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The Vidiot's weekly blog: What pissed me off this week? 9/25/2005 (updated every Monday at some point during the day) ...'cause I'm angry and my friends are sick of listening to me... Track your congresscritters here!
Free stuff can be found here Mirror (in case geocities is wacky or, in case of trouble in New York, check it for messages): http://129.79.148.33/vidiotcontact/ Welcome to my Rutgers classmates. So, last Monday, after I posted here, I went to hear Cindy Sheehan speak at Union Square. There weren't that many people there. Maybe a 100 at its start, maybe a bit more by the time she got there. Most of the people were middle class types, plenty of people were older grandparent types (I mean, really, who can get off in the middle of a Monday afternoon to do something like this? Only old people and the underemployed such as myself.) It was peaceful and quiet. Even when some of the speakers tried to rally the crowd to chant, it was sort of blah, no energy. People were just there really to be there. Not necessarily to rabble rouse. At one point, the organizer of Union Square's Camp Casey went over to talk to the cops whose numbers were multiplying like viruses in the periphery, and when he came back, he explained that he had been warned that he was in violation because he did not have a permit to run the teeny weeny loudspeaker he was using. He had applied for the permit to be certain, but the city had dragged its heels like they usually do for such things. (Had he wanted the permit to publicly cheer the benefits of capitalism, you can be sure he would've gotten it right then and there.) Anyway, by the time Cindy got there, the cops were many. Almost half as many as the crowd. Cindy got to speak for maybe three minutes. Maybe she rushed because of their presence, maybe that's all she had to say. I dunno. But as soon as she finished, the cops circled in, grabbed the mini loudspeaker and arrested the organizer. Before the blue shirts did their thing, there was no violence, no noise, no crazy placards, no marching, nothing. Yet we were a threat of some sort that needed to be broken up?? I felt like I was back in Venezuela getting shot at by the police for little more than congregating with other people in a town center. One expects that from a South American country with a dictator (this was pre-Chavez) but not from our country. Then, I hear that they didn't allow Robert Fisk into the country because his papers weren't in order!! Then, I hear that Amtrak decided to shut down a portion of its trains to do some "electrical repair work". What trains did they shut down on Saturday, August 24th you might ask? Why all the trains that went from NYC to DC, the ones that would've gotten a few thousand people to DC for the protest, that's all. (No worries though, anywhere from 150,000 to 300,000 showed up.) So now do you believe me when I tell you we already live in a police state? And you should be afraid too, because the Chimpster in Chief's numbers a taking a nosedive and there's only so much pussyfooting the media can do to pump them up. (Is there any doubt he's begun drinking heavily again? Even if it is reported in the National Enquirer?) On top of that, poverty is up, incomes have declined, oil and gas are going to get even more expensive because of the combined damage of Katrina and Rita. (Rita, I might had was deja vu all over again with respect to the inability of the poor to evacuate the danger zone. And Mike Brown? Not an anomalous hire.) It's going to get uglier people. WAY uglier. Video of the Week: Jon Stewart at the Emmys Another Video of the Week: Jack Cafferty on CNN Bag of the Week: Recycled Keyboard Libation of the Week: Bong Vodka Story update: A few weeks ago, I discussed the new Bush Doctrine of preemption with nukes. Well, seems the document has been pulled from DoD's website. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Programming note: No update next week. I'm moving a 1,500 lb letterpress machine upstate. Don't ask me how. I'm not sure yet. Wish me luck 'cause I'm gonna' need it. Underreported of the Week While Katrina was grabbing headlines, Plamegate was being swept under the carpet.
Hero of the Week Poet Sharon Olds. For telling the first lady how it is.
That explains a few things. Well, I have absolutely no problem believing that people who work in the financial industry are completely mad.
But my reason for thinking that is not the way they make decisions, but rather, it's the fact they support such a ridiculously imbalanced and unfair system to begin with. Government is to be drowned in a bathtub Boy. The Norquist crowd is making some serious hay out of this Katrina aftermath.
Using it as their opportunity to cut even more government programs. Here's a thinker's thought... Was it the Department of Defense that forbade the Military Intelligence officer to testify with regards to foreknowledge of Atta and 9/11
Or was it really Cheney.
Well, if you read this article that mentions how Cheney used to show up and strong arm the investigators, you might conclude it was Cheney. Not an original line, but a good one. Love means never having to say you're Saudi.
They're all crooked. What have we been trying to tell them all this time? That Bush's Tax Cuts aren't really tax cuts and that most people won't get any benefits from them. Well, gee, now the New York Times has finally noticed.
Too little too late assholes. They're all crooked. Frist (Senate Leader)
Safavian (Chief of Federal Procurement Office)
Keep and eye on this Safavian one. He's a low-level guy they may try to flip for bigger fish.
(Read Billmon for more.) Abromoff (lobbyist to the rich and powerful)
Gore 2008 I don't know how I feel about this.
It's like, on one hand, I feel like a jilted lover and I'm not ready to forgive Gore for not being the fighter we needed him to be. On the other hand though, I still think Al Gore is one of the smartest men to ever run for President (And he may actually already BE the president). Of course he's not perfect, and yes, he's part of the political elite in this country, but honestly, have you ever read anything he's written? He's really brilliant. Wonky and brilliant. Lord knows we need a man in the Whitehouse now who knows how to not only look at a problem, but understand its interconnectedness with other problems and issues. Man, what a breath of fresh air THAT would be. Anyway, since Feingold has decided to not run, by deciding to vote for Roberts
Who else is there? But Warren Beatty as Gov. of California? Well, THAT I like.
Hey. I don't live there. Anybody seen the Constitution lately? To this, I can only say "WTF?!"
Oh brother. Ms. Fox? This is your henhouse. Do with what you will.
Media & Stuff Well, this article made my head explode.
The real reasons why everybody hates us in the Middle East is just glossed over. It mentions that it might be our "policies" and a little bit about our culture that might be turning them off. My favorite quote from the article is this:
Let's translate that, shall we: Early distortions = lies Misguided operating principles = fabrication of evidence I couldn't even tell you "gaps" means to this guy. Man. And even though the article does mention that our "policies" might be the problem or points to the hypocrisy of supporting some undemocratic regimes even though our rallying point is democracy, the last line says it all:
The WaPo article also failed to mention Israel in any terms. That's actually a huge issue with many in the Middle East. Whether you support the politics of Israel or not, it's well known that in the eyes of many in the Middle East, our support of Israel's policies, especially in the West Bank, is a huge point of contention. Well, whatever. According to a major Egyptian paper, it's the policy that needs to change in order for the Middle East to as least turn the corner with its anti-American sentiments.
Unfortunately, if Karen Hughes is in charge, you know it's not about the policy. It's all about the spin. (From the same article)
And as the quote in the WaPo article said so clearly, "I'm not suggesting we have to change our policy." Even though changing the policy is what most in the Middle East would consider a good start. Spin is not going to do it. These people have a legitimate axe to grind and unless we change our foreign policy, or at least DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGING IT, negative sentiment will exist and our chances of even more terrorist acts will increase. News of the Weird This explains so much.
This to me is just marketing/branding gone mad.
So let me get this straight, they're basically going to make a textbook out of the bible so they can get around the whole preaching in public schools thing.
Well, I'd have to give them an "A" for cleverness. What do we do about all of this crap? I have no idea. Part of me wants to start teach-ins at my local pub. Just go to the bar, rant and rave and inform the idiots who still think Brian Williams is telling them the truth. I sincerely believe that if we protected the voting rights of the underprivileged that any Democrat could SWEEP any election. I don't think Democrats are the answer. But they are at least a start. At the very least, point your CNN-loving friends to my links page. Just getting started in reading alternate news sites gets people thinking. I have one friend who was very happy-go-lucky, thinking ol' Greta was telling the whole truth until I opened up his eyes a bit. Now, he's all depressed. He'll get over it. You gotta' get depressed before you get angry and you gotta' get angry before you can accomplish anything. We're all in mourning. We have to move through the steps. But we gotta' hurry it up. Read. Inform. Spread the word. Even if it means your friends avoid you for awhile. If they really love you, they'll start to listen.
"POSSE COMITATUS ACT" (18 USC 1385): A Reconstruction Era criminal law proscribing use of Army (later, Air Force) to "execute the laws" except where expressly authorized by Constitution or Congress. Limit on use of military for civilian law enforcement also applies to Navy by regulation. Dec '81 additional laws were enacted (codified 10 USC 371-78) clarifying permissible military assistance to civilian law enforcement agencies--including the Coast Guard--especially in combating drug smuggling into the United States. Posse Comitatus clarifications emphasize supportive and technical assistance (e.g., use of facilities, vessels, aircraft, intelligence, tech aid, surveillance, etc.) while generally prohibiting direct participation of DoD personnel in law enforcement (e.g., search, seizure, and arrests). For example, Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETS) serve aboard Navy vessels and perform the actual boardings of interdicted suspect drug smuggling vessels and, if needed, arrest their crews). Positive results have been realized especially from Navy ship/aircraft involvement.
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Who am I?: I am a biker chick who lives in NYC. This blog is about current events and my left-leaning, acerbic spin on those events. Nobody pays me anything to do this. Nobody tells me what to write. I will NEVER tout anything for anybody's money! EVER! Use this instead of Google: These sites are good at culling stories from a multitude of media sites: buzzflash.com
Bartcop
Ilia
Dreams Blog media-bias exposed:
onlinejournal.com
whatreallyhappened.com
more different :
and
for godsakes, stay away if you must succumb to reading a newspaper:
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