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The Politics Hour – June 23, 2017
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham discusses the ACLU lawsuit against MPD officers for their actions during Inauguration Day protests. And Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor Alec Ross is in studio.
As French troops push back Islamist militants in Mali, the U.S. is ferrying more French fighters into the African nation aboard C-17 transport planes. The violence in Mali comes at a time of spirited debate about how and when Washington should intervene in distant conflicts. While the U.S. draws down a decade-long war in Afghanistan, the Obama administration is also formalizing rules about drone strikes and "targeted killings" elsewhere. We explore how new lethal tools and new economic constraints are influencing old debates about intervening abroad.
MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast the director of an Academy Award nominated film about a secretive Israeli security service. But first, a regional conflict in Africa has drawn an international response.
MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrench troops are helping the West African nation of Mali push back against Islamists militants associated with al Qaida and a multi-national force of African troops is gearing up. The U.S. is providing logistical assistance rather than boots on the ground but a conflict like Mali is something of a test case.
MR. KOJO NNAMDIAs the U.S. draws down a decade long war in Afghanistan, Washington is in the midst of debate over how and when the U.S. should intervene in distant conflicts. At the same time the Obama Administration is formalizing rules around its controversial program of drone strikes and targeted killings elsewhere.
MR. KOJO NNAMDIJoining us in studio to discuss this is Karen DeYoung. She is a senior diplomatic correspondent with "The Washington Post." Karen, always a pleasure.
MS. KAREN DEYOUNGThank you.
NNAMDIAlso in studio with us is Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Jennifer, thank you for joining us.
MS. JENNIFER COOKEThanks.
NNAMDIKaren DeYoung, President Obama did not address foreign policy very extensively in his inauguration speech on Monday but you see what he did say as important. Why?
DEYOUNGI think he kind of doubled down on his insistence that talking to people as opposed to necessarily fighting with them as a first resort is not naive as he put it but an act of courage. And again, as he did with many things in that speech, he took off against charges that had made during the campaign that his foreign policy was naive, that he was trying to settle things with governments like Iran where there simply was no talking to do.
DEYOUNGAnd so he kind of reinforced his desire to do that and also his desire to have partnerships around the world, to go at problems like Mali and Libya, excuse me, and other places in partnership with U.S. allies rather than the United States unilaterally taking the lead.
NNAMDIJennifer, the U.S. faces enormous diplomatic and security challenges around the world. Iran and North Korea but also regional conflicts, the fighting in Mali, kidnappings in Algeria linked to al Qaida. How is the administration, and this question is for both of you, but you first Jennifer. How is the administration is thinking about these kinds of threats going forward?
COOKEWell, I think in the Mali case and Africa in more generally the great preferences for African forces in the first instance to take the lead in combating the security challenges. In the U.S. Africa command its standup really emphasized the idea of building African security forces capacities to deal with these threats on their own.
COOKEBut as we've seen, some of these threats including right now the Islamists takeover of northern Mali, the attacks in Algeria, often exceed the capacity, the current capacity of African forces. And then that puts the U.S. in the dilemma of how directly should we intervene and some of these conflicts in which U.S. interests are not immediately at stake but which have a perspective threat for U.S. interests as in Mali.
NNAMDI800-433-8850's the number to call if you'd like to participate in this conversation. What do you think of the U.S. policy of using drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists abroad? How should the U.S. intervene in conflicts such as the one we're discussing in Mali, right now? 800-433-8850 or you can send email to email@example.com.
NNAMDIKaren, there are also differences of opinion, it would appear, between the White House or among the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon as to how and when we should respond to regional conflicts. Can you talk a little bit about that?
DEYOUNGWell, I think one of the things that the White House has been trying to do over the past year or so is put some rules in place for this. and this is an effort that's been led by John Brennan, the new nominee for director of the CIA, who for the past four years has been the president's national security advisor on counterterrorism.
DEYOUNGAnd particularly in the counterterrorism field I think there have been these differences. The question is, to what extent we should rely on targeted killings with drones and other kinds of aircraft and who should do it? How we decide who should be on the list of targets? What the rules should be in order to embark on this kind of strategy in a particular place and whether it should be the military or the CIA?
DEYOUNGObviously, the military has done it in war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. The CIA almost exclusively has been, well, exclusively has been in charge of drone strikes in Pakistan, which is the place where there have been, by far, the most strikes. There are many, I think John Brennan included, who thinks that this not, this is not over the long term a role that we want the CIA to continue with.
DEYOUNGYou'll remember that the whole question of CIA performing what were then called assassinations was outlawed in the 1970s and there are people who argue that this, in fact, is a return to that strategy. So you have that level of argument.
DEYOUNGYou have a level of argument about whether the military should be engaged in the kind of development work that increasingly they've been involved in Africa and in other places or whether that's something that really should just be left to the State Department. So there are lots of levels of disagreement I think on how to precede.
NNAMDILet's talk about drones and targeted killings for a second because the administration is in the process of creating a detailed counterterrorism manual to establish rules for targeted killings abroad. You and colleagues at "The Post" have been writing on this subject for quite a while. This playbook would institutionalize the practice, tell us about this manual?
DEYOUNGWell, I think to some extent it already is institutionalized. What they're trying to do is come up with rules and I think this started as a way, as I said before, to kind of separate what intelligence gathers and the CIA do and what so-called kinetic actors like the military do in terms of strikes, weapons strikes.
DEYOUNGAnd it was a way supposedly to set out what the rules were, what legal authorities the administration believes it is operating under that makes it legal for them to do this. I think it gained momentum during the presidential campaign because the administration really wanted to set some of this stuff in stone so that a new administration couldn't come in and do what it wanted with it.
DEYOUNGThere have always been fears that other countries would acquire this technology and that the United States, while not being able to control the way others use it, would at least be in a better position to argue about the way others used it if they set up some rules. So, again, to decide which agency should do what, to decided what the legal boundaries were for it. To somehow make a case in the international community that they were doing this the right way.
NNAMDIWhen you talk about which agency should be included or excluded and you mentioned the distinction between how and where the military uses drone strikes and the CIA, is there a major exemption in these rules, in this document laid out for the CIA?
DEYOUNGWell, we, as we wrote last week the campaign in Pakistan, which has been operated solely by the CIA, I think has gotten a pass on this desire to move this back into only the province of the military. For example, in a place like Yemen where you have both the CIA and the military operating together.
NNAMDIBut the CIA is not officially allowed to carry out assassinations so what are we talking about here?
DEYOUNGWell, these are not assassinations as defined by the administration. These are strikes against armed combatants as defined by the Geneva Conventions as interpreted by the United States and under the authorization that Congress passed in 2001 for the United States using whatever means the president thought were necessary to go after al Qaida and its affiliates.
NNAMDISo what signature strikes?
DEYOUNGSignature strikes are strikes in which the target is not a named person that can be identified. We are going to strike this guy on the ground because we know where he is. they're more sort of pattern of behavior strikes, that if you've been watching an area either by surveillance drones or satellites or on the ground intelligence and you determine that there are a group of people who are acting in concert with people who are targetable and are contributing to the aims of those people, that in fact that signature, that pattern of behavior makes them legitimate counterterrorism targets.
NNAMDIKaren DeYoung, she reads the fine print. She's a senior diplomatic correspondent with "The Washington Post." She joins us in studio along with Jennifer Cooke, who is the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We're talking about "Rethinking Intervention Abroad" and inviting your calls at 800-433-8850. You can send email to email@example.com or send us a tweet @kojoshow.
NNAMDIJennifer, Mali is something of a case study as to how the U.S. might deal with some of these issues in the future. Can you outline the conflict in Mali briefly and it where stands at this moment?
COOKEYes, at this point a collection of Islamists extremists groups control most of the country's northern half and the key cities in the north. The government in the national capital, Bamako, has collapsed and there's been, this happened in March of last year, and there's been something of stasis since then with these Islamist groups controlling the big cities in the north and the government in Bamako in disarray.
COOKETwo weeks ago the Islamists made an aggressive surge southwards toward the government in Bamako and the French military, seeing that the Malian was completely incapable of stopping this surge, intervened with helicopter gunships and now has forces on the ground and so forth.
COOKEAll of this while waiting for West African forces to get themselves organized, to deploy to help dislodge the Islamists. Into that mix then as the French intervened one of the leaders of the groups in the north, of AQIM, her splinter group of al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, ordered an attack against a gas installation in Algeria, saying that this is in retaliation for Algeria, allowing the French to use their airspace and in retaliation against the French for intervening in Mali.
COOKESo the last two weeks have seen a major kind of escalation of momentum in Mali and have opened it up really to a much more international focus right now. And the U.S. is debating how directly should they get engaged in this. And I think there is a debate within the administration on that.
NNAMDII'm going to get back to that in a second but for further clarification we need in media have a tendency to paint the groups involved in a conflict like that in Mali with a broad brush, describing the insurgence as "Islamic militants or Islamic terrorists." And the media used the name al Qaida but fails to make the distinctions there either. Can you talk about that?
COOKEYes, I mean, that's, it is a problem and they overlap. First, al Qaida and the Islamic Maghreb is not an offshoot of al Qaida central. It's actually, its predecessor was a domestic Algerian group of Islamists fighting the government in Algeria, who eventually got pushed down into the Sahara and took on the name and pledged allegiance to al Qaida but have their own agenda in that.
COOKEThey've been joined by a group of Tuareg and (unintelligible) led by a Tuareg, but who has a Salafist orientation by a group of...
NNAMDISee, you read the fine print too. Go ahead.
COOKE...by another group that stems largely out of Mauritania the movement for unity in jihad in West Africa. These groups, together with the secular Tuareg group were the ones that launched the takeover of northern Mali. The secular Tuareg have not been sidelined. And there's a whole mix of other ethnicities and militia groups operating up there. This complicates the picture in terms of intervention, who's who if ever, and this is maybe far off, we start to target people. Who do you target? Who do they represent?
COOKEAnd at the end of the day, in the political solution, who are the genuine representatives in Northern Mali that eventually you build some kind of political framework there? It becomes very difficult. We don't have a whole lot of knowledge about this region, just having essentially had no presence there for decades now.
NNAMDIKaren -- and both of you, but Karen, you first, what issues does a conflict like Mali present for the U.S.?
DEYOUNGWell, I think what Jennifer just said points to some of the problems that the United States has. Going back to this playbook to the rules that they're trying to set up for who is a legitimate target of U.S. action. Because the groups in Mali are such a melange of different organizations with different goals and because the U.S. legal interpretation is that we basically don't care for legal purposes groups fighting among themselves and against different governments in different countries. Our legal authority is to strike against people who plan to do harm to the United States or U.S. citizens.
DEYOUNGAnd so as U.S. policymakers have looked at these groups they've said, well first of all some of them are secular, although the secular ones, as we just said, have been kind of sidelined. Some of them have nothing to do with al-Qaida. None of them has actually said that they want to attack the U.S. homeland. And so U.S. policymakers are saying, well what's our role here? You know, we have been trying before -- the Mali government sort of blew up last year -- we were trying to train military forces there so that they could protect their own country because ultimately that was in our interest.
DEYOUNGNow the military has had a coup there and so under our own laws we are not allowed to aid the military there. And so it's a very confusing situation. And in a sense the administration is kind of stuck with the rules that it's made and trying to fit within those rules while looking at what it thinks is a very threatening and difficult situation that could spread far beyond where it is right now.
NNAMDIWell, Jennifer, allow me to complicate it a little more. Because of the reporting that has been taking place since the collective group of Islamists took control in the north, a lot of people see this as a human rights issue because they have been apparently installing Sharia Law in a fairly brutal manner in that part of the world. The other aspect of it is that when you say al-Qaida, regardless of how you pars and define it, we here tend to get the message, oh these are people who intend at some point to attack the United States. So how do you distinguish between local conflicts in a situation like this and imminent threats to the U.S.?
COOKEWell, that's actually a big one and it takes a lot of intelligence on the ground and understanding the distinctions among these various groups and eventually perhaps playing on those fishers and divisions among those groups to find a political solution. But that complicates things. I think the United States knows that it's a little bit on its back foot here, which is why it's insisting that African troops -- West African troops take the lead.
COOKEThe Chadian armed forces are sending 2,000 troops. They're very keen on getting the Algerian military and government involved in this because the Algerians and the Chadians know the players. They know the terrain. They know who's who and they're able to make these distinctions in ways that the United States, at this point, is not able to and doesn't want to get sucked into making those distinctions and ultimately making things worse.
NNAMDIHere is Nick in Fairfax, Va. on the phone. Nick, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.
NICKHey guys and thanks for taking my call and talking about this subject. This is fascinating to me. I'm concerned though that this rulebook that's being drawn up on justifying airstrikes and specifically targeting people, I'm just trying to figure out the spirit of it. Is it being drawn up with the hope that we can justify these actions or is it being drawn up in hopes that we can better kind of protect the victims, so to speak, or the people that we're targeting from being incorrectly targeted?
NICKWe've talked about not attacking some people because they're really not a threat to the United States, even though they could be a threat overseas. But they've not talked about attacking us domestically. I'm just -- I have a hard time understanding this because, you know, what happens when somebody from say al-Qaida and the Saudi Arabian Peninsula or the Arabian Peninsula targets a general in his home? You know, do we call that a drone strike and do we just accept it as rules of war?
DEYOUNGWell, I think you've hit on a lot of the questions that have been raised about this. You know, I would say in response to the various possible rationales that you raised, I think all of those. I think they would like all of those to apply. But again, one of the big problems with all of this is that it's a secret. And this playbook is a secret. The target lists are secret. When they strike someone it's a secret.
DEYOUNGAnd so you're kind of left with accepting to the extent they even say when they've taken a strike, with accepting their insistence that this was legal, that the targets are very carefully chosen. That as the administration has long argued using missiles fired from drones is far more effective and precise and surgical than just dropping bombs on people, that the possibility for error is much less. And so we're left because so much of this is secret, with kind of accepting that it's legal, that a great deal of care is taken and that the people who are being targeted are in fact the right people.
NNAMDINick, thank you very much for your call. What do President Obama's recent choices for Secretary of Defense, State Department and now the CIA signal to you about his approach to interventions abroad in his second term? First you, Karen.
DEYOUNGI don't think we'll see a lot of change. I think that if you look at past statements and what we know about -- certainly about John Brennan, as I was mentioning before. He has been the architect of many of these program, at least in the counterterrorism sphere in terms of broader foreign policy questions, how to deal with Iran, how to deal with the Middle East, how to deal with China and the rest of Asia. I don't think you'll see much change at all. In fact, I think these are people who have been chosen because they are in sync with what the administration would like to do.
NNAMDISame question to you, Jennifer.
COOKEWell, I think on Africa issues, again, I think the U.S. has and will continue to want to keep a very light footprint and avoid kind of un-open-ended entanglements and direct military action as much as possible. It's being drawn into a couple of these things in Somalia, for example, drone strikes in Somalia, the LRA advisory group, the hundred or so special ops who are advising the Ugandan government on tracking down Joseph Kony, that's something kind of new. It's kind of...
NNAMDILRA being Lord's Resistance Army.
COOKE...the Lord's Resistance Army that's terrorized groups in Northern Uganda. And again, as you say, this Mali -- the Mali intervention is going to be a test case. They're looking at the Somalia model in which the U.S. supported African union troops, Kenyans and Ethiopians and fairly successfully squeezed out Al-Shabaab, the extremist insurgent group there, and are saying this is the kind of model giving political space now. And there's an opportunity for something to happen on the political front.
COOKEThis might be the model that we want to see in Mali down the line. It doesn't get the U.S. engaged in the controversial issues of strikes and so forth.
NNAMDIJennifer Cooke is the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Karen DeYoung is a senior diplomatic correspondent with the Washington Post. Thank you both for joining us. We're going to take a short break. When we come back the director of an Academy Award-nominated film about a secretive Israeli security service. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham discusses the ACLU lawsuit against MPD officers for their actions during Inauguration Day protests. And Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor Alec Ross is in studio.
Creative industries like film and television are represent different viewpoints and upbringings. Now, children's literature is getting into the game.
Ten teenage girls from Washington, D.C. came together to pen a novel exploring what the killing of an unarmed black youth means for every character involved. What do young voices add to the ongoing local and national conversation surrounding police violence against people of color?
Andrew Gifford, the heir-apparent to Gifford's Ice Cream and Candy, paints a complicated portrait of his parents, who not only bankrupted his family's beloved local company, but abused him throughout childhood.


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Somebody has to be first so here goes...
Great guns and one of the best kept secrets in auto's you'll find. I bought my first Bersa 30 years ago, currently own five of various size and caliber and think they are all outstanding pistols. :smt023
When most people think of Bersa, they think of Bersa's 380 semi-auto, but they also come in 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. Bersa also sells smaller caliber autos, like their .22LR, under the FireStorm brand name. For anyone looking for an outstanding pistol at a reasonable price, check out Bersa before everyone else catches on and their prices jump to the level of CZ's and Glocks.

subset: commoncrawl


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Why Chick-fil-A and Other Brands Aren't Being Bullied
If brand managers controlled the universe, big companies would glide through the culture wars with safe and steady neutrality, never taking sides. Chief executive officers at high-profile companies would never pledge $2.5 million in support of gay marriage (as Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos did in July) or speak out publicly against same-sex marriages (as Chick-fil-A's Dan Cathy did recently in an interview with Biblical Recorder). "If you're a big publicly held company, you don't want to piss off anybody on any side of any issue," says Claudia Caplan, the chief marketing officer of RP3 Agency. "You want to be Switzerland."
In 2012, with cable-TV news producers and social media instigators constantly on the prowl for new controversies to inflame, it's never been easier for a discontented group to launch a boycott of a brand and to recruit like-minded consumers. Yet, despite the wishes of marketing advisers everywhere, big brands are enraging consumers left and right. The website Ethical Consumer lists dozens of active boycotts targeting the likes of Adidas, Bacardi, Barclays, Burberry, Caterpillar, Estée Lauder, H&M, and on and on.
If there's any solace to shareholders, in the endless push-and-pull between company critics and corporate defenders, the media environment seems lately to have handed an unlikely advantage to brands. Not long ago, boycotters were often more skillful at spreading their message on the Web or via Twitter and Facebook than the corporations they were targeting, says Wayne Arnold, global CEO of Profero, a digital ad agency. He cites Nike, where a decade ago Web-savvy critics of its labor practices skillfully used search engine optimization to inundate the Internet with negative portraits of the shoemaker. If you typed "Nike" into Google, recalls Arnold, the first page of organic search results would be filled with links to sites critical of the company's ethics and largely absent of counteracting information from the brand.
Now when you search for "Nike," one of the primary links is nikebetterworld.com, where readers can learn about the company reducing landfill waste by creating jerseys out of recycled polyester and saving trees with lighter shoeboxes. "The brands now have the ability to create messages in their own tone of voice and have gotten better at getting their core values out there," says Arnold.
The key, says Rob Norman, CEO of GroupM North America, one of the country's largest media buyers, is for brands to craft their corporate image during quiet times and then to aggressively amplify those glowing self-portraits during moments of peak public interest. "The idea of producing a bank of preemptive content—about how we produce our food, how we pay our employees, how we run our diversity policies—and then activating them with paid media at the moment that the controversy arrives is almost a prerequisite strategy for everyone now," says Norman.
Savvy brand managers no longer have to sit back and wait for journalists to call to put their spin on a story. Instead, they take a more proactive approach—for instance, by buying ads on Google that specifically target keywords associated with a boycott, protest, or legal battle. Various groups in recent years, including users at Change.org, have called for a boycott of Chevron to pressure the company to take responsibility for environmental damage caused decades ago by oil drilling in Ecuador's rainforest. If you type "Chevron and Ecuador" into Google, the first two results are paid links to Chevron sites filled with text and videos defending the company's values and counterpunching against "the illegitimate case against Chevron in Ecuador."
One concern for brands is that social networks have accelerated the speed at which damaging news spreads. Somebody uploads a video on YouTube of a rat in a Taco Bell, and suddenly millions of people around the world can be sitting at their desktops, dry-heaving, and swearing off Chicken Chalupa Supremes for the rest of eternity. With the window to reassure customers so brief, preparing for potential backlashes ahead of time is crucial, says Norman.
That's why many CEOs are now being advised to perform a thorough social and political vetting of their company—that is, to imagine what in their corporate boardroom, supply chain, or retail experience could potentially trigger a backlash and to think of ways to defuse it. "They need to put themselves as an entity through a background check almost like you'd expect when you're selecting a vice president," Norman says.
Thomas Gensemer, managing partner of Blue State Digital, a marketing agency focused on digital strategy, whose past clients have included Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, says that until recently brands too often waited for the storm to hit before trying to mobilize their followers on social networks. He points to BP's faltering Web efforts during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010 as a prime example of how difficult it is to launch a defense on social media when your company is already caught up in an emergency. "You can't just go to people and ask them to be part of your push back in times of crisis," says Gensemer. "Your digital audience is an asset. You have to find it, budget for it, and constantly cultivate it."
One advantage businesses have is that analytic tools have made the process of assessing the risk of any protest relatively easy. In an analog world, if a bunch of protesters showed up outside a factory, thrusting signs in the air and marching in circles, a brand manager would have to extrapolate from local TV news footage to try and quantify the threat. These days, brand strategists possess precise social media monitoring software, which can tell them exactly how many people are expressing disgust and whether the outrage is growing or dissipating. That makes it easier to know when to spring into action, and when to ride it out. "You have to pick your battles," says Gensemer. "I've had clients who will send me links worried about their names being attacked by the most fringe blogger in Eastern Europe. It's really hard to get people to ignore things until you can dig in and show them, 'Hey, this site has received 10 hits.'"
The speed of the current media environment can also provide brands with another advantage over their detractors—newer, fresher controversies to grab headlines. "It's such a tiny news cycle for this stuff," says RP3's Caplan. "Companies can depend on that. People live in short attention-span theater. They get upset, and then they move on."


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Glenn Douglas Photographer
MisheeMeeModel Female Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
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She is so full of it, that her blue eyes turned brown.
This is a discussion on Clinton changes handgun position within the The Second Amendment & Gun Legislation Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; She is a good for nothing low down power hungry snake in the grass. I wouldn't even leave my coffee cup unattended anywhere near her....
She is a good for nothing low down power hungry snake in the grass.
I wouldn't even leave my coffee cup unattended anywhere near her.
Liberty Over Tyranny Μολὼν λαβέ
She is so full of it, that her blue eyes turned brown.
A person is justified in the use of deadly force, if such person reasonably believes deadly force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to such person or a third person.
And after she made this fairy-tale statement she jumped on her broom and flew off....
"Eternity is Too Long to be Wrong"
Texas LTC/CHL Instructor & Holder & Utah CFP Instructor
Senior Fireams Instructor - Tactical & Defensive of Texas
NRA Instructor & Life Member ... Member TSRA, USCCA, TCHA
Christian, Heterosexual, Pro-2A, Pro-Life, Conservative, Common Sense American
better her than obama when it comes to firearms, however. Not that eiter are a good choice, of course.
I am shocked!!! She changed her position on something/anything??? Who would have thunk it!
One thing about the folks on this site, they don't hide their feelings. I find this so refreshing. What a nice commentary on the First Amendment. Kudos to everyone.
I couldn't get past when she was reminiscing about her grandpa teaching her to hunt in her youth and when somebody asked her when the last time she fired a gun was her reply was no comment or that question was irrelevant,I knew she was full of it then,she's the kinda politician that would date a woman to get the gay vote
"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .
The real problem is...
someone, somewhere will actually beleive this witch likes guns...
which is nothing more than another lie in a life of lies...
It also goes to show that she is getting desparate.
Universal Background Checks...the next step towards registration and confiscation.
AR. CHL Instr. 07/02 FFL
Like custom guns and stuff? Check this out...
It's totally mind boggling to me how many people in this country cannot see right through this woman just like she were made of a pane of glass.
Even if I was a radical Lib Lefter I would know that she was a total BSer and not to be believed.
Some people are really out of touch with anything even remotely resembling reality.
Liberty Over Tyranny Μολὼν λαβέ
"Just blame Sixto"
I reserve the right to make fun, point and laugh etc.
I want to know what's in the Clinton Library that qualifies her to be President. It's their library, all they have to do is tell them to open it. I want to know what Hillary filed with the IRS last year... and the year before that. I want to know what has Hillary done for the people of NYS as Senator for eight years. Here's a clue, Hillary, the 2nd Ammendment is not about hunting.
I have never been happier since moving to the great state of Texas.
It is to be observed that Right of Self-Defence, arises directly and immediately from the Care of our own Preservation, which Nature recommends to every one. . . , and that this right is so primary, that it cannot be denied on the basis that it is not "expressly set forth.
--- Hugo Grotius
It no longer matters what she says, she's out of the race.
"Naked and Starving as They are We Cannot Enough Admire the Incomparable Patience and Fidelity of the Soldiery" George Washington, Valley Forge, 1777.
With the party as divided as it is they need each other...Obama can't do it on his own a recent poll by the DNC or some such organization showed the majority of Clinton supporters will shift to McCain if Hellary is not on the ballot.
They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin
Previously known as "cjm5874"


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Belts for Girls
Peppercorn Kids Stretch Cord Belt - Girls
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Price: Was $16.00 Now $6.00


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"They're smart," says Lawrence Groth, who as proprietor of Great White Adventures is making his 180th trip to the area. "They know we pull the line in to the boat when we see them coming, so they come in from under the boat to take the bait. They're problem solvers. Four hundred million years. They survived the last five extinction periods."
Around The Web


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Voltage reading off on 220 fuse box
The power supply at the fuse box that feeds the dryer in my house is reading 57 on one leg and 58 on the other. Any suggestions?
Yes, throw away your DMM and buy a Wiggy.
what are you reading it to (ground, neutral, wall, screw on the junction box)?
have you taken a reading at your main panel and any subpanels if applicable?
You need to tell us two points of reference. Also measure across both hots. Sounds like you are using a digital meter and getting a false or phantom reading. Probably the real reading is zero.
I was measuring at the panel box from both sides where the fuse plugs in. I checked the 220 fuse for the stove and got 115 on each side for each fuse.
as silk said, a DMM can be misleading if you do not understand what it tells you.
Are youusing a DMM?
also, tell us what you are placing the probes on. Need to know what you are measuring to.
Check from one side of the fuse to the neutral bar and then from the other side of the fuse to the neuitral bar.
do this for each fuse of the circuit.
Yes I am using a DMM. I just didn't understand why I was getting a correct voltage reading on the 220 stove circuit, but not on the dryer circuit.
Also, did you test them with the appliances plugged in?
You may have a blown fuse. With the appliance plugged in you can get a reading through the load and can get the correct 120V on each leg, but you will not get 240v across the hots.
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My friends, I have spied the most beautiful pair of heels in all the land – Christian Louboutin's new jeweled platform slingbacks. That's right bitches, I said jeweled. Sorry, there's no need to swear. But I'll tell you, these shoes have me all worked up! I mean, look at them. Those are multi-colored jewels all over them. They've got Louboutin's signature red sole, contrasting that gorgeous blue metallic leather. They're covered platforms, they've got a peep toe, they're made in Italy, for crying out loud! Yes Italy, the one in Europe. Now if someone can just send me $2,830, I'll be all set. Or just the shoes themselves, that would work too. I wear an 8. Mailing address is on our contact page. Thanks in advance!
Weekly love list – Louboutin
11 Comments
HOLY COW! Those are amazing! i'm not even a shoe person but these things are stunning. I wonder who'll we'll see in them first, Oprah or Posh?
WOW Are those ever beautiful.. I can totally see you rocking those Stef. Lovely!
I'll get right on that, Stef :)
I WANT THEM NOW! These are the kind of shoes I would sell my body and soul on an Italian street corner for, if it meant I could have them immediately in my hot little hands… or rather on my feet.
I wonder who will be my hero and make a knock-off pair (that won't be quite as cute or nearly as comfortable) for a price that is not 4 figures long…
You have to check out the official website. Soo dang cool! I wonder if these are upstairs in the Penthouse at Christian Louboutin's store at South Coast Plaza! I will check tomorrow! I'll also see how much they are. If I had only won the lottery last night i would buy these for you Stef! http://www.christianlouboutin.com/
Salivating. Literally.
Stef Andrews
Sherri, you may be on to something with the bedazzler…
hot hot hot!! They remind me of that James Frey controversial novel, "A Million Little Pieces"
Wowza! Those shoes are awesome!
Ok if I sold all my company stock, donated blood and eggs, sold all my purses on eBay and didn't make my car payment for two months these could be all mine :)….. I'm only kidding, I'd only skip one car payment!


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window seat chair
I need this to use as a desk chair. And it's cheap, too!
This transparent new console floats in the room without taking up permanent visual residency. Thick-cut plexi in one seamless turn adds clean mod edge to entries, hallways, and behind the sofa.Tags: home, furniture, modern, tables, decor, acrylic, console tables, midcentury, luciteAdded 9 Years Ago from CB2
tuck this handy piece in your living space to create a refined entertainment area for your guests, regardless of the size of the party. clean lines and a bold wood grain make this a sophisticated option.Tags: home, furniture, storage, style, modern, interior design, chairs, home decor, ecoAdded 9 Years Ago from CB2
Green industry. Lightweight galvanized steel boxes heavy-duty garden foliage. Or impromptus as party tub for brews on ice. Inner plastic drain plate recommended.


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contains some of the worst unemployment in the state. Consumer Cellular has call centers in Phoenix and one at corporate headquarters in Portland. T-Mobile laid off the workers as part of a corporate-wide shuttering of 7 call centers (including the one in Redmond) and 3,300 workers were given pink slips. The carrier has since laid off a further 900 workers.
Consumer Cellular offers handsets ranging from the $35 Motorola WX345 to the Motorola Bravo for $175. Plans run as low as $10 a month and there are no contracts to sign.
source: ConsumerCellular via AllThingsD


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I'm suffering from the gadget fiend's conundrum. The SmartWatch is super cool and I would love to be able to read emails, texts, and other things on my watch, but no matter how hard I try, I can't come up with a good reason to own one. The device needs to be connected to a host gadget, which means that gadget will already be on your person, and it can already do pretty much everything the watch can. There are supposedly dozens of mini apps already in the Google Play store, and I'm sure some of those are pretty nifty, but I just can't see enough practicality in Sony's SmartWatch to justify a $150 purchase.
via TechCrunch


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[MLS SPOTLIGHT] Troubled Chivas USA has named Arturo Galvez as its new president and chief business officer, replacing Jose David less than 11 months after he was hired.
Chivas USA is last in the Western Conference with 26 points and last in MLS in attendance with
an average of 8,230 a game.
As the season has progressed, Chivas USA's play has improved, but its attendance woes continue. Its crowd of 5,123 for its game against Portland last weekend
was the lowest crowd of the 2013 season.
Galvez arrives at Chivas USA after 16 years with Chivas de Guadalajara and its owner, Jorge Vergara.
He has been involved in numerous projects at Chivas de Guadalajara and worked on Vergara's buyout of Chivas USA in 2012.


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Movies & TV / Columns
Nether Regions 05.04.10: Cinemania
Nether Regions started as a segment of the Big Screen Bulletin that meant to showcase films that have been discontinued on DVD, are out of print in the United States, are only available in certain regions outside the United States, or are generally hard to find. Now it is a column all its own! You might ask "Why should I care about a film I have no access to?" My goal is to keep these films relevant because some of them genuinely deserve to be recognized. Every time I review a new film I will have a list of those I covered below so you can see if they have been announced for DVD release, or are still out of print.
Starring: People Who Watch a lot of Movies
Directed By: Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak
Running Time: 79 minutes
Theatrical Release Date: May 16, 2003
Missing Since: 2007
Existing Formats: OOP VHS and DVD
Netflix Status: Available
Availability: Rare, but copies are not too expensive
These people are the Spielbergs of watching movies, or perhaps they'd prefer to be called the Fellinis or the Fords instead. Cinemania, a title that insinuates a broad range of topics, does not focus on the forgotten eras of movie fanaticism, The Golden Age of the 50's, midnight movies, and so on. This is a documentary that follows 5 cinephiles around New York City. It might not be as ambitious as some would prefer, but this is still an enormously fun effort that is humorous and lingering.
Eric, Roberta, Bill, and Jack.
The five cinephiles are Jack Angstreich, Eric Chadbourne, Harvey Schwartz, Roberta Hill and Bill Heidbreder. Jack greets us by saying watching movies is "better than sex." Of course he admits that his love life is a gargantuan failure later. One of the great activities to engage in if you reside in New York City is going to the theater to see films, both new and old. These 5 see as many as they possibly can, every day. They have passes to all the best theaters, enabling them to receive discount and occasionally free admissions. Their schedules are coordinated to incorporate the amount of time they will spend on the subway and walking to the theaters. Showtimes, print quality, length, bathroom business, and overall comfort are always mapped out and researched.
As a film buff and internet movie writer, I see between 100 and 200 titles (in theaters) each year, and that blows the minds of many people I know. Professional critics see more, and it can range from 200-400 in a given year. These 5 people see between 700-1000 a year. For me, there is simply not enough time to see everything I would like to because life gets in the way. For Jack, Eric, Harvey, Bill, and Roberta, this IS their life. They have the time to fully immerse themselves in cinephelia because they do not work. Jack received an inheritance from his aunt. Bill lives on unemployment. Harvey, Eric, and Roberta live on disability. This means funds need to be taken into account as well when they march the sidewalks each day.
Jack says he saw close to 1000 in an 8 month stretch once, but hazily recalls the period. Doing the math, I cannot see how that is manageable, but he does keep a record of every title he has seen. Without a lot of money, computer access is limited to Bill, whose computer could have been the first ever made. Their lives could have changed by now, but IMDB was not their primary source. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide is their Bible. We spend time in each of their, ummm, living quarters. I wouldn't call them all "homes" or even "apartments" because in Roberta's case I was left speechless by her place. Jack acknowledges that "a commitment to cinema means one must have a technically deviant lifestyle." They discuss what it means to be normal, the fact they are not, and that they are happier that way. In that area, they make a strong point.
Actually pursuing a career or earning a living is out of the question because it would interfere with movie watching. None of them are married and their sex lives are non-existent. They talk openly about this. Bill regularly updates a dating ad in hopes that he will meet a gorgeous woman that loves movies as he does (or at least put up with it). The question with Cinemania and this group is which ones have a passion for film and which ones are just addicted to it? Do they have to be in a theater? Do they just prefer that setting? Or do they just love to watch movies? For some of these folks, the questions are difficult to answer unequivocally. In fact the percentages for their passion and addiction might be important to dissect. It is apparent that they all genuinely like movies, but I wonder if they haven't forgotten what that means.
Hearing about their daily rituals, opinions of films, and thoughts about each other is fascinating, but then again, I can relate to them. For casual viewers, this could still be an interesting documentary, but I have a feeling it would not be nearly as absorbing when they rattle on about foreign titles and their favorite NYC theaters. Each of these people is connected by their obsession, but they have distinct personalities for sure. Cinemania is directed by Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak, who do a good job of avoiding judgment. Each of the five is given the opportunity to speak honestly, leaving us to our own conclusions, and thankfully the directing team is not manipulative in the process.
Jack is the face that graces the cover and he is also the one who is featured the most. I do not know Jack personally, though I have probably been at the same theater he has without knowing it, but he comes off as a snob. Without hesitation he gives his opinion of the four others, and most of his comments are negative. He is smart as a whip (about film), but I question whether or not he remembers why he became an avid filmgoer. He wishes that he had a cell phone so he could call the booths directly and talk to the projectionists. His holier than thou attitude distracts us from some of his comical moments. For instance he says he would not make love to Rita Hayworth unless it was in black & white, and furthermore states that he does not necessarily love Judy Garland, but only loves her hair. He has a strict constipating diet to avoid emergencies during the shows.
Harvey possesses qualities of a person with Asperger's Syndrome, and seems like a congenial man. He will watch anything and everything, including The Amazing Crab Monsters, a trait Jack scoffs at. He has an amazing collection of soundtracks LP's, yet does not have a turntable to play them on because he thinks they don't sound good. He knows the exact running time of every film he's seen, and one of the film curators, David Schwartz, speaks fondly of his constant corrections. The same curator speaks on the fact that many of these people have the experience ruined for relatively small reasons. If there is one minor flaw in the print, they will not be able to enjoy the film. David also admits to being pleased when he sees one of these 5 because that means they have awarded their stamp of approval for what he is showing in the city that day.
Roberta was the oldest, and suffers most intensely from obsessive compulsive disorder. Commonly out of breath when being interviewed, she lugs her heavy bag along with her everywhere and was notorious for her arguments with her peers and the employees at the theaters. I learned while writing this review that Roberta passed away at the age of 73. Bill is a grad student and amateur philosopher whose taste concentrates on foreign films, especially French titles. His psychiatrist says he does not show enough aggression. He also strikes me as a guy who would be most likely to enter into a relationship and start to lean off the number of films he sees.
benefits of VHS.
Of the five, I sympathized most with Eric, a middle-aged man who is the only one that watches and owns videos. He seems to be the only one who understands the big picture. He says that film buffs are not meant to socialize, and that it is hard to make friends with one because of their attitudes and differing opinions. More than the others, he appears to just love watching movies, in any format, and could talk for hours. He has his preferences like anyone else, but is not arrogant about them.
Are these people crazy? I don't think so. But what fuels their fire? Is it a deep-rooted love or something more complicated? Neurosis, autism, schizophrenia, OCD, and more are among the disabilities they might possess, but how does one affect the other? Are they soaking in the artful aspects of film or blocking out the world around them? The answer is not as clear as you might expect, and this documentary is earnest in not capturing their lifestyle in a condescending manner. For such a straightforward piece, Cinemania is deftly and attentively made. I laughed at times and was moved at times, but it also forced me to look at myself. Regardless, Cinemania is compelling, and when it is all set and done you might have the desire to frequent the movie houses now and then, or maybe you will want to steer clear of these buffs in the future. Either way, this is recommended viewing.
Initially, I thought I would have little to write about for a 79 minute documentary, but I quickly found myself eager to type more and more about this terrific documentary, so length ended up not being a problem. My plan was to also cover the 45 minutes of deleted scenes, many of which are worth checking out for those who track down the DVD. They were justifiably cut to avoid a lengthy running time, but they are thoroughly enjoyable. Stand-outs are those where the group discusses their favorite titles, the best seats, and how Pearl Harbor should have been different. I have no idea why Cinemania was discontinued, but hopes of that ever changing are probably dim considering the number of people who care enough to petition are slim. Still, if you can find a way to see this, do so. It's worth the time and money.
Final Rating = 8.0/10.0
The Heartbreak Kid – Still Out of Print
Homicide – Now Available
The Taking of Pelham 123 (1998-TV) – Still Out of Print
The Stepfather – Now Available
The Stepfather 2 – Now Available
The Stepfather 3 – Still Out of Print
Phantasm II – Now Available
Red Cliff Part 1 and Part 2 – All Versions Now Available
America, America – Still Out of Print
Salem's Lot – Still Out of Print
A Return to Salem's Lot – Still Out of Print
Latin Lovers – Still Out of Print
State Fair (1933) – Still Out of Print
The African Queen – Now Available
Wings – Still Out of Print
Cavalcade – Still Out of Print
Sleuth (1972) – Still Out of Print
Johnny Guitar – Still Out of Print
Children of the Corn 2: The Final Harvest – Still Out of Print
Barfly – Still Out of Print
Assembly – Still Out of Print
Closing Thoughts
Thankfully we are into May now and the endless craziness that is my life will begin to die down a little bit. This past week I didn't do as much movie watching as I usually do, but I did watch Waltz with Bashir, which was nominated in 2009 for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The animation made you look at the events in a different way, but the ending just permanently sticks in your head. I recommend it. I listened to a box set of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons as well because I dig the oldies every now and then. Also good stuff. As for wrestling, I have found a nice groove of watching it while I do other things around the house. WWE I'm indifferent to at the moment, and TNA is just hard not to watch because you never what messed up segment they'll put on next. Also, someone needs to talk to Flair about his forehead. The cuts are out of control.
The Top 10 Pet Peeves of 2009
The Best and Worst Films of 2009
My Blog featuring Mini-Reviews of New Releases!
-Thanks to Jeremy Thomas for my banner.
"The plural of Chad is Chad?"
–From the movie Recount


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Shea Weber fined for hit; Henrik Zetterberg OK
NASHVILLE – Henrik Zetterberg had to use a new helmet Thursday, as his old one cracked in two pieces when Shea Weber pounded Zetterberg's head into the glass in Game 1.
Cost to the Detroit Red Wings: About $90.
Cost to Weber: $2,500.
PHOTOS: Top images from the NHL playoffs
MORE: Suspension tracker
The fact that Zetterberg is fine, that he'll play Friday night in Game 2 at Bridgestone Arena when the Wings hope to even their first-round series with the Nashville Predators, played a role in the NHL's department of player safety's decision to let Weber off with no more than a fine — one that pales compared to his $7.5 million salary — for the antics that closed down Wednesday's game.
That didn't sit particularly well with the Wings, starting with Zetterberg.
"In my view, it was pretty bad," he said. "I heard he got fined. I guess the bar is set.
"I thought it was dirty. I thought it was a direct hit to my head. If we look at what happened the last few years with all the head injuries, I think that shouldn't belong in the game."
In the last seconds of the 3-2 game, the Predators won a face-off and Weber got the puck. Zetterberg went to get it off him, checking Weber into the boards. Weber responded by grabbing Zetterberg's head and slamming him face-first into the glass so hard Zetterberg crumpled. He was slow to get up, and once in the locker room, he underwent a baseline test to rule out a concussion. Zetterberg said he felt "a little woozy."
To his teammates, the fine — the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement — seemed to not match up with the NHL's season-long message that it is deeply concerned about players' safety, especially in the area of head shots.
Johan Franzen smiled as he said, "It's got to be a tough one," for Weber to handle the fine. But asked if what Weber did isn't something the NHL supposedly wants to get rid of, Franzen cut in, "Shoving the head into the boards? Yeah, I heard something about that.
"The rules are the rules, but just try to keep that stuff out of the game. A $2,500 fine probably won't do it, I don't think."
Tomas Holmstrom said, "You take a guy and hit him from behind, that doesn't belong to the game, for sure. I was a little surprised, yeah."
Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who normally is very reserved in his comments, said he was "somewhat surprised. … You don't want to see anything like that happen, especially when he could have gotten hurt, it could have been a lot worse than what happened. It's always scary when something like that happens."
Coach Mike Babcock said he went for a run before his news conference specifically to clear his mind of the topic. He did respond when asked if the Wings needed to not let thoughts of retribution be a factor for Game 2, saying, "Well, we don't have the personnel to get back at Weber. So we might as well get on with that. This is the way our team is built, and it's been built like this for a while. To me, it doesn't matter what anybody does. When you win the game, that's what it's all about. So let's get past any of that."
In a statement released by the NHL, disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan said one of the factors that went into the decision to limit the punishment to a fine was that Weber's action was reactionary. Weber said he talked to Shanahan on Thursday morning, describing it as a good conversation.
Asked if the fine came with a warning, Weber replied, "I think it's pretty straightforward: play to the edge and not over. It's cut and dry."
Weber made a point of stating he was glad Zetterberg wasn't hurt. Ryan Suter, Weber's partner, said he saw the incident on TV and "I didn't think he'd be in that much trouble. I didn't think it was that bad."
Posted | Updated


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I've looked hard through the terms of reference of the government's commission of audit and nowhere can I find the directive to, "Come up with a prescription for turning Australia into a mini USA" (''Road map for future: pay more, get less'', May 2).
However, when one puts together all of its recommendations, that is precisely how its report reads – states competing with one another; national directions for our education and health systems thrown to the wind; the sale of income-generating government assets; the impoverished members of our society being told they must support themselves; a national government stepping aside from its responsibilities to govern for all Australians; and an economic climate in which every second word is 'budget'.
With just under 25 million people, Australia is a small country that must make its way in a world dominated by big powers and to do this it has to be clever, nimble, innovative and socially cohesive. Trying to turn us into a mini US is not the prescription to achieve these goals. The Australian government needs to rebalance its thinking and initiate a national debate on which way our nation should be going, rather than hiding behind the skirts of an unelected National Commission of Audit.
Perce Butterworth Annandale
There is no argument that government spending and debt need efficiently managing and that economic settings for future problems like our ageing population need initiating. But, with frequent references to "the mess" Labor allegedly left, this atmosphere of crisis is trumped up by the Coalition partly for the cynical purpose of discrediting the previous government.
That our debt levels, unemployment rates and other indices of economic wellbeing are the envy of most comparable countries is as little acknowledged by the Abbott government as the fact that the Rudd government saved us from a recession which would have made us much worse off than we are. The Coalition's alarmist and threatening musings might overwhelm perceptions it is trying to act responsibly.
Ron Sinclair Bathurst
With all the negative talk in these pages about Tony Abbott, anyone would be led to believe that he created our national deficit.
Rick Atkinson Curl Curl
Commission of audit report; window dressing to make the budget look kinder. Not so easily duped, Joe Hockey.
Annette Kent Hunters Hill
Ask not what the budget can do for you. Ask what you can do for the budget.
Lance Lawton Cooma
Well may Joe Hockey exhort all Australians to take equal responsibility in bearing the budget burden. But it is inevitable, after George Orwell, that some will bear it more equally than others.
David Grant Ballina
If auditors are mere bean counters, unable to distinguish one kind of bean from another – expert in the cost of everything and the value of nothing (including their own recommendations) – then governments, which do put a price on voter support, should be very, very wary about accepting their advice.
David Tranter Robertson
With the commission of audit's numerous proposals,which will effectively Americanise our society, the only words not game to be mentioned, and a staple of the working poor in American, were "food stamps''.
Merv McCusker Oatlands
The contents of the Report of the National Commission of Audit are hardly surprising given the terms of reference. Australians have grown to expect a free minimum standard of health, education, social services, defence, and so on, on the basis of our taxes paid.
I wonder what the commission would have determined if the terms of reference required it to carry out its review with reference to these basic standards.
Stephen Kirk Blackbutt
Plan will cheat public school students
If the education recommendations in the National Commission of Audit are followed through by the Abbott government they will have dire consequences for public school funding (''States to get greater control'', May 2). By dumping the heavy lifting end of the Gonski reforms the government is once again reneging on its responsibility to provide quality education to all in Australia. It also shows that a Liberal government cannot be trusted. So much for the weasel words before the election that the Coalition would implement Gonski. Where is the promise it made that it was at one with Labor?
Providing three one-off payments via the states and territories to the public, Catholic and Independent sectors without transfer rights is simply a way of continuing to pay more to the private sectors while reducing public funding. The independent schools sector has as usual got it wrong. The public school sector does not compete with it; it is the other way round. Public schools are open to all.
Every public sector parent and student in Australia will be cheated by this government if these recommendations are carried out. Everyone who will be adversely affected if these changes become operational must send a clear, strong message to unconscionable politicians that they will oppose these changes and stand up for the rights of all.
Augusta Monro Dural
Voters' audit nightmare is government's dream
The commission of audit's report may be a straw man as Ross Gittins suggests but it is probably also what this government would like to do if it thought it could get away with it (''Don't worry: this is the softening up'', May 2). The "heavy lifting" declared by Joe Hockey to be shared by all will be done exclusively by ordinary people and small business while big business goes on making record profits.
Jennifer Briggs Kilaben Bay
Thank goodness for the economic Panadol of Ross Gittins' piece on the commission of audit. I was starting to get a headache until I read his article.
Jamie McIlwraith Marrickville
Ross Gittins is spot-on. The establishing of the National Commission of Audit and its predictable report is all about politics. It is simply a con job by the government and we should treat it as such.
John Truman Chatswood
Audit the commission
Amanda Vanstone's article got me thinking about the selection of people to serve on commissions such as the National Commission of Audit (''An audit of the present, a vision for the future'', May 2). Why do we not have, say, a mother of three children (single or married or both?) a young person who is making a go of things and an economist of the calibre of Ross Gittins? Let's keep these big businessmen (why not a successful businesswoman?) and ex politicians out of the way. Even a representative of one of the successful charities would be better. Perhaps we should have an independent committee to choose people to sit on such supposedly vital commissions as that of the National Commission of Audit to get, as some would say, "the balance right".
Ken Pares Forster
Dare to hope
Further to Waleed Aly's description of Tony Abbot's existential crisis, Mr Abbot says a deficit levy is a temporary measure and therefore not really a tax (''Shock tax fails to fit Abbott's story'', May 2). Perhaps those who are distressed by his prime ministership could view it the same way.
Paul Jones Glebe
No frabjous day
Peter Hartcher says the jabberwocky has been unleashed (''Freed from the cage, now watch Labor and Greens make most of scare value'', May 2). Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky is a sublime piece of scary nonsense. The commission of audit is just scary nonsense in Wonderland.
Deb McPherson Gerringong
Tax by any other name
Tony Abbott asserts that his proposed debt levy is not a tax because it will be temporary. I refer him to the Australian Bureau of Statistics definition of a tax: "A tax is a compulsory levy imposed by the government, mainly to raise revenue. There is usually no clear and direct link between payment of taxes and the provision of particular goods and services by government."
Two things to note from this definition. Firstly, it says that a tax is a compulsory levy, so clearly the compulsory levy proposed by Mr Abbott is a tax. Secondly, there is no mention in the ABS definition of the period of time over which the tax is imposed. The time period is completely irrelevant to the issue of whether a levy is a tax.
David Collins Mona Vale
Spoonful of sugar
One has to wonder, if all the money paid in premiums to the private health insurers were to be paid to the government as part of the Medicare levy just how good a national health care system could we have (''Radical private prescription for big earners'', May 2)?
John Grinter Katoomba
Tony Shepherd, chairman of the National Commission of Audit, is quoted as saying the average Australian visits the doctor 11 times a year. That's once every 4½ weeks. Surely the average person is not that sick. Either we are a bunch of wusses or the figure is incorrect.
Roseanne Schneider Yeronga
Budget bites
Following the production of spreadsheets detailing our finances I have convinced my family that we have a household budget emergency. As a result we will need to take steps to reduce our mortgage debt.
Commencing immediately a range of measures will be implemented. These include a food intake reduction to two meals per day with these meals to be consumed by candlelight. Family members will be restricted to two sets of clothing, including underwear, to be hand-washed each day. All heating and cooling will be disconnected.
In addition, my children have agreed to pay a levy on all requests for fatherly advice on how to manage their adult lives and my wife will desist from all visits to the hairdresser and beauty salon for a number of years and remain indoors as much as possible. By 2020 our mortgage will be paid off and I know my family will be forever grateful.
Phil Peak Dubbo
Propaganda factory
Oh, thank you, Richard Ackland (''Propagandists masquerade as think tanks'', May 2).
Let's start with the Sydney Institute.
John Crawford Mosman
Who'll turn off lights?
Will the last politician left standing after ICAC is finished with them please turn the lights off as they leave Parliament (''Police Minister Mike Gallacher steps down after ICAC hears he was involved in 'corrupt scheme' with Nathan Tinkler'', May 2).
Steve Shields Port Macquarie
Jobs for the boys
In NSW the lobbyists give backhanders to the Liberals. At the federal level they get paid to sit on reviews and commissions.
Graeme Finn St Peters
How does Google justify the tax it pays?
If we all have to contribute, how are big businesses and corporations going to? They don't even pay anywhere near the tax they should now. Google pays 1 per cent on $46.5 million profit (''Google gets tax bill slashed despite rise in local profits'', May 2).
Chris Hinkley Dawes Point
Google was to pay $7.1 million tax from profits of $46.5 million or 15¢ in the dollar. But after deductions paid $66,000 or 1¢ in the dollar. Tony, is this par for the course for the multinationals? They don' t seem to get a mention in the budget. What is the government going to do about this and other multinationals?
Lyle Keats Miranda
Respect pedestrians
It is hard to step aside, Lynne Cresswell (Letters, May 2), if one is old and unsteady even if helped by a walking stick. Not only from bicyclists but from those digitiots so absorbed by their devices and desires that they are oblivious to the obvious.
John Bunyan Campbelltown
Swim with piranhas and you'll get bitten
Boo hoo, Jodi McKay. You were quite happy to be part of the ruthless machinations of Tripodi, Roozendaal and the ALP right wing faction to get you preselected as a "celebrity" (TV newsreader) candidate and then elected in 2007, without any Labor credentials (''Tearful McKay learns shocking truth'', May 2).
Many in Newcastle, including most ALP members and supporters felt like crying then. Especially the long-time members who supported the Left-Labor sitting MP and were expelled. You knew what the Sussex Street machine was like. You get a ministry and they demand unquestioning obedience as a quid pro quo. That's how the system works.
Keith Parsons Newcastle
Yet another woman subjected to the grubby tactics of powerful men in political life. Does it get much lower than this?
Vicky Marquis Glebe
Honest fund-raisers
As the voice for professional fund-raisers, I fear that the recent Liberal Party fund-raising scandal is causing the community to tar all fund-raising with the same brush. In fact, the Liberal Party itself has a full-time professional fund-raiser going about the business of securing donations by traditional fund-raising methods and I wouldn't want to be in his shoes at the moment.
Our members represent most of Australia's major charities, two-thirds of whom depend largely on raising funds from the public. It concerns me deeply that the Liberal Party shenanigans could endanger such a vital source of funds and inhibit the delivery of much-needed community services. Fund-raisers work hard to operate ethically and responsibly and public trust in the Australian charity sector is high. I urge people to remember the critical role charities play in our society and to continue to donate to charitable organisations as often as possible.
Rob Edwards CEO, Fundraising Institute Australia, Chatswood
Poor police training
It beggars belief that a policeman could reach the rank of senior constable having attended only a one-hour lecture on how to deal with civilians with a mental illness plus a few "online tutorials" (''Student victim of 'hasty' act by officer'', May 2). A young man's life was tragically taken from him. He is lost to his family and friends forever. That no charges have been laid against the officer shows the police's scant regard for those whom they supposedly "serve". But then, can you offer a course on compassion mixed in with some common decency?
Genevieve Milton Newtown
Age of entitlement finishes for others
Treasurer Joe Hockey is raising the retirement age to 70 for people born after 1965 ("Retirement age rise to 70 by 2035, Joe Hockey announces", smh.com.au, May 2). Lucky for Hockey – he was born in 1965.
Guy Curtis Bull Creek (WA)
Height of hypocrisy
I always suspected most politicians to be the owners of incredible hides. However, Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen really take the cake. There they sit on nightly TV sanctimoniously tut-tutting about tricky old Tony Abbott, and finagling old Joe Hockey, when the pair of them were main players in creating the current shambles, and were front and centre in perfecting the noble art of punting their own prime ministers.
Rosemary O'Brien Georges Hall
Waging propaganda war
I worry about the sudden patriotic fervour of twentysomethings for all things Anzac (Letters, May 2). I remember when First World War Diggers were alive and how many openly boycotted Anzac Day for fear of glorifying war. Instead they claimed the day as their own, a time to catch up with mates and forget the horrors. There were no thoughts of making a pilgrimage to Gallipoli, which was recounted as a disaster rather forgotten by all who were there, including my grandfather. With the Diggers unable to warn us, this new Anzac fervour is unfortunately again priming our younger generation for war. It's an age-old propaganda trick that young people realise has been played on them only when it's too late.
Michael Troy Fairlight
The alliterative Peter Pitt, of Potts Point, kicked off a row over dress sense this week when he asked, ''Why do older people wear beige?'' An innocuous subject, yes, but the link came from Tony Abbott's pre-budget frightener that the age pension might take a hit (not that everyone who wears beige collects the pension).
''I wear beige clothing because it is cool, doesn't show the dirt – and is a darned sight more interesting than grey,'' insisted Ian Falconer, of Turramurra. Stephen Driscoll, of Carlingford, disagreed: ''Peter Pitt, there is only one thing worse than a man of a certain age wearing beige attire: a man of a certain age pretending he is not a man of a certain age by wearing youth attire.''
And so it went on, but at least it was a distraction from the budget leak that we might cop a deficit levy. ''It appears that we may have elected a 'Phoney Tony', who among many other touted backflips, and in spite of his repeated mantra of "what you'll get under us are tax cuts with no new taxes", is now proposing to introduce what can only be described as a 'deceit tax','' boomed Brian Best, of Leura.
Warnings also arrived. ''Abbott is making a mistake with considering a raft of taxes for his middle-class constituency,'' said Robert Bishop, of Centennial Park. ''Whatever one said about Julia Gillard, she never forgot what side of the class war she was on.''
Many expecting a ''horror budget'' shared the sentiment of Marie Kelly, of Dubbo: ''May I please be the first to say, 'Don't blame me – I didn't vote for them!'''
Marc McEvoy Letters co-editor


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