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| In the championship game of the Notre Dame de Namur tournament, Concordia University held the host team without a field goal for the last 10:36, turning a 46-43 nailbiter into a 70-49 rout.
"We knew they're a big, strong team that works very hard, and it took us a while to match their effort," said Concordia coach Paul Fessler. "We knew we were faster, but we had to get the ball. We finally decided to play some defense and get some rebounds."
Junior guard Zoraa Quoie led the Golden Bears with 21 points, four assists, and four steals. "That's what we got from her last year, but she was alone. Now we've got people to go with her," said Fessler. Junior guard Jineen Williams, a transfer from Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee, contributed 17 points, 22 rebounds, and 13 assists in two nights.
In the consolation game, San Francisco Academy of Art let a 19-point lead in the second half dwindle to one with two minutes left, but escaped with a 76-67 win over Cal State East Bay.
The Urban Knights also let a first half lead get away — ahead 36-23 with 4:45 remaining in the first, but the Pioneers outscored them 13-2 up to the buzzer, scoring seven points off five SFAA turnovers. The teams combined for 63 turnovers in the game.
After the half, Cal State East Bay committed 12 turnovers in 10 minutes, helping the Academy of Art build a 60-41 lead with 10:22 left. CSU EB got back to 66-65 with 2:15 to go, but SFAAU scored field goals on three straight possessions.
"We definitely felt the pressure, but we handled ourselves and showed that we can finish a game," said senior guard Sondra Stilwell, who scored a career-high 27 points for the Urban Knights. Stilwell credited her teammates with making the extra pass — "In the last game we didn't have many assists, but we talked about finding the [open] person, and then the next person," she said.
***
An all-tournament team was not named, but my ballot would've been:
MVP — Zoraa Quoie, Concordia
Jineen Williams, Concordia
Jennifer Dreesen, Notre Dame de Namur
Sondra Stilwell, San Francisco Academy of Art
Claudia Nelson, Cal State East Bay
***
Earlier in the day, I went to see a couple of unknown teams from nowhere schools: Stanford and Tennessee.
This Stanford team is quite something. Makes me wish Brooke Smith, Candice Wiggins and Jillian Harmon were still on The Farm. | |
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| http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2009/12/nigerian-militants-attack-oil-pipeline.html Sunday, December 20, 2009 Niger Delta Crisis: MEND Resumes Attacks Tompolo's Group Not Involved, Says Spokesman JTF Unable To Confirm Action From Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt) and Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba) Nigerian Guardian CITING delayed negotiations with government, due to President Yar'Adua's absence, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday breached its 56-day ceasefire by attacking a major Shell/Chevron crude pipeline in Abonemma, Rivers State. The attack is coming on the heels of MEND's complaints that President Yar'Adua's over three weeks absence from the country has stalled the ongoing talks between the government and the group's appointed negotiators, the Aaron Team. The group's spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, described the attack, which was launched at about 2am, as a warning strike. He said five boats involving 35 of MEND's fighters armed with assault rifles, rocket launchers and heavy calibre machine guns, carried out the attack. The Guardian could not independently confirm the MEND's attack. A faction of the armed group loyal to repentant militant leader, Government 'Tompolo' Ekpemupolo, said its commanders were not aware of any attacks on oil installations. In an online statement, Captain Mack Anthony, the spokesman to both 'Tompolo' and his (Anthony's) boss, Togo, said that the group had no hand in the reported attack. MEND, he insisted, had not decided on any joint attacks in any of the Niger Delta States. "Although we have our own grievances over how we were treated since we surrendered arms, if there is an attack somewhere, our General Commander, Government 'Tompolo' Ekpemupolo and my boss, Togo, are not aware," he said. "But don't forget; there could be some pockets of misunderstanding resulting from communal differences against oil companies in the Niger Delta. "The amnesty is not instrument of continued suppression by soldiers and multi-nationals. MEND is standing by the conditions of the peace deal," he stressed. Tompolo had embraced Federal Government's amnesty programme, which the mainstream MEND scoffed at as doomed to fail. Contacted, the Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) (Operation Restore Hope), General Sarki-Yarki Bello, said in an SMS that there was "no confirmation yet." Similarly, spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha, explained that they were yet to verify any attack as alleged by MEND. According to him: "There is no verification yet by the JTF that a pipeline has been sabotaged around Abonnema. "If this unpatriotic act is confirmed to be true, at a time the Federal Government is doing its utmost to consolidate on the gains of the amnesty programme, then the criminals behind the act are enemies of the Niger Delta and, indeed, Nigeria; and they don't deserve any sympathy." Shell spokesperson, Mr. Precious Okolobo, in an SMS, said: "We don't have reports of our facility being attacked, and cannot comment." He had earlier told The Guardian on telephone that he did not have details of what might have actually transpired, promising that, "if I confirm, I will get back to you." An official of Chevron said he had not been able to ascertain the true situation since he was in Houston, United States. Why We Struck, By Gbomo Jomo From Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt) MEND'S mouthpiece, Jomo Gbomo gave reasons why the attack on Shell/Chevron pipelines was carried out yesterday in Abonemma in Rivers State. According to him, the Federal Government had conveniently tied the advancement of talks on the demands of MEND to President Yar'Adua, who is currently receiving medical attention in far away Saudi Arabia. However, he noted that the same government "has not tied the repair of pipelines, exploitation of oil and gas as well as the deployment and re-tooling of troops under the aegis of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the region to the President's ill health." Gbomo said: "While wishing the President a speedy recovery, a situation where the future of the Niger Delta is tied to the health and well being of one man is unacceptable." MEND accused the government, through the Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, the Ministers of Defence, Gen. Godwin Abbe (Rtd) and Ministry of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili of disseminating propaganda aimed at foreign investors, claiming that the situation in the Niger Delta is under control. This assertion, according to him, is far from the truth. Gbomo also accused the government of offering bribes to a number of militants, who surrendered their weapons under its amnesty programme in the form of contracts. He said while the government perceives these individuals to wield some kind of influence in the region, MEND wants to make it abundantly clear that all those who had capitulated were of no significance to the continuation of the struggle. According to him: "MEND is committed to continue its fight for the restoration of the land and rights of the people of the Niger Delta, which has been stolen for 50 years." Jomo added that while MEND remains open to dialogue, "the indefinite ceasefire ordered by the group on Sunday, October 25, 2009 will be reviewed within 30 days from today, December 19, 2009." MEND had last week told The Guardian in an online interview that the absence of the President had made it impossible for the Aaron Team to meet with the government after the first exploratory meeting last month. He said: "At this point in time, the fragile peace process is hanging on to the thin thread of a ceasefire. Our demands have not been addressed because there is dialogue ongoing. "We expect that when the President returns or if we find ourselves with another President, the process must continue with the current tempo and enthusiasm or else peace talks may collapse and the unrest will resume." Nigeria militants in oil attack Armed men in the Niger delta of Nigeria say they have attacked an oil pipeline overnight, putting a two-month truce with the government in doubt. A faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it attacked the pipeline. A spokesman said it was because the government was delaying peace talks due to the absence of ill President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is in Saudi Arabia. Attacks have cost Nigeria millions in lost revenue over the years. The faction said, in an e-mailed statement, that the "warning strike" was carried out by 35 men on five boats with assault rifles, rocket launchers and heavy-calibre machine guns. It said the pipeline was in Abonemma, about 50km (30 miles) west of Port Harcourt. Nigeria's military has not commented on the attack. Peace talks were suspended when President Yar'Adua was hospitalised in late November in Saudi Arabia. Mend said it would review the ceasefire within 30 days. "While the Nigerian government has conveniently tied the advancement of talks on the demands of this group to a sick president, it has not tied the repair of pipelines, exploitation of oil and gas as well as the deployment and re-tooling of troops in the region to the president's ill health," it said. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/af rica/8422165.stm Published: 2009/12/19 10:53:44 GMT Nigeria in crisis as delta militants claim 'warning attack' on pipeline Militants say President Umaru Yar'Adua's absence in Saudi Arabia is being used to delay oil wealth reforms Claims by Nigerian militants that they staged an attack on an oil installation, breaching a five-month ceasefire, have deepened fears that the country is on the verge of a constitutional crisis. Nigeria, which in 1999 ended a 40-year era of military dictatorship, is in the midst of a power vacuum in the absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for more than three weeks. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) claimed that its fighters, armed with rocket launchers and machine-guns, had carried out a "warning strike" against a pipeline at Abonemma in Rivers state. There was no independent confirmation of the attack. Mend said it struck because the government was using Yar'Adua's absence to stall negotiations promised as part of an amnesty programme. The group said it would review an indefinite ceasefire it offered on 25 October. The densely populated Niger delta has been the scene of conflict for 20 years, amid calls from its ethnic groups for a greater share of vast oil earnings. The most celebrated victim of the government's clampdown against the minorities was author Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed with eight other Ogoni activists in 1995. If confirmed, Friday night's attack would be a major blow to peace efforts by Yar'Adua's administration, which in July pledged to spend millions of pounds developing the region and offered host communities a 10% share in all oil and gas operations. The proposal convinced thousands of activists to accept a presidential amnesty, which ended in October. But the plan is politically unpopular and has raised eyebrows among oil multinationals because it demands a huge programme of reform and a major audit of the delta's oil wealth. Nevertheless, multinationals admit that, since the amnesty offer and ceasefire, production had increased. Mend attacks over the past three years have prevented Nigeria from extracting more than two thirds of its capacity. A Mend statement yesterday suggested that the group believed the government was using the president's illness as a stalling tactic. "While the government has conveniently tied the advancement of talks on the demands of this group to a sick president, it has not tied the repair of pipelines, exploitation of oil and gas, as well as the deployment and retooling of troops in the region to the president's health," it said in a statement to news agencies. "A situation where the future of the Niger delta is tied to the health and wellbeing of one man is unacceptable." Yar'Adua, 58, is receiving treatment for a heart complaint and has failed to formally hand power to vice-president Goodluck Jonathan. Speculation is rife in the capital, Abuja, that a power struggle has begun in the ruling People's Democratic party or that junior officers could be planning a move. Nigeria's fragile power balance has traditionally depended on rotating presidencies between the Muslim north and the south. Jonathan, a Christian from Rivers state in the south, is seen by analysts as an unacceptable choice in the eyes of the northern elite from which Yar'Adua comes. | |
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| http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2009/12/colombia-building-military-base-on.html Colombia beefs up border forces The Colombian government has announced it is building a new military base on its border with Venezuela and has activated six new airborne battalions. Relations between the two nations are at a historic low with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez already telling his generals to prepare for war. He moved 15,000 more troops up to the border, accusing Colombia and its ally, the US, of planning an attack. A BBC correspondent says the potential for conflict is heightened. Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva announced the formation of a new base in La Guajira in the north, near the Venezuelan border. At the same time, the Colombian army activated the new airborne battalions, which are equipped with US helicopters. The helicopter fleet, made up mainly of Blackhawks, now numbers 120, making the Colombian Army Air Corps the best equipped and most experienced in Latin America, the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says. Preparing for war President Chavez has criticised a pact announced last month allowing US troops to use several bases in Colombia. Mr Silva said that the new base would have up to 1,000 soldiers. It would, he added, also have a care facility for indigenous Wayuu people who live in the area. Since Venezuelans were told by Mr Chavez to prepare for war and the Venezuelan army starting blowing up bridges that link the two nations, Colombia has been overhauling its defence strategy. Until now this strategy has been geared almost exclusively to fighting the country's 45-year Marxist insurgency. With the increasing build-up of military on both sides of the border, the potential for conflict is heightened, particularly when one considers 2,000 rebels in the border region prepared for a fight between the two nations, our correspondent says. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/am ericas/8423029.stm Published: 2009/12/20 04:26:58 GMT | |
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| http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-threatens-iran-over-disputed-oil.html Sunday, December 20, 2009 01:55 Mecca time, 22:55 GMT Iraq sends forces to disputed field Ownership of the al-Fauqa oil fields has been disputed since the wells were built in 1974 Iraq has deployed security forces to its southern border with Iran to monitor a disputed oil well seized by Iranian troops. Iraqi authorities sent army and police forces to a staging ground about 1km from the well in the Fauqa oil field in southern Maysan province on Saturday, The Associated Press news agency reported, citing officials. Baghdad says Iranian troops crossed the border into Iraqi territory a day earlier, taking control of well Number 4 and raising an Iranian flag. The Iraqi government demanded that "Tehran pull back the armed men who occupied well Number 4", and condemned the incident as "a violation of Iraqi sovereignty". But Iran has denied that it had violated Iraq's sovereignty. Iran's Armed Forces Command issued a statement on Saturday making clear that, in Tehran's view, there had been no incursion into Iraq as the oil well is within Iranian borders. "Our forces are on our own soil and, based on the known international borders, this well belongs to Iran," the statement said. Well 4 is in the al-Fauqa Field, part of a cluster of oilfields which Iraq unsuccessfully put up for auction to oil majors in June. The field has estimated reserves of 1.55 million barrels. Incursion denied Ramin Mehmanparast, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, accused "external sources in Iraq" of working to damage relations between the governments in Tehran and Baghdad, the official IRNA news agency reported. And a senior Iranian MP also tried to play down the dispute. "The claim that Iran has occupied an Iraqi oil well is strongly rejected," Alaeddin Borujerdi, head of parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, told IRNA. The issue was "being examined through diplomatic channels," he said, blaming "foreign media for such propaganda." But Muhammad al-Hajj Hamud, Iraq's deputy foreign minister, rejected Iranian claims on the well and called for an Iranian unit made up of around a dozen soldiers and technicians to be withdrawn. "We summoned Iran's ambassador to Baghdad [on Friday] to tell him that this attack is unacceptable and our ambassador to Tehran delivered a note to their foreign ministry to ask them to pull out their troops," he said. Hamud said it was the first time Well 4 had been taken over. "In the past, the Iranians would try to prevent our technicians from working on the well ... by firing in their direction," he said, adding Iraq had dug the well in 1974. 'Sovereignty issue' The Iraqi official said the incident comes a month before a joint commission starts work on demarcating the two countries' land and sea border along the Shatt al-Arab waterway in the south. Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Baghdad that as far as Washington was concerned "it's a sovereignty issue", adding that there were five other fields under dispute. And in southern Iraq, a US military spokesman told AFP that the incident at Well 4 was the latest in a series of such activity along the frontier. "The oilfield is in disputed territory between Iranian and Iraqi border forts," said the officer at Contingency Operating Base Adder, just outside the city of Nasiriyah. The well lies about 500 metres from an Iranian border fort and about one kilometre from an Iraqi border fort, US Colonel Peter Newell said. Source: Agencies US alarm at Iran's Iraq incursion America's top military officer has voiced concern about an incursion by Iran into Iraq that ended with Iranian soldiers seizing an Iraqi oil well. Admiral Mike Mullen said he had spoken to Iraq's defence minister, but it was for leaders in Tehran and Baghdad to resolve the dispute. Officials from both countries have said they want a diplomatic solution. The Iranian troops are now believed to have now left the Fakkah oil field, which is close to the Iranian border. Similar incidents have happened before along the border, which has never been properly defined since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s - although relations between the two neighbours are now cordial. 'No military escalation' The Iraqis said about a dozen Iranian soldiers had been involved in the incursion and that they had raised the Iranian flag over the oil field. According to General Ray Odierno, commander of US forces in Iraq, the Iranian forces had left the oil well as of Saturday morning, reports AP news agency. "All of us are concerned about the influence of Iran," Adm Mullen told a news conference in Baghdad. "I worry a great deal about Iran's view of destabilising this region as well and specifically… focusing on an oil field." He continued: "But my understanding is this is sovereign Iraqi territory and is something for leaders in Iraq to resolve." Earlier, Iran's armed forces apparently confirmed the incursion, in a statement quoted by Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam satellite television. "Our forces are on our own soil and, based on the known international borders, this well belongs to Iran," they said. Oil prices rose on Friday amid reports about the commandeered well in Maysan province. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters news agency: "We call for calm and for a peaceful solution to this matter, far from any military escalation." US forces are due to stay in Iraq until elections in March 2010, and then gradually pull out, with complete withdrawal scheduled by the end of 2011. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/mi ddle_east/8422997.stm Published: 2009/12/20 01:22:33 GMT Teheran, Baghdad in oil well wrangle AFP--NASIRIYAH-- Iranian soldiers took control of an Iraqi oil well on a disputed section of the border on Friday, triggering the ire of Baghdad which demanded their immediate withdrawal. “Iraq demands that Teheran pulls back the armed men who occupied well No. 4 . . . because what happened today is a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP. An official of the state-owned South Oil Company in the south-eastern city of Amara, west of the field, said earlier that “an Iranian force arrived at the field early Friday. “It took control of well 4 and raised the Iranian flag even though the well lies inside Iraqi territory,” the official added. Dabbagh said 11 Iranian soldiers were involved and added that the Baghdad government was demanding “that the men remove the flag”, adding that the well had been drilled by Iraq in 1979. “The Iraqi government rejects the use of force and has launched contacts with Iran in order to resolve this in a diplomatic way,” Dabbagh said. “We now await Iran’s reply.” Teheran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, meanwhile, reported that the National Iranian Oil Company denied that border guards had seized a well in Iraq’s Fauqa oilfield. It did not elaborate. Dabbagh was speaking after an emergency meeting of the Iraqi national security council, a ministerial body chaired by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Dabbagh said the incident occurred in a border area where markers to delineate the frontier disappeared during the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war. “Iraq rejects oil activity in this sector because the border is not really marked. That is why we call on the Iranian authorities to resolve border disputes and replace border markers,” he said. Earlier, a US military spokesman told AFP the incident was non-violent but the latest in a series of such activity along the frontier. “The oilfield is in disputed territory in between Iranian and Iraqi border forts,” said the officer at Contingency Operating Base Adder, just outside the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Well 4 is in the Fauqa Field, part of a cluster of oilfields Iraq unsuccessfully put up for auction to oil majors in June. The field has estimated reserves of 1,55 million barrels. It lies about 500 metres from an Iranian border fort and about one kilometre from an Iraqi border fort, US colonel Peter Newell said. But it falls on the Iraqi side of a border agreed between the two countries, he said, adding that there are five other fields in disputed territory. “What happens is, periodically, about every three or four months, the oil ministry guys from Iraq will go . . . to fix something or do some maintenance. They’ll paint it in Iraqi colours and throw an Iraqi flag up,” Newell said. “They’ll hang out there for a while, until they get tired, and as soon as they go away, the Iranians come down the hill and paint it in Iranian colours and raise an Iranian flag. It happened about three months ago and it will probably happen again.” Obama told China: I can't stop Israel strike on Iran indefinitely By Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondents U.S. President Barack Obama has warned his Chinese counterpart that the United States would not be able to keep Israel from attacking Iranian nuclear installations for much longer, senior officials in Jerusalem told Haaretz. They said Obama warned President Hu Jintao during the American's visit to Beijing a month ago as part of the U.S. attempt to convince the Chinese to support strict sanctions on Tehran if it does not accept Western proposals for its nuclear program. The Israeli officials, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the United States had informed Israel on Obama's meetings in Beijing on Iran. They said Obama made it clear to Hu that at some point the United States would no longer be able to prevent Israel from acting as it saw fit in response to the perceived Iranian threat. After the Beijing summit, the U.S. administration thought the Chinese had understood the message; Beijing agreed to join the condemnation of Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency only a week after Obama's visit. But in the past two weeks the Chinese have maintained their hard stance regarding the West's wishes to impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The Israeli officials say the Americans now understand that the Chinese agreed to join the condemnation announcement only because Obama made a personal request to Hu, not as part of a policy change. The Chinese have even refused a Saudi-American initiative designed to end Chinese dependence on Iranian oil, which would allow China to agree to the sanctions, said the Israeli officials. Saudi Arabia, which is also very worried about the Iranian nuclear program and keen to advance international steps against Iran, offered to supply the Chinese the same quantity of oil the Iranians now provide, and at much cheaper prices. But China rejected the deal. Since Obama's visit, the Chinese have refused to join any measures to impose sanctions. The Israeli officials say the Chinese have been giving unclear answers and have not been responding to the claims by Western nations. Beijing has been making do with statements such as "the time has not yet arrived for sanctions." China's actions are particularly problematic because China will take over the presidency of the UN Security Council in January. Western diplomats say China would have no choice but to join in sanctions if Russia agrees to support them, but China could delay discussions and postpone any decision until February, when France becomes council president. The Israeli officials say Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is showing a greater willingness for sanctions on Iran, despite hesitations by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. | |
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| http://www.mnn.com/transportation/cars/stories/electric-cars-for-london The mayor of London has a solution for the vexing problem facing electric car owners: Where to re-charge? Seeking to reduce harmful emissions in his own city, Mayor Boris Johnson said every Londoner would be within a mile of an electric car charging station within the next five years, The Guardian reported. | |
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| http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2009/12/swine-flu-kills-10000-worldwide.html Swine flu kills 10 000 AFP--GENEVA. — The number of swine flu deaths worldwide passed the 10 000 mark about eight months after the pandemic strain was uncovered in April, reaching 10 582, World Health Organisation data showed yesterday. "As of 13 December 2009, worldwide more than 208 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 10 582 deaths," the WHO said. In data for December 6 released a week ago, the death toll stood at 9 596. Transmission of the A(H1N1) virus remains "active and geographically widepread" in the northern hemisphere but disease activity has reached a peak or is waning in many locations there, the UN health agency added. | |
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| http://firedoglake.com/2009/12/19/late-night-literary-corner-joezymandias/ http://firedoglake.com/?p=56408
 Losermandias “Joezymandias.”
I met a blogger from an ill-govern’d land
Who said: “A sad & dickless egotistical toad
Sits in the Senate. Beside him only stand
Insurance comp’nies, nit-wits, a dim Pantload:
His saggy face, & smirk of self-absorbed demand,
Ensure all else his pretensions dread,
Which yet survive, stamped on his whiny puss –
The Glenn Beck suck-ups, his carp-shaped head.
And on the Fox News chyron these asshole words appear:
“I am Joezymandias, Douche of Douchebags!
Look on my filibuster, Ye Leftists, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that legislative wreck, uninsured & bare,
The bankrupt sick cough their life away.”
An original composition by Thers. With a slight assist from PBS.
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| http://newstalgia.crooksandliars.com/gordonskene/cold-war-era-signs-thaw-1957
(They were just as suspicious of us)
For all the saber rattling and threats and accusations during the Cold War period, there were times, especially in the late 1950s, where signs of thaw in relations were starting to become noticed.
One was the great cultural exchange that went on between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. We got the Bolshoi Ballet and they got Louis Armstrong. Our pianist (Van Cliburn) won the prestigious Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. Soviet cinema was being seen on a regular basis in art house movie theaters around the country.
And so the barriers started to come down, a little bit - but not for long. In December of 1957, CBS Radio, in what was hailed as a milestone, not only in broadcasting, but in East-West communications, hosted a program from their Radio Beat series. The program dealt with Education and the perceptions both the Russians and the Americans had towards each other.
Dwight Cook (CBS News): “We believe in the broadcast that you’re about to hear, that one of the rare firsts of this year, is coming about. Because for the first time, as far as we know, in the history of radio you’re going to hear an actual, unrehearsed discussion between a group of educators sitting in a studio in Moscow Russia and another group of educators sitting around a table with me here in CBS New York. Our discussion is going to be on the purpose of Education.”
All very polite and non-confrontational - no dissidents commandeering the microphone shouting about Gulags. Three leading educators from the U.S. sitting around asking questions of three leading educators from the Soviet Union - and vice versa. What it did was establish the idea that neither of the two super powers really knew anything about each other.
It was short lived however. When the U2 Spyplane scandal surfaced in 1960, what little thaw there had been froze solid and stayed that way for a very long time before resuming.
But in the late 1950s there was that window of opportunity.
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| http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2009/12/south-african-tripartite-alliance.html SACP seeks greater influence MMANALEDI MATABOGE | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Dec 18 2009 10:46 The South African Communist Party will amend its constitution in response to concerns that the senior government positions held by party bosses such as Blade Nzimande and Jeremy Cronin are weakening the party's management. And the party now says it is willing to apologise to the ANC for booing ANC Youth League president Julius Malema and national executive committee member Billy Masetlha at the SACP special national congress in Polokwane last week. The congress decided on constitutional amendments that will create a second deputy general secretary and remove the stipulation that the position of general secretary be fulltime. There had been concern in the run-up to the congress that the deployment of Nzimande, the party's general secretary, to the Cabinet as minister of higher education and deputy general secretary Cronin's appointment as deputy transport minister, was weakening party work at head office. Solly Mapaila, who has been running the office of the general secretary, is tipped to take the newly created second deputy general secretary position. The amendment was not adopted specifically to suit Nzimande, Cronin told the Mail & Guardian this week, pointing out that provincial secretaries would also benefit from the change. If relieving Nzimande and other provincial secretaries turned out to threaten the party's growth, Cronin said the amendment could be reconsidered. "That is the sort of thing that could come up at the 12th congress," he said. "We must make sure that we do not lose the capacity [to run] the party." And when the SACP and ANC meet in a bilateral session, likely to take place in January, the communists will be "bold enough to apologise" to the ruling party for heckling Malema and Masetlha at the congress, Cronin said. Both SACP chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who is also ANC secretary general, and Nzimande had condemned the heckling by congress delegates on the day it happened, Cronin said. "A number of us also said it was a mistake that the ANC delegation was booed," he told the M&G. The SACP will compile its own report on the incident, which will form part of discussions at the bilateral meeting. Cronin emphasised that it was not the entire ANC delegation that was booed, but only "two individuals". Malema and Masetlha are both considered anti-communists -- but that "still does not make it right", Cronin said. But further friction between the two parties might have been created by the SACP's resolution to force its deployees in government to account to the party, despite their being in state positions on an ANC ticket. "It is not good enough to say I am a communist, but I was acting under ANC discipline," Cronin said. He acknowledged that this might create friction between the party and the ANC because it is the ruling party that deploys cadres in government. The SACP has encouraged its members to swell the ANC ranks as part of its strategy to have more influence within the alliance. "It is not about taking over the ANC. It is about taking collective responsibility. We are not an opposition that should stand outside and criticise the ANC," said Cronin. At the congress Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi encouraged the communist party to "hoist the red flag" proudly and deploy more of its members in government structures. "We do not struggle so that others can be our rulers," he told the congress. "We, more than ever before, are presented with an opportunity to deploy our leaders to the key levers of power. We cannot abstain from this challenge nor can we subcontract it to others." Vavi said the fact that the alliance was now recognising the contribution made by communists was a result of "our efforts. We are therefore not an opposition grouping or an NGO that is not interested in state power." The SACP's membership now stands at just over 96 000, almost double that at the time of the party's last congress. At January's bilateral meeting the SACP will raise its unhappiness about the poor representation of the ANC at its recent congress. The delegation was supposed to have been led by ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete and deputy secretary general Thandi Modise, but neither attended. Source: Mail & Guardian Online Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-18-s acp-seeks-greater-influence Mantashe: A hat too many? MATUMA LETSOALO, MANDY ROSSOUW AND MMANALEDI MATABOGE | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Dec 18 2009 07:35 The booing of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema by delegates at the South African Communist Party’s special conference in Polokwane last week has intensified a groundswell of opposition to communists within the ANC. The growing hostility towards the left is manifested by the mounting pressure on Gwede Mantashe, the ANC secretary general, to choose between the two hats he wears — as an ANC leader and as the SACP chairperson. Mantashe came under attack this week by ANCYL structures in different provinces, with Gauteng calling for him to be disciplined. But beyond the youth league, the Mail & Guardian spoke to ANC national executive committee members and provincial leaders who said that, since the booing incident, many ANC members are taking an active stance. “Attitudes are hardening from people who ordinarily would not care, and when they take sides, they always choose the ANC,” said one official. In one publicised case the ANC’s Siyanda regional secretary in the Northern Cape, Deshi Ngxanga, announced his decision to withdraw from the SACP in response to the humiliation of Malema. In solidarity Ngxanga confirmed his resignation, telling the M&G, he had taken the step in solidarity with Malema. The battle between Malema and the communist party has been interpreted as a proxy war by those vying for senior positions in the party, to be decided at the next ANC national congress in 2012. The dominant view in the ANCYL is that Mantashe should yield the secretary general’s position to Fikile Mbalula, formerly ANCYL president and now deputy minister of police. The ANCYL has accused Mantashe of failing to defend Malema because his two roles are in conflict. “It is not about principles, it is personalities at play. We are in a new phase of our national democratic revolution. Now power comes with being ministers and with fears that you could lose your position. It is these fears that make people position themselves in this manner,” said a senior leader close to Zuma. However, in interviews conducted by the M&G, it emerged that although senior ANC members are not happy about Mantashe wearing two hats, this does not necessarily translate into support for Mbalula. Too much work NEC members said that Mantashe has been compromised by his two roles because they involve too much work: “He is like the CEO of the ANC, which is the heaviest and most difficult job you can get. I’m not sure he can juggle it,” said one NEC member, also a top government official. Some observers believe the ANC is suffering because of Mantashe’s role. “There are some improvements that can be made in terms of his work,” said the NEC member. “He needs to do his work and not be distracted.” Said another NEC member: “We cannot sit with you [Mantashe] in a meeting and agree on things that we are discussing, then you later sit in another meeting and attack the same things we agreed on.” This week ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe said the removal of Mantashe as ANC secretary general was a non-issue, adding that it was out of order for anyone to call for him to step down now. But Motlanthe acknowledged that there were concerns about Mantashe’s conflicting roles. He said the matter had been raised in the ANC. Motlanthe emphasised that it was important for anyone appointed as an office bearer in both organisations to behave in a manner that would not give rise to suspicions of conflicting loyalties. “The problem is that you can’t take leave from either position,” said Motlanthe. 'Always secretary general' After his spat with Mantashe at the SACP congress, Malema told journalists that he was speaking to Mantashe as the ANC secretary general and not the SACP chairperson because “he cannot take leave from himself. He is always the secretary general of the ANC, even when he is at the SACP conference.” In a past interview with the M&G Mantashe argued that there was nothing wrong with representing both parties. “The most important thing is the discipline of being loyal to decisions that you make in structures,” he said. “If there is a view in the ANC and a decision is made, I can’t go out there and have a second bite.” This week ANC president Jacob Zuma “raised concerns” about the booing of the ANC delegation at the SACP conference. He instructed the delegation to submit a full report to enable the NEC to engage the SACP early next year. The ANC’s NEC insisted that it was not sufficient for the SACP to say an individual was booed, saying that both Malema and Billy Masetlha, the immediate targets, were part of one ANC delegation. On Thursday Cosatu stated that it would not be derailed by a minority in the ANC leadership “who are small in number but with powerful friends in the boardrooms of big business”. 'Rooi gevaar' “They are using rooi gevaar and anti-Cosatu and anti-communist rhetoric, (as well as) allegations of an imminent communist takeover of the ANC. They thrive on rumour and scandal-mongering, with all manner of claims that communists are gunning for certain positions in 2012. This tendency will stop at nothing, including the use of the race card and tribalism,” Cosatu said in its year-end report. It also appears that the ANC NEC is itself divided on whether there is a threat of a communist takeover. Malema is known to believe that he enjoys the support of prominent NEC members including Mbalula, Tony Yengeni and his wife, Lumka, and Tokyo Sexwale, the human settlement minister. The SACP has senior representation in the NEC through its general secretary, Blade Nzimande, and his deputy, Jeremy Cronin. NEC sources said former president Thabo Mbeki had cautioned the party about leaders who wore two caps, but the warning was dismissed because of a perceived need to stand together against him in support of Zuma. The notion that the leftist alliance partners are bent on seizing control of the ANC has long caused tensions within the ANC-led alliance. At the SACP’s 10th congress in 1998, Mbeki told delegates that they should not cause divisions in the ruling party in the hope that they could “build themselves by scavenging on the carcass of a savaged ANC”. This article was part of a two-page spread in the Mail & Guardian's lead story for December 18 to 22 2009. Read the other stories: Source: Mail & Guardian Online Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-18-m antashe-a-hat-too-many Are you a nationalist or a communist? MANDY ROSSOUW AND MMANALEDI MATABOGE: COMMENT | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Dec 18 2009 08:37 That’s what ANC members will need to decide before the 2012 national conference, the battle lines of which are being drawn with much public kicking and screaming. Supporting Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula for the post of party secretary general will show you’re a nationalist. A vote for the present incumbent, Gwede Mantashe, will mean you’re a communist. Or will it? In the debates now raging within the alliance, ideologies don’t really feature. This is a game about playing the man — the ball is practically off the pitch. Nowhere in the world is the line between communists and nationalists fading faster than it is in the latest skirmish between the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Mantashe is the chairperson of the SACP but at the same time the darling of the business world. So to call him simply “red” would be a mistake. ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, who serves as Mbalula’s proxy, supposedly fights under the nationalist banner, saying President Jacob Zuma must not “surrender” to communists. But Malema introduced the debate on the mines, which he believes should be nationalised. So has Malema become a communist? Enter what Malema likes to call “the yellow communist” — cowardly fakes or the 21st-century version of champagne socialists. These communists say they feel the plight of the people, but they do it while living in mansions in upper-class suburbs with, to paraphrase an old struggle song, “garden boys and kitchen girls” all round. Malema’s favourite “yellow communist” right now is SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande. True, he’s no stranger to the good life and things only got better with the acquisition of a new R1.2-million BMW. In turn, Nzimande’s favourite “African chauvinist” nationalist is Malema. As for who is the pot and who is the kettle, both share a taste for the finer things in life, including their 4x4s — Nzimande loved his black Jeep Cherokee before he became higher education minister; Malema adores his grape-coloured Range Rover. Both have chauffeurs. Perhaps they would argue that they need their SUVs when visiting the rural masses who elected them in the hopes of a better life. ANC stalwarts say the “real ANC” operates within a nationalist framework — nationalism implying a common identity and entrenching ideas about “us” (the people) and “them”. In theory the ANC leans towards the left in its belief in nonracialism and popular sovereignty — meaning the party believes it can derive legitimacy only from its popular support. Yet, in effect, the nationalists find the leftwingers a nuisance, believing the communists are using the ANC as their ticket to the spoils of liberation. Maybe SACP deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin has the answer. He claims Malema displays communist tendencies to feed the greedy black bourgeoisie. Therefore, Malema is using communist principles to gain access to the same spoils for himself and his friends. Which is exactly the same thing the nationalists fear the communists will do. Source: Mail & Guardian Online Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-18-a re-you-a-nationalist-or-communist Has Juju lost his mojo? MANDY ROSSOUW: COMMENT | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Dec 18 2009 08:02 The press conference started like any other where the president of the ANC Youth League is the headline act: the room was packed to the rafters and pregnant with expectation. So it was a satisfied Julius Malema who strode into the room followed by his in-house kitchen cabinet of Steven Ngobeni, Andile Lungisa, Pule Mabe and Floyd Shivambu — all leaders of the league. The one notable absence was the league’s secretary general, Vuyelwa Tulelo; apparently she is on leave. Team Malema was dressed to kill, with Malema sporting the latest fashion accessory — a Breitling watch in red gold and crocodile worth R250 000. The press conference was the crescendo of Malema’s orchestrated campaign to get himself on the right side of public sympathy after being booed by SACP delegates at the communists’ congress last week. During the booing, Malema demanded that SACP chairperson Gwede Mantashe give him a chance to address the delegates. But, wearing his SACP hat, Mantashe did what few people in the ANC have ever tried to do: he said no to Julius. Malema then reported the matter to President Jacob Zuma, who is yet to make a clear pronouncement. And with the ANC refusing to come out in support of Malema, he went on a charm offensive. Issuing statements every day to keep himself in the news, he even roped in provincial youth leaders to issue statements affirming their support for him. Upping the attention-grabbing stakes, Malema confided to the assembled and expectant reporters that he had interrupted his annual leave to address this press conference, which was transmitted live on the eNews Channel. But he insisted he was not playing to the crowd. “Anything you write about me, I don’t care about that,” he said. “I’ve not emerged through press conferences. I’m chosen by the poorest youth of South Africa.” His audience, which included European diplomats, was ready to be entertained. Journalists were poised to scribble down those choice quotes that would make the headlines and land their stories on the front page. But despite Malema’s war talk and his denouncing of “yellow communists” he didn’t quite deliver the headline goods everyone was waiting for. He first declared that the ANC Youth League considers the booing by the communists — who quite a while ago called the league’s president an African chauvinist — “an invitation to war”. But when asked for clarification, Malema diluted this, saying: “If this is a declaration of war they must say so.” And finally he asked the communists to “clarify” whether this was a call to war or not. War talk or small talk? Then Malema was asked about rumours that Lungisa, the league’s deputy president, wants to take over as president — a possibly insolent hint that Malema’s power might not be uncontested. But Malema answered with suave eloquence that Lungisa will make a fine successor. Ngobeni at this point chipped in, revealing that some people are telling him that he is smarter than Malema and could do a better job of running the youth league. His ostensible point was that this illustrates the divide- and-rule tactics some of Malema’s detractors use. But perhaps the detractors have succeeded. Malema may now be hauled in for his first disciplinary hearing about his comments on the communists — and his backers are openly admitting they are waiting in the wings for him to step aside. So his comments are diluted and without their usual punchiness. And therefore, most importantly, he fails to make a headline. Source: Mail & Guardian Online Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-18-h as-juju-lost-his-mojo 'I was right about the left' MATUMA LETSOALO | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Dec 18 2009 08:48 The man who caused all the trouble by publicly deploring the growing dominance of the left in the ANC feels vindicated by President Jacob Zuma’s lambasting of communists for interfering in the ANC’s affairs. Speaking to the Mail & Guardian this week, Billy Masetlha dismissed statements by Cosatu that only a small group within the ANC was opposed to the left’s call for radical policy changes in the party. “Zuma is not a small group ... he spoke out on this [and] made it clear who leads the alliance. We are not fighting for socialism. They [the left] are fighting for socialism,” said Masetlha, who is a member of the ANC’s national executive committee. He felt vindicated that Zuma had clarified the roles of the ANC and the SACP in the alliance, he said. Zuma took a tough line on the left at the SACP special congress in Polokwane last week, after the delegates booed ANC Youth League president Julius Malema. In his address to the congress Zuma warned alliance partners not to overstep the line of constructive criticism and become an opposition. Zuma reminded delegates that, contrary to suggestions by some leaders of the left that the alliance should become the centre of power, the ANC would always play a leading role in the alliance. He also warned the SACP against playing an opposition role to the ANC. “We need to respect the constitutional autonomy of all alliance partners,” he said in his address. “The ANC will continue to determine in its structures how to advance its objective. The role of the SACP in the alliance is to assist the ANC to succeed in implementing its programme of action.” Masetlha said the majority of ANC structures were angry about the conduct of some Cosatu and SACP leaders who wanted to take over the ANC. “If I don’t defend the ANC, I would be failing in fulfilling my role as a national executive committee member,” he told the M&G. “This is our revolution. Some of us have sacrificed. We can’t run away now. We cannot have a few people who think they can change the direction of the ANC.” But he is “not anti-communist”, he said. “I believe the party has a huge role to play within the alliance. We [the ANC] need to engage with them ... I am used to real robust engagement. That’s the reality about our revolution ... This revolution is serious. If we start playing these games, we lose it,” said Masetlha. He said he did not object to communists serving as leaders in the ANC. “I would vote for a member of the SACP who has demonstrated good leadership. I love some of the left policies, but differ with the position and strategies they put forward. “I will never be anti-communist. I am not a narrow chauvinist.” Masetlha was booed alongside Malema last week at the SACP conference. But unlike Malema, Masetlha stayed and participated for the duration of the conference. Source: Mail & Guardian Online Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-18-i-w as-right-about-the-left | |
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| http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2009/12/19/smoke-gets-up-your-butt/ http://firedoglake.com/?p=56910  Barack Obama gets his Mission Accomplished banner day, hits the airwaves, and blows smoke up America’s enormous-because-it-won’t-get-off-the-couch ass:
In his weekly address Saturday, Obama extolled the virtues of the bill for the various protections it would provide for Americans in their health insurance coverage. He also called for an up and down vote on the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has struggled to find the necessary 60 votes to beat back a filibuster, which Obama blamed on the insurance companies’ heavy lobbying.
“They’re spending millions of dollars to kill health insurance reform, just like they’ve done so many times before. They want to preserve a system that works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people,” Obama said in his address.
President, please.
The only difference between the insurance companies and al Qaeda is that the insurance companies prefer to pick off Americans one by one. And by “culling the herd” insurance companies are free to heed the only real mandate they have: their fiduciary duty to their shareholders. All else is static.
So please don’t even try to tell me you took on the insurance companies and won. They won’t even break a sweat doing an end-around the health care bill.
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| http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/oreilly-and-demint-play-concern-trolls-gra
It was Bill O'Reilly and Jim DeMint's turn to pretend like no one has ever cut a Senator's time on the floor short tonight on the O'Reilly Factor. Bill-O and 'PrayerCast' member Jim DeMint do a little bit of history revision and pretend like Grandpa McCain hasn't done the exact same thing himself. So nice of them to show such concern for Joe Lie-berman while ignoring that McCain himself has acted a whole lot worse. Little wonder that O'Reilly would lash out at Franken since he's been mocking Bill-O since his days at Air America Radio.
Franken's spot where he panned O'Reilly for pretending like he served in battle on his radio show and his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them had to have gotten under O'Reilly's skin. If anyone out there has the recording of that segment on Air America, let the site know. I'd love to post it if I could find it.
As Think Progress noted, McCain was more than happy to cut off a Democratic Senator's time during the Iraq war debate. Now he's got memory lapse. Apparently it's too much to ask O'Reilly or DeMint to tell the truth about that in this segment. Fox News... unfair and unbalanced.
I'm still trying to figure out why the staff at Hardball could find footage of John McCain from back in 2002 cutting off another member of the Senate when the Rachel Maddow Show said they couldn't find it in the C-SPAN archives. Very strange.
UPDATE: My mistake on the Hardball/Rachel Maddow show segments. Matthews showed a different clip and not the one Rachel's staff could not find. At least both of those shows, unlike O'Reilly, bothered to point out that McCain is a huge hypocrite with his feigned outrage towards Franken "picking on" his buddy Lieberman when all Al was doing is following the directions given to him by Harry Reid.
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| http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/12/19/u-s-district-court-judge-con-cholakis-dies-was-hero-of-ballot-access/ http://www.ballot-access.org/?p=9607 On December 19, U.S. District Court Judge Con G. Cholakis of Albany, New York, died, at the age of 66. Here is the obituary from the New York Times. The Times headline for the story mentions Cholakis’ surprising and daring decision in 1994, putting the statewide Libertarian Party slate on the ballot.
In 1994, when Cholakis struck down several New York ballot access laws, and also gave the Libertarian Party more time to collect signatures to compensate for the disadvantages imposed by those unconstitutional laws, many powerful Republican Party figures in the state were outraged. The 1994 gubernatorial election was perceived to very close, and Republicans felt that Bob Schulz, the Libertarian candidate, would damage the chances of the Republican nominee, George Pataki. The 2nd circuit heard one appeal of the Cholakis decision, and ordered him to re-hear the case, to give the State Board of Elections and the challengers to the Libertarian petition another opportunity to present evidence. Cholakis heard the case again, but he reiterated his opinion. He had struck down the New York law requiring petitions to include the Assembly district number, and the precinct number, of each signer. He had also struck down another law, letting the qualified parties, but not the unqualified parties, receive a free list of the registered voters.
At the time, it was very unusual for federal judges in New York to strike down any of New York’s ballot access laws. As of 1994, the 2nd circuit (which includes New York, Connecticut, and Vermont) was the only U.S. Court of Appeals in the nation that had never struck down any state ballot access law. But, more New York state ballot access laws were struck down in federal court in 1996, and in 2000, and in 2004.
The 1994 outcome was even more surprising because the Libertarian Party did not have an attorney. Schulz, who is not an attorney, represented himself pro se. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link. | |
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| http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/report-vaccine-advisors-had-financial 
Well! I'm feeling much safer now!
WASHINGTON — A new report finds that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a poor job of screening medical experts for financial conflicts when it hired them to advise the agency on vaccine safety, officials said Thursday.
Most of the experts who served on advisory panels in 2007 to evaluate vaccines for flu and cervical cancer had potential conflicts that were never resolved, the report said. Some were legally barred from considering the issues but did so anyway.
In the report, expected to be released Friday, Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, found that the centers failed nearly every time to ensure that the experts adequately filled out forms confirming they were not being paid by companies with an interest in their decisions.
The report found that 64 percent of the advisers had potential conflicts of interest that were never identified or were left unresolved by the centers. Thirteen percent failed to have an appropriate conflicts form on file at the agency at all, which should have barred their participation in the meetings entirely, Mr. Levinson found. And 3 percent voted on matters that ethics officers had already barred them from considering.
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| http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/senators-attend-prayercast-pray-health-car
Rachel Maddow reports on the 'PrayerCast' attended by Senators Jim DeMint and Sam Brownback and Rep. Michele Bachmann where they prayed for the defeat of the health care bill. This has to be one of the creepiest things I've watched in a long time.
Transcript via MSNBC.
MADDOW: A lot of attention being paid today to the fight within the left over whether or not to support health reform now that it‘s been so watered down. I‘m here to tell you that this is the other side of that fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOU ENGLE, PASTOR: Let‘s take hands together and let‘s pray right now for our leaders, the senators who are in this debate now. Would you just lift your voices just for a few moments? And let‘s just altogether pray together.
Lord, right now, we‘re calling on you. Oh, Lord, come and come to our senators. Would you break into their hearts and minds? Would you rule over them?
Lord, we‘re praying, give them wisdom. The wisdom that comes down from up above. For such a time as this we cry out to you!
And we thank you, Living God, that you hear in Jesus name, amen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Those two vaguely looking familiar men you see there at the end of that clip, those are two sitting Republican U.S. senators, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. They were the headlining politicians at last night‘s effort to stop health reform with prayer.
Senators DeMint and Brownback were the headlining politicians at last night‘s online anti- health reform prayercast. But the marquee pastor chosen to lead the prayers at the anti-health reform event was Lou Engle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENGLE: We dare to believe today that you overthrow, overrule keys, that you actually rule in the Senate debates even as we pray. So now we stand before you and worship you. The God who answers prayer, rise, oh, God. Hear, show mercy and turn this nation to you, we pray.
In Jesus name, break in—break in at this moment as we lift our voices all across America. Come, Lord. Hear from heaven and intervene in Jesus name we pray.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Liberals are debating whether or not it is smart and ethical to have a mandate without a public option. On the Jim DeMint and Sam Brownback side of the aisle, they are approaching this rather differently, as you can see here.
Lou Engle leading the prayer part of the anti-health reform fight with Senators Brownback and DeMint is founder and president of a group called Call to Conscience, as we reported last night. Call to Conscience describes itself as a movement to bring holiness and purity back to America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENGLE: What happened to California will release a spirit that is more demonic than Islam, a spirit of lawlessness and anarchy. And a sexual insanity will be unleashed into the Earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: It is Mr. Sexual Insanity there who presidential hopefuls, like Senator Jim DeMint and Senator Sam Brownback have turned to as their interlocutor, for killing health care reform maybe not by voting it down, maybe not by filibustering it, maybe not by delaying it to death, maybe not by getting liberals to fight each other to death over it, but killing health care reform through God‘s intervention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JIM DEMINT ®, SOUTH CAROLINA: If we have the government making decisions about the most personal and private part of our lives, it is so naive to think that that coverage is not going to include a number of things that cause people of faith a lot of heartburn, whether it‘s funding abortions, whether it‘s rationing care, whether it‘s funding medical marijuana, whether it‘s euthanasia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Funding abortions, rationing care, medical marijuana and killing people. None of which is actually in the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: The Democratic leadership wants to fund abortion in this bill. And it‘s a real tragedy, because abortion is not health care.
DEMINT: It‘s not about health care. It‘s about government control.
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK ®, KANSAS: It‘s a debate about life or death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Also not actually talking about what‘s in the bill. But as off the wall as those senators‘ claims sound about health reform, the senators often sounded almost rational next to the other leaders of this national prayercast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWNBACK: Most people agree with this statement, I‘m satisfied with my own health care. I think it costs too much and I‘m concerned about people that don‘t have health coverage.
PERKINS: I think that about milk, though, too. I mean, I think I pay too much for it, but I like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: And that penetrating interviewer‘s name is Tony Perkins. Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council which doesn‘t just produce prayercasts against health reform. They also produce broadcast ads against health reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They won‘t pay for my surgery. But we‘re forced to pay for abortions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: The Family Research Council‘s Tony Perkins was joined at the prayercast against health reform by James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Mr. Dobson phoned it in literally to the anti-health reform prayercast and he gave his own interpretation of what he thinks the health reform bill would do.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DR. JAMES C. DOBSON, FOCU ON THE FAMILY ACTION: Heavenly Father, the principles of righteousness that you taught us are just being abandoned now by our governmental leaders. And if they prevail in the measures that they‘re now considering, even more babies will die. More than 50 million already have. And in other measures, the institution of marriage itself, will be destroyed.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MADDOW: It‘s amazing that they found room in the health reform bill to abolish marriage. I mean, what with all the room taken up in the bill by the “killing the babies” and the marijuana and the expensive milk being taken away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMINT: We cannot fall for this idea that we need to keep our faith in a closet and let the country go its own secular way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Senator DeMint not falling for that old separation of church and state canard, even as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, another participant of last night‘s event, praised, in this case, for power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN ®, MINNESOTA: Lord, as leaders of our country, Lord, I pray as a stand-in for myself, I pray as a stand-in for others, Lord, who may not have looked to you in all your ways, Father, as leaders. Father, we want to represent you in the way that we should.
And so, Lord, I ask for forgiveness for that and our own country. Lord, we know that we have failed and we haven‘t done as we should. And so that‘s why now, Lord, we ask for your forgiveness. And we repent and we turn from that.
And we say, oh, Lord, we deserve your wrath. But would you yet give our nation mercy? We ask for your mercy. We cry out to you, oh, God.
This is our moment and this is our time. Lord, we are at the end of ourselves. And now, we need you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: At the end of ourselves and now we need you.
And now, I‘m not sure what we need. But we have had a bit of a revelation about some of the less well-known opposition to health reform. We will have much, much, much more on that in just a moment.
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| http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/12/19/former-fec-chairman-op-ed-on-why-public-funding-laws-should-not-include-additional-rescue-funds/ http://www.ballot-access.org/?p=9603 Bradley Smith, a former chair of the Federal Election Commission, has this op-ed in the December 19 issue of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Smith explains that public funding laws, to be constitutional, must avoid provisions that gives extra funding for publicly-funded candidates, when the publicly funded-candidate has an opponent who is not accepting public funding and who is the beneficiary of large independent expenditures. “Independent expenditures” means some sort of advertising allegedly on behalf of some candidate, but which has not been coordinated with the candidate.
The occasion for Smith’s op-ed is that Wisconsin recently enacted public funding for candidates for judicial office. The Wisconsin law provides for extra public funding, of the type that Smith argues violates the First Amendment. The basis for Smith’s opinion is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Davis v FEC, the decision that struck down the “millionaire’s amendment” in federal campaign law. That decision didn’t deal directly with public funding. Instead, it struck down part of the McCain-Feingold law that said contribution limits are substantially relaxed when a candidate has an opponent who is spending large amounts of money on his or her own campaign. | |
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| http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2009/12/us-history-of-opposing-space-weapons.html  Summary: The Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) treaty resolution submitted in the UN First committee yearly since 1982 has always overwhelmingly passed. United States voted "no" twice, then has abstained 21 times, each year
from 1984-2004, when it started voting *no* again (4 times), until again abstaining in 2009.
It is quite clear that the military industrial complex does not want the successful negotiation of a new treaty to ban weapons in space. They are the source of US blockage of any progress.
2009: abstain (US & Israel)
Yes: 176, No: 0, Abstentions: 2, Non-Voting: 14, Total voting
membership: 192
2008: no (US) abstain (Israel)
Yes: 177, No: 1, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 13, Total voting
membership: 192
2007: no (US) abstain (Israel)
Yes: 178, No: 1, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 12, Total voting
membership: 192
2006:</strong> no (US) abstain (Israel)
Yes: 178, No: 1, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 12, Total voting
membership: 192
2005: no (US & Israel)
Yes: 180, No: 2, Abstentions: 0, Non-Voting: 9, Total voting
membership: 191
2004: abstain (US, Israel, Haiti, Palau)
Yes: 178, No: 0, Abstentions: 4, Non-Voting: 9, Total voting
membership: 191
2003: abstain (US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia)
Yes: 174, No: 0, Abstentions: 4, Non-Voting: 13, Total voting
membership: 191
2002: abstain (US, Israel, Micronesia)
Yes: 159, No: 0, Abstentions: 3, Non-Voting: 29, Total voting
membership: 191
2001: abstain (US, Georgia, Israel, Micronesia)
Yes: 156, No: 0, Abstentions: 4, Non-Voting: 29, Total voting
membership: 189
2000: abstain (US, Israel, Micronesia)
Yes: 163, No: 0, Abstentions: 3, Non-Voting: 23, Total voting
membership: 189
1999: abstain (US, Israel)
Yes: 162, No: 0, Abstentions: 2, Non-Voting: 24, Total voting
membership: 188
1998: abstain (US, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia)
Yes: 165, No: 0, Abstentions: 4, Non-Voting: 16, Total voting
membership: 185
1997: abstain (US)
Yes: 128, No: 0, Abstentions: 39, Non-Voting: 18, Total voting
membership: 185
1996: abstain (US)
Yes: 128, No: 0, Abstentions: 39, Non-Voting: 18, Total voting
membership: 185
1995: abstain (US)
Yes: 121, No: 0, Abstentions: 46, Non-Voting: 18, Total voting
membership: 185
1994: abstain (US)
Yes: 170, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 14, Total voting
membership: 185
1993: abstain (US)
Yes: 169, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 14, Total voting
membership: 184
1992: abstain (US, Micronesia)
Yes: 164, No: 0, Abstentions: 2, Non-Voting: 13, Total voting
membership: 179
1991: abstain (US)
Yes: 155, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 10, Total voting
membership: 166
1990: abstain (US)
Yes: 149, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 9, Total voting
membership: 159
1989: abstain (US)
Yes: 149, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 9, Total voting
membership: 159
1988: abstain (US)
Yes: 154, No: 1, Abstentions: 0, Non-Voting: 4, Total voting
membership: 159
1987: abstain (US)
Yes: 154, No: 1, Abstentions: 0, Non-Voting: 4, Total voting
membership: 159
1986: abstain (US)
Yes: 154, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 4, Total voting
membership: 159
1985: abstain (US, Grenada)
Yes: 151, No: 0, Abstentions: 2, Non-Voting: 6, Total voting
membership: 159
1984: abstain (US)
Yes: 150, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 8, Total voting
membership: 159
1983: no (US) abstain (United Kingdom)
Yes: 150, No: 0, Abstentions: 1, Non-Voting: 8, Total voting
membership: 159
1982: no (US) abstain (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, United Kingdom)
Yes: 138 , No: 1 , Abstentions: 7 , Non-Voting: 11 , Total voting
membership: 157
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| http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/19/more-money-to-community-health-care-centers-and-minor-improvement-to-cantwells-basic-health-program/ http://firedoglake.com/?p=56933  graphic: MyEyeSees via Flickr Looking through the manager’s amendment, one of the best pieces of pure good news is the extra money going to community health care centers and the National Health Service Corps fund. Community health care centers provide the vital service of getting individual cost effective primary care. If your goal is to increase access to “health care” and not just something called “health insurance,” I don’t think there is a better way to spend federal dollars than on the expansion of community health care centers.
Bernie Sanders has been a strong advocate of community health care centers and has been pushing for increased funding. This extra money brings the total of new money directed to community health care centers to $10 billion. (It is important to remember that this is still $4 billion less than what is provided for in the House bill.)
Cantwell’s Basic Health Program
Another small but potentially important change was made to Cantwell’s Basic Health program. States can set up a Basic Health program for their citizens between 133-200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The Basic Health program is like a better designed exchange which more closely resembles the health care systems of Switzerland, the Netherlands, or Belgium (although still not as good as they are). The biggest hindrance to the Basic Health program was that states choosing to create one would only get 85% of the money the federal government would have otherwise spent on tax credits for qualified individuals.
I previously expressed concern that losing that extra money would strongly discourage states from taking part in the Basic Health program. The managers amendment has improved this problem by allowing states to get 95% (instead of 85%) of the money that the federal government would otherwise have spent. This change to increased funding should encourage more states to create Basic Health programs, and in the long run could end up saving the federal government even more money. That said, I still think states should get 100% of the money, and not just 95%, if they choose to create a Basic Health program.
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| http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2009/12/19/also-the-iraq-war-is-over-and-russian-chinese-oil-companies-won/ http://firedoglake.com/?p=56904  Master Valve courtesy YourLocalDave (flickr) U.S. oil companies have been frozen out of the first major round of bidding for exploratory oil-field development contracts in (non-Kurdish) Iraq:
Not a single U.S. company secured a deal in the auction of contracts that will shape the Iraqi oil industry for the next couple of decades. Two of the most lucrative of the multi-billion-dollar oil contracts went to two countries which bitterly opposed the U.S. invasion — Russia and China — while even Total Oil of France, which led the charge to deny international approval for the war at the U.N. Security Council in 2003, won a bigger stake than the Americans in the most recent auction. “[The distribution of oil contracts] certainly answers the theory that the war was for the benefit of big U.S. oil interests,” says Alex Munton, Middle East oil analyst for the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, whose clients include major U.S. companies. “That has not been demonstrated by what has happened this week.”
I remember in the feverish late summer of 2002 a variety of think-tanky and media people speculated about what it would take to secure Russia’s vote for the invasion at the Security Council. One variety of conjecture: the U.S. would need to guarantee a contract between Saddam and Moscow to develop the huge West Qurna oil field. A neoconservative friend of mine then working with me at a magazine sniffed: That would be untoward! Yes, better to invade and occupy Iraq without the Security Council, “purity” of intentions protected, and then deny forever more that oil ever has anything to do with why we care about the Middle East, you conspiracy theorist.
Anyway. I’d add that whatever people’s “true” intentions about wanting to invade Iraq — my own understanding: it was about a demonstration of American power, however misguided and crude, leavened with some theological messianism about an unthought-out concept passing itself off as “freedom” in some corners — the fact that the U.S. oil companies didn’t get these contracts doesn’t prove the Iraq war wasn’t about oil. A perfectly commensurate explanation would be that the U.S. simply doesn’t have the power to guarantee the Iraqis hand over the contracts to American oil companies. I don’t think the war was about oil, but still. This has been your cheeky logic lesson of the snowy morning.
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