PAUL KRUGMAN: Divided Over Trade Nothing divides Democrats like international trade policy. That became clear last week, when the announcement of a deal on trade between Democratic leaders and the Bush administration caused many party activists to accuse the leadership of selling out.
The furor subsided a bit as details about the deal emerged: the Democrats got significant concessions from the Bushies, while effectively giving a go-ahead to only two minor free trade agreements (Peru and Panama). But the Democrats remain sharply divided between those who believe that globalization is driving down the wages of many U.S. workers, and those who believe that making and honoring international trade agreements is an essential part of governing responsibly.
What makes this divide so agonizing is that both sides are right.
Fears that low-wage competition is driving down U.S. wages have a real basis in both theory and fact. When we import labor-intensive manufactured goods from the third world instead of making them here, the result is reduced demand for less-educated American workers, which leads in turn to lower wages for these workers. And no, cheap consumer goods at Wal-Mart aren’t adequate compensation.
So imports from the third world, although they make the United States as a whole richer, make tens of millions of Americans poorer. How much poorer? In the mid-1990s a number of economists, myself included, crunched the numbers and concluded that the depressing effects of imports on the wages of less-educated Americans were modest, not more than a few percent.
But that may have changed. We’re buying a lot more from third-world countries today than we did a dozen years ago, and the largest increases have come in imports from Mexico, where wages are only about 11 percent of the U.S. level, and China, where wages are only 3 percent of the U.S. level. Trade still isn’t the main source of rising economic inequality, but it’s a bigger factor than it was.
So there is a dark side to globalization. The question, however, is what to do about it.
Should we go back to old-fashioned protectionism? That would have ugly consequences: if America started restricting imports from the third world, other wealthy countries would follow suit, closing off poor nations’ access to world markets.
Where would that leave Bangladesh, which is able to survive despite its desperate lack of resources only because it can export clothing and other labor-intensive products? Where would it leave India, where there is, at last, hope of an economic takeoff thanks to surging exports — exports that would be crippled if barriers to trade that have been dismantled over the past half century went back up?
And where would it leave Mexico? Whatever you think of Nafta, undoing the agreement could all too easily have disastrous economic and political consequences south of the border.
Because of these concerns, even trade skeptics tend to shy away from a return to outright protectionism, and to look for softer measures, which mainly come down to trying to push up foreign wages. The key element of the new trade deal is its inclusion of “labor standards”: countries that sign free trade agreements with the United States will have to allow union organizing, while abolishing child and slave labor.
The Bush administration, by the way, opposed labor standards, not because it wanted to keep imports cheap, but because it was afraid that America would end up being forced to improve its own labor policies. So the inclusion of these standards in the deal represents a real victory for workers.
Realistically, however, labor standards won’t do all that much for American workers. No matter how free third-world workers are to organize, they’re still going to be paid very little, and trade will continue to place pressure on U.S. wages.
So what’s the answer? I don’t think there is one, as long as the discussion is restricted to trade policy: all-out protectionism isn’t acceptable, and labor standards in trade agreements will help only a little.
By all means, let’s have strong labor standards in our pending trade agreements, and let’s approach proposals for new agreements with an appropriate degree of skepticism. But if Democrats really want to help American workers, they’ll have to do it with a pro-labor policy that relies on better tools than trade policy. Universal health care, paid for by taxing the economy’s winners, would be a good place to start.
That story about the teachers freightening the kids, I reported yesterday. CNN had a spot on it today and the parents were not very happy about it. They want all the teachers fired.
CNN interviewed some of the kids and they were crying and horrified.
Dick Morris (1) and Dick Cheney (2) top the chart this week with their latest nonsensical proclamations about Iraq. Meanwhile, The Bush Administration (3) has destroyed the National Guard, Ted Poe (4) drops a stinker on the House floor, and Bill O'Reilly (8) calls off the most useless boycott ever.
Oil jumps to $67 World oil prices climbed on Monday, breaching 67 dollars a barrel in London, as the market focused on concerns over tight supplies, traders said.
Stamp prices rise to 41 cents today A reminder: Extra postage needed on those letters and packages. For a first-class card or letter the rate taking effect Monday is 41 cents for the first ounce, a 2-cent increase.
Generals will revolt against Bush if he maintains escalation Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker revealed that sources within the military are warning of “a revolt from active-duty generals if September rolls around and the president is sticking with the surge into ‘08.”
“More than 50 Iraqis died Sunday in bombings, mortar blasts and gunfire. Two U.S. soldiers also were killed, while 4,000 troops scoured an area southwest of Baghdad in search of three soldiers apparently captured after an ambush Saturday that left four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter dead.”
Editor's Note listed in I'm no longer going to post Sunday Talkshow Breakdowns, because over at the Campaign for America's Future blog, I've started the Weekend Watchdog feature. On Friday's, we suggest questions for Sunday show hosts to pose to their scheduled guests, and afterwards, we circle back and see if they got asked. And when Seder on Sundays debuts on Air America next week, Weekend Watchdog will be a featured segment.
So it's a little much to do all that and post comprehensive reviews of the Sundays shows at LiberalOasis. But having said that, there still will be Sunday show reactions posted at LiberalOasis, they just won't be part of a comprehensive review.
Posted by Bill Scher at 11:23 AM permalink email Spotlight
“The White House confirmed yesterday that the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad is likely to meet in the next several weeks with Iranian officials about stabilizing Iraq, as the administration embraces a tactic outsiders have long recommended as essential to reducing sectarian violence in Iraq.”
A US court in Miami will be hearing the opening statements in the trial of alleged Al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla along with his two co-defendants.
Charges against Padilla have been changed from the initial accusation of planning to detonate a radioactive bomb in the city, to being a part of a North American support cell for terrorists in Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan. According to the federal indictment Padilla and his two partners, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were actively seeking US recruits and funding for terrorist activities.
One of the key evidence connecting Padilla with terrorist activities is a Mujahedeen Data Form, which he had filled in July 2000. However the federal prosecutors have so far refused to divulge the authenticity and the source of the document. A covert CIA operative will be testifying in disguise and the prosecutors revealed that they will be offering transcripts of nearly 100 wiretap conversations.
I'm listening to Thom Hartmann, Heidi Tauber, and another person (didn't catch his name) live on KPOJ-AM. Portland, Oregan oriented, still plenty to interest me on the other side of the country: http://www.620kpoj.com/pages/listenlive.html Not an adequate substitute for SEDER, not as lively and funny, but not bad. Up after the break, Stephen Marshall from the Guerilla News Network
New documents” suggest that World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz “understood that his role in ordering a pay increase and promotion for his companion in 2005 might be seen as a conflict of interest but insisted on proceeding anyway.”
“A Depression-era program to bring electricity to rural areas is using taxpayer money to provide billions of dollars in low-interest loans to build coal plants even as Congress seeks ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions. That government support is a major force behind the rush to coal plants, which spew carbon dioxide that scientists blame for global warming.”
To Fry The Smallest Fish By: Nicole Belle @ 4:46 PM - PDT Guardian Unlimited (h/t Gregory):
A recent case suggests that the war on terror has been superseded by the war on embarrassment
A man accused of blowing up an airliner and killing 73 people, who has already admitted to bombing hotels with fatal consequences and who has a conviction for a failed assassination attempt on a head of state, was freed on a technicality in a Texas court this week, and can look forward to a quiet retirement in Florida.
In London a man accused of hacking into the computer system of the Pentagon and Nasa is waiting to see if the House of Lords will hear his appeal against extradition to the US to face a trial in which one prosecutor has already indicated he should "fry". Blowing up an airliner is clearly regarded as less serious than causing major embarrassment to the defence establishment.
..had occasion to listen to lionel's WOR radio show off and on past year or so... he ran a show once or twice [that I heard parts of] that exposed 911 issues-- taking a "let's examine this" position but not going to the point that he'd take an absolute "yes or no" stand...he says he used to be a lawyer so he likes to analyze a lot... but he can go from a left position to a conservative position fairly quickly from what I recall...
... and lionel will pontificate ad nauseum on a ridiculous subject whenever [I assume] he's told to run the clock out...
....that's what they put here in place of SAM... I got a headache... we gotta get Sam back on weekdays--mornings, afternoons, evenings---whatevvvver!!
....maybe we should flood the phones on lionels time with a one-note-song that we want Sam on the air--- lionel might take notice and ??back off?? enough to see that this was a serious matter to this audience....
this is really sick but after listening to loinel i have tuned off my satellite radio and am now watching you tube clips of sam on olbermann's show. yeah, lionel is far worse than i ever thought. what a friggin waste! still looking forward to sunday though.
Lionel.... Michael Harrison from Talkers magazine.
I understand the AAR logic here but it is deeply flawed. They may play to the radio industry but they will lose their audience. If they think they'll pick up WOR's (or the typical talk show audience) they are fools. Who could be both interested in Lionel and say Hartman or Lionel and Randi or Lionel and Rachel?
That cross section is probably small enough to fit on the head of a pin. This is lose lose and lose.
A loss of AAR, a loss for Lionel, and a loss for the listener.
From what I hear today, seems like Sam worked a lot harder and brought a lot relevant content to his show. Lionel (as the fake name might suggest) seems so completely phony to me. You can tell he thinks he's really clever. What an annoying asshole.
AAR needs to be about being a voice for the progressive movement: About PUSHING politicians/the political climate in the direction we want to go, not just commenting on the political climate that exists right now. That's what Sam did. That's very clearly not what this joker is going to do.
And what's the deal now with Air America hosts being afraid to say "LIBERAL"??? This morning Cenk Uygur was talking about how a Bloomberg+Hagel ticket would give him such a raging hardon. This guy now is saying he doesn't like "labels" and he's not a liberal/progressive. THEN GET OFF THE ONLY NETWORK WE HAVE, ASSHOLE. I'm so sick of these Greens, and of idiotic management of this network. Green is not coming in as a benevolent benefactor to help progressive politics have a media voice--he's coming in because HE WANTS TO CONTROL what kind of voice progressives listen to, and to shape the agenda for us. We need a new network. Something that is not controlled this way. And something accountable to us.
"The only excuse I can think of for this is to get people to listen on Sundays."
The only upside for me is I'll be able to listen to SEDER live over the airways for the first time. The local Clear Channel affiliate carried Miller in Sam's slot, but usually has AAR programming from 1-11PM on Sunday. Can't count on it though, they pre-empt for sports.
I like how isn't stuck in hate mode.
Being horrified at the appalling state of our country is not the same as hate. Seder never did "hate radio."
Do you remember who John Snow is?
Toni, I'd totally forgotten him and his most recent stint (ending last year) in public service. Had to peek at his wiki page.
Pentagon, State Department fueding in Iraq. “Paul Brinkley, a deputy undersecretary of defense, has been called a Stalinist by U.S. diplomats in Iraq. One has accused him of helping insurgents build better bombs. The State Department has even taken the unusual step of enlisting the CIA to dispute the validity of Brinkley’s work. His transgression? To begin reopening dozens of government-owned factories in Iraq.”
Brinkley and his colleagues at the Pentagon believe that rehabilitating shuttered, state-run enterprises could reduce violence by employing tens of thousands of Iraqis. Officials at State counter that the initiative is antithetical to free-market reforms the United States should promote in Iraq.
The bureaucratic knife fight over the best way to revive Iraq’s moribund economy illustrates how the two principal players in the reconstruction of Iraq — the departments of Defense and State — remain at odds over basic economic and political measures. The bickering has hamstrung initiatives to promote stability four years after Saddam Hussein’s fall.
Sunday Shutout: The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140001
Not only are the Sunday morning talk shows on the broadcast networks dominated by conservative opinion and commentary, the four programs -- NBC's Meet the Press, ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday -- feature guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male.
And the top-rated Sunday show -- Meet the Press -- shows the least diversity of all. The NBC program is the most male and nearly the most white (Face the Nation beats it out by 1 percentage point), and it has the highest proportion of white males to all other guests.
A breakdown of the guests who appeared on the Sunday shows in 2005 and 2006 shows that men dominate these shows. In fact, men outnumber women by a 4-to-1 ratio on average.
Well, I gave him 8 minutes. It *ing sucks. Pasta la vista, AAR. Back to NPR with a little Stephanie for me. I don't always hang here but I feel your pain as a Morning Sedition refugee. The best I can say is I hear a little bit of News Daddy.
Interesting isn't it? These rethugs seem to like the letter C for their companies. Cerberus, Carlyle Group. Hmmmm!
It is their special, mystical letter! Reminds me... In These Times interviewer: That said, do you have any ideas for a really scary reality TV show? Kurt Vonnegut: C students from Yale. It would stand your hair on end.
Later. Got company coming for lunch, and I farted around online too long. Eek!
So sad; this guy is rude and not at all informative! I listened to Sam, and then to Lee, for INFORMATION and political discussion in lieu of the morning news. This is same old same old talk radio....self-important BS. Sorry Sam, I love your show and was looking forward to hearing you on Sunday, but I will not listen to AAR anymore. It was always about the entire station and its programing. I didn't like/listen to every show, but the overarching theme was important to me. They betrayed the idea, and unless they bring it back to basics, this AAR member is gone.
I look forward to hearing you on another station Sam. If I must listen to you on AAR on Sundays to support your numbers so you have the clout to get a good gig at another station, say the word on the blog and I will. Otherwise, I'll wait for the move. And the network you go to next doesn't matter to me, its just that AAR represented itself to be more and it's too disappointing to listen to it die. The other stations are about selling products, foremost and only. Fine. AAR was supposed to be about commercial viability and integrity. I still believe that idea is possible, apparently the new ownership does not.
The unimaginable happened. The Zapatistas, led by their masked commandantes and their enigmatic leader, Subcommandante Marcos, finally entered the heart of the capital of the nation with which they have been at war for seven years.
Their entrance was remarkable in that these rebels not only came unarmed but also with a welcome from the president of the country that made them outlaws.
"We came here only to say we are here," Subcommandante Marcos told an enraptured crowd of 150,000 in the Zocalo, the main square of the capital. "We are a reflection and a cry and we will always be there. We can be with or without a face, armed or without fire. But we are Zapatistas as we will always be."
He had arrived with the 23 Zapatista commandantes on the back of an open lorry bearing the slogan "Never again a Mexico without us". Helicopters circled over as the caravan finally reached the end of its historic journey.
In an appeal to all of Mexico for a fairer society, he called on "indigenous brothers and sisters, workers, peasants, teachers, students, farmworkers, housewives, drivers, fishermen, taxi-drivers, office workers, street vendors, gangs, the unemployed, journalists, professionals, nuns and monks, homosexuals, lesbians, transsexuals, artists, intellectuals, sailors,soldiers, athletes and legislators, men, women, children, young people and old, brothers and sisters", all to join with them.
But despite the enormous turnout and the success of the long march, the mood was not triumphalist in recognition, perhaps, of the uncertainty that lies ahead.
Before Marcos spoke, other commandantes made brief appeals for greater respect for indigenous people. Commandante Tacho told the crowd: "We are Mexicans, too, so we say the homeland is ours as well," signing off as he spoke in the name of the "Zapatista high command". Each read their speeches, as they have done throughout the march, from spiral notebooks and then took their places back in the line as Marcos directed proceedings.
The Mexican press was in no doubt as to the significance of the day. "Marcos takes the capital!" said one paper. "They're taking the plaza!" said another. La Prensa summed up the mood with the word "unimaginable".
At dawn, the caravan of the Zapatistas and their supporters was already breakfasting on tamales in a sports complex on the outskirts of Mexico City where they had been billeted for the last night of their 16-day pilgrimage from Chiapas.
They had come in pursuit of constitutional rights for the country's 10m indigenous people, around 10% of the population, and yesterday was the culmination of the journey that had taken them through 12 states. As the 2,100-mile, 16-day trek from Chiapas ended, they were joined by public figures from around the world: human rights ambassador Danielle Mitterand, Portuguese Nobel prizewinning author Jose Saramago, and the French anti-multinational activist Jose Bove.
The Zocalo, the largest city square in the world after Red Square, greeted them, but the only sights trained from the rooftops and behind the belfries were those of the photographers and camera crews from around the world and the only explosions were of firecrackers and rockets.
Triumph
It was in 1914 that Emiliano Zapata, the man who gave his name to the current movement, rode in revolutionary triumph into the same Zocalo. There had been rumours that the new Zapatistas would also gallop into the square on horseback but this, like many of the rumours that have shrouded the march and the Zapatistas, proved unfounded.
But yesterday Marcos and the Zapatistas did indeed stand below the balcony of the palace where Zapata and Pancho Villa had greeted their own adoring crowds nearly 90 years earlier. Throughout the morning the street vendors there were busily selling their Zapatista masks, T-shirts, mugs, jugs and recorded music, their Marcos scarves and action dolls complete with pipe and balaclava, mixed in with images of Che Guevara.
Watching the Zapatistas on their final push, Santos Orozco, 67, a canal boatman said: "They are the defenders of the poor, not just the indigenous." His views were reflected by many in the square.
The Zapatistas finally marched on the capital, disdaining an invitation issued over the weekend by President Vicente Fox to meet in the presidential palace.
Marcos accused Mr Fox of trivialising the indigenous cause. "He wants to turn a serious movement into a prime time event," said Marcos. "It would be a hollow media event."
The transformation of the Zapatistas from a tiny, ill-armed, barely trained guerrilla fighting force to what is effectively an international cultural movement was emphasised by the remarkable mixture of supporters flocking the streets, from the capital's smartly turned-out bourgeoisie to body-pierced and pink-haired punks carrying placards proclaiming the Zapatistas as their inspiration, and dungareed Italian anti-globalisers.
Even hours before the march was due to arrive, as bands played and Aztec dancers performed, the Zocalo was crowded and alive with excitement.
President Fox was not in the Zocalo. However he was generous in his welcome, which he hopes will bring him a major political gain with a peace accord. "Welcome subcommandante Marcos, welcome Zapatistas, welcome to the political arena," was his message. Not that Marcos is yet ready to take off his mask and his guerrilla uniform.
In a 20-minute address to the crowd and the nation beyond, Marcos referred to the way that the "first people" of Mexico had become the last in terms of how they had been treated. "We are the people of the colour of the earth. We ask you not to let another dawn break before that flag has a place for us, we who are the colour of the earth," he said in reference to the gigantic Mexican flag that was billowing from its pole in the centre of the Zocalo.
His speech referred by name to many of the dozens of Mexican indigenous peoples in a list more poetic than polemical. But he made it clear that the Zapatistas' presence was seeking a political response and they wanted "the democracy, freedom and justice" which they felt they had been denied for too long.
While opinion polls do show overwhelming support for the march, a peace accord and Mexico's need to act over trampled indigenous rights, not everyone is sympathetic to the Zapatistas. With the rebels already on the fringes of the capital the head of the country's biggest employers' organisation, Jorge Espina Reyes, called them "irresponsible utopian demagogues". But in the square yesterday the banners and the T-shirts proclaimed "We are all Marcos" and "You are not alone". For a moment at least, the Zapatistas who have made such an astonishing physical and metaphorical journey from Chiapas into the consciousness of the world must have felt it was true.
Tenet to Testify before Congress By Paul Kiel - May 14, 2007, 11:05 AM Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House oversight committee, announced today that former CIA Director George Tenet has agreed to testify before his committee. The topic: the White House's hyping of false intelligence in the run-up to the war, specifically Iraq's alleged efforts to procure uranium from Niger.
June 19th's the date. And to make things even more interesting, Waxman has also scheduled Condoleezza Rice to appear at the same hearing. Waxman's committee has already issued a subpoena for Rice's testimony, a subpoena that Rice has signalled she will ignore. Waxman "continues to expect that she will comply with the congressional subpoena," notes the committee's press release. Rice had been scheduled to testify tomorrow.
toniD - read the fine print on these hedge funds going public...
by the time the deal is done, the original owners are getting rich beyond belief, structuring the deal so that they continue to get a large portion of the cash flow, and then leave the public with the risk. nice job if you can get it.
Significantly too, the Bank President's travails have also exposed the informal corruption of governance structures of international institutions. Thanks to Wolfowitz impunity European members are now laying claim to the presidency of the Bank. What kind of international organization is it that the Presidency is reserved to the exclusion of other member nations especially Africans and Asians?
In case anyone has any doubt whatsoever, that little bs thing seriously pissed me off...
Sunshine Jim aint our counselar, and I'm glad he can post on here and pretend to be all holier then us scum while he pretends he has no problems and lives the perfect life
Normally I ignore it, but that was below the belt
Plus it is the second time he has been a jerk to me-once for calling republicans retarded
get real
i am not posting here anymore, there is hardly a reason to
Well I honestly gave Lionel a chance but I just couldn't stick with it for a full hour. The two fill-ins they had for Sam were better than Lionel but none of them could even come close to Sam's perfect blend of humor and outrage! I feel really betrayed by AAR. Is there anyway Sam could get an internet radio Stream and stream it through this site?
Just called WWKB (50000 watts from Buffalo) to ask what they're doing in their 10pm-1am slot now that Lionel would no longer be live. (I can't get WWRL at night.) They're going with Alan Colmes for now (who the PD said has a history in that market) after their continued replay of Stephanie Miller from 7-10 and the first hour of Randi's show from 6-7. Asked him to consider Rachel Maddow and Mark Riley live from 6-12, and more importantly, Seder on Sundays.
Emotional certainty, which the neocons have marketed so well these past years,
is an illusion.
Chaos theory is a model that more closely reflects the world we live in.
Strange Attractors (This sort of unpredictable motion is often called chaotic motion. Strangely enough, there can be a subtle and complex kind of order to chaos. Scientists try to describe this order with models called strange attractors.)
Instead of having that feeling in your gut (and oh it does feel so good)
that THIS is true and right and I can really hang on to THIS and wrap my emotional certainty around THIS truth.......
"I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave," he said. "I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request."
--Republican War Dog Senator Mitch McConnell on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.
I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints off to Washington."
Shrub on TV talking about addiction to oil and our environment. All of a sudden he's worried about this.
He wants to reduce dependence on oil by 20% in the next ten years.
Here's what I'm thinking...maybe things aren't going so well with the Bush Family and the Saudis. The Saudi King has been hinting that the US should never have gone into Iraq and Cheney was just there. He's in Jordan today.
Iraqi parliament calls for end to Baghdad walls. “Iraq’s parliament has approved a measure calling for an end to the building of massive security walls around Baghdad neighborhoods. The walls have drawn protests across sectarian lines as evidence of a U.S.-backed strategy of divide and rule.”
Wash. Post's Weisman "won't believe" impeachment polls, even those conducted by his own paper
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140003
During the May 11 edition of the Post Politics Hour online discussion at washingtonpost.com, Washington Post White House correspondent Jonathan Weisman replied to a question -- "How is Washington handling the news that almost 40 percent of Americans support impeachment of [President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney?" -- by stating: "We're not. I haven't seen the polling that you are referring to, and until I do, I won't quite believe it." A recent InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion poll, however, found that 39 percent of Americans favor the impeachment by Congress of Bush and Cheney, and polling conducted over a year ago for the Post indicated that one-third of Americans would support Bush's impeachment and removal from office.
Tenet Agrees To Cooperate With Congressional Investigation Into Niger Fraud » Former CIA Director George Tenet has agreed to cooperate with a House investigation into the White House’s fraudulent pre-war claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger for a nuclear weapon. That assertion — the infamous “16 words” in President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address — was a critical part of administration’s case for war.
In a new statement, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced that Tenet will provide a deposition on the issue and testify before the committee on June 19:
Today Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced that the Oversight Committee will postpone the hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from May 15, 2007, to June 19, 2007. The hearing is being postponed to allow former CIA Director George Tenet to testify with Secretary Rice and to accommodate Secretary Rice’s travel schedule.
Mr. Tenet has agreed to cooperate with the Committee’s inquiry into whether the White House overstated Iraq’s efforts to obtain uranium from Africa and its nuclear threat in making the case for war. Mr. Tenet has agreed to provide a deposition to the Committee prior to the hearing.
Under Tenet, the CIA had debunked the claims about uranium and Niger months before the ‘03 State of the Union. The CIA “even demanded it be taken out of two previous presidential speeches.” Tenet now says the 16 words made it into the State of the Union because he delegated the review of that speech to his deputies.
Tenet has been far more willing to discuss the Niger claims than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Waxman has been forced to subpoena Rice to appear at the hearing along with Tenet, and thus far Rice maintains she will not comply, claiming she has already answered Waxman’s questions “in full.” Also, last month, the State Department refused to allow intelligence analyst Simon Dodge to be interviewed by House investigators; weeks before the ‘03 State of the Union, Simon examined the documents supposedly from Niger and determined they were “probably a hoax” and “clearly a forgery.”
Novak: ‘Poor Gonzales’ Is Terrible, ‘But There Are A Lot Of Bad People In This Administration’ » This weekend on Bloomberg Television, columnist Robert Novak offered the following “defense” of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:
He’s terrible. He shouldn’t be there. But there’s a lot of bad people in this administration.
Novak twice referred to the Attorney General as “poor Gonzales,” casting him as an unfortunate victim of congressional oversight. In a partisan jab, Novak claimed Democrats are “pounding on this poor Gonzales who never should have been in a high government post in the first place” in order to shift attention from the Iraq funding debate. But Novak then acknowledged that Republicans “think he ought to go, too.”
Watch it:
Novak said, “The president is stuck with these subpar people he brought up from Texas. That’s a failing on President Bush’s part.” A failing that Novak would prefer we not pay attention to.
Gen. Eaton: If Bush won’t listen, Congress must. VoteVets has released its latest ad featuring 33-year U.S. Army veteran Gen. Paul Eaton, who most recently served as Commanding General in charge of reestablishing Iraqi Security Forces from 2003-2004. From the new ad:
EATON: President Bush says he listens to his military commanders. Well, Mr. President, I was one of those commanders, and you weren’t listening when we warned you of the dangers we’d face invading Iraq. Now our military is overcommitted, and America is less secure. Mr. President, you’re being told we need serious diplomacy, not escalation. And you’re still not listening. If the President won’t listen, Congress must.
I've posted on a few sites that I’ve listened to Lionel on WOR and was not interested in his show. I also stated that it was a mistake to replace Sam with Lionel. Thank you my blogger brethren for proving me right.
Now if only the incredible shrinking "mark green" will listen….
Democrats prod automakers on gas economy By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 59 minutes ago
Democratic-controlled Washington stepped in to help save Chrysler nearly 30 years ago when the automaker was on the verge of bankruptcy due to lackluster sales of its fuel-thirsty vehicles.
With the Big Three struggling again, many political leaders now are taking Detroit to task for failing to do more to reduce how much gas their vehicles use. The Democratic presidential candidates are pledging tougher gas mileage rules. Automakers say such changes would hurt an industry already down.
But the political climate is turning against the companies. Concern is increasing about global warming. Pump prices are high. People are worried about U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East.
"We're talking about saving the auto industry from itself," said Sen. Chris Dodd, who is proposing the highest increase of any presidential candidate.
Dodd, D-Conn., wants to double the average fuel economy for each automaker, from about 24 miles to per gallon today to 50 mpg by 2017.
"The industry just digs its heels in to fight any of these changes, but it's hard to maintain a very sympathetic ear when you realize that other (foreign) automakers are moving" in the direction of more fuel-efficient vehicles and "devouring market share in the country," Dodd said in a telephone interview. "Why aren't we doing this?"
Sam! I hope you are spending all week getting that blog ready for the Sunday traffic. Now I'llhave Sammy to look forward to while I cook up some eats. Howabout: Sunday Grillin' with Sam Seder.
"Here's what I'm thinking...maybe things aren't going so well with the Bush Family and the Saudis. The Saudi King has been hinting that the US should never have gone into Iraq and Cheney was just there. He's in Jordan today."
yubb, the saudi's have been dealing with the oil/tribal situation there since the 1900's and way before that as far back as we can see into the history of that part of the world.
the prob for the bushies is that their ability to think and be subtle is about lawnmower engine go cart size with bubbas haywiring it vs the saudi's having a real nice new and meticulously maintained ferrari and their own extremely competent team of mechanics and engineers.
they've been out thinked and out manouvered.
for the rest of us this will just be more poop in the fan.
Gingrich close to announcing for president Newt Gingrich for president? It could happen. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America," the former Republican speaker of the House said there was a "great possibility" that he would run for president.
" Gingrich close to announcing for president Newt Gingrich for president? It could happen. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America," the former Republican speaker of the House said there was a "great possibility" that he would run for president.
Maybe they should change the name of the program to 'Good Night, America'.
Conservative blog declares 'war' on GOP 'perverts, louts, criminals' Nick Juliano Published: Monday May 14, 2007
One of the most prominent conservative blogs has started a crusade against Republicans who it says continue to promote ethically questionable congressmen and ignore the will of their base.
"A group of men and women across this nation ... are tired of defending a party that continually puts into positions of power known perverts, louts, and corrupt common criminals," RedState.com editor Erick Erickson wrote in a post Monday outlining his "battle plan" against Republican leaders. "We must be willing to wage war upon them until they bend to common sense and decency."
RedState is encouraging its readers to refuse to support Republican re-election efforts until Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) is booted from the House Appropriations Committee. The site, which averages more than 25,000 visits per day, posted a "declaration of war" against Republican leaders Friday.
Calvert is replacing fellow California Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who has stepped down from the committee in the midst of an FBI investigation into his wife's business association with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Erickson says Calvert is just as corrupt as Doolittle, citing press reports outlining a questionable land deal in which Calvert made more than $400,000 profit. Calvert sold the property for nearly $1 million in 2006 after securing millions of dollars in federal earmarks to build a traffic interchange 15 miles away.
Calvert has said the deal was not a conflict of interest and insisted the ,i>Los Angeles Times, which first reported the story in 2006, twisted the facts to create an impression of ethical impropriety.
RedState is asking its readers to call the offices of more than two dozen Republican leaders and steering committee members to find out who voted for Calvert's appointment to the Appropriations Committee. RedState readers also are being asked to refuse any donations to Republican candidates or the National Republican Congressional Committee until Calvert is removed.
Staffers Call for Special Probe of Watchdog May 14, 2007 10:57 AM
Justin Rood Reports:
A group of anonymous employees are asking President Bush to fire their boss, the top watchdog at the Commerce Department, and opt for a special counsel to investigate him.
Commerce Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier is already being investigated by a congressional committee, the Office of Special Counsel and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE), for charges ranging from retaliation against subordinates to fraud, contract abuse and wasteful spending. Frazier's job is ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse at the Commerce Department.
"Johnnie E. Frazier should be dismissed...in order to conduct an effective, 'independent' investigation," states the letter to Bush, which was written on official stationery bearing the logo of the Commerce Department Inspector General's Office.
The May 10 letter also calls for the president to put Frazier's senior aides on administrative leave, alleging they have conspired with Frazier to obstruct justice and retaliate against employees who have cooperated with investigators.
Frazier, a career government investigator, was appointed to his current post by former President Bill Clinton in 1999.
A copy of the letter was also sent to Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Friday, Dingell's panel wrote Frazier to ask he leave his employees alone and to remind his senior aides to do the same.
"The Committee requests that you immediately remind all managers within your office that...it is a violation of Federal law to interfere with a Congressional inquiry," the panel wrote and reiterated its call for Frazier to suspend all terminations, new hiring, promotions or transfers until after its investigation is complete.
Columnist: GOP sees 'doom and gloom' as Bush's term comes to an end Michael Roston Published: Monday May 14, 2007
As President George W. Bush's term comes to an end, a columnist for a leading business news service wrote on Monday, epublicans see "doom and gloom."
"While the other major democracies have, or are about to have, new leaders, America is mired in a rudderless status quo," writes Al Hunt of Bloomberg News, who hosts the weekend news program Political Capital. "A new embarrassment or scandal – Alberto Gonzales, Paul Wolfowitz, Karl Rove – seems to surface daily; the only good news for the White House is that occasionally these stories overshadow the bad news coming out of Iraq."
As a consequence, Hunt writes, negativity exists among Republican leaders about the party's current state.
"Private conversations with Republicans throughout America reveal doom and gloom about a politically paralyzed presidency and party," he notes. "Almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance; that is Richard Nixon territory."
Hunt also sees paralysis looming in Bush's efforts to set national policy for one large reason – the Iraq War.
"While the president can veto most initiatives of congressional Democrats, his once-ambitious second-term dreams of overhauling Social Security and the tax system and dealing with America's health-care crisis have evaporated," he argues. "Accordingly, Bush will probably spend much of the next year and a half sparring with critics, including a growing number in his own party, over an Iraq war policy that few believe will succeed."
This appeared yesterday in the Philadelphia Inquirer ...
The U.S. Attorney's Office flooded Camden phone lines the day of the May 8 councilmanic race with warnings that taking money for votes was a federal crime.
In a crucial election in which the turnout was under 4,000 and in which allegations of money being paid for votes were rife on both sides, the U.S. Attorney put out the following unusual alert:
"Voters alert!" said the taped message. "Please note that it is a federal crime to be paid for a vote. I repeat, it is a crime. If you or your neighbor have been offered payment, please report it immediately to the U.S. Attorney's Office at 856-757-5026."
This strikes me as extremely odd -- both for the US Attorney's office's interest in this one election and their manner of contacting the public. Was there any investigative predicate? Any specific reasons to think there was an organized vote fraud conspiracy in this particular election?
Anyone know anything more on this? More context? Did you get one of the calls?
That was quick. That Philadelphia Inquirer article about the vote fraud robocalls from the US Attorneys office in Camden? Bogus. The US Attorneys office tells us they didn't have anything to do with it. We'll have more shortly. May be the tip of a rather substantial iceberg.
Questions raised about FBI's informants Agency contends they're needed to battle terrorism By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times | May 13, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Even as the FBI hails as a major success story its breakup of an alleged plot by "radical Islamists" to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., federal authorities acknowledge that the case has underscored a troubling vulnerability in the domestic war on terror.
They say the FBI, despite an unprecedented expansion over the past 5 1/2 years, cannot possibly counter the growing threat posed by homegrown extremists without the help of two often unreliable allies. One is an American public that they lament is prone to averting its attention from suspicious behavior and often reluctant to get involved. The other is a small but growing army of informants, some of whom might be in it for the wrong reasons -- such as money, political ax grinding, or their own legal problems.
Such dependence on amateurs is "not something that we would like. It's something that we absolutely need," said special agent J.P. Weis , who heads the FBI's Philadelphia field office and the Southern New Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, which conducted the Fort Dix investigation.
Weis and other FBI and Justice Department officials acknowledged they probably never would have known about the six men and their alleged plans had it not been for a Circuit City employee who reported a suspicious video to police. And, they said, an FBI informant was instrumental in gathering the evidence needed to file criminal charges against the men by infiltrating their circle for 16 months as they allegedly bought and trained with automatic weapons, made reconnaissance runs, and discussed their plans.
Militants who associated with known Al Qaeda figures, or who spent time in training camps, have for the most part been identified and either arrested, deported, or placed under constant surveillance, senior FBI and Justice Department officials said.
The primary threat now comes from an unknown number of individuals with no criminal backgrounds and few if any ties to militants overseas. Operating locally without the need to travel or send communications overseas, these groups and individuals can evade security nets such as international wiretaps and travel surveillance.
Weis -- like other federal law enforcement, counterterrorism and intelligence officials -- described them as "lone wolves, cells that stay below the radar screen."
"Nobody really knows about them, they're not affiliated with any major group, but held together by a common ideology," Weis said. "So to try and infiltrate them, some of the traditional means may not be effective."
In recent years, authorities have arrested about 60 individuals from the much larger pool of angry and disaffected people, charging them with terrorism, according to the FBI official and others. Dozens of other suspects have been deported or are being kept under surveillance.
The Stealth Candidate's Secret Meeting After The Hotline told us that former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) was giving a speech over the weekend to the secretive Council for National Policy, the New York Times caught up with him as he entered the meeting.
"He declined to talk, saying he was at the 'behest' of the group and its schedule."
"The group’s meetings, held about three times yearly, are highly secretive. Not only is the press barred from attending, but the bylaws also ban members from discussing the meetings beforehand or afterward."
However, some of Thompson’s supporters provided The Politico with excerpts of his speech.
McCain blames Petraeus for his armed escort in Baghdad… By: John Amato @ 9:02 AM - PDT After his photo-op went terrible wrong in Baghdad, McCain the straight talker is now blaming Gen. Petraeus for making him take a military escort into the marketplace where Lindsay Graham bought a few rugs. (The now infamous Baghdad Stroll.) By the way, Russert forgot to point out that the same market place was targeted as soon as he left and McCain was like, "Mr. Faiyad, who?"
MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, you had an armed escort…
SEN. McCAIN: I had an armed escort because, because that's what General Petraeus thought we ought to have.—I didn't call for the kind of, quote, protection that was around me…
Download (623) | Play (503) Download (282) | Play (304)
McCain just dissed the man that he and the administration are hailing as the savior of Iraq.
…And I'll be glad to go back to that market with or without military protection and, and humvees, etc.
I say we take him up on his pledge. Let's ask his campaign team when he'll be going back to Iraq without protection and see if he can purchase a few more items, but hopefully spend a little more money this time. I'd hate to see him do it in reality, but if he's going to put it on the table, be my guest,…(full transcript via MSNBC below the fold)
I feel that George W. Bush is doing an excellent job as president.
I agree albeit anonymously
Bush and his ilk are doing EXACTLY what they plan. They are not stupid.
Wreck the government. Remove key supports from the us constitution. Unbalance the military, intelligence services and wreck the usa economy. Destroy the american middle class. (and all before lunch)
Monday, May 14, 2007 Air America Disaster Well, the brilliant Sam Seder's 9-12 replacement on Air America had his debut this morning.
Lionel.
Dear Jeebus, it is absolutely awful. I listened to over 2 hours (2 hours of my life that I will never get back, unfortunately) and couldn't take it anymore. I'd say I heard about 2 minutes of political discussion. Well over an hour was devoted to some shock jock controversy that I really couldn't give a fuck about, and it was just repetitive and extremely boring.
Is this what Air America is supposed to be about? How about this- we just firebomb the tattered remains of Air America that have been left by possibly the most incompetent media management the world has seen outside of WKRP in Cincinnati. Raze it to the ground and put it out of its misery.
Then, some intelligent liberals who actually know how to run a radio network can start a new one from the ground up, because the Air America liberal radio experiment has officially failed.
Lionel was awful. Not just awful in the ways I expected - I hate the "independent thinker" schtick which suggests everyone else isn't - but truly awful radio period. Who the hell would want to listen to that?
TONIGHT: Discussing the Secret Trade Deal on Lou Dobbs Tonight at 6:40pm EST
FYI - I've accepted an invitation to appear on Lou Dobbs Tonight this evening at roughly 6:40pm EST (4:40pm Montana time). As always, because of the potential for breaking news, you never know 100 percent if such an appearance will ultimately materialize. But I wanted to let folks know about it - it's scheduled, and it should be a one-on-one between me and Dobbs. We'll be talking about the secret trade deal negotiated between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush White House - a trade deal whose specific legislative language still has not been released, a full four days after the press conference announcing it. All we seem to know right now is that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is telling its members that it has received "assurances that the labor provisions [in the deal] cannot be read to require compliance."
Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race. Sometimes I find myself crying like a baby and howling to the wind in despair. Sometimes I think to live in this world as we know it is hopeless. Nothing changes. Mans inhumanity to man goes on.
I came across the cellphone videos of the brutal killing of a 17 year old Yezidi/Kurdish girl in a "honor killing" (see the story and video below)and it stunned me. I don't think I've ever seen such sickening mindless brutality. But I thought "the world should know about this" so I posted it to YouTube where it was promptly removed after 20 minutes. So I thought on it some more and then recorded a video of myself watching the Stoning video here on my site. I called it "YouTube Censors Stoning Video" and it quickly became one of the most watched and most commented videos over the past two days. At last count some 6,500 people had watched it. Most share my horror and abhorrence. But some have criticised me for posting the original cellphone videos again on YouTube. This time they lasted a day and were seen by over 2000 people before being removed for "Inappropriate Content".
"The Daily Reel" vlog site ran a feature on it and said "...one angry YouTube user is crying foul, trying to raise awareness (and possibly self-promotion), by creating another YouTube post titled "YouTube Censors Stoning Video," which includes links to his own site -- which also includes the offensive clips. Human-rights activism or exploitation, you decide."
A prominent YouTube "celebrity", Blunty3000, wrote "...tell me exactly WHY do we need to SEE it happen? what do we gain from WATCHING this girl die? ESPECIALLY from footage taken from people standing by and watching it happen. I'm revolted you're so anxious to have everyone watch this horrifying event. Tell the story, please, but the video is purely unnecessary and vulgar." And there have been other derogatory comments questioning my motivation.
The thing is. After I posted this, BoingBoing picked it up. As did FoxNews, The Sydney Morning Herald, Digg and God-knows-who-else. It's out there.
Over the past two days I've had over 7000 vistors to this site - most of them coming to that video. I've had to purchase more Bandwidth to keep up with it. But the few comments have been encouraging. People are actually applauding me for doing it. So what I'm feeling now is "What can we do to stop these "honor killings" happening? Is joining or donating to Amnesty enough?
Should we be signing the petition to the Kurdistan Government that's going around? Maybe we should be making a collaborative video to send to the Yezikis, for a starter, telling them what we think of "honor killings"? Have you any ideas? How do we stop hundreds if not thousands of years of cultural custom? How do we stop this madness?
*
I agonised about posting this but I think it needs to be seen. Iraq: Amnesty International appalled by stoning to death of Yezidi girl and subsequent killings. Amnesty International is appalled by the killing of Du'a Khalil Aswad, aged about 17, who was stoned to death on or around 7 April 2007 for a so-called honour crime. A member of Iraq's Yezidi religious minority from the village of Bahzan in northern Iraq, she was killed by a group of eight or nine men and in the presence of a large crowd in the town of Bashika, near the city of Mosul. Some of her relatives are said to have participated in the killing. Du'a Khalil Aswad's murder is said to have been committed by relatives and other Yezidi men because she had engaged in a relationship with a Sunni Muslim boy and had been absent from her home for one night. Some reports suggested that she had converted to Islam, but others deny this. Initially, she was reportedly given shelter in the house of a Yezidi tribal leader in Bashika, but her killers stormed the house, took her outside and stoned her to death.
Her death by stoning, which lasted for some 30 minutes, was recorded on video film which was then widely distributed and is available on the internet. The film reportedly shows that members of local security forces were present but failed to intervene to prevent the stoning or arrest those responsible.
...
"Honour crimes" are most often perpetrated by male members of the woman's family in the belief that such crimes restore their and their family's honour. While the Kurdish authorities introduced legal reforms to address "honour killings" they have, however, failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such crimes. Amnesty International has documented its concerns about Iraqi women victims of human rights violations, including "honour crimes", in a report issued in February 2005 (Iraq: Decades of suffering-Now women deserve better, AI Index: MDE 14/001/2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index...pen&of=ENG-IRQ) Another video here - 17 year old girl stoned to death
IF ANYONE wants to know what a Giuliani presidency would really look like, they should go back to his years as mayor of New York during the 1990s.
Giuliani is credited with an urban renewal in NYC that cut crime rates and revived the economy and tourism. While he did create a Disneyland version of NYC, complete with a redeveloped Times Square and booming Wall Street, the reality of what happened to working-class and poor New Yorkers during his time in office is a much darker story.
Giuliani came to power in the context of a racially divided city. During his election campaign, he spoke at a police "protest" --in reality, a drunken brawl of white cops--held on the steps of City Hall against the establishment of a civilian complaint review board. Complete and unapologetic support for the NYPD became a hallmark of his tenure.
As soon as he took office, Giuliani announced a "quality of life" campaign, claiming that by going after small-time offenses, the city would be able to root out more violent crimes.
The symbol of this campaign was Giuliani's plan to drive "squeegee men"--homeless people who wiped windshields at traffic stops for money--from NYC streets. Giuliani's cops went after them with a ruthlessness that foreshadowed much greater brutality to come. As the campaign got underway, an off-duty cop shot and killed an unarmed "squeegee man"--and defended his actions on the basis that the man was a "criminal."
In a short mobile video clip which appears to have been taken by locals at seen of the murder, the girl is seen being ambushed on her way home by a group of up to 1000 men who were waiting for her to return; the men killed her in the most brutal way possible, by throwing large stones on her head. The following clips show that while she is alive and crying for help she is taunted and kicked in her stomach until someone finishes her off by throwing a large stone on her face.
From the clips it appears that the girl was first stripped naked to symbolize that she had dishonored her family and her Yezidi religion. She is lying on the road naked while her smashed face is covered with blood and still breathing.
Treating misdemeanors as equal to more serious crimes meant ratcheting up the level of violence and repression in poor, minority communities. The underlying assumption of the new "stop and frisk" policy was that all Blacks and Latinos were potential criminals. A report by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer found that Latinos were stopped 39 percent more often than whites under the policy, and Blacks were stopped 23 percent more often.
The year before Giuliani took office, 720 people were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana-related offenses; by 2000, the number had jumped to 59,495--an increase of 4,549 percent. During a 10-month period in 1996, 50,000 people detained on misdemeanors were strip-searched by the Department of Corrections.
These kinds of aggressive policies gave a green light to the NYPD to terrorize Black and Latino communities.
When unarmed cousins Anthony Rosario and Hilton Vega were shot in the back and killed while they lay face down on the floor in 1995, Giuliani called the officers and congratulated them on their performance. When Anthony's mother, Margarita Rosario, began organizing in protest, Giuliani told her that her son died because she was a bad mother.
This attitude was exemplified most starkly when cops tortured and sodomized Abner Louima in a Brooklyn police station in 1997. Even after the killing of Amadou Diallo--shot 41 times in the hallway of his building in 1999--Giuliani maintained his defense of the police and his opposition to any kind of reform of the NYPD.
Giuliani and his supporters defended these actions by claiming that "tough on crime" policies were crucial to a decline in crime statistics. But a look at the statistics shows that the drop in crime began 36 months before Giuliani took office--while Dinkins was still mayor. In fact, the 1990s saw a national reduction in crime, due largely to demographic and economic changes.
Honor killing is becoming something to celebrate in Iraq now, and this did not happen before the last years that we experienced in the post-war Iraq. When a young woman is killed -- actually, it was more than eight to nine males around her. It was hundreds of males standing around. None of them helped, but they were very keen on photographing the scene, on videotaping it on their cell phones, on their mobile phones. And on top of that, the part, the information that’s missing in the report is that some of our codes, the penal codes, which is part of our laws, they support the killing of women if they are “dishonorable.”
So what happened in this new Iraq, the so-called liberation of Iraq has turned women into refugees inside their country. Millions of us are vulnerable to be killed, and all our lives are threatened, and there is nobody to secure our lives for us. The policemen were standing and watching, and actually they helped to get the young girl back to the place where she was killed. So by constitution, we have lost our rights. Honor killings are on the rise. Kidnappings of women are getting more now. Our organization’s work proves that human trafficking is still rising, and not much is being done about it.
And when you look at the situation, it’s as if the country was occupied and later on handed down to the extremists who were responsible of the 9/11. Why are all the TV outlets given to Islamists? Where are the democrats? Why aren’t they being supported? Where are the seculars? Why are the women's groups not being supported? And we are one example of those. It is as if it was a plan to make us weaker -- the women, the freedom-loving people of Iraq -- and to support the extremists, to give them, to hand the government over to them.
And today, I hear in the reports that the US media is very happy that the resistance are having multiplications, and they’re not working together anymore.
Sam, you rock even harder in the breach than you did in the observance, dude.
When I make (or steal) my first million, I'm buying a station with mad wattage and it'll be you and Sedition 24/7. And I don't mean rotating--I mean everybody on-air all the time.
What do you mean, "When will I sleep?" That's what station IDs are for.
Noam hosts a forum in the Z Sustainer chat board, where the below exchange took place]
Z Sustainer: How can the United States actually help the Iraqi people, without keeping troops in the country?
Noam Chomsky: There was a revealing front-page article about this in the Wall St Journal, April 19, discussing a conflict between the State Dept and the Pentagon about tactics for "rebuilding Iraq" and winning support from Iraqis. It describes how the reconstruction was first handed over to Halliburton, Bechtel, etc., with the predictable effect of tossing tens of billions of dollars into their deep pockets with nothing much to show for it. Then State and DOD took over with their different approaches. Story opens with a description of a State Dept supervisor explaining to an Iraqi engineer how to repair shoddy work. Next sentence reads: "`We can't build this for you,' he snapped."
Iraqi engineers performed near miracles of keeping the country functioning after the utterly devastating 1991 war, which aimed specifically at destroying infrastructure for a viable society, then through the Clinton sanctions that were denounced as "genocidal" by the two successive directors of the "oil-for-food" program who resigned in protest., and up to the Bush invasion. The reporter, Yochi Dreazen, who knows Iraq well, describes the comment as "the core of the problem," but doesn't amplify. It's not hard to do so. Why should they rebuild the country for its new owners?
The wailing about how the Iraqis are not up to it is not an unfamiliar one from conquerors. Right now, some very interesting work is being done by a former Russian soldier in Afghanistan, on the coverage of the Afghan invasion and occupation in the Soviet press. Very familiar, including distress that the Afghans are just not up to it and have to be held accountable. Colonial administrators, slave masters, and others like them constantly express great irritation at the shiftlessness and irresponsibility of their wards, not properly following commands -- issued for their benefit, of course.
How can we help the Iraqi people? By putting them in charge, and doing what they instruct us to do -- which, judging by US-run polls, would mean getting out pretty quickly. And though the question cannot be included in US-run polls for doctrinal reasons, I don't think it is hard to guess how Iraqis would respond if asked whether we ought to pay enormous reparations for crimes of the past half century, including strong US support for Saddam through his worst atrocities, horrendous sanctions that destroyed much of the society, and finally an invasion and occupation which brought about a catastrophe that they compare to the Mongol invasions.
" Dear Jeebus, it is absolutely awful. I listened to over 2 hours (2 hours of my life that I will never get back, unfortunately) and couldn't take it anymore. I'd say I heard about 2 minutes of political discussion. Well over an hour was devoted to some shock jock controversy that I really couldn't give a fuck about, and it was just repetitive and extremely boring. "
At least anyone with a computer can listen to Mike Malloy tonight.
mms://wm13.spacialnet.com/novamradio72251
http://www.novamradio.com/
I hope he mentions the phenomenon, that is 'Lionel'.
Tried sending email to "comments@airamericaradio.com" and the mail got rejected. Just wanted to complain about Lionel and not having Sam on in that slot. I'm just heartsick! Ugh! I am also forced to listen to Ed Schultz on XM, complained about that one too. Would defintely rather listen to Thom. Oh well.....
Lionel isn't listed on the show dropdown. I guess they don't want to hear it, or the Green family forgot to hire someone to update their site. http://www.airamerica.com/contact
"... The rest of Air America's roster changes will be phased in starting this weekend, with Sam Seder's new Sunday afternoon show debuting this Sunday, May 20. Next Monday sees the weekday shuffle, as they launch "The Air Americans" weeknights (8P-midnight ET), bump Jon Elliott to three hours later (midnight-3AM ET) and make other changes. You can see the rest here.
"And soon, you'll see a whole new Air America website. That is, if you can actually pull up their website (which seems to have been on the fritz too frequently as of late). I dunno, when I redesigned my site, I worked on it offline, then launched it in mere seconds, with no disruption. Then again, it doesn't seem like a real web-saavy bunch over there. Nonetheless, look for a redesigned presence and allegedly a new logo for Air America sometime soon. Perhaps prior to next week's on-air makeover. So if you haven't listened to or downloaded those year-old airchecks currently at the bottom of their front page, better get a move on. Stop procrastinating."
Why are the investigators dropping the ball on the Lam part of the US Attorneys investigation? We look at that question in today's episode of TPMtv ...
Late update: For a summary of today's episode, click here.
Murdoch to achieve carbon neutrality with credits, but Fox employees call them a sham
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140007
In a May 10 online article, London-based magazine Environment Finance reported that News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch will take steps "to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from his media empire" -- which includes Fox News Channel -- "to zero by 2010." According to the article, "News Corp will adopt energy efficiency measures and buy renewable energy to cut emissions as much as possible, then offset the rest using carbon credits. The firm will start buying credits from a wind farm project in India this year." However, in addition to attacks by Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and John Gibson, FoxNews.com posts have directly attacked the purchasing of carbon credits to offset one's "carbon footprint" and have mocked former Vice President Al Gore's reported use of them.
Saw the earlier thread. If conbo is out there, or if ToniD or anyone else can get this link to her, please pass it on to her. I hope it can be helpful.
Fired Prosecuters: Rove’s “Obstruction of Justice?” RFK says “They Ought to be in Jail” Published May 14th, 2007 in Articles Democracy Now! Monday, May 14th, 2007 Greg Palast:
May 11, 2007 -- Cheney report blowback. As an example of what occurs in Washington when someone goes after the hypocrisy of the Bush administration and the lickspittles in the so-called "main stream media," this editor was the subject of a verbal barrage this past week on WMAL-AM's morning drive radio show. Apparently, the ABC-owned radio station did not like our report that Disney/ABC, under pressure from the White House, killed the DC Madam's list story. The two morning radio hosts also did not like our report that Vice President Dick Cheney is on the list from his time as a part-time resident of McLean, Virginia while he was President and CEO of Halliburton.
WMAL has gone from a relatively apolitical station to a propaganda outlet for right-wing radio blatherers, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Paul Harvey, and Mark Levin, and the two morning guys, "Grandy and Andy," who did not like our story about Cheney and the Madam.
On the Grandy and Andy web site this morning, the following "case closed" story is posted about the DC Madam's list: "DC Madam: "There will be no more lists of records from a woman accused of running a Washington DC prostitution ring. A federal judge has barred Deborah Palfrey from releasing any more phone records that could implicate former customers. Palfrey says there was no sex involved and hers was a legitimate escort business."
The WMAL morning slot was once filled by two hosts who pushed no political agenda: Frank Harden and Jackson Weaver. Weaver was the non-political voice of the National Park Service's "Smokey the Bear" and cautioned park visitors, "only you can prevent forest fires." These days, WMAL's right-wing pontificators figure out ways to put out fires that threaten their corrupt heroes in the Bush administration.
And who are "Grandy and Andy," who claimed this editor is not a "real journalist" and how do they have so much political insight? Well, Grandy is former Iowa Republican Representative Fred Grandy who many people remember as "Gopher" on "The Love Boat." Andy is Andy Parks, the former WMAL helicopter traffic reporter who once regularly reported on tie ups from the Beltway to Gude Drive and Braddock Road to Indian Head Highway.
May 14, 2007 -- UPDATED -- Hookergate involves fired US Attorney. US District Judge for the District of Columbia Gladys Kessler, a Clinton appointee, has re-issued an order prohibiting DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey from releasing any more phone lists of her Pamela Martin & Associates customers. Secrecy of the phone records has been a priority for DC Assistant US Attorney William Cowden. Palfrey released the last four years of ten years of customer phone records to ABC's "20/20" before Kessler's March order prohibiting such a release took effect. As WMR reported, ABC and Disney, under pressure from the Bush White House, killed the story and stated that there were no "newsworthy" names on the Madam's list. Six years of phone records, including those involving mid to late 1990s calls to and from individuals who would become top officials of the Bush administration, were not in the hands of ABC News. WMR has been informed by three well-placed sources that Vice President Dick Cheney, while a part-time resident of McLean, Virginia and while serving as Dallas-based Halliburton's CEO, was a customer of the DC Madam.
The focus on the DC Hookergate story has now moved to Baltimore, and the firing by the Justice Department in December 2004 of the US Attorney for Maryland, Thomas DiBiagio. DiBiagio was fired, along with a number of other US attorneys, after George W. Bush's re-election for political reasons. One of DiBiagio's public corruption targets was the staff of then-Republican Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, some of whom had engaged the services of Madam Palfrey's escorts. The US Attorney's office in Baltimore first became involved in the investigation of the prostitution ring after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office and IRS agent Troy Burrus in Baltimore made a criminal referral to the US Attorney's office in Baltimore. Subsequently, an asset seizure warrant for Palfrey's assets was issued. Palfrey and her employees used two telephones in Maryland for their escort business, 301 231-5800 in Rockville, near some of the "mansions" in Potomac, Maryland and Great Falls, Virginia described by "20/20" as the locations in DC where Pamela Martin escorts would pay calls, and 410 244-1818 in Baltimore.
After Ehrlich complained to then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey about the aggressiveness of DiBiagio, the Baltimore-based US Attorney was placed on the firing list in the wake of the 2004 election. David Margolis, an Associate Deputy Attorney General, claimed he did not know about any investigations of Ehrlich's staff by DiBiagio when he informed the number one Justice Department official in Baltimore that the Justice Department had lost confidence in his abilities.
DiBiagio had already witnessed the brutal murder of his Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Luna in December 2003. A husband and father of two, Luna had departed in his vehicle, strangely leaving his cell phone on his desk at his office, and drove a circuitous route through Delaware, New Jersey, and then Pennsylvania before he was found in a creek near the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Denver, PA stabbed to death 36 times, supposedly with his own pen knife. Federal authorities leaned toward a suicide but local investigators treated the death as a homicide. In 2004, DiBiagio claimed he was being pressured to stop his investigation of Ehrlich's staff for links to gambling (particularly the gambling interests of jailed Maryland/DC GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff), prostitution, and other corruption and filed a threat report with the FBI. The Washington Post and Washington Times then reported that Luna was fearful that DiBiagio was going to fire him, which led to Luna's "suicide." It is a charge DiBiagio strongly denied. DiBiagio told the New York Times that the pressure from Ehrlich's office and the Justice Department served "to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations." Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin has asked for an investigation of DiBiagio's firing.
Luna's death on December 4, 2003 was followed a few days later, on December 10, 2003, by the indictment of Ed Norris, Baltimore Police Commissioner (and later Maryland State Police Superintendent under Governor Bob Ehrlich), for using his Baltimore Police Executive Protective Unit (EPU) to ferry prostitutes to various locations, including posh Baltimore and New York City hotels, including the Baltimore Hyatt. As Maryland State Police Superintendent, Norris was in charge of the Maryland State Police's Executive Protection Service, which provides security for the Governor in Annapolis. It is noteworthy that one of Palfrey's employees was identified as a Navy Lieutenant Commander instructor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Like Palfrey, Norris also came under investigation for tax evasion by the Baltimore IRS office. ABC's 20/20 reported that Madam Palfrey's escorts were also driven to expensive Washington hotels, including the Hay-Adams.
Palfrey, in an interview with Smoking Gun, agreed that it would not be a surprise if some of her escorts were linked to the case of jailed California Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham, Mitchell Wade's MZM, Inc., and Shirlington Limousine. The limousine service was, according to investigators, involved in transporting escorts to the Watergate and Capitol Hill's Westin Grand Hotel for "poker parties" with top Republican congressmen and CIA officials. There are also interesting links between Norris and then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Both served together as New York Police Department officers. Luna worked in the Brooklyn District Attorney's office during the time that Kerik first came under a probe by the Brooklyn DA in the late 1990s. Ksrik was tapped to become Bush's Homeland Security Secretary before it was discovered he had hired a nanny who was an illegal immigrant. Kerik is currently under a federal probe and reportedly faces an imminent indictment. The New York Daily News reported that Kerik commandeered a condominium overlooking the World Trade Center's "Ground Zero" to carry on extramarital trysts during recovery operations.
I don't know who said it but I have tried to set my priorities as such:
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."
The murder of Luna and the firing of DiBiagio eliminated the threat that the well-heeled customers of the DC/Baltimore prostitution ring, many of them GOP stalwarts, would be exposed prior to the December 2004 presidential election. The attempt by Justice prosecutors and Judge Kessler to limit the criminal case to Palfrey continues the effort to punish the DC Madam and her employees and divert attention away from the customers. In May 2004, at the same time Norris and his chief of staff agreed to a plea deal in the prostitution case and received light sentences, Palfrey came under intense federal investigation. Palfrey claims that she is being scapegoated by the very same people who were her customers.
This past January, after being exposed by the media as running an escort, Brandy Britton, a PhD and former Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus was found hanging in her home in Ellicott City, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Britton's home had been foreclosed after she was charged with running a prostitution service using the name "Alexis" and has since been identified from Palfrey's phone lists as one of the Pamela Martin & Associates escorts. Palfrey used the name "Julia." The Bush administration, clearly concerned about a sex scandal that will bring down more than just former Assistant Secretary of State Randall Tobias, is hoping to keep the focus on "Julia" and her employees, and not on "Backseat."
For more info on Baltimore connection to the DC Madam case:
May 14, 2007 -- Democratic presidential candidate former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska unveiled his plan for ending the Iraq war at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington this morning. Gravel called on the congressional leadership to "draw-out over days and weeks, if necessary, repeated daily cloture votes in the Senate" and repeated daily veto override votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to "give American voters time to weigh-in and force two-thirds of their Senators and Representatives to vote to override the President's veto of the American will."
Gravel, whose legislation to cut off funding for the Vietnam war forced Richard Nixon to bring U.S. troops home from that conflict, declared, "Constitutionally the Congress is the superior power. The President can only enforce the law and obey it like any other citizen. Congressional timidity over the years encouraged by political partisanship has unleashed an imperial presidency. When the presidency falls into the hands of a messianic true-believer like Bush the result is a morally questionable foreign policy and a domestic disaster threatening the nation's safety."
May 10, 2007 -- Neo-con purge of French intelligence services begins. Only days after the election of neo-con Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France, the expected neo-con purge of anti-Sarkozy members of the French intelligence and security services has begun. Captain Thierry Tintoni of the Renseignements generaux (RG) (General Intelligence service) has been questioned by a secret tribunal for violating secrecy laws. Tintoni is accused of providing defeated Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal with damaging information on Sarkozy's conduct while Interior Minister. The French intelligence services will now face the same purges that befell similar neo-con purges of the U.S., British, Australian, Danish, and Italian intelligence services.
WMR's French intelligence sources report that French intelligence services, including the DGSE and DST, expect a Stalinist-type purge by Sarkozy's forces. Expected targets include agents suspected of being too close to the Socialists and those considered too pro-Arab. The Sarkozy team will also target those agents, who, through telecommunication intercepts of Sarkozy and his associates and officials of key American neo-con organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute and the American Jewish Committee, became aware of Sarkozy's secret foreign policy and campaign financing channels. Sarkozy made foreign policy commitments with American neo-cons that ran at odds with the policies of outgoing President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique DeVillepin.
Commentary: How secularists and generals tried to take down Turkish democracy.
By Dilip Hiro
May 10, 2007
This article originally appeared on TomDispatch.com.
Recently Turkey came close to experiencing a soft military coup. In late April, faced with the prospect of the moderate Islamist Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul becoming president, the country's top generals threatened to overthrow the elected government under the guise of protecting "secularism." When the minority secularist parliamentarians boycotted the poll for president, the Constitutional Court, powerfully influenced by the military's threat, invalidated the parliament's vote for Gul on the technical grounds that it lacked a two-thirds quorum -- something that had never been an issue before.
This demonstrated vividly that secularists are not invariably the good guys engaged in a struggle with the irredeemably bad guys from the Islamic camp. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkýnma Partisi or AKP) called the Court's verdict "a bullet fired at the heart of democracy." Other critics pointed out that earlier Presidents had been elected without the presence of two-thirds of the 550-member Parliament.
Evangelical Leader: "Vote for Romney is Vote for Satan"
Yikes. Take a look at what an evangelical leader is saying about Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney. His name is Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV, and he writes in his daily devotional (which reaches 2.4 million people):
"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan! ... Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith's cult began that it was a work of Satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell."
I particularly like this crazy paranoid line, which betrays a deep insecurity:
"Romney getting elected president will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell!"
I think it's important to condemn this sort of bigotry and ignorance. I know it's fun to watch a party with a problematic history with race relations -- and that is sometimes openly hostile to minority voters -- turn its prejudice in on its own, but liberal bloggers have an obligation to stay consistent. We would condemn this sort of nonsense if the angry reverend was attacking Muslim legislator Keith Ellison (D-MN), so we have a responsibility to condemn it when he attacks a Republican.
Russert challenged Democrats -- but not McCain -- about 2002 Iraq intel "caveats"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140008
On the May 13 "Meet the Candidates" edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host Tim Russert asked Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ), "In hindsight, was it a good idea to go into Iraq?" but did not challenge McCain's reply that the invasion of Iraq "was certainly justified" because "[e]very intelligence agency in the world, not just U.S., believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction." Yet on two separate "Meet the Candidates" editions of Meet the Press, Russert did challenge former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) for their 2002 votes giving President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq, citing the "caveats" in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concerning the purported existence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program. The NIE was made available to all members of Congress before the vote, according to The Washington Post. Russert did not challenge McCain with either a general question about the contrary evidence in the NIE or a question about the basis for his explicit assertion one day before the war resolution vote that "[t]o wait for Saddam Hussein to threaten imminent attack against America would be to acquiesce to his development of nuclear weapons."
In addition, during the interview, McCain made the much-disputed assertion that if the United States withdraws from Iraq, "these people will try to follow us home," which Russert also did not challenge.
Former Diebold Sales Rep Becomes Registrar of Voters in San Diego Deborah Seiler, a former sales representative for Diebold Election Systems, has been made the new registrar of voters for San Diego County in California. Diebold makes the voting machines used in San Diego. I previously wrote about Seiler's prior appointment as registrar of Solano County in 2004 -- a one-time Diebold county. From that story:
Can you believe this Crap??I live in San Diego too!!Guess,I'll be voting by mail forever!
255 comments:
1 – 200 of 255 Newer› Newest»yeah, right
the o.g. just got home & told me that a 26 y.o. woman asked him to come home here
(yeah, right)
SEDER!!!
what's the latest on the *new* blog
PAUL KRUGMAN: Divided Over Trade
Nothing divides Democrats like international trade policy. That became clear last week, when the announcement of a deal on trade between Democratic leaders and the Bush administration caused many party activists to accuse the leadership of selling out.
The furor subsided a bit as details about the deal emerged: the Democrats got significant concessions from the Bushies, while effectively giving a go-ahead to only two minor free trade agreements (Peru and Panama). But the Democrats remain sharply divided between those who believe that globalization is driving down the wages of many U.S. workers, and those who believe that making and honoring international trade agreements is an essential part of governing responsibly.
What makes this divide so agonizing is that both sides are right.
Fears that low-wage competition is driving down U.S. wages have a real basis in both theory and fact. When we import labor-intensive manufactured goods from the third world instead of making them here, the result is reduced demand for less-educated American workers, which leads in turn to lower wages for these workers. And no, cheap consumer goods at Wal-Mart aren’t adequate compensation.
So imports from the third world, although they make the United States as a whole richer, make tens of millions of Americans poorer. How much poorer? In the mid-1990s a number of economists, myself included, crunched the numbers and concluded that the depressing effects of imports on the wages of less-educated Americans were modest, not more than a few percent.
But that may have changed. We’re buying a lot more from third-world countries today than we did a dozen years ago, and the largest increases have come in imports from Mexico, where wages are only about 11 percent of the U.S. level, and China, where wages are only 3 percent of the U.S. level. Trade still isn’t the main source of rising economic inequality, but it’s a bigger factor than it was.
So there is a dark side to globalization. The question, however, is what to do about it.
Should we go back to old-fashioned protectionism? That would have ugly consequences: if America started restricting imports from the third world, other wealthy countries would follow suit, closing off poor nations’ access to world markets.
Where would that leave Bangladesh, which is able to survive despite its desperate lack of resources only because it can export clothing and other labor-intensive products? Where would it leave India, where there is, at last, hope of an economic takeoff thanks to surging exports — exports that would be crippled if barriers to trade that have been dismantled over the past half century went back up?
And where would it leave Mexico? Whatever you think of Nafta, undoing the agreement could all too easily have disastrous economic and political consequences south of the border.
Because of these concerns, even trade skeptics tend to shy away from a return to outright protectionism, and to look for softer measures, which mainly come down to trying to push up foreign wages. The key element of the new trade deal is its inclusion of “labor standards”: countries that sign free trade agreements with the United States will have to allow union organizing, while abolishing child and slave labor.
The Bush administration, by the way, opposed labor standards, not because it wanted to keep imports cheap, but because it was afraid that America would end up being forced to improve its own labor policies. So the inclusion of these standards in the deal represents a real victory for workers.
Realistically, however, labor standards won’t do all that much for American workers. No matter how free third-world workers are to organize, they’re still going to be paid very little, and trade will continue to place pressure on U.S. wages.
So what’s the answer? I don’t think there is one, as long as the discussion is restricted to trade policy: all-out protectionism isn’t acceptable, and labor standards in trade agreements will help only a little.
By all means, let’s have strong labor standards in our pending trade agreements, and let’s approach proposals for new agreements with an appropriate degree of skepticism. But if Democrats really want to help American workers, they’ll have to do it with a pro-labor policy that relies on better tools than trade policy. Universal health care, paid for by taxing the economy’s winners, would be a good place to start.
That story about the teachers freightening the kids, I reported yesterday. CNN had a spot on it today and the parents were not very happy about it. They want all the teachers fired.
CNN interviewed some of the kids and they were crying and horrified.
Who's dum idea was that???
The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 290
May 14, 2007 - Valley Of The Dicks Edition
Dick Morris (1) and Dick Cheney (2) top the chart this week with their latest nonsensical proclamations about Iraq. Meanwhile, The Bush Administration (3) has destroyed the National Guard, Ted Poe (4) drops a stinker on the House floor, and Bill O'Reilly (8) calls off the most useless boycott ever.
Is Lionel on today? I have my radio on instead of the AAR stream so I get Stephanie Miller.
Oil jumps to $67
World oil prices climbed on Monday, breaching 67 dollars a barrel in London, as the market focused on concerns over tight supplies, traders said.
LINK
Stamp prices rise to
41 cents today
A reminder: Extra postage needed on those letters and packages. For a first-class card or letter the rate taking effect Monday is 41 cents for the first ounce, a 2-cent increase.
Oh my god. I am listening to Lionel. First time. And, I am already dozing off. Terrible.
oh no, lionel - dear God, please help us. This instead of Sam - we are doomed.
Generals will revolt against Bush if he maintains escalation
Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker revealed that sources within the military are warning of “a revolt from active-duty generals if September rolls around and the president is sticking with the surge into ‘08.”
LINK
Is there anyone else I can stream?
Not Lionel or Stephanie Miller. Anyone else?
Please post suggestions
Stacy Taylor - out of San Diego
If my son was enrolled in that school I so fucking sue! The next year I would use my settlement to run for the school board!
“More than 50 Iraqis died Sunday in bombings, mortar blasts and gunfire. Two U.S. soldiers also were killed, while 4,000 troops scoured an area southwest of Baghdad in search of three soldiers apparently captured after an ambush Saturday that left four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter dead.”
LINK
Sunday May 13, 2007
Editor's Note listed in
I'm no longer going to post Sunday Talkshow Breakdowns, because over at the Campaign for America's Future blog, I've started the Weekend Watchdog feature. On Friday's, we suggest questions for Sunday show hosts to pose to their scheduled guests, and afterwards, we circle back and see if they got asked. And when Seder on Sundays debuts on Air America next week, Weekend Watchdog will be a featured segment.
So it's a little much to do all that and post comprehensive reviews of the Sundays shows at LiberalOasis. But having said that, there still will be Sunday show reactions posted at LiberalOasis, they just won't be part of a comprehensive review.
Posted by Bill Scher at 11:23 AM permalink email Spotlight
“The White House confirmed yesterday that the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad is likely to meet in the next several weeks with Iranian officials about stabilizing Iraq, as the administration embraces a tactic outsiders have long recommended as essential to reducing sectarian violence in Iraq.”
LINK
Anonymous said...
Stacy Taylor - out of San Diego
May 14, 2007 9:14 AM
Thanks, I've heard him before, filling in for Thom or somebody. I'll give him a try.
must be an emotional time for sammer
his replacement starts today
YOU'RE #1 SAMMER
OMG!
lionel's a lawrence welk fan
he's strictly for dumbies
Jeffinator said...
Is there anyone else I can stream?
Not Lionel or Stephanie Miller. Anyone else?
Please post suggestions
May 14, 2007 9:13 AM
You could hang out at Youtube. Look for Bill Maher and Real Time.
I say Sam Seder gets Mark Green's job.
A US court in Miami will be hearing the opening statements in the trial of alleged Al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla along with his two co-defendants.
Charges against Padilla have been changed from the initial accusation of planning to detonate a radioactive bomb in the city, to being a part of a North American support cell for terrorists in Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan. According to the federal indictment Padilla and his two partners, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were actively seeking US recruits and funding for terrorist activities.
One of the key evidence connecting Padilla with terrorist activities is a Mujahedeen Data Form, which he had filled in July 2000. However the federal prosecutors have so far refused to divulge the authenticity and the source of the document. A covert CIA operative will be testifying in disguise and the prosecutors revealed that they will be offering transcripts of nearly 100 wiretap conversations.
lionel's just another opinionated talking head
he severely lacks the 3 c'ees
~no cache
~no charm
~no class
Another Cruise Ship is sinking. This time off the coast of Juno Alaska. It's taking on water and off loading passengers.
Another drunk captain?
I'm listening to Thom Hartmann, Heidi Tauber, and another person (didn't catch his name) live on KPOJ-AM. Portland, Oregan oriented, still plenty to interest me on the other side of the country:
http://www.620kpoj.com/pages/listenlive.html
Not an adequate substitute for SEDER, not as lively and funny, but not bad. Up after the break, Stephen Marshall from the Guerilla News Network
http://www.democracynow.org/ streaming live now, I think.
New documents” suggest that World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz “understood that his role in ordering a pay increase and promotion for his companion in 2005 might be seen as a conflict of interest but insisted on proceeding anyway.”
LINK
http://www.fcc.gov/calea/
“A Depression-era program to bring electricity to rural areas is using taxpayer money to provide billions of dollars in low-interest loans to build coal plants even as Congress seeks ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions. That government support is a major force behind the rush to coal plants, which spew carbon dioxide that scientists blame for global warming.”
LINK
lionel is OK late at night when u r dozing off...I NEED SAM IN THE MORNINGS!
have listened to Brian Shaw but he does alot of local news, too.
Cripes, Sam, gotta get you a new morning gig.
Shameless blog plug time...
Ya Think?
WaPo: Voter Fraud Complaints from GOP reason for US Attorneys Dismissal
Lionel isn't that bad. His politics seem good, so far. I'll bet he is to the left of, say, Cenk on most issues.
To Fry The Smallest Fish
By: Nicole Belle @ 4:46 PM - PDT Guardian Unlimited (h/t Gregory):
A recent case suggests that the war on terror has been superseded by the war on embarrassment
A man accused of blowing up an airliner and killing 73 people, who has already admitted to bombing hotels with fatal consequences and who has a conviction for a failed assassination attempt on a head of state, was freed on a technicality in a Texas court this week, and can look forward to a quiet retirement in Florida.
In London a man accused of hacking into the computer system of the Pentagon and Nasa is waiting to see if the House of Lords will hear his appeal against extradition to the US to face a trial in which one prosecutor has already indicated he should "fry". Blowing up an airliner is clearly regarded as less serious than causing major embarrassment to the defence establishment.
LINK
If I get desperate, Bernie or Ray on KGO archives.
Thanks for the KPOJ Link dude. It's bookmarked!
I have Dish Network so I can Watch Amy Goodman Live on Free Speech TV ch 9415.
toniD said...
Another Cruise Ship is sinking. This time off the coast of Juno Alaska. It's taking on water and off loading passengers.
Another drunk captain?
May 14, 2007 9:31 AM
Randi is taking an early break?
OOOOOOF! Who cares about his politics.
This guy is BORING!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
How old is this guy?
I decided to give Lionel a chance... He's worse than lame! I had to turn it off.
I WANT SAM SEDER BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lionel is terrible. Sam had a great show. What more is there to say? We want Sam.
Doris
..had occasion to listen to lionel's WOR radio show off and on past year or so... he ran a show once or twice [that I heard parts of] that exposed 911 issues-- taking a "let's examine this" position but not going to the point that he'd take an absolute "yes or no" stand...he says he used to be a lawyer so he likes to analyze a lot... but he can go from a left position to a conservative position fairly quickly from what I recall...
... and lionel will pontificate ad nauseum on a ridiculous subject whenever [I assume] he's told to run the clock out...
....that's what they put here in place of SAM... I got a headache... we gotta get Sam back on weekdays--mornings, afternoons, evenings---whatevvvver!!
....maybe we should flood the phones on lionels time with a one-note-song that we want Sam on the air--- lionel might take notice and ??back off?? enough to see that this was a serious matter to this audience....
this is really sick but after listening to loinel i have tuned off my satellite radio and am now watching you tube clips of sam on olbermann's show. yeah, lionel is far worse than i ever thought. what a friggin waste! still looking forward to sunday though.
I think lionel is great. I like how isn't stuck in hate mode. I like a well rounded show.
I'm sorry, this guy just sounds so lame, I can hardly hear him. I don't get this. What was Green thinking? Why is he on my radio station?
I love Sam because he's really, really good. The only excuse I can think of for this is to get people to listen on Sundays.
that hurts just thinking about it...
I just turned off my internet feed of Lionel. I don't know who he is but he's already lost me.
Seder's first morning guest... Bernie Sanders>
Lionel.... Michael Harrison from Talkers magazine.
I understand the AAR logic here but it is deeply flawed. They may play to the radio industry but they will lose their audience. If they think they'll pick up WOR's (or the typical talk show audience) they are fools. Who could be both interested in Lionel and say Hartman or Lionel and Randi or Lionel and Rachel?
That cross section is probably small enough to fit on the head of a pin. This is lose lose and lose.
A loss of AAR, a loss for Lionel, and a loss for the listener.
Well done, Mr. Green.
From what I hear today, seems like Sam worked a lot harder and brought a lot relevant content to his show. Lionel (as the fake name might suggest) seems so completely phony to me. You can tell he thinks he's really clever. What an annoying asshole.
AAR needs to be about being a voice for the progressive movement: About PUSHING politicians/the political climate in the direction we want to go, not just commenting on the political climate that exists right now. That's what Sam did. That's very clearly not what this joker is going to do.
And what's the deal now with Air America hosts being afraid to say "LIBERAL"??? This morning Cenk Uygur was talking about how a Bloomberg+Hagel ticket would give him such a raging hardon. This guy now is saying he doesn't like "labels" and he's not a liberal/progressive. THEN GET OFF THE ONLY NETWORK WE HAVE, ASSHOLE. I'm so sick of these Greens, and of idiotic management of this network. Green is not coming in as a benevolent benefactor to help progressive politics have a media voice--he's coming in because HE WANTS TO CONTROL what kind of voice progressives listen to, and to shape the agenda for us. We need a new network. Something that is not controlled this way. And something accountable to us.
-jk
That was a Joke? Lionel is lame- even too lame to criticize.
Good bye AAR you are sinking to the bottom of the sea
John Snow is the Chariman of Cerberus, the company that bought Chrystler.
Do you remember who John Snow is?
"The only excuse I can think of for this is to get people to listen on Sundays."
The only upside for me is I'll be able to listen to SEDER live over the airways for the first time. The local Clear Channel affiliate carried Miller in Sam's slot, but usually has AAR programming from 1-11PM on Sunday. Can't count on it though, they pre-empt for sports.
I like how isn't stuck in hate mode.
Being horrified at the appalling state of our country is not the same as hate. Seder never did "hate radio."
Do you remember who John Snow is?
Toni, I'd totally forgotten him and his most recent stint (ending last year) in public service. Had to peek at his wiki page.
Pentagon, State Department fueding in Iraq. “Paul Brinkley, a deputy undersecretary of defense, has been called a Stalinist by U.S. diplomats in Iraq. One has accused him of helping insurgents build better bombs. The State Department has even taken the unusual step of enlisting the CIA to dispute the validity of Brinkley’s work. His transgression? To begin reopening dozens of government-owned factories in Iraq.”
Brinkley and his colleagues at the Pentagon believe that rehabilitating shuttered, state-run enterprises could reduce violence by employing tens of thousands of Iraqis. Officials at State counter that the initiative is antithetical to free-market reforms the United States should promote in Iraq.
The bureaucratic knife fight over the best way to revive Iraq’s moribund economy illustrates how the two principal players in the reconstruction of Iraq — the departments of Defense and State — remain at odds over basic economic and political measures. The bickering has hamstrung initiatives to promote stability four years after Saddam Hussein’s fall.
LINK
wow this guy is really bad
Sam cant wait to hear you on sundays
he used to run csx (whoo whoo) and then joined the bush crime family...
Sunday Shutout: The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140001
Not only are the Sunday morning talk shows on the broadcast networks dominated by conservative opinion and commentary, the four programs -- NBC's Meet the Press, ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday -- feature guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male.
And the top-rated Sunday show -- Meet the Press -- shows the least diversity of all. The NBC program is the most male and nearly the most white (Face the Nation beats it out by 1 percentage point), and it has the highest proportion of white males to all other guests.
A breakdown of the guests who appeared on the Sunday shows in 2005 and 2006 shows that men dominate these shows. In fact, men outnumber women by a 4-to-1 ratio on average.
I'm not moving until you give me the mushrooms, Mario....!
morning gang,
Lionel-AARgh!
Hi Cat Chew,
Snow, Sec. of Treasury, now Chairman of the company that bought Chrysler!!
Interesting isn't it? These rethugs seem to like the letter C for their companies.
Cerberus, Carlyle Group.
Hmmmm!
Well, I gave him 8 minutes. It *ing sucks. Pasta la vista, AAR. Back to NPR with a little Stephanie for me. I don't always hang here but I feel your pain as a Morning Sedition refugee. The best I can say is I hear a little bit of News Daddy.
Greetings to Sunnyland Jim wherever you be!
Oh, by the way, Carlyle Group is going public so you will soon be able to buy shares!
SAM!
we miss you, come back soon
lionel is a travesty
Today's topic: "Opie and Anthony".
Who wants this BS?
Justin, have a little dignity--QUIT.
Interesting isn't it? These rethugs seem to like the letter C for their companies.
Cerberus, Carlyle Group.
Hmmmm!
It is their special, mystical letter! Reminds me...
In These Times interviewer: That said, do you have any ideas for a really scary reality TV show?
Kurt Vonnegut: C students from Yale. It would stand your hair on end.
Later. Got company coming for lunch, and I farted around online too long. Eek!
To be honest with you, I am not a fan of Big Ed, however, He's got a better show than Lionel!!!
And Lionel is worse than Springer!!
Lee Rayburn was better than Lionel.
So sad; this guy is rude and not at all informative! I listened to Sam, and then to Lee, for INFORMATION and political discussion in lieu of the morning news. This is same old same old talk radio....self-important BS. Sorry Sam, I love your show and was looking forward to hearing you on Sunday, but I will not listen to AAR anymore. It was always about the entire station and its programing. I didn't like/listen to every show, but the overarching theme was important to me. They betrayed the idea, and unless they bring it back to basics, this AAR member is gone.
I look forward to hearing you on another station Sam. If I must listen to you on AAR on Sundays to support your numbers so you have the clout to get a good gig at another station, say the word on the blog and I will. Otherwise, I'll wait for the move. And the network you go to next doesn't matter to me, its just that AAR represented itself to be more and it's too disappointing to listen to it die. The other stations are about selling products, foremost and only. Fine. AAR was supposed to be about commercial viability and integrity. I still believe that idea is possible, apparently the new ownership does not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,450352,00.html
Mexico's masked man strides into the capital
A seven year fight
Duncan Campbell and Jo Tuckman in Mexico City
Monday March 12, 2001, The Guardian
The unimaginable happened. The Zapatistas, led by their masked commandantes and their enigmatic leader, Subcommandante Marcos, finally entered the heart of the capital of the nation with which they have been at war for seven years.
Their entrance was remarkable in that these rebels not only came unarmed but also with a welcome from the president of the country that made them outlaws.
"We came here only to say we are here," Subcommandante Marcos told an enraptured crowd of 150,000 in the Zocalo, the main square of the capital. "We are a reflection and a cry and we will always be there. We can be with or without a face, armed or without fire. But we are Zapatistas as we will always be."
He had arrived with the 23 Zapatista commandantes on the back of an open lorry bearing the slogan "Never again a Mexico without us". Helicopters circled over as the caravan finally reached the end of its historic journey.
In an appeal to all of Mexico for a fairer society, he called on "indigenous brothers and sisters, workers, peasants, teachers, students, farmworkers, housewives, drivers, fishermen, taxi-drivers, office workers, street vendors, gangs, the unemployed, journalists, professionals, nuns and monks, homosexuals, lesbians, transsexuals, artists, intellectuals, sailors,soldiers, athletes and legislators, men, women, children, young people and old, brothers and sisters", all to join with them.
But despite the enormous turnout and the success of the long march, the mood was not triumphalist in recognition, perhaps, of the uncertainty that lies ahead.
Before Marcos spoke, other commandantes made brief appeals for greater respect for indigenous people. Commandante Tacho told the crowd: "We are Mexicans, too, so we say the homeland is ours as well," signing off as he spoke in the name of the "Zapatista high command". Each read their speeches, as they have done throughout the march, from spiral notebooks and then took their places back in the line as Marcos directed proceedings.
The Mexican press was in no doubt as to the significance of the day. "Marcos takes the capital!" said one paper. "They're taking the plaza!" said another. La Prensa summed up the mood with the word "unimaginable".
At dawn, the caravan of the Zapatistas and their supporters was already breakfasting on tamales in a sports complex on the outskirts of Mexico City where they had been billeted for the last night of their 16-day pilgrimage from Chiapas.
They had come in pursuit of constitutional rights for the country's 10m indigenous people, around 10% of the population, and yesterday was the culmination of the journey that had taken them through 12 states. As the 2,100-mile, 16-day trek from Chiapas ended, they were joined by public figures from around the world: human rights ambassador Danielle Mitterand, Portuguese Nobel prizewinning author Jose Saramago, and the French anti-multinational activist Jose Bove.
The Zocalo, the largest city square in the world after Red Square, greeted them, but the only sights trained from the rooftops and behind the belfries were those of the photographers and camera crews from around the world and the only explosions were of firecrackers and rockets.
Triumph
It was in 1914 that Emiliano Zapata, the man who gave his name to the current movement, rode in revolutionary triumph into the same Zocalo. There had been rumours that the new Zapatistas would also gallop into the square on horseback but this, like many of the rumours that have shrouded the march and the Zapatistas, proved unfounded.
But yesterday Marcos and the Zapatistas did indeed stand below the balcony of the palace where Zapata and Pancho Villa had greeted their own adoring crowds nearly 90 years earlier. Throughout the morning the street vendors there were busily selling their Zapatista masks, T-shirts, mugs, jugs and recorded music, their Marcos scarves and action dolls complete with pipe and balaclava, mixed in with images of Che Guevara.
Watching the Zapatistas on their final push, Santos Orozco, 67, a canal boatman said: "They are the defenders of the poor, not just the indigenous." His views were reflected by many in the square.
The Zapatistas finally marched on the capital, disdaining an invitation issued over the weekend by President Vicente Fox to meet in the presidential palace.
Marcos accused Mr Fox of trivialising the indigenous cause. "He wants to turn a serious movement into a prime time event," said Marcos. "It would be a hollow media event."
The transformation of the Zapatistas from a tiny, ill-armed, barely trained guerrilla fighting force to what is effectively an international cultural movement was emphasised by the remarkable mixture of supporters flocking the streets, from the capital's smartly turned-out bourgeoisie to body-pierced and pink-haired punks carrying placards proclaiming the Zapatistas as their inspiration, and dungareed Italian anti-globalisers.
Even hours before the march was due to arrive, as bands played and Aztec dancers performed, the Zocalo was crowded and alive with excitement.
President Fox was not in the Zocalo. However he was generous in his welcome, which he hopes will bring him a major political gain with a peace accord. "Welcome subcommandante Marcos, welcome Zapatistas, welcome to the political arena," was his message. Not that Marcos is yet ready to take off his mask and his guerrilla uniform.
In a 20-minute address to the crowd and the nation beyond, Marcos referred to the way that the "first people" of Mexico had become the last in terms of how they had been treated. "We are the people of the colour of the earth. We ask you not to let another dawn break before that flag has a place for us, we who are the colour of the earth," he said in reference to the gigantic Mexican flag that was billowing from its pole in the centre of the Zocalo.
His speech referred by name to many of the dozens of Mexican indigenous peoples in a list more poetic than polemical. But he made it clear that the Zapatistas' presence was seeking a political response and they wanted "the democracy, freedom and justice" which they felt they had been denied for too long.
While opinion polls do show overwhelming support for the march, a peace accord and Mexico's need to act over trampled indigenous rights, not everyone is sympathetic to the Zapatistas. With the rebels already on the fringes of the capital the head of the country's biggest employers' organisation, Jorge Espina Reyes, called them "irresponsible utopian demagogues". But in the square yesterday the banners and the T-shirts proclaimed "We are all Marcos" and "You are not alone". For a moment at least, the Zapatistas who have made such an astonishing physical and metaphorical journey from Chiapas into the consciousness of the world must have felt it was true.
Tenet to Testify before Congress
By Paul Kiel - May 14, 2007, 11:05 AM
Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House oversight committee, announced today that former CIA Director George Tenet has agreed to testify before his committee. The topic: the White House's hyping of false intelligence in the run-up to the war, specifically Iraq's alleged efforts to procure uranium from Niger.
June 19th's the date. And to make things even more interesting, Waxman has also scheduled Condoleezza Rice to appear at the same hearing. Waxman's committee has already issued a subpoena for Rice's testimony, a subpoena that Rice has signalled she will ignore. Waxman "continues to expect that she will comply with the congressional subpoena," notes the committee's press release. Rice had been scheduled to testify tomorrow.
LINK
Hey Seder fans,
If you'd like to email "Lionel" with your comments, here's an address I got off his website:
LIONEL@LIONELONLINE.COM
Doris
toniD - read the fine print on these hedge funds going public...
by the time the deal is done, the original owners are getting rich beyond belief, structuring the deal so that they continue to get a large portion of the cash flow, and then leave the public with the risk. nice job if you can get it.
==
sj check the language use in Nigeria. Perhaps useful for your 'new found riches' writing job.
Nigeria: Reflections - in Praise of Paul Wolfowitz NOT
Significantly too, the Bank President's travails have also exposed the informal corruption of governance structures of international institutions. Thanks to Wolfowitz impunity European members are now laying claim to the presidency of the Bank. What kind of international organization is it that the Presidency is reserved to the exclusion of other member nations especially Africans and Asians?
hey princess peach; rotflmao. that is really creative.
eya ZEEK!
busy this morning!
Anonymous said...
In case anyone has any doubt whatsoever, that little bs thing seriously pissed me off...
Sunshine Jim aint our counselar, and I'm glad he can post on here and pretend to be all holier then us scum while he pretends he has no problems and lives the perfect life
Normally I ignore it, but that was below the belt
Plus it is the second time he has been a jerk to me-once for calling republicans retarded
get real
i am not posting here anymore, there is hardly a reason to
GBCW
-conbo
May 14, 2007 3:28 AM
eya #
sorry.
eya sunshine jim,
Eya, indeed.
?
just saying a big Eya to you, and to everyone else out there.
I feel like that single word just sums up so much. It can have so many shades of meaning. Kinda like "aloha", no?
see lionel
is upt to the same tricks.
gets a caller, does'nt hear em out
and uses what they say to launch into his own rant.
no effort to two way. SNAFU
doris, it's hopeless, lionel is hopeless, and nothing else will do, except for sam seder to be restored to his original morning slot
worst show ever
Well I honestly gave Lionel a chance but I just couldn't stick with it for a full hour. The two fill-ins they had for Sam were better than Lionel but none of them could even come close to Sam's perfect blend of humor and outrage!
I feel really betrayed by AAR.
Is there anyway Sam could get an internet radio Stream and stream it through this site?
yubb anon.
had an old boatbuilding
mentor that used it, sort of a memorial.
i use it to address individuals to avoid confusion here.
same as "hey Bbbbb!" that's mainly how i use it.
multi-use? possibly. not usually though, by intent.
Just called WWKB (50000 watts from Buffalo) to ask what they're doing in their 10pm-1am slot now that Lionel would no longer be live. (I can't get WWRL at night.) They're going with Alan Colmes for now (who the PD said has a history in that market) after their continued replay of Stephanie Miller from 7-10 and the first hour of Randi's show from 6-7. Asked him to consider Rachel Maddow and Mark Riley live from 6-12, and more importantly, Seder on Sundays.
======
I haven't heard lionel.
I know it gets emotionally complicated.
Emotional certainty, which the neocons have marketed so well these past years,
is an illusion.
Chaos theory is a model that more closely reflects the world we live in.
Strange Attractors (This sort of unpredictable motion is often called chaotic motion. Strangely enough, there can be a subtle and complex kind of order to chaos. Scientists try to describe this order with models called strange attractors.)
Instead of having that feeling in your gut (and oh it does feel so good)
that THIS is true and right and I can really hang on to THIS and wrap my emotional certainty around THIS truth.......
The reality is more amorphious
I guess my point is, yes I wish things were different too. But I'm searching for a model I can depend on and emotional certainity ain't it.
Just got done listening to Lionel... snore. That so called bit about Opie n Anthony, OMG so lame!!!
It seems like a betrayal to Sam to have even tried to listen to Lionel to Dull.
anyone listening to big eddie talk about banning the troops from blogging and getting internet access?
sure sounds like a rovian maneuver to me...
Sam's cry for Freedom fries and Toast still makes me crack up.
"I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave," he said. "I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request."
--Republican War Dog Senator Mitch McConnell on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.
______
Lionel is a symptom it seems
of back room positions unseen
we blog for the thought
of criminals uncaught
while dollars stream for more green.
"The definition of sucksess, as I described, is, you know, 'Sectarian violence down.' Sucksess is not 'No violence.'"
-- George W. Bush, on Iraq
I saw that about the Iraqis wanting us out.. I say lets pack everything; lock, stock and barrel.
--------
blah blah blah said...
from the ny times a chilling tale about unwelcome individuals:
The Nation’s Borders, Now Guarded by the Net
May 14, 2007 7:36 AM
==
and declare that he has rehabiliated himself
==
Alice's Restaurant anyone ?
("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")
I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm
sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench
'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women,
kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and
said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints
off to Washington."
ah yes, that slippery slope, one day you're a litterbug, the next...
Bravo jbenet!
i think that's yer first limerick here!
good'un!
the next?
yer aspirations towards being middle class evaporate.
Good Afternoon!!
Shrub on TV talking about addiction to oil and our environment. All of a sudden he's worried about this.
He wants to reduce dependence on oil by 20% in the next ten years.
Here's what I'm thinking...maybe things aren't going so well with the Bush Family and the Saudis. The Saudi King has been hinting that the US should never have gone into Iraq and Cheney was just there. He's in Jordan today.
Just my thought!!
Iraqi parliament calls for end to Baghdad walls. “Iraq’s parliament has approved a measure calling for an end to the building of massive security walls around Baghdad neighborhoods. The walls have drawn protests across sectarian lines as evidence of a U.S.-backed strategy of divide and rule.”
LINK
Wash. Post's Weisman "won't believe" impeachment polls, even those conducted by his own paper
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140003
During the May 11 edition of the Post Politics Hour online discussion at washingtonpost.com, Washington Post White House correspondent Jonathan Weisman replied to a question -- "How is Washington handling the news that almost 40 percent of Americans support impeachment of [President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney?" -- by stating: "We're not. I haven't seen the polling that you are referring to, and until I do, I won't quite believe it." A recent InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion poll, however, found that 39 percent of Americans favor the impeachment by Congress of Bush and Cheney, and polling conducted over a year ago for the Post indicated that one-third of Americans would support Bush's impeachment and removal from office.
[Post and run....]
I can't stop pooping!
Tenet Agrees To Cooperate With Congressional Investigation Into Niger Fraud »
Former CIA Director George Tenet has agreed to cooperate with a House investigation into the White House’s fraudulent pre-war claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger for a nuclear weapon. That assertion — the infamous “16 words” in President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address — was a critical part of administration’s case for war.
In a new statement, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced that Tenet will provide a deposition on the issue and testify before the committee on June 19:
Today Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced that the Oversight Committee will postpone the hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from May 15, 2007, to June 19, 2007. The hearing is being postponed to allow former CIA Director George Tenet to testify with Secretary Rice and to accommodate Secretary Rice’s travel schedule.
Mr. Tenet has agreed to cooperate with the Committee’s inquiry into whether the White House overstated Iraq’s efforts to obtain uranium from Africa and its nuclear threat in making the case for war. Mr. Tenet has agreed to provide a deposition to the Committee prior to the hearing.
Under Tenet, the CIA had debunked the claims about uranium and Niger months before the ‘03 State of the Union. The CIA “even demanded it be taken out of two previous presidential speeches.” Tenet now says the 16 words made it into the State of the Union because he delegated the review of that speech to his deputies.
Tenet has been far more willing to discuss the Niger claims than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Waxman has been forced to subpoena Rice to appear at the hearing along with Tenet, and thus far Rice maintains she will not comply, claiming she has already answered Waxman’s questions “in full.” Also, last month, the State Department refused to allow intelligence analyst Simon Dodge to be interviewed by House investigators; weeks before the ‘03 State of the Union, Simon examined the documents supposedly from Niger and determined they were “probably a hoax” and “clearly a forgery.”
LINK
Novak: ‘Poor Gonzales’ Is Terrible, ‘But There Are A Lot Of Bad People In This Administration’ »
This weekend on Bloomberg Television, columnist Robert Novak offered the following “defense” of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:
He’s terrible. He shouldn’t be there. But there’s a lot of bad people in this administration.
Novak twice referred to the Attorney General as “poor Gonzales,” casting him as an unfortunate victim of congressional oversight. In a partisan jab, Novak claimed Democrats are “pounding on this poor Gonzales who never should have been in a high government post in the first place” in order to shift attention from the Iraq funding debate. But Novak then acknowledged that Republicans “think he ought to go, too.”
Watch it:
Novak said, “The president is stuck with these subpar people he brought up from Texas. That’s a failing on President Bush’s part.” A failing that Novak would prefer we not pay attention to.
LINK
Gen. Eaton: If Bush won’t listen, Congress must. VoteVets has released its latest ad featuring 33-year U.S. Army veteran Gen. Paul Eaton, who most recently served as Commanding General in charge of reestablishing Iraqi Security Forces from 2003-2004. From the new ad:
EATON: President Bush says he listens to his military commanders. Well, Mr. President, I was one of those commanders, and you weren’t listening when we warned you of the dangers we’d face invading Iraq. Now our military is overcommitted, and America is less secure. Mr. President, you’re being told we need serious diplomacy, not escalation. And you’re still not listening. If the President won’t listen, Congress must.
YouTube Video here
I've posted on a few sites that I’ve listened to Lionel on WOR and was not interested in his show. I also stated that it was a mistake to replace Sam with Lionel. Thank you my blogger brethren for proving me right.
Now if only the incredible shrinking "mark green" will listen….
==
senator Whitehouse is being very effective
ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES
Why he must go now
Sheldon Whitehouse/Special to The National Law Journal
May 14, 2007
I'm plugging my blog again. Interesting stuff there today.
Ya Think?
---------
more of Senator Whitehouse' work
Senator Whitehouse Busts Gonzales for Burying the DOJ Internal Investigation
Leahy, Whitehouse Seek Transparency in U.S. Attorneys Probe
re the ag's senate testimony under questions by Senator Whitehouse.
Comparing Clinton & Bush WH Contacts With DOJ
the Clinton protocol authorized just four folks at the White House to chat with three folks at Justice.
the Bush protocol, and now 417 different people at the White House have contacts about pending criminal cases with 30-some people at Justice.
thanks td
jbenet, that's what is on my blog along with some other news of attorney-gate!
thanks sj
but my first limerick here was about mccain in the bagdad market
Democrats prod automakers on gas economy By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 59 minutes ago
Democratic-controlled Washington stepped in to help save Chrysler nearly 30 years ago when the automaker was on the verge of bankruptcy due to lackluster sales of its fuel-thirsty vehicles.
With the Big Three struggling again, many political leaders now are taking Detroit to task for failing to do more to reduce how much gas their vehicles use. The Democratic presidential candidates are pledging tougher gas mileage rules. Automakers say such changes would hurt an industry already down.
But the political climate is turning against the companies. Concern is increasing about global warming. Pump prices are high. People are worried about U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East.
"We're talking about saving the auto industry from itself," said Sen. Chris Dodd, who is proposing the highest increase of any presidential candidate.
Dodd, D-Conn., wants to double the average fuel economy for each automaker, from about 24 miles to per gallon today to 50 mpg by 2017.
"The industry just digs its heels in to fight any of these changes, but it's hard to maintain a very sympathetic ear when you realize that other (foreign) automakers are moving" in the direction of more fuel-efficient vehicles and "devouring market share in the country," Dodd said in a telephone interview. "Why aren't we doing this?"
LINK
Hiya gang. I'm still hanging in there.
Sam! I hope you are spending all week getting that blog ready for the Sunday traffic. Now I'llhave Sammy to look forward to while I cook up some eats.
Howabout: Sunday Grillin' with Sam Seder.
BTW, Here's L, G & M's (via Eschaton) take on Lionel, this morning.
I had to shut 'im off after half an hour. Whatta tool!
If you get a chance, head over to firedoglake.com. There are some great posts there today!
http://firedoglake.com/
1. Jose Padilla
2. News coverage of the Beginning of the Iraq war
3. Discounting Paul Bremmer
4. Listening to the Generals
eya T
"Here's what I'm thinking...maybe things aren't going so well with the Bush Family and the Saudis. The Saudi King has been hinting that the US should never have gone into Iraq and Cheney was just there. He's in Jordan today."
yubb, the saudi's have been dealing with the oil/tribal situation there since the 1900's and way before that as far back as we can see into the history of that part of the world.
the prob for the bushies is that their ability to think and be subtle is about lawnmower engine go cart size with bubbas haywiring it vs the saudi's having a real nice new and meticulously maintained ferrari and their own extremely competent team of mechanics and engineers.
they've been out thinked and out manouvered.
for the rest of us this will just be more poop in the fan.
Hi 60th!!
I couldn't even get to 1/2 hour of Lionel. The first hurtle is his munchkin voice. And then it's what he says! Ugh!!!!
==
td; your
Ya Think? posts certaintly have a beautiful caolascent quality about them today
Co·a·les·cent
a.
[L. coalescens, p. pr.]
Growing together; cohering, as in the organic cohesion of similar parts; uniting.
toniD said...
Tenet Agrees To Cooperate With Congressional Investigation Into Niger Fraud »
wow sj, i am impressed that you have such pull. one moment you're doing a deal for new found riches, the next, you got congress investigating...
(Listening to Thom Hartmann...)
Haliburton shares went from under $5 per share in the final months of 2001, and peaked around $40 last year.
It came out during the hearings that Cheney has options on Haliburton stock, the equivalent of 400,000 shares.
So Cheney has gained ($40 - $5) x 400,000 shares = $14,000,000.
Go to Bigcharts.com, type in HAL and select the ten year chart.
Gingrich close to
announcing for president
Newt Gingrich for president? It could happen. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America," the former Republican speaker of the House said there was a "great possibility" that he would run for president.
He really thinks he has a chance?
bbl
oh yeah,
when i say jump, they ask "how high?"
they know that as long as i stay with my vow of poverty i'm relatively unthreatening.
Thanks jbenet.
I'm trying.
" Gingrich close to
announcing for president
Newt Gingrich for president? It could happen. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America," the former Republican speaker of the House said there was a "great possibility" that he would run for president.
Maybe they should change the name of the program to 'Good Night, America'.
'Shock jock' Beck: 'Leftist witch hunters' trying to 'Imus' me
Maybe they should change the name of the program to 'Good Night, America'.
May 14, 2007 2:20 PM
or Bye,Bye America!
Conservative blog declares 'war' on GOP 'perverts, louts, criminals' Nick Juliano
Published: Monday May 14, 2007
One of the most prominent conservative blogs has started a crusade against Republicans who it says continue to promote ethically questionable congressmen and ignore the will of their base.
"A group of men and women across this nation ... are tired of defending a party that continually puts into positions of power known perverts, louts, and corrupt common criminals," RedState.com editor Erick Erickson wrote in a post Monday outlining his "battle plan" against Republican leaders. "We must be willing to wage war upon them until they bend to common sense and decency."
RedState is encouraging its readers to refuse to support Republican re-election efforts until Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) is booted from the House Appropriations Committee. The site, which averages more than 25,000 visits per day, posted a "declaration of war" against Republican leaders Friday.
Calvert is replacing fellow California Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who has stepped down from the committee in the midst of an FBI investigation into his wife's business association with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Erickson says Calvert is just as corrupt as Doolittle, citing press reports outlining a questionable land deal in which Calvert made more than $400,000 profit. Calvert sold the property for nearly $1 million in 2006 after securing millions of dollars in federal earmarks to build a traffic interchange 15 miles away.
Calvert has said the deal was not a conflict of interest and insisted the ,i>Los Angeles Times, which first reported the story in 2006, twisted the facts to create an impression of ethical impropriety.
RedState is asking its readers to call the offices of more than two dozen Republican leaders and steering committee members to find out who voted for Calvert's appointment to the Appropriations Committee. RedState readers also are being asked to refuse any donations to Republican candidates or the National Republican Congressional Committee until Calvert is removed.
Good news, they've come to their senses
Staffers Call for Special Probe of Watchdog
May 14, 2007 10:57 AM
Justin Rood Reports:
A group of anonymous employees are asking President Bush to fire their boss, the top watchdog at the Commerce Department, and opt for a special counsel to investigate him.
Commerce Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier is already being investigated by a congressional committee, the Office of Special Counsel and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE), for charges ranging from retaliation against subordinates to fraud, contract abuse and wasteful spending. Frazier's job is ferreting out waste, fraud and abuse at the Commerce Department.
"Johnnie E. Frazier should be dismissed...in order to conduct an effective, 'independent' investigation," states the letter to Bush, which was written on official stationery bearing the logo of the Commerce Department Inspector General's Office.
The May 10 letter also calls for the president to put Frazier's senior aides on administrative leave, alleging they have conspired with Frazier to obstruct justice and retaliate against employees who have cooperated with investigators.
Frazier, a career government investigator, was appointed to his current post by former President Bill Clinton in 1999.
A copy of the letter was also sent to Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Friday, Dingell's panel wrote Frazier to ask he leave his employees alone and to remind his senior aides to do the same.
"The Committee requests that you immediately remind all managers within your office that...it is a violation of Federal law to interfere with a Congressional inquiry," the panel wrote and reiterated its call for Frazier to suspend all terminations, new hiring, promotions or transfers until after its investigation is complete.
LINK
well T,
i'll belive it when i see it.
this whole thing is like navigating through icebergs with only 10% sticking up where you can see it.
The American Lardbucket!
You have the world's fattest asses!
BIG BROADS 'R US!
Columnist: GOP sees 'doom and gloom' as Bush's term comes to an end Michael Roston
Published: Monday May 14, 2007
As President George W. Bush's term comes to an end, a columnist for a leading business news service wrote on Monday, epublicans see "doom and gloom."
"While the other major democracies have, or are about to have, new leaders, America is mired in a rudderless status quo," writes Al Hunt of Bloomberg News, who hosts the weekend news program Political Capital. "A new embarrassment or scandal – Alberto Gonzales, Paul Wolfowitz, Karl Rove – seems to surface daily; the only good news for the White House is that occasionally these stories overshadow the bad news coming out of Iraq."
As a consequence, Hunt writes, negativity exists among Republican leaders about the party's current state.
"Private conversations with Republicans throughout America reveal doom and gloom about a politically paralyzed presidency and party," he notes. "Almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance; that is Richard Nixon territory."
Hunt also sees paralysis looming in Bush's efforts to set national policy for one large reason – the Iraq War.
"While the president can veto most initiatives of congressional Democrats, his once-ambitious second-term dreams of overhauling Social Security and the tax system and dealing with America's health-care crisis have evaporated," he argues. "Accordingly, Bush will probably spend much of the next year and a half sparring with critics, including a growing number in his own party, over an Iraq war policy that few believe will succeed."
LINK
This appeared yesterday in the Philadelphia Inquirer ...
The U.S. Attorney's Office flooded Camden phone lines the day of the May 8 councilmanic race with warnings that taking money for votes was a federal crime.
In a crucial election in which the turnout was under 4,000 and in which allegations of money being paid for votes were rife on both sides, the U.S. Attorney put out the following unusual alert:
"Voters alert!" said the taped message. "Please note that it is a federal crime to be paid for a vote. I repeat, it is a crime. If you or your neighbor have been offered payment, please report it immediately to the U.S. Attorney's Office at 856-757-5026."
This strikes me as extremely odd -- both for the US Attorney's office's interest in this one election and their manner of contacting the public. Was there any investigative predicate? Any specific reasons to think there was an organized vote fraud conspiracy in this particular election?
Anyone know anything more on this? More context? Did you get one of the calls?
-- Josh Marshall
LINK
and later...
That was quick. That Philadelphia Inquirer article about the vote fraud robocalls from the US Attorneys office in Camden? Bogus. The US Attorneys office tells us they didn't have anything to do with it. We'll have more shortly. May be the tip of a rather substantial iceberg.
-- Josh Marshall
sounds like a philly variation on you can't vote if you haven't paid your parking tickets...
now, who do we know that does this? hmmm.
Questions raised about FBI's informants
Agency contends they're needed to battle terrorism
By Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times | May 13, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Even as the FBI hails as a major success story its breakup of an alleged plot by "radical Islamists" to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., federal authorities acknowledge that the case has underscored a troubling vulnerability in the domestic war on terror.
They say the FBI, despite an unprecedented expansion over the past 5 1/2 years, cannot possibly counter the growing threat posed by homegrown extremists without the help of two often unreliable allies. One is an American public that they lament is prone to averting its attention from suspicious behavior and often reluctant to get involved. The other is a small but growing army of informants, some of whom might be in it for the wrong reasons -- such as money, political ax grinding, or their own legal problems.
Such dependence on amateurs is "not something that we would like. It's something that we absolutely need," said special agent J.P. Weis , who heads the FBI's Philadelphia field office and the Southern New Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, which conducted the Fort Dix investigation.
Weis and other FBI and Justice Department officials acknowledged they probably never would have known about the six men and their alleged plans had it not been for a Circuit City employee who reported a suspicious video to police. And, they said, an FBI informant was instrumental in gathering the evidence needed to file criminal charges against the men by infiltrating their circle for 16 months as they allegedly bought and trained with automatic weapons, made reconnaissance runs, and discussed their plans.
Militants who associated with known Al Qaeda figures, or who spent time in training camps, have for the most part been identified and either arrested, deported, or placed under constant surveillance, senior FBI and Justice Department officials said.
The primary threat now comes from an unknown number of individuals with no criminal backgrounds and few if any ties to militants overseas. Operating locally without the need to travel or send communications overseas, these groups and individuals can evade security nets such as international wiretaps and travel surveillance.
Weis -- like other federal law enforcement, counterterrorism and intelligence officials -- described them as "lone wolves, cells that stay below the radar screen."
"Nobody really knows about them, they're not affiliated with any major group, but held together by a common ideology," Weis said. "So to try and infiltrate them, some of the traditional means may not be effective."
In recent years, authorities have arrested about 60 individuals from the much larger pool of angry and disaffected people, charging them with terrorism, according to the FBI official and others. Dozens of other suspects have been deported or are being kept under surveillance.
LINK
The Stealth Candidate's Secret Meeting
After The Hotline told us that former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) was giving a speech over the weekend to the secretive Council for National Policy, the New York Times caught up with him as he entered the meeting.
"He declined to talk, saying he was at the 'behest' of the group and its schedule."
"The group’s meetings, held about three times yearly, are highly secretive. Not only is the press barred from attending, but the bylaws also ban members from discussing the meetings beforehand or afterward."
However, some of Thompson’s supporters provided The Politico with excerpts of his speech.
LINK
What goes around,
evidently you must be from another country because of what you wrote and insinuated.
It is not all of America that is to blame. It is the leadership of America and those that followed blindly behind them.
McCain blames Petraeus for his armed escort in Baghdad…
By: John Amato @ 9:02 AM - PDT After his photo-op went terrible wrong in Baghdad, McCain the straight talker is now blaming Gen. Petraeus for making him take a military escort into the marketplace where Lindsay Graham bought a few rugs. (The now infamous Baghdad Stroll.) By the way, Russert forgot to point out that the same market place was targeted as soon as he left and McCain was like, "Mr. Faiyad, who?"
MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, you had an armed escort…
SEN. McCAIN: I had an armed escort because, because that's what General Petraeus thought we ought to have.—I didn't call for the kind of, quote, protection that was around me…
Download (623) | Play (503) Download (282) | Play (304)
McCain just dissed the man that he and the administration are hailing as the savior of Iraq.
…And I'll be glad to go back to that market with or without military protection and, and humvees, etc.
I say we take him up on his pledge. Let's ask his campaign team when he'll be going back to Iraq without protection and see if he can purchase a few more items, but hopefully spend a little more money this time. I'd hate to see him do it in reality, but if he's going to put it on the table, be my guest,…(full transcript via MSNBC below the fold)
LINK
don't you just love it when you get a repiglican backed into a corner. they will strike out at anything. all that was missing was the cat hiss.
AP: World News - 41 minutes ago
Al-Qaida: Stop search for U.S. soldiers
U.S. soldier shot to death in Pakistan
Province shut down by Pakistan strikes
Rice: No new Cold War for U.S., Russia
Taliban leader Omar says jihad continues
Randi just talked about McCain!
what goes around said...
I feel that George W. Bush is doing an excellent job as president.
I agree albeit anonymously
Bush and his ilk are doing EXACTLY what they plan. They are not stupid.
Wreck the government. Remove key supports from the us constitution.
Unbalance the military, intelligence services and wreck the usa economy. Destroy the american middle class. (and all before lunch)
the question is why
Monday, May 14, 2007
Air America Disaster
Well, the brilliant Sam Seder's 9-12 replacement on Air America had his debut this morning.
Lionel.
Dear Jeebus, it is absolutely awful. I listened to over 2 hours (2 hours of my life that I will never get back, unfortunately) and couldn't take it anymore. I'd say I heard about 2 minutes of political discussion. Well over an hour was devoted to some shock jock controversy that I really couldn't give a fuck about, and it was just repetitive and extremely boring.
Is this what Air America is supposed to be about? How about this- we just firebomb the tattered remains of Air America that have been left by possibly the most incompetent media management the world has seen outside of WKRP in Cincinnati. Raze it to the ground and put it out of its misery.
Then, some intelligent liberals who actually know how to run a radio network can start a new one from the ground up, because the Air America liberal radio experiment has officially failed.
(cross posted at BlueGrassRoots)
LINK
and Atrios:
Disaster
Lionel was awful. Not just awful in the ways I expected - I hate the "independent thinker" schtick which suggests everyone else isn't - but truly awful radio period. Who the hell would want to listen to that?
oy
-Atrios 12:15
the question is why?
hey gang, do you get the feeling he/she is going to tell us?
Lionel
Are the people who run Air America on crack?
-Atrios 09:38
Sent Air America a comment and this is what I just got back...
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.
Delivery to the following recipients failed.
comments@airamericaradio.com
Evidently they don't want to hear the comments about Lionel today.
the question is why
May 14, 2007 3:18 PM
That begs the great question....WHO are Bush and Cheney REALLY working for?
Who's payroll are these two fascist pigs really on.
Cheney has made over fourteen MILLION DOLLARS on this war with his Haliburton holdings, alone.
These men set out tow destroy the USA from within. They have obviously succeeded...but who are they working for?
From David Sirota:
TONIGHT: Discussing the Secret Trade Deal on Lou Dobbs Tonight at 6:40pm EST
FYI - I've accepted an invitation to appear on Lou Dobbs Tonight this evening at roughly 6:40pm EST (4:40pm Montana time). As always, because of the potential for breaking news, you never know 100 percent if such an appearance will ultimately materialize. But I wanted to let folks know about it - it's scheduled, and it should be a one-on-one between me and Dobbs. We'll be talking about the secret trade deal negotiated between a handful of senior Democrats and the Bush White House - a trade deal whose specific legislative language still has not been released, a full four days after the press conference announcing it. All we seem to know right now is that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is telling its members that it has received "assurances that the labor provisions [in the deal] cannot be read to require compliance."
Sam,
Where are you?? I'm missing you. Get the lead out with the new Sunday show. What's the latest. When can I expect your new program? Any news??
BTW: I go through withdrawal from 9-12:00 noon because I miss you. I will not listen to Lionel.
YouTube Censors Stoning Video
Censored video here-(might not work)
Reaction to Kurdish Girl Stoned to Death
Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race. Sometimes I find myself crying like a baby and howling to the wind in despair. Sometimes I think to live in this world as we know it is hopeless. Nothing changes. Mans inhumanity to man goes on.
I came across the cellphone videos of the brutal killing of a 17 year old Yezidi/Kurdish girl in a "honor killing" (see the story and video below)and it stunned me. I don't think I've ever seen such sickening mindless brutality. But I thought "the world should know about this" so I posted it to YouTube where it was promptly removed after 20 minutes. So I thought on it some more and then recorded a video of myself watching the Stoning video here on my site. I called it "YouTube Censors Stoning Video" and it quickly became one of the most watched and most commented videos over the past two days. At last count some 6,500 people had watched it. Most share my horror and abhorrence. But some have criticised me for posting the original cellphone videos again on YouTube. This time they lasted a day and were seen by over 2000 people before being removed for "Inappropriate Content".
"The Daily Reel" vlog site ran a feature on it and said "...one angry YouTube user is crying foul, trying to raise awareness (and possibly self-promotion), by creating another YouTube post titled "YouTube Censors Stoning Video," which includes links to his own site -- which also includes the offensive clips. Human-rights activism or exploitation, you decide."
A prominent YouTube "celebrity", Blunty3000, wrote "...tell me exactly WHY do we need to SEE it happen? what do we gain from WATCHING this girl die? ESPECIALLY from footage taken from people standing by and watching it happen. I'm revolted you're so anxious to have everyone watch this horrifying event. Tell the story, please, but the video is purely unnecessary and vulgar." And there have been other derogatory comments questioning my motivation.
The thing is. After I posted this, BoingBoing picked it up. As did FoxNews, The Sydney Morning Herald, Digg and God-knows-who-else. It's out there.
Over the past two days I've had over 7000 vistors to this site - most of them coming to that video. I've had to purchase more Bandwidth to keep up with it. But the few comments have been encouraging. People are actually applauding me for doing it. So what I'm feeling now is "What can we do to stop these "honor killings" happening? Is joining or donating to Amnesty enough?
Should we be signing the petition to the Kurdistan Government that's going around? Maybe we should be making a collaborative video to send to the Yezikis, for a starter, telling them what we think of "honor killings"? Have you any ideas? How do we stop hundreds if not thousands of years of cultural custom? How do we stop this madness?
*
I agonised about posting this but I think it needs to be seen. Iraq: Amnesty International appalled by stoning to death of Yezidi girl and subsequent killings. Amnesty International is appalled by the killing of Du'a Khalil Aswad, aged about 17, who was stoned to death on or around 7 April 2007 for a so-called honour crime. A member of Iraq's Yezidi religious minority from the village of Bahzan in northern Iraq, she was killed by a group of eight or nine men and in the presence of a large crowd in the town of Bashika, near the city of Mosul. Some of her relatives are said to have participated in the killing. Du'a Khalil Aswad's murder is said to have been committed by relatives and other Yezidi men because she had engaged in a relationship with a Sunni Muslim boy and had been absent from her home for one night. Some reports suggested that she had converted to Islam, but others deny this. Initially, she was reportedly given shelter in the house of a Yezidi tribal leader in Bashika, but her killers stormed the house, took her outside and stoned her to death.
Her death by stoning, which lasted for some 30 minutes, was recorded on video film which was then widely distributed and is available on the internet. The film reportedly shows that members of local security forces were present but failed to intervene to prevent the stoning or arrest those responsible.
...
"Honour crimes" are most often perpetrated by male members of the woman's family in the belief that such crimes restore their and their family's honour. While the Kurdish authorities introduced legal reforms to address "honour killings" they have, however, failed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for such crimes. Amnesty International has documented its concerns about Iraqi women victims of human rights violations, including "honour crimes", in a report issued in February 2005 (Iraq: Decades of suffering-Now women deserve better, AI Index: MDE 14/001/2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index...pen&of=ENG-IRQ) Another video here - 17 year old girl stoned to death
Posted on Sunday, May 6, 2007
Photo
Yanar Mohammed of Iraq and Dr. Sima Samar of Afghanistan on the Dire Situation for Women Under U.S. Occupation and Rising Fundamentalism
President Rudy Mussolini?
IF ANYONE wants to know what a Giuliani presidency would really look like, they should go back to his years as mayor of New York during the 1990s.
Giuliani is credited with an urban renewal in NYC that cut crime rates and revived the economy and tourism. While he did create a Disneyland version of NYC, complete with a redeveloped Times Square and booming Wall Street, the reality of what happened to working-class and poor New Yorkers during his time in office is a much darker story.
Giuliani came to power in the context of a racially divided city. During his election campaign, he spoke at a police "protest" --in reality, a drunken brawl of white cops--held on the steps of City Hall against the establishment of a civilian complaint review board. Complete and unapologetic support for the NYPD became a hallmark of his tenure.
As soon as he took office, Giuliani announced a "quality of life" campaign, claiming that by going after small-time offenses, the city would be able to root out more violent crimes.
The symbol of this campaign was Giuliani's plan to drive "squeegee men"--homeless people who wiped windshields at traffic stops for money--from NYC streets. Giuliani's cops went after them with a ruthlessness that foreshadowed much greater brutality to come. As the campaign got underway, an off-duty cop shot and killed an unarmed "squeegee man"--and defended his actions on the basis that the man was a "criminal."
ROESCH
In a short mobile video clip which appears to have been taken by locals at seen of the murder, the girl is seen being ambushed on her way home by a group of up to 1000 men who were waiting for her to return; the men killed her in the most brutal way possible, by throwing large stones on her head. The following clips show that while she is alive and crying for help she is taunted and kicked in her stomach until someone finishes her off by throwing a large stone on her face.
From the clips it appears that the girl was first stripped naked to symbolize that she had dishonored her family and her Yezidi religion. She is lying on the road naked while her smashed face is covered with blood and still breathing.
http://www.aina.org/news/20070425181603.htm
Treating misdemeanors as equal to more serious crimes meant ratcheting up the level of violence and repression in poor, minority communities. The underlying assumption of the new "stop and frisk" policy was that all Blacks and Latinos were potential criminals. A report by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer found that Latinos were stopped 39 percent more often than whites under the policy, and Blacks were stopped 23 percent more often.
The year before Giuliani took office, 720 people were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana-related offenses; by 2000, the number had jumped to 59,495--an increase of 4,549 percent. During a 10-month period in 1996, 50,000 people detained on misdemeanors were strip-searched by the Department of Corrections.
These kinds of aggressive policies gave a green light to the NYPD to terrorize Black and Latino communities.
When unarmed cousins Anthony Rosario and Hilton Vega were shot in the back and killed while they lay face down on the floor in 1995, Giuliani called the officers and congratulated them on their performance. When Anthony's mother, Margarita Rosario, began organizing in protest, Giuliani told her that her son died because she was a bad mother.
This attitude was exemplified most starkly when cops tortured and sodomized Abner Louima in a Brooklyn police station in 1997. Even after the killing of Amadou Diallo--shot 41 times in the hallway of his building in 1999--Giuliani maintained his defense of the police and his opposition to any kind of reform of the NYPD.
Giuliani and his supporters defended these actions by claiming that "tough on crime" policies were crucial to a decline in crime statistics. But a look at the statistics shows that the drop in crime began 36 months before Giuliani took office--while Dinkins was still mayor. In fact, the 1990s saw a national reduction in crime, due largely to demographic and economic changes.
J. ROESCH
Honor killing is becoming something to celebrate in Iraq now, and this did not happen before the last years that we experienced in the post-war Iraq. When a young woman is killed -- actually, it was more than eight to nine males around her. It was hundreds of males standing around. None of them helped, but they were very keen on photographing the scene, on videotaping it on their cell phones, on their mobile phones. And on top of that, the part, the information that’s missing in the report is that some of our codes, the penal codes, which is part of our laws, they support the killing of women if they are “dishonorable.”
So what happened in this new Iraq, the so-called liberation of Iraq has turned women into refugees inside their country. Millions of us are vulnerable to be killed, and all our lives are threatened, and there is nobody to secure our lives for us. The policemen were standing and watching, and actually they helped to get the young girl back to the place where she was killed. So by constitution, we have lost our rights. Honor killings are on the rise. Kidnappings of women are getting more now. Our organization’s work proves that human trafficking is still rising, and not much is being done about it.
And when you look at the situation, it’s as if the country was occupied and later on handed down to the extremists who were responsible of the 9/11. Why are all the TV outlets given to Islamists? Where are the democrats? Why aren’t they being supported? Where are the seculars? Why are the women's groups not being supported? And we are one example of those. It is as if it was a plan to make us weaker -- the women, the freedom-loving people of Iraq -- and to support the extremists, to give them, to hand the government over to them.
And today, I hear in the reports that the US media is very happy that the resistance are having multiplications, and they’re not working together anymore.
Like what could be more miserable than this?
Sam, you rock even harder in the breach than you did in the observance, dude.
When I make (or steal) my first million, I'm buying a station with mad wattage and it'll be you and Sedition 24/7. And I don't mean rotating--I mean everybody on-air all the time.
What do you mean, "When will I sleep?" That's what station IDs are for.
Noam hosts a forum in the Z Sustainer chat board, where the below exchange took place]
Z Sustainer: How can the United States actually help the Iraqi people, without keeping troops in the country?
Noam Chomsky: There was a revealing front-page article about this in the Wall St Journal, April 19, discussing a conflict between the State Dept and the Pentagon about tactics for "rebuilding Iraq" and winning support from Iraqis. It describes how the reconstruction was first handed over to Halliburton, Bechtel, etc., with the predictable effect of tossing tens of billions of dollars into their deep pockets with nothing much to show for it. Then State and DOD took over with their different approaches. Story opens with a description of a State Dept supervisor explaining to an Iraqi engineer how to repair shoddy work. Next sentence reads: "`We can't build this for you,' he snapped."
Iraqi engineers performed near miracles of keeping the country functioning after the utterly devastating 1991 war, which aimed specifically at destroying infrastructure for a viable society, then through the Clinton sanctions that were denounced as "genocidal" by the two successive directors of the "oil-for-food" program who resigned in protest., and up to the Bush invasion. The reporter, Yochi Dreazen, who knows Iraq well, describes the comment as "the core of the problem," but doesn't amplify. It's not hard to do so. Why should they rebuild the country for its new owners?
The wailing about how the Iraqis are not up to it is not an unfamiliar one from conquerors. Right now, some very interesting work is being done by a former Russian soldier in Afghanistan, on the coverage of the Afghan invasion and occupation in the Soviet press. Very familiar, including distress that the Afghans are just not up to it and have to be held accountable. Colonial administrators, slave masters, and others like them constantly express great irritation at the shiftlessness and irresponsibility of their wards, not properly following commands -- issued for their benefit, of course.
How can we help the Iraqi people? By putting them in charge, and doing what they instruct us to do -- which, judging by US-run polls, would mean getting out pretty quickly. And though the question cannot be included in US-run polls for doctrinal reasons, I don't think it is hard to guess how Iraqis would respond if asked whether we ought to pay enormous reparations for crimes of the past half century, including strong US support for Saddam through his worst atrocities, horrendous sanctions that destroyed much of the society, and finally an invasion and occupation which brought about a catastrophe that they compare to the Mongol invasions.
NC
tonid,
" Dear Jeebus, it is absolutely awful. I listened to over 2 hours (2 hours of my life that I will never get back, unfortunately) and couldn't take it anymore. I'd say I heard about 2 minutes of political discussion. Well over an hour was devoted to some shock jock controversy that I really couldn't give a fuck about, and it was just repetitive and extremely boring. "
At least anyone with a computer can listen to Mike Malloy tonight.
mms://wm13.spacialnet.com/novamradio72251
http://www.novamradio.com/
I hope he mentions the phenomenon, that is 'Lionel'.
Tried sending email to "comments@airamericaradio.com" and the mail got rejected. Just wanted to complain about Lionel and not having Sam on in that slot. I'm just heartsick! Ugh! I am also forced to listen to Ed Schultz on XM, complained about that one too. Would defintely rather listen to Thom. Oh well.....
Lionel isn't listed on the show dropdown. I guess they don't want to hear it, or the Green family forgot to hire someone to update their site.
http://www.airamerica.com/contact
"... The rest of Air America's roster changes will be phased in starting this weekend, with Sam Seder's new Sunday afternoon show debuting this Sunday, May 20. Next Monday sees the weekday shuffle, as they launch "The Air Americans" weeknights (8P-midnight ET), bump Jon Elliott to three hours later (midnight-3AM ET) and make other changes. You can see the rest here.
"And soon, you'll see a whole new Air America website. That is, if you can actually pull up their website (which seems to have been on the fritz too frequently as of late). I dunno, when I redesigned my site, I worked on it offline, then launched it in mere seconds, with no disruption. Then again, it doesn't seem like a real web-saavy bunch over there. Nonetheless, look for a redesigned presence and allegedly a new logo for Air America sometime soon. Perhaps prior to next week's on-air makeover. So if you haven't listened to or downloaded those year-old airchecks currently at the bottom of their front page, better get a move on. Stop procrastinating."
There's more news over at Liberal Talk Radio blog
Cap the Ass of the Giuliani Campaign: The Rude Pundit.
Link
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."
Robert Frost
May 14, 2007 -- 05:25 PM EDT)
McNulty out at DOJ. More soon ...
Late Update: According to the AP, McNulty announced his decision at a "closed-door meeting of US Attorneys in San Antonio."
Only for Alberto Update: AG Alberto Gonzales releases statement.
Link
Reid To Allow Vote On Feingold Measure To End Iraq War
By Greg Sargent
Link
Why are the investigators dropping the ball on the Lam part of the US Attorneys investigation? We look at that question in today's episode of TPMtv ...
Late update: For a summary of today's episode, click here.
-- Josh Marshall
Link
U.S. Attorneys Office: Calls Were Possible "Voter-Suppression Tactic"
By Paul Kiel - May 14, 2007, 3:04 PM TPM
Link
Lionel
Are the people who run Air America on crack?
-Atrios 09:38
Comments (332) Trackback (0)
May 11,2007
Neil Bush of Saudi Arabia
by Bill Berkowitz
Link
Election Theft Goes Global
By Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, Free Press. Posted May 12, 2007.
From Ohio to Scotland, the controversy over electronic voting machines has become a global phenomenon.
Link
About aLionel, I can only quote the 3 word review Rolling Stone Magazine gave the Archies Greatest Hits LP many years ago...."Oh Lord, No"...
Air America Screwed Up Big Time. Bring Seder Back by LieparDestin
Do you know who it is that
is your daddy?
Does someone have a link to a recorded broadcast of today's Lionel show? I don't want to subscribe to it via the premium service.
(testing)
connie poo-chute
(more bettina rheims later)
(whose photography proves there is a god)
and it's raining,
too
omg!
the 3 losers...
leonard
mikey
& me
(much later)
GOD IS DEAD!!
(oh, well)
Murdoch to achieve carbon neutrality with credits, but Fox employees call them a sham
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140007
In a May 10 online article, London-based magazine Environment Finance reported that News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch will take steps "to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from his media empire" -- which includes Fox News Channel -- "to zero by 2010." According to the article, "News Corp will adopt energy efficiency measures and buy renewable energy to cut emissions as much as possible, then offset the rest using carbon credits. The firm will start buying credits from a wind farm project in India this year." However, in addition to attacks by Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and John Gibson, FoxNews.com posts have directly attacked the purchasing of carbon credits to offset one's "carbon footprint" and have mocked former Vice President Al Gore's reported use of them.
****
Nothing new here ... move along ...
Tag: Lionel
Saw the earlier thread. If conbo is out there, or if ToniD or anyone else can get this link to her, please pass it on to her. I hope it can be helpful.
http://www.womenforhire.com/advice/work_from_home_opportunities/work_from_home_resources
Fired Prosecuters:
Rove’s “Obstruction of Justice?”
RFK says “They Ought to be in Jail”
Published May 14th, 2007 in Articles
Democracy Now!
Monday, May 14th, 2007
Greg Palast:
Link
May 11, 2007 -- Cheney report blowback. As an example of what occurs in Washington when someone goes after the hypocrisy of the Bush administration and the lickspittles in the so-called "main stream media," this editor was the subject of a verbal barrage this past week on WMAL-AM's morning drive radio show. Apparently, the ABC-owned radio station did not like our report that Disney/ABC, under pressure from the White House, killed the DC Madam's list story. The two morning radio hosts also did not like our report that Vice President Dick Cheney is on the list from his time as a part-time resident of McLean, Virginia while he was President and CEO of Halliburton.
WMAL has gone from a relatively apolitical station to a propaganda outlet for right-wing radio blatherers, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Paul Harvey, and Mark Levin, and the two morning guys, "Grandy and Andy," who did not like our story about Cheney and the Madam.
On the Grandy and Andy web site this morning, the following "case closed" story is posted about the DC Madam's list: "DC Madam: "There will be no more lists of records from a woman accused of running a Washington DC prostitution ring. A federal judge has barred Deborah Palfrey from releasing any more phone records that could implicate former customers. Palfrey says there was no sex involved and hers was a legitimate escort business."
The WMAL morning slot was once filled by two hosts who pushed no political agenda: Frank Harden and Jackson Weaver. Weaver was the non-political voice of the National Park Service's "Smokey the Bear" and cautioned park visitors, "only you can prevent forest fires." These days, WMAL's right-wing pontificators figure out ways to put out fires that threaten their corrupt heroes in the Bush administration.
And who are "Grandy and Andy," who claimed this editor is not a "real journalist" and how do they have so much political insight? Well, Grandy is former Iowa Republican Representative Fred Grandy who many people remember as "Gopher" on "The Love Boat." Andy is Andy Parks, the former WMAL helicopter traffic reporter who once regularly reported on tie ups from the Beltway to Gude Drive and Braddock Road to Indian Head Highway.
Click here if you want instant nausea with Fred Grandy
May 14, 2007 -- UPDATED -- Hookergate involves fired US Attorney. US District Judge for the District of Columbia Gladys Kessler, a Clinton appointee, has re-issued an order prohibiting DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey from releasing any more phone lists of her Pamela Martin & Associates customers. Secrecy of the phone records has been a priority for DC Assistant US Attorney William Cowden. Palfrey released the last four years of ten years of customer phone records to ABC's "20/20" before Kessler's March order prohibiting such a release took effect. As WMR reported, ABC and Disney, under pressure from the Bush White House, killed the story and stated that there were no "newsworthy" names on the Madam's list. Six years of phone records, including those involving mid to late 1990s calls to and from individuals who would become top officials of the Bush administration, were not in the hands of ABC News. WMR has been informed by three well-placed sources that Vice President Dick Cheney, while a part-time resident of McLean, Virginia and while serving as Dallas-based Halliburton's CEO, was a customer of the DC Madam.
LINK
The focus on the DC Hookergate story has now moved to Baltimore, and the firing by the Justice Department in December 2004 of the US Attorney for Maryland, Thomas DiBiagio. DiBiagio was fired, along with a number of other US attorneys, after George W. Bush's re-election for political reasons. One of DiBiagio's public corruption targets was the staff of then-Republican Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, some of whom had engaged the services of Madam Palfrey's escorts. The US Attorney's office in Baltimore first became involved in the investigation of the prostitution ring after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office and IRS agent Troy Burrus in Baltimore made a criminal referral to the US Attorney's office in Baltimore. Subsequently, an asset seizure warrant for Palfrey's assets was issued. Palfrey and her employees used two telephones in Maryland for their escort business, 301 231-5800 in Rockville, near some of the "mansions" in Potomac, Maryland and Great Falls, Virginia described by "20/20" as the locations in DC where Pamela Martin escorts would pay calls, and 410 244-1818 in Baltimore.
After Ehrlich complained to then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey about the aggressiveness of DiBiagio, the Baltimore-based US Attorney was placed on the firing list in the wake of the 2004 election. David Margolis, an Associate Deputy Attorney General, claimed he did not know about any investigations of Ehrlich's staff by DiBiagio when he informed the number one Justice Department official in Baltimore that the Justice Department had lost confidence in his abilities.
DiBiagio had already witnessed the brutal murder of his Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Luna in December 2003. A husband and father of two, Luna had departed in his vehicle, strangely leaving his cell phone on his desk at his office, and drove a circuitous route through Delaware, New Jersey, and then Pennsylvania before he was found in a creek near the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Denver, PA stabbed to death 36 times, supposedly with his own pen knife. Federal authorities leaned toward a suicide but local investigators treated the death as a homicide. In 2004, DiBiagio claimed he was being pressured to stop his investigation of Ehrlich's staff for links to gambling (particularly the gambling interests of jailed Maryland/DC GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff), prostitution, and other corruption and filed a threat report with the FBI. The Washington Post and Washington Times then reported that Luna was fearful that DiBiagio was going to fire him, which led to Luna's "suicide." It is a charge DiBiagio strongly denied. DiBiagio told the New York Times that the pressure from Ehrlich's office and the Justice Department served "to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations." Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin has asked for an investigation of DiBiagio's firing.
Luna's death on December 4, 2003 was followed a few days later, on December 10, 2003, by the indictment of Ed Norris, Baltimore Police Commissioner (and later Maryland State Police Superintendent under Governor Bob Ehrlich), for using his Baltimore Police Executive Protective Unit (EPU) to ferry prostitutes to various locations, including posh Baltimore and New York City hotels, including the Baltimore Hyatt. As Maryland State Police Superintendent, Norris was in charge of the Maryland State Police's Executive Protection Service, which provides security for the Governor in Annapolis. It is noteworthy that one of Palfrey's employees was identified as a Navy Lieutenant Commander instructor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Like Palfrey, Norris also came under investigation for tax evasion by the Baltimore IRS office. ABC's 20/20 reported that Madam Palfrey's escorts were also driven to expensive Washington hotels, including the Hay-Adams.
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Palfrey, in an interview with Smoking Gun, agreed that it would not be a surprise if some of her escorts were linked to the case of jailed California Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham, Mitchell Wade's MZM, Inc., and Shirlington Limousine. The limousine service was, according to investigators, involved in transporting escorts to the Watergate and Capitol Hill's Westin Grand Hotel for "poker parties" with top Republican congressmen and CIA officials. There are also interesting links between Norris and then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Both served together as New York Police Department officers. Luna worked in the Brooklyn District Attorney's office during the time that Kerik first came under a probe by the Brooklyn DA in the late 1990s. Ksrik was tapped to become Bush's Homeland Security Secretary before it was discovered he had hired a nanny who was an illegal immigrant. Kerik is currently under a federal probe and reportedly faces an imminent indictment. The New York Daily News reported that Kerik commandeered a condominium overlooking the World Trade Center's "Ground Zero" to carry on extramarital trysts during recovery operations.
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I don't know who said it but I have tried to set my priorities as such:
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."
The murder of Luna and the firing of DiBiagio eliminated the threat that the well-heeled customers of the DC/Baltimore prostitution ring, many of them GOP stalwarts, would be exposed prior to the December 2004 presidential election. The attempt by Justice prosecutors and Judge Kessler to limit the criminal case to Palfrey continues the effort to punish the DC Madam and her employees and divert attention away from the customers. In May 2004, at the same time Norris and his chief of staff agreed to a plea deal in the prostitution case and received light sentences, Palfrey came under intense federal investigation. Palfrey claims that she is being scapegoated by the very same people who were her customers.
This past January, after being exposed by the media as running an escort, Brandy Britton, a PhD and former Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus was found hanging in her home in Ellicott City, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Britton's home had been foreclosed after she was charged with running a prostitution service using the name "Alexis" and has since been identified from Palfrey's phone lists as one of the Pamela Martin & Associates escorts. Palfrey used the name "Julia." The Bush administration, clearly concerned about a sex scandal that will bring down more than just former Assistant Secretary of State Randall Tobias, is hoping to keep the focus on "Julia" and her employees, and not on "Backseat."
For more info on Baltimore connection to the DC Madam case:
link
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May 14, 2007 -- Democratic presidential candidate former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska unveiled his plan for ending the Iraq war at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington this morning. Gravel called on the congressional leadership to "draw-out over days and weeks, if necessary, repeated daily cloture votes in the Senate" and repeated daily veto override votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to "give American voters time to weigh-in and force two-thirds of their Senators and Representatives to vote to override the President's veto of the American will."
Gravel, whose legislation to cut off funding for the Vietnam war forced Richard Nixon to bring U.S. troops home from that conflict, declared, "Constitutionally the Congress is the superior power. The President can only enforce the law and obey it like any other citizen. Congressional timidity over the years encouraged by political partisanship has unleashed an imperial presidency. When the presidency falls into the hands of a messianic true-believer like Bush the result is a morally questionable foreign policy and a domestic disaster threatening the nation's safety."
LINK
May 10, 2007 -- Neo-con purge of French intelligence services begins. Only days after the election of neo-con Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France, the expected neo-con purge of anti-Sarkozy members of the French intelligence and security services has begun. Captain Thierry Tintoni of the Renseignements generaux (RG) (General Intelligence service) has been questioned by a secret tribunal for violating secrecy laws. Tintoni is accused of providing defeated Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal with damaging information on Sarkozy's conduct while Interior Minister. The French intelligence services will now face the same purges that befell similar neo-con purges of the U.S., British, Australian, Danish, and Italian intelligence services.
WMR's French intelligence sources report that French intelligence services, including the DGSE and DST, expect a Stalinist-type purge by Sarkozy's forces. Expected targets include agents suspected of being too close to the Socialists and those considered too pro-Arab. The Sarkozy team will also target those agents, who, through telecommunication intercepts of Sarkozy and his associates and officials of key American neo-con organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute and the American Jewish Committee, became aware of Sarkozy's secret foreign policy and campaign financing channels. Sarkozy made foreign policy commitments with American neo-cons that ran at odds with the policies of outgoing President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique DeVillepin.
The McCain/Bush Corruption Cover-Up
by dengre
Sun May 13, 2007 at 10:49:38 PM PDT
It’s a Washington truism:
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Link
Unholy Alliance
Commentary: How secularists and generals tried to take down Turkish democracy.
By Dilip Hiro
May 10, 2007
This article originally appeared on TomDispatch.com.
Recently Turkey came close to experiencing a soft military coup. In late April, faced with the prospect of the moderate Islamist Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul becoming president, the country's top generals threatened to overthrow the elected government under the guise of protecting "secularism." When the minority secularist parliamentarians boycotted the poll for president, the Constitutional Court, powerfully influenced by the military's threat, invalidated the parliament's vote for Gul on the technical grounds that it lacked a two-thirds quorum -- something that had never been an issue before.
This demonstrated vividly that secularists are not invariably the good guys engaged in a struggle with the irredeemably bad guys from the Islamic camp. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkýnma Partisi or AKP) called the Court's verdict "a bullet fired at the heart of democracy." Other critics pointed out that earlier Presidents had been elected without the presence of two-thirds of the 550-member Parliament.
LINK
Evangelical Leader: "Vote for Romney is Vote for Satan"
Yikes. Take a look at what an evangelical leader is saying about Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney. His name is Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV, and he writes in his daily devotional (which reaches 2.4 million people):
"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan! ... Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith's cult began that it was a work of Satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell."
I particularly like this crazy paranoid line, which betrays a deep insecurity:
"Romney getting elected president will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell!"
I think it's important to condemn this sort of bigotry and ignorance. I know it's fun to watch a party with a problematic history with race relations -- and that is sometimes openly hostile to minority voters -- turn its prejudice in on its own, but liberal bloggers have an obligation to stay consistent. We would condemn this sort of nonsense if the angry reverend was attacking Muslim legislator Keith Ellison (D-MN), so we have a responsibility to condemn it when he attacks a Republican.
LINK
Russert challenged Democrats -- but not McCain -- about 2002 Iraq intel "caveats"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705140008
On the May 13 "Meet the Candidates" edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host Tim Russert asked Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ), "In hindsight, was it a good idea to go into Iraq?" but did not challenge McCain's reply that the invasion of Iraq "was certainly justified" because "[e]very intelligence agency in the world, not just U.S., believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction." Yet on two separate "Meet the Candidates" editions of Meet the Press, Russert did challenge former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) for their 2002 votes giving President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq, citing the "caveats" in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concerning the purported existence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program. The NIE was made available to all members of Congress before the vote, according to The Washington Post. Russert did not challenge McCain with either a general question about the contrary evidence in the NIE or a question about the basis for his explicit assertion one day before the war resolution vote that "[t]o wait for Saddam Hussein to threaten imminent attack against America would be to acquiesce to his development of nuclear weapons."
In addition, during the interview, McCain made the much-disputed assertion that if the United States withdraws from Iraq, "these people will try to follow us home," which Russert also did not challenge.
Former Diebold Sales Rep Becomes Registrar of Voters in San Diego
Deborah Seiler, a former sales representative for Diebold Election Systems, has been made the new registrar of voters for San Diego County in California. Diebold makes the voting machines used in San Diego. I previously wrote about Seiler's prior appointment as registrar of Solano County in 2004 -- a one-time Diebold county. From that story:
Can you believe this Crap??I live in San Diego too!!Guess,I'll be voting by mail forever!
Link
Catharine said...
May 14, 2007 7:35 PM
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[multiple-SPAMgasm]
i'd ascribe the blog girls names to bettina rheims photos, but unfortunately they're so shockingly beautiful they may offend...
(fortunately, the photos uncannily match them)
c://dada's piece of fluff
jenise monroe
gg b. demille
cat (no relation) chew bacall
meg's asshole
kiss my tit in seattle
toni-F
(by Jacques Henri Lartigue's click machine)
air-ono,
Look at the bright side. Catharine doesn't have The Plan and doesn't impose on us The Plan that she doesn't have.
(She doesn't have a list, either. Lisp? Maybe.)
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WHERE'S SHELLY
i honestly fear for her safety
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how does crank do it
so many pretty pics to look at & admire
yet manages to find time to defend catharine's lisp
(amazing)
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