via [ Max Blumenthal ] IDF Releases Apparently Doctored Flotilla Audio; Press Reports As Fact

(original video - released by the IDF on May 31)

(doctored video - released on June 4)

Thomas International

via [ The Hindu ]

In this photo taken on Saturday, former South Africa president Nelson Mandela is reunited with The Elders, three years after he launched the group, in Johannesburg. Photo: AP

“The Elders have condemned the reported killing by Israeli forces of more than a dozen people who were attempting to deliver relief supplies to the Gaza Strip by sea,” the 12—member group said in a statement issued in Johannesburg, where it met over the weekend.

The group, which was launched by Mr. Mandela on his birthday in 2007 to try to solve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, called for a “full investigation” of the incident and urged the UN Security Council “to debate the situation with a view to mandating action to end the closure of the Gaza Strip.” “This tragic incident should draw the world’s attention to the terrible suffering of Gaza’s 1.5 million people, half of whom are children under the age of 18,” the group said.

Israel’s three—year blockade of Gaza was not only “one of the world’s greatest human rights violations” and “illegal” under international law, it was also “counterproductive” because it empowered extremists in the Palestinian territory, they said.

The Elders includes six Nobel peace prize winners — former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, former US president Jimmy Carter, detained Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Mr. Mandela and Tutu.

Thomas International

Thoughts:

via Paul Kane from comments [ The Messenger ]

This was a bloody slaughter, a bloody slaughter with global implications for the relationship between each of us and our goverment, for the utter bloody impunity of government.

via [ Matthew Yglesias ]

Gaza doesn’t contain nearly enough arable land to support the Strip’s population as subsistence farmers. Which of course is true of many other places on earth. But the effect of the embargo is to make meaningful commercial activity in Gaza nearly impossible, pushing living standards down to what would be a below-subsistence level were it not for the trickle of aid that flows in. The Hamas authorities exercise some fairly rough justice over the area, extremist groups burn down summer camps and Israel launches airstrikes periodically sometimes injuring dozens sometimes hurting no one. The overall situation is incredibly bleak. Construction supplies aren’t allowed into the area, so it’s been impossible to rebuild since the war there from a couple of years back, and all the physical infrastructure is just degrading over time.

via Steve Clemons of [ The Washington Note ]

From a distance, what seems to be happening is that Israel is ratcheting up its test of what it can do in the confines of the US-Israel relationship. It is testing to see whether there exist any limits or conditionality on Israeli behavior at all. Israel believes that the Obama team is weak — and is pushing aggressively to compel the US to tolerate anything the State of Israel does as a signal to the rest of the Middle East that is itself clamoring for any sign that the Obama administration is willing to put some muscle and substantive action behind the President’s Cairo speech and other comments to the governments and people in the Arab world.

The flotilla may have been populated by peace activists who really did want to get humanitarian supplies to Gaza — but the leadership of this flotilla was trying to expose the “false choice” contradiction that the US and other powers were making between Israel’s interests and the interests of the rest of the Middle East.

This was a strategic flotilla — designed to elicit exactly the response that Israel gave. This flotilla knew which button to push to animate Israel’s military response. It is not dissimilar from what al Qaeda did by attacking New York and Washington and drawing the US military to intervene in the Middle East.

Israel, like the United States, showed itself incapable of nuance and of outmaneuvering this flotilla by resorting to means that would not have helped the activists succeed in their objectives. At the Doha Forum, I am speaking to Arabs, Jews and Christians who represent senior governmental and non-governmental organizations in their home countries — and no one here that I have found thinks that the Israeli government responded to the flotilla sensibly — even if one buys the argument that the blockade of Gaza is justified.

The U.S. really can’t afford to make the choice of Israel over the Arab world. There will be enormous geopolitical and geoeconomic consequences if it does

Thomas International, Misc

via [ Harvard Ethics Course ] By Michael Sandel

About Justice:

Justice is one of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history.  Nearly one thousand students pack Harvard’s historic Sanders Theatre to hear Professor Sandel talk about justice, equality, democracy, and citizenship. Now it’s your turn to take the same journey in moral reflection that has captivated more than 14,000 students, as Harvard opens its classroom to the world.

This course aims to help viewers become more critically minded thinkers about the moral decisions we all face in our everyday lives.

In this 12-part series, Sandel challenges us with difficult moral dilemmas and asks our opinion about the right thing to do.

He then asks us to examine our answers in the light of new scenarios.  The result is often surprising, revealing that important moral questions are never black and white.

Sorting out these contradictions sharpens our own moral convictions and gives us the moral clarity to better understand the opposing views we confront in a democracy.

Thomas Misc, Politics, What I am Looking at

Israeli forces have attacked aid ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza. Commandos lowered themselves from helicopters and onto the Mavi Marmara - the lead ship in a flotilla of six vessels which are carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory

Thomas International

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you and to the World, the Local Governing body serving host to the most contaminated region on the Great Lakes, the East Chicago Common Council. This “Area of Concern” (AOC) is home to BP (the largest In-land Oil refinery), and ArcelorMittal (the largest integrated steelmill).

“Re-Circumventing the Wheel” was probably the most understated quote to come out of the council meeting last night. Someone asked if it was greek or just the result of overexposure to industrial toxins. Only the future will tell if it was dyslexia, brilliance or prophecy that spoke this night. Being known for my own afflictions, I don’t disparage from whence culture springs.

East Chicago politics can be great theater, but in this greek tragedy who is who is never apparent - and that goes for the identity of the audience as well. Heck, I’ve seen all sort of people attracted to this show. The best hands dealt in this play are generally the invisible hands.

In light of a recent federal indictment of the Mayor, the council has put on its training wheels and is attempting to do something it has never done, nor is it prepared to do - city business.

With hoots and hollers the “Good Guys” in this chamber had the audience enthralled. The political theater taking place on this stage is only a lagging indicator of the decades of highly capitalized turmoil and degradation. As this community has learned there is certainly enough culpability to go around. Money always finds a taker.

From my position in the audience last evening, there were none of the virtuous thumping of chests we witnessed 5-years ago during the “Copeland (CIA), Pabey, and Medina era of reform.” HOPE-fully that era has passed. This council was much more sedate. They were practically as afraid of the roles they were forced to take, as they were unprepared to take them. Still, they are heroes in our hearts for trying. Every attempt at righteous indignation and bandstanding awakened awkward and painful attention.

The gilded performer at the center of this stage was Attorney Joseph Allegretti - the former attorney of the Common Council, who returned this week, among gasps, representing the indicted Mayor. His performance was an astonishing unselfish offering of truth and guidance. In uncharacteristic thuggish fashion and stature, he was a Man prepared to play a role - Oh, how I envy playing the bad guy. And when our supporting characters on the council stage lost focus, it was the legendary Allegretti who brought them back on script.

This community brought to you by

The “Good Government” people at the bottom of the American Promise

Thomas East Chicago Portrait Series, Local

Sometimes it takes a disaster like the Earth Day Disaster to realize our hometowns and our future have been colonized.

Thomas East Chicago Portrait Series, Economics, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure, Politics

THE MONEY IS FLOWING AGAIN IN E.C. POLITICS

Yesterday, I produced some campaign literature for our precinct committeewoman.

Hopefully, I’ve been successful in communicating how contentious politics can get here. This year’s off-cycle election is especially interesting. Besides a few important county wide offices, this election will be remembered for the East Chicago committee person races. Everyone is expecting our Mayor, the Honorable George Pabey, to be found guilty sometime this summer, which would mean that the precinct committee people will appoint the next Mayor. So everyone is either getting into a race or trying to stack the races. Pabey is trying to stack the precincts with people loyal to him as is Hammond Mayor John McDermott and Mayoral hopefuls John Aguilera and Anthony Copeland.

<Interesting fact>

The Federal Prosecutors Office has had a central roll in initiating the last three changes in power here in East Chicago. Why such intense interest at the Federal level? Could the largest inland oil refinery and steel mills in the country have anything to do with that?

I wonder if this is how Oil and Steel get to vote in local politics?

- Just Asking

</Interesting fact>

Thomas Local

via [ Post-Trib ]

Save the Dunes executive director Tom Anderson resigns after 20 years with the organization

Thomas Environment, Regional

Out of “left field” or handing his seat to the “right”?

via [ NWI Times ]

Thomas National

via [ NWI Times ]

EAST CHICAGO | Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. is pushing to remove East Chicago Mayor George Pabey from his leadership of the citys Democratic precinct organization in the wake of Pabeys indictment on a public corruption charge.

McDermott, the Lake County Democratic chairman, said Tuesday morning, “I hope Mayor Pabey will step down. This is an important election cycle for Democrats, and George Pabey has bigger problems on his plate. He needs to worry about the criminal charges pending against him and voluntarily step aside.”

Damian Rico, a spokesman for Pabey, said Tuesday that Pabey didnt have an immediate response to McDermotts call to step down, saying it was the first he had heard of it.

“He hasnt had any communication with Tom McDermott. He doesnt feel comfortable commenting on that,” Rico said.

Political insiders sympathetic to Pabey, called McDermotts gambit a political power grab. McDermott and Pabey have been at odds for months. The two most recently backed rival candidates for county recorder, with McDermotts candidate, Michelle Fajman, winning over East Chicago City Councilwoman Myrna Maldonado, who Pabey had endorsed.

Read more…

Thomas Local

There is a lot to celebrate today.

via [ WBEZ - Chicago Public Radio ] Michael Puente

via [ NWI Times ] East Chicago Mayor George Pabey indicted

East Chicago Mayor George Pabey and an employee of the city’s engineering department have been indicted in Hammond federal court on criminal charges they conspired to use city property and services in a home that Pabey purchased in Gary’s Miller Beach neighborhood.

The four count indictment was announced Wednesday afternoon, and names the 59-year-old Pabey and Jose Angel Camacho, a 52-year-old supervisor in the city’s engineering department who is currently assigned to the East Chicago Marina.

Pabey and Camacho are expected to surrender and appear Thursday for an initial appearance in Hammond federal court.

“This is another indictment in the ongoing federal effort to investigate public corruption,” U.S. Attorney David Capp said. “Our office will continue to investigate allegations of corruption and we will follow the evidence wherever it leads.”

East Chicago spokesman Damian Rico said city officials wouldn’t comment Wednesday, and that Pabey would issue a statement mid-day Thursday.

Federal prosecutors allege that between October 2007 and August 2008 Pabey and Camacho conspired to use city employees and money to remodel and renovate the Gary home that Pabey owns at 8530 Locust Avenue.

Specifically, Pabey and Camacho used East Chicago employees to pour concrete, paint and complete general home improvements at the Locust Avenue house.

While performing the work, employees were paid by the City of East Chicago.

The indictment also alleges that Camacho used an engineering department account to purchase items for the Miller Beach residence, including bathtub fixtures, a 40-gallon gas heater and doors.

The purchases were billed to and paid for by the city, and East Chicago employees installed the items in the Miller Beach residence, prosecutors allege.

According to the indictment, Camacho later attempted to interfere with witnesses, and approached a city employee who worked at the Miller residence, telling them to investigators about his work at the home. Count 4 of the indictment alleges that Camacho approached another city employee and told that employee not to tell investigators anything about having worked at the Miller residence.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of any property considered proceeds from the alleged criminal activity.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General.

More to come?

Thomas Local

There is not doubt I tend to conflate the political economy on the southern shores of Lake Michigan with Israel’s occupation & settlement of Palestinian land. Granted there are significant limits to this comparison. Yet, it is clear the concentration of negative externalities attributable to our nation’s heavy industrial base seriously impairs our fence line communities and is very much a scar on the values of Democracy we hold dear. Simply put, Democracy does not exist here.

Existing Conditions:

• Arguably the most polluted waters in the country - the Indiana Harbor Shipping Canal (IHSC): The only waterway to fail all beneficial uses.
  • Joerse Beach: most contaminated beach in the Great Lakes and third most in the country.
• Arguably the most polluted air-shed in the country - Lake county indiana’s air-shed ranks as the 9th most polluted in the country (of 3140 counties) with the sources of pollution attributed to the three big industries concentrated on East Chicago’s lakefront - BP, Mittal Steel, and U.S. Steel.
• A Gated Industrial Community with >80% of East Chicago’s land-use is dedicated to heavy industry - ~50% of these industrial lands are out of productive use and considered contaminated, e.g., brownfields
  • 14% of East Chicago’s land-use is dedicated Residential - ~17% of these residential properties are apart of a superfund site.

When I look at the impact our nation’s heavy industrial base has had on the local populations, culture, land, air, water and biology in my community, I see a misapplication of rights and justice - environmental justice. This prompts me to identify the problems with the fragmented pattern of land use, populations, and the expression of political will seen in the mapping of Palestinian lands.

From the [ American Friends Service Committee ]

via [ Matthew Yglesias ]

One of the lessons I took away from the Carter controversy was that the use of the term “apartheid” seems to shut down people’s critical faculties and make them defensive. So I generally prefer to set it aside. The point is that there’s a political system in the West Bank where the Jewish residents have the right to vote, have privileged access to water, have exclusive access to some roadways, have privileged rights to travel, etc., none of which are shared by the non-Jewish residents. You can call it what you like, but it’s not democracy.

Thomas International

via [ Matthew Yglesias ]

Thomas National

via [ NY Times ] “Guantanamo Reunion, by Way of BBC” by Brian Stelter

New to Facebook, Brandon Neely was searching the site for acquaintances in 2008 when he typed in the names of some of the detainees he had guarded during his tenure as a prison guard at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Captor and Captives Meet Post Guantánamo - NYTimes.com.

Thomas International

via [ Democracy Now ]

Thomas International

From what I can gather from Frontline’s documentary is that the Afghanistan War is as much about managing agrarian market forces as it is about battling an insurgency. A problem I see is in this short piece is that America is once again relying solely on forces trained to deliver and manage overwhelming violence. Granted they are trying to put on their best face for the local farmers, but it is not ringing true.

This may sound ridiculous, but it appears to me that America would be more effective if it relied more on cultural agents that were similar to the small Afghan farmers and villagers - a kind of peace corp. I realize America has classified this region as a war zone, but for locals it is home, and to a certain extent life goes on normally, so it ought not to be crazy to suggest using a normalizing force that they can identify with and gain trust in more quickly.

America is a complex culture. It has many people and farmers with similar lifestyles as these people. I suggest sending in a peaceful force of agrarian faiths including Muslims. The Mennonite Central Committee immediately comes to mind, and there are many more organizations doing similar work. Many of these groups have been doing this kind of work for decades throughout the world. I am thinking of the Mennonites because central to their faith is the doctrine of pacifism. In areas of conflict this makes them honest agents of good faith. They are also known to build relationships through concrete hands-on work to address basic human needs such as water and food supply.

Thomas International, National

Steve Clemen’s article is about the best articulated piece I’ve read today on Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama’s ‘unclenched fist’ won the prize

Cynics will say that Oslo was jealous that Copenhagen, Denmark, scored a visit from President Obama, and giving him a Nobel was the only way to get him to Norway.

But the Nobel Committee’s decision to make Obama the only sitting U.S. president since Woodrow Wilson to receive the Nobel Peace Prize shows the committee’s clear-headed assessment that Obama’s “unclenched fist” approach to dealing with the world’s most thuggish leaders has had a constructive, systemic impact on the world’s expectations of itself.

Obama has helped citizens all around the world — including in the United States — to want a world beyond the mess we have today in the Middle East and South Asia. They want a world where America is benign and positive, and where other leaders help in supporting the struggles of their people for better lives rather than securing themselves through crude power.

Commentary: Obama’s ‘unclenched fist’ won the prize - CNN.com.

Ruffled Feathers
I went looking for a media clip that treated Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize as news and not something to spin suspicion, or asked if he deserved it. I had to resort to a foreign news outlet - ITN news out of the UK.

Thomas International

[ Ameristar ]

This post is mostly for local consumption as they are well aware of the issues surrounding Casino Funds. Like many, I am not an advocate for casinos, but surprisingly the success of the entertainment and gaming market in East Chicago is a clear indication that East Chicago is a viable host for markets other than heavy industry.

At Issue: Where Casino Funds are committed

Background: At the time the gaming application was being drafted the community, viewing the political establishment as corrupt, were unwilling to approve a gaming permit in East Chicago if local politicians had total control over the funds. Thus the creation of a not-for-profit foundation was included in the agreement. Today Mayor Pabey is seeking total control over casino funds, and spending millions of dollars on Republican lawyers to do so.

A) State law applies to all cities with gaming and commits:

1. 5% of gaming taxes to be paid to the City
2. a “head tax” of $1.00 for each boat visitor to be paid to the City

B) The final agreement negotiated with the gaming operator over and beyond state statue commits:

1. the gamer to pay an additional 1% gaming revenue to the City
2. the gamer to pay an additional 2% gaming revenue to two non-profit foundations known as the Foundations of East Chicago (FEC)
3. the gamer to pay an additional 1% gaming revenue to Second Century Corp, a for-profit org.

.

On August 27, 2009 the NWI Times ran this editorial.

OUR OPINION: GIVE EAST CHICAGO THE SAME KIND OF ARRANGEMENT OTHER CASINO HOST CITIES HAVE INSTEAD OF DIVERTING MUCH OF THE REVENUE TO THE NONPROFIT FOUNDATIONS OF EAST CHICAGO AND THE FOR-PROFIT SECOND CENTURY CORP

For the vast majority of the Time’s audience, on first blush, this argument appears to be common sense. But for those who are well aware of East Chicago politics, they can see plainly how the Times is manufacturing public opinion around the taking of community focused funds from this enormously impoverished community. In the editorial the Times employs a rhetorical slight of hand switching “A” with “B” (from above) and expecting their average reader not to know the difference. The following is my response to the above editorial. It was sent to the Times as a Letter-to-the-editor. Doug Ross, the Times editorial page editor, requested I revise the letter down to 200 words, which I did. The letter was never published, so I’m publishing here.

Your editorial concerning the East Chicago gaming funds is counterfactual to the evidence you present and the conclusions you make.

You acknowledge that “Each Hoosier city hosting a casino has its own agreement for how the city should benefit from the casino,” It then follows that each city has a “unique” agreement through which casinos enter into to provide more than the taxes they are required. The amounts and the manner in which Indiana casinos have agreed to pay beyond their statutory share vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and just as important, those amounts may be paid directly to charitable organizations or to governmental organizations. In East Chicago, the casino pays its agreed amounts both to the City and private organizations, as is the case in several other Indiana gaming jurisdictions.

It is not unusual for businesses to set up non-profit organizations for distributing charitable contributions. In fact the RDA is based on the same model as the foundations of East Chicago. Both are non-profit organizations funded by casino funds. The difference is the Foundations of East Chicago distributes their funds within the community the casino resides, while the RDA redistributes their funds throughout the region.

Additionally, you fail to acknowledge your own critical editorial entitled “Mayor Pabey, tear down that wall of secrecy,” 3/22/09, where you draw attention to the City’s lack of public disclosure of information, to the community or the press. Similarly, members of the Common Council have not received information, and have resorted to lawsuits.

This situation merits a comparison between the foundations of East Chicago and the city on how casino funds have been managed and spent. Contrary to the Foundation of East Chicago, which has held several open public meetings attended by more than 200 residents to plan out the use of their funds, the city has never held such a meeting. And upon review of receipts of city casino funds, attained through Indiana Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request by the Indiana State Gaming Commission, reveals many questionable expenditures including but not limited to a $20,000 legal settlement by the law department, headed by the Mayor’s cousin, Carmen Fernandez, to the Mayor’s other cousin William Pabey for pleading guilty of theft at the casino.

I would like to believe the NWI Time’s editorial staff is capable of coming to conclusions that are consistent and supported by evidence they present.

<End Notes>
45% of the casino was originally owned by a group of investors called Waterfront Entertainment and Development Inc. This group had 13 original investors, including Mayor Pabey. Article

Additionally, the State Board of Account’s 2005 Annual Financial Review of the City of East Chicago cites the Pabey Administration for spending $1.5 million in gaming funds without budget approval (page 48). (900k pdf) - View Document

“Upon review of expenditures from both funds, amounts were being spent prior to the budgets being approved. As of October 31 2005, $9,832,551 was spent from the Gaming Special Revenue Fund. At this date, the City has an appropriation in the amount of $5,000,000, and had prior year encumbrances totaling $3,292,088; thus, the City had spent $1,540,463 over what had been appropriated to that date.

Indiana Code 36-4-8-2 states in part:
“Money may be paid out of the city treasury only on warrant of the city fiscal officer. Unless a statue provides otherwise, the fiscal officer may draw a warrent against a fund of the city only if:

(1) an appropriation has been made for that purpose and the appropriation is not exhausted;…”

</End Notes>

Thomas East Chicago, Local

Lawrence Wilkerson looks at Shirley Anne Warshaw’s new book The Co-Presidency of Bush and Cheney. This is a comprehensive rendering of the Cheney’s evisceration of the country’s regulatory system, where my Governor, Mitch Daniel’s appears in a supporting role and referred to as ”Dick Cheney’s Dick Cheney.”  This portrait gives the moniker “My Man Mitch” a whole new meaning.

via [ The Washington Note ]

Whether oil, gas, forestry, mining, fisheries, national parks, clean air, pharmaceuticals, food, endangered species - you name it - Cheney was the kingpin in the dismantling of relevant oversight and regulation.

Cheney managed this principally by putting into the regulatory or oversight positions within the executive branch of our government, people who either hailed from long service in the industry or field they were overseeing or regulating, or who had lobbied for that industry or field for long years, or a combination of the two.

Not content to have CEQ, EPA, the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Interior at his beck and call, Cheney went after the real seat of executive power - the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The OMB was the ultimate reviewer of all proposed regulatory changes. Its director, Mitch Daniels, as Warshaw points out, was referred to as “Dick Cheney’s Dick Cheney.” Daniels, coming from the huge pharmaceutical company Eli Lily, knew big business. Sean O’Keefe, another Cheney man, was OMB’s deputy. And with John Graham and, later, Susan Dudley in the key regulatory positions at OMB, Cheney had a winning hand. Graham at Harvard and Dudley at George Mason University had both made names in risk management analysis concerning industrial pollution and corporate malfeasance that were shamefully full of holes but extremely pro-business.

In the case of Dudley, the analyses were underwritten by such sponsors as ExxonMobil and BP Amoco. From their positions in OMB’s office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Graham and Dudley gave Cheney the ultimate power to oversee and check if necessary almost everyone in the bureaucracy concerned with regulation-writing.

The Washington Note

A Local Impact
National policies are not abstractions when your community sits on the worlds greatest fresh water resource managed by several international treaties and is the home to three of the largest, wealthiest, and to a measurable degree dirtiest multinational industries; BP, ArcelorMittal, and US Steel. This is how policies have location with real effects. The legacy of Cheney’s energy task force and environmental policies continue today unopposed, and this has a real negative effect for East Chicago.

East Chicago is the site of BP’s Canadian Crude project. The BP project is GROUND ZERO for concentrating highly negative environmental impacts in a poor minority community while directing benefits elsewhere.

Recently BP convened the “Good Government Initiative,” essentially cutting-off political opposition to there project while simultaneously walking behind the public process to extract a tax abatement from East Chicago without a single public hearing. BP also effectively pushed through a flawed NPDES permit without a single political eyebrow raised, editorial written, or an environmental group objecting in Indiana. Instead of calling foul regional leaders, including the regional news paper - NWI Times, rallied behind BP against out-of-state opposition, by citing the bad environmental stewardship of others.

Thomas National, State