And-and
there's one woman. Her name is Karimah. She and her family, I'd spent
time at their house a lot in 2003 and 2004 and she's a widow and her
husband was killed in the Iran - Iraq War. She has a large number of
kids. And I went to visit her and her son, her oldest son, Aalee had
been picked up at a cafe in a raid. And there were these Iraqi security
forces who were looking for members of the Sadr militia. They picked
him up, detained him, didn't charge him with anything really and
interrogated him, extracting a confession from him and then proceeded to
sort of keep him in prison until the family sold everything they had
and could buy him out of prison basically. And that speaks to the state
of the Iraqi judicial system today. It's a confession-based sort of
system and people are frequently detained and not charged with anything
until people can just buy them out. And that's included in this Human
Rights Watch report. So it's really, the biggest concerns for the
people who are coming up from this new very sort of corrupt and
ineffective Iraqi government, in their words, in the way they described
it and also the infrastructure was just a mess.
-- photo journalists Kael Alford on Friday's Your Call (KALW). She and photo journalist Thorne Anderson have an exhibit, "Eye Level in Iraq," at the de Young Museum in San Francisco through June 16th.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
A note to our readers
Hey --
Another Sunday.
First up, we thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Another Sunday.
First up, we thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
We continue to look for new truests sources.
A rehash serving of mashed potatoes from MSNBC?
Ava and C.I. crown Amy Goodman with a new title.
A look at an endangered species and the corrupt.
Jane Arraf scores this week.
What do the two have in common? Quite a lot.
CBS really needs to.
A puzzler.
A press release from Senator Murray's office.
A repost from Workers World.
Upcoming veterans hearings.
Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.
Editorial: The crimes against Iraq didn't end in 2008
The question could be asked: How does Barack get away with supporting thug Nouri al-Maliki? But the answer's so obvious that the question may seem uneeded. He gets away with supporting Nouri because American media really doesn't give a damn about Iraq.
"There just isn't a huge amount of reporting coming out of Iraq these days by western media because budgets are shrinking," photo journalist Kael Alfred declared Friday on Your Call (KALW). "There are a lot of conflicts happening all over the world and our attention shifts elsewhere. And, you know, we were just speaking about this before the show, how ten years on, the anniversary of this war, we really don't know what's happening in Iraq, we don't what it looks like."
Which is why we're not doing cartwheels over Rachel Maddow's 'special' on MSNBC tomorrow night. It's not just that Hubris is based on a book from several years ago, it's also that Rachel been talking it up as "this really definitive statement about how Bush lied us into a war."
Wow. Color us underwhelmed.
Exactly how is that new or novel?
More importantly, what does it have to do with today.
MSNBC prime time is heavy on jocular hosts and light on actual reporters. Maddow herself is nothing but a dee jay. She wouldn't know how to break a story if you slow-walked her through it.
Iraq is a tragedy.
Maybe if Rachel put down the axe she uses on Bully Boy Bush long enough to explore the realities for the Iraqi people, how they are protesting and even why they are protesting?
They are protesting, you know?
Even if American media doesn't give a damn, Iraqis are protesting. Shafaq News pointed out Thursday,
"Demonstrations and sit-ins still continue in Iraq in protest against
Maliki's policies, as the sit-in in Ramadi had entered its 56 day.
Maliki's government is witnessing recently protests in several areas,
including Anbar, Fallujah, Kirkuk, Samarra, Mosul and a number of
neighborhoods in Baghdad to demand reforms and cancel laws that prohibit
some from participating in the political process, as well as cancelling
Article 4 of Anti-Terrorism Act and release detainees especially women
detainees and achieve balance in the institutions of the state."
When Maddow's special airs, it will be day 60 of the sit-in.
The birth defects, will they be covered?
What about the 2010 elections? Will Maddow acknowledge how Barack backed thug Nouri and the US government brokered The Erbil Agreement to get around the Constitution and let Nouri have a second term after the voters refused to grant him one?
Will she note how talk of democracy became a bigger joke under Barack when he refused to back the will of the Iraqi people in order to keep the US puppet installed as prime minister?
Again, the talk of the special indicates to us that we'll be seeing something we've seen many times before.
Bully Boy Bush is a War Criminal. We've said that for years now. So is Barack Obama and we've also said that for years now. MSNBC, however, struggles with that. So we're expecting a nostalgia program that does nothing to illuminate Iraq today or what the Iraqi people are going through.
TV: First Among All Whiners
Maybe it was the fact that Tim Allen's Last Man Standing finally found its footing in season two when the lead character found a political position (conservative)? Maybe that's what's taken the long running sitcom Democracy Now! and turned it ever rightward?
There was the ridiculous February 6th broadcast where activist, author and media critic Norman Solomon was supposedly brought on to debate Colin Powell's guy pal Lawrence Wilkerson. Only it ended up being Norman debating him, Amy Goodman and Aaron Mate. Goody felt the need to repeatedly tell Norman to let Lawrence speak.
This despite the fact that Wilkerson had dominated the conversation and, in fact, was allowed to speak at length before Norman Solomon even got introduced. In fact, Colin Powell's bag boy would get to speak 1503 words to Norman's 1212. And though he repeatedly cut off Norman, Goody never asked him to let Norman speak.
As Barack's second term kicks off, Democracy Now! has become that raspberry cream candy in the box of chocolates -- squishy and somewhere in the center.
It wasn't always so.
You've probably caught Goody's stale act. In 2008, she was insisting in The Progressive, "The media acts as a megaphone for those in power." Variations on that pad out her copy-and-past 'books.' In 2003, she told Michael Powell (Washington Post), "War coverage should be more than a parade of retired generals and retired government flacks posing as reporters. Why not invite on some voices that are not Pentagon-approved?"
She's played Last Journalist Standing for years now. But she's toying, pretending.
The proof is in what you actually do.
February 15, 2003 was a monumental day -- one like the world has rarely seen. Close to 40 million people, by some estimates, around the world marched and said "NO" to war on Iraq.
In real time, Goody grasped it was a major story and the Monday after the Saturday protest, this was her show's lineup:
But Friday was the anniversary of that day, the tenth year anniversary.
And what did Goody do?
As The Guardian and The New Statesman and even the conservative Telegraph of London spent last week looking back on the protests with multiple features over multiple days, Goody devoted a whole hour to it, right?
Because this is people power and she supposedly believes in that, right?
This is like an event out of a Howard Zinn history book so Goody would be all over it, right?
Wrong.
She did manage to mention it. On Friday. In the sixteenth of sixteen headlines.
She gave the largest protest the world has ever seen 105 words.
And that's all she gave it.
You can hector, you can critique.
But the fact of the matter is if, in your own outlet, with your own power, if you refuse to behave any differently than those you criticize, you're nothing but a whiner.
And that's what last week was about as Amy made nice with Daryl Hannah (making nice about Barack), explored the Papacy and she and close-to-retirement Davy D spoke of 'wronged' murderer Christopher Doran. On NPR's Tell Me More last week, Doran's groupies (28,000 likes on Facebook) were addressed by reporter Karen Grigsby Bates who noted:
Well, I think that there are a couple of different reactions. There were - almost universally people are saying nothing condones murder. And this is something that the mainstream media hasn't picked up on very much. You know, it kind of worries me because it was like after O.J. Simpson was acquitted and all you saw were people of color jumping up and down going yay, yay, O.J.'s free.
Well, I interviewed a lot of people who said we think a travesty was done and this is wrong and we really resent having, you know, these scenes of joy shown all over as if this is in the entire black community. So the entire black community is not jumping up and down about this. But there are people who say that there are still serious problems with the police.
Remember, journalism just isn't done on Democracy Now! because Goody's too tired from forever posing as Last Journalist Standing.
Back to that 2008 interview with The Progressive:
Q: You travel around the country a lot. What do you see as being the pressing issues right now?
Goodman: War is the defining issue. We cannot take the focus off of that because we are determining who lives and who dies. In Iraq, the population is just decimated, displaced, killed. We have destroyed a civilization. It's horrifying. And as long as that is going on I think it is our responsibility to show that. Then people can make up their own minds. But as long as it falls off the front pages of the newspapers, people can think, "Well, it must not be that bad." It’s our job to make sure it’s front and center.
War is a defining issue, she insists. But not so much so that she needs to actually cover it. So she ignores the protest, the same way she dropped Iraq in 2008, the same way she never did a segment on Abeer. Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi's parents and five-year-old sister were murdered in their Iraqi home while Abeer was gang-raped in another room. Following the gang-rape, Abeer was murdered. But it was never important enough for an hour of Democracy Now! or even for a 20 minute segment.
Again, if you criticize others for failing to use their power, you need to be using your own power. When you fail to do that, when you're even worse than what you say the Mainstream Media is, you're not the Last Journalist Standing, you're just First Among All Whiners.
There was the ridiculous February 6th broadcast where activist, author and media critic Norman Solomon was supposedly brought on to debate Colin Powell's guy pal Lawrence Wilkerson. Only it ended up being Norman debating him, Amy Goodman and Aaron Mate. Goody felt the need to repeatedly tell Norman to let Lawrence speak.
This despite the fact that Wilkerson had dominated the conversation and, in fact, was allowed to speak at length before Norman Solomon even got introduced. In fact, Colin Powell's bag boy would get to speak 1503 words to Norman's 1212. And though he repeatedly cut off Norman, Goody never asked him to let Norman speak.
As Barack's second term kicks off, Democracy Now! has become that raspberry cream candy in the box of chocolates -- squishy and somewhere in the center.
It wasn't always so.
You've probably caught Goody's stale act. In 2008, she was insisting in The Progressive, "The media acts as a megaphone for those in power." Variations on that pad out her copy-and-past 'books.' In 2003, she told Michael Powell (Washington Post), "War coverage should be more than a parade of retired generals and retired government flacks posing as reporters. Why not invite on some voices that are not Pentagon-approved?"
She's played Last Journalist Standing for years now. But she's toying, pretending.
The proof is in what you actually do.
February 15, 2003 was a monumental day -- one like the world has rarely seen. Close to 40 million people, by some estimates, around the world marched and said "NO" to war on Iraq.
In real time, Goody grasped it was a major story and the Monday after the Saturday protest, this was her show's lineup:
- Headlines for February 17, 2003
- The World Says No to War! Rome-2 Million People; London, Madrid, Barcelona-Over 1 Million Each; Berlin and New York City -Half a Million; Melbourne, Sydney and France -Hundreds of Thousands; and Hundr
- "Listen to the Voice of the People, for Many Times the Voice of the People Is the Voice of God!" South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu Entreats George Bush Before Hundreds of Thousands in New York Cit
- Singer Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover ,and Activist Angela Davis Speak to Hundreds of Thousands in NYC
- UN Breaks Into Unprecedented Applause for French Foreign Minister’s Anti-War Address: We Hear Dominique de Villepin and Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix
But Friday was the anniversary of that day, the tenth year anniversary.
And what did Goody do?
As The Guardian and The New Statesman and even the conservative Telegraph of London spent last week looking back on the protests with multiple features over multiple days, Goody devoted a whole hour to it, right?
Because this is people power and she supposedly believes in that, right?
This is like an event out of a Howard Zinn history book so Goody would be all over it, right?
Wrong.
She did manage to mention it. On Friday. In the sixteenth of sixteen headlines.
She gave the largest protest the world has ever seen 105 words.
And that's all she gave it.
You can hector, you can critique.
But the fact of the matter is if, in your own outlet, with your own power, if you refuse to behave any differently than those you criticize, you're nothing but a whiner.
And that's what last week was about as Amy made nice with Daryl Hannah (making nice about Barack), explored the Papacy and she and close-to-retirement Davy D spoke of 'wronged' murderer Christopher Doran. On NPR's Tell Me More last week, Doran's groupies (28,000 likes on Facebook) were addressed by reporter Karen Grigsby Bates who noted:
Well, I think that there are a couple of different reactions. There were - almost universally people are saying nothing condones murder. And this is something that the mainstream media hasn't picked up on very much. You know, it kind of worries me because it was like after O.J. Simpson was acquitted and all you saw were people of color jumping up and down going yay, yay, O.J.'s free.
Well, I interviewed a lot of people who said we think a travesty was done and this is wrong and we really resent having, you know, these scenes of joy shown all over as if this is in the entire black community. So the entire black community is not jumping up and down about this. But there are people who say that there are still serious problems with the police.
Remember, journalism just isn't done on Democracy Now! because Goody's too tired from forever posing as Last Journalist Standing.
Back to that 2008 interview with The Progressive:
Q: You travel around the country a lot. What do you see as being the pressing issues right now?
Goodman: War is the defining issue. We cannot take the focus off of that because we are determining who lives and who dies. In Iraq, the population is just decimated, displaced, killed. We have destroyed a civilization. It's horrifying. And as long as that is going on I think it is our responsibility to show that. Then people can make up their own minds. But as long as it falls off the front pages of the newspapers, people can think, "Well, it must not be that bad." It’s our job to make sure it’s front and center.
War is a defining issue, she insists. But not so much so that she needs to actually cover it. So she ignores the protest, the same way she dropped Iraq in 2008, the same way she never did a segment on Abeer. Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi's parents and five-year-old sister were murdered in their Iraqi home while Abeer was gang-raped in another room. Following the gang-rape, Abeer was murdered. But it was never important enough for an hour of Democracy Now! or even for a 20 minute segment.
Again, if you criticize others for failing to use their power, you need to be using your own power. When you fail to do that, when you're even worse than what you say the Mainstream Media is, you're not the Last Journalist Standing, you're just First Among All Whiners.
Greed and The Rhino
Did you know that "Trade in Rhinoceros horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ('CITES') since1976"? Or that "All species of Rhinoceros are protected under United States and international law and all Black Rhinoceros species are endangered"? David Hasuman may or may not have known -- doesn't matter, ignorance of the law is no excuse.
As the US Fish and Wildlife Service notes, black rhinoceros were declared endangered July 14, 1980. Despite this, Rhishja Cota-Larson (Rhino Conservation) explained last month that "668 rhinos were massacred in South Africa in 2012." Operation Crash is the name of the program the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Justice Department are operating "to investigate and prosecute those involved in the black market trade of endangered rhino horns."
Manhattan antiques dealer David Hasuman is one of those who got caught. Kevin Sheehan and Bruce Golding (New York Post) reported on the sting in which Hausman spent $8,500 for a rhino head and was then seen at a truck stop "sawing off the horns in a motel parking lot." Miguel Llanos (NBC News) explains that Hausman would use rhino "horns to make 'libation cups' and passing them off as antiques that can sell for up to $300,000."
The Justice Department details that incident and another:
In December 2010, Hausman – while purporting to help the government crack down on illegal rhinoceros trading – advised FWS that the taxidermied head of a black rhinoceros containing two horns had been illegally sold by a Pennsylvania auction house. Upon learning that the sale was not finalized, Hausman covertly purchased the rhinoceros mount himself, using a “straw buyer” to conceal that he was the true purchaser because federal law prohibits interstate trafficking in endangered species. Hausman instructed the straw buyer not to communicate with him about the matter by email to avoid creating a paper trail that could be followed by law enforcement. After the purchase was completed, Hausman directed the straw buyer to remove the horns and mail them to him. He then made a realistic set of fake horns using synthetic materials and directed the straw buyer to attach them on the rhinoceros head in order to deceive law enforcement in the event that they conducted an investigation. After his arrest, Hausman contacted the straw buyer and they agreed that the rhinoceros mount should be burned or concealed.
In a second incident, in September 2011, Hausman responded to an internet offer to sell a (different) taxidermied head of a black rhinoceros containing two horns. Unbeknownst to Hausman, the on-line seller was an undercover federal agent. Before purchasing the horns on Nov. 15, 2011, Hausman directed the undercover agent to send him an email falsely stating that the mounted rhinoceros was over 100 years old, even though the agent had told him that the rhinoceros mount was only 20 to 30 years old. There is an antique exception for certain trade in rhinoceros horns that are over 100 years old. By falsifying the age of the horns, Hausman sought to conceal his illegal conduct. Hausman also insisted on a cash transaction and told the undercover agent not to send additional emails so there would be no written record. After buying the black rhinoceros mount at a truck stop in Princeton, Ill., agents followed Hausman and observed him sawing off the horns in a motel parking lot.
Thursday Hausman was sentenced "to six months in jail for obstruction of justice and creating false records in connection with illegal rhinoceros horn trafficking." He was also ordered to make a $18,000 donation to the Rhino Tiger Conservation Fund" and $10,000 to the Lacey Act Reward Fund.
Rhinos are endangered because there are so few of them. The Rhino Foundation explains:
Today there are five species and 11 subspecies of rhinos surviving on earth. Two species (Black and White) occur in Africa. Three species (Greater One-horned rhino, Javan, and Sumatran) occur in Asia.
Thousands and especially millions of years ago, rhinos were more diverse, widespread and abundant. Rhinos occurred in North America and Europe as well as in Africa and Asia. The surviving rhinos are precious representatives of the glorious heritage and history of the rhino family on our planet.
And in terms of numbers of rhinos alive right now? The Fish and Wildlife Service notes, "African rhino populations fell by 96 percent between 1970 and 1992 and now only about 25,000 remain in the wild."
For David Hausman, rhinos were nothing but a way to make a lot of easy cash. He didn't see them as living and breathing inhabitants of the planet, he saw them only in relation to how much money their horns could bring him.
The Assistant Attorney General for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice Ignacia S. Moreno explained last week of greedy Hausman, "He posed as someone who was protecting this endangered species when he was really obtaining and using inside information to further the illegal trade in black rhino horns."
----------------
All images from the US Fish and Wildlife Service
As the US Fish and Wildlife Service notes, black rhinoceros were declared endangered July 14, 1980. Despite this, Rhishja Cota-Larson (Rhino Conservation) explained last month that "668 rhinos were massacred in South Africa in 2012." Operation Crash is the name of the program the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Justice Department are operating "to investigate and prosecute those involved in the black market trade of endangered rhino horns."
Manhattan antiques dealer David Hasuman is one of those who got caught. Kevin Sheehan and Bruce Golding (New York Post) reported on the sting in which Hausman spent $8,500 for a rhino head and was then seen at a truck stop "sawing off the horns in a motel parking lot." Miguel Llanos (NBC News) explains that Hausman would use rhino "horns to make 'libation cups' and passing them off as antiques that can sell for up to $300,000."
The Justice Department details that incident and another:
In December 2010, Hausman – while purporting to help the government crack down on illegal rhinoceros trading – advised FWS that the taxidermied head of a black rhinoceros containing two horns had been illegally sold by a Pennsylvania auction house. Upon learning that the sale was not finalized, Hausman covertly purchased the rhinoceros mount himself, using a “straw buyer” to conceal that he was the true purchaser because federal law prohibits interstate trafficking in endangered species. Hausman instructed the straw buyer not to communicate with him about the matter by email to avoid creating a paper trail that could be followed by law enforcement. After the purchase was completed, Hausman directed the straw buyer to remove the horns and mail them to him. He then made a realistic set of fake horns using synthetic materials and directed the straw buyer to attach them on the rhinoceros head in order to deceive law enforcement in the event that they conducted an investigation. After his arrest, Hausman contacted the straw buyer and they agreed that the rhinoceros mount should be burned or concealed.
In a second incident, in September 2011, Hausman responded to an internet offer to sell a (different) taxidermied head of a black rhinoceros containing two horns. Unbeknownst to Hausman, the on-line seller was an undercover federal agent. Before purchasing the horns on Nov. 15, 2011, Hausman directed the undercover agent to send him an email falsely stating that the mounted rhinoceros was over 100 years old, even though the agent had told him that the rhinoceros mount was only 20 to 30 years old. There is an antique exception for certain trade in rhinoceros horns that are over 100 years old. By falsifying the age of the horns, Hausman sought to conceal his illegal conduct. Hausman also insisted on a cash transaction and told the undercover agent not to send additional emails so there would be no written record. After buying the black rhinoceros mount at a truck stop in Princeton, Ill., agents followed Hausman and observed him sawing off the horns in a motel parking lot.
Thursday Hausman was sentenced "to six months in jail for obstruction of justice and creating false records in connection with illegal rhinoceros horn trafficking." He was also ordered to make a $18,000 donation to the Rhino Tiger Conservation Fund" and $10,000 to the Lacey Act Reward Fund.
Rhinos are endangered because there are so few of them. The Rhino Foundation explains:
Today there are five species and 11 subspecies of rhinos surviving on earth. Two species (Black and White) occur in Africa. Three species (Greater One-horned rhino, Javan, and Sumatran) occur in Asia.
Thousands and especially millions of years ago, rhinos were more diverse, widespread and abundant. Rhinos occurred in North America and Europe as well as in Africa and Asia. The surviving rhinos are precious representatives of the glorious heritage and history of the rhino family on our planet.
And in terms of numbers of rhinos alive right now? The Fish and Wildlife Service notes, "African rhino populations fell by 96 percent between 1970 and 1992 and now only about 25,000 remain in the wild."
For David Hausman, rhinos were nothing but a way to make a lot of easy cash. He didn't see them as living and breathing inhabitants of the planet, he saw them only in relation to how much money their horns could bring him.
The Assistant Attorney General for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice Ignacia S. Moreno explained last week of greedy Hausman, "He posed as someone who was protecting this endangered species when he was really obtaining and using inside information to further the illegal trade in black rhino horns."
----------------
All images from the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Tweets of the Week
Jane Arraf reports for Al Jazeera, The Christian Science Monitor and PRI.
Protesters in Anbar Province were talking of coming to Baghdad Friday to participate in morning prayers and a sit-in. Nouri al-Maliki immediately began working to prevent that from happening. On Monday, Arraf Tweeted:
#Iraqi army security checks from #Ramadi/Fallujah to #Baghdad blocking traffic for miles days ahead of Friday protest in Baghdad.
Tuesday, she continued her coverage:
And Friday, she Tweeted about the protests.
#Ramadi sheikh to more than 100,000 protestors - we are exiles in our own country. Other protests in #Iraq warn they will come to Baghdad.
Protesters in Anbar Province were talking of coming to Baghdad Friday to participate in morning prayers and a sit-in. Nouri al-Maliki immediately began working to prevent that from happening. On Monday, Arraf Tweeted:
jane arraf
Tuesday, she continued her coverage:
-
Back in
#Baghdad this evening, anti-aircraft batteries along the river, roadblocks, rumors of a Thursday curfew. That is some scary protest.
And Friday, she Tweeted about the protests.
In #Iraq protest central #Ramadi, cleric makes clear these are Sunni protests, says Iranians have more freedom in Baghdad than they do.
John and Junior: Modern Day Morality Tales
What do two men have in common?
When the two men are John Edwards and Jesse Jackson Jr., we can think of multiple commonalities.
Both men's first names start with "J."
Both men cheated on their wives.
Both men endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Both men also had a problem with campaign funds.
John Edwards thought campaign funds were best spent on keeping a mistress.
Jesse Jackson Jr. thought campaign funds were best spent on Eddie Van Halen's old guitar and Michael Jackson's fedora.
Two sleazy crooks. They once had good names and good images. What was it about them that destroyed them?
Both of them lost a great deal more than their once-good names. Jason Zengerle (New York magazine) takes us back to 2008:
Four years later, when Obama ran for president, Jackson was there to help again. He leaned heavily on his fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to support Obama, going so far as to threaten primary challenges against those who’d endorsed Hillary Clinton—a move that particularly rankled older black congressmen, like Charlie Rangel and John Lewis, who’d known Junior since he was a child. But Jackson’s biggest battles on behalf of Obama were with members of the Jackson family, many of whom were supporting Clinton. When his mother Jackie cut a radio ad for Clinton in South Carolina, the Obama campaign had already aired one that Junior made there; he also worked to raise money for Obama in order to offset the $100,000 his brother Yusef raised for Hillary.
Jesse Jr.’s thorniest task was managing his father. Although the reverend had endorsed Obama, he didn’t always act like it—complaining to a South Carolina newspaper that Obama was “acting like he’s white” and, most infamously, being caught by an open mike saying that “I want to cut [Obama’s] nuts off” for “talking down to black people.” In public, Jesse Jr. was blunt with his push back, saying that he was “deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson’s reckless statements” and that his father “should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself.” Privately, he was even more pointed in what he said to his father, telling one Democratic strategist, “I smacked him down.” By the time Obama was elected, there was so much ill will in the Jackson family that Jesse Jr. and his younger brother Jonathan, best friends since childhood, were barely on speaking terms.
"I smacked him down," Junior bragged about his own father.
Now it's the law that's smacking Junior's ass.
---------------
John and Junior have also both been topics in Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts. From May 18, 2008, "The Endorsement" features John and,November 25, 2012's "Sunset Jackson" features Junior.
When the two men are John Edwards and Jesse Jackson Jr., we can think of multiple commonalities.
Both men's first names start with "J."
Both men cheated on their wives.
Both men endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Both men also had a problem with campaign funds.
John Edwards thought campaign funds were best spent on keeping a mistress.
Jesse Jackson Jr. thought campaign funds were best spent on Eddie Van Halen's old guitar and Michael Jackson's fedora.
Two sleazy crooks. They once had good names and good images. What was it about them that destroyed them?
Both of them lost a great deal more than their once-good names. Jason Zengerle (New York magazine) takes us back to 2008:
Four years later, when Obama ran for president, Jackson was there to help again. He leaned heavily on his fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to support Obama, going so far as to threaten primary challenges against those who’d endorsed Hillary Clinton—a move that particularly rankled older black congressmen, like Charlie Rangel and John Lewis, who’d known Junior since he was a child. But Jackson’s biggest battles on behalf of Obama were with members of the Jackson family, many of whom were supporting Clinton. When his mother Jackie cut a radio ad for Clinton in South Carolina, the Obama campaign had already aired one that Junior made there; he also worked to raise money for Obama in order to offset the $100,000 his brother Yusef raised for Hillary.
Jesse Jr.’s thorniest task was managing his father. Although the reverend had endorsed Obama, he didn’t always act like it—complaining to a South Carolina newspaper that Obama was “acting like he’s white” and, most infamously, being caught by an open mike saying that “I want to cut [Obama’s] nuts off” for “talking down to black people.” In public, Jesse Jr. was blunt with his push back, saying that he was “deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson’s reckless statements” and that his father “should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself.” Privately, he was even more pointed in what he said to his father, telling one Democratic strategist, “I smacked him down.” By the time Obama was elected, there was so much ill will in the Jackson family that Jesse Jr. and his younger brother Jonathan, best friends since childhood, were barely on speaking terms.
"I smacked him down," Junior bragged about his own father.
Now it's the law that's smacking Junior's ass.
---------------
John and Junior have also both been topics in Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts. From May 18, 2008, "The Endorsement" features John and,November 25, 2012's "Sunset Jackson" features Junior.
Explain it to us
CBS spends several days polling 1,148 respondents and get results.
Asked if the approved or disapproved of the way Barack Obama handles the economy, 49% stated they disapproved and 45% stated they approved.
That's pretty clear.
So explain how Sarah Duttun, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto and Fred Backus's brief article on the poll ended up with the following headline?
Is CBS News trying to become Pravda USA?
Asked if the approved or disapproved of the way Barack Obama handles the economy, 49% stated they disapproved and 45% stated they approved.
That's pretty clear.
So explain how Sarah Duttun, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto and Fred Backus's brief article on the poll ended up with the following headline?
Is CBS News trying to become Pravda USA?
What makes for a romantic movie?
The Free Dictionary defines romance as "a love affair," "ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love," "an artistic work, such as a novel, story, or film, that deals with sexual love," etc.
How does Netflix define romance?
We wondered that when "Romantic Movies" included Anger Management and Top Gun.
Anger Management? Okay, maybe some Netflix worker saw Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson with their faces pressed against one another, mouths wide open and assumed the two must kiss in the movie -- possibly frequently since the poster promotes the moment. But Top Gun? A romantic film? When? When Goose, Maverick and Iceman are parading around the locker room? When Tom Cruise is "Playing With The Boys," hopping around on the beach?
This is the 1986 film of which Pauline Kael observed, "When [Kelly] McGillis is offscreen, the movie is a shiny homoerotic commercial: the pilots strut around the locker room, towels hanging precariously from their waists. It's as if masculinity has been redefined as how a young man looks with his clothes half off, and as if narcissism is what being a warrior is all about."
How does Netflix define romance?
We wondered that when "Romantic Movies" included Anger Management and Top Gun.
Anger Management? Okay, maybe some Netflix worker saw Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson with their faces pressed against one another, mouths wide open and assumed the two must kiss in the movie -- possibly frequently since the poster promotes the moment. But Top Gun? A romantic film? When? When Goose, Maverick and Iceman are parading around the locker room? When Tom Cruise is "Playing With The Boys," hopping around on the beach?
This is the 1986 film of which Pauline Kael observed, "When [Kelly] McGillis is offscreen, the movie is a shiny homoerotic commercial: the pilots strut around the locker room, towels hanging precariously from their waists. It's as if masculinity has been redefined as how a young man looks with his clothes half off, and as if narcissism is what being a warrior is all about."
Expand Health Care for CHAMPVA Children
Senator Patty Murray (above) is now the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee and her office issued the following last week:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 14, 2013
CONTACT: Murray 202-224-2834
Tester 202-228-0371
Murray, Tester
Introduce Bill to Expand Health Care for CHAMPVA Children
Would raise maximum age for CHAMPVA eligibility to 26
to bring program into parity with Affordable Care Act
(Washington, D.C.)
– Today, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Jon Tester (D-MT) introduced
legislation to adjust current eligibility requirements for children who receive
health care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA). Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
a child may stay on a parent’s health insurance plan to age 26. However,
children who are CHAMPVA beneficiaries lose their eligibility for coverage at
age 23, if not before. The legislation introduced today by Sens. Murray and
Tester would raise the maximum age for CHAMPVA eligibility to age 26 in order to
bring eligibility under the VA program into parity with the private
sector.
“As more and
more servicemembers return home from Afghanistan, CHAMPVA will continue playing
a vital role in caring for veterans’ loved ones,” said Senator Murray. “In our ongoing commitment to keep the faith with our
nation’s heroes, this bill ensures CHAMPVA recipients, without regard to their
type of coverage, student status, or marital status, are eligible for health
care coverage under their parent’s plan in the same way as their peers.”
"Allowing young folks to stay on their
parents' health insurance until they turn 26 gives them a chance to finish
school or start their careers without worrying what happens if they get sick,”
said Senator
Tester. “This bill
makes sure that the children of our most selfless citizens have access to the
same care as the rest of the country."
“MOAA strongly
supports VA-sponsored health coverage for eligible adult children of CHAMPVA
beneficiaries,” said VADM Norb Ryan,
USN-ret., President, Military Officers Association of America. “Such coverage is mandated in law to be made
available for every other qualifying adult child across the nation and only a
technical adjustment to the VA statute is needed to extend it to the grown kids
of our nation’s heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”
“The DAV
applauds Senators Murray and Tester for introducing legislation we strongly
support, which would grant adult children of beneficiaries of the Civilian
Health and Medical Program of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) eligibility for
continuing health benefits through age 26,” said Disabled American Veterans National Commander
Larry Polzin. “DAV believes children of severely disabled veterans and of
veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation should be able
to enjoy the same comfort and peace of mind of having health coverage into their
young adult years as every other child in our great nation.”
“This legislation is critical to
ensure that dependent children of severely disabled veterans are afforded the
same health care protection as all other
children,” said Paralyzed Veterans of America President Bill
Lawson.
“It is simply unacceptable that the only children who do not have the benefit
of extended health care coverage are those children of the men and women who
have sacrificed the greatest.”
CHAMPVA is a VA health insurance program that provides
coverage for certain eligible dependents and survivors of veterans rated
permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition. CHAMPVA is
a cost-sharing program that reimburses providers and facilities a determined
allowable amount, minus patient copayments and deductible. Once a veteran
becomes VA-rated permanently and totally disabled for a service-connected
disability, the veteran's spouse and dependents are then eligible to enroll in
CHAMPVA.
###
---
Meghan Roh
Press Secretary | New Media
Director
Office of U.S. Senator Patty
Murray
Mobile: (202) 365-1235
Office: (202) 224-2834
Get Updates from Senator Murray
CIA confronted for drone attacks (Gene Clancy,WW)
Repost from Workers World:
Articles copyright 1995-2013 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Articles copyright 1995-2013 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
House and Senate Veterans committees announce hearings
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (Chair Bernie Sanders and Ranking Member Richard Burr pictured above) announced two joint-hearings this month.
Committee
on Veterans’ Affairs
United States Senate
113th Congress, First Session
Hearing Schedule
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 2:00
p.m. 345 Cannon HOB (House Side)
Joint Hearing on the legislative presentation of
Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Thursday, February 28, 2013 10:00
a.m. SD-G50
Joint Hearing on
the legislative presentation of Military Officers Association of America,
Retired Enlisted Association, Non Commissioned Officers Association, Blinded
Veterans Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Wounded Warrior
Project, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, American Ex-Prisoners of
War
Heather L Vachon
Chief ClerkSenate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
SR-412 Russell Senate Office Building
202-224-3923
Highlights
This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"Enhanced State of the Union lying (as with Iraq, s..." -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.
"Warrior," "Some movie talk" "Zero Dark Thirty," "Zero Dark Thirty,""Oz" and "Side Effects (with spoilers)" -- Stan, Mike, Elaine and Kat go to the movies.
"Live and learn" -- Kat on news cycles and discussions.
"Dream Team Take Two" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.
"Enhanced State of the Union lying (as with Iraq, s..." -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Flatter Than A..." -- Isaiah on The Drone War.
"Iraq snapshot" -- C.I. reports on a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.
"Activists in England reflect and strategize agains...," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Truth from Australia, spin from England," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "10 years on, the protests," "Iraq snapshot" and
"British media remembers what the US media forgets" and "10 years ago today" -- C.I. and Elaine on the protests ten years ago. All but one of those is C.I. and she also noted the protests last week. We're including this for a Pacifica whiner who e-mailed this site whining that Amy Goodman covered the anniversary Friday -- she didn't -- and that C.I. barely noted the protests in Friday's snapshot. C.I. noted them all this past week and she also noted them the week before.
"EZ Nachos in the Kitchen" -- Trina offers an easy nacho recipe for kids.
"Junior heads off for prison" and "Jesse Jackson Jr. The Dirty Crook" -- Betty and Marcia on the felon.
"THIS JUST IN! THE BETRAYER!" and "It's all just one big photo-op for the model-in-chief
" -- where's the camera, Killer Barry?
"A great episode of Whitney," "Great episode of Whitney," "scandal: whiskey tango foxtrot," "Whitney," "it wasn't the grammys," "The disgusting Deception," "Turbo?," "revenge" and "Hulu Plus screwed up and posted Arrow early" -- Betty, Ann, Rebecca, Marcia and Stan cover TV.
"Warrior," "Some movie talk" "Zero Dark Thirty," "Zero Dark Thirty,""Oz" and "Side Effects (with spoilers)" -- Stan, Mike, Elaine and Kat go to the movies.
"Another historic moment for Curiosity" and "Black holes" -- Betty's science posts.
"David Greene lowers NPR," "Things to remember about NPR and PBS" and "I'm getting a little tired of the 'new' NPR" -- Ann, Elaine and Trina on NPR and PBS.
"CBS whores for Barack," "The embarrassing press" and "THIS JUST IN! SO DAMN LAZY!" -- Trina, Cedric and Wally take on dumb 'reporting.'
"Ralph Nader, why do I smell pork?" and
"I still smell pork" -- Ann on how Ralph Nader goes to town on women with relish but seems a little timid when going after a man.
"Live and learn" -- Kat on news cycles and discussions.
"Patrick Henningsen, I'd like to believe you," "Benghazi Rice" and "That lazy Senate" -- Ruth on Benghazi.
"Dream Team Take Two" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.
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