Hillary Did NOT Lie About Bosnia [Updated 6x]

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Sunday March 23, 2008 · 6:58 AM PDT

2008/03/23 · 06:58

How do I know? Well, I don't know for sure. But there is a good scientific explanation for what she said which I believe is more plausible than either that she lied or that she's engaged Walter Mitty-esque romanticization.

What the story told by HRC most resembles to me is what social psychologists and neuroscientists call a false memory or confabulation. These terms refer to an inaccurate memory generated by the human brain which appears completely real to the individual who has it.

Memory research shows that this phenomenon is endemic to the way human memory works. It could happen to anyone selected to be President. It could happen to you. And the chances are that -- at least in a minor fashion -- at some point it has.

For anyone unfamiliar with the story of Hillary's Bosnian escapade, a good place to start is here.

This should not be necessary for me to say, but if it will help anyone take me seriously: I support Obama for the nomination.

plover

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Monday February 12, 2007 · 7:02 PM PST

2007/02/12 · 19:02

Amid riots and military reprisals, union leaders in Guinea (West Africa) are now demanding that the country's dictator, President Lansana Conte, step down after failing to keep his word in the agreement which ended last month's strike.

The strike has been renewed; there have been armed gangs in the streets; offices and villas have been sacked; military troops have fired into crowds. Conte has declared what I've seen variously called a "state of emergency", "martial law", and a "state of siege". According to the BBC, "[u]nder Guinean law, a state of emergency prohibits all public gatherings and imposes a strict curfew, while giving the military expanded powers."

At least 27 and possibly close to 100 people may have already been killed in the renewed violence.

Those unacquainted with Guinea are invited to look here and here (note: loads video).

More on the current situation below the fold.

plover

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Friday January 26, 2007 · 6:06 AM PST

2007/01/26 · 06:06

I wrote yesterday about the ongoing general strike in Guinea (West Africa) in: "It is God who gives power" - Demonstrators killed in Guinea.

The past couple of days have been quiet there, and there is a sense of cautious optimism:

President Lansana Conte agreed in principle late on Wednesday to name a consensus premier, the key demand of unions staging the nationwide stoppage in which more than 40 people have been killed in street protests, mediators said.

"For the majority of Guineans, it is a huge relief. We were on the brink of catastrophe in this country," said Ansoumane Djessira Conde, a resident in the Camayenne suburb which saw some of the worst violence. "Finally the president has understood that he cannot simply act in isolation.

Below the fold:

A friend of mine with close ties to Guinea has written an account of the effects of the Conte regime and of the loss the recent violence has brought to one of her friends there.

plover

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Thursday January 25, 2007 · 7:09 PM PST

2007/01/25 · 19:09

For the past two weeks, there has been a general strike in Guinea (West Africa). Thousands of union and grassroots marchers have been protesting throughout the country. Government forces have killed at least 59 people and injured over 250.

This is the third strike in a year marked by rapid inflation and rampant corruption in the country. While most of the country is shut down, those merchants still doing business have doubled the price of staple foods.

President Lansana Conte has been in office since 1984. There have been elections but their validity has been contested.

On Saturday, in a speech calling for calm Conte said:

Those who want power must wait their turn. It is God who gives power and when he gives it to someone, everyone must stand behind him.

On Wednesday, Conte agreed to appoint a new prime minister. However, according to Reuters:

Union leaders have said they will not call an end to their action until ... President Conte [agrees to] hand over all his powers to a prime minister acceptable to the unions.

plover

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Thursday May 11, 2006 · 7:26 PM PDT

2006/05/11 · 19:26

Again and again demonstrators gathered in the streets and sidewalks of downtown Cairo, chanting slogans like "Freedom, Freedom, where are you?" Again and again the police had the same response.
They rushed the protesters, dragging the leaders away, pushing others to the ground, kicking and beating them. The protesters scattered, regrouped, and the police charged them again and again. (from VOA News)

Egyptian protesters gathered today to stop a disciplinary hearing against two judges who were detained and formally stripped of their judicial privileges due to their investigations into the violence and fraud in the recent Egyptian elections. More below... Read More

Reid gives Senate Republicans the vapors... again

plover

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Tuesday April 04, 2006 · 7:44 PM PDT

2006/04/04 · 19:44

When I tuned into C-SPAN this afternoon, I came in just as Arlen Specter, Bill Frist, Pete Domenici, and perhaps a few other Republicans were picking their jaws up off the floor following some kind of announcement by Harry Reid concerning the immigration bill.

Unfortunately, I missed what Reid actually said, but apparently it amounted to some kind of procedural manouver which would force the immigration bill to a vote as it was passed out of the Judiciary committee, or perhaps with a very limited schedule of possible amendments. Looking at a Reid press release I found, I think one major purpose of this was to prevent a Kyl-Cornyn amendment from being considered.

Specter sputtered something about how what Reid was doing was "unprecedented", "unbelievable", and other such terms. (He also said "idiotic", but quickly retracted that with an odd comment something like "that's a word the Supreme Court uses".)

Reid thanked Specter for his list of adjectives, and said he'd remember them as the Democrats certainly have experience with their amendments being blocked.

More after the jump... Read More

CA-Ballot Props: Big pharma voter deception pamphlet

plover

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Tuesday November 08, 2005 · 12:09 AM PST

2005/11/08 · 00:09

An organization apparently called "Voter Information Guide" has been mailing out a voting flyer to Californians that appears designed to convince people that popular California Democrats, in addition to opposing Arnold's initiatives, endorse the position of big pharma and the energy companies on the other initiatives.

The voter guide appears to be targeted at Democrats – it says "IT'S BAD FOR DEMOCRATS!" next to the recommendation to vote NO on props like 77, and attributes quotes to people like Senators Feinstein and Boxer and Attorney General Lockyer. Then in carefully separated boxes it says to vote YES on 78, NO on 79, and NO on 80.

I don't have a scanner or anything to provide pictures with, but I'll put more details below the fold. Read More

College Republicans know who the real enemy is

plover

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Thursday June 30, 2005 · 7:16 PM PDT

2005/06/30 · 19:16

Cross posted at Booman Tribune.

As Booman pointed out today:

George W. Bush does not think that the Taliban are his enemy. He doesn't think Usama bin-Laden is his enemy. He doesn't think former Ba'athists are his enemy, or even foreign suicide bombers. No, his enemies are 'opinion leaders' here in the United States.

In other words, his enemies are those who speak truths he doesn't want heard or who declare their doubts about his policies. And as they've been showing by staying away from recruiting offices in droves, the conservative youth of America are apparently down with this.

However, in the descriptions of the recent College Republican love-in, I've been bothered by something beyond the obvious chickenhawkery, the low-rent machismo and dilettante debutantage, and the dewy-eyed smugness of most of the participants. These are mostly teenagers. Who told them that this was how you act during a war? What model are they looking to?

More below...

plover

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Tuesday June 28, 2005 · 7:47 PM PDT

2005/06/28 · 19:47

So, like a good liberal, there I was on September 12, 2001, looking up good places to send my terrorist friends for therapy, when I get a phone call from a mullah in Yemen (since, of course, registered Democrats are always in touch with a network of Middle Eastern clerics, just ask David Horowitz). He says to me, "Listen, habibi, I appreciate what you American liberals are doing. For many terrorists, I think some Zoloft and a little anger management is just what is required. But some of them, I'm sure you know the type, are quite hard cases. An esteemed judge here in my country has an idea for a different approach. It may sound a little combative to you – I know how leftists are all such pacifists and avoid all conflict, but perhaps you might give it chance. Just click on There's more and I will tell you about it."
Read More

But... corporations are people too

plover

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Sunday June 26, 2005 · 8:23 PM PDT

2005/06/26 · 20:23

Yesterday, bonddad provided some scary figures on the health care crisis in the U.S. and the connection between medical costs and bankruptcy. As most here know, Congress also recently enacted a "reform" of the bankruptcy laws that greatly favors credit card companies and other creditors over the citizens who file bankruptcy claims. Part of the reason that this kind of squeeze is happening now is the Republican power bloc in Congress and the White House, but as the actions of Sen. Joe Biden (D-MBNA) show, this isn't the whole problem.

Below the fold are some thoughts on how the concept of rational self-interest – as used in our economic life – and the legal rights granted to corporations as persons might be effecting the economic vampirism currently in vogue.
Read More

Name Susan Hu's research project...

plover

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Wednesday June 01, 2005 · 10:18 PM PDT

2005/06/01 · 22:18

Most Kossacks are probably aware that the indefatigable Susan Hu has been organizing a project to examine the recent FOIA releases concerning the U.S. government's wonderful forays into extra-, quasi-, pseudo-, and il-legal detention practices. So, now that we're trying to start organizing our information online (see the project's infant dKosopedia wiki), we should probably come up with a better name than "We Read Lots Of Undecipherable Army Medical Documents, You Decide" ... Read More

RSS

Hillary Did NOT Lie About Bosnia [Updated 6x]

Dictators trustworthy as ever - renewed violence in Guinea

Hope and Mourning

"It is God who gives power" - Demonstrators killed in Guinea

[Updated] Fighting for the rule of law

Reid gives Senate Republicans the vapors... again

CA-Ballot Props: Big pharma voter deception pamphlet

College Republicans know who the real enemy is

Therapy for terrorists

But... corporations are people too

Name Susan Hu's research project...