Something important and something good

May 26, 2009: Day of Decision Protest in Hollywood. Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist.

"Yesterday’s anticipation has turned into today’s joy," wrote the most excellent political blogger Marcy Wheeler when she got the news. "The court, in a historic opinion and verdict, has declared California’s Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional."

"Fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections." Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker

Read Wheeler's terrific analysis here. Excerpt:

The opinion is, again as predicted, extremely well written, consummately detailed, brilliantly structured and contains a foundation of extremely well supported findings of fact and conclusions of law. In short, Vaughn Walker has crafted as fine a foundational opinion as could possibly be hoped for, and one that is designed with the intent to withstand appellate scrutiny not just in the 9th Circuit, but in the Supreme Court as well.

Obviously this is but a step in the process because there will be appeals, and the case will, without question, go to the Supreme Court. But, that said, you could not ask for a better platform and posture for a case on this issue to go to the Supremes on. It is all that and more [...]

Today is one of those rare seminal days where something important and something good has occurred. Fantastic. The beauty and joy of equality, due process and equal protection under the Constitution of the United States of America.

Gov. Schwarzenegger issued a statement saying, "For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves."

Yay, Governator! Yay, California! And a big, giant, standing ovation for the beauty and joy of equality, due process and equal protection under the Constitution of the United States of America.

Sick pervs

A while ago Brent asked what I would think of a new and improved law to ban "crush videos." For the record, few things horrify me as much as the sight of brutal creeps killing pets that are screaming in fear and pain:



So I'm all for criminalizing videos, because what this nation really needs is more excuses for jackbooted thugs to break into homes in the middle of the night, and more reasons for goons in body armor to shoot your dogs and place you under arrest.

Not.

The seven year old child in that video will hear his dogs screaming for the rest of his life. Oh, and check this out: after the cops broke the door down, terrorized the family, shot the house up and killed one of the family dogs [the other was shot but survived — you gotta love when grown men wearing enough body armor to stop a f*ing tank have to shoot a corgi], the parents were charged with child endangerment. I repeat, the PARENTS. were charged with child endangerment. On account of a bag of dope, for crissakes. Yay War on [some] Drugs! I feel so much safer. Shit.

"If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch." [Thurgood Marshall]

Here's how things are right now. We have entire websites devoted to the corruption and brutality and militarization of the police. Reporting on pets killed by cops is a growth industry. And in spite of all this, our legislators, in their boundless, staggering idiocy, want to give MORE power to the state to invade homes and arrest people.

And this will help animals? How, exactly?

I would bet money that cops on raids kill more dogs in a month, in the U.S., than there are people selling crush videos online. Want to reduce animal cruelty? Then don't give cops even more power to invade homes, arrest people and kill pets.

Fun fact: downloading the video above could totally have led to your arrest and imprisonment under the animal-cruelty video law [pdf] ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.


Edited to add: fallout.


Related:
Radley Balko [Essential reading. "There are 100-150 of these raids every day in America, the vast, vast majority like this one, to serve a warrant for a consensual crime."]

"This is what evil looks like" [from Obsidian Wings, with a terrific comment thread]

And this, on another police development: "[The] whole thing appears, rightly or wrongly, to be law enforcement doing the bidding of a private company."

You'll cry, you'll cheer

I did, anyway. More on the team's activities here.

International Medical Corps in Haiti

The IMC is hard at work in Port-au-Prince.

International Medical Corps, one of the best emergency medical teams on the planet, is on the ground in Haiti and working at a hospital in Port-au-Prince. From their web site:

We believe there are 1,500 patients seeking treatment and approximately 70%-80% need surgery. So far there have been 70 amputations and another 150+ are needed.

IMC is also working out of their hotel, Villa Creole, "which has been turned into a makeshift clinic," according to their web site. Here's the IMC home page. I could just slap myself for not mentioning them earlier. Here's their page with info on Haiti -- you can donate $10 by texting.

Yéle Haiti has come under recent scrutiny, but IMC's track record is impressive, and impeccable.

Also: Mensch of the Month award to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who stood fast all night at a field hospital when other medical personnel were ordered to leave.

CNN posted video from Friday night that shows the Belgian team packing up its supplies and leaving with a U.N. peacekeeper escort in marked trucks.

Gupta stayed behind, and along with CNN staffers, security personnel and at least one Haitian nurse who refused to leave, took care of 25 patients as best they could, given the lack of medical supplies.

"I've never been in a situation like this. This is quite ridiculous," Gupta says on camera.

CNN reported that Gupta "monitored patients' vital signs, administered painkillers and continued intravenous drips. He stabilized three new patients in critical condition."

The Belgian team returned Saturday morning.

I am so not going to snark at the Belgian emergency response team. Things are beyond chaotic in Haiti right now, and Belgian responders have been saving people right and left. I will, however give a round of applause to Dr. Gupta and his people. [stands, applauds, runs off to donate to IMC]

"Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world"

Rescued from a collapsed building in Port-au-Prince, two-year-old Redjeson Hausteen Claude is reunited with his mother. The firefighter/rescuer is a member of the Community of Madrid's Emergency and Immediate Response Team, ERICAM. Photo by Gerald Herbert: see the full size version here, at the Big Picture.

It's incredibly moving to me that this can happen: that in the wake of a disaster, members of rescue teams from around the world set aside their day-to-day concerns, leave their homes, rush to the devastated area and go to work saving lives and helping others.

While the rescue teams are hard at work, the rest of us can make some small efforts of our own to diminish the horror, the grief and the suffering in Haiti. My homeboy James Fallows suggests a donation to Food for the Poor, and of course the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and Yéle Haiti are good organizations if you're still looking to donate. Texting a donation will set you back a relatively painless five bucks if you follow the directions at Yéle Haiti, ten via the Red Cross link above.

Looking for updates on conditions in Haiti? Boing Boing has a great compilation.


And the search dogs...! Lots of links and photos from Nag on the Lake, Discovery News, Dog Art Today, Unleashed and a selection of news outlets. Here's an update from the Search Dog Foundation:

At 1:15pm local time, an SDF Search Team in Port-au-Prince located three girls, trapped alive since Tuesday in the rubble of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.

Bill Monahan and his Border Collie, Hunter, were searching a neighborhood near the Presidential Palace, concentrating on a large bowl-shaped area of rubble which was all that remained of a 4-story building.

After criss-crossing the area, Hunter pin-pointed the survivors’ scent under 4 feet of broken concrete and did his “bark alert” to let Bill know where the victims were. Bill spoke with the survivors, then passed them bottles of water tied to the end of a stick. As they reached for the water one of the girls said, “Thank you.” Highly trained rescue crews from California Task Force 2 are now working to extricate the girls from the wreckage and provide first aid.

Bill and Hunter continue to search, as do the 6 other SDF teams on the ground in Haiti:

California Task Force 2 – Los Angeles County

• Gary Durian & Baxter – L.A. County Fire
• Ron Horetski & Pearl – L.A. County Fire
• Bill Monahan & Hunter – L.A. County Fire
• Jasmine Segura & Cadillac – L.A. County Fire
• Jason Vasquez & Maverick – L.A. County Fire
• Ron Weckbacher & Dawson – Civilian

Also at work in Haiti are handlers and their dogs from France:


Holland:


Mexico:


Perú:


and Taiwan, among other countries:



It is written in the Talmud, "Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world." Here's another view of that little miracle:


The photo is by Carol Guzy of the Washington Post. If Carol's name looks familiar to dog people, it's probably because of her brilliant photos of the Vick dogs. And if you were to ask Carol or the Spanish fireman, "Why are you in Haiti now?" each one might say to you, in his or her own language and in his or her own way, I came to Haiti because that's my blood down there.

"Living on nothing but food stamps" — with dogs [and Western values]

Two images by Stephen Crowley for the NY Times photo essay, Living on Food Stamps. See related article here. Quotes below are from the photo essay:

Diane Marshall, 27, lives with her brother Kevin Zirulo. "We've got all kinds of [discarded furniture they have scavanged] on Craigslist we're trying to sell," she said. But she said that it fluctuates, "One day you have a bunch of sales and you get by, and the next it's you're calling mom and saying, 'hey, I need toilet paper.'" Mr. Zirulo added that Marshall just posted on Craigslist that she has a female Chihauhua that she wants to get pregnant. "I don't know if this little dog is able to pop out that many puppies, but if we had an extra puppy or two we'd be happy to sell them."

[Isabel] Bermudez worries about crime now that she lives in a rental apartment. She keeps dogs for protection.

On the one hand, I have some opinions about these photos; on the other hand, I've never been broke, jobless and hungry.

[For one thing, I'd be inclined to offer to pay for the Chihuahua to be spayed. Risk of complications if the dog gets pregnant; small pups are a dime a dozen — you'll wind up giving them away in front of WalMart, etc. Let me pay for the spay.]

I saw the NY Times photos after reading this passage by author Mary Elizabeth Thurston on the Bad Rap blog:

"Pet keeping is now one of the Western values being exported to cultures where animals have traditionally been viewed as consumable resources. With only the affluent in these countries able to afford keeping dogs for pleasure, pets again are becoming emblems of prestige, just as they were in nineteenth-century Europe. So we might ask, as the far reaches of the globe are transformed by a second wave of industrialization, whether the human-dog relationship in these developing nations will follow the same evolutionary pattern. Will the camera again document a canine pilgrimage from slave to soulmate as these societies grapple with concepts of self-determination and a compassionate ethic that embraces us all?"

What would the rest of humanity do without our Western values, I wonder. Here in the developed world our dogs are soulmates, not slaves. So I turn from news about guard dogs and puppy mills and the latest U.S. dogfight busts and 100 Huskies in Quebec rescued from neglect to a guest post from Catherine in Bangladesh, posted on the terrific blog One Bark at a Time. Excerpt:

The Bangladeshis are starvation poor, but many share what little they have with the dogs and cats on the street. It might take six bearers, sharing lunches, digging in garbage, and pooling their tea money, to feed one crippled old dog, but the miracle is that those six do share.

Read the whole post here, and Part 2 here. Catherine again:

There are no animal welfare groups here dealing with dogs and cats: the few concerned people are fighting the illegal poaching of endangered species, and the traffic in exotic pets. They are not doing well, because although there are laws against these things, no one can enforce them. If folk ask about helping, they should give their donations to proven development groups who are working to improve things for the people here. The people will share: it's what they do.

If you'd like to lend a hand, here is a long list of international aid and development groups to check out: Get Involved - Half the Sky.

HeroRATS to the rescue

One man's ratatouille is another man's hero. [Photo source]

They have little rat tails and little rat feet and little rat voices that go squeak squeak squeak, and when they locate an unexploded landmine, these African Giant Pouched Rats alert their handlers by sitting still and giving themselves a nice scratch. If you live in a region with landmines, these clever rodents may save your life and your livelihood.

[Oh, and let's get one thing out of the way right off the rat... er, bat: "they are too light to detonate a mine by themselves if they step on it."]

The HeroRATS are currently deployed in Mozambique where they have enabled over one thousand families to reclaim their land. They have also helped with clearing areas so that power lines can be passed through – so bringing electricity which would not otherwise have been possible to over ten thousand local citizens.

Read the whole thing here. H/T: Nag on the Lake.

Here's a visual for you, Pat

Televangelist and wild-eyed homophobe Pat Robertson:

The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians to keep them from speaking out on certain moral issues. And it all was embodied in something called the Hate crimes bill that President Obama said was a major victory for America.

The photo above was taken at the July 2005 execution of two young Iranian men, ages 16 and 18, for the crime of homosexuality, as reported by the Iranian Student News Association. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals."

Pat, maybe you should give Iran a visit — experience the joys of theocracy for yourself. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

"Why do the children keep dying?"

It's those terrible pit bulls! And those terrible pit bull mixes that are actually 100% real pit bull, whatever the hell that is! Oh, wait — my bad — these children actually died of abuse and neglect at the hands of their human "caretakers":

All told, the records show, 32 children in Los Angeles County died in 2008 from abuse and neglect, including physical assault, drowning and malnourishment. Eighteen of the children were in families that had never been in contact with the family services agency.

But the other 14 families should have been well-known to child welfare officials, based on previous referrals and investigations.

There have been numerous calls for reform -- but little action. In the passing years, an unknown number of children have been harmed or killed.

At least a dozen reports have landed on county leaders' desks since the early 1990s saying agencies that work with troubled families must improve their ability to talk to each other. County supervisors have freely admitted that the system is broken, and even have voted several times to establish computer systems to open communication channels.

Solutions have been doomed by bureaucratic infighting, turf wars, privacy concerns and limited political attention spans. When horrific deaths or abuse drop out of the news, the board and department heads often focus elsewhere, leading to long stretches of inaction -- until another case gives them a terrible jolt.

If you ask me, politicians who waste a nanosecond on BSL or MSN or other junk legislation should have their posteriors handed to them on a platter. "Yes, kids are dying on our watch — but we hammered out a rockin' spay/neuter ordinance in 2008!" Kudos to you, L.A.County Supes. You must be so proud.


In other dreadful news, an unsupervised 17 month old Merced child was killed yesterday by a mixed-breed dog. No, sorry: it was an Akita. I mean an Akita mix. Akita/pit bull mix. Dammit, no: a pit bull/Akita mix. I mean a pit bull. That's it, a pit bull. Yes, sir, I'll be sure to put that in the headline.

260 news stories and counting, and most articles have failed to report that the dog was, in fact, a mixed breed. Even birthers don't bring of the stupid quite like journalists with their canine one-drop rule.

This dog killed a child in Merced. This dog looks just like my dog. Therefore, I should arrange for my dog to be castrated at once, and I should keep him muzzled at all times, and I should move out of the city and confine him in a high-security enclosure and pay big insurance premiums, all because my dog looks a lot like "the dog that killed that little baby." Except that my good boy is fine with children. He's even friendly with cats, not that any of that matters.

It will be interesting, by which I mean "as disappointing as ever," to see how long our local politicians can keep their gnat-like attention spans on the lives and deaths of children under county supervision. Me, I'm betting on a new round of "Kill all the Akitas pit bulls!"

Dog's Life

Portuguese TV commercial for Amnesty International. H/T: JMuir of the most excellent Vagabundia.

Happy Independence Day!

Know your rights. The better we know them, the harder it is for evil despots well-meaning politicians to take them away.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Happy Fourth! [And be sure you know where your dogs are!]

"Family, friends mourn Neda Agha-Soltan"

From L.A. Times reporter Borzou Daragahi in Tehran:

Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, was shot dead Saturday evening near the scene of clashes between pro-government militias and demonstrators who allege rampant vote-count fraud in the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The jittery cellphone video footage of her bleeding on the street has turned "Neda" into an international symbol of the protest movement that ignited in the aftermath of the June 12 voting. To those who knew and loved Neda, she was far more than an icon. She was a daughter, sister and friend, a music and travel lover, a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life.

"She was a person full of joy," said her music teacher and close friend Hamid Panahi, who was among the mourners at her family home on Sunday, awaiting word of her burial. "She was a beam of light. I'm so sorry. I was so hopeful for this woman."

Security forces urged Neda's friends and family not to hold memorial services for her at a mosque and asked them not to speak publicly about her, associates of the family said. Authorities even asked the family to take down the black mourning banners in front of their house, aware of the potent symbol she has become.

But some insisted on speaking out anyway, hoping to make sure the world would not forget her.

Read the complete article here.

On freedom of speech

From William Jelani Cobb's blog americanexception.com:

In 1989 the Iranian regime put a contract on Salman Rushdie's head because he wrote a book. In 2009 millions of Iranians took to the streets with freedom of speech as a prominent demand. Progress, perhaps.

Two years after Ayotollah Khomeini of Iran declared a fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his novel The Satanic Verses the author made a surprise appearance at Columbia University at a forum on the First Amendment.

Maybe he was ahead of the curve.

"Free speech is a non-starter," says one of my Islamic extremist opponents. No, sir, it is not. Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.

Jelani Cobb then quotes from the speech Rushdie delivered at Columbia back in 1991, wise, brave stuff, and with a big hat tip to americanexception.com I'll quote a bit more. Salman Rushdie at Columbia:

"Our lives teach us who we are." I have learned the hard way that when you permit anyone else's description of reality to supplant your own -- and such descriptions have been raining down on me, from security advisers, governments, journalists, Archbishops, friends, enemies, mullahs -- then you might as well be dead. Obviously, a rigid, blinkered, absolutist world view is the easiest to keep hold of, whereas the fluid, uncertain, metamorphic picture I've always carried about is rather more vulnerable. Yet I must cling with all my might to . . . my own soul; must hold on to its mischievous, iconoclastic, out-of-step clown-instincts, no matter how great the storm. And if that plunges me into contradiction and paradox, so be it; I've lived in that messy ocean all my life. I've fished in it for my art. This turbulent sea was the sea outside my bedroom window in Bombay. It is the sea by which I was born, and which I carry within me wherever I go.

"Free speech is a non-starter," says one of my Islamic extremist opponents. No, sir, it is not. Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.

Related:
BBC enlisting new satellites to broadcast in Iran

How to set up a proxy for Iran citizens

From NIAC:

If anyone is on Twitter, set your location to Tehran and your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut Iranians’ access to the internet down! We must help them! Cut & paste & pass it on! Go Humans!!!

And this, from the Guardian via NIAC:

Previously, he [Mousavi] was revolutionary, because everyone inside the system was a revolutionary. But now he’s a reformer. Now he knows Gandhi – before he knew only Che Guevara. If we gain power through aggression we would have to keep it through aggression. That is why we’re having a green revolution, defined by peace and democracy.

The leader of the free world [and that phrase takes on special resonance in times like these] said today that we must bear witness to the "incredible demonstrations in Iran," the "hundreds of thousands of people who believe their voices were not heard and who are peacefully protesting and seeking justice." President Obama recalled the words of another American leader, who said:

When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave"

Andrew wrote yesterday:

In situations like these, peer-to-peer media is essential. Send all you've got to me. We'll do our best to assess, edit, and post. There is no neutrality in this. Every blogger is now an honorary member of the resistance. We are at war too - for peace and democracy.

Which seems very dramatic — except that today his site may be under some sort of digital attack and yesterday this site, this little dog-and-whatnot site, was getting hits from Iran.

So the world really is watching. It's nightfall now in Tehran, and there are reports of gunfire, but the crowds earlier today, marching for democracy — just incredible.



The title of this post is from a familiar speech, and it was no trouble to cut and paste the last two paragraphs into this post here in the peace and quiet of my California home. Yes, I'm very lucky. Would I be brave enough to join the protesters, if I were in Iran? I hope so. I don't know.

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable - and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace - but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

The revolution will also be blogged

Interesting times, these. Tehran, night of June 13, 2009. Photo from mousavi1388 at Flickr. More Flickr photos of the election and its aftermath here and here. [The election was held on the 22nd of Khordad 1388, according to the Persian calendar.]

The thing about the great immigrant gateway of California, especially the university towns and the high tech/geek-to-live parts of California, is that public school classrooms here are full of kids from all over the world.

This means any time you want immediate, informed comment on events elsewhere — in Iran, say, during, oh, let’s imagine a fiercely contested national election that could have a tremendous impact on life as we know it — you talk to a kid. A kid from Iran. “Did you hear anything from your cousin in Shiraz?" Pure catnip for a news junkie. Need a Farsi speaker? No problem! It just kills me that the school year ended Thursday and all my sources, er… students are on vacation.

OMG, I can’t believe I’m actually wishing the school year had been a week longer [slaps self].


On a much more serious note, my thoughts are with my students’ relatives and their compatriots. This is just unreal. Stay safe, people. Stay strong.

Looks like a former student: a voter in Iran on June 12. Photo from the Mail Online.

Flashback

Indeed. From danagraves on Flickr: click for big.

Rikyrah over at Jack & Jill Politics makes a great point: the U.S. military allows people like this to join up — and kicks out people like this?

"Lax enlistment standards have inadvertently allowed thousands of gang members to join the military, including young men who belong to the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, and various white supremacist groups."

From The Web of Language:

Secretary of Defense Bob Gates sees no irony in the fact that the military finds convicted felons and illiterates less morally problematic than well-educated homosexuals without so much as a parking ticket on their records who might actually be able to understand what the enemy is talking about (not to mention what our Iraqi “allies” are really saying). Gates insists that in drumming out the translators, the army is simply following the law, a law which he has no intention of reviewing.

It's long past time to review the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. As Barry Goldwater is reported to have said, “You don't need to be ‘straight' to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.”

On Veterans' Day

Marine Staff Stg. John Jones. Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, via HuffPost.

The VA estimated that in 2007 it took an average of six months to reach an initial decision on a benefits claim [...] and processing appeals takes years.

"This is a national embarrassment," said [attorney Robert E.] Cattanach, a Navy veteran with a son who has served two Army tours in Iraq. "Every day that goes by that this isn't fixed, people's lives are being changed," he said, recalling his effort to obtain benefits for a veteran who committed suicide before his case was resolved. [Source: today's WaPo. Full article here.]

An excellent proposal from hilzoy:

While a veteran's disability claim is being processed, that veteran doesn't get disability. S/he has to live on a fraction of his or her active duty pay, which would be OK for someone who could get another job, but is not at all OK for someone who is disabled. As I wrote last June, it doesn't have to be this way: rather than putting the burden on vets to prove their disability, we could presume that their disability claims were true, and then audit a subset of them, the way we do with taxes. (This is an idea I got from Linda Bilmes, here.) That way, vets would get the money they are entitled to from the outset, rather than having to live off friends and family while the VA slogs through their mountains of paperwork.

This is the least we owe our nation's veterans. "On this Veterans Day, let us rededicate ourselves to keep a sacred trust with all who have worn the uniform of the United States of America: that America will serve you as well as you have served your country." [Barack Obama]

I read banned books

Click for big.

September 27 – October 4, 2008 marks the 27th celebration of the freedom to read and the freedom to choose what we read. Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read "reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted."

Banned Book Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

BBW is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers, National Association of College Stores, and is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Research Maven Lisa Gold has written a fine post in honor of Banned Book Week, with a reading recommendation on the subject of censorship. More information here, at the American Library Association site, and because I'm all about the swag, visit the ALA store to order your "I Read Banned Books" accessories.

"If you intend to vote in November and read only one book between now and then, this should be it.”

How the unconscionable treatment of dogs described above became part of the Bush administration's blueprint for the treatment of prisoners of war — many of them innocent, some of them children — is one of many horrors detailed in a "powerful, brilliantly researched and deeply unsettling" book:

“In The Dark Side, Jane Mayer, a staff writer for the New Yorker, documents some of the ugliest allegations of wrongdoing charged against the Bush administration. To dismiss these as wild, anti-American ravings will not do. They are facts, which Mayer substantiates in persuasive detail, citing the testimony not of noted liberals like Noam Chomsky or Keith Olbermann but of military officers, intelligence professionals, "hard-line law-and-order stalwarts in the criminal justice system" and impeccably conservative Bush appointees who resisted the conspiracy from within the administration.”
—Washington Post Book World

In a column titled Madness and Shame, Bob Herbert of the NY Times wrote:

The U.S. shamed itself on George W. Bush’s and Dick Cheney’s watch, and David Addington and others like him were willing to manipulate the law like Silly Putty to give them the legal cover they desired. Ms. Mayer noted that Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the late historian, believed that “the Bush administration’s extralegal counterterrorism program presented the most dramatic, sustained and radical challenge to the rule of law in American history.”

After reflecting on major breakdowns of law that occurred in prior administrations, including the Watergate disaster, Mr. Schlesinger told Ms. Mayer: “No position taken has done more damage to the American reputation in the world — ever.”

Americans still have not come to grips with this disastrous stain on the nation’s soul. It’s important that the whole truth eventually come out, and as many of the wrongs as possible be rectified.

Ms. Mayer, as much as anyone, is doing her part to pull back the curtain on the awful reality. “The Dark Side” is essential reading for those who think they can stand the truth.

Further reading:

The Man Behind the Torture

Learned Helplessness

The Ethics of a Psychologist

Collective Unconscionable: How psychologists, the most liberal of professionals, abetted Bush’s torture policy

Six Questions for Jane Mayer, Author of The Dark Side

Mayer On Seligman

*************

It is not "can any of us imagine better?" but, "can we all do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.

On the suffering of sentient creatures

They say that if you need to be rescued, don't scream, "I'm being murdered [or robbed, or whatever]!" If you do, no one will help you. The way to make everyone come running, they say, is to shout, "Fire!" Hence the puppy mill photo and the nonspecific title.

Over 100 hundred people showed up for tonight's candlelight vigil to remember the 80 dogs that were shot to death by Elmer and Ammon Zimmerman. We walked along Rt. 222 onto to the lane where Elmer lives. Bill Smith of Mainline Rescue carried 80 white chrysanthemums representing one for each dog killed. As Bill walked down the lane by himself, the crowd sang Amazing Grace. It was a heart-wrenching moment for me personally as I was unable to hold back the tears knowing those dogs were shot just yards away from where the crowd was gathered. [Source.]

Most pet blogs have covered the story of the needless deaths of those 80 puppy mill dogs in Pennsylvania, and printed the names of legislators to contact. It is altogether fitting and proper that they should do this.

But if there is a special place in hell for puppy millers [and many of us would like to imagine that there is], it can't be any hotter than the place reserved for the men and women who mistreated — tortured — Jason Ng.

From the Request for Investigation:

It is hereby requested that an investigation be conducted into the death of Mr. Hiu Lui Ng (“Mr. Ng”) (Alien No: A73-558-364), a former detainee of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, RI, the Franklin County Jail in St. Albans, VT and the Jail & House of Corrections in Greenfield, MA. On or about August 6, 2008, Mr. Ng died of complications related to cancer and/or a fractured spine.

Upon information and belief, Mr. Ng had complained of various medical problems while at the above-listed facilities, but did not receive proper medical examinations and/or care. Requests to be examined by an outside doctor were also denied. The denial of medical care occurred in the face of Mr. Ng’s documented 23-lbs weight-loss in a ten week span while detained at the Franklin County Jail in St. Albans, VT in the spring of 2008.

The denial of medical care also occurred despite Mr. Ng’s loss of movement in his lower extremities while at the Wyatt Detention Facility.

Mr. Ng informed us prior to his death that, in early July 2008, he was relocated several times within the Wyatt Detention Facility. At the time, he already was suffering from back pain. Each time he was relocated, Mr. Ng was required to carry his personal belongings and the mattress that had been assigned to him. Because he was assigned an upper bunk, he was required to lift the mattress above his head and place it on the bed. Also, since there was no ladder access to the upper bunk, it was very difficult for Mr. Ng to climb up and down the bunk bed. Mr. Ng suspected that his back and leg injuries were worsened as a result of the lifting and climbing up and down the bed.

When Mr. Ng was prescribed medication, he was required to obtain his medication at a counter that was about 40 to 50 feet away from his cell. When Mr. Ng was unable to walk, he was still required to pick up the medication himself, and the detention facility refused to deliver medication to his cell. Eventually, Mr. Ng became bed-bound and began to experience difficulty even using the bathroom, which was located within his cell.

When housed in the J-2 section of the Wyatt Detention Facility, Mr. Ng had to ask other detainees to bring him food and help him use the bathroom. At one point, Mr. Ng was unable to take a shower or leave his cell five days in a row. Although Mr. Ng had repeatedly requested for a wheelchair, he was not given one.

Mr. Ng stated that he was transported to the hospital located outside of the facility on July 26, 2008 because an MRI scan had been scheduled. When he arrived there, Mr. Ng was told by the doctor that an MRI could not be performed that day because it was a Saturday. The doctor scheduled an MRI scan for the following Monday. However, no attempt was made to transport Mr. Ng to the hospital on that Monday.

As his condition worsened, Mr. Ng was moved to an isolation cell within the Health Services Unit (“HSU”). During this time, medication was brought only to the outside of his cell. The nurse who brought the medication asked Mr. Ng to come out to get his medication. Because Mr. Ng was unable to move, he was not able to walk to the door of his cell. As a result, he did not receive his medication for an extended period of time.

On Tuesday, July 29, the facility and/or agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) attempted to transport Mr. Ng to the hospital for a CT-scan and/or MRI. Mr. Ng reported, however, that he was not granted a wheelchair. Since Mr. Ng could not move without a wheelchair, he was unable to go to the hospital that morning.

In light of the repeated denial of medical care and use of a wheelchair, on July 29, 2008, undersigned counsel filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island seeking Mr. Ng’s release (Docket No. 08-285-S). A copy of that petition, motion for a temporary restraining order and affidavits submitted in support of the petition are attached hereto.

On or about July 30, 2008, Mr. Ng was transported by force by ICE agents from the Wyatt Detention Facility to Hartford, Connecticut despite Mr. Ng’s complaints that he was in excruciating pain and unable to walk. Mr. Ng stated that, on this day, three guards of the Wyatt Detention Facility came into his cell in the early morning and put on his shoes in a very rough manner and caused him great pain. Two officers then placed a cane under Mr. Ng’s armpits, and used the cane to lift him off the ground. As Mr. Ng was being carried, his legs dragged on the ground and caused him extreme pain.

Mr. Ng stated that as he was brought to the waiting van with hands and legs in shackles, but not given a wheelchair. Instead, he was lifted off from the ground by five guards. During the process, Mr. Ng suffered additional pain, and was left with bruises on his arms and legs.

A witness confirmed Mr. Ng’s description of these events. In addition, an associate of undersigned counsel viewed massive bruises on Mr. Ng’s forearms and armpits the following day.

Mr. Ng also indicated that the guards were staging for the video recording. He said that the guards told a nurse that Mr. Ng was alright and gave him medication in front of the camera. At one point, Mr. Ng complained that his head was hurt and that he was experiencing great pain. One of the guards told him that it was no use complaining because the camera had been turned off. After Mr. Ng arrived at the ICE office in Hartford, he was put on a wheelchair. To this day, the purpose of the trip to Hartford remains unknown.

On July 31, 2008, a hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order was held before District Judge William E. Smith. Only after this hearing was Mr. Ng provided a wheelchair and given a full examination by a medical doctor. It was then, on August 2, 2008, that Mr. Ng’s cancer and fracture of the spine were diagnosed. At this point, we were informed that his condition was terminal. Mr. Ng passed away just three days later.

This happened in 2008, in the United States of America.

[Ng was found to be suffering from] cancer in his liver, lungs and bones, and a fractured spine. “ ‘I don’t have much time to live,’ ” his sister said he told her in a call from Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

She said the doctor warned that if the family came to visit, immigration authorities might transfer her brother. Three days passed before the warden approved a family visit, she said, after demanding their Social Security numbers. Late in the afternoon of Aug. 5, as Mr. Ng lay on a gurney, hours away from death and still under guard, she and his wife held up his sons, 3 and 1.

“Brother, don’t worry, don’t be afraid,” Ms. Zhao said, repeating her last words to him. “They are not going to send you back to the facility again. Brother, you are free now.” [Source.]

Dog lovers know as well as anyone that compassion isn't finite. I expect many of you [if you are Americans] have already contacted your legislators about the denial of medical treatment to detainees. If you haven't called or faxed your representatives yet, indulge me: it's my nation's soul I'm writing about now. The rights and freedoms our forefathers were willing to die in order to protect, are worth the fifteen minutes it will take to look up the names of a few legislators and let them know that what happened to Jason Ng is unjust, unconscionable, and in violation of every virtue our country claims to represent.

From the NY Times editorial:

To ensure that other detainees do not meet Mr. Ng’s awful fate, Congress should pass the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act, sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California. It would impose mandatory health care standards on the detention system, a rapidly growing and deeply flawed ad-hoc network of local, state, federal and privately run lockups.

Immigration officials keep insisting that detention care is adequate and getting better. But it will take far more than promises of more audits to build confidence in a system that allows people to suffer so grievously.

Immigrant advocates have long complained about the lack of due process for people who run afoul of the country’s convoluted immigration laws. But access to decent medical care is an even starker problem.

While reasonable minds can differ on some aspects of the immigration debate, protecting the health of detainees is not one of them. Allowing sick people to suffer and die in custody without adequate treatment is unacceptable and violates the most fundamental standards of American law and decency. The system must be fixed.

Call or fax your legislators, if you haven't already. Thanks.