From the Brad Blog,
NY Times Calls For Filibuster of Alito
I love what you do, Brad but you're wrong about the NYTimes. You're wrong but you're not alone. What the NYTimes is saying in the op/ed, "Senators In Need Of A Spine" is a popular and quite destructive myth about Democratic politicians. The idea that the reason they don't do the right things, that they don't vote progressively, is because they lack the backbone or courage to do so. The thinking is that politicians are poll-driven, dancing a jig to the chaotic rhythm of a fickle public. Afraid to stand up for some in fear of going out of favor with other voters.
But the poll-driven politician is a myth.
Polls on many big progressive issue show bipartisan public support.
Single-payer healthcare.
Increased spending on public education.
Expanded mass transit.
Publicly financed elections.
And on all these bipartisanly popular issues, the Dems are silent or close to silent. The idea that the Dems lack the courage to stand up is a fiction that either incidentally or by design keeps what remains of the voting American Left locked in a downwardly spiraling with Democratic Party representatives making corporate votes that later get excused as timid votes when it has little to do with courage and almost everything to do with pork for corporations hellbent on lowering wages wherever possible.
This myth of Democrats with no spines keeps the Left from actually organizing around true progressives and candidates outside the corporate pen in the hope that Democrats will 'get a spine'. But does spine have anything at all to do with what we're dealing with, here? To that, I give a forceful NO!
Like I said, I love your work. Keep it up. But stay away from the spineless Democrat drivel coming from the Times and other liberal publications.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Books Books Books never enough time
My current occupations:
The Evidence of Things Not Seen by James Baldwin
The Heart of Whiteness by Robert Jensen
Poker Without Cards by Ben Mack
Dopefiend by Donald Goines
Candide by Voltaire
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The Evidence of Things Not Seen by James Baldwin
The Heart of Whiteness by Robert Jensen
Poker Without Cards by Ben Mack
Dopefiend by Donald Goines
Candide by Voltaire
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Bush Spy Scandal Is A PsyOp
The real story here is likely much, much bigger than being reported. Is it tin-foil hat to assert that this entire story seems likely to be a large scale psychological operation to give a Syriana due diligence appearance to a story that was going to break anyway.
Basically, someone was probably going to break this story or it was broken and suppressed. What we are seeing now is a white-washed version of the reality of spying in the 21st century. It's possible for a few reasons:
1) Most people don't understand how electronic communications work. A false sense of security regarding telephone calls, email communiques and snail mail allows for big yarns, like the current one about Bush not getting a warrant(haha), to be spun. Most US citizens seem to be of the mind that there communications are relatively secure from theft or eavesdropping. And that's not true.
2) Prosecutor's Management Information System (PROMIS) PROMIS has been around since the 80's.
3) Echelon was reported long ago to have the ability to intercept upwards of 3 billion communications daily. That's "b" as boy. And that spec is based on years old processor technology. PROMIS came to be in the 90's. Perhaps 10 years ago.
Unlike the news stories being run on the Bush administrations legal usurptions, none of these things are new developments. I might have missed it but I haven't heard any of the corporate media mentioning either PROMIS or Echelon in their nooz reports. Hopefully, 'progressive' news sites won't be so worried about the respectability factor and will begin a public discussion on the real story. Otherwise, it will be left to the tin-foilers over at Wired, InformationClearingHouse , the Village Voice and the BBC to be dismissed by some but mostly just ignored.
Domestic spying is much bigger than we're seeing in the current snooz reports. With little to no accountability, who can say what the true scale is? Analyzing the reported capabilities of PROMIS and Echelon provide clues. But these programs aren't new and they both faaaaar exceed anything that's being 'uncovered' by the Bush administration.
Basically, someone was probably going to break this story or it was broken and suppressed. What we are seeing now is a white-washed version of the reality of spying in the 21st century. It's possible for a few reasons:
1) Most people don't understand how electronic communications work. A false sense of security regarding telephone calls, email communiques and snail mail allows for big yarns, like the current one about Bush not getting a warrant(haha), to be spun. Most US citizens seem to be of the mind that there communications are relatively secure from theft or eavesdropping. And that's not true.
2) Prosecutor's Management Information System (PROMIS) PROMIS has been around since the 80's.
3) Echelon was reported long ago to have the ability to intercept upwards of 3 billion communications daily. That's "b" as boy. And that spec is based on years old processor technology. PROMIS came to be in the 90's. Perhaps 10 years ago.
Unlike the news stories being run on the Bush administrations legal usurptions, none of these things are new developments. I might have missed it but I haven't heard any of the corporate media mentioning either PROMIS or Echelon in their nooz reports. Hopefully, 'progressive' news sites won't be so worried about the respectability factor and will begin a public discussion on the real story. Otherwise, it will be left to the tin-foilers over at Wired, InformationClearingHouse , the Village Voice and the BBC to be dismissed by some but mostly just ignored.
Domestic spying is much bigger than we're seeing in the current snooz reports. With little to no accountability, who can say what the true scale is? Analyzing the reported capabilities of PROMIS and Echelon provide clues. But these programs aren't new and they both faaaaar exceed anything that's being 'uncovered' by the Bush administration.
Morales Talks of State Investment; US State Dept 'Withholding Judgement'
If Morales proves true to form with statements like,
things will be changing in the Bolivian region, for the indigenous people, for non-indigenous living in Bolivia and for Western business interests that have long profitted from the gas rich country. One thing I have noticed is how North American and European media outlets' coverage seems to, if not center on, have as one of the consistent pillars, discussion of coca production and the cocaine trade in Bolivia. Question.
When a US president is elected to these same media outlets question what he is going to do regarding weapons manufacturing and the weapons industry, the US being the world leader?
Guns, missiles and other weapons kill far more people globally than does cocaine. And those same weapons have a killing potential far exceeding any threat possible by coca production.
The UK Guardian shamelessly reports that Morales almost ended their interview with him because of persistent questioning about Bolivian coca. The assumption being that Western readers won't notice or won't care about the racist hypocrisy inherent in the questioning to begin with. The fact that the Guardian is considered to be on the left end of the media spectrum of opinion is important to remember when synthesizing present and future reporting from the media in regards to Morales and his new government.
The US State Department isn't yet saying 'yea' or 'nay' on the Morales government, almost certainly waiting to see what he does regarding foreign gas companies and foreign business in general. If he sufficiently compromises and leaves in play the opportunity for foreign companies to make get the better of the deal regarding Bolivia's resources, they will likely not criticize him. If he's closer to Chavez and stops the looting, expect him to be treated like Chavez-lite. Probably no death threats from preachers but definitely attempts at undermining his efforts, beginning with the minds of Americans. Propaganda about the drug trade to smear him and get people ready to accept reports of 'instability' in his govt before it falls apart, the Mossadegh/Aristide model of US foreign policy.
Hopefully this won't come to pass but the threat of a good example is what the US and the West in general, won't allow evidenced by the invasion of Iraq after Hussein's attempts at nationalization of the Iraqi petroleum industry. Let's keep our fingers crossed and support high for the Bolivian movement.
Our land has been looted for 500 years and we are going to assert our right of ownership
things will be changing in the Bolivian region, for the indigenous people, for non-indigenous living in Bolivia and for Western business interests that have long profitted from the gas rich country. One thing I have noticed is how North American and European media outlets' coverage seems to, if not center on, have as one of the consistent pillars, discussion of coca production and the cocaine trade in Bolivia. Question.
When a US president is elected to these same media outlets question what he is going to do regarding weapons manufacturing and the weapons industry, the US being the world leader?
Guns, missiles and other weapons kill far more people globally than does cocaine. And those same weapons have a killing potential far exceeding any threat possible by coca production.
The UK Guardian shamelessly reports that Morales almost ended their interview with him because of persistent questioning about Bolivian coca. The assumption being that Western readers won't notice or won't care about the racist hypocrisy inherent in the questioning to begin with. The fact that the Guardian is considered to be on the left end of the media spectrum of opinion is important to remember when synthesizing present and future reporting from the media in regards to Morales and his new government.
The US State Department isn't yet saying 'yea' or 'nay' on the Morales government, almost certainly waiting to see what he does regarding foreign gas companies and foreign business in general. If he sufficiently compromises and leaves in play the opportunity for foreign companies to make get the better of the deal regarding Bolivia's resources, they will likely not criticize him. If he's closer to Chavez and stops the looting, expect him to be treated like Chavez-lite. Probably no death threats from preachers but definitely attempts at undermining his efforts, beginning with the minds of Americans. Propaganda about the drug trade to smear him and get people ready to accept reports of 'instability' in his govt before it falls apart, the Mossadegh/Aristide model of US foreign policy.
Hopefully this won't come to pass but the threat of a good example is what the US and the West in general, won't allow evidenced by the invasion of Iraq after Hussein's attempts at nationalization of the Iraqi petroleum industry. Let's keep our fingers crossed and support high for the Bolivian movement.
!!PRESS CONFERENCE!! - Ga ACLU Director to Discuss Ga Spy Operations Wed Jan. 25th
Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition/Atlanta
www.georgiapeace.org
GEORGIA ACLU TO RELEASE INFORMATION ON GOVERNMENT SPYING ON GEORGIANS
For Immediate Release: Monday, January 23, 2006
Contacts:
Ann Mauney, GPJC – 404-373-3864 (h); 404-630-8910 (c); annmauney555@aol.com
Gerry Weber, Georgia ACLU – 404-523-6201; gweber@acluga.org
Atlanta, Georgia—The Georgia ACLU will release documents on government spying on Georgians at a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday, January 25, outside the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building, 77 Forsyth St. in downtown Atlanta, which houses the local Homeland Security office. The documents were obtained through Freedom of Information requests.
“We have just seen the tip of the iceberg, but it is clear that citizens throughout Georgia have been spied upon by their own government,” said Gerry Weber, legal director for the Georgia ACLU, who will present the documents to the media at the press conference.
Weber will be joined by Rev. Tim McDonald, minister of the First Iconium Church of Atlanta and past president of Concerned Black Clergy; State Representative Nan Grogan Orrock; Ann Mauney, coordinator of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition/Atlanta, whose activities recently turned up in a Pentagon database; and other law-abiding Georgians who have been spied upon by the Bush administration in the exercise of their constitutional rights.
"We are at a critical moment in our history when the president of the United States shamelessly claims to be protecting us from terrorists by spying on Presbyterians, Baptists, and Quakers," Rev. McDonald asserted. "We must act with determination to defend our rights to freedom of speech and association against those who, at this moment, are undermining the fundamentals of our democracy.”
Increased government spying on American citizens came to light on December 14, 2005, when NBC News released a report concerning a secret 400-page Department of Defense document listing more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the US which its intelligence office had under surveillance. Among the several dozen incidents listed in an 8-page excerpt obtained by NBC were a public meeting of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition in the Atlanta offices of the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), a well-known pacifist group; a peaceful demonstration outside an Army recruiting center in Atlanta; a peaceful protest at the Kings Bay Naval Station near Brunswick; and similar legal, peaceful activities around the country.
The 12/14/05 NBC newscast is available at here. The Department of Defense surveillance document can be found here.
www.georgiapeace.org
GEORGIA ACLU TO RELEASE INFORMATION ON GOVERNMENT SPYING ON GEORGIANS
For Immediate Release: Monday, January 23, 2006
Contacts:
Ann Mauney, GPJC – 404-373-3864 (h); 404-630-8910 (c); annmauney555@aol.com
Gerry Weber, Georgia ACLU – 404-523-6201; gweber@acluga.org
Atlanta, Georgia—The Georgia ACLU will release documents on government spying on Georgians at a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday, January 25, outside the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building, 77 Forsyth St. in downtown Atlanta, which houses the local Homeland Security office. The documents were obtained through Freedom of Information requests.
“We have just seen the tip of the iceberg, but it is clear that citizens throughout Georgia have been spied upon by their own government,” said Gerry Weber, legal director for the Georgia ACLU, who will present the documents to the media at the press conference.
Weber will be joined by Rev. Tim McDonald, minister of the First Iconium Church of Atlanta and past president of Concerned Black Clergy; State Representative Nan Grogan Orrock; Ann Mauney, coordinator of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition/Atlanta, whose activities recently turned up in a Pentagon database; and other law-abiding Georgians who have been spied upon by the Bush administration in the exercise of their constitutional rights.
"We are at a critical moment in our history when the president of the United States shamelessly claims to be protecting us from terrorists by spying on Presbyterians, Baptists, and Quakers," Rev. McDonald asserted. "We must act with determination to defend our rights to freedom of speech and association against those who, at this moment, are undermining the fundamentals of our democracy.”
Increased government spying on American citizens came to light on December 14, 2005, when NBC News released a report concerning a secret 400-page Department of Defense document listing more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the US which its intelligence office had under surveillance. Among the several dozen incidents listed in an 8-page excerpt obtained by NBC were a public meeting of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition in the Atlanta offices of the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), a well-known pacifist group; a peaceful demonstration outside an Army recruiting center in Atlanta; a peaceful protest at the Kings Bay Naval Station near Brunswick; and similar legal, peaceful activities around the country.
The 12/14/05 NBC newscast is available at here. The Department of Defense surveillance document can be found here.
Bush's Buddies Say Spying OK: 'Only Going After Bad People'
General Michael Hayden, former head of the biggest spy agency to ever exist, the NSA, reassures doubting US citizens,
It's very carefully done. You shouldn't worry. This is about Al-QaedaWhew. Glad that's cleared up.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Evo Morales Sworn In
On Sunday Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, was sworn in. This is significant because Bolivia is the only majority indigenous country in the Americas. And Morales is the first indigenous president to be elected in recent memory. His election is more reason for leftists and progressives to be excited about the left movement of the South American region. As South American and Central American nations move further to the left exerting more and more control over resources and thus their economies, US corporate hegemony will be weakened, allowing US labor more leverage in our struggles. So this looks like a victory for what remains of the US 'left' as well as the Bolivians and people in the region.
The Times is reporting that the election of Morales solidifies the regions leftward tilt. Call me cynical but it makes me skeptical to hear the Times refer to Morales' election as a symbol of 'leftward drift'. Being credentialed by a publication like the NYTimes as a 'leftist', makes me wary. Will Morales stay true to the people? As the Times reports, Morales has recently stated that he won't expropriate foreign holdings. What this kind of rhetoric actually means, remains to be seen. Has Morales made backroom deals with the multinationals wanting to maintain their imperialist gravy train of exploitation of other people's natural resources.
Morales invited the Zapatistas to attend his inaurguration. They declined, with their spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos stating
Morales won over 50% of the vote giving him the office and an affirmative mandate for his presidency to be as he promised,
The Times is reporting that the election of Morales solidifies the regions leftward tilt. Call me cynical but it makes me skeptical to hear the Times refer to Morales' election as a symbol of 'leftward drift'. Being credentialed by a publication like the NYTimes as a 'leftist', makes me wary. Will Morales stay true to the people? As the Times reports, Morales has recently stated that he won't expropriate foreign holdings. What this kind of rhetoric actually means, remains to be seen. Has Morales made backroom deals with the multinationals wanting to maintain their imperialist gravy train of exploitation of other people's natural resources.
Morales invited the Zapatistas to attend his inaurguration. They declined, with their spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos stating
We don't have relations with governments, whether they are good or bad. We have relations with the people.
Morales won over 50% of the vote giving him the office and an affirmative mandate for his presidency to be as he promised,
a nightmare for the United StatesDemocracy Now has a good report on the significance of Morales' electoral victory.