I like fireworks. Fireworks are cool. But you can’t set them off in areas that have been experiencing drought conditions. So, for example, there won’t be many Fourth of July fireworks displays in Oklahoma this year. You have to wonder what Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oil & Gas) thinks about that. Senator Inhofe was the pioneer of global warming skepticism. He was denying climate change when it wasn’t yet fashionable. I guess others saw how well it paid. Oh well. Sooners are revisiting their Grapes of Wrath period, they can’t properly celebrate our independence from the Brits, but at least they are good at denial.
Month: July 2011
Bin Laden Documents and Hardship Inside Al-Qaeda
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Bin Laden last messages were about financial hardship, loss of ranking members due to drone attacks and a focus to attack the United States. Al Qaeda was an organisation without a structure to rebuild and was losing interests throughout the masses of the Middle East and the Arab uprising this spring.
Bin Laden document trove reveals strain on al-Qaeda
(Washington Post Login or TheLedger) – One of bin Laden’s principal correspondents was Atiyah abd al-Rahman, who served as No. 3 in al-Qaeda before bin Laden’s death. A 2010 message from Rahman expressed frustration with the CIA drone campaign, a source of particular concern because many of his predecessors in the third-ranking slot had been killed in strikes by the unmanned aircraft.
LOSING THE ESPIONAGE WAR
Other messages sounded a similar theme. At least two came from the head of al-Qaeda’s security unit, a group that had been established to protect against penetrations by informants who might provide targeting tips to the CIA. The group is thought to be behind executions of dozens of suspected informants. In some cases, corpses were found with notes attached declaring that the deceased was an American spy.
The unit leader complains “about having a very low budget, a few thousand dollars,” the official said. The letter refers to “ideas” about how to better guard against informants and electronic eavesdropping. But the most obvious solutions, including restricting meetings and movements, would also hamper al-Qaeda’s ability to function.
EGYPTIAN AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI
The cache contains correspondence between bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, who recently succeeded bin Laden as al-Qaeda’s leader. The two express frustration that the conflict between al-Qaeda and the United States is not more widely perceived among Muslims as the front of a religious war. They also voice concern about how insurgent killings of civilians in Iraq and elsewhere could undermine al-Qaeda’s standing among Muslims.
CIA idles drone flights from base in Pakistan
(Washington Post) – The CIA three months ago suspended its long-standing use of an air base in Pakistan as a launch site for armed drones targeting members of al-Qaeda and other militant groups, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.
U.S. personnel and Predator drones remain at the facility, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, with security provided by the Pakistani military, officials from both countries said. In recent days, Pakistan has publicly declared that it “ended” all U.S. flights from the base in the wake of the secret U.S. commando raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
But U.S. and Pakistani officials said the aircraft launches were halted in April, weeks before the bin Laden raid, after a dispute over a CIA contractor who fatally shot two Pakistani citizens in Lahore in January.
EXPANDED DRONE STRIKES
Lethal missiles have been launched from unmanned aircraft in at least five countries in addition to Pakistan — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and, most recently, Somalia. The military’s Joint Special Operations Command last week used a drone to attack what officials said were two senior members of the al-Shabab militant group near Kismaayo, on the southern Somali coast.
SHAMSI AIR STRIP IN BALUCHISTAN
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf secretly authorized the CIA, under the George W. Bush administration, to operate drones from Shamsi, a small air facility in Baluchistan.The air strip, located about 600 miles southwest of Islamabad, apparently was constructed years ago by the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates as an arrival point for falconry and other hunting expeditions in Pakistan.
A May 2005 State Department cable from the U.S. Embassy in the UAE reported that government’s displeasure that news of the arrangement, and use of the airfield, was revealed in a book published by retired Gen. Tommy Franks, the former head of the U.S. Central Command.
Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.307
Hello again painting fans.
This week I’ll be continuing with the painting of the Ferrari F430. I will be using the photo seen directly below.
I’m using my usual acrylic paints on a 5×7 canvas.
When last seen, the painting appeared as it does in the photo directly below.
Since that time, I have continued to work on the painting.
There are many changes this week. I was not satisfied with the placement of the righthand exhaust port. It was drooping and threw off the perspective. I have now moved it up into a place more consistent with the perspective of the car. I’ve also revised the air extractor, once again. I now consider that portion complete. The tailights now have their white centers.
I’ve also revised (and enlarged) the rear wheel and tire.
I’ve finally started the highlights of the car body. When viewing a photo and considering it for use as a painting, I’m usually figuring how I would complete various aspects. Here, I had long anticipated the technique that I would use to paint the highlights. It was done with a thin, watery mixture of light blue paint. I think that it works fairly well, at least so far.
The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.
That’s about it for now. Next week I’ll have more progress to show you. See you then. As always, feel free to add photos of your own work in the comments section below.
Earlier paintings in this series can be seen here.
Looking for a Progressive Win?
It will be a test of the Republican media wurlitzer’s restraint. It’s hard to think of anything easier to fearmonger than some commission deciding to reduce the sentences of over 12,000 crack felons, many of whom will be released from prison at roughly the same time. But that’s what the U.S. Sentencing Commission unanimously decided to do by applying elements of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactively. One definition of progressivism is help for the helpless, love for the unloved, power to the powerless. No one is more helpless than an inmate, or unloved and powerless than a crack offender. Springing people out of prison who may make you live to regret your decision is one of the hardest things for a politician to do. The upside may be justice, but few people will notice or care. The downside is someone gets robbed, raped, or murdered and you like a fool.
This is why prison reform is such a thankless and difficult task. Fortunately, the disparity in the sentences for crack and powder cocaine were so obvious, and the effects so obviously racially unfair, that Congress finally rectified the situation and the Sentencing Commission had the courage to do the right thing.
You don’t see things like this happen too often, so cherish it. It’s one of the only truly progressive outcomes I’ve seen come out of Washington in a very long time. Even so, we’ve got a long way to go.
Not every federal crack cocaine offender in federal prison will be eligible for a lower sentence as a result of this decision. The Commission estimates, based on Fiscal Year 2010 sentencing data, that approximately 12,000 offenders may be eligible to seek a sentence reduction. The average sentence reduction for eligible offenders will be approximately 37 months, and the overall impact on the eligible offender population will occur incrementally over decades. The average sentence for these offenders, even after reduction, will remain about 10 years. The Bureau of Prisons estimates that retroactivity of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 amendment could result in a savings of over $200 million within the first five years after retroactivity takes effect.
Non-violent drug offenders should not be spending a decade in prison. That’s ridiculous. But this is still something to celebrate.
GA HOA Blocks Home for Disabled Vet
Imagine you served your country as an Army sergeant who served two tours of duty in Iraq. Imagine that during that second tour in 2008 an IED device exploded, causing you to sustain lifelong disabilities: paralysis on your right side and the inability to speak brought about by a stroke tied to the injuries from the blast.
Imagine that a non-profit charity dedicated to providing homes to wounded and disabled veterans offered to build you a 2,785 square foot home, free and clear, with all the amenities needed to make your life better. A home where your family could take care of you. A home that would be built in a nice neighborhood in a suburb of Augusta, Georgia. Imagine your family moved to that suburb and rented a home while they waited for your new home to be built. You even started sending your children to the local schools. Life was looking up.
Now imagine your worst nightmare: the local homeowners association (HOA) of the subdivision where your home was to be built decided it didn’t want you there and did everything in its power to keep you out. Now stop imagining, because this is the true story of former Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Gittens and a groups of assholes known as the Knob Hill Property Owners Association of Augusta who didn’t want Sean Gittens, wounded warrior, living next door:
Homes for Our Troops formally announced at a press conference today they would not build a home for paralyzed veteran Sean Gittens at the Knob Hill subdivision in Evans. […]
Homes for Our Troops has built homes free of charge for over 100 severely disabled veterans nationwide. [President of Homes for our Troops, John Gonsalves] said it’s the first time a build has been blocked by a homeowners association.
What was the excuse given by the homeowners who spent so much time and effort keeping Sgt. Gittens from having a home built for him by this laudable charity? Well that depends. Their excuses were flimsy at best.
Let’s go through the list shall we?
- The paperwork excuse:
Construction was to begin on Friday, but Gonsalves said the homeowners association at the last minute filed a cease-and-desist order on the project, claiming that he had failed to file all the necessary paperwork.
“This could have been a done deal had they just gotten us the paperwork,” said Rick Trump, president of the Knob Hill Homeowners Association, during a phone interview. “Who’s really to blame here? Is it that we blocked them or that they’re disorganized and don’t have everything they need?”
- The “This will lower our property values” excuse:
The association had blocked construction of the Gittens home after months of negotiations because it believed the house would lower neighboring property values. […]
Sharon Gittens, Sean’s wife, told news media Monday the family decided not to stay in Knob Hill because they did not feel they would be welcome.
A claim disputed, by the way by one prominent real estate expert:
In reality, though, the HOA needn’t have worried, according to New York appraiser Alice Palmisano.
The claim that smaller houses drag down neighboring property values is unfounded, she said. “It usually works the other way around, where the smaller house typically sees a boost in home value,” but there’s no evidence that smaller homes hurt the value of larger ones. Given the special nature of the home, it wouldn’t even be used as the basis for a “comparable property,” she said.
“Just because a custom home is built for a handicapped person does not mean that home can’t sell to a conventional buyer,” she added. “And considering the circumstances, it sounds kind of mean-spirited.”
- Or maybe the “They aren’t our kind of people” excuse:
For Gittens’ wife, Sharon, the message conveyed has been less hospitable.
“They just don’t want us here,” she said during a phone interview. Gittens moved to Knob Hill with her husband and children last year and has been renting an apartment in the development. Her husband’s military career began in 1988 with a tour of duty in Kuwait during Desert Storm and ended in 2010 when he was forced to take medical retirement.
She says that she doesn’t accept HOA members’ claims that their new home is too small for the area, as there are other properties in the development that are even smaller. She took particular umbrage to the association’s request that they add a second floor to the home.
“My husband doesn’t need that. He’s wheelchair bound,” she said.
Here’s a picture of Sgt 1st class Gittens (ret.) by the way:
The press conference held by Homes for Our Troops President, John Gonsalves, and the Gittens’ family, which announced their reluctant decision to end their fight to build a home in the Knob Hill subdivision, was not attended by any member of the Knob Hill Home Owners Association. Its president, Rick Trump, did however send his “regrets” by email.
To which all I can add is:
“You effing bastards!
This man served your country, fought in the wars to which he was sent by George Bush, wars no doubt you supported. Maybe you even had one of those “Support the Troops” magnetic ribbons attached to your fat ass SUV’s Fighting over there. Well Sgt. Gittens suffered immeasurable harm “fighting for your freedoms” and instead of allowing him to live with dignity and honor as your neighbor, you did everything in your power to keep him out of your precious subdivision. Then not one of you had the decency to show your cowardly faces at the Gittens’ family press conference held because of your relentless opposition to having a wounded veteran live among you.
You people are classless, mean and ugly specimens of whatever type of insect eats bull shit. I deeply regret we live in the same country. May you all rot in hell.
Wingnut Logic
I am so tired of wingnut logic. The president “railed six times…against a tax break that exists in law today because of his signature.” What is he talking about? He’s talking about an accelerated depreciation provision for “corporate jets” contained in Obama’s Recovery Act. The tax break for fat cats was in existence prior to the stimulus bill, and the Recovery Act merely extended it. So, yes, the present existence of this stupid and needless tax break for ludicrously rich people is the president’s responsibility.
And what is the president saying? He’s saying he doesn’t want that responsibility anymore because we can’t afford it and it isn’t fair to cut social services and research and development and money for transportation and schools, and keep a moronic, senseless, and basically immoral tax break for corporate bigwigs.
So, what difference does it make that he signed off on this ridiculous tax giveaway two years ago? He wants it to go away now. That’s the only point that matters.
The Cure for Uppity is Valium
President Obama paid a visit to the Senate Republican Conference today to have a direct give-and-take on current issues like immigration, the oil spill, and financial reform. Though Obama called the meeting “a good, frank discussion on a whole range of issues,” and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was “a good exchange, a candid exchange,” some people were left more bitter than before. “The more he talked, the more he got upset,” said Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas. “He needs to take a Valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans and just calm down, and don’t take anything so seriously.”
Democrats dismissed complaints that Mr. Obama had been overly combative, noting that Republicans had demanded that he engage in the bargaining process, and then criticized him as soon as he did.
But Republicans were evidently still smarting from Mr. Obama’s chiding tone. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas even suggested that the president needed some sedation before he resumed discussions with them.
“I remember when he talked to Republicans before, and all we got was a lecture,” Mr. Roberts said. “So maybe if he would just take a Valium and calm down and come down and talk to us, it might be helpful.”
It wasn’t funny the first time.
DSK Sexual Assault Case or A Honey Trap?
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Strauss-Kahn Case Seen as in Jeopardy
(New York Times) – The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May.
… Prosecutors from the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who initially were emphatic about the strength of the case and the account of the victim, plan to tell the judge on Friday that they “have problems with the case” based on what their investigators have discovered, and will disclose more of their findings to the defense. The woman [Nafissatou Diallo] still maintains that she was attacked.
The woman had a phone conversation with an incarcerated man within a day of her encounter with Mr. Strauss-Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against him. The conversation was recorded.
That man, the investigators learned, had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana. He is among a number of individuals who made multiple cash deposits, totaling around $100,000, into the woman’s bank account over the last two years. The deposits were made in Arizona, Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania.
The investigators also learned that she was paying hundreds of dollars every month in phone charges to five companies. The woman had insisted she had only one phone and said she knew nothing about the deposits except that they were made by a man she described as her fiancé and his friends.
In addition, one of the officials said, she told investigators that her application for asylum included mention of a previous rape, but there was no such account in the application. She also told them that she had been subjected to genital mutilation, but her account to the investigators differed from what was contained in the asylum application.
A lawyer for the woman, Kenneth Thompson, could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday evening.
News of Turnaround in Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case Stuns France
Africa, France: Who is Nafissatou Diallo? Victim or Conspirator?
Nafissatou Diallo, a conspiratorial Fula?
Meanwhile the official spokesperson of the presidential party “Rassemblement du Peuple Guinéen” (RPG), Mrs. Sano Dossou Condé says she doesn’t believe Nafissatou Diallo at all and offers her support to Anne Sinclair, wife of DSK. Dossou Condé commented on the matter in an interview withIvoir TV, Ivorian web television, posted on YouTube:
” I am humiliated today that it is one of my fellow citizens who plays this game. Honestly I do not believe this. I am humiliated today that it is an African woman who adopts an American culture to state publicly that she is raped. (…) I sympathise with the humiliation of Anne Sinclair, she is the one who interests me a lot in this affair.”
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This Is Not a Political Party
At this point the Republicans are basically a parody of a political party. They’d be funny as a Monty Python sketch, but they’re so dysfunctional that it’s impossible to deal with them. I don’t even care that they didn’t like being compared unfavorably to the president’s daughters, who actually do their homework and pass it in on time (how about Obama letting us in on his secret?). But their foot-stomping is ridiculous. My expectations for House Republicans is set very close to zero, but the Senate is supposed to be at least tenuously tethered to reality. Our whole system is predicated on senators being the grown-ups who don’t twist and turn with every political wind. Well, you can forget about that.
The Republicans were stung by Obama’s Wednesday press conference, when he unfavorably compared GOP lawmakers to his school-age daughters, who he said get their homework done on time.
In response, Republicans blocked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) request to bring legislation authorizing U.S. military action against Libya to the floor, and walked out of a planned markup of legislation implementing a free-trade agreement with South Korea.
They also mocked and scolded the president for his leadership record and his call for them to get to work.
You read that right. The Republicans have been demanding a vote on the free trade agreements for months, threatening to block everything if they don’t get their votes. But now they’re blocking the mark-up of the goddamned South Korean one because their feelings are hurt. These are U.S. Senators.
This isn’t a political party. It’s a loony-bin, a train-wreck, a compete and utter disaster for the country. How are they going to get their shit together in the one month they have remaining before we default on our debts?
At some point, they have to realize that they’re screwed and they can’t fulfill their promises to the teabaggers. Right?