Forget Roe and the Framers. Let's Talk Business
By Lorraine Woellert
Sunday, October 16, 2005; B01

Conservative howling over Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers echoes unabated since President Bush introduced his friend and confidant to the public on Oct. 3. If anything, the clamor has intensified, with some in the conservative chattering class now hounding Miers to withdraw. But while Bush dodges the brickbats, another critical element of the Republican political base is applauding from the wings.

That would be big business. For the first time in more than three decades, corporate America could find itself with not one, but two, Supreme Court allies with in-the-trenches industry experience -- Miers and newly minted Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. Don't be fooled by the low-key personas they have projected thus far; both are legal wonks who have packed a powerful punch in the corporate world. Together, they could be a CEO's dream team.

I find myself actually hesitant to link to ChangingMinds.org, because

• I haven't (and won't) thoroughly explored it's claimed 1700+ pages
• Some of it is straight bullshit

But there's a lot of broadly applicable information presented quite amorally. It comes from a corporate perspective, but that's okay. It identifies patterns you will see in use all around you if you keep them in mind. I invite your attention to Leadership, Propaganda, and Sales in particular as topics of interest, as well as the entire section on Techniques.

Quote of note:

So, what did white hands make of this other? There are stereotypes aplenty - dusky female attendants in harem scenes; the poor; future composer Coleridge-Taylor posing as an African draped in a leopardskin (the leopardskin was a popular studio prop) - but there are few grotesques. Most subjects are given fair, unexaggerated likenesses and the positions they occupy in these scenes, though often sentimentalised, are not ridiculed.

White lines
There were plenty of black faces on canvas in the 19th century - but few behind the easel. Diran Adebayo on how racial prejudices were expressed in art
Diran Adebayo
Saturday October 15, 2005
Guardian

There's a piece of advice I give budding black British writers who want to write a successful "black" novel. "The best thing," I say, "is to hang out with as many white folk as you can. Find out what's on their minds about black people." I do not mean this cynically - OK, a little bit - but more as a reflection of the fact that in the literary world, most people (the editor, the PR person, the critics and most of the book-buying public) are white. Black novelists thus find themselves in the peculiar position of creating a work of fiction in the knowledge that those who are most likely to appreciate how well it has been done are the ones who don't matter. This doesn't only affect black writers and artists - a white working-class novelist might say the same - but it has affected us greatly down the years, and tends to increase the more rarefied the artistic air you breathe. With pop music, it's possible to make a record cheaply and then generate a black street buzz around your product, but in the worlds of film and visual arts, less so.

Manchester's exhibition Black Victorians: Black People in British Art 1800-1900 is a case in point. Of all the paintings, photos and sculptures presented here by curator Jan Marsh, none are by black Britons; these images are, more than usual, a record of the white gaze. And there are some celebrated white gazers among them: the sculptor Pietro Calvi, the painters Gabriel Rossetti, James Whistler and John Lewis, whom Ruskin ranked second only to Turner among British artists of that period.

Spyware can constitute illegal trespass on home computers

A federal trial court in Chicago has ruled recently that the ancient legal doctrine of trespass to chattels (meaning trespass to personal property) applies to the interference caused to home computers by spyware. Information technology has advanced at warp speed with the law struggling to keep up, and this is an example of a court needing to use historical legal theories to grapple with new and previously unforeseen contexts in Cyberspace.

The lawsuit

In Sotelo v. DirectRevenue, the plaintiff filed a complaint against various defendants alleging that, without his consent, the defendants caused spyware to be downloaded onto his computer. In a nutshell, the plaintiff alleged that the spyware tracked his Internet use, invaded his privacy, and caused damage to his computer.

One-Fifth of Human Genes Have Been Patented, Study Reveals
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News
October 13, 2005

A new study shows that 20 percent of human genes have been patented in the United States, primarily by private firms and universities.

The study, which is reported this week in the journal Science, is the first time that a detailed map has been created to match patents to specific physical locations on the human genome.

Researchers can patent genes because they are potentially valuable research tools, useful in diagnostic tests or to discover and produce new drugs.

Quote of note:

Bruce Yannett, a former Iran-Contra prosecutor, said DeLay's campaign effort might raise questions of trying to taint the potential jury pool but the legal standard for making such a case is hard to prove.

Nonetheless, Yannett said he could not imagine President Reagan overtly using his campaign to attack prosecutors during the 1980s investigation of the Iran-Contra affair. "I would not recommend his campaign do it. It does seem a little unusual," Yannett said.

...The Web site also gives readers tools to send a letter to newspaper editors in support of DeLay, to contact a radio talk show or to e-mail DeLay's carefully crafted "facts" to friends.

And, of course, the Web site wouldn't be complete without one of the oldest pitches in politics. "Make a contribution," it pleads.

DeLay Uses Website to Attack Prosecutor
By JOHN SOLOMON
Associated Press Writer
12:22 AM PDT, October 15, 2005

Check this:

Forty-one percent of respondents said Bush's presidency will be seen as unsuccessful in the long run, while 26 percent said the opposite. Thirty-five percent said it was too early to tell, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Seven in 10 said they want the next president to offer policies and programs that are different from the Bush administration's.

Only half said they wanted the next president to offer different policies in 2000, at the end of the Clinton presidency. By a 2-1 margin, people said the Bush administration has had a negative impact on politics and the way government works.

People were inclined to say Bush's policies have made things worse on a wide range of issues such as the federal budget deficit, the gap between rich and poor, health care, the economy, relations with U.S. allies, the tax system and education. By 47 percent to 30 percent, those surveyed said Bush has improved the situation with national security.

Republicans give the president mixed reviews in many of these areas. Almost half of Republicans said Bush's policies have made the deficit worse and just 12 percent say he has improved that situation.

I already expressed my detailed opinion of David Nicholson's editorial in today's Washington Post.

In the comments of the next post, fulnelson wrote:

I guess maybe I'm now numb to that Bell Curve b.s., but what struck me about Nicholson's article is his totally misunderstanding (IMHO) of the purpose of such marches, including the original March on Washington.  Such events are meant to galvanize public opinion and inject into the public dialogue the critical issues of racial disparity in this country.  A march cannot--and was never intended--to serve as a mass organizing meeting to develop consensus on a Black Agenda.  Even in the 60's, no one expected marching would solve problems, but would draw national (and international) attention to them and to show the strength of commitment to solving them.  At the time of the March on Washington, the Civil Rights bill was pending in Congress, and the sheer numbers at the March made an intimidating force legislators straddling the fence could not overlook.  Time and time again, we see that getting things done means not just drawing attention to an issue, but hammering out solutions in back rooms, board rooms, city halls, state houses, etc.  And building public understanding of the urgency for a given solution is vital to that process.

Nicholson is also off the mark in looking to "powerful black executives...from Fortune 500 companies" as saviors for Black America by taking sabbaticals to lead traditional civil rights organizations.  True, such executives can play a critical role in addressing the problems that plague us, but it takes politicians, grass roots organizations, institutions, and EVERYONE to do their part.  Unfortunately, many executives in Fortune 500 companies lack the motivation and the credibility to be anything other than token leadership.  At any rate, let's keep these execs in place where they are, and put pressure on them to build corporate initiatives (like worker protection,  fighting for affirmative action, etc.) that help the cause.  I'd much prefer that to any NAACP boycott or Urban League program.

Finally, let me add that no one is seriously expecting Sharpton, Farrakhan, or Jackson to become another Martin Luther King; we became disabused of that notion long, long ago.  What we do appreciate about them (at their best) is their ability to articulate for the national media the issues of race that confront us as a people and as a country.  That's all.  I don't expect they can single-handedly solve any of our problems alone, or that they can serve as our un-elected co-presidents of Black America.  But like P6, if they are able to spearhead and develop a plan of action around specific issues that I think makes sense, I am definitely down.

Between this and the speech debacle when she announced, Pirro looks to have as many competency issues as Dubya.

What Endorsement? Two Reject Claim on Pirro Site
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Two Republican leaders in upstate New York on Thursday disputed the claim by Jeanine F. Pirro's campaign that they had endorsed her candidacy for the United States Senate, dealing another embarrassing setback to a campaign struggling to build momentum as she seeks to unseat Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Quote of note:

Cooper also cited another document, a June 2002 American Express bill, that shows ARMPAC mixed hard money and soft money spending by DeLay, Ellis, Ferro and others on travel, meals and various other expenses using the same account.

FEC auditors found ARMPAC may have improperly spent about $200,000 in soft money and ARMPAC has already repaid that amount.

Papers: DeLay Group Used $100K for Races
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tom DeLay's political group used nearly $100,000 in corporate and unlimited donations to mail last-minute political appeals praising five congressional candidates despite rules meant to keep such money out of federal races, documents released Thursday show.

Quote of note:

The White House declined to comment, saying that any telephone conversation between Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair at that time would have been private and personal. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Washington also declined to comment.

Bush Cited 2 Allies Over Arms, Book Says
By DOUGLAS JEHL

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 - Two months before the invasion of Iraq, President Bush told Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he "wanted to go beyond Iraq" in dealing with the spread of illicit weapons and mentioned Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on a list of countries posing particular problems, according to notes taken by one of Mr. Blair's advisers cited in a new book.

You will note I am not at the Millions More Movement...show me some substance and I'll kick in, is my position. But David Nicholson's op-ed on the Millions More Movement let some really bigotted stuff leak out (because of all the problems folks have with alternate terminology I say "bigot" nowadays).

Doscussing the Millions More Movement in the Washington Post, David Nicholson says:

It's going to take a lot more than a 10-point platform, and speeches on the Mall, to change the realities that lead to the perception that maybe black people aren't quite good enough.

The boy is very skilled with weasel words.

The question is, what is the domain in which these realities exist? My first impulse is to run down a list of conditions common to those Black folks he's talking about that physically limit one's development. But the reality that leads to the perception is always the real rules by which one judges things. That reality is between David's ears...otherwise he'd be making structural observations rather than value judgements.

Storms Alter Louisiana Politics
Population Loss Likely to Reduce Influence of Black Voters
By Michael A. Fletcher and Spencer S. HsuWashington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 14, 2005; Page A07

The massive population shift caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita holds seismic political implications for Louisiana, which faces a near-certain reduction of its congressional delegation and a likely loss in black-voter clout that could severely affect the state's elected Democrats.

Less than two months after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, leaving much of New Orleans and surrounding areas unlivable, Louisiana officials are beginning to grapple with the bewildering new political landscape. The storms and resultant flooding caused more than 1 million residents to flee their homes, many for far-flung destinations from which they may never return.

Mark Fiore's take on Bush's speech.

Which speech?

Does it really matter? 

Study: U.S. poor trapped in urban areas
Wednesday, October 12, 2005; Posted: 11:07 a.m. EDT (15:07 GMT)

...Poor planning over decades has concentrated public housing at the core of cities around the nation, while new developments, jobs and schools mushroomed in the suburbs, beyond the reach of low-income households, deepening the divide between the haves and have-nots, the study said.

"Concentrating poverty compounds the effects of just plain poverty," said Alan Berube, primary author of "Katrina's Window: Confronting Concentrated Poverty Across America."

Berube's study focused on extremely disadvantaged neighborhoods where high crime and a lack of quality housing, stable job opportunities and supportive schools erode the quality of life, and limit the chances that a family might rise above the hardships imposed by their own financial straits.

Here's the full five minute video of assault by several New Orleans PD on an obviously subdued citizen. 

I choose my words carefully. The mounted policeman constantly manuevered his mount between the camera and the ongoing assault. About a quarter to a third of the way through you can hear the brother say "If you allow me to turn over, I will." He was not intoxicated. 

Quote of note:

One of the E-mails was dated Oct. 3 with a 6:05 p.m. time stamp, about 90 minutes before Bloomberg was fully briefed on the threat, a police source said.

Terror tip for rich
E-mails warned bigs of city attack
By ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF

The city's rich and well-connected were tipped off to last week's subway terror threat days before average New Yorkers, the Daily News has learned.

At least two E-mails revealing the purported plot were sent to a select crowd of business and arts executives early last week by New Yorkers who claimed to have close connections to Homeland Security and other federal officials, authorities said.

Was Bush Teleconference with Soldiers in Iraq Scripted?
By E&P Staff
Published: October 13, 2005 3:23 PM ET

NEW YORK Contrary to early accounts, President Bush's question-and-answer session with U.S. troops in Iraq tied to Saturday's vote on the new constitution now seems far from spontaneous. Subsequent reports from journalists on the scene revealed quite a bit of choreography in Thursday's teleconference with the president in Washington.

The official pool report, in fact, painted this scene: "The soldiers, nine U.S. men and one U.S. woman, plus an Iraqi, had been tipped off in advance about the questions in the highly-scripted event. Allison Barber, deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense for internal communication, could be heard asking one soldier before the start of the event, 'Who are we going to give that [question] to?'"

Quote of note:

The poll also revealed overwhelming opposition to Bush among African-Americans. Only two percent said they approved of his performance as president, the lowest level ever recorded in that category, NBC television reported.

Bush popularity keeps dropping
13/10/2005 08:11  - (SA)

Washington - Support for the majority Republican party in the United States is sagging as President George W. Bush's popularity continues to slide, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

...A plurality of Americans, 48%, said they would prefer the Democrats to control Congress compared to 39% who want the Republicans in power, said the poll commissioned by United States television channel NBC and the Wall Street Journal.

Decision on Plan B Called Very Unusual
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 13, 2005; A09

 

A long-awaited report on the 2004 Food and Drug Administration decision to reject an application to allow easier access to the "morning after pill" concludes that the decision was highly unusual, was made with atypical involvement from top agency officials, and may well have been made months before it was formally announced.

...As described by some familiar with the draft, the GAO found that top FDA officials participated in assessing the application to allow the emergency contraceptive Plan B to be sold without a prescription, and that such unusual high-level involvement was justified by the perceived sensitivity of the issue.

There are 1,800 rights of marriage. If you're gay, take 6.
Much-anticipated state appeals court ruling could give them access to marriage licenses
Sunday, October 09, 2005
By MELISSA ANELLI
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Gerard Mawn and Angel Love-Figueroa have been together for more than eight years. They share a house, two dogs and the somewhat notorious distinction of being one of the very few gay couples ever to use City Hall's chapel to marry.

Since the wedding -- a religious ceremony that took place on Valentine's Day -- they've been trying to act married, even if the law doesn't consider them spouses. To do so, they've been trying to acquire as many of the 1,800 possible rights, protections and privileges that a marriage license offers as possible.

C. DeLores Tucker, 78, fought for civil rights

PHILADELPHIA -- Political activist C. DeLores Tucker, 78, who marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was the first black to serve as secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in later years protested against obscenities in rap music, died Wednesday.

The West Mount Airy, Pa., resident spent her life fighting for civil rights; it was a struggle she carried out with poise and elegance. She was known for wearing turbans with matching ensembles, even when taking to the streets or being arrested.

Within hours of her death -- of undisclosed causes at Suburban Woods Health and Rehabilitation Center in Norristown, Pa. -- many of the area's politicians issued statements.

Not that Clinton is my boy or anything, but all you broke, sick, filing for bankruptcy people that hated Hillary so much you refused a single payer system get only the minimum sympathy required by humanity. Which, of course, means your ass might get shot...

Anyway... 

Treated for Illness, Then Lost in Labyrinth of Bills
By KATIE HAFNER

When Bracha Klausner returned home after an extended hospital stay for a ruptured intestine three years ago, she found stacks of mail from doctors and hospitals waiting for her.

There were so many envelopes - some of them very thick - that at first, Mrs. Klausner, 77, could not bring herself to open them, and she stored them in large shopping bags in her Manhattan apartment.

Let This Leak Go
By Richard Cohen
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Page A23

The best thing Patrick Fitzgerald could do for his country is get out of Washington, return to Chicago and prosecute some real criminals. As it is, all he has done so far is send Judith Miller of the New York Times to jail and repeatedly haul this or that administration high official before a grand jury, investigating a crime that probably wasn't one in the first place but that now, as is often the case, might have metastasized into some sort of coverup -- but, again, of nothing much. Go home, Pat.

We impeach a guy for a blowjob, and you want to let the guy who lied us into a couple thousand dead Americans, a deficit driven economic catastrophe, and put us at the mercy of a bunch on know-nothing assholes walk?

The dispute:

Many climatologists, along with policymakers in a number of countries, believe the rapid temperature rise over the past 50 years is heavily driven by the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities that have spewed carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" into the atmosphere. A vocal minority of scientists say the warming climate is the result of a natural cycle.

The evidence for climate change:

Global temperatures this year are about 1.36 degrees Fahrenheit (0.75 Celsius) above the average between 1950 and 1980, according to the Goddard analysis. Worldwide temperatures in 1998 were 1.28 degrees Fahrenheit (0.71 Celsius) above that 30-year average. The data show that Earth is warming more in the Northern Hemisphere, where the average 2005 temperature was two-tenths of a degree above the 1998 level.

Climate experts say such seemingly small shifts are significant because they involve average readings based on measurements taken at thousands of sites. To put it in perspective, the planet's temperature rose by just 1 to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century.

The evidence this 50 year increase (which is a longer time frame than any climate cycle I'm aware of) is a cyclic change:

one skeptic, state climatologist George Taylor of Oregon, said it is difficult to determine an accurate global average temperature, especially since there are not enough stations recording ocean temperatures.

"I just don't trust it," Taylor said of the new calculation, noting that Goddard's findings are "mighty preliminary."

World Temperatures Keep Rising With a Hot 2005
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 13, 2005; A01

When your political opponents are concerned about an issue, yuou may blow them off until the issue works in your own favor.

Cool. This is going to make debates REAL easy...

Role of Religion Emerges as Issue
By Peter Baker and Charles BabingtonWashington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Page A08

President Bush said yesterday that it was appropriate for the White House to invoke Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's religion in making the case for her to skeptical conservatives, triggering a debate over what role, if any, her evangelical faith should play in the confirmation battle.

Bush said religion is part of Miers's overall background much like her work as a corporate lawyer in Texas, and that "our outreach program has been just to explain the facts to people." At the same time, his attorney general went on television and described Miers as "pro-life." But the White House said her religious and personal views would not affect her ability to serve as a neutral justice.

You have GOT to check the site to see the kind of questions these very Conservative folks want to ask Ms. Miers. 

Public Advocate's Questions That Need Answers For Harriet Miers
October 6, 2005

[Falls Church, Virginia. October 5, 2005.] Not since 1957 - when President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Charles Evans Whittaker - has anyone been nominated to the United States Supreme Court to fill a vacancy left by a justice whose vote was so crucial in so many constitutional cases. Hoping to shift the power on the court in a conservative direction, Eisenhower plucked Whittaker, a little-known lawyer and inexperienced judge to fill the bill.

Five years and six days later, Whittaker - at age 61 - resigned from the court, suffering from exhaustion, having been made the target for members of the Court battling and lobbying to create a majority. Overwhelmed by his responsibilities on the Court, and without having ever written a noteworthy opinion during his tenure on the Court, Justice Whittaker failed to fulfill President Eisenhower's hope to restore a conservative majority to the Court.

Yup. Znet.

The Fears of White People
by Robert Jensen

...A third fear involves a slightly different scenario -- a world in which non-white people might someday gain the kind of power over whites that whites have long monopolized. One hears this constantly in the conversation about immigration, the lingering fear that somehow "they" (meaning not just Mexican-Americans and Latinos more generally, but any non-white immigrants) are going to keep moving to this country and at some point become the majority demographically. Even though whites likely can maintain a disproportionate share of wealth, those numbers will eventually translate into political, economic, and cultural power. And then what? Many whites fear that the result won't be a system that is more just, but a system in which white people become the minority and could be treated as whites have long treated non-whites. This is perhaps the deepest fear that lives in the heart of whiteness. It is not really a fear of non-white people. It's a fear of the depravity that lives in our own hearts: Are non-white people capable of doing to us the barbaric things we have done to them?

Abort Every White Baby!
by Justin Felux

Bill Bennett, a prominent right-wing blowhard, has recently come under intense fire for remarks made on his radio show, in which he stated, "I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could ... abort every black baby in this country."  He quickly backed away from the proposition, saying "That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."  It's unfortunate that Bennett chose to be so politically correct, because I think he may be onto something here.  He's just wrong about the target.  If we really wanna get tough on crime, it's the white babies who should start getting the coat hanger treatment.

Wall Street Journal To Narrow Its Pages
Industry Hit by High Paper Prices
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 12, 2005; Page D01

Already facing shrinking circulation and a flat advertising market, the newspaper industry also has been socked with newsprint costs high enough to force some of the nation's largest and best-known papers to change the way they look and feel.

Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, said yesterday that the Journal will shrink by lopping three inches off its width. Beginning in January 2007, the front page of the Journal, which is now 15 inches wide, will be 12 inches wide -- an entire column narrower. The depth of the page will stay the same, at 22 3/4 inches.

For all the talk that Democrats have to be more than the anti-Republicans, the fact is the Republicans are no more than the anti-Democrats. The many factions of the party had only one thing in common: a profound discomfort with the changes progress and progressive policy compels.

It's like when a college uses race as one of, say, ten considerations in admission. Someone who scored close enough on the other nine can invoke the power of relativity and claim race was "the deciding factor." In much the same way, each faction now thinks of itself as the swing vote, and their disparate demands will tear the party apart

Conservative Crackup
How the neocons have developed a political exit strategy.
By Howard Fineman

[LATER: I don't know if this thread will be useful. so read the linked stuff, absorb it for later discussions.] 

Theories of power

This section covers the whole range of theoretical and methodological issues having to do with power, and provides background for reading the more historically specific discussions of power in the United States at the national and local levels. Here, you can read about:

Studying Power
Find out how power is defined and measured by social scientists.

Axioms of Power
It's useful to be reminded that some things are true about power everywhere and at all levels of society: power "corrupts" those who hold it, "divide and conquer" is a main way to gain power, and creating an "outside enemy" is a good way to solidify power.

Power Structure Research
A brief overview and history of power structure research in the United States.

The Four Networks Theory of Power
Power is based in ideological, economic, military and political networks -- Michael Mann's "IEMP model." It's my preferred approach, leading to a class-domination theory when applied to the United States.

Alternative Theories
The main rivals to the Four Network theory: pluralism, state autonomy theory, elite theory, and Marxism.

Quote of note:

It's not the first time the issue has been raised. A 2004 report by the Department of Children & Families' inspector general concluded that the family of a disabled Tampa Bay child ''received special consideration'' from the state following phone calls from the aide of a powerful lawmaker.

The 2004 report quoted a doctor who worked for DCF's developmental disabilities office as stating ''that politics play a part in the daily operations'' of the program.

Report: AIDS funds wrongly diverted
Florida social service administrators took $200,000 from an AIDS program to pay the bills of a Broward child with autism, a state report said. Favoritism may have been a factor.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

African Food for Africa's Starving Is Roadblocked in Congress
By CELIA W. DUGGER

It seemed like a no-brainer: changing the law to allow the federal government to buy food in Africa for Africans facing starvation instead of paying enormous sums to ship it from the American heartland, halfway around the world. Not only would the food get to the hungry in weeks instead of months, the government would save money and help African farmers at the same time.

The new approach had an impeccable sponsor in Republican-dominated Washington. The Bush administration, famous for its go-it-alone style, was trying to move the United States - by far the world's biggest food donor - into the international mainstream with a proposal to take a step in just this direction. A lot of rich countries had already done so, most recently Canada.

So why is this seemingly sensible, cost-effective proposal near death in Congress?

Quote of note:

A spokesman for Mr. Bush, Trent Duffy, told reporters that the proposal is "pending in Congress," whatever that means. He waved off any idea that "the White House would send a big 'Here's Our Recovery' package."

But, of course, that was exactly what Americans expected the White House to do. There seems to be no coordinated plan, no single person in charge of making the recovery happen. With this president, there is a vast gulf between words and action.

That 'Waiting for Godot Congress" thing didn't work for his grand Social Security scheme either.

Some Ideas in Search of an Author

Quote of note:

"Miers' case is special, not because she is White House counsel, but because there is no other basis on which anyone can make a judgment about her," he added. "If we want to know how she thinks about various things the government deals with from time to time, we have to examine what she has expressed on issues that are privileged.

"So, there's going to be a real tug of war."

Miers Nomination Creates Looming Battle Over Privilege
Marcia Coyle
The National Law Journal
10-11-2005

Nearly everything produced by the White House counsel's office could be subject to a claim of executive privilege, but that claim should not be an impenetrable wall when its chief officeholder has been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, said presidential scholars and others.

Katrina housing offer goes bad
Attleboro pair, evacuees embroiled in dispute
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff  |  October 11, 2005

ATTLEBORO -- They were Katrina evacuees with nowhere to go. He was a retiree with a house big enough for another family.

When Forrest King asked Jan and Yolanda Meehan-Hoo to stay at his home on Dennis Street, the couple accepted the seemingly ideal arrangement.

But barely one month later, the Meehan-Hoos are living at a Holiday Inn Express and said they have filed a ''stay away" order against King. They said he used their situation to get media attention and erroneously told the media that FEMA would not help them because they are a same-sex couple.

In fact, even if you haven't, consider dropping a couple of bucks on these guys instead.

Black Holocaust Museum can't pay mortgage
October 11, 2005

MILWAUKEE -- The Black Holocaust Museum is struggling financially, due to its inability to find an executive director and lagging attendance, officials say.

The nearly 20-year-old museum has gone from having a working capital budget of $1.1 million a few years ago to not having enough money to make full mortgage payments on its building.

''We're digging out of the hole,'' said Marissa Weaver, the museum's former executive director, who recently came back to the board. ''We're putting together a whole new board.''

Because Conservatives keep propping them up. 

Back-handed compliment of note:

"Connerly is a successful, well-spoken businessman who is putting forth an effort to move America past the issue of race," Drolet said.

Oh, Ward speaks so well...

Reality check of note:

Besides the affirmative action semantics dispute [P6: People of the Word...], Stevenson said she has other issues with the signature collectors.

"During 2004, sometime in August, I ran into the post office; as I was on my way in, this guy stopped and asked me if I want to sign this affirmative action petition," Stevenson recalled. "He said, "It'll make the playing field level for everybody.' Then he said, 'The president of the Macomb County Branch of the NAACP is in support of this.'

"I said, 'Who is that?' He said, 'Ruthie Stevenson.' "

Stevenson, shocked that her name was mentioned, said she dug into her purse and pulled out one of her business cards.

"I said, 'I'm Ruthie Stevenson, and I'm not in support of this divisive measure.' That's all it is. It's dividing Michigan. (The collector) just turned and took off."

Two groups squaring off over affirmative action in Michigan
If a prominent, conservative California businessman gets his way, affirmative action practices could end in Michigan.

The dreaded Bush Tax Advisory Committee is floating some of their ideas to see if the public will jump up and down on their heads over them. They been working hard since January because, as vice chairman an American Solid Southerner John B. Breaux said,

"We've got to make bold recommendations without regard to politics."

Hah.

...Mr. Bush appointed the commission in January, largely so that Congress would concentrate first on Social Security.

That sound apolitical to you?

..."We're getting focused on the income tax as a base," said the panel's chairman, Connie Mack, a former Republican senator from Florida.

Laura Bush says sexism possible in Miers criticism
Tue Oct 11, 2005 08:47 AM ET

By Tabassum Zakaria

COVINGTON, Louisiana (Reuters) - First lady Laura Bush joined her husband in defending his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday and said it was possible some critics were being sexist in their opposition to Harriet Miers.

"That's possible, I think that's possible," Mrs. Bush said when asked on NBC's "Today Show" whether criticism that Miers lacked intellectual heft were sexist in nature. She said Miers' accomplishments as a lawyer were a role model to young women.

Quote of note:

Davis said he was in New Orleans to check on property his family owns. He said he left his hotel Saturday night to buy a pack of cigarettes and has no idea why he was targeted. He said he approached the officers because he was concerned about the city curfew.

"I had asked several law enforcement officers during my stroll as to what time the curfew was because there's been some conflict as to what time curfew was," he said. "So I had asked several law enforcement officers. I stopped this one officer who was on horseback, who was black, by the way, to give me some information as to the curfew.

"And from there, that's when it began. There was another police officer who interrupted me. I told him that that was very rude and unprofessional. And I proceeded to move on across the street going to the store. And all of a sudden, I was hit by this officer, who was white, in the eye and thrown up against the wall. And from there, it's kind of hazy."

Beating Victim: Race Not An Issue
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 11, 2005

A federal civil rights investigation has been launched into the police beating of a man in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Saturday night.

But the victim said he does not believe the beating, all caught on tape by a TV crew, was racially motivated. Robert Davis, a 64-year-old retired school teacher, is black. The officers who beat him were white.

Speaking out for the first time Tuesday morning on The Early Show, Davis said the incident started when he asked a question of a black police officer who was on a horse.

"This is one of the things that I want to clear up," he said. "Everybody is thinking this is race-related. I'm black, they're white, OK? The black officer who was on the horse, he could have probably prevented this because that was the man that I was speaking to.

"I think he — and this is just my opinion, I have no proof of it — but I think he sanctioned the efforts of the other officers, you know? So I don't think it in any way is racially motivated.

Mr. Cohen says

It's conceivable that Bush and Miers developed a secret language for talking about abortion. For instance, when vetting judicial appointees, Bush might have asked, "Is he pro-banana or anti-banana?" Miers would then look around, point to the walls (which have ears even in the White House) and say, "anti-banana." 

...The clever use of code words or the ability to stand for a long time while discussing abortion might seem far-fetched, but there is no other way to explain the assurances that the very important James C. Dobson has offered his fellow conservative Christians regarding Miers. "When you know some of the things that I know -- that I probably shouldn't know -- you will understand why I have said, with fear and trepidation, that Harriet Miers will be a good justice," he told his radio listeners.

You know what? It's some sad mutha fukkas out there...

Just like a woman
Thousands of men are shelling out $6,500 for hyper-realistic dolls that answer all their needs -- and don't talk back.
By Meghan Laslocky

Davecat keeps a picture of his girlfriend in his wallet. She's pretty, with long black hair, an alluring mole under her left eye, and glossy red lipstick. Her sheer tank top shows off her full breasts and the hoop through her left nipple.

Ask Davecat about Sidore -- pronounced She-doh-ray -- and he'll tell you she's everything that turns him on: beautiful, loyal, a great listener. Si-chan, as he affectionately calls her, is half British, half Japanese, which is nice because he's always had a thing for both British and Japanese culture. Even their clothing style and taste in music is simpatico -- they're both Goths.

Qusan pointed at GirlGenius, who goes all Black English Month on a Daily News story that that beats Condi's "husband" slip six ways to Sunday for comic effect.

And it's a Fox News dude that starts the shit.

Rice is urged to be 'Friends' (or more?) with Fox anchor

An interview with Condoleezza Rice turned bizarre last week, when Fox News correspondent James Rosen appeared to try to fix her up with "Fox & Friends" anchor Lauren Green.

The former Miss Minnesota is "single" and "beautiful," Rosen said, encouraging the secretary of state to get in touch. The Sept. 27 interview from Port au Prince, Haiti, started out seriously enough, with Rice expounding on Haitian elections and security, and on Iran as well. But at the end, Rosen popped a wheelie, and the discussion, posted on Radaronline.com, ended thusly:

I modified the chart I posted the other day. I had a couple of reasons for that. I thought the two tracks flowing into a "collective action" was a bit misleading because the tracks seem to lead to different types of collective action.

I'm feeling the guys in the yellow box are the Black intrapolitical discussion points.

Yup. I'm dragging it out unnecessarily.

[P6: On PBS tonight! ]

Known to its legions of fans simply as P-Funk, Parliament Funkadelic has had a profound impact on the development of contemporary music, aesthetics and culture. PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC: One Nation Under a Groove chronicles the unique alchemy of the musical influences that fed into the band’s singular approach to music, documenting P-Funk’s continuing influence on today’s artists and musicians and featuring an in-depth look at the musical and entrepreneurial mastermind of its leader George Clinton.

To create a film that reflected the distinctive nature of P-Funk, filmmaker Yvonne Smith used animation—both cell- and computer-generated—to create the special sequences and virtual environments that reflect the P-Funk aesthetic. Inspired by a P-Funk lyric, she created the “Afronaut,” a cartoon character from outer space who serves as the film’s host and narrator. The Afronaut’s voice is provided by hip-hop comic and actor Eddie Griffin, who co-starred in the popular series Malcolm and Eddie and feature films including Undercover Brother, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo and its sequel Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo. In PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC, the Afronaut descends to earth from a new millennium version of the Mothership, created by computer graphics artist Paul Collins. The Afronaut was brought to life in cell animation from the drawings of Kevin Lofton, a former animation artist on Beavis and Butthead.

Via caught in between: 

ARE Blacks A Criminal Race? Surprising Statistics (65 comments )

The growing controversy over Bill Bennett's comments have mainly centered on whether or not he was calling for some kind of Black genocide. Clearly he was not. Mr. Bennett does not believe in abortion under any circumstances, and certainly not as a tool for racial extermination.

Unfortunately, this false debate has obscured the deeper issue - whether or not Blacks contribute disproportionately to the crime rate.

That's 65 comments as of this posting, and a not unexpected number of them are straight racist.

Don't trust it...your ass would be sent to Iraq or an Iraq-like situation because (coincidentally) you'll have the nation-building skills pure military organizations lack.

Military May Propose an Active-Duty Force for Relief Efforts
By ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 - The military's Northern Command is developing a proposal to organize a specially trained and equipped active-duty force that could respond quickly to assist relief efforts in the event of overwhelming natural disasters, like major hurricanes, floods or earthquakes.

Quote of note:

Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, who leads the conservative caucus, called tax reductions for the prosperous a key to fighting poverty.

"Raising taxes in the wake of a national catastrophe would imperil the very economic growth we need to bring the Gulf Coast back," Mr. Pence said. "I'm mindful of what a pipe fitter once said to President Reagan: 'I've never been hired by a poor man.' A growing economy is in the interest of every working American, regardless of their income."

Economic growth is crucial to reducing poverty, but the effect of tax rates is less clear. In 1993, President Bill Clinton raised taxes on upper-income families, the economy boomed and poverty fell for the next seven years. In 2001, President Bush cut taxes deeply, but even with economic growth, the poverty rate has risen every year since.

Liberal Hopes Ebb in Post-Storm Poverty Debate
By JASON DePARLE

Quote of note:

Yahoo has, in effect, created a three-tier system for finding news that starts with the links to top ten stories and related photographs produced by mainstream news organizations on the main Yahoo News site.

Readers searching for further details will be taken to a second-level news site, which splits the page between news from 6,500 professional sources and links to the hundreds of thousands of blogs available from its syndication service.

Thus the expanded search stops short of blurring all lines between edited news and self-publishing.

"We do try to demarcate what is mainstream media and what is user-generated content so that there is no confusion there," Redfern said.

Those choosing to dig still deeper can click on "More Blog results..." to be taken to purely user-generated news from blogs, photos and links. This allow the user to search 10 million blogs listed on Yahoo's blo.gs blog tracking service.

Yahoo puts news, blogs side by side
By Eric Auchard  |  October 11, 2005

Quote of note:

The Army National Guard, Army Reserve, and Marine Corps Reserve accounted for more than half of all US deaths in August and in September -- the first time that has happened in consecutive months.

Reservists suffer higher share of US casualties in war in Iraq
By Robert Burns, Associated Press  |  October 11, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The National Guard and Reserves are suffering a strikingly higher share of US casualties in Iraq, their portion of total American military deaths nearly doubling since last year.

Reservists have accounted for one-quarter of all US deaths since the Iraq war began, but the proportion has grown over time. It was 10 percent for the five weeks it took to topple Baghdad in the spring of 2003, and 20 percent for 2004 as a whole.

Under Rice, Powell's Policies Are Reborn
By Paul Richter
Times Staff Writer
October 11, 2005

WASHINGTON — For four years, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and his team faced off against administration hawks on one foreign policy issue after another, and usually went down in defeat.

These days, his successor, Condoleezza Rice, is pushing nearly identical positions, and almost always winning.

An administration that was criticized in the first term for an assertive, go-it-alone approach has reversed ground again and again, joining multinational efforts to keep nuclear arms from North Korea and Iran, mending ties with Europe, and softening a hard line on the United Nations and International Criminal Court.

Any way to cut payments...

Bill Would Force Pet Evacuation Plans
Legislation Would Deny FEMA Funding to States Without Emergency Plans for Pets

Oct. 9, 2005 — - Like thousands of other Gulf Coast residents, Janice Hebbler was forced to leave her pets behind when she fled Hurricane Katrina.

"It was the saddest day of my life," Hebbler said.

She thought she'd never again see her dog, Heather Roux. But after six weeks, they finally were reunited.

Now, there is a movement in Congress to make sure no one has to go through that agony again.

Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., who encourages his staff to bring their dogs to work, has introduced legislation requiring state and local governments to devise emergency evacuation plans for pets, or else lose out on disaster grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Yes, they're clickable.

Quote of note:

In the past, Thomas talked of turning a pension overhaul bill (H.R. 2830) into a "retirement bill" that would include individual Social Security accounts, measures to shore up the program's finances and incentives for private saving.

Bush Concedes Failure to Privatize Social Security

President Bush, speaking at a rare press conference, acknowledged that his proposed Social Security overhaul is going nowhere for now but he also promised to continue to remind people that there is a long-term issue that needs to be solved. And although Bush refused to say that Social Security was off his agenda entirely, he did not put it on the list of priorities that he rattled off. Bush went on to accuse members of Congress of failing to "show some political courage" in order to address the long-term problem faced by Social Security.

The General is 110% heterosexual

One of Pamela Atlas Shrugs's friends wrote the following in my comments:

The blog owner is afraid that he is gay? Thus his facination with young Republicans? and his need to declare he is not gay. Does that encapsulate the description of this blog?

How often do I need to declare my heterosexually on this blog? As it is, I do it nearly every day when I close my correspondence with the words, "heterosexually yours."

Quote of note:

If lawmakers are worried about paying for those measures, they should simply let President Bush's temporary tax cuts for the rich expire as scheduled.

Tax Cuts Are Not the Priority

It's not every day that Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Finance Committee, blasts the White House. But it happened last Thursday, and we hope that the administration got the message.

The occasion was a committee hearing on using the tax code to rebuild after a disaster. Mr. Grassley accused the White House of trying to kill his measure to pay for health care for those poor and uninsured Katrina victims who are not eligible for Medicaid, such as childless adults and pregnant women with incomes modestly above the normal - very low - cutoff. "The White House is working against me behind the scenes, and I resent that, considering how I have worked for the White House in the past several years," Mr. Grassley said.

"Please, God, let it be true" of note:

Is the reality boom over, or at least in decline?

As Reality TV Hits Maturity, Networks Lower Expectations
By BILL CARTER

Reality television has generated some of the biggest, most talked-about hits for broadcast networks in the last five years. But as a new television season begins, some industry executives are looking at the early ratings returns and whispering a question: Is the reality boom over, or at least in decline?

Some stalwarts of the reality trend have lost some steam this fall, including the show that really started it all, "Survivor" on CBS, as well as a more recent breakout reality hit, "The Apprentice" on NBC. Viewership for "Survivor" is down 10 to 15 percent from last season's two editions. Another long-running reality hit, "The Amazing Race" on CBS, is experiencing similar declines from its numbers last season.

I should have realized this long ago. 

Quote of note:

Last year, scientists found tantalizing hints of oil in seabed samples just 200 miles from the North Pole. All told, one quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources lies in the Arctic, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The polar thaw is also starting to unlock other treasures: lucrative shipping routes, perhaps even the storied Northwest Passage; new cruise ship destinations; and important commercial fisheries.

As Polar Ice Turns to Water, Dreams of Treasure Abound
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS, STEVEN LEE MYERS, ANDREW C. REVKIN and SIMON ROMERO

Quote of note: 

Members of the Shepard family, who described how they got to know the local recruiter, and came to trust him over several months, said they relied on him -- not the fine print in a written contract -- to explain Shepard's options and guide him.

That guidance, they say now, was marked by deception.

Family feels misled by recruiter
Kingston student to be sent to Iraq
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff  |  October 10, 2005

KINGSTON -- Brian Shepard thought he had the perfect plan: a special program, offered by a Marine Corps recruiter last spring, that would let him finish four years of college before he faced active duty.

Quote of note:

Three of the five officers -- including Smith -- are New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers.

New Orleans police are taped hitting man
Journalist also struck; 3 charged with battery
By Mary Foster, Associated Press  |  October 10, 2005

NEW ORLEANS -- Two New Orleans police officers repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another city officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations.

After being questioned, the three officers were arrested late yesterday and charged with battery. They were also suspended, then released and ordered to appear in court at a later date, Captain Marlon Defillo said.

In his defense of Bill Bennett. John McWhorter makes a telling error. Again.

Many people are worried about what kinds of thoughts Mr. Bennett's comment might put into white people's heads. I am, too. For black Americans to take an innocent and well-meant sentence out of context and hold it up as a David Duke screensaver makes it look like black Americans are incapable of understanding context. It makes it look like we are incapable of close reasoning.

He somehow manages to say Black people's reaction to Bennett is responsible for white people's reaction to Bennett. This is logically flawed...yet...

Quote of note:

By the time “racist” and “racism” began breaking out of that exclusive “hate black people” box, we discovered that it had been so broadened that it had now come to be applied by many people to anyone who sought to advocate for their own race to the exclusion of advocating for any other races. That led to the curious phenomenon–unintentionally?–intentionally?– that under this new, expanded definition, many more African-Americans are now publicly called “racist” these days than are white people.

RACISM BY SOME OTHER NAME

One of the problems about having an adult discussion about Bill Bennett’s recent race remarks is that we simply don’t have the words with which to conduct it.

...that Bush nominated Miers:

Bush is paying off all his debts. Roberts was the intellectual conservatives' bone; Miers is the religious right's bone. Remember, when Roberts was nominated, Christian Conservatives were not happy...they had to be convinced.

...intellectual conservatives have a problem:

The guys who are most upset are best described as career conservatives. Helen Miers elevation invalidates everything they know about social and career advancement. It is also unsupportable by the criteria they publicly espouse and therefore invalidates that as well. They feel like birds that suddenly found gravity pulling diagonally instead of down.

 

Quote of note:

A man went up to one of them, Gerald Cooper, a former merchant mariner, and said, "Here, put this in your pocket," as he stuffed a $20 bill into Mr. Cooper's hand.

"It was like we were a fad," Mr. Cooper said.

Scattered in a Storm's Wake and Caught in a Clash of Cultures
By ISABEL WILKERSON

SALLISAW, Okla. - Word spread fast after the evacuees arrived. Everyone wanted to see one up close. Soon, the gravel driveways wending through the grounds of the old church mission were backed up with trucks and minivans filled with locals bearing bottled water or leftover clothes or just wanting to talk to the Louisiana people, tell them how sorry they were for what had happened to them.

Quote of note:

If he at all considered his creative output the product of genius, he distanced himself from such thoughts, as if the social August Wilson were the caretaker of the creator. He talked books, boxing and jazz; sometimes about his own plays, the hard work of putting them on, the vagaries of tinkering with the script. And often he spoke about his family: especially his little girl, Azula.

A Last Round With August Wilson
By OSCAR HIJUELOS

IN early May, I spent a Saturday evening in my Manhattan apartment with August Wilson, the celebrated and much beloved playwright who was laid to rest yesterday. We ate dinner and watched a pay-per-view boxing match.

Senators Lahey and Spector are, frankly, always interesting to watch. I missed the first few seconds, but I came in on a very interesting question: Stephanopolis asked Spector "Why would you even consider voting for someone that needs a crash course on constitutional law?"

And the roundtable rocks. It's being recorded.