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Best Web Video of 2005

Corruption-Money
Corruption-Power
Bush Administration

The Academy Awards were tonight. People received Oscars for their participation in what were deemed the best theatrical films of 2005.

I wanted to use this an opportunity to present my choice for Best Web Video of 2005: "Us and Them."

It's a music video which ties the Iraq War and the the flooding in New Orleans.

The title comes from the Pink Floyd song which provides the audio. The concept is from a blog post by Driftglass.

The video is by Joe Max.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(195)

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'Scarborough Country' Spews Right-Wing Garbage

Economy/Budget/Taxes
Free Speech & Media
Bush Administration

Coretta Scott King probably in 2003 on CNN
Coretta Scott King

Reverend Joseph Lowery said at the funeral of Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, on Tuesday:

[Coretta Scott King] extended Martin’s message against poverty, racism and war. She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions. We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew, and we know there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance, poverty abound. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor.

This was greeted with blather from right-wing pundits about how terrible the funeral speakers were.

After all, they talked about her political work and its continuing relevance.

Joe Scarborough on his MSNBC show on Tuesday kept asking if Coretta Scott King ever criticized George W. Bush while sharing a stage with him, implying that it was wrong for Rev. Joseph Lowery to point out Bush's policy of spending for war what could be spent on the poor.

Joe Scarborough also asked guest (and fellow MSNBC host) Tucker Carlson, "Doesn‘t that turn off millions and millions of Americans when you exploit a funeral to make partisan attacks."

Tucker Carson replied, "Well, it‘s completely graceless. It‘s also rude as hell, by the way, since the president is sitting right there.. You can also eat with your hands, but you don‘t."

Great analogy, Mr. Carlson! Speaking about the fight against racism, war, and poverty at the funeral of someone who fought for those things equals eating with your hands.

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Bush Official: Bush Can Order the Killings of People in the US

Corruption-Power
Bush Administration

To the Bush Administration, a president who acts in the name of national security has extreme powers.

From an article by Mark Hosenball in the Feb. 13, 2006 issue of Newsweek:

In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States.

Steven Bradbury, acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, went to a closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting last week to defend President George W. Bush's surveillance program. During the briefing, said administration and Capitol Hill officials (who declined to be identified because the session was private), California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Bradbury questions about the extent of presidential powers to fight Al Qaeda; could Bush, for instance, order the killing of a Qaeda suspect known to be on U.S. soil? Bradbury replied that he believed Bush could indeed do this, at least in certain circumstances.

The Bush Administration has taken the authorization-for-war-in-Afghanistan and the Commander-in-Chief clause of the Constitution to nullify practically any limit n presidential power.

The problem is that it wasn't the intent of Congress to give Bush the powers of a dictator when it authorized war, nor was it the intent of the Framers to give the president dictatorial powers.

The Constitution gives Congress the power "To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water."

Amanda Marcotte writes of the Bush Administration position, "I do believe the phrase is 'judge, jury and executioner.' Nothing more American than that."

If officials suspect a man in the US is a member of Al Qaeda and about to attack, officials should proceed with an arrest and a trial. Not by murdering the suspect

Action Alert

What are the certain circumstances under which Bush official Steven Bradbury thinks Bush can order people in the US killed?

He should have to answer that question to Congress.

Please contact your Rep. and Senators and request that Jutice Department official Steven Bradbury be ordered to testify.

You can contact the offices of your representatives and leave a message by entering his or her last name on the top-left of www.vote-smart.org.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(692)

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Right-Wing Bias From ABC News

Free Speech & Media
Bush Administration

I want more low-cost housing. A federal budget surplus. An end to indecency fines for radio broadcasts. Accountability in Iraq. For the rich to pay more into Social Security. Limits on outsourcing. Less compensation for Fortune 500 CEOs. And many other things the Bush Administration isn't striving for.

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Samuel Alito's Corruption; He Does Not Belong on the Supreme Court

Justice
Corruption-Money
Corruption-Power

George W. Bush has nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court; Senate hearing start tomorrow.

The media-watch organization "Media Matters for America" covers media myths about Samuel Alito.

One involves Samuel Alito's corrupt actions in judging a case with a company he owned more than $390,00 in mutual funds through, Vanguard. Alito ruled in favor of Vanguard.

Alito had promised not to judge Vanguard cases, but did anyway.

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Protesters Demand That Wal-Mart Exploit Christmas

Local Government
Religion
Free Speech & Media

In the 1960s, Tom Lehrer wrote a song which criticized the use of Christmas by stores:

Hark the Herald Tribune sings,
Advertising wondrous things.
God rest ye merry, merchants,
May you make the yuletide pay.
Angels we have heard on high
Tell us to go out and buy!

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The Week at SpeakSpeak

Bush Administration
Talk Radio
Religion
Free Speech & Media

The motto of SpeakSpeak is "Fighting indecency fines. Promoting free speech. Watching the media."

I've been writing for "SpeakSpeak," which is owned by Amanda Toering, more frequently than I've been writing for my website here "Move Left."

Here is a list of recent articles at SpeakSpeak, some written by me and some written by others:

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Samuel Alito Is Dishonest

Free Speech & Media
Corruption-Money

George W. Bush has nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

Bush said about Samuel Alito , "I know he's thinking about his late father. Samuel Alito Sr. came to this country as a immigrant from Italy in 1914. And his fine family has realized the great promise of our country."

The Christian Science Monitor uncritically quoted a family friend on this matter:

"His father came [from Italy] as a 14-year-old immigrant, and by the time he was in his 20s he was teaching high school English," says Jack Lacy, a former Hamilton Township councilman and family friend for 50 years. "To me that is quite an accomplishment, considering he came here speaking Italian."

Note how the year 1914 got turned into age 14 by someone trying to sell Alito to the public.

But according to his military records, Samuel Alito's father (also named Samuel) was born in 1914 in New Jersey.

Samuel Alito, the nominee, didn't set the record straight. He should have spoken up after Bush's statement or after the Christian Science Monitor article. Instead, it took a blogger to report the truth.

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US Military Spying In America

Bush Administration
Corruption-Power

The US military is already gathering data on civilians in America.

The Bush Administration wants more of this, including investigations of federal crimes conducted by the military instead of the FBI.

From a Washington Post article by Walter Pincus:

The White House is considering expanding the power of a little-known Pentagon agency called the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA, which was created three years ago. The proposal, made by a presidential commission, would transform CIFA from an office that coordinates Pentagon security efforts -- including protecting military facilities from attack -- to one that also has authority to investigate crimes within the United States such as treason, foreign or terrorist sabotage or even economic espionage.

...One CIFA activity, threat assessments, involves using "leading ede information technologies and data harvesting," according to a February 2004 Pentagon budget document. This involves "exploiting commercial data" with the help of outside contractors including White Oak Technologies Inc. of Silver Spring, and MZM Inc., a Washington-based research organization, according to the Pentagon document.

For CIFA, counterintelligence involves not just collecting data but also "conducting activities to protect DoD and the nation against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage, assassinations, and terrorist activities," its brochure states.

CIFA's abilities would increase considerably under the proposal being reviewed by the White House, which was made by a presidential commission on intelligence chaired by retired appellate court judge Laurence H. Silberman and former senator Charles S. Robb (D-Va.). The commission urged that CIFA be given authority to carry out domestic criminal investigations and clandestine operations against potential threats inside the United States.

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A Simple Question for Michelle Malkin

Free Speech & Media
Conservative Con

Has your husband ever posted under your name?

At your blog, were any articles presented as "by Michelle Malkin" written entirely by your husband?

Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin avoided the question when asked about it by Brad Krantz of WZTK-FM, calling the authorship accusation "vile," but not false.

She also avoids the question in a long post at her blog.

She writes about marriage ("I have my hubby's help for a few hours a week.") She writes about Al Franken (he has "research assistants," she irrelevantly notes.) She writes that the question is "racist."

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Bush Power Grab: A Temporary Retreat

Corruption-Power
Justice
Bush Administration

Does George W. Bush have the power to label any one of us an "enemy combatant" and lock us up for the rest of our lives without trial?

For three years, the Bush Adminstration has been claiming such severe power for Bush, in the Jose Padilla case.

But on Tuesday, they instead went forward with the case in a normal manner and indicted Padilla in a federal grand jury, instead of pretending that George W. Bush accusing someone of a crime makes it so.

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Lack of Stadium Seating Can Cause Concert Chaos

Free Speech & Media

Concerts should be designed for safety.

As a general rule, concerts should only be given in places where the audience sits on an incline, whether it’s indoor stadium seating or an outdoor slope.

The risk otherwise is that the audience will surge towards the stage as they try to see the performers.

There have been successful outdoor concerts on flat ground, like assorted concerts in Central Park in New York. It’s not impossible for that to succeed, but it’s risky.

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Vote Up This Video at Current TV

Local Government
Justice
Corruption-Power
Free Speech & Media

Vote here for video of police breaking up a peaceful march in New York City.

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Action Alert: Ask for Balance on Armed Forces Radio

Talk Radio
Free Speech & Media

Ed Schultz wearing dark suit during Countdown appearance
Ed Schultz, Talk Radio Host

Republican talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is on the military's radio network, Armed Forces Radio, for an hour a day.

Democratic talk radio host Ed Schultz should be as well.

Please use the form at the website of Wesley Clark's WesPAC to ask your Congressperson and Senators for balance on this radio network.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(175)

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Twas the Night Before Fitzmas

Corruption-Power
Bush Administration

Will Patrick Fitzgerald issue indictments tomorrow?

This poem is for the night before the day the indictments of Bush Administration officials are announced.

The people who lied the country into a disastrous war, and smeared Ambassador Josph Wilson for speaking out.

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The Meaning of 'Freedom of Speech;' The Meaning of 'Liberty'

Conservative Con
Free Speech & Media
Justice
Bush Administration

Stephen Crampton hosts a daily radio show, "We Hold These Truths," which "can be heard on almost 200 radio stations nationwide."

In his article today for the American Family Association's "Agape Press," he writes that the Senate should confirm Judge John G. Roberts.

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Bush Wants More Power

Justice
Corruption-Power
Bush Administration

George W. Bush used his failure to prevent the attacks of 9/11/2001 to seize power with the Patriot Act.

Similarly, Bush is using his failure in responding to Hurricane Katrina to try to seize power.

Bush wants the power to order the military to arrest people in the US. Currently, the military is barred by the Posse Comitatus Act from arresting people in the US. Changing this would negatively affect the nature of our society and the right to protest.

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John G. Roberts Wouldn't Answer the Questions

Bush Administration
Justice

Bush's nominee for Chief Justice John G. Roberts recently completed being asked questions by the US Senate Judiciary Committee.

However, Roberts refused to answer many of the questions, and the White House has only released a fraction of the documents about his work for previous administrations.

A letter in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Imagine you were in charge of hiring for a large corporation and you were to hire someone for a top position -- one of the most important in the company.

The person applying for the job has been recommended by the CEO, but when he comes to the interview he refuses to disclose a lot of his past professional experience and information on the application, and refuses to undergo a full background check. This person is very evasive when answering questions, sometimes flat-out declining to answer. The person has less than two years of experience in a similar position.

Any human resources director worth his or her salt would see all the red flags and inform the CEO that this person should not be considered for the position unless he can fully disclose all information about himself and his past employment, and answer questions fully and honestly.

Why any responsible U.S. senator would vote to confirm John Roberts for such an important position as chief justice of the Supreme Court, considering his evasiveness and lack of experience, is totally beyond my comprehension.

Kari Johnson, Plymouth.

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A Music Video About George W. Bush..

Corruption-Money
Corruption-Power
Congress
Bush Administration

…has been updated. Thanks to Film Strip International. Contains a word you can't say on broadcast radio.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(13)

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Morning-After-Pill Delay

Bush Administration

The FDA is delayng the over-the-counter availability of the morning after pill.

The agency is also raising the age of who will ulitmately be able to get it without a prescription from age 16 to 17.

The result will be more surgical abortions, and more girls who induce abortions in unsafe ways.

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Red Cross Not Allowed Into New Orleans

Bush Administration

MORE OF ARTICLE AND COMMENTS(225)

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Lousiana Governor Says National Guard May 'Shoot to Kill'

Local Government
Corruption-Power

People in New Orleans need humanitarian assistantance. Drinking water. Food. A ride out.

I hope they don't get violence instead.

From the AP:

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Hurricane

Bush Administration

Charities are listed here.

Tom Tomorrow discusses the hurricane damage in relation to a possible terrorist attack. He advocates choosing freedom even after tragedy.

Bob Harris discusses Bush Administration cuts to hurricane-and flood-control preparation to pay for the Iraq War.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(19)

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Arrests of Protestors During the 2004 RNC: New Report

Local Government
Corruption-Power
Free Speech & Media

From an email I received yesterday from the New York Civil Liberties Union:
NYCLU post-RNC Report: City Must Change Protest Policies

August 30, 2005. One year to the day after the opening of the Republican National Convention in New York, the New York Civil Liberties Union issued areport reviewing police practices and proposing a range of recommendations. The NYCLU report Rights and Wrongs at the RNC: A Special Report About Police and Protest at the Republican National Convention recommends the establishment of an independent City agency to oversee the planning and management of large demonstrations.

The report says the most troubling aspect of the NYPD’s actions during the Convention was its resort to mass arrest tactics that resulted in large numbers of innocent people being swept into police custody.

The report, which includes photos:
http://www.nyclu.org/pdfs/rnc_report_083005.pdf

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(117)

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Rape in Jail and Prison

Corruption-Power

An editorial of Aug. 23 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune says that prison rape has been increasing recently, and continues:

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Depeleted Uranium Hurts US Veterans

Bush Administration

From "Radioactive Wounds of War: Tests on returning troops suggest serious health consequences of depleted uranium use in Iraq" by Dave Lindorff, In These Times, August 25, 2005:
In the current wars in Afghanistan and, especially, Iraq, DU has become the weapon of choice, with more than 1,000 tons used in Afghanistan and more than 3,000 tons used in Iraq. And while DU was fired mostly in the desert during the Gulf War, in the current war in Iraq, most of DU munitions are exploding in populated urban areas.

The Pentagon has expanded DU beyond tank and A-10 shells, for use in bunker-busting bombs, which can spew out more than half a ton of DU in one explosion, in anti-personnel bomblets, and even in M-16 and pistol shells. The military loves DU for its unique penetration capability—it cuts through steel or concrete like they’re butter.

The problem is that when DU hits its target, it burns at a high temperature, throwing off clouds of microscopic particles that poison a wide area and remain radioactive for billions of years. If inhaled, these particles can lodge in lungs, other organs or bones, irradiating tissue and causing cancers.

Worse yet, uranium is also a highly toxic heavy metal. Indeed, while there is some debate over the risk posed by the element’s radioactive emissions, there is no debate regarding its chemical toxicity. According to Mt. Sinai pathologist Thomas Fasey, who participated in the New York Guard unit testing, the element has an affinity for bonding with DNA, where even trace amounts can cause cancers and fetal abnormalities.

The In These Times article describes New York State National Guardsmen who discovered when they returned to New York that their bodies were carrying depleted uranium contamination from their exposure Iraq.

Depleted uranium in weapons should be banned. It can be replaced with a less-toxic heavy metal.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(2)

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Conservative Con: Bernie Goldberg Makes Bogus Statements in an Online Chat

Conservative Con
Free Speech & Media

Bernie Goldberg serious expression, wearing a suit
Bernie Goldberg

Bernie Goldberg, author of "100 People Who are Screwing Up America (And Al Franken is #37)," wrote in an online chat Thursday:

Once liberals looked up to JFK. Now they look up to Michael Moore.

I could reply:

Once conservatives looked up to Dwight Eisenhower. Now they look up to Rush Limbaugh.

Of course, neither statement makes sense.

Presidents are one thing, commentators are another thing. There were conservative commentators and liberal commentators in the 1950s/1960s, too. John Forbes Kerry was as JFK-like a presidential candidate as the Democrats could have nominated in the past election.

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Iraq War May Cost $1.3 Trillion

Bush Administration

You can view photos of the human cost of the Iraq War at Crisis Pictures.

For information on the financial cost, see this New York Times op-ed by Linda Bilmes, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce:

The cost goes well beyond the more than $250 billion already spent on military operations and reconstruction. Basic running costs of the current conflicts are $6 billion a month - a figure that reflects the Pentagon's unprecedented reliance on expensive private contractors. Other factors keeping costs high include inducements for recruits and for military personnel serving second and third deployments, extra pay for reservists and members of the National Guard, as well as more than $2 billion a year in additional foreign aid to Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and others to reward their cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill for repairing and replacing military hardware is $20 billion a year, according to figures from the Congressional Budget Office.

... if the American military presence in the region lasts another five years, the total outlay for the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(422)

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Utah Police Terrorize People at an Outdoor Party

Local Government
Justice
Corruption-Power

Tear gas, tasers, sending dogs to attack, and kicking people while they're down.

Police brutality has been around for a long time. I wish society would advance in a way that brutal cops are usually held accountable and lose their badges, but it hasn't happened yet.

I would support raising the age at which people join the police force to 40. That way, a man or woman would have 22 adult years before joining the force to be judged on before being given police powers. We could keep out more unfit people that way.

Raising the age at which a person can become a police officer might reduce the size of some police forces, but quality is more important than quanitity when it comes to the police.

Note: "soldiers" in the descriptions of events may actually be SWAT team members dressed in green camouflage.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(4)

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Reverend Pat Robertson and Venezuela: Reaction from David Brock, Jon Stewart and More

Quotes
Religion
Corruption-Power

David Brock, president of the media watchdog "Media Matters for America" has asked Pat Robertson to retract his statement that the US should murder the president of Venezuela.

Media Matters also takes the position that advocacy of murder doesn't belong on The ABC Family Channel.

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Music Video of Candle Light Vigils Against the Iraq War

Free Speech & Media

Paula S. created this video about candle-light vigils to honor those killed in the Iraq War and show support for Cindy Sheehan:

Play video.

If you would like to buy the music which accompanies these photos, look for an album containing the song "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" by Melanie.

More on the vigils which took place August 17, 2005.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(29)

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Conservative Rush Limbaugh's Idea of a Joke

Free Speech & Media
Talk Radio

Cindy Sheehan's son Casey was a soldier. He was killed in Iraq.

She is camping in Crawford, TX, in an attempt to speak to George W. Bush about what the mission is in Iraq. (She has temporarily returned to California because her mother is ill.)

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Paul Krugman on Ohio 2004

Voting Rights

In today's column in the New York Times, Paul Krugman discusses Florida 2000, New Hamprshie 2002, and Ohio 2004.

Below is about Ohio 2004:

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John Gibson Smears Cindy Sheehan and the University of California

Free Speech & Media

John Gibson smiling showing teeth.  He has blonde hair and glasses.
John Gibson

Fox News' John Gibson was the guest-host of "The O'Reilly Factor" on August 11.

Gibson discussed Cindy Sheehan, a woman in California whose son was a Marine killed in Iraq. She is trying to arrange a meeting with George W. Bush.

John Gibson argued against her geographically:

GIBSON (8/11/05): I can't help but notice that Cindy Sheehan is from Vacaville, California, very close to U.C. Davis, very close to U.C. Berkeley, reasonably close to U.C. Santa Cruz, where I believe that a lot of those WTO protesters came from.

What do the university anti-war protesters have to do with her?

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CIA Told Dutch Not to Arrest Rogue Scientist Who Spread Nuclear Secrets

Justice

Perhaps no man has done more to spread nuclear weapons technology than Pakistani Abdul Qadeer Khan.

This could have been prevented a long time ago.

From A.D.N. Kronos International:

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Bill O'Reilly Has No Class

Free Speech & Media

Cindy Sheehan's son Casey was killed in Iraq.

She is camping (video) near George W. Bush's house in Crawford, TX, waiting to ask Bush what the mission is in Iraq.

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly claims that in discussing her, he's been "respectful."

This is Bill O'Reilly's concept of respect:

[Cindy Sheehan is] the lead story on Michael Moore's Web site on an almost daily basis. And she knows --- I mean, Michael Moore isn't a subtle guy. Everybody knows where he stands.

So I mean, I think Mrs. Sheehan bears some responsibility for this and also for the responsibility of other American families who have lost sons and daughters in Iraq, who feel that this kind of behavior borders on treasonous.

Falsely claiming that people can control which websites write about them. Citing nameless people who think someone's behavior is almost "treasonous." That is how Bill O'Reilly shows respect.

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(37)

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Media Concentration: The List

Free Speech & Media

Media ownership is concentrated.

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Make a Video for 'Current TV'

Free Speech & Media

I've read some negative reviews of "Current TV" and and some helpful suggestions.

But people who own a video camera (or have a friend who owns a video camera) can now do more than criticize or offer advice.

Make a news video and upload it:

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Nuclear Terrorism Made More Likely by the Energy Bill

Corruption-Money
Congress
Bush Administration

Face of Richard Burr, wearing a suit, not smiling.
Richard Burr



The Republican leadership is willing to endanger us all, to benefit one company.

Uranium is an ingredient which can be used in nuclear bombs. If terrorists steal weapons-grade uranium, the US is at risk of a nuclear attack.

The Energy Bill which Bush will sign into law on Monday...

...eases export restrictions on bomb-grade uranium, a lucrative victory for a Canadian medical manufacturer and its well-wired Washington lobbyists.

The Burr Amendment -- named for its sponsor, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) -- would reverse a 13-year-old U.S. policy banning exports of weapons-grade uranium unless the recipients agree to start converting their reactors to use less-dangerous uranium. The Senate rejected the measure last month after critics in both parties warned that it would accelerate the worldwide proliferation of nuclear materials, but a House-Senate conference committee agreed this week to include it in the final bill.

...It will also be a boon to the world's leading producer of those isotopes, an Ottawa-based company called MDS Nordion, which would otherwise have to spend millions of dollars to retrofit its reactor for low-grade uranium.

The above passage is from the Washington Post, "Uranium Provision to Alter U.S. Policy: Easing of Export Curbs Concerns Nonproliferation Advocates" by Michael Grunwald, July 29, 2005.

If Congress gets to vote to reverse this provision of the Energy Bill, it will. That is why the Republican leadership added it in the conference committee.

Please contact your Congressperson and Senators and ask them to reverse the Burr Amendment and reinstate the export restrictions on weapons-grade uranium.

You can find contact information by entering the last name of your representative on the upper-left of vote-smart.org.

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CNN Is Sooooooo Liberal

Free Speech & Media

CNN used to be owned by Ted Turner.

Now it's owned by Time Warner.

Writing in the New York Times, Richard Posner claims CNN has gotten more liberal.

Yeah, right, sure it has.

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I Want More Webcasts

Free Speech & Media

People should be able to watch more TV channels online for free.

Showing the same advertisements as on TV could theoretically pay for it.

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Al Gore TV Starts Tonight: Independently Owned

Corporations
Free Speech & Media

Sunday night at midnight Eastern, there will be a new cable channel, "Current."

"Current" will let the public to interact with news stories by voting on which news-videos to replay. Also, ordinary people who make their own news videos can send them to Current and have a chance they will be shown.

Al Gore is the biggest name behind the project. He's said that Current isn't a liberal news channel. Whether more videos some-consider-liberal or videos some-consider-conservative get replayed will depend on the votes of the viewers for the videos they like.

"We have no intention of creating a Democratic channel, a liberal channel, a TV version of Air America," Gore said. "That's not what we're about. We're about empowering this generation of young people in their 20s to engage in a dialogue of democracy and to tell the stories about what's going on in their lives using the dominant medium of our time.''

"Current" is different from other news-channels in that it's independently owned.

By contrast, ABC News is owned by Disney, CBS News is owned by Viacom, NBC News/MSNBC/CNBC are owned by General Electric. Last and least (in terms of quality), Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

"Current" will be available in 20 million homes.

It may be listed in your lineup as "Newsworld International," the channel "Current" is replacing.

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In a Right-Wing Comic Book, Conservatives Are Oppressed

Voting Rights
Free Speech & Media

The right-wing controls the voting machines, the judiciary, the White House, the Congress, and much of the media.

What does that leave for them to fantasize about?

The excitement of being the underdog.

At least in the case of comic book writer Mike Mackey, whose mini-series "Liberality For All" will debut in October 2005, published by ACC.

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Iraq War, Graphic Portrayal

Free Speech & Media

The evening news in the US rarely shows footage of the dead and injured in Iraq, whether soldiers or civilians.

But a new dramatic series titled "Over There" on basic cable channel FX does contain fictional graphic images.

One can see actual graphic images at the blog, "Crisis Pictures."

PERMALINK AND COMMENTS(173)

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Independent World Television: Monthly Milestone

Free Speech & Media
Corporations

Imagine a cable news channel with no ads; no corporate sponsorship; no government sponsorship. Funded directly by the masses.

That is the concept of Independent World Television, whose programs should air on "Link TV" in 2007.

Their website has been online for about a month, and they are asking people to sign-up to receive email from them.

I signed up.

My only objection to their model is that in addition to banning corporate donations, they should also limit the size of individual donations:

How is a million dollars from a corporation any more-or-less corrupting than a million dollar personal donation from the CEO of that corporation?

IWT News should set a maximum donation per-person per-year.

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London Shooting of an Innocent Man: Shows That Police in Uniform, Not Plain Clothes, Should Be the Ones to Arrest Whenever Possible

Justice

young man wearing a sleeveless gray t-shirt
Jean Charles de Menezes

The best article I've read about the innocent man shot to death on a London train, Jean Charles de Menezes, is this one from the UK's Times Online.

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CNN Labor Report Today: So Good It Surprised Me

Economy/Budget/Taxes
Free Speech & Media

CNN Headline News doesn't often report on unions.

However, at 1:25 PM Minnesota time today, CNN Headline News aired a piece on DHL truck drivers who want to unionize.

The reporter was Candy Crowley.

The piece discussed the needs of the delivery workers for higher pay and better health benefits. It included clips of Andrew Stern of the SEIU and James Hoffa of the Teamsters. The DHL drivers would like to join the Teamsters.

In the past, I've criticized the television news for a rightwing bias, including CNN.

I've suggested that the failings of CNN and other stations indicate a need for impartial reporting such as Independent World Television (starts in 2007), and outspoken reporting such as Liberty News TV (available online now).

But I want to give credit to CNN when they deserve it, as they do today. Here is hoping for more well-done reports about labor on CNN.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York vs. Freedom

Corruption-Power
Free Speech & Media
Local Government

New Yorkers are losing freedom under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

First Bloomberg said that people can't protest in Central Park because they might damage the grass.

Now he says that people can't go about their lives without being searched by the cops, because they might be terrorists.

New York City will begin making random checks of bags and backpacks at subway stations, commuter railways and on buses, officials announced today in the wake of a second wave of bombings on the London transit system. The checks will begin on Friday morning.

People waitng for a bus have Constitutional rights. The act of waiting for a bus doesn't mean a cop should be able to search your bags.

Similarly, the New York City subway system is a vast public place. The US Constitution ("The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures") applies there, too.

The New York Times article continues:

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Bill in Congress to Address Media Concentration

FCC
Free Speech & Media
Congress

Radio and television used to be governed by the Fairness Doctrine: Broadcasts on controversial public issues needed to present opposing views.

In the 1980s, the federal courts ruled that that the FCC wasn't authorized to enforce the Fairness Doctrine. Congress passed a law giving the FCC that authority, but President Ronald Reagan vetoed it.

In 1996, Congress passed a telecommunications bill which had the effect of letting the Clear Channel corporation buy over 1200 radio stations.

After September 11, 2001, Clear Channel sent a memo to its stations tellin them not to play songs which are too optimistic, such as "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong and "Imagine" by John Lennon.

In 2003, during the buildup to the Iraq War, singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks said that she is ashamed that George W. Bush is from Texas. Clear Channel stations encouraged people to attend rallies in which Dixie Chicks CDs were destroyed.

Has the abuse of media power concentrated in a few hands reached the point where enough is enough?

From the Hollywood Reporter via mediachannel.org:

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Bernie Goldberg Says to Be Civil

Free Speech & Media

Bernie Goldberg serious expression, wearing a suit
Bernie Goldberg

Bernie Goldberg is promoting his book,"100 People Who Are Screwing Up America.”

He tells National Review that "cultural elitists" need to "wake up and become more civil."

A visitor to Pandagon replies:

Goldberg has a point. Truly civil people write hateful books singling out 100 people they disagree with as destroying our country.

-Gordon at July 18, 2005 11:47 AM

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'Once Upon a Time,' A Man Named Bernie Goldberg Was Interviewed

Free Speech & Media

Author Bernie Goldberg believes our culture has become "more vulgar."

He was interviewed by Jon Stewart last week on "The Daily Show," as discussed in a previous article.

Bernie Goldberg's use of the phrase "once upon a time" during the intervew deserves further examination.

This is the context:

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Debate About Culture, Between Comedian Jon Stewart and Author Bernie Goldberg

Free Speech & Media

Bernie Goldberg is promoting his book titled "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America."

The book includes entertainers on that list.

Goldberg appeared on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" Wednesday night. Goldberg argued that our culture is getting worse:

Goldberg claimed that back in the good old days, even a man who was drunk in a bar wouldn't say the f-word. However, Goldberg said, comedian Chevy Chase called George W. Bush a dumb f_ck at a black-tie event.

Jon Stewart was skeptical that our culture is getting worse; Stewart said that while Chevy Chase said f_ck, Thomas Jefferson f_cked slaves.

Stewart said we've made advances over the years by abolishing slavery and segregation, lowering the murder rate, etc.

Jon Stewart implied that a book about who-is-screwing-up-America shouldn't focus on entertainers.

Stewart said that while people in Hollywood may think they have power, people in Washington really have power. He suggested that Goldberg focus his energy on exposing political players like Richard Pearle.

Video of Jon Stewart interviewing Bernie Goldberg is at Crooks and Liars.

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Congressman Dennis Kucinich Is Getting Married; Supports Free Speech

FCC
Congress
Free Speech & Media

Dennis Kucinich waring a suit and tie
Dennis Kucinich

In March 2004, the House voted to let the FCC levy huge fines for "iindecency" on television and radio.

The vote was 391 to 22 on the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 which increased fines from $27,000 to $500,000 per station per incident.

A similar version of this awful bill was passed by the Senate, but fortunately the bill didn't make it out of conference committee.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was one of the only 22 Reps. who cared enough about Free Speech to vote against the bill.

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Measuring Judicial Activsim

Justice

Is calling a judge an "activist" meaningless?

Not necessarily.

A professor at Yale Law School, Paul Gerwirtz, and a recent graduate of that law school, Chad Golder, found a way to measure judicial activism, and wrote about It for the New York Times (July 6):

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Letting the Government Promote Religion Will Cause Bitter Religious Strife

Local Government
Free Speech & Media
Religion
Justice

From a New York Times op-ed by Adam Cohen, on the impact of the recent US Supreme Court decision to allow a Ten Commandments monument in front of the Texas state capitol:
There is undeniably a need for more common ground between conservative Christians and the rest of the country. But injecting more religion in public life is the wrong way to go about achieving it. If government forums are opened to religious expression, we can look forward to bitter fights about what kind to permit. The City Council in Boise, Idaho, hardly a hotbed of secularism, voted to move a Ten Commandments monument off city property a while back after a right-wing minister insisted on his right to put up his own religious monument - one denouncing homosexuality and saying that Matthew Shepard, the slain gay Wyoming college student, was in hell.

Opening up government forums to religion would almost inevitably prompt more fighting over exactly which religion gets to participate. A narrow view of which religion should be intertwined with government was on display last month in Guilford County, N.C., where the presiding judge ruled that Muslim witnesses cannot take their oaths on the Koran. If that were allowed, he said, someone who worshiped brick walls might want to swear on a brick.

When Justice O'Connor's successor joins the court, the church-state wall is very likely to weaken. If Justice Breyer is right, yielding ground to religious advocates could reduce "religiously based divisiveness." But if Justice Souter is right, it would only make things worse. The early response to last week's decisions was not encouraging. The day the rulings came down, the Christian Defense Coalition announced a campaign to place more Ten Commandments monuments in communities across the country. One community the group has taken aim at is Boise - which all but guarantees there is plenty more divisiveness yet to come.

I wonder if any groups will try to get monuments to their own religious beliefts near the Ten Commandments monument in Texas.

If so, good luck to them. And good luck to any group which tries to get a monument critical of organized religion nearby.

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Tasering Freedom of the Press