Barack's "Uncle Frank" a Pornographer

If not for everything else*, this might have earned Obama our endorsement.

The Telegraph has published an expose on Frank Marshall Davis, a friend of Obama's grandfather in Hawaii, who was not really his uncle, but somewhat of a mentor to the young Barry, as recounted in Dreams from My Father.

It turns out that besides being a poet, a pot smoker and a communist (a friend of Paul Robeson), Davis was "Bob Greene," the pseudonymous author of the Greenleaf Classics pornographic novel Sex Rebel: Black (Memoirs of a Gash Gourmet), purportedly autobiographical according to Davis himself (see pg. 346 of his Livin' the Blues). We'll have our eyes peeled for this gem. But in the meantime, Toby Harnden of the Telegraph recounts for us a few of the salacious details...

One chapter concerns the seduction by Mr Davis and his first wife of a 13-year-old girl called Anne. Mr Davis wrote that it was the girl who had suggested he had sex with her. “I’m not one to go in for Lolitas. Usually I’d rather not bed a babe under 20.

“But there are exceptions. I didn’t want to disappoint the trusting child. At her still-impressionistic age, a rejection might be traumatic, could even cripple her sexually for life.”

He then described how he and his wife would have sex with the girl. “Anne came up many times the next several weeks, her aunt thinking she was in good hands. Actually she was.

“She obtained a course in practical sex from experienced and considerate practitioners rather than from ignorant insensitive neophytes….I think we did her a favour, although the pleasure was mutual.”

On other occasions, Mr Davis would cruise in Hawaii parks looking for couples or female tourists to have sex with. He derived sexual gratification from bondage, simulated rape and being flogged and urinated on.

Other pornographic titles authored but unpublished by Davis include Penguins in Paradise by "Bob Green" and Mixed Sex Salad by "Floyd Marshall." The autobiographical but unfinished That Incredible Waikaki Jungle covers the period that Davis played mentor to the young Obama. In its introduction, he writes:

In popular use a Jungle is a place where people struggle fiercely to survive. That describes the Waikaki Jungle... What with the dominance of sex, drugs and violence, survival was no easy task. Being addicted to neither drugs nor violence, I specialized in sex. I have not attempted to detail all my experiences in this unbelievable area... But I think I have presented a true picture of what it was like to live in the Waikiki Jungle between 1969 and 1976... Let me assure you this account is entirely factual.
-pg. 350 of Livin' the Blues

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* Supporting the FISA bill, uttering the oxymoronic term "clean coal," generally adhering to a foreign policy that simply flips an ever devaluing imperialist coin to its neo-liberal (as opposed to neo-con) facade, and so on.

From Grave to Cradle

Hillary's desperation to grab the Democratic ticket seems to know no bounds... She pined on an early grave for Obama when she uttered the "assasination" word in the last days of the primaries. Now, on the eve of the convention, she (through a surrogate) questions the validity of his birth certificate.

'Tis the season for dirty politics. May these puppets rend each other limb for limb.

Vanquished by the Russian army...

Hitler chewed carpets... Saakashvili eats tie

(1:01 into this BBC report)

New legs in anthrax case

If somebody were hoping that the suicidic death of Ft. Detrick bio-weapons researcher Bruce Ivins (suspect in the 2001 "Amerithrax" attacks) would cut the loose ends of the case once and for all, quite the opposite seems to be transpiring... As Glenn Greenwald asks, who were the multiple credible sources from Ft. Detrick who told ABC news that the anthrax spores contained bentonite (suggesting links to Iraq)? Many commenters are repeating the question to ABC news; it will be interesting to see if and how they answer in the coming days.

As any good investigator knows, one looks to possible motive as much as to physical evidence, understanding that multiple motives can be present; for instance, furthering imperial stratagems on the one hand, while enjoying a personal vengeance on the other. Senators Leahy & Daschle, of the "opposition" party, and the major news organisations of the "liberal" media, would make likely targets to further the imperial aims (a way of saying: 'yes, we are this ruthless, don't stand in our way'), but why target a tabloid photo editor?

As has been noted elsewhere...

"For Bush it was personal. A picture of his drunken daughter made him look bad and brought up all his drinking, drugging and partying issues. And who knows, maybe he loves his daughter and was angry about the publication of a picture that made her look like a drunken whore."

Another question you ask about your suspect: is he or she planning to flee?

Bush Paraguay Land Grab Incites Unease

"Concern increased last week with the arrival of Bush" daughter, Jenna, and a source from the Physical Planning Department saying that most of the Chaco region belongs to private companies."

Like those naughty nazis of so many years ago, where do you run when things get out of hand...?

Off to Paraguay!

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Update, Aug. 22

Case not closed - Nature takes on the defense against the Department of Justice would-be prosecution of Ivins, suggesting plenty of room for reasonable doubt.

Other persons of interest should include members of the "camel club" - a clique at Ft. Detrick in the early '90s who had a strong dislike for their Egyptian co-worker Dr. Ayaad Assaad, who apparently was the subject of an attempted framing in the 2001 anthrax attacks, before the first victim was claimed, as detailed in a Dec. 19 '01 Hartford Courant story.

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Update, Nov. 16

Ivins is basically cleared:

Scientific impossibility: Did FBI get their man in Bruce Ivins?

Interestingly enough, his own independent investigation had zeroed in (or nearly so) on the real culprit. In an email to himself: “I should have it TOTALLY nailed down within the month. I should have been a private eye.”

September Clues: rebutted

We were waiting on Hany Farid to give answer to the question: planes or no planes? but it seems "achimspok" has answered already. Simon Shack's best argument for coordinated video feeds into the networks was the 17 second glitch (prior to the second impact... the live money shot) which was alleged to be common to several of the broadcasts. But it is shown to be not so. The viewer can check for oneself: Fox5, ABC & CNN.

Other points are covered in the series Comm' On 9/11 TV Fakery & No Plane Theory