Thursday, August 14, 2008
Almost Ditto Solar Energy email to Roskam
As a follow up to my email sent earlier regarding Energy Independence I thought I would forward this to you...
FYI... we should JUMP on THIS... NOW... can you pass this along to someone you know on the Energy Committee... Let's do it in 5 years, not 10. What can you do personally to accelerate development and deployment of 'home-grown' green technological solutions for the Energy crisis?
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html" In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.
Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."
I agree we should be pursuing almost every option but if we could develop this in 10 years INSTEAD OF drilling offshore for carbon/oil energy we might not even need by then, wouldn't solutions like this be a better option? The energy companies need to diversify and get behind new technologies faster. We can make this work together.
Solar energy discovery
Dear ________:
FYI... we should JUMP on THIS... NOW... can you pass this along to someone you know on the Energy Committee... Let's do it in 5 years, not 10. What can you do personally to accelerate development and deployment of 'home-grown' technological solutions for the Energy crisis?
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html" In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.
Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Political conflict of interest
Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser prepped his boss for an April 17 phone call with the president of Georgia and then helped the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepare a strong statement of support for the fledgling republic.
The day of the call, a lobbying firm partly owned by the adviser, Randy Scheunemann, signed a $200,000 contract to continue providing strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington.
....
"It's these sorts of appearances of a conflict of interest that are a natural consequence of having a campaign run by lobbyists, staffed by lobbyists and being ensconced in a lobbyist culture for over a quarter of a century,"
Not that I'm not getting completely jaded, but sometimes I'm still surprised. Is EVERYONE in DC corrupt and completely without a moral compass?? Especially when they are running for President.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Obamacons -save these arguments
Andrew links to Warren Coates:
" As public sentiment swings back to the left what the public wants (domestically), I think, are largely free but better regulated markets and a better social safety net (health care and pensions). Those like me who think that too much regulation stifles beneficial market innovation and worry about the work incentive stiffing effects of excessive or poorly designed safety nets need to take note of these sentiments. The freedom for me to lead my life largely as I choose and to enjoy the fruits of my labor depends heavily on the willingness of my neighbors (fellow citizens and residents) to accept those rules of the game. Our society functions as it does because of a broad social consensus on the rules of public behavior. This consensus rests in part on each player’s confidence that if he fails there is a safety net that makes it worth his taking the risk of playing. We need to compromise what we consider first best for society (and Republicans and Democrats tend to differ on what this is) to the extent needed to preserve that broad consensus.
Republicans tend to emphasize opportunity and self reliance and keeping government small (it is hardly that), short shifting attention to effective safety nets and efficient government. This is coming back to bite us.
President George W Bush seems to have forgotten that once elected he governs for the whole country, not just those who voted for him. Presidents are elected, presumably, because the majority of voters supported the policies they advocated during the campaign. But once elected it is incumbent on the President to make those compromises with his preferred policies needed to gain broad public support. Instead Karl Rove and company set about turning the government into an adjunct of the Republican Party. Bush’s shoddy governance put inexperienced political hacks in positions needing professionals. The illegal hiring practices of Monica Goodling under Attorney General Gonzales, himself a disgrace to the office, “by letting politics influence the hiring of career prosecutors and immigration judges at the Justice Department,...”[7] is but one of many examples of the over politicization of the executive branch of government that is polarizing our country.
In addition, small government Republicans like me often fail to give enough attention to the public’s interest in good government. Small government still needs to be efficient and responsive to the public’s needs in the areas we have assigned to it. President Bush’s impulse to reorganize (e.g., the intelligence agencies, and what is now known by the un-American name of “Homeland Security) rather than improve accountability and transparency have made the government less efficient and no smaller. "
Obama reply

Dear L__:
The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind is prohibited by law and is neither authorized nor condoned by the U.S. Government. Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation . . . as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. . . . it also may place U.S. and allied personnel in enemy hands at greater risk.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Anthrax & rush to war
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/05/anthrax/index.html
Glenn Greenwald
" One glaring and important exception to the dynamic of uncritical media recitation is this morning's New York Times article by Scott Shane and Nicholas Wade, which evinces very strong skepticism over the FBI's case thus far and discloses facts that create more grounds for skepticism. Given everything that has happened over the last seven years -- not just with the anthrax attacks but with countless episodes of Government deceit and corruption -- it's astonishing (and more than a little disturbing) how many people are willing, even eager, to assume that the Government's accusations against Ivins are accurate even without seeing a shred of evidence to support those claims. "
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/06/suskind/
"Forging the missing case for war
In further chronicles of Bush government deceit, author Ron Suskind drops a bombshell: The White House ordered the CIA to fake a letter linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida."
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Food & Politics
Daniel Larison:
To say that eating is a political act worries conservatives because many seem to cling, oddly enough, to an old liberal conception of private, personal life that they wish to preserve free from outside interference, including ultimately the "interference" of neighbors, relatives and local community. Where social conservatives are often keenly aware of the effects that individual choices concerning marriage, child-bearing and child-rearing have on society as a whole, there often seems to be a strange disconnect when it comes to eating, as if an act that ties us into an elaborate web of economic relationships has no greater significance and no other implications other than providing nourishment. It is one kind of activity, perhaps the only kind, where many conservatives act as if the consequences of personal choices do not extend beyond the front door.
At the same time, eating as a political act is nonetheless also a question of how we are governed, whom we choose to empower and how we choose to govern ourselves.
Also this in the Trib today, about methane from beef production. I'm getting there, I may not be a veggie, but I'm definitely cutting back! AND I have my own garden now. Baby steps....
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Defense Contractors Theft & Extortion
I would like to note that as a taxpayer I am fed up with US government contractors getting away with:
HIGHWAY ROBBERY ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/washington/17contractor.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1213707612-4zVo371AEaukpimfCOaPHA&pagewanted=all)
, .... not to mention RAPE
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert ( Dawn Leamon was raped by a KBR employee -btw, she is from Illinois)
, pillage and MURDER in Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/middleeast/08blackwater.html
Please, please support our troops by ensuring that they are given the resources to do the job _AND_Bring them home. KBR is extorting them/us for money and their safety, all the while being paid so much more than our own troops to do their job. The armed forces have lost all control to the military-industrial complex. This is sickening - it has to end. THis is payola for VP Cheney and his pals. No wonder they want to stay for 100 years -they have no accountability!! At least hold them accountable to earn our untold billions. STOP this crazyness.
With all sincerety,
L_Z_
Monday, June 16, 2008
unlawful imprisonment
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Amen & Hallelujah
"To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on and off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this Court, say "what the law is... Security subsists, too, in fidelity to freedom's first principles. Chief among these are freedom from arbitrary and unlawful restraint and the personal liberty that is secured by adherence to the separation of powers ... Within the Constitution's separation-of-powers structure, few exercises of judicial power are as legitimate or as necessary as the responsibility to hear challenges to the authority of the Executive to imprison a person."
NY TIMES link
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Yesterday

Monday, June 2, 2008
Media Pentagon WH relationship
So the Pentagon tells the media what kind of reporting is in- and out-of-bounds?
Hogwash. Hogwash! HOGWASH.
We confess that here at McClatchy, which purchased Knight Ridder two years ago, we do have a dog in this fight. Our team - Joe Galloway, Clark Hoyt, Jon Landay, Renee Schoof, Warren Strobel, John Walcott, Tish Wells and many others - was, with a few exceptions, the only major news media organization that before the war consistently and aggressively challenged the White House's case for war, and its lack of planning for post-war Iraq.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/ save this link
Friday, May 30, 2008
BEST. TV. SHOW. EV. ER.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Ackerman woods in Glen Ellyn
Daily Herald: Despite the roughly 100 Glen Ellyn residents that expressed their discontent with the village and park district's plan to cut down 340 trees for a flood control project, the plan is expected to go forward.
Glen Ellyn leaders will move forward with a flood control project at Ackerman Park that entails cutting down 340 trees, despite much outcry from residents opposed to the project.
Bad bad bad decision. I sent an email yesterday to the Park District & local paper's letter to the editors. I'm already drafting another one email to the GE Park District... I think they are really going to come to regret this.
Background here
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Why not an airlift for Burma?
" Oxfam and other agencies have well-trained disaster specialists ready and waiting to go. The Burmese authorities must allow them in to do their job. However until that happens, calls for air drops must be resisted. They will make good television and fulfil the need to do something - anything - to help relieve the suffering in Burma.
But air drops are expensive, inefficient and not the best way to help desperate people on the ground. "
But the comments at the bottom of the link offer a lot of good contrarian reasons to do SOMETHING.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Myanmar / Burma: disaster x disaster
This "junta" government or whatever you want to call it is EVIL.
While Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the top generals selectively pick and choose what aid to accept from foreign nations, they are stalling on issuing visas to the UN and other international aid workers.
The UN said the junta’s refusal to allow foreign aid workers into the country was "unprecedented" in the history of humanitarian work, even as survivors of a devastating cyclone waited for food, shelter and medicine. Observers said Than Shwe is making all the major decisions about foreign aid workers. Eric John, the US ambassador to Thailand, said that if the junta delays visa application to aid workers one more day, more people will die.
I sent an email also earlier today to my former colleague Allan M. who is Burmese. He lives in San Francisco. I hope his family is OK. What a tragedy!
neocons and Iran
scary,... note to self:" pay attention this time "
"The neoconservative war-lovers behind this effort have not changed, nor have their tactics. They realize, as many of them acknowledge, that they will have four more years in power if John McCain is elected. But they also realize that he may not be, and that their last hope for their long-desired attack on Iran lies in convincing the current administration to provoke one before its tenure ends. As much as one wishes it weren't true, as much as the fixation on petty election issues might obscure it, the truly depraved extremist group that brought us the invasion of Iraq still exerts substantial influence and is quite busy trying to exert it."
.....
"And now, magically up pops these new reports from Israel warning that the deadline to stop Iran's nuclear bomb is the end of the year -- right before George Bush leaves office. Bush has less than eight months left to fulfill his history-mandated mission "to prevent another holocaust" by attacking Iran, or else "be in the historical dock if he allows Iran to get the bomb." They're as transparent as they are dishonest and bloodthirsty."
Friday, May 2, 2008
Medical Review for Organ Transplant

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Network news doesn't respond to charges of cooption by Pentagon
Glenn Greenwalk is on a tear... go get 'em! I've been pretty skeptical and hardly ever watch network news unless something major happens, but this blatant disregard for journalistic ethics and integrity just means I will be watching TV news even less than I do now.
" Just consider what is going on here. The core credibility of war reporting by Brian Williams and NBC News has been severely undermined by a major NYT expose. That story involves likely illegal behavior by the Pentagon, in which NBC News appears to have been complicit, resulting in the deceitful presentation of highly biased and conflicted individuals as "independent" news analysts. Yet they refuse to tell their viewers about any of this, and refuse to address any of the questions that have been raised.
More amazingly still, when Brian Williams is forced by a virtual mob on his blog yesterday finally to address this issue -- something he really couldn't avoid doing given that, the day before, he found time to analyze seven other NYT articles -- Williams cited McCaffrey and Downing as proof that they did nothing wrong, and insists that his and their credibility simply ought to be beyond reproach because they are good, patriotic men. But those two individuals in particular had all kinds of ties to the Government, the defense industry, and ideological groups which gave them vested interests in vigorous pro-war advocacy -- ties which NBC News knew about and failed to disclose, all while presenting these individuals to their millions of viewers as "independent." Is there anyone who thinks that behavior is anything other than deeply corrupt? "
Monday, April 28, 2008
DNA surveillance

Other links: WaPo, NPR
Geneva Conventions
" Moreover, even after attempts by the Court and the Congress to rein in these methods - which were once prosecuted by the US as war-crimes - the president continued to defend, use and advance violations of Common Article Three in violation of the law and the Constitution. In the last week, we have also learned the following: that some Gitmo inmates have testified to being injected with some kind of substance
....
We have also discovered that the president is still insisting that he has the power to violate Geneva at will on a case-by-case basis, rendering the rule of law moot and the Constitution toothless.
....
We also know that the torture and interrogation camp at Guantanamo Bay has become for many of its inmates the functional equivalent of a lunatic asylum"
RTWT for links and examples.
Friday, April 25, 2008
voters choices: Generational, vocational, or racial?
But doesn't that "white anger" feel very 1980s to you? Are white voters still motivated in large part by grievances about affirmative action (which, for the record, I strongly oppose)? You'd think that
our cultural politics had remained untouched and unmoved since the Reagan era. You'd think that political demography was frozen at exactly the moment boomers came of age. The truth is: the boomer media class is fighting the last war and misreading the current one.As Ambinder reminds us:
It doesn't really matter if Barack Obama isn't doing as well among white working class Dems as Hillary Clinton is. He doesn't need their votes to win.This election will be decided by white independents, African-Americans, new Hispanic voters, and a vast influx of younger Americans. Those are the people Obama has brought into the process; and they are the people who will change the face of American politics.
I agree completely (well maybe not totally on the affirmative action part). After the PA primary, on Wednesday I was just talking to my neighbor B and his colleague about this topic. They are both Labor professors at Univ of IL. They both hail from Youngstown OH, and study the true working class/ union voters extensively. They were talking about a theory (both of them hailing from Youngstown OH, and studying the true working class extensively) they had that really the white working class agree that they ARE bitter and more of them actually voted the way they did ( for Hillary) because they do want to have a fight (with the Republicans) over all the crap they have been through economically. The theory is that she's a "scrapper" and can dish it out back to the Republicans as well as she can take it (VRWC). I replied that I think the results are mostly generational, and that PA has a very high proportion of over 60 voters relative to other states ( 2nd only to FL). I seriously doubt that the vast majority of Democrats and Independents who oppose the war, are going to let themselves vote for McCain in the fall general election, no matter what doubts they have about Obama.
I'm kinda nervous now that Andrew thinks this will go all the way to the convention. I have too
much hope that the PTB (powersthatBE) will not let that happen.
update on military contractor abuses
I received this reply today from Senator Durbin:
April 25, 2008
Ms. L___Z____
_____
Dear Ms. Z___:
Thank you for contacting me regarding alleged sexual assaults by military contractors working in Iraq. I appreciate hearing from you and share your concerns.
Private military contractors, including roughly 180,000 in Iraq, are involved in U.S. military operations ranging from security and logistics to transportation and the feeding of our troops. As you know, there have been reports of sexual violence by some employees of these contractors. Other reckless behavior also has been reported, including military contractor involvement in a large number of civilian deaths and injuries.
In the course of the war in Iraq, it has been difficult to bring
contractors who may have committed crimes to trial. The laws that govern contractors are not clear, and they are not bound by the United States Military's Code of Conduct. If our military is to rely so heavily on private companies, a much more credible system of oversight must be put in place. The U.S. government must be able to hold accountable any military contractor who commits a sexual assault or any other brutal crime, no matter where it occurs.
I am a cosponsor of S. 674, the Transparency and Accountability in
Military and Security Contracting Act of 2007, which was introduced by Senator Barack Obama. This measure would make it easier to bring contractor employees to justice if they are involved in wrongdoing. It also would direct the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to issue rules of engagement regarding the use of force by contractor personnel and require the FBI to establish Theater Investigative Units to investigate allegations of misconduct by contractor personnel. In addition, the bill would require much stricter reporting about federal military and security contracts being performed in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and it would set standards for the hiring, training and equipping of
contractors.
The Transparency and Accountability in Military and Security Contracting Act has been referred to the Senate Armed Services
Committee. Although I am not a member of this committee, I will keep your thoughts in minds as steps are taken to bring this legislation to the floor of the Senate for a vote.
Thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please feel free to stay in touch.Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator
RJD/ds
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Pentagon propaganda campaign
I thought I already wrote about this this week but apparently I didn't. I've been reading articles (NYT) about how the Pentagon had a program to have their retired 'military analysts' pass along their talking points to the media outlet that they worked for. Meanwhile they probably weren't being very "objective" because access to Rumsfeld's office meant access and information on how to procure war contracts for their "other" employers. Boy, those retired guys are really busy! I think that most smart viewers probably take their pro-war comments with a big grain of salt, but on the other hand you don't expect them to lie about things they really think aren't true either. (RTWT) Shame on the MSM for not checking backgrounds or minimally at least disclosing possible conflicts of interest. The military-industrial complex is thriving while the rest of the economy is going into the tank. That sucks for us.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
What's wrong with wanting a smart President?

Walk-ability
(h/t NYT Earth day issue)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Danny Federici has passed away

Thursday, April 17, 2008
U-Turn

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Fighting Fire with Fire
" These themes trigger potent psychological, emotional and tribal responses and, if left unrefuted, will virtually always overwhelm rational consideration of "issues." Illustrating what "strength," "patriotism," and moral probity really are -- and who and what exudes them -- is imperative, and it is equally imperative to do so aggressively and unapologetically, not defensively or meekly. "
Springsteen endorses Obama- get on the Train !!

..." This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train
Bells of freedom ringin'"....
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(h/t huffpo )
(reference previous post re: my two favorites )
... speaking of getting people on the Train - I was sworn in as a voter registrar this morning. " Don't need no tickets, ya just get on board........"
Yeah- I'm psyched!! Good news today.
(Update, I just posted this on the comments site at Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Senate- torture approved?
Dear Senator:
President Bush has admitted to torture. Even more, he has admitted recently that his cabal has been involved in every detail of it. Nobody is shocked to the point of taking legislative action to remedy this? God help us! As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I believe you can still do something. Please, won't you?
According to a published letter from your colleague on this committee, Senator Chambliss, the committee has “thoroughly reviewed this program's history, continues to monitor the CIA's interrogation methods and has found it both legal and effective.” (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/14/104220/785/951/495347)
Since you know about the CIA torture program, do you personally approve of the United States engaging in acts of torture? If you do not approve of President Bush’s illegal actions, will you go on record to speak out against them?
Torture is a war crime and crime against humanity. By not taking any action to bring about justice, we, average citizens and senators alike, are all complicit in these atrocities.
Sincerely,
L___ Z____
Obama correspondence

Monday, April 14, 2008
Congress = Captain Renault from "Casablanca"
" Congress is like a convention of Claude Raines actors -- everyone is saying we're "shocked, Shocked!" that there's torture being discussed at the White House - nobody's doing anything about it"
I had a similar thought in a earlier post back in December (watch the clip!). I love the actor Claude Rains so much, Congress would be giving him a bad rap in the comparison. Still, the character Capt. Renault redeems himself by the end of the movie so let's hope its a somewhat apt comparison...
Friday, April 11, 2008
Jeff Zurawski & Sarah Hartfield update

Maybe if there were MORE such peaceful protests in DuPage then people wouldn't get so freaked out when they see a protestor with their hand raised! I support Jeff & Sarah 100%. If Birkett doesn't back down I think he will see more protests in response to his chill on the 1st Amendment. DuPage is turning Blue and they better get used to some changes coming ....
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
DuPage turning blue

No Justice for Crimes in Iraq by contractors
More links here, here and here )
AArrgh. This is painful to read. Another KBR contractor (this one from Illinois) is raped in Iraq by a soldier and another contractor.
Prosecutorial jurisdiction for crimes like the alleged rape of Jones is easily established under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act and the Patriot Act's special maritime and territorial jurisdiction provisions. But somebody has to want to prosecute the cases.
Horton wonders what the 200 Justice Department employees and contractors stationed in Iraq do all day, noting that there has not been a single completed criminal conviction against a US contractor implicated in a violent crime anywhere in Iraq since the invasion.
(h/t dailykos)
I just wrote an email to my senators, Durbin and Obama:
Dear Senator Durbin:
Can you please help this lady, Dawn Leamon? Long story short, she is an Illinoisian, a paramedic, who was raped in January by a KBR defense contractor and US soldier while in Iraq working for KBR. I read this whole article with tears in my eyes
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert
Because she carries the health insurance, and her husband has had a stroke and needs the health insurance, and she is languishing in a netherworld of NO ACTION by THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT on any abuse cases that have occurred in Iraq by contractors, she actually has to contemplate returning to this lawless hell-hole in Iraq. What a horrible choice! (BTW, her son is also serving in Iraq)
You need to press the Justice Department to start prosecuting these cases!!!!
We need affordable and PORTABLE health care so people don’t have to make these horrible choices!!
Best Regards,
L__Z___
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Matthew Diaz
"The decision to withhold the information had been taken, in defiance of law, by senior political figures in the Bush Administration. Diaz was aware of it, and he knew it was unlawful. He printed out a copy of the names and sent them to a civil rights lawyer who had requested them in federal court proceedings. "
Wow - he's brave. Really brave. RTWT. I love how it was sent with a Valentine's card. Indeed.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Not buying gas from Chevron
Sent: Mon 4/07/08 12:50 PM
To: comment@chevron.com
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to let you know I will no longer be buying gas from Chevron since I learned today that you have appointed Jim Haynes to be your incoming corporate counsel. He has shredded the US Constitution and been an advocate for torture.
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/hbc-90002785
Sincerely,
L____Z____
Digging around, you can uncover lots of other reasons to do so also...
"It's a role that the Senate Armed Services Committee, overseen by Sen. Carl Levin and its ranking Republican member, Sen. John McCain, has been quietly but aggressively scrutinizing during a two-year investigation. Two sources familiar with the probe, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters, say the panel's investigators have grilled a number of key players—including Special Forces operatives and FBI agents—who were never previously questioned. The panel notified the Pentagon in early February that it wanted to question Haynes. Before receiving any response, investigators learned on Feb. 25 that Haynes was leaving for Chevron in San Francisco. "How often does somebody like that give two weeks' notice and leave town?" said one government source familiar with the sequence of events."
Misc. updates from last week
That said here are the top links I've read today, some about things I didn't hear much about last week.
(1) The Yoo memos: There was an excerpt in the Trib today about evilness (my summary) of John Yoo and his ideas that all bets are off wrt Torture if President Bush wants to be in a perpetual state of war. If I was a student on his campus I would protest all of his classes at Berkeley.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/04/the-guilty-men.html
(fortunately for me, but not him, AS was not blogging much last week either!)
plus http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/yoo_i_thought_torture_was_a_ba.php
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/hbc-90002785
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/04/memo_justified_warrantless_sur.php
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/convictions/archive/2008/04/01/yoo-s-utter-glib-certainty.aspx
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/guantanamo200805?currentPage=1
looks like a must read
(2) http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/04/worse-case.html
ooh - a great quote, from 1954:
"There is something about this quest for absolute security that is self-defeating. It is an exercise which, like every form of perfectionism, undermines and destroys its own basic purpose. The French have their wonderful proverb: Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien--the absolute best is the enemy of the good. Nothing truer has ever been said . A foreign policy aimed at the achievement of total security is the one thing I can think of that is entirely capable of bringing this country to a point where it will have no security at all. And a ruthless, reckless insistence on attempting to stamp out everything that could conceivably constitute a reflection of improper foreign influence in our national life, regardless of the actual damage it is doing to the cost of eliminating it, in terms of other American values, is the one thing I can think of that should reduce us all to a point where the very independence we are seeking to defend would be meaningless, for we would be doing things to ourselves as vicious and tyrannical as any that might be brought to us from outside.
" -George F. Kennan's 1954 The Illusion of Security
(3) http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/04/by-patrick-toda.html
MLK Letter from Birmingham jail excerpt - more to come about our detour stop in Montgomery AL...
(4) and speaking of Alabama....Siegelman released!
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/siegelman_released_from_prison.php
I actually saw the headline in the paper WHILE I was checking into a hotel in Montgomery. Just a litte factoid... the Dexter Ave Baptist church where MLK preached is less than 2 blocks from the AL statehouse... Its on the same street! -in view of each other. More on this later once I get my pictures uploaded. Anyway it just struck me as a personal coincidence that this happened while I was there - in the town of the scene of the crime, so to speak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSeL9Pkmt2M
Wow and I thought IL & Chicago politics took the cake.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Overweight and Dementia
Besides the physical improvements and what I hope would be a better mental outlook by not being depressed about not fitting into clothes as I'd like to... there was even more health news announced yesterday that ups the ante... Big bellies lead to a higher incidence of dementia years later.
Must go on a diet... lose 20 lbs!! Given what I learned in one of my previous jobs, which entailed reviewing 1000's of medical records of people that have died, I think that besides cancer, the two worst health problems to have are diabetes and Alzheimers. Suffer now or suffer worse later! Yikes. Just do it!
Update on "Jane Doe" inquiry IDOC
I received this email reply today from Roger Walker, the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections:
" Dear Ms. Z___:
Thank you very much for your correspondence regarding the newspaper articles you reference in your note. Please know that I share your concerns regarding the safety of inmates in our custody. I would like to make one thing very clear, I do not and will not condone the type of behavior that is claimed in the Tribune story. During my tenure as director we have been aggressive in following up on allegations of sexual misconduct, we have also been aggressive in prosecuting these cases as well. I wanted to respond to your note to let you know I will not tolerate this type of behavior.
Sincerely,
Roger E. Walker Jr.
Director
Illinois Department of Corrections
1301 Concordia Court
Springfield, IL 62794 "
Here is my email to him, sent March 18th:
Dear Mr. Walker :
I have contacted Gov. Blagojevich and my local state Rep. Sandra Pihos (House district #42) and Senator Durbin to express my deep dismay at the atrocities alleged to be committed by male guards against female inmates at Dwight. I hope that you will do everything possible to ensure that this never happens again. I hope that you will act immediately to institute policies to safeguard women who make future allegations, instead of putting them in seclusion/segregation where they are even more vulnerable to abuse! Those guards need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. WHy do you want criminals working for you? This is a travesty and a shame upon our state. Please abide by the 8th Amendment of the Constitution, respect the taxpayers of Illinois and ensure that justice is carried out in a fair and humane manner.
Sincerely, L____ Z_____
forwarded
From: lz___
To: community@sandrapihos.comSubject: questionDate: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 11:22:25 -0600
Hi Sandy: I just sent this letter to the Governor, and a different email to Senator Durbin about an article I read in the Tribune on Tuesday:
" As chief executive law officer in our state I would like to bring this to your attention:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-prison-rape-04mar04,0,739400.story
Do you know this warden Mary Sigler, or Roger Walker the person who runs IDOC. Do you have confidence in their leadership? It appears that this tragic woman and perhaps many others are being illegally submitted to "cruel and unusual" punishment -- by that I mean, repeatedly gang-raped and impregnated (!) by state officers. Can you do anything about this?? This is beyond horrendous.... Please look into this and make sure that prisoners are not being tortured under the incarceration of the State of Illinois. This level of abuse IS torture, plain and simple. I beg you to clean up IDOC. I don't even know anyone in prison but there must be some basic level of sympathy and compassion for women who have had to endure this.
Sincerely,
L___Z____
Is there a committee in the IL House that has oversight on these kinds of issues? Can you please ask them to investigate this. It defies explanation. This topic is yucky to say the least, but I think as officials in our state you and your colleagues have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the citizen's in the State, ESPECIALLY if they are under the "lock & key" of the State! All of these guards need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, not just the one whose DNA matches the baby. The management of these facilities needs to ensure that there is NO ABUSE. ( Follow the law, the EIGHTH Amendment!). If the wardens and IDOC managers can't do that, then they need to be removed from those positions of authority.
Thanks,
L____