MetaFilter posts by amberglow.
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Ten Reasons --from going to McDonald's (Did you know that Happy Meals are a loss leader?) to becoming a miser (It's a weightloss plan that really works) and more. From AK13, a great little brit web mag.
posted on Jan-17-05 at 6:12 PM
The Salvador Option --sending Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria, in imitation of our actions in El Salvador. It remains unclear, however, whether this would be a policy of assassination or so-called "snatch" operations, in which the targets are sent to secret facilities for interrogation. More here, including this: In Iraq, in fact, as in many other places where the United States has tried to train ethical armies to fight dirty wars, the Iraqi troops are tacitly expected to do what American troops won’t. A fundamental purpose of the upcoming elections on January 30 is to create democratic legitimacy for whatever extreme measures the newly organized military decides to take.
posted on Jan-14-05 at 7:25 PM
Once, i had a secretlovelife.... The urge to act out an entirely different persona is widely shared across cultures as well, social scientists say, and may be motivated by curiosity, mischief or earnest soul-searching. Certainly, it is a familiar tug in the breast of almost anyone who has stepped out of his or her daily life for a time, whether for vacation, for business or to live in another country. On secret lives, for good and bad. We're in this too: "I think what people are doing on the Internet now," she said, "has deep psychological meaning in terms of how they're using identities to express problems and potentially solve them in what is a relatively consequence-free zone."
Yet out in the world, a consequence-rich zone, studies find that most people find it mentally exhausting to hold onto inflammatory secrets - much less lives - for long. (NYT, reg.req.)
posted on Jan-11-05 at 4:25 AM
Peace Art Project Cambodia --turning the detrius of war into art, in hopes of a more peaceful future. More info here, and here. "You can't help but think about what this machine has done to affect so many lives." And that is really the point. These sculptures are political art at its most powerful - relics of a violent past transformed into expressions of hope for a more peaceful future.
posted on Dec-25-04 at 7:32 PM
Tis the Season -- a new short story from China Mieville, just in time for the Holidays™ ... Don't get me wrong. I haven't got shares in YuleCo™, and I can't afford a one-day end-user licence, so I couldn't have a legal party. I'd briefly considered buying from one of the budget competitors like XmasTym, or a spinoff from a non-specialist like Coca-Crissmas, but the idea of doing it on the cheap was just depressing...
posted on Dec-23-04 at 7:56 AM
Who are today's Maccabees? Fundamentalists fighting a secular culture? Or as our president states in his Hanukkah message, our brave soldiers in Iraq? Or is it the Iraqis themselves, rebelling against an invading and occupying force? Or is it the white supremacists? The enduring power of a symbol of resistance and its many and incompatible uses--all in time for Hanukkah.
posted on Dec-12-04 at 12:54 PM
An Epidemic! A kinda-not-so-scientific study of the celebrity "exhaustion" epidemic, from the NY Observer: There was no discernible difference in recovery time for patients who smoked and had sex with visitors (19.9 percent), but fatigue levels remained consistently high in patients who drank large amounts of wine and cried more than four hours per day (22.3 percent). Poor little Lindsay Lohan, working herself into the hospital--a modern-day little match girl, no?
posted on Dec-10-04 at 6:20 PM
What I Did Last Summer --a graphic representation of blog posts generated by a blogbot. Pick Blue or Red, and watch and read (flash, i think)...this one use images from Civilization 3, and content from My War, written by a soldier in Iraq, and Dear Raed. A wonderful idea, from the mind of this guy, Alex Dragulescu
posted on Nov-20-04 at 9:06 AM
Outing Closeted Republicans, part 1,574 --Ken Mehlman, the leading contender to become the head of the RNC, and one of the architects of Bush's anti-gay election campaign, has some secrets, it appears. And it was supposed to come out during the convention: Two New York newspapers received calls from the Bush-Cheney campaign during the Republican National Convention urging them not to run a story suggesting that the campaign manager and public face of the campaign was gay, RAW STORY has learned.
posted on Nov-11-04 at 4:32 PM
Meet the WallBuilders --an organization that promotes the return of American public life to its religious-based heritage, according to USA Today. And the Congressional Pastor's Briefings may be of interest too: WallBuilders has been privileged to bring ministers from across the nation to Washington, DC, for an intimate briefing session with some of the top Christian Senators and Representatives now serving in Congress. The Members brief pastors on a variety of issues related to Biblical values as well as share their hearts regarding their own faith and its application to public office. ...
Wallbuilders or Mythbuilders provides a debunking of 8 historical fallacies of the group, concluding that:...In that sense, then, the name “Wallbuilders” is correct: the organization is building unnecessary walls of prejudice in an onlooking world, a word desperately needing to hear about the One who has “broken down the middle wall of division”...
posted on Oct-28-04 at 12:40 PM
Lying liars want their lies reported? --There's a bigger problem, the most sobering lesson of this campaign. It's that lies, even when exposed, work. Indeed, we're seeing a diabolical paradox: That exposing the lie enables it to work. Ethics anyone?
posted on Oct-21-04 at 8:24 PM
Political Leanings of Selected Cartoon Characters Did you know that Mickey Mouse is an extreme right-wing Republican (some say even a John Bircher)? (brought to you from way way back in 1996, as a result of this thread)
posted on Oct-20-04 at 6:00 PM
An Election Lottery?
We've had decades of handwringing and civics lectures while voting continues to plunge. This is America, dammit. If everything else pays, why shouldn't voting?
posted on Oct-19-04 at 3:28 PM
The intent was to send a friendly message to people. We're not their enemies and they're not ours.' The Fellowship of Reconciliation, a peace organization around since WW1, instrumental in helping to create many of the most famous and effective social service and nonprofit organizations (ACLU, SCLC, etc), and their latest endeavor, IRAQ photo project. We are one family. When one person suffers, we all suffer is just one of the messages in the photos. Can empathy help, or has the situation gone too far?
posted on Oct-17-04 at 6:25 AM
STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show. Just one tiny bit of a very memorable Crossfire on CNN. Guest is of course, Jon Stewart, one bright spot in our media cesspool, even though they seem to be clueless that he's parodying them.
posted on Oct-15-04 at 3:28 PM
Illegal RNC trashing Democratic registrations in Vegas -- Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash. ... The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of America only wanted Republican registrations. Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats. ... The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee. Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.
posted on Oct-12-04 at 7:20 PM
Speaking inTonguesCode --Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade and the Supreme Court and a President who signals his base in terms that fly over the heads of most of the country.
posted on Oct-11-04 at 5:51 PM
Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration, 2001–2004 -- This very thorough report (PDF) finds that President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words. The US Commission on Civil Rights presents something for everyone, from Gay and Lesbian Rights on page 129 to Voting Rights and the 2000 Election on page 40, to Faith-Based Funding on page 157...from page 9: In fact, the faith-based initiative’s only civil rights significance may be that it actually allows employment discrimination. ... this initiative reflects the President’s desire to recast civil rights in a manner that suits his narrow agenda and, as such, has been highly controversial.
posted on Oct-10-04 at 9:19 AM
No need to actually vote, folks: the Election result has already been written by the AP: At this hour, President Bush has won re-election as president by a 47 percent to 43 percent margin in the popular vote nationwide. Ralph Nader has 1 percent of the vote nationwide. That's with 51 percent of the precincts reporting. (they say it's a test article, but who ever heard of an election results article being pre-written?)
posted on Oct-7-04 at 4:07 PM
Dodging thedraft call up? Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time, prompting the Army to threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
posted on Oct-4-04 at 1:46 PM
Q: Is George Bush being quietly coached while he's speaking in public? There's a weird moment during the debate (one of many) when George Bush says "let me finish" but wasn't being interrrupted. Indymedia has a post on it too, including an mp3 of the moment. So, is Bush being coached, even during the debates, and more to the point, how did he lose when he was being fed what to say?
posted on Oct-2-04 at 10:27 AM
Hey Canada! Now you can "Shut Up! Shut Up!" too.
Are our nice, polite, enlightened neighbors to our north really ready for Fox News?
posted on Sep-28-04 at 8:21 PM
I'll take Closeted Republican Congressmen for 800, Alex. Wonder why you haven't seen GOP Rep. David Dreier of California on tv lately? One of the most visible public faces of the GOP is outed, thanks to Blogactive, who gives him a Roy Cohn Award for 24 years of working against gay and lesbian rights while living as a gay man yourself. Raw Story/Blue Lemur has more, too, including the news blackout by local papers in his district.
posted on Sep-25-04 at 11:41 AM
What a coincidence, huh? (wapo, reg reqd) For the third time, environmental advocates have discovered passages in the Bush administration's proposal for regulating mercury pollution from power plants that mirror almost word for word portions of memos written by a law firm representing coal-fired power plants. The passages state that the Environmental Protection Agency is not required to regulate other hazardous toxins emitted by power plants, such as lead and arsenic. The actual proposals and study are here.
posted on Sep-23-04 at 6:04 PM
Howard Dean speaks --on the coming draft. Any of you going to be 20 in 2005, and/or medical personnel? And girls, don't think you'll be exempt. (altho we know Jenna and Barbara of course will be.)
posted on Sep-21-04 at 4:06 PM
What Jesus Would Do? "...And I'm gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died." Jimmy Swaggart (no stranger to scandal and improper behavior in the past) is at it again, this time regarding marriage and gays. Maybe he should stay away from Paul Crouch, Trinity Broadcasting Network's head, currently embroiled in a gay sex scandal. Was Jesus this hypocritical and violent?
posted on Sep-19-04 at 7:17 AM
Conscience Clauses and Health Care --"Yes, we need to respect individual freedom of religion. But at what point does it cross the line of not providing essential medical care? At what point is it malpractice?" she asked. "If someone's beliefs interfere with practicing their profession, perhaps they should do something else." The Protection of Conscience Project feels differently: Protection of Conscience Laws are needed because powerful interests are inclined to force health care workers and others to participate, directly or indirectly, in morally controversial procedures, while NARAL says: ... Many of these clauses go far beyond respecting individuals' beliefs to the point of harming women by not providing them with full information or access to medical treatment. Medicine, not ideology, should determine medical decisions.
posted on Sep-17-04 at 7:33 PM
Factfilter: Sen. Bob Graham's new book shows coverup.on Saudi's behalf Bush had concluded that ''a nation-state that had aided the terrorists should not be held publicly to account,'' Graham wrote. "It was as if the president's loyalty lay more with Saudi Arabia than with America's safety.'' And there's stuff about Iraq, too. After wearing 9/11 like a tiara during the convention, will the facts finally be aired?
posted on Sep-6-04 at 8:33 PM
RumorFilter: The Family by Kitty Kelley, comes out on the 14th. It reveals how Dubya has had a very special friend in the mayor of a Tennessee city, who has has cohabited at the Texas ranch many times is just one of the rumors flying around about this book. Kitty's written about Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, Jackie O, and the Royals, so what's she got up her chiffon sleeves this time? Start dishing!
posted on Sep-4-04 at 1:27 PM
The Power of a Blog: take one conservative Republican Representative from Virginia (a co-sponsor of the Federal Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment and representing a district that includes Pat Robertson's homebase), mix with gay sex phone lines, and you have it: his resignation, over "allegations."
posted on Aug-30-04 at 4:59 PM
D.Film Moviemaker --a cute little toy (just pretend it's Friday, ok? flash, i think.)
posted on Aug-23-04 at 7:17 PM
A little tale of 2 men, and one bank, with special guest stars Osama bin Ladin, Saddam Hussein, Abu Nidal, and Jackie O. more here, including passages deleted from the final report.
posted on Aug-22-04 at 11:58 AM
Cybermohalla --really interesting group project in and around Delhi, bringing young people together via "Compughars" (fully-equipped media centers in their neighborhoods). Located in LNJP Basti (an illegal neighborhood) in Delhi, and Ambedkar Nagar (a resettlement colony) at Dakshinpuri in south Delhi, and cyberspace, and created by ANKUR - Society for Alternatives in Education (an NGO) with Sarai, the New Media & Urban Culture Programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, they've created everything from texts, collages, posters, animations, and publications, to videos, and large-scale installations. Don't miss by lanes --collected excerpts of some of the kids' personal and public diaries (pdfs), and the scratchbook (55-page pdf) and the animated gifs.
posted on Aug-20-04 at 4:07 PM
Lord Whimsy--Mammal of Paradise --Essays, Charts, Trifles, and News. A COMPENDIUM of DEEDS and THOUGHTS never before seen in this, our Benighted Age; the BRILLIANCE of which cannot last long in our WORLD of MUD and TEARS.
posted on Aug-18-04 at 9:15 PM
F*ckNewYork-- very fitting quicktime piece (9 meg, NSFW--offensive language/attitude) concerning the upcoming Republican Convention. Links to RNC Not Welcome, and Counterconvention, but i don't think it's something they created. And a torrent here.
posted on Aug-15-04 at 8:01 AM
Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation, said Porter Goss while downplaying Valerie Plame's outing. Bush's choice today to replace Tenet as head of the CIA had already been shot down by the very people who'll be voting on his confirmation. It is widely believed that Bush will soon appoint a new CIA director, partly to avoid extra criticism should terrorists strike the homeland between now and November. Why Goss?
posted on Aug-10-04 at 8:10 AM
Are You Ready? September will be National Preparedness Month, with an announcement on Sept. 9th. Throughout September 2004, the US Department of Homeland Security, American Red Cross, American Prepared Campaign, the National Association of Broadcasters, the US Department of Education and other partners, will host a series of events to highlight the importance of citizen emergency preparedness. Nothing like keeping us scared, huh? And it's only 3 years since 9/11--you think they could have done this sooner maybe? There's a skimpy calendar (PDF), with Parade Magazine, Starbucks and NASCAR mentioned. And for the kids, a Ready Deputy contest.
posted on Aug-8-04 at 3:02 PM
Nuclear Safety Lapses Won't Be Revealed -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the change in policy during its first public meeting on power plant safety since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It drew barbs from critics who said the secrecy would erode public confidence in the agency. Until now, the NRC has provided regular public updates on vulnerabilities its inspectors found at the country's 103 nuclear power reactors, such as broken fences or weaknesses in training programs. The NRC's release is here, which also states that they'll be exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.
posted on Aug-4-04 at 4:59 PM
a letter to Thomas Kean, Chair of the 9/11 Commission from Sibel Edmonds: Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations. Considering what is at stake, our national security, we are entitled to demand answers to unanswered questions, and to ask for clarification of issues that were ignored and/or omitted from the report. A solid letter detailing many disturbing things reported to the Commission, yet not in the report. More on Edmonds here.
posted on Aug-2-04 at 4:16 PM
In His Own Words -- just in time forFlashQuicktime Friday, Bush's own words, from 2003's State of the Union matched with more appropriate and now-historic imagery than a man standing behind a teleprompter and podium. (Warning: some graphic stuff inside.) Realplayer version available here. and perhaps because not everything deserves the lighthearted jibjab treatment.
posted on Jul-29-04 at 9:11 PM
Blackwashing --So I tuned into C-SPAN with interest to hear what a leading voice in the black conservative movement had to say. But then a funny thing happened: the African-American spokesperson for Project 21 caught a flat on the way to the studio, and the group's director had to fill in. And he was white. CSPAN video here (real)--bizarre
posted on Jul-25-04 at 12:16 PM
We've already discovered, just so far, the remains of 400,000 people in mass graves.
Um, no. No, you haven't.
And USAID, in its report Iraq's Legacy of Terror: Mass Graves, might want to do some fact-checking too, along with our dear leader as well ("There's mass graves"), and his supporters.
posted on Jul-20-04 at 5:37 AM
A man, just back from a trip abroad, went to an incompetent fortune-teller. He asked about his family, and the fortune-teller replied: "Everyone is fine, especially your father." When the man objected that his father had been dead for ten years, the reply came: "You have no clue who your real father is."--that's one of the jokes from The Laughter Lover (Philogelos), an ancient Greek joke book published in the 4th or 5th century AD. The New Yorker commented on it, and other old jokes here, stating about one of the possible authors: ... there is some scholarly speculation that the Hierocles in question was a fifth-century Alexandrian philosopher of that name who was once publicly flogged in Constantinople for paganism, which, as one classicist has observed, “might have given him a taste for mordant wit.”
posted on Jul-10-04 at 9:45 PM
Wave of Outings hits Congress--Closet-cases running scared --being targeted are the closeted anti-gay members of Congress (and their staff), all a result of the Federal Marriage Amendment, due to come to a symbolic vote sometime before the election in November. More here, too: “We have accepted for far too long fellow gays who work for horribly anti-gay politicians and thus help those politicians bash our community,” Aravosis said. “It’s time we stopped tolerating this situation as normal. These people need, at the very least, to be confronted over their hypocrisy, and when we see them in public we ought to tell them we don’t approve.” And still more from Signorile
posted on Jul-7-04 at 1:17 PM
The Living Room Candidate --more than 250 political ads aired on TV since 1952 covering each election from Stevenson/Eisenhower thru 2000 (in wmp or real formats). And, as an added bonus, the Desktop Candidate, covering web ads for this election cycle. All brought to you by the American Museum of the Moving Image
posted on Jul-5-04 at 7:17 PM
Stasi, meet Highway Watch: The Department of Homeland Security this year gave $19.3 million to the American Trucking Associations, which is based So far, 10,000 truckers have signed on to become amateur sleuths. Over the next year, the goal is to add tollbooth workers, rest-stop employees and construction crews, creating a corps of 400,000 people drawn from every state. A child of Operation TIPS, of course.
posted on Jul-1-04 at 10:30 AM
Order 17--sovereignty sure, but... The Bush administration has decided to take the unusual step of bestowing on its own troops and personnel immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts for killing Iraqis or destroying local property after the occupation ends and political power is transferred to an interim Iraqi government, U.S. officials said. (including contractors, btw.) Apparently US immunity was used by Khomeini in Iran as a rallying cry in the 60s. Are Sadr and Sistani listening?
posted on Jun-24-04 at 8:47 PM
Perverse Polarity: Bipartisanship is another name for date rape? An examination of all of the talk about how polarized we are as a people, and what the facts actually are. Yet even when journalists' own evidence plainly shows that one party has become more moderate and the other more ideologically extreme, they can't bring themselves to say so.
posted on Jun-23-04 at 5:37 PM
Juneteenth is today, celebrating the emancipation of all slaves in Texas, on June 19th, 1865, 2 1/2 years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. With its lighthearted name and tragicomic origins, Juneteenth appeals to many Americans by celebrating the end of slavery without dwelling on its legacy. Juneteenth, celebrators say, is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday without the grieving. It's become a widely celebrated holiday among African-Americans (but not even known by many whites), and Fourteen states have made it official--is it time for it to go national? Find an event in your state or country
posted on Jun-19-04 at 12:23 PM
Revenue Watch, yet another project from Soros' Open Society Institute, brings you research, information, and advocacy on how revenues from natural resources are being invested and disbursed--and how responsive governments and companies are to demands for accountability. Currently focused on Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Kazahkstan, you can find information on everything from the CPA's rush to award contracts in Iraq before June 30, to reports on the Caspian Oil Boom, to journalist training and full transcripts of international conferences.
posted on Jun-17-04 at 3:21 PM
posted on Jan-17-05 at 6:12 PM
The Salvador Option --sending Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria, in imitation of our actions in El Salvador. It remains unclear, however, whether this would be a policy of assassination or so-called "snatch" operations, in which the targets are sent to secret facilities for interrogation. More here, including this: In Iraq, in fact, as in many other places where the United States has tried to train ethical armies to fight dirty wars, the Iraqi troops are tacitly expected to do what American troops won’t. A fundamental purpose of the upcoming elections on January 30 is to create democratic legitimacy for whatever extreme measures the newly organized military decides to take.
posted on Jan-14-05 at 7:25 PM
Once, i had a secret
posted on Jan-11-05 at 4:25 AM
Peace Art Project Cambodia --turning the detrius of war into art, in hopes of a more peaceful future. More info here, and here. "You can't help but think about what this machine has done to affect so many lives." And that is really the point. These sculptures are political art at its most powerful - relics of a violent past transformed into expressions of hope for a more peaceful future.
posted on Dec-25-04 at 7:32 PM
Tis the Season -- a new short story from China Mieville, just in time for the Holidays™ ... Don't get me wrong. I haven't got shares in YuleCo™, and I can't afford a one-day end-user licence, so I couldn't have a legal party. I'd briefly considered buying from one of the budget competitors like XmasTym, or a spinoff from a non-specialist like Coca-Crissmas, but the idea of doing it on the cheap was just depressing...
posted on Dec-23-04 at 7:56 AM
Who are today's Maccabees? Fundamentalists fighting a secular culture? Or as our president states in his Hanukkah message, our brave soldiers in Iraq? Or is it the Iraqis themselves, rebelling against an invading and occupying force? Or is it the white supremacists? The enduring power of a symbol of resistance and its many and incompatible uses--all in time for Hanukkah.
posted on Dec-12-04 at 12:54 PM
An Epidemic! A kinda-not-so-scientific study of the celebrity "exhaustion" epidemic, from the NY Observer: There was no discernible difference in recovery time for patients who smoked and had sex with visitors (19.9 percent), but fatigue levels remained consistently high in patients who drank large amounts of wine and cried more than four hours per day (22.3 percent). Poor little Lindsay Lohan, working herself into the hospital--a modern-day little match girl, no?
posted on Dec-10-04 at 6:20 PM
What I Did Last Summer --a graphic representation of blog posts generated by a blogbot. Pick Blue or Red, and watch and read (flash, i think)...this one use images from Civilization 3, and content from My War, written by a soldier in Iraq, and Dear Raed. A wonderful idea, from the mind of this guy, Alex Dragulescu
posted on Nov-20-04 at 9:06 AM
Outing Closeted Republicans, part 1,574 --Ken Mehlman, the leading contender to become the head of the RNC, and one of the architects of Bush's anti-gay election campaign, has some secrets, it appears. And it was supposed to come out during the convention: Two New York newspapers received calls from the Bush-Cheney campaign during the Republican National Convention urging them not to run a story suggesting that the campaign manager and public face of the campaign was gay, RAW STORY has learned.
posted on Nov-11-04 at 4:32 PM
Meet the WallBuilders --an organization that promotes the return of American public life to its religious-based heritage, according to USA Today. And the Congressional Pastor's Briefings may be of interest too: WallBuilders has been privileged to bring ministers from across the nation to Washington, DC, for an intimate briefing session with some of the top Christian Senators and Representatives now serving in Congress. The Members brief pastors on a variety of issues related to Biblical values as well as share their hearts regarding their own faith and its application to public office. ...
Wallbuilders or Mythbuilders provides a debunking of 8 historical fallacies of the group, concluding that:...In that sense, then, the name “Wallbuilders” is correct: the organization is building unnecessary walls of prejudice in an onlooking world, a word desperately needing to hear about the One who has “broken down the middle wall of division”...
posted on Oct-28-04 at 12:40 PM
Lying liars want their lies reported? --There's a bigger problem, the most sobering lesson of this campaign. It's that lies, even when exposed, work. Indeed, we're seeing a diabolical paradox: That exposing the lie enables it to work. Ethics anyone?
posted on Oct-21-04 at 8:24 PM
Political Leanings of Selected Cartoon Characters Did you know that Mickey Mouse is an extreme right-wing Republican (some say even a John Bircher)? (brought to you from way way back in 1996, as a result of this thread)
posted on Oct-20-04 at 6:00 PM
An Election Lottery?
We've had decades of handwringing and civics lectures while voting continues to plunge. This is America, dammit. If everything else pays, why shouldn't voting?
posted on Oct-19-04 at 3:28 PM
The intent was to send a friendly message to people. We're not their enemies and they're not ours.' The Fellowship of Reconciliation, a peace organization around since WW1, instrumental in helping to create many of the most famous and effective social service and nonprofit organizations (ACLU, SCLC, etc), and their latest endeavor, IRAQ photo project. We are one family. When one person suffers, we all suffer is just one of the messages in the photos. Can empathy help, or has the situation gone too far?
posted on Oct-17-04 at 6:25 AM
STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show. Just one tiny bit of a very memorable Crossfire on CNN. Guest is of course, Jon Stewart, one bright spot in our media cesspool, even though they seem to be clueless that he's parodying them.
posted on Oct-15-04 at 3:28 PM
Illegal RNC trashing Democratic registrations in Vegas -- Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash. ... The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of America only wanted Republican registrations. Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats. ... The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee. Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.
posted on Oct-12-04 at 7:20 PM
Speaking in
posted on Oct-11-04 at 5:51 PM
Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration, 2001–2004 -- This very thorough report (PDF) finds that President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words. The US Commission on Civil Rights presents something for everyone, from Gay and Lesbian Rights on page 129 to Voting Rights and the 2000 Election on page 40, to Faith-Based Funding on page 157...from page 9: In fact, the faith-based initiative’s only civil rights significance may be that it actually allows employment discrimination. ... this initiative reflects the President’s desire to recast civil rights in a manner that suits his narrow agenda and, as such, has been highly controversial.
posted on Oct-10-04 at 9:19 AM
No need to actually vote, folks: the Election result has already been written by the AP: At this hour, President Bush has won re-election as president by a 47 percent to 43 percent margin in the popular vote nationwide. Ralph Nader has 1 percent of the vote nationwide. That's with 51 percent of the precincts reporting. (they say it's a test article, but who ever heard of an election results article being pre-written?)
posted on Oct-7-04 at 4:07 PM
Dodging the
posted on Oct-4-04 at 1:46 PM
Q: Is George Bush being quietly coached while he's speaking in public? There's a weird moment during the debate (one of many) when George Bush says "let me finish" but wasn't being interrrupted. Indymedia has a post on it too, including an mp3 of the moment. So, is Bush being coached, even during the debates, and more to the point, how did he lose when he was being fed what to say?
posted on Oct-2-04 at 10:27 AM
Hey Canada! Now you can "Shut Up! Shut Up!" too.
Are our nice, polite, enlightened neighbors to our north really ready for Fox News?
posted on Sep-28-04 at 8:21 PM
I'll take Closeted Republican Congressmen for 800, Alex. Wonder why you haven't seen GOP Rep. David Dreier of California on tv lately? One of the most visible public faces of the GOP is outed, thanks to Blogactive, who gives him a Roy Cohn Award for 24 years of working against gay and lesbian rights while living as a gay man yourself. Raw Story/Blue Lemur has more, too, including the news blackout by local papers in his district.
posted on Sep-25-04 at 11:41 AM
What a coincidence, huh? (wapo, reg reqd) For the third time, environmental advocates have discovered passages in the Bush administration's proposal for regulating mercury pollution from power plants that mirror almost word for word portions of memos written by a law firm representing coal-fired power plants. The passages state that the Environmental Protection Agency is not required to regulate other hazardous toxins emitted by power plants, such as lead and arsenic. The actual proposals and study are here.
posted on Sep-23-04 at 6:04 PM
Howard Dean speaks --on the coming draft. Any of you going to be 20 in 2005, and/or medical personnel? And girls, don't think you'll be exempt. (altho we know Jenna and Barbara of course will be.)
posted on Sep-21-04 at 4:06 PM
What Jesus Would Do? "...And I'm gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died." Jimmy Swaggart (no stranger to scandal and improper behavior in the past) is at it again, this time regarding marriage and gays. Maybe he should stay away from Paul Crouch, Trinity Broadcasting Network's head, currently embroiled in a gay sex scandal. Was Jesus this hypocritical and violent?
posted on Sep-19-04 at 7:17 AM
Conscience Clauses and Health Care --"Yes, we need to respect individual freedom of religion. But at what point does it cross the line of not providing essential medical care? At what point is it malpractice?" she asked. "If someone's beliefs interfere with practicing their profession, perhaps they should do something else." The Protection of Conscience Project feels differently: Protection of Conscience Laws are needed because powerful interests are inclined to force health care workers and others to participate, directly or indirectly, in morally controversial procedures, while NARAL says: ... Many of these clauses go far beyond respecting individuals' beliefs to the point of harming women by not providing them with full information or access to medical treatment. Medicine, not ideology, should determine medical decisions.
posted on Sep-17-04 at 7:33 PM
Factfilter: Sen. Bob Graham's new book shows coverup.on Saudi's behalf Bush had concluded that ''a nation-state that had aided the terrorists should not be held publicly to account,'' Graham wrote. "It was as if the president's loyalty lay more with Saudi Arabia than with America's safety.'' And there's stuff about Iraq, too. After wearing 9/11 like a tiara during the convention, will the facts finally be aired?
posted on Sep-6-04 at 8:33 PM
RumorFilter: The Family by Kitty Kelley, comes out on the 14th. It reveals how Dubya has had a very special friend in the mayor of a Tennessee city, who has has cohabited at the Texas ranch many times is just one of the rumors flying around about this book. Kitty's written about Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, Jackie O, and the Royals, so what's she got up her chiffon sleeves this time? Start dishing!
posted on Sep-4-04 at 1:27 PM
The Power of a Blog: take one conservative Republican Representative from Virginia (a co-sponsor of the Federal Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment and representing a district that includes Pat Robertson's homebase), mix with gay sex phone lines, and you have it: his resignation, over "allegations."
posted on Aug-30-04 at 4:59 PM
D.Film Moviemaker --a cute little toy (just pretend it's Friday, ok? flash, i think.)
posted on Aug-23-04 at 7:17 PM
A little tale of 2 men, and one bank, with special guest stars Osama bin Ladin, Saddam Hussein, Abu Nidal, and Jackie O. more here, including passages deleted from the final report.
posted on Aug-22-04 at 11:58 AM
Cybermohalla --really interesting group project in and around Delhi, bringing young people together via "Compughars" (fully-equipped media centers in their neighborhoods). Located in LNJP Basti (an illegal neighborhood) in Delhi, and Ambedkar Nagar (a resettlement colony) at Dakshinpuri in south Delhi, and cyberspace, and created by ANKUR - Society for Alternatives in Education (an NGO) with Sarai, the New Media & Urban Culture Programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, they've created everything from texts, collages, posters, animations, and publications, to videos, and large-scale installations. Don't miss by lanes --collected excerpts of some of the kids' personal and public diaries (pdfs), and the scratchbook (55-page pdf) and the animated gifs.
posted on Aug-20-04 at 4:07 PM
Lord Whimsy--Mammal of Paradise --Essays, Charts, Trifles, and News. A COMPENDIUM of DEEDS and THOUGHTS never before seen in this, our Benighted Age; the BRILLIANCE of which cannot last long in our WORLD of MUD and TEARS.
posted on Aug-18-04 at 9:15 PM
F*ckNewYork-- very fitting quicktime piece (9 meg, NSFW--offensive language/attitude) concerning the upcoming Republican Convention. Links to RNC Not Welcome, and Counterconvention, but i don't think it's something they created. And a torrent here.
posted on Aug-15-04 at 8:01 AM
Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation, said Porter Goss while downplaying Valerie Plame's outing. Bush's choice today to replace Tenet as head of the CIA had already been shot down by the very people who'll be voting on his confirmation. It is widely believed that Bush will soon appoint a new CIA director, partly to avoid extra criticism should terrorists strike the homeland between now and November. Why Goss?
posted on Aug-10-04 at 8:10 AM
Are You Ready? September will be National Preparedness Month, with an announcement on Sept. 9th. Throughout September 2004, the US Department of Homeland Security, American Red Cross, American Prepared Campaign, the National Association of Broadcasters, the US Department of Education and other partners, will host a series of events to highlight the importance of citizen emergency preparedness. Nothing like keeping us scared, huh? And it's only 3 years since 9/11--you think they could have done this sooner maybe? There's a skimpy calendar (PDF), with Parade Magazine, Starbucks and NASCAR mentioned. And for the kids, a Ready Deputy contest.
posted on Aug-8-04 at 3:02 PM
Nuclear Safety Lapses Won't Be Revealed -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the change in policy during its first public meeting on power plant safety since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It drew barbs from critics who said the secrecy would erode public confidence in the agency. Until now, the NRC has provided regular public updates on vulnerabilities its inspectors found at the country's 103 nuclear power reactors, such as broken fences or weaknesses in training programs. The NRC's release is here, which also states that they'll be exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.
posted on Aug-4-04 at 4:59 PM
a letter to Thomas Kean, Chair of the 9/11 Commission from Sibel Edmonds: Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations. Considering what is at stake, our national security, we are entitled to demand answers to unanswered questions, and to ask for clarification of issues that were ignored and/or omitted from the report. A solid letter detailing many disturbing things reported to the Commission, yet not in the report. More on Edmonds here.
posted on Aug-2-04 at 4:16 PM
In His Own Words -- just in time for
posted on Jul-29-04 at 9:11 PM
Blackwashing --So I tuned into C-SPAN with interest to hear what a leading voice in the black conservative movement had to say. But then a funny thing happened: the African-American spokesperson for Project 21 caught a flat on the way to the studio, and the group's director had to fill in. And he was white. CSPAN video here (real)--bizarre
posted on Jul-25-04 at 12:16 PM
We've already discovered, just so far, the remains of 400,000 people in mass graves.
Um, no. No, you haven't.
And USAID, in its report Iraq's Legacy of Terror: Mass Graves, might want to do some fact-checking too, along with our dear leader as well ("There's mass graves"), and his supporters.
posted on Jul-20-04 at 5:37 AM
A man, just back from a trip abroad, went to an incompetent fortune-teller. He asked about his family, and the fortune-teller replied: "Everyone is fine, especially your father." When the man objected that his father had been dead for ten years, the reply came: "You have no clue who your real father is."--that's one of the jokes from The Laughter Lover (Philogelos), an ancient Greek joke book published in the 4th or 5th century AD. The New Yorker commented on it, and other old jokes here, stating about one of the possible authors: ... there is some scholarly speculation that the Hierocles in question was a fifth-century Alexandrian philosopher of that name who was once publicly flogged in Constantinople for paganism, which, as one classicist has observed, “might have given him a taste for mordant wit.”
posted on Jul-10-04 at 9:45 PM
Wave of Outings hits Congress--Closet-cases running scared --being targeted are the closeted anti-gay members of Congress (and their staff), all a result of the Federal Marriage Amendment, due to come to a symbolic vote sometime before the election in November. More here, too: “We have accepted for far too long fellow gays who work for horribly anti-gay politicians and thus help those politicians bash our community,” Aravosis said. “It’s time we stopped tolerating this situation as normal. These people need, at the very least, to be confronted over their hypocrisy, and when we see them in public we ought to tell them we don’t approve.” And still more from Signorile
posted on Jul-7-04 at 1:17 PM
The Living Room Candidate --more than 250 political ads aired on TV since 1952 covering each election from Stevenson/Eisenhower thru 2000 (in wmp or real formats). And, as an added bonus, the Desktop Candidate, covering web ads for this election cycle. All brought to you by the American Museum of the Moving Image
posted on Jul-5-04 at 7:17 PM
Stasi, meet Highway Watch: The Department of Homeland Security this year gave $19.3 million to the American Trucking Associations, which is based So far, 10,000 truckers have signed on to become amateur sleuths. Over the next year, the goal is to add tollbooth workers, rest-stop employees and construction crews, creating a corps of 400,000 people drawn from every state. A child of Operation TIPS, of course.
posted on Jul-1-04 at 10:30 AM
Order 17--sovereignty sure, but... The Bush administration has decided to take the unusual step of bestowing on its own troops and personnel immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts for killing Iraqis or destroying local property after the occupation ends and political power is transferred to an interim Iraqi government, U.S. officials said. (including contractors, btw.) Apparently US immunity was used by Khomeini in Iran as a rallying cry in the 60s. Are Sadr and Sistani listening?
posted on Jun-24-04 at 8:47 PM
Perverse Polarity: Bipartisanship is another name for date rape? An examination of all of the talk about how polarized we are as a people, and what the facts actually are. Yet even when journalists' own evidence plainly shows that one party has become more moderate and the other more ideologically extreme, they can't bring themselves to say so.
posted on Jun-23-04 at 5:37 PM
Juneteenth is today, celebrating the emancipation of all slaves in Texas, on June 19th, 1865, 2 1/2 years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. With its lighthearted name and tragicomic origins, Juneteenth appeals to many Americans by celebrating the end of slavery without dwelling on its legacy. Juneteenth, celebrators say, is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday without the grieving. It's become a widely celebrated holiday among African-Americans (but not even known by many whites), and Fourteen states have made it official--is it time for it to go national? Find an event in your state or country
posted on Jun-19-04 at 12:23 PM
Revenue Watch, yet another project from Soros' Open Society Institute, brings you research, information, and advocacy on how revenues from natural resources are being invested and disbursed--and how responsive governments and companies are to demands for accountability. Currently focused on Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Kazahkstan, you can find information on everything from the CPA's rush to award contracts in Iraq before June 30, to reports on the Caspian Oil Boom, to journalist training and full transcripts of international conferences.
posted on Jun-17-04 at 3:21 PM
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