Torture and the theater of cruelty

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 21 April 2009 09:37:33 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

We seem to have lost sight of a fundamental motivating factor in the torture controversy: torture made good political theater. The theatrical dimension of the punishment of America's foes was made plain to me when I first saw pictures of Guantanamo[...]

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TPMDC Morning Roundup

post from Talking Points Memo on 21 April 2009 09:34:00 AM. © Talking Points Memo

Christopher Hill, Obama's pick as ambassador to Iraq, won a crucial Senate cloture vote last night. That and the day's other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.[...]

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For a Woman on the 6 Train

post from The Socialist WebZine on 21 April 2009 09:34:00 AM. © The Socialist WebZine

by Billy Wharton

To start, I admit to being a thick-skinned New Yorker. After nearly forty-years here, there is little that this city can offer which would evoke even an emotion. This is particularly true in the New York City subways. Rats run across the subway tracks. People commit any number of lewd and crude public acts on a daily basis. Just a month ago, a drunken fellow passenger decided to convert the subway car into a urinal. I fled with other passengers who seemed to revel more in the spontaneous camaraderie of the experience rather than disgust in the offensive act. Things changed during a recent ride on the 6 train.

For the past few months, there has been a noticeable difference in the homeless population I have encountered above and below ground. Most New Yorkers, myself included, have become accustomed to the city created during the violent regime of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Intent on enforcing his ?quality of life? agenda, Giuliani used the police to drive the homeless out of public view. The severity of the economic crisis is reversing this. The homeless are back in New York City. There are more homeless, many more ? new people with fewer of the habits and appearance of hardened street people.

On Friday, April 3rd, I was riding the 6 train downtown to participate in a protest against Wall Street. A woman entered at 42nd street. She was in her late 20s, neatly dressed with all appearances of a sturdy working class person. Noticeably pregnant, her jacket was clean, shoes relatively new and hair neat ? all signs that she had been recently well tended to. As she sat down, I and others noticed a hand-written note paper clipped to her bag. ?I have a six-year old girl. I am pregnant. We have been forced into a homeless shelter. Please, God help.? She sat with a hand out meekly looking for donations.

But, the role of a public beggar was too much for her to handle. After a few moments, she began to sob. She cried deeply ? the kind of crying normally reserved for the most intense, private, moments in your life. Tears streamed down her cheeks. I and others in the car were witnessing the destruction of another human being?s self-identity ? her self-respect poured out one tear at a time. Passengers tried to help by placing dollar bills in her hand or offering a tissue to wipe her face. But, dollars and tissues could not solve this problem.

I sat across from her paralyzed. Sure, I was off to a demonstration to condemn the banks at the heart of an economic crisis that likely forced her and her children into the street, but what could I do immediately. I was quite shaken when I exited the train. As the train pulled off I turned to catch a final glance of the woman slumped in hey seat, still crying with no possible relief in sight.

This woman is not alone. Homelessness is clearly on the rise in New York City. The Department of Homelessness has reported a more than 20% increase in requests for housing. Food pantries throughout the city are reporting high demand and declining donations as the economic crisis deepens. Scheduled budget cuts will simply accelerate the problem. Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to cut a program that offers mediation between distressed tenants and landlords to prevent homelessness. To make things even worse, Bloomberg also proposes to cut the cleaning products provided to people exiting the shelter system.

No need for a socialist sermon here. The condition this woman has been put in is a clear illustration of the inhumane capacities of capitalism. Destroying her self-identity and endangering her children, born and unborn, does nothing to improve society. It de-humanizes us all by forcing us to rationalize things like human suffering brought on by homelessness.

There are however, those of us who refuse to see something rational or inevitable in this woman?s condition. So, for this woman on the 6 train I dedicate my mind, my hands and my heart to building a democratic socialist society in which she can enjoy guarantees to things like housing, healthcare and useful work. This would be a new social basis of freedom ? a solid base from which to build a self-identity. In the meantime, the economic crisis will produce many more instances of human degradation. The choice is ours - thicker-skin or more justice.

Billy Wharton is the editor of The Socialist magazine. His recent article ?Obama is No Socialist. I Should Know.? was published by the Washington Post and run in several other newspapers.
billyspnyc@yahoo.com

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Question of the Day - Art

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 21 April 2009 09:33:01 AM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

Hey, Look!!! It is that long-lost essayist, DA. Yeah, I'm back. I'm not sure if I've got anything for you, but I'm willing to post a question up here, if for no other reason than to avoid the wrath of puzzled.

So, many here in our little community are creatively inclined. We have writers, musicians, painters, photographers, poets. We're an eclectic bunch, let me tell you.

For more of this discussion of the fine arts, you'll have to follow me into the basement studio....now.....JUMP!!
Lately, we've been fascinated with a couple of different types of the performing arts. First, there is the heartfelt story of Susan Boyle (No, I haven't embedded the video. C'mon, everybody has seen this video. Literally. EVERYBODY!). A beautiful voice which was only unexpected because of the unpolished and unfortunate appearance of the performer. And that says a lot about us, doesn't it. Is it the packaging (as in American Idol) or the content which is supreme? Hmmmm...

The second was one of the many little snippets of performance art, usually being used to advertise something. The large-scale coordinated dancing in public places. Neat stuff. And maybe so compelling because so many of us would secretly (or not so secretly) enjoy life to be more like a musical.

Now, it has been suggested that we've been unwillingly subjected to another form of performance art. Yes, I'm talking about the ongoing soap opera which is Free Speech Zone, which may or may not be a continuation of the old Political Flesh Feast.

Now, I don't know if any of this is real, or is just teh intertubes. We've heard stories about emails, and evil cabals, and college projects. We aren't even sure who all the players are, or whether it is just one or two multiple personalities with time on their collective hands. I'm of the opinion that it is a semi-organized attempt to destroy community blogging, one site at a time. And I poo-poo most conspiracy theories.

Some of the participants have actually stated that their current activities and actions are 'performance art.' I suppose it could be. I've never been one to understand art. I enjoy music. I love good lyric. I appreciate music theory. I like a good landscape painting. I can even appreciate a well turned portrait. I've been known to quote poetry and I read fiction voraciously. But, I don't know if I 'get' this kind of art.

So, MLWers, what say you....

Are the ongoing events at this site and FSZ performance art?
If not, just what is it?

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The Daily Muck

post from TPMMuckraker on 21 April 2009 09:30:00 AM. © TPMMuckraker

Armed guards who once worked for the defense contracting company Blackwater Worldwide -- now renamed "Xe" -- will remain in Iraq much longer than was previously reported, government officials told the AP Monday. Xe guards will continue work in Southern Baghdad and the company's aviation wing will continue to provide air security for U.S. diplomats through September. After a group of Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians in late 2007, the Iraqi government refused to renew Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq. Last month, the State Department announced that it would replace Xe with Triple Canopy as its primary defense contractor in Iraq. But these statements by government officials show that the change is taking longer than once thought. (AP)

A California federal judge said Monday that he will review records of FBI investigations into southern California Muslim groups who claim they were spied on inappropriately. As part of a three-year court battle by the ACLU and the Muslim groups, Judge Cormac Carney ordered the FBI to turn over more than 100 pages of evidence and electronic surveillance information that the agency has against the 11 Muslim groups. Upon review, Carney will decide whether the documents should be released to the public or protected by federal law. (LA Times)

Testifying in the trial against a U.S. Marshall Monday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said that John Ambrose admitted to leaking information about a former mob boss he was assigned to guard in the witness protection program. Ambrose is accused of stealing information related to Nicholas Calabrese, a key witness in Chicago's 2007 "Family Secrets" trial targeting top mob officials, and giving the information to John "No Nose" DiFronzo, a reported mob boss. In his testimony, Fitzgerald said that Ambrose admitted to the leak in 2006, saying "I bleeped up, I shot my mouth off... but it's not what you think." Ambrose has since denied wrongdoing, and his attorneys tried to block Fitzgerald's testimony because Ambrose was not read his Miranda rights before the alleged admission of guilt. (Chicago Tribune)

The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against Bernard Madoff ordered the seizure of Madoff's assets Monday in an ongoing effort to secure funds to repay victims of the infamous money manager's multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. In the order, Judge Denny Chin said that so far, attempts to recover Madoff's assets have been "disjointed and uncoordinated" and suggested that an interim trustee be appointed to coordinate recovery of the assets. U.S. and international authorities have already seized Madoff's Palm Beach mansion, a number of boats, and vehicles connected to the Madoff family. The trustee will work alongside Irving Picard, a court-appointed trustee responsible for winding down Madoff's brokerage firm. (Reuters)

Sir Allen Stanford asked a federal appeals court Monday to intervene in the civil case filed by the SEC which accuses Stanford of running an $8 billion Ponzi scheme. Among other requests, Stanford asked the appeals court to overturn a lower court's decision to freeze his assets and appoint Ralph Janvey to oversee Stanford's businesses. Stanford has asked the lower judge on multiple occasions to unfreeze his assets so that he can hire criminal defense lawyers. (Reuters)

In civil charges filed Monday, the SEC accused a Pennsylvania money manager of running a Ponzi scheme and using investor dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle. The SEC charged Tony Young, an investment advisor and polo player, with stealing $20 million from investors to buy a boat and home in Florida, several cars, and polo horses. The scam became a Ponzi scheme, the SEC says, when Young began paying off debts with funds provided by new investors. A federal judge approved a restraining order Friday and froze the assets of Young's investment fund. (Wall Street Journal)

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Voices from the Left Forum 2009 - Political
Prisoners & New Frontiers for the Left

post from The Socialist WebZine on 21 April 2009 09:29:00 AM. © The Socialist WebZine

from Next Left Notes

Left Forum - Adolfo Matos

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Left Forum - Laura Whitehorn

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Left Forum - New Frontiers Panel Q&A

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Times Fronts AIPAC Story That Washington Post
Ignores

post from TPMCafe on 21 April 2009 09:29:00 AM. © TPMCafe

Not surprisingly I have been following the story of Steve Rosen's indictment under the Espionage Act since the beginning.

I had thought it was fizzling out but now, with the addition of the Harman angle, it is bigger than ever. Until today it's never been close to the lead story in the New York Times.
But here it is.

Of course, this should be the Washington Post's story. On Congress and lobbies, the Post tends to dominate the turf, with the Times breathing down its neck.

This time the Post is ignoring the story despite all the leads produced by Congressional Quarterly which the Times ran with and built on.

Where's the Post? Nowhere. Not one word.

Here's a wild and crazy guess. The Post, which under editor Fred Hiatt, has become an Iraq war loving, Israel-is-always-right, Iran-is-about-to-strike neocon paper just doesn't want to touch a story like this. It would rather be scooped in its own backyard then go with the biggest news story of the day.

Just goes to show how important it is that the New York Times survives. The story was big yesterday. Today the Times made it impossible to ignore -- except by the Post which, to its credit, has never claimed to be the "newspaper of record." That is still the Times.

PS As usual, Laura Rozen of "War and Piece" has some great independent reporting on this story. Check it out.

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Oracle (ORCL) Leaps Ahead of IBM, Lands Deal for
Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

In a surprise move yesterday (Monday), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) pounced on the opportunity to buy Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA), for about $7.4 billion in cash, stepping in after Sun’s talks with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) fell apart.

The deal gives Oracle control of server and software maker Sun’s coveted Java…

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Contradicting Bush Justice Dept., Angle equated
waterboarding of terrorists, trainees

On the April 20 edition of FoxNews' The O'Reilly Factor,Fox News chief Washingtoncorrespondent Jim Angle asserted that "the odd thing ... is that President Obama has decided that waterboarding, which we havedone, by the way, to thousands of our own people in the military -- pilots andSpecial Forces are often trained by being waterboarded. We've done it tothousands of our own people. He has decided it is too harsh to use onterrorists." However, according to a recently released May 2005 Office[...]

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Buying Real Estate: This Centurys Greatest
Investment

Buying real estate? Are you nuts?

Investment U Chairman Alex Green thinks so, what with foreclosures skyrocketing and prices in some places falling more than half from their peak. He says the market is “dead” for now.

But dead doesn’t mean unprofitable.

And as Baron Rothschild often said, “Buy when blood is running…

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