jump to navigation

Surreal 18 April 2009

Posted by marisacat in Divertissements, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Israel/AIPAC, WAR!.
trackback

A Palestinian man held up a young boy as a woman climbed from the window of a mosque during celebrations marking the annual day of Nebi Musa, near the West Bank town of Jericho. The site is believed by many Muslims to be the burial site of Moses. [Oded Balilty/Associated Press]

I kept running into this photo in various galleries, this one from Pictures of the Day at the NYT for yesterday, April 17.

Comments»

1. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

what a fantastic photo!

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

Yeah I thought it was amazing….

😉

Reply
2. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009
3. catnip - 19 April 2009

Moving this up from the last thread. (I posted it before I refreshed the thread).

HA! Rahm just admitted that Obamalams isn’t going to prosecute AMYONE for toture. Suck on that all of you ignorant kossacks who thought he “left the door open” to go after the lawyers and the rest of Bushco. How do you like your president now?

Reply
4. catnip - 19 April 2009

Now Boehner’s talking about cow farts on This Week.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

is there a difference between Boehner speaking and a cow fart?

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

What is the sound of one bonehead talking?

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

I think it is one of the worst TW I have ever been dumb enough to watch. Steph and Rahm were like two idiots. Then Boehner showed ujp and that made three.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

Boehner is definitely a few bricks short of a load.

I actually haven’t watched these shows for quite a while. Now I remember why.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

I luckily woke up in time only to catch the last blasts of Boehners throat flatulance and to watch the panel “discussion”. Best part of that was watching Will push the “unitary executive” con (many very smart people believe it!) over and over again until he was forced to admit that he doesn’t believe it, either.

I really need to quit watching that show … it’s crazy-making.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

I think Will was one of the ones who was pushing the meme that the memos shouldn’t have been released because it gives instructions to the terrists so they can practice how to resist those methods. Well, hello? If those techniques aren’t used anymore (supposedly) what’s the big risk?

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

he should stick to giving his opinion on pants.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

I’m dressed like Grace Kelly as we speak.

Oops. Just dropped some toast crumbs on my ball gown.

Reply
5. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

And the NY Times thinks Jay Bybee should be impeached from his seat on the federal bench:

These memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution. Congress should impeach him. And if the administration will not conduct a thorough investigation of these issues, then Congress has a constitutional duty to hold the executive branch accountable. If that means putting Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales on the stand, even Dick Cheney, we are sure Americans can handle it.

Not holding my breath. The coward democrats were too complicit in the whole regime.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

HA! I am expecting in a few years to learn we established and maintained secret prisons in Indonesia and Kenya. Where we had exciting new allegiances.

Remember, everybody loves him!

Reply
6. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009
7. catnip - 19 April 2009

Noonan wistfully justifying not releasing the torture memos: “Some of life needs to be mysterious”.

Who are these people??

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

she reminds me of Serial Mom.

Reply
8. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

Living A Life Sentence

“See, what I did, and also the most honest approach, is just to talk to people and tell them what happened.”

“Did that work?” Cobiella asked.

“No,” Beverly laughed. “Everybody was extremely empathetic and shocked and stunned. And didn’t quite know what to do with that.”

“But they didn’t want to hire you.”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t think any of these people realize what they’re up against,” said Peter Neufeld, co-director of the Innocence Project, the group that – using DNA evidence – so far has helped free 235 people falsely convicted of serious crimes, 17 on death row.

“And the reason is that, when they first come out, not only is there the fame that comes with the media sort of capturing that moment of freedom, but also, they feel, ‘Okay, now I’ve been vindicated. Now everything will come to me, finally, that’s been kept from me for so many years,'” said Neufield.

“So there’s an expectation. Unfortunately, reality is different than expectations, particularly for these wrongly convicted.”

Just ask Larry Peterson. He was found innocent and released over three years ago after being sentenced to life plus 20 years for the 1987 killing and sexual assault of a young woman in New Jersey.

“Yes, I always knew I would get out,” Peterson told Cobiella. “I just didn’t know when. I didn’t know how, you know, but that day came.”

“And what was that day like?”

“Oh, man, it was joy. It was joy!”

He was 37 when he went to prison. He was 54 the day he walked out, freed because a DNA test had proved his innocence.

“Prison is capital H-e-l-l, it’s hell,” Peterson said.

We met Peterson in the parking lot of the truck driving school from which he’d just graduated. He was hoping that, after years of failure, it might lead to what he says would be his first job since being released from prison.

“When I went out to seek employment, any place that you go – and they do a criminal background check, when it come back and I have ‘murder’ upon my jacket, if you have ‘rape’ up on your jacket, you can’t get a job.”

“But you were exonerated,” Cobiella said.

“What’s that?” Peterson laughed. “What does that mean? It simply means that you are out of prison. It doesn’t mean it erases your record.”

“When they go to an employer and they bring the newspaper saying they were exonerated, the employer says, ‘Well, that’s wonderful. But, you know, you’ve got a 20-year black hole. And besides, even if you were innocent, you hung around some pretty mean characters for 20 years. I’m f—— sorry, you just don’t have the skill set I need. I wish you well, but I can’t hire you.’ And, ‘I can’t give you this apartment.’ And, ‘I can’t give you credit.'”

“Are you angry about all of this?” Cobiella asked.

“Mad as hell. Yes. Mad as hell, yes.”

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

One reason there has to be cash settlements from the state, for years of incarceration for people like this.

Reply
9. catnip - 19 April 2009

GEORGE: Does [President Obama] believe that the officials who devised the policies should be immune from prosecution?

RAHM: Yeah. What he believes is, look, as you saw in that statement he wrote, and I’m just gonna take a step back, we came up with this and worked on this for about four weeks, wrote that statement Wednesday night after he had made his decision and dictated what he wanted to see, and Thursday morning I saw him in the office and he was still editing it. What he believes it that people in good faith were operating with the guidance they were provided, they shouldn’t be prosecuted.

GEORGE: But what about those who devised the policy?

RAHM: Yeah, but those who devised the policy, he believes that they were uh should not be prosecuted either. And it’s not the place that we go — as he said in that letter, and I really recommend that people look at the full statement — not the letter, the statement — in that second [to last] paragraph. This is not a time for retribution. It’s a time for reflection. It is not the time to use our energy and our time in looking back and in a sense of anger and retribution. We have a lot to do to protect America, but what people need to know: This practice and technique, we don’t use anymore. He banned it.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

The only thing Rahm said that was sane was that torture techniques have been in the NYRoB (which tells me he read the Danner piece).

Ohter than that, a crazy man elevated to the WH CoS. By a fixer, held tightly by his handlers.

We are so fuckign screwed.

Reply
10. NYCO - 19 April 2009

Loved this story, and especially the fascinating and must-read comments (which tell “the rest of the story”).

In a straighter realm, a Bay Area wanderer is lost for good

Quite a spectrum of attitudes on display. I think the reporter didn’t realize the full ramifications of his story, or of his subject’s actual life.

Long live the annoying misfits of the world. They’re the only ones who can get conversations like these started, just because of the inconvenient fact that they exist.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

Thanks for posting that… because the comments at SF Gate are just as bad (often) as at some Neanderthal-known-to-be town… I just read the first three, which were perfect:

otney
4/14/2009 11:11:39 PM

Thanks for a very moving article.

Recommend: (323)(11)[Report Abuse]

BusStopLoser
4/14/2009 11:41:28 PM

Reminds me of “John the Bird Man”, a schizophrenic homeless guy who lived in Cow Hollow and kept a couple of pigeons in his coat. He had a rich inner life, a whole universe in which he and his feathered friends were happy and well. I used to sit and talk to him for 20, 30 minutes at a time, help him out a little. Sometimes we’d talk about books. One day he saw me, and excitedly told me he’d searched and searched to find the right book to give me as a gift. I thought, okay John, that’s sweet, but what would a man so disconnected from reality come up with? Turns out John really did know me after all these chats, it was a non-fiction title “Burning Down the House” that was and is one of the best business books I’ve ever read. I felt like John’s private universe had cracked open and admitted me as one extra little citizen, equal to his beloved pigeons. One day, John just disappeared, never seen again. I think about him often.

Recommend: (306)(8)[Report Abuse]

whaffle
4/14/2009 10:55:37 PM

Bums are more fragile than people think. As part of the urban ecosystem they define areas of safe habitation. Where they’re not tolerated, I guess you should expect the same or worse. Maybe everyone should be voted off the island, if it’s not good enough for our weakest.

Recommend: (223)(23)

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

thanks for that. So many people like that, falling through the cracks as the rest of this society rushes by.

Reply
wu ming - 19 April 2009

another interesting obituary of the guy from that article here.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

I just caught up to this, wu ming…. very nice, thanks for that posting…

Reply
lucid - 20 April 2009

Reminds me of Adam Purple.

When I lived on Allen and Rivington, he was good friends with the super in my building and lived in the basement on a cot [illegally of course]. He became very involved with the tenants when several severe building problems emerged. Much more lucid sounding than the guy in the article – but a total free spirit/activist at the margins guy that I had a lot of respect for. I fell out of touch with him around 2004 – wonder what he is up to now.

Reply
11. catnip - 19 April 2009

Soon to be hidden:

Impeach President Obama if (0+ / 0-)

he does not defend the Constitution.

We the People demand that our elected officials honor their “Oath of Office.”

We do not want “can’t we just get along” types in office.

We are at some very dangerous situations that demand that we standup against the criminals.

“Demand the Truth!”

by Ronald England on Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 11:00:51 AM MDT

That guy’s in for a boatload of screaming banshee type responses.

Reply
12. catnip - 19 April 2009

Stop the presses!

That does it for me. (6+ / 0-)

Obama just lost me. I’ll never support him again.

“The truth shall set you free – but first it’ll piss you off.” Gloria Steinem

Iraq Moratorium

by One Pissed Off Liberal on Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 11:43:23 AM MDT

His reaction to the news about Rahm’s statements.

Reply
13. catnip - 19 April 2009
14. marisacat - 19 April 2009

I see that JG Ballard died…

and that

after a several months long break, the Green Zone is being shelled

Reply
15. marisacat - 19 April 2009

The closing presser down there in Little Latin Land… blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Jake. [Tapper]

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You’ve heard from a lot of Latin America leaders here who want the U.S. to lift the embargo against Cuba. You’ve said that you think it’s an important leverage to not lift it. But in 2004, you did support lifting the embargo. You said, it’s failed to provide the source of raising standards of living, it’s squeezed the innocent, and it’s time for us to acknowledge that this particular policy has failed. I’m wondering, what made you change your mind about the embargo?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, 2004, that seems just eons ago. What was I doing in 2004?

Q Running for Senate.

THE PRESIDENT: Is it while — I was running for Senate. There you go. Look, what I said and what I think my entire administration has acknowledged is, is that the policy that we’ve had in place for 50 years hasn’t worked the way we want it to. The Cuban people are not free. And that’s our lodestone, our North Star, when it come to our policy in Cuba.

It is my belief that we’re not going to change that policy overnight, and the steps that we took I think were constructive in sending a signal that we’d like to see a transformation. But I am persuaded that it is important to send a signal that issues of political prisoners, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, democracy — that those continue to be important, that they’re not simply something to be brushed aside.

What was remarkable about the summit was that every leader who was participating was democratically elected. We might not be happy with the results of some elections; we might be happier with others; we might disagree with some of the leaders, but they all were conferred the legitimacy of a country speaking through democratic channels. And that is not yet there in Cuba.

Now, I think that as a starting point, it’s important for us not to think that completely ignoring Cuba is somehow going to change policy, and the fact that you had Raul Castro say he’s willing to have his government discuss with ours not just issues of lifting the embargo, but issues of human rights, political prisoners, that’s a sign of progress.

And so we’re going to explore and see if we can make some further steps. There are some things that the Cuban government could do. They could release political prisoners. They could reduce charges on remittances to match up with the policies that we have put in place to allow Cuban merican families to send remittances. It turns out that Cuba charges an awful lot, they take a lot off the top. That would be an example of cooperation where both governments are working to help Cuban families and raise standards of living in Cuba.

So there are going to be some ways that the Cuban government I think can send some signals that they’re serious about pursuing change. And I’m hopeful that over time the overwhelming trend in the hemisphere will occur in Cuba, as well. And I think that all of the governments here were encouraged by the fact that we had taken some first steps. Many of them want us to go further, but they at least see that we are not dug in into policies that were formulated before I was born.

Reply
16. catnip - 19 April 2009

Someone has a clue about the scope of this:

If you’re correct this: (1+ / 0-)

So those of us who think that prosecutions are essential need to join together and work on strategies to pressure him to do so.

will be far from an adequate response.

Thee power mongers inside the D.C. Green Zone have completely outflanked and surrounded citizens who advocate democracy and the rule of law.

Your protests and mass movements will be minimized, mitigated and diffused with their bought and paid for media. And yes, this includes the Internet.

Anything approaching violence will be ruthlessly suppressed with total surveillance, torture, false confession and disappearance. Thanks to Bush and his Democratic allies, all the pieces are now in place.

The power mongers are patient. Obama will be gone eventually and this carefully constructed, nearly omnipotent ‘oppression machine’ will will be ‘fully armed and operational.’ 🙂

Opposition from areas outside their jurisdiction will be dealt with by the local potentates. Isn’t globalization grand?

The only thing that you can do is refuse to cooperate or trade with every entirety that benefits or does business with this cabal.

– A fried California Roll sounds stupidly good. I mean, it’s fried. It’s automatically good. – aclockworkprple

by James Kresnik on Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 01:26:32 PM MDT

Reply
17. NYCO - 19 April 2009

Susan Boyle’s only known recording, from an obscure 1999 charity CD.

Cry Me a River

Wow.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

I’ve been interested to see the mean spirited push back to her English Idol (or whatever it is called) performance. That “well, she can carry a tune”… and “so what”. Granted it was an anthem themed song, but what is better to grab and audience that does not know you. However staged (I have no idea) the theatrics of laughing at her or shaming her on stage were.

I hope she goes on to have a happy life and sing on stage and on CDs.

Reply
NYCO - 19 April 2009

I don’t know if I’ve seen too much pushback. I’m not sure how staged the on-show reactions were but certainly the public outpouring is genuine. The recording that has surfaced clearly demonstrates she has phenomenal talent and that it was known a long time ago by someone. But in a world where so many younger, sexier faces can sing (or do a semi-wretched imitation of it), it all comes down to the perceived “marketability.” That problem for her appears to have been solved.

There is so very much crap out there today (no doubt I have made my own contributions) because we’ve all got video cams and digital SLR’s and synthesizers and digital art media and music mixers of our own, not to mention everyone’s furiously branding themselves like crazy, and everyone can self-record, self-film and self-publish. If anything, I hope her success gets people to concentrate again on quality instead of image.

Reply
18. catnip - 19 April 2009

Wow. I’m surprised by the number of GBCO (Good bye cruel Obama) comments at dkos. Serious blowback. Heads are exploding. Take cover. Cleaning up grey matter is a bitch.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

.. and they will vote him back in in 3 years and whatever months. How dare we reject our First Black Pretzel.

I loved how he noted that seeing Bolivia has just managed (previous to his election I would point out) to elect its first indigenous leader, the world has a long way to go.

Do tell.

I wish he would shut up for a few days. Give the rest of us a rest and inflict himself on the hen pecking household upstairs at the WH..

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

I wish he would shut up for a few days.

You and me both. Holy overexposure, Batman.

The Dems at dkos are screwed. They’re Dems. They don’t accept anything else. They really don’t get how absolutely fucked over they are by their own party. Most of the blowback is against Rahm and Obama – not a lot against the party over there right now. I suppose that would be like committing hare kare. Too much for one day.

Reply
NYCO - 19 April 2009

Susan Boyle is the new Obama. (i.e. mystical uplifting figure of talent and purity) Her Youtube video has already beaten Obama’s inaugural video in just the space of a week.

And, she won’t be running for the Senate or President or Pope!

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

well she is a lot more straight forward than Ob ever was…

Reply
NYCO - 19 April 2009

Seriously, Obamamania cannot compete with this:

susan-boyle.com

Including people making video testimonies and filming themselves watching her for the 15th time.

We truly live in a strange age…

Reply
NYCO - 19 April 2009

Oh brother.

I’m not in favor of punishing those who dissent (0+ / 0-)

simply because they dissent – that would be against American principles. I am for punishing people who are against moving this country forward as Obama is trying to do. That’s very very different.

I’m in the pro-Obama wing of the Democratic Party.

by doc2 on Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 12:06:50 PM PDT

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

If you bitch about the saint I have the right to punish you.

What can one say to that.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

And just what would that punishment entail? Because I’m pretty sure Obama will grant you immunity for it.

😀

Reply
NYCO - 19 April 2009

Heh! good one.

Reply
19. catnip - 19 April 2009

The natives are getting cranky over at dkos now. I think the shock is beginning to wear off.

Reply
Intermittent Bystander - 19 April 2009

Dem singles happy hour – 4/23 in DC… (pimping it again)
by Hlinko

3 comments

Snickering smiley, anyone?

(BTW – a Susan Boyle Phenomenon diary had 83 comments, when I clicked.)

But if you think DK is in bad shape, and you have nothing but (endless, endless) time and a (wicked, wicked) jones for layered meta, you should check out the current state of FSZ. If your browser is stable, you can catch simultaneous live-blogging commentary from certain twice-banned FSZ members at MLW, minus freshly FSZ-banned Lord Byron, who remains non grata at the pink place, too.

Relurking now, in the interest of continuing to buck nasty statistics.

Thank dog for spring!

Reply
20. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

I don’t know what got into Tweety.

Reply
21. catnip - 19 April 2009

A non-denial denial:

President Evo Morales of Bolivia confronted Mr. Obama during a private session with a charge that the United States is meddling in his country and had plotted to assassinate him. Mr. Obama responded on Sunday, saying, “I am absolutely opposed and condemn any efforts at violent overthrows of democratically elected governments.”

He added, “I have no idea what the CIA might be up to but if they kill you, I’ll be sure to provide them lawyers.”

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

I was just reading this AP report… but yo know, chew gum pop a bubble, chew gum… Cuba HAS to stop charging a levy on incoming remittances.

[B]ut he said Obama’s vow in a speech at Summit of the America’s inauguration on Friday rings hollow without a denunciation.

“Obama said three things: There are neither senior or junior partners. He said relations should be of mutual respect, and he spoke of change,” Morales said. “In Bolivia … one doesn’t feel any change. The policy of conspiracy continues.”

The close ally of Venzuelan President Hugo Chavez said that if Obama does not repudiate the alleged assassination plot, “I might think it was organized through the embassy.”

Morales expelled U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg in September and kicked out the Drug Enforcement Administration the next month for allegedly conspiring with the political opposition to incite violence.

The administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush subsequently suspended trade preferences to Bolivia that local business leaders say could cost it 20,000 jobs.

Obama has been so consumed with pressing issues such as the global economic crisis that he has yet to put in place a Latin America team to deal with thorny regional issues such as relations with Bolivia, analysts say.

“Nobody in Washington is paying any attention,” said Kathryn Ledebur of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivia-based drug policy think tank.

Go find Raul quick, so ObRama can shake his finger at him.

Meanwhile the gift book moves to No 2 on Amazon.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

That’s his main excuse now: he’s busy!

I thought that article I linked to in the last thread about ‘Messin’ where we shouldn’t oughta’ (or something like that) had a good take on the US/Latin America situation.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

I love that people are reading that book (and no, I haven’t), if only because it might at least introduce some CONTEXT into the thinking about Latin America.

Reply
Intermittent Bystander - 19 April 2009

I had to email the AP report about Eduardo Galeano’s book (as soon as I saw Uruguayan, I knew it was going to be him) heading to the top of the Amazon chart to a friend in Montreal, who visited me in NYC in the 80s, partly in order to hear him speak. (I think she still has a Polaroid photo taken at the event.) The AP writer’s quaint remark – “It’s a favorite among leftists.” – cracked her up.

The title alone (I’ve read other Galeano, but not that one) – “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent” – is surely worth its weight (in coffee beans?) on coffee tables, if nothing else.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

well it sounds to me as tho it has stayed in print, in English, for almost 40 years, latest edition, I think, had a preface by oh what is her name, the nicce of the assasinated one. House of the Spirits author. ALLENDE… finally got it.

Now they need to print more! Works for me. And Chavez, whatever his detractions, upstaged Ob and his running Passion Play.

Works for me.

I saw that Citgo bought ad time on some national news show this weekend, forget which one. STILL works for me.. 😆

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

Small world. I just recommended Isabel Allende to my roomie the other day when we were talking about her trip to S America.

Reply
Intermittent Bystander - 19 April 2009

Presumably the paperback edition is economical (in these troubled times), too!

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

Chavez does seem to have a knack for diverting attention to his own agenda. I loved how put out Ob looked when Chavez presented him the book.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

And Chavez resolutely held it so the title and cover were facing the camera. No missing it.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

IIRC, when I saw the news coverage of that moment on CNN (or whichever channel it was), the talking head said he handed him a book about “imperialism in S America”. Obama looked like he was swatting a fly when he acknowledged it.

Reply
22. catnip - 19 April 2009

Looks like Karzai is trying to be obstructionist: Karzai objects to direct U.S. talks with Taliban

Reply
23. catnip - 19 April 2009

Stop me when this makes sense:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Strong banks will be allowed to repay federal bailout funds, but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing a senior U.S. administration official.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

Well I just finished a Barron’s / Alan Abelson piece on how Goldman Sachs (which he called “Goldie”) manufactured the big first q.

Not reassuring.

And, for whatever reason (there was an undercurrent of silent laughter), ABC World News had a segment with Peter Schiff (really dark!) and someone I did not know Celente. Geesh. they made Roubini look cheery, tho he was not when I caught him on Nightly Business Report Friday.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

it’s such a layered scam … all of it.

That Goldman and the rest are so much in control doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

The United States of Goldman Sachs

Reply
24. catnip - 19 April 2009
marisacat - 19 April 2009

… and the photos of the “waterfall of blood” or whatever they call it, are so matched to the moment. Eerie…

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

wow

Reply
25. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

United Nations Official Strongly Suggests That Obama Is In Violation International Law in Refusing to Investigate War Crimes

U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak has gone public with a stinging indictment of President Barack Obama’s failure to investigate and prosecute officials for the American torture program, a clear war crime under existing treaties. Obama is in open violation of international law due to his failure to uphold the clear legal and moral obligations of this country.

For many months, I have been received a great deal of flak over this very same point (here and here: that Obama is in clear violation of international law. Nowak has now added a much more significant voice to the call for investigation and prosecution: “The United States, like all other states that are part of the U.N. convention against torture, is committed to conducting criminal investigations of torture and to bringing all persons against whom there is sound evidence to court.”

Former Bush officials, the Red Cross, the vast majority of legal experts, and numerous NGOs have confirmed these interrogations as premeditated torture. Obama and Holder have both declared waterboarding to be torture. The failure to simply appoint an independent investigator and allow the law to be enforced without concern for politics or passions. It is obvious that Obama does not want to allow an investigation that would likely lead to an indictment of Bush officials and probably Bush himself. If Obama wants to excuse war crimes, he can take the personal responsibility and pardon Bush and these officials — tying his own legacy to the commission of torture. However, his blocking of an investigation is an international outrage and puts us into the same category as countries like Serbia. Obama has the authority to pardon crimes, not obstruct efforts to investigate crimes for political purposes. This may not be politically advantageous for Obama, but these treaties do not exist for his comfort or advantage. We made a pledge to the world that we would aggressively pursue any war criminals — even if they happened to be made in the America.

Reply
26. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

Democrats Will Move to Vote on Sebelius

Grassley called it a “bombshell” that Sebelius initially understated campaign contributions she had received years ago from a doctor who performs abortions. He said the contributions have “raised a lot of concern among pro-life people,” and added that he has not decided how he will vote on her nomination.

Why does anybody give a flying fuck about “a lot of concern among RELIGIOUS NUTS?”

NOt that I’m any fan of Sebelius (another center-right donklephant hack), but I’m still disgusted how people who worship imaginary friends drive what passes for debate in this country.

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009
BooHooHooMan - 19 April 2009

Drip Drip Drip….

Congressional Quartely too the citation.
Good Stuff in see-the-cesspool kind of way.

Reply
27. catnip - 19 April 2009

Of course Rahm Emanuel says that. (1+ / 0-)

And Rahm Emanuel may keep saying it. If you think that reflects the President’s intentions, then you are profoundly naive. Emanuel is just a useful insider and former DLC operator, and it doesn’t surprise me this would be his thinking. It also wouldn’t surprise me if the President were humoring him, but the idea that there will not be prosecutions is preposterous when you look at the whole picture. Releasing the memos would just make it harder to justify not prosecuting. Whatever reputation I have around here, I stake on this: There will be torture prosecutions in Obama’s first term.

The greatest compliment a prophet can pay is to remain silent.

by Troubadour on Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 03:01:11 PM MDT

Reality enema. Stat!

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

people are so fucking dumb.

Reply
BooHooHooMan - 19 April 2009

LOL: Reality enema. Stat!

Oh, we got an impaction I think.
You’re up.

Reply
28. marisacat - 19 April 2009

Tiny Revolution has a good post on US Torture. And what a shill Ob is. Good comments too.

[E]nough to make the ghost of Dan Mitrione chuckle. At his death in 1970, the US government lavished praise on the former FBI agent:

“[His] devoted service to the cause of peaceful progress in an orderly world will remain as an example for free men everywhere.”

Amen. No doubt free men everywhere would be edified by Mitrione’s own words (all quotes from the New York Times):

“When you receive a subject, the first thing to do is to determine his physical state, his degree of resistance, through a medical examination. A premature death means a failure by the technician.

“Another important thing to know is exactly how far you can go given the political situation and the personality of the prisoner. It is very important to know beforehand whether we have the luxury of letting the subject die.

“Before all else, you must be efficient. You must cause only the damage that is strictly necessary, not a bit more. We must control our tempers in any case. You have to act with the efficiency and cleanliness of a surgeon and with the perfection of an artist…”

The problem, and its a big one, is that NO ONE in elected position will face the whole of it. Just won’t deal with it… Our history, our imperial instruction (School of the Americas, Fort Huachuca, others) of Latin American, SE Asian, other oligarchs and police and military, our own prisons.. and so on. It’s a whole. Ganer had been a prison guard… and inmates knew he wanted to get his hands on Iraqis when he got over there. Which does nto mean it was at the bottom, just that it is part of a whole.

For myself, out racist wars are the extension of the old slave patrols. Hunting runaways down, aside from all the rest of it.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

The slave patrols, , the reservation police, the mission schools, the various and sundry variations on penitentiaries and chain gangs and work gangs and seizure regimes and all the rest. COINTELPRO and Mockingbird and MK-ULTRA and the “drug war” … always concerted and considered efforts by government, in the service of capital, to subvert, divert and crush countercultures and various forms of resistance and diversity, not just here but within our declared sphere of influence, and always willing to allow a certain level of black markets in the service of funding all of the above.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

The slave patrols, , the reservation police, the mission schools, the various and sundry variations on penitentiaries and chain gangs and work gangs and seizure regimes and all the rest.

Right… the whole thing.

I was reading some imperial slobber goo that Ob excreted the other day and I was automatically thinking, “his mother would be ashamed of him”… and I stopped myself. Anthropology is so fascinating — and has such a dark side.

Who knows what she would think.

Reply
29. catnip - 19 April 2009

Ooops. See the Harman story a few comments up. I posted it in the wrong place. (Might have something to do with this HUGE black cat in my way who apparently would like to type a few things.)

Reply
30. marisacat - 19 April 2009

catnip… I just cut and paste the HTML version and put it down here:

Oh how it sucks to be a Dem today: Breaking: Rep. Harman in Quid-Pro-Quo w/Bush DOJ & AIPAC

(catnip comment)

Reply
catnip - 19 April 2009

Thanks. I could have done that but then the HUGE black cat started licking my fingers. 😀

Reply
BooHooHooMan - 19 April 2009

Oh My, My, My, at Lingerie –
I mean L”Orangerie—
——

AIPAC (10+ / 10-)

Recommended by:
gaff98, Gustogirl, Bronxist, arlene, nathguy, driftwood, Gwen12, TylerFromNE, Betty Pinson, island in alabama
Hidden by:
TheGryphon, Newsie8200, freakofsociety, oldskooldem, kck, gooderservice, zemblan, charliehall, m00finsan, alpraz

So can we say the word “jewish” or is that going to be a problem here?

Righting militant judaism is as much a problem as rightwing militant christianity and until we face up to it in our own party, we’re going to keep failing to do what’s right.

And let’s make sure everyone’s clear that I’m saying the problem is rightwing militant judaism. And yes, that does have a lot to do with how far one is arguing Israel should go to confront the Palestinians and Iran.

by jbellins on Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 06:52:52 PM PDT

—-

LOL. Hide IT! Hiiiiide – IT! All new screennames too.

Reply
31. catnip - 19 April 2009

I see the NYT has finally picked up the KSM bit of the torture memos: Memo Says Prisoner Was Waterboarded 183 Times

Yes we can (be the biggest fucking torturing assholes in the world and get away with it)!

Reply
32. catnip - 19 April 2009

Relurking now, in the interest of continuing to buck nasty statistics.

Numbers are evil especially when there’s math involved. 😀

Thanks for the heads up on the situation at FSZ, IB. Sounds like fun. 😉

Reply
33. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

Sorry for the narcissism, but I put something up today to mark my Forty sixth birthday.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

Happy Birthday Madman…

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

Thanx

Reply
34. Madman in the Marketplace - 19 April 2009

Catnip mentioned it the other day … the latest Moyers with David Simon is quite good, though terribly depressing.

Reply
35. metawarrior - 19 April 2009

just a pop in…..

y’all can follow the hillarity via twitter. lulz

anyway – I was just reading the Harmon stuff (which is why I popped) and its pretty obvious the AIPAC astroturfers are out. Nothing to see hear. Old News. Nothing New. Bad time what with the Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman spy case going on.

Reply
36. BooHooHooMan - 19 April 2009

Looks like
Richardson might need a new kidney after this one…

Pension kickback scrutiny spreads to New Mexico

Sunday, April 19, 2009; 10:26 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A firm affiliated with Henry Morris, the former New York state comptroller’s top fundraiser, was involved with helping investment firms procure pension fund business in New Mexico as well as New York, a source and one of the firms said on Sunday.

Last month, Morris and David Loglisci, New York State’s pension investment chief, were charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from money manager firms.

Morris, who was associated with Connecticut-based advisory firm Searle, made over $15 million in purported placement and finder fees between January 2003 and December 2006, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint said in March.

The scheme is alleged to have centered around the New York pension fund, but Searle was also used to procure investments in New Mexico, one firm and a source said on Sunday.

And Richardson’s bagman was Ed Rendell’s Patronage Transition Chair in PA.

LOL With Dick and Karl’s Treasure Trove of NSA Wiretaps…
I can just imagine Rove and Cheney like two schoolboys trying to disguise their voice calling up Cuomo’s office and tipping him off…

{ Cheney in gravely monotone}

Hello- this is Dick Che- uh –
Dickcheuh.
Dick Chiahead.
{Rove snickering in background}
See, I have some information that could help with the Investigation…

Reply
37. metawarrior - 19 April 2009

also was going to warn MCat that socrates was using quotes from her in one of his exposes. Just thought she would like to know. He posts it all over (MLW. DfQ. AAAI) but I think most of it is at http://davefromqueens2.blogspot.com/. But she may have already encountered him.

Reply
marisacat - 19 April 2009

Sorry metawarrior (whoever you are!)… you got caught in the Moderation filter with a new name..

Thanks for the tip…

😉

Reply
38. BooHooHooMan - 20 April 2009

Obama seeks to boost CIA morale

Yeh like that’s needed.
Way to get your priorities straight, President TOOL.

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

kiss the boos boos

Reply
39. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

Obamas’ real life part of carefully crafted strategic plan

WASHINGTON — In the short time Americans have come to know their new first family, they’ve learned that the president doesn’t want a puppy sleeping on his bed, the girls hate green veggies but at least one loves peanut butter, and the first lady believes her husband should keep out of her closet.

Like a reality show set on the glorified soundstage at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the details of one family’s life have captivated the country — if not the world — making the Obamas seem within reach, an ordinary family that just happens to be living an extraordinary existence.

These glimpses into President Barack Obama’s household are far from spontaneous. Instead, they are part of a careful strategy that has helped bolster the new president’s popularity and political clout — even as he promotes some economic policies, such as bailouts for banks and automakers, that lack broad appeal.

The White House, eager to cultivate an image-making media machine that thrives on personality, has invited coverage from such outlets as television’s “Access Hollywood” and “Extra.” Aides dole out exclusives accordingly, acutely aware of the shelf life for cover stories in glamor and celebrity magazines.

Administration officials have even studied the economics of paparazzi photography, strategically releasing images of the family to diminish the monetary value of unauthorized pictures and give the White House more control over how the family is portrayed. In return for access, celebrity news outlets must refuse to publish unauthorized pictures — or risk being cut off by the White House.

“If there are no images, then you create a supply-and-demand problem where the supply is none and the demand is huge,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. “If there is at least some supply that continues in a way that is respectful to who [the Obamas] are, you drive down the price and the paparazzi is not part of the equation.”

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

The most marketed pretzel since Kennedy.

Bush’s first few months were gag worthy as well… I remember all the soft gush about him – and because of 911 it went on FOREVER….

But Obrama coverage demands air bags. Turbulence/nausea type… not car air bags

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

Bush and his fake ranch … that used to drive me crazy. Former pig farm that they bought right before the campaign, and suddenly it’s a “ranch” that needs a remarkable amount of brush cleared.

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

and 1700 acres in a state where 55,000 acres starts to matter. It was hilarious.

Reply
BooHooHooMan - 20 April 2009

This could get interesting.

…the first lady believes her husband should keep out of her closet.

The last graf is a hoot , too.
Gibbs, the Obamanom’s Supply Side Propogandist:

If there are no images, then you create a supply-and-demand problem where the supply is none and the demand is huge,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. “If there is at least some supply that continues in a way that is respectful to who [the Obamas] are, you drive down the price and the paparazzi is not part of the equation.”

What Poodles.
How Do I look from the Supply Side? Does it make me look Fat.
Does this make me look Hip-py?

Reply
40. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009
41. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

Obama PR in moderation, I think.

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

Out now! Sorry! Was making coffee……………. 😯

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

I thought you would particularly enjoy that link.

Reply
42. lucid - 20 April 2009

MitM – last thread. I must confess to being a deadhead for a couple of years – roughly age 18-19. Though it was largely about Jerry for me – could never stand Weir and his tunes.

Seeing The Dead without Jerry would be near torture.

After playing several shows with them back in the late ’60’s out at the Filmore West, Miles Davis actually had some really nice things to say about Jerry’s playing – and you know Miles didn’t mince words about talent.

Anywho…

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

but wasn’t that what it was all about? It was Jerry… and then the rest. (And why minus him… well…..)

Even I caught that.. and I rarely thru the years could put players together with bands together with songs or even signature sounds. It was always very disjointed for me…

Reply
lucid - 20 April 2009

There was kind of a divide among dead heads. A lot of folks liked the Weir stuff. I just though it was bad white blues based wimpy rock.

What I loved about the Jerry stuff was the blend of styles in his writing & playing – bluegrass, modal jazz, blues – even getting into some middle eastern type stuff.

So there is still a market out there for it, I’m just not part of it.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

I think the one Dead song I liked was “Friend of the Devil”. Pretty much it. I can’t stand the Weir stuff.

Robert Hunter did some interesting solo stuff, though I never got terribly interested in it.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

I really like Jerry’s stuff with Grisman. I couldn’t really hear him until his work was removed from under the piles of extraneous crap that was the Dead.

Reply
lucid - 20 April 2009

His Grisman stuff is excellent. He also had a couple of great solo tours.

The Dead are certainly not for everyone. But I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that Jerry’s playing has had a major impact on me as a musician.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

I had a label rep who knew my tastes, who gave me the first Grisman/Garcia disc I listened to (I think it was Shady Grove) … I’d ignored them up until then. He told me that I really should give it a chance, and he was right. I was blown away.

The thing I like about Jerry’s banjo was how subtle it is … a lot of banjo players fall into that rock guitar trap, playing it too hard and showing off for effect.

Reply
43. BooHooHooMan - 20 April 2009

Great lines –
SMBIVA on Harmon with Mossadists on NSA tapes.

Shown shmoozing above with porcine mass murderer Ariel Sharon is Democratic representative Jane Harman. It’s always been well understood that Jane is a drone aircraft, remote-controlled from a bunker in Jerusalem, but it gets better. CQ Politics has a fun item today:……

It’s always been well understood… and well denied.

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

… and what is one to do? Winograd opposed her… ran from the Santa Monica left at her… but in fine Dem party fashion knuckled under and supported her. Went as a delegate for ObRama.

I understand on one hand they don’t want to, in fact will not, jeopardise their position with the party (horrors! out in the bitter cold!) but also, let’s be honest, if anyone did, there would be a whisper (or louder) campaign against the individual. All people are allowed to do is silently withdraw from politics (or play along). Quietly offer support here and there. But very very quietly.

They surely did when Carol went against the pull of the party, did nto join in with the ads (the Osama ad was but one of three) against Dean (he has said they all joined in “but one” which means Kucinich played ball, aside from his political games with Edwards and the caucus counting) and then supported Dean. Instantly there were drips and drools against her in the media. I knew that came from the Dems. How dare she not buy her way back in… which is exactly what joining in with the party against Dean would have done for her.

And it all did nto matter. Then he volunteered for dumb waiter work for the party.

Reply
44. BooHooHooMan - 20 April 2009

i bet it
Won’t be long before the Hoodmen start dropping shit on Pelosi.
Talk about someone being able to bus a “table” quick..
Impeachment was “Off the Table” before Nancy could blink, which really is saying something…

I just sense blood in the water, this RahmBama “non Prosecution” fiat as their opening offer to their Repub Daddies Come Home A Drinkin Again, their ex-officio and not-so-ex-officio co-conspirators

Something along the lines of
Please –
Not the Domestic Political ass fuck, We won’t Prosecute…

To be blunt.

Reply
45. marisacat - 20 April 2009

LOL Don’t worry, it’s just a “consolidation phase”.

U.S. Stocks Tumble as Financials, Commodity Shares Retreat

By Rita Nazareth

April 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined following six straight weeks of gains as concern grew that credit losses are worsening and lower commodity prices dragged down energy and material producers.

Bank of America Corp., the lender that lost three-quarters of its market value in the past year, tumbled 15 percent as rising charge-offs for uncollectible loans overshadowed better- than-estimated earnings. Citigroup Inc. dropped 14 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the bank’s credit losses are growing at a “rapid rate.” U.S. Steel Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. declined as oil and industrial metal prices decreased.

“We’ve had a big rally for six weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised to a see consolidation phase that could last anywhere from two to four weeks,” said Bruce Bittles, the Nashville- based chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees $16 billion. “Financials had a bigger run than the market and certainly they are not out of the woods as well as the rest of the economy.” …snip…

Reply
46. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009
47. metawarrior - 20 April 2009

Pelosi’s book a pay-off? She did hit a lot of jewish centers on her book tour

Reply
48. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009
49. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

“People Shouldn’t Have to Live Like This”: The Real Story Behind “Tent City” — and How the Media Get It Wrong

“The other day, I heard a German reporter ask if this is happening because of the recent economic collapse,” says Kraintz. “This has been happening for 30 years, but the powers that be have been able to pretend it doesn’t exist. Why aren’t reporters asking about flat wages, jobs being shipped overseas and the lack of affordable housing?”

Burke agrees, saying one of the many issues ignored in most articles about tent city and homelessness is the fact that poor people cannot afford housing, especially in an expensive state like California.

“People who are poor end up homeless through no fault of their own, but because people higher up on the food chain have made affordable housing a very scarce commodity,” she says. “If we had sound housing policies and programs that helped people when they have a run of bad luck, we would not have a tent city.”

Kraintz says he knew the system would finally blow up. It was just a matter of time. The question, according to him, is this: Do the powers that be have the political will to create a fairer, more just economic system?

“I listen to NPR all day. I know what’s going on at AIG,” he says. “If you’re working class, you can’t achieve the American Dream. I tried, and look where I am.”

Seven years ago, Kraintz had a hard time finding enough construction work to make ends meet. He lost his apartment and has been living in encampments ever since.

Today, he serves on Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s homelessness task force. At emergency city meetings, he urges officials to make this area a permanent tent city for people who are tired of being forced to move from place to place: “It may look like anarchy out here, but it’s peaceful and organic,” he says.

The people living in tent city have created what they call self-governed communities.

Reply
50. Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009
51. NYCO - 20 April 2009

Do Americans get married too much?

We continue to have one of the highest marriage rates of any Western country, despite a recent decline, but we also divorce one another at alarming rates. Since the 1960s divorce rates have been rising until now nearly half our marriages end up there, more even than in liberal Sweden, Andrew J. Cherlin, a demographer and sociologist at Johns Hopkins University, writes in his intriguing book, “The Marriage-Go-Round.”

Marriage is our battleground. Only in America, Mr. Cherlin says, are gay people campaigning so determinedly for the right to marry. Most gay men and lesbians in Europe, he maintains, view marriage as another oppressive heterosexual institution…

How to explain this peculiar paradox — we idealize marriage and yet we’re so bad at it.

Marriage in America is such a want. A prize, a wanting-thing. Children, as well. Howard Dean to gay activists: “You can’t have marriage.” NY Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell: “I do not want a pew in your church. I do not want a seat in your synagogue. What I want is a piece of paper that was issued by my government that many of you have, some of you have had it two or three times. I only want it once.”

What is really behind all this wanting and having?

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 20 April 2009

there are also a lot of financial advantages, legal advantages, of getting married. The tax code and many states’ estate laws are set up to encourage and reward marriage.

Reply
lucid - 20 April 2009

Tell me about it. Since they did away with the ‘marriage penalty’ in the 2001 tax bill, there is now a very sizable ‘single penalty’…

Reply
NYCO - 20 April 2009

Oh, so that’s why my parents have stayed married but live in different states and haven’t really spoken to each other for 17 years. 🙂 I knew it had to be something.

Reply
marisacat - 20 April 2009

well in the UK and Spain they HAVE IT.

Which does occasionally pass thru Sully’s brain. had he stayed in England, he could marry.

Reply
52. marisacat - 20 April 2009

nu thread…

LINK

………. 😯 …………

Reply

Leave a comment