just another Cranky Little Blog

ACTIONPOINTONLINE.COM Down for Repairs!

2011-06-05T09:02:00.004-07:00

If you have gone to actionpointonline.com and found one of those pesky "Forbidden" error messages, fret not. My chock-full-o-nuts website and archive of valuable Action Point programming is down for repairs and hosting updates!

So sit tight, and we'll be right back!

"Slicky" John McCain, Media Freeloader!

2008-07-29T08:24:00.011-07:00

If you're paying attention-- and proud progressives are-- the topic of this video is no surprise. For the rest of you, WAKE UP!!! McCain is a media freeloader!!

What HAS he done to garner such admiration anyway?

Navigate 4 (or is it 5) multi-million-dollar jets into the dirt, ocean or aircraft carrier decks? Wimp out and write a phony confession after just 4 days of the kind of torture he now supports the CIA administer for MONTHS to so-categorized "enemy combatants" (humans less susceptible to pain)? Gets nailed assisting criminal Charles Keating with bank fraud and now hires the chief bank ~~fraudster~~ deregulator, lobby-hack Phil "Never Seen A Whiner I Couldn't Bilk" Gramm for advisor? And even if Gramm is hiding in the weeds his influence still malingers (sic).

Oh, did I point out that John McCain is living evidence TORTURE GETS YOU PHONY INTEL?!! Hello? McFly?

Wake up and smell the linament (or is it lubricant) Mr. and Ms. Media because something with McCain is slick.

2008-01-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

From Black Box Voting:

THE CAT THAT CONTROLS NEW HAMPSHIRE ELECTION PROGRAMMING

John Silvestro and his small private business, LHS Associates, has exclusive programming contracts for ALL New Hampshire voting machines, which combined will count about 81 percent of the vote in the primary. And as to Super Tuesday and beyond: Silvestro also has the programming contracts for the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont.

Silvestro IS the New Hampshire chain of custody in New England -- Or at least, a very large component in it.

Last fall, with the help of citizens like you, Black Box Voting began working on "Chain of Custody" projects, in which we identified some of the areas of concern that might affect many jurisdictions at once. First on the list for the Northeast U.S. is LHS Associates, a vendor with inside access to every memory card, as well as to the chips containing the "brain" of the Diebold optical scan machines.

RARE VIDEO FOOTAGE

In an unusual confluence of available video, we obtained footage of Silvestro grappling with Harri Hursti, the master hacker who had his way with the Diebold optical scans in Leon County, Florida in the famous exploit that was showcased in the film Hacking Democracy.

The exact same make, model and version hacked in the Black Box Voting project in Leon County is used throughout New Hampshire, where about 45 percent of elections administrators hand count paper ballots at the polling place, with the remaining locations all using the Diebold version 1.94w optical scan machine. Because the voting machine locations tend to be urban, this represents about 81 percent of the New Hampshire voters.

The video shows Harri Hursti testifying on Sept. 19 before the New Hampshire legislature, attempting to explain significant vulnerabilities requiring urgent mitigations; throughout his testimony, Silvestro inserted his own comments, opinions, misstatements and speculations.

2008-01-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

The Return of the SwiftBoaters

2008-01-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

Oh well really-- what did you think? A strategy that worked so well would be abandoned like another piece of military machinery on the roadside? AlterNet: Election 2008:

"More than three years after John Kerry's bitter defeat, at the dawn of what looks like a far more promising campaign cycle for the Democrats, the party is still haunted by the specter of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Once upon a time, 'Swift boat' denoted an obscure military vessel, but thanks to the activities of this group it has come to represent movement conservatism's penchant for ruthlessly (and effectively) smearing any and all political opponents, from a sitting senator and war hero to an 11-year-old boy with a cranial fracture.

Research by The Nation into Federal Election Commission records of the group's top twenty donors reveals that they've been remarkably active in this cycle, contributing and bundling nearly $200,000 to presidential candidates. This does not bode well. During the last presidential campaign, the wealthy backers of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth--now rebranded as Swift Vets and POWs for Truth--didn't do their real dirty work until the general election, where as a tax-exempt 527 group they operated outside the restraints of direct campaign contributions. We may wish we were done with the Swift Boaters, but they aren't done with us."

Iraqis Resort To Selling Children

2008-01-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

Iraqis Resort To Selling Children:

"Local officials and aid workers have expressed concern over the alarming rate at which children are disappearing countrywide in Iraq's current unstable environment.

Many Iraqi families have fled sectarian fighting to live in makeshift camps [EPA] Omar Khalif, vice-president of the Iraqi Families Association (IFA), an NGO established in 2004 to register cases of those missing and trafficked, said that at least two children are sold by their parents every week.

Another four are reported missing every week.

He said: '[The] numbers are alarming. There is an increase of 20 per cent in the reported cases of missing children compared to last year.'

'In previous years, children were reported missing on their way home from schools or after playing with friends outside their homes. However, police investigations have revealed that many have been sold by their parents to foreign couples or specialized gangs.'"

ELECTION INTEGRITY: Exclusive New York Times Magazine This Sunday

2008-01-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Pressing Issues: Exclusive: Scary 'NYT' story on faulty voting machines coming on Sunday: Coming between the Iowa and New Hampshire tallies, this Sunday's cover of The New York Times Magazine ought to strike a chord. It shows a man inside an exploding voting booth with a WARNING label over it and the words: 'Your vote may be lost, destroyed, miscounted, wrongly attributed or hacked.'"

HT: BradBlog

IOWA CAUCUS RESULTS!!!

2008-01-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Are you kidding? I'm like a kid who just got keys to the candy store--this is political junky territory. An upset on both sides and the spin?! Wilder then a drunken prom queen on acid!! I have to work on my show right now so can't give much time to the topic now-- but as soon as I can get a few minutes I'll be back. And I'll certainly be ranting about it this week-end on Action Point.

And I know it's been months since I wrote here but I'm working it back into my 2008 schedule. Really...!

INCOMING: Multi-State Media Conglomerate Tramples Community Radio

2007-09-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Multi-State Media Conglomerate Tramples Community Radio

KLKA proposes move from Globe to Casa Grande

Secret payout kept from public

Move will result in 600% power increase, change in frequency, and no local broadcasting. If approved, will shut out all locally controlled community radio in Central Arizona and the East Valley.

American Educational Broadcasting (AEB) is a Florida corporation with its headquarters in Las Vegas. It owns many stations across the country, and its directors have controlling interests in many other stations. Among the stations which AEB owns is KVLT in Temple, Texas.

In 1996, AEB requested a construction permit for a 1.4 kilowatt station in Globe. This was a relatively small station, and covered Globe, Superior, and Miami. The application requested a frequency of 88.5 FM under the claim that the station was a “educational” station” like KJZZ, KXCI, or KBAQ.

The application was approved in 2005, and then it just sat there. No station was ever built, no license was ever granted, but the construction permit successfully kept other community based educational radio stations from developing in Globe.

For many years, federal law required that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which authorizes construction permits and grants licenses, could not approve a station application unless the station had a studio in its city of license and most of its programming had to be local. This requirement was to make sure that national networks and conglomerates did not completely devour local stations. But the federal law changed, to allow stations to act as satellites for out-of-state stations, to become what radio broadcasters called “translators on steroids.”

The FCC also began a process of granting what it called “minor modifications,” that is, small changes in a station’s construction permit or license which would allow it to operate more effectively. The problem with the minor modification rule is that very little public notice is required, most people in the affected area have no idea that the modification has been requested, and there is no formal procedure for opposing a minor modification request. The minor modification rule allowed multi-state media conglomerates to skulk around under cover and change small stations like KLKA into “Big Foot” media giants.

That’s exactly what happened here. In 2006, American Educational Broadcasting requested a “minor change” for KLKA to allow it to just re-broadcast programs from KVLT in Texas. So much for local control. “By the way,” AEB said, “the public file that every station is required to maintain so that local people can check up on their local station, we’ll put that local public file in Temple, Texas, but don’t worry, folks, we’ll give you a toll free number to call if you want information.” No one was paying much attention, so no one opposed it, and the minor modification was granted.

About a year ago, the FCC announced that for the first time in eight years, it was going to open up an opportunity for local organizations to apply for educational radio construction permits and licenses. Central and southern Arizona community groups saw this as the last opportunity to bring real community based radio to their regions.

There was an open frequency in Pinal County which would have allowed a locally controlled educational station to apply for a station Local organizations were preparing their applications when Big Foot stepped in and crushed their plans.

Big Foot

Many organizations had requested that the FCC put a freeze on further minor modifications until the new filing window (which was only five days long) closed so that the mega-media conglomerates wouldn’t try to squeeze out local groups that wanted real community radio. “That sounds pretty reasonable,” said the FCC on August 8, “we’ll freeze all minor change applications after September 9.” Of course, the multi-state conglomerates knew what the FCC was saying, “Get your minor modifications in while you can.”

And that’s exactly what they did. The ink was barely dry on the FCC’s freeze announcement when American Educational Broadcasting filed for a “minor modification” which moved KLKA from Globe to Casa Grande, right in the middle of the open frequency, and which increased its power from a puny 1.4 kilowatts to a whopping 83 kilowatts. For comparison, KBAQ is only 12.5 kilowatts. Not only that, but AEB also wanted the FCC to continue to allow them to just rebroadcast from Texas, and by the way, keep those public files down in Texas too.

But AEB had problems, like the fact that other stations already occupied some of the space that KLKA wanted. So AEB worked out a deal. One station, KZAI, owned by Educational Media Foundation, was in Coolidge, and broadcast at 10 Kw. It agreed to reduce its power to 8 Kw. KAIC, also owned by Educational Media Foundation, agreed to move off its 88.9 frequency, and move its 1.5 Kw station from Coolidge to Mammoth. And who did all this complex engineering? An engineer from Educational Media Foundation. Finally, if everyone agreed to this, then another station, KFLT, owned by Family Life Broadcasting, would agree to move to a new tower and reduce its power.

Of course, all of this switching and moving and reducing power wasn’t done merely from a sense of charity and grace – money changed hands as well. How much money? The 250,000 folks or so in KLVA’s new territory will never know, because AEB asked the FCC to seal the agreement and keep it secret. That agreement probably won’t be showing up in the public records book in Temple, Texas.

Still Time to Do Something

As of now, the FCC has not approved the “minor modifications” which will result in major changes for Big Foot and the destruction of any chance for real community radio in Central Arizona.

But there’s still time to save community radio in central Arizona. The FCC will listen to public opinion on these issues, and if you want to stop Big Foot, just copy the letter below and mail it to the FCC today. You can call the FCC toll free at 1-888-225-5322. You can send an e-mail to fccinfo@fcc.gov.

Let us know at info@azcmf.org if we can help you and what you are doing. And thanks from every community member for trying to keep community radio alive in Arizona.

To: Federal Communications Commission From:

Consumer Affairs Bureau

445 12^th Street, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20554

Re: Application for Minor Modification, No. BMPED-20070803ACY

KLKA, American Educational Broadcasting

Dear Commissioners:

I am a radio listener in Arizona. I have learned that KLKA has applied for minor modifications which will prevent real community based educational radio stations from being able to apply for a license in October, 2007. I support real community radio. I want you to deny the application of KLKA to move from Globe to Casa Grande and to reject their power increase request. This is not a minor modification; it is creating a new station. If AEB wants a new station, they should apply in October like everyone else.

Thank you for your consideration of this informal objection.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

INCOMING: California RNC 2008 "Dirty Tricks" Already Afoot!

2007-08-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Excellent post warning of California RNC attempt to steal 20 electoral votes for Republicans PERMANENTLY!

NY Times: Republicans Will Use "Elaborate Dirty Trick" to steal White House. Every so often, political hacks join high-minded commissions and say things that sound downright statesman-like. But then, with the passage of time, when dollar signs dance in their heads, they forget that they have a conscience and go back to prostitution. That appears to be the case here in California, where lawyers for the Republican Party have put forward an initiative so cynical and embarrassingly partisan, that Fidel Castro would blush. The New York Times put it succinctly in a scathingly powerful editorial yesterday: this initiative is an "elaborate dirty trick" by a "shadowy group" of California Republicans will "do serious damage to our democracy."

SNIP--

Tom DeLay, who as the House majority leader put up with the inconvenience of having to achieve Congressional majorities to pass legislation, simply stole five new congressional seats in 2003 by using corporate money to bribe members of the Texas legislature to invent new Republican seats where formerly Democrats had been electable. Remember when the minority Democratic members of the Texas legislature fled the state so that there could be no vote on this literally corrupt power grab? Eventually, DeLay won and Democrats did not win back the House, by about five seats. DeLay's gone, but at what price?

Dirty tricks, paid for illegally by corporate funds, kept the House in Bush's hands for another two years.

Now a lawyer named Tom Hiltachk, who works for the California Republican Party and until a few months ago worked for Governor Schwarzenegger, has filed an initiative that would steal 20 or so Electoral College votes from California's 55, making it damn near impossible for a Democrat to win back the White House.

SNIP--

There's one simple way to put this behind us. Imagine if hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in this country signed a petition to say "no more dirty tricks." And then every day, for as long as it takes, we force those who have the temerity to support this dirty trick to explain themselves.

Cross-posted on Action Point

Whose Legacy Is It, Anyway?

2007-08-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my modest week-end radio show and my near obsessive interest in having control over my own future, every day I think about politics and the effect it has in everyday life.

Certainly I wold prefer to be obsessed with more entertaining interests; movies, reading for pleasure, maybe even learning to cook (I can dream can't I?). But no! FISA acts, trade agreements, the Christian mafia and “hawk” show hosts; international policy, Chinese imports, election reform and impeachment; these are the story lines of the books I read, the movies I see, my dreams at night. And why?

Because on November 2, 2000 America's character was wrenched so far to the political right that today nearly 40% of the voting public is registered Independent. It is evidence of two political parties locked in a power struggle so arcane and intractable that truly average Americans are disgusted with them both. Worse, most Americans, voting or otherwise, believe it is the elected of the parties, not themselves, who are to blame.

John Nichols recent Nation editorial “Impeachable Offenses” ends with this thought:

“George Bush, it is said, has begun to worry about his legacy. The rest of us should, too. No matter how unsuccessful we may think his tenure has been, it will leave a mark on the Republic. If that mark is of a presidency without limit or accountability, Bush and Cheney will have changed the country far more fundamentally than any of their predecessors. “

But what about us, the People-- our responsibility --to “mark” history?

For thirty years we elected representatives that we entrusted with our responsibility to run our country and when they failed we did nothing more then complain at best and turn our backs on them at worst. Presidency after presidency went by with laws affecting our daily lives-- the quality of our food, the safety of our products and resources, the protection of our health, the defense of our country-- being written and enacted by people increasingly beholden not to us, the millions who cast a single ballot, but those who paid thousands to keep them employed.

What do we fear, that we do nothing now? The NSA? Wiretapping? Search and seizure? Disappearing into an American gulag? The outcome of governments we let come and go-- from Nixon through Reagan, Bush I and Clinton? Look what we have now and understand, we did this to ourselves!

If it is true that ours is a country of laws, and our political parties represent our interests in fashioning those laws, then it is true that we must change the laws by changing the party make-ups. We must skeptically criticize, scrutinize, debate and investigate all politicians and when they are found wanting they must simply be removed. A third party will not create the answer. If we have failed to provide the best government that we owe each other then it becomes our duty to step up and fearlessly use the legal means left to us—in this case impeachment-- to get the job done.

What will history think of us, if we let the summation of our misdeeds "...a presidency without limit or accountability, “ pass unmarked by our hands, our voices, our responsible action. Whose legacy is it, anyway?

Crossposted on Voice of Arizona.com and Action Point with Cynthia Black

Just saying...

2007-05-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

It is still remarkable to me that this blog, almost a year after my moving my activity to a new site, still gets daily hits. Thanks (I think).

I bet you'd like my radio show (okay, maybe not) but you should check it out--click the BIG BLUE ACTION POINT LINK in the left column...

Hope to "see" you on the air!

Not Neutral About the Net!

2006-10-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering how I feel about net neutrality...

Human Events Book Service: (Radical Right Wing's) Propoganda About Muhammad by Robert Spencer

2006-10-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just thought folks would like to see the kind of literature Human Events, the so-called "conservative" group for whom Ann Coulter is a proud "legal" editor, publishes:

Human Events Book Service: The Truth About Muhammad by Robert Spencer: "Straight from Muslim sources: the bloody life and violent teachings of Muhammad, the founder of Islam
The Truth About Muhammad
by Robert Spencer

As American and European leaders continue to assure us that true Islam is peaceful, and formulate foreign and domestic policy on that basis, it is more important today than ever before for non-Muslims to know exactly what Islam's founder, Muhammad, actually did and taught. Now, in The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion, Robert Spencer provides a frank and accurate picture of the Muhammad that Muslims around the world revere: a warlord who preached violence, ordered the assassinations of his enemies, and used his 'divine revelations' for his personal self-aggrandizement."

No wonder this crowd loves Bush--a man who hates nuance and tolerance. Why waste time understanding foreign cultures when you can cut to the invasion chase by villifying them instead?

I still can't understand how an entire government sworn to defend the Constitution has not been jailed for intentionally and routinely attacking it? Must be "Foley Syndrome"-- legislating under the influence of power.

Stop the Religious Rude Before They (Try) to Think Again...

2006-07-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Please, please, PLEASE, PLEASE would some sane human explain to the crazies on the Religious Rude that 5-day old embroys aren't big enough to kill, let alone be alive!!!

You know, this religious radical conversion of reason to insanity *is* the fault of liberals--we were tolerant of their flat-world fundamentalist insertion of biblical nonsense into the discourse of reasonable topics--we tolerated their delusional insistence that they had/have a place at the table with thinking adults.

THEY DON'T!!

I say take a page from the book of the Republican proto-fascists when it comes to how you treat those with which you don't agree: RUN THEM OUT OF THE DISCOURSE ON LEGISLATION.

I feel better now.

--EU will fund human stem cell research without cloning, killing embryos: "Opponents object because scientists take those cells from a 5-day-old embryo, killing it. "

Carpet Bomb Ann Coulter NOW--Before Someone Takes Her Seriously

2006-07-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Why can't we just carpet-bomb that media harpie Ann Coulter? I mean she has no discernable human value--I don't think she actually is human--and she never brings anything intelligent let alone intelligible to the table. I still don't think she's even a female--she has the self-loathing of a sex-change gone bad--real women just aren't that stupid.

Right-wing pundit proposed "carpet-bomb[ing]" Iran when asked -- again -- by a Fox host what she would do as president: "Summary: For the second time in recent days, a Fox News host asked Ann Coulter what she would do if she were president. Coulter's most recent reply -- during a discussion on Sean Hannity's radio show of Iran's potential development of nuclear weapons -- was that she would 'carpet-bomb them so they can't build a transistor radio' much less a nuclear weapon."

Abortion as a Basic Human Right: YES

2006-07-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

As long as this survives:

Slavery thrives. From Albanian sex workers to Indian cigarette-rollers to black Africans bought and sold in Mauritania and Sudan: According to latter-day abolitionists such as the Boston-based American Anti-Slavery Group, more people -- AASG estimates some 27 million -- are owned now than ever before.

This must thrive:

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Abortion Is a Basic Human Right: "Amnesty International is in the midst of considering whether to include access to abortion in the list of rights that it supports. Many other organizations and individuals have long made the case that access to safe abortion services is a basic human right, one that saves thousands of women's lives and protects the health of many, many more.

--snip--

As 70,000 women die each year around the world as a direct result of unsafe abortion, and 600,000 more are seriously injured, human rights activists should move quickly to ensure that Amnesty makes this historic decision. As somebody who is aware of the impact that Amnesty can have on governments, I will be doing my utmost to support the proposal. "

WHY? Because women in slavery breed more slaves and only to their sick masters delight. To all my anti-abortion readers this is my reply in advance: when you put your money into world reform in the advancement of peace and poverty eradication instead of the coffers of your Washington lobbyists, you can talk to me. Until then, save it.

The Bush Government is Managing Iraq Coverage. Now if They Could Just Manage The Occupation...

2006-07-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

The more clear it becomes to me that an illegitimate government is running the United States the more angry reports like this cause me to feel:

Foreign Policy: Seven Questions: Covering Iraq: "FP: The Bush administration often complains that the reporting out of Iraq is too negative, yet you say they are managing the news. WhatÂs the real story?

RN: You can only manage the news to a certain degree. It is certainly hard to hide the fact that in the third year of this war, Iraqis are only getting electricity for about 5 to 10 percent of the day. Living conditions have gotten so much worse, violence is at an even higher tempo, and the country is on the verge of civil war. The administration has been successful to the extent that most Americans are not aware of just how dire it is and how little progress has been made. They keep talking about how the Iraqi army is doing much better and taking over responsibilities, but for the most part thatÂs not true."

Air Force Spending Half Million to Study...Blogs?

2006-07-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Huh. Now why would the military care about blogs? Oh right, that My Favorite Terrorist Camp Experiences Web-Ring Diary threat...yeah...

U.S. Department of Defense Transformation News Story: "ARLINGTON, Va., June 29, 2006 – The Air Force Office of Scientific Research recently began funding a new research area that includes a study of blogs. Blog research may provide information analysts and warfighters with invaluable help in fighting the war on terrorism.

Dr. Brian E. Ulicny, senior scientist, and Dr. Mieczyslaw M. Kokar, president, Versatile Information Systems Inc., Framingham, Mass., will receive approximately $450,000 in funding for the 3-year project entitled “Automated Ontologically-Based Link Analysis of International Web Logs for the Timely Discovery of Relevant and Credible Information.”"

Not Enough Fish in the Sea

2006-07-04T03:25:00.000-07:00

Here's just one of the many arguments for choosing the precautionary, not economic, principle when it comes to policy. Preservation--not of species for their own sake--but ours:

Not Enough Fish in the Sea: "The more it is tested, the more compelling the hypothesis becomes. Dyslexia, ADHD, dyspraxia and other neurological problems seem to be associated with a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids, especially in the womb. The evidence of a link with depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and dementia is less clear, but still suggestive. None of these conditions are caused exclusively by a lack of these chemicals, or can be entirely remedied by their application, but it's becoming pretty obvious that some of our most persistent modern diseases are, at least in part, diseases of deficiency."

Can Native American Women Save Our Right to Abortion?

2006-07-04T02:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah I know there are wingers who believe we have no "right" to abortion, but that is just personal opinion. Outside the laws of the USA--or any country for that matter--there are laws that go to higher principles and no, not the mythical principles of the Sky Fairy. There are laws that spring from the good sense and logic of a human mind. People know rationally that a multi-celled reproduction of oneself is *not* a holy mission from said Sky Fairy to populate the shit out of a stressed economy whether that economy is national or the much smaller one of a single family. Unfortunately, thanks to Republican fundamentalist pandering born of the only life they value: devotion to winning at any cost--particularly to the cost of people--we will have to put up with the fundamentalist BS of anti-abortion (which is *not* by the way, pro-life--it is pro-control of anyone with whom they do not agree)--until saner (liberal) minds prevail...

Pine Ridge Leader Faces Battle Over Abortion Ban: "Native American women are raped three times more often than women of all other races in the United States, according to 1999 U.S. Department of Justice data.

Abortion, Fire Thunder said, is part of the aboriginal right of tribal women throughout North America. Until the advent of missionaries and their boarding schools a century ago, the knowledge of terminating pregnancies, both physically and spiritually, was passed down through women's societies.

'You would talk to that spirit,' Fire Thunder said of the fetus. 'You would say, 'I can't take care of you right now. Please, go back.''"

When the Grassroots Meets the Netroots...

2006-06-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Important things happen.

Action Point: "OPEN THREAD--AP SHOW 06-10-06: Grassroots Meets the Netroots with Josh Silver (Free Press), Katherine Ingram (DFA-MC) and YEARLYKOS!!"

Argument From Infallibility: By Any Other Name, A Sacred Cow

2006-06-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Ann,

It has come to my attention that recently you have been attempting to sell books by pissing people off (like that's new) and in so doing you have picked some pretty high-sounding words instead of the more accessable ones (like 'sacred cow').

In the particular case to which I refer, you have claimed that some women who are angry with George Bush for not—they believe—doing enough to protect our country from terrorists such as those who drove jetliners into the Twin Towers and killing some people (including their husbands) use, when they criticize Mr. Bush, said dead people as “human shields” (BTW if they're dead, aren't they “dead” human shields and doesn't that kind of negate the meaning of using humans as shields anyway?)...but I digress...and you go on to further claim that said women use said dead husbands *not* for political ends but in fact, to make money.

Well, for the sake of argument, let's say you've got a point and that using the memory of dead people for political or material gain is reprehensible and that those so doing should be called out for who they are: Godless self-obsessed millionaries, lionized on TV and infallible to attack because of their use of “human shields” and who are in fact, only using politics to enrich themselves financially.

Does that mean it is finally okay for folks who think George Bush used several thousand dead folks from 9/11 as “human shields” (in other words, sacred cows) and his position as President of the United States to get away with invading a sovereign nation on the grounds of national defense, to finally say so, and to ask whether in fact, familial revenge and enriching his friends and families oil coffers, may have been at least in part, his real motivation?

Just asking...

Always Yours,
Cranky

Action Point: Cranky Takes Flight!!

2006-05-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Need I preface the launch of my own radio show with any more fanfare than this?

Action Point: "Two days after I finished the content format for Action Point's launch on Air America affiliate KPHX (1480) Phoenix, I discovered David Sirota's new book, "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--and How We Take It Back."

OPEN THREAD: Monday 05-15-2006

2006-05-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Oh, I've been too long gone again. You folks are gonna think I don't love you anymore, but I do.

I've been working on that new project I told you I'd be announcing "soon" and yes, we are within a day or two of that announecment so sit tight and talk amongst yourselves...

Here's your topic: Joe Scarborough is really pissed about NSA phone tapping. Conservatives--is he off his rocker or right on point? Liberals--are you enjoying listening to him rant about it as much as I am (or don't you give a damn what Joe thinks)?

INCOMING: The Web We Love is Endangered

2006-05-09T16:33:00.000-07:00

AlterNet: The Web We Love is Endangered: "If the big corporations win their push to charge internet users different rates for the same product, the Web as we know it will wither on the vine."

And that's just the way they want it: weak communication between one another equals weak resistance to their influence.

Nixon's Revenge: Everybody Loves a Spy!

2006-05-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

The constant drumbeat that "9/11 Changed Everything" (read: be afraid all the time) has mostly changed Americans' willingness to live with a Sandanista-style invasion of their privacy:

Potential Evidence Surfaces of Bush's Illegal Spying: "Thomas Nelson has been practicing administrative law for most of his professional life, but after September 11th he first began offering pro bono work for immigrants detained in broad FBI terrorism sweeps. He is currently leading a little-discussed case that may contain the first documented evidence of an illegal wiretap, and believes that as a result, he himself has been subjected to warrantless -- and therefore illegal -- wiretaps and physical searches, the kind of clandestine operation that Nixon referred to as 'black bag jobs.' And as a result of extreme carelessness by the FBI, Nelson may have his hands on the only solid evidence of these searches."

OUTGOING: Leonard Clark Runs for Senate!!

2006-05-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

For folks that remember my coverage of Leonard Clark, the American soldier in Iraq who was nearly court-martialed for speaking out against the war (and about whom blogs quickly dropped coverage at his request--his family was being threatened), we'll, He's Ba-ack!! And running for Senate!!

Elect that Damn Liberal

QUESTION: Immigration?

2006-05-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Let's try something new. Let's talk about talking about immigration (yeah, I meant that sentence).

Why do you think discussing immigration and coming to results-oriented solutions seems so challenging?

OUTGOING: Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

2006-05-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Politics is not a spectator sport. If you're in the game, play like you mean it!! This video from thumping the tub is a great serve:

Duck!!!

INCOMING: We Don't Need No Stinkin' Permission!

2006-04-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

You gotta give it to 'em for giving their hatchet-jobs names with irony: Clean Skies, No Child Left Behind, New Freedom and now Sunset Commission. Even seniors have a rosier take on what "sunset" should be than this:

OMB Watch - In Congress - Sunset Commission -: "Whether you care about farmers' markets or battered women's shelters, workplace safety or clean air -- important federal programs are all at risk from proposals that would put them on the chopping block.

Learn more about 'sunset commission' proposals, that would force federal programs to plead for their lives before an unelected commission with the power to recommend whether they live, die, or get 'realigned.'"

OPEN THREAD: 04-25-06

2006-04-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

Wow!! I have been gone soooo long. I think this is the longest break in posts I've had in over a year. Apologies. Not that I'm not up on the news (I get material from several news feeds) but I just don't have time to get a post up before the next packet of news arrives--each one even more bizarre then the one before--oh my.

Don't despair though. I have a surprise brewing for all my avid (dozen or so) readers in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

So hey, how 'bout them nukes?

Paris Hilton Takes Steak Out of the Mouths of Veterans!!

2006-04-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether the folks who run Fran O'Brien's vote left or right--or straight down the center. I do know that Hilton Hotels is a huge contributor to Republican campaigns.

Regardless of the political bent of Fran O'Brien's, I support this cause:

Fran O'Brien's Loses It's Lease: For the past 2 1/2 years, O'Brien and business partner Hal Koster have made their thick steak dinners and a night of bottomless drinks one of the rites of passage for the soldiers who are steeling themselves for their postwar lives in wheelchairs or with prosthetic limbs.

They come to the subterranean restaurant, at the corner of 16th and L streets NW in the basement of the Capital Hilton, in volunteer's vans and trucks. They're carefully wheeled down the stairs or slowly negotiate the steps on crutches. It has become a tradition so beloved among veterans that Garry Trudeau featured the dinners in his Doonesbury comic strip.

Jim Mayer, a veteran who works at the Department of Veterans Affairs and who helped start the steak dinner tradition, is concerned that the hotel wants to eliminate the spectacle of hundreds of severely disabled soldiers coming in and out of its building or that the restaurant's repeated requests for a new elevator or escalator to accommodate them was too much.

What You Can Do

Lisa Hoffman's Letter on this in Capital Blue

Save Fran's Letter you can send Hilton

Save Fran's Website

Other than the patriotic nature of the good work Fran's owners are doing is the broader question of how corporations undo that work, without compunction, at their whim.

And yes, it is whim, when the question at hand is an escalator or a chair lift, especially when the owners of the corporation support a party that would gut the very legislation requiring corporations to accommodate those in need of them!!

And I'm convinced that it is not the good voters of either persuasion who are hurting this country. It is the moral-free zone we agree to support and in which we allow corporations to operate--for the one and only good of profit!

Argue my position on this all that you want, but at least answer me this: how can the population--people--who must move in increments of time dictated by children in school, the price of a home, a raise in 6 months or an elderly parent dying at home, be served by corporations that can operate with concern that is touched by none of these? That can pull up roots in a year and dump assets, workers and an entire regional economy just to ship their profit motivations overseas?

Without people, there is no profit.

Why is Israel Running U.S. Middle East Foreign Policy?

2006-04-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Anyone remember the brouhaha over Supreme Court judges considering foreign law as a component of their decisions? Remember the conservative outcry; such influences were not only the curse of zealous liberal forces but damn near treasonous!

So when a tiny foreign country that has not one resource for use in American trade interests can (continue) to push us toward region-wide war in the Middle East, nobody has anything to say?

Well, I did here (in 2004) as well as in other posts. This influence is allowed thanks to the Zionist neocon cabal and it's brainchild PNAC. Read the PNAC statement for your self. Then read this:

Iran Showdown Tests Power of "Israel Lobby": "One month after the publication by two of the most influential international relations scholars in the United States of a highly controversial essay on the so-called 'Israel Lobby,' their thesis that the lobby exercises 'unmatched power' in Washington is being tested by rapidly rising tensions with Iran.

Far more visibly than any other domestic constituency, the Israel Lobby, defined by Profs. John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt, academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, as 'the loose coalition of individuals and organisations who actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction', has pushed the government -- both Congress and the George W. Bush administration -- toward confrontation with Tehran."

Come on wingers--are you going to fall for another fear campaign from the administration that bold-faced lied to you about the last "necessary preemptive" war? The one they've rather intentionally blown to hell so this could happen? How dumb does he think you are?

Happy Easter?

2006-04-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Into Iran: The Bush Death Wish

2006-04-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

As I get closer to winning my dinner bet that Bush will attack Iran, I am far less willing to win. From the Atlantic Monthly online: why attacking Iran will be a disaster:

About Iran’s intention to build a bomb, there is no serious disagreement among Russia, China, France, and the United States. Iran has dropped its pretense of benign intent. It refused the compromise that Russia formally proposed late in 2005 (though a new round of negotiations was announced early in March). Last year’s elections, the most democratic in that nation’s history, transformed the leadership—by making it more anti-Western and harder-edged. The attainment of an Iranian bomb might provoke Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other neighboring countries to begin nuclear programs of their own, and might make the terrorist groups Iran supports throughout the region feel they can attack with greater impunity. Dealing with Iran is now considered an international crisis. As it has watched Iran’s evolution, the United States has delivered more and more studied warnings that “all options remain open”—code to the Iranians that they should worry about an attack. In different ways, George W. Bush and two aspiring successors, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, have expressed this view. Government officials in Israel have been more explicit still, with the defense minister saying that Israel “will not accept” Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. Intellectuals, activists, and out-of-power politicians from Newt Gingrich to Benjamin Netanyahu have all urged their leaders to stand firm.

The biggest change has been in what Soviet strategists used to call the “correlation of forces.” Every tool at Iran’s disposal is now more powerful, and every complication for the United States worse, than when our war-gamers determined that a pre-emptive strike could not succeed. Iran has used the passing time to disperse, diversify, conceal, and protect its nuclear centers. Instead of a dozen or so potential sites that would have to be destroyed, it now has at least twice that many. The Shiite dominance of Iraq’s new government and military has consolidated, and the ties between the Shiites of Iran and those of Iraq have grown more intense. Early this year, the Iraqi Shiite warlord Muqtada al-Sadr suggested that he would turn his Mahdi Army against Americans if they attacked Iran.

Economically, Iran also has far greater leverage than before. Through 2004, the price of a barrel of oil averaged less than $40. In 2006, it has been above $60, an increase of more than 50 percent. Rising demand from China, India, and, yes, the United States has left virtually no slack in the world’s oil markets. OPEC’s “spare” production capacity—the amount it could quickly supply beyond current demand—is about 1 million barrels a day. Iran now supplies about 4 million barrels a day. If it chose to, or had to, remove much of its oil from the market, a bidding war could send the price of a barrel of oil above $100. Eventually, everyone would adjust. Eventually, the Great Depression ended.

The Grinch Goes Anti-War on Iraq

2006-04-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, told students and faculty at the University of South Dakota Monday that the United States should pull out of Iraq and leave a small force there, just as it did post-war in Korea and Germany. "It was an enormous mistake for us to try to occupy that country after June of 2003," Gingrich said during a question-and-answer session at the school. "We have to pull back, and we have to recognize it."

LC2E Coming to Phoenix

2006-04-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Creators of “Loose Change” Internet Video Sensation to Meet with Scottsdale Community College Filmmakers & Appear at Public Screenings in Phoenix Area Scottsdale, Mesa, & Tempe, Arizona

---Riding the tide of a meteoric and ever increasing Internet popularity, the three young creators of the 9/11 indie documentary Loose Change 2 will appear at Valley screenings from Tuesday, April 11, through Friday, April 15, 2006.

New York filmmakers Dylan Avery, 22, Korey Rowe, 23, and Jason Bermas, 26 decided to include the Phoenix area in their screening tour because of the number of communications they have received on their website from Arizonans, particularly from within the college communities.

Written and directed by Avery, and produced by Rowe, with research and production assistance by Bermas, Loose Change 2nd Edition, is at the forefront of a growing grassroots “9/11 Truth Movement” that is reaching millions through alternative forms of distribution, primarily via the Internet and through private and public screenings. The deliberately non-copyrighted film, oftentimes referred to online as LC2E, has created such a stir in the blogosphere that it is fast approaching movie cult status as viewers spin off links and compressed video versions around the world through computer lines while others burn DVD copies for friends, family, and strangers.

Loose Change is a jaw-dropping film about the fateful events that occurred on September 11, 2001. The documentary challenges the official explanations...

LC2E Phoenix Area Schedule:

Tuesday, April 11, 2006—Radio call-in KWSS 106.7 AM (kwss1067.com)
Time: 2-4 p.m -- 480-699-5525 -- “Driving with Gas” (host Kevin Gassman)
Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” followed by Panel
Discussion with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio A (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP209)
9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale, Arizona
Directions: Loop 101 to Chaparral Rd.; campus map at http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sccmap/
Parking: Lot H, east side of campus
Cost: No Charge

Wednesday, April 12, 2006—Luncheon with students of the Motion Picture/Television
Department, Scottsdale Community College
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio B (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP211)
9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale, Arizona
Directions: Loop 101 to Chaparral Rd.; campus map at http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sccmap/
Parking: Lot H, east side of campus
Cost: No Charge, MP/TV students

Wednesday, April 12, 2006— Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” followed by
Q &A with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 4:00 p.m. (4-6 pm)
Location: Bookmans (in the Community Room)
1056 S. Country Club Dr., Country Club & Southern (NW), next to Gold’s Gym
Cost: No Charge

Thursday, April 13, 2006— Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” followed by
Open Forum with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Harkins Shea 14 Theatre
7354 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, Arizona
Directions: Loop 101 to Shea Blvd.; west on Shea between Hayden & Scottsdale Rds.; on
north side of Shea Blvd.
Cost: No Charge

Friday, April 14, 2006—Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” followed by Q & A
with Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe, & Jason Bermas
Time: Starts at 3:00 p.m. (3-6 pm)
Location: Bookmans (in the Community Room)
19th Ave/Northern (NW), Phoenix
Time: Starts at 8:00 p.m.
Location: 3 Roots Coffee House
1020 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, Arizona
Directions: Just south of University Dr. on the west side of Mill Ave.; directly across from
Arizona State University’s Gammage Auditorium
Parking: Park behind 3 Roots or along adjoining side streets
Cost: No Charge

[UPDATE 04-10-2006]

PHOENIX AREA SCHEDULE UPDATE

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2006
• 7:00 am to 8:30 am:
Video production with MP/TV students, Scottsdale Community College
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio B (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP211)
• 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm:
Live radio show with KWSS 106.7 FM “Driving with Gas” host Kevin Gassman
Call-in #: 480-699-5525
Internet: http://www.kwss1067.com
• 6:00 pm:
Radio recording with MP/TV students, Scottsdale Community College
Location: Motion Picture/Television Radio Studio (Applied Sciences Building)
• 7:00 pm:
Free Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” at Scottsdale Community
College followed by Panel Discussion with the Filmmakers
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio A (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP209),
9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale
Directions: Loop 101 to Chaparral Rd., east on Chaparral, on north side of road off of freeway;
campus map at http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sccmap/
Parking: Lot H, east side of campus

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2006
• 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm:
Luncheon with students of the Motion Picture/Television Department, Scottsdale
Community College
Location: Motion Picture/Television Studio B (Applied Sciences Building, Room AP211),
9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale
Directions: Loop 101 to Chaparral Rd., east on Chaparral, on north side of road off of freeway;
campus map at http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sccmap/
Parking: Lot H, east side of campus
Cost: No Charge, MP/TV students

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2006 (cont.)
• 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm:
Free Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” at Bookmans (Mesa) followed
by Q&A with the Filmmakers
Location: Bookmans (in the Community Room), 1056 S. Country Club Dr., Mesa
Phone: 480-835-0505
Directions: U.S. Hwy. 60 to Country Club Dr., north on Country Club past Southern Ave., on
west side of road; map at http://www.bookmans.com/PublicSite/store.aspx?OrgID=17

THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006
• 7:00 pm:
Free Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” at Harkins Shea 14 Theatre
(Scottsdale) followed by Open Forum with the Filmmakers
Location: Harkins Shea 14, 7354 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale
Directions: Loop 101 to Shea Blvd.; west on Shea between Hayden & Scottsdale Rds.; on
north side of road.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2006
• 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm:
Free Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” at Bookmans (Phoenix)
followed by Q&A with the Filmmakers
Location: Bookmans (in the Community Room), 8034 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix
Phone: 602-423-0255
Directions: I-17 to Northern Ave.; continue east; turn north at 19th Ave. intersection; on west
side of road; map at http://www.bookmans.com/PublicSite/store.aspx?OrgID=19
• 8:00 pm:
Free Public Screening of “Loose Change (2nd Edition)” at 3 Roots Coffee House
(Tempe) followed by Q&A with the Filmmakers
Location: 3 Roots Coffee House, 1020 S. Mill Ave., Tempe
Phone: 480-966-4949
Directions: Just south of University Dr. on the west side of Mill Ave.; directly across from
Arizona State University’s Gammage Auditorium
Parking: Park behind 3 Roots or along adjacent side streets

Crumbling Under Debt

2006-04-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Most people I know work two jobs. Some work three. The big money players are in foreign currencies, not equities. I just started another business so that I can sock the money away because like everybody with whom I talk I believe a depression is coming: if you aren't able to eat, you will be eaten.

Crumbling Under Debt: "According to Business Week, both the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan have raised their interest rates -- which could signal that the days of foreign investors propping up the U. S. economy may soon be on the wane. Bottom line, this potentially will have serious consequences for all Americans, but especially for average Americans living on the edge of poverty.

The first consequence will be a rapid decline in Americans' standard of living. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke insists the economy is strong, because many of the traditional measures of economic growth remain solid. Inventory levels, corporate profits and unemployment statistics all point towards continued growth. But what about the $3 billion a day that Americans cumulatively spend on interest payments? What about the estimated $834 billion that Americans have borrowed off their mortgages last year alone? Do average Americans have any kind of savings to use as a cushion in the event of a 'hard landing?' Can an already-hard-working single mom just go back into the job market to make ends meet when serious inflation kicks in?

Second, should our debt levels continue to increase at unsustainable rates, we will soon reach a point where foreign investors demand an interest rate premium for lending to us. Or worse yet, they may simply decide to put their money in other financial instruments than U. S. Treasury bonds, which will suck the wind out of the U. S. economy very rapidly and likely lead to recession or a depression.

Third, weaknesses in the U. S. economy will cause the value dollar to weaken relative to foreign currencies. When this happens, as it inevitably must, everything Americans buy from abroad will cost more. And considering that America's manufacturing base has all but evaporated, we buy just about everything from abroad. With our dollar worth increasingly less, virtually every industry will start to feel inflationary pressures, leading to layoffs and a further downward cycle for the economy.

Fourth and most fundamentally, our debt crisis has serious implications for America's status as a world leader. When Britain was the world's most powerful country, it was the world's leading moneylender. But when England became a debtor nation, their stature in world affairs rapidly declined. The lessons of history are clear: A nation's borrowing from abroad is generally a precursor to decline. Harvard economics professor, Benjamin Friedman, says in the TIME-BOMB documentary, 'Again and again it has always been the world's leading lending country that has been the premier country in terms of political influence, diplomatic influence and cultural influence. Today we are no longer the world's leading "

Stanley Tools: The Disposable American

2006-04-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is a lengthy and fascinating look into the history of lay-offs at Stanley Tools and its effect on American workers: The Disposable American

FSM Devotees--Your Gospel Has Arrived--AARGH!

2006-03-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Finally:

Powell's Books - The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson: "Behold the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), today's fastest growing carbohydrate-based religion. According to church founder Bobby Henderson, the universe and all life within it were created by a mystical and divine being: the Flying Spaghetti Monster. What drives the FSM's devout followers, a.k.a. Pastafarians? Some say it's the assuring touch from the FSM's noodly appendage. Then there are those who love the worship service, which is conducted in pirate talk and attended by congregants in dashing buccaneer garb. Still others are drawn to the Church's flimsy moral standards, religious holidays every Friday, or the fact that Pastafarian heaven is way cooler: Does your heaven have a Stripper Factory and a Beer Volcano? Intelligent Design has finally met its match-and it has nothing to do with apes or the Olive Garden of Eden."

ENVIRONMENT: RealClimate

2006-03-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Since climate change is on my short list of Real Threats to Human Life (and the Middle East, except as a portal for bird flu, is not) you'll be getting lots more ENVIRONMENT posts. So today let's look at a very cool blog: RealClimate or as they subhead it; Climate science from climate scientists. As they state it their mission is:

..."a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. We aim to provide a quick response to developing stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The discussion here is restricted to scientific topics and will not get involved in any political or economic implications of the science."

I like their posts because they lack hysteria and have great links. Their comments get my thinking more in line with their reality, not mine, which is admittedly heavily colored by the doom and gloom of liberal politics. Yes, you got that right. When it comes to dangers such as those posed by global warming and other environmental issues I really want the rosy-colored beliefs of wingers to be true--I want it to all just go away.

Although RealClimate does not support winger opinions that all is well and (yes, they say, NYC will one day be submerged from global ice sheet melting) I don't get the feeling we'll be swimming along the A-Train line in my immediate family's lifetime. BUT, just because that might not happen is no reason to do nothing to reverse the trend now. If anything it renews my conviction that something can be done.

Politically, you know what that means: hard-working liberals in, wishful thinkers out.

The Billionaire's Club

2006-03-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, the Billionaire's Club. That group to which I referred in my recent Environment rant as the group that would own the world's habitable resources and to which you would never belong. Here is Forbe's lauding of that kingmaking crowd (which is actually larger at 793 then I'd imagined). Note that under six percent share US citizenship:

Billionaire Bacchanalia: "The U.S. is home to 44 new billionaires and commands nearly half of the fortunes on the roster. Bill Gates retains his title as the world’s richest person for the twelfth straight year, proving that while it’s getting easier to make a billion, the same can’t be said for making $50 billion."

BUSH JOKE: Bush in Hell (v.1.1)

2006-03-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Frankly, we need to be laughing more so I've decided to start posting some of the Bush jokes I get in my email. Of course these are jokes I like and which for me are new. If they're old news to you maybe you should email me your favorites, using the link in the upper right side-bar. Thanks!!

George Bush has a heart attack and dies. Obviously, he goes to hell where the devil is waiting for him.

"I'm not sure what to do," says the devil. "You're on my list but I have no room for you. Unfortunately, you definitely have to stay here, so I'm going to have to let some-one else go. I've got three folks here who weren't quite as bad as you. I'll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I'll even let you decide who leaves."

George thought that sounded pretty good, so he agreed.

The devil opened the first room. In it was Richard Nixon and a large pool of hot water. He kept diving in and climbing out, over and over. Such was his fate in hell.

"No!" George said. "I don't think so. I'm not a good swimmer and don't think I could stay in hot water all day."

The devil led him to the next room. In It was Tony Blair with a sledge hammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing the hammer,time after time.

"No!" I've got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day." commented George.

The devil opened a third door. In it, George saw Bill Clinton lying on the floor with his arms staked over his head, and his legs staked in spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.

George Bush looked at this in disbelief for a while and finally said, "YEAH, I can handle this."

The devil smiled and said, "Ok, Monica, you're free to go!"

HT to bratmouse.

James Spader for President (Hell, James Spader For Anything)

2006-03-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

When a bloated but still painfully sexy James Spader flatly ends his faux-lawyer speech with: "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them," I nearly wept. Now we have two great shows that edgelly remind me of the principles dearth in America: the West Wing, otherwise known as "Government as you wish it were" and Boston Legal aka "Lawyers as you wish politicians were". If you missed this past week's BL segment in which Kelly uses Spader to skewer Americans for not standing up to Bush's lies, enjoy it here: David E. Kelley, James Spader, and The Writers of "Boston Legal", Wings of Justice Honorees.

The War on Women

2006-03-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, in my opinion revived moralism has kick-started a new war on women. And yes, that would be given the thirty-year hiatus from 1972 when the first war on women (most notably furthered by that queer Christian disciple Paul) commenced.

Girls, you'd think that by now we'd get it: clitoral envy. Men just can't stand the fact that their big honkin' 'clits' can't get them off as many times as our tiny little 'penises'. Our evolutionary superiority in the form of sexual staying-power either intimidates or angers the livin' piss out of 'em, not to mention the shock and awe of knowing that all humans biologically begin as women (gasp) not men! Poor Freud...

Anyway, this post from a Kossack attempts to bring together the recent political attacks on our sex and for my money, is a great place to dive in and take a sounding from which your feminist actions can be directed. Daily Kos: The War on Women - Ladies, start your engines

Air America Phoenix: "They're Ba-ack!"

2006-03-26T04:08:00.000-07:00

Liberal Phoenicians' voices to be back on the air in less than two weeks!

Friends,

I come bearing good news.
We are proud to announce that starting April 3rd Air America Phoenix will return to the airwaves.
Our new home is at 1480 AM KPHX.
We will be carrying all of your favorite Air America personalities plus Dr. Mike Newcomb in the morning.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to the effort. This has been a remarkable effort and perhaps the most intense three weeks of my life. In the end we were able to negoitiate a better deal than we were first offered to get us in the door. We are not out of the woods yet. We need to raise more funds to finish paying the lease. We will be continuing the pixel drive in hopes to offset some of the money we have had to borrow to get on the air.
Go to www.saveairamericaphoenix.com to contribute.

Thanks again and we look forward to talking with you on the air.

Jeff Farias
Air America Phoenix

INCOMING: Orwell's Internal Revenue Service

2006-03-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

For my winger readers who don't always support Bush (or so you claim), please get your shorts in a bunch and do something about this:

Orwell's Internal Revenue Service: "The headline noted above was atop a Treasury Department December press release announcing that your tax return and mine will soon be up for sale to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
The Internal Revenue Service is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns. … If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers for the first time would be able to sell information from individual returns -- or even entire returns -- to marketers and data brokers. … The change is in a set of proposed rules the Treasury Department and the IRS published in the Dec. 8 Federal Register, where the official notice labeled them 'not a significant regulatory action.'
Like the Dubai ports deal, the administration tried to slip this little gem by with as little advance warning or fanfare as possible. The press release was issued the same day the 30-day comment period began. The entirely misleading headline was designed to throw off newsroom editors who routinely toss out reams of government agency press releases because 99.9998 percent of them are no more interesting or noteworthy than a 5th grader's 'What I did on vacation,' report.

But someone noticed, and now the administration is in full Sgt. Shultz mode again: 'I don't know nutting, I didn't see nutting.' Suddenly, no one of any rank seems to know anything about the genesis of this rule. (This new proposed 'safeguard' awkwardly made headlines the week after corporate tax preparer H&R Block was indicted for screwing taxpayers by selling them bogus savings accounts.)"

[UPDATE 3-27-06] CBS falsely suggested new IRS proposal on selling tax info "improve[s] taxpayer protections"; in fact, selling would expand.

ENVIRONMENT: NASA Shot of Alaskan Sunset

2006-03-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point.

And, you also see the sun below the moon (as it melts the ice caps).

ENVIRONMENT: Rant

2006-03-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

I clipped this comment from another blog's post about global warming:

My wife is a climatologist working for the very institute that Jim Hanson (the guy finally standing up against Bush) is in charge of. She talked about hearing Hanson speak recently and his views are becoming more and more depressing. He feels that we CAN act to mitigate the effects of warming, but he also feels that because of politics we won't and that the effects are going to be worse than previously predicted. My wife also, as she reads the most recent scientific literature on the subject, is starting to feel that things are going to get very, very bad.

It is hard to imagine from our comfortable lives just what might be in our future. Imagine the New Orleans levees situation...and apply it to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle...pretty much ALL coastal cities. Take Florida, all except the highest ground in the North part of the state, and just throw it in the ocean. Seriously. Almost the entire state will be inundated.

Now people know how to keep the ocean out. Amsterdam and even London already are fighting the sea's encroachment. So, we could do that. Except where will the money come from? Such huge public works projects would require an unprecedented expenditure on the part of the Federal government...and we are already so deeply in debt that it is hard to figure out how we will keep alfoat, let alone build massive levees to preserve our coastal cities.

The "don't worry, be happy" attitude of most conservatives to this issue is suicidal. Almost every aspect of our children's lives will be affected by this--shifting patterns of agriculture (probably favoring Canada at the expense of our breadbasket), shifting patterns of disease bringing tropical diseases into our heartland, loss of our coastal cities...

These are not the visions of environmental extremists. These are the visions of people who spend their whole lives quietly at a computer studying climate data and modeling what might happen under different circumstances. These are the visions of the world's top scientists. These are the visions of people who are normally apolitical. Our top scientists are telling us we are fucked and they are getting spooked about it.

Are we like all those Japanese monster movies where no one listens to the scientist who is warning them of the monster about to attack Tokyo? Our top scientists today are in the position of Tireseas of Greek mythology--seeing the future but fated to have no one believe you until it is way too late

I didn't bring you the blog post because it says essentially the same as all liberal articles on global warming: scientists are talking but the conservative run media isn't reporting; or scientists are talking but no-one among them or the politicians are agreeing; or scientists are talking but every other country in the world is burning fossil fuel so why shouldn't we. You not only refuse to act on the information that for the last 30 years has been fed to you pratically by spoon, you refuse to even acknowledge the issue.

I know the answers to those questions and so do you: politics. The politics of fear and greed controlling the media, the administration and finally, you.

Sarcastically speaking, each and every one of us knows in is or her heart of hearts that if global warming is coming (and I know that you know that it is), then the best place to be is America and the best position in America to be in, is rich. So it makes sense for Americans to bury their heads in their home-town sandbox's and focus on what they believe they can control; work and family, growing their bank accounts and expanding their broods.

When you do that it feels like you're in control, right? Feels like you believe down deep that somehow the greatest country in the world will either figure out and stop global warming (in your town anyway) or make it profitable, right? Feels like your conservative friends and church mates are right, that there is no global warming and even if there is, it is a normal and cyclical earth change and that nothing you've done (or can change by altering consumption) can undo, right? And that it's all going to be just fine and if it's not, then you're going to work your ass off anyway, keep your ducks in a row and get to Heaven one way or another, right?

Don't think that countries that turn sub-Saharan hot in a decade won't start eyeing the northern climates like the one in which we live. Don't think that now dirt-poor ravaged or threatened countries won't band together to create blocks of influence, money and power to wage their own "pre-emptive" strikes against others that impede global climate-saving actions. Don't think China will be your friend. Don't think millionaires will be rich enough to afford, or even allowed, to own lands with tolerable climates and resources; those will be owned by the billionaires club of which you will never be a member. No, don't think it will be like anything you can imagine because everything you can imagine is based on the history of a world with the climate of the last ten thousand years and since you can't imagine how bad it could be why are you afraid to do something-- anything--to stop it? Slow it? Understand it?

Climate change will be fully on us before your kids are having their own families. Nice wedding present you're preparing. Better hope your death certificate is tucked in that gift card because that's what you'll wish upon yourself for having foolishly, selfishy, frittered away your opportunity to loudly, vigorously and endlessly call for the leadership the deterence of global warming requires.

You complain more about a waitress who burns your toast than an event the Pentagon reports will be more catastrophic than terrorism.

I am ashamed of you.

Top Three Religious Right Leaders in Abramoff Scandal

2006-03-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible: "...and ye shall know them by their fruits"?

Tell the rotten apples what for:

"These three leaders of the religious right were part of Jack Abramoff's gambling machine. Former Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed took money from gambling interests to rally religious opposition to projects opposed by Abramoff's casino and lottery clients. Focus on the Family's James Dobson recorded ads at Reed's request that benefited gambling interests -- at the same time he was preaching against gambling. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition was paid $25,000 by online gambling outfit eLottery to lobby Congress.

Don't let them get away with it -- take action now. Send them this letter and tell them to practice what they preach."

AMERICAN HISTORY XXX: Race and The Study of Sex

2006-03-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Did you know...

The Study of Sex: "Melendez contends that 'when you study sexuality, race and ethnicity are pivot points. Who you study and what you find will be influenced by race. There needs to be a lot more people of color doing sexuality studies.' Sexuality studies has immediate relevance to communities of color, she argues, because of historical and contemporary intersections between sexualized racism and racialized sexism, and because of the ways in which sexuality can be a particular source of joy for persons of color as well.

Race 'hasn't been dealt with very well' in sexuality studies, Melendez says. Despite the fact that many people of color are interested in the topic, 'there has been mainly a large group of white men and women in the field of sexuality. A lot has to do with the word 'sexuality'; it gets associated with white people.' Melendez finds that when the word 'sexuality' gets added to a course title, people of color don't enroll."

Go ahead, tell me the discussion of sex has no place in politics, then go stuff your head back under that rock where you've been hiding.

INTERNET FREEDOM: Stop AOL's Email Tax

2006-03-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...

"AOL's plan to implement an 'email tax' is a threat to the free and open Internet. This system would create a privileged Internet in which affluent mass emailers could pay for a guarantee that their messages go directly to AOL members' inboxes.

Those who do not pay the 'email tax' would increasingly be left to the mercy of unreliable spam filters. This is the first step down a slippery slope that will harm the free flow of ideas and innovations on the Internet.

AOL's pay-to-send system would actually reward AOL financially for failing to maintain its email service. By switching to certified email, AOL has a financial incentive to degrade email for non-paying senders. This would disrupt the communications of millions who cannot afford to pay their fees while setting a dangerous precedent that other large email service providers will follow.

Tell me more

So let me see if I've got this right. AOL user's Inbox filters will be rendered useless if you have the money to pay for a "Pass Jail" card that AOL will sell to high-dollar advertiser's?

That's like me paying the USPS to stop delivering junk mail, their pocketing the cash and then taking a bribe from big companies to ensure my request is ignored.

Yep. Sounds like "big business as usual" is coming to an inbox near you.

AMERICAN HISTORY XXX: Opinions of a Sexpert

2006-03-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

In my ongoing campaign to free American politics from sexual control, via Alternet I bring you:

Opinions of a Sexpert

Andi Zeisler: In your essay collections Sexwise and "The Sexual State of the Union," you wrote about the hypocrisy of our government meddling in the sex lives of its citizenry. You were one of the first people to talk about politicians in a kind of tongue-in-cheek way as these people whose values are so misaligned with their actual behavior. Do you think it's become more obvious how hypocritical government policy is when it comes to legislating and policing sex?

Susie Bright: One of my favorite fairy tales is "The Emperor's New Clothes." And it seems like, for a long time, puritanism in America has had this very tight class structure that dictates who can be unmasked sexually. I mean, you can always take some poor wanker and make him out to be a dirty old man. But historically, you could never do that with the rich, the protected, the elite. And yet here they were, making the decisions about what everybody else got to read or look at.

The Coming Resource Wars

2006-03-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Some time ago in one of my many posts railing at the Bush administration for its stupendous ~~ignorance~~ arrogance in ignoring global warming, I mentioned this Pentagon Report. In it the Pentagon states that wars over resource loss due to global warming was a greater threat than terrorism. It was, of course, suppresssed by Rumsfield.

Hey guess what. That's what Europeans are discussing now:

The Coming Resource Wars: "It's official: the era of resource wars is upon us. In a major London address, British Defense Secretary John Reid warned that global climate change and dwindling natural resources are combining to increase the likelihood of violent conflict over land, water and energy. Climate change, he indicated, 'will make scarce resources, clean water, viable agricultural land even scarcer' -- and this will 'make the emergence of violent conflict more rather than less likely.'"

Irksome isn't it, to have this country go from being the first on the international scene in humanitarian, science and peacemaking matters to trailing behind in the yellow bus?

Impeach the Motherfucker Already

2006-03-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hysterical new blog from sex columnist Dan Savage. He even gives tips on how to make your own ITMFA logo wear: ITMFA

Preg-a-Nazi's Gleeful: State-Mandated Pregnancy in South Dakota and Beyond

2006-03-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

What some wingers say about some liberals is true; that we are filled with hate. When it comes to forced child-bearing I am one of those who hates the anti-choice ban.

Here, from Liberty Counsel (one among those many who hate women's choice) is their press release praising the return-to-the-dark-ages attitude of South Dakota and it's passage of a bill CRIMINALIZING abortion:

South Dakota Governor Signs Law Banning Abortion

Pierre, SD - Today the Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota signed legislation to ban most abortions. House Bill 1215, which passed the House by a vote of 50-18 and the Senate by a vote of 23-12, is scheduled to take effect in July.

HB 1215 concurs with the findings of a task force established by the legislature and the governor to study abortion. The task force created a 71-page, single-spaced document presenting a comprehensive overview of a broad range of testimony from counselors, abortion clinics, former abortion practitioners, experts in the field of medicine, and almost 2,000 women who had abortions. The findings address the physical, psychological and societal devastation caused by abortion.

The law states that "life begins at the time of conception, a conclusion confirmed by scientific advances since the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, including the fact that each human being is totally unique immediately at fertilization." The law says, "to fully protect the rights, interests, and health of the pregnant mother, the rights, interest, and life of her unborn child, and the mother's fundamental natural intrinsic right to a relationship with her child, abortions in South Dakota should be prohibited." The law also states, "guarantee of due process of law under the Constitution of South Dakota applies equally to born and unborn human beings, and that under the Constitution of South Dakota, a pregnant mother and her unborn child, each possess a natural and inalienable right to life."

The new law bans abortions except in cases where it is necessary to save the mother's life, but with no exceptions for health, rape or incest. The law prohibits both chemical and surgical abortions but does not apply to contraceptive measures or to unintentional death to the unborn child.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated, "I applaud the governor and the legislature for extending life and liberty to all Americans, including our unborn. To the skeptics that say some legislation is premature, I say that this legislation is long overdue. We can no longer remain silent while our children are killed, women are exploited, and our families are destroyed by abortion. One day we will look with shame on our history of legal abortion since 1973. I believe in the near future, Roe v. Wade will be overturned and the right to life for all people will be firmly protected by our laws."

Mississippi Moves Toward Abortion Ban

South Dakota is not the only state to consider an abortion ban. Similar legislation was passed by the Mississippi House of Representatives on Thursday by a margin of 94 to 25. Before passage, Senate Bill 2922 was altered by the House to add exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. The bill will return to the Senate for a final vote. Governor Barbour is expected to sign the bill. Please pray that the atrocity of abortion in America will end quickly - one state at a time.

Download their "Single-Spaced Document" and use it to construct your attacks on this religion-led invasion of your privacy. Remember, the government is in place to protect Americans from such infringement. You need to remind them that their place is to work for, not against, you.

Air America: Phoenix Progressives Back on the Air!

2006-03-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Just in from Phoenician liberal media sources:

You wanted a way to keep AA Phoenix on the air? Well, here it is. Station hosts Mike Newcomb, Jeff Farias and other KXXT alumni have a station with a 10,000 watt signal. The sum for half a year's lease is $500,000 and they're asking liberals to put up the cash.

At the end of the lease term another investor (whose details I'm not disclosing but with which I am familiar and can testify to their being solid gold) will either pick up the lease or buy the station. In either event the upshot will be an Air America Phoenix affiliate station owned and run by liberals for liberals.

What more can I say?

(UPDATE) Here's my dKos post on the same.

(UPDATE 03-07-06) Someone needs to start asking these guys some harder questions. Maybe folks putting in the bigger bucks, maybe the public. Those questions begin with: why do you need $500,000? That's nearly $3K a day. Clearly this is about operating costs but like I said before, liberals supported the last AAP and a lot of the cash went into whose pockets? And in the end, who made out except the rich owner?

Are these really the right guys to support? Are we really just going to belly up to the bar--hearts in hand--again? If we are learning anything doesn't some of it amount to 'just because you're nice doesn't make you right', or 'just because you say you're liberal doesn't make you my kind of liberal'? Hello? "Alito nominations" ring a bell? Are these progressives left enough to be liberal? To talk outside the "big D" democratic box?

I read emails from folks saying things like "I just want my AAP back". Well, I don't. I want a great liberal talk format for the valley and I'm not so willing to give my "pixel" dinero to just anyone. I deserve to have my trust earned. Am I the only one who wants a better station this time?

(UPDATE 03-09-10) I have a bit of the skinny on the doings partly through my association with the M&M Brothers (I did the blog report segment on their Sunday afternoon show) as well as direct chats with Jeff Farias. With Jeff I have more than once now suggested that he and others associated with the new endeavor do the job liberal/progressive (whatever you want to call it) talk in the valley did not get from Christy: a display of their serious commitment to liberals.

Christy made a six-figure salary, true. Goyette was bringing in five and Goyette's engineer was doing okay as well. NO other talent on the show was paid. How do you feel about that? Does that tell you anything? Christy and Goyette are libertarians--that is not a liberal position--it is in some cases as far right as to be anarchist and at least as far right as to be unfettered free-market. Either one, particularly when it leaves all other folks unpaid, is not reflecting the liberal values of which I'm a subscriber. At least one of those values is equity--a stake at the table.

Now, it has been suggested to me that Christy's pay may have included a loan repayment--and I don't know that it didn't--so I am willing to reserve some of my irritation about that salary based on my ignorance of the full situation, but it doesn't have any effect on another of my opinions about the old AAP and the "new" one: the station must be built for longevity for the liberal voice. 'By liberals, for liberals and about liberals', is the way I put it in my first post put up the night the station folded.

I've also been asking Jeff to suggest to all involved that they use this opportunity of raising the new Phoenix AA to use it as an opportunity to model leadership and true liberal values. They can start to do that by creating a page on the site where the non-proprietary business details can be viewed by all. I suggested a mission statement, five-year plan, some details about those involved (like profiles and related background) et al. In short, I'm suggesting (hell, asking) that they treat it like an opportunity to sell the station to potential investors--even when those investors are just average folks with ten dollars they're willing to contribute.

Why? Because among the many factors contributing to the negative stereotype of liberals are these two: lack of business acumen and lack of leadership. The raising of a new AAP gives the liberals involved a very public forum to demonstrate--to us and the valley--liberal skills in both of those areas. After all, who discloses such stuff publicly in a business deal? It's not really done, is it? Hey, maybe it could be an idea (gasp) from "new" liberals--or better yet, an outside-the-box approach from the enduring 'old' ones--wrongly framed as incompetents by valley (and national) Republicans whose sole purpose is to take over, not help--our communities.
In fact liberals/progressives always have been and always will be not only more than competent ( we are exemplary in our abilities) in our commitment to community, in our commitment to *transparency* (so unlike the current Republican culture of corruption). Commitment to the well-being of others is in our progressive DNA. After all, was it the current AAP Phoenix team (Farias/Newcomb, et al) getting the big buck salaries? No. By the way, where are the guys who were? They and Ed Schultz (who has already stated he does not want to participate in the current AAP team) are looking for the financial solution that's right for them--and as far as I know--they still aren't including input from you or me.

I'm a true blue liberal--not an anarchist or a softie rightie. I champion community. I want community in my radio and if not full-bore community radio (which BTW, is always a possibility for those of you so inclined) then at least enough disclosure to know for who and what I'm voting with my pixel dinero. I value myself, my time and frankly, my voice. I don't just want the best for me; I want it for us all. Don't you deserve that kind of commitment from those bringing you media? Then get it.

Women Beat Walmart On Morning After Pill

2006-03-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Wingers want you to believe the majority of Americans support the Preganazi agenda. They are wrong. Were they correct, the largest retailer in the world would not have bowed to pressure:

Victory against Wal-Mart: A first step.: "Wal-Mart did the right thing. Thanks to pressure from activists like you and three brave women in Massachusetts, Wal-Mart reversed its discriminatory policy against stocking the “morning-after” pill! Starting March 20, its pharmacies will start filling women’s prescriptions for the morning-after pill.

Though this decision is a step forward for women’s health, the retailer also said it would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill these prescriptions if they personally oppose birth control. This decision leaves the door open for women to lose access to this legally prescribed medication due to a pharmacist’s personal beliefs."

This is good news. Keep up the pressure. Drive the looney Right back where it belongs: under a rock.

1010 KXXT Phoenix AZ: Dead Air

2006-03-01T00:38:00.000-07:00

At midnight MST Air America's Phoenix affiliate 1010 KXXT, shunted from Stephanie Miller's mix of humor and satire into a featureless Christian broadcast. Without so much as a "how-do- you-do" Phoenix's "liberal" voice vanished into the warm night air.

I had tuned in especially to witness the event--sort of like making the extra effort to to stay up late just to watch Haley's comet or Mars' close rotation to the Earth--an event that comes once every 60,000 years. Unlike a celestial event the switch from liberal talk to Christian tell was chilling. I felt the reach of clammy dogma for my brain. Instead of shutting down my brain I went online and started streaming...

Most Phoenician liberals are going to mourn KXXT. For better than a year a mix of syndicated national talk show hosts mingled with old local and newcomer talent alike. Day and night free-thinkers valley-wide had a respite from the conservative talk that normally blankets the valley. Issues near and dear to liberal hearts from actual coverage of the Bush administration's endless failures to the lifting up of our own values like social justice, peace and personal accountability, filled the waves. Drive-time home took on meaning. Hell, Randhi Rhodes got me through the 2004 elections without my killing a Republican!

I however, won't miss KXXT. Why? It wasn't a "liberal" radio station at all.

From what I understand only two of the local broadcasters were compensated appropriately (if at all). For the underpaid even expenses went uncovered. There were feeble, well, no investments in marketing and none in developing a long-term vision for the station. KXXT was run to show a profitt. In the end the station managed by a libertarian made millions for its Christian Republican owner, who then unceremoniously sold out and cashed in. Yea, some liberal there.

I think those who made out on the sale of KXXT owed we who invested their broadcast and loyal listening time better than a kick in the ass on their way out the door, but since that's all we got I say good riddance. Maybe next time Phoenician liberals will be smart enough to invest in themselves, for themselves, by themselves. Until then, I'll be getting my AA fix the 'old-fashioned' way: online streaming.

Oh, and don't despair Phoenicians. Those of us interested in alternative media are putting our heads together. We know you're out there and we believe we can step in and somehow give you the media and loyalty you earned: you are NOT forsaken.

[UPDATE 3-27-06] They're Ba-ack!

South Dakota's Preganazi's Fear a Referendum Vote...

2006-02-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

...and they're happy to have pro-choice tax-payer's as well as special interests fund their fight all the way to the Supreme Court. Isn't that exactly the kind of interference in state's-rights of which wingers have accused liberals?

And doesn't it figure that the Looney Right can make on one hand, an argument that the country is filled with forced pregnancy advocates while on the other BEHAVE as if they doubt their own words? Clearly, if after countless years of "preganazi" emotional brow-beating Americans have come to their point of view and can be trusted to vote with them on the issue, no?

Ah, no...

"The state legislature earlier this week passed a bill flat out banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest. The governor, Michael Rounds, while nominally neutral, is thought to be ready to sign it. Then, the legislation will be challenged in court. And it is here that the real political battle begins.

A campaign to push the legislation through the U.S. court system up to the Supreme Court where South Dakotans can lead the charge to overturn Roe v. Wade, will cost over $1 million. South Dakota doesn't have that kind of money. So Rounds is studying ways of accepting into the state treasury private funds with which to wage the battle in the name of the South Dakota citizenry. In short,the well-heeled opponents of abortion are going to hire the public state government to fight their battle.

But while South Dakotan legislators have portrayed their state's political attitude as singularly pro-life, many argue the citizenry, if given a chance to approve or disapprove the bill, would come out against a ban. Thelma Underburg, the Executive Director NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota, argues that defeat of a recent bill in the state legislature calling for a referendum, in fact, shows that "despite the right to life people saying it is a pro-life state, they know . . . if it ever came to a vote of the people, the majority think that a safe and legal abortion is a right."

INCOMING: Animal Cruelty in Chandler, AZ: STOP COVANCE LABS!!!

2006-02-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

There a hundred ways to make money that do not require inhumane treatment of us, one to the other. Yet for the sake of making a few more dollars we simply REFUSE to invest in the best of those ways. Eliminating animal tests that are either unnecessary (but cheap) or administering necessary tests in expeditious or cost efficient methods that cause cruelty after the fact, are among them.

Preventing animal cruelty is among the top of my list of Things Humane Beings DO because what sets humans apart from other species is NOT our ability to control our sex drive but our ability to control our fear. Refusal to invest a dollar to reduce suffering in any other being is giving in to the fear of lack, otherwise known as GREED.

According to the information on this website, Covance Labs not only does cruel experiments, they are readying themselves to do them in my neighborhood. Further, they will be doing them with wild-caught monkeys that are not only our closest genetic ancestor (with the equivalent intelligence of a child) but which can carry EBOLA--brought through the airport--into my neighborhood. Were I not a humane being I would at least be opposed to the risk of having a flesh-eating viral (bacterial?) contaminant floating about in my air!

And for what is Covance waiting? The March 14th local elections. Hmmm...corporation$ waiting for politician$ that will bend to their interests sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Stop the building of Covance Laboratories in Chandler, AZ Petition: "Covance Laboratories—one of the world’s largest animal-testing laboratories, the world’s largest breeder of dogs for experiments, and one of the biggest importers of wild-caught monkeys into the United States—is planning to build a new testing facility in Chandler, Arizona. We need your help to stop this project in its tracks!

Earlier this year, PETA went public with an 11-month investigation inside a Covance laboratory in Vienna, Virginia—documenting appalling physical and psychological abuse of monkeys. Video footage shot inside Covance was described by a U.K. judge as being “highly disturbing.” The judge also commented on the “rough manner in which the animals [are] handled and the bleakness of the surroundings in which they are kept,” matters which he said “cry out for explanation.”

Indeed, Covance has a lot of explaining to do—from the hundreds of violations of the Animal Welfare Act documented by PETA’s investigator to the sloppy business practices noted in its violations of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to problems ensuring safety of its workers and its host community (in 1989, when Covance was known as Hazleton Labs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a tactical medical military team outfitted in biohazard suits had to enter the lab, kill all the animals, and seal the facility as Ebola virus had been discovered in sick monkeys brought in by the laboratory from the Philippines)—and it does not deserve a red carpet welcome into Chandler. "

Need I say it? ACT NOW!!! By the way, mine is signature 3732.

Pulitzer Bears Repeating

2006-02-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

Although this writer is explaining his motivation for critiquing extremist conservative Christian influence in politics, this quote itself is read-worthy. From Behind the Curtain:

''Always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice and corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news; always be drastically independent; never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.''

Internet Neutrality and What You Can Do

2006-02-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

There's only so much you can do in a week. If you're an activist you learn to pick your battles. I've staked my battles on the front lines of environmental sustainability, freedom of expression and protecting our vibrant democracy. As a component of the last two, Internet neutrality is now on my map...

A vibrant (read: living) democracy REQUIRES an informed populace. In the last 15 years media ownership has dwindled from 50 competitors to a handful of giants; "...Disney, Viacom (now known as CBS Corporation), Time Warner, News Corp, Bertelsmann, and General Electric together own more than 90% of the media market". News has become a commodity better described as infotainment (at best) and at worst, propaganda. In either case the information is severely slanted and limited and I presume it to routinely omit information detrimental to its corporate owner's interests.

The Internet has become the last open, free information conduit regulated more by reader interest than editorial slant. I don't trust everything I read to be accurate but I do trust that I will find enough information on any topic to draw my own conclusions. For this (at least) it has become a valuable resource for many and hence drawn the attention of its profit-driven providers. Who will control this seeming last frontier of the public media landscape? What will happen to Internet neutrality or as Mediageek puts it: "...who will control what information, data, images and sound you can receive over your broadband connection, and whether or not the big telcos like AT&T and Verizon can filter out some types of content or charge you significantly more for the privilege."

These quotes are from an excellent 'jumping-off' post on the topic:

MediaCitizen: "As major communications companies plan to control and profit from our broadband future, bloggers, independent media makers and their audiences need to remain vigilant and encourage a real debate about protecting the free flow of information and ideas.

Free Press has started to convene monthly blogger calls at the intersection of media and policy. With this series, we hope we can spark a serious debate about what the future of the Internet -- and all digital media -- will be."

Laurence Lessig (Stanford Law School):

"If business were as usual, [the telecom companies] would win this. But there have been important instances where grassroots resistance has actually stopped major changes in public policy... I think a similar thing could happen here. If there really were a grassroots opposition to this, that raised a lot of anger and passion around it, I think there are a lot of politicians who would pick up on it.

"One thing I saw at the hearing, when I was testifying, is that it just didn't sit right, either with Republicans or Democrats, to imagine the Internet changed into a place where you basically could control what people had access to, or the networks had the right to control what people had access to. There really is an opportunity to do something successful in this context if there really were a movement."

I propose this process for success:

Commit to securing Internet neutrality for your own good--could the tools you use go away or cost you (even) more? Could sites you rely on for political news, simply disappear? Tell Congress how you feel.
Do your own research and while you're at it ask yourself how much you save in time and dollars doing it online. Providers are asking that question too but remember, you already pay for the line use, should you pay for "choice use"? Take that up with Congress.
Share what you discover and what you do with others through letters to the editor, chats around the water cooler and heck, in online chat rooms. Get others to contact Congress.
Get folks to sign petitions--just email them the links. The petitions go to Congress.
Repeat. Did I mention anything about Congress?

Keep the Internet Open to Competition

2006-02-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Tired of online petitions? Me too. Too bad. Sign this one:

Consumers Union:: "Giant companies, like AT&T and Verizon, that offer high-speed Internet service want the right to decide what web sites, services, and applications you can get on the Internet. Why? Because they can. A few big telephone and cable companies own the lines that connect you to the Internet. That gives them the ability to control whether and how fast you can get to what you want on the Web and to favor their own services, like forcing you to buy their e-mail applications over those of their competitors. For example, if they want, they could slow your access to e-Bay while speeding up service to their own auction site.

Worse, on top of charging you for Internet service, they also want to charge Internet companies, like Google or Yahoo, for the right to send you information and services at the increasingly faster speeds available on the Net. That means only Internet companies that can afford to pay will survive. So much for the Internet as we’ve known it."

IRAN: Somebody Please, Stop Us Before We Kill Again.

2006-02-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

On the eve of the 2004 elections a friend and I made a two-part bet. His position: Bush would win and the result would be conservative gains on the Supreme Court. My position: Kerry would win but if Bush prevailed, he would go to war in Iran (a concern my friend dismissed). I've already paid for the bet I lost (a yummy dinner in a Five-Star restaurant). There will be no good aftertaste for the bet I win...

Will the Whistles Blow Before We Attack Iran?: "Anyone who has been near a TV in recent weeks has heard the drumbeat for war on Iran. The best guess for timing is next month.

Let's see if we cannot do better this time than we did on Iraq. Patriotic truth tellers, we need you! In an interview last year with US News and World Report, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said that on Iraq, 'The White House is completely disconnected from reality … It's like they're just making it up as they go along.'

Ditto for an adventure against Iran. But the juggernaut has begun to roll; the White House/FOX News/Washington Times spin machine is at full tilt. This is where whistle-blowers come in. Some of you will have the equivalent of the Gen. Abrams cable, shedding light on what the Bush administration is up to beneath the spin. Those of you clued into Israeli plans and U.S. intelligence support for them might clue us in too. Don't bother this time with the once-independent congressional oversight committees; you will have no protection, in any case, if you choose that route -- CIA Director Porter Goss' recent claims to the contrary notwithstanding. Nor should you bother with the once-independent New York Times. Find some other way; just be sure you get the truth out -- information that will provide the oxygen for democracy."

K Street Lobbying is Not Good For Main Street Business (No Matter How Much They Pay to Convince You That They Are)

2006-02-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

Americans need to kick Big Bidness out of Congress. After all, we don't vote for lobbyists and their interests are not our interests:

Clients' Rewards Keep K Street Lobbyists Thriving: "A few years ago, a coalition of 60 corporations -- including Pfizer, Hewlett-Packard and Altria -- made an expensive wager. They spent $1.6 million in lobbying fees -- a hefty amount even by recent K Street standards -- to persuade Congress to create a special low tax rate that they could apply to earnings from their foreign operations for one year.

The effort faltered at first, but eventually the bet paid off big. In late 2004, President Bush signed into law a bill that reduced the rate to 5 percent, 30 percentage points below the existing levy. More than $300 billion in foreign earnings has since poured into the United States, saving the companies roughly $100 billion in taxes.

Although not every political battle yields $100 billion, the return on investment in lobbying is often so substantial that experts and insiders agree that Washington's influence industry will continue to thrive no matter how lawmakers decide to rein it in."

Paul Hackett, We Hardly Knew Ye.

2006-02-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to beltway politics as usual Ohio Senate primary contender Paul Hacket was dealt the Dean Death Blow. That's what happens to Democratic politico outsiders with strong grass-roots support that exhibit authentic personal authority, strong self-confidence, a commitment to genuine liberal principles and the willingness to wage a pitched fight.

Don't believe me? Listen to this 1/2 hour candid interview with Hackett himself (and weep) coz these are the words of a good man--a really good man--the kind that can bring people back to the political process, and now he's gone.

AMERICAN HISTORY XXX: The American Cherry

2006-02-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

The most powerful tool for controlling behavior is the fear of guilt and shame. Want to build a society where people would rather die than be shamed? Look at Japan where suicide as an alternative to shame, is a cultural feature.

We are not at that point in America. It's not a cultural component of Protestantism. Instead it is around sexual behavior that in our culture guilt and shame have their most powerful behavior-warping resonance. Just look at the political martyrs Bill and Monica. Republican strategists' publicly crucified a couple that had rather unspectacular extra-marital 'sex'. Those strategists' only (more sordid) motivation was to create public outcry intended to harm the Democrats' 2000 presidential bid.

Since that tactic worked so well it has focused my attention on who, what, when, where, how and why Americans can be socially (and hence politically) victimized by sexual threat. Combatting the perjorative implication of sex has become one of my personal battles and victory will be won for all Americans when sex has become positively reframed. Nobody should be able to threaten another persons social standing and our country's political health through such irrelevant standards as race, gender and yes, sexual behavior.

In my new series American History XXX, I'm going to be bringing you coverage of America's sexual culture pro and con. To begin the series I give you Alternet's interview with the author of a new study and book regarding some young Americans first sexual experiences, Not That Innocent:

"Gynne Watkins: What makes virginity such a powerful political tool?

Laura M. Carpenter: Culturally, we have a 'preserve the innocent' ideology that you see in the 'innocent unborn children' arguments of pro-lifers. You see it in 'women and children first,' as if they're somehow more valuable than everyone else. Protecting women, protecting innocents."

OPEN THREAD: Friday 02-10-06

2006-02-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

Busy week. My apologies. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves...

The PoliPointPress "Blue Pages Book" is a Rip-Off!!!

2006-02-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

In the early days of BuyBlue I was a volunteer researcher. It didn't last long as the unpaid hours were not something I could maintain. Given that, I have nothing but respect for those working at the project. They were wonderful to work with and extrememly devoted to their cause.

That being said, this news is even more angering:

The Blue Pages Book is not a BuyBlue Project: "We understand that PoliPointPress has released a book entitled The Blue Pages: A Directory of Companies Rated by Their Politics and Practices. This publication has nothing to do with BuyBlue.org. We at BuyBlue did not research this book, nor write it. But we do believe that our proprietary rights have been violated and we intend to pursue our lawful remedies against PoliPointPress."

Support BuyBlue. They are one of the very Good Guys.

Cartoon Culture

2006-02-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

The cartoon wars have taken the West by surprise because the nature of our culture veers toward ridicule (as opposed to humor), reducing any- and everything to caricature, and is incapable of keeping a straight face regardless of what is going on around us. We have become so conditioned to seeing the world in two-dimensions that when Muslims protest at a shallow depiction of their prophet we are amazed and want to say nothing more than, Hey, lighten up. It is inconceivable to us that anyone in the twenty-first century could be so unremittingly serious about spirituality.

In the dominant culture of the USA, advertising promotes products in short dramatizations that don’t shrink, religion aside, from making fun of anything. It is the job of advertising agencies to probe into the subconscious and plant the desire for trivia there until any values beyond consumerism are inconceivable. Little wonder that an issue as serious as global climate change receives scant attention considering its implications. Even our view of nature has been stripped of a dimension by decades of Disney depictions of animals minus their animal natures. How different the world would look today had the first Disney characters evoked the same outrage as the Danish Mohammed has.

Political cartoons have a place next to the editorial pages where opinions jostle. Their purpose is to deflate public figures and to satirize their actions, not to pull the rug our from under our system of belief. Even when religion is the theme, the brunt of the attack is earthly rather than godly. The Austrian cartoonist Manfred Deix has often incurred the wrath of the Catholic Church with his depictions of errant priests or Pope John Paul II kissing airport tarmac, but was finally sued when he showed Jesus delivering a right hook. Legal action is one thing, we might say, and Catholics did not riot, but the case casts some light on where tolerance ends for Europeans.

If the intent of the Danish cartoon was to make fun of Muslims by showing a cut-out version of their most revered figure rather than of Mohammed himself, the response is understandable. Our problem in looking at the fuss lies in our ability, or lack thereof, to empathize with people whose outlook is, by our standards, so medieval. Cultural migrations have complex repercussions, and when contrasting mindsets find themselves side by side they both face a challenge to basic values. It is as easy as it is logical to argue that immigrants to Denmark ought to adapt to the country, and I can’t take issue with that. On the other hand, adapting is easier said than done. Is it so much to ask of the host country that, having opened up to immigrants, it should learn from them as they are expected to learn from new surroundings?

It is interesting that the reaction was ignited in Copenhagen, an unexpected conflict zone, but Muslims in Europe are more likely to have their values challenged by, for example, openly sexual material, than they would in the more puritanical USA. Europeans have decided that erotic material and free speech are part and parcel of their society, and Muslims will have to live with that if they are to live in Europe. From across the Atlantic, the response to a cartoon continues to suggest that the Muslims are uncivilized and censorial whereas it could just as easily be telling us that a serious life is lived more intensely than one in a TV commercial.

Mohammed Cartoons Part III: Who Says I Can't Ridicule Believers in God?

2006-02-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Whether Saudis actually set this little tinder fire ablaze or not is important as it links to Arab-International affairs, no doubt.

"Is that a bomb on your head orange are you happy to see me?" jokes aside, the link to the Dane's attempt (from my post below) to extend for the rest of us an insight into how inoffensive the cartoons appeared to Jyllands-Posten's average readers (including Danish Muslims) is equally important for an entirely different reason. The interpretations ~~she~~ he gives in most cases suggest that the images don't represent Mohammed at all, but twists of concepts regarding freedom-of-speech and religious behavior and sensitivity (IMO over-sensitivity) in the context of a pluralistic, secular society.

Juan Cole posts an article here with a long selection from the BBC of responses to the cartoons from papers throughout Iraq. Those responses vary in degree of anger and blame-placing from publisher to province. The one most startling to me was from Al-Sabah newspaper which is government sponsored:

"...if the law in a country allowed a writer or an artist to express their opinion any way they liked, then there was an unwritten law which made it necessary to respect the feelings and beliefs of others, among many other things which may not be covered by the legal system, but should be understood under the moral system". The writer added that "you may have the right to deny the existence of God, but you do not have the right, under any circumstances, to ridicule those who believe in Him".

I don't? Is that sounding as PC to you as it is to me? Yet right-wing advocates are identical in sentiment on religious matters, while deriding the same PC attitude when liberals apply it to race, gender or sexual identity.

The Mohammed Cartoons give us a perfect mirror from which to view our own partisan cultural war yet we seem to be missing the opportunity for the discussion, we are so bent on rushing to defend one or another of what I think are the fallacious poles of the argument embodied in the current framing: freedom of expression versus restrictions on hate speech.

What "hate speech"? The Dane clearly explains how those cartoons were viewed at least by one Dane--~~her~~ him--and I have no reason to believe that ~~her~~ his sentiment is not unlike let's say half of ~~her~~ his countrymen and women...so what "hate speech"?

Has our culture been driven so far right and secularists so marginalized by the successful right-wing application of the "Principle of Asymmetry" to all things labeled left (including critical thinking and the completely acceptable practice of atheism) that no-one is willing to say (hell, shout) that the hate vs. free speech argument has no legs?!

The cartoons are an opportunity for dialogue about sacred cows vs. sacred symbols and free thought about both. It is also an opportunity to examine the use of that false dilemma (hate speech vs. free speech) as an attack on science through secularism in our own country.

Can we have that dialog soon please?

Hat tip to RezDog for the Juan Cole link.

Lessons From The Right

2006-02-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

As Democrats get serious about the 2006 midterms we are reveiewing choices that haven't worked so far. We certainly can identify some Senators.

The following is an interesting article from my favorite libertarian site Lew Rockwell. Although presented to supporters of the right and its institutions the advice is sage for any partisan activist. Read it and learn:

Why Fund an Institutional Corpse?: "The mark of sclerosis of an ideological organization is its failure to commit to its own past. If today's troops are not reminded of the consistency of the vision and the sacrifices that went before, there is no reason for them to commit today. Why bother? They will not be remembered, any more than the founders are remembered by the heirs. If an organization is not committed to its foundational past, then it is not committed to the future, either.

There are some ideological organizations that have not published their old materials because they have been taken over by people who do not share the vision of the founder. They may not be sclerotic organizations. They may be merely hijacked organizations.

BEFORE YOU WRITE THAT CHECK. . . .

There is always fund-raising for ideological organizations. But donors are well advised to look carefully at the uses for their money. Unlike in profit-seeking organizations, there is no clear-cut success indicator for ideological, non-profit organizations. This much is sure: the ability to spend money is not unique to productive ones. Non-productive ones can spend money with the same degree of commitment.

Here are some legitimate questions to ask:

What have you published in the past? I want to read it.
What have you published lately? I want to read it.
How many people are reading this material today?
How many of these readers have become teachers or writers?
How many people under age 30 are reading it?
How many people have attended your conferences lately?
Are there CDs or DVDs of these conferences?
Are all these numbers growing?
Is your top priority the Web?
Does your budget reflect this?

The more money you plan to donate, the more reason to ask.

Here is the #1 question to ask yourself before writing that check:

Is my money going to fund those things in which I believe deeply, which apart from my donation may not be achieved?

This is what Kennedy's Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara called 'more bang for the buck.' He meant it literally. I mean it figuratively."

ENVIRONMENT: Action Against Bush Gag Order

2006-02-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

After Alito, I'm tired of signing online petitions. The following is a link to an online petition. Sign it or not but if you don't consider joining this effort with a commitment equal to the one you mustered for the Alito filibuster. You know your constitutional rights won't matter a mammal's ass if our planet becomes a desert...

On issue after issue, the Bush administration is secretive and deceptive. The most recent example: the Bush administration is trying to gag NASA's top climate scientist - Dr. James Hansen - because he spoke publicly about the threats of global warming.

While the Bush administration wants to leave us in the dark, we say Stop the Gag on Global Warming!

Tell Michael Griffin, the President's hand-picked NASA Administrator, to stop censoring federal scientists. To stop these scare tactics, we are aiming to get 4,000 people to send a letter - so after you take action, please ask your friends and family and urge them to speak out against censoring federal researchers.

The CIA Leak: Plame Was Still Covert

2006-02-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

For the wingers among you: Plame Was Still Covert.

Just saying...

The Mohammed Cartoons Redux: Saudi Smoke Screen?

2006-02-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

For the reasons mentioned in my previous Mohammed Cartoons post this topic still interests me. What sparked it has not been as interesting as the multiple debates behind it.

Now, according to some on both sides of the partisan divide, Saudis attempting to draw heat from their government for the deaths of pilgrims during Hajj, deaths that happen annually despite Saudi promises to organize the event better--not the cartoon depiction of Mohammed (top) and the 11 (above) published thereafter--may have kicked this off.

From dKos:

Muslim Cartoon Controversy: What the Media Isn't Telling You: "The point I'm trying to make here is that Mohammed (PBUH) has been depicted, painted or made appearances in animated cartoons on many, many occasions and yet there's been no rioting, storming of embassies and CNN coverage. The question becomes, not why were the Danish cartoons offensive or inappropriate, but why is there such a strong reaction now?

Denmark has a long history of multi-cultural tolerance, including their famous solidarity stand with Jewish citizens during World War 2. The newspaper Jyllands-Posten itself was surprised by the strong reaction to their cartoons and even apologized publically for any offense they may have caused. And for 2 months, there was hardly a peep from any Muslim group outside a small protest in Denmark itself and somewhat larger protests in Pakistan.

So what triggered this? Well it takes a blog to explain it. What CNN and the other traditional media failed to tell you is that the thousand gallons of fuel added to the fire of outrage came from none other than our old pals Saudi Arabia."

--snip--

Saudi Arabia's influence on the Sunni Muslim world is incalculable. The sermons from high-ranking Muslim clerics are read and studied by Muslims around the world, who in turn give sermons to their local congregations. While the Saudis do not have direct control of the world's Sunni flocks, their influence is similar somewhat to the Pope's pronouncements and the sermons that Catholic priests give to their flocks the following Sundays. Saudi Arabia also finances a number of Muslim "study centers", where all the literature and material is provided by the Saudi government, filled with hatred for Jews and other extremely racist material. For them to promote an idea based on religion, including "outrage" at some cartoons published months earlier, is standard operating procedure.

Of course there is more than Saudi Arabia's hand at play here. The issue has metamorphed from religious outrage at a dozen cartoons to a clash of those who feel they are oppressed and downtrodded by the Christian world and those they consider their oppressors. That's why there was anti-Christian rioting in Lebanon, where the two religious groups have a long and tumultous co-existance.

As I sat there watching CNN (International) with my friend today, I could not help but note the number of Saudi flags that the various rioters were waving in Lebanon and Syria. Coincidence? I think not. Look for yourself - they are green with a large expanse of Arabic writing in white above a sword.

A snip from the aforementioned blog (The Religious Policeman) on the topic:

Generally, active Muslims around the world have reacted well to our lead. As well as the unemployed "usual suspects" in Palestine and Indonesia, some British Muslims gave a particularly impressive display yesterday.

The official reaction of British officialdom - precisely nothing! - illustrates how successful we have been over the years in getting them to accept the "Principle of Asymmetry". In other words, we use their sense of "fair play", "multiculturalism", "democratic values", and of course their guilt feelings, against them, so that they restrict their own freedom of action, but are very lax when dealing with the Muslim, for fear of offense or violent reaction. This of course confuses and demoralizes the ordinary person-in-the-street, and weakens their resistance to the onward march of the Ummah.

May I just say, Your Majesty, how these events have demonstrated the wisdom of your decision to remind people about those old cartoons. The story has now developed a momentum of its own, it will run and run, and who remembers those pilgrims in Makkah? What pilgrims? Exactly! Not only that, but the Egyptians' poor maritime standards mean that a much larger death toll will now remain in the public eye.

...and a link to an earlier post (same topic, The Religious Policeman).

The blog to which the dKos diary links appears to me to be a satire blog. Wingers (and the dKos diarist) are taking the blogger (Alhamedi) at his word but I find it odd that an average Saudi citizen living in London would bother to imbed a link at the bottom of his blog connecting to the TTLB (The Truth Be Told) Ecosystem. TTLB is a page-ranking system. If you follow the link from his site to the TTLB home page you will find right-leaning sponsorship--an ad for the GOP, Pajamas Media, The Wall Street Journal, etc. I digress, but like I said I have only half belief the blog is a reliable source on the matter.

What I find jumps out beside the intended irony of the post in discussion (the one referenced in the dKos article) is Alhemedi's articulate definition of a tactic refered to as the "Principle of Asymetry":

In other words, we use their sense of "fair play", "multiculturalism", "democratic values", and of course their guilt feelings, against them, so that they restrict their own freedom of action, but are very lax when dealing with the Muslim, for fear of offense or violent reaction. This of course confuses and demoralizes the ordinary person-in-the-street, and weakens their resistance to the onward march of the Ummah.

Imagine him instead to be describing it being used by Republicans relative to Democrats. There I think you have an intended and valuable contribution not only to the discussion of religious extremism (let's call it The Mohammed Effect) in all religious fundamentalism but of Republican fanatics' application of it to all political topics as well.

(UPDATE 11:45 MST) This interesting post is from a blog launched specifically by a Dane to explain--from the Danish POV--the interpretation of each of the 12 cartoons as well as the Danish law that protects the speech (and Muslim dissent) over them. The cartoon explanations are near the end of the post.

Wingers Think the SCOTU is Still Not "Right" Enough

2006-02-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, wingers are not cut of a cloth and many are not happy with Bush. We obviously think he's too far right and they think he's not far right enough (jeez, the thought hurts my head).

It may be hard to imagine but among the last lot there are those who think that even with Alito, the SCOTU is still too liberal (warning: the following article may not be suitable for sensitive readers):

That Old Washington Shell Game And the Supreme Court: "The truth remains, even if we count Justice Alito, there are only four true conservatives on the Supreme Court, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito, leaving five liberal justices still well capable of continuing the judicial activism they have come to love so well. Future 5-4 decisions may still go the wrong way."

The "wrong" way?

Six Alabama Churches Torched

2006-02-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Arson? Nah--spontaneous combustion. Du-uh!!!

It'll be interesting to discover the link between them. If we're lucky it was atheists. If not, terrorists? Hopefully it's a statement about something. Otherwise, just plain dumb:

Police suspect arson at six Ala. churches: "Fires damaged five rural Alabama churches in a string of suspected arsons late Thursday and early Friday.

The fires were set 'as fast as they could drive from one location to the next,' Bibb County Chief Deputy Sheriff Kenneth Weems said of the cluster of blazes, all near U.S. 82 and Highway 139.

Most of the churches were Baptist and all were in Bibb County, about 25 miles south of Birmingham.

--snip--

In 1996, race was a factor in a series of arsons that damaged rural black churches in Alabama and elsewhere. But Ingram said the fires late Thursday and early Friday destroyed both the churches of predominantly black congregations and predominantly white congregations."

Arpaio Denies Inmate Abortion Access

2006-02-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Although I rarely cover its news, Phoenix is my home turf. Politically more red than the bloody maw of a coyote that just snatched your poodle, Phoenix is an embarassment of riches when it comes to cowboy behaviors. Sheriff "Joe" Arpaio is just one of many of those embarassments.

Since the liberals who live here KNOW that he is constantly campaigning and grand-standing and generally making an example of those who have the least amount of power to defend themselves, the following personal battle of his (and the local religious fanatics) is no surprise:

Points of Life: Sheriff Arpaio Promises A Fight to the Supreme Court: "I just got off the phone with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and I will tell you that despite the loss of this battle, he is ready, willing and able to take this case all the way to the Supreme Court. I have never heard him so adamant and passionate about this issue and willing to take on the ACLU. Sheriff Joe is a fighter and will go to the wall for the unborn and the pro-life movement on this issue and he's doing it not because it's politically expedient but because it's the right thing to do.

In our conversation, Sheriff Arpaio reinterated his position on the issue citing very personal life experiences. It was easy to see that he is very no-nonsense on this issue. Right before he hung up he asked me if we would support him in this battle and I replied that he has our support 100%.

I have not spoken with my friend, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, but we can also count on him to be on board especially if it means fighting the ACLU, the abortion lapdogs and the activist judges."

Andrew Thomas is currently embroiled in a recount scandal.

The Mohammed Cartoons

2006-02-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

As an artist and free-thinker the controversy over what I call the Mohammed Cartoons is fascinating.

I can easily understand how a person convinced that the material world is both a manifestation of, and manifested by, a deity's intent, is offended by anything that insults that deity (and by inference, them as well).

It is exceptionally dangerous for people to be so invested in such beliefs. I think it is the inherent danger to freedom of thought, of ALL forms of religious fundamentalism.

When you read the context from which the images arose you get a sense of why the cartoons arose--indignation. We often satirize those things which anger us--it is a safe form of expression in a culture. I for one think all the major religions should be satirized in cartoons. We take religion, especially in America, way too seriously. Maybe we should consider that taking religion too seriously is a manifestation of taking ourselves too seriously as well:

What the cartoons were about: "The cartoon series appearing on this page that sparked a global controversy was commissioned and published by a Danish newspaper as a deliberate challenge to Muslim insistence that their religious feelings must be given special consideration.

The drawings were commissioned by the Jyllands-Posten (Jutland's Post) to accompany an article on self-censorship and freedom of speech after Danish writer Kare Bluitgen was unable failed to find artists willing to illustrate his children's book about Mohammed for fear of violent attacks by extremist Muslims."

(UPDATE)

He has said the issue has gone beyond Denmark to become a clash between Western free speech and Islamic taboos.

Fresh Muslim protests flared on Friday in a number of countries over the cartoons, one of which shows the Prophet wearing a headdress shaped like a bomb.

Another shows him saying that paradise is running short of virgins for suicide bombers.

WOW: Alito Splits With Conservatives (?)

2006-02-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Wha' the...?

"New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservatives Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death row inmate contesting lethal injection.

Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas supported lifting the stay, but Alito joined the remaining five members in turning down Missouri's last minute request to allow a midnight execution. "

Libby Trial Date Set--After Elections

2006-02-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm:

Trial date - Feb 3, 2006: "A federal judge on Friday set former White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's trial date in the CIA leak case for January 2007, two months after the midterm congressional elections."

9/11 Story is a Hoax

2006-02-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Just heard an interview with James Fetzer from S9/11T on KXXT Phoenix's Air America local broadcaster Charles Goyette's show. If you get the chance to hear Fetzer in an interview do it. Very interesting:

Experts Claim Official 9/11 Story is a Hoax: "A group of distinguished experts and scholars, including Robert M. Bowman, James H. Fetzer, Wayne Madsen, John McMurtry, Morgan Reynolds, and Andreas von Buelow, have concluded that senior government officials have covered up crucial facts about what really happened on 9/11.

They have joined with others in common cause as members of 'Scholars for 9/11 Truth' (S9/11T), because they are convinced, based on their own research, that the administration has been deceiving the nation about critical events in New York and Washington, D.C.

These experts suggest these events may have been orchestrated by elements within the administration to manipulate Americans into supporting policies at home and abroad they would never have condoned absent 'another Pearl Harbor.'

They believe that this White House is incapable of investigating itself and hope the possibility that Congress might hold an unaccountable administration accountable is not merely naive or wishful thinking."

It's The Republicans, Stupid

2006-02-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, after an especially crushing defeat by the radical right I wonder if it's me. If they are actually correct and I AM disconnected from reality. Otherwise, how could we continue to lose battle after battle? Is it only me who seems to see what appears to be the obvious, i.e. how radical Republicans get Democrats to cave in fight after fight?

Then from time to time I make a new liberal friend or political contact who can repeat to me, without any prompting, the same observations about how it is we lose. Confirmation that I am in touch, awake--just unable to wake the sleeping around me.

Cenk Uyger from The Young Turks has an EXCELLENT post in today's Alternet. He reiterates what some of us already know, point by point, about how dems keep losing these fights.

I'm going to fax the whole damn thing to every Senator who voted against the filibuster. Maybe someone should join me. How about you?

Maybe if we fought as hard everyday as we did over the confirmation, they would finally get it. We ARE the base, those who get and keep them elected. They work for us.

Alternative, Alshmernative, You Didn't Think The Oil Man Was Serious Did You?

2006-02-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Via dKos:

Bush to Lay Off Renewable Energy Researchers: "We are asked to suffer the Secretary of Energy telling us (link added) within 24 hours that Bush lied in his speech about reducing Middle Eastern oil imports. We are asked to suffer oil-state Republicans who once gave away the oil under federal land but who are now tightwads when it comes to subsidizing other fuels. And, now, we are asked to suffer this:

From today's NYT:

The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.

A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports."

Explain to me, somebody who supports Bush, how this is not a lie to the American people? Too many researchers on alternatives in the governmet? Enough out in the private sector? Prove it--bring the data.

Maybe it's like the private support for aids. One in every $100 dollars actually gets out of the American organizations that receive the money and into the hands of African aids workers. Is that how alternative energy investement works as well?

How many of the dollars received by contractors Bush annoints get ploughed back into campaign financing to ensure the flow of tax dollars to keep that GOP power-grab going?

That must be what they've meant all along by "trickle-down" theory. How's that working for you?

Why Blue? Why Donkey? Why Democrat?

2006-02-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

Still struggling with the flu, I can't stop thinking about how the Democratic Senators let liberals and all women in this country down by refusing to filibuster Alito.

Just let me remind everyone one more time that Alito came out of conference on a straight party-line vote, had three days of debate and then? The ONLY way to investigate his background and record further was through the filibuster. Far from being "obstructionist" (I swear I'm going to slug the next person who says that to my face) the Senators would have been working to get past Alito's slick maneuvers (including his wife's teary-eyed acting display) to get to the real political animal under the mask. Frankly, I believe the radical Republicans were terrified Alito would actually get tripped up and make an honest statement.

We spend nearly half a year learning about, discussing and considering our presidential nominees who in the end once elected, have only eight years at most to wreck havoc on the nation--except--when it comes to the SCOTU appointments; the Holy Grail.

Maybe now that we have these literalists on the court it is time to turn the tide. To keep every bit of legislation away from them and make them irrelevant and meaningless. Or to take them only the battles we know will make our country more liberal while decreasing their influence.

I for one think it's time to take up that battle of corporate "personhood" and be done with the perversion of corporate influence on politics once and for all. Where does it say (or even imply) in the constitution that a corporation is a person? And how about losing that stupid connection to the color blue? That only started in 2000. I personally prefer red--the color of anger, energy and power. Toss that "cool" blue out. Maybe orange? And let's make Republican's green--for greed.

Loose the donkey too. I'm nobody's jack-ass.

Oh, I'm not expecting our present (Republican-lite) Democrats to take on any battles. No, but raw energy, curiosity, creativity, the spirit to fight (and win), intelligence, courage and commitment to liberal ideals should be first among the qualities of the Democrats we will be electing in the near future. We have a lot to do.

And In The End...

2006-01-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

Byrd

Conrad

Johnson

Nelson (NE)

Americans Prefer Democrats

2006-01-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

Wingnuts throughout the land are gloating. They really believe Alito's America is theirs. However, in the real world we have:

"On Iraq, 55 percent say the war was not worth fighting and 60 percent disapprove of how Bush is handling it. On the deficit, 64 percent disapprove of his work; on health care 60 percent; on immigration 57 percent; on ethics 56 percent (see separate Jan. 27 analysis on ethics). Six in 10 say the economy's hurting. Six in 10 don't think Bush understands their problems. Fifty-three percent don't see him as honest and trustworthy.

OPPOSITION — Bush's problems clearly benefit the opposition: Americans — by a 16-point margin, 51 percent to 35 percent — now say the country should go in the direction in which the Democrats want to lead, rather than follow Bush. That's a 10-point drop for the president from a year ago, and the Democrats' first head-to-head majority of his presidency."

Moving Right Along...

2006-01-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of really invigorating and uplifting posts out there. Obviously as disappointed as we are with the votes of our representatives we know what to do next: Fire them. Hire those who WILL represent core liberal prinicples and core liberal goals. To that end I am liking this diary at dKos:

We should look for inspiration from our heroes. But tonight, we should also look beyond the examples of our heroes, and the difficulties they had to face to prevail. Tonight, also look at the example of our adversaries.

And we should remember, the conservatives NEVER give up.

Most of you will know this answer, but it's still important to ask the question:

What is generally considered the most important galvanizing event for the modern conservative movement?

The crushing defeat, in 1964, of Barry Goldwater.

...but with one reservation. IF in fact it is the base influencing the Republican party the above link is meaningful. However if it is as I fear, the corporate billionaires in control of the party, then it is the base that has been played. If that is true then we're all fucked.

Just Saying...

2006-01-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

"It is unbelievable,
to what extent one must betray a people
in order to rule it."

--Hitler

OPEN THREAD--Monday January 30, 2006

2006-01-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'm tired, I have the flu, I need to eat. Here's a subject: betrayal. Talk amongst yourselves...

The Alito 19: Vengeance is Mine, Sayeth the Netroots

2006-01-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

These are the 19 Senators you elected and who today, betrayed you. Do you want to fight for them in 2006?

Akaka (HI), 202-224-6361, fax: (202) 224-2126

Baucus (MT), 202-224-2651, fax: (202) 224-0515

Bingaman (NM), 202-224-5521, fax: (202) 224-2852

Byrd (WV), 202-224-3954, fax: (202) 228-0002

Cantwell (WA), 202-224-3441, fax: (202) 228-0514

Carper (DE), 202-224-2441, fax: (202) 228-2190

Conrad (D-ND), 202-224-2043, fax: (202) 224-7776

Dorgan (ND, 202-224-2551, fax: (202) 224-1193

Inouye (HI) 202-224-3934

Johnson (SD), 202-224-5842, fax: (202) 228-5765

Kohl (WI), 202-224-5653

Landrieu (LA), 202-224-5824, fax: (202) 224-9735

Lieberman (CT), 202-224-4041, fax: (202) 224-9750

Lincoln (AR), 202-224-4843, fax: (202) 228-1371

Nelson (FL), 202-224-5274, fax: (202) 228-2183

Nelson (NE), 202-224-6551, fax: (202) 228-0012

Pryor (D-AR), 202-224-2353, fax: (202) 228-0908

Rockefeller (WV), 202-224-6472, fax: (202) 224-7665

Salazar (CO, 202-224-5852, fax: (202) 228-5036

(UPDATE 6:20 PM MST) Wow--are we P-I-S-S-E-D or WHAT?

From Bob Fertik, dKos here and here, Vichy Dems, firedoglake, Brad Blog...you get the picture.

BTW, weren't there also 19 WTC (9/11) hijackers? Just saying...

NOTE: Due to it's incredible length, my Alito Filibuster Blog post has been "moved" back to the date it began (01-27-06).

GUEST POST: It's the Climate, Stupid

2006-01-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

“Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have more serious impacts than previously believed, a major scientific report has said.” The report in question, reported by the BBC, comes from scientists hosted by the British Meteorological Office investigating dangerous levels of greenhouse gases. The foreward to the report, written by Tony Blair, includes the warning that the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, “... is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable."

On this side of the Atlantic Ocean, however, news reports are puzzling given the gravity of warnings regarding the influence of human activity on global climate. The New York Times reports this: “The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.” Dr. James Hansen has been warning about the threat posed by heat-trapping emissions since 1988 and what he has to say about the problem should not be subjected to the kind of ominous treatment from official quarters that we came to associate primarily with the former Soviet Union’s inflexibility and censorship. Environmental degradation was another hallmark of that system as it placed industrial production above all else.

We, and the we is all-inclusive and international, are looking directly at a threat whose causes and implications are being articulated by scientists from all over the world and which do not require any controversial phone-tapping measures to discern. There is no need to torture the scientists to have them tell what they know. When will the United States declare itself aware of the threat and ready to take action?

NASA is so heartily projected into the national news when a mission to investigate the climate on Mars or Pluto is launched, yet when the agency has something important to tell us about climate on Earth the administration seeks to hide the findings.

And Now For the Nightly Flu Report...

2006-01-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

This would almost seem funny:

"The United Nations is considering using 'flu-casters', modelled on television weather forecasters, to publicise vital information if a global flu pandemic strikes.

They could broadcast latest developments from emergency-response facilities at the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, according to David Nabarro, the UN's top influenza coordinator."

were it not for this:

A man showing symptoms of bird flu died in Iraqi Kurdistan and his samples have been sent to Jordan for testing, a Kurdish official said yesterday.

Wouldn't it be ironic if a country with which we would ordinarily have little contact, be the one from which bird flu reaches the USA? And even more ironically--by way of our soldiers?

Afghans See Mixed Results Post-Taliban

2006-01-29T19:58:00.001-07:00

WMD's In Syria?

2006-01-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, if the administration would actually turn this stuff up it would be much easier to believe--so why don't they?

"General who served as no. 2 official in Iraq's air force reveals in new book how he personally convinced former president not to bombard Israeli population centers, claims weapons of mass destruction were moved into Syria before U.S. invasion "

ENVIRONMENT: Debate Shifts to Irreparable Change

2006-01-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing can anger me more than the impending environmental destruction of our gorgeous, rare ecosphere (without which life will be a harsh hell in ways unimagineable) except the fact that IT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED!

And nothing is a more clear indicator of the dangerous self-interests of corporate power--and the need to regulate and control that soul-less quest for power--than their owners concerted, long-term attack on and smearing of, the scientists and activists who have worked slavishly for the good of all in the name of the environment's preservation.

Debate on Climate Shifts to Issue of Irreparable Change: "'It's not something you can adapt to,' Hansen said in an interview. 'We can't let it go on another 10 years like this. We've got to do something.'

Princeton University geosciences and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer, who also advises the advocacy group Environmental Defense, said one of the greatest dangers lies in the disintegration of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets, which together hold about 20 percent of the fresh water on the planet. If either of the two sheets disintegrates, sea level could rise nearly 20 feet in the course of a couple of centuries, swamping the southern third of Florida and Manhattan up to the middle of Greenwich Village.

While both the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets as a whole are gaining some mass in their cold interiors because of increasing snowfall, they are losing ice along their peripheries. That indicates that scientists may have underestimated the rate of disintegration they face in the future, Oppenheimer said. Greenland's current net ice loss is equivalent to an annual 0.008 inch sea level rise.

The effects of the collapse of either ice sheet would be 'huge,' Oppenheimer said. 'Once you lost one of these ice sheets, there's really no putting it back for thousands of years, if ever.'

Last year, the British government sponsored a scientific symposium on 'Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change,' which examined a number of possible tipping points. A book based on that conference, due to be published Tuesday, suggests that disintegration of the two ice sheets becomes more likely if average temperatures rise by more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit, a prospect 'well within the range of climate change projections for this century.'"

(UPDATE--hat tip to AMERICABlog) :

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.

Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," Mr. Acosta said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."

He said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel. He added that government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.

Mr. Acosta said other reasons for requiring press officers to review interview requests were to have an orderly flow of information out of a sprawling agency and to avoid surprises. "This is not about any individual or any issue like global warming," he said. "It's about coordination."

Dr. Hansen strongly disagreed with this characterization, saying such procedures had already prevented the public from fully grasping recent findings about climate change that point to risks ahead.

Crunching Abramoff's Numbers

2006-01-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

"Although Abramoff hasn’t personally given to any Democrats, Republicans, including officials with the GOP campaign to hold on to the Senate, have seized on the donations of his tribal clients as proof that the saga is a bipartisan scandal. And the controversy recently spread to the media when the ombudsman for The Washington Post, Deborah Howell, ignited a firestorm by wrongly asserting that Abramoff had given to both. She eventually amended her assessment, writing that Abramoff “directed his client Indian tribes to make campaign contributions to members of Congress from both parties.”

But the Morris and Associates analysis, which was done exclusively for The Prospect, clearly shows that it’s highly misleading to suggest that the tribes's giving to Dems was in any way comparable to their giving to the GOP. The analysis shows that when Abramoff took on his tribal clients, the majority of them dramatically ratcheted up donations to Republicans."

--snip--

in total, the donations of Abramoff’s tribal clients to Democrats dropped by nine percent after they hired him, while their donations to Republicans more than doubled, increasing by 135 percent after they signed him up;

five out of seven of Abramoff’s tribal clients vastly favored Republican candidates over Democratic ones;

four of the seven began giving substantially more to Republicans than Democrats after he took them on;

Abramoff’s clients gave well over twice as much to Republicans than Democrats, while tribes not affiliated with Abramoff gave well over twice as much to Democrats than the GOP -- exactly the reverse pattern.

Partisan Thought Is Unconscious

2006-01-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

As an amateur enthusiast of neuroscience I have always known that brain chemistry--not moral values--was the kicker when it came to partisan politics:

A Shocker: Partisan Thought Is Unconscious : "Using M.R.I. scanners, neuroscientists have now tracked what happens in the politically partisan brain when it tries to digest damning facts about favored candidates or criticisms of them. The process is almost entirely emotional and unconscious, the researchers report, and there are flares of activity in the brain's pleasure centers when unwelcome information is being rejected.

'Everything we know about cognition suggests that, when faced with a contradiction, we use the rational regions of our brain to think about it, but that was not the case here,' said Dr. Drew Westen, a psychologist at Emory and lead author of the study, to be presented Saturday at meetings of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Palm Springs, Calif.

The results are the latest from brain imaging studies that provide a neural explanation for internal states, like infatuation or ambivalence, and a graphic trace of the brain's activity."

To finally have some science that goes to political thinking and "bias" is thrilling. However, what will be most funny (and sad) is that moralists, instead of questioning their religious bias will find in this evidence that God is wiring their brains so they think acoording to His Desires. The other "white meat" will come from wingers who dismiss the research because it was reported in the New York Times!