Kandy's Blog

Good humor and bad omens at Radio TV Correspondents dinner

2010-03-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

One bad sign for the future of media in the US is that CNN did not host its usual pre-dinner party at the 66th Annual Radio TV Correspondents dinner at the Washington Convention Center last night. The only news organization to host a cocktail reception this year was FOX. “We’re the only game in town,” said Chris Wallace, host of the public affairs show, FOX News Sunday. But the FOX party was closed to members of the other media and your name had to be on the tightly guarded list at the door to get a cocktail there.

At the huge dinner, which was held in a ballroom the size of Dulles airport, Vice President Biden filled in for President Obama, who stayed away to host his own St. Patrick’s Day party at the White House. Biden brought down the house with some of his remarks:
On Radio, Television and newspapers: “At least you guys still have an audience.”
On living in the Vice President’s Mansion, having commuted to Washington from Wilmington, DE during his Senate years: “I’ve voted for public housing all my life. But I never knew it could be so good.”
On freedom of the Press: “Liberty can’t be protected without freedom of the press, but the only news outlet that’s ever given me a fair shake is Amtrak magazine.”
On how words have a different meaning in the Nation’s Capitol: “I’ve learned that Reconciliation means war and a Senior White House Official means Rahm."
On being attacked in the press: "When Dick Morris is quick to point out every time I put my foot in my mouth, at least I can say it’s MY foot.”
On the 2,000 page Health Care bill: “ That’s more than Sarah Palin can write on her palm.”
On the Economic Recovery bill: “Republicans say the recovery bill hasn’t created any new jobs. Tell that to Scott Brown.”
On the wide screens surrounding the dinner crowd Biden showed a photograph of him with the family dog biting his cuff. “You can it’s a Democratic dog. It’s biting the hand that feeds you.”

The vice president was followed by Chinese-born comedian Joe Wong. “My childhood memories were totally ruined by my childhood, he began. Wong said that he recently became a US citizen after having to take many tests about American history. On one test he was asked to identify Ben Franklin.“Oooohhh,” he said, having been unsure of the answer. “The reason our convenience store gets robbed?” One question on the test was regarding the meaning of Roe v Wade. Wong answered, “Two ways of coming to the United States?” If Wong runs for president in the future he says he might run on a health care platform. “I know that most people die of natural causes. As president I will find a cure for natural causes.”

“I have a great foreign policy. I’m from China. I can see Russia from my back yard.” Wong said he would stay in close touch with US allies by text message, but he would only “text our enemies when they’re driving--’So you’re building a nuclear weapon. LOL.”

Reconciliaton explained

2010-03-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

On Capitol Hill today Bill Heniff from the Congresssional Research Service and Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, offered some insight into Reconciliation, the process which will most likely be used to pass Health Care Reform. Reconciliation is relatively new. It was first used in 1974 and is a legislative process in the Senate intended to allow consideration of a contentious budget bill without the threat of a filibuster. It is used specifically to change existing law, explained Heniff. It is referred to as an expedited procedure and must be reported by the Budget Committee, which is prohibited from making any changes to what has been submitted. That is left to the Rules Committee. Reconciliation goes to the heart of how the Senate operates. Under normal rules, Senators can debate as long as they like and offer amendments. Reconciliation strips Senators of those rights.

Unlike cloture, a procedure which allows the Senate to cut off debate with 60 votes and get to a final vote on a bill, (“After 30 hours they can vote. That’s how they did the Xmas Eve vote on Health Care Reform. They were able to calculate when they could vote,” said Heniff.) reconciliation does not guarantee a final vote. Senators can offer an unlimited number of amendments, allowing a determined opposition to indefinitely delay a reconciliation measure. And although those amendments cannot be debated, merely voted on, the only way to end the adding of amendments is “through exhaustion.”

In the reconciliation process there is also the matter of the Byrd Rule which stipulates that reconciliation cannot include “extraneous matters.” A matter is considered extraneous if it does not have any impact on the budget or reduce the deficit by $1 billion. A provision would also fit the definition of “extraneous” if it increases the deficit in any fiscal year in the future, whether in one, five, ten or 20 years. And there are “no bright lines,” said a Heniff. “It is very challenging to determine whether a proposal is extraneous.” However, The Bird Rule can be waved by 60 votes and has been waved on reconciliation measures before.

Green discussed recent polling which found the public is “fine with the Senate using reconciliation to pass health care reform,” as long as they “like the bill.” Green’s organization polled 9 key Senate States and found a majority of those poled, including 56% in Nevada, 65% in Washington Sate, 62% in Iowa, 62% in Minnesota, 57% in North Dakota, 61% in Virginia, 58% in Colorado, 57% in Missouri all like a bill that contains a Public Option and House districts favored Public Option by 64%-73%.
It is unlikely, however, that a Public Option will be included in any final bill that is passed simply because the White House has not offered strong support for the measure.

2010-03-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

Valery Gergiev said he is dedicated to bringing more American artists to Russia and he sees music as an instrument of harmony between the United States and Russia. Gergiev came to see a film about himself at the Russian Embassy last night. The film, entitled, "You Cannot Start without Me," was directed by Academy Award winner Alan Miller and offered an intimate look into the demanding life of the celebrated Russian conductor, who has been in Washington conducting the Mariinsky opera and ballet at the Kennedy Center. Gergiev, whose unshaven face is his trademark, sat in the plush upholstered seats in the Embassy's theater surrounded by vips and watched as the scenes of his life growing up in Russia, or conducting planning meetings with artists and his staff backstage at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersberg, or travelling by train throughout Russia, or conducting orchestras all over the world rolled by. Valery showed enormous promise as a young boy growing up in the Caucasus, the high mountains, which shaped him and inspired him with their awesome snowcapped glory. He said one could almost hear the voices of grandfathers speaking in the winds of those mountains. His father died when he was only eleven but young Valery's enormous talent on the piano sustained him and gave him a way to prove his worth to his father. By the time he was 16 he realized he had been given the gift of comprehending how the various parts on the page--violins, cellos, brass, French horns, English horns, violins, tympani, all fit together as a whole. That gift has propelled him to the pinnacle of the conducting field and brought him fame and fortune. The camera focused on his sweetness as a father of two young boys and a little girl, but Gergieve explains that he regrets he has little time to spend with the children because he is travelling the world conducting a different piece every day. "What do you want to be when you grow up," he asks his five year old son who is sitting on his knee? "I want to drive an Ocean liner. A big one," the boy replies to Gergiev's amusement. The film portrayed Gergiev's intensity and charisma as he conducts Stravinsky or Wagner, weilding his baton with animal passion and ferocity. "The process is very alive," he said of conducting. "It's unpredictable." Gergiev is worried that the live classical concert may be lost on future generations who live by the Ipod. He is working to interest young people in music all over the world.

2010-02-25T13:40:00.000-08:00

If you want to decompress, reduce your stress and live a healthier life, here is the doctor’s prescription: go for a run, download your favorite piece of music to your ipod or repeat a single word or phrase. Fail to do so at your own risk!

So counsels Dr. Carol Scott, an emergency room doctor who works at a US Army hospital in Virginia. Speaking about her new book, Optimal Stress, at the Army and Navy Club in downtown Washington Wednesday morning, Scott, who was trained at Duke and Johns Hopkins and is a national stress reduction expert, told her audience that the stressors in American lives boil down to finances, family, relationships, job stability and health. Regardless of the source of the stress, the key ingredients to how someone handles stress are background and perception. Background counts heavily. If you’ve been exposed to trauma as a child, for example, you will handle stress differently than someone who had an easy childhood. Perception is most important. It’s how you look at the situation. Making lemonade out of lemons comes to mind. To illustrate, she showed a video clip of a soldier facing deployment to Afghanistan talking about how much stress he is already under at a US Army base just living a military life, working 12 hour shifts, raising a new baby, yet he enthusiastically looks forward to his deployment realizing he will be facing the ultimate stressful situation. “But I know that what I’ll be doing every day is changing lives.” Another positive-thinking soldier who had experienced a tour of duty in Iraq said the worst he had to do was to fly over the battlefield carrying patients. Dangerous and stressful, but he did not look at it that way. He was satisfied knowing he was taking care of those who needed him. “Purpose, prioritites and passions form your perceptions,” said Dr. Scott. “Purpose drives you and keeps you in the game. You do something because you’re committed to it.”

Acute stress, such as that experienced during a frightening moment is healthy, she said, in that it promotes attention and memory and allows for quick thinking on the spot. But in the long run stress, if not moderated and controlled, causes serious health problems: abdominal fat, heart disease, diabetes, hardening of the arteries, osteoporosis. The risk factor associated with stress is equal to the risk of smoking.

Know your stress signals, she said, whether it’s sweating, eating too much or flying off the handle. When your recognize a stress signal, head it off at the pass by changing your mindset. How you leverage stress is critical. Express only positive emotions. Smile. Show gratitude. Express feelings of love. Give positive feedback to your employees, ie, “You really did a good job on that.” Change your playlist. Instead of thinking to yourself “noone likes me,” take a power pause for even five minutes and listen to your favorite artist or your favorite song. Or pick a phrase or word such as “love,” “peace,” “harmony,” "Divine Order," and repeat the word or phrase over and over again in order to quiet the mind and cleanse it of negative thoughts. It helps if the word or phrase is linked to a belief system. True relaxation is not watching television or a movie, which are passive pastimes, she said. Go for a run. Running, she said is like the repetition of a word or phrase. The repetition of footsteps in the rhythm of running allows the mind to quiet and provides clarity. The main thing is to get rid of stress before it gets rid of you.

Snowmageddon Came to My House and Almost Blew me Skyhigh

2010-02-20T13:03:00.000-08:00

Snowmageddon came to my house and almost blew me sky high. I was well prepared for the monster storm. Or so I thought. I stocked the refrigerator days ahead of time. I developed an escape plan for my car. A trusty 4-wheel drive, it can plow through almost anything, but it had been snowed into my garage by a solid two foot wall of snow during the last big storm. This time to make sure it did not get barricaded in again, I drove it to the bottom of my street and parked it facing MacArthur Boulevard, which always gets plowed spotlessly days before the side streets even get touched. I had candles, matches, flashlights, batteries and ski clothes, and my snow boots. All set. Bring it on!

The blizzard began on a Friday night. The storm of the century blasted DC, dumping a foot or more overnight plus another foot the next day, bringing the nation’s capitol to a screeching halt. Congress did not work on the jobs bill. The Federal Government shut down. Schools closed. The nation’s capitol was immobilized. There was no motion and no sound at all-- no planes overhead, no buses going by, no newspapers plopping at the front door. Silent night became silent morning. Quite lovely for a city that thrives on hustle and bustle and is peopled by workaholics. I gave a sigh of relief that the din was stilled and sipped another cup of coffee, enjoying the solace as I surveyed the serene world of white outside. It was so quiet you could have dropped a two ton cannon and no one would have heard. The expression, “if a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear it?” came to mind.

Guess not. Sometime during the time I was enjoying my morning cup of Joe, a 60 foot high Leland Cypress next to my kitchen window collapsed under the weight of the snow, ruthlessly ripping the gas pipes right out of the side of my house as it toppled and wrenching the gas meter right off its moorings. The broken pipes spewed gas throughout the house and into the entire neighborhood, a scenario that would have proved problematic, to say the least, if someone had lit a match. One spark could have turned my home and everything in it, (including me) into a giant fireball and blown us all skyhigh. My house would have looked like the space shuttle taking off right from North West DC.

I had been upstairs getting ready to go out to enjoy the snow when I had smelled gas.The odor was really strong. Within minutes I began feeling sick from the vapors. I suspected a gas fireplace that must be malfunctioning because snow blocked the chimney. I went outside to seek help from a neighbor who was shoveling his driveway. It was curious I thought that so many neighbors were out there as well and they were all on their cell phones. Turns out, they were calling 911, the fire department and Washington Gas. Everyone in the neighborhood had smelled the gas and knew it could be only a matter of time before there would be an explosion. Fortunately, within minutes help arrived. Firemen. On foot. Because our neighborhood is at the top of a hilly street which becomes engorged with snow at the drop of a flake and never gets plowed for days, the emergency vehicles were unable to make it through the two plus feet of snow and the firefighters had to climb the hill and walk about half a mile to get to us. But within minutes of arriving they found the fallen Leland that had caused the damage and immediately turned off the gas supply to the house. House and neighborhood saved! Only one problem. That was the end of my heat and hot water. How soon could it be turned back on, I asked? Unfortunately, the firemen explained, gas service could not be restored until the entire tree was removed—root and all. “You’ll have to call a tree service!” The tree itself was a big enough problem, and half of it had crashed through my neighbor’s fence and was lying across her yard; but its root ball was massive and had enmeshed my gas pipes and meter in a giant mess of mud, snow and ice. And try finding a tree removal service during the blizzard of the century which had knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in the tri-state area because hundreds of trees had fallen on power lines! I spent the next six hours calling every tree service to no avail and figured that I would now be without hot water until summer! “We’ve just been hired by the state of Maryland,” said one company, “and have to remove hundreds of trees from fallen lines.” Most of the others were also booked or just didn’t answer. As evening fell and the temperature in the house dropped below freezing, in desperation I called a friend, Carter Cafritz. Luckily he happened to knew a tree guy, Ernie Shiflett, who he said often came on short notice. I called and only got Ernie Shiflett's voice mail. I left a message, thinking he too, must be out lifting trees off cars, homes and power lines. But deus ex machina, the following morning Ernie arrived, cigar in hand, to survey the scene. Ernie was no youngster, but went right to work sawing the fallen tree in half, carting off the wood and promising to be back the next morning. As promised, Ernie arrived Monday morning with a crew of 5 fellow cigar chompers --all of whom made me a bit nervous as they chopped away at the big root ball right tangled up with my gas line with lit cigars in their mouths. The root was stronger, it turns out, than they thought and their axes proved useless. The root ball was so defiant, the men had to park their cigars, surround it with cable, tie the cable to their truck and start driving away to get the root to budge. Finally the root popped like a bad molar! Now the trick was to get Washington Gas to show up. “Oh just call us in the morning and we’ll get someone out there they said.” Monday came and went and no Washington Gas.

It had been three days now with no heat or hot water. The house was frigid. Think Polar Bear swim. ( It’s one thing when you can crawl into bed at night with 20 layers of blankets to keep warm. It’s another when you have to get out of bed and your house is like the Arctic and you cant get warm no matter what you do and you cant take a hot shower, wash your dishes or your clothes and you cant find any place to sit that’s warm, but you have to stay and wait for the Gasman to show up.) This is when you start wondering how they survived in 16th Century Scotland in those castles without central heat. It’s also when you start thinking about solutions to problems like no heat or hot water. I was fortunate to have an electric stove. For three days I had boiled water and carried it up to my bathtub to bathe. I washed my hair in the kitchen sink with more boiled water. I boiled more water to wash the dishes. I was also fortunate to have friends who offered to have me stay with them until the heat was turned on. ( I stayed put. I was afraid to leave the house unattended, lest a pipe burst in my absence.) I was also fortunate to have good neighbors. One walked over and loaned me a space heater to keep my pipes from bursting. Another brought me a box of logs to burn. So frosty house notwithstanding, I toughed it out with ski clothes, boiled water and a wood burning fireplace. My car plan at least worked. I trudged down the snowladen hill, shoveled out my car and drove to a Superbowl party. And finally, three days later, the gas company arrived (at 8pm!), hooked up a meter and turned on the gas. (One never knows how good life can be until you have heat when it’s 25 degrees outside. To go from the Ice Age to the 21st Century makes one appreciate the simple gifts of heat and hot water.)

And so, I survived the blizzard of 2010 with good cheer, good friends and good neighbors. The Mother of All Storms taught me a lot. Storms bring out the best in people. Ernie Shiflett, the tree guy, was prompt, efficient and as nice as they make come. Neighbors are great. If it had not been for the folks who got the fire department to my house pronto, I could have been looking down at earth instead of up at the stars. If it had not been for the neighbor who brought me the space heater, my pipes probably would have exploded. If not for the neighbor who brought me wood for my fireplace, I would have been miserably frozen. I also learned that in spite of my best plans to survive the storm, Mother Nature always wins.

Health Care Radio Row

2010-02-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

It seemed too good to be true. I’m not talking about the hope and change that President Barack Obama promised us more than a year ago-- I still believe it is far too early to judge whether we should throw up our hands in disbelief. I mean the prospect of universal healthcare, an initiative which tore through the 'socialist' labeling by the GOP and sought to unite Americans in the fundamental notion of helping millions of uninsured, and which was halted at the proverbial 'five-yard line' by the election of the new Senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown, a Republican raring to change the direction of the country and to rob his great state of the legacy of his predecessor, Ted Kennedy.

With healthcare deliberately moved out of the spotlight at the State of the Union, we had a significant challenge here at Stroud Communications on behalf of our client, Families USA, as we began Radio Row at their National Grassroots Meeting: Health Action 2010 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, mere blocks away from the Capitol. We were tasked with addressing the subject of healthcare as relevant and timely an issue as ever, and to convey that all of our esteemed speakers and hosts from across the country were not gathering merely to discuss health care as theory or history, but as historic legislation about to be signed.

Senators, Congressmen, advocates, spokesmen poured into Radio Row. They, along with prominent speakers, physicians and human rights defenders spoke over the course of two days on 25 nationally syndicated and regional shows in 800 interviews about the prospect of healthcare in America--both its current state, what it was promised to be, and what it could eventually become. They spoke on behalf of their towns, their states, their constituents and their country. I'd like to think we made an issue which had been pushed to the backburner, relevant yet again.

Please stay tuned for our video on the benefits of hosting a radio row.

Chaos: The Hugo Chavez Doctrine

2010-01-12T12:36:00.001-08:00

Chaos: The Hugo Chavez Doctrine

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Trouble in Venezuela, Trouble for Chavez

2010-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

"Venezuela is going to rack and ruin. Chavez is in serious trouble. The economy is in the sewer," said Robert Amsterdam today on 'Montel Across America' on the Air America Radio Network. The international attorney explained that Chavez has devalued the currency by 50% in order to "have more money to throw around to keep his movement going", however, "the man can't manage his way out of a paper bag and is starting to lose control." Corruption in Venezuela is massive and on an unparalled scale, complicated by incompetent management, he explained. Opposition has begun to form against Chavez, including the present mayor of Caracas, but whether Chavez can be toppled is questionable.

"It remains important for the world to recognize how dangerous Chavez is, to understand how he has thrown his lot in with Russia and Iran and is laundering Iranian money and nationalizing banks which want to return to the rule of international law."

Amsterdam's client, businessman Eligio Cedeno, was recently freed by a Venezuelan judge after years in prison and is now living freely in the United States. In retaliation, Chavez threw the judge in jail with prisoners she had previously sentenced. Those prisoners have subsequently tried to murder her on three occasions, including attempting to light her on fire.

Asked whether the human rights abuses in Iran and Venezuela would result in revolution and the overthrow of Ahmadinejad and Chavez, Amsterdam replied, "It's like I say about Russia when people ask me when my client, Khordorkovsky, will be freed. When you have chaos, there is no way to know specifically. President Reagan said in 1989 that he never imagined he would live to see the end of totalitarianism. And he did. And look at the speed with which Iran has become destabilized. There are vast institutional controls that keep these ships afloat, but when the state starts to weaken, watch out."

2009-12-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

Speaking at the first Global Security Conference in New Delhi today, with the President of India in attendance, international attorney Robert Amsterdam discussed the critical role of India as a democracy in that part of the world, which is saturated with authoritarian regimes.

Amsterdam, who addressed representatives of private security organizations whose members total over 7 million in India (more than the U.S. military) said that people in the audience he had addressed are currently riveted on the American role in Afghanistan and worry that 'Talibanization' will not stop as a result of the latest U.S. troop surge, but may eventually spread to the Indian-Muslim population, which is almost 200 million people. This would pose a major security threat inside their country.

Indians are also concerned as to whether the U.S. troop surge is enough to make a difference in Afghanistan and doubt whether the timetable will work.

Speaking on the Montel Williams show, Amsterdam was also asked about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hinting that he may run again for President in 2012. "None of this is any surprise. He's looking like a man who needs to throw his hat in the ring to stay relevant. Russia has tremendous problems. There was a terrorist bombing on a train last week. A Russian lawyer who criticized the Russian police 'accidentally' died in jail a few weeks ago and two senior judges on the Russian court had to resign for criticizing the lack of rule of law in Russia. The Putin model is broken. He needs to try to remain relevant. His four-hour television performance yesterday was not greeted in the way his performances in the past have be greeted." Amsterdam added that Putin is the one who is driving the Moscow-Tehran-Caracas triad, but noted that energy czar, deputy prime minister Igor Sechin is the one to keep an eye on. "He is the one who led to the destruction of the Yukos oil company. The U.S. needs to pay more attention to him."

2009-12-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season for holiday stress once again. In fact, more heart attacks take place on Christmas Day and New Years' Day than any other day of the year. To remedy the Yuletide pressure, Dr. Carol Scott offered ideas from her new book, Optimal Stress (Wiley Publishing, November) on the Montel Williams Show today. "First and foremost, give kids the gift of certainty," she said. The American Psychiatric Association recently surveyed kids between the ages of 8-18. Only 30% of parents thought their kids were stressed, but surprisingly, the survey showed that 60% of children expressed feeling stressed. On the anniversary of 9/11, children who might not even had been born at the time of the original attack, see planes flying in to buildings and experience stress. Kids who see the movie '2012' come home worried that the world is going to end. Kids all over the country are hearing their parents talk about losing their jobs and not having enough money for groceries or healthcare. "We need to let kids know that we love them and care for them and want to make the world a safer and better place for them," said Dr. Scott.

"Give yourself the gift of life," she continued. Twenty-five hundred people a day die of heart-attacks but during the Christmas season, there is a 5% excess of deaths from heart disease. "If you have hypertension, diabetes or heart issues and you are not feeling well, don't delay in getting medical care just because its a holiday. Also, we overeat and overdrink during the holidays. To prevent excess deaths, push back from the table and go to the gym to work out. Also, the H1N1 virus is causing residual lung problems and respiratory infections weaken your immune system, so stay away from smoke."

Know your stressers and triggers and take action to reduce emotional stress through meditation, yoga, spirituality and exercise, especially over the holiday season.

2009-12-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

On Air America’s Montel Williams show today, international attorney, Robert Amsterdam discussed a wide number of topics, ranging from the Honduran Presidential elections to the budding relationship between Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Amsterdam strongly believes that Spain will inevitably recognize the new Honduran government, elected on Sunday and that the U.S. will also step up to recognize it; however Venezuela, Chile and the ALBA organization of nations will not. Honduras, he continued, now has a far superior situation than the Micheletti interim government, and the election symbolizes a sound defeat for Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez who had tried to influence the prolonged tenure of Manuel Zelaya through the overturn the Honduran constitution. Amsterdam continued, the army of Zelaya's supporters are fewer and fewer in number and this election was something approaching a fair vote and a big step for democracy.

Montel Williams asked about the Russians development of arms plants in Caracas, Venezuela to build weapons, like the AK-43.

Amsterdam stated that "we represent political prisoner Eligo Cedeno in Venezuela. I understand the situation there, and Venezuela is a direct security menace to the United States and its allies in South America. They're bulking up on Russian arms, over six billion dollars worth. This matter should be on the first level of the United States' radar."

Mr. Williams then asked if US troops should be sent to South America. Amsterdam responded that hard power such as troops was not required, but rather, “soft power,” including solidifying the relationship with Brazil to make sure that Lula is more interested in the United States than in Chavez.”

The current state department, under President Obama, he cited, does not deal effectively with more than one problem at a time. "Whereas Canada has made Latin America a focus, the United States needs to put more emphasis on the same thing… The President is living in a mess of problems but with the dramatic deterioration of the situation in Mexico, and another leftist win in Uruguay Monday, he needs to shift focus to the situation in Latin America."

Ahmadinejad was in Caracas last week, announcing the creation of ten new nuclear sites in Tehran. “If we attack Iran,” Mr. Amsterdam predicts, “Iran will counter through the use of South American proxies.”

2009-11-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

International attorney Robert Amsterdam was interviewed on the Montel Williams show on the Air America Radio Network, Friday, November 13th, about the unjust detention and trial of Singapore opposition leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan, who, Mr. Amsterdam stated, was arrested for doing nothing more than walking.

Mr. Amsterdam’s law firm, Amsterdam and Peroff, had just issued a widely publicized white paper November 5th regarding Singapore’s human rights abuses and treatment of Dr. Chee, which reportedly embarrassed the Singapore government during President Obama’s visit and exposed what Amsterdam called the ludicrous charges brought against the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party. Mr. Amsterdam expressed disappointment that while President Obama had a perfect opportunity during his trip to address human rights or to meet the leaders of the opposition, he never even mentioned the concerns of the opposition or took the trouble to meet with any of them. It is also worrisome, he contends, that the Singapore model of government, which represses freedom of speech and freedom of the press, is the very model which the Chinese and Russian governments talk about following. “Americans should not be silent about what’s going on there,” he said.

Amsterdam said if he were advising President Obama, "I would tell him that, as important as Singapore is to us, he should try to meet with leaders from the other parties there, such as the Young Democrats. It is not good for us to kowtow to various governments on issues of human rights because the one-party rule in Singapore will become a liability for our government in terms of its own reckoning of human rights and eventually, its freedom of speech. Obama is a living example of what a fair election demonstrates. Mr. Obama or Secretary of State Clinton should have given the leader of the opposition party, Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan at least five minutes of his time. This would also be important for Asian democracies looking specifically for what the U.S can offer.” He said he was also concerned that on her recent China trip, the Secretary of State bypassed the topic of human rights and got away with it.

“It is surprising how many of these opportunities are being lost. It seems that the Democratic Party ignores the issue of human rights at a cost to all of us. Barack Obama is a shining example to the world of what can happen when democracy functions. I believe there was a redemptive quality to the '08 election but that Obama's moral authority is being squandered. There is an unwillingness on his part to exert moral leadership.”

On another topic--the Chavez agenda in Venezuela expropriating entire industries--he said, “Why is Obama going-along-to get-along with some of these awful regimes? I don’t think foreign policy was this President's strong suit in spite of the fact that many in his administration have definite views.”

Amsterdam expressed deep saddness with Obama’s lack of action on many foreign policy issues . “He is literally one of best speakers in modern history and he has done amazing outreach to the Arab world, for example, but then there’s not lot of follow through. Now I turn off the television when he speaks because I am so disappointed that a man who sounds like that has done so little about these issues…Let’s hope the situation changes and we get during the second half of his term what we thought we would get during the first part."

2009-09-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

International human rights attorney Bob Amsterdam was interviewed about Afghanistan on the Montel Williams Show today on Air America Radio Network. Montel was concerned about members of the administration suggesting US troops might have to be in Afghanistan another dozen or more years. Amsterdam countered that the ramifications of what a muslim radicalization of Central Asia would do to destabilize Russia, India and China are "so massive that Afghanistan is not the place to quickly exit. We are playing for serious stakes in a war that is tonic in its importance. Pakistan is close to being a failed state and it has nuclear bombs. It would be a mortal threat to India if the present government loses its grip. India is the largest democracy in the world."

Afghanistan is not Obama's "Vietnam," says Amsterdam. "It's noone's Vietnam. That was a war that in geopolitical terms meant very little to the United States in terms of our future. However, when we're talking about a failed Pakistan and what that would mean to the US, this is a very important war."

2009-08-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

Keep your eye on Mother Russia. A mere 24 hours after Russian expert Bob Amsterdam was being interviewed on Air America Tuesday about how hard Russia is working in Venezuela to help Hugo Chavez destabilize the region-- selling $5 billion in arms to the Venezuelans (which Chavez has now sold to terrorists in Colombia) and helping Hugo play Honduras like a harp-- along comes the Washington Post and New York Times story today that Russia is circling us with nuclear subs. Pretty cheeky on Putin’s part, just as people are splashing in the surf off Nantucket and other East Coast summer spots and enjoying their family vacations. It’s a bit disheartening to think that Igor might be watching them and God knows what else through his periscope. Of course, the rather dilapidated Russian subs have accumulated so much rust on their hulls while rotting in harbors up near the North Pole, that there is considerable US concern the subs’ nuclear fuel tanks might drop right through their rusted hulls, leaking radioactive material into the water, contaminating the seas and seeping right under the Polar cap into our waters. Still, rusty and decrepit subs or not, this is rather aggressive behavior on the part of the Russians that hasn’t been seen in more than 15 years. And, with Russian arms now flowing through Venezuela to the Colombian terrorists, the FARC ( Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) as detailed on the front page of the New York Times on Monday, there should be alarm bells going off at the State Department-- especially now that Ahmadinejad has just been sworn back into power in Iran. Ahmadinejad is also a close ally of Chavez. In fact, both are working hand in hand to create a “counter lasso” in Central and South America in case Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear sites. Said Amsterdam on the Lionel show, “If the US throws a rope around Iran, he’ll throw one around the US… Iran is doing metastases…working not just to expand its power, but to put itself in position to strike the US if we decide to strike them.” Add to this unpleasant stew Russia, a country aggrieved that the US is trying to expand NATO to include former Soviet territories, and you have “Russia’s playing with Chavez as a way to intervene if the US were to add Georgia to NATO.” Chavez, who is soon to make his 7th trip to Moscow, is happy to join in the anti-American chess match. Here’s a problem: Noone is covering Russia’s bad behavior much. As soon as President Obama left Moscow, the Russians became very aggressive, even driving missiles around a Ukranian city, scaring the Ukranians to death, and now they’re snooping underwater on Americans. Since the US press is paying more attention to Michael Jackson’s poor little children than to writing about Russia's new hostility and the terrorist training camps in Latin America, perhaps it’s time to start reading the British, French and German press who cover the real news, before it’s too late.

2009-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

According to human rights attorney, Bob Amsterdam, who appeared today on the Montel Williams show on Air America, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a clear message to Iran, in her hour long appearance on Meet the Press Sunday. “It was a strong and unmistakable benchmark” that America is holding a nuclear umbrella over them. Clinton, speaking directly to Iran in her remarks, said in no uncertain terms that any attempt by Tehran to create a nuclear weapon would be met with the full ire of the United States and its allies. Said Amsterdam, Clinton was also probably hoping the Israelis were listening. “She’s trying to keep them calm,” while the State Department pursues its diplomatic strategy with Tehran. The Clinton appeal to Iran, might have been in vain, however, since Ahmadinejad, who just tried to arrange for a couple of moderates to work in his government, which might have signaled a softening of belligerence, was immediately rebuffed by the Grand Ayatolla Khomeni. Not much progress there.

Appearing prior to the Montel interview on the Lionel show on Air America, Amsterdam discussed the orchestration of the return of ousted Honduran president Zelaya by the vehemently anti-American Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. “Chavez is supplying the planes, the cars, the press for Zelaya, hoping to create a scenario for his restoration to power. But he’s keeping attention on something that should have been resolved a month ago and keeping the focus off of what he's doing in Caracas, destroying freedoms. Chavez should realize that he has extracted all the benefits from this that he can.” Will Zelaya be arrested if he returns to Honduras? “Well, as soon as you arrest him you turn him into a martyr...What we need to do is seize the opportunity to work with Lula in Brazil and construct a new relationship so that South America and Washington can move forward working in cooperation.”

Cronkite: my first interview

2009-07-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

My first interview as a newly minted reporter was with Walter Cronkite when I was so inexperienced as a journalist I did not know what an interview was. After graduating from college I spent a year working for the editors of Look Magazine but not getting a chance to write. I was advised by the Managing Editor, Pat Carbine, that to get a big time New York or Washington reporting job that I had to go out into the country somewhere and build a portfolio. I did just that. By pure happenstance I got hired as the feature editor of the newspaper in Aspen Colorado at the end of a ski vacation there. I had gone to pick up my clothes at the cleaners and sadly informed the lady behind the counter that I was going to return to New York the next day and look for a job as a journalist. "Why dont you stick around," she said. "I'm having drinks with the editor of the paper in about ten minutes." An hour later I was hired to be the new feature editor of the paper. I started the next morning. "Go over to the Aspen Inn and interview Walter Cronkite," I was instructed. "He's in town." Dutifully I went. When I got to his hotel I called upstairs on the house phone, suddenly panicked that I had no idea what an interview was. After two rings, the big man himself answered. I explained that I was a new reporter at the local paper and had been assigned to interview him. "Come on up," he said.

Now I was perspiring and petrified. When I knocked on the door there was no time to collect myself. Walter Cronkite opened the door and beckoned me to enter. I had to confess immediately to this icon of the media universe that I was brand new at this profession and had no idea how to do an interview. The superstar CBS anchor could not have been more pleasant or understanding. "Come on out here on the balcony and we'll just talk. All you have to do is ask me questions." "Well, what are you doing in Aspen," I asked thinking it to be a stupid question. "Perfect," he said. "I'm here to dedicate the new library you're looking at right over there." He explained that he had been coming to Aspen for years and was a familiar figure to the locals so they picked him to cut the ribbon. An hour later we were still talking about his experiences as a journalist and skiier and I had my story. As I left Walter Cronkite that afternoon I felt newly baptized into the industry by the best of the best and touched that this extraordinary man who was the most trusted journalist in America had taken time to teach me his trade in such a kind way. "Keep in touch," he said shaking my hand. I'll look forward to watching the trajectory of your career. As the years went on and I was assigned by the New York Times or Women's Wear Daily to cover a presidential campaign or candidate, or to cover the State Department for CNN, I frequently crossed paths with Cronkite. I felt that my mentor and role model was proud that my first ever interview was with him and that I had gone on into a lifetime of journalistic successes thanks to the confidence he had given me that day overlooking Aspen Mountain. We developed a lifelong friendship that involved dinners and family weddings and my total devotion. I will never forget Walter Cronkite, a giant of a human being and one of the kindest men I have ever met. My prayers are with his family.

Honduran coup and counter-coup

2009-07-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

We normally do not find ourselves applauding military juntas. In the case of the Honduran military's overthrow of Zelaya, however, the coup may be justified. President Zelaya had boldly ignored the condemnation of his own party, his congress and his supreme court, all of which called for his ouster. Zelaya had been following the clarion call of his mentor, Hugo Chavez, in his quest to toss out the constitutionally mandated term limits on his reign as president. Chavez had been coaching Zelaya on how to bamboozle the public into believing he was on the right and then quietly transform himself into a left wing autocrat and change the constitution to allow himself to stay in power, essentially accomplishing a coup and making it look democratic. As international human rights attorney Bob Amsterdam pointed out on Air America's Lionel show this morning, "we need to understand that he was acting in violation of the orders of his own supreme court and was acting in an unconstitutional way. There are tremendous forces in Latin America opposed to the interests of our country. We live in a globalized world and the Iranians and the Russians are trying to pressure US activities and policies in Latin America. We are working on a much larger chessboard than we're used to seeing."
Bob also spoke about President Obama's Moscow summit today. The Russians are much more anxious for a nuclear deal than the US because they are cash strapped, the Putin model is broken and the Russian economy contracted by 9% in the first quarter.

"This is not a man who follows the rule of law”

2009-06-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

Bob Amsterdam appeared on KPCC, Los Angeles (Public Radio) today on the Larry Mantle show. (And you have to applaud Larry Mantle. He’s one of the few talk show hosts in the country not draining his listeners with endless droning on about Michael Jackson.) Mantle talked to Amsterdam about a front page issue that actually has some importance outside of the world of entertainment. Amsterdam, who represents a political prisoner in Venezuela-- a business guy named Eligio Cedeno who opposed Chavez’ tyranny and got thrown in the slammer as a result-- knows a little something about the dictatorial regime of Hugo Chavez and his juggernaut of destroying whatever vestiges of democracy remain in his country.

Today, Bob made the connection between Chavez and the Honduran military coup last night (when they led President Zelaya away in his pj’s with Zelaya insisting, “I’m the president of Honduras.” It seems President Zelaya, who started off as a nice right wing fellow, got to be good friends with Hugo Chavez recently, and lo and behold, if he didn’t become a radical leftist as a result. In fact, in his quest to dispense with niceties like the constitution, which term limits Honduran presidents, Mr. Zelaya turned to Mr. Chavez to print the ballots for his referendum in Caracas. Maybe Mr. Z thought ballots printed by his buddy might slip more easily into Honduran ballot boxes sans hanging chads if they were greased with a little Venezuelan oil. Zelaya, said Amsterdam, in demanding an office for life, was doing the bidding of Chavez who’s been trying to recruit him, along with as many Latino leaders as he can get, to be part of his anti-American League of Nations. Now, as you can imagine, President Chavez is unhappy that his new recruit got led off in his jammies, and he’s threatening to bring in troops to rectify the situation.

President Obama’s not happy either. We have not witnessed a military coup south of the border in about 16 years. Thought we were done with those messy things. So 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue issued a statement today expressing displeasure with this middle of the night business. After all, Mr. Zelaya was democratically elected. True, it’s just that once the people of Honduras put him in office, just like his pal Hugo, Zelaya decided that he could rip up the bothersome Honduran constitution and stay in his cozy office until they carried him out feet first. Instead, he got marched out on his own two feet and got a free flight to Costa Rica. (Hopefully they gave him a bathrobe and some slippers for the flight.) Bob Amsterdam agrees with President Obama “that the coup was unacceptable, but we have to put it in a wider context. While Zelaya was staging his constitutional coup, the military engaged in a counter coup to take him out, because Zelaya had defied not only the constitution but also the supreme court and the congress, and, working with Chavez decided to stage this vote…Let’s be clear, Zelaya was following the policy used by Chavez called ‘constitutional editing.’ This is not a man who follows the rule of law.”
Stay tuned.

Bob Amsterdam on Lionel today

2009-06-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

With all due respect to Michael Jackson, whose music I love and have listened to for decades, there are other stories that are as, if not more, important to pay attention to which involve the future of the United States and our national security. Bob Amsterdam was interviewed on the Lionel Show on Air America this morning discussing the international release of his white paper yesterday which details the disintegration of the legal system in Venezuela and the systematic destruction of the rights of individuals by Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela supplies 20% of the US oil supply, thus it is strategically important to US interests, but Venezuela has been purchasing billions of dollars in weapons from Russia, more than any other country in the world. Why is Chavez, an avowed hater of America, arming? “It should make us concerned,” says Amsterdam, who calls Chavez "a Machiavellian dictator who is seizing assets and companies, and working extremely hard to develop a series of relationships that will impinge negatively on the United States.” As worrisome, says Amsterdam is the growing anti-Semitism in Caracas where there are public attacks on Jews. Also,the government is “hacking and tapping,” into personal internet sites and phone lines. Private phone conversations have literally been played on television shows. Add to this the fact that businessmen are thrown in jail for no other reason than supporting the opposition combined with the strong endorsement by Chavez of the “election” of Ahmadinejad in Iran and their mutual hatred for the United States and the picture that emerges is troublesome.

You can listen to Bob's interview with Lionel here, and check out his white paper here.

Bob Amsterdam with Montel Williams

2009-06-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

International human rights attorney Bob Amsterdam was interviewed on the Montel Williams Show on Air America Radio Network this morning, discussing today’s release of his white paper on the undoing of Venezuela’s legal system. Bob not only strongly linked the dictators of Iran and Venezuela, but actually painted Venezuela as a more direct security threat to our country than Iran. Chavez is the single largest purchaser of arms from Russia, he said, to the tune of $5 billion. Chavez is also shutting down the last vestiges of a free press, supporting a home grown military organization--his own quasi-state army answerable only to him (very similar to the Basij), while systematically destroying the constitutional rule of law and locking up political prisoners with no hope of release. One of those prisoners is Eligio Cedeno, a millionaire businessman, in jail for no apparent reason other than his opposition to Chavez. And although, demonstrators are not being gunned down in the streets of Venezuela as they are in Tehran, he referred to Caracas as “a shooting gallery” where 14,000 murders take place every year.

Bob spoke of Chavez and Ahmedinejad as partners in crime, walking “arm-in-arm” in their hatred for the United States. Both are great polarizers, view the US as the Great Satan and have established regular unmonitored flights between Tehran and Caracas. Part of Iran’s purpose in establishing tight links with the Chavez regime, as well as the countries of Bolivia and Paraguay, he said, is to get around American sanctions by increasing economic cooperation with South America, signing contracts for oil, gas and commercial ventures. However, while the two dictators had found it convenient to designate George W. Bush as an enemy, President Barack Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world has “unsettled the foundation of their narrative internally and their relationship to civil society.” It’s harder, he said, to paint Obama as the devil when his middle name is Hussein. Bob also believes the Iranian regime has been severely de-legitimized.

Last night I had dinner with Sam and Jan Donaldson, Jim Kimsey, Bill and Chuck and Lynda Robb, William Coleman and Marie Ridder who were discussing the situation in Iran. The general consensus was that the mullahs will prevail, the crackdowns will be similar to Tiananmen Square and Ahmadinejad will remain as president. Others felt, however, that what’s happening in Tehran is unstoppable and that noone can really predict what will happen in the long run, except that if change comes, women will have been largely responsible.

Demagogue

2009-06-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

I just went to hear Michael Signer, author of "Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies." Signer (who ran for Lt. Governor of Virgnina) gave an historical perspective on democracy and tyranny and although he is claims to be optimistic about the state of democracy in the United States-- citing how Americans have spoken out forcefully about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay and Iraq-- he also described how the conditions are becoming ripe in this country for tyranny.

Talking about the views of Greek philosophers he spoke of how many of them thought people were best governed by the elite, or an oligarchy, but Aristotle's prescription for democracy was based on a civically rich people and a strong, well educated middle class. He also spoke of when the Wiemar Republic, a democracy, was struck by depression that it was ripe for the takeover by a strongman who could combat the economic turmoil, thus the Nazis came to power.

The United States is witnessing the rapid disintegration of the middle class and the destruction of wealth at such a rapid rate, that it would seem that, if conditions continue to deteriorate, it wont be long before Americans are asking for a demagogue to save them. What is a demagogue? Someone who identifies as a member of the common people, who triggers emotional reactions from the masses and uses them to political advantage and who tends to break the established rules of government. Unfortunately even beneficial demagogues tend to violent overthrow of the constitution "for the people's good."

The Stroud Communications Blog is Alive!

2009-06-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

We wanted to kick off our new blog with one of our amazingly relevant and knowledgeable guests: International human rights attorney Bob Amsterdam. Bob, who represented Yukos oil billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsy, spoke to Martha Zoller this morning about the counter-intuitive and ultimately correct nature of President Obama's stance on the current turmoil in Iran.

Prior to his interview, Bob had been in Brazil talking to the former president of Brazil, discussing the human rights problems taking place in Venezuela and trying to raise awareness about the human rights disaster in Venezuela among Venezuela ’s key allies. He held a meeting with the President of the Brazilian Senate Jose Sarney to ask that Venezuela ’s entry into Mercosur be conditioned upon human rights.

Bob is releasing a white paper on Wednesday (the 24th). It not only takes on the state’s fraudulent case against a political prisoner named Eligio Cedeño but also exposes exactly how the Chavez government has converted the justice system into a political weapon. All the while Chavez is making deals right, left and center with Iran, Russia and China, including buying $5 billion in arms from Russia. The case of the political prisoner in Venezuela that Bob represents, Mr.Cedeño, is much bigger than any one single personal vendetta. His plight is symbolic of some 50 political prisoners, whose swelling ranks have been successfully hidden by Venezuela . This worsening situation is on the verge of boiling over into serious political problems for the president, especially in combination with the severe economic contraction the country is experiencing as part of the global crisis.