Snapler

March 11, 2010

Is the Medium the Message? The New Media News

In 1964, media analyst Marshall McLuhan suggested that a given medium was more important than its message. In 2009, I sat down with Dan Rather, Geraldo Rivera, Tim Zagat, Amy Goodman, Rachel Sklar, Carol Jenkins, Bill Pullman, Bob Simon, John Ziegler, Juan Williams, Kevin Macdonald , Mary Alice Williams, and Stephen Cannell to see what they had to say about the changing face of our news media.

Watch 'The New Media News'

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March 8, 2010

Is the Medium the Message? The New Media Watchdogs

In 1964, media analyst Marshall McLuhan suggested that a given medium was more important than its message. In 2009, I sat down with Dan Rather, Geraldo Rivera, Tim Zagat, Amy Goodman, Rachel Sklar, Carol Jenkins, Bill Pullman, Bob Simon, John Ziegler, Juan Williams, Kevin Macdonald , Mary Alice Williams, and Stephen Cannell to see what they had to say about the changing face of our news media.

Watch 'The New Media Watchdogs'

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March 4, 2010

Is the Medium the Message? Trivialization of the Medium

In 1964, media analyst Marshall McLuhan suggested that a given medium was more important than its message. In 2009, I sat down with Dan Rather, Geraldo Rivera, Tim Zagat, Amy Goodman, Rachel Sklar, Carol Jenkins, Bill Pullman, Bob Simon, John Ziegler, Juan Williams, Kevin Macdonald , Mary Alice Williams, and Stephen Cannell to see what they had to say about the changing face of our news media.

Watch 'The Trivialization of the Medium' Part One

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December 13, 2009

TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads

Good morning and welcome and I hope the weather is more pleasant wherever you are because out my window is nothing but an intensely, overcast world of blah. Luckily I have the entrancing charisma of our Sunday morning hosts and panelists and guests to look forward to watching. My name is Jason, and I'll be hosting this semi-live blog of Sunday blather, hoping that maybe, today, someone will lose their minds, like this dude, in Ireland:



YEAH, THINGS GOT A LITTLE TOO REAL, THERE, DIDN'T THEY? Well, that's okay, let's get back into the Christmas Spirit, THE HARD WAY, courtesy of Fucked Up, Vampire Weekend, David Cross, Yo La Tengo, Broken Social Scene, Bob Mould, Andrew W.K., Tegan and Sara, GZA, and TV On The Radio



There, now that you are back into the kick-ass spirit of this season, consider buying a calendar for a good cause, why not?

Okay. Let's start this, and hopefully, having started this, end this. As always, you may leave a comment, or send an email, or just sit there contemplatively. There's no need to make a big deal about what's on your mind. Sometimes, a silent rumination will draw people unto you. Who knows? Maybe you'll make some friends that way! You can also follow me on Twitter, a social networking service for the friendless.

FOX NEWS SUNDAY

If you wanted to, I could switch over and start liveblogging Paula Deen's Cookie Swap, at any time. Just let me know, okay?

OK, so, Fox News will be making Claire McCaskill and Judd Gregg give us jobs, and Jim Inhofe will be "debating" Ed Markey today on climate change. And, Paula Deen is probably making snickerdoodles? Anyone? Anyone?

Okay, Claire McCaskill matches the army of on-set poinsettas. She says that everyone is "on hold" until the Reid Plan comes back from the CBO. She's optimistic that it will bring down deficits and health care costs. Judd Gregg says he is "suspicious" and doesn't want to put more people into Medicare, because eventually he'll support destroying it once this fad of Republicans wanting to save Medicare passes.

This discussion on a bill that neither has read and which the CBO hasn't scored continues for some time. Guess what? McCaskill is sort of for-ish, and Gregg is sort of against-esque. Some government actuary says costs will go up, but Wallace doesn't say for how long. Wallace also is maybe mistaking "bending the cost curve" with "lowering costs." But McCaskill says that "the actuarial analysis was incomplete" and that they are "up to their elbows in sausage making." And Gregg says that the actuarial analysis says it will be a disaster.

Really, what we have now is this weird situation where CBO scores and actuarial analysis says whatever the party of the speaker has told the speaker to say it says. Meanwhile, this intense, crushing obsession with pretending to be interested in actuaries and cost curves and CBO scores.will disappear as soon as attention turns back to Afghanistan.

Judd Gregg, weirdly, tells McCaskill, "I know you guys want to filibuster our amendments." Hey, uhm...and so do you?

Meanwhile, can we spend TARP money on small business. Gregg says, no, we'll have to borrow that money, so suck it, small business, get too big to fail and interconnect yourselves in such a way that you can hold us hostage to massive systemic failure, and maybe we'll do something.

Now McCaskill and Gregg are talking up their vastly dumb deficit commission. WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST BE YOUR OWN GODDAMN DEFICIT COMMISSION? "This nation is on an unsustainable path," Gregg says. And that unsustainability calls for Senators to chicken out of their reponsibilities, in lieu of a commission that will never be able to come to a consensus.

And now, here's your Markey-Inhofe climate change debate. IT IS AN INTENSE MYSTERY, BY CRACKEE, WHAT THESE TWO MEN WILL SAY ABOUT THIS.

Inhofe says that the President doesn't have the authority to unilaterally pass treaties and that environmental legislation will never pass the Senate. Markey says that Obama has the authority to commit to carbon targets based on the EPA's endangerment finding. He adds that the Senate committee has passed out of the committee, with similar reductions, and that it has plenty of conservatives support it. Inhofe says it doesn't have the support on the floor.

How much money should the U.S. commit to solving this crisis, and what security is there? Markey says something about how the money will not go to China and that rainforests will be preserved, and that doesn't really answer Wallace's question, which he restates as, "How do we assure that the money doesn't get wasted?" Markey says WE'LL DO SOME REAGANY TRUST BUT VERIFY STUFF.

Inhofe says that China and India and Mexico are hoping we pass this bill because it means that American jobs will go there, but the joke's on Inhofe: ALL THOSE JOBS ARE ALREADY THERE.

Inhofe is really trying to get CRAZY ON THE TEEVEE, and Wallace keeps taking the ball away. Anyway, Markey is still pretty confident that some sort of environmental legislation is going to happen.

Meanwhile, climate-gate. Wallace and the panel sort of shut this down last week, and he pulls it up in small bore, here's a couple of weird emails. He gives Markey a chance to plug the Climate Change compendium, and tout the fact that the emails are explained. Inhofe complains about getting filibustered, and Wallace makes him work from the defensive position, which apparently involves reading the Daily Telegraph and visiting his website, which I am sure is magical.

Panel time! Before this panel discusses "The Obama Doctrine," let's give credit to Spencer Ackerman, who first outlined that Doctrine.

Today we have Kristol and Liasson and Cheney and Williams. Cheney and Kristol are the avatars of what Obama called, "the satisfying purity of indignation." Bear that in mind!

Anyway, Kristol wants to believe that Obama shifted his footing vastly, instead of this being a guy who had to try to put a nice face on an award he didn't want and didn't think he deserved. Liasson thinks he is "more fully inhabiting his role" now that he's "sent people into battle," but she needs to get up on current events, I'm afraid: Obama had already ramped up, in Afghanistan.

Liz Cheney liked the parts of the Nobel speech that she was able to convert into a hot gas which could billow up her own ass and sustain her. WILL COPENHAGEN BE ABLE TO STOP THIS? Anyway, she likes torture and rendition. Remember that when an American soldier gets tortured!

Wallace points out that Obama is all about the Predator drones, and with them, he managed to take out a "top al Qaeda operative." The number three al Qaeda! Again! It's like we've gotten very good at killing Spinal Tap's drummer.

Williams says that Obama gave a speech in which he had to justify war at a time where he really would have rather not won the award.

Kristol thinks it's bad that Obama "pulled his punches" in Iran when protesters against Ahmadinejad, despite the fact that those same protesters were saying, "Please do not get crazily involved in this, America, and give them an excuse to kill all of us."

Liasson mentions "the satisfying purity of indignation," and so Wallace has to take a break so that Kristol and Cheney can put out their prayer rugs and bow five times in the direction of the American Enterprise Institute.

Okay, religious masturbatory scenarios having ended, it's time to take up health care. Kristol doesn't think Reid's plan will get the votes, but he's been saying that about health care all along this year, and he sounds strangely unsure, at least at first. He eventually warms up to predicting its failure. Liasson, however, says we have to wait until the CBO numbers come back, there's a small group of Senators in play. Nelson is a "special case," which is apparent on its face, isn't it! But compromise continues apace.

Liz Cheney notes that polling has shown dwindling support for health care, but fails to note that this is because the bill keeps getting further and further away from the strong public option that people want. Juan Williams, unfortunately, knows actual facts about Medicare, but Liz Cheney is louder and will torture you. And now everyone is yelling at each other. Cheney and Williams should probably just go into the green room and angerbang one another, for the sake of the Earth's molten core.

THE CHRIS MATTHEWS SHOW

Hey, let's reach for something ridiculously formulaic, shall we?

Oh, hey, this looks like it could get pretty shirty today. Panel includes Kelly O'Donnell, Dan Rather, Helene Coopr, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, who has to be feeling like, "YES. THESE ARE THE REWARDS. A SPOT ON THIS SHOW."

Oh, but, hey, Obama went to give a speech for the Nobel Peace Prize and talked about WAR. WOW. Such ironicalism! Rather says that Obama "didn't square the circle," which means that he'll probably be prematurely awarded the Nobel Prize for Circle Squaring, and he'll have to go to Oslo again, and he'll make a speech about TRIANGLES, and it will be ironic, and then Dan Rather will say, "Well, Obama really hasn't OBLONGED the TRAPEZOID yet."

O'Donnell thinks what's fascinating is the "contradiction between surge and withdrawal." She just can't get her head around it! Sending troops on one day? Bringing them home on another? TOO MUCH FOR KELLY, TELL YOU WHAT. (Hey, Kelly, here's a fun fact! The original "Surge?" You know LOLSURGE CLASSIC in Iraq? It was actually even a more temporary buildup than the one they plan for Afghanistan. It's true!)

The enemy of my contradiction is my Facebook friend! Or is it?

Meanwhile Sorkin says people are out of work! And will be for a while. OMFG: ARE WE IN AN EMPLOYMENT CRISIS? People are hiring folks to only work 35 hours a week! This would be outrageous if it hadn't been going on all decade!

Rather says that the "perception" is that Obama has taken care of the bankers and hasn't done much for workers. That's also sort of the reality, too! Chris Matthews observes that "Geithner and those people around him...they seem like Wall Street guys." WHAT? HOLY SHIZZLES. THEY DO SEEM, EXACTLY LIKE THAT? Heavens to Murgatroyd! Why didn't anyone notice this before and write profiles on Geithner in several leading magazines? Geithner is a "well off New Yorker?" SAY IT ISN'T SO! Next thing you'll tell me is that he was handpicked to head up the New York Fed by fatcat bankers or something crazy like that!

Cooper notes that companies don't hire people when they can maintain productivity with the same number of workers. WE ARE LEARNING ALL SORTS OF NEW THINGS, ON THE TEEVEE TODAY.

Oh, Kelly O'Donnell, stop trying to sympathize with the out-of-work youngs. Quiet, now.

Will health care reform be a historic accomplishment? Sorkin says, "No. I can't believe you asked the question that way." Really, Andrew? Have you heard of this show you agreed to appear on? Cooper says, "No one at the New York Times can agree with each other." Ha, ha, yes, true. Take the topic of: "Where did the reportage in the book, TOO BIG TO FAIL, come from?" No one at the Times can agree! It's a robust debate!

Anyway, Cooper says it will be historical, and Rather says something about a train, that reeks of compromise, like the Vermonter when you'd rather take the Acela.

Only one person on the "Matthews meter" says there will be a public option in the bill. Rather says that will erode the base.

Chris Matthews wants everyone to reassure him the Obama will be great, despite the fact that there are contradictions. Everyone sort of says yes, whatever, shut up, Chris Matthews.

Chris Matthews things it's hilarious that Golf Digest put Obama and Tiger Woods on the same cover. CONTRADICTION! But just you wait! When Tiger Woods wins the Nobel Prize for having sex with all the ladies in the world at least once, that's going to be even more redolent with ironic sauce!

Okay! Climate change! Why is it so controversial and stuff? Sorkin says that "in the boardroom," it's not good to have Al Gore as the spokesman, for reasons that I guess he will articulate as soon as his colleagues report it out for him? Rather says that "contrarians will always jump up from time to time and say 'no the world isn't round,' and from time to time they are right." Well, not about the earth not being round? Anyway, people would rather have jobs now than a planet tomorrow.

Cooper says Obama will go to Copenhagen and return even more fired up than he was before. This is exactly how Denmark's tourism bureau sells Copenhagen to the world. COPENHAGEN: EUROPE'S AMPHETAMINE ORGASM. STROKE OUT TO OUR FINGER PLAN. EVERY DAY IS LIKE THE ROSKILDE FESTIVAL OR SOMETHING, EXCEPT FOR THE DAY OF THE ROSKILDE FESTIVAL, WHICH IS LIKE TWO ROSKILDE FESTIVALS.

Things Matthews doesn't know. O'Donnell says "the potent issue of abortion may not be gone." DAMN, I PUT DOWN A TWENTY DOLLAR BET THAT ABORTION WAS DUNZO. Rather says there's corruption in the truck driving school business. Are they training drivers, or loan sharks? Well, the economy is pretty awful, and people need usurious loans more than they need goods shipped across the country to not be bought.

Helene Cooper says, "Stanley McChrystal was in Washington this week." COME ON, HELENE, I'm sure Matthews heard about that! Oh, she's expanding: We'll see the effects of the surge in February, she says. Oooh. Someone read the transcript of the hearing and dug out a single statement!

Sorkin says Citigroup will give back all their TARP money in 12-18 months.

The entire end of this episode is Matthews, telling people how much he liked Invictus. His huge meta-point: Nelson Mandela has accomplished more than the Teabaggers. In fairness, I've never seen the teabaggers play rugby.

MEET THE PRESS

MEET THE PRESS was tops in the ratings again last week. YOU'RE WELCOME, DAVID GREGORY. But man, I will really have to break out some serious turd polish on this week's show. Guests include Christina Romer, who is like a parakeet of positivity. Alan Greenspan is also here, with Jim Cramer, Jennifer Granholm, and Mitt Romney. That's an impressive roster of people I anticipate meeting in hell.

Anyway, the economy, with Xtina Romer. Obama's been yelling at the bankers! Who are irresponsible! Xtina says that there is "a lot of blame to go around," which doesn't mean a lot of punishment, I guess. But news flash! The economy is bad, and unemployment is bad. But the rate of bad is lessening. Which is good unless you'd like the rate of bad to embiggen.

But Xtina is trying, people! They are trying to make new rules of the road, and they will be better. She says there is a "fundamental disconnect" between Main street and Wall Street in that Wall Streeters are still having fun, and need to be told that they are mental.

Gregory wonders, "Is the goal simply to punish Wall Street?" Because what did they do wrong, right? Xtina says that the White House wants them to return to profitability, and lending, and maybe not a return to, say, evil, or stupidity.

When will employment get good again? Xtina says, UHH MAYBE THE FUTURE? There will be bounces and bumps, and it could go up again before going down. When is the recession over? Xtina thinks "we've reached that point in terms of GDP" but not in terms of jobs, so the White House doesn't consider it over.

Gregory takes a quote from Jared Bernstein and an article in Kiplinger's, both written LONG AFTER the economic collapse, and says, "The warnings were there." They were! But those weren't the effing warnings, brah! Tell your research intern that they need to do better with the Gathering of the Gotcha.

Gregory wants to know why the Obama administration didn't "attack unemployment sooner." The Bernstein quote Gregory is fueling this line of questioning with was from December 2008! The Obama administration would have had to ATTACK THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION and remove them from office by force before they could have attacked unemployment. Does no one at NBC ever sit down and talk to the people who make this show, and explain how scintillatingly dumb it is, on a weekly basis?

Gregory wants to know from Xtina if it was a mistake that the stimulus was too small. You know, after months of concern-trolling that it was too big! Anyway, Romer is confident that they got the best package through Congress, but that's because she's just breezily confident about everything.

More reading newspapers to people, on the teevee. At least Romer notices that the unemployment problem is actually closer to a decade long. Most people believe America's employment problem is a recent thing.

Romer attempts to explain how spending money while bringing the deficit down is a "parallel process." That's about as far as you can get with Gregory. I can't imagine what would happen if you tried to explain that this is a good time to run a short term deficit! Or that a spending freeze would entrench stagnant cycles in the economy.

I remain mystified that the Obama White House believes that Romer is a good teevee spokesman. She is terrible. Have you ever gotten through an on air segment with her and thought, "Oh, good. I am reasonably confident that the Obama administration has a handle on this stuff?" Because, I haven't! And, hey, maybe they do! I bet that if we could somehow monetize Romer's intense flopsweat, we'd all be on Easy Street.

And now, it's time for another edition of MEET THE PRESS playhouse, because I am not going to get through this dreadful panel otherwise.

MEET THE PRESS presents:

"Sartre's Antechamber," a tableau of intense regret in one act.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
David Gregory: porter at the Gates of Hell
Jim Cramer: Eros and Thanatos in shouty, addlebrained form
Jennifer Granholm: can move back to Canada whenever she wants to
Alan Greenspan: frog-like prince of economic ruination
Mitt Romney: android of pure fraud
Me: in the bleak mid-Meet The Press

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

GREGORY: OMGZ! TEH JOBS! TEH RECESSIONZ!

GREENSPAN: Jobs and the economy are two separate concepts. Recessions ends, and then the economy is restored, later. But we're past the bottom.

ME: Yes. I am getting used to dragging along that bottom!

GRANHOLM: I went to the roll-out of the Volt! And it's awesome, thanks to Obama, who have just shoveled money at Volt, because its manufacturers are really well connected. DRIVE A VOLT!

GREGORY: OMGZ! WHY IS NO ONE HIRING?

ROMNEY: BLEEP BLORP! Obama grew the government, not the economy. BLEEP BLORP! Remember how I went to Michigan and PROMISED TO BRING BACK THE AUTO INDUSTRY, BY MAGIC? BLORP! Somehow this wouldn't have been through government intervention? My keeping of this insane promise?

CRAMER: RRRRAAAHHHH! I TALK TO CEOs, BECAUSE WE WORSHIP THEM AT CNBC. THEY HAVE NOT GOTTEN ANY MONEY, FROM STIMULUS. I AM IGNORING THE KABILLIONS THAT CEOs GOT FROM TARP.

GREGORY: OMGZ. Look at this chart! Why isn't employment recovering, compared to another recession I'll pull out at random.

GREENSPAN: We have a level of employment right now, that's barely able to keep up with output. But we need to add lots of jobs to just stay even. Plus people who are discouraged job seekers will become encouraged job seekers again, and that's going to be a hiccup. I'm also worried that people won't come back to jobs as productive as they would normally be.

ME: I'm worried that Benjamin Bernanke isn't being as productive as he could be, in trying to solve this problem!

GRANHOLM: Yeah, look, the traditional manufacturing jobs are all offshore now. People may have to use skillsets in different ways, or they may need to be trained to work in emerging fields.

ME: Which is awesome, if you aren't fifty years old!

ROMNEY: BLEEP! BLORP! Stimulus failed. Not at all because it was watered down by Congress! We need to cut more taxes, before the Klingons invade. BLORP.

GREGORY: OMGZ! But the economy, she must grow! Before deficit shrinks!

CRAMER: RRRAHHH. I LOVE HEALTHCARE BUT NOT NOW! PEOPLE ARE HIRING IN BRAZIL AND CHINA! COMMUNISTS ARE NOW MORE RELIABLE THAN CAPITALISTS.

ME: I simply have no idea, ever, what that man is talking about, and that's probably a good thing.

GREENSPAN: It's very critical that we get the uncertainties out of the system! Everyone should be happy and amazed by how well the stock market is doing! WHY IS NOBODY HAPPY ABOUT THIS. Everyone spend five minutes today, worshipping the NASDAQ.

ME: CLAP YOUR HANDS, BECAUSE TINKERBELL WILL COME BACK TO LIFE!

GREENSPAN: Really, it's just the poor people who aren't doing well. The good news is that rich people are doing great. Would you hold on for a minute? I need to get on my prayer rug and pray five times in the direction of JP Morgan!

GREGORY: OMGZ! TEH LENDINGZ!

ROMNEY: BLEEP BLORP! We have fear, of the government control! They will take over everything! My gears need money to run! BLORP! FART!

ME: Yes. MEET ME IN THE BREADLINE, COMRADES.

GREGORY: OMGZ! Does the Fed need to do more to solve the unemployment crisis?

GREENSPAN: The Fed has done a huge amount!

ME: NO IT HASN'T.

GREENSPAN: Monetary policy has been stretched to its limit!

ME: No. There's more Bernanke can do.

GREENSPAN: We could have inflation!

ME: Seriously, dude, you are worried about inflation at a time like this?

GREGORY: Why are so many countries so sad and not like us anymore? Jim Cramer, you should probably answer this, for some reason.

CRAMER: Guns and butter and paralysis and we need to raise taxes to pay for wars!

ME: Okay. That last part actually made sense.

ROMNEY: BLEEP BLORP! NO, America can be great as long as we have greatness! But we cannot be paying government more than our awesome private sector, which no longer makes anything and destroys the economy with credit derivatives.

ME: I'm all for raising private sector wages, but unfortunately, that's precisely what makes India's labor force so attractive. And really, weren't we yelling about how terrible it was the union auto workers made money a few months ago? And everyone was touting the non-union shops in the South? Well, those private sector jobs pay less money.

GRANHOLM: People are angry, and frustrated. Leaders need to project confidence.

ME: Well, now you're no better then Mitt Romney.

GREGORY: We'll leave it there.

ME: Ugh, yes, let's.

[Exeunt, chased by a bear.]



This is pretty funny, I got an email from someone asking me to stop doing the Sunday shows in this fashion and instead do a "simple composite of each show," outlining the "main topics, each character's responses [and] hosts [sic] questions."

My promise to you all this Chrismakwanzahukkahwhatever, is that I will never do something as stupid or as boring as that. But here's the bad news! Next week, I shall be liveblogging the Sunday Morning Sack Of Goat Slop from lovely Astoria, Queens, where I shall be DVR-less. This complicates things a little bit, because I'll be even more on the fly than I usually am. So please feel free to leave comments, with your observation and commentary, to offset my even more frenzied typing.

It's been a long time since I've done this without the benefit of the pause button! So...it could get very weird. In fact, I have half a mind to just let it get weird! If anyone knows some awesome New York City Sunday morning cable access programming that we can add to the liveblog, send me an email with the subject, "CHECK OUT THIS HIGH WEIRDNESS ON NEW YORK CITY TEEVEE NEXT WEEK."

Okay, in that spirit, here's the greatest Christmas carol in the world:



Have a great week!

December 11, 2009

Health Care Street Heat Targets Senator Schumer, Demanding Medicare for All

New York, NY. December 10, 2009 -- On Thursday morning, a group of friends and colleagues, mostly middle-aged, sat and chatted over coffee at a midtown deli near Grand Central Station. Then Laurie Wen, an organizer with the Mobilization for Healthcare for All, showed up with a box of granola bars and a bag full of T-shirts, and everybody cheerfully rolled up their sleeves to write the number of an attorney on their forearms.

Two hours later most of them were in jail, and the "fourth wave" of a nationwide campaign to use civil disobedience to push for a single-payer plan had delivered its demands to the doorstep of Senator Chuck Schumer's midtown Manhattan office.

It's a particularly poignant day for Rich Marini, one of the advance team of people sitting here today -- and not in a good way.




"Ironically, today is the day that my company stopped providing health care to its employees," says Marini of Staten Island, a programmer at an IT firm called Tango Inc. "Henceforth all employees will have to pay in out of pocket about $8,000 a year. We were all told we have the "opportunity to re-enroll."

On the second floor of the deli, Laurie reminds everybody that in at least 20 other cities across the country, people are sitting in at the offices of health insurance companies and politicians. Senator Chuck Schumer has raised the ire of these activists in New York because of his role in recent negotiations in the Senate to lower the age of eligibility of Medicate from 65 to 55. The catch: this is viewed by many as a way to abandon the public option, or any anemic version thereof that remains in legislation currently being considered by the Senate. This bit of horse-trading is seen by activists here as a paltry trade-off, and one that reflects the senator's friendliness to the insurance industry over the desires of his constituents. According to OpenSecrets.org, Schumer is the biggest recipient in Congress of donations from the HMO/Health Services category, raking in $99,650 in campaign contributions this year. At press time a message left with Senator Schumer's New York press office was not returned.

"The frustration of his constituents is very real," says Dr. Laura Boylan, a neurologist who and member of Physicians for a National Health Program while marching in a boisterous picket line in front of Schumer's office before giving a brief address to the crowd. "He's claimed to be for single-payer in the past, but he hasn't moved on anything. I don't want to see any more people who have bleeding in heir brain because they can't afford to take care of their diabetes. We're not going away."

One thing that's impossible to ignore about this emerging movement is the willingness of health care professionals here in New York, and across the country, to risk arrest and the resulting legal headaches, borne out of their experiences in the trenches of America's dysfunctional health care system.

"In my work, I see a lot of poor women who won't be covered by the Democrats' new plan," says Dan Murphy, a 35-year old medical student with close-cropped blond hair wearing dark blue scrubs. Dan, who specializes in OBGYN, is one of the first to link arms with fellow activists in front of Schumer's office, obstructing foot traffic in and out of the building. And he's one of the last to be handcuffed and pulled to his foot before being deposited in a paddy wagon nearby. At the end of the action nine had been arrested on the relatively light charges of disorderly conduct.

"I think we're going to see many more of these, because the fight is far from over," says Laurie Wen, busy exchanging contact details with the legal observer on the scene. "Nothing important was ever won in this country by us accepting crumbs."

December 9, 2009

Dispatch from Nepal

The last time I was in Kathmandu I was on a trek through Nepal, 32 years ago. This time, I'm there to begin a three-month stint as a Fellow of the International Legal Foundation-Nepal Project assisting local lawyers in forming a public defenders' organization to serve indigent criminal defendants. Although I no longer practice criminal law in New York, my extensive background can serve this extremely poor country where the average annual income is about $250, meaning that everyone accused of a crime is indigent.

Only a few years ago civil war ended; the King resigned; a Maoist became Prime Minister; and the legal system is in shambles. There is no diplomatic way to say it: trials are a sham, the police are corrupt and a mere accusation means languishing in jail for at least 25 days before appearing in a courtroom. There's a lay court in each district, and a three-tier structure above it. A legislature is in place, there are codified statutes and deference is given to precedent, but there is nothing resembling due process. The 1993 interim Constitution, is just a piece of paper; our task is to make it real.

While I become accustomed to walking 5-7 miles a day, and become accustomed to the lack of heat and electricity in the courts and in my living accommodations, I can see that I will never get used to longer pre-bail detention, the informal presumption of guilt, and the lay judges who are powerful, but untrained in law or even literacy.

There are 90 castes and 70 dialects among the people of Nepal who are largely uneducated. Following arrest, they don't know the charges against them and are intimidated by anyone above them, especially a judge. They are afraid to follow a lawyer's advice to remain silent, because a judge is urging them to confess. Even with a right to counsel, only an extremely small percentage of defendants are actually represented. There are few private lawyers (educated either in Nepal or India) since there is almost no one who could pay attorney fees in criminal cases. But that was our mission: to create a public legal system.

Whatever the charge, minor or major, the accused is detained for 25 days before there is a bail hearing. That's when we get the file for the first time. Then, surrounded by armed soldiers, the accused, in chains, is brought from the jail into the courtroom - a small area in what was once part of a palace. Bail, which is sometimes as low as 500 Rupees or $6.50 US, is too high for most defendants. Certain crimes are non-bailable: homicide, human trafficking, weapons, and drugs in any quantity. There is no plea bargaining no matter how minor or serious the case.

I sit in the back of the courtroom, listen, observe, encourage the lawyers in our project, help them prepare and give them the courage that is counter intuitive. Sometimes I am introduced to the judge who might later invite me to tea and I have learned to show respect with a slight bow.

The American habit of using first names in formal relationships is unfamiliar, and the Nepalese lawyers have taken to calling me, "Daniel, Sir," or "Dai" meaning older, wiser, respected one. It doesn't seem to fit; especially when I am in my usual non-court uniform of sweats, a "Che" tee shirt, and my Yankee cap. I think it's the Yankee logo that gets me thumbs up and high fives. Here's a note I received to "Dan, Sir"

Thanks for providing ample legal guidelines and arguments


for this attempt to murder and theft by force of SANTOSH

KUMAR. I plead according to your guidelines and we

welcome success in this case.

Theoretically, the burden of proof is on the prosecutor (who may or may not show up), and there is a presumption of innocence, but that is not the reality. For example, a charge of possession of stolen property, means that the defendant must prove that it was not stolen, or that he did not know it was stolen. The defendant makes a statement which is taken down in longhand and given to a judge-there are no juries-for a final decision-mostly Guilty. Unlike the system in much of Europe, the judge is not an investigator, asks no questions, hears no witnesses, but plays a passive role, usually until sentencing. When Ganesh Sherpa was arrested for theft of a motorcycle and possession of stolen property, his bail was 15,000 Rupees (about $200 US). Once he was convicted, he was sentenced to 1-1/2 to 3 years plus a fine of two times the value of the motorcycle even though it had been returned to the owner. He will stay in jail until he pays off fine of 150,000 Rupees (about $2,000 US), receiving credit for about 25 Rupees ($3.00 US) per day.

It is heartbreaking to see how many juveniles are in the system. The charges might be a street fight, petty larceny or something more serious, like drugs. But these kids are as young as nine, and they don't necessarily want to be released because they may have nowhere else to go. It's that old "three hots and a cot" thing.

We're making use of habeas corpus, another one of those doctrines that has existed only in the abstract, and we're making progress, especially regarding juveniles. Eventually that will result in prohibiting the CDOs (local lay judges) from hearing cases with juvenile defendants, as a violation of law because Nepal is a signatory to the Child's Rights Convention (which the U.S. is not).

In the meantime, Deepak Lama is going to serve five years for possession of 80 kilos of hashish in a house belonging to an absentee foreign national for whom he was caretaker. The defendant "confessed" after being tortured, even though the drugs were in a locked room to which he did not have access. The torture part has been reported to the U.N., but I won't be here to see what happens.

Some days I feel as overwhelmed and frustrated as our Nepalese lawyers. I am isolated, and while the solitude is good at times, it is also difficult. But the view is always a thrill. I can see the big mountain range from our roof especially at dusk when the sun is setting in the west and we are looking northeast toward Tibet and Mt. Everest. I e-mail and call family and friends daily on Skype, and watch DVDs - especially the series "House" - - on my laptop as long as the battery lasts (and then wait for the next surge of electricity). During the three months, I will see few Americans - some at the U.N. (there to monitor human rights abuses) and at the televised inauguration of Barack Obama which is filled with excited peace corps volunteers, wealthy Nepali citizens and U.S. embassy staff.

It was frustrating that by the time the project really took off, I'd be gone. But now that I'm home and six months have passed, friends ask me - and I ask myself - would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

December 3, 2009

Top 5 Sports Stories

Happy Thursday everyone, here's my Top 5 for December 3, 2009 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.

1. Quick Hits

* Tiger Woods finally admits "transgressions."

* Congratulations New Jersey Nets! Nobody does it worse. They lost to Dallas last night 117-101 to start the season a record 0-18.

* 34-year old Allen Iverson signs back with the Philadelphia 76ers.

* Bottoms up! The NBA is looking into Ron Artest's admission that when he played for the Chicago Bulls he would drink Hennessey cognac at halftime. (The breakfast of champions, no?)

* O Canada! It's the Jets and Bills tonight in Toronto on Thursday night football.


2. Better Late than Never

Tiger Woods' people finally woke up. Maybe it was the latest woman to come forward claiming an affair. He finally admitted to "transgressions" in a statement on his web site, and "letting his family down." He went on to basically say it's a private matter and leave him alone. He is absolutely right. He doesn't have to issue statements about the most intimate details of his "failings." But if he had "pulled a Letterman" and made a similar statement on camera a few days ago, he would have spared himself a world of grief. Can we now finally say end of story? Nah. Tiger is fresh meat for the media.

3. Journalism 101

I found subscriber John G's email about the Tiger Woods affair provocative. "The real shame to me is the demise of your profession. It was a mere 37 years ago that Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein took down a powerful, two term president with diligent, truthful reporting. In 37 years we have gone from that to TMZ, the paparazzi, blogs and unsubstantiated innuendo?? Pathetic in my opinion... Enough is enough..."

John, the only question I have, is don't these "journalists" give the public exactly what they want? If there wasn't a market to peddle their wares, they wouldn't exist.

And to my Top 5 subscribers, if you want to read some truly great journalism passed along from subscriber Dan F. check out the GQ article on concussions and the NFL from earlier this fall. Here's the link.

4. The Good Old Days

Maybe that means before computers. In the last couple of days two NBA players have been fined for tweeting during games. Uh, don't they have something else they should be thinking about? And Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians is lawyering up after somebody stole suggestive pictures of him from his girlfriend's email and posted them on the Internet. Other than the ability to receive Len's Top 5, the Internet is "the devil's workshop!"

5. Organization of the Month

As we start December, November was a helluva month for PETA. First they chastised an NBA player for swatting a bat that was flying around the basketball court, and now they want the University of Georgia to replace their live bulldog mascot with either a robot or a costumed character. Can't wait to hear what they have in store this month. By the way one of my favorite Spanning the World moments was when an opposition player scored a touchdown and the Georgia Bulldog ran over and bit the guy in the end zone. You never heard a peep from the People For The Ethical Treatment of Running Backs.

Happy Birthday: Miracle '69 Mets third baseman Wayne Garrett. 62. Did I mention that the Miracle Mets are featured in my new kids book The Greatest Moments in Sports?
Bonus Birthdays: A couple of talented actresses were born on the same day, same year. Daryl Hannah and Julianne Moore. 49.

Today in Sports: Baseball lowers the pitcher's mound by 5 inches to help the offense. Why didn't they just give all the hitters steroids? 1968.
Bonus Event: Plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is. Alka Seltzer goes on sale. 1931.

November 26, 2009

HuffPost Editor Roy Sekoff Discusses Shameless Tea Party Heckling Of Hough Family On ‘The Ed Show’ (VIDEO)

Earlier this month, members of the Chicago Tea Party Patriots heckled a pair of town hall speakers who lost their daughter-in-law and unborn grandchild due to a medical emergency. Dan and Midge Hough wanted to explain how a lack of health care may have contributed to the two deaths.

The Houghs were on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" on Wednesday to discuss their experience. Afterward, Huffington Post Editor Roy Sekoff spoke with Ed Schultz about about the tone of public discourse in America and some of the shocking defenses being used to condone the behavior.

WATCH ROY:

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WATCH DAN AND MIDGE:

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