Undernews For July 27, 2010

Undernews For July 27, 2010

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN, BUT. . .

Sam Smith

It's not easy being Green but it sure is easier than being a Democrat these days.

I was reminded of this as I scanned some proposed changes and additions to the Green platform. Over and over I found myself reading stuff that not only fit my views but those of many Democrats. The sort of things that would have been standard for the New Deal and Great Society.

Unfortunately, however, the Democratic Party has become the Bernie Madoff of politics. It gets unsuspecting individuals to trust it with their money, beliefs and future, and then immediately starts ripping them off.

There was, for example, Barack Obama's Madoff moment at the liberal Netroots conference in which he admitted their returns had been slow, but it would improve if they would just be patient. In politics, however, what in fiscal fraud would be considered criminal evidence, is simply treated as "reassurance."

If the only things that mattered in politics were the issues and you opposed the war in Afghanistan, wanted single payer health insurance, wished to preserve Social Security and thought the jobless should get more federal assistance than a handful of Wall Street bankers, there would be no doubt you'd be a Green.

But it gets complicated by the fact that Greens don't do all that well in elections, there are a lot of close races that test loyalty, and liberal voters have been trained to believe that any deviation is a de facto gift to the Republicans.

Greens demand a lot of fidelity as well, enough that when I was invited to my first Green conference in the 1990s, I already felt compelled to tell organizer John Rensenbrink that I didn't think I was good enough to be a Green. He repled, "That's okay. We're going to have a Libertarian there as well."

I went on to help get the Greens organized but designated myself chair of the Big Mac caucus of the party, dedicated to all wishing to be Green without being perfect.

I've had my problems with the Greens over the years. I didn't like how much emphasis was placed on presidential elections. I'm sorry the Greens haven't formed more alliances with other interests including labor and ethnic coaltions. And I know from the history of American third parties that their effectiveness lies in mass local organizing, which hasn't happened with the Greens.

But they still seemed great compared to the alternatives, especially when the Democrats repeatedly treated Greens not as part of a progressive coalition but as traitors and other forms of scum - changing laws, denying them rights, altering districts, and even blaming them for Al Gore's failed presidential campaign (a clear statistical lie).

But now that we've had two presidents double-cross their own constituents, it looks like the Democratic party is far more in need of therapy than loyalty. And the first rule when around the dysfunctional is: don't let them call the shots.

There are, to be sure, practical problems. But they're not as complicated as they seem. Here's a good plan of action:

1. Join the Green Party. Just because you join a party doesn't mean you always have to vote for it. Whether for ideological or pragmatic reasons you can make that choice on election day. You join a party for a political home. So you want to join one whose beliefs reflect your own. For a large number of Democrats and independents this would be the Green Party. Besides, if you leave the Democrats and join the Greens, you are no longer liable under the RICO fraud statutes.

2. Do as little or as much as you want. Political organizations function much like the Episcopal church's three factions: the high and crazy, the low and lazy and the broad and hazy. Find your own level.

3. Argue with the Green Party when it does the wrong thing. Or does nothing and that's the wrong thing to do. Every good party needs some good fights.

4. If you want to get into a Democratic primary battle, temporarily switch your registration. I've done this lots of time, becoming a Democrat for a day. Just don't forget to switch back.

5. Remember that fusion politics - in which parties come temporarily together to reach a common goal - was so effective in American history that nearly all states passed laws to eliminate it. You can create your own fusion politics by aligning with the Democrats on specific issues while not hiding the fact that you're a Green.

6. Just because you're a Green doesn't mean that you have to be perfect, noble or idealistic. There are plenty of contrary role models in the party, such as myself.

7. There is nothing radical about the Green party. It actually quite conservative. It wishes to conserve the Constitution, the environment, communities, free speech, and numerous other threatened virtues we used to take for granted.

8. Finally, one of the great joys of being a Green is that you never again have to defend stupid things said or done by Obama, Reid, Pelosi or the Clintons.

These are bad times with few happy solutions. In such moments, finding oases of sanity and decency is extremely important, and in politics you won't find a better one than the Greens.

TOP STORIES

THE HOUSING DEPRESSION IS HERE TO STAY SO BANKS CAN MANAGE THEIR WRITE DOWNS

GOP CONGRESSMEMBERS TOLD TO COOL IT WITH FEMALE LOBBYISTS

PENTAGON CAN'T ACCOUNT FOR $8.7 BILLION IN IRAQ FUNDS

WHY PRAISING CHILDREN FOR THEIR INTELLIGENCE DOESN'T WORK

PROTESTS FORCE OBAMITES TO BACK DOWN ON JOURNALIST BAN

SENATE REFUSES DISCRIMINATION SETTLEMENT WITH BLACK FARMERS

INVESTIGATION INTO BUSH'S FIRING OF NINE U.S. ATTORNEYS QUESTIONED

GOLDMAN SACHS SENT $4 BILLION IN BAILOUT FUNDS OVERSEAS

MARYLAND CITIZEN FACES 16 YEARS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING COP IN PUBLIC PLACE

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN, BUT. . .

POLICE MISCONDUCT BY STATE

POLL: WAR ON DRUGS A FAILURE, LEGALIZE POT

OBAMITES DON'T WANT TO COUNT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES WHO STRUGGLED FOR DEGREES

BP CHANGES ITS FACE; STORY STAYS THE SAME

SURVEY: 97% OF SCIENTISTS BELIEVE GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL

CAMERON CALLS GAZA STRIP A 'PRISON CAMP'

GOP CONGRESSMEMBERS TOLD TO COOL IT WITH FEMALE LOBBYISTS

Roll Call - Washington is abuzz with rumors of late-night partying and of House Republicans inappropriately hanging out with female lobbyists. But not everyone was taken by surprise. Minority Leader John Boehner has been working behind the scenes to address the issue for at least the past year and a half. The Ohio Republican has had private conversations with several lawmakers asking them to curb their inappropriate behavior

NY Post - Sources say House Minority Leader John Boehner has told GOP congressmen who partied with lobbyists "to knock it off." His spokesperson said, "Boehner has always told all our members that they will be held to the highest ethical standards.". . . GOP Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska -- who's in a tough race against Democratic opponent Tom White -- was witnessed by Page Six in close conversation with a comely lobbyist at the Capitol Hill Club in DC recently. "Why did you get me so drunk?" Terry asked the giggling woman, among other personal remarks. When Terry realized he was sitting near a reporter, he quickly changed the topic of conversation to his three children and the struggle to pay their college tuition. Terry was given a 100 percent rating by the Christian Coalition for his pro-family voting record.

PENTAGON CAN'T ACCOUNT FOR $8.7 BILLION IN IRAQ FUNDS

Voice of America - The Defense Department is unable to account for $8.7 billion of the $9.1 billion in Development Fund for Iraq monies in received for reconstruction in Iraq. This according to a study published today by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

"This situation occurred because most DoD organizations receiving (Development Fund for Iraq) funds did not establish the required Department of the Treasury accounts and no DoD organization was designated as the executive agent for managing the use of DFI funds," the report states.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction finds that only one Defense organization actually set up the accounts required by the Treasury.

CAMERON CALLS GAZA STRIP A 'PRISON CAMP'

Guardian, UK - David Cameron used a visit to Turkey to make his strongest intervention yet in the intractable Middle East conflict when he likened the experience of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip to that of a "prison camp". Although he has made similar remarks before, his decision to repeat them on a world stage in Turkey, whose relations with Israel have deteriorated sharply since it mounted a deadly assault on the Gaza flotilla, gave them much greater diplomatic significance. Cameron's criticism of Tel Aviv came when he called for Israel to relax its restrictions on Gaza. "The situation in Gaza has to change," he said. "Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp."

BLAIR WARNED ABOUT LACK OF WMDS

Sam Marsden and Gavin Cordon, Press Association - Britain and the United States should have realised that their intelligence about Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction was suspect, the former head of the United Nations weapons inspectors said.

Giving evidence to the Iraq Inquiry, Dr Hans Blix said it should have set alarm bells ringing in London and Washington when the inspectors repeatedly failed to turn up any evidence that Saddam Hussein still had active WMD programs.

"When we reported that we did not find any weapons of mass destruction they should have realized, I think, both in London and in Washington, that their sources were poor," he said.

Dr Blix said that he had privately confided to Tony Blair in the autumn of 2002 - before the inspectors returned to Iraq - that he thought it was "plausible" that Saddam did have WMD.

However in the weeks leading up to the invasion in March 2003 - after the inspectors had failed to uncover anything significant - he said that he had cautioned Mr Blair that there might not be anything.

He said that he told the then-prime minister: "Wouldn't it be paradoxical if you were to invade Iraq with 250,000 men and find very little?"

He added: "I gave a warning that things had changed and there might not be so much."

THE HOUSING DEPRESSION IS HERE TO STAY SO BANKS CAN MANAGE THEIR WRITE DOWNS

Mike Whitney, Counterpunch - The housing depression will last for a decade or more. This is by design. The Fed has been working with the banks to withhold inventory so prices do not fall too fast or too far. That way the banks can manage their write-downs without slipping into insolvency. But what's good for the banks is bad for the country. Capital impairment at the banks means no credit expansion in the near-term. It means the economy will continue to contract, unemployment will remain high, and deflation will push down wages and prices. Everyone will pay for the mortgage-backed securities scam that was engineered by the banks.

Typically, personal consumption expenditures and real estate lead the way out of recession. But not this time. Both personal consumption and real estate will stay depressed and act as a drag on employment and growth. Last week, in testimony before the congress, Fed chair Ben Bernanke made it clear that the Central Bank has no intention of providing extra monetary stimulus to make up for rapidly-dissipating fiscal stimulus or the winding down of government subsidies for auto, home, and appliance purchases. The economy must muddle through on its own. But without additional pump-priming, disinflation will turn to outright deflation and the economy will sink into negative territory. Bernanke knows this, but he's absolved himself of any further responsibility. It's just a matter of time before the next slump.

SURVEY: 97% OF SCIENTISTS BELIEVE GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL

USA Today - 97 out of 100 scientists believe in man-made climate change. This data comes from a new survey out this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The report is based on questions posed to 1,372 scientists. Nearly all the experts agreed that it is "very likely that anthropogenic greenhouse gases have been responsible for most of the unequivocal warming of the Earth's average global temperature in the second half of the twentieth century." As for the 3 percent of scientists who remain unconvinced, the study found their average expertise is far below that of their colleagues, as measured by publication and citation rates.

BP CHANGES ITS FACE; STORY STAYS THE SAME

The archaic media's treatment of BP seems to be shifting. Several networks, including MSNBC, ran stories on the firm's new leadership that sounded straight out of a corporate PR office. And another TV commentator even referred to BP as "iconlc." Here's the true story:

Think Progress - [Tony] Hayward will be replaced by [Robert] Dudley on Oct. 1. Dudley, a "chemical engineer by training," is "now in charge of BP's Gulf Coast response." While BP is likely hoping that replacing Hayward with Dudley will boost the company's image with the public, the Wonk Room's Brad Johnson writes, "There is little reason to expect that the incoming BP CEO will change anything other than the accent." In his public appearances, Dudley has defended Hayward, minimized the toxic threat from BP's dispersant Corexit, and greenwashed BP's awful environmental record.

During an appearance on PBS's Newshour last May, Dudley described Corexit as "essentially like soap. It's like dish soap." In July, he once again returned to Newshour to say Corexit's toxicity is "not far off of the toxicity levels of dish soap." Additionally, he downplayed the threat of oil to the Gulf Coast, telling host Judy Woodruff that "we're not seeing anything like what you see in Louisiana in any of the other states. . . I don't think that's going to happen."

Dudley also praised Hayward's stewardship of the company, saying, "I think he's done a great job of leading a company to stand up and do the right thing. . . I think Tony's doing a fantastic job." When pressed about BP's enormous profits and why it should continue to make them despite the devastation in the Gulf, he compared the oil giant to a dog gratefully returning a bone to its owner: "I think I would look at some of the process today as just making sure that through that sentiment we don't actually shoot the dog who is trying to bring home the bone."

By replacing its CEO, BP is simply putting a different face on the same old corporate malfeasance. Alabama's Mobile Press-Register finds that BP has hired scientists from Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, and Texas A&M to "work on behalf in their Natural Resources Damage Assessment process" that determines how much ecological damage the Gulf of Mexico region is suffering from BP's toxic black tide. Alarmingly, the contract the scientists are signing "prohibits [them] from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years." "It makes me feel they were more interested in making sure we couldn't testify against them than in having us testify for them," said George Crozier, head of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, who was approached by BP.

Despite the commitments it made in a deal struck last month with President Obama, BP has so far failed to deposit any money into the $20 billion escrow fund it promised to create, despite the fact that its profits are up $2.9 billion from the same period last year. Ken Feinberg, who is in charge of administering oil spill claims, told reporters that he would like to start paying out claims from the fund, but he doesn't "want the checks to bounce." To add insult to injury, BP "plans to offset the entire cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill against its tax bill, reducing future contributions to U.S. tax coffers by almost $10 billion."

WHY PRAISING CHILDREN FOR THEIR INTELLIGENCE DOESN'T WORK

From an interview by Joan Brunwasser with psychologist, Carol Dweck. (Come to think of it, this may help to explain some of Obama's problems- TPR)

Carol Dweck, OpEd News - The self-esteem movement taught us to think that compliments gave children self-esteem, and the bigger the compliment the better. In fact, the self-esteem gurus were telling us to dole out praise for our children's talents as often as possible. This really sank into the public psyche and even became plain old commonsense.

However, I had already been studying vulnerable and resilient children for decades and I knew it was the vulnerable ones who were focused on how much talent or intelligence they had. This is not a good thing. So, we (my graduate students and I) wondered whether praising children's intelligence would actually backfire. It might put children into a fixed mindset by implying that you can look at their performance and see their underlying intelligence. And it might also be telling them, "That's what I value in you," putting even more pressure on them to be smart at all times and at all costs.

So, in a series of experiments, we put this to the test. Lo and behold we found that praising intelligence had many repercussions, most of them negative. After children were so praised, they did not want to attempt a challenging task, even one that they could learn from. They wanted to stick with things in their comfort zone and burnish their "gifted" label like a trophy.

When we did give them challenging work later on, their confidence, their enjoyment, and their performance plummeted. They could only enjoy and thrive on easier work that did not threaten the idea that they were smart. Finally, when they were later asked to report their scores to another student, almost 40% of the students praised for their intelligence lied. They needed to appear smart. In other words, intelligence praise, rather than raising self-esteem, put children into a fixed mindset with all of its vulnerabilities.

What's the alternative? We've found that "process" praise--such as praise for effort or strategies--works best. When we gave children process praise after a job well done, they then wanted hard tasks they could learn from. When we gave them the hard tasks, their confidence, enjoyment, and performance remained high. What's more, they told the truth when they reported their scores to another student.

Make no mistake, the kids enjoyed the intelligence praise, but their joy was short-lived. That praise made them unsuited to take on challenges. I think this is what happens to many students these days. They've been praised so much for their talents or abilities that when things become harder, they don't know how to cope.

The basic fallacy of the self-esteem movement was the idea that we could hand children self-esteem on a silver platter by showering them with intelligence praise. They were wrong--intelligence praise makes children fragile. Instead we can give children the tools they need to build their own self-esteem by helping them develop a growth mindset. Process praise is an important part of this and it involves showing children how much we value it when they take on hard tasks, when they come up with new strategies for addressing a problem, when they show sustained effort on a task, and when they struggle through difficulty.

PROTESTS FORCE OBAMITES TO BACK DOWN ON JOURNALIST BAN

Xi Yu, Harvard Crimson - A Colombian journalist who was denied entrance to the United States has finally been granted his student visa to participate in a journalism fellowship at Harvard, according to an e-mail sent this morning to the organizations and individuals who rallied to his aid.

Hollman Morris Rincon, a Nieman Fellow for the 2010-2011 year, expressed "solidarity" with those who supported his career in "defending the truth and human rights" in his objective reporting of the sufferings and ravages of the war in Colombia, stated his e-mail, which was written in Spanish.

The acclaimed human rights reporter and producer of an independent television news program was denied a student visa by the Department of State on "security-related grounds."

A reporter known for his critical coverage of Colombia President Alvaro Uribe Velez’s administration, Morris developed connections with sources who did not support the outgoing president¬a move that could have been interpreted as terrorist activity, according to Nieman Curator Robert H. Giles.

The decision by the federal government had prompted several journalism and human rights organizations to rally behind Morris' situation.

“The denial is alarming,” Giles wrote in a tersely-worded editorial expressing the far-reaching impacts on freedom of speech. “It would represent a major recasting of press freedom doctrine if journalists, by establishing contacts with so-called terrorist organizations in the process of gathering news, open themselves to accusations of terrorist activities and the possibility of being barred from travel to the United States.”

SENATE REFUSES DISCRIMINATION SETTLEMENT WITH BLACK FARMERS

TPM Muckraker - Five months after President Obama announced a $1.25 billion settlement for black farmers who faced overt discrimination by the USDA in the eighties and nineties -- and several days after the Sherrod case brought the issue up again -- Congress again refused to authorize the money.

On Thursday, the Senate quietly stripped the funding for the Pigford II settlement and several other programs from a supplemental war funding bill. Senators then unanimously passed their version of the bill, which will go back to the House.

INVESTIGATION INTO BUSH'S FIRING OF NINE U.S. ATTORNEYS QUESTIONED

Andrew Kreig, Neiman Watchdog - In September 2008, the Bush Justice Department appointed career federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy to investigate allegations that Bush officials in 2006 illegally fired nine U.S. attorneys who wouldn’t politicize official corruption investigations.

But just four days before her appointment, a federal appeals court had ruled that a team of prosecutors led by Dannehy illegally suppressed evidence in a major political corruption case in Connecticut. The prosecutors’ misconduct was so serious that the court vacated seven of the eight convictions in the case.

The ruling didn’t cite Dannehy by name, and although it was publicly reported it apparently never came up in the news coverage of her appointment.

But it now calls into question the integrity of her investigation by raising serious concerns about her credibility -- and about whether she was particularly vulnerable to political pressure from within the Justice Department.

Now, almost two years later, Dannehy has provided arguably the most important blanket exoneration for high-level U.S. criminal targets since President George H.W. Bush pardoned six Iran-Contra convicts post-election in late 1992.

The DOJ announced on July 21 that it has “closed the case” on the nine unprecedented mid-term firings because Dannehy found no criminal wrongdoing by DOJ or White House officials.

But the official description of her inquiry indicates that she either placed or acceded to constraints on the scope of her probe that restricted it to the firing of just one of the ousted U.S. attorneys, not the others -- and not to the conduct of the U.S. attorneys who weren't ousted because they met whatever tests DOJ and the White House created.

And although reaction to the closing of the inquiry has been muted, some observers are accusing her of a whitewash.

“This is an outrageous act of cowardice and cover-up!” former Alabama governor and alleged political prosecution victim Don Siegelman emailed me regarding DOJ’s decision and the failure to interview him.

GOLDMAN SACHS SENT $4 BILLION IN BAILOUT FUNDS OVERSEAS

Des Moines Register - Goldman Sachs sent $4.3 billion in federal tax money to 32 entities, including many overseas banks, hedge funds and pensions.

Goldman Sachs disclosed the list of companies to the Senate Finance Committee after a threat of subpoena from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia.

Grassley said he was reserving judgment on the appropriateness of U.S. taxpayer money ending up overseas until he learns more about the 32 entities.

MARYLAND CITIZEN FACES 16 YEARS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING COP IN PUBLIC PLACE

Edward Reilly, Maine Civil Liberties Union - The ACLU of Maryland is defending Anthony Graber, who potentially faces sixteen years in prison if found guilty of violating state wiretap laws because he recorded video of an officer drawing a gun during a traffic stop. In a trend that we've seen across the country, police have become increasingly hostile to bystanders recording their actions.

However, the scale of the Maryland State Police reaction to Anthony Graber's video is unprecedented. Once they learned of the video on YouTube, Graber's parents house was raided, searched, and four of his computers were confiscated. Graber was arrested, booked and jailed. Their actions are a calculated method of intimidation. Another person has since been similarly charged under the same statute.

The wiretap law being used to charge Anthony Graber is intended to protect private communication between two parties. According to David Rocah, the ACLU attorney handling Mr. Graber's case, "To charge Graber with violating the law, you would have to conclude that a police officer on a public road, wearing a badge and a uniform, performing his official duty, pulling someone over, somehow has a right to privacy when it comes to the conversation he has with the motorist."

POLL: WAR ON DRUGS A FAILURE, LEGALIZE POT

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe their country has a serious drug abuse problem, but 65 percent think the federal government's "War on Drugs" has been a failure, according to a new national Angus Reid poll.

Low marks for the "War on Drugs" cross party lines, with 63 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Independents picking the option of failure. Just 8 percent believe the anti-drug war is a success.

The poll of 1,003 American adults, taken July 14 and 15, shows that the public is drawing a distinction between marijuana and other drugs.

A total of 52 percent supported the legalization of marijuana. Just 8 percent would support legalization of heroin or powder cocaine or Methamphetamines.

OBAMITES DON'T WANT TO COUNT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES WHO STRUGGLED FOR DEGREES

Portland Press Herald, ME - Graduation rates took a tumble in many Maine school districts in 2008-09, according to data released last week by the state Department of Education. State officials attribute the decrease to their use of a new formula, soon to be required by the federal government, which doesn't count students who take longer than four years to get a diploma.

Excluding longer-term students from the count disturbs many education officials . . . "The new calculation disrespects the fine work that's being done by students who take a little longer to graduate," said Jeanne Crocker, principal of South Portland High School. "I prefer the old calculation."

DEPARTMENT OF GOOD STUFF

Activists shut down London BP gas stations
Kucinich and Paul call for troops out of Pakistan

VIDEOS
A little Korean girl shows how to really play the guitar

FILMS
Plunder: The Crime of Our Time: The criminal side of the financial crisis

FURTHERMORE. . .

The administration is predicting an unemployment rate at a level it previously predicted would occur without a stimulus package.

NY Times - State and federal officials are starting to take their knives to the pay of leaders of nonprofit groups they do business with to help share the pain of tighter budgets. . . On Capitol Hill, four senators this spring refused to approve a $425 million package of federal grants for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America after staff members looked at the organization’s tax forms as part of a routine vetting process and were surprised to learn that the organization paid its chief executive almost $1 million in 2008 . . . The American Heart Association . . paid its longtime chief executive, M. Cass Wheeler, who was retiring, a total of $995,424. That year, the association raised $645 million.

Huffington Post - The New York Times’ Brian Stelter tweeted that, according to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News has averaged just 29,000 black viewers in primetime so far this television season. That represents just 1.38% of its 2.102 million total viewer audience. CNN and MSNBC, meanwhile, both have far more black viewers, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of their overall audiences.

POLICE MISCONDUCT BY STATE

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