G20 Party, Avigdor Lieberman Call Home...

Karl Rove
David Broder
E J Dionne

"If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would see a third party movement in 2012." - Newt Gingrich


Instead of gushing or panning what Michelle Obama wore today, or commenting on the protestors trashing the city of London, some real trash talking took place at the opening of the G20 conference today. The Guardian reports: "The G20 today agreed an economic recovery package of more than $1tn and new regulations for financial institutions, aimed at helping to pull the world out of recession and restoring confidence in a discredited global banking system.

Gordon Brown, hosting the summit of world leaders in London, outlined six points agreed by world leaders in London, including measures to stimulate growth, to kick-start global trade and to crack down on tax havens. Brown said the plan would not bring the economic crisis to an instant end, but "we've begun the process by which it will be solved".

He announced a new financial stability board that would ensure cross-border cooperation and new rules on pay and bonuses that "reflect actual performance with no more rewards for failure". Brown also said leaders had agreed to try to kick-start the stalled Doha round of trade talks and had pledged $250bn of trade finance over the next two years." The next piece of news will probably come from Germany or the Czechs, grousing how this plan sucks eggs. In reaction, the Dow has gone up a bit today and is interpreted as being good news.

Barack Obama is taking a safe strategy, having as many meetings with world leaders as he can, and listening to them tell their concerns, just like he originally tried with Congressional Republicans. Unlike the Republicans, who slapped him in the face, he is getting a better reaction, building bridges that may lead to peace talks and negotiations with countries like North Korea and Iran. Party on, dudes!

A spanner in the works is the new Foreign Minister of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman. He is Russian, his occupation was as a bouncer before he emigrated, and he is so far to the right that he doesn't need sheets for his bed. He is the love child of Joe the Plumber and Tom Tancredo...
Al Jazeera reports: "Israel's new foreign minister has said that the government is not bound by the agreement reached at the Annapolis conference in the US in 2007, which provides for a Palestinian state.

Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, made the remarks at a handover ceremony at the foreign ministry on Wednesday, the day after a new broad coalition government was sworn in. "There is one document that obligates us - and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity," he said."The Israeli government never ratified Annapolis, nor did parliament."

Lieberman said that Israel would, instead, follow the course set out in the so-called "road map", which made the creationg of Palestinian state contingent on the Palestinians halting violence against Israel.

In Annapolis, Israelis and Palestinians tried to get past this issue by pledging to address "final status" issues that would resolve decades of conflict by establishing an independent Palestinian state on lands currently occupied by Israel. The Israeli foreign minister also criticised the negotiations with the Palestinians that followed the agreement, saying that concessions would bring war rather than peace.

"Avigdor Lieberman clearly has problems with his medium-term memory as he was actually at a cabinet meeting in December 2, 2007 at which that agreement was ratified," Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Jerusalem, said. "However, he did storm out of the meeting before the vote took place. "What we seem to be seeing is the right-wing members of the new government trying to distance themselves from this very important agreement which was sheperded in by the Bush presidency and this will be met with some consternation by Barack Obama [Bush's successor]." Schooled by an al Jazeera reporter... Like all new dogs, Lieberman is pissing around and trying to establish his mark. But now Benjamin Netanyahu can let him be the rabid one, while in contrast, he seems like the sane one. It marks the death of many more native Palestinians...

TPM has this interesting piece on a study of defense contractors from the last 15 years. "Proven cases of fraud and corruption cases dropped suspiciously among defense contractors even as funds for defense contractors rose dramatically since 1993, according to a Center for Public Integrity study. The study showed that even as defense contracting doubled from the beginning of Bill Clinton's first term to the end of George W. Bush's second term (from $200B to $400B), proven cases of contracting fraud decreased 76 percent. An FBI spokesman said that the terror threat took resources away from efforts to oversee defense contractor fraud." Back in the 70's there was an outrage over rampant contractor fraud, charging the Army $110 for a toilet seat was used as an example. During the last eight years no-bid contracts became fashionable, with no oversight on how well things were carried out. KBR has been charged with faulty electrical wiring at facilities for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in the electrocution deaths when soldiers went to take a shower...

Ordering a Pizza from Big Brother

Operator: "Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. May I have your..."

Customer: "Hi, I'd like to order."

Operator: "May I have your NIDN first, sir?"

Customer: "My National ID Number, yeah, hold on, eh, it's 6102049998-45-54610."

Operator: "Thank you, Mr. Sheehan. I see you live at 1742 Meadowland Drive, and the phone number's 494-2366. Your office number over at Lincoln Insurance is 745-2302 and your cell number's 266-2566. Which number are you calling from, sir?"

Customer: "Huh? I'm at home. Where d'ya get all this information?"

Operator: "We're wired into the system, sir."

Customer: (Sighs) "Oh, well, I'd like to order a couple of your All-Meat Special pizzas..."

Operator: "I don't think that's a good idea, sir."

Customer: "Whaddya mean?"

Operator: "Sir, your medical records indicate that you've got very high blood pressure and extremely high cholesterol. Your National Health Care provider won't allow such an unhealthy choice."

Customer: "Damn. What do you recommend, then?"

Operator: "You might try our low-fat Soybean Yogurt Pizza. I'm sure you'll like it"

Customer: "What makes you think I'd like something like that?"

Operator: "Well, you checked out 'Gourmet Soybean Recipes' from your local library last week, sir. That's why I made the suggestion."

Customer: "All right, all right. Give me two family-sized ones, then. What's the damage?"

Operator: "That should be plenty for you, your wife and your four kids, sir. The 'damage,' as you put it, heh, heh, comes $49.99."

Customer: "Lemme give you my credit card number."

Operator: "I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid you'll have to pay in cash Your credit card balance is over its limit."

Customer: "I'll run over to the ATM and get some cash before your driver gets here."

Operator: "That won't work either, sir. Your checking account's overdrawn"

Customer: "Never mind. Just send the pizzas. I'll have the cash ready. How long will it take?"

Operator: "We're running a little behind, sir. It'll be about 45 minutes, sir. If you're in a hurry you might want to pick 'em up while you're out getting the cash, but carrying pizzas on a motorcycle can be a little awkward."

Customer: "How the hell do you know I'm riding a bike?"

Operator: "It says here you're in arrears on your car payments, so your car got repo'ed. But your Harley's paid up, so I just assumed that you'd be using it."

Customer: "@#%/$@&?#!"

Operator: "I'd advise watching your language, sir. You've already got a July 2006 conviction for cussing out a cop."

Customer: (Speechless)

Operator: "Will there be anything else, sir?"

Customer: "No, nothing. oh, yeah, don't forget the two free liters of Coke your ad says I get with the pizzas."

Operator: "I'm sorry sir, but our ad's exclusionary clause prevents us from offering free soda to diabetics."