How much does Dana Perino make?

Today, as the new minimum wage goes into effect, you may wonder how much salary Dana "uh, 'Bay of Pigs,' you say?" Perino pulls down each year. You know, taxpayer money? Well good news --now you can find out! The White House has just released it's staff list, including salaries.

Dana Perino makes $172,000 per year.

Yeah. I know.

Another fun fact on the list is that the First Lady's speech writer makes more than the President's speech writer. It kind of explains a lot, actually.

Also, why are there two people with the title, "Director Response Policy"?

And the guy with this title must be very busy: "Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Senior Director for Bio Defense Policy."

But no busier than this guy: "Presidential Support Specialist."

Read it for yourself here.

Abuse of women in Iraq: "democracy" means doing whatever you want to them

There is an alarming story in the Guardian this morning about the current state of women in Iraq. Despite George Bush's claims that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein has brought "new rights and new hopes to women," women in Iraq live a life of brutality and death.

[S]ince the 2003 invasion, advances that took 50 years to establish are crumbling away. In much of the country, women can only now move around with a male escort. Rape is committed habitually by all the main armed groups, including those linked to the government. Women are being murdered throughout Iraq in unprecedented numbers.

So-called "honor killings" have risen dramatically. Because there is no state government to regulate the safety of women, cultural and religious factions have taken it upon them selves to enforce rules as they see fit:

In October the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (Unami) expressed serious concern over the rising incidence of so-called honour crimes in Iraqi Kurdistan, confirming that 255 women had been killed in just the first six months of 2007, three-quarters of them by burning. An earlier Unami report cited 366 burns cases in Dohuk in 2006, up from 289 the year before, although most were not fatal. In Irbil, the emergency management centre had reported 576 burns cases since 2003, resulting in 358 deaths.

The Iraqi penal code prescribes leniency for those who commit such crimes for "honourable motives", enabling some of the men involved to get off with no more than a fine.

[A] man from Kirkuk ... accused his sister of adultery. "When we asked him why he wanted to kill his sister, he said, 'Because it is now a democracy in Iraq'. He thought that democracy meant he could do whatever he wanted." But the man's stupidity hid an important point: under the new system of government developing in Iraq, family disputes are increasingly settled not in state courts but by local tribal or religious authorities.

We keep hearing from this administration that violence is down in Iraq. Just a week ago, General Petraeus seemed guardedly optimistic about the situation in Iraq, saying that there is improvement, although there is still a great deal of danger still. The drumbeat from the White House, however, is still "stay the course" (although I haven't heard that phrase in a while, have you? In fact, I think the trend has been: "Mission accomplished," Stay the course," and now "Guarded optimism.").

So while those in office and those running for office would tell us that things are improving Iraq, I remind them of the words of Abigail Adams: Remember the ladies.

UPDATE: From Human Rights Watch, more background on the deterioration of women's lives in Iraq since U.S. involvement there:

Historically, Iraqi women and girls have enjoyed relatively more rights than many of their counterparts in the Middle East. The Iraqi Provisional Constitution (drafted in 1970) formally guaranteed equal rights to women and other laws specifically ensured their right to vote, attend school, run for political office, and own property. Yet, since the 1991 Gulf War, the position of women within Iraqi society has deteriorated rapidly. Women and girls were disproportionately affected by the economic consequences of the U.N. sanctions, and lacked access to food, health care, and education. These effects were compounded by changes in the law that restricted women's mobility and access to the formal sector in an effort to ensure jobs to men and appease conservative religious and tribal groups.

And from the Washington Post recently:

Before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was known for its mixed population and night life. Now, in some areas, red graffiti threatens any woman who wears makeup and appears with her hair uncovered: "Your makeup and your decision to forgo the headscarf will bring you death."

Khalaf said bodies have been found in garbage dumps with bullet holes, decapitated or otherwise mutilated with a sheet of paper nearby saying, "she was killed for adultery," or "she was killed for violating Islamic teachings." In September, the headless bodies of a woman and her 6-year-old son were among those found, he said. A total of 40 deaths were reported this year.

The Matthew Shepard Act is in trouble - Please take action now!

For the first time, hate crimes prevention legislation has passed both chambers of Congress. This is the closest we've ever been to securing federal assistance for the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity.

Please join me in urging your senators and representative to ensure that the Matthew Shepard Act (S 1105) is included in the conference report of the Department of Defense Authorization Act (HR 1585) and sent to the President's desk for signature.

This legislation would eliminate the barrier currently preventing federal involvement in protecting victims of bias-motivated crimes on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. Current law authorizes federal involvement only in cases involving bias related to race, color, religion or national origin.

Violence in Iraq is down, but mostly because so many Iraqis are dead or gone

The White House is happy to tell everyone that the level of violence in Iraq has decreased in recent weeks. But according the the Government Accountability Office (GAO), there's a disturbing reason for the decrease: Ethnic Cleansing. From ThinkProgress:

In a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee today, Joe Christoff of the Government Accountability Office stated that this recent reduction in violence should be taken with a grain of salt, as it coincides with increased sectarian cleansing and a massive refugee displacement:

I think that’s [ethnic cleansing] an important consideration in even assessing the overall security situation in Iraq. You know, we look at the attack data going down, but it’s not taking into consideration that there might be fewer attacks because you have ethnically cleansed neighborhoods, particularly in the Baghdad area. […]

It’s produced 2.2. million refugees that have left, it’s produced two million internally displaced persons within the countryas well.

The White House's new spin: Climate change is good for you!

Yay! No more pesky cold winters!

From White House spokesperson Dana Perino:

"But it is true that many people die from cold-related deaths every winter. And there are studies that say that climate change in certain areas of the world would help those individuals."

The White House's environmental lapdog, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), tried its best to support Perino with a straight face, saying:

"It is important to consider both health risks and health benefits of climate change. We rely on the best available science to guide our policy decision process," said spokeswoman Kristen Hellmer.

CEQ used findings from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, but didn't quite give the whole story. From the AFP the IPCC report states:

"Studies in temperate areas have shown that climate change is projected to bring some benefits, such as fewer deaths from cold exposure," according to the Summary For Policymakers of the IPCC report.

But "overall it is expected that these benefits will be outweighed by the negative health effects of rising temperatures worldwide, especially in developing countries," it said.

Another section of the report suggested a "mixed" impact on malaria, restricting the range of the deadly mosquito-borne illness in some areas, expanding it in others.

Feeling a little sceptical about the upcoming Iraq Report? You're not alone

According to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports,

... just 39% believe the report will honestly and accurately reflect the General’s true assessment of the situation in Iraq. Thirty-five percent (35%) say it will not while 26% are not sure.

In other words, that more than have of us (65%) either don't believe it will be accurate or are doubtful.