Tuesday… 9 December 2008
Posted by marisacat in Europe, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Italy.trackback
Starlings fly over Rome at dusk [Picture: AFP/GETTY]
Apparently Rome has been starling bombed for years now… and finally there was a photo I liked of the fly overs..
From the Independent…
[F]or more than a decade, the Roman authorities have been trying to drive the huge clouds of birds away from the city. Now they have hit on a winning formula, spearheaded by Giovanni Albarella. When Mr Albarella’s office in the Roman branch of the Italian League for the Protection of Birds (Lipu) receives notice of another massed arrival of starlings – “uno stormo di storni” in Italian – he goes to investigate, following the trail of droppings to the trees the birds have chosen for their lodging. Once satisfied that he has made a positive identification, he returns with his team, swathed in protective clothing and face masks.
Each member is equipped with a megaphone featuring recordings of starling distress calls – Mr Albarella calls the noise “a heart-rending scream”. As the starlings end their twilight display of aerobatics and head for the trees, his team lets rip.
The reaction is immediate: the birds rebound from the trees as if touched with a vast cattle prod and fly off into the evening sky to seek emergency accommodation elsewhere. By harrying the starlings in this way, varying the calls relayed by the megaphones to keep them on their toes – “the calls sound just the same to us but not to them” – Mr Albarella believes the birds are gradually being shunted back into the countryside which used to be their natural home. …snip…
Onward and upward…
Marisacat 
Posting this last one as it’s
Per Starlings Shitting on Patrician Statues…
Caroline Kennedy to NY Sen
I’d be surprised if it ever came to fruition – no damsel or knight in the race as I don’t believe in em..
Tho via TPM to Hamster’s site…
It’d be better if Janie just come out and say it,
they prolly asked the K/Shlossberg’s , k? for money and were met with a polite
Thanks, But No thanks..
Not springin for THAT Chocolate Flowing Fondue, is it?.
There there ,what is it Lady Jane?
BlogCinder Ellas don’t GET TO go to the ball.
Especially not fools who don’t object to Dynasties on PRINCIPLE.
LOL. Pick a Kennedy any Kennedischer, Janey,
just not THAT one.
Janie also a little late gettin’ the parchment ‘n opening the wax seal..
Just all over the map in her piece…
I’d be surprised if CKS made it to the senate. I’ve read both versions, that she called Paterson and that he called her. Hardly matters. I have heard Ob tho twice call her a dear friend.
I am glad Fran Drescher declared for it. Hell why not. She’s a lot more entertaining.
LOL
In the last thread I linked to quotes from retired Col Nagl, who co authored the counterinsurgency manual with Petraeus and is an advisor to Obster… about the difficulties of ramping up Afghanistan (as if this is news). The quotes could also be seen as early conditioning, imo, via the vehicle of that shit pub TNR…
The JPost is very enlightening. Nagl spoke to them too. Wish I read Hebrew. I’ve always heard the real dirt is in that version.
Sorry to be blunt but anyone with half a brain knew neither the Iraqi people nor we would ever get free. Not with multiple hardened bases… no reconstruction to speak of… water and oil as resources…
This will be ugly:
So many surges. All succeeding “beyond our wildest dreams”. That was Ob on the Iraq version…. and then his site was scrubbed of his earlier comments on the surge.
I had planned a post on this tonight.. but was not quite up to it… I see lenin is calling it the Greek Intifada – and posts videos…. He may be right. It has spread across Greece, from Athens and Thessaloniki, now to Patras and the Peloponnesus. Through the university towns. Demonstrations in front of the Greek Emb in London, the embassy in Berlin occupied.
Citing bailout, union wants to organize bank workers
Demonstrators Occupy Greek Embassy in Berlin from Der Spiegel (‘The Mirror’ auf deutsche)
Scroll down there are links to some ‘killer’ photos.
Dear god may my links be active… its been a while
Wow, Der Spiegel is my new fave rag. Innaresting op ed piece on Sarkozy:
link to satirical vid about same ‘King of Bling Bling’. Though I wish these danged foreigners would learn how to sing in english, one gets the drift..
Correct linky to Sarko op ed piece (?).
Weren’t we just having a big weepy Irish wake for Teddy? Funny, he sure seems to have enough energy to pick up the batphone for Princess Caroline.
Speaking of batphones!
9
oh you know Teddy, he struggled back to do good for his beloved American people.
A selfless man
6
!!
Thanks for the Spiegel link jam.fuse…
There is a second gallery of Athens photos up at Spiegel…
and soemwehre I was reading over night said that a call is out for a General Strike on Wednesday.
Hey everyone,
Get a load of this:
What a hoot!! Go Fitz, put this dweeb in jail.
I am so sick of these people.
I’ve been getting tsk-tsked by my Democrat friends when I tell them I voted for Nader because I’m tired of the big corrupt Dem Party machine. Maybe they’ll start to wise up soon.’
I hope all is well with you Mcatterers, It’s been busy here and i haven’t had time to post – also I’ve been away in Connecticut at my new getaway, a 200+ year old farmhouse, where I don’t have a computer. I’ll try to keep a hand in. I’ve recommended this place to some friends so they might drop in!
Wow big stuff coming down in Chicago! Federal corruption crime spree! Governor arrested on charges…!
We are saved that we have Ob, the pure the good the divine.
14 hey hey Ms H-R…
fevered minds think alike…
😈
Wow.. delusional:
He noted becoming a U.S. senator might remake his image for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to the affidavit.
I always thought the Hillary NY senate was a done deal before the Clintons EVER left office [in the middle of the final ME peace talks]. Isn’t this the way for most?
I am guessing that Blago took it too far.. or, like Nixon, was so fully delusional that people were a bit extra worried.
Always that extra step… of overt nuttiness.
[LOL KGO is assuring us there is no connection to how the NY senate seat is being handled.. oh so reassuring! – and then, just for joy, they add there are no charges against Ob!]
Maybe Blago can claim crime passionel
The whole thing is hilarious!
Batphone link at #10 has lotsa gorey details.
In case Intermittent Bystander stops by
when I had to fully re load the computer I lost whatever links I saved, would you still have a link to the wonderfully threatening and murder laden sno ball scenes you posted a few months ago?
By chance?
IB — thanks for the batphone link… just reading the FBI raided business offices of Blag supporters. Peeling back the onion of corruption…
🙄
22 – Click on either of the photos here for more snowglobes:
http://www.martin-munoz.com/recent/index07.html
23 – Yeah, there’s a lot to parse there, algebraically! Deputy Governor A, Fundraiser B, Senate Candidate 1, etc. I’m at work, so can’t pore over it, right now, but I reckon there are quite a few people shivering in their snowboots out there!
Snowglobes… Thanks! I could not think of the right name for them…
LOL
A caller to KGO this am tried to raise Rezko and the host just shut the call down. Too hot.
You have to laugh.
Wow big stuff coming down in Chicago! Federal corruption crime spree! Governor arrested on charges…!
I am absolutely 100% certain that it was a pure coincidence that this came 24 hours after Blagojevich threatened to cancel state business with Bank of America over the Republic sit in 🙂
or more likely until it uses some of its federal bailout money to keep the governor mouth hushed up.
Hey MCat, I love your devil-emoticon 😀
More funniness – Blagojevich’s wife is a mover and shaker in this mess:
Who is Mrs Blagojevich? Well, here is her bio page. Her main qualifications appear to be that she’s a real estate agent and she enjoys gardening.
Is she Lady Macbeth, or just a stupid Sopranos wannabe? Or a bit of both?
It wasn’t a done deal because Hillary actually had to run against someone (the hapless Lazio).
As for Blagojevich… I would say the same thing as I did about Spitzer: You have to be very, very stupid or very, very arrogant (or combo of both) to give your enemies such material. I mean, shoving it at them with both hands. Unbelievable.
Regardless of whose side they are on politically… with “allies” like this, who needs enemies? Good riddance.
I mean, shoving it at them with both hands. — NYCO
At least. I’m thinking Mrs B was using her feet there too.
What a bunch. (Which is not to call this rare, in any way.)
As for Blagojevich… I would say the same thing as I did about Spitzer:
I’ll say the same thing about Blagojevich as I will about anybody charged with a crime, innocent until proven guilty.
The criminal charges against Spitzer were dropped. The criminal charges against Cynthia McKinney were dropped.
And this arrest is very, very convenient for Bank of America.
Of course it’s possible that Blogojevich is as guilty as sin. I only heard the name two days ago so I don’t know what his reputation in Illinois is like. It possible he’s a crook who at the last moment tried to tie his fortune to the Republic sit in. It’s possible he tried to profit from the Republic sit in. A lot of things are possible.
That’s why we have trials.
I’m not talking about the criminality of Spitzer’s situation… just about the sheer stupidity. That he was screwing hookers is not in dispute.
That Blagojevich is a calculating bastard who expresses an interest in buying a Senate seat is not in dispute either.
There’s no doubt these guys getting in trouble isn’t convenient for SOMEONE… but it doesn’t mean they weren’t criminally stupid, if being stupid is a crime.
I don’t think working people need friends like this in high places. Why? Exactly because of the Republic Windows & Doors thing. At the critical moment, the bottom drops out. Do you really think a Blagojevich court case is going to do ANYTHING to help those workers?
Make your assassins use bullets. Don’t make it this easy for them.
That Blagojevich is a calculating bastard who expresses an interest in buying a Senate seat is not in dispute either.
Well, since this is an indictment and not a conviction, what do we know for certain right now?
And once again, it’s certainly possible that Blagojevich sided with the Republic workers at the last moment because he knew he was about to be arrested and he wanted to get precisely the reaction he’s getting from me.
I think it’s pretty clear that the factory sit in movement is dead as of this point. If Blagojevich killed it for his own selfish reasons, then he deserves that much more time in hell.
But I wouldn’t trust Patrick Fitzgerald either. This is the guy who argued that he couldn’t pursue criminal charges against Karl Rove because Scooter Libby obstructed justice. Well, I’m not a lawer but that just seems a little strange to me.
It sounds like, aside from whatever else, that Blogo was just unravelling. That idea he could take, if he did not sell it, the Ob senate seat as a launching pad to a presidential run in 2016 when the corruption stories have circulated and whirled around him for some time now.
Too far out there, too little self control. Not just criminals but out of control criminals. Plus for weeks it seems like Rezko was talking. Who knows what he said.
last i heard, no statement from ob. I am guessing the plan is he comes from hawai’i and some staffer said he lived in chicago. Etc.
HairClub:
One word: Crook.
Are you suggesting that Fitzgerald hired actors to impersonate the Blagojeviches and their cronies on these wiretap tapes?
The sad fact is that Blagojevich is much more stupid/careless/delusional than Karl Rove, and therefore much easier for Fitzgerald to nail.
Are you suggesting that Fitzgerald hired actors to impersonate the Blagojeviches and their cronies on these wiretap tapes?
I haven’t heard the tapes or read transcripts.
Has Fitzgerald realeased them to the public?
Is the evidence damning enough to just skip the trial and hang the guy or does the whole “innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt still apply?”
But no, I don’t think Fitzgerald would be so stupid as to set up a crude fix like that. I’m just a little suspicious of the timing.
I’m also still a little puzzled why Scooter Libby’s obstruction of justice got Karl Rove off the hook. Maybe I watch too much TV but doesn’t Jack McCoy threaten to arrest someone’s mother or something at that point?
Anyway since I know nothing about Blagojevich and since I haven’t read anything about this case at all, I’m just going to have to discipline myself not to draw any conclusions until I do. Otherwise, I’ll be headed down the road to Alex Jones Infowars conspiracy nut damnation.
Is the evidence damning enough to just skip the trial and hang the guy or does the whole “innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt still apply?”
LOL No but it is damning enough and to people who HAD heard of Blago for some time, to speak bluntly of the poltiical landscape.
I am not required to be the Grand Jury… nor the trial jury. I can talk about htis as I please. LOL I am not empaneled. No oath sworn.
Hair – you don’t know much about the Libby thing either – better to drop it.
40
I love L and O.. but i can tell you that the overwhelming perception is that quite a few of the cases that have made such [somewhat] meaty TV stories would all too likely be swept under the judicial carpet.
I’m waiting for scurrilous stuff to come out about Obama. The question is not if, but when.
😈
And so on…
Kinda sorta dumb. From an emailer:
Hair – you don’t know much about the Libby thing either – better to drop it.
So you’re saying that I’m mishearing Fitzgerald when he said he couldn’t pursue Rove because people were obstucting the investigation?
I’d Google “Rove Fitzgerald Indictment” to find the exact quote I’m thinking of but it would probably take me all year to sort through the results.
But once again. I don’t know Chicago at all.
At the same time, I was never quite able to share in everybody’s enthusiasm here for Glenn Ford because I always saw him as Sharpe Jame’s propagandist.
These kinds of biases are why we have trials I guess.
But I do know that this kills the factory sitin movement (or at least weakens it) so it’s pissing me off.
Anyway, maybe Black Santa will bring Blagojevich a present in prison.
http://rogouski.smugmug.com/gallery/6004393_3eLqL#433592163_Nuxxi-A-LB
Apparently he did most of his wheeling dealing out of his home. And that is what they bugged.
everybody’s enthusiasm
Well I read BAR… read BC before that. Think Madman does as well. Pretty sure bay does as well… No idea about anyone else. What has Glenn Ford said about Sharpe?
Apparently he did most of his wheeling dealing out of his home. And that is what they bugged.
As I said, I don’t know the guy.
If there had been a factory sit in here in North Jersey a few years ago and Sharpe James had said “well I’m going to stand up for the workers” my immediate reaction would have been “DON’T GO NEAR SHARPE JAMES HE’S A CROOK”.
I didn’t see any kind of warnings like that when Blagojevich threated Bank of America so quite frankly I’m a little shocked here.
I knew the whole thing was too good to be true. Sigh.
What has Glenn Ford said about Sharpe?
He attacked Booker pretty relentlessly when Booker was running against James. I’ve always had a bias against him because of that, not because I’m a huge fan of Booker but because James was always such an obvious crook and I couldn’t believe someone was defending him. Now that James is out of the picture I’ll have to go back over his writings and try to read them again with an open mind but I tended to see his attacks on Obama the way I saw his attacks on Booker.
Anyway, I just wish there had been some kind of effort to disassociate the Republic sit in from Blagojevich, to get ahead of the curve on this.
Was it ever legal for him to threaten Bank of America the way he did anyway?
Or was my populist enthusiasm for seeing the government come down on the bankers clouding my judgement?
46, MCat – how odd that some people think Blago is photogenic – he looks like a most unattractive, unintelligent creep to me. He doesn’t even look like a powerful kingpin – more like one of the thugs who follow the kingpin around and take care of the messy strongarm work.
It’s embarrassing that anyone would vote for him for any position.
Well he did look like a pretty basic pol/tough guy/fixer. More back room than front room.
Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in an attempt to strong-arm the newspaper into firing editorial writers who had criticized him.
Interesting. I didn’t even know the Tribune Company was getting $$$ from the government.
Does this mean the Tribune was getting $$$ from the state of Illinois?
Seems odd.
54
It’s nto illegal for a city or state or play hardball wtih an entity they do business with… The pity was that he took it public, as an absolute.
It’s nto illegal for a city or state or play hardball wtih an entity they do business with… The pity was that he took it public, as an absolute.
And tied himelf to the factory occupation.
But what were some factory workers who are desperate to get paid going to say? “No. We reject the support of the governer of Illinois?”
This makes me sick in so many ways.
Ben Smith: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/
All I can say driftng around, there is a LOT of stuff on those tapes. Plenty of educated speculation around as to who is who in the numbered entities and slightly identified entities.
4 out of the past 8 governors of Illinois have been indicted. LOL 50/50 batting average…
Of course you know what the wingnuts will be saying about this.
The liberal press held information back until after the election They should have investigated the Illinois Democrats more aggressively months ago.
And maybe they’d be right?
Did the governer of Illinois actually hold the purse strings for the Chicago Tribune Company?
How can that be?
Still at work, but FYI – B of A says its willing to “extend limited loans” to Republic Windows and Doors
Saw it at fairleft diary here:
http://www.freespeechzoneblog.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1695
and link goes to AP article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/workers_takeover
A scandal drifts by, shakes off hibernation…pops head outta the cave.
Looks like I shoulda stocked up on more popcorn and beer for the winter.
“And this arrest is very, very convenient for Bank of America”
No, Republic Window and Doors was very, very convenient for Blagojevich.
WooHoo on with the show! I LOVE Midwest politics. LOL.
Apparently at his presser declaring his love for the working people and esp for those at Republic, he was asked about whether he was being bugged. He laughed it off.
Word gets around…
😈
hmmm From Ambinder (in full) … I think they have to wrngle a special election, as Durbin wants. Anyone appointed by anyone would be less than an election. Talk about a mess.
09 Dec 2008 03:08 pm
Blago’s Taint: Who Succeeds Obama, And How?
There are several possibilities now:
1. Blagojevich defiantly stays in office. The legislature impeaches him; Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn becomes governor and appoints Obama’s successor. Democrats worry about Quinn’s judgment here, but they might attempt to prevail on him to pick someone acceptable.
2. Blagojevich stays in office, but the impeachment is stalled until four weeks from now, and then, because a new general assembly would have to begin the proceedings anew, Blagojevich appoints a successor; the U.S. Senate refuses to seat that person.
3. A special election is called, Blagojevich signs the bill; or he vetoes it, the legislature overrides the veto and a date is set; some Democrats in the state believe that this scenario will benefit Republican Mark Kirk, because Democrats will have a nasty, long, primary season to fight about Blagojevich and who was closest to him. Kirk will probably have a clear field, lots of money, and a very simple change/anti-corruption message.
4. Blagojevich resigns; Quinn appoints a successor
Why is Jane Hamsher campaiging against Caroline Kennedy?
Bell curve of percent change in S&P Returns by year.
Wading into the .pdf of the complaint at the Times..
Blogoyo Rezko Blogoyo Ata Rezko Blogoyo Rezko etc Rezko etc.
Fitz not in Ob territory, no, Not at all! LOL.
like the Scoot,Plame!Hub case
had nuttin
tah-do with Cheney or Dub
Once Ob didn’t appoint Fitzgerald to AG
it was clear to me Fitzgerald would be isolated…
The guy seems to me as good as it gets*
– *emphasis* – as it gets –
BTW, very well played ,Pat, in preserving that DOJ slot…
I’m serious about that, ..tho the Blahgs will no doubt turn on Fitzmas Santa if he pesters them too long with questions like
“You really DO want Justice, do you…”” .
Ironically, they’ll be screaming “He’s a Gyp!” if it ever arrives…
Ah well, Markos has featured fantastic “Recommended” spin
by “Hope Reborn” a high userid sock of one of the insiders – I’ve seen the name repeatedly in the time over the last few weeks I’ve been online and gone to the Carny Show…..
Rahm Denies Blagojevich Roll; Team Obama Wouldn’t Play Ball
LOL.
Rahm GOT his seat in a multilateral deal that all the PTB in Chi could live with-
Ob didn’t run for State AG or IL Comptroller would wait for US Sen –
they went to state SOH Marty Madigan’s kid Lisa and
State Sen Leaders kid Dan Hynes, ….Bloyo got Gov,
Ob got Sen Pri via a spoilers run from Hynes for Il Sen in the Dem Pri
Rahm got his House seat,… This was all brokered wholesale by Bill Clinton, the Daley Brothers, Rahm as mediator, between those contentious camps, all three prevailing upon Speaker Madigan, Sen Hynes, and to a LESSER extent Bloyo’s gang with Bright and Shiney for all….Future options for slots left open…
Should be interesting to see the developments tho,
– we know where it all leads- …whitewash.
Seems like it’s just One of those Things
they plan for in Illinois, like a Holiday Party,
the Governor nominally at the wheel, ….the Designated Crook..
Tapper, long snips from a long entry
Could be he pulled back a ways after that. Then again he was plenty happy to be used by Rezko when he wanted that house. Apparently Axelrod previously said Ob spoke to RB in November, now the spokes people say he did not. Sort it out …
How To Read an American Newspaper
I think it’s pretty clear that the factory sit in movement is dead as of this point.
Why do you make that leap? B/C ONE politician, who was already well-known to be a target of a federal investigation, sided with them?
Never spoke. Never never. Never…
Why do you make that leap? B/C ONE politician, who was already well-known to be a target of a federal investigation, sided with them?
It was a premature and emotional reaction.
I was just shocked that out of 50 state governors, the 1 out of 50 who threatened Bank of America in the name of the Republic workers was indicted the day after he did.
Seems pretty clear it was just a coincidence.
Note. I had never heard the name Blagojevich before two days ago so I had no idea who he was. I guess what he did was less surreal to someone who’s been aware of him for awhile. I’m used to corrupt politicians but this guy makes Sharpe James look boring by comparison.
At the same time, I was never quite able to share in everybody’s enthusiasm here for Glenn Ford because I always saw him as Sharpe Jame’s propagandist.
Really? IIRC, it had more to do with despising Cory Booker:
72 “In an interview with the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006, then-Sen. Obama said, “I have not followed closely enough what’s been taking place in these investigations to comment on them.”
I love that aloof tone of attempted detachment- so Captain Renault.
How To Read an American Newspaper
I’m not familiar with the companies Putin is leaning on in Russia but I’d guess that he’s trying to use the economic crisis to strongarm the Russian oligarchs while here our own oligarchs are using the economic crisis to strongarm the government.
So it seems more like the NY Times class identification than any kind of xenophobia.
Or this, from 2002.
60 – Ben Smith is a moron. The Republicans in IL are in utter disarray and as far as I know don’t have a viable candidate.
78
well you know… he is from Hawai’i… doesn’t know much about Springfield or Chicago politics.
😈
I’m thinking of this article.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/domino.html
Ford gives himself some verbal cover but it’s pretty clear he’s campaiging for James against Booker.
The four-term mayor’s early decision to mount a straightforward, run-on-the-record campaign is understandable. No established Black, big city administration had ever faced a concerted effort by African America’s historical enemies to cultivate and lavish support on a Black, stealth opposition.
A right winger or a crook?
I guess you had to chose one.
FWIW, Newark has always seemed open to corporate exploitation, even under James so I was never quite sure what Ford was so afraid of where Booker was concerned.
82 MCat: LOL, like Sam Ervin: “jest a plain ole country lawyer”… but in Obama’s case it’s “Oh I’m so intellectual and surrounded by Harvard elite, I had no idea what went on in those nasty smoke-filled rooms – please bring me my fainting chair!”
Republican Mark Kirk?!?!
RFLMAO!
Really, MARK KIRK?
Someone just popped me this.. a few of Blago’s more charming comments and quotes.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16377.html
Well sure, b/c James is an old-fashioned crooked politicians who filters some cheddar back to his base (not a lot, but some), people who get utterly fucked over in that shithole of a state, compared to another trojan horse “good” AA backed to sneak in more disinvestment in the inner city in favor of school vouchers and other incredibly stupid ideas. Crook vs. another fucking Harold Ford Jr.
I’m far away now, and don’t pay any attention to NJ news now that I’m back in the “heartland”, (where I can follow closer fake “reformers”), but what exactly has Booker done for Newark? From what I understand, that city is every bit as fucked as it was under James, except the public schools get probably even less funding in favor of vouchers.
Re: Corruption in places like Newark and Chicago.
Isn’t the source of the corrupt political culture the fact that they are one party states and cities? Doesn’t it work that way the other way around too (eg Ted Stevens)?
After awhile, the Republicans just stop running and the Democrats realize they can put their tentacles into the local economy and exploit it.
Wouldn’t one party Democratic cities like these be precisely the kind of places you SHOULD try to get a third party off the ground?
Why don’t the Greens try to run for some of these unopposed Democratic seats in congress or seats on the city council or the State Senate?
81
I was going for this
Dick Durbin told reporters that “No appointment by this governor, under these circumstances, could produce a credible replacement
I don’t really see why an appt by ANYONE will look clean now. Unions in Illinois are pretending they were in the mens room for 2 years… Axelrod claims he never thought Blago would be a good governor, when is grift and grab and “Mr Daley is not accused of anything illegal”, apology city and Ob says he is an hawai’an, all but. Soon he will call Blago a “typical white person”.
Even as bad as elections are, they are not direct appointment. Not quite.
LOL Maybe Biden has someone in Illinois who could sit on the senate seat til 2010 — and he can leverage his OTHER son into the hereditary Obster seat.
From what I understand, that city is every bit as fucked as it was under James, except the public schools get probably even less funding in favor of vouchers.
I think the issue with Newark (and Detroit) is a lot more long term. People (even on the left) tend to see these cities as basket cases without examining the long term historical causes.
So you’ve got what basically amounted to a violent overthrow of the old white ethnic city power structures in the late 1960s simultaneous with the growth of suburbia in the the late 1960s. It looks like “riots” devestated the cities, that the local destroyed them instead of what actually happened (the national guard destroyed them and the various movers and shakers in the states refusing to invest in a black controlled city).
That leads to corrupt petty local politicians like James moving in and just skimming off the shrunken pie. And, in turn, it leads to conservatives like Booker trying to drum up investment by promising to make the cities more friendly to corporate America (tax breaks, cutting city services, etc.).
But really there wasn’t a lot of city services/infastructure to cut back in 2002. It wasn’t like these were old socialist countries with nationalized industries to hand over to the Lev Leviev’s of the world.
Why don’t the Greens try to run for some of these unopposed Democratic seats in congress or seats on the city council or the State Senate?
Because the two parties divy up their respective fiefdoms and cook the electoral books so that a third party has to climb insurmountable obstacles just to get on the ballot, only then to face tied-to-the-parties mainstream media blackouts, a la’ Cindy Sheehan in SF (who still managed something like 17% with no media coverage and a long campaign by the party to keep her off the ballot), and she had name recognition going for her.
Any hope for change is going to require food riots.
Any hope for change is going to require food riots.
Or factory takeovers.
America turned its back on many cities.. as much for punishment of minorities as to push the suburban office park model. If they could blame rioting blacks of the 60s that worked out really well, for the government and for the businesses that were no longer interested in cities. “Too dangerous”.
Urban Redevelopment. which was brutal even without rioting to blame, used the model, very consciously, of the devastation of Europe in WW2. This is documented. Create urban devastation, in the case of SF leave blocks empty for close to two decades, then rebuild federal mixed use projects.
Very hard to for cities, old and newer (it happened here too, with no riots, just Urban Redevelopment of the 60s and 70s) to withstand that.
Union Says Sit-In at Factory Continues
Bank floats publicity balloon … union pops it.
Or factory takeovers.
That will only build the connections needed to build something after the riots. Still gonna take the riots or at least widespread civil disobedience after economic/social breakdown.
Could very well not work even then. The right is more heavily armed and more willing to shoot first.
Still gonna take the riots or at least widespread civil disobedience after economic/social breakdown.
Factory takeovers are civil disobedience.
They also have a lot of advantages. They’re decentralized. The cops have to go from building to building removing people, not just put up orange nets and corral people (which they’re very good at in places like NYC and Chicago).
They draw the obvious connections and don’t tend to be dominated by the usual leftist suspects. There are as far as I know 4 solidarity rallies planned in NYC tomorrow with the Republic factory but these are going to be the usual kinds of street protests by the usual suspects (anarchists, New SDS, Socialists and various Trotskyist groups). Don’t know if they’ll get any press or not.
69 HC
Why is Jane Hamsher campaiging against Caroline Kennedy?
Because she Hates America.LOL. Who Knows?
I just got a kick out of her BlogCinder Ella bit
….when the rest of us were trying to keep the progressive lights on…….she’d like to come in at the top…….We have absolutely no idea ……whether she can take the heat of being a Kennedy in public life.
Janeys just looking for horses to get going
presumeably dragging her carved out Orange Pumpkin to the Ball.
I dunno, I just think
There Oughta Be a Law® you finish a term you run for.
or resign upon any campaign declaration / fundraising/ organizing, have to sit out till the end of the original term one went AWOL on…
just like Non Compete Agreements work….LOL
Never Happen Just Saying.
Hillary AND Ob would have been Out.
Caroline would be baking cookies…
Under this logic we’d certainly have an unapoligetic,
no hedge, pro union, Scandal Free Edwards Administration to look forward to…LOL.
Seriously now,
No Appointments. Imminent Special Elections could help
as small turnouts would benefit new blood…
thats another NGH though, …Not Gonna Happen-
the blantant Ballot Access purging by lawsuit would soar ,
more than what was thought possible…
It’s beyond me…
elected officials are able to leverage current votes on Bills in a quest for higher Office, all the while pissing on
Every. GodDamn. Fire Hydrant ….The Next Big Job, The Consolations, never risking their current post, holding it over prospective fundraisers, warding off support for challengers in this fashion as well – one word –
“Politburo”
of course, we know why – the excuse at least-
“We Don’t Want To Subvert The will Of The People.®”
“The People Are Smart®”
“Ultimately, THEY CHOOSE®”
Right. Thats why in the United States of Mercenary Conglomistan
we have so many “Back By Popular Demand®”
or “Just Like His Dad®” Congressman/Sen/Gov So-and-Only So (s)
with the occasional kid out of a Kennedy photo op
or White House Porter thrown in
Speaking of dealing with food riots, some interesting figures (according to Wikipedia).
New York has 8,274,527 people and 37,838 police officers. That’s about 219 people to every cop.
Chicago has 13,700 cops and 2,836,658 people. 207 people for every cop.
LA has 9,781cops and 3,849,378 people. 393 people for every cop and a lot more square mileage to patrol.
Does anybody have any idea why LA seems less militarized than NYC or Chicago? Or are the figures deceptive? Are there other para mlitary organizations in LA.
Sounds like they will impeach Blago, it is done by the vote there… Pat Quinn goes in and they get an appt by Quinn, who I guess does as told. And they avoid an off election which would cost cost cost. 50 mil they say.
All is under control!
98
they can call in the mil. and now the special northern command brigades…
New post having nothing to do with any of this: Planning for the Future.
they can call in the mil. and now the special northern command brigades…
Something pretty obvious about the NYPD.
According to Wikipedia
In June 2004, there were about 40,000 sworn officers plus several thousand support staff; In June 2005, that number dropped to 35,000.
That’s 5,000 extra troops hired only for the RNC.
After September of 2004, they just laid them off.
Image taken outside the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield by Anonymous
‘View’ host Hasselbeck to Rev. Wright: Who are you calling a ‘dumb broad’?
Wow, Chicagoist is a goldmine:
Bla-lego-vich
“when the rest of us were trying to keep the progressive lights on…….she’d like to come in at the top”
Since when has Jane Hamsher become some great progressive stateswoman? What have I missed? The last I heard, her main claim to fame was that she was a failed movie producer who started up a political opinion blog linked to Daily Kos.
Not too impressive. Several notches below political talk radio, frankly.
Pardon minor drive-by eruption . . .
104 – Ha ha ha! Was that inevitable or what?
The way$ of the world
107 – jungle fever, baby.
Well he’s the one who got the date in history wrong. December 7… the day that ”lives in infamy”. The former marine… etc. He claimed it for Hiroshima. On the very day…. so imo Hasselbeck can say what she wishes. It’s a fucking free for all, or should be.
There was a huge big messy gaffe that Biden made.. claiming FDR talked to the peeeples via TV at the onset of the Great Depression.
Glossed over.
Thick layer of vaseline over all.. the so called “sides” don’t matter.
Sorry still laughing now that I clicked the link.
I thought the initial reports said “ditzy blonde,” didn’t know he had ventured as far as “dumb broad.” Yo ho ho!
Soaring words from the preacherman?! I’ve been wondering when we would get the hear the splat.
102
well there is the suggestion that various and sundry were happy to ahve the whole mess of the 2004 R convention in NYC and that they could crack down on TV, send demonstrators and protestors to the purgatory of the special detention areas for 2 and 3 days..
There has been discussion around that it is one of the selling points used to get the R to NYC. WOuld make sense.
and so on. Not like Denver was some pretty picture, either.
LOL
“I’m not going to speak for what the President elect was aware of,” he said. “We make no allegations that he’s aware of anything and that’s as simply as I can put it.”
107 – Well ya know it just ain’t polite to mention people’s colors, when you’re dissing! Passersby might begin to think you belong to some identity “group” or something!
Apologies to everybody else upthread I scrolled over in haste!
Mostly wanted to mention that Stewart and most of his cast sent up Canada last night. I laughed my head off – hope catnip caught it too.
Will dig up the link like a good little blog commenter if I can.
Wright should happily retire to the almost all white gated community he retired to, 10 mil line credit carried by TUCC — with butlers pantry and so on. After decades of lobbing screams against “middleclassism”
Disliked him from day on. My best guess, he can’t stand the people who filled the collection plate for years. WIth all too likely the tax free “gift to the preacher” add ons.
What a con.
99 Are there other para mlitary organizations in LA.
CHiPs?
We make no allegations that he’s aware of anything
Caught some of Keith O tonight ’cause I was curious how he’d spin it, and to his credit, he ran some footage of Ob saying hemenahemena (next to Gore, who looked just thrillllled to be present for this swampmonster story from Chicago) and (I guess) began practicing a )to me) new chiding tone, with regard to the President Regent or whatever the office is now.
#14:
HRH is going straight to hell, and a good thing, too.
I need all the culinary company I can get.
neue post…
LINK
……………… 😆 ……………….
115 – You is succinct, Marisa.
Right, whiteysphere?
::prepares for poo-slingshots, having dropped a fricking compliment on a blog so many people read::
SuperVix is BACK!
and madman, the chicagoist links are hillarious the Lego / Blego
a link thru to the Senate Seat on Ebay is fun, one offering “free shipping”
LOL….
This is what the Internet is made for.
116
well I think now most cities have way too much Federal presence .. ICE, DEA, varous anti-terror whatevers. All but paramilitaries. They hadno problem locking NO down with all of that, plus armed missions flying overhead from ICE and DEA.
I think it is one reason SF tries to retian the “Sanctuary CIty” status. To keep the enforced hard partnership with the Federal police, of all sorts, away.
Don’t think we are going to be able to keep it tho, long term.
PS – Africom thread post and photo was devastating.
Oh thank you IB for mentioning it…
8)