The most dramatic reversal in the pattern of electoral maps in US history between two presidential elections separated by just 8 years.

What possible reason could account for that???

Yesterday, Rachel Maddow did a segment "We Can Fact-Check, Gov. Barbor", which I think astutely recognized at least one part of an unfolding dynamic: It's not just Glenn Beck, there's a expanding effort to pull a Karl Rove against Obama, and re-position the Republicans as the post-racial party, as illustrated by an interview that Haley Barbour did with Human Events in which he tried to portary himself as part of the first generation of South--Republican's, natch!--who grew up with integration and experienced it as no big deal.

Of course, Barbour was lying through his teeth.   Integration was barely getting started when he was in college, and he placed his own children in private academies that were all-white until the last year his eldest son was in attendence.  Her guest, Eugene Robinson, outdid himself, and even pointed out the unusual nature of the 1964 election in which Goldwater, who voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act, only carried five Deep South states plus his native Arizona.   But he didn't bring the full weight of this fact to bear, which I think can only be gained by comparing the 1964 map with the 1956 map.  The 1956 map was the most stripped-down version of the Democratic "Solid South" which can be found from 1876 onward (except for the Dixiecrat Revolt eleciton of 1948).  And the 1964 map, just 8 years later, was an almost exact mirror image.  Taken together, the two maps are perhaps the most dramatic representation of the overwhelming power of race in American politics you will ever find.

As the Republicans struggle mightily in the next two years to eradicate that history, we progressives would do very well to start amassing such images, particularly campaign ads, that can--at a single glance--bring the past that Republicans desperately want to eradicate, replace and re-write--vividly to life.

Remark came in attack on animal welfare in China, with singer having faced repeated criticism on race comments

Read Simon Armitage's interview with Morrissey in full

For almost three decades, indie rock icon Morrissey has made almost as many enemies as devoted fans willing to hang on his every melancholy-drenched lyric. Described by one high court judge as "devious, truculent and unreliable", the former Smiths frontman is no stranger to controversy and criticism. But tomorrow he reignites a simmering row about his views on race in an interview in Guardian Weekend magazine, in which he describes Chinese people as a "subspecies" because of their treatment of animals.

Morrissey, a vegetarian and animal rights advocate who last year abandoned the stage at the Coachella festival in California because of the smell of cooking meat, described the treatment of animals in China as "absolutely horrific", referring to recent news stories about animals in Chinese circuses and zoos. He told interviewer Simon Armitage: "Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies."

A spokesman for Love Music Hate Racism, which received a donation of £28,000 from the singer in 2008 after his apparently anti-immigration comments made in music magazine NME convulsed the media, said it would be unable to accept support from Morrissey again if he did not rescind or dispute today's comments.

"It really is just crude racism," said Martin Smith. "When you start using language like 'subspecies', you are entering into dark and murky water. I don't think we would, or could, ask him to come back after that."

Armitage said Morrissey was typically and deliberately provocative throughout the interview. "I thought at the time it was a dangerous thing to say into a tape recorder. He must have known it would make waves, he's not daft," he said. "But he's provocative and theatrical, and it was one of dozens of dramatic pronouncements. I'm not an apologist for that kind of remark, and couldn't ignore it. But clearly, when it comes to animal rights and animal welfare, he's absolutely unshakable in his beliefs. In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human. I think that was his point."

Morrissey said in a statement tonight: "If anyone has seen the horrific and unwatchable footage of the Chinese cat and dog trade – animals skinned alive – then they could not possibly argue in favour of China as a caring nation. There are no animal protection laws in China and this results in the worst animal abuse and cruelty on the planet. It is indefensible."

His latest comments are not the first time the singer has provoked accusations of racism. Some of his song titles and lyrics have attracted criticism, including the tracks Bengali in Platforms – "He only wants to embrace your culture/And to be your friend forever/ … Oh shelve your western plans/ … life is hard enough when you belong here" – and National Front Disco.

In 1992 NME accused Morrissey of "flirting with disaster" and racist imagery after wrapping himself in the union flag while on stage in Finsbury Park, north London.

In the same year, the singer, now 51, was quoted in Q Magazine stating that he did not want to be "horrible or pessimistic" but he didn't "really think, for instance, black people and white people will ever really get on or like each other. I don't really think they ever will." [Sept 92 http://motorcycleaupairboy.com/interviews/1992/isay.htm], While iIn 1994 he told Select magazine that the far-right National Front should be given a clear voice or platform in order for them to be "less of a threat". [http://motorcycleaupairboy.com/interviews/1994/glove.htm].

The war of words with NME continued in 2007 after Morrissey, who lived in Rome at the time, was quoted in an interview with the magazine apparently criticising levels of immigration after being asked if he would ever consider moving back to England. "With the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because, although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears," he said. "If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won't hear an English accent. You'll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent."

At another point in the interview he stated: "England is a memory now. The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in."

Morrissey issued a writ for defamation against the magazine and its then editor Conor McNicholas, saying the publication had "deliberately tried to characterise me as a racist … in order to boost their dwindling circulation".

He vehemently denied the accusations of racism. "I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic … Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society," he said in a statement.

Simon Price, a music journalist who has followed Morrissey's career closely, said his die-hard fans who have idolised him for more than 25 years would be unlikely to desert him, but others would be "appalled, if not exactly surprised".

The singer appeared to have left little room for explanation in his controversial comment, he added. "What are the apologists going to say this time? It looks like in his old age Morrissey has forgotten to include the ambiguity, like he has done in the past. Maybe he just doesn't care any more."

He added: "For Morrissey's hardcore fan base, no matter what he says he can do no wrong, but this is not going to make those in the media feel favourably toward him and lots of doors will be shut to him that maybe had been ajar in the past."

Quake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale hits west of Christchurch, with residents reporting collapsed buildings

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand's South Island tonight.

The quake hit 19 miles west of Christchurch, on the south of the island, at 4.35am local time. It shook a wide area with some residents reporting collapsed buildings, bridges and power cuts.

Christchurch, which has a population of around 400,000 people, was also rocked with a series of sharp aftershocks. Minor injuries have been reported but no deaths.

Colleen Simpson, from Christchurch, said panicked residents ran into the street in their pyjamas. She said some buildings had collapsed, there was no power, and the mobile telephone network had failed. "There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me," she told the Stuff news website.

Another person from Christchurch, Kevin O'Hanlon, said the jolt was extremely powerful.

"I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and 'boom'," he said. "It was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I've never felt anything like it."

Bruce Russell, 50, said that although he lives in Lyttelton, a port town to the south of Christchurch, which is on firmer volcanic ground, the earthquake had been "very alarming."

"We were woken up at 4.30am and it swayed like a ship at sea," he said. "It was very alarming. We have no power, which is a problem across [Christchurch]. We're listening to reports on a wind-up radio. It's still very frightening."

Russell said he had not experienced an earthquake on this scale before.

There were local reports of looting on one of Christchurch's commercial shopping streets and police were advising residents to stay inside until given an all-clear.

The geological agency GNS Science said the earthquake struck at a depth of 21 miles below the Earth's surface and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said "no destructive widespread tsunami threat existed, based on historical earthqake and tsunami data".

New Zealand lies above an area of the Earth's crust where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year – but only about 150 are usually felt. School children in the country often undertake earthquake drills.

After violence in Africa and protests in Egypt, Serbia and Pakistan, the UN are to urge action on the rising cost of food

The UN has called an urgent meeting on rising global food prices in an attempt to head off a repeat of the 2008 crisis that sparked riots around the world.

Seven people, including two children, were killed in Mozambique this week during three days of protests triggered by a rise in the cost of bread. There has also been anger over increasing prices in Egypt, Serbia and Pakistan, where floods destroyed a fifth of the country's crops.

The UN's announcement came after Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin extended the country's ban on grain exports. The ban has been partly blamed for a 5% increase in global food prices worldwide over the last two months, hitting their highest level in two years. The price of wheat has had its biggest monthly rise for 37 years. "In the past few weeks, global cereal markets experienced a sudden surge in international wheat prices on concerns over wheat shortages," the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said.

"The purpose of holding the meeting is for exporting and importing countries to engage in constructive discussions on appropriate reactions to the current market situation."

Agency spokesman Christopher Matthews said the meeting of the inter-governmental committee on grains will be held on 24 September, most likely in Rome. He added a large number of member countries had expressed concern about a possible repeat of the food crisis two years ago. But agency officials and other experts have stressed that conditions are different from 2008, when high oil prices and growing demand for biofuels pushed world food stocks to their lowest levels since 1982.

The tense atmosphere in developing countries, where food costs up to 70% of family income, erupted in Mozambique this week in three days of riots that left seven people dead, hundreds injured and millions of dollars of damage.

"This was the worst rioting I have ever seen in my life, people can really turn very violent and lives are at risk, instead of a peaceful demonstration," said Felizmina Fabia, a resident of the capital, Maputo. As violence continued today, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets, opposition parties and human rights groups criticised the government, saying it failed to gauge the anger that would be unleashed by the 30% bread price increase and hikes in water and electricity tariffs.

Alice Mabota, head of the Mozambican League of Human Rights, told Portugal's Lusa news agency: "The government underestimated the situation and can't understand or doesn't want to understand that this is a protest against the higher cost of living."

The government-imposed price rise took the cost of a bread roll - the staple of Mozambicans - to 20 US cents (13p) in a country where the average worker earns around $37 (£24) a month.

Egyptians have also protested over food prices in recent months, and analysts have warned that riots could follow the jump in prices in Africa and the Middle East. The trend comes after the global recession already put a squeeze on household budgets and intensified the risk of malnutrition.

In Mauritania in west Africa, rice prices doubled over the first three months of the year, according to the World Food Programme. Over the same period, the price of corn rose 59% in Zimbabwe and 57% in Mozambique.

Niger is suffering severe food shortages and price rises of up to 30%. Save the Children reported last week that the number of severely malnourished children visiting its clinics in Niger has gone up fourfold since the start of the year.

In Russia itself, the price of some essential food products soared 30% in August. Officials have blamed panic buying.

Susannah Nicol, a regional spokeswoman for the World Food Programme (WFP), warned that its operations could soon be affected. "Any food rise means that donations to the WFP will buy less for the hungry and the poor," she said.

In 2007-08, severe food shortages and resulting price rises led to worldwide demonstrations and violence. But analysts say global grain supplies are more abundant this time after bumper harvests in 2008 and 2009.

Daniel Sinnathamby [CORR], regional humanitarian coordinator for Oxfam in southern Africa, said: "There is food around, which was not the case in 2000 and 2003 when production failed. Most countries in the region except Zimbabwe seemed to have had fairly good harvests.

"The question is how does it get around and into the hands of poor people. Governments need to take a look at internal distribution and see who is poor and marginalised."

In June a UN report warned that food prices will rise by up to 40% over the next decade due to growing biofuel production and demand from emerging markets.

MI6 man jailed for a year for 'act of betrayal' for trying to sell top secret files

A software engineer working for MI6, who tried to sell intelligence for £2m, has been given a 12-month jail sentence for his "act of betrayal".

Daniel Houghton, 25, from Hoxton, east London, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two offences under the Official Secrets Act. He offered computer files containing sensitive information about intelligence collection and M16 staff lists to agents from the Netherlands, the Old Bailey heard. The Dutch initially thought it was a hoax, but later tipped off their UK counterparts. Houghton was arrested after arranging a meeting at a London hotel in March.

He claimed he heard voices telling him to do it, but today the judge, Mr Justice Bean, was told there were conflicting psychiatric reports. "You seem to be a strange young man. But whether you were hearing voices at the time, I don't know. If you were hearing voices they may have had a significant influence on your behaviour, but they could not be said to remove your responsibility for your actions."

Sentencing him, he said: "You were employed by the security services and attempted to sell secret material for very large sums of money.

"In particular you attempted to sell staff lists, which would have disclosed the identity and homes and whereabouts of agents whose identity must be protected almost at all costs. If the material had found its way into the hands of a hostile power, it would have done enormous damage and put lives at risk.

"On the other hand, you are not an ideologue. If you had been intent on causing harm to this country's interests, you would have chosen a different recipient than the Netherlands. These were unsophisticated offences. You made no attempt to conceal your identity."

Houghton had worked for the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6, between September 2007 and May 2009, the court heard. During this time he accessed a number of computer files belonging to the British security service (MI5) relating to the work of both agencies and marked "secret" or "top secret". They were described as "sensitive capabilities files, important tools developed by SIS staff for the gathering of intelligence for national security purposes".

He also tried to sell two secret staff lists, one containing 387 names and the other with the home and mobile telephone numbers of 39 people.

Piers Arnold, prosecuting, said: "It was a personal betrayal of these individuals with the potential, if it had fallen into the wrong hands, to compromise individuals' safety."

Houghton will be released almost immediately, because he has already served half the term while on remand awaiting trial.

Brother of president Hamid Karzai calls for US to guarantee deposits amid fears collapse would threaten police and army salaries

Officials in Afghanistan are resisting US pressure for a wide-ranging clean-up of Kabul Bank, which is mired in a corruption scandal which has engulfed some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country.

The stand-off came as the bank's third-biggest shareholder, Mahmoud Karzai – the elder brother of President Hamid Karzai – called for a US bailout of the stricken bank.

The Central Bank on Tuesday ordered that the chairman and chief executive of Kabul Bank, who are both large shareholders in the bank, should step down from their positions and a government official be appointed to manage the bank.

But western officials with intimate knowledge of the financial drama said the US treasury wants to see much stronger action. That would include bringing the bank into line with international norms, not least the appointment of a fully independent board capable of standing up to overmighty shareholders.

Such independence would risk bringing to light further details of how members of the country's business and political elite have, for years, apparently got away with using deposits of thousands of ordinary Afghans to fund lavish lifestyles. The bank's funds have also been used to invest in loss-making enterprises and, allegedly, the re-election campaign of President Karzai.

In the words of one foreign official, the US treasury is anxious to "rip the lid" off the cowboy capitalism that has been allowed to flourish at Kabul Bank.

But sources close to the negotiations say the Central Bank is under intense pressure to resist US demands.

"What [the US treasury is] asking for is not completely unreasonable, from a prudential regulatory perspective," said one official. "But there are lots of assets off the books. The hunch is that shareholders would like to continue to use bank assets how they want, rather than bring it into line with international best practice."

The central bank's spokesman could not be reached by phone today.

Earlier in the week Abdul Qadir Fitrat, the bank's governor, said the removal of Sher Khan Farnood as chairman and Khalilullah Frozi as chief executive had been a long-planned decision to bring to an end the situation where the two largest shareholders controlled all the operations.

But western officials and banking industry sources say the government was forced to clean up the bank's suspected dubious practices after infighting between the two men threatened the bank's future. The collapse of the institution that manages the salaries of the country's police and army would create havoc, as well as hitting the Afghan economy.

Mahmoud Karzai, a minority stakeholder with 7% of the shares, said he welcomed a full audit of the bank and that he was concerned about three problems that may have occurred under Farnood and Frozi: lending over the bank's limits, lending to shareholders and investing outside the country in "risky businesses".

When asked whether he thought anyone should go to jail if fraud is uncovered he said, "I don't think so because that would create chaos. Maybe there should be fines or something like that."

But he said he would never let the bank be taken over: "It's an independent bank owned by the shareholders and we will not allow the government or anyone else to take it over."

Karzai had earlier told the Boston Globe that "America should do something" and the US treasury should agree to guarantee the bank.

But when contacted by the Guardian he was anxious to sound a note of confidence, and said that with the bank's $400m in cash he did not think a bailout would be necessary. He said he only floated the idea of the US paying money because he held the American embassy and US newspapers responsible for starting the panic when they reported Kabul Bank had made $300m in losses, which he strongly denied.

But Karzai conceded that it had already suffered a bank run, with almost $160m withdrawn in the last two days alone – a huge amount considering Afghanistan's tiny banking sector. Despite efforts by Karzai and the finance minister to assure customers, the test will be whether the panic continues when banks open tomorrow. With so many of the bank's assets unlikely to be easily sold for cash a bailout could be huge, perhaps requiring $600m, in the estimate of one bank executive.

The financial scandal is a huge embarrassment for Afghanistan, with many leading figures linked to the unorthodox bank whose brazen business practices were allowed to flourish despite a modern banking law drawn up by foreign experts.

In a country that lacked any banking infrastructure in late 2001, the bank mushroomed into Afghanistan's largest financial institution by attracting depositors who had never had bank accounts before, in part by running a lottery system where account holders had the chance to win large prizes. Those deposits were then used to fund enterprises belonging to shareholders or their families, while investors wanting to set up legitimate businesses often got nowhere.

The big players

Sherkhan Farnood

Wheeler-dealer educated in part in Russia after the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet forces. Started his career in Moscow in a hawala money-transfer business, the informal network operating in much of the Middle East, south Asia and north Africa. Such businesses are a concern to international law enforcers as drug dealers and terrorists favour their untraceable services. Moved to Dubai in 1990s. Started Kabul Bank although he also continued to operate a hawala business in 2004. Owns 28% of the bank and was chairman before being forced to step down this week.

Khalilullah Frozi

Former chief executive of Kabul Bank, also has a 28% share and also lived in the Soviet Union. Previously worked as a gem trader. Often wears full-length fur coats and, until recently, dyed blonde hair. He is one of the cCo-owner with Farnood of Pamir Airways, which treats them like royalty. Last year he kicked passengers off a plane to accommodate his entourage.

Mahmoud Karzai (right)

Controversial elder brother of Afghan president Hamid. Lived in the US, where he ran a chain of restaurants. Returned to Afghanistan after fall of the Taliban and set up a business empire that includes a Soviet-era cement factory, a share in Afghanistan's official Toyota franchise and several large housing developments. One of his most surreal ventures is a US-style gated community on the outskirts of Kandahar, now one of the most violent parts of the country. Was lent money by Kabul Bank to buy 7% of its shares.

Haseen Fahim

Brother of the Afghan vice-president. Borrowed a reported $92m to buy a $6m villa in Dubai and fund various companies that do contract work on foreign-funded projects, including various CIA bases. Owns Afghan Gas group. Criticised the toppling of the bank's leaders and insisted he could easily repay.

Jan Brewer does not understand this whole debate thing and the idea that you have to make “opening statements” and have “accomplishments” to talk about in them, and thus she has decided she won’t do one ever again, SO THERE. “She said the only reason she debated him on Wednesday is she had to to qualify for more than $1.7 million in public funds for her campaign.” Change the rules, Arizona! America loves to cringe at this woman!

“I certainly will take my message in a different venue out to the people of Arizona,” she said.

And that message is written on, umm, one of these papers here somewhere, hold on.

Brewer said she has been in elective office for 28 years, and Goddard has held office for nearly that long. “I think it’s pretty defined what he stands for and what I stand for.”

Woah, that’s a long time! But if it has been so well defined for all those years that Brewer hates Messicans, why did it take her until this year to pass her beloved you-look-brown-where’s-your-ID law? Certainly it wouldn’t have anything to do with this being an election year.

Brewer blamed part of her post-debate activities on her gaffe in her opening statement. The governor also said she presumed reporters would want to talk to her about some of the issues raised during the hour-long, televised debate.

“All you guys were doing and talking were beheadings, beheadings, beheadings,” the governor said. “That is something that has stuck with you all for so long, and I just felt we needed to move on.”

Well, maybe you should stop being racist against people who don’t have heads, Jan. [Arizona Daily Star]

Jan Brewer - Arizona - United States - Arizona Daily Star - Law

Hey look Al Sharpton is on the boob tube, and he looks like he hasn’t slept since the last time he called something or someone racist or mean (so: yesterday). But whatever, it’s just C-SPAN — the fourth and most laid-back Vivaldi “season” — what could possibly go awry? See? Look! A friendly black man has called in to tell Al that he’s a Fan, in real life and on Facebook: You guys just use Dr. King’s name, up and down, every year, and it’s only gotten worse. Racist! [YouTube]

Al Sharpton - Facebook - YouTube - Black people - Racism

Woah man, Orrin Hatch was in Hatch. It was like he became a town, and then watched as he walked around inside of himself. And then the Whippets stopped playing funny games with his mind. [The Hill]

Orrin Hatch - United States - Senate - Government - Legislative Branch

In the last round of orders issuing during the Supreme Court’s summer recess, the Justices on Friday refused to give British American Tobacco Co. another chance to challenge the scope of the RICO anti-racketeering law.  Without comment (and with Justice Elena Kagan not taking part), the Court denied a reheating petition to BATCo, thus leaving undisturbed its June 28 order refusing to hear the company’s legal claims.  (The case is British American Tobacco v. U.S., 09-980).

In its rehearing petition, BATCo had argued that the D.C. Circuit Court’s ruling applying RICO to conduct of the company that occurred largely abroad had been undercut by the Supreme Court’s ruling June 24 in Morrison v. National Australia Bank (08-1191).  The Morrison decision barred overseas application of U.S. securities law. BATCo argued that the same rationale should free it from RICO liability.

It does not appear that the Court considered asking for a response to the rehearing petition. Without such a request, there was no chance for rehearing to be granted.