MSM Monitor

Mississippi's Missing Files

2012-01-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

"No files on pardoned Miss. killers; Men were among 198 helped by outgoing Barbour" by Holbrook Mohr | Associated Press, January 26, 2012

JACKSON, Miss. - Pardon files are missing or do not exist for four convicted killers and another man who worked as trusties at the governor’s mansion and were pardoned by former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour during his final days in office.

The Associated Press made public records requests for such documents, but state officials said yesterday that they do not have them on the trusties and some others pardoned by Barbour, a two-term Republican governor who left office this month.

Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat who has filed a legal challenge to dozens of the 198 pardons issued by Barbour at the end of his second term, said about 20 files are missing from a batch of several boxes that his office is examining.

Barbour’s lawyers said in court records that pardon files, which generally contain letters and other supporting documents that offer insights into the pardon process, don’t exist for the trusties.

“Mansion trusties do not have pardon files at the governor’s office or at the Parole Board. They have in a sense ‘living files’ because the governor and the first lady, as well as the highway patrolmen assigned to the governor’s security, observe them every day and provide the information on which the governor makes his decisions as to clemency,’’ according to a footnote in a legal brief in which Barbour’s attorneys argue that the pardons were valid and should be upheld....

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Related: Pardon Me Over Mississippi Post

Sweetening Pennsylvania Post

2012-01-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

Enjoy!

"Pa. carjack hoax mother gets 8 years in jail" Associated Press, January 27, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - The in-vitro treatments. The suburban house. The lavish trips and dinners out.

None of it was worth it, a soccer mom-turned-“abduction hoax’’ mom told a US judge yesterday before she was sentenced to over eight years in prison for a $1 million swindle.

Bonnie Sweeten, 40, of Feasterville, is infamous for an alarming 911 call that claimed she and her 9-year-old daughter had been carjacked by two black men. She said they had been stuffed into the trunk of another vehicle. She made an equally furtive call to her second husband.

See: Feasting and Fleeing on the AmeriKan Racial Divide

Sweeten, who is white, was instead on her way to the airport with her middle child in May 2009, about to use a coworker’s passport to board a flight to Florida. She feared an arrest looming in the fraud scheme. The FBI found the pair unharmed the next day at Disney World.

Sweeten’s voice cracked when she apologized for stealing $280,000 from an elderly relative after gaining access to his retirement account papers.

Sweeten, a paralegal, also stole $640,000 from the one-lawyer firm where she worked and took out a $150,000 loan on the lawyer’s real estate. She has already spent a year in prison for the fake 911 call.

Sweeten had developed elaborate means to steal the money, doctoring a judge’s order for law firm clients; telling her husband she had gotten a law degree, leading him to throw a party; and posing as her boss at the refinancing of the woman’s property. “Her conduct has shown that, at her core, she is a criminal,’’ Assistant US Attorney Denise Wolf argued in court.

Same for Wall Street, but I don't see them being hauled before the bar.

Sweeten and her husband, a self-employed landscaper, were spending $4,000 a month on their $400,000 mortgage and another $8,000 a month through debit purchases, according to the FBI.

Sweeten has been in custody since June 2009, just weeks after the daughter she eventually had with husband Larry Sweeten turned 1. She served nearly a year in state prison for the 911 hoax, and has been in federal custody since then. With time served, she’ll be eligible for release in 2018.

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Speaking of crooks:

"Corruption trial begins for Pennsylvania legislator" Associated Press, January 24, 2012

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A prosecutor yesterday described a once-powerful longtime Democratic lawmaker as a “common thief with uncommon access’’ to taxpayers’ money, as he became the first sitting Pennsylvania legislator to go to trial as part of a public corruption inquiry that started five years ago.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Ken Brown told jurors the evidence will show that state Representative Bill DeWeese illegally used legislative employees for political campaigning and fund-raising.

“We’re talking about public monies, monies paid by taxpayers, that were taken by this defendant and used for his own campaign work and for his own personal use,’’ Brown said an opening statement.

Defense lawyer William Costopoulos portrayed DeWeese as a hard-working legislator who misplaced his trust in subordinates in the House Democratic caucus, some of whom are expected to testify against him.

Costopoulos painted DeWeese as a man whose values were shaped by his working-class family, his service as a Marine Corps officer, and the constituents in his district in Pennsylvania’s southwestern corner who have elected him 18 times. DeWeese initially won his House seat in a 1976 special election.

DeWeese, 61, a former House speaker and the Democratic floor leader during the 2001-2007 period covered by the investigation, “has earned a good reputation for truthfulness, integrity’’ and respect for the law, Costopoulos said.

But the lawyer said DeWeese is “not a hands-on guy’’ and delegated most responsibilities for overseeing the hundreds of staffers in the Democratic caucus to others.

Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover opened the trial by banning coverage by reporters tweeting from the courtroom. He cited a proposed rule that the state Supreme Court is considering.

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"SMALLER JOB -- Richard Singer of Pottsville, Pa., unloaded his toy dump truck while clearing snow from a sidewalk in Pottsville. A weekend storm brought much of the Northeast its first significant snow of the winter (Boston Globe January 23 2012)."

"Parochial students rally against closures" January 10, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - Students at several Philadelphia-area Catholic schools slated for closure staged rallies yesterday to voice their opposition to an archdiocese plan that would shut 48 schools.

Dozens of students gathered outside St. Hubert’s High School for Girls carrying signs, chanting, and singing the school’s alma mater....

About 360 students from West Philadelphia Catholic High held a rally before classes began....

The Rev. Michael Marone, the school minister, said he and his students are very passionate about West Catholic. The students vowed that yesterday’s rally would be the first of many. “We have so many good people who are interested in our school, who love our school,’’ Marone said. “They come into the building, they meet our kids and they say how wonderful they are.’’

Officials in the archdiocese say declining enrollments are forcing the closures, which will displace almost 24,000 students....

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"1 killed, 7 hurt in shooting at party" December 19, 2011|Associated Press

DUQUESNE, Pa. - A shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party has left one person dead and seven others wounded, Western Pennsylvania authorities said yesterday....

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Prison Psychologist Given Probation For Rape Hoax

2012-01-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

FLASHBACK:

"Calif. prison psychologist accused of faking rape" by Don Thompson Associated Press / December 9, 2011

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—She split her own lip with a pin, scraped her knuckles with sandpaper and had her friend punch her in the face. Investigators say she even ripped open her blouse, then wet her pants to give the appearance she had been knocked unconscious.

But it was all part of what authorities said Friday was an elaborate hoax by the woman to convince her husband she was raped so they could move to a safer neighborhood.

Charges filed by the Sacramento County district attorney allege Laurie Ann Martinez, a prison psychologist, conspired with the friend to create the appearance that she was beaten, robbed and raped by a stranger in April in her Sacramento home.

Martinez, her friend and two co-workers eventually told police the whole thing was a setup to convince Martinez's husband that they needed to move from a blighted, high-crime area three miles north of the state Capitol.

It didn't work. Instead, the couple filed for divorce six weeks after the April 10 incident, according to court records.

"If all you wanted to do is move, there's other ways than staging a burglary and rape," said Sacramento police Sgt. Andrew Pettit. "She went to great lengths to make this appear real."

Martinez, 36, a psychologist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reported she had come home that day to find a stranger in her kitchen, authorities said.

"As she tried to run away, the suspect grabbed her and hit her in the face," court records say in describing what she told police. "She lost consciousness and then when she awoke she found her pants and underwear pulled down to her ankles."

Missing from her home were two laptop computers, Martinez's purse, an Xbox video game console, a camera and numerous credit cards that Martinez said the stranger had stolen.

In reality, the items were all at the home of her friend, Nicole April Snyder, authorities allege. Investigators say Martinez had Snyder punch her in the face with boxing gloves they bought for that purpose.

Martinez began crying hysterically when police arrived, according to court papers....

Maybe she can treat herself while she is in prison.

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Turns out she won't be going there:

"Ex-psychologist sentenced in staged rape" Associated Press, January 27, 2012

SACRAMENTO - A former California prison psychologist accused of staging a home invasion and sexual assault pleaded no contest to a felony conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors say Laurie Ann Martinez, 36, of Sacramento committed the elaborate hoax to persuade her husband that they needed to move.

In Sacramento County Superior Court on Wednesday, Martinez was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days of electronic monitoring. She was also ordered to pay more than $4,000 in restitution for the police investigation.

Martinez made a frantic 911 call last April after she created a scene in her home that appeared as if someone ransacked the place and attacked her. She split her own lip and had a friend, Nicole Snyder, 33, wear boxing gloves to punch her in the face, police said.

According to the criminal complaint, Martinez rubbed sandpaper on her knuckles, ripped her blouse off to expose her top, dropped her pants to her ankles, and “urinated on herself to make officers believe she had lost consciousness,’’ the Sacramento Bee reported.

The women also removed two laptop computers, credit cards, a video game console, purse, and camera from Martinez’s home and hid them, according to the complaint.

Snyder, who cooperated with the investigation, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor and was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation. She was also ordered to do community service and pay restitution.

Prosecutors called Martinez’s behavior outrageous, saying it undermined the interests of true sexual assault victims.

Martinez’s attorney, Michelle Spaulding, said her client is “glad this is over and she would like to get her life back together.’’

Martinez has since lost her psychologist license and was fired from the Sacramento state prison in December.

Online court records show that her husband filed for divorce a month after she filed the false report, according to the Sacramento Bee.

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Who Made Flu?

2012-01-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

Will I get in trouble if I ask "Who Made Who?"

"Details of lab-made bird flu won’t be revealed" December 21, 2011|Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer

The U.S. government paid scientists to figure out how the deadly bird flu virus might mutate to become a bigger threat to people — and two labs succeeded in creating new strains that are easier to spread.

WTF????!!!!!!!!

On Tuesday, federal officials took the unprecedented step of asking those scientists not to publicize all the details of how they did it.

The worry: That this research with lots of potential to help the public might also be hijacked by would-be bioterrorists. The labs found that it appears easier than scientists had thought for the so-called H5N1 bird flu to evolve in a way that lets it spread easily between at least some mammals....

Your turn, Inspector Finch!

Would you really want to know, Americans? Would you really want to know your government has been sickening and experimenting on you all these years?

Related: Of Microbes and Mock Attacks - 51 Years Ago, The Military Sprayed Germs on U.S. Cities

But they would never do that now! They just lie about everything else.

Biological Warfare and the National Security State

But NOTHING HARMFUL, trust us!

The scary-sounding viruses are locked in high-security labs as researchers at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison prepare to publish their findings in leading scientific journals. That’s the way scientists share their work so that their colleagues can build on it, perhaps creating better ways to monitor bird flu in the wild, for example.

But biosecurity advisers to the government recommended that the journals Science and Nature publish only the general discoveries, not the full blueprint for these man-made strains. Tuesday, the government announced that it agreed and made the request....

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"Scientists pause research with lab-bred bird flu" January 20, 2012|Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer

Scientists who created easier-to-spread versions of the deadly bird flu said Friday they’re temporarily halting more research, as international specialists debate what should happen next....

When do we release it?

What the scientists called a “pause’’ comes amid fierce controversy over how to handle research that’s high-risk but potentially could bring a big payoff. Two labs — at Erasmus University in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison — created the new viruses while studying how bird flu might mutate to become a bigger threat to people.

The U.S. government funded the work but last month urged the teams not to publicly reveal the exact formula so that would-be bioterrorists couldn’t copy it. Critics also worried a lab accident might allow the strains to escape. The researchers reluctantly agreed not to publish all the details as long as the government set up a system to provide them to legitimate scientists who really need to know. The National Institutes of Health is creating such a system....

Today, the so-called H5N1 bird flu only occasionally infects people, mostly those who have close contact with sick poultry. But when it does, it’s highly lethal. The lab-bred H5N1 strains were a surprise because they showed it was easier than previously thought for the virus to mutate in a way that lets it spread easily between at least some mammals — in this case, ferrets.

When was the last time you played in ferret feces with an open wound, readers?

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Related: Flu cases few, but infections common

Also see:

Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918 Was Caused by Vaccinations

When doctors had tried to suppress the symptoms of the typhoid with a stronger vaccine, it caused a worse form of typhoid which they named paratyphoid. But when they concocted a stronger and more dangerous vaccine to suppress that one, they created an even worse disease which they didn’t have a name for. What should they call it? They didn’t want to tell the people what it really was — their own Frankenstein monster which they had created with their vaccines and suppressive medicines. They wanted to direct the blame away from themselves, so they called it Spanish Influenza.

Was The 'Spanish Flu' Epidemic Man-Made?

At a 1944 Nazi bacteriological warfare conference in Berlin, General Walter Schreiber, Chief of the Medical Corps of the German Army told Mueller that he had spent two months in the US in 1927 conferring with his counterparts. They told him that the "so-called double blow virus" (i.e. Spanish Flu) was developed and used during the 1914 war.

"But," according to Mueller, "it got out of control and instead of killing the Germans who had surrendered by then, it turned back on you, and nearly everybody else." ("Gestapo Chief: The 1948 CIA Interrogation of Heinrich Mueller" Vol. 2 by Gregory Douglas, p. 106)"

No, the eugenicist elite of our day would never do such a thing.... would they?

Indiana Dishonor

2012-01-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

The first item is a photograph in today's printed edition of my Boston Globe:

"HONORARY FIREFIGHTER -- The Indiana House of Representatives made Brandon Vinson, a 7-year-old with cystic fibrosis, an honorary firefighter yesterday. The boy's father, Greg, shown behind him, is an Indianapolis firefighter (Boston Globe January 27 2012)."

Doesn't that mean he is in a union?

The day before in print:

"Ind. House OK’s right-to-work legislation" Associated Press, January 26, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives cleared the way yesterday to become the first right-to-work state in a traditionally union-heavy Rust Belt increasingly targeted by non-union foes.

The House voted 54-44 to make Indiana the nation’s 23d right-to-work state after Democrats ended a boycott which had stalled the measure for weeks. The bill is expected to face little opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and could reach Republican Governor Mitch Daniels’s desk next week....

But what about the photo-op with the sick kid?

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"Indiana bill may breach unions’ stronghold in Midwest" January 15, 2012|By Timothy Jones

INDIANAPOLIS - When Greg Eckert joined the painter’s union in Fort Wayne 25 years ago, 1 in 5 Indiana workers was a dues-paying member of organized labor. Now it is 1 in 9.

Declining union membership and rising Republican clout have put Indiana on the edge of becoming the first so-called right-to-work state in an industrial region known for titanic labor battles that paved the way for modern-day contracts, health care, and retirement benefits.

A bill moving through the Republican-controlled General Assembly in Indianapolis would exempt nonunion employees from paying dues when working alongside union workers at private businesses.

Republicans view it as a cost-cutting, job-creating tool. Democrats call it a union-busting tactic that will lower wages.

And if the measure passes in Indiana, it may energize the right-to-work movement in a region that has repeatedly beaten it back....

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"Cruiser, detainee back in custody

KNOX, Ind. - A man accused of stealing a police cruiser while handcuffed in northwest Indiana, then using the police radio to ask how to unlock the cuffs, has turned himself in after two days on the run, authorities said yesterday.

William F. Blankenship, 22, was taken into custody late Thursday night at his family’s home in Knox, about 50 miles southeast of Chicago.

Blankenship had been arrested Tuesday on drug charges at a gas station in nearby Kouts. Police said that as the arresting officer searched Blankenship’s vehicle, the suspect somehow escaped from the police car’s backseat, climbed into the front, and drove off. He then used the police radio to ask where to find the car’s cigarette lighter and a key to unlock his handcuffs....

The officer whose squad car was stolen said he only realized the cruiser was gone when he looked up and saw the taillights leaving the parking lot.

Funny!

Kouts police Sergeant Dave Johnston said he believes Blankenship managed to contort himself to get the handcuffs in front of him, then hopped into the front seat.

The guy is a Houdini!

The squad car was found in a drainage ditch Wednesday, and authorities recovered the police weapons stored in the cruiser.

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Unfortunate Utah Post

2012-01-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

It's all the Boston Globe gave me to work with.

"3 Utah children home after icy plunge" Associated Press, January 03, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY - Three children trapped in an upturned car after it skidded into a river were released yesterday from a hospital, two days after they were saved by several passersby....

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"Utah police officer killed in shootout during drug raid" associated press, January 06, 2012

OGDEN, Utah - A shootout that erupted when police raided a home in Ogden on Wednesday night left an officer dead and wounded five others as well as the suspect, authorities said.

The officers from a task force went to the house in northern Utah as part of a routine drug-related investigation. They knocked on the door and identified themselves, Police Chief Wayne Tarwater said yesterday.

“When there was no answer, they forced entry,’’ he said. “When they entered, the officers came under fire.’’

Time to end the "drug war." Time to legalize.

The suspect, Matthew David Stewart, 37, has a limited criminal history. He suffered injuries that are not life threatening, though it was unclear if he was shot. Stewart was in a hospital under guard, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney.

Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said officials hadn’t determined what charges Stewart might face.

“But it appears right now, with the information we have, that we have an aggravated murder as well as a number of other attempted aggravated murders,’’ Smith said.

The officer who was killed, Jared Francom, had a wife and two daughters, ages 3 and 5.

Authorities said the conditions of the injured officers ranged from serious to critical.

Police have not disclosed specific details about the shootout. Police said the warrant was based on credible information about possible drug activity.

Was there any, because this article sure leaves it vague.

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Related: Drug War Making a Killing in Boston

"Teen killed by miniature toy cannon" Associated Press, January 26, 2012

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Authorities say a 14-year-old boy fatally shot himself while playing with a toy cannon.

Tremonton police said Robby Ostberg was playing with the toy in his living room about 7:30 a.m. Monday when the miniature cannon went off. The boy was struck in the face and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities haven’t released detailed information about what kind of projectile hit Ostberg, but Hertel said her grandson sometimes wrapped gunpowder in tin foil and fired it a few feet away with the cannon.

This is what happens when you live in a culture of war.

The toy is described as an 18th century replica with a 6-inch metal barrel and a wooden base. Authorities said it had no firing mechanism and was meant to be purely decorative. Hertel said a neighbor gave it to the boy a few years ago.

The boy’s father didn’t know Ostberg had access to gunpowder, Hertel said.

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"Utah teens arrested in alleged school bombing plot" by Paul Foy Associated Press / January 26, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY—A Utah high school student bragged to police that he was smarter than the Columbine killers and was plotting with an older student to set off a bomb during a school assembly and escape in a stolen plane, court documents say.

Dallin Morgan, 18, and the 16-year-old boy were pulled out of school Wednesday and arrested after authorities learned of the plot, Roy police spokeswoman Anna Bond said Thursday.

The students prepared by logging hundreds of hours on flight simulator software on their home computers, and they planned to take a plane at Ogden Hinckley Airport after the bombing, Bond said.

The juvenile hinted at the plan in text messages to a friend, writing that both suspects wanted "revenge on the world" and "we have a plan to get away with it too."

He hinted at the plan by writing "explosives, airport, airplane" and added, "We're just gonna kill and fly our way to a country that won't send us back to the US," according to a probable cause statement police filed to make the arrests late Wednesday.

Talk about drawing attention to yourselves. Stupid kids.

The Associated Press isn't naming the 16-year-old because he is a minor.

The juvenile told investigators he was so "fascinated" by the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that he visited the Littleton, Colo., school and interviewed the principal about the shootings that killed 13 people. Roy police said the principal, Frank DeAngelis, confirmed that the boy made his visit Dec. 12.

I still have questions about COLUMBINE, sorry. Nothing is ever as the government and mouthpiece media tell it.

Morgan was being held on $10,000 bail at Weber County jail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit mass destruction.

Is that the same charge leveled at liars who led us to mass-murdering wars?

The juvenile was in custody at Weber Valley Detention Center on the same charge. Prosecutors were weighing possible additional charges.

Both students had "absolute knowledge of the security systems and the layout of the school," Bond said. "They knew where the security cameras were. Their original plan was to set off explosives during an assembly. We don't know what date they were planning to do this, but they had been planning it for months."

School officials said there were no imminent plans to hold a school assembly.

Local and federal agents searched the school, two vehicles belonging to the suspects and their homes but found no explosives. The FBI is examining the suspects' computers, police said.

??????.... ??

The parents of both students "woke up in the middle of a nightmare," Bond said. "They've been very cooperative."

The other Roy High School student who received text messages tipped authorities to the plot Wednesday, said the school's safety specialist, Nate Taggart.

The student "came forward and had some suspicions but not a lot of information -- enough that it gave administration the ability to make some connections and identify the students involved," Taggart said.

The school has about 1,500 students.

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Supreme Court Sticks It to Tracking Tyranny

2012-01-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

And you thought "Enemy of the State" was just a movie.

"Court wrestles with police use of GPS" November 09, 2011|Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court invoked visions of an all-seeing Big Brother and satellites watching from above. Then things got personal yesterday when the justices were told police could slap GPS devices on their cars and track their movements, without asking a judge for advance approval.

The occasion for all the talk about intrusive police actions was a hearing in a case about whether the police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects. The outcome could have implications for other high-tech surveillance methods as well.

The justices expressed deep reservations about warrantless GPS tracking. But there also was no clear view about how - or whether to - regulate police use of the devices.

The justices were taken aback when the lawyer representing the government said police officers could install GPS devices on the justices’ cars and track their movements without a warrant. To get a warrant, investigators need to convince a judge that there is reason to believe a suspect is involved in criminal activity.

“So your answer is yes, you could tomorrow decide that you put a GPS device on every one of our cars, follow us for a month; no problem under the Constitution?’’ Chief Justice John Roberts said.

Not only that, government lawyer Michael Dreeben replied, but FBI agents wouldn’t need a warrant either, if they wanted to rummage through the justices’ trash, use a low-tech beeper to track them, or tail them around-the-clock. Dreeben said the court has previously ruled that people have no reasonable expectation of privacy in those circumstances.

Why did the word Gestapo just pop into my head?

Justice Samuel Alito expressed the court’s concern: “With computers around, it’s now so simple to amass an enormous amount of information. How do we deal with this? Just say nothing has changed?’’

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FLASHBACK:

"Supreme Court set to weigh in on the use of GPS to track suspects" September 11, 2011|By Adam Liptak, New York Times

WASHINGTON - In a series of rulings on the use of satellites and cellphones to track criminal suspects, judges around the country have been citing George Orwell’s “1984’’ to sound an alarm.

They say the Fourth Amendment’s promise of protection from government invasion of privacy is in danger of being replaced by the futuristic surveillance state Orwell described.

In April, Judge Diane P. Wood of the federal appeals court in Chicago wrote that the surveillance using GPS devices would “make the system that George Orwell depicted in his famous novel, ‘1984,’ seem clumsy.’’ In a similar case last year, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the federal appeals court in San Francisco wrote that “1984 may have come a bit later than predicted, but it’s here at last.’’

Last month, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the US District Court in Brooklyn turned down a government request for 113 days of location data from cellphone towers, citing “Orwellian intrusion’’ and saying the courts must “begin to address whether revolutionary changes in technology require changes to existing Fourth Amendment doctrine.’’

The Supreme Court is about to do just that. In November, it will hear arguments in United States v. Jones, No. 10-1259, the most important Fourth Amendment case in a decade. The justices will address a question that has divided the lower courts: Do the police need a warrant to attach a GPS device to a suspect’s car and track its movements for weeks at a time? Their answer will bring Fourth Amendment law into the digital age, addressing how its 18th-century prohibition of “unreasonable searches and seizures’’ applies to a world in which people’s movements are continuously and comprehensively recorded by devices in their cars, pockets and purses, by toll plazas and by transit systems.

The Jones case will address not only whether the placement of a space-age tracking device on the outside of a vehicle without a warrant qualifies as a search, but also whether the intensive monitoring it allows is different in kind from conventional surveillance by police officers who stake out suspects and tail their cars.

“The Jones case requires the Supreme Court to decide whether modern technology has turned law enforcement into Big Brother, able to monitor and record every move we make outside our homes,’’ said Susan Freiwald, a law professor at the University of San Francisco.

The case is an appeal from a unanimous decision of a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which said last year that the government was simply seeking too much information.

“Repeated visits to a church, a gym, a bar or a bookie tell a story not told by any single visit, as does one’s not visiting any of those places in the course of a month,’’ wrote Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg.

He added: “A person who knows all of another’s travel can deduce whether he is a weekly churchgoer, a heavy drinker, a regular at the gym, an unfaithful husband, an outpatient receiving medical treatment, an associate of particular individuals or political groups - and not just one such fact about a person, but all such facts.’’

Federal appeals courts in Chicago and San Francisco, on the other hand, have allowed the police to use GPS tracking devices without a warrant. The police are already allowed to tail cars and observe their movements without warrants, those courts said, and the devices merely allow them to do so more efficiently.

Yes, I love an efficient fascist state, don't you?

Judge Richard A. Posner, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel in the Chicago case, did caution that institutionalized mass surveillance might present a different issue.

The case to be heard by the Supreme Court arose from the investigation of the owner of a Washington nightclub, Antoine Jones, who was suspected of being part of a cocaine-selling operation.

Apparently out of caution given the unsettled state of the law, prosecutors obtained a warrant allowing police to place a tracking device on Jones’s Jeep Grand Cherokee. The warrant required them to do so within 10 days and within the District of Columbia. The police did not install the device until 11 days later, and they did it in Maryland. Now contending that no warrant was required, the authorities tracked Jones’s travels for a month and used the evidence they gathered to convict him of conspiring to sell cocaine. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Of course, it is OKAY for the POLICE to BREAK the LAW, 'eh?

The main Supreme Court precedent in the area, United States v. Knotts, is almost 30 years old. It allowed the use of a much more primitive technology, a beeper that sent a signal that grew stronger as the police drew closer.

I'm reading a primitive pos.

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And the verdict?

"Supreme Court limits police use of GPS tracking; Officials must get warrants, justices rule" by Adam Liptak | New York Times, January 24, 2012

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court unanimously ruled yesterday that the police violated the Constitution when they placed a global positioning system tracking device on a suspect’s car and monitored its movements for 28 days.

But the ruling avoided many difficult questions....

Although the ruling was limited to physical intrusions, the opinions in the case collectively suggested that a majority of the justices are prepared to apply broad Fourth Amendment privacy principles unrelated to such intrusions to an array of modern technologies, including video surveillance in public places, automatic toll collection systems on highways, devices that allow motorists to signal for roadside assistance, and records kept by online merchants.

After checking their car when leaving the courthouse.

The case decided yesterday concerned Antoine Jones, who was the owner of a Washington nightclub when the police came to suspect him of being part of a cocaine-selling operation. They placed a tracking device on his vehicle without a warrant, tracked his movements for a month, and used the evidence they gathered to convict him of conspiring to sell cocaine. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The government hates competition.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned his conviction, saying the sheer amount of information that had been collected violated the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches.

The Supreme Court affirmed that decision, but on a different ground....

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Roberts on Religion

2012-01-27T13:13:00.000-08:00

I really struggle to stay awake during Boston Globe sermons.

"High court gives churches latitude in hiring, firing" January 12, 2012|By Adam Liptak

WASHINGTON - In what may be its most significant religious liberty decision in two decades, the Supreme Court yesterday for the first time recognized a “ministerial exception’’ to employment discrimination laws, saying that churches and other religious groups must be free to choose and dismiss their leaders without government interference.

“The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important,’’ Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a decision that was surprising in both its sweep and its unanimity. “But so, too, is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith, and carry out their mission.’’

****************************

Whatever its precise scope, the ruling will have concrete consequences for countless people employed by religious groups to perform religious work. In addition to ministers, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders, the decision appears to encompass, for instance, at least those teachers in religious schools with formal religious training who are charged with instructing students about religious matters....

Asked about professors at Catholic universities like Notre Dame, Douglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia who successfully argued the case, said: “If he teaches theology, he’s covered. If he teaches English or physics or some clearly secular subjects, he is clearly not covered.’’

The case, Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 10-553, was brought by Cheryl Perich, who had been a teacher at a school in Redford, Mich., that was part of the Lutheran-Church Missouri Synod, the second largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Perich said she was fired for pursuing an employment-discrimination claim based on a disability, narcolepsy.

Is it just me or is the IRONY there a LAUGH RIOT!

You don't need a pill to cure insomnia. Just get religion.

Perich had taught mostly secular subjects but also taught religion classes and attended chapel with her class.

“It is true that her religious duties consumed only 45 minutes of each workday,’’ Roberts wrote, “and that the rest of her day was devoted to teaching secular subjects. The issue before us, however, is not one that can be resolved with a stopwatch.’’

Instead, the court looked to several factors. Perich was a “called’’ teacher who had completed religious training and whom the school considered a minister. She was fired, the school said, for violating religious doctrine by pursuing litigation rather than trying to resolve her dispute within the church.

Roberts devoted several pages of his opinion to a history of religious freedom in Britain and the United States, concluding that an animating principle behind the First Amendment’s religious liberty clauses was to prohibit government interference in the internal affairs of religious groups generally and in their selection of their leaders in particular.

“The Establishment Clause prevents the government from appointing ministers,’’ he wrote, “and the Free Exercise Clause prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own.’’

The decision was a major victory for a broad swath of national religious denominations who had warned that the case was a threat to their First Amendment rights and their autonomy to decide whom to hire and fire.

Some religious leaders had said they considered it the most important religious freedom case to go to the Supreme Court in decades.

Many religious groups were outraged when the Obama administration argued in support of Perich, saying this was evidence that the administration was hostile to historically protected religious liberties.

The whole government seems hostile to any civil liberties these days, from direct activism like protests to blog commentators such as myself.

The administration had told the justices that their analysis of Perich’s case should be essentially the same whether she had been employed by a church, a labor union, a social club or any other group with free-association rights under the First Amendment. That position was soundly rejected in yesterday’s decision.

“That result is hard to square with the text of the First Amendment itself, which gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations,’’ Roberts wrote. “We cannot accept the remarkable view that the religion clauses have nothing to say about a religious organization’s freedom to select its own ministers.’’

Requiring Perich to be reinstated “would have plainly violated the church’s freedom,’’ Roberts wrote. And so would awarding her and her lawyers money, he went on, as that “would operate as a penalty on the church for terminating an unwanted minister.’’

--more--"

"Judge rejects breakaway churches’ case" January 12, 2012|By Michelle Boorstein

WASHINGTON - A Virginia judge has ruled against seven conservative congregations that broke away from the Episcopal Church in 2006, rejecting their contention that they should be able to keep valuable church property that the national denomination also claims.

The case has drawn worldwide attention because it involves a cluster of large, prominent churches with well-known conservative pastors and because the issues at hand - particularly the Episcopal Church’s continued acceptance of same-sex relationships as equal to heterosexual ones - are roiling much of organized religion. Various Protestant congregations, in particular, have wound up in litigation across the country....

If they decide to not appeal, the seven congregations would have to vacate their churches, including some of the largest and most prominent in the region. Among them are The Falls Church and Truro Church in Northern Virginia, where thousands of people worship.

I imagine this case will be making its way to the Supreme Court.

--more--"

Huh, what? Sermon over?

The Anonymous Trap

2012-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

And now they want to tar Ron Paul supporters?

"‘Anonymous’ hackers target US security think tank" December 25, 2011|Cassandra Vinograd and Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press

The loose-knit hacking movement “Anonymous’’ claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals’ accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.

Isn't there something just a bit ironic there? Stratfor doesn't have stronger defenses?

Anonymous boasted of stealing Stratfor’s confidential client list, which includes entities ranging from Apple Inc. to the U.S. Air Force to the Miami Police Department, and mining it for more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords and home addresses.

Austin, Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos. The company’s main website was down, with a banner saying the “site is currently undergoing maintenance.’’

Proprietary information about the companies and government agencies that subscribe to Stratfor’s newsletters did not appear to be at any significant risk, however, with the main threat posed to individual employees who had subscribed.

“Not so private and secret anymore?’’ Anonymous taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.

Anonymous said the client list it had already posted was a small slice of the 200 gigabytes worth of plunder it stole from Stratfor and promised more leaks. It said it was able to get the credit card details in part because Stratfor didn’t bother encrypting them — an easy-to-avoid blunder which, if true, would be a major embarrassment for any security-related company....

Hours after publishing what it claimed was Stratfor’s client list, Anonymous tweeted a link to encrypted files online with names, phone numbers, emails, addresses and credit card account details.

“Not as many as you expected? Worry not, fellow pirates and robin hoods. These are just the `A’s,’’ read a message posted online that encouraged readers to download a file of the hacked information....

It's a TRAP!!

--more--"

Related:

Anonymous Shuts Down Corporate and Government Websites Worldwide … The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse

"Thereby handing the US a justification for a crackdown on the internet, and proving to the less-insightful that anonymous was siding with the cyber-criminals all along (as well as Cass Sunstein)." -- Wake the Flock Up

I agree.

Also see: Would the US government attack its own websites and then blame "Anonymous" for the attacks?

No, the U.S. government would never do that.

"Amid recent protest, US already able to shut websites; Internet protest was silent in 2008" by Hiawatha Bray | Globe Staff, January 23, 2012

Google, Wikipedia, and the millions of Americans who joined last week’s protest against giving the government new authority over the Internet may have missed something: Federal agencies already have that kind of power, at least over websites registered in the United States.

Related: Bloggers Have Hand

Which is why government wants to cut them off.

Under a 2008 law called the Pro-IP Act, federal authorities can seize the assets of a company charged with copyright violations. The Justice Department exercised that muscle on Thursday, when it shut down one of the Internet’s most popular file-sharing sites: Megaupload.com, accused of distributing illegal copies of music, movies, and books.

A company’s assets include its Internet address, or domain name. Under the Pro-IP Act, the government can seize that domain name from organizations that violate copyrights as long as the online address ends in .com, .org, or .net. Those addresses are issued by a registry based in the United States and are subject to US law.

The Justice Department used “an authority that was [originally] intended for seizing a drug dealer’s cars as a method for shutting down an entire website,’’ said Julian Sanchez, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington....

Although the Pro-IP Act was a major expansion of the government’s power to regulate the Internet, opposition was muted at the time it was passed.

“I think there was generally just less attention to these issues of Internet freedom,’’ Sanchez said.

He said he believes it would be a different story if the law were put up for a vote today. One reason is the fallout from last year’s “Arab Spring’’ protests. Reports that embattled Middle Eastern regimes tried to cut off Internet access within their countries alarmed Americans who wouldn’t want their own government to have such power.

“The public was much more sensitized by all of these events,’’ Sanchez said.

Another factor, said Sanchez, was the rise of social networking services like Twitter and Facebook, which are used by twice as many Americans now than in 2008, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The social networks made it much easier to quickly organize opposition to additional Internet regulations, Sanchez said.

Millions of Internet users may have participated in last week’s massive online demonstration, in which numerous websites, including Wikipedia, blacked out their pages, while sites like the search service Google posted protest messages.

The action was held in opposition to the Stop Online Privacy Act, under consideration in the House of Representatives, and its Senate counterpart, the Protect Intellectual Property Act. The two bills would force Internet service providers and search engines to block access to foreign websites that offer illicit files.

The furious opposition generated by the protest, which unleashed a flood of calls to congressional offices, prompted congressional supporters to delay indefinitely votes that would move the bills forward.

Critics said the proposed bills would give the government extraordinary power to censor Internet communication, similar to tactics used in authoritarian countries like China and Iran.

Related: Googling China

Your government is worse than theirs, American.

Yet the 2008 Pro-IP Act already lets the US government shut down websites accused of breaking copyright law, like Megaupload.

Even though Megaupload.com is based in Hong Kong, the company operated hundreds of computer servers on US soil and it had a US-issued .com address. That gave the Justice Department the opening it needed to crack down on the company.

According to the federal indictment, Megaupload and seven of its executives raked in $175 million by distributing illegally copied digital files, costing copyright holders more than half a billion dollars in lost revenues.

“They structured their business model to attract and profit from illegal activities,’’ said Kevin Suh, senior vice president of Internet content protection at the Hollywood trade group Motion Picture Association of America in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a proponent of the bills targeted by the Web protest.

“If this service were hosted and operated, for example, in a foreign country, our government would be essentially powerless to do anything about it,’’ said Cary Sherman, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, also a supporter of the two bills, in a statement celebrating the Megaupload shutdown. “That needs to change.’’

To hell with Hollywood!

There are many Internet domain name registries based outside the US. The world’s nations each have their own domains - .ru for Russia, for example. American agencies have no legal authority to confiscate a .ru domain name.

The protested bills would have let the government order American Internet companies to block US users’ access to foreign sites offering illegal materials. Because so many major file-swapping sites are based outside the United States, the recording and movie industries strongly supported the legislation.

But Cato’s Sanchez argued that the Pro-IP Act already gives the government too much power. Megaupload is probably in violation of US copyright laws, he said, but closing the site before it’s been found guilty in court sets an unhealthy precedent.

That's freedom?

“Our constitutional tradition has always rejected the idea of shutting down speech before someone is convicted of a crime,’’ Sanchez said.

Don't bother the AmeriKan government with the Constitution, will ya?

--more--"

Empire Benefits New England

2012-01-25T06:41:00.000-08:00

Then another war would do us good, huh?

"Military shift may shield N.E. jobs; Technology needs expected to rise" by Bryan Bender | Globe Staff, January 23, 2012

“Even in a downturn there will still be pockets of winners,’’ said Todd Harrison, senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank....

Related: War Profiteer Piece of the Pie: F-35 Flying High in House

Where's my piece?

To highlight the greater role of air and naval power, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta over the weekend made a special trip to the USS Enterprise off the coast of Georgia to affirm the administration’s commitment to maintain a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers, despite the budget pressures.

Is that the same USS Enterprise that is now going to be sacrified in a false flag operation? Going to have to replace one soon?

Yup, this IS "a last-ditch effort to head off a major global war and indeed an extinction level event.... a nuclear WW3, all to please itty bitty Israel."

“Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East,’’ he said....

And if someone sunk one, well.... off to war we go, right?

--more--"

Also see: The Engines of the Massachusetts Economy

Obama keeps it running:

"Obama outlines new military strategy for US; Efforts will focus on Asia, Pacific region" by Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker | new york times, January 06, 2012

WASHINGTON - President Obama outlined a broad new military strategy yesterday, one that refocuses the armed forces on threats in Asia and the Pacific region, continues a strong presence in the Middle East, but makes clear that US ground forces will no longer be large enough to conduct prolonged, large-scale counterinsurgency campaigns like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meaning we are just going to bomb from offshore and on high.

In an unusual appearance in the Pentagon briefing room, Obama put his mark on a military strategy that moves away from the grinding wars he inherited from the Bush administration and relies more on naval and air power in the Pacific and the Strait of Hormuz as a counterbalance to China and Iran.

“Now, we’re turning the page on a decade of war,’’ Obama said in his prepared remarks....

To another decade or war, not that any of us will be around at the end.

His strategy embraces hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the military, making it an awkward codicil to the uneasy relationship he has shared with the military....

To that end, Obama wrote, his administration will continue to invest in counterterrorism, intelligence gathering, cyber warfare, and countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Obama arrived at the Pentagon early yesterday to describe the new strategy with his defense secretary, Leon E. Panetta, and with General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Officials said it was the first time in history that a president had held a news conference at the Pentagon.

He said the country needed to remain prepared. “We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past - after World War II, after Vietnam - when our military was left ill-prepared for the future,’’ he said. “So, yes, our military will be leaner, but the world must know - the United States is going to maintain our military superiority.’’

****************************

Panetta has made clear that troop reductions should be carried out carefully, and over several years, so that combat veterans are not flooding into a tough employment market and military families do not feel that the government is breaking trust after a decade of sacrifice, officials said.

All the lies and mistreatment of the soldiers after they are no longer useful has destroyed the trust, and I wouldn't worry about reductions with WWIII on deck.

--more--"

I'm really not seeing much change, sorry.

Patrick's State of the State Speech

2012-01-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

Depends on your point of view.

"Patrick administration avoids local aid cut in budget proposal; News welcome to cities, towns" by Andrew Ryan | Globe Staff, January 21, 2012

For the first time in four years, Massachusetts cities and towns may not face deep cuts in local aid, the lifeblood that helps cities and towns pay for police, trash pickup, tree trimming, and other services.

In its first volley of the budget season, the Patrick administration said yesterday that it would keep state aid to municipalities level, buoying the spirits of mayors, town managers, and selectmen as they begin hammering out spending plans for the coming year.

“The good news is there isn’t bad news,’’ said Mayor Thatcher W. Kezer III of Amesbury. “Revenues have stabilized. Local aid has stabilized.’’

*********************

In the recent fiscal climate, anything short of a cut is good....

Yeah, Hollywood (among other intere$t$) can eat our lunch -- with the state defending it(?) -- as you are left begging for scraps, fellow citizens.

--more--"

"Patrick seeks broad changes for community colleges" by Noah Bierman and Frank Phillips | Globe Staff, January 24, 2012

Governor Deval Patrick, speaking last night in his annual State of the Commonwealth address, proposed sweeping changes to the community college system, centralizing authority for 15 campuses and emphasizing job training.

Patrick highlighted the connection between the often overlooked schools and the unemployment problem. Encouraging more cooperation between schools and local employers, he said, would help the state’s 240,000 unemployed get the skills they need to fill an estimated 120,000 current job openings, many of which require specific training.

“We have a skills gap,’’ Patrick told the packed House chamber at the State House. “We can do something about that. We can help people get back to work. And our community colleges should be at the very center of it.’’

The 30-minute speech offered a narrow focus and lacked the lengthy list of new initiatives that often characterize such addresses. Beyond the community college proposal, Patrick introduced just two other initiatives: a health insurance payment overhaul and a criminal sentencing package, both of which he has previously supported.

Related: Massachusetts Health Ration

Unlike last year’s speech, when excitement from Patrick’s reelection was still spilling over, the governor delivered this address, his sixth, at a moment when he has been overshadowed politically.

His predecessor, Mitt Romney, is locked in a riveting Republican presidential primary contest.

Scroll: Politics

Are you riveted?

Patrick’s state party is focused on helping Democrat Elizabeth Warren challenge US Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, in what may be the nation’s most gripping Senate race.

See: Checking In on the Ma$$achu$ett$ $enate Race

Even Patrick’s lieutenant governor, Timothy P. Murray, has stolen the spotlight with growing interest in his mysterious high-speed rollover crash and in his ties with a former Chelsea Housing Authority chairman Michael E. McLaughlin, who is under federal investigation. Murray received a prolonged ovation from the friendly crowd when he was introduced.

Related: Chelsea Evictions

Also see: McLaughlin raised money for Murray

Murray asks for probe of McLaughlin fund-raising

Despite the budgetary challenges faced by his administration, Patrick cited the state’s high credit rating, its vast improvement in job creation, and his ability to curb public employee benefits without the turmoil that erupted in Wisconsin and other areas of the country....

Yeah, as LONG AS WE ARE IN GOOD with the BANKS we are COOL!!

Also see: New Rules For Unions in Massachusetts

Mass. House Worse Than Wisconsin

Unions Surrender Rights in Massachusetts

He's proud of the fact that unions here obediently bent over and took it?

As for the jobs, yeah, right. That's why tax collections are down but up(??).

Related: Massachusetts tax collections for December $194 million higher than projections

And I quote: "It was the third consecutive month that state tax collections beat estimates."

(Blog editor simply sighs)

Patrick again pushed to dramatically change the medical payment system, renewing an unsuccessful plea he made last year to end the fee-for-service model with a so-called global payment system that rewards doctors for coordinating care.

It's rationing, and it will be coming to you, Americans.

Message from Massachusetts: Don't get sick.

And the governor renewed his support for a modified version of the controversial “three-strikes’’ crime bill that would lengthen sentences for repeat violent offenders, requiring life sentences without parole for those whose third felony is murder or a “similarly heinous act of violence.’’

I thought Massachusetts was a liberal state.

Patrick, however, demanded that the strict new punishments be coupled with his plan to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. He said that state spending on prisons has grown 30 percent over the last decade because of longer sentences for first-time nonviolent drug offenders.

“We have moved, at massive public expense, from treatment for drug offenders to indiscriminate prison sentences and gained nothing in public safety,’’ he said. “Many come out more dangerous than when they come in.’’

But it did make a whole lot of people rich and helped create the prison industrial complex (complete with it$ probation and parole racket$).

Btw, the voters decriminalized marijuana, remember?

Throughout last night’s speech, the governor drew applause from fellow Democrats in the state’s political establishment, who greeted his initiatives warmly.

The future of the state’s community college system has faced renewed questions since November, when a pair of reports described it as disjointed and inadequate in its preparation of students for technical careers.

Patrick reinforced that assessment last night, citing successes within several individual colleges where programs train workers in fields like health care and precision manufacturing.

“We need that kind of sharper mission across the Commonwealth, so that community colleges become a fully integrated part of the state’s workforce development plan,’’ Patrick said....

Community colleges are often overlooked in a state dominated by elite universities including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but they tend to enroll vast numbers of students and play a crucial role in training workers.

Globe often focuses on those elite colleges, and pffft to workforce training.

See: Cutting Globe's Community College Classes

I thought community colleges were stepping stones for careers. Silly me.

The plan could meet internal resistance, as college presidents are being asked to cede much of their power to a central body. Patrick spoke with community college presidents earlier yesterday, catching many off guard....

Oh, the college presidents were caught off guard(?) again?

It was not the first time a Massachusetts governor has tried to centralize the community college system. The Romney administration put forth its own proposals, which foundered in the Legislature.

But Paul Grogan, chief executive of the Boston Foundation and author of an influential report on community colleges released two months ago, said this time could be different.

“There’s an accountability movement in education now, and also obviously there’s the tremendous problem created by the economy,’’ he said. “This is an opportunity for the schools to be something fundamentally more important than they have been.’’

Reaction to Patrick’s address last night ran along party lines, drawing praise from Democratic leaders in the House and Senate who said they share Patrick’s agenda.

Are you teachers and educators sure Democrats are your friend, and if so, who needs Republican enemies?

The Legislature’s small Republican minority said the governor’s community college plan did not do enough to address the state’s larger economic problems....

No, it doesn't, but that was likely the point. Go off on a tangent.

--more--"

Also see: Welcome to My World

You can see where I differ from the top, right?

The State of Obama's Campaign

2012-01-24T23:30:00.000-08:00

Which is why I won't be watching it.

"Obama to signal campaign themes tonight" by Tracy Jan | Globe Staff, January 24, 2012

WASHINGTON - Tonight’s State of the Union address gives the president a chance to steal the spotlight from the fractious Republicans and turn it toward his rallying call for economic and tax fairness. In doing so, Obama will seek to project his vision for government’s role in incubating a new prosperity for future generations.

The speech will also cement his reelection platform....

Click

--more--"

"Obama speech to define activist government to advance fairness" by Jackie Calmes | New York Times, January 22, 2012

WASHINGTON - President Obama will use his election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday to define an activist role for government in promoting a prosperous and equitable society, hoping to draw a stark contrast between the parties in a time of deep economic uncertainty....

State of the Union as campaign pitch! My question: where you been for the last three years?

Obama will again propose changes to the tax code so the wealthy pay more, despite Republicans’ consistent opposition. It is a theme the White House hopes will hit a nerve with voters....

Oh, it's hit a nerve! Why didn't they rescind the Bush tax cuts when they had a super-majority rather than extending them -- which now means social services need to be cut.

With most Americans registering disapproval of his economic record after three years, it is all the more imperative for Obama to define the election not as a referendum on him but as a choice between his vision and the vision of his eventual Republican rival.

Advisers and people familiar with the speech say Obama will expand again on the administration’s effort to resolve the housing crisis with both carrots and sticks to lenders dealing with homeowners behind on their mortgage payments - after yet another debate between his economic and political advisers.

The political team has long argued that most Americans oppose bold government action to stem home foreclosures, like forcing lenders to reduce borrowers’ principal, seeing it as rewarding those who had bought houses they could not afford. The economic team holds that until the housing market recovers, the broader economy cannot - and that all Americans suffer.

On Tuesday, Obama will flesh out his populist message with new proposals to spur manufacturing, including tax breaks for companies that “insource’’ jobs back to the United States; to double down on clean-energy incentives; and to improve education and job training initiatives, especially for the millions of long-term unemployed, the officials familiar with the speech said.

Why do companies need a tax break to employ Americans and bring jobs back?

Related: Solar Stimuloot Went to Goldman Sachs

And he is going to double down?

Obama is expected to harden his challenge to China to increase its currency’s value for fairer trade - addressing the one area in which Romney, the Republican candidate whom the Obama team still views as the president’s likely challenger, has struck a more populist chord that appeals to working-class voters that Obama needs if he is to be reelected.

So BASHING CHINA is going to be a campaign theme?

And I'M SURE IRAN will receive a mention tonight!

In the video preview, Obama said he would call for “a return to American values of fairness for all and responsibility from all.’’

“We can go in two directions,’’ he said. “One is towards less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.’’

To that end, people familiar with his draft speech say, Obama will call for changing the corporate and individual income tax codes so the wealthy pay more, both to finance government investments and to alleviate the rise in income inequality in recent years. Obama will revive his call, made in September, to rewrite the individual code in a way that follows what he termed the “Buffett Rule’’ - making sure that, as the billionaire Warren Buffett has said, no secretary or other employee pays a higher effective tax rate than their better-paid bosses.

You guys had two years and all we got was a crappy corporate health plan with a tax attached to it.

His proposal takes on heightened political importance after Romney’s acknowledgement last week that he pays income taxes at about a 15 percent rate. That is a lower rate than most taxpayers pay, reflecting a tax break opened in the past decade by the Bush administration and a Republican-led Congress for taxpayers whose income relies on investments rather than wages.

Obama will also propose political changes, perhaps in campaign finance. Those would tap the sentiment of many Americans, expressed among both Tea Party and Occupy protesters on the political left and right, that the system is rigged against them and in favor of a privileged few.

And tonight's political pitch isn't going to change that impression.

Yet even if Congress went along, an unlikely prospect for much of the president’s agenda because Republicans’ opposition is expected to intensify in this election year, any changes would not affect this campaign season.

Just a lot of cheap hot air.

Already it has been influenced by independent super PACs of wealthy individuals, corporations, and unions unleashed by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling to spend unlimited sums on behalf of candidates....

No cheapness there, and it's appalling in the face of such suffering in AmeriKa.

--more--"

Why do I feel so slimy when I write about politics?

"Campaign battle looms on oil pipeline" by Kate Andersen Brower | Bloomberg News, January 20, 2012

WASHINGTON - President Obama’s rejection of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline permit exposed a split in a core Democratic constituency and handed Republicans a new line of election-year attack.

Unions representing construction workers condemned the move, while labor groups - including the United Steelworkers, the United Auto Workers, and the Service Employees International Union - joined with environmental advocates in saying they support Obama’s decision. It also triggered criticism from congressional Republicans and the party’s presidential candidates.

“The Republicans’ argument that he’s trying to run a populist campaign firing up the liberal base and that this is all politics at the expense of jobs is going to be an important continuing issue through much of the campaign,’’ said David Gergen, director of Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership and an adviser to presidents of both parties.

Obama is heading into his reelection campaign with the nation still rebounding from the worst recession since the Great Depression and a high unemployment rate. The economy will be a prime focus of Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The jobs promised in the building of the Keystone pipeline were central to union support for the project originally, and the focus of GOP criticism of Obama.

Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, said that Obama’s decision shows “a lack of seriousness’’ about unemployment, economic growth, and US energy independence.

Another Republican contender, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, called it “a stunningly stupid thing to do.’’

The president blamed Republicans for forcing the action by setting a deadline as part a bill that temporarily extended a payroll tax cut.

Related: Tea Party Republicans Rolled Over Payroll Tax

Yeah, big win.

Obama in November had postponed a pipeline decision while the State Department reviewed a route that avoided a Nebraska aquifer that provides water for 1.5 million people.

--more--"

Related: Canadian oil pipeline will benefit China

What?

Update: Obama wants higher taxes on rich, incentives for jobs

Obama the Dictator

2012-01-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Sure is acting like one.

"Bypassing Congress, Obama fills consumer post" January 05, 2012|By Bobby Caina Calvan

President Obama, in a politically provocative move that incensed Republican leaders, bypassed the Senate nomination process yesterday and appointed Richard Cordray to lead a contentious financial agency intended to rein in lending abuses and simplify the process for consumers.

Yeah, they are not angry about illegal torture, detentions, and wars, the unconstitutional spying, or the effort to shut down blogs under the cover of copyright protection.

“He’ll be in charge of one thing: looking out for the best interests of American consumers,’’ Obama, with Cordray at his side, told a raucous crowd of 1,300 assembled at a high school in Cleveland. “His job will be to protect families like yours from the abuses of the financial industry.’’

****************************************

The decision to install Cordray without Senate approval under the constitutional provision for making appointments when lawmakers are in recess was an audacious opening salvo in Obama’s reelection strategy of demonizing Congress.

Oh, it is all politics?

The president, announcing his decision before a political rally-like crowd, seemed to welcome a contentious second session of the 112th Congress, in which any attempts at bipartisan compromise appear in danger of being lost in all-out election-year war....

I'm tired of the war terminology coming from the war paper when it concerns politics -- or anything else.

--more--"

"Justice Dept. backs Obama on recess appointments; Says pro forma Senate sessions do not apply" by Charlie Savage | New York Times, January 13, 2012

Everything Hitler did was considered legal, too.

WASHINGTON - President Obama had the power to lawfully consider the Senate to be on a lengthy break - even though Congress contended otherwise - and make recess appointments, the Justice Department concluded in a previously secret legal memorandum it made public yesterday.

In the 23-page document, Virginia A. Seitz, the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that the Senate’s “pro forma’’ sessions - in which a single senator comes into the chamber to bang the gavel every three days - could not prevent Obama from being able to exercise his constitutional power to appoint officials when the body was in recess.

“The Senate could remove the basis for the president’s exercise of his recess appointment authority by remaining continuously in session and being available to receive and act on nominations, but it cannot do so by providing for pro forma sessions at which no business is to be conducted,’’ Seitz wrote.

The legal analysis of the memorandum tracked the arguments made by the White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, on Jan. 4, the day Obama appointed Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and as well as three members of the National Labor Relations Board.

At the time, Ruemmler declined to say whether the Office of Legal Counsel had approved the step, leading some critics to speculate that the White House had either failed to consult the Justice Department or had rejected its conclusions.

Seitz’s memorandum was dated Jan. 6, but says that she had previously provided the same legal guidance orally to Ruemmler.

Translation: They wrote the memo AFTER the fact!

Obama was the first president to make recess appointments under such circumstances, although the tactic by Congress of using such sessions to block recess appointments is also new. It was first used by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, in late 2007, to prevent President George W. Bush from making recess appointments.

While Bush did not make any such appointments for the remainder of his term, Seitz’s memorandum cited a previously undisclosed memorandum completed in January 2009 by a Bush administration lawyer in the Office of Legal Counsel, John Elwood, saying she was drawing on his analysis.

Obama is worse than Bush?

After leaving government, Elwood wrote that presidents have the authority to take such a step.

So the Obama administration is drawing off Bush administration opinion and policy? Some f***ing change!

And it shows you the s*** fooleys that are AmeriKan politics. Republicans didn't care when Bush was making recess appointments while Democrats complained. Now the roles are reversed, and we are no longer fooled.

Still, Obama’s recess appointments remain deeply controversial. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, denounced the move the day it happened, saying Obama had “arrogantly circumvented the American people’’ and endangered “Congress’s role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch.’’’

Eight Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including its ranking member, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, sent a letter on Jan. 5 to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., asking whether the Office of Legal Counsel had been consulted and demanding that any legal conclusions it had reached be released.

Much of the criticism of Obama’s move has been based on the theory that the Senate has in fact been in session every three days, so the recess was only as long as a long weekend.

Traditionally, presidents have not made recess appointments during congressional breaks of fewer than 10 days, so Obama’s move raised the notion that he had established a precedent that, if taken to its logical conclusion, could gut the confirmation process by allowing presidents of either party to make recess appointments whenever the chamber was momentarily empty.

That does look like a dictatorship.

Seitz’s memorandum, however, said that the administration considered the Senate to be on a single long recess of 20 days - from Jan. 3, when its new pro forma session started, to Jan. 23, when members are scheduled to return to Washington and start conducting business again.

Critics of that theory have cited several arguments to bolster the view that the Senate has instead been in a series of shorter, three-day recesses.

For example, Congress has occasionally conducted business in pro forma sessions, including approving a payroll tax cut extension just before Christmas - a step Obama treated as valid because he signed the bill into law.

Related: Tea Party Republicans Rolled Over Payroll Tax

Also see: Democrats' Payroll Tax Problem

--more--"

"Obama seeks authority to merge federal agencies; Congress would have to approve the new powers" January 14, 2012|By Mark Landler, New York Times

WASHINGTON - President Obama announced a new campaign yesterday to shrink the federal government, a proposal notable less for its goal - the fight against bloat has been championed by every modern-day president - than for its challenge to a hostile Congress.

Obama called on lawmakers to grant him broad new authority to propose mergers of government agencies, which Congress would have to approve or reject in an up-or-down vote.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Obama, announcing the plan at the White House, said he would begin his pruning exercise by folding the Small Business Administration and five other agencies involved in trade and business into a single agency that would replace the Commerce Department.

So he is not waiting for a vote?

The White House said the consolidation would save $3 billion over 10 years and result in the elimination of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs, though he said those reductions would occur through attrition rather than layoffs.

“From the moment I got here, I saw up close what many of you know to be true: The government we have is not the government we need,’’ Obama told an audience of small-business owners.

It is not clear whether Congress, which has blocked the bulk of Obama’s legislative agenda, will go along with the initiative. White House officials said no president since Ronald Reagan has had the so-called consolidation authority Obama is seeking.

Republicans were immediately skeptical. They suggested that the White House was more interested in honing its reelection message than in reducing the size of government.

Related: The State of Obama's Campaign

“Yesterday, President Obama asked for a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt limit, today he is proposing to shrink the federal government,’’ said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas. “Unfortunately, President Obama does not have much of a record to back up his newfound, election-year enthusiasm for limited government.’’

**********************************

By putting the onus for streamlining government on Congress, however, Obama was seizing a core issue of Republican presidential candidates - and trying to turn it to his own political advantage.

It was the latest sally by the president, who has gone on the offensive against Congress as he embarks on his reelection bid. He appointed a new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, as well as other appointees to regulatory agencies, during a congressional recess to get around the opposition of lawmakers.

Under the terms of the reorganization proposed yesterday, six relatively small agencies - the Small Business Administration, the Office of the US Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corp., and the Trade and Development Agency - would be consolidated into a single agency focused on opportunities for the private sector....

But if Ron Paul suggested such a thing it would be radical and wrong.

Btw, all those agencies exist to funnel taxpayer dollars to profitable corporations.

--more--"

Also see: Republicans to retaliate in Obama appointees spat

White House Bedtime Book

2012-01-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

Yawn.

"Michelle Obama disputes book’s take on her White House role" January 12, 2012|Washington Post, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Michelle Obama is challenging assertions she has forcefully imposed her will on White House aides and says people have inaccurately tried to portray her as “some kind of angry black woman.’’

Obama told CBS News she has not read New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor’s new book that characterizes her as a behind-the-scenes force whose strong views often draw her into conflict with President Obama’s top advisers.

“I never read these books,’’ she told CBS’s Gayle King in an interview broadcast yesterday.

Neither do I.

In the book, Mrs. Obama is said to have occasionally bristled at some of the demands and constraints of life in the White House....

The Kantor book, “The Obamas,’’ portrays a White House where tensions developed between Mrs. Obama and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and former press secretary and presidential adviser Robert Gibbs. Neither the president nor his wife agreed to be interviewed for the book.

“That’s been an image people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced, that I’m some kind of angry black woman,’’ Obama said.

“There will always be people who don’t like me,’’ she said.

Asked about an assertion of dissension between herself and Emanuel, now the mayor of Chicago, Obama said she has “never had a cross word’’ with him. The same, she said, applies to Gibbs.

--more--"

From what I heard she was only looking out for her man.

Bruin Goalie Blocks Obama

2012-01-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

And he is being sent to the penalty box?

"Disillusioned with politics, Thomas skips White House

WASHINGTON - Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas skipped a White House ceremony with President Obama yesterday to honor his championship team, saying his absence was an expression of his unhappiness with Washington as a whole and not a snub of the president.

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People,’’ Thomas, only one of two Americans on the Stanley Cup team, said in a statement. “This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country.’’

Thomas, the Stanley Cup MVP who played at the University of Vermont, is an avowed conservative and talk radio enthusiast who has previously criticized Obama’s policies. He was among the players Obama singled out for praise during the ceremony in at the White House.

--more--"

Related: Bruins try to move past Tim Thomas incident

WTF?

Next Day Update:

Team is used to to Thomas's ways

Thomas's stance draws some shots from Bruins fans

Double WTF.

Obama's Luncheon With Spike Lee

2012-01-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

I lost my appetite.

"Obama to ease travel rules for some foreign tourists

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - President Obama sought his piece of Florida’s political spotlight with a high-profile appearance at Walt Disney World, where he announced initiatives aimed at making it easier for citizens of China and Brazil to visit the United States.

“America is open for business,’’ Obama declared against the backdrop of Disney’s Cinderella castle and picture-perfect blue skies. “We want to welcome you.’’

Now drop those trousers.

From Florida, Obama headed to New York City for four campaign fund-raisers....

What is the carbon footprint on that?

The president also was to attend a $35,800 per ticket fund-raiser at the home of director Spike Lee....

C'mon, Spike! Do the right thing and support Ron Paul!

Beyond offering an opportunity to talk about the economy, Obama’s trip to Florida marked an attempt by the White House and his campaign to steal attention from Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination. In recent weeks Obama held a live video conference with Iowa voters during the Republican caucus; Vice President Joe Biden held a similar event with voters in New Hampshire on the night of the state’s first-in-the-nation primary.

Obama was greeted in the Orlando area by ads from GOP front-runner Mitt Romney blaming the president for the state’s struggling economy. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, could take a major step toward securing the Republican nomination with a win in Florida’s primary.

While Obama carried Florida in 2008, the state is a top target for Republicans in the November elections. Florida twice backed Republican George W. Bush, providing the decisive electoral votes in the cliffhanger 2000 election that was decided after a 36-day recount.

It was stolen twice, readers.

--more--"

Related:

Stolen Elections (Part 1)

Stolen Elections (Part 2)

The fact that the media don't care and covers them up calls into question their credibility.

"White House quest to cut red tape may be a help to travelers"

WASHINGTON - The White House released final plans yesterday to streamline federal bureaucracy by eliminating 500 regulatory requirements across two dozen US agencies, an overhaul that could make it easier for travelers to obtain a visa and military contractors to get paid....

Making it easier for terrorists and corruption?

The Defense Department has finalized plans to speed up payments to 60,000 contractors and the State Department is reforming visa rules to “promote economic growth and tourism,’’ said Cass Sunstein, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, on a morning conference call with reporters....

--more--"

"US agencies want 1,000-plus contractors barred" December 28, 2011|Kathleen Miller, Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, under pressure from Congress to weed out government suppliers for ethics violations or poor performance, has proposed to ban almost as many contractors this year as President George W. Bush did in his entire second term....

Federal agencies are under pressure after a series of congressional hearings and reports from inspectors general and the Government Accountability Office faulted procurement officials for failing to keep unqualified or ineligible vendors out of the $500 billion-a-year federal market....

What a tax trough.

--more--"

Obama Dumps Daley

2012-01-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

How lewd.

"Obama shakes up inner circle; Daley resigns; Lew takes over as chief of staff" Globe Staff and Wires, January 10, 2012

WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday tapped his budget chief, Jacob J. Lew, to be his new chief of staff, replacing William M. Daley after a frustrating year in which Daley struggled to find his footing in a ferociously partisan Washington....

Related: Obama Banking on a Change in the Chief of Staff

Lew is a well-regarded veteran of the White House budget office, State Department, and Wall Street. His long experience on Capitol Hill, where he served for almost a decade as a top domestic policy adviser for House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip’’ O’Neill Jr., should put him in a better position to improve ties with Congress, officials said.

A graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law School, Lew, 56, has served in a series of high-level positions over a three-decade career and is recognized as one of Washington’s most astute managers. When Obama named him budget director in July 2010, it was the second time he held the position, having served as budget chief in the Clinton administration from 1998 to 2001.

“If there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors,’’ Obama said, “then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits.’’

Indeed, Lew is a rare breed in Washington whose skills and approach are touted on both sides of the partisan divide, even though the Queens native volunteered as a teenager for the presidential campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, a liberal darling and anti-Vietnam War icon.

Amid the deep rancor of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over the federal budget last summer, he was still able to garner admirers in the GOP....

Daley, an affable former banker who is the son and brother of legendary Chicago mayors, proved to be an awkward fit on the Obama team. Recruited largely for his deal-making skills and ties to the business world, he failed to help his boss strike a huge budget deal with Republicans in the House.

Following that failed negotiation, which led to months of acrimony between the White House and Congress, some of Daley’s duties were transferred to Pete Rouse, a low-profile former congressional aide with closer ties to the president.

The news of Daley’s departure was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.

That Daley was frustrated by Washington was no secret. In October, he told a Chicago TV station that he planned to leave in January 2013, at the end of Obama’s first term. It was not clear what precipitated his decision to leave the White House now.

--more--"

Democrats' Payroll Tax Problem

2012-01-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Didn't we just go through all this?

"Back from break, Congress faces payroll tax talks" January 16, 2012|By Andrew Taylor

WASHINGTON - Republicans would cut federal employee benefits. President Obama would eliminate Saturday mail delivery and raise airline flight fees. Democrats in Congress would charge employers higher premiums for federal pension guarantees.

As Congress returns from a three-week holiday break, those are a few of the ideas for how to pay for extending an average $20-a-week Social Security payroll tax cut through the end of 2012 without adding to the government’s long-term debt.

Last year, Obama and fellow Democrats insisted on taxing the wealthy to offset the deficit impact of the payroll tax cut and of providing jobless benefits to the long-term unemployed. While still useful as campaign fodder, that idea is largely a bygone one.

Is that why they extended the Bush tax cuts?

House and Senate negotiators are drawing on Obama’s budget and the work of the defunct congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction to come up with the $160 billion or so needed to continue the tax cut and federal jobless benefits. Both of are set to expire Feb. 29.

Republicans controlling the House took a political drubbing in a December battle that produced a two-month extension of unemployment aid and the 2 percentage point tax cut for 160 million workers.

While House Republicans went after Democratic sacred cows such as federal worker benefits and health care spending, leading senators made progress on a bigger deal before it collapsed because of a lack of time, aides in both parties say.

Health care remains part of the equation. To prevent a 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors under an outdated 1997 formula, negotiators are trying to find $39 billion in cuts elsewhere in health care spending. That would fix the problem for two years.

Some of the money being considered to offset the lost payroll tax revenue is practically free. For example, auctioning portions of the electromagnetic spectrum to wireless companies would raise perhaps $16 billion over the coming decade.

Obama wants to raise $4 billion more by selling off surplus federal property.

Umm, selling off public property is hardly "free" money.

There is an additional $3 billion to be reaped by preventing state and local government workers from improperly claiming Social Security benefits.

One idea considered likely to make it into the final package is the repeal of a tax break taken by businesses that buy corporate jets. It would raise about $5 billion over a decade.

Other ideas illustrate the uneasy trade-off of big spending cuts or new fees stretched out over a decade to finance only 10 months of a temporary tax cut.

For instance, eliminating Saturday mail delivery and other Postal Service changes raise enough money to pay for only about two months of the payroll tax cut. That may seem like a bad deal for many Americans, especially retired people who do not get the tax cut. The postal overhaul plan was proposed by Obama and embraced by the supercommittee, but so far has been left out of the payroll tax legislation.

Similarly, an Obama plan to double the Transportation Security Administration’s security fee for nonstop air travel from $5 to $10 a round-trip ticket would raise only enough money to pay for about one month of the tax cut. The idea gained currency in supercommittee deliberations but is not being pressed now, aides in both parties said.

But a new $100-per-flight fee on airlines and owners of private jets, which would bring in more than $1 billion a year, seems to be gaining momentum.

So is a proposal to raise billions of dollars by making businesses with underfunded defined benefit pension plans pay higher premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which insures such plans. Many businesses and their GOP allies in Washington are resisting the proposals.

Related: Bush Bankrupted Pension Insurance Fund

I'll give you one guess who will be bailing it out, taxpayers.

Republicans’ proposal to trim the federal workforce through retirements and attrition faces opposition from Democrats who supported it as part of a big deficit-cutting package. Politically wrenching changes to Medicare appear to be off the table....

--more--"

Notice ending the empire never makes it into the conversation?

I Forgot to Watch Florida Debate

2012-01-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, readers. The fact is I rarely, if ever, watch cable news channels or network news broadcasts. As it is I can barely make it through the paper.

At least the Globe is there to tell us all we need to know, right?

"Romney swings hard at Gingrich in debate; Attacks GOP foe on ethics in Fla. debate" by Michael Levenson and Matt Viser | Globe Staff, January 24, 2012

TAMPA - A combative Mitt Romney last night painted Newt Gingrich as a disgraced former House speaker who had peddled influence in Washington, charges that Gingrich testily dismissed as the two rivals met for their first debate since Gingrich won the South Carolina primary....

Ron Paul and Rick Santorum were largely sidelined in the debate, and did not even speak for the first 10 minutes.

I'm glad I didn't watch because it would have been a waste of time.

Both of them insisted, however, that they remain viable challengers for the nomination.

Not in the AmeriKan corporate media's eyes.

Santorum pointed out that the race has been highly volatile, with front-runners soaring and crashing for months. “If you’ve learned anything about this election, it’s that any type of prediction is going to be wrong,’’ he said.

Paul, as he has in the past, said he had no intention of launching an independent bid for the presidency, but would not rule it out. “I don’t want to,’’ he said. “But I haven’t been an absolutist.’’

Gee, the web version added a quote by him. Hoo-ray!

Just hours before the debate began, Gingrich got some good news: Miriam Adelson, the wife of the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, gave Gingrich’s allies $5 million, extending the former speaker a crucial lifeline as he battles Romney’s latest assault.

Related: Gingrich is Good To Go

So am I.

The contribution came with a caveat: Miriam Adelson asked for her money to be used only on ads that support Gingrich and do not tear down other candidates.

What was cut from my printed paper version:

The donation to Winning Our Future, and independent group that is supporting Gingrich's campaign, used the $5 million contribution from Sheldon Adelson to air a controversial documentary that skewered Romney's tenure at Bain Capital. The ad was deemed inaccurate, but only after its devastating portrait of Romney as a corporate raider had entered the political mainstream.

And Newt was complaining about his second wife being the story?

And no matter what happens, don't let the truth spoil the narrative.

--more--"

Related: Romney unleashes attacks against Gingrich

"Romney’s old investments stir up new financial questions, January 24, 2012

WASHINGTON - A day before Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney planned to release his income tax returns, his old investments in two controversial government-backed housing lenders stirred up new questions at the same time his campaign targeted rival Newt Gingrich for earning more than $1.6 million in consulting fees from one of the lenders.

Uh-oh.

Related: The Bain of Mitt Romney

Gingrich Got Rich From Freddie Mac

Maybe the question out to be who didn't, huh?

Romney’s latest financial disclosure report listed several investments, worth as much as $500,000, in lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Romney, Gingrich, and other GOP critics repeatedly have singled out the two quasigovernment entities as prime villains in the housing crisis that played a central role in the nation’s long and deep recession.

While continuing to denounce Gingrich for his consulting work for Freddie Mac, the Romney campaign sought to deflect questions about the former Massachusetts governor’s investments. They include a mutual fund worth up to $500,000 that includes assets from both lenders among other government income, and separate investments in each of the lenders in Romney’s individual retirement account, each worth between $100,000 and $250,000.

Related: Fed Funnels Made Millions Off Mutual Fund Bailout

Romney campaign officials said yesterday that a trustee handles the investments and that Romney had no role in choosing or managing them.

That makes all the difference, don't it?

The dimensions and the sources of Romney’s wealth, which he has estimated to be as much as $250 million, have become a central issue in the roiling GOP primary campaign.

--more--"

Update:

"Mitt Romney, whose prior refusal to release his tax returns provided a line of attack for Newt Gingrich and other rivals, earned more than $42 million over the last two years....

--more--"

Also see: Romney earned $20.9m last year, paid 15.4% in taxes

FLASHBACK:

"Bain often couldn’t lose with buyouts" by Beth Healy | Globe Staff, January 14, 2012

Mitt Romney spent much more of his career in leveraged buyouts than in the investments in start-up companies known as venture capital....

With leveraged buyouts, the investment firm purchases a mature company, partially with its money and with debt it transfers to the company. The new owners then usually streamline the business and seek to resell it.

For example, in the same year that Romney invested in Staples, he led the firm in its $200 million acquisition of Accuride, a wheel rim maker that was part of Firestone. Bain put down only $5 million and borrowed the rest, using junk bonds from Drexel Burnham Lambert. Eighteen months later, Bain resold the company and reaped $121 million in its first taste of the big time in the go-go 1980s.

Soon after, Romney steered Bain Capital more toward debt-driven buyouts. There was more money at stake and less risk for Bain than betting on untested technology.

Venture capital is “absolutely more risky’’ than buyouts, said Howard Anderson, a venture investor and former entrepreneur who teaches at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

You know where venture capital comes from?

Related: VenCap Vroom-Vroom

No wonder tuition costs are rising and your pension statements have stagnated, America.

For one, he said, buyouts often involve companies that have been in business for a long time. Second, buyout firms tend to take profits out of deals quickly, even having the target companies take on enormous loans to pay the investors back.

“These guys have figured out a way to make money even if the company loses money,’’ Anderson said. “It’s heads we win, tails we win. Not always - but they can do that.’’

We call it a RIGGED GAME here!

Romney and his former partners at Bain Capital have said they make the most money by growing companies, not shrinking them. But they often make money no matter what.

Take a giant deal like Domino’s Pizza Inc. Bain led the $1.1 billion deal in 1998, putting down about $385 million in cash. The rest of the money was borrowed. Then, as Bain wanted to get its money out over the years, it had Domino’s borrow more to pay it back. Bain reaped a 500 percent return. Domino’s has $1.5 billion in debt on its books.

You know, this does NOT SEEM like a GOOD BUSINESS MODEL to ME!

Romney has been criticized for doing deals at Bain Capital where the firm made money but employees were laid off and the company was left with large debt loads, and sometimes bankruptcy.

And Mitt says that created jobs?

In a 1994 deal to acquire Dade International, an Illinois medical equipment company, Bain invested $27 million and made roughly eight times its money. But it also loaded up the company with $1.6 billion in debt; 1,700 people would lose their jobs, and the company briefly filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.

Bain counters that Dade emerged from bankruptcy stronger and growing; it was acquired by Siemens for $7 billion in 2007.

Did that REPAIR all the SHATTERED LIVES caused by the deal?

--more--"

But Mitt paid his fair share!

Sunday Globe Specials: Haitians Hanker For the Days of Duvalier

2012-01-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

"Many Haitians are nostalgic for the era, when the country was more prosperous, tourists were not afraid to visit, and it was the world’s leading maker of baseballs.... Forced disappearances, illegal detentions, intimidation, torture, and executions of journalists, activists, political opponents, and others.... better days."

When it was a CIA way station for drugs.

"Haiti’s ex-dictator Duvalier may be poised for a comeback" by William Booth | Washington Post, January 22, 2012

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - For a notorious former dictator facing charges of crimes against humanity, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc’’ Duvalier is living a nice life in Haiti after his sudden return from exile a year ago.

Although technically under house arrest, the onetime “president for life’’ dines with his many admirers at the chic bistros of Petionville, where he can be found at Quartier Latin, having his poulet creole. His portrait , a very flattering one, is sold on the streets.

If money can be laundered, so can dictators. Duvalier was the commencement speaker last month at the law school in Gonaives, an appearance that the university’s president called “totally inconceivable.’’

The students cheered.

Last week, Duvalier drove himself - with a police escort - to the government’s memorial ceremony to mark the second anniversary of Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake. The audience - which included President Michel Martelly, his prime minister, and Bill Clinton - rose to greet him.

What more is there to say?

Duvalier is back in Haiti, and it is very possible that he will never be tried for the crimes that his alleged victims and international human rights groups assert he committed: forced disappearances, illegal detentions, intimidation, torture, and executions of journalists, activists, political opponents, and others.

“I cannot believe my eyes,’’ said Boby Duval, who spent nine months in the mid-1970s in Fort Dimanche, one of three prisons known as “the triangle of death’’ during the reign of the Duvalier family - father and son, Papa Doc and Baby Doc - and the Tontons Macoutes, their paramilitary enforcers and secret police.

Duval, a bear of a man who now runs a popular soccer academy for thousands of children from the slums, entered the prison as a robust young athlete.

He emerged weighing 100 pounds. “They didn’t kill you in Fort Dimanche,’’ he said. “They starved you to death. I watched people die of starvation. And you never knew, ‘When am I next?’ ’’

Soon after Duvalier returned to Port-au-Prince in January 2011, after a 25-year exile in France, three cases were filed against him, alleging embezzlement of funds, human rights violations, and crimes against humanity.

See: Noriega is the News

Also see: No One Cares About Noriega Anymore

Although an older generation in Haiti recalls with a shudder the bad things that happened in the Duvalier years, many Haitians are nostalgic for the era, when the country was more prosperous, tourists were not afraid to visit, and it was the world’s leading maker of baseballs.

More than 60 percent of the Haitian population is younger than 25, so they have no memory of Baby Doc’s reign, only stories of better days.

Duvalier was a plump and pampered young man of 19 when he became “president for life’’ in 1971 after the death of his father, the far more ruthless Francois “Papa Doc’’ Duvalier, who once worked as a physician.

The younger Duvalier and his then-wife, Michele Bennett, were famous for their luxurious lifestyle and shopping sprees.

After the couple divorced in 1993, Duvalier endured a more modest exile, without the Ferrari or the mansion, living in a borrowed apartment, saying he was broke.

After months of delay in which three prosecutors came and went, his case is now before Judge Jean Carves, who has promised lawyers that he will soon rule on whether the matter will proceed to trial.

“He will be cleared of all charges. It is almost finished now; the judge is typing up the order to throw it all out,’’ said Duvalier’s attorney, Reynold Georges.

Georges said the crimes alleged - torture, disappearances - have exceeded the statute of limitations.

“Plus, they have no proof of anything,’’ he said in an interview.

Asked whether the rumors are true that Duvalier, now 60, is planning a return to politics, Georges said, “If he decides to run for president, he will be eligible, and if he runs, he will win, and I will support him.’’

--more ...--"

Related: Duvalier Double-Crossed by CIA

He was supposed to be leaving.

And if those were the good old days....

"Two years after Haiti quake, 550,000 still live in camps; Poor strategy, politics hamper reconstruction" by Trenton Daniel | Associated Press, January 08, 2012

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Hundreds of thousands of Haitians' lives have barely improved since those first days of devastation....

It's been two f***ing years!

While UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former President Bill Clinton, and others vowed that the world would help Haiti “build back better,’’ and $2.38 billion has been spent, Haitians have hardly seen any building at all.

Yeah, WHERE DID ALL THAT DAMN MONEY GO, Bill!!!??

At the time, grand ambitions were voiced for a Haiti rebuilt on modern lines. New housing would replace shantytowns and job-generating industry would be spread out to ease the human crush of Port-au-Prince, the sprawling capital with its 3 million people.

But now the government seems to be going back to basics, nurturing small, community-based projects designed to bring the homeless back to their old neighborhoods to build, renovate, and find jobs through friends.

The reasons for the slow progress are many. Beyond being among the world’s poorest nations and a frequent victim of destructive weather, Haiti’s land registry is in chaos - a drag on reconstruction because it is not always clear who owns what land.

Then there is a political standoff that went on for more than a year and still hobbles decision-making. After the quake, a disputed presidential election triggered tire-burning riots that shut down Port-au-Prince for three days. The international airport was forced to close and foreign aid workers had to hunker down in their compounds.

I'm SO SICK of EXCUSES. I can ONLY IMAGINE how the HAITIANS FEEL!!!!!

Related: Haiti's lifeline runway

Yeah, it's been a big success.

Even after the vote was resolved and Michel Martelly was installed as president in May 2011, there were further snags. The former pop star, new to politics, took six months to install a prime minister, whose job is to oversee reconstruction projects. He infuriated opposition politicians because his administration jailed a deputy without following the law and named a prime minister without consulting them first. They retaliated by trying to thwart him at every turn....

Another victim of the impasse was a reconstruction panel co-chaired by Clinton, the UN special envoy to Haiti. Lawmakers refused to renew its mandate, complaining it contained too few Haitians, though they may have been using it as a pretext to punish Martelly. But it meant that for the next six months there was no agency in place to coordinate home-building.

Meanwhile, government employees could be found napping at their desks while awaiting orders from their supervisors that never came.

The government and international partners say there has been some progress - 600 classrooms for 60,000 children to return to school, almost half of the 10 million cubic yards of rubble cleared, and roads newly paved in the capital and countryside....

The encampments of cardboard, tarps, and bed sheets that went up to cope with 1.5 million homeless people have morphed into shantytowns that increasingly look permanent.

More than 550,000 people are still living in the grim and densely packed camps that are squeezed into the capital’s alleyways and pitched on the side of rural roads. And many of those who left the camps, often being evicted or paid to go, say their new conditions are little better and sometimes much worse.

“I certainly wouldn’t call (reconstruction) a success,’’ said Alex Dupuy, who has written books about Haiti and teaches at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. “Other than putting a government in place . . . I haven’t seen any concrete evidence of recovery underway.’’

:-(

******************************

Of the 10 best-funded projects approved by a reconstruction panel not one focuses exclusively on housing. A US-financed $225 million industrial park includes housing for 5,000 workers. But it’s on the northern coast of Haiti, 150 miles outside the quake zone.

The highest-profile effort to house the displaced came three months after the quake, on the eve of the rainy season. The US military and actor Sean Penn bused 5,000 people from a flood-prone golf course to a cleared field in Corail-Cesselesse, north of Port-au-Prince. It was supposed to be the country’s first planned community, with factories and houses for 300,000 people.

That never happened.

So WHERE DI ALL THAT MERCY MONEY GO?

Today, the people of Corail-Cesselesse are ravaged by floods or bake in the heat in their timber-frame shelters.

--more--"

"Haiti earthquake survivor’s death spurs soul-searching; Woman fled quake, only to die alone in Boston" by Brian MacQuarrie | Globe Staff, January 14, 2012

The cause of Winnie Henri’s death is unknown, and an autopsy will be conducted, but critics such as Nicole Bahnam, headmaster of Newcomers Academy in Dorchester, where Henri studied after surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston to remove cancerous adrenal glands, are asking how a 20-year-old woman with known medical problems could die on her own while in a Partners in Health, one of Boston’s highest-profile charities, program....

--more--"

Also see:

Ornate Back Bay pews are reborn in Haiti

Something stinks.

Jamaican Jive

2012-01-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

"US monitored deadly raid for Jamaica" December 10, 2011|Associated Press

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A US surveillance plane helped monitor the deadly 2010 raid by Jamaican security forces to capture a fugitive crime boss, the prime minister said, reversing earlier government denials.

Meaning government lied.

A US P-3 Orion aircraft provided aerial surveillance of the effort to capture Christopher “Dudus’’ Coke, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told reporters Thursday. The raid set off a fierce battle in a West Kingston slum that left more than 70 people dead.

Related: Jamaican Drug Dealer Too Doped Up to Fight

Holness said the United States had no other role in the raid in the Tivoli Gardens neighborhood.

How can we believe that denial now?

“We would want to reaffirm our position that the US government or its military did not participate in the operations in West Kingston,’’ he said.

His statement came a day after Minister of National Security Dwight Nelson said at a news briefing that the United States had not provided any surveillance of the raid, denying a report in The New Yorker magazine.

Holness said that Nelson made the statement in error because Nelson was not aware of the details of the US assistance.

Uh-huh.

Previous government statements had also denied any US role in the operation. The prime minister said the surveillance was coordinated between the Jamaican Defense Force and the “relevant government agency’’ in the United States.

“The United States government initially made an offer to provide surveillance and technical equipment,’’ he said. “We accepted and followed the normal protocol of exchanging diplomatic notes to provide the government-to-government cover for such assistance.’’

--more--"

"Jamaica’s youngest leader in tough re-election bid" December 30, 2011|By David McFadden

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaicans braved bottlenecks for as long as four hours yesterday to cast ballots in fiercely contested national elections.

Previous votes have been marred by bloodshed, but there were few reports of trouble at polling centers for the 63 parliamentary races contested by the center-right Jamaica Labor Party and the slightly left-leaning opposition People’s National Party.

The vote hit some snags as fingerprint scanners meant to stop people from voting more than once worked intermittently.

The People’s National Party has tried tapping into voter disillusionment, especially among Jamaica’s many poor inhabitants, and complained of the slow voting process yesterday. The party also alleged that some ruling party candidates violated rules by campaigning on election day.

Lisa Shoman, of the observer mission for the Organization of American States, said her team has not observed “any disturbances or any issues that would cause us any serious concern.’’

I forgot to grab the link? Oh well.

"Jamaica’s opposition wins elections in a landslide" December 30, 2011|David Mcfadden, Associated Press

On Jamaica’s rutted streets, the complaints have been chronic — home ownership is out of reach for most wage earners, the cost of electricity has skyrocketed, water service regularly fizzles out and decent jobs are scarce.

Fed up with chronic hard times, voters in this debt-wracked Caribbean nation on Thursday threw out the ruling party and delivered a landslide triumph to the opposition People’s National Party, or PNP, whose campaign energetically tapped voter disillusionment especially among the numerous struggling poor.

The win marks a remarkable political comeback for former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who was Jamaica’s first female leader during her year-and-a-half-long first stint in office that ended in 2007. The 66-year-old known affectionately as “Sista P’’ reached out to Jamaicans as a champion of the poor with a popular touch.

“She cares about the ghetto people,’’ said Trishette Bond, a twenty-something resident of gritty Trench Town who wore an orange shirt and a bright orange wig, the color of Simpson Miller’s slightly center-left party, which led the island for 18 years before narrowly losing 2007 elections.

As word of her election win emerged Thursday night, PNP supporters shimmied and shouted in the capital, Kingston, and motorists honked horns in celebration as they tore down the streets....

Simpson Miller defeated Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who at 39 is Jamaica’s youngest leader and leads the center-right Jamaica Labor Party.

Holness said the defeat will prompt a time of introspection and reflection for party leaders to examine what went wrong....

Maybe the lying didn't help, huh?

Holness warned during the campaign that an opposition win would scare away foreign investment and dash hopes of economic progress....

Simpson Miller is beloved by her supporters for her folksy, plainspoken style. She became Jamaica’s first female prime minister in March 2006 after she was picked by party delegates when P.J. Patterson retired as leader. But she was tossed out of office a year later in a narrow election defeat.

This time around, she has pledged to lift debt-wracked Jamaica out of poverty, secure foreign investment, and create jobs. Specifics are few, however.

Her party will face deep economic problems in this island of 2.8 million people, with a punishing debt of roughly $18.6 billion, or 130 per cent of gross domestic product...

Veteran opposition lawmaker Omar Davies said one of the first things the People’s National Party will do is get “a true assessment of the state of the economy,’’ a dig at Holness’ party which was accused of rarely providing citizens with a clear picture of the island’s dire fiscal straits....

Simpson Miller has been a stalwart of the People’s National Party since the 1970s. She was first elected to Parliament in 1976 and became a Cabinet member in 1989. Partisans have long admired Simpson Miller as a Jamaican who was born in rural poverty and grew up in a Kingston ghetto, not far from the crumbling concrete jungle made famous by Bob Marley.

During her brief tenure as prime minister, her support waned amid complaints she responded poorly to Hurricane Dean and was evasive about a scandal regarding a Dutch oil trading firm’s $460,000 payment to her political party leading up to 2007 elections....

Simpson Miller's party, which experimented with democratic socialism in the 1970s, is still perceived as more focused on social programs than the slightly more conservative Labor. There are no longer stark ideological differences between the two clan-like factions that have dominated Jamaican politics since the onetime British colony began self-rule in 1944. Jamaica became independent within the British Commonwealth in 1962.

--more--"

Also see: Jamaican Jibberish

One Final Plea to the Boston Globe

2012-01-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

"Judges get say on plea deals" January 13, 2012|By Martine Powers and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The state’s highest court today confirmed a little-known judicial power to ignore prosecutors and shorten criminal sentences in plea deals if the judge believes “justice may not have been done.’’

In a 6-1 decision, the Supreme Judicial Court’s decided to make it clear that judges are allowed to shorten sentences because of mitigating circumstances. The court also asserted that prosecutors cannot revoke a plea deal if a judge shortens the agreed-upon sentence.

Justice Francis X. Spina, the cases’ sole dissenter, worried that the case could open the door to judges using their power to act as pseudo-defense attorneys.

Related: Boston Globe Designated Driver

Also see: North Carolina Nazis

State statute on judicial powers of sentencing is hazy: A judge cannot “impose a sentence that exceeds the terms of the [plea bargain] recommendation,” but the law says nothing about whether a judge can shorten the sentence agreement.

Over the years, a few judges took the ambiguity of that statute to mean that reducing sentences was allowable, and two of those cases prompted the high court’s ruling today that the practice is fair....

Tom Hoopes, chairman of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Fair and Impartial Courts Committee, said the decision is part of a nationwide trend of giving judges more power to determine sentencing.
“The buck does, and should, stop with the justice,” Hoopes said.

Still, he said, he does not anticipate the decision having much of a day-to-day effect on the criminal court system.

“I think cases like this are so rare that they’re not going to really impact the way prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges do the business of justice,” Hoopes said.

Then why is it my right-hand corner, front-page lead?

--more--"

Patriot Preoccupation

2012-01-23T16:12:00.000-08:00

"With the Celtics in sunset and the Red Sox making luxury-tax avoidance their top priority, it’s nice to have the Patriots poised to put the Duck Boats back on the streets of Boston....

Why did he leave the Bruins out?

--more--"

Also see: Patriots game had all the old drama

The Skyline is the Limit!

2012-01-23T16:11:00.000-08:00

"Market heats up for office towers" January 16, 2012|Casey Ross, Globe Staff

Boston’s office towers are again hot commodities after several years of slow sales, a sign the city’s economic recovery is gathering speed as businesses expand and investors swarm opportunities to snap up trophy properties....

The increasing activity is one of the strongest indications yet that Boston’s business community is emerging from a downturn that resulted in hundreds of lost jobs, lower profits and confidence, and paralysis in both the residential and commercial real estate sectors.

Building owners are seeing their offices fill up, leading to higher rents, which makes their properties more attractive to potential buyers. Many buildings have been the objects of bidding wars in recent months, with pension funds, insurance companies, and overseas investors competing to own a piece of the skyline....

--more--"

Ike Don't Like

2012-01-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

You know what I don't like, readers?

"Eisenhowers want memorial redesigned" by Brett Zongker Associated Press / January 10, 2012

WASHINGTON—President Dwight D. Eisenhower's family wants a memorial in the nation's capital redesigned, saying the current plans overemphasize his humble Kansas roots and neglect his accomplishments in World War II and the White House.

Architect Frank Gehry has proposed a memorial park framed by large metal tapestries with images of Eisenhower's boyhood home in Abilene, Kan. In the park, a statue of "Ike" as a boy would seem to marvel at what would become of his life, leading the Allied forces and becoming president. From the White House, he integrated schools and the military, and created NASA and interstate highways. Additional sculpture elements would depict Eisenhower as general and president.

Gehry's idea echoed Eisenhower's speech when he returned to Kansas after the war and spoke of a "barefoot boy" who achieved fame in Europe. He came home "to say the proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene."

Anne Eisenhower, one of the president's granddaughters, sent a formal objection to National Capital Planning Commission on Tuesday on behalf of the family. Still, she noted Gehry is a talented architect.

"What one has to say is he's missed the message here," she told The Associated Press. "The mandate is to honor Eisenhower, and that is not being done in this current design. Or, shall we say, it is being done in such a small scale in relation to the memorial that it is dwarfed."

*****************************

Images of Eisenhower as a general addressing troops before D-Day and as president studying the globe would be represented in stone in "heroic scale," said Daniel Feil, the project's executive architect. With all the attention on Gehry's tapestries, some failed to see other aspects of the memorial, he said.

Feil said he does not expect to make any major changes to Gehry's design.

The memorial commission said David Eisenhower, the president's grandson who previously sat on the commission, never voted against any of the design proposals or voiced objections. He resigned from the group in December.

"In terms of the family, it's very hard in a sense to understand where all of it is coming from," Feil said.

Gehry has said he wants to make sure the Eisenhower family approves the design, but he has dismissed the idea of using a traditional statue, saying all the great sculptors are long gone.

Gehry's design follows the trend of other memorials honoring President Franklin D. Roosevelt, World War II veterans and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Those memorials are broad spaces with many elements to engage visitors.

Susan Eisenhower, another granddaughter, said "Ike" is simply the wrong figure to memorialize with an avant-garde approach. He was a traditionalist and bewildered by modern art, she said.

That is where my printed, January 12(?) Globe ended it.

--more--"

Breaking News: Ron Paul Quits Presidential Campaign

2012-01-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

That's what the Globe would like you to believe anyway:

"Ron Paul made it clear that he is no longer running a national campaign.

Did he?

The Texas representative said he will largely skip Florida, the next to vote on Jan. 31, and concentrate instead on smaller caucus states like Nevada and Maine as he tries to preserve his campaign budget while picking up delegates....

Preserve his campaign budget?

I want to know where all that money bomb money has gone. I've never even seen a TV ad.

Is it possible that Ron Paul is also an energy-sapping, controlled-opposition diversion?

--more--"

Also see: The Globe's Ron Paul Paragraphs

Slow Saturday Special: Veteran's Choice

Don't get me wrong, readers. I'm not saying he shouldn't be out there trying, and I support what he says. It is just that nothing is as it appears in AmeriKa.

Sunday Globe Special: Rick Perry Returns to Texas

2012-01-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

You sure you don't want to reconsider?

"Out of race, Rick Perry shifts focus to home; Texans reveal mix of opinions after a rocky campaign" by Manny Fernandez | New York Times, January 22, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas - Governor Rick Perry of Texas has returned to a state that has been reeling from a series of crises, both natural and man-made.....

A record-breaking drought continues to strain public water systems and cost farmers and ranchers, including the state’s cotton and cattle industries, billions of dollars in lost income and additional production expenses....

Related: Sunday Globe Special: Texas Swill

Bottoms up!

Also related:

"TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING IN TEXAS -- Alexander Veksler abandoned his car yesterday in Houston, where severe thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain on the drought-stricken region, causing flash floods and power outages (Boston Globe January 10 2012)."

Just a snapshot.

“I am concerned that the unfortunate results of Perry’s performance on the national stage may confirm the stereotype that much of the rest of the country has about Texas - the impression that Texas is a bunch of yahoos and people of low intelligence,’’ said Scott Caven, a Houston Republican who was Perry’s state finance chairman in his first two campaigns for governor....

A redistricting dispute between the state, minority groups, and the Justice Department has left Texas without any usable electoral maps for congressional and state House and Senate districts, creating uncertainty about the primary elections that were pushed back to April, as well as the Republican and Democratic state political conventions scheduled in June....

--more--"

Let's look at those maps:

"Court throws out judge-drawn Texas electoral maps" by Mark Sherman | The Associated Press, January 20, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court today threw out electoral maps drawn by federal judges in Texas that favored minorities. The unsigned opinion left the fate of Texas’ April primaries unclear.

The justices ordered the three-judge court in San Antonio to come up with new plans, but did not compel the use of maps created by Texas’ Republican-dominated state Legislature. Only Justice Clarence Thomas said he would have gone that far.

Controversy over the maps arose from redrawing political boundaries based on results of the 2010 census that found that Texas had added more than 4 million new residents, mostly Latinos and African-Americans, since 2000. The minority groups complained they were denied sufficient voting power by Republican lawmakers who sought to maximize GOP electoral gains in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

Texas will have 36 seats in the next Congress, a gain of four districts. A divided court in San Antonio drew maps that differed from the Legislature’s efforts, giving Democrats a chance to prevail in three or four more congressional districts. Republicans now represent 23 of the 32 current districts.

The high court said the judges appeared in some instances not to pay enough attention to the state’s choices. The judges made mistakes in their plans, particularly in altering district lines for state legislative and congressional seats in parts of the state where there is no allegation of discrimination on the part of the Legislature, the high court said.

‘‘In the absence of any legal flaw in this respect in the state’s plan, the district court had no basis to modify that plan,’’ the justices said, talking about state House districts in north and east Texas.

The court set no deadline for new maps to emerge from the court in Texas, although state officials have said they need to have something in place by February 1 to hold primary elections, already delayed once, on April 3. The Texas Republican party also has said that Texas may have no voice in the Republican presidential nominating process if the primary is held later than mid-April.

The complicated legal fight over redistricting in Texas is playing out in three federal courts. In addition to the Supreme Court and federal court in San Antonio, a three-judge court in Washington is evaluating the state plans under a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that forces states, mainly in the South, with a history of discrimination in voting to get advance approval before making any changes to the way they conduct elections.

Even without the Washington court’s approval, Texas said it should be able to use its own maps just for this year because time is running short before the primaries.

The minority groups, as well as the Obama administration, say such an outcome is strictly forbidden by the Voting Rights Act and would, in essence, eviscerate the law’s most potent weapon, the advance approval requirement, also known as preclearance.

The justices chose not to allow the state maps to be used without preclearance. But Thomas, who earlier had said he would strike down the advance approval requirement, said Texas’ ‘‘duly enacted redistricting plans should govern the upcoming elections.’’

--more--"

Related: Court rules in favor of Texas abortion law

Someone else returning about the same time as Rick:

"Deported teen is returned to US, but questions remain

EL PASO - A 15-year-old Texas girl who was deported to South America in May after claiming to be an illegal immigrant was back in the United States and was expected to arrive in Dallas last night, her mother said.

Johnisa Turner said that her daughter, Jakadrien Lorece Turner, was on a flight from Atlanta. She had said earlier that she planned to meet her daughter when she arrives in Texas and that she has “a gazillion questions’’ for her....

She's a little ruuuuunaway!

The teen has become the center of an international mystery. Many facts of the case are unclear, but US and Colombian officials have pointed fingers over who is responsible for allowing a minor to be deported to a country where she is not a citizen.

Jakadrien’s family has questioned why US officials didn’t do more to verify her identify, while US immigration officials insist they followed procedure and found nothing to indicate that the girl wasn’t - as she had claimed - a Colombian woman illegally living in the United States....

The teen, who ran away from home more than a year ago, was found in Bogota by the Dallas Police Department with help from Colombian and US officials.

According to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the girl was enrolled in the country’s “Welcome Home’’ program after she arrived there. She was given shelter, psychological assistance, and a job at a call center, a statement from the agency said. When the Colombian government discovered she was a US citizen and a minor, it put her under the care of a welfare program, the statement said.

Family members say they have no idea why she ended up in Colombia. Johnisa Turner said Jakadrien is a US citizen who was born in Dallas and was not fluent in Spanish. She said neither she nor the teen’s father had ties to Colombia. Jakadrien’s grandmother, Lorene Turner, called the deportation a “big mistake somebody made.’’

Jakadrien’s family said she left home in November 2010. Houston police said the girl was arrested on April 2, 2011, for misdemeanor theft in that city and claimed to be Tika Lanay Cortez, a Colombian woman born in 1990. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said that the teen claimed to be Cortez throughout the criminal proceedings in Houston and the ensuing deportation process.

--more--"

Also see: Deported teen is returned to US, but questions remain

Sunday Globe Special: California's Central Valley

2012-01-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'll pass on the pipe, thanks.

"Calif. farm region is a meth network center, US says; ‘Super labs’ run by drug cartels are hard to find" by Gosia Wozniacka and Tracie Cone | Associated Press, January 22, 2012

FRESNO, Calif. - When a 23-year-old Fresno woman fatally shot her two toddlers and a cousin, critically wounded her husband, then turned the gun on herself last Sunday, investigators immediately suspected methamphetamine abuse in what otherwise was inexplicable carnage. It turned out the mother had videotaped herself smoking meth hours before the shooting....

Related:

"A woman shot her two children, their father, and a cousin hours after she took video of herself on her iPad as she smoked methamphetamine, police said, adding that she committed suicide as they approached her apartment"

A Bakersfield mother was sentenced Tuesday for stabbing her newborn while in a meth rage. An Oklahoma woman drowned her baby in a washing machine in November. A New Mexico woman claiming to be God stabbed her son with a screwdriver last month, saying, “God wants him dead.’’

“Once people who are on meth become psychotic, they are very dangerous,’’ said Dr. Alex Stalcup, who works with addicts in the San Francisco Bay Area suburbs. “They’re completely bonkers; they’re nuts. We’re talking about very extreme alterations of normal brain function. Once someone becomes triggered to violence, there aren’t any limits or boundaries.’’

The Central Valley of California is a hub of the nation’s meth distribution network, making extremely pure forms of the drug easily available locally. And law enforcement officials say widespread meth abuse is believed to be driving much of the crime in the vast farming region.

Chronic use of the harsh chemical compound can lead to psychosis, including hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations. The stimulant effect of meth is up to 50 times longer than cocaine, experts say, so users stay awake for days on end, impairing cognitive function and contributing to extreme paranoia.

“Your children and your spouse become your worst enemy, and you truly believe they are after you,’’ said Bob Pennal, a recently retired meth investigator from the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Meth originally took root in California’s agricultural heartland in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a poor man’s cocaine. Its use initially creates feelings of euphoria and invincibility, but experts say repeated abuse can alter brain chemistry and cause schizophrenia-like behavior.

Meth’s availability and its potential for abuse combine to create the biggest drug threat in the Central Valley, according to a new report from the US Department of Justice’s Drug Intelligence Center....

And the government is going after pot clinics!!!

Large tracts of farmland with isolated outbuildings are an ideal place to avoid detection, which is why the region is home to nearly all of the nation’s “super labs,’’ controlled by Mexican drug-trafficking organizations, said John Donnelly, agent in charge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration office in Fresno....

Related:

"Well-organized Mexican cartels have also moved to increasingly cultivate marijuana on public lands in the United States"

Looking more and more to me like the BIGGEST DRUG DEALERS are the GOVERNMENT ITSELF!

--more--"

Time to fast-track it out of the valley:

"Plans for high-speed rail are slowing down; Project’s starting location raises criticism in state" by Michael A. Fletcher | Washington Post, January 22, 2012

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Critics began panning the first leg of California’s futuristic high-speed rail network as a “train to nowhere’’ soon after officials decided to build it not in the major population centers of Los Angeles or San Francisco but rather through the state’s Central Valley farming belt.

Since then, things have only gotten worse. Spiraling cost estimates and eroding political and public support now threaten a project crucial to a 21st-century vision of train travel that President Obama promised would transform US transportation much as interstate highways did more than half a century ago.

A national high-speed rail network would not only support construction and manufacturing jobs but also would get Americans out of their cars, revitalize struggling downtowns, and spare the environment carbon emissions, and travelers untold hours wasted in traffic or in airport terminals waiting out delays.

Obama set a goal of providing 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years. But that lofty vision is yielding to the political gravity generated by high costs, determined opponents, and a public that has grown dubious of government’s ability to do big things.

Virtually none of the projects have gotten off the ground, and the one that has is in trouble....

More tax loot up in smoke.

--more--"

Cruising the California Coast

2012-01-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

There may be a few inland stops; I didn't have time to consult a map.

"Two firefighters and one other person were injured yesterday as a large fire pushed by strong wind gusts engulfed three buildings near San Francisco’s historic Alamo Square....

--more--"

"Writer who lied fights for Calif. law license" December 27, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — A former journalist who became the subject of a Hollywood movie after he was caught fabricating articles in the late 1990s is fighting to become a lawyer in California over the objections of a state bar committee that has judged Stephen Glass, whose ethical missteps at The New Republic and other magazines were recounted in the film “Shattered Glass’’ and an autobiographical novel, morally unfit for his new profession....

Anybody remember Jason Blair?

Turns out fabrication is what the AmeriKan media does best.

The bar association’s lawyers said in written filings that even though Glass’s transgressions occurred when he was in his 20s, his attempts at atonement were inadequate and in some cases coincided with the publication of his novel. They faulted him for never compensating anyone who was hurt by his falsehoods.

Law and journalism “share common core values - trust, candor, veracity, honor, respect for others,’’ Rachel Grunberg, a lawyer for the State Bar of California, told the Chronicle. “He violated every one of them.’’

Then my newspaper also has failed.

--more--"

Time to go underground:

"Subterranean joyride gets driver arrested" by Associated Press, January 20, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO - A man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence yesterday after allegations that he shut down San Francisco’s subway system for more than two hours by driving his SUV onto the underground tracks, police said....

“We believe he was under the influence of alcohol.’’

--more--"

"Skydiver’s death blamed on risky landing" by Associated Press | December 29, 2011

PERRIS, Calif. - A dramatic high-speed landing maneuver known as “swooping’’ apparently caused the death of an experienced Canadian skydiver at a Southern California drop zone, authorities said yesterday.

Michael Ungar, 32, of Ontario, died Tuesday afternoon at Perris Valley Skydiving after landing hard at the Riverside County sport parachuting base about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Witnesses told Perris police and reporters that Unger’s parachute was open as he made the difficult maneuver and landed hard in a shallow pond at 2:01 p.m. Tuesday. Friends pulled him out of the water, the Riverside County coroner and Perris police said in a news release.

Swooping involves a high-speed dive to skim over the ground before landing. Parachutists are often traveling 40 miles per hour vertically and up to 60 miles per hour horizontally just before touching down on the ground.

“It’s risky because you are moving so fast,’’ said Jim Crouch, the safety director for the Fredericksburg, Va.-based United State Parachuting Association. “A lot of jumpers choose to land this way because it’s exciting. But it’s very unforgiving.’’

Accidents occur when parachutists start the maneuver too low and the parachute doesn’t have the ability to recover, or fill with air, and float the skydiver to the ground, Crouch said.

The maneuver has become so popular there are swooping competitions at drop zones around the country, said Crouch, who describes it as “a sport within a sport.’’

--more--"

"A federal judge ordered the US government yesterday to pay $17.8 million to a family that lost four members when a Marine Corps fighter jet crashed into their San Diego home in 2008....

--more--"

"Calif. man pleads not guilty in soldier shooting" by ASSOCIATED PRESS | December 30, 2011

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A California man pleaded not guilty yesterday to attempted murder in the homecoming party shooting of an Afghanistan war veteran.

The arraignment for Ruben Ray Jurado, 19, in San Bernardino County Superior Court lasted about two minutes. He was in custody at West Valley Detention Center. He faces a Jan. 9 hearing. His bail continues at $1 million.

In addition to attempted murder, Jurado faces four sentencing enhancements.

Army Specialist Christopher Sullivan has been in critical condition since being shot. His family said his spine was shattered and he is paralyzed.

The 22-year-old Purple Heart recipient had been recovering from injuries suffered in a December 2010 suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan. Sullivan is a member of the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, an Army post that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border....

--more--"

Related: A Hell of a Christmas

"A New Year’s Day shooting that left four people dead at a condominium near San Diego was a murder-suicide involving a 25-year-old Navy pilot who killed himself, officials said yesterday....

--more--"

Also see: 2 Navy pilots, 2 others shot dead in Calif.

"Father of killings suspect is homeless" Associated Press, January 16, 2012

YORBA LINDA, Calif. - The father of the man suspected of killing homeless men in Southern California is himself homeless and says his son last week showed him a picture of one victim as a warning of the danger of being on the streets.

Refugio Ocampo, 49, also said yesterday that his son came back a changed man after serving with the Marines in Iraq, expressing disillusionment and becoming darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian.

The father said he lost his job and home, and ended up living under a bridge before finding shelter in the cab of a broken-down big-rig he is helping repair.

His 23-year-old son, Itzcoatl Ocampo, was arrested Friday in connection with the serial killings of four homeless men since late December.

Refugio Ocampo said that on Jan. 11 his son came to him with a picture of the first victim, who was killed on Dec. 20. “This is what’s happening,’’ the father quoted his son as saying.

“He was very worried about me. I told him, ‘Don’t worry. I’m a survivor. Nothing will happen to me. I will find something. Count on it,’ ’’ the father said.

His son entered the Marine Corps right out of high school in 2006 instead of going to college as his father had hoped. Itzcoatl Ocampo was discharged in 2010 and returned home to find his family in disarray, the father said.

Yeah, these wars have been so great for everyone!

--more--"

Related: DA says suspect killed homeless for the 'thrill'

"Body parts found in Calif. identified" Associated Press, January 21, 2012

LOS ANGELES - Coroner’s officials identified the man whose dismembered head, hands, and feet were found in a Hollywood park, but they are not releasing his name as police continue to hunt for his killer, authorities said yesterday.

The identity, age, and hometown of the victim were withheld because his next of kin had not been notified, and because police investigators had placed a “security hold’’ on the information, Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said.

The head was found Tuesday by a dog walker at Bronson Canyon, and police searchers turned up the man’s hands and feet during a two-day search that ended Thursday. The park reopened yesterday.

Police concluded that no other body parts had been dumped in the wilderness park a few miles from the Hollywood sign, but visitors who find anything should contact police, police Commander Andrew Smith said.

Dozens of police searched 7 acres of brush in the park for two days after Tuesday’s discovery of a man’s head in a plastic grocery bag. Two hands and feet believed to be from the same victim were found on Wednesday and Thursday before authorities concluded the ground search.

The man is believed to have been killed elsewhere, police have said. Coroner’s officials are trying to identify the man through fingerprints, dental records, and DNA databases, police said.

--more--"

Also see: Head, other body parts found in Los Angeles park

"Mother, daughter bond after 77 years apart" January 03, 2012

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — For most of her 100 years, Minka Disbrow tried to find out what became of the baby girl she gave up for adoption after being raped as a teen. She never thought she would see her Betty Jane again.

She kept a black and white photograph of the baby bundled in blankets and tucked inside a basket. It was the last she saw of the girl — until the phone rang in her California apartment in 2006....

--more--"

"California teen sentenced for killing gay student" December 20, 2011|By Greg Risling

VENTURA, Calif. — A Southern California teenager was sentenced yesterday to 21 years in state prison for killing a gay student during a computer lab class, capping an emotional and tumultuous case that drew widespread attention and raised questions about how schools should deal with sexual identity issues....

Prosecutors contended Brandon McInerney, 17, who had just turned 14, shot 15-year-old Larry King at E.O. Green Junior High School in a fit of homophobic rage because he was offended by the victim’s feminine clothing and his unwanted sexual advances....

Wouldn't that be harassment then?

School administrators were criticized for not doing enough in the weeks leading up to the killing at the Oxnard school to quell a simmering feud between the two teens and for allowing King to wear heels and makeup. School district officials have cited federal law providing the right of students to express their sexual orientation.

King’s father, Greg King, also blamed the school district for not doing more to tone down their son’s flamboyant behavior, adding that complaints were made to school officials before the shooting.

???????????

He added that his family could not forgive McInerney.

“You took upon yourself to be a bully and to hate a smaller kid, wanting to be the big man on campus,’’ Greg King said to McInerney during the sentencing. “You have left a big hole in my heart where Larry was and it can never be filled.’’

Well, yeah, killing him was the wrong thing to do.

King’s family and Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox wore buttons with the teen’s face on it, while some of McInerney’s supporters wore powder blue wristbands that read “Save Brandon.’’ Some teachers and jurors also attended the hearing.

During the trial, prosecutors portrayed McInerney as a teen who could not control his anger and was influenced by white supremacy ideology.

Here we go again!

Jurors rejected their assertion that the killing was a hate crime.

Aren't all crimes hate crimes? Who commits a loving crime? Bankers?

Prosecutors said the shooting in front of stunned classmates was first-degree murder and that McInerney should be punished as an adult.

After serving nearly four years since King’s slaying, with the additional 21 years McInerney will be released just before his 39th birthday.

--more--"

Globe's Gay Northwest

2012-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

Whatever makes 'em happy!

"Gay marriage support increasing in Wash.; State Legislature to debate bills to make it legal" by Rachel La Corte | Associated Press, January 22, 2012

OLYMPIA, Wash. - The last time same-sex marriage was debated in the Washington state Legislature, lawmakers voted to ban it. Fourteen years later, the issue is before the Legislature once again after a multiyear effort that has incrementally increased rights for gay and lesbian couples in the state.

And this time around, it looks like Washington could very well become the seventh state plus the District of Columbia to legalize same-sex marriage.

Sorry, I've moved beyond the issue and have raised the white flag on it. Just grant it to them and let's move on. Or like Ron Paul says, let each state decide. I'm against it, but I live in a state that sanctions it and I accept it. Next issue.

Gay marriage has won the backing of several prominent Pacific Northwest businesses, including Microsoft Corp. and Nike Inc., and just last week a conservative Democrat who once opposed same-sex marriage said he will now vote for it.

Bills to legalize same-sex marriage have been introduced in the House and Senate, sponsored by two gay lawmakers who have pushed for gay rights measures in past years. The bills will have their first public hearings tomorrow, before a Senate committee in the morning and a House committee in the afternoon. While gay marriage bills have been introduced in Washington state before, this is the first time the issue will receive a public hearing.

“If there’s one word to sum up where Washington is on marriage equality, it’s momentum,’’ said Michael Cole-Schwartz, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign.

Same-sex marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Lawmakers in New Jersey and Maryland are expected to debate it this year as well.

Washington state, along with several others, including California, Oregon, and New Jersey, have laws that either recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships that afford same-sex couples some or nearly all of the rights to marriage.

The debate over same-sex marriage in Washington state has changed significantly since lawmakers passed Washington’s Defense of Marriage Act in 1998. The constitutionality of the act was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006, but earlier that year, a gay civil rights measure passed after nearly 30 years of failure, signaling a change of mindset in the Legislature.

The quick progression of domestic partnership laws in the state came soon after, with a domestic partnership law in 2007, and two years of expansion that culminated in 2009 with the so-called “everything but marriage law’’ that was upheld by voters after opponents filed a referendum to challenge it.

That strategy was spearheaded by Democratic Senator Ed Murray, a gay lawmaker from Seattle who has led the push for gay civil rights and domestic partnerships and who is sponsoring the Senate marriage bill.

“The culture changes and the politics follows,’’ Murray said. “The most political act that changed the culture wasn’t in Olympia, it wasn’t me. It was people coming out to their families, to their workplace. That’s what’s changed people’s minds.’’

The state Senate is now just one vote shy of having enough backing to approve the bill, with a half-dozen lawmakers remaining uncommitted.

--more--"

Anything else bringing a grin to faces in Washington?

"US says Seattle police use excessive force" Associated Press, December 17, 2011

SEATTLE - Inadequate supervision and training has led Seattle police officers to too quickly resort to the use of weapons like batons and flashlights and to escalate confrontations even when arresting people for minor offenses, the Justice Department said yesterday.

The department launched an investigation last spring following the fatal shooting of a homeless Native American woodcarver and other reported uses of force against minority suspects.

The probe was aimed at determining whether Seattle police have a “pattern or practice’’ of violating civil rights or discriminatory policing, and if so, what they should do to improve.

Federal investigators said they found that Seattle police have engaged in excessive force that violated federal law and the Constitution.

The Department of Justice is conducting 20 investigations of police department across the country and the use of force is a prominent issue in most of them, Perez said.

--more--"

Time to wrap it up, readers:

"Seattle ban on plastic bags advances" December 20, 2011

SEATTLE - The City Council voted unanimously yesterday to ban single-use plastic bags from groceries and other retail stores.

Then how am I going to get my groceries to the car, and what is that fellow making them now going to do for work?

The ordinance also requires a nickel fee for the use of paper bags supplied by stores....

Now wait a minute!

Under the ordinance, money from the nickel fee goes to retailers to reimburse them for stocking paper bags. The previous law that was overturned would have required stores to return the money to the city, which was viewed by some people as a tax.

The new measure waives the paper bag fee for customers receiving food assistance and other government benefits. The city will make free or reduced-cost reusable bags available to people in need.

The ordinance applies only to single-use, checkout bags.

--more--"

"A 66-year-old snowshoer missing on Mount Rainier since Saturday was found alive yesterday by a team of rescuers, a national park spokeswoman said....

--more--"

"Northwest power outages could last days" Associated Press, January 21, 2012

SEATTLE - A storm that brought snow, ice, and powerful winds left a mess of fallen trees and power lines yesterday as tens of thousands of residents already without power faced the prospect of a cold, dark weekend, and flooding became a top region-wide concern.

While temperatures warmed and the icy, snowy conditions abated in western Washington and Oregon, slick roads and fast-melting snow brought challenges for road workers, city officials, and rescue crews. The region also faces more rain as swelling rivers lead to the worst flooding some counties have seen in more than a decade.

The storm continued its plod east, where it was expected to move into the Plains and Great Lakes regions by this evening.

In the Northwest, the system has been blamed for three deaths: a mother and her 1-year-old boy, who died after torrential rain swept away a car from an Albany, Ore., grocery store parking lot; and an elderly man fatally injured by a falling tree as he was backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a shed near Seattle....

--more--"

What you couldn't see on the web:

"PACIFIC NORTHWEST STORM -- A truck veered off Interstate 5 near Nisqually, Wash., during a snowstorm yesterday. The winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow in the region, closing schools, causing accidents on roads, and canceling flights. Weather forecasters warned that heavy rain combined with snow melt could lead to some flooding (Boston Globe January 19 2012)."

"DEADLY WATERS -- A tow truck worked to bring a school bus upright after it tipped in floodwaters yesterday in Salem, Ore. Earlier, raging waters from a flooded Oregon creek swept a carload of four people out of a parking lot and into a canal culvert. Only two survived, a father and son. The body of a mother and her 1-year-old son were recovered later (Boston Globe January 20 2012)."

They were photographs in my printed paper, readers.

Fun has kind of gone out of the Globe.

Cutting Through the Frozen Fart Mist

2012-01-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the vulgarity; however, that is the way I feel the AGW cult these days.

"Alaska hit with another big storm" January 13, 2012|By Associated Press

ANCHORAGE - The worst winter anyone can remember in Alaska has piled snow so high people can’t see out the windows, kept a tanker in ice-choked waters from delivering fuel on time, and turned snow-packed roofs into sled runs.

While most of the nation has gone without much seasonal snow, the state already known for winter is buried in weather that has dumped more than twice as much snow as usual on its largest city, brought out the National Guard, and caused a run on snow shovels.

As a Russian tanker crawled toward the iced-in coastal community of Nome to bring in much-needed fuel, weather-weary Alaskans awoke yesterday to more snow - over a foot was expected to fall in Anchorage - and said enough was enough....

--more--"

"Icebreaker helping fuel reach Nome" Associated PresS, January 09, 2012

ANCHORAGE - A Coast Guard icebreaker is cutting a path through icy seas for a Russian tanker carrying much-needed fuel for the iced-in Alaska city of Nome.

So no war with Russia, right?

Related: Global Warming on a Snowy Wednesday Morning

Or Monday as the case may be.

The 370-foot ship, hauling more than 1.3 million gallons of fuel, is scheduled to arrive later today or tomorrow.

Video released by the Coast Guard showed the two vessels moving steadily through ice jammed seas.

I was told the stuff was melting, pfft, pfft, pfft.

“They’re navigating through ice right now, taking a direct route for now,’’ said Jason Evans, the chief executive of Sitnasuak Native Corp., one of the companies undertaking the delivery.

The city of about 3,500 people in western Alaska normally gets fuel by barge. But it did not get its last prewinter fuel delivery because of a massive storm and it could run out before spring.

The tanker is being shepherded by the Healy, the Coast Guard’s only functioning Arctic icebreaker - a ship of special design with a reinforced hull made to move through ice.

Too many weapons of war on which to waste money.

If the mission is successful, it will be the first time petroleum products have been delivered by sea to a Western Alaska community in winter.

--more--"

"Tanker prepares to deliver fuel in icebound Nome" January 16, 2012

ANCHORAGE - The ice that has cut off a remote Alaska city for months will connect it to the world again as crews prepare to build a path over it to carry fuel from a Russian tanker that was moored roughly a half mile from the town’s harbor yesterday.

A Coast Guard cutter cleared a path through hundreds of miles of Bering Sea ice for the tanker as it made its way toward the city of 3,500 on Alaska’s western coastline, where residents are coping with their coldest winter since the 1970s.

PFFFFFFFFFFTT!!!

The tanker got into position Saturday night, and ice disturbed by its journey had to freeze again so workers could create a roadway across the 2,100 feet from the tanker to the harbor in Nome, upon which they’ll rest a hose that will transfer 1.3 million gallons of fuel. It’ll take about four hours to lay the hose, said Jason Evans, board chairman of the Sitnasuak Native Corp.

Workers yesterday were walking around the vessel and checking the ice to make sure it is safe for the transfer. A Coast Guard spokesman didn’t know how long it will be before fuel flows, because crews must wait 12 hours to ensure that the disturbed ice has refrozen.

A storm prevented Nome’s 3,500 residents from getting a fuel delivery in November. Without the tanker delivery, supplies of diesel fuel, gasoline, and home heating fuel in Nome are expected to run out in March and April, well before a barge delivery again in late May or June.

The tanker began its journey from Russia in mid-December and has slowly made its way toward Nome, stalled by thick ice, strong ocean currents, and one Alaska’s snowiest winters in memory. It picked up diesel fuel in South Korea, then headed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where it took on unleaded gasoline. Late Thursday, the vessels stopped offshore and began planning the transfer to Nome.

--more--"

"Crews to offload fuel to iced-in Nome" January 17, 2012

ANCHORAGE - Crews laid two hoses across a third of a mile of Bering Sea ice yesterday and were hoping to soon begin transferring 1.3 million gallons of fuel from a Russian tanker to the iced-in western Alaska city of Nome....

--more--"

"Fuel transfer runs smoothly in iced-in Alaska city" January 18, 2012

ANCHORAGE - This is the first time petroleum products have been delivered to a western Alaska community by sea in winter, and it relied on a Coast Guard icebreaker that cleared a path for the tanker over hundreds of miles. The mayor said festivities were planned, including a Coast Guard helicopter landing on the beach so children can look inside. Officials also set a basketball game between residents and Coast Guard crew members, who were invited to a pizza dinner....

That will give me gas.

--more--"

Related:

"A volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands sent up an ash cloud yesterday"

A different kind of gas that didn't linger in my newspaper.

Sunday Globe Special: Sadness in South Carolina

2012-01-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Related: Witnesses Document Potential Vote Fraud in S.C. Primaries

I bet I know who got screwed.

"Gingrich roars to win in S.C.; Pugnacious conservatism key to victory" by Michael Levenson and Matt Viser | Globe Staff, January 22, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Newt Gingrich, buried in an avalanche of attack ads in Iowa and deemed irrelevant after the results in New Hampshire, rebounded to victory last night in the South Carolina Republican primary, giving the two-fisted candidate a chance to consolidate conservative support and emerge as the strongest challenger to the formerly high-flying Mitt Romney.

The win capped a stunning, rapid reversal of fortune.

Which is why it stinks to high heaven.

After trailing badly here a week ago, Gingrich ended up with 40.4 percent of the vote, easily outpacing Romney’s 27.8 percent, according to results from 100 percent of the precincts. Rick Santorum placed third with 17 percent, and Ron Paul had 13 percent....

Related: Slow Saturday Special: Veteran's Choice

But somehow he came in fourth.

A surprisingly broad coalition, energized by Gingrich’s pugnacious performances in the two debates last week, carried him to victory and revived concerns about Romney’s ability to appeal to the party’s conservative base.

Romney has long been the most organized, disciplined, and well-funded candidate. But last night’s result showed how he has struggled to translate those advantages into a gut-level appeal to Republican voters. With his cutting, media-bashing debate performances, Gingrich tapped into voters’ desire for a bolder defense of conservative principles....

Romney must now find a way to court disaffected conservatives without abandoning his core message: that he is the most electable candidate, with the deepest economic experience. In South Carolina, that message was threatened by demands that he release his tax returns and by persistent attacks on his past support for abortion rights and the universal health care law he signed in Massachusetts.

With Gingrich poised to channel anti-Romney sentiment in Florida and beyond, Santorum and Paul will have to revive their campaigns on a costlier national stage.

Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, was endorsed in Texas last weekend by a group of conservative pastors who tried to rally religious conservatives to his side. He was also belatedly declared the winner of the Iowa caucuses, but those results seemed to hamper Romney more than boost Santorum.

Related: Santorum's Symbolic Victory

Yeah, it's all about the narrative!

Last night, after a disappointing finish, Santorum vowed to carry on to Florida....

Paul was unable to capitalize on his second-place finish in New Hampshire, and the Texas congressman is not planning to campaign in Florida. Instead, he will turn his focus to smaller states with caucuses, where lower voter turnout means he can use his army of followers to drive his supporters to the polls.

Paul will probably remain in the race for the duration, in part to influence the party platform at the convention. But he acknowledges that chances are slim that he will become the nominee.

“This is the beginning of a long, hard slog,’’ Paul said last night. “We will continue to do this, there is no doubt about it.’’

Gingrich’s victory capped an extraordinarily tumultuous week that began with Romney holding a double-digit lead in South Carolina. Then Santorum was declared the winner in Iowa on a recount, stripping Romney of his narrow win in that state. Rick Perry dropped out and endorsed Gingrich, calling him “a conservative visionary.’’ Gingrich’s former wife asserted that he had asked for an “open marriage’’ in 1999. But Gingrich turned questions about that episode into a denunciation of the “elite media’’ during a debate last week, a moment that seemed to crystallize conservative enthusiasm for the former speaker....

See: Bloggers Have Hand

But it is the MSM jerking you off!

After Florida, which votes Jan. 31, the next five weeks will feature contests in Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine, Arizona, and Michigan.

Romney has several advantages that will help him in this new phase. He has more money in his campaign war chest, which will allow him to blanket the states with ads. That will be particularly crucial in Florida, which has multiple, costly media markets. A super PAC that supports Romney has been deluging the state with direct-mail fliers and ads attacking Gingrich.

Super PACs, a new fund-raising phenomenon that can solicit unlimited donations but cannot coordinate with a candidate’s campaign, have been a contentious and influential element in the race. A super PAC supporting Romney led the negative ad barrage credited with sinking Gingrich’s standing - and hopes - in Iowa.

Gingrich will face the biggest test yet of his unconventional campaign, which relies more on YouTube-ready debate performances than on grass-roots networks. To bolster his prospects in Florida, he is hoping to capitalize on the two debates scheduled for later this week - one tomorrow night in Tampa, and a second on Thursday night in Jacksonville.

Romney, after some hesitation, agreed yesterday to participate in both of those debates, even though his aides have grumbled that there have been too many debates and that they have created a circus-like atmosphere that does not always highlight Romney’s buttoned-down bona fides....

--more--"

"Suddenly for Romney, Florida win seems a must" by Christopher Rowland | Globe Staff, January 22, 2012

Now the Romney campaign is back to what his advisers have always described as Plan A: a potentially prolonged, state-by-state battle through the spring for a majority of nominating convention delegates.
Romney has the advantage in money and organization in Florida and elsewhere to help him win a war of attrition.

New Republican Party rules distribute delegates proportionally to the vote in the early states, a move intended to extend the battleground to Super Tuesday on March 6 and beyond....

The candidates are headed to Florida for the Jan. 31 primary, followed by caucus and primary elections next month, mostly in states that are more moderate than South Carolina: Nevada, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Arizona, and Michigan.

In addition to a friendlier schedule, Romney has the GOP establishment on his side and more resources. But South Carolina demonstrated that those advantages might not be enough in the face of a conservative electorate hungering for a fight - and a fighter.

--more--"

"Florida stands as challenge to Gingrich’s resources; He will need big money to make his case" by Brian C. Mooney | Globe Staff, January 22, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Now comes the hard part for Newt Gingrich. After a ground-shaking win in South Carolina, resource-draining Florida awaits with its 10 media markets, and unless his performance here generates a gusher of new cash and bodies, he lacks the infrastructure and money of Mitt Romney, who has plenty of resources to fall back on.

Gone will be the intimate small town stops on long barnstorming tours of more compact states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. It takes 4 1/2 hours to drive from Tampa to Miami and longer between other major cities. In Florida, you cannot run an effective statewide campaign without a heavy television presence, and that can eat up more than $1 million a week for a modest buy.

Romney’s campaign has already announced it started January with $19 million in cash on hand. Gingrich’s campaign, which was in debt as recently as last fall, has not yet disclosed its year-end financial status. Reports are due to be filed Jan. 31.

The former Massachusetts governor also enjoys the support of a super PAC, Restore Our Future, that has vastly outspent rival organizations backing Gingrich or other Republican presidential candidates....

Of course, Gingrich will have more debate opportunities to shine before the Florida primary. His winning and sometimes scintillating performances in debates have sustained his candidacy thus far. He does not have the machinery in place that Romney does, but he keeps talking about “big ideas’’ in a voice and vocabulary that fires up voters from the party’s base. But even as the former House speaker was surging in South Carolina, the Romney campaign was rolling out almost daily announcements of new supporters and prominent individual endorsements from various states.

Gingrich’s rise in South Carolina was more or less self-propelled. It wouldn’t have happened without a pair of pre-primary debates where he stole the show and Romney stumbled badly. Despite his uncanny ability to generate news, it will be a difficult act to duplicate going forward. After Florida, there is a series of contests in organization-rewarding caucus states, where Ron Paul’s campaign is focusing much of its resources, then a period of multistate contests: Arizona and Michigan primaries on Feb. 28 and seven primaries and three caucuses on Super Tuesday, March 6. Six other multistate days will follow in a process that will not officially end until June.

Gingrich did not even qualify for the ballot in Virginia, one of the bigger Super Tuesday prizes, so he forfeits any chance at the 50 delegates at stake - a telltale sign of the campaign’s lack of focus on critical details. He also failed to qualify in Missouri (52 delegates).

In all, there will be 438 delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday, with the largest being Gingrich’s home state of Georgia. Massachusetts, Romney’s home state, also votes that day....

I will give you one guess who I am voting for (smile).

“Gingrich just isn’t prepared for the Romney juggernaut when you move to a different level of playing field, with multiple states on the same day,’’ said Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “He’s a one-man show.’’

***************************

If the focus on whether Romney should be the nominee has revealed the resistance of the party rank-and-file, Sabato said, a similar focus on Gingrich is unlikely to produce a more favorable response from party establishment figures who have been highly critical of him, in some cases saying he would hurt the GOP ticket in the fall. The harsh on-the-record criticisms of Gingrich by former Republican colleagues who served with him in the House are an issue that could have some legs.

Gingrich’s rise in national polls and the new life breathed into his candidacy should help fundraising. Winning Our Future, the pro-Gingrich super PAC, has provided increased advertising cover after Gingrich’s friend, Sheldon Adelson, who controls a casino empire on two continents, kicked in $5 million shortly before the New Hampshire primary.

He must be the promoter.

See: Gingrich is Good To Go

Anyone have a problem with a Zionist Jew buying a potential president?

True to his word, Gingrich has conducted his campaign his own way. Quirky and prompting head-scratching at times, it certainly looks like a big-time operation, with the big blue bus featuring Newt’s smiling visage, a small fleet of black sport-utility vehicles, and a group of ultra-serious security men wired with earpieces and talking into their sleeves. If the campaign hasn’t been flush, it has not exhibited the type of shoestring budget appearance of former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

But the main attraction is the candidate. He keeps crowds waiting at almost every stop, but they rarely complain, and he always makes time at the end to shake hands, pose for pictures, and sign his books. Many times the stump speech has been followed by sales and signings of books by Gingrich and his wife, Callista, who is almost always at his side.

Yeah, Newt, the devoted and faithful husb.... ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!

Sorry, readers, I thought I could get through it without cracking up but, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!

There will be a lot less time for that in Florida and beyond.

--more--"

While I was digging around South Carolina:

"Police looking for a South Carolina toddler missing since Thanksgiving have found a shovel and what appear to be bloody clothes in his mother’s Columbia home and in her car, according to search warrants....

--more--"

Also see: Judge blocks provisions of new S.C. immigration law

Church owns KKK-linked shop, judge rules

Voter ID foes cite S.C. governor's heritage

I guess that's why South Carolina voted the way it did.

Honestly, I'm sick of the endless stereotypes and prejudice the agenda-pushing paper promotes about Southerners 'round h're.

North Carolina Nazis

2012-01-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

Did they need an H-1B?

"N.C. is urged to compensate those it made sterile; Each should get $50,000, task force says" by Martha Waggoner | Associated Press, January 11, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. - As many as 2,000 people forcibly sterilized decades ago in North Carolina should get $50,000 each, a task force said yesterday, marking the first time a state has moved to compensate victims of eugenics programs that weeded out those it deemed “feeble-minded’’ or otherwise undesirable....

Of course, those are all gone, right?

While dozens of states had programs in the 20th century that allowed people to be sterilized against their will in the name of improving the human race, no other state has offered anything more than apologies....

From 1929 to 1974, more than 7,600 people in North Carolina were surgically rendered unable to reproduce under state laws and practices that singled out epileptics and others considered mentally defective. Many were poor, black women deemed unfit to be parents.

A task force report last year said 1,500 to 2,000 of the victims were still alive, though the state has verified only 72....

While taking away someone’s ability to have children sounds barbaric today, eugenics programs gained popularity in the United States and other countries in the early 1900s, promoted as a means of raising the health and intellectual level of the human race....

Most states abandoned those efforts after World War II, when such practices became closely associated with Nazi Germany’s attempts to achieve racial purity, though North Carolina stood out because it ramped up its program after the war....

So that is where the U.S brought the Nazis they got out of Europe after the war.

Never really see a whole lot about that over here though.

--more--"

That was THEN(?), THIS is NOW:

"Disabled patients’ wishes ignored; Advocates find disturbing trend" by Peter Schworm | Globe Staff, January 22, 2012

The wishes of individuals declared mentally incompetent often go unheeded in family court, lawyers and social workers say, costing them control over the most personal decisions.

In light of this month’s stunning family court ruling that a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia should undergo an abortion and be sterilized, mental health specialists say the case, while an extreme example, casts light on an often unsettling reality for those deemed unable to make decisions for themselves.

In Massachusetts? Good little liberal Democrat Massachusetts?

Even when individuals voice opposition to a course of treatment, from antipsychotic medication to hospitalization, the courts often rule otherwise, lawyers say....

Those who work in the family court system generally praise Massachusetts for its progressive attitudes toward incapacitated individuals, saying their voices typically are allowed greater force here than in other states.

Yet many worry that the recent ruling, which only came to light when it was reversed on appeal, suggests there could be a broader problem at play....

No figures are kept on the number of court-ordered abortions and sterilizations in Massachusetts, but specialists say they are likely more common than typically assumed.

The case, which gained national attention last week, also opened a window on the wrenching decisions relatives and courts are forced to make on behalf of people suffering from mental illness, and the difficulty in determining their will, or what their will would be if they were of sound mind....

In the case, Norfolk Judge Christina Harms ordered the woman to undergo an abortion, stating she could be “coaxed, bribed, or even enticed’’ into the hospital for the procedure. She further directed the woman be sterilized “to avoid this painful situation’’ from happening again.

The woman’s parents, who have custody of her son, were seeking guardianship, and according to court records, believe that terminating the pregnancy is in their daughter’s best interests....

The woman, identified in court records by the pseudonym Mary Moe, has a long history of mental illness. She denies she is pregnant and has refused obstetric testing and care. When discussing a previous abortion, she becomes “agitated and emotional,’’ the appeals ruling stated.

Citing “substantial delusional beliefs,’’ Harms ruled that the woman was not competent to make a decision about an abortion, but if she were, she would choose to terminate her pregnancy.

That line of reasoning, known as “substituted judgment,’’ is required under Massachusetts law in guardianship cases involving “extraordinary treatment,’’ such as abortion, removing life support, and administering antipsychotic medication. It applies to people who are deemed incapacitated for reasons that include mental illness, developmental disabilities, and dementia.

The standard took hold in Massachusetts after a landmark case in the late 1970s involving a profoundly mentally retarded man who was diagnosed with leukemia. The state Supreme Court ruled that incompetent patients have the right to refuse treatment, and that the court must act as a surrogate to determine what the patient would choose.

Massachusetts remains one of a minority of states to follow the substituted judgment standard, said Robert Fleischner, an attorney at the Center for Public Representation in Northampton who specializes in mental health and disability law. Advocates for the mentally ill say the standard is crucial to protecting their welfare and rights....

In practice, however, many courts wind up basing decisions on what they believe would be in the person’s best interests, lawyers said. In a common scenario, patients who resist medication are often ordered to take it.

“It’s a hard row to hoe,’’ Fleischner said. “Once the patient is found to be incompetent, it’s tough to overcome that hurdle. In most cases, there’s no real evidence to what the client would have done, so it’s assumed they would want to take medication.’’

$omeone mu$t benefit from that.

--more--"

Back to North Carolina:

"Study’s race claims rile Duke students; Asserts that black students switch to easier majors" by Martha Waggoner | Associated Press, January 20, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. - An unpublished Duke University study that says black students are more likely to switch to less difficult majors has upset some students, who say the research is emblematic of entrenched racial problems.

The study, which opponents of affirmative action are using in a case they want the US Supreme Court to consider, concludes black students match the grade point averages of whites over time partially because they switch to majors that require less study and have less stringent grading standards.

About three dozen students held a silent protest Sunday outside a speech by black political strategist Donna Brazile that was part of the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance. And members of the Black Student Alliance have met with the provost to express their unhappiness with the study.

“I don’t know what needs to happen to make Duke wake up,’’ said Nana Asante, a senior psychology major and president of the Black Student Alliance.

The reaction surprised one of the researchers, who said he wanted to show the need to find ways to keep minorities in difficult majors such as the sciences, economics, and engineering.

Peter Arcidiacono, an economics professor, wrote the paper in May with a graduate student and Ken Spenner, a sociology professor. Spenner and Arcidiacono are white. The paper has been under review since June at the Journal of Public Economics.

The statistics would probably reflect trends at other schools, Arcidiacono said. The study notes that national science organizations have spent millions to increase the ranks of black science students.

“It’s not just a Duke issue. It’s a national issue,’’ he said.

The researchers analyzed data from surveys of more than 1,500 Duke students before college and during the first, second, and fourth college years. Blacks and whites initially expressed a similar interest in tougher fields but 68 percent of blacks ultimately choose humanities and social science majors, compared with less than 55 percent of whites.

Oh, no, no, no. Take it from the stupid old white man, don't go into those worthless fields.

The study’s claim that majors such as natural sciences required more study time was based on students’ responses to survey questions about how many hours they spent each week on studying and homework. The study found that those fields required 50 percent more study time than social sciences and humanities courses.

It's because of basketball and football practice, right?

Affirmative action opponents cite the study in briefs involving a challenge of the undergraduate admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin.

“What kind of image does this present not only of the academic undertakings of black students at Duke, but also of the merit and legitimacy of our degrees?’’ Asante asked. “And then, of course, it’s calling into question . . . the legitimacy of how we even got to Duke in the first place.’’

Duke, a private university, has about 6,500 undergraduates, about 47 percent of them white and 10 percent black. The largest minority group is Asian-American, at 21 percent. Duke has no formula for admitting students, spokesman Mike Schoenfeld said. Instead, the admissions process takes into account many factors, including race and ethnicity. The school selects about 1,700 students each year from more than 31,000 applicants.

The study is the latest issue to trouble black students at Duke, Asante said. She said administrators have not responded to questions about plans to renovate the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture and have not given support for the black student group’s recruitment weekend.

--more--"

Also see: The Boston Globe Promotes Book of Lies

Duke Lacrosse Stripper Caught in Dragnet

What about the rival university?

"Man who killed UNC student gets life term" December 21, 2011

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. - A Durham man was convicted yesterday and sentenced to life without parole in the slaying of a student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The jury found Laurence Lovette Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the March 2008 slaying of Eve Carson. He was also convicted of first-degree kidnapping and robbery.

Lovette, 20, was not eligible for the death penalty because he was a minor when the crime was committed.

For the kidnapping and robbery charges, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour tacked on an additional 20 years to the end of Lovette’s life sentence.

“Mr. Lovette will spend the rest of his life in prison,’’ Baddour said from the bench. “This act has no place in our society. It is not activity that we can allow to occur in our society. The life that Ms. Carson led was too short, but I know that she continues to be an inspiration, not only for her family, but for thousands across this country.’’

Prosecutors say Lovette, who was 17 at the time, had driven to nearby Chapel Hill with another man, Demario Atwater, to find someone to rob.

In the early-morning darkness, they happened upon Carson, a busy Morehead scholar and much-liked student leader from Athens, Ga., who friends said regularly stayed up all night to do her schoolwork.

The pair shot her five times, prosecutors said, for her ATM card and because she had seen their faces.

--more--"

"Disgruntled worker kills 3, wounds one" Associated Press, January 14, 2012

STAR, N.C. - A gunman who opened fire at a North Carolina lumber company targeted four of his co-workers with a shotgun yesterday, killing three and critically injuring the other, police said.

Ronald Dean Davis went home after the rampage at the warehouse and shot himself in the head, leaving him critically wounded, Montgomery County Sheriff Dempsey Owens said. Davis, 50, was described as disgruntled, but the sheriff did not say exactly what he was upset about.

“He knew who he was after; he knew who he was going to see,’’ Owens said.

When sheriff’s deputies arrived at Davis’s house in Ether, in the central part of the state, they knocked on the door and no one answered. A deputy peered through the window and saw Davis sitting on the couch “with his head hung down.’’

They entered and found him breathing, but with a single gunshot wound to his head, Owens said. A handgun and a six-page note were found nearby. Police did not release what the note said.

“It goes into some details about some things, but really it rambles on,’’ Owens said....

--more--"

I know who is to blame:

"Both men apologized to their fellow Americans for failing to break free of their domineering father and his radical Muslim views."

Yeah, those Islamic guys are responsible for every ill these days.

"Tornado strikes western N. Carolina" Associated Press, January 13, 2012

ELLENBORO, N.C. - Weather officials confirm there was a tornado in the storm system that swept through parts of western North Carolina this week, flinging mobile homes into valleys, damaging dozens of buildings, and injuring nearly 20 people.

The storm system struck Rutherford and Burke counties on Wednesday, as a cold front moved through the western Carolinas....

--more--"

Going to need some homes built:

"N.C. city tries to revive HUD projects; Demand is high in Charlotte for affordable units" December 18, 2011|By Debbie Cenziper, Washington Post

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Homeless shelters in Charlotte, the South’s second-largest city, are packed and housing officials say thousands of affordable rental units are needed just to meet current demand.

To help build homes for the poor, the city turned to the federal government, drawing $3.5 million for four projects that promised 202 units. Years later, all the money from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME fund has been spent, but 83 houses have not been delivered. One project failed to produce a single home....

Charlotte is a case study of a city facing the fallout of delayed affordable housing projects promised to neighborhoods badly in need of new homes. Dozens of cities are in similar straits, trying to right troubled construction deals that failed to produce housing despite millions in HUD funding....

Why is all your tax loot being stolen, American?

--more--"

Any coincidence that is where the Democratic Convention will be held this year (in an anti-union, right-to-work state)?

Pardon Me Over Mississippi Post

2012-01-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

Please.

"Sisters out for kidney donation want to be pardoned in Miss.; Two had served 16 years for armed robbery" by Holbrook Mohr | Associated Press, January 13, 2012

JACKSON, Miss. - Two sisters released from a Mississippi prison last year on condition that one donate a kidney to the other were saddened and disappointed they are not among dozens receiving full pardons, one of the women said yesterday.

Former governor Haley Barbour granted more than 200 reprieves in his final days in office. Most were full pardons, though some received suspended sentences.

Jamie and Gladys Scott had served nearly 16 years of their life sentences for armed robbery when they were released on Jan. 7, 2011. Barbour granted Jamie Scott early release because she suffers from kidney failure and agreed to let Gladys Scott go on the condition she follow through on her offer to donate a kidney within one year. Barbour said Jamie Scott’s dialysis was costing Mississippi about $200,000 a year.

They have not had the surgery because they have not lost enough weight for doctors to consider the procedure safe....

Gladys Scott said yesterday that she started crying when she found out. She said she is in nursing school, but will not be able to become a nurse unless her record is wiped clean.

“I have to report to the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the rest of my life for a crime I didn’t commit,’’ she said. “I guess if I had been a murderer, he would have pardoned me.’’

That seems to be more common in AmeriKa these days.

The sisters say they are innocent, and their lawyer said others involved in the crime have recanted testimony. One of the alleged victims said last year that the sisters planned the 1993 stickup in which he was lured down a dark road and robbed at gunpoint by three teenage boys. Civil rights advocates said the sisters’ sentences were far too harsh.

Chokwe Lumumba, the sisters’ lawyer, said that he will ask Governor Phil Bryant, a Republican, to pardon the women.

Bryant’s spokesman Mick Bullock said in an e-mail that “Governor Bryant has no intentions to pardon anyone.’’

Barbour’s representative did not respond to messages seeking comment.

“It is very contradictory to me . . . that you got people accused of killing people, burning their bodies, and all that kind of stuff, killing pregnant people, who are walking free without any restrictions, and the Scott sisters don’t have that kind of freedom,’’ Lumumba said yesterday....

Barbour has been criticized by many for granting the reprieves, mostly to people who had already served their sentences. But some were convicted killers serving life terms.

Late Wednesday, Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green temporarily blocked the release of 21 inmates who were given pardons or medical release by Barbour.

Green issued the injunction at the request of Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat who said he believes Barbour might have violated the state constitution by pardoning some inmates who failed to give sufficient public notice that they were seeking to have their records cleared.

Gladys Scott said yesterday that she has lost 20 percent of her body weight but needs to lose 50 percent.

Lumumba does not think they would be sent back to prison even if they never have the transplant.

“This governor, amongst other things, is a smart man and he knows, he’s got to know, that it would be an absolute human rights violation to put any legal imposition on someone because of what they have done or what they have not done to their body.’’

--more--"

"Barbour defends pardons, clemencies" Associated Press, January 14, 2012

RIDGELAND, Miss. - Haley Barbour, former governor of Mississippi, said yesterday that he is “very comfortable’’ with his decision to grant pardons or other clemency to more than 200 people, including convicted murderers, in his last days in office.

In his first interview about the pardons, Barbour said that nearly 190 of those who received pardons or other reprieves had already been released from prison.

Only 10 have been or will be fully released from prison, he said, adding that it is a tradition in the state for governors to free the trusties who worked at the Governor’s Mansion.

Four killers freed Sunday were trusties.

Barbour said state corrections officials pick those people, who are usually men convicted of crimes of passion.

I suppose that makes all the difference(?).

“Let’s get the facts straight,’’ Barbour said. “Of the 215 who received clemency, 189 were not let out of jail. They were already out of jail.’’

Attorney General Jim Hood, the only Democrat remaining in statewide elected office in the state, denounced Barbour’s actions as shameful and possibly unconstitutional....

Yesterday, Barbour said he had not anticipated that the pardons would become centered on politics, although he expected some backlash.

Barbour said his father died when he was 2 years old. And when his grandfather, a judge, became disabled, an inmate was assigned to help him.

“I watched the power of a second chance and what it did for Leon Turner,’’ Barbour said.

--more--"

Also see: Mansion work ends for Miss. inmates

Kentucky Code Violation

2012-01-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

"Group of Kentucky Amish continue to defy law" Associated Press, January 12, 2012
MAYFIELD, Ky. - Amish men in rural Graves County have become scofflaws for not using the orange safety triangle on their black horse-drawn buggy, ignoring state law, disobeying orders from a judge, and even going to jail for not paying fines....

--more--"

"Amish men jailed over buggy reflectors" Associated Press, January 13, 2012

MAYFIELD, Ky. - A group of Amish men were sent to jail in western Kentucky yesterday for refusing to pay fines for breaking a state highway law that requires their horse-drawn buggies to be marked with orange reflective triangles.

The men have a religious objection to the bright orange signs, which they say are flashy and conflict with their pledge to live low-key and religious lives.

Ananias Byler, the first of 10 Amish men who appeared in Graves County District Court yesterday, was sentenced to 10 days in jail. The men were jailed after being found in contempt of court for refusing to pay fines. Byler told Judge Deborah Crooks that he would not pay the $489 he owes.

“I totally understand your objection,’’ the judge told Byler. “But you’re in violation, and it’s not up to me to change the law.’’

The men belong to a conservative breakaway group of Amish known as Swartzentruber. They live simply, with no electricity, plumbing, or appliances. But in recent years they have been running afoul of the law here for refusing to use the triangles on their buggies....

--more--"

"School accused of putting autistic student in bag" Associated Press, December 23, 2011

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A 9-year-old autistic boy who misbehaved at his school in central Kentucky was stuffed into a duffel bag and the drawstring pulled tight, according to his mother, who said she found him wiggling inside as a teacher’s aide stood by. She said school officials told her it was not the first time they had put him in the bag....

--more--"

Also see: Mother pulls autistic boy from Ky. school

Sunday Morning Confession

2012-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

I have a basketball game to play this morning; however, I will be back sooner rather than later.

That isn't the confession.

"Young athletes carry on antics of over-the-top stars" by Bella English | Globe Staff, January 19, 2012

These days it’s not just pro athletes who spike the ball in the end zone, raise a finger in triumph, thump their chests, dance a jig, or engage in other victory antics on the field, rink, or court. Youngsters are increasingly engaging in what professional sports calls “excessive celebration.’’

Now comes the confession. I've been much more passionate in the past; however, I am still prone to let loose with a loud "Yeah!!" when sinking a winner for my team after a hard-fought game. The culture doesn't just rub off on the kids.

(11:00 AM update -- I let one rip when I sunk the second of my game-winners today -- a shot that rolled around the rim, up of the glass, back onto the rim, and around and in)

Of course, you would never know from this blog that I am a passionate person (blog editor smiles to himself).

Though the pro rules vary from sport to sport, such demonstrations can result in penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct - and can, as they did with a local high school football game in December - change the outcome of a game....

Oh, we don't have that here, although one week I didn't go because of work I heard there were punches thrown (sigh), and a couple of disagreements have gotten people banned from playing.

As for officials, we are all on the honor system (call your own, or call it if you foul a guy) -- and I think we do a better job with more integrity while playing for nothing but fun, love, and joy. And there are no free throws or three-pointers; it is all ball-up-top, one basket = one point, game to 11, need to win by two.

College athletes aren’t much better. Last week the Arizona Wildcats and Oregon State basketball teams nearly got into a brawl after an Arizona player dunked over an Oregon defender, who fell to the floor, and then stood over him while pounding his own chest in triumph.

Well, no one dunks in our group so that is not an issue.

Youngsters follow their heroes at their own peril. In December, the Cathedral High School football team was poised to clinch the state’s Division 4A Superbowl when its quarterback briefly raised an arm in victory while running for what would have been the winning touchdown. A referee flagged him, the touchdown was taken away, and the team lost.

The case ignited a national debate on the topic of excessive celebration among young athletes. Youth coaches say their jobs are made more difficult by the high-profile posturing of pro athletes, some of whom profit from their trademark gestures....

Don't we have more important things to talk about?

Mark Nardelli, the coach of a Norwood youth football team that had a touchdown nullified because of a chest bump. “It starts from the top and trickles down.’’

That's why AmeriKan society is in such terrible shape.

Ever notice only excrement trickles down, no wealth?

--more--"

And yet here are sports on my front page again.

The self-serving Globe needs to confess to being part of the problem.

Update: Penn State coach Paterno dead at 85

They should have let him coach those last two games and set the all-time record. Actually, having to quit coaching probably killed him. Literally took the air right out of him.

Pakistan's Taliban Talks Out of Both Sides of Its Mouth

2012-01-21T22:35:00.000-08:00

AmeriKan newspapers do the same thing.

One side:

"Taliban commander in Pakistan confirms peace talks; Move threatens to strain tensions between US, ally" December 11, 2011|By Anwarullah Khan, Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - The deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban said yesterday that the militant group was in peace talks with the government and an agreement to end its brutal four-year insurgency was within striking distance.

The statement by Malvi Faqir Mohammad, which appeared timed to exploit tensions between the Pakistan Army and the United States, is likely to stoke further concerns in Washington over Pakistan’s reliability as a long-term partner in the fight against extremists.

It represented the first time a named Taliban commander has confirmed that the group is negotiating with the Pakistani government. Still, it was unclear whether Mohammad speaks for the entirety of the increasingly factionalized network, especially its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud.

Asked about the claim of negotiations, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that his government has followed a policy of “dialogue, deterrence, and development’’ to tackle militants who are based in the lawless Afghan border region.

“That is a continuing process,’’ he said.

Pakistani officials have earlier stated that they do not talk to militants unless they surrender.

Despite pushing for peace talks to end the related insurgency in Afghanistan, Washington is unlikely to support similar efforts to strike a deal in Pakistan. Ties between the two countries have been on a downward trend all year and were dealt a massive blow by an airstrike by US-led forces in Afghanistan two weeks ago that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

American forces and their NATO and Afghan allies regularly come under attack from Afghan militants and Al Qaeda operatives, who live alongside Pakistani Taliban militants in the border region. Previous peace deals in the northwest didn’t last long and gave militants time to rest and regroup, as well as space for foreign extremists to prosper....

After heavy US pressure and billions in aid, the Pakistani Army pummeled militants in the northwest over the past four years, helped greatly by American-fired drone strikes, killing many hundreds but falling well short of victory. Nevertheless, the pressure may have helped put the insurgents into talks or led factions to suggest a truce....

The Pakistani Taliban, closely allied with Al Qaeda, have been behind much of the violence tearing apart Pakistan over the last 4 ½ years. At least 35,000 people have been killed in suicide bombings, other insurgent attacks, and army offensives.

Despite the Taliban’s record of indiscriminate violence, much of it directed at civilians, there is political and public support for talks.

Meaning the PEOPLE WANT PEACE!

In September, the weak civilian government announced it was prepared to “give peace a chance’’ with militants, pandering to right-wing Islamist parties and their supporters.

I'm so sick of the war paper.

Many Pakistanis share the hard-line religious and anti-American views of the Taliban.

They believe the militants could be brought into the fold if Islamabad severed its alliance with the United States, which they blame for sparking the insurgency by invading Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

That narrative has gained strength over the last year, during which an American CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis, a unilateral American raid killed Osama bin Laden and the airstrikes the deadly border attacks on Nov 26. Following each incident, the army whipped up anti-US sentiment among the public.

For those who don't know, Davis is the CIA agent who was caught trying to give "Al-CIA-Duh" nuclear and biological weapons.

Also see: Bin Laden Stories Show AmeriKan Media Not to be Believed

About that or anything else these days.

The army maintains the border strike was a deliberate attack by the US-led coalition. American officials deny that, saying it was tragic mistake. The army response has helped further popularize the narrative that America - not the Taliban - is the country’s enemy, giving militants and their supporters who have long argued along those lines fresh legitimacy.

“As Pakistan distances itself from a key ally in the war on terror, it is only natural that the Taliban should make its position flexible and reach out to it,’’ said Ishtiaq Ahmed, a professor of international relations at Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad. “The timing is right, the political winds in Pakistan and crumbling relations between the United States are narrowing the space between the Taliban and the state.’’

Violence has dropped significantly over the last year, leading to speculation that some kind of peace talks were perhaps ongoing. This week, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik actually thanked the Taliban for acting on what he said was a “request’’ not to stage attacks during a Shi’ite Muslim festival.

And if there were any attacks there is no doubt in my mind it was "Al-CIA-Duh."

--more--"

Now the other:

"Pakistani Taliban spokesman denies peace talks; Conflicting claims show cracks in militant group" by Rasool Dawar | Associated Press, December 12, 2011

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A Pakistani Taliban spokesman yesterday denied an earlier announcement by the militant group’s deputy chief that it was holding peace talks with the government.

The conflicting claims are a clear sign of splits within the movement, which could make it harder for Islamabad to strike a deal to end the violent insurgency gripping the country. At the same time, the cracks could make it easier to suppress the insurgency militarily.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani government said the United States vacated an air base that had been used by American drones. Islamabad had ordered the Americans out in retaliation for US airstrikes last month that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border.

Was it an accident?

Government-militant talks could strain the already troubled relationship between Pakistan and the United States.

The relationship suffered a severe blow when NATO airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two army posts along the Afghan border Nov. 26.

Pakistan retaliated in several ways, including by giving the United States until yesterday to vacate the Shamsi Air Base used by American drones in southwestern Baluchistan Province.

The Pakistani military said the last flight carrying US personnel and equipment left Shamsi yesterday, and the base was taken over by the army.

Pakistan also retaliated for the deaths of its soldiers by closing its Afghan border to supplies meant for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Suspected militants torched four fuel tankers yesterday near Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, that were headed south to Karachi, said Azim Lehri, a local government official.

Four other tankers were hijacked near Quetta, but two of them were subsequently recovered by police, said Saeed Ahmed, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

You never see much about supply line problems in the AmeriKan media.

Pakistan’s conflict with its branch of the Taliban is closely linked to the American-led war in Afghanistan.

Past informal cease-fires have made it easier for Afghan militants sheltered by their Pakistani counterparts to attack US forces across the border - making potential peace talks between Islamabad and the Pakistani Taliban a possible cause of concern in Washington.

Yeah, ANY TALK of PEACE at all is a CONCERN!

From Islamabad’s perspective, rising anger against the United States increases the incentive to cut a deal with the Pakistani Taliban, as many blame the conflict on their government’s alliance with Washington.

However, the government’s ability to negotiate with the clandestine militant movement will be made vastly more complicated by the Taliban’s murky command structure and the difficulty in telling whether commanders who say they are willing to make peace actually have any authority on the ground....

Translation: Some are working for the CIA!

--more--"

Others are not:

"Taliban in Pakistan declare a cease-fire; Uncertain if all militant factions will participate" November 23, 2011|By Ishtiaq Mehshud, Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - The Pakistani Taliban have declared a cease-fire to encourage nascent peace talks with the government, a senior commander said, a move that appears to show the group’s willingness to strike a deal.

It was unclear yesterday whether all the militants who say they are under the Taliban banner would obey the directive, which the commander said had been in effect for a month. The Pakistani Taliban are believed to be divided into many factions. There has also been significant militant violence in the country in recent weeks....

Above I was told violence is down (sigh).

The Pakistani Taliban, allied with Al Qaeda and based in the northwest close to the Afghan border, have been behind much of the violence tearing apart Pakistan over the last four years. At least 35,000 people have been killed in guerrilla attacks and army offensives.

The Taliban want to oust the US-backed government and install a hardline Islamist regime. They also have international ambitions and trained the Pakistani-American who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York City’s Times Square in 2010.

Related: Times Square

The United States, which has pounded the Taliban with missiles fired by drones, wants Pakistan to keep the pressure on insurgents and would probably be concerned about any effort to strike a deal. Many of America’s fiercest foes in Afghanistan - as well as Al Qaeda operatives from around the world - live alongside the militants in the Pakistani region of North Waziristan....

Have you had enough war propaganda yet because I have?

Much remains unclear about the nature of the reported talks and their potential. Both the army and the militants have previously engaged in misinformation....

Once again we have a pot-hollering kettle of a press.

Army offensives against the Taliban are unpopular among many Pakistanis, many of whom view the militants as misguided brothers rather than terrorists. Right-wing and Islamist parties that support their aims have long called for a peace deal.

Me, too.

This view appeared to get traction in September when government leaders, opposition politicians, and other national figures met in Islamabad and produced a vague resolution in support of peace moves with militants....

--more--"

"Head of Taliban school offers to help peace talks" November 25, 2011|By Chris Brummitt, Associated Press

AKORA KHATTAK, Pakistan - At the hard-line Islamic school that spawned a generation of Afghan Taliban leaders, the top cleric still lectures his students to go to Afghanistan to fight Americans. But privately, he says he is willing to help bring insurgents to peace talks.

The offer by the influential “father of the Taliban’’ raises some hope for American attempts to find a negotiated end to the 10-year-old war - not necessarily because he will indeed be brought in as a mediator, but more because it gives a sign that there is a willingness among the Taliban and their allies to talk, something that has been thrown in doubt by months of setbacks in efforts to start negotiations.

“There must be some way out,’’ said the cleric, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq. “A way out that can also give America a respectable exit. Bloodletting is not a solution.’’

America’s public commitment to peace talks is stronger then ever as it works to bring the bulk of its troops home from Afghanistan by 2014. It has called on Pakistan to bring insurgents into the process, but there has been little progress. American officials believe greater military pressure against the insurgents is still needed - through operations in Afghanistan and drone strikes in the Pakistan border region, an approach it calls “fighting and talking.’’

“We are pounding them, and there is some evidence that people would like to come to an agreement,’’ said a senior US official, who did not give his name because of the diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the reconciliation process.

And here I was told the strikes had slowed down.

In a new pressure move, the United States has designated Mali Khan, a commander in the militant Haqqani network, as a specially designated global terrorist. The designation freezes any assets or property he may have in US jurisdictions and bars Americans from providing him with material support.

Haq, in his 70s, is a respected figure among militants on both sides of the border. His religious school, Darul Uloom Haqqania, counts among its graduates the head of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, as well as leading figures in the Haqqani network, the militant group based in the Pakistan border region that the United States counts as its most dangerous opponent. The family that heads the network took its name from the school.

Related: Haqqani Ha-Ha

It really is just not funny anymore.

On a recent day, Haq walked across his campus to deliver a lecture to about 500 young men set to graduate soon. The students sat on the floor in rows in a cavernous hall as he urged them “to make preparations for jihad’’ in Afghanistan.

As Haq left the hall, hundred of students crowded around him to shake his hand, a measure of the regard he is held in. The school, which was founded in 1947 and has about 3,000 students, has a hard-line curriculum, instilling not only calls for jihad but also the extreme puritanical strain of Islam that the Taliban imposed on Afghanistan.

Haq said ongoing resistance to the United States and its allies in Afghanistan was justified, and he said he and other Taliban supporters are deeply suspicious of the peace process. He said many militants believe that US moves for talks aim to weaken the insurgency by dividing it into different, competing factions.

Haq said neither the government nor the army had asked him to mediate, but that he would if asked.

--more--"

Yup, we all know about Pakistan's schools:

"Pakistan texts teach intolerance, study says" November 09, 2011|Associated Press

ISLAMABAD - Textbooks in Pakistani schools foster prejudice and intolerance of Hindus and Christians, while most teachers view religious minorities as “enemies of Islam,’’ according to a study by a US government commission released today.

What a surprise.

The findings indicate how deeply ingrained hard-line Islam is in Pakistan and help explain why militancy is often supported, tolerated, or excused in the country.

In an AmeriKan school the recruiting office is just down the hall.

“Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability, and global security,’’ said Leonard Leo, the chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Then we better just invade the place, huh?

Pakistan was created in 1947 as a homeland for the Muslims of South Asia and was initially envisaged as a moderate state where minorities would have full rights. But three wars with mostly Hindu India, state support for militants fighting Soviet-rule in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and the appeasement of hard-line clerics by weak governments seeking legitimacy have led to a steady radicalization of society.

The ORIGINAL "Al-CIA-Duh!"

Religious minorities and those brave enough to speak out against intolerance have often been killed, seemingly with impunity, by militant sympathizers. The commission warned that any significant efforts to combat religious discrimination, especially in education, would “likely face strong opposition’’ from hard-liners.

The study reviewed more than 100 textbooks from grades 1-10.

--more--"

Actions speak louder than words, right?

"23 die in Pakistan as troops, militants clash" October 18, 2011|Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Paramilitary forces raided a militant hideout in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region near the Afghan border yesterday, sparking fighting that killed nine soldiers and 14 insurgents, officials said.

Clashes are common in the area, but the death toll from the fighting was unusually high on the Pakistani side....

Another military official said helicopter gunships were called in to support the troops after the fighting escalated....

On Sunday, Pakistani intelligence officials said a recent US missile strike in Pakistan’s tribal region killed three Egyptians linked to the Haqqani network, including one who played a key role in handling the militant group’s finances.

--more--"

"Taliban suicide bomber kills 6 Pakistani soldiers" December 24, 2011|Rasool Dawar and Ishtiaq Mahsud, Associated Press

A Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into a paramilitary camp in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing six soldiers in the second attack in as many days meant to avenge the slaying of a senior commander in a U.S. drone strike.

That's all my printed Globe gave me on Christmas Sunday.

The bombing against the Frontier Corps camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu town caused part of a building to collapse and wounded at least 19 soldiers, said local police officer Tahir Khan.

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press. He said it was meant to avenge the death of commander Taj Gul in a U.S. drone strike in October in the South Waziristan tribal area, a key sanctuary for the militants.

Gul was the Pakistani Taliban’s operational commander in South Waziristan and was responsible for many attacks against security forces.

On Friday, around three dozen Pakistani Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles attacked a paramilitary camp in Tank district near South Waziristan before dawn, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others.

Ehsan, the Taliban spokesman, said Friday that attack was also meant to avenge Gul’s death. The militants targeted the soldiers because of Pakistan’s alliance with the United States, he said.

Ehsan pledged they would kill the kidnapped troops, saying “we are going to cut these soldiers into pieces one by one, and we will send these pieces to their commanders.’’

The Pakistani Taliban has waged a fierce insurgency in Pakistan over the past four years, killing tens of thousands of security personnel and civilians. Their aim is to topple the civilian government, partly because of its alliance with the U.S., and impose Islamic law throughout the country.

Pakistan has launched a series of military offensives against the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest along the Afghan border, including in South Waziristan.

Analysts say the operations, combined with hundreds of U.S. drone attacks, have contributed to a significant decline in violence in Pakistan this year. But militants still carry out attacks almost daily that have killed more than 2,300 people through November, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies....

Violence is down, violence is up -- just like the drones.

--more--"

"British Red Cross worker abducted in Pakistan; 15 officers killed in retaliation for army operation" by Abdul Sattar and Munir Ahmed | Associated Press, January 06, 2012

QUETTA, Pakistan - Armed men kidnapped a British Red Cross worker from the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta yesterday, police and the Red Cross said, highlighting the fragile security situation in the country.

The kidnapping took place hours after Islamist militants elsewhere in the country killed 15 Pakistani security officers they seized last month close to the Afghan border, leaving their naked, bullet-riddled bodies sprawled on the ground.

Given the secret memo and the air strikes I would say this was an "Al-CIA-Duh" job.

Police officer Nazir Ahmed Kurd said the man was taken from a vehicle in an upscale housing complex in Quetta. The assailants bundled him into their car and drove off. Kurd said the man was visiting a local school.

Sitara Jabeen, an International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman, said health program manager Khalil Rasjed Dale, a British national, was on his way home from work in a clearly marked Red Cross vehicle when he was seized near his residence.

In a statement, she said despite the incident, the Red Cross would continue its humanitarian work in Pakistan. She called for a “rapid and unconditional release’’ of Dale.

Baluchistan Province is home to Islamist militants and separatist insurgents.

Both groups have kidnapped foreigners and locals in the region before.

Another officer, Ahsan Mahboob, said the British man was traveling with a Pakistani doctor and a driver who were not abducted.

In 2009, an American working for the United Nations refugee agency in the city was kidnapped from the same district as the British aid worker. John Solecki was held for two months by the separatist Baluchistan Liberation United Front before he was released.

Related: Hidden Hostages in the Hindu Kush

Taliban Will Take Your Head

Zionist MSM Propaganda Reaches Peak on Pakistan

The 15 Pakistani officers from the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary were killed in retaliation for an army operation on Jan. 1 in northwest Pakistan that killed several militants, including a prominent commander, according to a statement from the Pakistani Taliban.

It alleged that troops also killed a woman and arrested others, “something that was forbidden and illegitimate in Islam as well as against tribal traditions.’’

******************************

In recent months, some militant commanders and intelligence officials have claimed that peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, one of the largest and most brutal militant groups, were underway. But other Pakistani Taliban commanders have dismissed this, and sporadic attacks have continued.

Tribal leaders and analysts speculate that the group, which has been pounded by Pakistani Army offensives and American missile strikes over the last few years, is riven with internal splits.

Also yesterday, the Taliban freed 17 Pakistani boys after holding them for four months in neighboring Afghanistan, said Islam Zeb, a government administrator in Pakistan’s troubled Bajur tribal region.
He said others were still in the custody of Taliban, who seized a group of 40 boys in September. The boys went to Afghanistan’s Kunar Province when a man invited them to play in a river there....

???????????

--more--"

"Ex-Pakistan envoy denies link to coup memo" January 10, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Government officials said yesterday that Islamist militants killed 10 paramilitary soldiers they had been holding hostage since last month, the second time the insurgents have killed security force captives close to the Afghan border in a week.

--more--"

"Truck bomb in Pakistan kills 2 dozen" New York Times, January 11, 2012

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - More than two dozen people, including women and children, were killed yesterday by a truck bomb that a senior government official said appeared to target a progovernment group in western Pakistan as an act of reprisal for the recent death of a militant leader.

The bombing appeared to have been carried out by Tehrik-i-Taliban, an umbrella organization of Pakistani militant groups, against the Zakhakhel tribe, which has formed a militia in support of the government, said Mutahir Zeb, administrator for the Khyber tribal region.

Otherwise known as the CIA's wing of the Taliban.

Zeb said the militant group sought to avenge the death of Qari Kamran, a local Taliban commander, by security forces last week in an area occupied by the Zakhakhel.

The bomb destroyed several vehicles, damaged a nearby gasoline pump, and shattered windows in the area. Twenty-seven people were also wounded in the bombing and were taken to hospitals in Peshawar....

Yesterday’s bombing fit a pattern of previous revenge attacks, Zeb said. In August, militants struck a mosque in the region, killing 51 people to punish a progovernment Kukikhel tribe. The new year has begun with increased violence across the Khyber region and Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack, but the Tehrik-i-Taliban group has said it carried out at least two operations against Pakistani forces during the past week, killing 25 security officers in North Waziristan and the Orakzai tribal region.

--more--"

Related: Car bomb in Pakistan kills 10

Pakistani Writes Home From U.S.

2012-01-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

"Pakistani journalist gets US asylum after threats from home; Colleagues were turning up dead" November 25, 2011|By Pamela Constable, Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Siraj Ahmed Malik, an ambitious young Pakistani journalist, was enjoying a stint last fall on a fellowship at Arizona State University when he started getting chilling messages from home.

One after another, his friends and colleagues were disappearing, he learned, and their bodies were turning up with bullet holes and burn marks. A doctor’s son from his hometown was arrested and vanished. A fellow reporter was kidnapped, and his corpse was found near a river. A student leader was detained, and his bullet-riddled body dumped on a highway. A writer whose stories Malik had edited was shot and killed.

“These were kids I had played cricket with, people I had interviewed, younger reporters I had taught,’’ Malik, 28, said in an interview in Arlington, Va., where he now lives. The final straw came in early June, when one of his mentors, a poet and scholar, was gunned down in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, Malik’s native province.

On Aug. 19, Malik applied for political asylum in the United States. In his petition, he said that his work as a journalist and ethnic activist in Baluchistan, where he had exposed military abuses, made him likely to be arrested, tortured, abducted, and “ultimately killed by the government’’ if he returned.

See: Pakistan's Death Squads

Recently, his petition was granted. It was a highly unusual decision by US immigration officials, given Pakistan’s status: a strategic partner in Washington’s war against Islamic terrorism; a longtime recipient of US aid; and a democracy with an elected civilian government and vibrant national news media.

“I never wanted to leave my country, but I don’t want to become a martyr, either,’’ said Malik, a soft-spoken but steely man who spends his days hunched over a laptop at coffee shops, checking with sources back home to update his online newspaper, whose name means “Baluch Truth.’’

“What’s going on in Baluchistan is like the dirty war in Argentina,’’ he said. “I need to be telling the story, but I can’t afford to become the story.’’

Baluchistan is the Wild West of Pakistan - a remote desert province, larger than France, that is home to a mix of radical Islamic groups, rival ethnic and refugee gangs, rebellious armed tribes, and security agencies that have long been reported to kidnap, torture, and kill dissidents with impunity.

Yet this ongoing violence and skulduggery receives scant international attention. Foreign journalists are banned from visiting the region alone, and headlines about Pakistan are dominated by the high-stakes border conflict in which American drones and Pakistani troops are battling the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

As a result, a handful of local journalists such as Malik have been left to investigate and report the news without big-city patrons or visiting foreign delegations to give them cover.

Malik’s case for protection was bolstered by reports from human rights groups and letters from university officials in Arizona, who called him “nothing short of brave.’’ In a July report, Human Rights Watch described a “practice of enforced disappearances’’ of Baluch leaders and intellectuals, often by security agencies, and listed 45 abductions or killings since 2009.

Activists including Malik assert that more than 5,000 Baluch have vanished in the past decade, but the issue has never been seriously addressed, while the government has both co-opted and persecuted Baluch tribal chiefs. In 2007, Pakistan’s military president fired the head of the Supreme Court, who sought to investigate the disappearances. In 2008, a civilian government took office and an investigative commission was established, but little action has been taken.

--more--"

Related:

"Pakistan to debate democracy plan" by Karin Brulliard | Washington Post, January 14, 201

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - In a separate development yesterday, a commission that spent six months investigating last year’s slaying of a Pakistani journalist, Syed Saleem Shahzad, said it had failed to identify the killer.

Human rights organizations, Pakistani journalists, and some US officials have accused Pakistan’s spy agencies of killing Shahzad, who had feared that he would be killed by intelligence operatives angered by his reporting on militant groups and their links to the military.

Like ties to "Al-CIA-Duh?"

--more--"

Also see: CIA-Duh Journalist Killed in Pakistan

Shahzad's Service

Pivot on Pakistan

Pakistani Trick-or-Treat

2012-01-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

Came a-knockin' kind of late, didn't I?

"US strategy puts faith in Pakistan’s spies; Plan’s goal is peace talks in Afghanistan Agents have aided militants, officials say" October 31, 2011|By David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, New York Times

WASHINGTON - Just a month after accusing Pakistan’s spy agency of secretly supporting the Haqqani terrorist network, which has mounted attacks on Americans, the Obama administration is now relying on the same intelligence service to help organize and kick-start reconciliation talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan.

Related: Haqqani Ha-Ha

It's just not funny anymore.

The revamped approach, which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called “Fight, Talk, Build’’ during a high-level US delegation’s visit to Kabul and Islamabad this month, combines continued US air and ground strikes against the Haqqani network and the Taliban with an insistence that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency get them to the negotiating table.

See: Clinton Complains to Pakistan

I've got some of my own for her.

But some elements of the ISI see little advantage in forcing those negotiations, because they see the insurgents as perhaps their best bet for maintaining influence in Afghanistan as the United States reduces its presence there.

Related: Afghanistan After 2014

We are staying for how long?

The strategy is emerging amid an increase in the pace of attacks against Americans in Kabul, including a suicide attack Saturday that killed as many as 10 Americans and in which the Haqqanis are suspected.

It is the latest effort at brokering a deal with militants before the last of 33,000 US “surge’’ troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan by September, and comes as early hopes in the White House about having the outlines of a deal in time for a multinational conference Dec. 5 in Bonn, Germany, have been all but abandoned. But even inside the Obama administration, the initiative has been met with deep skepticism, in part because the Pakistani government has developed its own strategy, one at odds with Clinton’s on several key points. One senior US official summarized the Pakistani position as “Cease-fire, Talk, Wait for the Americans to Leave.’’

In short, the United States is in the position of having to rely heavily on the ISI to help broker a deal with the same group of militants that leaders in Washington say the spy agency is financing and supporting.

So how does the shoe feel on the other foot, CIA?

“The Pakistanis see the contradictions in the American approach,’’ said Shamila N. Chaudhary, a former top Obama White House aide on Pakistan and Afghanistan. “The big question for the administration is, ‘What can the Pakistanis actually deliver?’ Pakistan is holding its cards very closely.’’

Yesterday, US intelligence officials deepened an investigation into what role, if any, the Haqqani network played in the bombing in Kabul on Saturday. A suicide car bomb smashed into an armored bus full of troops, killing 13 foreigners, including up to 10 Americans soldiers and civilian contractors.

The Taliban immediately took credit for the bombing, but Afghan and US officials suspect that the bombing was the work of the Haqqani faction, and that the message the Haqqanis are sending is that they are able to kill foreign troops.

Several current and former US officials say the United States has tried a bomb-them-to-the-bargaining-table approach before. In the 1990s, it helped drive Serbian leaders to peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, but it has resulted in little so far with the Afghan Taliban.

“I don’t think anyone expects Secretary Clinton’s visit to produce reconciliation,’’ said Bruce O. Riedel, a former CIA officer and the author of “Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America, and the Future of the Global Jihad.’’ Riedel, who advocates a policy of containment in Pakistan, added, “The deterioration of US-Pakistan relations is likely to continue.’’

Former CIA, huh? That's who the newspaper turns to for an expert source?

Senior Pakistani officials say they are confused by a lack of clarity in the administration’s long-term goals in Afghanistan, and are working with US officials to hammer out specific plans after Clinton’s visit. As an incentive, the United States has offered Pakistan a prominent role in reconciliation talks. But US officials have warned that they will take unilateral action if negotiations fail.

Several administration officials said they considered Clinton’s trip to Kabul and Islamabad, from Oct. 19 to 21, a success largely because it had happened at all....

That's a pretty low bar, isn't it?

--more--"

Pakistan Cricket Chirps

2012-01-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

Can't you hear them, Americans?

"Sport legend’s political star rises in Pakistan" December 26, 2011

KARACHI - More than 100,000 people rallied in support of Pakistani cricket legend and opposition politician Imran Khan in the southern city of Karachi yesterday, further cementing his status as a rising force in politics.

His message of cracking down on corruption and standing up to the United States has found new resonance at a time when Pakistanis are fed up with the country’s chronic insecurity and economic malaise....

--more--"

"Pakistani politician rallies 100,000" October 31, 2011|Associated Press

ISLAMABAD - Opposition politician Imran Khan railed against the government and its alliance with the United States before more than 100,000 flag-waving supporters yesterday, establishing himself as a force in Pakistani politics.

Khan, 58, a legendary cricket player, entered politics 15 years ago when he founded Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice Party, but up to now he has struggled to translate his fame into votes.

The rally in the eastern city of Lahore indicated his message may have found new resonance at a time when Pakistanis are fed up with the country’s instability and economic malaise.

“I have come here to register my hatred against this corrupt system,’’ said 29-year-old Nadeem Iqbal, who attended the rally.

A poll conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center in June found Khan, the captain of Pakistan’s 1992 world champion cricket team, to be the most popular political figure in the country.

Khan’s rising popularity could be a concern for the United States, given his harsh criticism of the Pakistani government’s cooperation with Washington in the fight against Islamist militants.

He has been especially critical of US drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region along the Afghan border.

I abhor the damn things.

The latest suspected strike killed six alleged militants in a vehicle in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

And here I was told the strikes had slowed down.

Khan has argued that Pakistan’s alliance with the United States is the main reason Pakistan is facing a homegrown Taliban insurgency.

--more--"

Also see: Pakistan Con Jobs

Bhutto Brief

2012-01-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

Just keeping the conspiracy quiet.

"2 officers indicted in Bhutto’s killing

ISLAMABAD - Two police officers and five members of the Pakistani Taliban will be tried in the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a state prosecutor said. The policemen were charged yesterday with failing to provide Bhutto proper security and with destroying evidence Bhutto and 23 other people were killed Dec. 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi (AP)."

"CROWDS RECALL BHUTTO -- Pakistanis brought posters of slain leader Benazir Bhutto to a ceremony in Islamabad yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of her death. Bhutto, a former prime minister, was assassinated in Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007 (Boston Globe December 28 2011)."

"Former Pakistani president faces arrest" January 08, 2012

ISLAMABAD - Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, will be arrested in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto if he returns to the country, a government prosecutor said yesterday....

Musharraf has been living in London and Dubai since 2008 when the government, led by Bhutto’s party, forced him to resign.

Bhutto was killed in 2007 in a gun and suicide bomb attack near the capital, Islamabad, after returning home to contest elections. Musharraf, at the time, had blamed the Pakistani Taliban for her murder, but the prosecution alleges he was part of the plot.

Musharraf now heads his own faction of the All Pakistan Muslim League, a small political party without a major base in the country. Some former supporters have quit his party.

--more--"

FLASHBACK:

"Court issues arrest warrant for former Pakistani leader; Musharraf faces accusation of ties to Bhutto’s death" by Asif Shahzad, Associated Press / February 13, 2011

ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for ousted military leader Pervez Musharraf yesterday over allegations that he played a role in the 2007 assassination of an ex-prime minister and rival. It was a major setback for the onetime US ally, who was plotting a political comeback from outside the country....

The stunning allegation that Musharraf — a self-declared opponent of Islamic militancy — was linked to extremists accused in the attack was likely to keep him out of Pakistan, at least in the short term....

Musharraf’s spokesman said the former leader was in Dubai....

Then SOMEONE GO and GET HIM!!

Ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed Dec. 27, 2007, in a gun and suicide bomb attack after returning to Pakistan to campaign in elections Musharraf reluctantly allowed. Musharraf blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack, but government prosecutors now say he was part of the plot.

Related: Pakistan's JFK

“A joint investigation team, in its report to the court, has found Musharraf guilty of being involved in the conspiracy’’ to kill Bhutto, said Zulfikar Ali Chaudhry, the lead prosecutor.

He said evidence that Musharraf was “completely involved’’ has come from the Pakistani Taliban....

Those liars?

Musharraf’s lawyer said his client is innocent but has no plans to contest the allegations in court, where he has been ordered to appear Saturday.

“This is just a drama. It is all politics,’’ Mohammad Ali Saif said.

Musharraf has not been indicted. The court is conducting preliminary hearings about the accusations, and prosecutors say Musharraf will have an opportunity to defend himself.

A UN investigation into the assassination said Musharraf’s government didn’t do enough to ensure Bhutto’s security and that a sloppy investigation may have erased or missed evidence. The UN was not tasked with finding out who was behind the killing.

CUI BONO?

Also see: Throwing More Dirt on Bhutto's Grave

After her death, Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party rode a wave of public sympathy to garner the most seats in 2008 elections. It then forced Musharraf to step down by threatening impeachment.

Kind of backfired on him, huh?

He left for London and has spent a good deal of time on the lecture circuit, including in the United States.

Maybe not.

Washington backed Musharraf for much of his military rule because he was, at least officially, a close ally in its fight against militants, including those who used Pakistan’s soil as a hideout to prepare attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

Yeah, ONCE AGAIN AmeriKa BACKED A DICTATOR against the wishes of his own people!

--more--"

Clinton Complains to Pakistan

2012-01-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

She just goes on and on!

"Clinton issues warning to Pakistan" October 21, 2011|By Joby Warrick and Karin Brulliard, Washington Post

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Pakistan yesterday to eradicate terrorist safe havens inside its borders, saying there would be a “very big price’’ for inaction against militant groups staging attacks in Afghanistan.

Clinton’s tough words for Pakistani leaders came as an unusually large delegation of US officials, led by Clinton, converged on the capital to urge Pakistani officials to take on the Haqqani network....

Related: Haqqani Ha-Ha

It's just not funny anymore.

“We will be delivering a very clear message to the government of Pakistan and to the people of Pakistan,’’ Clinton told reporters during a stopover in Afghanistan for meetings with President Hamid Karzai “There should be no support, and no safe havens, for terrorists anywhere who kill innocent women and children.’’

US officials have accused Pakistan of tolerating and, in some cases, supporting Haqqani clan members in a string of violent attacks against US and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan denies.

While insisting that both countries share a responsibility for fighting terrorism, Clinton hinted of consequences for Pakistan if the government fails to do more to stop attacks emanating from the Pakistani side.

Like what, air strikes on border outposts?

“No one should be mistaken about this being allowed to continue without the paying of a very big price,’’ Clinton said. She said Islamabad’s leaders “must be part of the solution, which means ridding their own country of terrorists who kill their own people and cross the border to kill people in Afghanistan.’’

Clinton spoke of a growing international effort to squeeze the Haqqani network on both sides of the border, adding that the effort “will be more apparent in the days ahead.’’

“It is a fact that they are operating out of safe heavens in Pakistan,’’ Clinton said.

Relations between Afghan and Pakistani officials have been badly strained following a series of high-profile attacks and assassinations, including the slaying on Sept. 20 of Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former Afghan president and the point man for reconciliation talks between the Afghan government and the radical Islamist Taliban movement. After Rabbani’s death, Karzai said peace efforts were useless unless Pakistan was heavily involved.

See: Rubbing Out Rabbani

Now who would want to do that?

Standing beside Clinton yesterday, Karzai repeated his assertion that his country’s insurgency is “to a very, very great extent controlled by establishments in Pakistan.’’

“They stay in Pakistan, have their headquarters in Pakistan, launch operations from Pakistan,’’ Karzai said. “It is not in the manner of pointing fingers that we seek to talk to Pakistan, but rather in the manner of finding the proper venue and proper authority for talks.’’

Clinton arrived in Islamabad late yesterday to head a US delegation that included newly appointed CIA director David Petraeus and General Martin Dempsey, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, a top White House adviser on the war in Afghanistan, and Marc Grossman, the State Department’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The visit, like the stopover in Kabul, was kept under wraps because of security concerns.

The schedule for the 24-hour visit was packed with meetings with top leaders of Pakistan’s civilian government and its military and defense establishment. State Department officials said the unusual size of the US delegation was intended to convey the urgency of the situation in Afghanistan and the importance of Pakistan as critical partner in the war against terrorism....

--more--"

"Clinton keeps applying pressure in Pakistan over terrorist havens" October 22, 2011|By Steven Lee Myers, New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Despite the convergence of the top US diplomatic, military, and intelligence officials, the talks appeared to produce no immediate breakthrough in the deeply strained relationship.

The delegation, officials said, bluntly warned Pakistan that it faced a decisive choice between fighting alongside the United States - or watching as US forces act alone against the extremist Haqqani network, even inside Pakistan, if necessary....

We already have. Looks like a violation of sovereignty to me.

For the first time, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged that the United States had met secretly with a Haqqani representative this summer - at the urging of the Pakistani intelligence service, an aide later said, declining to discuss it further....

What a joke.

--more--"

Bloggers Have Hand

2012-01-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

Right off the top I was giddy when I saw that Israel was backing off feeling that the recent commentary here and other places had played a small part in staying their hand; however, at the gas station this morning two guys were talking about war with Iran. For once I finally chimed in and said something like the war is actually on, huh? One guy said February, the other guy said May at the latest. It was all in the context of gas prices, and I know our leaders don't give a s*** about us there. Instead of saying "Have a Good Day" I said "I've had it." One guy behind the counter smiled and nodded in agreement.

So despite Russia's vociferous warning against this madness, the psychopaths that designed the whole world domination scheme are about to drag us all down into the pit. Gee, Russia, China, and Iran (and probably Pakistan and Iraq) will be opposing exhausted western armies from AmeriKa and Europe -- all because some elite (and in most cases Zionist Jew, sorry, truth hurts) globe-kickers have delusions of grandeur and know no other way to run a planet?

Anyway, I was feeling good about a couple of things besides that:

"Perry exits; Santorum now No. 1 in Iowa" January 20, 2012|By Tracy Jan

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Texas Governor Rick Perry’s reference to Newt Gingrich’s personal shortcomings, and the overt appeal to fellow Christians to forgive, came as Gingrich found his surging candidacy staggered by accusations from the second of his three wives.

Marianne Gingrich accused her former husband on ABC’s “Nightline’’ last night of seeking an open marriage in 1999 so he could continue an affair with his mistress, Callista, a congressional aide at the time and now his third wife.

That's gross, but it also proves that blogs forced the ABC's hand. They were going to ignore the item.

Marianne Gingrich expressed her shock at learning that her husband had conducted his affair “in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington,’’ and said he does not have the moral character to be president.

Oh, I totally agree with that, and that was before this broke.

In an interview yesterday with the Washington Post, she said Gingrich demanded a divorce or open marriage at the same time he was touring the country giving speeches on the importance of marriage and families....

It's called hypocrisy, and I think I've finally identified the stench that emanates from the man.

Last night, Gingrich’s campaign released his tax returns, showing he and Callista paid $994,708 in federal taxes in 2010 on about $3.1 million in income, including about $450,000 in wages and $2.5 million in income from partnerships and S corporations. They also paid $19,800 in alimony....

Oh, ANOTHER MILLIONAIRE CANDIDATE!

--more--"

"Fiery debate caps GOP’s wild day" January 20, 2012|By Michael Levenson and Matt Viser

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A truculent Newt Gingrich, surging in South Carolina but facing new questions about his marital infidelity, angrily upbraided the media last night for asking about his former wife’s assertion that he wanted an ‘‘open’’ marriage, drawing cheers and a standing ovation from a boisterous, sympathetic Republican audience.

In the final debate before the South Carolina primary tomorrow, Gingrich, who is closing on Mitt Romney in the state, also found himself the target of frequent attacks from Rick Santorum, who is battling with the former speaker to become the consensus alternative to the former Massachusetts governor....

Isn't there another candidate still in the race?

Gingrich riveted attention early on by forcefully sparring with the moderator, effectively turning questions about his past into a denunciation of the ‘‘elite media.’’ It is a technique the former speaker has put to effective use before to rally Republican voters to his side when he has come under scrutiny.

Jabbing his finger at the CNN host, John King, Gingrich scolded the network for opening the debate with a question about his second ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich. She said in an ABC News interview aired yesterday that Gingrich wanted an ‘‘open marriage’’ in 1999 so that he could pursue a relationship with Callista Bisek, a younger congressional staffer who is now his wife.

King had to do it.

‘‘The destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office, and I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,’’ Gingrich declared, basking in applause as audience members leapt to their feet.

That the same war-promoting, agenda-driving press that's lied us into wars?

And it's obvious that decent people aren't attracted to the job since you are running, Newt.

The ONLY DECENT CANDIDATE out there is RON PAUL, and you have SEEN how the MEDIA have treated him.

‘‘Every person in here knows personal pain,’’ Gingrich said. ‘‘Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. To take an ex-wife and make it, two days before the primary, a significant question of a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.’’

Cry me a river.

Only after repeatedly challenging King over the question itself did Gingrich address the substance of his former wife’s comments.

‘‘The story is false,’’ he said, but quickly added: ‘‘I’m tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans.’’

Well, we agree on the elite media anyway. I believe the story.

********************************

Ron Paul, who had to fight for attention during the debate, also criticized the media for asking about Gingrich’s romantic past, but then willingly jabbed Gingrich over the controversy. “Setting standards is very important,’’ Paul said, ‘‘and I’m proud that my wife of 54 years is with me here tonight.’’

Yeah, right, Ron Paul is two-faced.

Related: CNN Forced To Ask Ron Paul After Crowd Boo's

Initial Results Show that Ron Paul Won the South Carolina Republican Debate

That was the paragraph the Globe gave him.

--more--"

And down came the heavy hand:

"Senate and House put antipiracy bills on hold" by Jonathan Weisman | New York Times, January 21, 2012

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders yesterday indefinitely shelved two antipiracy bills that had rallied the Internet and rocked Capitol Hill, dealing a major defeat to the traditional media industry while emboldening a new breed of online political activists.

Using a medium that helped organize protests against the legislation, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, the majority leader, announced via Twitter that the vote would be delayed. But he indicated that the issue, which had been scheduled for a vote Tuesday, had not died.

No, tyranny always comes back under a different name at a different time, and the fight is never over. Watch for an amendment tucked obscurely into a bill sure to pass and be signed.

“There’s no reason that legitimate issues raised about PROTECT IP can’t be resolved,’’ he wrote, referring to the Senate bill by its shorthand name. “Counterfeiting & piracy cost 1000s of #jobs yearly. Americans rightfully expect to be fairly compensated 4 their work. I’m optimistic that we can reach compromise on PROTECT IP in coming weeks.’’

In the House, Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called off plans to draft his version formally of the antipiracy bill next month....

Supporters of the shelved bills as well as opponents pushing an alternative backed by the Internet giants Google and Facebook said differences could be bridged. But privately, congressional aides and lobbyists say the pressures of an election year make action this year unlikely.

What's with the mixed message?

Lawmakers will not be eager to brave another firestorm incited by Google, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, and other popular websites.

Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, a key opponent of the bills, said lawmakers had collected more than 14 million names - more than 10 million of them voters - who contacted them to protest the once-obscure legislation.

And we will do it again!

“It’s going to be a new day in the Senate,’’ said Wyden, who is the coauthor with Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, of an alternative bill that seeks to choke off money flows to Internet pirates. “The way citizens communicate with their government is never going to be the same.’’

Wyden spoke briefly to Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, who was the author of the shelved bill, and both men said they pledged to find a way forward.

What do you not understand about the word no?

But Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made it clear that proponents of his bill, the Protect IP Act, felt burned by Internet companies who they said misled citizens into believing the bill would cripple the Internet.

Government hates competition, especially when it comes to lying and looting.

The opposition turned illegal on Thursday when the online hacker group Anonymous brought down the Justice Department’s website.

Related: 'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank

Anonymous Shuts Down Corporate and Government Websites Worldwide … The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse

"Thereby handing the US a justification for a crackdown on the internet, and proving to the less-insightful that anonymous was siding with the cyber-criminals all along (as well as Cass Sunstein)." -- Wake the Flock Up

Also see: Would the US government attack its own websites and then blame "Anonymous" for the attacks?

Mouthpiece media sure has minimized it.

“Assuming everyone’s telling the truth, that they want to stop the theft of property, that they want to stop endangering people with counterfeit goods, then we ought to be able to find common ground,’’ Leahy said. “I hope people, when they’re dealing, will deal honestly with you.’’

This coming from a government that constantly lies to you.

The Protect IP Act and its counterpart in the House, the Stop Online Piracy Act, had broad bipartisan support when they were drafted.

The bills were pushed hard by the Hollywood studios, recording industry, book publishing world, and US Chamber of Commerce as antidotes to rampant piracy of US cultural wares by offshore websites.

By Thursday night, senior Republican staff members were boasting that the remaining supporters of the bills were largely Democrats, even though members of both parties had helped draft them.

One reason I am (barely) a (registered) Republican.

Leahy went along with Reid’s decision to back off but made it clear that he was doing so reluctantly.

“More time will pass with jobs lost and economies hurt by foreign criminals who are stealing American intellectual property and selling it back to American consumers,’’ he said in a statement.

And WHAT ABOUT all the TAX BREAKS for CORPORATIONS to MOVE JOBS OFFSHORE and OVERSEAS, Pat? What would you call that? Why is most everything sold in stores over here marked "Made in (insert name of Southern Asia country)." What about the whole criminal globalization enterprise your policies have helped create?

“The day will come when the senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem,’’ he added. “Somewhere in China today, in Russia today, and in many other countries that do not respect American intellectual property, criminals who do nothing but peddle in counterfeit products and stolen American content are smugly watching how the United States Senate decided it was not even worth debating how to stop the overseas criminals from draining our economy.’’

Well, NOW you are talking the MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES SWINDLE that DESTROYED the WORLD ECONOMY!

--more--"

Related:

Why SOPA Is So Dangerous

This bill turns us all into criminals. If it passes, then you either stop using the Internet, or you simply hope that you never end up in the crosshairs, because if you’re targeted, you will be destroyed by this bill. You don’t have to be a big, mean, nasty criminal — common Internet usage is effectively criminalized under this law.

--MORE--"

Cutting off our hands to silence our voice.

Slow Saturday Special: Veteran's Choice

2012-01-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

I call it that because the newspaper knows Saturday is the slowest circulation and day the paper is read least.

"Paul says veterans are backing him more than others; Those on active duty especially receptive to him" by Bobby Caina Calvan, Globe Staff / January 21, 2012

CHARLESTON, S.C. - In television spots that brim with patriotic fervor, the men who would be president swath themselves in red, white, and blue - a salute to the importance of this flag-loving state’s huge and influential ranks of military veterans and active-duty personnel.

No polls report on who is winning this contest for this state’s military community, but by one barometer active-duty troops favor the one candidate who wants the United States out of foreign wars along with a drastic reduction in defense spending: Representative Ron Paul of Texas. “The military is behind me more than the others,’’ he boasted earlier this week in Myrtle Beach, noting he gets twice as much money from service members as his opponents combined.

At Thursday’s debate in Charleston, he reminded voters that he was the only veteran on stage.

Rivals have called Paul’s platform naive, even dangerous. But Paul, a former Air Force doctor, received more than $95,000 from members of the armed forces from January to September, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

“So they’re saying that I’m on the right track,’’ he said at the debate. “They’re sick and tired of those wars. They’re sick and tired of the nation-building and the policing activity.’’

And if they are sick of it the public must hate it.

South Carolina is home to seven military installations, including Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest boot camp, and hosts more than 38,000 active-duty personnel. Tens of thousands of veterans live here, and countless civilians depend on an economy powered by the armed services.

South Carolina is “more red blooded than the rest of the country’’ and appealing to voters’ sense of “patriotism will probably take you farther than other places,’’ said DuBose Kapeluck, a professor of political science at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston.

“The military vote is important in any calculus for any candidate who wants to be successful here,’’ he said.

While his rivals espouse the traditional GOP gospel of beefing up the country’s defenses by boosting, not cutting, military spending, Paul wants to close overseas bases and bring troops home. Long an opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Paul argues that sovereign nations must confront turmoil within their borders on their own.

He is also trying to prevent another one.

“Perhaps the people who know best are the people who are enlisted. His message resonates because what he says makes sense to them,’’ said Karen Kedrowski, who chairs the political science department at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

“He has a military background, and it could inoculate him from those who criticize his policies as an attack on the military itself,’’ Kedrowski said.

Paul does have critics, though, especially among older veterans.

George McKnight, 78, a Vietnam war POW and Air Force veteran, spoke derisively of Paul’s plan to withdraw troops from abroad when McKnight joined dozens of other veterans at a Mitt Romney event in Hilton Head last week. “He’s kind of a wimp, I think.’’ Diplomacy? “With some of these guys, it’ll be like talking to Hitler with diplomacy.’’

Now you know how those across the table from AmeriKa feel.

Why is he even brought up in this context anyway?

At Monday’s debate in Myrtle Beach, some in the crowd booed when Paul began describing his “Golden Rule’’ on foreign policy.“My point is if another country does to us what we do others, we’re not going to like it very much,’’ he said. “I would say that we maybe ought to consider the golden rule in foreign policy.’’

That's ONLY HALF of the STORY!!

"The crowd cheered when Paul said, “This country doesn’t need another war. We need to quit the ones we’re in. We need to save money and bring our troops home."

Also see: The Globe's Ron Paul Paragraphs

He got a lot of them today.

But his views have resonated among his young followers and stoked support from many active-duty personnel, who see Paul’s approach to military spending as prudent fiscal policy. Paul has said he would cut $1 trillion from the federal budget in his first year of office.

“The Republican side loves veterans and the military - you can see that in their spending,’’ said Bradley Hatfield, 25, who served in the Marines for four years until 2009. But he agrees with Paul that some of that military spending is waste. “Ron Paul is going to end the gravy train for a lot of stuff, and it’s not going to hurt the military.’’

Uncontrolled spending, added Jacob Jameson, 26, a Navy veteran and now an economics major, is putting the country on course to becoming “poor, broke and destitute.’’

Last month, Jameson dug deep into his pockets - a sacrifice for any student on a budget, he said - to donate $100 to Paul’s campaign.

Jameson scoffs at Paul’s rivals who campaign on patriotism. “All of them are trying to project themselves as more patriotic than the other. I see right through it. Just a marketing ploy,’’ Jameson said.

To burnish his prodefense credentials, Romney enlisted the star power of a famous veteran, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who recently campaigned with Romney across the Palmetto State.

Paul is relying on his army of youthful volunteers, many of them post-9/11 veterans who are emblematic of the generational divide over the role of the military, to serve as foot soldiers in his battle to change minds.

Do you know how sick I am of the military lingo infecting every aspect of AmeriKan media?

Older generations of veterans, raised during the Cold War, might have a more traditional view of the US role in global politics, as the sole superpower, according to Kapeluck. “The younger generation is living through globalization, and are perhaps more comfortable with the United States having a diminished role in being the policeman of the world.’’

Stephen Spalding, a 24-year-old junior grade officer at the naval base near Charleston, has been campaigning for Paul. He was drawn, he said, by Paul’s steadfast stance on stanching the national debt by curbing spending and on his plans to bring troops home.

Others on active duty expressed similar sentiments but declined to have their names published in fear of violating Pentagon rules prohibiting some forms of open display of political partisanship when in uniform.

Spalding said his support for Paul runs deep, but he takes care to campaign in his civilian attire.

“When it comes to his foreign policy, he’s not going to budge from it, even if it’s unpopular among the Republican establishment,’’ said Spalding, who earlier this week went door-to-door to generate support for Paul.

When he came upon the home of Melissa Woodard, 42, he found a convert. “I liked Obama,’’ said Woodard, “but we’re in serious trouble here. . . . We need to look at our problems here in the US,’’ she said, referring to the sluggish economy. “We’re in desperate straits.’’ Woodard said she had made up her mind to vote for Paul.

Bless you!

--more--"

Related: Republicans in New Hampshire Rallying Behind Ron Paul

Seems to be a pattern with Paul and the Globe, no?

Slow Saturday Special: Gingrich Has Guts

2012-01-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

"Gingrich offensive redraws race; Attacks on media, Romney erase 15-point deficit" by Brian C. Mooney Globe Staff / January 21, 2012

ORANGEBURG, S.C. - The wild ride of the South Carolina primary campaign is about to end, and no matter how the voting goes today, Newt Gingrich has lived to fight another day.

When he staggered out of New Hampshire with a fifth-place finish, Gingrich’s candidacy barely had a pulse. But living by his wits in South Carolina, Gingrich bent the campaign to his will, throwing front-runner Mitt Romney off his game and on the defensive.

The former House speaker is roaring to the finish line of today’s crucial primary following a wild thrill ride in the Palmetto State. Overcoming a deficit of 15 or more points in the polls in a matter of days, Gingrich seemed to feed off the balmier climate and the even warmer reception he received in the South....

I sense rigged and jiggered election.

South Carolina has been hit hard by the recession, and Gingrich’s blistering rhetoric and unwavering certitude plays well here. He often reminds South Carolinians that he is a “Georgia conservative.’’ The two states share a long border.

Gingrich received standing ovations at both televised debates in South Carolina this week, lashing out at the news media, a favorite target of conservatives and Gingrich. At many Gingrich events, supporters hold signs that say “Don’t believe the liberal media.’’

When Fox News panelist Juan Williams suggested in the state’s first debate that Gingrich was belittling poor people with his incessant attacks on food stamps and references to Obama as the “food stamp president,’’ Gingrich retorted that food stamps are being distributed at record levels and he will “continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn some day to own the job.’’

First mention I've seen of Gingrich's racism in the Globe.

Related: Jimmy Carter says Newt Gingrich uses 'subtlety of racism'

When moderator John King of CNN opened Thursday night’s debate by asking about his second wife’s statement during an ABC interview that Gingrich had requested an “open marriage,’’ Gingrich went on the attack.

After criticizing the “destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media,’’ Gingrich said that injecting his past marital problems into the campaign two days before the primary “is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.’’

He received a standing ovation from those in the room.

Gingrich’s declaration that recipients of unemployment benefits should be required to take job training courses always gets applause, particularly when he says, “Never again will we give money to somebody for 99 weeks for doing nothing.’’

But we will give it to looting banksters.

Critics suggest that Gingrich’s harsh rhetoric has race-tinged overtones, a charge that he brushes off as the whining of liberals invested in the status quo.

A recurring theme of his remarks is to draw a sharp line between those who contribute to government and those who benefit from safety-net programs. In South Carolina the audiences are the contributors and they like it when he calls Obama “the most radical and may I say most incompetent president we’ve had in our lifetime.’’

He promises sweeping change to solve seemingly every ill of government and society: credit card companies to end fraud in Medicare, drilling for American energy sources to free the nation from foreign oil, tax cuts, and budget cuts to end the deficits.

Wrapping himself in the mantle of Ronald Reagan, he ticks off the job creation numbers of that era and when he was speaker of the House.

The message resonates here more than it did in New Hampshire and Iowa.

Mayor Paul Miller of Orangeburg said he was “leaning toward Newt’’ as he entered yesterday’s event. “I think he’s the only person who can beat Obama,’’ he said. “He’s got the fortitude to take him on.’’

Anna Stewart, a retired teacher from Orangeburg, said she watches Gingrich “all the time on Fox News. . . . He’s the smartest man in the room.’’

“Newt’s got intestinal fortitude, and that’s what I like,’’ Stewart said.

Aided by the twin debates, Gingrich certainly caught fire. But Florida is a much different and more expensive state for a candidate who has struggled to compete with the better-funded Romney.

Gingrich’s campaign was especially pleased by his ability to push Romney off stride and force him to talk about issues that made him seem awkward: Bain Capital’s practices, his tax returns, and his position on abortion.

See: The Bain of Mitt Romney

Until recently, the campaign had been unable to put the former Massachusetts governor on the defensive.

Asked yesterday about Romney’s call for the release of the full ethics report that resulted in Gingrich’s reprimand and $300,000 fine in Congress, Gingrich was brusque.

He said he believes the 900-page report is available on the Internet.

Beyond that, Gingrich said, “He doesn’t release anything . . . and he decides to pick a fight with me on releasing something? . . . I refuse to take seriously any request from the Romney campaign to disclose anything.’’

Mitt's gotta show some guts.

--more--"

Gingrich is Good To Go

2012-01-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

Adelson saves the day!

"Super PACs and their cash are political game-changers" January 20, 2012|By Brian C. Mooney

COLUMBIA, S.C. - No matter how Newt Gingrich fares in tomorrow’s Republican presidential primary here, he can thank Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and the operatives at Winning Our Future, the super PAC that has leveled the media playing field for him since Adelson, a billionaire, wrote a check for $5 million to the organization.

See: Gingrich Offensive in South Carolina

Gingrich’s candidacy was hanging by a thread after woeful finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, caused in part by negative ads financed by a super PAC allied with Mitt Romney. The Adelson gift has helped alter the equation in one of the nation’s most conservative states.

And as dramatically as super PAC money has whipsawed the Gingrich campaign, it also threatens to return the making of the president to a pre-Watergate free-for-all of big money chasing big returns at the ballot box.

In addition to the PAC boost, Gingrich has also gained late momentum the hard way, grinding through long days on the ground in South Carolina, distinguishing himself in debate, and demonstrating his career-long ability to make news.

But since Adelson - a Gingrich friend and benefactor of long standing - kicked in desperately needed cash a few days before the New Hampshire vote, the former House speaker has benefited enormously on the airwaves in South Carolina....

The PACs are supposed to operate independently of candidates and parties, but in reality, all of the candidates can send messages to their PAC allies via their public statements. The PACs’ proliferation has sounded alarms among campaign finance watchdogs and the public alike. A New York Times/CBS poll released yesterday indicated that voters overwhelmingly want limits on individual contributions.

With the second anniversary of the game-changing Citizens United case this weekend, reformers are clamoring for new restrictions, or at least more transparency, with disclosure of donors in real time or close to it. Some advocate a constitutional amendment, which would take years.

As of yesterday, super PACs had reported spending about $28.5 million for and against Republican presidential candidates.

Win or lose in South Carolina, Gingrich intends to fight on to the Jan. 31 primary in Florida, with its 10 media markets, some of them very expensive. Awaiting him is an environment already seeded with $4.9 million worth of ads and direct mail funded by the pro-Romney super PAC, reports to the FEC reveal. Many reprised the Iowa and South Carolina ads that dusted off Gingrich’s old baggage, including a $300,000 ethics penalty and work with two of the Republican right’s betes noires, mortgage giant Freddie Mac and Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Yesterday, Restore Our Future reported buying $1.54 million worth of ads attacking Gingrich in Florida.

Longtime political media analyst Kenneth Goldstein said a study by his organization, Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group, showed that super PACs are outspending candidates’ campaigns in South Carolina, and that Gingrich is still the target of the most negative ads, about 22 percent of all ads. Compared with Iowa, however, that’s a love tap. In Iowa, 45 percent of all TV ads hit Gingrich, according to the analysis by Goldstein’s organization.

Overall, 54 percent of the South Carolina ads have been positive, compared with 46 percent negative, the group found. In Iowa, negative ads accounted for more than 70 percent of all spots, the study showed....

“Because of the ability not just of individuals but also corporations to drop big money into important political messages in these early primary states, the urgency is far greater now to have this information before the voters cast their ballots in those early states,’’ said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks the influence of money in politics.

The only reason the public knows about Adelson’s donation is that he confirmed it after it was leaked that he intended to give an even larger amount....

The magnitude of the changes in the new environment was made clear by Michael Toner, a former FEC commissioner: “As much as is being spent now by super PACs, I think it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what will be spent in the general election by them; I expect we’re going to see in excess of $1 billion by the time of the November election.’’

$1 billion dollars spent on a political campaign as this nation is suffering. Disgusting.

--more--"

"Romney’s lead slips away in S.C." January 21, 2012|By Matt Viser and Michael Levenson

GILBERT, S.C. - Mitt Romney’s march to the nomination, which looked to be on a smooth path only a week ago, could be knocked off course if South Carolina voters sweep Newt Gingrich to victory today, reviving his prospects and effectively anointing him as the main alternative to the former Massachusetts governor.

In a sign of his darkening outlook in this crucial battleground state yesterday, Romney downplayed his chances in the primary and began shifting his focus to later states, unveiling supporters in Texas, for example, even as he and his allies attacked Gingrich in a furious, last-minute attempt to stem the former House speaker’s resurgence.

“I said from the very beginning South Carolina is an uphill battle for a guy from Massachusetts,’’ Romney told reporters here, after a rain-soaked rally where supporters crowded outside under umbrellas. “I knew that.’’

Romney’s fortunes have changed quickly. A week ago, propelled by a narrow win in the Iowa caucuses and a convincing victory in the New Hampshire primary, he steamed into South Carolina with a double-digit lead over his rivals. He hoped that three successive victories in the first three states would swiftly seal the nomination for him and allow him to begin focusing on the general election.

Then Gingrich’s candidacy roared back to life, buoyed by strong debate performances and a wave of ads attacking Romney’s business record that were financed by his political allies. Rick Santorum then snatched away Romney’s Iowa victory, after a final count revealed the former senator from Pennsylvania had not lost the state to Romney by 8 votes but had edged him by 34.

See: Santorum's Symbolic Victory

Now, Romney faces the prospect of going one-for-three in the early states and being forced to fight a drawn-out battle against rivals who are aggressively attacking his conservative credentials, jabbing at his vast wealth, and questioning his electability.

The Palmetto Poll, conducted by Clemson University and released yesterday had Gingrich leading Romney by 6 points, 32 percent to 26 percent. Ron Paul came in third, at 11 percent; and Santorum was last, with 9 percent. About one in five voters still remained undecided, according to the poll.

Meaning he is STILL IN THERE!

Update: Ron Paul Surges To Third Place In South Carolina Primary Poll

Those numbers look more believable to me.

Clemson political scientist Dave Woodard said the assertion from one of Gingrich’s former wives that he had asked her for an “open marriage’’ would probably not significantly dent his lead....

I'm finding it hard to believe evangelical Christians would vote for a man like that.

--more--"

Santorum's Symbolic Victory

2012-01-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

They can't even get the winner of the first contest right and we are supposed to trust and have faith in fraudulent elections?

"Iowa says official caucus results show no clear winner" January 20, 2012|Globe Staff

WASHINGTON - It took Iowa Republicans 16 days to decide they couldn’t tell for sure who won the Iowa caucuses, despite their earlier announcement that Mitt Romney had narrowly won. The nonconclusion highlights the potential pitfalls with party-run presidential nominating events.

The final, certified results announced yesterday in Des Moines by Iowa Republican chairman Matt Strawn had Rick Santorum 34 votes ahead of Mitt Romney. But Strawn said the party cannot declare a winner because the results are incomplete - eight of the state’s 1,774 precincts did not report their certified totals by Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

Strawn had announced hours after the Jan. 3 caucuses concluded that Romney had won by eight votes. Most news organizations relied on that party announcement, since the results were not officially collected by the state, while waiting final party certification of the vote....

Presidential nominating events for both Republicans and Democrats are a mix of party-run caucuses and primaries - like those held in Iowa and South Carolina - and officially sanctioned state primaries - like those in New Hampshire and Florida.

The main difference is that with state-run events, you always get a winner, even if it takes multiple recounts and court battles. Local election officials are required by law to meet certification deadlines, and if a race is really close, the law spells out the recount rules that ultimately determine how the winner is decided....

Common Cause president Bob Edgar said if Iowa wants to retain its status as the nation’s first presidential nominating event, both parties need to clean up their vote-counting acts.

“Given the millions of dollars the candidates invest in Iowa and the importance the state has assumed in choosing nominees, Republican and Democratic leaders alike owe it to Iowans and the nation to run a transparent process and provide a careful, accurate count,’’ Edgar said.

--more--"

"Perry exits; Santorum now No. 1 in Iowa" January 20, 2012|By Tracy Jan

Rick Santorum sought to leverage the news out of Iowa.

“There’s been two primaries held now, and we won one,’’ Santorum said....

Mitt Romney, whose campaign had trumpeted his historic feat of winning both Iowa and New Hampshire, ignored reporters’ questions about the revised Iowa numbers as he climbed into his SUV following a visit to his campaign headquarters yesterday.

Analysts, however, took note.

“The sad part for Santorum is that the election is really about narrative, and the narrative has already been cast that Romney won Iowa and he won again in New Hampshire,’’ said Linda Abrams, a political science and history professor at the Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University in Greenville.

In other words, it is ALL SCRIPTED!

The change in Iowa results has no practical effect. The vote at the caucuses is symbolic....

I'm so sick of symbolism being so prominent in my "news."

--more--"

Boston's Newspapers Speak With One Voice

2012-01-21T05:25:00.000-08:00

Why not? The entire AmeriKan media speaks in unison as it is -- which is why you and I are here, beloved reader.

Globe to print, deliver Herald

Why are you insulting someone who is providing you work even as they eliminate jobs, Globe?

Btw, you are not that far off yourself.

Also see: Roswell UFO a Russian craft, author asserts

I try to stick to more earthly matters here at MSM Monitor; however, I'm starting to become a believer based on the simple fact that the agenda-pushing press denies it and the government cover-up that persisted (and still does) for decades.

And how about the U.S. bringing back another Nazi monster to give us a leg up on the Russians? Amazing to me how the losers of WWII were then welcomed by the West to fight the Communists -- the same thing that Hitler guy was claiming to.... awww, never mind. Everywhere you look there are lies, distortions, obfuscations and omissions, with mass-manipulation of the American mind as the motive.

Now back to the wars and rumors of wars, the endless worldwide looting, and the politics and perversions that pass for a newspaper here in AmeriKa.

Boston Globe Lullaby

2012-01-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

It will give you nightmares.

"Conductor exits after hiring sex offender" January 13, 2012|By Michael Rezendes

The New England Conservatory and world-renowned conductor Benjamin Zander have parted ways following the discovery by school officials that Zander knowingly hired a registered sex offender to videotape performances by the school’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra during concerts, rehearsals, and classes over the past decade, and perhaps longer.

In letters e-mailed yesterday to 6,500 parents of current and former prep school students, conservatory officials said they have never received a complaint about the behavior of the videographer, Peter E. Benjamin, but have taken steps “to ensure that this individual would no longer have access to our premises, and would not be engaged by NEC . . . in the future.’’

****************************

Zander is also known as an inspirational speaker. He spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2008....

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"Video maker had sordid past, strong advocates; Calling himself fully rehabilitated, decries firing by conservatory" January 14, 2012|By Michael Rezendes and Patricia Wen, Globe Staff

Peter E. Benjamin, the registered sex offender hired by renowned conductor Benjamin Zander to tape performances by a New England Conservatory youth orchestra, was a beloved figure among Boston’s cultural elite more than two decades ago, when he was routinely hired to produce photographs and videos for institutions such as the Boston Ballet, the Opera Company of Boston, the American Repertory Theater, and the Boston Red Sox.

But in the early 1990s when Benjamin was in his 50s, the picture changed. He was sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to charges of rape and sexual abuse. Among the allegations: that he secretly videotaped himself having sex with three male teens, one of whom was abused by Benjamin during a two-year period beginning in 1990, when the boy was 13.

Evidence seized from Benjamin’s home, then in Wayland, included videotapes of the three teens, along with “a box of photographs containing hundreds of photographs of numerous naked boys approximately age 8 to 15 … performing sexual acts upon one another,’’ according to prosecutors.

In the statement, prosecutors said at the time that Benjamin had “embarked on a well-rehearsed scheme to lure’’ the three male teens into sexual activity - with disastrous consequence....

This week, conservatory officials said they would no longer hire Benjamin. They then dismissed Zander, who has received world acclaim as a conductor, after learning he had hired Benjamin to videotape youth orchestra performances with full knowledge of his record as a sex offender.

Last night, in a phone interview with the Globe, the 68-year-old Benjamin, who now lives in Brighton, defended his work for the conservatory and criticized school officials for canceling his contract work, asserting that he has not reoffended since his release from prison and noting that he completed five years of supervised probation.

“I’ve done everything right,’’ he said. “I deserve a break here.’’

Benjamin also said he believes the conservatory overreacted because of the sexual abuse controversy that has engulfed Penn State University and its legendary football program. In November, former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on sex abuse charges and two other university officials were charged with failing to notify police of the abuse allegations....

Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Punting Penn State Story

I'm doing the same to this story.

--more--"

Related: School says it failed to check into offender

N.E. Conservatory defends Zander decision