In honor of my move to Portland later this week:
http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/Portland
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417745
...and other places. I have not seen many images of the trip yet. (let me know if you find any live or video coverage....any!)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-kall/coming-soon-the-non-us-ci_b_113728.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/19/obama-visits-afghanistan_n_113743.html
Have you noticed that President Bush and John McCain keep telling Americans our problems are all in our heads and that we just need to feel better?
Late last night, McCain's campaign co-chair Phil Gramm had to step down because of controversy over his comment that we were in the middle of a "mental recession." But the the truth is, McCain himself has repeatedly said our problems are merely "psychological"—Gramm was just more openly condescending about it.
Gramm's gone—but so far, the media's giving McCain a free pass for saying similar things. So we made a video. It's short, and funny, and it'll help spread the word. Please check it out, then pass it on!
Watch the video
With banks failing, foreclosures and bankruptcies skyrocketing, inflation at the highest level in years, and thousands losing their jobs, these comments are a measure of just how out of touch with reality John McCain and George Bush are. Let's make sure their comments don't slip under the radar.
Thanks!
–Eli, Wes, Justin, Tanya and the rest of the team
PS. Here's the link to the video:
We told you yesterday about the ties between one of John McCain's top fundraisers and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Well, there's more. Looks like Juan Carlos Benitez was helping Abramoff out with efforts to lobby for the Northern Mariana Islands.
Remember that storyline? The U.S. territory's local government hired Abramoff (and Benitez as well, we've learned) to help fend of criticism of the massive sweatshop industry on the islands.
Those sweatshops were especially lucrative -- and controversial -- because they allowed big-name companies to use a "Made in the USA" tag," even though they are filled with low-paid immigrants from across Asia.
Workers from China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, were working below the local minimum wage, often seven days a week and up to 12 hours a day while living in shacks behind barbed wire and without plumbing, according to congressional testimony.
Let's look at the timeline -- we know that back in 2001 Benitez landed his big job (pdf) over at the Department of Justice with the help of a recommendation from Abramoff.
Specifically, the job Abramoff steered him into at DOJ was Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices. That's the office in charge of -- guess what? -- prosecuting sweatshop owners.
"This position gave Benitez authority over enforcing provisions of ... alleged unfair employment practices, issues of importance to Abramoff clients such as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," according to a 2006 Congressional report (pdf).
In 2002, Abramoff's firm took in $600,000 in lobbying fees from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Efforts to crackdown on the sweatshops there stalled.
Benitez left the DOJ in 2003 and went to work for Cassidy and Associates, a top Washington lobbying firm. Within months -- by 2004 -- Benitez had registered to lobby for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Also in 2004, Abramoff went to work for Cassidy and Associates. But he soon left, as his name began popping up in news reports about corruption investigations.
So where did Benitez and Abramoff meet?
We're not sure, but it may have been in the late 1990s, when Abramoff was lobbying for a group called Future of Puerto Rico, Inc. which was pushing for a congressional vote on Puerto Rican statehood.
At the same time, Benitez was the legislative director for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington.
Yesterday McCain announced that Benitez has bundled between $50,000 and $100,000 for his campaign. Maybe that's not massive money for today's campaigns, but it's interesting since McCain used to be talk so much about Abramoff and corrupt lobbyists. He doesn't do that as much anymore.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Perfect festival weather, great music, enthusiastic volunteers, committed sponsors and generous blues fans helped make the 21st annual Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union, a rousing success.Blues fans donated $538,000 at the gate, exceeding OFB’s goal of $500,000, and making this year the second highest for gate donations in the festival’s 21-year history. In addition, blues fans donated 91,192 pounds of food. And for the first time this year, boaters listening to the festival from the Willamette River flew special flags, recognizing their total donations of almost $4,000. The annual Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is Oregon Food Bank’s largest fund-raiser. Every $10 donation enables Oregon Food Bank to collect and distribute 50 pounds of food, the amount in an average emergency food book for a family of four.“We owe the festival’s huge success to the support of our community – from our generous and committed sponsors, to the more than 1,500 volunteers who keep the festival running smoothly, to music fans who donated $10 and two cans of food at the gate,” said Rachel Bristol, Oregon Food Bank’s executive director and CEO.Since its modest beginnings in 1988, the award-winning festival has grown to be the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi, attracting blues fans from throughout the world. This year’s stellar line-up included more than 120 performances including Charlie Musselwhite; Isaac Hayes, presented by Chinook Winds Casino Resort; Phoebe Snow; Canned Heat, presented by PacificSource Health Plans; The Mannish Boys; Joe Bonamassa; James Hunter, presented by First Tech Credit Union; Elvin Bishop; Back Door Slam; Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Orleans Avenue; Boyd Small & the Souldiers; Eric Lindell, presented by iQ Credit Union; Ruthie Foster, presented by Good Neighbor Pharmacy; Paul Thorn, presented by the Boeing Company; Arthur Adams, presented by Karolyn H. March, Attorney at Law; and more. About Oregon Food Bank: Oregon Food Bank distributes donated food throughout a statewide network of more than 919 nonprofit, hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash., and works to eliminate the root causes of hunger through education and advocacy. About festival sponsors: The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union. Major sponsors include FedEx Freight, PacificSource Health Plans, iQ Credit Union, Daimler Truck Financial, Land Rover, The Oregonian A&E, KINK.fm and Travel Portland. Supporting sponsors include Burt’s Bees, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Miller Brewing Co., Henry Weinhard's, Deschutes Brewery, Beringer Wine, Snapple, Pepsi, Nutrisoda, Earth2o Water, Frito Lay Snacks, Yoshida Sauce, Mission Foods, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, NW Natural, FedEx Kinko’s, Impact Advertising, Edge Design, The Boeing Company, PGE, KBOO, OregonLive.com, Blues Revue, Music Millennium, Karolyn March, Guitar Center, Lions Foundation, Cascade Blues Association, Oregon Potters Association, Cascade Zydeco and Delta Music Experience.
