Category Foreign Policy
What They Were Saying: Christmas Remembrances XV
Imagine, if you can, that you have been kidnapped, tortured and have lost more than one family members to murder – possibly at the hands of US forces. You have gone back to work, probably without any mental healthcare (there are only a handful of psychiatrists left in Iraq, as most were killed, kidnapped or fled with their families), and your job brings you into contact with the people you believe are responsible for your experiences.
Can you imagine the mental anguish of that young journalist in that room facing George W Bush?
What They Were Saying: Christmas Remembrances XIV
1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.
2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members did not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefore could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling.
The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members and the press, the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this.~email describing media taking points for Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint on the failed auto bailout
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What They Were Saying: Christmas Remembrances VIII
The Iraq National Library and Archives (INLA) has been demanding the repatriation of all the seized Iraqi records. Its staff is aware that no archival legislation can be enacted without first studying the content of these records. The INLA has been working on several fronts, notably the amendment of current archival legislation so that they can deal extensively with the highly sensitive records of the former regime, the adoption of legal methods to recover all the looted records, and inhibition of the misuse of these records by Iraqis and non-Iraqis, inside and outside the country. The proposed legislation will differentiate sensitive records from non-sensitive ones in terms of access and use. The INLA has already obtained a large portion of the archival collections of the Ministry of Interior of the former regime.
The INLA favors the idea of setting up a special entity for the records of the former regime within its existing structure. It is the only institution that has credibility among the public and scholars alike. Moreover, it can guarantee neutrality and objectivity as well as adherence to an enlightened code of ethics, when dealing with highly sensitive records.
Unlike during the pre-2003 period, the INLA is no longer the ideological tool of a repressive regime. It has transformed beyond recognition so that it can function as the archive of all Iraq and for all Iraqis, regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds or political orientations. The INLA is a secular, liberal, and democratic institution. The policy of decision-making, and the way in which the targets and strategies are being set, are democratized. There is no longer any restriction on accessing records or acquiring new publications. The INLA has been busy declassifying hundreds of historical records, access to which the former regime prohibited.
Public records are the inalienable property of people, especially those who are their subjects. Constructing Iraq’s documentary heritage and ensuring the legitimate use of sensitive records, are the duties of all genuine archivists, true scholars, and honest human right activists, regardless of their nationality, race and religion. The Iraqis hope that the Americans will follow their own example in 2003, when they returned thousands of sensitive records of the agents of the former East German secret service to the German authorities. These records have been used for legitimate purposes ever since their return to Germany ~Dr. Saad Eskander, Iraq National Library and Archive Director on repatriation of INLA materials stolen by the US
What They Were Saying: Nudgers
Yesterday evening I attended a talk by Representative Louis Stokes at the Harvard Law School and sponsored by the Institute of Race and Justice. Representative Stokes was my congressman when I was an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. The Dean of the nursing school taught and led by her example of […]
Daily Constitutional: Rock, Shock and Sock – The Paradigm
U.S. For Sale: The Media Narrative paradigm Scholars & Rogues There are true and utter Originals — paradigm destroyers, and they are rare. Their actual values are priceless, beyond the tens of millions of dollars that are commanded for the most popular [albeit admittedly vibrant, breathing] works. Yes, save the Picassos, but save the Originals, […]
From Good To Great?
Jim Collins writes about leadership, leaders and organizational performance. A few years ago, he authored a well-regarded leadership and management book called From Good to Great which illustrated principles and practices of transformational leaders and their organizations. From my perch, I think that the Obama Administration is on a path toward a great organization with […]
Daily Constitutional: Sensory Overload
I’ve been working on a links heavy post about the latest uncovering of evidence about Bush and Cheney’s torture program. While that’s still percolating, here are some insights, resources and insightful opines from around the toobz: Presidential Prose and Poetry BAGnewsNotes – just look at him!. OpenCongress has 50 key votes by Obama and McCain. […]
Department of Crossed Purposes
From the department of shooting ourselves in the foot: The US is withholding avian flu vaccine to five countries deemed terrorist threats. Since this comes from an untouchable AP story, I won’t quote it. But Revere, the fine public health scientist at Effect Measure goes to town to explain the sheer stupidity: Yet deep inside […]
Code Word, Victory
[UPDATE 10.25.2008] The New York Times provides a look at Palin’s spiritual warfare and the use of code words: What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.” Its adherents believe that demonic forces can […]
Crab's Nest 