A2 Government & Politics Pressure Groups Homework

The task set is to write a short paragraph explaining the impact that a chosen pressure group has had on a particular policy area. Examples of the policy area could be economic, environmental, civil rights related or deal with domestic social issues or foreign policy. You should outline the position taken by the pressure group and show how it related to a politician, party, individual bill or Supreme Court decision. You could also mention whether you think the pressure group has made a positive or negative impact on the US as a result of its actions. Your paragraph should be posted into the comments box and you should identify yourself by your initials only. All posts should be completed by midday on Friday 4 February.

Everything you need to know about Capping the Cost of Credit

Check out here the site of Walthamstow MP, Stella Creasy, and her campaign against the misery of the modern day tallymen.

These "payday, doorstep and hire purchase lenders"...used by around three million people in Britain... One in ten UK payday customers have incomes of less than £11,100 per year...The APR for payday lenders often begins at 600% and can escalate to 2,500% or more. And home credit lenders, who make home visits in order to collect repayments for their short-term loans, can charge £82 in interest and collection charges for every £100 lent..."

When you think it is possible to get loans from credit unions for as low as 12.68%....

Congress Looking At An Avenue For State Bankruptcy

Although there has been no bill written or even introduced in Congress, the NY Times is reporting that back room discussions are being held about the possibility changing federal bankruptcy law to allow states to declare Chapter 9 or some form of it.  While there are no specifics, as there is no bill, prominent Republicans such as Newt Gingrich are floating this as an idea to deal with bulging state obligations amid a lack of revenue:

Mr. Gingrich discussed the proposal in a Nov. 11 speech before the Institute for Policy Innovation, an anti-big-government group based in Lewisville, Texas. According to a transcript of the speech on Mr. Gingrich’s website, www.newt.org, he said: “I … hope the House Republicans are going to move a bill in the first month or so of their tenure to create a venue for state bankruptcy, so that states like California and New York and Illinois that think they’re going to come to Washington for money can be told, you know, you need to sit down with all your government employee unions and look at their health plans and their pension plans and, frankly, if they don’t want to change, our recommendation is you go into bankruptcy court and let the bankruptcy judge change it, and I would make the federal bankruptcy law prohibit tax increases as part of the solution, so no bankruptcy judge could impose a tax increase on the people of the states.”….

So far, proponents of the legislation said they have not yet recruited a congressional sponsor for the proposed measure. “We’re still shopping for the guy who is going to carry it,” Mr. [Grover] Norquist said.

Most of this current discussion seems to have been sparked by a column written by David Skeel for the Weekly Standard entitled "Give States a way to Go Bankrupt" although there have been discussion in the past.  Personally, I don't think this has a prayer in the Senate, and while the GOP is touting it, I don't fully understand why.  Although Mr. Skeel touches on the probable constitutional conflicts of this approach, it is peculiar to me that the party that often touts state's rights might be willing to push a bill that challenges state sovereignty this much.  Aren't state budgets homogeneous to themselves and shouldn't they be made to meet the obligations they have made to their citizens?  Regardless, this is one of the more interesting stories I have come across lately and am following it with a keen interest.  

H/T - Naked Capitalism

Some Republicans Turning On Scott Brown

Although he has already raised millions in campaign cash, some Republican groups are starting to turn against Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown:

Scott Wheeler, who heads the National Republican Trust PAC, said the group never expected Brown to toe a consistently conservative line, given his home state. But Brown's vote for the New START Treaty with Russia in late 2010 was a bridge too far, Wheeler said.

The PAC spent about $95,000 on independent expenditure ads on Brown's behalf in the run-up to the January 2010 special election. That's a fraction of the amount other groups, like the Republican and Democratic senatorial committees, spent on the race. And the National Republican Trust isn't a major financial powerhouse; it raised $1.1 million through late November 2010, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, and spent $1.4 million on elections.

But the PAC has a national network of donors, and Wheeler promised he would use the committee's resources against Brown.

"We're going to finance a primary opponent," he said. "I might even ask him to give our money back."

Anyone who expected ideological purity of a Republican Senator from Massachusetts borders on delusional to begin with, but it seems to me that drawing the line in the sand over that START treaty is a little rash.  Regardless, Brown seems to be ok for now, but more defections will only make his road to reelection in a perennial blue state more difficult.  I urge the GOP to look to the nomination of Sharon Angle for clues as to where this road leads.

Some Reading On Egypt

One cannot exist right now and not be inundated with coverage over Egypt.  Here are some things I found interesting:

Egypt and The Limits of U.S. Power
Obama's Handling Egypt Pretty Well
Letter From Cairo
What Do Israel & Iran Have In Common
WH Prepares For Life After Mubarak
Obama's Shift On Egypt
Who's Behind Egypt's Revolt

Joe Turnham's Farewell To The ADP

LINK

H/T - Left In Alabama

Colorado Town Allows Funeral Pyre Cremation.

CRESTONE, Colo. -- Belinda Ellis' farewell went as she wanted. One by one, her family placed juniper boughs and logs about her body, covered in red cloth atop a rectangular steel grate inside a brick-lined hearth. With a torch, her husband lit the fire that consumed her, sending billows of smoke into the blue-gray sky of dawn. The outdoor funeral pyre in this southern Colorado mountain town is unique. Funeral and cremation industry officials say they are unaware of any other place in the nation that conducts open-air cremations for people regardless of religion. A Buddhist temple in Red Feather Lakes, Colo., conducts a few funeral pyres, but only for its members. (Article by Ivan Moreno of the Associated Press)

James: I have long told family and close friends that my wishes upon death are to have my body cremated and the ashes spread through the four elements of nature: earth, fire, air and water. It is my hope that those ashes will be of benefit to the natural world that made this current life possible. It is a good reminder of the impermanence of life, and a powerful, visual aid to help us let go of the deceased. It seems as though it would help loved ones accept the reality of the death easier than dressing them in fancy clothes and applying make-up as though they are off to a party, rather than no longer alive. I feel that sealing that costumed corpse into a box, to bury in the ground, frozen in time, seems like it often makes the suffering of those left behind more painfully drawn out; leaving them lost to the enslavement of denial.

So, I am pleased to see my home state of Colorado taking the lead on allowing cremation by funeral pyre; especially when you consider the growing Buddhist population here who tend to favor cremation. I like the visual impact of it because so much of the death process in the West is hidden from view--even the current manner of cremating remains occurs behind closed doors. It seems very natural and fittingly appropriate for family and friends to be active participants in the disposal of the body. I don't think there is anything wrong with burying your family in the ground, if that's your style. However, I don't see why there should be laws outlawing cremation by funeral pyre if the proper regulations, authorities and guidelines are established. As well as a location deemed safe and sanitary for such a ceremony.

~Peace to all beings~

PHOTO: Cremation by funeral pyre in Crestone, Colorado, USA by Ivan Moreno for the Associated Press.

A good moment to recall Egypt's President Sadat.



Anwar El Sadat, President of Egypt (1970-1981)

 As Egypt, the oldest, largest (79 million people), and arguably most important country in the Middle East, navigates its way through a dangerous, exhilarating week of protest against its 30-year president, Hosni Mubarak, and we in the West ponder nervously what might come should Mubarak go, this is a useful time to remember Anwar el Sadat.

Anwar El Sadat was one of the original circle of army officers that toppled the corrupt monarchy of King Farouk in 1952, establishing modern Egypt and ending British dominance in the country.  He became Egypt's third president on the death of his mentor, Egypt's second president, Abdel Gamal Nasser, in 1970.

A graduate of Egypt's Royal Military Academy, Sadat is remembered in the West primarily for three events that highlighted his term:

• War with Israel:   On October 6 1973, he ordered Egypt's army to launch a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.  Sadat's army penetrated Israel's Bar Lev line, crossed the Suez Canal, and penetrated 15 kilometers into the Sinai Peninsula before Israel could launch a counter-strike, itself crossing the Suez to encircle parts of the Egyptian Army.  The result was stalemate, viewed in Egypt as victory, restoring national honor after its defeat in the 1967 Six Day War. 

• Peace with Israel:  Sadat then made peace.  Late in 1977, he dramatically offered personally to visit Jerusalem to jump-start talks.  The result was the 1978 Camp David Accords, negotiated with Israel's Menachem Begin with help from US President Jimmy Carter.  Egypt became the first front-line Arab state to sign a treaty with Israel, which has held for over 30 years.  Sadat himself won the Nobel Peace Prize (shared with Begin) for his effort, but was vilified in much of the Arab world and Egypt itself was temporarily expelled from the Arab League;

Assassination of President Sadat, 1981.

• Death by Assassination:  Finally, in September 1981, Sadat, warned about growing criticism and conspiracy threats, ordered a crackdown on political enemies. His police rounded up some 1,500 critics: Islamists, Christian clerics, and academics and intellectuals of every stripe.  The next month, on September 6, as Sadat sat reviewing a military parade, a small band of dissident officers attacked with grenades and gunfire, killing Sadat and eleven others.  Two of the assassins were killed on the spot, and over 300 Islamic radicals were indicted to stand trial, including future al-Qaeda co-founder Ayman el-Zawahiri.

It is now thirty years since these events, and during that entire time Egypt has had just one ruler, President Hosni Mubarak.  Uner Mubarak, Egypt has remained stable politically (and cooperative with the US on key foreign policy initiatives) but at the cost of economic stagnation and political repression.  The resulting wide anger against him is visible in the huge protests this week.  All the world wonders - If Mubarak falls, what will follow?

This brings me back to Anwar El Sadat.  Sadat was controversial, loved and hated, and certainly had flaws by any view.  Still, as a leader, be carried himself with dignity,  moderation, and competence.  At home, he instituted pluralist politics and economic reforms, and had the backbone to take bold stands. He expelled Soviet military advisers in order to make his army more independent, then proved its worth in the Yom Kippur War.   Globally, he reached out to all sides, East and West, making his country a top payer on the world stage.

The fact is, over the centuries, Egypt, with its ancient culture, diverse population, and deep-rooted institutions, has produced many capable leaders, and today's Egyptian army -- by all accounts trusted by the people -- appears an incubator of new talent.  Hopefully, in days and weeks to come, Egypt will struggle through its current turmoil and emerge a stronger, happier, freer place.  Rather than fear the likely change, we in the West can take confidence that this is the same country that elevated to its top position someone of the caliber of Anwar El Sadat.  Hopefully, there are others waiting in the wings.

Mubarak and Egypt

Here is a brief and interesting comment comparing events in Egypt this week with the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981 that led to Hosni Mubarak becoming President of Egypt. Mubarak has always been a staunch ally of the United States, giving President Obama very little room to manoeuvre when reacting to the very considerable demands for greater political freedom. We will see how things develop.

The King's Speech

Nonsuch HP has been pleased to hear that many students have seen The King's Speech over the last few weeks. The film has clearly done very well, winning positive reviews, awards and nominations and seems to be very popular in the cinema. The film covers the events leading to the abdication of Edward VIII and George VI's accession to the throne. As this article shows, this was a time of economic and political crisis - the time of the Jarrow March and Oswald Mosley's blackshirts, and of ominous storm clouds gathering as Hitler increased his grip on Germany and its neighbours. The King's personal crisis therefore had important implications for a country in need of a figurehead. "When war broke out in 1939," writes Dominic Sandbrook, "he became an unlikely symbol of national resistance, his mundane domesticity a reminder of what Britain was fighting for."

There have been some criticisms of the film's historical accuracy - particularly over the role of Churchill. Michael White writes that, "The absence of deference, stifling and awful though it must have been, is inherently wrong." Christopher Hitchins is more critical of the portrayal of Churchill. He believes that the film shows Churchill to be too critical of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, who were dangerously sympathetic to Hitler's views. In reality Churchill damaged his political repuation in his efforts to defend him, "turning up at the House of Commons—almost certainly heavily intoxicated... —and making an incoherent speech in defense of "loyalty" to a man who did not understand the concept."

What did you think of the film? Did you think it was acccurate, and does this matter? Please let us know.

Our NHS, Our Future: Oppose the Health & Social Care Bill

Today (Monday 31 Jan) there will be the second reading at the House of Commons of the The Health and Social Care Bill.  Nurses at St. George's Hospital in Tooting, South London demonstrate support for our NHS.

Rosie the Riveter - RIP

"Geraldine Hoff Doyle of Lansing, Mich., the woman behind an iconic image of a bandana-clad, muscle-flexing Rosie the Riveter during World War II died last month. Doyle was 86 upon her death, a lifetime older than the 17-year-old factory worker who was captured in a United Press International photo in a metal-pressing plant near Ann Arbor.

Her photo was later used by the U.S. War Production Coordinating Committee in an illustrated poster called, “We Can Do It!”. The poster was designed to encourage other women to enter the workforce in support of the war effort but has grown to become a pop-culture icon of women’s equality".

Hat tip Maturin

Photographer Documents Marcellus Shale's Impact on Farmscapes

Natural gas drilling site on mountainside, Tioga County.
Photograph © Jack Preston/Terry Wild Stock.

My google alerts turned up this brief interesting notice from Lancaster Farming which I assume is a local publication in rural Pennsylvania. It is a review of sorts of a little photography exhibit "at Julie’s Coffee, a shop in downtown Williamsport, Pa"; the work being exhibited is by Terry Wild who, in his spare time, has been documenting the impact of gas drilling industry on the local landscape. You can find this "sideline" work here.

The changes ot the landscape may seem innocuous, but they are, as Wild establishes, pretty pervasive. And the drilling process, as I've noted here before, threatens the water supply in frightening ways. New York State currently has a moratorium on the drilling process (through July 1st) and I hope the legislature will make it permanent. Virtually everything we know about fossil fules and how they are extracted (or nuclear energy and how the fuel is extracted and the waste stored) makes supporting wind and solar energy it seem like a no-brainer.

Geithner Attends Davos & Calls For Gradual Spending Cuts

Tim Geithner was the first representative of the U.S. in 11 years to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos and it was most likely to reassure the financial world about the sustainability of U.S. debt and plans to reduce that deficit over the coming years.  Mr. Geithner called for gradual reduction in U.S. debt as to not stall the tenuous economic recovery:

At Davos, therefore, delegates have been speculating over whether the US will be able to enact a sensible fiscal policy before there is a global rejection of the US dollar.

The seriousness of the situation is underlined by the fact that Geithner is the first Treasury Secretary to appear at the World Economic Forum in 11 years.

“There is a much greater recognition across the US political system that our fiscal position is unsustainable in the long-run,” he told the WEF, but added that measured, gradual decreases in spending were the way to go, otherwise they would put the economic recovery at risk. 

What Is Rape?

Mother Jones has an article on how federal law defines "rape" and what the new GOP anti-abortion bill means for those linguistics.  Really just seems this bill was ill conceived and thrown together.  If the GOP is serious about this then they might need to start over.

And 2012 Is Under Way...Well Sort Of

A student from Yale has launched a Draft Mitch Daniels effort in Iowa and is airing this ad during the Pro Bowl to try and get Mitch Daniels to seek the Presidency:


LINK

H/T - Wonkette

Questioning The Intelligence Of The GOP Agenda

There was some interesting reading in Frank Rich's newest column that detailed public opinion in some initiatives and in particular made me question the political intelligence of some current GOP positions.  Conventional wisdom on the right is that President Obama over reached with "health-care" or the "stimulus" or "government spending" in general and that has led to the recent success of the GOP.  Here are some interesting facts that detail a different story:

But in 2011, it’s not just the revelation of cuts to specific popular programs that threatens to turn Americans against the Republican Congress. New polls show that Americans don’t even buy the principles behind these specifics. To hear the G.O.P. wail about it, you’d think the entire country was obsessed with the federal debt — cited 12 times in Ryan’s under-11-minute speech. But only 18 percent of Americans chose the deficit as a top priority for Washington in the most recent NBC/Journal survey and only 14 percent did in the New York Times/CBS News poll. Job creation was by far the top choice — at 43 percent (Times/CBS) and 34 percent (NBC/Journal).

Health care was a low-ranked priority too in those polls. And for all the right’s apocalyptic rants about the national horror of “Obamacare,” most polls continue to show that Americans are evenly divided about the law and that only a small minority favors its complete repeal (only one in four Americans in the latest Associated Press/GfK survey). The surest indicator that voters are not as inflamed about either the deficit or “Obamacare” as the right keeps claiming can be found in Karl Rove’s Wall Street Journal musings. To argue that Americans share his two obsessions, Rove now is reduced to citing polls from either Fox or a Brand X called Resurgent Republic, which he helpfully identifies as “a group I helped form.” 

I do think the Republicans can gain some traction with the deficit and budget, but when they start trying to defund the health-care bill they better be prepared for the onslaught because the main part that they have control over will be the funds for expanding Medicaid to poor people.  And also, expect criticism over cuts to Medicare and Social Security, although they won't propose any, because of the general hawkishness of the GOP on the budget right now.  First and foremost, if the GOP decides to "shut down" the government by not lifting the debt ceiling they, like Gingrich, will lose that fight.  Ultimately, I feel like they posture and then raise the ceiling, but this will be a test of how far the "Tea Party" people have pulled the GOP to the right.

And The PR For Gun Control Begins

In the wake of the Arizona shooting of several people, including a Congresswoman, there has been more speculation than actual action for a renewed focus on gun control.  For most people there needed to be a time to "heal" so to speak before they contemplated action on the topic.  It appears that time has passed as some more mainstream, but still activist, organizations like Democracy for America have joined the fray and began calling for more (but limited) action in gin control.  It seems even some left-wing organization or scared or at least aware of the power the gun lobby holds.  It will be interesting to see if President Obama is willing to expend a great deal of political capital on something that he won't get sweeping reforms anytime soon and will largely make little difference.  I doubt it.  Here is the letter from Gov. Dean:

We can both protect our second amendment rights and keep our communities safe from illegal gun sales.

I was given an "A rating" by the NRA eight times during my years as Lt. Governor and then Governor of Vermont. Guns and hunting are part of our way of life in Vermont. But I don't think any Vermonter or gun owners anywhere can argue against common sense changes to our background check system to make our communities safer and more secure.

And common sense changes are exactly what Mayors Against Illegal Guns is proposing that President Obama and Congress take action on right now. They have a two-part goal. First, we already have laws that make it illegal for guns to be sold to felons, drug abusers or the mentally ill. The problem is that states and federal agencies are not required to make sure these prohibited purchasers are included in the background check database. That must change.

Second, it's time to stop the sales of guns without a background check at all. Right now, anyone can go to a gun show and purchase as many guns as they want no questions asked, no background check, nothing.

It's common sense to fix these two loopholes and make America safer from illegal gun sales.

Join me in adding your name right now

Every day now it seems more news comes out about how these background check loopholes make America less safe. In the last week alone, the Federal government discovered that hundreds of guns bought in Arizona made their way to Mexico to help drug cartels destabilize the Mexican Government. This is not only a threat to the people of Mexico. When loopholes in our laws allow drug cartels in Mexico to stockpile guns, we can all agree it is also a threat to the United States. It's not just the conclusion of progressive Democrats, it's a conclusion drawn by Republican officeholders in the southwest as well.

Now, The Washington Post reports that President Obama is planning to speak out on guns in a special address soon, but it's not clear what actions he plans to take or goals he plans to set.

President Obama is listening. Now's the time to make sure the President and Congress know exactly where we stand.

Please join me now in calling on President Obama and Congress to fix gun check loopholes today

When progressives stand up for our core values of strong communities, security and liberty, America wins.

Please join us today and thank you, Talmadge, for everything you do.

-Howard

Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.
Founder, Democracy for America

Beck's Campaign Against Francis Fox Piven (3)

"I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income." - Martin Luther King, Jr. Where Do We Go From Here? (1967).

"It is our purpose to advance a strategy which affords the basis for a convergence of civil rights organizations, militant anti-poverty groups and the poor. If this strategy were implemented, a political crisis would result that could lead to legislation for a guaranteed annual income and thus an end to poverty." - Francis Fox Piven and Richard Cloward The Nation (1966).

In The Guardian today there is yet another story on Glenn Beck's ongoing campaign against Francis Fox Piven. I found it funny that Piven arranged to meet the correspondent from the paper at a NYC restaurant called "Havana Central."

One thing that strikes me about Beck is his ignorance about history. You can find a link to the 1966 essay by Piven (and her husband, the late Richard Cloward) that so exercises Beck here at The Nation. That is where I lifted the statement above - from the first paragraph of the essay. My point today is just to say that Piven and Cloward were advocating a strategy to implement a policy that, as I noted here a year ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. also endorsed. And since Beck has announced his aim to reinvigorate Dr. King's message, how is it that he objects to Piven and Cloward? What better way to end poverty does Beck envision than the one King came to embrace? Beck instead ought to be embracing Piven as an ally in that cause. Maybe that is why he has afforded her all the publicity that trails in the wake of his diatribes.
__________
P.S.: You might find this portrait of Piven and this more recent Op-Ed from The Los Angeles Times - both by Barabara Ehrenreich - interesting.

Council budgets and unallocated reserves in London

"Dear Jon
I am responding on behalf of the council administration. I appreciate your appeal is sent in the spirit of a constructive suggestion, and I will respond in the same vane.

Firstly, Labour councillors are as angry about the Tory led Coalition Government’s attack on local government as Unison is, and as I am sure all Lambeth employees are. None of us came into politics to cut services or withdraw from helping the vulnerable in our community. But we can’t ignore the reality of our funding being cut by a third amounting to £79 million over three years. As a responsible administration elected in May with a strong mandate from Lambeth residents, we have a duty to them to deliver a balanced and legal budget to enable the council to continue to serve the most vulnerable and deliver basis services. As Labour politicians we will of course also do everything in our power to fight back against the government cuts agenda (as you say, to make them adopt an alternative economic strategy) or cause a General Election.

Secondly, on the issue of reserves. The argument you are putting to us is the same as Coalition Government ministers have been making. They are implying it is a ‘choice’ council’s have, namely, the Government has drastically cut funding to councils by a third so we should use reserves to fill the gap created by them. This is rank hypocrisy on their part given they are creating the most risky financial environment for public services since the creation of the welfare state. In this environment financial reserves are needed more than ever.

Lambeth’s ‘General Fund Reserves’ as at 31st March 2010 were as you state £28.1m. You don’t need to be an accountant to understand that the purpose of a ‘general reserve’ is to give some measure of financial cushion to absorb unexpected disasters or funding emergencies. The general professional ‘rule of thumb’ has been a general reserve of +/- 10% of our net budget, which for Lambeth currently means about £30m. Last financial year alone Lambeth has two service areas, Temporary Accommodation and Parking that overspent £10 million – it was only with good overall financial management that other service areas under spent to cover this, needing a £3 million call on reserves. Given Lambeth provides approximately 600 services, you can see how financial risks can arise unexpectedly, and had it not been for our ability to absorb the shock, we might have had to close a service down completely.

Thirdly, as regard financial risks the council is carrying. The risk assessment around delivering £37 million Government cuts package is estimated at about 20%, which may need a call on reserves; we may be forced to lose over 1,000 jobs with the consequent redundancy costs, which the Government is not paying for; there still could be unexpected disasters or emergencies; there is a risk that the Council may overspend this year by some £4m (although I have been tough with managers that they need to manage within their budgets); and there is also a low probability of any under spends that could be added to reserves. The overall conclusion is we need some ‘reserves’ to enable us to absorb financial shocks and help deliver transformation in the future.

Fourth, our accounts & reserves are subject to rigorous challenge by the District Auditor, External Auditor and we receive professional advice from the Council’s Section 151 officer (Chief Financial Officer) in regard to the level of reserves. The council will now be carrying a significant level of new financial risk and for that reason we need to structurally reduce what we spend to match our funding from government. All using reserves does is buy you a little time, not replace or resolve the structural funding problem.

Finally, be careful how you interpret the figures you quote – I am told that Wandsworth Council only a few years ago was told off by the District Auditor for having £600 million (yes, £600,000,000 – 200% of their net budget in ‘unallocated reserves’!) and boroughs like K&C had 100’s of millions, both due to their ‘Thatcher endowment’ in the late 1980’s, which has rigged the local government funding formula in their favour for decades. We can only guess how this money has been ‘reclassified’ or spent!

Hope this helps you understand were we are coming from on this issue.

Best regards,

Paul McGlone
Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources"

(Guest post by Citizen Smith)

Not That This Should Need to Be Said But: ‘See, Officer, I Can Too Take That Picture’

You won't be able to read this version of this internal memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But what it basically says is that law enforcement officers should stop harassing photographers who are making pictures of putatively "sensitive" Federal sites. It explicitly instructs officers to not seize equipment or otherwise interfere with photographers as they go about their business. You can find links to a life size (legible and printable) version of the document here at The New York Times.

Dreams and Delusions

If there were any doubt prior to his State of the Union Address, there can be no longer any uncertainty. Thanks, Mr. Fish! Obama crowed about the resurgent Wall Street crowd and about corporate profits. But you might have noticed that he forgot to mention unemployment or the poor. There is no reason to assume that innovation (Obama's hope for economic recovery) and so forth contribute to job creation or improving wages unless the rapacious capitalists are held in check - after all jobs have evaporated and wages tanked over the past decades of steady improvements in productivity.

This evening as I drove in top swim some laps and go to the grocery store, I heard the new Tavis Smiley & Cornel West tag team on the local public radio station. (I must say that I really am shocked that our own WXXI, the world's most boring npr station, carries the show.) I was impressed with the direct criticism that West leveled at Obama. The criticism is well deserved. My only doubt is that Obama ever was anything other than a centrist. In any case, Having heard this one episode of the Smiley-West show, I may be shamed into being more thoroughly sympathetic to Dr. West than I have been here in the past.

Annals of Propaganda: Congressional Facebook

Karen Bass, California Democrat. A onetime physician assistant and
a Los Angeles native, Bass, 57, was the first African-American woman
to lead a state assembly in the United States, taking the helm of
California’s in 2008. Photograph © Christopher Leaman.

Billy Long, Missouri Republican. A longtime auctioneer and real-estate
agent in southwestern Missouri, Long, 55, has been voted the best auctioneer
in the Ozarks for seven years straight. Photograph © Christopher Leaman.

I stumbled across this story at The Washingtonian - mostly a set of portraits of some of the freshman class in the U.S.House of Representatives. Here, however, is how the folk at The Washingtonian introduce the photographs:

"The new class of the 112th Congress is the largest in years. Voter unhappiness in November swept in nearly 100 newcomers representing 39 states. As they begin work in January, their varied backgrounds and heritages underscore why the House of Representatives is known as the People’s House (stress supplied - JJ)."

Well, this seems partly true. There are some women here. And there are some non-Caucasians as well. And I concede that this is only a sample of the class. But if you look a bit closer you'll notice that the "varied backgrounds and heritages" have a distinctly partisan cast. Nearly all the Republicans are middle aged white guys whose incomes, I'd wager, place them in the top 5% or so of the distribution. Where are all those "varied" reps from the red districts? The "People's House" my keester! The class seems to be long on Billy and way too short on Bass. No surprise though, when the Republicans sweep into town.

New Democratic Party Chairman Mark Kennedy

It is Sooooo Hard to be a Libertarian

Published in The New Yorker 4/19/2010 © David Sipress.

Libertarians are a funny bunch. Sometimes they are useful for their fanaticism, sometimes they are politically dangerous in their fanaticism, sometimes they are simply hypocrites. I've noted these tendencies here before.

Libertarians are not the only hypocrites, of course. But they seem adept at acting upon that particular vice. The classic example is Robert Nozick invoking the rent control laws in Cambridge to prevent a landlord from raising his rent. The story is more complicated - as in many law suits there is no "good guy" - but it is delicious.

Now there is this reminder of how Ayn Rand*, libertarian propagandist par excellence, having denied research establishing a tobacco-cancer link smoked like a fiend (actually like a non-autonomous addict, but that is another matter!) and turned to social security and medicare when she, predictably enough, got cancer late in life. The blatant moochery of it all! I'll bet she patronized the U.S. Postal Service too.

In any case, I came across the cartoon I've lifted here a while ago and have been waiting for the appropriate point to incorporate it into a post. This seems like a good time. I'm sure this is the local volunteer fire department anyway.
____________
* I do recognize the difference between Nozick who was a formidable thinker and Rand who was an intellectual charlatan. Unfortunately, they share the libertarian propensity to hypocrisy.

What will you do when I'm gone?

"..Gave away our nursing jobs to some private company

They say it will be cheaper, but this much I am sure

For the people that I care for, profit is not the cure"

This superb anti-privatisation video was produced by Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).  I am afraid that it may well apply to our own NHS if the ConDems get away with their plans to dismantle and privatise it.

March in March.

Hat tip Tynesider

Best Shots (147) ~ Victoria Jenkins

(174) Victoria Jenkins ~ Smoke & Mirrors (26 January 2011).

Passings ~ Boxall, Constantine, Douglas

Once again The Guardian has published a series of obituaries of photographers - Tony Boxall (1929 -2011), George Douglas (1922-2011), and Dennis Constantine (1926-2010). Once again, these are people with whose work I am unfamiliar.

Guest Blogger: James J. Patterson celebrates Thomas Paine, American founding troublemaker - "Citizen Paine Heads for the Colonies"



Thomas Paine, drawn by Roger Davidson, from The New Humanist, June 2009. Click here.  

London, 1774.   An interpretation.


Thomas Paine, 37 years old, was in trouble. He was in a boatload of trouble. He had written a pamphlet (surprise, surprise) criticizing the Crown's excise tax collecting system, and guess what - it wasn’t well received. He asked his friends what in the world he was going to do and to a man they said something like, “I don’t know what you should do, but try and stay the hell away from me!”


In London, a scientist friend and member of the Excise Board said, “I can’t help you either but perhaps you should go see a man from the American Colonies living here, maybe he can suggest something. oh yeah, and don’t call me, I’ll call you!”

Scholarship is iffy about where and how Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin actually met. Howard Fast, in his wonderful novel and stage play, Citizen Tom Paine, suggested they met in Franklin’s office. But hey, Fast was under investigation by Senator Joe McCarthy’s House of Un-American Activities Committee, and may have been loath to suggest the obvious, that they met in a pub. At least that’s where I put them first shaking hands.

Ben Franklkn, seen here playing his
invention, the glass harmonica.. 

In any event, the conversation between Franklin and Paine was a short one.


Franklin: I know you, you're Tom Paine, I read your pamphlet on the tax. Nice job, on the pamphlet, I mean. I’m a bit of a printer myself.


Paine: Thanks, but I think I may be in a bit of a pickle.


Franklin: Well if you’re referring to your future here in England, I feel it’s safe to say - you don’t have one.


 Paine: WTF am I gonna do?


Franklin: Well, you can stay here and spend the rest of your now very short life in irons, sick, diseased, and starving to death, or maybe they’ll just lop off your head. But the King usually likes to set an example with his felons, heretics, and seditious types, such as yourself, so he’ll probably let his boys have some fun with you first. Disembowelment is all the rage. I understand the Royal Carver is pretty handy w a rusty blade.


Paine: I was really hoping for something a little more, upbeat.


Franklin: Well, in that case, here, I’ll write you a couple of letters of introduction. I’ll say you’re a good printer and not bad with a turn of phrase or some such. But you’ll have to cross the pond to Philadelphia for them to do you any good.


Paine: Awesome! I can’t wait to get my ass out of England!

#       #       #

What Happened Next: Tom Paine In Philadelphia, 1774-1776


When Thomas Paine's boat docked in Philly from England late in 1774, he tumbled down the gangplank sick as a dog. A few weeks later he was up and running. He had contacted a few folks recommended by his new pal Ben Franklin, back in England, and was slowly getting the lay of the land. One of his first impressions in his new hometown was, to him, absolutely astonishing! He noticed that in the local pubs, magistrates and bankers, tradesmen and laborers, and even leather and feather clad natives, were gathering under one roof to break bread, quaff tasty beverages, and gab about the events of the day! To you this may not seem much to write home about, but in the world from which Tom Paine had just landed it was nothing short of world shaking! Different classes of people gathering under one roof? Sharing opinions? Where Paine came from, you could fuggeddabouddit!

The next thing he noticed, once his ear adjusted to the lively texture of the lingo, was that the chatter in the pubs had changed from the chest-beating bombast of the "Shot heard 'round the world" in Lexington & Concord to a more plaintive, "Oh, holy crap, Batman! WTF are we gonna do? We just shot and killed some soldiers from the most powerful nation on earth! What are we going to say when they get here? Tell 'em we're sorry? Pay for some extra stamps?" Worried that this new idea of appeasing the Crown might actually be getting some traction, he went home and sat down to write.

Listen, he said, (I'm paraphrasing here) you people don't know who you're dealing with! You're real proud about asserting your independence and shooting a few red coats, but get it through your heads! The British army and navy are on their way, and instead of wondering what your going to say when they get here, you should be thinking very very seriously about how you're going to protect yourselves! Further, Paine used the occasion to administer a minor lesson in contemporary economics. The British Empire, he informed his readers, was broke. Its vast army and navy were costing much more than the empire was bringing in. The taxes and profits from trade with their colonies weren't keeping up with their military machine.  What the British war machine requires isn't your taxes, nor your loyalty, nor the value of your trade. What it requires now is PLUNDER! 

The British GOADED you into firing the first shot! They've been trying to drag you into a fight all along! And once you spilled their blood, they now feel justified to come and put you down once and for all, to rob you of everything you've got! 

Is there a modern term for the syndrome of a child repeating the sins of his or her parents? Think of Paine's observation of the British goading the colonies into a fight when you revisit our own more recent history: The Gulf Of Tonkin, the WMD, the Battleship Maine, and the Spanish American War...

NEXT: America is Born!     --  STAY TUNED.....








Thomas Paine celebrates his 271st birthday on Saturday, January 29.  Think something radical in his honor.  For more on Paine, click here for "Freedom's Foghorn" by Roger Davidson.   And if you have not read Paine's book Common Sense, read it now !!!!!   Get a free copy from our friends at TheCapitol.Net at  http://www.thecapitol.net/Publications/PaineCommonSense.html



James J. Patterson, author of Bermuda Shorts and co-founder of Alan Squire Publishing, describes himself this way: "I'm the man the first ten amendments to the American Constitution were intended to protect.  I've read them, memorized a few even, and I can tell you, until further notice, I'm watching my back."  Read the Bill of Rights.  Visit him at jamesjpatterson.com/


Roger Davidson, creator of the striking drawing of Paine at the top, is a British illustrator and artist living in Canada.  Visit him at http://www.rogerdavidsonillustration.com/. 














Transforming Labour: Newham Compass event 10 March

The Newham branch of Compass are holding another event on Thursday 10 March. 

Starting 8pm at the West Ham Supporters Club in Castle Street, E6 1PP. 

This is also where Newham trade union council use to meet for many years.

Local East Ham MP Stephen Timms and Gavin Hayes (Compass) will lead a debate on "A Charter for Party Renewal? Transforming Labour".

There have been two previous Compass in Newham events here and here.

You can get copies of the Compass pamphlet by contacting one of the organisers Christopher (see flyer - double click to bring up details).  Let him know if you are going so he will know how many to expect.

Challenger

Today is the 25th anniversary of the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle. All 7 members of its crew were killed and the disaster was a major setback for the USA's space programme. The disaster was particularly memorable as millions of people around the world watched it happen live on television. This was partly because one of the astronauts was a teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who had been selected and trained to inspire students to take an interest in NASA's work. Many schools took an interest in the launch, which was beamed live to many classrooms. Nonsuch HP remembers very clearly watching the footage on Newsround the next day. This BBC article examines how Americans reacted to the tragedy.











President Obama's recent reference to a "Sputnik Moment" in his State of the Union address shows America's continuing fascination with space exploration. It will be interesting to see if competition from China (who last month, just as America's Secretary of Defence was visiting, unveiled their latest "stealth" jet fighter) will encourage a new "space race" to develop.

PS: You can read more about Sputnik (and hear it!) here and here on Nasa's history pages.

Food Review: Boca Original Meatless Chicken Nuggets.

If you're the kind of vegetarian, like myself, then you aren't a purist; preferring only the taste of vegetables. Even after 9 years of being vegetarian; I miss the taste of meat--yes, I know, a lot of vegetarians think that is blasphemy but it's purely about flavor. I don't want to kill or be complicit in the killing of animals for my food but I never hated the taste of meat. However, I do dislike the smell of cooking meat but I think that's from the animal fat burning.

Anyway, so, I eat faux meat products--in other words, fake meat products, to get my meat taste fix. These products are usually made from soy bean protein and wheat protein. A lot of the synthetic meat products on the market today are surprisingly close in taste--unlike in decades past.

The product I am reviewing today is Boca brand's meatless chicken nuggets; the actual name is, "Boca Original Meatless Chik'n Nuggets." I like to use them to make meatless buffalo wing chicken nuggets by marinating them in buffalo wing sauce. I usually eat the Morning Star brand of meatless nuggets, which are good but the Boca meatless chicken nuggets are better and much more scrumptious. They not only have have that real, sweet, chicken flavor but the texture isn't just a clump of soy meat. It's consistency is stringy, soft and tender like real chicken meat. It's not dry, tough, chewy or mushy like some soy protein products. I think they even taste better than McDonald's chicken nuggets--and without all the "mystery meat" questions that come-up with fast-food chicken nuggets.

Overall, they are delicious and I can't stop eating them!! Try them with barbecue sauce, buffalo wing sauce, soy sauce or cut them up into chunks to add to your salad. I give them 4 and 1/2, yummy stars out of 5--a must have for vegetarians who still like the taste of meat now and then. Please support them with your shopping dollars because we need to show these companies that we appreciate their products.

~Peace to all Beings~

Rahm Clears Hurdles To Run For Mayor

The Illinois supreme Court has cleared the way for Rahm Emanuel to seek the office of Mayor in Chicago with a unanimous vote:

The decision doesn't necessarily end the litigation -- Rahm's foes may appeal to the Supreme Court -- but it's likely the last word. And the residency discussion -- in which the public is very much on Rahm's side -- has pretty much drowned out any chance of a substantive challenge to him.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. We were reminded of this at Nonsuch by Mr Sides' excellent assembly that focused on some of the lesser known stories of the Holocaust, such as the treatment of Jews in Nazi-occupied Greece, and the work of Nicholas Winton, a British businessman who was able to transport 669 Jewish children out of Prague before the Second World War began. You can learn more about him here and here. He is still alive (aged 101!) and recently met 22 of the people who he saved. Channel 5 has made a documentary about him and you can watch it here.

The History Today blog discusses the opening of a new website, The Holocaust Explained, designed to explain why the Holocaust and other acts of genocide took place. There are useful timelines and answers to key questions. There is an also an article discussing the origins of the term "blood libel", used recently and controversially by Sarah Palin. It refers to a particularly unpleasant myth used to spread hysteria about Jewish communities, and is something that really should not be used outside of its historical context.

It may now be 66 years since Auschwitz was liberated, but Holocaust Memorial Day provides an important moment to stop and think about how we always have a choice either to either condone something we know to be wrong through inaction or stand up against it. It is up to us.

How Hitler was Fooled

A document has come to light at Bletchley Park showing how Hitler had been convinced that the Allies would invade in the Calais region in 1944. He then ordered his troops to concentrate their defences there, allowing the D-Day landings to go ahead on 6 June with less resistance than they would otherwise have met. The story of how he was fooled is fascinating, and involves a Spanish double agent called Juan Pujol Garcia, known by his codename of Garbo. This "balding, boring, unsmiling little man" convinced the Germans that he was passing on genuine British intelligence. Indeed, much of the time he was in order to strengthen his cover, but when it came to crucial information such as this he was able to completely deceive them. He eventually gave advance warning of the actual landing sites, but too late for the Germans to deal with it, and then followed it up with red herrings designed to convince them that further, heavier attacks would take place elsewhere in France later on.

German intelligence, sent in the Enigma code, was then deciphered by the team of up to 10,000 people working at Bletchley Park, and this particular document gave absolute proof that Hitler had been fooled. "It was like turning up a crock of gold," said Peter Wescombe, who used to work there. "It was absolutely wonderful."

You can find out more about Bletchley Park at their website, and on this BBC page which includes videos of how the Enigma machines work and how they were decoded by Alan Turing and his team of "unarmed intellectuals".

PS: Here are some of the other interesting documents that have been recently revealed.

London Labour Housing Group Launch

Last night’s launch of the London Labour Housing Group went really well. The Grand Committee room was overflowing with people. Standing room only.

Great speeches and a great debate about housing issues (both in the committee room and the pub afterwards).

Including new Shadow Housing minister, Alison Seabeck MP who addressed the meeting.

I’ll post properly on the event over the weekend.

The return of 'the Chiltern Hundreds' as Gerry Adams finally resigns as an MP

When Gerry Adams, pictured left, announced back in December that he was stepping down as an MP and run as a candidate in the upcoming Irish general election, nothing more was really said since he never set foot in Westminster due to his party’s policy of refusing to take their seats in the House. But thanks to a rather bizarre constitutional oddity it was revealed this week that he was still a Member of Parliament.

As I wrote about in a previous post (see here), in order to step down as an MP, Mr Adams had to have applied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for an office of profit under the Crown, which if granted would have made him ineligible to sit in the Commons as stated in the 1701 Act of Settlement.

The Chancellor would either appoint him the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead – two ceremonial positions that exist to allow this to happen.

But the situation has flared up in light of this afternoon’s Prime Minister's Questions in which the PM David Cameron announced that Mr Adams was to be appointed as Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. It soon emerged that Mr Adams hasn't actually applied for the office; his party Sinn Fein have said the only thing that Adams has done is write to the Speaker telling him of his intention to resign his seat.

It appears because of the ceremonial nature of this procedure, his simple letter of resignation to the Speaker was automatically interpreted as an application for one of the two sinecures.

Consequently this afternoon the Treasury confirmed the appointment, which in light of Mr Adams hostility to serves a paid position for the Crown is unfortunate since he will officially hold the title of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead until another two MPs resign, which could be a while…