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15:00:01 01/19/12
National Education Association Pushing 3-Point Plan for True Education Reform
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:00:01 01/19/12
The National Education Association is pursuing a three-point plan to push for reform in the teaching profession after several years of assault from right-wing, anti-teacher, anti-union politicians and corporate interests. In particular, 2011 was a year where Republicans across the country pushed anti-education measures in many states and local governments. The NEA is pushing aggressively to challenge the misinformation being spread by their opponents and to bring real reform to the profession of teaching.
Key components of the plan include raising the bar for entry into the teaching profession, expanded collaboration among colleagues who have expertise and success in teaching, and strengthening teachers unions. Specific proposals include: >
Drawing from recommendations of the CETT report, NEA will advocate the alignment of teaching standards across higher education institutions and state licensing agencies.
NEA also will advocate that no candidate enter the teaching profession prior to demonstrating proficient classroom performance based on universally accepted standards and practices.
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Every teacher candidate should have one full year of residency under the supervision of a Master Teacher before earning a full license.
Every teacher candidate should pass a rigorous classroom-based performance assessment at the end of his or her candidacy.
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NEA will work with institutions of higher education, districts, and interested foundations to establish residency programs. NEA commits to supporting the training of high-quality teachers to serve as clinical faculty, cooperating teachers, and mentors to ensure that candidates receive the clinical preparation they need.
NEA will collaborate with higher education and other partners to support the implementation of at least 50 high-quality residency programs over the next several yearsand teacher performance assessments in at least 10 state licensure systems.
NEA will strongly advocate for new state regulations in the 26 TPAC pilot states and others to require teacher candidates to pass a performance assessment before becoming a teacher of record.
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The teaching profession should focus on supporting teachers, providing them with career options and helping teachers improve throughout their careers. Learning how to teach does not stop at the beginning of a teaching career. Teachers continually confront new challenges as they work with their students. They must refine their strategies and techniques to ensure that their students learn. During this process, time to collaborate with colleagues, as well as get the feedback and guidance of expert mentors and coaches, is essential.
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Consistent with the NEA Policy Statement on Teacher Evaluation and Accountability, NEA is developing training and materials for all local and state affiliates to use as they develop quality evaluation systems and fair dismissal policies.
NEA also concurs with the CETT report on PAR programs, and as part of NEA’s national training effort, NEA will advocate for the expansion of Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) programs. NEA is disseminating best practice descriptions, research, and other information for use in promoting and adopting new programs, and NEA will implement training through its national UniServ Program beginning in January of 2012.
NEA will work with willing state and local affiliates that have the capacity and resources to establish at least 100 new Peer Assistance and Peer Assistance and Review programs over the next three years.
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NEA will use its national training networks to deliver leadership skills to teachers recognized for their effectiveness. NEA will work with affiliates to train 1,000 accomplished teachers to be voices for their profession, both as instructional leaders and at all levels of policymaking. NEA will make extra efforts to ensure that younger teachers join their experienced colleagues to collaborate and bring fresh perspectives into professional decision-making. Throughout this effort, NEA will urge these talented teachers to be strongly involved at every level of their union.
Additionally, NEA will train educators from all 50 states in educational leadership based on the innovative curriculum being developed by the NEA Foundation’s Institute on Innovation in Teaching and Learning.
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02:47:42 01/03/12
Top YouTube Partner Machinima Attributes Success to YouTube Social
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 02:47:42 01/03/12
Top YouTube Partner Machinima Attributes Success to YouTube Social
rseo.co ► I met with top YouTube partner and content provider, Machinima, at their offices in LA (www.youtube.com I spoke with Allen Debovoise, the CEO of Machinima about their success with web video and how it's no surprise that they attribute much of their success to the YouTube platform and in particular, to the community that YouTube has built through it's platform, which really can and should be considered a Social media outlet and social network. From: reelseo Views: 258 4 ratings Time: 02:04 More in People & Blogs
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02:47:42 01/03/12
Top YouTube Partner Machinima Attributes Success to YouTube Social
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 02:47:42 01/03/12
Top YouTube Partner Machinima Attributes Success to YouTube Social
rseo.co ► I met with top YouTube partner and content provider, Machinima, at their offices in LA (www.youtube.com I spoke with Allen Debovoise, the CEO of Machinima about their success with web video and how it's no surprise that they attribute much of their success to the YouTube platform and in particular, to the community that YouTube has built through it's platform, which really can and should be considered a Social media outlet and social network. From: reelseo Views: 258 4 ratings Time: 02:04 More in People & Blogs
4 Views
21:00:06 12/29/11
There's No Mystery About Romney's Taxes and Tax Plan
[LESS INFO] 4 VIEWS | ADDED 21:00:06 12/29/11
Why is Mitt Romney alone among the Republican presidential candidates in refusing to release his tax returns ? And why is the former Massachusetts Governor also the only major GOP contender not calling for the complete elimination of the capital gains tax ? As it turns out, the answer - horrible political optics - is the same to both questions. Because Romney's continuing millions in annual income from Bain Capital are taxed at the 15 percent capital gains rate, Mitt already pays a much lower share to Uncle Sam than most middle class families . And if he called for changing the capital gains rate to zero, Mitt Romney would have to explain to voters why the $250 million man should pay virtually no tax bill at all .
Despite his famous demand in the 1994 Senate race that Ted Kennedy release his tax returns to show he has "nothing to hide," Romney last week reiterated his own paperwork would not be forthcoming. "We don't have any current plans to release tax returns, but never say never," Romney said, adding: >
"I can tell you we follow the tax laws, and if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we like anybody else in this country will follow that opportunity."
Truer words were never spoken.
In October, Citizens for Tax Justice estimated that the Romneys paid only 14 percent of their income in taxes . (It's no wonder Mitt opposes the " Buffett Rule .") As Time reported: >
Just how much Romney pays in taxes is, for the moment, a private matter. But his income is public knowledge. In August, Romney disclosed that in 2010 he and his wife made between $1.1 million and $2.8 million in royalties, salary, speaking fees and interest, most of which was likely taxed at a marginal rate of 35%, after accounting for deductions. The Romneys made an additional $5.5 million to $37.3 million from dividends and capital gains, which is generally taxed at a much lower rate of 15%.
Two weeks ago, the New York Times shed light on that "$5.5 million to $37.3 million from dividends and capital gains" that represents most of Romney's income. Though Mitt left Bain Capital in 1999, 13 years later his windfall continues uninterrupted: >
In what would be the final deal of his private equity career, he negotiated a retirement agreement with his former partners that has paid him a share of Bain's profits ever since, bringing the Romney family millions of dollars in income each year and bolstering the fortune that has helped finance Mr. Romney's political aspirations... >
In the process, Bain continued to buy and restructure companies, potentially leaving Mr. Romney exposed to further criticism that he has grown wealthier over the last decade partly as a result of layoffs. Moreover, much of his income from the arrangement has probably qualified for a lower tax rate than ordinary income under a tax provision favorable to hedge fund and private equity managers, which has become a point of contention in the battle over economic inequality.
And that creates what Steve Benen aptly called "Romney's 'carried interest' problem." >
In case anyone needs a refresher, there's a tax loophole on "carried interest" -- sometimes called "the carry" -- that taxes private equity and venture capital income at a lower, 15% rate, as compared to 35% on ordinary income. Hedge-fund managers and the Wall Street have fought tooth and nail to protect this loophole -- even after the Obama White House tried to eliminate it -- and so far, they've been successful.
Which is why Mitt Romney has thus far refused to join his fellow GOP White House hopefuls in proposing the elimination of the 15 percent capital gains tax. Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Herman Cain all called for zeroing out the capital gains levy, which is one reason why their tax plans represent such a huge windfall for the wealthy . (Their support for a flat-tax is another.) The Washington Post explained why for the rich that would be "better than any Christmas gift": >
While it's true that many middle-class Americans own stocks or bonds, they tend to stash them in tax-sheltered retirement accounts, where the capital gains rate does not apply. By contrast, the richest Americans reap huge benefits. Over the past 20 years, more than 80 percent of the capital gains income realized in the United States has gone to 5 percent of the people; about half of all the capital gains have gone to the wealthiest 0.1 percent.
For his part, Romney has proposed reducing the capital gains tax rate only for the first $200,000 in income. But as ThinkProgress pointed out, Romney's claim that "The people in the middle...I focused my tax cut right there" is preposterous: >
Romney may think he focused his tax cut on the middle-class, but according to a ThinkProgress analysis of Tax Policy Center data*, nearly three-fourths of households that make $200,000 or less annually would get literally nothing from Romney's tax cut, due to the simple fact that most of those households have no capital gains income.
But while Mitt Romney didn't want to create the appearance of slashing most of his own tax bill, that doesn't mean his proposals wouldn't produce a massive payday for his own and other rich families while piling up yet more debt. Romney's 59-point economic plan calls for extending the Bush tax cuts, ending the estate tax and reducing corporate taxes. The result, as ThinkProgress explained: >
Romney's tax plan includes a $6.6 TRILLION giveaway to corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Meanwhile, Romney's Medicaid cuts are even more draconian than the ones in Paul Ryan plan. Both of their plans end also end Medicare, naturally.
Still, in an interview last weekend the reliably Republican Wall Street Journal wondered why Romney had been so "timid" compared to his rivals. In a rare moment of candor, Mitt revealed that his real preferences would make for very bad politics: >
What about his reform principles? Mr. Romney talks only in general terms. "Moving to a consumption-based system is something which is very attractive to me philosophically, but I've not been able to sufficiently model it out to jump on board a consumption-based tax. A flat tax, a true flat tax is also attractive to me. What I like--I mean, I like the simplification of a flat tax. I also like removing the distortion in our tax code for certain classes of investment. And the advantage of a flat tax is getting rid of some of those distortions"... >
Amid such generalities, it's hard not to conclude that the candidate is trying to avoid offering any details that might become a political target. And he all but admits as much. "I happen to also recognize," he says, "that if you go out with a tax proposal which conforms to your philosophy but it hasn't been thoroughly analyzed, vetted, put through models and calculated in detail, that you're gonna get hit by the demagogues in the general election."
"The president," Romney complained, "will characterize anyone running for office, and me in particular, as just in there to lower taxes for rich people, and that is not my intent." Perhaps, but that's the inevitable impact. As John McCain learned in 2008 , refusing the release the details of his beer heiress wife Cindy's fortune while calling for tax policies delivering his family lottery-sized winning courtesy of the U.S. Treasury is not going to endear you to working Americans. (In Mitt Romney's case, revealing the 10 percent tithe he dutifully pays to his Mormon church probably won't endear him to the GOP's evangelical primary voters, either.)
All of which explains why Mitt Romney won't release his tax returns or call for abolishing the capital gains tax, the love which dares not speak its name. Besides, Mitt Romney wants Americans to believe he's just part of the "80 to 90 percent of us" who are middle class.
And, no doubt, Mitt's willing to bet you $10,000 to prove it.
(This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
3 Views
17:00:31 12/23/11
#OccupyLA: Take 'Free Speech' Class After Arrests for Exercising Freedom of Speech
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 17:00:31 12/23/11
[Alanis Morissette: "Ironic"]
Occupy LA protesters who have been arrested are being offered a deal that would allow them to avoid court trials. For $355, protesters can pay a private company for lessons in free speech. American Justice Associates offers the educational program taught by an attorney - Neil G. Anderson - a former police officer and Supervising Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County, and his partner attorney Deborah Bryce McKinley of Atlanta, GA.
Via : >
Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Atty. William Carter said the city won't press charges against protesters who complete the educational program offered by American Justice Associates.
He said the program, which may include lectures by attorneys and retired judges, is being offered to people with no other criminal history and who were arrested on low-level misdemeanor offenses, such as failure to disperse.
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Carter said the free-speech class will save the city money and teach protesters the nuances of the law.
"The 1st Amendment is not absolute," he said, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled government can regulate when, where and how free speech can be exercised.
American Justice Associates , and it’s founders include Neil G. Anderson , previously a police officer and Supervising Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County, and Deborah Bryce McKinley , a lawyer currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. Anderson, who lives in Newcastle, is currently listed as “inactive” by the State Bar of California and therefore ineligible to practice law in the state. McKinley is currently licensed to practice in the state.
In a 1997 interview, Anderson told the Los Angeles Times that "We run defendants through a comprehensive approach to keeping a job and maintaining self-esteem, so we don't have to see them back here again."
The majority of Occupy LA protesters, those who were arrested the night of the LAPD's eviction of the encampment, were already held for at least two days with a bail of at least $5,000.
A civil rights attorney who has worked with the protesters called the free speech class "patronizing," and said the demonstrators who were arrested are the last people needing free-speech training.
"There they were exercising their 1st Amendment, their lawful right to protest nonviolently," said attorney Cynthia Anderson-Barker.
[Hat tip to Alternet ]
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04:57:16 12/13/11
O'Reilly Strata Online Conference, Part 1: Top-down: What CEOs Can Do to Accelerate Data Mindsets
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 04:57:16 12/13/11
O'Reilly Strata Online Conference, Part 1: Top-down: What CEOs Can Do to Accelerate Data Mindsets
Everyone buys in to the mantra of the data-driven enterprise. Companies that put data to work make smarter decisions than their competitors. They can engage customers, employees, and partners more effectively. And they can adapt faster to changing market conditions. It's not just internal data, either: a social, connected web has given us new firehoses to drink from, and combining public and private data yields valuable new insights. Unfortunately for many businesses, the information they need is languishing in data warehouses. It's accessible only to Business Intelligence experts and database experts. It's encased in legacy databases with arcane interfaces. Big Data promises to unlock this data for the entire company. But getting there will be hard: replacing decades-old platforms and entire skill sets doesn't happen overnight. In this online event, we'll look at how Big Data stacks and analytical approaches are gradually finding their way into organizations, as well as the roadblocks that can thwart efforts to become more data-driven. Part 1: Diego Saenz (Data Driven CEO), Jonathan Bruner (Forbes Media): By putting data to work, companies can outmaneuver their markets. Doing so is as much a cultural change as it is a technical one. In this session, Jonathan Bruner of Forbes talks with Diego Saenz, a veteran of Fortune 500 companies and startups%mdashand the founder of the Data-Driven CEO%mdashto understand how the irresistible force of Big Data meets the immovable mountain of Big ... From: OreillyMedia Views: 200 1 ratings Time: 30:10 More in Science & Technology
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04:57:16 12/13/11
O'Reilly Strata Online Conference, Part 1: Top-down: What CEOs Can Do to Accelerate Data Mindsets
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 04:57:16 12/13/11
O'Reilly Strata Online Conference, Part 1: Top-down: What CEOs Can Do to Accelerate Data Mindsets
Everyone buys in to the mantra of the data-driven enterprise. Companies that put data to work make smarter decisions than their competitors. They can engage customers, employees, and partners more effectively. And they can adapt faster to changing market conditions. It's not just internal data, either: a social, connected web has given us new firehoses to drink from, and combining public and private data yields valuable new insights. Unfortunately for many businesses, the information they need is languishing in data warehouses. It's accessible only to Business Intelligence experts and database experts. It's encased in legacy databases with arcane interfaces. Big Data promises to unlock this data for the entire company. But getting there will be hard: replacing decades-old platforms and entire skill sets doesn't happen overnight. In this online event, we'll look at how Big Data stacks and analytical approaches are gradually finding their way into organizations, as well as the roadblocks that can thwart efforts to become more data-driven. Part 1: Diego Saenz (Data Driven CEO), Jonathan Bruner (Forbes Media): By putting data to work, companies can outmaneuver their markets. Doing so is as much a cultural change as it is a technical one. In this session, Jonathan Bruner of Forbes talks with Diego Saenz, a veteran of Fortune 500 companies and startups%mdashand the founder of the Data-Driven CEO%mdashto understand how the irresistible force of Big Data meets the immovable mountain of Big ... From: OreillyMedia Views: 198 1 ratings Time: 30:10 More in Science & Technology
2 Views
16:37:21 12/05/11
How to Keep Your Kids Safe on the Web
[LESS INFO] 2 VIEWS | ADDED 16:37:21 12/05/11
We live in a digital world. Gemalto is an international company for digital security based in Austin, Texas striving to make that world safe for everyone. They have developed technology that secures digital interactions, be it with a mobile phone, bank cards, or even electronic passports, virtually every device you use that has your identity attached to it. In addition to that technology Gemalto goes even further by giving parents resources to learn and understand how their children are acting online and what they can do to help safeguard those interactions. How to limit your child's access, as well as what to do to limit others access to your child's information and personal communications. Gemalto gives parents tips on how to talk to kids about the benefits and dangers associated with the online world, how to safeguard your information, and how to secure certain aspects of the online experience, so your kids are safe using rules that you put in place. At http://www.JustaskGemalto.com, you can post a question that will be reviewed and answered by security experts. Similar questions and concerns are compiled into their tips where answers are posted, along with links to other sites that may have even more information on a particular topic. One of the best things you can do is simply talk to your kids. Open that line of communication, go to the sites theta they are going to, and let your children navigate through the site and show you their online experience. That will allow you to make an informed judgement on whether that is an appropriate site. Be sure to let them know there are consequences to online behavior. Let them know you can see their viewing history. It's important to explain that you do not want to be spying on them, instead, as a concerned parent you want them to be safe and make sure they aren't putting themselves in jeopardy. Gemalto partners with parents to help ensure that social media, social networking, and online interactions are a positive and safe experience. Episode 832 is brought to you by BabyBjorn.
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22:00:46 11/18/11
Police Mercenaries: Privatizing Liberty
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 22:00:46 11/18/11
As Mayor Bloomberg's forces swooped down on Occupy Wall Street, news reports described the " hundreds of police and private security guards " who had re-taken Zuccotti Park. Those private guards were used against public citizens who had been exercising their civil liberties in a public area.
That's not just wrong. It's unAmerican.
This incident holds an important lesson for anyone who loves our freedoms: When something public is made private, our liberties are privatized too. And privatized liberty isn't liberty at all.
Privatizing Liberty
Zuccotti Park. New Yorkers knew it as Liberty Plaza Park for nearly half a century. Like other sites in New York, the plaza was created through an agreement between the city and a private company, United States Steel, that wanted to erect a building that exceeded the city's height limits. So the city made them a deal: You can take up more than your share of the public skyline, but in return you have to give the city some open space at ground level.
This wasn't a gift. It was a fair exchange between two parties, a private corporation and the people of New York. The people gave up a chunk of their skyline and the owner agreed to provide an open - and, by agreement, fully public - space in return. New York City makes these deals fairly often. The plazas created by these agreements are called "privately owned public spaces," or "POPS," and the city has lots of them.
The Mayor may want to read that phrase again: It doesn't say "privately owned private spaces." Both the owner and the city are obligated to keep them for public use, in the public sphere, with all the laws and freedoms that apply to public space.
The park's current owner, Brookfield Properties, rebuilt the park with private donations after it was damaged in the 9/11 attacks. With Mayor Bloomberg's permission, they also overstepped tradition and the bounds of propriety by renaming the park - not for the thousands of innocent people who died that day, but for their own chairman.
The symbolism is perfect:They replaced a treasured word for freedom with the name of a rich guy who'd done nothing to create the park. With the Mayor's blessing, they literally privatized the word "liberty."
Like I said, perfect. Tragic, but perfect.
Private Dicks
Brookfield overstepped its bounds when its CEO sent the mayor a letter saying that the Occupation "violates the law, violates the rules of the Park, deprives the community of its rights of quiet enjoyment to the Park, and creates health and public safety issues." Those aren't decisions a private company, even an owner, should make about a public space. They are judgments an elected official makes on behalf of a free citizenry.
This week Bloomberg and Brookfield have used the park's semi-private status as an excuse to invade a public space with a private security force. Whoever these guys were - besides rude and uncivil - they served as a kind of Blackwater militia, but targeting New Yorkers instead of Iraqis. (At least Brookfield says it fired the guard who called a citizen a " faggot .")
When it comes to privatization, it seems the Mayor has boundary issues. He has repeatedly used the park's private ownership status to claim, that the public has fewer rights there than it does in other public spaces. That's false. But then, that's the problem with "public/private partnerships." The "public" partner always gets rolled the public one.
But then, that's how these people are. Give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile. The lesson of Zuccotti Park is: Never give them an inch.
Thin Blue Line, Thick Green Wallets
News reports made noted the presence of two different groups, New York City police officers and private security guards, but in some ways that's become a distinction without a difference. The NYPD is frequently rented by the same Wall Street banks that broke the law, crashed the economy and got away with it. As Pam Martens reported in Counterpunch, Rudy Giuliani created an operation called the "Paid Detail" unit that turns New York's Finest into a "rent-a-cop" service for anyone with the money to pay for it.
And who has more money in New York than the banks? As Martens reports, companies like Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and the New York Stock Exchange have rented the Thin Blue Line with the cash from their Thick Green Wallets. Even after the Stock Exchange was found to have illegally taken over public streets and walkways and "created a public nuisance," nobody was fined or arrested.
But then, it must be hard for a cop to arrest anybody that he sometimes has to address as "boss." Maybe that's one of the reasons why a retired Philadelphia police officer, Capt. Ray Lewis, was willing to be handcuffed and arrested by fellow officers during the protest. Capt. Lewis called their rationale for arresting him a ' farce ' and promised to return.
(photo by permission of the photographer, Lauren Thorpe)
New York isn't the only city that rents out its police force. But the financial capital of the nation bears moral and civic responsibilities that Mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg have disrespected and violated. The photograph of Capt. Lewis is like an image of law enforcement's honor, handcuffed by the mercenary instincts of Gracie Mansion's two most recent occupants.
Checkbook Democracy
But then, why would Michael Bloomberg be expected to understand that privatization is undemocratic? He "privatized" the electoral process, one of our most sacred democratic institutions, by buying himself the mayoralty. And he spent unprecedented levels of campaign cash from his personal billions to do it. Then, when he didn't like the term limits that the people of New York had decreed for their mayor - well, he "privatized" that too.
But this isn't really about Michael Bloomberg. Despite his reputation for healthy self-regard, even the billionaire mayor is only a symptom of a much larger problem. Rich people have been buying elections for so long that it's become the newest form of self-indulgence, conveying even more status than a Citation jet or a private island. Public office is the newest must-have item for the excessively vain and excessive well-to-do, a kind of vanity press for the self-published authors of their own meritless political careers. Bloomberg is merely the today's most conspicuous, extravagant, and fiscally irresponsible member of an increasingly ordinary club.
You don't have to be a billionaire to run for office these days, of course. But if you're not you'll spend most of your time begging them for money. No wonder the 1% call all the shots in government. They own it.
I've always thought it would be a good idea if elected officials wore the insignia of the corporations that sponsor them, the way race car drivers do.
Sold American
Republicans want to privatize Social Security and Medicare. The Bush and Obama Administrations have privatized law enforcement on Wall Street by asking banks to police themselves. And during the devastating San Diego fires, residents learned that AIG had created a private fire department that saved the homes of its clients while other nearby houses burned.
Privatized police. Privatized fire departments. Privatized prisons. Privatized armies of Halliburton and Blackwater soldiers. When for-profit companies perform government functions, they'll do it in a way that makes them money. That's not hard to understand, but our "leaders" keep doing it anyway.
Why? Because they've privatized their consciences, too.
2 Views
20:00:07 10/16/11
Wagging the Dog on the Iranian Threat
[LESS INFO] 2 VIEWS | ADDED 20:00:07 10/16/11
In our initial reporting of the alleged Iranian assassination/terrorism plot, I stated that I had some niggling questions on the Tom Clancy-like plot forwarded by the State Department. Turns out, other bloggers , far more well versed in Middle East politics, did as well . Former intelligence office Col. Pat Lang had this to say : >
We are asked to believe that Iran and its skilled covert action force chose to set up an operation in which they ("they" being members of the "Quds Force" with approvals reaching up to Ayatollah Khamenei) relied on a used car salesman from Texas to recruit Mexican drug thugs to kill Adil al-Jubeir. This is a problem involving the suspension of belief. Why on earth would they create a situation in which they had to rely on this untested, untrained, unguided, and uncontrolled asset rather than their own people?[..]
None of this is "rocket science." If as FBI Mueller said, this "plot" is like a Hollywood screenplay, then it is a screenplay written by a couple of kids high as a kite on a weekend and pitched in a producer's cottage on a film company's "campus." It is trash.
The overwhelming likelihood is that this is someone's "information operation" intended to condition public attitudes for some purpose. The over riding question is that of where the ovens are located in which this confection was baked and who the bakers might be.
Listen to House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers, here with Christiane Amanpour, talks about how "action" *MUST* take place in response to a plot to assassinate someone on American soil ( don't think about that too closely, Americans ) and that not even military action should be off the table (because with Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and now Uganda , we have the resources for another front.). Those words should be a red flag to us all. Prof. Juan Cole : >
I personally do not understand how the corporate media in the US can report the following things about Manssor Arbabsiar and then go on to repeat with a straight face the US government charges that he was part of a high-level Iranian government assassination plot.
It seems pretty obvious that Arbabsiar is very possibly clinically insane.
Here are the top 10 reasons that he cannot be Iran’s answer to 007:
10. Arbabsiar was known in Corpus Christi, Texas, “for being almost comically absent-minded”
9. Possibly as a result of a knife attack in 1982, he suffered from bad short-term memory
8. He was always losing his cell phone
7. He was always misplacing his keys
6. He was always forgetting his briefcase and documents in stores
5. He “was just not organized,” a former business partner remarked
4. As part owner of a used car dealership, he was always losing title deeds to the vehicles
3. Arbabsiar, far from a fundamentalist Shiite Muslim, may have been an alcoholic; his nickname is “Jack” because of his fondness for Jack Daniels whiskey
2. Arbabsiar used to not only drink to excess, but also used pot and went with prostitutes. He once talked loudly in a restaurant about going back to Iran, where he could have an Iranian girl for only $50. He was rude and was thrown out of some establishments.
1. All of his businesses failed one after another
The downward trajectory of Arbabsiar’s life, with his recent loss of his mortgage, all his businesses, and his second wife, along with his obvious cognitive defect, suggests to me that he may have been descending into madness.
I hypothesized yesterday that Arbabsiar and his cousin Gholam Shakuri might have been part of an Iranian drug gang. But after these details have emerged about the former, I don’t think he could even have done that. Indeed, I have now come to view the entire story as a fantasy.
That a monumental screw-up like Arbabsiar could have thought he was a government secret agent is perfectly plausible. I’m sure he thought all kinds of things. But that he was actually one is simply not believable.
I have a question that I wish Christiane Amanpour had asked Rogers and Sanger as they advocate going to our allies to further isolate Iran for such hubristic attempts on American soil: Will you also ask Americans like the Koch brothers , Dick Cheney and current Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as well? Shouldn't that be on the table as well?
0 Views
15:30:36 10/12/11
Touring In Mexico - SXSW 2011 Music
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:30:36 10/12/11
Touring In Mexico - SXSW 2011 Music
The recent violence and unrest in Mexico has greatly affected the number of artists that once scheduled tour stops there. Is Mexico still a viable market for bands? Hear first hand stories how venues, promoters and artists are working together to ensure successful gigs. PRESENTERS Camilo Lara GM EMI Music/Mexican Institute of Sound Carlos Verastegui Partner ACHE Producciones CARLOS VERASTEGUI is a partner of ACHE one of the most important independent promoters in Mexico, which has succeeded in bringing talent to an audience hungry for new options. Bands that have visited Mexico for the first time with ACHE are: UNKLE, BELLE AND SEBASTIAN, BLONDE REDHEAD, THE VASELINES, CYPRESS HILL, OF MONTREAL, YANN TIERSEN, COCOROSIE, ARCTIC MONKEYS, BEIRUT, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, IGGY & THE STOOGES, among others. ACHE has earned the recognition of specialized media and the industry that have placed them concerts in the top list of the past decade and being nominated for the Lunas del Auditorio Nacional awards. ACHE also conceived the first music marketing platforms in Mexico with success stories like the first festival mixing international and national bands CORONA MUSIC FEST for Corona beer and CUERVO AND ROLL the most important battle of the bands by the hand of Jose Cuervo Tequila, also transcendent platforms like NOKIA TRENDS and INDIE BUD TOUR. Carlos also works in the media as member of the editorial board of El Fanzine newspaper and Marvin Magazine. Diego Jimenez Labora CEO TAPE ... From: sxsw Views: 543 8 ratings Time: 09:41 More in Music
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15:30:36 10/12/11
Touring In Mexico - SXSW 2011 Music
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 15:30:36 10/12/11
Touring In Mexico - SXSW 2011 Music
The recent violence and unrest in Mexico has greatly affected the number of artists that once scheduled tour stops there. Is Mexico still a viable market for bands? Hear first hand stories how venues, promoters and artists are working together to ensure successful gigs. PRESENTERS Camilo Lara GM EMI Music/Mexican Institute of Sound Carlos Verastegui Partner ACHE Producciones CARLOS VERASTEGUI is a partner of ACHE one of the most important independent promoters in Mexico, which has succeeded in bringing talent to an audience hungry for new options. Bands that have visited Mexico for the first time with ACHE are: UNKLE, BELLE AND SEBASTIAN, BLONDE REDHEAD, THE VASELINES, CYPRESS HILL, OF MONTREAL, YANN TIERSEN, COCOROSIE, ARCTIC MONKEYS, BEIRUT, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, IGGY & THE STOOGES, among others. ACHE has earned the recognition of specialized media and the industry that have placed them concerts in the top list of the past decade and being nominated for the Lunas del Auditorio Nacional awards. ACHE also conceived the first music marketing platforms in Mexico with success stories like the first festival mixing international and national bands CORONA MUSIC FEST for Corona beer and CUERVO AND ROLL the most important battle of the bands by the hand of Jose Cuervo Tequila, also transcendent platforms like NOKIA TRENDS and INDIE BUD TOUR. Carlos also works in the media as member of the editorial board of El Fanzine newspaper and Marvin Magazine. Diego Jimenez Labora CEO TAPE ... From: sxsw Views: 543 8 ratings Time: 09:41 More in Music
9 Views
19:00:00 10/03/11
#OccupyWallStreet Protester Lets Fox News Have It
[LESS INFO] 9 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:00 10/03/11
This is just wonderful to see. Jesse LaGreca, also known as the Daily Kos blogger MinistryOfTruth , gets in front of a Fox News reporter and lets him know what he and the other 99 percent think of their news coverage.
Here's the transcript: >
Fox: Jesse, so Ray, your partner here, your ..
Ray: comrade.
Fox: Your colleague, she’d seen the protests in Greece and Europe and elsewhere. Did you guys take your cue from that? Are you hoping to cite certainly what was a lot of the tension, if not police activity. I know over the weekend there were over 100 arrests and you guys got things fired up. Are you taking your cues from the international movement and how do you want to see this? If you could have it in a perfect way, how would it be?
Jesse: Well I don’t know, its really difficult to answer questions leading to those conclusions. I’d say that we didn’t take our cue leading off of anybody really. It became a more spontaneous movement. As far as seeing this end, I wouldn’t like to see this end. I would like to see the conversation continue. This is what we should have been talking about in 2008 when the economy collapsed. We basically patched a hole on the tire and said let the car keep rolling. Unfortunately it’s fun to talk to the propaganda machine and the media especially conservative media networks such as yourself, because we find that we cant get conversations for the department of Justice’s ongoing investigation of News Corporation, for which you are an employee. But we can certainly ask questions like you know, why are the poor engaging in class warfare? After 30 years of having our living standards decrease while the wealthiest 1% have had it better than ever, I think it’s time for some maybe, I don’t know, participation in our democracy that isn’t funded by news cameras and gentlemen such as yourself.
Fox: But, uh, yeah well, let me give you this challenge Jesse.
Jesse: Sure.
Fox: We’re here giving you an opportunity on the record […] to put any
message you want out there, to give you fair coverage and I’m not
going to in any way
Jesse: That’s awesome!
Fox:…give you advice about it. So, there is an exception in the case, because you wouldn’t be able to get your message out there without us.
Jesse: No, surely, I mean, take for instance when Glenn Beck was doing his protest and he called the President, uh, a person who hates white people and white culture. That was a low moment in Americans’ history and you guys kinda had a big part in it. So, I’m glad to see you coming around and kind of paying attention to what the other 99 percent of Americans are paying attention to, as opposed to the far-right fringe, who who would just love to destroy the middle class entirely.
Fox: Alright, fair enough. You have a voice, an important reason to criticize myself, my company and anyone else. But, let me ask you that, in fairness, does this administration, President Obama, have any criticism as to the the financial situation the country’s in…?
Jesse: I think, myself, uh, as well as many other people, would like to see a little but more economic justice or social justice—Jesus stuff—as far as feeding the poor, healthcare for the sick. You know, I find it really entertaining that people like to hold the Bill of Rights up while they’re screaming at gay soldiers, but they just can’t wrap their heads around the idea that a for-profit healthcare system doesn’t work. So, let’s just look at it like this, if we want the President to do more, let’s talk to him on a level that actually reaches people, instead of asking for his birth certificate and wasting time with total nonsense like Solyndra.
[h/t Observer.com ]
44 Views
20:36:09 05/09/11
The Internet Kill Switch: Is Online Access a Right?
[LESS INFO] 44 VIEWS | ADDED 20:36:09 05/09/11
Eric Blantz, senior director of Inveneo, analyzes the idea of an internet kill switch from a human rights perspective. He argues that until there is a way to make a kill switch that is "democratically and responsibly controlled," Internet access needs to be protected as a human right.
Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/04/26/Advancing_the_New_Machine_Communication_Blackouts
As the 2007 protests in Burma, the 2009-2010 post-election demonstrations in Iran, and recent events in Tunisia and Egypt have stunningly demonstrated, the Internet and mobile phones have become powerful tools to bring together those whose freedom is being denied. Social networks have been used to organize protests, and new media have been widely used to document the unfolding of those attempts at establishing a new period of rule of law and political freedom. In response to these threats, governments have successfully monitored cellphone networks and attempted to shut down Internet access, posing a threat to the security of human rights activists. This panel will discuss how people can communicate in face of a complete shutdown of key communication infrastructures imposed by their government. - Human Rights Center UC Berkeley
Eric Blantz is the senior director of Inveneo. Blantz has ten years experience in IT and business research, consulting, and marketing. Prior to joining Inveneo, Blantz held positions at G2 Research as a Senior Consultant in IT services research; Gartner as a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Program Director; and US Web as a Sr. Business Consultant.
With Inveneo since 2005, Blantz now serves as the Senior Director for Healthcare Solutions and is responsible for Inveneo's overall approach to this rapidly changing problem area, including strategy, select project management and development of health-specific ICT solutions in collaboration with Inveneo's strategic partners in the health sector.
Blantz holds a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley, and a MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, where he focused on economic development.
6 Views
19:33:39 04/25/11
theGreenScreen.tv Episode 007: Service
[LESS INFO] 6 VIEWS | ADDED 19:33:39 04/25/11
theGreenScreen.tv host Bill Rogers speaks with Mary Doyle, Publicity Director with the York County, Maine Shelter Programs. She explains how they have found that saving energy as they create energy through renewables has saved taxpayers plenty of funds even as residents have been helped through better facilities that they care about. Jennifer Lewis-McShera speaks of how Clay Hill Farm in Cape Neddick,Maine has brought the eco-benefits of their restaurant and banquet facility to celebrate the many shades of green the place inspires. In their Green Wedding Giveaway they have brought hundreds of thousands to celebrate how commitment to a wedding partner can be a model to live green. Peter Frumhoff, senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, continues his series Ask the Scientist with a look on what CAN be done to combat the worst aspects of climate change.
5 Views
16:00:53 02/12/11
Tim Pawlenty Echoes the Bush Years in His CPAC Speech
[LESS INFO] 5 VIEWS | ADDED 16:00:53 02/12/11
Although this year's CPAC convention has been strangely void of any formal discussion about the events unfolding in Egypt or jobs for unemployed Americans, Tim Pawlenty did manage to remind us all of what these last three weeks would have looked like if George Bush had been in office. In his speech today, Pawlenty slammed President Obama for allowing Egyptians to determine Egypt's future in their way and their time. >
"Bullies respect strength, they don't respect weakness," Pawlenty said in a speech to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. "So when the United States of America projects its national security interests here and around the world, we need to do it with strength. We need to make sure that there is no equivocation, no uncertainty, no daylight between us and our allies around the world."
Pawlenty called it a simple principle that the White House "doesn't seem to understand."
"We undermine Israel, the U.K., Poland, Czech Republic, Colombia, amongst other of our friends," Pawlenty said. "Meanwhile, we appease Iran, Russia, and adversaries in the Middle East, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Mr. President, with bullies, might makes right. Strength makes them submit. We need to get tough on our enemies, not on our friends. And, Mr. President, stop apologizing for our country," Pawlenty said in one of his speech's biggest applause lines.
"The bullies, terrorists and tyrants of the world have lots to apologize for. America does not."
It's worth contrasting that with President Obama's speech made shortly after TPaw's spew:
(More follows) >
And above all, we saw a new generation emerge -- a generation that uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for a government that represented their hopes and not their fears; a government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations. One Egyptian put it simply: Most people have discovered in the last few days -- that they are worth something, and this cannot be taken away from them anymore, ever.
This is the power of human dignity, and it can never be denied. Egyptians have inspired us, and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence. For in Egypt, it was the moral force of nonviolence -- not terrorism, not mindless killing -- but nonviolence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more.
And while the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can't help but hear the echoes of history -- echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path of justice.
As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana while trying to perfect his own, There is something in the soul that cries out for freedom." Those were the cries that came from Tahrir Square, and the entire world has taken note.
For TPaw, respecting Israel et al means showing force, shaking our guns at whoever they call enemy instead of respecting the right of people to determine their government. How is it disrepecting democracies to support democracy?
When I read what he said, I was whisked back to the days of George W. Bush. In 2002, he gave a speech where he called for Palestinians to enact true political reform, including free and fair elections. He promised that if they did so, the United States would support them.
In 2006, the Palestinians elected Hamas in elections supervised by the UN and deemed to be free and fair. In a press conference following the elections, Mr. Bush paid lip service to the democratic process and then refused to acknowledge the Palestinians' duly elected representatives.
Juan Cole, writing for Salon: >
In a mystifying self-contradiction, Bush trumpeted that "the Palestinians had an election yesterday, the results of which remind me about the power of democracy." If elections were really the same as democracy, and if Bush was so happy about the process, then we might expect him to pledge to work with the results, which by his lights would be intrinsically good. But then he suddenly swerved away from this line of thought, reverting to boilerplate and saying, "On the other hand, I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you can't be a partner in peace if you have a -- if your party has got an armed wing."
So Bush is saying that even though elections are democracy and democracy is good and powerful, it has produced unacceptable results in this case, and so the resulting Hamas government will lack the legitimacy necessary to allow the United States to deal with it or go forward in any peace process. Bush's double standard is clear in his diction, since he was perfectly happy to deal with Israel's Likud Party, which is dedicated to the destruction of the budding Palestinian state, and which used the Israeli military and security services for its party platform in destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority throughout the early years of this century. As Orwell reminded us in "Animal Farm," some are more equal than others .
Which is precisely what TPaw said in his speech. Some are more equal than others. Poland, the UK, Columbia, Israel. Those democracies are just fine. But in Egypt's case, we should have been strong, firm, unequivocal in our undying support for the dictator. Because THAT would somehow have protected our national interests.
Democracy is democracy, regardless of whether this country likes the outcome. As President Obama said, the way forward for Egypt won't be easy, and I expect it also won't be pretty, because democracy means letting everyone have a voice, even when you don't like what they say. This is what conservatives and TPaw really don't understand at all. In their minds, we should undermine and starve any democracy that isn't aligned with our express (white, Anglo-Saxon, conservative Christian) ideals, because we don't like it.
This clip with The Nation's Katrina VandenHeuvel puts an exclamation point on it:
Click here to view this media
TPaw's speech is nothing more than a living example of that. From the day Barack Obama was elected, they have worked to de-legitimize his presidency. Birthers. Glenn Beck. Fox News. They work with one goal, to undermine a democratically-elected president that they don't happen to agree with.
Who are the real dictators here?
