Wanna know why?
Cause there was no email!!! It was just a joke!
Still, apparently Fox posted it like it really happened, and readers took the bait. Dumb-dumbs!
Showing posts with label Faux Noise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faux Noise. Show all posts
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Did You Get the Email?
Wanna know why?
Cause there was no email!!! It was just a joke!
Still, apparently Fox posted it like it really happened, and readers took the bait. Dumb-dumbs!
Friday, August 6, 2010
New in the "What the Hell?" Department: the Tea Pots Bring Out Their Black Kettles
You know me. I've been around. I've had lots of thoughts about lots of things, but I'm just struggling to get to a point of clarity. And every time I do, I get wrapped up in . . .
Oh, never mind.
So anyway, just in case you didn't know, they're actually more than 5 black tea pots. Apparently a lot more. Go figure. And they are pissed about the NAACP and the general left's continual accusations of conservative racism.
They complain that their white friends can't greet them as "my nigger" without being called a racist.
Oh, never mind.
So anyway, just in case you didn't know, they're actually more than 5 black tea pots. Apparently a lot more. Go figure. And they are pissed about the NAACP and the general left's continual accusations of conservative racism.
They complain that their white friends can't greet them as "my nigger" without being called a racist.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Fox Hunting, Join the Hunt
via colorofchange.org:
FOX is up to its old race-baiting tricks. But this time, CNN is repeating FOX's distortions and taking them mainstream.
FOX is claiming that under President Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is refusing to prosecute voting rights offenses when the victims are White and the perpetrators are Black.[1] It's a bogus story based on the allegations of one former Republican DOJ attorney, and it sidesteps a mountain of facts.[2]
FOX is up to its old race-baiting tricks. But this time, CNN is repeating FOX's distortions and taking them mainstream.
FOX is claiming that under President Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is refusing to prosecute voting rights offenses when the victims are White and the perpetrators are Black.[1] It's a bogus story based on the allegations of one former Republican DOJ attorney, and it sidesteps a mountain of facts.[2]
Sunday, January 31, 2010
What the Haiti?!
I came up with the title actually Friday afternoon for this article about the halting of airlifting people in need of medical treatment out of Haiti due to disputes over who'll pay for the healthcare cost. (Ironic, huh?)
And I was gonna follow that up with this article about Fox News and Rush Limbaugh giving aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden and Al Qeada.
But I couldn't think of an explanation for the Limbaugh piece in part because I was trying to find good video of the tea tax Obama smacked down Friday afternoon. Then I got caught up listening and before I knew, I needed a break.
Then, closing down for the night, I came across this: Americans Arrested While Taking Children From Haiti.
"Ruh, roh, Shaggy!"
And I was gonna follow that up with this article about Fox News and Rush Limbaugh giving aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden and Al Qeada.
But I couldn't think of an explanation for the Limbaugh piece in part because I was trying to find good video of the tea tax Obama smacked down Friday afternoon. Then I got caught up listening and before I knew, I needed a break.
Then, closing down for the night, I came across this: Americans Arrested While Taking Children From Haiti.
"Ruh, roh, Shaggy!"
Friday, December 11, 2009
All Natural: ACORN and Woods
Kinda tired so I'll make this quick.
I want to remind you of just two things: ACORN isn't under investigation from anyone, hasn't been convicted or indicted of anything; the Congress was a bit premature and hypocritical to look to end all federal funding to ACORN after well more than just "billions" has been defrauded by several war contractors with which the DoD is still doing business.
So the internal audit was completely voluntary, however necessary for PR. The Washington Post uses an article by the AP to inform readers of the findings of ACORN's internal review: none of ACORN's employees committed any crimes. What they leave out is that several of the videos that started the scandal were edited and left out exculpatory evidence. In San Diego, one employee called his cousin, a police officer, and warned him about possible human trafficking. Employees in Philly also alerted the police.
The people who produced the video, of course, are decry the finding. They say that it's only reasonable that the group paid by ACORN to do the internal review would have a good finding. Though, how else is an internal review done, right? Either from in-group or out-group, but always pay for by the group.
That said, what makes this worse is that the media did none of the basic journalistic investigations that would've uncovered a great deal of what the report found. But instead, they acted make a gossip chain, just repeating what they heard from someone else. And while Rachel Maddow at least highlighted the hypocrisy of the whole thing, at the end of the day, not even MSNBC did much more than discuss the news reporting as though it were news reporting.
And I'm so, so tired of the brouhaha over Tiger Woods. I find it awfully suspect that with adulterers in Congress, even Bill Clinton, and the anti-ED commercial shown during golf - all of a sudden the nation is appalled by the man-hoe. And for a racial angle thanks to Karith Foster (Booooo!! apparently), here's one very good article and here's another.
I want to remind you of just two things: ACORN isn't under investigation from anyone, hasn't been convicted or indicted of anything; the Congress was a bit premature and hypocritical to look to end all federal funding to ACORN after well more than just "billions" has been defrauded by several war contractors with which the DoD is still doing business.
So the internal audit was completely voluntary, however necessary for PR. The Washington Post uses an article by the AP to inform readers of the findings of ACORN's internal review: none of ACORN's employees committed any crimes. What they leave out is that several of the videos that started the scandal were edited and left out exculpatory evidence. In San Diego, one employee called his cousin, a police officer, and warned him about possible human trafficking. Employees in Philly also alerted the police.
The people who produced the video, of course, are decry the finding. They say that it's only reasonable that the group paid by ACORN to do the internal review would have a good finding. Though, how else is an internal review done, right? Either from in-group or out-group, but always pay for by the group.
That said, what makes this worse is that the media did none of the basic journalistic investigations that would've uncovered a great deal of what the report found. But instead, they acted make a gossip chain, just repeating what they heard from someone else. And while Rachel Maddow at least highlighted the hypocrisy of the whole thing, at the end of the day, not even MSNBC did much more than discuss the news reporting as though it were news reporting.
And I'm so, so tired of the brouhaha over Tiger Woods. I find it awfully suspect that with adulterers in Congress, even Bill Clinton, and the anti-ED commercial shown during golf - all of a sudden the nation is appalled by the man-hoe. And for a racial angle thanks to Karith Foster (Booooo!! apparently), here's one very good article and here's another.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
No, They're Not a Bunch of Racists
They're a bunch of racist idiots. That's different. (Or better put, they're different. Even they admit not living on the same planet as the rest of us.) If you have the time, you should read through the report yourself. It would be more entertaining if they didn't reportedly represent almost 20% of the electorate. They apparently really talked about "racism" in terms of the "race card" being played to discredit them. But what discredits them is their ideas. They think Beck is a "truth-teller" and that the Republican party is "Democrat-lite." They're convinced Obama has some secret plot that no one's talking about because Obama keeps everything closed off from the media which is liberal and shills for him anyway. They complain about his school records being closed and swear every other president kept everything wide open. They think they are the people, which makes you wonder who elected President Obama. And, if that weren't enough, they feel as though W compromised too much. Though, to their credit, they did find his public speaking embarrassing.
The whole thing is an indictment about Fox, the South, and public education. These people know diddly squat about history, civics, or economics. They fault HW for raising taxes; they don't even realize the budget- deficit the Reagan caused.
Another thing that bothers me is that they believe Obama is purposely trying to destroy the country. They're even suspicious of his support for lengthening the school year; it's a sign of his desire to regulate everything. They claim there're banks that want to pay back the bail-out money, but the Obama administration won't let them. What's worse is they don't believe he's trying to create jobs here in America. Sorry, but that's a bit hard to take after their stalwart Beck got Van Jones to resign.
All in all, they take Fox as gospel - which speaks for itself. And apparently, race did come up; it's just that those undertaking the focus groups (focus groups for political purposes as opposed to sociological purposes which explains the command to "get over it [race]") thought ". . . it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point." But like I said in the earlier post, racist themes did come up, not least of the two contradictory notions that either Obama is a puppet being controlled by people like George Soros or he lies and his intelligence is scary. So, black people are always either 1 - too dumb to think of themselves or 2 - too smart to trust. Plus, the fact that the think so much of Beck? Come on. That's racism all day long.
But they need to understand, both the idiots and the group who did the study, is that the accusation of racism isn't being used to silence them. :eye roll: It's not being used to discredit them or because the media doesn't want to address their illegitimate concerns. Part of the reason we're, and I'm including myself cause I think a large segment of you are racism. But, part of the reason we accuse you of racism is that your complaints make no sense otherwise. I mean really. The president and Congress has cut taxes for 95% of you, and you complain about being overtaxed? You should be glad we think you're racist, cause otherwise you're just a bunch of idiots.
The whole thing is an indictment about Fox, the South, and public education. These people know diddly squat about history, civics, or economics. They fault HW for raising taxes; they don't even realize the budget- deficit the Reagan caused.
Another thing that bothers me is that they believe Obama is purposely trying to destroy the country. They're even suspicious of his support for lengthening the school year; it's a sign of his desire to regulate everything. They claim there're banks that want to pay back the bail-out money, but the Obama administration won't let them. What's worse is they don't believe he's trying to create jobs here in America. Sorry, but that's a bit hard to take after their stalwart Beck got Van Jones to resign.
All in all, they take Fox as gospel - which speaks for itself. And apparently, race did come up; it's just that those undertaking the focus groups (focus groups for political purposes as opposed to sociological purposes which explains the command to "get over it [race]") thought ". . . it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point." But like I said in the earlier post, racist themes did come up, not least of the two contradictory notions that either Obama is a puppet being controlled by people like George Soros or he lies and his intelligence is scary. So, black people are always either 1 - too dumb to think of themselves or 2 - too smart to trust. Plus, the fact that the think so much of Beck? Come on. That's racism all day long.
But they need to understand, both the idiots and the group who did the study, is that the accusation of racism isn't being used to silence them. :eye roll: It's not being used to discredit them or because the media doesn't want to address their illegitimate concerns. Part of the reason we're, and I'm including myself cause I think a large segment of you are racism. But, part of the reason we accuse you of racism is that your complaints make no sense otherwise. I mean really. The president and Congress has cut taxes for 95% of you, and you complain about being overtaxed? You should be glad we think you're racist, cause otherwise you're just a bunch of idiots.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
It's Not Racist, But . . .
If you know me, then you know I do think race is playing a part in the persecution of ACORN. How many dangerous contractors do we still have in Iraq? And to the extent that senate Dems are just appeasing Republicans, I coulda sworn that appeasement was pointless. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't subscribe to that notion the way BushCo used it. But. I do know people who make a big to-do out of "appeasement" should never be "appeased." ~ No1KState
The ACORN Vote: End The Appeasement
By Isaiah J. Poole
September 15, 2009 - 1:55pm ET
Last night, on a 83-7 vote, the Senate voted to bar ACORN from receiving any funds in the fiscal 2010 Transportation and HUD appropriations bills. If the House follows suit, that would effectively end several housing assistance and advocacy programs that ACORN has successfully done for several years.
The vote is the latest fallout from Glenn Beck’s jihad against all signs of progressivism in the Obama White House. First it was Van Jones, fired from his green jobs advisory post after right-wing websites branded him a Communist radical. Now it’s ACORN. Who’s next?
The worst part is that a majority of Senate Democrats went along with the vote against ACORN. Freshman Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., sponsored the amendment cutting the funding, and used to back up his argument a deluge of right-wing propaganda — from the entrapment of ACORN employees by a conservative video hit squad to an 88-page screed ginned up in July by Rep. Darrell Issa and House Republicans entitled “Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As A Criminal Enterprise?”
Not one Democrat had the guts to speak up on the Senate floor against this right-wing attack.
Digby on Saturday shared a reader observation that helps put this in context: Recall that Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, has had a contract with the State Department extended this month despite the fact that five Blackwater guards were charged with 35 counts of manslaughter. Blackwater almost singlehandedly undercut Iraqi support for the American presence in Iraq, but Congress took no action to bar it from further contracts.
There is one word for the Democratic votes to de-fund ACORN: appeasement. The conservative machine to which Glenn Beck is beholden gins up a controversy based on either facts blown out of proportion or total falsehoods. And when faced with the opportunity to stand up for truth, fairness, due process and the mandate the voters gave Congress and the White House to stand up for progressive policies, too many Democrats either run silent or run scared.
We should know from the health care debate that appeasement is as failed a strategy today as it was in 1938 when Neville Chamberlain tried it against Nazi Germany. The more Democrats give in—whether it's deep-sixing the public option in response to fear-mongering about "government-run health care" or cutting funds to badly needed services for low-income people because of a few bad actors in a grassroots organization—the more empowered and hungry the unprincipled power-grabbers in the conservative movement will become. It is a losing strategy for Democrats and a dangerous path for America.
Congress, stop the appeasement. Get a spine. Draw a line. Now
The ACORN Vote: End The Appeasement
By Isaiah J. Poole
September 15, 2009 - 1:55pm ET
Last night, on a 83-7 vote, the Senate voted to bar ACORN from receiving any funds in the fiscal 2010 Transportation and HUD appropriations bills. If the House follows suit, that would effectively end several housing assistance and advocacy programs that ACORN has successfully done for several years.
The vote is the latest fallout from Glenn Beck’s jihad against all signs of progressivism in the Obama White House. First it was Van Jones, fired from his green jobs advisory post after right-wing websites branded him a Communist radical. Now it’s ACORN. Who’s next?
The worst part is that a majority of Senate Democrats went along with the vote against ACORN. Freshman Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., sponsored the amendment cutting the funding, and used to back up his argument a deluge of right-wing propaganda — from the entrapment of ACORN employees by a conservative video hit squad to an 88-page screed ginned up in July by Rep. Darrell Issa and House Republicans entitled “Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As A Criminal Enterprise?”
Not one Democrat had the guts to speak up on the Senate floor against this right-wing attack.
Digby on Saturday shared a reader observation that helps put this in context: Recall that Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, has had a contract with the State Department extended this month despite the fact that five Blackwater guards were charged with 35 counts of manslaughter. Blackwater almost singlehandedly undercut Iraqi support for the American presence in Iraq, but Congress took no action to bar it from further contracts.
There is one word for the Democratic votes to de-fund ACORN: appeasement. The conservative machine to which Glenn Beck is beholden gins up a controversy based on either facts blown out of proportion or total falsehoods. And when faced with the opportunity to stand up for truth, fairness, due process and the mandate the voters gave Congress and the White House to stand up for progressive policies, too many Democrats either run silent or run scared.
We should know from the health care debate that appeasement is as failed a strategy today as it was in 1938 when Neville Chamberlain tried it against Nazi Germany. The more Democrats give in—whether it's deep-sixing the public option in response to fear-mongering about "government-run health care" or cutting funds to badly needed services for low-income people because of a few bad actors in a grassroots organization—the more empowered and hungry the unprincipled power-grabbers in the conservative movement will become. It is a losing strategy for Democrats and a dangerous path for America.
Congress, stop the appeasement. Get a spine. Draw a line. Now
Monday, September 14, 2009
Keep It Up Folks!
Dear friends,
As you may know, right-wing talk show hosts have been bringing race-based fear mongering into the mainstream, but FOX's Glenn Beck has taken it to another level.
I signed ColorOfChange.org's petition to stop Glenn Beck's lies and distortions, and so far, 62 major companies have stopped their ads from running on his show. These companies have decided they don't want to be associated with Beck's race-baiting.
But Beck is only stepping up his fear-mongering, so we can't stop now. We have to make sure advertisers keep leaving, and stay away from his show.
Will you take a stand and be counted, and invite your friends and family to do the same? It takes just a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/hold/?id=1756-227036
This summer, Beck said:
FOX has a horrible track record on pushing racist propaganda, but Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He's trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter--like health care and the economy.
The good news is that we have the power to stop this. Over 200,000 people have joined this campaign, and 62 advertisers have already stopped their ads from being run during Beck's show. Please help keep the momentum building.
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/hold/?id=1756-227036
Thanks.
Here are some links to more info:
"Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008
"Glenn Beck: Obama agenda driven by 'reparations' and desire to 'settle old racial scores'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040
As you may know, right-wing talk show hosts have been bringing race-based fear mongering into the mainstream, but FOX's Glenn Beck has taken it to another level.
I signed ColorOfChange.org's petition to stop Glenn Beck's lies and distortions, and so far, 62 major companies have stopped their ads from running on his show. These companies have decided they don't want to be associated with Beck's race-baiting.
But Beck is only stepping up his fear-mongering, so we can't stop now. We have to make sure advertisers keep leaving, and stay away from his show.
Will you take a stand and be counted, and invite your friends and family to do the same? It takes just a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/hold/?id=1756-227036
This summer, Beck said:
This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people... this guy is, I believe, a racist.That statement fits into a pattern of rhetoric from Beck designed to stoke racial paranoia and fear. He has claimed that President Obama has a "reparation appetite" and a desire to use his policies to settle old racial scores. Beck's overall plan is to create an atmosphere in which the White House can accomplish nothing, and he's carrying it out by preying on race-based fears and mobilizing hate. Beck relies on dishonesty, distortion and exaggeration, and he is embarking on character assassinations of Obama administration officials with whom he disagrees.
FOX has a horrible track record on pushing racist propaganda, but Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He's trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter--like health care and the economy.
The good news is that we have the power to stop this. Over 200,000 people have joined this campaign, and 62 advertisers have already stopped their ads from being run during Beck's show. Please help keep the momentum building.
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/hold/?id=1756-227036
Thanks.
Here are some links to more info:
"Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008
"Glenn Beck: Obama agenda driven by 'reparations' and desire to 'settle old racial scores'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
More on Van Jones
via, colorofchange.org:
Saturday night, Van Jones resigned from his job as the White House special adviser on Green Jobs.1 Van's resignation came after a vicious smear campaign by Fox television host Glenn Beck, and it is the latest evidence of why our campaign against Beck is so important.
Van is a passionate thinker and leader and we are grateful to him for co-founding ColorOfChange. But this campaign is not about Van. It's about stopping Glenn Beck, who has promised to take his witch-hunt to others in the administration. Beck's overall plan is to create an atmosphere in which the White House can accomplish nothing, and he's carrying it out by preying on race-based fears and mobilizing hate.
The good news is that our campaign is working. More than 175,000 of you have stood up, and advertisers have followed suit. As of today, 62 companies have stopped their ads from running on Beck's show. Every national company with a name you'd recognize is gone. What's left are mostly far-right groups and direct marketing companies selling things like gold coins and discounted exercise equipment.
The reality of Beck's attacks on Van
After we launched this campaign, some bloggers and reporters tried to discredit the effort by claiming that the White House or Van was somehow involved, or that we launched the campaign to protect Van. It's an absurd accusation. Van hasn't worked with ColorOfChange in years, and when we decided to launch the campaign we didn't even know that Beck had attacked him. The reality is that we began our campaign for the same reason 175,000 of you have now joined it: Glenn Beck called the president of the United States a "racist" who "has a deep seated hatred for White people," which is part of a pattern of Beck using lies and distortions to race-bait and fear-monger.2
As Beck started losing advertisers in response to our campaign, he went into full-scale attack mode on Van--exaggerating or distorting his record on 23 shows and devoting an entire segment to discrediting him. Beck presented his attacks on Van as honest journalistic inquiry, while dishonestly failing to mention that Van co-founded the group leading a successful advertiser boycott against him.
But Beck's real goals were clear: Take down Van. Undermine the White House. Set the stage for his followers to say our campaign was about protecting Van. And of course, create a distraction from our campaign and the real reasons major companies are ditching Beck's show.
The problem with Beck
Glenn Beck's show is described as news analysis and commentary, and he claims to be bringing his viewers "the facts"; but his attacks on the President's character, agenda and advisers are anything but news. They are political character assassination of the worst form, relying on dishonesty, distortion, exaggeration, and fear. And Beck has promised to launch more attacks on new targets.3 Our country is facing numerous challenges, including a struggling economy, a climate and energy crisis, and a broken health care system. The media should be promoting thoughtful, rational dialogue about how to solve these problems, not launching dishonest political attacks to distract and divide us.
Our team is working hard to use all the tools at our disposal to take away Beck's platform. In the coming weeks there will be more for you to do. But for now, we ask you to do something simple. If you haven't done so already, please email your friends and family, and ask them to sign on to our campaign against Glenn Beck. There's a message you can send them at the link below:
http://colorofchange.org/beck/passalong.html?id=1756-227036
Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
September 9th, 2009
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU -- your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=1756-227036
References
1. "White House Official Resigns After G.O.P. Criticism," New York Times, 9-06-09
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/politics/07vanjones.html
2. "Beck caps off week of race-baiting by calling Obama a 'racist'," Media Matters, 7-30-09
http://mediamatters.org/research/200907300019
3. @glennbeck on Twitter, 9-03-09
http://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/3749169499 (You'll have to copy/paste that on your own.)
Saturday night, Van Jones resigned from his job as the White House special adviser on Green Jobs.1 Van's resignation came after a vicious smear campaign by Fox television host Glenn Beck, and it is the latest evidence of why our campaign against Beck is so important.
Van is a passionate thinker and leader and we are grateful to him for co-founding ColorOfChange. But this campaign is not about Van. It's about stopping Glenn Beck, who has promised to take his witch-hunt to others in the administration. Beck's overall plan is to create an atmosphere in which the White House can accomplish nothing, and he's carrying it out by preying on race-based fears and mobilizing hate.
The good news is that our campaign is working. More than 175,000 of you have stood up, and advertisers have followed suit. As of today, 62 companies have stopped their ads from running on Beck's show. Every national company with a name you'd recognize is gone. What's left are mostly far-right groups and direct marketing companies selling things like gold coins and discounted exercise equipment.
The reality of Beck's attacks on Van
After we launched this campaign, some bloggers and reporters tried to discredit the effort by claiming that the White House or Van was somehow involved, or that we launched the campaign to protect Van. It's an absurd accusation. Van hasn't worked with ColorOfChange in years, and when we decided to launch the campaign we didn't even know that Beck had attacked him. The reality is that we began our campaign for the same reason 175,000 of you have now joined it: Glenn Beck called the president of the United States a "racist" who "has a deep seated hatred for White people," which is part of a pattern of Beck using lies and distortions to race-bait and fear-monger.2
As Beck started losing advertisers in response to our campaign, he went into full-scale attack mode on Van--exaggerating or distorting his record on 23 shows and devoting an entire segment to discrediting him. Beck presented his attacks on Van as honest journalistic inquiry, while dishonestly failing to mention that Van co-founded the group leading a successful advertiser boycott against him.
But Beck's real goals were clear: Take down Van. Undermine the White House. Set the stage for his followers to say our campaign was about protecting Van. And of course, create a distraction from our campaign and the real reasons major companies are ditching Beck's show.
The problem with Beck
Glenn Beck's show is described as news analysis and commentary, and he claims to be bringing his viewers "the facts"; but his attacks on the President's character, agenda and advisers are anything but news. They are political character assassination of the worst form, relying on dishonesty, distortion, exaggeration, and fear. And Beck has promised to launch more attacks on new targets.3 Our country is facing numerous challenges, including a struggling economy, a climate and energy crisis, and a broken health care system. The media should be promoting thoughtful, rational dialogue about how to solve these problems, not launching dishonest political attacks to distract and divide us.
Our team is working hard to use all the tools at our disposal to take away Beck's platform. In the coming weeks there will be more for you to do. But for now, we ask you to do something simple. If you haven't done so already, please email your friends and family, and ask them to sign on to our campaign against Glenn Beck. There's a message you can send them at the link below:
http://colorofchange.org/beck/passalong.html?id=1756-227036
Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
September 9th, 2009
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU -- your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=1756-227036
References
1. "White House Official Resigns After G.O.P. Criticism," New York Times, 9-06-09
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/politics/07vanjones.html
2. "Beck caps off week of race-baiting by calling Obama a 'racist'," Media Matters, 7-30-09
http://mediamatters.org/research/200907300019
3. @glennbeck on Twitter, 9-03-09
http://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/3749169499 (You'll have to copy/paste that on your own.)
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Skip Pass Beck, Too
Message from ColorofChange.org:
Dear friends,
As you may know, right-wing talk show hosts have been bringing race-based fear mongering into the mainstream, but FOX's Glenn Beck just took it to another level. On Tuesday, Beck said:
It's part of a larger argument Beck has been making: that President Obama wants to serve the needs of Black communities at White people's expense. This kind of talk stirs up fear, hate, and it can lead to violence.
I've joined ColorOfChange.org's effort to stop Glenn Beck. ColorOfChange is already putting calls into Beck's advertisers, asking them if they want to be associated with this kind of racist hate and fear-mongering. When the advertisers see that tens of thousands of us are behind that question, I believe they'll move their advertising dollars elsewhere, and his show and platform will be history.
Will you take a stand and be counted, and invite your friends and family to do the same? It takes just a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1756-227036
Glenn Beck is appealing to the worst in America. Of course, some Americans refuse to accept the fact that our president is Black or the idea that he could truly serve all Americans. But the only way these views fade away is if they're not reinforced by mainstream society. Instead, folks like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Rush Limbaugh are exploiting racism and race-based fear to bump their ratings, stirring up racial discord in the process.
The dangers of these tactics are real. We saw the same dynamic during the presidential race: By the end, the McCain/Palin campaign was unable to control the violent energy whipped up by their race-baiting. It resulted in an unprecedented number of threats on Obama's life, a rise in the number of hate groups, and an increase in the number of threats and crimes against immigrants and Black people.
FOX has a horrible track record on pushing racist propaganda, but Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He's trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter--like health care and the economy.
The good news is that we have the power to stop this. All major media is funded by advertising. And advertisers care more than anything what consumers think. If we want to change what's happening and put an end to folks like Glenn Beck having a platform, we can do it.
It's up to us, and it can start now. Please join me:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1756-227036
Thanks.
Here are some links to more info:
"Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008
"Glenn Beck: Obama agenda driven by 'reparations' and desire to 'settle old racial scores'" (One could only hope! ~ No1KState)
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040
"MSNBC's Deutsch encourages viewers to demand advertisers on Beck's show spend money elsewhere"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907290037
"On Television and Radio, Talk of Obama's Citizenship"
http://tinyurl.com/mb467j
~ More references via email message - No1KState
1. "Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'" Media Matters, 7-28-09
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008
2. "On Television and Radio, Talk of Obama's Citizenship," The New York Times, 7-24-09
http://tinyurl.com/mb467j
3. "Rush and reparations," The Nation, 5-12-2009
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/435392/rush_and_reparations
4. "Homeland Security report warns of rising right-wing extremism, Huffington Post, 4-14-2009 http://tinyurl.com/cpgx6q
5. "Barack Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching US Secret Service," The Telegraph, 8-3-2009
http://tinyurl.com/nzt95p
6. "Growing hate groups blame Obama, economy," CNN, 2-26-2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/26/hate.groups.report/
7. "Election of Obama provokes rise in U.S. hate crimes," Reuters, 11-24-2008
http://tinyurl.com/nxfdpy
8. ColorOfChange.org email on Fox's attacks on the Obamas
http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/message.html
9. "An overview: Fox News and its problem with African-Americans," ColorOfChange.org
http://colorofchange.org/fox/summary.html
Dear friends,
As you may know, right-wing talk show hosts have been bringing race-based fear mongering into the mainstream, but FOX's Glenn Beck just took it to another level. On Tuesday, Beck said:
This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has
a deep-seated hatred for white people... this guy is, I believe, a racist.
It's part of a larger argument Beck has been making: that President Obama wants to serve the needs of Black communities at White people's expense. This kind of talk stirs up fear, hate, and it can lead to violence.
I've joined ColorOfChange.org's effort to stop Glenn Beck. ColorOfChange is already putting calls into Beck's advertisers, asking them if they want to be associated with this kind of racist hate and fear-mongering. When the advertisers see that tens of thousands of us are behind that question, I believe they'll move their advertising dollars elsewhere, and his show and platform will be history.
Will you take a stand and be counted, and invite your friends and family to do the same? It takes just a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1756-227036
Glenn Beck is appealing to the worst in America. Of course, some Americans refuse to accept the fact that our president is Black or the idea that he could truly serve all Americans. But the only way these views fade away is if they're not reinforced by mainstream society. Instead, folks like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Rush Limbaugh are exploiting racism and race-based fear to bump their ratings, stirring up racial discord in the process.
The dangers of these tactics are real. We saw the same dynamic during the presidential race: By the end, the McCain/Palin campaign was unable to control the violent energy whipped up by their race-baiting. It resulted in an unprecedented number of threats on Obama's life, a rise in the number of hate groups, and an increase in the number of threats and crimes against immigrants and Black people.
FOX has a horrible track record on pushing racist propaganda, but Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He's trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter--like health care and the economy.
The good news is that we have the power to stop this. All major media is funded by advertising. And advertisers care more than anything what consumers think. If we want to change what's happening and put an end to folks like Glenn Beck having a platform, we can do it.
It's up to us, and it can start now. Please join me:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/?id=1756-227036
Thanks.
Here are some links to more info:
"Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008
"Glenn Beck: Obama agenda driven by 'reparations' and desire to 'settle old racial scores'" (One could only hope! ~ No1KState)
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040
"MSNBC's Deutsch encourages viewers to demand advertisers on Beck's show spend money elsewhere"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907290037
"On Television and Radio, Talk of Obama's Citizenship"
http://tinyurl.com/mb467j
~ More references via email message - No1KState
1. "Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'" Media Matters, 7-28-09
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008
2. "On Television and Radio, Talk of Obama's Citizenship," The New York Times, 7-24-09
http://tinyurl.com/mb467j
3. "Rush and reparations," The Nation, 5-12-2009
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/435392/rush_and_reparations
4. "Homeland Security report warns of rising right-wing extremism, Huffington Post, 4-14-2009 http://tinyurl.com/cpgx6q
5. "Barack Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching US Secret Service," The Telegraph, 8-3-2009
http://tinyurl.com/nzt95p
6. "Growing hate groups blame Obama, economy," CNN, 2-26-2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/26/hate.groups.report/
7. "Election of Obama provokes rise in U.S. hate crimes," Reuters, 11-24-2008
http://tinyurl.com/nxfdpy
8. ColorOfChange.org email on Fox's attacks on the Obamas
http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/message.html
9. "An overview: Fox News and its problem with African-Americans," ColorOfChange.org
http://colorofchange.org/fox/summary.html
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
You're Still Here!
Oh, that's great!
A lot of things have been happening in my personal life. All good . . . and perfect, thankya Jesus! Hallelujah! For real.
I've finally been given a firm diagnosis - a mild narcolepsy - which explains my fatigue, but not the pain. Which, is okay since both are being treated. The new medication for fatigue hasn't yet made me feel "normal"; just not so week-old road-kill sick. And that's absolutely fabulous! Yeah, I still spend much of my day on the couch or online; but, like I said, I feel better. And that feels great.
Now, as for my continued inconsistency. First off, like I said, I still don't feel normal. And secondly, my brain has been some vacation of sorts for at least a couple of weeks now. I don't know why. It's not that I feel dumb; and trust, I do know that feeling. No, I'm just mentally tired. I mean, when I say a lot has been going on in my personal life, I do mean a lot. It's taking quite a bit of mental energy to keep things straight. So I don't have the usual zest for thinking out examples or implications or anything of the such of racism or sexism or anything in our current events.
In fact, I have a post on draft right now that I started last week, and just couldn't get my head to finish. Something about how the little racist "Obama chia pets" and "nappy-headed hos" comments are all part of a society that enables what amounts to essentially robbing the black community: Well's Fargo targeting the black community for sub-prime loans. I was gonna explain how all the seemingly harmless statements mount up to damage the black community. The whole circle made sense in my head, I just couldn't quite find the words. But since I'm on a bit of a roll, let me just say this - people who see nothing racist about the recent "tea parties" nurture an environment where people see nothing wrong with gouging the black community of very hard earned moneys. And to make a point that hard-working white Americans need to hear: the people who saw nothing wrong with loan officers lying both to the client and to the underwriter so the cost of the loan will be higher leading to higher profits for the company and higher bonuses for the loan officer also see nothing wrong with the exorbitant bonuses received by the executives who brought down the global economy. Mark my words chumpy, which shit gets to flying, everybody gets hit. Instead of listening to the idiots who propagate the lie the affirmative action is "reverse" racism, you should be listening to those of us tell you that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Well. Guess the good ole noggin' is doing better than I thought!
Also, I've just touched base with my cousin Lauren. If you don't remember, I have a cousin and cousin-in-law who're both based in Afghanistan right now. They're army medics, kinda like on MASH I would imagine. Lauren describes what she does as kinda working in an emergency room with injured people coming in all day. Her working hours were increased, so she works 12-hours shifts now. She has a furlough next month. I can't wait! It's not even about seeing her. It's just about knowing she's home safe and sound.
Oh! What brought about this sudden post anyway? This op-ed piece in the New York Times by Frank Rich. Pretty cogent stuff. Gets straight to the point. Gotta read. Here's a quote:
Anyway, I hope you're still here when I get back. Don't know when I'll be posting again. Just can't shake the dead-brain feeling.
A lot of things have been happening in my personal life. All good . . . and perfect, thankya Jesus! Hallelujah! For real.
I've finally been given a firm diagnosis - a mild narcolepsy - which explains my fatigue, but not the pain. Which, is okay since both are being treated. The new medication for fatigue hasn't yet made me feel "normal"; just not so week-old road-kill sick. And that's absolutely fabulous! Yeah, I still spend much of my day on the couch or online; but, like I said, I feel better. And that feels great.
Now, as for my continued inconsistency. First off, like I said, I still don't feel normal. And secondly, my brain has been some vacation of sorts for at least a couple of weeks now. I don't know why. It's not that I feel dumb; and trust, I do know that feeling. No, I'm just mentally tired. I mean, when I say a lot has been going on in my personal life, I do mean a lot. It's taking quite a bit of mental energy to keep things straight. So I don't have the usual zest for thinking out examples or implications or anything of the such of racism or sexism or anything in our current events.
In fact, I have a post on draft right now that I started last week, and just couldn't get my head to finish. Something about how the little racist "Obama chia pets" and "nappy-headed hos" comments are all part of a society that enables what amounts to essentially robbing the black community: Well's Fargo targeting the black community for sub-prime loans. I was gonna explain how all the seemingly harmless statements mount up to damage the black community. The whole circle made sense in my head, I just couldn't quite find the words. But since I'm on a bit of a roll, let me just say this - people who see nothing racist about the recent "tea parties" nurture an environment where people see nothing wrong with gouging the black community of very hard earned moneys. And to make a point that hard-working white Americans need to hear: the people who saw nothing wrong with loan officers lying both to the client and to the underwriter so the cost of the loan will be higher leading to higher profits for the company and higher bonuses for the loan officer also see nothing wrong with the exorbitant bonuses received by the executives who brought down the global economy. Mark my words chumpy, which shit gets to flying, everybody gets hit. Instead of listening to the idiots who propagate the lie the affirmative action is "reverse" racism, you should be listening to those of us tell you that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Well. Guess the good ole noggin' is doing better than I thought!
Also, I've just touched base with my cousin Lauren. If you don't remember, I have a cousin and cousin-in-law who're both based in Afghanistan right now. They're army medics, kinda like on MASH I would imagine. Lauren describes what she does as kinda working in an emergency room with injured people coming in all day. Her working hours were increased, so she works 12-hours shifts now. She has a furlough next month. I can't wait! It's not even about seeing her. It's just about knowing she's home safe and sound.
Oh! What brought about this sudden post anyway? This op-ed piece in the New York Times by Frank Rich. Pretty cogent stuff. Gets straight to the point. Gotta read. Here's a quote:
Then he brought up another recent gunman: "If you're one who believes that abortion is murder, at what point do you go out and kill someone who's performing abortions?" An answer, he said, was provided by Dr. George Tiller's killer. He went on: "If you are one who believes these sorts of things about the president of the United States ..." He left the rest of that chilling sentence unsaid.Rich also mentioned something I hadn't really thought about, but which is true:
We don't know whether the tiny subset of domestic terrorists in this crowd is egged on by political or media demagogues - though we do tend to assume that foreign jihadists respond like Pavlov's dogs to the words of their most fanatical leaders and polemicists.I'm not quite sure why it never crossed my mind, but at any rate. If you're interested in a discussion on whether or not hate speech should be regulated, here's a good start. I already have comments there, but I'm about to add Rich's thought to the convo.
Anyway, I hope you're still here when I get back. Don't know when I'll be posting again. Just can't shake the dead-brain feeling.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Riot or Revolution? 4
Hey. I'm starting to think I'm on to something. First, I linked this op-ed by Charles M Blow in an update to RorR3, but might as well link it here to. It captures my point nicely.
And you know who else captures me point nicely? The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Watch and enjoy.
And you know who else captures me point nicely? The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Watch and enjoy.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Baracknophobia - Obey | ||||
| ||||
Friday, April 3, 2009
Riot or Revolution? 2
Finally! right? First off, I'm sorry about the delay. And second off, this may not be as detailed as I would otherwise like. I'm being a bit busier than usual. Helping out with Lauren's kids the past couple of days. So, I'm a bit tired. And I promised Lauren I'd write her about the kids soon, the final of a 3 part series of my time with them recently. And I just started blogging with a group blog, dangerousNegro. So, a lot has been going on. Not a lot for a person of normal health, but a lot for me.
So, what was my point about riot or revolution? Well, conceptualization, I guess. I mean, we all know that racism involves "Othering." I just think that in this "nation of cowards," we don't really consider how it operates.
For instance, would Glenn Beck consider himself a racist? Probably not. Then again, neither would Geraldine Ferraro or Pat Buchanan. But look at what he's spreading. The idea that violence perpetrated at the government by whites is not just understandable but justifiable.
Now, of course he gives this as the "worst case scenario," and you should know I haven't watched the clip since before I posted it, but as I recall, his general thesis was that the present government isn't listening to the little guy. Of course, he means this present executive administration that just happens to be presided over by a black guy, but he somehow dates the "rebellion" past Pres. Barack Obama's time in office as to avoid that accusation. But come on. I'm not buying. You?
So anyway. We have this uprising by whom? If there's one constituency I know Glenn Beck can't claim to represent, racist or not and probably racist, is black folk and/or any folk of color. So who's rioting? Who's rioting against who's government? What is this government doing? Presumably, it's gone to the left, right? So, a progressive tax system, a social safety net, affirmative action, gay marriage, abortion on demand, etc and so on. So who's rioting and why?
Now. Glenn Beck says they're rioting because the government isn't listening to them. Which, for me, is a big hoot! I mean, really. After 2 centuries of unquestioned domination, women and people of color and the LGBT community finally start making a push and get the government to finally represent their interests, and white men wanna rebel? Really? It's nearly hilarious!
So, again. There's a violent uprising by who? because the government isn't listening to them.
Well. Where was Glenn Beck and his elk when thousands of people descended on Jena, LA because the government wasn't listening to them? I wonder what he thought about the 1992 LA riots. What were Glenn Beck's thoughts on the occurrences post-Katrina? Well, here's one:
Don't get me wrong. The man is consistent in denying his racism. But here's my point and you can discuss anything you may have noticed that I left out - racism continues unabated in this country because so many white people in positions of power and influence, be they radio shock-jocks or US Congressmen, engage in Othering and refuse to allow someone to point it out to them. It's their natural reflex to see a black guy reach for his wallet, think "gun," and shoot 30, 40, 50 times without apology and even stopping to reload; but, apologize when they have to kill a white man who was shooting at them.
Racism remains rampant in this country and this Othering is why. If we're really going to get past racism, we can't keep letting white people enjoy the privilege of defining and describing what happens in the world. We have to stop sympathizing with white perpetrators and criminalizing black victims. It would also help if Glenn Beck wasn't given air time. And so long as that continues, I'll be here to riot about it!
Or, would that be a revolution?
So, what was my point about riot or revolution? Well, conceptualization, I guess. I mean, we all know that racism involves "Othering." I just think that in this "nation of cowards," we don't really consider how it operates.
For instance, would Glenn Beck consider himself a racist? Probably not. Then again, neither would Geraldine Ferraro or Pat Buchanan. But look at what he's spreading. The idea that violence perpetrated at the government by whites is not just understandable but justifiable.
Now, of course he gives this as the "worst case scenario," and you should know I haven't watched the clip since before I posted it, but as I recall, his general thesis was that the present government isn't listening to the little guy. Of course, he means this present executive administration that just happens to be presided over by a black guy, but he somehow dates the "rebellion" past Pres. Barack Obama's time in office as to avoid that accusation. But come on. I'm not buying. You?
So anyway. We have this uprising by whom? If there's one constituency I know Glenn Beck can't claim to represent, racist or not and probably racist, is black folk and/or any folk of color. So who's rioting? Who's rioting against who's government? What is this government doing? Presumably, it's gone to the left, right? So, a progressive tax system, a social safety net, affirmative action, gay marriage, abortion on demand, etc and so on. So who's rioting and why?
Now. Glenn Beck says they're rioting because the government isn't listening to them. Which, for me, is a big hoot! I mean, really. After 2 centuries of unquestioned domination, women and people of color and the LGBT community finally start making a push and get the government to finally represent their interests, and white men wanna rebel? Really? It's nearly hilarious!
So, again. There's a violent uprising by who? because the government isn't listening to them.
Well. Where was Glenn Beck and his elk when thousands of people descended on Jena, LA because the government wasn't listening to them? I wonder what he thought about the 1992 LA riots. What were Glenn Beck's thoughts on the occurrences post-Katrina? Well, here's one:
But the second thought I had when I saw these people and they had to shut down the Astrodome and lock it down, I thought: I didn't think I could hate victims faster than the 9-11 victims.Where's the sympathy then for a violent uprising towards a negligent government? Where was his army to back up and support the people then?
Don't get me wrong. The man is consistent in denying his racism. But here's my point and you can discuss anything you may have noticed that I left out - racism continues unabated in this country because so many white people in positions of power and influence, be they radio shock-jocks or US Congressmen, engage in Othering and refuse to allow someone to point it out to them. It's their natural reflex to see a black guy reach for his wallet, think "gun," and shoot 30, 40, 50 times without apology and even stopping to reload; but, apologize when they have to kill a white man who was shooting at them.
Racism remains rampant in this country and this Othering is why. If we're really going to get past racism, we can't keep letting white people enjoy the privilege of defining and describing what happens in the world. We have to stop sympathizing with white perpetrators and criminalizing black victims. It would also help if Glenn Beck wasn't given air time. And so long as that continues, I'll be here to riot about it!
Or, would that be a revolution?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Case Study: Thailand
To be honest, I'm a little confused about what's going on in Thailand.
The former Prime Minister Thaksin is in England in self-exile. There was a military coup because PM Thaksin was accused of corruption. Charges included selling his family's controlling stake in telecommunications company Shin Corp. to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings for a tax-free $1.9 billion. Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and complain a key national asset is now in foreign hands.
Thaksin also has been accused of stifling the media and mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that flared under his rule.
Here's the thing. People’s Alliance for Democracy, the coalition of businessmen, academics and activists, has accused the new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a political proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law. The PAD is now going for broke, according to many political analysts. The arrest of two of PAD leaders, Chaiwat Sinsuwong and Chamlong Srimuang, who were detained on treason charges in for their roles in the anti-government group's late August raids on government buildings, signals a renewed campaign to attempt to topple the government. Many believe Chamlong orchestrated his own capture to fire up the PAD protestors, whose enthusiasm for the battle has waned in recent weeks.
But, the Thai who live in the large rural sections of the country love Thaksin. Villagers point to the homes they built during Thaksin's tenure from 2001 to 2006, the refrigerators they bought, the general store they opened - all a result of the low-interest loans his government offered.
"Thaksin was the savior of the poor," said Kamcham Pokasang, 68, a farmer from Kok Loi in the northeastern province of Buriram, where lush green paddies of jasmine rice stretch to the horizon. "Before Thaksin we had nothing, only rice fields. Thanks to Thaksin, my family now has everything."
What's most sad is that the political crisis is a tug-of-war between Thaksin's supporters in the countryside, where two-thirds of Thailand's 65 million people live, and an educated middle class who feels threatened by the rural majority's growing political clout.
This isn't to say there hasn't been corruption and that Thaksin's opponents don't care for the poor - like our Republicans. They, unlike our Republicans, Thaksin's critics want to jettison his policies promoting privatization, free trade agreements and CEO-style administration.
There is more to be read about this story here, from BBC News Asia-Pacific, which leads with the fact that you know something ain't right when doctors break their hypocratic oath and refuse to treat injured policement. Also here, Bangkok Post General News details more Thaksin legal troubles.
Admittedly, I came upon this story because my mom has some thing about no one in the house changing the internet homepage, and the story popped up as soon as I opened the web browser. I caught glance of it just before I began to type in the web address to my email account. But, I think there's something here for us Americans to glean. And it does have to do with the difference between socialism and democratic socialism.
First of all, wow! I mean really politicians, do enter politics because you're corrupt? or is it that you were led astray?
Second of all, another wow! at how Asian countries deal with their corrupt politicians. Can you imagine what America would be like if we got rid of our corrupt politicians? And it's not even like Thaksin illegal invaded and sovereign nation or anything like that, and he's had to leave the country!
Third of all and actually most important, all kidding aside, I'm concerned that 1/3 of Thai people think they know what's best for the other 2/3. I'm concerned because maybe the 2/3 were bought off with the new houses and help entering modernity. I'm concerned because maybe the 1/3 are being so legalistic, they see the forest for the trees.
All said, I'm concerned that these groups can't come together and about the swirl of rumors of lies which are believed no matter how sensationalized or ridiculous. Sound familiar.
Listen, Americans. You can't make political decisions based on what you think is best for you as an individual. I mean, you can, I just question the wisdom of such thinking. And you certainly can't make a decision based solely on what the politicians are saying. Get informed. Find out what happens when. And especially, don't believe what one guy (McCain) is saying about the other guy (Obama, for whom I just voted!).
And you can't vote based on "scary" words like "socialism" or "spreading the wealth." Especially if you don't have any wealth, then, dumb- , er, I mean dear voter, you're gonna get some help from the government, which you probably deserve.
And you know what, I just can't figure out how we've gotten to this notion that a person worth is based solely on their paycheck. That if you don't make much, it's your fault, not the fault of the CEO who's milking your labor for all it's worth.
You gotta understand, in a capitalist society, labor is a form of capital. And many of us are allowing a labor to be undervalued. Whether it's because we're believing lies labor unions hurting rather than helping workers. Or, whether it's because you actually believe affirmative action puts whites, especially white men at a grave disadvantage. Or, maybe it's because you think we're being "invaded from the South of the border." Your labor is being undervalued and it's you're own fault. You don't keep yourself informed. You don't read all the different points of views about an issue. And Lord knows it seems like you can hardly read the truth about an issue, Mr and Mrs "I can't trust Obama because he's an Arab."
So, let's do some informing.
socialism: 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. 2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory. 3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
democratic socialism: a form of socialism with a democratic government; the ownership and control of the means of production, capital, land, property, etc., by the community as a whole -- combined with a democratic government
Now, am I saying that we should move to a completely socialist society where everybody makes the same no matter what work they do or how hard they work? No, no quite. What I'm saying is we shouldn't privatize corporate profit and then nationalize corporate losses. What I'm saying is that instead of being a proud know-nothing, maybe you should find sometime to learn what's really going on. And, trust me, when it comes to telling the truth, NY Times laps anything owned by Ruport Murdoch. (And by the by, am I the only who thinks it's funny the truth always happens to be "liberal.")
And while I encourage everyone to vote, especially for Obama, for the love of all that's good and holy, don't vote for a fellow proud six-pack know-nothing, which amounts to a drunk idiot. And yes, that's a shot a Sarah Palin, I'm sure you couldn't tell.
The former Prime Minister Thaksin is in England in self-exile. There was a military coup because PM Thaksin was accused of corruption. Charges included selling his family's controlling stake in telecommunications company Shin Corp. to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings for a tax-free $1.9 billion. Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and complain a key national asset is now in foreign hands.
Thaksin also has been accused of stifling the media and mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that flared under his rule.
Here's the thing. People’s Alliance for Democracy, the coalition of businessmen, academics and activists, has accused the new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a political proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law. The PAD is now going for broke, according to many political analysts. The arrest of two of PAD leaders, Chaiwat Sinsuwong and Chamlong Srimuang, who were detained on treason charges in for their roles in the anti-government group's late August raids on government buildings, signals a renewed campaign to attempt to topple the government. Many believe Chamlong orchestrated his own capture to fire up the PAD protestors, whose enthusiasm for the battle has waned in recent weeks.
But, the Thai who live in the large rural sections of the country love Thaksin. Villagers point to the homes they built during Thaksin's tenure from 2001 to 2006, the refrigerators they bought, the general store they opened - all a result of the low-interest loans his government offered.
"Thaksin was the savior of the poor," said Kamcham Pokasang, 68, a farmer from Kok Loi in the northeastern province of Buriram, where lush green paddies of jasmine rice stretch to the horizon. "Before Thaksin we had nothing, only rice fields. Thanks to Thaksin, my family now has everything."
What's most sad is that the political crisis is a tug-of-war between Thaksin's supporters in the countryside, where two-thirds of Thailand's 65 million people live, and an educated middle class who feels threatened by the rural majority's growing political clout.
This isn't to say there hasn't been corruption and that Thaksin's opponents don't care for the poor - like our Republicans. They, unlike our Republicans, Thaksin's critics want to jettison his policies promoting privatization, free trade agreements and CEO-style administration.
There is more to be read about this story here, from BBC News Asia-Pacific, which leads with the fact that you know something ain't right when doctors break their hypocratic oath and refuse to treat injured policement. Also here, Bangkok Post General News details more Thaksin legal troubles.
Admittedly, I came upon this story because my mom has some thing about no one in the house changing the internet homepage, and the story popped up as soon as I opened the web browser. I caught glance of it just before I began to type in the web address to my email account. But, I think there's something here for us Americans to glean. And it does have to do with the difference between socialism and democratic socialism.
First of all, wow! I mean really politicians, do enter politics because you're corrupt? or is it that you were led astray?
Second of all, another wow! at how Asian countries deal with their corrupt politicians. Can you imagine what America would be like if we got rid of our corrupt politicians? And it's not even like Thaksin illegal invaded and sovereign nation or anything like that, and he's had to leave the country!
Third of all and actually most important, all kidding aside, I'm concerned that 1/3 of Thai people think they know what's best for the other 2/3. I'm concerned because maybe the 2/3 were bought off with the new houses and help entering modernity. I'm concerned because maybe the 1/3 are being so legalistic, they see the forest for the trees.
All said, I'm concerned that these groups can't come together and about the swirl of rumors of lies which are believed no matter how sensationalized or ridiculous. Sound familiar.
Listen, Americans. You can't make political decisions based on what you think is best for you as an individual. I mean, you can, I just question the wisdom of such thinking. And you certainly can't make a decision based solely on what the politicians are saying. Get informed. Find out what happens when. And especially, don't believe what one guy (McCain) is saying about the other guy (Obama, for whom I just voted!).
And you can't vote based on "scary" words like "socialism" or "spreading the wealth." Especially if you don't have any wealth, then, dumb- , er, I mean dear voter, you're gonna get some help from the government, which you probably deserve.
And you know what, I just can't figure out how we've gotten to this notion that a person worth is based solely on their paycheck. That if you don't make much, it's your fault, not the fault of the CEO who's milking your labor for all it's worth.
You gotta understand, in a capitalist society, labor is a form of capital. And many of us are allowing a labor to be undervalued. Whether it's because we're believing lies labor unions hurting rather than helping workers. Or, whether it's because you actually believe affirmative action puts whites, especially white men at a grave disadvantage. Or, maybe it's because you think we're being "invaded from the South of the border." Your labor is being undervalued and it's you're own fault. You don't keep yourself informed. You don't read all the different points of views about an issue. And Lord knows it seems like you can hardly read the truth about an issue, Mr and Mrs "I can't trust Obama because he's an Arab."
So, let's do some informing.
socialism: 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. 2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory. 3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
democratic socialism: a form of socialism with a democratic government; the ownership and control of the means of production, capital, land, property, etc., by the community as a whole -- combined with a democratic government
Now, am I saying that we should move to a completely socialist society where everybody makes the same no matter what work they do or how hard they work? No, no quite. What I'm saying is we shouldn't privatize corporate profit and then nationalize corporate losses. What I'm saying is that instead of being a proud know-nothing, maybe you should find sometime to learn what's really going on. And, trust me, when it comes to telling the truth, NY Times laps anything owned by Ruport Murdoch. (And by the by, am I the only who thinks it's funny the truth always happens to be "liberal.")
And while I encourage everyone to vote, especially for Obama, for the love of all that's good and holy, don't vote for a fellow proud six-pack know-nothing, which amounts to a drunk idiot. And yes, that's a shot a Sarah Palin, I'm sure you couldn't tell.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
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But Don't Jack My Genuis
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