Normal People Are Horrified At The Boko Haram Kidnapping Of 276 Girls While Right Wing Sociopaths Claim It's An Obama Benghazi Plot

View the FOX 17 clip "Western Michigan Mothers Rally to Bring Back Our Girls" here.

Everyone in the world knows the tragic story by now. Primitive, anti-education, mysogynist religious fanatics in the failed oil plutocracy of Nigeria kidnapped 276 young girls from their school and are threatening to sell them into slavery. On Mothers Day, both Pope Francis and Michelle Obama helped publicize the "Bring Back Our Girls" movement. "Like millions of people across the globe," said the American First Lady, "my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken at the kidnapping of the more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night."

As you can see in the video above, Fox News in Michigan interviewed Dr. Paul Clements, the progressive candidate for Congress who taught mathematics at a similar school while serving in the Peace Corps in the Gambia. "They pulled up with pickup trucks and motorcycles, heavily armed, and they kidnapped at least 276 girls who were just trying to do their school leaving exams. This group has been such a ruthless terrorist group for five years. They’ve already killed over 1,500 people this year. These girls are trying to get an education because that's the way they can improve themselves."

Clements told Fox, that the terrorist group is Boko Haram and that that their name translates, roughly, into "Western education is forbidden." But, he warned, "That's the exact thing that their name says they're against. So it shouldn't come, unfortunately, as too big a surprise that that's who they're attacking."

Republican Party icon Allen West, however, sees it differently. Viewed through the prism of deranged GOP obsessions and psychosis, West-- a Fox News contributor, torturer and war criminal who was booted out of the U.S. military and later booted out of Congress by his own Florida constituents-- wrote on his insane, paranoid website that the worldwide concern over the horrific kidnapping is a Wag the Dog scenario that Obama is using to divert attention from… yes, the Republican Party efforts to fundraiser off the Benghazi tragedy! Yep, in West's crazy little right-wing world this-- as everything-- is all about Benghazi, the only "issue" the crackpots wing of the GOP has left after public opinion turned so sharply against them on the Affordable Care Act.

I circled back to Paul Clements and told him about Allen West's taking on this. He didn't seem amused. "As a Peace Corps Volunteer," he told me, "I taught math for two years at a school in West Africa. Far too many young people in Africa and around the world don't have access to quality education-- in Nigeria only 44% get to secondary school. We need to stand up for young people trying to educate themselves around the world. To people like Mr. West who have consistently disrespected educators and women, that might be a distraction, but it's not to the people in those classrooms."

Streams of Consciousness, Christmas 2010

Terrorists

Although there were dozens of beautifully decorated white Christmas trees in the stately lobby of the recently renovated Mamounia Hotel yesterday, Marrakech is more a place to escape the gaudy, sacrilegious Xmas holidays than to come to celebrate them. (Toon and Mieke brought me a hand-crank, battery-free flashlight as a gift, though, and tonight we may go have dinner at Dar Zellij, although no one thought of it as a Christmas dinner especially.)

So this edition of Streams has only one thing in common with Christmas: December 25. Although I will mention that in the mad scramble for last-minute gifts-- where you are, though not were I am, electronic devices and the wonders of technology are among the most popular and sought-after; 31.1 million consumers, more than 15 percent of Americans, planned to do last-minute shopping-- but it's too late to order a Kindle from Amazon. Wii video games, the motion-detecting console from Microsoft Kinect, PaperJamz, Scrabble Flash, 3-D televisions and Apple's iPad are all going like... well the way sweaters and ties used to.

Don't expect to see any Members of Congress playing Scrabble Flash or PaperJamz during sessions, but obsessively dull tweeter-- and incoming House Speaker-- John Boehner has proposed new rules allowing House Members to play with electronic devices while the House is open for business. Boehner was once caught on the floor of the House handing out bribe checks from Big Tobacco (while the House was voting on tobacco regulation) and said at the time that that kind of practice must stop.

I can easily imagine lobbyists bidding for votes for their special-interest projects via e-mails and IMs from now on. Boehner, of course, says that the electronic devices won't be allowed to impair congressional decorum. Of course, for a man who gets soused on a daily basis and cries publicly and whose idea of decorum means not getting caught handing out bribe checks from lobbyists, this might be very broadly interpreted, especially now that the Republicans are getting rid of Pelosi's independent ethics watchdog mechanism.

The new rule would relax the complete ban on the use of gadgets like the iPad, iPhone or BlackBerry on the floor. Mobile phones, tablet computers and the whole universe of applications that run on them will be officially available to House members as they conduct business.

Members still may not talk on the phone in the chamber and are supposed to use the devices for official business only, according to a spokesman for the soon-to-be speaker, John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio. But as long as the mute switch is on, lawmakers will be free to tap away.

...The decision represents a vivid concession of old-fashioned tradition to new technology. But while the nation’s lawmakers will be fully plugged in, they will also be in danger of tuning one another out.

As the Emily Post etiquette Web site states: “Tapping on a hand-held device is O.K. if it’s related to what’s being discussed, but taking care of personal business is unprofessional. Your associates might think that you were more interested in your gadget than the business at hand.”

Mobile technology has already started to sneak onto the floors of both the House and the Senate. While the rules of the 111th Congress officially banned iPads and other devices from the floor, there has been a “wink and a nod” approach to a lawmaker who takes furtive glances at his BlackBerry, according to a senior Republican aide.

The intent may be to let legislators look at the text of bills being discussed, but come on, we're dealing with a shitload of perverted Republican egomaniacs here, many of whom can be expected to continue their inane tweeting, while others play games, and others... well, just do what Republicans always do when they get into positions of power.

Random Mass Murder Also Big This Christmas Season

In the Taliban mini-state within Pakistan's northwest tribal area, a suicide bomber managed to kill over 40 people lining up for UN food aid packages in the town of Khar today. Unlike anti-Christian attacks in Iraq (and, more subtly, in Saudi Arabia) this is just anti-anyone-at-all.

Local police official Fazal-e-Rabbi said the bomber, dressed in a traditional women's burqa, first lobbed two hand grenades into the crowd gathered at a checkpoint outside the food center in the town of Khar on Saturday.

Rabbi said the attacker, who is believed to be a woman, then detonated an explosive vest. If true, it would be the first time that a woman has carried out a suicide attack in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

"First there were two small explosions and people started running for cover. But within seconds there was a major blast and there were dead bodies scattered everywhere," witness Hussain Ahmed said. "It was very terrifying."

Last night there were bombings in central Nigeria, and at least 11 people were killed. It's an area where Muslims and Christians are fighting over whose God is better.

Although the clashes take place between rivals gangs of Muslims and Christians, observers say the underlying causes are economic and political.

Muslims are generally from the Hausa- or Fulani-speaking communities.

They are often nomadic people who live from rearing animals or petty trade.

The mainly Christian Berom, Anaguta and Afisare groups have traditionally been farmers.

Some Christian farmers feel they are under threat, as Hausa-speaking Muslims come down from the north looking for pasture for their animals.

In a separate development, suspected Islamist sect members attacked a Catholic church during a Christmas Eve service in northern Nigeria, a military spokesman was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Roman anarchists bombed the Swiss and Chilean embassies in that city Thursday, seeking to "destroy the system of domination."

...[W]hile there's little doubt the group shares an ideological affinity with violent activists in other parts of the world, it's less certain that their capabilities rise to the level normally associated with international terrorism. The bombs, made from video cassette boxes stuffed with gunpowder and metal shards, were triggered by a nine-volt battery. Officials say they were mailed from within the country, using the Italian postal system. "It is a small group of individuals, not really capable of organizing themselves," says Gianfranco Pasquino, a professor of political science and expert in terrorism at the University of Bologna, adding that the anarchists had few supporters in Italian society. "To throw a bomb or put one in a letter is not that much of a challenge."

And in Uganda, where homophobic Christian fundies under the influence of American far right hate groups like Jim DeMint's and John Ensign's shady Family are terrorizing gay people and invading Somalia, and where a Yellow Fever epidemic is killing more people than terrorism, the burgeoning little fascist state is clamping down hard while the country's genocidal dictator is very much asserting himself domestically and internationally.

And in the U.S., the TSA is now taking a closer look at Thermoses and coffee cups, presumably to make sure no one is smuggling any fingernail clippers onto planes with them.

The Holiday Risk Report says, basically, "You never know."

Just days before Christmas, the White House asked Americans to be vigilant this holiday season, warning of a possible-- though unspecified-- terror threat from Al Qaeda. The caution echoed a week's worth of warnings from law enforcement authorities.

...[White House counter-terrorism chief John] Brennan's warning comes days after Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI, and Department of Homeland Security also alerted the public to a possible attack, citing a year's worth of thwarted attempts starting with last year's Christmas Day "underwear" plot. It was a year ago that a suspected Al Qaeda operative tried to detonate explosives packed in his underwear, onboard a flight bound from Amsterdam to Detroit.

This week Attorney General Eric Holder told ABC News in an exclusive interview that Americans "have to be prepared for potentially bad news."

"What I am trying to do in this interview is to make people aware of the fact that the threat is real, the threat is different, the threat is constant," he said.

"We are concerned these terrorists may seek to exploit the likely significant psychological impact of an attack targeting mass gatherings in large metropolitan areas during the 2010 holiday season, which has symbolic importance to many in the United States," said the "Security Awareness for the Holiday Season" bulletin released by the FBI and DHS last week.

Terrorizing The Terrorists

Pam's House Blend reports that starting next week Ireland will get civil unions. The country may be going bankrupt but at least the LGBT community will be able to go through that on an equal basis with everyone else. "The Minister for Justice and Law Reform Dermot Ahern TD today signed the Commencement Orders for the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights of Cohabitants Act 2010." Much to the consternation of the Vatican, Ireland is now in line with most of the E.U., where anti-gay discrimination is not tolerated.

Virginia Foxx and The "W" Word... Plus Darrell Issa... And Nigeria

Help send her back to North Carolina permanently by clicking on her nose

Look at that picture. Think about the outrageous, harmful behavior and extreme positions. I think I've been extraordinarily disciplined in not using the "w" word to describe her. I admit, it always comes to mind. But there is really a sordid and disgraceful history when it comes to accusing women of being the "w" word. The case can be made against Virginia Foxx without resorting to it. And I think Blue America and our allies at the Americans For America PAC did just that with our newest TV ad. We want to get it up on cable channels from Forsyth County to Watauga County and we need your help to do that. Even a $5 or $10 contribution will help make sure we don't have to leave out Mt. Airy or Clemmons, Kernersville, Statesville or even Ashe County. You can contribute by poking her picture in the eye above-- or, less gruesomely, by clicking on this Blue America link. Look at the ad and decide for yourself. Billy Kennedy would make as good a Member of Congress as Virginia Foxx has been an atrocious one. She was voted by our readers the worst of the worst. If you think the ad will help end her miserable career, dig deep and help us get it on TV. Unlike other PACs every cent goes up on the air. We're all volunteers and no one takes any salaries, percentages, commissions and we hire no consultants and take no money for "expenses." Donate $10 and that's an ad in Stokes or Iredell County on CNN or MSNBC.



Now back to the "w" word. It was in my mind not because of Foxx's unfortunate demeanor but because of a column Paul Krugman write for the NY Times a few days ago, It's Witch-Hunt Season. Krugman wasn't talking about Virginia Foxx though. He was, without ever mentioning his name, talking about Darrell Issa, who, unfortunately, hasn't drawn a credible Democratic challenger the way Foxx has.

The last time a Democrat sat in the White House, he faced a nonstop witch hunt by his political opponents. Prominent figures on the right accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of everything from drug smuggling to murder. And once Republicans took control of Congress, they subjected the Clinton administration to unrelenting harassment-- at one point taking 140 hours of sworn testimony over accusations that the White House had misused its Christmas card list.

Now it’s happening again-- except that this time it’s even worse. Let’s turn the floor over to Rush Limbaugh: “Imam Hussein Obama,” he recently declared, is “probably the best anti-American president we’ve ever had.”

To get a sense of how much it matters when people like Mr. Limbaugh talk like this, bear in mind that he’s an utterly mainstream figure within the Republican Party; bear in mind, too, that unless something changes the political dynamics, Republicans will soon control at least one house of Congress. This is going to be very, very ugly.

So where is this rage coming from? Why is it flourishing? What will it do to America?

Anyone who remembered the 1990s could have predicted something like the current political craziness. What we learned from the Clinton years is that a significant number of Americans just don’t consider government by liberals-- even very moderate liberals-- legitimate. Mr. Obama’s election would have enraged those people even if he were white. Of course, the fact that he isn’t, and has an alien-sounding name, adds to the rage.

By the way, I’m not talking about the rage of the excluded and the dispossessed: Tea Partiers are relatively affluent, and nobody is angrier these days than the very, very rich. Wall Street has turned on Mr. Obama with a vengeance: last month Steve Schwarzman, the billionaire chairman of the Blackstone Group, the private equity giant, compared proposals to end tax loopholes for hedge fund managers with the Nazi invasion of Poland.

And powerful forces are promoting and exploiting this rage. Jane Mayer’s new article in the New Yorker about the superrich Koch brothers and their war against Mr. Obama has generated much-justified attention, but as Ms. Mayer herself points out, only the scale of their effort is new: billionaires like Richard Mellon Scaife waged a similar war against Bill Clinton... And where, in all of this, are the responsible Republicans, leaders who will stand up and say that some partisans are going too far? Nowhere to be found.

Darrell Issa has been bragging about turning Congress into a full-time witch hunt if the GOP takes back the House and he replaces Henry Waxman as the Chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Issa? The crook whose background includes serial car theft and weapons charges? Yeah, the guy with the yellowish teeth in the photo on the right. Witch hunts are bad, one of the most vile traits of organized human behavior-- and the concept transcends backwards Republican congressmen from northern San Diego County. In fact, the mentality in Issa-land isn't unlike the mindset in Akwa Ibom.

Right Wing Economic Orthodoxy Brings Death And Destruction To Africa

For over a hundred years the American Republican Party has embodied right wing economic fundamentals-- basically, the Law of the Jungle. One of its premises is that business regulations just hamper economic development and personal freedoms and that it's all so unnecessary because everything rights itself in the end without government intervention.

So, for example, if an airline company, eager to fatten the bottom line-- and make the managers wealthier-- starts cutting back on "needless" maintenance procedures and, as a result, its planes start falling out of the sky, investors-- and eventually perhaps even informed consumers ("informed" being key here)-- will not want anything to do with the company. Meanwhile unregulated insurance companies, or even the semi-regulated ones we have now, won't suffer unduly because no one will force them to pay for the hundreds or even thousands of deaths. Hey, a plane falling out of the sky? What could be more an act of God rather than an act of GOP? Just ask Donald Trump.

Anyway, I dare anyone to find a more fitting place to set the Law of the Jungle into stone than Nigeria, an authoritarian hellhole beloved of plutocrats and wingnuts the world over. Right now, by chance, I'm reading a powerful and brilliant book, cleverly disguised as spoof, by investigative journalist Ken Silverstein, Turkmeniscam-- How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship. And the key isn't Stalinist really, but "dictatorship." The model for the entire Inside the Beltway lobbying "industry" and how it sanitizes even the world's most despicable regimes-- for a price-- is Ivy "Poison Ivy" Lee, "the father of modern public relations," whose most notorious crusade was favorably influencing American public opinion on behalf of Big Business and their pals, the Third Reich.

This kind of endeavor is completely bipartisan, I'm afraid, with Democrats proving themselves not one bit more ethical or less morally bankrupt than Republicans. There are a quarter-million parasites working in this criminal sector, and it isn't one likely to be hit by layoffs, neither by the economy nor by the ascension of Democrats to power. And among the most beloved and well-served clients are brutal, oil-rich fascist regimes in Africa, particularly Equitorial Guinea and Nigeria, two of the most corrupt places on earth.

Improved technology has improved oil production in sub-Saharan Africa, but the boom there has bred massive government corruption. "Global oil is a mixed picture, predominantly negative, and African oil is the most negative of all the stories," David Gordon, head of the CIA's Office of Transnational Issues, said at an energy conference... Gordon, who had recently traveled to Nigeria, said that the consensus among people he spoke with was that the country would have been better off if its oil had been left in the ground. That is a reasonable conclusion when one considers that Nigeria had exported more than $200 billion worth of oil during the last few decades but the overwhelming majority of its people live in poverty.

Extremely well paid lobbyists, devoid of any sense of moral bearing whatsoever, have set out to create an image of a vibrant free economy coming along just swimmingly. And it's a very deceptive image indeed that these politically connected slimebags have concocted. A month after a gaggle of lobbyist-paid opinion-making junketeers returned from Lagos singing the praises of Nigeria's vicious Orwellian dictatorship-- of which one wrote that there is "no evidence of a dictatorship"-- their hosts hanged a well-known democracy advocate, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other would be reformers. Meanwhile, despite "no evidence of a dictatorship," there were no elections in that country until after the dictator, Sani Abacha, died one evening in 1998 while enjoying two prostitutes. The average Nigerian subsists on $1 per day.

So... Nigeria, 2008. Like corrupt, bribe-loving politicians in Chicago, Houston or anywhere else-- and particularly "free market" fanatics and die-hard rightists-- the Nigerians aren't keen on meaningful regulatory agencies. Republican Party polemicists should go live there. Their "free market" fanaticism has been so successful that yesterday the news across Africa was about dozens of children who have died because of unregulated pharmaceuticals. In one case, infants were given anti-freeze by their parents, said parents thinking they were administering teething medicine to their babies. It was pure, unadulterated poison under the consumer-friendly name MyPikin.

Probably no one-- at least no one who hears about this tragedy-- will buy MyPikin in the future, proving, presumably, how wonderfully the "free market" works. And the company executives may be fined. No businessmen nor their political enablers, however, were lined up against any walls and shot.

Most counterfeit drugs come from those burgeoning exemplars of "free market" greed and selfishness capitalism, China and India. Their counterfeit pharmaceutical exports will reach $75 billion by 2010, worth 50 percent more than Bernie Madoff swindled under the benign good graces of Bush's toothless, Nigerian-style regulatory agency in charge of protecting the public from ruthless predators like him and his friends and family. No one has been put up against any walls and shot in that case either, but Madoff is reported to be under electronic survellance and under house arrest in his $7 million dollar Manhattan apartment.

And SEC chief Cox and Bush and the bureaucrats in charge of preventing this sort of thing? They're shocked and dismayed... and unpunished.

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