The White House plans a field trip -- if Barack promises to be good!

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE



EARLIER THIS WEEK BARRY O DECLARED "I DON'T WANT JUST MORE SPEECHES OR, YOU KNOW, AWARENESS PROGRAMS [. . .]"



BUT TODAY KILLER BARRY O BEGINS A SERIES OF WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS CALLING "FIELD TRIPS."


REALLY?


"FIELD TRIPS"?  DID JAY CARNEY CUT THE CRUST OFF THE SANDWICHES BEFORE THEY LET HIM LEAVE ON HIS "FIELD TRIP."


THE "FIELD TRIPS" WILL ALLOW BARRY O TO GIVE, YES, "MORE SPEECHES" ABOUT CREATING JOBS.


THE SPEECHES LOST THEIR LUSTER ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO BECAUSE JUST TALKING ABOUT JOBS DOESN'T GIVE ANYONE A JOB.  BARRY O IS IN THE 5TH YEAR OF HIS
PRESIDENCY AND HE'S FAILED TO CREATE JOBS. 



BUT HAVING FAILED AT GUN CONTROL AND ALWAYS A CHICKEN WHEN IT COMES TO IMMIGRATION, HE DECIDED IT WAS THAT TIME OF THE YEAR WHERE HE PRETENDS TO CARE ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT AND OFFERS A FEW SPEECHES ON THE TOPIC.



REACHED FOR COMMENT BY THESE REPORTERS, AN ANIMATED BARRY O JUMPED FROM FOOT TO FOOT AS HE EXPLAINED, "I PROMISED I WOULDN'T WANDER OFF AND THAT I WOULDN'T ROUGH HOUSE.  THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!  WHERE'S MY JUICE PACK?  JAY!!!! WHERE'S MY JUICE PACK?"







FROM THE TCI WIRE:




In peace news, a nun and two activists have been convicted today.  Al Stefanelli (God Discussion) explains, "It is known as the 'Fort Knox' of nuclear storage facilities. Within is what is known as 'highly enriched uranium.' Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the Y-12 National Security Complex is supposed to be an impenetrable fortress. It was breached by three senior citizens, armed with flashlights and a bolt cutter. One of these is an octogenarian nun.Sister Megan Rice, 83, along with 57-year-old Greg Boertje-Obed and Michael Walli, 63 [. . .]"  Tricia Escobedo (CNN -- link is text and video) adds, "Armed with flashlights and a bolt cutter, they cut their way through the fence, fully expecting to be arrested on the spot.  Instead, they walked nearly a mile, cutting through four fences in all, breaching what was supposed to be the most tightly secured uranium processing and storage facility in the country."




Dan Zak (Washington Post) reports the jury briefly deliberated today before finding the three "guilty [. . .] of intending to injured the national defense"  and of over $1,000 of property damage.  Preston Peeden, David Bailey, Scott Malone, Alden Bentley and Tim Dobbyn (Reuters) note, "Defense attorneys said the activists, who belong to a group called Transform Now Plowshares, had taken part in a symbolic break-in that did not harm the facility. They had no intent to harm the facility and the damage cost was overstated, they said."  Eric Schelzig (AP) has the best reporting on the trial which includes some of the the defendants' testimony:



 Rice said she didn't feel obligated to ask the Catholic bishop in the area for permission to act at Y-12. Challenged by a prosecutor about whether it would have been a courtesy to inform superiors of her plans, Rice responded: "I've been guilty of many discourtesies in my life."
. 

Transform Now Plowshares also notes Sister Megan Rice's testimony:





The stage was set for Sister Megan Rice.  Sister Megan took the stand after 5:00pm and spoke for almost an hour, and yet she commanded the attention of every last juror.  The whole room listened in rapt attention as she responded to Francis Lloyd’s questions, describing her early childhood realization of the horrors of nuclear weapons, her education in radiation biology in her master’s program at Boston College, and her missionary work in Africa, teaching science and building schools.  She spoke of the sacredness of the Nevada desert, taken from the Shoshone people ("illegally, breaking a treaty") and desecrated by the effects of nuclear testing; she spoke of the suffering of downwinders, the cancer caused in people and animals, and the $6 million apiece spent on each test.  She spoke of the transformative power of her participation in the Nevada Desert Experience.  Besides the "harmonious vibrations" emitted by the mountains and all the earth, Sister Megan also felt in Nevada “the culture of silence, the culture of secrecy” surrounding weapons testing and its consequences.  "It was extremely clarifying about the reality of the military industrial complex of this country."
Fast-forward to July 28, 2012.  As Megan, Greg, and Michael approached Y-12, Megan says they "prayed together, we were filled with love and compassion" for the people who had to work in such a dangerous facility.  "We wanted to bring love and healing."
She felt led by the Holy Spirit, and was more and more surprised to find herself reaching the heart of Y-12.  When Francis asked her about the surveillance tape footage and the way she bowed to Mr. Garland, Megan explained the Buddhist tradition of deeply reverencing each living being.  In response to questions about the extent of the damage she did, she said lightly, "I could have repaired it!"
As 6:00 approached, Sister Megan was still not quite finished answering Francis’s questions.  The judge dismissed the jury anyhow, and when he did, Megan stood, folded her hands in front of her, and bowed to the jurors as they filed past the witness box.







Last August, Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group posted a video by Adam Brimer (Knoxville News Sentinel) of an interview with Sister Megan Rice during which she declares of the action, "We were doing it because we knew we had to reveal the truth of the criminality which is there -- and that's our obligation."

Art Laffin is with the Catholic Worker Movement and with Transform Now Plowshares and he led a prayer this morning outside the courthouse:

Our prayer is that this trial can truly be an occasion to continue the transformation process that began at Y-12 on July 18th.  We pray for open hearts and minds and for the ongoing conversion of everyone involved in the trial to the way of love, nonviolence, and justice.
Let us be clear.  Sister Megan, Greg, and Michael have committed no crime.  Rather it was their intent to prevent a crime, and uphold God's law and international law.




Moving over to the body that makes laws in the US, the Congress, we'll note this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

CONTACT: Murray Press Office

(202) 224-2834

Murray Presses Air Force Officials on Military Sexual Assault

Murray: “We don't want to be sitting here 20 years from now with the same statistics in front of us.”

WATCH VIDEO

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) questioned Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley and Gen. Mark A Welsh III, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, on the issue of sexual assaults in the military, including recent allegations made against an Air Force official, and strongly urged them to revisit the current culture that fosters these attacks. Yesterday, Senator Murray and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013, which would reduce sexual assaults within the military and address a number of gaps within current law and policy, building upon the positive steps the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has taken in recent years.

“The fact that the SAPRO report that was released yesterday says that 62 percent of servicemembers who report sexual assaults are retaliated against is really disconcerting,” said Senator Murray. “Because if people are retaliated against and there’s that fear of retaliation, we will never be able to stop this. So can you please address that issue and talk to us about how we need to make sure that the chain of command issue is not preventing these people from really being protected from ever having someone go after them if they commit one of these heinous acts?”

A key provision of the Combating MSA Act is the formation of a new category of legal advocates, called Special Victims Counsels (SVCs), who would be responsible for advocating on behalf of the interests of the victim as well as advise the victim on the range of legal issues they may face. The formation of the SVCs was modeled after a current Air Force pilot program, which General Welsh addressed during today’s hearing.

“In the victim care arena, we believe one -- maybe the first game-changing thing we found, one of that collection of things we need to incorporate, is the special victims counsel program,” said General Welsh. “The initial returns on the special victims counsel program lead us to believe that victims are very happy with the legal advice they get from the time they're assigned to the time they complete their legal proceedings. We now have 265 victims from the last year assigned to the special victims counsel. That person's job is the represent that victim and guide them through the legal morass that goes along with prosecution of these cases. It's intimidating. It's scary. And if you don't understand the law, it is completely, completely baffling…So we think special victims counsel will help over time. And we think the results of the pilot program we're doing here will demonstrate that.”

Last month, Senator Murray questioned the Honorable Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, and General James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, about the alarming rate of reported sexual assaults within the Marine Corps.

###

---

Meghan Roh

Press Secretary | New Media Director

Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray

Mobile: (202) 365-1235

Office: (202) 224-2834

@PattyMurray | @SenateBudget | @MegRoh

Senator Murray is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee.  She also serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (which she was the Chair of until this year).  The issue is one that she has repeatedly raised and there may be more urgency for the Congress to address this issue as a result of the arrest that became public Monday of Air Force Lt Col Jeff Krusinski who is charged with assaulting a woman in a parking lot and who had been, as Jennifer Hlad (Stars and Stripes) noted, "the chief of the Air Force's sexual assault prevention and response branch."









RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Violence spreads to the north and what's the deal ..."
"A historic moment as two sides attempt to declare ..."
"Do we need this book?"
"Black holes and science"
"The unemployment crisis continues"
"community"
"Benghazi"
"Jodie Foster's finest role"
"Revolution"
"A trip to Social Security"
"How to be a stupid reporter"
"We need answers"
"He just wants to be the second wife"
"THIS JUST IN! BRIDE IN WAITING FACES CRITICS!"