The Hollywood Liberal

Eunice Wong on ?Footnotes in Gaza?
Joe Sacco’s graphic treatment of the 1956 massacres of Palestinians by invading Israeli soldiers melds tough-minded journalism with philosophical reflection into a gut-wrenching banquet of a comic book.

Joe Sacco’s graphic treatment of the 1956 massacres of Palestinians by invading Israeli soldiers melds tough-minded journalism with philosophical reflection into a gut-wrenching banquet of a comic book.

Related Entries

• January 8, 2010 Eunice Wong on ‘Footnotes in Gaza’
• January 7, 2010 Bullets, Wizards and Too Much Love

Health Care Reform Could Boost Jobs And Save Money, Say Harvard, USC Economists
In a report to be released today, Harvard and USC economists say legislation being considered would slow cost increases and free up money for companies…

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Weird Science: Why Politicians and Pundits Cling to the “Cadillac Tax” Idea
I believe that the President, Sen. Kerry, and other advocates of the “Cadillac tax” on health care plans are intelligent, ethical, dedicated people. So why do they support what amounts to wishful thinking based on dubious research?

Orville Schell: The Melting of America: The Story of a Can’t-Do Nation
We Americans seem to have passed a tipping point.  Like the glaciers of the high Himalaya, long-familiar aspects of our nation are beginning to feel as if they were, in a sense, melting away.

Quick Fact: Beck falsely claims “SEIU” is “number-one visitor to the White House”

On January 7, Glenn Beck falsely suggested that Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president Andy Stern is the “number-one visitor to the White House.” Politifact has rated Beck’s prior claim that Stern was “the most frequent visitor at the White House” as “false.”

From the January 7 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks’ The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: Don’t you see how well-orchestrated this is to overwhelm the system. You can’t tell me that organized labor, with as much as they control this country now, that the number-one visitor to the White House and meeting with President Obama is SEIU. And they’re against this, and their case is “we will not be able to afford the Cadillac health tax. We’ll not be able to afford the health plans for these pensions if you pass this.” There shouldn’t be anything else on the agenda. If he’s meeting with President Obama — SEIU and organized labor — they shouldn’t talk about anything else, every time. “You must not pass that. You must not pass that. You must not pass that.”

Fact: SEIU’s Stern is “not the number-one visitor to the White House”

Politifact rated as “false” Beck’s previous claim that SEIU’s Andy Stern was “the most frequent visitor at the White House. In a December 7, 2009, post, Politifact reported:

We found the source of Beck’s claim. When the White House released its first batch of visitor logs on Oct. 30, 2009, as part of a pledge to bring more transparency to the White House, Stern’s name did indeed appear 22 times, more than anyone else listed, including Clinton, who was listed three times.

But that’s not the whole story.

Stern led the pack for the first data release, which covered visits from Jan. 20, 2009 to July 31, 2009. But he was surpassed by several other individuals in the second release, which updates the data through Aug. 31, 2009 (and which was made public more than a week before Beck aired his comment).

Among those who visited more frequently than Stern, according to the combination of the two logs, were Lewis (Lee) Sachs, counselor to Treasury Secetary Timothy Geithner, with 92 visits; associate attorney general Tom Perrelli, with 49; Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski with 47; Spencer Overton, principal deputy assistant attorney general, with 38; and Health and Human Services office of health reform director Jeanne Lambrew, with 27. (Stern visited twice more during the period covered by the second batch of data, giving him a total of 24 visits.) [Politifact, [12/7/09]

Stern does not appear in the visitor logs the White House subsequently released on December 30 for the period from September 16 through September 30.

Presented By:

State Dept. Didn’t Think Abdulmutallab Had Visa — Because Of A Misspelling
The Flight 253 review just released by the White House reveals that a “misspelling” of Umar Abdulmutallab’s name led the State Department to believe he did not have the U.S. visa that he did in fact have — but the implications of this revelation are not immediately clear.

Pitty those poor, poor (doomed) polar bears
The white polar bears are in big danger of losing their species purity!

Schumer Asks Ford Not to Run
New York’s political world “reacted swiftly and strongly to the possibility of Harold Ford Jr.’s candidacy for the United States Senate, with top Senate leaders trying to squash the bid and close advisers to Mayor Michael Bloomberg meeting with Mr. Ford on Thursday to plot strategy for a campaign,” the New York Times reports.

“The developments reflect the seriousness with which Mr. Ford is being viewed as he weighs whether to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in this fall’s Democratic primary.”

On Wednesday night, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) “met with Mr. Ford to try to dissuade him from running, according to two people who were told of the meeting and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversation was supposed to be kept private.”

Quote of the Day
“We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we’ve had one under Obama.”

— Rudy Giuliani, in an interview on ABC News, apparently forgetting one day.

How to Avoid Another Waco: Keeping the Peace in 10-Year Standoff with Armed Family Compound
John Joe Gray has been in a standoff for 10 years, raising the question of when it’s worth risking bloodshed to enforce the law.

John Joe Gray has been in a standoff for 10 years, raising the question of when it's worth risking bloodshed to enforce the law.

9 Hours of Sex? 5 Things You Can Do to Burn Off Gross Fast Food Meals
Here are some creative ways to burn off the bad stuff.

Here are some creative ways to burn off the bad stuff.

Not Only Is Profiling for Terrorism Racist, It’s Tremendously Ineffective
Instead of succumbing to the right-wing drum beat of calls for profiling Muslims, we should adopt a more rational approach to profiling for terrorism based on behavior.

Instead of succumbing to the right-wing drum beat of calls for profiling Muslims, we should adopt a more rational approach to profiling for terrorism based on behavior.

C-SPAN Features Israel Hating Michael Scheuer
Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer really, really hates Israel. No, he is not opposed to its policies. He seems to hate the whole idea of Israel and, as in days of yore, blames Israelis and pro-Israel Jews for his, and…


Central Intelligence Agency – Michael Scheuer – Antisemitism – Jew – Race-Ethnic-Religious Relations

The Difference Between Talking Tough and Acting Smart
Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) is Chair of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel. As we have seen since the attempted terrorist attack on Northwest Flight 253, there are those who never will understand the difference between talking tough and acting smart….


Terrorism – Warfare and Conflict – War on Terrorism – September 11 2001 – Yemen

Study predicts $1.5 trillion increase in GDP if undocumented immigrants are legalized.
A new study by University of California at Los Angeles professor Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda suggests that comprehensive immigration reform, which includes an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, could generate at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. Hinojosa explains the data behind his immense calculation: All immigrant workers in […]

A new study by University of California at Los Angeles professor Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda suggests that comprehensive immigration reform, which includes an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, could generate at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. Hinojosa explains the data behind his immense calculation:

All immigrant workers in this scenario have full labor rights, which results in higher wages — and higher worker productivity—for all workers in industries where large numbers of immigrants are employed. As wage and productivity levels rise, the U.S. economy’s demand for new immigrant workers actually declines over time as the market shrinks for easily exploited, low-wage, low-productivity workers. […]

The higher earning power of newly legalized workers translates into an increase in net personal income of $30 to $36 billion, which would generate $4.5 to $5.4 billion in additional net tax revenue. Moreover, an increase in personal income of this scale would generate consumer spending sufficient to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs…

According to Hinojosa, a mass deportation program often cited by right-wing enforcement-only advocates would actually result in a loss of $2.6 trillion over ten years while a solution that only consists of a temporary worker program that labor unions vehemently oppose and some moderate Republicans support would only yield $792 billion increase in GDP and also lead to a decrease in wages.

More at the Wonk Room.

Steele’s comments anger congressional Republicans
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, under fire this week for statements he has made while promoting his book, has so angered the party’s congressional leaders that their aides said they told his handlers to “get him to stop.”

Worried House Democrats huddle on health care
Worried House Democrats held a caucus-wide conference call Thursday to strategize about health-care reform before lawmakers return to Washington next week.

Steele comments have GOP aides pleading, ‘Get him to stop’
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, under fire this week for a string of controversial statements he has made while promoting his new book, has so angered the party’s congressional leaders that their aides said they told Steele’s handlers to “get him to stop.”