The Sri Lankan government hardly deserved praise but the Tamil Tigers wrote the book on brutality including using children soldiers. Sickening.
The accounts of these boys and girls who surrendered to the Sri Lankan army were shocking. They say they were dragged screaming from their families and sent into action with only a few days of basic training. The older members of the LTTE warned them to keep firing and advancing, or they would be shot by their own side from behind.
Those who did try to escape said they were fired on by their own side. Children who were recaptured had their hair shaved off to mark them as deserters and boys were beaten.
Darchiga said she was shot in the stomach by the army two days after arriving on the front line, having been forced to pick up a rifle and go forward to fight. She said LTTE cadres left her bleeding for four hours before she received any medical treatment.
According to her testimony, the Tigers had warned every family that those children who could carry a weapon were expected to join up, regardless of age. Some as young as 11 and 12 had been taken, she said. "They told families that one child was enough. If they had five children, they would take four and leave just one."
For the past several months, Kerry Eleveld has the Advocate's D.C.-based correspondent. She was detailed here a couple months ago. In that very short period of time, she's become an astute observer of the workings of D.C. She's the reporter at the White House briefing who asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about Obama's intentions on repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was a campaign promise. He didn't have an answer:
In addition to her regular reporting, every week, Eleveld writes a column, "View from the Hill," which captures the week's legislative and political news as it relates to LGBT issues. It's becoming a "must read." This week's column is titled "Obama's Silence" -- and captures what many in D.C. don't seem to grasp:
When the administration’s LGBT announcements come, I will be watching what the Amy Ballietts of the nation think, not what those in Washington say. Why? Because a cultural and generational shift is taking place that Washington politicians and even our LGBT organizations seem to be either missing, dismissing, or ignoring.
Here’s my thoroughly unscientific, crude analysis: Gay baby boomers typically stayed in the closet because they didn’t want their lives to be ruined; LGBT Gen-Xers expected that we (I'm an Xer) could be mostly visible without fearing life, limb, and job loss (depending on where one lived) but figured there might be some trade-offs in rights even if we knew it was unfair; a majority of millennials, LGBT and straight, just don’t get why we all pay the same taxes, work the same jobs, make the same contributions, but queer people don’t enjoy the same legal rights and protections in the military, civil marriage, employment, or anywhere else for that matter.
So while Washington tinkers around the edges of LGBT rights -- maybe trying to get gay couples counted in the Census, strengthening federal hate-crimes protections, or providing same-sex partner health benefits to federal workers -- our nation’s young may simply wonder why their best friends can’t get married or why their sisters and brothers died cloaked in the closet of our country’s uniform.
I’m quite confident that is not the “change” they envisioned at the ballot box last fall, and I do wonder, what will be the price of President Obama’s silence among the ranks of our nation’s future?
I think she's spot on. I'd just add one thing. Many gay baby boomers and Gen-Xers, who had been somewhat complacent, have become much more radical and intense after the Prop. 8 debacle. It's one thing to think we're working towards achieving rights. It's another to have newly secured rights taken away. More and more, I hear gay people talk in the same language I've heard NRA-types use for years. And, our straight allies are equally as fired up. We're engaged like never before -- and I don't think that's fully understood here in D.C.
By the end of June, we'll know if the Obama administration intends to defend DOMA in the GLAD lawsuit seeking to have Section 3 of that law found unconstitutional. That will be a seminal moment for this administration and its relationship with the LGBT community. I'm not sure if the great minds in the West Wing fully grasp that yet. My suggestion to the White House is: Don't bother with the small stuff and the Gay Pride proclamations if you're going to say in Federal Court that DOMA is constitutional and should be upheld. If you do that, it's over.
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Thank God that the Obama administration caved last month to religious right and GOP demands that it withdraw a new domestic terrorism report that indicated, among other things, that radicals might use abortion as a justification for committing acts of domestic terrorism. Now a man is dead, and an American church has been shot up during services. Which leads to the question as to whether the Obama administration plans to do anything about the terrorist threat posed by religious right extremists, or whether typical Democratic spinelessness will lead us to now ignore this brutal murder, since that is the message that was sent last month, just weeks before this act of terror.
Note that had Obama held firm in the face of the criticism last month, he'd be riding high right now and the GOP would be cowering in shame for having basically enabled this terrorist act. But Democrats rarely look to the future, nor do they see benefit in having a spine or doing what's right. And now a man is dead.
The Bush administration did not make us safer either before or after 9/11. Obama is not making us less safe. If there’s another terrorist attack, it will be because the mess the Bush administration ignored in Pakistan and Afghanistan spun beyond anyone’s control well before Americans could throw the bums out.
So long as Powell accepts the fact that the party is staying uber-conservative. It's not a very big tent when the party is wedded to one narrow definition of what it means to be a Republican, and you tell everyone that they're welcome provided they chuck their own views and agree to yours.
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Guess what they'll be talking about on the Sunday shows today? It's almost all Supreme Court. Now, the question is whether the Republican Senators stand up to the very ugly rhetoric spewing from their leaders, Rush and Newt, and other GOP wingnuts, like Tancredo. It's risky for Republican members of Congress to take a stand against the haters, who speak for the party's base. But, the GOP politicos don't want to alienate Latino voters any further. My bet is the nuts and haters prevail.
The bottom line here is that Sotomayor is very well-qualified and will be confirmed. The Republicans can't stop that. But, they can do enormous damage to themselves -- and I say, have at it.
ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; Ed Gillespie, former Bush White House counselor.
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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; Anne Mulcahy, chairman and chief executive officer of Xerox Corp.; Jim Owens, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar Inc.; Google Inc. chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt.
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CNN's "State of the Union" — Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Gillespie; Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the U.S.
"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.
But on the other hand, so nice as well. I snapped a few photos of our favorite plant in the garden the day before heavy rain and wind cleared it of most of the flowers. A few summers ago I decided to feed our rhododendron with guano and clean it up. It grew nicely but the next spring it barely flowered. It grew but we had a fraction of the flowers in the photo above. That's when I read online that feeding it will limit the flowering. It's now about three feet high and five feet wide as she reaches for the sun on the left. I was hoping to get out the next day around sunset for better light but that's when the rain and wind crushed the flowers. A friendly bumble bee was buzzing around and you can see the pollen (it's pollen, right?) all over. The sun has again returned so now we're in major clean up mode outside over this long holiday weekend. I have the pleasure of using the faux-Karcher as Joelle enjoys picking mealy bugs from our jasmine, branch by branch and leaf by leaf. The rainy spring has sent those nasty little things into overdrive and they're killing our bushy friend.
Over the years we've figured out what works in our north facing garden and what doesn't. Many of the flowers and herbs that we enjoy won't make it here since the light is limited to a window in the morning and a bit in the late afternoon. We would love a rose bush but the poor things struggle in our garden. And then there are the snails, who have slaughtered our hostas. I try surrounding them with beds of little stones and egg shells but they are persistent. We avoid using a lot of store products outside because of the cats.
Even with the tightest of budgets, we always like to spend a little on the garden because it gives us so much pleasure during the summer. Has everyone started their garden for the summer? What do you like where you live and what grows well?
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Few countries in the world are immune to such idiotic city planning. In the US, Philadelphia made way for progress a few decades ago to create the ever-bland Independence Mall. History in a supposed historical city is such a drag. Not to be outdone, China is eager to modernize as well by leveling ten centuries of history in exchange for high rise apartments. Similar programs were implemented even in Beijing in hopes of showing Olympic visitors how modern China is. The idea of preserving history has not quite made it into the little minds of the communist leadership.
It took Philadelphia a while too, so maybe the government will eventually wake up and figure out that people at home and from abroad actually enjoy history. They even embrace it and will pay money to see it. NY Times:
A thousand years ago, the northern and southern branches of the Silk Road converged at this oasis town near the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. Traders from Delhi and Samarkand, wearied by frigid treks through the world’s most daunting mountain ranges, unloaded their pack horses here and sold saffron and lutes along the city’s cramped streets. Chinese traders, their camels laden with silk and porcelain, did the same.
The traders are now joined by tourists exploring the donkey-cart alleys and mud-and-straw buildings once window-shopped, then sacked, by Tamerlane and Genghis Khan.
Now, Kashgar is about to be sacked again.
Nine hundred families already have been moved from Kashgar’s Old City, “the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in central Asia,” as the architect and historian George Michell wrote in the 2008 book “Kashgar: Oasis City on China’s Old Silk Road.”
Earlier this year a British couple left for Switzerland to die on their own terms. Both were terminal and both had to keep it a secret or else trigger religious and political outrage, as was experienced after the news hit the UK. As mentioned before, my personal belief is that people should have the option. Whether it's used is another story but that option would empower many people. I can understand opposition to this difficult situation because death is not an easy subject to discuss. It's uncomfortable and sad to even think of this day for our loved ones or ourselves.
I hadn't thought much about it one way or the other until my father was dying. He had been insistent on wanting to die at home, as comfortably as possible for someone with pulmonary fibrosis. The illness had come as a result of the chemotherapy treatment - not an uncommon side effect, I was later told - and over the course of five years he suffocated to death. Over that time he evolved into a person that few of us recognized. In addition to his own daily misery, my mother also slowly fell apart. She was physically healthy, though the mental strain of watching her husband of 40+ years decline was bad enough but she also had the pleasure of navigating a health care system that never could offer a clear answer or pay in a timely manner. (What's not to love about the corrupt US insurance industry that treats "customers" this way during such a stressful time.)
In the end, he was rushed to the hospital due to a bad fall at home. Naturally, like any good American hospital he was stopped in the front lobby as the hospital checked his insurance details. Twice in his final year hospitals did this insurance check despite the 911 calls. (And people think this business will change easily? Ha.) He became much too frail to leave the hospital which was the last place in the world he wanted to be and three days later he died. The religious extremists like to talk about glorious nature of dying but for me, I didn't see it. I saw peace following my father's death. It was an amazing transformation that happened within minutes of watching him take his final breath with us. He was tortured by his illness for years and suddenly his face returned to the look I had known years before. Some religions take pleasure in misery and find some higher meaning to such moments but for me I didn't see it at all.
In the UK, after the controversy over the couple who went to Switzerland to die, some politicians went on the offensive and talked about prosecuting family who had anything to do with the process. That has fortunately quieted down and now some in government are leading the move to legalize the process. There are also now over 800 Brits who are signed up with the Swiss clinic, seeking the option to die on their own terms. The Guardian:
Record numbers of Britons who are suffering from terminal illnesses are queueing up for assisted suicide at the controversial Swiss clinic Dignitas, the Observer can reveal.
Almost 800 have taken the first step to taking their lives by becoming members of Dignitas, and 34 men and women, who feel their suffering has become unbearable, are ready to travel to Zurich and take a lethal drug overdose.
The tenfold increase in the number of Britons who have joined Dignitas since 2002 will raise questions about the law that bans assisted suicide in Britain.
OK, sure, but besides modern transportation that is fast, convenient, energy efficient and popular. And it's more environmentally friendly? Commies.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood boarded a train at Madrid's Atocha station along with Spanish Development Minister Jose Blanco for an hour-and-a-quarter trip to Zaragoza, a stop on the line heading to Barcelona.
Lahood has been touring Europe this week, riding a TGV bullet-train in France and attending a transportation conference in Germany that also featured officials from the German railway system, Deutsche Bahn.
Obama last month unveiled an $8 billion plan to build a high-speed rail network in the U.S. and upgrade existing services. The U.S. president cited Spain, France, China and Japan as countries with systems for his nation to emulate.
As an avid train user, the system over here is so much easier for business (and personal) travel compared to flying. I wish the Eurostar between Paris and London could have more consistent pricing because it's such a time saver. No miserable journey to the airport and faster security lines but the prices can range from 50€ up to 400€ each way. Inside France the prices are much more reasonable with a bit of advanced booking. It's possible to do what would take us 10 hours (maybe more) in a car in 2.5 hours. Not too bad at all.
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Perhaps they ought to consider whether he'll be a dingbat who thinks Africa is a country.
The reason I'm posting this is because of the comments after the article. They're wonderful. All 500+ of them. Check them out. H/t to reader Judy.
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Like the Dutch program, I have my doubts about programs like this. Maybe over time but this system desperately needs a hard jolt of reality to change attitudes and a little card is not going to cut it. It's also a false argument to make this a fight between money or ethics, as the Times suggests. Money is what makes the system work and there's nothing wrong with making lots of money. Especially now after the losses, Americans need profits to be made on Wall Street to rescue their retirement plans. (Real profits, of course.)
The issue with the greedy pack has been making money from business that doesn't exist and asking for Champagne socialism where the government keeps you afloat so you can maintain an exclusive lifestyle when again, you haven't generated profits that are greater than your losses. Maybe I have old fashioned ideas about profit and loss but in my world, a balance sheet is a balance sheet. That's not even ethics, it's reality.
It's a good idea and definitely positive to see students proactively looking into this ongoing problem. Promises and talk is cheap and we are well past voluntary codes of ethics. Until business can show an ability to behave, someone is going to have to act like a grownup and set the rules, including punishment for bad behavior.
Nearly 20 percent of the graduating class have signed “The M.B.A. Oath,” a voluntary student-led pledge that the goal of a business manager is to “serve the greater good.” It promises that Harvard M.B.A.’s will act responsibly, ethically and refrain from advancing their “own narrow ambitions” at the expense of others.
What happened to making money?
That, of course, is still at the heart of the Harvard curriculum. But at Harvard and other top business schools, there has been an explosion of interest in ethics courses and in student activities — clubs, lectures, conferences — about personal and corporate responsibility and on how to view business as more than a money-making enterprise, but part of a large social community.
“We want to stand up and recite something out loud with our class,” said Teal Carlock, who is graduating from Harvard and has accepted a job at Genentech. “Fingers are now pointed at M.B.A.’s and we, as a class, have a real opportunity to come together and set a standard as business leaders.”
As Joelle reminded me, focusing on ethics is nothing new. When she was doing her MBA at BC back in the late 1980's, ethics were all the rage at Harvard and other supposedly leading edge MBA programs. How'd that work out?
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Thanks for your post on "where are the liberal groups on Health Care"? I know you guys hit this theme regularly on lefty issue groups and it needs to be hit even more. It is not simply that these groups are complacent because Obama won, they were close to invisible before. They need their folks fighting to go on the talk shows.
BTW: it is related to my feelings on the Prop 8 thing. I think Prop 8 is an abomination and should not have won. Full stop.
And as lefty straight guy who 15 years ago did not think gay marriage was a big issue (and most of my gay friends had real philosophical issues with buying into what they perceived as a hetero structure--perhaps my friends were more extreme than most, but I really doubt it), I now view it as essential that more people are trying (it always takes work) to bond together in love for the long term in the context of the community.
Why do I bring this up? It cannot be said enough that the No on 8 forces screwed up royally. As a California voter I remember reading blog posts in August that said we need not worry, so I didn't and focused on Obama and non-california races. The landscape of the gay marriage issue has evolved very fast on the left, right, and ESPECIALLY the center but the No on 8 were clueless. They didn't rally their base--people like me, they didn't attack the right for what they were (that Mormon ad would have been good), and they didn't treat the center with respect--ie we know this different than what you are used to, but if we have a conversation I think you will see that it is the right thing to do and that the reasons you are uncomfortable (if you are) don't really add up anymore.
So I am as disgusted by Prop 8 as the next person, but I try to look in the mirror and remember my own complacency. Being angry and lashing out is not really all that interesting to me, learning about oneself and ones tactics and running a good campaign is interesting to me.
Health care is going to be the same. Global warming. All these. So I think you do a service to call out these weaknesses.
I also think that it is up to blog READERS to insist their groups advertise on the blogs. It may be unfair, but you guys come across as self-serving when you complain (just being honest--even though I agree with the basic point). But as readers and members of these groups we can speak from a different perspective. We the readers (and members of Sierra Club, ACLU, etc and donors to whomever) need to insist on it. I think the ads will pay off BTW, because membership will increase.
Always predictable. They're a bunch of complete chickens, afraid of their own shadow and the terrifying world that addresses climate change. Yes, jobs will be lost as they are with any innovation or change but what about the jobs created? What about the environmental benefits? What about the health care costs related to doing nothing? Don't they count? Are the Republicans always going to run in fear of practical change? Sheesh. Change your diapers and dare to think about the new opportunities that are waiting. Heaven forbid new businesses are created that are outside of the old energy structure. What ever will we do?
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, in the GOP's weekly radio and Internet address, said the House's climate bill was "a classic example of unwise government." The address culminated a week of coordinated Republican attacks on the Democratic proposal, which would require the first nationwide reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
GOP House members used the weeklong Memorial Day break recess to drum up voter opposition to the Democratic bill. The governor's criticism echoed Republican lawmakers' arguments at "energy summits" in Pennsylvania, Indiana and California and at other forums during the week.
The proposal to cap greenhouse emissions "will cost us dearly in jobs and income and it stands no chance of achieving its objective of a cooler earth" because other nation's such as China and India will not have to follow, Daniels said.
"The cost for all American taxpayers will be certain, huge, and immediate. Any benefits are extremely uncertain, minuscule, and decades distant," he contended.
It's all more of the same thumb sucking that got us into this mess in the first place. These people wouldn't know a business opportunity if it was plopped on their lap. Taking the lead in a growing market sounds like a decent idea for a country looking to create jobs. Cowards and clueless 'til the very end.
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Along with Satanism, Scientology and the GOP's friends over at the Moonie newspaper. I've often said that the radical Mormon activists who we're forced to deal with - the ones who forcibly baptize dead Jewish Holocaust victims in an effort to steal their souls, the ones who spend tens of millions in other states to force Christians and others to live according to Mormon views of morality - bear a striking resemblance to Scientologists. We have a Scientology mother ship here in DC, and if you ever talk to any of its inhabitants it's remarkably like talking to activist Mormons. Sweet as pie to a fault until you question them on anything, then the long knives, and the lawyers, come out.
And, just in case you haven't overloaded on the Sotomayor nomination, here's the weekly address from your president, unfiltered, on our next Supreme Court Justice: Read More......
Really fun music, for me, at least. Check out the crowd and take a guess what year it was filmed. We're in trouble if that look returns any time soon.
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Long overdue in Washington but what a tough job someone is going to have. It's never going to be 100% but putting someone in charge to develop and oversee a strategy is a great idea. NY Times:
President Obama declared Friday that the country’s disparate efforts to “deter, prevent, detect and defend” against cyberattacks would now be run out of the White House, but he also promised that he would bar the federal government from regular monitoring of “private-sector networks” and the Internet traffic that has become the backbone of American communications.
Mr. Obama’s speech, which was accompanied by the release of a long-awaited new government strategy, was an effort to balance the United States’ response to a rising security threat with concerns — echoing back to the debates on wiretapping without warrants in the Bush years — that the government would be regularly dipping into Internet traffic that knew no national boundaries.
The mixed bag continues but since the US is a consumer oriented market, it's good news. Reuters:
U.S. consumer confidence improved in May to its highest level since last September, prompted by hopes the government's economic stimulus program will bring the economy out of recession.
Analysts monitor consumer sentiment as a leading gauge of consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final May reading on consumer sentiments was 68.7, higher than an early May figure of 67.9 and a final April reading of 65.1.
Slightly missing the forecast though it was not far off. Now we only have to wait another quarter to see the longer term trend.
The economy sank at a 5.7 percent pace in the first quarter as the brute force of the recession carried over into this year. However, many analysts believe activity isn't shrinking nearly as much now as the downturn flashes signs of letting up.
The Commerce Department's updated reading on gross domestic product, released Friday, showed the economy's contraction from January to March was slightly less deep than the 6.1 percent annualized decline first estimated last month. But the new reading was a tad worse than the 5.5 percent annualized drop economists were forecasting.
It was a grim first-quarter performance despite the small upgrade. It marked the second straight quarter where the economy took a huge tumble. At the end of last year, the economy shrank at a staggering 6.3 percent pace, the most in a quarter-century.
Because they've done so well in the past when they've self regulated. I don't blame them for trying though I would blame Obama for changing for them. Heck, even listening to them would be a mistake. Reuters:
A group of banks and money managers plan to release a letter to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other U.S. and overseas regulators to help fend off some rules proposed by the Obama administration that seek to control trading in the derivatives market, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The letter, which is expected to be released next week, will reiterate a commitment by the banks to meet the government's goal of transparency, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Man has sex with lots of women. Doesn't use a condom. Women consent to the sex without a condom. Man knows he has HIV, doesn't tell women, women don't ask. Six of the women become infected with HIV. Jury convicts man of assault.
This morning, I wrote about Senator Cornyn's criticism of Rush and Newt. It wasn't a very strong condemnation, but Cornyn ventured into that dangerous territory for Republicans -- criticizing Rush:
How long before Cornyn has to apologize? The new commandment for Republicans is that no one shall ever criticize Rush. And, it's perfect that he complained about Rush and Newt on NPR, a station which most conservatives loathe.
Try as he might, the Texas Senator doesn't deliver the GOP message. Rush and Newt do. And, there's nothing Cornyn can do about it.
No surprise, Rush didn't take it well. He clearly has Cornyn in his sights. Courtesy of Media Matters:
Rush is just playing with Cornyn now. It's going to get uglier. Keep in mind, Cornyn runs the campaign committee for the Senate Republicans. He needs to have a happy base of contributors -- and for most of them, Rush is their one true leader. We all know Cornyn is going to have really get on his knees and beg for Rush's forgiveness. No Republican can ever defy Rush. No Republican ever really will.
Meanwhile, Rush upped the ante of ugliness today, too. He compared Sotomayor to notorious white supremacist and former GOP candidate, David Duke. Seriously.
UPDATE: Noting that Rush compared Sotomayor to David Duke, Eric Kleefeld at TPM asks the right question:
Both sides of this ugly war had a complete lack of respect for civilians. Instead of praise, the UN should be leading the way for maintaining the peace, including equality for everyone. Reuters:
More than 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final days of Sri Lanka's military operation to defeat Tamil Tigers rebels, The Times newspaper reported on Friday.
Sri Lanka's authorities say their forces stopped using heavy weapons on April 27 in a no-fire zone where an estimated 100,000 Tamil civilians were sheltered and blame civilian casualties on rebels hiding among the civilians, the paper said.
Citing confidential U.N. documents it acquired, The Times said the civilian death toll in the no-fire zone soared from late April, with around 1,000 civilians killed daily until May 19. That was the day after Vellupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was killed.
I guess Cornyn isn't that upset with Gingrich's anti-Latino attacks after all. Bad message for the GOP to be sending to the country's 30 million Latinos.
Lost in the hoopla over NRSC Chairman John Cornyn's (R-Texas) criticism of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh is that fact that one of these men is set to help him raise lots of money.
Speaking on NPR on Thursday, Cornyn called Gingrich's and Limbaugh's labeling of Sotomayor as racist "terrible" and diminished them by noting that they aren't "elected Republican officials."
But on June 8, Gingrich is the headliner for one of the biggest GOP fundraisers of the election cycle, where the NRSC and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) will raise millions.
I guess grave robbing and hate aren't growth businesses now that the Republicans are out of power.
The Washington Post has a story today about how the Mormons are having a bit of a bad year, after it was revealed that they've been trying to steal Anne Frank's soul, the soul of President Obama's late mother, and then there's that little thing about murdering love in an entire state (which is ironic since a wing of Mormons are still fighting, violently, for their right to polygamy).
I suspect part of the problem is that while every religion has its fantastic tales, Christians probably aren't thrilled when they learn that the Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers, and that Jesus married (and presumably slept with) his mother, Mary. Then there's the magic underwear. And the forced, secret baptism of dead non-Mormons (i.e., your relatives) against the wishes of their families - ostensibly forcibly converting your family to Mormonism, whether you like it or not. I can't think of any religion in America that does that. Even the evangelicals aren't as pushy as the Mormons. Mind you, the evangelicals are pretty pushy in their own right, and will talk your ear off about why you need to convert to their faith. I had one try to start the "have you accepted Jesus into your heart" conversation while I was stuck in a 10 hour layover at NY Kennedy after just arriving from Europe. The conversation didn't go so well.
As much as that pesky evangelical guy ticked me off, he doesn't hold a candle to some sneak trying to steal your mother's soul.
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They're at it again. So when exactly will the liberal health care groups get just as aggressive? I'm not talking about lying, which is what conservatives do. I'm talking about kicking them in the gut, hard, which is what liberals never do. Where are our hard-hitting ads? Why, once again, are we in defense mode?
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Life is rough for Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). He's in charge of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Things are already looking bad for his Senate caucus, which has seen its numbers drop from 55 in 2006 to 40 now. While Cornyn is supposed to help elect more Republican Senators, he's facing obstacles.
Cornyn's biggest problem is that the leaders of the GOP, like Rush and Newt, are on a rampage. Their attacks on Sotomayor have been appalling and vicious -- and reflect on the entire Republican party. Those guys don't care who they alienate, which is a real political disaster for Cornyn. It shows the haters run the Republican party and that's not a great way to get Republicans elected. So, Cornyn dissed his leaders:
A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a "racist."
"I think it's terrible," Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NPR's "All Things Considered" Thursday. "This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”
Both the popular radio host and former GOP House Speaker have suggested Obama's pick for the high court is a racist while referencing a 2001 speech at Berkeley during which Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
How long before Cornyn has to apologize? The new commandment for Republicans is that no one shall ever criticize Rush. And, it's perfect that he complained about Rush and Newt on NPR, a station which most conservatives loathe.
Try as he might, the Texas Senator doesn't deliver the GOP message. Rush and Newt do. And, there's nothing Cornyn can do about it. But, Cornyn will pay for saying what he said about Rush and Newt.
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This was a pretty intense week -- even for a four-day work week.
The right wingers are in an absolute frenzy over the nomination of Sotomayor. They just can't control themselves. And, as much as the political people in the GOP are trying to prevent further damage to their party, they can't. The extremist wingnuts are running the show. It's just going to get uglier. In the end, Sotomayor will be a Supreme Court Justice -- and the GOP will be in a worse place. That works for me.
It's easy to sympathize with the Dutch government but a few tests aren't going to make an impact on greed, which is the problem. Beyond money there's little else that registers with bankers today. Any sense of moral obligation has been gone for years so it won't register with them. As for tests, the bankers who got us into this crisis are hardly stupid people. Greed has and continues to pay pretty well in banking. When the bankers still get payouts after delivering poor numbers that aren't radically different from pay from big numbers that were false, what do you expect? Cute idea but it completely misses the mark.
The Dutch finance ministry confirmed Thursday that it intends to implement a banking test within the next year that would be a requirement for serving on a board in the sector.
No one will be immune — including the previous finance minister, Gerrit Zalm, who is now running the nationalized operations of ABN Amro.
A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Wouter Bos said the test will be something like "a driver's license for bankers."
But she also said that much is yet to be determined, including who will draft the test and who will administer it.
Swaziland is a country that has rarely had any good ideas related to addressing the serious problem of HIV/AIDS thanks to its dysfunctional government, including MPs like this buffoon. The king sets the example each year when he "chooses" a new wife to add to his existing dozen or so. The HIV/AIDS rate among adults between 15-49 is over 26% with an overall life expectancy of 40 years. It might not be a bad idea to get serious about solving the actual problem instead of labeling victims.
A Swaziland parliamentarian has apologized after calling for HIV-positive people to be branded on the buttocks to stop the spread of the virus ravaging the country.
Timothy Myeni drew widespread criticism after telling a parliamentarians' workshop in Swaziland that the move would enable people to check partners for a warning stamp before sex.
The end of the bloody war in Sri Lanka finally ended after decades and the end was a blood bath. A few weeks before the end I stumbled upon a protest march supporting the Tamil Tigers and saw the protesters camping out at Les Invalides for weeks. They waived signs that included photos of the wounded children and I had no doubt that they were real, as awful as they were. While I sympathized with the children I also remember decades of brutality by the Tamil Tigers. They were never hesitant to kill anyone who stepped in their way and it was the Tamil Tigers who popularized such methods as suicide belts, suicide bombings and using children as soldiers. I didn't recall seeing any photos of this during the protests.
The UN should have gone without praise - it was a bloody war and destructive war - but let's not forget about the horrific policies of the Tamil Tigers. Liberation and equality may have been high ideals but their use of low tactics is not worthy of praise either. What a waste of human life on both sides.
The accusations followed a resolution in the UN human rights council welcoming the Sri Lankan government victory, with no reference to human rights concerns over civilian casualties and the 300,000 Tamils made homeless, many of whom are interned in government camps.
But criticism was also aimed at the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who visited the biggest camp over the weekend and complimented the Sri Lankan government on its humanitarian role, and the security council for not speaking out officially about the human cost of the military victory.
"The human rights council performed abysmally," said Tom Porteous, London director of Human Rights Watch. "It's there to monitor human rights and the laws of war, and it completely failed – and failed to register any concern over the situation."
The UN did indeed perform poorly but that has been going on for decades.
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It's difficult to imagine some on the other side still believe the system is fine and that we don't need any regulations. What are they thinking? The important question is whether this increase and the increases that are coming have been reflected in the banking stress tests. History says no but maybe Geithner will have surprised everyone and made sure the banks have enough padding to withstand the bumpy ride ahead. Reuters:
"We clearly haven't hit the top yet in terms of delinquencies or the bottom of the housing market," Jay Brinkmann, the association's chief economist, said in an interview.
Prime fixed-rate loans, made to borrowers with high credit quality, comprise 65 percent of the $9.9 trillion in outstanding first mortgages, according to the industry group.
"The housing market depends on the employment situation," he said, "and we don't expect unemployment to bottom out until the middle of next year, so then normally housing would not recover until after employment recovers."
A record 12.07 percent of loans on one-to-four unit residences were at least one payment past due or in the foreclosure process in the first quarter, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.
Foreclosure actions were started on an all-time high 1.37 percent of first mortgages in the quarter, a record increase from 1.08 percent the prior quarter.
Whether it's the recent video of the rook using tools to get food or this story of a sperm whale "fishing" the long lines, there is always a big surprise about what various animals are doing, as if they're not very smart. The only surprise is that it's finally on video. Why should it be surprising that animals are clever? There is a video inside the link that's fun to watch of the sperm whale shaking a long line, knocking it's snack off the hook while not getting tangled in the line.
The video, described in the current Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, shows the sperm whale plucking a short fishing line at one end to jar a black cod at the other end free.
"It's comparable to someone shaking apples from an apple tree," said Thode, who added that the whale then "cleverly figured out how to remove its jaw away from the line, avoiding entanglement."
During the theft, the whale emitted rapid-fire clicks -- "louder than a firecracker" -- that got faster as it approached the cod. The scientists now believe sperm whales may produce the animal kingdom's loudest and most intense sounds.
The footage also permitted the first-ever direct comparison between sperm whale clicking and physical features of the noise producer's head.
Maybe the trend lasts or maybe it slows or even turns negative again but the news today is positive. Beating forecasts is always good.
The government says demand for big-ticket manufactured goods soared by the largest amount in 16 months in April, the second increase in the past three months.
The Commerce Department says orders for durable goods rose by 1.9 percent in April, more than four times the 0.4 percent increase that had been expected.
I was asked this week why the president seems so attractive to the heartland, to what used to be called Middle America. A big question. I found my mind going to this word: normal.
Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man. He’s normal. He thinks in a sort of common-sense way. He speaks the language of business and sports and politics. You know him. He’s not exotic. But if there’s a fire on the block, he’ll run out and help. He’ll help direct the rig to the right house and count the kids coming out and say, “Where’s Sally?” He’s responsible. He’s not an intellectual.
Of course, a year and a half later there really was a fire on the block — actually a flood in New Orleans, but basically the same thing — and what he actually said was, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” But I digress.
Like Cassandra of old, all I can do is let folks know what's coming. The rest is up to them. But man it's going to be ugly out there, very soon. Kerry Eleveld from the Advocate gives us the latest from the White House's increasingly disastrous daily briefing, during which Robert Gibbs was questioned again about Don't Ask Don't Tell.
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Typical Republican. Rails against taxes, then tries to cheat the District of Columbia on his property taxes. But, Blunt and his lobbyist wife got busted. Roll Call (sub. req.) broke the story:
The District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue will charge Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and his spouse $5,600 in back property taxes for their Georgetown home, following a nearly two-month review of the property’s tax status.
The Missouri lawmaker and his wife, Abigail Perlman Blunt, own a three-bedroom Georgetown home, valued at $1.62 million in tax assessment records.
According to public tax records, the Blunts’ home had received the homestead tax deduction as recently as April, a benefit intended for full-time city residents that can shave hundreds of dollars off annual tax bills — and significantly more in the long term by limiting assessment increases.
Public records show that the city has recalculated taxes dating to 2005. The city does not list interest or penalties on the unpaid taxes.
Blunt is running for the seat vacated by Republican Kit Bond. So far, he's the only declared Republican candidate, although a couple others are making noises about jumping in.
The Democratic nominee will be the current Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan. Early polls look good for Robin. But, Missouri is always a tough state.
If you want to help pick up this seat for the Democrats, we've set up an ActBlue page for Robin. She's a good friend and a solid progressive. And, she's also the proud parent of a new foal, which you can help name. Robin's family has a farm in Rolla, Missouri. Over the years, I've learned way more about farming, particularly about cattle, from Robin than I ever imagined I'd know. That's why I always loved one of her first t.v. ads:
She does know bull when she sees it. And, horses, too.
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Oh, it must be good to be Senator Ben Nelson. Everyone doing business on Capitol Hill has to kiss his ass. The Democrats need his vote on cloture, yet, he's always issuing pronouncements that conflict with the Democratic agenda.
Sen. Ben Nelson is being targeted in a mailing and Internet ad campaign asking people to withhold their political contributions to him and other members of Congress.
The campaign takes issue with the Nebraska Democrat’s opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed public health-insurance option. That option would create a government insurance plan to compete with private plans.
The campaign begun Thursday is run by Change Congress, an organization started last year that advocates publicly funding campaigns for federal elections. The idea is to lessen the influence of special-interest money in campaigns.
Nelson is like a bully. He isn't used to being called out for his bad behavior. His office completely -- and inaccurately -- overreacted:
Senator Nelson’s spokesman Jake Thompson issued this statement:
“There’s no doubt Senator Nelson understands the insurance industry’s important role providing health care for millions of Americans. After all, he’s been an insurance executive, an insurance industry regulator, a governor who created a children’s health insurance program, and today he represents Nebraska, arguably the insurance capital of the world.
“But let’s look at this group closely. They claim, ‘Ben Nelson said he may not support Obama’s plan.’ Can they send us a copy of the plan? No, because President Obama hasn’t offered a specific plan yet. Next, they ask if people are ready to change Congress and ‘take on special interests’ and ‘only donate to politicians who prove they are willing to do that.’ Then, they promote an election law proposal they’re lobbying for.
“So, let’s get this straight: These people are endorsing something they haven’t seen, criticizing Senator Nelson for something he hasn’t done and using health care as a fundraising gimmick—to lobby for unrelated special interest legislation. These people have a political agenda that has nothing remotely to do with helping Nebraskans get and keep affordable, high quality health care. Their effort is silly, sad and sophomoric.
Yes, so silly, sad and sophomoric that the office of Senator Nelson felt they had to respond with this screed.
And, here's what Adam Green said back:
Ben Nelson's spokesperson is flagrantly lying -- saying Nelson never opposed a public option that he clearly opposed, calling public financing of congressional campaigns 'special interest legislation' when it's sole function is to curtail special-interest influence, and calling a 'donor strike' which asks people NOT to give to Nelson unless he fights special interests a 'fundraising gimmick.' Nelson should apologize for his staff lying to Nebraskans.
And, while Nelson did oppose the public plan, he may now be changing his tune. Maybe. Although, it's Nelson's constituents who are reporting this development, not Nelson's office, we learn via Ryan Grim at Huffington Post:
Nelson, according to three people in the room, told the group that he was open to a public option, the primary Democratic goal of reform and anathema to conservatives.
"The good news for all sides involved is that he's open minded," said Barry Rubin, the former Executive Director for the Nebraska Democratic Party, who was in the meeting. "He's not closed minded about a public option."
Jane Kleeb, a top Democratic powerbroker in Nebraska, said Nelson's openness to a public option was the biggest takeaway from the meeting.
"He made it clear that he is open to the public option. That's not a line in the sand where he says it must be off the table for him to move forward on health care reform," she said....
...A spokesman for Nelson confirmed the meeting but would only say that he is listening to health care concerns from constituents all this week in Nebraska.
Nelson had previously told CQ that a public option was a "deal breaker." Nelson said that he planned to organization a coalition of Democratic senators to oppose a public option. The coalition never materialized.
Nelson softened that opposition in a subsequent interview with the Huffington Post. He said he would "continue to talk" to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) who'd offered a compromise public option that was unsubsidized and had to follow the same rules private plans do.
UPDATE @ 4:03 PM: Thanks to GarySF for posting the video in the comments. This actually makes it worse. Here it is: ____________ Okay. Where to begin with this? First question is: Who in the West Wing is advising Obama on gay issues? Because, they're not doing a very good job at all. This is becoming a real problem.
Yesterday, as John noted, there was a protest outside of the Obama event in Los Angeles. The local CBS affiliate observed who the protesters were:
While many Obama supporters waved and cheered as his motorcade approached the hotel in Beverly Hills, some protesters were gathering to decry Tuesday's California Supreme Court ruling that upheld the voter-approved gay marriage ban. Some of them also urged Obama to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays.
Don't think for a minute that the crack Obama advance team didn't know who was out there.
Apparently, your president thought it was kinda funny. He made a joke about the protest during the event, according to the New York Times:
“One of them said, “Obama keep your promise,’ ” the president said. “I thought that’s fair. I don’t know which promise he was talking about.”
The people in the audience – who paid $30,400 per couple to attend – laughed as they ate a dinner of roasted tenderloin, grilled organic chicken and sun choke rosemary mashed potatoes.
The audience laughed?
So, Mr. Obama doesn't know which promise the protester was talking about? Did he even know what was going on in California? About the Prop. 8 decision? Does he know who Lt. Choi is? Who briefs Obama on LGBT issues? Anyone? Because, it was well known that the LGBT community would be protesting. And, as for promises, there were several. To remind him, we could say check the White House website for a list of the promises Obama made to the LGBT community during the campaign. But, that wouldn't probably wouldn't do any good. The White House staff changed the website a couple weeks ago -- and, then changed it back with some edits.
Maybe the president could do a google search and find the videos or transcripts from the HRC/Logo forum in August of 2007. That might refresh his memory. Or maybe he could re-read this letter he wrote:
Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment. But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples — whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage. Unlike Senator Clinton, I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) – a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate. While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. I have also called for us to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I have worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.
Those promises. Those are the ones we want you to keep.
Seriously, what is going on in the White House? Is Obama deliberately trying to piss off the entire gay community? Or is he tone deaf on this issue? Whatever is going on, it's not good. Not good at all.
Someone needs to intervene.
And, thanks to reader LS for pointing us to this story. God, it's annoying.
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I don't know a single effective political organizer or advocate who thinks that marching on Washington accomplishes anything other than wasting millions of dollars, creating a big donor list for ineffective groups to milk later on, and making the marchers feel like they've done something when they haven't.
There's talk about having yet another gay March on Washington. Stop it now, please.
These marches do nothing. They cost millions of dollars. There was the 1993 March on Washington. It didn't change Bill Clinton's or Congress' mind on anything. The Million Man March? Zip. The Stand for Children, that I was involved in. $7m spent, I heard. Great turnout. What did it really accomplish? The Million Mom March? The women's march a few years back that had incredible turnout. What did it do?
These marches don't work.
I'm as frustrated as the rest of you with the administration's waffling on so many issues we care about. But adopting a high-profile, ineffective strategy is not a solution, no matter how good it feels. Yes, we need alternatives. But that doesn't stop us from pointing out those ideas that won't work. And this is one of them.
NOTE from Joe: I couldn't agree more. A march would be a colossal waste of time and money. I worked in gun control. I saw firsthand how the Million Mom March really helped destroy the issue. It sucked up enormous resources and never, ever delivered. It was a monument to egos. This fall, there will be probably be a referendum to repeal Maine's new marriage law. That effort needs resources. The California repeal will need vast resources -- and our side doesn't have the deep pockets of the Mormon church. Also, members of Congress are non-plussed by weekend events in D.C. -- even big marches. Most aren't even here. Hit them where it matters. Organize marches in the districts of members and challenge Senators back home. It's not as glamorous, but it works better. A march on the mall doesn't do the trick anymore -- and hasn't since 1963.
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Isn't that the story that's been pitched the last few years? You know, the story from aging boomers that says all of the kids today are narcissistic and obsessed with material goods or the complaint that was made about boomers by previous generations. Maybe, just maybe that story was false from the beginning.
When school starts next fall, Teach for America will send an unprecedented number of college graduates to teach in poor communities across the country — but not as many as the group would like.
Teach for America this year chose 4,100 recruits from more than 35,000 applications. While the group has never accepted every applicant, this was the first time it had to turn down people who met all its rigorous criteria.
"For the last nine years, really the only constraint on our growth has been recruits, just finding enough people who we really believe are ready for this," said Wendy Kopp, the group's founder and chief executive.
"This is the first year when we've had to turn away people who would have met our admission bar in any previous year," Kopp said.
Regardless of why they are there - and sure, the economy is probably a contributing factor - they are there in big numbers. Good for them.
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I sincerely hope the Obama people can turn things around. The GOP truly broke our military. They're very good at waving the flag, Republicans are. Less good about actually following through. From CNN:
The 101st Airborne's senior commander in effect ordered his soldiers Wednesday not to commit suicide, a plea that came after 11 suicides since January 1, two of them in the past week.
An Army honor guard stands ready to fire a salute at Fort Campbell.
"If you don't remember anything else I say in the next five or 10 minutes, remember this -- suicidal behavior in the 101st on Fort Campbell is bad," Brig. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend told his forces. "It's bad for soldiers, it's bad for families, bad for your units, bad for this division and our army and our country and it's got to stop now. Suicides on Fort Campbell have to stop now."
Fort Campbell's suicide rate, the highest in the Army, "is not a good statistic," he said in remarks to one of four divisions he addressed during the day.
The images are among photographs included in a 2004 report into prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison conducted by U.S. Major General Antonio Taguba.
Taguba included allegations of rape and sexual abuse in his report, and on Wednesday he confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that images supporting those allegations were also in the file....
The newspaper said at least one picture showed an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee.
Others are said to depict sexual assaults with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube.
"The publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals," the president said at a White House briefing.
Well, I for one am feeling a bit had. You'll recall that the GOP line of attack on the abuse photos previously was that they were indicative of nothing more than the equivalent of fraternity pranks. Well, I don't know what fraternity these boys went to, but US soldiers raping female prisoners goes far beyond a frat prank. Yes, we knew that they scared the prisoners with dogs and humiliated them by making them stand nude in front of women. (There was also that photo of the dead prisoner on ice...) I do not believe that we had any clue that prisoners were being raped as part of their interrogation. This most certainly adds something new, if only to silence those critics who claimed that this was just another day at the office.
I'd also add that this was not just the errant acts of a few soldiers. Torture was official US policy. And the Obama administration has already made clear that there is no benefit in holding accountable those who came up with this policy. So these photos shed quite a light on Obama's decision not to hold the intellectual fathers of these acts accountable.
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