From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION/DEBUT:
LAT Cairo Bureau Chief Jeffrey Fleishman's PROMISED VIRGINS, a novel ofjihad, set in the Kosovo conflict, to Cal Barksdale at Arcade, for publication in Spring 2009, by Sorche Fairbank of Fairbank Literary Representation (World English).
Sang Pak's debut fiction KID TWILIGHT, a creepy coming-of-age story set in a small Southern town, where the protagonist must confront both theviolence around him and the monster within himself, to Sarah Durand at William Morrow, by Yfat Reiss Gendell at Foundry Literary + Media.yrgendell@foundrymedia.comRights: sabou@foundrymedia.com
NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:
Wired contributing editor Mathew Honan's BARACK OBAMA IS YOUR NEW BICYCLE, based on the website of the same name, to Patrick Mulligan atGotham, by Joy Tutela at the David Black Literary Agency.
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:
Blogger Jeff Jarvis's WWGD?: What Would Google Do?, examining what any organization or industry, be it a cable company, airlines, or even book publishing, can learn from the fastest-growing company in history, to Ben Loehnen at Collins, by Kate Lee at ICM (world).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Advisor to the last six secretaries of state and author of the The Much Too Promised Land, Aaron David Miller's next work, a road-trip with the reader along the anti-American highway of the Middle East, usinginterviews, anecdote, and analysis to provide an intimate look at four of our biggest challenges in the Arab/Muslim world -- Hamas, Hezbollah,Iran, and Syria -- exploring who they are, what they think, and what they really want, to John Flicker at Bantam Dell, byDeborah Grosvenor at Kneerim & Williams (World).
Journalist Shane Harris's THE WATCHMAN, which chronicles the rise of the American surveillance state over the last twenty-five years, to Eamon Dolan at Penguin Press, by Tina Bennett of Janklow & Nesbit (NA).
MEMOIR:
Colin Broderick's ORANGUTAN, a memoir of the nineteen years that the author (who studied with Billy Collins and worked in theater with Malachay McCourt) was an alcoholic working construction and trying to forge a life as a writer, to Carrie Thornton at Three Rivers Press, for publication in Summer 2009, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich LiteraryManagement (World).
Natalie McLennan's THE PRICE: My Life as"Natalia," New York's $2,000 An Hour Escort, the rise, fall, and redemption of a promising youngactress who falls in love with a man with ambitions of building the most exclusive brothel in New York and markets her as the "$2,000 An Hour Woman," to Michael Viner at Phoenix, by Jason Anthony at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (World).
NARRATIVE:
Steve Eubanks's THE GREATEST OF US ALL: The Birth of the Modern Golf Swing and the Death of Its Legendary Inventor, the story of champion golfer J. Douglas Edgar and his brutal murder in 1921, as well as the brave Atlanta Constitution reporter who battled a subsequent cover-up by city officials, to Mark Tavani at Ballantine, by Dan Ambrosio at Vigliano Associates (World).
REFERENCE:
Susanna Carson's anthology WHY WE READ JANE AUSTEN about the enduring fascination with the author and her novels, including pieces by MartinAmis, Virginia Wolf, C.S Lewis, and Eudora Welty, plus original essays by popular contemporary writers, with an introduction by Harold Bloom, to Jill Schwartzman at Random House, at auction, by Bonnie Nadell at Frederick Hill Bonnie Nadell Agency (NA).
Wrap...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bear Stearns employees & Paulson's "heckuva job..."
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
"My life has been flushed down the drain," said one Bear Stearns employee. Bear Stearns had always encouraged its 14,000 employees, "from secretaries to top executives, to be long-term holders in the company's stock, and the employees own over 30 percent of the company."
A New York Times editorial warns that "if the United States government doesn't stabilize the markets, foreign governments increasingly will, in exchange for an ever larger stake in the American financial system." The Fed's unprecedented loans to banks "cannot save defaulting homeowners, transform bad mortgage loans into good ones, or do the same for hundreds of billions of dollars of securities tied to those loans."
Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) "failed to disclose tens of thousands of dollars in profits he made on stock sales on his annual financial disclosure forms for the past several years." Last Thursday, after inquiries by Roll Call, Dreier filed an amendment to "his 2004, 2005 and 2006 disclosure forms" listing previously undisclosed stock sales "totaling between $85,000 and $263,000 in income."
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell recently delivered a speech that contained a story about an historical radio conversation at sea. "This is true. It's an actual recording," McConnell said. In fact, McConnell's story was "untrue. False. Urban naval legend. Never happened."
"A conference to reconcile Iraq's warring political groups began to unravel even before it got under way on Tuesday, with the main Sunni Muslim Arab bloc pulling out and protesting it had not been properly invited."
Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria writes that the United States is "stuck in the Iraq loop." "We are told that the surge has worked brilliantly and violence is way down. And yet the plan to reduce troop levels -- which was at the heart of the original surge strategy -- must be postponed or all hell will once again break loose."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed that his government will "at some point" hold an inquiry into the lessons to be learned from the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. But, he said that time is not is "not now."
A U.N.-supported report released yesterday conducted by the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich has found that "most of the world's mountain glaciers, many of which feed major rivers and water supplies, are shrinking at an accelerating pace as the climate warms."
Mirroring the results of a new CNN poll, a recent USA Today/Gallup poll has found that 76 percent of Americans think the U.S. economy is in recession. "Not since September 1992, two months before President George H.W. Bush lost re-election, have so many said the economy was in such bad shape."
And finally: Echoing his infamous declaration in 2005 that former FEMA chief Michael "Brownie" Brown was "doing a heckuva job" responding to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush thanked Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson yesterday "for working over the weekend" in response to the long-brewing economic crisis.
Wrap...
Think Fast...
"My life has been flushed down the drain," said one Bear Stearns employee. Bear Stearns had always encouraged its 14,000 employees, "from secretaries to top executives, to be long-term holders in the company's stock, and the employees own over 30 percent of the company."
A New York Times editorial warns that "if the United States government doesn't stabilize the markets, foreign governments increasingly will, in exchange for an ever larger stake in the American financial system." The Fed's unprecedented loans to banks "cannot save defaulting homeowners, transform bad mortgage loans into good ones, or do the same for hundreds of billions of dollars of securities tied to those loans."
Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) "failed to disclose tens of thousands of dollars in profits he made on stock sales on his annual financial disclosure forms for the past several years." Last Thursday, after inquiries by Roll Call, Dreier filed an amendment to "his 2004, 2005 and 2006 disclosure forms" listing previously undisclosed stock sales "totaling between $85,000 and $263,000 in income."
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell recently delivered a speech that contained a story about an historical radio conversation at sea. "This is true. It's an actual recording," McConnell said. In fact, McConnell's story was "untrue. False. Urban naval legend. Never happened."
"A conference to reconcile Iraq's warring political groups began to unravel even before it got under way on Tuesday, with the main Sunni Muslim Arab bloc pulling out and protesting it had not been properly invited."
Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria writes that the United States is "stuck in the Iraq loop." "We are told that the surge has worked brilliantly and violence is way down. And yet the plan to reduce troop levels -- which was at the heart of the original surge strategy -- must be postponed or all hell will once again break loose."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed that his government will "at some point" hold an inquiry into the lessons to be learned from the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. But, he said that time is not is "not now."
A U.N.-supported report released yesterday conducted by the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich has found that "most of the world's mountain glaciers, many of which feed major rivers and water supplies, are shrinking at an accelerating pace as the climate warms."
Mirroring the results of a new CNN poll, a recent USA Today/Gallup poll has found that 76 percent of Americans think the U.S. economy is in recession. "Not since September 1992, two months before President George H.W. Bush lost re-election, have so many said the economy was in such bad shape."
And finally: Echoing his infamous declaration in 2005 that former FEMA chief Michael "Brownie" Brown was "doing a heckuva job" responding to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush thanked Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson yesterday "for working over the weekend" in response to the long-brewing economic crisis.
Wrap...
Ohio still in trouble for 2006 election...
From Free Press via truthout.org :
Ohio's Voting Machines Are Now an Official Crime Scene
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031808E.shtml
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, reporting for The Free Press, write: "At least 15 touch-screen voting machines that produced improbable numbers in Ohio's 2006 statewide election are now under double-lock in an official crime scene. And the phony 'Homeland Security Alert' used by Republicans to build up George W. Bush's 2004 vote count in a key southwestern Ohio county has come under new scrutiny."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Ohio's Voting Machines Are Now an Official Crime Scene
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031808E.shtml
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, reporting for The Free Press, write: "At least 15 touch-screen voting machines that produced improbable numbers in Ohio's 2006 statewide election are now under double-lock in an official crime scene. And the phony 'Homeland Security Alert' used by Republicans to build up George W. Bush's 2004 vote count in a key southwestern Ohio county has come under new scrutiny."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Obama and economics...
From In These Times:
Features > March 10, 2008
Obamanomics
An energized constituency could push Obama’s centrist economic plan to the left
By David Moberg
In February, as the battle intensified for the votes of economically anxious blue-collar workers, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took his campaign to the dwindling number of American factory floors, pledging to fight for good jobs, fair trade and shared prosperity. Speaking to workers at a General Motors assembly plant in Janesville, Wis., Obama said, “A country in which only a few prosper is antithetical to our ideals and our democracy.”
But the economic outlines for a potential Obama administration remain unclear. “Who knows what his economic policies are?” asks one sympathetic economist from a union that has not yet endorsed a candidate. “They seem pretty unformed.”
Obama would certainly shift government priorities to improving job prospects and raising living standards for American workers. He proposes raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, offering refundable $4,000 tax credits for college, expanding the childcare tax credit, reforming bankruptcy laws, rebuilding infrastructure, establishing a new employee savings plan and investing in alternative energy to create “millions of new green jobs.”
Yet even the unions that have endorsed Obama—including most members of Change to Win—have found it hard to differentiate his economic policies from those of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)
“I had until recently felt that both Clinton and Obama campaigns were quite economically conservative,” says Thomas Palley, a progressive economic consultant and writer. “But the Obama campaign does seem more a work-in-progress and, therefore, more open to influence.”
Campaigns often fail to foretell presidential policies. Centrist candidate Franklin Roosevelt shifted to the left. Centrist candidate Bill Clinton shifted to the right.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3560/obamanomics/
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Features > March 10, 2008
Obamanomics
An energized constituency could push Obama’s centrist economic plan to the left
By David Moberg
In February, as the battle intensified for the votes of economically anxious blue-collar workers, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took his campaign to the dwindling number of American factory floors, pledging to fight for good jobs, fair trade and shared prosperity. Speaking to workers at a General Motors assembly plant in Janesville, Wis., Obama said, “A country in which only a few prosper is antithetical to our ideals and our democracy.”
But the economic outlines for a potential Obama administration remain unclear. “Who knows what his economic policies are?” asks one sympathetic economist from a union that has not yet endorsed a candidate. “They seem pretty unformed.”
Obama would certainly shift government priorities to improving job prospects and raising living standards for American workers. He proposes raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, offering refundable $4,000 tax credits for college, expanding the childcare tax credit, reforming bankruptcy laws, rebuilding infrastructure, establishing a new employee savings plan and investing in alternative energy to create “millions of new green jobs.”
Yet even the unions that have endorsed Obama—including most members of Change to Win—have found it hard to differentiate his economic policies from those of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)
“I had until recently felt that both Clinton and Obama campaigns were quite economically conservative,” says Thomas Palley, a progressive economic consultant and writer. “But the Obama campaign does seem more a work-in-progress and, therefore, more open to influence.”
Campaigns often fail to foretell presidential policies. Centrist candidate Franklin Roosevelt shifted to the left. Centrist candidate Bill Clinton shifted to the right.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3560/obamanomics/
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
In the matter of the AIPAC trial...
From Secrecy News:
FORMER ISOO DIRECTORS TO TESTIFY FOR DEFENSE IN AIPAC TRIAL
In a blow to Justice Department prosecutors, two former directors of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) are expected to testify for the defense in the controversial trial of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who are charged with unlawful receipt and transmission of classified information.
Steven Garfinkel (ISOO director from 1980-2002) and J. William Leonard (2002-2007) have been the voice of classification authority across three decades and five presidential administrations. They inspected, oversaw and reported to the President on the government's classification and declassification programs.
And last week they were listed among eight proposed expert witnesses for the defense in the AIPAC case, formally known as USA v. Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman.
As deeply knowledgeable classification officials, Mr. Garfinkel and Mr.Leonard might have been expected to testify for the government in a case involving classification policy. The fact that they are testifying for the defense is a startling indication that the prosecution's case has strayed far beyond any consensus view regarding the proper protection of classified information.
The surprising participation of these former classification officials was first reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the New York Sun. See "Key New Witnesses Sign on for the Defense in AIPAC Case" by Josh Gerstein, New York Sun, March 17:
http://www.nysun.com/article/73017
In another sign that the government's case may be unraveling, the lead prosecutor quit last month to take a job in the private sector.
See"Top prosecutor in AIPAC case quits," Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 28:
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/107251.html
Selected case files from the AIPAC prosecution may be found here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/aipac/index.html
Wrap...
FORMER ISOO DIRECTORS TO TESTIFY FOR DEFENSE IN AIPAC TRIAL
In a blow to Justice Department prosecutors, two former directors of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) are expected to testify for the defense in the controversial trial of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who are charged with unlawful receipt and transmission of classified information.
Steven Garfinkel (ISOO director from 1980-2002) and J. William Leonard (2002-2007) have been the voice of classification authority across three decades and five presidential administrations. They inspected, oversaw and reported to the President on the government's classification and declassification programs.
And last week they were listed among eight proposed expert witnesses for the defense in the AIPAC case, formally known as USA v. Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman.
As deeply knowledgeable classification officials, Mr. Garfinkel and Mr.Leonard might have been expected to testify for the government in a case involving classification policy. The fact that they are testifying for the defense is a startling indication that the prosecution's case has strayed far beyond any consensus view regarding the proper protection of classified information.
The surprising participation of these former classification officials was first reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the New York Sun. See "Key New Witnesses Sign on for the Defense in AIPAC Case" by Josh Gerstein, New York Sun, March 17:
http://www.nysun.com/article/73017
In another sign that the government's case may be unraveling, the lead prosecutor quit last month to take a job in the private sector.
See"Top prosecutor in AIPAC case quits," Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 28:
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/107251.html
Selected case files from the AIPAC prosecution may be found here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/aipac/index.html
Wrap...
Harvard Law cares about public service...
From Levine Breaking News:
HARVARD LAW, HOPING STUDENTS WILL CONSIDER PUBLIC SERVICE, OFFERS TUITION BREAK:
Concerned by the low numbers of law students choosing careers in public service, Harvard Law School plans to waive tuition for third-year students who pledge to spend five years working either for nonprofit organizations or the government. The program, to be announced Tuesday, would save students more than $40,000 in tuition and follows by scant months the announcement of a sharp increase in financial aid to Harvard's undergraduates.
The law school, which already has a loan forgiveness program for students choosing public service, said it knew of no other law school offering such a tuition incentive.
Wrap...
HARVARD LAW, HOPING STUDENTS WILL CONSIDER PUBLIC SERVICE, OFFERS TUITION BREAK:
Concerned by the low numbers of law students choosing careers in public service, Harvard Law School plans to waive tuition for third-year students who pledge to spend five years working either for nonprofit organizations or the government. The program, to be announced Tuesday, would save students more than $40,000 in tuition and follows by scant months the announcement of a sharp increase in financial aid to Harvard's undergraduates.
The law school, which already has a loan forgiveness program for students choosing public service, said it knew of no other law school offering such a tuition incentive.
Wrap...
VA...no voting here for soldiers...
From Alternet via truthout.org:
Veterans Administration Won't Help Soldiers Register to Vote
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031808L.shtml
Steven Rosenfeld reports for AlterNet, "For at least four years, since the 2004 presidential election, when a veteran, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was the Democratic Party nominee, the Department of Veterans Affairs has blocked efforts to help US soldiers register to vote at its facilities in all 50 states."
[Click link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Veterans Administration Won't Help Soldiers Register to Vote
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031808L.shtml
Steven Rosenfeld reports for AlterNet, "For at least four years, since the 2004 presidential election, when a veteran, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was the Democratic Party nominee, the Department of Veterans Affairs has blocked efforts to help US soldiers register to vote at its facilities in all 50 states."
[Click link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Monday, March 17, 2008
A Share for two bucks...& Apple engineer helps Rush...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
JPMorgan Chase agreed yesterday to buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share, less than one-tenth the firm's market price on Friday. The bank and the Federal Reserve "will guarantee the huge trading obligations" of Bear, "which was driven to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank." Bonddad has more analysis.
The current economic crisis "is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war," writes former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan in the Financial Times. He also argues that "market flexibility and open competition" are "our most reliable and effective safeguards against cumulative economic failure."
Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) current visit to Iraq is bolstering the belief by the country's politicians that if he is elected president, "the American military would have a large presence in Iraq for a very long time." Jalaladeen Sagheer, a senior member of the leading Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, described McCain's visit as "an advertisement for the American elections."
Vice President Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq today, to reaffirm "the unwavering commitment" of the United States to rebuilding Iraq. Cheney told reporters that it was "especially significant" he was in Iraq five years after the March 2003 U.S. invasion. Shortly after his arrival, "two explosions rocked Baghdad."
Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the Red Cross reports that Iraq faces a major humanitarian crisis. "To avert an even worse crisis, more attention must be paid to the everyday needs of Iraqis," said Beatrice Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa. "Everyone should have regular access to health care, electricity, clean water and sanitation."
Harper's Scott Horton reports that an internal Department of Justice investigation into the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys is approaching its conclusion. The report will likely be released in the spring, and it "will almost certainly be explosive."
Climate change may "turn Ireland’s legendary emerald landscape a dusty tan" according to a new report by the Irish American Climate Project. "[T]he soft rains that people talk about as a blessing...could turn harsh," said the project's director Kevin Sweeney. Additionally, potatoes, Ireland's agricultural staple, "might cease to be a commercial crop under the stress of prolonged summer droughts."
And finally: Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh describes himself as "a big Mac guy." Lately, he's been having trouble backing up his e-mail archives, a "problem that was echoed by other users on message boards." So Limbaugh took to the airwaves, making his plea directly to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Apparently, someone at Apple was listening, and sent over an engineer to help Limbaugh. Two weeks later, the problem was fixed.
Wrap...
Think Fast...
JPMorgan Chase agreed yesterday to buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share, less than one-tenth the firm's market price on Friday. The bank and the Federal Reserve "will guarantee the huge trading obligations" of Bear, "which was driven to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank." Bonddad has more analysis.
The current economic crisis "is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war," writes former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan in the Financial Times. He also argues that "market flexibility and open competition" are "our most reliable and effective safeguards against cumulative economic failure."
Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) current visit to Iraq is bolstering the belief by the country's politicians that if he is elected president, "the American military would have a large presence in Iraq for a very long time." Jalaladeen Sagheer, a senior member of the leading Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, described McCain's visit as "an advertisement for the American elections."
Vice President Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq today, to reaffirm "the unwavering commitment" of the United States to rebuilding Iraq. Cheney told reporters that it was "especially significant" he was in Iraq five years after the March 2003 U.S. invasion. Shortly after his arrival, "two explosions rocked Baghdad."
Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the Red Cross reports that Iraq faces a major humanitarian crisis. "To avert an even worse crisis, more attention must be paid to the everyday needs of Iraqis," said Beatrice Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa. "Everyone should have regular access to health care, electricity, clean water and sanitation."
Harper's Scott Horton reports that an internal Department of Justice investigation into the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys is approaching its conclusion. The report will likely be released in the spring, and it "will almost certainly be explosive."
Climate change may "turn Ireland’s legendary emerald landscape a dusty tan" according to a new report by the Irish American Climate Project. "[T]he soft rains that people talk about as a blessing...could turn harsh," said the project's director Kevin Sweeney. Additionally, potatoes, Ireland's agricultural staple, "might cease to be a commercial crop under the stress of prolonged summer droughts."
And finally: Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh describes himself as "a big Mac guy." Lately, he's been having trouble backing up his e-mail archives, a "problem that was echoed by other users on message boards." So Limbaugh took to the airwaves, making his plea directly to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Apparently, someone at Apple was listening, and sent over an engineer to help Limbaugh. Two weeks later, the problem was fixed.
Wrap...
Florida Dems give mail-in vote idea up.....
From Associated Press via The New York Times:
Florida Democrats Scrap Mail-In Vote
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 17, 2008
Filed at 8:46 p.m. ET
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Facing strong opposition, Florida Democrats on Monday abandoned plans to hold a do-over presidential primary with a mail-in vote and threw the delegate dispute into the lap of the national party.
While the decision by Florida Democrats left the state's 210 delegates in limbo, Democrats in Michigan moved closer to holding another contest on June 3. Legislative leaders reviewed a measure Monday that would set up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary, The Associated Press learned.
In Florida, a frustrated Democratic Party chairwoman Karen L. Thurman sent a letter announcing the decision.
'
'A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it's simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the party were to pay for it,'' Thurman said. ''... This doesn't mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April.''
Members of Florida's congressional delegation unanimously opposed the plan, and Barack Obama expressed concern about the security of a mail-in vote organized so quickly. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign expressed disappointment with Florida's decision.
''Today's announcement brings us no closer to counting the votes of the nearly 1.7 million people who voted in January,'' Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said. ''We hope the Obama campaign shares our belief that Florida's voters must be counted and cannot be disenfranchised.''
Obama's campaign said it looked forward to an agreement on what to do about Florida.
''We hope that all parties can agree on a fair seating of the Florida delegates so that Florida can participate in the Democratic Convention, and we look forward to working with the Florida Democratic Party and competing vigorously in the state so that Barack Obama can put Florida back into the Democratic column in November,'' said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Florida Democrats Scrap Mail-In Vote
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 17, 2008
Filed at 8:46 p.m. ET
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Facing strong opposition, Florida Democrats on Monday abandoned plans to hold a do-over presidential primary with a mail-in vote and threw the delegate dispute into the lap of the national party.
While the decision by Florida Democrats left the state's 210 delegates in limbo, Democrats in Michigan moved closer to holding another contest on June 3. Legislative leaders reviewed a measure Monday that would set up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary, The Associated Press learned.
In Florida, a frustrated Democratic Party chairwoman Karen L. Thurman sent a letter announcing the decision.
''A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it's simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the party were to pay for it,'' Thurman said. ''... This doesn't mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April.''
Members of Florida's congressional delegation unanimously opposed the plan, and Barack Obama expressed concern about the security of a mail-in vote organized so quickly. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign expressed disappointment with Florida's decision.
''Today's announcement brings us no closer to counting the votes of the nearly 1.7 million people who voted in January,'' Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said. ''We hope the Obama campaign shares our belief that Florida's voters must be counted and cannot be disenfranchised.''
Obama's campaign said it looked forward to an agreement on what to do about Florida.
''We hope that all parties can agree on a fair seating of the Florida delegates so that Florida can participate in the Democratic Convention, and we look forward to working with the Florida Democratic Party and competing vigorously in the state so that Barack Obama can put Florida back into the Democratic column in November,'' said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Primary-Scramble.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Florida Democrats Scrap Mail-In Vote
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 17, 2008
Filed at 8:46 p.m. ET
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Facing strong opposition, Florida Democrats on Monday abandoned plans to hold a do-over presidential primary with a mail-in vote and threw the delegate dispute into the lap of the national party.
While the decision by Florida Democrats left the state's 210 delegates in limbo, Democrats in Michigan moved closer to holding another contest on June 3. Legislative leaders reviewed a measure Monday that would set up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary, The Associated Press learned.
In Florida, a frustrated Democratic Party chairwoman Karen L. Thurman sent a letter announcing the decision.
'
'A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it's simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the party were to pay for it,'' Thurman said. ''... This doesn't mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April.''
Members of Florida's congressional delegation unanimously opposed the plan, and Barack Obama expressed concern about the security of a mail-in vote organized so quickly. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign expressed disappointment with Florida's decision.
''Today's announcement brings us no closer to counting the votes of the nearly 1.7 million people who voted in January,'' Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said. ''We hope the Obama campaign shares our belief that Florida's voters must be counted and cannot be disenfranchised.''
Obama's campaign said it looked forward to an agreement on what to do about Florida.
''We hope that all parties can agree on a fair seating of the Florida delegates so that Florida can participate in the Democratic Convention, and we look forward to working with the Florida Democratic Party and competing vigorously in the state so that Barack Obama can put Florida back into the Democratic column in November,'' said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Florida Democrats Scrap Mail-In Vote
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 17, 2008
Filed at 8:46 p.m. ET
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Facing strong opposition, Florida Democrats on Monday abandoned plans to hold a do-over presidential primary with a mail-in vote and threw the delegate dispute into the lap of the national party.
While the decision by Florida Democrats left the state's 210 delegates in limbo, Democrats in Michigan moved closer to holding another contest on June 3. Legislative leaders reviewed a measure Monday that would set up a privately funded, state-administered do-over primary, The Associated Press learned.
In Florida, a frustrated Democratic Party chairwoman Karen L. Thurman sent a letter announcing the decision.
''A party-run primary or caucus has been ruled out, and it's simply not possible for the state to hold another election, even if the party were to pay for it,'' Thurman said. ''... This doesn't mean that Democrats are giving up on Florida voters. It means that a solution will have to come from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, which is scheduled to meet again in April.''
Members of Florida's congressional delegation unanimously opposed the plan, and Barack Obama expressed concern about the security of a mail-in vote organized so quickly. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign expressed disappointment with Florida's decision.
''Today's announcement brings us no closer to counting the votes of the nearly 1.7 million people who voted in January,'' Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said. ''We hope the Obama campaign shares our belief that Florida's voters must be counted and cannot be disenfranchised.''
Obama's campaign said it looked forward to an agreement on what to do about Florida.
''We hope that all parties can agree on a fair seating of the Florida delegates so that Florida can participate in the Democratic Convention, and we look forward to working with the Florida Democratic Party and competing vigorously in the state so that Barack Obama can put Florida back into the Democratic column in November,'' said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Primary-Scramble.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Repubs voting for Clinton by the thousands...
From The Boston Globe via truthout.org :
Many Voting for Clinton to Boost GOP
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031708D.shtml
Scott Helman, reporting for The Boston Globe, writes: "For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show. A sudden change of heart? Hardly."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Many Voting for Clinton to Boost GOP
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031708D.shtml
Scott Helman, reporting for The Boston Globe, writes: "For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show. A sudden change of heart? Hardly."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Friday, March 14, 2008
One disgusting international corporation...re Katrina...
From AP via truthout.org :
Katrina Contractor Has Reaped Millions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031408M.shtml
The Associated Press reports:
"Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of homeowners are still waiting for their government rebuilding checks, and many complain they can't even get their calls returned. But the company that holds the contract to distribute the aid is doing quite well.
ICF International of Fairfax, Va., has posted strong profits, gone public, landed additional multimillion-dollar government contracts -- and recently secured a potentially big raise from the state of Louisiana."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Katrina Contractor Has Reaped Millions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031408M.shtml
The Associated Press reports:
"Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of homeowners are still waiting for their government rebuilding checks, and many complain they can't even get their calls returned. But the company that holds the contract to distribute the aid is doing quite well.
ICF International of Fairfax, Va., has posted strong profits, gone public, landed additional multimillion-dollar government contracts -- and recently secured a potentially big raise from the state of Louisiana."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
The Cult of the Suicide Bomber...
From The Independent:
Friday, 14 March 2008
Khaled looked at me with a broad smile. He was almost laughing. At one point, when I told him that he should abandon all thoughts of being a suicide bomber – that he could influence more people in this world by becoming a journalist – he put his head back and shot me a grin, world-weary for a man in his teens. "You have your mission," he said. "And I have mine." His sisters looked at him in awe. He was their hero, their amanuensis and their teacher, their representative and their soon-to-be-martyred brother.
Yes, he was handsome, young – just 18 – he was dressed in a black Giorgio Armani T-shirt, a small, carefully trimmed Spanish conquistador's beard, gelled hair. And he was ready to immolate himself.
A sinister surprise. I had travelled to Khaled's home to speak to his mother. I had already written about his brother Hassan and wanted to introduce a Canadian journalist colleague, Nelofer Pazira, to the family. When Khaled walked on to the porch of the house, Nelofer and I both realised – at the same moment – that he was next, the next to die, the next "martyr". It was his smile. I've come across these young men before, but never one who so obviously declared his calling.
His family sat around us on the porch of their home above the Lebanese city of Sidon, the sitting room adorned with coloured photographs of Hassan, already gone to the paradise – so they assured me – for which Khaled clearly thought he was destined. Hassan had driven his explosives-laden car into an American military convoy at Tal Afar in north-western Iraq, his body (or what was left of it) buried "in situ" – or so his mother was informed.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-the-cult-of-the-suicide-bomber-795649.html
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Friday, 14 March 2008
Khaled looked at me with a broad smile. He was almost laughing. At one point, when I told him that he should abandon all thoughts of being a suicide bomber – that he could influence more people in this world by becoming a journalist – he put his head back and shot me a grin, world-weary for a man in his teens. "You have your mission," he said. "And I have mine." His sisters looked at him in awe. He was their hero, their amanuensis and their teacher, their representative and their soon-to-be-martyred brother.
Yes, he was handsome, young – just 18 – he was dressed in a black Giorgio Armani T-shirt, a small, carefully trimmed Spanish conquistador's beard, gelled hair. And he was ready to immolate himself.
A sinister surprise. I had travelled to Khaled's home to speak to his mother. I had already written about his brother Hassan and wanted to introduce a Canadian journalist colleague, Nelofer Pazira, to the family. When Khaled walked on to the porch of the house, Nelofer and I both realised – at the same moment – that he was next, the next to die, the next "martyr". It was his smile. I've come across these young men before, but never one who so obviously declared his calling.
His family sat around us on the porch of their home above the Lebanese city of Sidon, the sitting room adorned with coloured photographs of Hassan, already gone to the paradise – so they assured me – for which Khaled clearly thought he was destined. Hassan had driven his explosives-laden car into an American military convoy at Tal Afar in north-western Iraq, his body (or what was left of it) buried "in situ" – or so his mother was informed.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-the-cult-of-the-suicide-bomber-795649.html
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
From Gen Petraeus to Useless secret sessions...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
Gen. David Petraeus said yesterday that "Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political difference." Petraeus stated that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments feels Iraq's leaders are making "sufficient progress."
After President Bush "intervened at the 11th hour" to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency's new smog standards, "Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA's past submissions to the Supreme Court. ... As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard."
Alaska's Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens "introduced legislation Thursday that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the price of oil hits $125 a barrel." Both senators hope "to capitalize on consumer concern" about rising gas prices.
The House and the Senate narrowly passed a $3 trillion spending plan yesterday, which would "increase spending on domestic programs like education, health care, veterans benefits and new energy technology," while allowing President Bush's tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans to expire in two years.
The media continues to repeat the false claim that President Bush sought cooperation from telecommunications companies to conduct domestic spying only after 9/11. In fact, the Bush administration approached telecommunications carriers months before 9/11.
"Anti-Semitism, including government-promoted hatred toward Jews and prejudice couched as criticism of Israel, has risen globally over the last decade, the State Department said on Thursday."
And finally: The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes that yesterday, conservatives were acting like "like schoolgirls whispering among themselves in class" as they plotted their "secret" session on wiretapping. "Because of my clearance level, I've seen the secret information and information at other levels as well," bragged Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), who was organizing the meeting. Rep. David Obey (D-WI), however, was not impressed. "I was here for the secret sessions," said Obey. "And given the mumbo jumbo that I heard," he added, the main purpose was "to demonstrate the total uselessness of secret sessions." Laughter erupted.
Wrap...
Think Fast...
Gen. David Petraeus said yesterday that "Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political difference." Petraeus stated that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments feels Iraq's leaders are making "sufficient progress."
After President Bush "intervened at the 11th hour" to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency's new smog standards, "Solicitor General Paul D. Clement warned administration officials late Tuesday night that the rules contradicted the EPA's past submissions to the Supreme Court. ... As a consequence, administration lawyers hustled to craft new legal justifications for the weakened standard."
Alaska's Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens "introduced legislation Thursday that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the price of oil hits $125 a barrel." Both senators hope "to capitalize on consumer concern" about rising gas prices.
The House and the Senate narrowly passed a $3 trillion spending plan yesterday, which would "increase spending on domestic programs like education, health care, veterans benefits and new energy technology," while allowing President Bush's tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans to expire in two years.
The media continues to repeat the false claim that President Bush sought cooperation from telecommunications companies to conduct domestic spying only after 9/11. In fact, the Bush administration approached telecommunications carriers months before 9/11.
"Anti-Semitism, including government-promoted hatred toward Jews and prejudice couched as criticism of Israel, has risen globally over the last decade, the State Department said on Thursday."
And finally: The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes that yesterday, conservatives were acting like "like schoolgirls whispering among themselves in class" as they plotted their "secret" session on wiretapping. "Because of my clearance level, I've seen the secret information and information at other levels as well," bragged Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), who was organizing the meeting. Rep. David Obey (D-WI), however, was not impressed. "I was here for the secret sessions," said Obey. "And given the mumbo jumbo that I heard," he added, the main purpose was "to demonstrate the total uselessness of secret sessions." Laughter erupted.
Wrap...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Dollar diving in Japan & Brownback gets votes up...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
The rapidly falling dollar "marked a milestone in Japan as it fell below 100 yen for the first time in 12 years" amid growing concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.
"The U.S. federal government ran a monthly budget deficit of $175.56 billion in February, a record for any month, the Treasury Department said Wednesday."
Sixty percent of Americans think the Iraq war was a mistake, according to a new USA Today poll. The same number also favors a timetable for troop withdrawal, regardless of the situation in Iraq, while 54 percent believe that history will judge the war as mostly or a total failure. A Pew poll found that 53 percent of Americans think the U.S. will ultimately achieve its goals in Iraq.
"A barrage of rockets targeting an American military base in southern Iraq on Wednesday morning killed three U.S. soldiers, bringing to 12 the number of Americans killed in Iraq in the past three days."
Top FBI officials "repeatedly approved the use of 'blanket' records demands to justify the improper collection of thousands of phone records." These blanket demands -- which do not require the approval of a judge -- were used at least 11 times in 2006 alone, "as a quick way to clean up mistakes" made since 9/11.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), traveling to Europe next week, said he wouldn't discuss differences with President Bush while abroad. "There are obvious differences," he said. "I certainly won't articulate them overseas."
When a Justice Department proposed rule requiring U.S. contractors "to report waste, fraud or abuse they encounter while doing work for the government" was published by the White House Office of Management and Budget last year, it included "language that would exempt from such reporting all U.S. contractors who do work overseas" including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon has recorded nearly 50 videotapes of its interrogations of terrorism suspects Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri, "the first official acknowledgment that military interrogators had videotaped some sessions with detainees."
And finally: Most senators and aides are dreading the "vote-o-rama" planned for the next few days. The dozens are votes will mostly focus on "obscure procedural motions." Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), however, is "truly thrilled at the prospect" of these votes. "I'm going to get my percentages up!' he gleefully told Roll Call, reportedly "pumping his arms in the air in the universal gesture of celebration." During his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, his voting record took a hit; he missed 28.2 percent of votes.
Wrap...
Think Fast...
The rapidly falling dollar "marked a milestone in Japan as it fell below 100 yen for the first time in 12 years" amid growing concerns about the health of the U.S. economy.
"The U.S. federal government ran a monthly budget deficit of $175.56 billion in February, a record for any month, the Treasury Department said Wednesday."
Sixty percent of Americans think the Iraq war was a mistake, according to a new USA Today poll. The same number also favors a timetable for troop withdrawal, regardless of the situation in Iraq, while 54 percent believe that history will judge the war as mostly or a total failure. A Pew poll found that 53 percent of Americans think the U.S. will ultimately achieve its goals in Iraq.
"A barrage of rockets targeting an American military base in southern Iraq on Wednesday morning killed three U.S. soldiers, bringing to 12 the number of Americans killed in Iraq in the past three days."
Top FBI officials "repeatedly approved the use of 'blanket' records demands to justify the improper collection of thousands of phone records." These blanket demands -- which do not require the approval of a judge -- were used at least 11 times in 2006 alone, "as a quick way to clean up mistakes" made since 9/11.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), traveling to Europe next week, said he wouldn't discuss differences with President Bush while abroad. "There are obvious differences," he said. "I certainly won't articulate them overseas."
When a Justice Department proposed rule requiring U.S. contractors "to report waste, fraud or abuse they encounter while doing work for the government" was published by the White House Office of Management and Budget last year, it included "language that would exempt from such reporting all U.S. contractors who do work overseas" including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon has recorded nearly 50 videotapes of its interrogations of terrorism suspects Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri, "the first official acknowledgment that military interrogators had videotaped some sessions with detainees."
And finally: Most senators and aides are dreading the "vote-o-rama" planned for the next few days. The dozens are votes will mostly focus on "obscure procedural motions." Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), however, is "truly thrilled at the prospect" of these votes. "I'm going to get my percentages up!' he gleefully told Roll Call, reportedly "pumping his arms in the air in the universal gesture of celebration." During his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, his voting record took a hit; he missed 28.2 percent of votes.
Wrap...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Terrific list of Thrillers in these Books...
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
FICTION/DEBUT:
James Fuerst's HUGE, debut literary fiction pitched as in the vein of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and THE SLEEPING FATHER, told by an angry, precocious adolescent and devotee of Philip Marlowe, as he confronts a dangerous mystery - and the challenges of family, his own emotions, and junior high, to Julian Pavia at Crown,in a pre-empt, for publication in Summer 2009, by Markus Hoffmann at Regal Literary (world).UK/translation: kschulze@randomhouse.com
John Pipkin's WOODSBURNER, chronicling the lives of a lovesick Norwegian immigrant farm hand, a struggling bookseller, a fire and brimstone preacher, and a pencil maker named Henry David Thoreau as their stories intersect over a fire Thoreau accidentally set which burned 800 acres near Walden Pond, moved with Janet Silver to Nan A. Talese, in a pre-empt, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Matthew Vollmer's FUTURE MISSIONARIES OF AMERICA, a collection about American loneliness and hope, including stories previously published in The Paris Review, Tin House, and elsewhere, to Khristina Wenzinger at MacAdam/Cage (world).
THRILLER:
Younger brother of Lee Child, Andrew Grant's debut EVEN, introducing David Trevallyan, described as Jack Reacher's younger brother if Reacher had a brother who'd joined the British Navy, and taken James Bond's career path, to Peter Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, in a pre-empt, for publication in June 2009, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (world).
John le Carre's A MOST WANTED MAN, set in Germany, a contemporary story delivering readers deep inside the intelligence agencies operating in the "war on terror," returning to Nan Graham at Scribner (with Pocket publishing the paperback), for publication in October 2008, by attorney Michael Rudell (US).
Rory Clements' MARTYR, a first historical thriller pitched as in the vein of CJ Sansom, about John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer to Queen Elizabeth, ordered to protect England's "sea dragon" Francis Drake from an assassination plot, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, by Patty Moosbrugger at Patricia Moosbrugger Literary Agency (NA).
Jeremy Robinson's ROUSE, the first in the Chess Team series, pitched as combining the adventure of James Rollins with the frantic pacing of Matthew Reilly, in which a team of Delta Force operatives battle a terrorist-friendly biopharmaceutical company, to Peter Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, in a three-book deal, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group (world English).
GENERAL/OTHER:
JRR Tolkien's grandson Simon Tolkien's THE INHERITANCE, in which an aging police inspector decides to travel from England to France to delve into a possible World War II theft and crime hoping to save an upper-class student set to hang for murdering his father, an Oxford historian with a questionable military record, to Peter Wolverton and Thomas Dunne at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
John Drake's FLINT & SILVER, the first in a series of pirate adventure novels, prequels to the classic, Treasure Island, to Colin Fox at Simon & Schuster, in a pre-empt, by Joe Veltre at Artists Literary Group, on behalf of Antony Topping at Greene & Heaton (US).Translation: ecochrane@greeneheaton.co.ukjv@algmedia.comUK rights to Julia Wisdom at Harper UK, in a significant deal," in a pre-empt, for three books.
Two untitled anthologies from The New Yorker, a book of war reportage edited by David Remnick, and a collection of humor writing edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder, to Julia Cheiffetz at Random House (world English).Rights: ctisne@randomhouse.com
Director of La Scala in Italy Daniel Barenboim's MUSIC QUICKENS TIME, on the transformative power of music, to Tom Penn at Verso, in a nice deal, for publication in November 2008, by Erica Berla at Berla & Griffini Rights Agency (NA).
UK:
Glenn Cooper's debut thriller, LIBRARY OF THE DEAD, about an FBI agent's struggle to crack an unsolvable serial killing which leads him to the discovery of the real secret of the US government's top-secret Area 51 military installation, to Kate Elton at Arrow, for two books, by Caspian Dennis of the Abner Stein, on behalf of Steve Kasdin of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.Sold here and in multiple territories (see additional report) in advance of a US sale.
NON-FICTION:
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANACE:
Author of Beat the Dealer and Beat the Market, Dr. Edward O. Thorp's A MAN FOR ALL MARKETS: My Adventures from Las Vegas to Wall Street, recounting his adventures and achievements over three decades, from inventing the first system for card counting in 1959, to co-inventing a wearable computer that beat the roulette wheel, to devising mathematical trading formulae that revolutionized Wall Street, also including the practical and financial insights of a gambling and investing legend, to Will Murphy at Random House, by David Halpern at The Robbins Office (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Charles Hirschberg's NEVER LOST A BATTLE YET, presenting an untold aspect of Civil War history along the story of the extraordinary friendship between Robert Certain, a former slave of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, African Descent - the first official African-American regiment in US Army history - and its commander, Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a blue-blooded New Englander and man of letters whose friends included Emerson, Thoreau, Lowell and Emily Dickinson, to Charlie Conrad at Doubleday, by Lisa Queen and Eleanor Jackson at Queen Literary Agency (World).
MEMOIR:
Longtime television host Bob Barker's autobiography, written with Digby Diehl, sharing stories and anecdotes from his personal and public life, including his childhood, marriage, early career and experiences on Truth or Consequences and The Price is Right, to Christina Boys at Center Street, for publication in summer of 2009, by Mel Berger at the William Morris Agency.
[NOTE: Digby is one good writer!]
SCIENCE:
Author of bestselling THE BLACK SWAN, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's TINKERING, a roadmap on how to live and make decisions in a world we do not understand, showing how we are better at doing than we are at knowing, how discoveries are mostly made by trial and error, how universities are better at public relations than they are at producing knowledge, and how to take advantage of these facts -- drawing from sources as diverse as Menodotus of Nichomedia and the mathematics of genome sequencing, with characters ranging from Aristotle to Fat Tony (a successful streetwise fellow from Brooklyn), again to Will Murphy at Random House, by John Brockman at Brockman.
Wrap...
FICTION/DEBUT:
James Fuerst's HUGE, debut literary fiction pitched as in the vein of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and THE SLEEPING FATHER, told by an angry, precocious adolescent and devotee of Philip Marlowe, as he confronts a dangerous mystery - and the challenges of family, his own emotions, and junior high, to Julian Pavia at Crown,in a pre-empt, for publication in Summer 2009, by Markus Hoffmann at Regal Literary (world).UK/translation: kschulze@randomhouse.com
John Pipkin's WOODSBURNER, chronicling the lives of a lovesick Norwegian immigrant farm hand, a struggling bookseller, a fire and brimstone preacher, and a pencil maker named Henry David Thoreau as their stories intersect over a fire Thoreau accidentally set which burned 800 acres near Walden Pond, moved with Janet Silver to Nan A. Talese, in a pre-empt, by Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate Matthew Vollmer's FUTURE MISSIONARIES OF AMERICA, a collection about American loneliness and hope, including stories previously published in The Paris Review, Tin House, and elsewhere, to Khristina Wenzinger at MacAdam/Cage (world).
THRILLER:
Younger brother of Lee Child, Andrew Grant's debut EVEN, introducing David Trevallyan, described as Jack Reacher's younger brother if Reacher had a brother who'd joined the British Navy, and taken James Bond's career path, to Peter Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, in a pre-empt, for publication in June 2009, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management (world).
John le Carre's A MOST WANTED MAN, set in Germany, a contemporary story delivering readers deep inside the intelligence agencies operating in the "war on terror," returning to Nan Graham at Scribner (with Pocket publishing the paperback), for publication in October 2008, by attorney Michael Rudell (US).
Rory Clements' MARTYR, a first historical thriller pitched as in the vein of CJ Sansom, about John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer to Queen Elizabeth, ordered to protect England's "sea dragon" Francis Drake from an assassination plot, to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, by Patty Moosbrugger at Patricia Moosbrugger Literary Agency (NA).
Jeremy Robinson's ROUSE, the first in the Chess Team series, pitched as combining the adventure of James Rollins with the frantic pacing of Matthew Reilly, in which a team of Delta Force operatives battle a terrorist-friendly biopharmaceutical company, to Peter Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, in a three-book deal, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group (world English).
GENERAL/OTHER:
JRR Tolkien's grandson Simon Tolkien's THE INHERITANCE, in which an aging police inspector decides to travel from England to France to delve into a possible World War II theft and crime hoping to save an upper-class student set to hang for murdering his father, an Oxford historian with a questionable military record, to Peter Wolverton and Thomas Dunne at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
John Drake's FLINT & SILVER, the first in a series of pirate adventure novels, prequels to the classic, Treasure Island, to Colin Fox at Simon & Schuster, in a pre-empt, by Joe Veltre at Artists Literary Group, on behalf of Antony Topping at Greene & Heaton (US).Translation: ecochrane@greeneheaton.co.ukjv@algmedia.comUK rights to Julia Wisdom at Harper UK, in a significant deal," in a pre-empt, for three books.
Two untitled anthologies from The New Yorker, a book of war reportage edited by David Remnick, and a collection of humor writing edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder, to Julia Cheiffetz at Random House (world English).Rights: ctisne@randomhouse.com
Director of La Scala in Italy Daniel Barenboim's MUSIC QUICKENS TIME, on the transformative power of music, to Tom Penn at Verso, in a nice deal, for publication in November 2008, by Erica Berla at Berla & Griffini Rights Agency (NA).
UK:
Glenn Cooper's debut thriller, LIBRARY OF THE DEAD, about an FBI agent's struggle to crack an unsolvable serial killing which leads him to the discovery of the real secret of the US government's top-secret Area 51 military installation, to Kate Elton at Arrow, for two books, by Caspian Dennis of the Abner Stein, on behalf of Steve Kasdin of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.Sold here and in multiple territories (see additional report) in advance of a US sale.
NON-FICTION:
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANACE:
Author of Beat the Dealer and Beat the Market, Dr. Edward O. Thorp's A MAN FOR ALL MARKETS: My Adventures from Las Vegas to Wall Street, recounting his adventures and achievements over three decades, from inventing the first system for card counting in 1959, to co-inventing a wearable computer that beat the roulette wheel, to devising mathematical trading formulae that revolutionized Wall Street, also including the practical and financial insights of a gambling and investing legend, to Will Murphy at Random House, by David Halpern at The Robbins Office (NA).
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Charles Hirschberg's NEVER LOST A BATTLE YET, presenting an untold aspect of Civil War history along the story of the extraordinary friendship between Robert Certain, a former slave of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, African Descent - the first official African-American regiment in US Army history - and its commander, Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a blue-blooded New Englander and man of letters whose friends included Emerson, Thoreau, Lowell and Emily Dickinson, to Charlie Conrad at Doubleday, by Lisa Queen and Eleanor Jackson at Queen Literary Agency (World).
MEMOIR:
Longtime television host Bob Barker's autobiography, written with Digby Diehl, sharing stories and anecdotes from his personal and public life, including his childhood, marriage, early career and experiences on Truth or Consequences and The Price is Right, to Christina Boys at Center Street, for publication in summer of 2009, by Mel Berger at the William Morris Agency.
[NOTE: Digby is one good writer!]
SCIENCE:
Author of bestselling THE BLACK SWAN, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's TINKERING, a roadmap on how to live and make decisions in a world we do not understand, showing how we are better at doing than we are at knowing, how discoveries are mostly made by trial and error, how universities are better at public relations than they are at producing knowledge, and how to take advantage of these facts -- drawing from sources as diverse as Menodotus of Nichomedia and the mathematics of genome sequencing, with characters ranging from Aristotle to Fat Tony (a successful streetwise fellow from Brooklyn), again to Will Murphy at Random House, by John Brockman at Brockman.
Wrap...
The Black Blocs...
From www.stratfor.com :
Objective facts and non-partisan analysis
Maps, video, podcasts & interactive features
Coverage around the world
Black Blocs: Upping the Ante at Protests
Stratfor Today »-->March 12, 2008
By Fred Burton
A small bomb exploded outside a military recruiting station in New York City’s Times Square in the early morning hours of March 6, causing minor property damage but no injuries. The New York Police Department said surveillance videos of the area show a single person arriving at the scene riding a bicycle and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt. Police say the blast was caused by a crude device made from a small, green ammunition container filled with black powder. In the video, the attacker appears to be acting alone, suggesting the person who planted the device was also the bombmaker. There have been no credible claims of responsibility for the attack, though police have lifted latent fingerprints off of what they believe to be the bicycle used by the perpetrator.
Although bombings are uncommon in Manhattan, several unsolved incidents have occurred that could be related to the March 6 attack:
Oct. 26, 2007: Two crude improvised explosive devices made of training grenades stuffed with black powder explode outside of the Mexican Consulate in New York City around 3:40 a.m. local time, causing some damage to the building but injuring no one. A person riding a bicycle and wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt is seen at the scene of the attack.
May 5, 2005: A small device is thrown at a Manhattan building about 3:55 a.m., causing small-scale property damage. The device used is a training grenade stuffed with black powder. Although the building houses the British Consulate, corporate offices of Caterpillar also are located there. Witnesses report that a person wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt was seen leaving the attack site on a bicycle.
Feb. 11, 2000: An improvised explosive device constructed using a green metal ammunition can filled with black powder explodes at the entrance to the Barclays Bank building on Wall Street at about 4:40 a.m. The blast causes damage in the immediate vicinity, but no injuries.
Dec. 15, 1997: A coffee can filled with black powder explodes about 6:30 a.m. outside the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Manhattan. The blast, which had been placed outside of a window of the restaurant’s retail store, causes damage to the surrounding area, but no injuries.
Nov. 9, 1997: A coffee can filled with black powder explodes just before 6 a.m. outside a window at the offices of Barclays Bank, located in a building owned by Merrill Lynch. The explosion causes minor damage to the building, but no injuries.
These incidents all bear striking similarities. They all caused small-scale damage, and they all occurred early in the morning when few people were around. This suggests the attacks were aimed not at taking casualties but rather at sending messages to the targeted businesses and government offices and gaining media attention. The devices used in each of the incidents involved readily available materials, and they were designed rather simply, although they did demonstrate a small degree of skill, given there is no evidence that any of the devices malfunctioned. Also, no known claims of responsibility were made or lists of demands issued in any of the cases. Moreover, each attack appears to have been carried out by an individual acting alone. If a more established group had been involved, the attacks likely would have been more spectacular.
At first glance, the targets appear to have been randomly selected and unconnected. However, on closer inspection, the choice of targets reveals that a specific ideology seemed to have guided the attacker or attackers. In addition, the bicycles and the attackers’ dark hooded sweatshirt in at least three of these cases might indicate a connection to certain protest groups. The tactics and target selection of the latest New York City attacks bear some similarities to the actions of black bloc groups in past protest activities.
The Black Bloc
A black bloc is a nebulous entity that has no centralized command and control structure, similar to organizations such as the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. Instead, activists who join black bloc groups usually also participate in other more benign activist organizations and affinity groups. Because a black bloc is not a formal organization, there is no clear definition of its ideology. However, individuals who participate in black bloc actions are typically anti-capitalism, anti-globalization and anti-war and often identify themselves as anarchists. Overall, they oppose “authoritarianism,” which they believe is present throughout modern society.
Black blocs often are organized on an ad hoc basis to participate in larger protest activities, such as those at the 2003 G-7 meeting in Washington and the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle. The black bloc activists participate in large protests and often serve as a tactical brigade — adding conflict to a given protest event. While there may be a large group of individuals participating in one black bloc, there also are smaller autonomous cells within the group that carry out unilateral action. These groups have engaged in a number of violent activities over the years, mostly involving the destruction of property, and they claim that engaging in small-scale violence and destruction is a legitimate political statement.
Members of black bloc groups often dress in dark clothing and wear masks and scarves to conceal their identity, making it difficult for law enforcement to track them down. During some protest activities, groups have been known to send out scouts on bicycles to conduct reconnaissance on police in the area. Using handheld radios, the scouts then alert others in the group to areas where the police presence is less robust or where security measures can be more easily breached.
Black blocs rose to prominence as a movement during the 1999 Seattle WTO meetings. During the protests, groups mostly of young men began burning trash cans in the streets and smashing windows of retail stores and restaurants, including Old Navy, Gap, Planet Hollywood and McDonald’s.
The New York Attacks
Although there are no definitive connections between black blocs and the series of New York City attacks, the targets reflect the elements of society that black blocs most oppose. Large and influential banks are a frequent target of anti-capitalist actors, and these same individuals would likely cite Planet Hollywood as an example of crass culture and globalization.
The October 2007 attack against the Mexican Consulate was likely related to the first anniversary of the death of journalist Brad Will, who was shot to death in Oaxaca, Mexico, allegedly by domestic law enforcement, while reporting on protests in the city. At the time of his death, Will was working as a reporter for Indymedia, a media outlet for radical activist causes. Following Will’s death, many activists called for blockades and other black bloc-style direct actions against Mexican consulates around the world. Similarly, the May 2005 attack against the offices of Caterpillar is likely related to the death of Rachel Corrie, a member of the International Solidarity Movement who was killed in the Gaza Strip in March 2003. Corrie died during an incident that involved a Caterpillar-made armored bulldozer operated by members of the Israel
Defense Forces.
The recent attack against the military recruiting station follows the same pattern as seen in earlier attacks. Times Square is one of the ultimate symbols of American capitalism and popular culture, making it an attractive target for individuals involved with the black bloc movement. Additionally, many affinity groups and other more mainstream activist organizations have adopted an anti-war message, making the Times Square recruitment center a frequent location of protest activities. However, this incident also could have been connected to events in Berkeley, Calif., where activists affiliated with the anti-war group Code Pink are protesting the presence of a U.S. Marine recruiting facility in the town. The conflict has received widespread media attention, peaking Jan. 29 when the Berkeley City Council adopted a resolution that called the Marines “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” It also is possible the attack was meant to coincide with the verdict in the ca se of Oakland, Calif., activist Briana Waters, who was convicted on two charges of arson in connection with a fire at the University of Washington. Waters is an alleged member of the Earth Liberation Front.
There is not enough evidence to suggest these unsolved attacks in New York are connected to one black bloc group, although that could be the case. At the very least, the person involved in the latest attack took a page from the black bloc playbook.
Wrap...
Objective facts and non-partisan analysis
Maps, video, podcasts & interactive features
Coverage around the world
Black Blocs: Upping the Ante at Protests
Stratfor Today »-->March 12, 2008
By Fred Burton
A small bomb exploded outside a military recruiting station in New York City’s Times Square in the early morning hours of March 6, causing minor property damage but no injuries. The New York Police Department said surveillance videos of the area show a single person arriving at the scene riding a bicycle and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt. Police say the blast was caused by a crude device made from a small, green ammunition container filled with black powder. In the video, the attacker appears to be acting alone, suggesting the person who planted the device was also the bombmaker. There have been no credible claims of responsibility for the attack, though police have lifted latent fingerprints off of what they believe to be the bicycle used by the perpetrator.
Although bombings are uncommon in Manhattan, several unsolved incidents have occurred that could be related to the March 6 attack:
Oct. 26, 2007: Two crude improvised explosive devices made of training grenades stuffed with black powder explode outside of the Mexican Consulate in New York City around 3:40 a.m. local time, causing some damage to the building but injuring no one. A person riding a bicycle and wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt is seen at the scene of the attack.
May 5, 2005: A small device is thrown at a Manhattan building about 3:55 a.m., causing small-scale property damage. The device used is a training grenade stuffed with black powder. Although the building houses the British Consulate, corporate offices of Caterpillar also are located there. Witnesses report that a person wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt was seen leaving the attack site on a bicycle.
Feb. 11, 2000: An improvised explosive device constructed using a green metal ammunition can filled with black powder explodes at the entrance to the Barclays Bank building on Wall Street at about 4:40 a.m. The blast causes damage in the immediate vicinity, but no injuries.
Dec. 15, 1997: A coffee can filled with black powder explodes about 6:30 a.m. outside the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Manhattan. The blast, which had been placed outside of a window of the restaurant’s retail store, causes damage to the surrounding area, but no injuries.
Nov. 9, 1997: A coffee can filled with black powder explodes just before 6 a.m. outside a window at the offices of Barclays Bank, located in a building owned by Merrill Lynch. The explosion causes minor damage to the building, but no injuries.
These incidents all bear striking similarities. They all caused small-scale damage, and they all occurred early in the morning when few people were around. This suggests the attacks were aimed not at taking casualties but rather at sending messages to the targeted businesses and government offices and gaining media attention. The devices used in each of the incidents involved readily available materials, and they were designed rather simply, although they did demonstrate a small degree of skill, given there is no evidence that any of the devices malfunctioned. Also, no known claims of responsibility were made or lists of demands issued in any of the cases. Moreover, each attack appears to have been carried out by an individual acting alone. If a more established group had been involved, the attacks likely would have been more spectacular.
At first glance, the targets appear to have been randomly selected and unconnected. However, on closer inspection, the choice of targets reveals that a specific ideology seemed to have guided the attacker or attackers. In addition, the bicycles and the attackers’ dark hooded sweatshirt in at least three of these cases might indicate a connection to certain protest groups. The tactics and target selection of the latest New York City attacks bear some similarities to the actions of black bloc groups in past protest activities.
The Black Bloc
A black bloc is a nebulous entity that has no centralized command and control structure, similar to organizations such as the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. Instead, activists who join black bloc groups usually also participate in other more benign activist organizations and affinity groups. Because a black bloc is not a formal organization, there is no clear definition of its ideology. However, individuals who participate in black bloc actions are typically anti-capitalism, anti-globalization and anti-war and often identify themselves as anarchists. Overall, they oppose “authoritarianism,” which they believe is present throughout modern society.
Black blocs often are organized on an ad hoc basis to participate in larger protest activities, such as those at the 2003 G-7 meeting in Washington and the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle. The black bloc activists participate in large protests and often serve as a tactical brigade — adding conflict to a given protest event. While there may be a large group of individuals participating in one black bloc, there also are smaller autonomous cells within the group that carry out unilateral action. These groups have engaged in a number of violent activities over the years, mostly involving the destruction of property, and they claim that engaging in small-scale violence and destruction is a legitimate political statement.
Members of black bloc groups often dress in dark clothing and wear masks and scarves to conceal their identity, making it difficult for law enforcement to track them down. During some protest activities, groups have been known to send out scouts on bicycles to conduct reconnaissance on police in the area. Using handheld radios, the scouts then alert others in the group to areas where the police presence is less robust or where security measures can be more easily breached.
Black blocs rose to prominence as a movement during the 1999 Seattle WTO meetings. During the protests, groups mostly of young men began burning trash cans in the streets and smashing windows of retail stores and restaurants, including Old Navy, Gap, Planet Hollywood and McDonald’s.
The New York Attacks
Although there are no definitive connections between black blocs and the series of New York City attacks, the targets reflect the elements of society that black blocs most oppose. Large and influential banks are a frequent target of anti-capitalist actors, and these same individuals would likely cite Planet Hollywood as an example of crass culture and globalization.
The October 2007 attack against the Mexican Consulate was likely related to the first anniversary of the death of journalist Brad Will, who was shot to death in Oaxaca, Mexico, allegedly by domestic law enforcement, while reporting on protests in the city. At the time of his death, Will was working as a reporter for Indymedia, a media outlet for radical activist causes. Following Will’s death, many activists called for blockades and other black bloc-style direct actions against Mexican consulates around the world. Similarly, the May 2005 attack against the offices of Caterpillar is likely related to the death of Rachel Corrie, a member of the International Solidarity Movement who was killed in the Gaza Strip in March 2003. Corrie died during an incident that involved a Caterpillar-made armored bulldozer operated by members of the Israel
Defense Forces.
The recent attack against the military recruiting station follows the same pattern as seen in earlier attacks. Times Square is one of the ultimate symbols of American capitalism and popular culture, making it an attractive target for individuals involved with the black bloc movement. Additionally, many affinity groups and other more mainstream activist organizations have adopted an anti-war message, making the Times Square recruitment center a frequent location of protest activities. However, this incident also could have been connected to events in Berkeley, Calif., where activists affiliated with the anti-war group Code Pink are protesting the presence of a U.S. Marine recruiting facility in the town. The conflict has received widespread media attention, peaking Jan. 29 when the Berkeley City Council adopted a resolution that called the Marines “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” It also is possible the attack was meant to coincide with the verdict in the ca se of Oakland, Calif., activist Briana Waters, who was convicted on two charges of arson in connection with a fire at the University of Washington. Waters is an alleged member of the Earth Liberation Front.
There is not enough evidence to suggest these unsolved attacks in New York are connected to one black bloc group, although that could be the case. At the very least, the person involved in the latest attack took a page from the black bloc playbook.
Wrap...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
From Ashcroft's "private contract" to Run for that train...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
The Justice Department announced guidelines Monday to prevent "conflict-of-interest accusations" that followed its steering of a major private contract to John Ashcroft. U.S. attorneys now will require "approval from senior officials" at the Justice Department for such agreements.
House Democrats "are readying a proposal that would reject" immunity for telecom companies that participated in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program after 9/11. Instead, "the tentative proposal would give the federal courts special authorization to hear classified evidence and decide whether the phone companies should be held liable."
"Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure," increasing numbers of "Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills -- and getting slammed with taxes and penalties in the process."
"Iraqis are avidly watching the 2008 U.S. election race, searching for signs of policy change under a new president and prospects for U.S. troop withdrawals from their country." "I do not care if the president is a man or a woman, what really matters is the change of American policy towards Iraq," said Muhenad Sahib, a university professor from Basra.
Iraqis state that during the era of Saddam Hussein, "they had one of the highest proportion of female drivers in the Middle East." NPR notes, however, that the "U.S. invasion of Iraq changed all that, between bad traffic, aggressive convoys, and radical insurgents." Fewer women now drive and “lament a loss of mobility and freedom."
House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) questioned Blackwater's classification of its workers as “independent contractors" rather than employees yesterday. The designation has given Blackwater "$144 million in contracts set aside for small businesses and to avoid paying as much as $50 million in withholding taxes under State Department contracts."
"Unions at the Environmental Protection Agency have pulled out of a long-standing partnership with management," saying Administrator Stephen Johnson "and other top managers have ignored the advice of unionized workers and the agency's own principles of scientific integrity."
Congress will put aside politics this week to mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.
"Thursday's congressional 'remembrance' ceremony will recognize the 'five years of service' and sacrifices made by troops and families affected by the war, according to a letter" signed by leaders in both parties. The ceremony was suggested by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office.
In Iraq, two bomb attacks killed eight U.S. soldiers yesterday as well as an Iraqi interpreter. Four soldiers and another interpreter were also wounded. The suicide bombing in Baghdad, which killed five soldiers, "was the deadliest single attack on American soldiers in the capital since the height of the troop buildup here last summer."
And finally: Last week, Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) were "walking to the subway trains from a vote when Thune, with his gazelle-like stride, suddenly broke into a sprint to catch a train headed for Dirksen." Roberts shouted, "You'll never make it." Indeed, the doors "snapped shut" just as Thune reached the train. Roberts, 71, said with a sigh, "I know. These young guys think they can zip right in."
Wrap...
Think Fast...
The Justice Department announced guidelines Monday to prevent "conflict-of-interest accusations" that followed its steering of a major private contract to John Ashcroft. U.S. attorneys now will require "approval from senior officials" at the Justice Department for such agreements.
House Democrats "are readying a proposal that would reject" immunity for telecom companies that participated in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program after 9/11. Instead, "the tentative proposal would give the federal courts special authorization to hear classified evidence and decide whether the phone companies should be held liable."
"Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure," increasing numbers of "Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills -- and getting slammed with taxes and penalties in the process."
"Iraqis are avidly watching the 2008 U.S. election race, searching for signs of policy change under a new president and prospects for U.S. troop withdrawals from their country." "I do not care if the president is a man or a woman, what really matters is the change of American policy towards Iraq," said Muhenad Sahib, a university professor from Basra.
Iraqis state that during the era of Saddam Hussein, "they had one of the highest proportion of female drivers in the Middle East." NPR notes, however, that the "U.S. invasion of Iraq changed all that, between bad traffic, aggressive convoys, and radical insurgents." Fewer women now drive and “lament a loss of mobility and freedom."
House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) questioned Blackwater's classification of its workers as “independent contractors" rather than employees yesterday. The designation has given Blackwater "$144 million in contracts set aside for small businesses and to avoid paying as much as $50 million in withholding taxes under State Department contracts."
"Unions at the Environmental Protection Agency have pulled out of a long-standing partnership with management," saying Administrator Stephen Johnson "and other top managers have ignored the advice of unionized workers and the agency's own principles of scientific integrity."
Congress will put aside politics this week to mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.
"Thursday's congressional 'remembrance' ceremony will recognize the 'five years of service' and sacrifices made by troops and families affected by the war, according to a letter" signed by leaders in both parties. The ceremony was suggested by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office.
In Iraq, two bomb attacks killed eight U.S. soldiers yesterday as well as an Iraqi interpreter. Four soldiers and another interpreter were also wounded. The suicide bombing in Baghdad, which killed five soldiers, "was the deadliest single attack on American soldiers in the capital since the height of the troop buildup here last summer."
And finally: Last week, Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) were "walking to the subway trains from a vote when Thune, with his gazelle-like stride, suddenly broke into a sprint to catch a train headed for Dirksen." Roberts shouted, "You'll never make it." Indeed, the doors "snapped shut" just as Thune reached the train. Roberts, 71, said with a sigh, "I know. These young guys think they can zip right in."
Wrap...
Admiral Fallon calls it quits....
From BBC News:
US Mid-East commander steps down
The commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Admiral William Fallon, is to retire from his post early.
He cited the "embarrassing situation and public perception of differences between my views and administration policy" as the reason for retiring.
He was the subject of a recent article by Esquire magazine, which said he was opposed to the use of force against Iran over its nuclear programme.
The 63-year-old admiral became head of the US Central Command a year ago.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the decision to take early retirement was entirely Adm Fallon's, added that he agreed it was the right thing to do.
"I have approved Admiral Fallon's request to retire with reluctance and regret," he told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that he would be sorely missed.
President George W Bush said the admiral deserved "considerable credit for progress that has been made... in Iraq and Afghanistan".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7290826.stmPublished: 2008/03/11 20:22:28 GMT© BBC MMVIII
Wrap...
US Mid-East commander steps down
The commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Admiral William Fallon, is to retire from his post early.
He cited the "embarrassing situation and public perception of differences between my views and administration policy" as the reason for retiring.
He was the subject of a recent article by Esquire magazine, which said he was opposed to the use of force against Iran over its nuclear programme.
The 63-year-old admiral became head of the US Central Command a year ago.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the decision to take early retirement was entirely Adm Fallon's, added that he agreed it was the right thing to do.
"I have approved Admiral Fallon's request to retire with reluctance and regret," he told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that he would be sorely missed.
President George W Bush said the admiral deserved "considerable credit for progress that has been made... in Iraq and Afghanistan".
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7290826.stmPublished: 2008/03/11 20:22:28 GMT© BBC MMVIII
Wrap...
Bushies' $$$$$maker buys CIA intelligence....
From Corp Watch via truthout.org:
Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108H.shtml
Tim Shorrock, reporting for CorpWatch, writes: "The Carlyle Group manages more than $75 billion in assets and has bought and sold a long string of military contractors since the early 1990s. But in recent years it has significantly reduced its investments in that industry. If it goes ahead with the widely reported plan to buy Booz Allen, it will re-emerge as the owner of one of America's largest private intelligence armies."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108H.shtml
Tim Shorrock, reporting for CorpWatch, writes: "The Carlyle Group manages more than $75 billion in assets and has bought and sold a long string of military contractors since the early 1990s. But in recent years it has significantly reduced its investments in that industry. If it goes ahead with the widely reported plan to buy Booz Allen, it will re-emerge as the owner of one of America's largest private intelligence armies."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Bush is a terrorist...
From NY Times via truthout.org :
The New York Times Radio Fear America
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108P.shtml
The editors of The New York Times write: "Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia read the funnies over the radio to cheer up New Yorkers during a newspaper strike. President Franklin Roosevelt gave 'fireside chats' to bolster Americans during the depression. President Bush used his radio address on Saturday to try to scare Americans into believing they have to sacrifice their rights and their values to combat terrorism."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
The New York Times Radio Fear America
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031108P.shtml
The editors of The New York Times write: "Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia read the funnies over the radio to cheer up New Yorkers during a newspaper strike. President Franklin Roosevelt gave 'fireside chats' to bolster Americans during the depression. President Bush used his radio address on Saturday to try to scare Americans into believing they have to sacrifice their rights and their values to combat terrorism."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Monday, March 10, 2008
If Military Brass say Obama okay for Commander In Chief...
From Raw Story:
Clinton military brass join ranks with Obama campaign
RAW STORYPublished: Monday March 10, 2008
Clinton Secretary of Navy, Air Force to tout Obama's credentials
According to a press release from the Obama campaign Monday morning, the candidate's staff will appear with top military brass today "to discuss why Obama has demonstrated the judgment and has the experience to be Commander In Chief."
"Today, former service secretaries for each of the Armed Forces – Clifford Alexander, Jr. (US Army), Richard Danzig (US Navy), and F. Whitten Peters (US Air Force) – will host a press conference in Washington, DC to discuss why Obama has demonstrated the judgment and has the experience to be Commander In Chief," the release writes.
Among those attending: "Secretary Clifford Alexander, Jr. (US Army – Carter Administration), Secretary Richard Danzig (US Navy – Clinton Administration) and Secretary F. Whitten Peters (US Air Force – Clinton Administration."
The event will be held at the United Food and Commercial Workers, 1775 K Street, NW - 11th Floor at 1pm today.
Wrap...
Clinton military brass join ranks with Obama campaign
RAW STORYPublished: Monday March 10, 2008
Clinton Secretary of Navy, Air Force to tout Obama's credentials
According to a press release from the Obama campaign Monday morning, the candidate's staff will appear with top military brass today "to discuss why Obama has demonstrated the judgment and has the experience to be Commander In Chief."
"Today, former service secretaries for each of the Armed Forces – Clifford Alexander, Jr. (US Army), Richard Danzig (US Navy), and F. Whitten Peters (US Air Force) – will host a press conference in Washington, DC to discuss why Obama has demonstrated the judgment and has the experience to be Commander In Chief," the release writes.
Among those attending: "Secretary Clifford Alexander, Jr. (US Army – Carter Administration), Secretary Richard Danzig (US Navy – Clinton Administration) and Secretary F. Whitten Peters (US Air Force – Clinton Administration."
The event will be held at the United Food and Commercial Workers, 1775 K Street, NW - 11th Floor at 1pm today.
Wrap...
And Bush wants to find...WHAT????
From Information Clearing House:
In signing statement, Bush asserts right to open your physical mail:
"President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.
http://tinyurl.com/295hh5
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
In signing statement, Bush asserts right to open your physical mail:
"President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant.
http://tinyurl.com/295hh5
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
When to choose a Vice President...and why....
From Levine Breaking News:
LBN-COMMENTARY By BRUCE HERSCHENSOHN: I believe none of the candidates should make a Vice-Presidential choice public until their respective conventions. The sooner the selection, the more time the opposition party has to attack that person as well as the Presidential candidate.
In 1976 Ronald Reagan announced his selection of Richard Schweiker as his Vice-Presidential choice should he be nominated as the convention's presidential candidate. The convention didn't choose him, nor did Richard Chewier even bring in the Pennsylvania delegation for the Reagan-Schweiker ticket.
Candidate Reagan did not make the same mistake in 1980 when he didn't select George Herbert Walker Bush until the Republican Convention. In addition, as a Republican I am glad that in 2008 the Republican Convention follows the Democrat's Convention and will give John McCain the advantage of knowing their selection before naming his Vice-Presidential choice.
Bruce Herschensohn is a former deputy special assistant to President Richard Nixon, member of the Reagan transition team, and author - to reply directly to him, send an E-mail to LBNElert@TimeWire.net.
LBN-COMMENTARY By BRUCE HERSCHENSOHN: I believe none of the candidates should make a Vice-Presidential choice public until their respective conventions. The sooner the selection, the more time the opposition party has to attack that person as well as the Presidential candidate.
In 1976 Ronald Reagan announced his selection of Richard Schweiker as his Vice-Presidential choice should he be nominated as the convention's presidential candidate. The convention didn't choose him, nor did Richard Chewier even bring in the Pennsylvania delegation for the Reagan-Schweiker ticket.
Candidate Reagan did not make the same mistake in 1980 when he didn't select George Herbert Walker Bush until the Republican Convention. In addition, as a Republican I am glad that in 2008 the Republican Convention follows the Democrat's Convention and will give John McCain the advantage of knowing their selection before naming his Vice-Presidential choice.
Bruce Herschensohn is a former deputy special assistant to President Richard Nixon, member of the Reagan transition team, and author - to reply directly to him, send an E-mail to LBNElert@TimeWire.net.
Cheney: more secrets & military loves Norris...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
Vice President Dick Cheney will visit the Middle East next week and meet with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian West Bank and Turkey." Cheney's office did not provide any details of what issues would be discussed during the trip.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is set to release "a detailed critique of the Bush administration's claims in the buildup to war with Iraq." The report "reaches a mixed verdict" on whether "the White House misused intelligence to make the case for war," but it does criticize White House officials for "making assertions that failed to reflect disagreements or uncertainties in the underlying intelligence on Iraq."
In a CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) promised to release his medical records "sometime in the next month or two." Yet so far, campaign officials have assured reporters at least three times since March 2007 "that they would provide the detailed information" about the senator's health, "but they have not done so."
Average U.S. gas prices "have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn." Prices increased "about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks" and "64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months."
Climate change research published in separate journals over the past few weeks from scientists from around the world has a "simple message: The world must bring carbon emissions down to near zero to keep temperatures from rising further."
Children in Iraq "have been more gravely affected by the U.S. occupation than any other segment of the population." According to the United Nations, "at least two million Iraqi children lack adequate nutrition" and "only 40 percent of children nationwide have access to safe drinking water."
And finally: Action star and right-wing activist Chuck Norris "has become a cult figure among the U.S. military in Iraq and an unlikely hero for some in Iraq's security forces." Comments "lauding the manliness and virility of the actor have been left on toilet walls across Iraq and even in neighboring Kuwait." One such comment: "Chuck Norris puts the laughter in manslaughter." Troops appreciate that Norris "visited Iraq when violence was its worst and other celebrities were skittish."
Wrap...
Think Fast...
Vice President Dick Cheney will visit the Middle East next week and meet with leaders of Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian West Bank and Turkey." Cheney's office did not provide any details of what issues would be discussed during the trip.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is set to release "a detailed critique of the Bush administration's claims in the buildup to war with Iraq." The report "reaches a mixed verdict" on whether "the White House misused intelligence to make the case for war," but it does criticize White House officials for "making assertions that failed to reflect disagreements or uncertainties in the underlying intelligence on Iraq."
In a CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) promised to release his medical records "sometime in the next month or two." Yet so far, campaign officials have assured reporters at least three times since March 2007 "that they would provide the detailed information" about the senator's health, "but they have not done so."
Average U.S. gas prices "have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn." Prices increased "about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks" and "64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months."
Climate change research published in separate journals over the past few weeks from scientists from around the world has a "simple message: The world must bring carbon emissions down to near zero to keep temperatures from rising further."
Children in Iraq "have been more gravely affected by the U.S. occupation than any other segment of the population." According to the United Nations, "at least two million Iraqi children lack adequate nutrition" and "only 40 percent of children nationwide have access to safe drinking water."
And finally: Action star and right-wing activist Chuck Norris "has become a cult figure among the U.S. military in Iraq and an unlikely hero for some in Iraq's security forces." Comments "lauding the manliness and virility of the actor have been left on toilet walls across Iraq and even in neighboring Kuwait." One such comment: "Chuck Norris puts the laughter in manslaughter." Troops appreciate that Norris "visited Iraq when violence was its worst and other celebrities were skittish."
Wrap...
Now why would Clinton's backers do that?
From NY Times via truthout.org :
Two Clinton Backers Offer a Way to Stage New Primaries
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031008L.shtml
John M. Broder and David W. Chen report for The New York Times, "Two of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest supporters, who are also two of the Democratic Party's most successful fund-raisers, have offered to help raise millions of dollars to stage new primaries in Florida and Michigan."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Two Clinton Backers Offer a Way to Stage New Primaries
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031008L.shtml
John M. Broder and David W. Chen report for The New York Times, "Two of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest supporters, who are also two of the Democratic Party's most successful fund-raisers, have offered to help raise millions of dollars to stage new primaries in Florida and Michigan."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Who is our Ernie Pyle today?
From Editors & Publishers:
J-Students to Retrace Ernie Pyle's Path
Published: March 09, 2008 4:45 PM ET
BLOOMINGTON A group of Indiana University journalism students taking a course on World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle are visiting London and Normandy to see some of the spots where he wrote his battlefield dispatches.
Terre Haute native Beka Mech is among 30 IU journalism students who left Saturday on the European trek, which ends March 16. They’ll visit the places where Pyle covered the London blitz and the D-Day invasion in Normandy.
In the weeks before they left, the students watched movies and videos about Pyle’s experiences as part of the semester-long course on the war correspondent, which the IU School of Journalism is offering for the first time.“Pyle’s abilities as an observer and reporter as well as a writer still bear emulation today,” said Owen V. Johnson, IU associate professor of journalism, who is teaching the course.
While in London, the students will visit the Imperial War Museum and Winston Churchill’s cabinet room and the Cabinet War Rooms, the underground complex where Churchill and his government met as bombs rained down on London.
In France, they’ll visit Omaha Beach — one of the main landing points of the Allies’ June 1944 invasion site of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings. They’ll also tour Mont-Saint-Michel, an island off the Normandy coast famed for its cathedral that draws hordes of tourists each year.
Mech, an IU junior, said visiting the places where Pyle wrote his famous columns will give her a new perspective as the course continues.“He chose to focus on ordinary people and he was not afraid to get close to his stories,” even if it meant putting his own life in danger,” Mech said, who has been a reporter and copy editor for the Indiana Daily Student.
When the students return, one of their assignments will be to take their notes from the trip and write three columns in Pyle’s writing style.
“Pyle is such a famous figure in the journalism world,” Johnson said. “He still stands out as a symbol of excellence in the journalistic profession.”
Pyle studied journalism at IU before becoming a reporter for the LaPorte Herald and then the Washington Daily News. He loved to travel and succeeded in persuading Scripps Howard executives to allow him to become a roving reporter.
In 1940, with war raging in Europe, Pyle went to England to report on the Battle of Britain, and from 1942 to 1945, he covered the U.S. troops in the war. During those years, as an early “embedded journalist,” Pyle told the stories of soldiers fighting in North Africa, Italy, France and the Pacific. He was shot by a Japanese sniper on April 18, 1945, on the Pacific island of Ie Shima.
Wrap...
J-Students to Retrace Ernie Pyle's Path
Published: March 09, 2008 4:45 PM ET
BLOOMINGTON A group of Indiana University journalism students taking a course on World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle are visiting London and Normandy to see some of the spots where he wrote his battlefield dispatches.
Terre Haute native Beka Mech is among 30 IU journalism students who left Saturday on the European trek, which ends March 16. They’ll visit the places where Pyle covered the London blitz and the D-Day invasion in Normandy.
In the weeks before they left, the students watched movies and videos about Pyle’s experiences as part of the semester-long course on the war correspondent, which the IU School of Journalism is offering for the first time.“Pyle’s abilities as an observer and reporter as well as a writer still bear emulation today,” said Owen V. Johnson, IU associate professor of journalism, who is teaching the course.
While in London, the students will visit the Imperial War Museum and Winston Churchill’s cabinet room and the Cabinet War Rooms, the underground complex where Churchill and his government met as bombs rained down on London.
In France, they’ll visit Omaha Beach — one of the main landing points of the Allies’ June 1944 invasion site of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings. They’ll also tour Mont-Saint-Michel, an island off the Normandy coast famed for its cathedral that draws hordes of tourists each year.
Mech, an IU junior, said visiting the places where Pyle wrote his famous columns will give her a new perspective as the course continues.“He chose to focus on ordinary people and he was not afraid to get close to his stories,” even if it meant putting his own life in danger,” Mech said, who has been a reporter and copy editor for the Indiana Daily Student.
When the students return, one of their assignments will be to take their notes from the trip and write three columns in Pyle’s writing style.
“Pyle is such a famous figure in the journalism world,” Johnson said. “He still stands out as a symbol of excellence in the journalistic profession.”
Pyle studied journalism at IU before becoming a reporter for the LaPorte Herald and then the Washington Daily News. He loved to travel and succeeded in persuading Scripps Howard executives to allow him to become a roving reporter.
In 1940, with war raging in Europe, Pyle went to England to report on the Battle of Britain, and from 1942 to 1945, he covered the U.S. troops in the war. During those years, as an early “embedded journalist,” Pyle told the stories of soldiers fighting in North Africa, Italy, France and the Pacific. He was shot by a Japanese sniper on April 18, 1945, on the Pacific island of Ie Shima.
Wrap...
Clinton map-changing....
From David Sirota via email:
http://action.credomobile.com/sirota/2008/03/the_false_assumptions_in_the_e.html
The False Assumptions In Presidential "Electability" Arguments
By David Sirota
Credo Action, 3/9/08
It seems the longer the presidential nominating contest goes on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more idiotic the pontificating and candidate spinning - especially when it comes to the so-called "electability" argument.
The Clinton campaign, as exemplified by surrogate Gov. Ed Rendell(D-PA) this morning on Meet the Press when he said: "She's clearly the strongest candidate in the states that Democrats must win to have a chance. Look, it's great that Barack Obama is doing wonderfully well in Wyoming and Utah and, and places like that, but there's no chance we're going to carry those states. Whether he gets 44 percent as opposed to 39 percent doesn't matter, but we're not going to carry those states. We do have a chance to carry the big four. We've got to in three of the big four. Hillary Clinton's the strongest candidate to do that. That's been proven by the voters in the--those states and hopefully by Pennsylvania as well."
Let's put aside the fact that the Clinton campaign is insulting the importance of a huge swath of the American heartland - a talking point that has been repeated throughout this campaign by Clinton surrogates (most famously when Clinton strategist Mark Penn said Obama has not won any "significant" states). Let's just take a look at the two questionable assumptions inherent in this "electability" claim.
Assumption 1: The Map Can Never Dramatically Change
The first assumption relates to the topography of the national electoral map. In talking about states that are "significant" and "insignificant" based on how they voted in previous elections, the Clinton campaign is assuming the basic map of the last 16 years automatically has to stay the same, and that there cannot be a map-changing candidate. This argument comes despite periodic elections in our history that have seen such shifts.
For example, click on the following link to see an animated image showing how the national political map changed between the 1976 election and the 1980 election:
http://www.davidsirota.com/images/1980animate.gif
Yes, those parts flashing between red and blue are the regions of the country that shifted in just one election cycle. Perhaps even more relevant to the Clinton argument today is the map change between 1988 and 1992 - the year that one Bill Clinton benefited from a major mapchange:
http://www.davidsirota.com/images/1992animate.gif
So, in other words, Hillary Clinton - the person who became First Lady because of a major map change - is somehow arguing the map can never change, and her campaign is making such an argument at the very moment one of history's most unpopular president is atop theRepublican Party. The logic is positively ridiculous.
Assumption 2: Primary and Caucus Victories Directly Relate to General-Election Viability
The other assumption in the Clinton campaign's "electability"argument is that that because Clinton is winning Democratic primaries in big Democratic states like California, New York and New Jersey and other big states like Ohio, it means that she is the best candidate to win those states in the general election.
This rationale makes positively no sense at all, because it suggests that Obama in a general would do worse than Clinton in already Democratic states - and there's no proof of that. Winning a Democratic primary among Democratic voters says almost nothing about the candidates' abilities to win general elections as we unfortunately saw in the Connecticut Senate race in 2006.
In fact, looking at what evidence we do have - general election matchup polls from SurveyUSA - we see that Obama would be a stronger general election candidate than Clinton, racking up more electoral college votes than Clinton. Though the polls show Obama losing Florida, New Jersey and Arkansas where Clinton would win, it shows Obama winning Nevada, Colorado, North Dakota and Michigan where Clinton would lose (the latter of which the Clinton campaign continues to hilariously insist it "won" in the primary, despite no other major candidate being on the Michigan ballot).
The differences, of course, go back to the underlying argument about maps. Right now, polls show Obama picks up electoral votes in states that the Clinton surrogates say "don't matter we're not going to carry those states." And what's particularly absurd about the Clinton campaign making this argument is that former President Bill Clinton is insisting that in a general election Hillary Clinton can win back "the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president." In other words, the Clinton campaign is arguing that the map has to remain the same as it has been for two decades -with the same states in play and not in play - at the same time they argue that Hillary Clinton is the candidate who can win back Reagan Democrats that created that map in the first place.
I never thought I'd see the day when someone could say with a straight face that Hillary Clinton was the Democrats' best candidate to win back the Reagan Democrats alienated from the Democratic Party by, among other things, a job-killing lobbyist-written trade policy that Hillary Clinton championed for a decade. It's just a ridiculous assertion on its face - and it's even more ridiculous when you look at what evidence we have, which is current public opinion polls.
More generally, the attempt to cite the geography of primary wins as proof of general election viability is straight-up silly. And yet, the whole meme has bled into almost every analysis of what is going on in the race. As I said to start, the longer the presidential nominating contest goes on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more idiotic the pontificating and candidate spinning.
Wrap...
http://action.credomobile.com/sirota/2008/03/the_false_assumptions_in_the_e.html
The False Assumptions In Presidential "Electability" Arguments
By David Sirota
Credo Action, 3/9/08
It seems the longer the presidential nominating contest goes on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more idiotic the pontificating and candidate spinning - especially when it comes to the so-called "electability" argument.
The Clinton campaign, as exemplified by surrogate Gov. Ed Rendell(D-PA) this morning on Meet the Press when he said: "She's clearly the strongest candidate in the states that Democrats must win to have a chance. Look, it's great that Barack Obama is doing wonderfully well in Wyoming and Utah and, and places like that, but there's no chance we're going to carry those states. Whether he gets 44 percent as opposed to 39 percent doesn't matter, but we're not going to carry those states. We do have a chance to carry the big four. We've got to in three of the big four. Hillary Clinton's the strongest candidate to do that. That's been proven by the voters in the--those states and hopefully by Pennsylvania as well."
Let's put aside the fact that the Clinton campaign is insulting the importance of a huge swath of the American heartland - a talking point that has been repeated throughout this campaign by Clinton surrogates (most famously when Clinton strategist Mark Penn said Obama has not won any "significant" states). Let's just take a look at the two questionable assumptions inherent in this "electability" claim.
Assumption 1: The Map Can Never Dramatically Change
The first assumption relates to the topography of the national electoral map. In talking about states that are "significant" and "insignificant" based on how they voted in previous elections, the Clinton campaign is assuming the basic map of the last 16 years automatically has to stay the same, and that there cannot be a map-changing candidate. This argument comes despite periodic elections in our history that have seen such shifts.
For example, click on the following link to see an animated image showing how the national political map changed between the 1976 election and the 1980 election:
http://www.davidsirota.com/images/1980animate.gif
Yes, those parts flashing between red and blue are the regions of the country that shifted in just one election cycle. Perhaps even more relevant to the Clinton argument today is the map change between 1988 and 1992 - the year that one Bill Clinton benefited from a major mapchange:
http://www.davidsirota.com/images/1992animate.gif
So, in other words, Hillary Clinton - the person who became First Lady because of a major map change - is somehow arguing the map can never change, and her campaign is making such an argument at the very moment one of history's most unpopular president is atop theRepublican Party. The logic is positively ridiculous.
Assumption 2: Primary and Caucus Victories Directly Relate to General-Election Viability
The other assumption in the Clinton campaign's "electability"argument is that that because Clinton is winning Democratic primaries in big Democratic states like California, New York and New Jersey and other big states like Ohio, it means that she is the best candidate to win those states in the general election.
This rationale makes positively no sense at all, because it suggests that Obama in a general would do worse than Clinton in already Democratic states - and there's no proof of that. Winning a Democratic primary among Democratic voters says almost nothing about the candidates' abilities to win general elections as we unfortunately saw in the Connecticut Senate race in 2006.
In fact, looking at what evidence we do have - general election matchup polls from SurveyUSA - we see that Obama would be a stronger general election candidate than Clinton, racking up more electoral college votes than Clinton. Though the polls show Obama losing Florida, New Jersey and Arkansas where Clinton would win, it shows Obama winning Nevada, Colorado, North Dakota and Michigan where Clinton would lose (the latter of which the Clinton campaign continues to hilariously insist it "won" in the primary, despite no other major candidate being on the Michigan ballot).
The differences, of course, go back to the underlying argument about maps. Right now, polls show Obama picks up electoral votes in states that the Clinton surrogates say "don't matter we're not going to carry those states." And what's particularly absurd about the Clinton campaign making this argument is that former President Bill Clinton is insisting that in a general election Hillary Clinton can win back "the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president." In other words, the Clinton campaign is arguing that the map has to remain the same as it has been for two decades -with the same states in play and not in play - at the same time they argue that Hillary Clinton is the candidate who can win back Reagan Democrats that created that map in the first place.
I never thought I'd see the day when someone could say with a straight face that Hillary Clinton was the Democrats' best candidate to win back the Reagan Democrats alienated from the Democratic Party by, among other things, a job-killing lobbyist-written trade policy that Hillary Clinton championed for a decade. It's just a ridiculous assertion on its face - and it's even more ridiculous when you look at what evidence we have, which is current public opinion polls.
More generally, the attempt to cite the geography of primary wins as proof of general election viability is straight-up silly. And yet, the whole meme has bled into almost every analysis of what is going on in the race. As I said to start, the longer the presidential nominating contest goes on between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the more idiotic the pontificating and candidate spinning.
Wrap...
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Bush is not American....& time to have tea....
So said a former journalist and newspaper owner from Africa.
Met him when I stopped for a smoke break while strolling around Seaport Village in San Diego yesterday. Sharing a bench, we engaged in conversation while looking out over the Marriot Marina.
He's been in America 3 years now and is watching the race for president very closely. Said that in the African nation where he came from, as well as in many other countries he'd visited, the people all liked and admired the Americans. But given Bush's war against Iraq and other disasters he's visited on other nations, people overseas say, "Bush is not American."
************************
At breakfast in Old Town San Diego, I often chat with Judy Peterson, a charming woman who owns Mrs. Burton's Tea Room, located in one of the Victorian Houses in Heritage Park. That tea room is quite a place.
She has Victorian style dresses and accessories, tea pots and accessories to those. For visitors who stop for her small sandwiches, desserts and, of course, pots of tea, the place is a delight. Happily enough, she has a website:
www.mrsburtonstearoom.com
Go and enjoy!
Hugs...
Met him when I stopped for a smoke break while strolling around Seaport Village in San Diego yesterday. Sharing a bench, we engaged in conversation while looking out over the Marriot Marina.
He's been in America 3 years now and is watching the race for president very closely. Said that in the African nation where he came from, as well as in many other countries he'd visited, the people all liked and admired the Americans. But given Bush's war against Iraq and other disasters he's visited on other nations, people overseas say, "Bush is not American."
************************
At breakfast in Old Town San Diego, I often chat with Judy Peterson, a charming woman who owns Mrs. Burton's Tea Room, located in one of the Victorian Houses in Heritage Park. That tea room is quite a place.
She has Victorian style dresses and accessories, tea pots and accessories to those. For visitors who stop for her small sandwiches, desserts and, of course, pots of tea, the place is a delight. Happily enough, she has a website:
www.mrsburtonstearoom.com
Go and enjoy!
Hugs...
Friday, March 07, 2008
Blackwater to Potrero: We're gone from here....
From San Diego Union-Tribune:
Blackwater pulls application for Potrero training center
By Anne Krueger
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
2:33 p.m. March 7, 2008
Blackwater Worldwide officials have announced they are pulling their application to build a training center on an 842-acre site in the East County community of Potrero.
The North Carolina-based company dropped off a letter to the county planning department today notifying officials of their decision not to pursue plans for the project on a former chicken and cattle ranch.“Although our project would have brought a great benefit to San Diego County, – providing local, state, and federal law enforcement with access to low-cost superior training facilities while bringing much-needed jobs to the area – the proposed site does not meet our business objectives at this time,” states the letter from Blackwater vice president Brian Bonfiglio.
Bonfiglio said noise tests the company conducted at the site did not meet county standards, and the cost of reducing the noise was too expensive. He said Blackwater had spent well over $1 million in its effort to get government approval for the site.
The company's effort to build the training center for law enforcement and the military met with a storm of criticism. Opponents said the training center would bring more noise and traffic to the quiet rural community, and others were critical of Blackwater's role as a military contractor in Iraq.
Bonfiglio said opposition to the project played no role in the company's decision to withdraw the project.
Opponents of the project were stunned and pleased to hear the news.“It's great news for the community of Potrero,” said Carl Meyer, the recently-elected chairman of the Potrero planning group. “I think Potrero will start to rejoice tonight. We'll have a party.”
Raymond Lutz, an El Cajon-area resident who created an anti-Blackwater Web site, said he's glad the controversy is over.“This poor community has been put through enough,” he said. “There's a lot of people who were friends who were on different sides of the issue.”
Anne Krueger: (619) 593-4962; anne.krueger@uniontrib.com
Find this article at:http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080307-1433-bn07black.html
Wrap...
Blackwater pulls application for Potrero training center
By Anne Krueger
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
2:33 p.m. March 7, 2008
Blackwater Worldwide officials have announced they are pulling their application to build a training center on an 842-acre site in the East County community of Potrero.
The North Carolina-based company dropped off a letter to the county planning department today notifying officials of their decision not to pursue plans for the project on a former chicken and cattle ranch.“Although our project would have brought a great benefit to San Diego County, – providing local, state, and federal law enforcement with access to low-cost superior training facilities while bringing much-needed jobs to the area – the proposed site does not meet our business objectives at this time,” states the letter from Blackwater vice president Brian Bonfiglio.
Bonfiglio said noise tests the company conducted at the site did not meet county standards, and the cost of reducing the noise was too expensive. He said Blackwater had spent well over $1 million in its effort to get government approval for the site.
The company's effort to build the training center for law enforcement and the military met with a storm of criticism. Opponents said the training center would bring more noise and traffic to the quiet rural community, and others were critical of Blackwater's role as a military contractor in Iraq.
Bonfiglio said opposition to the project played no role in the company's decision to withdraw the project.
Opponents of the project were stunned and pleased to hear the news.“It's great news for the community of Potrero,” said Carl Meyer, the recently-elected chairman of the Potrero planning group. “I think Potrero will start to rejoice tonight. We'll have a party.”
Raymond Lutz, an El Cajon-area resident who created an anti-Blackwater Web site, said he's glad the controversy is over.“This poor community has been put through enough,” he said. “There's a lot of people who were friends who were on different sides of the issue.”
Anne Krueger: (619) 593-4962; anne.krueger@uniontrib.com
Find this article at:http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080307-1433-bn07black.html
Wrap...
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Bush takes advantage of Hillary's et al vote ....
From Washington Post via truthout.org :
No Need for Lawmakers' Approval of Iraq Pact, US Reasserts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030608M.shtml
Karen DeYoung reports for The Washington Post, "The Bush administration yesterday advanced a new argument for why it does not require congressional approval to strike a long-term security agreement with Iraq, stating that Congress had already endorsed such an initiative through its 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
No Need for Lawmakers' Approval of Iraq Pact, US Reasserts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030608M.shtml
Karen DeYoung reports for The Washington Post, "The Bush administration yesterday advanced a new argument for why it does not require congressional approval to strike a long-term security agreement with Iraq, stating that Congress had already endorsed such an initiative through its 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein."
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Cheney's boys at work....
From American Progress:
IRAQ -- CONTRACTOR KBR SKIRTS TAXES THROUGH OFFSHORE HAVENS:
The Boston Globe reports today that Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) -- until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp. and the nation's top Iraq war contractor -- "has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies" based in the Caymen Islands.
More than 21,000 employees -- 10,500 Americans -- are listed as employees of two companies there, one of which was established two months after Vice President Cheney's appointment as Halliburton's chief executive in 1995.
In addition to the loss in tax revenue for Medicare and Social Security, "the practice enables KBR to avoid paying unemployment taxes in Texas," where the company's headquarters are located, which means that "workers hired through the Cayman Island companies cannot receive unemployment assistance should they lose their jobs."
The Globe notes that "[o]ver the course of the five-year war" in Iraq, KBR's "tax bill would have been more than $500 million."
Wrap...
IRAQ -- CONTRACTOR KBR SKIRTS TAXES THROUGH OFFSHORE HAVENS:
The Boston Globe reports today that Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) -- until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp. and the nation's top Iraq war contractor -- "has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies" based in the Caymen Islands.
More than 21,000 employees -- 10,500 Americans -- are listed as employees of two companies there, one of which was established two months after Vice President Cheney's appointment as Halliburton's chief executive in 1995.
In addition to the loss in tax revenue for Medicare and Social Security, "the practice enables KBR to avoid paying unemployment taxes in Texas," where the company's headquarters are located, which means that "workers hired through the Cayman Island companies cannot receive unemployment assistance should they lose their jobs."
The Globe notes that "[o]ver the course of the five-year war" in Iraq, KBR's "tax bill would have been more than $500 million."
Wrap...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Books on their way to publication....
From Publishers Lunch Weekly:
MYSTERY/CRIME:
J. Saunders Elmore's THE AMATEUR AMERICAN, debut literary noir about a young American man in France who is drawn into a web of violent political intrigue, to Julian Pavia at Crown, by Chris Parris-Lamb at The Gernert Company.Rights: chammer@thegernertco.comFilm: Nick Harris at RSWH
GENERAL/OTHER:
Author of THE LAKE, THE RIVER & THE OTHER LAKE, Steve Amick's THE GIRLIES, a WWII-era love story about art, pin-up photography, unlikely friendships, loyalty, and the perseverance of post-war Americans as they rebuild their hearts and homes, again to Deborah Garrison at Pantheon, by Joe Veltre at Artists Literary Group (NA). jv@algmedia.com
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Columbia University director of American Studies and author of MELVILLE Andrew Delbanco's THE LAST TRUCE, an account of how the Fugitive Slave Law -- intended as a compromise to hold the Union together -- drove the nation to Civil War by implicating northerners in the business of slavery as they never had been before, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, for publication in Fall 2012, by Jennifer Rudolph Walsh of the William Morris Agency.
Author of the forthcoming Vienna, 1814, David King's DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT, the true story of the hunt for Marcel Petiot, a respectable physician BY DAY who turned out to be a brutal serial killer in Nazi-occupied Paris -- charged with twenty-seven murders (though his victims, many of whom were dismembered, may have numbered in excess of 100), brought to justice by Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu, the inspiration for Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret, to John Glusman at Harmony, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Agency (NA).Rights: Linda Kaplan, Crown
Siva Vaidhyanathan's THE GOOGLIZATION OF EVERYTHING: How one company is transforming culture, commerce and community - and why we should worry, showing how Google is taking on governments, organizations and entire industries - and the implications of Google knowing more about us than we know about it, to Naomi Schneider at University of California Press, by Sam Stoloff at the Frances Goldin Literary Agency (NA).
HUMOR:
The Wages of Genius author Gregory Mone's WHY SANTA TELEPORTS: Warp Drive, Quantum Entanglement, Autonomous Robots and Futuristic Surveillance Technology: Unwrapping the Miraculous New Science Behind the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, a humorous and illuminating defense of St. Nick, explaining the science behind the most magical night of the year and revealing how specific advances in the fields of physics, nanotechnology, and genetic modification -- like sub-atomic entanglement, micro-satellites, autonomous robots, teleportation and artificial organs -- proves, at least theoretically, that there is such thing as Santa Claus, to Colin Dickerman at Bloomsbury, for publication in October 2008, by Ken Wright at Writers House (NA).
ILLUSTRATED/ART:
President and executive creative director of Coach, Reed Krakoff's FIGHTER, a look at the fighters of the UFC, showcasing both their fierce athleticism and their surprising sensitivity and grace, filled with black and white photographs and candid interviews, to Megan Newman at Viking Studio, for publication in Fall 2008, by Kate Lee at ICM (world English).
MEMOIR:
Rap artist Eminem's THE WAY I AM, a "fully illustrated reflective narrative," featuring his private thoughts on everything from his music and the trials of fame to his love for his daughter, including photographs of his home and life along with original drawings, produced by Melcher Media, to Trena Keating at Dutton, for publication in fall 2008, by Marc Gerald of The Agency Group, on behalf of Paul Rosenberg of Goliath Artists.Foreign: betsy@curtisbrown.co.uk
America's Boy and Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler author Wade Rouse's THE FAUX THOREAU: A City Boy Battles Blizzards, Wrestles Raccoons and Cuts Cable in A Quest for His Modern-Day Walden Pond, Sex & The City Goes Country as the author strikes out for rural America in an effort to recreate Thoreau's Walden but discovers the simple life isn't so simple, especially when wearing high fashion waders, to Julia Pastore at Harmony, by Wendy Sherman at Wendy Sherman Associates (NA).
First-time author Meg Federico's NOTES FROM THE DEPARTURE LOUNGE, about her two-year journey shuttling from her own home a thousand miles away to care for both her 80-something mother and the newly-minted husband, capturing both the loopy and heart-wrenching aspects of caring for an elderly parent, especially from afar, to Susan Mercandetti at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Kris Rothstein for the Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency (world).Rights: ctisne@randomhouse.com
Winner of the Orange 2007 New Writers Prize for The Lizard Cage Karen Connelly's memoir about her time in Burma and later in the jungles along the Burma-Thai border where she falls in love with a charismatic young leader of the Burmese rebel army and learns life-altering lessons about love, political engagement, and personal freedom, again to Lorna Owen at Nan A. Talese, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World).
NARRATIVE:
Hester Rumberg's TEN DEGREES OF RECKONING, pitched as part Adrift, part Civil Action, the story of Judith Sleavin, the lone survivor of the shipwreck of her family's boat the Melinda Lee that was hit due to the recklessness of a freighter near the shores of New Zealand, including her search for justice, and the friendships that have sustained her through such catastrophic loss, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, at auction, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
SPORTS:
NY Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress's memoir written with Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, to William Morrow, by Ian Kleinert at Objective Entertainment.
Wrap...
MYSTERY/CRIME:
J. Saunders Elmore's THE AMATEUR AMERICAN, debut literary noir about a young American man in France who is drawn into a web of violent political intrigue, to Julian Pavia at Crown, by Chris Parris-Lamb at The Gernert Company.Rights: chammer@thegernertco.comFilm: Nick Harris at RSWH
GENERAL/OTHER:
Author of THE LAKE, THE RIVER & THE OTHER LAKE, Steve Amick's THE GIRLIES, a WWII-era love story about art, pin-up photography, unlikely friendships, loyalty, and the perseverance of post-war Americans as they rebuild their hearts and homes, again to Deborah Garrison at Pantheon, by Joe Veltre at Artists Literary Group (NA). jv@algmedia.com
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:
Columbia University director of American Studies and author of MELVILLE Andrew Delbanco's THE LAST TRUCE, an account of how the Fugitive Slave Law -- intended as a compromise to hold the Union together -- drove the nation to Civil War by implicating northerners in the business of slavery as they never had been before, to Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, for publication in Fall 2012, by Jennifer Rudolph Walsh of the William Morris Agency.
Author of the forthcoming Vienna, 1814, David King's DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT, the true story of the hunt for Marcel Petiot, a respectable physician BY DAY who turned out to be a brutal serial killer in Nazi-occupied Paris -- charged with twenty-seven murders (though his victims, many of whom were dismembered, may have numbered in excess of 100), brought to justice by Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu, the inspiration for Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret, to John Glusman at Harmony, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Agency (NA).Rights: Linda Kaplan, Crown
Siva Vaidhyanathan's THE GOOGLIZATION OF EVERYTHING: How one company is transforming culture, commerce and community - and why we should worry, showing how Google is taking on governments, organizations and entire industries - and the implications of Google knowing more about us than we know about it, to Naomi Schneider at University of California Press, by Sam Stoloff at the Frances Goldin Literary Agency (NA).
HUMOR:
The Wages of Genius author Gregory Mone's WHY SANTA TELEPORTS: Warp Drive, Quantum Entanglement, Autonomous Robots and Futuristic Surveillance Technology: Unwrapping the Miraculous New Science Behind the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, a humorous and illuminating defense of St. Nick, explaining the science behind the most magical night of the year and revealing how specific advances in the fields of physics, nanotechnology, and genetic modification -- like sub-atomic entanglement, micro-satellites, autonomous robots, teleportation and artificial organs -- proves, at least theoretically, that there is such thing as Santa Claus, to Colin Dickerman at Bloomsbury, for publication in October 2008, by Ken Wright at Writers House (NA).
ILLUSTRATED/ART:
President and executive creative director of Coach, Reed Krakoff's FIGHTER, a look at the fighters of the UFC, showcasing both their fierce athleticism and their surprising sensitivity and grace, filled with black and white photographs and candid interviews, to Megan Newman at Viking Studio, for publication in Fall 2008, by Kate Lee at ICM (world English).
MEMOIR:
Rap artist Eminem's THE WAY I AM, a "fully illustrated reflective narrative," featuring his private thoughts on everything from his music and the trials of fame to his love for his daughter, including photographs of his home and life along with original drawings, produced by Melcher Media, to Trena Keating at Dutton, for publication in fall 2008, by Marc Gerald of The Agency Group, on behalf of Paul Rosenberg of Goliath Artists.Foreign: betsy@curtisbrown.co.uk
America's Boy and Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler author Wade Rouse's THE FAUX THOREAU: A City Boy Battles Blizzards, Wrestles Raccoons and Cuts Cable in A Quest for His Modern-Day Walden Pond, Sex & The City Goes Country as the author strikes out for rural America in an effort to recreate Thoreau's Walden but discovers the simple life isn't so simple, especially when wearing high fashion waders, to Julia Pastore at Harmony, by Wendy Sherman at Wendy Sherman Associates (NA).
First-time author Meg Federico's NOTES FROM THE DEPARTURE LOUNGE, about her two-year journey shuttling from her own home a thousand miles away to care for both her 80-something mother and the newly-minted husband, capturing both the loopy and heart-wrenching aspects of caring for an elderly parent, especially from afar, to Susan Mercandetti at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Kris Rothstein for the Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency (world).Rights: ctisne@randomhouse.com
Winner of the Orange 2007 New Writers Prize for The Lizard Cage Karen Connelly's memoir about her time in Burma and later in the jungles along the Burma-Thai border where she falls in love with a charismatic young leader of the Burmese rebel army and learns life-altering lessons about love, political engagement, and personal freedom, again to Lorna Owen at Nan A. Talese, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World).
NARRATIVE:
Hester Rumberg's TEN DEGREES OF RECKONING, pitched as part Adrift, part Civil Action, the story of Judith Sleavin, the lone survivor of the shipwreck of her family's boat the Melinda Lee that was hit due to the recklessness of a freighter near the shores of New Zealand, including her search for justice, and the friendships that have sustained her through such catastrophic loss, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, at auction, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).
SPORTS:
NY Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress's memoir written with Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, to William Morrow, by Ian Kleinert at Objective Entertainment.
Wrap...
From Morgan fired to Las Vegas ethics conference...
From American Progress:
Think Fast...
Right-wing radio host Melanie Morgan -- who once called for the editor of The New York Times to be "sent to the gas chamber" -- has been fired from her job at KSFO 560 AM, but will continue her World Net Daily column. "[J]ust because Melanie Morgan is off the air doesn't mean she's off our radar," said Media Matters spokesman Karl Frisch.
Commenting on the climate change deniers conference in New York City, Princeton University geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer said that climate skeptics "have to get together to talk to each other, because nobody else is talking to them."
Federal Communications Commission commissioner Michael Copps has asked the board's chair to open an inquiry into "the blacking out of a politically charged segment of the CBS News magazine '60 Minutes' by a local television station in Alabama." "Was this an attempt to suppress information on the public airwaves, or was it really just a technical problem?" asked Copps.
"House Democrats said a civil lawsuit could be filed as early as this month that challenges the Bush administration's claims of executive privilege in curtailing aides from testifying on Capitol Hill." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is pursing civil litigation because Attorney General Michael Mukasey refuses to enforce contempt citations against two White House aides.
Vanity Fair writes that the Bush administration's plan to arm and train Palestinian fighters loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas backfired and led to the Hamas takeover of Gaza. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the central premise of the article "ludicrous" and said it was necessary to counteract Iranian influence.
Exhausted by exposure to the violence of religious extremism, Iraqi youths "have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach." Iraqis -- both poor and middle class -- have "blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives."
James Clark, the chief of staff under former Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski (R), agreed yesterday "to plead guilty to concealing donations made to Mr. Murkowski's 2006 re-election campaign" by the VECO Corporation, an oil company accused of bribing much of the Alaskan political establishment. Clark arranged for VECO to pay $68,500 without it being publicly disclosed.
The Senate yesterday confirmed Mark R. Filip, a federal judge from Chicago and former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, as deputy attorney general. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) had previously placed a hold on Judge Filip's nomination over...waterboarding but lifted it."
In prepared testimony, CentCom chief William Fallon said "multiple strains of violent extremism remain a threat to the government and populace" in Iraq. Fallon added that when Gen. David Petraeus testifies next month, "the chain of command" and "our inputs, along with his" will be sent to the President.
And finally: "If you want to prevent skin cancer, you don't get to the beach. And if you want to avoid corruption, you don't go to Vegas, right?" Next month, however, Sin City will host Campaigns & Elections magazine's two-day conference for lobbyists called "All Things Ethical." Panels include "Using Phones Ethically" and "The Ethics of Deception."
Wrap...
Think Fast...
Right-wing radio host Melanie Morgan -- who once called for the editor of The New York Times to be "sent to the gas chamber" -- has been fired from her job at KSFO 560 AM, but will continue her World Net Daily column. "[J]ust because Melanie Morgan is off the air doesn't mean she's off our radar," said Media Matters spokesman Karl Frisch.
Commenting on the climate change deniers conference in New York City, Princeton University geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer said that climate skeptics "have to get together to talk to each other, because nobody else is talking to them."
Federal Communications Commission commissioner Michael Copps has asked the board's chair to open an inquiry into "the blacking out of a politically charged segment of the CBS News magazine '60 Minutes' by a local television station in Alabama." "Was this an attempt to suppress information on the public airwaves, or was it really just a technical problem?" asked Copps.
"House Democrats said a civil lawsuit could be filed as early as this month that challenges the Bush administration's claims of executive privilege in curtailing aides from testifying on Capitol Hill." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is pursing civil litigation because Attorney General Michael Mukasey refuses to enforce contempt citations against two White House aides.
Vanity Fair writes that the Bush administration's plan to arm and train Palestinian fighters loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas backfired and led to the Hamas takeover of Gaza. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the central premise of the article "ludicrous" and said it was necessary to counteract Iranian influence.
Exhausted by exposure to the violence of religious extremism, Iraqi youths "have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach." Iraqis -- both poor and middle class -- have "blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives."
James Clark, the chief of staff under former Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski (R), agreed yesterday "to plead guilty to concealing donations made to Mr. Murkowski's 2006 re-election campaign" by the VECO Corporation, an oil company accused of bribing much of the Alaskan political establishment. Clark arranged for VECO to pay $68,500 without it being publicly disclosed.
The Senate yesterday confirmed Mark R. Filip, a federal judge from Chicago and former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, as deputy attorney general. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) had previously placed a hold on Judge Filip's nomination over...waterboarding but lifted it."
In prepared testimony, CentCom chief William Fallon said "multiple strains of violent extremism remain a threat to the government and populace" in Iraq. Fallon added that when Gen. David Petraeus testifies next month, "the chain of command" and "our inputs, along with his" will be sent to the President.
And finally: "If you want to prevent skin cancer, you don't get to the beach. And if you want to avoid corruption, you don't go to Vegas, right?" Next month, however, Sin City will host Campaigns & Elections magazine's two-day conference for lobbyists called "All Things Ethical." Panels include "Using Phones Ethically" and "The Ethics of Deception."
Wrap...
Monday, March 03, 2008
Anti-Zionist Jews: Stop killing...
From Information Clearing House:
Anti-Zionist Jews condemn Gaza massacres:
A worldwide organization representing anti-Zionist Jews has strongly condemned the ongoing mass killing and maiming by the Israeli occupation army of hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
http://tinyurl.com/yrlxd9
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Anti-Zionist Jews condemn Gaza massacres:
A worldwide organization representing anti-Zionist Jews has strongly condemned the ongoing mass killing and maiming by the Israeli occupation army of hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
http://tinyurl.com/yrlxd9
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
At NSA, GAO oversight unused...
From Secrecy News:
GAO OVERSIGHT OFFICE AT NSA LIES DORMANT
The Government Accountability Office maintains an office at theNational Security Agency but it remains unused since no one in Congress has asked GAO to perform any oversight of the Agency, the head of GAO disclosed last week.
Despite multi-billion dollar acquisition failures at NSA and the Agency's controversial, possibly illegal surveillance practices, Congress has declined to summon all of its oversight resources such as GAO to address such issues.
In testimony before a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on February 29, I argued that the GAO has demonstrated the ability to contribute to oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies and that it should be called upon to do so again.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2008_hr/022908aftergood.pdf
Although U.S. intelligence community leaders say they oppose a GAO role in intelligence oversight, I noted that GAO oversight staff have in the past been permanently stationed at NSA, where they successfully conducted audits and investigations. Questioned on that point by Senator Daniel Akaka, Comptroller General David M. Walker, the outgoing director of GAO, confirmed that it was true."We still actually do have space at the NSA. We just don't use it and the reason we don't use it is we're not getting any requests, you know. So I don't want to have people sitting out there twiddling their thumbs," Mr. Walker said.
His prepared statement, entitled "GAO Can Assist the Congress and the Intelligence Community on Management Reform Initiatives," and those of the other witnesses at the February 29 hearing may be found here: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2008_hr/index.html
The hearing, which was broadcast live on C-SPAN, can be viewed here (requires Real Player from www.real.com): rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/ter/ter022908_intelligence.rm
See also "Panel witnesses press for GAO audits of intelligence agencies" by Chris Strohm, Congress Daily, February 29: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39420
Wrap...
GAO OVERSIGHT OFFICE AT NSA LIES DORMANT
The Government Accountability Office maintains an office at theNational Security Agency but it remains unused since no one in Congress has asked GAO to perform any oversight of the Agency, the head of GAO disclosed last week.
Despite multi-billion dollar acquisition failures at NSA and the Agency's controversial, possibly illegal surveillance practices, Congress has declined to summon all of its oversight resources such as GAO to address such issues.
In testimony before a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on February 29, I argued that the GAO has demonstrated the ability to contribute to oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies and that it should be called upon to do so again.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2008_hr/022908aftergood.pdf
Although U.S. intelligence community leaders say they oppose a GAO role in intelligence oversight, I noted that GAO oversight staff have in the past been permanently stationed at NSA, where they successfully conducted audits and investigations. Questioned on that point by Senator Daniel Akaka, Comptroller General David M. Walker, the outgoing director of GAO, confirmed that it was true."We still actually do have space at the NSA. We just don't use it and the reason we don't use it is we're not getting any requests, you know. So I don't want to have people sitting out there twiddling their thumbs," Mr. Walker said.
His prepared statement, entitled "GAO Can Assist the Congress and the Intelligence Community on Management Reform Initiatives," and those of the other witnesses at the February 29 hearing may be found here: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2008_hr/index.html
The hearing, which was broadcast live on C-SPAN, can be viewed here (requires Real Player from www.real.com): rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/ter/ter022908_intelligence.rm
See also "Panel witnesses press for GAO audits of intelligence agencies" by Chris Strohm, Congress Daily, February 29: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39420
Wrap...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Novelist, Scientist David Brin to Obama....
From David Brin:
Issues that Obama can’t ignore - National Security, Science and the Plight of the Professionals
While some see only bitterness in the final days of the Democratic primary season, I figure the party will re-coalesce behind the eventual winner. In fact, this extended season had benefits, e.g. energetic grassroots movements that should merge impressively for the general election.
As I write this, Barack Obama seems the likely nominee, in which case recent battle bruises may have taught him valuable lessons. With flexibility, when reconfiguring his messages for a nationwide audience, I hope he'll ponder the importance of three issues: National Security, Science and the Plight of the Professionals.
(See below for unusual perspectives on all three.)
www.davidbrin.blogspot.com
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
Issues that Obama can’t ignore - National Security, Science and the Plight of the Professionals
While some see only bitterness in the final days of the Democratic primary season, I figure the party will re-coalesce behind the eventual winner. In fact, this extended season had benefits, e.g. energetic grassroots movements that should merge impressively for the general election.
As I write this, Barack Obama seems the likely nominee, in which case recent battle bruises may have taught him valuable lessons. With flexibility, when reconfiguring his messages for a nationwide audience, I hope he'll ponder the importance of three issues: National Security, Science and the Plight of the Professionals.
(See below for unusual perspectives on all three.)
www.davidbrin.blogspot.com
[Use link above to continue reading]
Wrap...
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