Dump Duhbya

Cutting the corruption

Cutting the corruption by Arthur Levitt Jr.

Now

removed from Washington and viewing its problems from the perspective of the private sector, I’ve come to think that our federal

government is plagued by some of the same problems that have been hurting corporate America, primarily a lack of transparency,

accountability and independence. As with many of the disgraced corporations of the past few years — Adelphia, Tyco and WorldCom, for

example — so it is with Congress: Conflicts of interest abound, oversight has been myopic and those given the public’s trust have used

it to enrich themselves. …

[L]awmakers need not look far for an example of how to reform themselves. Just as Congress passed the

Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 to clean up American industry, it should pass similar legislation to clean up American government.

I highly recommend you read the entire piece linked above. These are practical suggestions for cleaning up a

process from someone who has mucked out other stables. mjh

PS: The Albuquerque Journal titled this “Our

Congress Cannot Police Itself” — which is not at all the message of this piece.

NADA - New American Dark Ages

god damn these mean fools

5 States

Consider Bans On Protests at Funerals By Kari Lydersen, Washington Post Staff Writer

At least five Midwestern states are

considering legislation to ban protests at funerals in response to demonstrations by the Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Topeka,

Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church, who have been protesting at funerals of Iraq war casualties because they say the deaths are

God’s punishment for U.S. tolerance toward gays.

Though the soldiers were not gay, the protesters say the deaths, as

well as Hurricane Katrina, recent mining disasters and other tragedies are God’s signs of displeasure. They also protested at the

memorial service for the 12 West Virginia miners who died in the Sago Mine. …

Shirley Phelps-Roper, Phelps’s daughter and an

attorney for the church, said if legislation passes, the group will challenge it in court. “Whatever they do would be unconstitutional,”

she said. “These aren’t private funerals; these are patriotic pep rallies. Our goal is to call America an abomination, to help

the nation connect the dots. You turn this nation over to the fags and our soldiers come home in body bags.“

loco

Old Dog, New Trick?

Did anyone else notice that after wasting his swan song pissing on the blogosphere, Steve Lawrence has a new line (sorry). OK,

The Line on KNME (7pm Fridays) isn’t quite new anymore, and surely not New Media (until it has a podcast — YAWN!).

But

hold on. After Lawrence excoriated bloggers, who joins him on the set: Joe Monahan, one of the few bloggers making money. And what’s

this?! Next week, conservative blogger Mario Burgos will be the guest (what, is Greg Payne afraid to ride the bus after dark? Is Bohnsack

too busy re-writing Pong for Ruby?). And, no, I haven’t overlooked that regular Gene Grant is a blogger (I may be the only person Gene

Grant ever yelled at on his blog — or possibly anywhere). So, is Steve surrounding himself with bloggers to make himself look good by

comparison?

Regular readers would assume I had to be happy that Joe replaced Dimdahl for the week. Surprise! The ever dour, fast-

talking monotone Monahan made me miss the sly Burnsian-smile of Dimdahl, his skin so smooth and hair perfectly white (or are those hairs

transparent, like a polar bear’s?). Though I can’t stand Dimdahl most of the time, I imagine it most be wonderful to sit with Dimmy in

the warming hut aprés ski, drinking wine and passing a fatty; he’s probably brilliant while high.

I’d say we all need to

support these local TV shows, though Kate Nelson’s In Focus at 7:30pm is much better — The Line is the McLaughlin Group for people

under 50. But after my re-education at TheFix, I adhere to Capital

Darwinism which declares “if you can’t make a go of it, sod off, ya wanker!” It’s the profit motive, stupid! mjh

media

A Moment of Silence for Crosswinds Weekly

Crosswinds’ closure puts spotlight on print

media By Sue Vorenberg, Tribune Reporter

“People are reading less and relying less on daily newspapers for news and

information,” [Steve Lawrence] said.

“I think that’s a tragedy. It’s bad for the country. It means we have a

less informed citizenry, and that means we have a less informed democracy.”

When I

wrote last week to argue with Steve Lawrence, editor of Crosswinds Weekly, about his dismal take on blogs, I had no idea he would shut down within days. I never got to see my letter in print! The

lengths people will go to to avoid acknowledging criticism.

And damn! if he wasn’t unrepentant to the bitter end. “Bad

for the country.” Under BushCo, we have no idea how many articles that have appeared in print in respected publications were actually

just ads paid for by Duhbya and Friends. THAT’S bad for the country. Reporters and memoir-writers who casually admit, ‘sure I made that

up’ — THAT’S bad for the country. Media giants buying up and unifying channels of communication — THAT’S bad for the country.

Alternative weeklies folding because advertisers oppose their liberalism — THAT’S bad for the country. Blogs? Blogging makes me read

more than ever, from a wider variety of sources than ever. As a blogger, I’m working hard to be informed and to help others connect to

information (and opinions, it is true).

I will actually miss Crosswinds, as I miss NuCity and others. Crosswinds was often

unabashedly liberal and alternative while, at the same time, a booster of local business — some of which stabbed it in the back. We are

a poorer community without it.

Of course, given Lawrence’s disdain for blogs, I don’t expect it to occur to him that he has an

existing Website (www.crosswindsweekly.com) that needs little advertising to support it. Like Arthur Alpert after Prime Time, Lawrence, Sharon Kayne, Hal Rhodes, et. al., could continue to

write and interact with the community. Surely he doesn’t want his last hurrah to be his silly poke at the blogosphere. What could be

more ironic than to be reborn as one of us! But he has his TV show to play with now (as for me, I couldn’t stay in the same room that

long with Dimdahl without flipping him off; every time Dimdahl spewed “socialist” I would respond with “fascist.”). mjh

PS: Thanks to Lori for the tip. And to Sophie for the link.

Crosswinds’ closure puts spotlight on print

media By Sue Vorenberg, Tribune Reporter

Crosswinds Weekly was a forum for alternative viewpoints around Albuquerque, readers

said, and now it’s gone.

The free alternative paper has closed because it didn’t have enough advertising income to continue,

said Steve Lawrence, Crosswinds editor and publisher.

“There just wasn’t enough support from the business community,” Lawrence

said today. “That’s really the bottom line.”

Crosswinds Weekly hits financial turbulence, ceases

publication Paul Krza, NMBW Staff

[Lawrence] did admit, however, to recently alienating one advertiser with his opinions. In

January, he took restaurateurs Jennifer James and Michael Chesley to task when he expressed support for a hike in the state’s minimum

wage. He noted that in 2004, the paper, in a cover article, had “raved” about James’ food-preparation talent, but when he and other

columnists backed fair-wage campaigns, James’ and Chesley’s Graze restaurant pulled its Crosswinds’ ads.

“I’ve been a journalist for forty years here and in New York City and always believed that journalism should be watchdogs of

government and business,” he says.

In an ironic twist, the demise of Crosswinds was announced in at least three

Albuquerque-connected “blogs,” none with any attribution or words from Lawrence, only days after he had launched an attack on blogging in

what turned out to be his final column for the newspaper.

Sharon Kayne commenting on the DukeCityFix: In fact, our support of the city�s living wage initiative cost us business. Lost revenue did not change our

editorial policy even though we clearly needed the revenue. Occasionally local businesses told us they wouldn�t advertise with us

because we were �too liberal.�

PPS: a note about how news travels. I heard about this via

email from my wife who heard about this in face-time from a co-worker who read about it in, gasp, the paper — the Trib, that is.

Granted, the blogs scooped the papers, as you can see with DukeCityFix on Wed acknowledging the Alibi’s blog from Tues. Poor old MSM caught up 48 hours after the Alibi. But, wait, even a constant blogger like me still

got it second hand via the old dinosaur, paper.

Unlike paper, the blogs give us a place to post our condolences (or cheers), as

you will see at TheFix. Interesting times. mjh

Dump Duhbya

Jack Abramoff’s Meetings with Duhbya

Mr. Abramoff’s Meetings

HERE ARE SOME things we know

about Jack Abramoff and the White House: The disgraced lobbyist raised at least $100,000 for President Bush’s reelection campaign. He

had long-standing ties to Karl Rove, a key presidential adviser. He had extensive dealings with executive branch officials and

departments — one of whom, former procurement chief David H. Safavian, has been charged by federal prosecutors with lying to

investigators about his involvement with Mr. Abramoff.

We also know that Mr. Abramoff is an admitted crook who was willing to

bribe members of Congress and their staffs to get what he (or his clients) wanted. …

Here is what we don’t know about Jack

Abramoff and the White House: whom he met with and what was discussed. Nor, if the White House sticks to its current position, will we

learn that anytime soon. …

Information uncovered by Mr. Bush’s own Justice Department shows that Mr. Abramoff tried to do the

same inside the executive branch.

Under these circumstances, asking about Mr. Abramoff’s White House meetings is no mere exercise

in reportorial curiosity but a legitimate inquiry about what an admitted felon might have been seeking at the highest levels of

government. Whatever White House officials did or didn’t do, there is every reason to believe that Mr. Abramoff was up to no good and

therefore every reason the public ought to know with whom he was meeting.

Photos of Bush With Abramoff Are Withheld by Jim VandeHei and

Susan Schmidt, Washington Post Staff Writers

Several White House officials have been briefed about pictures of President Bush and

Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff taken since 2001 but will not release them on grounds that they are not relevant to the ongoing money-

for-favors investigation, aides said yesterday. …

Abramoff, who recently pleaded guilty in the growing bribery and corruption

scandal, was with Bush about a dozen times when pictures were taken by the official White House photographer or other participants over

the past five years, according to a source familiar with Abramoff’s legal situation. Abramoff, this source said, displayed at least five

of them on his office desk and has told people the president talked about his children’s names as well as personal details about their

schooling during one encounter. …

The source said Abramoff has more than half a dozen photos with Bush, including one of the two

men shaking hands, but has no intention of releasing them. The existence of the Bush-Abramoff photos was first reported by Washingtonian

magazine, which reviewed five photos but was not permitted to publish them. [mjh: WTF?]

Abramoff was no stranger to the Bush White House. He had served as one of Bush’s top fundraisers and assisted the Interior Department

during the president’s transition to power in 2000.

Dump Duhbya

I’m Feeling . . . Surveilled

I’m Feeling . . .

Surveilled By Eugene Robinson

Google is able to know too much, and I guess it’s no surprise that the Bush administration

wants in on the action. The Justice Department’s demand to see an entire week’s worth of Google searches looks to me like an attempt by

the administration to get its foot in the door, and if I’m right, it’s even more of an Orwellian threat than the National Security

Agency’s snooping on phone calls and e-mails. …

When we ask a question of Google, it’s akin to being in the privacy of the

confessional. We lay ourselves bare.

Google is right to resist the Justice Department’s overreaching subpoena. Cyber-privacy is

going to be one of the great issues of the coming years

I wonder if reports are correct that Google

isn’t standing up for freedom against an Imperial President but, rather, trying to protect trade secrets. If the latter is true, Duhbya

should fall over backwards for a corporate friend — oh, but maybe Google doesn’t pay-to-play? mjh

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams