Lying Media Bastards
August 31, 2003
Bush is Bad: The Evidence
A few weeks back, blogger Jared made a fake resume for George W. Bush, mentioning his many atrocities and failures as a leader.
Apparently people weren't believing her claims, so she assembled a huge pile of links to back up the 54 assertions made about Bush in the fake resume. A huge, ungodly amount of links.
Bookmark that page next time you want to back up your latest anti-Bush argument.
That's some nice work, Jared.
Rising Tide?
500,000 Iraqi Shiites Chant "Down with America"
That ain't good.
Happy Labor Day Weekend
Labor Day 2003: Nothing to Celebrate- "Over the past 30 years the productivity of the people whose brain and muscle creates the wealth of the world's richest nation has grown by 66 percent. But the wage of the typical employee – the median wage – has grown by only 7 percent... What these numbers mean is that while American labor has continued producing more goods and services, the vast majority of employees have barely shared at all in the fruits of their increasing productivity... As billionaire Warren Buffett said to ABC's Ted Koppel last month, 'If it's class warfare, my class is winning.'"
Four Myths About Low-Wage Work- "Fully 30 million Americans – one in four U.S. workers – earn $8.70 an hour or less, a rate that works out to $18,100 a year, which is the current official poverty level in the United States for a family of four. These low-wage jobs usually lack health care, child care, pensions and vacation benefits. Their working conditions are often grueling, dangerous, even humiliating. At the same time, more and more middle-class jobs are taking on many of these same characteristics, losing the security and benefits once taken for granted."
A Labor Day Call to Arms- drawling populist pundit Jim Hightower argues that Americans need to rally around labor and personal economic issues to revitalize democracy in the country.
The History of Labor Day and The Origins of Labor Day- near as I can figure, Labor Day was the brainchild of either carpenter and AFL co-founder Peter McGuire, or New Jersey machinist Matthew Maguire (historians disagree) back in the 1880s. The holiday was celebrated sporadically in several industrial cities across the country. In 1893, the American Railway Union went on a major strike against the Pullman company, which was laying off and cutting the pay of its workers. President Grover Cleveland ordered 12,000 U.S. troops to Pullman, Illinois to break the strike, several strikers were killed. In 1894, hoping to appease the labor movement in an election year, Cleveland made Labor Day a national holiday.
Cleveland lost the election.
Bombshell
The latest Time magazine (certainly not on my usual reading list) has an article about a new 9-11 book by Gerald Posner called Why America Slept. The article speaks at length about an interrogation of al Qaeda higher-up Abu Zubaydah back in 2002. Provided that Posner's facts are correct, there are two bombshells in a row here.
Posner elaborates in startling detail how U.S. interrogators used drugs—an unnamed "quick-on, quick-off" painkiller and Sodium Pentothal, the old movie truth serum—in a chemical version of reward and punishment to make Zubaydah talk. When questioning stalled, according to Posner, cia men flew Zubaydah to an Afghan complex fitted out as a fake Saudi jail chamber, where "two Arab-Americans, now with Special Forces," pretending to be Saudi inquisitors, used drugs and threats to scare him into more confessions.
Okay. This appears to be a story of American intelligence torturing a suspect. While most Western nations seem to find such behavior repellent ("if we torture criminals, that makes us as bad as the criminals!"), Americans have never cottoned much to that notion. Right and/or wrong, we've always favored pragmatism to, well, just about anything. Torturing people to stop others from being hurt only makes sense, as does killing bad guys to prevent them from hurting anyone else ever again. But I think that many of you would be a bit disturbed by the notion of American authorities torturing people.
But that bombshell is a molehill next to this mountain.
Yet when Zubaydah was confronted by the false Saudis, writes Posner, "his reaction was not fear, but utter relief." Happy to see them, he reeled off telephone numbers for a senior member of the royal family who would, said Zubaydah, "tell you what to do." The man at the other end would be Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, a Westernized nephew of King Fahd's and a publisher better known as a racehorse owner. His horse War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby in 2002. To the amazement of the U.S., the numbers proved valid. When the fake inquisitors accused Zubaydah of lying, he responded with a 10-minute monologue laying out the Saudi-Pakistani-bin Laden triangle.Zubaydah, writes Posner, said the Saudi connection ran through Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's longtime intelligence chief. Zubaydah said bin Laden "personally" told him of a 1991 meeting at which Turki agreed to let bin Laden leave Saudi Arabia and to provide him with secret funds as long as al-Qaeda refrained from promoting jihad in the kingdom. The Pakistani contact, high-ranking air force officer Mushaf Ali Mir, entered the equation, Zubaydah said, at a 1996 meeting in Pakistan also attended by Zubaydah. Bin Laden struck a deal with Mir, then in the military but tied closely to Islamists in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (isi), to get protection, arms and supplies for al-Qaeda.
Okay, if this is true, that means that:
a) the nephew of the king of Saudi Arabia has a direct relationship with al Qaeda
b) the nephew of the king of Saudi Arabia has given money and weapons to al Qaeda
c) al Qaeda has direct connections with the Pakistani military and Pakistani intelligence (ISI)
and one of the following
d) al Qaeda was successfully bribed to not attack Saudi Arabia (which means that the are complete hypocrites, as the alleged reason for their existence is to free Saudi Arabia from the tyranny of the royal family and its American allies), or
e) this Saudi nephew tried to bribe al Qaeda, but al Qaeda lied and took his money.
I don't want to imply that either "the Saudi government" or the "Pakistani government" are responsible for 9-11 or international terrorism. I've never entirely understood how the Saudi government works, but it does seem that some of their members have supported terrorism, although possibly as a means to protect their own power and prevent jihad/terrorism/revolution in their own country. In Pakistan, the military, the ISI, and the government are all very much different factions with their own leaders and goals, so a military/ISI connection to terrorism doesn't necessarily mean that "the government" is tied to it at all.
Honestly, this is some of the first information I've actually heard about the inner workings of al Qaeda, ever. Maybe I should track down a copy of this book...
August 29, 2003
Bill O'Reilly Wants You to Shut Up
Plea
Dear Internet,
If you could stop sending me 50+ virused emails a day, that would be just great.
Thanks,
Jake Sexton.
August 28, 2003
Diabolical Genius
Well, it's one of those non-confession confessions.
In an article in today's LA Times, "senior intelligence officials" are admitting that maybe some of Iraqi defectors to the U.S. might have been lying to them about Iraq's WMDs. Not in the way you think, though. While everything resembling history and fact tells us that these defectors were probably trying to tell the Bush administration what it wanted to hear (sometimes choreographed by the Iraqi National Congress, the group of Iraqi exiles that hoped to take power if Saddam was overthrown), this article tells us that perhaps these lying defectors who were actually double agents for Saddam.
Because if America thought that Iraq had these weapons, then the U.S. would invade Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein, or at least removing him from power. Which would play right into Saddam Hussein's hands... somehow.
Y'see, that's how cunning and evil Saddam Hussein is! He goes so far out of the way to trick us, that he actually does things that are bad for him and good for his enemies! That bastard!
I suppose these claims are just a lame way of trying to keep the moral high ground while admitting that everything the pro-war administration had been telling us for a year was bullshit.
Seriously, if you're trotting out this excuse, you're pathetic, and if you believe it, you're an idiot.
Super-Fair and Mega-Balanced
Interesting nugget in this article about the aftermath of the goofy Fox News vs. Al Franken lawsuit:
Even [Fox News staple Bill] O'Reilly conceded that "we never thought we were going to win the lawsuit. We wanted to expose the vicious tactics being used by the far left."
1) O'Reilly pretty much admits that his company filed a frivolous lawsuit.
2) "The far left"? Al Franken is a liberal, not a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party. The only way someone from the "far left" can get Franken's kind of media attention is to kill somebody.
3) "Vicious tactics"? Franken took Fox News' own slogan and inserted it into his droll book title as a minor jab. Take that, Josef Stalin!
August 27, 2003
You Have the Right to Worship Jesus
Perhaps you've heard about this controversy regarding a stone sculpture of the Ten Commandments and an Alabama courthouse. The statue was put there in the dead of night by Alabama chief justice Roy Moore almost 2 years ago. The courts have now decided that the statue cannot stay there, and today had the statue removed.
Really, this does not seem to be an issue of church and state to me. It seems to be an issue of "do I have a right as a judge to take my own personal posession and have in permanently installed on public property?" In a way, Moore was stealing a square of public land for his own use. Does he have that right? Probably not.
But it's always astounding to see a segment of America's Christian population which seems to get off on the idea that they are being persecuted by the rest of mankind. Like 80-90% of Americans are Christians. Who exactly is oppressing them, the Hindus?
Many bloggers are linking to this bit of craziness, and I'll be no exception:
An irate man initiated the "Put it back!" chorus after the monument was wheeled away from the rotunda."Get your hands off our God, God haters!" yelled the wildly gesturing, red-faced man.
Um. A rock carved with the image of the Ten Commandments is itself the embodiment of God? The irony meter jumps off the scale when we bother remembering what the first two of those Ten Commandments say:
I. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."II. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems to me that these Christians have made this carved stone into a graven image, and are worshipping and serving it rather than their god. But that's just me.
And while we're on the topic, our pal Geov Parrish speculates that perhaps Roy Moore is using the passion of these Christian faithful to launch a political career.
So what will happen to the monument? Some folks have predictions.
It's an interesting democratic question, the church and state thing. Our Constitution forbids the government from favoring any particular religion, but what if the majority of Americans truly wanted to have a Christian government? What then?
All I know is that when we look at existing theocracies, it never looks good. And on a personal level, since all religion strikes me as crazy, I'd rather not be ruled by any particular religious dogma.
News Quilt
Bush’s party to raise funds via Noida, Gurgaon- American rednecks are going to hit the roof about this one. The U.S. Republican party has outsourced its telemarketing fundraising efforts. To India. To those of you on the Democratic hit squad, here's some ammo. Have a ball.
The Mendacity Index: Which president told the biggest whoppers?- a quasi-scientific look at which American presidents lied the most. Take a guess at who's #1.
Abercrombie & Fitch Claims 22 Ownership- clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch claims that it has the exclusive right to use the number 22 in its clothing designs and advertising. Someone on A&F's legal staff is going to walk home from court with a judge's boot up their ass.
How liberals look from the middle of the road- the debut column of former "most trusted man in America," former news anchor Walter Cronkite. Not great, but maybe something to keep an eye on.
Final Frontier
When I was a kid, I remember seeing a Superfriends cartoon that had an impact on me. It was a lousy version of the cartoon, one of those inspired by Scooby Doo's success to add in animal capering and two young detectives (who worked with Batman and Superman despite a complete lack of special skills or powers).
Anyhow, it's about some scientist ("Dr. Rebos") who is replacing astronauts with androids as part of some scheme to end the space program. When he is confronted by the superheroes, he tells them that he has no problem with space travel itself, but that there are so many problems here on Earth, that all that space money should be spent on solving Earth problems.
I don't remember Wonder Woman or Aquaman offering any sort of rebuttal to the man's very reasonable argument, they just turned him over to the police. That always stuck with me.
And in the wake of this report about the Columbia space disaster...
Does anyone have a rebuttal for the android-makin', space-program hatin' Dr. Rebos?
Loons
On October 9, there is an election scheduled for town councilmember for the Crouch Hill ward in Banbury, UK. So far, a man named Johnny Wood is the only candidate running. Unless someone else registers as a candidate by September 12, Mr. Wood automatically wins the election.
Mr. Wood is a member of the Monster Raving Loony Party. No, really.
Mr. Wood also claims to be a half-vampire.
Heh.
And you guys think California politics are crazy?
[Thanks to Candice]
August 26, 2003
Meet the New Boss...
U.S. Recruiting Hussein's Spies- umm... So Saddam's secret police, the ones who were carrying out the dictator's oppression, the U.S. is putting them on the payroll now? Good thinking. (Anyone remember Project Paperclip?)
Jesus, the article says that these intelligence operatives will "help identify resistance to American forces." Y'know what Saddam Hussein used these intelligence operatives to do? Help identify resistance to Ba'ath forces.
Families Live in Fear of Midnight Call by US Patrols- "In recent weeks there have been increasing reports of Iraqi men, women and even children being dragged from their homes at night by American patrols, or snatched off the streets and taken, hooded and manacled, to prison camps around the capital... the Americans have also set up another detention camp in the grounds of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad. Many thousands of Iraqis were taken there during the Saddam years and never seen again."
Apparently we're shifting from Operation Iraqi Freedom and into Operation Boot Stamping on an Iraqi Face Forever.
Trilogy
Due to our overwhelming success in Afghanistan--
and Iraq--
Iraq Could Become U.S.'s West Bank and Gaza
George W. Bush announced that we shall continue on. "We are on the offensive against terror, and we will stay on the offensive against terror... We will not wait for known enemies to strike us again."
What could the president possibly mean?
U.S. Set to Take a Hard Line in Talks on Korean Arms
Oh yeah. That.
August 24, 2003
Kinda Sad
It was one of those phone calls that started off as a surprise, but quickly became as expected as the sunrise.
I hadn't talked to Lee in some years. But the call came tonight, Louie had talked to Tony who'd talked to Jenny who'd talked to Lee's mom... and with a build-up like that, I knew what was coming.
Apparently the funeral had been three weeks ago.
My first question probably summed it all up. "He killed himself?" Yes, he had. While it was sad to hear, it was not at all a surprise.
Lee had been my neighbor in the dorms one year at UCLA, and then one of my roommates briefly in my final year at the school.
Lee was a crazy person.
It took me a while to get a grasp on the fellow. He seemed to perpetually play the straight man. He'd say the most ridiculous things in his trademark monotone, and you didn't know if he was joking or being serious. A pale Jewish Jerseyite with frizzy hair. He was a walking Twilight Zone encyclopedia. He loved Pink Floyd. And Phish. And Ralph Macchio. I remember he got upset one time after he approached me to settle a nauseatingly Gen-X debate, "no Lee, I think that if Shaft ever fought Sho' Nuff from 'The Last Dragon,' that Shaft would win."
It was he who introduced our dorm clique to the musical careers of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Lee loved these records. Was it an ironic love? I never could tell. But he did seem to love his small turtle, Fred. When the dorm authorities came by, he had to hide her in the closet.
The year I moved out of the dorms, things seemed to go pretty well for Lee. He grew his hair out into a cool fro, made some wardrobe changes, and managed to land a girlfriend who could have appeared in Playboy. She wasn't the brightest thing (I swear one time I actually watched my words go over her head), but she was sweet, and it's always nice to see a fellow geek carve out a happy place in the world.
Months passed, and they eventually broke up... These things frequently come in groups, and at roughly the same time, Lee, Tony and I all suddenly found ourselves profoundly depressed and profoundly single. I gave a sad radio monologue one evening saying how you never think about this part when the relationship begins, you never say "will the pain I feel at the end be worth the good feelings I have before that?" Sitting on a bench outside the dorms the next night, Lee repeated my words back to me, and agreed with the sentiment. "If I'd known it would hurt this bad, I never would have gotten involved in the first place."
It was probably another four or five months before Lee tried to kill himself. Pills and vodka. Partway through, though, he decided he didn't want to go through with it, and stumbled into the dorm hallway where he could be found and rescued. Sometime after that, Lee was diagnosed as having some pretty intense clinical depression. "Bipolar II", I believe, which means something like "you're manic depressive, but without the manic."
They put him on some powerful medication which had some powerful side effects.
The next year, five of us from the dorms moved into a three bedroom apartment in Westwood. I've never felt I belonged anywhere socially in my whole life, but this was the closest I'd ever felt to fitting in someplace. Lee was one of the five, ready to give school the old college try.
He lasted about two weeks. His medication was wreaking havok on his body; he could barely function. His mom came down to take him back home, up north someplace. We all told him goodbye and wished him good health. I never saw him again.
I'd heard a bit from him over time. He was writing poetry. He was getting published. Maybe he'd come back down to finish school, but no one really believed that. And it seems that a few weeks ago, he again decided that he couldn't take the pain.
I'm not crying. I'm not tearing my hair in grief. I'm just sad. Lee was a good guy. He was fun to be with. He was really weird. But definitely the sort of guy that everyone would agree didn't deserve the trials and trouble that he ended up with.
G'bye, Lee.
If any of you find yourselves with a pet turtle someday, maybe I can suggest a name for it.
August 22, 2003
Creepfest 2003
Write a Story, Go to Jail- some American teens are facing criminal charges for writing realistic violent fiction. Because if a kid is writing stories about shooting the teacher who gave him detention, he obviously is going to kill her in real life, and arresting that kid saves the day. That's why I'm glad that Edgar Allen Poe was arrested back in the 1840s, or he surely would have tortured people with razor-sharp pendulums, or walled them up inside musty wine cellars.
Inside the Resistance- Australian reporter interviews two alleged members of the Iraqi resistance, men fighting U.S. troops guerrilla-style in hopes of driving out the Americans in the name of self-determination and Islam.
VICTORY ACT (.pdf)- alleged draft of the "Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003" or the "VICTORY Act" (well, VICTO Act, if we want to me acronymically correct). It's a proposed Congressional bill to give law enforcement more powers to go after "narcoterrorists" (narcoterrorists are drug dealers who give money to terrorist organizations). I skimmed through this bill with my limited understanding of legalese, but it seems to me that this bill is all about drug dealers, with a bit thrown in about terrorism to gain the support of "patriotic" folks. The only part that really deals with narcoterrorism is at the beginning. Not sure why narcoterrorism needs to be a new crime; selling drugs is illegal, and giving money to terrorists is illegal. We need a new crime to describe that? If the need to identify hybrid crime is so important, I propose we invent the new crime of "speedabuse," for people who molest children while driving their cars above the posted speed limit.
The remainder of the bill is mainly about money laundering (including the baffling concept of "reverse money laundering"), and specifics about seizing property and assets from drug dealers and money launderers. The bill also ups the penalties for drug offenses that involve violent acts or large quantities of drugs, and potentially (if I read it right) limits penalties for non-violent drug offenders that plead guilty and cooperate with police. There was also something crazy in there about the Endangered Species Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. I think the idea was that if the money laundering could somehow be tied to activities that damaged the natural environment or cultural resources, that the money launderers could be charged with violating those acts as well.
And the last section is about increasing police ability to wiretap and obtain subpoenas.
It's an 89 page document, feel free to read it yourself and correct me if I'm wrong.
[update]
ABC News takes a crack at the VICTO Act
[/update]
August 21, 2003
Time Well Spent
I am going to this tonight.
Should be cool.
Op-Echo
Not anything truly groundbreaking, but certainly worth being aware of.
The Republican National Commitee has a website called GOP Team Leader, which (among other things) tries to maniuplate the opinion pages of American newspapers.
Basically, they provide their subscribers with the text of a "letter to the editor". The subscribers then send that letter to their local newspaper verbatim. Often, these letters are printed as though they were the words and opinions of local citizens, and not explicit Republican party propaganda.
Tom Tomorrow finds many examples of a recent Team Leader mailing in a number of papers.
It's PR tactic #1: ventriloquism.
The Harassinator
Jeez. I can't verify any part of this article, but if even half of it is true, Arnold Schwarzenegger is truly a scumbag. The article was originally published in the movie magazine Premeire in March 2001, which gives it some credibility.
The author of the article alleges that Schwarzenegger has a long history of sexual harassment (if not outright abuse), infidelity (which I only care about because he publicly espouses "family values"), and humiliating the people who work under him.
Again, I don't know if anything in this article is true or not. But the fact that it was dangerous story printed by a major magazine, and they were not sued back to the Stone Age implies that there's some truth there.
August 20, 2003
News Cauldron
Wow, haven't done an entry like this in a long time.
Ashcroft Begins Patriot Act Tour- Attorney General John Ashcroft is out campaigning to convince America that the USA PATRIOT Act is not an unconstitutional theft of our civil liberties. Hope Ari Fleischer's writing his material, cuz this job will require a tremendous amount of lying.
Myth and Denial in the War Against Terrorism- "Killing Hope" author William Blum examines the popular myth that "terrorists just hate America and democracy", and its ramifications.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FISCAL CONSERVATIVE?- Schwarzenegger claims to want to save California from its budget crisis, but his last six movies have lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Here's a list of em. Note: the article is slightly misleading. It lists Arnold's last six movies, and then skips over one successful movie to focus on another failure. The list skips "Eraser", which actually did fairly well.
Flood the Zone Fridays, brought to you by Karl Rove- blogger Ezra Klein discovers that the Bush campaign website GeorgeWBush.com has an Action Center which makes it easy to mass mail your local media outlets and spread the sociopathically conservative agenda. Except that it looks like you can send any old message you like, not just the ones that the Bush team wants you to send... Klein recommends hijacking the Action Center every Friday to combat Bush. Sounds good for a laugh.
Cops Against the Drug War- police officers speak out against the insanity of America's drug policies.
The Sperminator- a cheap, effective, long-lasting birth control method for men? Sounds promising. Near as I can figure, a fellow can get a single $22 injection that will kill all sperm leaving his body for up to 10 years (and can have the process reversed with another injection). The downside is that the injection must be made into the vas deferens inside the guy's scrotum. Don't know if this procedure is coming to a drug store near you anytime soon.
Why the UN is a target- a question I've been asking myself. Why did terrorists blow up the UN building in Baghdad? This article proposes that maybe it was blown up by Iraqis angry that just days earlier that the UN had welcomed the rather puppet-ish Iraqi Governing Council into its ranks. Of course, this is just one theory among many.
The Album Is Played Out- not a good article, but a significant milestone. MTV finally feels that low sales and file-trading might be the death knell for "the album." In other words, that bands and record labels might have to focus on creating and selling individual songs, instead of "song packages" like albums (which Chuck D once described as "buy three good songs, get four bad ones free").
August 19, 2003
More Historical Revisionism
Many bloggers are calling attention to this story.
When George W. gave his Iraq victory speech on that aircraft carrier back in May, the text of the speech was posted on the White House website with the title "President Bush Announces Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended". In recent days, the "President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended" [emphasis mine].
It's not that big a deal, unless you like comparing real life to the works of George Orwell. Which some of you probably do.
Which reminds me. All day I've had this recurring thought about a bastardized movie based on Orwell's "Animal Farm". The new movie would of course be by Disney.
Snowball'd be voiced by Tom Hanks, Napoleon by Brad Pitt. Some hyperactive humorous character, maybe a duck, would be added in and voiced by Eddie Murphy. Some female pig character would also be added of course, as part of a love triangle between the main characters, voiced by Cameron Diaz, or J.Lo. The conflict between the two leading pigs would not be about ideology or control, but about their competition over the fair swine. The movie's plot would match the book's for a while, up until the point where Napoleon is about to drive his rival Snowball off the farm. At that point, the humans would return. Instead of the following the book's plot of Napoleon's power grab and the farm's descent into fascist oppression, the two rival pigs would realize that they have to work together to take on the common foe. The humans, lead by Jon Lithgow, would be driven away by the united barnyard, and all the farm animals would live happily ever after. Just imagine the McDonald's Happy Meals to go with that.
Color Blindsided
California's ballot initiative, Proposition 54, the "Racial Privacy Initiative." It's going to be on the same ballot as the well-known Recall issue, on October 7.
At its core, Prop 54 makes it illegal for the state to collect data on Californians' race, ethnicity, or national origins. The proponents of 54 claim that the RPI will put an end to racial preferences in the state, and save California over $10 million a year. The opponents of 54 point out that if we stop collecting data about race, there is no way to assess whether or not different racial groups are being treated fairly or are being discriminated against.
I heard RPI author Ward Connerly interviewed by Tavis Smiley on the radio about this issue. It was painful to listen to, but I forced myself. Connerly's argument was basically that the way race data is collected on forms is really inaccurate. Therefore, instead of trying to improve or update these data collection methods, the state of California must stop trying to do so. Can't say that I found the argument real convincing. When Smiley tried to propose the "better methods" idea instead of the RPI idea, Connerly simply dodged and dodged and dodged.
It always boggles my mind. Many people talk about wanting a colorblind society, but they seem to think that the way to achieve it is by pretending really hard that there is no such thing as race. Of course race doesn't exist in any empirical, scientific sense, only in a social sense. If all people managed to have the concept of race erased from their minds, there would be no racism. But we can't do that. In reality, all we can do is pretend that we have forgotten the concept of race. And while we're all pretending really hard, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are going to keep facing the disprorportionate levels of poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and more.
Seems to me like paying attention and trying to combat the damage that racism causes is a better way to deal with racism, than to pretend our way to utopia.
[edit]
The only problem with this entry is that I do not at any point refer to Ward Connerly as a "jerkass." I regret the error.
[/edit]
August 18, 2003
08-18-03
Rock-a-teens- Losers, Weepers
Plastilina Mosh- Savage Sucker Boy
The Coup- Busterismology
Richard Cheese- Insane in the Brain
The Vines- Get Free
Dead Kennedys- Halloween
Nas- Get Down
Damon Albarn- 4am at Toumanis
Queens of the Stone Age- No One Knows
Beastie Boys- In 3's
The Casualties- Riot!!
Brother Ali- Star Quality
Rage Against the Machine- Ashes in the Fall
Ministry- Stigmata
FAIR interview w/ PR Watch
Fishbone- Everyday Sunshine
Madlib- Slim's Return
The Rezillos- Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight
Echo and the Bunnymen- The Killing Moon
Johnny Cash- Personal Jesus
Interpol- Obstacle 1
Los Villains- Killing Fields
August 17, 2003
Blast from the Past
Was just looking through some of the LMB archives, and ran across this link that I think might be worth another look.
Over 200 Pictures from 133 [anti-war] Protests around the World on February 15/16, 2003
Jesus Is Such a Sell-Out
"The McDonald's fast-food chain was an official sponsor of Pope John Paul II's "pray-in" held in May at a Madrid airport. Some 500,000 attendees were given backpacks of papal goodies that included vouchers for food from McDonald's."
August 15, 2003
Wow. What Bastards.
On Thursday, the Washington Post printed a bizarrely idiotic editorial in which they haughtily mocked Europeans for complaining about how hot it has been in their region this summer. It concludes that Europeans shouldn't turn up their nose at "American" comforts like super-cold air-conditioning.
In other news, as many as 3000 people have died from the heat in France alone.
Judging from the tone of the editorial, it must have been written before the death toll was announced. But still, people are mighty pissed about the editorial. Snarky liberal site Media Whores Online has posted a number of angry letters to the editor on the issue.
But seriously, why the hell was this editorial written at all? Typically, a newspaper will choose 3-4 important topics per day and write editorials about those issues that reflect the paper's official stance on the issue. For example, today's WP editorials are about the East Coast blackouts, NATO in Afghanistan, and corruption at the United Way charity. How the hell does "Europeans whine about heat wave" possibly become "one of the top four stories of the day"?
Sadly, I think our answer can be found in the messageboard dedicated to the story of the French heatwave deaths. The level of hatred towards the French and Europeans by American readers is simply off the charts. People wooping it up and having a laugh at all the death. Primarily because the French deserve it, because they didn't want to go to war Iraq, apparently.
Frankly, I can't see the WP editorial as anything more than a cheap shot aimed at pleasing the "we hate Europe" crowd. Although honestly, do these folks read the editorials? Does anyone?
Faster Than a Rolling Blackout
Wow, investigative journalist Greg Palast has already fired off an article about the blackout that darkened a large chunk of North America yesterday.
Power Outage Traced to a Dim Bulb in the White House
It's too soon for me to be able to tell how much of the article is accurate and relevant. Palast's essential argument is that in recent times, the New York legislature "relieved ... Niagara Mohawk [the company responsible for the part of the electrical grid that failed] of the expensive obligation to properly fund the maintenance of the grid system," and adds that NiMo cut their staff and their maintenance budget. I can't verify any of that, as yet.
Palast's article is more about the wave of energy deregulation that swept the nation--Enron, California and the like-- and places this impressive blackout within that framework. Is deregulation the culprit here? Corporate greed? Or was it simply a fluke, or the fault of some poorly designed equipment? Dunno, but the article above is some food for thought.
August 13, 2003
Who Wants to Make Me a Logo?
I've slowly got a site re-design in the works, one that could probably be finished a lot more quickly if I buckled down.
But I'd like to have a new logo for it. That logo up top I created in like 30 minutes fumbling around in Photoshop like a blind monkey. I'm kinda proud of it, but it certainly isn't what I set out to make.
So I'm looking for folks who are skilled in computer graphics to make me a new one.
If you've got the time and inclination to help me out, please drop me a line and I'll write you with my ideas.
Thanks much.
August 12, 2003
Suing Yourself in the Foot
On Monday, Fox News announced that they were going to sue humorist Al Franken over the title of his new book. The book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," has a title which contains the phrase "fair and balanced", which has apparently been a Fox/News Corp. trademark since 1995 (If you have used the phrase yourself since the, kindly make out a check to Rupert Murdoch).
On Tuesday, the book's jumped at least 50 places on the Amazon.com bestseller list, all the way to #1.
Did the publicity surrounding the lawsuit drive this leap in sales? I dunno, I just report, you decide.
[edit]
I'm aware that many bloggers are adding "fair and balanced" to their website title as a form of protest, or raising awareness about the goofy lawsuit or something. But at this point, I think it would have the same effect to add "Buy Al Franken's Book," and I really don't feel like doing that.
[/edit]
Jake vs. Low Female Self-Esteem
On my radio show today, I gave a rambling monologue about women and men, at one point re-assuring women that their breasts are okay. I know many a woman who is insecure about the size or shape of her breasts, and whether or not the guys will like them. So I set the matter straight, that while men may like some breasts more than others, that very rarely will a fellow find any set of breasts to be unappealing. So ladies, rest easy.
But now, following that same thematic arc of battling low self-esteem, I present any insecure ladies with this link.
It's a series of swimsuit magazine-quality photographs of a sexy young woman. But these photos have been retouched, and when you wave your cursor over the photo, you see it in its original form. At no point does this woman look bad, but she looks a lot more "real" in the un-retouched form. But unfortunately, the ladies of today are forced to compare themselves to these quasi-fictional images, women who do not really exist.
To the guys, don't worry, I'll find some way to raise our self-esteems later.
August 11, 2003
Historical Re-Revisionism
Last week, Al Gore gave a surprisingly decent speech in which he (among other things) implied that the Bush administration "gave false impressions" about a number of things which would make Americans supportive of a war in Iraq. Conservative pundits then apparently saw a chance to kill two birds with one stone: smear Gore and support the Iraq war. By attacking Gore's claims, they could brand him a lying trickster, and by pretending that the warhawks hadn't made half of the wacky accusations that they did in fact make, they could deflect criticism about the Iraq war.
The most egregious attempt was when pundit Fred Barnes actually tried to claim that George W. Bush had never claimed that there were links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, but in fact that Bush had "consistently" said "exactly the opposite!"
So before this goes too far, let's make sure that everyone bookmarks this page. It's a pretty extensive list of quotes from Bush administration officials about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism. They say quite clearly on numerous occasions that there are links between Saddam and al Qaeda, that Iraq has a nuclear program, that it can deploy chemical weapons, etc.
And while we're at it, let's link to this Washington Post article which outlines "a pattern in which President Bush, Vice President Cheney and their subordinates -- in public and behind the scenes -- made allegations depicting Iraq's nuclear weapons program as more active, more certain and more imminent in its threat than the data they had would support."
And this AP article debunking Colin Powell's UN presentation.
Again, the bottom line here is that the Bush administration, for a variety of reasons, decided to invade Iraq and then formed a massive PR campaign to convince foreign leaders, Congress, and the American people that there was a good reason to do so. Debating whether or not Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, or whether or not Saddam Hussein had ties to Osama bin Laden is to allow yourself to be sidetracked.
08-11-03
Devo- Girl U Want
Eric B & Rakim- Let the Rhythm Hit Em
Lightning Bolt- Thirteen Monsters
Justin Sane- If It's Good for the Economy, I'm For It
MC5- American Ruse
Bauhaus- St. Vitus Dance
Ewan McGregor et al.- Tango de Roxan
Magnetic Fields- Smoke and Mirrors
Tomahawk- Birdsong
Tom Waits- Lucky Day
Sonic Youth- Titanium Expose
Interpol- PDA
Gorillaz- Clint Eastwood
The Pixies- Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf mix)
The Sundays- Wild Horses
Tricky- Sex Drive
Freestyle Fellowship- No Hooks No Chorus
Systems of a Down- Suggestions
Anti-Flag- Die for Your Government (live)
Cowboy Junkies- Me and the Devil Blues
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Knock Me Down
The Distillers- Red Carpet and Rebellion
Against Me!- Baby, I'm an Anarchist
Operation Ironic Acronym
Somebody at the Pentagon with a sense of humor is going to get fired.
US Special Forces have begun a new mission to hunt down Saddam loyalists.
It's called (I'm not making this up) Operation Ivy Lightning.
Which, when abbreviated, is O.I.L.
August 10, 2003
"Mass murder for a 'good cause' is one of the sicknesses of our time."
-Howard Zinn
August 07, 2003
A Number That Will Live in Infamy
13303
On my radio show Monday, I made reference to Executive Order 13303. It was an act signed into law by George W. Bush back in May 2003 that really got very little attention, but is pretty damn galling in its evil scope.
Unless licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to this order, any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void, with respect to the following: (a) the Development Fund for Iraq, and (b) all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein, and proceeds, obligations, or any financial instruments of any nature whatsoever arising from or related to the sale or marketing thereof, and interests therein, in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons.
Part A is reasonable. It protects the Development Fund for Iraq from any lawsuits or criminal judgements. The DFI is oil money that will (allegedly) go to help the people of Iraq. Protecting it isn't necessarily a bad idea.
But Part B... it makes it so that any oil company operating in Iraq (or even marketing oil pumped from Iraq) is above the law. American law, Iraqi law, all law.
This story was, as far as I know, broken by the Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (SEEN), so props to them. The story then spread to lefty outlets like Democracy Now! and Common Dreams. Yet no major news agency had touched it by early August, despite the fact that EO 13303 was established back in May.
But one of the listeners of my Kill Radio show works for CNN...
He researched the issue a bit further, brought it to the attention of at least five different department heads at CNN, then sent copies of his info to a couple of good British newspapers, and the office of a democratic senator.
This morning, I saw an article about 13303 in the LA Times (front page, below the fold, continued deep inside section A), and my listener told me that it was to be a topic of discussion on CNN's Crossfire debate show this evening. The LAT story quotes a Treasury Dept. official who claims that the scope of the EO will be restricted once the Dept. passes some new regulations, but he didn't exactly say what those regulations would be.
And that might be evidence that in this media-crazy world of ours, maybe one person can make a difference. Or, it might not be.
What I do know is that that Bush executive order is bullshit, and I'd like everyone to know about it.
Numerology
Woo-hoo! This blog now has exactly 1984 comments!
[insert cool Orwell quote here]
August 06, 2003
Garrick Out of Prison!
Yay! Garrick and the other peace activists have been released and not deported. However one condition of their release was that they stay out of Gaza and the West Bank.
Garrick was treated for his injuries. He indeed had two fractured ribs from kicks by Israeli soldiers, but it sounds like he's doing fine now.
August 05, 2003
Garrick in Prison!
Just received at email about our pal Garrick, an LA peace activist in Palestine.
The short version is that Garrick was attacked by Israeli soldiers and then arrested. He faces a type of trial in which he will most likely be deported and shipped back to the United States. The email lists some ways you can take action to get Garrick out of jail but keep him in Israel/Occupied Territories so he can continue his activism. Here is that email:
Free Garrick Ruiz Without Deportation!Los Angeles Area Contact: Matt Horton (323) 341-6716
Note: *International Press Release Follows Local Press Release*
At 8am today (Palestinian time), Los Angeles native Garrick Ruiz was arrested along with 45 human rights activists who were trying to stop Israel's "Apartheid Wall" in the Ma'sha area near the Palestinian City of Qalqiliyah (Kal-Key-Lee-Ah).
Within 5 minutes of arriving at the Peace Camp in Ma'sha, Garrick was grabbed by three soldiers while another kicked him is his ribs. At 10am, the activists (Palestinian, Israeli and International), were taken to the Ariel Settlement Prison, where they are currently being held.
Garrick has since been able to see an army doctor, but has not recieved medical care for his possible broken ribs.
The activists are currently undergoing individual hearings by an officer from the Israeli ministry of affairs who has the power to order deportations. The activists are not permitted contact or the presence of lawyers in these hearings.
The mass detention of the 45 activists follows another incident in which a peace camp blocking the wall was attacked by the Israeli army and many activists were shot with rubber coated steel bullets and one American activist was grazed by a live round.
ACTION ALERT:
Please flood the Ministry of Interior with phone calls asking that ALL the detainees be released. Let them know that you are watching and protest the Israeli government's attempts to deport peace activists witnessing and trying to prevent abuses against Palestinian human rights.
You can phone the Ministry of Interior at:
011 972 2 670 1648You can also flood Ariel prison with calls demanding the immediate release of all detainees. The best numbers to call are the officers but if they are unreachable, please call the General Info line.
Ariel Prison General Info:
011 972 3 906 5444Ariel Chief of Police
011 972 3 906 5416Prison Officer Haim Fadlan:
011 972 3 906 5406
The email I got then continued with the "international press release."
** OVER 45 HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DETAINED TODAY, 8/5/03 **DETAINEES ARE FROM PALESTINE, ISRAEL, U.S., U.K., ITALY, SWEDEN,
FRANCE, DENMARK, JAPAN, IRELAND, GERMANY AND CANADA[Occupied West Bank] At approximately 7am this morning, Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights activists were detained while attempting to block the demolition of part of a Palestinian family's home, near the village of Mas'ha. The building had been slated for demolition by the Israeli Military because it lay in the path of the Apartheid Wall that Israel is building on occupied Palestinian land.
The peace activists were violently thrown on busses by Israeli soldiers and border police. Two internationals were beaten; one, a US citizen from Los Angeles, was repeatedly kicked in the stomach and may have sustained broken ribs. Immediately, a Caterpillar bulldozer moved in to demolish part of the family home (an animal shed attached to the home).
Though it's difficult to communicate with the detainees and we are unsure of the final numbers, the detainees we know of are from the following countries:
11 US
1 Canada
1 Japan
6 UK
1 Ireland
4 Sweden
1 Denmark
8 Italian
2 France
5 Israel
3 PalestiniansDetainees are being held at Ariel Prison in the illegal settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank. One Palestinian and one Italian have been put under formal arrest.
The others, the Israeli Ministry of Interior is currently deciding what they want to do with.
One option is for them to deport the internationals. To our knowledge, the Ministry of Interior has not yet issued a decision.
Please flood the Ministry of Interior with phone calls from around the world, asking that ALL the detainees be released. Let them know that you are watching and protest the Israeli government's attempts to deport peace activists witnessing and trying to prevent abuses against Palestinian human rights.
You can phone the Ministry of Interior at:
011 972 2 670 1648You can also flood Ariel prison with calls demanding the immediate release of all detainees. The best numbers to call are the officers but if they are unreachable, please call the General Info line.
Ariel Prison General Info:
011 972 3 906 5444Ariel Chief of Police
011 972 3 906 5416Prison Officer Haim Fadlan:
011 972 3 906 5406For some photos, please see:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pictures/PHOTOS_5Aug03_09_19_35Qalqiliaism.htm
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pictures/PHOTOS_5Aug03_10_02_37Qalqiliamas`ha2.htm
For video footage, Reuters (011 972-2-5370502) and still photos from freelance photographer Eyal Ofer (011 972-55-369365 www.pbase.com/yalop/masha ). [Ofer got closer than other journalists, and was shortly arrested himself.]
For further information, contact the ISM media office on 011 972 2 277 4602,
You can also email the ISM office at info@palsolidarity.org, but re sponses to email may be slower.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT www.palsolidarity.org
Update on Mas'ha activities
Mas'ha, Occupied Palestine, August 3, 2003
A One-Family Bantustan Must Not Be Allowed
Today Palestinians, along with 50 internationals and 10 Israeli activists prevented the demolition of Palestinian property and blocked the construction of the Apartheid Wall in front of Hani A'amer's house. He and his family live in the village of Mas'ha, where for months Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals have been holding an Anti-Wall camp.
If the wall is completed as planned, Hani, Munira and their 6 children will be imprisoned between the Apartheid Wall and the fence of the illegal Elkana settlement. They will only be able to leave the house three times a day under the control of security guards, virtual prisoners on their own land.
Bulldozers began construction on the Wall at approximately7am about 20m from the house. The Israeli Military and police were called in to evict the activists. The Palestinians, Internationals and Israelis linked arms around the property as the owner of the house, representatives of the National Committee against the Wall, the ISM, IWPS, and Israeli peace organizations all held a press conference for the media who were covering the action.
Because the activists and the media were there to protect the family, construction was halted for the day, and the contractor informed the protestors there will be no work on the site of Hani A'amer's house for the next two months.
However, the activists have pledged to keep a presence in the Mas'ha peace camp erected in front of the house and hold the contractor to his promise. They want to insure that there is no further attempt to continue the path of the Wall.
Protesters will demand a written guarantee from the Israeli Defense Ministry that the house will not be cut off from its village. They are also demanding that Israeli Military immediately repair the water pipes of the house damaged by the construction.
They have given the authorities until Wednesday to respond, then they will do further action.
This camp is just one part of the campaign against the Apartheid Wall that demands:
Stopping the wall construction and demolishing the current Apartheid Wall
Repairing and compensating for the damage caused
Returning confiscated land
Dismantling the settlements
The end of the occupation
Contact Maria 055 376 204
Saif 055 829 680
August 04, 2003
08-04-03
Reverend Horton Heat- Big Red Rocket of Love
Mike Ladd- The Animist
Ride- Seagull
J-Live- Satisfied
The Pixies- Where Is My Mind?
Camper Van Beethoven- Tania
The People Who Do That- The One Ring (NCR)
The White Stripes- Ball and Biscuit
Powerman 5000- Megatronic
Rancid- Lady Liberty
Rage Against the Machine- In My Eyes
Prefuse 73 w/ Diverse- Plastic
Oingo Boingo- Little Girls
Atari Teenage Riot- Revolution Action
Betty Blowtorch- Shut Up and Fuck
Lightning Seeds- You Showed Me
Tiger Army- Incorporeal
Refused- New Noise
Public Enemy- Terminator X to the Edge of Panic
The Vendettas- Soldiers of Rock
Bill Hicks- Dinosaurs in the Bible
Anti-Flag- Seattle Was a Riot
Immunity Addiction
The UN Security Council voted this weekend to send a "Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping" team into Liberia.
It turns out that the vote was passed 12-0, with three countries abstaining. Why did these countries abstain? Because they were uncomfortable with some of the language in the resolution that had been introduced by the United States:
The Security Council... Decides that current or former officials or personnel from a contributing State, which is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of that contributing State for all alleged acts or omissions arising out of or related to the Multinational Force or United Nations stabilization force in Liberia, unless such exclusive jurisdiction has been expressly waived by that contributing State.
In other words, no military personnel from any of the countries involved with the peacekeeping can be tried by the International Criminal Court, nor any other national court except the courts of their own country. Which means that if any of the soldiers commits a war crime, they can only be tried by their home government. And if any of the soldiers commits a regular crime against the people of Liberia, they can't be tried in a Liberian court, only in a court in their own country. Even if a soldier from one country commits a crime against a fellow peacekeeper from another country while in Liberia, they can still only be tried in their home country. In all of these examples, it's unlikely that the offending soldier would be tried in their home country at all.
In other words, the U.S. wants to make sure that (should it decide to send its own troops to participate in the mission) U.S. soldiers can't be held accountable for anything that they do during the course of their mission. And here I thought that personal responsibility was the core of conservatism.
Anyhow, shouldn't surprise anyone, the U.S. has been trying to make itself exempt from all international law for some years now. This is just example #9874.
August 03, 2003
Going to the Chapel, and We're Not Gonna Get Married
While you people have been wasting your time on trivial issues like war, terrorism, and economic turmoil, the President and the Pope have been taking on Real issues. Like whether or not women who like kissing each other should be able to get married.
Surprise, surprise, these two fellows oppose the idea of homosexuals having the right to marry. Actually, let me re-phrase that. Bush and Popey don't care too much about gays' rights to marry; they are publicly saying "we oppose gay marriage" because it's no longer PC to say "we think gay people are fucking disgusting."
Seriously, what else could this issue possibly be about? Folks who oppose gay marriage are generally opposed to it because of their feelings about homosexuality, not their concern for the "institution of marriage." If they are in favor of gay marriage, or for that matter, gay adoption or gay rights, it's like saying "I approve of homosexuality." Which they don't. Either because of their religious beliefs, or because they are disgusted by the idea of gay sex (or because they want everyone else to know that they disprove homosexuality).
I think that blogger Calpundit hits the nail exactly on the head here, arguing that anyone's stance on the issue is simply their own emotional reaction to the issue, that they have then encased in a rationale. In other words, your stance is based upon your gut feeling, and you make up reasons to justify that feeling later.
Following that, my gut feeling on the subject is "who the fuck cares?" Let gay people get married, it affects my life not a whit. On top of that, it does seem unfair to tell one group of loving couples that they are entitled to all the legal rights and privileges that marriage brings, and tell another set of loving couples that they aren't. I like humorist Adam Felber's tongue-in-cheek take on the issue, that depriving gays of the right to marry somehow makes marriage more special to the straight folks.
I'm always tempted at this point in conversation on the subject of homosexuality to say something like "I really don't understand what people have against gays." Except that that's a total lie. I know exactly what people (well, Americans) have against gays. And you do too.
American culture is extremely gendered. Our concepts of male and female spill over onto ever aspect of our society; the clothes we wear, the foods we eat; the jobs we hold; the words we speak. And, unfortunately for homosexuals, a large part of our concept for each gender is that, by definition, they are attracted to the opposite gender. Part of being a man is liking women, and part of being a woman is liking men.
So when a man likes another man, it really batters that traditional definition of masculinity, the same way that female homosexual attraction tugs at the def of feminity. What was once black and white is now possibly gray. And there's a large segment of the American people that doesn't like such blurring. They like their whites white, and their blacks black (and in prison). They know that men like beer and pussy, and women like cooking and obeying their husbands. Challenging those concepts makes them feel doubt, and they don't like that. The backlash against the doubt-bringers is fierce.
So homosexuality is a dangerous threat to the core concept of gender, and gender concept is a core component of American culture. In other words, homosexuality threatens to totally upend American culture.
And I say bring it on. Any society that can be torn asunder by the gender of the mouth sucking a guy's dick, deserves to be destroyed.
Does any god who spends his time utterly riveted by the position of humanity's collective genitalia really deserve anyone's worship? And does a civilation based upon this god's genital obsession deserve to survive?
SMITE US!!! SMITE US!!!
I guess my feelings on all this come down to my particular moral code, "Do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else." Not much room in there for prejudice or oppression.
August 02, 2003
Testing
Just got me a fancy handheld internet device. Just checking to see whether or not I can post entries on my site with it.
[edit]
This is the device here:
It's roughly the size of a thin wallet, and that screen can swivel down and cover the keyboard to compactify it. It can check email, browse the web (well, parts of it), and do AOL Instant Messenger. The geek side of me wants to marry this thing.
However, I am currently trying to figure out if there is a temporary problem with their data network in my area, or if I just spent my money on a gadget that I can't use in my own home. Thankfully, I think it's the former.
Officially, the device is called a "Sidekick", but I figure I'll need to call it something else, as continually referring to my "sidekick" will undoubtedly cause my friends to look around in wonderment every time, and eventually have me committed. Any suggestions? Since the thing will undoubtedly rule my life, I'm leaning towards the moniker "The One Ring."
[/edit]
Lying Media Bastards is both a radio show and website. The show airs Mondays 2-4pm PST on KillRadio.org, and couples excellent music with angry news commentary. And the website, well, you're looking at it. Both projects focus on our media-marinated world, political lies, corporate tyranny, and the folks fighting the good fight against these monsters. All brought to you by Jake Sexton, The Most Beloved Man in America ®. contact: jake+at+lyingmediabastards.com |
Media News |
August 28, 2003Super-Fair and Mega-BalancedInteresting nugget in this article about the aftermath of the goofy Fox News vs. Al Franken lawsuit: Even [Fox News staple Bill] O'Reilly conceded that "we never thought we were going to win the lawsuit. We wanted to expose the vicious tactics being used by the far left." 1) O'Reilly pretty much admits that his company filed a frivolous lawsuit. 2) "The far left"? Al Franken is a liberal, not a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party. The only way someone from the "far left" can get Franken's kind of media attention is to kill somebody. 3) "Vicious tactics"? Franken took Fox News' own slogan and inserted it into his droll book title as a minor jab. Take that, Josef Stalin! More Media News |
Quotes |
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"Mass murder for a 'good cause' is one of the sicknesses of our time." |
Snapshots |
