The Hollywood Liberal

‘Left, Right & Center’: Global Markets Reeling; China Flexes Muscle; Apologies
With national and global finance still wobbling and the fundamentals of the economy still gone awry, the fellows on “Left, Right & Center” discuss economic policy, China and the politics of apology.

With national and global finance still wobbling and the fundamentals of the economy still gone awry, the fellows on “Left, Right & Center” discuss economic policy, China and the politics of apology.

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Missionary Release
Robert Park, a 28-year-old Korean-American missionary and human rights activist, was arrested on Christmas Day after entering North Korea. Now the country’s state-controlled media is reporting that Park will be released. —JCL The Guardian: An American missionary arrested after entering North Korea is set to be released, according to the state-controlled media. Robert Park, 28, was arrested after entering the country on Christmas Day carrying a letter to its leader, Kim Jong-il. He is believed to have been attempting to draw attention to the tens of thousands of political prisoners said to be held in the communist state. KCNA reported this morning that an investigation into Park, a Korean-American human rights activist, had found he trespassed into North Korea “due to his wrong understanding of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]”. “The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings into consideration,” KCNA said. Read more

Robert Park, a 28-year-old Korean-American missionary and human rights activist, was arrested on Christmas Day after entering North Korea. Now the country’s state-controlled media is reporting that Park will be released. —JCL

The Guardian:

An American missionary arrested after entering North Korea is set to be released, according to the state-controlled media.

Robert Park, 28, was arrested after entering the country on Christmas Day carrying a letter to its leader, Kim Jong-il. He is believed to have been attempting to draw attention to the tens of thousands of political prisoners said to be held in the communist state.

KCNA reported this morning that an investigation into Park, a Korean-American human rights activist, had found he trespassed into North Korea “due to his wrong understanding of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]”.

“The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings into consideration,” KCNA said.

Read more

Related Entries

• February 4, 2010 How to Fix Health Care After Massachusetts
• February 4, 2010 First-Time Jobless Claims Jump Again

Stefan Sirucek: EXCLUSIVE (Update): Palin’s Tea Party Crib Notes
UPDATE: (Huffpost Exclusive) Closer inspection of a photo of Sarah Palin, during a speech in which she mocked President Obama for his use of a…

Karen Dalton-Beninato: Landrieu Continues New Orleans Family’s Mayoral Dynasty
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu made his first speech as Mayor Elect of the City of New Orleans with, “One team. One fight. One…

Ellen Brown: AIG-Gate: The World’s Greatest Insurance Heist
Unlike the perpetrators of the Watergate scandal, who wound up facing jail time, Timothy Geithner evidently has a golden parachute waiting at Goldman Sachs, not coincidentally the largest recipient of the AIG bailout.

Sarah Palin Tea Party Speech WATCH LIVE VIDEO
Scroll Down For Live Video Of The Speech NASHVILLE, Tenn. – These are Sarah Palin’s people. Just ask them. At the mere mention of her…

Defense Contractor Will Plead Guilty On False Statements Charge
A politically connected British defense contractor has agreed to plead guilty to having misled the government about payments that may have been used to help win contracts Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department has announced.

Frank Doubles Down: Fund Is ‘Congenital And Habitual Liar’
Rep. Barney Frank is doubling down on his criticism of Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund, calling him a “congenital and habitual liar.”

Glenn Beck as Loathsome Rhodes

“Rogue” Nations, American Leadership, and Multilateralism
In Newsweek recently, Nader Mousavizadeh offerred a trenchant critique of US efforts to corral wayward governments back into the law-abiding international fold. Part of Mousavizadeh’s argument rehearses some key lessons of past attempts to isolate so-called rogues — one lesson…


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Jerusalem Post No Longer A Newspaper & Avatar Is Subversive!
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Out of Work and Pissed Off
This chart shows that the number of working males has dropped back to 1996 levels when there were 30 million less citizens in the U.S. A lot of angry unemployed men in an interregnum is a recipe for social unrest…

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United States – Politics – Sarah Palin – Rand Paul – Alaska

Marco Rubio faces criticism over opposition to including immigrants in the Census.
This week, Republican Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio accused his opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, of trying to “dilute the voting power of every American citizen” through his support of including immigrants in this year’s Census count. However, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that Rubio took a much softer stance as little as […]

This week, Republican Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio accused his opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, of trying to “dilute the voting power of every American citizen” through his support of including immigrants in this year’s Census count. However, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that Rubio took a much softer stance as little as a week ago:

When asked whether illegal immigrants should count on things like the number of seats that Florida should have in Congress, Rubio initially said last week that he was not sure and that he wanted to “research it more.”

“I think there’s good arguments on both sides of it,” said Rubio, a former House speaker and Republican from Miami. Rubio, however, also said that the census should have an “accurate count” in order to know how “bad of an immigration problem we have.”

Crist has remarked that Rubio’s “notion that you wouldn’t want to accept federal funding to make a political point is absurd.” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) stated, “It [not counting undocumented immigrants] would be pretty damaging to Florida. … Pretending they’re not there, not counting them, doesn’t make them go away.” State Rep. Dean Cannon commented that “it’s just important that the count be accurate regardless of their [immigrant] status.” Even Rubio supporter State Rep. Esteban Bovo (R) said, “So much funding is tied to the Census, and to be undercounted could have devastating effects down the line. … I really don’t want our community to get shortchanged.” Rubio later backtracked on his remarks to clarify that he was only referring to undocumented immigrants, not green card-holders like his Cuban immigrant parents once were.

More at the Wonk Room.

Half of Obama’s Cabinet coming over for the Super Bowl
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Internet gambling again in play
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Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner: Global bank reform still needed
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A Tea Party with Palin & My 7th Grade Girlfriend
David Paul Kuhn, RCP
I logged onto Facebook to read Sarah Palin's latest posts. Thursday morning she had 1,260,892 fans. Facebook randomly features six fans or friends on someone's page. One of the six fans featured that morning was, by chance, my 7th grade girlfriend.Palin has gotten some heat lately for headlining the National Tea Party Convention, underway today in Nashville. The convention costs $549 to attend or $349 for only the lobster-and-steak banquet, where Palin will give the keynote address. Some conservatives saw the costs, combined with Palin's $100,000 speaking fee, as unbefitting a…

Toyota’s Blind Spot
Matthew DeBord, New York Times
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Why Are Liberals So Condescending?
Gerard Alexander, Washington Post
Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration. Indeed, all the appeals to bipartisanship notwithstanding, President Obama and other leading liberal voices have joined in a chorus of intellectual condescension.It's…