DC NAVY YARD SHOOTING Wikipedia links to everything else link
VICTIMS list from Wikipedia article from ABC news link
- Michael Arnold, age 59
- Martin Bodrog, age 53
- Arthur Daniels, age 51
- Sylvia Frasier, age 53
- Kathy Gaarde, age 62
- John Roger Johnson, age 73
- Mary Francis Knight, age 51
- Frank Kohler, age 50
- Vishnu Pandit, age 61
- Kenneth Bernard Proctor, age 46
- Gerald Read, age 58
- Richard Michael Ridgell, age 52
Anti gay hate crimes are up in NYC link
Iran releases political prisoners multiple links below
NPR link
Washington Post link
Still unclear, however, is whether Wednesday’s releases will have any bearing on the fates of the two main leaders of the 2009 opposition movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest since 2011. Mousavi and Karroubi were presidential candidates and had contested the validity of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection.
BBC link
NYT link
2 Presidential Candidates from 2009 and an American Marine of Iranian descent are NOT yet released
Two presidential candidates in 2009 — former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, a former Parliament speaker — have been under house arrest since 2011, along with Mr. Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard. During his election campaign, Mr. Rouhani said he would work to secure their release.
An imprisoned American of Iranian descent, Amir Hekmati, was not among those freed on Wednesday. Mr. Hekmati, 30, a former Marine, was arrested more than two years ago on espionage charges during what his family called an innocent visit to his grandmother. Mr. Hekmati’s family, who is from Flint, Mich., has been publicly pleading for his release, and American officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, have been calling on Mr. Rouhani’s government to let Mr. Hekmati go home.
On Tuesday, Mr. Hekmati’s congressman, Daniel T. Kildee, sent a letter to Samantha Power, the new American ambassador to the United Nations, urging her to press the issue when Mr. Rouhani visits for the General Assembly session next week.
Gates, Panetta Criticize Obama on Syria,
POLITICO link
they would have told him not to seek Congress' approval for a strike on President Bashar Assad's forces.
both were skeptical and sometimes sarcastic about the current Russia-backed negotiations to have Syria turn over its chemical weapons.
(personal note, MAN I LOVE Robert Gates)
Panetta said he supported a strike because Obama needed to enforce the "red line" he set over Syria's use of chemical weapons.
"When the president of the United States draws a red line, the credibility of this country is dependent on him backing up his word," Panetta said.
But Gates said a strike would be like "throwing gasoline on an extremely complex fire in the Middle East." He brought up past interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya as examples of how American military action can lead to unintended consequences.
He also dismissed attacking Syria to enforce a red line.
"I believe to blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple of days to underscore or validate a point or principle is not a strategy," he said.
he thought America's most recent presidents "have become too quick to reach for a gun to solve an international problem."
Foreign Policy Article on Gates, Panetta and Navy Yard Shooting (brought to you by Lockheed Martin??!!) link
But Gates two weeks ago urged Congress to vote yes to a strike. Politico's Mike Allen, on Sept. 5: "[Gates]... is urging Congress to back the administration on Syria - and says a defeat for the White House would have ‘dangerous consequences' for the U.S. around the world. Gates, in a statement to POLITICO Sept. 5: "I strongly urge the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, to approve the president's request for authorization to use force in Syria. "Whatever one's views on current U.S. policy toward Syria, failure by Congress to approve the request would, in my view, have profoundly negative and dangerous consequences for the United States not just in the Middle East but around the world both now and in the future." That bit here.
Did Gates contradict himself? Probably not, but something may have been lost to nuance. Although Gates urged Congress to act, his statement to Politico is based on his position that once Obama asked Congress to vote on the authorization of force, Congress should act. That's one thing. But Gates' own views on Syria policy are another, and came out last night: the administration's attempt to adhere to its redline isn't a strategy.
from Democracy Now! link
President Obama’s approach to Syria has came under criticism from his first two defense secretaries. At a public event in Dallas, Leon Panetta said Obama should have followed through on a threat of U.S. military attack, while Robert Gates called for increased military aid to Syrian rebels.
Leon Panetta: "My view would have been that once the president came to that conclusion, that he should have directed limited action going after Assad to make very clear to the world that when we draw a line and we give our word, dammit, we back it up."
Robert Gates: "My view is significantly increasing the amount of covert assistance to selected rebel groups, opposition groups. I would not provide them with surfaced air missiles, but I would give them heavier weapons and more of them."
Fed Chair ""Govt spending cuts hurts economy""
"The tightening of financial conditions observed in recent months, if sustained, could slow the pace of improvement in the economy and labor market," the Fed said in a statement after the meeting. "The [Fed] decided to await more evidence that progress will be sustained before adjusting the pace of its purchases." link
"A government shutdown, and perhaps even more so a failure to raise the debt limit, could have very serious consequences for the financial markets and for the economy," Fed chairman Ben Bernanke warned at a news conference. link
Boehner ""we need to cut govt spending to help economy, ""JOBS, JOBS, JOBS,"" repeal obamacare
But a bloc of 43 House Republicans undercut the speaker’s deficit-reduction focus, introducing yearlong funding legislation that would increase Pentagon and veterans spending and delay President Obama’s health care law for a year — most likely adding to the budget deficit. That bloc is large enough to thwart any compromise that does not attract Democratic support link
But a bloc of 43 House Republicans undercut the speaker’s deficit-reduction focus, introducing yearlong funding legislation that would increase Pentagon and veterans spending and delay President Obama’s health care law for a year — most likely adding to the budget deficit. That bloc is large enough to thwart any compromise that does not attract Democratic support link
REMINDERS OF 2011 MARKET SWOON link
In 2011, as Republicans and Democrats fought over spending cuts and a debt limit hike, U.S. financial markets swooned because of all the uncertainty created by the inability of the two parties to work together. Between July 7 and August 9 of that year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average blue-chip stocks fell 16.9 percent.
In 2011, as Republicans and Democrats fought over spending cuts and a debt limit hike, U.S. financial markets swooned because of all the uncertainty created by the inability of the two parties to work together. Between July 7 and August 9 of that year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average blue-chip stocks fell 16.9 percent.
S & P 2011 STATEMENT REDUCING CREDIT RATING----IT WAS ABOUT POLITICS MORE THAN FINANCES!!!!! link
- The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics.
- More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.
Officer Randall Kerrick, 27, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Jonathan Ferrell, 24, shot 10 times after asking for help in the middle of the night after getting into a car accident.
Police said in a statement that Kerrick "did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter."
NSA sends letter to its ""family"" saying ""we will weather storm'' link
Occupy Wall Street turns 2 years old (September 17th)
From Wall St. Journal 5 Ways OCCUPY Changed the Debate link
Occupy Offshoots continue activism link
"Operation Tripwire" -- the FBI, the Private Sector, and the Monitoring of Occupy Wall Street link
SENATE COMMITTEE’S SHIELD LAW PROJECT THREATENS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM link
The draft federal law on the protection of journalists’ sources – the so-called media “shield law” - that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved on 12 September unfortunately falls far short of Reporters Without Borders’s recommendation on this subject. RWB RECOMMENDATIONS HERE
“There is no freedom of information worthy of its name without protection of journalists’ sources,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Spying on journalists’ investigative reporting violates democratic principles.”
The future law must extend the categories covered by protection of sources.
The protection of sources must apply not only to journalists but also to all media employees and to all those who help to gather, process, prepare, produce or disseminate news and information, regardless of the media. The protection of sources should also apply to documentary filmmakers, the authors of books of a journalistic nature (even if they are not “journalists”), bloggers and netizens who provide information.
Old news very relevant these past few weeks (John Kerry in 1971, Bloomberg and Guns, )
US News and World Report (may 3, 2004) 1971, The Way They (Kerry and Bush)
2004 John Kerry names 1969 version of himself as running mate (THE ONION) link
Newsweek February 16, 2004 How "Liberal" is Kerry? (Article Titled THE WEDGE WAR) link
The aim: to define Kerry as a tax-raising, big-spending, criminal-coddling lefty who opposes the death penalty and restrictions on abortion, and who has advocated cutting funding for intelligence agencies and for weapons programs during his 20 years in national politics.
They [Bush Campaign] will focus on his advocacy, early in his [Kerry's] tenure, of cuts in spending on the CIA and on his opposition--as a candidate for the first time in 1984--to an array of weapons, among them the B-1 bomber and the Tomahawk and Patriot missiles.
Sunday, January 8, 2006 NY Daily News by David Saltonstall Mike Bloomberg will round up Mayor's and use his cash to push for US gun laws (Article was announcing Mayors Against Illegal Guns, )
The future law must extend the categories covered by protection of sources.
The protection of sources must apply not only to journalists but also to all media employees and to all those who help to gather, process, prepare, produce or disseminate news and information, regardless of the media. The protection of sources should also apply to documentary filmmakers, the authors of books of a journalistic nature (even if they are not “journalists”), bloggers and netizens who provide information.
Old news very relevant these past few weeks (John Kerry in 1971, Bloomberg and Guns, )
US News and World Report (may 3, 2004) 1971, The Way They (Kerry and Bush)
2004 John Kerry names 1969 version of himself as running mate (THE ONION) link
Newsweek February 16, 2004 How "Liberal" is Kerry? (Article Titled THE WEDGE WAR) link
The aim: to define Kerry as a tax-raising, big-spending, criminal-coddling lefty who opposes the death penalty and restrictions on abortion, and who has advocated cutting funding for intelligence agencies and for weapons programs during his 20 years in national politics.
They [Bush Campaign] will focus on his advocacy, early in his [Kerry's] tenure, of cuts in spending on the CIA and on his opposition--as a candidate for the first time in 1984--to an array of weapons, among them the B-1 bomber and the Tomahawk and Patriot missiles.
Sunday, January 8, 2006 NY Daily News by David Saltonstall Mike Bloomberg will round up Mayor's and use his cash to push for US gun laws (Article was announcing Mayors Against Illegal Guns, )
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