mousemusings...multimedia, music, progressive politics, video, web design and general rants
Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.
~Kurt Vonnegut
Friday, October 31, 2003

Two Words

 
Estimated Prophet
Read the entries for at least the last week. I've not been organized enough to write much lately. What Mark has included were the best of my intentions. I'm lazy, but he's cookin.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |




A message from Moby about the MoveOn.org 'Bush in 30 Seconds' ad contest
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Thursday, October 30, 2003

Dean being Deceitful

Dean discounting Kucinich, Braun and Sharpton; misleading, dishonest and completely politically motivated, which simply rubs me the wrong way.
In today's New York Times, Dean said this: "It's possible that I am the only Democrat who can get elected," he said. "And let me tell you why: Every other Democrat in this race believes that the way to beat George Bush is to be like George Bush. I believe the way to beat George Bush is to bring a lot of new people into this process."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, October 29, 2003

What is This??

Here is a web version of Craig's new film What is This? Clicking this link will take you straight to the progressive QuickTime file where it should begin playing almost immediately. If you find problems with the web version and are on broadband please let me know. We're still trying to find the best way to present web versions.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Orwell on writing by Jeffrey Meyers

Like Maugham, Orwell trusted his audience to share his values and understanding of the world, but he also sought to increase their political awareness. He developed a clear, racy, supple style, fluent and readable, forceful and direct, with a colloquial ease of expression. The critic Edmund Wilson, defining his essential qualities, praised his “readiness to think for himself, courage to speak his mind, tendency to deal with concrete realities rather than theoretical positions, and prose style that is both downright and disciplined.”
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


NH Green Party endorses Democrat Kucinich

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Dennis Kucinich is running near the bottom of the Democratic primary polls in New Hampshire, but he's tops for the state's Green Party.

``Dennis is one of us,'' party spokesman Guy Chichester declared Monday, as the party endorsed the Ohio congressman.

The party is based on peace, social justice and environmental concerns. Of the current candidates, Chichester said Kucinich is the most closely aligned with those principles. He said the endorsement to help Kucinich win the Democratic nomination will not affect the Green Party's own nominating convention in June.

...The Green Party is small in New Hampshire, and not considered an ``official'' political party. To vote for Kucinich in the primary, its members who are listed as Independents need only declare as Democrats on the way in to vote, and ``undeclare'' on the way out. Members who are Republicans must change their party affiliation to Democrat by Oct. 31.

UPDATE:Greens Warn About Misleading Story on Green Endorsement of Kucinich.
...Green Party officials wish to clarify that the half-dozen individuals responsible for the news release in question are not affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. Furthermore, New Hampshire is one of five states which still do not have a functioning state Green Party.

Personal note: Green Party US (GPUS) issued the linked statement. Green Party New Hampshire, (GPNH) whether functioning as 6 people, or 6 dozen people, is in fact functioning on some level. I'd say the endorsement is positive, both for bringing awareness to Green Party values and for Dennis Kucinich who supports the party values.

Kucinich the most progressive Democratic candidate, not Dean
"I think it's pathetic that I'm considered the left-wing liberal," Dean said
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, October 27, 2003

Buzzflash Interview with Bill Moyers

...We're not just talking about the media here; we're talking about democracy and what kind of country America's going to be. It's too late to transform the global structure of media ownership or Wall Street's appetite for higher and higher profits no matter the cost to journalism. But we can fight for more accountability to democracy by the big companies, we can encourage alternative and independent journalism, and we keep our searchlights trained on the towers of power, including the contradictions, absurdities and excesses of the right-wing media that now dominate the public discourse. [ read it all ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Of skulls and bones: More secrets of the tomb Yale Herald

Native Americans groups fight to recover lost skulls of Geronimo
An axe pried open the iron door of the tomb, and Pat[riarch] Bush entered and started to dig...Pat[riarch] James dug deep and pried out the trophy itself...I showered and hit the hay...a happy man...'

So recounts a document thought to be an internal record from the Skull and Bones Society. "Pat[riarch] Bush" is Prescott Bush, father of an American political dynasty. His "trophy" is the skull of Geronimo, the Native American spiritual and military leader laid to rest in 1909 at Fort Still, Oklahoma, where Bush and fellow Bonesmen were stationed nine years later. [ more ]

...Jim Adams, managing editor of Indian Country Today, provides an explanation for the notable absence of recovery efforts. "Apache tribal governments seem reluctant to raise the issue because it does violate taboos about speaking about the dead. This doesn't mean they're not concerned; rather they have their own laws of secrecy."

... George Bush, DC '68, and John Kerry, JE '66, both members of the society, could be hurt by their involvement in an organization that allegedly takes part illegal behavior.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Sun Ra’s DVD 'Space Is the Place' now available

“After having traveled through space in a yellow spaceship propelled by music, Sun Ra finds a planet he believes could serve as a new home for the black race. Returning to earth, he lands in Oakland, Calif. circa 1972 and has to fight The Overseer, a supernatural villain who pimps out the black race. Sun Ra offers those who would follow him into space an "alter-destiny," but the Overseer, the FBI, and NASA—who are after Ra's Black Space Program—ultimately force him to return to space before the destruction of Earth.”
posted by Andy | link |   | |


What Is This?

 
Dreamland Theater presents a new short movie by Craig Baker, What is This? Friday Nov 7th and Sat Nov 8Th. Showtime is 7:30pm. This film will be shown along with another short film To Evolve a Species , and the main feature Cosmos Songs, a documentary on the music of Sun Ra and His Arkestra, featuring Arwulf Arwulf.
Donations welcome. Come check it out!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Two measures of American desperation:

Wesley Clark and Howard Dean
By Sunil K. Sharma and Josh Frank
YellowTimes.org Guest Columnists
found via Wood's Lot
Enthusiastic support for front-running Democratic presidential contenders Wesley Clark and Howard Dean from liberals and some progressives reveals the dismal state of oppositional politics in America.

Decades of unremitting right wing assaults on every sphere of American life have so jerked the political landscape to the right that instead of clamoring for sweeping or even revolutionary changes as in days long past, the main battle cry coming from "the left" is "Anybody But Bush."

Long before the first primary, genuinely progressive platforms of Democratic candidates such as Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich have been deemed unrealistic and unworthy of consideration not only by the media, as can be expected, but by liberal activists and advocacy groups who often concede privately that they prefer a Kucinich, Sharpton or Ralph Nader.

As the U.S. threatens to expand its empire, with news of American soldiers killed in our illegal occupation of Iraq a daily occurrence, -- a war many Americans are waking up to realize they were deceived into supporting under false pretenses -- as the economy continues to go down the toilet, and as the wealthiest of Americans are lavished with tax breaks while services benefiting the common good are eviscerated, it's no wonder that Bush's popularity ratings are at pre 9/11 levels. In this degraded climate, simply to say you're an anti-war, anti- Bush candidate is to draw cheers from a battered opposition. And while they may be an improvement over Bush, have our standards so declined that we get weak in the knees when business-as-usual candidates like Clark and Dean summersault over a low hurdle? continue thinking
"Anti-War" Ain't What it Used to Be
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Rounding up the Republicans

South Knox Bubba rounds up the potential Republican Candidates...
Good morning, America, this is Your GOP! And it's a pretty powerful lineup. It should be a lively convention in New York...
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Pentagon seeks new nuclear weapons

A month ago the Senate eased restrictions on nuclear tests at the military's Nevada site, where no new test has taken place since 1992
Among the weapons proposed are an enhanced neutron bomb, capable of destroying deeply buried biological weapons caches, and nuclear bunker busters.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has told US diplomats that developing new weapons could encourage other countries to violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

"This is extremely serious," said Arjun Makhijani, president of the Washington-based Institute of Energy and Environmental Research. "The appeal to deterrence is a smokescreen. The desire is to develop nuclear weapons that can actually be used. The United States is in danger of being at the leading edge of proliferation."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, October 26, 2003

Thousands celebrate Diwali

Diwali comes to Manhattan
Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, celebrates the triumph of good over evil, as represented by the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after slaying the demon Ravana and rescuing his wife, Sita.

In a recent editorial, the Times of India summed up the modern meaning of Diwali:

"Regardless of the mythological explanation one prefers, what the festival of lights really stands for today is a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple -- and some not so simple -- joys of life."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Ashcroft's War on Greenpeace

Sailor-Mongering Civil Disobedience
by Kurt Nimmo
also see
Is it possible, due to growing opposition to Bush's USA PATRIOT Act, that the Justice Department has decided instead to use arcane laws to go after its enemies? Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act stipulates that a person or organization can be considered terrorist if they engage in activity intended "to intimidate or coerce a civilian population" and "influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion." In the above example, blocking the driveway of a federal building may very well be considered "intimidation or coercion" by the Justice Department.

Ashcroft and USA PATRIOT have come under increasing fire -- and that's why the Justice Department organized a 16-city tour to "correct misinformation" about the draconian aspects of the law. On the final day of this closed-door, invite-only dog and pony show, more than 1,200 demonstrators in Boston and 2,500 in New York City made their displeasure known.

Ashcroft and the Justice Department will likely continue to plumb the depths of out-dated law and fashion iron-fisted responses to the environmental and peace movements.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Green Party of Kent County Supports Dennis Kucinich

 
Resolved:
The Green Party of Kent County, in efforts to promote and propagate a progressive agenda that aligns with the principles of the party and the ideals of its movement, supports the candidacy of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who we believe can at least raise crucial issues for mainstream discussion, if not actually win. We feel his message and principles match those that the Green Party strives to promote, and thus he is an excellent candidate for the presidency of the United States. The GPKC, in issuing this resolution, is not endorsing Mr. Kucinich so much as it is endorsing the propagation of a peaceful and sensible coalition. We feel strong principles are inherent in Mr. Kucinich, principles that transcend organization and party affiliation. A coalition for peace can overcome the sinister agendas of the current administration, and actions taken now to increase awareness and stimulate thought and debate will serve to increase the momentum of the movement.

Read more about the Kent County decision.
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Friday, October 24, 2003

Clarifying our Positions

"Kucinich Demands Stations Cease Airing Dean Ad,
Cites False Statements About Opponents"


"One hundred thirty thousand troops in Iraq, no end in sight and a price tag that goes up daily, and the best my opponents can do is ask questions today that they should have asked before they supported the war," Dean says in the ad.

Kucinich said the ad is false, saying he never supported the war.

"I was the leader in the House opposition to the war effort," Kucinich said. "This ad does damage to me." Watch the video at this link.
"I believe you should say what you stand for. Don't misrepresent other fellow Democrats," Kucinich said.
I will not stand by while a fellow Democrat distorts my record and his own. A political campaign should be about clarifying our positions, not distorting them. When Gov. Dean denied his own position on the retirement age for Social Security during the AFL-CIO debate, he apparently thought no one would notice. Now he is trying to oppose the Occupation of Iraq in television ads but support it in debates and in conversations with newspaper editors. Does he imagine that no one will notice these contradictions?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


RollingStone Interview with Dennis Kucinich

 
...But in those years, Kucinich says, he began a journey inward. "I spent a lot of time out in the desert, in New Mexico," he says. "Thinking about things like purpose, how our thinking creates outcomes. And how the unity of thought, purpose and deed has such power."
Why are you so confident that you can win?

I have experience in looking at situations that everyone says are impossible, and reaching in and finding that other possibility of drawing it forth. You know, in quantum physics there are some who write about what's called the "implicant order." It's something that's just, you know, beyond your vision, but it's there. And what I try to do is draw forth that order that is there. And when that happens, people say, "Oh, that's a miracle." No, it was always there -- it was just waiting to be called forth. And so I think I can do that with this nation.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Thursday, October 23, 2003



"When the security of this nation is threatened, Congress and the American people give the president great latitude," he said. "We probably have given this president more flexibility, more latitude, more range, unquestioned, than any president since Franklin Roosevelt -- probably too much. The Congress, in my opinion, really abrogated much of its responsibility."
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)


The Man from Vermont is Not Green (He's Not Even a Liberal)

Damn the Polls Full Speed Ahead

"Certainly nobody wanted to have any negative impact on the election," said U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan

The extraordinary decision to bug Mayor Street's office was a necessary step in a continuing federal investigation and was not politically motivated, the region's top federal law enforcement officials said yesterday.

U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan and FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Lampinski said federal authorities never intended for the bug to be discovered weeks before a close election.

...U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, in town to give a speech at the conference, was rushed into the hotel by a sizable security force and did not speak with reporters.

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, October 22, 2003



Many progressives are praising Dennis Kucinich for saying all the right things -- and then they're backing other Democrats.
The leaves are changing. Apple cider is simmering and minds are emerging from vacation. Through Notes on the Atrocities I found A Class Act written by Jeanne d'Arc of Body and Soul who considers her support. Reading the comments to her pondering, other encouraging emergences of support are revealed.

Morgaine of The-Goddess writes in the comments: "I defected from the Dean camp to the Kucinich campaign about a week ago, and I'm not looking back. I just can't convince myself to give my vote to my second choice.

The more I find out about him, the more I realize he's the candidate I really want. He'll get my vote in the primary, then I'll stand behind whichever Dem wins against Bush.


The picture, I was compelled to upload, also from Body and Soul shows the passion of this man. There is no doubt who he is. We know exactly what he will fight for, and we know he will fight.



Put your vote where your heart is.
David Moberg writes, "It's fair to say progressives haven't consolidated around Dennis,' acknowledged Kucinich consultant Steve Cobble, who argued that the party's fractious left has rarely consolidated around any candidate, especially this early. Judged on the issues alone, Kucinich can convincingly lay claim to being the most authentic progressive standard-bearer in the race. Besides his hallmark opposition to the war, the PATRIOT Act and continued U.S. presence and military spending in Iraq, Kucinich has argued for single-payer universal health insurance, vowed to withdraw from NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, pledged to cut military spending to fund education, and proposed rebuilding the manufacturing sector and using government research to create new high-tech industries. He promises to promote labor unions, break up corporate monopolies, fight privatization of government, and stimulate the economy with new public investment in roads, bridges and new energy systems."

... Kucinich campaign advisor Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) and a TV producer/commentator, insists that many supporters of Dean, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry and others prefer Kucinich but have doubts about his campaign. "If all of these people who are saying Kucinich is best, I like him on the issues, but -- fill in the blank -- if they quit letting the media impose assumptions that might not be true and went out and worked for Kucinich, you'd have a social movement on your hands." Cohen argues that the media, with a bias favoring free-trade policies and a lack of sympathy for the labor and peace movements with which Kucinich identifies, have not taken Kucinich seriously.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Evidence Of Things Unseen: The Rise of a New Movement

By Tom Hayden
The evidence of things unseen. There is rising a new movement in the world. It is bigger than the movement of the 1960s. Yet it is barely seen by the experts and analysts. They look only at the behavior of institutions and politicians, not the underlying forces that eventually burst into visibility.

The first strand of this new movement is the global opposition to the war in Iraq and to an American empire.

One year ago this month, when over 100,000 demonstrators hit the streets in Washington DC, the New York Times reported that surprisingly few attended the anti-war march, perhaps out of fear of the sniper. National Public Radio repeated the story. How could they not see the 100,000? Apparently because such protests were not supposed to happen anymore
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Send your advice to Michael Moore

Michael Moore has decided to spend the money from his tax cut on getting the Republicans out of office, and he wants your help determining where to send his contributions.
George W. Bush went out of his way to give guys like me a big whopping tax cut this year. Words cannot express my gratitude-but money can!

That's why I'm spending my entire tax cut on getting rid of George W. Bush!

I will be giving the maximum legal amount to the candidate who has the best chance of defeating him (except Joe Lieberman. I won't give a dime to any Bushie pretending to be a Democrat).

I also want to support the candidates in your congressional districts who have the best chance of tossing out the Republicans.

Send me your candidate suggestions and the names of any groups who are working toward the kind of change we all seek. I will choose the recipients of Mike's Tax Cut and send them a check. I will also post their names on my website in case you want to send them a check, too.

Thanks for the tax cut, Mr. Bush! I hope it allows you to spend a long and well-deserved vacation at the ranch in Crawford. [ Go Dennis! ]

Michael Moore at the Greek:
Moore insisted that he himself is “not in the anyone-but-Bush camp.” While he is not yet endorsing anyone, he does “agree 100 percent with everything [U.S. Rep.] Dennis Kucinich stands for” -- with one caveat.

While you're on a writing binge it seems as though one of the liberal press (NPR) Cokie Roberts today reported on the presidential race without mentioning Dennis and Larry Abramson reported on the "Patriot Act" without mentioning Dennis either. Let's send a note to the editor right now to let them know that we care about accurate reporting, especially from reputable sources like NPR.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Elliott Smith Dead at 34

I'm going out now like a baby
a naive unsatisfiable baby
grabbing onto whatever's around
for the soaring high or the crushing down
with the hidden cracks that don't show
but that constantly just grow

Elliott Smith has died at age 34, according to an obituary posted late Tuesday on Sweet Adeline, Smith's official website.
Like me, Smith grew up in Dallas, TX and was physically and emotionally tormented by insensitive schoolmates before moving west. Smith went to high school in Portland, OR and attended college in Massachusetts. In 1992, Smith formed Heatmiser with bandmates Neil Gust, Tony Lash, and later Sam Coomes. Heatmiser released three albums and an EP, but it was Smith's self-recorded 1994 effort Roman Candle that drew attention to Smith's spare, confessional songwriting and innovative guitar work. After Heatmiser disbanded in 1996, Smith's solo career took off-- eventually landing the singer several songs on the soundtrack to Gus Van Sant's 1997 film Good Will Hunting, including the Oscar-nominated "Miss Misery."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, October 20, 2003

Voting improvements needed

Lawrence Kestenbaum of Polygon, the Dancing Bear and The Political Graveyard had his op-ed piece published in its entirety in Sunday's Ann Arbor News about voting and election issues. I hope it educated some voters, however, I wish he would have touched on IRV. As we upgrade our voting machines, I think it's important to insure the capability of instant runoff voting if the voters so wish. We need a dialogue and a push toward IRV before we spend any HAVA money we have available.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |




A human being is part of the whole, called by us the universe; a part limited by time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task is to free ourselves from this prison.
Albert Einstein
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Saturday, October 18, 2003

Random Thoughts from Bare Naked Ladies Blog Oct 12-03

Random thoughts:

1.Why does even the left-wing media say things like: “Howard Dean is the most progressive option for the Democrats (besides Kucinich)”?

This occurs in both the Progressive and the Nation’s current issues. It’s time to take Dennis Kucinich out of the brackets and treat him as the viable and believable candidate he is. I’m sick to death of progressives settling for right-leaning centrists as some kind of “electable” compromise. We just did the same thing in Ontario, by electing an overwhelming Liberal majority government, simply as a way to oust the Conservatives of the last 8 years. In the process, we’ve screwed ourselves out of a progressive voice, and into a stagnant, US-style two party system.

The left needs to remind people that they reflect the values of the community, as opposed to the values of the boards of directors.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Michigan Independent Media Center

An autonomous branch of Indymedia.org, the Michigan IMC is a collective of writers, photographers, videographers, and other media activists committed to creating grassroots, non-corporate coverage of local events and issues. Indymedia websites utilize "open publishing", which means that any user can post content, including text, pictures, and video. Ann Arbor meetings are every other Tuesday in the Welker Room of the Michigan Union at 6 PM. For more info, email imc@michiganimc.org
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Follow the chaos in Bolivia

This is an American teaching and blogging in nearby Ecuador. He's taken it upon himself to keep track of the news from many sources, including his brother from inside Bolivia.
Turns out, we heard, that a farmer was walking along a nearby hill and waving a shot gun in the direction of the waiting cars. Apparently he was a protester and was trying to clear the area of cars.

After driving for a few minutes, our bus turned down a second, much more rocky road, with the intention of skirting the road block. But after about a quarter of a mile, a loud "pop" and "whoosh" signaled that we'd blown a tire.
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Friday, October 17, 2003

Lieberman criticized by audience members at Arab American political conference

At the Arab American Institute's National Leadership Conference "Vote 2004: An Agenda for Peace and Justice"
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) was booed and heckled Friday by an audience of Arab Americans as a parade of presidential hopefuls made their appeals to a constituency that is gaining recognition as an increasingly important swing vote in the 2004 campaign.

"What about the wall?" shouted several of those attending the Arab American Institute leadership conference in Detroit.

By contrast, Kucinich drew cheers when he identified himself as the only candidate who had voted against both the Patriot Act and the resolution authorizing use of military force against Iraq. Kucinich explicitly called on Israel to "stop building walls and stop building new settlements," and Kerry, in an apparent reference to the wall, said, "We do not need another barrier to peace."

a personal note: I was there with Kucinich supporters and there was a definite energy and goodwill. An elderly man standing next to us commented, "I like him, he is a good man", and, as we walked out, a young woman sincerely thanked us for coming, referencing Dennis Kucinich as "the ideal leader."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


What Next For The Neocons? Watch Very Closely!

 
Watch Very Closely. This is definitely worth a read and careful consideration. The article is full of links delving further. In my personal opinion, Dean supporters should take a long look at Dean's wavering positions.

"Alternatively, or quite possibly simultaneously, there may be a decision by neocon leaders to rally behind a Democratic presidential candidate. Remember Ben Wattenberg endorsed Bill Clinton in 1992. This will happen if and when Bush gets tired of them – and certainly if he shows signs of losing his bid for reelection."

"The neocons’ preferred candidate would be Lieberman, whom they’ve been talking up for years. The fact that Lieberman favors affirmative action and partial birth abortion obviously counts far less than how he stands on Iraq and the Palestinians. But neocons are simultaneously building other bridges to the left. Thus in August and September, Christopher Caldwell in the Weekly Standard had several articles presenting Howard Dean as a spirited, intelligent presidential candidate who could be “Bush’s worst nightmare.” It is hard to read such stuff without perceiving the presence of an extended olive branch.

"If Dean or some other Democratic candidate can be brought around on two critical issues – namely (1) the Middle East and (2) giving neocons prestigious jobs in a Democratic administration – the neocons would likely sign on. This in turn would require them to tilt leftward on domestic issues, something they would do on a moment’s notice." [ read it all ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Lawmakers Back Request by Bush on Funds for Iraq NYT

Something to remember early and often, especially as we progress toward our regime change:
In the House, 118 of 205 Democrats voted no. Democratic presidential candidates in Congress split. Representative Dennis Kucinich and Senators John Kerry and John Edwards voted no, while Representative Dick Gephardt and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman voted yes.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Senate Floor Remarks by Senator Ted Kennedy

I didn't get a chance to hear this, but it's an excellent read, especially when paired with The Kucinich exit strategy
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Students, Nuns and Sailor-Mongers, Beware

It has lain dormant in the darkest recesses of American law for 125 years,
but this month Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft introduced critics of the
administration to his latest weapon in law enforcement.

In a Miami federal court, the attorney general charged the environmental
group Greenpeace under an obscure 1872 law originally intended to end the
practice of "sailor-mongering," or the luring of sailors with liquor and
prostitutes from their ships. Ashcroft plucked the law from obscurity to
punish Greenpeace for boarding a vessel near port in Miami.

Not only is the law being used to prosecute one of the administration's most
vocal critics in an unprecedented attack on the 1st Amendment, but it
appears to be part of a broader campaign by Ashcroft to protect the nation
against free speech, a campaign that has converted environmentalists into
"sailor-mongers" and nuns into terrorists. [ as your mouth drops further ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


The Widening Crusade

Military leaders shooting off: (from which orifice is your determination)
General Casts War in Religious Terms

"I knew my god was bigger than his. I knew that my god was a real god and his was an idol."
..."because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christians. ... And the enemy is a guy named Satan."


Last year, he said:
"We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God, have been raised for such a time as this." He has also said of President George Bush: "He's in the White House because God put him there."

Who is Jerry Boykin? He is Army Lt. General William G. "Jerry" Boykin. The day before Boykin appeared at the pulpit in Oregon, the Pentagon announced that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had nominated the general for a third star and named him to a new position as deputy undersecretary of Defense for intelligence.

In this newly created position, Boykin is not just another Pentagon apparatchik or bureaucratic warrior. He has been charged with reinvigorating Rumsfeld's "High Value Target Plan" to track down Bin Laden, Hussein, Mullah Omar and other leaders in the terrorism world.

Of course this is expected:
Rumsfeld defends general who commented on war, Satan
However he was slightly rebuked.

UPDATE: Representative Conyers' Letter to Rumsfeld on Lieutenant General William Boykin's Remarks about the War

And then there's this... different General, similar ignorance:

Hours after China became only the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to put a man in space, a senior US military officer said that space could soon become a war zone.

"In my view it will not be long before space becomes a battleground," Lieutenant-General Edward Anderson, deputy commander of the US Northern Command, said at a geospatial intelligence conference in New Orleans.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Out of Control

Now that even Republicans and the conservative media are freaking out about how things are going in Iraq, and wondering aloud if the Bush administration's seat-of-the-pants approach is cutting it, Bush himself has launched a P.R. blitzkrieg to get the White House version of events directly to the American people. The administration is going through local and regional media outlets with the message that, contrary to what the disaster-fixated national press would have you believe, great progress is being made on the ground.

...Rejecting criticism that he's lost control, Bush is defiantly insisting that "the person who is in charge is me." (But is that the way to go? The most effective response to the charge that Bush is dumb has been to play up his reliance on smart advisors. And now we're supposed to be relieved that he's going around them?) [ more at Mother Jones ]

Also see: Bush's War Plan Is Scarier Than He's Saying
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |




Major media outlets that did a miserable job of covering the public debate before the Iraq war started, do a profound disservice, not just to this campaign, but to this nation, when they warp the political debate about how best to end it.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


The Progressive: Kucinich Hits His Stride

"Go, Dennis, go."

Kucinich may not be high in the polls, but he's running a campaign of high principle, and for that he should be applauded.
"It's time for us to end the occupation of Iraq," he said, barely a minute into his speech, with the crowd of 200 cheering him on. "It's time to bring the U.N. in and the U.S. out, and bring our troops home."

Calling the war "illegal" and saying that the Bush Administration "lied" when it took the nation into war, Kucinich said, "I'm the one candidate who consistently opposed the war and consistently opposes the occupation."

Kucinich said he, unlike Bush, had an exit strategy. The Congressman from Ohio explained how "the U.N. would take charge of all of Iraq's oil reserves, without privatization, and the U.N. would handle all the contracts."

Said Kucinich: "No more sweetheart deals for Halliburton. No more war profiteering."


Directly taking on Bush's reckless, newfangled foreign policy, Kucinich said it was time to "abandon preemption and unilateralism." The United States should rejoin the rest of the world and become "a nation among nations. That's the way we'll protect the USA."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, October 13, 2003

Kucinich unafraid of uphill challenge

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Monday will write the latest chapter in a rags-to-political-riches story that began in a setting that makes Abraham Lincoln's log cabin sound like a country estate.

He will return to Cleveland City Hall, where he served two tumultuous years as mayor in the 1970s, to formally announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"It matters how people pay for electricity. It matters how people pay for health care and it matters that people have a secure retirement," Kucinich said.
"I was amazed. He had a sense of urgency about the moral questions. . . . Maybe this is a guy who can weave patriotism and our own American nationalism into a progressive idea,"
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Billmon at Whiskey Bar is Unendorsing Dean

I endorsed Howard Dean because I thought there was a chance -- if only a small chance -- that he might break with the rigid, totalitarian orthodoxy that requires American politicians to pledge unthinking loyalty to the state of Israel and all of its actions, no matter how foolish or destructive.

It is this mindset, more than anything else, that has made it impossible for America to construct a sensible foreign policy in the Middle East. It's also one of the key political factors that made it possible for the neocons to drag America into a pointless and unnecessary war in Iraq -- the same war that Dr. Dean says he opposed.

It's obvious -- to me, anyway -- that I made a mistake in endorsing Dean. As they say about second marriages, it represented the triumph of hope over experience. At the time, I thought Dean was trying to let some light into the dark dungeon of U.S. policy in the Middle East, he was being smeared for it, and I felt obliged to defend him in whatever small way I could.

This was dumb. It was all just primary politics, which I should have realized from the start. Dean might or might not be willing to break with the prevailing orthodoxy if he wins the White House, but looking for evidence one way or another in his campaign rhetoric is a fool's errand -- as his most recent comments demonstrate.

So I'm un-endorsing him.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, October 12, 2003

The Weather Underground

The Weather Underground is a feature-length documentary that explores the rise and fall of this radical movement, as former members speak candidly about the idealistic passion that drove them to "bring the war home" and the trajectory that placed them on the FBI's most wanted list.

you don't need a weatherman to check your local listings.

posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Thursday, October 09, 2003

Images from the Yukon

 
Yes, there are pictures of both Tony and myself.
Yes it was cold, but not enough to keep us from canoeing through rough water together. We see the same mountains ahead of us.
 

Click image for page of pics
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Troublemakers!

Mark likes making trouble! He's started a couple blogs recently that appeal to the labor activist/worker rights/won't let this stand kinda guy, or gal, like most of us. Check out his ideas!
Borders Readers United
They Call Us Troublemakers
and, while you're getting motivated to do some of your own troublemaking, look here:
Vivos Voco
The Revolution will not be Televised, but it will happen.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, October 08, 2003

New RubberSoul Newsletter 10-08-03

 
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Not just a blogger

Yep, the same Andy who has been adding to this page has another creative endeavour. Here are the lyrics to his newest song. The link will take you to his page where an mp3 awaits. Tis nice to know he doesn't always rely upon labor saving devices.

We're Goin' Back

We don't hafta' talk about it
And there's hardly time
A constant look we grow in common
Bodies full of eyes
To get together seems redundant
But I won't complain
Hold my hands and call the seasons
By their very names

We're goin' back (x3)
What is this sadness?

Slip thru the day-- hello, goodbye
Sidelong into night
Make it halfway, see your shadow
Then you just might
Wanna' hold the warmth inside of you
For all the reasons that you miss
Take a step into the ring now
Of a kiss

We're goin' back (5x)
What is this sadness?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


San Francisco Friends:

Musicians Supporting Matt Gonzalez for Mayor

The Make Out Room
Sunday, October 12
Doors @ 8; Show @ 9
$10-20 sliding scale (what a deal!)

Mark Eitzel (of American Music Club)
Felix Costanza (of Granfaloon Bus)
Paula Frazer (formerly of Tarnation)
Connie Champagne
Jolie Holland
Jessie DeNatale
Onelinedrawing
Beth Lisick and Tara Jepsen
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, October 05, 2003

reality vs. Fox News

As to the number of misconceptions held by their audiences, Fox far outscored all of its rivals. A whopping 45 percent of its viewers believed all three misperceptions, while the other commercial networks scored between 12 percent and 16 percent. Only nine percent of readers believed all three, while only four percent of the NPR/PBS audience did.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, October 01, 2003





Kluane National Park
Yukon Territory


Yukon River
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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