It has become difficult not recognize that we are firmly in the grip of a second Gilded Age. Not only is this return obvious in the homage - if not hysteria - that marks a return to the dreamworlds of consumption, commodification and a survival-of-the-fittest ethic, but also in the actions of right-wing politicians who want to initiate policies that take the country back to the late 19th century - a time in which the reforms of the New Deal, the Great Society and the Progressive Era did not exist.
This was a period in which robber barons, railroad magnates and the super-rich spread their corrupting influence throughout the political, economic and cultural landscapes - without having to deal with irritating social reforms such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, child labor laws, environmental protections, affirmative action, civil rights, union rights, antitrust laws, a progressive income tax and a host of other reforms. This was a period when money flowed and privilege shaped practically all aspects of American life, making a mockery out of democracy and imposing massive amounts of suffering on the vast majority of Americans. Women could not vote and were seen as second-class citizens, blacks were treated harshly by Jim Crow policies, young people were exploited through harsh labor, education was limited to the elite, inequality in wealth and income reached extreme disparities, slums festered, and politics was corrupted by the moneyed classes.
In time, protests emerged among students, workers, unions, women, people of color and others to address these injustices. Labor became a potent force in the first half of the 20th century. Then blacks mobilized a formidable civil rights movement, women’s groups organized to address a range of injustices, students infused new life into the drive for democracy both within and outside of higher education. Gay, lesbian and transgender groups - along with a number of other marginalized and oppressed groups - fought to gain basic civil rights. But these movements not only produced notable victories in deepening and expanding the promise and possibilities of a substantive democracy, they also were the object of a powerfully organized backlash on the part of conservatives, who organized a right-wing cultural revolution that successfully rolled back many of the progressive gains that emerged in the first and second half of the 20th century.
The conservative backlash and war against equality, justice and human rights has been reinforced in the last 30 years by the consolidation of the media into the hands of the corporate elite. There are precious few news outlets left that still speak truth to power... not only fighting the corporate propaganda trend, but showcasing a variety of writers and academics who take seriously the role of the Journalism in a Democracy. Journalists that fight for the truth, give voice to those who are powerless report more than the gossip and scripts redlined by executive producers and address issues that are ignored in the dominant and mainstream corporate media.
Please refuse to support the politicians, think tanks, media and anti-public intellectuals who are pushing to create a second Gilded Age. Our Democratic Republic matters to more than the people inhabiting the United States of America.. our policy, programs and newly made corporate citizens are hurting plant, animal and people alike all around this planet. We are the only ones in a position to lead the fight. Our Vote is our weapon to fight for a formative culture that demands we not only retain but improve the social contracts won by blood, sweat and tears of our elders throughout the last century.
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday, March 20, 2009
Has Journalism Died?
It is important to bring this discussion out into the public discourse. For it is we the people who will soon find ourselves no different than our caricatures of comrades in cold war russia. What needs to be recognized here is not "is journalism dead?" but rather has freedom of speech been restructured and restricted? I fear the worst is right around the corner, as printed "news" dies and everyone "does digital" we all seem quite assured that airwaves are as real and accessible as newsprint. But newsprint does not require a computer, an internet connection and an account login to read the information. Newspapers can be read with little more than a candle and seventh grade education.
Part of the transformational landscape being forged by the destruction of news as we know it - is access, localization and community. During the last seven years we've seen tremendous consolidation of media empires. Whether radio, television or print, corporations and private equity firms have quietly been buying up our media landscape and severing thousands of links to communities, government, local whistle-blowers, great journalists and newsmakers.
All this while simultaneously creating the largest and most available media spectacular known to mankind. As the Springsteen song says, 57 channels and nothing on. Actually, its worse than that, now we've got 1000 channels with the same thing on! We've got fewer than 10 media conglomerates owning all the major newspapers, television, entertainment and radio. They've consolidated into most of the local and regional markets as well. What this means is less reporters actually reporting, less transparency in business and government, and less useful information for the citizens. What it also means is greater ease in controlling the content that does make it out.
Last year a train derailed near a small urban town who's local radio stations were bought up and "upgraded" to nationally syndicated broadcasts. As the highly toxic fumes swept over the town, many turned to the radio for news of the eye-burning, gaseous smell making it hard to breathe. As hundreds vomited into their toilets and put wet washcloths on their children's eyes, the local radio just played song after song with an announcer giving weather and national news.
This is just the beginning of what will become "newspeak" in the future: non-specific corporate-edited, white noise. I can hear Orwell spinning in his grave right now.
Part of the transformational landscape being forged by the destruction of news as we know it - is access, localization and community. During the last seven years we've seen tremendous consolidation of media empires. Whether radio, television or print, corporations and private equity firms have quietly been buying up our media landscape and severing thousands of links to communities, government, local whistle-blowers, great journalists and newsmakers.
All this while simultaneously creating the largest and most available media spectacular known to mankind. As the Springsteen song says, 57 channels and nothing on. Actually, its worse than that, now we've got 1000 channels with the same thing on! We've got fewer than 10 media conglomerates owning all the major newspapers, television, entertainment and radio. They've consolidated into most of the local and regional markets as well. What this means is less reporters actually reporting, less transparency in business and government, and less useful information for the citizens. What it also means is greater ease in controlling the content that does make it out.
Last year a train derailed near a small urban town who's local radio stations were bought up and "upgraded" to nationally syndicated broadcasts. As the highly toxic fumes swept over the town, many turned to the radio for news of the eye-burning, gaseous smell making it hard to breathe. As hundreds vomited into their toilets and put wet washcloths on their children's eyes, the local radio just played song after song with an announcer giving weather and national news.
This is just the beginning of what will become "newspeak" in the future: non-specific corporate-edited, white noise. I can hear Orwell spinning in his grave right now.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Obsession: War on the Truth
Sept 14, 2008 should most certainly be heralded as the day the term "Liberal Media" was finally exposed for the fiction from which it was coined. Yesterday a half-million of copies of a propaganda video were distributed in 75 newspapers across the US...
The Swiftboat-like 501c3 organization, the ClarionFund, paid an undisclosed amount for the inserts to be distributed in Key Swing States including the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and prominent papers within Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Nevada.
careful this is a loud and dramatic piece of propaganda...
click with care!
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, a hate-film touted as a documentary, produced in Israel by several right wing groups, who are also financial supporters of the McCain Campaign. The film played on FOX and CNN television during the run-up to the 2006 elections and has been repeatedly shown at the bush-controlled CIA and Pentagon as "learning tools" for new agents.
This propaganda is the latest stunt pulled by the right and its media partners. By reaching out to millions of readers with this ready-to-eat propaganda, they controlled the entire message without anyone being able to respond, review or refute the lies, deception and misinformation. Some newspapers who've already been inundated by angry subscribers have responded that the inclusion of paid advertisements with samples are not new.
But as one subscriber noted, "A box of cereal? Toothpaste? Does a box of cereal or a tube of toothpaste encourage me to look with hatred and suspicion on my law abiding neighbors who have a different religion than mine? The trailer for this video is about hate, pure and simple, and shows the video has only one goal -- to instill fear and hatred of neighbor against neighbor."
Touting ridiculous "awards" from right-wing film festivals like the Liberty Film Festival, this slick piece of Israeli propaganda stops at nothing to use the very techniques its sites as the "ways radical Islam and Nazi Germany" fooled their countrymen. It even goes so far as to co-opt several historic quotes by people who spoke against the very schemes and techniques THEY are using... to rally support.
People, you should be outraged. This is a blatant propaganda piece sponsored by a foreign nation, used to coerce the voters of the US to throw another election. If this is what we can expect from for-profit papers and media consolidation, this will become the future of propaganda.
Rich elitists, Multinational Corporations and Foreign Nations with deep pockets, can fabricate lies and deception with flashy packaging and full motion video to reach millions of voters. People, if we tolerate this violation of our public trust, we've truly lost our democracy.
What are you going to say to big media? Will you hold them accountable for the information they provide- or will you quietly sit by and watch fourth branch of government become as corrupt as the rest?
The Swiftboat-like 501c3 organization, the ClarionFund, paid an undisclosed amount for the inserts to be distributed in Key Swing States including the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and prominent papers within Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Nevada.
careful this is a loud and dramatic piece of propaganda...
click with care!
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, a hate-film touted as a documentary, produced in Israel by several right wing groups, who are also financial supporters of the McCain Campaign. The film played on FOX and CNN television during the run-up to the 2006 elections and has been repeatedly shown at the bush-controlled CIA and Pentagon as "learning tools" for new agents.
This propaganda is the latest stunt pulled by the right and its media partners. By reaching out to millions of readers with this ready-to-eat propaganda, they controlled the entire message without anyone being able to respond, review or refute the lies, deception and misinformation. Some newspapers who've already been inundated by angry subscribers have responded that the inclusion of paid advertisements with samples are not new.
But as one subscriber noted, "A box of cereal? Toothpaste? Does a box of cereal or a tube of toothpaste encourage me to look with hatred and suspicion on my law abiding neighbors who have a different religion than mine? The trailer for this video is about hate, pure and simple, and shows the video has only one goal -- to instill fear and hatred of neighbor against neighbor."
Touting ridiculous "awards" from right-wing film festivals like the Liberty Film Festival, this slick piece of Israeli propaganda stops at nothing to use the very techniques its sites as the "ways radical Islam and Nazi Germany" fooled their countrymen. It even goes so far as to co-opt several historic quotes by people who spoke against the very schemes and techniques THEY are using... to rally support.
People, you should be outraged. This is a blatant propaganda piece sponsored by a foreign nation, used to coerce the voters of the US to throw another election. If this is what we can expect from for-profit papers and media consolidation, this will become the future of propaganda.
Rich elitists, Multinational Corporations and Foreign Nations with deep pockets, can fabricate lies and deception with flashy packaging and full motion video to reach millions of voters. People, if we tolerate this violation of our public trust, we've truly lost our democracy.
What are you going to say to big media? Will you hold them accountable for the information they provide- or will you quietly sit by and watch fourth branch of government become as corrupt as the rest?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Brass Is Back
The Brass Monkey and Lyin Ryan Crock-r shit took to the hill
to spin more yarn about our empire-building in Iraq.
Remember that old Thin Lizzy tune???
Guess who went in front of Congress today?
Those two-faced boys that had been away
Haven't changed much of what they say
like man, those cats are crazy
They were being asked to expound
How Iraq was, whether WMDs could be found
They told us it were safe, living downtown
dodgin all those mortars in the green zone town
The brass are back in town, the brass are back in town
You know that schtick about success
Spewing lies for the corporate press
Man when I tell you they was cool, they was red hot
I mean tellin lies as truth-they was a spinnin'
That day on Capitol Hill, on cspan as the pundits began to grill
Well this congress chick got up and she yelled in Patraeus' face
Man the media all went to commercial break
If the media don't want us to know, we'll forget her
Tuesday morn they'll be dressed to kill
duded up with their suits, shiny stars and frill
The lies will flow about the blood they spill
Cuz these boys want to fight, and congress' gonna let em
The brass are back in town, the brass are back in town
They'll tell us the surge, it worked great-
ignore the mortar fire blowin up all over the place
Increase our troop strength, it won't be long
It won't be long till they'll do the same in Iran
Now that the Brass is here again
The brass are back in town.
their lies, the media expounds
Will justice ever be found?
the brass is back
..... the brass is back
to spin more yarn about our empire-building in Iraq.
Remember that old Thin Lizzy tune???
Guess who went in front of Congress today?
Those two-faced boys that had been away
Haven't changed much of what they say
like man, those cats are crazy
They were being asked to expound
How Iraq was, whether WMDs could be found
They told us it were safe, living downtown
dodgin all those mortars in the green zone town
The brass are back in town, the brass are back in town
You know that schtick about success
Spewing lies for the corporate press
Man when I tell you they was cool, they was red hot
I mean tellin lies as truth-they was a spinnin'
That day on Capitol Hill, on cspan as the pundits began to grill
Well this congress chick got up and she yelled in Patraeus' face
Man the media all went to commercial break
If the media don't want us to know, we'll forget her
Tuesday morn they'll be dressed to kill
duded up with their suits, shiny stars and frill
The lies will flow about the blood they spill
Cuz these boys want to fight, and congress' gonna let em
The brass are back in town, the brass are back in town
They'll tell us the surge, it worked great-
ignore the mortar fire blowin up all over the place
Increase our troop strength, it won't be long
It won't be long till they'll do the same in Iran
Now that the Brass is here again
The brass are back in town.
their lies, the media expounds
Will justice ever be found?
the brass is back
..... the brass is back
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
What Does Democracy Mean?
Yesterday, citizens of Wisconsin went to the polls to decide who would represent their views and ideas in the November Election. At least thats what is supposed to happen in a primary election.
But what we are seeing start to happen here in Wisconsin... the first major primary after super tuesday and after the folding of the Republican party into one candidate... is something far more insidious and destructive of that fragile system we call democracy.
In large numbers, republican voters "decided" (well were instructed but thats the same word to these folk) -decided to jump ticket and vote for the democrat they felt most easy to beat in November!
Yep, thats republiklan for democracy... win at any cost, screw the will of the people, lie, cheat, steal - whatever it takes to keep in office... Oh, and do it wrapped in a flag wearing your lapel-pin with your hand cross your heart, mouthing the words to the national anthem -cuz you probably don't really know em after all! Hypocrites! We as a nation, starting here in Wisconsin, following Charlie Sykes' scheme to destabilize the democratic process (alright I'm giving sykes too much credit) have chosen to be as unethical as the very leadership we have all grown to dislike.
Is it any wonder our nation is in the condition it is? Economically strapped, more divided ideologically and financially than ever in history, acting more like an Imperial power than a representative republic, condoning treason, torture, spying, kidnapping and gross human rights abuses on a global scale, this cancer that has invaded our government has spread down to its citizens.
In 2006 the nation shocked Karl Rove and the GOP by turning out in such numbers to overwhelmingly defeat their agenda. An agenda that preached win at any cost, even if it means stealing elections. Many are still unaware of the antics employed by the radical wing of the GOP to secure the last four erections. But clearly the people were not represented in their vote.
And so today as many "citizens" take their "hot-showers" to cleanse the sin from jumping party-lines to vote for the lesser enemy, we see that the cancer has spread to the minions of the grand old party.
Just as we found in the last four erections, democracy is being transformed into some game like fear-factor or the apprentice... win at any cost, damn the rules or ethical behavior... damn the will of the people. Democracy has been turned into a winner-take-all cage-match with all the hype and pyrotechnics of a WWF pay-per-view event.
If we were to remove all the deceptor-votes from Hillary in yesterday's primary, she would have lost by a far wider margin of 18%... and Obama would have rightfully picked up more delegates... and the will of the people would have been heard.
But yesterday, the cancer spread to the hypocrites as they decided to join in undermining Democracy... They decided their will was more important than the will of the people, than true Democracy. And now the trend has been established... Wisconsin forged ahead "Forward" to spread the cancer of undermining democracy... to the rest of the primaries.
But what we are seeing start to happen here in Wisconsin... the first major primary after super tuesday and after the folding of the Republican party into one candidate... is something far more insidious and destructive of that fragile system we call democracy.
In large numbers, republican voters "decided" (well were instructed but thats the same word to these folk) -decided to jump ticket and vote for the democrat they felt most easy to beat in November!
Yep, thats republiklan for democracy... win at any cost, screw the will of the people, lie, cheat, steal - whatever it takes to keep in office... Oh, and do it wrapped in a flag wearing your lapel-pin with your hand cross your heart, mouthing the words to the national anthem -cuz you probably don't really know em after all! Hypocrites! We as a nation, starting here in Wisconsin, following Charlie Sykes' scheme to destabilize the democratic process (alright I'm giving sykes too much credit) have chosen to be as unethical as the very leadership we have all grown to dislike.
Is it any wonder our nation is in the condition it is? Economically strapped, more divided ideologically and financially than ever in history, acting more like an Imperial power than a representative republic, condoning treason, torture, spying, kidnapping and gross human rights abuses on a global scale, this cancer that has invaded our government has spread down to its citizens.
In 2006 the nation shocked Karl Rove and the GOP by turning out in such numbers to overwhelmingly defeat their agenda. An agenda that preached win at any cost, even if it means stealing elections. Many are still unaware of the antics employed by the radical wing of the GOP to secure the last four erections. But clearly the people were not represented in their vote.
And so today as many "citizens" take their "hot-showers" to cleanse the sin from jumping party-lines to vote for the lesser enemy, we see that the cancer has spread to the minions of the grand old party.
Just as we found in the last four erections, democracy is being transformed into some game like fear-factor or the apprentice... win at any cost, damn the rules or ethical behavior... damn the will of the people. Democracy has been turned into a winner-take-all cage-match with all the hype and pyrotechnics of a WWF pay-per-view event.
If we were to remove all the deceptor-votes from Hillary in yesterday's primary, she would have lost by a far wider margin of 18%... and Obama would have rightfully picked up more delegates... and the will of the people would have been heard.
But yesterday, the cancer spread to the hypocrites as they decided to join in undermining Democracy... They decided their will was more important than the will of the people, than true Democracy. And now the trend has been established... Wisconsin forged ahead "Forward" to spread the cancer of undermining democracy... to the rest of the primaries.
Or perhaps it was here,
on the battlefields of Wisconsin's polling stations
that Democracy proved, as it did in 2006,
that the will of the people can beat
the cancer of unethical greed.
on the battlefields of Wisconsin's polling stations
that Democracy proved, as it did in 2006,
that the will of the people can beat
the cancer of unethical greed.
The bigger question remains,
Has the cancer spread to the super-delegates too?
Has the cancer spread to the super-delegates too?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Where do they stand?
Here is an interesting study done to plot where a person's values and ideology puts them on a chart between left and right, egalitarian or autocratic. Take a look at how the full field of presidential candidates are plotted, then test yourself and see where your values put you.... it will surprise you.
Amazing how we see that all the candidates still in the running fall into a very small ideological framework... that coincidentally serves the interests of the elite behind the media, the multinational corporations and the private banking world.
Funny how that works.. a nation with 300 million individuals has narrowed its choice for democratic representation to 2 candidates with obama a dark horse (no pun intended) before the fifth week in the election year. And all the candidates standing, fall into the same ideological quadrant... remarkable how our "melting pot" nation seems to have resolved all our differences when deciding who should rule. or are we really the deciders?
How did you score? Are you closer to Ghandi, Thatcher or Stalin?
What do you think?
And for extra credit.. check out this history test.
Amazing how we see that all the candidates still in the running fall into a very small ideological framework... that coincidentally serves the interests of the elite behind the media, the multinational corporations and the private banking world.
Funny how that works.. a nation with 300 million individuals has narrowed its choice for democratic representation to 2 candidates with obama a dark horse (no pun intended) before the fifth week in the election year. And all the candidates standing, fall into the same ideological quadrant... remarkable how our "melting pot" nation seems to have resolved all our differences when deciding who should rule. or are we really the deciders?
How did you score? Are you closer to Ghandi, Thatcher or Stalin?
What do you think?
And for extra credit.. check out this history test.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuff Talk!
Tuff Talk on Earmarks but what about signing statements
pResident Bush delivered his final State of the Union address on Monday and even before the champagne corks went popping in the GOP section, Bush's Tuff Talk was spun into more lies and deception.
In what can only be described as calculated distain for the nation he serves, an arrogant pResident triumphantly stood before a nation of people who's economic prospects stand in ruins but for those who chose to ignore the basic tenants of our Constitution, human rights and divine doctrine to join in his world-wide pillage. Ever jubilant, this cheerleader/actor delivered the opening monolog to this, hopefully the final act in the saga "Death of a Nation". With but 355 days of this tragedy left, Bush and his corporate sponsors have quite the finale yet to perform.
Not wasting a moment, even his SOU was filled with lies and deception. As he smugly twisted fact to fiction, he sounded almost like a good President. By his account, he has worked hard to create a peaceful middle east, his policies have strengthened our economy, schools and environment. As he spoke it seemed even he enjoyed reading his script and who could blame him, for his entire cast of players were assembled before him, except for those who were spirited away in the previous scenes. And though half the room was scripted to sit somberly though his monolog, he seemed eager for an oscar performance.
As he spoke about all his accomplishments and visions, he sternly spoke of a need for this Congress to step up for the economy. He demanded they pass his stimulus package as-is; that they support his Defense Act with no addendums, earmarks or loopholes. Tuff Talk from our 'Uniter' pResident indeed!
But as he continued, with fools-grin, demanding Congress agree to stop adding pork to all the important bills yet to come in his final days, he quietly and confidently, knew of a loophole with the power of Kryptonite to Superman, that he was prepared to use-again (more than any President in history) were they to not heed his demands. A loophole granting him absolute power and eviscerating the three branches of government... his Executive Signing Statement.
The next day, following his rejecting Congress' first version because it could have "opened the Iraqi government to pursue expensive lawsuits against US Corporations", he decided to sign the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act into law... even with sections he did not approve. Because he would simply add a Signing Statement to ignore the parts he didn't want.
In his Statement, his "Memorandum of Justification" for the waiver, Bush cited his Nov. 26 "Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship" between Iraq and the United States as justification to ignore these provisions.
Oddly though, the "Liberal" Mainstream Media... has done little to report his grievous dereliction of duty- which certainly was worth a headline if not a front page intro. No even though his Declaration of Principles has been aggressively opposed by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress as not-only unprecedented, but also potentially unconstitutional because it was enacted without the agreement of the legislation branch, they remain conspicuously silent.
what gives?
Throughout his presidency, Bush has issued more than 151 signing statements overriding 1149 provisions of laws.
How is it that this lying deceiver can again get away with hood-winking the American Public with Tuff Talk and not less than 24 hours later, go back on his own stern words... without so much as a peep from the press???
We read the law is passed that says no perminant bases, mandatory legislative branch oversight, speedy responses from Bush Administrators to Congressional document requests and protection of whistle-blowers... and he evisorates it all with an Executive Statement... and then to boot... he adds he will not tolerate any legislature that seeks to control how the oil money is controlled!
And there isn't even a story on the news! My friends the end times for this once-great nation have arrived... wrapped in the flag and presented in HiDef on every channel... no news, just views... no facts, just their fiction-presented in mindless programing and endless consumption.
At this point are we really to believe that if Congress denies his "Retroactive Immunity" requests for Telcoms and his staff effective 9/11/2001... that he won't just issue another Signing Statement that the MSM will also conveniently forget to report? Liberal-bias my arse!
pResident Bush delivered his final State of the Union address on Monday and even before the champagne corks went popping in the GOP section, Bush's Tuff Talk was spun into more lies and deception.
In what can only be described as calculated distain for the nation he serves, an arrogant pResident triumphantly stood before a nation of people who's economic prospects stand in ruins but for those who chose to ignore the basic tenants of our Constitution, human rights and divine doctrine to join in his world-wide pillage. Ever jubilant, this cheerleader/actor delivered the opening monolog to this, hopefully the final act in the saga "Death of a Nation". With but 355 days of this tragedy left, Bush and his corporate sponsors have quite the finale yet to perform.
Not wasting a moment, even his SOU was filled with lies and deception. As he smugly twisted fact to fiction, he sounded almost like a good President. By his account, he has worked hard to create a peaceful middle east, his policies have strengthened our economy, schools and environment. As he spoke it seemed even he enjoyed reading his script and who could blame him, for his entire cast of players were assembled before him, except for those who were spirited away in the previous scenes. And though half the room was scripted to sit somberly though his monolog, he seemed eager for an oscar performance.
As he spoke about all his accomplishments and visions, he sternly spoke of a need for this Congress to step up for the economy. He demanded they pass his stimulus package as-is; that they support his Defense Act with no addendums, earmarks or loopholes. Tuff Talk from our 'Uniter' pResident indeed!
But as he continued, with fools-grin, demanding Congress agree to stop adding pork to all the important bills yet to come in his final days, he quietly and confidently, knew of a loophole with the power of Kryptonite to Superman, that he was prepared to use-again (more than any President in history) were they to not heed his demands. A loophole granting him absolute power and eviscerating the three branches of government... his Executive Signing Statement.
The next day, following his rejecting Congress' first version because it could have "opened the Iraqi government to pursue expensive lawsuits against US Corporations", he decided to sign the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act into law... even with sections he did not approve. Because he would simply add a Signing Statement to ignore the parts he didn't want.
One such provision sets up a commission to probe contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another expands protections for whistle-blowers who work for government contractors. A third requires that U.S. intelligence agencies promptly respond to congressional requests for documents. And a fourth bars funding for permanent bases in Iraq and finally, the part barring the pResident from attempting to privatize Iraq's oil industry without Congressional approval.
In his Statement, his "Memorandum of Justification" for the waiver, Bush cited his Nov. 26 "Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship" between Iraq and the United States as justification to ignore these provisions.
Oddly though, the "Liberal" Mainstream Media... has done little to report his grievous dereliction of duty- which certainly was worth a headline if not a front page intro. No even though his Declaration of Principles has been aggressively opposed by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress as not-only unprecedented, but also potentially unconstitutional because it was enacted without the agreement of the legislation branch, they remain conspicuously silent.
what gives?
Throughout his presidency, Bush has issued more than 151 signing statements overriding 1149 provisions of laws.
How is it that this lying deceiver can again get away with hood-winking the American Public with Tuff Talk and not less than 24 hours later, go back on his own stern words... without so much as a peep from the press???
We read the law is passed that says no perminant bases, mandatory legislative branch oversight, speedy responses from Bush Administrators to Congressional document requests and protection of whistle-blowers... and he evisorates it all with an Executive Statement... and then to boot... he adds he will not tolerate any legislature that seeks to control how the oil money is controlled!
And there isn't even a story on the news! My friends the end times for this once-great nation have arrived... wrapped in the flag and presented in HiDef on every channel... no news, just views... no facts, just their fiction-presented in mindless programing and endless consumption.
At this point are we really to believe that if Congress denies his "Retroactive Immunity" requests for Telcoms and his staff effective 9/11/2001... that he won't just issue another Signing Statement that the MSM will also conveniently forget to report? Liberal-bias my arse!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Charlie Wilson's War- the sequel
I recently went to see the Tom Hanks film Charlie Wilson's War. Last summer I shared a room with a fellow activist who, like me, was given a chance to lobby our Congress for the Alaska Wilderness Coalition. I noticed a thick book he was engrossed in and asked him about it. He was reading the best-selling novelby George Crile, Charlie Wilson's War and said it was a chilling revelation into the inner-workings of the Congress we were to meet with the next three days.
We talked into the night of the startling truths behind the veil of righteousness that was either required to keep our world at peace-or was the very reason for it being so horrific. Oddly enough, the book, and now movie mirror exactly the same conundrum... but as usual.. only a few will be privy to engage in such discussion. Privy-perhaps the wrong word for it infers elite or special when what I mean is few will have an opportunity to realize that there are deeper questions that need asking after watching this film.
Film Critic James Rocchi said it best-
I didn't leave Charlie Wilson's War, the new film from director Mike Nichols, dissatisfied or unamused. I walked out of Charlie Wilson's War angry. No reasonable person expects a film -- any film -- to capture the complexity and scope of real events with absolute precision; adaptations are translations, and as the old Italian saying goes, "The translator is a traitor." It's one thing to compress, combine and fictionalize a story to fit the sprawling, ugly mess of it onto the big screen; it's another to take only the best, shiniest parts of a real, ugly story and turn it into a feel-good comedy. Translation may be traitorous, but Charlie Wilson's War feels like a conscious act of treason against reason itself. As film critic David Thompson has said, "We learn our history from movies, and history suffers ...." Charlie Wilson's War isn't just bad history; it feels even more evil, like a conscious attempt to induce amnesia.
The movie is ridiculously nearsighted and does a great disservice to our historic perspective. Summed up with the movie's final sentences spoken by Hanks which perfectly illustrate how the truth, like so many headlines, can be manipulated to tell only the part that paints the best reflection of what we want reality to be, rather than what it truly is. Sort of a Dorian Grey Portrait-this story snapshots a moment in time showing the best image possible, while the real truth lies buried, like the portrait hidden in the attic, in the untold history that followed those final words.
“These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world. And the people who deserved the credit are the ones who made the sacrifice. And then we fucked up the endgame.”
Does anyone realize the endgame was us disowning Afghanistan after arming it to the teeth and training its citizens to be efficient terrorists? That the subsequent struggle for power amid the aftermath, created the Taliban, bin Laden and alQaeda? At least there was a moment, originally in the film, but left on the cutting room floor by the producers, where Gust contacts Wilson years later to tell him to turn on his tv to see the 9/11 attacks.
gee-kinda wrecks the warm-fuzzy afterglow of the film doesn't it?
Charlie Wilson's War stops being funny
...when you realize we're living in the sequel.
We talked into the night of the startling truths behind the veil of righteousness that was either required to keep our world at peace-or was the very reason for it being so horrific. Oddly enough, the book, and now movie mirror exactly the same conundrum... but as usual.. only a few will be privy to engage in such discussion. Privy-perhaps the wrong word for it infers elite or special when what I mean is few will have an opportunity to realize that there are deeper questions that need asking after watching this film.
Film Critic James Rocchi said it best-
I didn't leave Charlie Wilson's War, the new film from director Mike Nichols, dissatisfied or unamused. I walked out of Charlie Wilson's War angry. No reasonable person expects a film -- any film -- to capture the complexity and scope of real events with absolute precision; adaptations are translations, and as the old Italian saying goes, "The translator is a traitor." It's one thing to compress, combine and fictionalize a story to fit the sprawling, ugly mess of it onto the big screen; it's another to take only the best, shiniest parts of a real, ugly story and turn it into a feel-good comedy. Translation may be traitorous, but Charlie Wilson's War feels like a conscious act of treason against reason itself. As film critic David Thompson has said, "We learn our history from movies, and history suffers ...." Charlie Wilson's War isn't just bad history; it feels even more evil, like a conscious attempt to induce amnesia.
The movie is ridiculously nearsighted and does a great disservice to our historic perspective. Summed up with the movie's final sentences spoken by Hanks which perfectly illustrate how the truth, like so many headlines, can be manipulated to tell only the part that paints the best reflection of what we want reality to be, rather than what it truly is. Sort of a Dorian Grey Portrait-this story snapshots a moment in time showing the best image possible, while the real truth lies buried, like the portrait hidden in the attic, in the untold history that followed those final words.
“These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world. And the people who deserved the credit are the ones who made the sacrifice. And then we fucked up the endgame.”
Does anyone realize the endgame was us disowning Afghanistan after arming it to the teeth and training its citizens to be efficient terrorists? That the subsequent struggle for power amid the aftermath, created the Taliban, bin Laden and alQaeda? At least there was a moment, originally in the film, but left on the cutting room floor by the producers, where Gust contacts Wilson years later to tell him to turn on his tv to see the 9/11 attacks.
gee-kinda wrecks the warm-fuzzy afterglow of the film doesn't it?
Charlie Wilson's War stops being funny
...when you realize we're living in the sequel.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
AT&T 'Ready to Filter' the Web
During a panel discussion at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, AT&T’s top lobbyist said the company was ready to implement new technologies that would allow it to inspect and filter Web traffic.
James Cicconi, AT&T’s senior vice president for external and legal affairs, said that the time was right to start filtering for content at the network level. “We think a network-based solution is the optimal way to approach this,” Cicconi said, according to a New York Times reporter who attended the panel.
It’s no secret that major ISPs have been working with technology companies such as Cisco to filter content with deep-packet-inspection software. Last year, AT&T revealed its plans to work with MPAA, RIAA and broadcasters to use and deploy “digital fingerprinting techniques.
According to public statements, their rationale for playing traffic cop is to ferret out pirated content: sniffing through our digital packets for material that infringe on copyright.
Can You Trust the Filter?
But the technology can be used for other purposes, and the phone giant has shown that it has no qualms invading our communications to hand over our private records to government, or censor speech or block service “without prior notice and for any reason or no reason.”
AT&T has also touted plans to become gatekeepers to the Web with public relations bromides about “shaping” Web traffic to better serve the needs of an evolving Internet.
In reality, Cicconi and his cohorts within the entertainment industry are waging a quiet campaign to control how video and other rich content gets distributed via the Web. The popular trend in video, however, is streaming in the opposite direction. More and more people are becoming their own creators and distributors of homespun video content. YouTube now boasts more than 100 million views each day, but it is just the beginning of this revolution.
Peer-to-peer traffic is spreading via popular technologies like BitTorrent and Gnutella, which allow users to upload and share videos, music and other rich media without a middleman or content gatekeeper. The bulk of this traffic is legal.
Peer-to-Peer Traffic ‘Not Acceptable’
Also at the Las Vegas panel was NBC Universal’s general counsel Rick Cotton, who told the Times that the volume of peer-to-peer traffic online was “overwhelming.”
“That clearly should not be an acceptable, continuing status,” Cotton said, and AT&T seems more than happy to step in.
These executives’ vision of a better Internet ” AT&T’s “Your World Delivered” ” is not one that is shared by the more than 1.5 million people who have spoken out in favor of a neutral, open and free-flowing Internet.
For us, the Internet isn’t about one company delivering our world or filtering our content. It’s about simply offering a high-speed connection at reasonable rates ” and then getting out of our way.
This article is from SavetheInternet.com. If you found it informative and valuable, we strongly encourage you to visit their Web site and register an account, if necessary, to view all their articles on the Web. Support quality journalism.
James Cicconi, AT&T’s senior vice president for external and legal affairs, said that the time was right to start filtering for content at the network level. “We think a network-based solution is the optimal way to approach this,” Cicconi said, according to a New York Times reporter who attended the panel.
It’s no secret that major ISPs have been working with technology companies such as Cisco to filter content with deep-packet-inspection software. Last year, AT&T revealed its plans to work with MPAA, RIAA and broadcasters to use and deploy “digital fingerprinting techniques.
According to public statements, their rationale for playing traffic cop is to ferret out pirated content: sniffing through our digital packets for material that infringe on copyright.
Can You Trust the Filter?
But the technology can be used for other purposes, and the phone giant has shown that it has no qualms invading our communications to hand over our private records to government, or censor speech or block service “without prior notice and for any reason or no reason.”
AT&T has also touted plans to become gatekeepers to the Web with public relations bromides about “shaping” Web traffic to better serve the needs of an evolving Internet.
In reality, Cicconi and his cohorts within the entertainment industry are waging a quiet campaign to control how video and other rich content gets distributed via the Web. The popular trend in video, however, is streaming in the opposite direction. More and more people are becoming their own creators and distributors of homespun video content. YouTube now boasts more than 100 million views each day, but it is just the beginning of this revolution.
Peer-to-peer traffic is spreading via popular technologies like BitTorrent and Gnutella, which allow users to upload and share videos, music and other rich media without a middleman or content gatekeeper. The bulk of this traffic is legal.
Peer-to-Peer Traffic ‘Not Acceptable’
Also at the Las Vegas panel was NBC Universal’s general counsel Rick Cotton, who told the Times that the volume of peer-to-peer traffic online was “overwhelming.”
“That clearly should not be an acceptable, continuing status,” Cotton said, and AT&T seems more than happy to step in.
These executives’ vision of a better Internet ” AT&T’s “Your World Delivered” ” is not one that is shared by the more than 1.5 million people who have spoken out in favor of a neutral, open and free-flowing Internet.
For us, the Internet isn’t about one company delivering our world or filtering our content. It’s about simply offering a high-speed connection at reasonable rates ” and then getting out of our way.
This article is from SavetheInternet.com. If you found it informative and valuable, we strongly encourage you to visit their Web site and register an account, if necessary, to view all their articles on the Web. Support quality journalism.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Movie Industry Lobby Censors for Bush
The Motion Picture Association of America, lobby for big media, doesn't like showing picture the Bush Administration doesn't want you to see. Once again, the myth of liberal media stands exposed to truth... what do you think?
Alex Gibney's new, critically-acclaimed documentary Taxi to the Dark Side follows the path of Afghan taxi driver Dilawar, who was wrongly accused of terrorist ties and was tortured to death by interrogators in the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base. The film critically examines the Bush administration's torture doctrine at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has rejected Taxi's poster as being not suitable for all audiences. The poster for the film simply shows two soldiers walking away from the camera, holding a hooded detainee between them.
The Taxi ad art is an actual photograph taken by Corbis Photographer, Shaun Schwarz, who's original image was intentionaly deleted by the military- but not before he transferred a copy to his flash drive. The original shot was of only one soldier and the hooded detainee, a second soldier was added digitally for balance and effect.
According to ThinkFilm, which produced the documentary, the MPAA objected to the image of the hood.
Last year, the MPAA also censored censored the poster for the documentary The Road to Guantanamo, because it showed a detainee hanging by his handcuffed wrists, with a burlap sack over his head and a blindfold tied around the hood.
Poster images for Taxi and Road are based on factual evidence. But interestingly, many horror films released for Christmas... as well as several slasher films shown on TV during the christmas holiday... show hoods, torture, dismemberment and far more horrific imagery.... but thats okay... cuz the Bush Administration doesn't mind showing images that create terror and fear... just not the ones they're actually doing in our name!!!
A look at some of the posters the MPAA has approved as suitable for all audiences this holiday season.
Alex Gibney's new, critically-acclaimed documentary Taxi to the Dark Side follows the path of Afghan taxi driver Dilawar, who was wrongly accused of terrorist ties and was tortured to death by interrogators in the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base. The film critically examines the Bush administration's torture doctrine at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has rejected Taxi's poster as being not suitable for all audiences. The poster for the film simply shows two soldiers walking away from the camera, holding a hooded detainee between them.
The Taxi ad art is an actual photograph taken by Corbis Photographer, Shaun Schwarz, who's original image was intentionaly deleted by the military- but not before he transferred a copy to his flash drive. The original shot was of only one soldier and the hooded detainee, a second soldier was added digitally for balance and effect.
According to ThinkFilm, which produced the documentary, the MPAA objected to the image of the hood.
Last year, the MPAA also censored censored the poster for the documentary The Road to Guantanamo, because it showed a detainee hanging by his handcuffed wrists, with a burlap sack over his head and a blindfold tied around the hood.
Poster images for Taxi and Road are based on factual evidence. But interestingly, many horror films released for Christmas... as well as several slasher films shown on TV during the christmas holiday... show hoods, torture, dismemberment and far more horrific imagery.... but thats okay... cuz the Bush Administration doesn't mind showing images that create terror and fear... just not the ones they're actually doing in our name!!!
A look at some of the posters the MPAA has approved as suitable for all audiences this holiday season.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
AT&T censors
Censored Show Proves AT&T’s Bad Faith
From Capital Times, August 16, 2007
By John Nichols
Telecommunications giant AT&T says no one should worry about their aggressive lobbying to eliminate Net neutrality — the First Amendment of the Internet that guarantees equality of access to all Web sites.
AT&T executives claim they would never interfere with Web content.
When Americans hear this spin, they should hang up on AT&T.
The truth is that, within business circles, the company is already promoting its schemes for “shaping” the Internet if Net neutrality protections fall.
And a good sense of how the telecommunications corporation would like to “shape” the World Wide Web can be gleaned from reports of how AT&T managed the live webcast of last weekend ‘s Lollapalooza concert when it came time for Pearl Jam to perform.
The Seattle-based band has a long history of highlighting smart political statements — about war and peace, protecting the environment and promoting tolerance — in its songs and in the on-stage comments of lead singer Eddie Vedder.
But on Sunday, when Pearl Jam was performing the song “Daughter” during the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, the band broke into a version of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” Reworking the lyrics of the classic rock song, Vedder sang, “George Bush, leave this world alone” and “George Bush, find yourself another home.”
The lyrics that criticized Bush were muted in the webcast.
Coincidence? Not at all.
AT&T admits that the censorship occurred. The company describes the muting of Vedder ‘s references to a president who appoints the members of the Federal Communications Commission — and thus has a major role in deciding whether AT&T gets what it wants — as “a mistake by a webcast vendor.”
Then, in a nice Orwellian twist, the company declares, “We have policies in place with respect to editing excessive profanity, but AT&T does not censor performances.”
In fact, “editing excessive profanity” is censorship.
And, of course, Vedder’s lyrics about Bush, which were not profane, did in fact get censored.
Web-savvy Pearl Jam fans noted the silencing of the message and immediately contacted the band. Pearl Jam members released a statement on the censorship incident that declared, “This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media. AT&T’s actions strike at the heart of the public’s concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.”
Pearl Jam’s statement continued: “What happened to us this weekend was a wake-up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band.”
The band’s right. The censorship of Pearl Jam by AT&T serves as a reminder of what will be lost if Net neutrality is eliminated and telecommunications corporations are free to decide which Web sites are on “the information superhighway of the future” and which are on the gravel road of slow or impossible connections.
“This event shows that companies like AT&T will risk the appearance of censorship by turning off the sound on a webcast that’s being viewed by thousands of people, just because it works counter to their financial interests,” says Jenny Toomey, the executive director of the Future of Music Coalition, which has been working to defend Net neutrality. “What do you think they will do to protect their financial interests on the Web when no one is looking?”
Tim Karr, of the Save the Internet.com Coalition, adds, “AT&T’s history of breaking trust with their customers includes: handing over private phone records to the government; promising to deliver services to underserved communities and then skipping town; and pledging never to interfere with the free flow of information online while hatching plans … to build and deploy technology that will spy on user traffic.”
“The moral of this story is put Net neutrality permanently into law and never trust AT&T at their word,” says Karr. “The company acts in bad faith toward the public interest and will do whatever it can to pad its bottom line — including sacrificing its users’ freedom to choose where they go, what they watch and whom they listen to online.”
Here's what FCC Chairman Michael Copps had to say about this debacle:
From Capital Times, August 16, 2007
By John Nichols
Telecommunications giant AT&T says no one should worry about their aggressive lobbying to eliminate Net neutrality — the First Amendment of the Internet that guarantees equality of access to all Web sites.
AT&T executives claim they would never interfere with Web content.
When Americans hear this spin, they should hang up on AT&T.
The truth is that, within business circles, the company is already promoting its schemes for “shaping” the Internet if Net neutrality protections fall.
And a good sense of how the telecommunications corporation would like to “shape” the World Wide Web can be gleaned from reports of how AT&T managed the live webcast of last weekend ‘s Lollapalooza concert when it came time for Pearl Jam to perform.
The Seattle-based band has a long history of highlighting smart political statements — about war and peace, protecting the environment and promoting tolerance — in its songs and in the on-stage comments of lead singer Eddie Vedder.
But on Sunday, when Pearl Jam was performing the song “Daughter” during the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, the band broke into a version of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” Reworking the lyrics of the classic rock song, Vedder sang, “George Bush, leave this world alone” and “George Bush, find yourself another home.”
The lyrics that criticized Bush were muted in the webcast.
Coincidence? Not at all.
AT&T admits that the censorship occurred. The company describes the muting of Vedder ‘s references to a president who appoints the members of the Federal Communications Commission — and thus has a major role in deciding whether AT&T gets what it wants — as “a mistake by a webcast vendor.”
Then, in a nice Orwellian twist, the company declares, “We have policies in place with respect to editing excessive profanity, but AT&T does not censor performances.”
In fact, “editing excessive profanity” is censorship.
And, of course, Vedder’s lyrics about Bush, which were not profane, did in fact get censored.
Web-savvy Pearl Jam fans noted the silencing of the message and immediately contacted the band. Pearl Jam members released a statement on the censorship incident that declared, “This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media. AT&T’s actions strike at the heart of the public’s concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.”
Pearl Jam’s statement continued: “What happened to us this weekend was a wake-up call, and it’s about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band.”
The band’s right. The censorship of Pearl Jam by AT&T serves as a reminder of what will be lost if Net neutrality is eliminated and telecommunications corporations are free to decide which Web sites are on “the information superhighway of the future” and which are on the gravel road of slow or impossible connections.
“This event shows that companies like AT&T will risk the appearance of censorship by turning off the sound on a webcast that’s being viewed by thousands of people, just because it works counter to their financial interests,” says Jenny Toomey, the executive director of the Future of Music Coalition, which has been working to defend Net neutrality. “What do you think they will do to protect their financial interests on the Web when no one is looking?”
Tim Karr, of the Save the Internet.com Coalition, adds, “AT&T’s history of breaking trust with their customers includes: handing over private phone records to the government; promising to deliver services to underserved communities and then skipping town; and pledging never to interfere with the free flow of information online while hatching plans … to build and deploy technology that will spy on user traffic.”
“The moral of this story is put Net neutrality permanently into law and never trust AT&T at their word,” says Karr. “The company acts in bad faith toward the public interest and will do whatever it can to pad its bottom line — including sacrificing its users’ freedom to choose where they go, what they watch and whom they listen to online.”
Here's what FCC Chairman Michael Copps had to say about this debacle:
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Apple Parody More Truth
Recently, MADtv did a wonderful sketch playing off Apple Computer CEO Steven Jobs' new product rollout at a typical MacWorld Conference. The heavily scripted opening keynote by the co-founder of Apple has always been a thrill to conference-goers. This parody did not disappoint either.
But the ironic the twist beyond this great parody, was that Apple has risen to head the rank and file of corrupter corporations. It has become in my opinion, the most sinister company in the silicon pantheon... like sands through the hourglass, Apple produces ways to keep us distracted from living a life connected in communion with nature... and exiled us to wandering a desert of sand-based silicon iDevices. Rising to heights usurping even Microsoft, Steve Jobs and Apple have revealed the most sinister plan of stealing our souls and has shown us all along with Eden's fruit once bitten as its Logo. Microsoft's Bill Gates never disguised the fact that he was strong-arming society to buy his products. Apple has quietly seeped into our hearts and minds with their iStuff... we quickly move to a more iCentered, iFocused, iSolated... society.
Apple has been no stranger to ethical challenges. In the late 90s Apple was selling 15 different computers to secure price competition while retailers battled over lowest prices. After 2000, Apple began selling computers in stores like Best Buy, WalMart, CircuitCity and Sears undercutting price and services offered by its Independent Apple retailers like North Shore Computers (the nations largest) and my former company Third Millennium Design. Part of a large and loyal network of Mac Evangelists, the independent resellers began closing across the nation just as Apple Stores began springing up in Malls and Mainstreets in major cities. Apple repeatedly assured the remaining resellers of no competition between them and the new Stores... First they would only sell to retail, then they would not perform repairs in the stores, now their free "genius" consultants work long lines of business people carrying their computers to stores rather than hiring independent technicians.
Yes Apple has been conquering the private spaces of people for more than 25 years and like the highest demon in the devil's pantheon, Apple rose to power with the full support of the very people it now subjugates—not too unlike the Bush administration and their spinning of the iRack story to gain our support.
But the ironic the twist beyond this great parody, was that Apple has risen to head the rank and file of corrupter corporations. It has become in my opinion, the most sinister company in the silicon pantheon... like sands through the hourglass, Apple produces ways to keep us distracted from living a life connected in communion with nature... and exiled us to wandering a desert of sand-based silicon iDevices. Rising to heights usurping even Microsoft, Steve Jobs and Apple have revealed the most sinister plan of stealing our souls and has shown us all along with Eden's fruit once bitten as its Logo. Microsoft's Bill Gates never disguised the fact that he was strong-arming society to buy his products. Apple has quietly seeped into our hearts and minds with their iStuff... we quickly move to a more iCentered, iFocused, iSolated... society.
Apple has been no stranger to ethical challenges. In the late 90s Apple was selling 15 different computers to secure price competition while retailers battled over lowest prices. After 2000, Apple began selling computers in stores like Best Buy, WalMart, CircuitCity and Sears undercutting price and services offered by its Independent Apple retailers like North Shore Computers (the nations largest) and my former company Third Millennium Design. Part of a large and loyal network of Mac Evangelists, the independent resellers began closing across the nation just as Apple Stores began springing up in Malls and Mainstreets in major cities. Apple repeatedly assured the remaining resellers of no competition between them and the new Stores... First they would only sell to retail, then they would not perform repairs in the stores, now their free "genius" consultants work long lines of business people carrying their computers to stores rather than hiring independent technicians.
Yes Apple has been conquering the private spaces of people for more than 25 years and like the highest demon in the devil's pantheon, Apple rose to power with the full support of the very people it now subjugates—not too unlike the Bush administration and their spinning of the iRack story to gain our support.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Peoples History-CliffNotes
Long before we conquered this land we call the United States of America, and drew lines on a map to say what was ours, the indigenous peoples of central and south America migrated with the seasons as the birds, animals and insects do, to where the land was rich and bountiful, moving back down as the temperatures did. Now rather than staying on our side of the line as I'm guessing you would have it, some of our mercantile forefathers decided long ago (about 150yrs) that they were losing their ability to abuse the labor force here in the US because workers began to unionize and they had this pesky weapon-the vote. With that and their organized strength in numbers, these captains of industry could no longer demand men, women and children work in dangerous factories for 80hrs+ per week for little pay that sometimes they just withheld at will. Because these people could elect representatives who actually cared to defend that silly thing called a Constitution.
So rather than continue employing the Pinkerton Security Forces (predecessor of Blackwater and Bechtel) to savagely beat down the resistance (Haymarket Riot ), they discovered that on the other side of that line on the map, the people had no vote! So if these industrialists just gave into the union demands— 40 hr workweek, child labor laws, minimum wage etc— they could befriend this new middle class, get their vote, and still keep a class distance both socially and economically from this riffraff by exploiting the peoples and resources of lesser nations to the south who had no means to defend themselves from corporate colonialism .
Fast forward a bit as I'm not trying bore to you, as the profits grew, corporate interests and their thirst for resource extraction grew too, (like a turbocharger). Meanwhile the plight of the indigenous peoples grew darker. The Corporate Industrialists began gaining power and influence in our Government and found they could externalize many non-profitable facets of their operations in the south by having our Government do the work for them... Gee that made stockholders happy and the middle class never made the connection. So began our military and economic oppression of these poor indigenous peoples who tried to organize and demand human rights—as we did in 150yrs ago, but they didn't have a vote .
So the Corporations savagely brutalized them and recklessly exploited their lands and resources (after all, they have no pesky EPA or laws our Corporations couldn't fix). These Corporate Colonialists continued to squish anyone who began to organize and found it useful to supplant the governments of the peoples, with puppets of their own choosing. So with the might of our military and the use of all branches of intelligence, economic and financing, they toppled and imposed brutal regimes at will...training death squads at the "School of the Americas" and gee it worked so well, these Corporate Colonialists took the concept on a road-show to every continent on Earth... By advancing loans (debt) for "infrastructure improvements" like highways and electricity, public health and education, agencies like the IMF and World Bank , Corporate Colonialists were able to privatize the lesser nation's Commons ...but I digress, meanwhile the peoples of these oppressed nations, driven from their lands, stripped of their dignity and forced into poverty, began taking to the migratory traditions of their forefathers in increasing numbers. Noticable increases of labor crossing our line on a map and doing the jobs our snobby, spoiled kids won't do, was okay at first, til these Corporate Colonialists began exercising their Imperialist intentions through globalization of their Brands . That means they break the middle class by shipping our jobs overseas.
See the Imperialists just had to find a way to make our votes become useless, then they could treat us like they did before the unions. So now with our jobs leaving and our wages and buying power shrinking, we look to those increasing numbers of people doing what they've done forever, and we begin to hate them. Hate them for our own blindness to what we are losing. And now the Corporate Imperialists are within our Government, step up to build a great wall of isolation to keep the migrants out... they hire their own corporations (who farm the labor out to migrants like New Orleans) to build and defend these walls (for a healthy profit) and they continue to manufacture consent through their Corporate-Owned Media outlets.
As news stations continue to tell us they are fair and balanced, the programming swings more and more towards graphic violence and materialism. Desensitizing the middle class and fooling them into a false patriotism to continue to sap them of their children, wealth, and bounty to battle the wars that benefit Corporate Imperialists. Now with new Corporate appointments to lock up the Supreme Court and judicial branch, and ownership of the executive branch, (they stumbled in November on the legislative branch but it is within reach) they are on the precipice of doing to us what they've done to our neighbors to the south and in the middle east and sub-saharan africa and everywhere else including us 150yrs ago.
So rather than continue employing the Pinkerton Security Forces (predecessor of Blackwater and Bechtel) to savagely beat down the resistance (Haymarket Riot ), they discovered that on the other side of that line on the map, the people had no vote! So if these industrialists just gave into the union demands— 40 hr workweek, child labor laws, minimum wage etc— they could befriend this new middle class, get their vote, and still keep a class distance both socially and economically from this riffraff by exploiting the peoples and resources of lesser nations to the south who had no means to defend themselves from corporate colonialism .
Fast forward a bit as I'm not trying bore to you, as the profits grew, corporate interests and their thirst for resource extraction grew too, (like a turbocharger). Meanwhile the plight of the indigenous peoples grew darker. The Corporate Industrialists began gaining power and influence in our Government and found they could externalize many non-profitable facets of their operations in the south by having our Government do the work for them... Gee that made stockholders happy and the middle class never made the connection. So began our military and economic oppression of these poor indigenous peoples who tried to organize and demand human rights—as we did in 150yrs ago, but they didn't have a vote .
So the Corporations savagely brutalized them and recklessly exploited their lands and resources (after all, they have no pesky EPA or laws our Corporations couldn't fix). These Corporate Colonialists continued to squish anyone who began to organize and found it useful to supplant the governments of the peoples, with puppets of their own choosing. So with the might of our military and the use of all branches of intelligence, economic and financing, they toppled and imposed brutal regimes at will...training death squads at the "School of the Americas" and gee it worked so well, these Corporate Colonialists took the concept on a road-show to every continent on Earth... By advancing loans (debt) for "infrastructure improvements" like highways and electricity, public health and education, agencies like the IMF and World Bank , Corporate Colonialists were able to privatize the lesser nation's Commons ...but I digress, meanwhile the peoples of these oppressed nations, driven from their lands, stripped of their dignity and forced into poverty, began taking to the migratory traditions of their forefathers in increasing numbers. Noticable increases of labor crossing our line on a map and doing the jobs our snobby, spoiled kids won't do, was okay at first, til these Corporate Colonialists began exercising their Imperialist intentions through globalization of their Brands . That means they break the middle class by shipping our jobs overseas.
See the Imperialists just had to find a way to make our votes become useless, then they could treat us like they did before the unions. So now with our jobs leaving and our wages and buying power shrinking, we look to those increasing numbers of people doing what they've done forever, and we begin to hate them. Hate them for our own blindness to what we are losing. And now the Corporate Imperialists are within our Government, step up to build a great wall of isolation to keep the migrants out... they hire their own corporations (who farm the labor out to migrants like New Orleans) to build and defend these walls (for a healthy profit) and they continue to manufacture consent through their Corporate-Owned Media outlets.
As news stations continue to tell us they are fair and balanced, the programming swings more and more towards graphic violence and materialism. Desensitizing the middle class and fooling them into a false patriotism to continue to sap them of their children, wealth, and bounty to battle the wars that benefit Corporate Imperialists. Now with new Corporate appointments to lock up the Supreme Court and judicial branch, and ownership of the executive branch, (they stumbled in November on the legislative branch but it is within reach) they are on the precipice of doing to us what they've done to our neighbors to the south and in the middle east and sub-saharan africa and everywhere else including us 150yrs ago.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
BRAC FLACK!
What does anyone think of today's Senate Filibuster attempt led by Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson? A few Senators are trying to tie up the hill about the new Senate dropping the 3.1 Billion Dollar earmark funding Don Rumsfeld's BRAC military base realignment plan, in the omnibus appropriations bill. While most of us were enjoying the holidays last year, several high-ranking military officers testified against Rumsfeld's plan saying it weakened our internal defense posture. Of course none of the politicians or public figures were tuned into c-span during their recess, nor were most of us... But I happened to catch a broadcast one nite and I was intrigued by these highly decorated commanders being very vocal in opposition to this strategy.
Why is it that Donald Rumsfeld and this administration can consistently be wrong about policy, strategy, the opposition's capability, intent and determination, yet some Senators continue to press for this policy?
BRAC is a dangerous policy of concentrating and aggregating our forces and assets into forward bases and only a few giant bases within the States. The Vice President, Rumsfeld and several other top Bush administration advisors belong to the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) thinktank who's global strategy outlined by them in 1998 essentially stated the global-conquest of the planet, securing their United States as the supreme superpower and ruler of the planet... thereby meaning that some US corporations would have global domination of the market backed by supreme military force. Even the most conservative citizens (both R&D) do not share this radical departure from our country's Constitution and basic principles.
The Generals agreed that moving all our military hardware from cities (like milwaukee) and locations round the country will seriously impede their effectiveness as a defense shield against both environmental as well as terror threats. Unless our intention is to aggregate the assets into an offensive posture, this policy made no sense.
Never-mind too, that all the bases chosen to be closed and realigned would cause serious hardships on the families and communities that grew to support these bases and that these communities would no doubt get angry at their local leadership for letting this happen, but coincidentally, all the bases chosen to close, were in blue states near population centers, and all the bases that were to get the no-bid Halliburton base construction contracts worth millions, happened to be in red states where those congressmen would surely gain great public support by the economic prosperity their action would shower on their voters.
The scariest thing that Rumsfeld's BRAC policy would unleash, beyond the United States confirming a global posture of aggression rather than defense, is that it leaves our nation without an infrastructure of defense or support. We no longer would have national guard troops with substantial machinery to secure an area after a calamity like New Orleans. And God forbid, there should ever come a time when we needed to stand up against a rogue takeover of our own government, whether militarily or economically. If the leadership went against our will, this policy effectively takes all our weapons away and leaves us just like the iraqis were, with only small caliber rifles and handguns.
It is also very interesting to watch the way the media has given so much airtime to the actions of these few Senators who beg for fair play from the new Democratic leadership after there was so little media coverage of the last six years of the GOP led lock-down of Congress the past six years. In reality, the petty claims of exclusion and fair-play that garner headlines today, pale in comparison to the exclusionary actions of the Republican majority that never got mass public coverage. The headlines today deplore actions that compared to the behavior of Bill Frist and Tom Delay are like like equating the actions bank robbers to a schoolboy stealing a candy bar. Both are wrong but there's a mighty big difference between the scale of crimes and oddly, the size of the headlines.
But what's the real reason these Senators fight for Rumsfeld's BRAC policy making America into a world aggressor? Is it their genuine belief that it best serves their nation and its people, or their true constituents the corporate citizens? Hutchinson and the Kansas and Georgia Senators that were so vocal today, all stand to have millions of dollars spent in their States from this $3.1 Billion dollar earmark... has the money trumped the reality that Rumsfeld's policy has dubious underpinnings? Has the will of the people been dismissed by these GOP lapdogs who seem to have forgotten the results of the November Election? I guess only time will tell.
Why is it that Donald Rumsfeld and this administration can consistently be wrong about policy, strategy, the opposition's capability, intent and determination, yet some Senators continue to press for this policy?
BRAC is a dangerous policy of concentrating and aggregating our forces and assets into forward bases and only a few giant bases within the States. The Vice President, Rumsfeld and several other top Bush administration advisors belong to the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) thinktank who's global strategy outlined by them in 1998 essentially stated the global-conquest of the planet, securing their United States as the supreme superpower and ruler of the planet... thereby meaning that some US corporations would have global domination of the market backed by supreme military force. Even the most conservative citizens (both R&D) do not share this radical departure from our country's Constitution and basic principles.
The Generals agreed that moving all our military hardware from cities (like milwaukee) and locations round the country will seriously impede their effectiveness as a defense shield against both environmental as well as terror threats. Unless our intention is to aggregate the assets into an offensive posture, this policy made no sense.
Never-mind too, that all the bases chosen to be closed and realigned would cause serious hardships on the families and communities that grew to support these bases and that these communities would no doubt get angry at their local leadership for letting this happen, but coincidentally, all the bases chosen to close, were in blue states near population centers, and all the bases that were to get the no-bid Halliburton base construction contracts worth millions, happened to be in red states where those congressmen would surely gain great public support by the economic prosperity their action would shower on their voters.
The scariest thing that Rumsfeld's BRAC policy would unleash, beyond the United States confirming a global posture of aggression rather than defense, is that it leaves our nation without an infrastructure of defense or support. We no longer would have national guard troops with substantial machinery to secure an area after a calamity like New Orleans. And God forbid, there should ever come a time when we needed to stand up against a rogue takeover of our own government, whether militarily or economically. If the leadership went against our will, this policy effectively takes all our weapons away and leaves us just like the iraqis were, with only small caliber rifles and handguns.
It is also very interesting to watch the way the media has given so much airtime to the actions of these few Senators who beg for fair play from the new Democratic leadership after there was so little media coverage of the last six years of the GOP led lock-down of Congress the past six years. In reality, the petty claims of exclusion and fair-play that garner headlines today, pale in comparison to the exclusionary actions of the Republican majority that never got mass public coverage. The headlines today deplore actions that compared to the behavior of Bill Frist and Tom Delay are like like equating the actions bank robbers to a schoolboy stealing a candy bar. Both are wrong but there's a mighty big difference between the scale of crimes and oddly, the size of the headlines.
But what's the real reason these Senators fight for Rumsfeld's BRAC policy making America into a world aggressor? Is it their genuine belief that it best serves their nation and its people, or their true constituents the corporate citizens? Hutchinson and the Kansas and Georgia Senators that were so vocal today, all stand to have millions of dollars spent in their States from this $3.1 Billion dollar earmark... has the money trumped the reality that Rumsfeld's policy has dubious underpinnings? Has the will of the people been dismissed by these GOP lapdogs who seem to have forgotten the results of the November Election? I guess only time will tell.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Wikipedia Bush
George Bush
_________________________
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"duhbya" redirects here. For other uses, see boy-king (disambiguation).
George W, Bush (help·info) (July 6, 1946 — April 30 , 1945 ) was President of the United States from 2000 to 2007, and Commander-and-Chief (Leader) of AmeriCo ® from 2008 until his death. He was chosen of the Grand Old (republican) Party (Großartige Alte Republikanische Partei or GOP), the K Street Party
Bush gained power in the USA facing crisis after 9/11. Using propaganda and clumsy oratory, he appealed to the economic needs of the lower and middle classes, while sounding resonant chords of nationalism, anti-Terrorism and anti-Muslimism. With the establishment of a restructured economy, a rearmed military, and the corrupt 109th Congress and GOP regime, Bush pursued an aggressive foreign policy with the intention of expanding USDemocracy ("living space"), which triggered World War III when US annexed Afghanistan, then Iraq, and invaded Iran, much of which was also annexed to form the "Model of Democracy" (Großdeutsches Reich).
At their zenith, Neo-Con Extremists and the Coalition of the Coerced occupied most of the Middle East, but were eventually defeated by the rest of the World. By the end of the war, Bush's racial policies had culminated in the killing of approximately 11 million people, including the genocide of some 1 million Muslims, in what is now known as War on Terror. In total, the war in the Middle East cost approximately 20 million people their lives.
In the final days of the war, Bush, along with his new wife, Ann Coulter, committed suicide in Crawford Ranch in Texas, as the world was being overrun by the Coalition of the Civil Nations.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Coverup in Najaf?
What if the heroic battle in Najaf that occurred earlier this week turns out to be no different than Steve Tillman's infamous death? Tillman left the NFL to serve in Iraq and died "in battle", only later it turned out to be a military cover-up for him being shot in the back by friendly fire. Earlier this week there was a story of a big battle in Najaf where 300 heavily armed religious terrorists "Soldiers of Heaven" were killed by US and coalition forces. The US suffered 11 soldier deaths and lost a Blackhawk helicopter. The area was restricted to journalists and civilian tensions are high.
Well independent european journalist Patrick Cockburn released another version of the now famed battle against "soldiers of heaven" covered in a DemocracyNow broadcast. With thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims converging on Najaf to celebrate Ashoura, one of the holiest Shi'ite holidays, there could have been an ideal opportunity for a sectarian attack. But what if it was a horrible miscommunication elevated to epic proportions because of the increased tension of all the converging pilgrims?
What is unfolding through interviews with doctors, the wounded, the morgue and interviewing the hundreds of witnesses, is that there most likely was a thwarted attack, but there possibly were a large number of innocent pilgrims caught in the crossfire and unjustly attacked in a confused frenzy of language and battle chaos. The US used heavy gunfire from Blackhawk helicopters and dropped 500lb bombs from F-18s doing high speed flyovers. The reports to the US say the terrorists were heavily armed and fought for several hours. The other account speaks of a tribe of pilgrims wearing arms because they traveled through the night to Najaf, being mistakenly attacked by security forces, resulting in retaliatory response from the remaining pilgrims. Then US Forces were brought in with only partial information. What resulted was a massacre.... and now another coverup?
If it comes to be true, isn't it an indication of what can happen when there are language barriers between our soldiers and the people we're supposed to be protecting? How many soldiers are fluent in several dialects of arabic? Now our troops are hitting the ground with less than three weeks training... and no language skills. No wonder the military wants to cover this up.
Well independent european journalist Patrick Cockburn released another version of the now famed battle against "soldiers of heaven" covered in a DemocracyNow broadcast. With thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims converging on Najaf to celebrate Ashoura, one of the holiest Shi'ite holidays, there could have been an ideal opportunity for a sectarian attack. But what if it was a horrible miscommunication elevated to epic proportions because of the increased tension of all the converging pilgrims?
What is unfolding through interviews with doctors, the wounded, the morgue and interviewing the hundreds of witnesses, is that there most likely was a thwarted attack, but there possibly were a large number of innocent pilgrims caught in the crossfire and unjustly attacked in a confused frenzy of language and battle chaos. The US used heavy gunfire from Blackhawk helicopters and dropped 500lb bombs from F-18s doing high speed flyovers. The reports to the US say the terrorists were heavily armed and fought for several hours. The other account speaks of a tribe of pilgrims wearing arms because they traveled through the night to Najaf, being mistakenly attacked by security forces, resulting in retaliatory response from the remaining pilgrims. Then US Forces were brought in with only partial information. What resulted was a massacre.... and now another coverup?
If it comes to be true, isn't it an indication of what can happen when there are language barriers between our soldiers and the people we're supposed to be protecting? How many soldiers are fluent in several dialects of arabic? Now our troops are hitting the ground with less than three weeks training... and no language skills. No wonder the military wants to cover this up.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Bedding Email Blowup
Nation-wide criticism has exploded after release of story regarding a Waukesha company's interaction with an Soldier in Iraq. PeaceAction-WI headquartered in Milwaukee has received dozens of calls , hundreds of emails and requests for interviews from across the nation.
The initial story ran on local FOX6 news and the Milwaukee Journal and included a PeaceAction-WI spokesperson who then came in the crosshairs of people nation-wide. Julie Enslow of PeaceAction-WI voiced her concern for the troops and her disappointment regarding the inappropriateness of the email. She then urged viewers to continue supporting the troops by working to find a peaceful resolution that brings our troops home now. Sounds good to me, who can argue with that?
Well apparently alot of people, not just locally, but across the country. The phone lines and email boxes have been burning with disrespectful citizens expressing their disapproval of the discount store's email... to PeaceAction???
Are people so whipped up into a frenzy by our crazy media propaganda that the mere mention of a Peace organization can get them to turn off their ears and hack up a poison response?? I don't get it?
Its true that the mainstream media has been favoring the marching instructions from on high since the war began. There has been little journalism locally or nationally that hasn't been supportive of government talking points and camera angles. Haven't we all seen the staged servicemen asking pre-rehearsed questions? Haven't we heard of the militaristic restrictions given citizens seeking audience with their elected leaders when they speak locally? Why even the act of embedding reporters has proven bad for objective journalism.
Whether its a t-shirt or bumper sticker, a name on a list or an affiliation like the ACLU or Amnesty International, Free speech has been under assault for four years, and the battle fatigue has set in on ordinary citizens to the point where they seem to lash out first, and think later.... I guess its not much different than out president's war policy, but that's no excuse.
Unless these senseless hate mails have another purpose. Perhaps the frenzied behavior of people is just what our leaders want to test. What if it served as a barometer for public sentiment- float the story out there like a weather balloon. See which way the wind is blowing.
Interviewing Peace Action and a vet who collects donations helped to humanize the story, but was the reason for the story to inform, or to get a sense of the community's outrage? - Outrage to the story and company, as well as outrage to the war and those who oppose it- even to those who've stood against the war, and even if their opinion was in support of the position many of the hostile callers took.
How often have we seen this in recent media coverage—calling Barak Obama - Osama, naming Rep Foley a Democrat when referring to his gross abuses with young pages? These acts of misdirection whether intended or accidental, on top of the media's propensity to repeat views rather than report the news... has gotten people mixed up and angry.
The initial story ran on local FOX6 news and the Milwaukee Journal and included a PeaceAction-WI spokesperson who then came in the crosshairs of people nation-wide. Julie Enslow of PeaceAction-WI voiced her concern for the troops and her disappointment regarding the inappropriateness of the email. She then urged viewers to continue supporting the troops by working to find a peaceful resolution that brings our troops home now. Sounds good to me, who can argue with that?
Well apparently alot of people, not just locally, but across the country. The phone lines and email boxes have been burning with disrespectful citizens expressing their disapproval of the discount store's email... to PeaceAction???
Are people so whipped up into a frenzy by our crazy media propaganda that the mere mention of a Peace organization can get them to turn off their ears and hack up a poison response?? I don't get it?
Its true that the mainstream media has been favoring the marching instructions from on high since the war began. There has been little journalism locally or nationally that hasn't been supportive of government talking points and camera angles. Haven't we all seen the staged servicemen asking pre-rehearsed questions? Haven't we heard of the militaristic restrictions given citizens seeking audience with their elected leaders when they speak locally? Why even the act of embedding reporters has proven bad for objective journalism.
Whether its a t-shirt or bumper sticker, a name on a list or an affiliation like the ACLU or Amnesty International, Free speech has been under assault for four years, and the battle fatigue has set in on ordinary citizens to the point where they seem to lash out first, and think later.... I guess its not much different than out president's war policy, but that's no excuse.
Unless these senseless hate mails have another purpose. Perhaps the frenzied behavior of people is just what our leaders want to test. What if it served as a barometer for public sentiment- float the story out there like a weather balloon. See which way the wind is blowing.
Interviewing Peace Action and a vet who collects donations helped to humanize the story, but was the reason for the story to inform, or to get a sense of the community's outrage? - Outrage to the story and company, as well as outrage to the war and those who oppose it- even to those who've stood against the war, and even if their opinion was in support of the position many of the hostile callers took.
How often have we seen this in recent media coverage—calling Barak Obama - Osama, naming Rep Foley a Democrat when referring to his gross abuses with young pages? These acts of misdirection whether intended or accidental, on top of the media's propensity to repeat views rather than report the news... has gotten people mixed up and angry.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Too Busy to Watch?
Can you believe a larger percentage of people in several other nations will watch President Bush's State of the Union Address than the citizens in this nation? I find it appalling to think that people have become so disconnected from their duty as citizens in a Democratic society that they choose to not be bothered. Particularly at this time, when we stand at the precipice of war with Iran, a nation vastly more powerful and vital to our national energy interests than Iraq. Many say they prefer not to listen because Bush makes them angry or frustrated. Some say that time is precious, so why bother listening to him. What— Isn't that the point? If he makes us mad, perhaps we will do something to stop him. If time is so precious, than shouldn't we make the most of it? Isn't stopping the leader of the most powerful nation on earth from seriously messing up the next decade of time worth listening to just a bit— don't you think? Perhaps if we'd all have listened more, we could be doing much more personally satisfying things and not be in such dire straits today.
Who is listening? Israel is listening to several neo-conservative hawks like Richard Perle and former CIA director, James Woolsey tell the people of Israel to ready for war with Iran. Today at a summit conference in Herzliya, several presidential hopefuls started their campaign trails far from American Soil but not too far from an influential political lobby- Israel. Candidates Edwards, Guilani, Romney and McCain took the opportunity to give their own State of the Union address and the citizens of Israel appear to be listening with greater interest than here in the USA.
Who's listening... a billion Muslims that this President seems to want to kill off are interested in what Bush will say. Who's listening... the soldiers and families who are on deck or in the battlefields, desperate to hear some good news from a chaotic hell-hole formerly known as Iraq. (recent polls show more than 74% of ground troops in Iraq feel ending occupation is the only strategy) Who's listening... all the right-wing pundits and mouthpieces who need to deliver the message to the mainstream media so tomorrow and in the days to come, everyone who was too busy to listen tonight can hear the corporate view of the President's message.... yeah, there's no reason to watch the President's most important address since September 12, 2001.... isn't American Idol on? LOL in the years to come, when energy costs soar as Iran cuts off our supply of oil. Don't worry, Bush and his GOP thieves can still afford the gas with all the money they got while we were too busy to watch.
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