Earthquake and Tsunami Blog

For more information and ways you can help, please visit The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog.

Please remember the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers this week.

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Emergency: Disaster in South Asia

from Doctors Without Borders:

December 27, 2004

In response to the earthquake and tsunamis that have devastated parts of South Asia over the past weekend, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is preparing to provide emergency assistance to people affected by the disaster. MSF is readying a full charter of relief supplies for the area of Indonesia closest to the epicentre of the earthquake.

In addition, MSF medical teams are on the ground in Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar assessing emergency needs and offering assistance. MSF field teams in all countries where MSF is present, including Somalia and Kenya, are also investigating damage from the disaster.

Please donate now to help provide medical care to the South Asian disaster region. 86% of contributions to Medecins Sans Frontieres go directly to medical care for victims of war and natural disasters. Your one-time donation can be designated for the South Asian effort.

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Support Our Troops - Bring Them Home!

My sentiments exactly... from Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today:

"Support Our Troops" is a wonderful patriotic slogan. But the best way to support troops thrust by unwise commanders in chief into ill-advised adventures like Vietnam and Iraq is to bring them home. Sooner rather than later. That should be our New Year's resolution.

And with that, I wish you all a Merry (or Happy, depending on which side of the pond you reside) Christmas and a Peaceful and Joyous New Year.

I will leave you with a quote I found in today's SF Chron from Moshe Dayan, former Israeli Defense Minister: "If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies."

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Cast the first stone, why don't you...

from SFGate:

The future of same-sex marriage in California was left in the hands of a San Francisco Superior Court judge Thursday after a conservative group closed two days of hearings by arguing that gays and lesbians were inherently unfit for marriage.

"They can't perform the basic functions of marriage," said Rena Lindevaldsen, an attorney for the Campaign for California Families. "There is a basic difference between opposite-sex and same-sex couples ... the ability to procreate and, therefore, insure the existence and survival of our species."

What's next? Fertility tests for us heteros? It is absurd to suggest that state-sanctioned marriage exists solely for the purpose of procreation. State-sanctioned marriage exists for the prevention of fraud and bigamy and to contractualize mutual consent. It is not a substitute for and is not subject to the same requirements as a religiously-sanctioned union.

Just as the religious conservatives like to say "Government is not God," I believe the converse is also true: "God is not Government."

Get your hateful, bigoted, altar-boy molesting, false piety and hypocrisy out of our bedrooms and our Constitution.

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judgement day is coming... but not the one you think, Mr. Bush.

from SFGate

While Bush has said he views his Nov. 2 election victory as a mandate for his policies, his decision to renominate the 20 candidates drew a rebuke from Ralph Neas, president of the liberal lobbying group People for the American Way.

"His plan to renominate extremist nominees shows absolutely no recognition that a deeply divided nation deserves bipartisan consultation over these powerful, lifetime appointments to the federal bench. Instead of extending an olive branch, the president chose to brandish a partisan club," Neas said in a statement.

This divisive, self-serving administration is asking for trouble on the floor of the Senate. Sen. Frist has said he would consider changing the rules of the Senate to allow filibusters to be overturned with a simple majority, thus denying the minority its last resort against extremist, partisan appointments (and any other legislation or vote on which it cannot hope to have any voice). Once this legislative "safety net" is removed (something the now-majority Republicans would never have dreamed of doing when they were not in the majority), minority opinions will have even less voice in the Senate than they do now - which ain't much.

A change of the filibuster rules, like the recent exception made for Rep. DeLay, will be privately unpopular with those Republicans who have the brains to realize that the pendulum will swing back eventually and these power grabs will hasten that day... once it arrives, they will have to live by the short-sighted, grasping, undemocratic rules they themselves spent all their "political capital" on.

This aptly illustrates the modus operandi of the current sore winners in the Legislature: If you can't get what you want fair and square, change the rules in your favor and steal it. Hey, after all, we're Republicans... we're the victims...we're ENTITLED to win. Our "mandate" entitles us to spend our "political capital". Well, all I can say is I hope I get to watch when their capital dries up and they are "perp-walked" to the political poorhouse. Maybe they can share a cell with Silvio Berlusconi - the undisputed king of the legislative rule change.

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Finally, some accountability.

from Boston dot com

The commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, told CNN on Thursday that preliminary findings indicate the culprit in Tuesday's bombing wore an Iraqi military uniform. Ham said the attack probably was the result of careful planning by an organized group such as one which has claimed responsibility, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.

Ham took personal responsibility for the security lapse.

''Clearly in this instance I failed to identify some shortcoming that allowed this to occur,'' Ham said.

I know some senior members of the Bushministration who could learn a thing or two about accountability from this Brigadier General. Too bad he's going to be the one to take the fall.

Further down we read:

''We have people in an active combat zone, not dispersing the troops, not doing the fundamentals of force protection and paying the price,'' said Mitchell, an analyst at the military's National Defense University.

and then

Mitchell said military and civilian leaders should be punished for the security lapses that allowed the suicide bombing.

''Someone needs to be held accountable for the body bags,'' Mitchell said.

Amen.

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More command-level stupidity

from PBS' NewsHour:

GWEN IFILL: What do you mean?

LT. COL. RALPH PETERS: Well, what mystified me when I heard about this, Gwen, was that even in maneuvers back in the Cold War days when you were just playing war, you got your chow and you dispersed because in war if an artillery shell would hit you wanted them to kill two or three or four soldiers at most, not forty or fifty or sixty or eighty.

And what's clearly happened in Iraq is we violated our own rules about troop dispersion in wartime. I suspect it has to do with outsourcing. This mess hall, mess facility, chow hall was run by a contractor.

And, instead of security, what we saw was convenience and efficiency. But it just baffled me that this base and this chow hall specifically, dining facility as we term it now, PC version, it had been attacked before with rocket fire, with mortars.

And we were still crowding these troops not even staggering the schedules. It just astonished me.

Is this an example of simple negligence by the MPs at the camp? If so, someone needs to get busted down a couple of bars for it. Were orders given to favor the contractor's mess hall procedures as they pertained to troop dispersion? This is a stickier issue because what you have is a military subordinating the importance of basic force protection to maximizing contractor process efficiency, i.e., profit.

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FDA: a prescription for Big Pharma profits

Or... It's lots of fun to criticize Government regulation and "trial lawyers", that is, until you need them to protect you from the excesses of corporate greed and actuarial cost/benefit calculations.

from Robert Reich in the latest American Prospect:

So we've got an FDA that's not protecting consumers from harm, and pending legislation that makes it almost impossible for people who are hurt by drugs approved by the FDA to sue for damages. The question must be asked: How is the public going to be protected if the FDA remains weak and if private lawsuits are cut off?

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Accountability???

from Reuters:

The White House says it expects a full investigation of prisoner abuses in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after new FBI memos described detainees facing beatings and having lit cigarettes placed in their ears.

"If there is abuse that occurs, we expect it to be investigated fully and people to be held accountable, and measures taken to make sure that it doesn't happen again," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"IF there is abuse"??? Yea, right. And I'm sure we can expect the same thoughtful, judicious, and comprehensive effort from the D.O.D. as we saw after Abu Ghraib: courtmartial a couple of grunts and it's all good. I'm afraid that ain't going to cut it, folks. This thing is bigger than that now. We're talking about a potential cover-up of command-level policies. Rummy needs to go.

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This ain't just a few bad apples, folks... How many times do we have to say it?

from the Guardian UK:

A civil liberties group is charging that military interrogators at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, some posing as FBI agents, humiliated and abused detainees, including inserting lit cigarettes in their ears.

Releasing e-mails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday one detainee was wrapped in an Israeli flag and some were shackled hand and foot in fetal positions for 18 to 24 hours, forcing them to soil themselves.

The ACLU said e-mails suggested "inhumane interrogation methods'' approved by President Bush - a charge the White House vigorously denied.

Where is the Congressional outrage over this? Have our elected officials decided to let the ACLU lead the charge?

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I am the great and powerful Oz! (just ignore that man behind the curtain)

from California's Central Valley (not exactly Berkeley) Modesto Bee:

Visions of sugar plums must dance through his head. President Bush was masterful in presenting a rosy worldview at his Monday press conference.

He said he will 'provide every tool and resource for our military.' Yet troops are scrounging scrap metal in landfills for armor. As the military calls up 55-year-olds to keep the ranks filled, he continues to talk about a 'lighter,' tactical Army.

Our Leader also appears to have come to the conclusion that Rumsfeld is beyond culpability for anything that has gone wrong in Iraq, "I know Secretary Rumsfeld's heart. I know how much he cares for the troops." Is this the same omniscience that he used on Putin? Gosh, as long as they're both decent guys deep down, I guess I can forgive them their atrocities.

I wonder if Pinochet has made an appointment with our resident empath as part of his defense strategy.

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Presidential Theater of the Absurd: Draping The Shiny Trinkets

Brilliant. From Richard Cohen at the WashPost:

The White House medal ceremony was really about George W. Bush. It had a slight touch of the absurd to it, as if facts do not matter and failure does not count.

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'bout time somebody started doing their job besides Robert Byrd and Charles Schumer

from NYT:

Complaining that Republicans have failed to oversee how billions of dollars of taxpayer money is being spent, Senate Democrats said Monday that they would begin holding oversight hearings of their own, even though they are in the minority and have no subpoena power to compel the testimony of government officials.

"The Congressional watchdog remains fast asleep, and we intend to wake it up," Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota, who is chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, said at a news briefing.

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CIA and ACLU - strange bedfellows indeed

from NYT:

The new disclosure is the latest sign of longstanding unease in intelligence circles about the military's interrogation techniques in Iraq. Complaints by the Defense Intelligence Agency about the rough treatment of prisoners by the same Special Operations units were made public last week in a document disclosed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Now it ain't just the "red diapers" over at the ACLU who have problems with the way the military interrogations have been conducted.

On a related note... George Tenet receives the Medal of Freedom from Our Leader... I guess that's what you get if the terrorists happen to strike on your watch and then you resign. And J. Paul Bremer too? What a joke.

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spot the elitist

from Media Matters:

Reverend Pat Robertson called Kwanzaa "an absolute fraud" during the news segment of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club December 6. After lamenting that "left wing educators, left-wing judges are stripping every vestige of our Christian heritage," Robertson, host and Christian Coalition of America founder, said: "Kwanzaa is an absolute fraud. You know, there was no festival in Africa called 'Kwanzaa.' I mean, it's made up by a bunch of hippie-types on the West Coast. I mean, it's not something that goes back to Africa. No way."

He's entitled to his opinion, but this kind of blatant intolerance speaks volumes about Mr. Robertson's lack of compassion for generations of African Americans stripped of "every vestige of" their identities, culture, dignity, freedom, and opportunity in this country. How dare he begrudge another human being the right to observe whatever spiritual or cultural observance they choose.

If intolerance and bigotry are among the vestiges of "our Christian Heritage" that he's talking about, then by all means, strip away!

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presidential prejudice

this ridiculous position from our chief dimwit (from Yahoo! News):

Bush renewed his call for legislation that would let workers create private retirement accounts within the government-run program.

He sidestepped questions about whether the nation can afford to borrow in order to confront a shortfall in the trillions of dollars, saying, 'I will not prejudge any solution.

'But, he said, 'We will not raise payroll taxes to solve this problem.'"

What he means is that income over 90K/yr. will continue to not be taxed for SSI... unfair? regressive? yes on both counts. Why should the wealthiest be taxed at a lower rate than those in the working class?

He's eager to not "prejudge any solution", except the one that will piss off his campaign contributors. Who cares if the working class loses their nest eggs in the market? Certainly not JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Fidelity, Franklin, et al. They'll all be fat and happy while our social safety net gives way for those unfortunates whose only sin is to be born too late and too poor.

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torture by any other name

from BBC:

Concerned US defence workers were told to keep quiet about the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners, memos obtained by a US civil rights group have revealed.

Documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union also show that special forces officers ignored FBI fears over their interrogation methods.

FBI and Defence Intelligence Agency concerns were ignored or brushed aside by special forces, says the ACLU.

As this article suggests, these revelations, combined with the recent (and still forthcoming) reports about mistreatment and other chicanery at Gitmo, have the potential to further weaken the US' credibility on humane prisoner treatment... if that is even possible post-Abu Ghraib. Funny thing about the Geneva Convention, Mr. Attorney General Designate... it only seems "quaint" until your own forces are imprisoned.

--later thoughts-- There is more than torture here, apparently: Intimidation, conspiracy, and possibly evidence of a systematic, coordinated program of bleeding edge interrogation. How is it possible Rumsfeld still has a job?

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I smell a rat

Paul Krugman picks up the scent in today's NYT:

Privatizing Social Security - replacing the current system, in whole or in part, with personal investment accounts - won't do anything to strengthen the system's finances. If anything, it will make things worse. Nonetheless, the politics of privatization depend crucially on convincing the public that the system is in imminent danger of collapse, that we must destroy Social Security in order to save it.

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let the love hangover begin

fromABC News:

Former Rep. Bill Frenzel, R-Minn., a member of a bipartisan study commission on Social Security Bush named in 2002, said Social Security 'is still the third rail' of American politics and asked: 'Will the Congress be willing to suffer the risk of electrocuting itself at the president's request?'"

I couldn't have said it better myself. The coming conflict over Social Security has the potential to disrupt the elephantine love-fest on The Hill.

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Frist, do no harm...

from The Springfield MO News-Leader:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Sunday that the government should review federally funded sexual abstinence programs, under fire from Democrats who say they contain false and misleading medical information.

The 'abstinence-only' programs, which get $170 million from Congress this year, teach children and teens the benefits of abstaining from sex until marriage. By law, they are not allowed to discuss any benefits of birth control or condoms in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

How f*cking backward can you get... not allowed to discuss the health benefits of condoms??? Are we living in Zimbabwe??? The current administration of this program is also charged with overstating the failure rates for condoms in a misguided attempt to scare teens into not using them... guess what, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE SEX ANYWAY!!!

If we treat sexually active teenagers like children, withhold information from them, and manipulate data to support our misguided, puritanical orthodoxy, we get exactly what we deserve: kids using birth control ineffectively, kids not using any birth control, having unsafe sex, seeking abortions, having unwanted children, and getting infected. And the Senate Majority Leader is a DOCTOR. I hope he has malpractice insurance.

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still think putting Social Security funds into the stock market is a good idea?

If you work for a mutual fund company, you probably do... 'cause they make money whether the market goes up or down. The proposed "partial privatization" of Social Security is a scam to allow financial service companies to skim profits off the retirement benefits of working Americans. It stinks to high heaven and the Bushministration is going to have a real battle on their hands if they try to muscle this through Congress. You think the Intelligence Reform Bill was divisive? Just you wait...

Oh, Senator Frist? Could you please advise us on how to safely invest our Social Security contributions?

from Newsday:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's campaign committee lost more than $500,000 in the stock market since the 2000 election and could not cover a bank loan that came due in August, records showed.

Hmm. I guess not. Thank goodness his bankers took pity on him and "rolled over" the loan and gave him a lower interest rate, rather than defaulting. Doubtful you or I would receive the same treatment.

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hey, General, is it safer?

from CNN:

"'I think it's less safe,' Gen. Pervez Musharraf said on CNN's 'Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.'

Asked whether he considered the invasion a mistake, the Pakistani leader said: 'With hindsight, yes. We have landed ourselves in more trouble, yes.'"

And we thought he was supposed to be an ally. I'm sure if he were standing next to the President on the White House lawn he would be sining a different tune. Of course, a government PR flak later "clarified" General Musharraf's declaration:

After the interview, a Pakistani government spokesman called CNN to say that Musharraf did not intend to be categorical in his assertion that Bush had erred in invading Iraq.

Well in that case, you can still be our ally, Pervez ol' buddy.

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you want to talk about "activist judges?"

If you saw the photos in this Sunday's Times, you now know what a "Hangin' Judge" looks like. This story is about the most blood-thirsty, single-minded court in the nation. Overworked, underqualified, and all-around unjust. Go ahead, guess which state I'm talking about.

from NYT:

Instead of considering much of the evidence recited by the Supreme Court majority, the appeals court engaged in something akin to plagiarism. In February, it again rejected Mr. Miller-El's claims, in a decision that reproduced, virtually verbatim and without attribution, several paragraphs from the sole dissenting opinion in last year's Supreme Court decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas.

'The Fifth Circuit just went out of its way to defy the Supreme Court on this,' said John J. Gibbons, a former chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, who joined a brief supporting Mr. Miller-El. 'The idea that the system can tolerate open defiance by an inferior court just cannot stand.'

[ding!] time's up... if you guessed Texas, you've just won an all expense paid trip to Death Row. Don't worry, I'm sure your appeal will come through in time.

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