Thursday, April 30, 2009
And speaking of William Brennan
This biographical sketch is a reminder that the justice may well have been the greatest public figure the American Catholic Church ever produced.
A patriot returns to New England
In 2000, Souter voted and dissented along with the three other justices in Bush vs. Gore to allow the presidential election recount to continue while the majority voted to end the recount based on the rule of law, making Bush the president.
Jeffrey Toobin wrote of Souter's reaction to Bush v. Gore in his 2007 book The Nine:
"Toughened, or coarsened, by their worldly lives, the other dissenters could shrug and move on, but Souter couldn’t. His whole life was being a judge. He came from a tradition where the independence of the judiciary was the foundation of the rule of law. And Souter believed Bush v. Gore mocked that tradition. His colleagues’ actions were so transparently, so crudely partisan that Souter thought he might not be able to serve with them anymore. Souter seriously considered resigning. For many months, it was not at all clear whether he would remain as a justice. That the Court met in a city he loathed made the decision even harder. At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the Court was never the same. There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept."
George H.W. Bush's only gift to progressives was also William Brennan's last. The century's greatest justice affectionately molded David Souter into the moderate he would become.
Mild mannered, scholarly and a true gentleman, he will be missed. The nation owes Souter a debt of gratitude for his jurisprudential evolution and his integrity during 2000's judicial coup d'etat. And for staying as long as he did, during the darkest of times, in a city he so loathed.
Jeffrey Toobin wrote of Souter's reaction to Bush v. Gore in his 2007 book The Nine:
"Toughened, or coarsened, by their worldly lives, the other dissenters could shrug and move on, but Souter couldn’t. His whole life was being a judge. He came from a tradition where the independence of the judiciary was the foundation of the rule of law. And Souter believed Bush v. Gore mocked that tradition. His colleagues’ actions were so transparently, so crudely partisan that Souter thought he might not be able to serve with them anymore. Souter seriously considered resigning. For many months, it was not at all clear whether he would remain as a justice. That the Court met in a city he loathed made the decision even harder. At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the Court was never the same. There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept."
George H.W. Bush's only gift to progressives was also William Brennan's last. The century's greatest justice affectionately molded David Souter into the moderate he would become.
Mild mannered, scholarly and a true gentleman, he will be missed. The nation owes Souter a debt of gratitude for his jurisprudential evolution and his integrity during 2000's judicial coup d'etat. And for staying as long as he did, during the darkest of times, in a city he so loathed.
Ezra Klein is right
This is one of the most important takeaways from Obama's Sunday New York Times interview.
Obama's presser
The Baltimore Sun gives him a 100.
The The economy is still a nightmare. The military situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan are perilous -- and getting worse. But for all the troubles swirling around the nation these days, America has rarely seemed to be in such steady and capable hands.
That was the feeling that came across on TV Wednesday night watching President Barack Obama's 100-days press conference. Even on his best nights, John F. Kennedy did not seem as calm, confident and masterful as Obama did in an hour's worth of prime time give and take with the press.
As good as Obama has been in such settings before, Wednesday he seemed perfectly tuned to each shifting topic and tone. [...]
Outside of the Fox broadcast network, the cable channels and nets all had special programs planned for Wednesday in which analysts would assess Obama's performance in office for the first 100 days.
But the president stole their thunder with his press conference performance. It was as good or better than Ronald Reagan on his very best TV night. And outside of a few disingenuous remarks from Obama alleging that he does "not want to grow government," there was far more substance, coherence and sense of history to the president's performance than Reagan could ever imagine.
The The economy is still a nightmare. The military situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan are perilous -- and getting worse. But for all the troubles swirling around the nation these days, America has rarely seemed to be in such steady and capable hands.
That was the feeling that came across on TV Wednesday night watching President Barack Obama's 100-days press conference. Even on his best nights, John F. Kennedy did not seem as calm, confident and masterful as Obama did in an hour's worth of prime time give and take with the press.
As good as Obama has been in such settings before, Wednesday he seemed perfectly tuned to each shifting topic and tone. [...]
Outside of the Fox broadcast network, the cable channels and nets all had special programs planned for Wednesday in which analysts would assess Obama's performance in office for the first 100 days.
But the president stole their thunder with his press conference performance. It was as good or better than Ronald Reagan on his very best TV night. And outside of a few disingenuous remarks from Obama alleging that he does "not want to grow government," there was far more substance, coherence and sense of history to the president's performance than Reagan could ever imagine.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Bold
Columbia religion professor Mark Taylor's proposals to transform American universities. I don't know that I agree with all of them, but there is no question that the incentive structures in academia have led to ridiculous labor-related outcomes and a whole lot of irrelevant, self-indulgent scholarship. The depression could be the catalyst for a re-imagining of the American university; let's hope, however, that the good doesn't get thrown out with the bad.
If Americans die from the swine flu
Be sure to place the blame where it belongs: On treasonous Republicans who stripped flu preparedness from the stimulus bill.
Now there's video of "moderate" Susan Collins' opposition.
Any chance we can just send the vaccine to the states whose senators supported public health?
Now there's video of "moderate" Susan Collins' opposition.
Any chance we can just send the vaccine to the states whose senators supported public health?
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Beware of College Republicans
The Craigslist killer was practically their poster child. He still is, of course, now that we know that his misogyny and racism made the Southern heritage party his natural home:
At college, he was a member of the College Republicans and was fairly unremarkable except for the occasional offensive comment, said ex-classmate Joe Coe.
"He was someone that had issues with people of color, had issues with women," Coe told CBS.
At college, he was a member of the College Republicans and was fairly unremarkable except for the occasional offensive comment, said ex-classmate Joe Coe.
"He was someone that had issues with people of color, had issues with women," Coe told CBS.
Cuban Americans love the President
Republicans must be terrified.
The survey said 64 percent of respondents favor Obama's directive to lift all restrictions on remittances and visits by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they were opposed to the measure. [...]
"Ten years ago, you wouldn't have seen anything near these numbers. Now it's the reality of where the community is," said Fernand Amandi, a pollster with Miami's Bendixen & Associates, a Democratic firm that did the survey. "It's unprecedented to suggest that the community for the first time is aligned with a Democratic president when it comes to Cuba policy."
Though Obama stopped far short of endorsing travel for all Americans, the poll suggests he would have support for that measure, too. The poll found that two-thirds of Cuban American adults – 67 percent – support lifting travel restrictions so that all Americans could travel to Cuba.
Obama has said he supports keeping in place the 47-year-old economic embargo against Cuba and the survey notes that the community is split on maintaining the embargo. Forty-two percent of respondents believe it should be continued, while 43 percent believe it should be scrapped.
Amandi said the poll reflects that more recent arrivals from Cuba and second- and third-generation Cuban Americans "don't necessarily share the hard-line point of view their predecessors had" and that some older exiles may be "changing their minds as well. [...]
But the poll finds Obama with "surprisingly high ratings from Cuban Americans" – a voting block that traditionally favors Republicans. Two-thirds of Cuban American adults in the poll – 67 percent – give Obama a favorable rating, while only 20 percent gave him an unfavorable rating.
"If I were a Republican strategist, I'd look at these numbers with some trepidation," Amandi said.
To say the least. Cubans comprise about 10% of the population in Florida. Their rock solid support of George W. Bush was why he almost won the state in 2000. If Obama is able to move Cubans from the 47% he got in 2008 to 60%, the GOP's attempt to win Florida back will be that much harder.
The Electoral College doesn't need to favor Republicans. If Obama loses a solid South but is able to hold Florida, the Northeast, upper Midwest and the West, he can win without the popular vote.
The survey said 64 percent of respondents favor Obama's directive to lift all restrictions on remittances and visits by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they were opposed to the measure. [...]
"Ten years ago, you wouldn't have seen anything near these numbers. Now it's the reality of where the community is," said Fernand Amandi, a pollster with Miami's Bendixen & Associates, a Democratic firm that did the survey. "It's unprecedented to suggest that the community for the first time is aligned with a Democratic president when it comes to Cuba policy."
Though Obama stopped far short of endorsing travel for all Americans, the poll suggests he would have support for that measure, too. The poll found that two-thirds of Cuban American adults – 67 percent – support lifting travel restrictions so that all Americans could travel to Cuba.
Obama has said he supports keeping in place the 47-year-old economic embargo against Cuba and the survey notes that the community is split on maintaining the embargo. Forty-two percent of respondents believe it should be continued, while 43 percent believe it should be scrapped.
Amandi said the poll reflects that more recent arrivals from Cuba and second- and third-generation Cuban Americans "don't necessarily share the hard-line point of view their predecessors had" and that some older exiles may be "changing their minds as well. [...]
But the poll finds Obama with "surprisingly high ratings from Cuban Americans" – a voting block that traditionally favors Republicans. Two-thirds of Cuban American adults in the poll – 67 percent – give Obama a favorable rating, while only 20 percent gave him an unfavorable rating.
"If I were a Republican strategist, I'd look at these numbers with some trepidation," Amandi said.
To say the least. Cubans comprise about 10% of the population in Florida. Their rock solid support of George W. Bush was why he almost won the state in 2000. If Obama is able to move Cubans from the 47% he got in 2008 to 60%, the GOP's attempt to win Florida back will be that much harder.
The Electoral College doesn't need to favor Republicans. If Obama loses a solid South but is able to hold Florida, the Northeast, upper Midwest and the West, he can win without the popular vote.
NJ voters for gay marriage 49-43
Which kind of switches the usual political dynamics around. Maybe this time unpopular Democrats use this issue as a way to rebrand Republican white knight candidacies by reminding voters of the party's culturally unpopular stances.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
More Richard Clarke
Talking turkey:
S&P: So much attention has focused on the security steps regarding physical infrastructure—such as airplanes, trains, and highways—that the Bush administration has either taken or failed to take before and after 9/11. You were critical of their cybersecurity efforts shortly after you retired last year in Congressional committee testimony. How would you rate their attention to cybersecurity issues in the year since?
Clarke: Well, they've done some of the right things, but not very many. They finally created the National Cybersecurity Division within the Department of Homeland Security, which was a good move. Unfortunately, they didn't make it an assistant-secretary-level position. For that division to have the clout it needs with the government and industry, it really needs to be headed by an assistant secretary. I know the House Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are interested in making it an assistant-secretary-level position, but it's kind of sad it has to come from the Congress and the administration's not doing it.
S&P: Any other specific steps you've seen them take?
Clarke: They had this so-called Cybersecurity Summit out in Silicon Valley, and that was a good idea in general to bring people together a year after the president released the strategy. Unfortunately, the [DHS] backed out of the summit's leadership role and handed it off to some industry associations. Those associations perhaps were well meaning, but it really needs government leadership. The summit created several task forces and there were very good people on them, but again, some of these committees have handed reports to the DHS, where they seem to have disappeared into a black hole.
S&P: Congress seems to be frustrated with the DHS's lack of an overall cybersecurity focus. On 29 April, the House Homeland Security Committee notified DHS Secretary Tom Ridge they wanted him to supply them with a "detailed action or implementation plan that links the department's cyber program and budget needs to the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace." Do you feel the strategy is being implemented as it should, and if not, why not?
Clarke: There's no mechanism in place for a high-level review of progress on implementation. I don't think very many pieces of it are being implemented, but there's also very little tracking by the White House or Secretary Ridge. I don't think if you asked either the White House or Secretary Ridge today how many of the top 25 recommendations are done, how many are underway, and how many are yet to be started, that they could tell you those numbers. [Ed. note: The National Cyber Security Partnership's Task Force for Improving Security Across the Software Development Cycle released recommendations in April to improve software security.]
S&P: Much of the strategy seems to expand Clinton administration initiatives such as Presidential Decision Directive 63, which established the ISACs [Information Sharing and Analysis Center] in various industries and created the National Infrastructure Protection Center. Do you believe the Bush administration has successfully taken those initiatives forward or has it dropped the ball?
Clarke: We carried the ball very far forward up until the point when the strategy was issued. Then there was a six- to nine-month period afterward when nothing was done, and now there's very little emphasis being given to implementing the strategy. Some, but very little.
S&P: So much attention has focused on the security steps regarding physical infrastructure—such as airplanes, trains, and highways—that the Bush administration has either taken or failed to take before and after 9/11. You were critical of their cybersecurity efforts shortly after you retired last year in Congressional committee testimony. How would you rate their attention to cybersecurity issues in the year since?
Clarke: Well, they've done some of the right things, but not very many. They finally created the National Cybersecurity Division within the Department of Homeland Security, which was a good move. Unfortunately, they didn't make it an assistant-secretary-level position. For that division to have the clout it needs with the government and industry, it really needs to be headed by an assistant secretary. I know the House Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee are interested in making it an assistant-secretary-level position, but it's kind of sad it has to come from the Congress and the administration's not doing it.
S&P: Any other specific steps you've seen them take?
Clarke: They had this so-called Cybersecurity Summit out in Silicon Valley, and that was a good idea in general to bring people together a year after the president released the strategy. Unfortunately, the [DHS] backed out of the summit's leadership role and handed it off to some industry associations. Those associations perhaps were well meaning, but it really needs government leadership. The summit created several task forces and there were very good people on them, but again, some of these committees have handed reports to the DHS, where they seem to have disappeared into a black hole.
S&P: Congress seems to be frustrated with the DHS's lack of an overall cybersecurity focus. On 29 April, the House Homeland Security Committee notified DHS Secretary Tom Ridge they wanted him to supply them with a "detailed action or implementation plan that links the department's cyber program and budget needs to the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace." Do you feel the strategy is being implemented as it should, and if not, why not?
Clarke: There's no mechanism in place for a high-level review of progress on implementation. I don't think very many pieces of it are being implemented, but there's also very little tracking by the White House or Secretary Ridge. I don't think if you asked either the White House or Secretary Ridge today how many of the top 25 recommendations are done, how many are underway, and how many are yet to be started, that they could tell you those numbers. [Ed. note: The National Cyber Security Partnership's Task Force for Improving Security Across the Software Development Cycle released recommendations in April to improve software security.]
S&P: Much of the strategy seems to expand Clinton administration initiatives such as Presidential Decision Directive 63, which established the ISACs [Information Sharing and Analysis Center] in various industries and created the National Infrastructure Protection Center. Do you believe the Bush administration has successfully taken those initiatives forward or has it dropped the ball?
Clarke: We carried the ball very far forward up until the point when the strategy was issued. Then there was a six- to nine-month period afterward when nothing was done, and now there's very little emphasis being given to implementing the strategy. Some, but very little.
The Bush Administration made us safer
This is unbelievable.
Thousands of confidential files on the U.S. military's most technologically advanced fighter aircraft have been compromised by unknown computer hackers over the past two years, according to senior defense officials.
The Internet intruders were able to gain access to data related to the design and electronics systems of the Joint Strike Fighter through computers of Pentagon contractors in charge of designing and building the aircraft, according to the officials, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
In addition to files relating to the aircraft, hackers gained entry into the Air Force's air traffic control systems, according to the officials. Once they got in, the Internet hackers were able to see such information as the locations of U.S. military aircraft in flight.
The Joint Striker Fighter plane is the military's new F-35 Lightning II. It designed to become the aircraft used by all of the branches of service.
Most of the files broken into focused on the design and performance statistics of the fighter, as well as its electronic systems, officials said. The information could be used to make the plane easier to fight or defend against.
Additionally, the system used by the aircraft to conduct self-diagnostics during flight was compromised by the computer intrusions, according to the officials.
And taking the prize for the baldest lie of the week:
However, the officials insisted that none of the information accessed was highly sensitive data.
The Bush Administration was so focused on creating a threat that didn't exist in Iraq that they took their eyes off America's biggest long term challenge: China. And they maligned their top cybersecurity official, Richard Clarke.
From an April, 2008 interview in Foreign Policy:
Foreign Policy: Last year, a Pentagon computer network serving Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was hacked into, allegedly by the Chinese military. Do you think the Chinese military was behind the attacks, and if so, what was it trying to accomplish with these attacks?
Richard A. Clarke: I think the Chinese government has been behind many, many attacks—penetrations. “Attacks” sounds like they’re destroying something. They’re penetrations; they’re unauthorized penetrations. And what they are trying to do is espionage. They’re engaged in massive espionage, not only in the U.S. government, in the U.S. private sector as well, but also around the world. The British security service, MI5, sent a note to the 300 largest corporations in England a few months ago, telling them that the Chinese government had probably penetrated their networks. [...]
FP: What’s the worst-case scenario from a cyberpenetration of the U.S. government’s computer network? Are we talking about things like remotely attacking nuclear power plants and things on that scale?
RC: Well, people tend to think about, sort of, attacks that change things—turn off power grids, or whatever. And while that’s possible, what is happening every day is quite devastating, even though it doesn’t have a kinetic impact and there are no body bags. What’s happening every day is that all of our information is being stolen. So, we pay billions of dollars for research and development, both in the government and the private sector, for engineering, for pharmaceuticals, for bioengineering, genetic stuff—all sorts of proprietary, valuable information that is the result of spending a lot of money on R&D—and all that information gets stolen for one one-thousandth of the cost that it took to develop it.
FP: Both China and Russia have received attention as cyberthreats. Which country do you think is more of a threat, and are there other countries, or nonstate actors, to be worried about also?
RC: I think nonstate actors could develop capabilities rivaling that of nation-states because this is the classic case of asymmetrical warfare where small numbers of highly skilled people could have the same effect as could a nation-state.
Best line:
FP: You mentioned both the defensive and offensive capabilities of the Air Force Cyber Command. What kind of offensive cybercapabilities should the United States ideally have?
RC: Highly classified ones.
Thousands of confidential files on the U.S. military's most technologically advanced fighter aircraft have been compromised by unknown computer hackers over the past two years, according to senior defense officials.
The Internet intruders were able to gain access to data related to the design and electronics systems of the Joint Strike Fighter through computers of Pentagon contractors in charge of designing and building the aircraft, according to the officials, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
In addition to files relating to the aircraft, hackers gained entry into the Air Force's air traffic control systems, according to the officials. Once they got in, the Internet hackers were able to see such information as the locations of U.S. military aircraft in flight.
The Joint Striker Fighter plane is the military's new F-35 Lightning II. It designed to become the aircraft used by all of the branches of service.
Most of the files broken into focused on the design and performance statistics of the fighter, as well as its electronic systems, officials said. The information could be used to make the plane easier to fight or defend against.
Additionally, the system used by the aircraft to conduct self-diagnostics during flight was compromised by the computer intrusions, according to the officials.
And taking the prize for the baldest lie of the week:
However, the officials insisted that none of the information accessed was highly sensitive data.
The Bush Administration was so focused on creating a threat that didn't exist in Iraq that they took their eyes off America's biggest long term challenge: China. And they maligned their top cybersecurity official, Richard Clarke.
From an April, 2008 interview in Foreign Policy:
Foreign Policy: Last year, a Pentagon computer network serving Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was hacked into, allegedly by the Chinese military. Do you think the Chinese military was behind the attacks, and if so, what was it trying to accomplish with these attacks?
Richard A. Clarke: I think the Chinese government has been behind many, many attacks—penetrations. “Attacks” sounds like they’re destroying something. They’re penetrations; they’re unauthorized penetrations. And what they are trying to do is espionage. They’re engaged in massive espionage, not only in the U.S. government, in the U.S. private sector as well, but also around the world. The British security service, MI5, sent a note to the 300 largest corporations in England a few months ago, telling them that the Chinese government had probably penetrated their networks. [...]
FP: What’s the worst-case scenario from a cyberpenetration of the U.S. government’s computer network? Are we talking about things like remotely attacking nuclear power plants and things on that scale?
RC: Well, people tend to think about, sort of, attacks that change things—turn off power grids, or whatever. And while that’s possible, what is happening every day is quite devastating, even though it doesn’t have a kinetic impact and there are no body bags. What’s happening every day is that all of our information is being stolen. So, we pay billions of dollars for research and development, both in the government and the private sector, for engineering, for pharmaceuticals, for bioengineering, genetic stuff—all sorts of proprietary, valuable information that is the result of spending a lot of money on R&D—and all that information gets stolen for one one-thousandth of the cost that it took to develop it.
FP: Both China and Russia have received attention as cyberthreats. Which country do you think is more of a threat, and are there other countries, or nonstate actors, to be worried about also?
RC: I think nonstate actors could develop capabilities rivaling that of nation-states because this is the classic case of asymmetrical warfare where small numbers of highly skilled people could have the same effect as could a nation-state.
Best line:
FP: You mentioned both the defensive and offensive capabilities of the Air Force Cyber Command. What kind of offensive cybercapabilities should the United States ideally have?
RC: Highly classified ones.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
What's saving Dollhouse?
Its BNSI, of course!
The audience for "Dollhouse" are not exactly where Fox had hoped they would be, however, critical reaction to later episodes following its February premiere has grown more positive toward the series as it has had the chance to flesh itself out. Showrunner Joss Whedon had said ahead of its premiere that he had gone back to retool certain aspects of the show, including using a new premiere episode than what was originally planned, eventually canning what would have been the premiere.
The move seems to be an easy one for Fox. While the audience hasn't been as large as expected, it has instead remained stable. It's not a number that Fox uses, but "Dollhouse" carries a BlipNetwork Stability Index Rating of 92.0, better than every other network genre show currently on television outside of "Reaper" on The CW, which has a 94.7. A Stability Index Rating is the comparison of the show's highest overnight rating and its average overnight rating to see how much of its overall audience a show has retained.
UPDATE: Scratch that. Many say the show is done and that relations between Whedon and Fox are irreparably damaged. We'll know on May 18th.
The audience for "Dollhouse" are not exactly where Fox had hoped they would be, however, critical reaction to later episodes following its February premiere has grown more positive toward the series as it has had the chance to flesh itself out. Showrunner Joss Whedon had said ahead of its premiere that he had gone back to retool certain aspects of the show, including using a new premiere episode than what was originally planned, eventually canning what would have been the premiere.
The move seems to be an easy one for Fox. While the audience hasn't been as large as expected, it has instead remained stable. It's not a number that Fox uses, but "Dollhouse" carries a BlipNetwork Stability Index Rating of 92.0, better than every other network genre show currently on television outside of "Reaper" on The CW, which has a 94.7. A Stability Index Rating is the comparison of the show's highest overnight rating and its average overnight rating to see how much of its overall audience a show has retained.
UPDATE: Scratch that. Many say the show is done and that relations between Whedon and Fox are irreparably damaged. We'll know on May 18th.
Another perspective
On Susan Boyle. It's really a reverse John Kennedy Jr. phenomenon: if he looked like Larry King, few would have mourned him; if she were beautiful, no one would have found her extraordinarily talented.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The best political use of snailmail I've ever seen
Wow:
“We pick messages that are compelling, things people say that, when you read it, you get a chill,” said Mr. Kelleher, 47. “I send him letters that are uncomfortable messages.”
The ritual offers Mr. Obama a way to move beyond the White House bubble, and occasionally leads to moments when his composure cracks, advisers said. “I remember once he was particularly quiet,” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, “and I asked him what he was thinking about, and he said, ‘These letters just tear you up.’ It was after getting a poignant letter from a struggling family.”
Some letters begin “I didn’t vote for you”; others end “May God bless.” One missive came in the form of baseboard molding, covered with $2.70 in stamps and a scrawl urging the president to “Fix housing 1st!” Heaps of letters offer advice on the best treats for the first dog, Bo, and people have sent in colorful dog sweaters.
Mr. Kelleher said the president had used the letters to ask policy questions of government agencies, and Mr. Axelrod recalled a letter circulated among staff members from a woman in Glendale, Ariz., who was in danger of losing her home because her husband had lost his job.
The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said Mr. Obama “believes it’s easy in Washington to forget there are real people with real challenges being affected by the debate.” Mr. Emanuel added that he had seen the president turn to policy advisers in meetings and say, “No, no, no. I want to read you a letter that I got. I want you to understand.”
Check out the individual cases in the article.
“We pick messages that are compelling, things people say that, when you read it, you get a chill,” said Mr. Kelleher, 47. “I send him letters that are uncomfortable messages.”
The ritual offers Mr. Obama a way to move beyond the White House bubble, and occasionally leads to moments when his composure cracks, advisers said. “I remember once he was particularly quiet,” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, “and I asked him what he was thinking about, and he said, ‘These letters just tear you up.’ It was after getting a poignant letter from a struggling family.”
Some letters begin “I didn’t vote for you”; others end “May God bless.” One missive came in the form of baseboard molding, covered with $2.70 in stamps and a scrawl urging the president to “Fix housing 1st!” Heaps of letters offer advice on the best treats for the first dog, Bo, and people have sent in colorful dog sweaters.
Mr. Kelleher said the president had used the letters to ask policy questions of government agencies, and Mr. Axelrod recalled a letter circulated among staff members from a woman in Glendale, Ariz., who was in danger of losing her home because her husband had lost his job.
The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said Mr. Obama “believes it’s easy in Washington to forget there are real people with real challenges being affected by the debate.” Mr. Emanuel added that he had seen the president turn to policy advisers in meetings and say, “No, no, no. I want to read you a letter that I got. I want you to understand.”
Check out the individual cases in the article.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The ironies are delicious
Conservative Democrat Jane Harman, is tapped by the NSA!
Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to drop espionage charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.
Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.
In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.
Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.” [...]
It’s true that allegations of pro-Israel lobbyists trying to help Harman get the chairmanship of the intelligence panel by lobbying and raising money for Pelosi aren’t new.
They were widely reported in 2006, along with allegations that the FBI launched an investigation of Harman that was eventually dropped for a “lack of evidence.”
What is new is that Harman is said to have been picked up on a court-approved NSA tap directed at alleged Israel covert action operations in Washington. [...]
Then-CIA Director Porter J. Goss reviewed the Harman transcript and signed off on the Justice Department’s FISA application. He also decided that, under a protocol involving the separation of powers, it was time to notify then-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Minority Leader Pelosi, of the FBI’s impending national security investigation of a member of Congress — to wit, Harman.
Goss, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, deemed the matter particularly urgent because of Harman’s rank as the panel’s top Democrat.
But that’s when, according to knowledgeable officials, Attorney General Gonzales intervened.
According to two officials privy to the events, Gonzales said he “needed Jane” to help support the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, which was about to be exposed by the New York Times.
Harman, he told Goss, had helped persuade the newspaper to hold the wiretap story before, on the eve of the 2004 elections. And although it was too late to stop the Times from publishing now, she could be counted on again to help defend the program
He was right.
On Dec. 21, 2005, in the midst of a firestorm of criticism about the wiretaps, Harman issued a statement defending the operation and slamming the Times, saying, “I believe it essential to U.S. national security, and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities.”
Pelosi and Hastert never did get the briefing.
And thanks to grateful Bush administration officials, the investigation of Harman was effectively dead. [...]
Harman dodged a bullet, say disgusted former officials who have pursued the AIPAC case for years. She was protected by an administration desperate for help.
“It’s the deepest kind of corruption,” said a recently retired longtime national security official who was closely involved in AIPAC investigation, “which was years in the making.
“It’s a story about the corruption of government — not legal corruption necessarily, but ethical corruption.”
Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to drop espionage charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.
Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.
In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.
Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.” [...]
It’s true that allegations of pro-Israel lobbyists trying to help Harman get the chairmanship of the intelligence panel by lobbying and raising money for Pelosi aren’t new.
They were widely reported in 2006, along with allegations that the FBI launched an investigation of Harman that was eventually dropped for a “lack of evidence.”
What is new is that Harman is said to have been picked up on a court-approved NSA tap directed at alleged Israel covert action operations in Washington. [...]
Then-CIA Director Porter J. Goss reviewed the Harman transcript and signed off on the Justice Department’s FISA application. He also decided that, under a protocol involving the separation of powers, it was time to notify then-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Minority Leader Pelosi, of the FBI’s impending national security investigation of a member of Congress — to wit, Harman.
Goss, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, deemed the matter particularly urgent because of Harman’s rank as the panel’s top Democrat.
But that’s when, according to knowledgeable officials, Attorney General Gonzales intervened.
According to two officials privy to the events, Gonzales said he “needed Jane” to help support the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, which was about to be exposed by the New York Times.
Harman, he told Goss, had helped persuade the newspaper to hold the wiretap story before, on the eve of the 2004 elections. And although it was too late to stop the Times from publishing now, she could be counted on again to help defend the program
He was right.
On Dec. 21, 2005, in the midst of a firestorm of criticism about the wiretaps, Harman issued a statement defending the operation and slamming the Times, saying, “I believe it essential to U.S. national security, and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities.”
Pelosi and Hastert never did get the briefing.
And thanks to grateful Bush administration officials, the investigation of Harman was effectively dead. [...]
Harman dodged a bullet, say disgusted former officials who have pursued the AIPAC case for years. She was protected by an administration desperate for help.
“It’s the deepest kind of corruption,” said a recently retired longtime national security official who was closely involved in AIPAC investigation, “which was years in the making.
“It’s a story about the corruption of government — not legal corruption necessarily, but ethical corruption.”
We know Christianists are blind
But that's no reason anyone else has to be: British scientists' use of stem cells may lead to a cure.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Beware of complacency
The highest approval any president since 1968 has enjoyed during the first three months of his presidency? 69%... by Jimmy Carter.
Wisdom, thy name is "Iraqi police detective"
The return of vice to Baghdad results in useful philosophizing:
One police detective said he would not dream of enforcing the law against prostitutes. “They’re the best sources we have,” said the detective, whose name is being withheld for his safety. “They know everything about JAM and Al Qaeda members,” he said, using the acronym for Jaish al-Mahdi or Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia.
The detective added that the only problem his men had was that neighbors got the wrong idea when detectives visited the houses where prostitutes were known to live. They really do just want to talk, he said.
“If I had my way, I’d destroy all the mosques and spread the whores around a little more,” the detective said. “At least they’re not sectarian.”
One police detective said he would not dream of enforcing the law against prostitutes. “They’re the best sources we have,” said the detective, whose name is being withheld for his safety. “They know everything about JAM and Al Qaeda members,” he said, using the acronym for Jaish al-Mahdi or Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia.
The detective added that the only problem his men had was that neighbors got the wrong idea when detectives visited the houses where prostitutes were known to live. They really do just want to talk, he said.
“If I had my way, I’d destroy all the mosques and spread the whores around a little more,” the detective said. “At least they’re not sectarian.”
And the giveaway to the banks continues
Only a Democratic president with an economic team populated by Clinton-era bankers could give the store away like this and not get called on it. Well, you know, except for a handful of Nobel Prize winners and the like.
Best ebay auction ever
Texas. Up for bid. Expensive for what it is, and sorry, guys, no "buy it now" price.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Nate is right
For a variety of reasons, including several non-electoral ones that Nate does not mention, The United States would be better off without Texas. Let's hope the secessionist movement gains steam.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Susan Boyle goes global
Weird. So overedited and scripted that you have to wonder if the whole show is fake.
Everything that's right and wrong about South Park
In one interview. Matt and Trey's primary political value is free speech. Everything else they'll split the difference on. They aren't, strictly speaking, libertarians. Geniuses yes, but also enablers.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Quentin Tarantino on Idol tonight!
His last appearance was during the show's only great season, already five years ago (in this clip he helpfully destroys Fantasia's chief rival). In his honor, Gawker categorizes the show's watchers. And in another piece, destroys the woman who thankfully isn't the First Daughter.
Good news, gays: David Paterson and Meghan McCain want you to have the right to marry! So any day now, you can look forward to equality.
GOP head Michael Steele, who accidentally supported gay rights before he was elected chairman of the RNC, declined to speak at the annual convention of the Log Cabin Republicans. So instead they got Meghan McCain, noted huge fatty and budding pundit. Meghan, as a person below 40 who was not raised by religious zealots, supports gay civil rights. But as her dad, and as the group she is to be speaking before, have learned, you have no future in the Republican party as a leader of any stripe if you believe gay people aren't gross hedonists who should really just be grateful we're letting them on our competitive singing programs now and not get greedy, rights-wise.
Good news, gays: David Paterson and Meghan McCain want you to have the right to marry! So any day now, you can look forward to equality.
GOP head Michael Steele, who accidentally supported gay rights before he was elected chairman of the RNC, declined to speak at the annual convention of the Log Cabin Republicans. So instead they got Meghan McCain, noted huge fatty and budding pundit. Meghan, as a person below 40 who was not raised by religious zealots, supports gay civil rights. But as her dad, and as the group she is to be speaking before, have learned, you have no future in the Republican party as a leader of any stripe if you believe gay people aren't gross hedonists who should really just be grateful we're letting them on our competitive singing programs now and not get greedy, rights-wise.
Outrageous!
OK, Barney Frank deserves to be #1, and David Geffen, Rachel Maddow, and Barry Diller deserve to be in the top ten. And it's a stroke of genius to put Matt Drudge high up, since few of his homophobic readers know Roy Cohn is behind their daily scriptural reading.
But if perfectly coiffed newsreader Anderson Cooper is #3, surely Neil Patrick Harris should have been a bit higher up than #28?
Finally, Joe Solmonese, the head of the Human Rights Campaign (whose "reputation as a promoter of useless fancy dress balls was established well over a decade ago") should be dropped from the list altogether.
But if perfectly coiffed newsreader Anderson Cooper is #3, surely Neil Patrick Harris should have been a bit higher up than #28?
Finally, Joe Solmonese, the head of the Human Rights Campaign (whose "reputation as a promoter of useless fancy dress balls was established well over a decade ago") should be dropped from the list altogether.
Hey Nate Silver
You think it's possible to hate on Norm Coleman (a worthy purpose no doubt) without making fun of an anorexic?
Wow
I didn't know: "The character Archie Bunker was the inspiration for the character Eric Cartman on South Park, as acknowledged by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park."
And Norman Lear was responsible for the talking taco episode.
And Norman Lear was responsible for the talking taco episode.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The rump regional party
The finest look under the hood of a poll that I've seen in a while. Southern Republicans are simply not like the rest of the country.
Steve Allen?!
Amazing. By Bob Young of the Arizona Republic.
Not long ago, we poked fun at the University of Arizona for landing the guy who invented the Segway as a commencement speaker in a year when Arizona State signed up President Barack Obama to give its commencement address.
Hey, the only way ASU could possibly screw that up would be if, say, the university president decided to insult Obama by failing to present him with a customary honorary degree.
But what were the chances of that happening?
Extremely good, as it turned out.
Just so we get this straight, entertainer Steve Allen and Ping golf founder Karsten Solheim have honorary degrees from ASU, but Obama will get a only scholarship program named after him?
Suns architect Jerry Colangelo has an honorary degree from ASU, as does grocery store magnate Eddie Basha, and both are quite deserving.
Obama is not?
The first female prime minister in Canadian history was given an honorary degree by ASU, but the first African-American president of the United States will not be?
Why, even last year, being president of the University of Michigan was good enough to get James J. Duderstadt an honorary degree.
But evidently being the leader of the free world just doesn't cut it in Tempe.
Wow. Really. Wow.
Not long ago, we poked fun at the University of Arizona for landing the guy who invented the Segway as a commencement speaker in a year when Arizona State signed up President Barack Obama to give its commencement address.
Hey, the only way ASU could possibly screw that up would be if, say, the university president decided to insult Obama by failing to present him with a customary honorary degree.
But what were the chances of that happening?
Extremely good, as it turned out.
Just so we get this straight, entertainer Steve Allen and Ping golf founder Karsten Solheim have honorary degrees from ASU, but Obama will get a only scholarship program named after him?
Suns architect Jerry Colangelo has an honorary degree from ASU, as does grocery store magnate Eddie Basha, and both are quite deserving.
Obama is not?
The first female prime minister in Canadian history was given an honorary degree by ASU, but the first African-American president of the United States will not be?
Why, even last year, being president of the University of Michigan was good enough to get James J. Duderstadt an honorary degree.
But evidently being the leader of the free world just doesn't cut it in Tempe.
Wow. Really. Wow.
Paraguay's president fathered a child
If he had remained a Catholic bishop and founded a right wing religious order, John Paul II would have canonized him.
Look, it talks
Clarence Thomas has been a double windfall for the GOP. A guaranteed vote for the white supremacists, religious kooks and usurers who control the party, he's also a living argument against affirmative action. His concurrence on any future decision demolishing it can be reduced to: "Come on guys, it produced me."
The pro-porn justice also claims to go down to the basement to watch Saving Private Ryan. Give up the charade, Uncle T! We all know the closest things to Oscar winners in your collection are Forest Hump, Schindler’s Fist and Saving Ryan’s Privates.
The pro-porn justice also claims to go down to the basement to watch Saving Private Ryan. Give up the charade, Uncle T! We all know the closest things to Oscar winners in your collection are Forest Hump, Schindler’s Fist and Saving Ryan’s Privates.
The President's hostage rescue
That's right, Obama signed off on the pirate rescue. So the Jimmy Carter meme conservatives trotted out today itself on Meet the Press ended up stillborn. Republicans hoped either for a long standoff or a hostage death. But neither happened. They would have blamed the President for a failure. Surely that means he should share credit for this extraordinary success.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Arizona
The state has a history, after all.
Everyone wants to know... why not grant a meaningless, honorific degree to the first African American president of the United States? After all, the university's own policy says that honorary degrees are given "for an achievement of eminence," and it's hard to argue that leader of the free world is not eminence.
Many have questioned whether such a decision not to award Obama an honorary degree could be racially motivated. After all, Arizona famously fought the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) as an official holiday. In the late 1980s, the governor signed an executive order to block the holiday in Arizona. In the 1990s, Arizona voters defeated a referendum that would have established MLK Day as an official state holiday.
The state's U.S. senator, one John McCain, you will recall, had his own history on the Martin Luther King holiday.
Everyone wants to know... why not grant a meaningless, honorific degree to the first African American president of the United States? After all, the university's own policy says that honorary degrees are given "for an achievement of eminence," and it's hard to argue that leader of the free world is not eminence.
Many have questioned whether such a decision not to award Obama an honorary degree could be racially motivated. After all, Arizona famously fought the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) as an official holiday. In the late 1980s, the governor signed an executive order to block the holiday in Arizona. In the 1990s, Arizona voters defeated a referendum that would have established MLK Day as an official state holiday.
The state's U.S. senator, one John McCain, you will recall, had his own history on the Martin Luther King holiday.
Arizona State University
Spitting at the sky. What a bunch of idiots.
Arizona State University has snubbed President Barack Obama by declining to give him an honorary degree when he addresses students at a graduation ceremony there next month, it was reported Friday.
In a break with tradition that has sparked howls of protest, the college has said it will not honor Obama on the grounds that America's first black president has an insufficient "body of work."
US universities invariably bestow honorary degrees upon speakers invited to give commencement addresses for graduates.
However an ASU spokeswoman was quoted in several reports as saying Obama had done nothing to deserve the honor, despite being elected the first African-American president and publishing two best-selling books.
"It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time," ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler was quoted as saying.
"His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency." [...]
Past recipients of honorary degrees from ASU include major donors, a movie director, a poet, a supermarket magnate, and the former head of the Navajo Nation who was impeached in disgrace.
ASU is being widely ridiculed for the snub. "Isn't that where you get a degree in lawn mowing?" an MSNBC commentator said.
A local newspaper published an editorial begging the university to reconsider. "It's an odd gap that besmirches the image of an excellent institution," the East Valley Tribune said.
"Obama almost certainly won't speak at another ASU graduation, and no one knows if another president ever will either. The university should reconsider this arbitrary decision and honor Obama in May."
Obama will be receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame when he delivers their commencement address on May 17.
"Perhaps Notre Dame has a better understanding of what Obama already has accomplished simply by reaching our nation's pinnacle of political power and public service," the Tribune said.
UPDATE: Politico: "Past recipients of ASU honorary degrees included an aloe-vera magnate, the director of "Victor Victoria," a Chinese official, a Canadian politician, and lots of donors and fundraisers."
UPDATE 2: Still more previous recipients:
* Alfredo Gutierrez: A long time Arizona legislator, was given an honorary doctorate in 2000.
* Kim Campbell: Canada’s 19th prime minister, received an honorary degree in 2005.
* Lord John Browne of Madingle ... Chief Executive of BP, received an honorary degree in 2005.
* Rex G. Maughan: The founder, president, and CEO of Forever Living Products and Terry Labs, was honored in 2002.
Arizona State University has snubbed President Barack Obama by declining to give him an honorary degree when he addresses students at a graduation ceremony there next month, it was reported Friday.
In a break with tradition that has sparked howls of protest, the college has said it will not honor Obama on the grounds that America's first black president has an insufficient "body of work."
US universities invariably bestow honorary degrees upon speakers invited to give commencement addresses for graduates.
However an ASU spokeswoman was quoted in several reports as saying Obama had done nothing to deserve the honor, despite being elected the first African-American president and publishing two best-selling books.
"It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time," ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler was quoted as saying.
"His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency." [...]
Past recipients of honorary degrees from ASU include major donors, a movie director, a poet, a supermarket magnate, and the former head of the Navajo Nation who was impeached in disgrace.
ASU is being widely ridiculed for the snub. "Isn't that where you get a degree in lawn mowing?" an MSNBC commentator said.
A local newspaper published an editorial begging the university to reconsider. "It's an odd gap that besmirches the image of an excellent institution," the East Valley Tribune said.
"Obama almost certainly won't speak at another ASU graduation, and no one knows if another president ever will either. The university should reconsider this arbitrary decision and honor Obama in May."
Obama will be receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame when he delivers their commencement address on May 17.
"Perhaps Notre Dame has a better understanding of what Obama already has accomplished simply by reaching our nation's pinnacle of political power and public service," the Tribune said.
UPDATE: Politico: "Past recipients of ASU honorary degrees included an aloe-vera magnate, the director of "Victor Victoria," a Chinese official, a Canadian politician, and lots of donors and fundraisers."
UPDATE 2: Still more previous recipients:
* Alfredo Gutierrez: A long time Arizona legislator, was given an honorary doctorate in 2000.
* Kim Campbell: Canada’s 19th prime minister, received an honorary degree in 2005.
* Lord John Browne of Madingle ... Chief Executive of BP, received an honorary degree in 2005.
* Rex G. Maughan: The founder, president, and CEO of Forever Living Products and Terry Labs, was honored in 2002.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Is it possible to be a Catholic and a Democrat?
One priest says no and a parishioner walks.
Maybe non-Catholic religious leaders in Asia, Latin America and Africa need to start spreading the word about the lengths to which the Catholic Church is going to damage the United States' first black president.
Maybe non-Catholic religious leaders in Asia, Latin America and Africa need to start spreading the word about the lengths to which the Catholic Church is going to damage the United States' first black president.
Fascinating
Calling Obama a socialist so many times seems to have had an unexpected result: Americans under 30 are beginning to think that if their President is a socialist, maybe that isn't such a bad thing.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Michael Eric Dyson
I'm watching him speak at the State of the Black Union. Has he ever said something intelligent in front of a TV camera?
Texas GOP to Asians: Change your names!
Remarkble.
A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”
The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.
The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
Ko told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver’s license on school registrations.
Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.
Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”
The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.
The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
Ko told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver’s license on school registrations.
Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.
Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
The President and the troops
Via Americablog. They are happy to greet the Commander-in-Chief. And at least one of them is really, really happy. Video here.
Get your Levi Johnston here
Part 1.
Part 2.
In extremely related news, Eminem has a new song out. Music video here. It will make Nailin' Paylin fans particularly happy.
Part 2.
In extremely related news, Eminem has a new song out. Music video here. It will make Nailin' Paylin fans particularly happy.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Finally, a place we can ship evangelicals to!
No, not Liberia, that already happened. I'm thinking Sadr City, Iraq.
We are in a depression and a war
So it's good to know that the U.S. Senate is focusing on what's important: stopping nerds from viewing online porn.
Oh oh
Mormons didn't believe black people could get into heaven until just a few years ago, when their president received a revelation saying otherwise.
A presidential revelation, however, wouldn't have solved this:
One edition of the Brigham Young University student newspaper has been pulled from newsstands because of a typo in a caption that referred to Mormon leaders as apostates instead of apostles.
An apostate is someone who has abandoned religious faith.
A photo in Monday's Daily Universe showed members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the university.
The caption called the group the ''Quorum of the Twelve Apostates.''
University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins says it was an honest mistake that happened when an editor was doing a computerized spell check.
Most copies of the press run of 18,000 were picked up. A corrected version was distributed later Monday.
A presidential revelation, however, wouldn't have solved this:
One edition of the Brigham Young University student newspaper has been pulled from newsstands because of a typo in a caption that referred to Mormon leaders as apostates instead of apostles.
An apostate is someone who has abandoned religious faith.
A photo in Monday's Daily Universe showed members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the university.
The caption called the group the ''Quorum of the Twelve Apostates.''
University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins says it was an honest mistake that happened when an editor was doing a computerized spell check.
Most copies of the press run of 18,000 were picked up. A corrected version was distributed later Monday.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Gawker readers
Comment on Levi Johnston's appearance on Tyra:
That sweater vest will look nice under his Walmart- greeter apron. [...]
I thought I was tired of this story but I've always been that person who doesn't get the appeal of a tv show until the second season. More episodes, please. [...]
I too feel like a creepy child predator for thinking he is hot, but oh well.[...]
Wait till Bristol shows up on Maury tomorrow and gets a blood test to prove Levi is NOT the baby daddy![...]
I'm not going to mince words. I love this shit. I love... [...]
What big hands ...... [...]
At least their baby wont have oxycontin and meth face... [...]
Did he get to keep the clothes? [...]
Be nice to Levi, he's adorkable. I like that he wears geeky "i'm a clueless country boy" clothes that make him look even more dorky. he ain't no rocket scientist, but he's hot. [...]
I didn't watch the interview, but I hope Levi told Tyra that his sperm is fierce.
That sweater vest will look nice under his Walmart- greeter apron. [...]
I thought I was tired of this story but I've always been that person who doesn't get the appeal of a tv show until the second season. More episodes, please. [...]
I too feel like a creepy child predator for thinking he is hot, but oh well.[...]
Wait till Bristol shows up on Maury tomorrow and gets a blood test to prove Levi is NOT the baby daddy![...]
I'm not going to mince words. I love this shit. I love... [...]
What big hands ...... [...]
At least their baby wont have oxycontin and meth face... [...]
Did he get to keep the clothes? [...]
Be nice to Levi, he's adorkable. I like that he wears geeky "i'm a clueless country boy" clothes that make him look even more dorky. he ain't no rocket scientist, but he's hot. [...]
I didn't watch the interview, but I hope Levi told Tyra that his sperm is fierce.
Exit only
A look back at Mel Gibson. Between his homophobia, anti-Semitism and love for bizarre Catholic splinter groups, he ought to be Benedict's favorite movie mogul.
MoDo on Barack
A stylist, she also gets style, if rarely substance. But in foreign policy, style often is substance. And that makes for a good column.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
What a president should sound like
Notes on Obama's meeting with the bankers.
The bankers struggled to make themselves clear to the president of the United States.
Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations for paying high salaries to their employees — and, by extension, to themselves.
“These are complicated companies,” one CEO said. Offered another: “We’re competing for talent on an international market.”
But President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.”
“My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” [...]
There were signs from the outset that this was a business event, not a social gathering. At each place around the table sat a single glass of water. No ice. For those who finished their glass, no refills were offered. There was no group photograph taken of the CEOs with the president, which typically happens at ceremonial White House gatherings but not at serious strategy sessions.
“The only way they could have sent a more Spartan message is if they had served bread along with the water,” says a person who attended the meeting. “The signal from Obama’s body language and demeanor was, ‘I’m the president, and you’re not.’”
According to the accounts of sources inside the room, President Obama told the CEOs exactly what he expects from them, and pushed back forcefully when they attempted to defend Wall Street’s legendarily high-paying ways. [...]
It had been a landmark day in the history of American capitalism. Unbeknownst to the financial executives, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner was also on Pennsylvania Avenue that day, meeting with Obama’s auto bailout task force. Although the finance CEOs got a meeting with the president, Wagoner saw only Obama’s senior advisor Steven Rattner at the Treasury Department. During the meeting, Rattner demanded Wagoner’s resignation.
It had been a tough day for CEOs in the nation’s capital.
The bankers struggled to make themselves clear to the president of the United States.
Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations for paying high salaries to their employees — and, by extension, to themselves.
“These are complicated companies,” one CEO said. Offered another: “We’re competing for talent on an international market.”
But President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.”
“My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.” [...]
There were signs from the outset that this was a business event, not a social gathering. At each place around the table sat a single glass of water. No ice. For those who finished their glass, no refills were offered. There was no group photograph taken of the CEOs with the president, which typically happens at ceremonial White House gatherings but not at serious strategy sessions.
“The only way they could have sent a more Spartan message is if they had served bread along with the water,” says a person who attended the meeting. “The signal from Obama’s body language and demeanor was, ‘I’m the president, and you’re not.’”
According to the accounts of sources inside the room, President Obama told the CEOs exactly what he expects from them, and pushed back forcefully when they attempted to defend Wall Street’s legendarily high-paying ways. [...]
It had been a landmark day in the history of American capitalism. Unbeknownst to the financial executives, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner was also on Pennsylvania Avenue that day, meeting with Obama’s auto bailout task force. Although the finance CEOs got a meeting with the president, Wagoner saw only Obama’s senior advisor Steven Rattner at the Treasury Department. During the meeting, Rattner demanded Wagoner’s resignation.
It had been a tough day for CEOs in the nation’s capital.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
No ragazze di colore
Racism in the fashion industry.
Now they clamor for our African-American First Lady, who one month ago wouldn't have seen anyone who remotely looked like her on their own runways, to wear their clothes because "the kind of worldwide attention Obama and her labels are getting can boost an entire corporate psyche from designer to ground floor. It can boost sales as well." Well, hiring ethnic models could boost their professional psyches - and boost rent payments, as well.
I have never given a dime to any of the designers who actively blocked Black girls from their runways in my working years. I have returned gifts of perfumes and bags from those designers. And I have shared my stories with friends, to let them know exactly what those designers they are spending thousands of dollars on think of women who look like us.
And then comes the list:
As Oprah confirmed, that Tommy Hilfiger myth absolutely was not true - but the following list IS. Here are the designers in 2009 who did not feature a single woman of color or any Black models during Fashion Week in New York:
The author, a former runway model, closes:
So full rant aside...there are many people who will read this and rail against the fashion industry in general or think it is the sour grapes of a former model or deride all of the attention paid to Mrs. Obama's wardrobe in the first place. To that, I must reply - I understand. I do! But if you think the extraordinary attention paid to the looks, grace and style of our country's first African-American First Lady truly will not have enormous societal and international repercussions, and for generations to come, you are incorrect.
It mattered to Oprah when the Supremes showed up on Ed Sullivan. It mattered to me when Beverly Johnson showed up on the cover of Vogue. It mattered to the girls in my teen programs when they saw my insanely airbrushed face on a city bus. And it matters to people all over the world - not just young Black girls, but everyone who ever will interact with a Black woman - that Mrs. Obama has become the leading icon of womanhood that our country now exports. It matters. And it may actually change these darn runways and magazines at last, after decades of resistance, so that all of our kids will see a more diverse image of beauty, not just for their own self-esteem, but in the face of a woman they may one day hire, work with, work for, befriend or love.
Now they clamor for our African-American First Lady, who one month ago wouldn't have seen anyone who remotely looked like her on their own runways, to wear their clothes because "the kind of worldwide attention Obama and her labels are getting can boost an entire corporate psyche from designer to ground floor. It can boost sales as well." Well, hiring ethnic models could boost their professional psyches - and boost rent payments, as well.
I have never given a dime to any of the designers who actively blocked Black girls from their runways in my working years. I have returned gifts of perfumes and bags from those designers. And I have shared my stories with friends, to let them know exactly what those designers they are spending thousands of dollars on think of women who look like us.
And then comes the list:
As Oprah confirmed, that Tommy Hilfiger myth absolutely was not true - but the following list IS. Here are the designers in 2009 who did not feature a single woman of color or any Black models during Fashion Week in New York:
The author, a former runway model, closes:
So full rant aside...there are many people who will read this and rail against the fashion industry in general or think it is the sour grapes of a former model or deride all of the attention paid to Mrs. Obama's wardrobe in the first place. To that, I must reply - I understand. I do! But if you think the extraordinary attention paid to the looks, grace and style of our country's first African-American First Lady truly will not have enormous societal and international repercussions, and for generations to come, you are incorrect.
It mattered to Oprah when the Supremes showed up on Ed Sullivan. It mattered to me when Beverly Johnson showed up on the cover of Vogue. It mattered to the girls in my teen programs when they saw my insanely airbrushed face on a city bus. And it matters to people all over the world - not just young Black girls, but everyone who ever will interact with a Black woman - that Mrs. Obama has become the leading icon of womanhood that our country now exports. It matters. And it may actually change these darn runways and magazines at last, after decades of resistance, so that all of our kids will see a more diverse image of beauty, not just for their own self-esteem, but in the face of a woman they may one day hire, work with, work for, befriend or love.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Sarah Palin's lucky day?
Yes, it would be luckier if she could call Levi her son-in-law. And who knows, that day may come. For now, however, she can celebrate. The Iowa Supreme Court's decision today puts gay marriage front and center in the 2012 campaign in Iowa.
While that may seem funny, realize this: the 2012 election will be a referendum on President Obama. If the economy does poorly in the first two quarters, a Republican will be elected, barring the emergence of a third party. Today's decision will push Republican contenders farther to the right on gay marriage in order to carry Iowa.
That's bad news for everyone. And it's even worse if we can't hold the Presidency.
While that may seem funny, realize this: the 2012 election will be a referendum on President Obama. If the economy does poorly in the first two quarters, a Republican will be elected, barring the emergence of a third party. Today's decision will push Republican contenders farther to the right on gay marriage in order to carry Iowa.
That's bad news for everyone. And it's even worse if we can't hold the Presidency.
A man of taste
Italians have propelled this video to nearly half a million YouTube views. Obama showed great taste in giving Italy's Murdoch his due.
And, so, it turns out, did Queen Elizabeth.
And, so, it turns out, did Queen Elizabeth.
She wasn't the candidate of white Americans last night!
But it was the wrong number.
Journalists who dialed in to a White House conference call Thursday hoping for a media-friendly reception got a far friendlier response than they were counting on.
Instead of hearing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones on the other end laying out foreign policy and security threats, reporters were greeted by a recording on a phone sex line.
"Do you have any hidden desires? If you feel like getting nasty, then you came to the right place," said a suggestive-sounding woman.
The White House says an aide merely mistyped the 800-dial in number — a mistake not likely to happen again.
Journalists who dialed in to a White House conference call Thursday hoping for a media-friendly reception got a far friendlier response than they were counting on.
Instead of hearing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones on the other end laying out foreign policy and security threats, reporters were greeted by a recording on a phone sex line.
"Do you have any hidden desires? If you feel like getting nasty, then you came to the right place," said a suggestive-sounding woman.
The White House says an aide merely mistyped the 800-dial in number — a mistake not likely to happen again.
Prince Philip
A few quotes:
During a state visit to China in 1986, he famously told a group of British students: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed".
And speaking to a driving instructor in Oban, Scotland, he asked: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?".
A selection from the BBC's long list:
Still throwing spears? (Question put to an Australian Aborigine during a visit in March 2002)
"Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed." (during the 1981 recession)
"It looks as if it was put in by an Indian." (in 1999, referring to an old-fashioned fuse box in a factory near Edinburgh)
"Aren't most of you descended from pirates?" (in 1994, to an islander in the Cayman Islands)
"You managed not to get eaten, then?" (in 1998, to a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea)
"If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." (at a 1986 World Wildlife Fund meeting)
During a state visit to China in 1986, he famously told a group of British students: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed".
And speaking to a driving instructor in Oban, Scotland, he asked: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?".
A selection from the BBC's long list:
Still throwing spears? (Question put to an Australian Aborigine during a visit in March 2002)
"Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed." (during the 1981 recession)
"It looks as if it was put in by an Indian." (in 1999, referring to an old-fashioned fuse box in a factory near Edinburgh)
"Aren't most of you descended from pirates?" (in 1994, to an islander in the Cayman Islands)
"You managed not to get eaten, then?" (in 1998, to a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea)
"If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." (at a 1986 World Wildlife Fund meeting)
Not that I care
But today's Daily Mail includes this take on Liz and Michelle.
Most of Michael Thornton's piece is royalist flattery. But this part is right on:
Yet equally, [QE II] must have a shrewd appreciation of the historical and psychological significance of Obama's rise.
She knows that he represents the frustrated hopes and dreams of millions hitherto treated as an oppressed minority. Her ancestor George III, the last British ruler of the American colonies, presided over a society based on slavery and racial discrimination.
Elizabeth will have had no illusions about the importance and sensitivity of this week's meeting with the first African-American President of the United States.
She knew that the eyes of millions worldwide were upon her, and that any false move could have been disastrously misconstrued.
The hug, it turns out, is proof that Prince Charles must never come to power.
She then weathered the highly controversial wedding of Charles and Camilla in a Windsor register office - an event still regarded as illegal by many constitutional historians - though she had the wisdom, as a sovereign, to put public opinion first and to absent herself from the actual ceremony.
Of course, there are those who find the Queen dull, staid and unimaginative, but she is a complex character, and it is necessary to look beyond the rigid hairstyle, and the often unfashionable clothes and hats.
It is her faultless grasp of what is expedient that marks her as a great constitutional monarch.
As she advances in years - she will be 83 this month - there are those jockeying for position among the cronyist clique of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall who continue to express the opinion that the Queen should abdicate.
But her impeccable handling this week of the inaugural visit to Britain of America's first black President and his wife demonstrates why this must never happen.
Her instinctive decision to break with stuffy royal protocol and to put her arm around Mrs Obama was somehow just right for this occasion.
Above all, it reminds us that the Queen is a safe pair of hands in what is possibly the world's most difficult job.
She must give no thought to making way for her infinitely less wise and far from well-advised son and heir.
Most of Michael Thornton's piece is royalist flattery. But this part is right on:
Yet equally, [QE II] must have a shrewd appreciation of the historical and psychological significance of Obama's rise.
She knows that he represents the frustrated hopes and dreams of millions hitherto treated as an oppressed minority. Her ancestor George III, the last British ruler of the American colonies, presided over a society based on slavery and racial discrimination.
Elizabeth will have had no illusions about the importance and sensitivity of this week's meeting with the first African-American President of the United States.
She knew that the eyes of millions worldwide were upon her, and that any false move could have been disastrously misconstrued.
The hug, it turns out, is proof that Prince Charles must never come to power.
She then weathered the highly controversial wedding of Charles and Camilla in a Windsor register office - an event still regarded as illegal by many constitutional historians - though she had the wisdom, as a sovereign, to put public opinion first and to absent herself from the actual ceremony.
Of course, there are those who find the Queen dull, staid and unimaginative, but she is a complex character, and it is necessary to look beyond the rigid hairstyle, and the often unfashionable clothes and hats.
It is her faultless grasp of what is expedient that marks her as a great constitutional monarch.
As she advances in years - she will be 83 this month - there are those jockeying for position among the cronyist clique of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall who continue to express the opinion that the Queen should abdicate.
But her impeccable handling this week of the inaugural visit to Britain of America's first black President and his wife demonstrates why this must never happen.
Her instinctive decision to break with stuffy royal protocol and to put her arm around Mrs Obama was somehow just right for this occasion.
Above all, it reminds us that the Queen is a safe pair of hands in what is possibly the world's most difficult job.
She must give no thought to making way for her infinitely less wise and far from well-advised son and heir.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Someone has to get the video of this
I just watched it on MSNBC. It was very moving:
There were squeals, high-fives and tears. Michelle Obama electrified a North London school in a surprise visit during which she told children to remember that “being smart is cooler than anything in the world”.
America’s First Lady appeared at times overwhelmed by the reaction to her visit to the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington.
In remarks to 100 teenage girls who had no idea that she was coming, Mrs Obama said that education, rather than their background, counted the most in life.
“If you want to know the reason why I am standing here, it’s because of education,” she told them.
“I never cut class. I loved getting As, I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world. You, too, with these values, can control your own destiny. You, too, can pave the way.” She urged them to believe in their dreams.
“For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady. I was not raised with wealth or resources or any social standing to speak of. I was raised on the South Side of Chicago — that’s the real part of Chicago.”
Afterwards, she let slip that “I do hugs” and was immediately mobbed by dozens of girls as she leant over the stage to greet as many as possible. Throughout the visit the girls yelled: “We love you”.
UPDATE: Here's some of the video, in two parts.
More:
The school’s focus is teaching English as a primary language to underprivileged students in an impoverished area of London. It is named for the first female doctor in the United Kingdom and its buildings are named after famous women, including a Frida Kahlo arts building and an Emily Bronte building for English studies.
"This school is incredible and you should be very proud,” the first lady said.
As she has done with school students in Washington D.C., the first lady talked about her own experience growing up in a working-class Chicago neighborhood and the influence her family had on her upbringing.
"I am an example of what's possible when girls are loved and nurtured by the women around them,” she said.
UPDATE #2: A full report on tonight's NBC Nightly News.
There were squeals, high-fives and tears. Michelle Obama electrified a North London school in a surprise visit during which she told children to remember that “being smart is cooler than anything in the world”.
America’s First Lady appeared at times overwhelmed by the reaction to her visit to the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington.
In remarks to 100 teenage girls who had no idea that she was coming, Mrs Obama said that education, rather than their background, counted the most in life.
“If you want to know the reason why I am standing here, it’s because of education,” she told them.
“I never cut class. I loved getting As, I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world. You, too, with these values, can control your own destiny. You, too, can pave the way.” She urged them to believe in their dreams.
“For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady. I was not raised with wealth or resources or any social standing to speak of. I was raised on the South Side of Chicago — that’s the real part of Chicago.”
Afterwards, she let slip that “I do hugs” and was immediately mobbed by dozens of girls as she leant over the stage to greet as many as possible. Throughout the visit the girls yelled: “We love you”.
UPDATE: Here's some of the video, in two parts.
More:
The school’s focus is teaching English as a primary language to underprivileged students in an impoverished area of London. It is named for the first female doctor in the United Kingdom and its buildings are named after famous women, including a Frida Kahlo arts building and an Emily Bronte building for English studies.
"This school is incredible and you should be very proud,” the first lady said.
As she has done with school students in Washington D.C., the first lady talked about her own experience growing up in a working-class Chicago neighborhood and the influence her family had on her upbringing.
"I am an example of what's possible when girls are loved and nurtured by the women around them,” she said.
UPDATE #2: A full report on tonight's NBC Nightly News.
Lula isn't wrong
The white elites that have controlled Brazil (and the rest of Latin America) for so long were threatened by him to begin with. Now comes this:
The economic crisis, [Lula] said, was caused by “the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don’t know anything.”
Brazilan political analysts are trying to sell this as a mistake. But it isn't. It is, rather, an attempt to sell a different narrative: his party did everything right only to have the same old elites and their pureblooded Brazilian progeny ruin it. By going on the offensive early, he also diverts the blame from his own PT to opposing parties. Whose leaders happen to look pretty pale.
Smart play.
The economic crisis, [Lula] said, was caused by “the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before seemed to know everything, and now have shown they don’t know anything.”
Brazilan political analysts are trying to sell this as a mistake. But it isn't. It is, rather, an attempt to sell a different narrative: his party did everything right only to have the same old elites and their pureblooded Brazilian progeny ruin it. By going on the offensive early, he also diverts the blame from his own PT to opposing parties. Whose leaders happen to look pretty pale.
Smart play.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Sad
If he'd stolen a billion bottles' worth of cash instead he might have gotten a bailout.
Police say a 19-year-old who tried to rob a liquor store sat down and cried after 76-year-old owner locked him in the store. The man was accused of trying to rob Sykes Liquor Store in Trenton Monday night. Police said the owner, who was behind the counter, triggered the lock after the man grabbed a bottle of Hennessy cognac and bolted for the door.
The man then allegedly pulled out a handgun and demanded to be released. But the owner said he saw that the gun was a fake, refused to unlock the door and called police.
Police said the suspect threw away the gun, slumped to the floor and was crying when officers arrived to arrest him.
Also telling: the headline. "Man cries after attempt to rob liquor store fails."
Police say a 19-year-old who tried to rob a liquor store sat down and cried after 76-year-old owner locked him in the store. The man was accused of trying to rob Sykes Liquor Store in Trenton Monday night. Police said the owner, who was behind the counter, triggered the lock after the man grabbed a bottle of Hennessy cognac and bolted for the door.
The man then allegedly pulled out a handgun and demanded to be released. But the owner said he saw that the gun was a fake, refused to unlock the door and called police.
Police said the suspect threw away the gun, slumped to the floor and was crying when officers arrived to arrest him.
Also telling: the headline. "Man cries after attempt to rob liquor store fails."
Lucky in our enemies
How stupid are these people? The Republican budget (the one with details, not just pictures),
The goal is to phase out Medicare over time by providing new seniors with the same health insurance options available under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The FEHBP provides relatively high quality care, and most working-aged people would probably prefer its options over the ones provided by their employers. But Medicare provides similar quality of care while containing the costs of administration, and those costs are much higher at private insurance companies.
The goal is to phase out Medicare over time by providing new seniors with the same health insurance options available under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The FEHBP provides relatively high quality care, and most working-aged people would probably prefer its options over the ones provided by their employers. But Medicare provides similar quality of care while containing the costs of administration, and those costs are much higher at private insurance companies.
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