Remember that nut from Alaska? It turns out she's a quitter. "Say it ain't so Joe". She put in her three weeks notice. Her explanation was an ambiguous 7,000+ word screed that any teenager would be proud of, complete with unnecessary quotation marks (I'm flattered.) and explanation points. "You Betcha!" Some say this salmon is swimming up stream, some say the lipsticked Bush is running from something somebody has on her. Maybe it's one of the bloggers she has threatened to sue. I say WHO CARES!!!!
Some real important news stories have been hidden recently by failed republican governors and the death of, arguably, the biggest pop star, greatest entertainer, and most enigmatic celebrity of all time (RIP Michael Jackson). American troops pulled out of Iraq's cities on Iraqi National Sovereignty Day. 5,014 American soldiers dead, 100,000's wounded and they had fire works to celebrate the Us withdrawal. That worked out great. We may not even get at their oil. Well, at least we still have Afghanistan, right? Iranian clerics made a bold move and "defied" the Ayatollah. Maybe there is some power to the people, not to mention the seeds of change in Iran. Good thing we didn't openly meddle or take sides. If we had, Iran's hard-liner claim that "the opposition leader is a US agent" might hold more weight. Honduras is on fire. A coup has taken place there, but don't worry they don't have any oil, or plans for nuclear power. The Uighur uprising in China, that has claimed 156 lives, has China's president, Hu Jintao, threatening the death penalty for rioters, who are keeping him from his Italian Summit with President Obama and the G8. In bad domestic news, unemployment rose to 9.5%. President Obama has said it would hit 10%, and more recently Vice President Biden left his disclosed bunker to say "we and everyone else misread the economy" possibly leading up to the next stimulus package. They said the stimulus package was to be implemented over 18 months (we're about 4 months in), but this is starting to hurt really badly. Just look at States like California and Michigan.
So yeah one republican governor used state funds to see his goumade (mistress) in Argentina, and another republican state chief executive quit before her first term in office was over, but it's a big world out there, and we have plenty of big problems here at home. At least there's a comedy writer/Mic Jagger impersonator in the Capitol Building. Senator Al Franken is "ready to work". But before you get too giddy, that magic Senatorial number 60 everyone keeps talking about only matters if the Democrats walk lock step toward things like Health Care for all and clean, renewable, sustainable energy. Something they have yet to do. We need to push them. It's going to take more than voting to change this country.
I'll leave you with this from Henry Kissinger on Obama's "speech to the Islamic world:
"Obama is like a chess player who is playing simultaneous chess and has opened his game with an unusual opening. Now he's got to play his hand as he plays his various counterparts. We haven't gotten beyond the opening game move yet. I have no quarrel with the opening move."
I just couldn't resist.
To Progress (the "We're going to have to do Our part" kind).
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Respect, Strength, and [a] Justice
It was a week ago, but I am still somewhat awestruck by the President of the United States' speech to the Muslim people of the World, those living in the Middle East in particular, at Cairo University in Egypt. It was the first time I have ever heard an elected official from the US treat the people of the "Muslim world", and their religion, with such respect. Neither extremists nor their appeasers or sympathizers were let off the hook, but to hear an American President recognize the largest religion in the world by speaking (a better attempt than failure 43's Spanish) in its native tongue was something different. The New President has gone as far as to say that Iran has the right to use nuclear power for electricity. Any country with nuclear Weapons is extremely dangerous, just ask Japan. But has Our "do as we say, not as we do", "we're in charge" "we know better" approach worked? Has it stopped Iran or North Korea? Did it stop Pakistan? Has it brought any lasting peace to the "Middle East"? When you are threatened, do you back down, compromise and discuss or do you push back even harder? Four days after Obama's speech hezzbollah lost seats in Lebanon's election? Let's hope Iran's election (that's right , ahmadinejad was democratically elected, as opposed to Our Saudi King ally, among others) goes "our" way too.
Another jaw dropping change in Middle East policy was the President's and the Secretary of State's strong stance opposing Israel's expanding its territory through settlements. Wow! Elected officials who are not of the "Israel can do no wrong" ilk are usually way below any position of policy making power. More on Prime Minister Netanyahu's response after his upcoming speech on "security".
But these were not the only historic and possibly transformational moments recently. In what may become President Obama's Reagan moment (not for the reasons you may think) he has nominated Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. I type "Reagan moment", not because he nominated a woman, but because the nominee may turn into more of a right center leaner than a left, which would be reminiscent of Reagan's appointment, Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra O'Connor, turning out to lean left center. Justice Sotomayor came from the projects in the Bronx, went on to graduate from Princeton University and Yale Law School. She has more judicial experience than anyone on the Supreme Court had when they were nominated. She was first nominated to the Federal bench by President George H. W. Bush and then was promoted by President William Clinton. So far the republicants have had a problem with the way she pronounces her name, the kind of food she eats, the fact that she once said her experience as a "Latin woman" would give her an insight that an old white man or woman might not have (i'm paraphrasing) and of course she said that "the court of appeals is where policy is made". Supreme Court Justice antonin scalia was a bit more blunt when he said "courts often 'make law,' since the precedent of the highest court does not cover every situation, and not every case is reviewed. " Justice Sotomayor has ruled in favor of pro-lifers and pro-choicers. She has been on both sides of discrimination cases during her tenure. She has been a part of thousands of decisions, authored 380+ published opinions, ruled in favor of the Wall Street Journal over the Clinton Justice Department, and ended the baseball strike. But alas, she is a "hispanic" woman, and that has some old white men in a panic.
Speaking of panicking old white men, the republicant party has turned from defeated and disorganized to Down Right dangerous and the Department of Homeland Security's report last month warned us of it. The pro-lifer that murdered a doctor while he was ushering at his church and the white supremist anti-semite opening fire, killing a guard, at the Holocaust Memorial in DC will hopefully be the peak of the violence perpetrated by these domestic terrorists. When the pro-life murderer warned of "more violence to come" where was the outcry from the pro-torture crowd to waterboard him to find out more.
Well, next up health care reform. Why doctors at the AMA may not like it. Why you don't have a choice of whatever doctor and/or procedure you want or need Now. Why a tax increase that is lower than the health care cost it does away with is a good deal. Why America is one of, if not thee, last industrialized, "civilized" nation in the world not to have public health care to go with Our public education and public safety (police & fire).
To Progress.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
Another jaw dropping change in Middle East policy was the President's and the Secretary of State's strong stance opposing Israel's expanding its territory through settlements. Wow! Elected officials who are not of the "Israel can do no wrong" ilk are usually way below any position of policy making power. More on Prime Minister Netanyahu's response after his upcoming speech on "security".
But these were not the only historic and possibly transformational moments recently. In what may become President Obama's Reagan moment (not for the reasons you may think) he has nominated Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. I type "Reagan moment", not because he nominated a woman, but because the nominee may turn into more of a right center leaner than a left, which would be reminiscent of Reagan's appointment, Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra O'Connor, turning out to lean left center. Justice Sotomayor came from the projects in the Bronx, went on to graduate from Princeton University and Yale Law School. She has more judicial experience than anyone on the Supreme Court had when they were nominated. She was first nominated to the Federal bench by President George H. W. Bush and then was promoted by President William Clinton. So far the republicants have had a problem with the way she pronounces her name, the kind of food she eats, the fact that she once said her experience as a "Latin woman" would give her an insight that an old white man or woman might not have (i'm paraphrasing) and of course she said that "the court of appeals is where policy is made". Supreme Court Justice antonin scalia was a bit more blunt when he said "courts often 'make law,' since the precedent of the highest court does not cover every situation, and not every case is reviewed. " Justice Sotomayor has ruled in favor of pro-lifers and pro-choicers. She has been on both sides of discrimination cases during her tenure. She has been a part of thousands of decisions, authored 380+ published opinions, ruled in favor of the Wall Street Journal over the Clinton Justice Department, and ended the baseball strike. But alas, she is a "hispanic" woman, and that has some old white men in a panic.
Speaking of panicking old white men, the republicant party has turned from defeated and disorganized to Down Right dangerous and the Department of Homeland Security's report last month warned us of it. The pro-lifer that murdered a doctor while he was ushering at his church and the white supremist anti-semite opening fire, killing a guard, at the Holocaust Memorial in DC will hopefully be the peak of the violence perpetrated by these domestic terrorists. When the pro-life murderer warned of "more violence to come" where was the outcry from the pro-torture crowd to waterboard him to find out more.
Well, next up health care reform. Why doctors at the AMA may not like it. Why you don't have a choice of whatever doctor and/or procedure you want or need Now. Why a tax increase that is lower than the health care cost it does away with is a good deal. Why America is one of, if not thee, last industrialized, "civilized" nation in the world not to have public health care to go with Our public education and public safety (police & fire).
To Progress.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
Saturday, May 23, 2009
I Still Hope He Succeeds.
The General in charge of Afghanistan was pulled, before his tour is over, and replaced with a General from Special Ops. Signaling a change in direction in that "arena" though the US drone bombings and civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan are more of the same. War as an answer (even part of the answer) is more of the same. Military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, even though they are not your failure's military commissions, sound a heckuva lot like more of the same, as well. The President's reticence in overturning "don't ask, don't tell" has been disheartening to say the least, though there is talk that a new "LGBT" policy is "imminent". I am still holding out hope on Obama's policies on torture. Stopping the practice, and disallowing testimony from torture in trial (or military commission) are both changes, but the hesitation in prosecuting? My hope is he's holding out for the big fish. The "following orders" defense the CIA got away with, unlike the abu ghraib soldiers, is offensive. Non-prosecution of lawyers who twisted Our Law to rationalize using methods we executed japanese soldiers for is unacceptable. Speaker of the House Pelosi recently stirred up a hornets nest saying Federal spies mislead Congress, something officials on both sides have said. What if her "cover her own aft" defense was really bait to get republicants to use the word "investigation". I am a hopeful man. On war, Obama has never been a pacifist. He was against the war in Iraq before it started, like the millions of us who marched against it. But he was "not anti-war, just anti dumb wars". To some of us, all war is dumb, but alas, Congressman Kucinich did not win.
On most other policy fronts foreign and domestic, President Obama has changed the direction of the past 8+ years. His recently announced program for increased gas mileage (CAFE standards) and reduced emissions from US autos is a long awaited revelation. Some argue that the Obama administration is still for big business, because they're trying to save the banking industry by flooding it with Our capital, but his budget definitely tips Our coffers away from the top 1% to the majority of the remaining 99%. Banks are pretty integral to Our economy too, as is the auto industry. The regulation rhetoric is certainly a welcome change from the "ownership society". A "Guantanamo Bay Detainee", charged with the '98 embessey bombings, is actually facing trial in an American Court. Could this be a return to the rule of law in America? Congress's not funding the closing of the detention center, one can only hope, is to stall so the President and the Justice Department can continue to figure out what to do with the detainees. Mr. President, Our "super max" maximum security prisons (and I'm not proud of this) can hold anyone and anything. They are a lot stronger and more secure than the chain link fence that's holding Our suspects in Castro's Cuba.
So, yeah President Obama is doing things I don't agree with. He hasn't changed everything. The flag still has the same unlucky number of stripes. The White House is still painted white. It doesn't help that the majority of the current toothless (another word comes to mind) Congress is still bought and paid for by coal, pharmaceutical, insurance, and "energy" companies, to name a few. It's hard to say and to hear, with unemployment still increasing (albeit at a slower rate), but I do believe We are proceeding in a better direction than We have been in recent times, at least as it pertains to the President of the United States. Did you see him at Notre Dame? Or speaking about National Security and Guantanamo?
The administration's drug czar talking about doing away with "the War on Drugs", the unprecedented amount of press conferences, the new and improved foreign diplomacy (Now with Respect!), the de"sloganizing" of politics, the organic garden in the back yard, getting Us out of dick, bush and rummy's religious war in Iraq. These are changes in direction. The Obama administration has done a lot in their first four months. Not to keep comparing them, but it wasn't until after the tragedy that took place eight months into their watch that failure 43 and boss dick really got anything done. The issues and policies where the President and I differ are by no means insignificant, but in the "big picture"? Barack Obama continues to have my support. I still Hope He Succeeds.
I think one of the biggest mistakes that is made in Washington is this notion you have to dumb things down for the public.
-President Barack Obama
More on the man who lied, and continues to lie and use fear to convince the world he cares. The man who pushed (through waterboarding) for an al qaeda-iraq link, who "simply stated" there was "NO DOUBT" about Iraq's WMDs, who said years ago that Iraqi insurgents were "in their last throes", who gave a company, that was still paying his severance, plenty of no bid contracts. The only former executive brancher, I can remember, to come out full blast against a new executive mere months after being wheeled out of the Inauguration versus The President of the United States on National Security, torture, and how the United States should treat its prisoners of war later.
Is dick speaking out to pre-emptively mount his defense?
P.S. Good Police work FBI on the Bronx synagogue bombing plot. No torture necessary.
On most other policy fronts foreign and domestic, President Obama has changed the direction of the past 8+ years. His recently announced program for increased gas mileage (CAFE standards) and reduced emissions from US autos is a long awaited revelation. Some argue that the Obama administration is still for big business, because they're trying to save the banking industry by flooding it with Our capital, but his budget definitely tips Our coffers away from the top 1% to the majority of the remaining 99%. Banks are pretty integral to Our economy too, as is the auto industry. The regulation rhetoric is certainly a welcome change from the "ownership society". A "Guantanamo Bay Detainee", charged with the '98 embessey bombings, is actually facing trial in an American Court. Could this be a return to the rule of law in America? Congress's not funding the closing of the detention center, one can only hope, is to stall so the President and the Justice Department can continue to figure out what to do with the detainees. Mr. President, Our "super max" maximum security prisons (and I'm not proud of this) can hold anyone and anything. They are a lot stronger and more secure than the chain link fence that's holding Our suspects in Castro's Cuba.
So, yeah President Obama is doing things I don't agree with. He hasn't changed everything. The flag still has the same unlucky number of stripes. The White House is still painted white. It doesn't help that the majority of the current toothless (another word comes to mind) Congress is still bought and paid for by coal, pharmaceutical, insurance, and "energy" companies, to name a few. It's hard to say and to hear, with unemployment still increasing (albeit at a slower rate), but I do believe We are proceeding in a better direction than We have been in recent times, at least as it pertains to the President of the United States. Did you see him at Notre Dame? Or speaking about National Security and Guantanamo?
The administration's drug czar talking about doing away with "the War on Drugs", the unprecedented amount of press conferences, the new and improved foreign diplomacy (Now with Respect!), the de"sloganizing" of politics, the organic garden in the back yard, getting Us out of dick, bush and rummy's religious war in Iraq. These are changes in direction. The Obama administration has done a lot in their first four months. Not to keep comparing them, but it wasn't until after the tragedy that took place eight months into their watch that failure 43 and boss dick really got anything done. The issues and policies where the President and I differ are by no means insignificant, but in the "big picture"? Barack Obama continues to have my support. I still Hope He Succeeds.
I think one of the biggest mistakes that is made in Washington is this notion you have to dumb things down for the public.
-President Barack Obama
More on the man who lied, and continues to lie and use fear to convince the world he cares. The man who pushed (through waterboarding) for an al qaeda-iraq link, who "simply stated" there was "NO DOUBT" about Iraq's WMDs, who said years ago that Iraqi insurgents were "in their last throes", who gave a company, that was still paying his severance, plenty of no bid contracts. The only former executive brancher, I can remember, to come out full blast against a new executive mere months after being wheeled out of the Inauguration versus The President of the United States on National Security, torture, and how the United States should treat its prisoners of war later.
Is dick speaking out to pre-emptively mount his defense?
P.S. Good Police work FBI on the Bronx synagogue bombing plot. No torture necessary.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Hoboken Mayoral Election 2009
My usual focus, as you all know, is National politics, but a number of people have asked me "Who should I vote for" in Hoboken's Mayoral Election on Tuesday. My first response is check out the candidates' forum, and what the candidates and campaigns have written about themselves. But after the recent rumor turned "news story" on Hoboken's most read gossip/business blog, along with negatives stories on that same blog referring to only two out of the three "major" candidates (another completely unbiased bastion of news), I felt the need to type. Negative campaigning, coming mostly from Beth Mason's campaign unfortunately, is usually more susceptible to lies and spin and is Far less constructive than positive/issue based campaigning. Not to say the candidates do not have negatives. They all do.
Up until this campaign, Councilwoman Beth Mason (Her Website) had my pretty vocal support for Mayor, but the "mccain-esque" "win at any cost" campaign she is running and the bed-fellows she has made worry and disappoint me deeply. While on the City Council, Councilwoman Mason went line by line through appropriations. Every other councilperson simply would give a blanket yes or no. She was independent of the mayor's contingent, the previous mayor's contingent, and the "reform" contingent. Her calculated, thoughtful management style, could seem cold at times, but struck me as exactly what this town needs, at least budgetarily. Fighting for information the City was trying to hide from the public. And then one day the old "russo civic association" was covered in Beth Mason signs. The former mayor's club sign taken down, broken on the sidewalk. In case you don't remember anthony russo, he was mayor of hoboken before he was convicted on Federal corruption charges. He was sitting in a City Council seat right before he was sent to jail for 30 months and assessed a $300,000 fine. His replacement (an appointment by current Mayor Roberts) on the City Council is one of Candidate Mason's current Council Candidates, Vincent Addeo. Mr. Russo, his family, and his minions have all been campaigning "old hoboken" for Candidate Mason, sometimes in that "old hoboken" style that made them famous. Giving up her "independence" from corrupt politicians by aligning herself with old ones is a major blow to Councilwoman Mason's integrity and to the idea of her independent leadership. That coupled with this latest smear campaign (whether it's them or their supporters) has been enough to put me from firmly on the fence to really leaning towards Councilman Cammarano.
Candidate Peter Cammarano (His Website and Platform) is intelligent, well schooled in governmental law, and a somewhat fresh face to Hoboken politics. He is a political animal and came into town as part of the Hudson County Democratic Organization machine that now backs Candidate Zimmer. His voting (with the current "politically radioactive" mayor) record certainly does not serve him well, but in the last year or so it has not been as one sided as some make it out to be. His argument that the Council should have passed the current mayor's more than flawed budget, so the State wouldn't have to come in and fix things (eventually I guess) seems a bit ludicrous. The Council has been saying we'll fix this next year for as long as I lived here. I also don't like the fact that he moved here, after running Kerry's underwhelming Hudson County campaign, almost exactly the minimum time you need to be a resident before being elected Councilman. Not that Candidate Mason's candidate Raul Morales III has voted in very many elections before presumably voting for himself on Tuesday. Stealing Candidate Obama's logo doesn't help him with me very much either. All that being said Candidate Cammarano has sent out has many positive issue based emails as the Mason camp has mailed me negative 8.5x11 coated card stock ads. He has addressed environmental issues and has an environmental engineer on his Council slate.
Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer (her Website) is probably the most concerned about the environment of all the candidates, becoming Councilwoman with flooding as her #1 issue. But Candidate Zimmer has only been involved in politics/government for two years and already wants to be Mayor. She is intelligent and driven and would be a dramatic "change" even though some within her campaign came in with the current mayor's campaign for a real change. She seems to be more idealistic than practical. Big ideas are great, but right now Hoboken needs a level headed pragmatist to deal with the realities of Our city more than someone who wants to rapidly change it into something it's not. And Councilwoman Zimmer's recent "abstaining" from the current budget was troubling to say the least. Councilman Cammarano voted yes. Councilwoman Mason voted no.
There are three independent candidates as well. Their chances for victory are Much slimmer. But as a former Naderite ('96, '00) that's no excuse. So here are a couple of quick ones. Tom Vincent, though a great MC of many City run events, has absolutely no experience in government. His "platforms" sound great, but are vague at best. I'm not completely familiar with Ryn Melberg but nothing she is saying or doing inspires me to go out on a limb to vote for her. Frank Orsini is the most established of the independent candidates. His old school signs can be seen around town and his tag lines of "they have falied" (referring to the top three candidates who have been Councilpeople during this whole mess) can be heard from speakers attached to the roof of a minivan. If I had to pick from the Indepents, I would pick him.
But I think my vote is going to Councilman Cammarano for the reasons above. He'll certainly do a better job than has been done over the past eight years. There is secondary reason as well. To push for a run-off between Councilwoman Mason and Councilman Cammarano. Maybe an extra month will help Mason see the err of her ways. And that she could win on her own merit, with her own ideas... on the issues. I know it's probably too late for that.
P.S. For City Council, (Video of their Forum) I'm picking one from each Camp. Carol Marsh made an excellent Councilwoman and belongs back in that seat. Mike Novak is an environmental engineer and has served on the zoning board. His experience will help us Green Hoboken. And Anthony Pasquale, who is an accountant and has dealt with huge budgets and we sure need as much help with Ours as possible.
Full disclosure: I was hired by the Russo Administration. I've worked for the City of Hoboken for ten years (6 inside City Hall). My decisions are not based on who is for layoffs and furloughs and who is for no layoff and furloughs.
Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken!
Davey the Squid
Up until this campaign, Councilwoman Beth Mason (Her Website) had my pretty vocal support for Mayor, but the "mccain-esque" "win at any cost" campaign she is running and the bed-fellows she has made worry and disappoint me deeply. While on the City Council, Councilwoman Mason went line by line through appropriations. Every other councilperson simply would give a blanket yes or no. She was independent of the mayor's contingent, the previous mayor's contingent, and the "reform" contingent. Her calculated, thoughtful management style, could seem cold at times, but struck me as exactly what this town needs, at least budgetarily. Fighting for information the City was trying to hide from the public. And then one day the old "russo civic association" was covered in Beth Mason signs. The former mayor's club sign taken down, broken on the sidewalk. In case you don't remember anthony russo, he was mayor of hoboken before he was convicted on Federal corruption charges. He was sitting in a City Council seat right before he was sent to jail for 30 months and assessed a $300,000 fine. His replacement (an appointment by current Mayor Roberts) on the City Council is one of Candidate Mason's current Council Candidates, Vincent Addeo. Mr. Russo, his family, and his minions have all been campaigning "old hoboken" for Candidate Mason, sometimes in that "old hoboken" style that made them famous. Giving up her "independence" from corrupt politicians by aligning herself with old ones is a major blow to Councilwoman Mason's integrity and to the idea of her independent leadership. That coupled with this latest smear campaign (whether it's them or their supporters) has been enough to put me from firmly on the fence to really leaning towards Councilman Cammarano.
Candidate Peter Cammarano (His Website and Platform) is intelligent, well schooled in governmental law, and a somewhat fresh face to Hoboken politics. He is a political animal and came into town as part of the Hudson County Democratic Organization machine that now backs Candidate Zimmer. His voting (with the current "politically radioactive" mayor) record certainly does not serve him well, but in the last year or so it has not been as one sided as some make it out to be. His argument that the Council should have passed the current mayor's more than flawed budget, so the State wouldn't have to come in and fix things (eventually I guess) seems a bit ludicrous. The Council has been saying we'll fix this next year for as long as I lived here. I also don't like the fact that he moved here, after running Kerry's underwhelming Hudson County campaign, almost exactly the minimum time you need to be a resident before being elected Councilman. Not that Candidate Mason's candidate Raul Morales III has voted in very many elections before presumably voting for himself on Tuesday. Stealing Candidate Obama's logo doesn't help him with me very much either. All that being said Candidate Cammarano has sent out has many positive issue based emails as the Mason camp has mailed me negative 8.5x11 coated card stock ads. He has addressed environmental issues and has an environmental engineer on his Council slate.
Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer (her Website) is probably the most concerned about the environment of all the candidates, becoming Councilwoman with flooding as her #1 issue. But Candidate Zimmer has only been involved in politics/government for two years and already wants to be Mayor. She is intelligent and driven and would be a dramatic "change" even though some within her campaign came in with the current mayor's campaign for a real change. She seems to be more idealistic than practical. Big ideas are great, but right now Hoboken needs a level headed pragmatist to deal with the realities of Our city more than someone who wants to rapidly change it into something it's not. And Councilwoman Zimmer's recent "abstaining" from the current budget was troubling to say the least. Councilman Cammarano voted yes. Councilwoman Mason voted no.
There are three independent candidates as well. Their chances for victory are Much slimmer. But as a former Naderite ('96, '00) that's no excuse. So here are a couple of quick ones. Tom Vincent, though a great MC of many City run events, has absolutely no experience in government. His "platforms" sound great, but are vague at best. I'm not completely familiar with Ryn Melberg but nothing she is saying or doing inspires me to go out on a limb to vote for her. Frank Orsini is the most established of the independent candidates. His old school signs can be seen around town and his tag lines of "they have falied" (referring to the top three candidates who have been Councilpeople during this whole mess) can be heard from speakers attached to the roof of a minivan. If I had to pick from the Indepents, I would pick him.
But I think my vote is going to Councilman Cammarano for the reasons above. He'll certainly do a better job than has been done over the past eight years. There is secondary reason as well. To push for a run-off between Councilwoman Mason and Councilman Cammarano. Maybe an extra month will help Mason see the err of her ways. And that she could win on her own merit, with her own ideas... on the issues. I know it's probably too late for that.
P.S. For City Council, (Video of their Forum) I'm picking one from each Camp. Carol Marsh made an excellent Councilwoman and belongs back in that seat. Mike Novak is an environmental engineer and has served on the zoning board. His experience will help us Green Hoboken. And Anthony Pasquale, who is an accountant and has dealt with huge budgets and we sure need as much help with Ours as possible.
Full disclosure: I was hired by the Russo Administration. I've worked for the City of Hoboken for ten years (6 inside City Hall). My decisions are not based on who is for layoffs and furloughs and who is for no layoff and furloughs.
Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken!
Davey the Squid
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Torture Never Stops.
When pol pot and the khmer rouge used waterboarding, I guess they were just gathering valuable information. The spanish inquisition may have used a different rationale. The japanese soldier, who was sentenced to 15 years hard labor by "the greatest generation" for WAR CRIMES for waterboarding, may have been using it for information on attacks with weapons of mass destruction (see hiroshima and nagasaki). United States soldiers have been court-martialled for waterboarding north vietnamese soldiers. I can only assume they were using the "torture techniques" to obtain useful information.
Fact is the techniques used by the bush era inTERRORgators are and have been a CRIME.
The third Geneva Convention reads
"No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatsoever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind."
The federal statute, which implements the 1984 Convention Against Torture, reads
There' a rationale being used by people, like dick's daughter liz (I'm not kidding), that US soldiers have to endure these techniques, not at the same intensity of curse, as part of their training, so it can't be torture. This is pretty ridiculous since the SERE training referred to is meant to ready soldiers for possible tortures by the enemy. Torture defender peggy noonan thinks we should "keep walking and not look back". Drug addled limbag thinks mccain's signing of a statement he did NOT mean because of torture is proof that "it works".
Granted face slapping, water boarding, extreme stress positions and sleep deprivation (as much as 11 days straight) aren't as disgustingly vile as the fatal anal gluing and diarrhea inducing of homosexuals that's going on right now in the nation that we "brought freedom to" by Iraqi militias. The fact remains that it is and was illegal. Ex vice dick says release all the torture advocating memos, perhaps because he shredded any dissent along with evidence of anyone he met with as the vice president of the United States. Looks like the shredders may have missed the "anything for a link between iraq and al qaeda" torture is pushed. I'm gonna have to side with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she said "It won’t surprise you that I don’t consider him [dick] a particularly reliable source." Maybe we should waterboard him, have dogs snap inches from his "manhood", throw him against the wall 20-30 times, chain him up naked, cover him in excrement, in a stress position and keep him awake for 2 weeks by slapping him, while blasting hannah montana into his hood to find out what really happened. Our Country's moral "compass" and standing depends on it, which, of course, directly relates to Our National Security. Did I leave out putting him into a small coffin-like box and dropping insects in, telling him they are poisonous. But why stop at dick, repeat for tenet, rice, ashcroft, yoo, rummy, gonzales, powell (yeah I said it), their deputies and let's not forget "the decider" at whom the buck stops. Or at least it did when Presidents of the United States took responsibility for their actions.
It is the Department of Justice's job, not the White House's, to find out if a crime was committed and who committed it. It is Not the Justice Department's job to be used as the president and his party's legal rationale lap dog, like we saw it reduced to for the eight years prior to the Inauguration of President Barack Obama.
A couple of other opinions:
Krugman is on it!: "America is more than a collection of policies. We are, or at least we used to be, a nation of moral ideals. In the past, our government has sometimes done an imperfect job of upholding those ideals. But never before have our leaders so utterly betrayed everything our nation stands for. “This government does not torture people,” declared former President Bush, but it did, and all the world knows it."
Vanity Fair: Have any attacks on America been disrupted thanks to intelligence obtained through what the administration still calls “enhanced techniques”?
“Jim [Psychiatrist and "harsh tactic advocate mitchell] believed that people of this ilk would confess for only one reason: sheer TERROR,” said one C.I.A. official
- From a great piece at the New York Times (I thought it was the enemy that used "terror")
"They were well aware, these people, Rumsfeld, Sanchez, all of them and were well aware of these policies and these memorandums while these soldiers were being accused....five years ago. And if it was okay Mr. Former Vice President, if you're saying that this was necessary today and that it produced good intelligence..where were you five years ago stepping up to the plate and saying hold on, we can't discuss this because this is classified information, but these soldiers did not design these techniques? Where were all of those heros then to step up to the plate and defend these soldiers and to defend me?"
-former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski about how the torture at Abu Ghraib was a direct result of policies which were crafted by the higher ups in the Bush administration
"We are America! I don't give a rat's ass if it helps," Smith declared. "We are America! We do not fucking torture!" Shepard Smith of faux "news"
Frank Zappa: ... then it goes into a song called "The Torture Never Stops".
Which is about what?
Frank Zappa: Er, it's about torture not stopping.
- Zappa On Air, Nuggets, No. 7, April 1977(I guess I owe gail money for that quote not to mention the title)
To Progress.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
Fact is the techniques used by the bush era inTERRORgators are and have been a CRIME.
The third Geneva Convention reads
"No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatsoever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind."
The federal statute, which implements the 1984 Convention Against Torture, reads
"(A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;
(B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;
(C) the threat of imminent death; or
(D) the threat that another individual will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.
There' a rationale being used by people, like dick's daughter liz (I'm not kidding), that US soldiers have to endure these techniques, not at the same intensity of curse, as part of their training, so it can't be torture. This is pretty ridiculous since the SERE training referred to is meant to ready soldiers for possible tortures by the enemy. Torture defender peggy noonan thinks we should "keep walking and not look back". Drug addled limbag thinks mccain's signing of a statement he did NOT mean because of torture is proof that "it works".
Granted face slapping, water boarding, extreme stress positions and sleep deprivation (as much as 11 days straight) aren't as disgustingly vile as the fatal anal gluing and diarrhea inducing of homosexuals that's going on right now in the nation that we "brought freedom to" by Iraqi militias. The fact remains that it is and was illegal. Ex vice dick says release all the torture advocating memos, perhaps because he shredded any dissent along with evidence of anyone he met with as the vice president of the United States. Looks like the shredders may have missed the "anything for a link between iraq and al qaeda" torture is pushed. I'm gonna have to side with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she said "It won’t surprise you that I don’t consider him [dick] a particularly reliable source." Maybe we should waterboard him, have dogs snap inches from his "manhood", throw him against the wall 20-30 times, chain him up naked, cover him in excrement, in a stress position and keep him awake for 2 weeks by slapping him, while blasting hannah montana into his hood to find out what really happened. Our Country's moral "compass" and standing depends on it, which, of course, directly relates to Our National Security. Did I leave out putting him into a small coffin-like box and dropping insects in, telling him they are poisonous. But why stop at dick, repeat for tenet, rice, ashcroft, yoo, rummy, gonzales, powell (yeah I said it), their deputies and let's not forget "the decider" at whom the buck stops. Or at least it did when Presidents of the United States took responsibility for their actions.
It is the Department of Justice's job, not the White House's, to find out if a crime was committed and who committed it. It is Not the Justice Department's job to be used as the president and his party's legal rationale lap dog, like we saw it reduced to for the eight years prior to the Inauguration of President Barack Obama.
A couple of other opinions:
Krugman is on it!: "America is more than a collection of policies. We are, or at least we used to be, a nation of moral ideals. In the past, our government has sometimes done an imperfect job of upholding those ideals. But never before have our leaders so utterly betrayed everything our nation stands for. “This government does not torture people,” declared former President Bush, but it did, and all the world knows it."
Vanity Fair: Have any attacks on America been disrupted thanks to intelligence obtained through what the administration still calls “enhanced techniques”?
“I’m really reluctant to answer that,” Mueller says. He pauses, looks at an aide, and then says quietly, declining to elaborate: “I don’t believe that has been the case.”
“Jim [Psychiatrist and "harsh tactic advocate mitchell] believed that people of this ilk would confess for only one reason: sheer TERROR,” said one C.I.A. official
- From a great piece at the New York Times (I thought it was the enemy that used "terror")
"They were well aware, these people, Rumsfeld, Sanchez, all of them and were well aware of these policies and these memorandums while these soldiers were being accused....five years ago. And if it was okay Mr. Former Vice President, if you're saying that this was necessary today and that it produced good intelligence..where were you five years ago stepping up to the plate and saying hold on, we can't discuss this because this is classified information, but these soldiers did not design these techniques? Where were all of those heros then to step up to the plate and defend these soldiers and to defend me?"
-former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski about how the torture at Abu Ghraib was a direct result of policies which were crafted by the higher ups in the Bush administration
"We are America! I don't give a rat's ass if it helps," Smith declared. "We are America! We do not fucking torture!" Shepard Smith of faux "news"
Frank Zappa: ... then it goes into a song called "The Torture Never Stops".
Which is about what?
Frank Zappa: Er, it's about torture not stopping.
- Zappa On Air, Nuggets, No. 7, April 1977(I guess I owe gail money for that quote not to mention the title)
To Progress.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The (latest) speech on the US economy, the "right wing", and accountability
The President recently gave a speech at Georgetown University on the US economy. It was, as he put it, "prose, not poetry". The speech is heavy and dense, but reassuring. As a republican "leader" suggests his State secede from the Country they claim to love so much, it's reassuring to see a President display such an understanding of what's going on, while explaining his administration's plan to fix and build Our economy. The speech explains, in detail, how we got here, why banks are important, and why governments spend to inject revenue into a recessing economy. Agree with him or not, it's nice to see someone firmly at the helm. Not to mention an elected official that treats the American public as if We were adults. There's a good chunk of Us who are (from time to time).
I would bet that the vast majority of "teabaggers" that protested on tax day will see their taxes Go Down as a result of the Obama budget. I wonder how many will turn down their stimulus check/credit. Part of the in-cohesive and almost inexplicable rationale for the protests was Constitutional rights. No need to go into the last eight years' depletion of Our rights, but which "Constitutional" rights are "tea baggers" getting taken from them? True a recent leaked NSA report targeted "right wing extremism". If there had not already been a report from the NSA on "left wing extremism", I would undertsand the right's fear of a politically motivated attack on free speech, akin to the last administration's on the left's. They are being lied to by the likes of joe the "plumber" and shawn insanity. And it isn't the first time. Maybe that's why there are less of them. Perhaps that is something that could be further realized if the Obama Administration would do something to hold george w. bush jr.'s failure of an administration accountable.
With detailed torture memos being released and Administration officials saying that CIA interrogators will Not be prosecuted (Watch Olbermann's Special comment) I can only hope Attorney General Holder is building a case against those interrogators' superiors. As it is we are stilling waiting for President Obama to prove that he is reinstating Habeus Corpus, the Bill of Rights (Amendment 4 specifically) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). While in fact, we've seen some proof of the opposite. Glen Greenwald is a Must read when it comes to these issues, especially FISA. Maybe we should stage a Whiskey Rebellion until we get what we want. I'm kidding, of course.
Darwin help Us.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
I would bet that the vast majority of "teabaggers" that protested on tax day will see their taxes Go Down as a result of the Obama budget. I wonder how many will turn down their stimulus check/credit. Part of the in-cohesive and almost inexplicable rationale for the protests was Constitutional rights. No need to go into the last eight years' depletion of Our rights, but which "Constitutional" rights are "tea baggers" getting taken from them? True a recent leaked NSA report targeted "right wing extremism". If there had not already been a report from the NSA on "left wing extremism", I would undertsand the right's fear of a politically motivated attack on free speech, akin to the last administration's on the left's. They are being lied to by the likes of joe the "plumber" and shawn insanity. And it isn't the first time. Maybe that's why there are less of them. Perhaps that is something that could be further realized if the Obama Administration would do something to hold george w. bush jr.'s failure of an administration accountable.
With detailed torture memos being released and Administration officials saying that CIA interrogators will Not be prosecuted (Watch Olbermann's Special comment) I can only hope Attorney General Holder is building a case against those interrogators' superiors. As it is we are stilling waiting for President Obama to prove that he is reinstating Habeus Corpus, the Bill of Rights (Amendment 4 specifically) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). While in fact, we've seen some proof of the opposite. Glen Greenwald is a Must read when it comes to these issues, especially FISA. Maybe we should stage a Whiskey Rebellion until we get what we want. I'm kidding, of course.
Darwin help Us.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Fear, the Froth, and the Teabagging.
These are truly scary times for people. No, I'm not referring to the fear that republinuts (Read Krugman!) want to "tea bag" (NSFW) me in my sleep. Over the last month there have been 8 mass killings by Americans on Americans claiming 53 lives. Not to worry, the vast majority of the domestic terrorists' weaponry was registered with the proper authorities. The murderer that killed 3 people in Pittsburgh was said to be "afraid Obama was gonna take his guns away", even though it looks like under President Obama the assault weapons ban debate will fade away. I wonder how this racist gunman got that idea? Talking clown glen bark put Obama in a nazi uniform in his magazine and pretended he was President Obama pouring gasoline on the average American. The fox "news" channel is not only endorsing and encouraging "tea bag" protests of the three month old Administration (something no one in the "liberal" media ever did during any protests of failure 43 and there were hundreds of thousands, if not Millions of us), but they are organizing fundraisers for them. Now that's fair and balanced. The hypocrisy of hearing the people that called me anti-American and unpatriotic for protesting the decisions of the last administration now saying that dissent is the highest form of patriotism makes me physically ill.
But is their frothing up fear and frustration among people who have lost their jobs (another 600,000 last month), their homes, and their retirement wise, rational, or even justifiable. Congresspeople calling for people to be "armed and dangerous" in their "revolution" should realize their words can lead to actions, intended or not. Disturbing the peace is not the only reason you can't yell fire in a crowded theater. It's also to protect people from getting killed in the resulting chaos.
President Obama has seen a "glimmer of Hope" in the economy lately, but people are still losing their jobs, failing on the mortages and realizing the deep hole that once was their life savings. I don't think we're at France's G20 protest violence level (they burned a hotel down) or that of the protests in Thailand but, to be sure, Americans are angry. Corporate lobbyist, media sponsored protests, against bringing the tax code back to "what it was under Clinton for the rich" (10% less than under raygun) while cutting taxes for everyone under $200,000, are not going to qwell that anger. They are only exploiting it.
The Squid says: "Hey fox "news"! Go 'tea bag' (NSFW) yourselves!"
The activists that participated in the Boston Tea Party in 1773 are rolling in their graves. Oh and, by the likes of glen bark's standards, Thomas Paine was a Socialist.
"if you are planning simultaneous tea bagging all around the country, you’re going to need a Dick Armey." -David Shuster 4/13 on MSNBC
Give Hope a Chance.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
But is their frothing up fear and frustration among people who have lost their jobs (another 600,000 last month), their homes, and their retirement wise, rational, or even justifiable. Congresspeople calling for people to be "armed and dangerous" in their "revolution" should realize their words can lead to actions, intended or not. Disturbing the peace is not the only reason you can't yell fire in a crowded theater. It's also to protect people from getting killed in the resulting chaos.
President Obama has seen a "glimmer of Hope" in the economy lately, but people are still losing their jobs, failing on the mortages and realizing the deep hole that once was their life savings. I don't think we're at France's G20 protest violence level (they burned a hotel down) or that of the protests in Thailand but, to be sure, Americans are angry. Corporate lobbyist, media sponsored protests, against bringing the tax code back to "what it was under Clinton for the rich" (10% less than under raygun) while cutting taxes for everyone under $200,000, are not going to qwell that anger. They are only exploiting it.
The Squid says: "Hey fox "news"! Go 'tea bag' (NSFW) yourselves!"
The activists that participated in the Boston Tea Party in 1773 are rolling in their graves. Oh and, by the likes of glen bark's standards, Thomas Paine was a Socialist.
"if you are planning simultaneous tea bagging all around the country, you’re going to need a Dick Armey." -David Shuster 4/13 on MSNBC
Give Hope a Chance.
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA
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