There's just one element missing from these snapshots of America's ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before the "death panel" warm-up acts of last summer. Three heavy hitters rule. You've heard of one of them, Rupert Murdoch. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans. But even those carrying the Kochs' banner may not know who these brothers are. Their self-interested and at times radical agendas, like Murdoch's, go well beyond, and sometimes counter to, the interests of those who serve as spear carriers in the political pageants hawked on Fox News. The country will be in for quite a ride should these potentates gain power, and given the recession-battered electorate's unchecked anger and the Obama White House's unfocused political strategy, they might. All three tycoons are the latest incarnation of what the historian Kim Phillips-Fein labeled "Invisible Hands" in her prescient 2009 book of that title: those corporate players who have financed the far right ever since the du Pont brothers spawned the American Liberty League in 1934 to bring down F.D.R. You can draw a straight line from the Liberty League's crusade against the New Deal "socialism" of Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission and child labor laws to the John Birch Society-Barry Goldwater assault on J.F.K. and Medicare to the Koch-Murdoch-backed juggernaut against our "socialist" president.
There's just one element missing from these snapshots of America's ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before the "death panel" warm-up acts of last summer. Three heavy hitters rule. You've heard of one of them, Rupert Murdoch. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans. But even those carrying the Kochs' banner may not know who these brothers are.
Their self-interested and at times radical agendas, like Murdoch's, go well beyond, and sometimes counter to, the interests of those who serve as spear carriers in the political pageants hawked on Fox News. The country will be in for quite a ride should these potentates gain power, and given the recession-battered electorate's unchecked anger and the Obama White House's unfocused political strategy, they might.
All three tycoons are the latest incarnation of what the historian Kim Phillips-Fein labeled "Invisible Hands" in her prescient 2009 book of that title: those corporate players who have financed the far right ever since the du Pont brothers spawned the American Liberty League in 1934 to bring down F.D.R. You can draw a straight line from the Liberty League's crusade against the New Deal "socialism" of Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission and child labor laws to the John Birch Society-Barry Goldwater assault on J.F.K. and Medicare to the Koch-Murdoch-backed juggernaut against our "socialist" president.
GEORGE J. MITCHELL, the United States Middle East envoy, tried to counter low expectations for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by harking back to his experience as a mediator in Northern Ireland. At an Aug. 20 news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing the talks that will begin this week, Mr. Mitchell reminded journalists that during difficult negotiations in Northern Ireland, "We had about 700 days of failure and one day of success" -- the day in 1998 that the Belfast Agreement instituting power-sharing between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists was signed.
GEORGE J. MITCHELL, the United States Middle East envoy, tried to counter low expectations for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by harking back to his experience as a mediator in Northern Ireland.
At an Aug. 20 news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing the talks that will begin this week, Mr. Mitchell reminded journalists that during difficult negotiations in Northern Ireland, "We had about 700 days of failure and one day of success" -- the day in 1998 that the Belfast Agreement instituting power-sharing between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists was signed.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- One of the country's most senior prosecutors said Saturday that President Hamid Karzai fired him last week after he repeatedly refused to block corruption investigations at the highest levels of Mr. Karzai's government. Enlarge This Image Omar Sobhani/Reuters Western officials confirm reports that President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and others in his government have repeatedly thwarted prosecutions against senior Afghan government figures. Related Insurgents Attack NATO Base and Camp in Afghanistan (August 29, 2010) Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, the former deputy attorney general, said investigations of more than two dozen senior Afghan officials -- including cabinet ministers, ambassadors and provincial governors -- were being held up or blocked outright by Mr. Karzai, Attorney General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko and others. Mr. Faqiryar's account of the troubles plaguing the anticorruption investigations, which Mr. Karzai's office disputed, has been largely corroborated in interviews with five Western officials familiar with the cases. They say Mr. Karzai and others in his government have repeatedly thwarted prosecutions against senior Afghan government figures. An American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Afghan prosecutors had prepared several cases against officials suspected of corruption, but that Mr. Karzai was "stalling and stalling and stalling."
KABUL, Afghanistan -- One of the country's most senior prosecutors said Saturday that President Hamid Karzai fired him last week after he repeatedly refused to block corruption investigations at the highest levels of Mr. Karzai's government. Enlarge This Image Omar Sobhani/Reuters
Western officials confirm reports that President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and others in his government have repeatedly thwarted prosecutions against senior Afghan government figures. Related
Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, the former deputy attorney general, said investigations of more than two dozen senior Afghan officials -- including cabinet ministers, ambassadors and provincial governors -- were being held up or blocked outright by Mr. Karzai, Attorney General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko and others.
Mr. Faqiryar's account of the troubles plaguing the anticorruption investigations, which Mr. Karzai's office disputed, has been largely corroborated in interviews with five Western officials familiar with the cases. They say Mr. Karzai and others in his government have repeatedly thwarted prosecutions against senior Afghan government figures.
An American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Afghan prosecutors had prepared several cases against officials suspected of corruption, but that Mr. Karzai was "stalling and stalling and stalling."
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Seven U.S. troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, while officials found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign aides working for a female candidate in the western province of Herat.Two servicemen died in bombings Sunday in southern Afghanistan, while two others were killed in a bomb attack in the south on Saturday and three in fighting in the east the same day, NATO said. Their identities and other details were being withheld until relatives could be notified.The latest deaths bring to 42 the number of American forces who have died this month in Afghanistan after July's high of 66. A total of 62 international forces have died in the country this month, including seven British troops.Fighting is intensifying with the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to bring the total number of international forces in Afghanistan to 120,000 -- 100,000 of them American. Most of those new troops have been assigned to the southern insurgent strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces where major battles are fought almost daily as part of a gathering drive to push out the Taliban.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Seven U.S. troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, while officials found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign aides working for a female candidate in the western province of Herat.
Two servicemen died in bombings Sunday in southern Afghanistan, while two others were killed in a bomb attack in the south on Saturday and three in fighting in the east the same day, NATO said. Their identities and other details were being withheld until relatives could be notified.
The latest deaths bring to 42 the number of American forces who have died this month in Afghanistan after July's high of 66. A total of 62 international forces have died in the country this month, including seven British troops.
Fighting is intensifying with the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to bring the total number of international forces in Afghanistan to 120,000 -- 100,000 of them American. Most of those new troops have been assigned to the southern insurgent strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces where major battles are fought almost daily as part of a gathering drive to push out the Taliban.
KYOTO, Japan -- The demonstrators appeared one day in December, just as children at an elementary school for ethnic Koreans were cleaning up for lunch. The group of about a dozen Japanese men gathered in front of the school gate, using bullhorns to call the students cockroaches and Korean spies. Inside, the panicked students and teachers huddled in their classrooms, singing loudly to drown out the insults, as parents and eventually police officers blocked the protesters' entry. The December episode was the first in a series of demonstrations at the Kyoto No. 1 Korean Elementary School that shocked conflict-averse Japan, where even political protesters on the radical fringes are expected to avoid embroiling regular citizens, much less children. Responding to public outrage, the police arrested four of the protesters this month on charges of damaging the school's reputation. More significantly, the protests also signaled the emergence here of a new type of ultranationalist group. The groups are openly anti-foreign in their message, and unafraid to win attention by holding unruly street demonstrations.
KYOTO, Japan -- The demonstrators appeared one day in December, just as children at an elementary school for ethnic Koreans were cleaning up for lunch. The group of about a dozen Japanese men gathered in front of the school gate, using bullhorns to call the students cockroaches and Korean spies.
Inside, the panicked students and teachers huddled in their classrooms, singing loudly to drown out the insults, as parents and eventually police officers blocked the protesters' entry.
The December episode was the first in a series of demonstrations at the Kyoto No. 1 Korean Elementary School that shocked conflict-averse Japan, where even political protesters on the radical fringes are expected to avoid embroiling regular citizens, much less children. Responding to public outrage, the police arrested four of the protesters this month on charges of damaging the school's reputation.
More significantly, the protests also signaled the emergence here of a new type of ultranationalist group. The groups are openly anti-foreign in their message, and unafraid to win attention by holding unruly street demonstrations.
AFP - Yemen denied on Sunday that foreign forces are involved in its battle against Al-Qaeda, as Sanaa's security forces went on high alert after nine soldiers were killed by suspected jihadists. "We are surprised at groundless allegations in several media reports lately on the presence of British soldiers and on the arrival of US forces to aid in fighting terror in Yemen," the defence ministry's 26sep.net news website quoted a Yemeni official as saying. The official said that Yemen's cooperation with the "United States or other countries" in fighting terrorism is "restricted to the exchange of information which facilitates its hunt (for) terrorist elements and handing them over to justice." Suspected Al-Qaeda militants have carried out several attacks in past weeks against Yemeni soldiers, the latest of which killed nine soldiers and a civilian in the town of Jaar in the southern Abyan province on Saturday, according to a security official.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the government would not fund boycotts from within against the State of Israel. He was referring to the protest of several Israeli artists, who declared over the weekend that they would refuse to perform in the new cultural hall in the city of Ariel, which is located beyond the Green Line. "The State of Israel is subject to a de-legitimization attack on the part of different elements in the international arena, including attempts to launch academic and economic boycotts," Netanyahu said. "The last thing we need now is an attempt of boycotts from within." The prime minister added, "I don't want to revoke every artist's right for a political opinion, but we as a government should not fund boycotts against Israel's citizens. I was happy to hear from the culture minister that other artists announced they would perform as planned. That's the right approach." Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the government should withdraw funding from theaters which refuse to perform in Ariel.
"The State of Israel is subject to a de-legitimization attack on the part of different elements in the international arena, including attempts to launch academic and economic boycotts," Netanyahu said. "The last thing we need now is an attempt of boycotts from within."
The prime minister added, "I don't want to revoke every artist's right for a political opinion, but we as a government should not fund boycotts against Israel's citizens. I was happy to hear from the culture minister that other artists announced they would perform as planned. That's the right approach."
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the government should withdraw funding from theaters which refuse to perform in Ariel.
Recently, however, two Gulf countries - Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - have provoked Morocco's ire. The Kuwaiti channel, al-Watan, has apologised to Moroccans for the animated comedy series Bu Qatada and Bu Nabeel, which sparked outrage for its improper depiction of Moroccan women as scheming witches plotting to ensnare rich Kuwaiti husbands by casting spells on them.Last month, in another, rather under-reported incident, Saudi Arabia banned Moroccan women "of a certain age" from umra (the lesser pilgrimage), for fear they would abuse theirs visas "for other purposes" even when they are accompanied by male relatives.This is a reference to an underground sex industry that is believed to be staffed by Arab women smuggled in from the Maghreb and north Africa. Short of calling all Moroccan women prostitutes and their men pimps, there is little more that could have been done to summarily insult the nation. The implication that Moroccans will exploit a visa for a sacred religious ritual to trade and facilitate sexual favours only serves to rub more salt into the wound.
Recently, however, two Gulf countries - Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - have provoked Morocco's ire. The Kuwaiti channel, al-Watan, has apologised to Moroccans for the animated comedy series Bu Qatada and Bu Nabeel, which sparked outrage for its improper depiction of Moroccan women as scheming witches plotting to ensnare rich Kuwaiti husbands by casting spells on them.
Last month, in another, rather under-reported incident, Saudi Arabia banned Moroccan women "of a certain age" from umra (the lesser pilgrimage), for fear they would abuse theirs visas "for other purposes" even when they are accompanied by male relatives.
This is a reference to an underground sex industry that is believed to be staffed by Arab women smuggled in from the Maghreb and north Africa. Short of calling all Moroccan women prostitutes and their men pimps, there is little more that could have been done to summarily insult the nation. The implication that Moroccans will exploit a visa for a sacred religious ritual to trade and facilitate sexual favours only serves to rub more salt into the wound.
That was an education.
We've recently got a group of Eastern European students starting their degree in my department, and the little cultural things are sort of endearing.
Trying to be a good guy I got everybody together for drinks. They had all sorts of questions. For the Russian and the Ukrainian girls it was more on the lines of, "Why did Fulbright stick me here?"
It's actually a great school as far as Eastern European studies. We've got the #2 center for the area in the United States, which is surprising, because it's not a big school.
So I got them into the local German style rathskeller and we're throwing down liter steins. Somehow the conversation steers to this thing about stereotypes, and I thinking about how to explain what a gold digger is, and the stereotype about Slavic women.
Both of the new students, super nice. Intelligent. The Russian used to be a correspondent for Ria Novosti in the US.
So about this time, one of the new American has a bout of what I'll call racist Tourette's dropping the word which shall not be repeated like 6 times in a row, loud, in a bar. So I'm thinking to myself, should I even try to explain to the new foreign students what was just said, and why it's bad. Before I can even get anything out but, "Dude, not ok." This jerkoff starts in with the steroetypes about black folks in America.
Remember how I said some cultural things are endearing? This wasn't so much. So I'm still wondering to myself.
When you are with people from another culture that may not fully understand what's being said when someone has a bout of racist Tourette's how much should you try to explain?
Is it better to understand the horrible stuff being said? Or is ignorance bliss in this case? And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Been there, done that. It was, ummmmm, awkward. Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
One of the most under-reported political stories is the increasingly vehement, nationwide movement -- far from Ground Zero -- to oppose new mosques and Islamic community centers. These ugly campaigns are found across the country, in every region, and extend far beyond the warped extremists who are doing things such as sponsoring "Burn a Quran Day." And now, from CBS News last night, we have this:
A federal cybersecurity bill that critics say creates a presidential "kill switch" for the Internet could be added on to a defense spending bill and passed without much debate, technology news sources report. Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), one of the sponsors of the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, told GovInfoSecurity.com that the Senate is considering attaching the bill as a rider to a defense authorization bill likely to pass through Congress before the mid-term elections. "It's hard to get a measure like cybersecurity legislation passed on its own," Carper said. Carper, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced the bill in June in an effort to combat cyber-crime and the threat of online warfare and terrorism. Critics say the bill would allow the president to disconnect Internet networks and force private websites to comply with broad cybersecurity measures. Future US presidents would have those powers renewed indefinitely. The bill (PDF) states that Internet service providers, search engines and other Internet-related businesses "shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by the Department of Homeland Security.
Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), one of the sponsors of the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, told GovInfoSecurity.com that the Senate is considering attaching the bill as a rider to a defense authorization bill likely to pass through Congress before the mid-term elections.
"It's hard to get a measure like cybersecurity legislation passed on its own," Carper said.
Carper, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced the bill in June in an effort to combat cyber-crime and the threat of online warfare and terrorism. Critics say the bill would allow the president to disconnect Internet networks and force private websites to comply with broad cybersecurity measures. Future US presidents would have those powers renewed indefinitely.
The bill (PDF) states that Internet service providers, search engines and other Internet-related businesses "shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by the Department of Homeland Security.
Colombia Reports: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Saturday promised to return 6 million hectares of farmland that were stolen by paramilitary groups after displacing its original owners.
Honduras Photo Gallery: Police disperse demonstrators during clashes in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, Aug. 27, 2010. Demonstrators clashed with police as the government has not agreed to fulfill the former government's promise of raising minimum wage in some industries.
FM Bolivia: For the first time in its history, Bolivia will access a loan of $ 250 million of freely available funds that it will invest in social development and integration programs, said on Saturday President Evo Morales Ayma. (...) The loan from South Korea is for 40 years with a five-year grace period and just 0.1 percent interest annually; funds that are entering the country without any conditions. He said most of the loan will be invested in the construction of bridges over rivers that link the departments of East and West.
Chile, SANTIAGO, Aug 28, 2010 (IPS) - Controversial plans to build the Barrancones thermoelectric plant near a protected area in the northern Chilean region of Coquimbo were cancelled Friday, but not before reviving the debate on other projects for polluting coal-fired power stations. "Now Barrancones is being talked about as if it were the only project of its kind," Lorenzo Núñez, head of the Mother Earth Defence Committee (CODEMAT) in Tarapacá region, over 1,700 kilometres north of Santiago, told IPS. For years CODEMAT has opposed the construction of two coal-fired thermoelectric plants close to the Chanavayita fishing cove, 54 kilometres south of Iquique, the capital of Tarapacá.
MIAMI - Forecasters say Earl has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane as it barrels toward several islands in the eastern Caribbean. (...) The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says Earl could make landfall over the Northern Leeward Islands as soon as Sunday night. It could become a major hurricane by Tuesday.
A Category 4 hurricane hitting New York City would be a mess.
It's true that there's mass transit, but how's it going to be if you've got 8 million + people trying to get out of the city to upstate?
If there's much of a rain event at all, the subway is going to be flooded.
I can only hope that enough has been learned from Katrina that the aftermath would be handled better, but you never know. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
