On the recent Minnesota raids...

Here is the link to the video containing the reaction to this bit of Gestapo-US-Style activity brought to us by our Hope and Change administration's FBI.  Here is some additional information on what went down over the last 48 hours.  The press conference is here:



The scary part of all this, besides what is described by the participants, is the reference to the alleged ties to "terrorist" organizations.    "Terrorist" - by whose definition?  And what criteria is being used to define a "terrorist" organization? 

This reeks of pure, simple intimidation.    Those that really run this country are trying to nip any type of perceived unrest in the bud, especially in light of the increasingly unpopular Afghanistan war.   

I'll look into this further and see if there are any links to their respective organizations, or to any legal defense fund.        This whole situation carries that characteristic scent of FBI-deposited bullshit.

UPDATE: Paul Craig Roberts had this to say about these incidents and their larger implications.   Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Police State Of America.

UPDATE:   The RNC 8 Defense Committee accepts donations for a legal defense fund for those involved in the raids and other police "actions" related to the 2008 Republican National Convention.   Here is the link. 

Quibbles and Bits, Volume 1

Some bite-sized morsels, juicy and/or crunchy depending on your disposition and mood:

>Thom Hartmann, heard on over 100 terrestrial stations and on three TV networks, is moving his show to our nation’s Capitol, effective 10/1. He joins Randi Rhodes and Bill Press in taking up residence in the Belly of the Beasts, with all of the media advantages such as increased access to the news and the power players that entails. Portland’s loss is Washington’s gain - all the best of luck to Thom and Louise, and I intend to keep listening;

>The White House is starting to roll out some ads and doing some campaigning, finally, on the benefits of the admittedly flawed health care bill. To think that there are some so-called Dems who are actually running against this bill - perhaps it’s because of the backwardness of their constituents, perhaps because of their own backwardness, whatever it is - how do you run against banning these profit-off-your-pain corporopaths from imposing lifetime limits, from rescission, from many of the other goodies that just took effect today? At least the president did something about it, he and those with the modicum of political courage it took to pass it;

>The White House has given far too much credit to the American People at large, for not seeing through the Fox News BS and the ultimate effect it will have on the upcoming election. There are a lot of good people in very tight races, and now down to the wire. All this, and the monetary nuclear blasts from the corporate donors haven’t even started yet. An interesting time, the upcoming five weeks.

Wake up, people.

Leggo the Bego

Cenk Uygur, of the Young Turks, had this debate with conservative columnist David Bego regarding Obama's recent recess appointment to the NLRB.  

Let's just say, I'm glad it's Cenk doing these debates and not me.   I've seen Cenk go off  on some of his guests when he recently did some fill-in work at MSNBC, and I'm surprised and somewhat impressed that he kept his cool in this one.   Mr. Bego is one of the smoothest-talking, most condescending neo-con BSers I've heard in recent months,  and how he can slowly, calmly, evenly shovel the condescension and crap Cenk's (and our) way is something to behold.  

You can see the devices Mr. Bego uses - the use of anecdotal evidence is one of them, as he uses his own stories as a business owner and the expectation that those stories are a microcosm of what is happening around the country.    He also talks to Cenk almost as a father would talk to an unruly child with ADHD, completely disrespecting the intelligence of Cenk and his viewers in such a calm, even tone.    I guess that to neocons of Bego's ilk, it's how it's said that carries more weight than what is said.   And it's his seeming expectation that Cenk (and the listeners/viewers) should take what Bego says as gospel that really irritated me.    I wanted to throw my computer out of my window after listening to Bego.

As I said, I'm glad it's Cenk, not me.   





  

Carlin's Stuff

I've been on a George Carlin kick lately.   His routines and social commentary are just as funny and relevant today as they were when they were first performed, some of them over forty years ago.    You can view his HBO specials (for free, no less), here.

I mention this in order to draw attention to his 1999 special, You Are All Diseased.   In the second half of the show, he goes into advertising (the infamous Advertising Lullabye), then expands into what America does best - and what best describes my general attitude towards the mass media and advertising in general.  I'll leave it to you to figure out what that is - just click the link above.  

As far as I'm concerned, George Carlin is still THE MAN.    

May he rest in peace.  

The Password Is..."Certainty"

I used to be a game show fiend, back in the early 70s and not long out of diapers.    Concentration, Split-Second, Jeopardy (with Art Fleming), the Pyramid incarnations, The Price is Right ("Barker's Beauties" and all), and Password were among the many offerings in which I indulged my developing brain.   Over the last several days, in fact months, I've been reminded of Alan Ludden's show as one particular word keeps getting repeated over the commercial airwaves and cable bandwidth on the news shows, whenever a Repub or a business suit is on the air - imagine the whispering voice:

"The Password Is...Certainty".

I most recently heard this word from the frontal orifice of John McCain (R-Sellout), on one of the Sunday bobble-head bonanzas.   He was repeating the mantra that businesses are looking for certainty from the government, especially as it related to regulations.    

Here, I imagine Mr. Ludden having the celebrities switch sides on the TV set (which was the custom on the show), and introducing a new password...(here comes the whisper):

Rede von Peak Oil

The German military, according to Raw Story, is now apparently hip to the peak oil dilemma. 

They apparently acknowledge the far-reaching consequences of this realization - increasing fuel prices making transportation of goods and people ever more expensive, creating extensive economic disruption. 

Free markets and globalization - brought to you by Milton Friedman and Petroleum.   

When the oil gets more expensive and harder to draw from the ground (or the Alberta Tar Sands), the already deadly scramble for the scraps will become ever more bloody - which might lead populations to question the validity of the entire market-based economic philosophy championed by or influenced by Friedman and his disciples in high places.   This questioning may lead to a return to trade barriers and tariffs -a Friedmanist nightmare, but if you are in a desert searching for the nearest water source, would you spend time pondering and experimenting with the theory that if you get a shovel and dig far enough, that water will magically sprout from the dead earth under you?   I'll take my chances with the search (and perhaps, the nearest cactus).

From a trade and economic standpoint, the biggest lesson here is:  "Free Trade" is an oxymoron.    Someone or something is going to pay, and in the corporatocracy's insatiable desire to externalize expenses for the sake of "fiduciary responsibility", we know who and what that is going to be.  Look no further than the recent BP gulf disaster.

Keeping It Lit

I won’t go into too much detail about the likelihood that the Dems will lose at least the House in this election cycle. Knowing how much money that Newt, Karl and their cronies are planning to drop on media advertising between today and Election Day, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit. And we can grouse about how un-progressive many of the Dem lawmakers are until we’re blue in the face - it’s their lack of progressiveness that will be their likely undoing, though I wouldn’t expect them to gather that as the lesson here, knowing how money flows in DC.