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County Commission Candidate Questionnaire: Cecil Bothwell
Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America
Cecil Bothwell has applied for DFA-Asheville's endorsement for county commission. Here is his response to our questionnaire. (Our questions are in bold.)
For more on Cecil's candidacy, visit his website.
1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?I believe that we should become leaders in planning and implementation of sustainable resource-use practices and a sustainable economy. I use “sustainable” in its ecological sense, the no-net-growth model embodied in a forest. Kerala, India, for example, is on track to becoming a zero-waste state where everything is recycled. There's no reason we can't aim for that in Buncombe.
2. What is your number one priority with regard to development and land use?
We need to aim for hub-and-spoke development, in which homes and businesses are situated in walkable clusters along transit and utility corridors. I would advocate true-cost accounting for utilities and infrastructure and openly debate the question of whether new septic tanks should be prohibited, or at least prohibited in multi-family developments in order to cluster development along sewer lines.
3. Growth projections for Buncombe are continually revised upward. Have previous approaches to development become obsolete? Would you support a temporary moratorium on development while the county works with municipal governments to prepare for these new projections?
Yes. And yes.
4. How can the county practice environmental stewardship and promote broad-based economic growth at the same time?
This may seem contrarian, but I take exception to the economic theory implicit in this question. Economic growth as usually defined is a fraud because it requires externalization of environmental and resource costs. A more meaningful way to frame the question is, “Can we promote broad-based social benefits without practicing environmental stewardship?” The answer to that question is “no.” Viewed globally, water shortages are already constricting grain supplies and we are near if not past the peak on oil production. To ignore those twin crises and their near- and long-term implications in our community is to imperil our citizenry. Food security, for example, is a very real looming threat.
5. Many of our members want their local governments to lead the way in promoting energy independence and combating global warming. In what ways should the county work towards these goals?
We should build a peaking power plant in Woodfin. (joking folks)
I believe we should follow Asheville's lead in energy efficiency planning, and upgrade the building code to require lower-impact construction. One problem faced at the household level is that photovoltaic and active solar heating systems have relatively high upfront costs. Other municipalities have used their borrowing power to offer low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners and commercial property owners which are billed with property taxes. That way, the cost is apportioned to current and future owners, each of whom gain immediate reduction in energy costs and pollution. We should back up CEAC's recent suggestion to Progress Energy that it encourage people to switch to gas-fired hot water whenever a water heater needs to be replaced. Better still, switch to solar.
6. Do you see a role for the county in promoting energy efficiency in transportation and residential and business use?
Absolutely. I would support changes to the property tax code that gradually impose differential vehicle valuations based on efficiency. My answer to the previous question is just one way the county could promote energy efficiency, and I think my answers to most of the questions so far relate to this question as well.
7. The county government plays a central role in providing social services. Where has it been most successful? Where does it most need improvement?
The county has done a pretty good job overall in the areas of education and public health. However, the drop-out rate, particularly among black male students, remains far too high both here and across the country. There is some suggestion that there is even collusion involved, permitting drop-outs to stay out in order to raise the system's subsequent test score averages. I'd investigate that and I would seek improvements, but anyone who claims to have a sure cure is hallucinating.
I think the county dealt remarkably well with the mental health care crisis dumped on us by misguided legislators in Raleigh, but the crisis isn't over and the county has a major role in improving availability and continuity of mental health services. Treatment is cheaper than jail cells.
One hears many stories about problems in the Division of Social Services, some of which are undoubtedly true. As a commissioner I would do what I could to pierce the veil at DSS. The difficulty there is intrinsic to that department's function, dealing with highly personal and often highly charged interpersonal issues.
8. Do you think that the current commission has carried out its work in a manner that is sufficiently transparent? If not, how would you change things?
Based on my years covering the commission as a reporter, I believe that most decisions are made in secret, based on conversations and consultations that violate either the spirit or the letter of the state's open government laws. I would not be party to back-room discussions and I would publicly expose any such discussions of which I had knowledge. I would keep constituents informed of pending development matters and vote to televise the public comment section of commish meetings.
9. Has the current commission made decisions that you strongly disagree with? If so, what will you do to remedy those decisions if you are elected?
The incumbent commissioners are either incompetent or corrupt.
The Woodfin lease to Progress Energy is, perhaps, the most glaring example I can offer. All five voted to affirm a contract discussed in secret and written by Progress which granted an 80-year lease to a wide swath of pristine river frontage for one dollar per year, with no restrictions on use. They lied to us about it: said it was “former landfill” when, in fact, it was land approved for a landfill but never used (which the state government told me could easily be legally removed from the landfill designation for development purposes); and commissioners said the lease was only valid for construction of a power plant, when it explicitly permitted “any use.”
Selling of the downtown park property to developer Stewart Coleman is another example of either incompetence or corruption.
On that latter case, I would vote to take back the land via declaration of eminent domain and buy him out. The deal is rife with insider dealing and idiocy. It's my impression that Coleman has no intention to build on that property but is using it as a pawn to force the city to trade more valuable property for that parcel. Coleman said as much at a Pack Square Conservancy meeting I attended, and that he'd cooked up the deal with former City Planning Director Scott Shuford in a private meeting in 2005. We shouldn't permit insider dealing to be rewarded, but the cost of condemnation and buy-back will be worth it to preserve the park.
10. Do you have a plan for how you will win this election? If so, could you briefly describe the elements of your plan?
Between now and May 6 I'll be putting in an appearance at every community group meeting or public event where talking to voters seems promising. Because I have a strong base in the progressive community in Asheville, much of that effort will involve reaching out to people beyond the city limits.
I intend to raise at least $20,000 for the primary race in order to do cable TV ads ($12,000), direct mail ($4,000) and 1,000 yard signs ($3,500). (These numbers are quick estimates based on previous experience.) Given the size of the county and the likely high turn-out due to interest in the presidential contest, I believe TV may be the only way to reach a wide swath of people.
My web site is already up and generating donations, though I know from past experience as a Web marketer that generating fresh hits is a tough sell. My e-list runs to about 5,000 people now, and if I could garner average donations of just $5 per person, I would exceed my immediate goal. (http://bothwell4buncombe.com)
If I raise much money, I will divert a significant portion of it to a meaningful gesture such as Brownie Newman's distribution of compact fluorescent bulbs during the recent city council race—to campaign by making a difference instead of printing vast amounts of literature full of empty promises. One possibility for the general election is to run a series of free greening classes in conjunction with other environmentalists, to make a political pitch but also offer practical advice for individual action.
11. Would you call yourself a political progressive? Why or why not?
Utterly. One of my cats is named Chomsky, for Noam. Another is named Clare, for Hanrahan. Havoc is just Havoc.
I'm a member of the ACLU, the Unitarian Universalist Church, the American Humanist Society and DFA.
I ran Cynthia Brown's pro-union/anti-war/environmentalist bid for the U.S. Senate in WNC in 2002.
I co-founded Sparechange? a group which successfully challenged Asheville's unconstitutional panhandling law in 2002 and went on to organize Support Our Soldiers: Bring Them Home! and other peace demonstrations starting in 2003.
I attended the School of the America's protest in 2003.
I created and became chief organizer of the Asheville Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour event in 2003.
I was co-coordinator of Dean For America in Asheville in 2004.
I co-founded the Asheville Coalition in 2005 which evolved into the Robin Cape and Brian Freeborn campaigns.
I attended the anti-war rally in DC in September 2006.
I created a jail ministry at the Buncombe County Detention Center and have been an active participant since 2006.
I attended Building Bridges in 2003 and 2006 and helped facilitate another session in 2007.
I have been a volunteer client escort at Femcare, for three years in the 90s, and am currently, since 2006. (We help fend-off the shouting, aggressive protesters.)
I created the Asheville-Buncombe Policy Institute in 2007, a progressive think-tank which began its work with a white paper on transparency in local government.
I am on the Board of Directors of two nonprofits doing educational projects in Bolivia and Guatemala.
I am a tutor at the Reid Center under the auspices of Partners Unlimited.
I am chair of the Human Rights Team at the Unitarian Univeralist Church of Asheville, attend meetings of WNC Amnesty International and organized the annual UUCA Human Rights Fair in 2007 and 2008.
go Cecil!
just getting back online - the power went out at 11 pm. I woke up because the wind is now howling and some limbs are smacking the house and some are starting to crack under the ice and snow - so far I'm lucky, a friend only 5 miles away has been losing big limbs from her big old pines since early evening. my birches are bent, but not yet broken. the oaks and maples look like they'll make it - I was afraid the wind would crack them but it looks like it's shaking off their mantle of ice.
Reed, hope you had a safe night and get some time to rest. one of the strangest things was looking out my window at a completely darkened street in my usually well-lit neighborhood, when along comes the sidewalk plow - lights kinda glowing against the wall of sleet and rain, kicking up a huge, sparkling spray of ice and snow. it was cool but kinda eerie - sadly he was too fast for me to get off a photo!
sea I agree with most you say - my response is on that thread - 2 back I think. whatever you think, I am not a hopeless person.
sweet dreams all.
Dean is first.
The Air Force is confused. First it puts up an ad, then it orders it taken down.
Good morning, everybody
Cecil sounds like a clever fellow, but there are too many "I" in his answers.
The answers to quetion #9 are a good example of the tradition of public officials "doling" out public assets to generate private profit. It's not necessarily corrupt. We've now got different standards. That's all.
BTW, three planes have now had mishaps on Guam in as many weeks. In the latest incident, a B-1 had to return to the base because of an in-flight problem and after the crew got out, it rolled away and crashed into a couple of emergency vehicles. It's under investigation. What was the plane doing there? It was on its way home to SD from an air show. Talk about a waste of time, money and fuel.
Good morning, BFA ... used up most of my blog time this am skimming through backthreads and doing a bit of Google research.
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Have one fact check (there are probably others that I missed but this one was one I actually knew): it was stated in one of the backthreads that Colin Powell is descended from Haitian immigrants.
IMO (and there are lots who share this with me), CP lost most of his integrity when he lied before the UN about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and the rest of it when he knew better but still went along with putz and prick's agenda. He is a Republican in every way that counts, whatever his voter registration, and really has nothing in common with Barack Obama other than that he is male and African-American.
Powell's parents were Jamaican immigrants. Jamaica is a different island in many ways.
===================
Colin Powell
former Secretary of State, retired general
Born: April 5, 1937
Birthplace: New York, New York
Powell's parents, Luther and Maud Powell, were Jamaican immigrants who lived in the South Bronx. After attending the New York City public schools, Powell enrolled in the City College of New York (CCNY), where he earned a bachelor's degree in geology and participated in ROTC. After graduating in 1958, he became an Army second lieutenant. He later earned an MBA from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He served 35 years in the military, and became a 4-star general. From 1989 to 1993, Powell served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest military position, reporting to the president. He was in command during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. After retiring he wrote his autobiography, My American Journey. In 1997 he established America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth, a nonprofit organization to help needy and at-risk children. After being unanimously confirmed by the Senate, he was sworn in as the 65th Secretary of State on January 20, 2001. Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama. They have one son, two daughters, and two grandsons.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0880273.h...
Just a couple of quick comments.
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Yes, the currency exchange problem is real and will not be going away any time soon. If 'Cain should, by some godawful circumstance, win in November, watch the USD go nowhere but down.
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Anni, great reporting! Keep having fun!
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Yes, even on BFA, it is practically verboten to have a reasonable dialogue about the I/P situation.
What a shame!
One of my heroes is Rabbi Michael Lerner. He is not alone. I encourage all to read about him and others with his views, in addition to the screeds in the US MSM, and to try to discuss the situation openly, without preconceptions on either side. So long as we in the US cannot do this, the situation will continue to go from worse to worst.
The situation is not black and white, but all shades of gray.
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Michael Lerner is an American rabbi, political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish and interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the leader of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.[1][2]
[...]
Lerner, a rabbi in ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, promotes the concept of Jewish Renewal, a small Jewish movement which he describes as "positive Judaism", rejecting what he considers to be ethnocentric interpretations of the Torah. His publications promote religious pluralism and progressive or liberal approaches to political problems. He has, for example, been outspoken against attacks on immigrant communities in the United States, and has attempted to build bridges with Christian, Buddhist and Muslim leaders around such issues.
Lerner strongly objected to Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip, and continues to object to its occupation of the West Bank. He supports the adoption of the Geneva Accords as a basis for an independent Palestinian state.
In February 2007, Lerner published a column entitled "There Is No New Anti-Semitism," in which he criticized some American Jewish organizations for labeling critics of Israel as antisemites. He was especially critical of the Anti-Defamation League and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which he characterized as "Israel-can-do-no-wrong voices in American politics." Lerner wrote that this mentality, which frequently leads to accusations that Jews who oppose Israel's policies toward the Palestinians are "self-hating Jews," is alienating young Jews who "say that they can no longer identify with their Jewishness."[6]
[...]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ler...(rabbi)
The last for now: the Google research this am was a result of an obituary from yesterday's WaPo that my husband had sent to my attention, concerning one Pearl Witherington Cornioley, who passed away in February 2008, at the age of 93.
Ms. Cornioley had refused all interviews with those trying to get her story because she did not want it to be *romanticized* until she finally, in her 80s granted interviews to a very persistent French journalist, Herve Larroque, who published her biography in French called *Pauline* in 1997.
Here are general snippets from my research. You can find her obit in many newspapers.
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Pearl Witherington CBE (June 24, 1914 - February 24, 2008) was a World War II secret service agent born in Paris to British parents.
She escaped occupied France with her mother and three sisters. During the Second World War she joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
Given the code name "Marie," Witherington was dropped by parachute into occupied France on 22 September 1943, where she joined Maurice Southgate, leader of the Stationer Network. Over the next eight months she worked as Southgate's courier.
After the Gestapo arrested Southgate in May 1944, she became leader of the new Wrestler Network, under a new code-name "Pauline", in the Valencay-Issoudun-Chateauroux triangle. She reorganised the network with the help of a local man, Henri Cornioley, and organized over 1,500 members of the Maquis and they played an important role fighting the German Army during the D-Day landings. They were so effective, the Nazi regime put a 1 million franc bounty on her head.
In September 1944, Witherington returned to England where she married Henri Cornioley (1910-1999) in Kensington Register Office on 26 October, 1944.
[...]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Withe...
**** From the Beeb's archives ****
War heroine honoured 63 years on
A female secret service agent has been honoured by the Royal Air Force - 63 years after first complaining at the "injustice" of not getting her "wings".
Pearl Cornioley, formerly Witherington, became the leader of 1,500 French freedom fighters during World War II.
She was recommended for the Military Cross but, as a woman, was not allowed to receive it. She turned down an MBE, saying it was a "civil decoration".
Now 92, she has received her Parachute Wings at her retirement home in France.
The highly-regarded award was presented to her by Squadron Leader and Major Jack Lemmon of the Parachute Regiment at a ceremony on Tuesday.
[...]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/48983...
For the scientifically inclined:
Winter 2008 Information Bulletin Now Available
The latest issue of the SERDP & ESTCP Information Bulletin is now online. It highlights (1) the six Project-of-the-Year Awards announced at the 2007 Partners Symposium; (2) results from recent workshops on the characterization and management of military munitions in underwater environments as well as munitions constituents on operational ranges; (3) groundbreaking behavioral response studies under way to determine how marine mammals respond to sound; (4) FY 2008 SERDP- and ESTCP-funded efforts in the Weapons Systems and Platforms focus area; (5) sources of information used to develop SERDP’s investment strategy; (6) the SERDP-developed and ESTCP-demonstrated UXO discriminator selected for prestigious 2007 R&D 100 Award; and (7) new documents now available in our online library.
Well, I lied a bit ... had to do a bit more research on a couple of things and came up with this interesting bit in the news headlines on the search page. It has to do with why party machines were able to deliver for Clinton in MA and OH, but not in MD.
Bottom: all three state campaigns were top-down versus bottom-up and the top-down organization simply was not in place as much in MD. There also appears to be some doubt about how much *heart* was in the top-down there. That's definitely a good lesson to keep in mind for the general. Our Howard has shown the way.
I am one who also believes that it doesn't hurt to have both candidates still in there for the time being, bruising as it is, so that they can deal now with issues that otherwise would only come up later. Of that, we can be sure. If we think that what has happened up to now has been nasty, just wait until the general. We *ain't seen nothing yet.* Those posts about Rethugs buying up domain names, etc., should be giving all of us pause.
Remember what is at stake for the Rethugs if they lose ... and they have no unscruples whatsoever. Rove is alive and well and doing his best already.
Now really gone ... bbl perhaps.
======================
Hillary and Maryland: What went wrong?
By David Nitkin
Sun reporter
March 9, 2008
WASHINGTON
When Sen. Hillary Clinton had a good night in Ohio last week, so did the state's Democratic governor, Ted Strickland.
Strickland emerges from the primary season with a brighter shine than his fellow Clinton supporters in Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.
Like O'Malley and Mikulski, Strickland traversed his state, appearing at rallies and events for the New York senator.
But unlike them, Strickland - a former congressman whose 2006 election ended two decades of Republican dominance in the state capital of Columbus - can claim to have helped deliver an important, diverse state into Clinton's win column.
[...]
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/...
Yikes: bottom s/b bottom line and unscruples s/b scruples ... apparently my hands were trying to be super emphatic with the latter.
Thanks for that story Judy, Julia Childs wasn't the only Valerie Plame of her day it seems.
In Iowa the battle has just begun since John Edwards won so much of the initial allocation. Obama has staff in the state working on it and Clinton is depending on volunteers, but if you are top down and don't use that to help the volunteers it loses effectiveness.
I am still trying to get people focused on the election of the actual delegates because it is they who determine the nominee under this years system.
since Florida might be a test case for my plan for a nationwide absentee ballot only delegate selection plan I have a vested interest in seeing that idea go forward in a Florida do over
They need to get the Obama excitement before the fall.
on thread
good answers, but more importantly good questions, and a good process
DFA needs to endorse Obama; take a vote and see who we support
Judy
Hillary has some very good policy people on her campaign, it is the political operatives that have a tendency towards being rovian lowlifes. I don't doubt her ability to run the Executive Branch, just the ends it would serve, the special interests it would reward.
This time of year I like to encourage the herd to head up to the barn as soon as pre-dawn lights the way in training for when they are on pasture. since we have a deep snowpack it seems a futile exercise but I have to rationalize the time change to them so bbl
humans are more compliant a herd than bovines
whodathunkit
When does public relations morph into public manipulation?
The Clintons are clearly manipulative and not at all hesitant to use deception to achieve whatever their current goal happens to be.
Of course, there's deception and then there's DECEPTION. What's the difference? Well, there's deception that's aimed at self-protection, usually from the consequences of some mistake or negative behavior and then there's the deception that's aimed at self-promotion or aggrandisement. Hillary Clinton and hubby are into that big time. The thing to remember about the latter is that negative attribute are just as useful as positive ones to achieve a bigger-than-life reputation. So, for example, designating Bush Two as the worst may well be a sign of achievement in his world view.
I was looking over the long range plan for U.S. dominance that was concocted by Cheney and Wolfowitz after the fall of the Soviet Union yesterday. It was clear then that they were aiming to be the bully on the block.
Keep popping back ... just can't help myself, I guess ... .
Phil: about my British agent post up above ... yes, there were many women among both the Brits and the Americans who were spires during WWII ... and Julia Childs was but one of the American women. A fair number of them are still alive today. Amazingly, in the circumstances that some experienced.
There is all too little literature available on the subject, IMO. One book that was published about women in the OSS is *Sisterhood of Spies* by Elizabeth McIntosh, herself one of them.
One of those featured in that book is a long-time family friend and inspiration.
Here is one review.
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Elizabeth P. McIntosh. Sisterhood of Spies: The Women of the OSS. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1998. xiv + 282 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. $27.00 (cloth), ISBN 1-55750-598-5.
Reviewed by Heidi Hamilton, Department of Speech Communication, Augustana College.
Published by H-Minerva (August, 2002)
Women Spies of World War II
Elizabeth McIntosh's Sisterhood of Spies details the history of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II precursor to the CIA. What gives McIntosh's telling of the story particular poignancy is that she served in the Asian field of operations for the OSS during the war, and adds her personal perspective to the book, including recollections of people and places as well as her experiences. Based primarily on interviews, the book attempts to "recapture and document for the reader that exciting period in our history when women served as a true Sisterhood of Spies" (p. xiv). In order to do this, approximately the first half of the book constitutes a chapter-by-chapter account of the different branches of the OSS that were responsible for activities such as coding, research, and propaganda. The chapters in the latter half of the book focus more closely on the activities and experiences of individual women.
It is in the second half of the book that McIntosh's goal can be most clearly seen, as she recounts numerous stories including those of women who went behind enemy lines and were captured by the Germans. The anecdotes related here start to portray some of the adventure and excitement that these women must have experienced, even as the chapters discuss the hardship and danger that they faced. These chapters provide McIntosh's most thorough commentary on the uniqueness of women as spies, their particular contributions, as well as how they were regarded and treated. For example, she makes note of such factors as medals that women received, and times when women spies received information or engaged in missions of importance, noting that it was one of the women stationed in Ceylon that first reported on the Japanese labor camp later immortalized in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai.
[...]
http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/GENOCIDE/review...
Sheesh ... *spires* s/b *spies* ... LOL
Well, i haven't found the Cheney plan yet because i got sidetracked.
http://www.new-federalist.com/other/2006/3313rohatyn_privatiz.html
Rohatyn, Shultz, Cheney `Privatization'
Scheme To Wreck U.S. National Securityby Jeffrey Steinberg
On Oct. 9, 2004, two leading American figures in the International Synarchy, George Shultz and Felix Rohatyn, teamed up in an assault upon the national sovereignty and national security of the United States. Under the auspices of George P. Shultz's Princeton Project on National Security, the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College, and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, jointly sponsored a conference promoting "The Privatization of National Security," at the Middlebury College campus in Vermont. The conference brought together a dozen or so academics, former government officials, and retired military officers to chart out the vast expansion of the privatization of military functions, through PMCs—private military companies.
[...]
According to one well-placed U.S. military source, Rumsfeld has recently radically altered the personnel regulations of the Special Operations Command, allowing Green Berets, Navy Seals, Delta Force commandos, and other "spec ops" troops, to "temporarily" retire from the military service, go to work for private contractors, and later return to active duty—with no loss of rank or service time. If this report is true, Rumsfeld has smashed the wall of separation between active-duty special forces soldiers on the one side, and mercenaries and terrorists on the other.
[...]Feaver was the principal author of the Bush Administration's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq," a 35-page public document released by the White House on Nov. 30, 2005, as President George W. Bush was addressing the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Feaver, whose Triangle Institute conducts public opinion polls on national security issues, argued that Americans could be snookered into accepting high rates of casualties and vast costs of war, for an indefinite period of time, so long as they were convinced that there was a plan for "victory." No need to clue in the American people, or even the military brass, for that matter, on the fact that the goal is "neo-feudalism," as he boasted in front of the Rohatyn-selected crowd at Middlebury.
[...]
Rohatyn, in his usual glib style, let the cat out of the bag: "I will address this issue as privatization and what goes with it, not if it's good or bad, because I think it is here to stay and there's no point in arguing that issue. And also because I think it will grow. I don't think for a moment that privatization will stop with security services.... I believe it is inevitable that more and more ranking officers will leave the Pentagon and go with private companies, and then go back to the military as contractors, with businesses that have far greater market values. Because one actor that you haven't included here are the securities markets. And privatization, which is a dogma as well as a process, usually brings with it two other elements. One is deregulation and the other is a need for transparency."
Let me just suggest that the real object of "privatization," to get public functions out of the public arena, isn't mentioned here on purpose. Indeed, the suggestion that the securities markets are going to provide adequate oversight is part of the deception that's being undertaken.
Sources familiar with the Middlebury conference say that the event capped an organizing drive for the "privatization of national security" that has been under way since the collapse of the Soviet Union. During the Presidency of William Clinton, Rohatyn, who served briefly as Ambassador to France, was the leading champion of the privatization and outsourcing of as many Pentagon functions as possible.
[...]
During the Clinton years, Congressional Republicans led the drive to privatize and outsource government activities, and they found an ally in Vice President Al Gore, who was given the Clinton Administration "reinventing government" portfolio. In 1998, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed into law, the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act (FAIR). The language of the law was explicit: "To provide a process for identifying the functions of the Federal Government that are not inherently governmental functions." FAIR, however, explicitly exempted the protection of U.S. territories and interests from the category of functions that could be possibly outsourced to the private sector.
[...]
While CIFA's budget is classified and there is no public information about the size of the unit, its director, David A. Burtt II, recently told the Washington Post that 70% of CIFA's employees are private contractors. One Pentagon source said that CIFA has, at minimum, 1,000 full-time personnel.
A fact sheet, posted on CIFA's Pentagon website in 2002, confirmed that the secret counterintelligence coordinating unit had gone operational. CIFA's Directorate of Field Activities (DX), the fact sheet said, "assists in preserving the most critical defense assets, disrupting adversaries and helping control the intelligence domain." According to a Dec. 19, 2005 Washington Post story by Walter Pincus, CIFA's "roles can range from running roving patrols around military bases and facilities to surveillance of potentially threatening people or organizations inside the United States."
[...]
After reading through this stuff, I am more than ever convinced that, in addition to "privatization" the term "transparent" has to be suspect. It does just mean "able to be looked through" and is definitely not the same as "open" as in open government or "inspected" as in looked into.
I somehow missed the quote about doing away with sovereign nations. While that may sound good, what they're really after is in eliminating the opportunities for popular involvement in the affairs of the public. If corporations rule the globe and the corporations are supposed to be "regulated" by the market, rather than government directives, then what you've got is a prescription for the people with the money doing whatever they please.
Now, an elite defined by money may be more democratic than a hereditary system or ecclesiastic rule, but we now know from hard experience that the accumulation of money may be most effectively carried out by crooks. So, what Rohatyn and Schulz are proposing is a global order controlled by bullies--it's the legitimization of the Mafia. Bush/Cheney is not a fluke; it's the intended consequence. It asks and answers the question, "how can we rule outside the law?" By making the laws to suit us.
It is my opinion that Florida (Gov Christ and the Republican led state Legislature) acted contrary to the law.
The Court has ruled that the State has no jurisdiction relating to political parties.
Are we not a "law abiding" nation?
kookie Roberts just stated (w/o challenge) that "the first thing you think of when you go into the voting booth...is Commander in Chief.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb245/index.htm
Where do current candidates stand relative to these principles?
▪ Pursue the "military-technological revolution" to preserve its superiority in the latest weapons systems (e.g., smart munitions)
▪ Sustain the "forward" presence of U.S. ground, air, and naval forces in strategically important areas, to validate commitments, and to provide a capability to respond to crises affecting significant interests, such as freedom of the seas and access to markets and energy supplies
▪ Preserve a smaller but diverse "mix" of survivable nuclear forces to support a global role, validate security guarantees, and deter Russian nuclear forces
▪ Field a missile defense system as a shield against accidental missile launches or limited missile strikes by "international outlaws"
▪ Maintain a capability to reconstitute military forces in the event a regional hegemon threatens to become a global threat
▪ Find ways to integrate the "new democracies" of the former Soviet bloc into the U.S.-led system
▪ Work with allies in NATO Europe and elsewhere but be ready to act unilaterally or with only a few other nations when multilateral and cooperative action proves too "sluggish" to protect vital interests.
Well, there is a yoga class at 10am and I'll have to say TTFN, good bloggies.
I'm interested in hearing from the Oregonians who post here about voting by mail. My understanding, which can be corrected if necessary, is that mail voting has been used for years in Oregon with notable success, both in increased voter participation and in its efficiency in cost, counting votes and eliminating fraud.
I'm just curious if the method could be used in a new caucus, or party run primary, in Michigan. The party held a caucus in 2004 by ballot, which were submitted by mail, internet, or in person at polling places. If my understanding is correct it's the polling places that add the most expense.
Michigan can just allocate at the District Convention on March 31st at no cost.
Obama = 50 state strategy.
Clinton = 28 state strategy.
Obama = pressure on McCain to defend his own red states.
Clinton = praise for McCain, while criticism for Obama.
Obama = strong coattails for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket in all 50 states.
(even those in Clinton's New York).
Clinton = weak coattails (think Mississippi).
I can't help but show my age by referencing the Highlights for Children magazine feature "Goofus and Gallant".
This Week was total non stop pro Hillary spin when they got to the panel.
Phil wrote "DFA needs to endorse Obama; take a vote and see who we support."
I agree that the timing is right. Would it be fair to suppose that DFA would have polled its members after Dean dropped out in 2004 to get behind one of the remaining candidates if there still remained a battle for the nomination at the time?
test - my last post showed up in the proper order - let's see if this ends up comment #32...
Jo wrote "test - my last post showed up in the proper order - let's see if this ends up comment #32..."
I'm afraid your optimism exceeds your skepticism to an unreasonable degree.
It is my opinion that Florida (Gov Christ and the Republican led state Legislature) acted contrary to the law.
The Court has ruled that the State has no jurisdiction relating to political parties.
Are we not a "law abiding" nation?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Democratic State Party of Florida could have just announced the primary vote on the Democratic side as a "straw poll" before it happened.
What is clear is that Florida Democrats had plenty of chances to amend their Delegate Selection Plan. They didn't. They still could if they want to have a say in Denver.
new thread
36 - Tom - lol! well, I was hopeful but certainly not very optimistic!
Hope the storm has cleared for you in Rutland Jo
I am looking and hoping for a big roar from Ted Kennedy sometime during the next six weeks prior to PA primary. Ted has a big voice, how much influence in PA I don't know. But he does have the ability to call Clinton on every single one of her lies, one by one, one or two each time he appears for Obama in PA.
Kerry should also be at his best there. The hype about PA is phony baloney and put out by the Clintons because they believe they will come out ahead there. If they don't, the show is over at their own request.
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