What's happening in New Orleans?

From Greg Palast:

Psst! George Bush has a secret

While you Democrats are pounding each other to a pulp in Pennsylvania, the President has snuck back down to New Orleans for a meeting of the NAFTA Three: the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico.

You’re not supposed to know that – for two reasons:
Read the rest here: Link

I've been asked to write on NAFTA but I think Greg has some better insights than I do. The one that I think must be especially galling for Bush? It was meant to showcase the rebuilt city. Oops.

Torture is the New Black

Experts! Get cha' Torture EXPERTS here!

Three years ago this week I saw Mark Danner, author of Torture and Truth, speak in San Francisco. At the time I posed a question about torture in the same fashion that it is often framed on talk radio. I used the ticking bomb scenario. The, "What if it was YOUR Daughter?" line. His answers were interesting. He points out how weak these arguments really are.

We have allowed uninformed people define what torture is based on their twisted ideas of what really happens and what is happening. And our government have covered up and hidden our torture using FEAR and appeals to national security (which conveniently they don't have to tell us about.)

The most bizarre thing to me is how someone who considers himself as a Christian can approve of torture.




Lot of interesting posts about torture over at Hullabaloo, tristero's post entitled Torture Is Always Immoral worth reading.

The post that I really thought was powerful is Waterboarding is Torture...Period by Malcolm Nance

Where is the Fulcrum for this problem?

I've been keeping my brain active, just not here. There is one of the topics I'm thinking and writing about around the blogosphere.

War crimes and torture
What defines a war criminal?

Does a Catholic University have any responsibility to their own stated principles of "commitment to justice and the common good" when they hire a war criminal?

I've been talking to the brilliant Mr. Video, Interrobang, Jack the Grumpy Forester and Athenae about this and I raised the question. "If you believe that someone is a war criminal, what do you do about it? What can you do? I had some high level suggestions and some suggestions that might allow us to get to some desired results, i.e., him being held accountable for his actions, which many of us believe are crimes against peace, war crimes or crimes against humanity. Smarter people than me can work on this, for example they can take the following steps:

Intellectual and definitional steps
1) Define war criminal, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity

Research steps
2) Get specific proof where he meets the criteria for each area

Action steps
3) A first step would be to supply the proof of your assertions to the Catholic university. Ask their Human Resources department if war crimes are excused in the employee contract. If not, ask if there is a special waiver they need to be hired. See if the Pope signed the waiver. If they say, "Well it's not up to us to decide this, this must go to the International Criminal Court." say, "I'm glad you suggested that! I've done all the prep work for the case, warm up your lawyers and we'll go. But first I'm going to ask people for some donations to help pay for my time and expenses. Maybe we can get some innocent Iraqi's to pitch in."

Now I asked the big legal minds, researchers and deep thinkers to work on that topic. I know lots of lawyers read and write blogs. If you have that kind of background and want use it in a way that will make you proud of your degree, start preparing the case against him. Pretend that you have been asked to prosecute him. What evidence would you need? What would be your legal strategy? Think about how he would defend himself, how talk radio will defend him, how his legal team will defend him? Who are your allies, who are his?

Some of us are writers and activists and we are helping where we can but we can't do the legal stuff. Why wait for the Hague, do some of the work now. Do you need someone to ask you to do it? Do you need me to hire you to do it? I'll send you a dollar to get started.

But the big idea that came to me after reading Athenae's EXCELLENT new book, "It Doesn't End With Us" The story of the Daily Cardinal (the student run newspaper at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. --( Notice how I plugged the book to make a point? Subtle eh?)
Going down the legal, ethical, or religious route takes time. But what if you are just a brain in a box like me? What if you are an accountant, human resources specialist, researcher, or IT professional without the legal background or you don't have a big academic brain to take on the Dean of a huge university? I say look to your own skill set and see how you can help. And be polite and professional in the process. Neocons will be caught doing the stuff that always trips up them up: greed, hubris and bizarre human relationship issues.

Look for the fulcrum in your area of expertise. There might be more than one.

In honor of Ph.D.s and my hard studying Nephews and Nieces

I just heard that Rorschach's significant other just got her Ph.D., so congratulations to her! Rorschach once told us how he used Battlestar Galatica in one of his classes to explain a concept! Is that cool or what? Anyway, during the congratulations period I was reminded of something I wrote for my nephews and nieces who get discouraged when they see our President bragging about his LACK of studying and how he also insults people who value education in the process.

I wondered what *I* would say if I was the University President at a graduation ceremony and the President of the United States of America just used me as the butt of his standard stale joke insulting the PhDs and university presidents?

Here is what I'd love for them to say after they have been insulted.

“Mr. President. Thank you for attending. But no thank you for the insult. You have insulted hundreds of hard working educated people over the years and I for one am sick of it. Stop it.

I’m sure that you think you are an inspiration to C students everywhere, but did you really have to insult my hard work and the hard work of all the students here who got good grades? What message are you sending to the hard working A and B students? That picking the right family and having the right friends is really what matters? By your insisting that you show your dominance over the educated in this public forum you think that you are connecting to the “regular folks” who are uneducated, but most regular people that I know don’t have multi-millionaire and billionaire family friends pulling strings to get them opportunities for education and jobs like you did. Opportunities that you then squandered. They didn’t go to the private schools like Andover, they didn’t get the shot at the elite education of Yale and Harvard that you got. So how dare you turn around and insult those who worked hard to get good grades as a cheap way to align yourself with “the regular Joe”. For years your "joke" has gone unanswered. Sadly we have all been too polite and too afraid of retribution to say, “Stop it.”

Why the insults? Do you think it endears you to the regular Joe? Regular Joes and Janes don’t usually take the opportunity to insult their host’s hard work and education every chance they get. You clearly don’t value education, because if you did you won’t mock those of us who think that it’s not just the grade but also the effort that counts and you aren’t honoring the efforts of real C, B or A students. Our country needs smart people who are also hard workers. You are neither.

My name is Dr. (insert name) I was a hardworking student and now I have a PhD and I’m damn proud of it. And remember Mr. President, I don’t work for you. You work for me. I don’t ever want to read another news story about you opening up with your standard insulting joke. That “joke” earns you an F. Not as a student, but as a President and human being.”

Doug Feith on 60 Minutes with Steve Kroft

Doug Feith was on 60 minutes tonight talking about his new book. If you are reviewing his book or talking about his appearance you would probably want to talk to Allison Hantschel. (Link to her blog) Why? Because BACK IN 2005 she compiled an entire book of articles focusing on the faulty intelligence that Douglas Feith gathered that lead us to war. (link to book)

She writes about his appearance on 60 minutes here in a post titled "Debunking Douglas Feith: 60 Minutes Liveblogging"

If you are doing a book review on War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism, email Hantschel at athenae25 AT yahoo . com with an interview request for your book review.

She has a new book out on journalism at the college level, she writes for a Chicago newspaper, The Daily Southtown, and she can debunk Feith's mendacity for you. It will make your review better and it will be easy. She can also give you other people to talk to if you need second and third sources. (Remind her to tell you what Feith knew about "Cureball" and how he then used his info anyway, it's a good story.)

Lots of bloggers knew in 2003 and 2004 what Feith was up to with his creation of a special office to provide intelligence to the White House for a war in Iraq. Lots of people inside the beltway knew too, but I'll bet you won't be hearing from them, "We knew then he was trying to pull the wool over our eyes!" Why won't they speak now?

1) The don't want to admit they were wrong.
2) They can't talk to you because they are still afraid of the retribution.
3) They are too powerful to talk to you.

Look at who Feith blames, Colin Powell, General Tommy Franks and the CIA. Do you really think you will be able to get to talk to Powell, Franks or someone at the CIA to talk to you for your book review? Of course not. Now my friends in the NSA and the CIA would LOVE to talk to you about the shenanigans Feith pulled, but they can't. Feith is trying to pre-emptively get his story out and is blaming the people who won't publicly contradict him.

Feith is being very clever blaming people who can't talk back. People use that trick in spy movies all the time. "How do I know that you actually attended MIT Mr. Rich? " they ask. "Well my professor was Dr. Verner Von Thurston. " says Rich.
"Of course HE would be your teacher since he is no longer alive and he can't talk! How convenient for you Mr. Rich."

Powell, Franks and the CIA aren't going to go on the record saying, "He's full of it, here's what REALLY happened."

In contrast, Hantschel's book will provide you with lots of info so you can debunk his claims with multiple sources. Sure she's not inside the Beltway (she in Chicago) but the beltway folks won't tell you anything good. They might have to attend a dinner parties with Feith and they can't be seen to attack him too much or it would be really awkward.



Allison Hantschel, author of Special Plans, the blogs on Douglas Feith and the Faulty Intelligence that led to war, comments on some of the whoppers Feith tells on 60 Minutes to promote his new book, War and Decision,Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism.

Funniest story I've heard in a long time

From the comments section at Echidne of the Snakes


I once taught a small child the following, with the appropriate gestures.

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout! Here is my handle! Here is my handle... (pause, hands on hips) I'll be damned, I'm the sugar bowl!"

Child's parents were mildly amused. Child's grandmother thought it was the funniest damn thing she had ever seen.

bbrugger | 04.01.08 - 6:19 pm |

Someone with kids the right age should film this for America's Funniest Home Videos.
I'm thinking at least a $10,000 prize.

News Flash! Your Shoe is untied!

This hot dog's shoe is also untied. Perhaps you are related.

I will do a serious post later, but hey, it's April Fools day and fun things like this are part of who we are.

Caption Contest! For Easter!

"I wish I knew how to quit you!"

This reminds me of a post I did in 2006 titled. "The Easter Bunny Hates you!"

Here is the video showing what the Easter Bunny is doing when he isn't delivering eggs or hugging the President. (link to College Humor which has some NSFW content) Or you can look on You Tube.

Gmail's Got my Number

Found in my Gmail trash at the top of the tips section.

Awareness Test for Drivers

h/t to gradeschoolteach for this short, fun, insightful video.

As we are distracted by the big shiny moon of sex scandals involving high end five diamond prostitutes (no street walking for them) or the Bears and Sterns government bail out, let's keep an eye out for other nasty stuff. Smart companies and politicians will be dumping bad news this week. Listen. Watch. Pay attention.

Privacy and rule of Law Hero Mark Klein.

I spoke with one of the EFF lawyers about this case and asked how I could help.

He talked about the millions of dollars that were being spent by the telcos to get retroactive immunity and how it will take lots of regular people to care about this issue to convince the congress people to do something that shouldn't be hard, obey the constitution that they swore to uphold.

Watch the video, and if you want to read more go to EFF.org.

Melanie Morgan's Off KSFO. What does it Mean? Part 1

"KSFO was unable to renew Melanie's contract because of across-the-board budget cuts mandated by our parent company" Hmmm. How passive voice of them. How... emotionless.

I'm going to write much more about this in the future but if there are any media people who want my comments, drop me a line. I have LOTS of things to say and a few questions that I'd like to get answers for myself regarding this "non-contract renewal".

Right now I'd like people to notice a few things about this.

Sure Citadel can talk about generic "across the board cuts" because they don't have to break out WHO was costing them how much money. And I'm sure Morgan's supporters may decide it is a conspiricy by the liberals to get conseratives off the radio, but Morgan has no one to blame but herself for the station losing money which led to her contract not being renewed. All her future employers might want to notice this.

It was the advertisers who chose to go elsewhere rather than be associated with her and her co-hosts. We simply reflected back to the sponsors what the hosts were saying on their dime. Smart companies like Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, FedEX, Borders Books, In and Burger and CSAAA all left KSFO when they realized that they didn't want their brand tainted by these kind of comments.

Why Morgan and not Rodgers, Sussman or "Officer Vic"?
It is curious to me that Morgan was the one whose contract was not renewed. Lee Rodgers, "Officer Vic" and Brian Sussman were also responsible for KSFO's loss of over 28 national and local advertisers in 2007 because of their violent rhetoric and anti-Muslim comments. Yes some advertisers were replaced, but a local ad might not pay as much as a national. Why are they still employed? Perhaps Citadel still sees them as an assets and not liabilities. Maybe they are paid less and are cheaper to keep.

More later.

UPDATE I
Josh Richmond of Insidebayarea.com asked for my comments on the story and I responded.
If you would like to see more of my thoughts check out this link.
And be sure to note how Morgan's Move America Forward PR person responded. As someone who directly benefited from Morgan using her position on the station as a cash register for Move America Forward, I'm sure he is disappointed in the loss of the source of revenue. Revenue that he uses to attack me instead of "supporting the troops."

And as for his comment, "I’ll never respect someone who lives in anonymity yet seeks to speak as a public figure." Please. There is a reason I use a pseudonym. We all know what Morgan, Rodgers, Sussman and "Officer Vic" as well as the management at ABC Radio do when they get the identity of someone -- character assassination, threating with death and financial ruin. I wonder if Morgan's PR person would like to offer the home addresses and real names of Lee Rodgers, Brian Sussman, "Officer Vic." (Who is neither an Officer nor named Vic, his name is Tom.) Is he willing to offer that info up? Because I'm sure Lee Rodgers would love for you to make his information public.

Thank you for your kind words regarding my Dad's death

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments on my father's unexpected passing. So many people knew EXACTLY the right thing to say, which I believe says something about the quality of my readers and friends. It's hard to write about my Dad right now in this forum because I want to tell you all what a great person he was and proudly tell you who he was and that I am his son. But of course you all know the reason I need to protect my privacy. During this long smearing season the last thing I want is for his good name to be attacked by people whose job it is to sully the reputations of others for money and ratings.

Those of you who sent "virtual casseroles" I will be sending you personal thank you notes. At the funeral, my siblings' employers send flowers. It would have been nice to have some flowers there that said "In Honor of your Dad, from Spocko's friends in the Blogosphere" it would have confused the 99.8% of my relatives who don't know my other identity. But my mom knows and I told her about all the notes and donations that came in. I explained that they were like the flowers that my sibs place of employment sent or like the food trays sent over by neighbors and friends.
I wanted her to see that people around the world were thinking of us and praying for us. Getting notes and "virtual casseroles" from folks on the internet may seem new and different, but the connection is real, and the oldest rules of human relationships still apply. When someone is hurting, good people take note and offer comfort. Empathy is NOT something that we are missing. We know we are all connected and there are real people behind these pixels on a screen

One little tidbit about my dad, I got him first computer in 1996. He was great at face to face communications and used it to maintain his connections in a new fashion. He would have been pleased to see how many of my friends on the internet stopped by to express condolences.

I may write more later, but please know that your words, thoughts, donations, prayers and letters were incredible helpful and I am deeply grateful for your support during this time.

Sarek is Sick

My dad is sick. It's serious. I'm with him now. If you are the spiritual type and want to have a few words with your hirer being on his behalf that would be nice. If you are not and want to send some positive thoughts that would be nice too.

Our Buddy Monkeyfister Looks out for The Vicitims of Tornados

Monkeyfister reminds us that while we were rejoicing that our candidate won their primary, some people lost their homes and lives. He directs us to a place to give money. Personally I think I'll be donating blood. I hope that they can use some T- green.

Right now, Monkeyfister recommends the:

American Red Cross
Mid-South Chapter
1400 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
901-726-1690

And:
United Way of the Mid-South phone in a donation at (901) 433-4300.

Here is a link to the Monkeyfister blog.

Stop The Spying!

• 

From my friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Countless citizens have told Congress to reject telecom immunity, but the Senate is still threatening to pass a bill giving immunity to lawbreaking phone companies. It's time to get creative and move beyond words. Let's show our elected representatives who supports the rule of law -- ordinary Americans from across the country. We'll deliver your multimedia messages to lawmakers to drive the point home: no immunity for lawbreaking telecoms! (more info)

I've faxed my Senators and told them that I think retroactive immunity is a bad thing.
My friends over at Firedoglake have some methods and specific points you can make to your senators.

Tell them to vote "no" on cloture. It is well past time that respect for the rule of law and the role of Congress in the balance of powers was restored:

(Spocko side note: Isn't cloture a horrible word? It sounds like a blood condition. "The patient had a heart attack because his veins and arteries were full of cloture."

I think I'll also focus on the financial angle of this (see previous post). It's a long shot message in a different space, but if you want to ignore the politics and ignore the warrentless wiretapping you can focus on the cynical money part, "The telcos knew it wasn't legal, there were giving assurances by someone that it would never be a problem. They rolled the dice and bet that the Bush people could cover up deal but they lost. So now they need to pay the price. It's just business."

And when I say they knew it wasn't legal at the time I'm basing that on the one company that DIDN'T play ball who was then punished. Qwest. At the time Qwest thought that the American people wouldn't want them to break the law and eventually they would pay. They guessed wrong at the time. So you can make this call to your Senators in support of the people at Qwest who stood up for doing the right thing but were punished for it.

Questions on Telco Immunity for John Hodulik and Friends

One thing that nobody is talking about is the money involved if the telco retroactive immunity bill DOESN'T get passed as part of the FISA bill.

If you are a telco legal person and have several massive multi-million dollar lawsuits hanging over your head, and possibly some C-level executives bosses facing jail time, don't you think you would work every angle to get that immunity? If you are someone who is facing a big financial hit might you authorize some "walking around money" to help the problem go away? (Like my lingo? Picked that up from "The Wire.")

What would you do as a telco lobbyist? Who would you talk to? What would you offer? (Legally of course!)

What if you are a financial analyst in the telco space?
Are financial analysts even paying attention? If not, then I'll bet it is because they know the telcos have told them "We've got it covered."

Because if big money at stake they will NOT be pinching pennies to get that immunity. What is that phrase the poker players use? I think they might go "all in". So we could be looking for them to tip their hand because of their eagerness. And we might want to ask the analysts, "What do you estimate the telcos are spending to get immunity? Enough to show up as a hit to quarterly earnings? Or will it just going to be under the standard "Government Affairs" budget and "consulting fees"?

I'm sure they have told the analysts that no silly bloggers like Glenn Greenwald or Jane Hamsher or failed presidential candidates will get in the way of their immunity. Besides, they just have to go to DiFi because they know she'll listen to reason, she understands the needs of the stockholders (which trump everything for some people). They will talk to her about the jobs lost in her state if they don't get immunity. They will remind her how they were just being Patriotic!

If a telecom financial analyst DID stumble on this, there are some questions I would ask them:

1. What would it cost the companies if they lost this retroactive immunity fight? Who would be hit the hardest?

2. Is this fight factored into any financial models? Why or Why not? If they lose, will that have an impact on EPS?

3. Do they know about the efforts being made to battle this? (Do they even consider the efforts worthy of notice? If not why not? Have you gotten assurances that the telcos WILL get immunity? What makes them so confident? Have the telcos received assurances? From whom?

4. Are the bloggers who can mobilize a group of people even part of the equation or are they discounted in favor of "real people." aka lobbyists?

Who would I ask these questions? To start, these people:

Telco financial and market analysts

John Hodulik, UBS Securities LLC

Qaisar Hasan, an analyst with Buckingham Research for Verison

David Barden, Telecom Analyst for Banc of America Securities

Chris Larsen, Telecom Analyst for Credit Suisse

Todd Rosenbluth, Telecom Analyst for Standard and Poors

We may never know the answers but at least we got the questions out there.

Roam Nipsey Russell!

Link to Roam video at Stage6


I thought for years they were saying "Roam Nipsey Russell. Roam around the years." in the B52 song Roam.

I've been roaming for awhile. I'm back. Thought I'd start the year with some joy.
Click on the link for a wonderful higher def version of Roam by the B52's.

Dodd Stands Up For the Rule of Law

I often assume everyone reads the same things I do and watches the same videos so if you have seen this one from Sen. Chris Dodd already you can move on to something else. I especially like the end of the video when he talks about Iowa and New Hampshire.

Dodd's filibuster against retroactive immunity for the telcos meant something, and those of us in the left blogosphere helped make it happen. Athenae has a nice longer piece about this and I'll defer to her superior writing skills.

For now I want to celebrate the victory because it feels like it's been a long time since we have had one. The Democratic leadership considers playing out the clock the smartest strategy to victory in 2008. They might be right, but it doesn't do a lot to inspire people and keep them fighting in the mean time. This was inspirational. Thank you Sen. Dodd.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The good Dr. Zaius reminded me that I haven't posted for awhile. Thanks for noticing Dr. Z! I'm not so big headed to put up things like 'Light posting' for the next two weeks. I'm rapidly working my way back down to 19 readers. Part of it might be that I feel like I have nothing new to say or action to recommend. I assume you all are reading what I read so if I can't provide something new I don't always want to say, "Go read (insert favorite blog here)" See my blog roll for some folks I read if you want to see who I like.

I'm working on some stuff now and hopefully I'll be able to blog more after it is completed. I might drop some of you a line asking for help to get it completed. Ol' Spocko likes to do things instead of the

I'm thankful for many things. Real friends and "invisible friends". I could go on and name specific people, but then that would seem like an academy award speech and the music would start playing.

Hope you all had a good holiday.
LLAP
Spocko

I voted for Adults today. Who did you Vote for?

I was talking to a friend who has a vast knowledge of things technical and spiritual and I said how much I'm loving Al Gore's book The Assault on Reason. We were talking about some of the underlying reasons people support certain politicians. I mentioned that Sara Robinson over at Orcinus has two great posts on the characteristics of people drawn to movement conseratives. People who John Dean classifies at Right Wing Authoritarian (RWAs) personalities will go along with almost anything a candidate says and ignore all their crazy past actions and ineffectual leadership if they think that there is someone who gives them what they really want. Daddy.

RWAs would far rather curl up in Daddy's lap -- even if it means abandoning reason and taking the occasional spanking -- than try to deal with the world by themselves, on adult terms. This is also why RWA family and community relationships (as Lakoff has explained) are necessarily hierarchical. These people still need parents around, because they don't feel emotionally safe without the presence of a strong authority figure. Egalitarian relationships terrify them, because there's nobody in charge to make the rules and set the boundaries that keep people from hurting each other. And that's damned scary, because (as masters of projection) they're quite sure that everybody else in the whole world is also still five years old and playing by sandbox rules. Without a playground supervisor in charge, they know for sure that somebody will get hurt.

Both posts are excellent. I'll let you read them for yourself.
1) Leering Old Men: Another Take by Sara Robinson at Orcinus
2) Who's your daddy? by Sara Robinson at Orcinus. In which she talks about why Conservatives expect spankings.

War Fetishism In Various Forms

I'm going to suggest you to click on the link below for two reasons.

1) It's a very interesting review of a video game that points out a lot about the way that Americans worship the activities of soldiers in World War II. Be advised the review contains the f-word mentioned more than once.

2) I heard someone going on the other day on talk radio about the bombing of Hiroshima. This person spent a lot of time talking about how great it was and how necessary it was in order to prevent further loss of life. And I was struck yet again by the concerted attempt to normalize horrific acts in order to justify them for use in the future. This normalization of the use of horrific weapons, as if they were equivalent to conventional weapons because they killed a similar number of people, misses the point. There is a qualitative difference to a nuclear weapon and not just because of the radioactivity. In our imagination the mushroom cloud looms larger than photos of bombed cities and firestorms.

When we lose sight of the horrors of war, of torture and destruction of entire cities, we can more easily consider unleashing more war.

Link to The Escapist Magazine review of MOH Airborne. The reviewer is Yahtzee.

Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder. When he isn't talking very fast into a headset mic he also designs freeware adventure games and does the occasional feature for Australia's Hyper Magazine. His personal site is www.fullyramblomatic.com.

oh and h/t to Greg Saunders at The Talent Show for the link.

In Case the People Who Love Their Guns get to Me

Put me in one of these. If I have time I'll try and drop something off with the good Dr. before I go. (Might have to use Dr. Zaius, I hope his advanced monkey mind can handle my katra.)



Here is the link to the whole line of STAR TREK urns and caskets. Niche marketing at its finest. If you do buy one, tell 'em Spocko sent you.

REAL Scary stuff

Want to hear something really scary? Story by Sheila Coronel, reporting by Elisabeth Witchel:

On March 24, 2005, as [Marlene] Garcia-Esperat was having dinner with her two sons, a man walked into her dining room, greeted her with a “Good evening, ma’am,” and pulled out a .45-caliber pistol. He shot her once in the head. She was 45.

At least 32 Philippine journalists, including Garcia-Esperat, have been killed in direct relation to their work since 1992, the year CPJ [Committee to Protect Journalists] began compiling detailed research on journalist deaths worldwide. While the country has a vibrant press that takes its watchdog role seriously, it is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter. In Manila and other big cities, the media are able to work freely, but in out-of-the-way places like Tacurong, lawlessness and a culture of impunity mean that journalists put their lives on the line.

Garcia-Esperat’s case could have been like so many of the others in the Philippines, unsolved and ultimately forgotten. But her killing outraged local and international journalists, who launched intensive campaigns to bring attention to the case. The government, facing rising criticism for ignoring violence against the press, devoted national resources to ensure a thorough investigation. A gutsy private lawyer agreed to help prosecute, witnesses were given some protection, and the trial was moved to an impartial venue.

In October 2006, the gunman and his two lookouts were sentenced to life terms—making the Garcia-Esperat case, according to CPJ research, one of only two in the Philippines since 1992 in which the murderers of journalists have been convicted.

Now, the two officials said to have ordered the killing may also face trial. Incredibly, in the 15-year period analyzed by CPJ, no mastermind has been convicted in the slaying of a Philippine journalist. The Garcia-Esperat case, advocates believe, may serve as a map for justice in even the most intractable of places.

Read the rest here (link)

There are many methods to intimidate people, some don't go as far as killing them, but when someone doesn't want investigations to proceed or tough questions to be asked they use lots of tricks. Financial attacks, name calling, character assassination, calling the other person liars. But here is something most people don't know because they aren't exposed to the whole gamut of experiences, just what they see on tv or read about if they are interested.

The tricks used to intimidate at the highest levels aren't the same as the tricks used at the lower levels. As just one example, "some people say*" you can't look at certain procedures because "you will threaten National Security!" whenever they want to stop an investigation. Even if it isn't true, even if what they are trying to hide has NOTHING TO DO WITH NATIONAL SECURITY. They can ALSO use that excuse if, for example, they are hiding two things. Maybe one does have to do with national security, but the other has nothing to do with national security and has everything to do with gathering information that will be used to attack their critics. Of COURSE they will scream national security. And they could even be right, but only for SOME of the information. But it also is a very effective way to cover up the information that IS NOT related to national security and can only be related to national security in the fever pitched mind of someone who believes that everything and everyone critical of them is out to undermine national security.


* the phrase "some people say" is a registered service mark of Fox News and right wing pundits everywhere. I use it to refer to right wing pundits in this instance and if you want I could provide you with some actual examples.

My Halloween Treat for Visitors

From The Rut Check out the other cartoons too. Good stuff.
h/t to my favorite software sleuth

Starstruck: I Want to Live In a House.

I saw this movie 25 years ago. Loved the choreography, it was very fresh at the time and it still has a unique look to it. It came out the same year as Jackson's Thriller and I see some similar dance influences (like he Zombie stomp), but this was filmed in Australia so maybe they developed independently or one or two people were the common influences. There are other great songs and fun choreography in the movie. Check them out in the related at YouTube. I especially enjoyed "It's the Monkey in Me." That song might be something to send to your Darwin hating friends.

Bias Crimes are Message Crimes

I was talking the other day to someone about hate, bias, violence, racism, and the methods that people and groups use to intimidate others. Today I saw a great post by David Neiwert of Orcinus. Neiwert has been writing brilliantly for years on the issues that I was discussing.

What I especially like about this post are the following things.

1) Neiwert explains what "hate crimes" really are, and he points out the willfull ignorance of some people (in this case Don Surber when it comes to the definition of what we have been calling hate crimes.

But even more important, most people who write about hate-crimes laws are aware that the term is something of a misnomer; what we call "hate crimes" are in fact known in the law as "bias crimes" -- crimes committed with a motivation of bias (racial, religious, ethnic, sexual, or gender) against the perceived class of the victim.

And to suggest that all violent crimes are bias crimes is, well, just plain ignorant. Crimes are committed out of a plenitude of motivations, and ethnic/religious/sexual biases constitute only a narrow band of them. Evidently, Surber is unaware of this.

He goes on to display even more ignorance:

Crime is the last segregated business in America. Most black crime victims are victims of blacks. White criminals generally pick white victims. If you are killed by a person of another color, does that make you more dead?

It seems that Surber labors under what's becoming an increasingly common misconception about how hate-crime laws work. They're not about interracial crime or, more generally, inter-identity crime. They're about, once again, bias crimes.

[Snip]

Hate crimes are message crimes: They are intended to harm not just the immediate victim, but all people of that same class within the community. Their message is also irrevocable: they are "get out of town, nigger/Jew/queer" crimes.

Read the whole post here. And if you want to discuss the topic intelligently that is a great place to do it. And, if you feel the need to play games launching your own views about what is or isn't a bias crime and what is or isn't an effective message to send about that kind of crime, please do it over at Dave's place. He really is an expert and along with Sara Robinson much better at helping people clarify their thinking on the topic. But if you willful use lame arguments like Surber's expect to be challenged.

Oh and while you are at it, buy one or more of Dave's books.

Strawberry Days: How Internment Destroyed a Japanese American Community

Strawberry Days will be especially interesting for people who watched Ken Burn's feature "The War" and it will also be good to read in case the government decides that all brown people who look like terrorists need to be rounded up based on no data other than their faith or browness.

Death on the Fourth of July: The Story of a Killing, A Trial, and Hate Crime in America, Image above.

In God's Country: The Patriot Movement and the Pacific Northwest

And, if you are a journalist in need to an expert on this topic, the next time there a bias crime that happens America, call or David. He will put it all in context for you and help educate you on the issues. Dave Neiwart should be your first stop when discussing the topic of "hate crimes" when it comes up in your state.

She Can Do What She Wants

Again, from Matt Memphis

I love the guitar riff in the beginning. A good friend of mine also loves great guitar riffs, I thought she might like this riff today.

Bush Captures Owl Qaeda Leader

Capture Contest! Wheee!

From Think Progress

Later, the owl will write a book exposing Bush’s devastating effects on his habitat. The right-wing smear machine will go into full force, claiming that the owl could’ve protected its habitat on its own, by selling the lumber. And then they’ll say the owl is unamerican and secretly supporting our natural enemies, the bears.

Comment by TheToonGuy — October 20, 2007 @ 6:04 pm

Yup, they’re already calling it Owl Qaeda.

Comment by Starve-A-Bush_Feed-A-Beaver — October 20, 2007 @ 7:02 pm

I wonder how Harry Whittington and his family feel about the Presidential Joke. (double entendre intentional)

Comment by boreas — October 20, 2007 @ 5:54 pm

That’s his forte. Like pretending to be unable to find WMD in the Oval Office while troops died looking for the non-existent things.

Comment by Candyce — October 20, 2007 @ 5:59 pm

Thanks to Think Progress

And h/t to this commenter for the Owl Qaeda pun: Starve-A-Bush_Feed-A-Beaver — October 20, 2007 @ 7:02 pm

Choose your Universe

Blue States - Allies

I know a bit about parallel universes, this video reminded me of a few of those. I think of universes where the Evil Spock lives and where Dr. Zaius is firmly in charge.

Small things we do matter, but we don't always know how we are changing the world for the better. It might be fun (or not fun) to see what would happen if we made a different choice. We know what happens on a big scale when people always make the selfish choice, the "screw you, I've got mine" choice. They describe for you the terrible parallel universe that will exist if we make the, "Let's help others choice." But you should notice they always create a absolutely horrible universe for that choice.

We can see what happens when some people get a narrative in their head that is incorrect like, "Bush and Gore: pretty much the same." c. 1999.


Thanks to Matt Memphis

Who is Melanie Morgan's Minder?

Melanie Morgan is one of the most prominent power brokers in California politics.
She is regularly given credit for starting the successful recall of now former Governor Gray Davis. The Marin Republican party named her Conservative of the Year. (link to Marin Republican party page)

When I wrote last week about Morgan's heavy promotion on the ABC Radio station, KSFO, of her counter protest to Code Pink's action I was hoping that someone higher up in the ABC Radio corporation or within Citadel Broadcasting would pay attention to Morgan's use of the public airwaves for this action. (This quote is from the MAF site, so if you want all that context --that won't change any meanings--go there.)

I am furious about this insult to our troops, and I am organizing a counter protest for Wednesday, October 17th at high noon. I am planning to bring as many of our KSFO audience as possible, plus do a big Move America Forward push for a large crowd.
-Melanie Morgan on Move America Forward's website

What was upper management's response? I'm guessing it was a memo to Morgan saying something like, "be sure to mention that your counter protest is meant to be a non-violent protest". Maybe someone just checked with the insurance company and asked if they would be covered if a fight breaks out on this ABC Radio-promoted event. Sure enough, this morning after Morgan promoted the event again and called Code Pink traitors, she says how she is going to confront them and tell them exactly what she thinks of them; she throws in at the last minute in the most sarcastic voice possible, "of course only in the most non-violent of ways." As George W. Bush reportedly said to his CIA briefer after he got his Aug 6. PDB. "All right. You've covered your ass, now."

Audio link MP3 here WMA here.

You really should listen how she spits out the word traitors (and she knows what we do to traitors in the country, right?) and then switches to the sarcastic, "of course only in the most non-violent of ways." Tone is important here. And note when she says "we" and "our". Who is she speaking for, where is she saying this, who is paying for this?

I'm sure that nothing will happen. It will just be Morgan shouting how non-violent she is at some poor Code Pink member. The TV cameras will eat it up. Wheee! No harm, no foul. This time.

Since it seems that the only time upper management pays attention to what Morgan actually says on the air is when I point it out to them or their advertisers, I do wish that they would pay more attention to the behavior of their own people than to me. I'm not the one bragging on the radio show about all the work being done to make sure the TV cameras are at the event and I'm not the one telling the TV producers that unless they show up they will lose credibility. ABC Radio station KSFO wants the PR they are getting. Just be sure to spell their names right is the old saying. And if something goes wrong, remember folks, approval for this goes to the top.

Now also might be a good time for Citadel Broadcastings' internal people to look at how the time is allocated on this program to various advertisers, charities and non-profit groups. Maybe someone should clock how much time is devoted to Move America Forward and its requests for money or to sell merchandise on Morgan's site. Check out the week before Sept. 15th or the weeks before today just to give two recent examples. 4-5 minutes an hour, hour after hour, day after day. That must add up.

I'm sure that both Citadel Broadcasting and Move America Forward are recording the in-kind advertising in the appropriate places on the balance sheets. I'm sure everyone is covered on the personal side, these people are very smart and I don't doubt that is it correctly accounted for. On the corporate side I'm sure that Citadel knows how to account for all this, they can't be confused like the general public might be. Of course if there are problems we will never know, they don't break out that info to the public, only internal auditors will know.

By the way, I've heard that Citadel might be bringing back a big name in radio. I'll bet they will need to squeeze every dime out of the other stations to pay his salary and cover any insurance in case they have to fire him.

I'm not an accountant, I don't know how these things work, but when you give lots of air time to one group it has to be recorded by that group, right? Or doesn't it count if the whole program is an infomercial for the host's group? But if an infomercial raises a lot of money for the people putting it on, doesn't that need to be recorded somehow? I mean money does flow from listeners to the group based on where they heard it. I suppose a political talk radio show can give free time to a group like MAF, especially when the chairman of MAF is the host of that show. What if this host is so strongly identified with this group that her public appearances always mention this association and all the guests on the radio station acknowledge that she is the head of the organization?

I'm sure that it is all very clear and there are no issues, after all, this is an important money issue and we know how accurate people are when it comes to accounting for finances.
But it's just so very confusing to the public. But again, I'm sure the accounting people at Citadel will have it all figured out and guidelines will be followed to the letter of the law.

Because conservatives are all about the rule of law, right?

Command Control to Rudy, "We Can't Hear You! Thanks for Nothing."

I have some friends in the firefighter business here in SF. I think they might want to watch this video to see how Rudy treated the first responders in NYC. Of course if the shouting starts about someone "politicizing 9/11", please be reminded WHO is running on their 9/11 record. Photo ops and looking tough while being forced to walk in the streets because your command and control center is located in a stupid place, is great for some people, but for the ones who are doing the work, putting their lives on the line, good communication that in integrated with the rest of the city's emergency organizations can NOT be blown off as some sort of minor mistake.

When the next earthquake hits SF, people will use their cell phones and landlines to call their loved ones. "Just want you to know I'm okay!" we will say.

But imagine you are pinned down outside your loved one's house and are trying to call them on the phone because you can see their house swaying and the house next to it has collasped. "Your house is going to collapse!" You shout.

But your phone can't "talk" to their phone. The house collapses and your loved one dies. Later you find out that it wasn't just an accident that the phones couldn't connect. Suppose you found out that the person whose foot dragging ensured that you would NOT be able to reach your loved one is bragging about how much HE cares for your loved one. And suppose he brags that he did such a good job about caring for your loved one that he should be in charge of caring for everyone's loved ones. Might piss you off, right?

You can sign a petition to have this looked into more throughly. Our first responders deserve no less. http://therealrudy.org/radios

Salih Saif Aldin, Washington Post Journalist Killed

Reporter For Post Is Fatally Shot In Baghdad

By Joshua Partlow and Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, October 15, 2007; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Oct. 14 -- On Sunday afternoon, Salih Saif Aldin set out for one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods. He knew exactly where to go. He nodded, smiled, grabbed his camera. There was nothing he needed to say.

Saif Aldin always came back -- from death threats, from beatings, from kidnappings, from detentions by American soldiers, from the country's most notorious and deadly terrain -- but on Sunday he didn't. The 32-year-old Iraqi reporter in The Washington Post's Baghdad bureau was shot once in the forehead in the southwestern neighborhood of Sadiyah. He was the latest in a long line of reporters, most of them Iraqis, to be killed while covering the Iraq war. He was the first for The Washington Post.

"The death of Salih Saif Aldin in the service of our readers is a tragedy for everyone at The Washington Post. He was a brave and valuable reporter who contributed much to our coverage of Iraq," said Leonard Downie Jr., executive editor of The Post. "We are in his debt. We grieve with his family, friends, fellow journalists and everyone in our Baghdad bureau."
[SNIP]

In 2005, he received a note threatening his life if he did not quit journalism and leave Tikrit. He refused. "This is my city, and I'm a journalist," he told colleagues.

In July of that year, he was attacked by two men, who beat him with a metal pipe and the butt of a pistol. He had bruises all over his body and a gash on his head that required eight stitches.

In January 2006, Saif Aldin reported a story accusing Tikriti officials of looting a former palace of Saddam Hussein's. Word circulated of a $50,000 bounty on Saif Aldin's head.
[SNIP]

Saif Aldin later moved to Baghdad, where he repeatedly braved the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, often traveling alone. For security reasons, he sometimes wrote under a tribal name, Salih Dehema. But otherwise, he was always off to the next challenge: He met with commanders of the Mahdi Army and leaders of Sunni insurgent groups. He drove south of Baghdad, to what is known as the Triangle of Death, to interview neighbors of a 14-year-old girl who had been raped and killed by American soldiers. Perhaps more than anyone at the newspaper, his work provided a window into the motivations and methods of those responsible for Iraq's violence, in its many complicated guises.

Emphasis mine.

Read the whole story here.

(h/t Carolyn Kay from Make Them Accountable.)

At least 118 journalists have been killed in Iraq while on duty, nearly 100 of whom were Iraqis. -Committee to Protect Journalists. (link) (While you are they you can contribute to CPJ)

Salih Saif Aldin, a hero for journalism. I'm sure that the right will figure out some way to attack Aldin or the Post. Suggesting the death of journalists is a regular thing for certain people on the right. It gets them invited onto tv and radio shows to talk to people who call themselves journalists.