Friday Reads
Posted: May 4, 2012 Filed under: Middle East, morning reads | Tags: CNN, Colin Powell, gas, Iraq WMDs, Koch Brothers, oil, Pickens, Republican Sex Hypocrits 45 Comments
Good Morning!
Is there such thing as the dog days of spring? Sheesh, it’s getting hot out there!
So, I’ve found a few interesting things for you this morning. It seems Colin Powell is the one on the American Apologia tour.
Colin Powell says his erroneous address to the United Nations about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction provides a lesson to business leaders on the importance of staying skeptical and following their intuition.
“Yes, a blot, a failure will always be attached to me and my UN presentation,” the former U.S. secretary of state writes in a new book of leadership parables that draws frequently on his Iraq war experience. “I am mad mostly at myself for not having smelled the problem. My instincts failed me.”
Powell, 75, laments that no intelligence officials had the “courage” to warn that he was given false information that Iraq had such weapons during preparations for his February 2003 speech before the U.S. invasion the following month. Regrets are sprinkled through “It Worked For Me,” along with lessons gleaned from a career that carried him from foxholes in Vietnam to senior positions at the Pentagon and the State Department.
Wow. I thought there were plenty of warnings about that. I guess it just didn’t come from the right people.
Billionaire Energy Investor and professional Gadfly–T Boone Pickens–blames the Koch Brothers for a lack of a cogent US energy policy.
Pickens’ biggest concern right now centers on what he sees as the Obama administration’s lack of an energy policy. He says special interests are blocking real energy reform, and he singles out Koch Industries, a chemical, fertilizer and refining juggernaut run by brothers David and Charles Koch, as the main culprit.
“The biggest deterrent to an energy plan in America is Koch Industries,” he says. “They do not want an energy plan for America because they have the cheapest natural gas price they’ve ever had, and they’re in the fertilizer business and they’re in the chemical business. So their margins are huge. And they do not want you to have an energy plan, because if you had a plan, then natural gas prices would come up.”
The Obama administration may be lacking a cohesive, straightforward approach to America’s energy independence, but fossil fuel production has greatly expanded since Obama took office. The president has approved drilling permits in federal lands and waters that were previously off limits to oil and gas companies, much to the chagrin of environmentalists. From 2005 to 2011 the amount of foreign energy sources imported by the U.S. fell by 15%. Obama rejected the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in January, but he has recently expressed support for building the southern portion of the pipeline that would extend from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico.
“It’s very hard to get an energy plan,” Pickens laments. “It isn’t a failure of the Democrats. It’s not a failure of the Republicans. It’s a bipartisan failure. Over the years neither party could provide the leadership to have an energy plan.”
You can listen to a video where Pickens explains the current falling gas prices. He also believes that Israel will attack Iran sometime in the fall. So, has Wall Street quit driving up gas prices for the moment?
The oil markets have become just another profitable Wall Street casino. Why? Because, as the infamous outlaw Willie Sutton said, “That’s where the money is.” Oil markets as well as other commodity markets require a certain number of speculators. Oil producers and end users go to these markets in order to lock in prices for the products they use or sell. From refiners to shippers to airlines, oil markets provide a way to obtain price certainty for a specified period of time. To make these markets function, speculators are needed to take the other side of those trades. For more than a century about 30 percent of these commodity markets involved speculators and 70 percent of the participants in terms of volume were real producers, distributors and users. That’s what a healthy commodities market looks like.
But once financialization metastasized, the proportions flipped. Now 70 percent of the action comes from speculators, while only 30 percent comes from those who really produce, distribute and use the actual commodities. The casino has taken over.
CNN is being replaced by MSNBC as the number two cable news network. I guess its dishwater dull, People Magazine approach to the news just isn’t selling. There’s some speculation it could be that folks only watch CNN if there’s a disaster afoot. Other than that, they have better things to do.
CNN long ago ceded the No. 1 position among cable news channels to Fox News. But now CNN seems to be ceding the No. 2 position to MSNBC. In prime time, the most lucrative part of the day, CNN has had fewer viewers than MSNBC for 22 of the last 24 months. (CNN usually has more viewers than MSNBC during the day, however.)
“They were first in, and established the genre,” said a cable news executive who insisted on anonymity to speak candidly about the competition. “But they got too comfortable. They just made so much money that they didn’t have to change.”
MSNBC, on the other hand, did change. Like Fox News, MSNBC now has hosts with clear political points of view at key times of the day. CNN promotes itself as the top source for nonpartisan news on television.
“CNN appears committed to a business model that doesn’t work,” said Robert Seidman, an editor of the ratings Web site TV by the Numbers. The site posted a chart on Tuesday that showed all but one of CNN’s programs down by double digits in April. (One program, “Anderson Cooper 360,” was down by single digits.)
In response, CNN executives pointed out that Fox News and MSNBC were experiencing ratings slumps, too — attributable, perhaps, to a pause in the presidential election season.
A cache of Bin Laden documents have been released to the Public. How’s that for some light summer beach reading?
“Bin Ladin’s frustration with regional jihadi groups and his seeming inability to exercise control over their actions and public statements is the most compelling story to be told on the basis of the 17 de-classified documents,” the center’s release states.
There were many more documents taken from the raid that ended in the killing of bin Laden, but they have yet to be released.
Among the more interesting revelations is bin Laden’s criticism of regional groups affiliated with Al Qaeda for carrying out attacks on Muslim targets. According to the Guardian, “in one [document], he exhorts leaders of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to stop attacking local security forces and focus on the main enemy, the US.” One letter-writer to bin Laden said that “the terrorist group was losing support in the Muslim world.”
Another document has Adam Gadahn, an American-born spokesman for Al Qaeda, advising bin Laden on how to best use the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks for propaganda purposes.
Okay, so I will end with some fun summer reading: The Right-Wing’s 20 Biggest Sex Hypocrites. I’m so proud that one of my senators made number 4 on the hit parade. Hey, and Number One–Jimmy Swaggert–is still preaching on in Baton Rouge! Party on Dudes!!
Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana is infamous for his extreme social conservatism and for pandering to the Christian Right. Vitter has supported a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage nationwide (although he claims to support “states rights,” Vitter makes an exception when it comes to gay marriage), promoted abstinence-only sex education, called for school board meetings in Louisiana to open with prayers, and repeatedly preached against abortion. Vitter loves to play the red state/blue state card, saying that he represents socially conservative “Louisiana values” rather than secular “Massachusetts values.” But in 2007, it was revealed that Vitter had been a client of the Washington, DC escort service operated by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, a.k.a. the DC Madam; Vitter admitted he had cheated on his wife with a prostitute, but no criminal charges were filed because of the statute of limitations. Despite his blatant hypocrisy, Vitter was re-elected to the Senate in 2010.
Gingrich, Dr. Laura and Rush made the list too! Read about all the pervs who are so family values oriented!!! It’ll make you shake your head and laugh it off at the same time!!
So, there’s a little newsy news for you. What’s on you reading and blogging list today?
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
No harm intended dak, but I will take Massachusetts any day over Louisiana as described by David Vitter.
We have our issues up here but you’ve got Landreau, Jindahl, and Vitter to cope with where we just have sleazy Democratic Speakers of the House who eventually go to jail for corruption.
We didn’t use to be like this. There were hardly any republicans in office when i first moved here.
Even Texas was pretty solid blue until the 90s.
Dak, I hear ya about the heat. I can’t imagine what it will be like in the summer. I saw this on MoJo and thought you would be interested.
Romney’s Biggest Fib? | Mother Jones
Mitt Romney is one of the most inept candidates to ever seek the nomination. Ever!
Charmless, humorless, unsympathetic, he lacks even the fundamental necessity of that quality of “charisma” as some measure of appeal.
We all know that up against the cast of characters challenging him for the nomination, had one at least come through as “less nuts” Mitt would have faded back into the shadows of nonentity much as he did in 2008. They didn’t like him then, they don’t like him now.
You can’t pin him down because there is nothing to pin down. He’ll say and do anything to anybody at any time.
Leading a campaign that merely repeats “I hate Obama” is not enough to stir up the electorate, IMHO, but I suppose this is what they are counting on to drag his sorry ass over the finish line in November.
But this is the choice left to us: a mediocre candidate on one side and a “ghost” on the other supporting extreme positions that scare the hell out of the rest of us who pay attention.
Whoopee!
“Leading a campaign that merely repeats “I hate Obama” is not enough to stir up the electorate, IMHO, but I suppose this is what they are counting on to drag his sorry ass over the finish line in November.”
I agree Pat, “I hate Obama” seems to be the primary theme of the entire TP/GOP. If it wasn’t for “I hate Obama”, many blogs/bloggers would have NOTHING to post, It’s the same tired obama-hate diatribe, day in, day out. I don’t think there are any ideas in the TP?GOP except “I hate Obama” “Stop the Gay”, “Control the Women” “Gimme my guns” “pass the bible”.
These people are crazy.
Pledging to make a fetus a person, while dismissing gays makes about as much sense as denying women the right to choose.
How anyone with half a brain can actually say they are voting for Romney is remarkable.
Someone needs to offer me one solid reason why. Othere than “I hate Obama” is not enough knowing full well what the Right Wing agenda entails.
Crazy to the point of ODS. It’s a form of ODS that launches hyperbolic tirades over every Obama move, while totally ignoring the stated goals of the GOP/TP concerning gay rights, womens rights/health, Tax fairness, and the plan to dismantle SS/Medicare/Medicaid and all Social safety net programs. It’s a stunning hypocrisy.
Y’all take a look at this: Feminist Friday: Fired Because of What? « The Widdershins
Dk on your comment about ” I thought there were plenty of warnings about that. I guess it just didn’t come from the right people.”
your right there were plenty of warnings in not that they did not didn’t come from the right people.
it bush powel and the rest of that crew did not want to listend or had already made up there minds not to listen on even care .
I seem to recall that one of Powell’s closest aides at the State Department revealed that Powell knew all along that he was lying for Bush. The man is a disgrace.
You’re right BB.
Hell, I knew there were no WMD in Iraq. Everyone who was paying attention knew because the IAEA was telling the world there were no WMD in Iraq. Powell’s just an old man trying to redeem himself or salvage his place in history. He got onboard and took the trumped up case to the UN because he got sucked in by the power of it all. Conscience, if/when it returns, is a bitch
He knew.. 🙂
WordPress is having some problems with the comment notifications. I have tried to disable the Email Notification, but it is still automatically checking the “notify me of follow-up comments via email.” Just wanted to get y’all a heads up if you are having problems with this.
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/comment-emails?replies=8
Another thread in the support forum:
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/stop-email-notifications-for-comments-on-other-peoples-blogs?replies=5
Just FYI…
I finally managed to stop it last night by checking the box to block all e-mails from WordPress.
Well I did manage to get the reply notifications via email disabled…at least until it is fixed. But there is some kind of bug with wordpress, so they are looking into it.
I’m glad they are, because I would still like to get the new post notifications. Thanks for looking into it!
That explains my inbox.
Yes I saw that when I had 50 emails. 😆
It’s pretty pathetic that CNN is losing to a cable network that runs prison break videos all weekend. I hope now MSNBC will start adding more weekend content. The morning shows they have on now on Sat. and Sun. are excellent!
If I am not mistaken Soledad Obrien has Will Cain on her panel most mornings. He is from The Blaze and Glen Beck tv.
Not alot of credibility there imho.
I never watch CNN, so I haven’t seen it. I was talking about the Chris Hayes show on MSNBC.
I gave up on them when they brought Ericson on from Red State.
Yes, Erick son of Erick also did it for me.
love chris hayes.
According to a Politico breaking news update, the State Dept. has announced that “Chen Guangcheng has a fellowship at a U.S. university and it expects China to quickly handle the travel procedures for him.”
He has been offered a fellowship at NYU.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-05-04/chen-china-us/54741886/1?csp=34news
Also interesting is that he faces no legal charges in China. They say he can apply to leave the country to study in the US.
All thanks to Hillary.She really is running the world. 🙂
Loved the 20 most disgusting hypocrites, but we also have a lot of those hypocrites who are not as well known. There were a couple of local preachers who had scandals of molesting boys and adultery. And we had a cop who refused to allow a couple to continue on their way when he found they were on their way to an abortion, he instead forced them to go to his church. Talk about abuse of power! We may soon have an official state religion, if we don’t already.
It’s starting to get a little scary out here.
I had no idea Jimmy Swaggart was still alive, much less actively preaching.
It’s an interesting compound. It’s really close to the nice mall in town but closer to the river. There are a bunch of functional buildings there and then there are these half finished cement structures that are really ghostly looking. He quit bringing in the money to finish them. He still has a huge church there and broadcasts on Sundays. He’s active in that Tony Perkins Family group. They are headquartered around there too. Oddly enough, we share piano tuners. Swaggert evidently has a huge white Steinway grand he pounds on like his cousin … Jerry Lee.
Beastie Boys Co-Founder Adam Yauch Dead at 47
Goodbye MCA | The Nation
Losing anyone at a young age is sad. And finding out he used is fame to promote liberal causes is a wonderful thing. But for me, I remember a young aggressive, destructive, misogynist. I am a musician since the 70’s, have always had live band, 4, 5, 6, up to 12 piece. If you know musicians you know that around the 80’s clubs quit hiring live bands for DJ’s, Karaoke. Because I was a keyboard player I was familiar with computerized music equipment. It saved my employment. Using first taped background I recorded myself until I could afford the computers and midi. I was able to still get employment as trio’s or duo’s. While playing at the Hilton in Savannah,Ga the Beastie Boys were also staying there for a concert. One night I went down to the night club to turn on my equipment for later that night. Only one bartender and a waitress and the Beastie Boys trying to turn on my equipment, beating microphones, kicking the amps. I asked them to stop and they told me I should feel privileged to have them on stage. I tried to explain it was a complex set up and if it was not working one night could cost me my job. Enter, every B word C word until security came. I want you to understand, what was sitting on the stage was all I had. Maybe if I had meant the Beatles in the same manner I would feel different.
Everyone loves a good mocking.
From the NYT. Damn it, we should be better than this by now! Interestingly, the comments about race were not in response to questions about it but were raised by the interviewees themselves.
4 Years Later, Race Is Still Issue for Some Voters
Of course 0bama wasn’t born in “this” country — he was born in Hawaii. — snark —
You’d be amazed at how many folks do not believe that Hawaii is the 50th State. I’ve had friends tell me that when they were clerking in Hawaii lots of people would ask what sort of currency was required to buy something — because they didn’t have a chance to change money. These were people from the “mainland”.
0bama wasn’t in the minority in Hawaii — he was hapa — mixed race and that is the dominate “race” in Hawaii. 0bama also went to Punahoe — and most people in the mainland US have no idea what that means.
0bama belongs to the exclusive club where only the very very rich matter. Socialist he is NOT. One doesn’t get through Punahoe and into the White House by being a Socialist. His soul was offered to the highest bidder decades ago.
So many people in the US are completely ignorant about Hawaii and the politics of being white in Hawaii. I’ll bet these same folks can’t even find Hawaii on a map of the world.
I imagine you’re right about the map 😉
But at bottom, I don’t give a damn about his childhood in Hawaii. What’s really fucked up is the racism that’s come out of the woodwork in the last 3 years.
That and the extreme misogynist rampage that 0bama helped open — sort of like Pandora’s box.
There is video clip on Crooks & liars “Hannity Hijacked As Angry Kirsten Powers Confronts Jesse Lee Peterson’s ‘Little Whores’ Misogyny.”
Jesse Lee Peterson is one of the most vile creature EVER — this guy absolutely hates women.
Now put a KKK wearing a white sheet on Hannity’s show — well that would never happen but put this “minister” who is dripping with his hate for ALL women — we are all whores and sluts to this piece of garbage.
Why does this misogynist even get any air time anywhere? This is something you males will never understand.
0bama hates women as much as this Jesse Lee Peterson does.
I don’t think that’s true at all. Obama did run a vicious campaign against a woman in ’08 but that’s not even close to the same thing.