May 2009 archive

With No Nominee’s

Name Forwarded

The Republicans Are

Already Complaining    

In Pakistan, U.S. Courts Leader of Opposition



By HELENE COOPER and MARK MAZZETTI

Published: May 1, 2009

WASHINGTON – As American confidence in the Pakistani government wanes, the Obama administration is reaching out more directly than before to Nawaz Sharif, the chief rival of Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, administration officials said Friday.

American officials have long held Mr. Sharif at arm’s length because of his close ties to Islamists in Pakistan, but some Obama administration officials now say those ties could be useful in helping Mr. Zardari’s government to confront the stiffening challenge by Taliban insurgents.

The move reflects the heightened concern in the Obama administration about the survivability of the Zardari government.

‘Abu Ghraib US prison guards were scapegoats for Bush’ lawyers claim

From The Times

May 2, 2009

Tim Reid in Washington

Prison guards jailed for abusing inmates at the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq are planning to appeal against their convictions on the ground that recently released CIA torture memos prove that they were scapegoats for the Bush Administration.

The photographs of prisoner abuse at the Baghdad jail in 2004 sparked worldwide outrage but the previous administration, from President Bush down, blamed the incident on a few low-ranking “bad apples” who were acting on their own.

The decision by President Obama to release the memos showed that the harsh interrogation tactics were approved and authorised at the highest levels of the White House.

USA

Obama calls ’empathy’ key to Supreme Court pick

Interest groups are already lobbying for a woman, minority or solid liberal to succeed Justice David Souter. Obama says he puts empathy, intelligence and independence before ideology.

By Janet Hook and Christi Parsons

May 2, 2009

Reporting from Washington — A debate among Democrats over who should replace Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court began emerging Friday between those eager to return the court to its liberal era of 40 years ago and those who are wary of tacking too far to the left.

But President Obama, who will choose the nominee, focused not on volatile ideological questions but on personal character, saying he wanted someone with “empathy” for “people’s hopes and struggles.”

Making a surprise appearance in the White House press briefing room, Obama told reporters that he had just talked with Souter by phone about his retirement, which is to take effect at the end of this court term, probably in June. It was the first official confirmation of the justice’s departure.

Obama said that in considering a successor for Souter, he was looking for a “sharp and independent mind” and a sense of compassion.

B-52’s

TUFF STUFF

Forty-year-old Orix Buffaloes slugger Tuffy Rhodes hit his 444th home run in Japanese baseball, tying him for 12th place on the NPB career list with former Yomiuri Giants star Shigeo Nagashima.

Excommunicated Japanese sumo wrestler Wakakirin admitted during his drug trial that he was a regular pot smoker, even lighting up at his stable at times. “Yo dude, pass the chanko nabe!”

A junior high soccer coach in Niigata was given a year-long suspension by the Japan Football Association for ordering his team to throw a futsal match. His boys scored six own-goals in a 7-0 loss At a time when many Japanese are decrying the lack of solid local sumo wrestlers, Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho told reporters that he’d like to see even more foreign wrestlers in the raised ring.

Six people were hurt when a 27-meter-tall crane collapsed at a Tokyo worksite, cutting off traffic on a busy road in Kojimachi.

A survey taken during WWII to determine whether Korean students were “ideologically sound” was discovered by a teacher at an Osaka high school.

A junior high social studies textbook was deemed to have 516 “flaws” in it, the education ministry reported.

 by Al Bratton

While Bible-Thumping Creationists continue to teach that God’s Intelligent Design is responsible for the origin of Earth and Man, science continues to trump their efforts.

“Ten Amino Acids Thermodynamically Favored”

from Talk Reason.org

In the famous Miller-Urey experiment, amino acids, the “building blocks of proteins,” can be relatively easily produced by simple, natural processes. Ten of the 20 life building amino acids were created in conditions similar to the atmosphere of a young planet Earth.

Bottom line:

“…if these 10 amino acids were the basis of life on Earth, and they form so favorably, then there’s a very good chance that life on other planets may have originally used the same 10 amino acids.”

[…]

“…the fact remains that life here on Earth might have a lot in common with life elsewhere….”

learnmore

(Orange version of this diary.)

The immigrant labor movement in this country has come full circle. The immigrants are from different countries and the jobs have changed some but the issues are the same as they ever were.

On a sunny April day, I paid a visit to my favorite bakery in San Franciso, the Arizmendi Bakery. Amongst the the beautiful baguettes and the sumptuous scones, I saw a sign stating that the bakery would be closed on May 1 to celebrate Labor Day – the same day it is celebrated in Europe and many other places.

Since Arizmendi Bakery is a worker owned cooperative it didn’t surprise me that they would chose the May 1 observation. (I always figured the US had a different date for cold-war reasons). It turns out there’s an important reason why the world celebrates Labor Day is on May 1:

It’s to commemorate a hard fought, yet forgotten victory for American and immigrant workers that took place right here in the United States: the May 1, 1886 Haymarket Protest in Chicago.

So why doesn’t the US celebrate this?

That is a saying my mom used to use a lot.  Or maybe she didn’t, and it was my brother who said my mom said it.  Being the youngest of six children, well I don’t always have the facts straight.

But I could picture her saying it, as she had a tough life, yet always appreciated anything to be optimistic about.  Granted, she wasn’t a credulous person, so we couldn’t just make stuff up and lift her spirits.  But she was always ready to acknowledge a sincere effort.

I was fortunate to have her live long enough for me to be a comfort to her — when I was in my 30s.  For most of my childhood and adolescence, we were at loggerheads and it was a frustrating time for both of us.  But eventually I broke free of her authority (a story in itself) and when I returned on my own terms, we had so much to say to each other.

She loved it when I’d use stories from what we called “the Blue Book,” Jewish Wit and Wisdom, edited by Nathan Ausubel.  She loved stories, and there were some very wise stories in that book.  I could actually feel the light going on in her head when I’d apply one of the parables in the book to whatever situation she was talking about.  Made me feel good.

My mom was not in good physical health by that time, and yet she had a lightness of spirit in her later years that was never evident during the difficult years when she was struggling to raise six children with a problematic husband and no money.  (Not to diss my father, because he was quite an interesting character, but this story’s about mom.)

She told me once her biggest fear was not of suffering misfortune, but becoming bitter over it.  I thought that was very wise of her and was glad to see she won that struggle.  Her ability to find the light in the darkness increased even as her body wore out.

Anyway, her birthday would have been Sunday, May 3.  She would have been 93 (born in 1916).  She died in 1992, doesn’t seem that long ago, but time is funny that way.

Happy Friday to all.  It’s raining here in the Big Apple and I’m still taking the subway … so there, Joe Biden!

1. On the 6th anniversary day of “Mission Accomplished”, Three U.S. Troops Are Killed in Iraq reports the NY Times. “Two American Marines and a sailor were killed during a military operation in Anbar, the vast province west of Baghdad… The three Americans died on Thursday ‘while conducting combat operations against enemy forces,'” according to a statement by the U.S. military command. 18 American troops were killed in Iraq in April, the deadliest month in Iraq since September.”

   Meanwhile, Greg Mitchell at Editor & Publisher has “A 6th Anniversary Look Back at Media Coverage of ‘Mission Accomplished’“. “Exactly six years ago, President Bush, dressed in a flight suit, landed on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln and declared an end to major military operations in Iraq — with the now-infamous ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner arrayed behind him in the war’s greatest photo op. Chris Matthews on MSNBC called Bush a ‘hero’ and boomed, ‘He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics.’ … Everyone agreed the Democrats and antiwar critics were now on the run.”

2. On one hand, the Washington Post reports U.S. colleges bask in surge of interest among Chinese. “It’s an admissions officer’s dream: ever-growing stacks of applications from students with outstanding test scores, terrific grades and rigorous academic preparation. That’s the pleasant prospect faced by the University of Virginia and some other U.S. colleges, which are receiving a surging number of applications from China… About eight years ago, U-Va. began offering full scholarships to a couple of Chinese students each year.”

   While on the other hand, the NY Times reports Finding financial aid is a hurdle to going to college. “Each afternoon this spring, Brennan Jackson, an A-student who ranks near the top of his high school class, has arrived at his guidance counselor’s office to intercept the latest scholarship applications… Because his father is out of work and his mother works only part time, Brennan has set an ambitious goal for himself: to raise the $25,000 he still needs for his freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, by stitching together a quilt of merit scholarships.”

Four at Four continues with Pakistan and genetic diversity of Africa.