Trust in Automation

I totally suck at blogging

2009-02-09T22:41:00.001-06:00

This was supposed to be linked to my last post. I screwed it up, and was meaning to email Jamon to translate all of that nonsense he sent us about posting to the new blog address, etc, but totally forgot. Anyway check this out! He's so patient! Hooray!

http://www.guzer.com/videos/needle-art.php

The Most Patient Man in the World

2009-02-04T17:34:00.003-06:00

Not a "Sole"

2009-01-31T14:46:00.001-06:00

from NYTimes:

Just one day after it was unveiled, a giant fiberglass and copper shoe honoring the Iraqi journalist who flung his oxfords at George W. Bush during the former president’s final visit to Iraq was removed by government order on Friday, local officials told CNN.

The Baghdad artist Laith al-Amiri had installed his 8-foot-long sculpture on the grounds of an orphanage in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s home town, intending to celebrate the courage of Muntader al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old journalist who took off both of his shoes and rifled them at Mr. Bush on Dec. 14.

Jimmy Carter wrote (another) book

2009-01-27T21:35:00.006-06:00

We Can Have Peace In The Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work is hot off the press. I love Jimmy Carter, but I am a little confused. First, it seems like he just wrote a book. Second, it seems like he wrote the same book. Maybe I am missing something. Disclaimer: I have not yet read this book. But I listened to him on NPR, looked up multiple reviews, and read the press release on the book. I simply cannot figure out what in this book is new. I think as usual, Jimmy Carter displays an incredible depth of understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And for the most part, I tend to agree with his depiction of Israel. But "A Plan That Will Work"? What plan? It seems like the same dual-state plan he has always espoused, with very little in the way of new or innovative ideas. Someone correct me. 'Else I'm going to have to read the book.

The NPR story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99875313&ft=1&f=1012

aftermath

2009-01-27T01:05:00.001-06:00

"In Israel, officials said that on Sunday, the cabinet is expected to discuss a proposal that the government defend the military if there are any international attempts to accuse it of improper activity or war crimes. The proposal is expected to assert that soldiers and officers operated in accordance with international law, the military’s values and moral principles."

NYTimes

And now an Afghan War?

2009-01-22T00:42:00.004-06:00

I found this post on TIA and thought I'd draw attention to it again. I forgot that Gates had been reworking the Afghanistan story long before Obama decided to keep him as Defense Secretary. Curious to see what will happen with Afghanistan and when. Obama's already dropped the ball on Israel's attack on Gaza, during which he said nothing. Lucky for him the Israelis called a cease-fire a day before his inauguration. Otherwise he might've had to say something about it. But it's all over and wrapped up now, right? Case closed. So saying something about it at inauguration would've just been irrelevant and passe.

israeli aggression

2009-01-05T10:20:00.003-06:00

from the BBC:

Palestinian medical sources say the number of people killed in Gaza now stands at more than ~~500~~ 1200, with some ~~2,500~~ 4300 wounded. These figures cannot be independently verified.

~~Five~~ Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the start of Israel's military operation, which is now in its 10th day.

can this be considered a measured response by the israeli military? can israel stop the rocket attacks by invading gaza and initiating an ever-escalating level of conflict? does israel have the right to overthrow a democratically-elected hamas government? the answer to all these questions is NO. if israelis were living in fear of rocket fire, gaza residents, and not just hamas-supporters, are now living in fear of missile attacks, collateral gunfire, mortar rounds, shrapnel, building collapse, lack of electricity and medical aid, and starvation, as the UN is now reporting an acute lack of food in gaza.

Karl Rove's lucky day

2008-12-22T12:08:00.003-06:00

Karl Rove's IT guru Michael Connell--set to testify in 2004 electronic voting fraud case--dies in small-engine plane crash.

This is the same plane that hit a home near Akron, Ohio Friday night. Story on DN.

Garfield minus Garfield redux

2008-12-17T16:32:00.004-06:00

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

modern revolt

2008-12-16T04:42:00.002-06:00

A laser light pointer is aimed at an officer standing in front of a burning petrol bomb outside Athens' Polytechnic yesterday [during the latest round of rioting in Greece.] (story)

President Bush "shoe-in" for worst prez ever??

2008-12-15T14:09:00.003-06:00

Don't miss Fox News commentator's poignant conclusion!

How to prolong a war

2008-12-08T15:51:00.002-06:00

Ray McGovern: Rumsfeld's departure and replacement by Gates allowed US to continue unpopular war.

(Compare with, Bush's departure and replacement by Obama allows US to continue unpopular war.)

obama assassination

2008-12-03T10:38:00.003-06:00

as early as obama was a serious contender for the democratic primary, my dad said he felt somebody would try to kill him. obama would be too prominent, too symbolic, and too much of a shift in leadership for many in this country to accept. i wondered if a well-armed, racist, home-grown, white american wouldn't adopt a method of assassination that has worked so many times overseas in the form of a suicide bombing. i hope it never comes to pass, but i still feel people are going to try like never before to assassinate him.

below is an excellent video documenting the potential assassination plots coming from american white supremacist groups. the cover of the "national worker" magazine that is displayed about 3/4 of the way through the video made my jaw drop.

We got a kinder, gentler machine-gun hand

2008-12-02T09:51:00.005-06:00

"There were 130 members of the House, 23 members of the Senate who voted against war; Barack Obama did not choose one of them to be in his cabinet"--Amy Goodman.

Post-social world

2008-11-25T14:57:00.002-06:00

Jeremy Scahill talks about the rise of private military contractors, and how this might look for the world. The first half of his talk is mostly about Obama's challenges, while the second half's about privatization, with some deviations.

http://www.zmag.org/zaudio/2894

Chomsky's "first major address since election"

2008-11-24T10:22:00.004-06:00

On DN. The Chomsky segment begins at min. 29:00. How Obama movement is illusory populist movement; Obama's appointments / Clinton presidency No. 2; more. Click here.

(The first half hour is Part 2 of Amy Goodman's interview with scurrilous terrorist Bill Ayers.)

brundel fly robot revisited

2008-11-23T01:00:00.002-06:00

as an update to an earlier post >>

The gov't Bush would topple under pretense of a drug war

2008-11-20T12:06:00.003-06:00

i believe that somewhere, there is something worth dying for. and i think it's amazing.

2008-11-16T21:32:00.007-06:00

i've been reading about the Providence, RI, underground art/music scene this weekend because of my new found interest in john dwyer of the coachwhips, pink and brown, and his most recent work with thee oh sees. it seems as though much of the most innovative and daring work in the late 90s came from a collective, now disbanded, that dwyer was a member of called Fort Thunder. pictures of the old Fort Thunder, which is now a parking lot, are here >> http://fortthunder.02909.com/gallery-00.html

an excellent short essay (with a few typos) on art, culture, commercialization of art from a former Fort Thunderer here >> http://mudboymusic.com/wunderground.html

The problem lies in the fact that institutions devoted to preserving and promoting documents tend to think in terms of a legacy of objects. They see their work as part of a long chain of objects, and what counts to them is things with faces attached- not events or experiences. Their world is the world of paintings, and books; manifestos and letters of intent; things to be hung up, shelved, counted, sorted and named. They draw a circle around some, and not others- giving labels where perhaps none belong- and in doing so eliminate everything contradictory, ephemeral, and fragile.
Their imposed coherence can never do justice to something that is in fact unlimited, wild and unpredictable- something indefinitely growing and changing.
Something dangerous. This is a thing called culture- moments and shared experiences for the "us" who are watching, listening and making.

from a 2006 nytimes article about a retrospective on the providence scene >>

Another product of the Providence/RISD scene is Ryan Trecartin, a recent graduate of the school whose brilliant senior-year film, “A Family Finds Entertainment,” may be the apotheosis of Fort Thunder’s collage-cartoon aesthetic. It was screened at the 2006 Whitney Biennial on a small monitor near the elevator and was not widely noticed.

below is the first of five youtube videos of a family finds entertainment. i think it's pretty awesome.

DN! interviews the scurrilous terrorist Bill Ayers

2008-11-14T11:08:00.002-06:00

On Vietnam and activism today.

dn2008-1114-1

Part 1. Part 2 will "Ayer" on Monday.

Friedman, the NYTimes are big fat idiots

2008-11-13T10:17:00.002-06:00

Friedman admits he's fat: http://www.nytimes-se.com/2009/07/04/the-end-of-the-experts/

Times retracts 5 years of reporting: http://www.nytimes-se.com/

Chomsky all over Real News' nutsack

2008-11-12T15:39:00.000-06:00

Art School

2008-11-08T23:43:00.004-06:00

We Should Collaborate!

just saw this gem...

2008-11-07T21:56:00.000-06:00

Nov. 5

2008-11-06T15:59:00.001-06:00

Part 1 of 3.

Douche Bag Zoo crew

2008-11-06T15:36:00.001-06:00

this left me with an awful feeling, but upon further reflection it makes me feel good to know that rationale well meaning people outnumber the asshole quotient.

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

2008-11-05T14:22:00.003-06:00

From a 2006 CounterPunch article on Emanuel:

What are Emanuel's views on war and peace? Emanuel has just supplied the answer in the form of a scrawny book co-authored with Bruce Reed, modestly entitled: The Plan: Big Ideas for America. The authors obligingly boil each of the eight parts of "The Plan" down to a single paragraph. The section which embraces all of foreign policy is entitled "A New Strategy to End the War on Terror," a heading revealing in itself since "war on terror" is the way the neocons and the Israeli Lobby currently like to frame the discussion of foreign policy. Here is the book's summary paragraph . . .:

"A New Strategy to Win the War on Terror"

"We need to use all the roots of American power to make our country safe. America must lead the world's fight against the spread of evil and totalitarianism, but we must stop trying to win that battle on our own. We should reform and strengthen multilateral institutions for the twenty-first century, not walk away from them. We need to fortify the military's "thin green line" around the world by adding to the U.S. Special Forces and the Marines, and by expanding the U.S. army by 100,000 more troops. We should give our troops a new GI Bill to come home to. Finally we must protect our homeland and civil liberties by creating a new domestic counterterrorism force like Britain's MI5.

some election day thoughts

2008-11-04T08:44:00.003-06:00

i am very interested to see the distribution in age and internet access among people who continue to believe lies about barack obama's citizenship, religion, ethnicity, affiliations, etc. i think that the existence of this group is not only a reflection of the multitude of derisive viewpoints presented online, but, more so, that some of those who end up believing lies about obama do not have the presence of mind, or perhaps the basic ability, to critically evaluate what they take in via internet media. (it reminds me of david st. hubbins in 'spinal tap' when he says, "i believe virtually everything i read.") too many people simply believe what they read online at face value, and i think this is correlated with age and internet access, to some degree. for others, the lies are just a convenient way to repackage racist sentiment or other prejudices, so those beliefs would arise regardless of being exposed to some sort of online attack.

it's remarkable what the two-party system has led to... to be a "stereotypical", or perhaps "ideal", democrat or republican a person has to have such an incredibly narrow viewpoint on myriad topics. (in my mind and in the minds of innumerable republicans, sarah palin is an "ideal" republican as far as her espoused ideology.) considering the impact of social entropy, we're only going to have more issues, more policies to consider, more problems to address, resulting in a larger variety of distinct opinions over time. how can we expect one of two parties' ideologies or its representatives to satisfy the ever-diversifying viewpoints of the electorate? it's not necessarily as if a voter would agree with republicans on 30% of the issues, and democrats on the other 70%; rather, it's more likely that some percentage of their opinion set will not be reflected by any candidate. right now, we have one more mainstream political party than a communist country -- how can we expect to have our viewpoints fully expressed in a political election process that stifles diversity of opinion?

The two candidates speak policy Policy speaks the two candidates

2008-11-03T20:17:00.003-06:00

naomi klein on obama, greenspan

2008-11-03T15:40:00.003-06:00

i'm going to see naomi klein speak this friday on her latest book, "the shock doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism"... should be a great talk.

Excited about the Real News

2008-11-03T12:57:00.002-06:00

The Real News is so badass.

Third party presidential debate: Nader v. two weird Libertarians.

2008-11-02T17:53:00.001-06:00

10/30/08.

Vote Flipping

2008-10-30T14:30:00.001-05:00

Devastating critique of Obama

2008-10-29T15:58:00.002-05:00

From Nader's VP candidate Matt Gonzalez:

What Do They Have to Do to Lose Your Vote? -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008

Posted using ShareThis

Zinn on Obama, McCain, need for new U.S. foreign policy

2008-10-27T16:34:00.004-05:00

***Good for renewing boner after watching the Cindy McCain video, esp. when Zinn mentions Dennis Kucinich.

Part 4 of 5.

2008-10-26T17:16:00.000-05:00

Cindy McCain Claims She's Just Like Any Other Female Human

Presidential candidates Chuck Baldwin and Ralph Nader debate

2008-10-25T17:55:00.003-05:00

Baldwin is the Constitution Party nominee. Nader is independent.

Part 1 of 9.

republicans and islam

2008-10-24T12:23:00.001-05:00

Greenspan to lose faith in conservative religion?

2008-10-23T21:23:00.003-05:00

[A]lmost three years after stepping down as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a humbled Mr. Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending.
. . .
Mr. Greenspan refused to accept blame for the crisis but acknowledged that his belief in deregulation had been shaken.

From the NYTimes.

Judith Miller watch

2008-10-23T10:17:00.002-05:00

The propagandist joins Fox News. Reuters:

"Miller will be an analyst at Fox News on security and international affairs and write for FoxNews.com."

AFP:

"Discussing Miller's hiring with The Washington Post, Fox executive vice president John Moody told the newspaper 'she has a very impressive resume.'"

More articles on Judith Miller can be found at my delicio.us page, here.

a mccain "victory": a terrifyingly real possibility

2008-10-20T23:15:00.005-05:00

from Rolling Stone:

Suppressing the vote has long been a cornerstone of the GOP's electoral strategy. Shortly before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Paul Weyrich — a principal architect of today's Republican Party — scolded evangelicals who believed in democracy. "Many of our Christians have what I call the 'goo goo' syndrome — good government," said Weyrich, who co-founded Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell. "They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. . . . As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

and from the Huffington Post:

John McCain's campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states.

According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of "registering voters." The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to hinder the Democratic ticket.

finally, all the ACORN "voter fraud" bullshit reflects a now typical neo-conservative ploy: the accusation that their democratic opponents have their own worst faults. by claiming that the democrats, and specifically, ACORN, are involved in registering legions of fraudulent voters, the republicans have preemptively deflected the blame for what they, to some considerable degree of likelihood, plan on doing -- rigging the election. from the above references, we know the republicans have successfully rigged elections in the past and given the monumentally uphill battle they face this november 4th, they will try again.

what will you do if mccain is "elected"? what if obama doesn't win as the polls predict? this is probably the first time in my life where i feel that something incredibly important is "happening" and i don't want to stand by while the country is unlawfully taken away from its people.

Powell; Bachmann resurrects McCarthyism; Palin on SNL; McCain on Letterman

2008-10-20T15:13:00.003-05:00

The Palin stuff is surreal. Reminds me of the Rove video Jeff sent.

Gates calls on NATO for Afghanistan surge

2008-10-17T13:56:00.002-05:00

Listen carefully to what Gates is saying at the beginning of this video. He's admitting that a war on Afghanistan is unpopular with the world majority ("political risks at home") and many NATO countries' war budgets are too small to fight effectively. Ironically, his solution is to keep fighting. And so is Obama's.

Exceptional Nader interview hosted by Inforum, C-SPAN

2008-10-06T12:46:00.003-05:00

On being blacklisted by Democrats after 2000. On the Obama-supported bailout. On Islam's intolerance re human rights. Much more:

The embed isn't working, but find the video here.

You as Bronson Pinchot

2008-10-05T03:31:00.003-05:00

"Balki Bartokomous the great thinker from Mypos said:'If everyone knew how to herd sheep there would be no one left to write poetry'"

Maybe you assholes have already seen this, but i hadnt until tonight and i thought it was a total swish! Three points!

GOLD!

2008-10-04T20:07:00.003-05:00

Spot-on Herebrt Article! HERE

" Where is the evidence that Governor Palin even understands these complex and enormously challenging problems? During the debate she twice referred to General McKiernan as “McClellan.” Neither Ms. Ifill nor Senator Biden corrected her.

But after Senator Biden suggested that John McCain’s answer to the nation’s energy problems was to “drill, drill, drill,” Ms. Palin promptly pointed out, as if scoring a point, that “the chant is ‘Drill, baby, drill!’ ”

How’s that for perspective? The credit markets are frozen. Our top general in Afghanistan is dialing 911. Americans are losing jobs by the scores of thousands. And Sarah Palin is making sure we know that the chant is “drill, baby, drill!” not “drill, drill, drill.”'

No bailout, yet, but look how the Representatives voted

2008-09-30T14:45:00.004-05:00

My Democratic Representative (Capuano) voted YES, and if I still lived in Mpls my Rep. would be Ellison, who also voted YES. It looks, w/ the exception maybe of Jeff, like yours did too. Did he or she? From AP: "Voting yes were 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans. Voting no were 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans." What the fuck is going on?

MASSACHUSETTS -- Democrats: Capuano, yes; Delahunt, no; Frank, yes; Lynch, no; Markey, yes; McGovern, yes; Neal, yes; Olver, yes; Tierney, no; Tsongas, yes.

. . .

MINNESOTA -- Democrats: Ellison, yes; McCollum, yes; Oberstar, yes; Peterson, no; Walz, no. Republicans: Bachmann, no; Kline, yes; Ramstad, no.

. . .

OREGON -- Democrats: Blumenauer, no; DeFazio, no; Hooley, yes; Wu, no. Republicans: Walden, yes.

. . .

PENNSYLVANIA -- Democrats: Altmire, no; Brady, yes; Carney, no; Doyle, yes; Fattah, yes; Holden, no; Kanjorski, yes; Murphy, P., yes; Murtha, yes; Schwartz, yes; Sestak, yes. Republicans: Dent, no; English, no; Gerlach, no; Murphy, T., no; Peterson, yes; Pitts, no; Platts, no; Shuster, no.

. . .

WISCONSIN -- Democrats: Baldwin, yes; Kagen, no; Kind, yes; Moore, yes; Obey, yes. Republicans: Petri, no; Ryan, yes; Sensenbrenner, no.

NEW YACHT

2008-09-27T22:29:00.000-05:00

First Dude

2008-09-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

Last night's debate lacking?

2008-09-27T19:59:00.000-05:00

Amid economic meltdown, Washington plans permanent Army deployment in U.S.

2008-09-26T10:36:00.003-05:00

From Army Times article. Sounds like the Army will be following the examples of Iraq and the RNC roundup:

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

...

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control ...

...

The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.

“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.

...

“I can’t think of a more noble mission than this,” said Cloutier, who took command in July. “We’ve been all over the world during this time of conflict, but now our mission is to take care of citizens at home ... and depending on where an event occurred, you’re going home to take care of your home town, your loved ones.”

What a three-way debate would look like

2008-09-24T14:09:00.001-05:00

palin rape kit

2008-09-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

THE NINE PRINCIPLES OF AIDS WOLF

2008-09-18T00:45:00.000-05:00

1. Maintain a Daily Ritual. Music is like breathing, eating, sleeping, pissing, and, with any luck, fucking. Music must be a physical need and a mental compulsion.

2. Live Aesthetic Immersion. There is no reason a sonic composition cannot be inspired by or contribute to a drawing, a tasty curry, or one's choice of socks.

3. When in Doubt, Bum Them Out. If you can't convert 'em, make 'em run crying and holding their ears.

4. Get in the Van.

5. Seek Strength through Strength. Gear's gotta be carried, sleep must be forsaken, and tours have to be survived.

6. Join the Family. Camaraderie with other bands is not only inspiring but also serves as a vital metrics by which to measure one's own perceived worth.

7. Allow for Sonic Fields of Nothing. The use of negative space in music creates new dynamics, abstracts the obvious, and challenges both the creator and the audience.

8. Lift Anchor and Set Sail. De-anchoring compositions by dispensing with a bass guitar allows AIDS Wolf to make rhythm the central feature of its performances.

9. Become the Weird Punks. Remember when punk was weird and when weird was punk? Destroy genre straight jackets and move out of the comfortable.

Now that you have committed these principles to memory, we encourage further study through “Cities Of Glass”, the second album from AIDS Wolf. Once immersed in these tenets, you can be assured of finding failure and misery as you bring them with you into the wider world.

palin lipstick

2008-09-18T00:41:00.008-05:00

from "My Gal" in the New Yorker

So, when Barack Obama says he will put some lipstick on my pig, I am, like, Are you calling me a pig? If so, thanks! Pigs are the most non-Élite of all barnyard animals. And also, if you put lipstick on my pig, do you know what the difference will be between that pig and a pit bull? I’ll tell you: a pit bull can easily kill a pig. And, as the pig dies, guess what the Hockey Mom is doing? Going to her car, putting on more lipstick, so that, upon returning, finding that pig dead, she once again looks identical to that pit bull, which, staying on mission, the two of them step over the dead pig, looking exactly like twins, except the pit bull is scratching his lower ass with one frantic leg, whereas the Hockey Mom is carrying an extra hockey stick in case Todd breaks his again. But both are going, like, Ha ha, where’s that dumb pig now? Dead, that’s who, and also: not a smidge of lipstick.

(the 'lipstick on a pig' line in question:

)

and matt damon on sarah palin:

"it's like a really bad disney movie. you know, the hockey mom... 'oh, i'm just a hockey mom from alaska!' and she's the president and it's like she's facing down vladimir putin and she's using the folksy stuff she's learned in the hockey rink, and it's absurd."

Bolivia, S. America updates.

2008-09-17T12:33:00.005-05:00

Not sure if you know of these recent developments:

Chavez says he's uncovered U.S.-backed plot to assassinate him.

12-nation* Union of South American Countries votes to support Bolivian Pres. Evo Morales' federal gov't. *Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela

15-30 Morales supporters killed by troops of US-backed Bolivian governors' opposition.

Morales expels U.S. ambassador citing U.S. support of opposition governors. U.S. reciprocates, calls Morales' move "grave error" and charges against U.S. ambassador "baseless."

U.S. arranges evacuation of U.S. citizens from Bolivia including Peace Corps.

White House places Bolivia (and Burma and Venezuela) on list of states that have "failed demonstrably to meet their counter-narcotics obligations." Asst. Sec. of State David Johnson: "This is the first year that the [U.S.] president has determined that Bolivia has failed demonstrably. This was not a hasty decision. . . . President Morales continues to support the expansion of LICIT cocoa leaf production, despite the fact that current LEGAL cultivation far exceeds the demand for current consumption."

So Bolivia is guilty of legally harvesting its cocoa.
Enter the War on Drugs, I presume.

More background here:

and at The Real News stories on Bolivia.

Georgian propaganda

2008-09-10T21:24:00.006-05:00

These ads and others paid for by the Georgian gov't have been appearing in the Washington Post and in the Wall Street Journal. See the website devoted to supporting Georgia for more ads, anti-Russian sentiment, and other propaganda..

Warning: Nader/Gonzalez on 45 state ballots. . .

2008-09-09T11:18:00.002-05:00

. . . and are write-in candidates in TX, GA, NC, and IN. (Probably no votes in OK will be counted for Nader because OK does not allow write-in candidates. Democracy?) This means Nader is on more state ballots than in 2004 (34) or 2000 (43). He is polling at up to 10% in Michigan.

See clips from Nader's rally at Orchestra Hall during the RNC, including Jesse Ventura's take on why the media won't report on the campaign:

Rich article

2008-09-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

"In other words, McCain’s hasty vetting of Palin was all too reminiscent of his grave dereliction of due diligence on the war. He has been no less hasty in implying that we might somehow ride to the military rescue of Georgia (“Today, we are all Georgians”) or in reaffirming as late as December 2007 that the crumbling anti-democratic regime of Pervez Musharraf deserved “the benefit of the doubt” even as it was enabling the resurgence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. McCain’s blanket endorsement of Bush administration policy in Pakistan could have consequences for years to come."

full text here

McCain's 2008 RNC "Americans Fight Country" speech

2008-09-05T11:20:00.001-05:00

Sen. Fred Thompson's RNC Speech -- word frequency

2008-09-03T12:51:00.003-05:00

... mccain should be president ... because of his character ... because he was a prisoner of war ...

At RNC, Bolton hints at/gives license to Israeli strike against Iran

2008-09-03T09:58:00.002-05:00

...Also says National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's (zero) nuke abilities "repudiated" (by whom?) and consensus (who?) is now a "complete reversal."

"Criminal anarchists" arrested or detained in St. Paul

2008-09-02T09:45:00.002-05:00

Free Speech Radio News audio report on Amy Goodman's illegal arrest, and detention of protesters on verge of RNC. The "criminal anarchists" are I Witness video team members whose goal is to capture police excessive force/brutality on video. Also targeted is the mysterious "RNC Welcoming Committee."

Watch how the local corporate news handles the story. The "anarchists' literature is apolicital and only tells them how to commit violence." Notice the preemptive action taken by police, plus the assumptions/ propaganda about the intentions of the "criminals" police release to the press.

2008-08-28T14:49:00.003-05:00

(thanks, zach.)

Kucinich gives the only substantive speech at DNC so far

2008-08-27T12:17:00.001-05:00

Mumia on the Democratic National Convention

2008-08-26T09:33:00.001-05:00

Boomp3.com

Biden = Obama will not end Iraq War

2008-08-25T12:57:00.006-05:00

Read the Stephen Zunes Alternet article on Biden's orchestration the Iraq war. Excerpts:

Biden, who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the lead-up to the Iraq War during the latter half of 2002, was perhaps the single most important congressional backer of the Bush administration’s decision to invade that oil-rich country.

. . .

As Scott Ritter, the former chief UN weapons inspector, noted at the time, “For Sen. Biden's [Senate Foreign Relations Committee] Iraq hearings to be anything more than a political sham used to invoke a modern-day Gulf of Tonkin resolution-equivalent for Iraq, his committee will need to ask hard questions – and demand hard facts – concerning the real nature of the weapons threat posed by Iraq.”
Biden refused to even allow Ritter himself – who knew more about Iraq’s WMD capabilities than anyone and would have testified that Iraq had achieved at least qualitative disarmament – to testify. Ironically, on Meet the Press last year, Biden defended his false claims about Iraqi WMDs by insisting that “everyone in the world thought he had them. The weapons inspectors said he had them.”
. . .
Biden also refused to honor requests by some of his Democratic colleagues to include in the hearings some of the leading anti-war scholars familiar with Iraq and Middle East. . . . Nor did Biden even call some of the dissenting officials in the Pentagon or State Department who were willing to challenge the alarmist claims of their ideologically-driven superiors.
. . .
"[Biden insisted] that 'If we wait for the danger from Saddam to become clear, it could be too late.'"

(old) chomsky round-up

2008-08-21T23:04:00.004-05:00

zach de la rocha of rage against the machine interviews chomsky on NAFTA, globalization, etc.:

and chomsky debates foucault: Part 1 & Part 2

brundel fly robot

2008-08-20T11:18:00.001-05:00

part cujo, part brundel fly, 100% my worst childhood nightmare come to life in a forest clearing.

carsick cars

2008-08-20T10:19:00.003-05:00

carsick cars is probably making the best music coming out of beijing today. their music is really sonic youth-y but also owes a lot to joy division.

music on chinese radio is sappy, cheesy shit, seriously some of the worst music i've ever heard. every song is about love, a lover, being loved, or losing love, and it all sucks.

carsick cars writes songs about cigarettes and pandas:

Boomp3.com
Boomp3.com

U.S. role in Georgia-Russia conflict

2008-08-18T11:38:00.000-05:00

$$ Troopers

2008-08-17T21:01:00.002-05:00

first finland brought us techno viking, and now this. is there anything they can't do?

naomi klein

2008-08-14T08:29:00.002-05:00

from her recent interview in the Onion for her new book, the Shock Doctrine:

In the natural cycles of capitalism, you have built-in crises and built-in catastrophes and new industries and new innovations come out of that and new technology obliterates an entire past industry and revolutionizes the way we live. That is the way capitalism works. But what I mean by disaster capitalism is not those built-in crises that come from technology, but rather a political strategy based on the need for crisis to advance unpopular policies.
...
After the market crash in 1929, the tide really did turn in favor of the middle class and workers. We saw a period over 30 to 40 years where the middle class rose to unprecedented levels in the United States, but not just in the United States, in any country that adopted these types of policies. And it really did work, in terms of creating class mobility. But it really did eat into profits and this stage that we've been living in since Reagan is really about the people in the highest income brackets saying, "We want our New Deal. We don't want to share so much." The basic demands of this counterrevolution, or this revolt of the elites, have all been about taking back those gains—breaking unions, being able to pay lower wages, having the freedom to scour the world for the lowest wages—and it's really been a liberation movement—the liberation of capital from all constraints.

Linfen

2008-08-08T21:33:00.005-05:00

a little look a linfen, china, the most polluted city in the world. tianjin's level of pollution isn't nearly this bad, though the constantly white/gray skies are sadly shared.

linfen is a documented pollution nightmare, but i have heard there are many other chinese cities that few people living outside of the city's area know exist and are quite difficult to travel to even if you know where one of these cities is located because no buses or pedestrian trains go there, no taxi driver wants to take foreigners there, and, if you do find the city, local police will politely tell you to leave immediately.

In newest policy change, Obama supports off-shore oil drilling

2008-08-04T09:33:00.003-05:00

From Democracy Now:

Senator Barack Obama has dropped his blanket opposition to offshore oil drilling after weeks of criticism from his Republican rival John McCain. Obama said that he would be willing to expand some offshore oil drilling if it meant winning approval for a broader bipartisan energy bill to make the country more energy independent. Obama told the Palm Beach Post: “I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

And from CNN:

Obama said Friday that he would be willing to compromise on his position against offshore oil drilling if it were part of a more overarching strategy to lower energy costs. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices."

Obama says it's a compromise but, as with FISA, a compromise isn't needed. All Obama needs to do is point to the evidence--and Bush's own concession--that says drilling won't reduce gas prices. Again, this issue is so clear cut. What a failure.

Mumia's Freudian analysis of Obama

2008-07-22T09:35:00.001-05:00

boomp3.com

Obama reverses position on FISA, desires nifty tote bag

2008-07-21T18:45:00.003-05:00

more on mccain's media

2008-07-14T00:25:00.002-05:00

from the Huffington Post:

During this past week: McCain called the most important entitlement program in the U.S. a disgrace, his top economic adviser called the American people whiners, McCain released an economic plan that no one thought was serious, he flip flopped on Iraq, joked about the deaths of Iranian citizens, and denied making comments that he clearly made -- TWICE.

1. McCain unambiguously called Social Security "an absolute disgrace."
...
3. Iraqi leaders call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, McCain gets caught in a bizarre denial and flip flop.
...
10. McCain demonstrates he knows nothing about Afghanistan and Pakistan.

also,

Christopher Hitchens has some good qualities...

2008-07-10T11:08:00.002-05:00

... watch him dismantle Sean Hannity.

crystle cave of awesome-tude!

2008-07-08T23:21:00.003-05:00

i really hope this story is true, and that the pictures aren't doctored. from, where else?, crystallinks.com >>

The Naica Mine of Chihuahua, Mexico, is a working mine that is known for its extraordinary crystals. Naica is a lead, zinc and silver mine in which large voids have been found, containing crystals of selenite (gypsum) as large as 4 feet in diameter and 50 feet long. The chamber holding these crystals is known as the Crystal Cave of Giants, and is approximately 1000 feet down in the limestone host rock of the mine. The crystals were formed by hydrothermal fluids emanating from the magma chambers below. The cavern was discovered while the miners were drilling through the Naica fault, which they were worried would flood the mine.

supposedly, these caves' temperatures run in excess of 150 degrees fahrenheit with 100% humidity. i don't know what the fuss is all about. this sounds like the best place for a rave i've ever heard of.

somewhat disappointing video. in spanish. >>

Christopher Hitchens is Waterboarded

2008-07-08T13:21:00.005-05:00

Video
Article

mini-documentary on The House of the Setting Sun

2008-07-05T03:30:00.002-05:00

this is an excellent look inside a residence in mexico city for aged prostitutes, some of ~~which~~ whom are still working.

evolution-based rationale for homosexuality

2008-07-05T01:55:00.003-05:00

fascinating new research on human sexuality and the evolutionary reasons for homosexuality. from the unfortunately-titled article, Why Gays Don't Go Extinct:

"These genes work in a sexually antagonistic way — that means that when they're represented in a female, they increase fecundity , and when they're represented in a male, they decrease fecundity. It's a trait that benefits one sex at the cost of the other."

...

Since gay people are less likely to reproduce than heterosexuals, many experts have wondered why, if homosexuality is caused by genetic factors, it wouldn't have been eliminated from the gene pool already.

But if the same genes create both homosexuality in men and increased fertility in women, then any losses in offspring that come about from the males would be made up for by the females of the family.

"Sexually antagonistic selection is an old idea by Richard Dawkins, but this has never been proven in humans," Camperio-Ciani told LiveScience. "There are a large quantity of these traits found in insects, for example, and recently in deer sexually antagonistic traits have been discovered, showing that high-ranking males produce rather unsuccessful daughters. We found that sexually antagonistic selection is operating also in our species, and we found it in a very important trait, which is homosexuality."

a few possible scenarios are also discussed:

Blanchard found that with each older brother in a family, the odds increase by about a third that a boy born later will be gay. This effect is not thought to be caused by genetics, but rather by antibodies produced by the mother's immune system during pregnancy.

...

Camperio-Ciani and his team hypothesize that the genes they modeled may cause people of both sexes to be extremely attracted to men, which would lead men with the genes to pursue relationships with other men, while causing women with the genes to have more sexual partners, and become pregnant slightly more often than an average woman.

Fox News digitally alters photos of NY Times reporters

2008-07-03T09:15:00.002-05:00

More McCain's media: McCain vs. Edwards

2008-07-03T08:56:00.002-05:00

In an article last week, news watchdog "Media Matters" shows how newspapers manufacture the news:

It often seemed as though the news media was incapable of running a story about Edwards' anti-poverty proposals without noting his own wealth. The Washington Post, for example, ran a 203-word blurb about Edwards' eight-state poverty tour, opening it with a 28-word reminder of the candidate's fortune: "John Edwards is battling back the three H's that have dogged his campaign -- expensive haircuts, a lavish new house and a stint working for a hedge fund."

....

When Edwards exited the race, the Post noted "Edwards's focus on the poor was muddied by tales of his personal good fortune. News stories told of his $400 haircuts, of an ostentatious North Carolina home and of his work for a hedge fund."

For a comparison of how the Post has addressed McCain's personal wealth, read the full article .

http://mediamatters.org/

In 4-month timespan, Obama, made of clay, drastically changes stance on FISA

2008-06-24T10:07:00.005-05:00

Obama now supports telecom immunity. I quote a June 20 Washington Post article : "'Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program,' Obama said in a statement hours after the House approved the legislation 293-129."

Now, from the Obama Senate.gov webpage, dated February 2008:

OBAMA STATEMENT ON FISA
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Michael Ortiz, 202 228 5566

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Earlier today, Senator Obama voted in favor of the Dodd-Feingold amendment to repeal retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies (S. Amdt. 3907). He also supported other amendments to improve the bill, including the Feingold-Webb-Tester amendment to protect Americans from unwarranted surveillance (S. Amdt. 3979), and the Feingold amendment to protect Americans from the bulk collection of communications (S. Amdt. 3912).

"I am proud to stand with Senator Dodd, Senator Feingold and a grassroots movement of Americans who are refusing to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty. There is no reason why telephone companies should be given blanket immunity to cover violations of the rights of the American people - we must reaffirm that no one in this country is above the law.

"We can give our intelligence and law enforcement community the powers they need to track down and take out terrorists without undermining our commitment to the rule of law, or our basic rights and liberties. That is why I am proud to cosponsor several amendments that protect our privacy while making sure we have the power to track down and take out terrorists.
"This Administration continues to use a politics of fear to advance a political agenda. It is time for this politics of fear to end. We are trying to protect the American people, not special interests like the telecommunications industry. We are trying to ensure that we don't sacrifice our liberty in pursuit of security, and it is past time for the Administration to join us in that effort."

PREDATORRRATATAT

2008-06-24T07:13:00.001-05:00

mccain's media

2008-06-21T02:12:00.004-05:00

from ThinkProgress.com >>

Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sent a letter to invite Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to join him “in participating in town hall meetings across the country to discuss the most important issues facing Americans.” Later today, McCain told reporters that he “prefer[s]” town hall style discussions, saying he “would never have been able to win in New Hampshire if we hadn’t have conducted 102 town hall meetings.”

After learning of the proposal, media figures took him at face value, simply repeating McCain’s claim that he is well-suited for the town hall meetings:

– MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell: “One of the points there is to take advantage of McCain’s presumed strength in the town hall format and in loose conversations.”

– MSNBC’s Monica Novotny: “So it seems that these town halls would work to his strength.”

– Fox News’s Juan Williams: “That’s his strength. That format, when you get John McCain doing town hall meetings, he’s at his best.”
Really? Are town hall meetings really good for McCain? Does the town hall format create space for the presumptive Republican nominee to shine? Not exactly. Here are some lowlights of McCain “at his best” during various town hall meetings this GOP primary season:

– QUESTION: “How do we beat the bitch?” McCAIN: “That’s an excellent question.”

– SUPPORTER: “Another man — wondering if an attack on Iran is in the works — wanted to know when America is going to ’send an air mail message to Tehran.’” McCAIN: “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.”

– QUESTION: “President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years — [cut off by McCain].” McCAIN: “Maybe a hundred.”

– Student on McCain’s position on gay marriage: “I came here looking to see a leader. I don’t.”

– McCain called a student asking about his age “a little jerk,” adding, “You’re drafted.”

i like one of the reader comments >>

John McCain:
“I can bench-press 1000 pounds.”

Punditocracy:
“Clearly, McCain’s bench-press is among his strongest assets.”
“John McCain is banking on his powerful bench-press to score points with working-class voters.”
“Free weights play into McCain’s strengths as a campaigner, as opposed to the elite exercise-machine culture that Obama represents.”

Mike Huckabee Joins Fox News Channel

2008-06-16T09:54:00.002-05:00

Religio-conservative zealot Mike Huckabee, former Republican presidential hopeful, joins Fox News as "political commentator." The Raw Story.

Kucinich interviewed on FSRN

2008-06-12T11:28:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Kucinich spoke on Free Speech Radio News about why impeachment should be on the table. The Kucinich segment comes at min. 7:10 of the broadcast.

boomp3.com

Chomsky on Media Matters, June 8, 2008

2008-06-12T10:53:00.002-05:00

In this hourlong interview Chomsky addresses the vision for Iraq that makes the U.S. and Iran bedfellows and enemies of al-Sadr. Among many other things, he also addresses some of Obama's major flaws that we've talked about. The Media Matters website is here.

boomp3.com

Or download the MP3.

Obama's vociferous commitment to Israel

2008-06-05T11:21:00.007-05:00

In February 2008 on Meet the Press, Ralph Nader comments on Obama's Israel stance, and on other issues where Obama and the Democrats have dropped the ball. I post this in light of Obama's speech yesterday to the AIPAC, in which he supports an undivided Israel. Read the Middle East Times response to his AIPAC address here.

Human Giant

2008-06-02T12:01:00.004-05:00

Reuters reports that Jeremiah Wright preached "anti-American" sermons

2008-05-31T22:31:00.003-05:00

The statement comes in its report on Obama's break with Trinity church. Reuters writes, "[Obama], who would be the first black U.S. president, cut ties last month with Trinity's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who angered many with anti-American and racially charged sermons."

The fact that this bullshit opinion is regarded as fact by an international news organization is appalling. According to Reuters, Wright has committed the following crimes: "blamed the U.S. government for the spread of the AIDS virus, declared 'God damn America' and blasted the country's history of racism." But Reuters has conveniently forgotten to include Wright's crime of deriding U.S. imperialism and war-mongering while espousing peace.

bush's NAFTA redux

2008-05-28T03:42:00.002-05:00

i don't know much about this proposed trade agreement, but it looks it will be something on the horizon worth keeping your ears and internets open for.

freedom isn't free -- as we have all read, there is sometimes a hefty fuckin' fee

2008-05-27T09:01:00.005-05:00

this article about economic alternatives to the iraq war reminded me of a previous post here on TIA. (note that the costs described in the article are only relevant to the iraq war, and do not include the other war in afghanistan, though there might be some shared expenses which aren't detailed.)

an excerpt from the article:

NASA have plans for a manned Mars expedition based on the Ares spacecraft they're developing as a replacement for the Space Shuttle. Price estimates vary from $20Bn (presumably for a single round-trip) to $450Bn (presumably for a single round trip plus all the externalities, like developing the spacecraft and equipment and conducting a thorough prior reconnaissance using unmanned landers).

Either way, the direct costs of the Iraq war exceed the maximum cost estimate for a manned Mars expedition, infrastructure and all, by 20%. If we take $20Bn as the cost per mission and $450Bn as the cost to develop the technology to go there, the direct cost of the Iraq war would be sufficient to develop a gold-plated Mars expeditionary capability and send six crews of astronauts to Mars (and bring them back afterwards).

Another look at nuclear power.

2008-05-23T12:52:00.004-05:00

SUNY Journalism professor Karl Grossman writes in "Money Is the Real Green Power" that clean nuclear energy is a nuclear-industry fabrication. The full article can be accessed by the above link. The first few paragraphs read:

Nuclear advocates in government and the nuclear industry are engaged in a massive, heavily financed drive to revive atomic power in the United States—with most of the mainstream media either not questioning or actually assisting in the promotion.

“With a very few notable exceptions, such as the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. media have turned the same sort of blind, uncritical eye on the nuclear industry’s claims that led an earlier generation of Americans to believe atomic energy would be too cheap to meter,” comments Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “The nuclear industry’s public relations effort has improved over the past 50 years, while the natural skepticism of reporters toward corporate claims seems to have disappeared.”

The New York Times continues to be, as it was a half-century ago when nuclear technology was first advanced, a media leader in pushing the technology, which collapsed in the U.S. with the 1979 Three Mile Island and 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accidents. The Times has showered readers with a variety of pieces advocating a nuclear revival, all marbled with omissions and untruths. A lead editorial headlined “The Greening of Nuclear Power” (5/13/06) opened:

Not so many years ago, nuclear energy was a hobgoblin to environmentalists, who feared the potential for catastrophic accidents and long-term radiation contamination. . . . But this is a new era, dominated by fears of tight energy supplies and global warming. Suddenly nuclear power is looking better.

Nukes add to greenhouse

Parroting a central atomic industry theme these days, the Times editors declared, “Nuclear energy can replace fossil-fuel power plants for generating electricity, reducing the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute heavily to global warming.” As a TV commercial frequently aired by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the nuclear industry trade group, states: “Nuclear power plants don’t emit greenhouses gases, so they protect our environment.”

What is left unmentioned by the NEI, the Times and other mainstream media making this claim is that the overall “nuclear cycle”—which includes uranium mining and milling, enrichment, fuel fabrication and disposal of radioactive waste—has significant greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Purity Ball

2008-05-19T16:09:00.002-05:00

I saw this in the Times this morning, and found it a little disturbing. Am i alone in thinking that this is weird? maybe i need a different perspective...

related story

excerpt:
'But after dessert, the 63 men stood and read aloud a covenant “before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity.”'

Your Assignment II

2008-05-17T12:07:00.008-05:00

Your continuing mission: create a caption (or captions) for these pictures, like we did in February.
Thanks to Jamon for emailing them to me. (See my captions below the pics.)

Am I a propagandizing scumbag or does NBC have my balls in a vice? Hahahaha.

Fuck, let's try this again. Hahahaha

Support the troops, those sadists.

2008-05-16T08:49:00.006-05:00

More Winter Soldier--Now on Capitol Hill. You can listen to a segment of the hearings here, via Free Speech Radio News. Part of me is angry at the government, but mostly I'm angry at the soldiers for allowing themselves to be cowed. It seems to me that their moral enlightenment is too late.