Is the Obama Presidency stuck in campaign mode? ...

This article at the Feathered Bastard (White House Staffer Disappoints Phoenix Latino Leaders in Meeting at El Portal) shows an administration that is either not quite aware of the environment Latinos are stuck in here in Arizona or one that is remarkably insensitive to their plight as it appears they sent a representative to meet with "about 70 to 80 activists, politicians, and business people" but who was completely unprepared to answer questions about the out-of-control 'law enforcement' as well as immigration issues in general. A philosophy of

... accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

just does not work with such issues as people's rights no matter how much the 'pragmatic' Obama would like it to.

The article also leaves the impression that the Obama administration and Janet Napolitano may not be doing anything about the discriminatory practices because they are afraid. [Afraid of Sheriff Joe but nevertheless they propose to keep us safe by refusing to let us see pictures of past crimes.]

An update to the article follows:

UPDATE: A White House aide called me this morning, asking that I point out that the White House has a meeting scheduled on June 17 with congressional leaders of both parties to discuss immigration. Originally, the meeting was scheduled for June 8. The aide, who did not wish to be identified, could not explain the discrepancy between what Odio told Latino leaders last week, or with Abrams' statement to me quoted above. Nor could the aide tell me if the meeting will be held in public or private. The following is what the aide would say on the record:

"The president is inviting a small group of bipartisan Senate and House leaders on the immigration issue to the White House for a meeting to have an honest discussion of the issues, identify areas of agreement, and areas where we still have work to do." [emphasis added]

Get that, a 'White House aide' who one would assume is following someone's instructions in making this call does not want to be identified? And why not? And WHY did Stephen Lemons accept this type of information under those conditions? There is no reason whatsoever for the bearer of this information to be incognito.

More about the US Control, Sudden Death and Arbitrary Punishment System for the masses ...

Glenn Greenwald continues to puncture the idea (if it still exists) that the United States has a system of equal justice for all ...

• "Homeless man gets 15 years for stealing $100"
• "Under federal law, "the simple possession of just 5 grams of crack cocaine, the weight of about two sugar packets, subjects a defendant to a mandatory five-year prison term."
• Alabama, the average sentence for marijuana possession -- an offense for which most Western countries almost never imprison their citizens -- is 8.4 years."
• "The state of Florida "imposes mandatory-minimum sentences of 25 years for illegally carrying a pillbox-worth of drugs such as Oxycontin" and imposes shockingly Draconian mandatory sentences even for marijuana offenses."
• "mandatory minimum sentencing schemes [are] a way to eliminate mercy and sentencing flexibility for ordinary people who break the law"
• "Currently in the U.S., close to 7,000 people are serving sentences of 25 years to life under our merciless "three-strikes-and-out" laws ... including half for nonviolent offenses and many for petty theft."
• the United States accounts "for less than 5% of the world's population yet close to 25% of the world's prisoners are located in American prisons."
• "inhumane conditions ... characterize our highly profitable prison state."
• Two tier justice system: ""ignore-the-past-and-forget-retribution" rationale is invoked by our media elites only for a tiny, special class of people -- our political leaders -- while the exact opposite rationale ("ignore their lame excuses, lock them up and throw away the key") is applied to everyone else."

If this is the United States of America that you want ...

... vote for more of the same, John McCain.

2008 Republican National Convention Round-Up

Violence and cruel treatment directed at protesters by police; Journalists targeted for arrest, harassment, intimidation and surveillance

Sunday, 7 Sep 2008

by Eileen Clancy

Police Violence in the Streets

The members of I-Witness Video have been appalled to see a high level of violence directed against peaceful demonstrators, medics, legal observers and journalists at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Concussion grenades, smoke bombs, CS gas (tear gas), rubber bullets and pepper spray were used to attack and herd demonstrators.

In particular, pepper spray was used excessively and indiscriminately to torment and punish demonstrators in a manner that violates widely accepted law enforcement standards. In one instance a man was pepper-sprayed while handcuffed and then punched in the kidneys. Peaceful demonstrators have been restrained and forced to kneel on pavement for hours after being pepper sprayed without being given medical attention. In another instance where pepper spray was used to preemptively punish a person who was perceived by police to be a protester, a lone street medic was entering her car when police drove up, sprayed a small fire extinguisher sized canister of pepper spray into her car, completely soaking her head to toe before driving away, leaving her gasping for air and collapsing. The medic was neither arrested nor charged.

... continue reading ...

How can logical, reasoned arguments work ...

Democrats, progressives, liberals keep writing as if they were dealing with the rational, the legal, the Constitutional, the just:

The Many Costs of the New HHS Rule Privileging Conscience Over Patients

"It’s really quite astonishing that the Bush administration would seek to implement new regulations — to the costly tune of $44 million — to appease social conservatives during the final months of Bush’s presidency."

No, no. Haven't you been paying attention. This is not 'astonishing' at all. Where have you been for the last 7+ years?

You have to hand it to Glenn Greenwald. He sees, understands and writes accurately and lucidly about all manner of complicated issues:

What's missing from the Democratic convention?

But I think in this case Glenn has missed the critical issue. The US has already been taken over. By the corporate press. If the press can't turn an anti-Bush country into a pro-McSame country, and they are well on their way to doing so, then they will back up any attempts the Republicans make to steal the election.

Democrats don't control the message coming out of the convention. It's massaged, manipulated, ignored, lied about by the media who are in charge of what most US citizens see, read and know about the US and the world.

Would any sane organization let the opposition place their operatives right in their convention and control the information that flows out of it if they could (and wanted to) do otherwise?

Right wing TV Pundits destroy every segment on Democratic Convention

Where's The Hatred?

"So if the hatred isn't among the Democrats, then maybe it's among those who are reporting this crap?"

Those 'reporting this crap' control the message. It will take much effort and money to counter this 'crap' and even then most outlets are controlled by the other party and they have the power to refuse to air the democratic messages. And even when they do air them they have dedicated staff to talk 24/7 against the democrats.

Where the Bush campaigns and administration initially attempted to hide or downplay their flouting of the law and their installation of a system where laws only apply to those who oppose them politically, the double standard is now quite open and pervasive:

Protest Politics

The Obama Plotters: The Republican Double Standard In Law Enforcement Made Manifest

As Glenn Greenwald looks at what's missing from the Democratic Convention, I can't get away from the idea that, for years now, the Democrats have been ignoring the elephant in the room. (pun?) The elephant is the GOP control of the media. That control, and many others have written about this better than I can, that control is both direct and indirect. The Democrats have done absolutely nothing to counter this fact (that I can see).

Mostly what I see is a party that continues to act as if the country was working as it was intended to and 'hoping' that the Constitutional mechanisms will, in the end, work. Well, I hope so also, but I don't see how this will work, nor how the country can rally behind the effort, when the real problems remain unspoken by those who claim to lead us.

---------------------
From the Gender Genie:

Words: 493

(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)

Female Score: 578
Male Score: 876

The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!

I'm not sure why it matters, but obviously it matter to some, enough to have programs that assign words feminine and masculine values.

Obviously, sending 88% of the male population of the US to Guantanamo would go a long way toward solving our violence problem ...

According to the Department of Justice, 88% of violent crime in the U.S. is committed by men. But as a society, we rarely talk about the prevalence of male violence, or how striking it is that gender, more than any other factor, is such a predictor of violent behavior.

No need to worry about 2nd Amendment rights and such. Bush has already (and Obama concurs) eliminated the rest of our rights. So let's just ship off the violent ones (don't forget serial-torturer George Bush and Face-Shooter Cheney) to Guantanamo. George Bush has made sure it's nice and cozy. It should suit him and his friends just fine.

By eliminating the 88% most violent portion of the population the US should turn into quite a peaceful place. More jobs to go around. More elbow room.

Solves a lot of problems. Just like Bush-baby. Identify the problem. Build a jail and send whoever you don't like there. Very American, I must say.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it ...

[NOTE: Just practicing good standard US 'journalism' in moving from 88% of violent crimes to 88% of the male population. Much more eye catching that way, if not more informative.]

Yesterday's QUOTES ...

Is this a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face? ... Sen. Barack Obama's top fundraisers have asked his campaign donors to refrain from contributing to liberal independent political organizations in hopes of controlling the tone and message of the general-election campaign. [ ... ] The McCain campaign has been less organized than Obama's in its efforts to counter the groups, but the senator from Arizona has made clear his antipathy toward them -- without much effect. ... anyone think McCain seriously cares about the swift-boating of Obama? Does Obama actually believe McCain cares or would do anything substantive to stop it? Will Democratic politicians really ignore the last eight years and get snookered again?

... As I have pleaded with you to understand, they are dishonest and cruel, they are crafty and deceptive, they aren’t stupid. Like all successful con men, they will deceive those they are robbing and destroying quite successfully. They are far from stupid.

I'd just like to say this to Clinton supporters. The spate of endorsements of Sen. Obama will continue. Every victory of Sen. Clinton's will be followed immediately by high profile endorsements to blunt the impact of that victory - it's called politics. ... Politics it may be, but I find it very disappointing that Edwards chose to endorse the least progressive candidate, the one with no real national health plan.

... The oppressor may inflict unimaginable cruelties on innocent victims -- but the victims may only protest in ways which the oppressor deems "acceptable." The profound injustice is obvious, but not in itself remarkable or unexpected: this is how oppression operates. ...

The media deserves a large share of the blame ... All this might be quite funny if one doesn’t consider the consequences for the Republic. When historians try to figure out how the most powerful nation on earth managed to end up under the control of someone as unfit as George W. Bush for eight years, they will have to take note of this media phenomenon. ... and their destructive role has not been accidental.

It’s an example of how American law enforcement tends to marginalize black discontent by attributing it to more organized external forces. This is a tendency rooted in U.S. tradition: black radicals and civil rights activists of past eras were often linked to communists and other “outside agitators” — as if the progeny of enslaved Africans needed Karl Marx to detail their gripes about life in America. Now, apparently, the government claims the link is with Osama bin Laden.

... now that it's clear Hillary's presidential campaign is all but over, the right is proceeding apace with its attempt to Hillary-ize Michelle Obama. ... [...] ... We know what the right did to Hillary, and we can expect them to do a lot of the same things to Michelle. How do we combat this?

Moyers: “ ... We’re not going to have a discourse in this campaign over the fact that the great American wealth machine is benefiting only those at the top. We’re not going to get to the fact that 10% of the people own 60% of the wealth and 70% of the people have no net worth. We’re not going to get to the issues of how do we rebuild the infrastructure, the sewer, the water, the highways, all that. We’re just going to be constantly in this battle of bumper stickers.”

Logical progression ...

Start a war against an unstoppable demand and what do you get? A war than can never be 'won.'

The US had the sense (or good luck) to back off prohibition. But the country we live in now gleefully elected President Cuckoo Bananas (albeit with the underhanded assistance and protection of the 'press' not to mention the anointing made by Los Supremos); doesn't have the capacity to accept that hemp is not the same thing as marijuana; and is doing everything in its power (quite successfully too) to exponentially ratchet up the violence and devastation of the War on Drugs.

... a terrifyingly common crime in Latin America has moved across the border into the United States: Criminals and their family members are being kidnapped by fellow criminals and held for six-figure ransoms.

[For Arizona-Mexico border reporting read the Border Reporter]

It's not that we in the US don't deserve to share some of the problems we have caused in other countries. It's that none of these problems had to happen at all.

Why can't we learn? Why can't we stop ourselves? Certainly the US is contributing to the evidence demonstrating that Homo sapiens are not very sapient after all ...

Killing us softly ...

... for our own good of course

Stopping Cars with Radiation --A beam of microwave energy could stop vehicles in their tracks by Brittany Sauser

"I have no doubt that if you set up a microprocessor and get a high-powered, well-focused beam of energy on [a car], you can disrupt its operation," says Peter Fisher, a professor of physics and the division head in particle and nuclear experimental physics at MIT. But to be able to deploy such a system safely will take some work, he says.

Imagine if a police officer is in a high-speed chase near a shopping mall and turns on one of these systems to stop the perpetrator: a lot of elevators have microprocessor controls, so if the officer is pointing the device in the direction of the mall, he or she could end up trapping 12 people in an elevator, says Fisher. Many other electronic systems, such as an automated teller machine or a security system, could also be disrupted.

Furthermore, Fisher cautions that, while the system may seem like an easier and more efficient solution than spike strips, it could still cause a huge accident if a car is disabled and a driver loses steering control. The system could pose a safety concern as well: radiation can burn human skin, and microwaves have long been suspected of being a cancer-causing agent.

Driving while brown ...

Hispanic motorists were the most likely to be searched, arrested, cited and to receive multiple citations and the least likely to get off with warnings.

But hey, don't get too upset ... there could be, uh, 'other' factors ... the authorities don't need no stinking laws to hamper them, they just 'know' who's guilty and what everyone else is thinking! Only those laws that facilitate the authorities control of the public apply.

PHOENIX -- A study of traffic stops conducted by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers found evidence of possible racial profiling by officers, although researchers cautioned that other factors may be responsible for high rates of stops and searches of minority drivers.

The University of Cincinnati report mirrors findings by a Northern Arizona University researchers three years ago. The new study shows Highway Patrol officers were more than twice as likely to search vehicles driven by Hispanics and blacks than white drivers during 2006. Minorities also were far more likely to be arrested or to receive multiple traffic citations.

Hispanic motorists were the most likely to be searched, arrested, cited and to receive multiple citations and the least likely to get off with warnings.

The 223-page report was done to satisfy terms of a 2006 settlement of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and criminal defendants that accused officers of targeting minority motorists along interstate highways near Flagstaff.

Here's how I interpret these findings. I've owned at least one vehicle that had recurring tail light problems (that is the turn signals and/or the tail light would just stop working). In all, I was stopped maybe 5 or 6 times over a period of several years. I would get the warning, get the tail light fixed (again) and after some period of time (months or a year) the light would go out again. Sometimes I caught it myself. The way I read these finding is that if I were dark in color and/or non European looking I would stand a very good chance of being arrested and/or having my car searched because of that damned tail light. To me that's harassment, plain and simple. Certainly I need to get the light fixed but to use such an excuse to stop, search, interrogate and arrest people is not the sign of a free country. In addition it leads to corruption. It becomes just too easy to pretend there is a stoppable problem with any vehicle. Lying has just become too easy for our police. Everyone expects them to do it. They never appear to be held accountable when they are caught lying. So much for integrity. So much for justice. So much for a respect for the law. So much for freedom.

Freedom, not just of the press, temporarily 'safe' in Phoenix ...

The Arizona Republic, hardly the harbinger of freedom and civil rights, is rightly critical of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas' special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik's witch hunt at the Phoenix New Times.

From the Arizona Republic opinion editorial:

Whether Thomas knew about them or not, his office issued grand-jury subpoenas against New Times. We would like to see those subpoenas. Since Thomas wishes us to believe they are news to him, we invite him to spread those subpoenas out on our conference table. We'll read up on them together.

The Phoenix New Times announced the investigation on October 18:

Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution --Joe Arpaio, Andy Thomas and Dennis Wilenchik hit New Times with grand jury subpoenas by Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin at the Phoenix New Times

... More alarming still, Arpaio, Thomas, and Wilenchik subpoenaed detailed information on anyone who has looked at the New Times Web site since 2004. ...

The Feathered Bastard (link and link) at the Phx New Times is, I think, having some well deserved payback at the expense of the Maricopa County Attorney who apparently follows orders from Joe Arpaio who was 'frustrated' according to Thomas' own words (Arpaio is the sheriff who treats a quarantined TB patient as he would his most dangerous criminal; link and link).

Asked if Thomas would go after the many Web sites that have published Arpaio's address online, he made a major legal flub.

"There's a big difference between that and putting his name and address on the front cover," as the New Times did late in 2006. This reporter had to point out to Thomas that the law in question did not apply to print publication of such addresses, only Internet publication of same.

[...]

The extent of Thomas' retreat became apparent when MCAO flack Barnett Lotstein later admitted that attorney Wilenchik will no longer serve the MCAO in criminal matters, though he will continue to represent the County in civil matters when someone like Arpaio requests him.

Obviously, Wilenchik this week crossed the line into political liability territory, and Thomas threw him under the bus. Interestingly, New Times reporter Ray Stern's disorderly conduct citation for looking at public documents has not been dismissed. Stern was viewing MCSO press releases at the PHX law offices of Michelle Iafrate, press releases the MCSO refuses to e-mail to New Times. Stern took some digital snaps of these public docs. They asked him to leave. There were words between he and Iafrate, and he left. Then they hit him with a citation later in the evening as part of this mess.

Not Giuliani, but the reduction of lead ...

Research Links Lead Exposure, Criminal Activity --Data May Undermine Giuliani's Claims by Shankar Vedantam

A Fox 'news' kind of person ...

Photo given to FOXNEWS.com by Elias Bermudez of InmigrantesSinFronteras.com

'Pears Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio takes the above 'photoshopped' image as a threat to him instead of a portrayal of the threat others feel that he represents.

Threats aren't new to the sheriff, with about a dozen received in the past that led to convictions. This stunt is part of a bigger picture against his efforts, Arpaio said.

Though Arpaio doesn't claim to have Mexican friends he does claim compassion (something like Bush's compassionate conservatism, no doubt).

Last week, Arpaio banned visits by illegal immigrants to friends and family in his jail. The sheriff also launched a hotline for tips on illegal immigrants, which received about 1,400 calls so far.

In response to criticism that the hotline uses racial profiling, Arpaio said police must have probable cause to check out a tip.

"We don't go around knocking doors down. We have to have probable cause," Arpaio said. "I'm not a racist. I have compassion for the Mexican people."

Terrorism, hate crimes, vandalism ...

So when is it terrorism?

Arizona mosque targeted in "acid bomb" attack

Another 'nonlethal' dangerous weapon ...

Apparently it will not cause the pain of being shot in the eye with a small hi-velocity bean bag nor being electrocuted with a taser so how will our Republican breed of law-enforcers get their jollies?

The Incapacitating Flashlight --An LED flashlight makes culprits vomit-- by Prachi Patel-Predd
The flashlight, which is being developed for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), uses a range finder to measure the distance to the target's eyes so that it can adjust the energy of the light to a level that won't cause permanent damage. Then it rapidly shoots out pulses of light from an array of ultrabright light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The flashes incapacitate a person in two different ways, ...

Accountability along the border ...

A US Border Patrol agent, Nicholas Corbett, who shot and killed Dominguez River, an illegal border crosser, in January has been ordered to stand trial for second-degree murder.

OK, you want polygamy ...

Then let's make this more equal. If men can marry a half a dozen 14 year old girls and keep them virtual prisoners then stop prosecuting female teachers who seduce 14 year old boys.

I'm all for more equal family values.

Link: Polygamy: the Red State Answer to Family Values. AZ and UT Attorney Generals Won’t Prosecute It. And Then There's Orrin Hatch.

Prisons R Us ...

... America took a distinctly conservative turn in the 1970s. ... One of the effects is that there has been a pandering to really very ill thought out prejudice on an array of issues.

Like three strike and you are out. Only in the Republican mind would baseball be the model for a justice system.

And I know, some Democrats very stupidly followed this disastrous route just like they followed along on the Iraq war ...

28 year old man killed 75 year old man in 'self defense' ...

Mesa, Arizona - Even if the 75 year old had a knife (which apparently he didn't) the 28 year old could presumably out run him.

I have trouble believing this story. Does that fact that the newspaper put 'road-rage' in the title mean they don't believe it either?
___________________________
Arizona Republic: Man says road-rage death of 75-year-old was self-defense

Sheriff Dupnik criticizes how 'homeland security' funds are used ...

The Pima County Sheriff isn't too happy with how the feds help (or don't) with the mess expanding out from the border (due to the totally insane US border policies and enforcement).

Dupnik spoke at a news conference about a fatal ambush Friday west of Green Valley of a pickup truck packed with at least 23 illegal immigrants, including three small children. Two people were killed by gunfire, and at least one was injured. It was the second such incident in the past two months.

"The violence associated with the problem of migration and narcotics and other contraband going both north and south has reached epidemic proportions," Dupnik said, "and the safety of everyone in this state, if not in this country, is in some way affected by what's occurring."

The resources of the U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office and state and local law enforcement have been "taxed to their maximum," Dupnik said. "We are literally overwhelmed by the problem."

Local law agencies don't have enough people to cover nonborder crimes, let alone divert resources to cover border issues, he said.

He criticized the distribution of Homeland Security funds, which he said were largely going for "reactionary" purposes, such as costly training exercises during mock disasters.

"If we had the money for the kinds of resources we need, we could make a huge impact on the border violence and crime," he said.

________________________
Tucson Citizen: Sheriff: Feds fail to address 'epidemic' of border violence by Claudine LoMonaco

Another shoot-up of a vehicle, this time just 20 miles south of Tucson ...

UPDATE 4/1/07 -- Here's an article with more info about the gun attack on a vehicle full of people driving from the border north towards Tucson:

Drug hijackers mistakenly open fire on 23 migrants, killing 2 by DAVID L. TEIBEL and CLAUDINE LoMONACO, Tucson Citizen

_________________________
Again, a vehicle carrying people crossing the border illegally has been shot at and people have been killed.

Members of the group described bullets cutting into the rear of the pickup as the driver tried to flee, Kastigar said. After a brief chase, the driver stopped and the people inside ran into the desert.

When deputies arrived they found the two dead and at least one wounded person.

________________________
Arizona Republic: Gunmen ambush migrants, killing 2