Rules of Engagement

These are very important to remember if you're working for any network or cable news outlet (including the so-called "progressive" MSNBC). Here's the bottom line:

• ‎25 tea partiers anywhere = national news coverage.
• 37,000 unemployed people protesting in Raleigh = apparently not network newsworthy.

Any questions? Good. You now know the rules. But as my friend Pete pointed out: "Read your constitution. Ben Franklin had the foresight to guide the framers (with the help of Jesus, of course) to set the ratio for worker value at one tea partier to 1480 workers. It was called the 3/4440 compromise. It's right there in black and sepia, you commie."

I'm glad we had this discussion.

 

New WikiLeaks Revelations on Guantanamo Lies

From BBC and Alternet: The argument for Gitmo has always been that it's necessary to house dangerous people. Now, thanks to WikiLeaks, we know that a lot of the people the U.S. put there were not dangerous at all, and the U.S. knew this.

At least 150 people were revealed to be innocent Afghans or Pakistanis - including drivers, farmers and chefs - rounded up during intelligence gathering operations in the aftermath of 9/11.

The detainees were then held for years owing to mistaken identity or because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, the memos say. In many cases, US commanders concluded there was "no reason recorded for transfer".
Sami al-Hajj, a Sudanese cameraman for al-Jazeera, was held for six years, partly so he could be questioned about the Arabic news network

Six years in Gitmo, just to be harassed because you work for a news network.

"a nation of laws"

"We're a nation of laws. We don't let individuals make their own decisions about how the laws operate. He broke the law."

-President (and constitutional scholar) Obama, on Bradley Manning, who hasn't yet been tried or convicted of anything.

Spread the Word: revolution starts in Sacramento, May 1!

This is huge, and everyone needs to spread the word. Please read this post, then spread it via twitter, facebook, phone, conversation, shouting, whatever it takes:

Peace of the Action (POTA), CodePINK, Cindy Sheehan, United Progressives, several other entities, and all Vulnerable Folks are calling on us to march, strike, and occupy Sacramento and beyond beginning May Day (1st), 2011.

We seek your endorsement for – and participation in – this march/strike to strengthen our approach, our numbers, and our will.

some guy said this about me

"Maybe if I can learn to wear hipster glasses and puff myself up like you instead of using facts it will get me somewhere."

--I laughed so hard my glasses nearly fell off.

that one time...

Remember when teachers, social workers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP money, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes? Yeah, me neither.

(via various FB friends)

It's up to us...a reminder from long ago

Well, you know, we've got a slight problem. If I say the things that you want me to say, those gentlemen back there [vice squad officers attending Bruce's performance] are going to bust me. [Audience boos.] Don't boo them, it's not their fault. They're only doing their job. It's your fault I'm being busted. Until you change the law, they have to do what the law requires them to do. It's up to you to change the law.

--Lenny Bruce's performance at the Unicorn in Los Angeles, February 1962

"I'm trying to come to the point..."

A friend brought this to my attention and it seemed configurally appropriate after watching the twin corporate parties struggle over the budget this week. "America" -- Powerful, critical, sincere, reflective, Ginsberg (with music by Tom Waits)

he was telling me there were power circles in paris...in paris

Morning music:



This stuff really gets me going--and gets my imagination going too.

where are they hiding?

An old favorite of mine & some friends of mine, by the influential Cabaret Voltaire.

	Cabaret Voltaire - Yashar .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

throw out the fake umpires

During his confirmation hearing, Chief Justice John Roberts referred to SCOTUS justices as "umpires." Scalia and Thomas aren't umpires. They're playing for a team. Thomas, in particular, has committed impeachable financial offenses and conflict-of-interest offenses that most of my lawyer friends find unconscionable. He is literally in bed with the tea partiers. This week's Connick v. Thompson decision distorts the facts in the case to the point of ridiculousness in order to justify a particular ruling on a matter of law, and it shocks the conscience. I wish something in what I just wrote were hyperbolic, but unfortunately, if anything, I'm using restraint here.