Watch D.C.

31 arrests: Protest against anti-abortion "Ultrasound Bill" brings riot police to Capitol

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:17:02 -0500

31 arrests: Protest against anti-abortion "Ultrasound Bill" brings riot police to Capitol:

Infinite solidarity with these protesters!

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A grassroots protest of a controversial women’s health care bill passed by the state Senate this week brought hundreds to Richmond to the state Capitol grounds March 3, and ended with the arrest of 31 people on the Capitol steps.

The demonstration was in response to a bill that originally required a transvaginal ultrasound for women seeking abortions– and which quickly became a national controversy and target of derision among satirists including Saturday Night Live.

After Governor Bob McDonnell signaled his discomfort, House Bill 462 was modified to require a less-invasive abdominal ultrasound and passed the Senate this week and awaits McDonnell’s signature.

Supporters say the measure helps women make a more informed decision; opponents say the ultrasounds are medically ineffective, a thinly-veiled attempt to thwart a woman from obtaining an abortion.

Organizers from a group called Speak Loudly with Silence, which led an estimated 1,200 women in silent protest on the Capitol grounds nearly two weeks earlier, estimated the crowd of Saturday’s attendees at 900.

Gawker commenters get right to the bottom of Andrew...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:57:00 -0500

Gawker commenters get right to the bottom of Andrew Breitbart’s death.

Today’s most popular story on the Washington Post...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:39:35 -0500

Today’s most popular story on the Washington Post is… (double face palm)

How could I not reblog this. He’s prob looking for...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:39:00 -0500

How could I not reblog this. He’s prob looking for ~~contraceptions~~ contraceptives.

nationaljournal:

Errr

joost5:

Here’s Ricky!

The Daily Show website was under construction this morning and...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:54:20 -0500

The Daily Show website was under construction this morning and it reminded me how corporate Jon Stewart’s parent company is. I still think he and Colbert are brilliant, but one can only speculate how they’re handcuffed by being a part of the fourth largest media conglomerate in the country—Viacom. The largest shareholder in Viacom is Sumner Redstone. Redstone is worth $9 billion and is also the majority owner of CBS corp, which split from Viacom in 2005.

Why do you think Stewart has mocked Occupy Wall Street?

Is it a rule that all Romney supporters must wear blue-collared...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:20:50 -0500

Is it a rule that all Romney supporters must wear blue-collared dress shirts. Wouldn’t want to be thought of as “white collar.”

hollybailey:

This photo tells you everything about the mood at Mitt Romney’s Michigan headquarters tonight. Here’s the candidate’s third cousin, Miles Romney, dancing near the candidate’s lectern here in Novi, Mich., after it was announced the ex-Massachusetts governor won Arizona (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP)

The global warming ignorance...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:03:53 -0500

The global warming ignorance complex.

motherjones:

ninefiveeight:

love it.

If only a clear, simple explanation—or graphic!—led to rational thinking.

Protestors flood into Zuccotti chanting “Whose park? Our...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:56:08 -0500

Protestors flood into Zuccotti chanting “Whose park? Our park!” Also heard: “we’re baaaack” & “I forgot my tent

- via Andrew Katz - @katz

This is what I imagine the scene looked like when Gen. McCaffrey...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:02:51 -0500

This is what I imagine the scene looked like when Gen. McCaffrey briefed NBC executives on the “War in Iran” in January. Glenn Greenwald has the scoop at Salon.

cartoonpolitics:

but not for everyone ..

Obama Rubbing Elbows With Bankers

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:15:00 -0500

Obama Rubbing Elbows With Bankers:

Obama to hold fundraiser at former Dallas Fed Deputy Chairman’s house. Tickets cost $35,800 a pop.

Striking image of Obama. Makes me think of his dark side:...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:33:00 -0500

Striking image of Obama. Makes me think of his dark side: Prosecuting whistleblowers, favoring Wall Street & waging covert war. Obama is speaking with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

By Pete Souza in the Oval Office, Feb. 13, 2012.

Why you shouldn't ask yes or no questions, 101

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:47:26 -0500

Reporter: Do you realize how your comments about your wealth are hurting your campaign?
Mitt Romney: "Yes. Next question."

Choice Quotes From Freefall

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:15:18 -0500

Last night I started reading Joseph Stiglitz’s “Freefall”. Stiglitz is the Nobel-prize-winning Keynesian economist who wrote “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%.” The article was published in Vanity Fair in May of 2011 and helped to ignite the Occupy Wall Street Movement.

Stiglitz wrote Freefall in 2010 after correctly predicting the global financial crisis in 2008. The book is his critique of policy makers, decisions and the greed of Wall Street that caused the crisis.

I’m going to try to update each day with a quick post of quotes from the previous night of reading:

On the arguments for deregulation:

Those who argued for deregulation—and continue to do so in spite of the evident consequences—contend that the costs of regulation exceed the benefits. With the global budgetary and real costs of this crisis mounting into the trillions of dollars, it’s hard to see how its advocates can still maintain that position. They argue, however, that the real cost of regulation is the stifling of innovation. The sad truth is that in America’s financial markets, innovations were directed at circumventing regulations, accounting standards and taxation.

On blaming government largesse for the crisis:

In what might seem an outrageous act of ingratitude to those who rescued them from their deathbed, many bankers blame the government—biting the very hand that was feeding them—like the kid caught stealing from the candy store who blamed the storeowner or the cop for looking the other way, leading him to believe he could get away with his misdeed. Bu the argument is even more disingenuous because the financial markets had paid to get the cops off the beat. They successfully beat back attempts to regulate derivatives and restrict predatory lending. Their victory over America was total. Each victory gave them more money with which to influence the political process.

The “heroes” of deregulation socialize the economy:

This is but one of many ironies that have marked the crisis: in Greenspan and Bush’s attempt to minimize the role of government in the economy, the government has assumed an unprecedented role across a wide swath—becoming owner of the world’s largest automobile company, the largest insurance company, and… some of the largest banks. A country in which socialism is often treated as an anathema has socialized risk and intervened in markets in unprecedented ways.

On accountability:

There are bad outcomes that are the fault of no single individual. But this crisis was the result of actions, decisions, and arguments by those in the financial sector. The system that failed so miserably didn’t just happen. It was created. Indeed, many worked hard—and spent good money—to ensure that it took the shape that it did. Those who played a role in creating the system and in managing it—including those who were so well rewarded by it—must be held accountable.

andyouhavetogivethemhope: inothernews: U.S. Army private...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:45:15 -0500

andyouhavetogivethemhope:

inothernews:

U.S. Army private Bradley Manning, who provided classified military documents to WikiLeaks, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

(Photo: Patrick Semansky / AP via the New York Daily News)

maybe we should start by releasing him…

Occupy Our Homes DC Teams Up With Distressed Homeowner to Fight Foreclosure

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:21:12 -0500

Stratfor vs. Anonymous

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:04:00 -0500

When I first heard that Anonymous had infiltrated the servers of a private intelligence-gathering firm, I thought it happened because it was easy to obtain. Low-hanging fruit if you will.

Anonymous’ anonymous Twitter spokesperson @YourAnonNews tweeted after obtaining the data, “Happy LulzXmas @STRATFOR | Thanks for storing your customers’ CC/CCV #s in cleartext, w/corresponding addresses. Y u no bother encrypting?”

I’ve always thought of Anonymous as knee-jerking graffiti artist rebels. They respond to a situation, come together and DDOS a website until it goes down. Afterwards, the victimized organization cleans up, like painting away the graffiti, and Anonymous moves on to the next spot.

But this Stratfor thing is different.

I found it shocking that a firm with ties to the Department of Defense, Israeli Defense Forces and Fortune 500 companies had failed to encrypt their data. After a cursory look at their website and history, I believed the company was just an aggregator of news from around the world compiled specifically for paying clients. Turns out they were also collecting their own intelligence by using sources culled from the media, military forces, governments and corporations.

And now Anonymous has partnered with Wikileaks to make a splash with the over 5 million internal Stratfor emails collected from their hacking operation. Previously, most of the hacker group’s finds would be released on Pastebin, an early web site that looks more like HTML code than a word processor. By going through Wikileaks, Anonymous has found a partner that is capable of marketing the vast trove of emails to news sources who can synthesize the newsworthy information.

This marks a turn for the hacking collective that has remained relatively embedded in niche internet communities like IRC and 4chan. It shows a realization that their work, which has been maligned as vandalism, has a broader value than them just flexing their muscles.

Emboldened by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which Anonymous helped organize and publicize, the collective is becoming far more politically active. They have set their sites on the intersection of big corporations, government agencies and the media. Stratfor represents the perversion of those three groups. Stratfor works for big companies by acting like an international media organization. But they shun the ethics of standard journalism by paying sources and giving them significant cover. Not to mention their employees think they’re spies.

Emails are coming out hourly at this point showing the scope of their investigations. They investigated PETA for Coca-Cola before the Vancouver Olympics. They tracked Bhopal activists for the Dow Chemical company who were angered over the company’s handling of the Bhopal gas disaster in India that has been related to over 25,000 deaths in the city. The company even had an idea to partner with Goldman Sachs to start a “captive strategic investment fund.”

“What StratCap will do is use our Stratfor’s intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of geopolitical instruments, particularly government bonds, currencies and the like” Wrote Stratfor CEO George Friedman in an August 2011 email.

These details are just a small taste of what may be a trove of data related to this “Intelligence” company. It also represents a significant development in journalism. It shows how tech savvy activists can become revolutionary news-gatherers.

But this case also highlights a perversion of the form. Journalism used to be about making things public. It was about confirming and fact-checking, being right, being truthful and investigating the rich and powerful at every opportunity. What we have with Stratfor is a quasi media company specializing in serving powerful interests for money.

And yet, they’re trying to make Anonymous look bad. Here’s what they wrote in their press release shortly after the announcement of the release of the emails on Feb. 27:

In December, thieves compromised Stratfor’s data systems and stole a large number of company emails, along with other private information of Stratfor readers, subscribers and employees. Those stolen emails apparently will be published by Wikileaks. This is a deplorable, unfortunate — and illegal — breach of privacy.

Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic. We will not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them. Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them.

They are claiming that their own internal communications may have been forged or altered, although “some may be authentic.” They refuse to answer questions about them or explain their reasoning behind them. They claim to be the victim.

They refuse to ask themselves whether they were breaching people’s privacy by investigating activists for large corporations. They don’t consider their ideas of profiting off insider information with Goldman Sachs ethically questionable. In fact, because they have been investigated, they now believe they are being victimized.

We are currently living in a security state where even the most mundane operations of our government are considered confidential. Any journalist that has attempted a FOIA knows how difficult and time-consuming the process is to obtain information that should be publicly available. It’s this kind of culture that allows a company like Stratfor to profit and that’s scary.

This may not be the big breaking story that Wikileaks needed to rescue its reputation after not leaking anything significant since the diplomatic files, but it’s a big step for Anonymous. It shows a hacking collective developing from a group of light-hearted vandal lulzers to a politically oriented investigative organization.

Report on Tasers by Digby. A nuanced look into the scary culture...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:29 -0500

Report on Tasers by Digby. A nuanced look into the scary culture of Taser use by American law enforcement.

life: It’s true what they say, things are not always what they...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:44:44 -0500

life:

It’s true what they say, things are not always what they seem.

In 1937, LIFE published Margaret Bourke-Whites ‘American Way’ photograph that, for generations, has been the image of the Great Depression: an economic cataclysm distilled in one frame. But the story behind the picture tells a slightly different, equally fascinating tale.

(see more here)

A LiveStreamers Guide by AJwatchDC

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:29:47 -0500

I wear many hats, but perhaps my newest is as a LiveStreamer. Turning on my phone and broadcasting breaking news live on the internet has garnered me minor name recognition.

But really, anyone could do it. All you need is a 3g or 4g internet connection, a smartphone with a decent camera and some basic journalism skills.

First you need to download the UStream application on your smartphone, search for it in the Android or the Iphone market. Then set up an account at Ustream.com so you can sign in from your phone. This will allow you to broadcast from your channel.

Once that’s done all you have to to do is bring up the app on your phone and press the button that says go live. As long as you have a 3g or 4g connection or are on wifi you’ll be able to shoot live video from your phone.

Now that you’re live, you’ll have to make a decision, do you want to be a journalist or do you want to be an activist? If you want to be an activist, then do whatever the hell you want - interact with the crowd, chant, yell at people, tell the audience your beliefs, whatever. But if you want to be taken seriously as a documenter of the events be careful what you do, don’t embarrass yourself by getting caught up in the heat of the moment. Stay composed and be as objective as possible.

You’re going to want to provide context as soon as you turn the camera on. Where are you (shoot a picture of street signs if you can) who and what is around you (get a broad shot of the crowd or the scene around the subjects) why are you there (protesters have gathered to express their frustration with the government) history of the scene (have any events happened prior to you turning on the camera that the viewers should know about?) Context will most likely come from your descriptions. Your descriptions should compliment the images your broadcasting. An easy way to remember this is pretend your the play-by-play guy and the analyst of a live sporting event.

Once you provide context, go to where the most interesting action is happening. As you’re moving, your camera will shake so try to be as steady as possible, there are people on the other end trying to watch your video. Once you’re there, describe immediately what’s going on as objectively as possible. Even if you are supporting the action unfolding in front of you, realize there may be just as many people who don’t.

Your job is not to decide which side is right, but to document the events as accurately as possible.

If the action begins to dull, make your way around the scene to film striking images or gather interviews. Don’t hesitate to ask people if they’d be interested in doing an interview. If they decline, walk away, respect their right to privacy, you will get turned down. But often times people are willing to talk on the Livestream. If you get an interview, immediately think about your audio. If there’s a lot of background noise, consider moving your subject away from the action so your home audience can hear the subject clearly.

Ask them basic questions at first, Why are you here? Can you provide me with some context of what’s going on? Has anybody been hurt? Where are you from? And then more nuanced questions if you feel they are interesting and informed about the events unfolding.

If you find a subject that is a leader of the group, ask more pointed questions. For example, your average police officer will not speak to a livestreamer. However a commanding officer or public information officer will if you ask politely and ask appropriate questions. The key here is to stick with questions they’re comfortable with at first, keep opinions out. How many people were arrested? How serious were their injuries? Were are the arrested protesters being brought?

Throughout your broadcasts you’re going to want to update your viewers on context as new viewers start to watch. If you see your view count jump from 100 to 200 an hour in, that means 100 viewers are not aware of all the details of what’s happening, clue them in.

If you’re bored by what you’re broadcasting, then so are your viewers. Many times I’ll see livestreamers broadcasting boring stuff. If you want to be the CSPAN of livestreaming, more power to you. But really this medium works best, as far as I can tell, with breaking news. It has primarily been used to document mass arrests and large protests, but I can see it also being very valuable documenting the aftermath of natural disasters and war.

Other than that, just use your judgment. Would other people care to see this? If the answer is yes, then pull out your phone and start broadcasting. There’s no right or wrong way to Livestream. It’s a new technology and we’re all trying to figure out how best use it.

Mortgage-Backed Securities Making A Comeback, Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:47:00 -0500

The New York Times’ finance-loving Dealbook section ran a disheartening piece on Saturday. Not because there was anything wrong with the article, but because it noted mortgage-backed securities were becoming attractive investment opportunities again on Wall Street.

In case you don’t remember, these were the same securities that nearly brought the economy to its knees in 07/08. So why would investors want to go back to them?

According to the NYT:

The attraction is the price. Some mortgage bonds are so cheap that even in the worst forecasts, with home prices falling as much as 10 percent and foreclosures rising, investors say they can still make money.

This how it all started in the mid-90s. Wall Street bankers looking for new, secure revenue streams found they could package up home loans based on risk and sell them as a security. The interest on the loan would be the allure for the long-term buyer. The best loans in a mortgage-backed security (represented in the above picture as Sr. Secured) could in theory yield higher returns than a treasury bond, with just a bit more risk.

However, the idea rested on strong loan underwriting standards and increasing home values. When both sank, the loans went with them and brought down the mortgage-backed securities.

We already know we can no longer trust investors to do the right thing. They’re only in it for the money. This time we need to make sure they’re not packaging up crappy home loans, otherwise we’re just in for another crisis.

Paging Richard Cordray and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, please keep your eyes open.