With Shoves and Curses, Newark Political Rivalry Takes Ugly Turn
By DAMIEN CAVE

NEWARK, July 15 - The mayor of Newark, Sharpe James, and Cory Booker are political rivals who mix like a match and gasoline. When they faced off in the 2002 mayoral race, their debates devolved into shouting matches and altercations over campaign signs flared up repeatedly.

But the animosity between the two men seemed especially personal on Friday at Pennington Court, a housing project in the city's East Ward. With the 2006 mayoral election still 10 months away, and with dozens of children gathered for the opening games of a local basketball league, the pair taunted each other face to face until supporters encircled them and started a shoving match that involved more than 20 people and took 20 minutes to quell.

Re: State Dept. Memo Gets Scrutiny in Leak Inquiry on C.I.A. Officer

This is another reason I don't think I'd ever be able to work with the Republican Party.

Look at all Colin Powell has done for Bush...he lent (and lost, at least temporarily) his reputation in support of the Iraq invasion. For his entire term in the office of Secretary of State he never undermined their effort or intent...and given what we now know, we see what a display of loyalty (or something) that was.

Look at all Colin Powell has done for the Republican Party. They're so pleased about the incremental increase in Black membership they think they see...but how many Black Republicans do you think there would be if Powell had come out as a Democrat after retiring from the military?

Re: State Dept. Memo Gets Scrutiny in Leak Inquiry on C.I.A. Officer

Do you know how hypocritical whole Rove defense is? I'm not talking content, I'm talking technique.

Here we are, following up on an investigation of who anonymously leaked a CIA operative's name. We find, after the most strenuous high level denials, at least one source was very high level...and Bush promised to fire whoever was involved.

So how do they defend themselves?

...the people who have been briefed said, asking not to be named because the special prosecutor heading the investigation had requested that no one discuss the case.

...a person involved in the case who also requested anonymity because of the prosecutor's admonitions about talking about the investigation.

Quote of note:

The memorandum was sent to Colin L. Powell, then the secretary of state, just before or as he traveled with President Bush and other senior officials to Africa starting on July 7, 2003, when the White House was scrambling to defend itself from a blast of criticism a few days earlier from the former diplomat, Joseph C. Wilson IV, current and former government officials said.

Mr. Powell was seen walking around Air Force One during the trip with the memorandum in hand, said a person involved in the case who also requested anonymity because of the prosecutor's admonitions about talking about the investigation.

State Dept. Memo Gets Scrutiny in Leak Inquiry on C.I.A. Officer
By RICHARD STEVENSON
This article was reported by Douglas Jehl, David Johnston and Richard W. Stevenson and was written by Mr. Stevenson.

...and, um, one day old.

It doesn't look good for Karl Rove
By John Dean

... There is no solid information that Rove, or anyone else, violated this law designed to protect covert CIA agents. There is, however, evidence suggesting that other laws were violated. In particular, I have in mind the laws invoked by the Bush Justice Department in the relatively minor leak case that it vigorously prosecuted, though it involved information that was not nearly as sensitive as that which Rove provided Matt Cooper (and possibly others).

I am referring to the prosecution and conviction of Jonathan Randel. Randel was a Drug Enforcement Agency analyst, a Ph.D. in history, working in the Atlanta office of the DEA.

Randel was convinced that British Lord Michael Ashcroft (a major contributor to Britain's Conservative Party, as well as American conservative causes) was being ignored by DEA and its investigation of money laundering. (Lord Ashcroft is based in South Florida and the off-shore tax haven of Belize.)

Embattled Congressman Will Not Run in '06

By CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON, July 14 - Under investigation for a real estate deal and his ties to a military contractor, Representative Randy Cunningham, an eight-term Republican, announced Thursday that he would not seek re-election next year in his district in the San Diego area.

"I do not believe that a political campaign in the midst of such an investigation is in the best interests of my family or my constituents," Mr. Cunningham said at a hastily called news conference at which he denied any wrongdoing but acknowledged poor judgment.

One I'm embarrassed to have missed, in fact.

Quote of note:

A female soldier straddled his lap, massaged his neck and shoulders, "began to enter the personal space of the subject," touched him and whispered in his ear.

To us, that sounds a lot like what Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tried to ban from Times Square. But the Pentagon seemed utterly unconcerned with the fact that women in uniform had been turned into sex workers at Guantánamo.

The Women of Gitmo

There are countless reasons to be outraged about the abuses of detainees at American military prisons. But there is one abuse about which there can surely be no debate, even among the die-hard supporters of President Bush: the exploitation and debasement of women serving in the United States military. This practice must come to an immediate end, and the Pentagon must make it clear that such things will never be tolerated again.

Quote of note:

The group, led by Ruth R. Faden, a biomedical ethicist at Johns Hopkins University, acknowledged the view that monkeys and apes should not be experimented on at all, but nevertheless considered what kinds of research should be permitted if the experiments were required by regulatory authorities.

Even biomedical ethicists need anti-troll pixie dust. Okay, here's the REAL quote of note:

If human neural stem cells were inserted into the embryo of a chimpanzee, they might construct a significant part of the brain. "We couldn't rule out the possibility that certain experiments could potentially alter the cognitive or emotional status of the animal in ways that would be problematic from an ethical point of view," Dr. Faden said.

I actually think it would be more more significant...as well as more likely, in my uninformed opinion...if those experiments did NOT alter the cognitive or emotional status of the animal.

Ethicists Offer Advice for Testing Human Brain Cells in Primates
By NICHOLAS WADE

If stem cells ever show promise in treating diseases of the human brain, any potential therapy would need to be tested in animals. But putting human brain stem cells into monkeys or apes could raise awkward ethical dilemmas, like the possibility of generating a humanlike mind in a chimpanzee's body.

Review Finds Scientists With Ties to Companies
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Forty-four government scientists have violated ethics rules on collaborating with pharmaceutical companies, a preliminary review by the National Institutes of Health shows.

Nine of the scientists may have violated criminal laws, the report said.

The review was outlined in a July 8 letter the agency's director, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, sent to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating conflicts of interest by government researchers.

Because the N.I.H. is investigating 103 people who have been accused of ethics violations, Dr. Zerhouni had asked the committee to keep his letter confidential. But its leaders - Representatives Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas and John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan - said in a statement yesterday that they were releasing it because of "the compelling public interest."

Quote of note:

Mexicans have responded with massive enthusiasm to the Memin Pinguin stamp. Purchases, mainly by young people, have exhausted the postal issue. They see the stamp not as a racist slur but as a highly pleasing image rooted in Mexican popular culture. If Memin Pinguin were a person of flesh and blood, I believe he could win the coming presidential election.

Okay, barring that last rather incredible sentence, it's a much better attempt. I guess they figure people that misspell the character's name get the secondary efforts. This is an attempt at influence rather than argument or dispute.

The Pride In Memin Pinguin
By Enrique Krauze
Tuesday, July 12, 2005; Page A21

The United States has been an independent nation for 229 years. Has it ever had a Native American or African American president? We all know the answer is no. Mexico, on the other hand, can point to two presidents of Native American origin who were as decisive in the history of their country as Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt in the United States: Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian who learned Spanish as a second language, and Porfirio Diaz, whose mother was a Mixtec Indian.

Setting the stage...

There's a definite structure required for this sort of thing. Set the atmosphere, raise the issue, speak on the issue...

But if Jackson and Sharpton were to look at some of the essential facts of African American history in Mexico, I think they would find much to respect. The terrible demographic catastrophe among the Native Americans, caused by rampaging epidemics of European diseases, was an important motive for the importation of African slaves to the tropical areas of Mexico, where they were used in hard labor in such places as the sugar cane plantations.

But in contrast to the Indians, who were officially freed from local slavery in 1551 but were still subjected directly to the king of Spain, Africans could buy their freedom and give birth to children who were in turn free to marry anyone of any racial origin. Moreover, they were able to move through colonial society with a certain ease and even some advantages.

...then go into a tangential discussion.

Not really picking on nobody. Just saying...because this is a good example for me in particular to use—a racial issue that ain't got shit to do with me personally. If I use an American-targeted race discussion as an example, my "personal bias" would cause many to simply dismiss what I'm pointing out...which is about structure.

Notice I said "speak on" rather than "address" the issue.

To Americans, the figure, with his exaggerated "African" features, appears to be a copy of racist American cartoons. To Mexicans, he is a thoroughly likable character, rich in sparkling wisecracks, and is felt to represent not any sense of racial discrimination but rather the egalitarian possibility that all groups can live together in peace.

In the public debate you don't really have to have answers if your tangent is compelling enough (it is a struggle to NOT address the content here...)

The first paragraph I quoted is the last paragraph of the editorial. It's there because successful attempts at influence convince one there are greater possibilities in store for you is you accept the reasoning presented.

If Memin Pinguin were a person of flesh and blood, I believe he could win the coming presidential election.

How shall I say it?

I believe the author came up short 

When I check my referral logs, I'm really likely to backtrack a search engine link. Just curious.

Early this morning I got a query from Google Australia on a single word: nigga. I was like, my GHOD, how far down did he have to tunnel to get to P6? I myself rarely get past the third page of a search.

Turns out it was the tenth listing. On Google USA it's the eleventh. Believe it or not, I come up first in a search for "nice thought" (though I pity the innocent that clicks the link...). And ninth for "dark evil." I even get a shot at being seen in a search for "james c. dobson"...I'm listed on the third page of the search.

All as of this writing, of course.

I found one search—for "Bush president nipple"—truly disturbing...who would search for such a thing? I was pleased there were 29 entries ahead of mine but a person who searched for "Bush president nipple" would up on my site. My monitor feels a little tacky now when I visit that page...

Oh, this is an open thread.

Quote of note:

The White House welcomed the announcement.

I'm pretty comfortable with it too.

Rehnquist Denies Rumor of Retirement
By LINDA GREENHOUSE

WASHINGTON, July 14 - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, ending months of increasingly frenzied speculation about his retirement plans, declared on Thursday night that he would continue to serve "as long as my health permits."

The chief justice's announcement, released without advance notice by his family, was completely unexpected and took the White House and Supreme Court officials by surprise. It first appeared on The Associated Press wire shortly before 9 p.m.

Quote of note:

The person who provided the information about Mr. Rove's conversation with Mr. Novak declined to be identified, citing requests by Mr. Fitzgerald that no one discuss the case.

With another administration leak from an unverifiable anonymous source taking the lead, we begin another round of deflections

Rove Reportedly Held Phone Talk on C.I.A. Officer
By DAVID JOHNSTON
and RICHARD W. STEVENSON

WASHINGTON, July 14 - Karl Rove, the White House senior adviser, spoke with the columnist Robert D. Novak as he was preparing an article in July 2003 that identified a C.I.A. officer who was undercover, someone who has been officially briefed on the matter said.

Mr. Rove has told investigators that he learned from the columnist the name of the C.I.A. officer, who was referred to by her maiden name, Valerie Plame, and the circumstances in which her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, traveled to Africa to investigate possible uranium sales to Iraq, the person said.

After hearing Mr. Novak's account, the person who has been briefed on the matter said, Mr. Rove told the columnist: "I heard that, too."

So now Novak is Rove's source.

...was Jon Steward's interview on the late Crossfire. My second favorite is now Bernard Goldberg's interview on The Daily Show.

The Michael Davidson Email - SCO v. IBM
Thursday, July 14 2005 @ 04:12 PM EDT

If this doesn't make your blood boil, see your doctor right away.

We have obtained the August 13, 2002 Michael Davidson email to Reg Broughton, who forwarded it to Darl McBride with a cover note. It was previously sealed, and you can see why SCO would want it to be. It records Davidson's memories of Bob Swartz' earlier months-long code comparison between Linux and several versions of AT&T's Unix for SCO.

Davidson reports:

The project was a result of SCO's executive management refusing to believe that it was possible for Linux and much of the GNU software to have come into existance without *someone* *somewhere* having copied pieces of proprietary UNIX source code to which SCO owned the copyright. The hope was that we would find a "smoking gun" somwhere in code that was being used by Red Hat and/or the other Linux companies that would give us some leverage. (There was, at one stage, the idea that we would sell licenses to corporate customers who were using Linux as a kind of "insurance policy" in case it turned out that they were using code which infringed our copyright).

So, Darl's SCO source scheme wasn't even original, was it? SCO *hoped* to find copyright infringement so they could make some money selling "insurance" for Linux, the email says. Sound familiar? And after all that effort, what did they find?

Quote of note:

What brought this on?

Bush courts black voters at business expo
RNC chair visiting NAACP convention

"It's not healthy for the country for our political parties to be so racially polarized," [Ken Mehlman] said. "Just as the Democrats came to this community in 1964 with something real to offer, today we Republicans have something that should cause you to take another look at the party of Lincoln."

Sure. Got a time machine handy? Because there's no other way to look at the party of Lincoln.

Bush touted his efforts to improve education,

High Achievers Leaving Schools Behind
Transfers in Fairfax and Elsewhere Were Meant for Struggling Students

Quote of note:

Two and half days of meetings arranged in a hierarchy much resembling an apartheid power structure - first it was the white men among themselves, then with a G5 made up of the 'coloureds' (Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, India and China) and then finally the 'blacks' had their turn (the 7 African leaders, including Ghana led by the AU Chairman, Gen. Obasanjo) the communique was finally released. Hours before, the rock band celebrities who "negotiated" on behalf of the poor of Africa had announced to the international media that although what was being offered will not make poverty history it will save millions of African lives, and so we should prepare ourselves to celebrate.

The G8 Africa Brouhaha: Hot air and little substance
Charles Abugre

This is the Black Republican model that would make me give up some respect.

He's gone...and I don't know of any others currently in the party like him.

Quote of note:

He never hesitated to speak his mind about fellow Republicans. Although he was an adviser to President Ronald Reagan, he called Reagan "the worst president for civil rights in this century." And while chairman of the Civil Rights Commission, he blasted President George H.W. Bush for labeling civil rights legislation as a quota bill.

Fletcher decided to run for the presidency in 1996 after Sen. Robert J. Dole, the Republican nominee, repudiated affirmative action.

"My party has designed a top-down strategy, which says the wealthy, the rich, the affluent belong to this party," he said in 1995 in announcing his White House bid. "It's time to stop that and say there's room for anybody who wants to participate in the Republican Party."

Affirmative Action Pioneer Advised GOP Presidents
By Joe Holley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 14, 2005; B01

Quote of note:

"You have a lower half of the wage distribution in the United States that has not experienced any income gains for a long time now," said Barry P. Bosworth, an economist at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. "But from a macro perspective this doesn't have much impact."

Even as the average worker's wages are stuck in neutral, corporate profits, professionals' incomes, gains from investments and executive compensation - the kind that frequently comes in the form of stock options - are all surging, supporting healthy gains in the economy.

How Long Can Workers Tread Water?
By EDUARDO PORTER

Hackers Modify PC Game
By REUTERS

SAN FRANCISCO, July 13 (Reuters) - The maker of the video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, said on Wednesday that hackers were responsible for a downloadable modification that enabled sexually explicit minigames to be played in the game.

The modification, which allows simulated sex in the PC version of the game, has led to an investigation by the industry ratings board.

Rockstar Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, said that it was investigating ways to increase the security protection of the source code and prevent the game from being altered.

The guy that wrote the mod said:

Noting this is Canada...

Could Googling become illegal?
By JACK KAPICA
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 Updated at 1:51 PM EDT
Globe and Mail Update

Could it be possible that Canada will make Google or any other Internet search and archiving engines illegal?

Bill C-60, which amends the Copyright Act and received its first reading in the House of Commons on June 20, suggests it could be illegal for anyone to provide copyrighted information through "information-location tools," which includes search engines.

Ottawa copyright lawyer Howard Knopf, of the law firm of Macera & Jarzyna Moffat & Co., has been poring over the bill since it was tabled, and says he was startled to discover the potentially negative effect of Bill C-60's provisions on "information location tools."

The phrasing of the proposed law is difficult, Mr. Knopf says, because at first glance it seems to be a helpful provision in that it limits the liability of companies such as Google to no more than an injunction when they have not received actual notice of infringement. But then the language of the bill works on the assumption that the search engine itself is capable of infringing copyright by having archived copyright material on it.

...but also noting The Internet Archive is being sued by someone on the losing end of a court case that used evidence dredged up out of their archives. At the moment I believe The Internet Archive is safe...but if the plaintiff was Boeing, General Motors or Microsoft rather than Healthcare Advocates, I'd be less sanguine about it.

California is going through the minimum wage debate, and the opponents, examining words rather than reality to support their opposition to people being paid enough to eat and pay rent, thought they figured out an increase in the minimum wage would cost employers more than the state's current budget deficit.

Let's first consider the rationale for raising the state minimum wage. Many minimum wage earners today are family breadwinners. The current state minimum of $6.75 an hour places a three-member family near the federal poverty level.

At the moment, California's minimum wage is the lowest on the West Coast. Lieber observes that families dependent on the minimum wage often have to turn to taxpayer-supported programs for necessities such as food and healthcare. She also says her proposed raise, to $7.25 in July 2006 and $7.75 a year later, would merely recover inflation-related losses since the minimum was last raised in 2002. (Lieber's bill, which has passed the Assembly, awaits Senate action and a sure veto by the governor.)

The direct cost of the wage increase would be about $2 billion a year. The most heavily affected industry would be restaurants, including fast-food joints, which presumably would pass on the increase to customers.

The chamber, however, claimed to have uncovered a much larger hidden cost. State law requires that certain workers earning less than twice the minimum wage be paid time-and-a-half for overtime; over that threshold, and the workers aren't entitled to OT pay. The chamber argued, therefore, that the raise would "mandate" overtime payments, and thus a wage increase, for all workers earning between $28,000 a year (the current threshold) and $32,000 (the threshold if the bill passed). In Senate committee testimony and other statements, chamber lobbyist Julianne Broyles contended that 1.68 million workers would receive this "mandated" increase, costing employers a stunning $7 billion a year.

I want to know how you justify cutting off overtime at twice the minimum wage.

Quote of note:

M.R.C. Greenwood, the UC system's provost, said during a telephone news conference that UC bases its undergraduate admissions on a wide variety of academic and personal accomplishments. By contrast, Greenwood said, "The National Merit Scholarship program uses the score on the PSAT to eliminate the vast majority of students from further consideration in their process. This particular procedure of theirs is just not consistent with our own academic principles and policies."

UC Quits National Merit Program
The scholarship plan, based largely on PSAT scores, does not fairly assess students, officials say. Current awardees will still receive aid.
By Stuart Silverstein
Times Staff Writer
July 14, 2005

Gov. to Be Paid $8 Million by Fitness Magazines
The publications rely heavily on advertising for dietary supplements. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have regulated their use.
By Peter Nicholas and Robert Salladay
Times Staff Writers
July 14, 2005

SACRAMENTO — Two days before he was sworn into office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accepted a consulting job paying an estimated $8 million over five years to "further the business objectives" of a national publisher of health and bodybuilding magazines.

The contract pays Schwarzenegger 1% of the magazines' advertising revenue, much of which comes from makers of nutritional supplements. Last year, the governor vetoed legislation that would have imposed government regulations on the supplement industry.

Quote of note:

"It's mind-boggling," Beilke said. "It's as though none of them thought of the consequences of what had happened."

In the days that followed, the girl identified her assailants, Beilke said.

"She's been in Pico Rivera since kindergarten, and she graduated in June from Burke Middle School," the councilman said. "Chances are, most of them went to school with her."

Gang Rape of Girl Shocks Pico Rivera
By Ammara Durrani and Eric Malnic
Times Staff Writers
July 14, 2005

Six teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a 13-year-old girl in a park restroom in Pico Rivera while as many as 16 other boys and young men watched and cheered, sheriff's deputies said Wednesday.

The Daily Show, Windows Media Format.

McClellan's Flop Sweat -- We've secretly replaced the White House press corps with actual reporters.

More Best Leak Ever -- A story so complicated, maybe we should all just focus on Tom Cruise.

asin: 1931498849 binding: Paperback list price: $12.00 USD amazon price: $9.60 USD

Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics asin: 1931498849 binding: Paperback list price: $12.00 USD amazon price: $9.60 USD

I've mentioned this book off and on over the last week or so. The book is intended as something of a jumping off point for folks that feel the need to get political. I've been reading it a bit at a time. You lose nothing by reading it in fragments because it consists of articles and interviews from AlterNet, which is actually continuing and extending the book via its website (the image link goes to Amazon.com...don't. click it unless you want to give me a commission)

The editors believe they've set the book up in three parts, titled Understanding the Election, Looking Forward and Getting Active. To me it only has two parts...Looking Forward feels an awful lot like Understanding the Elections. Lot of "Progressives vs. John Kerry" in both sections, a lot of explaining how bad it is that people are so easily and deeply fooled, much on the foolishness of running a basically pro-war platform when your base is anti-this-particular-war (the idea of an anti-war American is kind of a non-sequitor). The difference is Understanding the Election tells you where Democrats won too, where Looking Forward is a bit more present looking, as well as a bit less angsty.

I'm not sure what the impact of all that would be on someone who only recently awakened. Not sue dumping alla that on a guy all at once would be productive...he's probably already horrified by some recent political atrocity anyway. Me, I'm going to use it when I tell someone the administration is about to do something foul and they say, "naw, they wouldn't do that..."

Debunking Rove's Spin

In our continuing series of reports examining Karl Rove's involvement in leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent, we'll focus today on the spin coming from right-wing operatives trying to defend Rove's unethical behavior. The White House's strategy in defending him -- a strategy devised by "Rove loyalists outside of the White House," according to the Washington Post -- is to try to undermine opponents calling for Rove's dismissal, play down Rove's role and wait for President Bush to name a Supreme Court nominee to drown out the controversy. What is important to note is that while the White House officially refuses to answer any questions on the growing scandal, Rove himself is clearly pushing out spin from behind the scenes. Terry Moran, ABC's White House correspondent, noted at the press briefing yesterday that Fox News has been able to report that Rove's conversations with Matt Cooper lasted for two minutes and focused on welfare reform. "They're getting that information from here, from Karl Rove," said Moran. All this spin detracts from one central fact: Rove leaked classified information that disclosed a covert CIA agent's identity.

Texas Judge Won't Drop Charges Against DeLay Fundraiser
By Scott Gold
Times Staff Writer
July 13, 2005

HOUSTON —  A key figure in the Texas Republican Party and a former director of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's fundraising organization should stand trial on felony charges of money laundering, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Travis County District Judge Bob Perkins rebuffed a request by John Colyandro, the former director of DeLay's political committee Texans for a Republican Majority, to throw out an indictment charging him with money laundering and accepting illegal campaign contributions.

Perkins indicated that he thought a second indicted DeLay associate, GOP political consultant and fundraiser James Ellis, should stand trial. But he said he would make that decision after an August hearing.

I could check to see if the same email address is being used for the various interesting anonymous comments made here recently. I don't know, I kind of like the idea of a bunch of Knowledge Ninjas...

Anyway, over here Anonymous says:

There is no such thing as black political strategy because we have no tangible, concrete ideal. Sorry, it is only my opinion. Dont worry, I'm just a nobody!

You don't have to apologize. You're right.

Check it though...who out there has a tangible, concrete ideal? I want you to think big...consolidate those groups that are mere variants. Who has a tangible, concrete ideal?

How long have they had it? How did they develop it?

Quote of note:

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that too much pop talk could prevent you from becoming a brain surgeon. I'll bottom-line it for you: As we talk more and more in pretested, media-favored phrases, the box outside of which we claim we want to think gets harder to escape.

Popspeak
By LESLIE SAVAN

We have all heard, and at times we all speak in, pop phrases: Hel-lo? I don't think so. Duh. Step up to the plate. Think outside the box. Give back to the community. LOL. You da man! Pop phrases are not just popular phrases or current cliches -- they shine with an extra glamour. They are words that pop out of their surround, that have built-in applause signs and that, if inflected properly, step into the spotlight as verbal celebrities, the stars of our sentences. And like, say, Britney Spears or Wayne Newton, a You go, girl! or a What part of ''no'' don't you understand? is not necessarily the latest or hippest thing around. A phrase might be so last millennium, but familiarity only expands its fan base.

Guantánamo Reprimand Was Sought, an Aide Says
By DAVID S. CLOUD

WASHINGTON, July 12 - A high-level military investigation into accusations of abuse of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, recommended a reprimand for the former commander of the prison, but his superior declined to admonish him, said a Congressional aide who has read a report on the inquiry.

Investigators found that Maj. Gen. Geoffrey C. Miller, who was in charge of Guantánamo in 2002 and 2003, failed to oversee the interrogation of a so-called high-value detainee who was subjected to abusive treatment but not tortured, the aide said. Instead of reprimanding General Miller, Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, commander of the United States Southern Command, referred the matter to the Army inspector general, according to an account by the aide, who took detailed notes on the report and spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not been released yet.

Quote of note:

...Other police departments, in states that include California, Florida and Georgia, have called Chief Chamberlain, and immigration experts say that if the New Hampshire charges are upheld, some local law enforcement officials around the country will most likely copy the approach.

The case against Mr. Ramírez...is also being watched by ...the Mexican government, which is paying for his lawyers

I guarantee you, the ellipses elide no meaning.

Town Uses Trespass Law to Fight Illegal Immigrants
By PAM BELLUCK

JAFFREY, N.H., July 12 - One day in April, Jorge Mora Ramírez stopped his car on the side of a road in the small southern New Hampshire town of New Ipswich and was making a cellphone call when a police officer approached him.

Quote of note:

Yet, the looming question is what the 68-year-old Mr. Powell, who served in the military for 35 years and rose to the rank of four-star general, can offer a venture capital firm that specializes in the financing of biotechnology start-ups and technology companies like Google and Netscape Communications, to name two of its more successful investments.

Seriously...it's like an insurance company hiring a ex-football star.

Mr. Powell has successfully ascended to Brahmin class. I'm impressed.

Off the World Stage, Taking a Role in Venture Capitalism
By GARY RIVLIN

Quote of note:

The Internet Archive uses Web-crawling "bot" programs to make copies of publicly accessible sites on a periodic, automated basis. Those copies are then stored on the archive's servers for later recall using the Wayback Machine.

The archive's repository now has approximately one petabyte - roughly one million gigabytes - worth of historical Web site content, much of which would have been lost as Web site owners deleted, changed and otherwise updated their sites.

The suit contends, however, that representatives of Harding Earley should not have been able to view the old Healthcare Advocates Web pages - even though they now reside on the archive's servers - because the company, shortly after filing its suit against Health Advocate, had placed a text file on its own servers designed to tell the Wayback Machine to block public access to the historical versions of the site.

Keeper of Expired Web Pages Is Sued Because Archive Was Used in Another Suit
By TOM ZELLER Jr.

Quote of note:

The surgery has been used for years and is widely considered the best choice for a mother whose health is at risk. Some obstetricians contend that it is as safe as a vaginal birth and that if a woman prefers surgery, she should be allowed to choose that option. There are several reasons that a woman might elect a Caesarean birth, including the convenience of advance scheduling.

Advanced scheduling?

26% of Births in City Are Caesarean Deliveries, Study Says
By MARC SANTORA

The number of Caesarean section births performed at hospitals in New York City varies greatly, with the average well above the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a report to be issued today by the city's public advocate.

Quote of note:

Mr. Rove can take heart in one fact: so far every other senior official caught up by the cascading series of questions that were touched off by 16 words in Mr. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address has survived, even prospered. Three of Mr. Bush's closest advisers were involved in the drafting or reviewing of the now-discredited language, which said: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

The most senior of them, Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser at the time, accused the Central Intelligence Agency of feeding bad information to the White House. In an interview earlier this year, she said that "I was the national security adviser and the president said something that probably shouldn't have been in the speech, and it was as much my responsibility" as anyone else's. Mr. Bush not only stuck by her, he made her secretary of state.

Stephen P. Hadley, Ms. Rice's deputy, stepped into the Oval Office in August of that summer to tell the president that he, not Ms. Rice, was the one responsible for letting the language into the speech, and by several accounts he offered to resign. Mr. Bush refused, and gave him Ms. Rice's old job late last year.

And George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, who had been sent a copy of the speech but did not read it before it was delivered, reluctantly issued a statement two years ago this week saying that "These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president." He later resigned, for unrelated reasons. Last December Mr. Bush rewarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Rove Case May Test Bush's Loyalty to His Closest Aides
By DAVID E. SANGER

Quote of note:

"Lawmakers who allow themselves to be lulled into thinking that the economy is growing its way out of the deficit," wrote Edward McKelvey, an economist at Goldman Sachs in New York, "are unlikely to support the painful measures needed to reach a more lasting solution."

Sharp Increase in Tax Revenue Will Pare U.S. Deficit
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON, July 12 - For the first time since President Bush took office, an unexpected leap in tax revenue is about to shrink the federal budget deficit this year, by nearly $100 billion.

On Wednesday, White House officials plan to announce that the deficit for the 2005 fiscal year, which ends in September, will be far smaller than the $427 billion they estimated in February.

The BBC advantage

July 11, 2005

ACROSS THE ocean, the BBC, Britain's public broadcaster, is boldly setting out to be ''the most creative organization in the world." On this side of the Atlantic, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is caught in another political skirmish, trying to keep $400 million in federal funding and address complaints about liberal bias. The funding picture also includes private money given to stations, National Public Radio's revenues of $369 million, about 1 percent from CPB, and the Public Broadcasting Service's $333 million, some 24 percent from CPB and federal grants.

A strict comparison of CPB and the British Broadcasting Corp. is impossible. Formed in 1922, the BBC is 45 years older, and it is far richer, with a 2003-2004 income of roughly $6.8 billion. Most of this, some $5.1 billion, comes from consumers who pay fairly steep yearly license fees on their television sets _ about $221 for color televisions and $74 for black and white. But looking at some aspects of the BBC, it's easy to ask: Could CPB do that?

Not in THIS country. The license fees would go to the investors in TV manufacturers, broadcasters and the digital chips needed to build HDTV sets in the form of tax credits and other incentives, under the condition they join a voluntary program to increase the number of culturally relevant programming by 15% over a ten year period.

The other item I have to link at Cobb is A Theory of Idea Circulation.

I think we in the intellectual elite have been cowed by the notion that there is some extraordinary 'grass roots' phenomena that is not essentially captured in our debates. If there is, I would submit that it is nothing more than chaos, solopsism or force of personality. Let me stress as clearly as I can that what we pundits do is control the publicity of rationale. All the logic in the world is pretty much out there, but the reasons those charged with making the final decision is are different from our own and everyone elses. Right now, there doesn't seem to be a way to change or deal with that.

We are not changing what people can think, we are influencing how they think by giving them paths of rationality towards our opinions and away from the opinions of our opponents. I think this is (heh) an interesting way to think about the business of all punditry, whether it be MSM or New Media. In other words we are not owners of the ideas, we are facilitators between people's emotions and their decisions. We offer a publically referenceable decision making augmentation process. This is a great value add, especially if and when people can accept and vibe with our existentials.

I've been meaning to link to The Black Political Spectrum over at Cobb's joint because it a thought I've played with off and on in my mathematically metaphorical method. Now, because I've been dragging my ass, I have to link two articles. BPS first.

Michael breaks us out into three broad categories. I'm only going to comment on one for the moment and just steal the other two definitions...that means you still have to go read it to see his position within this construct.

The Black Progressive Tradition
The black progressive presumption is that 'there is much work to be done' to the American Mainstream to make it acceptable. Of the three traditions, it is the most pro-black and independent. To the black progressive, any idea or concept that isn't vetted by a black intellectual vanguard is suspect. It wants to design an organic vision of the future which is specifically crafted by black people for black people. It sees America as a country that has simply not been designed with blackfolks in mind, a country that requires significant reform in order to be compatible with the destiny of the African American. Their mission is to establish that reform and insure that everybody gets with the program. The patron saint of the progressives is W.E.B DuBois and its poet laureate is Carter Woodson. For the progressive, knowledge is power. They aim to be the underground hiphop, the drop squad, the boule, the nouveau Negroes, the New World Afrikans and all things cutting edge. They are creative, innovative and sophisticated. All of their ideas and terminologies change every 7 years.

Honestly, you could make yourself see things like this without being insane...the mark of subtle yet effective spin.

This came from the PBS special, Guns, Germs and Steel.

Animals which made suitable candidates for domestication can start giving birth in their first or second years. They will have one or maybe two offspring a year, so their productivity is actually high. Behaviorally they need to be social animals, meaning that the males and the females and the young all live together as a group, and they also have an internal social hierarchy, which means that if humans can control the leader, then they will also gain control over the whole herd or whole flock.

There is another crucial requirement for a domestic animal. It needs to get along with humans. Some animals don t have the temperament to live on a farm. A zebra could be an ideal domestic animal, potentially as useful as a horse. But evolving in the midst of Africa's great predators, zebras have become flighty, nervous creatures. They have a vicious streak that humans have been unable to tame. That may be why zebras have never been harnessed to a plough or ridden into battle.

Let he who has ears...

White House Silence on Rove's Role in Leak Enters 2nd Day
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON

WASHINGTON, July 12 - President Bush was asked today if he planned to fire Karl Rove, a senior aide at the center of an investigation over the unmasking of an undercover C.I.A. officer, and he offered only a stony silence in reply. But Mr. Bush's spokesman said later that the president has confidence in Mr. Rove and everyone else working at the White House.

"Are you going to fire him?" the president was asked twice in a brief Oval Office appearance with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. Both times, the president ignored the questions.

Iraq: Troops Can Withdraw From Some Cities
- By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
(07-12) 09:34 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --

Iraq's prime minister said Tuesday that U.S. and other foreign troops could begin handing over security to Iraqis in selected cities, although he opposes setting a timetable for the complete withdrawal of multinational forces.

Underscoring security concerns, a car bomb killed at least three people and wounded 15 Tuesday in the ethnically tense northern oil city of Kirkuk, police said. An American soldier died of injuries suffered in a land mine explosion south of the capital, the U.S. command said.

Quote of note:

"The solutions of the past are often not robust enough under the conditions of global change and need to be re-thought and re-implemented"

Environmental concerns increase challenges and opportunities for business
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 | Washington, DC, US

Launched today, the fourth Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) report, Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Opportunities and Challenges for Business and Industry, synthesizes and integrates findings related to both small and large businesses throughout the industrial and developing world. The 34-page report connects the dots between environmental changes and the private sector. The report highlights ways in which businesses depend on services provided by ecosystems, how those ecosystem services are changing, and the ramifications for business and industry.

That was my instinctive reaction.

Quote of note:

Then one day, when a professor asked me to talk about myself before a group of undergraduates, I told them without hesitation: I was a high school dropout.

It shocked them, and it still surprises people 20 years later. I dress in suits and own a house in the suburbs and have two teenage kids and look like any other white-collar nerd (partly because I'm no longer capable of growing a decent mop of hair). I have credentials that gain me entrance into the White House and the Capitol. I write about complicated subjects in ways that I hope ordinary people will understand.

The High School Secret I No Longer Need to Keep
By Stephen Koff
Post
Sunday, July 10, 2005; B03

Ignoring The Coming Collapse
J. Bradford DeLong
July 12, 2005

J. Bradford DeLong, professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, was assistant U.S. treasury secretary during the Clinton administration.

This month, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was the latest to worry aloud about the financial risks that the world seems to be building into its future. “[A]ll the countries hit by financial crisis...experience[d] a very sharp slowdown,” the BIS says of Mexico in 1994-5, East Asia in 1997-98, Russia in 1998, as well as Brazil, Turkey, and Argentina subsequently. It then cites “global current account imbalances,” particularly “the U.S. external deficit,” describing it as “unprecedented for a reserve currency country to have a current account deficit of such magnitude.” In short, the world has become “increasingly prone to financial turbulence.”

Use of Patriot Act against homeless is under fire

NEWARK, N.J. - The U.S. Justice Department yesterday criticized a Union County municipality for invoking the USA Patriot Act to defend itself from a lawsuit over kicking homeless people out of its train station.

The City of Summit said that its conduct is protected by the Patriot Act and that a homeless man's federal lawsuit should be barred. The city cited a section of the law regarding "attacks and other violence against mass transportation systems."

But Kevin Madden, a Justice Department spokesman, said Summit had no business invoking the antiterrorism law to justify its treatment of the homeless. "That represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Patriot Act is," he said.

A few choice quote in random order from Few Wealthy Farmers Owe Estate Taxes, Report Says.

The estate tax raised an estimated $23.4 billion last year. Repeal would shift part of the burden of taxes off the fortunes left by the richest 1 percent of Americans, some of whose fortunes were never taxed, onto the general population. The lost revenue could be made up in three ways: through higher income taxes; reduced government services; or more borrowing, which would pass the burden of current government spending to future generations.

Next year, when the threshold rises to $2 million per person, just 123 farms will be subject to the estate tax, the study found. And in 2009, when it rises to $3.5 million, only 65 of the nation's 2.2 million farms will be affected, the study said.

The study examined who would have paid estate taxes had the current exemption levels been in effect in 2000. It noted that half of all estates left by farmers had a value of less than $987,000, well under the current threshold for owing estate tax. It found that 95 percent of estates left by farmers were worth $3.2 million or less, an amount that a married couple could easily shield from tax.

*gasp* heh. heheh. BWAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Quote of note:

But the greatest evidence for chosenness is the evil that has targeted Jews since the mid-20th century:

Evil targets God's chosen
By Dennis Prager
Dennis Prager's nationally syndicated radio show is heard daily in Los Angeles on KRLA-AM (870). He may be contacted through his website: www.dennisprager.com.
July 10, 2005

If the west understood the meaning of the Muslim terrorism against Israel and of contemporary Muslim anti-Semitism, it would be far better prepared to fight the sort of terrorism that struck London last week.

However, as almost always happens, too many dismiss anti-Semitism as the Jews' problem or even the Jews' fault, when in fact it is the most accurate predictor of an evil that humanity will have to fight.

Quote of note:

"It's a little like putting the horses into the starting gate: There's a lot of steam-blowing and whinnying, but they all line up when the bell goes off," said Eric Ueland, chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who has helped coordinate party strategy for the court debate.

Just apply the spurs...

Anyway...

Bush Caught in GOP Riptide Over High Court
Choosing a nominee, or two, who will satisfy competing interests may prove to be a struggle.
By Janet Hook
Times Staff Writer
July 10, 2005

WASHINGTON  — As he weighs the momentous choice about whom to nominate to the Supreme Court, President Bush is facing the toughest test yet of his ability to hold together the diverse   and often fractious   political coalition that twice elected him to the White House.

Quote of note:

Elliott Abrams, who pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress about the illegal funding of the Nicaraguan Contras during the Reagan administration, serves on Bush's National Security Council as head of the Mideast bureau.

Confessed Iran-Contra Figure Lands Sensitive Pentagon Post
Robert Earl, who helped in the failed coverup of the '80s scandal, is now chief of staff to Gordon England, acting deputy secretary of Defense.
By John Hendren
Times Staff Writer
July 10, 2005

WASHINGTON —  In 1987, Robert L. Earl told a grand jury that he had destroyed and stolen national security documents while working for Lt. Col. Oliver L. North during the Iran-Contra scandal.

The Quote of note comes from...Rummy!

We're not going to win against the insurgency. The Iraqi people are going to win against the insurgency. That insurgency could go on for any number of years. Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years.

Bush ignored warnings on Iraq insurgency threat before invasion
Intelligence suggested country faced years of tumult
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday September 29, 2004
The Guardian

The Bush administration disregarded intelligence reports two months before the invasion of Iraq which warned that a war could unleash a violent insurgency and rising anti-US sentiment in the Middle East, it emerged yesterday.

The Quote of not comes from...DA PREZ!

The terrorists -- both foreign and Iraqi -- failed to stop the transfer of sovereignty. They failed to break our Coalition and force a mass withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war. They failed to prevent free elections. They failed to stop the formation of a democratic Iraqi government that represents all of Iraq's diverse population. And they failed to stop Iraqis from signing up in large number with the police forces and the army to defend their new democracy.

Allawi: this is the start of civil war
Hala Jaber, Amman

President Nominates Woman to High Court

Washington, DC (CCNN)- Today President Bush made the surprise announcement that he had found a replacement for Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg and presented Judy Sheindlin to the White House press corps in the Rose Garden.

The announcement came as a surprise for many reasons. No one had expected the president to make a nomination until after his return from the "G8" conference, no one had expected him to nominate a female jurist and almost everyone who commented on the selection afterward had apparently expected him to nominate an actual judge and not a TV personality.

In response to questions from the press Mr Bush stated he had not intended to present a nominee to congress so soon but said he was "up late one night watchin' reruns of Judge Judy's show and he was just impressed with her".

You don't know how tempted I am to dump the whole show to something streamable.

The guests were Dr. Patricia Davidson, cardiologist at Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, and Dr. Charles Curry, Professor Emeritus at Howard University College of Medicine. Though the whole discussion was fascinating, Dr. Davidson put the key information outthere right at the start of the show.

The two points:

1. The reason trials specifically for Black folk were necessary is that Black folk are under-represented in such trial so the statistical validity of the result is questionable
2. This is not a new drug. Nitroglycerin and Hydralazine, tested in 1985 and 1990s

And the quote:

"Now we know that there are four classes of drugs that save lives with heart failure, and by adding this on in combination we ended up having a greater benefit. That doesn't mean that the white population, the Hispanic population, the Asian population may not benefit, it's just that there were financial reasons why they chose to do it in the African American population, because they wanted to make sure they got a longer patent rather than a shorter patent. If you just reformulate a drug that's been tested before then you cannot have more than a two year patent.

The first point is one we became familiar with during the run-up to the 2004 election. 'Nuff said about that.

Quote of note:

Kentucky's Division of Surplus Property has sold enough of the airport items on the online auction site to be called a ''powerseller,'' a term given to eBay users with a lot of sales and positive customer feedback.

Kentucky makes about $2,500 a month -- about $30,000 a year -- from selling prohibited airport items on eBay.

Alabama's figures are lower -- about $6,000 a year. It tries to sell the items to nonprofit agencies before offering them to the public at live auctions, said Shane Bailey, director of the state's surplus agency.

Bailey said Alabama currently does not use eBay to sell airport contraband but will soon.

Our contraband profits others
Weapons and other items intercepted at Florida's airports are being sold on eBay and are making a profit for other states.
By EVAN S. BENN

For Time Inc. Reporter, a Frenzied Decision to Testify
By ADAM LIPTAK
This article was reported by David Johnston, Jacques Steinberg and Adam Liptak and was written by Mr. Liptak.

WASHINGTON, July 10 - Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Time magazine, stood before a federal judge on Wednesday, facing up to four months in jail for refusing to testify about a confidential source. But he told the judge that he had just received a surprising communication from his source that would allow him to testify before a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. operative.

"A short time ago," Mr. Cooper said, "in somewhat dramatic fashion, I received an express personal release from my source."

But the facts appear more complicated than they seemed in court. Mr. Cooper, it turns out, never spoke to his confidential source that day, said Robert D. Luskin, a lawyer for the source, who is now known to be Karl Rove, the senior White House political adviser.

The development was actually the product of a frenzied series of phone calls initiated that morning by a lawyer for Mr. Cooper and involving Mr. Luskin and the special prosecutor in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald. And the calls were the culmination of days of anxiety and introspection by a reporter who by all accounts wanted to live up to his pledge to protect his confidential source yet find a way to avoid going to jail as another reporter, Judith Miller of The New York Times, was about to do.

Understand, this is the culchuh we want to prezuv.

from the September 30, 2002 edition
In Deep South, a call to curb sheriffs' power
Not quite Mayberry: With entrenched corruption and high-profile violence, lawman's post draws new critics – and reform.
By Patrik Jonsson | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

RALEIGH, N.C. - In Tunica, Miss., a sheriff admitted to swiping $1,100 from a casino and claimed, "Anybody would have done what I did."

In Kentucky, a sheriff was assassinated during an April campaign rally – a plot that some allege was masterminded by a political rival.

Quote of note:

A case argued last year before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors could use the interstate commerce clause for cellphone calls even if the participants were in the same state.

In an separate case, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this year ruled that prosecutors could use the interstate commerce clause for cellphone calls even if the participants were in the same state, provided that the call was relayed out of state.

The federal law has since been changed to say that cellphones are in and of themselves instruments of interstate commerce.

U.S. opens trial in Derwin Brown's killing
Two acquitted in DeKalb now face federal charges
By BILL TORPY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/11/05

My daughter's reaction was typical:

Me: The critics says it sucks.
Her: Yeah? I'm gonna see it anyway.

Quote of note:

Unlike the well-reviewed "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" films, "Fantastic Four" overcame a drubbing by critics, with some calling it a lightweight tale with a sitcom tone.

'Fantastic Four' Snaps Hollywood Slump
By DAVID GERMAIN

AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES — The latest superhero movie may have been just fantastic enough to snap Hollywood's longest modern losing streak at the box office.

The comic-book adaptation "Fantastic Four" raked in $56 million during its first three days, apparently helping to end a swoon in which domestic movie revenues had been down 19 weekends in a row compared to last year's.

Not only did the sucker post its diatribe three times, it came back last night...after I did it the signal honor of posting it's carefully structured rant to the surface of the site.

Wrong guy to spam, sucka.

Your first point is:

the Mexican Postal Service (not President Fox) issues some stamps showing a caricature of a black boy, Memín Pinguín;

The first section following your delineation of the problem is titled:

THE MEXICAN PRESIDENT S STATEMENTS

Never mind that your section addressed "To Black People (not just African Americans)" stupidly uses the "Black People (not just African Americans) are oversensitive" meme. Nevermind that my dismissal of any concern over Mr. Fox's "not even Black folks" remark means you're basically wasting your time anyway. Nevermind that your closing "THINGS TO THINK ABOUT" pales in insignificance next to the issues I raise weekly and follow upon daily.

So we have a comment Anonymous felt strongly enough about this to try posting it three times, that I've promoted to a post, thereby screwing up the formatting of the post somehow. C'est la vie. The comment amounts to a "fuck you, we make up our own mind and decide what is acceptable in our own country."

This noise reminds me of one of my favorite examples of why understanding other cultures is important in our interconnected world. It's the story of the absolute failure of General Motors to sell the Chevrolet Nova, a car that was pretty popular in the USofA, in South America. The problem was where US marketing folks said Nova, South American customers read "no va."

Now, the official reactions being propagated are fascinating. They go from just plain stupid

We don't actually have that much Pinguin-related commentary laying about the site...just a link to the initial AP article and to some Pinguin-like statuary. However, that was enough to get some rather insistent anonymous to post an opus in the comments.

Three times.

Looks like the Cluetrain passes through Mexico.

So I'm like you know what? Let's raise it up so's everyone knows it's there...all the guerilla marketing shouldn't go to waste. I may pick a point or two to comment on later.

So without further ado (beyond some minor formatting), I give you...Anonymous!

SOVEREIGNTY

What you, Americans, have to understand is that this is not a “racial issue”, this is not about “how racist” Mexico is, this is about sovereignty. Let us analyze this situation for a moment;

   1. the Mexican Postal Service (not President Fox) issues some stamps showing a caricature of a black boy, Memín Pinguín;
   2. some American priest gets to see these stamps and feels outraged about it;
   3. this same American priest demands that the stamps be withdrawn from market and also demands an apology from the Mexican President himself to the black community in America, which he “represents”, because the stamps “are” racist and offend black people;
   4. the Mexican government claims that the caricature is a very by-many-people beloved character from a Mexican comic book from 1940 and is not, and was never intended to offend black people, but to (Oh irony!) diminish racism and encourage family values (according to the creator of this comic book, who is a woman, Memín was created based on the charming Cuban kids whom she fell in love with when she made a trip to the island. The character is a mischievous boy who has a very peculiar way to see life and among his friends he always gets to be the most beloved one)
   5. the priest gets reinforcements and even the spokesman from the White House says that the stamps are “offensive… The Mexican government needs to take this into account. Images such as these have no place in today's world”

And I think to myself…… what a wonderful woooorrld…..

How do you expect that the Mexican government will react when an American priest demands an apology from the Mexican President for these stamps (no apologies demanded from the Mexican Postal Service?) and even the White House claims that “The Mexican government needs to take this into account. Images such as these have no place in today's world”?

Can you not see? This isn’t about “how racist” Mexico is. This is about Americans messing with other country’s affairs and sovereignty.

An American priest demanding apologies from the President of another nation because he found some stamps of his (the President’s) country’s Postal Service offensive?

The White House trying making judgments and trying to impose its moral to a sovereign nation?

This is just insolent. Americans are not the police of the world, they can not go trying to impose their moral and “values” to the rest of the world.

THE MEXICAN PRESIDENT’S STATEMENTS

There are even some people who assure that in Mexico there’s such a deal of racism by recalling the Mexican President’s statements about the Mexicans in the United States taking jobs that “not even the blacks want”.

Mmmhhh… I wonder… if the Mexican people should be judged by the President’s statements…. Should the American people be judged by President Bush’s statements and actions?

I think not. I think that wouldn’t do them any good.

Do I think the Mexican President is a racist? I don’t know. Maybe only the people who really know him can get to know that. What I do think is that he is a very bad politician and he frequently screws it up.

Did he really mean it that way when he said that Mexicans take jobs that “not even blacks want”? I have my doubts.

I think that he meant that even the minority which has suffered the most in the United States, even those who were discriminated so badly (and who are, unfortunately, still being discriminated), even the ones who were traded as slaves in the past and were, not long ago, still segregated, have had the chances to improve their life conditions and can now get better jobs, but, on the other hand, the Mexicans still get those terrible jobs that black people were forced (due to the lack of better opportunities) to take, but nowadays take not any longer. At least that’s what I think he meant. Because even though he’s a very bad politician and even if he were a very racist person (which you and I totally ignore) you would need to be a brainless snail in order to say that on a public speech and mean it as a racial slur. Give the man a little credit, probably he just screwed it up trying to say something else.

I can say this because I’ve witnessed what he’s said and done since even before he got elected for the presidency.

How many Americans can say that?

RACISM IN MEXICO

There is racism in Mexico, of course. There are people in Mexico. But, surprisingly (or maybe not so), most of the racism is against native Mexicans.

Racism against black people is not so common in Mexico because there are just very few black people there. In fact, most of the “black” people in Mexico are not exactly what in America would be considered “African American” (African Mexican in the case of Mexico) but a mixture of Native Mexicans and Africans who, in most cases, acquired the local culture and adjusted themselves to their new home. There are some tribes, which never mixed with Native Mexicans and which live in the Sierras, that stayed “Africans” though.

I won’t deny that there’s racism in Mexico, that’s for sure, there’s racism almost everywhere (an unfortunate world-wide disease), however, I find it very hypocrit from some Americans to make such a big fuss about some stamps in Mexico, to say that in Mexico “there’s such a big deal of racism” (well, in Mexico the seats in the bus and the restrooms were not separated by “colored” and “white”), and to use this as a scapegoat for the real sh#t in the United States (and by some other very well known ones as a cheap political trick) when they have the major problem in their homeland.

ABOUT MEMÍN

I’m not keen to the comic book so I wouldn’t know if the whole Memín thing is something racist, I’ve heard from many people who have read it that is nothing like that, though.

According to some people (most people, actually), the comic book is about encouraging family values and showing the adventures of this fellow, Memín

What is a fact, is that in Mexico this comic book got once to be very popular among children and grown ups and used to sell thousands of numbers so, it is true that Memín (whether people like it or not) was and still is an important part of Mexico’s literary history.

TO BLACK PEOPLE (NOT ONLY AFRICAN AMERICANS)

Whether you should be outraged by these stamps or you should just discard them as something irrelevant is up to you. I’m not black so, my opinion about how “offensive” or how “irrelevant” these stamps are, would be just selfish. I think only black people can make a fair judgement (nevertheless, an individual one) about whether these stamps offends them or not.

I know that some people are more sensitive than others, and that some people are taught to be sensitive because of their historical background. For example, I’m white and Mexican. I’ve lived all my life in Mexico and since I’m white I’ve always been called “güero”, which means “white one” (at first it actually meant “blonde one”) and I’ve never felt offended in any sense by the people who call me that way. However, there are some white Americans who would feel annoyed if they were called that way even if they knew what the word means. Of course, that is understandable; cultures are different from one another, the problem is that some people tend to think that because they grew up in a certain culture they have the “divine right” to judge any other culture as they please, as if their own were “the one”, and they may even try to impose their ideas and moral to the other ones.

Perception of things changes from place to place and from culture to culture.

TO AMERICANS

You, as well as any other people, have the right to express your ideas and feelings freely. You, guys, can say whatever you want about the Mexican President, about these stamps, about racism, about modern days, about moral, about values, etc.

That is one thing. Another very different thing is playing the police of the world, trying to impose your moral to a sovereign nation, having a American priest demanding apologies from the President of another country for some political cheap trick and even getting the support from the White House for such a stupid thing.

Understand this: THE AMERICAN MORAL STAYS IN THE UNITED STATES as well as the Mexican moral stays in Mexico.

This is a Mexican affair and the decision taken about it will be made by Mexican authorities.

No matter if your white or black, or how “offended” you feel, even if you feel you’re blood is boiling, all you can do is express your ideas; other than that, if you’re American understand this: THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSSINESS.

THE AMERICAN DEMANDS FOR APOLOGIES ARE TOTALLY IRRELEVANT TO MEXICAN GOVERNMENT.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Is it so important for an American priest whether Mexico is a “racist” country or not?

Why isn’t it more important whether his own country is a racist one?

Could you tell by the country’s stamps?

Mmmmhhh or maybe it’s just the comic book?

Are there in the United States no stereotypes?

Why the double moral?

I’m starting to remember some other “outrageous” images…. but this time, from the United States:

The Red Skins logo

Speedy Gonzalez

The Chihuahua dog of Taco Bell

Speedy Gonzalez’ cousins (Boy! Were those guys lazy)

Pepe le Pew

The Fighting Irish guy on a green suit (I don’t know if he has a special name)

And let’s not talk about Hollywood movies….

Forget it, guys, when it comes about stereotypes, compared to Mexicans, Americans are in the Major Leagues.

The effort to tie drug trafficking to terrorism is in the air again. Orrin Hatch just said drug trafficking "pays for terrorism" on Meet the Press.

And because of the current polarization of our polity, I think I'm against the next Supreme Court justice coming from outside the experienced judiciary.

I'm concluding, by the way, that Senate Republicans define "advise and consent" as "give your opinion then get out of the way."

This is called Thoughts, as though there were any at all involved...

I'm giving serious thought to preparing a proposal for a page turner of a book called, In Defense of the Southern Strategy: The Case for the Appeal to States  Rights During the Civil Rights Movement.

I bet it would be hotter than In Defense of Internment: The Case for  Racial Profiling  in World War II and the War on Terror, by Michelle Malkin (reviews and critiques).

I'd be vilified, of course, and 20 death threats a day would be the norm. But what press such a book would generate, especially written by a black woman! I d have to start small with a series of well-researched articles first.

One of the myths I want to bust wide open is that the old Dixicrats disbanded and joined the Republican party en masse. I know there's a story there, just waiting for somebody to tell it. I want to show Americans who weren't alive then or too young to remember that it s not only untrue, but a fable Democrats came up with to try to cover up their own embarrassing history and keep blacks dependent on a large, bureaucratic, central government (see Why Courting the Black Vote Won t Work).

Ed managed to turn this crap into a useful discussion that has nothing to do with this crap...at Vision Circle. Otherwise I'd have never known about it.