Onion Spoof: Intelligence

Mikaela says:

Have a good laugh at this latest news from the always-hilarious, eerily prescient Onion:

WASHINGTON -- A top CIA manager who remains undercover will soon oversee traditional human spying activities for the entire intelligence community, a position created in the post-Sept. 11 intelligence overhaul.

Publicly, he is referred to simply as "Jose."

Jose will now broadly coordinate operations for the CIA, FBI, Defense Department and other agencies involved in human intelligence, or the information gathered by people, rather than by technical means.

"This is another positive step in building an intelligence community that is more unified, coordinated and effective," National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said in a statement Thursday about the new service.

What's that, you say? This isn't from the Onion? It's not a spoof? This is America? This is the "land of the free"? Home of the "brave"? Oops, my bad!

Hmmm. That's troubling, isn't it?

Human Rights Watch: Iraqi Constitution Referendum

Maggie says:
In news that's all too easy to not pay attention to, Iraq votes on their new constitution this week. What's key about this vote is that all Iraqi prisoners are eligible to take part in the election (the U.S. could learn a thing or two from Iraq), including one Saddam Hussein. But even more interesting than Saddam voting on a question aimed at banning the "Saddamist Baath party" is the fact that this election will force the United States to account for the thousands of Iraqi detainees it has in prisons around the world.

Think about it: The United States, notoriously secretive, is thought to be holding 10,000 prisoners, although no one's exactly sure of the real number. Many, many of these prisoners are being held without any formal charges and even their families have no idea where they are, or if they're even alive. For the first time, the U.S. will now be forced to account for exactly how many prisoners they're holding, why they're holding them, and then comply with Iraqi voting procedures.

Human rights groups are watching - the U.S. is under fire, and we should all make sure they own up to the truth.

Who would you pick to lead a Fantasy Government?

Mikaela says:

Democracy Now reports results from a poll taken by the BBC asking who people would choose to lead a fantasy world government.

• Nelson Mandela
• Dalai Lama
• Bill Clinton
• Noam Chomsky
• Alan Greenspan
  

"President Bush came in 43rd - below both Cuban president Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the highest-ranking woman at number 13."

I want to add my nominations to the list and ask you to submit yours in the comments:

• Alice Walker
• Arundati Roy
• V.B. Price

Local Boy Makes Good

Mikaela says:
Sirota's discovered Heinrich. Let the love commence. Cue the mood music. Dim lights. Action!


+

=

An Up and Coming Progressive Champion in New Mexico

Albuquerque City Councilman Martin Heinrich is showing how progressive populists at the local level can really be instrumental in making change. Heinrich, you may recall, has been spearheading his city's fight to raise its minimum wage - a fight that brings out all the big corporate guns who don't want to have to pay workers well. Sadly, Heinrich's legislation and subsequent ballot initiative lost in a very narrow vote this week.

But Heinrich isn't taking the loss sitting down. Just days after the ballot vote, he managed to get New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) to back his efforts to pass a statewide living wage law.

Heinrich is the kind of political leader progressives will be relying on in the future to clean up government and start making it work for ordinary middle-class people - not just the fat cats, the lobbyists, and the corporate interests. He is, in short, a model for how even at the local level, a new progressive populism is starting to boil into a real movement.

What I wonder is how many people in Albuquerque will now learn about Heinrich through Sirota. I mean, really, is he known here? Was the ballot initiative really his campaign? Is Eric gnashing his teeth?

Doesn't this reek just a little of hero-mythologizing, as though all we really need are a few good men? Is Sirota so wrapped up in the Washington game that he really believes that one man is not just one vote but an entire movement? I don't know about you, but it makes me a little nervous. This is how they pick off leaders on the left, separating them from the herd and making them think they're more important than the people they serve. Dangerous and foolish all wrapped up into one hero-worshipping package. Not good. Don't listen to him, Heinrich! Keep your head down and your ear to the people. By the way, we're down here.

Parallel response?

Mikaela says:
After hearing the horrible news of more natural disasters around the globe -- mudslides in Guatemala, earthquake in Pakistan -- I'm left wondering how the U.S. response will match the outpouring of aid for Katrina victims. The almost over-the-top reaction to Katrina was justified by many as coming from the largest tragedy to ever strike the U.S. Okay. But this earthquake that just hit Pakistan is the largest tragedy to ever strike them. What will be the response?

And as the effects of global climate change continue to strike country after country -- and they will -- how will aid be prioritized? I guarantee we will start to hear -- sooner rather than later -- that the U.S. can't bail out everyone, and our own citizens need to come first, etc. That's to be expected from our currently conservative-dominated country. But what about the rest of the world? As the U.S. loses dominance (which we will as the value of our dollar falls, as we slide into more and more debt, as we lose unwinnable wars in other countries, as we lose all credibility in the UN and in the global marketplace), how will the balance of power among countries decide to value need versus aid distribution?

Wish I was a political scientist. This is going to be one helluva ride. For those on top, anyway. For those on the bottom, I would guess it's going to feel more like a mudslide.

I'm taking a moment of silence this morning to feel the impact of the thousands of thousands of human beings that blinked out of existence this weekend. Just like that. Physics tells us there was an equal and opposite reaction. Let us hope it was a jolt of awareness of life that leads us toward radical change.

Where's m-pyre?

Um... writing our thesis drafts, due on Monday. Yep. See you next week.

Thanks, SWOP

Maggie says:
From SWOPblogger - good stuff:

An Open Letter to Mayor Marty

Mr. Chavez.

So I suppose you’re pretty self-satisfied about now. But it won’t last long, bro. Remember all those promises you made to your contributors? They’ll be calling to cash in soon. So while you may have 'political capital', you also have a large political debt to pay to your contributors. And we’ll be watching for any cronyism, favors to your contributors or any use of the mayor’s office for shenanigans. That’s right. We know who you represent. So don’t even try it.

Keep reading...

Meaning more

Maggie says:
What occurs to me at the end of this day of reckoning is this:

• Keep working on the wage increase. Being an optimist means recognizing that a high-dollar smear campaign by the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and a low voter turnout barely worked. The vote to increase the minimum wage was extremely close. Given the poor turnout, given that the low-income workers who'd most benefit from the wage increase are the least likely to vote, and given how much money the Chamber put into killing this, the spread should have been much farther apart. Day-after second-guessing is not my favorite sport, so instead I'll say that next time, let's work on turnout. This is a case where people's inherent goodness should overpower big money and smear campaigns. Alone in the voting booth, it's their principles and nothing else. Principles are always better causes than a single person. So let's get the people there next time. It'll happen.
• Again: principles, not people. Increasingly, politics are being sold as the story of one person. We're fed hero stories of one candidate that are inevitably shot down by the opposing candidate. The result is that no one seems believable, because it's rare to find a true hero running for office, yet the instinct for people to run as heroes makes things worse for all of us. How many of us think of ourselves as heroes? Yet how many politicians do? That's the reason people don't connect with elected officials. And over time, how many of us think we could never run for office; we're not heroes, we're not perfect. But no one is. Candidates should be more human. Instead of trying to be our pal or drinking buddy, stand for something we can stand for. Campaigns today have too much personality and too little substance. We shouldn't be picturing a candidate's parents or children or grade-school teacher when we vote for them, we should be thinking forward, about change and place and the future and the actions that person will take. That is substance, not heart-warming childhood tales. This was an election full of substantial issues, yet the connections weren't made. Too few people saw Eric Griego as someone for a living wage, against bad development, for more stable communities, "the mayor who will do XYZ."
  
• Less business, more heart. Successful campaigns usually adopt a corporate stragegy, a game plan for winning. Think boardrooms and football fields and crushing opponents. The problem with this is that regular people are not typically in boardrooms, on a football field, or crushing anyone. Regular folks are out there making their way and connecting with people around them and shaping their life the best way they can. So why don't campaigns mirror that? I realize that Eric's "I'm in a hurry" commercial tried to do that, but it's still a commercial. Real connections don't happen on television, they happen on sidewalks. I won't discount the power of media - I think it's very powerful, and I think Marty's ads were very effective - but I do discount the notion that yard signs and radio spots can somehow replace the human element of politics. The problem with politics is how inhuman people think it is, when it actually affects their lives dramatically every day. This election could have been about connection, and it just wasn't. And see everything Paul Wellstone ever did for proof of how much heart still matters in politics.
  
• Personal power. A "take back your government" campaign isn't politics as usual. It's empowerment. This election had so much there to empower people. Go to the polls, raise your hourly wage, vote for someone who will actually listen to you, shape your city. This is not small stuff. But the message gets lost in the same struggles this election could have helped: paying the bills, making rent, commuting in traffic from the house you can afford to the place where you work. People still matter. I believe that strongly, but so many others don't. The person who can effectively communicate to people that they matter will win. That didn't happen yesterday.

Finally, part of a poem that always speaks to me. It makes sense today, after this city remained bored and unheard and went about their business, passing by the chance to wake up and create change. A small piece of Michael Goldman's "Report on Human Beings:"

We did invent boredom,
a fruitful state.
It hid the size of our desires.
We were spared many murders,
many religions
because we could say, "I am bored."
A kind of clarity
came when we said it
and we could go to Paris or the movies,
give useful parties, master languages,
rather than sink our teeth into our lover's throat
and shake until things felt right again.

Let's Vote Again. Which is more depressing?

Mikaela posts:

Us.


Them.

Election lessons

marjorie says...

Lessons from the city elections, 2005:

• A million bucks can do a lot for winning elections, especially when your opponents struggle to raise even half of that.

• The public can be a little schizophrenic. On the one hand they elect a mayor who raised an unprecedented amount of money, far outpacing any of his rivals. On the other hand, they solidly backed the campaign finance bill that seeks to level the playing field.

• Half the voters really do care about the wellbeing of poor people. Unfortunately, the other half are stingy.

• The Chamber of Commerce pronouncements show that business truly has no soul. On the one hand they throw out tons of disinformation to defeat the bill, on the other they say they hope federal government will raise the minimum wage because it’s the right thing to do. So…yeah, business has no soul. I’ve always known that--it’s called capitalism. Hello. But I like that we have such a blatant example. So, please, will no one ever say to me again that their company is “so altruistic”, their boss gives the benefits he does because he “cares so much”, yada yada yada. No it isn’t and no he doesn’t…those are business decisions.

• Campaigns are dirty…even by those you like. The tone that the Alibi took against Diana Dorn Jones in its election endorsements was racist and paternalistic. I’d like to know how the Alibi can know that Ike Benton “would make a thoughtful, relaxed and diplomatic councilor, someone willing to listen to a variety of angles” while Diana Dorn Jones “seemed set in her ways and almost interested in arguing with people.” Perhaps it is the personal opinion of a staff member there. Regardless, there is a long history in this country that paints white men as the capable and rational people and everyone else as irrational with bad attitudes. It’s called racism and sexism and I would hope that the Alibi would not sink to that level. But they did.

So, anything else folks?

It's Still Albuquerque

Mikaela says:
Watching Maggie watch the returns last night made me sad for her, for progressives, and for Albuquerque. My poor city.

So much to protect, so little information about the people who can help do that. How can this happen, Maggie? The world of information that makes it incomprehensible to us that people would vote for David Steele or against a living wage is simply not the same world of information that most people live in -- here in Albuquerque or anywhere else for that matter. What is mainstream is necessarily invested in the status quo, and the status quo is growth, at any cost. Economic and physical.

Driving to work this morning, listening to my boy Elliot Smith, balloons floated over the metropolis. How surreal is that? Here in this city that mourns, these majestic canvas moons remind us of the unbearable lightness of being. After a night of hot-air filled politicians, we get regal phantoms. And yes, their days here in the Duke City are numbered -- the balloons, that is. Our growth -- sprawl and infill, by the way -- has taken away their landing spots. Natural gas pumps and power lines add danger to their flight, and soon, many pilots will skip the Albuquerque balloon festival to go to quieter spots. Maybe Socorro will reap the benefits of our growth. (Photo courtesy: Rainbow Ryders)


But the struggle continues in the light of morning. To quote my favorite whiny white boy, "Everybody knows...EVERYBODY knows...we only live a day, but it's brilliant anyway."

And really, isn't that the point? We do what we can. We struggle. We pay attention to what's beautiful. We work toward making the days we have easier for those who struggle around us.

We fill with light and heat. Sometimes it is unbearable.

Watching returns, on the other hand, can make me very unhappy

Maggie says:
Only 103/168 precincts are reporting at the moment, but here's some initial thoughts about these #$&*^%$%$ returns as they're coming in:

• To the 850 people who have voted for David Steele so far, who are you? What are you thinking?
  
• Never thought Brad Winter would be getting this much support. What was I thinking?
• I'm having these terrible flashbacks to last November, sitting around with M² and others and feeling worse by the minute. The feeling of total disconnect from the majority of voters is not pleasant. Feeling violent outrage at anyone who thinks Marty is an acceptable choice to run this city is very unpleasant. I don't care if you're a harmless senior who doesn't understand a thing about the Journal's bias or Westside developers: this is not acceptable. Thinking about Marty's reaction right now makes me want to vomit.

9:21 Update:

• Great, so now the minimum wage increase is tightening to 51-48. Perfect. Just to top off the night...

9:30 Update:

• Just for extra kicks, let's tighten that spread even further to 50.12% FOR and 49.88% AGAINST. Wow.

9:40 Update:

• Minimum wage increase just flipped. And I feel like complete crap.
  

Voting makes me happy

Maggie says:
Voted this morning over at Lew Wallace Elementary. Bustling with people, and young people at that. Tonight will be nerve-wracking. Please, please, please let us at least get a run-off.

Marty the Suit: Angry & Sometimes Bitter

Harriet Miers: stupid or just delusional?

Maggie says:
From conservative blog Althouse, something... interesting.... about Harriet Miers, Bush's pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. This from former Bush speechwriter David Frum:

"In the White House that hero worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met."

So the man who couldn't even get a sentence out last week (brilliantly replayed Sunday on "Meet the Press," by the way) about the "g-g-g-g-g-g-gen-gener-general's ... uhhh... .... .... their str-str-str... ... strategy" is the most brilliant man Miers has ever met? God help us.

Update via Shakespeare's Sister:

1. She’s never been a judge.

2. She’s represented Bush as his attorney and has had a long and loyal relationship with him.

3. She pulled a Cheney and was put in charge of a search process and ended up choosing herself.

To Be or Not to Be: The Horns of New Orleans' Dilemma

Mikaela says:
We've talked here on m-pyre about the importance of acting ethically in the rebuilding of New Orleans -- that to make ethical decisions we must be explicit and mindful of the issues about race and class that are inherent to rebuilding efforts.

Sunday's article in the New York Times raises incredible on-the-ground dilemmas facing decision-makers, including the mayor, the federal government, who will bankroll demolition and compensation costs, and bankers who will inevitably fund redevelopment efforts.

Even if these agencies do their best NOT to screw over residents of the 9th ward -- who are overwhelmingly black and poor -- the "right" decisions are not immediately apparent.

Some quotes that raise these essential questions:

A geography professor says: The flooded sections "should not be put back in the real estate market. I realize it will be an insult [to former residents], but it would be a far bigger insult to put them back in harm's way." The temptation will be to "open up spaces where there has been a lot of poverty," similar to the urban renewal projects of the 1960s. "Those were seen as a way of cleansing a problem. It didn't eliminate poverty; it just moved it.""

A resident says: "This is a natural disaster; it's nobody's fault. My daddy worked. He did not sit on his bottom. You're not giving us anything. What we rightfully deserve as citizens of this country is the same protection we give to other countries." She's suspicious that property owners such as her mother will be offered $5,000 for land that is resold for $500,000.

A historic preservationist says: "There is a built-in incentive to demolish. The first instinct after natural disasters is almost always to demolish buildings. It is almost always wrong."

The mayor says: "I am sensitive to the Ninth Ward and people talking about it like it's not people's homes. If we do have to do any mass demolition in the Lower Ninth Ward, I hope we figure out proper compensation" for property owners.

A 9th-Ward Neighborhood Association member says: "It's a scrappy place where people don't take a lot of guff, but a place where people really respect each other. It has heart and soul and beauty."

A community organizer says: "It would be negligent homicide to put people in the Lower Ninth. If you put people back in there, they're going to die."

On Rebuilding: So if the 9th Ward is not rebuilt and preserved as a cultural and historical heritage of its original residents, it must not be redeveloped at all. Not for a cultural museum. Not for a sports stadium. Not for an industrial park. Perhaps it could serve as wetlands restoration or a regional park. No one should make money off it if these residents are not allowed to stay.

On Compensation: And residents should be compensated for what their land would have been worth pre-Katrina at the very least. Even better, residents would receive compensation based on an average land price for the entire region, taking in richer neighborhoods whose higher ground saved them from a similar fate.

On Racist Loans: Some kind of federal legislation or oversight must be brought to bear on the loan process. It has been shown over and over that banks make racist and prejudiced decisions in handing out high interest loans to low-income and minority applicants. They must not be allowed to do that to an entire population affected by Katrina (or to anyone, ever, regardless of circumstance).

On Community Involvement: In general, rebuilding efforts throughout the city should be modeled on neighborhoods that worked well for residents who lived there. "Experts" in real estate development should not be allowed to decide what "good neighborhoods" are and what residents will like based on economic and developer models exported from other areas of the country with dissimilar cultures and histories.

No matter what happens, every effort should be made to establish a process for residents pushed out of their homes to help decide how and where to rebuild their communities.

It's the least we can do.

McMansions Downsized

Mikaela says:
Unfortunately, one of the places to look for recent trends affecting planning is the Real Estate section of the NY Times. Sunday's Times features an article asking the question, "Are McMansions Going Out of Style?"

"McMansion" is the cute term given to monstrous houses usually built at the urban fringe for upscale homeowners who still have pretensions of a country estate. These houses, as the name implies, are as big as they can be for the smallest price. Construction is often shoddy, and it remains to be seen what the real lifespan of the structures actually is.

Now it seems that even the taste of the wealthy is turning away from such cheap and unhealthy (for our cities) fare.

In 1970, the average house size was 1,500 sq. ft. -- still roomy compared to accomodations in the rest of the world. By 2001, the average size was 2,100.

Here's the best quote from the article (note the source on this one!):
"Sandy Kennedy, a real estate agent, said the house she and her husband, John, are building in Cheshire, Conn., will be around 3,500 square feet, which is larger than the national average but smaller than many homes in the area. 'We could afford more, but we want to limit ourselves to spaces we'll really use,' she said."

Oh how economical of her! How downright conservative! What an ecologist!

Are you kidding me? Who really uses 3,500 square feet anyway? Use it for what, an art museum? A community center? I bet you anything this couple doesn't even have CHILDREN.

The article talks glowingly about the leveling off of the growth in house sizes, but if 3,500 is the representative example, we're all still in a heap of trouble. What are rich people choosing instead? Amenities and exotic wood! Lord help us all.

Those Crazy Docs Down Under

Mikaela says:
So two Australian doctors won the Nobel Prize for medicine for proving that ulcers are caused by bacteria and not simply stress.

While I'm skeptical (and a little nervous) that this is the MOST important discovery in medicine in this last year, I have to give kudos for their throwing off of traditional scientific method. When faced with doubt from the medical community, one of the docs drank a glassful of the offending bacteria, subsequently got an ulcer, and then cured himself with antibiotics.

Now THAT's a doctor (if not a scientist) I'd trust.

What's up with that, Doc?

GOP: Necessary v. Unnecessary

Maggie says:
I wish I had gathered all this info together. David Sirota, of course, pointing out what really separates the GOP from the rest of us. A must-read.

krqe mayoral web poll

marjorie says...

Hey folks: Go to www.krqe.com and vote in their webpoll at the bottom of the page for your mayoral choice. They are airing a Mayoral forum on Sunday and will be giving the webpoll results as well.