Magpie

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Funny that the Gropenator didn't mention this plan during his campaign.

Which plan, you ask? Only the deregulation of California's energy markets, says the San Francisco Chronicle.

Schwarzenegger's energy strategy is being driven by some of the same members of former Gov. Pete Wilson's team who led the push for energy deregulation in the mid-1990s. The governor-elect, for example, picked for his transition team Jessie Knight, a former Wilson appointee to the Public Utilities Commission and a leading proponent of deregulation.

Consumer groups already are warning that the proposals made by Schwarzenegger during the campaign would expose electricity users to greater fluctuations in prices while limiting state oversight of power trading -- a combination that could allow the type of market manipulation that plagued California during the state's energy crisis in 2000-01. [...]

Under Schwarzenegger's plan, large industrial and commercial energy users would be allowed to sign contracts and buy cheap power from private generators instead of the utilities. Called "direct access," this central provision of the Wilson plan was abandoned during the energy crisis. While large users who were in the program were allowed to stay, the state barred any new businesses from contracting out for power.

The proposal would create two markets for electricity: Residential users and small businesses would continue to get power from the state's utilities, while large users could take their chances with private energy firms.

Erik Saltmarsh, director of the state's Electricity Oversight Board, said the plan carries risks for large users if they make deals with energy-trading firms that later go belly up -- such as Enron.

"There is a certain amount of fairness in saying, 'Let them take the risk,' " Saltmarsh said.

PUC Commissioner Jeff Brown opposes the plan, saying it would leave residential users and small businesses to pay off the billions of dollars of debts racked up by PG&E and other utilities during the energy crisis.

This reminds Magpie of the cliché that says a sure sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, each time expecting the result to be different. The Gropenator's proposal is like the whole energy crisis and Enron scandal never happened.

Via Left Coaster.

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:23 PM | Get permalink

We guess they don't like Dubya much in Pyongyang.

A North Korean music video, no less. [Requires QuickTime]

Via The Peking Duck.

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:12 PM | Get permalink

Winning hearts and minds in Iraq.

Back at the end of July, Magpie pointed to a story about how a US military delegation was in Israel to get advice on how to deal with the occupation of Iraq. It appears that the lessons learned by that delegation have been taken to heart.

In an action reminiscent of how Israeli forces destory Palestinian houses in retaliation for terrorism, the Independent reports that US soldiers have bulldozed date and citrus groves in Dhuluaya, an Iraqi town north of Baghdad. The groves were destroyed to punish farmers for not giving information about guerrillas who attack US troops in the area.

Nusayef Jassim, one of 32 farmers who saw their fruit trees destroyed, said: "They told us that the resistance fighters hide in our farms, but this is not true. They didn't capture anything. They didn't find any weapons."

Other farmers said that US troops had told them, over a loudspeaker in Arabic, that the fruit groves were being bulldozed to punish the farmers for not informing on the resistance which is very active in this Sunni Muslim district.

"They made a sort of joke against us by playing jazz music while they were cutting down the trees," said one man. Ambushes of US troops have taken place around Dhuluaya. But Sheikh Hussein Ali Saleh al-Jabouri, a member of a delegation that went to the nearby US base to ask for compensation for the loss of the fruit trees, said American officers described what had happened as "a punishment of local people because 'you know who is in the resistance and do not tell us'." What the Israelis had done by way of collective punishment of Palestinians was now happening in Iraq, Sheikh Hussein added.

Via The Agonist.

| | Posted by Magpie at 7:01 PM | Get permalink

Meanwhile in Baghdad.

It's just another day.

| | Posted by Magpie at 6:40 PM | Get permalink

Breakfast from hell.

Scary.

| | Posted by Magpie at 6:36 PM | Get permalink

From Magpie's mailbag.

We received this today:

My name is Thierry Robin. I'm a freelance reporter and a member of the ABIR association. I will go on a trip to Iraq from 8th to 22nd of October and I will blog from Baghdad about women's rights (in French and in English). I thought you could be interested in this initiative and that's why I'm contacting you.

With other members of ABIR, we will bring material to a dispensary and an orphanage. We will also meet Hanaa Edward from the local NGO "Al Amal" and other persons involved in the promotion of women's rights in Iraq. It will be an opportunity for me to make several reports with the aim of catching people's attention about the appalling fate of Iraqi women and girls: Sexual violences, abductions and murders are widespread, preventing the women from taking part in the postwar society.

There is more information about Robin's current trip (in both French and English) on his blog here and at the ABIR website here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:31 PM | Get permalink

A lovely twist in the PR campaign to boost support for Dubya's Iraq policies.

The White House's current campaign to shore up sagging public support for the US occupation of Iraq isn't being conducted only by high administration officials. It seems that the military is getting into the act as well: Soldiers in Iraq are being asked to sign form letters to their local newspapers, talking up the administration's successes.

A Gannett News Service search found identical letters from different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, also known as "The Rock," in 11 newspapers, including Snohomish, Wash.

The Olympian received two identical letters signed by different hometown soldiers: Spc. Joshua Ackler and Spc. Alex Marois, who is now a sergeant. The paper declined to run either because of a policy not to publish form letters.

The five-paragraph letter talks about the soldiers' efforts to re-establish police and fire departments, and build water and sewer plants in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where the unit is based.

"The quality of life and security for the citizens has been largely restored, and we are a large part of why that has happened," the letter reads.

It describes people waving at passing troops and children running up to shake their hands and say thank you.

It's not clear who wrote the letter or organized sending it to soldiers' hometown papers. [...]

Sgt. Shawn Grueser of Poca, W.Va., said he spoke to a military public affairs officer whose name he couldn't remember about his accomplishments in Iraq for what he thought was a news release to be sent to his hometown paper in Charleston, W.Va. But the 2nd Battalion soldier said he did not sign any letter.

Although Grueser said he agrees with the letter's sentiments, he was uncomfortable that a letter with his signature did not contain his own words or spell out his own accomplishments.

"It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Grueser said by phone from a base in Italy where he had just arrived from Iraq.

We just did a Google search on the letter's first phrase, 'I have been serving in Iraq for over five months now,' and we got 25 hits. Magpie wonders how many more papers will print one of these letters, and whether other units in Iraq are 'encouraging' soldiers to send similar letters home.

Via This Modern World.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:09 PM | Get permalink

The Texas congressional re-map just gets weirder and weirder.

Approval of the GOP-backed redistricting plan has been put on hold because Republican leaders in the state's House of Representatives can't find enough members to make a quorum. This time, however, the absentees include both Democrats and Republicans.

House Democrats walked out late Friday -- even though they were present for the final House redistricting vote earlier in the day -- because they decided they had better things to do, Coleman said.

Some of the legislators had weekend trips arranged. Others wanted to spend time with their families, he said.

It was well known that some House Republicans were heading to Dallas on Friday for the Texas-Oklahoma football game on Saturday and parties and fundraisers that coincide with it. So the Democrats left.

The Democrats' walkout came after lawmakers read aloud an e-mail from an aide to U.S. Rep. Joe Barton that ridiculed Democrats and gloated over the Republicans' expected victory.

Republican House leaders believe they can get a quorum on Sunday, and that that legislators can approve the redistricting plan before the current special session expires on Sunday night. If not, the governor is expected to call special session #4.

Body and Soul has also noted the mayhem in Texas, and explores how Texas Republicans are so insane — even by the low standards set by the party in California.

| | Posted by Magpie at 2:47 PM | Get permalink

Musicians' Union endorses artists' protest against Green Linnet.

On Monday, the Green Linnet 5 — a group of Irish traditional musicians who record for Green Linnet — are taking their dispute with the label right to the company's doors. Unable to reach a settlement over allegedly unpaid royalities, the artists are staging a protest/concert at Green Linnet's offices in Connecticut on Monday. They are hoping that this public embarassment will help move Green Linnet toward dealing with the artists' grievances. So far, label owner Wendy Newton has said that the claims of the Green Linnet 5 are baseless.

The artist's protest has received the stamp of approval from their union, the American Federation of Musicians:

On Monday, October 13, recording artists plan to hold a demonstration outside of Green Linnet Records office in Danbury, Connecticut. This demonstration is in support of lawsuits that have been filed against the company for alleged non-payment of royalties due artists and musicians (full details follow this statement).

The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) and its 250 Locals support the efforts of members when they take an action to address an injustice. It applauds musicians that stand up to companies who ignore contractual obligations and withhold appropriate monies. And it wholeheartedly praises its artists and members for taking whatever actions necessary to prevent exploitation by companies that get rich on the backs of the most creative members of our society.

As AFM President Thomas Lee notes, "Musicians work hard to produce recordings. It is essential that they get paid. If contracts are not enforced, then the wages and working conditions of all musicians will fall. We endorse this and any other action by artists of Green Linnet that will ensure that they are treated properly with the correct compensation. We encourage all musicians to come together with the AFM and add their strength to a movement that will send a clear message to the world. Mistreatment of our brothers and sisters will not be tolerated."

The Green Linnet 5 include Cherish the Ladies, Altan, Eileen Ivers, Joanie Madden, and Mick Moloney.

Magpie has several earlier posts on their dispute with Green Linnet, including this letter from Joanie Madden regarding Monday's protest. There are other posts here and here.

Green Linnet's website is here. The website for the American Federation of Musicians is here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:44 AM | Get permalink

The Republican redistricting plan for Texas.

It's pretty much a done deal. Under the the new map, Republicans are certain to take most of the state's seats in the US House of Representatives in 2004.

It's no secret that the boundaries of the new districts were drawn in order to dilute the voting power of African Americans, Latinos, and other groups that usually support Democrats. However, Magpie is surprised to find out that a Republican functionary actually wrote down in a memo how barely legal the new districts are — either he thought no one outside the GOP would see his memo, or he was arrogant enough to suppose that it wouldn't make any real difference if the memo was leaked.

The analysis of the plan, written by the legislative counsel to U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), provides a rare public glimpse into the inner workings of the congressional redistricting process, which both political parties use to advance their own cause and hurt the opposition.

In the case of the Texas GOP plan, the analysis described how steps were taken to try to protect the plan from legal challenge under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but also how minority voters would be shifted into Republican-dominated suburban districts and how a new district in West Texas was crafted to meet the aspirations of a friend of President Bush.

"This is the most aggressive map I have ever seen," Joby Fortson wrote in the analysis, which he e-mailed to congressional aides. "This has a real national impact that should assure that Republicans keep the House no matter the national mood."

The Washington Post story has lots more details. The GOP should be ashamed of this stuff. But they apparently aren't.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:56 AM | Get permalink

What has Cheney been smoking?

From the vice-president's speech on Iraq and the 'war on terrorism' delivered at the Heritage Foundation:

I believe that, one day, scholars and historians will look back on our time and pay tribute to our 43rd president who has both called upon and exemplified the courage and perseverance of the American people.

No further comment needed.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:44 AM | Get permalink

'It's not easy to be a woman today in Iran ...'

We were unable to blog this item when we heard the news yesterday, but Magpie wants to make sure that we mention that this year's Nobel Peace Prize went to Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, even though we're a day late.

Ms Ebadi, 56, was Iran's first woman judge before the 1979 Islamic revolution when she was sacked by the mullahs. When Sharia (Islamic law) was enforced, women were too emotional and irrational to pass judgment in the courtroom, Iran's new leaders said. Her work as a human rights activist has landed her in jail and she has been denounced and branded a threat to the Islamic state.

Ms Ebadi's campaigns for children's rights, her defence of human rights lawyers, and her decision to take on the case of a wide range of political activists, have earned her a reputation as a fearless jurist. The Nobel prize should give her and her human rights colleagues, at least, a degree of protection inside Iran.

As a lawyer, writer and part-time lecturer at Tehran University, Ms Ebadi has argued passionately that Sharia could be adapted to modern times without undermining Islam.

"There is no contradiction between Islam and human rights," she said. "If a country abuses human rights in the name of Islam then it is not the fault of Islam." Ms Ebadi found herself on the wrong side of the law in 2000, when she was accused of disseminating a politically explosive videotape of a violent Islamic vigilante group member who confessed to links with conservative politicians in Iran.

That incident also landed Ms Ebadi in Evin and she was also banned from practising law for five years. In solitary confinement, she wrote: "Angrily I am trying to write on the cement wall with the bottom of my spoon that we are born to suffer because we are born in the Third World. Time and place are imposed upon us. So let's be patient as there is no other choice." [...]

Last year the Nobel committee sent a sharp rebuke to President George Bush on the eve of war on Iraq by awarding the prize to the former president Jimmy Carter, a fierce critic of the US policy of pre-emptive military strikes.

By naming the first Muslim woman Nobel laureate and only the third Muslim to win the prize since it was inaugurated in 1909, another unmistakeable signal was sent by the Nobel committee of support for defenders of democracy and the fight for equal rights in the Islamic world.

There was also an implicit rejection of the Bush administration's simplistic view of Iran as part of an "axis of evil" where military force might be required to topple the regime.

Via Independent.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:34 AM | Get permalink

Can a website be a 'terror group'?

At veiled4allah, Al-Muhajabah quotes a Reuters story about how the US government has designated four websites as aliases for a terrorist group. The article ends by pointing out that, as Magpie reads it, the main reason the US isn't blocking these sites is technical, not legal.

What do you want to bet that, if the current lot in Washington stays in power after the 2004 election, that we start seeing the US government blocking websites in the name of 'fighting terrorism'?

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:23 AM | Get permalink

Friday, October 10, 2003

A question for the Sunday news shows.

Magpie got this one from the Daily Misleader:

In a leak inquiry where national security has been violated, why hasn't the President ordered his staff to sign a legally-binding affidavit on whether they were responsible for the leak, with the understanding that failure to do so will result in termination?

While Magpie doesn't think that national security aspect of the Plame leak is the critical part, Dubya and his minions are making sure to cite 'national security' every time they talk about the leak. It would be lovely to see Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, or some other high mucky-muck trying to avoid an answer to this question.

So we hope someone in the press corps decides to ask it.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:38 PM | Get permalink

Over in Kingsley, Hampshire.

The King's Blog reports a pressing need to get local priorities in order.

Members of the parish council (or the District Council for that matter) wishing to promote homosexuality are now able to do so as the inhibiting legislation was repealed last month by the Local Government Act 2003 .

A quick scan of the Act suggests that, while such promotion is now permissable, it is not yet mandatory.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:03 AM | Get permalink

Bringing new meaning to the term 'family-friendly.'

NathanNewman reports that Dubya's administration has repealed a rule that allowed states to use unemployment funds to give paid family leave to new parents.

The administration has justified the decision by citing the lack of money in state unemployment insurance trust funds, but it's typical that the administration prefers its giveaway tax cuts over additional unemployment funding to help working families.

Make no mistake-- this administration is completely hostile to parents and families, whatever it's rhetoric. And it doesn't respect "states rights" or any such nonsense its says. Like everything this administration says, it's all lies.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:01 AM | Get permalink

Where is the Iraqi planning minister?

Riverbend at Baghdad Burning points us to a post in justin's waffle, a Baghdad blog from a non-Iraqi.

He's in his 50s, about 5 foot 10, classic iraqi looks with mostache and probably somewhere in Northern Europe. But we're not sure, and nor is his ministry. They haven't heard from him in a week, don't know if he'll be back in Baghdad before November and have no email or phone number to contact him on. I'm really not kidding you, and it's not just the Planning Ministry, this is a familiar senario in Iraq today. Apart from being incredibly frustrating for someone whose travelled 5000 miles to try and consult with Iraqis, I think it says something about the resources and responsibilities being allotted to Iraqis by the CPA - pretty much nil. I've visted 5 ministries today, and only one had working phones and email, indeed only one (the Ministery of Oil) had a contactable Minister (who i'm meeting next monday, inshallah). The really frightening thing is that in November the UN Oil-for-Food program ends and somehow the CPA and the Ministries (most squatting in temporary building since their offices were largely looted and burnt) are going to have to manage food distribution for the 16 million people who are dependant on the ration for survival.

We can't find a workable direct link, so look for the post called 'Have you seen the Planning Minister?'

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Thursday, October 9, 2003

Dubya needs your help.

The Prez seems to be having trouble figuring out that having each of his staff sign a legally binding affadavit saying that they didn't leak Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent might shorten the search for the leaker. All he'd have to do is to sic the FBI on anyone who didn't sign.

MoveOn.org is asking people to legally declare their innocence in an affidavit and send it to the White House — hopefully giving Dubya a hint about how get to the bottom of the leak. Go over here and join Magpie in giving our dear leader a helping hand.

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:23 PM | Get permalink

Is this stupid or what?

A Texas high school student is facing possible drug charges and expulsion from school for lending his asthma inhaler to another student. This was to help her out during an asthma attack, mind you.

Magpie seems to remember reading somewhere about how one of the hallmarks of authoritarianism is a mindless adherence to written regulations, no matter how small a relationship they have to reality.

Via Houston Chronicle.

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:12 PM | Get permalink

The Valerie Plame update.

As usual, Mark Kleiman has the latest over at Open Source Politics.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:58 PM | Get permalink

The Mad Prophet.

His blog is back, more or less, after several weeks on the 'missing' list. Magpie is relieved to know he didn't drop out of the blog biz.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:51 PM | Get permalink

It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your country's census data is?

After 2006, the answer from Canada may be, 'Oh, somewhere down in the States.'

The opposition New Democrats are charging that Statistics Canada is contracting with US defense firm Lockheed-Martin to carry out all or part of the next national census.

[NDP MP Bill Blaikie] called it his worst nightmare — a U.S. defence contractor getting detailed information on Canada — and asked the government to confirm that a contract had been signed.

Industry Minister Allan Rock refused to answer the question directly, saying only that Statistics Canada will ensure a thorough census.

Mr. Blaikie said such a contract would raise serious privacy issues such as confidential data being stored outside the country.

Via Canadian Press.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:16 PM | Get permalink

The 'incivility' of Dubya's critics.

Magpie couldn't respond to all that whining from the right better than Paul Krugman has in his latest NY Times column.

Some say that the right, having engaged in name-calling and smear tactics when Bill Clinton was president, now wants to change the rules so such behavior is no longer allowed. In fact, the right is still calling names and smearing; it wants to prohibit rude behavior only by liberals.

But there's more going on than a simple attempt to impose a double standard. All this fuss about the rudeness of the Bush administration's critics is an attempt to preclude serious discussion of that administration's policies. For there is no way to be both honest and polite about what has happened in these past three years. [...]

Still, some would say that criticism should focus only on Mr. Bush's policies, not on his person. But no administration in memory has made paeans to the president's character — his "honor and integrity" — so central to its political strategy. Nor has any previous administration been so determined to portray the president as a hero, going so far as to pose him in line with the heads on Mount Rushmore, or arrange that landing on the aircraft carrier. Surely, then, Mr. Bush's critics have the right to point out that the life story of the man inside the flight suit isn't particularly heroic — that he has never taken a risk or made a sacrifice for the sake of his country, and that his business career is a story of murky deals and insider privilege.

In the months after 9/11, a shocked nation wanted to believe the best of its leader, and Mr. Bush was treated with reverence. But he abused the trust placed in him, pushing a partisan agenda that has left the nation weakened and divided. Yes, I know that's a rude thing to say. But it's also the truth.

[Free reg. req'd.]

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:02 PM | Get permalink

Ducking blame in Israel.

Writing in Haaretz, Israeli parliamentarian Roman Bronfman says that Ariel Sharon's government attacks on targets in Syria and attempts to expel Palestinian president Yasir Arafat have nothing to do with protecting Israel's security. Instead, Bronfman accuses Sharon of engaging in brinksmanship in order to hide his total inability to end the terror attacks against Israeli civilian targets.

Over 20 years ago, when he was the defense minister in the government of then prime minister Menachem Begin, Sharon deceived the prime minister and took Israel into the quagmire of Lebanon. Now, he is once again deceiving the entire Israeli public. His latest moves are unequivocal: After displaying total ineffectualness in the war against terror, Sharon is warmongering, and leading the country into an even deeper security abyss.

During his entire term, Sharon, with the backing of the U.S. administration, has been preoccupied with attempts to evade the implementation of his declared policy. Instead of tending to the root of the problem of Israeli existence - Palestinian terror - by ending the Israeli occupation, creating effective channels for rapprochement with the Palestinian leadership, or at least completing the construction of the separation fence, Sharon is now turning to extreme and irresponsible steps.

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:46 PM | Get permalink

A postcard from Toryland.

Magpie's confederate in Paris* alerted us to this wonderfully written Guardian article about the Conservative Party conference in the UK.

The speech got slower and slower. Verbs began to disappear off the edge. (All our senior politicians, including Charles Kennedy and John Reid, are now aiming to make entirely verb-free speeches. For a better tomorrow. For our children's future. For our pets' future. A new Britain, a Britain of opportunity, freedom and talking vacuum cleaners...)

A surreal edge crept in. "Smaller government! Bigger citizens!" she enunciated. So this was the Tory dream: no civil servants, just one gigantic citizen the size of St Paul's, stalking Whitehall!

"There is no future in the past!" she declared, a remark metaphysical in its baffling profundity. Everyone had been given a document as they entered the hall. "It's not a manifesto," she said. "It's not a policy proposal. It's not a road map!" Suddenly I knew: it was a complimentary moist towelette!

* That's the one in France, not the one in Texas.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:09 AM | Get permalink

Planning to visit Gov. Gropenator in Sacramento?

If you're female, don't forget your Schwarzenegger Shield.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:02 AM | Get permalink

Is the White House setting up 'plausible deniability' about the Plame leak?

At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall notes how Dubya's press secretary Scott McClellan and others in the administration are being really careful about the words they use when issuing denials about the Plame leak.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:01 AM | Get permalink

Not everyone on the right is happy with Gov. Gropenator.

The fundamentalist Christian site Crosswalk looks at how 'pro-family' right-wingers are viewing the election win of Arnold Schwarzenegger in California. The quick version: The Gropenator ain't no Ronald Reagan.

Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families, who had endorsed conservative Republican Tom McClintock (who received 13% of the vote on Tuesday), is calling Schwarzenegger's election win a "gigantic step backward." He takes issue with conservative Christians who chose to ignore McClintock -- a strong pro-life, pro-family advocate -- and vote for Schwarzenegger. He wonders if this is how people of faith are going to transform politics.

"[I]n their support for ... a 'winner' [Schwarzenegger], they have inadvertently sent a message to the national Republican Party that issues of the heart don't matter [and] that support for tax cuts alone is enough to satisfy us," Bauer states. "Believe me, there are those in the Republican establishment who will test just how little they can offer us and still get our vote."

Bauer, a former GOP presidential candidate, contends that if "socially liberal" Republicans are voted into office by people of faith, it will make it that much more difficult to successfully push back those who favor liberal issues such as abortion on demand and same-sex "marriage." In fact, he believes some will try to use the Schwarzenegger victory to convince Republican officials the party does not need a pro-family platform to win an election.

"Already the media is saying that this is proof that the Republican Party needs to drop their emphasis on the life issue and on being pro-family," he says.

Bauer also touched on some negative national political implications of the GOP victory. "It means that the California delegation to the Republican Convention, handpicked by the new governor, will be pro-abortion and pro-gay rights," he says. "And it guarantees that our battle within the Republican Party is going to be 100% more difficult than it would have been otherwise."

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Wednesday, October 8, 2003

Philly mayor's office bugged by FBI.

Magpie doesn't have time to frame this one properly, since we have to run a sick cat to the vet's office. But think about how this is the office of a Democratic mayor of Philadelphia, the biggest city in a state the Republicans need to win in 2004. And how the mayor is leading in the polls for the upcoming election, with the first campaign debate coming up real soon.

Far be it from us to use the phrase 'dirty tricks,' but ...

Via AP.

More: In a meaty post, Jeralyn at TalkLeft suggests that the bug found in Mayor John Street's office was probably from a legal wiretap, in the sense that proper procedure was followed to get the wiretap order. She also explains how wiretap warrants are obtained, and poses some interesting questions about the bugging that need to be answered.

(And, by the way, the cat is going to be just fine.)

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:11 PM | Get permalink

That Mark Morford.

He's so subtle.

For example, do you suppose that he has any strong opinions about the results of the California recall election?

Flags of intellectual acumen and nuanced understanding and general spiritual lightness were at half mast today as Californians banished much-loathed bland-as-oatmeal Gray Davis just 11 months into his second term and instead buried their heads in the sand and decided it's better to trash their state completely than let it be run by whimpering jerks, and elected mediocre action hero and rather embarrassing actor and noted sexist grope-aholic inarticulate completely inexperienced GOP lackey Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him -- a Hollywood ending to one of the most extraordinary political melodramas in the nation's history, as well as one of the most adorably nauseating circus freakshows of all time, though the pit-of-the-stomach nausea is but a hint of the pain wrought when BushCo bought the election and drove a monosyllabic icepick into the heart of the nation.

Via San Francisco Chronicle. (Thanks, Kathleen!)

Uh-oh: The link apparently doesn't work. We're trying to find the correct one.

Update: Link removed. The comments actually came from Morford's email column from SFGate, 'The Morning Fix,' rather than from the Chronicle site. (You can subscribe to the thrice-weekly column at this web page.)

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:06 PM | Get permalink

The door is over there, Mr. Rove.

The ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committe has asked Dubya advisor Karl Rove to resign because of his role in the Valerie Plame affair.

Dear Mr. Rove:

I write to ask you to resign from the White House staff. Recent press reports have indicated that, while you may or may not have been the source of the Robert Novak column which revealed the status and name of a covert operative, the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, you were involved in a subsequent effort to push this classified information to other reporters and give it even wider currency. This itself may be a federal crime, but regardless of that fact, your actions are morally indefensible. In my view, it is shameful and unethical that an Administration that promised to govern with "honor and integrity" and "change the tone" in Washington has now engaged in an orchestrated campaign to smear and intimidate truth-telling critics, placing them in possible physical harm and impairing the efforts and operations of the CIA.

Recent reports indicate that you told the journalist, Chris Matthews, and perhaps others, that Mr. Wilson's wife and her undercover status were "fair game." Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, Oct. 13, 2003. Since these initial allegations have arisen, neither the White House nor your office have denied your involvement in furthering the leak. Repeated press inquiries into this matter have been rebuffed with technical jargon and narrow legalisms, instead of broader ethical issues. Indeed, in the same article it appears a White House source acknowledged that you contacted Matthews and other journalists, indicating that "it was reasonable to discuss who sent Wilson to Niger."

It should be noted that these actions may well have violated 18 U.S.C. ¤ 793, which prohibits the willful or grossly negligent distribution of national defense information that could possibly be used against the United States. The law states that even if you lawfully knew of Mr. Wilson's wife's status, you were obliged to come forward and report the press leak to the proper authorities - not inflame the situation by encouraging further dissemination. 18 U.S.C. ¤ 793(f). Larger than whether any one statute can be read to find criminal responsibility is the issue of whether officials of your stature will be allowed to use their influence to intimidate whistle-blowers.

Over three decades ago, our nation was scarred by an Administration that would stop at nothing to smear and intimidate its critics. I do not believe the Nation will countenance a repeat of such activities. For your role in this campaign, I would ask that you resign immediately.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Minority Member

Via truthout and Follow Me Here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Tuesday, October 7, 2003

Sigh.

The Gropenator won. Our fiddle hates us. Magpie is going to go eat worms.

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:47 PM | Get permalink

Governor Gropenator.

CNN and Fox News say Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to Sacramento, based on exit polls done during the day today.

Update: Even the LA Times has pretty much thrown in the towel.

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:17 PM | Get permalink

Enron.

MSNBC has put together Enron 101, an online presentation that explains the whole Enron scandal in terms that anyone can understand.

Via Ruminate This.

| | Posted by Magpie at 8:15 PM | Get permalink

California recall results.

The Secretary of State will be updating them every 20 minutes here, starting in about five minutes from when Magpie is posting this.

| | Posted by Magpie at 7:56 PM | Get permalink

Well, look at this here thing.

It's the Bush/Cheney 2004 Official Blog.

Magpie notices that there's no commenting. Kind of like the way Dubya tries to run the country.

| | Posted by Magpie at 7:47 PM | Get permalink

Another bumpersticker.

A correspondent writes to report a sighting of this one in SE Portland:

I wasn't using those civil liberties anyway

| | Posted by Magpie at 6:03 PM | Get permalink

Where to vote in California.

If you're registered to vote and don't know where your polling place is, you can look it up here, courtesy of MoveOn.org.

We understand that there are fewer polling places than in the last election, so allow more time than usual to vote. California's secretary of state estimates that 65% of the registered voters will turn out today — a much higher figure than usual. However, some election watchers say the turnout may be as high as 75%.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:13 PM | Get permalink

Dubya spins the Plame leak some more.

In a Q&A with reporters this morning, Dubya attempted to lower expectations that the source of the Plame leak will ever be found.

President Bush said Monday he has "no idea" whether the Justice Department will catch the person who disclosed an undercover CIA officer's identity.

"This is a large administration," Bush said.

Magpie wonders whether Dubya's comments should be considered evidence of how high he can count, rather than of the immense size of his administration. Given that the reporters to whom the Valerie Plame info was leaked back in July say the leaker was a high administration official, we'd suggest to the Prez that there aren't that many people who need to be investigated.

Via AP.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:12 PM | Get permalink

We're bad.

But not that bad.

This site is certified 35% EVIL by the Gematriculator

On the other hand, Magpie fed Dubya's 2003 State of the Union address to the Gematriculator, which rated it as only 28 percent evil. We suspect that their methodology is, well, suspect.

Via feministe.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:51 AM | Get permalink

The latest on the Plame affair.

Mark Kleiman's got the scoop over at Open Source Politics.

If you're not old enough to remember Watergate, and have been feeling bad about missing it, you should start feeling better. Listen closely, and you can hear John Mitchell's growl and the voice of White House Counsel John Dean saying to Sam Ervin, "And then I told the President..."

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:34 AM | Get permalink

The puzzling release of Maher Arar.

Just over a year ago, Syrian-Canadian Maher Arar was flying back to Montreal after a vacation in Tunisia. His plane had a stopover in New York. Instead of just switching planes, however, Arar was detained by US immigration officials who maintained that he had connections to al-Qaeda. Despite the lack of any formal charges, and despite Arar's Canadian citizenship, he was deported to Syria 10 days later. (Arar had not set foot in Syria since he emigrated 15 years ago at age 17.) He spent 375 days in a Syrian jail, and there are reports (unconfirmed at this point) that he was tortured..

Arar was released by Syria over the weekend and returned to Canada on Monday under somewhat mysterious circumstances. None of the allegations that the RCMP gave US authorities the info they needed to detain Arar have been answered, and the Canadian government has indicated that there will be no investigation of the reasons for his detention and imprisonment.

The Poison Kitchen has compiled an array of links on Arar's case — one that should be better known outside of Canada.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:29 AM | Get permalink

It's recall day in California.

If you're in the Golden State, Magpie urges you to go to the polls and vote No on the recall; for Bustamante for governor; and No on all of the ballot measures.

To report voting problems or to discuss the recall, Black Box Voting is providing the BBV Report. The site will go live today at 6 pm Pacific Time.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Monday, October 6, 2003

The lies never stop, do they?

Last week, WMD investigator David Kay told a US congressional committee that a vial of botulinum found in Iraq proved that Saddam Hussein had an active biowarfare program. The UK Guardian reports that this dangerous vial had in fact been sitting in an Iraqi scientist's fridge for 10 years.

While presenting his progress report to Congress, Mr Kay did not say when and where the botulinum had been hidden but he told a television interviewer on Sunday that the scientist involved said he was asked to hide the botulinum in his refrigerator at home in 1993. Iraq admitted pursuing a biological weapons programme to UN inspectors two years later. It is unclear whether the Iraqi scientist had received any orders from the regime after that date.

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:47 PM | Get permalink

We find this hard to believe.

From a Washington Post article:

President Bush said yesterday that he hopes would-be leakers in Congress and the executive branch will be deterred by the criminal investigation into the disclosure of a CIA operative's identity.

Bush said he complained in the past "about leaks of security information, whether the leaks be in the legislative branch or in the executive branch." He said the current investigation "will not only hold someone to account who should not have leaked . . . but also hopefully will help set a clear signal we expect other leaks to stop, as well."

"I take those leaks very seriously," he said at a news conference with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. "I look forward to finding the truth."

If Dubya is so concerned about leaks, why didn't he order an investigation into the Valerie Plame leak when Robert Novak's column appeared back in mid-July? And if is so concerned, why were there all the unpunished leaks from the administration about the 'Iraqi menace' during the run-up to the war?

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:23 PM | Get permalink

Keeping rabble going.

One of Magpie's favorite sources of news and comment is rabble, a Canadian-based online publication that — in their words — fuses the hot energy of activism with the cool eye of journalism. We read rabble every day they publish, and link to their stories frequently.

Visting rabble today, however, we find that they're in financial trouble. They're having to cut back on staff and, unless they can get a substantial amount of the readership to pledge financial support, rabble will be history by the end of this year. If that happens, we will all be poorer for it.

There are details about rabble's financial crisis here, and a secure online donation form here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 5:48 PM | Get permalink

Sunday, October 5, 2003

Those wonderful US employment figures that came out a few days ago.

Get ready for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to adjust them downward later this week.

Statisticians at the Labor Department said they expect to revise down U.S. payroll employment by about 145,000 for the March 2003 reference month -- effectively showing even greater weakness in the sluggish labor market than previously thought.

The downward adjustment surprised Wall Street, which had been rife with speculation this week that Labor would adjust the figures up, bringing payrolls more in line with another survey which has shown a recent improvement in the job market.

Via Reuters and Atrios.

| | Posted by Magpie at 5:00 PM | Get permalink

The Gropenator update.

Body and Soul has links to everything you'd want to know.

Make sure to read the comments. One of them, asking why none of the women who allege that Arnold Schwarzenegger harassed them filed charges, got a short & sweet answer from Jeanne (the proprietor of Body and Soul):

Why the hell didn't someone bring charges of assault or harassment?

Any woman who's ever been sexually harassed or assaulted on a job and didn't complain, raise your hand. (You can't see it, but mine is up.) It's harder than you think.

Magpie's hand is up as well. We lost a radio job for refusing the advances of our boss — who, of course, made certain that nothing ever happened when there were witnesses. We're sure would-be Gov. Terminator was smart enough to do that, too.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:49 PM | Get permalink

Should outing Valerie Plame be a crime?

While Magpie was initially unsure we agreed with Nathan Newman's conclusion that no one should be charged with a crime for exposing CIA agents, his well though out argument persuades us that getting the names of the leaker(s) out to the public, and then pursuing the matter in the political system, rather than the justice system, is the best course of action. Magpie certainly thinks that congressional hearings into the matter are in order — especially given that the current Justice Department investigation of the leak is unlikely to wind up being anything but a whitewash. And we heartily agree with Newman's suggestion that we should just vote the bastards out of office next year.

Newman reminds us of what the CIA has been guilty of in the past, and argues that criminalizing debate on the actions of government employees (even if they are intelligence agents) is bad for democracy. Go read his whole post and decide what you think.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:05 PM | Get permalink

Those elusive Iraqi WMDs.

From a Reuters dispatch:

Though no Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have yet been found, Washington's chief inspector David Kay said on Sunday he was confident the search would turn up "remarkable things" in the coming months.

As Magpie has said before, it takes time to manufacture the evidence.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:42 PM | Get permalink

Just what the Mideast needs.

The first Israeli attack on Syria in 20 years.

Israel's military says it bombed a Palestinian terrorist base near Damascus in retaliation for the suicide attack that killed 19 people in Haifa on Saturday. The Syrian government says Israel made a 'brutal' and 'unjustifiable' attack on a civilian area, and the it demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to deal with the issue. Syria also accused the Israel of trying to export its internal crisis with the Palestians to other parts of the region.

While the Syrian rhetoric around the attack was rather restrained, especially when measured against some of the things Syria has said about Israel in the past, Israel's ambassador didn't shy from rhetorical overkill.

But Israel's ambassador, Dan Gillerman, expressed "outrage and dismay" at the fact that the Security Council had agreed to hold the meeting at all, particularly as it comes a day after the Haifa bomb and on the eve of the Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur.

"For Syria to call a Security Council meeting is as if Bin Laden had called a Security Council meeting after 9/11," he said, adding that it was the "epitome of double standards".

Via BBC.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:39 PM | Get permalink

Why the sexual harassment charges against Schwarzenegger didn't come out before last week.

Since women have started coming forward with charges of sexual harassment against Arnold Schwarzenegger, we've been amused by would-be Governor Terminator's responses. After an initial contrite speech about how he may have acted badly, Schwarzenegger has switched to attacking Democrats and the LA Times for trying to sabotage his campaign. As evidence, he points to the fact that although the alleged harassment instances date back as far as 25 years, they are only coming out in the last week of the campaign.

The very first thing Magpie thought of when she read that charge by Schwarzenegger was Gov. Gray Davis' campaign was undoubtedly aware of the charges against Schwarzenegger, but chose not to use the information out of fear of being perceived as running a dirty campaign. According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle, this was exactly the case.

Considering that reports and rumors of Schwarzenegger's sexual exploits and his gift for politically incorrect gab had been floating around for months, it begs the question: Why didn't the Democrats launch an all-out character assault on the actor early on?

For starters, according to campaign insiders, Davis' own focus groups with voters showed they just didn't care that much about Schwarzenegger's womanizing past.

"It was all seen as part of the Hollywood scene -- people sort of expected it," said one consultant.

As a result, the Davis campaign felt that going after the Hollywood muscleman for his alleged sexcapades early on would have been too risky.

"You can't do it in a vacuum, or people just accuse you of mudslinging," said one Davis operative.

In other words, the Democrats had to wait until the press -- or someone else -- took the first shot.

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:13 AM | Get permalink

The White House knew Iraqi oil couldn't fund reconstruction costs.

And, according to the NY Times, this fact was known for months ahead of the invasion. Despite warnings from a secret Pentagon task force set up to study Iraq's oil industry, Dubya's administration continued to tell the US public that the cost of rebuilding Iraq would be covered by oil revenues — not by taxpayers.

The task force, which was based at the Pentagon as part of the planning for the war, produced a book-length report that described the Iraqi oil industry as so badly damaged by a decade of trade embargoes that its production capacity had fallen by more than 25 percent, panel members have said.

Despite those findings, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz told Congress during the war that "we are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."

Moreover, Vice President Dick Cheney said in April, on the day Baghdad fell, that Iraq's oil production could hit 3 million barrels a day by the end of the year, even though the task force had determined that Iraq was generating less than 2.4 million barrels a day before the war.

That 2.4 million figure, Magpie wants to emphasize, is the best Iraq could do before its oil infrastructure was damaged by the US-led invasion. Either Cheney and Wolfowitz had paid no attention to the findings of the administration's own oil industry task force, or they chose to ignore the findings and lie to the US public in order to maintain support for an invasion. Neither possibility reflects well on the competence and motives of Cheney and Wolfowitz, or on those of the rest of Dubya's administration.

Even with our level of cynicism, Magpie is appalled by the apparent fact that nothing that Dubya's administration said about Iraq before the war was the truth. There's an old saying that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Obviously the White House and Pentagon have considerable work to do before they can attain that even that low level of accuracy.

[Free reg. req'd.]

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:09 AM | Get permalink