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Severe pain at any moment
Raytheon's pain ray: Coming to a protest near you?
Pain ray, crowd control... so much for our right for civil dissent....
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MonkeyMan
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McCain -- Decrepit and diseased
If the GOP can put a pre-corpse like McCain into the White House then anyone could be elected if "The System" decides to make it so. They could put a hamster into office and the national press corps would address it as "Mr. President, Sir." ... Click for more ...
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Andrea Z.
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A convoluted Asia Times article & gatekeeping
As for why I figure Bush’s policy is in tatters, it’s because it is based on aggression, lies, ignoring international laws and conventions, torture, shoveling money to Bush’s cronies, disregarding the sovereignty of other countries, disregarding the US Constitution, murdering probably a million innocent people, and sending off US soldiers to die or become maimed for the sake of Israel’s interests. ... Click for more ...
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Marie K.
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Another color-code for mystery links?
I love the Mystery Links, but hey, I was wondering if you'd consider a third color code, one for the more risqué and X-rated sites? I know many people (and most guys in general) appreciate them, but I for one would rather not even see it, sorry. And clicking on the sites shows a little bit of support in a way, and I'd rather just steer clear.
I'm sure there's others who would appreciate the same thing, maybe those with kids (or the spouse or even the boss) peeking over their shoulder?
Personally, I don't see how anyone can think that it's appropriate to intersperse them in with the others with no warning whatsoever, but of course I do realize it's your site and you can do what you want with it. And I realize that you may be getting up there in years and thus don't give a darn about it, but I really do believe that this is exactly what one of our main problems is - the sex and porn that is all around us.
I don't care if those sites exist and if everyone else looks at them, I just don't want to, that's all, and it would be great if I can avoid them somehow.
thanks
No reply needed, if you do color-code them differently it's appreciated, if not, well it never hurts to ask.
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A perfectly reasonable request, something that should have occurred to me long ago, and not much extra trouble on our end. Starting with tomorrow's mystery links, you'll want to avoid the red links. :)
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Helen & Harry
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Hey, Buddig
Re The Spam has hit the plate
But for 99¢ I can get a big bag of generic Buddig knock-off, and turn it into twenty sandwiches.
OMG!!!! I'm such a push over for Buddig too! In California the local Stater Brothers carried that brand and if I bought a kosher Dill pickle at the deli and had them slice it, it would go on a Bollilo (Mexican style roll) and I would be a happy if homeless guy. Well at least for that meal which on some days is the best it is and appreciated for itself.
BTW I am now out again but at a local rescue mission one town over from where I was. Had a number of job interviews that went well -- seemed serious and when the office is taking applications on Monday at the temp agencies I will be able to get at least a few days work there. Now as to why they don't take applications on Fridays, I haven't a clue!
Hey and this place I'm at has real beds not exercise mats on the floor!! Cheat tasty meats forever!!!
zen hugs
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I appreciate the status report, please keep us posted.
I may have mentioned that I was homeless for a while, years ago, and here's one idea that kept a roof over my head: I read in the newspaper that a mom-and-pop convenience store where I frequently shopped had been broken into, and in chatting with the owner he said the place had been broken into several times. He jumped at my idea, that I'd sleep in the back room and call the cops at the first sign of trouble. The owner checked my police record before agreeing to the deal (clean, except for protest arrests) and it probably helped that I'm big and male and was a familiar face as a shopper there. No money changed hands between us, and I slept warm and free for a month. Caught the burglar, too.
What I like about Buddig is how incredibly thin it's sliced, skinnier than a dime. I eat one-slice sandwiches when money is extra tight, and two-slice sandwiches when times are good.
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Be afraid, always
by Kathy Fisher
| May 31, 2008 |
Al-Qaeda's terrifying vision of a devastated America in the wake of a nuclear attack
Would ya look at this PROPAGANDA!!!
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I'm often saddened to see that I live in a nation of quivering cowards, wimpy milquetoast so-called "patriots" who eagerly strip themselves of all their civil rights and somehow imagine that they're fighting for America. It's oddly almost refreshing to see similar cowardice from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
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Helen & Harry
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Lost the faith
Re Crush them completely with whatever is necessary
Wars are only won once your enemy ceases to be heroic in the eyes of their people. When an army loses their grip on the hearts and minds of a people they have lost all strength, support, and purpose. From there they can only fade out of existence as no one will praise them, no one will feed them, no one will arm them, no one will hide them, and no one will join them. When soldiers no longer believes they are fighting for a reason they will no longer be willing to fight. When their own people spit on them, they will feel as though they have been betrayed and that they have betrayed others. They will cease to be what they once were.
But which army has lost the faith of their people?
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Chris D.
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US gov't wide open to cyber attacks
by Amber Perez
| May 31, 2008 |
The U.S. is totally vulnerable to cyberwar, and we've already lost most of our top secret shit. Plus, with the Feds gathering information about U.S. citizens, you can bet that data pirates have access to everything the Feds have. So the only people who are safe are the people who haven't yet been targeted, or who are homeless with nothing to lose. ... Click for more ...
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Amber Perez
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Who, exactly, is "them?"
Re Crush them completely with whatever is necessary
Chris you said: "The ONLY way to eliminate the problem without shedding undue blood on our side would be to crush them completely with whatever is necessary."
Who, exactly, is "them?" as in Al Qaeda?-Do you mean actual members of this supposed network or do you really mean assorted brown skinned people from the Middle East? Or Muslims? If so please read (and pick whichever set of statistics suits you):
http://www.usislam.org/muslimstatistics.htm
http://muslim-canada.org/muslimstats.html
http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa120298.htm
http://www.kashar.net/complete.asp?id=2167
Now how exactly does one differentiate Muslim from potential Al Qaeda? Which country exactly do we fry like chicken without it's sister country becoming unhappy or enraged? How would you handle White American or British Muslims? How would you handle the Brown-skinned Christians?
If you wander down a road of categorizing everyone in a certain area or of a certain culture as fanatics, you run the very real risk of encountering real and true religious fanatics. That is a situation you truly do not want.
But...there is one thing I partially agree with. If we catch bin Laden (I personally think he's been dead for years but let's pretend he's not) there could potentially be others, not necessary including or excluding the supposed Al Qaeda members, but as you say fanatics. One -- because all soldiers have commanders, when one dies or is removed another will be put in his place. Two -- Because there has been fighting in Iraq since it was called Mesopotamia. Would you like to spend 10, 20, 30 years or more trying to catch "the fanatics"? Most of our most well-known serial killers or mass murderers (in the U.S.) were charismatic, well-spoken, and even charming. To this day Charlie Manson gets fan mail. How do you know the "real" enemy you envision isn't some smiling cleric and his pleasant league of followers? Maybe not "Al-Qaeda" at all?
Would you leave our precious soldiers to fight a never-ending war in a region that has long fought dirty, horrible wars? For what? Who wins if everyone in Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran (or whoever is picked to be demolished)? Who really wins?
You also said :"The mindset is not unlike the Japanese during WWII or the Nazis. They will fight until the very last one is dead."
"The mindset" of the fighters you should read up on. There were plenty of WWII veterans that questioned their duty. You can't presume to know the mind of every soldier and you can't presume that every person "over there in that supposed group" will do anything one way or the other.
Perhaps look at why our servicepeople are in the quagmire they're in for the purposes of sparing as many lives as possible. Living in panicked fear solves nothing.
I'm more afraid of what I can see in my own government than any bogeymen created in the media.
*** *** ***
Just amazing. They'd rather have the total destruction of this country rather that seek the lesser of three evils.
Obama faces racism in West Virginia
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Sherri B.
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A practical point
by Angry Annie
| May 31, 2008 |
Re Rip their lungs out
It would be very difficult for movie-monster terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan to continue killing American soldiers so easily and effectively, if the American soldiers weren't there.
*** *** ***
Re Hillaryism, not feminism
Amen, sister.
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Angry Annie
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Back in the saddle again
For the past month or so I’ve been pretty quiet -- busy at home and mulling the state of things over in my head. I’m back on the blog now, and ready to get serious!
History lessons for the anti-war movement, Consumptive consumer news, the Continuing crimes of Katrina, Blame biofuels, and Halliburton/KBR’s worldwide war crimes since the 40’s -- for starters.
I’m so glad to have your site as a constant source of news and camaraderie -- it gives me hope! ;)
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Sandra
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End the soap
by Blue Bunting
| May 30, 2008 |
Re A campaign based on playing the victim
Could you stand it? 8 years of listening to the Clintons complain about how they are being treated? I've had enough of the Clinton "drama" and constant "soap opera" and I hope you have, too.
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Blue Bunting
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Where credit is due
by Angry Annie
| May 30, 2008 |
After a long losing streak, getting the Constitution wrong repeatedly since the 2000 election, the Supreme Court gets it right not once but twice.
Supreme Court law bars retaliation over bias claims| |
Excerpt: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that employees are protected from retaliation when they complain about discrimination in the workplace, adopting a broad interpretation of workers’ rights under two federal civil rights laws. |
I'll just say thank you and keep my fingers crossed.
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Angry Annie
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Converts
Onward, Christian soldiers...
Iraqis say US Marines are trying to convert Muslims
*** *** ***
Leaning Tower of Pisa 'saved' for 300 years
Man still has potential.
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Wig
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Who supports who now?
I read in the paper that Fidel Castro voiced some support for Obama as a presidential candidate. When I looked into it further, he was actually quoted as saying: "The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate ..."
Two things: First, this isn't so much an endorsement as it is discussing gossip. Second, this little bit of gossip would support Clinton as President and Obama as VP. Odd how international media jumped on a statement favoring Hillary to win the presidency and turned it into something Americans would perceive as a negative for Obama. You'd almost think they did that on purpose now wouldn't you? Oh wait. Yeah, that's exactly what's going on.
People constantly rant and rave about the bias of news in Communist countries but I think this is just another example of why the whole thing amounts to the pot calling the kettle black. Truth in media hasn't been around for quite some time and truth in politics is a needle in a haystack. People with their heads in the past, their hands in the government, and majority share control over the media want Obama to fail and maybe that's a better sign of what kind of President he'll be than any of his pretty speeches would suggest. That Clinton's name is removed from the bullshit story entirely should indicate just as much. Between all the fraud and falsehoods it's amazing anyone can claim to know if anything is true these days.
Good luck making up your own minds about the future, my American friends. Just be careful not to let someone else do it for you.
*** *** ***
Minor correction. Hillary was removed from many of the bullshit re-tellings of the story, but not quite all. When you sort through the muck of the dedicated right-wing blogs, however, they focus on Barack. Even when the actual quote is right in front of them.
Ironically, these same people suggest it's liberals and leftists who'd destroy small businesses as opposed to the conservative Republicans who've been doing that all along. They recognize the significance of small-time businesses as being at the center of Capitalist ideals but remain oblivious to their legalized crib-strangling by mega-conglomerates with very direct ties to the Republican party and a steady stream of tax-cuts.
Man. Some people can't put two and two together, but that's for another rant.
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I haven't seen the "Castro endorses Obama" bullsh*t yet, but I recognize the smell. What I like most about Barack Obama is that he or his campaign managers have a strong knack for responding eloquently and forcefully to bullsh*t attacks. There are, of course, going to be so many bullsh*t attacks over the next few months that they'll blur into a river of bullsh*t as they did during the Clinton administration, but if anyone's capable of reversing the flow, it's Obama.
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Helen & Harry
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Rip their lungs out
White Hse: McClellan 'not Scott we knew'| |
Excerpt: "The book, as reported by the press, has been described to the president,'' Perino added. "I do not expect a comment from him on it -- he has more pressing matters than to spend time commenting on books by former staffers." |
The fact that the White House is trying to spin this so much that the sounds emanating from there are resembling that of a rusty old merry-go-round, says to me that much of it must be true. Not that I care.
*** *** ***
CNN's Yellin says network execs killed stories critical of Bush White House| |
Excerpt: "The press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings," [CNN's Jessica] Yellin said.
"And my own experience at the White House was that the higher the president's approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives -- and I was not at this network at the time -- but the more pressure I had from news executives to put on positive stories about the president, I think over time ..." |
In other words, don't pan a movie that's breaking records at the box office.
*** *** ***
Phone home: Purported UFO video to be shown Friday| |
Excerpt: A video that purportedly shows a living, breathing space alien will be shown to the news media Friday in Denver.
Jeff Peckman, who is pushing a ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver to prepare the city for close encounters of the alien kind, said the video is authentic and convinced him that aliens exist.
"As impressive as it is, it's still one tiny portion in the context of a vast amount of peripheral evidence," he said Wednesday. "It's really the final visual confirmation of what you already know to be true having seen all the other evidence." |
And in Denver no less. I suggest we start a "Draft the Alien" movement for the Democratic convention. What's that you say, we would not be able to understand anything he says or does?? His intentions would not be know and actions would seem strange.
Since when has this been a problem. In fact it makes him a perfect candidate. Even better than McCain or Bush.
*** *** ***
Re Crush them completely with whatever is necessary
What I'm saying is that the tact we have taken and are currently taking of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan simply will not work and whether we have troops there or not will not make much (if any) difference. That horse has long since left the barn. That the piecemeal approach that is being taken in both countries is merely making the situation worse.
We need to either fish or cut bait. Go after the "terrorists" with the intent of finally getting rid of most of them or leave. Right now we are just making an angry tiger more angrier.
There is an old saying "never point a gun at a man unless you intend to shoot him. And never shoot unless you intend to kill."
The biggest mistake we made was to overthrow Saddam. He knew how to deal with the zealots and fanatics in his country. We do not.
You need to reread your history. There are more than just a few [terrorists] and they wanted our (western influences) heads on a plate for a very long time. Since World War I, in fact. For installing pro western tyrants and dictators, forcing our ideas down their throats and basically treating them like sub humans. Over generations. And it will take generations to undo the damage.
So what I'm saying is either we leave and realize that we most probably will get our butts royally kicked. Or go after all the really crazy ones once and for all. One or the other.
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At present, the US "strategy" for pretending to fight terrorism involves occupying nations, massive bombing, flooding the region with depleted uranium, a litany of war crimes, locking up thousands without trial, killing more than a million people, etc. And you say it's time to "fish or cut bait"? I'd like to know more specifically what you're recommending, by "fish or cut bait." The only way I can envision to ratchet up the "fishing" is by being even more brutal, perhaps killing two million instead of merely one million, and I want to believe that you can't really be implying that.
Yesterday, after describing furious Middle Easterners as "not unlike the Japanese during WWII or the Nazis," willing to "fight until the very last one is dead," "single-minded fanatics," and added, "And the western world created them." I took those last six words to mean that you know and acknowledge that the crimes of western nations and corporations have provoked terrorism in response. That is also my understanding of recent Middle Eastern history, in brief.
Today you write, "So what I'm saying is either we leave and realize that we most probably will get our butts royally kicked. Or go after all the really crazy ones once and for all. One or the other."
"Going after all the really crazy ones once and for all" is the current Bush-Cheney strategy. Like all other Bush-Cheney policies, I believe it's basically a lie -- a strategy designed not to fight terrorism, random violence, and chaos, but rather to incite it.
If "fishing" is "going after all the really crazy ones once and for all," only more enthusiastically, more violently, it's certain to make the problem worse. It's the western world, creating more generations of terrorists. I recommend cutting bait instead. |
Virtually all of the angriest Middle Easterners would lay down their arms (just like the Nazis and Japanese did) if their war ended -- if American, British, Israeli et al governments and corporations stopped providing daily inspiration to vengeance and violence, and instead apologized, paid restitution, and treated Middle Easterners as human beings, and stopped reducing their several nations to rubble to steal their oil.
I believe that it is a bit too late for that. I ask you. Would you be OK if some one who has been desecrating you religion, killing your friends and family and stealing from you (for generations) -- then comes to you and says "Oh gee we're so sorry and by the way, here's some money to make up for it.". No... you would want to rip their lungs out.
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Wanting to rip their lungs out is a common response among victims of violent crime, and of course, the western world has made the entire Middle East victims of violent crime. That's why many Middle Easterners want you rip your lungs out, and mine.
You ask my response to being treated as the western world has treated Middle Easterners? I'd be furious, of course. That's the ordinary human response. I might want to rip Americans' lungs out, but I probably wouldn't do any lung-ripping if the perps were properly punished. A functional justice system that punishes violent criminals reduces the need for vigilante response. But I neglected to include proper punishment -- trials and penalties, for crimes against humanity -- in my little daydream yesterday, so let me correct that, please:
If American, British, Israeli et al governments and corporations stopped providing daily inspiration to vengeance and violence, and instead apologized, paid restitution, treated Middle Easterners as human beings, stopped reducing their several nations to rubble to steal their oil, and if George W. Bush, his high-level cronies, and other Americans, Brits, and Israeli et al criminals were tried at the Hague, found guilty, and imprisoned, then terrorist attacks against western targets would quickly evaporate to near nothingness.
At present, furious Middle Easterners are fighting for vengeance for past criminal acts perpetrated against them by western nations and corporations. If they obtain a reasonable approximation of justice and dignity, I believe their passion for vengeance would be fulfilled, and they'd stop trying to kill westerners. My expectation is not based on any study of history or psychology; it's pure projection. "The enemy" are human beings, so I expect them to respond as such, and lay down their arms, like the Japanese and Nazis at the end of World War II.
You think that given an abrupt change of course and a sincere attempt at justice and treating Middle Easterners with the respect due human beings, furious Middle Easterners would still be furious, and western night clubs and embassies and coffee shops would continue exploding at the same pace?
"And the western world created them," you wrote of terrorists, but you don't think terrorists can ever be stopped until they're all killed? In your opening lines yesterday, you said that our enemies "will fight until the very last one is dead," and "The ONLY way to eliminate the problem without shedding undue blood on our side would be to crush them completely with whatever is necessary ..." And of course, that's also what they believe about us.
Once a terrorist always a terrorist? There's no stopping terrorists, only killing terrorists? And once a western tactic that creates terrorists, always a western tactic that creates terrorists?
And they're the ones you think are "fanatics ... totally convinced of their correctness and infallibility?"
*** *** ***
That's the end of what I want to say today, but as an addendum let me add that "terrorism," as it's presented by government officials and mainstream media, is largely an illusion -- a serious danger that's been exaggerated to levels of preposterous hysteria by American and other western authorities.
For example, no-one with even a cursory understanding of CIA history can doubt that at least some and perhaps many events called "terrorism" are actually US covert acts, and no-one who's looked into the events of 9/11 with an open mind can seriously maintain that 19 Arabs with box-cutters toppled the World Trade Center and seriously damaged the US Pentagon without any behind-the-scenes American cooperation.
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Hillaryism, not feminism
Re Makes my point
Thank you, Mel, thank you so much for saying this.
I was a feminist long before I ever heard of Hillary Clinton, and it sickens me how she invokes feminism only for her own political advantage. There are damn serious issues of sexism in American, and it would be really easy for me to support a candidate who raised serious issues of feminism and proposed societal remedies. We need anti-bulimia education. We need actual penalties instead of wrist-slaps for pay discrimination. We need affordable day-care for working moms, easy access to abortions, safe houses for abused wives and girlfriends, and comprehensive sex education in public schools. Damn it, we still need an Equal Rights Amendment.
Show me a feminist candidate who raises and addresses such issues and I will ring doorbells and make phone calls and write checks for that candidate, but that candidate is not Hillary Clinton. She has never associated herself prominently with even vaguely feminist issues, not loud enough that I've heard of it. Her idea of feminism is "I want to be the first woman President" and "Sexism is keeping me down." That's not feminism, that's Hillaryism and it's almost anti-feminism. Shouting "sexism" every time you're slighted or interrupted or given the first question in a debate is a slap in the face to real feminism, especially from a woman politician who's never made anything even peripherally related to feminism one of her key issues. I could say more, believe me, but after a while I start sputtering vulgarities and I'm just too sick of Hillary Clinton to keep going...
At the movies
Re Dare to criticize
Our library system rents (for free) 3 movies at a time for 7 days. The main branch has all the old Disney movies and lots of educational videos. The branch near my house has a good selection of recent movies. The only movies I get jazzed about are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Star Trek movies. Those I had/have to see right away and pay the $8 to see it in the new theatre. I used to read the books, but now I don't seem to have time for much of anything. I am about to start the Che book, I won't have time for any movies. I used to live in San Francisco and there were "B" theaters which play the non-Hollywood hype movies.
I love a good story. In a book, in a movie, from a speaker... But you are right about movies today, they are more an exercise in special effects with some dialogue in the foreground. No story. When the revolution comes and you become our new leader, I can help you dismantle Hollywood and start the return to live theatre in all the cities and towns. Real actors, good stories, no explosions.
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MonkeyMan
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One big union
by Jim Jordan
| May 30, 2008 |
Re RIP, Utah Phillips
Sorry to bother you again. I'd say I'm IWW for life as they are
the one organization that I agree with more than any other. They are the
conscience of the other unions. It's to bad the rest of our unions are
"cops for the boss' or "concessionary caucuses.
Thanks for printing info about Utah... I choked up when I read Utah's last letter. I like his line that, "It's the song." I believe as Emma Goldman said, "I wouldn't be part of any revolution that didn't dance." The left needs more music and more humor.
We have a talented musician from Pittsburgh that comes all the way to Youngstown to play free for labor, anti-war and prison issues over many years now. He's a great songwriter and I don't know how we will ever pay him back for all he has done for activists in this area. I'd love it if you'd list him with your other musicians or even as a mystery link. Here's his website: www.mikestoutmusic.com/.
I thank you for the work you do. I was co-editor along with Staughton and Alice Lynd for a decade of Impact, the rank and file newsletter. It was a ton of work publishing a monthly newsletter I can't imagine what it's like to do one daily. I used to be a steel worker but now I work with Autistic children. I spend my free time witting working-class poetry and attend many readings. Here's one example:| |
21st Century Style Old McDonald’s Farm
by Jim Jordan
McDonald’s is a burger chain,
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
And at this burger chain, they’ve sold
over 8 billion cardboard burgers here
With minimum wage workers there
And Styrofoam containers polluting everywhere,
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
Small farmers were replaced with corporate farms
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
and on these corporate farms they have
genetically altered seeds here
and steroid injected cows there
and pesticides everywhere
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
Wal-Mart is your one stop Super Store
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
and at this Super Store they have
low paid red vested associates here
with aisles and aisles of sweatshop products there
putting mom & pop stores out of business everywhere
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
Now it’s Amazon.com, Starbucks and Home Depot
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
Amazon.com, Starbucks and Home Depot
No more independent bookstores here
Or corner coffee shops there
Gone are neighborhood hardware stores everywhere
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
All went according to corporate plans
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
all went according to corporate plans
workers were brutalized and downsized here
consumers were hypnotized and dogmatized there
and the public was carbonized and homogenized everywhere
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
Now monopolies own the world
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
now monopolies own the world
and we’re fucked fucked here
and fucked fucked there
and fucked fucked everywhere
ee-ii-ee-ii-oo |
In Solidarity brother,
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It might just be my silly mood, but I'm laughing my ass off at "fucked fucked here and fucked fucked there..."
I remember when I joined the Wobblies, there was a brief pledge I was supposed to take. Being obnoxious me I quibbled about something or other, some tiny point in the pledge, kind of like I once quibbled about something in church membership class and accidentally caused a scandal. The guy who was casually semi-running the meeting sort of shrugged and smiled and said something like, "Yeah, I can see your point, so don't worry about it. If you're with us in spirit, you're with us, and that's that." I'm still with 'em years later, at least in my heart.
It's been years since I've seen it, but if Impact! is the official IWW paper, I'm pretty sure I remember it from the mid-1990s. It was dang fine and you deserve a pat on the back. And let me add, as someone who worked in printed subversive media before joining the on-line world, doing it on paper is much, much more difficult, more expensive, and more exhausting, so my hat's off to you.
I had almost forgotten we had a page of music links, but I'll definitely add Mike Stout to unknownnews.org/audiovideo.html.
Side point: We'd usually publish such an interesting note and obscure your name as James J, but you've said some identifying things about yourself. Holler if you'd rather we didn't share this, or if we should obscure some of the personal details...
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I am not worried about my name in print. Impact was not a Wobbly paper but we had three Wobs working on it and printed things from the IWW. We were a paper put out by the Youngstown Workers Solidarity Club. The club worked as a place where people who'd been shafted by their company or union could come for support and help. We were unionists but not afraid to take on undemocratic corrupt unions. We were rank and filers and damn proud of that.
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Damn little gets accomplished anywhere without the rank-and-filers. We're the doers, everyone else is either watching or in the way.
Consider yourself hugged by both of us, right now and any time you need a hug.
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Helen & Harry
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Global labor unions -- someday
The main idea is to create international trade unions that are able to “deal with multinational companies on an equal footing and organize working people in even greater numbers.” What unions are recognizing is that “multinational companies are pushing down wages and conditions for workers ... by playing one national workforce off against another.” ... Click for more ...
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Marie K.
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The Spam has hit the plate
Well, the fortunes of Spam have inversely reflected the American economy. We are down, it is up and so forth. Like tomato soup cake, it is a reliable economic indicator better than anything you hear on the news. And Spam is doing real good just now. and so I provide this link:
Sales of Spam rise as consumers trim food costs
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It's not just funny that Spam sales rise when the economy is down, but also ironic, at least for me. I absolutely love Spam and always have, but we rarely buy it, because it's priced far higher than other lunchmeats I like. The price pushes $3 for a can, which makes maybe eight sandwiches, and none of the generic knock-offs of Spam have the right taste. But for 99¢ I can get a big bag of generic Buddig knock-off, and turn it into twenty sandwiches.
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Tools
by Clem Jones
| May 29, 2008 |
Humorous. Sickening. How else to describe the cable TV news media furor about Scott McClellan's new book. They trot out used-up Bush flunkies to deny and accuse, claiming look at the source, the man, and how he will profit from selling this book! Fox even had black commentators ripping McClellan saying that he should have resigned his job if he thought he was telling lies... (Fox is now increasingly using black people to push pro-Bush propaganda as if they have more credibility -- or something.)
But the media that McClellan ripped for being absolute tools and stenographers, and who got hornswoggled by Bush's propaganda, cannot accept McClellan's book at face value. They're just tools. They can't handle the truth. They sure aren't going to resign their jobs, even though they know they are just tools.
And the cable news shows don't seem to want to connect all the dots. McClellan isn't the first insider to speak out about the horseshit Bush propaganda. We know from the Downing Street memos that what McClellan says is true -- or at least consistent with everything else we know, including what we witnessed ourselves.
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Clem Jones
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P.S. There is a lot of horseshit being shoveled these days. Like ex-pres Carter saying that the new president should close Guantanamo and renounce torture. I think lots of Democratic politicians would like to be able to do those things. But torture is already completely illegal, both in U.S. law and international law. Making new laws to outlaw what is already illegal makes little sense if a president can just ignore any law with impunity.
The way to make sure that the U.S. never again tortures prisoners is to make an example out of the people who ordered torture. Prosecuting all of the top level Bush administration officials and people in the Pentagon who were involved, including Bush and Cheney themselves, and then sending them to prison for life would pretty much ensure that future presidents would think long and hard about torturing suspects and committing war crimes.
I will say yes to it all
We have silver, gold, guns, and lots of Costco toilet paper. We've got dogs, alarms, and meds to quell the constant, never ending cycle of anxiety to panic back to anxiety. There's a lot of sleeplessness and constant checking of bank balances and 401K's "just in case" because God knows if we walk up to our Bank of America ATM and they say our account is empty when our life savings is in there all hell will break loose. Yet people still trust in the banks. ... Click for more ...
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Sherri B.
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Crush them completely with whatever is necessary
You simply cannot deal with fanatics in this manner. In fact you cannot really deal with them at all because they are totally convinced of their correctness and infallibility. There is nothing you can do or say to convince them otherwise. ... Click for more ...
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Chris M.
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Dare to criticize
I was doing a little reading about the trial in Nuremberg. One of the things I found interesting were the charges brought against the criminals and criminal organizations:| |
1. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against
peace
2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace
3. War crimes
4. Crimes against humanity (note: not only torture and murder, but this definition includes humiliation and attacks on human dignity). |
I would like to go ahead and start planning the trials to be held against Bush and Co. Who shall we enlist to play the role of Winston Churchill? Where should the trials be held?
We already have a template to follow as far as conducting the trials, we just need to recruit the players. The young idealistic Obama would do more than Truman did, let's get busy planning, shall we?
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Re A radical idea
Touché. Point and match. :)
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Has anyone else watched V for Vendetta? We have strength in numbers and courage of conviction. Let's not go quietly into the cattle cars, let's storm the castle. We are the true patriots, let's band together and lead this nation out of darkness.
Where can I get one of those cool masks?
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Believe me, I love love love the notion of an international tribunal to judge Bush-Cheney et al. I remember at least one group that's trying to hold, essentially, mock trials for Bush et al, but I'm not sure such efforts really accomplish anything, and anyway, I want real trials, not mock trials. I just can't imagine war crime trials for any American leaders, without a massive, world-wide public outcry demanding it, so I guess I would say that the best way to make it happen is to make a ruckus and spread the word. It's amazing to me how many millions of people don't know anything more than (or even less than) what's on CNN. So inform them -- talk to strangers, put a sign in your window or yard, write letters to the editor or articles, call talk shows and spread a little truth and righteous indignation. It sounds a little weak-ass in the face of yet another war staring down at us, but I still think there's no other way to make sustainable change for the better.
Or if there is a better way, I hope you'll let me know.
I paid to see V for Vendetta at the discount cinema, twice actually, and obviously loved it or I wouldn't have gone again. It's a flawed movie, certainly not at all realistic (based on a comic book), but we all need a fairy tale once in a while, or at least I sure do. Touches on real-world issues, and provides a fantastic albeit fantasy ending. Love the moral of the story, and heck, I might be ready to rent it and see it a third time.
Looks like the masks are available at a reasonable price, if you want one.
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My mask will take two days for delivery, then I'm on it! No wig, it looked itchy.
Have ever seen The Day the Earth Stood Still?
It is an old black and white movie where an alien race makes contact with us and tells the leaders of the world that if they don't make peace, if they make any threatening moves towards war, the earth will be destroyed by the aliens. Another fantasy of mine. Maybe there will be an alien savior.
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"Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration." Yeah, I've seen it several times. It's one of the gems of 1950s science fiction, and one of my favorites in any genre. Brace yourself for the upcoming remake starring Keanu Reeves. "Klaatu barada nikto, baby."
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He will make a good robot :)
I usually don't like remakes and Keanu isn't my favorite but I will go see it in the
dollar theatre (it cost $2 now but they kept the name).
I am thoroughly impressed by your
quotes. You are alright in my book (I don't really keep a book). Now I have to go to the
library and see if they have a copy of "The Day...". They have "V" I know.
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Well, I'm not a movie trivia whiz or anything, you just happened to mention a movie I know pretty well.
Our "dollar cinema" costs $2 during the week and $3.50 on the weekend -- still a pretty good price, and they've usually got at least one non-Hollywood movie (i.e., a movie worth watching).
I used to go to the movies as my regular escape, but as the movies have gotten worse and worse I've switched to beer...
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This is farking unreal
by Michelle L.
| May 29, 2008 |
Tennessee man on death row despite high court ruling| |
Excerpt: Federal judges have done as the high court ordered: They reviewed his murder case and concluded new evidence raises reasonable doubt about his guilt. Not allowed to overturn the conviction, they took the extraordinary step of giving Tennessee a six-month deadline to bring [Paul House] to trial or release him.
And still House, 46, is locked up in a Nashville prison. |
How can this still be happening? DNA evidence has been around for long enough that these things shouldn't still be going to court and grinding innocent people in the process.
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Michelle L.
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Makes my point
Re A radical idea
I'm not looking for an argument, MonkeyMan, but your response makes my point better than I did. I wrote about Hillary Clinton and her supporters playing the sexism card all the time... and you responded by explaining that women are victimized.
Nobody argues with that, of course women are victimized ... but that's not important enough to Hillary Clinton to make it a real issue in a campaign. What does she ever say or do to address feminist issues? Feminism and sexism are just hot buttons she pushes every time she perceives, imagines, or pretends to be a victim for points and headlines.
More than justified
Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August'| |
Excerpt: Details provided by the administration raised alarm bells on Capitol Hill, the source said. After receiving secret briefings on the planned air strike, Senator Diane Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, said they would write a New York Times op-ed piece "within days", the source said last week, to express their opposition. Feinstein is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Lugar is the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. |
Opposition, if they have the guts to actually do anything to prevent it.
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On the other hand, an air strike on Iran could heighten public disenchantment with Bush administration policy in the Middle East, leading to support for the Democratic candidate, whoever it is.
But an air strike will provoke reactions far beyond US voting booths. That would explain why two veteran senators, one Republican and one Democrat, were reportedly so horrified at the prospect. |
I would hope so to say the least. Impeachment has been mention should he go through with it. However to my mind a more immediate and permanent reaction would be more than justified.
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On Hillary's death wish for Obama
With her latest remarks and those revealed in CounterPunch it would seem that at least subconsciously (if not consciously), Hillary would like nothing better than to have Obama out of the way. Bill too has not use for him, for reasons all his own.
But I doubt that either one has even thought of what the consequences of this would mean.
It would immediately tear this country apart. To say there would be riots would be an understatement. Obama's supporters would suspect the Clintons of being behind it. And those who did not suspect them would suspect the republicans of arranging it.
This country would quite literally come apart at the seams. There would be bloodshed and destruction that would make the Watts Riots look pale by comparison. Ugly would not even come close.
If one would want to see the people in this country come unglued, this would do it.
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Chris M.
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Starbuckaroos
Blame it on oil? No, blame it on Bush| |
Excerpt: It is the quirky dollar that is driving the oil. And why has the mighty dollar gone berserk? The people of Iraq and Afghanistan would tell you why. It is Bush’s disastrous wars that have broken the greenback’s back. And it is not just the luckless people of Iraq and Afghanistan who are paying for this cowboy president’s Oedipal insecurities. From the suicidal farmers in India to the hungry multitudes of Africa, all of us are paying for these wars. |
But ... the us media staffs don't have time to investigate anything because they're too busy going to Starbucks for their coffee fixes.
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Wig
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A radical idea
Re A campaign based on playing the victim
You could say that any woman who complains of harassment or discrimination is playing a victim. When is a victim a victim & when is a victim playing a victim? People think that things that don't happen to them, simply don't happen.
The article says "There should be equal rejection of sexism and racism..." which is a point I have brought up more than once. There is a gender bias in the news, in the movies, in magazines, in car dealerships, everywhere we go. Just because you aren't aware enough to see it, doesn't mean it isn't so. We can all appreciate our growth as a people that we have acquired sensitivity to race, but it is a sensitivity that we lack when it comes to gender. So white men and black men enjoy a greater equality, while women are still stuck in the back of the bus. There is a bumper sticker slogan (corny I know) that I keep in my brain to help me:
"Feminism is the radical idea that women are people too."
P.S. No one is telling Ron Paul to go home, but they are telling Hillary to go home.
Neither one has a chance to get the nomination.| |
Ron Paul has 14 delegates, while McCain has more than 1,400, and clinched his party's nomination months ago. There's no real comparison to the Obama-Clinton situation. Huckabee might be a better example -- he provided a far less credible challenge to McCain than Clinton presents to Obama, yet he was told loud and clear to pack it in, and he did ... months ago.
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About General Petraeus
Gen. Petraeus may be lying, but I don't think he is. I think he's right: Iran is financing a good amount of the strife in Iraq because it makes the US look bad; things are turning around in Iraq, albeit slowly; we may be able to leave in a year or two. ... Click for more ...
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Eadmund
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Nanotech self-defense
by Totally Preve
| May 28, 2008 |
Stayed up way late finishing this one. After a slow start it picked up speed and rocketed to a satisfactory finish!
Thicker than Blood
Sci-fi. Nanotech. Geek-fu. Revenge of the nerds. Fascist fu. War profiteering fu... (using fearmongering and Bush's unconstitutional, incompetent methods. I especially like the part about nanotech being developed in self-defense because it is feared that terrorists will obtain them and the only way to defend is to invent them first and use them against the Enemy -- and looting the treasury, yada yada...)
The book is "community edited", so that also is interesting.
Three gold stars.
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Totally Preve
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Voluntary change
Re America's descent into chaos
Voluntary change of this civilization is not possible, so the alternative is involuntary change. I feel sorry for those who do not change, but only consume.
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Chris N.
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Collect 'em all
Re How dare you criticize General Petraeus
Warmonger Petraeus, indeed. As well as Traitor Bush, Traitor Cheney, Traitor Condi, and Traitor Rummy. Finally, let's not forget Lying Sack of Feces Karl.
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Bshock
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Just be obedient
When they took acting out of the movies, they took me out of the movie theatres. I haven't been in one in about ten years. Now if you are looking for the cheapest entertainment possible, have the Jehovah's Witnesses visit. They are free, they will supply the literature for free, even give you their books for free. Just be the obedient, docile student or they won't come back. Hmmm... obedient, docile... well, I guess that leaves you two out!
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I don't think I have the patience for dealing with the severely brainwashed. Sounds like fun, but my eyes would roll and I'd start sniffing my armpits too soon. We had a proselytizer ring the doorbell just a few months ago, and we live in an apartment with no automated buzzer to let folks in, so I wrapped myself in a bathrobe and traipsed down the hall before I knew it was a missionary call. Their visit ended immediately, in a loud and ungodly manner.
I love movies, especially old movies (only the best of the old flicks tend to still be screened and we're picky when we rent) and independents (made without too much corporate control). Last weekend we saw Holiday, which I'd never heard of before -- Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. For the first fifteen minutes or so, before Hepburn showed up, it was so tedious we talked about turning off the VCR, but dang me, once it got going it was excellent. I think we were expecting screwball comedy, and I'm not sure it's a comedy at all, but it was intelligent and sparkly and really, just terrific.
Also, OK, Iron Man wasn't bad.
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Helen & Harry
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The only war is at home
by Betrayed American Vet
| May 28, 2008 |
Re How dare you criticize General Petraeus
general betray-us
we are at war? FUCKING RIGHT! we were sent to Vietnam to kill the godless communists or all of America would soon fall. we WERE AT WAR then only to find out we did an ERA. the son-of-bitches at the VA will tell a soldier's medal winner that being shot out of the sky in Vietnam is not an act of combat, case denied! McCain could help, but he won't he is only for General McCain betray us too.
we are at war is another way of saying the American-multinational corporations are making money. that is it!
the only war going on is inside the united states where police departments are little military units being increasing trained and armed to take care of the "domestic terrorists" which believe it or not can be your mom, your dad, or you.
we are at war for Cheney to make no bid contracts for his suck buddies.
when these kids get home from Iraq and Afghanistan not only will they be unable to purchase gas for their vehicle to try to find work, they will find food higher, college higher, etc, etc and chickenshit commander in chief saying hell no to a mere 3.9% pay increase.
go for it, tell us we are at war.
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Betrayed American Vet
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