PEEK

Buzz, perspectives, insight and news from AlterNet

Hard-liners Peddle Zombie Lies About Immigrants and Crime
Posted by Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact on November 22, 2009 at 6:26 AM.

A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Conflicted Issue, attempts to overturn a century’s worth of research which has demonstrated repeatedly that immigrants are less likely than the native-born to commit violent crimes or end up behind bars. The CIS report focuses much of its attention on questioning the accuracy of the 2000 Census data used in two particular studies, one from the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) and another from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)—both of which dispel the myth of immigrant criminality. However, CIS ignores not only the many other sources of data in these two studies, but also the myriad studies from other researchers which have reached the same conclusion.

The real agenda behind the CIS report seems to be the promotion of the 287(g) and Secure Communities programs, in which local law-enforcement agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) collaborate for the ostensible purpose of identifying and capturing “criminal aliens.” However, both programs actually end up snaring many individuals who are neither criminals nor immigrants. CIS relies heavily on data generated by these programs, even though this data is of dubious quality and is not representative of the United States as a whole. For instance, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified in March 2009 that the 287(g) program is poorly managed and yields inconsistent data. Secure Communities is an even smaller program with a similarly questionable data and reporting system.

Putting aside the technical and highly debatable claims CIS makes about the accuracy of 2000 Census data, the fact remains that the evidence demonstrating relatively low rates of criminality and incarceration among immigrants comes from far more sources than just the decennial census. It also comes from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles (IIMMLA) survey, the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), and in-depth community-based studies in cities such as El Paso, Chicago, San Diego, and Miami.

 

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On Clinton: 'Madame Secretary' Has a Nice Ring Doesn't It?
Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville on November 22, 2008 at 2:16 PM.

Clinton confidantes say that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will accept the position as the next US Secretary of State.I know, believe me I do, all the legitimate arguments for Clinton to stay in the Senate, and I know, believe me I do, all the legitimate arguments against Clinton as SoS.I even agree with many of them.But I still can't help feeling giddy at the thought of the woman who stood in front of the United Nation's 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing and said, "If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all," being my Secretary of State.

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Gore on Obama: 'Redeems the Revolutionary Promise of Our Declaration of Independence'
Posted by Jason Linkins, Huffington Post on November 22, 2008 at 10:10 AM.

Coming on this Sunday's edition of CNN's Fareed Zakaria: GPS, Former Vice President Al Gore shares his feelings on the election of Barack Obama with Zakaria, enthusing, "I can barely contain my excitement about his election, I just think it's a fabulous new development."

Gore also strikes an ecumenical note, stressing how important it was for the "international audience" to note how Americans of all stripes -- including Obama's political opponents -- were happy to celebrate the historic nature of the election:

I want them to know that right after the election, Republicans who had campaigned strongly against Barack Obama were interviewed everywhere right after the election saying, 'I'm so proud of my country.' You know, regardless of the differences over issues and politics, this was a watershed election that really...just everyone a feeling of great pride in our nation's ability to transcend our past and redeem the revolutionary promise of our Declaration of Independence that every human being is created equal. It's electrifying to redeem that declaration.

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Study Shows 'Center-Right Nation' Narrative Spiked Immediately After Election Day
Posted by David Sirota, Blog for Our Future on November 22, 2008 at 9:19 AM.

 

When I wrote my first column about the "center-right nation" and subsequently launched the "Center-Right Nation Watch" series on this blog I predicted that the news media would actually increase its usage of this term after Obama won. I did a Lexis-Nexis search of the term, and was the first to note the trend and make the prediction that "if Obama wins, expect more frantic talk from the fringe about how electing a black man billed as an Islamic Karl Marx obviously means our country is more conservative than ever."

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Roadblock Republicans Start Throwing Around the F-Word
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly on November 22, 2008 at 7:22 AM.

In the 110th Congress, the Senate Republican minority, with 49 seats, filibustered more legislation than any Senate minority in congressional history. Can the GOP break its own record in the 111th?

We already know that Republicans aren't shy about throwing around the "f" word. Literally just three days after Barack Obama won the presidential campaign, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second highest ranking Republican in the chamber, publicly vowed to filibuster any prospective Supreme Court nominee he deemed to be too liberal.

Today, the highest ranking Republican in the chamber speculated about another two years of filibusters.

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Conservatism: Trashing Government on Its Way Out
Posted by Terrance Heath, Blog for Our Future on November 22, 2008 at 6:02 AM.

Reading the headlines over the past week, I'm beginning to wonder if there's a single agency in the United States government that conservatives haven't left in worse shape than they found it. I've been reading about demoralized government employees, under-resourced departments, and agencies left in shambles after eight years of Republican rule.

A few days after the election I participated in a telephone survey about the outcome. The surveyor, at one point, asked me how I felt about the Bush administration and the congressional Republicans. After a couple of tries at explaining conservative failure, I finally blurted out, "People hate government, and don't believe it can do any good, just can't govern effectively."

After this week, I think I'd probably amend that statement. Conservatives don't believe government doesn't work. They believe it shouldn't. And when they get elected they make damn sure it can't.

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How Far Will Bush Let Musharraf Go?
Posted by Paddy , Brave New Films on November 22, 2007 at 4:49 PM.

This post, written by Paddy, originally appeared on Cliff Schecter's Brave New Films Blog

"What exactly would it take for the president to conclude Musharraf has crossed the line? Suspend the constitution? Impose emergency law? Beat and jail his political opponents and human rights activists? He's already done all that. If the president sees Musharraf as a democrat, he must be wearing the same glasses he had on when he looked in Vladimir Putin's soul."

-- Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), quoted by the Washington Post.

At least someone is speaking out-

Commonwealth suspends Pakistan

KAMPALA (AFP) - A Commonwealth ministerial committee Thursday decided to suspend Pakistan from the 53-nation bloc pending the return of the rule of law following the imposition of emergency earlier this month.

"CMAG suspended Pakistan forthwith from the councils of the Commonwealth, pending the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in that country," according to a statement read by Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon.

(snip)

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Treason is Not Old News, Mainstream Media Wants to Trivialize McClellan Story
Posted by Valerie Plame Wilson, Joe Wilson, Huffington Post on November 22, 2007 at 2:02 PM.

This post, written by Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame Wilson, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

"I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors." George Herbert Walker Bush, CIA dedication ceremony, April 26, 1999.

When Bush administration officials I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove, Richard Armitage and Ari Fleischer betrayed Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a covert CIA operations officer, they fell into the category of "the most insidious of traitors." Now we learn from the president's former press secretary, Scott McClellan, that the president himself "was involved" in sending him out to lie to the American public about the betrayal. If his direction to McClellan was deliberate and knowing, then the president was party to a conspiracy by senior administration officials to defraud the public. If that isn't a high crime and misdemeanor then we don't know what is. And if the president was merely an unwitting accomplice, then who lied to him? What is he doing to punish the person who misled the president to abuse his office? And why is that person still working in the executive branch? Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald made clear his suspicions about the culprit when he said "a cloud remains over the office of the vice president." But we may never know exactly what happened because President Bush thwarted justice and guaranteed the success of the cover-up when he commuted Scooter Libby's felony sentence on four counts of lying, perjury and obstruction of justice.

With the exception of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, and the intrepid David Shuster, the mainstream media would have you believe that McClellan's revelation is old news. "Now back to Aruba and the two-year old disappearance of a blond teenager." But treason is not old news. The Washington press corps, whose pretension is to report and interpret events objectively, has been compromised in this matter as evidence presented in the courtroom demonstrated. Prominent journalists acted as witting agents of Rove, Libby and Armitage and covered up this serious breach of U.S. national security rather than doing their duty as journalists to report it to the public.

So far there is no apparent desire for redemption driving the press to report on the treachery of senior officials. Instead, the mainstream press has compounded its complicity by giving the Bush administration yet another free pass and shifting blame. The New York Times failed to publish an article on McClellan's revelation and The Washington Post buried it at the end of a column deep on page A-15 in the newspaper. Earlier in the week, Newsweek magazine, owned by the Washington Post Company, proudly announced the identity of its new star columnist -- Karl Rove, one of the key actors in this collective treason. Robert Novak, who willfully disclosed Valerie's identity, having been twice warned not to do so by the CIA, and who transmitted his column to Rove before it was published, remains a regularly featured columnist in The Washington Post.

With nearly 70 percent of the public now believing that our country is on the wrong track, it is no wonder that many feel let down by major institutions, including the Washington press establishment that increasingly resembles the corrupt Soviet propaganda mill. One reporter from a major news organization even asked whether McClellan's statement wasn't just "another Wilson publicity stunt." Try following this tortuous logic: Dick Cheney runs an operation involving senior White House officials designed to betray the identity of a covert CIA officer and the press responds by trying to prove that the Wilsons are publicity seekers. What ever happened to reporting the news? Welcome to Through the Looking Glass.

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Bob Woodward is Clueless About Voter Suppression
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on November 22, 2007 at 1:00 PM.

This post, written by Amanda Terkel, originally appeared on Think Progress

Earlier this week, Washington Post investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Jeff Leen hosted an online chat at washingtonpost.com. One of the participants asked Woodward and Leen how pervasive the voter suppression tactic known as "caging" is. The investigative reporters had no idea what it was:

Washington, D.C.: Don't you have a duty to report criminal activity to the appropriate authorities?

How pervasive is "caging"?

Bob Woodward and Jeff Leen: We publish what we can find and document. Many times over the years government authorities have pursued the information we have dug up and launched their own investigations. But we're trying to serve the readers, and we do not act as police or prosecutors. And please send us an e-mail explaing what "caging" is.

Woodward and Leen aren't the only Washington Post reporters who are clueless about caging. In a washingtonpost.com online chat with congressional reporter Jonathan Weisman in May, a questioner asked "why Congress didn't jump on Monica Goodling's testimony about caging." Weisman's response: "So what is this caging thing?"

So for all those Washington Post reporters out there, let's go over the facts again.

Caging most recently gained attention in the U.S. attorney scandal. In 2004, BBC News published a report showing that Tim Griffin, the former Rove protege who was placed as a U.S. attorney in Arkansas, led a "caging" scheme to suppress the votes of African-American servicemembers in Florida.

On Nov. 5, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced the Caging Prohibition Act, a bill to outlaw this "long-recognized voter suppression tactic which has often been used to target minority voters." Bush administration officials have repeatedly tried to dismiss this as "direct-mail term." But the charges are serious enough that earlier this year, several senators called for an investigation into the RNC's use of this voter suppression tactic. Whitehouse and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) explained:

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Ex-Iraq Commander: "Bring the Troops Home Now"
Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report on November 22, 2007 at 12:00 PM.

This post, written by Steve Benen, originally appeared on The Carpetbagger Report

One assumes he'll be branded a "phony soldier" by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, but the former commander of U.S. troops in Iraq is stepping up to endorse the congressional Democrats' withdrawal policy.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, is scheduled to speak on behalf of the Democratic Party this weekend in support of a House war funding bill that would require President Bush to bring the bulk of U.S. troops home from Iraq by the end of next year. [...]

In portions of Saturday's expected Democratic radio address in response to weekly White House remarks, Sanchez says that recent improvements in security in Iraq "have not been matched by a willingness on the part of Iraqi leaders to make the hard choices necessary to bring peace their country." According to the prepared remarks, he plans to say that there is no evidence that the Iraqis will do so in the near future.

Sanchez also plans to argue that U.S. armed forces have been stretched thin by bad war policy and that the House war funding bill, which requires the redeployment of U.S. troops and other measures for the Pentagon to secure $50 billion in funding, is the appropriate approach. Sanchez is expected to say that the war has significantly hurt the military. The White House has threatened to veto any bill that attaches strings to the war funding.

"Our Army and Marine Corps are struggling with changing deployment schedules that are disrupting combat readiness training and straining the patience and daily lives of military families," Sanchez's will say. "It will take the Army at least a decade to repair the damage done to its full spectrum readiness, which is at its lowest level since the Vietnam War. In the meantime, the ability of our military to fully execute our national security strategy will be called into doubt, producing what is, in my judgment, unacceptable strategic risk."

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Flying Our Not So Friendly Skies
Posted by Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation on November 22, 2007 at 8:21 AM.

This post, written by Katrina vanden Heuvel, originally appeared on The Nation

While there are extraordinarily important issues to reckon with--ending this catastrophic war and devising a sane national security policy, providing universal health care, and repairing the gutted social compact--fixing our air travel system may be one of the most potent political issues of our time.

An outdated air traffic control system, flight routes from the 1950's, and air traffic controllers retiring more quickly than they can be replaced while the Bush Administration plays hardball on a new contract and imposes work rules-- these are just some of the issues that have led to the airline "industry post[ing] its worst on-time performance since it began collecting comparable statistics in 1995."

Roughly 25 percent of domestic flights run late. And now--with 27 million passengers expected to travel over Thanksgiving and the public taking matters into its own hands with the air passenger bill of rights movement--President Bush has attempted to "solve" the problem with a little sleight-of-hand and a PR effort.

To much fanfare, Bush has opened up restricted military airspace off of the East Coast to create a "Thanksgiving express lane for congested traffic."

But the Bush Administration fails to mention that opening up military airspace is already routine. According to the Washington Post, "Such arrangements are not new. The FAA coordinates daily with the Defense Department and seeks same-day clearance to use military airspace if, for example, weather conditions are better in the military's part of the sky."

Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, told the New York Times Bush's move is like "putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm." And airline industry forecaster, Michael Boyd, said, "What's all this rah-rah about the holiday season? What's changed? We're just going to stagger on the way we've been doing for the past year, vulnerable to any glitch in the system, vulnerable to any weather issues."

After the collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis I wrote about how our eroding public infrastructure demanded a real public investment agenda (just as I had called for when the levees broke in New Orleans). The antiquated air traffic system is a key part of that agenda. Now the alarms are ringing loudly on that front. So what can be done?

Experts agree that a new satellite-based navigation system is needed to "allow planes to abandon the highway maps and fly freely since a computerized system can check for conflicting flight paths." According to Boyd, airlines are currently limited to using approximately 3 percent of the sky. But that system--called NextGen for Next Generation Air Transportation System--is expected to cost up to $22 billion (less than two months in Iraq and Afghanistan) and won't be ready until 2025. Who's going to pay for it?

What is happening in the air is a microcosm of what's happening on the ground with the hedge funders. When it comes to the air traffic control system, private jet owners "incur 16 percent of the costs but pay only 3 percent." And just as hedge funders sent their lobbyists to Congress to defeat the effort for a saner tax system, so too are these tourists in corporate jets fighting to hang on to their unjust privilege of using the skies on the cheap.

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Bush Refuses to Condemn Saudi Court’s Punishment of Gang Rape Victim
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 22, 2007 at 7:43 AM.

This post, written by Faiz Shakir, originally appeared on Think Progress

In his second inaugural address, President Bush stridently declared that his administration would not compromise on its demand for basic human rights:

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend...that women welcome humiliation and servitude.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to these goals as the "non-negotiable demands of human dignity." But a recent Saudi court decision has shown the administration very willing to fold when this rhetoric is tested.

A week ago, a Saudi appeals court increased the punishment for the female victim of a gang rape. The woman, who had been appealing her original sentence of 90 lashes, was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes after her appeal.

The Saudi judges more than doubled the punishment for the victim because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media." The Saudi Justice Ministry confirmed that the stiffer sentence handed out on appeal stemmed from the fact that the victim had gone to the media with her story. "Media may have adverse effects on the other parties involved in the case," a statement said.

Asked to offer the administration's position on the court ruling, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Monday that the administration was "astonished," but had "nothing else to offer":

QUESTION: A very quick question also from this morning. Your comment, please, on -- in reaction to the young Saudi woman having her sentence more than doubled the -

MR. MCCORMACK: Right, yeah. I saw the news reports and I guess the first thing to say is, while this is a judicial procedure, part of a judicial procedure overseas in the courts of a sovereign country, that said,I think that most would find this relatively astonishing that something like this happened. So while it's very difficult to offer -- you know, offer any detailed comment about the situation, I think most people would really be quite astonished by the situation.

QUESTION: Would you like the Saudi authorities to reconsider it or do you encourage them to do that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Look, you know, again, I can't get involved in specific court cases in Saudi Arabia dealing with its own citizens, but most -- I think most people here would be quite surprised to learn of the circumstances and then the punishment meted out.

QUESTION: Does that mean that the State Department is astonished by it, too?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'll leave the answer where it -

QUESTION: Well, what does "most people" mean? I mean, most of who?

MR. MCCORMACK: I would just leave -- I don't have anything else to offer.

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How Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" Explains The Taser Death of a Polish Man
Posted by Cliff Schecter, Brave New Films on November 22, 2007 at 6:57 AM.

This post, written by Cliff Schecter, originally appeared on Cliff Schecter's Brave New Films Blog

Her L.A. Times piece which is a must read. But before I give you a taste, here is our very own Robert Greenwald on her important contribution to our current policy debate:

Naomi klein has written a brilliant book that explains and reveals the toll that disaster capitalism is taking all over the world.

Her op ed in the LA Times and this video bring the story to a very human level. The Shock Doctrine connects the dots in policy to allow us to understand how the system works and is important as we begin to look past Bush hatred to changing the system itself.

Now, your taste:

Much of the outrage sparked by the video, which was made by another passenger at the airport, has focused on the controversial use of Tasers, already implicated in 17 deaths in Canada and many more in the United States.

But what happened in Vancouver was about more than a weapon. It was also about an increasingly brutal side of the global economy -- about the reality that many victims of various forms of economic "shock therapy" face at our borders.

Rapid economic transformations like Poland's have created enormous wealth -- in new investment opportunities; currency trading; in leaner, meaner companies able to comb the globe for the cheapest location to manufacture. But from Mexico to China to Poland, they also have created tens of millions of discarded people, the people who lose their jobs when factories close or lose their land when export zones open.

Understandably, many of these people often choose to move: from countryside to city, from country to country. As Dziekanski appeared to be doing, they go in search of that elusive "normal."

But there isn't enough normal to go around, or so we are told. And so, as migrants move, they are often met with other shocks. A treacherous electrified fence on Spain's southern border, or a Taser gun on the U.S.-Mexican border. Canada, which used to be known around the world for its openness to refugees, is militarizing its borders, with lines between immigrant and terrorist blurring fast.

And now the money paragraph:

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McClellan Goes From Coming Clean to Getting Dirty
Posted by Richard Blair, The All Spin Zone on November 22, 2007 at 6:06 AM.

This post, written by Richard Blair, originally appeared on The All Spin Zone

(click for larger version)

Ok, who got to Scottie? He's spinning the words in his book as fast as he ever spun the lies of the Bush administration. Surprised?

Well, ya knew it was too good to be true. A BushCo insider, a "made man", ratting out the boss? It didn't take Scott McClellan long to backtrack on the excerpt made public yesterday from his upcoming book.

Can you say, "damage control"?

WASHINGTON - Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan does not believe President Bush lied to him about the role of White House aides I. Lewis Scooter Libby or Karl Rove in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, according to McClellan's publisher.

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'Victory' in Iraq leaves scary options on the table
Posted by Jan Frel on November 22, 2006 at 7:11 PM.

Still think there's a path for victory in Iraq? After years of thinking that there's no chance at all for anything but increasing disaster, I'm a convert after reading a brilliant column on the options left on the table by Gary Brecher in the eXile. I now think we can. And there are two ways to do it: The options remaining on the table are trying to trigger an endless bloodbath between factions or using weapons of mass destruction. Not exactly what you were hoping to hear, was it?

If those are the choices, I'll take losing any day... well, as a believer in non-violence, I'd rather that we lost and surrendered before we invaded, but that's just me. And upfront, since I've made my pacifist disclosure, leave your PC blinders at the door before reading this, because the arguments here only bolster the idea that there's no way to win this. The crazy idea that Democrats like Rahm Emanuel support, such as adding 20,000 troops temporarily, looks only more insane in light of this analysis.

Brecher makes this case because he says that US forces as they are presently organized are essentially obsolete against the kind of war they are facing in Iraq:

[W]e're living through one of those moments in military history where a powerful, successful military model runs into its limitations. The military-industrial steamroller that won WW II for us and the Soviets was a glorious thing, but then so was the phalanx, and the medieval heavy cavalry, and the British square. They all hit a wall eventually, and so have we. ... [W]hat we've got now is a huge gap between the military force a superpower has and what it's actually ready to use. We've got a problem in the Sunni Triangle, and we're fighting it with mid-20th century weapons, armor and cannon and air strikes. Sure, it's much better armor, cannon and air support than we had in 1944, but we're talking little refinements of old weapons. Cannon have been around for 600 years, people! A 25mm chain cannon is just a much smaller, faster, more accurate version of the humongous, sloppy tubes that blasted the walls of Constantinople in 1453.

What is a modern day war-monger to do?

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Conservative Christian group: CBS has "dirt" in its eye [VIDEO]
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2006 at 1:00 PM.

The Concerned Women for America spend their time castigating Barbie for sowing "gender confusion" and pushing for things like half million dollar fines for CBS's brief display of Janet Jackson's nipple. Nipple nipple nipple.

On today's Christian News Wire is a press release urging CBS to pay a $550,000 fine, entitled: "CWA Says CBS has Dirt in Its Eyeball."

I'm assuming this is a clumsy wink to Luke 6:41, which (ironically) says: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

Ironic, of course, because it's intended to promote introspection and to forestall self-righteousness. So I'll start the cycle myself and admit that I don't give to charity. Ever.

As for the CWA, their eyes are filled with enough planks to build a boardwalk -- watch the clip above from Michael Shea's Redstate the movie for starters.

The whole scene, only some of which is included the clip, is described by Amanda Marcotte:

Which brings me back to Gladys Gill, the head of the CWA in Mississippi, who Michael managed to provoke into carrying on about how she thinks the Civil Rights Act was the downfall of this country and how she’d like to return to the era of segregation. It’s the highlight of the movie, because it really drives home how racism is the linchpin of movement conservatism, no matter what bizarre lengths to go to deny this.

Not-Jenna's purse stolen; Secret Service agent mugged …
Posted by Joshua Holland on November 22, 2006 at 11:15 AM.

Is it just me, or is something more going on with this story than meets the eye?

The acting director of the White House Travel Office was robbed and beaten in Waikiki early on Tuesday morning outside a nightclub, according to Honolulu police.

"He was knocked down, punched, kicked -- his wallet and id were stolen," Honolulu Police Department Capt. Frank Fujii said.

Pitts' passport and international phone were also taken.

Pitts left the bar alone. He walked through International Marketplace, where he was confronted by three men beaten up and robbed, according to a source familiar with the case.

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Was Robert F. Kennedy Killed by the CIA? Part II [VIDEO]
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2006 at 8:46 AM.

A BBC mini-documentary (watch first half to the right) follows the trail of accidental investigative journalist and playwright, Shane O'Sullivan, as he pursues the nagging question: why were Kennedy-hating CIA agents at the hotel the night of his murder?

This footage comes from the indispensable Newsnight, which appears on BBC2 on weeknights. They have the whole thing on the site HERE.

UPDATE: Several readers have written to tell me they're having trouble watching the second half on the BBC site. I've posted the rest here...

Bush's Dr. Abstinence forgot to get board certified
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2006 at 8:34 AM.

Last week, Jessica called stealth Bush appointee, Dr. Eric Keroack, "a ten year-old boy posing as a doctor." While he is an M.D., it turns out he's "not currently certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist." According to an HHS spokesperson, he was certified but "inadvertently missed the recertification deadline."

Sounds like someone I want at the helm of a quarter of a billion dollars.

Kaiser notes that the forgetful doctor: will administer $283 million in annual family planning grants that HHS says are "designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons."

Which is curious, since, according to a letter sent by House Dems: "We are concerned that Keroack has promoted policies -- including the refusal to distribute contraception even to married women -- that directly conflict with the mission of the federal program."

Jessica has the House and Senate letters, opposing Dr. Keroack.

Goodbye Robert Altman [VIDEO]
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2006 at 8:09 AM.

Robert Altman died yesterday at the age of 81.

Greencine's dwhudson compiles eulogies for a great American, the man who made Nashville, The Player, M*A*S*H, and more.

I like this one, as it hints at his iconoclastic spirit, the spirit of someone who doesn't just accept the way the world is, but who struggles to change it:

Scott Macaulay reminds us of Matthew Ross's cover story in the Spring 2006 issue of Filmmaker and adds, "[W]hile many younger directors complain about the inequities of Hollywood and their inability to get their movies made, Altman remained both philosophical and wiley, committed to testing the boundaries of both the system and society with his sly, fast-footed dramas.

In the clip above, Altman explains that if he knew that actors had revolted during the filming of M*A*S*H, he, "would've done what Mr. Rumsfeld won't."

Thank God he lived long enough to see that.

Of OJ, Fox told by Adfolk: 'Don't Even Ask'
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2006 at 7:32 AM.

Yes, Fox did the right thing by dumping its OJ murder porn special, and its Judith Regan book too, but before we break out the champagne, it's important to know why: money.

Murdoch knew for quite some time that this project was in motion but only felt that it was in poor taste when his own stars (plummeting tho they may be) Geraldo and O'Reilly, and nearly every other human available, castigated NewsCorp for it.

Oh, and AdAge reports today that not only is Fox in the dumper ratings-wise, but that they were having a hell of a time finding advertisers for the OJ segment:

"They have not contacted us, but we told them don't even bother, we would not be interested," said Chris Allen, VP-associate director at GSD&M, which represents clients such as AT&T.

So yes, they did "the right thing" and, according to the New York Times, they may just sell the book rights to someone else. Murdoch has a number of publishers under his umbrella... maybe he'll wait for it to blow over and sell it to himself.

The scarlet license plate
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 2:38 PM.

"Ohio has proposed mandating that serial sex offenders and pedophiles use pink license plates," writes Charles Star.

On Wednesday, Cuyahoga Falls Republican Kevin Coughlin introduced legislation in the state Senate that would require the [pink] plates. He says it would be a good method for warning parents and children.

Star continues:

"A warning of what? That a sex offender wants to pass you on the highway?... What bothers me about this isn't the light-Scarlet-Letter vibe, but the assumption that calling sexual predators feminine is more of an insult to pedophiles than it is to, say, women or the terminally fabulous."

Amen, sister. (StayFree!)

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A big target on American soldiers
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 12:36 PM.

In a drastic change of direction, Iraq's leaders have signaled that they want the US out. John Aravosis writes: "Iraq's leaders now say it's not terrorism if you attack Americans. It's only terrorism if you attack Iraqi citizens or Iraqi 'institutions.'"

"In other words," writes Terry, "Iraq's leaders just painted a bullseye on the backs of American soldiers and said they're fair game."

Aravosis continues: "They've likely told the Bush administration privately, and now they're going public. This is incredibly embarrassing for Bush. And it's very troubling for all of us. These guys are pretty much telling us to get out, please."

Some of the language from the meeting of the Arab League in Cairo just happens to mirror John Murtha's recent proposal for withdrawal: "The participants in Cairo agreed on 'calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation' and end terror attacks."

Mean Jean's source
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 11:00 AM.

Just in case your head's been stuck in a pillow case, here's the lowdown on "Mean" Jean Schmidt, our nation's newest representative. After veteran Marine and war hero, John Murtha called for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq, she "delivered a message" from state rep and marine, Danny Bubp that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do."

She was roundly booed and had to apologize.

In her post entitled Jean Schmidt-stalwart champion of nine commandments, Gloria writes: "in addition to breaking a House Ethics rule that forbids naming and criticizing another representative, Schmidt apparently also bore false witness by claiming she was delivering a message when calling Murtha's courage into question last Friday."

Bubp, perhaps sensing political damage more than any moral crisis or imprecision of language said: "There was no discussion of him personally being a coward or about any person being a coward... My message to the folks in Washington, D.C., and to all the Congress people up there, is to stay the course. We cannot leave Iraq or cut and run..."

Fine. I get as much joy out of Schmidt being abandoned for her clumsy and offensive display as the next guy, but she wasn't entirely wrong in delivering that message.

Or, rather, Bubp may not want to be construed as accusing anyone of "personally being a coward or about any person being a coward," but he sure as hell was. Those who believe that withdrawing troops is cowardly and that Marines aren't cowards, better get a refresher on logic and a freaking bodyguard. From what I understand, Marines don't like to be called cowards by those who've never worn a uniform. (AllSpinZone)

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Must... look... at... butts
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 10:01 AM.

Finally, American prudishness pays dividends! In Europe, where sexuality isn't strictly confined to the missionary position for procreation among the religiously-enjoined, ads are filled with nudity. Well, female nudity.

Seems they're working too well. Dabitch writes:

"Hot on the heels of that British study that revealed that a quarter of British drivers are so distracted by billboards with semi-naked models that they have dangerously veered out of their lane... comes yet another ad that diverts attention from traffic. This time it's a cheeky ad in Rome that a consumer group calls a 'road hazard.'"

Sure, you could banish these images from the roads, Dabitch suggests but, she says: "one wonders how these accident-prone motorists manage in real life is the slightest peek of cheek makes them [lose] all control - should they really be able to operate heavy machinery such as cars, guns and voting ballots?" (Adland)

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An averted Bush bomb
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 8:22 AM.

On this one count, lapdog Blair reportedly talked master Bush out of a possible violation of the Geneva Conventions.

According to the latest leaked British memo, Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeerah but was talked down by Blair. Paul Schmelzer writes: "[this] means, the president wanted to bomb an independent media outlet in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, a key ally of the coalition."

Ally or not, targeting any civilian institution, like the media (state run or not), is a violation of the Geneva Convention and thus, a war crime. But it didn't happen, you say?

That didn't happen, but former British Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle explains why releasing the memo remains crucial:

"If it was the case that President Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera in what is after all a friendly country, it speaks volumes and raises questions about subsequent attacks that took place on the press that wasn't embedded with coalition forces."

(Eyeteeth)

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GM layoffs' dirty secret
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 6:51 AM.

Jonathan Tasini isn't happy with reporting on the 30,000 layoffs recently announced by General Motors.

In addition to poor management and poor engineering, mentioned prominently in most articles, Tasini writes:

"But, staring you right in the face are the billions of dollars in health care costs that GM carries on its balance sheets. It is still startling to me that companies like GM, looking straight into the financial abyss, can't shake off an ideological straight-jacket that prevents it from shouting loudly, 'we need to extend Medicare to every person in America.'"

In addition to the moral imperative, he argues, there's an economic one, in order to compete in the global marketplace:

"Even with the rise of the multi-national corporation, which care not a bit about national identity, most corporations still have a home-base of operations. And where that home base provides health insurance as a matter of national right, those companies have a competitive advantage over their counterparts...well. mostly their American counterparts because we seem to be the only significant economic player on the planet that can't shuck off the nonsense about the 'free-market' and solve our health care crisis in the only way it can be solved: EXTEND MEDICARE TO ALL."

(WorkingLife)

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It WAS a chemical weapon...
Posted by Evan Derkacz on November 22, 2005 at 4:48 AM.

In the ever-evolving picture of White Phosphorous use in Iraq, we're currently at: Yes it was used on humans, yes it's a chemical weapon, and no the Pentagon can't be sure that no civilians were effected.

I was even duped myself. In a post to the Mix yesterday I noted that we may need to start using more specific -- and graphic -- language to describe despicable behavior that may not technically be illegal. Like, for instance, whether WP is a chemical weapon (and therefore prohibited) or not, "flesh-melting" weapons are repugnant and should do the trick.

I was wrong. Nico writes: "A formerly classified 1995 Pentagon intelligence document titled 'Possible Use of Phosphorous Chemical' describes the use of white phosphorus by Saddam Hussein on Kurdish fighters:

IRAQ HAS POSSIBLY EMPLOYED PHOSPHOROUS CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDISH POPULATION IN AREAS ALONG THE IRAQI-TURKISH-IRANIAN BORDERS.

I know, Playing politics with munitions that mutilate humans. You're shocked. (ThinkProgress)

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