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This Moment in Pittsburgh
Just over a week ago, I took the liberty of expanding my carbon footprint for the day by heading down to an aging industrial city that has magically transformed itself into one of the greenest cities in the country. The purpose of that trip was to participate in a presentation by and book-signing event for a couple of people who are fairly well known to most DCP readers (for historical reasons, if nothing else). I reported on that event elsewhere in the blogosphere at the time, in a different context (ahem). Today I'm going to repost my ex post facto summary of that event here because I think it says a lot about the people involved and how they interconnected around that event. The politics of the individuals involved are not the point; their passion and the commitment to critical issues that affect all of us here, however, definitely are. (P.S. -- please do click on the sublinks, check out the comments and the photos there, and watch the videos too, because collectively they'll give you a more personalized sense of just how invigorating the experience was for those who were there in the room when the stuff went down.) Gee -- if only more influential members of our political and philanthropic communities could be this darn approachable, huh?
As noted in a previous blog entry, on Saturday we had the pleasure and the privilege of joining JK & THK, a few hundred bookstore guests, and a double handful of local media types for a "This Moment on Earth" book event in greater Pittsburgh, PA.
While we've written often in this space about the book, its contents, and other stops on the ongoing series of TMOE Tour appearances by JK and THK, today we'd like to follow up on the previous post by talking about the other people who were in the room on Saturday, too.
Certainly, JK and THK wanted to spend some time talking to local folks about their book -- more specifically, talking about the issues and especially the people that they wrote about in their book -- and the local folks also wanted a chance to see, hear, and get their copies of TMOE signed by JK and THK. So that's why the event took place. But it's not really what the event was about.
Yes, TMOE was the cause and the Kerrys were the catalyst. But the real message of the day wasn't just about the book, or even about the book's authors. The real message was all about the Pittsburgh people who participated in the occasion, as attendees and staffers and bloggers and reporters, and about what made their shared experience on Saturday so special for each of them in turn.
(video by GlobalVillage)
First, a recap from the bloggers' point of view -- regular JK blog contributors GlobalVillage and wisteria were there for the occasion, as were representatives of Pittsburgh's sizable contingent of intrepid political/environmental/cultural bloggers. The Fox Chapel Barnes & Noble store's management and staff graciously set aside extra space for the bloggers in the media section of the already-crowded seating area, and they were also provided with the same level of access to JK and THK that the more traditional media representatives were.
The idea of treating bloggers as legitimate media representatives is not as uncommon now as it was even just a few years ago. Nowadays we think nothing of seeing big-name bloggers morphing into news-show celebrities or writing bylined op-ed columns in Time magazine. (For that matter, nowadays we think nothing of seeing news-show celebrities and Time magazine columnists morphing into bloggers, too.)
But it's not just big-name bloggers who are part of the TMOE experience. At every stop on this JK/THK book tour, bloggers of all kinds have been invited and encouraged to participate. Some of them have well-known blogs on a national level, some have blogs that are recognized on a regional level, some have relatively low-circulation blogs, and some don't even have blogs of their own at all (preferring to write for shared group blogs and for the bigger blogsites like DU, dKos, and FDL instead.)
This extra level of inclusiveness is not accidental. It's not a calculated public-relations move on the part of back-room media consultants, either. It's just the way things are when it comes to JK, THK, and their personal connection to their cyberspace constituencies. They have a great deal of respect, not to mention genuine affection, for the diverse blogging community that they view as being part of their extended Kerry family.
That sense of personal connection to the online community was clearly evident during this Saturday's event, when JK and THK insisted on making time in their packed schedule to sit down with bloggers for a special one-on-one interview. And sit down they certainly did, as GlobalVillage described in her DU thread about the day's happenings:
I wasn't the least bit surprised that the Senator offered the only three chairs in the room to Teresa and the two women bloggers in the group, and made do with a cardboard box. The conversation was as informal as the setting, as the Senator answered a question from one of the bloggers about how to deal with pseudo science and climate change deniers. Senator Kerry noted that the real science around climate change is peer reviewed and that anything put out by the flat earthers isn't. When Inhofe's name was called out by someone in the group, the Senator referred to him as the "leader of the Flat Earth Conference".
Sadly, there's no good way to sequester what Inhofe spews, so voting him out of office is about the only solution.
Dayvoe, the Pittsburgh-area blogger who asked that particular question, also got a chance to write about the experience on his 2 Political Junkies blog:
We were graciously given a few minutes of the Kerry's time before the book event to ask a question or two. As I was the tallest of the bloggers there, it seemed only natural for me to go first. I asked when dealing with environmental questions, how does one deal with the large amount of pseudoscience masquerading as science?
Senator Kerry pointed out that all the science in his book is fully annotated, that there are 928 peer reviewed studies that all point out that human beings are actively contributing to global climate change. Peer-review, he added, is the system used by the scientific community whereby a study is submitted anonymously to a separate group of scientists (ergo "peer") for the methodology and data to be checked. The point being, of course, that if it makes it into a peer-reviewed journal, the science is solid.
Of the studies that disagree, he said, none are published in peer-reviewed journals. The evidence is so overwhelming that one would have to a member of the "flat-Earth caucus (Senator Inhofe, presiding)" in order to believe otherwise.
Not to be outdone, however, GV then trumped her text-based blogging colleague dayvoe by posting a video recording of that very answer to her YouTube channel (a recording in which you can see the easy intimacy that JK and THK always exude when they're meeting with their blogging constituents, not to mention the matter-of-fact cardboard-box casualness that GV mentioned in her description of the seating arrangements).
(video by GlobalVillage)
Perhaps sensing a challenge, members of the local broadcast media managed to step up and claim equal space with the bloggers at this event. WPXI covered it with video footage in their evening news broadcast on Saturday, but KDKA took it to the next level with streaming web-video presentations of two clips from their evening and morning broadcasts and also with the full uncut videotape of their one-on-one interview with JK and THK, all of which can be viewed on the KDKA website here.
As we noted in our earlier post, the room itself was packed full of people eager to hear what JK and THK had to say on Saturday. There were two hundred folding chairs carefully laid out down a long narrow space between the bookshelves in the center of the store, with the first few rows reserved for media representatives and to bloggers respectively. Admittance to the event was free of charge, of course, but due to the limited seating space available those who wished to stay for the discussion and the book signing were asked to arrive early and were given a brightly-colored wristband with a number matching that on the chair that was assigned to them for the duration.
At the close of the Q&A session, the store staff directed the attendees row by row to step between the bookshelves to their left and queue up for a return loop past the table where JK and THK were signing their copies of the books as they passed by on their way to the front of the store. It was a well-planned and well-executed strategy, and it worked quite well to keep things moving along without everything getting clogged up tighter than rush-hour traffic on the Beltway.
There were a few inevitable interruptions in the steady flow of movement, though. Part of that was caused by the bloggers ourselves, as we tried to pack up our laptops and get out of the tightly-packed seating rows as adeptly as possible. As I pointed out in the previous post and at greater length in this comment on DU afterwards, it was very gracious of the bookstore's management and staff to accommodate the relatively late-breaking addition of a half-dozen bloggers to their seating plan when they already knew that their store would be filled to its maximum practical capacity by those wanting to come see and hear JK and THK speak in their hometown:
They have a store that's not exactly ideally laid out for high-attendance book events such as this one, but Susan Hillman (the Customer Relations Manager for that particular BN branch store) and the rest of her staff had everything carefully planned out in advance to handle the expected extra traffic in a timely and expeditious manner.
The store and its staff did a beautiful job of setting things up so that everyone who attended the event had the best experience possible. Everyone there with BN -- which included people from other stores and extra volunteers they brought in for the event -- were very professional, very friendly, and very pleased to have the chance to be part of this particular happening. They made everything work as well for we pesky bloggers as possible, just as we did everything we could to make their lives as easy as possible given the circumstances.
I understand they did excellent business as a result of their hosting this unusually high-profile book signing event; and that is great news, because they definitely deserve the success they earned with it. Everyone involved with the event on B&N's end, from store staff to add-on employees & volunteers, deserve all the props we can give them for what they did on that day and for how well they did it. Without them, none of it would have come off anywhere near as it did for all concerned.
A different kind of challenge to the traffic plan was caused by the attendees themselves, though. Rather than just grabbing their books and heading out to their cars, they tended to linger around after the event was over so that they could continue to discuss the issues that were brought up in the book and in the Kerrys' remarks. People who had asked questions during the Q&A were given additional answers by other attendees, and those who didn't have time to ask their questions during the event itself got a chance to ask them afterwards in small clusters of exited, involved individuals. It was an informal but no less significant impromptu symposium cum conference cum classroom, and those in attendance were clearly excited to be a part of it.
Several groups of well-qualified, well-informed environmental activists took advantage of the opportunity to keep exchanging information and resources with each other even after the book part of the event was long over. Documentary filmmakers and global-climate scientists eagerly networked with clean-coal specialists and activists bushing to change the way our government regulates the industries and corporations that have been allowed to ignore the consequences of their actions for too many years now.
(photo by spork_incident)
The same thing has happened at each of the other stops on this TMOE Tour. In every city, it's not just a book-signing moment or a chance for people to shake hands with a well-known author and then go on their separate ways. It's an invigorating, eye-opening experience that brings people together and helps them forge new connections and alliances with those who feel the same way they do about saving our planet before it's too late. It's about people realizing that they really can take correction action themselves rather than passively awaiting their fates.
And that is, after all, the whole reason that JK and THK wrote the book in the first place. So it's good to see how effectively their message is getting across each time they get a chance to talk to people in their own personal, impassioned ways. Pittsburgh blogger and photographer spork_incident described the net experience up quite well in the post he wrote for his A Spork in the Drawer blog the next morning:
Summarizing their book, the Senator said: "This book is, really, an optimistic book. It should make you angry for five minutes, ten minutes, we hope, and then transfer that into the inspiration that comes out of the stories of all the people we write about and the great things they've accomplished. Average citizens who've made changes and who fought the government to get the accountability and enforcement that they deserve and the law says they should have."
What separates this book from Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' is the focus on everyday people who have practical solutions to the environmental problems facing us. "I was involved in the first Earth Day in 1970.
Twenty million people came out and said, 'We're gonna change things.' They created the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and even the Environmental Protection Agency was signed into existence by Richard Nixon in 1972 because of that effort. We made the environment a voting issue."
Mrs. Kerry summed it up best: "This book is a reaffirmation of the quality of thinking and conversation that the American people shared with us on the road."
PETITION/ VIDEO ON GONZALES:
If George Bush won't fire U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, then Congress can.
Demand Congress impeach Gonzales now:
http://www.ImpeachGonzales.org
First, Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove worked together to fire at least seven U.S. Attorneys because they weren't "loyal Bushies" and pushed several others to resign in an unethical crusade to make the U.S. Justice Department a partisan arm of the Bush administration.
Then they worked together to cover it up.
Gonzales went so far as to testify to Congress that he "was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions going on." When White House e-mails exposed his involvement, Gonzales changed his tune in an interview with 60 Minutes then changed his tune again by hiding behind, "I don't recall" more then 60 times in his second Congressional testimony. Time's up for Alberto Gonzales!
http://www.ImpeachGonzales.org
Democracy for America has teamed up with Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films to get the message out. Robert has created a hard hitting video short that exposes Gonzales' attempts to mislead Congress. In a few weeks, DFA members around the country will deliver your signature and thousands of others directly to your representative in Congress. Check out the great video, then sign the petition:
http://www.ImpeachGonzales.org
Well that is a cool video - what a great idea! Thanks, Rick!
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
In a press availability today, President Bush was asked about Jimmy Carter's recent criticisim of his presidency. Here's his response: "I get criticized alot from different quarters that's just part of what happens when you're president. I will continue to make decisions that I think are necessary to protect the American people from harm. I will continue to make decisions based upon certain principles one of which is my strong belief in the universality of freedom. We're at war with an enemy that's relentless and determined. its essential that the decisions I make protect the American people as best as we can."
"Look I understand some people may not agree with the decisions I make but the American people need to know I'm making 'em based on what's best for this country."
Bush was also asked about Alberto Gonzales. "He has got my confidence. He has done nothing wrong. There's be an enormous amount of attention on him. There's been no wrongdoing on his part. He has testified in front of Congress and I frankly view what's taking place in Washington today as pure political theater."
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/21/198668.aspx
Posted by: Ralpheh at May 21, 2007 01:03 PM
From NBC's Ken Strickland
While there was much discussion over the weekend about Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D) proposal of a "no confidence" vote this week on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, it's "unlikely" to happen, according to a senior Democratic aide. On paper, having such a vote would appear to be a no-brainer for Democrats because it would likely get some Republican support. But in the Senate, there's no such thing as taking a clean shot on an issue. If a vote did come to the floor, GOP leaders have procedural tools to either stop it or require a vote on on another resolution that would be problematic for Democrats to support. ("How about a vote on if the war is lost," a Republican aide suggested.)
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/21/198493.aspx
Posted by: monkey at May 21, 2007 03:02 PM
Can we have a vote of "No confidence" in the President if they're going to add their own resolutions?
CNN QuickVote: Do you agree with the White House that President Carter "is proving to be increasingly irrelevant"?
Yes 36% 30332 votes
No 64% 55087 votes
Total: 85419 votes
Keep your eye on the thirdy.
Posted by: monkey at May 21, 2007 02:50 PM
Typical alcoholic answers - blaming someone else.
Monkey
Yes 36% 30332 votes
No 64% 55087 votes
Isn't that about the correct partisan breakdown of Republicans vs Democrats and Independents added together?
Typical alcoholic answers - blaming someone else.
Posted by: non ma presidente at May 21, 2007 04:11 PM
The president told the Democrats to get back to more pressing matters.
"I stand by Al Gonzales, and I would hope that people would be more sober in how they address these important issues," Bush said. "And they ought to get the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to be actors on the political theater stage."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/21/bush.gonzales.ap/index.html
As we come up on the Memorial Day weekend, lets flash back to May 2003, and see how people are "more sober in how they address these important issues," shall we???...
Published on Saturday, May 31, 2003
by Reuters
U.S. Insiders Say Iraq Intel Deliberately Skewed
by Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON - A growing number of U.S. national security professionals are accusing the Bush administration of slanting the facts and hijacking the $30 billion intelligence apparatus to justify its rush to war in Iraq.
A key target is a four-person Pentagon team that reviewed material gathered by other intelligence outfits for any missed bits that might have tied Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to banned weapons or terrorist groups.
This team, self-mockingly called the Cabal, "cherry-picked the intelligence stream" in a bid to portray Iraq as an imminent threat, said Patrick Lang, a former head of worldwide human intelligence gathering for the Defense Intelligence Agency, which coordinates military intelligence.
That agency was "exploited and abused and bypassed in the process of making the case for war in Iraq based on the presence of WMD," or weapons of mass destruction, he added in a phone interview. He said the CIA had "no guts at all" to resist the allegedly deliberate skewing of intelligence by a Pentagon that he said was now dominating U.S. foreign policy.
U.S. intelligence "simply wrong"
The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday fiercely defended the intelligence used by the Bush administration to justify war against Iraq. Powell told the Times that he spent several late nights poring over the CIA's reports because he knew the credibility of the country and the president were at stake.
Vince Cannistraro, a former chief of CIA counterterrorist operations, said he knew of serving intelligence officers who blame the Pentagon for playing up "fraudulent" intelligence, "a lot of it sourced from the Iraqi National Congress of Ahmad Chalabi."
That group, which brought together groups opposed to Saddam, worked closely with the Pentagon to build a for the early use of force in Iraq.
"There are current intelligence officials who believe it is a scandal," he said in a telephone interview. They believe the administration, before going to war, had a "moral obligation to use the best information available, not just information that fits your preconceived ideas."
The top Marine Corps officer in Iraq, Lt. Gen. James Conway, said Friday U.S. intelligence was "simply wrong" in leading military commanders to fear troops were likely to be attacked with chemical weapons in the March invasion of Iraq that ousted Saddam.
CIA head denies charges
Richard Perle, a Chalabi backer and member of the Defense Policy Board that advises Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, defended the four-person unit in a television interview.
"They established beyond any doubt that there were connections that had gone unnoticed in previous intelligence analysis," he said on the PBS NewsHour Thursday.
A Pentagon spokesman, Marine Lt. Col. David Lapan, said the team in question analyzed links among terrorist groups and alleged state sponsors and shared conclusions with the CIA.
"In one case, a briefing was presented to director of Central Intelligence Tenet. It dealt with the links between Iraq and al-Qaida," the group blamed for the Sept. 2001 attacks on the United States, he said.
George Tenet denied charges the intelligence community, on which the United States spends more than $30 billion a year, had skewed its analysis to fit a political agenda, a cardinal sin for professionals meant to tell the truth regardless of politics.
"I'm enormously proud of the work of our analysts," he said in a statement on Friday ahead of an internal review. "The integrity of our process has been maintained throughout and any suggestion to the contrary is simply wrong."
Tenet sat conspicuously behind Colin Powell during a key Feb. 5 presentation to the U.N. Security Council arguing Iraq represented an ominous and urgent threat - as if to lend the CIA's credibility to the presentation, replete with satellite photos.
House to re-evaluate data
Powell told the Times on Friday that the accuracy of the pre-war assessments was proven by the discovery of two Iraqi trailers that the CIA and Pentagon have concluded were designed to produce deadly germs. Powell presented drawings of suspected mobile biological labs to the United Nations in February.
"You should have seen the smile on my face when one day the intelligence community came in and gave me a photo, and said 'look,' " Powell said on Friday. "And it was almost identical to the cartoon that I had put up in New York on the 5th of February."
more...
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0531-01.htm
here's no such thing as taking a clean shot on an issue. If a vote did come to the floor, GOP leaders have procedural tools to either stop it or require a vote on on another resolution that would be problematic for Democrats to support. ("How about a vote on if the war is lost," a Republican aide suggested.)
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/21/198493.aspx
Posted by: monkey at May 21, 2
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Schumer gave a press conference on the no confidence vote on Friday. He seemed confident it would get onto the floor of the Senate this week or next. He also seemed very confident it would get Republican support (considering only one Republican on the judiciary committee, Orin Hatch, voiced support for Gonzales). If the resolution can get 60 votes - to call for cloture, ending debate and amendments - the bill would pass.
But, of course, it is non-binding etc...
Gas prices hit all-time high
U.S. gasoline prices hit a record high for the second week in a row and topped the inflation-adjusted record set in the early 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, a survey found. And people about to hit the road for the Memorial Day weekend may want to pack some extra cash because gas prices could go even higher as the summer driving season begins.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/21/news/economy/record_gas_monday/index.htm?postversion=2007052112?cnn=yes
Political theatre: Wearing an American flag pin on your jacket lapel everyday, while simultaneously ripping America to pieces.
more on a story I had wondered about yesterday
Bush Anoints Himself as Ensurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052107T.shtml
With scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack. Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the executive branch.
theoretically things would be coordinated but practically it scares me alot
..Anoints himself as ... Emperor .. or Ensurer ?
Posted by: monkey at May 21, 2007 04:57 PM
HE hopes that people would be more "sober" ..
??!! I got that!!
Posted by: monkey at May 21, 2007 05:32 PM
Powell is trying to save his own hind end, & as for Richard Perle, he's ready to go into Iran any minute, so of course he's going to justify having gone into Iraq - because he still believes it's the job of the US (& possible) to install democracy - through force! (& with alot of oil money involved)
That is a long and fascinating thread header Rick. I need to come back later and give it the time it deserves - to pick up all the links. As well, I'd like to know where I can buy the book - signed hopefully - and how I can get it to be front door sales in Australia's bookshops. Any ideas?
I intend to send this header to our next PM (who personally answers my emails) and our next climate change, environment crusader minister, Peter Garrett (ex Midnight Oil). We also have one of the very best ABC journalists on the team and challenging John Howard's parliamentary seat in Canberra, so I'll also send it to her! This is the kind of fear campaign that needs to be waged. Not a fear of terrorists but a fear of the environmental vandals-rapists - by name.
Our PM has done an about turn re climate, but we all know that it's an election year - 7 months maximum for him now - so no one except the Flat Earth greedy vandals go along with his garbage. In fact, having been embarrassed in parliament by the cost of renovating the PM's Canberra residence personal dining room, he's cancelled the task. Well, Kevin Rudd and his wife, Therese (that name is a good omen, I think) and their kids would be sure to hate it if John Howard had anything to do with it.
Not environment - but equally important - women's health.
Vaccine hospitalises schoolgirls
Reko Rennie
May 22, 2007 - 11:51AM
Up to five schoolgirls have fallen ill after being immunised against a virus that can lead to cervical cancer.
A Department of Health spokesman confirmed that up to five schoolgirls at Sacred Heart Girls' College in Oakleigh were taken ill after receiving an injection of Gardasil, a new cancer-preventing vaccine.
The immunisation protects against Human Papilloma Virus, a sexually-transmitted infection which, if undetected, can lead to cervical cancer. Gardasil was approved for use in Australia in June last year.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/vaccine-hospitalises-schoolgirls/2007/05/22/1179601376505.html
Aussie politics again. Oh, this is beautiful! Joe Hockey is loud-mouthed and abominable!
Weatherman Rudd's latest star recruit
May 22, 2007 - 6:46AM
ABC television's Sydney weatherman, Mike Bailey, is set to become Labor's latest star recruit to contest this year's federal election.
Mr Bailey will challenge Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey for his seat of North Sydney once endorsed by the party's national executive in the next few weeks.
Oops! the link
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/weatherman-rudds-latest-star-recruit/2007/05/22/1179601362532.html
Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? * 438958 responses
Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
88%
No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors."
4.4%
No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.
6%
I don't know.
1.9%
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/
I told ya his REAL BASE was more like 10%.
10.4 to be precise.
HAHAHAHA!!!
Internet polls are not scientific but if his popularity is going down there it's good. I suspect Mr. Fabulous is losing his fan club in general.
Michael Moore gives Howard, Blair and "that Spanish leader" a serve about their idiotic support for Bush's invasion of Iraq.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/moore-lashes-out-at-howard/2007/05/22/1179601389274.html
Whoever would have thought I'd actually support Malcolm Fraser - a past PM of Australia, who I never voted for. Since those days he has redeemed himself to my mind, and I wish that his party would actually listen to him. They look upon him now as though he's changed sides and everything he says is treasonous. He's a smart man and has certainly become far more philanthropic in latter years.
Not talking is never good enough
Malcolm Fraser
May 22, 2007
PEOPLE like me, who from the outset opposed the Iraq war, feel deeply concerned at the dilemma in which the United States now finds itself. The debates about withdrawal, to set or not to set a timetable, divide the US in a way that has not occurred for many years.
To an observer from afar, from one whose country has participated in the conflict, it seems a major opportunity is now being missed.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/not-talking-is-never-good-enough/2007/05/21/1179601325252.html
This is horrifying. We have unleashed uncontrollable rage in worst of the worst on our planet.
Inside the Taliban's heart of darkness
Paul McGeough Chief Herald Correspondent in Miram Shah on the Pakistan-Afghan border
May 22, 2007
"You must remember the doomsday" ... the baton-wielding women of radical Jamia Hafsa madrassa in Islamabad Aamir Qureshi
IT'S not just clouds that shroud Waziristan's treacherous high country. Up here on the Afghan border, a veil of state secrecy also cloaks a new Taliban wave breaking eastward across Pakistan.
Against the totemic thump of the drums of war, dust churns as the bodies of suspected anti-Taliban spies are dragged behind Toyota utes - as many as four at a time.
The severed heads of those who cross the fanatical jihadis are held aloft in cheering, jeering crowds. And in the bazaar, just a few rupees buys one of the hottest selling new DVDs - that's the one in which a 12-year-old boy wields the decapitation knife.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/21/1179601331182.html?from=top5
And now I'm back on topic.
Can climate change get worse? It has
Liz Minchin, environment reporter
May 22, 2007 - 7:00AM
The world is now on track to experience more catastrophic damages from climate change than in the worst-case scenario forecast by international experts, scientists have warned.
The research, published in a prestigious US science journal, shows that between 2000 and 2004 the rate of increase in global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels was three times greater than in the 1990s.
oops again!
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/climate-change-bad-to-worse/2007/05/22/1179601340054.html
Faced with this field, some evangelicals have suggested that a Democratic victory might be a good thing. "If 2008 is a bad year for the Republican Party, there will be nothing like a liberal president to help that movement find its footing again," said Gary Bauer, president of the conservative group American Values.
New generation of evangelicals
Polls suggest that evangelicals under 30 are just as staunchly opposed to abortion, and almost as concerned about "moral standards" in general, as their elders. But a February Pew survey found that younger evangelicals are more likely than their parents to worry about environmental issues; 59 percent of those under 30 said the United States was "losing ground" on pollution, compared with 37 percent of those over 30.
Acceptance of homosexuality is also greater among young evangelicals. One in three under 30 favors same-sex marriage, compared with one in 10 of their elders.
Redeem the Vote, a group formed in 2004 to register young evangelicals to vote, is campaigning with black churches in Alabama for capping the interest charges on short-term "payday" loans, which can hit 400 percent a year. The group's founder, physician Randy Brinson, said he finds that young evangelicals are intensely interested in practical ways to help their communities and are little swayed by issues such as same-sex marriage.
"These kids have gone to school with people who happen to be gay, and they don't see them as a direct threat. They may think that lifestyle is wrong, but they don't see it as something that really affects their daily lives," Brinson said. "The groups that focus only on a narrow agenda, especially gay marriage and abortion, are going to decline."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18792074/
Wolfowitz got a $400,000 parting bonus. Iraq should be wealthy with all its oil and is impoverished so needs the world bank, thanks to the invasion.
Departing Wolfowitz Names New Iraq Director
The World Bank has just appointed a new director for Iraq despite security and corruption concerns, according to a leaked document.
The news emerged just days after outgoing World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz promised not make any major new appointments at the institution.
The Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based watchdog group, released an email it says it obtained from sources inside the Bank showing Daniela Gressani, vice president for the Middle East and North Africa Region, making the announcement.
"I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Simon Stolp as Country Manager, Iraq," said Gressani in her email, a copy of which was seen by IPS.
Read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37829
Enjoying the articles from Australia - lst thing in the morning here on US west coast
KEENE, N.H. - Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday that Americans should speak out against the war in Iraq this Memorial Day weekend, renewing an anti-war call that has been criticized by the leader of the American Legion.
Edwards also said that all young people should serve their country, "not just poor kids who get sent to war."
The Edwards campaign launched a Web site, http://www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com, last weekend. His 10-point plan asks voters to greet veterans, send enlisted troops care packages and volunteer at local Veterans Administration hospitals.
"There's another thing we need to do as patriots, to serve the men and women who are serving this country in Iraq, and that is to speak out this weekend," said Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee.
Patriotism beyond war
Edwards said ending the war is key to repairing the damaged U.S. reputation abroad.
"America desperately needs to reclaim our moral position in the world, which has been so devastated," he said. "America has to be a force for good. ... The world thinks we're a bully and we're selfish."
At a later campaign appearance in Claremont, Edwards repeated his frequent call for the next president to promote patriotism beyond war. He also said the next president should be prepared to be a realist when dealing with the conditions in Iraq, even after U.S. troops leave.
"What do you do if genocide breaks out? Those are things we have to be prepared for," Edwards said in the courtyard of a senior center in Claremont. "The president of the United States should prepare a strategic plan for containment of a civil war."
As for the current president, Edwards said Congress should continue prodding President Bush with legislation that would start ending the war in Iraq.
"The fact that we have a bullheaded, stubborn president who thinks he can do nothing wrong makes it more important, more imperative that we stand our ground against this president," Edwards said during a town meeting on the Lebanon town square.
He said it's past time for voters to "be the change you believe in," borrowing from India's Mahatma Gandhi.
"We're not going to do it with baby steps," he said.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18796871/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/21/fmr-gop-state-senator-arrested-for-child-rape-molestation-of-pages/
Fmr GOP State Senator Arrested for Child Rape, Molestation of Pages
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20070522/cx_nq_uc/nq20070522
Non Sequitur
Larry King/CNN: Tuesday, May 22 at 9 p.m. ET
Al Gore... Some say he's helping save the planet. Now some want him to save America by running for president again. Will he? Al Gore in a prime-time exclusive.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/
Posted by: non ma presidente at May 22, 2007 09:15 AM
Why is anyone letting Wolfie make decisions, since the unethical toad is leaving anyway. More importantly, why was he allowed to make a decision about assigning someone to Iraq...?
The more time passes and nothing is done to at least stop the criminals from doing any more damage (since it's painfully obvious no one's gonna start impeachment proceedings), the more I realize the serious disconnect from reality on the part of the majority of people within the Beltway Bubble. Even with a Dem majority, the Cons are still being allowed to run the show!
I don't know what's in the water there that seems to have affected their brains, or what kind of meds these "people's representatives" are taking, but I wish they'd take the antidote soon so they can get back to acting like rational people capable of common sense decisions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070522/ap_on_bi_ge/halliburton
Halliburton shifts focus toward Mideast
Halliburton Co., the Houston, Texas-based oil services company, is shifting the company's focus and capital investments away from North America and toward the oil and gas-rich Middle East, its chief executive Dave Lesar said here Tuesday.
Lesar, starting his first week running the company from his new headquarters in Dubai, said Halliburton would quickly expand its Mideast operations as it targets $80 billion in new business over the next five years — 75 percent of which lies in the eastern hemisphere, mainly the Middle East.
"Halliburton is committed to this part of the world," Lesar told a group of Dubai-based reporters.
The company seeks Arab investors and a share listing on Dubai's new international stock exchange, Lesar said. Halliburton has already hired 4,800 of the 14,000 new workers it plans to bring aboard this year, many of them in the Arab world, he said.
"We're looking for as many young Arab and Asian engineers, technicians and professionals to come and join our organization," Lesar said while swigging a Coke in a swanky hotel meeting room.
"As we build up our headquarters offices here it's not going to be by transferring people from the U.S., it's going to be by hiring locals," he said. "Unlike the States, there are more people in this part of the world who are interested in careers in the oil and gas industry."
Lesar said his goal was to achieve a 50-50 split between Halliburton's business in the Western Hemisphere and the booming new markets in the Eastern Hemisphere, primarily the Mideast. Currently, 65 percent of Halliburton's business and as much as 70 percent of its capital spending lie in North and South America.
Lesar said the company will shift some 70 percent of its capital investment over the next five years to the Eastern Hemisphere, which includes oil and gas zones in the Middle East, Russia, Africa, the North Sea and East Asia. There is already great regional demand for Halliburton's drilling and exploration tools, he said.
Lesar said the company was relieved to have shed prickly relationships that brought unwanted scrutiny. In April, Halliburton completed the sell-off of its KBR construction and services unit, which has been under fire for overcharging the U.S. military in Iraq.
"It was purely a commercial decision that has been well-reflected in the marketplace," Lesar said. "Halliburton is an oilfield services company. That's where we started 80 years ago and that's what we're back to."
With KBR gone, Halliburton has no current business in Iraq. But Lesar said Halliburton would look to partner with oil firms doing exploration in Iraq once an investment law is in place.
Security permitting, he said, "sure, we'd be interested in going in there. But I'm not going to put my people at risk."
Also in April, Halliburton stopped work in Iran, where a Dubai-based Halliburton subsidiary operated for years. Lesar said the company wasn't taking any more Iran business.
"Iran and Iraq are clearly two countries with big opportunities but our broader base is in countries outside of those two," he said.
And, in a year and a half, the company's much-discussed ties to the Bush administration will end when Bush leaves office. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was Halliburton's previous chief executive.
"We do have a link to the current administration that will cure itself in the very near future," Lesar said.
~~~~~
Halliburton will continue to pay U.S. taxes on its global earnings, although Lesar and other Americans may have personal tax savings from working in tax-free Dubai and the company could save on capital purchases made here.
{More on link. Gee. I wonder if this will make the evening snooze in Lamestream Media...?}
"We do have a link to the current administration that will cure itself in the very near future," Lesar said.
BTW... that quote in the above article has me wondering just what the "cure" is, and how near in the future that "cure" will take place. My brain kinda froze on "Huh?!? What the heck is he talking about?!?" I got a foreboding feeling....
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/21/al-gore-with-diane-sawyer/
Al Gore with Diane Sawyer
{{{Ever get the feeling the Lamestream Media anchors need to go back to school and learn how to ask questions again?}}}
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/22/the-daily-shows-heartfelt-goodbye-to-tony-blair/
The Daily Show’s Heartfelt Goodbye to Tony Blair
Bwahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa....!
Dean Baker | The Peace Weenies Were Right
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052107R.shtml
"Last week I was struck to see a well-respected centrist foreign policy analyst discuss President Bush's 'surge' as a serious policy for bringing stability to Iraq," says Dean Baker. "This sight was striking, because at this point it is very difficult to imagine the surge as a serious policy. The analyst's comments were disturbing because they seemed to be yet another example of an expert bending an analysis to accommodate political power."
McKay Suggests Cover-Up in Prosecutor Case
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052207L.shtml
Fired US Attorney John McKay believes the Justice Department is covering up the real reason for his ouster. Some Republicans were appalled that McKay didn't bring charges of "election fraud" in the Washington state election won by Democrat Chris Gregoire. "I still don't know if the 2004 governor's election was the principal reason I was asked to step down. If it was, I think it is an entirely improper and perhaps illegal reason for my termination," said McKay.
Withdrawal timetable dropped from war spending bill
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional Democrats plan to send to President Bush a war-spending bill without a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, two Democratic leadership aides tell CNN.
Earlier this month, Bush vetoed a war spending bill passed by the Democratically-controlled Congress that included a timetable for withdrawal. The president has insisted that he will not sign any bill that includes such a provision.
The bill is expected to include benchmarks that the Iraqi government would have to achieve. The bill is also expected to require the president to provide numerous reports to Congress before August 2007 on the Iraqi government's progress, the aides said.
If the Iraqi government fails to meet the benchmarks, the aides said, reconstruction funds could be cut. The bill may also allow the president to waive the penalties for failing to meet the benchmarks if he feels they are necessary.
White House spokesman Tony Snow Tuesday declined to comment on the proposed bill.
The war spending bill, also known as the supplemental appropriations bill, would also include a boost in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour and other domestic spending initiatives, the amount of which are still being negotiated, the aides said.
The House is expected to vote on the bill late this week. A House Democratic leadership aide acknowledged that there would be resistance from some liberal members of the party but expressed confidence that there will be "enough support" from House Republicans to pass the bill.
Democratic leadership aides have privately told CNN for some time that Congress would eventually have to drop the withdrawal timeline in order to get a bill the president would sign by Memorial Day. And, in order to pass the bill, the Democratic leadership would have to withstand significant defections from within its own party and rely on Republican support to pass the bill, the sources said.
Democratic sources say they may push for a withdrawal timetable when the annual Defense Appropriations and the Defense Authorization bills, the two main legislative vehicles that fund the Defense Department, are debated this summer.
CNN reported Friday that Democratic leaders' demand for a timeline with a waiver was intended to show the significant anti-war portion of the party that they were trying until the last possible minutes to stand up to the White House.
-- CNN's Dana Bash, Andrea Koppel and Deirdre Walsh
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/05/withdrawal-timetable-dropped-from-war.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a GOP presidential candidate and a Southern Baptist minister, said Tuesday he will not attend a Baptist conference next January organized by former President Jimmy Carter, following Carter's criticisms that the Bush Administration is the "worst in history."
"I'm deeply disappointed by the unusually harsh comments made in my state this past weekend regarding President Bush, and feel that it represents an unprecedented personal attack on a sitting president by a former president which is unbecoming the office as well as unbecoming to one whose conference is supposed to be about civility and bringing people together," Huckabee said in a statement.
"President Carter violated an unspoken code that you don't make personal attacks on others who currently hold the job -- you just don't," he added.
Huckabee said he had originally agreed to attend the Baptist Covenant Program Celebration but changed his mind after learning of Carter's comments and seeing roster of speakers that he claims indicate the conference has a political agenda. Both former Presidents Carter and Clinton are slated to speak at the event.
more on...
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/05/huckabee-to-skip-carters-baptist.html
US Secretly Launches Second Iraq Troop Surge
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052207A.shtml
The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed on Monday.
{{{Errrr.... we read about this - what? - several weeks ago? I know I read it on a link someone posted here at DCP. What's taken so long for Lamestream Media to catch up with this story...???}}}
http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/05/052207_gasprices.html
Dear Gov Huckleberry...
El Presidensey has violated a few unspoken codes himself, dontcha know, quite worthy the insight of a former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Si, it's uno, dos, 3 pre-emptive strikes your out at the Old Bald Game.
Posted by: monkey at May 22, 2007 02:29 PM
And..., once again..., the Dems are trampling each other in their race to be the first to kiss Georgie's butt in their efforts to stain their noses brown. WHAT does the administration have hanging over their heads that he can blackmail them so effectively...?!?
They should be spanking him on one end and slapping him upside the head on the other - although with that empty head, there's likely nothing but a drum-sound calling for endless war....
http://tinyurl.com/383xug
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 30 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Congressional Democratic leadership has announced a deal on the once-vetoed Iraq war supplemental funding bill. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says the exacting wording of the deal has not been finalized.
NBC News has learned the deal is expected to be quite similar to a measure put forward by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., last week including 18 benchmarks on both political security and economic progress, with reports due from the Bush administration to Congress on July 15th and September 15th.
Sources tell NBC the benchmarks will be tied to Iraqi reconstruction funds, but the president will have the ability to waive the benchmarks.
Democratic capitulation?
The deal, after weeks of refusing to back down to President Bush on setting a timetable on Iraq, would leave Democratic leaders having to explain to their party's rank and file why they've now relented.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18805047/from/RS.2/
Gee effen whiz, I wonder if the president will waive the benchmarks????
Posted by: monkey at May 22, 2007 03:05 PM
The "benchmarks" are artificial constructs to keep us in Iraq. "IF - THEN" is the motto.
IF we can get their police and military trained, THEN we will leave. (That's been quoted for several years; mission never accomplished on that.)
IF they have elections, THEN we'll leave. (They did; we didn't.)
IF they get their government stable and running, THEN we'll leave. (Never happen. It's a puppet government to begin with, but what little spine they're showing by not voting on the dictated constitution that gives US oil company their oil profits and future drilling rights is going to be defeated somehow. Probably through the usual "regime change" that DimWit regularly pulls out of the hat.)
If - then, if - then, if - then.....
What about the fortified embassy and the fourteen permanent military bases they're building...? Who's paying for all of that? What about the mercenaries? What about Halliburton next door in Dubai...?
If - then.... yadda, yadda, yadda....
WE'RE NUMBER ONE! AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN WAR PROFITS
By Frida Berrigan, Tomdispatch.com
The United States is a proud nation of firsts -- among them: weapon sales, military expenditure, oil consumption, CO2 emissions, external debt, private military personnel and more.
http://www.alternet.org/audits/52169/
I cannot believe what passes for news in this country.
1. Paula Abdul tripped over a dog and broke her foot.
2. Viagra helps jet lag. Convenient.
3. A man put his baby in a safe, then the refridgerator, then the microwave.
4. Now women can take birth control and get rid of troublesome menstrual periods. Convenient.
Diarist claims "2nd surge" could take us to 200,000 in Iraq by December.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/22/91647/8449
200,000 by December
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/316612_secondsurge22.html
stealth surge, not temporary
Here it is again. Let's track the spread of this story (if it happens at all)
US Secretly Launches Second Iraq Troop Surge
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052207A.shtml
The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed on Monday.
Look out Iran, esp. now that there are problems again in Lebanon with Israel.
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/may/22/breaking_no_withdrawal_timeline_in_congressional_dems_bill
Please call everyone. This is another in a long series of f***-us-all moves.
Pelosi
Hoyer
Reid
Your Senators and Reps.
Posted by: not my president at May 22, 2007 03:45 PM
Grrrr....
The secret state we have is even worse than East Germany or North Korea.
Dollars & Sense: In the new edition of your book, ARMED MADHOUSE, you report on the theft of the 2008 election. How do know what they’re doing? Any way to stop them?
Palast: I know because I have Karl Rove’s emails. No kidding. He and his team aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. They sent copies of their plans to GeorgeWBush.ORG instead of GeorgeWBush.COM addresses — and, heh heh, they ended up in my in-box. Who says this job ain’t fun?
Oops.
http://www.gregpalast.com/amy-goodman-and-greg-palast-moms-day-broadcast/
Here we go again...
Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
May 22, 2007 6:29 PM
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.
"I can't confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime," said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.
A National Security Council spokesperson, Gordon Johndroe, said, "The White House does not comment on intelligence matters." A CIA spokesperson said, "As a matter of course, we do not comment on allegations of covert activity."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/bush_authorizes.html
Posted by: madame defarge at May 22, 2007 07:17 PM
They haven't learned the concept of "blowback" ..
Source: Associated Press
LYNCHBURG, Va. - A Liberty University student arrested after homemade explosive devices were found in the trunk of his car was planning to be among thousands attending the funeral of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Campbell County authorities said.
Mark David Uhl, 19, was arrested Monday night on charges of manufacturing an explosive device, Major Steve Hutcherson said. He said Uhl told a family member he had made bombs and planned to attend the funeral. The family member notified authorities.
Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18807782 /
Posted by: madame defarge at May 22, 2007 07:17 PM
Ahmadinejad may be a total lunatic, but countering lunacy with more lunacy can only get worse...
This has nothing to do with the truly depressing stuff we talk about here, but often there's something to laugh about. This doesn't bring laughter, it brings a smile and hope for a baby born on Mother's Day. On the day this baby was born her eyes looked directly into the camera and locked on my eyes from the front page of the Age online front page. This child is truly beautiful. It's a lovely story. If you'd like to read something sad, but nice and hopeful too, go here.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/a-home-for-catherines-mum/2007/05/23/1179601443462.html
Ahmadinejad may be a total lunatic, but countering lunacy with more lunacy can only get worse...
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at May 22, 2007 09:37 PM
Interesting - I am reading Jean Genet's "The Thief's Journal," from 1948.
He said something that made me think of W and Ahmadinejad:
He was referring to a relationship between himself (a criminal) and a cop.
"The insults exchanged by enemies bespeak a feigned hatred. They seem to be rather charged with tenderness."
There seems to be something vaguely sadomasochistic about some of the current world leaders, much as there was with Hitler and his minions. There has got to be a lot of kinky stuff, further twisted by repression.
first email of the morning
Source: Reuters
>
>Nine U.S. military ships, including two
>aircraft carriers, passed through the Straights of Hormuz on Wednesday,
>the largest number of U.S. military vessels to enter the Gulf since
>2003, the U.S. military said.
>
>It said the ships were entering the area for training.
>
>Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23607496.htm
>
>