May 31, 2003
Inspired by The Buddha
Still reading "Supreme Path of Discipleship: The Precepts of the Gurus." I think it would be great to apply the principles to following a political guru as well as a spiritual one. Some of the principles would have to have their wording updated, though, and a few could use extension.
For instance, while watching "The Capital Gang," being deeply moved by the complex harmonies woven by the Wurlitzer playing in the background every time the camera even passed over Richard Perle, I lapsed into meditation on the deep meaning of SNAFU and FUBAR. And focusing on the section of "Precepts" called "The Thirteen Grievous Failures" (the details of which I magnanimously spare you), a fourteenth Grievous Failure manifested itself to me:
14. Following a guru that merely repeateth the words of another is like paying homage to a parrot, and this is a Grievous Failure
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/31/2003 08:45:50 PM |
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Plot? Plot?? We don' need no steenkin' plot!
That's enough for this morning. I'm going to find the cheapest matinee I can and watch Matrix Reloaded for the cool explosions and shit.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/31/2003 10:54:07 AM |
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NewsMax is HARSH
Brazile Still Rages as Red-Faced Dems Nix Plan to Ax BlacksDonna Brazile and other prominent black Democrats are still seething about the party's now-canceled plan to fire 10 non-white employees.
"If the Republicans were to do this, you know what would happen," said Brazile, who helped lead Al Gore to defeat in 2000. "You know I would be kicking them where they need to be kicked."
It took Terry McAuliffe, controversial chairman of Democratic National Committee, an entire day to concoct the excuse that he knew nothing about the planned firings.
The Washington Times today quoted a "prominent Democrat" questioning the honesty of plantation boss McAuliffe. "It doesn't take all day to simply explain that there was some kind of clerical error," the official said.
"helped lead Al Gore to defeat"
"an entire day to concoct the excuse"
"plantation boss mcAuliffe"
NewsMax is right wing or what? This is my first time past that site.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/31/2003 10:14:14 AM |
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Now if we can keep the Angry White Men calm, we can ALL make progress
The idea of Blacks and Hispanics is going to set some folks' teeth on edge. But it shouldn't, and I'm going to explain why (this is going to sound cynical as hell, which to some degree it is).
The only way to ensure your rights is to ensure Black peoples' rights. Because whatever we get, you can't be denied… otherwise it'll be 1994 all over again;
See, Angry White Men never really lost power in this nation. If they had, they couldn't have changed the social and political trajectory of the nation in a single election cycle.
Think about that.
Look at the Democrats. You got them scared and wimpy as hell. Believe me, you've taught them a lesson they'll not soon forget. Now, how about workiing with us to get a government that will do something for 95% of the people instead of just 5%? Because you know damn well you ain't one of that 5% and if the greedy, selfish, power-hoarding bastards have their way no one but them will ever be.
from Newsday.com
Blacks, Hispanics Align To Set Agendas for 2004By Deborah Barfield Berry
WASHINGTON BUREAU
May 30, 2003
Washington - Hoping to press Democratic presidential candidates on issues important to communities of color, black and Hispanic lawmakers will sponsor several debates and forums across the country this summer and fall.
"We need to energize our base," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. "We have to be careful as a party that we take care of the people who take care of us."
Democrats were criticized for failing to motivate their traditional supporters for the 2002 midterm elections, which led to Republicans controlling Congress. While Democratic leaders vow to do better for the 2004 presidential bid, black and Hispanic lawmakers say they want to help set the party agenda and press candidates on how they will address issues including universal health care, the economy and the protection of civil rights and affirmative action.
"I have to believe that raising the issues has to at least put you toward your goal," Cummings said.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/31/2003 10:00:21 AM |
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Oh GHOD. Now I'm agreeing with J.C. Watts
from the Wilmington Journal
Democrats Find �Lot of Work to Do� for Black Votersby Hazel Trice Edney
Originally posted 5/30/2003
WASHINGTON (NNPA)�In March, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was well into the hiring of its top staff. Yet, of its first five employees, none were African-Americans.
A month later, the House of Representatives� new Select Committee on Homeland Security began hiring its staff. Likewise, the first five hires by the Democratic side of the committee had no African-Americans.
Each case, in the view of Black leaders, is typical of how Democrats are disloyal to their most loyal constituency.
… �The Democrat leadership has said, �Look, that�s the most loyal constituency that we have. Come hell or high water, they�re going to vote for us,�� Watts says. �The Republican Party on the other hand has said, �Look, the Democratic Party is going to get 90 plus percent of the Black vote, so we�ll have to win without it.�
�So, you�ve got 35 or 40 percent of the Black community out there in the twilight zone looking for a place to land,� Watts says. �There�s enough blame to go around for both parties.�
Now that Republicans are aggressively seeking to improve their image in the Black community,
It is not an error that the last sentance quoted above ends in a comma. I was laughing at the idea so hard I just couldn't bring myself to quote any further. Apparently medical marijuana is in use in at least some Wilmington circles, though maybe not for medical purposes…
Still, Democrats should take no comfort in the fact that the Black community as a whole sees no sense in voting Republican—J. C. Watts' own father said a Black person who votes for a Republican is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders. I don't know if it's generally realized, but Black folks on the whole would rather vote
for a candidate than
against the other one. That's why Black voter turnout goes up when a candidate appeals to us… hell, we're
used to being attacked. If Democrats don't address the Black community's issues we won't vote Republican. Most won't even vote Green. Most will just say "same old same old" and
not vote… which, in practical terms means Democrats will not win.
The Black vote, for better or worse, is the Democratic Party's to win or lose.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/31/2003 09:45:33 AM |
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When is enough enough?
So, we have a tax cut that gives no help to those who need it most and would therefore spend it immediately and give at least some of the stimulus promised.
And the reason those who need it most were left out was because the Senate wouldn't let the Republican extremists give as much to the wealthy as they wanted.
And after Democrats insisted on (and the Republican extremists resisted against) a coordinated Homeland Defense, not enough money can be made available to cities and states at risk.
A risk increased by the hostility generated by a ham-handed foreign policy.
A risk increased by failure to realize securing nuclear facilities in Iraq is more important to the safety of the USofA… the safety of the world… than securing Iraq's oil fields.
A risk increased by the need to spend ever more in Iraq because slighted nations, naturally, do not choose to pay for an occupation they opposed from the beginning.
An occupation we were promised would not be necessary for an extended period of time.
An occupation that followed a war that the world rejected.
A war that was sold to the American people with lies about immediate threats to our safety.
We have a death a day, after the war has ended.
And as the economy gets worse (from the point of view of the people)…
As "productivity gains" mean fewer people work longer and harder, and profits increase the wealth of only five percent of the population…
As jobs become the major American export…
And the only people paying taxes become the people in the military because only their jobs are truly necessary in the worldwide anti-American climate created by a ham-handed foreign policy…
You will find yourself, as an American, at risk where ever you are.
At risk at home, at work (as the Department of Homeland Security).
At risk when you travel overseas (ask the State Department).
At risk when you travel at home (check the no-fly list).
At risk if you voice disapproval too, where a sensitive bureaucrat can see you.
At risk from your own government
They want to know what you read. They want to know what you buy, where you buy it, when, why and with credit or cash. They want to know how you walk, for pity's sake!
They can already arrest you on the mere suspicion you may know someone connected with the possibility of what they choose to define as terrorism today. Like blocking traffic in a protest.
And they don't have to tell you why.
And they don't have to tell you when you'll be released. Or even questioned.
In the year and a half since giving themselves the right to override your rights
- Hundreds of secret search warrants have been issued
- 50 people had been detained without charges as material witnesses—half for more than 30 days
- Justice Department sought 248 times to delay having to notify the target of an investigation that a warrant had been executed, sometimes amounted to 90 days or more and, was never turned down by a court
- The new powers of the PATRIOT Act have been used for non-terrorism cases
- The new powers of the PATRIOT Act have been used to seize millions of dollars from foreign banks that do business in the United States
Is it enough yet? Can't you see where the threat to your security lies?
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/31/2003 09:09:52 AM |
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May 30, 2003
Now here's a professional!
I could get seriously attached to Anne at Peevish. She rants better than most anyone because she documents everything.
She's supposed to be on hiatus for a minute, but does that stop her? Nooooo…
I'd tell you what it's about, but she covers a lot of ground. Today, she pointed me at an article about why beliefs are so damn hard to change
… When data and belief come into conflict, the brain does not automatically give preference to data. This is why beliefs-even bad beliefs, irrational beliefs, silly beliefs, or crazy beliefs-often don't die in the face of contradictory evidence. The brain doesn't care whether or not the belief matches the data. It cares whether the belief is helpful for survival. Period. So while the scientific, rational part of our brains may think that data should supercede contradictory beliefs, on a more fundamental level of importance our brain has no such bias.
… Even beliefs that do not seem clearly or directly connected to survival (such as our caveman's ability to believe in potential dangers) are still closely connected to survival. This is because beliefs do not occur individually or in a vacuum. They are related to one another in a tightly interlocking system that creates the brain's fundamental view of the nature of the world. It is this system that the brain relies on in order to experience consistency, control, cohesion, and safety in the world. It must maintain this system intact in order to feel that survival is being successfully accomplished.
This means that even seemingly small, inconsequential beliefs can be as integral to the brain's experience of survival as are beliefs that are "obviously" connected to survival. Thus, trying to change any belief, no matter how small or silly it may seem, can produce ripple effects through the entire system and ultimately threaten the brain's experience of survival. This is why people are so often driven to defend even seemingly small or tangential beliefs. A creationist cannot tolerate believing in the accuracy of data indicating the reality of evolution not because of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the data itself, but because changing even one belief related to matters of the Bible and the nature of creation will crack an entire system of belief, a fundamental worldview and, ultimately, their brain's experience of survival.
And that's just one link.
I love this article. It gives expression to a gut-level, um, belief that has guided me in dealing with folks for a long time - which isn't to say I always convince but that I accept when I can't without (necessarily - see
yesterday's only political post) feeling the opposition is evil.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 07:34:19 PM |
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So what if it's old news?
I just found out, and I think it's cool. This is an important part of our history (and anyone who thinks I only mean Black folk by "our" has issues). I didn't know it was at risk and am really glad to discover the risk at the same time as the resolution.
from Preservation Online
Civil War Site To Be Added to National ParkStory by Margaret Foster / Oct. 29, 2002
Instead of becoming a 188-unit housing development, a 99-acre farm that was the site of an 1862 Civil War battle will soon become part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Harpers Ferry, W. Va.
The Trust for Public Land, a conservation group, announced yesterday that it will buy the Murphy Farm and transfer it to the National Park Service, which will reimburse the Trust.
The Murphy family says it is "overjoyed" that the property, which has been a working farm since 1869, will be added to the adjacent 2,300-acre national park. "This is a dream that every generation of the Murphy family has shared," the family said in a statement.
From 1895-1910, abolitionist John Brown�s fort stood on the Murphy Farm. In 1906, W.E.B. DuBois and other African-American leaders made a barefoot pilgrimage to the fort, a meeting that resulted in the formation of the NAACP.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 05:44:59 PM |
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Easing into watching African situations
It really is something I have to do, and I was reminded of this by finding <passport.to.the.third.world>, self-described thus:
I was born in Angola in 1979. Although I left the country at the age of six and currently live a comfortable existence in a Brooklyn apartment, my thoughts and actions are based upon the experiences of a man born in the third world and currently living in the first. My political beliefs are those of an individual whose nation was nearly destroyed by a civil war initiated and perpetuated largely by external powers, namely the United States and the former Soviet Union, during the Cold War. This is the context in which my words should be couched.
Looks to be new, looks to share with me at least a basic understanding of how the situation in Africa came about. Looks like I can learn something.
Later:One thing I've already learned is to pay attention to the need for < and > entities . I see them I use them in text so rarely I forgot they, and everything between them, vanish when entered as characters.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 05:26:39 PM |
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Good question
Is Hip Hop A Culture?by Bakari Akil II
While attending a symposium entitled, The Business of Show, which explored cultural images of Blacks in media, a simple but profound question was asked. Tim Reid and his wife Daphne Maxwell Reid, hosts of the symposium, owners of News Millennium Studios and stars of such shows Sister, Sister and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air respectively, asked the audience: What is hip-hop and is it a culture?
… There were responses that skirted the issue and stated what hip-hop was not, but no direct meaningful answers. One young man stated, "I know what hip-hop is, but can't put it into words." Reid in turn responded, "Well, if you can't define it, then how can hip-hop be a culture." He stated he has posed this question to young Black audiences many times, but no one has ever provided a definition.
To see a huge body of predominately young people who enjoy and grew up on hip-hop unable to define it and explain its cultural aspects was a shock to me.
… Hip-hop in its most rudimentary form consists of four major activities. KRS One defined it best when he listed those activities as "MCing", "Djing", break dancing and artistic expression through graffiti. These four activities are the major identifiers of someone being involved in hip hop culture. Now, is it its own separate culture? In my opinion, hip-hop is an extension of Black culture and has created its own subculture that is shared by many.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 04:32:34 PM |
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heheheh…
11 reasons to love george w. bush
While you're there you might want to check out the rest of Pop And Politics, Farai Chideya's website.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 04:28:20 PM |
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ASTOUNDING arrogance
Foreign envoys in Iraq no longer enjoy diplomatic status, immunity: USWASHINGTON (AFP) - Foreign diplomats in Iraq no longer enjoy diplomatic immunity or any of the privileges they were accorded under their accreditation to Saddam Hussein's former regime, the US State Department said.
In addition, spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington is advising foreign countries to hold off on sending envoys to Baghdad until a new Iraqi government is in place as "at this point there is really no purpose" for them to be there.
Responding to reporters' questions about a raid on the Palestinian mission in Baghdad and the arrest of three Palestinian diplomats by US forces, Boucher first said that neither the envoys nor the property held any diplomatic status.
"There are diplomats who were previously accredited to the Saddam regime who have been residing in former mission residences who are still there," he said.
"We do not regard those as diplomatic missions, they are accredited to a regime that is no longer existent and, therefore, their accreditation has lapsed," Boucher said.
"They and their premises don't have diplomatic status," he added firmly.
… US forces in Iraq ransacked the Palestinian mission in Baghdad overnight Tuesday, arresting at least eight people, including seven Palestinians and a Syrian, the top military commander said earlier Thursday.
… And, he said the United States would discourage attempts by any country to send diplomats to Baghdad and had the authority to bar them from coming in.
"As a matter of policy ... we discourage foreign diplomats from entering Iraq," Boucher said.
"There is no Iraqi government for them to interact with, there is no Iraqi government to grant the privileges and immunities that diplomats would normally have inside a country," he said.
"We, in terms of the kind of control we have to have at this point, also reserve the right to exclude people who we don't think belong there," Boucher said.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 04:15:46 PM |
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So I'm weird
The other day i just tossed off a one-liner about starting a blog for the purposes of ranting. Cowboy Kahlil asked why I don't just rant here, since I do it well. I told him I have an approach I take in public that just doesn't include that sort of thing.
Seque to yesterday on the bus: For my own reasons I'm revisiting my philosophical and spiritual roots, so I was reading "The Supreme Path of Discipleship: The Precepts of the Gurus," a Mahayan Buddhist text. Two sets of precepts pretty much covers my principles, so I decided to post them here.
The Ten Things to be Avoided- Avoid a teacher whose heart is set on acquiring worldly fame and possessions
- Avoid friends and followers who are detrimental to your peace of mind and spiritual growth
- Avoid living where there happen to be many people who annoy and distract you
- Avoid making a living by means of deceit and theft
- Avoid actions that harm your mind and impede your spiritual development
- Avoid thoughless acts that lower you in the esteem of others
- Avoid useless conduct and actions
- Avoid concealing your own faults while speaking loudly of others'
- Avoid food and habits that disagree with your health
- Avoid attachments that are inspired by avarice
The Ten Things Not to be Avoided- Ideas, being the radience of the mind, are not to be avoided
- Thought-forms, being the revelry of reality, are not to be avoided
- Obscuring passions, being the means of reminding one of the need to be wise, are not to be avoided
- Affluence, being the manure and water for spiritual growth, are not to be avoided
- Illness and troubles, being teachers of piety, are not to be avoided
- Enemies and misfortune, being the means of inclining one to a releigious career, are not to be avoided
- That which comes of itself, being a divine gift, is not to be avoided
- Reason, being in every action the best friend, is not to be avoided
- Such devotional exercises of body and mind as one is capable of performing are not to be avoided
- The thought of helping others, howsoever limited one's ability to help others may be, is not to be avoided
Now, this don't mean I won't bitch-slap ya if I feel it necessary. But I'm trying.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 03:46:00 PM |
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Making it too easy to justify non-partisanship
from BlackAmericaWeb
Black party leaders angered by layoffs at Democrat National Committee05/28/2003 01:11 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) - Leading black Democrats in Congress and the national party are protesting the layoffs of 10 minority staffers at the party's headquarters.
The Democratic National Committee notified some committee members and lawmakers Wednesday that they were cutting the positions to save money and streamline operations in preparation for next year's presidential election.
"I'm just outraged," said Donna Brazile, who served as Al Gore's campaign manager in the last presidential election and is also the chairwoman of the DNC's Voting Rights Institute. "They started reading me the names and I said 'Oh, oh - they're all black.' I went through the roof."
Brazile said the DNC is making the cuts as part of its goal to raise $10 million to $15 million to support the party's presidential nominee.
She proposed that the party cut payroll instead of laying off competent staffers.
DNC communications strategist Jim Mulhall said the committee has hired at least nine new minority staffers in the past month. The committee has more than 100 employees but did not have a count of the number of minority staffers Wednesday night.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 02:33:06 PM |
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That still don't let you off the hook, though.
from BlackAmericaWeb
The Victim Train, is it worth the ride?2003/05/29 06:16 PM EDT
By Gregory Kane
Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com
The Gap Band had the "Party Train." The Ojays had the "Love Train." But the Victim Train? Well, anybody can be a passenger, and color doesn't matter.
The most recent passengers on board the Victim Train are Ken and Leslie Holz, parents of Marnie Holz, one of the lasses involved in that notorious hazing incident at Glenbrook North High School just outside of Chicago.
… So this column is for all you black folks who claim we black conservatives always criticize our people and never criticize white folks. This is the column where, for once, you won't be inspired to drag us into the nearest alley and bang us in our faces. This is the column where white people who falsely claim victim status get the same treatment as black people who do likewise. Different folks, same strokes.
So to the distinctly Caucasian Mr. and Mrs. Holz, and to their daughter, it gives me great pleasure to say: I ain't feelin' ya, folks.
The score so far: Articles raggin' on white folks: 1, Articles raggin' on Black folks:
Somebody pass me a bag of zeroes. This is gonna to take a while…
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 02:28:03 PM |
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Big-ups to Noiz, Inc.
from African American News&Issues
Building Black America:Five-Stars for Noiz Inc.
Wouldn�t it be grand to walk through the doors of a fab-u-lous hotel, that offers good services warm hospitality and Black owned?
Noiz Inc., a newly established pre-dominantly owned Afro-American Enterprise, and �Foremost in Community Development�, has made plans to build the first five-star hotel of its kind, located in the inner-city community of Houston. In addition to the development of a new hotel, Noiz Inc. plans to enhance and provide jobs for the community.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 02:17:56 PM |
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What's a conservative?
An anonymous contributer to African American News&Issues took the question to a whole 'nother place than I did. I think the question should be asked, though. And it would be best asked by the non-extremists in the Republican party.
from African American News&Issues
What�s a Conservative?Republicans fulfill biblical prophecy about �the poor�
By BUD JOHNSON
African-American News&Issues
It is written in the Holy Bible of America�s Judea-Christian Republic, �� the poor always ye have with you��- John 12:8. Thus, inasmuch as there are an overwhelming consensuses of politically monolithic made in America Africans that vote the straight Democratic ticket (truly believing that an ultra-conservative Republican party is committed to fulfilling Jesus� ambiguous prophecy), which have cause to pause and ponder, �What�s a conservative?� No, that�s not a misstatement, or poor grammar. The academic question is not who�s a conservative, or what�s conservatism? It, indeed, is: �What�s a conservative?�
On the other hand, the query evidentially is proper, insofar as Webster�s Dictionary defines �conservatism,� as �a disposition in politics to preserve what is established.� And further defines a �conservative, � as one �tending or having power to conserve; (loosely) moderately estimated, understated�n one of the political party that desires to preserve the institutions of the country against innovation.� You can�t explain it much better than that, but apparently it confuses, at least one of our estimated 2 million readers (not counting multitudes that access our Web page: www.aframnews.com, who simply fails to grasp the concept of a Black, conservative Republican. For obvious reason, our intellectual watcher on the wall chose to remain anonymous.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 02:12:32 PM |
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Beeelions and Beelions of dollars
All those economics graphs and explanations confusing you? You need to get a visceral sense of the size of the numbers involved to truly understand the enormity (which means horror, not size though in this case the two are connected) of the PNACBush budget.
The L-Curve is a good place to get such an understanding.
Big numbers aren't just for astronomers. If you can't understand big numbers you can't understand the economy and you will be at the mercy of propaganda mills when you walk into the voting booth.
Well… and directly… said.
The L-Curve has a bunch of cool pictures that illustrate the difference physically rather than logarithmically and our number system does.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 01:14:40 PM |
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And while we're on the subject of constitutional rights
When *choke* Possibly Future Chief Justice Scalia (the SCOTUS) says:
"The Constitution just sets minimums," Scalia said after a speech at John Carroll University in suburban Cleveland. "Most of the rights that you enjoy go way beyond what the Constitution requires."
and
Scalia did not discuss what rights he believed are constitutionally protected, but said that in wartime, one can expect "the protections will be ratcheted right down to the constitutional minimum. I won't let it go beyond the constitutional minimum."
… doesn't that put him at odds with my favorite amendment:
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people
Seriously.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 12:59:59 PM |
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On the one hand…
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
On the other hand…
Lynches Say They Can't Discuss POW Rescue
By ALLISON BARKER
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 29, 2003; 11:44 AM
PALESTINE, W.Va. - American POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch's parents said Thursday they are not permitted to discuss details of their daughter's capture and rescue in Iraq.
Greg and Deadra Lynch also said they couldn't comment on media reports that dispute military information released on Lynch's April 1 rescue from an Iraqi hospital.
"It is still an ongoing investigation," Greg Lynch said during a news conference at the family's rural West Virginia home
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 12:54:11 PM |
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A fair question
I'm reading the Daily Howler today, where the discussion is about disdain for the truth in the media, where the only "liberal" thing seems to be the definition of fact. Somerby gives us Tucker Carlson's opening question to Blumenthal:
CARLSON: Mr. Blumenthal, your book purports to be account of certain historical events, mostly surrounding the ideological battles over the Clinton presidency. Let�s get specific about one of them.
In the summer of 1998, you were called in to a grand jury and subjected to a number of questions. After that, you went outside on the steps and gave an impromptu press conference in which you alleged you�d been asked questions about the president�s religion.
Transcripts from that grand jury later showed that that�s not true. You were not telling the truth. When you went back the next time before that grand jury, here�s what the forewoman said to you: �We�re very concerned about the fact that during your last visit that an inaccurate representation of the events that happened was retold on the steps of the courthouse.�
In other words, you were lying. Given that, why should we believe anything that�s in your book?
Blumenthal can safely answer the question because the facts are on his side. Carlson can safely
ask it because the Wurlizter is on his. As a newly inducted member of the VLWC, and conceptual usurper extraordinaire (oops. French) I love the question and would like to ask it of all media sources on all maner of topics, like tax reform, the environment, preemptive war, leaving no child behind… the list goes on.
Furthermore, it should be asked of the POTUS, SCOTUS, the majority of both houses on the Hill, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence establishment in the United (Police) States of America and Great Britain, the 52
nd state, in reference to those very same topics. SO much has come from these sources that has been
proven false that they are either liars or toeasily, serially, deceived that they really need to explain (to me, anyway) how I'd benefit from taking them at their word.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 12:38:17 PM |
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Did you know?
The State Department has an International Information Program website.
The Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) is the principal international communications service for the U.S. government foreign affairs community. IIP designs, develops, and implements a variety of information and communications programs, including Internet and print publications, traveling and electronically transmitted speaker programs, and information resource services. These reach--and are created strictly for--key international audiences, such as the media, government officials, opinion leaders, and the general public in more than 140 countries around the world.
Much propaganda of course, like the article titled "
Success of Bush's AIDS Initiative Depends On African Attitudes, Not Money," backpedalling before they even start walking. But if you step carefully and avoid the cowpies there's some interesting stuff in there.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 11:57:51 AM |
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Joining the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy
Hesiod is right. I'm linking to Billmon too, on the off-chance you haven't seen the definitive list of WMD lies. No one on any position in the politican spectrum should be allowed to not know this stuff.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 10:09:35 AM |
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Tony Auth reads my blog!
Apparantly he was annoyed at not being listed in my post late yesterday, so he made up for it with today's cartoon. He still makes Dubya look too elegant, though.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 09:45:02 AM |
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This is actually about media consolidation too
from the NY Times
AOL Time Warner and Microsoft End a Bitter RivalryBy STEVE LOHR and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
icrosoft agreed to pay AOL Time Warner $750 million in a legal settlement yesterday that ends one of the most bitter rivalries in modern corporate history and commits the two companies to a sweeping program of business cooperation.
Under the agreement, Microsoft will grant AOL a seven-year royalty-free license to its Internet browsing software, and faster and greater access to Microsoft's Windows operating system. That will make it easier for AOL's popular online service to work with Windows software, which runs more than 90 percent of all personal computers.
Microsoft will also grant AOL Time Warner a long-term license to its software for delivering music and video over the Internet. Microsoft vowed to work closely with AOL Time Warner to develop software to protect AOL's movie and music assets from piracy. The two companies also agreed to discuss how to open up their networks for sending and receiving instant messages over the Internet, although they have said similar things before.
The unexpected alliance between the corporate titans reflects a fundamental change in direction for both companies with the fading of the fad for convergence between technology and media companies.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/30/2003 09:37:09 AM |
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May 29, 2003
Calling sisters who been online a while
I have a friend, Lisa Jeter, that runs an ezine/weblog called drylongso. I mentioned it briefly when I first put up the "More colture than I have" box on the left. The weblog section tends to focus on articles rather than news per se, and she has a good eye and good topic range.
I just realized I don't know if she's the only one selecting articles.
Anyway, the ezine part is themed and the theme of the next one is "PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER: Gender Issues in Sepia Space." The email she sent me describing it is below.
She's having a bit of trouble getting sisters for the email roundtable part:
i'm looking for participants on the roundtable. i have a few men, but not enough women. i think the requirement for them to be listowners/moderators is hindering me. i need someone who can talk on the subject matter (sexism, misogyny, relationships, etc.) and can discuss how they manifest in black online communities.
If you think that might be an interesting thing, take a look around her site (fair warning, I think it loads a little slowbecause of this
really cool floating menu bar it has) to get a feel for her style. You can contact her at
lajeter (at) jeteractive (dot) com.
Plain Brown Wrapper: Gender Issues in Sepia Space explores sex,
sexuality, gender, and gender politics in "sepia space" --
Drylongso.com�s term for black cyberspace. Despite the digital
divide, a significant number of black people are frequent
internet users and communities have sprung up containing individuals
whose voices agree as well as clash on many topics, including gender
relations.
= What have been the experiences of black internet users around
issues of sexuality and gender? Has online interaction between black
males and females gotten better or worse since the internet
explosion?
= How do real world black gender issues play themselves out online?
In what context do these issues seem to arise? Are gender conflicts
more likely in same race or mixed settings? Do conflicts tend to
arise along social lines? How often do gender issues arise between
American blacks, European and continental blacks?
= What topics or situations tend to result in demonstrations of
outright sexism, misogyny or male/female bashing in online African
American communities? What topics are taboo?
= What type of influence, if any does Black Planet have on gender
relations on and off the internet? Does the site help or hinder real
world and online black relations?
= What impact did incidents like the R. Kelly child pornography
controversy, the Rae Carruth baby mama murder, or the
Jackson/Stanford affair have on black online communities?
= What kinds of expressions of black sexuality are present
on the internet? How has the proliferation and availability of
internet pornography influenced gender relations?
Contributors are asked to consider the questions above and to submit
items touching upon the ideas presented. The editors are particularly
interested on how black and gender politics intersect and collide in
sepia space. Academic and popular essays, opinion, poetry, spoken
word, fiction and cultural commentary are welcomed. Send inquiries to
submit (at) dylongso (dot) com.
Complete submission
information can be found at
http://www.drylongso.com/contribute/contribute.php.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/29/2003 10:29:23 PM |
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National Civil Rights March for "Jobs, Peace and Freedom"
Saturday, August 23, 2003 in Washington DC.
At the end of summer, a national civil rights march will mark the 40 year anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Already, basically every mainstream civil rights and labor organization are signed on to this effort. This march is being billed as a march for jobs, peace and freedom. Our new civil rights movement must mobilize everyone that we can for this march.
At the Fifth Conference of the New Civil Rights Movement this weekend we will organize and plan our participation in this march.
This march is an essential moment for the young movement. It will be our first national opportunity to respond to the US Supreme Court decision in the University of Michigan affirmative action cases. The defense of affirmative action and integration and the fight for educational equality must be at the center of this march. The decision in the Michigan cases will intensify the discussion and struggle over affirmative action no matter how the court rules. We can set the stage for how the nation is responding to whatever that decision is.
At the August 23 march, we must launch our national struggle to realize the promise of Brown v. Board of Education - the campaign for integration and equality throughout American education.
The August 23 march is a chance for the new militant, integrated, independent civil rights movement to get organized and to show itself. It is a chance for us to prepare ourselves for what must be a massive effort over the coming year to build organization and to develop a new layer of young leaders who can lead American society through the next period of transformative mass struggle.
Make plans to be there and join the militant, integrated contingent of the new civil rights movement at the August 23 march in Washington DC.
Go to www.bamn.com soon for updates.
Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
http://www.bamn.com [email protected] 5/28/2003
via afroam-l mailing list
[email protected]https://lists.aas.duke.edu/mailman/listinfo/afroam-l
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/29/2003 09:58:02 PM |
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BWAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!
Atrios Jr. is crackin'me da fuk up! Couple of days ago I said I felt like ranting about some concepts people hold dear. He's handling one or two of them for me.
I also said I'd be willing to bet a small sum he's actually Atrios himself. I'm still feeling that.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/29/2003 07:37:38 PM |
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The only political post here today
Okay, I'm back. And I just ran down most of my blogroll.
Before I found I couldn't get to the web interface today (and decided to go do some actually real stuff, on the planet, in meat-space) I was pretty annoyed. As as usuall, editorial cartoons expressed my irritation more concisely than the news.
I was going to tell you to check out Tom Toles (of course), Ted Rall (of course), and Ben Sargent (of course). And I was going to rant.
Well, I'm STILL going to rant.
This administration has told more blatant lies than any administration in the history of the WORLD, much less the United (Police) States of America. And anyone who votes for George W. Bush -- or anyone that supported him -- is either a fool or a traitor.
How's that for direct?
Between the lies about Iraq and the subsequent evasions, the absolute cynicism of giving poor families a large tax break for dividends paid on securities they can't afford to buy while taking away the child care credits they need, the hypocrasy of trying to classify documents AFTER they've been released because they're too embarrassing, forgiving corporate fraud (I'm sorry, but fining Worldcom one week's operating revenue and letting them out of bankruptcy cleared of debt and with a spankin' new Iraqi contract is forgiving them), you are simply stupid if you don't think they won't come after YOUR ass when it suits their purposes. And if you aren't one of them, it WILL suit their purposes sooner or later because they are obviously about controlling it all.
Of course, if you ARE one of them, you'ne not a fool. You're a traitor.
And in case some idiot wants to ask, "who is this 'them' you're concerned about?" It's the PNAC crew. The Republican extremists that have the average Republican fooled by hiding behind the name the normal guy uses while squeezing every bit of wealth out ove everyone they can.
What do you want to do… wait until the Fired [sic] Department has to hand you a bill for saving your life?
WAKE
THE
HELL
UP
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/29/2003 07:05:28 PM |
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As of this writing, the web interface to Blogger is not working so I am posting this via a desktop interface. Basically works, but the first time I tried it it kind of un-escaped a few characters-apostrophes and what not.
Between that and the web interface being unavailable, I'm accepting the events of the day as an omen. Real world, here I come. See y'all later or maybe tomorrow. Depends on when I get done with some stuff that needs doing.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/29/2003 10:20:35 AM |
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May 28, 2003
Yeah, it's cartoon-posting time
But this ain't even a joke, so see it if you want to.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 10:45:41 PM |
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Damn! They'll try anything!
from The Onion
Terrifying Bill Passed During NBA PlayoffsWASHINGTON, DC�With the nation safely distracted by the NBA playoffs, Congress passed the terrifying Citizenship Redefinition And Income-Based Relocation Act of 2003 with little opposition Monday.
"This piece of legislation is essential, both for more efficient implementation of the New American Ideal and to give law enforcement the broad discretionary powers necessary to enforce certain vital civil and behavioral mandates," said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), addressing an empty press room Sunday, midway through game four of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. "We are confident that Americans will embrace this law, should they eventually realize it has been passed."
H.R. 2395 was introduced to Congress on May 15 during the fourth quarter of the San Antonio Spurs' 110-82 victory over the defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers in the deciding game of the Western Conference semifinals.
… The controversial additions might have threatened the law's passage, had they not been made during the closing minutes of the Dallas Mavericks' thrilling 112-99 come-from-behind win over the Sacramento Kings in game seven of their series.
"The First Amendment will still protect almost all of the forms of expression that it always has," said Biden, who will assume his new duties as Commandant Of The Greater West on June 1.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 10:40:35 PM |
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Rent-a-negro.com
Since folks are still talking about it.
I'm one of those folks that forwarded the address a couple of places. Well, two… to a list of old heads and a discussion board that leans toward the hip hop generation.
Old heads
Folks there had seen www.blackpeopleloveus.com so they didn't trip. One oooooold head, been around even longer than me, reminded me of when Keith Obadike auctioned off his Blackness on EBay. Brother got $152.50 after 12 bids. OG dropped another link on me, too: Remote Labor Systems:
In these times of terror, as America needs to increase its deportation and detention of illegal immigrants, we must confront difficult questions like: "How will the American economy stay competitive without immigrant labor?" and "If America succeeds in sealing its borders, who will do the work millions of illegal immigrants do today?"
For Remote Labor Systems, these questions are not merely theoretical.
RLS is pioneering a fusion of broadband internet technology and low-cost robotics, designed to eventually compete with illegal immigrants for the market of carrying out the most basic functions in the American economy.
We hope you find our site informative, and that you'll join us as we try to find a way to keep America competitive in these perilous times.
Roger H. Buck, President
Remote Labor Systems
New skoolThey didn't get it. I decided not to tell them about Remote Labor Systems. They'd start worrying about
their jobs too.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 09:56:20 PM |
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Remember I said I'm non-partisan?
Ain't this just a perfect summary, though? Kinda like, you get to decide how deep the stab wound will be.
Clay Bennett is good. The image is a link to his archives.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 09:27:17 PM |
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Just… just 'cause, that's why
from BBspot.com
Tuesday, May 20 12:01 AM EDT
Bush Proposes Universal Time ZoneBy Brian Briggs
New York, NY - At the United Nations today President George W. Bush announced a proposal to unify all the world's time zones into a single Universal Time Zone (UTZ), formerly known as the Eastern Time Zone.
"It's unfair to the United States that other countries have the advantage of being in tomorrow while the US is stuck in today," said Bush. "If it's 9 PM in Washington D.C., it's already tomorrow in London or Paris. That patently unfair."
Bush continued, "Right now, Americans are losing jobs to other countries whose workforce can give overnight service during their normal daylight hours. We'll level the playing field and keep more jobs in the US with the UTZ."
… "Under the Bush UTZ plan, countries could either keep their current schedules and just adjust their clocks, or they could change their whole society to match the new time. But Bush warned against the former option, "It would be very risky for countries to eat lunch at a different time than the US. You are either with us or against us on this."
Britain immediately supported the US plan. "If it means sleeping in broad daylight then we'll stick with our allies," said Tony Blair, "Of course there's never broad daylight in the UK, so it's not much of an issue."
… France, another opponent of the plan, claimed it is too Anglocentric, and should be based on French time. President Chirac did concede that "it wouldn't affect us too much because all our workers stop working at noon anyway."
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 09:13:43 PM |
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Time to tell the truth
The only blog I added to my blogroll reflexively is The American Sentimentalist, which I added on the strength of its motto: ''Never has any people endured its own tragedy with so little sense of the tragic.''
Plus I could always delete it if it was stupid.
But it's still there.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 07:27:53 PM |
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Now it's obvious, but is it too late?
The Slacktivist gives you an excerpt from an essay in the June issue of Harpers titled "GET RICH OR GET OUT - Attempted robbery with a loaded federal budget" that lays out the enormity of the Bush budget. If you're at all unsure who the villains that are out to destroy your well-being are, read it.
Then pick up a copy of "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents" by Octavia Butler to see what your life will be like if they get away with it.
IF this disaster can be stopped, then we'll talk to the DLC about avoiding living in "Player Piano" by Kurt Vonnegut.
If it can't, I'm joining the gun nuts. And that's not a joke.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 06:56:08 PM |
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Questions
Why do they call themselves Conservatives anyway?
I mean,, it's not like they're conserving anything. Money? Nope. The environment? Nope. Traditional American values of justice, equality and stuff… well, the hope of justice and equality anyway, I can't say we ever actually GOT there, but we were trying to…
And why, if they aren't all bent out of shape over the deficit because it's at an historical low vs. the GDP, are the all bent out of shape over government spending, which is also at an historical low vs. the GDP?
After all, somebody has to spend SOMEthing or we won't HAVE an economy… and as a result of their machinations it's not going to be the middle class… what's left of it…
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 04:41:10 PM |
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I may start another blog for the exclusive purpose of ranting
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 04:05:56 PM |
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I actually thought about it, and answered honestly
You are Agent Smith, from "The Matrix."
No one would ever want to run into you in a
dark alley. Cold as steel, tough as a rock,
things are your way or the highway.
What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Quite amusing, since on another forum I'm The Machine.
This is what happens when you go past The Daily Dystopian.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 03:38:24 PM |
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Marduk or Daffy Duck? YOU be the judge
[deleted because I refuse to sink to that level]
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 03:16:57 PM |
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Amazing
Sometimes I wonder what the world looks like through the eyes of a John Derbyshire
Disenfranchise the Public SectorI�m not the only one voting for fewer voters.
Certainly the speaker of our state assembly (the legislature's lower house) is not fooled. This is a fellow named Sheldon Silver, and he is a conservative's worst nightmare, being (a) a business-hating socialist by inclination, (b) a trial lawyer by profession, and (c) a parliamentary tactician of genius. His life's work is to destroy private enterprise in New York State, having first transferred all its assets to the pockets of his colleagues at Weitz & Luxenberg, the firm of ambulance chasers that keeps him on retainer. Silver has contemptuously brushed aside Pataki's vetoes, as has State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. (Silver is a Democrat, of course. Bruno and Pataki are both Republicans, or what passes for Republicans in New York State. That is to say, they are a couple of millimeters to the right of Hillary Clinton.) The legislature will get its spending increases, and I and my fellow New Yorkers will get a huge tax hike to finance them.
What on earth accounts for this loony behavior on the part of my state's elected representatives? Have none of them ever read the story of the ant and the grasshopper? Don't they know that in good times you sock stuff away for when the bad times come? I suppose at some level they do, but their overriding political priority is to appease the interest blocs that keep them in office.
And then I decide I don't really want to know.
I'm not sure I
can know. That "ant and grasshopper" thing, from Conservatives whose idea of thrift is to only collect money from people who don't have it is bizarre. We cut taxes during the flush times, helping
cause the bad times, and in response cut them some more. The very image of pouring water on a drowning man.
Not to mention that the point of the article is that too many people have a say in the government.
Add to that the conflation of
selected bits of law, voting and economics, and it becomes too much for the kid.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 12:52:25 PM |
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'Nuff said
The Bitter Tears of Clarence ThomasStill Whining After All These Years
by ELAINE CASSEL
… It was a somber, self-pitying speech that left many of the thousands of attendees squirming in their seats. Apparently Thomas has only one speech-one that recounts his hard life in Pin Point, Georgia, his "crushing" experience of graduating from Yale Law School (pity the poor man who has to go to Yale) without one offer to work in the law firm of his dreams-a firm in Atlanta or Savannah, Georgia. He refers to this experience as one of his life's great trials and tribulations.
He has no gratitude for John Danforth who gave him a job in the Missouri Attorney General's Office, which then led to his being tapped for the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and then the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and then, of course, to a seat on the Supreme Court-what to any lawyer would be the pinnacle of a career, not to mention a lifetime.
Hellip; Thomas got his breaks in life because others-from his grandfather, to the nuns in his Catholic high school, to the administrators at his college and Yale Law School, to John Danforth, to Bush the first-gave him a break. He cannot give thanks or gratitude, he can only resent. Resent that his color, or so he says, kept him from all that he really wanted--a job in a Georgia law firm. Not being able to recognize what others gave to him, he has nothing to give to others-not from the bench, not from a podium.
Justice Thomas could do us all a huge favor by resigning from the Court that he finds such a burden, getting into his RV that he claims to love so much, and turning over his seat on the bench to someone who at least appreciates the privilege of wielding almost unlimited power as a Supreme Court Justice.
Of course, he is not going to pack up and drive his gas-guzzler into the sunset. Unfortunately for us who care for people who have less than we do, who suffer at the hands of a cruel and selfish government, Thomas will continue to wield his hatred from the bench. And we will continue to be less of a country because he and his partners in meanness, Scalia and Rehnquist, interpret the law to benefit the powerful, the wealthy, and the Republicans that put them there.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 12:22:48 PM |
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I see the hand of Clear Channel in this
via DaveyD
THE HIP HOP WAR
by Umar Ben Ivan
Hip-Hop, the music that was once called "the voice of the voiceless" and the "ghetto CNN" is now the preferred music of choice for American soldiers occupying the streets, homes, government buildings, mosques and schools of Iraq. So, the music that has railed against the police in the US, due to first hand experience that artists have had, is now the music of the imported police in Iraq.
This should not be surprising, given the traditional methods of US corporate co-opting of movements. Hip-Hop definitely poses an established threat to the understood order in the US, so instead of banning, which would be almost impossible to do under US law, Hip-Hop has been commercialized and removed from its grassroots foundation. Those Hip-Hop artists who remain true to the code are denied the needed airplay that is needed on radio and television by corporate forces who wish to present an acceptable Hip-Hop.
What is acceptable? Messages glorifying crime, thuggery and destructive behavior are deemed acceptable, because not only do they sell records, but the behavior that those songs may inspire fits into an overall unstated goal of the American elite - keeping the black community weak, divided, and self-destructive.
However, messages that offer hints of liberation, universal brotherhood, social, political and cultural awareness are deemed non-marketable.
Finding artists willing to sign record deals who will rap and sing about anything no matter how stupid doesn't seem to be a problem. Artists intoxicated with the millions that they have earned and yearning for more ill-begotten games, for the most part, do not have the time to sit and think about the social ramifications of what they are saying. Instead of realizing that they can be the voice of the oppressed worldwide and make a contribution to humanity that will change the course of history, artists are satisfied to live lives full of intoxication, destructive sexual behavior and mindless consumerism.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 12:14:41 PM |
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from BlackVoices.com
Confederate money talks, activists saySlave images used to rebut argument on war's cause
By Dahleen Glanton
Tribune national correspondent
An exhibit that opened last week at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site seeks to offer insight into the complex relationship between the Old South and its slaves. The display of paintings and Confederate currency reveals a little-known fact in America: that slaves were routinely depicted on paper money in the South from the mid-1800s until the early 1900s.
If nothing more, South Carolina artist John Jones said, his collection of acrylic paintings on canvas discredits a long-standing Southern assertion that the war was solely an issue of states' rights and proves that it was as much or more about holding on to an inhumane institution that fueled the region's economy.
"The history of a country, its values and economy are often reflected in its money. This shows what was going on during the Civil War and antebellum periods, and what it says about the importance of slavery is right on the money," Jones said. "The engravings are a visual smoking gun that document how much free slave labor enriched America."
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 12:04:52 PM |
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Ben Sargent
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 09:30:59 AM |
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I disagree about the taxes part at the end, though
Stealing the whole post from "Moore's Lore," a Corante-hosted blog. The point raised is valid, though of course not a full explanation for the rise and fall of the Third Reich.
Why Germany Fell, And Santorum Matters
How did Hitler lead Germany to ruin, and can it happen here?
Hitler�s appeal was based on demonizing the "creative class" of his time, starting with Jews. Germany�s greatest creative forces early in the 20th century had a lot in common. They were educated, creative, they thought outside the box. Many (like the American entertainer Sally Bowles) were foreign. And an extraordinary number were Jewish.
Hitler�s electoral base (and he did have one) was in the lower-to-middle class, people who worked hard, mainly in manufacturing, who raised families and went to Church, but who were losing economic ground to the new creative class of their time. They loved the equivalents of NASCAR and country music. Hitler demonized the creative class, and his followers did as well. First, it was just words. Then, it was laws against their "peculiar lifestyle." Only later was their property seized, and then came the Holocaust. It's a slippery slope, and it starts with words.
Richard Florida�s "Rise of the Creative Class" has this to say about the people who are most instrumental in driving economic growth forward. "When they are sizing up a new company and community, acceptance of diversity and of gays in particular is a sign that reads "non-standard people welcome here."
So here�s where I might lose you, but hear me out. Acceptance of gays is a marker of creative people today, says Florida, just as acceptance of Jews was a marker for the creative class in Weimar Germany. Watch "Cabaret" some time. Who are the "decadent" entertainers of the cabaret, and who are their customers? Isn�t this the world Hitler destroyed? And aren�t some of those people in that play, not Jewish, but gay?
So when someone like Richard Santorum attacks gays, and someone like George W. Bush defends Santorum, while the right-wing media applauds vigorously (and seeks to intimidate anyone who dares disagree), what signal is being sent? The signal is, creative people are not wanted.
The signal has been received. In the last few weeks I have gotten several e-mails from good, kind, creative people, suggesting they might want to move to Canada or elsewhere.
Take the creativity out of a society, and you doom the society. Hitler�s rise contained the seeds of his fall. His intolerance made him evil, and that evil doomed his economy, his society, and his country � everything he claimed to stand for.
So I don�t care if Santorum had good motives. Hitler also claimed to be a good guy. And I don�t care if he spoke from sincere religious conviction. So did Osama Bin Laden.
That�s why Santorum matters, and that�s why George W. Bush�s acceptance of Santorum matters. It�s a signal of intolerance toward the creative class, toward the people who drive the economy forward. Cut taxes on your friends all you want, but if your society drives out the creative class, it seals its own doom.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 09:21:42 AM |
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Media Deregulation
Have you noticed that "deregulation" hasn't quite worked out the way it's been promised? Everytime deregulation of an industry has been proposed, its proponents have promised the same thing: gredater competition, lower prices. Telephones. Cable. Airlines. Electricity.
Do you see greater competition in these industries? Most of them were common carriers, and even in my most economically ignorant state I found myself wondering, "How can I get lower prices from vendor A than vendor B when vendor A is just a middleman between me and B and both are to make a profit?" It was a good question. Deregulation has flat-out failed, in different ways for each industry. Telephone companies have simply reorganized a little such that long distance no longer subsidizes local service… and worse (in my eyes) no longer subsidizes the fundamental research by Bell Labs that literally has brought us to the point that you're able to read this from wherever you are. Cable rates rise incrementally every few months. In fact, deregulation caused them to break out and price pieces of their services such that nationwide prices rose the very first month deregulation took effect. Airlines dies and broke unions. As for electricity, can you say "Enron?"
Media deregulation has already begun. You can count on the effects being different, yet the same.
How important is the media?
In prehistoric times there were hobbyist PC networks, bulletin board systems (BBS) that connected over plain old telephone service (POTS). Serving that tiny, tiny market was a magazine called BoardWatch, by a man name Jack Rickard — it's been a while, I may not have his name spelled correctly. Jack was fugging brilliant. He was the only technical prognosticator I knew of whose every prediction came true. And BoardWatch, under his ownership and guidance was the technical magazine extraordinaire.
In the dawn of the Internet Age, the local ISPs that most of the old heads used, the ones that forced AOL to recognize they had to get into the pool, the ones that connected us to the point that Microsoft had to change its policies, grew out of the BBS systems. And Jack was in the front of all that. BoardWatch was the first to publicize that DSL eas possible with existing technology, existing wiring… wiring that telephone companies were selling to support alarm systems at a fraction of the cost of POTS… service and pricing that was a serious threat to the still-profitable T1 services they were marketing. The first to challenge the statement that it was impossible to produce reliable metrics on Internet connectivity performance, to prove that 56K modems never actually provided 56K of connectivity. He started a convention of ISPs that grew so big so fast that it became a semi-annual event in its second year. He was a voice that was heard among those who seeded the Internet we all know today.
BoardWatch was an extraordinary publication. So extraordinary that Rickard put every word of the print magazine online, the same month the print magazine was mailed out… and subscriptions went up. His magazine consistantly covered the issues you'd need to know to compete with, to fight back against, the telco giants. And he kept watch on the telcos because his market was dependant on them. When on of the baby bells delisted the telephone services that would support DSL, he called them on it in court. I believe he would have won.
What happend to Jack? The business of publishing took him further and further away from what he was truly interested in, technology and advocacy. He sold his magazine to a publishing and convention conglomerate, under the condition that he retain editorial control of the magazine.
Said conglomerate sold out to another one, which had no negotiation with Rickard and he lost editorial control. The magazine went from a techical and grass roots voice to a collection of articles on how to value your ISP so you can sell it at the proper pricing point, and how to best run it without causing the telco giants any problems.
I mention this to show that Corporations Do No Play Fair. DSL should be all over the place. We should have broadband capabilities that far outstrip those in place in South Korea because it's our tech. But it's been delayed, slowed until the existing monopolies could insure they would be in control of it… and I am convinced this was only possible because the key source of information that would have informed enough people whose interest lay in fighting the trend was diverted.
Media deregulation nee consolidation will make it possible for a few to do this on ANY TOPIC THEY DECIDE TO.
Consider that for a moment. They goes beyond musical choice. With no hysteria in my voice, I suggest this is a bigger threat to our independence as humans than soldiers stationed in our homes because it places guards around the gates of our minds.
As Dr. Carter G. Woodsen said, "When you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here or go yonder. Hw eill find his 'proper place' and stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.'
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 07:57:38 AM |
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Media Consolidation
William Safire gets it
The Great Media Gulp
By WILLIAM SAFIRE
WASHINGTON
The future formation of American public opinion has fallen into the lap of an ambitious 36-year-old lawyer whose name you never heard. On June 2, after deliberations conducted behind closed doors, he will decide the fate of media large and small, print and broadcast. No other decision made in Washington will more directly affect how you will be informed, persuaded and entertained.
His name is Kevin Martin. He and his wife, Catherine, now Vice President Dick Cheney's public affairs adviser, are the most puissant young "power couple" in the capital. He is one of three Republican members of the five-person Federal Communications Commission, and because he recently broke ranks with his chairman, Michael Powell (Colin's son), on a telecom controversy, this engaging North Carolinian has become the swing vote on the power play that has media moguls salivating.
… We've already seen what happened when the F.C.C. allowed the monopolization of local radio: today three companies own half the stations in America, delivering a homogenized product that neglects local news coverage and dictates music sales.
And the F.C.C. has abdicated enforcement of the "public interest" requirement in issuing licenses. Time was, broadcasters had to regularly reapply and show public-interest programming to earn continuance; now they mail the F.C.C. a postcard every eight years that nobody reads.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 07:40:44 AM |
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Media Consolidation
BusinessWeek gets it.
The Faint, Fading Voice of the LeftThe FCC wants to concentrate media ownership in even fewer corporate hands. Bad idea. Protecting diverse opinions must be the priority
Here's a quiz for you: Name the best-known and most influential conservative commentators in America? Rush Limbaugh? George F. Will? Bill O'Reilly? Now, quick, who are their liberal counterparts?
If you can't think of any, you're not alone. Conservatives love to rant that liberals dominate the news media. Trouble is, it's just not true. In fact, I'd argue that the biggest problem with America's public discourse today is that the left is barely represented at all on mainstream TV and radio talk shows and in major newspapers and magazines.
To my mind, that's the main reason debate in the U.S. and Europe is diverging so radically on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to genetically engineered food and capital punishment. In, say, London a much more lively debate is going on between the left (given voice in mainstream outlets such as the BBC and Guardian) and the right.
VESTED INTERESTS. The U.S. situation is likely to get a lot worse if Michael Powell, Federal Communications Commission chairman, has his way. He wants to loosen or remove many of the last remaining restrictions on how much of the market Big Media conglomerates can control. Among other things, Powell would allow more cross-ownership of local TV stations and newspapers by the same companies. He also would let a single company own TV stations covering 45% of the national viewing audience, up from 35% now. Powell plans a vote on June 2, and the three-person Republican majority on the commission seems certain to approve the proposed changes.
This isn't good policy. The U.S. needs greater concentration of the media market like a fast-food junkie needs more fat. What we read, hear, and watch is already determined to far too great an extent a half dozen giant conglomerates: AOL Time Warner (AOL ), Viacom (VIA ), Walt Disney (DIS ), News Corp. (NWS ), General Electric (GE ), and Bertelsman. Yet Powell has held just one official public hearing on the proposed changes. And the specifics of the revisions being considered haven't been made public.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 07:34:19 AM |
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Media consolidation
NEW YORK, NY
WHAT: NO MORE CLEAR CHANNELS! STOP THE FCC MEDIA GIVEAWAY
WHEN: Thursday, May 29th 2003 Noon - 1:30 PM - (the Thursday before the FCC votes to dramatically deregulate the media)
WHERE: 1120 Sixth Avenue @ 43rd Street New York City, New York
Protest Clear Channel Radio and the Media Monopoly on Thursday, May 29
A National Day of Protest to Stop the Media Monopoly
Clear Channel Communications is the poster child of everything that's wrong with media deregulation. After the media deregulation of 1996, Clear Channel gobbled up hundreds of radio stations throughout the country and now owns more than 1200 stations nationwide, dominating the audience share in 100 of 112 major markets. Not only is the company the world's largest radio broadcaster, it,s also the world largest concert promoter and billboard advertising firm.
Clear Channel's monopolistic practices have accelerated the homogenization of our airwaves. The company promotes cookie-cutter style radio that has urban stations throughout the country seemingly playing the same seven songs. It shuts out independent artists who can't afford to go through high-priced middlemen and is responsible for taking the practice of voice tracking to new heights. Voice tracking creates brief, computer-assisted voice segments that attempt to fool the listener into thinking that a
program is locally produced, when in fact the same content is being broadcast to upwards of 75 stations nationwide from a central site.
Clear Channel also uses its stations to promote its right-wing political agenda. After September 11, the company came to the public's attention when executives circulated a list of blacklisted songs including John Lennon's Imagine and Cat Stevens' Peace Train. This year Clear Channel became one of the first media companies in recent times to sponsor a political rally--they sponsored pro-war rallies in cities around the country before and during the war on Iraq. Another "Rally for America" is being organized in Huntington, West Virginia for Memorial Day weekend.
If the FCC passes Michael Powell's proposed new media rules, companies like Clear Channel and Fox will be given even more control over the public airwaves than they already have. And we are likely to see in television the same type of feeding frenzy we saw in the radio industry after the 1996 media deregulation.
No more Clear Channels! Stop the FCC media deregulation!
Location:
Clear Channel Radio, 1120 Sixth Avenue @ 43rd Street
New York City New York
Sponsored By:
Sponsored by Citizen Works, CodePink, Democracy Rising, Free Press, Global Exchange, Media Alliance, Prometheus Radio Project, United for Peace and Justice NY, Youth Media Council, and many others.
For directions, please enter the address into Yahoo Maps:
http://maps.yahoo.com
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/28/2003 07:30:43 AM |
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May 27, 2003
This ain't your father's blog post
[whining deleted]
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 09:25:08 PM |
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Yay!
Blogger let me update my template, Squawkbox has the comments running and all is right with the world.
Well, except Andrew Sullivan admitting the Republicans have gone crazy. I may never get over that…
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 08:34:16 PM |
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Cognitive dissonance
I stopped reading Andrew Sullivan about three weeks after my first pass by his site, but Calpundit quoted something from his page that SO dropped my jaw I had to see it for myself.
CUT SPENDING FIRST: The arguments against this are as follows. The only way to control spending is to cut taxes first, by starving the government of resources. One email spelled it out pretty clearly:
I've said this to you on more than one occasion � there is a singularly good reason for MASSIVE deficits... GW's real job, like Reagan before him, is to ensure that all the money is spent, that when a Dem takes office, 33 percent or more is paying off debt. This is called preemptive handcuffs. It isn't my idea. It is David Stockman's. No money to spend when Dems are in office. You are being childish. The only rationale for fiscal responsibility NOW is if you want there to be $ for Dems to spend later. Stop being NAIVE. No one admits this � like many things I've been a party to � it isn't a philosophy it is a strategy. Going deeper: The international markets understand this. "Oh, a deficit? That means nothing because they are spending the next Dem�s $." This is really an analysis of why lib policy is doomed to failure. It can�t work, because it is soooooooooooo easy for Reps to undermine. That's the real Keynes. Think!
Give the guy points for candor. But the result of this repetitive, partisan strategy is surely an increasing level of government debt, which doesn't only restrict future spending, but restricts future tax cuts. I hate to bring up the national interest here, as opposed to cheap partisan advantage. The other point, of course, is that it isn't the Democrats' future spending we have to worry about. It's the Republicans'!
It seems
"not for publication" wasn't joking after all Even deeper, scrolling down an entry I find:
Maybe we do need to go into deeper debt to forestall a future attack that could indeed cripple the economy. Again, I'd be open to persuasion on that as well. But we don't even hear that. We simply hear the old argument that reducing taxes increases government revenue more than the tax-cuts themselves cost. Sorry. I'm not buying it. Look, I hope I'm wrong. I hope that the cheaper dollar, tax cuts and low interest rates will lead to a recovery that will bring revenues flooding into the Treasury. But count me as an Eisenhower Republican skeptic. And until the GOP actually proves it has the ability to restrain spending, I certainly don't begrudge anyone for voting Democratic in order to keep the government within its limits.
And scrolling up I find:
At this point, it's clear that the Republican party, at all levels, is simply fiscally irresponsible. This is true at the federal level, where Republicans have out-spent Democrats; and at a state level, as this USA Today synopsis spells out:
State legislatures controlled by Republicans increased spending an average of 6.54% per year from 1997 to 2002, compared with 6.17% for legislatures run by Democrats... Republicans cut taxes an average of 1.08% annually from 1997 to 2002 when they controlled both the legislature and governor's office. Democrats cut taxes 0.59% annually when they were in charge of state government.
(My thanks to Hoosier Review.) So I was wrong yesterday. The Democrats aren't worse. They're actually better at controlling spending than today's Republicans. True fiscal conservatives might want to rethink their long-standing preference for Republicans.
I feel like I fell into that Star Trek mirror universe. It is obviously time for me to leave this alone for the day.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 05:41:02 PM |
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You should watch Mark Fiore's animations
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 03:03:29 PM |
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Nothing clever to add
not even formatting
Congo War Toll Soars as U.N. Pleads for Aid
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
UNIA, Congo, May 26 � They call the machete a weapon of mass destruction here.
Its ghastly wreckage can be found inside what passes for this town's only functioning hospital. On a thin foam mattress lies a wide-eyed old man who has survived an attempted decapitation. Nearby, a mother with black moons around her eyes nurses two wounded children back to health and mourns for another two, freshly killed.
It is estimated that more than three million people have died in Congo's four-year war as a dizzying array of rival rebel armies and their patrons from nine neighboring countries have fought over Congo's enormous spoils. Gold, diamonds and coltan � a mineral used in cellphones � are among the precious loot in this northeastern province called Ituri, and peace deals so far have done nothing to stanch the bloodletting. The latest massacre took place over several days this month, as militias belonging to rival Hema and Lendu tribes battled for control here in Ituri's largest town.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 01:22:11 PM |
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You hate me! You really, really hate me!
The current regime has inched strode closer to permanent enemy status.
from the Washington Post, via Wampum
Energy Policy Spurs Affirmative Action Debate By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, May 20, 2003; Page A17
Earlier this year, when the White House weighed in on the landmark affirmative action case before the Supreme Court, President Bush said he opposed racial quotas but left unanswered the crucial question of whether race can be a factor in government programs.
The administration has now given an answer to that question -- not in a legal brief but in a little-noticed statement on energy policy, of all things. At the end of a four-page official "Statement of Administration Policy" on energy legislation, the administration included two sentences that, in the view of both supporters and opponents of affirmative action, make clear that government cannot consider racial diversity in admissions, grants and the like.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 12:52:29 PM |
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A slow day
Because my commenting host is apparently having issues, and Blogger won't let me update my template to peel the link out of there.
So, being the Evil Master of HTML, I'll generate the page, download it, hack out the code and let an error pop up in the rare event that someone want to comment. At least the page will be available.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 11:55:18 AM |
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Playing in traffic
You know what I should be blogging? The mounting grief in Africa, in a feeble attempt to raise awareness and to respond to statements like this in the NY Times:
So it's time to rethink this continent. Africa itself has largely failed, and Western policies toward it have mostly failed as well.
… because current Western policies have mostly failed entirely because previous Western policies — the post colonial ones of drawing political boundaries to split tribes and group them with hereditary enemies, to empower thugs to keep the political boundaries intact,
have worked… with stunning efficiency. Just as Kurdistan was purposely fragmented into the Iraqi and Turkish Kurds "ethnic groups" that are the source of so much concern now. I should be writing about that. I
should.
But I haven't. I mean, I got AllAfrica.com over there in the news sources. I could just pop by and grab the latest like I do with the NY Times, ZDNet, Corante and a couple others. I could just give up a weblog or two… as you probably know that would render up huge blocks of time.
But I haven't. Like most Americans, I've been too busy worrying about the car heading toward me to warn the next guy about the truck screaming his way. So busy trying to make out what the conspirators whispering while glancing furtively at me are saying to pay attention to the screams from around the corner.
Understandable? I think so. Expected? Definitely.
Troubling?
To me?
Yeah.
I have a bad feeling Mr Kristof is right:
Our children and grandchildren may fairly ask, "So, what did you do during the African holocaust?"
And what will
I say?
"I was blogging."
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 11:44:16 AM |
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Grim Reality
Well, I've posted a bunch of references on the Corporate Influence on Government. And I still have a few items to add to the Right Wing Attack on Civil Rights page. You'd think I had enough bad news over in the right hand column.
That's kinda why it's on the right. Keeps it where it started.
Like most rightist influence, it's hard to get at… when Blogger gets it's hardware act together I'll update the template so the blog has a pointer to it. Meanwhile we'll have to live with the link in this post. And if it takes too long, I'll put up a summary post with links to all the new material. I've been thinking about making a permanent link to the tables of articles from the "Race: The Power of an Illusion" site anyway.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 06:40:34 AM |
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Another experiment
I just went to The Truth Laid Bear's ecosystem. Started at the bottom (roughly where I'm at) and scrolled up, scanning all the sites that showed up in the visited links color. There's a hint of a pattern there. After I get some sleep I need to try that again.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 04:14:48 AM |
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In honor of Bill Bennett
The GYWO players in, "Have You Seen My Book of Virtues?"
Keeping "Get Your War On" nice and lubed for Iran, I guess.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 03:28:05 AM |
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The other problem with affirmative action
Joel at Pax Nortona adds his own experience to an article from Tolerance.org
Stacking the Deck Against Affirmative Action Tolerance.org has it right regarding what it calls the "The Blair Witch-Hunt Project":
The top guys at the Times still don't seem to understand that they have failed on two different fronts: first, by not attracting more qualified non-white journalists to diversify the Times' newsroom and, second, by giving a young reporter with a dreadful track record bigger and bigger stories supposedly as a way of helping black journalists....[The New York Times] still does not get it. [Times decision-makers] seem not to understand that diversity in the workplace does not mean showing black people who are bad at their jobs greater leniency than whites would get. Diversity programs at their best provide greater access to institutions and workplaces that have a history of excluding qualified minorities. And by that measure, the New York Times newsroom definitely needs to be diversified.
This matches what I often saw in minority hiring. African Americans who I would have been proud to work with -- because they were intelligent, thoughtful, charismatic, and real leaders -- were scorned by white managers. To prove that they weren't "racist", these same managers would hire black people with horrible track records. They would, naturally, do poorly at the job: the white managers would shake their heads and say "See. Affirmative action makes us hire incompetents.
Not only that, but when they were asked by unqualified white guys (c'mon, c'mon, you KNOW there's a couple of them out there) why they didn't hire the shmoes, said shmoes were frequently told they had to hire a minority for the spot. Softens the blow on the old ego and thickens the residue of hatred. The last part wasn't always intended, it was just a side effect of taking the easy way out.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 03:09:09 AM |
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fuck
insomnia
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/27/2003 02:57:59 AM |
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May 26, 2003
A longer blogroll
Like I got time to read them all. But Uppity-Negro reads a lot like what I had in mind when I started this thing. And Interesting Monstah was suggested to me two months ago and I just never got to it.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 10:10:43 PM |
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Ummm . . .
Okay. Y'all know by now I like editorial cartoons.
From Cowboy Khalil… through K-Marx The Spot… and the Bear Left Link Library… to Infinite Jest - home of some REALLY BRUTAL STUFF, including a trading card set that beats the hell out of Yu-Gi-Oh! And they were smart enough not to try to torture them into a set of 54.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 09:34:20 PM |
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I'm such a hypocrite
Almost immediately after Atrios Jr. for ragging on people who depend too much on quotes from Atrios, I give you something from a link provided by (drumroll…) Atrios.
Oh. I am so ashamed…
from DenverPost.com
Rancor becomes top D.C. exportGOP leads charge in ideological war
By John Aloysius Farrell, Denver Post Washington
"We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals - and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship," said Grover Norquist, a leading Republican strategist, who heads a group called Americans for Tax Reform.
"Bipartisanship is another name for date rape," Norquist, a onetime adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said, citing an axiom of House conservatives.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 08:47:37 PM |
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Suddenly I know great fear
… when I see a web page declaring Harry Potter's magic to be of Khemetic origin.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 06:01:47 PM |
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Fascinating
Blogger has saved my new template (with My Bondage and My Freedom listed in The Public Library, in the right column) but it doesn't use it to generate the page.
That's an improvement over this morning, at least…
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 05:09:09 PM |
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Quite a character
Just opened up the TNR Politics newsletter.
Josh Marshall has been asking why the pols and press haven't been all over Tom DeLay and his naked power grab/redistricting plan in Texas. I believe TNR gives a good reason.
from TNR Online
TRB FROM WASHINGTON
Character Witnessby Peter Beinart
Think this wasn't part of a national strategy orchestrated by the White House? Then explain the fact that Colorado Republicans have done the exact same thing. Last November, Republicans won both houses of the state legislature there as well. This year, they used their new majority to replace a court-ordered redistricting plan with one that guarantees them more seats. (As in Texas, the Colorado GOP did this by packing blacks and Hispanics into overwhelmingly minority districts. And you thought Republicans opposed racial separatism.) The Houston Chronicle, which endorsed Bush for president, wrote last month that such actions "would set a precedent for redistricting any time a Washington bully wanted to impose it." Beltway conservatives, by contrast, have expressed not the slightest concern.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 05:00:39 PM |
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Interesting list
I'm not the only list keeper around. "All that what for fer what?" (that's the page title in the HTML - I think "Flagrancy to Reason" is cooler) has a page called "American Hegemony - A Timeline." Lost of good history in there, with lots of links to documentation.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 02:37:24 PM |
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Just what I needed to see
I may look in on Atrios Jr. in a week or two. See what he's evolved into.
For shit's sake people, what's the point in running your own blog if all you do is quote Atrios, hoping he'll link you, just once? Make it easy on yourself and when people load up your blog, let the link "go read Eschaton" be the only thing they see. Or... you could dig around the news, find something you're passionate about, and blog the shit out of it!
I'd be willing to bet a small sum that Atrios Jr. is Atrios himself.
One day maybe I'll write up all my observations on blogging and such.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 02:27:31 PM |
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Reboot
I'm having a hard time getting my head wrapped around this blogging thing today. Having basically taken the weekend off, I hesitate to delve deeply into the bullshit again. And a three day backlog of bad news is particularly unappealing.
I'm not depressed like CalPundit was. In fact I had a pretty decent weekend, with a major self-generated exception… and even that was about something I needed to understand about myself.
It's more like wanting to refocus of being constructive. That was my original intent, and though I don't think I've strayed far from it I've been right on the edge of ranting sometimes. Plus, being constructive doesn't work with all individual cases… that doesn't surprise me since nothing works in all individual cases but I am occasionally caught off guard by the cases in which it doesn't.
I just spent about a hour writing stuff that I didn't feel honest posting.
The truth is, this thing feels somewhat masturbatory sometimes. Another truth is I occasonally REALLY TRULY want to verbally bitch-slap certain concepts that people really feel attached to… real world concepts, blogosphere concepts, ego concepts… I also feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a serious marketing effort - it's just not been my way, ever, yet if I want to impact things (the impact I'm looking for, btw, is to have Black people's perspective taken into account rather than being dismissed offhand as I feel it is all too often) that's what I'd have to do.
These are among the things I'm thinking about that will likely make me change my approach here, just a bit. Probably not enough for anyone but me to notice.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 01:26:07 PM |
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I'm scared, but I'm trying it anyway
My Bondage and My Freedom is available, BUT…
When I try to bring up the template for this site in Blogger so I can add the link, the window is blank. There's a problem there and I don't know how bad it is. I can still post but it's more than possible updating the template will be a terminal error.
I've saved the current blog page, archives and template offline so worst come to worst I can restore stuff.
RESULT: Non-terminal, but not updated either. Oh, well. Maybe by the time its fixed I'll have the Appendix converted to HTML anyway. The link in this post is valid so if you want to check it out, you can.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/26/2003 10:46:36 AM |
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May 25, 2003
While you were away
I looked in at Calpundit's site. Yesterday he posted a series of topics that represented serious challenges to the intellectual underpinnings of the Conservative movement's choices. I haven't gotten to the comments yet.
Today's post, though, is titled "Depressed"
No more blogging today. No more news, no more TV, no more Republicans telling me that the only way for my country to prosper is to give ever more to the rich and ever less to the poor, to starve any government program that dares to help education, healthcare, the needy, or the elderly, and to base our role in the world solely on a mirage of military dominance so breathtakingly misguided that it would make Julius Ceasar himself choke on his porridge. What is it that drives otherwise sane people to believe that these are the things that will make America great in the 21st century?
Maybe I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe not. In either case, have a nice Memorial Day.
Then there's Oliver Willis. Seems I've been banned from commenting on his blog because
what I wrote here I entered as a comment to the post I quoted. His right, but it surprises me a bit given his recent "no more Mr. Nice Leftist" rhetoric. Perhaps the tone of the comment was harsher than the atmosphere he wants to maintain. Or I may be wrong, maybe it's a technical problem.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/25/2003 03:09:52 PM |
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