March 6, 2008 archive

As reported by Think Progress, Bush on climate change:

Now, look, I understand stereotypes are hard to defeat. People get an image planted in their head, and sometimes it causes them not to listen to the facts. But America is in the lead when it comes to energy independence; we’re in the lead when it comes to new technologies; we’re in the lead when it comes to global climate change – and we’ll stay that way.

(h/t Plutonium Page)

A brief review…

A strong start

Just two months into his first term, CBS News reported:

The White House said Wednesday that President Bush would not implement the climate treaty negotiated in Kyoto, Japan, but would seek an alternative that would “include the world” in the effort to reduce pollution.

That April, Business Week reminded that:

In mid-March, George W. Bush made a stunning reversal of a campaign pledge to limit emissions of carbon dioxide, a culprit in global warming–and immediately found himself on the hot seat. Predictably, environmental groups are mobilizing to flood the White House with letters demanding that Bush stick to his promise. Bush may pay little attention to them, but in the weeks to come he will face pressure from others who will be much tougher to ignore.

It will come from European leaders, CEOs who favor action on global warming, and members of his own party in Congress.

But, of course, he did ignore them. And his alternative “strategy” was play-acting. The honor system. As New Scientist reported, in February 2002:

George W Bush unveiled the details of his alternative strategy for halting global warming in an address to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday.

He made no promises to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, but instead set a national target of reducing by 18 per cent the amount of greenhouse gases the country produces for every unit of GDP.

Targets without promises. Toothless. Worthless. And he continued to deny the very existence of human-caused global warming. From CBS News, in June 2003:  

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Letter from the Birmingham Jail

Today I want to talk about a cause we all should support: Justice for the workers at Smithfield.  Workers there have been trying to organize a union against a company that appears to be willing to use any and all anti union tactics.  

Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel, NC is the world’s largest pork plant. For the past decade workers in the plant have been working to bring in a union to improve working conditions. Here are a few of their stories.

Relax.

I need some information first.

Just the basic facts:

Thursday’s Headlines: Democrats fear an ugly end to race: Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore: UK fears Iran still working on nuclear weapon: Sanctions causing Gaza to implode, say rights groups: A life or death decision: Public sector strike brings chaos to Germany: Egyptian police hold leading Islamists in crackdown: A Mexican rebel in Ecuador?

National Dragnet Is a Click Away

Authorities to Gain Fast and Expansive Access to Records

Several thousand law enforcement agencies are creating the foundation of a domestic intelligence system through computer networks that analyze vast amounts of police information to fight crime and root out terror plots.

As federal authorities struggled to meet information-sharing mandates after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police agencies from Alaska and California to the Washington region poured millions of criminal and investigative records into shared digital repositories called data warehouses, giving investigators and analysts new power to discern links among people, patterns of behavior and other hidden clues.

Well, the Charlotte Allen piece does not quite die.  Laura Rozen got a link on Atrios’ Wankers of the Day–

The Post Hides Behind Allen’s Knickers

In all honesty, I’m torn. Partly I’m tired of this jihad, and was tired of it two days ago. Partly, I feel a smidgen of compassion for Pomfret not knowing what to do, who did express regrets if the piece offended (in an email), and for whom I never had anything but respect until I deduced he was responsible for the Allen piece Sunday. But mostly, I am still fuming that the Post as an institution is now hiding behind Charlotte Allen’s knickers, and stubbornly continues to refuse to answer tremendous reader demand (more than a thousand comments, several hundred blog posts) for an explanation and an apology for running the piece. It’s cowardly. It makes their and my profession look bad. It’s unnecessary.

Instead, comically, truly, they’re hauling out Charlotte Allen (who can be faulted for writing the tripe — but not for publishing it!) to take the first bullets during a chat today which I honestly don’t see why anyone should dignify, except possibly to interrogate her about how the interactions with the Post went down exactly as her essay thesis got clarified.

And consider that these fully moderated comments were the only ones Charlotte deigned to answer (read the moderation policy)-

Editor’s Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.

Alex Leo at HuffPo says-

Charlotte Allen Is a Bigot

So I’m watching the Washington Post live chat with Charlotte Allen unfurl and the “writer” is defending what is arguably the worst OpEd piece published in this century. I am not here to dissect the details or ramifications.

… they lost me because they gave a bigot a platform, defended her, tried to make it seem like she was kidding (she’s not, by the way and makes that clear in this forum), and then gave her another THREE HOURS on their website to purport her hatred and inanity. They do not realize that if she had said these things about African Americans or Hispanics or any other group, they would never have published it.

Run Away! Run Away!

(Not really much else the bank could do at this point):

Julius Baer Bank and Trust dropped its case against Wikileaks today, days after a San Francisco judge reversed an injunction against the iconoclastic document-leaking site. Judge Jeffrey White had ordered Wikileaks shut down in response to arguments that it had published stolen bank documents that contained sensitive proprietary information. But Wikileaks argued that the documents exposed fraud, and the injunction prompted a firestorm in the press over concerns that White had abridged constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and freedom of the press. “There are serious questions of prior restraint, possible violations of the First Amendment,” he said on Friday before reversing the order.

The bank took a voluntary dismissal (PDF), which technically means it could refile the suit if it wanted to.  

I wouldn’t hold my breath for that, though. After the pummeling they took both legally and publicitywise, Julius Baer is more than happy to get as far away from this colossal blunder of a law suit as it can.

To quote myself (ah, what the hell):

The damage to the bank for its ill considered attempt to use the Federal courts as a tool for censorship is already done.  Far from removing the incriminating documents from the public eye, Julius Baer’s blunder now means these documents are the main feature of a cause celeb that has generated the interest of millions of people around the globe, and many who would have otherwise never had known the documents existed are now fully aware of their incriminating contents.

What’s more, the boomerang effect of the bank’s lawsuit will make other would be censors think twice about trying to use the courts to silence opposition – while the bad publicity Dynadot received for cravenly caving to the bank’s intimidation should make other ISPs understand that they need to stand up against corporate bullies, and not sell out their customers at the first whiff of a lawsuit.

Nice to see arrogant corporate bullies actually get their comeuppance for once.

Ain’t it?

This announcement was made on my daughters’ first Leap Year birthday, she is four years old but we were very excited to celebrate her first ‘real’ birthday this year with all of her preschool friends.  My daughter is not vaccinated.  Neither is my son.  Plenty of you here at Docudharma know this, from another diary on the subject I wrote not too long ago.

From Medical News Today

It was announced that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program ruled in favor of a child who regressed into autism as a result of vaccinations, several of which contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal.

This is indeed a major decision…

The National Autism Association (NAA) sees the ruling as confirmation of what so many parents have been saying for years. “This case echoes the stories of thousands of children across the country. With almost 5,000 similar cases pending in vaccine court, we are confident that this is just the first of many that will confirm what we have believed for so long, vaccines can and do cause children to regress into autism,” says Wendy Fournier, parent and president of NAA. “We call on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to acknowledge that the current vaccine schedule is not safe for every child and as with the administration of any medicine, individual risks and susceptibilities must be considered for each patient.”