Category: News

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 18, 2010

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2010

In the morning, the President and the First Lady will welcome President Calderón of Mexico and Mrs. Zavala to the White House. The Vice President and Dr. Biden will also attend. The official arrival ceremony on the South Lawn is open press.

The President will hold a bilateral meeting with President Calderón in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press.

Later, The President will hold a joint press conference with President Calderón in the Rose Garden. This is open to pre-credentialed press. The deadline to request media credentials has passed.

In the afternoon, the President will meet with Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Susman in the Oval Office. The President and the Vice President will later meet with Secretary of State Clinton in the Oval Office. These meetings are closed press.

In the evening, the President and the First Lady will welcome President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala at the North Portico. This is open press. The President and the First Lady will then take the official photo with President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala on the Grand Staircase. This is pooled press.

Later, the President and the First Lady will attend the State Dinner with President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala. The Vice President and Dr. Biden will also attend. The President and President Calderón will each give a toast. The toast remarks during the dinner are pooled press. Following the dinner, the President and the First Lady will attend the State Dinner Reception with President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala in the tent on the South Lawn. The reception is pooled press.

**Please note that both events are currently outdoors and press coverage is subject to change depending on the weather.**

Also tomorrow, Solicitor General Elena Kagan will travel to Capitol Hill to meet separately with Senator Feingold, Senator Kaufman, Senator Shaheen, Senator Ben Nelson, Senator Conrad, Senator McCaskill, and Senator Akaka.

In-Town Travel Pool

Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP

TV Corr & Crew: FOX

Print: NY Daily News

Radio: AP

EDT

8:30AM In-Town Travel Pool Call Time

9:30AM THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST LADY, and DR. BIDEN welcome President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala to the White House

South Lawn

Open Press (Pre-set 6:30AM – Final Gather 8:30AM – North Doors of the Palm Room)

10:30AM THE PRESIDENT holds a bilateral meeting with President Calderón

Oval Office

Closed Press

10:55AM THE PRESIDENT holds an expanded bilateral meeting with President Calderón and Official U.S. and Official Mexican Delegations

Oval Office

Closed Press

11:50AM THE PRESIDENT and President Calderón hold a joint press conference

Rose Garden

Open Press (Pre-set 10:50AM – Final Gather 11:20AM – North Doors of the Palm Room)

3:30PM THE PRESIDENT meets with Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Lou Susman

Oval Office

Closed Press

4:15PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meets with Secretary of State Clinton

Oval Office

Closed Press

6:00PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY welcome President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala

North Portico

Open Press (Pre-set 5:00PM – Final Gather 5:30PM – North Doors of the Palm Room)

6:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY take official photo with President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala

Grand Staircase

Pooled Press (No pre-set, Final Call 6:10PM–North Doors of the Palm Room)

7:10PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY attend the State Dinner with President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala; THE PRESIDENT and President Calderón will each deliver a toast

East Room

Pooled Press for toasts by President Obama and President Calderón (No pre-set, Final Call 6:40PM–North Doors of the Palm Room)

8:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY attend the State Dinner Reception with President Calderón and Mrs. Zavala

South Lawn

Pooled Press (No Pre-set, Final Call 8:05PM–North doors of the Palm Room)

Via Prison Planet.com » Sci Tech

Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

If you listened to Barack Obama back during the 2008 presidential campaign, you may recall him explaining that words matter. According to leading climate scientist and M.I.T. professor Richard Lindzen, there is a good bit of wisdom in that, as it pertains to the debate about global warming.

Lindzen, speaking at the Heartland Institute’s International Conference on Climate Change on May 17 in Chicago, explained that by assuming the “skeptic” label, the anti-global warming alarmist movement implies the theory is plausible. And according to the M.I.T. professor, it isn’t.

“One suggestion I’d make is we stop accepting the term ‘skeptic,’” Lindzen said. “As far as I can tell, skepticism involves doubts about a plausible proposition. I think current global warming alarm does not represent a plausible proposition.”

Lindzen told the audience the alarmists have simply failed to prove their case.

“For 20 years –more than 20 years unfortunately, 22 by now, since ’88 – of repetition, escalation of claims does not make it more plausible. “Quite the contrary,” he continued. “I would suggest the failure to prove the case of 20 years makes the case even less plausible, as does the evidence of ClimateGate and other instances.”

And Lindzen ruled out the possibility the imminent destruction as a result of any potential climate catastrophe.

“In the meantime, while I avoid making forecasts for tenths of a degree change in global average temperature model, I’m quite willing to state that unprecedented climate catastrophes are not on the horizon, though in several thousand years, we may return to an ice age.”

Via Prison Planet.com » Commentary

James Delingpole
London Telegraph
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Well of course I would write a headline like that having just spent the last three days in Chicago at the Heartland Institute’s 4th International Conference on Climate Change. This is the event the cackling, cloak-wearing, befanged AGW-denying community attends every year to glorify in their own evil. And naturally, in the wake of Climategate, a mood of uproarious triumphalism has prevailed as distinguished skeptical scientists, economists, and policymakers from around the world – Pat Michaels, Richard Lindzen, Ian Plimer, Bob Carter, Fred Singer.. you name them, they’re here – have gathered to dance on the smouldering ashes of the mythical beast ManBearPig.

Except we shouldn’t use that word “sceptic” any more. Richard Lindzen – Godfather of Climate Realism – told us so in one of the keynote addresses.

“Scepticism implies doubts about a plausible proposition,” he said. “Current global warming alarmism hardly represents a plausible proposition.” Not least, he pointed out, because the various activist scientists, greenies and government institutions pushing AGW theory have failed to “improve their case over 20 years.” So paper thin are the AGW movement’s arguments that pretty much the only defences left to them are desperate techniques like the appeal to authority (“the Royal Society believes in AGW and the Royal Society is, like, really old and distinguished, so AGW must be true”) and cheap slurs.

Consider, as examples of the latter technique, how this conference has been reported in the liberal media. Both the BBC and the Huffington Post have decided to write off the expertise of the dozens of PhDs and professors speaking at this event to concentrate on the issue that really matters: it was funded by Big Oil. (Except it isn’t. Unfortunately Big Oil stopped funding the skeptical side of the argument a long time ago. The Heartland Institute is a conservative leaning think tank funded by a number of business donors, and the main funder of the conference is a local libertarian millionaire who just happens to want a bit of openness and honesty in the debate on AGW. But hey, never let the facts get in the way of a libtard story).

Full article here

Several studies indicated caffeine’s potential in “Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases.” It is a collection of researches that tackled the benefits of caffeine in multiple perspectives.

Caffeine, in a series of epidemiological studies, is instrumental in preventing motor dysfunction similar to Parkinson’s disease. In addition, moderate consumption of caffeine reverses the effect of cognitive decline because of age and also Alzheimer’s Disease by preventing memory loss and neurodegeneration. It targets a particular adenosine A2A receptor to do this. It normalize brain functioning and reduce amyloid beta production.

The said research collection is a compilation of original researches from international experts and funded by Associação Industrial e Comercial do Café with editors from the University of Lisbon and University of Coimbra, in Portugal. Coffee has been known for its anti-oxidant properties but it is only recently that caffeine is being appreciated for its remarkable effects on the brain.

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REW reports the UK wave power testbed in Cornwall is due to be completed next year – Wave Hub Marine Hydro Project on Track for Summer 2011 Deployment .

Wave Hub, a marine renewable infrastructure project that will create the world’s largest test site for wave energy technology, is on course to be deployed by summer 2011, with fabrication of subsea cables and the hub itself nearing completion, developers reported.

Wave Hub is being developed by the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency). It is situated on the seabed in some 50 meters of sea water approximately 16 kilometers off the coast of Cornwall and connected to the national grid via a subsea cable. Wave Hub will create a test site for wave energy technology by building a grid-connected socket on the seabed, to which wave power devices can be connected and their performance evaluated

Hartlepool-based JDR Cable Systems is constructing the armored 25- kilometer subsea cable that will connect Wave Hub to the grid and the hub structure that will sit on the seabed. Work also is progressing on the hub assembly, which will provide a connection between the main cable from the shore and the tails leading to the wave energy devic

Garden birds prefer non-organic food to organic, study finds – Telegraph UK

Via Prison Planet.com » Prison Planet

BRIAN THOMPSON and JONATHAN DIENST
NBC New York
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

A Transportation Security Administration agent has been arrested for allegedly stealing $400 dollars from a wheelchair bound passenger as she passed through a security checkpoint at Newark Airport.

Leroy Ray allegedly went into the disabled woman’s bag as it passed through the X-ray machine.

Ray was caught on surveillance video on February 3, 2010, reaching into the woman’s bag to steal an envelope of cash, according to a criminal complaint.

The fiftyish year old woman, investigators said, was from North Jersey and was flying out of Newark to visit relatives overseas.

Full article here

Today Volkswagen released the first sketch of its new Sedan that is slated to hit the Indian roads later this year.

It has been specifically designed for India and will be manufactured in Volkswagen’s state of the art plant at Chakan, Pune.

It will no doubt carry the Volkswagen DNA of German Engineering which is innovative technology, safety, stability sturdiness and tailored to the requirements of the Indian consumer.

Its authentic and elegant design coupled with its innovative features and driving dynamics will set benchmarks in its class and will act as a key brand pillar for Volkswagen to stimulate its growth in the country.

This new Sedan will be in addition to Volkswagen’s already existing product line which includes the Passat, Jetta, Touareg, New Beetle, Phaeton and the very recently and successfully launched New Polo.

Volkswagen, the largest carmaker in Europe sells its broad model range from the Fox to the Phaeton in more than 150 countries worldwide. Volkswagen currently offers the Volkswagen Jetta and Passat, assembled in Aurangabad for the Indian consumers. Also available on sale now is the iconic New Beetle, the powerful SUV Touareg, Phaeton and the New Volkswagen Polo.

Source: Volkswagen India

Source: Auto News India

This rather bizarre-looking creation isn’t a solar panel that’s normally found on a roof—oh no, it’s the latest work from Philippe Starck, and is made from OLEDs and stainless steel. It’s a light. A very, very pricey light. More »










Organic LED – Business – Philippe Starck – Energy – Metals

Vorsteiner has unveiled their new V6E Aero Package for the Mercedes Benz E63 AMG. The Vorsteiner Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG V6E Aero Package components are as follows: V6E Carbon Fiber Add-On Front Spoiler, V6E Carbon Fiber Deck Lid Spoiler, V6E Carbon Fiber Rear Diffuser, Vorsteiner 3-Piece Forged Wheels.

Up front the V6E Carbon Fiber Add-On Front Spoiler features an elegant yet bold design, featuring two inlets joined by a center spoke. It gives the front fascia of the E63 AMG a prominent foundation as well as prominent performance by increasing downforce and aiding in ventilation for the undercarriage of the vehicle.

The V6E Carbon Fiber Add-On Deck Lid Spoiler contours flawlessly to theangles and edges of the deck lid while increasing downforce to the rear end of the vehicle, increasing performance, especially at high speeds.

Working in tandem with the Front Add-On Spoiler, the V6E Carbon Fiber Rear Diffuser completes the sporty yet elegant character of the vehicle with 3 integrated diffuser fins that sits between the sporty quad exhaust tips.

Completing the package are the Vorsteiner V-308 3-Piece Concave Forged wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires (wheels shown in Fine Textured Black finish). The V-308 is the most concave wheel available on the market, serving a highly customizable array of widths and offsets for any wheel application.

Source: Lincah.Com – New Car and Used Car Pictures

Season 2009-2010 has hit Washington Wizards with one blow after another so franchise representative Irene Pollin must have heard angels singing when No. 1 draft choice is drawn out for Wizards.

Losing is not something new for any team but Wizards left last season in 26-56 with some spiky highlights.

Their key player Gilbert Arenas is placed under suspension for breaking NBA’s zero tolerance policy on firearms. That’s for using his locker in the Verizon Center as the safe for his guns.

Abe Pollin, head owner of Wizards who also made the move to drop the controversial name Washington Bullets, passed away in November 2009. It certainly is a tough moment of letting go but it seems not to be the end of the rough season as they needed to also trade Jamison and Butler for trimming down salary expenses.

Pollin family’s legacy with Washington Wizards will be handed over to new owner Ted Leonsis and the deal will probably get the seal by June. With the upper hand in enjoining either John Wall or Evan Turner, lottery may not be the only thing where this team can win. But then luck is not a reliable force that 2011 NBA championship would need.

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M. Gieles / ESO

The spiral galaxy Messier 83 is a delicate wisp in infrared wavelengths, as seen at left by the HAWK-I instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. But it looks like a fiery pinwheel in the visible-light image at right, captured by the MPG/ESO telescope. Click on the picture for a larger view.

The spiral galaxy Messier 83, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spectacular fireworks show when it’s seen through a big telescope in visible light. But when the European Southern Observatory looked at the pinwheel in infrared wavelengths, the result was a much more delicate, no less beautiful picture of the galaxy’s hottest young stars with the surrounding gas stripped away.

PITTSBURGH — You probably swipe a credit or debit card through a magnetic stripe reader dozens of times each month.  It's a simple act, but it's it at the core of a battle between titans with billions of dollars at stake. On one side are big banks, which take a cut every time a card is swiped. On the other are retailers like Mike McArdle, who are tired of paying Visa, MasterCard and their member banks $1 or $2 every time a customer makes a purchase.

McArdle runs McArdle's Pub on Pittsburgh’s South Side, the very definition of a family business. It opened in 1939, and the sign above the front door doesn’t look like it’s been changed since.  It once held a prime spot near two of the Steel City's largest steel plants.  Both of them have long since been converted to shopping malls, but McArdle's plugs away, thanks to its position just off the main entertainment strip in Pittsburgh's hippest neighborhood. 

For years, banks have held the upper hand in the fight with the McArdles of the world, but no more. Last week, the U.S. Senate approved legislation that could drastically change the way banks are compensated for card swipes, and that could impact what happens every time you pull out your wallet. In fact, the legislation could provide incentives — that means money — for Americans to leave the plastic in their wallet and pull out old-fashioned cash instead. 

As part of its omnibus financial reform bill, Congress is taking on what are called interchange fees — the price that merchants pay for banks to process their credit card transactions.  Formulas vary, but generally stores pay a flat 50 cents or $1 per transaction fee, plus 1 to 2 percent of the purchase price.  Retailers have screamed for years that the fees are too high and that the card associations impose anti-competitive restrictions on them – given the limited choices among standards like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

Last week, in a surprisingly bipartisan vote, the Senate agreed to an amendment that would instruct the Federal Reserve Board to limit the fees card processers can charge merchants. It also included two practical changes that would have an immediate impact on shoppers:

*Current contracts between merchants and banks forbid stores from requiring a minimum purchase amount before customers can use cards — a provision that is sometimes ignored. Merchants hate this rule, as a $1.50 card purchase can become almost worthless to a store owner after minimum interchange fees are paid.  The Senate bill would prevent banks from forbidding minimum payment requirements.

*The bill also would make it easier for merchants to encourage consumers to use cash by preventing banks from limiting a store owner’s ability to offers discounts to cash-paying customers, according to its supporters.

As you might imagine, banks and merchants view the bill quite differently.

"Swipe fees have spiraled out of control in recent years, and this amendment is necessary to rein in these excessive fees and ensure that Main Street receives a fair shake," said the Merchants Payment Association, which represents retailers. "These fees are harmful across the board – from large businesses to small retailers to American consumers.”

But Trish Wexler, a spokeswoman for the Electronic Payments Coalition, which represents banks and card companies, said the law would hurt consumers by raising their credit costs and gutting reward programs.

 “Consumers will end up paying in the form of higher rates for their cards, reduced or eliminated debit card rewards programs, or a restriction on the amount of debit cards that are issued," she said. "Call this a win for retail, because that’s what it is."

Bernie Rafferty, behind the bar, thinks minimum charges are a good idea

 At its core, the question is simple:  if stores are paying 1 or 2 percent less in bank fees, who will keep the money — the retailers or the consumers?  Wexler is convinced that big stores like Walmart would simply pocket the extra cash and not pass along savings to shoppers.

There is a third possibility, however: Stores could split the difference.  If the total card fee is 2 percent, they could offer shoppers a 1 percent discount for paying cash.

"OK, so you buy something for $50 and you get a $1. I don't see consumers getting too excited about that," Wexler said.

Back in Pittsburgh, McArdle partly agreed. A 3-cent discount on a $2.50 draft beer (yes, draft beers only cost $2.50 at McArdle’s) probably wouldn't entice many drinkers to pay in cash. On the other hand, the minimum payment provision made sense to bartender Bernie Rafferty.

"Last weekend we had a guy in here who wouldn't keep a tab open,” he said. “He paid six separate times for two beers with his credit card. Those initial 50 cent fees really add up.”

While the legislation would forbid card firms from restricting discounts for cash payments, the Electronic Payments Coalition says that merchant contracts — and Visa and MasterCard policies — already allow that.  Rather, they say, current contracts only forbid the reverse: adding a surcharge for credit card transactions. To consumers, that distinction is semantics, but the banks and retailers, it could mean millions of dollars.

Some gas stations offer cash discounts, but few other retailers do. Most, like McArdle, would have a tough time changing their systems to create an entirely parallel price system.  On the other hand, discounts could encourage more consumers to pay in cash and provide an incentive to avoid hefty credit bills.

Would you pay in cash to save a few nickels or dimes on every transaction? Even if you would, don’t start hoarding bills just yet.  The amendment still must pass the House of Representatives and survive the sausage-making process that will produce the final financial reform legislation.

To read more about the swipe fee battle, see "Retailers, card industry escalate fee fight."

 Follow the Hidden Fee Tour of America by becoming a Red Tape Chronicles Facebook fan or follow me at http://twitter.com/RedTapeChron

For the people of Saint Michel, it has been a long four months since the January’s earthquake destroyed so much of Haiti’s capital. Coco McCabe experiences the chance to forget – just for one day – all the sorrow and hardship.

Boys climb a tree to watch a soccer game during a festival in the rural Haitian town of Saint Michel. Photo: Ami Vitale/Oxfam America

I missed the voodoo rara the first time it wound through the narrow streets of Saint Michel de l’Attalaye. It was a Friday and we were stuck in the early evening traffic that jammed the square. Before I could climb out of the car, the women in their bright pink dresses and men in blue suits had passed, their sax player and a man with maraccas pacing the paraders as they sang and swayed.

But we ran into them again, a few blocks away, and this time I jumped out, squeezing into the line of marchers, feeling myself swept along by exhilaration and anticipation as the streets darkened on the eve of Saint Michel’s feast, the annual celebration of the town’s patron saint.

For the people of Saint Michel, it has been a long four months since the January earthquake destroyed so much of Haiti’s capital. Now the chance had come to forget – just for one day – all the sorrow and hardship.  Even out here, in this rural community a four hour drive from Port-au-Prince, the quake has taken a heavy toll.

Many families here, where Oxfam has been working on longer-term development programs, lost relatives in the disaster. About 158 of Saint Michel’s own died – many of them students sent to the capital to study because schools in this area of Artibonite Department are not often very good. And in the days following the quake, about 11,000 survivors made their way to Saint Michel Commune. They descended on friends and relatives, many already pinched, needing food and shelter, and many have stayed. One family, the Perards, already nine strong, now have 17 relatives sharing their home, doubling up in beds and sleeping on the floor when night comes.

The day before the feast, we could feel the excitement building. Behind the home of Mayor Michele Lisette Casimir, women prepared giant bowls of food. Band members, hunched in a circle, held a quick meeting in her front yard. And visitors streamed through her gate, hoping for a few minutes of her time before the big day.

Casimir had her fingers crossed that the night of the festival she would be able to flick a switch and finally bring electricity to Saint Michel – even as she worried whether the community could afford to keep the lights on. Since the late 1980s, this sugarcane-growing town has been without a municipal source of electricity. Casimir has been working with the national government to get a 635 kilowatt generator hooked up – enough to electrify the main part of town. The only concern is the fuel it will consume: 25 gallons of diesel an hour.

“That’s the problem in a poor country,” said Casimir. “You take and you figure out how to manage later.”

A bandstand was going up board by board in the square. Banners strung across the streets announced the festival. And those who were smart made sure they got their tickets in advance for Tropicana D’Haiti, an adored big band scheduled to play the night of the feast.

Down one street, the transformation was complete: residents had stripped their beds of sheets and draped them, dazzling in the tropical sun, over the rickety fences separating their homes from the road. The effect of that simple gesture was magical – from dusty way to heavenly lane, festooned, occasionally, by curled red ribbons.

But my favorite vision was this: A swarm of boys, all ages, perched high – so high, on ever thinner limbs – in a row of trees overlooking the tall wall of the local soccer field. Feast day also happened to be the day of the final match between Saint Michel and Gonaives, a contest no one wanted to miss, including a flock of boys too poor to buy tickets to the game.

But in that creative way that necessity inspires, the boys had found their own solution.

“The tree is free!” said my Haitian colleague, as our car bounced by beneath the branches.  And a grin, as bright as the sheets dancing down that nearby street, stretched across his face.

Where we work: Haiti

Originall posted on the Oxfam America blog

Social gaming is one of the fastest growing segments online and is becoming one of the most profitable. Zynga, the biggest name in social gaming, has risen from nothing to become a company worth billions of dollars and with revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars due to the success of its games on social networks, Facebook on partic… (read more)

While Europe receives an inordinate amount of attention for its current financial problems, and the U.S. has long been a pariah, we feel that recently markets and investors may have forgotten about Japan.

Sydney Morning Herald:

“What’s happening in Greece is just the tip of an iceberg of a broader range of sovereign debt issues, of deficit, in many advanced economies,” said Roubini, one of the few experts who predicted the financial crisis.

The new crisis could occur “not just in the eurozone but UK, US, or Japan,” he said.

Roubini, speaking at a London School of Economics conference, said there was an “economic recovery, but in many ways countries have not answered the real problem.

Is Japan better off than the Eurozone? Financially? Demographically? We doubt it.

More: How Japanese hyperinflation could unfold >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Nomura’s Richard Koo Reiterates Warning To America: Japan Is The Country You’re Doomed To Become
• Koo: The West Must Wake Up And Fear Its Japanese Future
• Ireland Destined For A Greece-Like Debt Nightmare By The Year 2012

Article Tags: Piers Corbyn

Slide 1 summarizes the 4 points I have to make and the other 15 slides (some just background and also for elsewhere) back-up the 4 points. I have not developed point 2 in slide 4 because it is hard and full of pitfalls but the argument of slide 4 holds.

Please – anyone – show/report the predictions (SERIOUS STUFF) – slide 11.

Piers

Click to see Coal Outlook Conference Brochure

Click to see Piers Corbyn Power Point at the European Coal Outlook Conference

Read in full with comments »   

Joe Weisenthal | May. 18, 2010, 8:57 AM | 66,483 |  101

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dow-theorist-richard-russell-sell-everything-liquid-you-wont-recognize-america-by-the-end-of-the-year-2010-5#ixzz0oKPKTPEO