Progress Now Action

What does this trial balloon mean?  The is longstanding precedent for a barrier between NASA and Department of Defense is due in part to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.  Bloomberg.com news reports:

President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China...

The potential change comes as Pentagon concerns are rising over China’s space ambitions because of what is perceived as an eventual threat to U.S. defense satellites, the lofty battlefield eyes of the military.

The article then describes that launch vehicles would be shared and emphasizes the rivalry between Chinese deep space goals and US fears for its state of the art, real time battlefield command, control and communications systems.

However what is being left out of the equation of rivalry is "why not cooperation in space" like the International Space Station project.  Are we, as a people, still stuck in the old 20th Century way of aggression and war making for a nation state to behave?

What can be said about Republicans from Bush on down who disobey the laws of the land?

This is just the latest example of Republicans who cannot abide by the laws that were created.  From Bloomberg.com reporting:

The November Fund marked the chamber’s first foray into presidential politics. Some of the best-known independent groups in the 2004 presidential election, including Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and America Coming Together, paid more than $3 million in fines.

The commission initially agreed in March 2005 that the November Fund illegally accepted contributions in excess of the $5,000 limit for political action committees and that the chamber made illegal corporate contributions. In November 2007, the commission authorized its counsel to negotiate a settlement, including an agreed-upon fine...

Four new members joined the commission the following year, and in October 2008 the three Republicans balked at approving the final agreement.

“The law has not changed,” Ryan said. “All that has changed is the commissioners themselves.”

What can be said that Republicans will protect scofflaws to the detriment of the body politic?  Republicans thy name is lawlessness and coddling criminals.

A mass grave site in Afghanistan is plundered.  The remains of upto 2000 bodies were removed and disposed of into a near by river.  What is significant is that this atrocity was the subject of a documentary film, "Caravan of Death" by Irish filmmaker Jamie Doran in 2002.

This report by the Timesonline.com states:

The mass grave at Dasht-e-Leili in northern Afghanistan is thought to contain the remains of between 1,000 and 2,000 Taleban prisoners massacred by fighters loyal to the Uzbek warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum in November 2001. The killings occurred in the remote Leili desert as General Dostum’s forces fought alongside US special forces....

The problem is that there has been no U.S. corporate media coverage of this attempted coverup of a war crime by Afghan warlord Gen. Dotsum.  

Also, there was a U.S. Special Forces unit that was operating in the same area when the massacre of captured Taliban fighters occurred.  Questions have arisen as to how much the 5th Special Forces Group was aware of and if that unit had any knowledge and/or control of the war crime.

I found this from Uruknet.info by Ted Rall:

When the containers were unlocked at Sheberghan, the bodies of the dead tumbled out. A 12-man U.S. Fifth Special Forces Group unit, Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595, guarded the prison's front gates and, according to witnesses, controlled the facility in the hopes of picking key prisoners for interrogation and possible transportation to Guantnamo Bay. (This is how Lindh was singled out.) "Everything was under the control of the American commanders," a Northern Alliance soldier tells Doran in the film. American troops searched the bodies for Al Qaeda identification cards. But, says another driver, "Some of [the prisoners] were alive. They were shot" while "maybe 30 or 40" American soldiers watched.

Members of OPA 595, interviewed for the PBS program "Frontline" on August 2, 2002, confirm their presence at Sheberghan but cagily deny participating in war crimes. "The prisoners were being treated the exact same way as Dostum's forces were," said master sergeant "Paul." "I didn't see any atrocities, but I easily could have. Some prisoners may have died because they were sick or ill, and Dostum's forces just couldn't give them any care because they didn't have it."

So in the U.S. corporate media there has been a near total black out of this war crime. 

You can see the entire documentary here.

The Frontline documentary transcript here.

A crime committed.  Evidence destroyed.  But it will not be forgotten.

The most recent addition to the GOP dog-pack nipping at the heels of Congresswomen-Elect Betsy Markey, CU Regent Thomas J. Lucero, is having an identity, or at least residency, crisis. According to his CU Regent biography he lives in Johnstown. But, the press release he sent to the Loveland Reporter-Herald includes (R-Loveland) after his name (see the extended text).

According to the Managing Editor of the Reporter-Herald those 10-characters between parentheses are sufficient evidence to tout him as the "home town" candidate.  This is the second time that the Reporter-Herald has announced his candidacy in the past two-weeks crediting him as a Loveland resident.

Since the newspaper doesn’t seem to understand investigative journalism, or even the need to confirm information sent by politicians in a press release, I made a few checks.  First of all other Colorado newspapers have reported Mr. Lucero’s home as Johnstown.  Then there is the information on his CU Regent biography that lists his home as, surprise, Johnstown.

The CU Regent biography goes a little further to specify that Mr. Lucero is a Johnstown businessman and civic leader.  So while it is getting hard to figure out which former dairy farm is now part of Johnstown, or which corn-field is Loveland’s $6 Million dollar investment in the future, a person with ambitions for the US Congress should know what address to go to at the end of the day.

When he ran for CU Regent Tom knew that he lived in Johnstown.  The Colorado Secretary of State record shows his campaign committee address from the 1997 campaign season as 1015 WS 1ST ST/PO BOX 921 JOHNSTOWN, CO 80534.  That’s the same Post Office box that’s on the CU Regent Biography.

Further evidence of Mr. Lucero’s inaccuracy in the press release to the Reporter-Herald is found through the Dex.com online telephone directory.  No surprise here that there is no listing for Thomas J., Tom or “T” Lucero in Loveland.  This is inconclusive since Dex doesn’t account for the phenomenon of people with only a cellphone and no landline at their home.

Next in my bag of tricks is the Larimer County Assessor website for property records.  It’s reasonable to believe that an independently wealthy pizza magnate would own his home.  Curiously, a search for any person with the last name of Lucero owning property in the County doesn’t show a Thomas in Loveland, but there is one in Fort Collins.  Sorry, for dragging that guy into this mess.

So, I guess it comes down to this.  Almost a month before Betsy Markey is even provided the respect and courtesy of being sworn-in as a Member of Congress ( “MC” as my former Congressman and professor is known to say) we have the curious case of a GOP wanna-be getting ready for the 2010 contest.

The hatred that was flamed during the McCain/Palin campaign is a growth from 2005.  Why would I date it 2005 because Hurricane Katrina happened.  The destruction of New Orleans and the subsequent anarchy that prevailed showed what still lies in the heart and soul of many whites if given a chance to unleash their desires.

The Nation's A.C. Thompson has written a compelling report:

Immediately after the storm, the media portrayed African-Americans as looters and thugs--Mayor Ray Nagin, for example, told Oprah Winfrey that "hundreds of gang members" were marauding through the Superdome. Now it's clear that some of the most serious crimes committed during that time were the work of gun-toting white males.

So far, their crimes have gone unpunished....

Is it any wonder that the racist, neo-Nazi, Stars n Bars lover would do what they desire if there is no society to control them?

Remember there was the conspiracy to assassinate Obama at the DNC by racist neo-Nazis.  But the US Attorney Troy Eid did not prosecute them for that but only on much lesser charges.

When government fails to do its duty then it is a green light for racists.  One can only be vigilant when racists-militia-skin heads conspire to foment a race war.

To vote for your preference for Colorado's next Senator, click here:

http://progressnowaction.org/SenatePoll

It is important that you vote right away: the Governor may make his selection soon, and we will update as early as tomorrow with preliminary poll results. You can also submit comments that we will share with the Governor and media throughout the state.

Thanks for your participation in our recent Secretary of State poll! Wanted to give you a quick update on the final tally of our highly informal survey of members:

1. Sen. Ken Gordon: 1,815
2. Rep. Andrew Romanoff: 632
3. Rep. Bernie Buescher: 173

In addition, we delivered thousands of your comments on the Secretary of State selection process to Governor Ritter's office today--116 pages of them in all. The Governor has pledged to review the public's input and make a decision by early next month.

As always, thanks so much for your interest in effective and ethical government in Colorado! And stay tuned: there will be many more opportunities to make your voice heard as we move into 2009.

Isn't this what the effect on America will be- to lower our standard of living?

From AP today:

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined other GOP lawmakers in announcing his opposition to a White House-backed bill that was approved by the House on Wednesday. He called for an alternative that would reduce the wages and benefits of the Big Three automakers to bring them in line with those paid by Japanese carmakers Nissan, Toyota and Honda.

If Republicans believe in America is Number One then why are they following the lead by foreign automakers?  If we have the "highest" standard of living then why do Republican Senators like McConnell, Corker, and Shelby want to lower wages which lowers our standard of living?

Republican Senator DeMint said:

Well, I’m not trying to get rid of the unions, but I am saying that they appear to be an antiquated concept in today’s economy...

But the political aspect of this is most of this is being done to protect unions, uh, it’s not to protect the workers. And what I want to do is make sure we have jobs for these workers and we have first-class American automobile companies. And we’re not going to do it with the barnacles of unionism wrapped around their necks.

The only reason is to break unions for the benefit of companies.  If anyone had seen the nitwit commercial that showed a working dad complaining about his union because it doesn't represent his "values" it is nonsensical.  This is what Republican DeMint is making a case for- to seperate the very meaning of the word union and working individual.  What is a union but the working man and woman united in common cause?

If Republican Senators want to kill Industrial America then let them filibuster the old fashioned way.  No more "gentleman's agreement" but have each and every one Republican Senator get up and talk about how much they hate Industrial America.  The America of industrial might that beat the Axis powers.  The America of industrial might that made for our middle class to be what it was from the 1950's to the 1970's.  Let the Republicans tell Americans how much they want to have another Great Depression when 3,000,000 jobs will be lost when the Big Three go from bankruptcy directly into liquidation.

Remember, the destruction of 3 million jobs means that there will be vast repercussions in all sectors of the American economy.  For example, U.S. advertising will take a huge hit because the Big Three comprise over 5 percent of all advertising spending.  For example, NASCAR and NHRA will be devastated by the loss of financial support.  For example, steel and plastics industries stand to loss hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts.

Republicans want to play with fire but all Americans stand to lose it all because of their petty partisan ideological driven politics of the moment.

Being the complete and utter nerd that I am, I would be remiss if I didn't post this.

Some fellow nerds at Harvard University have a new project going that is way too cool. It's a piece of software that runs on your computer during idle time to process computer models of different materials in order to discover new and more efficient designs for solar cells.

It runs using the same distributed computing scheme as the long-lived SETI@Home project, which uses your computer's extra cycles to find little green men. Only our friends at Harvard are looking for ways to make a big green planet.

Download it and use a few of your electrons to help get us off of fossil fuels!

In some great news for progressives and the GLBT community, a new Harris Interactive poll commissioned by GLAAD finds that Coloradans overwhelmingly approve legal recognition of same-sex partnerships.

• About eight out of 10 Colorado adults (83%) say that gay and lesbian couples should either be able to marry, have all of the same rights as marriage, or be able to form domestic partnerships. Only 15% say there should be no legal recognition.
• A slight majority of CO adults (51%) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry. This represents greater support than among U.S. adults, where, according to the recently released national Pulse of Equality survey, opinion is evenly split.
• Coloradans support gay and transgender-inclusive hate crimes laws (63%) and employment, housing and public accommodations non-discrimination laws (56%) for gay and transgender people. Such proposals are similar to those already enacted in Colorado, signaling clear public support for those policies.
• Nearly three out of four (73%) of Coloradans also oppose attempts to ban qualified gay and lesbian couples from adopting. This finding suggests strong support for existing Colorado law that allows for second-parent adoption in the state.
• Two-thirds of Colorado adults (66%) favor allowing openly gay military personnel to serve in the armed forces.

Looks like all of your effort in 2006 and beyond has really paid off.