boycott Rockstar
Did you know that Rockstar energy drink, which has been used at several LGBT events such as San Diego Pride, is owned by the Michael Weiner family? Who is Michael Weiner, you ask? Good question.

You might know him as shock jock Michael Savage.

reason to boycott Rockstar( hereCollapse )

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Unique Hezbollah Coverage on Mosaic
If anyone gets satellite, Link TV has been doing special segments of Mosaic (aggregate of news shows from all over the Middle East) with viewer call-ins. They're also running a good documentary this week called Women of Hezbollah.

I believe Mosaic runs at 7 on the East coast.

DIRECTV channel 375
DISH channel 9410

You can find more info here:
http://www.linktv.org/programming/programDescription.php4?code=mosaic_insight

This is Link's main web site:
http://linktv.org/

(x-posted from my LJ)

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You Can Be Part of a Link TV Documentary!
Link TV is looking for video clips from YearlyKos. If you went to YearlyKos with video camera in hand, here's your chance for 15 minutes of fame! Announcement below:

******************


Letter to YearlyKos attendees,

I am producing an hour-long documentary for Link TV on the historic YearlyKos 2006 Conference.  In addition to airing the show this fall on Link TV national satellite channel, we will stream many new clips at LinkTV/YearlyKos and distribute the program on DVD.

We are seeking additional footage of the YearlyKos conference - panels and parties that we missed or any memorable or illuminating moments.  We're also interested in blog entries that are unique, funny or especially striking visually, including innovative video blogs. Please send links to any blogs that you would recommend.

If you have footage or resources, we would greatly appreciate receiving email links, DVDs or videos (mini-DV or VHS) by mid-July if possible. Label anything you send clearly, and DON'T SEND YOUR VIDEO MASTERS UNLESS WE ASK IN ADVANCE. All contributors will receive on-air credit and have their websites identified as cross promotion.

Please email comments, resources, ideas or links to Dbrown@linktv.org.  Check out the video coverage already posted at LinkTV/YearlyKos. Thanks!

David L. Brown
Producer,
Link Media
Dbrown@linktv.org
www.linktv.org

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Link TV Video Clips of YearlyKos
If anyone is interested, you can see clips from YearlyKos here: http://www.linktv.org/yearlykos/

Longer segments with better video controls and chat are posted here: http://www.fora.tv/ - I was told by my friend Robert Fuller that these are going to be free. When I searched, I found this one.

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Yearly Kos Convention (x-post)
The website is YearlyKos and you can see all the speakers and panelists we have announced so far. Just a few of the highlights:

Sen. Baraba Boxer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi are giving a lunchtime speech.
We have a panel on the outing of Valerie Plame with none other but her husband former Ambassador Joe Wilson.
Sen. Harry Reid is giving our Sat. night Keynote Address
Democratic Chairman Gov. Howard Dean is giving a breakfast speech
Robert Greenwald is screening his new movie

There's lots of other stuff and 2 books were put together to help fundraise. One a cookbook that has some awesome recipes and another a science book.

If you know of anyone who wants to sponsor or exhibit feel free to contact the people. Go to the website for details.

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Can you recommend me...
...any punk/hc songs about wars in the Mid-East, the war on terror, etc.? I'm compiling them for a radio show.

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links to pics from immigration rally in Los Angeles
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151377.php
http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/03/rosa.mp3
Rosa by cell phone – this is a great way to hear about what’s going on

arial view of today's demonstration:
http://la.indymedia.org/uploads/2006/03/la2006.jpg
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151463.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151493.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151440.php

my pictures:
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151356.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151337.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151318.php

video
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151385.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/151394.php

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Violence and Multiculturalism in Europe

As much as the violence in Paris is sad, it is not unexpected. Europe has serious problems integrating minorites who have contributed greatly to their societies. What the authors highlight has been known for a long time with little policy change from different parts of the society, whether it be state or non-state actors. Borrowed from bollox :

The identity problem is particularly severe for second- and third-generation children of immigrants. They grow up outside the traditional culture of their parents, but unlike most newcomers to the United States, few feel truly accepted by the surrounding society.

 

I would go much farther than Fukuyama. The problem is the lack of economic opportunites afforded to all non-Europeans who also have roots in Europe. Anyone who has seen a council estate in the UK or the Parisian suburbs can tell you that Trevor Phillips hit the nail on the head:

Which is less bad: the "have a nice day" racism of the institution which treats everyone with the greatest of respect - yet never manages to employ ethnic minorities? Or the clumsy racism of the institution which is baffled by cultural difference - yet employs minorities in numbers? White people and the race relations community (if they can be persuaded not to dodge the question) tend to opt for verbal respect.

 Its not that multiculturalism is a bad idea, its that in some instances it has been used as a tool to demobilise any sort of economic change which would see greater life chances for minorities in Europe.

Current Mood: anxious

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LA demo 09/24
Sorry these took so long to get uploaded to LA Indy Media. I don't have a digital camera. Anyhow, here are about 45 images from the Los Angeles anti-war demo 09/24/05.
1 of 3
2 of 3
3 of 3

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Morgan Reynolds (x-post)
Apologies if this has already been posted here. If it was, I missed it. Has anyone heard about this? Does this give some sort of creedence to stories like Loose Change? I imagine a good way to gauge how close to the truth Reynolds gets us will be by the amount of ad hominem attacks we start to see. Texas A&M has already started to distance the university from him.


UPI Hears...
By John Daly
UPI International Correspondent

Washington, DC, Jun. 13 (UPI) -- Insider notes from United Press International for June 8

A former Bush team member during his first administration is now voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings." ( articleCollapse )

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Of Politics and Religion

I wanted to wait until my temper about these two issues calmed down before I put up anything.

Deepening Democracy
This one of the key things I am interested in as an academic issue and personally. I think it is very important. HM Government, misled by Mr. Blair, decided to go to war on the Iraqi people to promote freedom and rid ourselves from the threat of WMDs. There is an idea that by promoting democracy even by force the world can be made a safer place. This has turned out to be an essentially frivolous claim. None of this really suprizes me.

What surprizes me is comments such as 'I have just tried and listened to evidence of electoral fraud that would disgrace a banana republic'. NO. This was not said of the recent problematic elections in Iraq or Zimbabwe. It is about electoral fraud in the UK due to postal voting. I find it reprehensible and morally abhorent that the government has ignored the advise of the commission it has appointed to investiagte the matter (whats new with this though?) and has failed to alter evil that lies under its own power before pressing for changes elsewhere. This is the height of hypocrisy. The worse part about it is that it is claimed that nothign can be done about the issue before the next election where the number of people whot vote by post is expected to increase.

Death of the Pope
I fundamentally disagree with bollox on this one. The Pope was not the good ole Pole. I respect and admire many things about the man. He did not talk down to Africans and he reached out to other religions. He travelled to take his message elsewhere. He was against war and materialism. Funny how the US media does not report those views when praising him. But lets be a bit more critcal here folks. Sainthood for the man who opposed Catholic opposition to the oppression and exclusion that the majority of people in Latin America face? This is depite his opposition to communism in Eastern Europe which was far less demoralising than poverty in Latin America. Anyone who has even been inside a favela can tell you this. Sainthood for the man who opposes the use of condoms in Africa? Africa is the continent where Catholicism is spreadig the fastest and where AIDS is spreading even more quickly. Ignorant people need to take themselves to a library and do some reading about facts. But then again religion has always had the power to blind people to the truth and rob them of the capacity to think they can change their lives:

Most people think great God will come from the sky
Take away ev'rything, and make ev'rybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your right, yeah!

Current Mood: annoyed

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You've seriously got to be kidding me....
                     Lookin' for a cheap date? Try Wal-Mart
The food, makeup, underwear is at "Everyday low prices" but a Wal-Mart "date" could be for free.

Read the story here...

Like we need that back-asswards radical right-wing company doing any more damage to our lives as we know it.... GRRRR  Have I mentioned how much I HATE Wal-Mart?!?!?!?!?!?!!?

Looking to make America worse? Shop at Wal-Mart...

Wal-Mart, lowering the standards of living for millions of Americans everyday......

Wal-Mart - turning back the clock on women's rights everyday...

Wal-Mart - the only place its illegal to unionize (except CANADA) despite the Wagoner Act - apparently it doesn't apply to them.

and finally - my favorite, a tried and true original -

WAL-MART SUCKS!!!!!!!




Current Mood: pissed off

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On a lighter note.
The reason I joined this group was because Steve Bell was listed in the interests. Back in 1989 the poll tax was introduced in Scotland, and Steve Bell wrote two If.. strips about this, in a parody of The Broons, a popular Scottish comic strip. Unfortunately D.C.Thompson, the publishers of The Broons threatened legal action, and they were never reprinted.

I have copies. I can't find them anywhere else on the internet, and so I thought that I would try to get them more widely distributed, as they aren't doing anyone any good just languishing on my hard drive.

To those of you who aren't really aware of Steve Bell, The Broons, or U.K politics in the late '80s, I apologise. To the rest of you, enjoy. And promulgate.

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On the other hand...
...you get the situation in the UK where they are proposing to legalise euthenasia, which is such a sane response.

I think that the most disturbing aspect of the Terri Schiavo case was the way it was played in the media. It was presented as a topic that split the nation down the middle. Apparently there was lot of difficult soul searching and a crisis in the country. They would then follow this with polls stating that 80% of the country believing that a) it should be entirely the husbands choice, and, b) that the government should keep their noses the hell out of it. Where was this crisis? There wasn't that clear of a majority in the election, and apparently that was a clear mandate.

Once again the christian far-right led the news agenda with their own interpretation and spin, and every T.V. news source followed along.

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What?!?! Could it be the Right is waking up?!?!?!
Bush Role in Schiavo Case Bothers Right

By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Not all conservatives are happy with the decision by Congress and President Bush (news - web sites) to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. Some leaders said Tuesday the new law allowing a federal court review of the case is an example of the big government they have always opposed.

"To simply say that the 'culture of life,' or whatever you call it means that we don't have to pay attention to the principles of federalism or separation of powers is certainly not a conservative viewpoint," said former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.

Allan Lichtman, who chairs the history department at American University in Washington, said the intervention of Congress and Bush to try to overturn the decision by Schiavo's husband not to prolong her life is the antithesis of several conservative principles.

"It contradicts a lot of what those behind it say they believe: the sanctity of the family, the sacred bond between husband and wife, the ability of all of us to make private decisions without the hand of government intervening, deference to states and localities as opposed to the centralized government," said Lichtman.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on a feeding tube to keep her alive since.

The feeding tube was removed Friday under a Florida court order, but Congress passed a law Monday requiring a federal court review of the case in the hope that the judge hearing it would order the tube reinserted. U.S. District Court Judge James Whittemore of Tampa rejected the plea of Schiavo's parents to do that.

The case evolved into a cause for social "right to life" conservatives who oppose abortion and euthanasia. Bush justified the action, saying the case was complex but that it was better to err on the side of life.

But Republican Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record) of Virginia voted against the legislation, saying it goes against the conservative principles of federalism.

"That the misfortunes of life vested upon Theresa Marie Schiavo are a human tragedy, no one can deny. I said my prayers, as did many Americans, as we attended religious services this Palm Sunday," he said. "I believe it unwise for the Congress to take from the state of Florida its constitutional responsibility to resolve the issues in this case."

David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, says he has mixed feelings about what Congress and Bush did.

Conservatives "who questioned the wisdom of the federal government reaching down and interfering with the state courts have a very valid point," Keene said. "In Congress, most conservatives have said, 'We're cognizant of that fact and that's why we have done this so narrowly because we don't think there's another choice.' But those who are concerned about precedent should be concerned about it."

Julian E. Zelizer, a Boston University history professor who specializes in congressional trends, said a conservative Republican movement that "built itself in the 1970s around attacking government has become the party of big government since 2000."

"Starting with the war against terrorism and climaxing with Congress intervening in this case, we see a GOP that is quite comfortable flexing the muscle of Washington, and a Democratic Party which is increasingly finding itself in favor of limiting government," Zelizer said.

Current Mood: hopeful

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So Very Happy to be Here!
gaijin-chan here. Feelin' powerless, stuck in year 1 of Bush II. Cannot understand why some people understand what motivates the masses so well that they can say bold-faced lies and have everyone gobbling them more eagerly than truth. Hoping you all will help be a window into hope for a brighter future. Would be prayin' right now, but they seem to have co-opted God.

Current Mood: hopeful

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Did you hear about the new stamp?

The U.S. Postal Service created a stamp with a picture of President Bush to honor his achievements. In daily use, many people complained that the stamps were not sticking to the envelopes. After a month's testing, a special presidential commission made the following findings:
1) The stamp was in perfect order;
2) There was nothing wrong with the applied adhesive;
3) People were spitting on the wrong side.

Current Mood: amused

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Best Left Wing Blogs?
Hi. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best left-wing blogs?...not just one's that recycle information but ones that offer an irreverent, humorous, or entertaining spin on it all? Or ones that excel in analysis at a higher level than most? etc.

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To Keep in Mind While You Shop....
Shopping Your Politics ---> Website

By Alan Abramowitz

With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of who we patronize relative to their Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics.

WITH US:
* Price Club/Costco donated $225K, of which 99% went to democrats;
* Rite Aid, $517K, 60% to democrats;
* Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean), $22K, 100% to democrats;
* Warnaco (undergarments), $55K, 73% to democrats;
* Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, $153K, 99% to democrats;
* Estee Lauder, $448K, 95% to democrats;
* Guess ? Inc., $145K, 98% to democrats;
* Calvin Klein, $78K, 100% to democrats;
* Liz Claiborne, Inc., $34K, 97% to democrats;
* Levi Straus, $26K, 97% to democrats;
* Olan Mills, $175K, 99% to democrats.
* Gallo Winery, $337K, 95% to democrats;
* Southern Wine & Spirits, $213K, 73% to democrats;
* Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons (includes beverage business, plus considerable media interests), $2M+, 67% democrats.
* Sonic Corporation, $83K, 98% democrat;
* Triarc Companies (Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's, Pasta Connections), $112K, 96% Democrats;
* Hyatt Corporation, $187K, 80% to democrats;

AGAINST US:
WalMart, $467K, 97% to republicans;
K-Mart, $524K, 86% to republicans;
Home Depot, $298K, 89% to republicans;
Target, $226K, 70% to republicans;
Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to republicans;
3M Co., $281K, 87% to republicans;
Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to republicans;
Amway, $391K, 100% republican;
Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% republicans;
B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to republicans;
Proctor & Gamble, $243K, 79% to republicans;
Coors, $174K, 92% to republicans; (also Budweiser - sd)
Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines - as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644, 80% to republicans;
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% republican;
Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% republican;
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K, 87% republican;
Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the
Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis), $242K, 83% republican;
Waffle House, $279K, 100% republican;
McDonald's Corp., $197K, 86% republican;
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% republican;
Mariott International, $323K, 81% to republicans;
Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to republicans

So head on over to Costco, buy yourself some Stanley tools and some Estee Lauder cologne, stop at Arby's for lunch, and then check into a Hyatt House hotel where you can drown your sorrows over the election with a jug of Gallo wine! And don't forget to sign a petition demanding a new trial for Martha Stewart.

Current Mood: amused

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Liberals on the Spit...
In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals, a source close to Cheney said. "We're going to have some Peter, Paul & Mary concerts. And we might put some endangered species on postage stamps. The president is determined to reach out."

Current Mood: amused

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