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Next Week at the Segal Center: Plays from TUNISIA, POLAND, CHILE, JAPAN, HAITI, AUSTRALIA, SINGAPORE, AUSTRIA, + INDIA at the PEN World Voices: International Play Festival
PEN: World VOices
WORLD VOICES:
INTERNATIONAL PLAY FESTIVAL
April 28, 29, 30 | Daily at 2pm, 5pm, 7:30pm | Segal Theatre
The Graduate Center, CUNY
FREE + Open to the Public | First come, first served.
The PEN World Voices Festival is an annual, week-long festival of international literature founded by Salman Rushdie and Paul Auster. This year, the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center will host readings of nine seminal plays from five continents by some of the world's most important and exciting dramatists at their PEN World Voices: International Play Festival.
2:00pm | Tsunami
By Jalila Baccar (Tunisia)
Directed by Saheem Ali
Featuring Kathryn Kates and Salma Shaw
Playwright Jalila Baccar chronicles the events that shook Tunisia in the murky hours after the Jasmine Revolution—the event that triggered the Arab Spring. Tsunami is a trilogy devoted to the contemporary history of Tunisia, a cycle dominated by the question of memory: "A country without memory is a country which never knows where it is going."
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the director and Frank Hetschker (Executive Director of The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center The Graduate Center, CUNY), moderated by Marvin Carlson, (Professor of Theater, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
5:00pm | Endless Vigils at Crête-à-Pierrot
By Dominique Batraville (Haiti)
Directed by Awoye Timpo
Featuring Brian Tyree Henry and Carl Hendrick Louis
The dead and the living, who "walk on the bones of the dead," are united by a wish to bring their dying nation together once again by physically and metaphysically reviving Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first leader of the
revolution for an independent Haiti.The reading will be followed by a conversation with the playwright and the director, moderated by Thomas C. Spear (Professor of French, Lehman College and The Graduate Center, CUNY).
7:30pm | Villa + Discurso
Written and directed by Guillermo Calderón (Chile)
Assisted by Sarah Rose Leonard
Featuring Sue Jean Kim, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and Nadia Bowers
In Villa, three women gather around an architectural model of the Villa Grimaldi, a site where thousands were tortured and hundreds were "disappeared," to debate the ideal adaptation of these blood-soaked facilities and
grapple with a nation's unwanted legacy. In Discurso, Michelle Bachelet, Chile's president from 2006 – 2010,
makes her farewell speech on leaving office but she is not being as gracious and diplomatic as she should be. Is she saying what she really thinks or is someone putting words into her mouth?
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the playwright, moderated by Jean Graham Jones (Executive Officer of the Program in Theater, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
2:00pm | Yakiniku Dragon
By Chong Wishing (Japan)
Directed by Victor Maog
Featuring Stephanie Hsu, Ruy Iskandar, Paul Juhn, and Kaipo Schwab
Set in the years 1969 to 1971 in the Yakiniku Dragon, a restaurant without plumbing in a Korean-Japanese ghetto, Yakiniku Dragon tells the story of a young boy who feels welcomed neither by the Japanese nor Korean
societies. The play is based on Chong's own childhood experience, and is told through the six family members and guests who frequent the Yakiniku Dragon.
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the director and Frank Hentschker, (Executive Director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center CUNY), moderated by Peter Eckersall (Professor of Asian Theater, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
5:00pm | No Matter How Hard We Tried Or We Exist on the Best Terms We Can
by Dorota Maslowska (Poland)
Directed by Paul Bargetto
Featuring Judith Malina, Troy Lavallee, and Heather Benton
With wildly inventive language and razor-sharp humor, No Matter How Hard We Tried captures Poland's contemporary moment, bringing together nouveau-riche media celebrities, the abject poor, phony artists, and disaffected youth all struggling to stay afloat in a toxic stew of commercialism, inter-generational confusion, Catholic nationalism, and idealized visions of Poland's tragic past.
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the director, moderated by Frank Hentschker (Executive Director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
Presented in partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz nstitute/Culture.pl.
7:30pm | Holiday
By Raimondo Cortese (Australia)
Directed by Oliver Butler
Featuring Matt Maher and Paul Thureen
Holiday is an eclectic mixture of baroque song, video installation and gentle conversation, contemplating the world as a place where we can no longer cope with large occurrences and succeed only in retreating further into our own private spaces.
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the playwright and the director, moderated by Peter Eckersall (Professor of Asian Theater, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
Presented in Partnership with Australia Council for the Arts.
2:00pm | Cogito
By Huzir Sulaiman (Singapore)
Directed by Mike Donahue
Featuring Birgit Huppuch, Jenny Seastone Stern, Charles Socarides, and Meg MacCary
It is the year 2026. Katherine Lee is a wealthy socialite, married to Tony Szeto, a highly prized Singaporean biomedical scientist. When Katherine reads in a local newspaper that her husband has been assassinated, she
discovers she is not the only one married to him.The reading will be followed by a conversation with: the director, Frank Hentschker (Executive Director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center The Graduate Center, CUNY) and Melissa Wong (PhD candidate, CUNY) moderated by Peter Eckersall ( Professor of Asian Theater, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
5:00pm | Rechnitz (The Exterminating Angel)
By Elfriede Jelinek (Austria)
Directed by Katherine Brook
Featuring Josh Gelb, Mike Iveson, Emily Davis, and Lucy Kaminsky
Rechnitz examines the silence about a massacre at the Austrian-Hungarian border on March 25, 1945. During a party by Countess Margit von Batthyány, Nazis killed about 200 Jews as part of their entertainment. Until today, the remains of the victims were not found, neither was the whole affair properly investigated.
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the director and the translator Gitta Honegger, moderated by Frank Hentschker (Executive Director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
7:30pm | The Djinns of Eidgah
Written and directed by Abhishek Majumdar (India)
Produced in association with The Play Company
Ashrafi and Bilal are orphaned siblings stranded in Kashmir. While his sister is caught in the past, 18-year-old Bilal is the pride of the region, part of a teenage football team set for great heights. However, Kashmir's violence destroys his idealism, and he is torn between escaping the war and participating in the cycles of resistance.
The reading will be followed by a conversation with the playwright and the director, moderated by Frank Hentschker (Executive Director of the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, CUNY).
The Djinns of Eidgah was developed as part of a long-term project between the Royal Court Theatre in London and Rage Theatre in Mumbai. It was first produced as part of the Writers Bloc Festival in India and in the current draft by the Royal Court Theatre in October 2013. Both productions directed by Richard Twyman.
Produced in association with The Play Company.
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Tag Archives: ICC
Another chapter in a story ignored by the BBC for two years
Since the summer of 2017 we have periodically documented the absence of BBC coverage of a story concerning Palestinian citizens which falls outside the corporation's usual framing.
BBC News ignores an unusual legal story from Israel
Story of PA torture continues to be side-lined by BBC
PA torture case still being ignored by the BBC
Last week the Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian citizens who won a legal battle against the Palestinian Authority in Israeli courts are to ask the ICC to take up their case.
"A group of over 50 Palestinians is expected to request that the International Criminal Court probe the Palestinian Authority for war crimes of torturing them.
Represented by Uri Morad, director of International Law at the Jerusalem Institute for Justice (JIJ), and lawyer Barak Kedem of the law firm Arbus, Kedem and Tzur, the group of Palestinians is trying to capitalize on legal judgments they have already won in Israeli civil courts on the issue.
The JIJ issued a statement on Sunday that they would file their complaint with the ICC in The Hague on Monday. […]
In the first case of its kind, an Israeli court in July 2017 ruled that 51 Palestinians who were tortured by the PA for cooperating with Israel could sue the Authority for damages.
That 1,860-page ruling, based on dozens of witnesses over several years, was one of the most bizarre in years, as it involved Palestinian citizens coming before the courts of the Israeli "occupation" to get justice for their mistreatment by their own Palestinian law enforcement."
Israel HaYom added:
"On Monday, the filmed testimonies of the former prisoners are slated to be shown at the International Criminal Court. Attorney Uri Morad, head of the international law department at the JIJ, explained that "In February, we contacted the ICC at The Hague and asked for a criminal probe into PA President Mahmoud Abbas on suspicion of crimes he [allegedly] perpetrated against his own people, including an ongoing and extensive spree of murder, torture, and illegal imprisonments against the Palestinian population.
"The testimonies that will be presented tomorrow [Monday] demonstrate a well-oiled system that uses violent means to oppress the civilian population," Morad said."
Notwithstanding the BBC News website's publication eight months ago of a recycled version of a report published by an external organisation on arbitrary arrests and torture by Palestinian forces, BBC audiences continue to be denied serious, original BBC reporting on this story as well as on other aspects of internal Palestinian affairs.
By Hadar Sela • Posted in BBC, BBC Jerusalem Bureau, Omission, Public Purposes	• Tagged BBC, BBC Jerusalem Bureau, ICC, Palestinian affairs, Palestinian Authority, torture
1) The ITIC has published an assessment of "The impact of the withdrawal of the American troops from Syria on the campaign against ISIS".
"From a military perspective, the end of American activity in Syria is liable to be detrimental to the campaign currently being waged by the Kurdish forces east of the Euphrates against last important ISIS-controlled area in Syria. The blow is expected to be particularly hard if America stops its aerial support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). However, in ITIC assessment, the most serious impact of the American pullout is expected to be its influence on morale and the political situation: the Kurds, who control extensive areas in the northeastern part of the country, feel betrayed and their cohesiveness may be harmed. Thus they can be expected to look for new strategic support, especially from the Syrian regime and Russia. The Kurds' motivation to continue fighting ISIS may be reduced and they may retreat to the heart of their area of control in northeastern Syria and stop clearing the lower Euphrates Valley of ISIS fighters."
2) Jonathan Spyer takes a look at the Turkish aspect of the withdrawal of US forces from Syria.
"The contradiction between the western attempt to appease Turkey, and the tentatively emergent strategy vis-a-vis Syria had been apparent for some months. It now looked set to be resolved – one way or the other.
If the US indeed now follows through with the rapid withdrawal of the American military presence in Syria in its entirety, as a number of news outlets have reported and the President appears to have confirmed, then we have an answer. It means that the US has indeed blinked first, and is set on reversing course in Syria – by embarking on a hurried exit from the country. This will be interpreted by all sides as a strategic defeat, an abandonment under pressure of allies, and a debacle."
3) MEMRI reports on recent criticism of Hizballah in Lebanon.
"Since the parliamentary elections in May 2018, Lebanese Prime Minister and Al-Mustaqbal movement leader Sa'd Al-Hariri has been trying to form a national unity government incorporating all the major political forces in Lebanon, including Hizbullah. His efforts have so far been unsuccessful, however, partly due to steep conditions presented by Hizbullah regarding the government's makeup, mainly its demand to appoint a Sunni minister from the March 8 Forces, the faction led by Hizbullah. […]
This political crisis, which has been ongoing for over six months, has evoked furious responses from Lebanese politicians and columnists, who accuse Hizbullah of serving Iranian interests at the expense of Lebanon's, and also of using its weapons to take over Lebanon and of subordinating it to Iranian patronage. The bleak political climate even cast a pall over Lebanon's 75th Independence Day, marked on November 22, with some calling not to celebrate it because Lebanon is not truly independent. Criticism was also directed at President Michel 'Aoun and at his son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebral Bassil, both of them Hizbullah allies, for allowing Hizbullah to effectively control the country."
4) At the JCPA Amb. Alan Baker discusses "Electing the Palestinian Attorney-General to the ICC Nominations Committee for Judges".
"The election of the Palestinian Attorney-General, Dr. Ahmad Barrak, to serve as a member of the "Advisory Committee on Nominations" of judges of the International Criminal Court, if it were not so serious, could be seen as comical. It cannot but invoke the ancient Latin maxim "ovem lupo commitere," or in its literal and colloquial version "to set the wolf to guard the sheep."
This perhaps sums up the acute absurdity to which respected international institutions in the international community, and particularly the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, have descended. Sadly, they have permitted themselves to be abused and manipulated by an irresponsible Palestinian leadership, intent on hijacking international organizations for obvious and blatant political purposes.
However, the election of a Palestinian representative to the judges' Nominations Committee, as unwise and ill-advised as it may be, is indicative of a far wider and more serious problem facing the International Criminal Court, with the admission of what purports to be "The State of Palestine" as a party to its Statute."
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Uncategorized	• Tagged Hizballah, ICC, Iraq, ISIS, Kurds, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Turkey, US, US Administration
Context lacking, inaccuracies let slide in BBC WS coverage of PLO mission closure
Previously we saw how a BBC News website report on the US decision to close the PLO office in Washington DC failed to provide readers with an adequate explanation of both the legal background to that decision and the fact that the same Palestinian officials now protesting it have had nearly three years in which to study the requirements for keeping that mission open.
The September 10th evening edition of the BBC World Service radio programme 'Newshour' closed with an item on the same story which was introduced by presenter Julian Marshall (from 45:05 here) with the following framing:
Marshall: "The Trump administration is piling the pressure on the Palestinians. It's already ended bilateral funding and also funding to the UN agency which looks after Palestinian refugees. President Trump says they're ungrateful and should return to the negotiating table with Israel. And today the US ordered the closure of the office of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Washington. The US State Department said the Palestinians were refusing to engage with the US over peace efforts. US National Security Advisor John Bolton also touched on the topic in his speech excoriating the International Criminal Court. He said the US decision to close the mission in Washington was a result of the court's insistence on investigating Israel for its actions in the West Bank and Gaza."
In contrast to Marshall's claim, the ICC's preliminary investigations in fact came as a result of actions by the Palestinian Authority beginning in January 2015. Listeners then heard a recording of John Bolton speaking on the same day.
Recording Bolton: "The United States will always stand with our friend and ally Israel. And today, reflecting Congressional concerns with Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel, the Department of State will announce the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organisation office here in Washington DC and the Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. The United States supports a direct and robust peace process and we will not allow the ICC or any other organisation to constrain Israel's right to self-defence."
Marshall: "So why is Mr Bolton conflating two issues: the ICC and the Palestinians? Our State Department correspondent again, Barbara Plett-Usher.
While it is obvious that Barbara Plett-Usher is aware of the history and legal background to this story, BBC World Service listeners did not hear a lucid explanation. Despite the BBC having itself reported on Palestinian petitions to the ICC – including as recently as in May – Plett-Usher disingenuously portrayed that topic as though it were a claim dreamed up by John Bolton.
Plett-Usher: "Well that's because Congress conflated them. Congress put some conditions on the ability of the PLO to open an office in Washington, one of which was that the Palestinians could not be going after Israel in the ICC and you heard there Mr Bolton saying they were in fact trying to do that. But even then, even if the Palestinians had made such moves, the PLO office could still be allowed to operate here if the Palestinians were engaging in peace talks with the Israelis, which they are not. They're boycotting the US attempts to revive negotiations because they see them as blatantly favouring the Israelis on core issues. But the administration used these two arguments, these two conditions put down by Congress, to close down the mission."
Marshall: "And has this mission in Washington been useful for the Palestinians?"
Misrepresenting the title of the PLO envoy to Washington and giving a partisan interpretation of the Oslo Accords Declaration of Principles, Plett-Usher replied:
Plett-Usher: "I think it's been more useful at some times than at others but by and large what it was, it was set up after the Oslo Accords were negotiated in '93-'94 and this was the sort of point man point in Washington to liaise with the US administration on efforts to implement those accords which of course were supposed to result in a Palestinian state and never did. More recently the diplomats here have engaged in direct outreach to Americans – to churches, civil organisations, students and the like – trying to build support for the Palestinians, to take advantage of a decrease in support for the Israeli government policies among Americans but also including American Jews. In fact the PLO ambassador claims that that was one reason they were shut down."
Plett-Usher refrained from mentioning reports that the PLO mission in Washington had been funding campus activity of the anti-Israel BDS campaign in the US.
Marshall then went on to introduce his second contributor, failing to clarify to listeners that Hanan Ashrawi is a member of the PLO's executive committee.
Marshall: "[…] and earlier I spoke to Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian legislator and former negotiator. What's her reaction to Mr Bolton's remarks?"
[48:23] Ashrawi: "This is not an act that happened in isolation. It's part of a concerted American assault on Palestinian rights, on the chances of peace [laughs] and on any semblance of justice, on legality and solving the Palestinian-Israeli issue. And it seems to me the US is certainly doing Israel's bidding and is trying to resolve all issues by bashing the Palestinians, by punishing the Palestinians – who are already under occupation – and by rewarding Israel and granting it full immunity to act outside the law with full impunity."
Marshall: "The United States says it's doing this because the Palestinians are not supporting peace talks with Israel."
Ashrawi: [laughs] That's extremely ironic. There are no talks. There are no plans. There is no negotiating table to invite us back to: the US has smashed it into smithereens. It has decided unilaterally to give away Jerusalem to Israel which is illegal because Jerusalem is occupied territory – it is Palestinian land. It has decided single-handedly to redefine Palestinian refugees and to stop funding UNRWA which is an international organisation specifically set up to serve and protect the Palestinian refugees. It has unilaterally decided that the settlements are not illegal, that it doesn't want the '67 boundaries or the two-state solution. So what does it want? Right now it is busy telling the Palestinians if you do not surrender to our dictates, if you do not accept all these steps then you are going to be punished again and Israel is rewarded. So it's extremely ironic. It's really disingenuous to talk about peace. Actually now we are being punished because we dared ask the International Criminal Court to speed up its investigation of Israeli war crimes and as you know, settlements are a war crime by international definition according to the Rome Statute."
Making no effort whatsoever to challenge Ashrawi's egregious portrayal of Jerusalem as "Palestinian land", her "war crimes" smear or her partisan interpretation of Article 8 of the Rome Statute, Marshall changed the subject.
Marshall: "Do you have any idea what the US peace plan is? Because the Trump administration says that the Palestinian leadership has condemned that plan that they haven't even seen [Ashrawi laughs] and refused to engage the US government with respect to peace efforts in other words."
Ashrawi: "Yes of course we refuse because we don't need to talk about a plan; they're implementing it. I mean anybody who has any sense – any sight – would see that the US is busy dismantling every single component or requirement of peace. These issues are very clear. So it's not that we [laughs] are not talking peace. We have been talking peace for decades and we've negotiated with numerous American administrations. It's this one that has…I think it has lost its mind. I think in this mad, hysterical defence of Israel, they just don't make sense. They have lost their balance and it's really serious because they're creating a situation of tremendous volatility."
Marshall: "How do the Palestinians now though gain their independent state? You've rejected the United States as a mediator; you're not prepared at the moment to sit down with Israel. How do you achieve your political objectives?"
Ashrawi: "Well the president Mahmoud Abbas last year declared or announced an initiative about convening an international conference about the requirements of peace. There is a plan but obviously when the US has taken sides so blatantly and I think now it's up to the international community that has to take up its responsibility to protect the Palestinians and to hold Israel to account and now to hold the US to account."
Failing to inform listeners that Abbas' 'international conference' was supposed to have taken place "by mid-2018", Marshall closed the item there, once again neglecting to clarify Ashrawi's PLO links.
As we see, once again BBC audiences were not given an adequate account of the legislative background crucial to proper understanding of the US decision to close the PLO mission in Washington. They did, however, hear Hanan Ashrawi's political talking points, inaccuracies and distortions go completely unchallenged for four straight minutes in this one-sided presentation of the story.
BBC News website amends inaccurate Palestinian envoy title
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Accuracy, BBC, Impartiality, Omission, Public Purposes	• Tagged 'Newshour', Barbara Plett Usher, BBC, BBC World Service radio, Hanan Ashrawi, Husam Zomlot, ICC, Israel, Julian Marshall, MEPP, PLO, US Administration, US State Department
On September 10th a story that has been brewing for a long time was reported on the BBC News website under the headline "US to shut Palestinian mission in Washington".
Nearly 22% of the 578-word article was used to tell readers "How have the Palestinians responded?" and over 31% of its word count was given over to descriptions of US cuts to donations – including the already widely covered UNRWA story – under the sub-heading "What other steps has the US taken?".
The background ostensibly intended to enable readers to understand the story was presented in 138 words under the sub-heading "Why is the Palestinian mission being closed?" and began by quoting parts of the relevant statement from the US State Department.
"The PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," the state department said on Monday.
"To the contrary, the PLO leadership has condemned a US peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the US government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise."
The statement also cited Palestinian efforts to get the ICC to prosecute Israelis for alleged violations of international laws and norms regarding the treatment of people and property in the occupied West Bank and Gaza."
Readers were next provided with links to two previous BBC reports: the first dating from November 18th 2017 and the other from May 22nd 2018.
"Last year the US state department warned the mission that under US law it faced closure if Palestinian leaders continued to do so.
But in May, the Palestinian foreign minister formally asked the ICC's chief prosecutor to launch a full investigation, saying he had "ample and insurmountable evidence"."
In order to understand the relevance of "US law" to the current story, readers would have had to click on that first link, where they would find the following:
"US officials say the PLO could be breaking a legal condition for it to operate in the US.
The US law says Palestinian authorities must not pressure the International Criminal Court to investigate Israelis.
The PLO, which is seen by the international community as representing all Palestinians, opened an office in DC in 1994.
It is the first time that the State Department has declined to reissue a six-monthly operating licence for it.
A state department official cited "certain statements made by Palestinian leaders" about the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the reason behind the non-renewal.
Obviously that account does not provide readers unfamiliar with the story with a full and clear explanation of its background. An article published by the Times of Israel around the same time however does.
"In 1987, Congress sought to rid US soil of any PLO institutions, which included a United Nations mission located in New York City and a Palestinian information bureau in DC. At the time, the PLO was a US-designated terror organization, backing attacks against Israelis. […]
Despite the bill becoming law, ultimately the US couldn't close the Palestinian mission to the UN because this would have violated international law. The DC information office, however, was closed.
Fast-forward to 1993. Israel and the PLO have just signed the Oslo Peace Accords. The Palestinians have sworn to end decades of terror attacks against Israel and are slated to receive their own state in the coming years. At this historic occasion, the US Congress allowed the president to suspend all sanctions against the PLO as long as the Palestinians stay faithful to commitments made in the accords. The suspension would have to be renewed every six months. This act by Congress allowed the PLO to open up a diplomatic mission in DC.
In 1997, Congress made it easier for the president to waive the sanctions against the PLO: The president would now just have to say the waiver was in the US's national security interest with no explanation needed. Again, a waiver would have to be signed every six months.
This was the case until 2011, when the Palestinians joined UNESCO and declared they wanted full-membership status in the UN.
In response, Congress slipped in a new provision into the annual State and Foreign Operations Bill […]
Now, if the Palestinians obtained full membership status in the United Nations outside of an agreement with Israel, the president would be unable to waive sanctions against the PLO, unless "the Palestinians have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel." […]
After the Palestinians joined the ICC in 2015, Congress, without any public debate or headlines, slipped in a similar provision into the December 2015 foreign ops bill […]
The provision calls for the waiver to be revoked should the Palestinians "initiate an International Criminal Court (ICC) judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation" against Israel."
In other words, when Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly on September 20th 2017 that "[w]e have called on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and aggressions against our people" he was no doubt aware of the potential consequences under the terms of the legislation passed by the US Congress nearly two years earlier under the Obama administration. And yet despite the US State Department having issued that warning in November 2017, in May 2018 the PA's foreign minister nevertheless chose to present a referral to the ICC.
Nevertheless, as was reported in November 2017, the PLO mission in Washington could have remained open.
"The declaration does not automatically mean the mission will close. US President Donald Trump now has a 90-day window to decide whether "the Palestinians have entered into direct, meaningful negotiations with Israel" — in which case he can waive the requirement to shutter the office."
However, the Palestinians have of course done no such thing and – as the BBC has itself reported on numerous occasions over the past ten months – Palestinian officials have repeatedly made it abundantly clear that they have no intention of even considering a US peace plan.
In summary, while readers of this BBC report found an unsatisfactory 48 word 'explanation' of the legislative background crucial to proper understanding of this story, they saw 127 words of PLO condemnations of the US administration decision – but no clarification of how the Palestinians could have prevented that decision from being taken.
Inaccuracy and omission in BBC backgrounder on Jerusalem
BBC News report on US aid cut excludes relevant context
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Accuracy, BBC, Impartiality, Omission, Public Purposes	• Tagged BBC, BBC News, BBC Online, ICC, Israel, MEPP, Palestinian Authority, PLO, PLO NAD, US Administration, US Congress
1) Grant Rumley writes about "The Tragedy of Mahmoud Abbas" at the Atlantic.
"Picture a Palestinian leader in the twilight of his reign. Besieged on all sides and challenged by younger upstarts, he lashes out against Israel, his Arab brethren, and the United States. Other Palestinian officials jockey to replace him, convinced he's past his prime. This is how it ended for Yasser Arafat, whose insistence on waging the second intifada left him isolated in the final years of his rule. It may well be how it ends for Mahmoud Abbas."
2) At the JCPA Amb. Alan Baker discusses "Palestinian Manipulation of the International Criminal Court".
"International law does not recognize General Assembly resolutions as a source of legal authority for granting statehood. Following on from this, the Palestinians cannot give jurisdiction to the ICC over territory over which they do not exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction, and which is subject to an ongoing dispute and negotiation as to its final status.
In this context, one may ask how the ICC, as a juridical institution established on the basis of legal principles and norms, could, in light of the requirements of its statute, rely on a political, non-binding resolution of the General Assembly as a source of authority for accepting a non-state entity claiming to be a state?"
3) At Mosaic magazine, Robert Satloff writes about a little-known chapter in World War Two history.
"In the early morning hours of November 8, 1942, as U.S. and British forces waited anxiously on troop ships spread across the North African coast, 377 young men, led by a twenty-year-old medical student named José Aboulker, had fanned out across Algeria's capital city of Algiers to execute a daring mission that would help determine the fate of [Operation] Torch. […]
Astonishingly, through gumption, guile, and guts, these ragtag volunteers succeeded. By 2:00 a.m. on the morning of the invasion, Algeria's capital was theirs. No less astonishingly, they then proceeded to hold it for an additional five critical hours, making it far easier for Allied troops to enter Algiers than had proved the case in the landing zones of Casablanca and Oran.
If mainstream histories of Torch mention this episode at all, they describe it briefly as but one in a line of heroic tales of French partisans. The official U.S. army account of American military engagement in North Africa, for example, records that "Algiers came under control of the irregulars of the French resistance at the time the landings began."
But that account and virtually all others miss a critical aspect of the story: not only Aboulker himself but fully 315 of those 377 resistance fighters in Algiers were Jews, motivated to fight precisely because, as Jews, they had been denied their rights as Frenchmen by Vichy France. At its core, then, theirs was a Jewish resistance movement."
4) At the Jerusalem Post Liat Collins looks at "UNRWA's Unsettling Impact".
"To understand the absurdity that is UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) exchange the name India for Israel and Pakistan for the Palestinians.[…]
An estimated 15 million people were uprooted in Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Between one million and two million were killed. It was a tragedy of epic proportions.
Seventy years on, India and Pakistan have an uneasy relationship that occasionally flares into conflict. There are still disputed areas, such as Kashmir, but there is not a "refugee problem."
That's because the Hindus and Sikhs who fled Pakistan for India and the Muslims who escaped in the other direction – whether from fear or violent coercion – have not spent the past seven decades constantly being sold the illusion that they will move back and destroy their enemies."
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Uncategorized	• Tagged Algeria, ICC, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority, UNRWA, WW2
BBC editorial guidelines flouted in promotion of 'Breaking the Silence' booklet
It is an issue which has been raised here on many occasions in the past, but on May 4th the BBC once again demonstrated that its commitment to the obligation laid down in its editorial guidelines to "clearly describe the ideology" of organisations from which stories are sourced and/or to which interviewees are linked is not only selective and blatantly lacking in consistency, but also appears to be influenced by political considerations.
As readers are no doubt already aware, the BBC's editorial guidelines on impartiality state in section 4.4.14:
"We should not automatically assume that contributors from other organisations (such as academics, journalists, researchers and representatives of charities) are unbiased and we may need to make it clear to the audience when contributors are associated with a particular viewpoint, if it is not apparent from their contribution or from the context in which their contribution is made."
In 2013 the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit reaffirmed "the importance of clearly summarising the standpoint of any interviewee where it is relevant and not immediately clear from their position or the title of their organization".
According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign's Amena Saleem, the statement below appeared in a 2014 email from the BBC in response to a PSC complaint to the effect that the organization to which an interviewee on BBC News belongs was not adequately described to viewers as stipulated in the BBC's editorial guidelines.
"We apologize for this and would like to assure you that the matter has been raised with the relevant editorial staff at the BBC News Channel, who have been reminded of the need to clearly describe the ideology of such organizations in our coverage."
How then did the BBC News website describe the foreign funded Israeli NGO 'Breaking the Silence' – described by Amos Harel in Ha'aretz in 2009 as an organization which "has a clear political agenda, and can no longer be classed as a human rights organization" – when it published an article on May 4th titled "Israeli military 'fired indiscriminately' in Gaza" which is based entirely on a report put out by that NGO on the same day?
"An Israeli activist group has accused the military of employing a "policy of indiscriminate fire" that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians during last year's Gaza war." [emphasis added]
"Breaking the Silence, a group of serving and ex-soldiers, said its report contained interviews with more than 60 unnamed active duty and reserve Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel who took part in Operation Protective Edge." [emphasis added]
Clearly those anodyne descriptions do nothing to inform BBC audiences of the political motivations and agenda behind the "viewpoint" and "ideology" which underlie this latest addition to 'Breaking the Silence' campaigning on the subject of last summer's conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Similarly, listeners to the May 4th edition of the BBC World Service radio programme 'Newshour' (from 00:45 here) heard presenter Tim Franks introduce his 'Breaking the Silence' interviewee Avichai Stoller thus:
"Today, an Israeli activist group has accused the military of using a policy of indiscriminate fire which caused the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians. Indeed the group – which is called 'Breaking the Silence' – says that the rules of military engagement for the seven week war were – in its words – the most permissive it had seen." [emphasis added]
Obviously that introduction – like Frank's closing description of the organization as an "Israeli advocacy group" – fails to clarify to audiences the political aims behind 'Breaking the Silence' and notably Tim Franks made no effort to challenge Stoller with regard to his claim that "we are not subcontractors of anybody" despite the group's considerable foreign funding.
Another interesting aspect to the BBC's multi-platform promotion of the claims made by 'Breaking the Silence' is the fact that its booklet of testimonies was published on the same day that the two above BBC reports appeared and yet as of the morning of May 4th, the booklet was only available in Hebrew. Despite that fact, the BBC managed to produce a written report in English within a matter of hours and to arrange World Service radio interviews not only with Stoller but also with the ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and with the IDF spokesman with similarly impressive alacrity.
No less remarkable was Tim Franks' promotion of the notion of 'war crimes' on two occasions during the twelve-minute segment. Franks asked Stoller:
"If you're imputing that war crimes were committed – and it sounds as if you are – isn't that the province of the International Criminal Court?"
He later asked Bensouda:
"In terms of the allegations that have been made today, how far would they constitute war crimes if they could be substantiated?"
The BBC's clear flouting of its own editorial guidelines on impartiality by failing to inform audiences of the underlying "ideology" of the group which supplied the source material for these two reports – as well as for further opportunistic BBC promotion of the notion that Israel committed 'war crimes' during the summer 2014 conflict – is yet another example of the way in which political motivations repeatedly trump editorial standards in the BBC's coverage of Israel.
Guardian amplifies Breaking the Silence's baseless allegation of Israeli racism (UK Media Watch)
Breaking the Silence and the British Media (CAMERA)
Promoted and quoted: the BBC's preferred NGO contributors in 2014
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Accuracy, BBC, Impartiality, Omission, Public Purposes	• Tagged 'Breaking the Silence', 'Newshour', 'Shovrim Shtika', 'war crimes', BBC, BBC editorial guidelines, BBC News, BBC Online, BBC World Service radio, Gaza Strip, ICC, NGOs, Operation Protective Edge, Tim Franks
BBC amends ICC Q&A following reader complaint
h/t D
Readers may recall that on January 14th the BBC News website published a Q&A feature concerning the Palestinian Authority's bid to join the International Criminal Court. As was noted here at the time:
"Under the sub-heading "When will they become ICC members and what does it mean?" the article states:
"The Palestinians have asked it to exercise jurisdiction over any crimes committed in the occupied territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza from 13 June 2014. This covers events prior to and during last summer's conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza."
That, of course, is correct but notably the BBC refrains from pointing out to audiences that – as is also the case with the UN HRC's Schabas commission – the 'start date' selected by the PA deliberately excludes the kidnappings and murders of three Israeli teenagers by a Hebron-based Hamas cell on June 12th 2014."
A member of the public who took note of the same point submitted a complaint to the BBC and recently received a response which includes the following:
"We have reviewed the article in question and agree the date chosen by the Palestinians as the starting point for the ICC to investigate requires explanation as it is clearly not arbitrary. We have therefore updated the article with the following lines, which we hope you will find satisfactory: […]"
Although no footnote has been added to the article to inform audiences that it has been amended, the relevant passage now reads:
The wording of that amendment still does not adequately clarify the point that the 'start date' selected by the PA for the investigation it wants the ICC to pursue deliberately excludes the kidnappings and murders of Naftali Frenkel, Gil-ad Sha'ar and Eyal Yifrach – or why.
Additionally, the statement "Israeli forces began a mass round-up of Palestinians" misleadingly suggests that people were arrested randomly simply because they were Palestinians and does not make it clear that arrests were based on intelligence linking those arrested to the suspects and/or to terrorist organisations. As Ynet reported at the later stages of the search operation:
"Since the beginning of Operation Brother's Keepers, a total of 419 Palestinians have been arrested, among them 59 were released in the Shalit deal, and 279 are Hamas operatives. The IDF has searched 2,200 sites."
As the BBC's reply to this complaint shows, it is fully aware of the fact that the Palestinian request for an investigation of events after June 13th 2014 is "clearly not arbitrary" and of the significance of that selected 'start date'. And yet, despite acknowledgement that the issue "requires explanation", the wording of this amendment still does not sufficiently clarify a point vital to audience understanding of the political motives behind the Palestinian ICC bid.
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Accuracy, BBC, Impartiality	• Tagged BBC, BBC Complaints, BBC corrections, BBC News, BBC Online, ICC, Kidnappings, Palestinian Authority
Where's the BBC follow up?
On December 17th 2014 the BBC News website produced no fewer than six versions of an article titled "EU court takes Hamas off terrorist organisations list".
On January 19th 2015 the Council of the European Union announced that it had decided to appeal that court decision.
"The Council of the European Union has decided to appeal today the Judgment of the General Court (in Case T-400/10 – Hamas v. Council) of 17 December 2014.
The Judgment of the General Court of the European Union annulled measures taken by the Council of the European Union against Hamas, namely the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation and the freezing of Hamas' funds. This ruling was clearly based on procedural grounds and did not imply any assessment by the Court of the merits of designating the Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The Council has now decided to challenge some of the findings of the Court regarding the procedural grounds to list terrorist organizations under EU autonomous measures to combat terrorism, as set out in Common Position 2001/931. As a result of the appeal, the effects of the Judgment are suspended until a final judgment is rendered by the Court of Justice."
There has been no follow-up reporting on that decision by the Council on the BBC News website's Middle East page to date.
Whilst BBC News website's reporting of the PA's bid to join the ICC has been extensive – including a Q&A feature on the topic – two recent developments have also not received any BBC coverage.
On January 18th the Jerusalem Post revealed that:
"The Palestinians want the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch an investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat, a senior Fatah official announced on Sunday.
Jamal Muheissen, member of the Fatah Central Committee, claimed that Israel was responsible for the death of Arafat, who died in November 2004.
"This file will be presented to the International Criminal Court," Muheissen told the Palestinian Shms News Agency. "We want to bring the Israeli occupation to trial for every crime it committed against our people." "
On the same day the Times of Israel reported that the PA is prepared to drop its 'war crimes' suit against Israel if construction in 'settlements' is frozen.
"A senior Palestinian official said Sunday that the first subject to be brought before the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Palestinian Authority's legal campaign against Israel would be settlement construction
The official told The Times of Israel that land seizures in occupied territory constituted a clear violation of international law. Still, he noted that the appeal to the ICC would be withdrawn if Israel were to freeze settlement construction, and added that the Palestinian Authority had conveyed to Israel an official message to that effect, through Jordan and Egypt."
In its above-mentioned Q&A from January 14th, the BBC noted that:
"Some legal commentators suggest that it [the court] would open itself up to charges of politicization and set itself up for another damaging failure."
The two reports above clearly demonstrate that PA's bid to join the ICC is first and foremost a political tactic aimed at pressurizing Israel and avoiding the negotiations to which it is already committed. BBC audiences, however, remain in the dark with regard to the PA's cynical and frivolous exploitation of the ICC.
By Hadar Sela • Posted in BBC, Omission, Public Purposes	• Tagged 'setlements', BBC, BBC News, BBC Online, EU, Hamas, ICC, Israel, Palestinian Authority, terrorism, Yasser Arafat
The part of the ICC preliminary investigation story the BBC decided not to tell
An article which appeared on the BBC News website's Middle East page on January 16th under the title "Israel-Palestinian 'war crimes' probed by the ICC" has two commendable features.
First is the fact that the article avoids falling into the sensationalist trap seen in a previous BBC report from May 2013 in which a routine ICC preliminary examination was misleadingly over-dramatised. In this latest report it is made adequately clear to audiences that the process is a routine step required in the case of any referral.
"The Hague-based ICC said on Friday it had "opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine".
It is an automatic step taken by the court upon a referral."
And later on in the report:
"In a statement, the ICC says: "A preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information available in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation." "
Secondly, whilst previously published material on this topic failed to point out to BBC the significance of the 'start date' selected by the Palestinian Authority (as recently noted in this post) this article does clarify that point.
"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked the court to investigate Israeli "crimes… committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014".
This covers events prior to and during last summer's conflict. The period includes the kidnapping and murder by Jewish extremists of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdair on 2 July, one of the events which fuelled an escalation of violence which led to the outbreak of the summer conflict.
The Palestinians' starting point begins a day after the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, who were subsequently murdered, by Hamas militants in the West Bank on 12 June. Mohammed Abu Khdair's killers said they murdered the teenager in revenge for the murders of the three Israelis."
On the less bright side however, this latest report continues the practice of promoting out of date information on the subject of the civilian/combatant casualty ratio in the Gaza Strip during July and August 2014 which may well be inaccurate and has not been independently verified by the BBC.
The most notable point about this article, however, is that it totally avoids the most newsworthy aspect of the story it purports to present.
In this report readers are informed that:
"The Palestinians will formally join the ICC on 1 April – 90 days after they submitted documents requesting membership."
The BBC's previously published Q&A article on the topic of the Palestinian bid also told readers that:
"The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said the Palestinians will formally join the ICC on 1 April."
Some readers may therefore be asking themselves whether or not the fact that the ICC chief prosecutor has already announced a preliminary examination even before the Palestinians formally join the ICC means that she has determined that they are in fact eligible to join that body in accordance with the requirement for its members to be states.
The answer to that question is not provided in the BBC's report but it does appear in the press release announcing the preliminary examination which was put out by the ICC on January 16th. Whilst the BBC article provides a link to that press release, it does not point out to readers that it includes an explanation of how Fatou Bensouda arrived at the conclusion that she could begin the process of examination.
"On 29 November 2012, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 67/19 granting Palestine "non-member observer State" status in the UN with a majority of 138 votes in favour, 9 votes against and 41 abstentions. The Office examined the legal implications of this development for its own purposes and concluded, on the basis of its previous extensive analysis of and consultations on the issues, that, while the change in status did not retroactively validate the previously invalid 2009 declaration lodged without the necessary standing, Palestine would be able to accept the jurisdiction of the Court from 29 November 2012 onward, pursuant to articles 12 and 125 of the Rome Statute. The Rome Statute is open to accession by "all States," with the UNSG acting as depositary of instruments of accession."
The significance of that decision is explained by Professor Eugene Kontorovich in an article well worth reading in full.
"The decision to open the inquiry involved the prosecutor determining that the Palestinian Authority is in fact a "state," a necessary precondition to jurisdiction under the Rome Statute, the Court's constitutive treaty.
The ICC has never accepted jurisdiction over what is clearly at most a "marginal" state – one that is not a U.N. member, that has not ever claimed to govern any territory, and whose recognition by other states is limited (for example, the U.S., Canada and most Western European states do not recognize the existence of a Palestinian state). This is clearly dramatically different from anything the Court has done before.
But the prosecutor did not actually determine the Palestine qualifies as a "state" under the well-established legal definitions of the term. Rather, she said that the U.N. General Assembly's vote in 2012 to call Palestine a "non-member state" is dispositive of the question. In short, she substituted the determination of the General Assembly for her own. The GA is not a judicial body, but a political one. Its determinations are political, not legal. (It also has no power under the U.N. Charter, to create or recognize states.)"
In its January 14th Q&A article, the BBC asked "What are the possible implications for the ICC?" and responded to its own question by noting that:
"Some legal commentators suggest that it would open itself up to charges of politicization and set itself up for another damaging failure."
Given that observation, one would have thought that the BBC would have bothered to inform audiences of the important fact that the opening of this preliminary investigation is based on a decision made in 2012 by a controversial political organisation rather than by a judicial body.
By Hadar Sela • Posted in Accuracy, BBC, Omission, Public Purposes	• Tagged BBC, BBC News, BBC Online, ICC, Israel, Palestinian Authority

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
OLED TVs help LG to record profits
By Becky Roberts 2018-04-30T15:16:16Z News
LG Home Entertainment Company reported a 7.4 per cent increase in revenue in Q1 2018, while Samsung's consumer electronics division numbers slid slightly.
LG's home entertainment division reported sales of KRW 4.12 trillion (£2.8bn) in the first quarter of 2018, with revenue growing 7.4 per cent compared to the same quarter last year. That's in big part thanks its OLED and Super UHD top-ranging TVs remaining 'strong', no doubt.
The division's quarterly operating profit was also its largest ever.
While Samsung Electronics' total Q1 2018 revenue (KRW 60.56 trillion, or roughly £41bn) showed approximately 20 per cent year-on-year growth (mostly down to its rapid growth in device solutions such as memory chipsets, and also IT and Mobile income from the likes of the Galaxy S9 smartphone), its consumer electronics division saw a slight reduction in profits.
However, Samsung CE still posted a hefty KRW 9.74 trillion (around £6.6bn) in sales for the quarter. That's compared to KRW 10.34 trillion (£7bn) in the first quarter of 2017.
Samsung put this slight dip down to an adjustment in its TV line-up, where some mid-range to low-end products were removed in favour of larger screen sizes (which is where Samsung appears to be focusing its attention).
It's here Samsung claims a high market share in the '$2500 and above' TV segment, thanks to expanded sales of flagship models, including QLED and larger-screen TVs. Its forthcoming 8K and MicroLED models this year will no doubt look to further that preeminence.
What is QLED TV?
OLED vs QLED - which is the best TV technology?
Best 4K OLED TV deals
Samsung 2018 TVs: QLED, LCD, 8K, 4K - everything you need to know
LG 2018 TVs: OLED, LCD, 4K - everything you need to know
Best TVs 2018


Arizona Prison Watch: Arizona : Legislature turning a profit on misery?
This in earlier today from Caroline Isaacs at the American Friends Service Committee in Tucson. Sorry I'm just opening my mail now. Her contact info is below - she has legislative information faster than I do, and knows a lot about private prisons...Please email these legislators Tuesday.
Along these lines, don't forget that Wednesday, December 2, at 7pm Professor Mona Lynch will be at Changing Hands in Tempe (see book cover to left) discussing her research into Arizona's Department of Corrections, and the effect our take on crime and punishment has had over the past four decades on the crisis of mass incarceration in America. I would imagine she'd have something to say about privatization issues, and I'm sure she'll take questions.
Apart from how informative I think her talk will be, attending would also be a good way to connect with others who share concerns about the need for sentence reform, strengthening of prisoner protections and rights, the high recidivism rate among parolees, the incidence of untreated mental illness and addiction in the criminal justice system (instead of in the health care system, which would actually be cheaper), and the blatant marketing of members of our families and communities as consumers and workers to be exploited while they are also being punished. That exploitation reaches us all.
There are also 10,000 employees with the Department of Corrections to consider, many of whom could lose what little they have left in the way of job security, benefits, etc. from the state. The whole point of this privatization thing is to do it cheaper than they are already - you know who that's coming out of: prisoners and guards. Selling and leasing back our properties has got to be one of the stupidest ideas I've heard of come out of a state legislature (well, not so much now that I've read Sunbelt Justice). That's like selling my car to a rent-to-own company that will eventually collect from me twice the original value of the car...which, by the time it's been paid off, I'll need to get a new one.
I don't think the Republican Party is who my folks and grandparents signed up with anymore. Arizona's GOP has got one mean streak that my grandpa never had - and he was a Republican from the Iowa farmland. There's got to be a better way to deal with the budget crisis than starving our kids today, and committing them to pay our debts for decades more.
I'm no party member (of any party, frankly), but I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to be part of the GOP platform - people have just been sneaking this right-wing stuff in draped in Old Glory, hushing the resistance among them with tributes to fallen soldiers and protection of their interests with the full force of the law.
I don't think this charade will last much longer, though. The real Republicans began re-evaluating their affiliation and loyalties a few years ago, when the extremists took power - they are increasingly "Independent" - which may soon be the third party in the middle. I believe the National Republican Party is about to wake up to what an embarrassment the Republican leadership in this state is to them - with Arizona's own Bull Connor racial-profiling and beating down the civil rights marchers, and Wallace desperately trying to keep the Jim Crow South intact (Pearce would be the best parallel there, I think).
The state GOP will hopefully be steered back from the brink of disaster by people like my grandparents who thought carefully about the possible consequences of their investments, and who put their principles and other human beings above their "politics." This year will be the last year those men retain power. The people are taking it back - not the Democrats - all of us. Not only have a bunch of progressive US citizens moved out here, but the indigenous peoples and early migrants here from the South have been growing in both numbers and influence. And we're all in solidarity against men like Arpaio, Thomas, and Pearce. We will resist and elect new legislators. In the meantime, however, we must still keep them from privatizing the state prison system.
It just doesn't seem necessary to make it so hard on future generations like this. After what happened to Marcia Powell, I also think there are enough citizens in this state who would stop and try to figure out how to help if they saw all that went down - not just the day she lay dying in that cage, but the years that led up to her being there and being discarded so easily. We need to look at how overcrowding affects the survival of prisoners and the roles and safety of guards. We need to ask what community-based programs work for people with mental illness, for women with addictions, for survivors of trauma, for those among us who have been so thoroughly institutionalized that we don't know how to deal with the "real world" anymore - many of us messed up by eight years of war.
There are enough people of privilege here who I think would be willing to give a little more if they understood what was at stake for everyone. Considering how much we've extracted from the blood and sweat of the indigenous, migrant, minority, and working class communities that fill Arizona's prisons now, we should at least make sure they get decent care when they develop cancer, aren't doomed to contract Hep C or HIV by unsanitary and crowded conditions. We shouldn't be hitting them up with the bill for thier own oppression, either - the poor are already very generous, and the only tax plans being discussed to bail out the state are those which shift even more of the financial burden for running this thing onto us, without giving us any voice in how our money is spent. Zero voice. We pay legislative salaries with our sales tax, but just kicked in the teeth every time the budget or crime bills come up.
So, whether or not you work, or even whether or not you have the right to vote here, every consumer in Arizona is a taxpayer with a vested interest in where our dollars are spent: warehousing people who are brutalized out of our sight, or invested someplace where it might keep a few kids from ever ending up on the path to prison in the first place.
Do go to the Private Corrections Institute website and dig into some of their information on these private prison companies. We can't let them take over the state's power to use violence against people. That's a privilege reserved to the state - I believe it's called the "monopoly on violence". Once we give that power to private companies motivated only by profit, we surrender our communities and the future of Arizona's children to corporate interests - all of whom will be invested in lobbying for higher incarceration rates. Imagine their current lobbying influence in the state multiplied exponentially... that's what will happen if they take over the prisons. They begin to take over who makes the laws.
In the meantime, check out who already in the private prison industry's pockets - our lawmakers aren't all clean on this. Don't let them slide...it's out there already, and not hard to find.


Robert Joseph Lovette departed this life on Wednesday, November 15, 2018, at the Somerset Senior Living in Crossett, AR. He was preceded in death by his grandparents: Daniel and Ozell McCain, step-father Gerald Taylor and one brother Danny Lovett.
He leaves to honor his memories, One son: Jason Lovett of Longview, TX; His Mother: Marie Taylor of Crossett, AR; Three brothers: Donald Lovett, Jay Taylor and Gerald Taylor, Jr. all of Crossett, AR,; Two sisters: Lydia Lovett of Rayville, LA and Brenda Newell of West Monroe, LA.
There will be no services at this time. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Mitchell Memorial Funeral Service of Crossett, AR.


The SA 14-14-2 live attenuated JE vaccine, produced by the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products, has been used on a large scale in China since 1988, and more recently has been being exported to several countries in the region. The uptake of this vaccine has increased substantially, and it is now the most widely used JE vaccine.
GACVS has reviewed safety aspects of this vaccine at two of its meetings (twelfth, held on 9-10 June 2005, and fifteenth, held on 29-30 November 2006). GACVS reviewed data related to the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of the vaccine, and scrutinized data on co-administration with measles vaccine.
GACVS concluded that the short-term safety profile of live JE vaccine appears satisfactory and that there appears to be a high level of vaccine efficacy after the administration of a single dose. The vaccine is immunogenic in infants from the age of eight months of age, and can be safely administered with measles vaccine from nine months. However, a modest reduction in both seroconversion and GMT titre has been observed for measles vaccine when co-administered with JE vaccine. Current data suggest, however, that the interference is only temporary, and co-administration of live JE vaccine and measles vaccine is acceptable. Further studies to confirm that measles vaccine effectiveness remains undiminished were encouraged.
In relation to serious adverse events reported after mass vaccination campaigns in India during 2006, no direct causality has been established between the reported illnesses and the SA14-14-2 JE vaccine.
Nevertheless, GACVS recommended that in future, potential vaccine-related serious adverse events should be better investigated. Furthermore, more investigations are required to assess the possible risk of low frequency adverse events (especially neurological). Since live JE vaccine is currently used in "catch-up" campaigns on many millions of children in Asian countries, the opportunity should be taken to examine whether the vaccine safety profile remains valid in large study populations.


The term " smart contract " has been appearing a lot, lately. (A recent Google search returned more than 4 million hits!) But there is confusion and misunderstanding concerning what this term means.
This post explains what smart contracts are, and what they are not.
Despite their name, smart contracts are not contracts.
As concerns form, they are not text documents divided into sections, paragraphs and clauses.
As concerns substance, they are not statements of parties' respective rights and obligations in their business relationship.
Furthermore, they are not smart. They do not exhibit intelligence.
Today, I consider smart contracts most useful as supply-chain management tools.
First, a distributed ledger records a supplier's performance obligations.
At some point, the supplier satisfies those performance obligations.
Then the distributed ledger authorizes payment to the supplier.
Put simply, smart contracts are highly secure, readily available records.


I watch a lot of ESPN and, even more, listen to sports radio. I don't know if it is that I have recently had Cicero on the mind or if Ciceronian rhetoric is becoming more common in sports analysis, but I am hearing an overwhelming amount of analysts that I would swear are Cicero reincarnate. I prefer to think that these learned sportscasters have just been brushing up on their Cicero and using his techniques. The following is a list of Ciceronian strategies and how they are being used on ESPN and sports radio shows.
This is the act of inserting extra or superfluous words just for the sake of sounding smart and elegant. I don't have a problem with this since I like a good vocabulary in a person, but I include this as a warning more than anything. If you are not 100% sure of what the word means, what part of speech it is, or how it can and cannot be used in a sentence, please, I beg you, don't use the word. You will sound much more intelligent if you just stick to what you know. I applaud John Kruk for not going crazy with his vocabulary and sticking to who he is. On the other side of that I love Pardon the Interruption, but they drive me nuts with this.
The definition is as follows: To call attention to something by specifically mentioning you won't do that (mannerofspeaking.org). This is what brought me to write this particular post. In an argument on a local sports radio station over the Eagles retiring Donovan Mcnabb's number, I kept hearing the phrase, "I'm not even going to mention…" This is the most Ciceronian of all rhetorical skills! Cicero uses this endlessly to sound like he is above mentioning the unmentionables, but by saying this he is mentioning these things. He does this most notably in his speeches against Catiline and Marc Antony. In the Mcnabb arguments both the radio hosts and callers could not resist saying, "I won't even mention the puking at the Super Bowl incident." You mentioned it by saying you won't mention it. This is one of the oldest of rhetorical devices and probably one of the most commonly used today.
ESPN thrives on this principle. Expolitio is basically attempting to make an argument stronger by restating it over and over in many different ways. The show Around the Horn is based entirely on this technique. All they do on that show is restate each other's opinions while one person (usually Woody) disagrees with everyone else just so that the show is a little bit interesting.
As I am writing this ESPN is really harping on Dwight Howard for being indecisive and constant source of drama. Coniectura is using someone's character or way of life as proof of something. In the Dwight Howard case they are claiming he is not as valuable of basketball player and some analysts are even questioning his skills. This questioning is all in response to the drama surrounding his potential return to the Lakers. They are using his character and indecisiveness off the court to talk about his game on the court, classic coniectura.
These are just a few of the ways Cicero can be heard in modern sports analysis, but there are so many and I really could go on forever. Of course, these techniques can also be found in political speeches and other news reporting, or just anywhere people are speaking about anything. A list of Cicero's rhetorical devices can be found here and I'm sure if you just watch an hour of Sportscenter (wading through all of the awful Twitter reporting) you will find many of these in use.


How'd you like to have your child go to kindergarten with Sandra Wallenhorst's son, Philip? "My daddy's an Ironman," or "My daddy runs every day," junior might say. "My mommy's the fastest Ironman ever and she swims and runs and bikes almost every day. She trains 40 hours a week. According to your dad's bosses, that's more than your ol' man works," Philip could reply, ending any further attempts at one up-manship.
Your kids couldn't even try to compete on the job front. "My mom's a lawyer, too," Philip can hit you with if you even go there.
Last year in Austria I tried to explain to Wallenhorst that people who have an 18-month old infant at home aren't supposed to be able to complete an Ironman in 8:47:26, let alone put together a 4:50 bike split and a 2:54 marathon. Wallenhorst has a great smile – one which she showed me after that question as she tried to figure out what on earth I could be saying. In Sandra Wallenhorst's world, mom's with 18-month-old babies and 30-month-old toddlers do set world best Ironman times, come third in Kona and arrive at the big show here in Frankfurt as very big favorites.
So how does a new mom burst on to the world's triathlon scene? After she gets pregnant she decides that what she's doing isn't getting the results she wants and makes some radical changes. In Wallenhorst's case those changes included the 40 hour training weeks, 200 km bike rides and 45 km runs.
In case you're wondering just how miserable those old results were, I checked. A 10:24 in Florida in 2003 netted her 17th in the pro race. Wallenhorst finished just under 10 hours at Ironman Canada in 2004 for fourth place overall. She was then injured for a year before heading to Ford Ironman Arizona in 2006 where she had a really tough day.
Turns out that there was a good reason for that tough day – Wallenhorst was racing for two, providing Philip with his first Ironman finish. He was born in December.
While there are those who might feel OK with a sub-10 hour Ironman, when you're the type of person who trains up a storm while working as a lawyer and has a sub-nine (well, I guess sub-8:50 is more accurate) in you, you're going to sit down and figure out what it's going to take to get where you think you should be.
Now there's a full-fledged team Wallenhorst. There's Philip, of course, and Wallenhorst's partner, Max. The two met initially through cycling – an excellent amateur cyclist, Max began to coach Wallenhorst. Then the two hooked up for a cup of coffee. Things quickly developed from there.("There's no time for a wedding," says mama Wallenhorst, "there's too much racing to do.") When travelling to training camps or Kona, a nanny ends up along for the trip, too.
Max gets to Frankfurt tomorrow – he'll leave Philip with his grandparents – to watch Wallenhorst prepare for one of the most anticipated Ironman races of the year. In two days Wallenhorst will take on one of the women who beat her to the line in Kona, Yvonne Van Vlerken. The two hold the fastest Ironman times every run – Wallenhorst's is the official Ironman world best while Van Vlerken set the Ironman-distance best on the same day at an event here in Germany.
Wallenhorst has one distinct advantage over her Dutch rival, too. Last year I asked Wallenhorst why she was so fast. "I think Philip makes me fast," she laughed. "I have to catch him all the time, so that's what makes me fast."
He's fast. He always wins when others try to out-do him. He's even finished an Ironman. He's got a mom who's smart, nice, and one of the best in the world as a triathlete. Glad my kids don't have to compete with that.


Happy Fur  Balls Enjoying Weekend At GrandMa's!
We have posted videos about grandpa and grandma visiting the malamutes in the past. Now it's their turn to visit grandma's house and don't they look excited.
They start their journey in the morning with mom and Dad and after several hours of car ride, finally, reach their destination at night.
Watch the video to see the malamutes jumping and circling around the main gate because they know they have arrived at grandmas.
It's fun to see so much excitement in the fur balls. They finally find the way and start bouncing around and getting rubs from grandpa.
Next morning they go for a long walk in the scenic countryside and have lots of fun watching birds and running around.
Back at home, they spend happy times getting pampered by grandma and playing with momma in the backyard. A weekend well spent, don't you think.


This easy to make cheese mayonnaise sandwich couldn't be more plain and simple, but is sure has enough flavour to satisfy your taste buds. You only need two main ingredients with the mature Cheddar cheese and mayonnaise.
Before you begin the sandwich you have to create a cheese mayonnaise mixture which will spread nicely over the wholemeal bread. The mature Cheddar cheese will add a little kick to your sandwich so its not to bland. Just make it yourself and you'll see.
Turn your cheese mayonnaise in to a quick cheese, onion and mayonnaise sandwich by adding 10 grams of finely chopped raw spring onion in the cheese and mayo mixture.
Serve the cheese mayo sandwich as a quick snack for yourself or the kids. The sandwich will also be ideal for taking away with you on a picnic.


text:
Manga, the Cyborg Girl, and Me: A Love Story
Vernieda Vergara 09-28-15
On my fifteenth birthday, a friend gifted me three single-issue comic books. That's what I thought they were at first anyway. But when I opened them up, I realized they weren't superhero comics at all. They were manga about a cyborg girl. Wait a minute. Japanese comics were available in English? I thought companies translated only anime!
This was back in the day before TOKYOPOP came and revolutionized the North American manga scene. Prior to that, companies still mirror-imaged manga so that they read left-to-right. To make the titles more familiar to an audience used to Marvel and DC fare, they released manga chapters as single issues rather than the collected volumes today's manga readers are familiar with.
What was the manga my friend gave me? The first three chapters of what would become volume 3 of Battle Angel.
Like many teenagers, my first exposure to comics came in the form of the X-Men and all their various titles. Uncanny. Generation X. X-Force. I read them all. Or I tried to. There's only so much you can buy off of a fourteen-year-old girl's allowance.
Since I'd been reading the X-Men comics with their huge combined backstory, it didn't bother me to be dropped mid-series into Battle Angel. That's just normal, right? So I read those three issues, loved Yukito Kushiro's art, and went looking for more. Battle Angel's post-apocalyptic vision of a cyborg girl trying to protect the ones she loves struck a chord with me, you see.
I eventually found volume 1 in a Philadelphia comic book store during the summer I attended a science camp held at the University of Pennsylvania. Wow, collected manga volumes were cute! They came in smaller trim sizes than Western graphic novels. Thicker, too.
In between writing up lab experiments and listening to biotechnology lectures, I read volume 1. And in those pages, I dove headfirst into Gally's—known as Alita in the English adaptation—origin story. It was 100% pure love at second sight.
A discarded piece of scrap retrieved from a junk heap, Gally was found and adopted by a cyborg doctor who crafted her into the image of the daughter he never had. He doted on her and gave her everything. Pretty clothes. A beautiful cyborg body. Opportunity. Parental love.
But Gally didn't want to be the perfect, pretty daughter. Gally loved to fight. She needed to fight. It was literally in her blood, a faint memory of the person she used to be before she ended up in that trash heap. And against her father's wishes, against everyone's expectations, she sought out ways to fulfill that desire. Again and again until her relentlessness chipped away at the resistance put up by those who thought they knew what was best for her. "Why would you want to do that?" they'd say. "Isn't it too dangerous?" they'd exclaim. "Why would you want to give up what you have?"
Gally's story spoke to me in a way no other comic ever had. The pressures and expectations put upon us by other people can form a cage, if we let it. It is an experience common to many children of immigrants to the U.S. Our parents came to the U.S. to give us more opportunities and a better life. Why wouldn't we want to become a doctor? Why wouldn't we aspire to become an engineer? It's a stable life. It's a good life.
But it might not be the life we want to live.
I read Battle Angel through high school and into college. TOKYOPOP rose (and fell), unleashing a tsunami of manga across North America. Mars. Petshop of Horrors. Saiyuki. Paradise Kiss. More. Countless more. But Battle Angel was my formative manga experience. It was the first Japanese comic I ever read. Gally was first the comic book heroine I truly identified with. Her story is ultimately a journey of self-discovery and learning to fight for the things that matter the most. Battle Angel even left its mark on the manga category I read most of. Don't get me wrong: I love shounen manga but seinen manga will always and forever have my heart.
Like a certain cyborg girl named Gally.
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#Comics/Graphic Novels#Manga#Our Reading Lives#battle angel#tallboy
Grounds for Murder: Maps and Floor Plans in Mystery Novels


The wedding weekend went off without a hitch and my nephew Eric and his new wife Ericka are enjoying a relaxing honeymoon in Yellowstone! Bennett did a wonderful job lighting LOTS of candles and Reagan dropped her petals oh so carefully down the aisle. We laughed and cried and danced and partied and just had a fabulous weekend! The weather was perfect, my kids were absolutely adorable, and we made it home in time for Bennett's T-ball game. A perfect weekend!


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I hope this letter finds you well as we all get ready for this upcoming holiday season. Personally, it is hard for me to believe I have been at the Heart Ministry Center as the Executive Director for five months now. It has been a great experience for me to be a part of this organization, to be able to work with the staff, volunteers, our supporters and the community. It is critical to have this support as there is tremendous need in the North Omaha community.
In 2014, the Heart Ministry Center provided 78,000 acts of assistance. In 2015, we will have provided more than 90,000 acts of assistance – a 20% increase from last year.
The family that purchased a swimming pool mat to sleep on because they couldn't afford a bed. Your contribution allows us to get them a bed.
The family that will not be able to afford food for a Christmas meal or gifts for their children. Your contribution allows us to provide them with food for a Christmas meal and gifts for the family.
The woman that attends college, but cannot afford the books and materials she needs because her family lives in poverty. Your contribution allows us to help fill the gap so she can continue to go to school and have a way forward.
The young man who is the first person from his family to graduate from high school. Your contribution allows us to run our mentoring program for young men in North Omaha to give them an opportunity to change their future for the better.
These are just some of the many people that are helped with your generous support of the Heart Ministry Center. It makes a significant difference. We thank you so much for all you do for the Heart Ministry Center. Have a wonderful holiday season.
Jim keep up the good work. May God bless you. I would like to volunteer sometime again at the front. John had said Thursday's, Senior Day. I truly miss being a part of the Heart Ministry Center. Please e-mail me and let me know. I also would appreciate getting to know you.


Hobart Out Tennis Tournament 2019 (12-13 Jan) has now finished!
Check out the 2019 honour list!
See you all in 2020!
Our next social is on Sunday 3rd March. Details here!
Promoting, encouraging and advancing the game of tennis for the Tasmanian LGBT community by organising social tennis events as well as tennis tournaments.


text:
hatepalin.com
Entries tagged as 'alaska'
Alaskans Want a Focused Governor
December 6, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Check out this letter posted on December 6th in the Fairbanks Daily News * Miner (www.newsminer.com) from John E. Zimmerman of Fairbanks:
In my September letter to the editor, I predicted the Republicans would lose the presidential election and the selection of Gov. Palin as Sen. McCain's running mate, however entertaining, was a serious mistake in judgment. I say entertaining, but entertainment was not what I voted for, neither was it for the rest of the country.
More accurately stated, the Republican Party never had a chance, no matter who became its choice for the White House or for vice president. The die of this failed election was cast eight years ago and remains with us today, waiting change.
The Bush administration managed to create an overwhelming sense of distrust from the war in Iraq to a multitude of failed policies and economic problems at home. Unfortunately, it all happened on his watch with little wiggle room for meaningful justification. It would be exceedingly difficult to find any major accomplishments aimed at "for the good of the people" to feel good about.
Gov. Palin's personal obsession for political exposure could be recognized as a work in progress and nothing more. She spared no effort selling herself and at the same time spared no effort attacking her opponents throughout the national election. Not the best way to win friends or influence people, especially voters.
While our state faces budgetary and other internal problems, Gov. Palin's secondary focus seemed to have been a self-appointed senatorial position should Sen. Stevens win the election and be voted out by his peers. She called on Sen. Stevens to step down, guaranteeing herself the job. We now know a Democrat won this election while preserving the dignity and honor of Sen. Stevens. Sen. Stevens may not ask President Bush for a pardon, but someone should.
I hope Gov. Palin will now concentrate on being the best governor for our state. How she governs could determine her future political possibilities. Nothing trumps good judgment and experience with a little Emily Post mixed in. 2012 would not be the right time for any Republican presidential comeback. Try 2020.
Categories: Palin · Palintology
Tagged: alaska, Palin
Palin Comes Clean on Undisclosed Paid Trips
In what can now only be viewed as a pattern of a failure to comply with Alaskan requirements to reveal third-party gifts in the form of travel expenses for Palin and her family, the Governor recently retroactively filed the disclosures on November 17th.
Please note the date – well after the completion of the Presidential campaign.
The trips occurred in April and May of 2007, and State law requires disclosures be filed within 30 days. The State government has said it does not intend to apply sanctions.
The total value of the trips, hotels and other gifts (like cowboy boots) for Palin and her family, including Todd's travel to the Republican Governor's convention was $8,000 – presumably just the price of one good DNC-paid suit from Neiman Marcus.
Palin blamed the failure on "staff oversight."
Read about it in the AP story "Palin files late disclosure for free trips."
Tagged: alaska, ethics, free travel, Palin
Palin Loses Chance to Replace Stevens in Senate
The announcement on Wednesday that Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich won the Alaskan Senate race over Ted Stevens means that Palin doesn't have a shot at replacing him, at least in the short-term.
Had Stevens been declared the winner, despite his conviction on felony charges for lying on his disclosure forms to the Senate over gifts made to him in the construction work done on his house, it was clear that there was widespread support in the Senate from both Republicans and Democrats to oust him for ethics violations. It was slightly ridiculous, and highly embarrassing for Alaskans, that Stevens got enough votes that his reelection was even a possibility. Had he been elected and then expelled, however, the Governor (Palin) would have appointed a successor. While unprecedented, it was not entirely implausible that a self-appointment or other political machination would have made it possible for Palin to become the replacement Alaskan Senator, and then avoid the new difficulties which now face her in Alaska. A position in the Senate would also have given her a greater national platform to continue her quest to become a major national political power.
In addition, the election of Begich puts the Democrats closer to the 60 Senator "super-majority" (the number of Senators able to invoke cloture, or the ability to stop a filibuster), which by Senate tradition can be used by a minority to forestall a vote and either kill a piece of legislation or get compromises from the majority.
There seems to be an increasing weariness of Palin's high visibility in the media, with many calling for her to get out of the spotlight and declaring her 15 minutes of fame over. At least for now.
Categories: Palin · Palintology · Politics
Tagged: alaska, cloture, filibuster, governor, Palin, senate, senator, super majority, ted stevens
Palin a Multi-Millionaire, Faces Cold Alaska
Sarah Palin appears close to getting a $7 million to $11 million book deal after her unsuccessful run for Vice-President and emergence as the poster-girl for the Religious Right. Based on her popularity with her base, there seems to be a built-in market for the book. Personally I'd prefer that she just dictate the book and have it transcribed, along with a Palin-to-English dictionary, so that we'd get some real insight into her thought processes. My guess is that a ghost writer will shoulder most of the writing burden.
Unfortunately for Palin she has to go back to Alaska and deal with a reality on the cold frozen ground that is very different than it was in August.
Diminished standing of the "Sarah Palin Brand." All of the national attention certainly brought out home-state pride, but it also highlighted Palin's inexperience. Many in Alaska were frankly embarrassed by her performance and the resulting negative image spillover onto Alaska. Her approval ratings in Alaska have plummeted from their stratospheric heights.
Troopergate fallout. There are many in Alaskan government bitter at the way that Palin and the McCain-Palin campaign handled the Troopergate inquiry. They may even investigate whether individuals urged witnesses to not appear; something that would constitute witness tampering under Alaska law. The findings of the independent investigator highlighted a Palin administration that did not follow proper disclosure policies (private e-mail for public business) and seemed obsessed by a personal vendetta.
Questionable Billings to the State. Palin's claims for per diem payments for time spent at home and her reimbursements from Alaska for family travel (and failing to report those payments as income) could come under new scrutiny. The legislature is likely to create rules to make clear that these practices are unacceptable.
State Budget. Alaska depends on taxes and fees on oil companies for the vast majority of its budget (no state income tax or property tax exists). With the price of oil dropping, Alaska's revenue faces a dramatic decrease. Palin had governed in a time of easy money; the new economic realities will prove to be a significant hurdle for the Governor.
The Pipeline. Palin trumpeted the natural gas pipeline deal with TransCanada with as her crowning achievement, but it has not been built and may never be built. She led the effort to spend $500 million by the State to plan for the pipeline, but no other private or public money has been committed for the multi-billion dollar construction of the pipeline, and there is no guarantee that it will be built.
Categories: McCain · Palin · Palintology · Troopergate
Tagged: alaska, alaska budget, natural gas pipeline, Palin, palin book deal, Troopergate
Palin's Pal Ted Stevens a Convicted Felon
October 27, 2008 · 4 Comments
So much for Sarah Palin's maverick anti-establishment credentials. Now that Ted Stevens has been found guilty on seven charges of failing to report gifts on his Senate disclosure forms, will Sarah Palin call on him to resign?
Stevens had extensive work done on his home and didn't pay for it. Stevens tried to fob off responsibility on to his wife, saying that he didn't know about the expenses. Turns out Palin is much cozier with Stevens than you might think, given how much of a "throw-em-out" reformer she claims to be. You might even say she has been "palling around" with a now-convicted criminal
Watch what she had to say just this summer – July 2008 – about their relationship:
And so the storied Senator Stevens ends his long and contentious career in the U.S. Senate with ignominy.
UPDATE: Both McCain and Palin have now called for Senator Ted Stevens to resign, something he is unlikely to do. This may just be posturing by McCain-Palin, but it's a step in the right direction. If Stevens were to resign the likelihood of a filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate (60) increases significantly. Read about it in the New York Times: McCain Says Alaska Senator Should Resign.
Tagged: alaska, Palin, Palintology, ted stevens
Alaska's Biggest Newspaper Endorses… Obama?
October 27, 2008 · 1 Comment
Poor Sarah Palin. She has gone from approval ratings as Governor that once soared like an eagle. Now they've plummeted as if she'd been shot from a helicopter.
And now this. The Alaska newspaper with the biggest circulation, the Anchorage Daily News, has looked past Palin's ticket to endorse Obama-Biden.
Sarah's popularity in her own state has been hurt by the negative style of campaigning of the McCain-Palin ticket, the concern that she looks foolish and unprepared in the harsh glare of the national spotlight, worry that she reflects badly on Alaska, and the revelations of petty vindictiveness from the Troopergate scandal.
Republican pundits like Ed Rollins believe that after a presumed McCain-Palin loss that Sarah Palin will work the national rubber chicken circuit to raise money for Republican candidates, and gain some seasoning that could position her for a run again in 2012 at the top of the ticket.
Personally I think there's little chance of that. I still think that the Republicans will bundle her off back to Alaska. I'm sure she'd continue to play well to the Christian Right, but that the establishment wing of the party will see her only as a reminder of one of the main reasons that the party lost the White House.
But I'm willing to concede that I may have (in the words of George HW Bush) misunderestimated her. For the sake of more material about which to write and continued interest in this site, I almost hope she sticks around for a while.
Categories: Bush · McCain · Palin · Palintology · Politics
Tagged: alaska, anchorage daily news, biden, Bush, ed rollins, endorsement, McCain, obama, Palin
Sarah Still Unclear on Role of Vice President
Oh Sarah. You've got to stop giving me so much material.
Stumped by a third grader? Lying to a third grader? Unclear on the concept? You take your pick.
Palin famously stated on camera prior to her announcement as McCain's VP pick: "Someone has to tell me what, exactly, the Vice President does."
Apparently in the whirl of shopping, being sequestered from the press, and memorizing the outrageous claim of the day (Obama pals around with terrorists, Cities are un-American, Obama would raise your taxes) she hasn't had the time to learn what the role of the Vice President is.
In response to a question from a third-grader on the job of the Vice President, she claimed that she would be "in charge of" the Senate. Um, no, Sarah, no.
Here is her response more fully:
A vice president has a really great job because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're there like the team member, the teammate to the president. But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job.
Oh Sarah, even "the base" is starting to be embarrassed by you and your raw ambition. I hear Alaska is mighty cold after November 4th.
Tagged: alaska, Palin, Palintology, senate, third grader, vice president
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A Cabinet of Contemptibles
Not Ready for Prime Time Players
Bizarro Cabinet
Why we're baaaaaack
So much has changed – or has it?
Palin's tortured logic on Planned Parenthood and Kermit Gosnel
Bachmann update
Is Michele Bachmann the New Sarah Palin?
Palin Snarks at Obama's State of Union Address
Palin a Distant 4th to Front-Runner Romney
admin on Disarming Candor and Staggering Presumption, Sarah Prays For Open Doors
Derinda Faye on Disarming Candor and Staggering Presumption, Sarah Prays For Open Doors
RJ on The Vulgarization of Politics
movie fan on Palin 2012? Even McCain is in on the joke.
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