Why Are Germans Able to Stop their Toyota's But Americans Can't? | der Spiegel

While the U.S. media continues to pile on Toyota, a competing meme is developing abroad. 

On BBCTV an industry analyst said it was curious the Toyota defects got so much more attention than much greater safety problems posed by American SUVs. He noted that automotive deaths happen all the time, but this problem became a major media issue only after the U.S. took control of GM. Similar speculation is featured throughout Europe and Japan. 

In the U.S. skepticism seems to be allowed only in the trades and blogosphere; Car and Driver magazine did a test showing that a Corolla going at 70 MPH, with the gas pedal floored, could still be braked to a full stop in a shorter distance than a Ford Escort with the pedal up. The "Opinionator" author Robert Wright points out the math showing the extremely low risk  from Toyota flaws. Wright's theory is that American's are math illiterate and thus lack the ability to evaluate this risk. 

Last night television repeatedly showed us a terrified driver who couldn't stop his Prius -- until the State Police pulled up next to him on the freeway and told him to use the brakes, then they worked. To believe some of the stories -- presented unquestioningly on U.S. television -- you have to accept that the accelerator stuck at the same time the brakes failed, and at the same time the transmission refused to shift. 

This article from Germany's der Spiegel magazine, asks why Germans are able to use their brakes to stop their Toyota's, but American drivers' can't. Good question:

Karl Rove as Jean Valjean: An Upside-Down Look at the Plame Affair | Declassified Blog - Newsweek.com

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff dissects attempts by Bush43's political Svengali to paint himself in his new book "Courage and Consequence" as a victim in the leaking of classified information:

Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 2:10 PM
Karl Rove as Jean Valjean: An Upside-Down Look at the Plame Affair 

Bigelow Forgot to Thank Bush-Cheney for Oscar | Leno

Monologue | Monday night on “The Jay Leno Show” on NBC: Record ratings for the Oscars last night. Kathryn Bigelow won best director for her film about the Iraq war. But in her speech, she forgot to thank the two people without whom this film could never have been made — Bush and Cheney.

Fears of $1 Billion Blackwater deal, from AP via SF Chron

Remember Blackwater, the politically connected far-right-wing "consulting" group banned by the Iraqi government? It's now called Xe and is looking for a $1 Billion deal in Afghanistan.

"A senior Senate Democrat said Thursday the Pentagon should consider barring Blackwater, now called Xe Services, from a new $1 billion deal to train Afghan police because of "serious questions" about the contractor's conduct.

Shockingly, L.A. is Safe - Opinionator Blog

Gods help us, there is some good news somewhere -- 

LOS ANGELES — Not since the Beach Boys were in peach fuzz and crew cuts has it been so safe to live and play in the City of Angels. Believe it: you are more likely to be murdered in Columbus, Ohio, or Tulsa, Okla., than in the nation’s second most populous city.

“You have to go back to 1957 — when I was four years old! — to find a similar period,” Charlie Beck, the Los Angeles police chief, was telling me. “How crazy is that?”

via opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

First Details on Volcker Rule to Reign in Reckless Banks | Reuters

Reuters posted a  summary of the Obama administration's draft language for the so-called "Volcker Rule". This represents a remarkable about-face for Obama44, basically repudiating it's early position and years of work by its top financial players to de-regulate banks. Skepticism exists about whether this proposal is for only for show, since Obama early opposed these changes and then proposed them only after the Senate bills were well into development. We'll see. 

 Excerpts: 

The Coming Conservative Health Care Freakout | from --The New Republic

Liberal commentators are beginning to believe passing a healthcare bill through reconciliation is possible, and conservatives, having proclaimed healthcare and the Obama presidency dead, are beginning to look like the U.S. skateboarder that lost a gold medal by falling on her way to the finish line while celebrating.

From The New Republic: "Some of us realized all along that there was no rational reason that the Massachusetts election had to kill health care reform. 

Healthcare Rip Offs

Why does the U.S. pay nearly twice as much per person as countries that provide universal healthcare? While our private insurance system is the primary source of waste, simply overpaying for specialists and on hospital bills is another. 

Witness this CNN report of hospitals that charge obscene mark-ups on simple supplies like latex gloves, bandages, bags of saline -- and a $1,000 toothbrush. The argument that we don't need regulation because the free market will take care of everything is as specious as these charges are outrageous. 

Reprising Richard Nixon's Healthcare Plan

Indeed, let us act sensibly. And let us act now--in 1974--to assure all Americans financial access to high quality medical care. 

             --   RICHARD NIXON 
                  The White House,

Republican leaders and their talk show hosts characterize "Obamacare" as a left-wing, Marxist, socialist, and/or fascist plan to take over healthcare. Ignoring for a moment that they don't seem to understand those three political philosophies are contradictory, competing doctrines, let's step back to put this in perspective.

The healthcare plan currently under debate was not proposed by President Obama, it was cobbled together by a coalition of right-wing legislators. Regardless of the source, the Obama health plan is less left-wing than the healthcare plan proposed by GOP President Richard Nixon way back in 1971. 

Why Democrats are Failing -- from Reich

An excerpt from Robert Reich's latest post:

"Anyone with an ounce of sanity understands government is the only effective countervailing force against the forces that got us into this mess: Against Goldman Sachs and the rest of the big banks that plunged the economy into crisis, got our bailout money, and are now back at their old games, dispensing huge bonuses to themselves.