April 2010 archive

Apr 02 2010

Forensic experts to reexamine WTC rubble for fragments of Constitution.

New York forensic experts will start a major new search Monday through debris from the World Trade Center for remnants of the US Constitution destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack, officials said.

About 844 cubic yards (645 cubic meters) of material recovered from the reconstruction site at Ground Zero will be combed for parchment and Enlightenment values thought to be vaporized when hijacked airliners slammed into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

“That material is going to be sifted to see if there are any remaining legal values,” said Jason Post, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “We’re taking every step we can to recover our centuries-old way of life.”

Experts, including stationers, hand-writing experts, and constitutional scholars, will hand check the material in the 1.4-million-dollar operation, which could go on as long as three months at a closed location at a landfill on Staten Island.

Previous searches through the mountain of rubble from the World Trade Center, which collapsed as a result of the aircraft strikes, have already turned up 1,772 potential pieces of the obliterated document and one perfectly preserved driver’s license from a Saudi hijacker, according to the mayor’s office.

Update: Hands down, the April fools winner.

Apr 02 2010

Gen. Petraeus Has Epiphany

I can’t even make an introduction to this:

“One of our doctrines is: Live your values,” Petraeus says. “And there are two arguments for living your values. One is you have the moral obligation to do it. It is the right thing to do. If you don’t buy that, you have a practical reason to do it, because every time you violate it, you pay for it.” The damage done by Abu Ghraib, for instance, is permanent; he has called it a “nonbiodegradable” event. It undercuts the core objective, the trust and respect of the indigenous population. Petraeus says, “The human terrain is the decisive terrain.”

You think, General?  You think Iraqi’s seeing muslim men hooded, naked, being humiliated, tortured, while U.S. troops photographed it would all go away?

Better question, did you just NOW have this epiphany?

Apr 02 2010

April Fool’s Day Sunset

I got this idea of starting a Sunset Open Thread last night and tonight I was not home for sunset. But I have a few archives around so I looked for April first of last year. I wasn’t home that day either but I still found a little continuity. April 1,2008 was a beautiful sunset.

I’m not going to call this one an Open Thread because when I narrowed this sunset down to just a few photos it took too many to track the changes that evening. But if you can open this photo heavy diary, feel free to post whatever is on your mind.

These are old but never posted anywhere before. My photos go back further than my efforts to add a little sunshine to politics.

Apr 02 2010

Helen Thomas on Feminism, McCarthyism & the White House Press Corps

The third segment of Helen Thomas’ interview talking with Paul Jay of The Real News. In this segment Helen talks about the challenges she faced as a woman journalist in her early days as a member of the White House Press Corps, about the continuing discrimination women still face in political journalism, and about her experiences and reflections on the era of McCarthyism.



Real News Network – April 01, 2010

Transcript here

Parts 1 & 2 of this interview are here, in which Helen talked about Barack Obama’s credibility and political integrity, and about the capitulation of US media to the Bush Administration and foreign policy establishment during the run up to the 2003 Iraq invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

Apr 02 2010

F U, Sean Hannity. Timothy McVeigh was a killer bathed in American blood. HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

No. They have no shame. It is the job of those who are repulsed by the Timothy McVeighs of the world to shame them.

    A few days ago Eric Boehlert of MediaMatters.org asked this question.


    It’s a chilling prospect, but one that seems more and more plausible: What if Fox News actually wants mob violence?

My answer: Yes

    Today, Sean Hannity called the astroturfed sheep of billionaire financed tea partiers “Tim McVeigh wannabees” as if it were a compliment, and they actually cheered him.

Watch . . .

HANNITY: When you think about the vast majorities that they have in Congress and they had to bribe, backroom deals, corruption, that’s all because the tea party movement, the people – all these Tim McVeigh wannabes here.

   (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

dailykos.com

   So now the right is cheering for Timothy McVeigh? Is there anything more UnAmerican than praising an enemy of the Democratically elected United States Government?

    This is where the line must be drawn. If not now, when?

    So here is some Fair and Balanced news for tea partiers, Conservatives, Republican politicians, Fox News and right wing pundits:

   Timothy McVeigh was a psychotic killer bathed in the blood of innocent Americans. McVeigh stood for everything our founding fathers fought against, and if you can not denounce violence and eliminationist rhetoric against you fellow Americans you have no right to call yourself an American patriot.

    I’m mad as hell. More below the fold

   

Apr 01 2010

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 World raises nearly $10 bln for quake-hit Haiti

by Gerard Aziakou, AFP

Thu Apr 1, 9:36 am ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The global community has pledged nearly $10 billion for Haiti over more than three years to put the quake-ravaged nation back on its feet.

The $9.9 billion pledge from some 50 donors includes $5.3 billion for the 2010-2011 period, far in excess of the $3.8 billion that was sought by conference organizers for that period.

That target was meant to fund a $4 billion action plan put forward by the Haitian government for reconstruction projects over the next two years in the poorest country in the Americas.

Apr 01 2010

We’re nowhere near the bottom.

The defining feature of our time will be the awful reckoning following years of denial.

Steve Pearlstein describes the false optimism bubbling up from the economy:

In recent weeks, a wave of relief and optimism has washed over the economy. The corporate sector is closing out another quarter of solid profitability. Business and consumer confidence is on the rise. The Dow Jones industrial average is flirting with 11,000. The Treasury secretary and the chairman of the Federal Reserve have declared that the economy is on a path of sustained recovery. State tax revenue is finally picking up. And on Friday, the Labor Department may even report that the number of jobs actually increased in March, ending two years of nearly uninterrupted declines.

Basically, we have moved Wall Street’s fraudulent assets onto the public spreadsheet, and Wall Street approves, thus perpetuating the fraud at public expense.  Hip-hip, Hooray!    

Apr 01 2010

Breaking: Rahm Emanuel Resigns!

Wow:

WASHINGTON — The White House has announced the resignation of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  In a brief statement Thursday, Administration officials praised Emanuel for his service and said he was leaving for personal reasons.

The stunning move comes one day after President Obama both signed legislation aimed at reforming America’s health care system and also announced plans to open up large portions of the US coast to oil drilling exploration.

Emanuel, who could not be reached for comment, was a former Clinton Administration official and four term Congressman from Illinois before his appointment as Obama’s Chief of Staff in November 2009.  

A controversial figure with a reputation for bare knuckle politics and salty language, the centrist Democrat repeatedly clashed with more liberal members of his party over the direction of Administration policy.

An unconfirmed report by an anonymous White House official states that Obama and Emanuel became engaged in a heated discussion after Wednesday’s press conference, with the President expressing particular disappointment that his vaunted health care initiative has not been better received by the public.

(x-post: Big O)

Apr 01 2010

Interview with Dr. Peter Wilk on Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

cross-posted from Sum of Change

I stopped in at the office of Physicians for Social Responsibility this morning to meet Dr. Peter Wilk, the Executive Director.

Dr. Wilk is a recognized expert on nuclear disarmament and has been active for the past 27 years in public health advocacy organizations and medical organizations concerned with preventing nuclear war and addressing other threats to global survival.

Apr 01 2010

Revolution

I’m calling for a revolution.

In the way that we do politics.

Too much ink has been spilled, justifying

current policies, and those of the past,

under the ideological program:

“socialize the risks, privatize the gains.”

Apr 01 2010

OTW: Evolution or Extinction? Choose.

OTW = Off The Wall, is my Thursday semi-regular series in which I try to talk about culture, anthro, or whatever else happens to be bouncing around in my head. h/t this week to Ria who got me goin’ on this one! ~LL

The field of Anthropology basically has four sub-fields or disciplines: Archeology, Physical APY, Cultural APY, and Linguistics. As an under-grad majoring in Cultural, I was required to take a basic course in each sub-field. Much to my relief, I was excused from having to take Statistics or any other mathy stuff. Don’t tell anybody this, but that’s half the reason I chose it. heh.

Photobucket

It was a long time ago, and I’m terrible at remembering all this, but I’m often amazed at the things that stand out, the things I do recall. There are few things I can think of that might bore me more than bones, skulls, and arrowheads. Sorry, but especially at the ripe young age of 19, I really could’ve cared less.

My Prof for Archeology, the class I dreaded the most, turned to be the inimitable Charles H. Fairbanks. Thank you God.

Apr 01 2010

Pope Benedict Arrested, Released After Incident At Italian Highway Rest Stop

Verona, Italy (FNS)–Joseph Ratzinger, also known as Pope Benedict XVI, was arrested and released early this morning by Italian police near Pescara, Italy, following allegations the Pontiff attempted to engage an undercover police officer in sexual activity in an Autogrill restroom in the City.

The Carabinieri (the Italian National Police), had been staking out a restroom at the Martina Gas Srl, located near the Abruzzo Airport, following complaints over a period of several months.

“Signore Ratzinger was arrested at 0245 hours Thursday morning”, reports Ministry of the Interior spokesman Harry Paratestes, “and he was released on his own recognizance pending an appearance before the corte d’assise on a date yet to be determined.”

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