Democracy NOW!: Bowe Bergdahl tried to enlist with the French Foreign Legion, but was rejected

6/3/2014

Reporter: Bowe Bergdahl’s Fellow Soldiers Questioned Afghan War More Than He Did

According to a 2012 profile in Rolling Stone magazine by the late reporter Michael Hastings, the newly freed U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl joined the Army in 2008 after he first tried to enlist with the French Foreign Legion, but was rejected. He was deployed to Afghanistan just after President Obama ordered the first troop surge in the Spring of 2009. Bergdahl reportedly told a soldier in his unit, "If this deployment is lame … I’m just going to walk off into the mountains of Pakistan." And on June 30, 2009, he may have done just that, leaving the base with just a knife and water, along with a digital camera and his diary. Within 24 hours, he was captured. We are joined by Sean Smith, an award-winning photographer and filmmaker for The Guardian who met Bowe Bergdahl while embedded with his unit in Afghanistan. Smith also profiled Bowe’s father, Bob Bergdahl, in the video we aired in the previous segment.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AARON MATÉ: We’re looking at the case of Bowe Bergdahl, the American prisoner of war released over the weekend in a prisoner swap. According to a 2012 profile in Rolling Stonemagazine by the late reporter Michael Hastings, Bergdahl joined the Army in 2008 after he first tried to enlist with the French Foreign Legion but was turned down. He was deployed to Afghanistan just after President Obama ordered the first troop surge in the spring of 2009.

AMY GOODMAN: In June 2009, Bowe Bergdahl reportedly walked off his base in Afghanistan. He is said to have left a note saying that he had become disillusioned with the Army, did not support the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, and was leaving to start a new life. Within 24 hours, he was captured. For more we go now to London where we are joined by Sean Smith, the award-winning photographer and filmmaker for The Guardian. He met Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan in 2009 when he was embedded with his unit, and later went to Idaho to meet his father Bob. Who he profiled in The Guardian video we just broadcast. In Washington, D.C. we’re joined by Colonel Morris Davis, retired Air Force Colonel, resigned as a former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo in 2007. Sean Smith, let’s begin with you. Tell us about meeting Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan. Where did you see him?

SEAN SMITH: I met him briefly. He was with a group who were on an observation post, which was basically a hole in the ground at the top of the hill, for a few days. It was a short time. They were in pretty good spirits, all of them. They were kind of on their own. I think there was a couple of the other soldiers, early one morning on camera, questioned the mission — the whole mentioned, I guess, in Afghanistan, and what they were doing. I think the phrase was, these people have been dicked around by the Russians for 17 years and now we are doing it. And I think these people just want to be left alone. I think that is roughly what was said. I did not hear that from Bowe at all. I don’t know exactly what happened. I don’t think anyone knows that for sure now. I know when I heard about his capture, even the place was unclear. So I don’t know — it happened about 10 days after I was with him. So, you know, there seems to have been quite a bit of speculation about what happened and him. I just don’t think much is — you know, it’s not all that clear and I would not want to speculate and join that speculation.

AMY GOODMAN: That is very interesting that you talk about the other members of his unit apparently having the same feelings that he would express, even though he did not express them to you.

SHOW FULL TRANSCRIPT ›

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OH NO! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!

6/3/2014

New report suggests Earth on the brink of a great extinction

According to new research published in the journal Science this week, plant and animal extinctions are happening at a rate one thousand times greater than before humans walked the Earth. Stuart Pimm of Duke University joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss how extinction rates are determined and what can be done to help set conservation priorities.

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Obama's Immigration Policy Endangering American Children: Anchor Baby gets 30 years in prison for sexually abusing two girls

6/3/2014

If you're not going to enforce immigration because of a political agenda, at least "do it for the children"!

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A former Brownsville man will spend the next 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two girls.

Robert Anthony Loya appeared before Judge Carlos X. Garcia in the 357th State District Court on Wednesday.

Loya pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child.

Judge Garcia sentenced Loya to 30 years in prison for the aggravated sexual assault of a child and 15 years in prison for indecency with a child.

The two sentences will be served concurrently.

U.S. Deputy Marshals arrested Robert Anthony Loya in San Antonio back in June 2013.

Brownsville police originally filed the case where they reported Loya sexually abused a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl over three several years time.

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SHOCKER: Man sought by FBI for posession of explosives was Democrat Party Organizer

6/3/2014

                                                                   SF explosives suspect Ryan Chamberlain

SAN FRANCISCO — 

An FBI spokesman announced Sunday afternoon that 42-year-old San Francisco resident Ryan Chamberlain is being sought in a federal investigation for possession of explosive materials and should be considered armed and dangerous.

• RAW: FBI agent talks about explosives suspect being sought

FBI agent Peter Lee said that Ryan Kelly Chamberlain II is the man who lives in the apartment building on Jackson Street in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood that was the focus of Saturday's FBI operation that closed off the block for 15 hours.

Chamberlain is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing approximately 225 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. Lee said Chamberlain was last seen south of San Francisco wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and jeans driving white 2008 Nissan Altima. The vehicle is registered in Texas  and may have a California or Texas license plates of either 7FQY085 or BX9M042.

During the news briefing outside of the FBI's San Francisco office, Lee said that reports that Chamberlain may have had poisonous Ricin at his apartment were not true. He also confirmed that there was no danger of chemical or biological agents in what was found at his residence.

• Jackson Street reopens in San Francisco after FBI search wraps

Lee encouraged the public to keep an eye out for Chamberlain and the suspect vehicle and to immediately report any sightings to authorities.

Law enforcement officers throughout the state and nation have been alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect, Lee said at Sunday's news briefing. Lee said that the suspect should be approached with caution if located by police.

"Anyone who possesses explosives should be considered armed and dangerous," he said.

However, the spokesman said, "He has not made any threats that I know of...there is no threat to public safety at this time that we know of."

The block of Jackson Street where the apartment building is located finally reopened early Sunday morning after FBI investigators completed the search and hazmat incident.

Investigators finally left the scene at around 12:30 a.m. after completing their search of an apartment building on Jackson between Van Ness and Polk streets.

An FBI agent confirmed to KTVU that San Francisco resident Chamberlain was being sought in their investigation earlier Sunday morning.

On Sunday, KTVU also spoke to the owner and the manager of the apartment building where Chamberlain lived.

Building owner Martin Harband said Chamberlain rented the ground floor apartment for past two years. Harband said Chamberlain "seemed normal" and gave no outward signs of suspicious behavior.

Harband told KTVU the apartment remained sealed with police tape and off limits. He said he had no idea what the FBI was looking for in their search.

The building manager, who did not want to be identified, told KTVU that the building’s laundry room was also sealed off in the wake of the investigation.

The manager said she last saw Chamberlain two weeks ago at a tenant barbeque, where he gave no indication that anything was wrong.

Neighbor Patricia Barlow has an office next to Chamberlain's apartment and saw him regularly.

"He just didn't seem the type, but never judge a book by cover," said Barlow. "He's very friendly. He's a nice looking fellow. He's quiet -- you always have to start the conversation with him it's never vice versa."

KTVU has learned Chamberlain was involved in sports marketing, taught a semester at University of San Francisco in 2011, and was active in political circles.

"I was shocked.  It blew me away," said Howard Epstein, the past chair of the San Francisco Republican Party.

Epstein said he worked with Chamberlain years ago before Chamberlain switched sides and joined the Democratic Party's efforts.

"The only one I know that he worked with after he left the party was Gavin Newsom. He was an organizer when Gavin ran for mayor," said Epstein.

Alex Clemens of Barbary Coast Consulting hired him as a contractor for about a month back in 2009 and has known him through political circles for more than a decade.  He described Chamberlain as a competent political operative.

"He worked every cycle on a campaign, or two or three, and you don't survive in the very high stakes of San Francisco politics without being competent," said Clemens.  

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h/t: mike

Surprise! Leftist minimum wage policy backfires in Seattle suburb

6/3/2014

The Emerald City may witness the economic dangers of hiking the minimum wage to $15/hour sooner rather than later. SeaTac, a suburb of Seattle, hiked the minimum wage for certain service industry employees to $15 at the beginning of the year, and there are already signs that the sudden increase is having a negative impact.
Earlier this month, Seattle voted to raise its minimum wage gradually to $15 by the year 2020. Unlike the SeaTac wage hike, Seattle’s hike will apply to all businesses.
But 15 minutes south near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, employees are already seeing the negative effects of such a hike. A February report from theSeattle Times revealed:

At the Clarion Hotel off International Boulevard, a sit-down restaurant has been shuttered, though it might soon be replaced by a less-labor-intensive cafe…

Other businesses have adjusted in ways that run the gamut from putting more work in the hands of managers, to instituting a small “living-wage surcharge” for a daily parking space near the airport.

That’s not all. According to Assunta Ng, publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly, some employees are feeling the pinch as employers cut benefits. She recalls a conversation she had with two hotel employees who have been affected by the wage hike:

“Are you happy with the $15 wage?” I asked the full-time cleaning lady.

“It sounds good, but it’s not good,” the woman said.

“Why?” I asked.

“I lost my 401k, health insurance, paid holiday, and vacation,” she responded. “No more free food,” she added.

The hotel used to feed her. Now, she has to bring her own food. Also, no overtime, she said. She used to work extra hours and received overtime pay.

What else? I asked.

“I have to pay for parking,” she said.

I then asked the part-time waitress, who was part of the catering staff.

“Yes, I’ve got $15 an hour, but all my tips are now much less,” she said. Before the new wage law was implemented, her hourly wage was $7. But her tips added to more than $15 an hour. Yes, she used to receive free food and parking. Now, she has to bring her own food and pay for parking.

The Washington Policy Center, a free market think tank, said the passed-but-not-yet-implemented wage hike is already affecting small businesses in Seattle:

After decades in Seattle, Northwest Caster and Equipment recently made the difficult decision to move the business to unincorporated Lynnwood, according to a report by KOMO news.  The owner of the family business blames Seattle’s increasingly difficult business climate for the move:  “It just seems like increasingly the city’s become a more difficult place to do business.”

The city’s proposed $15 minimum wage was tops on the list of complaints.  “If I’m going to bring someone in on an entry level, I’d prefer to start them out where I’d like to start them out, rather than having that dictated to me.”

A commercial property landlord echoes those concerns about the $15 minimum wage, noting several tenants have signaled they may not renew their leases if it becomes law: “It’s just too expensive to operate in the city.”

And in a story today, KUOW reports that small businesses throughout the city are panicking over the super high minimum wage.  Multiple small business owners told KUOW they are holding off on opening new business or expanding their current business in Seattle, while others said they are delaying plans to hire new workers.

The minimum wage hike, coupled with other anti-business regulations and red tape, are causing headaches for Seattle’s job creators. And unfortunately for those entrepreneurs in Seattle and other major cities, liberal policies like minimum wage hikes and high taxes are constantly threatening economic prosperity, giving entrepreneurs reasons to move their jobs to suburbs or completely shutter their businesses altogether.

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IRONY: Swap to Free Alan Gross Depends on Obama, “Cuban Five” Spy Says

6/3/2014

HAVANA – The release of U.S. government contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban prison depends solely on the “political will” of President Barack Obama, a Havana spy who spent more than 15 years behind bars in the United States said on Monday.

To support that assertion, Fernando Gonzalez cited Obama’s decision to trade five senior Taliban members being held at Guantanamo for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American POW in Afghanistan.

Gonzalez, one of five Cuban spies convicted by a Miami jury in 2001, was released from prison in late November and promptly deported.

Three of the “Cuban Five” remain jailed in the United States and Havana has suggested an exchange of its spies for Gross, who is serving a 15-year sentence in Cuba on a conviction for subversion.

“It’s obvious that the only thing needed is the political will on the part of the U.S. government to bring to fruition that exchange,” Gonzalez told a press conference on Monday.

The swap of five Taliban leaders for Bergdahl “is evidence that the only thing lacking is the political will of Obama to resolve this situation,” Gonzalez said.

The cases of Gross and the Cuban Five, in recent years, have become points of friction within the already-tense relations between the United States and Cuba, countries that have not had diplomatic relations for more than five decades.

Gross, now 64, traveled to Cuba on behalf of a Maryland company that won a contract from the U.S. Agency for International Development to expand Internet access and the flow of information on the Communist-ruled island.

Cuban authorities arrested him in December 2009 in possession of communications equipment.

Havana said he was illegally aiding dissidents and inciting subversion and in an August 2012 ruling, Cuba’s highest court upheld the 15-year jail sentence imposed on the American.

The Cuban Five have always insisted they were spying on Miami’s Cuban exile community, not the U.S. government.

Cuba says the men were sent to Florida in the wake of several terror bombings in Havana allegedly masterminded by anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative.

The United States rejects talk of a prisoner swap, instead demanding that Cuba release Gross without conditions.

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Former AZ Democrat Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox gets her $1 million from taxpayers for stress

6/3/2014

Maricopa County must pay ex-supervisor's $975K settlement

PHOENIX -- Former Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox won an appeal over a $975,000 settlement in her lawsuit against the county for a failed criminal case made against her in late 2009.

The decision Monday by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals backs up a lower court's decision that ordered the county to pay Wilcox.

Wilcox recently resigned from her county post so she could run for the congressional seat being vacated by the retirement of U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor.

Wilcox's attorneys had worked with a mediator to reach a settlement, but some county officials disputed the deal. They contended the county administrator who set up the mediation didn't have final authority over the agreement.

Once the settlement is paid, the county will have spent $39 million to settle a political feud among county officials that led to a spate of costly lawsuits and unsuccessful public-corruption investigations against some participants in the disputes from 2006 through 2010.

The disputes between county officials and then-Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio centered on cuts to agency budgets, a plan to build a new court building complex and other issues.

The feud escalated into criminal investigations that Arpaio and Thomas launched against officials and judges who were at odds with them.

In the end, criminal cases against Wilcox, another county official and a judge were dismissed amid criticism that they were trumped up. Arpaio and Thomas contended they were trying to root out corruption in county government.

Wilcox was accused in the criminal case of voting on contracts involving a Hispanic advocacy group that had given her loans and never filing conflict-of-interest statements. A judge had ruled that Thomas had a conflict in prosecuting Wilcox and dismissed the charges against her.

Associated Press,

Gun-Free Chicago: Two teens among 6 shot at South Shore laundromat

6/3/2014

 

 

Chicago Police outside of the Sudz laundromat, 2660 E. 79th St., where officials say six people, including a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, were shot Monday. | photo from Network Video Productions

 

Chicago Police outside of the Sudz laundromat, 2660 E. 79th St., where officials say six people, including a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, were shot Monday. | photo from Network Video Productions

 

Chicago Police outside of the Sudz laundromat, 2660 E. 79th St., where officials say six people, including a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, were shot Monday. | photo from Network Video Productions

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) -

Six people, including two teenagers, were shot at a South Shore laundromat Monday night.

Paramedics were called to the shooting at Sudz, 2660 E. 79th St. about 8:15 p.m., Fire Media Affairs Chief Larry Langford said.

The six shot included two boys, ages 14 and 16, police said. The others who were shot ranged in age from their mid-20s to their early 50s.A seventh person, a woman, was injured running from the scene, authorities said.

“Four of them we found in the laundromat not far from the door,” Langford said. “The others we found on the street.”

Matthew Gills, 33, a construction worker, lives across the street from where the shooting occurred. He was at home when he heard about 19 shots.

“It’s too dangerous to let my kids play around the neighborhood,” Gills said.

“That’s all it is is gangs. Gangs, gangs, gangs, gangs, gangs. I don’t even want to be in Chicago because it’s too dangerous. I’m trying to move to Texas.”

The 14-year-old was taken to University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, while the 16-year-old was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Langford said. Both were in serious-to-critical condition.

An injured woman was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, while a fourth person was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, both in serious-to-critical condition, Langford said.

Two other people were taken in fair-to-serious condition to South Shore Hospital, and a female was taken to Jackson Park Hospital, also in fair-to-serious condition, Langford said.

Lisa Thompson, 38, heard the shots while taking a bath and slid underneath the soapy water.

“I know it’s not going to stop any bullets, but it’s just a reflex,” said Thompson, a daycare worker. “If I was in my bedroom I’d have been under the bed.”

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Pay for play: Legislation would hit radio stations with royalties

6/3/2014

NASHVILLE — A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, would force certain AM/FM radio stations to pay musicians for their work, even though some still believe those stations actually help artists with free publicity.

Blackburn is co-sponsoring the bill, known as the Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act, with U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.

If the bill passes, government might give station owners no choice but to play less music, said Whit Adamson, president of the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, a nonprofit for radio and television.

Marsha Blackburn

Station owners would instead switch to exclusive talk radio formats for news or sports, Adamson said.

“That’s already being done,” Adamson said.

“For instance, when the NFL Titans came to Nashville we didn’t have a sports station but now we have several. Talk formats are growing, so that’s already happening. Stations can cut additional expenses anticipated by some of this legislation.”

Members of Blackburn’s office did not return requests for comment Friday, and they did not immediately respond Monday.

Bill supporters say large corporations, such as Cumulus or Clear Channel, own most terrestrial radio stations in the country and can afford to pay artists.

Adamson told Tennessee Watchdog that’s not true.

“These mom-and-pop radio stations that someone told you don’t exist, let me be the first to assure you they do exist and are struggling every single day and a half for a number of years,” Adamson said, adding that FCC regulations prevent corporations from owning more than five FM stations in an individual radio market.

Nashville, Adamson said, has about 35 stations.

“We have over 200 radio stations in the state with less than five employees, and out of the 350 radio and television licensees in Tennessee there’s less than 100 of them that own more than one radio operation.”

According to a news release from Blackburn’s office, though, the legislation would affect only the radio stations whose owners also have some control in the television market.

The legislation would condition the ability of broadcasters to opt for retransmission consent payments on whether radio stations they own pay performers for their music, the release said.

“This is a basic issue of modernizing the law to get rid of a dated loophole that only applies to AM/FM radio,” Blackburn said in the statement.

RADIO: Radio broadcasters might react to new federal legislation by playing less music.

“Internet radio pays music creators fair market value for their performances. Satellite radio pays music creators for performances, Cable and satellite TV/radio stations pay music creators for their performances. Everyone but AM/FM radio pays.”

Local broadcasters, Blackburn said, complain constantly they’re entitled to retransmission consent payments because cable and satellite stations make millions retransmitting their local content.

“However, when it comes to music, the same broadcasters, many who own both TV and radio stations, sing a completely different tune,” Blackburn said.

According to All Access.com, National Association of Broadcasters Vice President Dennis Wharton said his organization worries the legislation would “devalue local broadcasting.”

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