POLITICO– Caught between their boss’s anti-lobbyist rhetoric and the reality of governing, President Barack Obama’s aides often steer meetings with lobbyists to a complex just off the White House grounds – and several of the lobbyists involved say they believe the choice of venue is no accident.

It allows the Obama administration to keep these lobbyist meetings shielded from public view — and out of Secret Service logs collected on visitors to the White House and later released to the public.

“They’re doing it on the side. It’s better than nothing,” said immigration reform lobbyist Tamar Jacoby, who has attended meetings at the nearby Jackson Place complex and believes the undisclosed gatherings are better than none.

The White House scoffs at the notion of an ulterior motive for scheduling meetings in what are, after all, meeting rooms. But at least four lobbyists who’ve been to the conference rooms just off Lafayette Square tell POLITICO they had the distinct impression they were being shunted off to Jackson Place – and off the books – so their visits wouldn’t later be made public.

Obama’s administration has touted its release of White House visitors logs as a breakthrough in transparency, as the first White House team ever to reveal the comings and goings around the West Wing and the Old Executive Office Building.

The Jackson Place townhouses are a different story.

There are no records of meetings at the row houses just off Lafayette Square that house the White House Conference Center and the Council on Environmental Quality, home to two of the busiest meeting spaces. The White House can’t say who attended meetings there, or how often. The Secret Service doesn’t log in visitors or require a background check the way it does at the main gates of the White House.

Read more about Lobbyists: Obama White House Hides Meetings Off-Site.

Written by Chris Frates

© Copyright POLITICO, 2011

Photo by MCS@flickr flickr user

SALON.COM– For years, the FBI believed that it had identified the perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks — former Army researcher Steven Hatfill — only to be forced to acknowledge that he wasn’t involved and then pay him $5.8 million for the damage he suffered from those false accusations.   In late July, 2008, the FBI announced that, this time, it had identified the Real Perpetrator:  Army researcher Bruce Ivins, who had just committed suicide as a result of being subjected to an intense FBI investigation.  Ivins’ death meant that the FBI’s allegations would never be tested in a court of law.

From the start, it was obvious that the FBI’s case against Ivins was barely more persuasive than its case against Hatfill had been.  The allegations were entirely circumstantial; there was no direct evidence tying Ivins to the mailings; and there were huge, glaring holes in both the FBI’s evidentiary and scientific claims.  So dubious was the FBI’s case that even the nation’s most establishment media organs, which instinctively trust federal law enforcement agencies, expressed serious doubts and called for an independent investigation (that included, among many others, the editorial pages of The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal).  Mainstream scientific sources were equally skeptical; Nature called for an independent investigation and declared in its editorial headline:  “Case Not Closed,” while Dr. Alan Pearson, Director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation — representative of numerous experts in the field — expressed many scientific doubts and also demanded a full independent investigation.  I devoted much time to documenting just some of the serious flaws in the FBI’s evidentiary claims, as well as the use of anonymous FBI leaks to unquestioning reporters to convince the public of their validity (see here, here, here, and here).

Doubts about the FBI’s case were fully bipartisan.  In August, 2008, The New York Times documented “vocal skepticism from key members of Congress.”  One of the two intended Senate recipients of the anthrax letters, Sen. Patrick Leahy, flatly stated at a Senate hearing in September, 2008, that he does not believe the FBI’s case against Ivins, and emphatically does not believe that Ivins acted alone.  Then-GOP Sen. Arlen Specter, at the same hearing, told the FBI they could never have obtained a conviction against Ivins in court based on their case — riddled, as it is, with so much doubt — and he also demanded an independent evaluation of the FBI’s evidence.  And in separate interviews with me, GOP Sen. Charles Grassley and Democratic Rep. Rush Holt (a physicist who represents the New Jersey district from which the anthrax letters were mailed) expressed substantial doubts about the case against Ivins and called for independent investigations.

Continue reading about Serious Doubt Cast on FBI’s Anthrax Case Against Bruce Ivins.

Written by Glenn Greenwald

Copyright ©2011 Salon Media Group, Inc.

Photo of Bruce Ivins from Wikipedia

MEDIA ROOTS- Carly Ivan Garcia is a San Francisco based art curator and painter whose thriving, neo-abstract style is expressed through bold strokes and colorful palettes. Garcia’s work has been shown all over the country in both solo and group shows, and many of his paintings are featured in an upcoming film called Touching Home, starring Ed Harris. Media Roots recently caught up with Garcia to get the low down on his artistic perspective and creative process.

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MR: Hey Carly, thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with Media Roots. Your style caught me right away– it is an alive expression of self. Your imagery encompasses provocative themes that can be both childlike and dark. Have you been developing this style for a long time? How did you get into it?

CIG: Well, first of all I would like to take a moment to thank everyone at Media Roots who helps to promote creative artists, like myself, and who helps to reclaim journalism through positive truth telling. So thank you, Media Roots.

I believe part of my creative endeavors grew out of a passion I had for BMX biking. At 13, I was a national champion in flatland freestlye. My experience with bike riding fueled my kinetic energy and desire to express art. In high school, I took a liking to painting and ended up spending most of my time in art class. I always felt like I had the ability to create and have always felt confident that art was a discipline I could excel in.

MR: That’s awesome that your artistic expression stemmed from BMX enthusiasm! What mediums do you generally work with during the creative process?

CIG: I mostly work with oil and acrylics and find myself going back to them more often than not. With oils, I prefer the saturation of color they give. The acrylic efficiency in drying lets me paint layers on top of layers quickly. This eventually presents a unique history from within the painting that can be tracked visually. If I had to pick, I would say that oil is my top pick, but I also incorporate spray paint and watercolors in some of my work too. I like to keep my neo- modern style limitless by constantly pushing mediums and changing their conventional use. All of these mediums and ideas together creates my body of work.

Daydream Free, 58″x60″, oil and mixed media, 2010

CIG: I created this large scale painting for solo exhibit presented by TincaArt at the Miami Art Fair Foundation in 2010. This painting is from my latest series that captures a neo- modern abstraction of an industrialized world.

No Evil Triptych, 30″x12″, acrylic and wash, 2010

CIG: This is a painting out of a series of paintings I did on censorship for the NYCLU Just Art benefit.

 

See Clear, 58″x60″, oil and mixed media, 2010

CIG: As the title suggests, I bring attention to society’s assumption in appearance. This painting was also part of a series called Neo Modern Abstractions of an industrialized world.

 

MR: It’s impressive that you are able to switch back and forth, I tend to get stuck on one and shut myself out from exploring other mediums. What is your favorite kind of art to create?

CIG: My favorite kind of art to make is the kind of work that includes a ton of color that attracts the eye- first out of instinct, but then the imagery takes you deeper into feeling or significance that may not have been felt at first glance. The beauty in my favorite kind of art work is all subjective. All art work that I like or collect must have an innate attraction- the more clever, the better.

MR: Mo’ clever, mo’ better fo sho. Why do you think it is so important to have independent media outlets working together to highlight community art and activism?

CIG: Independent media outlets are essential in bringing attention to artists’ social and political statements that either challenge the establishment or empower communities.

MR: Do you think artists and musicians have a responsibility to reflect societal and political climates? 

CIG: I strongly believe that the ultimate responsibility of contemporary artists today is to reflect societal and political climates. The most powerful artwork portrays a voice that creatively expresses basic human rights. When given a space, art manifests positive interventions. Independent media outlets are crucial in bringing attention to artists’ social and political statements that either challenge or empower communities through art and activism.

MR: I agree. So how can people find you and your art in the bay area?

CIG: I’m really excited at this moment because I just had my first solo show in Hollywood CA at The FilmPunks Gallery. I also have large scale paintings that reside at The Uptown which is Oakland CA’s first apartment community to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as ecologically-friendly.  In Marin, my work can be seen at Room Interior Gallery on Fourth street in San Rafael.

***

To learn more about Carly Ivan Garcia, or to check out his work go to www.carlyivangarcia.com or go to http://fountainexhibit.com/2010/index.php/media/tinca-art.

Main photo Starry Night, art by Carly Ivan Garcia

Written by Abby Martin

SALON.COM– Violence escalates in Libya. Unconfirmed reports say Gadhafi has fled as protesters march on compound.

UPDATE (2:10 P.M. EST)
Libyan fighter pilots who defected to Malta earlier this morning told Maltese that they’d been ordered to drop bombs on protesters, the Guardian reports.

UPDATE (1:10 P.M. EST)
A number of sources are reporting that Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi may have fled the country as protesters take hold in the capital city of Tripoli. Reuters reported that a British foreign minister had seen information suggesting that Gadhafi was headed to Venuzuela. The government of Hugo Chavez has denied those reports. 

Meanwhile, as violence mounts, Ibrahim Dabbashi, the Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations, has reportedly said that the Libyan dictator “has declared war on the Libyan people and is committing genocide.”

EARLIER
Al Jazeera reports that security forces using fighter jets have opened fire on protesters maching on Libyan President Muammar Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli. As phone lines have been cut throughout the country, incoming reports are largely unconfirmed, and foreign embassies are evacuating their personnel.

Al Jazeera summed up the events in Libya with an inside report about the regime’s efforts to crush the uprising:

DISTURBING FOOTAGE- Peaceful, unarmed protesters get gunned down by the Libyan army in broad daylight.

Adam Clark Estes blogs the news for Salon. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @adamclarkestes More: Adam Clark Estes

© Copyright SALON.COM, 2011

Photo by flickr user mshamma

MEDIA ROOTS- We hear a lot about the “placebo effect” in modern medicine, but we never really take into consideration what a placebo effect really means. Having a placebo alter your physiology means that your mental perception is actually causing the change, not the medicine. The concept of your mind being able to heal your body by thoughts alone is a fascinating one. Check out this short video discussing the many strange effects of placebos.

A look at the many strange effects of placebos.

Created by:
Daniel Keogh – http://www.twitter.com/ProfessorFunk
Luke Harris – http://www.lukeharrisgraphics.com

Sources:
Ben Goldacre’s book ‘Bad Science’ has an excellent chapter on placebos
http://www.badscience.net/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Science-B…

The Wikipedia page on Placebos is pretty excellent too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo

Photo by flickr user Be.futureproof