news that caught my eye

i’ve not been posting much, cuz i’ve suddenly been *swamped* with things to do.  (more on that in a bit).

these were things that caught mah eye over the past month:

Profit found in jailing immigrants for feds

SAN ANTONIO — As federal officials begin an overhaul of the widely criticized system used to incarcerate immigrants awaiting hearings and deportation, their challenge includes a deep inconsistency in the amount paid to a hastily assembled network of private prisons and local jails that hold thousands of such detainees.

Contracts obtained by the Associated Press illustrate the problem in paper-heavy detail, and not all of the discrepancies can be explained by geography or differences in the cost of living. For example, a suburban Atlanta county is paid less than $43 per day to house an illegal immigrant, while a rural New Mexico county gets $97 a day — just a few dollars shy of the amount paid for a bed in Los Angeles.

Some county jails charge only the actual cost of housing an immigrant, while others acknowledge partnering with private prison companies to profit from the system.

Last week, the Obama administration announced a series of “major reforms” in the detention of illegal immigrants, including placing federal employees inside the largest facilities to monitor detainee treatment. In doing so, John Morton, the new director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, acknowledged the current system is both inconsistent and lacks oversight.

“There isn’t a uniform rhyme or reason to it,” he said.

there’s no real uniform rhyme or reason to our immigration policy as a whole.  why should detention be any different?  society seems geared towards profiting off of other people’s misery, so maybe that’s the “consistency”.

$3 billion buys not-so-green vehicles

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the nation’s top car salesman in recent weeks, has cited the Obama administration’s best-seller list of mostly smaller, fuel-saving cars like the Ford Focus to describe the success of the Cash for Clunkers rebate program.

But what LaHood and other administration officials usually don’t mention is that some trucks and sport-utility vehicles that get less than 20 miles per gallon, like the Ford F-150 truck and one version of the Cadillac SRX Crossover, also are being purchased with the new government subsidies. Both are bulky vehicles weighing more than 6,000 pounds when loaded that boast at least 248 horsepower.

Just how many consumers used the federal rebates to buy these larger, not-so-green vehicles is unclear. The Obama administration has declined so far to release detailed records of purchases under the program being compiled by the Transportation Department, listing every clunker deal requesting rebates. The Associated Press requested the data July 31.

The Transportation Department distributes regular summaries of sales from the clunkers program and has used the electronic sales information from dealers to bolster arguments that Americans are dumping gas guzzlers for gas savers. But its failure to release detailed records means the public can’t verify those claims.

ahhh.  it’s so nice to have transparency back in the federal gov’t….................................................oh.  nvm.

Expert blasts fire investigation that led to execution

Key testimony that sent a Corsicana auto mechanic to the execution chamber for setting a house fire that killed three young children was based on faulty investigations that ignored eyewitness reports and failed to follow accepted scientific procedures, an expert review of the case concludes.

While the 51-page report by nationally known fire scientist Craig Beyler stops short of charging that Cameron Willingham wrongfully was sent to his death, it dismisses as slipshod the investigations by Deputy State Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez and Corsicana Assistant Fire Chief Douglas Fogg. Willingham maintained his innocence until his execution in 2004.

“The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man — convicted of a crime I did not commit,” Willingham said from the death house gurney.

The men’s investigations into the December 1991 blaze at Willingham’s residence failed to meet current standards of the National Fire Prevention Association or even standards that were in place at the time of the fire, Beyler wrote.

Some of the testimony Vasquez offered to support his claim that the fire was set to kill Willingham’s 1-year-old twins and 2-year-old stepdaughter, Beyler contended, was “hardly consistent with a scientific mind-set and is more characteristic of mystics or psychics.”

the wheels of justice don’t just move slowly, they get bogged down and go entirely flat all too often.

also, see:

Books That Counter Our “Training” To Make War By John Pilger

great list of books.  i’ve to add a couple ot my “must reads” list.

Blue Cross and Blue Dog Democrats: Reflections on “Health Reform” Under “The Unelected Dictatorship of Money” by Paul Street

democrats can kvetch about republicans blocking healthcare reform all they like, but seriously, get a grip.  republicans are going to try to block healthcare reform.  if for no other reason than because democrats support it.  the *real* problem, lies not with the other party who were going to balk ~anyway~, but with those within your own party that are balking and fighting against meaningful reform.

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Tagged as: war,news,obama,healthcare,otherpeoplesexpense,injusticesystem August 26, 2009 @ 11:28 am

trial for judge sharon “killer” keller can’t be soon enough…

texas monthly has an article on judge sharon keller who goes on trial august 17th for her mishandling of a death penalty case.

As she goes on trial this month, nearly everyone—journalists, lawyers, and even some of her colleagues—is calling for her head, but is the presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals the monster she’s been made out to be?

why, yes.  yes, she really is:

in 1996, judge keller ruled that a defendent had received a fair trial, even after it was shown that his confession had been tortured out of him.  her reasoning?  even though the man’s rights were violated, the outcome of the trial would not have changed.

in 1998, judge keller rejected calls for a new trial after dna showed that the man who had been convicted was innocent.  her reasoning?  dna evidence was immaterial.  the defendant had no proof he was innocent.

and that’s just two instances.  there’s plenty more.

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Tagged as: texas,politics,news August 02, 2009 @ 06:11 am

healthcare reform brought to you by the people who’ve caused the problem

Lobbyists the silver lining in health care storm?

WASHINGTON — Stormy weather in Congress is threatening President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, but some see a silver lining: the lobbyists are still mostly on board.

The drug industry, the American Medical Association, hospital groups and the insurance lobby are saying Congress must make major changes this year. Disagreements — chiefly between liberal and conservative Democrats — brought Congress to a standstill this week. But television ads paid for by drug companies and insurers continued to emphasize the benefits of a health care overhaul — not the groups’ objections to some of the proposals.

oh goodie.  the drug and insurance companies now want healthcare reform… and they’re lobbying heavily to get it.  this does not bode well.

It’s all got to do with shifts in the economy. Even before the recession hit, employer-sponsored health coverage had been steadily shrinking, and many people couldn’t afford the premiums for individual policies. Meanwhile, government programs have been expanding — and they’ve gotten increasingly friendly to private insurance companies. Insurers now play major roles as middlemen in Medicare, Medicaid and the children’s insurance program.

And if the government requires everybody to get coverage — just what the overhaul legislation calls for — it could guarantee a steady stream of customers subsidized by taxpayers not only for insurers, but for all medical providers.

profits profits profits.  insurance companies aren’t going to back a plan that cuts into their profit margin.  the sick and poor be damned, this is all about the money.

The industry groups have invested heavily to make sure their views get taken into account. The health care sector gave $167 million in campaign contributions to congressional candidates in the 2008 election cycle, according to the watchdog group OpenSecrets.org. Health care companies poured $484 million into lobbying efforts in 2008, and are on pace to exceed that this year.

Separately, the drug companies have offered up $80 billion over 10 years to reduce prescription costs of seniors if a deal goes through, while major hospital groups agreed to a $155-billion reduction in Medicare and Medicaid payments to free up funds that would help subsidize coverage for the uninsured.

aww, they offered that up did they?  which means they expect their profits to rise enough to cover the loss.

One of the liberals’ main objectives is to include a strong government-sponsored insurance plan in the legislation, to compete against private insurance. Stopping or weakening the government plan is a top priority for the insurance industry. Other health care interest groups are also leery because the public plan could put a dent in their budgets.

well, yes.  a government-sponsored insurance plan, with purchasing power, would wield a ton of power.  can’t be having that.  they might be able to demand prices at levels people could *afford*. 

it’s the same story over and over again.  deregulating college tuitions was going to save texans millions… ‘cept tuition costs jumped 23% in the first year alone.  tort reform was going to cut healthcare costs for texans… ‘cept it didn’t.  prices increased.  energy deregulation, same thing.

“just be patient”.  “it’s progress”.  ‘cept it never really is.  they don’t put plans into action and then look at ways to improve those plans for the lowest on the scale.  they put plans into action and then look at ways to dismantle them over the years.  see: medicare, medicaid, social security.

this time, i hope the liberals prevail, i’m just not going to count on it.

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Tagged as: politics,news,healthcare,manbehindthecurtain August 02, 2009 @ 05:29 am

further insanity regarding the houston fire dept

in “what the fuck is happening to the houston fire dept”, i criticized bill white’s plan to skip federal involvement and go with a local “independent investigation”.  9 times out of 10, i trust bill white to do what is right for the city; however, i think he’s making a big mistake here…. and i’m not alone.  as it turns out, he had planned to appoint 2 law firms to do the investigation…. (law firms?!)...

from Law firms for HFD probe criticized:

The two law firms selected by Mayor Bill White’s administration to determine whether systemic problems of racism and sexism exist in the Houston Fire Department have drawn criticism for having ties too close to the city and senior city officials.

The choice of Thompson and Horton LLP and Lemond and Lemond LLC for a contract worth up to $190,000— which was made without input from City Council and did not go through a formal proposal process — has raised questions about transparency for a process that was meant to bring about an outside examination of the culture in the fire department.

seriously… law firms?  to investigate “systemic problems of racism and sexism”?

Michel said he intends to monitor the probe closely and that the law firms may not necessarily produce a report from their examination. Senior fire department officials would need to be involved in order for the firms’ work to be a success.

“Ultimately, this is a management tool,” he said. “People come in to assist management to help them operate better and you have to work with management in order for it to be effective. ... They have to assess what’s occurred, and you just can’t do that in a vacuum.”

it appears *to me* that bill white’s administration thinks that the problem is a minor one that can be taken care of with nothing more than a seminar or three on “how to not be a racist, sexist pig”, which while possibly helpful isn’t going to go far enough in dealing with the problem.  PLUS it gives the appearance of a “cover up”.  while i don’t believe that is the *intent*, perception is important.

Joe Ahmad, an attorney representing two female firefighters who found racist and misogynistic graffiti near their quarters at a department fire station this month, an event that prompted the calls for an outside investigation, said that if the two firms were shown to have close ties to the city, that would be “just another disappointing step.”

“When we heard that there was going to be an outside, independent investigation, we were encouraged because we thought that was precisely what was needed,” said Ahman. “I would hope that whoever is ultimately hired are truly independent.”

i completely agree.  there needs to be a *true* independent *investigation* that deals with the issues that people have faced, including but not limited to criminal prosecution.  sweeping it under the rug, or giving the appearance that this is what you’re doing, will only make people think you are covering up the problem and protecting the deranged individuals in the dept.

rick casey hit the nail on the head, once again, why consult attorneys?:

It has been only a month since I had to explain to this city’s politicians that they could not defend unethical behavior by announcing that they had received clearance from an attorney.

Attorneys are trained to determine what is illegal, which covers far less ground than what is wrong.

A restaurateur might as well respond to criticism of her hollandaise sauce by saying, “I had my lawyer taste it and he pronounced it savory.”

Now here comes Mayor Bill White to announce he wants to hire two law firms to examine the “equal employment opportunity and practices” at the Houston Fire Department in the wake of accusations of racist and sexual harassment.

That’s right: not one law firm, but two. For $190,000, the two firms, who are already tinged by controversy, are expected to “review, assess and recommend policies and practices on issues that include diversity, conflict resolution, preventive practices, compliance, communication and management practices.”

Am I missing something here? Are there law school classes on identifying the cultural dynamics of a strongly traditionalist organization and altering those that are, even innocently, corrosive?

Instead let’s hire someone who does have such training, such as a cultural anthropologist. We would get more for less money, and could hire lawyers if legal issues arose.

Laws don’t change cultures, leadership does. But leaders need information, and the crucial information here is cultural, not legal.

as of right now, the plan has been delayed:

City Council this morning delayed consideration of a contentious contract to hire two law firms to examine how the city handles allegations of workplace racism and sexism in the wake of several highly charged incidents in the Houston Fire Department in recent months.

Council members held up the contract for two weeks amid questions about the scope of the $190,000 contract, how law firms Thompson and Horton LLP and Lemond and Lemond LLC were chosen and whether their ties to the city and senior officials were too close.

hopefully, in the interim, someone will realize that a REAL INVESTIGATION needs to be done.

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Tagged as: texas,wtf,racism,news,bigotry,houston July 24, 2009 @ 01:52 pm

wtf is happening to the houston fire dept?

firefighters.  they’re the guys that are going to save your life, your home, your belongings.  they’re the good guys. 

‘cept when they’re deranged bigots. 

and it seems there’s too many of those in the houston fire department.

in february, a noose is found in the locker of a fire captain.  he’s disciplined, and after several heated city council meetings, it’s decided that all houston fire dept employees will undergo sensitivity training.  (btw, fire captain says the noose was a “fisherman’s knot” that he kept out of respect for the man who taught it to him.  because… you never know when you’ll need to lynch a fish.)

on tuesday, racist/sexist graffiti directed at 2 female firefighters is found sprayed around the inside of one of the fire stations.

on wednesday, someone hacks into the houston fire dept’s radio system with a non-departmental radio and broadcasts seven seconds of racial epithets.

the 2 female firefighters have since spoken publicly:

Jane Draycott and Paula Keyes said they’re devastated by the attacks and at a loss to understand them.

“It’s demented,” said Draycott, a 16-year veteran of Texas fire departments who came to work Tuesday to find not just the graffiti but the mutilation of a treasured photo of her and her teenage daughter who was killed in a 2006 car crash. “Someone is absolutely sick to do this. It’s got to stop.”

Draycott, who is white, said the act was no isolated incident, citing less sensational but still shocking discriminatory acts dating back as far as two years, when she joined Station 54.

Keyes said she hasn’t recovered from the epithets, which included “the N word and the B word.”

“I was devastated,” said Keyes. “You hear rumors about racism and sexism in the department, but I never thought anything like this would happen to me. I never thought I’d have to be afraid of my own co-workers. I had their backs. I thought they had mine.”

The mutilated photo included the word “die” written over Draycott’s face and the word “dead” over the face of her late daughter, Amanda. The faces in other family photos posted on her locker were obliterated with a felt-tip marker.

Draycott described the litany of incidents over the past two years: her shower’s cold water being disconnected so she was subsequently scalded; vandalism in the women’s restroom that included urination on the toilet seats, sink and walls and snipping of wires to the speaker that alerts firefighters to emergency calls; and a colleague saying he didn’t want to sit with “the riffraff” when declining to sit at her table.

She also described superiors forcing her to take and score highly on exams after being off work for extended periods while her male coworkers who were off longer did not have to demonstrate such re-entry skills.

She said she made frequent complaints about the abuse, but it never changed.

wtf?  seriously.  what. the. fuck?  the women are saying they’re now frightened to be at work and frightened for their families.  “they know where i live.”  who can blame them? 

a retired firefighter has also come forward, detailing the sexual harrassment *she* faced, which included waking up to find a fellow firefighter masturbating over her.

let me say again…... what. the. fuck??  what type of atmosphere exists that whomever is doing these things fears no consequences?

i think mayor bill white is making a mistake by not involving the justice dept in the investigation, relying upon the houston police dept instead.  i think we’d be better served by an outside investigation that has no bias, no “good ol’ boy” ties.  whatever they do, they need to do it quickly.  the people responsible need to be caught and dealt with before things escalate further.

another solution?

Chetkovich said the male culture is very difficult to overcome. A key component is reaching a goal of 15 percent women.  ([ed.note]: percentage of female houston firefighters? 2.6 percent.)

The reason: That’s the critical mass within a group at which stereotypes tend to crumble.

It is when, if one member of a minority group messes up, members of the majority know enough other members of the minority that they no longer think, “That’s the way those people are.”

So the task for the HFD:

Find the perpetrator.

Then find about 500 good women

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Tagged as: texas,wtf,news,houston July 09, 2009 @ 10:07 pm