Flap Your Lips Friday
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 14th, 2014
Good morning!
From Think Progress:
What You Should Know About Obama’s Leading Candidate For Attorney General
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/SETH WENIG
CNN reports that President Obama is “expected to nominate Loretta Lynch,” the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, to serve as the next Attorney General of the United States. If confirmed, Lynch will be the first African American woman to lead the Justice Department.
Much of Lynch’s appeal to Obama may stem from the fact that she is removed from many of the political battles that would render a nominee who has often been at odds with Republicans unconfirmable in a GOP-controlled Senate. Lynch has a distinguished, but relatively apolitical, career as a prosecutor. After earning both her undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard, Lynch was an associate at a large law firm before joining the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York in 1990. There, she rose to hold several senior career roles, including Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1998 to 1999, when she was confirmed to lead the office at U.S. Attorney during the Clinton Administration. Shortly after President Clinton left office, Lynch became a partner at another large law firm until President Obama reappointed her as U.S. Attorney in 2009.
Yet, while Lynch’s career has kept her more distant from Washington, DC’s increasingly contentious politics, she is not entirely removed from them. Lynch’s office is currently prosecuting Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), a former FBI agent charged with 20 counts of fraud, perjury and other alleged crimes related to allegations that he hid more than $1 million in gross receipts while he ran a New York restaurant.
Lynch’s biography resembles that of the current attorney general, Eric Holder, in at least two respects. Like Lynch, Holder spent many years as a prosecutorbefore his nomination to the Justice Department’s top job. Holder also frequently functioned as the Obama Administration’s truth-teller on issues of race, often speaking eloquently about his personal encounters with racism. “I am the attorney general of the United States. But I am also a black man,” Holder told an audience in Ferguson, Missouri shortly after the racially charged police shooting of Michael Brown, before he recounted a time when he believes he was racially profiled while walking in an affluent neighborhood in Washington, DC. After the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, Holder recounted that the incident “caused me to sit down to have a conversation with my own 15 year old son, like my dad did with me” about “how as a young black man I should interact with the police.”
It remains to be seen whether Lynch will take on a similar truth-telling role should she be confirmed to lead the Justice Department, but there is little question that she will have stories to tell about her own experiences with racism should she choose to do so. Lynch was born in Greenboro, NC a year before a series of lunch counter sit-ins in that town helped trigger a wave of similar protests across the country.
Lynch also has personal experience confronting police brutality and other abusive behaviors by police. In 1997, a police officer sodomized a handcuffed Haitian immigrant named Abner Louima with a broken broomstick in the bathroom of a police station. Louima suffered a ruptured colon and bladder from this incident, and he spent two months in the hospital. According to one witness, the cop bragged to other officers about how he had tortured Louima, at one point pointing the stick that he inserted in Louima’s rectum at another police officer’s face and saying “Smell this. Smell this.”
The case quickly became a national symbol of police brutality generally, and of brutality against the African American community in particular. Lynch, who was then a senior career prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office that she currently leads, supervised the successful prosecution of the officer who assaulted Louima. The officer was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Should she be confirmed, Lynch will take over a Justice Department that, under the leadership of Attorney General Holder, has confronted police misconduct on a much grander scale. Under Holder, the Justice Department doubled its investigations into police departments, uncovering numerous examples of policy brutality, abuse of people with mental illnesses and excessive use of deadly force.
*****
Readers: I don’t know much about Lynch, but from what I have read, she is a highly qualified woman with lots of experience – A tough, fair, woman who is highly respected, and knows how to hold her own under pressure. Love that Obama picked a woman…I do think she is our girl. What do you think?
Jorge H: Aww…happy to hear you and Carla are still together and going strong. How sweet that you have two babies. Congratulations! Hey Carla: Delighted the both of you are still reading even if you can’t comment as much as before. No doubt you both have your hands full. Peace & Love to all of you.
Thanks to all for being here with me! Happy Friday! – Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:
Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129
Thank you for your loyal support!
All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2014
“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream
" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"
November 14th, 2014 at 9:20 am
#5 Ron, That’s the best they can do? a pointed finger? The minutae people choose to glom onto astounds me.
-ZL
November 14th, 2014 at 1:35 pm
Zen Lill, the really sad thing is how the news media jumped on it as if it was true.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Zen Lill, the cops think they can use the image of cops being heroic like members of out military to disparage anyone they want to.
Cops are NOT like the members of the military in any way. They can quit anytime they don’t like the heat they are getting for the money they are being paid. But they won’t quit because they are dedicated to helping others, they won’t quit because they couldn’t find a more lucrative job with just a high school diploma.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Yeah, Michelle, I have my hands full with the kids and my legs with the lacivicious need of Jorge. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I noticed you decided to go gray.
When I showed it to my mother she immediately stopped dying her hair. She said if a beauty like you could do it, she can.
Thanks for setting another example of how women can take control over their lives.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:42 pm
Zen Lill, I’m a cop and I hear your father was one. We get a lot of flack from the criminal element out there. It is not our fault that most of if comes from the niggers and the spicks.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
I hope she gets confirmed Michelle, but I doubt her chances with the republicans in power, unless they see her as a relief from Eric Holder.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:49 pm
Thanks Michelle, HOW SWEET IT IS TO HAVE A FAMILY OF YOUR OWN. I finally have the kind of job that allows me to do the things I want for my family.
Life is beautiful. It does have those griefs that only bigots and racists can bring, but I am not going to go out that way. This is a life I live for my family. I really like your blog. I reminds me daily of the hatred that some harbor just because I have a different skin tone.
It also reminds me not to hate in kind in return. I don’t despise gringos any more, I take them as they come to me. I will teach my children to respect everyone, but take no shit from anyone.
Love the new look, you are a beautiful woman. Carla says you are her idol. You and Alycedale that is. What a combo! That’s why I love her.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:51 pm
Henry#5, you are the reason my father retired early from the Force. He couldn’t stand having to look the other way while you racists with badges used your privileges as cops to act out your hatreds.
Not all white men are like you. My father never discriminated. He treated everyone equally. You are a sorry excuse for a police officer.
November 14th, 2014 at 1:54 pm
Michelle, I couldn’t get in to list this link. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/china/report/2014/11/10/100852/expanding-the-frontier-of-u-s-china-strategic-cooperation-will-require-new-thinking-on-both-sides-of-the-pacific/?elq=~~eloqua..type–emailfield..syntax–recipientid~~&elqCampaignId=~~eloqua..type–campaign..campaignid–0..fieldname–id~~
It shows how grand your President really is. He is highly respected by the people of China. I am sure the rest of the world sees him the same. Too bad he is reviled in his own country by bigots and racists.
November 14th, 2014 at 2:00 pm
James Castro, marketing genius for Mid Pacific Distributors Inc. and Tropical Productions, has died.
James was that guy. He was the guy who would brighten up a room with his contagiously huge smile, regardless of the situation. I’ve been in meetings with him when the tension was hot, but James would keep his cool and spend his energy trying to solve the situation rather than get emotional.
James was a provider for his family. He just recently completed his house and worked hard to be a pillar for his wife, Rowena, and two sons. He was a great example to me and to others. He was proof that you could be a good man and father while still being successful on Guam.
I never heard a negative word come out of his mouth. James was always encouraging and seemed to always look for the silver lining in all situations.
Guam’s nightlife scene will never be the same without James Castro. He was always involved and supported Guam’s talent, entertainment and nightlife scene.
I take a moment of silence for you, James Castro. You will be missed, the scene on Guam will be forever grateful for your contributions and sincere smile.
God speed, my friend.
November 14th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Hafa adai, I also wanted to alert those of your returning to Guam or leaving for the holidays about a measles out break in Hawaii.
Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services recommends travelers heading to Hawaii to receive vaccinations for measles two weeks before departing.
A press release issued today from DPHSS states that the Hawaii State Department of Public Health is reporting an outbreak of measles.
As of Nov. 10, the Hawaii health department has reported 11 cases of measles, according to the release. Five of the cases originated from Bali, Indonesia; the Philippines; and Los Angeles.
“With the upcoming holidays and due to frequent travel of residents between Guam and Hawaii, it is possible that the disease may be brought here,” the release states.
Measles is a highly contagious and is primarily spread by person-to-person contact through large respiratory droplets, according to the release. Symptoms can include a runny nose, red eyes, or a rash lasting at least three days with a fever and cough.
DPHSS encourages parents to review their children’s shot record to ensure they’ve received the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine.
The release states that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends:
- Children should receive two doses of MMR vaccine, with the first dose given at one year of age or older and the second dose given between 4 to 6 years of age.
- All persons born during or after 1957 should have documentation of at least one dose of MMR vaccine given on or after the first birthday.
November 14th, 2014 at 3:00 pm
It Is Flap Your Lips Friday . . . So I Am Gonna Flap ‘em.
This article was not written by me, just edited. It is about the plunge which Amnesty International has taken to join the side of evil against the State of Israel by Terrorist groups from all over the Middle East. Amnesty International has really gotten my juices flowing. They were once impartial and wrote about injustices occurring in the world — they never took sides with known terrorists against a democratic Nation.
On Wednesday, November 5, 2014, Amnesty International released its latest attack on Israel — a highly biased report that accuses the Jewish state of war crimes in its fighting in Gaza over this past summer. Avoiding the use of the word “terror” in relation to Hamas, and failing to mention the terrorist tunnels Hamas built in order to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks, also the fact that missiles were fired from Gaza by Hama by the thousands. Amnesty’s report was followed up later in the day with a Tweet from a senior Amnesty official, equating the Jewish state with the terror group ISIS, which has beheaded countless Muslims and Western journalists across Syria and Iraq like animals.
The report is typical of Amnesty’s highly critical bias towards Israel. As Israel responds that Amnesty “serves as a propaganda tool for Hamas and other terror groups” it’s worth asking how such a worthy organization as Amnesty International could have fallen so far, and wound up obsessed with demonizing the Jewish state.
I remember as a child our class writing letters to the USSR, protesting the jailing of Soviet Jews who wanted to immigrate to Israel. We relied on information and names of Jewish prisoners of conscious often provided by Amnesty International. The very term prisoner of conscious was Amnesty’s coinage, and it conveyed the profound injustice facing the ‘refuseniks‘ — Soviet Jews whose petitions to move to Israel had been denied. In those dark days of Soviet repression, it was Amnesty International who detailed the horrendous conditions the prisoners were kept in, and who made sure the world knew their names. Many refuseniks, such as Ida Nudel and Natan Sharansky, today head of Israel’s Jewish Agency, were first identified by Amnesty researchers.
But as the years passed, Amnesty’s focus became not only exposing prisoners of conscience, but advocating specific policies, too. As its ambitions expanded, Israel increasingly found itself the focus of Amnesty International’s condemnations. The recent, outrageously biased report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza is the culmination of a decades-long trend of demonization of the Jewish state.
An early change in Amnesty’s activities came in 2002, at the infamous UN World Conference Against Racism, in Durban, South Africa. Amnesty International officials participated by targeting the Jewish state. Officials distributed material detailing examples of racism and human rights abuses around the world, mentioned only one nation — Israel — by name. Irene Kahn, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, later admitted her organization should have named other countries, too, but the damage was done. The Durban conference, encouraged by the non-governmental organizations like Amnesty in attendance, produced a highly biased anti-Israel final report that still is influencing policy discussions today. Lending its prestige to the hate-fest at Durban, Amnesty helped single out the Jewish state as somehow uniquely evil, unparalleled in human affairs.
War Crimes
Amnesty’s criticism of Israel has increased after Durban; one powerful strategy has been to accuse Israel of war crimes.
2006 was a turning point. That year, after Israel fought a four-week war against the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Amnesty formally accused Israel of war crimes for attacking civilian infrastructure in Lebanon during the fighting. Despite the fact that during the four-week period, Hezbollah fired 3,900 rockets at Israeli towns and cities, killing 44 Israeli civilians and wounding 1,400, Amnesty refused to condemn Hezbollah. Even when Hezbollah cynically used human shields in Lebanon (in violation of international law) by embedding their fighters in civilian population centers, Amnesty’s criticism remained one-sided, directed at the Jewish state.
Prominent legal scholars at the time criticized Amnesty International’s sloppy use of legal terms. Accusing Amnesty of being in a “race to the bottom” in criticizing Israel, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz called Amnesty’s definition of war crimes “idiosyncratic” — a peculiar way of thinking and not reflective of international law. Amnesty’s main criteria of calling something a war crime seems to be anything Israel does. David Bernstein, a Law Professor at George Mason University, observed that Amnesty’s criticisms of Israel’s use of force “has nothing to do with human rights or war crimes, and a lot to do with a pacifist attitude that seeks to make war, regardless of the justification for it or the restraint in prosecuting it — an international ‘crime’.”
After Israel responded to mortar attacks on Israeli civilians in 2009, Amnesty issued a report accusing Israel of war crimes: the 127-page report minimized Hamas’ violations of international law, and accused ignored eyewitness accounts that Hamas had used human shields.
That year, Amnesty sent its internal documents to the International Criminal Court, for use in case that body brought charges against the Jewish state. Amnesty also started calling for an international arms embargo against Israel, citing Israel’s supposed status as “a grave violator of human rights”.
Anti-Israel Intensification
Despite defending its impartiality, Amnesty’s anti-Israel obsession has intensified. Director of Amnesty International Finland, Frank Johansson, called Israel a “scum state” on his blog in August 2010. Amnesty International Australia has had to repeatedly apologize after highly anti-Semitic posts (some praising Hitler, calling Jews cancer, and calling for death to Jews) have been allowed onto its Facebook page. In 2013 Amnesty awarded its Ambassador of Conscience award to Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd musician who tirelessly calls for boycotting the Jewish state and features a giant inflatable pig wearing a Star of David in his shows.
When Amnesty Campaign Manager Krystian Benedict was asked in 2010 if he would support an event drawing attention to kidnapped Israeli private Gilad Shalit, he responded only if “thousands of Palestinian prisoners” were included as well. Mr. Benedict later told a journalist “Israel is now included in the list of stupid dictatorial regimes who abuse people’s basic human rights – along with Burma, North Korea, Iran and Sudan, it’s government has the same wanton attitude to human beings.” Mr. Benedict was temporarily suspended from Amnesty for posting a joke about Jewish members of Britain’s parliament on Twitter, but was soon reinstated. On Wednesday, November 5, 2014, after Israeli objections to Amnesty’s latest biased report, he Tweeted that Israel is equivalent to the vicious terror group ISIS.
This obsession with Israel and Jews – and sympathy with those who wish to harm them – is reflected in staffing choices at Amnesty International. One Middle East Researcher, Saleh Hijazi, was previously the contact for a political organization called “Another Voice,” whose slogan was “Resist! Boycott! We Are Intifada!” British-based Amnesty researcher Deborah Hyams volunteered as a “human shield” near Bethlehem, preventing Israeli military responses to gunfire and rockets aimed at civilians in nearby Jerusalem. Amnesty’s American-based Israel researcher, Edith Garwood, used to be a member of the anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement. Rasha Abdul-Rahim, a fourth member of Amnesty’s research unit, describes herself as “a ranty Palestinian activist” on Twitter.
In 2010, Gita Saghal, the head of Amnesty International’s Gender Unit was fired after she criticized Amnesty’s close links with Cageprisoners, a British Muslim extremist group whose leader defends violent jihad and the Taliban; she accused Amnesty of “ideological bankruptcy” and said an “atmosphere of terror” prevails inside Amnesty International, where staff cannot question leaders’ ideological views.
Amnesty’s latest report – and its offensive jokes and Tweets about the Jewish state – betray an unhealthy obsession and hatred of Israel. It’s time the world woke up to the sad fact that this once-praiseworthy organization no longer has any moral standing. They have lost my respect and hopefully much of the world’s because they certainly deserve being disrespected and ignored and thought of as the evil group which they are and the damage they are doing.
HOWIE
November 14th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
#2 Ron, you’re right *sigh*
#3 Craig, have to agree, back in the day it was a factory job or the force for HS diploma only men, my father chose the latter.
#5 Henry, must say my father used the term ‘white F’in trash’ just as much as any other derogatory term, he started to grow up nicely in his 40′s and onward …
But, I think his type A personality should’ve left the negativity of that job earlier, it didn’t serve him well personally…
He always taught us to as Jorge H #7 said, treat others with respect and take no shit…
… Or I don’t know, for some reason – yesterday & today I actually miss him a lot so maybe I’m giving the rose glasses to it, I’ve been accused of being a daddy’s girl here before, lol … don’t care, it’s not my job to care what others think of me, if you think I’m protecting him, cops or men, have at that thought.
Luv, Zen Lill
November 14th, 2014 at 5:43 pm
Sorry to hear tat Howie#12, but the world is full of disguised racists.
November 14th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
I’m In! Are You?
November 14, 2014
Share This
Email On:
Twitter
Facebook Free and Open Internet
President Obama’s recent remarks encouraging the Federal Communications Commission to adopt clear rules protecting net neutrality on the Internet affirm that free and open access to the Internet is a bedrock right of the 21st century. The Internet cannot belong to the wealthy and well-connected; it must be an open space for innovation, entrepreneurship, and communication – a level playing field where success is founded on the best ideas, not the deepest pockets.
Millions of Americans have made their voices heard in support of net neutrality standards that preserve the freedom and opportunity of the Internet. I applaud President Obama’s forceful leadership on this issue as he joins the courts in outlining a clear path forward for the FCC. The FCC must act swiftly to create clear and enforceable net neutrality standards so the Internet can continue to foster freedom and prosperity here in the United States and around the world.
The FCC must ensure that everyone has transparent access to the Internet without intentional delays in service or paid prioritization schemes. For the sake of our economy and our democracy, we must have strong rules that protect consumers and innovators and will safeguard fair, fast and equal access to the Internet.
To follow Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi on Twitter, please click here.
Let’s Act Now
It has been more than 500 days since the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation – more than two years since Speaker Boehner said he was confident immigration reform would get done. In that time, House Republicans have refused to allow a vote on the Senate’s bipartisan immigration reform legislation, instead voting on multiple occasions to deport DREAMers.
While there is no substitute for comprehensive legislation, it is clear that our country cannot afford to wait for Republicans to make good on their endless empty promises to act productively on immigration. Every administration since President Dwight D. Eisenhower has used broad authority in existing law to make our immigration system better meet the needs of our country and reflect our shared values. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush took action to protect the spouses and children of people who received status under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act – even though Congress explicitly chose not to grant status to them.
Executive action is moral, legal and necessary. It is my hope that President Obama will use his broad and well-established authority generously and swiftly – acting to give immigrant families peace of mind heading into the holidays.
To follow Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi on Twitter, please click here.
Open Enrollment Begins Tomorrow
Covered California open enrollment begins tomorrow, November 15th, 2014 and continues through February 15th, 2015. Current Covered California plans must be renewed by December 15th to avoid coverage gaps.
Once you enroll in or renew your health care plan, help Covered California spread the word. Share the message with your friends and family by sending an email or posting the I’m In! Badge to your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Together, we can ensure that every Californian has the chance to experience a bright and healthy future with affordable, quality health care coverage.
Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my website. I am also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NancyPelosi.
best regards,
November 15th, 2014 at 8:52 am
Howie, what do you expect from bigots? They will use their positions to hide their racist propaganda and agenda.