No media whores here today

Ken Lay'd to rest

Señor "Blank-o" wins in Mexico


Tonight's TV

Still in Harm's Way & Man of Peace?


I know better than to read stories like the following one, I usually end up in tears. The boy who died in Iraq isn't a whole lot older than my kid.

I knew this was going to happen, you see, where I grew up the human flotsam and jetsam from previous foreign wars is inescapable, and heartbreaking. What are these men (boys, really) dying for? Why are the ones who don't die, but end up broken, fighting? So Dick Cheney can make obscene amounts of money?

A dead soldier and who cares

Mexican election steaks

Border for Sale
Privatizing Immigration Control
by Joseph Richey, Special to CorpWatch
July 5th, 2006



Grand Theft Mexico
July 3, 2006


Mexico Presidential Election Ballots Found in Dump
RAW STORY
Published: Thursday July 6, 2006

Conservative Has Insurmountable Lead In Mexican Presidential Race
Massive Recount Underway in Mexican Election
(July 6, 2006)--Ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon now has an insurmountable lead in Mexico's presidential vote count, but his leftist rival is vowing to challenge the results in court...

Past Incidents of Mexico Election Fraud
By The Associated Press
July 05, 2006



Calderon wins disputed Mexico vote
Thursday, July 6, 2006; Posted: 7:03 p.m. EDT (23:03 GMT)
Leftist candidate says he'll challenge vote in court

Lay Cheats Justice

For Lay's estate, and his widow Linda, the positive implication of this grim day is that the government now has no means to collect on its forfeiture claim against Lay for $43.5 million...

...That makes it more likely that Linda Lay will be able to hold onto remaining assets, like the Lays' $3 million Houston condo. Having sold several properties in Aspen to pay legal bills, the Lays were reportedly renting a place there when Ken Lay died.
Larry Ribstein, a law professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, thinks Lay's death might provoke a reevaluation of government strategy in pursuing white-collar criminals. "A natural sympathetic reaction will cancel some of the anger that was driving all this," he says.
That could end up being good for Lay's co-defendant Jeffrey Skilling...

Figures.

And hmmm, what's Cheney doing?
"U.S. Plants Seeds of Disaster in Kazakhstan"

Israel dosen't want peace

Israel’s Gaza assault: the real motives
Guy Grossman
3 - 7 - 2006
Israel's destruction of Palestinian infrastructure in Gaza has more to do with its strategic objectives than with concern for one kidnapped soldier, says Guy Grossman.

Israel is like a thirteen year old boy who is spoiled beyond belief. I'm sick of the boy's shit, he needs his fucking allowance cut off for a year.

RLJ Youngblood

the fourth

America From Freedom to Fascism Commentary


Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The Problem with Presidential Signing Statements: Their Use and Misuse by the Bush Administration By JOHN W. DEAN

pertectin' yer freedom, now go git drunk 'n watch the damn fireworks

Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court.

next two, hat tip: One Pissed Off Veteran

State's security office tracked protests
SACRAMENTO
Attorney general criticizes monitoring as unconstitutional
Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times
Saturday, July 1, 2006

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in charge of protecting California against terrorism has tracked demonstrations staged by political and anti-war groups, a practice that senior law enforcement officials say is an abuse of civil liberties...


Has This Country Gone Completely Insane?
By Mike Ferner
07/02/06
-- Yesterday afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting in the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center on Chicago's south side, a Veterans Administration cop walked up to me and said, "OK, you've had your 15 minutes, it's time to go.""Huh?", I asked intelligently, not quite sure what he was talking about. "You can't be in here protesting," Officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt."Well, I'm not protesting, I'm having a cup of coffee," ...

STEALING IT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES
Matt Pascarella in Mexico City
Greg Palast in London
Monday, 3 July for The Guardian
Dispatch from Mexico City

Gore v. Bush.
Kerry v Bush.
Lopez Obrador v Calderon.

As in Florida in 2000, as in Ohio in 2004, the exit polls show the voters voted for the progressive candidate, but the race is “officially” too close to call.

But they will call it — after they steal it...

True Lies
2:46 min poetry reading video

thanks to ICH and GNN

A July 4th Declaration in Defense of the Constitution

The Nation
BLOG Posted 07/03/2006 @ 7:43pm

...Given a clear choice, Americans will choose defenders of the Constitution over those who would destroy it. But the choice must be put clearly before them...

Ummm, gosh, what's missing from this atrticle/blog post?
They forgot to add

"And the right to vote, and the right to have that vote counted."

Right wing pundits lose readers

Right-wing pundits in Internet ratings freefall
Published: Friday June 30, 2006

Ok.
That's a relief. Just because someone has enough money behind them to buy air time doesn't mean that they're not full of shit. It looks like the online community is figuring that out. Frankly, I never understood the morbid fascination on the left with refuting the pina ho anyway, till a commenter on Sadly, No! pointed out what I, as a woman, had suspected all along:

http://sadlyno.com/archives/003120.html#comment-61070

NYT's spotty history

When Republicans Hurt our freedoms the Terrorists Win
RJ Eskow on Huff Po
...The latest wave of liberal outrage is directed at conservative Melanie Morgan's call to send the New York Times editor to the gas chamber. (Call it "Deadline Man Walking.") Some additional progressive heat is directed at Fox anchor E.D. Hill for suggesting a Government Bureau of Censorship...

A declaration of war
Fri, Jun 30, 2006 8:20pm EST
"Media Matters"; by Paul Waldman
This week, the conservatives declared war.

Not on The New York Times. Not even on the media in general. No, this week the entire conservative movement -- from the White House to Republicans in Congress to Fox News to right-wing talk radio to conservative magazines -- declared war on the very idea of an independent press....


Ummmm...Dudes? The media (including the New York Times) has a long history of carrying water for those in power. I'd really like to think that us uppity bloggers are changing that, I really would, but here's some relatively recent history (as far as human civilization goes, it's recent).

Project Censored's media ownership 2005 (pdf file)


I've read this book, check it out

It's about William_L._Laurence of the New York Times

And it's the first time I ever saw this quote written, although I had heard of the quote before.

Regarding the 1939 letter to Roosevelt, his biographer, Ronald Clark, has noted:
"As far as his own life was concerned, one thing seemed quite clear. 'I made one great mistake in my life,' he said to Linus Pauling, who spent an hour with him on the morning of November 11, 1954, '...when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.'".
Ronald Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times, pg. 620.
Hiroshima quotes

The nightmares caused by the ruling elite and the year 2000 crowning of King George the Poopypants

I generally don't care for rap, except for Rage Aganist the Machine, but I love these music videos. My kid showed me these.

The Fourth Branch

Cause of Death


Mama is proud.

We could learn a lot from the youth in this country.

I wish people would quit treating them like they're stupid, or incompetent, and completely irresponsible because they are not legal adults yet. You think people magically turn into responsible adults on their eighteenth birthdays?

Now if you'll excuse me I want to finish this book today. So far, I think the title of the book is appropriate. The one descriptive phrase for the Supreme Court that jumped out at me was (that they were) "pompous asses." After spending the better part of two days trying to find out somthing about John Diebold, (who apparently has nothing to do with the voting machines, but sure looks like he was a member of the ruling elite to me) the arrogance of the members of the Supreme Court is ...ummm...not surprising.

All that hoohah about the decision that the court made on Thursday re: Gitmo? I'll take a wait and see attitude. The ruling elite are, after all, the ruling elite.



Bwwaaaaa haaaaa hhaaaaaaa ha ha ah ha, karma for you, you shortsighted bitch. Did you really think the Bushies would take care of you after they were done with you?

Good job, captains of industry

Heeeey, looks good....

Gray whale births rebounding on Pacific Coast
Thursday, June 29, 2006 Posted: 1456 GMT (2256 HKT)

Will it last?







A mystery of mass death
By Andrew Darby
December 1, 2004

Mystery my ass, pay attention, I predict more beachings


Navy allowed to use sonar in war games
HI Star Bulletin
Posted on: Friday, June 30, 2006 10:50 AM HST



Yeesh, between the gas and oil companies , the companies and people that pollute, the Navies that protect them and the ignorance of global warming, the whales and dolphins are fucked. The noise isn't just "pollution" to them it is survival, or death. They beach themselves, and sometimes the tympanic bones recovered from their corpses are broken. If they are deafened that means that they have no way to navigate.

In fact the oceans are fucked, but don't try to tell the captains of industry that, their useless offspring don't have enough in their trust funds yet. And the captains have help.

Just more of the same

And via Danny, some digging on what I suspected

Ok that was a bummer, now go laugh at Rush via Robin Williams on Leno Crooks & Liars

thanks C&L, I needed to laugh.

John Diebold

I would like this page to be removed imediatly. John T. Diebold (whom this page is about) has no connection at all to the Diebold voting machienes. Our name has been slandered in relation to thes fuckers and we have no connection. They triend to prove a connection back in the 80's but my dad disproved them. He died last December and these sort of pages connecting him to the Diebold Voting machines just hurt our family.John Diebold 11.17.06 - 8:12 pm #

So, before you read any further and make connections to a company which bears the name Diebold and makes voting machines, remember that according to the commenter (on this silly little 20 hit a day blog) "John Diebold," John T. Diebold had nothing to do with this democracy stealing piece of crap company

Ok, that said, this John T. Diebold guy was fascinating. Very busy, and fascinating.

John Diebold
1926-2005
Also known as: John Theurer Diebold, John Diebold

Birth: June 8, 1926 in Weehawken, New Jersey, United States
Death: December 26, 2005 in Bedford Hills, New York, United States

Nationality: American

Occupation: Writer

PERSONAL INFORMATION: Born June 8, 1926, in Weehawken, NJ; died of esophageal cancer, December 26, 2005, in Bedford Hills, NY; son of William and Rose(Theurer) married Doris Hackett, November 22, 1951; children: Joan. Brother William

Education: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, B.S., 1946; Swarthmore College, BA (with high honors), 1949; Harvard University, MBA (with distinction),1951. Military/Wartime Service: Served in U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II.

Memberships: International Cybernetics Association (member of board of directors, 1965--), Society for the History of Technology (member of executive council), Council on Foreign Relations, Young Presidents Organization, Center for Inter-American Relations Institute of Directors (London), International Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Author's Guild, Harvard Business School Club, Economic Club, Union League, Harvard Club (New York City), Metropolitan Club (Washington, DC), Chicago Club, Bohemian Club(San Francisco), Reform Club, Burkes Club (London).

Addresses: Home: 1East End Ave., New York, NY 10021.
Office: 430 Park Ave., New York, NY10022.

AWARDS LL.D., Rollins College, 1965; Sc. D., Clarkson College, 1965; ng. , Newark College of Engineering, 1970, fellow of Pierpont Morgan Library,1971; D.Comml.Sc., Manhattan College, 1973; decorated grand officer,Order of Istiqlal (Jordan); grand cross, Eloy Alfaro Foundation (Panama); grandcross, Order of St. Martin (Vienna); commendatore, Order of Merit (Italy); Order of Merit (Germany).

CAREER Griffenhagen & Associates (later Griffenhagen-Kroeger, Inc.; management consultants), New York, NY, and Chicago, IL, associate, 1951-57, owner 1957--;Diebold Group, Inc. (management consultants), New York, founder, president, and chairman of the board, 1954--; founder of Diebold Europe S.A. and of Management Science Training Institute, 1958; founder and chairman of the board of John Diebold, Inc., 1967--; chairman of the boards of Diebold Venture Capital Corp., 1968, "Managing Miracles: The Challenge of Communications to American Management." Diebold Research Program, San Diego, Calif., January 30, 1968 (FCC 11861). [T] of D.C.L., Inc. (holding company of Diebold Computer Leasing, Inc.), 1967--,. of Gemini Computer Systems, Inc., 1968--, and of Intermodal Transportation Systems Inc. 1969
Intermodal Transportation Systems, Inc., 1969--. Member of board of Genesco. span> Member of national advisory council of the Peace Corps, 1965--;member of U.S. advisory committee for European Institute of National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, 1969--; member of International institute for Strategic Studies, 1971--, public member, Hudson Institute; member, often in an advisory capacity, of numerous other committees and councils in business, education, and government. The conference was conceived and initiated as a biennial meeting by John Diebold, a venture capitalist who also served as Vice Chairman of the American Council on Germany, 1970--, Business Council for International Understanding, 1970--, and Academy for Educational Development. Member of boards of trustees of Freedom House, 1969a--, Freedom House, 1969b--, Committee for Economic Development, 1970--, Council of Americans, 1971--, and National Planning Association, 1971--. Diebold Institute for Public Policy Studies

WRITINGS: * Automation: The advent of the Automatic Factory, Van Nostrand, 1952.

* Beyond Automation: Managerial Problems of an Exploding Technology, McGraw, 1964. * Man and the Computer: Technology as an Agent of Social Change, Praeger,1969. * Business Decisions and Technological Change, Praeger, 1970. * (Editor) World of the Computer, Random House, 1973. Contributor of articles to magazines and journals.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=br_ss_hs/104-8344033-8011169?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=Diebold%2C+John&Go.x=6&Go.y=12

FURTHER READINGS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PERIODICALS * Wilbur Cross, John Diebold: Breaking the Confines of the Possible, Heinemann, 1966; Carl Heyel, John Diebold on Management, Prentice-Hall,1972.

hackable

A Single Person Could Swing an Election
Electronic Systems' Weaknesses May Be Countered With Audits, Report Suggests

By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, June 28, 2006; Page A07

ttttchct

Seeing isn't believing
Tuesday June 27, 2006
The Guardian
A year on from 7/7, wild rumours are circulating about who planted the bombs and why. Some people even claim this picture of the four bombers was faked. Mark Honigsbaum, who accidentally triggered at least one of the conspiracy theories, investigates.

Gee, ya think?

I'll trust these guys when monkeys fly out of my ass. . Friggin brownshirts

Misunderestimated again

Scientists OK Gore's movie for accuracy
Jun 27, 9:15 PM EDT
By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer


Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' wins special award

The business toadies are attempting to refute

And everybody knows they're full of shit

But they're pretty much controlling the White House, and criticizing some news providers for doing their job

4 hops

Today I went hopping around blogtopia (yes, skippy coined that phrase!) in search of Bush Administration misdeeds that have had negative consequences for many people in the US. Didn't take long. Here are four of my hops.
1. The Carpetbagger report making a 'statement'

2. More on Bush's signing statements from Nieman Watchdog

3. Statement on Signing Legislation To Repeal Federal Ergonomics Regulations
March 20, 2001

4. Google search organizes your results now?

The 4th one startled me and then it gave me the creeps. Not that step number four had anything to do with the Bush Administration....I think, anyway. Number three just shows how long it took for the Dictator-tot to start towing the corporate line, and paying back his buddies. Same old short term thinking, only look at next quarter's earnings, never mind that you're crippling people, just keep repealing laws that say you have to cover health insurance, or move everything to India, or switch to temporary employees.

Fuck.

I hate corporate America.

pfffft

Israel's Hostage Crisis Sparks Both Joy, Anger
A Daily Survey of What the International Online Media Are Saying
Posted at 10:34 AM ET, 06/27/2006












Ummm, sure, among the online pundits.

Missile Defense

Fund, Krauthammer overstated capabilities of missile defense system

No shit.

It has never worked right , and it probably never will.

It is very expensive

It's not worth what my great-great grandkids will be paying for it, that's for sure.

Just more M-I-C crap.

M-I-C

Lockheed Martin Uses Questionable Facts to Steer Spending Bill
June 16, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jennifer Gore jgore@pogo.org or (202) 347-1122

Duncan Hunter: Is he behind the Switfboating of Murtha?
By: John Amato on Saturday, June 24th, 2006 at 3:01 pm

KBR Fingered in Iraq Contract Fraud
By Paul Kiel - June 23, 2006, 6:11 PM
Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, & Root? War profiteering? Iraq? Shocked!

laugh

Ok, so I needed a laugh.
(click to enlarge)

for more laughs, go see Assimilated Press

not surprised

City Authorities: Sears Tower Was Never In Danger
Tower Management Lauds Law Enforcement
(CBS) CHICAGO Chicago
Jun 23, 2006 11:59 am US/Central

No shit.

The Bush Adminstration needed a new bogeyman because they got Abu Musab al-Zarqawi .

Hey, hey, about time to ratchet up the fear factor.

What do you want to bet they find Osama binLaden...oh, about the time they think they need to, right before the November election.

votergate.tv/

Oh boy, this is rich. The MSM newz sure looked like they were trying to paint the Miami "terrorists" as militant Muslim extremists. According to Juan Cole, they're your garden variety cult.

Wow, how did I miss this little gem?
Dollars, Not Sense: Government Contracting Under the Bush Administration
By: Committee on Government Reform Minority Office
Published: Jun 19, 2006 at 08:25

And finally, you gotta love Barbara Eherenreich
Piggery Award

Working for you?

I'm going to borrow a hilarious, but also frightening nickname from WTF is it NOW?:

The DictatorTot.

I think the only book that Preznit Poopypants ever studied was Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince.

Don't listen to what he says, look at what he and this Adminstration have done:

For security

and consumer protection

regarding deregulation of the media

and blatant abuse of power to benefit cronies


and global warming
(Asked about the environment, Hawking, who suffers from a degenerative disease, uses a wheelchair and speaks through a computerized voice synthesizer, said he was "very worried about global warming." He said he was afraid that Earth "might end up like Venus, at 250 degrees centigrade and raining sulfuric acid.")


( graph for CO2 emissions )

This Bush plan for spreading freedom and democracy, is it working for you?

pay pay pay

Congress Values Own Paychecks More Than Workers
Published on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
by Holly Sklar


Military Charges 8 With Murder of Iraqi
By JOHN O'NEIL
Published: June 21, 2006

(Here's my list of 8 that need to be charged: Cheney, Bush, Rice, Powell, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Perle, and Franks)

John from AmericaBlog:
19 Republican Senators think the terrorists who murdered these two US soldiers today deserve amnesty
by John in DC - 6/20/2006 08:11:00 PM

Go see if one of them is yours.

One of them looks like this to me . Guess which one?

Nasty exchange

My somewhat nasty exchange with Chris Reed of the San Diego Union Tribune . I was responding to this:

The 50th election was stolen!
So Washington Post political blogger Emily Messner encourages her readers to believe.

-----Original Message-----From: bugged voter [mailto:buggedvoter@yahoo.com]Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 3:58 PMTo: Reed, ChrisSubject: ?

Hmmmm. Shouldn't have expected anything less from the Republican leaning, defense contractor (advertisement) moola accepting right-wing fishwrap.
Here's how I see it, you idiotic twit, and I'm not the only one who sees through the bullshit.
http://politickybitch.blogspot.com/2006/06/50th-clinging-desperately-to-status.html

Talk to that prick Grover Norquist lately?

Here, honey, you're gonna need this, and the repugnant thuglicans won't offer it to you:








Real classy. Believe it or not, I didn't vote for Bush in 2004. But no, if you don't believe in a Specific Set of Truths, you're an "idiotic twit." Nice.






-----Original Message-----From: bugged voter [mailto:buggedvoter@yahoo.com]Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 6:05 PMTo: Reed, ChrisSubject: RE: ?
Fabulous, you want a brownie button for not voting for Bush in 04?
Does it really matter who voted at all?
Do you have any idea what a systems analyst is? I do, I called him dad. They fix bugs in computer programs. Ask a few of them how they feel about the voting machines. I'm sure there are plenty to ask, I've asked. Bet you didn't even think that's why I chose this e-mail address, did you?

Looks like "classy" overrides smart.....again.

No, as a matter of fact, you won't get "classy" out of me. If I thought the UT treated it's readers with one iota of respect I might approach the organization with more respect. They have an inordinate amount of respect for the defense contractors who pay the bills.

Did you expect me to apologize for throwing out the truth as I see it?

I've been told that I am brutally honest. I wear that badge proudly, and I live in my skin comfortably. I tried nice. Didn't work for me.

What is your definition of a Specific Set of Truths?

Pr'haps you're not an idiot, just paid to not offend the advertisers. I know of a lot of "classy" whores, most of them in the "representative" bizness, or the media.

chris.reed@uniontrib.com wrote:

Your "brutal honesty" isn't. You demand others believe in things for which there are no evidence, and if they don't, you start calling them names, all the while congratulating yourself for being morally and intellectually superior.

Have a nice life. Enjoy losing election after election.

Okay asshole, now I'm pissed.

I replied something like, of course there is evidence, but your organization will never investigate it because the system works for your organization. And sent this along.

morally superior republican "representavtive's " children (Bilbray)

you didn't answer my question, but that is not what someone in your position, or anyone on the right does any more...


chris.reed@uniontrib.com wrote:

You ARE morally superior! You think it's proper to pick on children of politicians you don't like! Your brutal honesty is soooooooo impressive!

Please, buggedvoter, go bug someone else. It's obvious I am too dumb to appreciate your fine qualities. Perhaps you can spend your time trolling on MySpace for embarrassing photos of children of journalists you don't like. It's the sort of thing morally superior people do.

Thanks for many, many good laughs today


Hmmm, embarassing photos of journalist's children?

Why the hell did this guy respond to me at all?

Should I send him some Depends?

Bubbles

Hat tip: Wonkette via Words Have Power

Brian Bilbray’s Kids Love Social Networking, Natty Light








Foreclosures May Jump As ARMs Reset
By J.W. ELPHINSTONE AP Business Writer
Monday, June 19, 2006


Howard Zinn: The Myth of American Exceptionalism
Lecture and Questions and Answer session. MIT - March 14, 2005



And ask yourself if the "war on terror" has made YOU any safer?

Or is it just a wonderful business opportunity for those well connected enough to profit from it?

Homeland security officials leave government for high-paying jobs
Associated Press
Last update: June 18, 2006 – 8:00 AM

Illegal immigration post number 43974876954937637

You think you know about illegal immigrants?

Mexico arrests man wanted in the U.S. for distributing fake documents
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press Writer
Monday, June 19, 2006
...The documents were distributed in several U.S. states, including California, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado, ICE said...

Here Illegally, Working Hard and Paying Taxes
By Eduardo Porter
The New York Times

... And they are now present in low-skilled jobs across the country. Illegal immigrants account for 12 percent of workers in food preparation occupations, for instance, according to an analysis of census data by the Pew Hispanic Center. In total, they account for an estimated one in 20 workers in the United States....
... But getting a Social Security number could be a little more complicated in the old days. Lily, 38, another janitor cleaning a building downtown, knew no one in Minneapolis when she arrived illegally from Guatemala 14 years ago. So when a neighbor said she needed papers, she called the smuggler who brought her across the border at his home in Mexico.
He asked her to make up a nine-digit number, which she did by combining the date she left Guatemala and the date she arrived in the United States two months later. She sent him some photos and $75 and received her fake papers by return mail...
...Cheaper Labor
Starting about 30 years ago, as illegal immigration began to swell, building maintenance contractors in big immigrant hubs like Los Angeles started hiring the new immigrant workers as part of a broader effort to drive down labor costs. Unions for janitors fell apart as landlords shifted to cheaper nonunion contractors to clean their buildings. Wages fell and many American-born workers left the industry...
...In New York City, janitors cleaning commercial buildings make $19 an hour. Mike Fishman, president of the Service Employees International Union's local in New York, points out that the union never lost ground in the city, and it is still unusual to find illegal immigrants cleaning office buildings there.

In Southern California, by contrast, unions were decimated in the 1980's, and only started recovering in the late 1990's. According to Mike Garcia, president of the union's main local in the state, Southern California's unionized janitors earn between $8.50 and $11 an hour.

(yes...we did leave, something about pride in our work, a livable wage and a new language barrier)


African Americans 'Dread' Growing Power of Latinos

Blacks refuse to compare recent Latino protests to their movement in the 60's. African Americans recall that they weren't immigrants, but fully-fledged American citizens that took to the streets after suffering centuries of slavery, rape, lynching and discrimination. We didn't choose to come to the United States, we were brought here as slaves. And we were deprived of our basic rights although we were citizens of this country. Many of these problems have remained unresolved since the 60's. But now we may relegated to the status of a secondary concern, said one Black university professor.

The Black community dreads above all that it will see its economic condition worsen due to competition from Latinos. In 2004, 72% of America's Black community between the ages of 20 and 30 having had abandoned high school and were unemployed, while only 19% of Hispanics were in a similar position. Latinos survive better because of their accommodating attitude toward employment, which fit in nicely with capitalist ethics: they accept working long hours at low salaries. They hardly ever complain and rarely avail themselves of the social protections that normal employees would.

To summarize, Black Americans are worried and are asking themselves: Will the power of Latino immigrants diminish the value of their secular struggle and speed their marginalization?

Plea for net neutrality

...The corporate media that was long ago used as a weapon against the people is still used to promulgate the lies and distortions that have torn this nation asunder and set the world ablaze with war and discord. The shameless promotion of the war in Iraq and the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli military are poignant examples...

...So infected are the public airwaves with the lies and distortions of capitalism and the military industrial complex, that there is no room for the expression of opposing opinions or dissent...

...Enter the Internet, one of the last bastions for democracy and the free and open exchange of ideas...

...If the world’s largest telecommunications companies have their way that will change...

...If net neutrality is defeated the result will be a familiar one that characterizes all capitalist societies divided by class. Once again, it will be those with money who get preferential treatment...

...Men like Ted Stevens, (uh huh,this dickweed) who so typify Congress these days, are a slave to his corporate pay masters. He does not serve the interest of the people or the commonwealth any more than do AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. Senator Steven’s abysmal voting record speaks for itself. It is all about socializing cost and privatizing wealth—predatory capitalism...

...More information on net neutrality can be found at http://www.savetheinternet.com/ or www.itsournet.org. ..

One Pissed Off Veteran's inspiring post

Farnsworth has a great post, on the Nafta Superhighway.

It made me think. It made me wonder. I looked for more
connections, and well, lookee here, ifn I didn't find some:

There is another union that the BushOilCo has not busted beyond all repair yet. The largest rail hub Is where the Nafta Superhighway's proposed Y split is.

Take a look at where those Nasco board members are from. Texas. Frankly, I have no use for most Texans, as their rabid (self-defeating) support of the Bush Crime Family nauseates me.

Check out the nationwide energy grid here. Most of Texas is a separate part of the grid.

Why does U Wyoming publish the western part of the US energy grid in detail? Wasn't it 'Ol Darth Cheney who was warning us about gettng hit by terrorists? Why is a college in his home territory making it easier for the terrorists?

Anyone who does not question everything this Administration does is either comatose, brainwashed, self-destructive, or profiting from the malfeasance.

Sirota

I think this guy is so hot

Please don't call me Paris Hilton.


And he was busy yesterday, debating this asshole.


Yep, I suck at the photoshop thing, but you get my point.