Yesterday, I set my alarm to get up today in time to hear the January 6 committee hearing (Fortuately I heard about the postponement – due to Ian – in time to un-set it.) I also, as usual, pre-posted today’s Open and Video threads. I’d like to point out that in the Video thread today there are two videos from Rachel – parts 1 and 2 from a detailed history and updates view of fascism (but not complete – the full video I saw is not private.) In her monologue, and then with David Corn, she gave a history of the last 100 years of fascism, not in every country, but in several. Corn made the point that that cadre of extremists is always present, in any society, which I have occasionally pointed out too, but he does it better and brings better receipts. I want everyone to know it’s there, because it as much information about fascism as you are ever likely to find in one place. If you are a member of YouTube and can sign in, and want to go deeper, this is the address. And finally, the underwear model was convicted on all five counts.
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Civil Discourse – The Oath Keepers Go To Trial
Quote – [Yesterday] morning, jury selection [began] in the case of the leader and four members of the Oath Keepers group, indicted on seditious conspiracy and other charges. The trial itself, with opening statements, is expected to begin later in the week, and could have serious implications for Trump. The Washington Post reports, “Prosecutors plan to call as many as 40 witnesses over a projected five-week trial, draw from 800 statements by those charged and summarize tens of thousands of messages, hundreds of hours of video footage and hundreds of phone call, location and financial records, according to pretrial proceedings.” Click through for everything you wanted to know about the Oath Keepers, and probabaly a lot that you never wanted to know. Thia has been long in the making, and will have profound effect – let’s hope for justice, not against it.
Law and Crime – Questionable Credibility of Two Key Witnesses in Matt Gaetz Probe May Lead to No Criminal Charges: Report
Quote – The Post explained the problems with what the ex-girlfriend allegedly revealed: “The 17-year-old at issue in the investigation was also on that trip, though by that time she was already 18 or older, people familiar with the matter have said. She has been a central witness in the investigation, but people familiar with the case said she is one of two people whose testimony has issues that veteran prosecutors feel would not pass muster with a jury.” The newspaper said prosecutors further believe Greenberg’s veracity would also cause serious problems at a hypothetical trial. Click through for article. If he is not going to be prosecuted, we certainly deserve to know why not. I would point out tat “questionable credibility does NOT necessarily mean the witnesses are not telling the truth. It means they are unlikely to convince a jury that they are telling the truth. I was on a Court Martial once where the prosecution’s main witness was “not credible.” When we came to deliberate, we all had a gut feeling the defendant was guilty as sin, but that the prosecution had not even come close to proving it. We had to acquit with nausea. I would not wish that experience on anyone. I might add the picture of Gaetz with this article makes one (at least me) want to jump through the page and punch him.
Yesterday, the plumber came around 9:00 and was finished before 10:00. I had two separate small problems, one in the bathroom sink and one in the stool. That was a good thing – because with both stopped up, I was afraid there was one problem, farther out, that would require expensive digging. At least I dodged that bullet.
Some information I have come across recently I think is interesting, though it may not mean anything (but it is suggestive.) The area which is now Russia had indigenous peole in the Middle Ages, and was invaded by Vikings – whom the indigenous people called “the Rus.” Those people actually asked the Vikings to stay and rule over them, because the Vikings appeared to be more organized than they were. (Incidentally the Vikings were not an ethniv group – it was more like a career choice – there were Vikings of many ethnicities.) The name “Russia” comes from their name for the Vikings. Ukrainians, however, are descended from Cossacks (if their national anthem is to be believed.) The Cossacks were an ethnic group’ They were semi-nomadic. Groups of them settled in varioua eastern nations, making a deal that they would providwe military service to those nations in return for being allowed self-government – which was mostly democratic. Don’t be discouraged by the length of this video on the Vikings – you only need to listen about a minute and a half to get the content. And this article is on the Cossacks. Those are my sources.
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Letters from an American – September 24, 2022
Quote – In Arizona, Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson has restored a law put into effect by Arizona’s Territorial legislature in 1864 and then reworked in 1901 that has been widely interpreted as a ban on all abortions except to save a woman’s life. Oddly, I know quite a bit about the 1864 Arizona Territorial legislature, and its story matters as we think about the attempt to impose its will in modern America. In fact, the Civil War era law seems not particularly concerned with women handling their own reproductive care—it actually seems to ignore that practice entirely. The laws for this territory, chaotic and still at war in 1864, appear to reflect the need to rein in a lawless population of men. Click through for story. I believe I see a huge Plan B loophole in the way this law is worded – provided the user orders it from, or buys it in person, out of state (i.e., receives it from a person not under Arizona’s jurisdiction.)
ABC News [Australian Broadcasting Company] – Indigenous activists condemn New York Times obituary of Uncle Jack Charles as offensive Lona
Quote – The lede paragraph of the New York Times story initially read: “MELBOURNE, Australia — Jack Charles, one of Australia’s leading Indigenous actors, who has been called the “grandfather of Aboriginal theatre” but whose heroin addiction and penchant for burglary landed him in and out of jail throughout his life, died on September 13 in Melbourne. He was 79.” It was updated to read: “MELBOURNE, Australia — Jack Charles, one of Australia’s leading Indigenous actors and activists, who has been called the “grandfather of Aboriginal theatre” and who spent years in prison for burglaries that he saw as acts of reparations, died on September 13 in Melbourne. He was 79.” Click through for story (I had no trouble so I assume y’all can see it – if not I’ll be happy to “print” it and sent a pdf) The ironic thing is that the Old Gray Lady is supposedly trying to be more sensitive in obituaries. Apparently, that only aqpplies to Americans.
Yesterday, I went to see Virgil, who returns all greetings. I know he’s grateful to all of you for being there for me We were able to get in a little cribbage – the facility only has one deck of regular cards (I think they have a Uno set which has its own card in it, but that’s all) and they are not allowed to accept donations. There’s no board, so we don’t keep a running score – we are doing well if we remember whose deal it is – but it’s still fun. There is a large flat screen TV in the room, and today it was on (no sound) to the Chiefs-Colts game, about which the less said the better. The drive was easy enough both ways, and I got there and home safely.
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Mother Jones – An Insurrectionist Underwear Model Is Finally Having His January 6 Trial
Quote – Strand is the first insurrectionist “influencer” to go on trial, and is arguably the most fashionable and impeccably groomed January 6 defendant. His signature undercut hairstyle, with the top carefully gelled into a rooster’s comb, leather jacket, and aviator sunglasses made him stand out in the crowd of old bearded white men, other MAGA maniacs, the QAnon Shaman, and the cammo-garbed militia types. Click through for article. Yes, this is from last Wednesday, and he was supposed to testify Thursday, and by now the case has likely gone to the jury, but I can’t find any information on it.
Crooks & Liars – Hundreds Turn Out For Dying Boy’s Last Halloween Wish
Quote – Alex’s parents wanted to make his remaining time as meaningful as possible. They asked him if there was anything that he still wished to experience. His response: Halloween. Specifically, he wanted to see monsters. As a toddler, Alex had gone to a haunted house in Niagara Falls, his father said, and he desperately wanted to go back. His doctors cautioned the Hurdakises against traveling, urging them to remain close to home. Click through for story (and a video). President Joe always says, “I promise you, the time will come that what’s going to happen is six months will go by and everybody is going to think, well, it’s passed. But you are going to ride by that field or smell that fragrance or see that flashing image. You are going to feel like you did the day you got the news. But you know you are going to make it. The image of your dad, your husband, your friend. It crosses your mind and a smile comes to your lips before a tear to your eye. That’s how you know. I promise you, I give you my word, I promise you, this I know. The day will come. That day will come.” And when it does, this memory will be there for Alex’s family.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
War crimes. We know them when we see them. Or do we? Speaking as an aficionsdo of detective stires – the kind where you try to figure out who did it before the author tells you – when starting out to solve a simple crime (one victim, one criminal) you look for a break in the pattern. I think I can say without fear of contradiction that in a war zone, there are no patterns – certainly no patterns strong enought to look for a break in them. The author of today’s article is a war crime forensic investigator, who can tell you exactly what kind of evidence he looks for, and how convincing it has to be before a case can be made.
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Proving war crimes isn’t simple – a forensics expert explains what’s involved with documenting human rights violations during conflicts, from Afghanistan to Ukraine
The United Nations reports that at least 5,237 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war – but other estimates place this figure at more than 10,000.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has started more than 16,000 investigations into suspected war crimes committed by Russians.
For me and my colleagues – who since 1998 have worked in securing forensic evidence of these types of crimes in Afghanistan, Guatemala and other places – it is apparent that identifying and collecting evidence of international crimes like killing civilians during conflict is beyond the capabilities and resources of local police crime scene teams, criminal investigators and prosecutors.
This means that in the case of the Ukraine war, a new, unbiased judiciary and investigatory organization will likely need to be set up to handle the claims and questions about tens of thousands of victims on all sides. This will take decades of work and cost a large amount of money, requiring the support of rich countries.
A mass grave in Dasht-e-Leili, Afghanistan, was investigated by Physicians for Human Rights experts, including the author, in 2002 and 2008. Stefan Schmitt/Physicians for Human Rights
Proving war crimes
War crimes, under international law, happen when civilians, prisoners of war, hospitals or schools – essentially anyone and anything that isn’t involved in military activities – are targeted during a conflict.
These prosecutions raise questions about how evidence is collected and handled to support these cases – and about credibility. Ukraine has a history of government corruption, and Donetsk is both not recognized internationally and is backed by Russia, which has a judicial system known to tolerate torture.
Previous recent conflicts that resulted in war crime allegations and investigations offer context for understanding the challenges in independently investigating them.
I investigate cases in which law enforcement, military and police are alleged to have committed crimes against civilians and are not held accountable for it. In many cases, these alleged crimes happen during a civil war, like the Guatemalan civil war in the late 1970s and early 1980s, or the Rwandan conflict and genocide in the mid-1990s.
This means that I often work with international organizations like the United Nations to travel to these places and document physical evidence of war crimes – take photographs, take notes, do measurements and draw sketches to illustrate a potential crime scene. The idea is that any other experts can pick up this evidence and reach their own conclusions about what happened there.
Crime scene investigators like me generally do not determine whether a war crime was committed. That is a decision reserved for the prosecutor or a judge who is given the evidence.
Shortly after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, about 2,000 Taliban fighters surrendered to the Northern Alliance, an Afghan military coalition allied with the U.S. They later went missing.
An investigation determined that these prisoners might have suffocated or were killed in containers used to transport them. It was suspected that they were buried in a mass grave in Dasht-e-Leili, a desert area in northern Afghanistan.
In 2002, the United Nations invited a group of forensics experts from the nonprofit group Physicians for Human Rights to investigate this alleged mass grave. As part of this team, I documented heavy equipment tracks, human remains and personal items in this area.
Physicians for Human Rights exposed over a dozen bodies in a test trench, and autopsies by one of their forensic pathologists determined the cause of death was consistent with suffocation. Evidence of medical gloves on the surface of and inside the mass grave struck me as unusual, as it indicated that logistically prepared personnel had handled the remains of the dead. At the time, Afghans barely had any medical supplies to take care of their injured.
To me, it was indicative of the presence of foreign troops with the necessary supplies – such as medical gloves – at this site when the bodies were buried there. Considering that in late November 2001 the U.S. and its allies were searching for al-Qaida members, this might be a reasonable explanation for their presence.
In 2008, in a follow-up visit to the area, I discovered two large pits in the desert, indicative of the removal of any human remains that might have been buried there. Later analysis of satellite imagery provided evidence of a large-scale excavation using a backhoe and trucks, dating it to late 2006.
Everyone from former Afghan Vice President Rashid Dostum, also a warlord, to U.S. military and government experts offered different answers as to what happened there.
Since Ukraine is fighting Russia in an active war, it will not have the independence required to fairly investigate and prosecute potential war crimes cases.
That will require other countries and international groups to help set up an independent, unbiased organization to investigate the fate of victims on all sides of the war.
In March, the human rights branch of the United Nations also launched an international commission to investigate human rights violations in Ukraine. But the U.N. does not identify and return human remains to their families.
While the International Criminal Court is also investigating war crimes in Ukraine, this organization tends to focus on high-level cases that go after political leaders and is not tasked to provide answers to families of all victims.
These investigations will not extend beyond justice – meaning the arrest and prosecution of soldiers or political leaders.
War crimes involving massive numbers of casualties leave behind a multitude of surviving family members, all of whom have the right to know the fate of their loved ones. This goes for Ukraine as well as any other country where international crimes are committed.
Families also have the right to the truth about what happened. This requires an institution with the independence, staff, scientific resources, legal capabilities and money to reach this understanding.
============================================================== Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, the events used as an example here happened during the Bush administration. As suggestive as the findings were, they were not sufficiently evidential to make a case, let alone press charges. So anyone who is still wondering why Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld were never charged with war crimes can look here for at least partial answers.
It would be nice if war criminals – at least the most egregious – could always be brought to justice – but for more than a thousand years it has been a principle of justice that it is better for multiple guilty people to go free than for one innocent to suffer, and the rules of evidence have been written accodingly (the exact ratio, of course, has varied over the years. In Anglo-Saxon England it was four to one. The “Blackstone ratio,” determined at about the time of the Founding Fathers, is ten to one. Some have proposed as high as a thousand to one, and some as low as one to one.) Even if we don’t agree about the number, I think we mostly agree in principle. Even when we don’t like individual results (for example, it appears that the Matt Gaetz human trafficking case has an evidence problem – specifically a witness credibility problem.)
Yesterday, the radio opera was Rúsalka, sung in Czech, by Antonín Dvořák (there’s not actually an accent on the u -I put one there to remind myself that’s where the stress is.) Like every other culture, the Czech cultur is rich in fairy tales. But, if you think the Brothers Grimm are grim, don’t look up the Czech ones, because they are grimmer. A Rúsalka is a female water spirit (it isn’t her name), and her story is that of the Llittle Mermaid, only darker. She is a fresh water being, she doesn’t go to a sea witch, but a lake or river witch called Jezibaba, and forfeits her voice to become human. The prince falls for her but everyone in his castle is terrified of this speechless woman who seems so cold (she didn’t get a soul in the deal, you see.) A foreign princess comes to visit, and the Prince is tempted, and the Rúsalka fears all is lost and goes back to the water. The prince tries to stop her but it is too late. She has become a different kind of water spirit, one who exists to lure human men and kiss them, which condemns tham to hell for eternity (she did get her voice back, so she tells him this – she doesn’t want to doom him.) But he chooses to kiss her anyway. Not exactly a happily ever after ending for sure. The one aria from it which is often concertized is the “Song to the Moon,” about how much she loves the prince and wants to be with him. The role is for a soprano, but this aria isn’t high, and a mezzo-soprano can sing it, and in fact the best, IMO, I ever heard it was done by a mezzo, Frederica von Stade (also, Joshua Bell did a lovely violin version). But I digress. Dvořák also used Czech fairy tales as the bases for some tone poems, of which the three I can remember are “The Noon Witch,” “The Wood Dove,” and “The Golden Spinning Wheel.” All the music is lovely, and all the stories are gruesome.
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CPR News – Elijah McClain’s autopsy report changed to death by ketamine
Quote – “The forensic evidence revealed that the cause of death was undetermined. Specifically, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy stated that he was unable to conclude that the actions of any law enforcement officer caused Mr. McClain’s death. In order to prove any form of Homicide in the state of Colorado it is mandatory that the prosecution prove that the accused caused the death of the victim.” Even with this new cause of death being ketamine, it is unclear how prosecutors move forward with holding those who touched McClain that evening accountable for his death without a homicide declaration on the death certificate. Click through for updates. We pretty well knew this. But now it’s official – but the manner of death is still wrong. I think our AG tried hard for accountability, but has been stymied, as usual, by law enforcement sticking together regardless.
Crooks & Liars – Ukraine Returns 215 POWs, Including Azovstal Defenders In Prisoner Swap
Quote – An amazing swap, as in total Ukraine returned 215 prisoners of war, 205 Ukrainians and 10 foreigners. The entire leadership of the Azov regiment appears to have survived and were freed, including commander Denys Prokopenko. British national Aidan Aslin, sentenced to death by Russian proxies of Donetsk, also swapped. Ukrainian medic and songstress Kateryna “Ptashka” Polishchuk aka “Birdie” was also among those released, just days after Russia released an interrogation video of her. Click through for more details. This is astonishing, particularly since Putin has started conscripting. But I’ll definitely tke it.
Yesterday was chilly again. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Oh well, it’s Colorado. Eventually, it did warm up. Also, a new Betty Bowers video came out (It’ll be in tomorrow’s video thread) and by a strange coincidence, the answer to the Wordle was “Glory!” I am having plumbing issues, but can’t get a plumber unti Monday. Sigh. These things happen.
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Robert Reich – The Truth I’m telling Congress today (Part II) [A continuation from yesterday’s article. We seldom get such a quick response.]
Quote – This is the process, folks. The media begin to change how they report on a public problem such as inflation, because the current facts don’t square with the older view. This starts to reframe the debate. The reframing educates the public, and encourages lawmakers to talk differently about the problem. Which in turn encourages the media to further reframe it in line with current realities. Click through for article. In his email he also refers to a New York Times article (sorry I don’t have a gift link) which also carries the message. Good news.
The Daily Beast – Donald Trump Tells Hannity He Can Declassify Docs Just by ‘Thinking About It’
Quote – When Hannity asked about the declassification process, Trump replied: “There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it. Different people see different things. But as I understand it, there doesn’t have to be. If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified. Even by thinking about it,” he asserted. “It doesn’t have to be a process. It can be a process but it doesn’t have to be. You’re the president. You make that decision. So when you send it [to Mar-a-Lago or “wherever”], it’s declassified. We—I—declassified everything,” Trump insisted, even though his lawyers have not made that claim in court. Click through for more, including a video if you can stand it (I didn’t even try.) This is so FRIKKEN ridiculous you have probably already heard it.
Yesterday was the day which was expected to be the coldest in months, and I must say it did not disappoint. I put the quilt back on the bed the night before, and was not a bit too warm (the blanket had alreadt been on the bed for a couple of weeks).) The quilt stayed lest night – it may come off tonight – but the blanket is probably there to stay until next June. I grabbed a sweater early and kept it on all day.On the bright side, I did receive confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday.
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Daily Beast – AOC Rival’s Family Caught in Drug and Gun Bust
Quote – But what Forte has failed to mention is that her family’s beverage distribution warehouse was at the center of a federal drug and gun bust in 2019—which culminated in guilty pleas by her husband and son, both of whom are serial offenders. In a 2020 Facebook post, Forte placed her business at an address on the Bronx’s Stillwell Avenue, and in her financial disclosures to the House Clerk’s office she stated her husband’s income derived from a company incorporated in this same building. It was this exact location that a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent identified as the site of the crimes of Joseph “Joey Snapple” Galdieri—to whom Forte is married, according to records in suburban Rockland County, where the pair own a home well outside the congressional district’s borders—and their son Joseph Galdieri Jr. Click through for story. Life would be better if Republicans named Tina would just stay out of politics (JK – at this point life would be better if ALL Republicans would just stay out of politics.)
Robert Reich – The truth I’m telling Congress today about inflation
Quote – Well, now I get a chance to tell Congress why this is insane…. My aim is to state as clearly as possible that the underlying problem is not wage-price inflation. It’s profit-price inflation. And the Fed’s continuing rate hikes will hurt average workers by slowing the economy — making it harder for workers to get wage increases and causing many to lose their jobs…. I’m going to add my testimony to this post right after I testify this morning — and fill you in on what happened. Click through for article and summary of the hearing. The article is also available as a podcast, and the hearing is probably on YouTube by now. Of course the Reich on the left is right, as usual.
Yesterday, although I’m not really ready to go back to three short takes, there were three stories so different but so connected I could not decide which one to leave out. Also, Tish James’s fraud investigation is now to the point where she can formally file (a civil) suit against Trump** personally, three of his children, and several officers. (The investigation has been done under a filing against the Trump** Organization, not anyone personally, so this is a bigger step than it may sound.) Also, though it wasn’t all that easy, I did manage to take out trash and recyclables for pickup tomorrow. Which pretty well wore me out for the rest of the evening. I need to post Shirley Serban’s parody of “Let’s do the time warp again,” which she calls “I’m feeling time-worn again,” in the video thread, because it expresses exactly how I so often feel. It won’t be today – I need to address my “Parody Project” backlog first – but maybe tomorrow.
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Talking Points Memo – The Search for Perla
Quote – [E]ven the barest look at the details we know [about the story of the Venezuelan immigrants shipped off to Martha’s Vineyard] make it very unlikely this was an official or on-the-books government operation. And yet it’s one Gov. Desantis has publicly taken credit for and said was paid for with taxpayer funds from Florida. [Representatives of LULAC, the Latino civil rights organization] went to Martha’s Vineyard on Friday to talk to the asylum-seekers and get more details about what happened. They were able to flesh out the story about “Perla” and her team in San Antonio. Click through for quite a story. As far as I know, “Perla” has not yet been definitively identified. These people – these MAGAts – just will not stop criming long enough for investigations to make any progress.
Mother Jones – DeSantis Flying Migrants to Martha’s Vineyard Is Part of a 60-Year-Old Segregationist Playbook
Quote – Bell and Williams were among almost 100 people to be shipped under false pretenses to the resort town over the spring and summer of 1962 as part of a white supremacist campaign to send Black people from the South to northern cities. Overall, some 200 people were bused to Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, and other cities in Indiana, Idaho, and New Hampshire. The political ploy was a retaliation for the Freedom Rides from the previous year, when a group of 13 Black and white civil rights activists with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) embarked on southbound buses from Washington, DC, to protest continued segregation in interstate transportation despite the Supreme Court having ruled that it was unconstitutional. Click through for history. Not only will they not stop criming, they can’t even be bothered to think of anything new.
Daily Kos (Vetwife) – So many executive orders moving DA’s and Judges around in Florida. What is this about?
Quote – I took a look at DeSantis Executive orders and all I see for the most part is soooo much moving District Attorneys (called state attorneys in Florida) and Judges around. Were these people not elected? There are also some Executive orders marked “ Confidential” and you cannot see them. Not clickable anywhere so much for Sunshine State. We need to be looking under every rock this guy is hiding with his pen. God only [knows] what he is doing in secret. Click through for more. Vetwife is community, not staf, but she is no dummy and has a nose for corruption. She implies that in FLorida both prosecutors and judges are elected. If that is the case, ALL of these executive orders MUST violate SOMETHING – if not the Sate law or Constitution, surely Federal law or the Constitution? IANAL, of course.
Lona
