Good morning, it’s been ten years…no need to say anything else. The words September Eleventh just reach my ears like a stone. It is strange, but many of the WTC survivors and the victim’s families refer to that day in using the words. September 11th. The numbers: 9/11 just seem to simple a way to describe such a sorrowful day…a jarring cold way to designate an important date. That September morning was beautiful…the sky was clear and blue, and there was that warm Indian Summer feeling in the early morning air.  We lived in Newtown, CT…on Sugar Street, in a big white house that was built in 1900. The house used to be a nursery, called Key Rock Gardens, and the grounds were full of ornamental trees and perennial gardens. I was outside that morning, my husband had been gone for three hours…catching that 5:40am Metro North train out of Bethal, that took him down to Stamford. From there the train headed toward New York City, and after the hour and a half train ride, he would arrive at Grand Central Station. On to the subway, the 4/5, going downtown…to the Trinity Church/Wall Street station. Then he would walk up a couple blocks to Liberty Street, next to the World Trade Center Complex.

Me and the kids in the park behind the Twin Towers one Tuesday in July or August of 2000, my husband is taking the picture.

FILE – In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 file picture, a person falls headfirst from the north tower of New York’s World Trade Center. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

He said the worst thing was watching groups of 20 to 25 people holding hands jumping from the burning building. He saw people fall and burst into pieces as they hit the cement or landed on the large light poles that were in the plaza. He found a heavyset woman lying in the street, when he grabbed her wrist, she had no pulse, he said she must have had a heart attack as she ran. These are just a few of the things he has told my father.  It’s been ten years, and he still will not talk to me about the things he saw, but I am there when he has the nightmares. They don’t come as often now, but they still seem to break through his sleep during this time of year. One thing is strange since that day ten years ago… you would be amazed at just how many times he takes a look at the clock, and the time is 9:11.  He says it is God’s way of reminding him of that September day. We cannot forget what we saw that day.  We cannot “get over” what happened on that day ten years ago…and I will tell you, it is very upsetting to see articles and op/ed pieces in the press that tell us to leave 9/11 behind. No. We’ll never get over it.

There were two targets, Washington and New York. Washington saw a great military institution attacked, and quickly rebuilt. In Washington people ran barefoot from the White House and the Capitol. But New York saw a world end. New York saw the buildings come down. That was the thing. It’s not that the towers were hit—we could have taken that. It’s not the fire, we could have taken that too. They bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 and took out five floors, and the next day we were back in business. It’s that the buildings came down, in front of our eyes. They were there and proud and strong, they were massive, two pillars at the end of the island. And then they groaned to the ground and there was a cloud and when people could finally see they looked back and the buildings weren’t there breaking through the clouds anymore. The buildings were a cloud. The buildings were gone and that was too much to bear because they couldn’t be gone, they couldn’t have fallen. Because no one could knock down those buildings.

Those buildings, jetting out of the skyline. You could see them from almost any angle in Midtown and Lower Manhattan.  They watched over us. They protected us.

The Twin Towers, I took this picture in July or August of 2000.

When you ask New Yorkers now what they remember, they start with something big—the first news report, the phone call in which someone said, “Turn on the TV.” But then they go to the kind of small thing that when you first saw it you had no idea it would stay in your mind forever. The look on the face of a young Asian woman on Sixth Avenue in the 20s, as she looked upward. The votive candles on the street and the spontaneous shrines that popped up, the pictures of saints. The Xeroxed signs that covered every street pole downtown. A man or a woman in a family picture from a wedding or a birthday or bar mitzvah. “Have you seen Carla? Last seen Tuesday morning in Windows on the World.”

I remember seeing these posters and notes that were put up all over Manhattan…it was so hard to walk by these makeshift signs…those lost faces of families looking for their lost loved ones. Holding on to the last bit of hope, that they made it out alive and were somewhere in the city and just could not make it home.

The Pompeii-like ash that left a film on everything in town, all the way to the Bronx. The smell of burning plastic that lingered for weeks. A man who worked at Ground Zero told me: “It’s the computers.” They didn’t melt or decompose, and they wouldn’t stop burning.

But the human remains did decompose. My husband would smell death every day for weeks as he went back to work just a day after the towers fell.  People would line the streets as the first responders would head into the pit.  They held up signs, gave out bottles of water, and waited…

The old woman with her grandchild in a stroller. On the stroller she had written a sign in magic marker: “America You Are Not Alone, Mexico Is With You.” She was all by herself in the darkness, on the side of the West Side Highway, as we stood to cheer the workers who were barreling downtown in trucks to begin the dig-out, and to see if they could find someone still alive. […] Many heartbreaking things happened after 9/11 and maybe the worst is that there’s no heroic statue to them, no big marking of what they were and what they gave, at the new World Trade Center memorial. But New York will never get over what they did. They live in a lot of hearts. They tell us to get over it, they say to move on, and they mean it well: We can’t bring an air of tragedy into the future. But I will never get over it. To get over it is to get over the guy who stayed behind on a high floor with his friend who was in a wheelchair. To get over it is to get over the woman by herself with the sign in the darkness: “America You Are Not Alone.” To get over it is to get over the guys who ran into the fire and not away from the fire. You’ve got to be loyal to pain sometimes to be loyal to the glory that came out of it.

So many of those people who died in the towers have never been found, they just incinerated into dust that was blown over the city.  Even in Newtown, Connecticut, for days after the buildings fell, ash and dust was falling from the sky. It was like being near a large wildfire, when you see those papery ash particles float down like bits of snow. As of January 2010, only 1,626 of the 2,752 victims had been identified. No. We cannot forget…

Eric O’Connell/courtesy of HBO

“Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience,” a collaboration by Time magazine and HBO, will be shown on CNN on Friday and Saturday; HBO will show it on Sunday at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

Nobody who remembers Sept. 11 wants to relive it. And that makes the profusion of 10th-anniversary specials blanketing television throughout the weekend daunting to contemplate, let alone watch. Seeing those images and hearing all those stories is a painful exercise at best, cathartic only in the sense that repression is worse. What happened that day was unimaginable, and, 10 years on, so is not going over it, again and again.

Eric O’Connell/HBO

A scene from “Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience.”

There are many archives and photo projects that I would like to mention. The September 11 Photo Project

The September 11 Photo Project began as a community response to the tragic events of last fall. The Project grew out of a desire to preserve the culture of the outdoor, makeshift shrines that sprang up in public squares and in front of firehouses throughout the city. Anyone wishing to participate was invited to give up to three photographs with accompanying text, which were hung in a donated gallery space. The Project’s philosophy is simple: To display without exception every set of photos and written statements that are submitted, and to welcome all those who wish to view them. The Project is unique in its approach—each participant, not the organizers, selects the pieces that are displayed, and all are included in the firm belief that no entry is better than any other.

The September 11 Photo Project put the images it received into a book, you can click on that link and see sample pages. It is now a permanent exhibit of the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Collection of the New York Public Library. September 11, 2001, Documentary Project – (American Memory from the Library of Congress)

The September 11, 2001, Documentary Project captures the heartfelt reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. Patriotism and unity mixed with sadness, anger, and insecurity are common themes expressed in this online presentation of almost 200 audio and video interviews, 45 graphic items, and 21 written narratives. The day after the attacks, the American Folklife Center called upon the nation’s folklorists and ethnographers to collect, record, and document America’s reaction. A sampling of the material collected through this effort was used to create the September 11, 2001, Documentary Project. This collection captures the voices of a diverse ethnic, socioeconomic, and political cross-section of America during trying times and serves as a historical and cultural resource for future generations.

National September 11 Memorial & Museum | World Trade Center Memorial Below are some links to items and artifacts that are part of the exhibit in the museum, stories, pictures and oral histories…Museum | National September 11  Museum

• About
• The Original WTC
• 9/11: Events of the Day
• Rescue & Recovery
• Tribute
• Oral Histories

Like a chair that was donated to the museum, and the story that goes with it:

Lower Manhattan Resident Kathleen Gupta   Kathleen and Udayan Gupta’s Battery Park City home overlooking the World Trade Center was severely damaged on 9/11. Listen to Kathleen Gupta speak about residential life in lower Manhattan before and after September 11 and why the Guptas decided to donate a chair from their apartment to the Museum’s collection.  Listen >>

  I want to end with this, Pieces of demolished World Trade Center aboard Mars Rovers | Human World | EarthSky

The planet Mars is now home to a piece of the demolished World Trade Center in New York City. A decade ago, engineers working with NASA turned a scrap of aluminum recovered from the site of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks into cable shields. The shields now protect rock abrasion tools on two Mars Rovers, named Spirit and Opportunity. These quiet tributes to the victims of 9/11 left Earth in 2003 and 2004.

The piece of metal with the American flag on it in this image of a NASA rover on Mars is made of aluminum recovered from the site of the World Trade Center towers in the weeks after their destruction. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

The story of how aluminum from the demolished towers of the World Trade Center (WTC) wound up being incorporated into the Mars Rovers is an interesting one. The tale involves robotics engineer and Rover team member Stephen Gorevan. He was riding his bike in lower Manhattan when a plane hit the WTC on September 11, 2001. He told NASA:

Mostly, what comes back to me even today is the sound of the engines before the first plane struck the tower. Just before crashing into the tower, I could hear the engines being revved up as if those behind the controls wanted to ensure the maximum destruction. I stopped and stared for a few minutes and realized I felt totally helpless, and I left the scene and went to my office nearby, where my colleagues told me a second plane had struck. We watched the rest of the sad events of that day from the roof of our facility.

When the engineers went back to work,

…they were frustrated by not being able to assist with 9/11 volunteer efforts. So, Steve Kondos, who was, at the time, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineer working with the Honeybee team, came up with the idea of embedding some kind of “interplanetary memorial” on the Rovers:

To carry out the idea, an early hurdle was acquiring an appropriate piece of material from the World Trade Center site. Through Gorevan’s contacts, a parcel was delivered to Honeybee Robotics from the mayor’s office on December 1, 2001, with a twisted plate of aluminum inside and a note: “Here is debris from Tower 1 and Tower 2.” Tom Myrick, an engineer at Honeybee, saw the possibility of machining the aluminum into cable shields for the rock abrasion tools. He hand-delivered the material to the machine shop in Texas that was working on other components of the tools. When the shields were back in New York, he affixed an image of the American flag on each.

The Rovers have been on the surface of Mars since early in the last decade.

Spirit ended communications in March 2010. Opportunity is still going strong, and its rock abrasion tool is being used to explore a large crater that the rover reached in August of 2011. Gorevan noted:

It’s gratifying knowing that a piece of the World Trade Center is up there on Mars. That shield on Mars, to me, contrasts the destructive nature of the attackers with the ingenuity and hopeful attitude of Americans.

Sometime soon, both the Rovers will fall silent. But their aluminum tribute to 9/11′s victims will survive on the cold surface of the desert world Mars for millions of years to come.

Have a safe and reflective day, I will be spending it quietly with my husband and our children…remembering what happened that day and remembering the people who lost their lives in Washington DC, Lower Manhattan and a field in Pennsylvania, and thinking about those love ones they left behind…families that are still waiting for some part of them to come home.

“Leaving New York” It’s quiet now And what it brings Is everything Comes calling back A brilliant night I’m still awake I looked ahead I’m sure I saw you there You don’t need me To tell you now That nothing can compare You might have laughed if I told you You might have hidden A frown You might have succeeded in changing me I might have been turned around It’s easier to leave than to be left behind Leaving was never my proud Leaving New York, never easy I saw the light fading out Now life is sweet And what it brings I tried to take But loneliness It wears me out It lies in wait And I’ve lost Still in my eyes The shadow of necklace Across your thigh I might’ve lived my life in a dream, but I swear This is real Memory fuses and shatters like glass Mercurial future, forget the past It’s you, it’s what I feel. You might have laughed if I told you (it’s pulling me apart) You might have hidden a frown (change) You might have succeeded in changing me (it’s pulling me apart) I might have been turned around (change) It’s easier to leave than to be left behind (it’s pulling me apart) Leaving was never my proud (change) Leaving New York, never easy (it’s pulling me apart) I saw the light fading out You find it in your heart, it’s pulling me apart You find it in your heart, change… I told you, forever I love you, forever I told you, I love you I love you, forever I told you, forever You never, you never You told me forever You might have laughed if I told you You might have hidden the frown You might have succeeded in changing me I might have been turned around It’s easier to leave than to be left behind (it’s pulling me apart) Leaving was never my proud (change) Leaving New York never easy (it’s pulling me apart) I saw the life fading out (change) Leaving New York, never easy (it’s pulling me apart) I saw the light fading out (change) Leaving New York never easy (it’s pulling me apart) I saw the life fading out (change)

The stock market is in the midst of its biggest retreat since the financial crisis, as investors grow increasingly concerned about the possibility of another recession in the U.S. and a debt crisis in Europe. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 513 points, or 4.3 percent, to close at 11,384. Thursday’s losses turned the blue-chip stock index negative for the year. The S&P 500 lost 60, or 4.8 percent, to close at 1,200. The Nasdaq composite plunged 137, or 5.1 percent, to 2,556. All three major indexes are down 10 percent or more from their previous highs, a drop-off that is considered to be a market correction. A drop of 20 percent or more signifies the start of a bear market, an extended period of stock declines. […] Large investors have moved so much money into cash accounts at Bank of New York that on Thursday the bank said it would begin charging some clients a 0.13 percent fee to hold their cash. “In the past month, we have seen a growing level of deposits on our balance sheet from clients seeking a safe-haven in light of the global interest rate and credit environment,” the bank said in a statement to The Associated Press. Bank of New York clients include pension funds and large investment houses.

The article also says that some investors sold before the unemployment numbers come out tomorrow.  The forecast is the numbers will remain the same, at 9.2% but if that number comes in higher, stocks will fall even more. As far as the Global Financial Markets today: World stock markets in turmoil | Business | The Guardian

Almost £50bn was wiped off the value of Britain’s 100 biggest companies on a day of global stock market mayhem triggered by a deepening of the eurozone crisis and fears for the health of the US economy. After a day of massive of stock market falls in Europe and the US of a kind not seen since the depths of the last economic downturn, traders said on Thursday the atmosphere in the markets was reminiscent of the banking crisis of October 2008. “For many traders this week has felt like the start of the banking crisis in 2008, which would go some way to explaining the panic selling we have seen today,” said Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index. […] Anxiety over the debt crisis in the eurozone, and increasingly in Italy, had set the tone for nervous trading during the London morning, but the pace of the decline accelerated as Wall Street opened sharply lower. […] The president of the European commission, José Manuel Barroso, fuelled anxiety about the eurozone debt crisis by berating European leaders about the speed at which they were responding to the debt crisis, barely a fortnight after congratulating them about their latest deal to rescue Greece. “We are no longer managing a crisis just in the euro area periphery,” Barroso said. “Euro area financial stability must be safeguarded.” He urged European leaders to review “all elements” of the €440bn (£382bn) European financial stability facility and its €500bn replacement, the European stability mechanism.

There appears to be an “agreement” regarding FAA furloughs: Reid announces deal to end FAA furloughs – The Hill’s Transportation Report

The Senate will pass the House’s bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration through September to end the week-and-a-half-long partial shutdown of the agency, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday. Under a deal Reid made with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Senate will pass the House bill that includes cuts to rural flight service to airports in Nevada, West Virginia and Montana. But Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will use his authority to waive the airports from the cuts, ending a 13-day impasse that left 4,000 FAA employees and about 70,000 construction employees out of work.

That at least seems to be some good news, at least until September, when all the bickering, yelling and hostage taking will start over again. Susie Madrak has this gem over at C&L: Unelected, Unaccountable Grover Norquist is Picking the Republicans for the Super Committee | Crooks and Liars

Again: Can someone in the spineless, co-opted corporate media please do their job and explain to us why the unAmerican pledge to Pope Grover takes precedence over oath of office? Instead of just saying, “That’s the way it is,” look a little deeper and ask why Grover gets to pick the Super Committee. I mean, is it a good thing that our Congress is dictated to by a little tin god? All hail, Caesar!

Norquist said he has already been assured by “the right people” that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will not choose anyone willing to give ground on raising taxes, and he is confident enough to leave town on Wednesday for August vacation. Norquist said he would like Boehner to name House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.). He said he would be “fine” with leadership using the opportunity to give a conservative freshman the chance to shine, mentioning Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.). Similarly, with respect to the Senate, Norquist can see McConnell appointing a young gun like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to the panel to give him a bigger platform. He said he would like to see Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) appointed. Norquist does not want to see former Gang of Six Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) or Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) on board because they made “troubling” statements in support of revenue increases during the deficit negotiations this spring. He said that if Gang of Six Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) made stronger commitments to oppose taxes, he could be OK with that appointment.

Can you believe that shit? What balls! Speaking of balls.  I think some of Romney’s wealthy pals are attempting to push the SCOTUS decision on Citizens United vs. FCC to the limit. Now, I am no lawyer…I was a paralegal, but I just found some articles that may shed some light on this subject. First of all, NBC’s Michael Isikoff broke the story today:  Firm gives $1 million to pro-Romney group, dissolves – TODAY News – TODAY.com

A mystery company that pumped $1 million into a political committee backing Mitt Romney has been dissolved just months after it was formed, leaving few clues as to who was behind one of the biggest contributions yet of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The existence of the million-dollar donation — as gleaned from campaign and corporate records obtained by NBC News — provides a vivid example of how secret campaign cash is being funneled in ever more circuitous ways into the political system.

The company, W Spann LLC, was formed in March by a Boston lawyer who specializes in estate tax planning for “high net worth individuals,” according to corporate records and the lawyer’s bio on her firm’s website. The corporate records provide no information about the owner of the firm, its address or its type of business.

LLCs do not need to give a description of their business…unlike an Incorporation, that must file all sorts of documents which state intent and other specifics of the Inc. and the business it will transact.

While it says it is independent of the Romney presidential campaign, Restore Our Future was created by three former top Romney political aides who have made little secret of their interest in boosting his presidential candidacy. “This is an independent effort focused on getting Romney elected president,” Spies, the former counsel to Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign, recently told the Washington Post.

Okay, MoJo has more on this here:  Mysterious, Defunct Company Donates $1 Million to Romney SuperPAC

[T]he most intriguing of the million-dollar donations was from W Spann LLC. Its address was listed on the Restore Our Future campaign report as 590 Madison Ave., a 43-story, ultra-modern office building in the heart of midtown Manhattan. But there is no public listing for any company called W Spann LLC at 590 Madison. A top executive of Minskoff Equities, the firm that manages the building, told NBC News that he had “never heard of” W Spann and that his management firm has no record of any such tenant.

Casey works as an associate in a law firm called Ropes & Gray’s. That’s where the plot thickens, Isikoff reports:

One of the Rope & Gray’s longtime clients is Bain Capital, the investment firm formerly headed by Romney. It is also one of a number of major companies—including UBS, IBM and Cemex— that have offices at 590 Madison, the address listed for W Spann. Asked about W Spann, Alex Stanton, a spokesman for Bain Capital said, in an email: “Bain Capital has many employees who actively participate in civic affairs, and they individually support candidates from both parties. The firm takes no position on any candidate, and the entity in question is not affiliated with Bain Capital or any of our employees.”

Thanks to the Citizens United decision—which allowed corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns—super PACs like Restore Our Future and Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS have been loading their campaign warchests with millions from undisclosed donors. The use of a here-today-gone-tomorrow front company like W Spann shows just how far these crafty operatives have become at exploiting what’s left of campaign finance law.

Now, I don’t know how New York and Delaware and Massachusetts corporate law works, but a company can have an address in another state it does “business” in even though it is registered in one state, and founded in another. The address in New York can be a corporate service address, a company that will accept service for the LLC…it will not be the same name as the actual corporation. Now I do not know if this is the case, but it would explain the lack of a business called W. Spann at that Manhattan Address. Also, now bear with me, and remember I am no attorney… The Docket » Blog Archive » Ropes lawyer behind Romney’s mystery money

An estate planning attorney in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray was behind a shell company that gave $1 million to former Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and then abruptly dissolved shortly before a federal campaign finance filing deadline, according to an NBC News report. Ropes associate Cameron Casey founded W. Spann LLC last March. The company made the donation to the pro-Romney political action committee, Restore Our Future, and then shut down last month. The money is one of just a handful of seven-figure contributions the PAC has received this year.

Okay, so this LLC W.Spann was founded in Massachusetts.  Put this in the back of your mind… According to Ben Smith, the W.Spann, LLC was a 501(c)4 non-profit.  More secret money – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com

The rise of 501(c)4 political players has meant an influx of secret money into the political system. But the source of that money, while secret from the public, is at least disclosed to the Internal Revenue Service. Michael Isikoff finds an even more extreme case today: A Delaware corporation that formed itself, gave $1 million to a pro-Romney Super PAC, and then dissolved. The PAC says it’s fulfilled its disclosure requirements — with the FEC, not the much toothier IRS. And that seems to be that. This is more or less how money moves around Russian politics. For all we know the Delaware corporation is owned by another corporation, registered in the Cayman Islands, with its directors another set of anonymous lawyers. Its money could come from, say, the government of Pakistan, which has recently shown an interest in illegal contributions to American pols. It’s important to note that this isn’t possible even in the case of the murky new (c)4 organizations, which are subject to IRS audits and extensive private disclosure, and it seems much fairer game for Romney’s foes to raise speculative questions about its origins.

Okay, so we got a non-profit LLC that was founded in Massachusetts, registered in Delaware, and had an office in New York.

According to a NYT article written back in January of 2010: Supreme Court Blocks Ban on Corporate Political Spending – NYTimes.com

The majority cited a score of decisions recognizing the First Amendment rights of corporations, and Justice Stevens acknowledged that “we have long since held that corporations are covered by the First Amendment.”

But Justice Stevens defended the restrictions struck down on Thursday as modest and sensible. Even before the decision, he said, corporations could act through their political action committees or outside the specified time windows.

Hmmm, not sure what that exactly means, and without reading all the decision and opinions of the SCOTUS on this case, it leaves a big question.  What did Stevens mean by that time window remark?

I will give you a couple of links below to the actual case decision and some links to a huge amount of articles and blog post that are related to this case.

This link here is to Cornell University Law and has all the court documents and opinions:  CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMM’N

CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMM’N ( No. 08-205 ) Reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded.

Syllabus	Opinion [Kennedy]	Concurrence [Roberts]	Concurrence [Scalia]	CDInPart [Stevens]	CDInPart [Thomas]
HTML version PDF version	HTML version PDF version	HTML version PDF version	HTML version PDF version	HTML version PDF version	HTML version PDF version

This next link is from SCOTUS Blog, and has a ton of links that refer to the case, going back before the appeal was even filed with the Supreme Court:  Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission : SCOTUSblog

Holding: Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections. While corporations or unions may not give money directly to campaigns, they may seek to persuade the voting public through other means, including ads, especially where these ads were not broadcast. Judgment: Reversed, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy on January 21, 2010. in a 5-4 decision with an opinion written by Justice Kennedy. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor.

Okay, now for a bit more on this decision…SCOTUS Blog has this summary: Argument preview: Corporations in politics : SCOTUSblog Take a few minutes to read through this, it will give you an overview and feel for the case, players, and arguments. One thing about the decision the Supreme Court made…There is a loophole within this ruling, and in this NYT article it discusses this:  Decision Could Allow Anonymous Political Contributions by Businesses – NYTimes.com

The Supreme Court decision last month allowing corporations to spend unlimited money on behalf of political candidates left a loophole that campaign finance lawyers say could allow companies to pay for extensive political advertising while avoiding the disclosure requirements the court appeared to leave intact.

Experts say the ruling, along with a pair of earlier Supreme Court cases, makes it possible for corporations and unions to donate anonymously to nonprofit civic leagues and trade associations. The groups can then use the money to finance the types of political advertisements that were at the heart of last month’s ruling, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. [...]

For the first time, though, as a result of the ruling, corporations will be able to spend unlimited amounts of money on advertisements expressly advocating for a candidate’s election or defeat. The ruling also clears the way, for the first time, for corporations to donate money to nonprofit groups that place advocacy advertisements.

So, if you remember, we don’t know what kind of non-profit business W. Spann, LLC was engaged in…so there is no real certainty that the million bucks is going specifically for political advertisements. However, since W. Spann was formed to get Romney “elected” …it could go without saying that this money is going to fund advertisements to do just that. The thing about all this is that 26 states filed petitions with the Supreme Court regarding this decision.  See some states have different laws regarding the disclosure of corporations that donate the money to political campaigns, even though this is a federal issue. These 26 states sent petitions to keep the laws they had from 1912 as precedent. Court Rolls Back Campaign Spending Limits – WSJ.com

The ruling not only strikes down the federal requirement, it also calls into question similar provisions enacted by nearly half the states. “States like Montana, whose people adopted a corporate electioneering law by initiative in 1912, have distinct and compelling histories of corporate domination in the political process that the court did not address,” said Montana State Solicitor Anthony Johnstone, who filed a brief on behalf of 26 states seeking to affirm the precedents.

Delaware and New york are not one of the 26 states, however Massachusetts is. See just how convoluted this entire thing is? Remember, W Spann was founded in Massachusetts, registered in Delaware, and had an office in New York. Oof! Anyway, I know we have some lawyers out there who read this blog, I would love to get your take on this. I think this donation by this W. Spann LLC, could challenge the Supreme Court ruling on Citizen’s United.

• Was the corporation donating the money specifically for “advertising?”
• Did the corporation remain active long enough to appease the court’s definition regarding the length of time a corporation’s status is “active” with the Secretary of State in which it was registered?
• Does the fact that W.Spann LLC was founded in Massachusetts, which was one of the states that petitioned to keep their 1912 corporate campaign fund disclosures set as precedent have any bearing?
• And, since this W.Spann was a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, what rules must it follow when it comes to disclosure of donated funds?

It all is so thick with uncertainties, I really look forward to seeing how it all pan’s out. Well what do you all think?

So please go to SkyDancingBlog.com to read more!

Thanks…

JJ aka Minkoff Minx

So please go to SkyDancingBlog.com to read more!

Thanks…

JJ aka Minkoff Minx

Friday the 13th, 1980. (Photo: CTV News)

Libyan state television has aired what it says is a statement by Muammar Gaddafi, in which the Libyan leader denies reports that he has been wounded. In the audio message, broadcast on Friday evening, Gaddafi said he is alive and well despite air strikes from the NATO military alliance on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in the capital, Tripoli, on Thursday. Gaddafi said he is in a place where NATO bombs can not reach him. “I want to tell you that your bombing will not reach me because millions of Libyans bear me in their heart,” Gaddafi said, thanking heads of state who had asked about his health after the airstrike.

What the AJE article fails to mention is after Gaddafi said he was in a good hiding place, where NATO can’t find him…a loud wet dictatorial raspberry sound was heard over the airwaves. Speaking of Friday the 13th scary…I’ve got some links below that are really frightening. Only instead of a big kitchen knife, just imagine Jason wielding a wire hanger. But first, a few articles that came out today about media bias… This recent scientific study from North Carolina State University shows that Perceived media bias can lead to political action,

…but only on specific issues. When there is a general perception of bias in the news media it actually results in increased apathy among citizens. […] The researchers found no direct evidence of a connection between perceived bias and political engagement, but did find some evidence that perceived bias undermined both people’s trust in government and belief that they could influence government. Ultimately, this indirect influence also undermined their likelihood of engaging in political behavior.

That comes as no surprise, but when researchers asked the survey respondents about a specific and controversial issue, they found a direct link between “perceived media bias” and becoming involved as an advocate for their particular views on the issue. For example:

“The people who perceived the most media bias on stem cell research were also the most willing to join a demonstration or take other political action,” Binder says. “I think this shows that people are more likely to get involved in the political process if they do not feel their views are represented by the media on specific issues.

And if there is one media network that continues to present the news according to its own political agenda, it is Fox News.  MoJo’s Kevin Drum discusses a recent article from the blog Monkey Cage that analyses Fox and CNN’s coverage of the tea party tax day rallies from 2009 in a sociological point of view. Fox News as a Social Movement | Mother Jones

The nickel version is that CNN gave the rallies a lot of coverage on the day of the events plus a little bit of followup the next day. In other words, they treated the rallies as a news event. But Fox’s approach was a wee bit different: FoxNews has explicitly mobilized its viewers by connecting the Tea Party to their own brand identity. … Rather than serving a journalistic, or even a propagandistic function, Fox News in effect acts as a “national social movement organization,” as described by sociologist Debra Minkoff in studies of liberal identity movements.

Since the graph clearly shows what most of us already knew, click the link to Monkey Cage and read more of the analysis.  It sure is a different way of looking at the media bias on Fox News.

Mitch McConnell

The cynicism of American politicians is a strong and persistent theme, but this most recent move by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell takes it to a whole new level. A mere six months after Republicans won big by attacking Democrats for “cutting Medicare,” McConnell is now demanding cuts to Medicare or else he will do serious damage to the American economy. From the Washington Post:

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told President Obama on Thursday that he must agree to cut spending on federal agencies over the next two years and make significant changes to Medicare and Medicaid as part of a deal for raising the legal limit on government borrowing. During a White House meeting with the entire Senate Republican caucus, McConnell (Ky.) told the president that the battle over the debt limit is a critical opportunity to overhaul the popular health-care entitlement programs, which are projected to be the biggest drivers of future borrowing.

This is chutzpah in its purest form. McConnell went from great defender of Medicare to threatening to take down the whole economy unless Democrats allow them to cut the program in the political blink of an eye.

I will say this, McConnell is another dude I would rather see wearing a hockey mask as well.  He just looks to me like an aged Chucky doll.  What do you think? This next link is one way the Republicans can completely wipe out American History in schools instead of rewriting it…. House Bill Introduced to Eliminate Teaching American History Grants | History News Network

SOURCE: Lee White at the National Coalition for History (5-13-11)

On May 13, legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives that would eliminate the Teaching American History (TAH) grants program at the U.S. Department of Education. The bill (H.R. 1891), the “Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act,” would terminate 43 K-12 federal education programs the House Republican leadership contends are wasteful, ineffective and duplicative.

Yup, give a Republican a knife and they will chop Kevin Bacon to pieces faster than Jason Voorhees did in the 1980 movie, Friday the 13th. And here is the two articles that I referred to up top…wire hangers indeed! Minnesota Planned Parenthood Condemns Proposed “Gag Rule” | RH Reality Check

The Minnesota legislature is continuing its efforts to defund reproductive health services for poor women. First trying to deny state-funded abortion coverage by pulling funds from Planned Parenthood, and now introducing a gag rule that would not only remove state funds from any abortion provider, even if the funds were not used for abortion, but would deny funds to any group that so much as gives a referral for or even mentions the word abortion.

Kansas Legislature Votes To Take Title X Money From Planned Parenthood, Give It to Pregnancy Centers | RH Reality Check

The Kansas legislature has passed a bill meant to defund Planned Parenthood by removing $334,000 in Title X funding meant to help low income women access reproductive health screenings and birth control.  The measure, as well as a full ban on any abortion coverage in any insurance policies in the state, continue to establish Kansas as one of the most anti-women’s health states in the country.

Alright, y’all know what I would say about these anti-woman bills in Minnesota and Kansas…I am just too tired and annoyed to type it out now. Just a couple more…talking about Fox News, I wanted to bring this article from MoJo about foxes, to your attention.  Fantastic Foxes | Mother Jones

This species success story is therefore best seen outside of cities, in the remote habitats where the variations in fox’s biology can really be seen and appreciated. Though you may have to look hard to see them, as these “true foxes” of the deserts, mountains, tundras, and frozen worlds are kings of being coy. Of the 37 species referred to as foxes, only 12 actually belong to the Vulpes genus of true foxes. One that fits into this category (but also that of its own genus) is the Arctic fox. The Tibetan Fox is characterized by its soft, thick, red fur and long bushy tail with white tip. …the Fennec fox. The smallest canid in the world, this animal’s entire body has adapted to cope with the extreme nature of its environment.

That Tibetan Fox sort of looks like McConnell too… Okay, before I go…did you hear that Bush has talked about where he was when he got the call from Obama about Osama? It seems he was at a restaurant with Laura and some friends, chowing down on a cheese souffle. Have a good Friday Night…and be sure to post any news links ya want to.

A controversial new Indiana law limiting access to abortion services remains in effect after a federal judge Wednesday denied a request for a restraining order from Planned Parenthood. The brief ruling from Judge Tanya Walton Pratt in Indianapolis means the law signed hours earlier by Gov. Mitch Daniels, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, can continue to be enforced. The bill cuts off all government Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and other private abortion providers in the state. It also bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, with exceptions for the life or health of the mother. […] Pratt, who was named to the bench last year by President Obama and is the state’s first African-American jurist, indicated she will need more time to consider whether the law should ultimately be allowed to stand. She said the process could take weeks. But her refusal in the meantime to put things on hold does not give abortion right supporters much encouragement.

Indiana Judge Lets Planned Parenthood Defunding Stand – Jezebel

 — Planned Parenthood had asked the U.S. District Court court to delay enforcement of a new Indiana law denying Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood while the organization challenges its constitutionality. ACLU and Planned Parenthood argues that forcing doctors to say life begins at conception and that a fetus can feel pain around 20 weeks violates their First Amendment rights, and that the immediate defunding would violate existing contracts. The Indianapolis Star notes, “Typically a judge’s reluctance to even temporarily put a law on hold does not bode well for the plaintiff, in this case Planned Parenthood.”

Then this from Texas…honestly, how can these a-holes get away with it.  State Senator Adds Provision To Texas Bill Jeopardizing Women’s Health Program

Following a national trend in which legislators force broad women’s health issues onto the battleground of anti-abortion politics, the Texas state Senate has put the future of the state’s Medicaid Women’s Health Program (WHP) in limbo. If the legislation that established the WHP is not renewed by December, the five-year-old program — which provides approximately 90,000 uninsured women who earn under $1,679 a month with family planning education; contraceptive care; and screenings for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), cancer, anemia and hypertension and often serves as their only source of primary health care — will expire. […] “I am dumbfounded that a program that actually saves state money and brings health care to women has become a political thing,” said Kelly Hart, director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of North Texas. Hart explained that, unlike most nonprofit-organization policy proposals that project only long-term monetary benefits, WHP provides almost immediate savings. Costing less than $3 million to administer, the WHP saved Texas over $20 million in 2009 and the Legislative Budget Board estimates $83 million in savings over the next two years. Every dollar Texas spends for the WHP is matched with $9 of federal cash, providing contraceptives for women who would qualify for Medicaid once pregnant. The Health and Human Services Commission predicted 9,101 pregnancies for 2008, while only 3,375 pregnancies actually occurred. “I realize they are calling this the nuclear option,” Deuell told The Huffington Post. “I’m torn, I want the program to continue … but given the environment in the House in Texas, the pro-life people said it would never pass and be renewed unless a clause guaranteed [that affiliates of abortion providers couldn’t get funding.]” Senator Jose Rodriguez (D-El Paso), the lone dissenting vote in committee, “doesn’t buy” Deuell’s explanation for the provision and believes this to be a political attack on Planned Parenthood. “It seems like bad policy, the argument was that this is the only way we can pass this program,” Rodriguez said. “If everybody acknowledges and … agrees that this program has been successful and that the need is there, why would we pass a bill that calls for its destruction?”

Reading this lone dissenting voice is so pathetic.  Why aren’t the democrats hitting the streets in outrage.  I know the type of steamrolling the Dem Party can accomplish…hell, I supported Hillary Clinton and was one of the 18 million who got steamrolled by a highly organized group of “inspired and motivated” progressives and journalist.  Where are they now when this war against women is  being successfully waged by the idiots and morons that are hell-bent on removing all rights from women? They are silent…and they are asses for not standing up for what is right! (The term asshole seems more appropriate though.) Here is a link to the video of today’s hearing on the Peace Corp. House Foreign Affairs Cmte. Hearing on the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary | C-SPAN

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Peace Corps.  The Peace Corps has 8,500 volunteers serving around the world, with many facing significant dangers in host countries.  The House Foreign Affairs Committee looked at the safety of the volunteers. Witnesses include the President and Inspector General of the Peace Corps, and the mother of a volunteer who was killed in West Africa.

That should be the safety of the women volunteers…again the spin makes me sick! Peace Corps Promises to Stop Blaming Victims of Sex Assault – ABC News

After emotional testimony from several former Peace Corps volunteers who were victims of sexual assault abroad, the agency’s director promised Congressional lawmakers big changes in the Peace Corps’ handling of sex assault cases including putting an end to the practice of “blaming the victim.” “There is no doubt that what these courageous women have done has opened our eyes to what we need to correct and we need to correct it now,” Peace Corps director Aaron Williams said. “Rest assured, this type of thing, blaming the victim, will not continue in the Peace Corps of today.” Williams said he would also immediately replace a training tape currently in use at the Peace Corps and obtained by ABC News in which some other victims of sexual assault appear on camera to describe what they had supposedly done wrong to bring on attacks. […] One victim, Jess Smochek, told members of Congress that after she had been brutally gang-raped by several men in Bangladesh in 2002, a Peace Corps medical officer refused to examine her and instead took away her cell phone so she could not call fellow volunteers. Before she returned to the U.S., she said she was instructed to tell fellow volunteers that she had to return to have her wisdom teeth taken out. When she arrived at Washington, D.C., she said she saw a Peace Corps official who made her write down everything she had supposedly done wrong to cause the attack.

I have one thing to say about this, the Peace Corp better do more than “replace a training tape” that puts the blame on the victim…by having these women state on video what they did wrong to trigger the attack.  What kind of fucking response is that? Okay, let me breathe a bit…This next link is from C&L:  As Breitbart and Loesch Cover Their Tracks, Professors Cleared By University Officials | Crooks and Liars

You may recall this video. It was the first of two posted on Big Government’s site two weeks ago alleging that UMSL Professor Don Giljum and UMKC Professor Judy Ancel were teaching impressionable young college students how to become union thugs, which they were not. I posted the unedited versions (as did Media Matters) proving that once again, the videos had been edited to give the appearance that these professors were saying something exactly opposite of that which was alleged by Breitbart and Co. Monday UMSL published this statement absolving Giljum and Ancel of any and all wrongdoing:

The excerpts that were made public showing the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) instructor Don Giljum and students as well as the UMKC instructor and students were definitely taken out of context, with their meaning highly distorted through splicing and editing from different times within a class period and across multiple class periods.

If this were a fair and just world, these professors would receive a profuse apology from Dana Loesch, Andrew Breitbart, their respective universities, and Don Giljum would be invited to rescind his resignation with a public invitation to teach the very same class again next semester. But it isn’t a fair and just world, so here’s what happened instead. BigGovernment published a “confession” of sorts called a “first-hand account” from Phillip Christofanelli, a young Ron Paul devotee, ardent member of the St. Louis chapter of Young Americans for Liberty (YAF), was a Ron Paul delegate in 2008, and has a past association with another James O’Keefe project. That project, like every single one O’Keefe has been involved with, was also a hoax, intended to embarrass the university and paint the Young Americans for Liberty as discriminated-against victims. (For Christofanelli’s full first-hand account of the “Gulag” fiasco, please see page 12 of the March 2010 issue of Young American Revolution)

It is a great article by karoli, so be sure to click the link up top and read the whole thing…it is a rather long post. I am posting this next link because the author makes some observations that we have discussed before…Forget Sarah Palin and Donald Trump: Obama needs a challenge from the left | Mehdi Hasan | Comment is free | The Guardian

The tragedy is that Obama needs to be held to account – but from a leftwing, not rightwing, direction. He has embraced and affirmed a centre-right world view utterly at odds with his 2008 presidential campaign, with its promises of “change”, “reform” and a decisive break from the Bush-Cheney era. [...] The double standards are glaring. Imagine, for a moment, the outcry from Democrats if Dubya had held the 23-year-old US soldier, Bradley Manning – the alleged WikiLeaks source – in conditions described as “degrading and inhumane” by more than 250 eminent legal scholars. Shamefully, however, Obama publicly defended Manning’s detention, including his solitary confinement, as “appropriate”. The irony is that Obama, a self-styled conciliator and healer, has spent much of his presidency appeasing Republican foes on Capital Hill and capitulating to corporations and Wall Street banks. He has eschewed populism, allowing the Tea Party to surf public anger over bank bailouts and bonuses, job losses and home repossessions. But what else should one expect from a White House stuffed with corporate-friendly, Clinton-era figures? The president’s chief of staff, William Daley, appointed in January, is a former banker, and opposed Obama’s healthcare reform. His treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, George Osborne’s new best friend, was one of the architects of bank deregulation. Meanwhile, progressive economic voices like Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman are studiously ignored. Obama hasn’t just neglected his base, he has abused it. [...] I have a proposal. Why not give him an electoral target for this animosity? Why not run a left candidate against Obama in the Democratic primaries next February? A Democratic opponent would act as a countervailing force to whichever Tea Party-backed Republican he ends up facing in the presidential election. It might force Obama to triangulate to the left as well as the right, and encourage the Democrats to have a long–overdue discussion about their values, policies and direction.

Okay…”Clinton era figures?” excuse me? I am pretty sure that the number of figure heads in Obama’s administration are from the Bush era…right? I do however want to highlight this statement about what a challenge to Obama could bring to the Democratic Party:

…encourage the Democrats to have a long–overdue discussion about their values, policies and direction.

Because the direction the Dems are heading is not the direction they should be going…they need to get the thumb out of their asses and do something that embraces the ideals of being a progressive democrat.  Standing up against all this anti-women, anti-planned parenthood crap spewing from the GOP and religious right would be a damn good place to start. That’s my evening news reads for today, I think I need a nice big hunk of chocolate…this post got me angry.  So while I sit nibbling on my candy…be sure to post some comments below!

National Association of Letter Carriers - NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive – the largest one-day food drive in the nation and probably the world.

Every second Saturday in May letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America deliver much more than mail when they walk and drive along their postal routes. They also collect the goodness and compassion of their postal customers who participate in the NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive – the largest one-day food drive in the nation and probably the world. Led by letter carriers represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO), with the help of rural letter carriers, other postal employees and numerous other volunteers, the drive has resulted in delivery of more than one billion pounds of donations to community food banks and pantries over the past 18 years. Carriers collect non-perishable food donations left by mailboxes and in post offices and deliver them to local community food banks, pantries and shelters. Nearly 1,500 local NALC branches in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands are involved in the drive. The U.S. Postal Service and Campbell Soup Company are major supporters of the drive. Campbell Soup also earmarked an additional 1 million pound canned food donation to the drive. Other supporters are Cox Target Media and its Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, the nationwide direct mail marketing firm, which promotes the drive on 40 million packets delivered to postal customers. The drive also relies on the backing of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, the Feeding America food bank network; the United Way of America and its local United Ways, the AFL-CIO Community Services network, and countless local sponsors. All citizens need do is to place a box or can of non-perishable food next to their mailbox before their letter carrier delivers mail every second Saturday in May. The carrier will do all the rest. The food is taken back to a postal station, sorted, and then delivered to an area food bank or pantry. There it is available for needy families. Some 35.5 million people face hunger every day in America, including 13 million children. This drive is one way people can help those right in their own city or town who need help. The NALC food drive has received a number of accolades over the years, including two Presidential Certificates of Achievement. Help the U.S. Postal Service Stamp Out Hunger!

Here is a HuffPo article about it written by  Nick Cannon: Help Stamp Out Hunger

Stamp Out Hunger, the largest single-day food drive in the world, taking place on Saturday, May 14th. Stamp Out Hunger is in its 19th year, and has collected over 1 billion pounds of food over the years. Organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers, the food drive is carried out in every postal district in the country. It’s very easy to participate. Just place non-perishable food items in your mailbox or hand to your letter carrier, and the postal workers will make sure it gets delivered to those who need it most. They’ll distribute the food by partnering with Feeding America, which runs over 200 food banks around the country and feeds 37 million people each year. The collected food will be distributed among 10,000 communities, including the many disaster-stricken states.

So please be sure to put some canned goods in your mailbox on Saturday…and lets help letter carriers like Jessica, Stamp Out Hunger! On to a distressing article on a topic that Madamab mentioned in the comments this past week. Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out on Rape – NYTimes.com

Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.” She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang.

Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times

Jess Smochek, who was raped in Bangladesh in 2004, advocates for former Peace Corps volunteers who were sexually assaulted.

Philip Scott Andrews/The New York Times

From left, Kate Finn, Meg Long and Casey Frazee of First Response Action, an advocacy group for former volunteers.

When she returned to the United States, the reception she received from Peace Corps officials was as devastating, she said, as the rape itself. In Bangladesh, she had been given scant medical care; in Washington, a counselor implied that she was to blame for the attack. For years she kept quiet, feeling “ashamed and embarrassed and guilty.” Today, Ms. Smochek is among a growing group of former Peace Corps volunteers who are speaking out about their sexual assaults, prompting scrutiny from Congress and a pledge from the agency for reform. In going public, they are exposing an ugly sliver of life in the Peace Corps: the dangers that volunteers face in far-flung corners of the world and the inconsistent — and, some say, callous — treatment they receive when they become crime victims. “These women are alone in many cases, and they’re in rough parts of the world,” said Representative Ted Poe, Republican of Texas, who says the Peace Corps’ promises do not go far enough and is sponsoring legislation to force changes in the way it treats victims of sexual assault. “We want the United States to rush in and treat them as a victim of crime like they would be treated here at home.” […] But from 2000 to 2009, on average, 22 Peace Corps women each year reported being the victims of rape or attempted rape, the agency says. During that time, more than 1,000 Peace Corps volunteers reported sexual assaults, including 221 rapes or attempted rapes. Because sexual crimes often go unreported, experts say the incidence is likely to be higher, though they and the Peace Corps add that it is difficult to assess whether the volunteers face any greater risk overseas than women in the United States do. On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will convene a hearing to examine what its chairwoman, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, called “serious crimes” committed against Peace Corps volunteers, including murder; in announcing the hearing, her office cited reports of “gross mismanagement of sexual assault complaints.” […] the work of Ms. Frazee, who has spent the last 18 months tracking down Peace Corps sexual assault survivors by reaching out through social networking sites and her blog. Last year, her work attracted the attention of the ABC News program “20/20,” which ran a segment on the women in January. In recent months, Ms. Frazee, 28, has collected more than two dozen affidavits from other women, who have shared stories that Mr. Williams called “tragic.” In interviews and documents, they paint a picture of what many call a “blame the victim” culture at the Peace Corps.

Please be sure to read the rest of the article, and I will  post updates on the hearing when they become available. Moving on to a PLUB that is really pissing me off.  This GOP Governor has put his signature on a bill that ends funding for Planned Parenthood in his state.  Mitch Daniels signs controversial Planned Parenthood bill into law – CNN Political Ticker – CNN.com Blogs

Republican Indiana governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate Mitch Daniels signed a bill Tuesday that will cut off significant amounts of federal funds given to his state’s chapter of Planned Parenthood, a move the group fought by filing for a temporary restraining order and injunction with the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

The bill, which passed both houses of the state legislature by large margins, imposes some of the nation’s toughest restrictions on abortions, cutting off about $3 million in public funds received for female preventive health services, including birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings and other tests in the Hoosier state. Although federal law prevents government funds being used for abortion services, proponents of the bill have said they do not want federal money funneled to an organization that performs abortions. Planned Parenthood has said the bill, which takes effect immediately, is dangerous and would have a “devastating impact on women’s health” in Indiana, according to Cecile Richards,  president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The Wall Street Journal has a poll going about those ridiculous sonograms before abortions, and I link it here so that you can read the comment section:  WSJ: Should states require sonograms before allowing women have abortions Those guys commenting on this poll also piss me off.  So I will just leave it at that, and move on to something that is sure to be a big ticket item in the 2012 Election. This next article is about the speech Obama gave today.  Obama and Immigration Reform: Politics or Policy? | Mother Jones

Mr. Wright/Flickr

A renewed emphasis on the economic argument for immigration would be a welcome shift—not just for the White House, but for the broader immigration debate, where heavy enforcement tactics like Arizona’s draconian immigration law have taken center stage. Though the Republican Party has moved dramatically to the right on immigration, business leaders like Rupert Murdoch and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have remained committed to a comprehensive overhaul, given the economic benefits of immigration. Even the Wall Street Journal‘s notoriously conservative op-ed page has played up the importance of America’s young immigrant labor force to the country’s future economic prosperity. A focus on the economic benefits of immigration could encourage more moderate, pro-business voices to come forward to press for a comprehensive solution. Even so, Obama may have a tough time convincing his own allies that he’s seriously committed to a fully revamped immigration system, as the Republican-controlled House essentially rules out any action. Pro-immigration advocates are calling for Obama to slow the administration’s deportation of illegal immigrants and ease up on other enforcement tactics—a move the president’s unlikely to make, given the White House’s pride in its heavy enforcement strategy.

I know there are more recent articles on Obama’s speech about immigration, but they did not have a picture of Obama in a cowboy hat…aren’t the good guys supposed to wear white? I don’t know, I am not from Texas…and the folks around my area of Banjoland prefer baseball caps with rebel flags printed on them.

Squidbillies is a cartoon about squids...North Georgia Mountain Country squids.

Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

Last month, American soldiers put on rain gear at the end of the first day of an operation with Afghan forces in Paktika Province.

WASHINGTON — The killing of Osama bin Laden has set off a reassessment of the war in Afghanistan and the broader effort to combat terrorism, with Congress, the military and the Obama administration weighing the goals, strategies, costs and underlying authority for a conflict that is now almost a decade old.

Two influential senators — John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana — suggested Tuesday that it was time to rethink the Afghanistan war effort, forecasting the beginning of what promises to be a fierce debate about how quickly the United States should begin pulling troops out of the country.

“We should be working toward the smallest footprint necessary, a presence that puts Afghans in charge and presses them to step up to that task,” Mr. Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said at a hearing. “Make no mistake, it is fundamentally unsustainable to continue spending $10 billion a month on a massive military operation with no end in sight.” Both Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lugar, the committee’s senior Republican, said they remained opposed to a precipitous withdrawal.

And what does your average American think? Check out this Poll: With bin Laden finally dead, is it time for America’s longest war to end? – USATODAY.com

So with bin Laden finally gone, is it time for America’s longest war to end?

Nearly six in 10 Americans think so, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend. Assessments of how the decade-long war is going have improved a bit, compared with six weeks ago, and a broad swath of Americans now agrees with the statement that the United States “has accomplished its mission in Afghanistan and should bring its troops home.”

Just over one-third say instead that the USA “still has important work to do in Afghanistan and should maintain its troops there.”

I’ve wondered when the Obama Administration would step up its reaction to the events taking place in Syria.  AP sources: US closer to declaring Assad’s rule in Syria illegitimate – The Washington Post

The Obama administration is edging closer to calling for an end to the long rule of the Assad family in Syria. Administration officials said Tuesday that the first step would be to say for the first time that President Bashar Assad has forfeited his legitimacy to rule, a major policy shift that would amount to a call for regime change that has questionable support in the world community.

The tougher U.S. line almost certainly would echo demands for “democratic transition” that the administration used in Egypt and is now espousing in Libya, the officials said. But directly challenging Assad’s leadership is a decision fraught with problems: Arab countries are divided, Europe is still trying to gauge its response, and there are major doubts over how far the United States could go to back up its words with action.

If the Syrian government persists with its harsh crackdown on political opponents, the U.S. could be forced into choosing between an undesired military operation to protect civilians, as in Libya, or an embarrassing U-turn that makes it look weak before an Arab world that is on the tipping point between greater democracy or greater repression.

And for an interesting piece about Mubarak. It is funny how vain those mad dictators can be. Read the article at the link: Egypt Hosni Mubarak: Egypt tries to erase Hosni Mubarak’s name – latimes.com

A judge rules that the ousted president’s name be removed from all public institutions. But when the letters are removed, a mark often remains, just as his imprint lingers in the words of those tortured by his police and in allegations of corruption.

With the Human Rights report from Amnesty International due this Friday, I’ve found lots of articles regarding Human Rights. Like this one from The Guardian. Bangladeshi force trained by UK police ‘allowed to kill and torture’ | World news | The Guardian

The Bangladeshi government has allowed a British-trained paramilitary force to secretly detain, torture and kill hundreds of people with impunity over the past two years, a report warns. The report, released by the New York-based NGO, Human Rights Watch, catalogues a series of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and deaths in custody of the Rapid Action Battalion. Citing a lack of redress for victims, and the government’s dismal record of failing to prosecute a single perpetrator, the NGO has called on the Bangladeshi government to disband the RAB and for the UK and US to withdraw support unless they take active steps to hold the force to account. Torture methods listed in the report include burning with a hot iron, and beatings so severe that a victim’s legs were “smashed and did not retain their usual shape; they were flattened”. Mahabub Khokon told researchers that when he collected the body of his brother, Mohiuddin Arif, from the morgue after he was arrested by the RAB in February last year, repeated assaults had turned his legs green, skin had been scraped off several areas of his body, and his feet were swollen and looked as if they were “falling apart”. […] British police have helped train RAB teams since 2007, around the time that UK intelligence agencies began seeking closer counter-terrorism co-operation with the RAB and Bangladeshi intelligence agencies. On Monday, a Foreign Office spokesman said the UK government raised issues of human rights abuses by the RAB “at every opportunity”. He added: “We are not currently providing any training for the RAB at all.”

So with the recent flurry of news items about the disturbing violation of Human Rights in countries like China, Syria, Lebanon, Bangladesh (and so many other places in the world) it seems fitting to end this post on an editorial from Truthdig.  Dear Hillary Clinton, Our Human Rights Record Is ‘Deplorable’ Too – Truthdig

We can get behind the idea of letting a country make its own history, but there’s something awfully hypocritical about calling out China when, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, our nation is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”

Perhaps it’s because we live in “the real world” that the United States no longer believes in due process, eavesdrops on its citizens, fires rockets into wedding parties and imprisons more of its population than any other country.

China has serious problems where human rights are concerned, but we probably shouldn’t throw stones—at least until we shut down Guantanamo.  —PZS

Oh, and one more thing…remember that little girl who was gang raped in Cleveland, Texas? Well, while reading about this guy being attacked by a house cat…which required him to take ride in a life flight helicopter, I found this section of the Cleveland Newspaper that is supposed to keep its readers updated on the Sexual Assault Coverage – Houston Community Newspapers: Cleveland Talk about comments that will piss you off, some of the remarks really are sickening. So what are you reading about today?

World News

Well, I will start with the world today…and there is so much going on, just don’t know where to begin. So I’ll hit the far east and move west. In China, Jasmine (yes the plant) is now being treated like some sort of red-headed step-child. Jasmine Becomes Contraband in China – NYTimes.com

Sim Chi Yin for The New York Times

Wu Chuanzhen, 53, tends to her six greenhouses of jasmine flower plants.

DAXING , China — Do not be lulled by its intoxicating fragrance or the dainty, starlike blossoms whose whiteness suggests innocence and purity. Jasmine, a stalwart of Chinese tea and the subject of a celebrated folk song often heard while on hold with provincial bureaucrats, is not what it seems.

Since Tunisian revolutionaries this year anointed their successful revolt against the country’s dictatorial president the “Jasmine Revolution,” this flowering cousin of the olive tree has been branded a nefarious change-agent by the skittish men who keep the Chinese Communist Party in power.

Beginning in February, when anonymous calls for a Chinese “jasmine revolution” began circulating on the Internet, the Chinese characters for jasmine have been intermittently blocked in cellphone text messages while videos of President Hu Jintao singing “Mo Li Hua,” a Qing dynasty paean to the flower, have been plucked from the Web. Local officials, fearful of the flower’s destabilizing potency, canceled this summer’s China International Jasmine Cultural Festival in south China, said Wu Guangyan, manager of the Guangxi Jasmine Development and Investment Company. Even if Chinese cities have been free from any whiff of revolutionary turmoil, the war on jasmine has not been without casualties, most notably the ever-expanding list of democracy advocates, bloggers and other would-be troublemakers who have been preemptively detained by public security agents, among them the artist provocateur Ai Weiwei, who remains in police custody after being seized at Beijing’s international airport last month. Less well known are the tribulations endured by the tawny-skinned men and women who grow ornamental jasmine here in Daxing, a district on the rural fringe of the capital. They say prices have collapsed since March, when the police issued an open-ended jasmine ban at a number of retail and wholesale flower markets around Beijing.

[…]

As is often the case in China, government controls have a tendency to wilt in the face of mercantile pressures. After two months with little sign of jasmine at the markets, a few vanloads of the plants, their branches thick with blossoms, began to show up at wholesale centers last week. They were priced so low, the buyers could not resist. One retailer, who asked that only her surname, Cui, be printed, acknowledged that the original order had not been officially lifted but that the authorities had yet to interfere.

For some perspective on this, here is an article about the US talks with China from HuffPo. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton Note ‘Vigorous Disagreement’ Over Human Rights As China Dialogue Begins

As the United States opened two days of talks with China Monday, Vice President Joe Biden lauded the growing political ties between the world’s two largest economies but emphasized that the Obama administration remains deeply concerned about continuing human rights violations in China. “We have vigorous disagreement in the area of human rights,” Biden said as the third annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue got underway. “We have to be honest with each other,” he added, noting the recent arrests and disappearances of Chinese journalists, human rights lawyers, bloggers, writers and artists. […] But Jeffrey Bader, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, said nervousness over the Arab Spring uprisings and fears of similar upheavals at home have spurred recent crackdowns. Despite recent discussions in which U.S. officials “took a thoughtful approach of stressing issues of concern to Chinese people and groups, mitigating the risks of appearing to be imposing U.S. customs and norms on a suspicious China,” Bader expects few concrete results to emerge from this week’s summit.

I guess I just see the relationship, here you have a Jasmine, which is a flower and plant that is very much a part of the Chinese identity. The NYT article above quotes a poem that a jasmine vendor begins to sing…I’ll quote it below:

“Mo Li Hua,” a version of which was played each time medals were presented during 2008 Olympics in Beijing: A beautiful jasmine flower, A beautiful jasmine flower, Perfumed blossoms fill the branch, Fragrant and white for everyone’s delight. Let me come and pick a blossom To give to someone, Jasmine flower, oh jasmine flower

So as with the jasmine flower, China has also silenced/arrested its journalists, human rights lawyers, bloggers, writers and artists that are a symbol of China’s culture and identity. I just find the connection between China’s banning the Jasmine flower and China’s blatant lack of Human Rights sort of symbolic. Makes me want to go out and buy a Jasmine and plant it in my yard… For more on the China-US talks, follow me below the fold.China-U.S. Talks Hit on Rights and Trade – NYTimes.com

Top American officials used a conference here with their Chinese counterparts to lodge blunt complaints about Beijing’s human rights practices, but, reflecting the importance of a dynamic and growing trade relationship, they were far less critical of China’s economic practices.

On to MENA: ‘Kuwait to replace Syria’ for UN body bid – Middle East – Al Jazeera English

Syria’s crackdown on anti-government protests have been widely criticised [AFP]

Western diplomats say Kuwait will replace Syria as a candidate for a seat on the United Nations’ top human rights body in the wake of an intense campaign against the Syrian regime for its ongoing crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising. Kuwait has agreed “privately” to contest the May 20 secret-ballot vote at the UN General Assembly as a candidate for one of the four seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, one western diplomat said on Tuesday. “Syria has faced several calls from the Asia group to withdraw,” another envoy said. Diplomats said it was unclear whether Syria would take over Kuwait’s bid for a council slot in 2013. In January Syria was slated as one of the four candidates alongside India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, for seats to be filled by Asia under a convention that stipulates UN bodies be filled by regional blocs. Human rights groups and some governments have been campaigning to keep Syria off the council. Their efforts intensified after Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests that began in March. News hailed “Kuwait’s candidacy certainly reduces the chances that Syria will get elected,” Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, told AFP. “Syria should see the writing on the wall and withdraw.”

The recent news about how many civilians have been killed in Syria: Syrian human rights group: 757 civilians have been killed since uprising began in mid-March – The Washington Post More Than 750 Killed in Syria – The Daily Beast

The bloody crackdown is showing no signs of stopping. At least 757 civilians have already been killed in Syria since protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad started in mid-March, a human-rights group said on Tuesday. The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria has lists of the names, ages, and causes of death of the victims, according to Ammar Qurabi, the head of the group. Qurabi also said that thousands have been arrested over the past two months and about 9,000 people are still in custody. Syria has banned foreign media, which makes it a challenge to confirm some reports of violence. On Tuesday a key ally of al-Assad warned that the regime will fight demonstrations “until the end.”

Read it at MSNBC

In Uganda Weighing Life Imprisonment for Gays – Truthdig

Legislation that critics call the “Kill the Gays” law is under deliberation by a Ugandan parliament committee. It could make homosexual acts punishable by life in prison and add penalties for those who “aid and abet” homosexual activity. The law had initially contained a provision making the death penalty a legal punishment for gay Ugandans. International human rights organizations have mobilized against this despicable bill, working to keep the parliament from voting before its session comes to a close at the end of this week.  —KDG

Oh yes, I can’t wait for the 2011 Human Rights Amnesty International report that is coming out Friday!

US News

Check out the link below for: Before and After Images Show Tornado Destruction – Interactive Feature – NYTimes.com

Satellite images taken by GeoEye the day after storms blasted through the south show a nearly straight line path of devastation, most likely from one tornado, stretching at least 10 miles. Use the slider and zoom tools to compare images taken before and after the tornado.

Dak mentioned yesterday in the comments that Gingrich is making it official. I just thought this was a good summary of his past proclamations… Gingrich Set To Announce Presidential Campaign | Right Wing Watch

Newt Gingrich will announce his decision to run for President tomorrow on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show. After an address to the Georgia GOP, he will embark on a tour of Iowa. Tracking Gingrich’s comeback in Republican and Religious Right circles, Right Wing Watch has compiled a “Top Ten” list of Gingrich’s truculent and divisive rhetoric and consistent disrespect for the rule of law, freedom of religion, and equality:

1. Gingrich With Hagee, Warning US Becoming “Secular Atheist Country Dominated by Radical Islamists”
2. Gingrich Says He Stands for Religious Liberty but Denies Rights To Muslims
3. Gingrich Wants Ground Zero Declared a National Battlefield Memorial to Stop Park 51
4. Gingrich Says His Infidelity Was Due To The Fact He Was Working So Hard To Save America
5. Gingrich Group Funneled $125K To AFA To Remove Iowa Judges Who Supported Marriage Equality
6. Gingrich Group Calls For Elimination of Ninth Circuit Over Cross Ruling
7. Gingrich Warns of Sharia While Condoning Dominionist Ideology
8. Gingrich and Huckabee Recommend the Ravings of Anti-Gay Activist Matt Barber
9. Gingrich’s Presidential Campaign To Heavily Rely On Barton’s Counsel and Advice
10. Gingrich Joins Lou Engle To Urge America to Rediscover God

Speaking of the 2012 Campaign, the President is heading to Texas, here is a WH press release: Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney aboard Air Force One en route El Paso, Texas | The White House

 MR. CARNEY:  Well, I assume I’ll have questions about what the President is doing in El Paso today.  Briefly, obviously, he’ll be giving a speech to talk about the need for comprehensive immigration reform, about the need to increase support, why it’s an economic imperative, in particular, to keep us competitive in the 21st century.

Carney was asked about the recent news regarding Navy Chaplain’s memo:

Q    The Navy chaplaincy has approved the — officiating of same-sex marriages at Navy chapels, pending a full certification of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”  There have been some members that have been complaining that that brings the administration’s pledge to uphold — or to, I should say, follow DOMA, if not defend it.  Does the administration feel that that’s still legal under DOMA? MR. CARNEY:  I haven’t seen that, and so I suggest you ask the Department of Defense since I haven’t seen that story.

Typical…”I don’t know, ask DoD.” So, Obama is going to be raking the money tonight… I Would Like to See the President When He’s in Austin Tonight, But I Don’t Have an Extra $50,000 Lying Around | Firedoglake

Look, I know it costs a lot of money to mount a national presidential campaign, but this looks absolutely terrible.

The president is scheduled to speak to supporters at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater. Although some college students got tickets for $44, most in attendance will have paid at least $1,000 for the event, which will open with music from Robert Earl Keen. Obama will appear later at a much smaller, costlier fundraiser at a private home west of Austin before heading back to Washington tonight. According to Democrats familiar with the details of Obama’s trip, tickets to that dinner event cost more than $35,000 per person and more than $50,000 per couple, with the money split between Obama’s re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

These are not prosperous times. Over 8% of Texans are unemployed, benefits for the elderly and sick, already meager in this state, are being slashed, and our schools are literally being shut down — all so yacht buyers can get a tax cut. We’re at the mercy of the oligarchy here. Is this really the campaign message the White House wants to send to the working people in the state? When Senator Obama visited Austin in 2007, he spoke at Auditorium Shores to a crowd of 20,000. Tickets were free.

And here is the recent news on that little piece of Arizona that doesn’t want to be a part of Arizona: Leaving Arizona: Tucson Group Pushes Secession – Truthdig

Organizers in Tucson and surrounding Pima County have launched a petition drive that would put their plan to secede from Arizona on the ballot in 2012, a movement born out of liberal disgust with the conservatism of Phoenix and other northern neighbors. The plan is undoubtedly a long shot, and the creation of a “Baja Arizona” would be the first successful split since West Virginia branched off during the Civil War. But at the very least, the “Start Our State” movement sends a signal to the country that not all Arizonans support measures like the immigrant-targeting SB 1070 or the escapades of Maricopa Country Sheriff Joe Arpaio. —KDG

That should get you caught up…please tell me what you think about the China situation in the comments below.

Vintage Evening Newspaper from Westminster, England.

U.S. News

With Mississippi River on Rise, Memphis Residents Told to Go – NYTimes.com

Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

Workers used cranes to remove some of the Bonnet Carre Spillway’s wooden barriers, which serve as a dam against the high water in Norco, La., approximately 30 miles upriver from New Orleans, on Monday.

MEMPHIS — The Mississippi River is expected to crest near Memphis on Monday evening, and emergency officials spent several hours in the morning going door-to-door to warn residents in low-lying areas to evacuate.

The Mississippi, which has already caused some flooding in Memphis during the last several days, will top out at 48 feet on Monday at about 7 p.m., said Tracy Howieson, a National Weather Service hydrologist. It is expected to stay at that level for at least 48 hours before slowly receding. “It will be a prolonged crest at Memphis and in parts downstream,” Ms. Howieson said. The river had not been expected to crest until later this week, but it has taken on a surge of water in recent days from some of its tributaries, officials said.

Dak mentioned some of the concerns this flooding will cause in her backyard.  Will keep you posted on this as the water heads down river. Paul Krugman has a new post up, and all I can say about it is …no shit. The Unwisdom of Elites – NYTimes.com

The past three years have been a disaster for most Western economies. The United States has mass long-term unemployment for the first time since the 1930s. Meanwhile, Europe’s single currency is coming apart at the seams. How did it all go so wrong?

Well, what I’ve been hearing with growing frequency from members of the policy elite — self-appointed wise men, officials, and pundits in good standing — is the claim that it’s mostly the public’s fault. The idea is that we got into this mess because voters wanted something for nothing, and weak-minded politicians catered to the electorate’s foolishness.

So this seems like a good time to point out that this blame-the-public view isn’t just self-serving, it’s dead wrong. The fact is that what we’re experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. The policies that got us into this mess weren’t responses to public demand. They were, with few exceptions, policies championed by small groups of influential people — in many cases, the same people now lecturing the rest of us on the need to get serious. And by trying to shift the blame to the general populace, elites are ducking some much-needed reflection on their own catastrophic mistakes.

Read the rest of Krugman…he discusses what happened in the US and then in Europe. It is pretty much a review of what brought on this economic mess. Here is a recent court decision that was interesting to me..you may also find it interesting as well:  North Carolina Appellate Decision Raises New Chain of Title Issue « naked capitalism

A potentially important North Carolina appeals court case, In re Gilbert, has not gotten the attention it warrants. In very short form, the borrowers, who were unable to obtain a loan modification, tried to halt a foreclosure by arguing that the lenders had failed to make required disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act (which they hoped would allow for recission of the loan, and that the party seeking to foreclose had not proved that it was the holder of the Note with the right to foreclose under the instrument. The judges nixed the TILA argument, affirming lower court decisions, but reversed the superior court on the question of the standing of the petitioner. What is interesting is the logic of the decision, which blows a hole in one of the pet arguments of the American Securitization Forum, that possession of a note will suffice. We have argued that the contracts that govern the securitization, the pooling and servicing agreement, sets the requirements for conveyance as is contemplated in the Uniform Commercial Code (its Article 1 allows for parties to make their own arrangements as long as certain conditions are met). But if the parties to a case do not argue that the PSA trumps the UCC (and many do not), most judges will reason from the UCC, and securitization attorneys have blithely assumed this will get them out of trouble.

World News

In World News, 600 people are feared dead:  BBC News – Libya: Hundreds feared dead as migrant boat capsizes

Several hundred people are feared to have drowned off Libya, after a boat carrying some 600 refugees trying to reach Europe broke up at sea on Friday.

The UN’s refugee agency said 16 bodies, including two babies, had been found. UNCHR has said all ships using the Mediterranean should be ready to assist such vessels, as thousands continue to flee North Africa in inadequate boats. Nato has denied claims that its naval units left dozens of migrants to die aboard another boat in distress. It said it was unaware of the plight of the boat, which reportedly was adrift for more than two weeks. The Guardian newspaper said 61 of the 72 people on board the boat died of hunger or thirst, despite being spotted by a military helicopter and Nato ship. UNHCR’s said migrants arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa had reported seeing the boat carrying some 600 people foundering shortly after leaving the port at Tripoli on Friday.

If confirmed, this would be one of the largest accidents so far involving the thousands of often unseaworthy boats trying to reach Europe following unrest in North Africa.

News From Pakistan rejects complicity in bin Laden case – Central & South Asia – Al Jazeera English

Pakistan has denied allegations of complicity or incompetence in the Osama bin Laden case. Yousuf Raza Gilani, the country’s prime minister, said that it was “disingenuous” for anyone to accuse either the Pakistani state or its various institutions, including its intelligence agencies, of “being in cahoots” with al-Qaeda. Addressing parliament on Monday, Gilani said it was Pakistan’s spy agency that had given “key leads” that ultimately led to the US raid on the compound in Pakistan’s Abbottabad where bin Laden lived. He said that his country attached high importance to its relations with the United States, but warned that “unilateral actions” such as the raid on bin Laden’s house in Abbottabad ran the risk of serious consequences.

This is a great follow up to the AJE article above:  On Bin Laden: I ask myself ‘Why?’ | Informed Comment

I ask myself why. Some Pakistanis are complaining about the violation of their country’s sovereignty during the Navy SEALs’ raid at Abbottabad. But why aren’t they complaining about Usama Bin Laden’s violation of Pakistani sovereignty? He and his family entered their country illegally, and then re-formed a paramilitary organization that killed Pakistanis and raided from Pakistan over into Afghanistan. Foreigners behaving that way for years on Pakistani soil with no pretense of legality seems to me a bigger violation of Pakistani sovereignty than a 40-minute raid that captured one fugitive who had killed 3000 Americans. I ask myself why. Some observers are calling the SEALs’ operation against Bin Laden illegal. But the United Nations Charter firmly recognizes the right of a state to defend itself from attack. Bin Laden had demonstrated that he could and would attack the United States. He was also having US troops in Afghanistan, who are there with UNO sanction, attacked. He was doing this every day. Why wouldn’t the US have the same right to defend itself as everyone else? Pakistani troops in the late 1990s routinely went into Afghanistan for purposes less urgent than self-defense.

Please read the rest of Juan Cole’s article…he also has a few other recent quick posts up that you may want to check out as well. Looking forward for this report from Amnesty International Unveils Global Report On Human Rights; Issue Experts Available For Analysis – PR Newswire – sacbee.com

Amnesty International (AI) will launch its annual assessment of human rights worldwide on Friday, May 13, and the U.S. section of the world’s largest human rights organization is urging the U.S. Congress to support reform efforts across the Middle East and North Africa by investing in development and advancing cyber-activists and internet freedom.

In November or December Dakinikat wrote an article about Big Pharma…here is a piece from Reuters that discusses the same things Dak brought up:  Special report: Big Pharma’s global guinea pigs | Reuters

The Polish port city of Gdansk is famous for its shipyards. Hungary’s fifth largest city, Pecs, is known for its ancient architecture and brewery. Neither is particularly renowned for medicine. Yet when AstraZeneca Plc tested its big new drug hope Brilinta on heart attack patients in a major clinical study, it was hospitals in these places that enrolled some of the highest number of patients anywhere in the world. In fact, Poland and Hungary together accounted for 21 percent of all subjects studied in the pivotal 18,000-patient trial — more than double the United States and Canada combined. A few years ago that would have been unthinkable. Major drug companies, with an eye on the commercial promise of the world’s largest and most profitable market, would have run half their tests on a major cardiovascular medicine like this in U.S. hospitals under the supervision of U.S. doctors.

And I will end with this laugh: ThinkProgress » Trump: ‘I Am The Least Racist Person There Is’ Because A Black Guy Won The Apprentice Six Years Ago

Potential presidential candidate Donald Trump has often found himself in hot water for making racially-tinged comments — saying in the span of a single press conference, for example, that President Obama should “get off his basketball court” and that a black reporter must be a “big Obama fan.” Yet, Trump insists he has a “great relationship with the blacks.” Responding to accusations of racism this morning on Fox & Friends, Trump said he is the “least racist person there is,” citing the fact that an African-American man won The Apprentice once as proof:

TRUMP: Well, you know, when it comes to racism and racists, I am the least racist person there is. And I think most people who know me would tell you that. I am the least racist, I’ve had great relationships. In fact, Randal Pinkett won, as you know, on The Apprentice a little while ago, a couple of years ago. And Randall’s been outstanding in every way. So I am the least racist person.

So that is your evening update…catch y’all later!

Ah…you have to love the Sicilian Mother! They usually are trying to get you to eat, enjoy making you feel guilty…and always help their children any way they can!

(Be sure you check out those video links above…I will try to embed them at the end of the post!)

So please humor me while I honor my own special mother, grand-mothers and great-grandmothers…Happy Mother’s Day!

Okay…on with the show. This week has been a crazy one indeed. With each new “release” of information/video/statement about the bin Laden raid, the more surreal it all becomes. I don’t know if I am watching The Onion or CNN. Boston Boomer has discussed this in two of her post this week…I’ll link to them here and here. So I will refrain from discussing bin Laden, and get on with other news that you may have missed this week.

They are calling this a 500 year flood…as Residents brace for more flooding as Mississippi River swells – CNN.com

As the Mississippi River gushes downstream with no clear boundaries, flooding continues to deluge parts of Tennessee as residents farther south brace for what will come.

“When you see the Mississippi River and it’s about two miles wide because it’s lost its borders, it’s sobering,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.

In some areas, murky brown water inundated entire neighborhoods, with only the roofs of buildings and treetops visible from the sky.

The Mississippi River is expected to crest about 14 feet above flood stage at Memphis as early as late Tuesday.

I spent a lot of time staring out over the Mississippi while in Memphis, the thought of that muddy water spanning two miles wide is overwhelming. Here is more on the floods:  Watery week ahead as Mississippi floodwaters hit Memphis, move downriver – CSMonitor.com

Record high floodwaters are expected to crest throughout the southern Mississippi Delta next week, starting in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday and continuing through New Orleans by May 17. As momentum builds, the bulging waters moving down the Mississippi River are backing up tributaries that feed into it, resulting in evacuations, school cancellations, and road closures as water builds.

Some areas in and around Memphis are already under water, as river levels sit at 46 feet, breaking the record of 45.8 feet set during the historic 1927 flood. The National Weather Service forecasts that the Mississippi will crest there at 48 feet Wednesday and is expected to remain standing for as many as four days.

For up to date Flood Warnings and Watches click the image below.

Floods Monitor – NOAAWatch

On to some world news.  Afghanistan is seeing a lot more violence, whether it is retribution for bin Laden…remains to be seen.  Avenging bin Laden: Taliban Unleash Spring Offensive in Afghanistan – TIME

Taliban fighters carried out a series of coordinated attacks across the embattled southern Afghan city of Kandahar Saturday — a campaign that Afghan President Hamid Karzai characterized as “revenge” for the death of Osama bin Laden. Insurgents first assaulted the provincial governor’s palace with rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire and then launched a series of strikes across the city on the headquarters of the Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Transportation Police, on Police Sub-station One as well as various other Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) and International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) buildings in both Kandahar city and in the Arghandab River Valley, ISAF reported. Between a dozen and two-dozen people were wounded in the fighting, Afghan media reported. All of the suicide bombers were killed.

“Al-Qaeda and its terrorist members who have suffered a major defeat with the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistani territory have tried to hide this defeat by killing civilians in Kandahar and take their revenge on the innocent people of Afghanistan,” Karzai said in a statement. The link between the Kandahar attacks and the death of bin Laden was bolstered by a statement seen on many jihadist websites on Saturday in which the Taliban said that “The Islamic Emirate [the Taliban's name for itself] believes the martyrdom of Sheikh Osama bin Laden will give a new impetus to the current jihad against the invaders in this critical phase of jihad. The tides of jihad will gain strength and width. The forthcoming time will prove this both for the friends and the foes.” The statement was signed by “the general leadership” of al-Qaeda. But later, Taliban spokesmen insisted that the attacks had been in the works for months, news services reported.

So Karzai is putting the blame for the increased attacks as “revenge” for the death of OBL…But the Taliban insist they have been planning it for months.  Hmmm…

In Syria, the situation is getting dire.  Just how bad do things have to get?

Deaths reported as Syrian forces storm city – Middle East – Al Jazeera English

Rights campaigner says ’Sunni and mixed neighbourhoods are totally besieged now’ in Baniyas, a protest hub [Reuters]

Syrian security forces have conducted a raid on Baniyas, a hub of anti-government protests, amid demands by opponents of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, that he offer elections to end the crisis.

A Syrian rights campaigner told the AFP news agency that security forces killed four women who were among about 150 people demonstrating on Saturday on the main coastal highway from Marqab village, near Baniyas, calling for the release of detained people.

“Members of the security forces asked them to leave and, when they refused to do so, they opened fire killing three of them and wounding five others who were hospitalised,” the activist said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based group, said security forces killed at least two others during the tank-backed army attack on Baniyas and demanded that authorities allow an independent committee to investigate the deaths.

The Syrian military confirmed that it conducted an operation in Baniyas, a Mediterranean coastal city of 50,000 people, on Saturday.

“Army units and security forces today pursued members of terrorist groups in and around Baniyas and neighbourhoods of [the southern flashpoint town of] Deraa to restore security and stability,” the military official said.

“They arrested people and seized a quantity of weapons that these groups have used to attack the army and citizens and scare people.”

Syria protests claim 36

A leading human rights activist says Syrian security forces have killed 36 people during widespread protests.
Thousands of demonstrators held rallies Friday in major areas across the country, including the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs, despite an increased security presence.
The activist asked that his name not be used because of mounting security concerns in Syria. His group compiles death toll figures and human rights violations in the country.
Rights groups say more than 580 civilians and 100 soldiers have been killed in the seven-week-old uprising against President Bashar Assad’s autocratic regime.
Activists and witnesses said demonstrations broke out after the main Friday prayers in cities across the country of 20 million people, from Banias on the Mediterranean coast to Qamishly in the Kurdish east.
International criticism has mounted against Assad, who has gone on the offensive to maintain his family’s four-decade grip on power and crush demonstrators demanding freedom.
European Union governments agreed on Friday to impose asset freezes and travel restrictions against Syrian officials responsible for the violent repression, which rights campaigners say has killed more than 560 people.
It was not immediately clear if Assad himself would be targeted under the sanctions, which follows last week’s agreement in principle to levy an arms embargo on Syria. The measures will be approved on Monday if no member state objects.

Here is an editorial published in The Guardian…read it and let me know what you think about it down in the comments.

Syria: President Assad should be brought to book over violence | Observer editorial | Comment is free | The Observer

In the Arab Spring, a great deal of violence has been used by regimes against their people. Confronted with these events, the international community has struggled to come up with a coherent response, hesitating over Tunisia and Egypt, then rushing into a military intervention in Libya.

Now, as tanks attack another town in Bashar al-Assad’s Syria, the response of the EU and the US appears to be based on a wild gamble. The plan appears to be to apply limited sanctions which exclude Mr Assad himself, while targeting others in his entourage, including his brother, Maher. This discriminating approach is meant to split the regime, with Mr Assad nudged back on to the course of reform he appeared to espouse when he succeeded his father a decade ago. How risky the pursuit of that policy has been should be clear as another Syrian town, Baniyas, has come under vicious assault.

The entire policy looks dangerously dependent on wishful thinking. Authoritarian regimes habitually deploy the promise of “liberalisation” and “reform” to prolong their existence in tandem with repression. Most of the states which have faced uprisings in the Arab Spring have tried this tactic. Mr Assad’s liberalisation has been so modest as to be invisible in the police state he has overseen. His father’s Ba’athist ideology has been effectively replaced by an emerging crony capitalism as he has moved slowly to open up Syria‘s economy – his sole significant reform.

In these circumstances, and with so little to show for the years of attempted engagement with him, it seems only right to judge him for the murderous acts of the state over which he presides – unless he meaningfully distances himself from that violence. Until then, as the head of a corrupt state, guilty of terrible human rights abuses, he should be held responsible and face sanctions, alongside other members of the regime, for the horrors unfolding in Syria. The international community, through its inaction, is increasingly complicit.

This next image is something else…Yemen’s women: out from the shadows | Nadya Khalife | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Women join a protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz on 16 April. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi/Reuters

“Security forces in civilian clothes have threatened me with the jambiyya, not just during demonstrations, but everywhere I go,” the protest leader and journalist Tawakkol Karman told me, describing the traditional dagger that Yemeni men wear strapped to their waists.

In the past, any mention of Yemen’s women in the news media has usually been about two issues, neither of them positive. The first is that they are more likely than most women in the Middle East to die in childbirth, and the second that they are among the least empowered women in the world.

The second assumption has recently been shattered by the uprisings in Yemen.

Since the beginning of the protests, women like Karman have come out in great numbers to demonstrate against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled in Yemen for more than 30 years. They have stood side by side with tens of thousands of Yemeni men to fill the city squares of Sana’a, Ta’izz, Aden, and other major cities, demanding his resignation.

Such has been the power of their presence that Saleh felt obliged to denounce women who join the protests as un-Islamic for demonstrating alongside men.

The protests have given women a chance to express their own concerns about their day-to-day struggles with the Saleh government, including their subordinate legal status as perpetual minors who require male guardians and the continued prevalence of harmful practices like child marriage.

Women have held their own demonstrations, but have also protested with their male counterparts, calling for democracy. Their courage has come at a cost: security forces and pro-government plain-clothes operators have threatened, verbally assaulted and attacked women protesters. At least 109 peaceful demonstrators or bystanders in Yemen have been killed since daily protests began in mid-February, and several hundred injured.

To be sure, many more male protesters have been targeted, but women in Yemen are particularly vulnerable to such attacks. Yemen is a traditional society, where women generally have low social status and are excluded from public life.

The article goes on to mention a report from Freedom House:  freedomhouse.org: Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Freedom House’s innovative publication, Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, analyzes the status of women in the region through the prism of international standards embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The 2005 edition found that despite some evidence of progress toward equality in a number of countries, there was a pervasive gender-based gap in rights and freedoms in every facet of society: the law, criminal justice system, economy, education, health care, and the media.

The 2010 edition of Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa is a five-year retrospective review of improvements or setbacks made to women’s rights in the MENA region. Its analysis covers events that occurred from mid 2004 until October 2009, picking up where the 2005 edition ended. This unique survey, which combines quantitative ratings with a qualitative, narrative analysis for each MENA country or territory, is necessary in light of the international scrutiny given to the status of women in this region. By providing thorough, cross-regional analysis of the legal and societal realities of MENA women, the Women’s Rights report is able to act as an objective tool for international development agencies, governments, scholars, and journalists, as well as a means of empowerment for women’s rights activists in the region.

I hope you read the Guardian article in full, and if you have time skim over the report.

The European Union seems to be having some disagreements.  I am no expert but it looks like the richer countries want to kick out the poor one that is bringing them down. (I know that is not exactly what is happening, but you get the idea.)

UPDATE 1-Greek PM denies euro exit; says leave Greece alone | Reuters

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Saturday denied there was even unofficial discussion over Greece quitting the euro zone and asked that his troubled country be “left alone to finish its task”.

Ministers from the euro zone’s biggest economies met in Luxembourg to discuss Greece’s debt crisis on Friday but Athens and senior EU officials denied a report by Germany’s Spiegel Online that the Greek government had raised the prospect of leaving the 17-member euro zone.

“These scenarios are borderline criminal,” Papandreou told a conference on the Ionian island of Meganisi. “No such scenario has been discussed even in our unofficial contacts…I call upon everyone in Greece and abroad, and especially in the EU, to leave Greece alone to do its job in peace.”

German MP says Berlin should help Greece leave euro | Reuters

Germany should constructively support any efforts by Greece to abandon the euro and return to the drachma, a leading MP in Germany’s junior coalition Free Democrats (FDP) said on Saturday.

“If Greece wants to leave the euro zone, that is its own autonomous decision,” Frank Schaeffler, an FDP member in the finance committee of the Bundestag, told Reuters.

“And Germany should accompany them constructively.”

[…]

On Friday, influential German weekly Der Spiegel reported talks were held to discuss the possibility, raised by Athens, of Greece withdrawing from the 17-member euro zone, as well as the idea of restructuring Greece’s 327 billion euro ($470 billion) sovereign debt.

Schaeffler agreed that bringing back the drachma would spook markets and cause problems for the entire euro zone, but only for the short term.

Wow,  if Greece goes…who is next?

I am sure you have heard something about Sony and their ongoing problems with a security hack.  It not only affects the Sony Playstation games,  if you have an interactive TV from Sony…your info may be hacked as well. 

The Sony Hack: When It Started, and When It Will End – Slideshow from PCMag.com

To date, Sony still hasn’t restored its network. Consumers are worried about losing credit-card information, and, as a result, Sony’s top brass, including chief executive Howard Stringer have apologized.

PCMag.com will continue to keep on top of the story. But in the pages following, we’ll track the evolution of the story, finishing it off with what we think will be the outcome of it all.

So click the link if you want to read more about it.

Minx’s Missing Link File:  NationalJournal.com – Hillary’s Sneeze: Did Allergens or Bias Provoke It? – Saturday, May 7, 2011

Okay, this picture seems to have become a symbol of the Obama Administration’s reaction to the raid when Osama was killed. Hillary has come out and said her expression and hand over her mouth was due to allergies.  The author of this article doesn’t buy it.

<a title="

President Obama and Vice President Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House.

” href=”http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=7812&width=990&height=” rel=prettyPhoto>

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Obama and Vice President Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House.

So now Hillary Clinton says tree pollen made her do it.

The wide eyes, the hand clapped to the mouth in the now-famous photo of the White House Situation Room at the hour of Osama bin Laden’s death might have been a sneeze coming on, the secretary of state has let it be known.

Women of a certain age have reasons for disbelieving Clinton’s story – and for sympathizing with her reasons for telling it.

Those who entered the job market in the 1960s and 1970s know what it’s like to be what that headed-for-the-history-books photo showed President Obama’s top diplomat to be: the only skirt (or, in Clinton’s case, pantsuit) at the table.

Isolation can do funny things to you.

Easy Like Sunday Morning Link of the Week: When I lived in Connecticut, I drove a few miles to Roxbury and went into the land records so that I could see Marilyn Monroe’s signature on the deed to the farm she shared with Mailer. This article below about Mailer’s apartment in Brooklyn, NY seems like one of those articles you read to escape.

 Norman Mailer’s Last Home Still Reflects His Life – NYTimes.com

Trevor Tondro for The New York Times

Norman Mailer expanded his fourth-floor apartment in Brooklyn Heights into a nautical adventureland and filled it with mementos of his life. Now that he and his wife are deceased, his nine children have listed the co-op for sale for $2.5 million.

 

Among the furnishings, photographs and knickknacks that fill Norman Mailer’s curious apartment in Brooklyn Heights, a visitor can get a sense of the writer’s voracious appetite for the patchwork of experiences life has to offer.

 

There is a button for Mailer’s quixotic 1969 campaign for New York City mayor that says “I would sleep better if Norman Mailer were mayor.” There is a framed original print of Milton H. Greene’s leggy photograph of Marilyn Monroe, a Mailer obsession and the subject of two affectionate books. And there is a photograph of Mailer boxing with José Torres, a light heavyweight champion. Mr. Torres taught Mailer how to box on the condition that Mailer teach him how to write.

The protean Mailer died in 2007 at age 84; Norris Church, his wife of 27 years, died last November at 61. His son Michael, one of nine children Mailer had or adopted with the six women he married, took over the apartment, a quirky cross between a Victorian parlor and the cabin of a sailing yacht.

And here is those videos I linked to above, may you enjoy these Sicilian Mothers doing what they do best…and have a Wonderful Mother’s Day!