Action Point with Cynthia Black 03-23-2008: The Reference Shelf

Just a little note from me to you;

With our third hour and the Campaign 2008 gloves coming off (and I'm referring to the right-wing media, not the Democratic Primary which is I think, the least of this country's problems) Action Point and our Reference Shelf content will be covering more of the “horse track” (as Brad Friedman puts it) and less of the Presidential horse race. Brad in his case means election fraud tactics. I mean the blatant use of propaganda language techniques and fraudulent media manipulation intended to confound “democracy-loving” Americans of all parties.

And you can continue to count on us to keep delivering the policy and issues through our great Action Point interviews and guests!

-- Best, Cynthia Black



Today's article and item links:

• POLITICS: NATIONAL: CAMPAIGN 2008: Following up on last week and Jeffrey Feldman's advice to focus on the violent framing of right-wing religious endorsements for McCain (which violent innuendo they have, by the way, begun sliming onto Barack Obama's supporters) we bring you this: Hagee, in 'NYT' This Sunday, Says McCain Sought His Endorsement:

  In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my endorsement." McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views, much as Barack Obama is doing in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and accepted his accolades this year.

AND taking on the right-wing wing smear machine requires some ammo. For those fighting for Obama, here are just a few articles containing excellent arguments: An Attack on Our Senior Pastor and the History of the African American Church and on the same site look for A Word of Respect for Jeremiah Wright.

• NEW SITE: RELIGION DISPATCHES: This week the article that causes me to declare this our latest new site also addresses the racist attacks on Obama with this article: Obama's Pastor and the Politics of Patriotic Treason:

  This past week, the controversy surrounding Senator Barack Obama’s pastor, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, reached a head. Investigative reporters at ABC released excerpts from Dr. Wright’s sermons where he appears to be making inflammatory and unpatriotic pronouncements against the United States. Excerpts include Dr. Wright attributing the 9/11 attacks to a matter of “the chickens coming home to roost,” and suggesting African Americans sing “God Damn America” in place of “God Bless America.”

• ELECTION FRAUD: Will Rush Limbaugh Be Indicted for Voter Fraud? This could get very interesting. Not because Rush will be indicted, but because pressure on free-speech rights for broadcasters could open up that fat greasy can of worms labeled: Media Lies Are Legal.

  In case you missed it, Rush Limbaugh, the nation's top-rated talk radio host, was urging Republicans in Texas and Ohio to skip their party's primary on March 4 and instead cast a vote for Hillary Clinton in order to prolong the fight between her and Barack Obama. And that Tuesday, as media in both states reported, thousands of Republicans did just what Limbaugh and others had suggested -- they changed parties to vote for Clinton.
  

• NATIONAL SECURITY: Dick Cheney tour sparks Iran war rumours:

  Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, has triggered speculation that he has been using a tour of the Middle East to prepare Iran's neighbours for a possible war with Tehran.

  That as well as Bush's Bum John McCain and his stuttering insistence It's "Common Knowledge" That Iran Is Training Al-Qaida... (psst...guys...never trust a newbie with unpracticed propaganda technique) should put you on Iran Alert. More from Action Point on Iran and Iraq next week.

AND from the small but mighty McClatchy Newspapers: Bush erroneously says Iran announced desire for nuclear weapons:

President Bush contended that Iran has "declared they want a nuclear weapon to destroy people" and that the Islamic Republic could be hiding a secret program. Iran, however, has never publicly proclaimed a desire for nuclear weapons and has repeatedly insisted that the uranium enrichment program it's operating in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions is for civilian power plants, not warheads.

• PERSONAL SECURITY: Fallout from The Energy Policy Act of 2005: Before you think I haven't noticed, the source of this article and the journalist who today will be discussing the topic on Action Point, has a “right wing” bent. I have found that in some cases, especially on First Amendment and National Security issues, all Americans regardless of party agree on important issues. This is one of those issues, so join me in checking your bias for this stunning coverage!

  And in 2007, barely after the ink dried from EPAct 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 was passed by federal lawmakers and signed into law. EISA conveniently serves to obfuscate critical issues that continue to stress the US electrical power grid, its energy generation and transmission capacity. Yet, EPAct 2005 has continually escaped public scrutiny and a lack of accountability in both houses of the US Congress.

  AND I don't see this story in election terms because really, if they are snooping in the files of the high and mighty, what can get away with when it comes to you? Passport files of candidates breached:

  State Department employees snooped through the passport files of three presidential candidates — Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain — and the department's inspector general is investigating. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the violations of McCain and Clinton's passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the unauthorized access of Obama's records and a separate search was conducted.
  

• MUST READ: New Crisis, Old Isms: Weighing in “...routinely package corruption as sound public policy,” re: the mortgage crises, David Sirota nails it again as this weeks Must Read:

  Some background: During the housing boom, banks doled out home loans to financially strapped borrowers, often on predatory terms. On the creditor side, these same banks packaged many of the loans as complex securities and sold them off to unwitting investors, generating a handsome profit on the paper transactions. At the same time, Wall Street used campaign contributions to coerce Congress into blocking anti-predatory-lending bills and repealing a landmark law regulating how banks could buy and sell securities.

  By the way, join us for this week's Palast Report in which Greg expands more on the “campaign contribution” side of the story.

Action Point with Cynthia Black 02-17-2008 The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• PERSONAL SECURITY: Christian Right's Emerging Deadly Worldview: Kill Muslims to Purify the Earth: You know, I was once skeptical of claims that the religious right posed a threat to average Americans. I grew up in the age of “Jesus Freaks” who were more irritating than troublesome. Once online access gave me “eyes-on” access to their thinking, I knew I was wrong. Today's “Jesus Freaks” want to kill, and they have the government to do it. So here is yet another chilling but sad update on how the “least of these” is trying to actually obliterate “the rest of them”:

  Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani are the three stooges of the Christian right. These self-described former Muslim terrorists are regularly trotted out -- a few days ago they were at the Air Force Academy -- to spew racist filth about Islam on behalf of groups such as Focus on the Family. It is a clever tactic. Curly, Larry and Mo, who all say they are born-again Christians, engage in hate speech and assure us it comes from personal experience.

• RESOURCE (FRAMING): Students Are Like Plants, Not Widgets: Rockridge Institute's excellent advice for presenting Democratic policy on education issues.

• POLITICS: NATIONAL: CAMPAIGN 2008: Less Jobs More Wars: is an interesting new video and campaign from Brave New Films that you can use to frame the McCain war rhetoric in the context of it's likely losses-- American economic security.
  

AND Democracy For America has taken on an interesting wrinkle in elections for Democrats this year: super-delegates. As you know by now, super-delegates were designed by the Democratic party to alter the popular vote would it not turn out the candidate the party elite had intended may not get elected, as happened at the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention. DFA has some suggestions with Let The Voters Decide on what to do about that:

Thirty-seven states and U.S. territories have already voted and we don't have a clear nominee. Senators Clinton and Obama are in a delegate race to the nomination. There are a lot of ways that delegates get assigned to a specific candidate, but almost all of the allocated delegates are directly tied and bound by the actual votes in each primary or caucus - all of them that is, except super-delegates.

• 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.

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

• NATIONAL SECURITY (IRAN): In 2007 I committed to preventing an unnecessary strike on Iran and formed a small ad-hoc group, Strike Prevention Task Force, through which to do my part. This video “The Folly of Attacking Iran” also found on one of my favorite resources, Iran Nuclear Watch, is a must-see!

• SPEAKING OF TORTURE: Lieberman Endorses Waterboarding Since 'It's Not Like Using Hot Coals' on People:

  Yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) "reluctantly acknowledged" that he doesn't believe waterboarding is torture. According to the Connecticut Post, Lieberman downplayed the severity of the waterboarding because it doesn't inflict permanent physical damage...

• THE ANDREW MYERS FILE (or How I Learned to Stop Caring About Overt Government Insecurity Interfering With My Right to Privacy): Bush orders Clampdown on Flights to US:

  The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights from Europe to America by US airlines. The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush regime that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements. According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.

  (Hat-tip -- Citizens For Legitimate Government)

• No Comment: I have a personal commitment to aiding those with environmentally induced toxic responses, sometimes called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, et al. This You Tube link came to me from an online resource seeking support via email to British government authorities to help the victim in this case receive protection. Please, do what you can.

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 01-06-2008 The Reference Shelf

Today's article and item links:

• HEALTH ALERT: What if Congress passed a law that made the price of your groceries go up by 900 percent?

  There would be an instant uproar, and you can bet the problem would be fixed, immediately. Last year, Congress made a technical error. As a result, the cost of birth control in many clinics is rising to almost 900 percent what it was just months ago. Women who were paying $5 to $10 per month are now paying $40 to $50 for birth control. For the college students and low-income women affected by this cost hike, that’s no small matter. Congress has had more than 11 months to fix the mistake — needlessly jeopardizing women’s health. Congress must restore birth control to affordable levels this year.

• ELECTION INTEGRITY: Student Voters Supressed in Iowa:

  We've all seen the cry of "voter fraud" being used for political purposes in recent years, but this latest example would be amusing if it weren't so pernicious: David Yepsen, a leading political reporter for The Des Moines Register, has suggested that Senator Obama's encouragement of college students to vote in the Iowa caucuses amounts to "fraud."

  And, Legal voters thrown off rolls:

  Five years after passage of a federal law to create electronic registration databases to deter voter fraud, the new technology is posing hurdles that could disenfranchise thousands of legal voters, a USA TODAY examination finds. From Florida to Washington, voters have been challenged because names or numbers on their registration forms did not exactly match other government databases, such as Social Security and motor vehicle agencies. "We know that eligible people have been thrown off the rolls," says Justin Levitt, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

  AND, Exclusive: Scary 'New York Times' story on faulty voting machines this Sunday.

• SPEECHLESS: Sordid Tales Of Clinton-hater:

  After noting that his first marriage also ended with an affair, Scaife told VF he no longer believes in monogamy: "I don't want people throwing rocks at me in the street. But I believe in open marriage."

• Campaign 2008: The Return of the SwiftBoaters:

  Research by The Nation into Federal Election Commission records of the group's top twenty donors reveals that they've been remarkably active in this cycle, contributing and bundling nearly $200,000 to presidential candidates. This does not bode well. During the last presidential campaign, the wealthy backers of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth--now rebranded as Swift Vets and POWs for Truth--didn't do their real dirty work until the general election, where as a tax-exempt 527 group they operated outside the restraints of direct campaign contributions. We may wish we were done with the Swift Boaters, but they aren't done with us.

• ENVIRONMENT: How Green are Obama and Huckabee?

• MUST READ: As Predicted, Populism Is On the Rise - Who's Laughing Now? another excellent piece from David Sirota:

  Back in August, I wrote an article for the Huffington Post entitled "An Economic Populist Is Rising In the GOP Presidential Primary." In that article, I predicted that Republican Mike Huckabee would rise and potentially win the Iowa caucuses based on his relentless focus on economic inequality and class-based populism. I chided the media and Democrats for ignoring him, and when I wrote this article, I was laughed at by many reporters, pundits and readers alike.

• "I Just Want to Tear Out My Hair" UPDATES: Bush Admin Slow to Respond on KBR Sex Assault Questions

• INTERNATIONAL: Bush Issues Signing Statement Undermining Sudan Accountability And Divestment Act:

  Yesterday, President Bush signed the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, which makes it easier for “states, local governments and private investors to cut investment ties with Sudan as a way to pressure the Khartoum government into ending violence in the country’s Darfur region.” Both the House and the Senate passed the bill unanimously.

• Personal Security Alert: World's Top Surveillance Societies:

  Privacy International, a UK privacy group, and the U.S.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center have put together a world map of surveillance societies, rating various nations for their civil liberties records. Both the U.S. and the UK are colored black for "endemic surveillance," as are Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Russia, China and Malaysia. Among the trends that the two organizations have tracked: The 2007 rankings indicate an overall worsening of privacy protection across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining performance on privacy safeguards.