Sometimes I wonder if the media isn’t so much anti-Obama as it's just plain anti-intellectual and pro-toilet paper sales.
The free medical clinic at the Forum in Inglewood reached capacity again Wednesday, as hundreds camped out overnight to receive medical and dental care.
More than 2,000 sought services on the first day of the medical clinic -- and hundreds were turned away. People were lined up Tuesday night, hoping to get in. The MTA announced it was extending service of Line 115 because of "overwhelming demand" for rides to the clinic, which runs for eight days.
On Tuesday, procedures included 95 tooth extractions, 22 oral surgeries, 470 fillings, prescriptions for 140 eyeglasses, 45 mammograms, 43 HIV tests and 96 Pap smears.
The Remote Area Medical Foundation is a trailer-equipped service that has staged health clinics in rural parts of the United States, Mexico and South America. It brought its health camp to urban Los Angeles County on Tuesday to begin a stint that the group's officials described as its first foray into a major urban setting.
Organizers expected big crowds in a county with high unemployment and an estimated 22% of working-age adults lacking health insurance.
On Tuesday, the turnout was so large that hundreds had to be turned away.
It's just days before the mid-term elections, and you're sitting in the White House watching a close Congressional race when it bubbles up that the the Republican incumbent, long dogged by corruption rumors, is under federal investigation.
That's the situation the Bush White House found itself in when it was reported in late October 2006, first on blogs, that U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton was investigating Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ).
And that's when the damage control machine kicked into gear.
Scott Jennings, deputy to Karl Rove, and White House Counsel Harriet Miers intervened to try to get the Justice Department to throw cold water on the reports of an investigation, despite the DOJ's policy not to confirm or deny the existence of ongoing probes, according to e-mails released by the House Judiciary Committee today. (Read them here.)
In the two days following Miers and Jennings' emails, articles appeared in the press quoting DOJ officials saying the investigation was in "preliminary stage" -- which it was not.
One piece in the Arizona Republic, speculating that the news about the
investigation was politically-motivated, quoted a DOJ official: "I want to caution you not to chop this guy's (Renzi's) head off." That's the type of statement that surely helped Renzi in the heated days before the election.Renzi went on to win reelection, but was indicted on wide-ranging corruption charges in April 2008. The case is still pending.
The Jennings/Miers e-mails make for rich reading. On October 24, Jennings wrote, under the subject "re: our call":
"The person I called you about [Renzi] said the USATTY in his area, as well as the local FBI office, said they were unaware of any investigation."
Miers replied, describing how she intervened to pressure the DOJ on its public stance:
Scott, I just finished speaking with [Deputy AG] Paul McNulty. He said what we suspected he would. He has been contacted by a number of frustrated members of the Congress asking why people can't be vindicated in the event nothing is going on. He acknowledged that the situation is frustrating, but reiterated their position that they cannot confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. He said the AG did an interview last week to put things in as good as a perspective as possible by explaining that no one should be talking and that a refusal to deny should be given no meaning beyond that Justice does not admit or deny the existence of an investigation. I observed that at some point, immediately preceding an election, unattributed statements about the existence of an investigation was rankly unfair. He is continuing to think about the situation, but I did not get a lot of encouragement that they will deviate from normal course.In other words: despite being told it was DOJ policy not to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, Miers asked Paul McNulty, the deputy attorney general, to knock down the reports of a probe. But she "did not get a lot of encouragement that they will deviate from normal course."
In the next two days, the articles citing anonymous DOJ officials appeared, falsely reporting the probe was in early stages. It's still not known who made those leaks and whether anyone directed them to do it.
Renzi's corruption investigation was kept hidden until after the election for political reasons, a classic example of how the shrub administration operated (read the whole article for a lot more juicy details). Paul Charlton was fired in the Attorney purge, in hopes of killing the investigation of Renzi, and it almost worked. But Mr. Corruption's trial is scheduled for next month. I wonder if Harriet will be called to testify? That certainly could be worth watching.
And, (in keeping with the Pygalgia tradition with all things Renzi), Mr. Renzi, here's your pig:
(And read all about sleazy Karl Rove's roll in it all here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rove12-2009aug12,0,6512321.story, here: Raw Story, here: NYTimes, and The full interview transcripts and documents can be found here.)
SHELTON, Conn. -- Connecticut authorities say they arrested 19 people and seized more than 100 birds in a house raid on an alleged bird-fighting operation
Wayne Kasacek, of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, and Shelton police Sgt. Robert Kozlowsky say most of the 150 confiscated birds were saffron finches and that a few were canaries. Kasacek say some of the birds had previous injuries, including blindness in at least one eye, and may have to be euthanized.
Police say they made the arrests Sunday just as spectators had placed bets and were getting ready to watch the birds fight at a home in Shelton, just west of New Haven. Authorities say they seized $8,000 in alleged betting money.
Saffron finches are small birds that are native to South America.
» Report on WSFB-TV
Channel 3 in Connecticut (video, photo slideshow)
Bob Dylan is finally following Elvis Presley and Nat King Cole: He has made a Christmas album. The Dylan album will include Here Comes Santa Claus and O Little Town of Bethlehem.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111764735
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona is the latest Democrat overrun by protesters at a local town hall event.
Sources say the protesters showed up after a robocall -- it's unclear from whom -- went out to Arizona voters encouraging them to show up at the event. The event was supposed to involve one on one chats with Kirkpatrick, a freshman member of Congress.
Kirkpatrick was unable to get the event started and canceled it.
"I am disappointed that the event was disrupted by a small but vocal group," Kirkpatrick said. "I grew up in Greater Arizona, and I remember the days when folks who disagreed would do so respectfully and were still able to work together on the important issues to find solutions."
Kirkpatrick is the latest Democrat to run into what Republicans have called "recess roastings," as congressional town halls from Utica, N.Y. to Austin, Texas, to Green Bay, Wis., have been disrupted this week by protesters. Debate continues over how genuine a grass roots movement this is, but POLITICO has reported that national conservative interest groups have helped organize some of the opposition.
"These 'chats' are meant to give people a chance to let me know what they need and what's important to them, and today's disruptions meant that a lot of folks did not get that chance," Kirkpatrick said. "I look forward to more public events, but more importantly I look forward to a return of civility and respectful dialogue where the focus is on the people and not scoring political points."UPDATE: Turns out the anti-health reform group Conservatives for Patients Rights posted the Kirkpatrick event on its listing of town halls.
Congratulations to our newest Supreme Court Justice. The vote was 68-31 (Byrd was wheeled in; Kennedy still out), with no surprises.
Wind developers are proposing to build the first major wind farm near Flagstaff on a cattle ranch about 22 miles southeast of the city.
Foresight Wind Energy is proposing to install 130 to 330 large turbines on the Flying M Ranch east of Mormon Lake and tie into federally owned power lines. In all, the proposed project could cover 55 square miles, and if fully built-out, provide the equivalent of 500 megawatts of electricity. About 100 megawatts of electricity would power half of Flagstaff -- or 25,000 to 30,000 homes in the Southwest. A 500 megawatt project would power 125,000 homes.http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/08/05/news/20090805_front_201179.txt
The Flying M Ranch is owned by the Metzger family, which runs cattle on a checkerboard of state and private land. Mandy Metzger is a Coconino County supervisor.
A famous duo:
President Barack Obama, marking his 48th birthday, takes a break from his official duties to bring birthday greetings to veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas, left, who shares the same birthday and turns 89, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, in the White House Press Briefing Room in Washington. Helen Thomas has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Happy wishes to both, but I think I'd have more fun at Helen's party. I bet she can tell some great stories.
Former President Bill Clinton is in Pyongyang, meeting with Kim Jong-Il:Former President Bill Clinton met Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, with the "exhaustive" talks covering a wide range of topics, state-run media said.
Kim engaged Clinton in a "wide-ranging exchange of views on matters of common concern," the report said.
Clinton was in communist North Korea on a mission to secure the release of Americans Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture who were arrested along the Chinese-North Korean border in March and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and
engaging in "hostile acts."A senior U.S. official confirmed to reporters traveling to Africa with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the former president was in North Korea to secure their release, but said the White House would not comment until the mission was complete.
"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111528528
This could be quite interesting. Clinton isn't the first former President to go to North Korea; Jimmy Carter went in 1994. But this is a whole new dynamic in international diplomacy, with the former President's wife being the current Secretary of State. Because of this, anything Bill says will be seen as official U.S. policy; even though he doesn't hold any official position, he carries an international gravitas unlike any other individual. In some ways that makes this a brilliant move with regard to the diplomatic impasse with North Korea, as the Obama administration can maintain a plausible distance from any concessions toward formal diplomatic relations, while creating an open conduit for communications. But there are perils with this move, by both creating a new GOP attack talking point and allowing Kim Jong-Il a new propaganda campaign. Relations with North Korea have been an almost impossible dilemma, with no good options available, but this may be the most creative diplomatic move in recent history. Because of the international respect for both Clintons, the world will pay attention.
We'll see how this all plays out, but I'm betting that Bill will get the journalists released. And that's a good place to start.
(Added: Well, that didn't take long. The journalists have been "pardoned", and that they will be released during Clinton's visit. Nice work, Bill Clinton.)
Washington - President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev committed Monday to reaching a new nuclear-arms reduction agreement that would set both strategic warheads and warhead delivery vehicles, such as missiles, at post-cold-war lows.
Yet despite the upbeat tone at the first of two days of summit talks in Moscow, the two leaders offered few specifics on how the looming stumbling blocks to a new era of cooperation will be overcome. Those issues include American plans for a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe and US-supported expansion of NATO to Ukraine and Georgia. The two presidents issued a "joint understanding" that commits the two countries to reducing strategic warheads to a range of 1,500 to 1,675 – down from the current ceiling of 2,200 – and to a maximum of 1,600 launch vehicles. The goal is to
reach an agreement in time to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires on Dec. 5.Although the Obama-Medvedev statement speaks only of reaching an agreement "at the earliest possible date," Mr. Obama affirmed at a joint appearance of the two leaders Monday that the treaty "will be completed this year."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0706/p02s01-usfp.html
(snarky pic stolen somewhere on the net)
I just hope she doesn't start campaigning for 2012 right away. That would be way too long to maintain an appropriate level of satire.
Or (pure speculation) is there an Argentinian hiking type story about to break?
At least it's not another Michael Jackson story.
"It's Friday"
"Is today a holiday?"
"Sort of."
"How should we celebrate?"
"We're Boobies. We just hang out."
"Oh. OK."
Saddam Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran, according to declassified accounts of the interviews released yesterday. The former Iraqi president also denounced Osama bin Laden as "a zealot" and said he had no dealings with al-Qaeda.
Hussein, in fact, said he felt so vulnerable to the perceived threat from "fanatic" leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a "security agreement with the United States to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070104217.html
ADELPHI, Md. — A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.
The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.
Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least seven other prescription drugs, and all of these combination pills will be banned if the Food and Drug Administration heeds the advice of its experts. Vicodin and its generic equivalents alone are prescribed more than 100 million times a year in the United States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/health/01fda.html?_r=1&ref=health
A Canadian company is one permit away from reactivating an Arizona uranium mine near the Grand Canyon where conservationists have been pushing for protection from new mining operations, a state official says.
Thousands of mining claims dot a 1 million-acre area around the canyon, but Arizona Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Mark Shaffer says only Denison Mines Corp. has a pending air permit with the agency for a site about 20 miles from the canyon's northern border.
Most of the claims for uranium are staked in an Arizona strip, a sparsely populated area immediately north of the Grand Canyon National Park known for its high-grade uranium ore. The silvery white metal is used in nuclear energy and weapons and for medicine.But nearby residents and environmentalists, who are pushing to ban new mining in the area, are worried about possible groundwater contamination, destruction of wildlife habitat and the transport of radioactive material. Some miners and their families have blamed exposure to uranium for deaths and health effects, including cancer and kidney disease.
http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/06/28/news/20090628_arizo_198945.
In the long delayed prosecution of my former congress critter Rick Renzi, now news is coming out that confirms something I long suspected: Shrub's (in)justice department manipulated evidence to protect Renzi:In the fall of 2006, one day after the Justice Department granted permission to a U.S. attorney to place a wiretap on a Republican congressman suspected of corruption, existence of the investigation was leaked to the press — not only compromising the sensitive criminal probe but tipping the lawmaker off to the wiretap.
Career federal law enforcement officials who worked directly on a probe of former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) said they believe that word of the investigation was leaked by senior Bush administration political appointees in the Justice Department in an improper and perhaps illegal effort to affect the outcome of an election.At the time of the leak, Renzi was locked in a razor-thin bid for reelection and unconfirmed reports of a criminal probe could have become politically damaging. The leaked stories — appearing 10 days before the election — falsely suggested that the investigation of Renzi was in its initial stages and unlikely to lead to criminal charges.
In fact, the investigation had been ongoing for some time and had already amassed enough evidence of alleged criminal misconduct to obtain approval from the highest levels of the Justice Department, including then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, to seek an application from a federal judge to wiretap Renzi. In February 2008, a federal grand jury indicted Renzi on 36 felony counts of money laundering, extortion, insurance fraud and various other alleged crimes.
Check out this set of facts. Fact 1: Gov. Mark Sanford went missing Thursday and hasn't been seen since. Fact 2: His staff has since told us that the governor has been hiking the Appalachian Trail. Fact 3: Sunday was "Naked Hiking Day" on the Appalachian Trail. We kid you not.
A couple more from the Pagosa/Animas trip. Because they make me happy.
Can't wait to do it again.Two city police officers have been placed on paid leave after police officials received photos of the officers surrounded by four women in what police officials call suggestive poses.
The photos show two uniformed officers in their patrol cars stopped at an intersection. Four women stand outside of one patrol car and have posed themselves in a manner that Police Chief Brent Cooper said the officers should have known might have happened.
"We're very embarrassed by this," Cooper said. "We're very disappointed our officers allowed themselves to get drawn into it."http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/06/19/news/20090619_front_198395.txt
Those Mousavi supporters are using the slogans of the Islamic Revolution and it's my understanding that they are mostly simply seeking a return to the status quo ante, when their votes meant something in the half-rigged Islamic Republic's system. They're not looking to depose the mullahs and they're not looking to break the system that's persisted since 1979 - they just want it to work as advertised. Nowhere is this clearer than in their choice of leaders: Mousavi, Rafsanjani, Khatami, Montazeri. All members in good standing of the Iranian politico-clerical elite and all standing to gain nothing from a break-up of the existing system. As Trita Parsi writes:
What's often forgotten amid the genuinely awe-inspiring spectacle of hundreds of thousands of long-suppressed people risking their lives on the streets to demand change is the fact that the political contest playing out in the election is, in fact, among rival factions of the same regime. Ahmadinejad represents a conservative element, backed by the Supreme Leader, that believes the established political class has hijacked the revolution and enriched themselves and is fearful that the faction's more pragmatic inclination toward engagement with the West could lead to a normalization of relations that will "pollute" Iran's culture and weaken the regime. Mousavi is not really a reformer so much as a pragmatic, moderate conservative who has campaigned with the backing of the reform movement because it recognizes that he has a better chance of unseating Ahmadinejad than one of their own would have.
(from http://www.newshoggers.com/)
More accurately: Solar Powered Trash Compacters. These are being installed around downtown Flagstaff.
How cool is that?
A Talmudic maxim instructs with respect to the Scripture: “Turn it over, and turn it over, for all is therein.” The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Aboth, Ch. V, Mishnah 22 (I. Epstein ed. 1935). Divinely inspired text may contain the answers to all earthly questions, but the Due Process Clause most assuredly does not. The Court today continues its quixotic quest to right all wrongs and repair all imperfections through the Constitution. Alas, the quest cannot succeed—which is why some wrongs and imperfections have been called nonjusticiable. In the best of all possible worlds, should judges sometimes recuse even where the clear commands of our prior due process law do not require it? Undoubtedly. The relevant question, however, is whether we do more good than harm by seeking to correct this imperfection through expansion of our constitutional mandate in a manner ungoverned by any discernable rule. The answer is obvious.
(old x-ray; I don't have copies of the more recent ones)
This June 3, a group of media and design impresarios are promoting “National
Fist Bump Day” in honor of the anniversary. They want to celebrate a new iconic American expression of authenticity, political transparency and of course, change we can believe in."The idea behind National Fist Bump Day is to give Americans a chance to make the world a slightly better place with a simple and fun gesture of respect," says David Weiner, one of the organizers, along with Sarah Greenwalt. “It may not solve the world's problems, but it can at least reaffirm the fact that in the end, we all can get down with each other.”
http://theroot.com/views/bump-heard-round-world
