Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.
Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.
Rights and Liberties
After Casting Sole No Vote on Slavery Memorial, Rep. King Keeps Digging Deeper
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly on July 9, 2009 at 3:37 PM.
Rep. Steve King, a right-wing Republican from Iowa, was the only member of Congress to oppose a measure this week to honor the role slaves played in building the U.S. Capitol in the Capitol Visitors Center. In his initial explanation, he said his vote had something to do with including the phrase "In God We Trust" in the Visitors Center. The connection between the two is clear only to King.
Faiz Shakir reports on the Iowan's second explanation, which King offered during a radio interview:
"[O]f the 645,000 Africans that were brought here to be forcibly put into slavery in the United States, there were over 600,000 people that gave their lives in the Civil War to put an end to slavery. And I don't see the monument to that in the Congressional Visitor Center, and I think it's important that we have a balanced depiction of history."
Let me see if I can explain this to King in a way he'll understand. The Capitol Visitors Center includes information relating to the building itself. That's why the Capitol Visitors Center exists -- to offer visitors information about the Capitol.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Enough Psuedo-Feminist War-Mongering in the Name of Islamic Women
Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet on July 9, 2009 at 12:35 PM.
Sometimes hypocrisy is hard to discern, other times not so much.
When it comes to neoconservative claims that we have to occupy far-flung lands in order to defend Islamic women from their sons, brothers and husbands, it's nothing short of striking. After all, any mention of the "plight" of women in Christendom is dismissed by the very same conservative bobble-heads as the incoherent rantings of hairy-legged "feminazis."
I'm on a bunch of political press lists, including several from the Right. Today, I got this:
On Wednesday, French lawmakers met to discuss whether or not to legalize a nationwide ban of the burka, the head-to-toe dressing that Muslim women are expected, if not demanded, to wear. Academics present at the hearing called the tradition archaic and cult-like behavior. France, as it happens, has the largest Muslim minority out of every other European country.
Mano Bakh, an ex-Muslim banned from Iran for speaking out against Islamic radicalism, feels that US lawmakers should follow suit with evoking similar regulations.
Mano Bakh, it appears, is trying to join the prosperous ranks of "former Muslims" who tell right-wing activists that their virulent Islamophobia isn't racist at all, but is entirely justified. It's a great gig if you can land it.
“The Muslim religion belonged to a barbaric society that lived 1,400 years ago,” says Bakh. "Many of its facets are not applicable for today’s advanced world. The wearing of the burka is just one example.”
Of course, fake Western feminists (and I'm not talking about actual feminists -- you know, people who take issues that affect women seriously) don't give a damn about what the Islamic feminists they claim to care for actually want.
Case in point: the Burqa. I've met a large number of real, live feminists from majority-Islamic countries, and each and every one has said that dress is an obsession of Westerners, and that what they care about, fight for, and sometimes risk their safety over is reforming marriage and divorce laws, education, political participation, etc. What's more, they report that within their own, home-grown movements, women are themselves deeply divided over veiling. And, finally, because the dress issue is of interest to foreigners, it allows traditionalists to paint their indigenous fights as a product of Western meddling, endangering their persons and marginalizing their fights. Thanks for nothing.
That's not to say that indigenous women's rights activists don't benefit from international solidarity from their sisters and brothers abroad -- the point is that the expansion of rights is a domestic struggle that's worthy of support rather than something foreigners can realistically impose from without.
Let me leave you on an interesting note. In the midst of this whole French burqa brouhaha, IPS News sent a correspondent into the streets of Paris -- in neighborhoods with large Muslim populations. Guess what she found?
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Welcome to Post-Racial America! (No Black Kids Allowed)
Posted by Staff, AlterNet on July 9, 2009 at 10:38 AM.
More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.
"I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?' She's like, 'I'm scared they might do something to my child,'" said camper Dymire Baylor.
The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers' first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.
When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."
The next day the club told the camp director that the camp's membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded.
"I said, 'The parents don't want the refund. They want a place for their children to swim,'" camp director Aetha Wright said.
[...]
The explanation they got was either dishearteningly honest or poorly worded.
"There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club," John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.
Why Is Elton John Doing a Concert to Raise Funds For an Anti-Gay Politician?
Posted by Lisa Derrick, Huffington Post on July 7, 2009 at 4:00 AM.
Two politicians who have consistently voted against gay rights, Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) and Jean Schmidt (R-OH), will be holding fundraisers at the Elton John/Billy Joel Face2Face concert in Washington DC's Nationals Park July 11, reports PartyBlog.
Maybe they don't care that Elton John is gay, united in a civil union with David Furness, and a tireless fundraiser for HIV/AIDS. Shimkus held a fundraiser at an Elton John concert in 2005 and the Kentucky Democrat reported:
A spokesman for Shimkus, Steve Tomaszewski, said his boss's fund-raiser at the Elton John concert was neither an endorsement of the singer's politics nor a betrayal of Shimkus' stand on gay marriage. Shimkus won't attend himself, however, because of a scheduling conflict, Tomaszewski said.
In 2006 Schmidt and Shimkus voted to define marriage in the Constitution as a one man-one woman affair, and a year later they voted against a measure aimed at prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Then in June 2008, they co-sponsored a bill to amend the Constitution to prevent same sex couples from marrying.
Despite campaigning for global gay rights, Elton John is very not supportive of civil marriage equality. Or maybe he just doesn't understand that civil unions do not allow couples in the U.S. over 1,300 rights granted to heterosexual married couples. In November 2008, Sir Elton told USA Today:
We're not married. Let's get that right. We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage ... I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership. The word "marriage," I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Sick: Operation Rescue Founder Launches 'Defeat Sotomayor' Tour, Including Press Conference at Dr. Tiller Clinic
Posted by Ian Millhiser, Think Progress on July 6, 2009 at 1:00 PM.
Randall Terry, founder of the right-wing extremist group Operation Rescue, has announced a twelve-city tour intended to convince senators that “[t]o refuse to filibuster [Sotomayor] is to bow in abject obedience to the Angel of Death.” The graphic depicted to the right is taken from a flier promoting the event, which claims:
“We must stop permitting this hypocrisy, cowardice, and treachery in our midst. Pro-life voters are calling on pro-life Senators to filibuster Sotomayor.
“A Senator cannot say, ‘I want to overturn Roe,’ and then vote to confirm a Supreme Court Judge that will uphold Roe. A vote to confirm Sotomayor is a vote to uphold Roe.
“Many senators use pro-life rhetoric to seduce us; they get our money, our volunteer labor, and our votes. But once an election is over, they discard us like an embarrassing mistress. . . . Whether they ‘have the votes’ to sustain a filibuster or not, they need to fight to stop her, for the sake of the babies who will die under her judicial reign.“
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Yes Men Say No to Jerusalem Film Festival
Posted by Staff, AlterNet on July 4, 2009 at 6:51 PM.
Editor's note: this is cross-posted from Tikkun Magazine's blog.
Dear Friends at the Jerusalem Film Festival,
We regret to say that we have taken the hard decision to withdraw our film, "The Yes Men Fix the World," from the Jerusalem Film Festival in solidarity with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (http://www.bdsmovement.net/).
This decision does not come easily, as we realize that the festival opposes the policies of the State of Israel, and we have no wish to punish progressives who deplore the state-sponsored violence committed in their name.
This decision does not come easily, as we feel a strong affinity with many people in Israel, sharing with them our Jewish roots, as well as the trauma of the Holocaust, in which both our grandfathers died. Andy lived in Jerusalem for a year long ago, can still get by in Hebrew, and counts several friends there. And Mike has always wanted to connect with the roots of his culture.
But despite all our feelings, we cannot abandon our mission as activists.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Cynthia McKinney Detained (Again) by Israeli Defense Force; Israeli Protesters Brutally Beaten in West Bank
Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet on July 1, 2009 at 4:15 PM.
The Israeli right is moving U.S. perceptions of the I-P conflict to a tipping point. Among Americans -- and especially the Jewish community -- Israel had long enjoyed the moral high ground. But sentiment is shifting, in large part to the terror wrought by the settler's movement, the unyielding stance of the Netanyahu government, and stories such as these ...
A boat carrying aid to pro-Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip was surrounded and boarded by Israeli forces off the coast of the Gaza Strip Tuesday. Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was one of the 21 people on board who were taken into Israeli custody and held at the port of Ashrod in Israel.
McKinney is quoted as saying that the confrontation was "an outrageous violation of international law," and she claimed the boat was on a humanitarian mission and was not in Israeli waters.
The Israeli military said the boat tried to violate Israel's security blockade and enter Gaza illegally.
The 21 passengers and crew on the Greek-registered ship "Arion" was working for the U.S.-based "Free Gaza Movement." Among them, besides McKinney, was 1977 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mairead Maguire.
Israeli forces have maintained a blockade on the Palestinian territory since 2007, partly to prevent smugglers from delivering weapons and munitions to Gaza.
It's a farce to claim that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza resulted in some semblance of sovereignty when its military controls Gaza's airspace, waterways and land routes, and Israeli forces continue to strike targets within the canton.
Israeli forces in the West Bank have long reacted violently to Palestinian protests, even peaceful ones. But recently, they used similar tactics on Israeli protesters -- an unusual occurrence ...
I am reporting the testimony of Dr. Amiel Vardi, and many other supporting testimonies. There is graphic photographic documentation, including a live video clip, which can be seen here. The pictures seen here are part of a series that can be viewed at this Flickr site...
The activists arrived in the morning at al-Safa to accompany Palestinian farmers to their fields, since it is nearly impossible for these farmers to work their land without the physical protection of Israelis: violent settlers from nearby Bat 'Ayin invariably attack the farmers and chase them away. This time, however, the army and Border Police were waiting, in force—dozens of soldiers (the Border Police are part of the army), including two Brigade Commanders. As usual, they declared the area a Closed Military Zone.
But they also immediately arrested the activists and then attacked several of them brutally with fists, rifle butts, and other weapons.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Looney Oklahoma Legislator: Gays to Blame for Econopocalypse ... 'Bigger Threat than Islam'
Posted by Matt Corley, Think Progress on June 30, 2009 at 3:04 PM.
Last year, Oklahoma state legislator Sally Kern (R) drew well-deserved criticism for an outlandish rant against the gay community, in which she compared homosexuality to “toe cancer” and said “it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam.” “Studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it’s the death knell of this country,” said Kern. Listen here:
Though activists responded to her comments with protests, Oklahoma conservatives rallied around her, saying that they “stand with and support Sally.” Now, Kern is back, once again sparking controversy for her attacks on the LGBT community.
Kern is now pushing a “Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality” that blames America’s “economic woes” on “abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse ,and many other forms of debauchery”:
WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery;
Though Kern denies that her proclamation is timed to coincide with gay pride celebrations across the country, critics say otherwise. Kern’s proclamation specifically criticizes President Obama for recognizing June as LGBT Pride Month. “Whereas, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior,” reads the proclamation.
Watch an Oklahoma News 9 report on Kern’s proclamation:
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
White Supremacists Arrested in 2004 Bombing ... Is the FBI Finally Taking Domestic Terrorism Seriously Again?
Posted by David Neiwert, Orcinus on June 30, 2009 at 8:57 AM.
Back in 2004, someone sent a letter bomb to Don Logan, the director of the Office of Diversity and Dialogue in Scottsdale, Ariz. Logan suffered serious burns on his hands and arms, and two other people suffered minor injuries.
At the time, it was clear that both federal and local authorities wanted to treat the case as an "isolated incident" unconnected to any racial matters. The chief line of investigation was into Logan's personal background, to see if he might have had financial dealings that created enemies. Unsurprisingly, the trail went cold in short order.
Yesterday, the FBI finally arrested three white supremacists in the case:
An undercover ATF sting raided white supremacists in at least three states on Thursday in an investigation connected to the 2004 letter bombing of Don Logan, an African-American who worked for a diversity program in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms infiltrated "several" undercover agents into white supremacist circles as part of the investigation, according to court records.
In Arizona, Dennis and Daniel Mahon were arrested this week by the ATF on a sealed indictment issued June 16.
In Missouri, Robert Neil Joos was arrested by the ATF on a firearms charge. An ATF affidavit said the arrest resulted from a multi-year investigation into the Logan bombing.
According to the affidavit, Dennis Mahon called Joos on the morning of the bombing.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
'Out of Control' Cop Allegedly Brutalizes Guests at Dem Fundraiser
Posted by Staff, AlterNet on June 30, 2009 at 8:00 AM.
The sheriff's deputy who broke up a fund-raiser for Francine Busby looked “out of control” as he doused guests with pepper spray, pulled out a stun gun, and dropped a 60-year-old woman to the floor, witnesses said.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has launched an internal investigation into the incident Friday night at the home on Rubenstein Avenue in the Cardiff community of Encinitas.
Authorities were called to the home of Shari Barman and Jane Stratton after a neighbor complained about noise, and Barman was arrested in the ensuing altercation with Deputy Marshall Abbott.
“He had a raged look in his eyes and his head was bobbing from side to side,” said Kimberley Beatty, who attended the event. She said she called 911 to report that the officer “appeared to be out of control.”
Beatty spoke Monday afternoon at a news conference along with two other guests at the fund-raiser, Christine Nava and Julie Chippendale.
Chippendale also said that Abbott “looked like he was feeling out of control.”
“His eyes were darting around the room as if we may have guns,” she said. “Guests were yelling, 'What are you doing? Let her go!' ”
Busby, 58, is a Democrat seeking the 50th Congressional District seat in 2010. She said about 30 of her supporters gathered at the home to raise campaign money for next year's race against Congressman Brian Bilbray.
She said she used an amplified microphone from about 8 to 8:30 p.m. to address what she described as 30 or fewer guests; witnesses said an unidentified neighbor interrupted the speech by heckling Busby, calling her a “loser” and obscenities.
Read the rest here ...
Read Shari Barman's statement here.
Obama Has Become Radical in His Commitment to Secrecy
Posted by Martin Garbus, Huffington Post on June 30, 2009 at 5:00 AM.
It is more than coincidence that an HBO film on free speech, Shouting Fire, dealing with the Bush attempt to stop free speech is on tonight.
Obama's campaign promise was for a transparent government, yet this past Friday, after 3pm, hoping to avoid the weekend news cycle, his administration announced major events he hoped the public would not see.
Denying the public information, rejecting the public's free speech "right to know" has become a pattern of this administration. Obama has become radical in his commitment to secrecy, not totally unlike the Bush administration.
Late Friday, June 26, 2009:
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Right-Wingers React to Supreme Court Decision as Proof Sotomayor Is 'Indeed a Racist'
Posted by Digby, Hullabaloo on June 29, 2009 at 3:45 PM.
The Supreme Court handed down their decision in the Ricci case, reversing with a 5-4 count the lower court opinion that the city of New Haven can refuse to apply a promotions test for firefighters because no African-Americans passed it. The city feared a discrimination lawsuit over the test, but the Court basically waved that away.
The case was previously decided by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by a three-judge panel that included Sonia Sotomayor. And so now we'll hear all about that honky-hating judge reversed again (how does this affect her "reversal rate"?) and the manly men of the Supreme Court helping out those poor white firefighters who worked so hard to pass that test. As Eric Boehlert chronicles:
Not only was the reversal a foregone conclusion, but so too, was the narrative now being played out in the press. The press and Republicans (notice how they work in tandem) have been touting this reversal for weeks, hyping it as a potentially "embarrassing" reversal, which would (supposedly) raise all kind of doubts about Sotomayor's smarts and her ability as a judge.And trust us, this meme is already being hammered and will likely continue throughout the week: Sotomayor was reversed--she got smacked down--by the Supreme Court! It's a huge deal.
Except, of course, it is not. Judges get reversed everyday. In fact, the system of American jurisprudence is built upon the idea of judges getting reversed. It happens all the time. And yes, the Supreme Court reverses judges all the time. But only now, in the case of Sotomayor, is the press pretending that that reversal is a singular rebuke; that it's a mark of shame for Sotomayor because she got the case wrong.
In addition, Courts of Appeals, in a general sense, follow prior precedent rather than make the sweeping changes that can be made at the SCOTUS level. Far from being a slave to "empathy," Sotomayor followed the law available to her in concurring with the majority decision on her Appeals Court. In fact, as Sam Alito wrote in his concurrence today, "But 'sympathy' is not what petitioners have a right to demand. What they have a right to demand is evenhanded enforcement of the law ... And that is what, until today's decision, has been denied them." The Second Court had no precedent on which to rely to offer that enforcement, and if Sotomayor reversed the District Court ruling in Ricci, she would have been relying on sympathy. Which is what her critics say she always relies on.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
The Madoff Sentence: Swindle the Rich? Get 150 Years. Swindle the Poor? Who Cares?
Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville on June 29, 2009 at 12:55 PM.
Let me be perfectly clear: I have no sympathy for Bernie Madoff, not a single, solitary, infinitesimal iota.
But surely I am not the only person who reads that he's been sentenced to 150 years in prison and sees the sort of ridiculously excessive sentence that's typically reserved for scapegoats.
Ah, the evil Madoff has been given 150 years -- finally someone is being held responsible for the horrendous economic clusterfucktastrophe which has befallen us all! Now we can go back to not paying attention! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!
It's just a little fucked up that the asshole who swindled rich people gets 150 years, but most of the assholes who swindled poor people haven't even lost their jobs. And that's to say nothing of the assholes staffed by the regulatory bodies whose enormous incompetence enabled Madoff's crimes, no less members of the administration under whose watch the economy collapsed.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Thinking Chipotle For Lunch? Read This First If You Care About Workers' Rights
Posted by Peter Rothberg, TheNation.com on June 29, 2009 at 11:30 AM.
Last week, leaders of the food justice movement -- including Eric Schlosser, Raj Patel, Frances Moore Lappe, and Robert Kenner, producer and director of the new documentary Food, Inc. -- sent a strongly-worded letter to Chipotle demanding that they "work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the protection of farmworkers' rights."
The letter comes in the wake of a recent breakthrough for the Campaign for Fair Food -- Whole Foods' announcement that two of Florida's leading organic producers, Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms, will implement the company's agreement with the CIW, including the penny-per-pound wage increase and a strict code of conduct.
For decades, Florida's farmworkers have faced terrible abuses and brutal exploitation. Workers earn sub-poverty wages for toiling 60 to 70 hours per week in season, and some have even been chained to poles, locked inside trucks, beaten, and robbed of their pay.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has made great organizing strides and has succeeded in convincing numerous commercial giants, including both Burger King and Taco Bell, to increase wages, benefits and observe a strict set of guidelines outlining workplace safety rules.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
Texas Cops Raid Gay Bar, Brutalize Patrons, on 40th Anniversary of Stonewall Uprising
Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress on June 29, 2009 at 10:45 AM.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, police raided a gay bar in Fort Worth, TX, and arrested seven customers for public intoxication. (One man was reportedly taken to the hospital "with bleeding in his brain after officers threw him to the ground and used zip-ties to handcuff him.") Police said they were simply conducting an "alcohol beverage code inspection" when several customers made sexual advances toward the officers. However, the owner of the Rainbow Lounge, J.R. Schrock, said that claim was a "lie." The groping of the police officer -- really? We're gay, but we're not dumb," Schrock said. The Dallas Voice heard from Todd Camp, the founder of Q Cinema and former reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who was at the Rainbow Lounge when the police showed up:
My group and I were sitting on the back patio at a picnic table. Nobody was being wild out there. [The police] came through with flashlights, being loud asking what was going on out here, then asked why everyone was all the sudden being quiet. When one group started up their conversations again, they took one guy away. I left shortly after and as I walked through the front bar there were numerous cops with plastic handcuffs all ready to go. I [left] the bar and they [had] a big van in the parking lot and numerous cars on the street. And just so you know, it wasn’t fire hazard crowded or seedy wild in there. … The worst part is [friends later told me] that [the police] had numerous people face down on the ground outside.
Read the rest of the post on the flip side »
EMAIL
PRINT
COMMENT NOW
PERMALINK
