It never ends, they have no shame (Schiavo remix)
AP via Newsday:

Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday that a prosecutor has agreed to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, citing an alleged gap in time between when her husband found her and called 911.

(via Majikthise)

Now that that coroner's report has made Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, and Jeb Bush look like the unprincipled fools they are -- she was neurologically blind, beyond hope of recovery, with no evidence of foul play -- I guess this was the inevitable result. posted by Thomas Nephew at 3:14:00 PM -- |    

 
Grizzly Man
I saw a very interesting documentary tonight at the AFI Silverdocs Film Festival, Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man." Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Fitzcarraldo) has in a way made another movie about a kindred spirit and adventurer.

"Grizzly Man" was one Timothy Treadwell, a self-taught film-maker, documentarian, and free spirit who turned himself from a Long Island schoolboy into a surfer dude into a wild man and naturalist of sorts. Treadwell devoted his life to camping in Alaskan grizzly bear territory and filming the bears; he would approach the grizzlies close enough to touch them. But after thirteen years of summer visits, he was finally killed by one (as was his girlfriend Amie Hugenard).

Treadwell initially makes a kind of shallow, self-absorbed impression in the film -- and that impression resurfaces throughout the rest of the film as well. But eventually he grew on me, as Herzog's humane script and narration turned what seemed like a slim topic into an encounter with an American original -- far more interesting to Herzog than the bears Treadwell loved, in whose eyes Herzog saw only a "half bored desire for food."

The bears' native, loping grace and strength get their due in Treadwell's often extraordinary footage -- there's a titanic fight between two males that was awesome to behold. But it's Treadwell's obsessions and self-delusions that both fascinate and repel. He styled himself as a "protector" of the bears, yet Treadwell's encounters with the bears may well have done them more harm than good, as an Alaskan native pointed out: getting bears to trust humans is probably not really all that beneficial an experience for bears. He was often maudlin about the deaths of baby animals in an environment that should have eventually taught him not to be.

And yet there was also a serene self-confidence that you come to admire and even envy. Treadwell had found something he loved, and by God he was going to stick with it no matter what. And people no less interesting than he came to love him. When his ashes were scattered by those friends -- a bush pilot, a girlfriend, an Alaskan "confidante" -- on the beautiful land he had once inhabited, I was past skepticism, and admiring the life and world one man had made for himself.

There was a Q-and-A after the movie with Herzog himself, who made a good impression on me. Turns out he lives in L.A. these days; it seems he hopes to make more documentaries with the Discovery Channel (underwriters of the film festival and the movie), which would be great. Thanks to Brett Marston for the heads up about the movie, which we saw together with a friend of his, Margaret M.; I'll be interested in any reactions he shares.


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UPDATE, 6/19: Brett observes that Herzog was "interested in Treadwell precisely because he crossed the boundary" that sensible Alaskan native respect for the bear demanded. He concludes, "I'm not sure what to think of Treadwell, but the movie is brilliant." posted by Thomas Nephew at 1:01:00 AM -- |    

 
One Dick Durbin is worth ten Dubyas
To tell the truth, I don't read Buzzflash much, but maybe I should -- after all, my dad sent me the link. This editorial headline is absolutely correct: Busheviks Launch Diversionary Attack Against Dick Durbin for Telling the Truth About Gitmo. If You're Not a Member of "The Liar's Club," Expect a Withering Character Attack from the White House.

I'm glad to see Harry Reid stuck up for Durbin, and I'm not surprised to see little pukes like Rush Limbaugh and Scott McClellan were shrieking from their tree branches at him. Durbin's statement, after reading FBI accounts from Guantanamo on the Senate floor:

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings.

White House press secretary McClellan's response:

I think the Senator's remarks are reprehensible. It's a real disservice to our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards and uphold our values and our laws. To compare the way our military treats detainees with the Soviet gulags, the Nazi concentration camps, and Pol Pot's regime is simply reprehensible. [...]

And so I just think those remarks are reprehensible and they are a real disservice to our men and women in uniform. Our men and women in uniform go out of their way to treat detainees humanely, and they go out of their way to hold the values and the laws that we hold so dear in this country. And when you talk about the gulags and the concentration camps in Pol Pot's regime, millions of people, innocent people, were killed by those regimes.

Need it be said? To compare some American acts to those by war criminals of the past is not to say they equate to everything those criminals did, only to the comparable things they did. If that comparison hurts your feelings -- good. It should. That's a first step -- as long as you look the facts honestly, and realize the truth of what Durbin said.

Americans and American soldiers are not magically incapable of wrongdoing. We should have known that all along, and now we've seen it at Guantanamo, Bagram, and Abu Ghraib. The whole point of the American system is to oppose overweening power with power, as Durbin was doing. His words on the Senate floor were far more American, in the good sense I used to instinctively associate with that word, than anything reprehensible little pukes like Limbaugh, McClellan, or the Powerline crew howled in response.

Like Buzzflash says, Durbin deserves your support:

Don't e-mail, don't write, just call.

Because our country's fate is worth the price of a few long distance words of appreciation.

Want your country back? Join Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois.


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UPDATE, wee hours of 6/18: Roy Edroso ("alicublog") feels similarly. But it's his update that I like best, responding to some tut-tutting by commenters about Durbin's supposed poor choice of words:

I have been reading my commenters, and they make me sad. Not because they don't see the problem, but because they underline it: you must use a very limited species of language if you are going to tell the truth, otherwise the sense erasers of the Right will seize upon your wrongspeak and negate your whole point. [...]

...Fuck 'em, in other words, if they can't take a joke. Or the truth. You want to paint the corners, trying to put the truth over in a squiggly way like an eephus pitch, you go right on ahead. Maybe that's more mature, but it looks to me like playing the other team's game in your own ballpark.

Read the whole thing for maximum effect. However, if you must for some reason read only one Edroso post, I'd recommend his Father's Day post instead.
EDIT, 6/18: added "must use a very limited species of language" part of Edroso quote in update. (I am one for long quotes.) posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:39:00 PM -- |    

 
Note to readers
I'm not doing one of my periodic blog "vanishing acts." I've been very busy at work and at home and a little sick on top of that. Several posts are or were in the works, but events kept overtaking them, and sleep kept overtaking me. I think I'll have some fresh posts this weekend; we'll see. posted by Thomas Nephew at 1:45:00 PM -- |    

 
Where's Ratko?
Reporting from Belgrade, the Washington Post's Daniel Williams writes that Ratko Mladic, the general responsible for the Srebrenica massacre, has reportedly been negotiating with the Serbian government over his possible surrender to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Williams adds:

Although news reports here have said government forces were closing in on Mladic, Serbian officials insist his exact whereabouts are unknown. The talks, carried out at a distance through a chain of intermediaries, reportedly began at the request of Mladic, who commanded the Bosnian Serb army during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

The Post article cites the success of Serbian president Kostunice's kid glove approach -- the respectful official treatment of alleged Kosovo war criminal General Vladimir Lazarevic (mentioned in part in a prior post here) seems to have encouraged others to surrender as well.

But Austrian newspaper "Der Standard" cites a Belgrade B-92 TV interview with Serbia-Montenegran human rights and minority minister Rasim Ljajic who does not believe Mladic will give himself up, and is "convinced that it will be necessary to apprehend the alleged war criminal..."

That could prove difficult. The "Standard" article mentions a report in the Belgrade daily "Politika" asserting that Mladic is in a "former Soviet republic" and that the intermediaries are from a foreign intelligence agency. On the other hand, Mladic's medical condition may be a factor; the "Politika" article says he's in a "very poor state of health" and recently underwent a second operation on a tumor.*

The San Jose Mercury News ran an AP item out of Belgrade last week ("Search reportedly narrows for Mladic," Dusan Stojanovic, reg. req.) that bears re-reading. It wasn't just Srebrenica:

Sarajevans still remember his commands to the Serb gunmen pounding the Bosnian capital in early 1992. He issued his orders through a military radio system, not bothering to scramble the signal, which was picked up and taped by the Sarajevo police. The next day, his commands were broadcast on TV.

"Turn toward Velesici, there are no Serbs there," Sarajevans could hear Mladic ordering his artillery to pound this Sarajevan suburb.

"Scorch their brains," he told his gunmen.

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* TRANSLATION NOTES: foreign intelligence agency: "fremder Nachrichtendienst." The German phrase can also be more literally translated as "foreign news service," but "intelligence agency" is likelier. tumor: "Geschwulst," a general word for an unspecified "growth", lit. "swelling."

UPDATE, 6/15: Most bets seem to be on Mladic still being in reach of Serbian authorities. Glasgow's The Herald is reporting that a NATO source says Mladic is negotiating for "cast-iron assurances over the financial security and physical safety of his family... it is only a matter of time before he is taken by force. " Voice of America reports that chief Yugoslav war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte says there is "no doubt Mladic is in Serbia" and that she's optimistic he'll be arrested by the end of the year. Mladic's last little victory may be to spoil the 10-year commemoration of the Srebrenica massacre this July 11. Del Ponte has said she will not attend if Mladic and Karadzic are not in custody by then. posted by Thomas Nephew at 9:20:00 PM -- |    

 
Employee Free Choice Act
From American Rights At Work:

So far this year, 10,000 workers have been fired or discriminated against for supporting a union. It’s illegal for employers to intimidate, coerce, or fire employees for supporting a union. But it happens all the time.

That figure is probably an underestimate - it's based purely on the number of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-ordered back pay awards to employees illegally fired or otherwise financially punished for labor activities. What the NLRB doesn't know about doesn't get counted.

I think the right to unionize is an essential part of a decent, well functioning economy. Companies with billions in their bank accounts for advertising, political largesse, and sometimes brute force have a huge advantage over ordinary employees if there aren't unions to insist on decent pay, hours, and benefits, and safe working conditions.

The American Rights At Work organization is asking everyone who cares about labor rights and the freedom to form unions to join in support of the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1696, S.842). The bill, sponsored by Representative George Miller (D-CA) in the House and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate, would impose stiffer penalties against employers that violate labor law. It would also

...set up a process for newly-organized workers to negotiate a first contract in a timely manner. Under the Employee Free Choice Act, workers could opt to follow the "voluntary recognition" method of organizing, where workers choose union representation through a process in which a majority signs cards indicating their support.

This process offers a more private way to signal support for union representation, and is thus less susceptible than formal votes to company pressure tactics -- such as firings. For more information about "card checks," see ARAW's fact sheet Card Check vs. NLRB elections:

During the traditional NLRB process:*
• 25% of employers fire at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns.
• 92% compel employees to attend mandatory “captive audience” meetings to hear and view anti-union propaganda with no opportunity for questions or discussion.
• 52% of employers threaten to call the INS to intimidate undocumented workers.
• 51% threaten to close the plant and relocate if workers choose union representation.

The Employee Free Choice Act is common sense fair play for employees who need to negotiate for better deals from their employers. Let your Senators and your Representative know you support this bill.


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* Kate Bronfenbrenner, "Uneasy Terrain: The Impact of Capital Mobility on Workers, Wages and Union Organizing," U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission, 2000. This footnote was copied from the cited ARAW fact sheet. posted by Thomas Nephew at 10:15:00 PM -- |    

 
"Scorpions" answered to Belgrade, active in Kosovo
More background to the Srebrenica massacre video from the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard": it was brought to light by the Belgrade Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) and its executive director, Natasa Kandic. From Der Standard:

[Ms. Kandic] got on the trail of the video during a Kosovo war crimes trial in Belgrade. Albanian children who had survived a massacre were called as witnesses. Shortly thereafter, Kandic says, a former member of the "Scorpions" contacted her and informed her of the video. The "Scorpions" had committed misdeeds [Unwesen] in Kosovo as well. Like his colleagues, the ex-paramilitary man [Exmilizionaer] had denied the crimes of the unit under oath. Kandic waited until the "traitors" were in safety with the help of international organizations, and then gave the film to the UN tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. [...]

The "Scorpions" were trained, armed and financed by Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian intelligence service, Kandic says. Uniforms and troop membership would change, but the commanders stayed the same and had Serbian intelligence service identification papers. The few former "Scorpions" who wanted to talk said that they always thought of themselves as a unit of the Serbian intelligence services commanded from Belgrade.

A February, 2005 HLC newsletter ("Dealing with the Past: Serbia is Sleeping on Bodies") charged that Serbian officials were helping cover up the incineration of Kosovar victims of Serbian military and paramilitary units:

'There are strong indications that Serbian Interior Minister Dragan Jocic and Security Information Agency Director Rade Bulatovic are protecting the State Security agents and police chiefs in southern Serbia and preventing the truth on the burning of bodies of Kosovo Albanians in industrial plants and mines in Serbia from coming out,’ [HLC director] Kandic said.

Citing UN estimates, the newsletter suggests the deaths of as many as 2,000 Kosovar Albanians might have been covered up in this way -- a far cry from the tens of thousands estimated in the runup to the Kosovo intervention, to be sure, but certainly bad enough all the same.

One general, Vladimir Lazarevic, is already on trial for Kosovo war crimes after turning himself in. In a passage illustrating how support for such crimes still lurks just below the surface in Serbia, the newsletter reports:

Allegedly, the mayor of Lazarevic’s hometown of Nis organized a cocktail party in his honour, thanking the general for his decision to ‘help his nation in peace as he helped it in war’.

TIME Magazine profiled Natasa Kandic in 2003; the human rights organization "Speak Truth To Power" has another good profile. She is an incredibly brave woman. She and her Center deserve a Nobel Peace Prize, and the admiration of us all. posted by Thomas Nephew at 2:02:00 PM -- |