The elements of its model are clear, evident to all who would see, and not often admitted. They include:

An artificially undervalued currency, pegged to the dollar; An industrial policy that targets "pillar industries," using a broad range of subsidies and protections to capture of world markets; A complicated maze of trade barriers that allows Systematic pressure on foreign multinationals to invest for export in China and to transfer their most advanced production techniques to China; Systematic efforts to pirate technology, trade secrets and copyrighted materials; A system of forced savings that funds investment

In the global economy, China is a rogue nation - with success that breeds envy and imitation. Its system works very well for China, but not for the rest of the world, as respected commentators like Martin Wolf of the Financial Times have pointed out. Fixing Global Finance, 2008 As the IMF warned, the dramatic trade imbalances run by China as a mercantilist nation and the US as the consumer of last resort are destabilizing and unsustainable - and contributed directly to the financial bubble and bust that drove the world into the Great Recession.

This poses a central problem. What do you do when the most successful nation in a trade regime routinely and systematically violates that regime?

You can deny reality. This has been a favored response of the China lobby, arguing that China is really far more open and free market than Japan and other East Asian countries, or trumpeting preposterously that the "World is Flat," and there are no alternatives to the Washington consensus.

You can argue that the situation is improving. Successive administrations have claimed that the Chinese will inevitably become more democratic and more free as the economy grows, that the Chinese government has agreed to crack down on piracy, to curb its internal systems of bribes and controls, to let its currency adjust, to increase domestic demand and decrease forced savings. But after twenty years, the routine gets a bit tired. .

You can argue that the situation doesn't matter. This is the favorite trope of the US foreign policy elite.(See most recently, Fareed Zakaria) China and the US have a symbiotic relationship, we're told. They have to keep the dollar strong and cover our deficits. So we benefit by buying more than we produce and getting a flood of cheap products; they benefit by producing more than they buy.

But this too is hard to swallow after twenty years. The imbalances contributed directly to the financial casino that Wall Street opened -- while US workers saw their jobs shipped abroad, their wages fall, and their prospects dim.

The Obama administration, not surprisingly, has tip-toed around this question. Obama led the drive to get the G-20, including China, to set up a process to monitor - and highlight -- excessive trade imbalances. Unlike Bush, Obama accepted the decision of the US Trade Commission in cases concerning Chinese dumping or flooding of our markets. But as under Bush, the Obama Treasury Department ducked calling things by their real name, refusing to certify that China was doing what everyone understands it is doing - manipulating its currency to keep it undervalued.

Now, as the world starts to turn its attention to recovery - however prematurely - the question remains. How will the US handle a rogue nation with policies that are destabilizing for the globe, and ruinous for the American middle class?

At the end of the day, the US will have to have an aggressive trade policy to challenge Chinese mercantilism and a smart industrial policy to revive advanced US manufacturing. We know how to do it - to target a key industry with public supported R and D, smart procurement, planning to build supply chains, subsidies for investment here.

The president rightly says that capturing a lead in the new green industrial revolution is a matter of our nation's basic economic security. Well, consider the way we deal with national security when it comes to the military. There's no parading about free trade. No conservative blather about small government, or getting government out of the way. Here's how the Pentagon's recently published 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review described the Pentagon's industrial policy:

America's security and prosperity are increasing linked with the health of our technology and industrial bases. In order to maintain our strategic advantage well into the future, the Department requires a consistent, realistic, and long-term strategy for shaping the structure and capabilities of the defense technology and industrial bases--a strategy that better accounts for the rapid evolution of commercial technology, as well as the unique requirements of ongoing conflicts.

That strategy includes export controls, procurement policy, and "a strategic approach to climate and energy."

China has made new energy a "pillar industry." It has deployed the entire range of its mercantilist strategies to make itself the leading manufacturing of solar panels.

If capturing a leading edge of these industries is vital to our nation's economic security, then shouldn't we get serious about an industrial policy that goes far beyond the Pentagon?

Marian Wright Edelman: Remembering Howard Zinn

2010-02-10T03:06:38Z

When Howard Zinn passed away on January 27 at age 87, the nation mourned the loss of a pioneering historian and social activist who revolutionized the way millions of Americans, especially young Americans, understand our shared history. His writings and work inspired millions of readers, but I was among the generations of students privileged to know him as a beloved teacher, mentor, and friend. His first academic job after graduate study at Columbia University was at the historically Black, all-women Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, my alma mater. The tall, lanky professor and I arrived at Spelman together in 1956, I as a freshman and he as chair of the history department. He and his beautiful wife Roslyn and their two children, Myla and Jeff, lived in the back of Spelman's infirmary where students always felt welcome to gather, explore ideas, share hopes, and just chew the fat.

Howie encouraged students to think outside the box and to question rather than accept conventional wisdom. He was a risk-taker. He lost no opportunity to challenge segregation in theaters, libraries, and restaurants, and encouraged us to do the same. The Black Spelman establishment did not like Howard Zinn any more than the White establishment did. Later, after he joined the faculty at Boston University, its president, John Silber, disliked him just as much as Spelman's president Albert Manley did, because he made some teachers and administrators uncomfortable by challenging the comfortable status quo. We called him Howie and felt him to be a confidant and friend as well as a teacher, contrary to the more formal and hierarchical traditions of many Black colleges. He stressed analysis over memorization; questioning, discussions, and essays rather than multiple choices and pat answers; and conveyed and affirmed my Daddy's belief and message that I could do and be anything and that life was about far more than bagging a Morehouse man for a husband.

He lived simply and nonmaterialistically. I felt comfortable asking to drive his old Chevrolet to transport picketers to Rich's department store or to scout out other potential demonstration sites. He was passionate about justice and his belief in the ability of individuals to make a difference in the world. Not a word-mincer, he said what he believed and encouraged us as students to do the same.

He conveyed to me and to other students that he believed in us and that we were powerful and not helpless to change what we did not like. He conveyed to members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee whose voter registration and organizing efforts he chronicled in his book SNCC: The New Abolitionists that he believed in, respected, and supported our struggle. He was there when two hundred students conducted sit-ins and seventy-seven of us got arrested. He provided us a safe space in his home to plan civil rights activities by listening and not dictating and always kept our secrets from the administration. He laughed and enjoyed life and taught us that it could be fun to challenge the status quo. What fun it was to visit the Georgia state legislature, sit in the Whites-only section, watch the floor proceedings screech to a halt, and hear the frantic gaveling and demands to "move those people to where they belonged." With Howie, we would then saunter out with smiles on our faces to dream about the next adventure.

He spoke up for the weak and little people against the big and powerful people just as he did his whole life. An eloquent and prolific chronicler of The People's History of the United States, of the Civil Rights Movement, and of the longings of the young and the poor and the weak to be free, his most profound message and the title of one of his books is that "you can't be neutral on a moving train." You can and must act against injustice.

Howie taught me to question and ponder what I read and heard and to examine and apply the lessons of history in the context of the daily political, social, and moral challenges all around us in the South like racial discrimination and income inequality. He combined book learning with experiential opportunities to engage in interracial discussions; partnered with community groups challenging legal segregation; and engaged students as participants, observers, data collectors, and witnesses in pending legal cases. He listened and answered questions as we debated strategies for conducting sit-in demonstrations to challenge segregated public dining facilities and used his car to check out, diagram, and help choreograph planned civil rights events. He reassured us of the rightness of our case when uncertainty and fear crept in and some of our college presidents sought to dampen our spirits and discourage our activities.

In short, he was there for and with us through thick and thin, focused not just on our learning in the classroom but on our learning to stand up and feel empowered to act and change our own lives and the community and region in which we lived. He taught us to be neither victims nor passive observers of unjust treatment but active and proud claimants of our American birthright. Howie helped prepare me to discover my leadership potential. I was so blessed to have Howie Zinn as a teacher and lifelong friend and will miss him deeply.

Read "Saying Goodbye to My Friend Howard Zinn," by Alice Walker, published in The Boston Globe on Jan. 31, 2010.

Hiram Monserrate EXPELLED: NY State Senate Votes To Expel Queen Lawmaker After Assault Conviction

2010-02-10T03:02:34Z

ALBANY, N.Y — The state Senate voted Tuesday night to expel a state senator convicted of a misdemeanor charge of assaulting his girlfriend.

The Senate voted 53-8 to oust Sen. Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat who was convicted of dragging girlfriend Karla Giraldo through his apartment lobby but acquitted of felony assault. A felony conviction would have automatically cost him his job.

Monserrate apologized for any discredit his conduct brought to the Senate, but he said Tuesday's vote was depriving voters of their right to choose a representative.

"We look forward to the court's intervening to protect the constitutional rights of the people that I represent," he said.

Attorney Steve Hyman said he and Monserrate will file a federal lawsuit challenging his removal as soon as possible. They will seek court orders preventing officials from removing him or holding a special election to replace him, both said.

Gov. David Paterson said he will call a special election for March 16 to fill the Senate seat. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is prepared to defend the Senate's decision, spokesman John Milgrim said.

Monserrate is separately appealing his criminal conviction.

"The Senate cannot turn a blind eye to an act of domestic violence, a crime for which the state of New York has a zero-tolerance policy, and an attempt to evade responsibility for such a crime through dishonesty and bullying," said Sen. Eric Schneiderman, who chaired a special investigations committee that recommended censuring or expelling Monserrate. He said Monserrate's conduct damaged the integrity of the Senate.

The committee criticized Monserrate for refusing to cooperate with its investigation. Its report noted that he was convicted of dragging his girlfriend in a domestic incident and told a judge he took full responsibility for his actions. But in later media interviews, he didn't acknowledge that, the report said.

Monserrate has said he was trying to get her to the hospital to treat a facial cut, which he and Giraldo said was an accident from a glass he was holding earlier that night. A judge sentenced him for the misdemeanor to three years' probation, 250 hours of community service and 52 weeks of domestic abuse counseling.

The eight votes opposed to expulsion included those who wanted to censure Monserrate, which would have disciplined him but left him in his seat.

Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Bronx Democrat, said the Democratic conference voted to expel Monserrate "to get even" for his role in a brief coup in which he joined Republicans to topple the Democrats. When pressed for a vote during his speech, Diaz said to his colleagues that he votes against all of them.

The Democrats hold a narrow 32-30 majority including Monserrate, who with another Democrat briefly joined with Republicans last year in a coalition that resulted in monthlong legislative gridlock before they switched back.

White House Takes Aim At Lobbyists Trying To Sink Student-Loan Bill

2010-02-10T02:51:04Z

The Obama administration has launched a final push to get one of the president's signature education reform initiatives, lashing out in unusually strong terms at the lobbying effort that threatens its passage.

Taking aim at Sallie Mae, the largest student lender in the country and a driving force behind the lobbying effort, Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Tuesday accused the company of using taxpayer funds to lobby and advertise, and cast its executives as white-collar millionaires uninterested in serious education reform.

"Sallie Mae executives have paid themselves hundreds of millions of dollars in the last decade while teachers, nurses, and scientists -- the backbone of the new economy -- face crushing debt because of runaway college tuition costs," Duncan said.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Duncan called the administration's plans to overhaul the student loan program by ending government subsidies for private lenders "a once-in a generation, maybe once-in-a lifetime" opportunity that Congress would be foolish to let slip away.

But slip away it may. Despite its common-sense appeal and its passage by the House of Representatives, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act -- which would eliminate the role that private industry plays in originating student loans -- has gotten a tough reception in the Senate, in large part because private lenders have spent a boatload of money protecting their turf.

Last week, The New York Times reported that Sallie Mae had launched an intense lobbying effort to push the Senate's hand, including "sit-downs with lawmakers, town-hall-style meetings and petition drives to plead their case and stay in business." Over the past year, the company spent more than $4 million lobbying Congress, a review of campaign finance records showed. That was the equivalent of $25,000 for every day Congress was in session.

Asked about the lobbying campaign. Duncan replied: "I think banks have had a sweet deal. They're a powerful lobbying force, and working-class families don't have lobbyists working for them. They're just trying to make ends meet and pay to go to college. And so you have strong, entrenched interests that have lobbied and continue to lobby to this day, and they're running ads in states. And you have, on the flip side, millions of working-class families trying to do the right thing and go to school."

How the debate evolved to this is, in many ways, a reflection of the complications the legislative process has presented to the White House generally. Last fall, President Obama called the idea of removing the private industry's role in originating student loans a "no-brainer." Instead of giving private lenders federal subsidies and guarantees to make student loans (as is the case under the Federal Family Education Loan program) the government would simply do it itself. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that reform would save taxpayers about $87 billion over the next ten years -- money that would, in turn, be invested towards expanding Pell Grants for students in addition to other education initiatives. Smart politics, in short, begat even better political messaging. At least the House thought so, passing the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act this summer.

But in the Senate, the lobbyists have had better luck, successfully trotting out two basic arguments: That students would default more frequently with the government in the role of lender; and that reforming the student loan industry would result in substantial job loss in the private sector.

Supporters of the bill insist neither charge is legitimate. For starters, government is already chest deep in the loan industry, following the collapse of the financial markets and the decision of many schools to switch to direct loan programs. According to the Department of Educations congressional budget justification, more than 88 percent of federal student loan volume in the 2008-2009 academic year "was finance through capital provided by" the department. The remaining 12 percent is what the law would affect.

As for potential job losses, private industry would still be involved in servicing student loans -- making sure borrowers are making their payments on time, preventing default, and providing them with other services as well.

"I haven't found one [argument from Sallie Mae's lobbyists] that made sense yet," said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chair of the House Education Committee. "We are now providing 88 percent of all the capital and over the next ten years we can save 85 billion dollars doing it a different way. And that money can be used to enhance the educational opportunities of millions of students in this country. It is a no brainer."

But conservative Democrats in the Senate, especially those with ties to the lending industry, have long been skittish on the issue. And their concerns, Capitol Hill aides say, have only deepened as the bill has been cast as a government intervention.

Miller, in an interview with HuffPost, insisted that the outlook still "looks pretty good" and that the likely avenue for passage in the Senate will be through a parliamentary procedure that allows a simple up-or-down vote. "It is in the reconciliation instructions today with the House," he said. "So that is done. And all the conversations I've had with the administration, the Senate, they will probably go together."

Duncan, likewise, spoke encouragingly about the bill's prospects. There is, he stressed, no parallel to draw between this legislative process and health care reform -- another Obama initiative that once seemed destined for passage. "I don't know if I agree with the analogy," he said. "The choice is so amazingly clear to me. You just stop subsidizing banks, and you save tens of billions of dollars of savings in education.

"We feel a sense of urgency in this," Duncan said. "It's a once in a lifetime, once in a generation opportunity. These kinds of opportunities don't come along too often. And we want to make sure we have a chance to invest unprecedented resources in dramatically improving education in our country."

Simon Johnson's Analysis: Economist's Testimony Predicts Changes In 2010

2010-02-10T02:17:21Z

In recent months, the US economy entered a recovery phase following the severe credit crisis-induced recession of 2008-09. While slower than it should have been based on previous experience, growth has surprised on the upside in the past quarter.