The Commentariat -- February 20

From Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Concert, Madison Square Garden, May 3, 2009. Featuring Billy Bragg, Mike & Ruthy Merenda, Dar Williams, New York City Labor Chorus. Many thanks to reader Dave S:

... Steven Verberg of the Madison, Wisconsin State Journal: "... a new report by the liberal Economic Policy Institute ... looks at total compensation -- pay and benefits together -- and found that public workers earn 4.8 percent less than private sector employees with the same qualifications and traits doing similar jobs.... Average compensation for public workers is higher because the jobs they do -- such as teaching -- require a relatively high level of education..., said a senior policy analyst at the institute. Yet the typical Wisconsin public sector employee with a bachelor's degree makes less than $62,000, compared to more than $82,000 in the private sector...." ...

... Karoli of Crooks & Liars has a terrific post on a Fox "News" "bulletin" that supposedly outs doctors for giving fake medical excuses to teacher-protesters who have called in sick to their schools during the Wisconsin protests. The content of the Fox "bulletin" is Breitbart creative crap embellished by a Koch brothers-backed "think tank." With video. CW: I don't know why Fox even bothers to occasionally report actual news. It's so much more fun to make your own. 

... Monica Davey of the New York Times profiles Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. CW: the profile isn't going to make you like him any better. ...

... Brady Dennis of the Washington Post tells the same story: Walker has a history of taking irresponsible anti-union actions. And he's proud of it. ...

... Alex Altman of Time has more on Wisconsin's budget figures, suggesting that Walker's $137-million deficit projection may be more-or-less correct. Also, Read Paul Dirks' comment, #3.

... Chris Hayes & Naomi Klein of The Nation explain why the Wisconsin protests matter:

Frank Rich: "Republicans are adrift with a shortfall of substance, offering the president a golden chance to seize the moment."

Maureen Dowd on writers behaving badly, which some think is exascerbated by the anonymity, accessibility and speed of the Internet & other social media.

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "The House vote Saturday to slash more than $60 billion from the federal budget shows how powerfully the anti-spending fervor of the fall elections is driving the new Republican majority’s efforts to shrink government. It puts the two parties on a path to a succession of showdowns over the deficit and the nation’s growing debt.... The Democratic-controlled Senate has signaled that it will not consider anything approaching the scale of cuts approved by the House, setting up a standoff that each side has warned could lead to a shutdown of the federal government early next month.... Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner quickly criticized the House package.... The White House had threatened to veto the bill even before it was approved."

New York Times Editors: "The Pentagon needs to jettison the ancient formula that guarantees each service its accustomed share of taxpayer dollars.... For a decade, the Army and the Marines have been pushed to their limits while the Navy and the Air Force have looked for ways to stay useful and justify their budget shares. Updating the formula to reflect a more realistic division of labor would wring significant savings from the Air Force and the Navy.... The [Congressional] Republican leadership, in particular, does not make even the pretense of fiscal responsibility when it comes to military spending."

Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal: In a "heated White House meeting..., top Senate Democrats tried to scotch efforts by Majority Whip Richard Durbin to include Social Security in comprehensive deficit-reduction negotiations, illustrating the challenge facing the bipartisan talks."

The CYA State Secrets Doctrine. Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times: Now that it appears the computer software Californian Dennis Montgomery claimed could catch terrorists was a hoax, the federal government seems to be "trying to avoid is public embarrassment over evidence that Mr. Montgomery bamboozled federal officials.... Federal officials ... are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that his dealings with Washington stay secret.... The Justice Department ... has gotten protective orders from two federal judges keeping details of the technology out of court [and] says it is guarding state secrets...." The government has paid Montgomery $20 million. Here's the backstory in a nutshell:

A onetime biomedical technician with a penchant for gambling, Mr. Montgomery is at the center of a tale that features terrorism scares, secret White House briefings, backing from prominent Republicans, backdoor deal-making and fantastic-sounding computer technology.

... CW: what's the difference between the CIA & the Keystone Kops? Uniforms.

"Socialism with Cheerleaders." Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post: "The National Football League is one of the most sucessful monopolies in history.... The secret to the NFL's success is its ability to maintain the legal structure of 32 supposedly independent teams while operating with most of the advantages of a single business entity.... In a very disciplined way, it has added teams, extended the length of the season and increased the number of nationally televised games each week of the season. It has been so skillful in playing one city off another that it squeezed taxpayers for $500 million a year in stadium subsidies for many years. And it has so cleverly structured the sale of television rights that networks routinely wind up overbidding...."

Jon Kosman of the New York Post: the private equity firm Bain Capital, in which Mitt Romney held a controlling interest, made a fortune by buying and "bankrupting five profitable businesses that ended up firing thousands of workers." CW: some media observers see this column as a Rupert Murdoch hit job. I have no idea.

 

CW: I don't think what Soros says to Fareed Zakaria here is particularly earthshattering, but the clip is getting a lot of attention on the Web, so I've posted it:

Local News

"My Polluted Kentucky Home." Novelist & non-fiction writer Silas House in a New York Times op-ed on the toll exacted on residents by mountaintop removal and other coal mining practices, both legal and illegal:

The coal companies, the news media and even our own government have all been complicit in valuing Appalachian lives less than those of other Americans. Otherwise, it might be harder for them to get that coal out as quickly and inexpensively as they do.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Union leaders urged Wisconsin teachers to return to work at schools that are open on Monday, but large protests were expected to continue at the Capitol against a plan to cut collective bargaining rights and benefits to state workers." ...

... Fox "News": "Gov. Scott Walker said the 14 minority Democrats who left Madison on Thursday were failing to do their jobs by 'hiding out' in another state. And Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said his chamber would meet Tuesday to act on non-spending bills and confirm some of the governor's appointees even if the Democrats don't show up -- a scenario that should outrage their constituents." ...

... Wisconsin State Journal: "A marching, chanting crowd of 68,000 people thronged Madison’s Capitol Square on Saturday.... Supporters of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to effectively end collective bargaining for the state’s public employees and increase their pension and health payments stood toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with pro-union protesters.... A contingent of 120 Madison Police officers was supported by officers from the Capitol Police, State Patrol and the Dane County Sheriff’s Office. Also on the streets were deputies from sheriff’s departments from [other] counties.... There were no arrests...."

Al Jazeera: "There are reports of renewed anti-government protests in Iran, with demonstrators taking to the streets in several cities across the country. There have also been clashes between protesters and security forces, posts on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter said on Sunday. There were also reports of one protester being shot dead in Tehran, a story denied by government official in state media."

... New York Times: "The Obama administration on Sunday condemned Libya’s use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, pointing to what it said were 'multiple credible' reports that 'hundreds of people' had been killed and injured in several days of unrest. In the administration’s strongest statement on the escalating violence in Libya, the State Department said that it was 'gravely concerned' about the reports and that the number of deaths was unknown because of a lack of access to many parts of the country by news organizations and human rights groups." ...

... Guardian: "Muammar Gaddafi's son went on Libyan TV to defend his father's 41-year rule of Libya as protests spread to the capital Tripoli. The most violent scenes so far of the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world were seen as Gaddafi relied on brute force to crush what began last week as peaceful protests but now threaten his regime." ...

... AP: "A doctor in the Libyan city of Benghazi says his hospital has seen the bodies of at least 200 protesters killed by Moammar Gadhafi's forces over the last few days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears reprisal." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Libyan security forces opened fire once again on Benghazi residents as they attended a funeral procession for the dozens killed the day before by the same government forces."

... New York Times: "Teachers, lawyers and engineers marched into Pearl Square on Sunday, joining an emboldened opposition whose political leaders demanded that the king dissolve the government and fire his uncle, who has held the post of prime minister for 40 years, before they agree to enter into talks." ...

... Washington Post: "The White House had been working quietly for several days to undergird efforts by [Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa] and a small group of other Bahraini leaders to end the crackdown and begin implementing some of the political and economic changes demanded by protesters.... The White House's efforts were complicated by deep divisions within the Bahraini government as hard-liners ... sought to quickly crush the protest movement...."

AP: "Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a top scientist's [Samantha Joye] video and slides that she says demonstrate the oil isn't degrading as hoped and has decimated life on parts of the sea floor. That report is at odds with a recent report by the BP spill compensation czar that said nearly all will be well by 2012."

AP: "Jittery Chinese authorities ... staged a concerted show of force Sunday to squelch a mysterious online call for a "Jasmine Revolution" apparently modeled after pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East. Authorities detained activists, increased the number of police on the streets, disconnected some mobile phone text messaging services and censored postings about the call to stage protests at 2 p.m. in Beijing, Shanghai and 11 other major cities."

The Commentariat -- February 19

Quote of the Day. Opposable thumbs that once symbolized our superior intelligence and separated us from the apes are now used to type gibberish on our mobile devices. -- Gemli from Boston, who is sick of Republicans (Comment #3)

Dems on the Run. Scott Bauer of the AP: "Democrats on the run in Wisconsin avoided state troopers Friday and threatened to stay in hiding for weeks, potentially paralyzing the state government in a standoff with majority Republicans over union rights for public employees." ...

... David Morgan of CBS News: State Senator Jon Erpenbach -- one of the Democratic lawmakers [who fled Wisconsin] -- told 'The Early Show on Saturday Morning' that the Republican governor's proposal 'has torn the state of Wisconsin apart.'" No video, but CBS videos are problematic anyway.

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: Wisconsin Gov. Scott "Walker's proposal lets police and firefighter unions retain their collective bargaining rights and, thereby, their institutional clout, even though their taxpayer-supported pensions are among the most generous in the state. Not coincidentally, a number of police and firefighter unions supported Walker in the last election, and such unions tend to endorse more conservative candidates than, say, teachers' unions. So what Walker is really doing is going after unions that support Democrats." These unions "... also, and always, wage the biggest and most successful get-out-the-vote campaigns in minority communities -- communities that tend to vote heavily Democratic." ...

... Ezra Klein on the specifics of Gov. Walker's union-busting legislation. "... it's telling that he's exempting the unions that supported him and is trying to obscure his plan's specifics behind misleading language about what unions can still bargain for and misleading rhetoric about the state's budget." ...

... John Nichols of the Madison Capital Times on how the protests have grown to include students & people outside the public sector. ...

... Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "... the legislative push by Wisconsin’s new governor, Scott Walker, a Republican, to slash the collective bargaining rights of his state’s public employees could prove a watershed for public-sector unions, perhaps signaling the beginning of a decline in their power — both at the bargaining table and in politics." ...

... Michael Cooper & Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "The unrest in Wisconsin this week over Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to cut the bargaining rights and benefits of public workers is spreading to other states."

He's basically trying to be everything to everybody. Until you look at the policies, and then it's clear he's there for the corporate sector. -- Rose Ann DeMoro, director of National Nurses United, on President Obama ...

... Peter Wallsten of the Washington Post: "Two years into a presidency that carried immense promises for the labor movement..., some unions remain firmly by [President Obama's] side, while others think he has reneged on promises or ... abandoned them altogether.... Officials from ... the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said that tens of thousands of its members have been laid off and that they don't see the White House advocating for them. John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said he 'resented' the president's recent calls to reorganize the government and freeze salaries.... Pointing to Obama's defense this week of Wisconsin public workers, Gage said, 'It's about time.'" ...

... Gail Collins on Big Bird, the Daytona 500 & the Fitzgerald gang of Wisconsin. Okay, she's really written a column about budgets, but as usual, she makes it more entertaining than the numbers.

... Constant Weader: Where the Hell is Hilda Solis?

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times has more on the decision of the DOJ to drop the criminal probe of Anthony Mozilo, a story I linked late last night & moved up to today's ledes. Morgenson writes:

The conclusion by prosecutors that Mr. Mozilo, 72, did not engage in criminal conduct while directing Countrywide will likely fuel broad concerns that few high-level executives of financial companies are being held accountable for the actions that led to the financial crisis of 2008. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been lost by investors while millions of borrowers have lost their homes. Few of the people who ran the institutions that contributed to the disaster have been found liable.

Mark Landler: of the New York Times: "... the United States government has overlooked recent complaints about human rights abuses in [Bahrain,] a kingdom that is an economic and military hub in the Persian Gulf. ... The White House [is] once again scrambling to deal with an Arab ally facing a tide of popular discontent. ... In cables made public by WikiLeaks, the Bush and Obama administrations repeatedly characterized Bahrain as more open and reform-minded than its neighbors, and pushed back when human rights groups criticized the government. ...

... Nicholas Kristof: "America finds itself in a tough position, and that probably explains President Obama’s very cautious statement saying that he is 'deeply concerned.' ... We should signal more clearly that we align ourselves with the 21st-century aspirations for freedom of Bahrainis rather than the brutality of their medieval monarch. I’m not just deeply 'concerned' by what I’ve seen here. I’m outraged."

This is horrifying audio of ABC News correspondent Miguel Marquez being beaten in Pearl Square in Manama, Bahrain early yesterday morning.

... See also yesterday's Commentariat for video of New York Times reporter Michael Slackman & videographer Sean Patrick Farrell being shot at from a helicopter. Remember, these shooters & thugs are our "friends."

Richard Fausset of the Los Angeles Times: "In 1961, Montgomery, Ala., went all out for the centennial of the swearing-in of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The 150th anniversary this year is generating far less interest." BUT STILL. "On Saturday, [at] the 150th anniversary event ... hundreds of men are expected to march through the heart of Montgomery. Some will parade in Confederate gray. Some will display the controversial battle flag. On the steps of the white-domed state Capitol, an ersatz Davis will place his hand on a Bible. And a band will play 'Dixie.' But so far, this year's festivities are generating scant buy-in from city and state officials, and relatively little buzz among locals."

News Ledes

New York Times: "As Afghan soldiers and police officers lined up on Saturday to get their monthly salaries at a bank in downtown Jalalabad, they became targets for seven heavily armed attackers in Army uniforms who had joined them, Afghan officials said. In a chaotic scene, the attackers, all wearing explosive vests, started a gun battle, and several rushed into the bank, starting a siege there. The fighting ended three hours later, leaving 18 people dead and about 70 wounded...."

AP: "A prominent opposition leader says the withdrawal of army tanks from Bahrain's capital is not enough to open talks with rulers in the crisis-wracked Gulf nation. Ibrahim Sharif, head of the Waad Society, is demanding guarantees that protesters can stage rallies without fear of being attacked.... The pullback of tanks from the landmark Pearl Square on Saturday comes a day after army units opened fire on marchers streaming toward the site, which had been the symbolic center of their uprising against Bahrain's leaders." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Thousands of jubilant protesters surged back into the symbolic heart of Bahrain on Saturday after government security forces withdrew and the monarchy called for peace after two days of violent crackdowns." ...

... AP: "Libyans set up neighborhood patrols in the shaken eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday as police disappeared from the streets following an attack by government forces on a two-day-old encampment of protesters demanding an end to Moammar Gadhafi's regime, eyewitnesses said. The situation in the North African nation has become increasingly chaotic, with a human rights group estimating 84 people have died in a harsh crackdown on anti-Gadhafi demonstrations and the U.S.-based Arbor Networks security company saying Internet service was cut off around 2 a.m. Saturday...." ...

     Guardian Update: "Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is confronting the most serious challenge to his 42-year rule as leader of Libya by unleashing his army on unarmed protesters. Unlike the rulers of neighbouring Egypt, Gaddafi has refused to countenance the politics of disobedience, despite growing international condemnation, and the death toll of demonstrators nearing 100."

... Reuters: "Algerian police in riot gear on Saturday surrounded about 500 protesters trying to stage a march through the capital [city of Algiers] inspired by uprisings in other parts of the Arab world in defiance of a ban. A Reuters reporter at the scene said a group chanting 'Algeria -- free and democratic!' tried to reach May 1 Square in the city center to begin the protest march but were driven two blocks away by police using batons."

Reuters: "The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on Friday to choke off cash to fund President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, intensifying a fight with Democrats over budget cuts and deficits." ...

... ABC News: "The House of Representatives Friday passed a measure to end federal funding for abortion provider Planned Parenthood....  Friday afternoon, the House passed the amendment by a vote of 240-185. The vote was generally along party lines, with all but seven Republicans voting for the cut, and 10 Democrats voting in favor. One Republican voted present." ...

... New York Times: "Democrats late Friday night proposed a temporary extension of the stopgap measure now financing the government that would maintain expenditures generally at 2010 levels through March 31 and avert a federal shutdown. The current stopgap measure expires on March 4.... The temporary extension was proposed by ... Nancy Pelosi.... Democrats, however, do not have the votes to approve it without Republican support."

New York Times: "The [U.S.] Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Friday against one of the largest money exchange houses in Afghanistan, [the New Ansari Money Exchange",] along with 15 of its executives, on charges that it used billions of dollars transferred in and out of the country to help hide proceeds from illegal drug sales.... With these actions, the United States has seized any assets New Ansari and its managers hold in the United States. American banks and businesses are prohibited from transactions with those named in the order."

New York Times: "The Obama administration on Friday rescinded most of a 2008 rule that granted sweeping protections to health care providers who opposed abortion, sterilization and other medical procedures on religious or moral grounds. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said the rule, issued in the last days of the Bush administration, could 'negatively impact patient access to contraception and certain other medical services.'”

Surprise! DOJ Lets Another Bankster Off the Hook. New York Times: "Federal prosecutors have ended a criminal investigation of Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, without taking any action against him, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation who spoke only on the condition of anonymity."

The Commentariat -- February 18

Times reporter Michael Slackman & his videographer are fired on by government forces in Manama, Bahrain:

... Slackman filed his story anyway. ...

... Nicholas Kristof reports from Bahrain: "To be here and see corpses of protesters with gunshot wounds, to hear an eyewitness account of an execution of a handcuffed protester, to interview paramedics who say they were beaten for trying to treat the injured — yes, all that just breaks my heart."

During House debate on a Republican-led amendment to defund Planned Parenthood, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) revealed that she had had an abortion necessitated by a physical anomaly. Here's a related story from The Hill. Thanks to Leader Pelosi for posting this video:

** New York Times Editorial Board: Justice Clarence Thomas' refusal to participate in oral arguments is related to his ethical problems regarding his participation in political events & his wife's income as a lobbyist for political causes.

Paul Krugman: "There are three things you need to know about the current budget debate. First, it’s essentially fraudulent. Second, most people posing as deficit hawks are faking it. Third, while President Obama hasn’t fully avoided the fraudulence, he’s less bad than his opponents — and he deserves much more credit for fiscal responsibility than he’s getting."

On the Budget. Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. … Is there no other way the world may live? -- President Dwight Eisenhower (formerly Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, European Theater), April 16, 1953

Erik Wasson and Mike Lillis of The Hill: "House Democrats [including Leader Nancy Pelosi] worried that a bipartisan group of six senators is making progress toward putting the recommendations of President Obama’s debt commission into legislation delivered a message Thursday: Take Social Security out of the mix."

CW: sorry, I love this behind-the-scenes stuff:

David Sirota in Salon: Americans really like government programs but they don't know, or at least don't acknowledge, that they are utilizing these programs. "Americans become more supportive of government after using 'visible social programs,' but they do not become more supportive of government after using submerged-state programs"; i.e., ones they don't "see." "Rather than champion those 'visible social programs' like a public healthcare option or a new Works Progress Administration that might broadcast government's intrinsic value, [President Obama] merely pushed to expand the submerged state with initiatives like private health insurance subsidies and business tax cuts..." Big mistake.

Elizabeth Drew, in the New York Review of Books, assesses Obama's presidency & his relationship wit Republicans in Congress: "the widespread idea that Obama has 'turned to the center' has been much overstated, a concept encouraged by the White House and aimed at independents: Obama has made some symbolic gestures..., but he was no flaming liberal in his first two years in office."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: "Show Us the Jobs":

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, talks to Cenk Uygur of MSNBC about false information Powell presented to the U.N. Wilkerson says he "absolutely" believes Vice President Cheney manipulated Gen. Powell:

Homeland Security muzzles 84,000 innocent bloggers, falsely accuses them of distributing porn. Jerry Brito in Time's Techland: "... last Tuesday ... DHS announced that it had seized 10 domain names allegedly involved in advertising or distributing child pornography. Caught up in that sweep, however, were 84,000 innocent domains, all of which were redirected to the imposing 'seized for child porn' banner.... Exactly how this happened is unclear, but one likely scenario could have been prevented with better due process."

Local News

New York Times Editorial Board: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker "decided a budget crisis was a good time to advance an ideological goal ...: eliminating most collective bargaining rights for public employees.... Meanwhile, the governor is refusing to accept his own share of responsibility for the state’s projected $137 million shortfall. Just last month, he and the Legislature gave away $117 million in tax breaks, mostly for businesses ... and for private health savings accounts.... Had it not been for those decisions and a few others, according to the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the state would have had a surplus." ...

... Madison, Wisconsin, Capital Times Editors: "Wisconsin ... had been managing better until Walker took over.... In its Jan. 31 memo to legislators on the condition of the state’s budget, the Fiscal Bureau determined that the state will end the year with a balance of $121.4 million.... [Then] Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January.... Walker is manufacturing a fiscal 'crisis' in order to achieve political goals." ...

... You can join the campaign against this draconian legislation by signing this letter from Bold Progressives.org. (You need not be a Wisconsin resident.) ...

... Ha Ha. Eric Lach of TPM: "File this one under: brevity win. Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor (D) is one of the 14 Democrats who staged a walkout Thursday, and who no one seems to be able to locate. But that doesn't mean she has been in total hiding. [Thursday] afternoon, Taylor posted the following message -- which TPM is reproducing in its entirety -- on what appears to be her Facebook page":

brb

     ... CW: for those of you who, like me, aren't up on techspeak, "brb" is "be right back."

Right Wing World

Gene Robinson: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a likely Republican candidate for president, once again shows his indifference to black Americans; he says he will not denounce a group that has proposed a state license plate honoring Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, whose troops murdered black Union soldiers trying to surrender & who became a founding member & the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Barbour has a history of dismissing sensitive racial issues -- like, oh, segregation! -- as inconsequential.

When Karl Rove Is the Voice of Reason.... Jennifer Epstein of Politico: "Former Bush adviser Karl Rove is calling on GOP politicians to avoid falling into the 'birther' movement trap and to stop fueling rumors that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States."

News Ledes

President Obama at Intel on Friday:

Al Jazeera: "The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as "illegal" and called for an immediate halt to all settlement building. All 14 other Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution, which was backed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), on Friday." With video.

New York Times: "The fight over a bill to slash collective bargaining for Wisconsin’s public workers came to a standstill on Friday, as Democratic state senators refused to appear at the Capitol, members of the State Assembly delayed a vote until next week and thousand of protesters, their numbers still growing, marched, screamed, sang and sat."

New York Times: "Jeff Bingaman, a Democratic senator from New Mexico, will retire at the end of his term in 2012, adding to the growing list of open seats the party will have to defend next year."

President Obama spoke at Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon, this afternoon. AP Related: "... President Barack Obama is naming [Intel Corp. CEO Paul Otellino,] one of his critics, to an advisory council responsible for finding new ways to promote economic growth and bring jobs to the U.S...." ...

Washington Post: "The widened unrest in the Middle East took a more violent turn Friday as U.S.-allied governments in Yemen and Bahrain opened fire on their citizens, prompting Britain and France to announce a halt in arms sales. The use of live ammunition against pro-democracy protesters also triggered sharp criticism from President Obama, who urged authorities in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya to show restraint and 'respect the rights of their people.'"

** New York Times: "Government forces opened fire on hundreds of mourners marching toward Pearl Square [In Manama, Bahrain] on Friday, sending people running away in panic amid the boom of concussion grenades. But even as the people fled, at least one helicopter sprayed fire on them and a witness reported seeing mourners crumpling to the ground." See Times video in left column. ...

... New York Times: "Security forces and government supporters attacked protesters on Friday — using tear gas, batons, shotguns and grenades — in pitched street battles in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen."

... New York Times: "At least 24 people have died in protests in Libya against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, according to Human Rights Watch, and demonstrations were reported to have continued into Friday in what appeared to be the most serious challenge in his 41-year rule."

AP: "Thousands of mourners called for the downfall of Bahrain's ruling monarchy and worshippers at Friday prayers chanted against the king as anger shifted toward the nation's highest authorities after a deadly assault on pro-reform protesters that has brought army tanks into the streets of one of the most strategic Western allies in the Gulf." ...

... Washington Post: "The state of emergency imposed Thursday over .. [Bahrain] followed a crackdown by a police force heavily composed of foreign nationals and controlled by a widely despised prime minister."

AP: "Rivaling the biggest crowds since their pro-democracy revolt began, flag-waving Egyptians packed into Tahrir Square for a day of prayer and celebration Friday to mark the fall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak a week ago and to push their new military rulers to steer the country toward reform." ...

... New York Times: "(1) Hundreds of workers went on strike on Thursday along the Suez Canal, one of the world’s strategic waterways, joining others across Egypt pressing demands for better wages and conditions.... (2) Critics have questioned why the military has refused to free thousands of political prisoners and lift the Emergency Law...."

AP: "House Republicans on Thursday moved to block the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new rules that prohibit broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic on their networks. With a 244-181 vote, Republican leaders succeeded in attaching an amendment to a sweeping spending bill that would bar the FCC from using government money to implement its new 'network neutrality' regulations."

Bloomberg News: "President Barack Obama dined with a dozen leaders of the U.S. technology industry including Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs and Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg as he sought support for his education and innovation agenda and discussion on promoting growth."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Schools in Madison, [Wisconsin,] will be closed a third day Friday, as teachers continue to call in sick to protest a bill taking away union rights." ...

... Washington Post: President Obama has mobilized Organizing for America in Wisconsin & Ohio in support of public employee unions. Politico has more on the participation of OFA, an arm of the Democratic National Committee.

New York Times: Fed Chair Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee today "that banking regulators would be better able to deal with the failure of a large bank today than they were two years ago, thanks in part to the Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled financial regulation after the crisis of 2007-8."