Archive

Feb. 22

Copped freely from Doc Menlo: Atheist Pinups.. Frederick Douglas, a badass in any time, (where's the biopic with Morgan Freeman doing the stirring voiceover:  "And one day I got tired of them beatings and I raised my strong black hand against the white slavemaster and I beat him down like the dawg he was. Hit him again and again. My fist turned into a bloody, scabby goo. And it was good. Kicked his cracker ass 500 yards. Why, that's the length of five football fields.."...Spike, what have you been doing lately...) was also an outspoken Atheist. Here's some quotes:

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
-- Frederick Douglass (He Was An Escaped Slave)

"I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes-- a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. Where I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me...I...hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land."
[Frederick Douglass, "After the Escape"]

"Once, in a heated controversy over the wisdom of giving the
Bible to slaves, he asserted that it would be 'infinitely
better to send them a pocket compass and a pistol.'"
[Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass]

This just in! Breakin' news on your stolen election front! Covered here first! Because the corporate media doesn't think this stolen presidential thing is all that important despite unrebuted books here, here and here....That's life in your fucked up excuse for a Democracy. So, here's the scoop from Kathy Dopp, originally covered here and only here, in  the Free Press. She's pretty certain that she can prove, with this thing that they call "Math", that the votes were altered in Ohio.

In June 2005 The Election Science Institute (ESI) and pollster Mitofsky issued a paper “Ohio 2004 Exit Polls: Explaining the Discrepancy” which asserts that an exit poll error explanation “is much more likely than the fraud accusation theory to account for most, if not all, of the observed discrepancy between the exit polls and the actual results.” Precinct-level exit poll data released with ESI’s report shows that the overall average discrepancy between Ohio’s exit poll and certified vote count margins between Kerry and Bush was 11.7 percentage points. However, In October, 2005, the National Election Archive released a paper which gives counterexamples to show that the Election Science Institute’s analysis is based on an invalid premise. On January 17, 2006 the National Election Archive released its own scientific Ohio exit poll discrepancy analysis, “The Gun Is Smoking: 2004 Ohio Precinct-level Exit Poll Data Show Virtually Irrefutable Evidence of Vote Miscount” . This analysis concludes that Ohio’s exit poll discrepancy pattern is consistent with outcome-altering errors in vote counts.

Two things are certain in this controversy about U.S. exit poll accuracy:
1. The Election Science Institute and the National Election Archive cannot both be correct, and
2. Any university mathematics department in America could evaluate the two conflicting studies and decide which analysis is mathematically correct.

The National Election Archive challenges every journalist interested in discovering if outcome-altering vote miscounts or exit poll error is the more probable cause of Ohio’s exit poll discrepancy; to help resolve this critical question. The answer may make the difference as to whether Americans take steps to ensure vote count accuracy in future elections or not. The National Election Archive urges the National Election Pool media consortium to accept this “math challenge” by sharing these two conflicting election studies with mathematics faculty at any university to determine which analysis is mathematically correct.

http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/OH/Ohio-Exit-Polls-2004.pdf and http://electionscience.org/reports/view_reports.org

http://electionscience.org/Members/stevenhertzberg/report. 2005-07-19.7420722886/report_contents_file/

The survival of democracy and the future of our civilization may depend on taking steps to ensure the accuracy of elections. As the Election Science Institute said, “The public has a right to know exactly how elections work and to verify for themselves that the voting and the counting is done right.”
 

If this is true, then this would mean that we didn't have to kill 30000 to 100000 Iraqis for their oil, or plunge that country into a possible civil war (which, if the United States was Kissinger evil, we would like because that weakens the Iraqi resistance overall. Leaves us free and clear to steal their oil. Which is great. If you're evil that is...Know who you are.) which will kill thousands more.

Here's an excerpt from this big solar story:

In a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun.

This means high electricity bills and frequent power failures could soon be a thing of the past.

The unique South African-developed solar panels will make it possible for houses to become completely self-sufficient for energy supplies.

The panels are able to generate enough energy to run stoves, geysers, lights, TVs, fridges, computers - in short all the mod-cons of the modern house.

The new technology should be available in South Africa within a year and through a special converter, energy can be fed directly into the wiring of existing houses. New powerful storage units will allow energy storage to meet demands even in winter. The panels are so efficient they can operate through a Cape Town winter. while direct sunlight is ideal for high-energy generation, other daytime light also generates energy via the panels.
 

One of the things that always annoyed me about the USS Clueless crowd who insisted that you could never replace delicious tasty oil is they refused to think scientists could come up with something better. We live in an age when half the world is science fictional. Of course, you could do better if you wanted to. And, now, as the rest of the world watches as the US tries to put a noose around the energy supply they're not just going to watch. They're going to do something better and smarter. Then there's the problem with the noose...Gee, I sure hope these devices are legal in the United States. Where's my copy of the Water Engine...?

By the way, I ran this by Randall Parker (see comment 22 or thereabouts) of the pro nuke not sure about global warming crowd but knowledgeable, and he wasn't able to punch holes in this story. So I'm feeling hopeful...

Feb. 16

Item: Two Good Cheney Pics, from 2 Political Junkies and Steve Gilliard respectively:

The second pic alludes to what may be the more serious scandal: Scooter Libby is squealing like those really really guilty and oddly self-incrimination prone perps in every episode I've ever seen on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Actually, I kind of have an off opinion about the stop snitchin' trend in the black community. If its clear that  the main plan they have for black citizens is imprisonment for nonviolent offenses (it certainly isn't massive investment in the public schools), then I don't have a problem with it. Its silly to keep playing by the rules when the game is stacked against you. I mean, if you're a black person who shoots another person then I'll guess I'll snitch. But if its drugs like grass or dvds, I see nothin'. I'm just like a Republican looking at all those Gitmo pics: nothing to see here move along. If there was a real black press that spoke with one voice, then Jury Nullification would be a more popular concept. And no Oprah doesn't count as the black press, or at least a conscious one.

Item: Speaking of Oprah, I see that the Boondocks characters tried to kidnap her last week. The Boondocks, while uneven, is one of the most interesting shows on television. So, of course, Al Sharpton wants to kill the show, written and conceived by one of the most interesting black writers in the country. Meanwhile, he's still silent about Soul Plane, worst movie ever...Fuckin' idiot. Personally, I don't think he's mad about the depiction of MLK (best episode so far..he even threw in an alt timeline riff.) but the line about "hustlin preachers" He should know...If you ever wanted to know what was wrong with black leadership...And watch the Boondocks...

Item: Really talented artist I discovered on the Internets...

Feb. 14

I wrote this about five years ago.  It answers a question I've long had: why doesn't the Democratic Party fight for its base?

5-6-01

Months after the coup, I’m still debating the merits of the Ralph Nader presidential run. On the Ralph screwed us big time side is Katha Pollitt at the Nation and Todd Gitlin and Sean Wilentz at Dissent. On the other side supporting Saint Ralph is Mike Moore and Ellen Willis over at Dissent. (Dissent, allegedly a “left” outfit, makes it very difficult for me to link directly to the very fine Gitlin/Wilentz vs. Willis debate over there. So you have to go to the main page and search it out for yourselves.) Personally, I took a pragmatic view and voted for Gore, although I’m a huge Nader fan and in fact probably owe him my life in that I have survived a number of car crashes and breathe much better without second hand smoke.

After reading through all the briefs I have come to the conclusion that perhaps there was merit to the Nader run. Willis points out that as a leftist I’m playing a losing game that I have to watch being played in front of my horrified eyes. She makes the point that when the Republicans win, they fight relentlessly and ruthlessly for their loathsome, swinelike base. That, by the way, makes tactical sense. You want to give your base a reason to go to the polls. Where, during the long eight year reign of the DLC Clintonistas the left got nothing or we got stuff that we really didn’t want. He didn’t even do little things like fully funding public television. We got welfare reform, aspiring trillionaires and NAFTA, which might as well be called a corporation rights bill. I might add that all of these things undermine the Democratic Party base. Clinton didn’t even fight for the courts. We’ve seen where that led us. Tactically, this makes no sense. Why would you pursue policies that undermines your base? But there’s a point in the Willis argument that sheds some light on this where she states:

“Conservative Republicans hang together, stand up for their beliefs, and police the “moderates” in their ranks, while the Democrats’ every impulse is toward compromise and appeasement. If anything, their behavior suggests that they are threatened by the potential power of such mass constituencies as labor, blacks, and women, and would rather lose than risk unleashing it.”

This brings up a point that no one has thought about or at least brought up in public, but that someone should bring up: If you were a white man and you represented a party whose constituency represented parties that for better or worse believed in a future that lessens the power of the white man, would you enthusiastically support that party? Especially if it turns out that your opposition party foes are for the white man’s privilege, the whole white man’s privilege and nothing but the white man’s privilege. You might say that you’re open minded about sharing power consciously, but what about unconsciously? Maybe, secretly, you really want the other side to win.
 

Right now, the last remnants of the Great Society are in the hands of the 50 or so Dem senators, many of whom like Breaux and Miller seem to be Republicans in drag, in the US Senate. So far, they haven’t used the filibuster once. If the situation was reversed, the Republicans would be using their filibuster powers every, oh, four seconds or so. I can only conclude, being that they’ve totally “bought” into the Tony Coelho We Can Be Republicans To Big Money mantra, that they want the other side to win. Let’s give Bush a big tax cut. Let’s rollover on those judges. I think Willis uses the word “supine”. How appropriate. (Actually, the Dems haven’t rolled over just yet. I sure hope they get some spine…)

Yet another salient point that Willis brings up is that we’re kind of in a no-win situation. We lose slowly with Gore and quicker with Bush. And even though I agree with many of the practical points put forth by Gitlin/Wilentz everything revolves around globalization, which Gore supports. He would have been better than Bush on many issues, but economically those trade agreements undermine the union base, arguably the most powerful arm of the Dems, and everything else we stand for. Again, why do that unless you want the other side to win.

Just to add to that, I might point out that it’s the structure of the winner take all system that makes any kind of progressive change almost impossible. The lack of a progressive, left-wing media makes this difficult as well. Part of the problem revolves around the conundrum presented by the old Orwell quote: “They can’t be conscious until they’re free and they can’t be free until they’re conscious.” Likewise, we can’t have freedom until we have modern working democratic institutions, but you can’t have working democratic institutions until you have freedom. I don’t see how we win the puzzle.

Frankly, I don’t think the left will win in the United States. In fact, we might not even win on Earth. That’s why I think I’m the only leftist on Earth who is not only pro technology, but pro space exploration. Instead of playing this game on Earth, where the Casino has decided for us to lose, we should think about playing some new games here, in either artificially created nations like Sealand or offworld. My personal preference is Mars. More on this when I finally complete A Left Argument for Technology.

Feb. 9

Revenge of Around the Internets

Item: Bill Boichel, a man who should be forced by some merciless Kafkaesque regime (or the United States) to blog, sent me this cool toon:

Item: Here's some animation that features the late Seth Fisher's work in Will World. Here's Seth's personal web page by the way..

Item: Evil Telcos Want To End Internets As We Know Them. Or turn Internets into that high quality commodity known as "Cable". This would screw Google, but Google can fight back, and it should, by becoming a telco themselves, or so I prays to the all powerful flying spaghetti monster (the one true God or else) in my mind...

Item: Comparison between South Africa and Israel... Related: The difference between anti-semitism and anti-zionism.

Item: I will be permalinking the science activist.

Item: I can't stop thinking about Million Dollar Baby....probably because HBO keeps rerunning it every hour or so. Here's one guy's depressing assessment of the gal's fight game. I actually disagree with him. I've seen some very skilled female fighters. They used to show female fighters every week on some off off cable channel I used to get. No more. Actually, I think women should skip boxing and go right toward mixed martial arts...which, in theory, would allow them to compete with men...

 (Also was very impressed with the film Kinsey, a man who didn't just run the company but was a client.... More on that later when I have time....)

 Feb. 3

Item: I wrote a review for Locus Online where I gave Seth some outrageous praise. I stand by what I wrote.

 

Green Lantern: Will World
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Seth Fisher
Price: $24.95
Publisher: DC Comics, ISBN Number: 1-56389-782-2

Now if you’re looking for a comic that’s worth 25 dollars, then I highly recommend picking up the Green Lantern graphic novel Will World.

The story involves a spectacularly surreal rite of passage that Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan here) have to go through in order to more effectively wield the power of the ring. He also recites the Alfred Bester penned Green Lantern oath at least once or twice. But the star of this show isn’t the story but the incredible pencils of Seth Fisher. The only thing I might compare it to is that New York gallery level Dr. Strange annual that P. Craig Russell drew those many years ago. There are out and out homages/thefts of Man Ray, Escher, Magritte and Dali that burst from the page, not to mention the continuous suggestive ooze of Bill Plympton's animated mutations. It features a squealing zoo of bizarre images, such as: Giant Floating Heads, tiny people, people with six arms, flying carpets, flying saucers, architecture gone mad (Indian palaces mixed in with future organic skyscrapers mixed with Chinese houses standing beside a rundown tenement building, etc.) pipe smoking gorillas, zeppelins and of course Alien Grays. It has just a small touch of Moebius dappled with the sensibility of the Beatles Yellow Submarine Cartoon. It’s the kind of thing that would make Windsor McKay fume with jealous anger. And that’s just the first splash spread on pages 8 and 9 of this 96 page epic.

Stunning stuff. Not unlike walking through a living, acid tinged dream. I mean, I don’t do drugs, but there are times when you’re reading or listening to something where you get the faint sense that you’re missing out by not being under the influence of, well, something. Every panel screams jarring and disorienting: a floating pixie here, giant levitating heads, a Joker card that features the Joker, towering 20 story clowns with lamprey-like arms, not to mention Green Lantern’s head occasionally exploding into figures of people or a great twisted swirling cacophony of alien faces and organic vinelike strands…

Highly recommended. In fact, when computer pundit Robert Cringley's predicted cheap foldable plastic displays are a reality, this is the kind of art that I’d like to upload on my walls.

(On hold) This week (or weeks) we celebrate the work V for Vendetta. Here's an explanation of the very complicated comic..

Jan. 26

Item: I guess I should be shocked that Bob Jr. backs Alito, even though as Atrios points out he really didn't have to. And I see that Fast Eddie has given me a reason to not vote for him as well. Actually, Atrios makes kind of a funny point: he would have preferred that Bob Jr. lie to him and then sell him out later in the Senate. I mean, you didn't see this coming? Of course, if the leaders of Pennsylvania's labor movement are pro life then these are good positions all around for the Powers That Be. Then there's my Crazy Conspiracy Theory that Jewish American Democrats have sold out the party for Israel. If you were Jewish, as Schumer and Rendell are, and you wanted to reward the Republicans for murdering for Israel, then rolling over on judges and supporting either a weak nominee against Santorum (or someone with very little differences with him) might be something that you would do. Of course, I'm hoping that's just a crazy conspiracy theory. My eyes and head are telling me something else.

I might also note that if the courts are ruined then I have very little reason to vote Democrat. If you guys are just going to roll over on Bork II then there's very little reason to keep working for or with you guys. I'm kind of glad ACT is out of business right now. I can't imagine registering voters for Bob Casey Jr., Christ. I might also note that half the population (or gals) will be extremely angry about being transported to 12th century Iran. And it won't just be abortion, it will be contraception as well. Those crazy fuckin' theocrats...we need science heroes and we need them now.

Item: If you're looking at the future of American Civil Liberties under Alito, then please check out this comic by Joe Sacco.

Item: Yet another note for Atrios: if you really wanted to rebel against Bob Casey Jr., then you would tell your zillions of readers to give money to Chuck Penn's candidacy. He just doesn't need a lot of money to be competitive against Casey Jr., but he needs some. Atrios could help.

Item: I’m adding Technovelgy, Truthdig and Steve Gilliard to the links and plan a full link overhaul when I get some time. 

Jan 11

Still not a lot of time to write, so check out 2 Political Junkies, Robot Wisdom and Undernews (all on the left hand side) for all the scary news you need to know.

This week we celebrate the work of Brendan McCarthy. Who I think may have taken a drug or two.

Jan. 9

I've been sick from a lingering cold since the New Year began so I haven't been up for much writing as should be obvious. Random mutterings and posts should begin Tuesday. And Go Steelers. That one touchdown play looked more like an equation...just gorgeous. It looks like they're peaking at just the right time...

Dec. 19

Reason beats Flying Spaghetti Monster. Hooray. More mainstream coverage here. More from the Evolution Blog, where they are absolutely giddy with joy. Cocky even. Remember: The judge is a Republican who was nominated by President Bush, which makes it even sweeter. I'm waiting for Chris Mooney to gloat but he's on his way to New Orleans to see the ruins of his mother's flood ravaged home. But Chris got some good news: Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me fame) wants to turn "The Republican War Against Science" into a documentary.

More Around the Nets:

Two Interesting Porn Blogs Softr and Sexoteric. And from Sexoteric: This is hilarious. It reads like a funny SNL Skit. For the record, I agree with the girl. They probably were just peaceful farmers.

More gals I agree with. Once people find out Casey Jr. is pro life his numbers go down. Are pro war Jewish Dems selling out the party for Israel? You would do that by either backing a loser against the Republican guy who will fight the proxy war for Israel or by making sure you nominate a Democrat who will fight the proxy war for Israel...Please tell me I'm wrong about this.

List of online graphic novels.

Canadian Patricia Barber, out lesbian Jazz torch singer who's probably more interesting than her compatriot Diana Krall, has a new jazz video out which sounds very very cool.

And I wrote a column for The Front but its not online yet. Actually, its an older column but very few people saw it and its still a good idea...

Dec. 18

First up, election round up:

The very minor story of how your election machines have been compromised has reached the corporate media. It’s mostly in Florida but it’s a start. Just to recap: if you’re a democrat or if you’re just interested in a functioning democracy this is the most important issue, ever. All policy debates about Iraq or the Patriot Act and or the latest criminal activity by our president and how to play these issues politically means nothing if the Republicans can add 100000 of their votes and take away 100000 of your votes at will. So, we have to fix the machines and to do that you have to start talking about fixing the machines.

Nice Sum Up by Techdirt , which I think has the best analysis of tech issues that I’ve seen on the Internet.  Here’s the money shot:

Of course, if you have even the slightest respect for the integrity of our voting system, the results of the test and Diebold's response should scare you silly. It raises serious questions about why we would ever trust any Diebold machine without also hand counting a paper trail. The fact that their touchscreen machines don't include a secondary paper trail means those machines should never be used at all.

Also, within the comments section there’s this comment by Ernest Partridge to Howard Dean which sums up things pretty well.

Every week I get dozens of solicitations from the Democratic National Committee, from the Democratic Senate and Congressional Campaign Committees, or from various Democratic candidates and office-holders, each of them asking for contributions. "You can help us achieve victory next November," I am told.

If by "victory" is meant a majority vote cast at the polls, then the Democrats achieved "victory" in 2000, 2002 and 2004. And yet, the Republicans remain in control of the Congress and the White House.

Small wonder! Republicans build the voting machines, Republicans write the secret software, Republicans count and compile the totals. The Republican machines allow no auditing of the vote totals they report. So Republicans have the ability to "win" elections, regardless of the will of the voters. There is compelling evidence that they have done just that.  

And so, if nothing is done to end the privatization of our elections and to introduce reliable verification, the Republicans will "win" again in November 2006 and then in 2008. Today, eleven months before the mid-term election, the outcome is fore-ordained – as certain as Soviet elections under Stalin, and Iraqi elections under Saddam. For, as Stalin said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing, those who count the votes decide everything."

In the United States today, the GOP counts most of the votes, and there are no means to verify up to 80% of those votes.

In view of this dreadful situation, when the Democrats ask me for a contribution I must reply: "What's the point? It's already been settled! What remains is an empty charade." Admittedly, with total GOP control of the executive and congressional branches in Washington, federal investigation and legislation are, for the moment, out of the question. But elections are administered on the state and municipal levels where, in many cases, the Democrats are in control. So I ask again:

Where are the criminal investigations?

Where are the civil lawsuits, e.g., by Max Cleland in Georgia, Walter Mondale in Minnesota, Al Gore in Florida, John Kerry in Ohio?

Why is appropriate state-level legislation not proposed and enacted by Democratic majorities?

Why is the national Democratic Party not publicizing the GAO report?

I am told that some Democratic politicians are concerned that if the Party raises a ruckus about voting fraud, the Democratic base will be discouraged and will stay at home on election day.

Well, so what? If the fix is in on election day, what does it matter if the voters go to the polls? Why try to close the gate if the horse has been stolen?

Dec. 15

MORE INCONSEQUENTIAL NEWS ABOUT YOUR STOLEN ELECTION PROCESS   

Okay, now this is what we Roswell-like stolen election conspiracy theorists have been looking for. This is the equal to filmed footage of an Alien Gray sitting down with the President and having a smoke. Did you know that there was a county in Florida that allowed Black Box Voting to test hack the Diebold machines? Did you know that Finnish Hacker Harri Hursti and BBV were able to change the results? Did you know that no current canvassing method would have detected these changes? Did you know that those machines were thrown out? Do you understand that Diebold is run by partisan Republicans and builds most of the machines that the nation uses? By the way, this doesn’t mean just shocking presidential or referendum results, this might mean the odd inability to gain house and senate seats when an opposing party holds the presidency, or, worse yet, making sure that the worst candidates get the nomination so that the Dems would be more likely to lose…We’re officially in an Oliver Stone film now. Donald Sutherland is asking you who had the most to gain from a stolen election? He’s rattling off a number of bullet points about how those Ohio referendums couldn’t have been reversed that dramatically, about how the exit polling in Ohio couldn’t have been that far off, about how clear it is that the executive branch and the oil lobby are one and the same…You ask yourself, as you run down winding infinite black and white Hitchcock era streets, would the most corrupt administration ever steal an American election—after clearly fixing the results in Iraq, Afghanistan and encouraging a coup in Venezuela—and you know the question answers itself.  

Here’s a snippet of the Black Box story and here’s a quiz: isn’t it time for the DNC to make this a national issue?

FLORIDA TEST FINDS DIEBOLD VOTE MACHINE EASY TO HACK

BLACK BOX VOTING - Due to contractual non-performance and security design issues, Leon County (Florida) supervisor of elections Ion Sancho told Black Box Voting that he will never again use Diebold in an election. He has requested funds to replace the Diebold system from the county. He will issue a formal announcement to this effect shortly.

A test election was run in Leon County today with a total of eight ballots - six ballots voted "no" on a ballot question as to whether Diebold voting machines can be hacked or not. Two ballots, cast by Dr. Herbert Thompson and by Harri Hursti voted "yes" indicating a belief that the Diebold machines could be hacked.

At the beginning of the test election the memory card programmed by Harri Hursti was inserted into an Optical Scan Diebold voting machine. A "zero report" was run indicating zero votes on the memory card. In fact, however, Hursti had pre-loaded the memory card with plus and minus votes.

The eight ballots were run through the optical scan machine. The standard Diebold-supplied "ender card" was run through as is normal procedure ending the election. A results tape was run from the voting machine.

Correct results should have been: Yes:2 No:6

However, just as Hursti had planned, the results tape read:

Yes:7 No:1

The results were then uploaded from the optical scan voting machine into the GEMS central tabulator. The central tabulator is the "mother ship" that pulls in all votes from voting machines. The results in the central tabulator read:

Yes:7 No:1

This exploit, accomplished without being given any password and with the same level of access given thousands of poll workers across the USA, showed that the votes themselves were changed in a one-step process. This hack would not be detected in any normal canvassing procedure, and it required only a single a credit-card sized memory card.

One final note: it looks like California, and that state's GOP Sec. of State, is working to avoid this same test. Black Box Voting might be able to force this issue and I hope that they do.

Dec. 12

Brief Monday Evenin' Around the Internets

Chuck Penn will be in Pittsburgh tonight and tomorrow. There's also this profile over at the Booman Tribune. Now, if we could just get Atrios to take a stand..

Froth knew that trooper that got gunned down and wrote a firsthand tribute.

More later after I pay some bills...

Dec 11

These are the big stories. From the Brad Blog:

Ohio Citizen Continues Hunger Strike, Prayer Vigil in Buckeye State to Oppose Anti-Democratic Law Set to Pass Statehouse
'Christian Faith Requires Personal Sacrifice' Says Divinity Student Protesting Law Said to Ensure Republican Control of Scandal-Ridden Ohio

To protest what Free Press investigative reporters describe as a "holiday burial for American Democracy" in the Buckeye State, Ohio divinity student and Columbus resident, Jonathan Meier is continuing his prayer vigil and hunger strike at the Ohio Statehouse despite heavy snow and brutally cold winter temperatures.

House Bill 3 has already passed the House and is about to be approved by the Republican-dominated Senate in the ground-zero snakepit of GOP political corruption otherwise known as Ohio.

Activist Meier, in a just-issued press release says "that his Christian faith calls him to 'constantly pursue social justice and illuminate social ills, and, often, this call requires personal sacrifice."

Free Press' Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman recently described the latest onslaught to democracy in Ohio, which Meier is protesting, this way:


HB3's most publicized provision will require positive identification before casting a vote. But it also opens voter registration activists to partisan prosecution, exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny, quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge a presidential vote count or, indeed, any federal election result in Ohio. When added to the recently passed HB1, which allows campaign financing to be dominated by the wealthy and by corporations, and along with a Rovian wish list of GOP attacks on the ballot box, democracy in Ohio could be all but over.


Says Meier, "Most people don’t realize that this legislation, if passed by the senate next week, would make it virtually impossible for homeless folks to vote, would make it virtually impossible for groups to register large numbers of voters, would eliminate oversight of voting machines, and would cancel our right to challenge election results."

He added, "Instead of addressing the long lines at the polls, instead of making it easier for people to register and to vote, Republican lawmakers put forward 424 pages of legislation that will set up roadblocks to our democracy. I, for one, do not trust a vote reform bill that is purely a partisan act."

Fitrakis and Wasserman put the Ohio legislation in context for the rest of the country, where similar bills are being explored by various Republican-controlled legislatures:


In traditional terms, the scandal-ridden Ohio GOP would appear to be more vulnerable than ever. Governor Robert Taft has become the only Ohio governor to be convicted of a crime while in office. With an astonishing 7% approval rating, he has been compared to Homer Simpson by the state's leading Republican newspaper. Republican US Senator Mike DeWine appears highly vulnerable. The GOP has never won the White House without winning the Buckeye State.

But HB3 will solidify the GOP's iron grip on the electronic voting process and all that surrounds it. Unless they break that grip, Democrats who believe they can carry any part of Ohio in 2006 or 2008 are kidding themselves.

When it comes to 2008, can you say "Jeb Bush"?

His hunger strike was probably spurred by this earlier Free Press Story. Actually, that's a certainty since there has been no significant mainstream coverage of this issue. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: the Internet is the New Alternative Press.

Dec. 7

I got this email today  about a 5 pm press conference.

Wednesday 12/7/05 at 5pm in front of the Pittsburgh State Office Building, 300 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh!

The State Senate of Pennsylvania is preparing to vote on House Bill 1318 next week!

HOUSE BILL 1318 THREATENS TO DISENFRANCHISE THOUSANDS OF PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS WHO CURRENTLY HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE BY DENYING THOSE ON PAROLE AND PROBATION THE RIGHT TO VOTE!

It will also force Pennsylvanian's to bring a photo ID to the polls!

This bill will disproportionately hurt:

Senior voters
Young Voters
College Voters
Low-Income Voters

There will be a press conference in front of the Pittsburgh State Office Building Wednesday 12/7/05 at 5pm in front of the Pittsburgh State Office Building, 300 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh!

Scheduled Speakers:

Laura Staniland: Freshman Student, Duquesne University
Taili Thompson: Community Coordinator, One Vision One Life
George Moses: Sothwestern PA Alliance of HUD Tenants/Housing Alliance of PA
Khari Mosley: Pittsburgh League of Young Voters
Tim Stevens: President, Black Political Empowerment Project

For more information contact the Pittsburgh League of Young Voters at pittsburgh@indyvoter.org

www.pittsburgh.indyvoter.org

Dec 5

(Note: Ann Coulter is a gun nut and her doppelganger here says things like "Bring em on! Great stuff.)

How fitting that the most pungent artistic response to a regime famed for its crass fear-mongering would be a cheap horror movie. Jaw-dropping in its sheer directness, Homecoming is a righteous blast of liberal-left fury (it was greeted with a five-minute ovation in Turin, the most vocal appreciation seeming to come from the American filmmakers and writers in attendance).

--from Village Voice review

Showtime is apparently the new HBO. First, they blew me away with Weeds—which struck me as being much more interesting than Rome. And this Showtime episode of “Homecoming” is one of the most all encompassing attacks on the right that I’ve ever seen. I’m glad that Chuck Penn’s staff (Chuck’s doing great at fundraising by the way. Perhaps people have seen Bob Casey Jr. speak and it occurs to them that someone with the principles of Gray Davis yet none of the charisma wouldn’t pose the best challenge to lil Ricky but I digress…) agrees about the quality. The Ann Coulter clone sounded a lot like Ann Coulter. Those horrible things that Cleaver says are on a par with the horrible things Coulter says all of the time. I think Sam Hamm, interviewed here, compares it to “Atrios greatest hits”, but I would disagree with one thing. As far as I know, Atrios has never brought up the possible theft of the 2004 election or even more recently the incredible turnaround on the Ohio referendum issues. The last minutes where our hack right wing host notes the wonderful turnaround in Ohio and Florida despite exit polling and when our Karen Hughes clone notes that we “count the votes” is actually closer to the Brad Blog or Free Press…but it’s the thought that counts. Of course, the horrible thing is that this isn’t fiction. And there are no patriotic zombies coming to our aid. That's our real horror show.

MORE UNIMPORTANT NEWS ON THE YOUR STOLEN ELECTIONS IN PERPETUITY FRONT

Well, there were three things that have happened over the last week on the voting rights front. Two of them were quite disturbing and one of them offered just a tiny shard of hope and light—probably to be snuffed out by the appeals process. That’s because the Big Thinkers in the Democratic Party thought it was a good tactic not to fight over court appointments in the 90s. So, every time we want to fight without resorting to blood we’ll lose. 

One, when it looked like we were winning in California, it looks like the Republican secretary of state (will the DNC ever detect a pattern?) has decided to put a Diebold purchase back into play. He’s proposing what looks like a mock approval process—which I suppose would be fitting for what looks like our increasing mockery of an election process.

Two, I thought we had definitely won in North Carolina, kind of a Republican state last time I looked. But the North Carolina folks simply ignored their own law—it’s a law that states that you have to open up your source code to make sure that its valid—and approved the Diebold machines anyway. Its being called the “immaculate certification”. Well, let’s see, there’s the 2000 election, the 2004 election, and now we have Republicans in a hurry to certify these machines—that always result in fantastic victories for Republicans and Republicans only I might add. Is there an American opposition party? I mean, really now. Of course, someone decent who understands the law should appeal the decision. And that will be decided by the Republican courts—remember the Clintons never thought that was worth fighting for—and we’ll lose yet again. Thanks DLC. 

Three, it looks like we might have won one in Ohio. That’s where there are a number of groups suing the state over the 2004 election. The judge ruled that the suit can go on. However, that decision will probably be appealed and we’ll lose again because the DNC/DLC thought it was just a great idea to give up the courts. Thanks fellas, again. It’s a great feeling to know that I can’t do anything within the law to change the United States.

Nov. 29

NOTABLE QUOTES FROM AROUND THE INTERNETS

First Up: Patricia Goldsmith from Dissident Voice:

When it comes to e-voting, the corporate media have put out a couple of narrative frames that have been successful in throwing even voting reform advocates off the track. The most obvious is the conspiracy frame. Stephen Pizzo, who ultimately advocates the abolition of e-voting in order to restore voter confidence, nevertheless believes “[t]he party caught fixing a major race would be out of power for a generation. Also, if I learned anything from a quarter century of unraveling real and alleged conspiracies it’s that getting caught is always in the cards.” In this, he finds himself in substantial agreement with conservative columnist and former Reagan administration official James Pinkerton.

It seems to me their argument would be a lot stronger if the GOP hadn’t already been “caught” attempting to fix every single election since 2000. Hell, they do it out in the open, proudly. People like Katherine Harris, Glenda Hood, and Ken Blackwell have made whole careers out of purge lists, voter intimidation, and aggressive partisanship in the administration of elections.

That’s because what we are seeing in operation is not a conspiracy, but unchecked monopolies and corporate combinations, and there is nothing fanciful or farfetched about it. The concentration of wealth and power is the ultimate point toward which all capitalist systems tend. The last 70 years of (relatively) regulated corporations are the exception, not the rule.

Privatized voting is a perfect example of how the undermining of government regulatory mechanisms leads to one-party rule and further deregulation, in a self-perpetuating cycle. We see the same thing with the highly-consolidated corporate media. Neither is a “conspiracy” required in order for the various corporate entities to act in concert. Combination is in their best interests, and successful corporations are all about finding and pursuing their own best interests, as single-mindedly as sharks. Which explains why the corporate media have virtually ignored a recent GAO report detailing serious e-voting failures in 2004.

Read the whole thing here.

Second up, my cousin Leonce (who now has permalinks for some of his links):

Open Letter to Colin Powell
01/11/05 13:14
Like you, my father was a career Army officer. Like you, he felt honored to serve in the US military. Like you, he entered the military when racism was overt. Like you, he rose to officer status (he retired a Colonel) despite the obstacles placed in his path.

You receive the benefit of the doubt, General Powell. You receive it because black people admire the heights you attained in your career, and because you have never become a sock puppet for the right. You never acquiesced to the Faustian bargain that men like Clarence Thomas or Armstrong Williams seem to accept. You never agreed to forget you were black--in exchange for white handlers rewarding you as if you were white. You never felt you had to do as Thomas Sowell does and deny the existence of racism today or yesterday. You aligned yourself with causes you felt right, despite their lack of popularity in the Republican party to which you belonged.

You have deserved the benefit of the doubt. However, to date, over 2000 Americans are dead, over ten thousand wounded; hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis are dead. The US standing in the world continues to plummet. Terrorist activity is on the rise. The Iraq war has caused these things, and you presented the evidence to the world that made that war happen.

We now know that the evidence you presented was based on lies. You insist that you did not know that, and I, and most others, believe you. However, apologies are no longer enough. As this administration continues to damage US security, attempts to strip citizens of hard-won rights through packing the Supreme Court with extremists--as this occurs, you no longer have the luxury of remaining silent. Loyalty is valuable, but "just following orders" is a coward's excuse. When, General Powell, does the former morph into the latter? I think that time is now. It's when the blood runs so thick, that only the blind or the morally corrupt cannot see it, and only the ideologically crippled refuse to acknowledge it. That time is now.

(Scroll down and read the rest...)

Nov. 24

Happy Holidays or Bah Humbug. I’m a latter kinda guy these days. 

Coupla items:

The cavalier way in which Blumenthal seems to marginalize those of us "obsessing over the Dispatch poll," as he describes it, would seem to indicate that Blumenthal simply doesn't understand the problem here to even the smallest extent. Either that, or he just doesn't give much of a damn about the validity -- and/or the importance of confidence by the electorate -- in the most basic element of our American democracy: The right to vote and to have that voted counted accurately.

--from Brad Blog

Item: There’s an interesting debate between the Mystery Pollster (Champion finger wagger against us or “your elections are continuously stolen crowd”) and the Brad Blog. Read the whole thing and especially the long post by Brad. Short version: It’s not that we’re not capable of losing elections, it’s that we can’t check the results in time in order to make changes in the results. And, quite frankly, the word of the Republicans—especially at Corruption Central at either Ohio or Washington DC headquarters—telling me that everything is legit and there are wmds doesn’t carry a lot of water with me. Actually, the scary thing is that the Republicans really aren’t making that claim. They don’t give a fuck about Democracy, at least in this country.

 Item: I just discovered a really interesting music site called Pandora, where you type in a particular artist and you get back similar results. Overall, it’s pretty decent. I typed in some real ringers of course. I got a pretty good response with Alan Holdsworth. I was introduced to a bass playing Hendrix called Brian Bromberg (he uses a piccolo bass to sound like an electric guitarist…oddly enough I was watching BET On Jazz’s Studio Jams today and Living Colour’s Doug Wimbush can do the same thing…it’s all in the pedals man, all in the pedals…)and this guy called Nels Cline. Both very interesting.  I soon will try Kaki King. I’ll probably get a lot of Mike Hedges or Stanley Jordan back...However, my Portishead search got me back Bette Midler.Go figure.

 Item: There is also a new and beautiful video featuring Cat Power and its crazy yet attractive lead singer Chan Marshall.) There is also a second Broadcast video, even though there are many songs that are better on the album—almost all of them in fact, such as America’s Boy, Corporeal and Black Cat.

Nov. 20

I was researching porn (for an update at Red Light) and I ran into the Art of
Karl Bang.

Nov. 19

Nov. 14th

10-30 thru 11-4

We're starting Heavy Metal covers week.

10-30

Down and Out in Wilkinsburg

I finally completed my move and once I unpack things and get my bookcases in order I should be back to a normal postings schedule. Meanwhile, I've found these points to be of interest or:

Weekend Edition of Around the Internets

Item: Nice update about the Reform Ohio movement. Please donate money if you can. Good ad here. Of course, I'm still holding out hope that Democrats use the V for Vendetta trailer as a campaign commercial.

(By the way, for those of you keeping score at home on the voting fraud issue, keep in mind that the Ohio reforms are fairly innocuous. It allows voting by mail, cuts down on big money giving, creates a bi partisan commission on redistricting and robs Ken Blackwell of his power to influence an election. Note that the Republicans, with the help of their Christian fundie lackeys (proud and shameless promoters of backwardness and ignorance...of course, it takes a kind of conscious stupidity for the deliberate bliss station fulfillment of religion to actually work (Santa will love me in Heaven...Bah.)...not to mention that they're itching for direct government funding. Corporate theocracy. Has a nice ring to it.)  oppose these measures vigorously. You know what makes me know the fix is in? Its the Republican response to these issues. If someone says "Phil stole the election and furthermore he weighs less than 150 pounds and is less than four feet tall..." I would respond, if I was in the right, by saying "Bring on the verified voter audits, the mail ballots, the satellite GPS measuring data, the certified scales and whatnot...And then when you lose again this will show the American people that we do have a real mandate." That hasn't been the Republican response. In fact, the Republicans are acting like thieves caught in the night and seem intent on declaring that exits polls and tools of measurement  be declared  unconstitutional. And, of course, why can't the Democrats figure this out? They're either inept interpreters of human nature or they're on the take. Paid well to remain in minority status and they're good at it...Thus endeth the rant.)

Item: Video game that stresses nonviolent solutions to problems that I'm guessing kids will hate.  Actually, if you've ever done any kind of organizing these questions sound familiar:

"You have to worry about your organization," he continued. "Do you set up a hierarchal organization, or a cell-based one? Who is the best figurehead for the media? What kind of training do people need? And if you march on the capital without proper controls, things may turn violent, which will harm your cause. These are the things people can learn."

Item: A fund that donates money to progressive causes.  I just wish they would bring back ACT.

Item: Science Fiction Podcasts.

Item: Older Salon story on why US Broadband sucks. Older Free Press (the "other" Free Press run by noted press critic Robert McChesney.) backgrounder on broadband. It's actually the same old story. We don't get decent healthcare because insurance lobbyists have bought off congress. We don't get decent environmental protections because polluters have bought off congress. We don't get decent jobs because outsourcers like Walmart have bought off congress.  And we don't get decent broadband because telcos have bought off congress. And so it goes. Other countries can provide their citizens with protections and benefits because they don't allow multinationals to game the system. Here, we have a system of congress that allows predatory capitalists to periodically rape us. It's not a good system.

Item: Three full length tunes from rediscovered Monk/Coltrane collaboration of the late 50s. Thelonious, my old friend, is such a distinctive composer....

10-23 thru 10-29

We're starting Heavy Metal covers week.

Please go check out out the work of Paul Gulacy, who attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.  He owes a lot to Jim Steranko as you might have noticed.

October 25th

Item: I finally finished reading the Marty Levine voting machine piece in the City Paper. It was a thorough piece and I learned about this local guy who's very involved with the voter verification movement. I guess I came away with a number of concerns. One, he quotes Mike Shamos as kind of a distinguished opposition quote, when in fact Mr. Shamos has publicly stated that he's quite all right with electronic voting machines giving back faulty unverifiable results, according to Kathy Dopp. It's not unlike quoting the Klan about the death of Rosa Parks. I also thought Shamos comparing voter fraud to alien abduction as being slightly out of bounds. I say that because everyone pretty much concedes that the 2000 election was stolen--many many years after the fact when you could actually do something about those kinds of results, of course. So, this issue isn't quite on the par with the implications of the Majic12 documents. We know election fraud can happen.

  There have also been indictments in Ohio and this massive unrebutted book. Not as much action on the Roswell front.

On the other hand, it looks like the Weekly Alt Press is picking up on this story. There are City Paper stories (across the country) here and here, according to Brad Blog.

Item: The best election stuff I've read (lately) is this update from the Free Press' Fitrakis and it sort of serves as a more lucid articulation of the theme's just hinted at in the Pittsburgh City Paper.

He brings up several excellent points (among many) and also uses this opportunity to rebut critiques from liberal sources like Mother Jones.

Point one: If you don't solve this problem now, then prepared to be forever robbed. Prepare to lose every close election. They just have to steal one state at a time. Or as he phrases it:

Point two: What is it about the Bush administration that makes you think they're above stealing an election? If there was a democratic house these guys would have been impeached , oh, 80 times about now. Or as Bob puts it:

And there's a point three and its stunning to think that this is true. Or as Bob states:

This is the most disturbing story in my lifetime. Period. Honestly: what's more important than this story?

10-16 thru 10-22

October 22st

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been a very busy week where I've tried to find a new place to live. I hope I've found one.

Anyway. Back to your scheduled links.

Item: From my occasional stomping grounds over at American Samizdat: The World Can't Wait. Drive Out The Bush Regime.

I hope this doesn't involve silly marches. I would prefer my 5/25 plan or even a national worker's strike. I guess I'll read the FAQs but I'm very likely to sign.

Anywayz, I agree with their assessment of things:

Your government, on the basis of outrageous lies, is waging a murderous and utterly illegitimate war in Iraq, with other countries in their sights. Your government is openly torturing people, and justifying it. Your government puts people in jail on the merest suspicion, refusing them lawyers, and either holding them indefinitely or deporting them in the dead of night.

Your government is moving each day closer to a theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism will rule.

Your government suppresses the science that doesn't fit its religious, political and economic agenda, forcing present and future generations to pay a terrible price.

Your government is moving to deny women here, and all over the world, the right to birth control and abortion.

Your government enforces a culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance.

People look at all this and think of Hitler — and they are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come. We must act now; the future is in the balance.

Millions and millions are deeply disturbed and outraged by this. They recognize the need for a vehicle to express this outrage, yet they cannot find it; politics as usual cannot meet the enormity of the challenge, and people sense this.

There is not going to be some magical "pendulum swing." People who steal elections and believe they're on a "mission from God" will not go without a fight.

There is not going to be some savior from the Democratic Party. This whole idea of putting our hopes and energies into "leaders" who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving every day to be a disaster, and actually serves to demobilize people.

But silence and paralysis are NOT acceptable. That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn — or be forced — to accept. There is no escaping it: the whole disastrous course of this Bush regime must be STOPPED. And we must take the responsibility to do it.

Oct 13th

TELEVISION ROUND-UP

Item: You might be aware of Ohio's Reform Now movement, but did you know that there's a law in the Pennsylvania House that looks pretty good? Of course, I don't know what its chances of passage or watering down are. I really wish there was a Pa. bill that allowed for citizen referendums, which is a healthy form of direct democracy.

Item: Did you know there was a National Summit to Save Our Elections held in Portland Oregon some weeks back? Probably not, but we're breaking news here folks. Four hours of the session were recorded here. Right now I'm listening to hours one and two. One of those hours features Green Presidential candidate David Cobb, who I spoke to and at several weeks ago....Update: Definitely check out hour 2. Cobb is a bit more forthcoming with Brad than with me. He also offers a nice analysis not only of the implications of the suit (dire) but the failure of the corporate media to cover this.

Related: The Brad Blog is probably the national clearinghouse for this very minor story about how American election fraud works, or, to phrase it in a way you'll get: elections can easily be stolen in the US because there's no auditing method for election results...Here's a scarier summary behind the Diebold Deep Throat and here's an important update on the whole issue.

Item: I'm reading this week's City Paper story about the ballot machines now.

Item: Friends of Al Jazeera.

An excerpt from the About section:

"The empire writes back"

AlJazeera is an anomaly. It's the first media company from the "third world" to break into the mainstream. It's an independent voice representing the other. Nearly every other major media outlet is speaking on behalf of the West. AlJazeera is a case of "the empire writing back". AlJazeera is the first significant challenge to Western hegemony and its monopoly on the truth. AlJazeera has given a voice to the voiceless.

Just as amazing is the fact that AlJazeera is independent. It's funded by a government but run as an private company. Even though it is run as a private company, it is not subjected to the same financial realities that other private companies are subjected to (such as making a profit or pleasing shareholders). This is one of those crazy realities that you are only likely to find in the Middle-East (like the AlJazeera head office being down the road from the US Military's Middle East command centre).

Item: Update at the Red Light District featuring: a painted Nubian princess, two hot blondes, one cartoon and one Estabon Marato painting featuring full frontal nudity..

Item: In alt media news: the Smurfs, the Hip New South Parked Bugs Bunny, and a song about assholes, which features Lil' Ricky and Preznit of all people...

Item: Group blog for Ed Murrow biopic..the whole point of Halberstam's "The Powers That Be" is that the modern press doesn't want Murrows, or even Walter Cronkites anymore. No independent voices against the state, that are highly visible, can be seen or heard. That's why the Internet is the new alternative media.

Oct 10:

Item: The break off factions (mainly the SEIU) of the labor movement are offering a contest for Good Ideas. The winner gets 100000 thousand and I believe the runner ups get 50 grand apiece. I offered this idea:

Right now, almost half of the country is either uninsured or underinsured.

The groups that left the AFL-CIO should use their resources to form a not for profit insurance industry and offer nationalized health care. There have been examples of public ownership in the past and they worked. I believe Robert Hunter directed one of them. This idea was described in a book called the "Invisible Bankers" . There would be several benefits to this: you could solve the healthcare crisis, you could show an immediate positive benefit to union involvement, and you could create a several billion dollar reservoir (60 million spend 50 dollars a month for full healthcare services) that you could use to fund principled investment and to build real political power--for example, replicating America Coming Together, building your own press, etc. Did I mention that you would starve the HMOs? All positives.

One warning: write bylaws that prevent you from actually becoming an evil insurance company!
 

Item: Check this out.

10-2 thru 10-8

Oct 3rd

Item: Haven't had a lot of time to post lately. As far as the Supreme Court pick, Calpundit thinks she's Souter Jr. and Meteor Blades, notable Kos commenter, will resign from the party if she isn't fillibustered. That's all I have time for. Visit Robot Wisdom and Undernews while I pay some bills.

9-25 thru 10-01

9-30

FINAL PLEA FOR CONTRIBUTION TO DR. CHUCK PENNACCHIO'S

PROGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN

As I wander around the city—quite aimlessly at times no doubt—and talk to people about Chuck Penn’s candidacy it occurs to me that I don’t know every policy position that Dr. Pennacchio has staked out. Of course, the nice thing about supporting Chuck Penn’s candidacy is that if he’s elected I’m fairly certain that he’ll actually vote in the public interest most of the time—as opposed to Ricky Santorum, who, like most Republicans, will vote against and sell out the public interest most of the time. In other words, I know that I can trust Chuck. 

There’s also a big difference between Chuck Pennacchio and Bob Casey Jr., or as I call him Senatorial nominee Zell Miller from Pennsylvania. 

For example, let’s take a look at the Roberts nomination. Democrats should have voted no just on principle. That principle being that President Bush generally makes terrible decisions—especially long term and which we got a chance to see in action with NOLA--and that if someone wants a seat on the highest court on the land they should at least give forthcoming answers and not smokescreens. And, sure enough, Dr. Penn would have voted no against Roberts, just as our Republican-lite Democrat Party nominee Bob Casey Jr. would have voted yes. Keep in mind that labor backs Casey Jr. even though he’s guaranteed to confirm anti-labor, corporatist judges. I’m still trying to think of what pro labor bills would make it to the floor that Bob Casey Jr. could vote yes on. The only thing that comes to mind are pork barrel projects and no votes for higher emission standards for coal plants—thus “leading” in the same way that the auto unions have “led” against higher fuel standards for cars and trucks, especially helpful when we hit 5 dollars a gallon no doubt. 

It has been pointed out that people who support Chuck Pennacchio are one issue people, with that one issue being choice. But keep in mind that Bob Casey Jr. isn’t just bad on the choice issue, he’s shown incredibly bad judgment on arctic drilling, the inanely intrusive Terri Schiavo case, moratorium against the death penalty, stem cell research, and the living wage. So, Bob Casey isn’t just anti choice and robs us of intelligent women who want to control their own bodies as opposed to fundie theocrats, his whole platform is an attack against the coalition that makes up the Democratic Party coalition, which was a winning coalition for both Kerry and Rendell. It was a loser for Ron Klink, another pro life Democrat. Of course, what if the Labor Leadership of Pennsylvania is Pro life? Perhaps they might even want to lose...which, I guess, would explain a Bob Casey Jr. run for the US Senate.

 So, it’s not just the one issue folks. And no I don’t buy the Kos argument that it’s the coalition. We’ve already lost the filibuster because we don’t have democrats in the US Senate who would be willing to use it. Shameful. We need democrats who stand for something and will make a solid 40.  

I mean, there’s so much gnashing of teeth at Kos and Mydd and Atrios about turncoat democrats who vote with the Republicans…doesn’t it make sense not to make Zell Miller the next Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania…? I think we can do better. Chuck Pennacchio is clearly better and I think he could actually win if we provide a contrast. 

So, if you would like to nominate someone the GOP will not use to undermine the Democratic Party message and/or base then please consider giving Chuck Pennacchio a contribution today as the quarter ends. He’s looking for small contributions, 5, 10, 25 dollars, as well as big. So give what you can to help this truly progressive voice. You never know. It might even be the beginning of an opposition party. God knows we could use one.

9-28

9-27

Even though Cousin Leonce is an Ivy League man (Havin' his buttered scones and flyin' his Aero Plane no doubt.), he doesn't quite comprehend what permalinks are. So, as a public service, I've placed his posts as permalinks at Mirror Universe.

9-25

Dr. Chuck Pennacchio is on Air America right now. It started at 8. Its the Laura Flanders show and there should be a saved version of that show later tonight.

9-18 thru 9-24
September 23

Fairly Wise Advice About Building Weblog Numbers

Ohmigod its true. Google is becoming a telco. What does this mean? Your broadband choice might be cable, dsl or free Wi-Fi Broadband from google in about a year...which one would you choose? What if it was 10 dollars a month? Still a good deal. This would also, despite the best efforts of the Republicans, spur the economy, raise the intellectual opportunity for the nation and create real broadband competition.

One of the best jazz concerts, ever. As its directed by Wynton it's a little old fashioned but still stellar performances. Thought Terence Blanchard, borrowing from the Pat Metheny compositional style, provided the highlight.

September 21

Item: Did you know that Green Presidential Candidate David Cobb was sitting in a Squirrel Hill house—without shoes because that’s the house rules—Tuesday night in an effort to promote Green Mayoral candidate Titus North? I only found out through libertarian Mark Rauterkus’ site. I decided to go pay a visit. Here’s what I came away with: 

Subitem: If you’re not aware of this, David Cobb of the Green Party, and not John Kerry unfortunately, is still trying to find out what happened in Ohio. Short version: Kerry probably won but the Republican machine sabotaged the recount efforts and in effect ran out the clock. Cobb confirmed the information in the Free Press article and noted that their next goal was to take a look at the machines through the use of subpoena power. He also darkly hinted that the case could be thrown out because of there being no remedy. I would think the remedy would be sanctions, fines and jail times, not to mention that the Democracy has been thwarted—a minor thing of course. 

Subitem: I also wanted to air out my 5/25 plan in front of the dozen or so Green Party members in attendance. I think the goal of a legitimate progressive third party certainly shouldn’t be to help the Republicans. But they don’t have to win every seat to help, they just have to take away Republican majorities. That means 5 senate seats (And yes, if Chuck Penn isn’t nominated then Pennsylvania should be a state that’s targeted—but only if the candidate has a decent budget of 2 million or more.) and 25 house seats. By the way, this would be a serious effort that would require the funding of the Hollywood left and big time contributors like Peter Lewis and George Soros. You would need 2 million to contest US Senate seats and 1 million to contest 25 house seats. That’s a total of 35 million, which is doable. That’s about how much Act was funded. And here’s the rub: you would run against both parties, run on class issues and use Hollywood talent not only to run for some of these seats but to create emotionally powerful ads that are memorable and trenchant—unlike the current dreck usually produced by the DNC campaign elites, who need to be fired and replaced. This requires the Democrats to be smart enough not to run or complain because they know that 30 or more Bernie Sanders types helps the party. 

 Cobb countered that the DNC really really really doesn’t like the Green party and noted that they spent 2 million in 2000 just to thwart the Greens from reaching that 5 percent threshold in California. I countered his counter by noting that the DNC had legitimate reason to hate the Greens then because their only real result was throwing the presidential election to the Republicans, the most evil party on the face of the planet. Now is different. I’m of the opinion that a fearless well funded outsider campaign would work because, frankly, the democrats have never shown us what that looks like. It would be fun to see. You could run as an independent or as a Green. Again, I’d say the plan got mixed reviews from the crowd but I think that would do more to turn the Greens into a viable national party with control of house and senate committee seats than, say, winning the Pittsburgh’s mayor race. They would get a lot of support from grassroots dems as well. 

Subitem: Speaking of the Pittsburgh mayor’s race, Titus North seemed like a decent enough fellow. I liked his platform. The only thing that I would add is that somebody needs to become the party of small business or small c capitalism as I call it. It’s a way to encourage moderate capitalism and provides a nice contrast to the Walmart nation that we’re becoming. He doesn’t think he’s going to win and I’m inclined to agree, unless the democratic nominee is struck by lightening or something and even then…I wish the Greens would go after the black vote. Black voters could use another choice and it can’t be the Nazi Republicans who seem to smile and act ever so slowly when it comes to saving drowning black people—at all levels actually. You can check out North’s site here. 

September 18

Item: As you may know, my fave not covered enough story has to do with the fact that the last presidential election was kind of, you know, fraudulent. That means that quite possibly, all those people who died in New Orleans might not have died had they been under even moderately competent leadership. Not to mention the Gulf War. Or competent handling of various probable hells to come such as Avian flu or mad cow disease...so sleep tight. So, here's your stolen election update and yes I'm the only publisher in Pittsburgh who talks about it, unless the City Paper does their annual 25 most censored stories edition...

Subitem: The