Year: 2009

30 Pro-Rape Republican Senators

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Senator Al Franken (damn, that sounds good) just passed a motion through the Senate banning federal funds to defense contractors who use mandatory arbitration to keep sexual assault victims out of court.

Good for him, and bad for the 30 Senators, all Republicans, who voted against it, Senators Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Kyl (R-AZ), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), and Wicker (R-MS) .

His statement is below.

Franken’s Proposal To Guarantee Sexual Assault Victims Their Day In Court

By 68 – 30, Amendment Offered in Honor of former KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones Passes the Senate

Washington, D.C. [Oct 6, 2009] – Today, the amendment offered by U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to stop funding defense contractors who deny assault victims their day in court passed the United States Senate by a vote of 68 – 30

Last Thursday, Sen. Franken introduced an amendment (S.2588) to the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill that would restrict funding to defense contractors who commit employees to mandatory binding arbitration in the case of sexual assault. The legislation, endorsed by 61 women’s, labor and public interest groups, was inspired by the story of Jamie Leigh Jones, who watched the vote from the Senate gallery today.

Jones was a 19-yr-old employee of defense contractor KBR (formerly a Halliburton subsidiary) stationed in Iraq who was gang raped by her co-workers and imprisoned in a shipping container when she tried to report the crime. Her father and U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.), worked together to secure her safe return to the United States, but once she was home, she learned a fine-print clause in her KBR contract banned her from taking her case to court, instead forcing her into an “arbitration” process that would be run by KBR itself. Just today, Halliburton filed a petition for a rehearing en banc in the 5th Circuit Court, which means that Jamie’s fight is far from over.

“I’m proud of what we accomplished today,” said Sen. Franken. “Victims of sexual assault deserve their day in court and no corporation should be able to deny them that right. Jamie’s courage in telling her story will help women all over this country and I’m honored to have been a part of that.”

“I am highly honored that Senator Franken and his wife have created this amendment to ensure that others do not have to endure the suffering that I have,” said Jones. “This amendment makes all the hard times that I have gone through, when going public with such a personal tragedy, worth every tear shed from telling and retelling my horrific experience. I know this amendment will save so many in the future.”

Specifically, Sen. Franken’s amendment:

  • Does not require contractors to change or modify existing employment contracts. It only bars funds to contractors who continue to use these mandatory arbitration clauses in their employment contracts.
  • Narrowly targets the most egregious violations and applies to defense contracts, many of which are administered abroad, where women are the most vulnerable and least likely to have support resources. The amendment will apply to many contractors that have already demonstrated their incompetence in efficiently carrying out defense contracts, and have further demonstrated their unwillingness and their inability to protect women from sexual assault.
  • Applies to claims arising out of sexual assault, like assault & battery (including rape), intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, as well as Title VII civil rights claims, which were specifically designed to protect vulnerable groups in the workplace.

Leading Minnesota and national organizations who have endorsed Sen. Franken’s amendment include the Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Sexual Violence Center, Minnesota NOW, Advocates for Human Rights, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, the National Women’s Law Center, the National Partnership for Women and Families, the American Association of University Women, the National Council of La Raza, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and the Consumer Federation of America. A full list of the 61 endorsing organizations is attached.

“Sexual violence is about a person trying to exercise power and control over another person through unwanted sexual contact and violence,” said Pam Zeller, Executive Director of the Sexual Violence Center. “In arbitration the intent is to arrive at an agreement. This agreement does not have to be equitable in order to be resolved. It is also not intended to resolve a criminal matter. Sexual harassment and sexual violence inherently have an imbalance of power. Submitting a victim of sexual harassment, or sexual assault, to a process of arbitration is a revictimization of the victim, and minimizes the seriousness of the crime of sexual assault. The proposed amendment by Senator Franken will protect victims of sexual harassment and sexual violence from being revictimized through the arbitration process.”

“This amendment reflects a critically important step in safeguarding the rights of those who have experienced discrimination in the form of sexual violence, harassment, and stalking,” said Donna Dunn, Executive Director of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault. “We know that justice for victims of violence often seems elusive. It is very important that each person have the right to assess and choose the options that they believe best fit their needs. This amendment is a giant step in that direction.”

“No survivor of sexual assault should be denied the ability to seek justice,” said Terri Poore, Policy Chair of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. “Asking a victim to enter into arbitration with someone who raped her or a company that wouldn’t protect her is outrageous and sends a clear message that such violence is simply not taken seriously.”

Minnesota Organizations Endorsing the Franken Amendment (SA 2588)

–snip–

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And People Pile on Berlusconi

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With Members of the European Parliament calling for sanctions against Italy over media consolidation in Italy:

Mr Berlusconi owns three commercial broadcasters, has indirect control over three public channels and owns a series of magazines, newspapers and radio stations as well as the country’s largest publishing house. His advertising firm controls much of the advertising sales in Italy, allowing his reach to extend to media beyond his direct control.

The MEPs say this has created a climate of media intimidation where journalists are fired for stepping out of line while others self-censor to hold onto their jobs. Key posts in the media are based on an individual being sufficiently deferential to the current administration, critics allege.

It would be nice if some action comes from this.

As bad as the MSM is in the United States, the idea of a political candidate controlling all the TV and cable outlets in a country is a scary thing.

The vote, which passed 268 – 284, is merely to start an inquiry, but it’s a good thing.

I think that what is going on with Berlusconi here is very similar to what was done with Pablo Escobar: You peel away at layers of protection, and eventually, pretty much all at once, the house of cards collapses, and you take the crook down.

The Generator’s Gone

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An amusing story about network management, right out of John Carpenter’s 1982 version of The Thing.*

It appears that there was a small bit of civil unrest, and a client lost connectivity, and they were unable to contact the client for some time.

When they finally managed to get an engineer over to reboot the network, the network was gone…as in GONE…the copper taken by looters, stripped right out of the walls.

The pertinent quote from the movie:

Garry: The generator’s gone.
MacReady: Any way we can we fix it?
Garry: It’s “gone”, MacReady.

Just go read it, it’s funny.

*Except, of course for that whole human replica producing alien thing, of course.

Court Strikes Down Berlusconi Immunity Law

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This is good news, and a the ruling by Italian Constitutional Court is a victory for the rule of law:

In 2003, Mr. Berlusconi first attempted to erect a legal shield for top officials including the sitting prime minister, the president and the heads of the lower and upper houses of Parliament, during their term in office. The law was swiftly struck down by the Constitutional Court, which argued that the law unfairly placed officials above the law. The new immunity law was introduced in the spring of 2008, but prosecutors quickly filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

And it has now been similarly been ruled unconstitutional.

This law was all about keeping Berlusconi out of jail, and the courts correctly ruled that it was an affront to justice.

Perhaps Obama and Holder should consider looking at the reasoning of the

Economics Update (Catching Up)

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Click for full size


Unemployment Claims, Courtesy Calculated Risk


Consumer Credit, Courtesy of EconomPic


Office Vacancies, Courtesy Calculated Risk


Office Investment, Courtesy Calculated Risk


Strip Mall Vacancies, Courtesy Calculated Risk

So, we have some news on the unemployment front, with new unemployment claims falling to 521,000, a 33,000 drop, with the 4 week moving average falling 9K to 539,750, and continuing claims falling by 72K to 6.04 million.

We also have some good news from Australia has become the first G-20 central bank to raise its benchmark rate, by 25 basis points (¼%) to 3.25%.

My guess is that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) is premature in this action, as is generally the case with first movers coming out of a recession, but it means that the next central bank will likely be correct, or at least less wrong, as the second movers, such as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, who both kept their rates unchanged, generally are in such things.

Still, 3¼% is pretty damn low by historical standards.

It could be that Australia’s rate hike may force other central banks’ hands though, as their rate increase appears to have pushed prices down, and yields up, on US Treasuries.

We also saw retail sales rising for the first time in over a year in September, and the Institute for Supply Management has released its Non Manufacturing Index, which rose to 40.9, up from 48.4 in August, and the first time that it has been above 50, meaning expansion, as opposed to that whole 2nd derivative is positive thing, for the first time in 11 months.

So, it appears that there is some sort of recovery in the works, assuming that something else bad does not happen, like US apartment vacancy rates hitting a 23-year high and rents falling, consumer credit continuing to contract, CRE taking a hit as office vacancies go up as rents go down, along with strip mall vacancies hitting a 17 year high, and wholesale inventories falling in August.

Much of what worries me is real estate, though it has to be said that mortgage applications have risen as the rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage has fallen to 4.87%(!).

It does appear that the good economic news, along with the Australian rate hike, has had an impact on currencies and energy, with oil rising above $71/bbl, and the dollar falling on both an increased risk appetite, and downward pressure from the Aussie rate hike.

As to how much is optimism, and how much is the rate hike, the fact that gold hit a new high, and gold is typically seen as a hedge against uncertainty leaves me inclined to lean toward the pessimistic view, but then again I always lean toward the pessimistic view.

You did WHAT with my investment money?!?11*

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“Saracen pigs! Saxon dogs! Roman cow!!

It’s actually a photo of kingbirds harassing a red-tailed hawk at Bonny Lake State Park in Colorado.

The kingbirds are actually pretty lucky.

If it had been a Falcon, they’d be lunch.

Hawks eat things like rabbits and mice while falcons eat birds, and would have seen the actions of the kingbirds as a smorgasbord.

*H/t Bladesmith at the Stellar Parthenon BBS for the line.

Assault and Buttery

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Farmer sprays milk on policemen as protest

It’s a protest over agricultural prices and price supports at EU HQ in Brussels.

While normally, I would not be interested in this, this rather striking picture, which would surely result in the protester being arrest and taken a-whey.

Needless to say, such behavior must be curded.

I know what you’re saying, “Yogurt yourself! This is udderly unacceptable behavior”

Any other puns, please put in comments.

Be Afraid, Be Very Very Afraid

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Something that it tossed off rather blithely in this article is the fact that under a tax and trade system*, will generate a market of more than $2 trillion, “within five years of trading (starting)”.

When you look at what trading has done to the price of oil, i.e. created increased transaction costs and increased price volatility, and you realize that the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is just $13 trillion a year, this looks like another Wall Street “Masters of the Universe” engineered disaster in the making.

I’m waiting for the CDS (Carbon Default Swap) market to blow up the markets, and I wonder how I hedge myself to profit from it when it happens.

*That is what it really is, after all. It’s taxes which are bought and sold to allow Goldman Sachs to generate fees for trading these permits. Cap and trade is used in order to make it sound like it isn’t a tax, but it’s a tax, only a lot of the proceeds go to Ivy League classmates of Ivy League politicians as sales commissions.

Same as It Ever Was

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Same as it ever was,
same as it ever was,
same as it ever was

Here we go again. The flying monkeys are looking to impeach Barack Obama, with the usual suspects penning an article, titled, “Is it time to whisper the word ‘impeachment’?”

They claim that there is a, “The groundswell of calls for the impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama is growing” but those calls are the voices in their head.

This is what happens to people who believe that God has personally anointed them to rule, and I don’t think that you could drive Tom Delay’s penis between the mental space separating them from Osama bin Laden.

The Problem is the ISI

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So, the Taliban has exploded another car bomb in Kabul.

The target was, here is a shocker, the Indian embassy.

One of the elephants in the room in that part of the world is that the ISI, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, like much of the military and intelligence establishment in that nation, viewed everything through the lens of an eventual all out war with India, and as such has aided, abetted, and directed the Taliban as a client organization.

I’m beginning to think that direct action against certain actors within the ISI might well be warranted…I’m suggesting snatch and grabs, not a Hellfire strike at their headquarters in Islamabad.

I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours

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Pictured in Happier Times

But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find Him laughing.*

Meleanie Hain, who made headlines when she showed up to a kids soccer game with a pistol strapped to her hip, and then filed a 7 figure lawsuit against the sheriff when her carry permit was revoked, has been shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide, along with her husband.

Thankfully, the children, who were in the house, have not been physically injured.

God Bless the 2nd amendment.

*Song Blasphemous Rumors, artist, Depeche Mode.

Charlie Wilson Comes Out Against Charlie Wilson’s War, the Sequel

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You remember Tom Hanks played him, and he allegedly the one who made the Soviet Union’s Afghan war so disastrous.

Well, now, 2 years off a heart transplant, he has something to say about our role in Afghanistan, get out now:

“We (screwed) up the end game,” Mr. Wilson said. “It would have been very easy and done for a minuscule amount of money. We should have done the basic things for a backward country that’s trying to come out of (a war) and have a reasonable hope of economic success.”

As President Obama considers whether to send tens of thousands of more troops to Afghanistan, Mr. Wilson worries that the war could become “another Vietnam.”

“It’s probably best to make a calculated withdrawl,” he said. “If I were the president, I’m not sure what I’d do. I’d probably shut it down, rather than lose a lot of soldiers and treasure.”

He says this as someone who knows as well as anyone just how fierce and tenacious the Afghan fighters are.

“I’d rather take on a chain saw,” Mr. Wilson said. “They’re the world’s best foot soldiers, best warriors. And they’re fearless.

“They’re fearless, and they’ve got nothing to lose. And they have a pretty serious hatred for those who try to occupy their country.”

In a nutshell he explains why Vietnam and Afghanistan are alike. If you are there, and you are an occupier, they will hate you.

Barack Obama should listen, but I think that instead he will listen to general officers who never learned the lesson of Vietnam.

As I have said many times, the US military believes that we lost because the American public turned against the war, when the reality is that the Vietnamese beat us (without winning a single battle, BTW), because nationalism creates unity and self sacrifice against the occupier.

Buy Your Own F$#@ing Stadium, You Bigoted Fat, Dope Fiend, Sex Tourist Puke

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So, it appears that Rush Limbaugh is joining a group of investors who are looking at buying the St. Louis Rams.

You just know that after they buy the team, they will want a new stadium at taxpayer expense.

That’s always the way.

The appropriate response is above.

It should be made clear to whoever whats to partner with him that getting that stadium at taxpayer expense just became a lot harder.

So, We Have Another Reason to Take off a Brassiere

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You know, if I were single, and a teenager, I’d be tempted to ask my date* to remove her bra because I expected a gas attack.

Whatever motivated someone to patent a bra that converts into two gas masks, I’ll never know, but it won them an Ig Nobel prize.

*Just so you know, I really did not have much of a social life in high school, so the prospect of just seeing a bra then was a big deal.