USA - Presidential Race / Wealth vs Poverty & Misc.

U.S.A. Presidential Hopefuls Hillary Clinton took Monica's pal, Bill, to a Democratic Party event in #Iowa. Did not reveal if she is in as Pres. candidate running (Econ)  -- Note: Biden also attended & his mouth got him into strife with ADL) Census #US Census Bureau poverty rate drop @ 14.5% 2013, 4 all US / drop from 15% 2012 / Black @ 27% / Hispanics @ 24% >> http://goo.gl/aXg9py They Live They Rule "A corporate-managed state-capitalist pseudo-democracy that sells the narrow interests of the wealthy" .. http://goo.gl/YvSLV6  - Street http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/26231-they-live-they-rule Powerful article.  Not sure what to make of it.  It sounds familiar.  But it also sounds like science fiction. Modern society has morphed into the realm of science fiction? Scary. 'War on Terror' Replaces Anti-Communism "Anti-communism was replaced by the "War on Terror", as the major social control mechanism" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent#cite_note-6 … Anti-Jewish Kentucky Senator Campaign Candidate 4 Senate #Kentucky Robert Ransdell campaigned with the slogan “With Jews we lose" - ADL not happy - [TimesofIsrael] -----------------------------------------------------    COMMENT So who's going to run for President:  Clinton or Biden? The press reckon Biden's mouth is always gettting him into strife, so the latest Biden clanger is probably true to form. There's a big gap between national poverty and poverty rates of blacks and hispanics. Whoever said 'War on Terror' has replaced anti-communism as a control mechanism is quite right, in my view.   Anyway, that's some of my online US-related travels.

Who is Joe Biden?

JOE BIDEN

Joseph Robinette Biden (Junior)

Vice President of the United States
Democratic Party

US Senator from Delaware 1973-2009
A former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties:

• Violent Crime Control
• Law Enforcement Act
• Violence Against Women Act

Biden has been heavily involved in Obama's decision-making process.

Biden’s ‘ability to negotiate with Congressional Republicans played a key role in bringing about the bipartisan deals ...

”Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark, where he was more interested in sports and socializing than in studying, although his classmates were impressed by his cramming abilities.”

.... “Syracuse University College of Law ... receiving a half scholarship based on financial need with some additional assistance based in part upon academics.”

”Biden received five student draft deferments during this period, with the first coming in late 1963 and the last in early 1968 at the peak of the Vietnam War.”

“In April 1968, he was reclassified by the Selective Service System as not available for service due to having had asthma as a teenager.”

“Biden was generally supportive of the war during much of this time and never became part of the anti-Vietnam War movement; he would later say that at the time he was preoccupied with marriage and law school, and that he "wore sports coats ... not tie-dyed".”

”Regarding foreign policy, during his first decade in the Senate, Biden focused on arms control issues.”

Biden ... long-time member and former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.


BOSNIAN WAR

Lobbied for U.S. military  intervention during the Bosnian War.

”Biden was among the first to call for the "lift and strike" policy of lifting the arms embargo, training Bosnian Muslims and supporting them with NATO air strikes, and investigating war crimes.”

“Both the George H. W. Bush administration and Clinton administration were reluctant to implement the policy, fearing Balkan entanglement.” [AS IF ... LOL]

“Biden wrote an amendment in 1992 to compel the Bush administration to arm the Bosnians...”

“... deferred in 1994 to a somewhat softer stance preferred by the Clinton administration, before signing on the following year to a stronger measure sponsored by Bob Dole and Joe Lieberman.
 
SAY HELLO TO:

1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina

FOLLOWED BY:  Dayton Agreement.

“Biden has called his role in affecting Balkans policy in the mid-1990s his "proudest moment in public life" that related to foreign policy.”

“In 1999, during the Kosovo War, Biden supported the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia and Montenegro...

“... co-sponsored with his friend John McCain the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milosevic over Serbian actions in Kosovo.”

Biden ...

“NATO enlargement and the successful passage of bills to streamline foreign affairs agencies and punish religious persecution overseas.”

1991 – GULF WAR

Biden had voted against authorization for the Gulf War in 1991...said the U.S. was bearing almost all the burden in the anti-Iraq coalition.

2001 -  AFGHANISTAN WAR

Biden pro 2001 war in Afghanistan, saying:

"Whatever it takes, we should do it."

2002 - IRAQ

“Biden stated in 2002 that Saddam Hussein was a threat to national security, and that there was no option but to eliminate that threat.”

“The Bush administration rejected an effort Biden undertook with Senator Richard Lugar to pass a resolution authorizing military action only after the exhaustion of diplomatic efforts.”

“2002, Biden voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, justifying the Iraq War.”

“While he soon became a critic of the war and viewed his vote as a "mistake", he did not push to require a U.S. withdrawal.”

“He supported the appropriations to pay for the occupation...”

“... argued repeatedly that the war should be internationalized, that more soldiers were needed, and that the Bush administration should "level with the American people" about the cost and length of the conflict.”

”By late 2006, Biden's stance had shifted, and he opposed the troop surge of 2007, saying General David Petraeus was "dead, flat wrong" in believing the surge could work.”

“Biden was instead a leading advocate for dividing Iraq into a loose federation of three ethnic states.”

“... 2006, Biden and Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, released a comprehensive strategy to end sectarian violence in Iraq.”

“Rather than continuing the present approach or withdrawing, the plan called for "a third way":  federalizing Iraq and giving Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis "breathing room" in their own regions.“

“2007 ..  a non-binding resolution passed the Senate endorsing such a scheme.

However, the idea was unfamiliar, had no political constituency, and failed to gain traction.”

“Iraq's political leadership united in denouncing the resolution as a de facto partitioning of the country, and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a statement distancing itself.”

LIBYA

'2004 - Biden secured the brief release of Libyan democracy activist and political prisoner Fathi Eljahmi, after meeting with leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.

2008 -  “Biden sharply criticized President George W. Bush for his speech to Israel's Knesset in which he suggested that some Democrats were acting in the same way some Western leaders did when they appeased Hitler in the runup to World War II.

Biden stated: "This is bullshit. This is malarkey. This is outrageous.

Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement."

Biden later apologized for using the expletive. Biden further stated, "Since when does this administration think that if you sit down, you have to eliminate the word 'no' from your vocabulary?" '

[Source:  wikipedia]
-----------------------------------------------

COMMENT



Council on Foreign Relations sounds like the US 'war house'.


Joe Biden sounds like a jock.

And he hasn't personally seen active military service -- or any military service.

But, hey, he's happy to make war -- and is proud of making war on foreign soil.



Some NGO turned charity ought to do a worldwide survey, asking:

Is Joe Biden the most hated man on the planet? 

If he can do deals with Republicans to get things done and if that's why he's so handy, he's got to be slime.

Not sure what the Israel-Knesset stuff even means.


Did notice that former General David Petraeus got a mention.

So Biden reckons he knows more than a general.

Must read the General David Petraeus Rolling Stone interview with Hastings.

Remember not thinking much about it at the time.  Not interested in politics or politics of war at the time.

However, I did feeling sorry for Petraeus ... I thought he let his guard down and it seemed like this 'intimacy' or whatever it was, was perhaps exploited.

The above isn't some statement about war sides or anything; I don't know about that.  It is just my initial impressions back then.

Anyway, no wonder Biden's got his snout stuck in Ukraine.  It's right down his alley.  LOL!

DAILY MAIL & George Clooney (actor, humanitarian, civil rights activist, US Democrats supporter & UN messenger of peace)

George Clooney rejects Daily Mail’s apology for ‘fabricated’ article he claimed ‘incited violence’ towards fiancée’s family in second column
Friday 11 July 2014

George Clooney has refused to accept the Daily Mail’s written apology for publishing a ‘fabricated’ article claiming that the actor's mother-in-law was opposed to his forthcoming marriage to Amal Alamuddin on religious grounds.

Clooney claimed that the article “incited violence” and addressed a number of “inaccuracies” in a column he wrote for USA Today.

The MailOnline, the website of the Daily Mail which ran the story, issued a written statement in response to Clooney’s piece, in which they apologised and vowed to launch an investigation into the incident.

Clooney has since written a second column for USA Today, in which he rejected the MailOnline’s statement and accused them of “lying” by denying the piece was “fabricated”.

“There is one constant when a person or company is caught doing something wrong,” he began. “The cover-up is always worse.   ...


FULL article - Indpendent
 -------------------------------

Exclusive: Clooney responds to 'Daily Mail' report

George Clooney, Special for USA TODAY 10:14 a.m. EDT July 9, 2014

 ...

First of all, none of the story is factually true. ...

But this lie involves larger issues. The irresponsibility, in this day and age, to exploit religious differences where none exist, is at the very least negligent and more appropriately dangerous. We have family members all over the world, and the idea that someone would inflame any part of that world for the sole reason of selling papers should be criminal.

I'm the son of a newsman; I accept the idea that freedom of speech can be an inconvenience to my private life from time to time, but this story, like so many others, is picked up by hundreds of other outlets citing the Daily Mail as their source, including Boston.com, New York Daily News, Gulf News, Emirates 24/7 and so on.

The Daily Mail, more than any other organization that calls itself news, has proved time and time again that facts make no difference in the articles they make up. And when they put my family and my friends in harm's way, they cross far beyond just a laughable tabloid and into the arena of inciting violence. ...

EXTRACT ONLY -- FULL - USA Today - here.

 --------------------------------

George Clooney: A correction and an apology

PUBLISHED: 07:30 AEST, 10 July 2014 | UPDATED: 07:30 AEST, 10 July 2014
DAILY MAIL

On Monday MailOnline carried an article which alleged that the mother of George Clooney’s fiancée Amal Alamuddin would prefer her daughter to be married to a member of the Druze religious group.

Yesterday Mr Clooney said the story was 'completely fabricated' and exploited 'religious differences where none exist.'

In a statement MailOnline said: 'The story was not a fabrication but supplied in good faith by a reputable and trusted freelance journalist.

'She based her story on conversations with a long standing contact who has strong connections with senior members of the Lebanese community in the UK and the Druze in Beirut.

'We only became aware of Mr Clooney’s concerns this morning and have launched a full investigation.

'However, we accept Mr Clooney’s assurance that the story is inaccurate and we apologise to him, Miss Amal Alamuddin and her mother, Baria, for any distress caused.

'We have removed the article from our website and will be contacting Mr Clooney’s representatives to discuss giving him the opportunity to set the record straight.'

Source:  DAILY MAIL

-------------------------------- 

Exclusive: George Clooney rejects 'Mail' apology

George Clooney, Special for USA TODAY 12:04 a.m. EDT July 11, 2014

There is one constant when a person or company is caught doing something wrong. The coverup is always worse.

In this case, the Daily Mail has printed an apology for insinuating religious tensions where there are none. In the apology, managing editor Charles Garside claims that the article was "not a fabrication," but "based the story on conversations with senior members of the Lebanese community."

The problem is that none of that is true. The original story never cites that source, but instead goes out of its way to insist on four different occasions that "a family friend" spoke directly to the Mail. A "family friend" was the source. So either they were lying originally or they're lying now.

Furthermore, they knew ahead of time that they were lying. In an article dated April 28, 2014, reporter Richard Spillett writes in the Mail that "Ramzi, (Amal's father), married outside the Druze faith," and a family friend said that "Baria, (Amal's mom), is not Druze." The Mail knew the story in question was false and printed it anyway.
...
What separates this from all of the ridiculous things the Mail makes up is that now, by their own admission, it can be proved to be a lie. In fact, a premeditated lie.

So I thank the Mail for its apology. Not that I would ever accept it, but because in doing so they've exposed themselves as the worst kind of tabloid.

One that makes up its facts to the detriment of its readers and to all the publications that blindly reprint them.

— George Clooney

Source:  USA Today - here.

--------------------------------

COMMENT

The story caught my attention for a couple of reasons.

The antennae went up because it seems a press issue that may conceivably impact in some way on UK press freedoms, in a climate where there is a push from some quarters for restricting press freedoms (in the aftermath of the News of the World hacking scandal).

The story also happens to involve a Hollywood entertainer, and appointed UN messenger of peace, who has been active in broader humanitarian causes as well as domestic civil rights causes; a celebrity who may well also be described as a 'political activist' (or at least 'politically active'), by virtue of (1) the cross-over between the humanitarian and political arenas; (2) the cross-over between documentary and political message making (Clooney has been involved in documentary film making on humanitarian/political causes/issues (narration, production involvement & appearance/s in such films); and (3) by virtue of the actor's support of:

"Barack Obama's campaign in the 2008 presidential election and in the 2012 presidential election." [wikipedia]

Judging by the Daily Mail published apology (above), Daily Mail asserted therein that their story was published in good faith.

Is 'good faith' in sources of stories a good enough standard in journalism?  Unfortunately, I don't answer that question, as I'm not familiar with the common standards journalists abide by.

Clooney rejected Daily Mail's apology and:

1. Implied (as I read it), that the Daily Mail was involved in a cover up;
2. Stated the original story does not cite the source;
3. Asserted that Daily Mail "knew the story in question was false and printed it anyway";
4. And, finally, stated that:"now, by their own admission, it can be proved to be a lie. In fact, a premeditated lie".

Clooney then rebuked Daily Mail for exposing themselves "as the worst kind of tabloid".

Well, Daily Mail certainly received a very public flogging.
It remains to be seen if any action ensues.

[Apologies for the inclusion of a string of articles.  Find it very difficult not to have the subject articles before me as I type.  Even then, it gets confusing with a string of stories to keep straight while gathering thoughts.  LOL]