PEEK

Buzz, perspectives, insight and news from AlterNet

Cops Taze Disturbed, Unarmed Naked Man to Death for "Walking Toward Them'
Posted by Steven D., Booman Tribune on December 5, 2009 at 7:23 AM.

It's simply dreadful how these communist propaganda mouthpieces, like the Salt Lake City Tribune continue to attack our law enforcement officials from using tasers to protect themselves from unarmed naked people. So what if a bipolar guy who could have been taken into custody without the use of deadly force died after being shocked twice by the police because he was "walking toward them?" Mentally disturbed people should know better than to fail to obey a lawful police order immediately. Guy had it coming to him, is what I say.

In June, [Brian Cardall] 32, was returning to Arizona after visiting Utah when he experienced a manic episode brought on by his bipolar disorder. He pulled his car to the side of the road, got out, removed his clothes, and began flagging down vehicles on State Road 59 outside Hurricane.

Cardall's wife gave him medication, called the police, informed the dispatcher of her husband's psychotic condition and the fact that it would take a while for the medicine to take effect. But Cardall ran out of time.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Why the Incoherence of Palin and the Tea-Party Right Is a Logical Outcome of Movement Conservatism
Posted by Steve M., No More Mister Nice Blog on December 4, 2009 at 4:55 PM.

"Crunchy" conservative columnist Rod Dreher has discovered to his dismay that many of his fellow righties simply aren't rational:

Whether they realize it, ordinary people have become more comfortable with the idea that truth is relative and that emotion is a reliable and sufficient guide to finding it....

Relativism in this sense is no longer a specialty of the left. Here's the nut of an exchange I've had many times over the past year with fellow conservatives:

"Barack Obama is a Muslim."

"No, he's not."

"You have your opinion; I have mine."

There is no way to argue with this....

I'll ignore the swipe at the left (noting only that I don't know any lefties who really don't believe in the existence of objective truth). I'm deeply amused at Dreher's despair -- from which he moves on to Sarah Palin:

Her mind isn't geared toward resolving basic philosophical contradictions like her observation that corporations and politicians often collude against the common good, and her dogmatic belief in the sanctity of free enterprise. Well, which is it? You can't hymn the majesties of capitalism's "creative destruction" on one page, while proclaiming yourself a staunch defender of traditional families and institutions on another.

Well, Rod, you righties are reaping what you sow.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

December Is National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month
Posted by Tara Lohan, AlterNet on December 4, 2009 at 3:14 PM.

Just when you thought there was a month for everything! Blogging for Poets & Writers, author Carleen Brice explains why she created National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month last year:

After all, it's hard for anyone--of any color--to make it as a novelist without the support of a wide audience, which, for black authors, means the support of white folks. That's why I, a black author, started the blog White Readers Meet Black Authors and launched this annual awareness campaign. Whether it's because of a lack of media exposure or the absence of word of mouth, I don't think white readers hear much about black novelists, except for Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Colson Whitehead, and a few others, so they don't know which of our books they may like.

She's even created a handy guide. If you like Toni Morrison's A Mercy, then try The Book of Night Women by Marlon James. Or if you're a fan of Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, check out Big Machine by Victor LaValle.

You can find more info on her blog here.  And here's her mission:

Because if you like to read, you should know about all the good books that are out there. I'm telling you: You like it, we write it! I'm not interested in doing any "favors" for authors who write bad books. This isn't about quotas or affirmative action or liberal guilt. This blog isn't about begging for attention from white people. My mission is to spread the word that there are plenty, PLENTY, of great books that not enough people are hearing about. That's my reason.

I'm all for finding great new books and supporting amazing authors. Anyone have other suggestions?

'Demonstrable Idiot Conservative Liar' Pushes Climate Science Pseudo-Scandal
Posted by Thers, Whiskey Fire on December 4, 2009 at 1:51 PM.

In a startling and indeed shocking development, Jonah Goldberg -- of all people! -- writes a pompous column full of stupid lies.

In a long string of embarrassing e-mail exchanges, CRU scientists discuss with friendly outside colleagues, including Penn State University's Michael Mann, how to manipulate the data they want to show the world, and how to hide the often flawed data they don't. In one exchange, they discuss the "trick" of how to "hide the decline" in global temperatures since the 1960s.

That's just a pack of dumb lies. First, global temperatures have not dropped since the 1960s, as highly advanced thermometer technology and sophisticated mathematics of the "this number is higher than that other number" class reveal. Second, the trick was not an attempt to deceive, but to do with an attempt to consider an anomaly in tree ring temperature data. Third, fuck you Jonah Goldberg, you ass.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Sad News: Tom Tancredo Will not Run for Colorado Governor
Posted by Andrea Nill, Think Progress on December 4, 2009 at 12:27 PM.

Despite never officially announcing a run for the Colorado governorship, former congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo (R-CO) indicated in early November that he “fully intend[s] to run.” Earlier this week, former 2008 GOP delegate and Tom Tancredo supporter Crista Huff sent a message to the “Tom Tancredo for Governor” private Facebook group indicating that Tancredo will not be running for governor of Colorado and has instead launched a new project called the American Legacy Alliance:

When contacted by ThinkProgress, Huff stated, “I can’t divulge original sources, but I’m sure it’s also on google.” She declined giving an official statement confirming Tancredo’s decision.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Sen. Ben Nelson Asks Bishops' Blessing on His Anti-Choice Health-Care Amendment
Posted by Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check on December 4, 2009 at 11:21 AM.

Just in case you had any doubt about the direct--and I mean direct--intervention of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in curtailing women's rights in US health reform legislation, here is the latest evidence of how some representatives are working at what appears to be the behest of the bishops.

Congressional Quarterly reports: 

Ben Nelson hardened his stance on abortion language Thursday, stating he would not vote for a health care overhaul unless the bill’s proposed restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions are tightened.  [Though] he had said earlier in the week that abortion language was not a make-or-break proposition in the debate.

If the Stupak Amendment is not passed, Nelson has stated he will join a Republican filibuster against the bill.

Without Nelson, Reid will need at least one Republican to reach the 60 votes he needs to limit debate on the health care overhaul and bring it to a vote. The likeliest candidate is Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, who voted for a version of the legislation approved by the Finance Committee.

But to win their votes Reid will have to:

yield to Snowe’s demands on another contentious issue in the health care debate: the government-run insurance plan, known as the “public option,” that many Democrats want to create to compete with private insurers. Snowe is skeptical of the proposal and has said she will support a public option only if it is structured as a fallback, triggered solely in the event that private insurers fail to offer coverage considered affordable.

Discussions are underway to reach a compromise position in creating a public option similar in some respects to the plan Snowe has outlined.

Nelson and Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) appear to have engaged in a sort of pissing match on who owns the strategy of taking away women's rights in the Senate bill.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Sherrod Brown Calls GOP's Bluff on Health Reform; Ruins Cheap Partisanship of Vitter, Coburn
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly on December 4, 2009 at 10:06 AM.

Watching the Senate debate health care reform this week has been pretty frustrating. We've seen enough obstructionism, lying, and grandstanding to last quite a while, and the chamber is just getting started.

But for all the annoyances, there's been at least some entertainment. Take this story, for example.

Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are preparing an amendment to force members of Congress into any public option health plan that becomes law, frustrating at least one Senate Democrat who wants to join the effort.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) said he is trying to co-sponsor the amendment -- but that Coburn and Vitter won't let him.

Apparently, Coburn and Vitter, two of the most right-wing members of the chamber, think they have a clever scheme to stick it to those rascally Democrats. "They want a public option so bad?" the argument goes. "We'll show them -- we'll force them to get coverage through a public plan!"

Brown thinks that's a great idea, which basically takes away all of Coburn's and Vitter's fun.

"They've not said yes to allow me to be a co-sponsor," Brown told The Hill on Thursday. "I've called their office four times. I'm proud of the public option, I think it would be great and we ought to join it and show the country how good it is. I think my interest may be more genuine than theirs, but I'd like to work with them if they'll let me. If they just want to score partisan points, I still want to work with them."

So, How Much Do You Have to Pay Someone to Kill Off a Basketful of Cute Little Puppies?
Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet on December 4, 2009 at 9:30 AM.

This is my new girl, who, at present, is going by the working-title "Daisy":

Cute, huh? 10 weeks old, and she's pretty much got me wrapped around her little paw -- just forget about resisting the Power of the Puppy!

I hadn't planned on getting a baby, but a local animal rescue group came up with a brilliant strategy to get Daisy and her 6 sisters and brothers placed. They invited me to come down to a pet store where they were having an "adoption fair" to meet a 2 year-old mutt who needed a good home. When I got there, I was told that the dog "couldn't come out" that day for some reason. But there was a play-pen brimming with puppies.

The rescue people listened patiently as I went on about how at this point in my life it would be utterly impossible -- foolish, even -- for me to even consider trying to raise a puppy on my own.

Then they asked me if I wanted to sit with them for just a minute -- and they plopped me down in the middle of this mass of wriggling little bundles of fur.

I can't be sure, but it's possible a rainbow appeared at that moment. The serotonin levels spiked. And needless to say I've been cleaning up puppy-poop ever since.

At 6 weeks, Daisy and her litter-mates were rescued from a high-volume shelter just 4 hours before they were going to be put down. As Liliana wrote back in April, animal shelters have seen a surge in new arrivals resulting from the economic crash, and Daisy was among them.

You have to wonder what it says about our society that we have both the puppy-mill, and also an equally horrific industrial process to dispose of our "best friends" by the litter.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Good News on Jobs Front but Still no Signs of a "Robust" Recovery
Posted by Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research on December 4, 2009 at 8:43 AM.

The unemployment rate fell back to 10.0 percent in November as the pace of job loss slowed to 11,000 for the month. Job loss for the prior two months was also revised downward by 159,000, bringing the average rate of job loss over the last three months to 87,000.

The improved jobs picture in the establishment data is explained by a slower rate of job loss in construction and manufacturing, accompanied by a substantial increase in temporary employment. Construction employment fell by just 27,000 in November. It had been falling at a rate close to 60,000 a month recently and a rate of more than 100,000 a month last winter. Nearly all of the decline is in the non-residential sector. This drop may accelerate in future months as non-residential construction declines further, while employment in the residential sector is likely to remain flat.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Jon Stewart on Swiss Minaretaphobia
Posted by Staff, AlterNet on December 4, 2009 at 8:22 AM.

The Jewish Telegraph Agency (Via TPM) reports that Swiss intolerance continues to grow:

A mainstream Swiss political leader is calling for a ban on separate Muslim and Jewish cemeteries.

Christophe Darbellay, president of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, made the statement in a television interview Tuesday, two days after Swiss voters passed an initiative to ban minarets.

The anti-minaret initiative came from the opposition ultra-conservative Swiss People's Party and other right-wing political organizations. Critics say Darbellay is starting a "crusade" to attract voters by proposing similarly xenophobic measures.

For a lighter look at this dark story developing in Switzerland, here's Jon Stewart:

10 Companies to Avoid This Holiday Season
Posted by Tara Lohan on December 4, 2009 at 5:00 AM.

Air America put together a list of companies that you should think twice about before handing them your money. Their research is based on descriptions from The Blue Pages: A Directory of Companies Rated By Their Politics And Practices. This is a super handy little book that tells you about companies' environmental, human rights and labor practices and also which political parties they give money to and how much. There are probably hundreds of ‘10 worst' (or best) lists you could come up with from the book, but Air America at least got the ball rolling.

Here's a little info on what they found. You can read the whole thing on their website and you should, there's lots more there. Also check out the book. It's handy to take along shopping. Or maybe it will just be an iPhone app soon anyway (or maybe it is?).

1. Children's Place: "It gets its products from places with human rights and labor violations and had to pay $1.5 million in a settlement alleging that they violated the Securities Act.

2. Hanes: "...went the extra step to be cited for ‘egregious labor violations.'" Oh, and they have not even an attempt at an anti-discrimination policy for sexual orientation and gender identity.

3. JC Penny: "D- on Green America's scorecard and D+ from the NAACP."

4. Limited Brands (this includes Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works): "The now scarily common ‘sourced from countries with widespread, well-documented human and labor rights abuses' rears its head here..."

5. IBM: "It's been sued for improperly converting employee pension plans and for exposing them to toxic chemicals." Oh and also for "aiding and abetting South Africa's apartheid regime."

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Mitt Romney's Bizarro-World Economic Plan
Posted by Digby, Hullabaloo on December 4, 2009 at 4:16 AM.

Here's Mitt Romney's "economic plan" (also known as John Galt's wet dream):

•Repair the stimulus. Freeze the funds that haven't yet been spent and redirect them to immediate, private sector job-creation priorities.[More money for me and my friends!]

•Create tax incentives that promote business expansion and hiring. For example, install a robust investment tax credit, permit businesses to expense capital purchases made in 2010, and reduce payroll taxes. These will reignite construction, technology and a wide array of capital goods industries, and lead to expanded employment.[More money for me and my friends!]

•Prove to the global investors that finance America's debt that we are serious about reining in spending and becoming fiscally prudent by adopting limits on non-military discretionary spending and reforming our unsustainable, unfunded entitlements. These are key to strengthening the dollar, reducing the threat of rampant inflation and holding down interest rates.[Less money for sick and old people. And that means more money for me and my friends!]

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Sweden Cutting Aid to Uganda Over 'Appalling' Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on December 3, 2009 at 4:55 PM.

The Ugandan parliament is currently considering an “Anti-Homosexuality Bill,” under which any person “convicted of gay sex is liable to life imprisonment.” If that person is HIV positive or has sex with a minor or a person with a disability, he or she would be found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality” and face the death penalty. Although the U.S. has not yet taken an official position on the bill, other countries are speaking out. Both UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have called the legislation unacceptable, and now Sweden is adding its voice:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Young People Love Obama, Hate His Policies
Posted by Ari Melber, The Nation on December 3, 2009 at 3:45 PM.

A new Harvard poll finds that President Obama is holding on to his strongest supporters, voters under 30, though they overwhelmingly oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan.

About 58 percent of young voters approve of Obama's job performance, while his approval among all voters recently dipped below 50 percent for the first time. About 66 percent of young voters oppose a build-up in Afghanistan, though this survey was in the field before the President's Westpoint speech.

In fact, the most striking part of the new poll is how young voters disapprove of Obama on issues across the board, yet still support his overall job performance. A briefing from Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) crunches the numbers:
The IOP's fall poll indicates 18-29 year-olds are now in line with the general population: a majority of young adults approve of [Obama] generally but disapprove of his handling of major issues asked about in the poll... A majority of 18-29 year-olds also disapprove of his handling of every major issue asked about:

Afghanistan (55% disapprove, 41% approve)

health care (52% disapprove, 44% approve)

the economy (52% disapprove, 44% approve)

Iran (53% disapprove, 42% approve)

and the federal budget deficit (58% disapprove, 38% approve) (emphasis added).

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Conservative Group Expels Lou Dobbs for Loving Illegal Immigrants Too Much
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet on December 3, 2009 at 2:43 PM.

Illegal-immigrant lover Lou Dobbs is no longer intolerant enough for the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, a group that used to think it'd be so awesome if Dobbs were President that they raised $660,000 in pledges to fund his run for office. ALIPAC is mad because the former CNN anchor said he endorsed legalizing undocumented immigrants -- a policy he's previously trashed as "shamnesty" -- in an interview with Telemundo two weeks ago.

"Our internal polling shows that over 70% of our supporters are upset with Mr. Dobbs's comments on Telemundo is support of legalizing illegal aliens. ALIPAC opposes any path to citizenship form of Amnesty for illegal aliens currently in the US," said William Gheen of ALIPAC. "Therefore we are dropping our support for Lou Dobbs and suspending the fan sites we have created."

That includes: Lou Dobbs for President.org, a website previously used to pull funding for Dobbs' Presidential ambitions, which now sports the same shaming press release featured on the AILPAC site; and the Draft Lou Dobbs for President or Senate Facebook page, where former fans can grieve the latest betrayal of regular hard-working Americans. Here are a few:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »