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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
January 4, 2013
from Dissent magazine:
Reader’s Détente: The Decline of the Digest
By Jordan Michael Smith - December 27, 2012
In a meeting between President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, when the friends were both in high office, the president asked Mulroney, “Brian, did you read that article in the Reader’s Digest that trees cause pollution?” Mulroney was exasperated. “I knew him and liked him well enough that I didn’t get into an argument. I just said, ‘I gave up reading Reader’s Digest, Ron,’” he later told a journalist.
Reagan was a lifetime reader of the Digest. He once used an article from the magazine to slur the nuclear freeze movement as being comprised partly of Soviet agents. It was terrifying to contemplate the most powerful man in the world getting foreign policy ideas from a pocket-sized general-interest family magazine, but Reagan was not alone. For decades, Reader’s Digest was the primary source of information and opinions about international affairs for tens of millions of Americans. The magazine did not just run any articles about foreign policy, however; the Digest had a clear right-wing perspective, which had a tremendous, though often ignored, influence during the Cold War. As it turns ninety this year, it’s worth recalling the Digest’s peculiar history—and what is says about the ability of the most middlebrow of publications to influence American public opinion and simultaneously reflect it.
The Digest was influencing American opinion long before the Soviets overran Eastern Europe. It was first published on February 5, 1922, by Minnesota-born DeWitt Wallace, the son of a minister, who spent four months reading magazines while holed up in a French hospital during the First World War. By 1929 the magazine had 290,000 subscribers. “From the beginning, in the early 1920s, the Digest was concerned that America might be in decline, presenting an image of a once virtuous society fast succumbing to Satan through ‘loose morals,’” writes Joanne P. Sharp, a historian at the University of Glasgow, in her 2000 book Condensing the Cold War: Reader’s Digest and American Identity.
And yet, for all its congenital conservatism, Reader’s Digest wasn’t initially devoutly anti-Communist. On the contrary, the two articles in the magazine on the Soviet Union in 1922 suggested that the October Revolution was a welcome response to the czar’s oppression. “Human effort has been guided by trial and error, so today we find that the Bolsheviks, except for their desire for world revolution, are rapidly approaching other nations of Europe in their efforts,” one of the articles read. More sinister was the remark that one needn’t be upset about Lenin’s terror because it was simply “traditional Oriental despotism plus modern police technology.” Writes Sharp: “Reader’s Digest concentrated more on improvements in the lives of average Russians, the positive attitude of the Russian people to their government, and the honesty and equity of the new country than on critiques of the new system or fears of its consequences.” Amazingly (in light of later developments), another article stated that “we are not called upon, nor are we morally in a position to interfere in Russia’s internal life, or to pass judgment upon the acts of her rulers.” ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/readers-detente-the-decline-of-the-digest
Reader’s Détente: The Decline of the Digest
from Dissent magazine:
Reader’s Détente: The Decline of the Digest
By Jordan Michael Smith - December 27, 2012
In a meeting between President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, when the friends were both in high office, the president asked Mulroney, “Brian, did you read that article in the Reader’s Digest that trees cause pollution?” Mulroney was exasperated. “I knew him and liked him well enough that I didn’t get into an argument. I just said, ‘I gave up reading Reader’s Digest, Ron,’” he later told a journalist.
Reagan was a lifetime reader of the Digest. He once used an article from the magazine to slur the nuclear freeze movement as being comprised partly of Soviet agents. It was terrifying to contemplate the most powerful man in the world getting foreign policy ideas from a pocket-sized general-interest family magazine, but Reagan was not alone. For decades, Reader’s Digest was the primary source of information and opinions about international affairs for tens of millions of Americans. The magazine did not just run any articles about foreign policy, however; the Digest had a clear right-wing perspective, which had a tremendous, though often ignored, influence during the Cold War. As it turns ninety this year, it’s worth recalling the Digest’s peculiar history—and what is says about the ability of the most middlebrow of publications to influence American public opinion and simultaneously reflect it.
The Digest was influencing American opinion long before the Soviets overran Eastern Europe. It was first published on February 5, 1922, by Minnesota-born DeWitt Wallace, the son of a minister, who spent four months reading magazines while holed up in a French hospital during the First World War. By 1929 the magazine had 290,000 subscribers. “From the beginning, in the early 1920s, the Digest was concerned that America might be in decline, presenting an image of a once virtuous society fast succumbing to Satan through ‘loose morals,’” writes Joanne P. Sharp, a historian at the University of Glasgow, in her 2000 book Condensing the Cold War: Reader’s Digest and American Identity.
And yet, for all its congenital conservatism, Reader’s Digest wasn’t initially devoutly anti-Communist. On the contrary, the two articles in the magazine on the Soviet Union in 1922 suggested that the October Revolution was a welcome response to the czar’s oppression. “Human effort has been guided by trial and error, so today we find that the Bolsheviks, except for their desire for world revolution, are rapidly approaching other nations of Europe in their efforts,” one of the articles read. More sinister was the remark that one needn’t be upset about Lenin’s terror because it was simply “traditional Oriental despotism plus modern police technology.” Writes Sharp: “Reader’s Digest concentrated more on improvements in the lives of average Russians, the positive attitude of the Russian people to their government, and the honesty and equity of the new country than on critiques of the new system or fears of its consequences.” Amazingly (in light of later developments), another article stated that “we are not called upon, nor are we morally in a position to interfere in Russia’s internal life, or to pass judgment upon the acts of her rulers.” ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/readers-detente-the-decline-of-the-digest
January 4, 2013
from Slate:
President Obama Just Lost His Leverage on the Debt Ceiling
By Eliot Spitzer | Posted Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, at 6:11 PM ET
Second guessing is oh so easy, and I always looked askance at those outside the negotiating room who had wisdom after the fact. But having said that …
Why did the president agree to a deal without the debt ceiling being lifted? Didn’t we play this script out once before? And didn’t the president, since he needs to be reasonable, in the end cave to Republicans who used the debt ceiling to extract concessions that shouldn’t have been granted?
This was the president’s moment of greatest leverage. The White House could have said to the House: Take us over the fiscal cliff, go ahead and have all taxes go up. You will suffer the wrath of the public—and for what? All we are demanding is that you eliminate a negotiation that will do enormous harm to the nation, a negotiation about the debt ceiling that merely authorizes us to borrow to pay for the expenditures you have voted for.
Having won the rhetorical debate about raising taxes on the wealthy, the president could have framed the debt-ceiling argument in an equally compelling way. All eyes would have been on the House of Representatives. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.slate.com/blogs/spitzer/2013/01/02/obama_caved_on_fiscal_cliff_negotiations_he_should_have_insisted_on_raising.html
Eliot Spitzer: President Obama Just Lost His Leverage on the Debt Ceiling
from Slate:
President Obama Just Lost His Leverage on the Debt Ceiling
By Eliot Spitzer | Posted Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, at 6:11 PM ET
Second guessing is oh so easy, and I always looked askance at those outside the negotiating room who had wisdom after the fact. But having said that …
Why did the president agree to a deal without the debt ceiling being lifted? Didn’t we play this script out once before? And didn’t the president, since he needs to be reasonable, in the end cave to Republicans who used the debt ceiling to extract concessions that shouldn’t have been granted?
This was the president’s moment of greatest leverage. The White House could have said to the House: Take us over the fiscal cliff, go ahead and have all taxes go up. You will suffer the wrath of the public—and for what? All we are demanding is that you eliminate a negotiation that will do enormous harm to the nation, a negotiation about the debt ceiling that merely authorizes us to borrow to pay for the expenditures you have voted for.
Having won the rhetorical debate about raising taxes on the wealthy, the president could have framed the debt-ceiling argument in an equally compelling way. All eyes would have been on the House of Representatives. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.slate.com/blogs/spitzer/2013/01/02/obama_caved_on_fiscal_cliff_negotiations_he_should_have_insisted_on_raising.html
January 3, 2013
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — For the first time since the financial crisis started five years ago, the Federal Reserve has at last made its first signal that its extraordinary loose monetary policy will start to get tougher.
To be sure, the change isn’t gigantic. There’s no sense that interest rates will increase from the near zero levels that have lasted for over four years.
And the Fed only last month initiated a new bond-buying program, to top off a plan to add more mortgage-backed securities that had only been around since September.
But, the minutes show, the central bank is starting to say, enough is enough. Of the crowd that supported bond buys, a few say they should continue until the end of the year, and several said it could stop, or slow, well before then. ........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-says-its-running-out-of-bullets-2013-01-03
Fed says it’s running out of bullets
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — For the first time since the financial crisis started five years ago, the Federal Reserve has at last made its first signal that its extraordinary loose monetary policy will start to get tougher.
To be sure, the change isn’t gigantic. There’s no sense that interest rates will increase from the near zero levels that have lasted for over four years.
And the Fed only last month initiated a new bond-buying program, to top off a plan to add more mortgage-backed securities that had only been around since September.
But, the minutes show, the central bank is starting to say, enough is enough. Of the crowd that supported bond buys, a few say they should continue until the end of the year, and several said it could stop, or slow, well before then. ........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-says-its-running-out-of-bullets-2013-01-03
January 3, 2013
Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering
Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis
Helena Smith in Volos
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 January 2013
It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies.
But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped.
"It's all about exchange and solidarity, helping one another out in these very hard times," enthused Ioanitou, her hair tucked under a floppy felt cap. "You could say a lot of us have dreams of a utopia without the euro."
In this bustling port city at the foot of Mount Pelion, in the heart of Greece's most fertile plain, locals have come up with a novel way of dealing with austerity – adopting their own alternative currency, known as the Tem. As the country struggles with its worst crisis in modern times, with Greeks losing up to 40% of their disposable income as a result of policies imposed in exchange for international aid, the system has been a huge success. Organisers say some 1,300 people have signed up to the informal bartering network. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/02/euro-greece-barter-poverty-crisis?INTCMP=SRCH
Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering
Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering
Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis
Helena Smith in Volos
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 January 2013
It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies.
But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped.
"It's all about exchange and solidarity, helping one another out in these very hard times," enthused Ioanitou, her hair tucked under a floppy felt cap. "You could say a lot of us have dreams of a utopia without the euro."
In this bustling port city at the foot of Mount Pelion, in the heart of Greece's most fertile plain, locals have come up with a novel way of dealing with austerity – adopting their own alternative currency, known as the Tem. As the country struggles with its worst crisis in modern times, with Greeks losing up to 40% of their disposable income as a result of policies imposed in exchange for international aid, the system has been a huge success. Organisers say some 1,300 people have signed up to the informal bartering network. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/02/euro-greece-barter-poverty-crisis?INTCMP=SRCH
January 3, 2013
(Bloomberg) Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter.
After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the private discussions.
Geithner, 51, is the only remaining member of Obama’s original economic team and was a key figure in the taxpayer- funded bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis. He’s also had a principal role in negotiations with Congress on the budget deal and in past deliberations over the debt ceiling.
White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew remains the leading contender for the Treasury job, the people said. Because Lew’s experience in financial markets is thin, Obama may seek to name a Wall Street executive as the deputy treasury secretary, they said. .........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/geithner-said-to-plan-departure-before-debt-ceiling-deal.html
Geithner Said to Plan Departure Before Debt Ceiling Deal
(Bloomberg) Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter.
After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the private discussions.
Geithner, 51, is the only remaining member of Obama’s original economic team and was a key figure in the taxpayer- funded bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis. He’s also had a principal role in negotiations with Congress on the budget deal and in past deliberations over the debt ceiling.
White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew remains the leading contender for the Treasury job, the people said. Because Lew’s experience in financial markets is thin, Obama may seek to name a Wall Street executive as the deputy treasury secretary, they said. .........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/geithner-said-to-plan-departure-before-debt-ceiling-deal.html
January 3, 2013
America’s credit system is broken
I've carefully avoided debt my entire working life. So why am I having so much trouble getting a credit card?
By Bryce Covert, Next New Deal
My (early) New Year’s resolution was to get a credit card. You may remember that I have never had a credit card. And thus if I were on the dating market, my OKCupid inquiries would be flatly rejected. It’s not that I have a bad score. I just don’t have one. I had a good score when I was dutifully paying off my student loan after I graduated, but then through paying dirt-cheap rent in Harlem and never paying for cable I was able to pay off the loan. Since then I haven’t owned any credit products. I’ve paid my rent on time every month and paid every bill before the due date. But those things don’t make their way over to FICO. I’ve thus landed myself in quite the Catch-22 that speaks volumes about the lending industry and our reliance on it.
When I moved into a new apartment three years ago, I still had a score, so when the broker ran a credit check on me, she handed me the keys without a complaint. In the intervening years, however, the student loan must have fallen off my history, leaving a gaping void in its place. This is so unusual that when I was applying for a new apartment this summer, the broker told me there must be something wrong with my account. It turned out nothing was wrong – I just literally don’t have a score.
Because I was dealing with humans in both the broker and the landlord, I was able to explain to them that I don’t have a score because I don’t like being in debt. At all. On top of that, I can show steady income because I have the good fortune of being employed at a well-paying job. They agreed that made sense and gave me the keys. But the ordeal made me realize that if I were to deal with an institution instead of a human – a bank from which I want a mortgage, say, or even a real estate management company instead of a landlord – I would probably be screwed. So I decided to suck it up, sell out, and finally get my first credit card.
It turns out I was screwed earlier than I thought. Back when I had a fantastic credit score, I would get credit card offers in the mail by the dozens. So I decided to do the responsible thing and do some research on a good rewards card (might as well get something out of my sell-outery) that doesn’t have an annual fee and has a decent APR. Having found one, I filled out the online application and waited to hear that my soul had been sold. Not so fast: I was rejected on the spot. It turns out that not having a credit score is just as bad as having a damaged one in the short-term. The bank has no reason to trust that I can handle credit, so it won’t give me any. Which means I will continue to be denied credit and continue to have zero credit history. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2013/01/03/americas_credit_system_is_broken/
America’s credit system is broken
America’s credit system is broken
I've carefully avoided debt my entire working life. So why am I having so much trouble getting a credit card?
By Bryce Covert, Next New Deal
My (early) New Year’s resolution was to get a credit card. You may remember that I have never had a credit card. And thus if I were on the dating market, my OKCupid inquiries would be flatly rejected. It’s not that I have a bad score. I just don’t have one. I had a good score when I was dutifully paying off my student loan after I graduated, but then through paying dirt-cheap rent in Harlem and never paying for cable I was able to pay off the loan. Since then I haven’t owned any credit products. I’ve paid my rent on time every month and paid every bill before the due date. But those things don’t make their way over to FICO. I’ve thus landed myself in quite the Catch-22 that speaks volumes about the lending industry and our reliance on it.
When I moved into a new apartment three years ago, I still had a score, so when the broker ran a credit check on me, she handed me the keys without a complaint. In the intervening years, however, the student loan must have fallen off my history, leaving a gaping void in its place. This is so unusual that when I was applying for a new apartment this summer, the broker told me there must be something wrong with my account. It turned out nothing was wrong – I just literally don’t have a score.
Because I was dealing with humans in both the broker and the landlord, I was able to explain to them that I don’t have a score because I don’t like being in debt. At all. On top of that, I can show steady income because I have the good fortune of being employed at a well-paying job. They agreed that made sense and gave me the keys. But the ordeal made me realize that if I were to deal with an institution instead of a human – a bank from which I want a mortgage, say, or even a real estate management company instead of a landlord – I would probably be screwed. So I decided to suck it up, sell out, and finally get my first credit card.
It turns out I was screwed earlier than I thought. Back when I had a fantastic credit score, I would get credit card offers in the mail by the dozens. So I decided to do the responsible thing and do some research on a good rewards card (might as well get something out of my sell-outery) that doesn’t have an annual fee and has a decent APR. Having found one, I filled out the online application and waited to hear that my soul had been sold. Not so fast: I was rejected on the spot. It turns out that not having a credit score is just as bad as having a damaged one in the short-term. The bank has no reason to trust that I can handle credit, so it won’t give me any. Which means I will continue to be denied credit and continue to have zero credit history. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2013/01/03/americas_credit_system_is_broken/
January 3, 2013
from the Transport Politic blog:
This year, more than $64.3 billion worth of transit expansion projects will begin construction, continue construction, or enter into service in the United States. It’s a huge investment, much of it the product of extensive state and local spending.
What is evident is that certain cities are investing far more than others. Among American cities, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington stand out as regions that are currently investing particularly dramatically. Toronto has the biggest investments under way in Canada. These metropolitan areas have invested billions of local dollars in interconnected transit projects that will aid in the creation of more livable, multimodal environments. Dynamic, growing cities require continuous investment in their transit systems.
Yet the federal government also continues to sponsor a number of these investments, contributing half and sometimes more of many of the projects’ costs. Washington’s involvement should not be downplayed.
Under the just-inked bipartisan compromise to head off the fiscal cliff, transportation funding will not be affected in the short term.* But an 8% reduction in federal discretionary spending (the “sequester”) — a threat that has yet to be neutralized — remains official policy and will be enforced on March 1st if no compromise is reached. That 8% cutback would reduce funding for the New Starts program, which funds most major new transit expansion projects, by $156 million in 2013 alone. Payments to the Transportation Trust Fund, which provides funding for transit maintenance programs and the purchase of new buses and trains (as well as money for highway projects), will decline by $471 million in the same period. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2013/01/01/openings-and-construction-starts-planned-for-2013/
Transit Openings and Construction Starts Planned for 2013
from the Transport Politic blog:
This year, more than $64.3 billion worth of transit expansion projects will begin construction, continue construction, or enter into service in the United States. It’s a huge investment, much of it the product of extensive state and local spending.
What is evident is that certain cities are investing far more than others. Among American cities, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington stand out as regions that are currently investing particularly dramatically. Toronto has the biggest investments under way in Canada. These metropolitan areas have invested billions of local dollars in interconnected transit projects that will aid in the creation of more livable, multimodal environments. Dynamic, growing cities require continuous investment in their transit systems.
Yet the federal government also continues to sponsor a number of these investments, contributing half and sometimes more of many of the projects’ costs. Washington’s involvement should not be downplayed.
Under the just-inked bipartisan compromise to head off the fiscal cliff, transportation funding will not be affected in the short term.* But an 8% reduction in federal discretionary spending (the “sequester”) — a threat that has yet to be neutralized — remains official policy and will be enforced on March 1st if no compromise is reached. That 8% cutback would reduce funding for the New Starts program, which funds most major new transit expansion projects, by $156 million in 2013 alone. Payments to the Transportation Trust Fund, which provides funding for transit maintenance programs and the purchase of new buses and trains (as well as money for highway projects), will decline by $471 million in the same period. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2013/01/01/openings-and-construction-starts-planned-for-2013/
January 3, 2013
from In These Times:
Gold Diggers and Indians
Republicans want to have their way with Wisconsin’s buried gold, but the Anishinaabe aren’t having it.
BY Joel Bleifuss
President Barack Obama carried Wisconsin by 52 to 46 percent—winning the state by more than 200,000 votes. Yet, curiously, the Wisconsin Republican Party solidified its control of both the Wisconsin state assembly and senate. It is now certain that Gov. Scott Walker (R) is in a position to turn his state’s natural resources over to the corporate bag men who helped make that victory possible.
Today, in the Northwoods of the Upper Midwest the mining industry is busy prospecting. Like Africa’s Congo River Basin, this area of the Great Lakes Basin is rich in valuable minerals. Unlike the Congo, it is peaceful.
At least for now.
The gold rush is on, the natives are restless.
Aquila Resources has its sights set on gold deposits at five sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. According to the company’s website, “the Great Lakes region [offers] a politically stable and increasingly attractive investment opportunity.” For example, the company boasts that its Reef Gold Project in Marathon County, Wis., “is potentially amendable to low cost, open pit mining.” ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14289/gold_diggers_and_indians
Republicans want their way with Wisconsin’s buried gold, but the Anishinaabe aren’t having it
from In These Times:
Gold Diggers and Indians
Republicans want to have their way with Wisconsin’s buried gold, but the Anishinaabe aren’t having it.
BY Joel Bleifuss
President Barack Obama carried Wisconsin by 52 to 46 percent—winning the state by more than 200,000 votes. Yet, curiously, the Wisconsin Republican Party solidified its control of both the Wisconsin state assembly and senate. It is now certain that Gov. Scott Walker (R) is in a position to turn his state’s natural resources over to the corporate bag men who helped make that victory possible.
Today, in the Northwoods of the Upper Midwest the mining industry is busy prospecting. Like Africa’s Congo River Basin, this area of the Great Lakes Basin is rich in valuable minerals. Unlike the Congo, it is peaceful.
At least for now.
The gold rush is on, the natives are restless.
Aquila Resources has its sights set on gold deposits at five sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. According to the company’s website, “the Great Lakes region [offers] a politically stable and increasingly attractive investment opportunity.” For example, the company boasts that its Reef Gold Project in Marathon County, Wis., “is potentially amendable to low cost, open pit mining.” ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14289/gold_diggers_and_indians
January 3, 2013
from Mother Jones:
In the past year, Republicans have gone wild when it comes to rape. They blocked the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act because it would have given tribal courts broader jurisdiction over rape on Native American lands. They told women they can't get pregnant from rape and that babies that result from rape are God's will. Though the GOP did pay a political price for some of this (see: Rep. Todd Akin), as the 112th Congress was hurriedly finishing up its business in the past few days, House Republicans yet again played politics with rape and sabotaged a bipartisan bill that would have made it easier to track down rapists.
The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry Act, also known as the SAFER Act of 2012, was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the Senate in May, and by Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) in the House in December. It would have reallocated $117 million to help make a dent in the nationwide backlog of untested "rape kits," which contain forensic evidence collected after sexual assaults that can help identify perpetrators. There are some 400,000 untested kits sitting in labs around the country. As long as this DNA evidence goes unanalyzed, it's easier for rapists to avoid arrest and prosecution.
The legislation would have required at least 75 percent of federal grants already allocated for rape kit testing to actually be used for that purpose, or to increase law enforcement agencies' capacity to process the kits. (Some of that money was being spent on conferences and processing DNA for other crimes.) It would also set up a reporting system to track localities' progress in reducing their backlog, and would require yearly audits of the number of untested kits. .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/rape-kit-safer-act-lamar-smith-republicans
House Republicans Derail Bill Targeting Rapists
from Mother Jones:
In the past year, Republicans have gone wild when it comes to rape. They blocked the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act because it would have given tribal courts broader jurisdiction over rape on Native American lands. They told women they can't get pregnant from rape and that babies that result from rape are God's will. Though the GOP did pay a political price for some of this (see: Rep. Todd Akin), as the 112th Congress was hurriedly finishing up its business in the past few days, House Republicans yet again played politics with rape and sabotaged a bipartisan bill that would have made it easier to track down rapists.
The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry Act, also known as the SAFER Act of 2012, was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the Senate in May, and by Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) in the House in December. It would have reallocated $117 million to help make a dent in the nationwide backlog of untested "rape kits," which contain forensic evidence collected after sexual assaults that can help identify perpetrators. There are some 400,000 untested kits sitting in labs around the country. As long as this DNA evidence goes unanalyzed, it's easier for rapists to avoid arrest and prosecution.
The legislation would have required at least 75 percent of federal grants already allocated for rape kit testing to actually be used for that purpose, or to increase law enforcement agencies' capacity to process the kits. (Some of that money was being spent on conferences and processing DNA for other crimes.) It would also set up a reporting system to track localities' progress in reducing their backlog, and would require yearly audits of the number of untested kits. .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/rape-kit-safer-act-lamar-smith-republicans
January 3, 2013
January 3rd, 2013 9:54 AM
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You, Lying Joe Lieberman
By Jon Schwarz
As of noon ET, Joe Lieberman will no longer be a U.S. senator. I hope we can all take a moment today to stop and remember his deep, lifelong commitment to lying.
You could fill a book with Lieberman's lies, but the most impressive ones have been about Iraq and its supposed weapons of mass destruction. Of course, many U.S. politicians lied about this before we invaded in 2003 – but Lieberman stands apart in his willingness to continue lying just as blatantly about it after the war, when all the facts had been established, up to the present day.
Here's Lieberman on Morning Joe in 2011:
Lieberman followed that up by mansplaining this issue to Arianna Huffington, who was on the same program:
The report to which Lieberman was referring was produced by the CIA's Iraq Survey Group, headed by Charles Duelfer. (That's D-U-E-L-F-E-R, for any of you ladies having trouble wrapping your pretty little heads around this.) .........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/may-road-rise-meet-you-lying-joe-lieberman
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You, Lying Joe Lieberman
January 3rd, 2013 9:54 AM
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You, Lying Joe Lieberman
By Jon Schwarz
As of noon ET, Joe Lieberman will no longer be a U.S. senator. I hope we can all take a moment today to stop and remember his deep, lifelong commitment to lying.
You could fill a book with Lieberman's lies, but the most impressive ones have been about Iraq and its supposed weapons of mass destruction. Of course, many U.S. politicians lied about this before we invaded in 2003 – but Lieberman stands apart in his willingness to continue lying just as blatantly about it after the war, when all the facts had been established, up to the present day.
Here's Lieberman on Morning Joe in 2011:
LIEBERMAN: ...the evidence is very clear that (Saddam) was developing weapons of mass destruction...Charles Duelfer conducted the most comprehensive report on behalf of our government...he found, and proved I think, that Saddam...was developing chemical and biological weapons.
Lieberman followed that up by mansplaining this issue to Arianna Huffington, who was on the same program:
HUFFINGTON: It was stunning to hear you say that there was evidence that Saddam Hussein was working on weapons of mass destruction, given that even President Bush himself has now accepted that there had been no evidence. So on what basis are you saying that?
LIEBERMAN: I'm basing it on the so-called Duelfer Report. Charles D-U-E-L-F-E-R conducted the most comprehensive report on behalf of our government…
HUFFINGTON: Well, based on this completely unfounded assumption, I sincerely hope for the sake of the country that you do not become Secretary of Defense.
LIEBERMAN: Now Arianna, these are not unfounded. Go read the Duelfer Report.
HUFFINGTON: There is nothing in the report that proves anything that you have said.
LIEBERMAN: I don't think you've read it, sweetheart.
The report to which Lieberman was referring was produced by the CIA's Iraq Survey Group, headed by Charles Duelfer. (That's D-U-E-L-F-E-R, for any of you ladies having trouble wrapping your pretty little heads around this.) .........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/may-road-rise-meet-you-lying-joe-lieberman
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