Outgoing UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the United States this week for using what he called a "false pretext" to invade Iraq. He said this false pretext has cost “the lives of possibly hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.”Outgoing UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the United States this... more
UPDATE: A debate between former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush was canceled, according to the New York Post, after the event's promoter advertised it as "uncensored, unedited and unpredictable."
"This event ... was supposed to be a discussion between the two former presidents, and has been canceled because it was not being billed as such by an overeager promoter," said Matt McKenna, a spokesman for Clinton.
STORY ARCHIVE: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have agreed to a "smackdown" at Radio City Music Hall.
Well, there is not likely to be any head butting, but the two former presidents have agreed to debate foreign policy, economics and other issues of the day on the same platform on Feb. 25, 2010, according to MSG Entertainment, which bills the event as "The Hottest Ticket in Political History."
The debate, which will include a question-and-answer segment with an as-yet unnamed moderator, is part of MSG's speaker's series known called "Minds That Move the World."
Tickets will range from $60 to $1,250, with the upper-end including a cocktail reception before the event.
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will go head to head in a debate at Radio City Music Hall next February, as part of a series pairing liberal and conservative thinkers called "Minds That Move The World."
The hype over a scheduled debate between former President Clinton and former President Bush -- which was billed as, "part of a series pairing liberal and conservative thinkers called '"Minds That Move The World,"' lasted less than a day. Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna quickly put an end to the fury this evening.
Mckenna said that an overeager promoter, seeking what, we may never know, hyped the event far beyond what it actually was. The Clinton aide is quotes as saying that there was really a scheduled event planned but it was supposed to be, "a discussion between the two former presidents." This news will obviously comes as disappointment to people who were looking for a knock down, drag out brawl in New York. It's probably a letdown for the promoter as well, seeing as they had priced tickets at $1,250 a pop.
It should be noted that as of 7:25 Eastern Time the Bush camp has not responded to a call for comment.
In Italy, the law against homophobia didn't passed, while in the US president Barack Obama signed a law that states as a federal crime any attack against a person only for his sexual orientation or sexual identity. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/leggecontroomofobiausa011109.htmlIn Italy, the law against homophobia didn't passed, while in the US president Barack... more
US President Barack Obama has paid his respects to 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, the first time he has honoured the fallen in this way.
His predecessor, George W Bush, visited the families of dead troops but never received the bodies at the base, in Dover, Delaware.
Mr Bush also did not go to military funerals, telling the military newspaper Stars and Stripes three years ago that he preferred to meet families privately.
Bush also said that gave up playing golf in honor of the troops, instead of continue playing golf and giving up starting wars. He said playing golf during wartime sent the wrong message. Kind of like giving a victory speech under a banner that reads "Mission Accomplished".
President Bush was in Canada yesterday to speak at a luncheon of the Montreal Board of Trade. Approximately 300 protesters gathered outside the venue, blowing plastic horns, throwing shoes, and burning the former president in effigy. The Vancouver Sun reports on what happened during Bush’s speech:
Inside the regal Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, a relaxed-appearing Bush spoke with very few regrets about some of the most controversial moves of his presidency.
“I am confident that I made decisions based on principle, that I made calls as best I could, and I did not sell my soul,” Bush told an audience of about 1,000 men and women at the $400-a-seat steak luncheon.
Bush also said that he regretted appearing in front of a “Mission Impossible” sign in 2003 during an address about the Iraq war. Of course, the sign actually said “Mission Accomplished.” Maybe “Mission Impossible” would have been more appropriate.
he man chosen by Barack Obama to lead the war in Afghanistan also helped cover up the friendly-fire death of NFL player turned soldier Pat Tillman, writes Jon Krakauer. He administered a fraudulent medal recommendation to keep the public in the dark. So why isn’t anybody talking about it?he man chosen by Barack Obama to lead the war in Afghanistan also helped cover up the... more
David H. Safavian, the top federal procurement official under President George W. Bush, was sentenced to a year in prison for lying about his ties to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Mr. Safavian, ex-chief of staff at the General Services Administration, was accused of hiding his efforts to help Mr. Abramoff win federal business. He was convicted in December of obstruction of justice and making false statements.David H. Safavian, the top federal procurement official under President George W.... more
Lewis and Clark brought two bear cubs to Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Van Buren had tiger cubs. Perhaps most interesting was the alligator that John Quincy Adams kept in a bathtub. But the most popular pets, as one might expect, are dogs and cats.Lewis and Clark brought two bear cubs to Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Van Buren had... more
Members of the Hollywood chic and international Film industry are loudly clamoring in their chorus of support for Roman Polanski.Members of the Hollywood chic and international Film industry are loudly clamoring in... more
The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush in protest was freed from prison early last week and, unrepentant, he harshly condemned the U.S. presence in his country and accused authorities of torturing him.The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush in protest... more
In his WSJ op-ed today, which the paper headlined “The President Risks Getting Stale: Continuous TV appearances can’t rescue a bad argument,” former Bush adviser Karl Rove criticized President Obama’s interviews on five Sunday morning talk shows this past weekend. “Mr. Obama doesn’t need more TV time,” wrote Rove. “More talk doesn’t automatically lead to greater public support, but it can erode public confidence in your leadership.”
While the impact of Obama’s “full Ginsburg” is open for debate, it’s surprising to hear Rove criticize the White House for having Obama make so many public appearances. In his new memoir, former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer writes that “Rove was of the belief that the president needed to be out speaking every day no matter what the subject”:
Other speeches were scheduled for no apparent reason at all. Karl Rove was of the belief that the president needed to be out speaking every day no matter what the subject. Sometimes Bush would be at the podium four separate times in twenty-four hours, talking about the war in Iraq, the Olympics, the economy, or the birth of Thomas Jefferson. And the next day there might be another speech on Iraq, one more on the economy and maybe a salute to Irish Americans. This obviously made it hard to broadcast a coherent message. [Latimer, pp. 181-182]
There has been concern among some that Obama’s media campaign to push health care reform could leave him overexposed. But the recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll says that’s not the case. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they see “the right amount” of the president.
Additionally, Rove asserts that “Americans have taken the measure of Mr. Obama’s health-care plan and, as his falling poll numbers attest, increasingly don’t like it.” But in reality, Pollster’s aggregation of public opinion surveys shows that support for both Obama’s health care plan and his handling of the issue has been increasing as of late.In his WSJ op-ed today, which the paper headlined “The President Risks Getting... more
Census Bureau report on income, poverty and access to health care-the Bureau's principal report card on the well-being of average Americans-closes the books on the economic record of George W. Bush.
It's not a record many Republicans are likely to point to with pride.
On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked. By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those measures during Bill Clinton's two terms, often substantially.Census Bureau report on income, poverty and access to health care-the Bureau's... more
China owns the United States --or, at least, holds a 'mortgage'. China props up the dollar just enough to ensure that its excess production can be dumped here by way of its US retail outlet --Wal-Mart! The value of the US dollar is almost entirely dependent on China. When it ceases to be advantageous for China to prop up the dollar, the dollar will collapse.
The decline and fall of the American empire is a sorry, tragic saga. It is the story of betrayals of this nation by the likes of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan , Bush Sr., the Shrub, and many lesser known 'agents' of the increasingly tiny cadre of ruling elites. It is the story of how GOP administrations paid off its elite base with tax cuts which have had, in fact, the effects of impoverishing the poor, enriching the rich, exporting the US manufacturing base, and exporting the jobs that it had supported.
More at link.China owns the United States --or, at least, holds a 'mortgage'. China props up the... more
The Obama administration told a judge late Monday that it will continue to withhold information regarding past detainee policies for national security reasons, a decision assailed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had been seeking Bush-era documents “including a presidential directive authorizing CIA ‘black sites,’” CIA inspector general records, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel documents about the CIA's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques.”
In the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York had ordered the Obama administration to either turn over various documents pertaining to detainee policies by August 31 or provide justification for withholding them.
On August 31, Wendy Hilton, associate information review officer for the National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency wrote to Judge Hellerstein stating that information about CIA intelligence activities, sources, and methods, and foreign relations and foreign activities previously classified as SECRET or TOP SECRET were done so correctly because disclosing that information “reasonably could be expected to result in serious or exceptionally grave damage to the national security, which includes defense against transnational terrorism.”
Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project, assailed Hilton’s argument, calling it “entirely incompatible with the Obama administration's stated commitment to ending torture and restoring governmental transparency.The Obama administration told a judge late Monday that it will continue to withhold... more
A long-suppressed report by the Central Intelligence Agency's inspector general to be released next week reveals that CIA interrogators staged mock executions as part of the agency's post-9/11 program to detain and question terror suspects, NEWSWEEK has learned.
According to two sources—one who has read a draft of the paper and one who was briefed on it—the report describes how one detainee, suspected USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was threatened with a gun and a power drill during the course of CIA interrogation. According to the sources, who like others quoted in this article asked not to be named while discussing sensitive information, Nashiri's interrogators brandished the gun in an effort to convince him that he was going to be shot. Interrogators also turned on a power drill and held it near him. "The purpose was to scare him into giving [information] up," said one of the sources. A federal law banning the use of torture expressly forbids threatening a detainee with "imminent death."
According to the sources, the report also says that a mock execution was staged in a room next to a detainee, during which a gunshot was fired in an effort to make the suspect believe that another prisoner had been killed. The inspector general's report alludes to more than one mock execution.
Before leaving office, Bush administration officials confirmed that Nashiri was one of three CIA detainees subjected to waterboarding. They also acknowledged that Nashiri was one of two al Qaeda detainees whose detentions and interrogations were documented at length in CIA videotapes. But senior officials of the agency's undercover operations branch, the National Clandestine Service, ordered that the tapes be destroyed, an action which has been under investigation for over a year by a federal prosecutor.
More info @ linkA long-suppressed report by the Central Intelligence Agency's inspector general to be... more
George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s “stimulus” programs will permanently transform the American economy. The market-based system that has produced unprecedented prosperity relies on profit and loss, which rewards individuals and firms that add value to the economy and penalizes those that detract value. The various stimulus programs undermine that system.
My discussion will focus on four distinct components of the 2008-09 stimulus: Federal Reserve policy, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Obama stimulus spending package, and the bailouts of automobile and financial firms. Because there is a temptation to stereotype political parties, labeling the Democrats the party of big government and the Republicans the party of limited government and fiscal conservatism, it is worth emphasizing that these policies were bipartisan. The Federal Reserve policies came during the Bush administration and under Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a Bush appointee. TARP was implemented by Bush and his Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and the bailouts of automobile and financial firms were initiated in the Bush administration.
My message is one of hope and change. The change is the four stimulus programs. The hope is this: I hope I am wrong about the permanent negative effects these programs will have on America.
Federal Reserve Policy
Two fundamental elements of Federal Reserve policy changed in 2008:The Fed began making loans to nonbank financial institutions and buying financial assets other than securities issued by the U.S. Treasury.
The Fed was established in 1913 primarily to lend money to member banks based on their assets that could be used to pay off the loans. Until 2008 the only firms the Fed would lend to were member commercial banks. Then the Fed began making loans to nonbank financial institutions. It did so to provide those firms with liquidity, but in doing so it broke with precedent in two ways. First, it made loans to firms that were not members of the Federal Reserve System, and second, it made loans based on questionable assets, running the risk that the borrowers might not be able to repay the loans.
The second major change was that the Fed bought financial assets not issued by the Treasuryóso-called toxic assets held by private banks and other firms. The true value of the assets was questionable, so the Fed risked losses. The Fed can afford to take those losses, however. The biggest problem with this change in policy is that by buying some assets rather than others, the Fed was supporting some firms over others.
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Dick Cheney believes his old boss, President George W. Bush, gradually turned away from his advice during their second term in the White House, showing a surprising independence as he started taking more flexible positions on a range of issues, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Cheney, often described as the most influential vice president in U.S. history, has been discussing his years in office in informal talks with authors, diplomats, policy experts and past colleaguesWASHINGTON – Former Vice President Dick Cheney believes his old boss, President... more
"Throughout modern history, art typically enters politics on a mass scale in two fashions: first, as a check on power; second, as a tool used by those in power. Freedom of the Press comes into play in both cases, but in very different ways. In the first case, it protects political commentary by artists. This freedom is not a garnish. It is a necessary weapon, enshrined in the Constitution for the purpose of countering contradictions, hypocrisies, and distortions made by politicians and others in power. Yet the art community has responded to the Obama administration's contradictions, hypocrisies, and distortions with near total silence.
Consider the recent flurry of debate over the Obama "Joker" posters that have been appearing in Los Angeles. This image represents the only substantial counterpoint to Obama's current agenda from the art community. What's been the response?
One writer from the LA Weekly declared of the image, "The only thing missing is a noose." Philip Kennicott of The Washington Post stated, "So why the anonymity? Perhaps because the poster is ultimately a racially charged image." Bedlam magazine, the first to comment on the poster back in April, argued, "The Joker white-face imposed on Obama's visage has a sort of malicious, racist, Jim Crow quality to it." Why would any artist who hopes to have (or keep) a career create images that criticize the president when both journalists and art reviewers make such irrational comments? To give some perspective, remember that the "noose" comment came from a publication that once presented a cover image of George W. Bush as a bloodthirsty vampire.
I find it hard to believe that the Obama Joker creator is the only serious detractor (assuming that it is a critical commentary) within the art community. And I'm sure the incendiary criticism will keep others from creating similar images. But regardless of political affiliation, the art community must embrace all rational dissenters. Art must not exclusively serve the interests of any presidential administration.
It's time for the art community to return to its historical role in political affairs, which means speaking to power, not on behalf of it. Which leads me to the second case where art enters politics on a mass scale. The power of art, in combination with the suppression of free speech or a free press, has been used as a tool by authoritarian governments to control their citizens. From Hitler, Stalin, and Mao to Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il, art has been used to deify leaders while preserving the position of the ruling class. Most artists would not want to be referred to as tools of the state, but in the case of Obama's administration, that's exactly what they've been so far.""Throughout modern history, art typically enters politics on a mass scale in two... more
New polls that show President Obama’s popularity has sunk to record lows should act as an alarm bell for the possibility that a manufactured crisis, just as was exploited by Bush and Clinton before him, is being prepared to reinvigorate support behind the government’s stalling agenda.
Both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton before him were able to seize upon crises relatively early into their tenures to ram through their political agenda.
Bush enjoyed approval ratings in the 90’s immediately after 9/11, which happened less than 8 months into his presidency, and exploited the tragedy to launch a geopolitical crusade, while the Oklahoma City bombing handed Clinton all the justification he needed to advance his domestic campaign to demonize and marginalize the growing patriot movement.
What will Obama’s crisis be?New polls that show President Obama’s popularity has sunk to record lows should act... more
