“My View: Sculpture garden in park could create sense of community ... - Mankato Free Press” plus 3 more

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• My View: Sculpture garden in park could create sense of community ... - Mankato Free Press
• Library Transformed into a 24 Hour, Open Air, Community Space - PSFK
• Nov 02 - Nov 07 (108) - The Atlantic
• U.S. officials fear Karzai can't keep anti-corruption pledge - Fort Mill Times

My View: Sculpture garden in park could create sense of community ... - Mankato Free Press Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:33 PM PST Published November 03, 2009 10:26 pm - Keith Appel is a producing artist who makes large architectural sculptures and murals. The former chairman of the art department at the University of Anchorage in Alaska, he is now retired. Appel grew up in Mankato where he was a student — kindergarten through graduate school at MSU. My View: Sculpture garden in park could create sense of community pride I applaud the recent decision of the Mankato City Council to re-install the sculpture that is referred to as "The Piece" by Dale Eldred, an internationally acclaimed artist. It is a significant work of art. One of the problems that emerges with this singular piece of artwork is that people either like it or not. That is to say, they are polarized by their simple psychological response to it. I would like to make a suggestion that would change the Riverside Park to the Riverside Park and Sculpture Garden. This would alleviate the problem of having just this one piece as a focal point. I envision the park with numerous pieces of outdoor sculpture that would further humanize the space and create a vibrant oasis of artwork that relates in a variety of ways to the people who visit the park. In that regard there would be a wide array of sculptural concepts and artistic philosophies represented. This would change the focus placed upon a single piece and transform the park into a sculpture garden of wide ranging artistic directions, and it would place the park on the list of things to see and do in Mankato. This could be done without any cost to the city. Grants could be pursued for a sculpture workshop that would end in the production of a piece dedicated to the city. Businesses and individuals could commission works that were approved by an art selection committee that has an overview of how all of the pieces would be integrated into the park. The art faculty at Minnesota State University could sponsor a sculpture competition with its advanced art students. Perhaps one or two or more proposals might be selected for inclusion in the park. Patrons would be sought within the community for materials and/or fabrication of the chosen work and also donations from others to pay for the cost. Plaques would give due recognition to the patrons. This paper could have a feature article explaining this concept while soliciting donations from any interested patrons at any level. The selection process committee would include art faculty, the mayor's office, community leaders in the arts and others as deemed appropriate. The norm for this is generally a committee of seven individuals who have a positive attitude toward having art in public places. That odd number creates a tie breaker on any votes. It also reduces political friction that larger committees seem to create as they become too un-wieldy. Student artists would be enrolled in a special topics course while they are creating their work. For this, they would be given upper division credit toward graduation. Students would donate their artwork to the city — this donation might even have some tax implications for the students, but that's not the goal. This would allow a student artist an opportunity to create a large-scale piece he/she otherwise would be unable to do. There may be professional artists in the area who would like to donate pieces to the park, simply because they like the concept. Such donations would need to be screened by the art committee for acceptance into the park. There could be an unveiling of each new piece — every Memorial Day for years as a spring ritual — to celebrate the park and its art. This would encourage park goers to make donations which would create monies for the maintenance of the artwork. That money would be held in escrow specifically for that purpose. The first unveiling could occur this upcoming Memorial Day, with Eldred's piece serving as a catalyst for future unveilings. It is my belief such a program would create a sense of community pride as it integrates the college, the artists and Mankato residents into a positive and cohesive cultural voice. In order for this to work, it would need the support of all of the aforementioned groups above. It is not hard to do — all we need is to have a commitment to the cultural welfare of our town. I know that I still do. Keith Appel is a producing artist who makes large architectural sculptures and murals. The former chairman of the art department at the University of Anchorage in Alaska, he is now retired. Appel grew up in Mankato where he was a student — kindergarten through graduate school at Minnesota State University. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Library Transformed into a 24 Hour, Open Air, Community Space - PSFK Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:19 PM PST Hands down this is one of the most interesting examples creative architecture and community spaces we've seen all year. But the finished project almost falls in the shadow of the story about how this library came about. Located in a neglected area of East Germany with high unemployment and figures of building vacancies up to 80%, the origins of this project began in 2005 outside the district's former library which had closed. KARO Architects constructed a full size temporary library with 1,000 beer crates that were lent to them. This popup version lasted two days and operated on an honor system. Residents relocated books to a more permanent home in an abandon storefront. Donated books continued to come in and the collection quickly grew to 20,000 titles. The need for a more permanent yet accessible place for the books as well as a gathering place for the community was clear. Fundraising began and eventually the project received grant money from the government as a pilot project. KARO started work on the design and chose the theme of a "bookmark" to develop ideas from. The team wanted to include elements of remembrance, history and narratives to provided the background for the "re-occupation" of the abandoned expanse the new library would occupy. This past June, the new outdoor library opened. Use of the library is free, there is no registration and books can be accessed 24 hours a day. all year long. Referred to as a "library of confidence" users are encouraged to bring back books they take away or donate another one in exchange. The site of the library features a communal stage which is used for elementary school plays, book reading, concerts, and cultural events. A volunteer group of residents take care of the keeping the books organized and keep the reading areas clean. KARO's design of the library structure at first glance might seem expensive with the use of custom cast blocks. But actually the modernist blocks are all recycled from a nearby warehouse building that was knocked down in 2007. The blocks were salvaged, cleaned up and reused to construct the entire structure of the library. [via arch daily] This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Nov 02 - Nov 07 (108) - The Atlantic Posted: 03 Nov 2009 07:57 PM PST Tuesday, November 3, 2009 03 Nov 2009 11:59 pm Maine Update It looks as if a recount is now a possibility. One glimmer of hope: there are uncounted votes from Cumberland County, which includes parts of Portland. The city voted 73 - 27 percent for keeping marriage rights. A reader writes: I'm nervously watching the Q1 results. I was involved in the Q4 discrimination referendum years ago and was a team leader for the Obama campaign. Even though we moved to Texas this summer, I have been making calls to Maine. I am not surprised by the results so far. From my perspective the challenge was always to get a sufficiently high voter turnout in friendly towns in Southern Maine to offset the rest of the state. Knox is very encouraging. I am quite concerned about York as we normally count on it to counter northern Maine--looks like Biddeford, Saco, and Sanford are driving the Yes votes--all highly Catholic towns. Another Maine reader notes: Kittery, and York are likely to follow the pattern of Eliot, Wells, or even Kennebunkport, all neighboring towns. That said, compare the 3 Berwicks and you can see how the differences can swing by 10% or more within 10 miles... 03 Nov 2009 11:58 pm The Daily Wrap Today on the Dish we tracked the remarkable turnout in Maine, where a loss for marriage equality could very well be the national Dems' fault. Regarding the other races, Nate Silver and Josh Green downplayed the potential outcomes, Scarborough stayed positive on the Beck-Palin insurgency, and some readers from NY-23 chimed in. (Read just below for late-breaking election results. While Palin continued to meddle in NY, NJ, and VA, Levi turned up the tabloid heat. Readers sounded off - and one nearly stomped off. On the war on prohibition, we examined the distorted "danger" of drugs in the UK and watched a remarkable mother of two expound the conservative case for legalization. In other commentary, Andrew engaged Goldberg over Parsi, Carol Platt Liebau got a Hewitt, Larry Stickney got a Malkin, the Dish got snarky with Stickney, Southerners shunned Bush even more than Obama, John McWhorter talked language, and Matt Steinglass and a reader discussed dog-eating.  -- C.B. 03 Nov 2009 11:43 pm "We Lost" Watertown, New York, Mayor Jeff Graham, a Hoffman supporter, calls it. 03 Nov 2009 11:41 pm Tomorrow Is A Big Day In Iran The November 4 rally which looks set to be another humiliation for the coup regime is yet another sign that Iran is fracturing. And this is a Youtube from Tehran tonight, heralding the future in the now-traditional way: 03 Nov 2009 11:31 pm Maine: Looking Grimmer Bangor is in and the marriage equality forces won it 54 - 46. We won Kennebunkport too 61 - 39. And yet the totals seem to be reaching a California tipping point against gay equality. With 60 percent in, it's 52 - 48 against gay couples having the same rights as straight ones. 03 Nov 2009 11:22 pm Owens In NY-23 His lead is still solid - and he's pulling in 49 percent of the vote. The highest margin a Democrat has ever polled in the district in recent times was 38 percent in 1990. In the last election, the Democrat got 35 percent. In some ways, a Hoffman victory would, in my view, have been worse for the GOP. But this result, if it holds, suggests that the insurgency there was more of a national/Beck/Palin media reality than an actual shift. If anything, this reveals a big shift to the Dems, perhaps in reaction to the disarray and division on the right. 03 Nov 2009 11:12 pm Watching Maine Yes, it feels like an England-Germany football match to me in over time or a Brit playing the fifth set tie-breaker in the Wimbledon final. If you look at the precincts that have not yet reported, Bangor is among them. Which is encouraging, if one assumes that urbanites are likely to be somewhat less anti-gay than country folk. On the other initiative, Maine has now become the third state to license medical marijuana dispensaries: Under the measure, the state will license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and set rules for their operation. While 13 states permit medical use of marijuana, only Rhode Island and New Mexico have similar dispensary provisions, both of which were adopted by the states' legislatures. Maine's original medical marijuana law was passed in 1999. "This is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any state's voters have authorized the state government to license medical marijuana dispensaries," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which drafted the initiative and provided start-up funding for the campaign. "Coming a decade after passage of Maine's original marijuana law, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact." 03 Nov 2009 11:02 pm The Surprise In NY-23 Well, I had begun to assume a big Hoffman victory. Not so fast. Owens has a small but real lead, with over 60 percent of the votes in. More interesting, Palin just doesn't poll very well in a district that is almost tailor-made for her: 43% view her favorably to 44% negative. This is in a poll with a party ID breakdown of R+14 that shows Doug Hoffman leading by 17 points. If Palin's not popular in an electorate with that mix she's not going anywhere nationally. NY-23 is a district with an unusual number of moderate Republicans, and Palin's favorability with them breaks down negatively 53/32. She could overcome those kinds of numbers in a contest to get the Republican nomination but they certainly wouldn't be good enough in a general election. The North Country should be friendly ground for her and if she can't make it there it's hard to see how she can make it anywhere. So the endorsement of Hoffman may not have been that big a deal. 03 Nov 2009 10:49 pm Tonight In A Nutshell? Ambers: The economy sucks. States are really hurting. Governors are very unpopular. Their support is going to crater. 03 Nov 2009 10:43 pm It's Not Over Till The Fat Guy Sings Christie romps home in New Jersey. And McDonnell wins in Virginia. These are not big surprises. But what's truly striking is how narrow Mike Bloomberg's margin is, how close the marriage fight is in Maine, and how Owens is doing much better than I expected in NY-23. I should say this about Maine. Whoever wins this vote will do so by the slimmest of margins. I don't think it therefore represents much of a victory for either the pro-gay or anti-gay forces. It represents an essential 50-50 split. Maybe the coming results will alter that. But all we find out from Maine is that this is a very evenly divided state on this subject. 03 Nov 2009 10:31 pm 81 Percent Turnout In Maine? That's a staggering number from the Bangor Daily News for an off-year election. My first impulse is to disbelieve it. The marriage results, by the way, remain neck and neck. [Update: and yes, that number has now disappeared from the site. But the turnout does appear very strong.] 03 Nov 2009 10:19 pm It's The Economy, Stupid How easily we forget. We get caught up in the health insurance fight, we game the Beck-Palin subculture, we chatter about Israel and Iran, we obsess about marriage equality ... while the voters who do not do politics for a living are simply trying to survive one of the worst downturns in history. The votes tonight are anti-incumbent votes in protest at economic crisis and the slow pace of recovery. And they are not, it seems to me, some national referendum on Obama's first nine months. In fact, Obama's approval ratings in both Virginia and New Jersey are respectable and strong, with unemployment headed to 10 percent: About half the voters in Virginia and a majority in New Jersey - 49 and 58 percent, respectively - approved of the way Obama is handling his job. Most in both states, moreover, said the president was not a factor in their vote. Perhaps most striking - though simply confirmatory of national polls - were economic views. A vast 89 percent in New Jersey and 85 percent in Virginia said they're worried about the direction of the nation's economy in the next year; 56 percent and 52 percent, respectively, said they're "very" worried about it. Continue reading "It's The Economy, Stupid" » 03 Nov 2009 10:00 pm Maine Update It's mighty close, with the pro-marriage equality forces currently a smidgen ahead with 17 percent of precincts reporting. The medical marijuana law looks like a sure-fire win. 03 Nov 2009 08:58 pm Colbert Bait Two high-ranking commanders of the Hizbul Mujahideen are mauled to death by a bear. 03 Nov 2009 08:27 pm Tonight's Other Election CA-10 has gotten almost no attention because it is considered a safe Democratic seat, even though it has gone to a Republican much more recently than NY-23. Nate Silver gives odds: I might take about a 15-1 flier on Harmer -- and if Republicans do win here, or perhaps even pull close enough that the outcome will be uncertain for several days as California finishes counting mail ballots, they'll really have something to crow about. With that said, I suspect that Garamendi will more likely than not win by larger than the 10-point margin that SurveyUSA projects. By the way, this race is not without upside to the Democrats, as Garamendi should be significantly more liberal than Tauscher, who has not always been a reliable vote for her party on issues like national security. 03 Nov 2009 08:22 pm Not About Obama The exit polls are very clear and, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. A reader writes: How in the world can the pundits (even Megan or Marc, both of whom I like) honestly take results tonight as a referendum on Obama when: 2. Governors races send winners to state office, not Washington, so the candidates do not run against Obama and Washington. Indeed, McDonnell and Christie went out of their way to avoid conflict with Obama. 3. In exit polls, people said they liked Obama at about the same rate as they did last year, and also said that these elections were not a referendum on him. How much clearer can people be? In the end, just because pundits want to make election more significant than it is, doesn't mean it is. Watch the pundits do the dance, led by Rove, the worst political analyst in a generation. 03 Nov 2009 08:10 pm Maine Results Crack Get your actual voting tallies live here. 03 Nov 2009 07:40 pm The Emerging CW: Bad News For Health Insurance Reform Lexington sums up an argument, coming from various quarters, on the consequences of the GOP doing well today: It could make it harder for Mr Obama to get his agenda through the Senate. Democrats from red and purple states are nervous enough already. If they think voters are recoiling from Mr Obama's  policies, their support for him will grow more guarded and conditional. And we now have news that the Senate Democrats may be unable or unwilling to move a health insurance bill until the new year. Marc goes further: Continue reading "The Emerging CW: Bad News For Health Insurance Reform" » 03 Nov 2009 06:53 pm Obama Stays Mum John Aravosis is upset that the Organizing for America (OFA), an arm of the DNC, has not lobbied against the anti-equality bill in Maine and sent out a message urging people to vote but omitting any mention of the marriage issue. Greg Sargent has more: The reason this could become a real issue for OFA is that the vote on the Maine initiative — which would repeal gay marriage — is expected to be super close. And a loss — particularly one rooted in turnout, which OFA has the capacity to boost — will result in fierce recriminations. What's more, tensions are already so raw because of a host of other ways gay advocates feel let down by the new president that they may be even more inclined to point a finger at OFA in the event of a loss. This one could get ugly. It is staggering to me that the message discipline from the DNC is so tight that they even forbade OFA from telling Obama-supporters which way to vote on the referendum. It's one more sign, I fear, that the Democratic establishment's opposition to marriage equality is real; and the president's peeps are increasingly determined to do what they can keep us from the right to civil marriage. 03 Nov 2009 06:33 pm Maine Polling Wrap-Up Mark Blumenthal offers his final thoughts on what we can expect tonight and advises not taking exit polls very seriously. He's unsure about Maine: A 2004 paper by Joe Shipman, then director of election polling for SurveyUSA, showed that polling on ballot measures had triple the rate of error (9.5 average error on the margin) as polls in presidential elections (3.4) and nearly double that of contests for statewide offices (4.6). I summarized the assumed reasons for that greater error rate in a long post four years ago today, but the most relevant to Maine are a greater difficulty modeling the likely electorate and the problem of accurately conveying ballot language. Silver is more positive about the Washington referendum. I'd say: look at the age of the voters in exit polls. An off-year election tends to attract the hardcore, and they tend to be older, which is why fears about Maine are well-founded. 03 Nov 2009 06:23 pm Faces Of The Day Friends and family say goodbye to Marines in the 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom November 3, 2009 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Once in Afghanistan, the unit will fall under the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade -Afghanistan. Their mission will be to support combat operations as an artillery battalion. By Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images. 03 Nov 2009 06:18 pm As In A Sitcom The latest news from Benedict's actual church: A northeastern Pennsylvania priest has been removed from his duties after church officials say he accidentally displayed inappropriate pictures from his computer before Sunday Mass. The Diocese of Scranton said the Rev. Edward Lyman was using his computer on Oct. 25 to project an informational DVD about the annual diocesan fundraiser when four photos were displayed. They featured what church officials describe as "minimally attired adult males." Diocese spokesman William Genello said the photos were not pornographic, did not include minors and were not taken by the priest. 03 Nov 2009 06:02 pm Dissent Of The Day A reader writes: Several years ago I would the read The Corner 4-5 times a day. But then it got boring and repetitive with repeating the same old arguments over and over again. Gradually I lost interest and now rarely read it. I am afraid that I am coming close to the same decision about The Daily Dish. Please, please, please drop your obsessive coverage of the Palin/Johnston non-story. It's nothing but trailer trash gossip. It seems to matter only to you, and no matter how much you try to spin it as you-are-looking-into-something-important-while-the-MSM -ignores-it meme, it doesn't convince me of anything but your over the top obsession with it. Palin is a pathological liar and I don't believe her story of when she went into labor etc...but she said it just to dramatize her life and to give a story to the conservative press. I hope you have someone sane around you who can talk you out of this coverage before you start losing readers--and yes I am close to being done with you. Sane, responsible people have been trying to talk me out of asking questions about Palin for more than a year. Ha! The one thing I have never cared about, I should add, is losing readers over my positions. Continue reading "Dissent Of The Day" » 03 Nov 2009 05:38 pm Eating Dog, Ctd A reader writes: During the late 90's I was serving in the US Air Force stationed at Clark AB, Philippines. I had heard stories about Filipinos eating dog meat but didn't think much about it. During my second year there I had a girlfriend who lived off base. The apartment where she lived had this stray dog hanging around the place. We'd feed it scraps and she'd even let it stay in her room during rain storms. One day near Christmas time, I woke up to the horrible screeching of the little dog. Continue reading "Eating Dog, Ctd" » 03 Nov 2009 05:25 pm Goldwater Or Reagan? Ezra Klein ruminates on NY-23 and David Axelrod's argument that the "Limbaughs and Becks of the world are basically hanging a 'Moderates need not apply' sign outside the Republican National Committee headquarters" by running Dede out of the race: It's not so much that Republicans are mistaking the enthusiasm of a rump faction for the preferences of the electorate -- the Republican Party tried to back Scozzafava, after all -- as they're powerless to resist. All of which suggests that the right historical analogue may not be Ronald Reagan but Barry Goldwater. And though Goldwater's campaign led to Reagan's later rise, it also led to a historic pickup for the Democrats and the creation of Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, PBS, food stamps, welfare ... I'm not sure we're not getting way ahead of ourselves. It would be silly to extrapolate an entire political era from one congressional off-year election - to the advantage of any party. We just don't know if in a few months' time anyone will even remember today. 03 Nov 2009 05:13 pm Quote For The Day  "I would like to take a huge step in my own life. Andy Rollman, I'd like to ask you: Will you marry me?" - Andy Hertzberg, interrupting his testimony at a DC council hearing. Video here. 03 Nov 2009 05:02 pm Would You Push The Button? A funny but somewhat disturbing viral video exploring the moral calculus of money for murder. 03 Nov 2009 04:56 pm Afternoon Joe, Ctd. A reader writes: I think, as I suspect that you do, that Mr. Scarborough is off on this. After all, if this were, "an opportunity to stick it to an incompetent GOP Establishment", there would be associated with it attacks on the Bush-Cheney legacy, a recognition that Reagan and Bush actually increased deficits, and a rejection of the sort of populist, conspiracism which drove the "Contract with America" crowd to office, and hence, to the record profligacy of the Bush Jr. years. Instead, what we see is a glorifying of those people who most embody these patterns of thought (like Glenn Beck) within the Republican, now re-branded as big c "Conservative", ethos. Continue reading "Afternoon Joe, Ctd." » 03 Nov 2009 04:53 pm Would Hoffman Lose If He Were On The Republican Ticket? Nate Silver makes an interesting point: The Democratic brand is marginal in about half the country, but the Republican brand is radioactive in about two-thirds of it. The biggest story of the cycle is that a non-Republican conservative, Doug Hoffman, might win. Counterfactual: if Hoffman had in fact been the Republican nominee in NY-23 all along, would he be in the same strong position that he finds himself in today? Methinks not: it would have been easier for Owens -- who isn't much of a Democrat -- to identify himself as the moderate in the race. 03 Nov 2009 04:38 pm What Happens In NY-23 Now? Ctd A reader writes: The post from the North Country native was a wild oversimplification of the district.  I went to school in the district and worked the state senate special election last year which put in a Democrat.  This area is not Palin country.  I live in Virginia now, "Real Virginia"...I know Palin country. There is an "us vs them" mentality in Upstate NY, but it's more about wanting to be represented by someone who is one of them--someone with blue-collar values.  This is not a front line in the culture wars.  There is a reason the GOP establishment chose a pro-choice, pro-marriage, pro-union, candidate. Mark it down, Owens will come out the victor when the polls close tonight. I'll be gobsmacked if he does. Another writes: Continue reading "What Happens In NY-23 Now? Ctd" » 03 Nov 2009 04:25 pm Not Mary, Joan A reader writes: You wrote this afternoon, "[Palin's] being turned into a kind of Marian figure, a blessed icon whose mere touch bestows some kind of aura on a candidate or race." Not a Marian figure, I suggest. The Wasilla warrior is more like a Maid of Orléans sort of figure. Sarah Palin has become a latter-day Joan of Arc to the populist or "Jacksonian" elements of rural, red-state America. 03 Nov 2009 04:20 pm Mental Health Break Rémi Gaillard is the Sacha Baron Cohen of France. His latest video is a good way to end a stint of bat-blogging on the Dish: 03 Nov 2009 04:07 pm However Much Southerners Dislike Obama ... ... they're not crazy. They still think he's doing a better job than George W. Bush. 03 Nov 2009 03:59 pm Afternoon Joe Joe Scarborough looks on the bright side of today's Beck-Palin insurgency: Hoffman's ascendancy in NY-23 is less about Barack Obama than it is about a decade of bloated and corrupt Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. This race gave the same conservatives who helped drive Ronald Reagan's victory and the 1994 Republican Revolution something to cheer about for the first time in a long time. It also gave them an opportunity to stick it to an incompetent GOP Establishment. This was, after all, same political party that promised to balance budgets in the 1990s, but then turned around and produced record deficits a over the next ten years. And those same Republican leaders who called for military restraint and a focused foreign policy while Bill Clinton was president then spent the next decade promising to rid the world of tyranny by exporting Democracy across the globe. Man, I hope he's right. Continue reading "Afternoon Joe" » 03 Nov 2009 03:37 pm Larry Stickney Was Right! The fears of Protect Marriage Washington seem to have some bearing: 03 Nov 2009 03:15 pm Abdullah's Game Steve Coll's read on the situation in Afghanistan: [Abdullah] has long sought constitutional reforms to strengthen parliament over the presidency. He is almost certainly interested in rejoining the government, with some of his allies, if the deal is attractive enough. He retains ambitions and wishes to remain a viable national figure in a post-Karzai Afghanistan. He will be in a stronger position to negotiate toward all of these goals by adopting the posture he announced yesterday than he would have been if he had participated in the runoff and been defeated. Rather than a confirmed election loser, Abdullah now presents himself to the international community and the Karzai government as a problem to be solved—a responsible, reasonable problem, open to constructive negotiations that will address his interests and concerns. 03 Nov 2009 02:38 pm Marriage Equality In New York State The same slog in the state Senate remains: Privately, Sampson has told Republicans he has 25 or 26 votes (out of 32 Democrats), leaving him six or seven GOP votes short of passage. Sources say Republicans could deliver perhaps three or four, but only if Sampson guarantees at least 29 or 30 on his end. "If vulnerable Democrats are allowed off this vote, it's likely that Republicans will consider this a political issue rather than a vote of conscience. And then all bets are off," says a Republican source. 03 Nov 2009 02:19 pm Former Detainees Speak Out Daphne Eviatar sets the scene: The American Civil Liberties Union has just released a video of interviews with five former Guantanamo detainees, talking about their experiences of abuse in U.S. custody. It's not easy to watch, but it's certainly worthwhile. [...T]he fact that all the men were eventually released without charge suggests, at least, that the Bush administration's claim that they were among "the worst of the worst" didn't turn out to be true. The video also gives a strong sense of how and why the Guantanamo detention center, and the treatment of the men imprisoned there, ended up being a powerful recruiting tool for al-Qaeda. 03 Nov 2009 02:11 pm Who Can Say What? Matt Steinglass says goyim or non-Israeli Jews can't discuss Israel with real honesty: If we're talking about American Jewish debates here, then the reason Gideon Levy and other Israelis can go farther in their critiques is the same reason why African-Americans can have a much more full-throated and vicious debate within the community about various kinds of problems than white commentators can have about those problems. Basically, you do your army service and serve your miluim, and it entitles you to say a whole lot of stuff that people sitting in nice coffee bars in Manhattan can't say. Screw that. This is the blogosphere. The point is not who says what, but what they're saying. Does it make sense or not? Does it add up or not? Can it survive scrutiny? 03 Nov 2009 02:00 pm High Turnout In Maine Against most expectations, turnout is around 50 percent so far, especially in some urban areas, like Bangor. A working assumption is that the higher the turnout the better the prospects for civil rights. I don't know if that's true or not. But if you haven't voted yet in Maine, please help protect the civil equality that gay couples have won from the legislature. 03 Nov 2009 01:49 pm The View From Your Window Tunis, Tunisia, 8 am 03 Nov 2009 01:38 pm Today Doesn't Matter? II Josh Green isn't expecting many revelations tonight. His general feelings about the state of the parties: The lesson of NY-23, if one is to be drawn (and regardless of whether Doug Hoffman wins or loses), is that the Republican right wing is now the dominant wing of the party. If, when GOP presidential aspirants position themselves in earnest for the party primary in 2011, the tenor of the candidates resembles that of Hoffman and his major supporters, I'd bet on Obama to win in a rout. 03 Nov 2009 01:22 pm Malkin Award Nominee "This is no different than the Klan standing outside of voter booths in Alabama when blacks would dare to go vote," - Larry Stickney, the campaign manager of Protect Marriage Washington, regarding the push to make public the 120,000 names on a petition that got an anti-domestic partnership referendum on the ballot today. 03 Nov 2009 01:05 pm Today Doesn't Matter? I Nate Silver says the races in VA and NJ are not going to tell us much about 2010: [T]he fact that gubernatorial races are not a reliable benchmark does not mean the Democrats are not in trouble in 2010 -- whoa, too many double negatives there -- nor that Democrats might not have done better if Obama's approval rating was 62 percent instead of 52 percent. It just means that New Jersey and Virginia don't have particularly much informational value -- we won't become very much smarter about the future based on what happens there. To the extent that we do learn something, it will probably be hints about turnout, motivation and enthusiasm, rather than something about the electorate's policy preferences. 03 Nov 2009 12:44 pm Thy Will Be Done Here's a beautiful reflection on faith and life through tragedy by Robbins Milbank. It speaks to me and to many, and is worth taking a moment in the middle of a crazy day to remember: I believe it is very easy to build God in your own image and very hard to rebuild Him when you crumble. I was born to see and experience the love of God. I saw Him in my father, whose kindness and wisdom led me through a thousand anguishes of youth. I saw Him in my wife–especially in her. I told my father about her when I was nine years old. "We're going to marry," I said. He smiled. "I'm glad you feel like telling me. I hope you'll always want to tell me things like this." For many years I was rich, seeing and loving and touching these children of God. I knew what I believed, because I believed in them and they in me. They died. First my father. Then my wife. Continue reading "Thy Will Be Done" » 03 Nov 2009 12:25 pm Heads Up I'll be on Colbert tonight, a year after I went on to urge support for Obama. I'll be asked whether I'm still all hopenchangy. You betcha. 03 Nov 2009 12:04 pm Yes On Goldblog Jeffrey responds: On the larger question of whether Trita Parsi functions as a lobbyist for the Iranian regime, based on what I know, I'd have to say yes: He has argued consistently against any sanctions against Iran, and an end to sanctions is obviously what the Iranian regime wants. So he is working on behalf of a stated interest of the Iranian government. If by "the regime" you mean Mousavi and Karroubi, then I guess Jeffrey's right. But if Karroubi and Mousavi are "the regime", then the entire matter of the Green Revolution was utterly irrelevant, right? And yet it wasn't. At all. On the specific matter of Trita Parsi: I have no long-term knowledge of the dude (and for quite a while thought he was a woman) and have never met him. I just know that when the Dish was covering Iran's revolution, few people were as committed or as devoted to the Greens as Parsi or his organization. To conflate him with the dictators he so actively exposed and resisted and who murdered or tortured people he loves and cares about is just wrong. After the trauma of last June, it's deeply hurtful and offensive. And Parsi's opposition to sanctions reveals something essential to understand about Iran now: Mousavi and Karroubi, if allowed to take their rightful offices, would almost certainly have been as passionate in defending Iran's nuclear options as Ahmadinejad. In fact, in the latest round of negotiations, Ahmadi may be the most amenable to a nuclear deal - because it would give him some breathing space at home. Mousavi would have been totally constrained as president given the need to shore up his nationalist credentials. That's why Daniel Pipes and many neocons wanted Ahmadinejad to win. Anything else would complicate a policy of isolating, suffocating or bombing Iran to delay its nuclear capacity. And complicate it it has. All of which is to say: the US's main opponent in preventing Iran's military nuclear development is ... the Iranian people. Continue reading "Yes On Goldblog" » 03 Nov 2009 11:20 am Britain's War On Soft Drugs: A Turning Point?   The Brown government is in danger of losing all its scientific advisers in a fascinating moment in which truth meets political and social prejudice. David Nutt, one of the government's chief advisers, was fired, in part, for the graph above which tries to assess the relative dangers of various drugs. Nutt assessed them on three variables: a) the physical harm to the individual user caused by the drug; b) the tendency of the drug to induce dependence; c) the effect of drug use on families, communities and society. Within each category there are three components, leading to a nine-category matrix of harm, with scores of zero to three for each category. This is the final list based on that classification. In brackets is the classification given under the Misuse of Drugs Act, with Class A attracting the most serious penalties. The Brits classify drug penalties according to the tree types A, B, and C. It's hard to read, so here are the drugs in order of harm, according to scientific studies, revealing how some drugs are categorized according to social attitudes rather than reality: 1. Heroin (Class A) 2. Cocaine (Class A) 3. Barbiturates (Class B) 4. Street methadone (Class A) 5. Alcohol (Not controlled) 6. Ketamine (Class C) 7. Benzodiazepine (Class B) 8. Amphetamine (Class B) 9. Tobacco (No class) 10. Bupranorphine (Class C) 11. Cannabis (Class B) Continue reading "Britain's War On Soft Drugs: A Turning Point?" » 03 Nov 2009 10:54 am Palin In New Jersey? A reader writes: FYI, I received robocalls from both Palin and Steve Forbes (remember him?) in the last couple of days here in New Jersey. Palin, in her call, was careful not to name the Republican candidate, Chris Christie, by name (for whatever reason), but urged me to "vote my values" on Tuesday. These included traditional marriage and lower taxes. Whatever. I'm pulling the lever for Corzine, though I'm not a Democrat (I'm an Independent). Christie and the Palinites scare me. "Voting Sarah's Values": that's a theme that's being robo-called a lot. In a way, Palin is more effective as some kind of cultural talisman than as an actual, you know, politician, who has to know things, govern states or countries, and hold press conferences. She's being turned into a kind of Marian figure, a blessed icon whose mere touch bestows some kind of aura on a candidate or race. Her book will become some kind of touchstone in this firmament of religious Republicanism. Now, if only Levi would just shut the fuck up ... 03 Nov 2009 10:53 am Quote For The Day "Hoffman, Baby, Hoffman!" - former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, on Facebook. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

U.S. officials fear Karzai can't keep anti-corruption pledge - Fort Mill Times Posted: 03 Nov 2009 06:53 PM PST U.S. officials were concerned that Dostum's return late Monday - the same day that President Barack Obama pressed Karzai in a telephone call congratulating him on his re-election to crack down on high-level corruption - was a prelude to his appointment to the Afghan leader's new Cabinet. "Dostum came back to cash in" said a U.S. defense official, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly. But Karzai insisted, in his first news conference since he was certified on Monday as the winner of the election, that he'd move forcefully to eliminate corruption in his new administration. "We have been tarnished with corruption, and we will continue to make every possible effort to wipe off this stain," Karzai said. The Obama administration has identified corruption in the Karzai administration as a key problem undermining the eight-year-old war effort against the Taliban. Karzai has had uneasy relations with the administration, however, particularly as the Afghan president's campaign was accused of widespread voter fraud. Many U.S. officials, Western diplomats and other experts fear that Karzai will award positions in the central and provincial governments to unsavory figures, including regional militia leaders and power brokers who oversaw the massive ballot box-stuffing on his behalf. "I think the corruption and the failures in the system and the government cannot only be fixed through removal," Karzai said Tuesday. "There are rules, and there are regulations, and there are laws that need to be reformed." One of the most controversial members of Karzai's new government, Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, stood next to the president at the news conference. Fahim, the first vice president-elect, has been accused of war crimes and dogged by allegations that he's tied to the drug trade. Karzai "is too beholden to these types and he doesn't see it yet in his interest to remove them and start a clean government and be a genuine partner with the international community," said Rachel Reid, who monitors Afghanistan for U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. "The next few days, weeks and months are almost more important than the election itself as we see who Karzai appoints to his new government," she said. "This will send the signal of whether we see a new kind of governing, a more credible form of governing, or whether Afghanistan will continue to spiral into further corruption and insecurity." "It's not enough to blame Karzai," Reid continued. "The U.S. and other major players in Afghanistan are complicit in this impunity culture. They have relationships with many of the most notorious former warlords, current criminals and militia leaders. They have high-level meetings with them, they use their armed gangs to guard their bases, they invite them to the White House. They, too, must clean up their act, or they don't have a leg to stand on when they come to tell Karzai to change his allegiances." Other figures of concern who provided critical support for Karzai's re-election include former Helmand province governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada, who was found with 9 tons of drugs in 2005; Assadullah Khalid, a former governor of Kandahar province; and parliamentarian Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a former anti-Soviet guerrilla leader and hard-line Islamist linked to Osama bin Laden who's accused of war crimes and land theft. Karzai also received considerable help from his brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the main power in Kandahar, who's allegedly involved in drug trafficking and other abuses, but also reportedly receives payments from the CIA. He denies the allegations. The U.S. defense official said there are concerns that Karzai may find himself in deep political trouble because he may be unable to keep all of the power-sharing promises he made to unsavory figures in return for votes. "He can't deliver all the jobs he promised," the U.S. defense official said. Karzai claimed a new term after his challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of a runoff election this Saturday over concerns that voter fraud also would mar the second round. Karzai has never admitted that his campaign was involved in fraudulent activities during the first round Aug. 20, and he referred to those allegations again Tuesday as "defamation and disrespect." He said he wanted to form "a government of unity, a government for all Afghan people," but he gave no specifics as to whom he might include or whether he'd back any of the changes that Abdullah sought, such as electing, rather than appointing, provincial governors. Karzai also said he'd reach out to the Taliban and try to get them to renounce violence, but again he offered no specifics on how that might be done. The Taliban have sought this week to generate a propaganda victory from the decision to scuttle the runoff and declare Karzai the winner. "The cancellation of the runoff election shows that all decisions are made in Washington and London but announced in Afghanistan," said a statement released by the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. (Bernton reports for The Seattle Times. Landay reported from Washington.) This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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