Tuesday Reads
Posted: February 5, 2013 Filed under: morning reads | Tags: Alliance for Affordable Internet, child abuse, drone attacks, Hillary Clinton, Janet Napolitano, Nordic Economies 62 Comments
Good Morning!
It’s amazing what people will do to children and it’s amazing what kind of people think assaulting children with belts is just okey dokey. This is one of those stories that’s actually hard to believe.
A Dollar General employee arrested in Wrightsville last week for hitting a child with a belt has now been charged with aggravated assault and cruelty to children. The charges were upgraded from simple battery because store video showed the woman hitting the 8 year old at least 25 times.
After initially saying they were looking into the details of the case before acting, Dollar General told 11Alive News Monday afternoon the employee, Emilia Graciela Bell, had been fired. “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the reported incident at our store in Wrightsville, Georgia,” read the statement, “And have expressed our sincere apologies to the child’s family.”
Investigators have not yet released the video, but the boy’s family told WMAZ Macon over the weekend it was more severe than a spanking.
“It was more or less a beating than a spanking the way she was hitting him,” said Logan Ivey’s father Jody. “I don’t know how to explain it, and I don’t want to think about it.”
Eight-year-old Logan said it was very painful.
“I felt like I had five needles sticking in me; it really hurt, I was screaming ‘Momma,'” he said. “And I was crying real bad because she had actually hurt me…when she stopped whipping me my pants were actually a little bit warm.”
Wrightsville Police Chief Paul Sterling said Logan Ivey was running around in the store and got into a confrontation with 39-year-old store clerk. Bell told investigators the boy threw a cookie at her and that’s when she removed her belt, chased the boy down and spanked him behind the counter.
What’s even more interesting is that Eric Erickson seems to think it’s perfectly appropriate. Any one with children or small animals should keep them far away from the Red State Zombie Sadist.
Fox News contributor Erick Erickson wrote that a Dollar General employee deserves “a medal” for reportedly responding to an eight-year-old child who threw a cookie at her by hitting the child with her belt dozens of times.
What is wrong with these people?
A 16 page memo has been obtained by NBC and outlines the Justice Department case for drone attacks.
A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes.
The secrecy surrounding such strikes is fast emerging as a central issue in this week’s hearing of White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, a key architect of the drone campaign, to be CIA director. Brennan was the first administration official to publicly acknowledge drone strikes in a speech last year, calling them “consistent with the inherent right of self-defense.” In a separate talk at the Northwestern University Law School in March, Attorney General Eric Holder specifically endorsed the constitutionality of targeted killings of Americans, saying they could be justified if government officials determine the target poses “an imminent threat of violent attack.”
But the confidential Justice Department “white paper” introduces a more expansive definition of self-defense or imminent attack than described by Brennan or Holder in their public speeches. It refers, for example, to what it calls a “broader concept of imminence” than actual intelligence about any ongoing plot against the U.S. homeland.
You can watch Micheal Isikoff speak with Rachel Maddow on the white paper at the link above.
I’ve written a lot about some of the Nordic Countries–like Finland and Norway–that show strong economies while still maintaining strong social nets and a commitment to income equality. The Economist this week has a special on the countries and shows how they’ve carved a middle path between markets and government.
Denmark has one of the most liberal labour markets in Europe. It also allows parents to send children to private schools at public expense and make up the difference in cost with their own money. Finland is harnessing the skills of venture capitalists and angel investors to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Oil-rich Norway is a partial exception to this pattern, but even there the government is preparing for its post-oil future. This is not to say that the Nordics are shredding their old model. They continue to pride themselves on the generosity of their welfare states. About 30% of their labour force works in the public sector, twice the average in the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation, a rich-country think-tank. They continue to believe in combining open economies with public investment in human capital.
You can read more about these countries and their initiatives throughout the magazines pages.
Hillary Clinton may not be our SOS but she is still thinking about how to better the lives of people in the US and around the world. Here’s one of her initiatives that partners Silicon Valley with the developing world.
One of those new initiatives, the Alliance for an Affordable Internet, barely got a mention in Clinton’s speech. But it merits attention. If successful, the project—a public-private partnership among the State Department, the World Wide Web Foundation, and tech companies such as Cisco Systems (CSCO), Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO) and Intel (INTC)—could end up helping many people in poor countries get onto the Web. It could also cement long-term ties between the State Department and the companies—while opening new markets and reaching new customers for Silicon Valley. “We’re going to help the next billion people come online,” said Clinton, quickly announcing the project before going on to talk about clean cook stoves for women in the developing world.
Only a quarter of people in developing countries are online, compared to three-quarters of those in developed nations. If the U.S. is to play a role in changing that equation, credit will go in part to a State Department employee named Ann Mei Chang.
Chang, a 25-year veteran of Silicon Valley—most recently she was a senior engineering director at Google—joined the State Department in November 2011 to be an adviser on technology and women’s issues. Now she lives in Nairobi, Kenya, a city recently billed by Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt as Africa’s soon-to-be Silicon Valley. Chang has been spending her time studying Kenya’s technological success and teaming up diplomats with U.S. tech companies to figure out how other countries can follow its example.
Chang says that in most developing countries, an entry-level Internet connection costs the equivalent of the average person’s monthly income. One reason is high taxes. In many places, computers, mobile phones, modems, and other software are taxed as luxury goods. “It’s one of the few things they can tax,” says Chang. The effect is that fewer people can afford to log on. “That’s short-sighted,” she says.
Here’s some interesting political speculation on Janet Napolitano. Would she run if Hillary chooses to stay retired?
So, what happens if Hillary Clinton doesn’t run in 2016?
It is hard to imagine the presidential field without a woman contender, and here’s one to keep your eye on: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Napolitano is quietly making it known that she is considering the race, and there is reason to take her seriously.
Before coming to Washington, Napolitano was a highly regarded and very popular governor in Arizona, a state not known as a hospitable one for Democrats. In 2005, Time Magazine named her one of the nation’s five best governors, noting: “Positioning herself as a no-nonsense, pro-business centrist, she has worked outside party lines since coming to office in January 2003 to re-energize a state that, under her predecessors, was marked by recession and scandal.”
While in Arizona, she was criticized for not being aggressive enough in dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants. But her more recent job gives her an opportunity to change that image. This week, for instance, finds her on a high-profile tour of the southwest border, where she will highlight the stepped-up resources that the Obama administration has been devoting to reducing the flow of illegal entrants to this country.
Still, running for the White House from the cabinet is not an easy thing to do. Not since then-Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover did it in 1928 has anyone successfully made the leap from the president’s cabinet to the Oval Office.
So, there’s a few things to get us started off today. What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Morning, have you seen this? Hillary Clinton Launches A New Website, But What Is It For? – Forbes
Or this? Catholic hospital flips on fetus death
Hillary’s new site is intriguing anyway. I checked it out yesterday.
Seems pretty clear to me. It’s an international equivalent of a phone number. Anyone in the world could contact her this way, and she can control the dialog.
I wonder why she chose not to include “Rodham”.
The use of drones & the info in that memo is beyond disturbing. I’m pretty sure I linked to last week’s Moyers & Company, but if you missed it, here’s the link to the video about “Drones & Democracy”: http://billmoyers.com/segment/vicki-divoll-and-vincent-warren-on-drones-and-democracy/
Interestingly, Vicki Divoli lists questions, if given the chance, some questions she would ask Brennan at his confirmation hearing. One that stood out for me is whether the policy allows the prez to order a drone strike on an American in America. I think this is seriously bone-chilling.
On the climate change/environmental front, I’m convinced Obama is going to give the go ahead for the Keystone XL pipeline. With both Steven Chu & Lisa Jackson leaving their posts, and both being basically gagged during their tenure, I don’t think it bodes well at all. Then again, I’m generally pretty pessimistic.
Great post kat. Hope I’ll have time this evening to follow more of the links. Duty calls & I’m off to work.
In another installment of “Which State Has the Most Insane Governor”, Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell is proposing to eliminate the gas tax and make up the revenue lost for maintaining the state’s roads by raising the sales tax. Virginia has one of the lowest gas taxes in the country and has not raised it since 1986, but that’s not the problem, oh no. The problem is hybrid cars. See hybrid cars use less gas and that’s not fair to the people driving around in 4500 lb. gas guzzlers because then the hybrid car drivers end up paying fewer taxes than the gas guzzlers. Eliminating this unfairness and raising the sales tax will solve the problem according to Governor and Regent University Law graduate Bob McDonnell. On last night’s local news, they added the Governor’s idea that we could also level the playing field by imposing a $150 a year hybrid car tax.
I have a headache from slapping my head.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/10/prius_tax_virginia_governor_mcdonnell_wants_to_eliminate_gas_tax_impose.html
Remember tax breaks for buying more efficient hybrid cars? There’s been talk here of imposing extra fees because they don’t use enough gas and pay enough taxes. I don’t think it’s so much ideological as legislators desperately trying to raise revenues without “raising taxes”. It’s still completely ridiculous though,
It’s Virginia. It’s ideological, I can promise you that!
With no income tax, the state sales tax rate here is 6.25% excluding food and medication. Raising it would probably be the end of a politician’s career.
Funny how it’s coming up in different states at the same time. Almost as if someone else was pulling the strings. Could the tax on hybrid cars have ALECs fingerprints on it?
Most likely
You can bet the oil companies (most of whom are part of ALEC) are behind this just like they were behind not increasing the CAFE standards, increasing mileage on cars.
It’s happening here in Washington state too. Electric cars are charged an extra $100 fee per year starting this year.
Shortsighted.
Some details on the rescue of Ethan from the bunker in Alabama.
Ethan turns 6 on Wednesday.
I’m just really glad they got the child out of there safely. That was huge.
My mom said the police had sent a undercover camera down earlier in the week, and that they were able to view what was going on in the bunker.
Eric Erickson…………let him keep saying it, that is why they keep losing…………….it’s a republican thing, losers.
This poor child will live with the trauma of this event for the rest of his life. More so because he has been identified as austistic. The family of the slain bus driver must also live with this senseless act by another disturbed person who felt the need to act out on his delusions.
Enough cannot be said for the preparedness of the SWAT team who rescued this little boy.
What must we look like to the rest of the world when these occurrences are as commonplace in our society on a daily basis?
Another example of someone armed to the teeth seeking revenge against perceived slights that leads to these tragedies.
This event will disappear quickly only to be replaced by another. Just a matter of time.
He has mild aspergers and ADHD. He was described as laughing,etc., so I think he’s on the low end of the autism spectrum. I hope his family can afford some therapy for him or get some help to pay for it.
A 2016 GOP PLAN TO RUN ON SCREWING THE POOR, ENRICHING THE RICH, AND LETTING THE ROADS CRUMBLE
SteveM on what Republican governors are doing around the country and what it says about a White House run in 2016.
What’s the matter with Kansas?
It’s all right there in this post.
Could this message win in 2016? Why not? By declaring Obama a “failure” due in large part to their own obstructionism, some morons would view this as a “need for change”.
Let’s stop with the “we love children” message. We don’t. We would rather propose starvation and withhold health services from the most vulnerable to prove a point.
How any voter in their right mind would find the GOP agenda worthwhile is beyond me.
What’s NOT the matter with Kansas? But then you could ask that same question about a lot of our redder states, including my own.
The “we love children” message is out, now it’s all “we love money, beyotchz”.
These are all states that have set up an economy that thrives on a growing underclass that is so wretched it will do anything. Jindal’s job creation program includes bringing in a chicken evisceration plant and another natural gas processing plant. You can only imagine what the health hazards and the work environment. Only really desperate and uneducated people want these kinds of jobs and the kinds of damage that brings to the local environment. We’ve already got that toxic sink hole to the south of us that’s causing problems and he’s just opened us up to more fracking. Their idea of quality jobs and economy is going back to the sharecropper model.
Here’s another reason we’re seeing some of these tax plans:
http://forgotston.com/2013/02/05/the-big-winners-under-jindal-tax-swap/
Too true Ralph, but they will never be honest enough to come out and say it outright. Better to snow voters by rhetoric and implement draconian policies that harm said voters while said voters cheer them on. Vis a vis children – these men (and by and large they are men) hate children – they could grow up and challenge them so must be contained. They love fetoe because fetoe are a vote getter from the very same people they are screwing. It’s a mad, mad, mad world and I for one would like to get off (sorry for the plagerism of two very funny broadway plays.)
Laura Bassett at Huffington Post just wrote an article “New Hampshire’s Domestic Violence Bill Would Weaken Existing Laws”……………..(it just more of a go with White republican men)……State Rep. Dan Itse, R. has submitted to house committee HB 502/503…….which prevents law enforcement officers from arresting a domestic abuser unless the officer witnesses the abuse occurring or a victim files a formal criminal complaint with the court.
In other words, the spouse that took the coconut knife to his wife and killed her, must have been witnessed by an officer, and she should rise from death, and file a complaint before she is acknowledged as being abused………………..wtf……………..this is all going hand in hand, with their vote against family leave act, and let’s hand out awards to those that beat kids, and kill women.
What better way to “attack” the problems of the nation than going after women, children, and seniors?
Look for the words “domestic violence” to be reupholstered along with the definition of “rape”.
Just some guy having a “bad day” who turned his attention from kicking the crap out of the family dog and gave his family a little bit of the same.
Not long before he becomes the “victim” here.
Is Chris Christie running for president in 2016? Hell yes he is!
Judging from his appearance on the Dave Letterman Show you can take this to the bank.
Why else would he submit himself to Dave who does a nightly routine mocking and ridiculing his weight and eating habits? Some of it bordering on plain meanness. Few shows go without at least one “dig” at Christie which also features videos of Chris stuffing his face.
So yes, Chris is looking at 2016 convinced of his own superiority in outshouting anyone who dares to interrupt or ask questions.
The hurricane revived his image of sorts and he is riding on the goodwill he mustered by standing next to Obama.
My guess: a Christie/Clinton run off in 2016.
I agree, he’s absolutely running for something, but seeing him on Letterman made me sad. He literally could not fit into the chair and he was stuffing biscuits into his face in an effort to show how he wasn’t bothered by Letterman’s many jokes about his weight.
Meanwhile the GOP noise machine has plenty to say about Michelle Obama’s weight. I had no idea this was even a topic of conversation. Disgusting!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/michelle-obamas-posterior-again-the-subject-of-a-public-rant/2013/02/04/c119c9a8-6efb-11e2-aa58-243de81040ba_story.html?hpid=z5
That sounds exciting…
The latest on Benghazi from the investigators. The headline doesn’t match the story but this is from McClatchy so it’s probably believable.
Gen. Carter Ham: Members of al Qaida group among Benghazi attackers
Note they still list that film as a partial cause so Huckleberry Closetcase and McGrumpypants should eat a big bag of salted dicks.
OMG, what an image!!
Sorry ’bout that.
Maybe RalphB meant spotted dick?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_dick
I loved it Ralph.
LOL!
I am not the sharpest pencil in the box but from where I sit though there may be dozens of factions in the mideast referring to themselves as one name or another the simple fact is that their objectives remain the same: kill, maim, harm.
Whether it be Al Qaeda or another “brotherhood” organization they are all intent on taking out those who are perceived as occupiers or infidels.
Whatever lable they choose to conduct their dirty deeds under their goals remain the same.
I agree, there is nothing magic or sinister about the name. It’s the desire and strategy that’s the problem for the peaceful of the world.
Why do wingnuts feel free to opine about Michelle Obama’s posterior?
I would say it was racism but they used to complain about Hillary’s looks as first lady. So it must be just plain old sexism. A woman says or does something I don’t like so I’m gonna attack her looks because I’m too stupid to address the issue.
She is Mrs. Obama. That’s all that is required.
Better to mock her than to seriously look at the downward slide that is the trajectory of the GOP.
Can’t find anything good to say about the GOP? Turn your jibes against Michele. It plays well and draws enough idiots who agree.
Some of these sites no longer promote arguments as much as they promote stupidity, hate, and an open bias with safety in numbers.
Oops! I just commented about that above. Sorry for the repetition.
Whatevah shall we do, Miz Scarlett? Huckleberry is indisposed.
The Daily Vapors From Senator Graham
Lady Lindsay was so fidgety during the Armed Services hearing, he was squirming and bouncing during his questioning, my only possible hypothesis was that his ben-wa balls were slipping.
Was he muttering something about strawberries?
I am still reeling with a mouthful of distaste for last night’s HBO documentary regarding the Catholic Church and how far they have gone to protect pedophilia priests.
Titled “Mea Maxima Culpa” it largely dealt with a group home for deaf children in Minneapolis from the 1950s through the early 80s that was governed by a pedophile priest, Lawrence Murphy who has since died.
The documentary disclosed that the Vatican itself was very much aware of this man’s crimes but did nothing to protect the hundreds of children who came under his care. The saddest part was that these children were deaf and few of their parents knew how to “sign”. They really and truly had no voice to offer as this beast went from year to year choosing his victims from so many.
As adults these deaf men came forward but were never actually heard. They were up against the statute of limitations along with law enforcement and religious superiors who bent over backwards to protect this unholy priest.
Pope John Paul and the current Pope Benedict were fully aware of what was going on and chose to ignore it. The overall belief was that though pedophilia may have been considered a “sin” it was not criminal.
The Catholic Church is no different than Penn State when it comes to exposing the evil doers. But the Church is still in the business of drawing moral boundaries for women which makes it even more hypocritical as an institution.
Best to keep in mind that when we are forced to listen to the likes of Rick Santorum expound on subjects of morality and “what is right” he is upholding those same traditions that have no place in modernity.
wdsu @wdsu
Update: Jindal rejects call from bishops to stop Ash Wednesday execution http://on.wdsu.com/WZAfi5
He goosesteps to them when it’s all about the zygotes and fertilized eggs … then, wham, up comes a death penalty stay and he suddenly forgets he’s a devout catholic.
Oh I would have wanted to see that Pat…
I don’t know how the state supreme court will rule, but this is clearly true. Funding across the state is so unequal it’s pathetic.
Judge: School finance system unconstitutional
Good. I’d like to see the entire system of funding public schools in this country turned upside down.
Judge Dietz has been down this road before and been only partially overruled. It’s worse now than it was back then so the state supreme court may sustain this full verdict.
Talk about a system just ready made for corruption, this is one of them. Hope this makes people feel better about their own home states.
Judge: Totals spent on pensions of former lawmaker-lobbyists remains secret
My favorite Texas Democrat …
Fort Worth’s Wendy Davis makes waves in the Texas Senate
Salon.com @Salon
U.K. legalizes same-sex marriage: “It’s about making our society stronger.” http://slnm.us/lAF3k8n #LGBT
Can’t wait to watch HRH sign this …
Hey kat: Courtesy of Mr. Prolix up above but over at our place, go nominate La Voice and Bob Mann’s blogs:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/04/iso-the-best-state-based-political-blogs/
Coincidentally that was the topic of my post today and no I didn’t know the Cillizza piece existed. 🙂
thx!!!
No problem! I think they both have the best handles on what’s going on with lil Booby and his krewe so I nominated both.
completely agree with that!!!
Pink Gun Mistaken For Toy, 3 Year Old S.C. Boy Killed (VIDEO)
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/05/pink-gun-mistaken-for-toy-3-year-old-s-c-boy-killed-video/
OH MY GAWD
http://www.glamguns.com/hk47.html
The Glambo Signature Series “Hello Kitty” HK-AK-47
I can’t believe this .. a pink, hello kitty assault rifle …