Pelosi’s former communications director now helping group trying to gut health care reform

He's defending himself, claiming the group he's working with is trying to "improve" the law.  Yeah, right.  Among those working with Pelosi's former communications director Brendan Dally are the following:

• The National Federation of Independent Businesses, a named plaintiff in one of the four challenges to the health care reform law pending before the Supreme Court

• America’s Health Insurance Plans, which spent more than $86 million to fight the overhaul in 2009

• And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which got the $86 million from the health insurers and used it to pay for ads and other activities to oppose the overhaul, according to a Bloomberg report

Pathetic. Even by DC standards, this is simply pathetic. Read the rest of this post...

Weekend Thoughts on the Occupy Movement & Rule of Law

I can keep this short and shockingly simple. The Occupy Movement has picked the right target — out-of-control thieving fraudulent banks — but it's not about the banks.

They've named the right perps — the top 1% (or the top 0.1%, which is where the real power is) — but the perps are not the problem. The problem is the crime.

And what's the crime? The U.S. is no longer governed by "rule of law." If you're high enough — politically or economically — you cannot be arrested or go to jail.

Here's Glenn Greenwald making the same point, in an interview about his new book, With Liberty and Justice for Some. This is just one part of that excellent interview (my emphasis):

[Interviewer] Mark Karlin: [Your book's] title seems made to order for what is happening with Occupy Wall Street. Protesters are getting arrested, while the elite perpetrators of Wall Street malfeasance and fraud go free. Is this a localized application of "how the law is used to destroy equality and protect the powerful"?

Glenn Greenwald: Actually, what is happening with the Occupy Wall Street protests is as perfect an illustration of the book's argument as anything I could have imagined. The book's central theme is that law is no longer what it was intended to be - a set of rules equally binding everyone to ensure that outcome inequalities are at least legitimate - and instead has become the opposite: a tool used by the politically and financially powerful to entrench their own power and control the society. That's how and why the law now destroys equality and protects the powerful.

What we see with the protests demonstrates exactly how that works. The police force - the instrument of law enforcement - is being used to protect powerful criminals who have suffered no consequences for their crimes. It is simultaneously used to coerce and punish the powerless: those who are protesting and who have done nothing wrong, yet are subjected to an array of punishment ranging from arrest to pepper spray and other forms of abuse.

That's what the two-tiered justice system is: elites are immunized for egregious crimes while ordinary Americans are subjected to merciless punishment for trivial transgressions.

There's no other way to put it.

From Obama's pre-inauguration FISA / telecom-immunity cave in (and so much more) to the refusal of anyone federal to indict bankers for fraud (and so much more — "execution by decree is a kingly power"), the U.S. is, in practice, no longer governed by rule of law.

The Occupy Movement would like bankers indicted; if innocent, let them prove it (CORR: provide a defense) in court. The Occupy Movement would like taxes returned to something like fairness. What's blocking these outcomes? The government and all of its branches act like fully owned subsidiaries of the top 1%.

Bush can't be indicted for torture; no one can be indicted for war crimes; bankers can't be arrested for fraud. Even Corzine may skate (only Tabloid Demons like Blagojevich can go to jail).

At this point, return to the rule of law is revolutionary. It would entirely change the way our government, under bipartisan agreement (sad to say), now operates.

So hang on, folks. The Occupy Movement is the Change you Hoped for in 2008 — and didn't get. This is the first time the ball has not been relentlessly pushed toward our own end zone. Restore rule of law (say I). Occupy — and persist.

(Thank you for listening. And now back to your constantly scheduled manliness lessons, cleverly disguised as football-embedded Lite beer commercials. Aren't they cute?)

Real strength, or an incredible simulation? Your call. Weekend thoughts.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Cain: "I am the Koch brothers’ brother from another mother"

Now that Cain's campaign is in jeopardy like the other "anyone but Romney" candidates, who will be the next GOP candidate to surge in the polls?

Herman Cain enthusiastically embraced the Koch brothers -- saying he is their "brother from another mother" -- just hours after facing a legal complaint challenging his campaign's ties to a Koch brother affiliated non profit.

"Just so I can clarify this for the media, this may be a breaking news announcement for the media: I am the Koch brothers' brother from another mother," Cain said during a speech at the Americans for Prosperity gathering in Washington, D.C. "Yes. I'm their brother from another mother! And proud of it!"

Cain said: "I'm proud to know the Koch brothers." He said a recent New York Times article made it sound like "we've had time to go fishing together, hunting together, skiiing together."

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White House: Odds pretty high that life exists on other planets, but hasn’t contacted us yet

The White House has responded to a petition demanding that it release secret information proving the existing of aliens.  The White House, sadly, says it has no such information.  (Obama's probably holding it for closer to the election.) Read the rest of this post...

"9/11 truthers" are trying to co-opt the Occupy movement

i just got an email from the 9/11 truthers (the folks who think the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks or knew they were coming and let them happen, or some such crazy thing).  It appears they're trying to co-opt the Occupy Wall Street movement for their own fringe uses.  Here's the email they just sent - they're clearly trying to claim they're a part of the Occupy movement.

To all those who continue to fight for the truth about 9/11 to be revealed:

It is time for us to occupy.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is a much needed response to decades of growing inequality, financial deregulation, and zero accountability for the crimes that brought about our current economic crisis. Millions throughout the nation and across globe who feel they have no voice in our political system have come to embrace “Occupy” as an expression of their anger, frustration and hope.

Ten years later, it is time for us to give voice to our own growing frustration by aligning firmly with the Occupy movement and making 9/11 one of the key issues the Occupy movement stands for.

On Saturday November 19 and Sunday November 20, we will march from Liberty Plaza to Building 7 and occupy the park in front of Building 7 until nightfall. We hope this will mark the beginning of a sustained Occupy Building 7 movement that will grow and finally bring meaningful attention to the obvious demolition of World Trade Center Building 7 and the dire need for a new 9/11 investigation. At 2pm each day we will hold a General Assembly to discuss the direction and continuation of the Occupy Building 7 occupation after November 20.

Go to OccupyBuilding7.org to learn more and to start following #OccupyBuilding7 on Twitter. On the website you will find fliers that you can print and hand out at Liberty Plaza as well as web banners that you can post on your website to help spread the word.

We are attempting to get Occupy Building 7 on the official Occupy Wall Street calendar, and we anticipate being joined by hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters. Most of the protesters at Liberty Plaza are keenly aware of 9/11. A lot of them already knew about it; others have been educated over the last several weeks thanks to the 9/11 activists who have given their time and energy to be there. Let us hope that by the time November 19 rolls around, there will be hundreds, if not thousands of Occupy activists eager to help us make Occupy Building 7 a part of the broader Occupy movement. [emphasis added]

So they've been trying for a few weeks to infiltrate the Occupy movement. Nice. And they're starting their march at Liberty Plaza (aka Liberty Square, aka Zuccotti Park), i.e. at the heart of the OccupyWallStreet protest. That seems rather crass and inappropriate. The last thing the legitimate Occupy movement needs is to be connected to a bunch of wing-nuts. I suspect they already know that, and will act accordingly. Read the rest of this post...

Cain says he has spoken his last word on sexual harassment cases

Interesting strategy. Let's see how this plays out in the real world.

A combative Herman Cain defied his staff and commented on the sexual harassment allegations that have been dogging his candidacy for nearly a week, telling media that "everything had been answered."

After a generally cordial and policy-filled debate between Cain and fellow Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, the former businessman took questions from reporters during a press conference in which event organizers told reporters the focus needed to be entitlement spending.

"Don't even go there," Cain told a reporter who began asking about the harassment allegations. Cain then asked his chief of staff, Mark Block, to deliver the reporter a copy of the "journalistic code of ethics."

NOTE FROM JOHN: Excuse me. You apparently have numerous women who allege that the lead GOP presidential candidate harassed them on the job. It is absolutely a journalist's responsibility to report this story and get to the bottom of it. This isn't some funny little sex-scapade Herman Cain had - i.e., it's not like the media is reporting on Herman Cain's favorite brand of condom. We're talking the sexual harassment of women. We're talking about what kind of corporate manager Herman Cain is, and it is Herman Cain who said his corporate management skills are the number one reason we should choose him as our next president. Americans have a right to know, and journalists have a duty to find out, what kind of CEO was Hermain Cain. Cain made his CEO experience relevant to his campaign. He can't now demand that we ignore the bad parts. Read the rest of this post...

Bank of America threatened foreclosure with ex-home owner over $1

And people continue to trust their money with Bank of America for what reason? Why would anyone want to do business with such a business? Huffington Post:

Shantell Curtis and her family were threatened with foreclosure months after they had sold their Vernal, Utah house. What's more, the problem revolved around a single dollar, Connect2Utah.com reports (h/t The Consumerist). Months after the Curtises sold and moved out of the home in August of last year, their lender, Bank of America, reportedly sent them a foreclosure notice.

Bank of America claimed the family owed months of missed mortgage payments, before realizing a $1 coding error had held up the Curtises' title transfer. While BofA has taken months to resolving the issue, the Curtises' credit report has taken a beating since then.

The episode is far from the first foreclosure mishap BofA has dealt with in recent months, and not even the smallest dollar amount related to foreclosure threats. In June, BofA tried to foreclose on a man living in Massachusetts over a missed mortgage payment totaling $0.00.

Read the rest of this post...

US general in Afghanistan fired after remarks

What he said wasn't necessarily wrong - many, including myself, agree with him - but it would be nice if the military brass could get back to wrapping up their wars instead of injecting themselves into the political world. It shouldn't happen overseas and it should be a firing offense when it happens in the US.

I've listened to enough of these generals spout off on political issues on TV and have heard enough. There needs to be penalties for overstepping their role in the system. Well, unless people want to live in a banana republic and let the military run the show. Call me old fashioned, but I find it anti-American. BBC News:

Gen Fuller also said that he tried to make Afghan generals understand that the US was involved in Afghanistan despite economic uncertainty at home.

"You think that America has roads paved in gold, everybody lives in Hollywood," he said.

"They don't understand the sacrifices that America is making to provide for their security."

Read the rest of this post...

Junior Murvin - Police & Thieves

I grew up listening to the version done by The Clash and loved it, but the original version done only a year before is fantastic as well.

After a couple of months away from Paris, I'm trying to get myself back into the swing of things. Last night was a good start when I found some fresh sea scallops at the market that I pan seared in butter. I missed really fresh scallops and I also noticed the beautiful wild mushrooms at the market. I know what's on the menu this week. Read the rest of this post...

Terrorist attacks claim at least 65 in Nigeria

Even in a country that is familiar with violence, this is enormous. The Guardian:

At least 65 people were killed in a spate of coordinated gun and bomb attacks in the Nigerian city of Damaturu on Friday, with witnesses describing dozens of bodies piling up in morgues.

Gunmen raided the city and nearby village of Potiskum – both in Yobe state in the north east – on Friday evening, and engaged in several hours of running gun battles with security forces, witnesses said.

Militants bombed churches, mosques and police stations.

Though no one has claimed responsibility, the Islamist sect Boko Haram has been behind previous attacks.

Read the rest of this post...