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Persecution Politics: Lou Dobbs Leaves CNN, Claims Victim Status

Genghis — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:43:55 +0000

GQ Magazine's editors believe they know why Lou Dobbs left CNN: persecution.

Members of the right-wing media love to tell their audiences about how they've been abused and censored by vicious liberal attackers. Bill O'Reilly insisted that he had been "libeled" and his civil rights "violated" when the L.A. Times and the Denver Post disputed his reports, calling the criticism "far left fascism." Michael Savage complained that he had been repeatedly attacked by the "homosexual, fascist website" Media Matters, the "brownshirts of our time." Glenn Beck bravely vowed that he was not afraid of liberal persecution, "What they have to do is break my legs. What they have to do is silence me. What they have to do is Sarah Palin me."

Often, the accusations include some kind of conspiracy. O'Reilly theorized that Media Matters was a tool of billionaire George Soros. Michael Savage claimed that it belonged to Hillary Clinton. Glenn Beck feared a coterie of secretive "czars" in the Obama administration.

And Lou Dobbs, who gained notoriety by pushing the "birther" theory that Obama was born in Kenya, claimed in a GQ interview that the administration was out to get him too:

They are coordinating with a number of groups, including the Center for American Progress. The usual suspects. To carry out constant and absolutely insidious and sordid attacks on me. And the reason they're doing so, I'm the leading independent voice, and I am critical on their policies and intent, on unconditional amnesty, and leaving the borders and ports unsecure.

Yet he vowed to soldier on...

But I will not be intimidated, and I understand that. Therefore they're trying to intimidate my network and my owners.

Evidently, Dobbs will not be soldiering on with CNN any longer. So ends a long and illustrious career with the network in angry paranoia. See ya later, Lou. Don't let the fascist liberal door hit you on the way out.

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The Heretic's Bible - Genesis 21: Isaac gets born; Ishmael gets booted

Genghis — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:39:03 +0000

As God had promised, Sarah gave birth to a son at the age of 91. She and Abraham were very happy. Abraham named the boy Isaac and cut off his foreskin.

All was well in the Abraham clan until Sarah remembered Abraham's bastard, Ishmael, and his slave-mother, Hagar. She said to her husband, "Drive away this slave together with her son. The son of this slave will not share the inheritance with my son Isaac!"

Commentary: Readers may remember that fifteen years earlier, Sarah had encouraged Abraham to impregnate Hagar, but after the girl became pregnant, Sarah jealously tortured her until she ran away. Hagar eventually returned after God encouraged her to submit to Sarah's abuse.

Abraham was struck by a rare pang of conscience at the thought of sending his lover/slave and son alone into the desert. No worries, God reassured him, kick the bastard out. Isaac is the important one. But I'll make sure that Ishmael does OK for himself too, since he's your seed.

So Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael packing. To provide for them, he generously gave Hagar a skin of water and some bread. The two set out into the desert. When the water ran out, Hagar set Ishmael down under a bush to die, and she began to weep.

Commentary: One is left to assume that the 14-year-old Ishmael was light as a baby and possibly retarded. Between Sarah's abusiveness and Abraham's penny-pinching, I can only speculate about the treatment that led to this condition.

God heard Hagar's weeping and sent an angel speak to her. The angel promised Hagar that Ishmael would survive and found a great nation. God then opened Hagar's eyes, and she found a well from which to drink. She and Ishmael settled in the desert, and he became an expert archer.

Commentary: Either Ishmael had a big growth spurt, or he used a very small bow.

Hagar found an Egyptian wife for her stunted archer boy, and they all lived happily after.

Meanwhile, back at the Abraham ranch, old Abe had a spat over a disputed well with his friend, King Abimelekh of the Philistines. The two men met and came to an agreement. Abraham got his well back, and he gave Abimelekh some sheep and cattle. Abraham planted a tree and named the place of the well Beer-sheba, which means "pointless digression."

The Heretic's Bible is a translation of a recently discovered commentary by a notorious first century heretic, Joseph the Latriner. The commentary is presented in italics with footnotes by the translator.

Previous: Genesis 20: Abraham pimps his wife, again

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Trial by Blitzer

DF — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:54:25 +0000

I don't subscribe to cable or satellite television. The reason for this is that I basically see no value in it. Pay television doesn't really seem to offer me much. For one thing, it's rife with advertising content. Why do I have to watch ads constantly when I'm paying for the service? Furthermore, much of the content available to basic cable subscribers is now available for free on the Internet.

However, cable news content is not entirely available on the Internet at this point in the game. I'm really okay with that. When I've had cable in recent years, for example last year when I was living at a residence where cable was included, I end up watching cable news. This is regrettable because I really dislike cable news.

So, I'm happy that my exposure to cable news is limited to what I encounter on the Internet. That's usually more than enough to remind me about how awful it is.

While it's easy to hate on Fox, the other networks are in many ways different only in degree and not in kind. Case in point is CNN's Wolf Blitzer who recently engaged in this astounding display:

It's easy for me to hold figures like Anderson Cooper in contempt. His typically pedestrian infotainment niche is papered over by rare, redeeming incidents like his reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but Cooper is, in a sense, just giving the people the show they want. Not too heavy, plenty of witty banter with the equally easy-on-the-eyes Erica Hill. It's a perfectly supeficial bedtime send-off after Larry King.

Blitzer's boffo brand of bullshit is something entirely different to behold. The above clip puts this on full display. Notice Blitzer's Fox-like use of ambiguous "someones" who supposedly put him up to this question. It's utterly obvious, especially with Blitzer's attempted closing salvo, "I'm sure he will get a much fairer hearing than those 13 Americans who were brutally gun downed the other day," that Blitzer is sharply editoralizing here, but he's a complete and utter coward hiding behind the pretense of "journalism" and so slinks furtively behind contrived anonymity of unnamed persons. This is exactly what Fox News does with their infamous refrain of "some people say."

Worse than this though is Blitzer's utter contempt for the very notion of American justice. In Blitzer's estimation, Col. Galligan needs to morally justify the defense of Hasan because Hasan has, after all, been accused. That's more than enough for Blitzer.

Due process isn't for people like Hasan. His trial is to take place in the court of public opinion. His should be a trial not with representation and by a jury of his peers, but a trial by CNN, the honorable Justice Wolf Blitzer presiding.

Blitzer is not only unconcerned, even superficially as a journalist, with due process, but views the notion that Hasan would receive it as disgusting. The remedial explanation offered by Col. Galligan is frankly beneath anyone with even the vaguest notion of due process of law. Blitzer's line of attack is no different than the equally vicious attacks against former Attorney General Ramsey Clark for his representation of figures like Milosevic and Hussein.

The presumption of innonence is not even a factor here. How could it be that Hasan is innocent? Why should there be a burden of proof on the government? Why should Hasan even be represented? It's unnecessary because Blitzer knows that he is guilty. The justice system is nothing but a perturbing speed-bump on the road to revanchism for Blitzer.

Nor is it apparently important to Blitzer that we be able to hold up as just a verdict on Hasan's actions after the final gavel fall. Given the sharp line of Blitzer's questioning, Hasan no longer even holds his military rank in Blitzer's eyes. After all, why else would it be relevant to ask Col. Galligan how he, as a former member of the military, could possibly defend Hasan? The only context in which this question even makes sense is to assume Hasan's guilt and thus strip him of his rank.

In Blitzer's mind, Hasan has already been convicted by a court martial. Pests like Col. Galligan are not agents of justice, but intemperate fools to be goaded into standing out of the way of the inevitable "guilty" verdict.

Blitzer's entire modus operandi is precisely about stomping all over the very notion of justice. Everything he says in this clip contributes to the difficulty that will ensue in this case in trying to carry out the due process of law. Nothing that should be his concern as a supposed journalist, namely the facts of the case (which remain elusive) or the specific mechanics of due process in this proceeding, are of the slightest concern to him. To the contrary, these are notions that he holds in utter contempt.

Wolf Blitzer shows us plainly here that he is not, in fact or in practice, a journalist, but rather a vicious shill against the very notion of American justice.

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Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Orlando — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:11:01 +0000

At first glance, Audrey Niffenegger's second novel seems to be a complete departure from her debut, The Time Traveler's Wife. It's mostly set in London and it follows a whole host of characters, none of whom, except for the ghost, have any supernatural powers. However, both novels ultimately struggle with the same two questions: 1) How final is death? and 2) How suffocating is life for those who won't leave the ones they love even if maybe they should?

Her Fearful Symmetry tells the story of two sets of identical twins and the people who inhabit their world. The first set, Edie and Elspeth, were born in raised in London. Edie moved to the U.S. with her American husband, Jack. Elspeth stayed in London where she eventually finds a passionate companion in Robert, a younger man who is working on his thesis on the history of Highgate Cemetery. When the novel begins, the twins haven't spoken in twenty years. Oh, and Elspeth dies.

The second set of twins, Julia and Valentina, are the daughters of Edie and Jack. Although Elspeth has never met them, she leaves them her entire estate, with the caveat that they must come and live in her flat for one year before they can decide whether they'd like to sell it. Julia and Valentina are childlike, tow-headed fairies, flitting from one idea to the next, at Julia's direction. They look identical on the outside, but they are actually mirror images of one another. Valentina's insides are reversed.

As in her first novel, Niffenegger is a master story teller, taking her time to set the scene and giving the reader plenty of quirky and desperate characters to meet. There's Martin, the upstairs neighbor with such a bad case of OCD that he cannot leave his flat and whose hands are perpetually raw from cleaning (and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning) with bleach. There's Jessica, the matron of Highgate, who frets over Robert after Elspeth dies. There's Robert, so grief-stricken that he is terrified when he discovers that the newly-arrived Julia and Valentina are younger versions of Elspeth. And there are the young twins, Julia, the domineering one, and Valentina, who'll do whatever Julia wants while she secretly dreams of getting away from her.

The beautiful writing kept me interested, even when none of the main characters are particularly likeable and the ultimate point of the novel was very slow to reveal itself. But when it did, it was so far-fetched that I lost interest--even more far-fetched than a man who cannot control when and where he falls through cracks in time, if that tells you anything. At the end of the novel, the big family secret that kept Edie and Elspeth apart for two decades is also revealed. It's a good one, but not everybody gets to know it and the ones who do ultimately shrug it off without confronting the secret keepers.

Overall, Her Fearful Symmetry is a very disappointing read from a writer of Niffenegger's obvious skill. Here's hoping her third (The Chinchilla Girl in Exile about a little girl covered in hair who doesn't want to be home schooled any longer) will be better.

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2012 and the Mayans: Apocalypse Now ... Please

William K. Wolfrum — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:31:01 +0000

With the film “2012″ opening soon, many of the world’s great thinkers have accepted the movie’s premise as fact. The world as we know it will come to a grinding halt in the year 2012, they believe, because the Mayans said so.

Such logic is impossible to refute. When ancient civilizations predict something, it generally happens. The history of the planet has been foretold long ago by civilizations that - while blessed with incredible foresight and predictive powers - were unfortunately unable to see their own demise staring them in the face. Thus, the end of the world is a virtual certainty.

While this is considered a radical and “moronic” opinion in some circles, history has shown us that if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s ancient societies correctly predicting future events:

The Hittites foretold of a U.S. President named “Baraq Kissinger Obawma” who would create or save nearly 734 million jobs but receive little credit for it due to being President at the time of the apocalypse.

Philosophers of the Lost Island of Atlantis accurately predicted the invention of scuba gear, though were off base in their predictions that humans would grow gills. Many researchers have claimed the Atlanteans were guilty of what scientists have called “Wishful Thinking.”

In ancient Greece, the famed philosopher Socrates reportedly predicted a future where “Ignorance and mediocrity will hold sway,” an obvious reference to Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagger movement.

In South America, the Incas predicted the arrival of a young man that would glamor millions despite having no discernible talent aside from “creepy mouth gestures” - clearly referring to “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson’s overly entitled smug poutiness.

The Vikings - known more for their warrior spirit - made perhaps the most accurate prediction of all, when archeologists recently discovered scrolls that stated “Whomever shall thrust Jon & Kate Gosselin upon a society shalt be disemboweled with a rusty spoon.”

That the world is soon to end is no reason for panic, mind you. The Apocalypse will bring with it a plethora of positives.

Global problems like the economic crisis, swine flu, climate change, disrespectful teenagers, Glenn Beck and erectile function will all vanish immediately into the void of space. The New York Yankees will never win another World Series. No one with the last name “Bush” will ever again be in a position of power. Your herpes will cease being a social issue. The U.S. can declare victory in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran (Nostradomus predicted the U.S. would put Iran on a steady diet of tactical nuclear weapons starting in 2011).

So remember, the end of the world isn’t the end of the world or anything. It’s just one of those things. And there is the possibility that the Mayan prediction has been misinterpreted and humanity still has another 5,000 years or so left. But given the situation with the world today, we’d probably all be better off if it happens in 2012, if not sooner. So keep your fingers crossed, it’s really all for the best.

–WKW

Crossposted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

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Brazil’s Blackout - Rio, Sao Paulo and others in the dark, problem not close to being solved

William K. Wolfrum — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:22 +0000

MINAS GERAIS, Brazil - For those seeing the news about Brazil’s blackout, here’s what I can report: Itaipu Dam, which creates power for much of Brazil’s south, has 18 generators down, with just two working - and those two send energy to Paraguay.

In a telephone interview with a spokesman for Itaipu, Globo-TV anchors asked tough questions, for which the spokesman had few answers, saying that the wind may have caused the problems. The worst part - the spokesman said it could be “2-3 days” before power is restored. Though, the fact remains that the spokesman was exceedingly vague under the tough and intelligent questioning.

I’m located in the state of Minas Gerais, which is in the southeast of Brazil, and we still have power, including the capital city of Belo Horizonte.

There have been no reports of any outbreaks of violence or crime at this juncture.

Update: Itaipu gives power to a full 20% of Brazil. The person that runs Itaipu Dam - a state-run facility - was appointed to the Job by Brazilian President Lula. The blackout is also affecting the Nation's capital of Brasilia, as well as other states.

Update II: Heavy storms were reported in the Paraná River giving credence to the Itaipu's claims that the outage was "weather related."

The Itaipu Dam works under an agreement with Paraguay and Brazil, with Brazil receiving the bulk of the power. Initially, the power for the Paraguay side also went off, but was quickly returned.

Update III: According to AFB, Power has been restored after four hours.

–WKW

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Health Insurance - The Cheap Rider Problem

Genghis — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:59:25 +0000

I'm a freelancer and pay for my own health insurance. Since I'm (relatively) young and healthy, and since I rarely see a doctor more than once a year, I have a fairly inexpensive plan with a pretty high deductible.

Stupid question: If the House health care bill is adopted, shouldn't I opt for the cheapest plan that I can find?

Who cares about the deductible, the benefits cap, or the allowable procedures? Since the health care bill prohibits insurance companies from rejecting customers based on preexisting positions, couldn't I buy the "Kia" plan and upgrade to a "Cadillac" if I were to get sick?

Thought experiment: Suppose that there are two insurance companies, one that sells only Kias and one that sells only Cadillacs. Healthy folks buy the Kias; sick folks buy the Cadillacs. When the healthy folks get sick, they upgrade. In this scenario, the Kia dealer makes easy money because it never has to pay out anything. The moment its customers get sick, they upgrade, and then the hefty benefits payments are the Cadillac dealer's problem. Conversely, the Cadillac dealer gets screwed. No matter how high the premiums, benefits for sick people cost more than their premiums, which is why the sick people sign up for the Cadillacs in the first place.

Stupid question #2: If the House health care bill is adopted, shouldn't insurance companies offer the fewest benefits they can?

In becoming a Kia dealer, an insurance company can maximize the number of young, healthy members by offering low premiums, and it can minimize the number of old, sick members by offering paltry benefits.

If that's the case, then every insurance company would eventually become a Kia dealer, and there would be no more Cadillacs for sale. The nation's insurance premiums would go down, but the benefits would be poor. Deductibles would be high, and expensive procedures would be prohibited.

To date, there has been much discussion about the free rider problem, according to which "free riders" game the system by purchasing insurance only after they get sick. The mandatory insurance requirement of the health care bill avoids the free rider problem.

But what about the cheap rider problem, according to which "cheap riders" game the system by purchasing expensive insurance only after they get sick. Is there anything in the health bill to deal with this problem?

I should note that the the "cheap rider" problem may not be all bad. It could certainly bring down health care costs by eliminating expensive, unnecessary procedures. But it could also deny Americans access to expensive, important procedures that we may not want to give up. Worse, it could mean that Americans without a lot of money may forgo essential treatment because of the high deductibles.

I confess to limited understanding of the health care bill, and perhaps someone can explain how the bill avoids this problem. If so, please speak up...

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Leukemia - A Call to African-Americans, minorities to join Bone Marrow Registry

William K. Wolfrum — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:53:50 +0000

(Note: When I learned that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has leukemia, I was terribly saddened. Because I remember my Mother’s battle with the disease (she died of Leukemia on Dec. 30, 2008). And as much as that, I know that for an African-American and other minorities, the chances of receiving a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplants are horrifyingly low. I wrote this in April 2008, and make the same call I did then - The National Bone Marrow Registry desperately needs the African-American Community to dramatically increase their numbers. Let Abdul-Jabbar’s fight be a teaching moment, and something that could save thousands of lives.)

When I recovered from the shock of learning that my Mom had acute myeloid Leukemia, I set to work on learning more about it, and trying to find what part I could play.

It was evident early on that my Mom would need a bone marrow transplant to survive more than one or two years. AML is a vicious disease that can only be repressed by intense chemotherapy. It comes back, and the chemo treatments quickly lose potency. So I saw the part I would play, and knew it would be a lifetime endeavor.

With the help of Pat Conlee of the National Marrow Donor Program, I began to learn about the bone marrow registry. I worked with Conlee, my Father and friends and family to put together a bone marrow drive for my mother in Victorville, Calif. But I knew that was not to be a one-time effort, and that the NMDP needed help from wherever it could find it.

As I learned about the NMDP, one fact struck me extremely hard. For Caucasians in need of a bone marrow transplant, 88 percent find a suitable donor. For African-Americans, that number tumbles to 60 percent.

While any person of any race can be a suitable person for anyone in need, the simple fact is this: ethnicity matters when it comes to bone marrow. A Caucasian person has a much better chance of getting a match from another Caucasian. An Asian person has a much better chance of being matched with another Asian. An African-American has a better chance of being matched with another of African descent.

According to the NMDP, there are just 11 million people on the bone marrow donor registry. And that’s not in the U.S. That’s in the world. In the U.S., there are five million white people on the registry. There are 500,000 blacks. There lies the difference between the 88 percent and 60 percent figures.

This is a call to the black community. The National Marrow Donor Program needs you. And those of African descent need you even more. They are literally dying for a better representation of blacks on the bone marrow registry.

To put a face to issue, let me point to my friend Emru Townsend. In December, Townsend - of Montreal - was told that he had AML, as well as a disorder called monosomy 7. He was told he needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. He was also told that due to his African-Caribbean heritage, his chances of finding a donor were much less than if he were white.

But Townsend did not waste his time with self-pity. He immediately began to champion the cause, and his efforts to get more blacks on Canada’s bone marrow registry have been covered in newspapers, radio and on television. He is a true inspiration, going so far as spending days working to get his message out while he is receiving chemotherapy. And he is still without a matching donor. His site - HealEmru.com - tells his story and has valuable information on how one can get on the bone marrow registry.

“After everything I’ve learned, I just can’t believe that everyone is not on the registry,” said Townsend. “It’s just such an easy thing and it’s so important to so many families.”

In the U.S., one of the reasons for the lack of donors of all races is likely the cost. It costs $52 to get on the registry, but that amount falls to $25 for African-Americans due to the need. But even if an African-American doesn’t have a dime to spare, if they want to get on the registry, they will not be turned away. But this is why donations are always eagerly accepted by the NMDP to help defray the costs of the tissue typing necessary.

The process for donating is simple - all it takes is a few swaps from a person’s inner cheek, filling out some paperwork, and it’s done. If you are called as a potential match, you will be given a battery of tests (free of charge) that will see if you are in good health and able to donate. The donating process consists of taking some marrow from your spine (under local anesthesia) and does not entail an overnight stay in a hospital. Generally, some minor discomfort for a day or two is the full price that has to be paid for saving a life.

For my allies in the POC blogosphere, and anyone else interested in helping, I humbly request that you write about this issue in any way you deem fit. Discuss your thoughts on why blacks are so underrepresented if you like. Discuss the issue from any angle you wish. But please discuss it. And register. And try to get more people of African descent onto the registry. Lives are literally in the balance.

Helpful Links

- The National Marrow Donor Program: Here you will find a plethora of information on the bone marrow registry, including how and where you can register. They can also be reached at 1(800) 627-7692.

- Jes Us For Jackie: Rapper Nelly’s ongoing effort to get African-Americans involved in the bone marrow donor registry. Nelly’s sister died from Leukemia, unable to find a donor.

- Emru Townsend’s site: Townsend has worked tirelessly to create a site that has information on his plight, as well as information on bone marrow drives throughout the U.S. and Canada. [Emru Townsend lost his battle with leukemia on November 11, 2008]

- The Caitlin Raymond International Registry: An International bone marrow and cord blood search and donor recruitment center.

- African-American Community Health Advisory Committee: More information on the need for African-American marrow donors and information on how the process takes place.

– Asians for Miracle Matches: Non-Japanese Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders are also underrepresented on the marrow donor registry. A3M is trying to change that.

If you have any other questions, such as how to put together a bone marrow drive in your community or anything else, feel free to contact me at wkwolfrum(at)gmail(dot)com.

–WKW

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The Simple Beauty of Sandhill Cranes

Orlando — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:44:58 +0000

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of standing on the side of a field flanked by marshland and farmland, as groups of migrating sandhill cranes flew in from the north, east, and west. Each fall, over 10,000 cranes visit the area around Medaryville, Indiana. Over several weeks, groups of them land in the same field, starting about an hour before sunset. There, they socialize a bit before retiring to the marshes. They come back to the field in the morning, to dance and sing a little bit more, before eating and then continuing their migration south.

I stood for two hours, watching the same scene play out. Groups from two to two hundred flew over, circled, and then dropped. With their long legs extended straight toward the ground and their wings stretched wide, they almost looked like paratroopers, gliding in for a landing. With each new flock, I was transfixed.

Sometimes I forget how beautiful Indiana can be. As I prepare to leave it, I'm reminding myself.

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UN Declares Afghan Election "Credible" and Pope "Jewish"

Genghis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:58:34 +0000

In a unanimous resolution, the United Nations declared the Afghan presidential election to be "credible" and "legitimate" despite widespread fraud allegations and the withdrawal of President Karzai's opponent, Abdullah Abdullah. In a separate unanimous resolution, the U.N. declared Pope Benedict XVI to be "Jewish" and "possibly Buddhist" despite his Catholic baptism, confirmation, papal election, and long history of pro-Jesus sentiment.

The U.N. General Assembly also encouraged President Karzai to press ahead with "strengthening of the rule of law and democratic processes, the fight against corruption (and) the acceleration of justice sector reform" and Pope Benedict XVI to press ahead with "abstaining from pork products, eating matzoh on Passover, rejecting Jesus, and keep wearing the beanie because it's kind of like a yarmulke. Plus the retro look is very cool."

Encouraged by its success in Afghanistan and Vatican City, the U.N. then launched a tour de force of unanimous resolutionizing, including the following declarations:

Israelis and Palestinians "love each other"
The world is "pretty much flat"
White men can "jump"
Size "doesn't matter"
Global warming is "a fascist conspiracy"
You can too "pick your friend's nose"
Canada "is a real country"

But the night was not without discord. An attempt to encourage the Afghan candidate Abdullah Abdullah to accept the election results and change "one of his names" was thwarted by a faction of developing nations led by former U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who argued that the U.N. should take its "head" out of its "tuchus."

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