In societies that profess some respect for law, suspects are apprehended and brought to fair trial. I stress "suspects." In April 2002, the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, informed the press that after the most intensive investigation in history, the FBI could say no more than that it "believed" that the plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though implemented in the UAE and Germany. What they only believed in April 2002, they obviously didn't know 8 months earlier, when Washington dismissed tentative offers by the Taliban (how serious, we do not know, because they were instantly dismissed) to extradite bin Laden if they were presented with evidence -- which, as we soon learned, Washington didn’t have. Thus Obama was simply lying when he said, in his White House statement, that "we quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda."
-- Noam Chomsky's brief piece entitled "My Reaction to Osama bin Laden's Death" (ICH).
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Truest statement of the week II
The world was not a better place with Osama bin Laden in it. But the rejoicing that has followed his death—and the largely uncritical coverage of that bloodlust in the mainstream press—demands careful consideration. It shows that after a decade of hard lessons, a significant portion of the U.S. population is still mired in the Why-do-they-hate-us? mentality, unable to critically reflect on America's role in the world, let alone understand the consequences of American military and economic policy.
-- Dalia Hashad, "Bin Laden's Gone, the Problem Remains" (The Scoop).
-- Dalia Hashad, "Bin Laden's Gone, the Problem Remains" (The Scoop).
Truest statement of the week III
But when the soaring rhetoric was done, Obama closed with a weak punt of immigration reform back to Congress.
Yes We Can turned into No I Can't.
He refused to do what many Latino leaders have urged for months. He rejected using executive powers to soften the worst aspects of the government's crackdown on the nation's 11 million undocumented residents.
He turned his back on 1 million young people known as the DREAMERS. They are the high school and college kids brought to this country illegally by their parents.
-- Juan Gonzalez' "President Obama weakly punts immigration reform back to Congress" (New York Daily News).
Yes We Can turned into No I Can't.
He refused to do what many Latino leaders have urged for months. He rejected using executive powers to soften the worst aspects of the government's crackdown on the nation's 11 million undocumented residents.
He turned his back on 1 million young people known as the DREAMERS. They are the high school and college kids brought to this country illegally by their parents.
-- Juan Gonzalez' "President Obama weakly punts immigration reform back to Congress" (New York Daily News).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Another Sunday. And we're late as usual.
First, we thank all who participated this week 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),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
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.
What did we come up with?
And that's what we got. We'll see you next week.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Another Sunday. And we're late as usual.
First, we thank all who participated this week 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),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
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.
What did we come up with?
And that's what we got. We'll see you next week.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: The Whores of Panhandle Media
Wednesday Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister of Iraq and thug-puppet of the occupation, held a press conference. What did he say?
Panhandle Media is begging you for more money -- constantly. Pacifica Radio's got their hands in your pockets again, The Nation's sent out another fundraising letter, but they can't focus on what matters, now can they?
No one's done more to ruin The Nation than Katrina vanden Heuvel who inherited the title of publisher when the magazine was at an all time circulation high. It is now, under her 'leadership,' at an all time low. And she has the nerve to lecture that "political elites have strayed from the will of the majority"? She who can't be bothered with Iraq?
So on Wednesday, Nouri announced the reality that the SOFA may be extended. Right now, he's pushing it off on others, saying if 70% of the political actors are in favor, US troops will remain in Iraq past 2011.
What about that 'brave' and 'independent' magazine The Progressive?
May 11th, Nouri made that announcement. May 13th, Matthew Rothschild was blathering on (in his "Progressive Moment" radio spot) about "Republicans Ready to Expand Presidential Warmaking Powers."
All the Whores of Panhandle Media sold the LIE that the SOFA meant the Iraq War ended at the end of 2011. They sold the LIE that the SOFA could not be extended or replaced with anything.
You'd think Amy Goodman and the other whores for Barack would want to get honest, would use this moment to tell the truth. But whores don't make money by telling the truth, they make money by pretending you're special, you're unique, and sexy -- while they scam and con you.
They can't cover the protests in Iraq, are you surprised that they won't cover Nouri's latest statements?
One honest voice could be heard last week, Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com):
[Photo via The Great Iraqi Revolution.]
Panhandle Media is begging you for more money -- constantly. Pacifica Radio's got their hands in your pockets again, The Nation's sent out another fundraising letter, but they can't focus on what matters, now can they?
No one's done more to ruin The Nation than Katrina vanden Heuvel who inherited the title of publisher when the magazine was at an all time circulation high. It is now, under her 'leadership,' at an all time low. And she has the nerve to lecture that "political elites have strayed from the will of the majority"? She who can't be bothered with Iraq?
So on Wednesday, Nouri announced the reality that the SOFA may be extended. Right now, he's pushing it off on others, saying if 70% of the political actors are in favor, US troops will remain in Iraq past 2011.
What about that 'brave' and 'independent' magazine The Progressive?
May 11th, Nouri made that announcement. May 13th, Matthew Rothschild was blathering on (in his "Progressive Moment" radio spot) about "Republicans Ready to Expand Presidential Warmaking Powers."
All the Whores of Panhandle Media sold the LIE that the SOFA meant the Iraq War ended at the end of 2011. They sold the LIE that the SOFA could not be extended or replaced with anything.
You'd think Amy Goodman and the other whores for Barack would want to get honest, would use this moment to tell the truth. But whores don't make money by telling the truth, they make money by pretending you're special, you're unique, and sexy -- while they scam and con you.
They can't cover the protests in Iraq, are you surprised that they won't cover Nouri's latest statements?
One honest voice could be heard last week, Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com):
The idea that we were ever going to voluntarily leave Iraq was always a fantasy, one fulsomely encouraged by the Obama-ites and their “progressive” amen corner. In reality, the division of labor in the foreign policy realm works like this: the Republicans invade some country or other, bomb it to smithereens, and send in an occupying army. Then the Democrats win the next election, on account of rising opposition to the war, in which case our new overlords act to consolidate the gains of the previous administration and further extend the frontiers of empire – as in Libya and Pakistan.
The reality is that empires never dissolve themselves: they hang on to the bitter end, living on dreams of past glory and stubbornly refusing to see the signs of decline that are obvious to any objective observer. Nothing stops them: not war-weariness on the part of the populace, not military defeat, not even impending bankruptcy. The reason is once you become an empire, there’s no turning back: you’ve already invested a great deal of the nation’s resources into the empire-building process, and so much of your economic and political capital is tied up in this project that reversing it is just not possible. What’s needed is some outside stimulus, some undeniably chastening event – like, say, utter collapse, as in the case of the former Soviet Union – to provide a much-needed reality check.
While Maliki pays lip service to the idea that US troops must leave eventually, and the sooner the better, in reality he has no desire to see them go, for US soldiers are all that stand between him and a howling mob of his subjects, who are living in conditions that would turn Mother Teresa into a psycho-killer. Anti-smoking fanatics may take some satisfaction in knowing that tobacco is not the leading cause of death in Iraq, but to have assassination take its place is hardly cause for joy among the rest of us.
In Iraq, “Arab Spring” protests continue, as they have across the Middle East, but – unlike the demonstrations in Egypt, the civil war in Libya, and the violently-repressed upsurge in Syria – the Western news media has decided not to cover them. When thousands jammed the streets of Suleimaniya, the supposedly pro-occupation, pro-American capital city of the Kurdish autonomous region – Maliki and his Kurdish equivalents sent the Iraqi army in to crush the incipient rebellion no less violently than Syria’s Assad is now doing in Syria. Yet we hear nothing from the White House, nothing from the media, and nothing from the former leaders of the “antiwar” movement – yes, I’m talking to you, Leslie Kagan, you fraud – after they folded up their tents and went off to work for Obama’s election (and re-election).
[Photo via The Great Iraqi Revolution.]
TV: Living Proof
Body of Proof wraps up its season run Tuesday with an episode featuring Jill Eikenberry of LA Law as a guest star. The ABC medical and crime drama will return next season being one of the few new series the networks have elected to bring back.
In the nine episodes that made up season one, it wasn't uncommon to hear Dr. Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan) repeatedly note political pressure the morgue was under to solve a case or to have her put a check on a hospital refusing to cooperate by citing the mayor. In that regard, the series was similar to The Chicago Code on Fox where police superintendent Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals) was frequently dealing with political pressure and often interacting with the mayor's department. While Body of Proof was renewed, Fox gave The Chicago Code the axe last week.
If you watched the police drama, that made no sense and it made complete sense. Jennifer Beals gave an incredibly strong performance. Jason Clarke was developing an equally strong performance as her right-hand and friend, police officer Jarek Wysocki. When the show wanted to focus on the two of them, it held interest. The two were working on, among other issues, a sting on a crooked city council member. But to deal with those mature performances, you had to suffer through Vonda & Isaac: Young Love. Devin Kelly and Todd Williams may not be bad actors, it may have been the scripts. But in Kelly's case, she also never should have been cast in the role. She's about as threatening as Tweetie Bird with a snub nose 32. And that Vonda and Isaac, police partners, would also be conducting a secret romance (some secret, her uncle found out, a city attorney found out -- and apparently didn't relay it though it cost the city a hefty financial pay off in civil suit). One moment Beals and Delroy Lindon (Alderman Ronin Gibbons) were in a scene that was involving and menacing and the next thing you knew it was Saved By The Bell: Police Academy.
Body of Proof probably survived in part because all the supporting roles are perfectly cast. It also survived because not only was Dana Delany giving a lead Emmy worthy performance as Dr. Megan Hunt, but ABC wasn't ashamed or embarrassed by that. Meaning Jennifer Beals can do all the work required and deliver the performance but if the promos and advance work isn't getting the word out, audiences aren't going to know they're missing something.
Megan Hunt misses nothing before her. The reason why may be in the character's backstory. A car accident left her with unreliable hands which meant an end to her career as a neurosurgeon. After a very rough patch, she became a medical examiner. Megan's the type who would blame herself for not anticipating the car crash in a, "If only I had stopped at that station and gotten some bottled water, I wouldn't have been on the road when . . ." She also blames herself for the bad relationship with her teenage daughter. And she may even blame herself for the marriage failure. Carrying familial, physical and romantic blame can be a heavy burden and Megan's not eager to add any more heavy lifting so these days she misses nothing.
So what the police call a murder - suicide, Megan immediately notes wasn't because the shooter's wallet is in the wrong back pocket for his dominant hand. Or she notices chemical burns or breast milk or some other tip-off at the crime scene that no one else picks up on.
Megan's relatable, not a super human. And watching Body of Proof, viewers are left with the impression that they could do what she does if they only worked harder to notice things.
In New Mexico last week, we were speaking to Native Americans on a reservation when one activist brought up what he termed "A Jew Grows In Brooklyn." What was he talking about? Democracy Now! The Amy Goodman hosted talk show had decided to half-heartedly explore the use of "Geronimo" by the US government for Osama bin Laden. Though Senator Daniel Akaka had called out the use of Geronimo's name the day before, in an open session of Congress, you weren't informed of that.
You did get this excuse from Amy Goodman, "Of course, I'm sure it wasn't he [Barack], himself, who gave this name for this operation to kill bin Laden." She then went on to brag about Barack being born in Hawaii -- Daniel Akaka was born in Hawaii. Sometimes facts matter, sometimes they don't in the world of Goody Whore.
"A Jew Grows In Brooklyn" -- as the program is derisively known on at least one reservation -- does not refer merely to Amy Goodman. It also refers to what Native Americans see as the show's practice of booking one Jewish guest after another. We were asked, on the reservation, whether it wasn't true that one was considered Jewish or not Jewish at birth based upon the mother and not the father? Yes, that is true.
So why, they wanted to know, was "Paleface Winona LaDuke" on Democracy Now! as a voice for Native American people? The woman does not live on a reservation. She is only 1/8 Native American and she's 1/2 Jewish. Her mother was Jewish. Why is she allowed, they wondered, to be the voice for Native America, this woman who does more work (they felt) with the Indigo Girls than she does with Native Americans?
Because she whores for Barack Obama. She whores and Goody loves a whore.
There was the backstabbing Winona declaring Barack innocent of what was done. While attacking the US military? Who is commander in chief of the US military? Maybe Winona missed that while living in the suburbs?
Who is the commander in chief of the US military? It's the President of the United States. That would be Barack Obama.
But Winona endorsed Barack for president in 2008 -- stabbing one-time running mate Ralph Nader in the back yet again -- and she's still whoring. Barack, as a US senator, strongly embraced counter-insurgency. It was that -- not genocide -- that first led him to Samantha Power (who worked for his senate office long before she became a National Security type for the administration). Counter-insurgency is war on a native people. Power's friends wrote the US military's counter-insurgency manual. Power herself praised it publicly repeatedly (and also blurbed it for ads and the book cover).
A Native American would be calling that out. Winona LaDuke is not a Native American.
And that little 1/8th she possesses can, apparently, be shoved down deep to allow her to whore.
"A Jew Grows In Brooklyn" describes not just that episode but the attitude that Native Americans see on display when Goodman's sitting down with guests. For example, a playwright last week. Why? He wasn't going to get an honor from a college. With all that's going on in the world, that matters because? It doesn't. Not only does it not matter, but he ended up getting the honor. But Goody Whore wasted all of our time with that b.s. (And, no surprise, the playwright went out of his way to cower before the Israeli lobby via his statements on the show and -- if you missed his key point -- he did not now or ever know Professor Norman Finkelstein. That may have been the most craven and self-serving point of the whole interview, how he repeatedly used the professor's name and worked overtime to provide distance from the professor.)
"A Jew Grows In Brooklyn" refers to the insulated and out-of-touch microcosm that the show and its guests inhabit. A world that the bulk of the country doesn't recognize because it doesn't reflect their own lives.
This was again driven home last week the day after Barack went to El Paso to stand near the border between Mexico and the United States and deliver some empty words about immigration. Wednesday morning Juan Gonzalez' "President Obama weakly punts immigration reform back to Congress" (New York Daily News) was published. Juan is billed as "co-host" of Democracy Now! and the program decided to 'explore' Barack's speech on Wednesday.
But somehow Juan wasn't present.
Not only that, but Goody Whore continued her tradition of refusing to note Gonzalez' latest column when it is critical of Barack. She began that practice during the Democratic Party primaries of 2008 and has continued to this day.
Juan Gonzalez -- as you might deduce from his name -- actually is Latino. So he would probably have had more insight into the issue than the Jewish American Princess who went to Radcliffe Amy Goodman. Having kept him and his column from the show, did you really think Goodman was going to present Latino guests?
She had three guests. Not one was Latino. (One of us, Ava, called this nonsense out last week in "Tell White Anglo Bitch Amy Goodman to stop." ) Barack goes all the way to the border in order to discuss immigration and Goody can't even leave her comfortable call circle to find a Latino to bring on the show?
Time and again, Amy Goodman seems to think, as several Native Americans in New Mexico put it, that her being Jewish means she can speak for every ethnicity -- can speak so well, in fact, that they don't even need to be given the microphone. More and more, what is very clear is that Amy Goodman can't speak for anyone.
She certainly can't speak for journalists. Real journalists, in the midst of a discussion about the use of Geronimo for bin Laden, wouldn't interject, "Of course, I'm sure it wasn't he [Barack], himself, who gave this name for this operation to kill bin Laden." How are you sure, Goody? Did you read in the Talmud?
Reality: Barack Obama is commander-in-chief of the military. If he was at all involved in the assassination of bin Laden, he was aware of the codename long before bin Laden was assassinated. He may or may not have been the one to pick the name, we have no idea because, like Goodman, we weren't present. But whether he picked it or not, he certainly had the power to override it before the mission was on the ground in Pakistan.
Amy Goodman has turned herself into a sad joke. More and more, she comes across like Alvy Singer's father in Annie Hall, specifically the scene where they argue about whether or not a maid is stealing from them. Repeatedly, Goodman misses real issue and real stories because she's mistaken herself for universal.
It's not the sort of mistake Megan Hunt would make. The corpses that end up in the morgue come from all walks of life: a social worker, a police officer, a young woman at an elite school, two young lovers shot up in the bad side of town, etc. If Megan saw things only from her own world, she wouldn't be Megan, she'd be Judge Joan Hunt (Joanna Cassidy), Megan's mother. And the two bump heads frequently such as when Megan's attempts to solve the murder of a journalist lead her to suspect the city's privileged set -- the set the Judge runs in.
Megan watches for patterns, for evidence and forms conclusions based on that. Dr. Ethan Gross (Geoffrey Arend) eagerly soaks it up as he attempts to learn from her and, in that regard, he's probably a stand-in for many viewers.
Because in Megan's world, she not only is able to figure out who's responsible but -- at least so far -- her work allows the culprits to be punished. That doesn't always happen in the real world. But with Delany's incredible work, Jerri Ryan finally getting a role worthy of her and a top notch supporting cast, we'll roll with it.
In the nine episodes that made up season one, it wasn't uncommon to hear Dr. Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan) repeatedly note political pressure the morgue was under to solve a case or to have her put a check on a hospital refusing to cooperate by citing the mayor. In that regard, the series was similar to The Chicago Code on Fox where police superintendent Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals) was frequently dealing with political pressure and often interacting with the mayor's department. While Body of Proof was renewed, Fox gave The Chicago Code the axe last week.
If you watched the police drama, that made no sense and it made complete sense. Jennifer Beals gave an incredibly strong performance. Jason Clarke was developing an equally strong performance as her right-hand and friend, police officer Jarek Wysocki. When the show wanted to focus on the two of them, it held interest. The two were working on, among other issues, a sting on a crooked city council member. But to deal with those mature performances, you had to suffer through Vonda & Isaac: Young Love. Devin Kelly and Todd Williams may not be bad actors, it may have been the scripts. But in Kelly's case, she also never should have been cast in the role. She's about as threatening as Tweetie Bird with a snub nose 32. And that Vonda and Isaac, police partners, would also be conducting a secret romance (some secret, her uncle found out, a city attorney found out -- and apparently didn't relay it though it cost the city a hefty financial pay off in civil suit). One moment Beals and Delroy Lindon (Alderman Ronin Gibbons) were in a scene that was involving and menacing and the next thing you knew it was Saved By The Bell: Police Academy.
Body of Proof probably survived in part because all the supporting roles are perfectly cast. It also survived because not only was Dana Delany giving a lead Emmy worthy performance as Dr. Megan Hunt, but ABC wasn't ashamed or embarrassed by that. Meaning Jennifer Beals can do all the work required and deliver the performance but if the promos and advance work isn't getting the word out, audiences aren't going to know they're missing something.
Megan Hunt misses nothing before her. The reason why may be in the character's backstory. A car accident left her with unreliable hands which meant an end to her career as a neurosurgeon. After a very rough patch, she became a medical examiner. Megan's the type who would blame herself for not anticipating the car crash in a, "If only I had stopped at that station and gotten some bottled water, I wouldn't have been on the road when . . ." She also blames herself for the bad relationship with her teenage daughter. And she may even blame herself for the marriage failure. Carrying familial, physical and romantic blame can be a heavy burden and Megan's not eager to add any more heavy lifting so these days she misses nothing.
So what the police call a murder - suicide, Megan immediately notes wasn't because the shooter's wallet is in the wrong back pocket for his dominant hand. Or she notices chemical burns or breast milk or some other tip-off at the crime scene that no one else picks up on.
Megan's relatable, not a super human. And watching Body of Proof, viewers are left with the impression that they could do what she does if they only worked harder to notice things.
In New Mexico last week, we were speaking to Native Americans on a reservation when one activist brought up what he termed "A Jew Grows In Brooklyn." What was he talking about? Democracy Now! The Amy Goodman hosted talk show had decided to half-heartedly explore the use of "Geronimo" by the US government for Osama bin Laden. Though Senator Daniel Akaka had called out the use of Geronimo's name the day before, in an open session of Congress, you weren't informed of that.
You did get this excuse from Amy Goodman, "Of course, I'm sure it wasn't he [Barack], himself, who gave this name for this operation to kill bin Laden." She then went on to brag about Barack being born in Hawaii -- Daniel Akaka was born in Hawaii. Sometimes facts matter, sometimes they don't in the world of Goody Whore.
"A Jew Grows In Brooklyn" -- as the program is derisively known on at least one reservation -- does not refer merely to Amy Goodman. It also refers to what Native Americans see as the show's practice of booking one Jewish guest after another. We were asked, on the reservation, whether it wasn't true that one was considered Jewish or not Jewish at birth based upon the mother and not the father? Yes, that is true.
So why, they wanted to know, was "Paleface Winona LaDuke" on Democracy Now! as a voice for Native American people? The woman does not live on a reservation. She is only 1/8 Native American and she's 1/2 Jewish. Her mother was Jewish. Why is she allowed, they wondered, to be the voice for Native America, this woman who does more work (they felt) with the Indigo Girls than she does with Native Americans?
Because she whores for Barack Obama. She whores and Goody loves a whore.
There was the backstabbing Winona declaring Barack innocent of what was done. While attacking the US military? Who is commander in chief of the US military? Maybe Winona missed that while living in the suburbs?
Who is the commander in chief of the US military? It's the President of the United States. That would be Barack Obama.
But Winona endorsed Barack for president in 2008 -- stabbing one-time running mate Ralph Nader in the back yet again -- and she's still whoring. Barack, as a US senator, strongly embraced counter-insurgency. It was that -- not genocide -- that first led him to Samantha Power (who worked for his senate office long before she became a National Security type for the administration). Counter-insurgency is war on a native people. Power's friends wrote the US military's counter-insurgency manual. Power herself praised it publicly repeatedly (and also blurbed it for ads and the book cover).
A Native American would be calling that out. Winona LaDuke is not a Native American.
And that little 1/8th she possesses can, apparently, be shoved down deep to allow her to whore.
"A Jew Grows In Brooklyn" describes not just that episode but the attitude that Native Americans see on display when Goodman's sitting down with guests. For example, a playwright last week. Why? He wasn't going to get an honor from a college. With all that's going on in the world, that matters because? It doesn't. Not only does it not matter, but he ended up getting the honor. But Goody Whore wasted all of our time with that b.s. (And, no surprise, the playwright went out of his way to cower before the Israeli lobby via his statements on the show and -- if you missed his key point -- he did not now or ever know Professor Norman Finkelstein. That may have been the most craven and self-serving point of the whole interview, how he repeatedly used the professor's name and worked overtime to provide distance from the professor.)
"A Jew Grows In Brooklyn" refers to the insulated and out-of-touch microcosm that the show and its guests inhabit. A world that the bulk of the country doesn't recognize because it doesn't reflect their own lives.
This was again driven home last week the day after Barack went to El Paso to stand near the border between Mexico and the United States and deliver some empty words about immigration. Wednesday morning Juan Gonzalez' "President Obama weakly punts immigration reform back to Congress" (New York Daily News) was published. Juan is billed as "co-host" of Democracy Now! and the program decided to 'explore' Barack's speech on Wednesday.
But somehow Juan wasn't present.
Not only that, but Goody Whore continued her tradition of refusing to note Gonzalez' latest column when it is critical of Barack. She began that practice during the Democratic Party primaries of 2008 and has continued to this day.
Juan Gonzalez -- as you might deduce from his name -- actually is Latino. So he would probably have had more insight into the issue than the Jewish American Princess who went to Radcliffe Amy Goodman. Having kept him and his column from the show, did you really think Goodman was going to present Latino guests?
She had three guests. Not one was Latino. (One of us, Ava, called this nonsense out last week in "Tell White Anglo Bitch Amy Goodman to stop." ) Barack goes all the way to the border in order to discuss immigration and Goody can't even leave her comfortable call circle to find a Latino to bring on the show?
Time and again, Amy Goodman seems to think, as several Native Americans in New Mexico put it, that her being Jewish means she can speak for every ethnicity -- can speak so well, in fact, that they don't even need to be given the microphone. More and more, what is very clear is that Amy Goodman can't speak for anyone.
She certainly can't speak for journalists. Real journalists, in the midst of a discussion about the use of Geronimo for bin Laden, wouldn't interject, "Of course, I'm sure it wasn't he [Barack], himself, who gave this name for this operation to kill bin Laden." How are you sure, Goody? Did you read in the Talmud?
Reality: Barack Obama is commander-in-chief of the military. If he was at all involved in the assassination of bin Laden, he was aware of the codename long before bin Laden was assassinated. He may or may not have been the one to pick the name, we have no idea because, like Goodman, we weren't present. But whether he picked it or not, he certainly had the power to override it before the mission was on the ground in Pakistan.
Amy Goodman has turned herself into a sad joke. More and more, she comes across like Alvy Singer's father in Annie Hall, specifically the scene where they argue about whether or not a maid is stealing from them. Repeatedly, Goodman misses real issue and real stories because she's mistaken herself for universal.
It's not the sort of mistake Megan Hunt would make. The corpses that end up in the morgue come from all walks of life: a social worker, a police officer, a young woman at an elite school, two young lovers shot up in the bad side of town, etc. If Megan saw things only from her own world, she wouldn't be Megan, she'd be Judge Joan Hunt (Joanna Cassidy), Megan's mother. And the two bump heads frequently such as when Megan's attempts to solve the murder of a journalist lead her to suspect the city's privileged set -- the set the Judge runs in.
Megan watches for patterns, for evidence and forms conclusions based on that. Dr. Ethan Gross (Geoffrey Arend) eagerly soaks it up as he attempts to learn from her and, in that regard, he's probably a stand-in for many viewers.
Because in Megan's world, she not only is able to figure out who's responsible but -- at least so far -- her work allows the culprits to be punished. That doesn't always happen in the real world. But with Delany's incredible work, Jerri Ryan finally getting a role worthy of her and a top notch supporting cast, we'll roll with it.
Hiring Heroes Act of 2011
Wednesday, Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, held a news conference in DC. Among those taking part in the conference were US Senators Mark Begich, Chris Coons and Jon Tester as well as Iraq War veteran Eric Smith. Smith noted, "During my tours, I gained valuable experience in the medical field under extreme conditions. Despite my knowledge and service, I'm struggling to find a job today. And I'm not alone. Our current struggles are not unique to my circumstances. More than 200,000 Iraq-Afghanistan veterans are unemployed or under employed in today's economy."
Murray has been drawing attention to this issue for some time. In February 2006, Les Blumenthal (McClatchy Newspapers) quoted her explaining, "We have been in this situation for three years and all the VA [Veterans Administration] says is they will look at it. When soldiers return home, they need to return home to a job." In March of last year, Patricia Murphy (KUOW) was reporting the senator was in Seattle for a roundtable on veterans unemployment. There was a great deal between the two reports and a great deal after but nothing has worked, unemployment among young veterans, as Murray noted Wednesday, currently stands at 27%.
In part, that's due to the Great Recession which has resulted in high unemployment for all. But it's more than just that. Wednesday, Murray spoke of hearing "first-hand from the veterans that we've failed to provide better job support to. I've had veterans tell me that they no longer write the fact that they're a veteran on their resume because they fear the stigma that they believe employers attach to the invisible wounds of war. I've heard from medics who return home from treating battlefield wounds who can't get certifications to be an EMT or to drive an ambulance. I've talked to veteran after veteran who've said they didn't have to go through the military's job skills training program, or that they were never taught how to use the vernacular of the business world to describe the benefits of their experience." And all that she cited gets at the need for a mandatory solution.
We're not big on mandatory things. We think life comes with more than enough of them already and that Congress should be addressing expanding our freedoms (how about overturning the Patriot Act now -- or is the refusal to do that a confession that Osama bin Laden's death really means nothing?).
But we do support the mandatory aspect of Murray's Hiring Heroes Act of 2011.
We think it has to be mandatory to be successful and we feel that way based on the many stories shared with us and those shared in public about returning service members. How you're gathered in a large group and told there's help available if you have 'emotional' problems, but nobody has 'emotional' problems, right? In other words, the VA's been able to avoid issues like PTSD by demonizing and ridiculing them when they should be providing treatment.
We can see something similar happening with the military's job skills training program. Wait. See it happening? It's already happening which is why Murray could state, in the news conference, "Today, nearly one-third of those leaving the Army don't get this training."
There are a lot of programs the military offers. There's a real problem getting the word out. In some instances, such as PTSD, it's hard to draw any conclusion either than the military wants to keep the numbers down. Making the program mandatory means it falls back on superiors if veterans aren't getting access to these programs.
Senator Murray's office notes the bill would do the following: A Look at What The Government is Doing and What More Can be Done This bill authorizes ongoing services we are providing and modifies programs for veterans.
Modifies federal hiring practices to encourage the hiring of separating servicemembers and would allow servicemembers to begin the federal employment hiring process prior to separation;
Makes participation in the Transition Assistance Program mandatory for separating servicemembers;
Requires that each servicemember receive an individualized assessment of jobs they may qualify for when they participate in the Transition Assistance Program;
Requires DoL to engage with each veteran on a periodic basis to determine whether the veteran is employed or whether the veteran might be interested in further assistance;
Continues a program that provides rehabilitation and vocational benefits to severely wounded members of the armed forces;
Provides up to an additional 24 months of vocational rehabilitation and employment services to veterans who have exhausted both these benefits and state-provided unemployment benefits;
Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to engage with each veteran who has participated in its Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program periodically to determine whether the veteran is employed. Innovative Programs to Prepare Veterans to Transition into Civilian Life This bill authorizes new programs aimed at improving the transition from servicemember to civilian employee.
Creates a competitive grant program for nonprofit organizations that provide mentorship and job training programs that are designed to lead to job placements;
Requires the Department of Defense (DoD), DoL, and VA to jointly contract for a study to identify the equivalencies between certain military occupational specialty (MOS)-related skills and civilian employment;
Allows DoD to create a pilot program to provide paid work experience with civilian employees and contractors to facilitate the transition for servicemembers that are 180 days from separating;
Requires DoL, DoD, and VA collaboration to eliminate barriers between military training and civilian licensure or credentialing for several military occupational specialties.
We want it on DVD and we want it now
Though DVDs -- Blu Ray or otherwise -- may be on the way out (as 80 of you e-mailing insist), there are a large number of people still building video libraries with them.
What our readers most want to see on DVD falls into two major categories: science fiction and so-called bombs.
On the ScyFi front, M.A.N.T.I.S. led the list with 153 e-mails. This mid-90s Fox TV show television series has 22 episodes and it is available on DVD -- according to Amazon, it has been since January 2009.
If that's what you were looking for, hopefully, we've just delivered you good news. But maybe you confused it with NBC's Manimal -- which 87 of you e-mailed to say you wanted on DVD. This 1983 series lasted for only eight episodes and starred Simon MacCorkindale.
52 of you would like to see VR.5 on DVD. The 13-episode Fox series starred Lori Singer and Renee writes, "Every sci fi show or movie dealing with computers today owes a debt to VR.5."
12 of you demand that Gottfried Kolditz' Signals be released on DVD and John wrote, "It's as important to SciFi as It's A Wonderful Life is to Christmas!"
John Carpenter established a name for himself directing many horror classics. But readers want to see a 1979 TV movie he directed released on DVD. Elvis stars Kurt Russell as Presley and Shelley Winters as his mother. And, guess what, it is available on DVD (has been since last year).
Like Carpenter, Brian de Palma has also directed some thrillers. Brad e-mailed that he was sure he was "probably the only one who feels this way but I'd really love to see a boxed set -- like the one they have a Hitchcock's films -- for Brian de Palma. He's a real director in a desert of fakes. I'd love to see all the films remastered on disc with audio commentary." Brad wasn't the only one, four others e-mailed saying their wish list is a de Palma boxed set. Two readers wanted to know when Tuesday Weld ("the most underappreciated American actress," wrote Gavin) would get a boxed set?
One comedy made the list: In The Spirit. As we've noted before, you can rent or purchase as a download from Amazon. But it is not available on disc which is too bad because it's one of the funniest films of the 90s. Marlo Thomas and Elaine May star in this film cowritten by Jeannie Berlin (May's daughter) and Laurie Jones and directed by Sandra Seacat. The supporting cast? Berlin does a hilarious turn as hooker and ex-porn star Crystal who dreams of making it big as a bartender, Peter Falk plays May's husband Roger, Olympia Dukakis is Marlo's sister-in-law Sue and, best of all, Melanie Griffith as a prostitute in a reflective mood ("he's like a really mean cat with a bird"). But the real meat of the movie and the bulk of the laughs come in the zany exchanges between Marlo and Elaine. A true classic. As 12 readers noted, however, the Amazon download is TV version meaning that the curse words have been edited out.
From there we move to films which were/are perceived as bombs. Some of the interest in them is to see if they were as awful as people say. Some of the interest is due to the fact that readers remember enjoying the film and feel they were wrongly maligned and are due a critical reapprasial. The top two films on the list are currently available for streaming on Netflix so you can see for yourself.
At number one on the list (there were forty films that were so-called 'bombs') is the Jane Wagner written and directed Moment by Moment starring Lily Tomlin and John Travolta. Giles e-mailed that he saw this film when he was 14 and "it left a lasting impact on me. I can't believe it's still hated today. I would've thought people would have given it a second look by now. It's really moving and Travolta and Tomlin give stellar performances." Hopefully they 72 others who e-mailed about this film not being on DVD will be able to enjoy it on Netflix. We gave Giles a heads up in an e-mail and he already has. His verdict? "It's a masterpiece."
At number two is At Long Last Love which caused critics to screech that either director Peter Bogdanovich or actress Cybill Shepherd (or both) had no talent. As with Momemt by Moment, if you stream the film today, you may wonder what the problem was? Neither film is awful and both are involving in different ways. Shepherd sings fine, dances well and acts with great sparkle opposite Burt Reynolds.
Other films -- of any genre or type -- that readers want on DVD? Hundreds.
But, in order of e-mail mentions, we'll note the ten most popular not listed above. Robert Altman's HealtH, Robert Altman's Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Promise Her Anything (starring Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron), Small Sacrifices starring Farrah Fawcett (1991 mini-series), Elaine May's A New Leaf (starring May and Walter Matthau), What's So Bad About Feeling So Good (film comedy starring Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard), Sunburn (1979 film starring Farrah Fawcett, Charles Grodin, Joan Collins and Art Carney), Elaine May's Ishtar (starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman), Somebody Killed Her Husband (starring Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges) and Out of Darkness (TV film starring Diana Ross).
What our readers most want to see on DVD falls into two major categories: science fiction and so-called bombs.
On the ScyFi front, M.A.N.T.I.S. led the list with 153 e-mails. This mid-90s Fox TV show television series has 22 episodes and it is available on DVD -- according to Amazon, it has been since January 2009.
If that's what you were looking for, hopefully, we've just delivered you good news. But maybe you confused it with NBC's Manimal -- which 87 of you e-mailed to say you wanted on DVD. This 1983 series lasted for only eight episodes and starred Simon MacCorkindale.
52 of you would like to see VR.5 on DVD. The 13-episode Fox series starred Lori Singer and Renee writes, "Every sci fi show or movie dealing with computers today owes a debt to VR.5."
12 of you demand that Gottfried Kolditz' Signals be released on DVD and John wrote, "It's as important to SciFi as It's A Wonderful Life is to Christmas!"
John Carpenter established a name for himself directing many horror classics. But readers want to see a 1979 TV movie he directed released on DVD. Elvis stars Kurt Russell as Presley and Shelley Winters as his mother. And, guess what, it is available on DVD (has been since last year).
Like Carpenter, Brian de Palma has also directed some thrillers. Brad e-mailed that he was sure he was "probably the only one who feels this way but I'd really love to see a boxed set -- like the one they have a Hitchcock's films -- for Brian de Palma. He's a real director in a desert of fakes. I'd love to see all the films remastered on disc with audio commentary." Brad wasn't the only one, four others e-mailed saying their wish list is a de Palma boxed set. Two readers wanted to know when Tuesday Weld ("the most underappreciated American actress," wrote Gavin) would get a boxed set?
One comedy made the list: In The Spirit. As we've noted before, you can rent or purchase as a download from Amazon. But it is not available on disc which is too bad because it's one of the funniest films of the 90s. Marlo Thomas and Elaine May star in this film cowritten by Jeannie Berlin (May's daughter) and Laurie Jones and directed by Sandra Seacat. The supporting cast? Berlin does a hilarious turn as hooker and ex-porn star Crystal who dreams of making it big as a bartender, Peter Falk plays May's husband Roger, Olympia Dukakis is Marlo's sister-in-law Sue and, best of all, Melanie Griffith as a prostitute in a reflective mood ("he's like a really mean cat with a bird"). But the real meat of the movie and the bulk of the laughs come in the zany exchanges between Marlo and Elaine. A true classic. As 12 readers noted, however, the Amazon download is TV version meaning that the curse words have been edited out.
From there we move to films which were/are perceived as bombs. Some of the interest in them is to see if they were as awful as people say. Some of the interest is due to the fact that readers remember enjoying the film and feel they were wrongly maligned and are due a critical reapprasial. The top two films on the list are currently available for streaming on Netflix so you can see for yourself.
At number one on the list (there were forty films that were so-called 'bombs') is the Jane Wagner written and directed Moment by Moment starring Lily Tomlin and John Travolta. Giles e-mailed that he saw this film when he was 14 and "it left a lasting impact on me. I can't believe it's still hated today. I would've thought people would have given it a second look by now. It's really moving and Travolta and Tomlin give stellar performances." Hopefully they 72 others who e-mailed about this film not being on DVD will be able to enjoy it on Netflix. We gave Giles a heads up in an e-mail and he already has. His verdict? "It's a masterpiece."
At number two is At Long Last Love which caused critics to screech that either director Peter Bogdanovich or actress Cybill Shepherd (or both) had no talent. As with Momemt by Moment, if you stream the film today, you may wonder what the problem was? Neither film is awful and both are involving in different ways. Shepherd sings fine, dances well and acts with great sparkle opposite Burt Reynolds.
Other films -- of any genre or type -- that readers want on DVD? Hundreds.
But, in order of e-mail mentions, we'll note the ten most popular not listed above. Robert Altman's HealtH, Robert Altman's Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Promise Her Anything (starring Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron), Small Sacrifices starring Farrah Fawcett (1991 mini-series), Elaine May's A New Leaf (starring May and Walter Matthau), What's So Bad About Feeling So Good (film comedy starring Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard), Sunburn (1979 film starring Farrah Fawcett, Charles Grodin, Joan Collins and Art Carney), Elaine May's Ishtar (starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman), Somebody Killed Her Husband (starring Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges) and Out of Darkness (TV film starring Diana Ross).
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