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Michael Rowe: Why Anne Rice Has Never Been More of a Christian
Author Anne Rice has never been more of a Christian than she was today when announced on Facebook that she was repudiating Christianity and renouncing any claim to the title "Christian."
"For those who care," she wrote, "and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else."Earlier this week on her public Facebook page, Rice had expressed her horror and revulsion at two different news stories that shared similar themes. The first was the co-opting of the "Christian" imprimatur by the GOP-linked "Christian punk rock" band supported by Michelle Bachman who believe gays should be executed, and derides America for not being "moral enough" to make homosexuality a capital crime like it is in Iran.
The second story and an exposé of a seven-year old boy who had been indoctrinated into Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church, whose sole great commission is virulent hatred.
Rice's personal trials have been Jobean in scope: the loss of her young daughter, Michelle, to leukemia in 1972; the death of her beloved Dutton editor, William Whitehead; the AIDS-related death of her best friend, gay writer John Preston. And, in 2002, came the cruelest blow of all, the cancer death of her husband of 41 years, poet Stan Rice. Any of us would be forgiven for collapsing before any of these individual tragedies. Rice took them all on her shoulders and bore them over the course of one of the most public and prolific literary careers of the modern age.
In 1998, Rice returned to her faith after years of describing herself as an atheist, and opened her heart to God. If the fans of her vampire, witchcraft, and erotic fiction rolled their eyes at her announcement that she would consecrate her writing talents to the glory of God in future, there was still a grudging admiration, as well as an intuitive sense that Rice was on a journey and they could either remain with her or step aside. In 2008, she laid out her journey in a searing, beautifully written memoir, Called Out Of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession.
It is possible to murder faith.
You murder faith same way you murder love: one bruise at a time, with small, daily cuts, with grinding contempt, with neglect. You murder faith by exposing it to bullets inscribed with Bible verses that kill Afghan and Iraqi children. You murder it by separating an elderly lesbian couple in a hospital because their union is considered "unnatural." You murder it by linking it to greed, to the "God wants you to be rich" movement that marinates in loathing for the poor and needy in defiance of Christ's commission to care for them. You murder it by exposing it to any number of atrocities wrapped up in an inviolate nationalism that claims divine authority as its basis, with no room for dissent, and no mercy for dissenters. You murder it with self-righteous militarism, with intolerance, with lack of compassion, with lack of humility.
It dies a little bit more every time a gay or lesbian teenager commits suicide because they've been taught to hate themselves because God "loves" them but hates what they are.
Rice's decision carries weight not only as a believer, but a mother. Her son, bestselling author Christopher Rice, is an outspoken and articulate gay rights activist and crusader.
What must it have been like for Anne Rice to watch and listen as her community of believers spent tens of millions of dollars in California making sure that her son remained a second-class citizen, denouncing LGBT Americans in the vilest, cruelest, ugliest terms, bookended with a hearty "Amen!" How could she listen to the hours and hours of gleeful cruelty and hatred from the various churches and the politicians they've purchased for forty pieces of silver in adjusted dollars and not wonder who these so-called Christians were, and why she shared a title with them?
How many Christian mothers have turned their backs on their LGBT children and cast them out like tragic mistakes, or, worse, embraced them with a toxic, bloody, pitying, non-affirming love that made it clear to their children that they believed they were damned?
"Love" is a quantifiable commodity, much as "faith" is. Neither, if they're true to their nature, can tolerate darkness. Both will eventually surge, gasping, towards the light.
Rice's repudiation of Christianity is a twofold clarion call, and one that is ignored at the Church's own peril.
One the one hand, it's a wakeup call to believers who sit by while unimaginable evils occur in the name of Jesus and say nothing other besides pouting that "all Christians aren't like that," or that the person reacting in grief and outrage is simply "persecuting Christians."
It's also a rallying cry for any of us who have held onto our faith by bloody tendons, only to feel the agony when it finally snaps and breaks on the rack that contemporary politicized Christianity has become. Like Rice, we can't entirely abandon God. Unbelief, like faith, is an eventual destination, not a direction consciously decided upon. Also like Rice, our belief in the purity of Christ's teachings has always bound us to a body of believers who no longer represent anything of what we believe.
There is precious little Christ in Christianity, as it's understood in America today.
Long accustomed to making excuses, to ourselves and to others, for the actions of our co-religionists, we come to realize that there is no possibility of identifying ourselves as Christians any longer--not because of what we've become, but because of what Christianity itself has become.
At the risk of speaking for her--and without knowing her heart--it seems reasonable to say that in repudiating Christianity Rice paradoxically moved herself closer to the essence of Christ's teachings than perhaps at any other time in her life. As she has said, she repudiates it in Christ's name, and will continue to follow Him.
Whatever backlash Anne Rice might receive from her Christian readers, or the Evangelical establishment itself, the undeniable fact is that the decision of this sensitive, passionate, and devout woman to leave Christianity is one that Christ himself would likely applaud, even as He would likely weep at the holocaust of hatred, bigotry, and collateral carnage that has devolved from the grimy, shopworn religion to which His glorious name has been affixed.
More on ChristianityAnthony Weiner Goes Ballistic At GOP For Killing 9/11 Responders Health Care Bill (VIDEO)
House Republicans late Thursday were able to corral enough votes to defeat a bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to those sickened by toxins resulting from the 9/11 attacks.
In the process, they set off a host of fiery speeches and denunciations from their Democratic colleagues and produced a veritable YouTube moment from Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y), whose district includes many of the affected.
At the heart of the debate was a procedural maneuver made by Democrats to suspend the rules before consideration of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The move allowed leadership to block potential GOP amendments to the measure (there was worry that Republicans would attach something overtly partisan in hopes that it could pass on the otherwise widely-popular measure). It also meant that the party needed a two-thirds majority vote.
When the final tally was announced, there were 255 representatives for the measure, 159 against. The defeat of the bill, which would have provided free health care to those affected during the 9/11 rescue and recovery, likely means that the court system will have to settle compensation issues.
Weiner spoke right before the vote when it was clear that Republican lawmakers would stake their opposition on grounds of procedural concerns. But for the grace of the C-SPAN cameras, he managed to stay physically behind his lectern.
"The gentleman will sit!" he declared at one point, addressing, it is believed, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). "The gentleman is correct in sitting!"
Wyly Brothers Gave Millions To Over 200 Republican Candidates
The billionaire brothers from Dallas who were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with orchestrating a massive securities fraud scheme that netted them $550 million are well-known philanthropists and fundraisers for conservative politicians.
Charles and Samuel Wyly, along with their wives, have donated $2.5 million to more than 200 Republican candidates and committees over the past 20 years, including over $1.3 million to the Republican National Committee, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The top recipients of their largesse have been Texas Republicans. George W. Bush received at least $100,000 raised by the Wyly clan during the 2000 presidential election. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson has received $30,400 from the family; Rep. Pete Sessions, $29,000.
Other Republican senators who've received their donations include John Cornyn of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, John Thune of South Dakota and Kit Bond of Missouri. Sam Wyly also funded the Swift Boat campaign that torpedoed Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.
And the Wyly brothers have been busy in the 2010 election cycle, most recently writing a check dated June 10 for $10,000 to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. Charles Wyly has contributed to FreedomWorks PAC, which has been instrumental in the Tea Party movement. The Wylys and their companies have also reportedly contributed $353,500 to Texas Gov. Rick Perry in recent years.
As reported by HuffPost's Sam Stein, the brothers played an instrumental role in helping Bush defeat John McCain during the 2000 Republican presidential primary, with a $2.5-million advertising campaign that marked the "very first ad" launched by a 527 -- "the oft-maligned political groups that came about due to a loophole in campaign finance laws."
Sam Wyly's son Andrew ended up being a major fundraiser (or "Texas Aviator") for McCain in the 2008 election. In the 2010 cycle, Andrew has contributed to Marco Rubio's Florida Senate campaign and Pat Toomey's Pennsylvania Senate campaign, among other Republican candidates.
Beyond politics, the charges are sure to shake up the close-knit community in Dallas, where the brothers wielded enormous influence. Charles Wyly donated millions to the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts to have a building named after him, which was designed by famed architect Rem Koolhaas and billed as the world's only "vertical theater."
A prominent lawyer for the Wylys, Michael C. French, and stockbroker Louis J. Schaufele III were also charged in the case. Schaufele III is the Investment Committee chairman of the Episcopal Foundation of Dallas.
The case, which caps a six-year investigation prompted by inquiries about overseas trusts kept by the Wylys, also serves as a vindication of sorts for Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who along with former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) issued a damning 2006 report on tax haven abuses that primarily focused on the Wyly brothers.
Through a lawyer, the brothers said the charges are "without merit."
Cameron Sinclair: Haiti Rebuild: Local Ts, Local jobs.
What started as a simple query to do the right thing has snowballed into a global search with no end in sight. Why can't volunteer groups and NGO's in Haiti source t-shirts in country and help stimulate the local economy?
I can't justify ordering a small run of 'organic' shirts made in China or Guatemala, shipped to the Unites States then sent to Haiti. This makes no sense and highlights an issue facing many communities recovering from a disaster - without supporting and empowering jobs there is no true recovery.
Thousands of volunteers are roaming the island with freshly printed t-shirts. Shouldn't there be a simple ordering system to support a series of local textile cooperatives. We can even look into supporting up-cycling by screen-printing donated garments that perpetually flood emerging markets. In either option local cooperatives can be supported with small in country orders and create the seed funding needed to grow their organizations.
Today I've heard every reason not to waste my time researching this from no oversight on worker rights to lack of (venture) capital. So where does this leave me? Shirtless and still searching.
ps. If you have suggestions or small businesses worth supporting, post them below.
locally printed shirts in post-tsunami Sri Lanka More on Haiti Earthquake
Matthew Kavanagh: Arizona, Lady Gaga, and the LGBTQ.munity...
I have some new heroes. They are the courageous LGBTQ migrants in Arizona who are organizing their communities, under attack, and pushing all the rest of us to recognize that liberation and social change struggles are deeply interconnected. The Puente Movement and two of its leaders, Vikter Medina and Amelec Jaalam Diaz, are bringing young, queer migrants together and organizing for the rights of their community to be safe and respected.
For them, this means simultaneously fighting social violence against LTBTQ people while also trying to push back draconian anti-immigrant laws that would criminalize the very existence of their community. For the undocumented LGBTQ people who have been forced to migrate because of the violence--physical and economic--that they experience in their home nations, immigration is the defining gay rights issue. For queer folks threats of being locked up by the sheriff for not having an ID card carry special dangers. For LGBTQ people whose relationships cross borders for which they may not have the right paperwork, immigration is a gay rights issue.
This week the activists realized that Lady Gaga--that revered icon who got her start in gay clubs--is on her way to Arizona. At the request of migrant communities, many progressive cities, national organizations, unions, and leading artists have declared a boycott against Arizona over SB1070. But Lady Gaga is about to break that boycott.
Vikter and Amelec are asking her to reconsider--to at least use her visit and her stardom to denounce the anti-immigrant violence and legislating. They're asking her: how can you be FOR the gay community and yet not take action when gay immigrants are under attack?
Writes Victor to Lady Gaga:
The situation in Arizona has come to a boiling point. We would like you to see through the eyes of a transgender person, drag queen, gay man, a lesbian woman or a dedicated fan that lives in this air of hate.And Amelec:
I am one of your many little monsters and I embrace your celebration of what the rest of the society refers as "shameful". There are many gay undocumented people and students who would love the rest of their community to join the movement for comprehensive reform starting with the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act).
They've started a petition declaring:
Both migrant and LGBTQ communities know what it is to have to fight for our full human dignity to be affirmed. You have the opportunity to play a special role in that fight in Arizona. Communities have called for a boycott of the state to make it happen. As an icon and beloved artist... turn your trip into an opportunity to meet your little monsters in the Migrant LGBTQ.munity so that you can speak out against the hateful laws and be a champion for this human rights cause.Not long ago 20 LGBTQ organizations signed a statement of support for the boycott. I guess the question is, will the gay community turn that statement into something real? Will they hold the great Lady Gaga accountable for helping fight both the homophobia and the racism being directed at the LGBTQ migrant community in Arizona?
For the many queer people for whom inheritance rights and the ability to join the army are not the defining political issues of their lives, "gay rights" has to mean something more. In this case it has to mean fighting for the rights and respect that immigrant people deserve, in Arizona and throughout the U.S.
And in this particular case, it means that I hope the LGBTQ community tells Lady Gaga she needs to sit down with Vikter and Amelec and figure out how she can help.
More on Gay Rights9/11 Responder Aid Package Fails In House
WASHINGTON — A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House on Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts.
The bill would have provided free health care and compensation payments to 9/11 rescue and recovery workers who fell ill after working in the trade center ruins.
It failed to win the needed two-thirds majority, 255-159. The vote was largely along party lines, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats supporting the measure.
For weeks, a judge and teams of lawyers have been urging 10,000 former ground zero workers to sign on to a court-supervised settlement that would split $713 million among people who developed respiratory problems and other illnesses after inhaling trade center ash.
The court deal shares some similarities with the aid program that the federal legislation would have created, but it involves far less money. Only the most seriously ill of the thousands of police officers, firefighters and construction workers suing New York City over their exposure to the dust would be eligible for a hefty payout.
But supporters of the deal have been saying the court settlement is the only realistic option for the sick, because Congress will never act.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you can wait and wait and wait for that legislation ... it's not passing," Kenneth Feinberg, the former special master of the federal 9/11 victim compensation fund, told an audience of ground zero responders Monday in a meeting on Staten Island.
Democratic leaders opted to consider the House bill under a procedure that requires a two-thirds vote for approval rather than a simple majority. Such a move blocked potential GOP amendments to the measure.
A key backer of the bill, U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, accused Democrats of staging a "charade."
King said Democrats were "petrified" about casting votes as the fall elections near on controversial amendments, possibly including one that could ban the bill from covering illegal immigrants who were sickened by trade center dust.
If Democrats brought it to the floor as a regular bill, King said, it would have passed with majority support.
GOP critics branded the bill as yet another big-government "massive new entitlement program" that would have increased taxes and possibly kill jobs.
To pay the bill's estimated $7.4 billion cost over 10 years, the legislation would have prevented foreign multinational corporations incorporated in tax haven countries from avoiding tax on income earned in the U.S.
Bill supporters said that would close a tax loophole. Republicans branded it a corporate tax increase.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the vote an "outrage." He said it was clearly a tactic designed to stall the bill.
"This is a way to avoid having to make a tough decision," Bloomberg said, adding that the nation owes more to "the people who worked down at 9/11 whose health has fallen apart because they did what America wanted them to do."
John Feal, a ground zero demolition worker who has lobbied extensively for the legislation, expressed disgust.
"They pulled the rug out from beneath our feet," Feal said. "Whatever member of Congress vote against this bill, whether Republican or Democrat, should go to jail for manslaughter."
The bill would have provided up to $3.2 billion to cover the medical treatment of people sickened by trade center dust and an additional $4.2 billion for a new fund that would have compensated them for their suffering and lost wages.
The potential promise of a substantial payout from the federal government had caused some ground zero workers to balk at participating in the proposed legal settlement, which would resolve as many as 10,000 lawsuits against the city.
Initially, the bill would have prohibited people from participating in the new federal compensation program if they had already been compensated for their injuries through a lawsuit, but a change was made in recent days eliminating that restriction.
Nevertheless, with the House rejecting the bill and no vote scheduled on a similar Senate version, it appears almost guaranteed that there will be no new federal law by Sept. 8, the date by which ground zero workers involved in the lawsuits must decide whether to accept the settlement offer.
Under the terms of the deal, 95 percent of those workers must say yes for the court settlement to take effect.
The compensation system set up by the court would make payments ranging from $3,250 for people who aren't sick but worry they could fall ill in the future to as much as $1.5 million to the families of people who have died. Nonsmokers disabled by severe asthma might get between $800,000 and $1 million.
About 25 percent of the money would go to pay legal fees. Contested claims would be heard by Feinberg, who would act as an appeals officer.
Researchers have found that thousands of New Yorkers exposed to trade center dust are now suffering from breathing difficulties similar to asthma. Many have also complained of heartburn or acid reflux, and studies have shown that firefighters who worked on the debris pile suffer from elevated levels of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease.
Many of the workers also fear that the dust is giving people cancer, although scientific studies have failed to find evidence of such a link.
The exact number of sick is unclear. Nearly 15,900 people received treatment last year through medical programs set up to treat Sept. 11-related illnesses, but doctors say many of those people suffered from conditions that are common in the general public.
The House bill is named for James Zadroga, a police detective who died at age 34. His supporters say he died from respiratory disease contracted at ground zero, but New York City's medical examiner said Zadroga's lung condition was caused by prescription drug abuse.
___
Caruso reported from New York.
William Astore: Our Military's Disturbing Transition to Warriors
A subtle change has been happening right before the eyes of Americans. Our troops are being told they're no longer primarily citizen-soldiers or citizen-airmen; they're being told they're warriors. Indeed, they're reminded of this linguistic turn in "creeds" that many of them (and often their families) display with pride.
Here's an excerpt from the new Airman's Creed (2007):
"I am an American Airman.
I am a Warrior.
I have answered my nation's call.
I am an American Airman.
My mission is to fly, fight, and win.
I am faithful to a proud heritage,
a tradition of honor,
and a legacy of valor."
The Army's Soldier's Creed (2003) makes the same point about the need to be a warrior first and foremost.
Now, some would say there's nothing wrong with this. Our troops are at war. Don't we want them to have a strong warrior ethos?
The historian (and retired citizen-airman) in me says "no," and I'm supported in this by a surprising source: An American army pamphlet from World War II with the title "How the Jap Army Fights." After praising the Japanese for their toughness and endurance, the pamphlet, citing a study by Robert Leurquin, makes the following point:
"The Japanese is more of a warrior than a military man, and therein lies his weakness. The difference may be a subtle one, but it does exist: The essential quality of the warrior is bravery; that of the military man, discipline."
In 1942, our army cited the "warring passion" of the Japanese as a weakness, one that inhibited their mastery of "the craft of arms." Yet today, our army and air force extol the virtues of being a "warrior" to young recruits.
Today's cult of the warrior, as represented by these new "creeds," may seem cosmetic, but it cuts to the core of our military's self-image. That most Americans have no knowledge of it speaks volumes about the ongoing militarization of our language and even of our country.
After nearly a decade of war, we don't need more "warrior ethos." What we need are disciplined citizen-airmen and citizen-soldiers who know their craft, but who also know better than to revel in a warrior identity. We knew this in 1942; how did we come to forget it?
Professor Astore currently teaches History at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and can be reached at wjastore@gmail.com.
Obama Administration Pushing To Expand U.S. Arms Exports By Gutting Approval Process
WASHINGTON â The United States is currently the world biggest weapons supplier â holding 30 per cent of the market â but the Obama administration has begun modifying export control regulations in hopes of enlarging the U.S. market share, according to U.S. officials.
President Barack Obama already has taken the first steps by tucking new language into the Iran sanctions bill signed in early July. His aides are now compiling the "munitions list," which regulates the sale of military items.
The administration's stated reason for the changes is to simplify the sale of weapons to U.S. allies, but potential spinoffs include generating business for the U.S. defense industry, creating jobs and contributing to Obama's drive to double U.S. exports by 2015.
Steven Weber: Making Degrade
The steady erosion of American productivity and viability may not just be unfortunate happenstance or a natural socioeconomic evolution, but a premeditated, consolidated effort to reap reward from fomenting failure.
And, as an interesting bit of collateral damage, people no longer have any faith in someone or something unless there's money involved, hence the curiously adhesive qualities of the moronic quasi libertarian meme of preferring the unregulated shenanigans of the private sector over a democratically elected and regulated government. And here's where those people who have been able to free themselves from the 24-hour-a-day opiate known as The Media slap themselves in their heads and say "Sheesh!"
But as evidenced by the steady reduction of overall quality in ideals America once prided itself on (i.e., productivity, creativity, education, the democratic process) and the attendant illogic of such routine breakdowns of formerly reliable concepts (i.e., quality control, protecting the welfare of all its citizens), there is the sinking feeling that the country that was built upon the highest ideals by those whose grasp of power, history and human nature, has been subsumed by those who revile such high aims. In fact, the guys that run things now have pasted "Fire Sale" over "We the People." And they're cashing in.
The culprit is, of course, the corporate mentality, a plague that manifests in the unrelenting consumption of disposable goods and useless services to maximize profit at the expense of people.
Like the icons she worships, like the plastic personalities digitally downloaded into our daily feeds, America's overriding principle is no longer one of thrift, service and civility but an obsession with things wasteful and divisive. That's our latest and greatest export.
Just because it sometimes feels good to scratch a mosquito bite until it bleeds, let's take Sarah Palin, for instance. The self-styled Mama Grizzly is actually the embodiment of the current fetish for failure, a bespectacled avatar of the mediocre intelligence and misguided ambition that is the hallmark of today's American idol.
While never having been in possession of basic leadership skills, let alone insight into the classic workings of democracy and the awesome responsibility such knowledge should impart, she is instead a facade from a corporate costume shop. Strutting her secondary sexual characteristics and bleating whatever shallow Republican talking point flashes across her staff's iPads, she nonetheless continues to be a leader of the gormless mass who raise fists and rail against that black guy in office and/or anything else she tells them to.
Then there is Jabber the Hate himself, Rush Limbaugh. The undisputed king of caustic right wing vitriol has made it his mission to destroy, divide, delude, and in so doing drive his profits through the roof of what must be a mammoth McMansion, proportionate in volume to his gargantuan ego.
And then there's that confounding blight, which is the so-called Tea Party, the latest Sam's Club clumping of the angry-for-whatever-reason volkische who seek only quick fixes to simplistically labeled problems, loathe their villains and embrace their heroes no matter how inane or discredited their reasoning. Deprived of a decent education and livelihood by the very forces with which they are aligned, they among all other obstacles to progress remain the most frustrating to observe, as the power to effect positive change is in their hands. It's their minds which have been highjacked.
And somewhere in this mishegoss, someone is making a shitload of dosh.
And guess what -- they're right in front of you exhorting you to fear immigrants, hate government, love Big Oil, hate the poor, fear the president and on and on. The right wing loves to court the least informed and most in pain. Because that's how they make their money. They've created a mass of Yokelsteins.
Don't get me wrong: Americans -- be angry! Assemble in the town squares! Take your representatives to task!
But while you're at it, read a book. Or two. Thumb through a reputable newspaper. Go to Europe. Have a conversation with someone from a feared and despised culture. Avail yourselves of the many sources and perspectives out there on the internet, hovering like fruit just waiting to be picked.
Discover agendas. Suss out key investors in places that insist they are trustworthy (*cough* Saudi Arabia and Fox News *cough, cough*). Realize that things are not as fair and balanced as the talking heads are telling you they are.
And then maybe we can get back to some kind of reason and stability. As history has shown repeatedly in the lifespans of many an empire, our days as the greatest superpower on Earth may be waning, and those who revel in the pride that defined our greatest, boldest days might not be willing to relax their desperate grip on such a regrettable reality.
But given the preponderance of proof that the powers that be are making moolah from mass misery, we must not forsake our opportunity to reclaim some civility, dignity and sense, three things that those corporate fascisto-capitalist dickheads who are stoking cynicism and despair for fun and profit detest.
Bad for business, you see.
More on Sarah PalinArmenian-Americans Sue Turkish Government, Banks For Century-Old Mass Killings, Seized Assets
LOS ANGELES — Armenian-American lawyers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the Turkish government and two banks seeking compensation for the heirs of Armenians whose property was allegedly seized nearly a century ago as they were driven from the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Lawyers were seeking class-action status for the suit, a process that attorney Brian Kabateck said could take as long as three years.
"We are rolling up our sleeves and are going forward," he said.
The suit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Garbis Davouyan of Los Angeles and Hrayr Turabian of Queens, N.Y. It alleges breach of statutory trust, unjust enrichment, human rights violations and violations of international law.
It seeks compensation for land, buildings and businesses allegedly seized from Armenians along with bank deposits and property, including priceless religious and other artifacts, some of which are now housed in museums in the Republic of Turkey.
Attorney Mark Geragos said it was the first such lawsuit directly naming the government of the Republic of Turkey as a defendant.
"All of the lawyers involved have relatives who perished or fled the Armenian genocide, which gives it a special poignancy for us," he said.
The lawsuit claims more than a million Armenians were killed in forced marches, concentration camps and massacres "perpetrated, assisted and condoned" by Turkish officials and armed forces.
The U.S. government does not recognize the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide.
Also named in the lawsuit were the Central Bank of Turkey and T.C., Ziraat Bankasi, the largest and oldest Turkish bank with origins dating back to the 1860s.
The lawsuit claims the government of Turkey agreed to administer the property, collect rents and sale proceeds from the seized assets and deposit the receipts in trust accounts until the property could be restored to owners.
Instead, the government has "withheld the property and any income derived from such property," the lawsuit said.
A message left with the Turkish Consul General's office in Los Angeles was not immediately returned. After-hours e-mails seeking comment from both banks were not immediately returned.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs believe records of the properties and profits still exist, and they are seeking an accounting that could reach billions of dollars.
Geragos said the biggest issue in Armenian communities is seeking recognition for the ethnic bloodshed that allegedly claimed the lives of as many as 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919.
In 2000, the California Legislature recognized the deaths as genocide when it allowed heirs to seek payment on life insurance policies of dead relatives.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later invalidated the law. Geragos has appealed that ruling.
Still, the heirs were paid nearly $40 million by New York Life Insurance Co. and French insurer AXA.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of Kabateck in 2nd paragraf)
Shelly Palmer: YouTube's 15 Minutes of Fame
July 30, 2010 - Today's most interesting stories in technology, media and entertainment:
YouTube's 15 Minutes of Fame --Starting today, YouTube will allow users to upload videos up to 15-minutes in length, up 50 percent from the previous 10-minute limit. Not only was extending the time the number one request from users, but YouTube also believes they've taken significant measures to protect copywriten videos from being uploaded.
Congress Takes A Gamble -- Congress is reconsidering its ban on Internet gambling. With the realization that the government could make significant revenue by taxing online gambling sites, the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill to legalize poker and other non-sports betting online.
Verizon Users Hog Data -- Verizon Wireless customers use 25 percent more data on their smartphones than AT&T iphone users. A study from Validas analyzed over 20,000 phone bills from customers of Verizon and AT&T, and attributes the increase in data usage by Android smartphone users at Verizon.
Enriched E-Books -- E-books get revamped with video. Book publishers have begun to incorporate video in their multimedia books, specifically designed for the iPad. These enriched e-books embed the video clips directly in the page, to enhance your reading experience.
Today's Video -- Shelly Palmer chats with Adam Gerber about Quantcast and other interesting stuff
Wayne Pacelle: Animal Crush Videos Make Comeback; Senate Must Act
Today, The Humane Society of the United States released new information, in a telephone press conference with reporters, about gruesome animal crush videos that have made a comeback since the federal courts overturned the 1999 law Congress passed to ban their production and sale. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court declared this federal anti-cruelty law invalid and unconstitutional, creating an opening for peddlers of this smut to get back into this business.
Last week, at the urging of The HSUS and in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling, the House passed legislation by a vote of 416-3 to fill the gap in the law and to reinstate a narrowly tailored federal prohibition on this disgusting commerce. Today, U.S. Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the co-authors of H.R. 5566, joined me in a call to urge the U.S. Senate to take up the House legislation and ban interstate and foreign commerce in these obscene animal "crush" videos before the 111th Congress concludes its work.
Today's call was more than an exhortation, but also a cataloguing of this cruel trade. Following up on the leads provided by some of our sources, an HSUS researcher viewed 36 "preview clips" of crush videos, sent to prospective consumers to tease them into buying the full-length versions of the videos. These details are horrifying, and I feel badly about even writing them down. But I hope that knowledge of these abuses will compel good people to act. The videos depict the following:
- Three young girls crush a puppy to death with their bare feet. The audio includes cracking sounds as the puppy's bones break. Three dead puppies can be seen lying on the floor nearby.
- A girl dressed in a leather mini-skirt and stiletto heels pokes the heel of her shoe through the eye of a small monkey.
- A girl wearing a flimsy negligee, stockings and stiletto heels crushes a rabbit, who screams as his hind legs are crushed.
- Two young girls in stilettos crush a medium-sized dog whose legs and mouth are tightly tied. One of the girls inserts the heel of her shoe into a dog's eye socket.
- A girl skins a live dog with a knife, removing the animal's ear and the skin and fur on the dog's head.
Last September, we released a status report about the re-emergence of crush videos in the wake of a federal appellate court's overturning of the 1999 federal law. Our investigators found that at that time crushing videos were easily available for purchase. The password protected part of one website had 118 videos for sale. Videos ranged in price from $20 to $100. Each of the videos for sale contained footage of multiple animals, translating into hundreds of animals being tortured and crushed to death for the profit-making of this one website alone.
In United States v. Stevens, the Supreme Court struck down the law Congress passed on narrow grounds, finding that the 1999 federal law was overbroad because it could be interpreted to apply to many unintended circumstances, including hunting videos. The Court did not say that depictions of extreme animal cruelty are protected by the First Amendment. Instead, the Court unanimously recognized the long history of animal cruelty laws dating back to the founding of our country, and carefully left open whether Congress could draft a narrower law that would only reach depictions of extreme and illegal cruelty. At oral argument, Justice Stephen Breyer stated that if Congress passed a statute aimed solely at "crush videos," there would be "a very strong case" for upholding that law. Like our child pornography laws, our drug laws, and the basic obscenity doctrine, the Court has left an opening for the Congress to crack down on sale of such materials in the United States as a method of reducing demand, and hopefully reducing production.
H.R. 5566 narrowly limits its reach to obscene depictions in which an actual live animal is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, or impaled in a manner that would violate a criminal prohibition on animal cruelty under federal law or the law of the state in which the depiction is created, sold, distributed, or offered for sale or distribution. We wouldn't allow someone to murder someone or molest a child, and if they were not caught in the act, sell the video and profit from the underlying crime. The same principle is at work here, and the nearly unanimous House vote reveals that lawmakers understand what's at stake.
This post originally appeared on Pacelle's blog, A Humane Nation.
More on DogsAzadeh Shahshahani: TSA Clearance a Cloudy Process
I first met Adnan Tikvesa back in December when I spoke at a symposium on human rights and Islam at the Al-Farooq mosque in Atlanta.
The focus of my talk was the fundamental rights and liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, including every person's right to due process of law.
I was on my way out when I saw a young man, looking apprehensive, approach me and ask that I take a look at the document in his hand. It was a letter he had received from the Transportation Security Administration.
Adnan is a 25-year-old resident of Atlanta and an American citizen since 2003. He first arrived in America in 1994 as a 9-year-old refugee fleeing the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Mostar, a city in the former Yugoslavia.
Adnan has worked for Delta since October 2004. He was granted clearance in November 2004 for access to the secured areas of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. His security clearance was renewed in 2006 and again in 2008.
Adnan is part of a family that is proud to work for various employers in the Atlanta airport: his father works for Delta and his mother works for Delta Global Services; they both hold the security clearance. His sister works for the airport customer service.
Adnan has never been convicted of, or even charged with, any crime. He is well-respected by his co-workers and supervisors for the quality of his work.
So why was it that on Nov. 12, 2009, TSA suddenly decided to suspend Adnan's security clearance without telling him why? To this day, no one knows.
"I asked, but why, what have I done? But they just handed me the letter and said I can appeal if I so choose. I said but what can I appeal when I don't know what I have done?" He received no responses to this plea. His badge was also confiscated.
Adnan felt humiliated by this treatment, especially in front of his co-workers. He was also confused about what exactly was happening and why.
Adnan wrote to TSA a few days later to say that he was unaware of any reason for the suspension of his security clearance and to request any information as to why this decision was made.
In January, TSA issued a grossly inadequate response to Adnan's letter.
None of the documents produced provided any notice of the reasons underlying TSA's decision to revoke his security clearance. The 10 pages of documents that were provided were also heavily redacted.
As a result, TSA once again failed to provide notice or a meaningful opportunity for Adnan to correct any misinformation or to contest the basis for TSA's decision to revoke his security clearance.
TSA's action had a profound impact on Adnan's ability to earn his livelihood, as Delta placed him on immediate suspension without pay from his job as a baggage service worker.
None of this was easy on Adnan, who was used to living a busy life. It was not easy to have his parents and sister go to work every day and be faced with questions about when Adnan was coming back to work. Even more taxing for the family was facing the questions that were not asked: What was it exactly that Adnan had done?
For Adnan, the fight to gain his security clearance back became more than a battle to re-earn his job. It became a pursuit to redeem his name. In his words: "I'd just like to let everyone know that I'm innocent."
In March, the ACLU appealed TSA's decision to suspend Adnan's security clearance and called on the agency to tell Adnan the reasons for the decision and give him a real opportunity to respond.
In May, TSA notified Adnan that it had reversed its decision. But TSA still did not provide any explanation why it had decided to revoke Adnan's security clearance in the first place.
TSA's reversal is indeed good news for Adnan. But the fundamental problems with TSA's process of suspending security clearances have not gone away.
Since the letter from TSA gives no reason for the agency's initial decision to revoke Adnan's security clearance or for the reversal of this decision, Adnan remains confounded as to why TSA suspended the security clearance.
There is also no indication of any meaningful safeguards in place to keep TSA from doing this again to Adnan or other workers.
After eight months in limbo, Adnan returned to work last week. His co-workers greeted him enthusiastically and even threw him a welcome back party.
But the injustice faced by Adnan has not been erased. For a Muslim-American Delta worker and a refugee from systematic injustices abroad, due process of law, a fundamental tenet of the American justice system, was denied.
So long as TSA refuses to restore due process to this system, chances are that he will not be the last.
Azadeh Shahshahani is National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.
Asher Miller: What Now? Redux
Back in December in blisteringly cold Copenhagen, tens of thousands of activists, government workers, lobbyists, and world leaders came together for what many hoped would be a diplomatic breakthrough. Though the weather was cold, conditions seemed ripe: Environmental groups across the globe had worked hard to generate a strong display of public will, culminating in 350.org’s Day of Action earlier in October, which CNN called "the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history.” Bolstered by the announcement that President Obama would attend the talks personally, hopes were high for meaningful engagement on the part of the United States after more than a decade of inaction.
It seemed to many environmental organizations and their supporters that their international strategy might finally pay off. They were mistaken and left Copenhagen only with questions: What had gone wrong? Why did world leaders punt on the biggest crises facing our planet? And the most important of all: What now?
At Copenhagen, representatives from the Obama Administration told activists straight to their face: You’ll have to make us do this. And your movement is just not big enough.
Fast forward seven months, to blindingly hot Washington D.C., and we have the same result—though this time it was Congress’ turn to punt, despite a great deal of behind-the-scenes negotiations. Senator Kerry (D-MA) said, "We believe we have compromised significantly, but we're prepared to compromise further."
Despite that display of, um, generosity, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) explained, this time they were just not big enough. Unable to get the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster, no climate legislation will move forward in the Senate this year. Since they’re likely to have even fewer votes after the midterms, this does not bode well for hopes of a national policy any time soon.
This is a double blow because the one outcome of COP 15—the Copenhagen Accord—is predicated on countries voluntarily setting and meeting domestic targets. So the lack of national climate legislation also means that our only hope for meeting our 2020 reduction targets is the EPA’s authority, which is likely going to be challenged in court for as long as the delayers can manage. That, or further steep declines in economic activity, like what has happened recently in the UK.
Gladly, I’m no Beltway insider, and my assumptions should be read as just that. But the way I see it, this result (or lack thereof), is not much of a surprise. Four of what are likely many reasons:
1. The Kerry-Lieberman bill was so badly flawed that not even the Big Green environmental groups could hold their noses enough to back it. Though they had staked their strategies, dollars, and reputations on getting something, anything passed before the likely loss of Democratic Party majorities in Congress, they saw that this bill could in fact be worse than no bill.
2. Our leaders’ allegiance to the mythical god of growth trumps their concern over the proven chemistry and physics of global climate change. The irony is rich, of course, considering that even after a veritable iceberg of evidence corroborating anthropogenic global warming, fabricated “scandals” like climate gate still somehow send the media into paroxysms of doubt and politicians diving for the nearest rock (likely to be underwater in about 30 years). In the meantime, there’s a wholly unsubstantiated belief shared by politicians, pundits, and plebeians of all stripes that without endless economic growth our entire universe would spontaneously implode.
And so, anything that could be viewed as putting our economic “recovery” at risk is simply a bridge too far, particularly in the run-up to mid-term elections.
3. Senate Republicans determination to block any bill that hit the floor. You’ve got to give Senate Republicans credit for their single-mindedness, and ability to wholly divorce their legislative positions from the love I’m sure they feel for their children and grandchildren. That takes a special level of determination and obstinacy.
4. The Obama Administration is simply not serious (enough) about our energy and climate crises. That was made abundantly clear in his oval office speech on June 15th when in the midst of the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history, his tepid response was this:
So I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party—as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development—and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development. All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead.No specific call to action, no plan offered up. Just an invitation to explore ideas. It was clear in that moment that President Obama was not prepared to stick his neck out for substantive energy and climate policy. Not even when Americans were shaking with anger over the ongoing Deepwater Horizon Gulf spill.
And so here we are again, asking, “What Now?”
More and more in my conversations with environmental groups, activists, and funders, it seems their focus is shifting from the international to the national to, now, the state and local level. For several reasons, I think this is a smart strategy.
In my next post, I’ll touch on the politics and possibilities of local action. Then, I’ll toss out an idea for getting Sarah Palin to serve as the ultimate spokesperson for national climate legislation. Trust me, she won’t like it.
More on Climate BillNigel Roberts: Afghanistan: Snakes
This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog on January 5, 2010.
Forward Operating Base Delhi, Garmsir District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan--December 7
Kinetic summer
We're in the Snake's Head, the name given by the U.S. and British soldiers to a bulbous patchwork of canals in the Helmand desert in Southern Afghanistan, part of a ribbon of fertile land running south from the Malmand Mountains and commanded by the irrigation network built with U.S. assistance in the 1960s. The Helmand River valley is at the frontline of the current episode in Afghanistan's Thirty-Year War.
Flying into Snake's Head the name given by the US and British soldiers to a patchwork of canals in Helmand province, Southern Afghanistan. Photos © Ed Girardet.
Field Marshall Gerald Templer said of the 1952-4 conflict in Malaya, "The answer lies not in pouring more troops into the jungle, but in the hearts and minds of the people." This philosophy animates the counterinsurgency strategy for Afghanistan set out in General Stanley McChrystal's Initial Assessment. McChrystal is quoted as saying that "the shot you don't fire is more important than the one you do."
British forces have fought in this area since 2006. In July this year, in the biggest airlift operation since the Vietnam War, the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force joined them and drove the Taliban further down the snake's tail.
To read the full post click here.
More on AfghanistanCongress Readies Stricter Aviation Safety Legislation
WASHINGTON — Congress is getting ready to pass tough new aviation safety measures that were developed in response to a deadly commuter plane crash in western New York in early 2009, a key lawmaker said Wednesday.
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in an interview that he was introducing a bill with the safety improvements on Wednesday. He said he expects House passage on Thursday and Senate passage soon afterward.
Besides the safety measures, the bill extends authority for Federal Aviation Administration programs through Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year. Without that extension, the FAA would have to shutdown on Sunday when current program authority expires.
There is strong support in Congress for the safety measures, which were added to a broader aviation bill that lawmakers have been struggling for nearly four years to pass. With that bill stalled over disagreements involving other issues, House and Senate lawmakers have reached a consensus that the safety provisions should be passed separately from the broader measure, Oberstar said.
The impetus for the safety measures was the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. All 49 people aboard and one man in a house were killed. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation faulted errors by the flight's two pilots and deficiencies in pilot hiring and training by Colgan Air Inc., the regional carrier that operated the flight for Continental Airlines.
The bill "takes a big step forward in improving the safety of our skies," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said in a statement.
The investigation also revealed the accident was the byproduct of a financially strapped industry seeking to cut costs by farming out short-haul flights to regional carriers. Those carriers often hire inexperienced pilots at low wages, assign them exhausting schedules and look the other way when they commute long distances to work because they can't afford to live in the cities where they are based.
The last six airline accidents in the United States all involved regional air carriers.
Friends and family members of the victims of the Colgan crash have been lobbying Congress relentlessly for passage of the safety provisions. As a group, they have made more than 30 lobbying trips to Washington at their own expense over the past 17 months. They've met with dozens of senators and House members or their staffs, and attended every congressional hearing with any connection to aviation safety. They've also pressed their case in private meetings with President Barack Obama, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.
The safety measures Congress is preparing to pass are "everything we asked for," said Kevin Kuwik, a spokesman for the families who lost his girlfriend, Lorin Maurer, in the accident. "The bill cuts right to the core of what caused Flight 3407 to crash."
The bill would require that the minimum flight experience for first officers be raised from 250 hours to 1,500 hours – the same level as captains. That could force regional airlines to hire more experienced pilots and indirectly raise salaries. FAA would also be required to update rules governing how many hours airlines may require a pilot to fly before the pilot is permitted rest, and airlines would have to put in place fatigue risk management plans – programs that use scientific research on fatigue to assess pilot hours and alert airlines to schedules that are likely to induce fatigue.
Other provisions address pre-employment screening of pilots, create mentoring programs between experienced pilots and newly hired pilots and provide remedial training for pilots who have performed poorly on skills tests.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., made a last-ditch effort Wednesday to persuade senators to pass the broader aviation bill, including the safety measures, before the end of the week. The heart of the bill is a blueprint for FAA's $40 billion program to modernize the nation's air traffic control system.
The key issue holding up the bill, Dorgan said, is whether airlines should be allowed to fly an additional 16 flights a day from Reagan National Airport near Washington to destinations beyond a 1,200-mile "perimeter" imposed years ago to reduce airport noise and encourage development at the larger Dulles International Airport, which is farther away from the city and less convenient for lawmakers.
"I've just had a bellyful of the intransigence that exists in this chamber," Dorgan said in a speech on the Senate floor. "It's just fine to represent your interest and your region, but it's ... just not fine to block this bill."
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Online:
Flight 3407 Memorial: http://www.3407memorial.com/
More on Airlines