Summary execution by IDF in Gaza-bound flotilla incident

There's a wealth of wealth news, including a totally up-to-date Onion article from 2001 (h/t Griffon). But for a change of pace, there's this from the United Nations Human Rights Council's expert panel on the Israeli relief-ship-to-Gaza incident, in which a number of passengers were killed.

Via Scott Horton, we get the panel's report (pdf) and his assessment. First from the report:

The circumstances of the killing of at least six of the passengers were in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution. Furkan Doğan and İbrahim Bilgen were shot at near range while the victims were lying injured on the top deck. Cevdet Kiliçlar, Cengiz Akyüz, Cengiz Songür and Çetin Topçuoğlu were shot on the bridge deck while not participating in activities that represented a threat to any Israeli soldier.

Horton directs us especially to this regarding the death of the Turkish-American, Furkan Doğan:

[T]wo of the passengers killed on the top deck received wounds compatible with being shot at close range while lying on the ground: Furkan Doğan received a bullet in the face and İbrahim Bilgen received a fatal wound from a soft baton round (beanbag) fired at such close proximity to his head that parts such as wadding penetrated his skull and entered his brain.

He concludes:

The report concludes that the Israeli boarders did not face credible threats of imminent harm that would have warranted the use of such lethal force as was used to subdue the Mavi Marmara. “A well-trained force such as the Israeli Defense Force should have been able to successfully contain a relatively small group of passengers armed with sticks and knives[.]

While the HRC is not perfect, this report is free of bias, Horton asserts. It's significance is in the factual discovery:

Defenders of the Netanyahu government tend to be dismissive of anything that comes out of the Human Rights Council, which is indeed a profoundly flawed institution. But this is not an expression of opinion by the council, even though it voted to adopt the report; it is rather the fruit of an independent inquiry by experts. The persons who prepared this report are eminent figures with no obvious prejudices one way or the other on the Gaza controversy. Their report is a model of clarity and masters an impressive body of evidence.

Rules of engagement, say I. When you help the Other, you become the Other. Remember, the ship was Gaza-bound.

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Following repeated deadly attacks, US military seeks green energy

So is it the oil-addicted GOP who hates America or the military? It's all so confusing. Surely the Republicans will not stand for such an attack on their friends in Big Oil. NY Times:

Even as Congress has struggled unsuccessfully to pass an energy bill and many states have put renewable energy on hold because of the recession, the military this year has pushed rapidly forward. After a decade of waging wars in remote corners of the globe where fuel is not readily available, senior commanders have come to see overdependence on fossil fuel as a big liability, and renewable technologies — which have become more reliable and less expensive over the past few years — as providing a potential answer. These new types of renewable energy now account for only a small percentage of the power used by the armed forces, but military leaders plan to rapidly expand their use over the next decade.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the huge truck convoys that haul fuel to bases have been sitting ducks for enemy fighters — in the latest attack, oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan were set on fire in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, early Monday. In Iraq and Afghanistan, one Army study found, for every 24 fuel convoys that set out, one soldier or civilian engaged in fuel transport was killed. In the past three months, six Marines have been wounded guarding fuel runs in Afghanistan.

“There are a lot of profound reasons for doing this, but for us at the core it’s practical,” said Ray Mabus, the Navy secretary and a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has said he wants 50 percent of the power for the Navy and Marines to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. That figure includes energy for bases as well as fuel for cars and ships.

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Candidate Rahm had a not-so-triumphant return to Chicago

I'm not going to spend a lot of time writing about Rahm Emanuel. But, his campaign for mayor has gotten off to a rocky start.

On Rahm's first day back in the city, he was greeted with a headline in the Chicago Sun-Times that blared, Experts say Rahm Emanuel not a legal resident of city:

The first question isn't: Can Rahm win? It's: Can Rahm run?

Sunday, Rahm Emanuel announced in a video posted on a website that he is preparing to run for mayor of Chicago. But two of Chicago's top election lawyers say the state's municipal code is crystal clear that a candidate for mayor must reside in the town for a year before the election.

That doesn't mean they must simply own a home in the city that they rent out to someone else. They must have a place they can walk into, keep a toothbrush, hang up their jacket and occasionally sleep, the lawyers say.

Another three election lawyers say Emanuel could be thrown off the ballot on a residency challenge. None says Emanuel will have it easy.

Hey, Rahm just helps writes the laws. He doesn't have to abide by them, right?

Then, Ben Smith lets us in on the fact that the "I'm glad to be home" campaign video wasn't filmed at home -- or maybe it was. It was shot in DC, not Chicago:

Rahm Emanuel kicked off his campaign for mayor of Chicago with a homecoming video, filmed in front of a bookshelf with a vase and a family photograph.

"I was born here, and my wife Amy and I raised our three children here," he says. "I'm glad to be home."

But an Emanuel spokeswoman, Lori Goldberg, confirms that the video itself was actually filmed in Washington, D.C., in the offices of AKPD Message and Media, the firm founded by David Axelrod.

That's both arrogant and amateurish.

And, yes, politics is a dirty business, but don't be so obvious about it:

After finishing his opening round of casual meet-and-greets, Emanuel hopped into a Dodge Caravan, in which he could be seen vigorously sanitizing his hands in plain view of television cameras and reporters.

Sounds like it was a lot easier for Rahm to run his campaign when he was ensconced in the White House. Rahm thinks he's the tough guy, but they play hard ball in Chicago.

And, there's this:
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Art riches revealed in apartment that was abandoned for 70 years

Opening that door must have been an amazing experience. Even more incredible is that a Parisian flat - in the 9th no less, not the 7th or 8th - was not burgled over that period of time.

Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris' 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900.

"There was a smell of old dust," said Olivier Choppin-Janvry, who made the discovery. Walking under high wooden ceilings, past an old wood stove and stone sink in the kitchen, he spotted a stuffed ostrich and a Mickey Mouse toy dating from before the war, as well as an exquisite dressing table.

But he said his heart missed a beat when he caught sight of a stunning tableau of a woman in a pink muslin evening dress.

The painting was by Boldini and the subject a beautiful Frenchwoman who turned out to be the artist's former muse and whose granddaughter it was who had left the flat uninhabited for more than half a century.

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Todd's 'irate email' to Joe Miller sure makes it seem like Sarah is running in 2012

What a tangled web they weave up there in Alaska.

Sarah Palin's choice for Senate, Joe Miller, thinks the minimum wage is unconstitutional. But, his wife collected unemployment benefits. That's pretty standard hypocrisy from the teabagging crowd. But, Joe's got a bigger problem: Todd is mad at him. Todd Palin, that is. And, Todd got so mad at Joe that he gave away the big secret: Sarah is running for President.

Jeanne Devon a.k.a. AKMuckraker at Mudflats broke another Palin story:

It has long been speculated that former Alaska governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin would mount a bid for the White House in 2012. So far, Palin has avoided directly answering questions about her intent. However, internal emails obtained by The Mudflats provide the most conclusive evidence to date that Palin will be running for president, and also indicate a behind-the-scenes rift between the Palins and an Alaskan candidate that they have both publicly endorsed.

An irate email written by Todd Palin seems to confirm his wife’s presidential ambition, and revealed his anger at Alaska Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller. The email demands that the treasurer of SarahPAC, Tim Crawford, “hold off on any letter of support for Joe,” and came on the heels of an interview Miller gave to Neil Cavuto on Fox News Sunday.

Yep, Joe Miller didn't enthusiastically say that Palin should be President. And, here's Wonkette's take:

Oh no! It’s the Mama Grizzly’s husband, Anger Bear! “Sarah spent all morning working on a Face book post for Joe, she won’t use it, not now.” Aww, the poor thing, slaving away on a status update for someone she thought was a friend. This is from an e-mail Todd Palin sent Joe Miller on September 19, in which Todd rips Joe Miller for not endorsing Sarah for president when Miller was asked if she was qualified for the job on Fox News. Well, yeah, obviously she is qualified. Look at all that effort she puts into writing her “Face book” posts.

I guess this means that anytime we complain, whine, gripe or groan, we'll really will hear: What are you going to do? Vote for Sarah Palin. Read the rest of this post...

News in the (non-)curtailment of 'theft of honest services' prosecutions

In a small but very important pocket of the law, again revealed by Scott Horton (who, by the way, also lectures at Columbia Law School), we watch the unfolding discussion of "theft of honest services" prosecutions.

So a primer: "theft of honest services" by government officials is basically corruption, giving to self and friends at the expense of the public, those to whom duty requires rendering "honest service." So, for example, taking bribes in order to benefit a private party (and self) at the expense of the public — this has the effect of stealing from the public; and what is stolen is the official's "honest service." Simple enough, right?

So when are "honest services" stolen? Depends on who's doing the defining. In the past, it was mainly the obvious situations, such as bribery and taking kick-backs. But in our prosecutorial society — with our steady diet of Death Wish–descendants like Judge Judy and Cops on the March — we look for ever larger cannons to shoot at our individual social enemies.

And as always happens, when you hand over power to police and prosecutors, humans being what they are, it gets abused. The most commonly cited case is that of ex-Alabama governor Don Siegelman, who was accused, while running for re-election as a Democrat, by blatantly Republican DAs, of accepting donations to a state lottery fund for universal education. At the same time, he re-appointed the donor to a hospital review board. Note: re-appointed. The man had held the position before under Republican governors.

Though there was no evidence whatsoever of quid pro quo, Siegelman nevertheless went to jail in 2006; the donor is still behind bars today. It's a horrifying, Rove-inspired prosecution, designed to elect a Republican governor, and corrupt even to the actions of the judge.

Frankly, if you interpret that law this way, most of the public officials in the country would be mailing their outgoing from the prison post office.

So what just happened that puts this in the news? Two things.

First, the Supreme Court has looked at this law (the law against "honest-services theft") in a case called Skilling (pdf), and in Horton's words:

sharply hemmed in the practice by saying that the statute only covered “bribes and kick-backs.” Three of the justices, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy, would have gone much further. ... In rendering their decision, the Court was plainly inviting the Justice Department to rethink its overreaching stance—just as it suggested that a significant number of convictions the Department had secured had to be reviewed—and a large number of them will certainly be set aside.

Good for Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy. So what did the government (the Obama DOJ) do in response? That's the second news item (Horton again, my emphasis):

The Justice Department, however, has responded with wails of denial and by pressing Congress to overturn the Skilling decision. Doing the Department’s bidding, Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy has offered a new bill, the “Honest Services Restoration Act,” which would allow the prosecution of “undisclosed self-dealing.” It was the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Ah, Leahy. The guy behind the Internet Blacklist bill. The guy whose weak-tea compromises during the Bush years have gotten all but the worst of the Bush operatives (sorry, honest-service-rendering judicial appointments) onto the Federal bench. That Leahy.

Way to lobby for the Bad Dems list, sir.

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Sleazy Boehner

Bob Herbert:

I’ve always thought of Mr. Boehner as one of the especially sleazy figures in a capital seething with sleaze. I remember writing about that day back in the mid-’90s when this slick, chain-smoking, quintessential influence-peddler decided to play Santa Claus by handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists to fellow Congressional sleazes right on the floor of the House.

The Times’s Eric Lipton, in an article last month, noted that Mr. Boehner “maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R.J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS.

“They have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, provided him with rides on their corporate jets, socialized with him at luxury golf resorts and waterfront bashes and are now leading fund-raising efforts for his Boehner for Speaker campaign, which is soliciting checks of up to $37,800 each, the maximum allowed.”

The hack who once handed out checks on the House floor is now a coddled, gilded flunky of the nation’s big-time corporate elite.

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GOP thinks it needs a 60 vote majority in the Senate

No they don't.

"Even if we controlled the House, unless we controlled the Senate and got 60 votes, we wouldn't be able to pass any corresponding legislation in the Senate," said the Texas Republican. "So I think, we need to keep expectations, again, fairly modest as far as what we can do over the next two years.

George W. Bush never had a 60 vote majority. At best he had 55 GOP Senators, and at worst 50. Didn't seen to stop him from getting Supreme Court appointees confirmed, passing the Patriot Act, a HUGE tax cut, invading Iraq, and more.

The Republicans are understandably trying to dampen enthusiasm a bit on their side, so as to avoid a situation where their voters simply don't vote, thinking the cat is already in the bag. But this notion of needing 60 votes... please. That's a Democratic phenomenon brought on by the fact that we don't fight back and filibuster when a GOP Congress proposes bad things, and we don't fight back when the GOP minority filibusters us from doing good things. It has nothing to do with 60 votes. It has to do with backbone. And it's only gotten worse now that every political difference in Washington is settled with a beer summit where we begin negotiations with the Republicans by giving half of what we want away as a peace offering.

Don't think that the voters haven't clued in to this. They can smell weakness, regardless of politics, regardless of policy. American voters tend to admire strength. And our eggheads don't general exude any. Read the rest of this post...

Banks may hand out bonuses early to avoid taxes

Really, let them sink the next time and start over. This is ridiculous, if it goes forward.

"Bush-era" tax provisions that benefited the wealthy are set to expire at the end of 2010. If Congress doesn't extend the favorable rates through next year, it could make a big difference whether employees at Wall Street behemoths like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and the like earn their income by year-end.

Some big banks pay bonuses before year-end, while others delay the holiday gift til early January. However, the sunset of a Bush-era tax break may cause them to award compensation in 2010. "Executives are thinking about deferred compensation choices -- deferring bonuses and income, which they can choose to do," says Greg Rosica, a tax partner at Ernst & Young. "People who have stock options are considering the strategy with that. At companies paying out bonuses, early January vs. December can be a very different tax situation for the recipients."

The Obama administration and most of its Democratic peers in Congress favor an approach that would extend tax cuts for the middle-class, but allow rates to rise for top earners. That would mean any individual earning more than $200,000 a year or any family earning more than $250,000 a year will pay a rate of nearly 40% in 2011, rather than the current 35%.

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Insurance companies pouring money into GOP campaigns to undercut HCR

Sure glad we gave up the public option to make these guys nicer:

The insurance industry is pouring money into Republican campaign coffers in hopes of scaling back wide-ranging regulations in the new healthcare law but preserving the mandate that Americans buy coverage.

Since January, the nation's five largest insurers and the industry's Washington-based lobbying arm have given three times more money to Republican lawmakers and political action committees than to Democratic politicians and organizations.

That is a marked change from 2009, when the industry largely split its political donations between the parties, according to federal election filings.

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Teabaggers, Joe the Plumber & Phyllis Schlafly join to stop anti- puppy mill bill

Never was there a greater threat to democracy than people who wanted to ban puppy mills.

A conservative group in Missouri is picking up the backing of the Tea Party and Joe The Plumber in its quest to stop the Humane Society and other animal rights groups from passing "radical" anti-puppy mill legislation.

The measure, which can be read in full here, is called Proposition B or the "Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act." It aims to help eliminate the "3000 puppy mills" in Missouri that constitute "30% of all puppy mills in the U.S.," according to Michael Markarian, the Chief Operating Officer of the Humane Society.

"This measure would provide common sense standards for the care of dogs," he told TPM, including sufficient food and clean water, vet care, regular exercise, and adequate rest between breeding cycles, among other things. Markarian said the measure only applies to "commercial dog breeding facilities" that have more than 10 breeding females who they use for "producing puppies for the pet trade."

Sounds pretty straightforward, no?

Definitely the work of the devil. Read the rest of this post...

GOP groups far out-spending Democratic orgs.: 'This is turning into a financial blowout'

First Read notes the huge spending discrepancy between outside groups on the GOP side, which are spending huge amounts on the 2010 campaigns and Democratic allied groups, which aren't:

But in what could very well be the cycle's biggest story, GOP-leaning outside groups -- like the Rove-backed American Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- are more than making up the gap. According to Democratic ad-tracking numbers, outside GOP groups spent a whopping $34 million in August and September, compared with just $4 million by Dem groups. And that's just in Senate races. In House races, GOP groups have spent or plan to spend some $30 million in more than 70 districts, versus $7.5 million by Dem groups.

And, there's more Rove money coming. First Read analyzes why the spending discrepancy exists. It's odd, especially when we've got a Democratic President:

*** Why did Dem groups disarm? This is turning into a financial blowout. Amazingly, Democratic outside groups are acting as if they've disarmed. Why? Some reasons we've heard from Democrats who are trying to compete on this front: 1) the economy is bad; 2) the Dem donor base is demoralized and tired; 3) some of the bigger donors are liberals, and they've been disappointed with the administration's policies; 4) the president isn't really courting the big donors; 5) Obama's attacks on the Citizens United decision have deterred them from getting involved; 6) Obama doesn't have a long-time donor network, a la the Clintons (think Terry McAuliffe); and 7) many of the Democrats' best fundraisers are ambassadors right now. And here's another reason: Dems got a tad complacent after Obama's enormous money haul in 2008. The assumption was that money wouldn't be an object, so Dem-leaning outside groups never really tried, and they believed -- deep down -- that the GOP outside groups couldn't raise the big bucks. Well guess what…

All of those are contributing factors, especially item #3. But, there is one other reason and it rests squarely with the Obama brain trust. Mike Lux explained why the Democratic groups disarmed:

Independent group messages have far more credibility and clout than those from party and candidate committees -- even groups with generic-sounding names no one has heard of. Republican strategists like Rove got this early, and went about methodically organizing a network of corporate money to get involved in independent expenditure ads in swing races all over the country. But the Obama White House, sure of its fundraising ability and organizing genius, has consistently sent the signal to Democratic donors to not support outside efforts. [emphasis added] They did it after they won the primary in 2008; they did it when they set up OFA to operate solely inside the DNC in 2009; they did it during the health care fight when they felt HCAN was being a little too independent in pushing for a public option, sending a clear signal to donors not to give to them at crucial times during the fight; they did it when ACORN had some bad publicity, very quickly making the decision to distance themselves and let them die even though no group has registered more voters or turned out more people in the last 10 years than ACORN.

I have been fighting this battle inside Democratic strategy circles for 15 years now, but the problem is worse with the current team at the White House. The folks running the Obama political operation have always believed they could control the message and the resources of the party better than anyone else, and that they didn't need or want to empower outside progressive groups. Now embattled House and Senate candidates are paying the price, and it is a bitter price to have to pay.

It really sucks that so many solid progressives are bearing the brunt. Our leaders have been out-maneuvered by Karl Rove -- again. Read the rest of this post...

Banks bailed out by Treasury not doing well

Yet another sign that the banking crisis is far from over. Because some of the banks have been so reluctant to listen to the mood of the public, there will be a strong reluctance to save them should the situation decline even more.

Banks seeking money from the $700 billion financial bailout faced different standards depending on which agency regulated them, according to a report Monday from the Government Accountability Office. Some questionable banks got bailouts by persuading Treasury officials to overlook their problems. Others were blocked by regulators from making a case to Treasury.

Officials approved bailouts for 66 banks with known problems, the GAO found. Those banks have fared worse than the others in the program. They were twice as likely to miss dividend payments they owed to Treasury, the report says.

The report blasts Treasury for failing to track decisions by regulators about which banks could apply for money and which are strong enough to repay. It says the same problems could plague a new program that will send $30 billion to small banks. The new program aims to boost lending by offering banks government money at very low rates.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Well, four weeks til Election Day. It's going to be a wild ride. Early voting has started. Via Barbara Morrill:

Early voting is now taking place in California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

So, vote already. Polls do seem to show movement towards Democrats. The base is slowly awakening.

The Vice President is out on the trail today. He's in Minnesota campaigning for gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton.

The President is in DC today. He's hosting a summit on community colleges with Dr. Jill Biden, who teaches at Northern Virgniia community college. Tonight, he's speaking at the 2010 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit.

In case you missed the Q & A between Kerry Eleveld and Robert Gibbs yesterday, it's prety clear that there's still no plan to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell. One gets the sense that there never really was a plan. It's whatever Gates wants. He's calling the shots, not the President. Notice how I didn't gripe, groan or whine. I just presented my assessment of the situation.

One last thing: Christine O'Donnell wants us to know she's not a witch (she's you, how does that make you feel?):
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Tories tax their own

Few would have expected such a move by the Conservative government. Perhaps like Obama and his dealings with the left, the UK government is confident that their supporters have nowhere else to go. Well, nowhere except sitting at home at election time. As for the criticism of the bankers, it does appear to be more hot air to win over the middle who are still fuming over the news of the 2010 banker bonus plans. Besides big talk, it's doubtful the bankers will be asked to join the cuts. The Independent:

George Osborne imposed the pain of his spending cuts on the Conservative Party's natural supporters yesterday by announcing that child benefit will be axed for families where one parent pays the 40 per cent tax rate.

In an attempt to reassure the middle classes, the Chancellor's high stakes gamble was coupled with a crackdown on workless families accused of milking the benefit system. Claimants will no longer be able to claim more than £500 a week in benefits – the median income for working families after tax.

In his speech to the Tory party conference in Birmingham, Mr Osborne said his "tough but fair" mantra would also apply to the banks. He warned: "We will not allow money to flow unimpeded out of those banks into huge bonuses, if that means money is not flowing out in credit to the small businesses who did nothing to cause this crash and suffered most in it."

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Swiss government to force local banks to hold extra cash reserves

This is a very smart move by the Swiss government. It's ridiculous that other countries have been too afraid to force local banks to do the same. Heaven forbid the banks are asked to buffer their failures from taxpayers. Heaven forbid politicians stand up to the bank lobbyists.

Global Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse must hold capital well in excess of new international standards, a government commission said, to limit risk that a bank failure could drag down the economy.

The new rules may crimp the two banks' ability to compete in the field of investment banking, but Swiss regulators want them to focus more on less risky private banking.

The report from the commission of top regulators, bank executives and other industry representatives published on Monday said the two banks should hold at least 10 percent of risk-weighted assets based on new global standards (Basel III) in form of common equity.

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Berlusconi at it again with what he thinks is humorous

Why does anyone like this guy?

Days after Berlusconi told a youth rally an apparent joke about Adolf Hitler, he emerged from his Rome residence on 29 September to regale supporters with a joke about a Jew who charges fellow Jews money to hide in his basement from the Nazis, without telling them the war is over.

As the video of the encounter was posted on the internet, a second candid video, dating from earlier this year, also appeared.

In it, Berlusconi, filmed during a visit to L'Aquila, tells a joke poking fun at the physical appearance of Rosy Bindi, an grey haired, bespectacled opposition politician.

The punchline featured the oath 'Porco Dio', which roughly translates as 'Pig God'. It is considered one of the most blasphemous phrases in Italian, to the extent that a contestant on Italy's celebrity Big Brother was ejected for saying it in 2006.

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