February 2009 archive

Feb 13 2009

Friday Constitutional 15- Amendments 11 And 12

Happy Friday and welcome to the 15th installment (does this feel like a 30 year mortgage to anyone else?) in the Dog’s series on the United States Constitution. This series is taking a layman’s look at the Constitution and talking about what each part means. If you have never read the whole thing before, the Dog recommends that you do. After all it is the foundational document of our entire system of law, so it is worth knowing. If you have not been following this series you can find the previous installments at the following links;

Um, The Dog is having some technical difficulties this week, so there will not be any links, hopefully by next Friday we can get this resolved.  

Feb 13 2009

It ain’t nuthin’ but a Friday the 13th THANG!

This is the Brocken, the highest mountain in the German Harz mountain range. I was brought to this mountain shortly after the Berlin Wall fell by a German friend, Stefan, who was serving in the Bundeswehr at the same base I was stationed, Ramstein. Being the highest mountain in the area, it was naturally being used as a radar post by the Soviets and was unreachable by anyone from the west prior to the fall of the wall. In fact, Stefan issued a stern warning as we crossed what had been the No Man’s Land on the Eastern side of the perimiter to keep to the concrete road, as “it was not certain that all the land mines had been cleared yet”.

Feb 13 2009

“That young man never should have come into the Army”

The above subject title is the forth addition in a week long series at Salon.com by Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna on the returned Soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan called “Coming Home”. It’s the open window into what happens to some after serving in man’s hell on earth, Wars and Occupations of Choice!

Feb 13 2009

Docudharma Times Friday February 13

Republicans Hide In The Shadows

Hoping For Failure

While Americans Work For Success  




Friday’s Headlines:

Feinstein comment on U.S. drones likely to embarrass Pakistan

Far-right Dutch MP refused entry to UK

The Lynx effect: One woman’s quest to save a species

How did it come to this?

Zimbabwe cabinet to be sworn in

US envoy in Kabul to map out surge

Australian police charge man with arson over bushfire which killed 21 people

Israel, Hezbollah: Has deterrence worked

Iraqi Interpreters May Wear Masks

In Mexico, officials cleared of civil rights abuses in 2006 riot

Gregg Withdraws As Commerce Pick

Republican Senator Cites Policy Disagreements As Congress Prepares to Vote on Stimulus Plan

By Anne E. Kornblut and Michael D. Shear

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, February 13, 2009; Page A01

Saying he “made a mistake,” Republican  Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew yesterday as the nominee for commerce secretary, dealing a fresh blow to President Obama’s quest to fill out his Cabinet and dramatically undercutting his efforts to forge a new bipartisanship in the capital.Gregg said that he had simply lacked foresight and that he shouldered the burden of the decision entirely. “I should have focused sooner and more effectively on the implications of being in the Cabinet versus myself as an individual doing my job,” he said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Barbed wire villages raise fears of refugee concentration camps

From The Times

February 13, 2009

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

Sri Lanka was accused yesterday of planning concentration camps to hold 200,000 ethnic Tamil refugees from its northeastern conflict zone for up to three years – and seeking funding for the project from Britain.

The Sri Lankan Government says that it will open five “welfare villages” to house Tamils fleeing the 67 sq mile patch of jungle where the army has pinned down the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The ministry in charge says that the camps, in Vavuniya and Mannar districts, will have schools, banks, parks and vocational centres to help to rehabilitate up to 200,000 displaced Tamils after a 25-year civil war.

 

USA

Ailing Banks May Require More Aid to Keep Solvent

NEWS ANALYSIS

By STEVE LOHR

Published: February 12, 2009

Some of the nation’s large banks, according to economists and other finance experts, are like dead men walking.

A sober assessment of the growing mountain of losses from bad bets, measured in today’s marketplace, would overwhelm the value of the banks’ assets, they say. The banks, in their view, are insolvent.

None of the experts’ research focuses on individual banks, and there are certainly exceptions among the 50 largest banks in the country. Nor do consumers and businesses need to fret about their deposits, which are federally insured. And even banks that might technically be insolvent can continue operating for a long time, and could recover their financial health when the economy improves.

Feb 13 2009

Obama, long may he wave.

PhotobucketI have but one question for the Obama loyalists.  Do you guys ever get tired of saluting the flag?   Just because we support Obama and all agree he was 1,000 10 times better than anyone else running doesn’t mean we have to put our brains on a shelf.  

Why did he lie to us, and why aren’t the Democrats holding him accountable?  We are not stupid.  We can see what is going on.   All this distraction about bi-partisanship as if millions of unemployed, broke, and homeless middle class Americans care.

No salary caps for CEOs.  No torturers, war profiteers, or WS crooks going to jail.   Just lots of hot air surrounded by smoke and mirrors.

How about a truth commission on the bailout?

I shouldn’t be surprised by now. But I still was when I read the article this morning in the Washington Post explaining that the cap on executive pay has been removed from the stimulus bill. I knew what Congress was doing yesterday by bringing the Wall Street executives in and scolding them in public was a dog and pony show. But I had not realized how profoundly full of shit these politicians are.

 

Nationalize the damned banks already.  They’re stealing us blind.  Geithner is a WS insider, and the wrong man for this job. If we aren’t getting tax dodger and Republican appointments, we are getting the cat assigned to guard the canary.  If I have to bailout their sorry asses, I want to own them.  

While we are at it, who did us this favor?

A Sanders-Grassley amendment to demand TARP recipient banks stop firing U.S. workers and replacing them with foreign guest workers was ripped out of the bill.

Last but not least, what’s all this noise about Obama and Social Security?  We can pay for  the Bush war profiteers and the ongoing WS bailout of Washington’s financiers and cronies, but they, by god, are going to save us from the burden of  social security.

You have no idea how bad Democrats are starting to look on the heels of all that campaign rhetoric.  Change  my ass! I am getting sick and tired of all of them and the horses they rode in on.  

Feb 13 2009

Muse in the Morning

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Muse in the Morning
Art Link

At the Edge

Falling

Love that lasts

as long at least

as this forever

standing too close

to the ledge

separating

us from you

waits to see

if it will be denied

affirmation

watching painfully

those intent

on pushing us off

barreling toward us

while everyone else

silently bears

witness

That love

will not end

as we fall

if we fail

but I can’t help

but think

how failing

will diminish

us all

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–October 24, 2008

Feb 13 2009

Late Night Karaoke

80’s For Friday

Feb 13 2009

Scott Horton: Yes, They Hid Torture Evidence from Obama

Scott Horton has followed up on the UK Guardian story, which I also wrote on last night, describing how Reprieve attorney Clive Stafford Smith, whose organization is helping defend Guantanamo detainee and British resident Binyam Mohamed, had information he was sending to President Obama on Mohamed’s torture censored by the U.S. Department of Defense.

At Daily Kos, a number of readers were incredulous at the claims I, and by implication, Stafford Smith was making about Obama being kept out of the information loop, suggesting that I was prone to conspiracy theories, or a dupe for grandstanding by Mohamed’s attorneys. Some suggested either the Guardian or myself or both had completely misunderstood the situation.

But Horton, who has been following this story carefully, and is known to have excellent sources, reported on the Guardian article much as I had, and added this:

Feb 13 2009

Economic Crisis What if we Can’t Fix It Who’s preparing for that?

So far nothing has worked; not bailouts, or conversions to bank holding companies, not front page stories or investigative committees…nothing is helping the economic crisis it only continues to get worse.

What if we cannot stop the economic crisis from continuing to deteriorate, what if the economic levees break?

How is our government (Federal, State, Municipal) preparing for the worst case scenario?

How are we hoping they are preparing, what should we be expecting of them, what can we do?

cross-posted at Daily Kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Feb 13 2009

Respectfully, Senator Leahy, Pursue Justice

A truth and reconciliation commission for

seeking answers so that we can develop a shared understanding of the failures of the recent past.

will not achieve your objective to

make sure they never happen again

unless the Department of Justice is allowed to pursue justice aggressively.

Since J. Edgar Hoover began illegal FBI surveillance of American citizens in the 1950’s we have had repeated violations of basic Constitutional rights by the government followed by investigations by commissions. However, because no one in the government suffered any consequences for their actions the violations not only continued, they have grown worse. Justice must be pursued and laws protecting citizens’ Constitutional rights must be enforced to stop the violations. J Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy abused the power of the FBI to keep files on congress and private citizens using the ruse of the red scare. McCarthy was censured and driven from the Senate but only the victims of his abuse suffered real punishment. J. Edgar Hoover continued his abuses of power, keeping files on Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders.

Feb 13 2009

Obama’s Awful Financial Recovery Plan

Original article, by Michael Hudson and headed “Trying to Revive the Bubble Economy:”, via counterpunch.com:

Martin Wolf started off his Financial Times column for February 11 with the bold question: “Has Barack Obama’s presidency already failed?” The stock market had a similar opinion, plunging 382 points. Having promised “change,” Mr. Obama is giving us more Clinton-Bush via Robert Rubin’s protégé, Tim Geithner. Tuesday’s $2.5 trillion Financial Stabilization Plan to re-inflate the Bubble Economy is basically an extension of the Bush-Paulson giveaway – yet more Rubinomics for financial insiders in the emerging Wall Street trusts. The financial system is to be concentrated into a cartel of just a few giant conglomerates to act as the economy’s central planners and resource allocators. This makes banks the big winners in the game of “chicken” they’ve been playing with Washington, a shakedown holding the economy hostage. “Give us what we want or we’ll plunge the economy into financial crisis.” Washington has given them $9 trillion so far, with promises now of another $2 trillion- and still counting.

Feb 13 2009

Americans DO Care About Torture! Overwhelmingly!

A talking point of those who…for whatever unimaginable reasons…oppose torture investigations has just been blown to bits.

Please adjust YOUR talking points accordingly. The American People DO care that they have unwittingly been made into a nation that tortures. And they are calling for an accounting.

WASHINGTON – Even as Americans struggle with two wars and an economy in tatters, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds majorities in favor of investigating some of the thorniest unfinished business from the Bush administration: Whether its tactics in the “war on terror” broke the law.



Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done.

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