January 27, 2010 archive

Open Thread

Not really, but in another cheap political stunt, he is freezing white house salaries.  Way to pay attention to the big picture, clown shoes.

Federal Poverty Guidelines as defined by total annual income across different family sizes.

The blue symbols show the federal poverty guidelines as defined in 2008.  The red symbols show twice the poverty levels, poverty guidelines X 2.

With each additional person in the household, the poverty level is adjusted upward just $3600.00 per person at the federally defined guideline, and by $7200.00 per person at twice the federally define guideline.

Voters handily approve both tax-hike ballot measures

By David Steves

The Register-Guard

The apparent victories for the campaigns to pass Measures 66 and 67 came after weeks of TV ads promising that the additional tax money would come only from the wealthy individuals and big corporations, but would help Oregonians of lesser means by keeping the schools running and safety-net programs in place for the elderly and frail.

In December 2007, the Washington Post reported on the first CIA agent to openly admit the government used torture. John Kiriakou says that the CIA used waterboarding on Abu Zubaydah, and that it worked.

Recall that it was later reported that Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times.

Kiriakou said:

“It was like flipping a switch,” said Kiriakou, the first former CIA employee directly involved in the questioning of “high-value” al-Qaeda detainees to speak publicly.

In an interview, Kiriakou said he did not witness Abu Zubaida’s waterboarding but was part of the interrogation team that questioned him in a hospital in Pakistan for weeks after his capture in that country in the spring of 2002.

He added:

The waterboarding lasted about 35 seconds before Abu Zubaida broke down, according to Kiriakou, who said he was given a detailed description of the incident by fellow team members. The next day, Abu Zubaida told his captors he would tell them whatever they wanted, Kiriakou said.

“He said that Allah had come to him in his cell and told him to cooperate, because it would make things easier for his brothers,” Kiriakou said.

God wanted him to co-operate so his brothers wouldn’t be tortured as well. Man the CIA is good.

Except

“What I told Brian Ross in late 2007 was wrong on a couple counts,” he writes. “I suggested that Abu Zubaydah had lasted only thirty or thirty-five seconds during his waterboarding before he begged his interrogators to stop; after that, I said he opened up and gave the agency actionable intelligence.”

But never mind, he says now.

“I wasn’t there when the interrogation took place; instead, I relied on what I’d heard and read inside the agency at the time.”

[…]

But after his one-paragraph confession, Kiriakou adds that he didn’t have any first hand knowledge of anything relating to CIA torture routines, and still doesn’t.

So one of the main arguments trotted out to claim that torture works was a lie. This isn’t surprising given all the lies from the previous administration. This guy was all over ABC News and other places “admitting” his story to anyone who’d listen and telling us that torture worked. Waterboarding saved lives.

It was just another campaign to make us believe lies the government wanted us to buy.  

Own a chunk of their very own Propaganda Machine right here in these here United {once} States, must mean those that flock to this cable outlet are a part of them there hidden ‘terrorist cells’ we hear so much about, Oh My!!

Right-wing Saudi dynasty endorses right-wing Fox News dynasty

Putting People back to work, takes more than rhetoric — it takes Action.

It takes Dollars. It takes investing in Main Street — for real.

It takes turning those Unemployment Checks into Paychecks!

It take compassion and guts. Putting People back to work takes HR 4290.

Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) writes in a 12/03/09 op-ed:

“Second, I intend to introduce the New Deal for a New Economy Act (H.R. 4290), legislation that creates a hybrid of Roosevelt’s WPA and an expanded version of the Conservation Corps of the 1970s. This bill will authorize a multiyear grant program administered by the Department of Labor to provide funding for the creation of resource management positions on federal and state lands, public works projects on the state and local level, and public interest work with community-based nonprofit organizations. This legislation would provide a lifeline to the many Americans who find themselves out of work and out of hope… “

http://fullemployment.blogspot…

It’s awkward times for bigots these days. With Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal Prop. 8 trial, it’s clear that the way gay issues are discussed is changing for the better. Homophobia is on trial.

Even the words we are using are different. There’s a well-known gay marriage campaign called “No H8.” No hate. The name itself implies that opposing gay marriage is hateful. This is where we are now in this country. Homophobes are required to define their positions and then defend them through facts, logic and empirical arguments.

This is not working out so well, to say the least.

Finally, when forced to confront their beliefs, witnesses have either dropped out, relied on dated stereotypes not based on facts, or converted mid-cross-examination.

Witness this exchange from a few minutes ago (Please excuse the length of this, it’s needed to explain the questioning:)

Here, “Boise” is Boies. The livebloggers are typing so quickly so forgive their typos. DB is Dr. David Blankenhorn, defense witness.)

Boise. Are you aware of any study that shows that children of gays and lesbians have different worse outcomes than straight?

B: No. May I add?

Boise: It is not okay for you to volunteer any information. You can give speeches when your counsel has you.

Boise: Have you given a lot of thought to DPs?

B: Yes.

Boise: I asked you whether it was your view if DPs contribute to deinstitutionalize marriage? Yes, No. I don’t know.

B: Yes, they could.

Boise: Let’s try to get your view regardless of what you said before.

B: I believe it’s possible they could do so.

Boise: You say it’s possible. Anything is possible. Do you say it’s likely that they do so?

B: I believe

J: Counsel is entitled to an answer to his question. There’s a question and then an answer. That’s the way the process works.

Boise: Do you believe that DPs that are open to opposite sex couples are likely to speed deinstitutionalize of marriage.

B: Yes.

Boise: How about only open to ss?

B: Significantly less likely to do so.

Boise: Opposite sex couples over 62?

B: Significantly less likely.

Boise. You know that ss couples are raising children?

B: Of course!

Boise: Hundreds of thousands?

B: I don’t know.

Boise: Did you attempt to find out how many?

BLB: Yes.

Boise: Approximately how many?

B: I don’t know.

B: I believe that adoption of ss marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and lesbian households and their children.