Here’s a SHOCKER: Bill O’Reilly is a lying dick

Just for shits & giggles, I wandered over to Media Matters for America and browsed the list of Bill O’Reilly’s bullshit claims. I would advise you to avoid doing so if you are easily angered, because that mother-fucker… I’ll let his words do the talking (then I’ll do some talking)…

"Viagra is used to help a medical condition -- that's why it's covered. Birth control is not a medical condition, it is a choice. Why should I or anybody else have to pay for other people's choices?"  

That gem is from July 17, 2008, on The O’Reilly Factor, while discussing health insurance companies covering Viagra but not birth control. Unfortunately for O’Reilly’s accuracy, various international health organizations have, in fact, defined contraception as a medical necessity.

"[Sen. Barack] Obama must condemn organizations like MoveOn and the Daily Kos if he truly wants to run without a race component. These are the people that are dividing Americans along racial lines. It is not a stretch to say MoveOn is the new Klan."

From July 23, 2008, again on The O’Reilly Factor. Actually, Bill, it’s quite a big fucking stretch. On one hand you have The Klan, a group born out of the post-Civil War racism of the South that advocates white supremacy & uses terrorist tactics to suppress the civil liberties of others. The Klan has lynched people, erected burning crosses on front lawns, and physically assaulted un-affiliated Americans since 1865. On the other hand you have Moveon.org, a non-profit progressive advocacy group born out of the Clinton impeachment fiasco that promotes public understanding of political issues. Moveon.org has created poignant commercials criticizing the current Administration, raised money for Democratic candidates nationwide, and published two books on modern political issues since 1999. Big fucking difference.

"But it's an amazing amount of kids involved with this -- 20 -- in an affluent school district. This isn't, you know, the inner city; you would think that these kids would have some kind of a values system."

On June 10th, 2008, again on his stupid fucking “news” show, this is how he responded to a story about seven ninth-graders at Pascack Valley High School in New Jersey that were suspended for distributing topless photographs of their classmates. Apparently, only rich folks teach their children about morality and “values”. Us po’ kids gotta’ learn that shit on the street!

What a dick. He’s a dick squared, even.

Impeachment isn’t a fruity dessert

It’s more like the Just Desserts that Americans have been waiting to serve Dubya since his punk-ass assented to the throne & started shitting all over our country…

Earlier today, House Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and other supportive Reps presented to the Judiciary Committee the case for the impeachment of George W. Bush! It’s only a hearing to discuss the possibility of bringing impeachment against the President, but it is a start! Kucinich has prepared 35 articles of impeachment for Dubya, but was given the opportunity to discuss only one in today’s hearings: the charge that Bush manipulated intelligence to hoodwink the public and Congress about Iraq's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. That should be enough, in my opinion. Lying to the American people got Clinton impeached & anyone of us would have lied in his position! How many of you would have the audacity to bullshit the nation into a poorly planned invasion of a sovereign nation, resulting in millions of civilian deaths and thousands of troop casualties? Not I, said the Cat.

Haven’t they heard the phrase “Shit rolls downhill”?

                       

Here’s the problem I’m having with the media’s coverage of our state’s financial woes: California has one of the lowest home ownership rates in the nation & has been criticized for years because a huge cross section of it’s population is doomed to permanently rent their homes. So, when the talking heads on my late night news shows discuss the foreclosure crisis (which has slammed Stockton, CA harder than any other city nationwide with 1 out of every 75 homes being foreclosed on in the month of May 2008), why aren’t they talking about how it is affecting us renters? Kitty-corner from my apartment, a four unit apartment building has just been foreclosed on & the people living there are pretty much up shit creek sans paddle. The property owner is obviously strapped for cash, so I doubt the four families will see their security deposits anytime soon, and the bank that has assumed ownership of the property has kicked out the renters but doesn’t owe them any thirty day notice or financial compensation for their loss, even though none of them are at fault for their eviction. Disposed renters are given only 72 hours to vacate their homes and then they face the task of finding a new rental unit, not to mention coming up with another first month’s rent and security deposit. What are these people supposed to do? They were already renting a low-income apartment, so I doubt that any of them are wealthy enough to up and move at the drop of a hat. What are we, as a community, doing for these people? AND WHY does the mainstream media act like the only people facing economic troubles related to the foreclosure crisis are those folks that defaulted on their loans? What about the renters? People that have been paying their rent, people that have abided by the tenants of their leases, people on Section 8, people already in dire financial straits because of rising gas and food costs, people that don’t have the credit or income necessary to get a fucking loan in the first place are being evicted left & right. Many of these people don’t know that their homes are in the foreclosure process, since the property owner is not required to relinquish this information to their tenants, and then one day…*POOF*… their rights to their place of residence are gone because foreclosing lenders typically evict tenants in order to re-sell the property. Someone that looses the house they bought & live in to foreclosure can rent another house. They already make enough money to qualify for a home loan, so they have the cash needed to rent & property managers don’t give a damn about that aspect of your credit, so they won’t have trouble getting a spot. Renters thrown out because their landlord defaulted on a loan are not in a similar financially secure position. So what if you’ll have trouble getting another home loan ‘cause your credit is fucked? Those renters are having trouble getting another roof over their heads because someone else fucked up! Now that is a situation that deserves some hard-hitting journalistic attention! I’ve scoured the Internet in search of articles, segments, or op-eds on the subject, but it’s slim pickings.

Approximately 1/3 of Americans rent their homes and in California that figure shoots up to 42%. The available evidence suggests that the majority of foreclosed properties are likely to be rentals (or multi-unit dwellings, like duplexes or triplexes), since a property owner isn’t likely to default on their own home loan before the loan they have out on their rental properties.** Estimates for how many renters are being royally screwed by the crisis are inaccurate and incomplete at this point. Experts warn that the current data grossly underestimates the numbers of disposed renters. What figures we do have suggest that as of 2007, 22% of defaulted mortgages in California were on rental properties. In other words, at least 1/4 of the homes lost are those of people that have no part in the whole loan-situation to begin with! And you know that plenty of rentals house more than one tenant (apartment buildings & multi-unit houses, for example), so counting the number of foreclosed rentals doesn’t even begin to show us how many people are being screwed over. Worse still, all those former homeowners are now joining the ranks of the renting class and, according to the laws of supply and demand, are driving up the cost of renting for everybody. U.S. Census Bureau statistics show a 14% jump in the nation’s median asking rate for rentals since 2003 and California is famous for it’s inflated rental rates, so you know it’s worse around here! Woe is the West Coast renter, I suppose.

On July 8th, Governor Swart..z… the fucking Gubernator signed into law Senate Bill 1137, the so-called Perata/Bass Mortgage Relief Bill, which requires tenants to be notified once a bill of sale is issued on the property and, once sold, tenants now have 60 days notice before their eviction…BUT only if the defaulted loan was taken out between January 2003 and December 2007. Now, these innocent parties have two months to pull a shit load of money out of their asses, find a new place in an increasingly cramped rental market, AND prepare to pay more rent each month to boot! Good looking out, California!

Here are a couple Stockton-specific annoyances this subject has planted in my head:

1. Why does the city General Plan include a few more Spanos & Grupe housing developments between now & 2013 if we can’t afford the homes we’ve built thus far? Why are we OK-ing more single family home development if predictions suggest the need for more multi-unit rentals? Shouldn’t a General Plan consider this type of shit? Isn’t that why we make a fucking General Plan? To generally plan for the future’s needs?

2. Why is The Record ignoring the foreclosure crisis as it relates to us renters? Aren’t the editors aware of the fact that many Stocktonians rent? Don’t they have a duty, as our main news outlet, to inform the citizenry of regional disaster like this, rather than use any article on the subject to paint faux-silver linings all over the fucking place? How about giving renters a heads up, in case they didn’t know they should be worried?

3. Where is the federal bailout for the poor victims of this crisis, like Stockton’s needy masses? How does Washington justify multi-million dollar bank bailouts for lenders that profited from the mortgage refinancing schemes and sub-prime loans that caused the crisis, when innocent displaced Stocktonians are too broke to cough up the cash for their security deposits? Why aren’t our tax dollars being used to protect us from poverty? From homelessness? From predatory financial entities bent on profit at any cost?

 

** Also, this assumption was stolen from a 2008 report issued by the  National Low-Income Housing Coalition, located HERE.

I'm looking for reasons to find Today interesting

On this day in 1925, the Scopes Monkey Trial ended with John Thomas Scopes’ conviction on charges of teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee state law. It was the original Trial of the Century & the case was played up on both sides for maximum publicity value. According to the law of the land, it was illegal to "teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals" since the state legislature had passed it’s anti-evolution legislation in March 1925. Scopes and his cohort, a local business owner named George Rappalyea, plotted to intentionally violate the law and enlisted themselves in the efforts of the ACLU to bring it’s constitutionality to question in a court. The well known super-attorney Clarence Darrow was added to their defense team after charges were successfully brought against Scopes. The defense’s intention was to argue that anti-evolution regulations were in violation of the First Amendment’s protections. The prosecution’s star player was a popular Christian fundamentalist and former cabinet member under President Woodrow Wilson, William Jennings Bryan, who had been at the forefront of the creationist movement that designed the Tennessee law Scopes’ had violated. The judge was unsympathetic to the ACLU’s constitutional arguments & required every court session to begin with a prayer despite objections. During the trial, the ever-clever Darrow called Bryan as his sole witness and proceeded to make a mockery of the man in front of hordes of spectators. Darrow humiliated Bryan by coercing him to discredit his own literal interpretation of the Bible and admit that such a view was foolish. In his closing statement, Darrow asked the jury to return with a guilty verdict, so that the case maybe continued in an appeals court and after an eight minute deliberation they did just that. Scopes was found guilty on July 21, 1925 and fined $100, but the intense media coverage of the trial had clearly shifted public opinion against the creationist ideology of the prosecution, so you can say that he lost the battle & won the war. His verdict would be overturned two years later on a technicality, but the issue of church & state bumping heads in the classroom would go unresolved until a similar law in Arkansas was shot down by the Supreme Court in 1968. Some would say the conflict has yet to be resolved (and I’ll bet they’re the same assholes that say boring shit like “lost the battle, won the war”). The movement to include Creationism in classroom instruction is alive, but it seems to me that it might be on it’s last legs here in the U.S. In February 2007, the Kansas Board of Education voted to remove it’s Intelligent Design teachings from it’s state-wide science curriculum, Pennsylvania officially terminated it’s Intelligent Design curricula in 2005, and earlier this year Florida changed it’s educational standards to include, for the first time, mandatory instruction in evolution & related concepts. On the other hand, since 1999, Kentucky has banned the term “evolution” from it’s textbooks (preferring “change over time” instead), Virginia reaffirmed it’s commitment to include creationist instruction in science courses as of 2007, and the state of Ohio has permitted (but not  required) Intelligent Design instruction since 2002. I guess some places are a lot more “liberal” about the use of fantastical mythology masquerading as fact in scholastic instruction. Personally, I hate tax dollars to be wasted on Christian propaganda, while our students are receiving sub-standard educations that should shame any self-respecting Western nation. If you don’t believe the shit your kid learns at school, do a little parenting & talk to them yourself. You’d be surprised how much pull parents actually have when it comes to the ideological beliefs of their offspring. After all, it’s Moms and Dads that propagate all that other mythology that American childhood is littered with; The Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The Chupacabra…

 

Another important historical event that happened on July 21st and is worth mentioning here is an incident during The Great Railroad Strike of 1877. A bloody battle between striking railway workers and state militia members broke out in Pittsburgh on July 21, 1877. The United States of 1877 was a divided nation. It’s latest Presidential election had left many voters feeling disenfranchised, since Samuel J. Tilden had clearly won the popular vote but the election went to Rutherford B. Hayes, who won the majority of electoral votes. The Presidential Election of 1876 had been the most contentious election in American history (before the current Administration pulled a couple fast ones, that is) and allegations of underhanded backdoor dealings only fanned the flames of public outrage at the election’s results. Thomas Alexander Scott, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, allegedly brokered a deal that awarded disputed electoral votes to Hayes, winning him the election, in exchange for a federal bailout of failing investments in the Texas and Pacific railroads. As a result, the public distrusted the presidential administration, as well as the capitalist investors like Scott that got Hayes into office. The economic situation in the States was none to good at the time either & the railroad industry was no exception to the rule. Workers had suffered a 10% decrease in wages in only four years, so when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) attempted to cut wages for the second time in that year, workers refused to put up with the bullshit any longer. They had little faith in the legislative or judicial avenues available to settle disputes & took to the streets in protest, stopping rail deliveries across the east coast. Initially the unrest started in Martinsburg, West Virginia on July 14th, but it quickly spread to Cumberland, Maryland, where street riots broke out. The President sent federal troops and marines into Baltimore to quash the labor uprising on July 21st. On the same day, the railroad workers striking in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania experienced the worst violence of the strike. When local law enforcement refused to fire on the striking workers, militiamen attacked them with bayonets and rifle rounds, killing twenty and wounding another twenty-nine protesters. Infuriated strikers chased the militiamen into a railroad building, where they lit the structure on fire and started a blaze that would eventually destroy 39 other buildings, 104 locomotives, and 1245 freight and passenger cars. The next morning, the cornered militiamen shot their way out of the burning railway building, killing another twenty strikers on their way out of Pittsburgh. The Great Railroad Strike would spread to Chicago, Saint Louis, and the American west before it was halted with force 45 days later by President Hayes’ federal troops traveling city to city, smashing strike momentum as they went. The railroad workers eventually agreed to a labor contract that did little to improve their situation, but The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (the first large scale rail strike) taught union organizers and future labor activists lessons that helped improve their tactics.

Nelson Mandela is a bonafide Bad Ass

The man that brought down South Africa's apartheid turned 90 years old yesterday. In commemoration, I figured I might as well give y’all a primer on Mandela’s OG status, just in case you weren’t up on game.

Way back in the day (say…1948), the Afrikaner National Party gained control of South Africa & implemented a strict segregation policy known as apartheid. The black residents of the country were stripped of their citizenship & classified as citizens of their tribal homelands instead (similar to American Indian tribal governments). They were regulated to economically fucked regions & denied the benefits of South Africa’s thriving economy. They also were denied suffrage outside of their “homelands” & that made the apartheid system nearly set in stone. The only people screwed over by apartheid couldn’t even use the political process to do anything about it! Of course, this shit wasn’t accepted by the black majority of South Africa & immediately after apartheid’s creation, an opposition movement was born. Mandela was at the forefront of the opposition from it’s inception, playing a major part in the creation of the African National Congress (the Afrikaner National Party’s nemesis). Along with his partner Oliver Tambo, Mandela ran a law firm that catered to poor blacks that ordinarily had no access to legal representation. He initially touted the non-violent methods of Gandhi as a means of dismantling apartheid and was arrested in a mass demonstration in 1956 on treason charges with 150 other protesters. The ensuing trial, known as the Treason Trial, lasted for nearly five years & ended in the acquittal of all those involved. The fiasco of the Treason Trials left the ANC in bad shape. Non-violence had proved to be too slow & ineffective, so Mandela co-founded the militant wing of the ANC to force apartheid’s demise. In 1961, he became the leader of this ANC branch, Umkhonto we Sizwe (loosely translated as Spear of the Nation & abbreviated as MK), and he coordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets. He trained freedom fighters, established diplomatic ties to other African nations, and prepared for full-on guerilla warfare.

As is usually the case in these stories, the CIA fouled up big. In 1962, they notified S. African officials of Mandela’s whereabouts & the rebel leader was apprehended. He was charged with inciting worker’s to strike & leaving the country illegally, then sentenced to five years in prison. While he was imprisoned, the government arrested ANC members willy-nilly & started to prepare the case intended to dismantle the resistance. What came to be known as the Rivonia Trial was a judicial attack on the ANC that charged Mandela with sabotage & lesser treason. In 1964, all but one ANC leader was found guilty & sentenced to life in prison. Mandela then spent 27 years locked up. He was offered his freedom in exchange for renouncing the struggle against apartheid, but refused. When he finally was released after South Africa’s hard-line president P.W. Botha was replaced in 1989-90 & Mandela immediately returned to work at the ANC. He spearheaded the efforts to have S Africa’s first inter-racial elections between 1990-94 and, unsurprisingly, was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

As if surviving 27 years of prison, a lifetime of apartheid, and countless assassination attempts weren’t enough to prove Mandela’s place in history, the man was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the Order of Merit & the Order of St. John from Queen Elizabeth, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush, was made an honorary Canadian citizen, received the Bharat Ratna award in India, and the Ataturk Peace Award in Turkey. Musicians have immortalized Mandela in songs such as “Mandela Day” by Simple Minds, “Mandela” by Santana, “Freedom Now” by Tracy Chapman, and “If Everyone Cared” by Nickelback. Stevie Wonder even dedicated “I Just Called to Say I Love You” to Mandela. Fuck, even I have a Nelson Mandela T-shirt (Wiley always said it looked like Sly & The Family Stone, but fuck him)!

In 1999, Mandela retired from political life & took up the duties of being an internationally recognized freedom fighter. He’s supported & advocated for the Make Poverty History campaign, is a big sponsor of the SOS Children’s Villages (an organization for orphaned children), and established the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund that funds various charities dealing with youngsters. He’s served as a spokesperson at the UN & other international organizations for disenfranchised African nations suffering from poverty and the AIDS epidemic. He even used the event of his 90th birthday to call on the world’s wealthy to spread the economic love to po’ folks.

Here’s to a genuine bad ass, Mr Nelson Mandela, for being a die-hard rebel & showing all of us that one person can & does change shit for the better. Get down with your bad self, NM, get down.  

Apparently, everyone finds our political process ridiculous!

This one is from the What The Fuck Files: BBC News actually has a section on their website devoted to our 2008 Elections titled “Flip-Flop Guide”, which briefly describes the “changes of heart” that Obama and McCain have made on various issues. How the fuck is that useful? Helpful? Needed? Is it just me?

Commentary for Lazy Fucks

* I am a sucker for open rebellion & nearly anyone raging against the machine easily earns themselves a soft spot in my heart. I do so admire a little chaos, a little dissension, a little anti-authoritarian action. In particular, Peruvians that took to the streets in protest against what they see as unfair wealth distribution during the country’s recent economic boom have put a smile on my face. The protesters were especially pissed at  President Alan Garcia for abandoning the socialist principles that he supposedly stood for. They accuse the Prez of catering to the whims of transnational corporations, rather than those of the people (does that sound familiar to you, too?). Applause for calling a duck a fucking duck & demanding that it quack like one. Power to the People!

* If I have to see that disturbing pageant footage of Jon Benet Ramsey one more time, I promise that will go insane…at least momentarily. Seriously though, haven’t we all cringed over those videos enough since 1996? Every time a minute development in JonBenet’s case unfolds, we are bombarded by the image of a kindergartner in whore’s lipstick and high heels performing for an audience of grown-ass people, that obviously saw no shame in the exploitation of the over-sexualized little girl before them. I don’t care who killed the girl, they've already gotten away with it & it's doubtful that prosecutors could even make charges stick after so long. What bothers the shit out of me is how JonBenet isn't a six year old girl that was brutally raped and murdered in her own home. She is, instead, the pretty little blond veteran of the child pageant circuit. She is somehow "adult-ish" in her pageant videos & it really creeps me the fuck out.

* I know it's been said plenty of times before, but once couldn't hurt: Thank the Powers for the State of California! Specifically, thank Jesus for San Francisco! A citizen's group, going by the name Presidential Memorial Committee of San Francisco, wants to "honor" outgoing President Bush by naming a sewage treatment plant after the lamebrain. If at least 7,168 of the 12,000 signatures the group collected are valid, the re-naming of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant will be on the ballot in November. I love a little rebellion, a little dissension...

Few subjects are more hilarious than American Politics

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again: The best way to honestly talk about politics is through humor and sarcasm. Impassioned protest, logical declarations of opposition, and thoughtful policy analysis are needed, of course, but most of the time that shit is just plain dull. Boooorrring. If given the choice between an afternoon spent watching C-SPAN’s Senate coverage and anything else in the world, most folks wouldn’t pick C-SPAN regardless of how important the Senate coverage might be. Humor has always been used to interject some life into politics and these days it’s no different. One unique aspect of modern political humor is it’s distinctly Left Wing appeal. I think the Bush Administration has been so ridiculous, so completely out-of-touch, and so hostile to any opposition that the only way the Left has been able to decry it’s many fuck ups is by using comedy to expose how retarded policy decisions actually are. Flat out criticism of Washington’s policies in the post-9/11 era could get you labeled Un-American or Sympathetic to Terrorists, but a humorous approach to the same policy might get you on The Colbert Report. Laughing at American politics is a favorite pass time of mine & apparently, many people are starting to see why I enjoy it so much. We have Jon Stewart & his Daily Show team, the spin-off Colbert Report, The Onion is more popular than ever, Michael Moore’s documentaries are in everyone’s Netflix queue, the cartoon Lil’ Bush is unfunny but popular anyhow, and SNL’s political sketches are among the show’s greatest. The popularity of political comedy is changing the way young folks see politics, not to mention how the world of politics sees us, and it is my opinion that this is a good thing. Average Twenty-something Joe's & Jane's across the country are getting familiar with policy matters that effect them, understanding the screwed up shit that Washington does when we’re not looking, and seeing the scope of their own political muscle and why it’s important. Politicians & media outlets are beginning to notice and court the 18-24 year old voting bloc, instead of just shuffling us aside & ignoring our interests. Books about the political comedy phenomenon are popping up all over the place. Laughing Matters: Humor and American Politics in the Media Age edited by Jody C. Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris came out last year and examines the subject through essays by political scientists and communications experts. Entertaining Politics: New Political Television and Civic Culture (Communication, Media, and Politics) by Jeffery P. Jones praises The Daily Show and it’s peers for making politics accessible to traditionally disenfranchised populations. The New Blue Media: How Michael Moore, Moveon.org, Jon Stewart and Company are Transforming Progressive Politics by Theodore Hamm expands the topic to include the progressive blogosphere in it’s evaluation. Cracking Up: American Humor in a Time of Conflict by Paul Lewis suggests that American political humor is becoming more powerful and more combative every day. How does it feel to belong to the voting bloc causing this much hoop-la? Personally, I am getting a kick out of all this analysis & discussion about young adults & political humor. Dude, just watch the shows & you’ll get it. It’s about honesty in politics during an era of exceptional corruption and dishonesty in Washington. Comedians are the only pundits with any credibility left. That’s all.

Americans are oblivious to their impending destruction, tonight on Sick Sad World!

Folks, it is as bad as us cynics on the Left are saying it is. Don't believe the hype, the American Century is coming to an end & the Age of Prosperity is no more. We are in an economic recession. A good look at our economic plight is all that is needed to convince any sane person that I am right.

* BBC News reported that another 62,000 American jobs were lost in the month of June, following the 62,000 jobs lost in May, and the losses of the past six straight months. These aren't people becoming unemployed, these are jobs that no longer exist in the United States because they've been shipped overseas, the company had to downsize, or what not. Department of Labor statistics show the U.S. economy is, on average, dropping 73,000 jobs per month and has already suffered the loss of 438,000 jobs this year.

* When the investment bank Bear Sterns was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in March of this year, the Federal Reserve stepped in with a loan (of sorts) and kept the mammoth lender from capsizing. Why? Because the Feds were concerned that Bear Sterns' failure would cause widespread disruption of financial markets. This notorious case of corporate welfare signified the begriming of the end for the economy. You know it's bad when the largest economy ever is endangered by the collapse of a single business. The ensuing collapse of the subprime mortgage industry, the bank credit crisis, and the resulting foreclosure crisis have bitchslapped the American stock market into quite a sorry state & it has yet to recover. Predictions for recovery aren't suggesting an upturn until at least 2014.

* There are laws intended to keep the market stable by regulating what companies can & cannot do, but Washington hasn't been terribly concerned with enforcing them. They are supposed to be preventing monopolies and trusts from manipulating prices to increase profits. Big Oil is a clear example of the Feds failure to uphold anti-trust law.

* The price of oil has surpassed $150 per barrel & the effects on the economy are in no way minor. At the very least, oil price fluctuation results in inflation. Before 2005, inflation rates had been steady for a decade at 2.5%, but a jump to 3.3% in 05-06 prompted the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates many times in an attempt to curb increased inflation. Now, economists are pointing to these rate cuts as royal faux pas that have added to the economic woes we face. More on this subject can be found HERE, because I lack the background in economics to effectively explain the problem.

* A worldwide food price crisis has already created a rice shortage in the U.S. The cost of dairy products, fruit & veggies, grains, meat... all of it is rising through the roof. Droughts & floods are impacting the supply, increasing populations have impacted the demand, and commodities speculation is driving up prices while lining the pockets of an elite few investors.

* The unemployment rate is currently at 5.5% and more losses are expected. That is bad enough at face value, but when you consider what the number actually measures, it gets worse. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the definition of an unemployed person is one that does not have a job but did actively look for one in the past 4 weeks. This 5.5% statistic does not include unemployed folks that haven't sought employment in the last month, those that have given up hope of getting a job, or those people that are underemployed.

* The U.S. dollar is plummeting in value, falling like a rock. Our exploding deficit (currently at 7% of the entire economy) isn't helping the matter. So far Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China, Venezuela, Sudan, Iran, and Russia have abandoned the dollar to protect their own economies.

Obviously the indicators of economic downfall are there. What is the government intending to do about it? Obama's economic plan is to repeal Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy, exempt working class families from payroll taxes on the first $8,100 of income, provide a 10% mortgage credit, and expand access to health insurance so that health costs aren't monopolizing consumer spending. McCain wants to cut the corporate tax rate, give Americans a $5000 tax credit for health insurance, & expand upon Bush's tax cuts.

Yup, it's pretty clear we're fucked.

Goodbye, Jesse Helms, and Good Riddance

Former Senator Jesse Helms (R, North Carolina) died yesterday and the nation won't be worse off without him. Helms was as far-right as you get in American politics & his 21 years in the Senate (ending in 2001) were full of completely asinine bullshit that should embarrass anyone identifying as a Republican. Known as Senator No, because he was so fond of opposing Democratic legislation & presidential appointments, Helms wasn't exactly a progressive figure and was considered one of the last Old South politicians in Washington. News outlets are quick to remember the man as a "champion of Conservative values" and a "controversial political figure", but these phrases suggest the guy was a misunderstood political underdog instead of a homophobic, racist, sexist, cold-hearted prick that used his power to fuck over slews of people. The White House called him a "great public servant and a true patriot," but I think it's best if we take a second to recall the "high points" of his political career, before doling out such accolades:

* He was behind the move to stop paying dues to the United Nations in 1994, because the Senator thought the organization was too vocal about U.S. foreign policy. As chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was able to implement anti-UN policies with ease and cut funding to Third World nations by 30%. He refused to ratify the Kyoto treaty, the international land mine treaty, and several other international accords plus he opposed the international criminal court making him a prime example of American isolationism.

* He co-sponsored the Helms-Burton bill that tried to levy U.S. sanctions on non-American companies that did business with Fidel Castro's Cuba & successfully started the current embargo.

* He was the tobacco industry's biggest advocate in Congress (since N. Carolina's agricultural economy is heavily reliant on tobacco production & Big Tobacco kept Helms political coffers full of campaign donations). He chaired the Agriculture Committee & used the position to advance Big Tobacco agendas.

* He opposed the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. day in 1983, citing two associates of King's that had communist ties as a reason. He led the opposition to the bill in Congress & openly dissed the civil rights leader for his alleged infidelity.

* He supported El Salvador's ruthless military leader, Major Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta, who's Death Squads killed thousands of Salvadorians between 1980 & 1985. After evidence that the Death Squads committed thousands of civilian murders became public, Helms said "[a]ll I know, is that D'Aubuisson is a free enterprise man and deeply religious". Helms never revoked his support for D'Aubuisson or condemned his actions.

* He was an ardent supporter of Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet. After visiting Chile in 1986, Helms returned to Washington and assured the American people that it was a "myth that human rights is a major problem in Chile," even though his visit corresponded with one of the grisliest milestones of Chile's struggle against dictatorship, an incident that came to be known as The Burned Ones. A Chilean army squadron had attacked two pro-democracy teens in Santiago with rifle butts, the female teen was sodomized by a soldier, then the pair was doused in gasoline & lit on fire with the help of a Molotov cocktail. One of the kids survived & plenty of witnesses backed up her version of events. Pinochet attempted to pin the fault for the burnings on the teens themselves and the day that he announced his accusations to the nation, he met with Jesse Helms for a two-hour pow-wow. Helms pushed Pinochet's version of what happened whenever possible & berated an American ambassador for attending the murdered teen's funeral. Read more HERE. 

* He supported Haiti's military dictator Raoul Cedras during his bloody reign between 1991 and 1994 & helped to pen the agreement that convinced Cedras to step down in exchange for $1 million in American tax dollars.

* He was a supporter of South Africa's apartheid government & was unsurprisingly one of the biggest segregationists in our own country. Originally a Democrat, Helms abandoned the party with other Dixie-crats over it's support for civil rights legislation. When Nelson Mandela addressed Congress in 1990, Helms stayed away in protest.

* Helms opposed funding AIDS research or treatment programs ever since the idea was first discussed in the Senate. He claimed "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy" (as if that meant that people deserved to die!). He failed to block the 1990 passage of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Care (CARE) act, but tried to block it's refunding in 1995 by once again blaming AIDS patients for their condition. He said their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct" brought on the disease.

* Anti-gay rhetoric was a Jesse Helms specialty & he actually referred to homosexuality as "degenerate" and homosexuals as "weak, morally sick wretches". He opposed Clinton's nomination of Roberta Achtenberg to the Housing & Urban Development department "because she is a damn lesbian".

* Helm's had the balls to make the following comment about President Clinton in 1994 (on the anniversary of JFK's assassination, no less): "[he] better not show up around here [Fort Bragg] without a bodyguard". In his own defense, the Senator insisted that Clinton was too unpopular to inspire an assassination attempt, so the statement shouldn't be considered a threat.

* Introduced the bill that would have eliminated all affirmative action programs because he believed them to be "reverse discrimination at the hands of ruthless bureaucrats."

* He created the North Carolina Congressional Club, a political action committee that quickly became the nation's most successful moneymaking machine, and used the PAC to fund his campaigns. In 1986, the PAC was penalized $10,000 for illegally subsidizing his 1984 re-election campaign. In 1994, the Federal Election Commission levied a fine of $25,000 against Helms & his PAC for accepting $700,000 in illegal contributions. Even more jaw-dropping, in 1992, the Helms campaign and the Congressional Club settled a Justice Department complaint over a pre-election mailing of postcards falsely threatening 125,000 black voters with jail if they went to the polls. Eventually, Helms was forced to cut off ties with the Club after '94, because it endangered his chance at re-election.

* He got into hot water when he offended the shit out of Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the Senate, by whistling "Dixie" while standing next to her in an elevator in 1993. He then bragged his aides & staff: "I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing Dixie until she cries."

* Helms would win an election against black opponent Harvey Gantt with an ad playing to racist white fear-- the so-called "white hands" ad, in which a white man's hands crumple a rejected job application while a voiceover intones, "You needed that job…but they had to give it to a minority."

* Helms got away with saying some seriously offensive shit on the Senate floor. According to the late Senator, The University of North Carolina was "the University of Negroes and Communists" and black civil rights activists were "Communists and sex perverts". When 10 female members of the House of Representatives interrupted a Senate committee hearing to demand support for the UN's treaty against gender discrimination, Helms responded by telling them to "act like ladies" & had Capitol police remove them from the hearing. When talking about civil rights protests in 1963, Helms had this to say: "The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights."

* In 1995, Helms was a guest on CNN's Larry King Show & a caller praised Helms for "everything you've done to help keep down the niggers," and the Senator responded with a salute to the camera and saying "Well, thank you, I think."

* He opposed abortion rights and school bussing, funding for art or historical preservation, feminism, communism, and just about any other -ism you'd expect a backwoods redneck to disagree with. Helms supported the flag burning amendment & was all gung-ho on the Terri Schaivo situation, was pro-gun and until public use of the N-word became completely unacceptable, Helms threw the term about willy-nilly.

"I've been portrayed as a caveman by some. That's not true. I'm a conservative progressive, and that means I think all men are equal, be they slants, beaners, or niggers."     -Quoted in the North Carolina Progressive on 2/6/1985

 

"I’m so old-fashioned I believe in horse whipping"    - quoted in The News & Observer from a debate in 1991 about AIDS funding

"To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing." — Helms responding in 1956 to criticism that a fictional black character in his newspaper column was offensive.

                                       

President Bush calls Helms a "great public servant and true patriot", but it seems pretty clear to me that he was a relic of the Cold War era mind set that believed the only "public" worth serving was the Christian, heterosexual, male, white, U.S. natives that agree with American colonialism and cultural hegemony. R.I.P., mother-fucker.

The Mainstream Media is many things, but “progressive” isn’t one of them

3-Club Rush Limbaugh is one of the most laughably ignorant blowhards in the country, yet people tune in to his programs & actually base their opinions on the shit he says. Sad, scary, and fucking stupid all at the same time. Thank you, feministing and Samhita, for this week’s Friday Feminist Fuck You devoted to the fat bastard, himself!

5-WordFox News gets clowned by a comedian that says exactly what most of us have wanted to for sometime now. Thank you, Dude.

4-Collection  President Bush was given a much-deserved hard time during a July 4th celebration at Thomas Jefferson’s historic estate, Monticello. For some reason, media outlets responded to the protester’s actions with shock or as if the shouts of “war criminal” and "fascist" we undeserved. At the moment, a video of the event is the most popular video on the BBC News website, located HERE. I swear, the newscasters, those Talking Heads on American TV, cannot be as dumb as they pretend to be. How could anyone be surprised by an Independence Day protest against the President? I'll bet he expected to be heckled, for fuck's sake.

Recovering from a night of debauchery and trouble-making is a long and complicated process

It usually involves way too much sleep, consuming a bunch of crappy food as quickly as possible, reviewing my telephone’s call log, and avoiding the mirror at all costs. Today’s post-drunk situation was no different. I’m still sort of confused & Cat should probably call me with the details soon. Anyhow, I hope everyone else's Fourth was equally off-the-hook & if you have any information about my whereabouts last night, please call the local authorities.

Annual Independence Day Ramblings

While it is true that I have no qualms about critiquing my government or calling out the flaws in American society, it would be incorrect to assume that I don’t love my country. On the contrary, I am proud to be an American. I’m proud to inherit the United State’s legacy of innovation and progress. I am impressed by this Great Experiment that is the U.S. of A. In fact, I am so American that the freedoms guaranteed to me in the Bill of Rights are right up there with food, water, & shelter as essentials to life, in my opinion. I also believe we should be careful not to forget that dissension and rebellion are central to the American story. As a people, we have never been the type to go down without a fight. The very meaning & importance of the word Independence should not be lost in a sea of flags and nationalistic propaganda this holiday season. We have almost survived the Bush Administration & it’s complete disregard for the American Way, so this Independence Day should be a reaffirmation of what we believe in -our right to be free from the tyranny of government that does not represent the interests of The People. That having been said, it’s time to turn to lighter refection on what America means to me. Here are a few people, places, things, and concepts that I love this nation for (in no particular order):

12-Nature Mae West: Hollywood’s original Bad Girl and an ardent defender of our right to free speech, Mae West deserves to go down in history as a patriot. She wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a risque Broadway play, titled Sex, & infuriated city officials raided the theatre and arrested her on public obscenity charges. She served eight days in jail, only to tackle the equally taboo topic of homosexuality in her very next play, The Drag. She was all about equality for women, for homosexuals, and for the transgendered way before that kind of thing was publicly acceptable & she regarded talking about (and engaging in) sex as a fundamental human right. Her movie career didn’t begin until she was 38 years old, but she rose quickly as one of the biggest screen stars of her time & eventually became the second highest paid person in the U.S. (next to media mogul William Randolph Hearst). When Hollywood’s Production Codes attempted to “clean up” movies in the early 1930’s, West responded by perfecting the art of the double entendre. Classic examples of West’s G-Rated sexual quips include: “Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”, “When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better”, and “Between two evils, I always try the one I haven’t done before”. She remained in show business until the age of 85, never underwent any cosmetic surgeries, and surrounded herself with male hotties of her choosing up until her death in 1980 at the age of 87. A lifetime of art, of speaking her mind, of defying the morality police, of self-obtained financial success, of sex on her terms and unrelenting self esteem that anyone of us could find reason to admire…a truly American way to exist, in my opinion.

5-WordFederalism: The United States of America is the oldest surviving federation on Earth. Our individual state governments are protected by the Constitution and are in charge of most of the laws governing our communities. The federal government binds all 50 states and our various territories together, but is only granted very specific powers by the Constitution. The feds are allowed to coin money, declare war, sign treaties, and regulate interstate & international trade. Pretty much everything else is left up to the states (as required by the 10th amendment). The modern federal government uses it’s enormous cash flow to dictate how states handle other aspects of governing, but the states have held on to many of their powers none the less. Federalism allows me to live in a state that constitutionally guarantees my equal rights regardless of my gender, which the federal government has yet to affirm. Federalism allows me to live in a state that constitutionally guarantees my right to privacy and my reproductive freedoms in no uncertain terms (where as the federal Constitution implies these rights but doesn’t explicitly guarantee them). I get to live in the great state of California and those people that want state mandated morality can live in Kentucky or Texas. I shudder to think what it would be like to be subjected to the federal government’s loose interpretation of equality without California’s more stringent protections.

6-BoxThe Best Animation on the Planet: Anime fans might disagree, but I don’t give a shit because I’ve never understood the draw of dubbed action cartoons (get it? draw!). I was brought up on the good cartoons of eras past, baby! Hanna Barbara’s Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear, Hong Kong Phooey, Secret Squirrel & Morocco Mole,  not to mention the weird commune living of The Smurfs and The Snorks. Warner Brother’s Studios hooked us up with the world of the Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Foghorn Leghorn. And from the animation powerhouse of Walt Disney came Donald & Daisy Duck, Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, the Rescue Rangers Chip n’ Dale, and The Jungle Book’s Baloo. I loved Rocky and Bullwinkle, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Jem and the Holograms, Garfield and Friends, Inspector Gadget. My early teen years were blessed by The Animaniacs, Ren & Stimpy, and Dexter’s Laboratory. As I’ve pretended to grow up I’ve gotten to enjoy MTV’s Aeon Flux and The Maxx, Beavis & Butthead, Daria, Cartoon Network’s The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, South Park, Duckman, Family Guy, The Oblongs… Seriously, if you don’t get the point by now, your not going to.

9-Street Nachos: Quite possibly the world’s most perfect food. It is quasi-messy finger food suited to sporting events, carnivals, stoned movie nights, and late-night Taco Bell runs. In it’s most simple incarnation, a bed of tortilla chips is topped with cheese (nacho, cheddar, jack, Velveeta). The original recipe unveiled in 1943 also included jalapeno peppers. Variations on the basic brilliant nacho premise have included salsa, guacamole, sour cream, black olives, ground beef, steak, chicken, onions, tomatoes, and refried beans. Go ahead. Get you some.

                                  

3-ClubAmerican Music: Our country’s musical melting pot took native musical traditions, added those of West African slaves and the English, Irish, French, Spanish, Hawaiian, Italian… yadda yadda yadda… the end result is apparently a gold mine for musical innovation. America gave birth to jazz, the blues, country & western, R&B, funk, salsa, swing, bluegrass, and soul. Rock n’ Roll in it’s best forms is American – folk rock, psychedelic rock, arena rock, Southern rock, Chris Rock, and punk rock! There is New Wave and grunge, riot grrl and hardcore punk, thrash/glam/or heavy metal. As of late we have Emo, Scremo, and Ska. Hip-Hop music comes in multiple shapes, as well. There’s the old-school DJ style, the B Boy style, Gangsta rap from various coasts and regional areas, Dance Club Rap and G-Funk. Musical greats are born a dime a dozen in the states!  Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Russell Simmons, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, James Brown, Tupac Shakur, Carole King, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, George Clinton, Axle Rose, Steve Miller, Ann & Nancy Miller, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith, Kathleen Hanna, Madonna, Prince, MC Lyte, Bradley Nowell, Fiona Apple, and Adam “King Ad-Rock” Horovitz are all kick-ass Countrymen that shaped the American musicscape we enjoy today.

 

When I was in school, we made friendship bracelets

The scandal-icious story about a supposed “pregnancy pact” between 18 teenaged girls attending Gloucester High School in Massachusetts has been all over the media lately. As you know, the mainstream media is selective about the stories they regurgitate & the chosen few stories they do tell us are usually told to shape public opinion on a specific issue or idea. So, when a story like this is so widely discussed I can’t help but wonder what I’m expected to take from it. Initially, I figured the story was another one of those convenient election year tales of teen girl promiscuity intended to scare the be-jesus out of parents & turn their attentions toward candidates that preach about Family Values and the evils of premarital sex (A.K.A. the politicians that still blame Eve for society’s ills). Upon closer inspection, I sensed the underlying message of the story was that teen pregnancy rates, which had been on the decline for fourteen years prior to Bush’s ascension to the throne, were increasing because pregnancy had gained a sort of “cool” status among underage girls. Instead of blaming the government policies that fund ineffective abstinence-only sex education, at the expense comprehensive sex ed programs that actually work, we were supposed to be pointing the finger at irresponsible teen’s that find procreation “trendy”. Now, I realize that a story about sexually active teen girls can be used as an all-purpose parable to justify any ridiculous assumptions you have about young women, teens, pregnancy, pre-marital sex, etc. etc. etc. For example, TIME magazine ran an article penned by Nancy Gibbs that uses the Gloucester girl’s story to gush about Crisis Pregnancy Centers (or CPCs).

CPCs are notorious for their use of misinformation and intimidation to keep women from seeking abortion services and the scary thing is, they out number actual clinics 2 to 1. They are not usually staffed by medical professionals. They are designed to look like clinics inside (waiting room, white lab coats, etc.), are often located near actual clinics, and use deceptive names to imply that they are full-fledged health care facilities. CPCs do not offer women referrals for abortion services or birth control. They have been known to pull fucked up shit to force women to continue their pregnancies, like extending the waiting period for pregnancy test results so that the women have time to take in all the anti-choice or religious propaganda CPC staffers can throw at them. Flat out lies about emergency contraception are common and women are told ridiculous shit like abortions cause breast cancer & infertility. In a nut shell, Crisis Pregnancy Centers pretend to offer assistance and help to pregnant women, only to confuse, lie, and guilt-trip ladies into adhering to their own moral dogma.

Now, the TIME magazine article suggests that the knocked-up teens of Gloucester were not planning pregnancies as much as they were rejecting abortion. None of the gals in question utilized the services of a CPC, as far as I can tell, but Gibbs uses the final paragraph of her story to bring them up anyhow. She writes:

This has been the mission of the crisis-pregnancy-center movement, the more than 4,000 centers and hotlines and support groups around the country that aim to talk women out of having abortions and offer whatever support they can. If not in Hollywood, then certainly in Gloucester, teen parents and their babies face long odds against success in life. Surely they deserve more sympathy and support than shame and derision, if the trend that they reflect is not a typical teenager's inclination to have sex but rather a willingness to take responsibility for the consequences.

Hmm… because a bunch of under-aged girls trying to get pregnant despite their lack of income, housing, a complete high school education, life experience, or legal sovereignty is CLEARLY a case of being responsible. Clearly.

Another Free Trade Agreement that will fuck over the domestic economy, our companies, our workers, our consumers, AND help support the domestic terrorism of Columbia! McCain says “Hells Yeah!”

4-Collection Another McCain fuck up I couldn’t help but comment on is his recent endorsement of a free trade agreement with Columbia. First and foremost, “free trade” is a bullshit market model & it’s detrimental to the general populations of both nations. What a free trade agreement does is remove all taxes & tariffs on products and allows any regulatory legislation to be ignored by the nations involved. It is essentially trade exempted from all the rules that everyone else must abide by. So, Columbian products can enter this country & be sold just as cheaply as products manufactured here, which makes it harder for American companies to turn a profit domestically. Tariffs are intended to protect American companies claim to American markets, so that they can employ American workers & keep our internal economy afloat. On the opposite end of the deal, Columbian markets would be flooded with the products & services offered by huge American corporations (that manufacture shit overseas for cheap) & then Columbia is in danger of ending up like modern Mexico (an economic disaster). My second concern with McCain’s support for such a deal is the heinous human rights record of Columbia. Amnesty International has scores of complaints about human rights abuses in Columbia (documented HERE). Wasn’t McCain among the war mongers that cited human rights abuses as a reason to “liberate” the Iraqis? Wasn’t he all anti-torture because of his experience as a POW (torture is one of the big abuses that AI talks about)? Shouldn’t our Commander-In-Chief think about the ramifications of economic policy that undercuts the safety of other human beings? If he’s blatantly on the side of elite Capitalist interests, rather than that of The People, before he’s even won the presidency, he will be so much worse in office!

Opponents of Rational Taxation pose as Working Class Heroes

A “tax advocate” sounds like a person sympathetic to the taxation woes of the Average Joe, like someone that fights the good fight against America’s original annoyance – the burden of excessive taxation. It’s interesting how labels can be so misleading at times… According to The Record, one of California’s most prominent tax advocates, Mr. Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, will be speaking in Calaveras County to a taxpayers group at the end of this month. If you care to be fed a bunch of bullshit disguised as ambrosia, the event’s information is listed in the article HERE. Once again, The Record sings the praises of an individual that does not represent the interests of the average Valley resident. The piece states that Coupal will be speaking “on how taxpayers can protect themselves from new [taxation] threats” and it mentions the work of the Association’s namesake in creating Proposition 13, but it fails to address the fact that one of the biggest “threats” to California right now was caused by Proposition 13 in the first place! Prop. 13 was passed in 1978 & it restricts the state’s taxation abilities, specifically it limits increases in property taxes statewide. Initially, people were gung-ho about cutting their annual tax bill. Who wouldn’t want to keep more of their money? Unfortunately, our school districts are funded with the revenue collected from property taxes and as educational costs have increased, Proposition 13 has prevented any increase in funds to cover the expenses! We always vote for those bond measures on our ballots that provide money to schools, because we’d hate to under fund education, but those bonds are loans that our tax dollars will be paying on for generations THAT WOULDN’T BE NESSASARY had we not cut off the major revenue source with Prop 13 back in the day. Proposition 13 has backfired & instead of relieving the citizen’s tax burden, it has diverted much needed monies to interest payments on education bonds and left public schools high & dry. Thanks to the “advocacy” of Howard Jarvis and his disciples at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California’s school systems (which used to be considered some of the nation’s best) are consistently at the bottom of the list in nearly every national scholastic review! I wonder what “threats” Coupal will be decrying at his Calaveras event… the dangers of funding public safety programs and police departments with sales taxes? Or how unfair it is to collect motor vehicle taxes to cover the state’s transportation expenses? Or, maybe, Coupal will rally against the current property tax rates! After all, the property owners of California, the landed class, could always use some more advocacy in their defense! Seriously though, the state is in a deficit & tax payers are worried about getting stuck carrying the state’s debt on their shoulders. This is a prime time for “tax advocates” that double as politicians & lobbyists to promote legislation that serves their immediate interest without regard for it’s long term fiscal effects, because voters will buy into their bullshit. Consider yourself warned.

Big Picture Darwinism comes to Stockton…and it’s not here for a Spanos fund raiser!

                            linked hands

I have a T-Shirt that reads: Think Global, Act Local. I fully stand behind this message. It’s important that we think about things, like pollution or political corruption, in terms of their global effects because seeing The Big Picture reinforces the importance of issues. The only way any one person can change things on this planet is by doing their little part in their little corner of the world, by acting locally. I like to think that I try my best to Think Global and Act Local, but sometimes I feel alone in my efforts… especially here in Stockton, CA. So many Stocktonians are apathetic, unconcerned, or just convinced that the city is doomed to be Fucked for eternity. Doesn’t every native to the city dream of the day they can escape? Isn’t “Stockton sucks” our unofficial regional motto?

I have noticed that more & more of my fellow Mudville residents have been turning away from that kind of negative civic attitude in the last few years. A diverse music scene has developed because local musicians, promoters, and business owners have been doing their part to bring about change. While the economy is still dismal, small business owners in the area have done their part to improve the situation by banding together in merchant’s organizations like the Downtown Stockton Alliance or the Miracle Mile Improvement Association. Business coalitions like these are support networks and advocacy groups for Stockton’s small business owners, which is necessary in a city as hostile to entrepreneurship as this one. Citizens have been organizing senior-assistance meal programs, hosting teen leadership summits, and holding fund raisers to improve their neighborhood parks. Four years ago, I would have laughed at any asshole that preached about Stockton’s potential or suggested that local citizens were willing to work towards improvement. Now, I’m convinced that Stockton’s evolution will be brought about by the efforts of People Like You & Me. That kicks ass!

The most recent example of Stocktonians handling the mother f***ing business was reported in Tuesday’s Record under the headline Groups plan suit against Stockton. According to the paper, The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta and The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance have both decided to go head-to-head with the City of Stockton and San Joaquin County in two separate suits that cry foul on the way local government has been disposing of storm run-off and sewage. The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta is composed of South valley farmers & residents suing the city for allowing heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides to escape through storm drains and into the fragile Delta eco-system. The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance is beefing with the local government over claims that the city’s miles of sewer lines have overflown 1,487 times in the past five years. The waste usually ends up in the Delta’s waters, as do the pollutants from our wastewater treatment plant, & the Alliance is mighty pissed about what this does to the water quality.

Anyone that has ever drank Stockton’s tap water…or anyone that has spent an afternoon boating on the Delta, but were too grossed out to actually get in the water…or anyone that has heard urban legends about mutated Delta fish with arms & legs and didn’t doubt the authenticity of such tales… will agree that there is a problem & something has to be done to solve our water-related woes. We should all appreciate those hometown heroes doing their part to improve their little section of the planet & be inspired by their efforts. Visit the websites linked below for more information about the law suits, about the Delta, and about the water pollution that should concern us all.

The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance

Final thought courtesy of the groundbreaking anthropologist Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Shit Talking 101: A Guide for Democrats & their Supporters

It occurred to me today that the reign of King George is almost over (202 days left to be exact) and we will soon have a Democratic president. Republicans are excellent politicians because they tend to back their opponents into corners with ridiculous accusations (“Obama is a secret Muslim!”, “John Kerry hates America’s veterans!”) or unrelenting investigations into irrelevant bullshit (i.e. the Clinton impeachment, Obama’s Rev. Wright fiasco). Democrats, on the other hand, spend much of their campaigns defending themselves from Republican talking points & in the end, the only thing the public remembers is the slanderous bullshit coming from the Right. Obama has been quite successful in his efforts to avoid this kind of defensive politicking, but the mainstream media outlets have tried their best to keep Republican talking points on the minds of voters by dissecting the “anger” of various voting blocks, reporting on minor faux pas made by the Obama camp, and avoiding discussion of the candidate’s platforms at all costs. It’s pretty clear that Obama won’t win this election without a fight even if he is clearly the better candidate. It seems to me that the best way to achieve success in November is to adopt the aggressive Republican style of politics & use it to our advantage. For example, the fact that John McCain is a member of the Republican Party should be enough to kill his chances at the White House. The sheer stupidity and callousness that has been exhibited by the party leadership during the Bush Administration has given us plenty of ammunition! So far, McCain’s camp has brought up Obama’s fleeting relationship with William Ayers (of Weather Underground fame) and the controversial Rev. Wright as reasons to distrust his candidacy. The obvious retort to such silly bullshit is to recall McCain’s very public relationships with the Worst Case Scenario President and the GOP! I need not remind you of all the crap the Grand Ole Party has presented us with recently, but I will bring up one of the best (and most useful) fuck ups that can be used to discredit McCain by using the same Guilt By Association techniques his party perfected.

 2-InfoJack Abramoff & Co. fuck over Native Americans in one of the best political scandals since Iran-Contra: I am still baffled by how the Justice Department managed to charge so many high ranking Republicans even though they had a political ally in the White House. Kinda’ makes me wonder just how deep the rabbit hole really goes, y’know? Anyhow, here’s the plot: Abramoff used to be a lobbyist for two of the industries biggest Washington firms & served on Bush’s 2001 Transition Advisory Team (making him a homie of the Administration from the beginning, with intimate knowledge of Who’s Who in Bush’s White House). On January 3, 2006, Abramoff pled guilty to three criminal felony charges (conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion) in Washington, DC, followed the very next day by his guilty plea to two other criminal felony charges (conspiracy, honest services fraud, and tax evasion) in a Miami court. All hell broke loose with his guilty plea & an extensive corruption investigation resulted in the conviction of two White House staffers, a Congressman (Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio), various political aides, and multiple lobbyists. Scores of politicians were tainted by their questionable dealings with Abramoff, including the former U.S. Representitive from my district, Richard Pombo. Basically what Jack Abramoff did was he dished out bribes left & right, in exchange for political favors that benefited his lobbying clients. He attempted to punk his Indian tribe clients by demanding an estimated $85 million in lobbying fees and when they refused to pay, he orchestrated the lobbying efforts against his own clients! Meanwhile, he pocketed millions of dollars without paying the taxes due on the income. Bribes from Abramoff weren’t like free lunches or home made cookies. He sent former Republican Congressmen Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, and Tom Feeney on golfing trips to Scotland. He had four sky boxes at major sports arenas that he made available to politicians for personal use or fundraising events. He doled out tickets to football & baseball games, VIP passes to music concerts, and provided expensive meals & gifts to any politician willing to be bought. SO, WHAT IS THE MCCAIN CONNECTION? John McCain was the chair of the Indian Affairs Committee during Abramoff’s era. He should have picked up on the Congressmen that were overly eager to finance Indian casinos promoted by Abramoff, but he didn’t. As the committee chair, he had access to an e-mail that clearly outlined the bribery agreement between Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Abramoff, but McCain withheld the e-mail from his final report on the Abramoff scandal. So, McCain wilfully protected a corrupt politician from a Congressional investigation AND proved he was incapable of overseeing a Senate committee. Seems to me that heading up a committee is a lot easier than overseeing the entire country!

Wouldn’t having a beer (or two) with Randi Rhodes kick ass?

Remember, during the 2000 election, when somebody asked voters which Presidential candidate they’d rather have a beer with? George Bush was the obvious favorite (even I’d rather have a Bud with Bush than Al Gore’s up tight ass). But, I would much rather drink with Randi Rhodes, the radio star and political activist, than any Presidential hopeful! Even Barack. In the above video Randi breaks it down about what American’s expect from their government – from responsible & humane foreign policy to adequate veteran’s benefits, from economic stability to rational homeland security, from an end to poverty to an end of the Iraq War. I spent the entire video nodding in agreement.

Sarah Haskins

The feminist blogosphere has fallen head over heels in love with Sarah Haskins and I must confess that I, too, am crushing on the lady behind those clever Target Women segments from infomania. Lately, it seems like every time I start to question some ridiculous aspect of our media culture, Haskins has already called it out in her segment (Yogurt, I’m talking to you)! Thank you, Sarah, for delivering our weekly dose of media insanity just how we prefer it – dry, sarcastic, and relevant. Here’s a few of my favorites…

This segment, titled “Suffrage”, addresses how the media & our Presidential candidates are approaching American women in the post-Hillary world.  The Hit-The-Nail-On-The-Head statement: “You know what makes me angry? Watching you talk about how angry I am.”

The infamous “Yogurt” edition of Target Women brought up a slew of good points regarding the way yogurt is advertised to women (THINK: those annoying Yoplait ads where the two chicks one-up each other’s declarations about how good the shit is - “This is like not catching the bouquet good!”).

A much needed Rude Awakening about the ridiculousness that is Botox.