The RNC Protest And Issue Free Zone

A place where cultural warriors, characters assassins, and truth stretchers are welcome. Protesters will be arrested. Issues will be ignored. Community organizers will be insulted. Such a grand old (and mostly white) party. Completely out of touch.

The Liberal Media Apologizes

Only the elitist liberal media could ask such pathetic questions about Sarah Palin.

Arresting Democracy

Amy Goodman, a nationally syndicated journalist with Democracy NOW, and two of her producers were arrested outside the Republican National Convension in St. Paul on Monday, September 1st. Democracy NOW! is a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America. Their crime: trying to report on the massive protests outside the RNC. Freedom of the what? Not any more. The youtube video of the illegal arrest was the most watched video on Wednesday.

The Rule Of What?

Maintaining the "rule of law" is a critical element in keeping our democracy alive. You would think the Department Of Justice would know better that to act illegally in their hiring practices. Think again. There's only one thing to do. Bring the law breakers to justice. (In case you don't know, the only way that is going to happen is through impeachment.)

The End Is Near

Doomsday scenarios are not just for conspiracy theorists anymore. Experts say that due to dramatic climate change (much due to human activity), food shortages, over population, war, and disease, the human race may not survive another century. No one seems to be paying much attention to what is going on.

Billions Of Your Tax Dollars Stollen

In perhaps the worst war profiteering in history, billions of your tax dollars have been "disappeared" by large, unscrupulous corporations, eager to make a "killing" off of the misery of Iraq. The current administration is not going to do anything to stop this, seeing as they are the primary enablers. Congress has done nothing. The mainstream media has done nothing. Leave it to the BBC to investigate what is going on. These are your tax dollars. Don't you care?

BUSH IMPEACHED!

He looks a little funny. He talks a little funny. In my book he stands ten feet tall and is an American hero. His name is Dennis Kucinich. Yesterday, against the wishes of his party (Democratic) and unreported by the media, Representative Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. If you were watching C-Span, you were able to watch the entire historic event unfold as it happens. Do you watch Fox News? Did you see it reported there? Would you like to be better informed as to what is happening to your country? What are you going to do about it?

Well Known Millionaire On Welfare

Someone you know, who happens to be extremely weathy, (hint: he's running for president) is on welfare to the tune of $58,000 taxpayer dollars a year. Does that sound fair to you? Go here to find out who it is (hint: it's not the Afro-American candidate). Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?

Mindless Journalism

If the current political situation in America doesn't give you a headache, you're not paying attention. Or perhaps, you're just not getting the news. This might be because most of the infotainment found these days in the main stream media is just not worth watching. There are a lot of politically important events occurring that you won't find much mention of even on PBS. Why? There are lots of reasons, but here's a suggestion. Turn off your TV. Cancel your newspaper subscriptions. Start looking for alternative news sources, like the internet, but be careful, there's a lot of crap out there as well. You might want to start with places like Glenn Greenwald's blog, where you will find a very thorough analysis of whats happening in the political world, as well as excellent insight into whats happening to journalism. Another high quality news source is Democracy Now!

History Lessons

Regarding the War:

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of ... . I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in ... . I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in ... . It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad ... into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. If we do not stop our war against the people of ... immediately the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horribly clumsy and deadly game we have decided to play.

The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in ..., that we have been detrimental to the life of the ... people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in ..., we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war…read on

These are the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. regarding the war in Vietnam. If he were alive today, he would be saying the same thing about Iraq. Its time to stop the madness.

80,000 Jobs Lost?

Last month, employers cut 80,000 jobs. Not really. They were just sort of relocated. For example, a few of them maybe went here:

The Ching Luh Nike plant has 21,000 employees, and they were "treated" to a $6 a month raise after a two-day strike. Inflation in Vietnam was 19% over the last year, and the $6 a month raise is a 10% increase - but they also get free lunch! Whoopee!

Do the math; their original salaries were $59 a month. Anyone wonder why American manufacturing has moved overseas?

Wow! $59 a month! That's almost like not having to pay them at all! Sort of like slave labor. And we're doing them such a favor. Plus we don't have to suffer from the pollution of all those factories. I guess everybody's real happy with that deal, except mayby the 80,000 who lost their jobs, and maybe a few of those working in the sweat shops in SE Asia and Mexico who have to go on strike to get a less that subsistence wage.

EPA Not Functioning According to Plan. Really?

The Washington Post reports that the chemical industry may be playing an inappropriate role in EPA decisions:

A congressional committee is investigating ties between the chemical industry and expert review panels hired by the Environmental Protection Agency to help it determine safe levels for a variety of chemical compounds.

Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee, have demanded documents from the EPA and the American Chemistry Council to probe the roles of nine scientists who are serving on EPA panels or have done so in the past.

The lawmakers sent a letter to the chemical industry Wednesday, expanding a probe that began earlier this month.

"Americans count on sound science to ensure that consumer products are safe," Dingell said through a spokesman yesterday. "If industry has undue influence over this science, then the public's health is endangered."

Perhaps you haven't noticed, but there are a few other government agencies whose functions have been sabotaged over the last 8 years or so. This would include the EPA, FDA, FCC, FEMA, and of course the DOJ. As Darth Cheney would say, "So?". So what are you going to do about it? Do you still care?

War Crimes, Torture, Insanity

What did you say (misstate) Mr AG?

Has it become so common place for high government officials to lie to the public, that no one notices anymore? And when they are caught in a blatant lie, is all that they have to do is say "I misstated myself"? In the good ole days, there was something called "shame", that would have necessitated an immediate resignation.