Action Point with Cynthia Black 02-03-2008: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• PERSONAL SECURITY: Copy a CD, owe $1.5 million under "gluttonous" PRO-IP Act:

  Not content with the current (and already massive) statutory damages allowed under copyright law, the RIAA is pushing to expand the provision. The issue is compilations, which now are treated as a single work. In the RIAA's perfect world, each copied track would count as a separate act of infringement, meaning that a copying a ten-song CD even one time could end up costing a defendant $1.5 million if done willfully. Sound fair? Proportional? Necessary? Not really, but that doesn't mean it won't become law.

• RESOURCE (ARMS CONTROL): THE CENTER FOR ARMS CONTROL AND NONPROLIFERATION: For those seeking the best up-to-date Iraq/Iran coverage and comment on US government security issues (note: think about subscribing to the newsletter)!

• POLITICS: NATIONAL: CAMPAIGN 2008: Super Tuesday with Brave New Films and the Young Turks: Can't get out to Super Tuesday house party? No sweat. Join Brave New Films and The Young Turks. Send tips, breaking news, and comments and “...make this coverage the best around”!

• DIRTY TRICKS: Americans United Urges IRS To Investigate Two Religious Right Groups For Biased Voter Guides:

  The Internal Revenue Service should investigate two prominent tax-exempt Religious Right groups that produced biased voter guides for the presidential election, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

  In complaints filed today with the IRS, Americans United charged that voter guides produced by the American Family Association and WallBuilders are clearly designed to promote Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

  The guides, posted on the groups’ Web sites, list the Republican candidates and their alleged stands on a range of issues, such as support for a human life amendment, “traditional marriage,” “business freedom” and “moral education” and opposition to “gay pride.” Only Huckabee is assigned a “yes” stance on all of the issues.

  AND: 3 US workers face investigation over Obama e-mail:

  Three federal employees are being investigated for unlawful political activities after they allegedly sent an e-mail falsely accusing Barack Obama of being a "radical Muslim," the Globe has learned.

• ELECTION PROTECTION: Republican NH Primary Candidate Demands Secretary of State Allow Unvoted Ballots to be Counted in Ongoing Election Contest:

  Albert Howard Hand Delivers Letter to SoS Gardner, Reiterates Demand For Reconciliation of All Uncast Ballots ALSO: Diebold Machine Errors Reported in 21 Towns, Democrat John Conyers Calls Howard, Expresses Support...

  AND Blackwell could be subpoenaed:

  Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has been asked to testify next Friday in Washington, D.C., by the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The topic: "Voter Suppression," according to this letter sent Tuesday to Blackwell, who now works for the Family Research Council, Buckeye Institute and other conservative policy groups.The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat, is investigating election irregularities, including long lines and challenges to voter registrations. Blackwell, a Republican from Cincinnati, said he received the invitation, "however, my schedule will not permit me to attend the hearings."

  AND: Binomial analysis: Was the New Hampshire Primary Stolen on Behalf of Hillary?

  Many election-integrity activists with good mathematical intuitions looked at the returns and exclaimed, “That just couldn’t have happened by accident.” What they were speaking of, of course, was the fact that Barack Obama led Hillary Clinton by 53.25% to 46.75% in the 35,864 votes cast for one or the other of them on hand-counted paper ballots (HCPBs), whereas he lost to her by 47.27% to 52.73% of the 81,753 computer-counted votes cast for one or the other of them on optical scanners (op-scans).

• ENVIRONMENT: Does carbon trading really work?: Larry Lohmann, editor of Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate Change, critiques cap-and-trade.

• NO COMMENT: Another Election Season, Another Political Prosecution in Alabama:

  So why would a federal prosecutor put such tremendous resources into arresting and prosecuting a retired social studies teacher? Schmitz is an irresistible target. She’s a Democratic member of the state legislature.

• NATIONAL SECURITY: Taliban threaten US/NATO supply lines in Pakistan: Aijaz Ahmad: Musharraf reluctant to fight Pakistani tribes - serious crisis developing.

• MUST READ: Can't Pay Your Mortgage? Trash Your House and Leave:

  "There's been a change in social attitudes toward default," Mr. Lewis told the Journal. "We're seeing people who are current on their credit cards but are defaulting on their mortgages. I'm astonished that people would walk away from their homes." While Lewis may scratch his head in disbelief, employees of the bank Wachovia have an explanation that might work for him: Homeowners have crunched the numbers and decided their houses are worth less than their mortgages. According to a recent conference call, many of Wachovia's current losses in California are originating not from subprime buyers fallen on financial hardship, but from homeowners who can pay their cleverly structured loans but are just choosing a different fate. "They've been from people that have otherwise had the capacity to pay," a Wachovia spokesperson said on the call, "but have basically just decided not to because they feel like they've lost equity, value in their properties.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 11-25-2007: The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• I TOLD YOU SO FILE (well, I didn't tell you but I told some friends in private): The Bush Administration knew that Pervez Musharraf planned to institute Marshall law: Yes, it does matter. Another American-sponsored dictator struggles in a post 911 world.

  "One of Gen. Musharraf's closest advisers said U.S. criticism was muted, which some senior Pakistanis interpreted as a sign they could proceed," the Journal said. "'You don't like that option? You give us one,' the adviser says he told his American interlocutors. 'There were no good options.”

• CAMPAIGN 2008: Muted Ad Messages Are in Style: As the season heats up you need to know the tactics being used on YOU!

  Mitt Romney talks about bringing up his five boys. Rudy Giuliani says he's not perfect, Hillary Clinton is praised by a grateful man for saving his son's life. In a recent spate of campaign commercials, the leading presidential candidates have tried to send reassuring signals, deflect criticism or denigrate their opponents by relying on code phrases and images, rather than explicit language. "It's the psychological mechanism known as inoculation," says Shanto Iyengar, a professor of communication at Stanford University. "You give people a small dose of the virus, in the hope that later on, when opponents start bashing you on family values or whatever, viewers will have enough of the defense to resist the incoming attacks."

  And then there's this: FOXNews Slips Picture Of Hillary Clinton Into Unrelated Anti-Immigration Story!

• BIG MEDIA: Don 'Nappy Headed Ho's' Imus Is Ba-a-ack -- and So Are His Enablers: No comment:

  It's no surprise that executives of major media corporations rushed to defend Imus by claiming, as did Citadel Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman, "He's more than paid the price for what he did." After all, as recently noted in the New York Observer, "redemption and rehabilitation are secondary concerns" for Citadel. Phil Boyce, operations manager at the company's flagship station WABC, spelled it out in stark terms, explaining, "Obviously, there are a couple of reasons to look at him, but the biggest reason is the revenue opportunity. There's a lot of money to be made there. And we're in the business of making money."

• ELECTION INTEGRITY: Dirty tricksters caught on video at UC Santa Barbara:

  When Steven Attewell, an eagle-eyed member of the blog Daily Kos, alerted Courage Campaign staffer Erik Love that California Counts petition-gatherers at UC Santa Barbara were gathering signatures to help "children with cancer," he headed out to investigate. And, sure enough, Erik noticed that "children with cancer" was just a sneaky tactic to get people to sign the so-called "Electoral College Reform Initiative" -- what we call the dirty trick initiative.

• INTERNATIONAL: How Will Pakistani Conflict Impact the World?

  There are two distinct conflicts within Pakistan's polity. The first is between rebels along the Afghan border and the Pakistani state, and the second is between pro-democracy forces and Musharraf's military dictatorship. The outcomes of both struggles will affect the rest of the region, with some implications potentially being felt globally. Who is affected by Pakistan's turmoil, and why?

• MUST READ: "Corporate Interests Have Literally Taken Over This Government": another excellent piece from David Sirota (WARNING: Sirota product commercial inserted):

“Some folks have asked me why I have written so much about John Edwards in the past few months. The answer can be seen in this short clip.”

• ENVIRONMENT: North Carolina Student Climate Coalition Convinces State to Revisit Permit on New Coal Plant! When you Do Something, it's not all doom and gloom.

• UPDATE TO THE ANDREW MYERS FILE (aka police over-reactions in a post 911 World): Cop allegedly Tasers driver over speeding ticket: Watch the Youtube video yourself. Oh and by the way: “Signing a speeding ticket is not an admission of guilt, Roden said. He described it as a promise that a motorist “will take care of the citation.”

• SPEAKING OF TORTURE: Canadian terror trial kept secret, groups say: This is not surprising and just because we are not surprised does not mean we should not be outraged. I know about rage fatigue but how fatigued do you think you will be raging against this when it happens to your son? As Robert Greenwald's fabulous films conclude: “Do Something”.

  “The military commissions, which will be conducted at Guantanamo Bay, are the first to be conducted since World War II. It is important that the proceeding in the Khadr case not only be fair but that it be perceived as fair, and that cannot happen unless the public is able to follow and understand the events as they transpire, the five news organizations said.”

• THIS IS BAD (NO, REALLY BAD) FILE UPDATE: Saudi Arabia to Punish Survivor of Gang Rape with 200 Lashes and Prison Term: First, a woman who was raped by six armed men was originally sentenced to receive 90 lashes for "being in the car of an unrelated male at the time of the rape," but after the woman went to the media Saudi Arabia's Higher Judicial Council more than doubled her punishment for "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media." Now, what does Bush have to say about all this?

  “Yesterday, McCormack was asked if the administration’s silence was “driven by a desire not to offend Saudi Arabia as a close ally.” “No, it’s — no, that’s not it at all,” he claimed, but then acknowledged the administration has yet to convey its “astonishment” directly to the Saudis. “I am not aware of any direct contact with the Saudis on this issue,” he said.

• INCOMING: Firefighters taking new role as anti-terrorist eyes of the US government: Does firefighter Scott Ritter know (more importantly, does he 'do') this? “

  Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel need no warrants to enter hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings each year, which puts them in position to spot behavior that could indicate terror activity or planning.

• PERSONAL SECURITY ALERT: Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request: So it seems that “Federal officials” are “routinely asking courts” to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can find people they say are bad guys, like drug traffickers, and in some cases judges grant the requests without asking for evidence there is probable cause (isn't that a law-- requiring evidence of probable cause?). If that's not disturbing enough (you knew that telecoms' setting the precedent would create privacy rights “creep”, yes?) there's also this:

  With Verizon's Chaperone service, parents can set up a "geofence" around, say, a few city blocks and receive an automatic text message if their child, holding the cellphone, travels outside that area."Most people don't realize it, but they're carrying a tracking device in their pocket," said Kevin Bankston of the privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation.
  

INCOMING: California RNC 2008 "Dirty Tricks" Already Afoot!

Excellent post warning of California RNC attempt to steal 20 electoral votes for Republicans PERMANENTLY!

NY Times: Republicans Will Use "Elaborate Dirty Trick" to steal White House:
Every so often, political hacks join high-minded commissions and say things that sound downright statesman-like. But then, with the passage of time, when dollar signs dance in their heads, they forget that they have a conscience and go back to prostitution. That appears to be the case here in California, where lawyers for the Republican Party have put forward an initiative so cynical and embarrassingly partisan, that Fidel Castro would blush. The New York Times put it succinctly in a scathingly powerful editorial yesterday: this initiative is an "elaborate dirty trick" by a "shadowy group" of California Republicans will "do serious damage to our democracy."

SNIP--

Tom DeLay, who as the House majority leader put up with the inconvenience of having to achieve Congressional majorities to pass legislation, simply stole five new congressional seats in 2003 by using corporate money to bribe members of the Texas legislature to invent new Republican seats where formerly Democrats had been electable. Remember when the minority Democratic members of the Texas legislature fled the state so that there could be no vote on this literally corrupt power grab? Eventually, DeLay won and Democrats did not win back the House, by about five seats. DeLay's gone, but at what price?

Dirty tricks, paid for illegally by corporate funds, kept the House in Bush's hands for another two years.

Now a lawyer named Tom Hiltachk, who works for the California Republican Party and until a few months ago worked for Governor Schwarzenegger, has filed an initiative that would steal 20 or so Electoral College votes from California's 55, making it damn near impossible for a Democrat to win back the White House.

SNIP--

There's one simple way to put this behind us. Imagine if hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in this country signed a petition to say "no more dirty tricks." And then every day, for as long as it takes, we force those who have the temerity to support this dirty trick to explain themselves.