August 25, 2014

Read The Letter Murdered U.S. Journalist Had Smuggled To His Family

American journalist James Foley, who was murdered last week by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, had been missing for nearly two years at the time of his death. Any attempts to communicate with his family had been stopped by his captors.

So Foley asked another hostage who was about to be released last June to memorize a message, according to the Free James Foley group. The message was delivered shortly after, and the group posted the letter Monday on Facebook.

The text of the letter is below.

Dear Family and Friends,

I remember going to the Mall with Dad, a very long bike ride with Mom. I remember so many great family times that take me away from this prison. Dreams of family and friends take me away and happiness fills my heart.

I know you are thinking of me and praying for me. And I am so thankful. I feel you all especially when I pray. I pray for you to stay strong and to believe. I really feel I can touch you even in this darkness when I pray.

Eighteen of us have been held together in one cell, which has helped me. We have had each other to have endless long conversations about movies, trivia, sports. We have played games made up of scraps found in our cell…we have found ways to play checkers, Chess, and Risk… and have had tournaments of competition, spending some days preparing strategies for the next day’s game or lecture. The games and teaching each other have helped the time pass. They have been a huge help. We repeat stories and laugh to break the tension.

I have had weak and strong days. We are so grateful when anyone is freed; but of course, yearn for our own freedom. We try to encourage each other and share strength. We are being fed better now and daily. We have tea, occasional coffee. I have regained most of my weight lost last year.

I think a lot about my brothers and sister. I remember playing Werewolf in the dark with Michael and so many other adventures. I think of chasing Mattie and T around the kitchen counter. It makes me happy to think of them. If there is any money left in my bank account, I want it to go to Michael and Matthew. I am so proud of you, Michael and thankful to you for happy childhood memories and to you and Kristie for happy adult ones.

And big John, how I enjoyed visiting you and Cress in Germany. Thank you for welcoming me. I think a lot about RoRo and try to imagine what Jack is like. I hope he has RoRo’s personality!

And Mark… so proud of you too Bro. I think of you on the West coast and hope you are doing some snowboarding and camping, I especially remember us going to the Comedy Club in Boston together and our big hug after. The special moments keep me hopeful.

Katie, so very proud of you. You are the strongest and best of us all!! I think of you working so hard, helping people as a nurse. I am so glad we texted just before I was captured. I pray I can come to your wedding…. now I am sounding like Grammy!!

Grammy, please take your medicine, take walks and keep dancing. I plan to take you out to Margarita’s when I get home. Stay strong because I am going to need your help to reclaim my life.

Jim

###

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/james-foley-family-letter

The Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/FindJamesFoley?fref=nf

August 25, 2014

Democratic Congressman: Slaveholding States Became Tea Party, Oppose Obama Because Of His Race

“I have been requested not to talk about that too much.”

posted on Aug. 25, 2014, at 12:30 p.m.

Andrew Kaczynski
BuzzFeed Staff

Democratic New York Rep. Charlie Rangel stood by earlier comments that Republican opposition to President Obama is in part based upon his race, and added in an interview with C-SPAN’s Q&A that slaveholding states became Tea Party states.

“I have been requested not to talk about that too much,” Rangel said in the interview, when asked about his previous remark. “I think the reason for it is that it is just too darn obvious as to what it is all about.”

“I think if you take a look and see which counties and which Congressional districts, which areas of the United States had the most prejudice, it would be the slaveholding states,” he continued. “It would be the Confederate states. It would be the states that fought the Union. Those that hated Lincoln.”

Rangel went on, saying Confederates became Dixiecrats and are today members of the Tea Party.

more
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/democratic-congressman-slaveholding-states-became-tea-party#23okbcl

August 25, 2014

Ferguson’s booming white grievance industry: Fox News, Darren Wilson and friends

White defenders of officer Darren Wilson are raising money by slandering Mike Brown, with some help from Fox News

JOAN WALSH

Not surprisingly, a thriving franchise of the nation’s booming white grievance industry has opened up in Ferguson, Mo. over the last week. It’s worth examining closely. As usual, it consists of two parts lies, one part paranoia, but at its heart it’s a big grift.

The weekend featured multiple protests supporting Darren Wilson, the missing Ferguson police officer who shot an unarmed Mike Brown on Aug. 9. His superiors apparently withheld Wilson’s name long enough for him to delete all social media accounts and skip town, but his supporters are declaring Wilson, not Brown, the victim here. A GoFundMe site raising funds for Wilson’s defense – though he’s not been charged with anything – garnered not only $250,000 in donations, but so many ugly racist rants GoFundMe administrators had to disable comments for the site. (They’ll have no trouble taking a cut of the racists’ money, of course.) Wilson’s supporters say they’ve raised $374,000 online and at local events, “to support his family,” one woman told MSNBC.

Why, besides racism, are Wilson’s supporters so convinced of his innocence? Well, any good grift will involve a hoax or two, to gin up the sense of outrage. First there was “Josie,” a purported friend of Wilson’s who called into a radio show helmed by gun-loving wing-nut Dana Loesch to tell Wilson’s side of the story. “Josie” insisted that Brown attacked Wilson, grabbed his gun, and the terrified cop shot only in self-defense. The problem? The details were almost identical to those shared on a fake Facebook page set up to look like Wilson’s own. But before the tale could be debunked, not only Fox but CNN had reported on “Josie’s” tale with some credulity. As karoli notes over at Crooks and Liars, it’s not clear whether Loesch was punked, or was in on the punking.

Then we saw right-wing blogger Jim Hoft, named “the dumbest man on the Internet” by Media Matters, peddling a phony X-ray or CT scan purporting to show that Wilson suffered a fractured eye socket scuffling with Brown. Unfortunately, a little sleuthing revealed the image in question came from a facility at the University of Iowa and had nothing to do with the Ferguson case. Oops. Of course Fox ran with the story, but ABC News also reported that Wilson had suffered a “serious facial injury,” claiming its own local source.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/25/ferguson%E2%80%99s_booming_white_grievance_industry_fox_news_darren_wilson_and_friends/

August 25, 2014

Emirates and Egypt Said to Secretly Attack Militia in Libya

Source: New York Times

Twice in the last seven days, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have secretly teamed up to launch airstrikes against Islamist-allied militias battling for control of Tripoli, Libya, four senior American officials said, in a major escalation between the supporters and opponents of political Islam.

The United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise: Egypt and the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington or seeking its consent, leaving the Obama administration on the sidelines. Egyptian officials explicitly denied the operation to American diplomats, the officials said.

The strikes are the most high-profile and high-risk salvo unleashed in a struggle for power that has broken out across the region in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolts, pitting old-line Arab autocrats against Islamists.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/world/middleeast/egypt-and-united-arab-emirates-said-to-have-secretly-carried-out-libya-airstrikes.html?emc=edit_na_20140825

August 25, 2014

Pew: What If The Libertarian Movement Doesn't Really Exist?

By DYLAN SCOTT Published AUGUST 25, 2014, 2:21 PM EDT

New York Times Magazine boldly wondered this month if the "Libertarian Moment" had finally arrived. They splashed their cover with an image of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), widely seen as the man precipitating that moment and the most talked-about 2016 presidential candidate outside of Hillary Clinton.

But what if there is no movement for the moment? Who are the libertarians, really? That was the question posed by the Pew Research Center in a Monday blog post. And their findings could create some skepticism about whether there actually is any libertarian movement to speak of.

"There are still many Americans who do not have a clear sense of what 'libertarian' means," Pew's Jocelyn Kiley wrote, "and our surveys find that, on many issues, the views among people who call themselves libertarian do not differ much from those of the overall public."

Some of the tell-tale signs were there. Self-described libertarians who could actually define the term -- about 11 percent of Americans, Pew found -- were more likely than the general population to support marijuana legalization and to believe government aid does more harm to the poor than good. That corresponds with their expected small-government philosophy.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/pew-research-libertarian-study

August 25, 2014

Rick Perry Shunned By One Of The GOP's Least Popular Governors

By DYLAN SCOTT Published AUGUST 25, 2014, 1:15 PM EDT

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) could use all the help he could get as he seeks re-election, currently trailing his Democratic opponent by 15.5 percentage points, according to TPM's PollTracker average. But even he has limits, which now apparently include Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) after Perry's indictment on abuse of power charges.

Corbett's campaign pulled the video of Perry's endorsement for Corbett from its website, the Associated Press reported last week. A spokesperson told the AP that the campaign didn't want Perry's indictment to be a distraction.

In a Monday interview with a Dallas area radio station, Perry declined to comment on the Corbett campaign distancing itself from him, Business Insider reported. After all, Perry said, he has plenty of fans in early presidential primary state New Hampshire.

"I think political staff make decisions day in and day out. I’m not going to delve into that," he said. "But I can assure you that those that are running in offices in New Hampshire were more than happy to be standing by me having their picture made."

###

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-corbett-rick-perry-endorsement-pulled

August 25, 2014

Fox News: Is Calling Michael Brown An 'Unarmed Teen' Playing The Race Card?

By AHIZA GARCIA Published AUGUST 25, 2014, 12:11 PM EDT

Fox News contributor Linda Chavez appeared on "Fox & Friends" on Monday to discuss how the use of the phrase "unarmed teen" to describe Michael Brown was misleading because he was "an 18-year-old man who is six foot four and weighs almost three hundred pounds."

As surveillance footage ran onscreen showing Michael Brown allegedly robbing a convenience store shortly before his death, Chavez said the phrase "unarmed teen" was being used to influence the perception of the shooting. She also claimed the description was "enhancing" racial fears.

Appearing on the show to discuss her op-ed column about Attorney General Eric Holder, Chavez explained to co-host Steve Doocy that Holder is "coming in before an investigation has even been complete" and "basically picking a side."

Chavez, the one-time nominee of President George W. Bush to lead the Department of Labor, then went on to discuss how this approach is "a travesty of justice." She said that the actions of this administration are "enhancing" racial fears by using "this mantra of the unarmed black teenager shot by a white cop" to incite the public and influence the incident.

more + video
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michael-brown-race-card-unarmed

August 25, 2014

Wendy Davis's New Ad Seeks To Tie Opponent To Rick Perry Indictment

By DANIEL STRAUSS Published AUGUST 25, 2014, 12:08 PM EDT

Wendy Davis's gubernatorial campaign released a new ad Monday attacking Republican opponent Attorney General Greg Abbott over oversight of a Texas cancer research center — the same cancer research center that's at the heart of the indictment targeting Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

The ad "Manuel" features cancer survivor Manuel Alvarado describing how Abbott mishandled oversight of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) while he was part of the office's oversight committee. Abbott, the ad argues, "was charged with overseeing the state cancer research fund. But he let his wealthiest donors to take tens of millions in taxpayer dollars without proper oversight."

"I pray that Greg Abbott never becomes our governor," Alvarado said in the ad.

The CPRIT part is how the ad also links to Perry. The CPRIT was the target of a probe by the public integrity unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg (D) after the cancer center was awarded millions of dollars for projects that had allegedly not been completely screened, according to The Wall Street Journal. Democrats argue that Perry vetoed funding of Lehmberg's office in response to the public integrity unit investigating the CPRIT. And it is this veto threat that led to Perry's indictment earlier this month.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wendy-davis-greg-abbott-rick-perry-cancer-prevention-and-research-institute

August 25, 2014

Michelle Nunn Won't Commit To Backing Harry Reid

By SAHIL KAPUR Published AUGUST 25, 2014, 11:03 AM EDT

Michelle Nunn, Georgia's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, refused to say if she'd support Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) to stay on as Democratic leader.

Her remarks, reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday, came after a debate with Republican nominee David Perdue, when the question was posed to her. Here's what she's quoted as saying in response:

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michelle-nunn-harry-reid-democratic-leader

August 25, 2014

Alison Grimes Hits McConnell For Shutdown Threat In Dark New Ad

By SAHIL KAPUR Published AUGUST 25, 2014, 10:40 AM EDT

In a dark new web ad, Alison Lundergan Grimes hits Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for signaling confrontation that could spark a government shutdown if he becomes majority leader.

The spot — published Monday on the Democrat's YouTube page — plays news clips, spliced with ominous music, about the economically damaging shutdown last fall which one anchor is seen saying it was "hurting Kentuckians."

"And Mitch McConnell wants to do it again," the ad says, displaying headlines of McConnell's recent remarks to Politico in which he vowed to use bills which keep the government operational as a vehicle to rein in President Barack Obama's policies.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/alison-grimes-ad-mcconnell-government-shutdown