The society's newly deployed vessel, named the Bob Barker, for the game show host who offered the money to buy, equip and deploy it, had taken a position that blocked the "slipway" of the Japanese whalers' factory ship.  I don't know the specifics of what that is, but I take their word that the boat kept the harpoon boats from offloading their catch which meant that the harpooners couldn't go get more.  That effectively kept the harpooners from killing more whales.

But the Yushin Maru 3 pulled close to the Bob Barker and hit the boat. The Sea Shepherd ship's damage was above the water line,and the boat though continues to stay near the factory ship to block transfer of whale carcasses that would allow the hunt to continue.

Some wonder whether the fact that the whalers got away with sinking the Ady Gil made them more belligerent.

See Sea Shepherd News articles:

Update: Bob Barker Shuts Down Illegal Whaling

Bob Barker Rammed by Whaler

Because I've subcribed via an app on my phone I also have learned that the SS boat the Steve Irwin has caught up to the whaling fleet as well and the two boats are supporting each other in keeping harpooners away from the factory boat.  No whales have been killed for 3 days and the anti-whaling activists say they think they can keep it from happening for up to a month more.

The latest:

Sea Shepherd Has Shut Down Illegal Japanese Whalin

Catherine Decker, who writes the LA Times "This Week"  column tells us with her smarter than thou news voice (You Will Listen!) that government officials are making ridiculous ads that you shouldn't pay attention to, because what we really need to do is pare down government to save the economy. 

You might notice that is exactly the opposite of what has worked in the past and what most unbiased economic experts think is the solution to an economic recovery.  

But the real clue to Ms. Decker's bias is at the bottom of her report where she tells you (connecting the so called silly campaign ads to a 'real' need to gut government:

"The irrelevancy of what people in government talk about is damning."

Um, Ms. Decker apparently, at least in the case of the campaign ads must not be aware that 3 of the 4 candidates she is talking about in regards to silly campaign tactics is not in government right now, and two of them  have never been in government positions.  Meg Whitman and Carl Fiorina come from heavy relationships in the corporate world.

Her column becomes an attempt to smooth over embarrassing campaign news for the two top corporate candidates, as she tells you to pay no attention to those dumb ads, because we really need to cut more government jobs.

Funny, the title of her column doesn't give us a clue that she's a corporate shill.

But then I guess that's a given, working for the Tribune News Dump Company.  

Sam Zell: "Hey, over here.  Look at me, Mr. Murdoch!"

(You don't think so?  Um. When Zell 'bought' the company -- using employee retirement funds as collateral -- he promised to keep journalists in charge.  Two top officers were brought in from Clear Channel.  Real journalists there. And the publisher of the LA Times is the former chief of Direct TV.  That earlier position may have little to do with journalism, but it has a lot to do with Rupert Murdoch whose New Corps owns Direct TV.)

If you're still interested in the LA Times column it's here

Mainstream news is having a field day exposing the lies of the leader of the missionary group in Haiti. They allege she knew she didn't have proper papers, seemed to be relying on some connection with Dominican official, was warned that she'd never get through the border with the children without proper Haitian approval. 

And they are having fun exposing her past. 

And that's strange because Mrs. Lauren Silsby is the perfect example of the American Dream of the 21st Century.  You want the good life, but instead of being able to get a job that will give it to you, (unless you have the premier college education, family or other ties, or extraordinary luck) you have to gamble on risky employment or business ventures.  For Ms. Silsby, apparently the huge recession of 2008 sent her award winning business (okay, the site that named her "Business woman of the year" might be less than authoratative...) into the dumps, but there some former employees grumble they weren't paid their due wages at other times, but this is all a symptom of the Great Reagan-George W Bush Society which has failed much worse thn Johnson's did.

This is not just a factor of the church though most of the fundamentalist church ascribes heavily to Darwinian economic ideology, in which only the ruthless and powerful are secure, while the poor and generous are left to the winds of fortune and happenstance of rescue by "missionaires".

I believe that Ms Silsby, the  daughter of a denture maker or dentist (I'm not sure you can do one without being the other, but in either case very skilled man) who traveled for work and performed missionary work in Haiti, had many good  intentions.  I also believe that being able to escape the US, a failed business, and set up a mission on a beach resort (a plan that had been in place before the earthquake) was too good to pass up, and the earthquake gave an impetus to ask and for other Christians to give money for a venture for rescueing Haitian children and bringing them up as proper Christians, not Catholics like most Haitians.  (A Haitian man in the video above suggests the young age of the children suggests a intention to traffic them, but I think he is categorically wrong.  They were most likely to be indoctrinated into Fundamentalist Christianity, which may be no worse a religion than the Haitian Catholicism unless you consider the politics and harsh economic policy of Fundamentalism. 

I am not going to harp much on Ms. Silsby (Here I'm just responding to MSN's attempt to make her the scapegoat) because she is a product of the Right Wing/ fundamentalist church philosophy that controls our society these days, and the church leaders that she should have been able to get guidance from were the same kind of miserable losers as most at really guiding their flocks.  Often they are imperious when in pulpit, but lacking real leadership outside of it.  

It wasn't just Silsby and those who went with her, lots of people donated to this cause that the pastors could have talked to and warned.  After all, besides making some sermons what else are the pastors of the church really doing????  People ought to know where their money is going to and what they get in return.  I know pastors that live in much better houses than their parishioners and have basically a part time job.  

But beyond the even the church and the politics of the right that still control our nation is the Mainstream news and Hollywood that make big deals of people pulling themselves up with bootstraps or going off on wild adventures and succeeding against impossible odds.

We are a nation that is imbued in more propaganda possibly than Nazi Germany.  That may be why we have failed to resolve two wars in the last decade.

Our society is kinda sick with the heroism ideal.  Most of us live in the muck, so we better find domestic and international politics that help clean up that muck instead of dreaming about walking on the heads of our fellow men to a resort in the Dominican Republic where we will teach little children how to properly live in the muck without complaining or whatever dream we have that keeps us serving our rapacious overlords in the church, politics, news media and business realms.

Is the Daily Show video above in bad taste given the deaths caused by Toyota negligence?  

What if it's the only way to get people to notice that they are buying cars that have killed because of bad design?  

The US Dept of Transportation chief, Roy LaHood, has called for people who own Toyota cars (including some Lexus models) that have been recalled because of sticky accelerators and/or poorly designed floor mats to stop driving them until the prescribed repairs can be made.   

An LA Times report notes that the problem has been around since 2003.  2003?  Where was the vaunted Mainstream News Media?

You can see the American representative of the mega corporation playing the regret game on Jon Stewart's video above, and the Japanese top dog at the company avoiding talking to the press, and both games are reprehensible, but worse is that the news media had too many games to play to make a big enough stink so even Bush's DOT Secretary couldn't hide the danger and the callousness of the carmaker.

This might rival mainstream news' coverup of the impending mortgage problems that would lead us into the great recession of 2008-2010 (hopefully though the Rs are doing their best to make it a lost decade for American workers).

LaHood also told reporters that the NHTSA officials felt compelled to travel to Japan in December to warn Toyota management of it's" legal obligations are to find and remedy safety defects".  The visit and subsequent warnings to Toyota's North American chief that the US expected prompt action led the company to stop producing the models most at risk. 

Again something that Bush's Transportation Secretary could have done 6 years ago.

LaHood says he feels that the DOT alerted Americans enough and it probably did an ordinary job, but mainstream news needed to amplify that message or Bush's people needed to stand up and shout, stamp their feet, or do as the LaHood and current NHTSA officials did and make quiet threats, real threats.  It was the only thing that got their attention.

If mainstream had made a big enough noise people would have stopped buying Toyotas and that would have worked also, but mainstream news has so many games to play, and business and Republican talking points to pass through that they have little time for reminding Americans of important facts of life.

Oh and BTW they makes millions of dollars off car companies' ads, especially ones that are raking in the dough like Toyota.

Yet, it's mainstream news that claims it should be able to ban bloggers from talking about news because they aren't making as many billions as they did before.   

See LA Times "LaHood says owners of recalled Toyota models should stop driving them" for more details on Ray LaHood's comments.

The New York Times notes that LaHood explained to news men that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would look into the possibility that the real problem is "electro-magnetic interference with the accelerator system".  Such allegations may be why Toyota suspended the sale of vulnerable models.

The Gray Lady reports that Toyota stock prices are down 7.2%.  Only 7.2???  One might have expected a flat lining at penny stock value.  Oh Gee, what are a few hundred American lives when there's money to be made.  Okay, but what about when lawsuits suddenly extract most of the value of those stocks? 

And the Times says some Prius drivers have complained that brakes have failed briefly at low speeds. 

See "Transportation Chief Tries to Keep Pressure on Toyota" or use title of article in Google or Google News to get a free look at one of five NYT offerings a day if the paper is blocking you from using our link.

Food Relief in Haiti

Troops prepare to hand out multiday food packages

A report from one news source had alleged that the US has delivered no food to the Haitians in Port Au Prince. Picture put up by the US Army refutes that claim. Sometimes we get frustrated with mainstream news, but some secondary news sources are even worse.  I don't have legal permission to use pictures about the story below so am using what is available via CC at Flickr thst deal with another controversy surround post earthquake Haiti.

Picture allowed via Creative Commons license. No support of nor further contribution to this blog by photographer/artist implied. Thanks to "The U.S. Army" at flickr.com. Click on picture to go to original site and for link to options on different sizes. Rollover picture for further attribution.

After the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, one Christian charity (I've forgotten the exact name and won't try to guess because it closely resembled a more respectable Christian relief organization) promoted a program in which they promised to pick up 300 orphans in Indonesia and bring them up as Christians.  I checked into that group and found, among earlier good deeds they did was to go to Jerusalem to "exhort" (encourage) the brethren (Christians) there, and to Nepal to speak with pastors there.  One of the group visiting Nepal sadly noted that this time they couldn't afford to climb "the mountain" (you know which one) but possibly they could during another visit to encourage the "brethren", The young father spent time walking in the beautiful foothills nearby (begging the question of why that man's ticket for the flight was even purchased).  BTW these travels were paid for by donations from churches and individuals.  Is your tithe going to let a "Christian charity" sponsor expensive vacations?  I'd make sure I found out, if I were you.  

So this time a church group has been caught trying to take 100 Haitian orphans out of Haiti.  They do not seem to be anywhere near as full of themselves as the organization seeking 300 Muslim orphans in Indonesia in the waning days of 2004 and early 2005 (the Indonesian government wisely denied their request to take charge of any 'orphans' and many groups noted that not all lost children did not have family members who could care for them with the proper aid).

But still even the Bible and smart pastors encourage Christians to look inside themselves and seek other motives that may be in there.  So I'll do a little of this for these folks.

An AP article on the subject clears up who was going to running the Dominican Republic orphanage to which the group was taking their 100 orphans.  The group itself apparently controlled a resort in DR that they would be converting to an orphanage.  (I can't find as yet, whether the church had recently purchased or rented the resort, especially as lately as after the earthquake.)

The resort meme stands out there.  Like Pastor Chuck Smith used to tell us "ask yourself what you really want" because God is judging your heart.  Resort living while running an orphanage in a nation with few controls and cheap labor.  Not bad work if you can get it, and the Church will finance you.  (and the taxpayer will help since donations to churches for such work are tax deductible.)  You have to ask yourself how much these women knew about running an orphanage or even keeping children healthy.  The AP report notes that already some of the children were sick and dehydrated.

Another one of the problems I have with most Christian charities in poor countries is that they go on and on and the poor of those nations are not helped to a better life by them except as wards of the church, while other Christian activities promote right wing governance and business practices that force the poor into more and more dire circumstances.  If the church wanted to promote a better life for poor people in foreign countries then they should promote more liberal governance like even the Protestant church did for much of the 19th and early 20th century and Catholic church did much longer (though the US Catholic church has become supportive of politics that  promote excessive capitalism as the GOP has promised to end legal rights to abortion and birth control).  Weirdly the charity that does the most to keep poor people dependent on handouts is the one that is tied to promoting right wing economics, or, to put it bluntly, the churches own charities.  Sad, really. 

One of the reasons that over 4000 Americans are still missing around PauP is that there were thousands of charities there doing little things to patch the most visible poverty in some Haitians lives and teaching the true religion of Capitalism.  Yet, Haiti was only improving a little because of the same Capitalist demands by the US and IMF for cheap cheap cheap labor.  Such is the capitalism-globalism going on in the world today.  I never see the church trying to promote more equitable economies in such nations to force the rich local and multinational businesses to pay fair wages.

Is Haiti a vacation spot?  Well, when there's subzero weather in most parts of the US, yeah, it could be, even in the midst of the crowded capital city. Churches I've been in offered similar chances to go 'build houses' in "Baja" (BC, Mexico) during the winter.  I guess each Mexican on the Peninsula has ten if them by now.  I wonder if Haiti has supplanted Mexico since our neighbor to the South turned into a Narco state that isn't safe outside of resort areas for much of anyone (as noted in an earlier report on the kidnapping and execution of an American visiting Mexico during the Christmas holidays for being in the wrong place at the wrong time). So all those houses built did nothing to stop the nation from sliding into more extreme problems. 

I doubt the church group, which had members from Idaho, Kansas, and Texas were part of any scheme to sell them to rich Haitians, or foreigners (slavery?) as the government is reporting some people are doing there (a practice which is not simply a post-earthquake phenomenon).  Still Mexico shows that holiday charity work is not really working for any nation.  And God himself admonishes to check out your own heart before starting any ventures in the name of your Diety.  A little humility is always welcome when you go out to help the poor.

 I do salute the Idaho pastor who has ties to this group who has told his congregation to understand the circumstances here since Haiti has problems with child trafficking.  I'm afraid southern churches will howling and dragging out virtual torches and pitchforks to attack the Haitian government over the controversy. 

For complete details of the AP report see "Haiti detains Americans taking kids across border ."

Nice to see that Stewart pokes a little fun at himself for his own flattery of O'Keefe when the story first broke, and mentions that ACORN says that O'Keefes tapes were edited to make them seem bad.

Sorry about the one I placed last night.  I guess I had forgotten I copied Colbert's video clip on OKeefe and not Stewart's.

Portico of the Supreme Court of the United States

Meant to the court's great strength

Lack of partisanship is the strength of the court only not anymore.

Picture allowed via Creative Commons license. No support of nor further contribution to this blog by photographer/artist implied. Thanks to "dbking" at flickr.com. Click on picture to go to original site and for link to options on different sizes. Rollover picture for further attribution.

It was shown earlier that Samuel Alito was unfit to follow Sandra Day OConnor, but most of the news media only reported on the 'trauma" of Alito's cry on demand wife during the hearings.

Justice O'Connor overturned an important decision that Alito wrote concerning women's right while he was at the Third Circuit Court.  Alito had written that a woman should be forced to get her husband's consent before she had an abortion.  O'Connor's argument written for the majority of the Supreme Court took that idea to task.

It is therefore more understandable that a balance of women are needed on the court, and the Bush administration knew that by putting forward the worst possible female choice in Harriet Miers, they could dump her if needed and choose a man.  Mainstream wouldn't complain and their Limbaugh follower base are mostly convinced that women can't be in important positions anyway.

In the front row for the president's SOTU speech Wednesday night Justice Alito is reported by most mainstream that Justice Alito shook his head and mouthed, "Not True, Not True" when President Obama as the New York Daily News claims "Blasted" the Supreme Court Decision allowing corporations to contribute without limit to an effort to elect a candidate as long as they didn't coordinate with the candidate's campaign staff.

It has already been found that cooperation with staff and outside supporters is like an ameba which shifting shapes and pinch offs.  Candidates create charities run by staff and non-profits later have some of their employees employed by Congressionals.

But Alito shaking his head and mouthing things at the president is a new low.

So of course, the right wing blames this on the president and their massive talking points propaganda mice are covering Twitter, letters to the editors, and other conversation venues and mainstream news follows worried that their big money pimps, the corporations that the SCOTUS put in charge of our nation will cut them off.

During his confirmation hearings Alito was said to be as meek as a mouse by his backers.   Try picking up a wild mouse if you are willing to risk getting rabies and see just how meek they are.

And now we see his partisanship emerging. 

See New York Daily News for their details of the event last night at "Justice Alito mouths 'not true' when Obama blasts Supreme Court ruling in State of the Union address "

The Washington Post reported that many people believe the words Alito mouthed were not "Not true"  but "you Lie"  but it doesn't really matter what he said.  The Post article notes that SCOTUS members are reluctant to show any response.  Their usual stoic behavior shows they don't run on partisanship.I guess now that corporations run our nation that charade is no longer needed.

The control of mainstream news by the right and by corporations is what matters most.  They continually twist reality as they have for many decades.  Possibly their worst example is how they allowed the Vietnam war to go on for a decade causing millions of needless deaths.  But the support for Bush's war, both in editorials and in what they printed as "evidence" of Saddam's weapons programs is a close second and that was just seven years ago.