When one thinks of the Clinton Years, one often recalls that honorificabilitudinatibus sound of sucking, filling the dark closets of the Oval Orifice. And, of course, the devil with the blue dress.
But one also thinks of ears. Big ears. Far too big for a diatom like H. Ross. Perot. [drumroll please. cue the sucking sound.] But you know what they say: Big ears, big... well let me just explain it this way: "hross" is the Old English spelling of "horse" (at least to the extent that they had any orthography).
Perhaps it was this preternatural disproportionality that disengendered many voters to HRoss, thus allowing the greasy shoehorn of fate to repopulate the White House without a Perot to brag about his Johnson, or a Bush to brag about barb. It was Clinton's turn, Jerry Brown be damned.
But the well-endowed Hross also left a legacy involving a sucking sound...when he bespoke of the jobs being sucked out of America (USA) were NAFTA to become law of the lamb. Did I say lamb? I meant sheep.
Meanwhile, the pigs are getting fatter still, and the dogs of war are all barked out. Jeez this is starting to sound like a Pink Floyd album.
Album, you say?
The moral of the story, if there is one, might resemble this: You can lead a Hross to falter, but you can't blame it on Walter.
"But that makes no sense!", you say.
Welcome to America. And for God's sake don't boo the queen.
(This important message has been brought to you by...ADC: the American Digression Corporation, where sport trumps knowledge.)
This is not a time to replay old tapes or albums.
We need a clear break from the sickeningly nefarious 20th century.
We can start anew, and distance ourselves from all that, by supporting 21st century politicians, artists, writers, bloggers, social networking leisure-cats, and everyone named David.
Or, we can re-open old wounds.
Don't re-open old wounds.
Release the Healer Monsters.
Edwards and Obama.
Healer Monsters.
Showing posts with label Clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clinton. Show all posts
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Hillary, Lieberman & Bush: Their Push for War with Iran is Tipping Point
Strange bedfellowsJohn Edwards said it best. He and Hillary learned entirely different lessons from the Iraq War. And now that Hillary has joined Lieberman, Bush and the PNAC neo-cons to take those first steps toward war with Iran...her departure from real Americans is complete. And Obama's failure to even vote may well serve as a tipping point for him too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-durang/beware-kyllieberman-pro_b_65797.html
FROM THE DEBATE:
RUSSERT: Senator, are you suggesting that these candidates
suspend their campaigns, go back to Washington, and for 40 consecutive
days vote on the war?
GRAVEL: If it stops the killing, my God, yes, do it.
And, Tim, you're really missing something. This is fantasy land.
We are talking about ending the war. My God, we're just starting a
war right today. There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe
Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has offered another
resolution and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to
war with Iran.
I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for
voting against it.
And I am ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it. You're not
going to get another shot at this because what happens if this war
ensues, we invade, and they're looking for an excuse to do it. And
Obama was not even there to vote.
RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I want to give you a chance to
respond.
(NERVOUS LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: I don't know where to start.
RUSSERT: Please take 30 seconds.
(NERVOUS LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: Yes. Let me respond.
My understanding of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran is that it is
promoting terrorism. It is manufacturing weapons that are used
against our troops in Iraq. It is certainly the main agent of support
for Hezbollah, Hamas and others.
And in what we voted for today, we will have an opportunity to
designate it as a terrorist organization which gives us the options to
be able to impose sanctions on the primary leaders to try to begin to
put some teeth into all this talk about dealing with Iran.
We wouldn't be where we are today if the Bush administration
hadn't outsourced our diplomacy with respect to Iran and ignored Iran
and called it part of the axis of evil. Now we've got to make up for
lost time and lost ground...
EDWARDS: But I want to come back to a discussion that took place a few
minutes ago to make everyone understands what Senator Gravel is
talking and Senator Clinton was talking about. Because there was a
very important vote cast in the United States Senate today. And it
was, basically, in a resolution calling the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard a terrorist organization.
I voted for this war in Iraq, and I was wrong to vote for this
war. And I accept responsibility for that. Senator Clinton also
voted for this war.
We learned a very different lesson from that. I have
no intention of giving George Bush the authority to take the first
step on a road to war with Iran.
And I think that vote today, which Senator Biden and Senator Dodd
voted against, and they were correct to vote against it, is a clear
indication of the approach that all of us would take with the
situation in Iran because what I learned in my vote on Iraq was you
cannot give this president the authority and you can't even give him
the first step in that authority because he cannot be trusted. And
that resolution that was voted on today was a very clear indication...
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Man from Hemp
HEMP, NC
Bill Clinton was known as The Man from Hope, as that was where he grew up...in Hope, Arkansas. John Edwards is The Man from Hemp...and no, I don't mean marijuana. I mean Hemp...a small town in North Carolina whose current name happens to be Robbins.
Hemp was not the first name of Robbins though. The town of Robbins began in 1795 when Alexander Kennedy, a revolutionary war soldier (who happens to be my 5th great-grandfather, and the son of John Kennedy, the immigrant), settled in the area and established what would become the largest gun factory in the South. The promise of jobs drew others to the area, which became known as Mechanics Hill. In 1838, the gun factory closed and the townspeople cleared the land for agricultural purposes. It was during this time that gold was discovered in the area, and the town experienced a minor gold rush.
FUR ELISE
"At the turn of the twentieth century, the Durham-Charlotte railroad came through, and a depot was built in the town. In 1900, the town registered its name as Elise, in honor of the daughter of the president of the railroad. The railroad brought many more jobs and people to the town. In 1904, Elise Academy, now Elise Middle School, was established to educate the children of Elise. It was at this time that the townspeople applied for an official U.S. post office; they were notified that there was already a town in North Carolina with the name Elise. The post office assigned the town the name of Hemp, and after much argument among the townspeople, the new name was begrudgingly adopted in 1915. However, many people continued to refer to the town as Elise for years to come. In 1935, Hemp was incorporated as a town."
http://www.hsl.unc.edu/phpapers/robbins00/RCommDescr.htm
"During the 1920's, the town experienced industrial growth. Hemp was supplied with power in 1923, and the following year, Moore Mills Textile plant, the first textile mill, was established. The mill was purchased by Karl Robbins in 1930 and renamed the Robbins Silk Mill. The textile industry continued to play a significant role in the town until 1990. "
I believe it is this mill that John Edwards' father worked in.
ECONOMY: Kennedys, Guns & Gold
"The economy of Robbins has been marked by periods of growth and decline. In 1795, the Kennedy family opened the largest gun factory in the south in an effort to supply revolutionary war soldiers with rifles. The Kennedy gun factory created 75-100 jobs for the area; the factory continued to grow through the early 1800s, employing 150 people at its peak (Changing the Name of Hemp, 1943). When the gun factory closed in 1838 the land was cleared for agriculture. It was at this time that gold was discovered (City Government of Robbins, n.d.). Mining kept the town alive through the transitions in major industries. The gold mines are now being utilized to mine for talc."
My family still has ties and land in Moore County, where not only one may find Robbins, Elise, Hemp and Mechanics Hill (which are the same place), but one may drive to the southern end of the county and play fine golf at Pinehurst. It is a testament to the American Spirit that a small-town boy can, through hard and good work, rise to become the de facto leader of the world. I, for one, think the world would be well served.
Bill Clinton was known as The Man from Hope, as that was where he grew up...in Hope, Arkansas. John Edwards is The Man from Hemp...and no, I don't mean marijuana. I mean Hemp...a small town in North Carolina whose current name happens to be Robbins.
Hemp was not the first name of Robbins though. The town of Robbins began in 1795 when Alexander Kennedy, a revolutionary war soldier (who happens to be my 5th great-grandfather, and the son of John Kennedy, the immigrant), settled in the area and established what would become the largest gun factory in the South. The promise of jobs drew others to the area, which became known as Mechanics Hill. In 1838, the gun factory closed and the townspeople cleared the land for agricultural purposes. It was during this time that gold was discovered in the area, and the town experienced a minor gold rush.
FUR ELISE
"At the turn of the twentieth century, the Durham-Charlotte railroad came through, and a depot was built in the town. In 1900, the town registered its name as Elise, in honor of the daughter of the president of the railroad. The railroad brought many more jobs and people to the town. In 1904, Elise Academy, now Elise Middle School, was established to educate the children of Elise. It was at this time that the townspeople applied for an official U.S. post office; they were notified that there was already a town in North Carolina with the name Elise. The post office assigned the town the name of Hemp, and after much argument among the townspeople, the new name was begrudgingly adopted in 1915. However, many people continued to refer to the town as Elise for years to come. In 1935, Hemp was incorporated as a town."
http://www.hsl.unc.edu/phpapers/robbins00/RCommDescr.htm
"During the 1920's, the town experienced industrial growth. Hemp was supplied with power in 1923, and the following year, Moore Mills Textile plant, the first textile mill, was established. The mill was purchased by Karl Robbins in 1930 and renamed the Robbins Silk Mill. The textile industry continued to play a significant role in the town until 1990. "
I believe it is this mill that John Edwards' father worked in.
ECONOMY: Kennedys, Guns & Gold
"The economy of Robbins has been marked by periods of growth and decline. In 1795, the Kennedy family opened the largest gun factory in the south in an effort to supply revolutionary war soldiers with rifles. The Kennedy gun factory created 75-100 jobs for the area; the factory continued to grow through the early 1800s, employing 150 people at its peak (Changing the Name of Hemp, 1943). When the gun factory closed in 1838 the land was cleared for agriculture. It was at this time that gold was discovered (City Government of Robbins, n.d.). Mining kept the town alive through the transitions in major industries. The gold mines are now being utilized to mine for talc."
My family still has ties and land in Moore County, where not only one may find Robbins, Elise, Hemp and Mechanics Hill (which are the same place), but one may drive to the southern end of the county and play fine golf at Pinehurst. It is a testament to the American Spirit that a small-town boy can, through hard and good work, rise to become the de facto leader of the world. I, for one, think the world would be well served.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Clinton Global Initiative: Iddybud Chosen to Report on World Elite
Small Group of Excellent Bloggers Attend Future-Creating Event
"The best way to predict the future is the create it."
First Lady Laura Bush and former President Bill Clinton
Jude Camwell, the blogger known as "Iddybud" was among a mere handful of bloggers, including Barbara O'Brien (Mahablog) and Peter Daou of Salon.com's Daou Report, chosen to attend and report on the Clinton Global Initiative in Manhattan this week. The 3-day event has gathered a collection of leaders and thinkers most rare in human history. Along with many world kings and queens are such business and government leaders as First Lady Laura Bush, President Pervez Musharraf, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Hamid Karzai, King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein, Elie Wiesel, Ted Turner, Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, The Right Honorable Gordon Brown, Al Gore, former presidents Jimmy Carter and (of course) Bill Clinton (with Hillary also playing an important role), President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, The Honorable Dr. Javier Solana, Gerry Adams, Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, Wesley Clark, Thomas L. Friedman, David Freeman, Vartan Gregorian, Robert Edward Rubin, Jeffrey Sachs, media giants such as Tom Brokaw, Diane Sawyer, Judy Woodruff, Fareed Zakaria, George Stephanopoulos, Laura Rozen and Katie Couric, and many more. Kudos to Jude and fellow bloggers, as well as the Initiative which Jude says is a most positive ray of hope in an otherwise dark future.
"The best way to predict the future is the create it."
First Lady Laura Bush and former President Bill Clinton
Jude Camwell, the blogger known as "Iddybud" was among a mere handful of bloggers, including Barbara O'Brien (Mahablog) and Peter Daou of Salon.com's Daou Report, chosen to attend and report on the Clinton Global Initiative in Manhattan this week. The 3-day event has gathered a collection of leaders and thinkers most rare in human history. Along with many world kings and queens are such business and government leaders as First Lady Laura Bush, President Pervez Musharraf, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Hamid Karzai, King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein, Elie Wiesel, Ted Turner, Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, The Right Honorable Gordon Brown, Al Gore, former presidents Jimmy Carter and (of course) Bill Clinton (with Hillary also playing an important role), President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, The Honorable Dr. Javier Solana, Gerry Adams, Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, Wesley Clark, Thomas L. Friedman, David Freeman, Vartan Gregorian, Robert Edward Rubin, Jeffrey Sachs, media giants such as Tom Brokaw, Diane Sawyer, Judy Woodruff, Fareed Zakaria, George Stephanopoulos, Laura Rozen and Katie Couric, and many more. Kudos to Jude and fellow bloggers, as well as the Initiative which Jude says is a most positive ray of hope in an otherwise dark future.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Why is George hiding? II
Well I guess my intuition was not on high alert for nought. Mr Fear hath raised his ugly head again, but remember...there is nothing to fear but Mr. Fear himself. And he can't be everywhere at once. As you will recall, fear causes people to do irrational and stupid, even evil, things. Screw fear.
UPDATE
After 9/11, a lot of people said there was a "failure of imagination". Okay then...let's use our imagination...
Yesterday, Tony Snow says: "A Vote For Lamont Is A Vote For Another 9/11"...and then what happens today? Oh shit! Big terror plot foiled. Red Alert! Red Alert! "We are at war"...
In other words...don't go anti-war on us!
But the timing? Right after the right-winger gets the boot? Of course. This is BushWorld. It is how terrorist governments operate. Oops! Did I apply too much imagination? Well, the administration told us, in so many words, that we need to use it more.
I know that Tony Snow realizes that he is lying. You can hear it in his voice. Maybe he wishes he could have worked for Clinton, who didn't try to scare Americans, but rather tried to lift us up...and did. Peace. Great economy. Internet. As opposed to what? War. Stagflation. Self-terrorism.
But back to the timing...
England knew about these operations (they say) for months. Why act now? Was it in order for Tony Snow to recall 9/11? It has happened before.
Juan Cole says that Bush has to do his war on Syria and Iran before this November, since the Democrats are not likely to fund such nonsense when the power changes hands.
I guess the point is...don't get fooled again.
UPDATE 2
READ MORE, AND COMMENT
UPDATE
After 9/11, a lot of people said there was a "failure of imagination". Okay then...let's use our imagination...
Yesterday, Tony Snow says: "A Vote For Lamont Is A Vote For Another 9/11"...and then what happens today? Oh shit! Big terror plot foiled. Red Alert! Red Alert! "We are at war"...
In other words...don't go anti-war on us!
But the timing? Right after the right-winger gets the boot? Of course. This is BushWorld. It is how terrorist governments operate. Oops! Did I apply too much imagination? Well, the administration told us, in so many words, that we need to use it more.
I know that Tony Snow realizes that he is lying. You can hear it in his voice. Maybe he wishes he could have worked for Clinton, who didn't try to scare Americans, but rather tried to lift us up...and did. Peace. Great economy. Internet. As opposed to what? War. Stagflation. Self-terrorism.
But back to the timing...
England knew about these operations (they say) for months. Why act now? Was it in order for Tony Snow to recall 9/11? It has happened before.
Juan Cole says that Bush has to do his war on Syria and Iran before this November, since the Democrats are not likely to fund such nonsense when the power changes hands.
I guess the point is...don't get fooled again.
UPDATE 2
U.K. Terror Plot Foiled Just a Day after Lieberman's
Defeat. Coincidence?
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
The pattern continues. A terrorist plot is uncovered just as the masses start to question national security strategy. The day after Senate Democrats brought a vote to pull out of Iraq, we catch a few idiots in Miami who were supposedly trying to blow up the Sears Tower, despite the fact that they lacked the means and ability to do so. Then there were the guys busted for supposedly plotting to blow up a New York subway exactly a year after the London bus bombings. And don't forget the release of new Osama bin Laden tapes just before the 2004 election as well as the very day after the Supreme Court decision striking down the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals. And now today, a few men in England were arrested for a plan to blow up planes flying to America, just a day after Connecticut voters flatly rejected Joe Lieberman and the war in Iraq.
We certainly can't deny that there may have indeed been plans
to commit these acts. But the timings of the arrest announcements are awfully
suspicious. All three were still in the works and had been monitored for several
months by very capable intelligence agencies. While the exact nature of today's
arrests is still unclear, none of the plans seemed to have been immediate or
imminent threats. The decision of when to intervene has been arbitrary, making
the coincidental timings pretty convenient. (And the question of whether some of
them are "real threats," such as the Liberty City "Insane Clown Posse" remain to
be seen.)
Imagine a conversation late Tuesday night between Bush and his
British Prime Minister lapdog, just as Ned Lamont declares victory. "Yo, Blair,"
Bush says while scarfing down a dinner role. "I gotta to do something about this
sh*t. Can you finally arrest those suspected terrorists you told me about? This
election business is ruining my vacation! I know you're chillin' in the
Caribbean yourself right now, but it sure would be great if you could make a few
calls for me ASAP."
Don't buy it? Consider this quote from a Reuters article on the story: "President George W. Bush had known about the investigation for several days, was briefed about it regularly and knew the arrests were coming, a senior administration official said." Both countries are surely monitoring several terrorist leads that could lead to arrests at any time. The British group would have been stopped
eventually, but there has been absolutely no indication why it had to be
today.
READ MORE, AND COMMENT
Monday, March 20, 2006
Anonymoses TV : Week of March 20, 2006
Juggle with the Beatles
CLICK ON LINKS BELOW FOR MORE AMAZING TV.
BLOGGING
What is a blog? - Robert Scoble
What is a blog? - David Sifry
What is a blog? - Chris Pirillo - Money with blogs
What is a blog? - Howard Rheingold
Dutch Bloggies 2006
POLITICS
Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the American People
PNAC and the NEOCONs: wanted a new Pearl Harbor
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War
George Lakoff on Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think
"Stick It" from Boston Legal (James Spader)
The Boat and the Bomb : 20th Anniversary of the Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
Iraq War - Chomsky
Election 2004: Republican Terror Manipulations, How They Work and Why
Al Franken, The Truth (with Jokes)
Being Opinionated in America: Maureen Dowd & Thomas Friedman
George Soros - The Bubble of American Supremacy
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: 20th Annual Evening for Peace - Jonathan Schell and Harry Belafonte
Journalists Under Fire: Vietnam & Iraq
Iraq War - Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey - Killing Civillians in Iraq
The Illuminati Families who Rule the World
Charlie Rose - Gore Vidal / Pierre Salinger
Frank Zappa on CNN's Crossfire (1986)
Clip from Manufacturing Consent
John and Yoko's Year of Peace
Cornel West - Democracy Matters
The Secret Government - Bill Moyers
John Edwards campaign speech
Speech by Al Gore on January 16th on Domestic Spying
A Conversation with William J. Clinton
HUMOR
Problems of Right-wing activists
Ed Thompson's Trumpet Duet
Long John Johnson, all the livelong day - Cat talking
Choco Party - Japanese Commercial
The Fartlighter
Chris Bliss - live comedy performance
Chris Bliss - television appearances
Monty Pythons the Knights and the Holy Grail
Farting Preacher
Titanic reenacted in 50 seconds
SPIRITUALITY
God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It
His Holiness - The XIV Dalai Lama
Krishnamurti with Trungpa Rimpoche
Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark - Laurence Gardner
RUMI: POET OF THE HEART
FILM
Ritual In Transfigured Time - Maya Deren
Le voyage dans la lune - Melies
les francais au travail - Lumiere
Metropolis [1927] - Fritz Lang
un chien andalou - Luis Bunuel & Salvadore Dali
Man Ray Avant Garde Collection - Surrealist masterpieces
L'AGE D'OR [1930] - Luis Bunuel
Zero De Conduite 1933 - Jean Vigo
Battleship Potemkin - Eisenstein
Rhythm 21 - Hans Richter
Ballet mecanique - Fernand Leger
Nosferatu [1922]
His Girl Friday
My Man Godfrey $$
MUSIC
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Josh Groban
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
The Beatles - I'm Down - Live at Shea Stadium 1965
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Music Video by The Beatles
John Coltrane - Naima Live 1965
John Coltrane - Live 1963
SummerFest 2004: Chick Corea: Rehearsal
The Kinks "Well Respected Man" on Beat Beat Beat!
Ten Years After - I'm going home (live woodstock)
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead Tribute
Dave Clark Five - "Catch Us If You Can"
dead can dance - milan 2005
Jon Anderson - tour of the universe tour
Enya Tribute to WTC 9/11
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds "Nature Boy" Music Video
CULTURE
Tim Leary before leaving us
Robert Anton Wilson, Part One
Robert Anton Wilson, Part Two
County Sligo, Ireland
Gurdjieff inParis (1949)
Gurdjieff & Friends tour France (1949)
Concert of Sacred Music by Gurdjieff
NASA - Hubble view of the universe
Life Beyond Earth and the Mind of Man 1975 - Ashley Montagu
African American Lives - Henry Louis Gates III
Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are"
ArtsPass: John Singer Sargent 1856-1925
UNC vs Duke - Matt jumping over Bonfires
Andy Griffith Show: Andy Discovers America
The Biltmore Estate - Asheville, North Carolina
Friday, March 10, 2006
Chris Matthews of the Kakistocracy
Alphabetically, Chris Matthews is one of the most aeolistic, borborygmic, cacodoxical, deblaterative, energumenical, frustraneous, godhopping, heteronomic, ignivomous, jejune, kakistocratic, logorrheic, mammoniacal, nescient, outrecuidant, periphrastic, quaquaversal, ringent, scumbered, talionic, ululative, vulpecular, windsucking, xanthic, yammering and zorillic of Pavlov's bitches. Thus we hereby grant Chris honorary membership in the kakistocracy. Welcome. And may 2008 bring an end to the kakistocrats.
The kakistocracy in the News:
Bush's Approval Rating Falls to New Low
Far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable
More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.
Republican Party leaders said the survey explains why GOP lawmakers are rushing to distance themselves from Bush on a range of issues — port security, immigration, spending, warrantless eavesdropping and trade...
Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign...
By comparison, Presidents Clinton and Reagan had public approval in the mid 60s at this stage of their second terms in office, while Eisenhower was close to 60 percent, according to Gallup polls...
The kakistocracy in the News:
Bush's Approval Rating Falls to New Low
Far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable
More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.
Republican Party leaders said the survey explains why GOP lawmakers are rushing to distance themselves from Bush on a range of issues — port security, immigration, spending, warrantless eavesdropping and trade...
Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign...
By comparison, Presidents Clinton and Reagan had public approval in the mid 60s at this stage of their second terms in office, while Eisenhower was close to 60 percent, according to Gallup polls...
Monday, November 28, 2005
Who should the Military Trust?
This has made its rounds, but deserves repeating...
Democrats
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army
journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII. He lost an arm.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V,
Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star,
Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven
campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze
Stars, and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star
and Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze
Star
with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but
received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18
Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul
Wallenberg.
Republicans
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage. Seven deferments. Seven.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve. Probably took time out of his homophobia.
* Trent Lott: did not serve. Hey, he needed the time to practice his racism.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve. Probably spent it studying Machiavelli.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked
Max Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon! Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got
assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running
for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam,
disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role
making movies. *And then confused the movies with real life.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart
and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem," although continued
in NFL for 8 years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve. Needed the time to study harassment of women.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot
back.) Don't get me started on this long-haired sexist neo wingnut.
Democrats
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army
journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII. He lost an arm.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V,
Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star,
Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven
campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze
Stars, and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star
and Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze
Star
with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but
received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18
Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul
Wallenberg.
Republicans
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage. Seven deferments. Seven.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve. Probably took time out of his homophobia.
* Trent Lott: did not serve. Hey, he needed the time to practice his racism.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve. Probably spent it studying Machiavelli.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked
Max Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon! Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got
assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running
for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam,
disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role
making movies. *And then confused the movies with real life.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart
and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem," although continued
in NFL for 8 years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve. Needed the time to study harassment of women.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot
back.) Don't get me started on this long-haired sexist neo wingnut.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Bill Clinton, like Gore and Edwards, acknowledge that Iraq Invasion was a big mistake
Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World
Unlike many of the pussilanimous Democrats and nearly all the Repuppetlicans, Clinton, Gore and Edwards are using their eyes and minds...
Unlike many of the pussilanimous Democrats and nearly all the Repuppetlicans, Clinton, Gore and Edwards are using their eyes and minds...
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The Secret IM Conversations: Bush seeks advice from Clinton
The Huffington Post
(Thanks to Rob Urban for this find)
Kickass43: yo bill
Kickass43: u up
LadeezMan42: man im always up
LadeezMan42: whazzup witu
LadeezMan42: aint it past yr bedtime :)
Kickass43: laura kickd me out
LadeezMan42: been there dude...
MORE
(Thanks to Rob Urban for this find)
Kickass43: yo bill
Kickass43: u up
LadeezMan42: man im always up
LadeezMan42: whazzup witu
LadeezMan42: aint it past yr bedtime :)
Kickass43: laura kickd me out
LadeezMan42: been there dude...
MORE
Sunday, August 14, 2005
ConvergeSouth: The Movie
OCTOBER 9, 2005
BLOGSBORO, NC
TARHEEL TAVERN
ConvergeSouth
It was a weekend unlike any other in this small Southern city. Celebrities and blogebrities were everywhere. You would trip on them as you walked. And if you ran, forget about it, collision with fame was a certitude. Anyone who was anyone was in Blogsboro to lend their support, influence and money to the blogtival, and to the historically African-American institution who was hosting the event this momentous and pivotal year. So far, over a million has been raised, which will go toward creating a "Blogospheric Studies" department at A & T University, along with scholarships and such, as well as other projects like the network of "poverty oases" hosted by the University of North Carolina, at their many branches -- with Greensboro, Chapel Hill and A & T triangulating as pioneers, soon to be in all branches.
(A "poverty oasis" is a place in the university where the poor and luckshy can come and gain valuable skills, connections, food and work. )
"Word of this event started to saturate the media by late summer", says blogger Synonymoses, "and before long Hollywood and Independent directors were fighting over the rights to covering the event.
Spielberg wanted to call his "Blogging Private Ryan", about war-bloggers during the current unpleasantness in Iraq.
Michael Moore pitched for "Blogging for Columbine", a story about how students are sublimating their violent urges and learning how not to kill people by killing time instead.
David Lynch's "Oil Peaks" is about Peak Oil and its coverage in the blogosphere.
The Farrelly Brothers' "Jog Blog" will star Jack Black as a jogging blogger.
Francis Ford Coppola is doing "The Blogfather" about Mister Ed Cone, pioneer and gentleman blogger.
George Lucas will do "Blog Wars" to get more of the anger out.
Gus Van Sant's "Even Cowgirls get the Blogs" is about how the blogosphere is now seeping from the Headland into the Heartland.
James Cameron pitched"Blogtanic" but retracted it when told it would not hold water.
John Hughes' "Blog Alone" is about a blogger's life prior to discovering the blogosphere.
John Sayles' "Blogwan" is a story about West Virginia bloggers who rebel against their ISP after The Bhagwan is reincarnated as Glenn Reynolds, who proceeds to make them all drive Rolls-Royces and chant nonsense in Hindi.
Jonathan Demme is working on "Stop Making Blogs" and the sequel, "Silence of the Blogs".
Kevin Costner's "Steppin' with Wolves" is about a night out with FOX executives.
Martin Scorsese's "Raging Blog" covers the more vituperative bloggers among us.
Mike Nichols' "Who's afraid of Virginia Blogs"is about the lack of blogging representation from Virginia, our state to the north (should you have forgotten).
Oliver Stone, what else?: "GWB"
Quentin Tarantino - "Blog Fiction", about the work of Billy the Blogging Wordjones and others.
Richard Linklater "Slack Blogger" is a blogumentary about yours truly.
Rob Reiner's "Spinal Blog" is about bogus blog musicians.
Robert Altman... "B*L*O*G"
Tim Robbins' "Blog Roberts", about the blogging of neo-Supreme, John Roberts and/or a simple love story about bloggers who are named Robert.
Steve Martin's "Blogfinger"is about Carpel-Tunnel syndrome.
Tim Burton's "Edward Bloggerhands"another movie about Carpel-Tunnel.
Woody Allen & Roman Polanski are whipping together "Young Girls Who Blog".
Robert Redford's "Horse Yeller" is a sort of cross between "Old Yeller" and "Horse Whisperer", only the character yells at his horse, mainly because he is still using dialup.
Spike Lee's "Blog the Right Thang" is a blogumentary joint about ConvergeSouth.
One mustn't overlook the music at this veritable Blogstock, this Blogapalooza, this Tangleblog. All the best bands in the South were in attendance. REM, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Allman Brothers, Ryan Adams, Josh Joplin, Love Tractor, B52s, Hootie, Arvo Part, and all the rest. Oops. Arvo is not from down here. Maybe next time.
Writers and novelists, always curious, also came out in droves, as did political beings such as Jesse Jackson (an alumnus of A&T), John Edwards and Liddy Dole. Andy Griffith even made a cameo appearance, whistling that famous melody, and partaking in a discussion on poverty with Mister Edwards and his lovely wife, Elizabeth.
The hightlight was, of course, the appearance of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton...who stole the show even more than Mister Internet himself, Al Gore, who was also there. Along with their esteemed and beautiful wives!
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates made appearances, as did Misters Ellison, Grove and Chambers. Flipper and Lassie were allowed in free. Flipper, bless his heart, wound up having people throw buckets of cold water on him, and complained that the sidewalks needed sweeping.
Of course, the cream of the blogosphere were in attendance, including Hoder, Jay Rosen, Dan Gillmor, Sybril Bennett, Nancy McLaughlin, David Hoggard, John Robinson, Lex Alexander, Ruby Sinreich, Ed Cone, Michael Moran, Christie Seals, Allison Perkins, John Teleha, Ted Vaden, DeWayne Wickham, Jeff Jarvis, Phil Meyer, Bob Steele, Francisco Camara, George Curry, Kevin Sites, Duncan Black (Atrios), Amanda Congdon, Dave Winer, Sandy Carmany, Tiffany Brown, Herb Everett, Roch Smith, Jr., Ruby Sinreich, Michael Bowen, Jimmy Wales, Sue Polinsky, Iddybud, Seth Godin, Dave Taylor, BL Ochman, (Sir Tristram) Tris Hussey, Toby Bloomberg, Andy Wibbels, Denise Wakeman, Steve Rubel, Rick Bruner, Wayne Hurlbert, John Jantsch, Neville Hobson, Biz Stone, Eric Alterman, Stowe Boyd, Henry Copeland, Wil Wheaton, Wiley Wiggins, Cory Doctorow, Arianna Huffington, Al Franken, Lawrence Lessig, Doc Searls, David Corn, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, James Wolcott, Juan Cole, Matthew Yglesias, Andrew Sullivan, Evan Williams, and God herself!
Can't wait to see the movies!"
Are you through now, Mister, ah, Synonymoses?
"Quite! Except to thank hometown bank, Bank of America, for their generous sponsorship."
And now a word from ProductPlacement...
ConvergeSouth
BE THERE OR BE STUPID
Saturday, August 06, 2005
TARHEEL TAVERN : Going to Blogolina in my Mind
A Blogtour of North Carolina
In my mind I'm going to Blogolina.
Can't you take the sunshine,
can't you just drink the moonshine?
Ain't it just like a friend of wine
to smack me on behind?
Yes, I'm going to Blogolina in my mind.
With a holy host of bloggers blogging round me,
listening to the dark side of the moon.
And it seems like this blog goes on like this forever...
The blogosphere is not equally distributed throughout these United, or should I say Untied States. It is not even equally distributed around this state. Any look at NCBlogs.com will tell you that. The heaviest concentration is in the Triad/Triangle region, with Charlotte and the Mountains in second rank, and Jesse country pulling up the rear, so to speak.
There are reasons for this unequal distribution, just as there are ways and needs for expanding into these undernourished regions, these bozarts, again, if you will.
That makes twice that I've said "will", and it is beginning to disconcert me. I am growing ill at the thought of Will. And no, not Will Robinson, should you be lost or spaced. I'm talking Will, as in Der Willen. Will as in George's "They will not break our Will." Or Leni and Dolphy's "Triumph of the Will". Not wit. Not love. Not caritas. But Will. Getting your way, costs be damned.
But alas I digress. It is what I do. Life is digression. The opposite of Will.
That said, let me try to hoist this travel guide back into the saddle, and quit examining the remains of our passing.
Coming, going, the waterfowl leaves not a trace,
nor does it need a guide.
I remember that koan from the sunny '70s, when I first made their acquaintance. I remember telling Rob Urban, who also thought it was "pretty neat". Neither of us embodied it though.
But neither, I predict, have you. Yet we have no Hiroshimas to live down either.
Or do we?
Live simply that others may simply live.
More true to that one I suppose. Some are actually astonished, or turned to stone, at the simplicity of my lean-to down by the river.
OK, it is not really a lean-to, and it is not near a river, but it is simple, practically Thorouvian. But relatively energy-efficient.
So, what was that about a saddle?
Alright. Enough! Time to start over.
[ I WILL STILL BE TAKING SUBMISSIONS UNTIL I AM TUCKERED OUT. THE FINAL VERSION WILL BE SET AT MIDNIGHT. - THANKS FOR PLAYING. - DAVE]
Blogtouring North Carolina
The blogosphere is not equally distributed throughout these United States. It is not even equally distributed around this state. Any look at NCBlogs.com will tell you that. The heaviest concentration is in the Triad/Triangle region, with Charlotte and the Mountains in second rank, and Eastern North Carolina pulling up the rear.
There are reasons for this unequal distribution, just as there are ways and needs for expanding into these undernourished regions of the state, country and world. In the old days, it was the seaport cities where civilization and culture mostly took place, because of their being a crossroads of different cultures. As the late Dr. Richard Schultes once said, "Monoculture breeds disease." But moreover, it breeds ignorance.
In these new times, it is not just the seaports, but also the blogports, and other places where minds meet, where you will find civilization and culture thriving. North Carolina is among these meeting grounds, along with New York, California, Massachusetts, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, and parts of Texas. Places where universities also thrive.
Within North Carolina, the universities are mainly in the Triad/Triangle area, along with the bulk of the blogosphere. And it is these places who will reap the rewards of blogtourism. So when a blogger, such as the illustrious Iddybud (who is an honorary Tarheel, although she lives in New York, and has appeared on CNN, the LA Times, Yes Weekly, and on John Edwards' blog, as well as others), comes to North Carolina, she knows she can contact Tarheel bloggers, tell them of the upcoming visit, and then tour the state with bloggers as guides and helpers. No blogger a stranger. And speaking of which, Jude (Iddy) plans to attend the upcoming event of the year, which is ConvergeSouth, to be held in Blogsboro (Greensboro) on the weekend of October 7th...so introduce yourself, and extend some of that famous Southern Hospitality. But if you really feel the need to throw tomatoes, make it the Jellybean variety, or the Sungolds or Juliets or the Calabash Purple, such as you might find in the garden, or blog, of Laurie, who because of her Slowly She Turned blog, has recently been named "Blogsboro's slow food guru". And throw them at me, not Jude, or anyone else for that matter. I'll come armed with lettuce and bacon.
Laurie's 'matersEAT AND BE EATEN
And speaking of Bacon, how about them six degrees of Kevin Bacon! To think that every person alive has only six degrees of separation, at most, from Hollywood's Kevin Bacon, whose quatrayle, or great-great-great grandfather, was none other than Novum Organum's Sir Francis Bacon, who, no, did not write Shakespeare (or "Sheik's Peer", as some have insinuated).
Was he really a Sufi?A DIGRESSION ON NAMES
Prince Albert Gore Vidal Sassoon
Earl Warren Christopher Lloyd George Michael Jackson Browne
Patricia Neal Diamond Jim Cary Grant Tinker Bell
Osama Bin Franklin Roosevelt Grier Garson Kanin Abel
OK, so I was wrong about Kevin and Francis. His quatrayle was a guy named Lonnie. But this fascination with the interconnectedness of humanity, not to mention the interconnectedness of all life, has now merged with technology, and now, because of so-called "social software" such as LinkedIn.com as well as Ecademy, Ryze, Multiply, MySpace, Friendster and others, tracking and using these connections has become but a mouseclick away. I have to thank Tarheel Taverner -- not to be confused with John Taverner, who is one of America's premiere composers, I believe, although I know there were Taverners in colonial Virginia -- Dr. Sue of Sue's Place for urging me to get linked in, as I now see that it is to blogging what blogging is to solitaire. Which is to say that when you play solitaire, you connect with no one. When you blog, you are likely to connect, but usually with Americans. With sites like LinkedIn, you are just as likely to connect with people from other countries as you are to connect with Americans. Your cybertourismic possibilities are equally widened, as are other possibilities.
Also linked in are Billy the Blogging Poet, Matt Gross, Roch Smith Jr., Ben Hwang and others, included, but not limited to, Dan Gillmor, Steve Rubel, Dave Taylor, Wiley Wiggins...but there is nothing stopping everyone here from also connecting in with these new tools. And by using them, welding the relationships, in a manner not unlike that of photoblogger, Mandie's omnicapable father, one may truly cast their net worldwide, and fish the exotic seas of distant shores. Bring the world home, and home to the world.
And North Carolina has so much to offer to the world. Do people around the world suffer loss? Of course not! But if they did, they could find comfort in the books and blog of Erin Monahan, for example, and learn how to cope with loss, divorce, death. Her Poetic Acceptance could touch hearts not only in North Carolina, and America, but could be touching lives even in the dark and archaeological cloacae of Harappa or Mohenjo-Daro, or at the Priory of Sion in risible Rennes, while making a nice profit for Erin.DO WHAT IS PLEASING TO ONE'S SELF AND USEFUL TO OTHERS
Poetry, it seems, has helped more than Erin cope with loss. Billy Jones too has found meaning in his own poetry, and others. And his blog highlights his poetry and online novels, but also features the poetry of others. His shorter prose is also enlightening, as in this post, where he celebrates the life of his father, and laments his passing on the anniversary of his death. And although Billy wonders if he will ever attain the greatness of his father, we think his father would be darned proud. Particularly of his work in establishing North Carolina as one of the blog hotspots on the globe. I know I am. And I know many other that are as well.I say we erect a statue!
But lest it be said that North Carolina is great, but so serious, one need look no further than Valerie Nieman to be given a dose of levitas and jocundity...
AUTOMATIC PENCIL, PART THE FIRST
Automatic pencil
Autopencil, to write moving finger without thought, to fill page after page like a signature machine freed of the loops and squiggles of a program, like the mind in long stretches of waiting for something, waiting is all, waiting is the empty place from which understanding blooms like a seed sudden from the desert after a breath of rain.
Automatic pencil
My father’s clipboard, his pencils, shop pencils thick in the barrel, industrial.I have one, black plastic or Bakelite, steel at each end where the lead came out and where the eraser sat, now an empty tube. The legend: Champion Tool & Die Co. McKeesport, Pa. 15131412 751-6000
I wonder if they’re still in business, or rusted with the rest of the belt, foundries and steel suppliers, solvent and paint dealers, tool and die works, trucking companies, designers, fabricators, merchants. A whole world whittled away, year by year, until now the red brick buildings stand like historic sites, Hadrian’s Wall or the Great Wall or some other useless thing, a single bare bulb burning over a back door.
Automatic pencil
Is not to be preferred over the traditional sort. Thin lead in yellow plastic. Ersatz. No smell of cedar, no scalloped shavings, no angled shading across a ruled page as faces and horses emerge from doodles, no pencil-point under the skin from grade-school bullies. - Val Nieman-
Her latest book is Fidelities, a short story collection from West Virginia University Press. The collection of 18 stories includes two winners of the Elizabeth Simpson Smith Prize from the Charlotte Writers Club, as well as stories that have appeared in the News & Observer, Wellspring, and the anthologies One Paycheck Away from Main Street Rag Press (Charlotte), The O. Henry Festival Stories 2003 (Greensboro) and Racing Home: Stories from Award-Winning North Carolina Writers, The Paper Journey Press (Durham).
She has also published poetry, a novel about the '70s called Survivors, and an SF novel way back when, Neena Gathering.
AUTOMATIC PENCIL, PART THE SECOND
In which our state's most beloved Ogre, makes the following astute assessment:
The Quick Brown Fox
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
But after the quick brown fox jumped over, the lazy dog moved quickly. The lazy dog ran after the quick brown fox. The quick brown fox discovered that it was not as quick as it thought it might have been. The formerly lazy dog quickly closed the distance between it and the not-so-quick fox as the chase continued.
The quick brown fox ran past Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Turkey Lurkey, and even past his cousin, Sly Fox. The lazy dog, now panting profusely, continued to get closer and closer. The quick brown fox hopped on the alligator's head for a ride over the river. Still the lazy dog followed.
They continued over the hills and through the woods. The race went down the path and the quick brown fox took a shortcut that his half-brother suggested through the woods that led past grandma's house. The lazy dog fell behind a little while traversing the thick undergrowth of the woods.
On the other side of the forest, the quick brown fox ran through the brier patch. Brer rabbit waved as first the quick brown fox, then the lazy dog, sped through his brier path. The briers slowed the quick brown fox, but the lazy dog continued.
Past the brier patch, the quick brown fox ran up the hill. At the top of the hill was a well that had recently been abandoned by Jack and Jill. With nowhere else to go, the quick brown fox stopped and turned to face the lazy dog. He bared his teeth at the lazy dog, hoping that it would turn him away.
The lazy dog stopped, panting from the long chase. He paused to catch his breath, watching the quick brown fox the entire time. Finally, the lazy dog said, "Why did you jump over me?"
From the Left Coast of North Carolina, to the Right, our state abounds in talent, fortuna et lux.
And speaking of which, Science and Politics' Bora Zivkovic, inches from his PhD, graces us with his ample and protean mind, week after week, and for this occasion has explained the differences between left and right...when it comes to science, pseudoscience, borderlands science, and nonsense.
About the pseudosciences he says:
Lefty pseudoscience was always marginal and marginalized by everyone on both the Left and the Right. No political party has ever pushed for astrology or biorhythms to be used in classrooms or in military planning.
However, attack on science, reason and rationality is the centerpiece of the Right-Wing strategy. The only way they can save their medieval notions about society, economics, religion, science, race, gender equality, etc. from being deposited forever in the trashbin of history is if they systematically brainwash every new generation into dogmatism, uncritical thinking and fearful obedience to their authority. They are in power now - White House, Congress, Supreme Court - and they are ramming anti-science and anti-reality ideas into school (and into media) as hard as they can.
His provocative and entertaining explanation can be read in its entirety here. Read and enjoy each delightful and instructive paragraph. Dull minds think alike. Coturnix is an original.
And for a slightly different take, you may want to snort a sprocket...which is a helluva lot safer than snorting "the powders", or "the vapors", which is just gross. The best thing to snort, though, is air. And the best way to snort air is pranayama...not to be confused with melinama, which is not to be confused with melanoma.
Thhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee thing is this. This is the thing, and the thing, is thusly this. You see.
And thus, you may feel something a bit odd in your whithers today. It could be that you are dreaming of taking droughts of Dramamine (unit of measure: drams), or perhaps possible pensives of Pontius Pilate’s palate, who ponders persimmons.
We are the persimmons. EAT US.
You can rest assured that the way is weirdly wondrous and wends through the jungle. Night thoughts, we can be assured. Assuredly, be.
Thoughts of 1 (2? 3!) hit my cortex. Impaled! It is time for much work, and we have so much to do, and not much time.
Lastly: remember. We are all (in love). In love, we all are.
In love.
Quick! Get this man some Asinine Alliteration Antidote with the anti-Charles Dodgson additive!
— Andrew S. Damick Aug 5, 10:01 AM #
“You don’t see the Shintus come around here, shattering sheetglass in the shithouse, shouting slogans…”
“Oh, don’t you go practicing your alliteration on me!”
Or so says Snort a Sprocket from the smerpological depths.
"Smerpological depths?", you ask. Why not alabandical depths, or antipelargical depths, flosculational depths or miasmic depths?
To answer these questions, we have to turn to our resident sesquipedalian, Melinama at Pratie's Place: a phrontistery (affront history?) where you will learn the meaning of the previous paragraph, as well as much else besides.
We owe this word to the Roman writer Horace, who wrote in his Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) [ see also Arse Poetica] : “Proicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba” (“He throws aside his paint pots and his words that are a foot and a half long”). It comes from Latin sesqui–, one and a half, plus ped, a foot. It was borrowed into English in the seventeenth century and has become a favourite of those writers who like self-referential terms, or are addicted to polysyllabic humour. - Weird WordsCarolinians, and indeed, Southerners, have long been verbophiliacs, which may alas stem from the predominance of Shakespeare in our cultural heritage, dating back to England, or maybe the interplay of cultures, or it may be what historian David Hackett Fischer called our love of leisure and "killing time".
With that in mind, allow me to share the adventures of Durham's Ron Hudson, who is killing time in Spain and Portugal. Let him share some of his own methods for killing time. You can keep track of his journeys by bookmarking his blog, 2Sides2Ron.
In this present age of threats to democracy and individual liberty, probably only the scamp and the spirit of the scamp alone will save us from becoming lost as serially numbered units in the masses of disciplined, obedient, regimented and uniformed coolies. The scamp will be the last and most formidable enemy of dictatorships. He will be the champion of human dignity and individual freedom, and will be the last to be conquered. All modern civilization depends entirely upon him.
-Lin Yutang
The Importance of Living 1937
On the other hand...
"War paralyzes your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that 'tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,' like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction, and irresponsible murder."
—Alexander Berkman
The Berkman quote just came to me in an email from another honorary Tarheel, who absolutely loves it down here, but lives in Cleveland, just a couple of miles from the base that sent so many to their deaths recently, and about which he says:
I'm sure you heard about the deaths of all those marines who came from my home state. Everyone here is just devastated at the tragic loss of life. I have never seen such an outpouring of grief and sorrow in quite a long time. The battalion headquarters where those marines were stationed is only a couple of miles from where I live. I drive past it every time I go visit my Mother. I think people are now starting to realize how absolutely insane and senseless this war is and who it's truly impacting.
But that's so negative, man! Don't drag me to negativeland. Sharks and Condit are what everyone is talking about now! No wait, that was on 9/10 and the months before. What is it we're talking about now? Oh yeah...shuttle debris and flag burning.
The question then becomes...
When the Media obsesses on junk-food news, are we in for a whacking? On September the 8th, 2001, while walking to a Yes concert at Radio City Music Hall, in, yes, Manhattan, I asked a media person about the obsession with sharks and Condit, to which he responded, "It is a slow news time." My intuition* told me otherwise. That is why I trust my intuition.
And when I need a muffler repair, I trust Maaco. To charge me an arm and a leg.
So why is the media obsessing on trivial, diversionary matters? Don't tell me they are still in cahoots with Daddy Warbucks, and that we are about to be taken to the cleaners yet again.
And wasn't Bush vacationing in Texas during the months before and during 9/11?
Is there a connection between Bush's vacations, a pussilanimous and diversionary Media, and terror?
It is such negativeland, Debbie Downer kind of stuff, that makes people want to watch sports all day and night, with the only reality being reality TV, which should really be labeled "reality-food TV", following Kraft's famous individually wrapped cheese-food ... also a few degrees of separation from reality.
But I digress. I am not a Fascist so I am allowed that luxury. More people should digress. Procrastination can be a virtue. I wish we would have procrastinated on the war. But nooo! Even the War Machine has to show a profit, and the Media has way too much invested in their parent companies. Thank God for blogs!
But I am surely starting to sound cynical. The MSM, mainstream media, corporate media, have great and good people working for them. Some could even become bloggers if they tried! But as Ben Bagdikian points out, and which can be found at Pratie's Place:"Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St. Matthew's Passion on a ukulele." - Bagdikian's Observation
I should talk about religion...
How 'bout them stupid Baptists!
Naa...better not go there. Hell, Clinton AND Gore were both Southern Baptists! The exemplars! (Not to be confused with the Templars.)
The TemplarsSpeaking of confusion, who, besides me, is confused by this most appalling of Tarheel Taverns? Can I git a show of hands? OUCH! Not of the face, Reverend!
I know...one hand clapping. Very funny.
Now I realize that there are going to be some fellers who do not agree with my position on war and peace, and might even claim that our illustrious prince of war is to be preferred to the prince of peace, as Pam's House Blend points out, but alas, their numbers are dwindling, largely because of the relationship between time and truth. What is new is rarely good, because if it is good, it is not long new, but long old. I'm long and old, so I know. (Stupid, the word is "tall"!)
Fine! Whatever!
And so it goes in sweet Caroline. Sweetness and light. Delicacy of feeling. Whimsical charm. T'ungjen.
And speaking of T'ungjen, we may as well go over some other Chinese terms, and why not start from the top?
A DIGRESSION ON 4-LETTER WORD POETRY
Time will tell
your mama that Karl
Rove will fess most
lies that Rush took
into Hell when dope
took that mind away.
Away! Into that cool
blue roof. Away! Help
your mama make soup.
Away!
Some days seem like they came from Hell.Better second-hand and first-rate, than first-hand and second-rate
And what better proof of this than a Sunday circumambulation of a good second-hand store...
Let our favorite lenslinger, Stew Pittman, show you how it is done. If you don't know him, he is the premiere video-journalist in the blogosphere, at least as far as I have seen. AND he's right up the street!
Check out his take on second-hand store shopping. He won't dissappoint.
Only a few shoppers noticed the bearded man with the fancy-cam gliding down aisle five. Most just shuffled behind battered shopping carts, staring fixedly at row after row of hand-me-down clothes and second hand doodads. North Carolina’s annual tax-free weekend was only a few hours old, but the feeding frenzy was well underway...
But if that is a little to down-to-earth, you may find solace in Joe Guarino's post on Supreme Court Nominations, Ellen Goodman and the Right to Take Human Life.
Since Justice O'Connor's retirement announcement, Ellen Goodman has been writing often about the issue of Supreme Court nominations and abortion. I have been following her column in the News and Record... - Joe Guarino
JOCULAR CONCLUSION
A scientist and a philosopher were being chased by a hungry lion. The scientist made some quick calculations, he said “it's no good trying to outrun it, its catching up”.
The philosopher kept a little ahead and replied “I am not trying to outrun the lion, I am trying to outrun you !”A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!” The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!”
The man says: “You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you.”Thanks to all who played and/or enjoyed this little foray into the life of the Tarheel Tavern. It has been a barrel of said monkeys. But looks aren't everything.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Gore to Get Lifetime Award for Internet, while Bush still tries to make money for Oil Companies
If Bush weren't dyslexic, would he then read the Internets?
The Man who won the Popular vote in 2000, and who should be president, has received some of the honors he deserves. Meanwhile Bush is trying his best to bring America to its knees, and doing a pretty good job. Under Clinton, no one would have thought or predicted the decline or demise of America. Not so anymore. And if we are stupid enough to elect another Republican after George, the nails in the coffin of our dying country will be hammered shut, and down we go.
I'm reminded of a scene in "Patch Adams" where the nefarious administrator is trying to tell Patch how it is done, and Patch says bluntly, "But you suck at it!"
Republicans: You suck at governing. Under your daft "leadership" there is no chance of there being exuberance, rational or otherwise. Only terror, war and manufactured fear works to your ends. The more astute of the duped are figuring this out.
The Man who won the Popular vote in 2000, and who should be president, has received some of the honors he deserves. Meanwhile Bush is trying his best to bring America to its knees, and doing a pretty good job. Under Clinton, no one would have thought or predicted the decline or demise of America. Not so anymore. And if we are stupid enough to elect another Republican after George, the nails in the coffin of our dying country will be hammered shut, and down we go.
I'm reminded of a scene in "Patch Adams" where the nefarious administrator is trying to tell Patch how it is done, and Patch says bluntly, "But you suck at it!"
Republicans: You suck at governing. Under your daft "leadership" there is no chance of there being exuberance, rational or otherwise. Only terror, war and manufactured fear works to your ends. The more astute of the duped are figuring this out.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Charlotte/Matthews Bloggers meetup at Kaldi's Koffee House at &pm Saturday
Quality vs Quantity
Notes from our first meet-up!
When I walked into Kaldi's Blog Cafe, I could have been faced with a throng of angry young Hitlers...in which case I could have called the meeting a smashing success because of all the people who attended. But alas, it is quality, not quantity. So instead of a throng of screeching Hitlers, I got two young men, one of which I brought myself, and the other of whom wandered over to where my driver and I were eating quiche, pastries and fruit, and drinking Kaldi's high-octane house blend, and said, in English, "Is this the blog group"? That young man was Steve Dunn, of the Begging to Differ blog, and president of the Plaza-Midwood Association. The fellow I brought was Jack (Le Petit Jacques) of History of Time Travel.
As I had only posted the meeting 2 days before, I really didn't expect anyone to be there, except maybe Pam, whom I wanted to help with blogging. And so to even have one show up was a bit of a miracle. Steve himself said that he had only seen the announcement an hour or so earlier.
My first impression of Steve Dunn was that he could have been a twin brother of Jack my my dear friend, Rob Urban, with whom Jack and I like to party in Amsterdam, Paris, Manhattan, Charleston, and occasionally Charlotte. So when I blurred my vision, which is something we right-brainers like to do, I could imagine three old friends once again gathered...only the setting was more reminescent of the Harvard Club than the funky European haunts (although The Grand had some elegant spaces, and is highly recommended), and so to incorporate that image, I would have to blur Jack into, say Ken Phillips, and Ken, Rob and I had some great conversations at The Club, while Jack, even though his sister lives and teaches in Cambridge, never made it up to visit.
And so people are blurring left and right, and I'm thinking "this is some goood coffee"!
Unblurring my eyes, I began to see that Steve was not Rob, and Jack was not Ken, and I was not Clay Aiken. I was Sidney Poitier. A white Sidney Poitier. Well, off-white. Clinton-white. And Jack and Steve were having a discussion.
I finally finished wolfing down my food and joined in...
The discussion ranged from Sidebars, to Amsterdam, to bloggercons and meetups, and on to pedagogy; How and what does one need to teach when teaching blogging, and what are the best ways to effect that change?
My own vision is that we will grow a network of blogger meetups through our large county, and focus on teaching the teaching of blogging. In other words, we can teach people how to blog, and then teach them how to teach others how to blog. In this way, we can grow the Charlotte blogosphere in a most efficient manner, and, among other things, have a goodly number of bloggers with important things to convey when the September 17th BlogFest, BloggerCon, or whathaveyou comes to Charlotte.
One of the things we discussed was what I perceive to be a certain slowheadedness in Charlotte when it comes to innovation. Steve tended to disagree, but I am not sure what proff he could point to to show how fast we are. And I know that the folks in Greensboro and Chapel Hill will tend to back me up, as their blogosphere has evolved far beyond Charlotte's blogosphere, which, alas, it still largely inchoate. But Steve did make some good points in support of a fastheaded Charlotte, and when compared with, say, Gastonia or Marshville, he certainly has a point. But as I was discussing with Jack on our return home...we, in Cambridge, were discussing HDTV in 1980, while I never heard a peep about it here until, oh, the late '90s. And when I moved back to Charlotte, from Massachusetts, back in '96, having been on the Net for a couple of years...very few people had even heard of the Internet. Now the same applies to blogging.
I wish it were otherwise. But alas, Charlotte does not have a Harvard, an MIT, a BU or BC, a Brandeis, a Radcliffe or Wellesley...where the future is constantly being created. But some of the people in Boston would point to the West Coast, and that that there is where the future is actually being created. It is a relative thing, but take a drive out into the boonies, and you will see this relativity in practice.
And so a compromise is in order... Charlotte is in between Greensboro and Spartanburg...and I'm glad we are ahead of Spartanburg.
The Laws of Physics states that for every action there is a reaction, and so one comes to expect that no matter what one says, there will, sure as Physics, be a reaction, and often an opposing reaction. And, just as with Begging to Differ, there will be Thesis, Antithesis, and, occasionally, Synthesis. All to please Hegel, the comb-over philosopher.
But I digress...
Steve, it turns out, lives about 3 blocks from me, and so I suggested we find a closer place to have microlocal meetups...but we both agreed that Kaldi's is a good place to have them until that point where splinter groups are needed. Until that time, I hope to continue to meet and grow other meetups. As President of the Plaza-Midwood Neighborhood Association, Steve could teach and organize those folks, and I can talk to the folks at the Commonweath-Morningside Neighborhood Association and get them involved.
John McBride is blogging for the Elizabeth neighborhood, so I will talk with him, and see if we can get our adjoining neighborhoods together on some projects as well. And where help is needed, help will go. At least as far as I am concerned.
I'd like to see what the folks in Dilworth, NODA and other areas of town are doing about it. Charlotte is so big, and such a car-dependent city, the notion of having a city-wide meetup for all time is simply impractical. This is what BloggerCons are for. But prior to that time, I hope to see a thousand pints of Lite springing up all over this county. We will need all the help we can get.
I am going to contact the good folks in Greensboro, Chapel Hill and Cambridge to learn not to reinvent the wheel, and to glean the good things they have already discovered.
If the Charlotte media is going to have an essential blackout of blogging, which seems to be the case, it will be up to bloggers themselves to spread the word. I am excited about the prospects.
Steve, Jack...thanks for coming out. It was a real pleasure, and I look forward to picking your ample and protean brains again very soon. And for those who may want to join us...don't worry if you don't have a laptop or even a computer. If you have one, you will be accommodated, but what is more important is simply your presence.
I didn't even bring pencil or paper. And your level of skill is also unimportant. If you are a seasoned blogger, you can help with the planning of the BloggerCon. If you are new, you can receive help on getting started. Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, Progressive...it doesn't matter. This is about education, not culture war. All viewpoints are welcome.
Go Tarheels!
When: Saturday, April 2, 7:00 PM
Where: Kaldi's Koffee House, 157 N. Trade Street, Matthews, NC
What: Charlotte/Matthews Bloggers meetup
Notes from our first meet-up!
When I walked into Kaldi's Blog Cafe, I could have been faced with a throng of angry young Hitlers...in which case I could have called the meeting a smashing success because of all the people who attended. But alas, it is quality, not quantity. So instead of a throng of screeching Hitlers, I got two young men, one of which I brought myself, and the other of whom wandered over to where my driver and I were eating quiche, pastries and fruit, and drinking Kaldi's high-octane house blend, and said, in English, "Is this the blog group"? That young man was Steve Dunn, of the Begging to Differ blog, and president of the Plaza-Midwood Association. The fellow I brought was Jack (Le Petit Jacques) of History of Time Travel.
As I had only posted the meeting 2 days before, I really didn't expect anyone to be there, except maybe Pam, whom I wanted to help with blogging. And so to even have one show up was a bit of a miracle. Steve himself said that he had only seen the announcement an hour or so earlier.
My first impression of Steve Dunn was that he could have been a twin brother of Jack my my dear friend, Rob Urban, with whom Jack and I like to party in Amsterdam, Paris, Manhattan, Charleston, and occasionally Charlotte. So when I blurred my vision, which is something we right-brainers like to do, I could imagine three old friends once again gathered...only the setting was more reminescent of the Harvard Club than the funky European haunts (although The Grand had some elegant spaces, and is highly recommended), and so to incorporate that image, I would have to blur Jack into, say Ken Phillips, and Ken, Rob and I had some great conversations at The Club, while Jack, even though his sister lives and teaches in Cambridge, never made it up to visit.
And so people are blurring left and right, and I'm thinking "this is some goood coffee"!
Unblurring my eyes, I began to see that Steve was not Rob, and Jack was not Ken, and I was not Clay Aiken. I was Sidney Poitier. A white Sidney Poitier. Well, off-white. Clinton-white. And Jack and Steve were having a discussion.
I finally finished wolfing down my food and joined in...
The discussion ranged from Sidebars, to Amsterdam, to bloggercons and meetups, and on to pedagogy; How and what does one need to teach when teaching blogging, and what are the best ways to effect that change?
My own vision is that we will grow a network of blogger meetups through our large county, and focus on teaching the teaching of blogging. In other words, we can teach people how to blog, and then teach them how to teach others how to blog. In this way, we can grow the Charlotte blogosphere in a most efficient manner, and, among other things, have a goodly number of bloggers with important things to convey when the September 17th BlogFest, BloggerCon, or whathaveyou comes to Charlotte.
One of the things we discussed was what I perceive to be a certain slowheadedness in Charlotte when it comes to innovation. Steve tended to disagree, but I am not sure what proff he could point to to show how fast we are. And I know that the folks in Greensboro and Chapel Hill will tend to back me up, as their blogosphere has evolved far beyond Charlotte's blogosphere, which, alas, it still largely inchoate. But Steve did make some good points in support of a fastheaded Charlotte, and when compared with, say, Gastonia or Marshville, he certainly has a point. But as I was discussing with Jack on our return home...we, in Cambridge, were discussing HDTV in 1980, while I never heard a peep about it here until, oh, the late '90s. And when I moved back to Charlotte, from Massachusetts, back in '96, having been on the Net for a couple of years...very few people had even heard of the Internet. Now the same applies to blogging.
I wish it were otherwise. But alas, Charlotte does not have a Harvard, an MIT, a BU or BC, a Brandeis, a Radcliffe or Wellesley...where the future is constantly being created. But some of the people in Boston would point to the West Coast, and that that there is where the future is actually being created. It is a relative thing, but take a drive out into the boonies, and you will see this relativity in practice.
And so a compromise is in order... Charlotte is in between Greensboro and Spartanburg...and I'm glad we are ahead of Spartanburg.
The Laws of Physics states that for every action there is a reaction, and so one comes to expect that no matter what one says, there will, sure as Physics, be a reaction, and often an opposing reaction. And, just as with Begging to Differ, there will be Thesis, Antithesis, and, occasionally, Synthesis. All to please Hegel, the comb-over philosopher.
But I digress...
Steve, it turns out, lives about 3 blocks from me, and so I suggested we find a closer place to have microlocal meetups...but we both agreed that Kaldi's is a good place to have them until that point where splinter groups are needed. Until that time, I hope to continue to meet and grow other meetups. As President of the Plaza-Midwood Neighborhood Association, Steve could teach and organize those folks, and I can talk to the folks at the Commonweath-Morningside Neighborhood Association and get them involved.
John McBride is blogging for the Elizabeth neighborhood, so I will talk with him, and see if we can get our adjoining neighborhoods together on some projects as well. And where help is needed, help will go. At least as far as I am concerned.
I'd like to see what the folks in Dilworth, NODA and other areas of town are doing about it. Charlotte is so big, and such a car-dependent city, the notion of having a city-wide meetup for all time is simply impractical. This is what BloggerCons are for. But prior to that time, I hope to see a thousand pints of Lite springing up all over this county. We will need all the help we can get.
I am going to contact the good folks in Greensboro, Chapel Hill and Cambridge to learn not to reinvent the wheel, and to glean the good things they have already discovered.
If the Charlotte media is going to have an essential blackout of blogging, which seems to be the case, it will be up to bloggers themselves to spread the word. I am excited about the prospects.
Steve, Jack...thanks for coming out. It was a real pleasure, and I look forward to picking your ample and protean brains again very soon. And for those who may want to join us...don't worry if you don't have a laptop or even a computer. If you have one, you will be accommodated, but what is more important is simply your presence.
I didn't even bring pencil or paper. And your level of skill is also unimportant. If you are a seasoned blogger, you can help with the planning of the BloggerCon. If you are new, you can receive help on getting started. Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, Progressive...it doesn't matter. This is about education, not culture war. All viewpoints are welcome.
Go Tarheels!
When: Saturday, April 2, 7:00 PM
Where: Kaldi's Koffee House, 157 N. Trade Street, Matthews, NC
What: Charlotte/Matthews Bloggers meetup
Friday, February 18, 2005
Politically Incorrect Guide to that Asshole, George W. Bush
a conundrum for ye conservatrons
Why is it that it is good to be politically incorrect regarding the Clintons, but it is strictly verboten when it comes to the buffoon at the top? Why does he deserve a permanent honeymoon? If Political Incorrectness is a good thing. Apply it with equanimity. It's the right thing to do.
If Political Incorrectness is a good thing, should not those in power be among those most deserving of Politically Incorrect "scrutiny"? When someone like Thomas Woods says piningly: "if only FDR were Harding..." (paraphrasing) -- one has to question.
Why is it that it is good to be politically incorrect regarding the Clintons, but it is strictly verboten when it comes to the buffoon at the top? Why does he deserve a permanent honeymoon? If Political Incorrectness is a good thing. Apply it with equanimity. It's the right thing to do.
If Political Incorrectness is a good thing, should not those in power be among those most deserving of Politically Incorrect "scrutiny"? When someone like Thomas Woods says piningly: "if only FDR were Harding..." (paraphrasing) -- one has to question.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Notes on The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Daily Kos :: The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 12:16:31 PST
Alternet has the most comprehensive news article anywhere about Rob Stein's powerful PowerPoint presentation.
Read the article and store its contents for future reference. You'll be hearing a lot more about Stein and his PPT in the coming months and years. "
Excerpts from Alternet:
If you want to know how the conservative message machine was built and what progressives can do to respond, just ask Rob Stein.
Consider that the conservative political movement, which now has a hammerlock on every aspect of federal government, has a media message machine fed by more than 80 large non-profit organizations – let's call them the Big 80 – funded by a gaggle of right-wing family foundations and wealthy individuals to the tune of $400 million a year.
And the Big 80 groups are just the "non-partisan" 501(c)(3) groups. These do not include groups like the NRA, the anti-gay and anti-abortion groups, nor do they include the political action committees (PACs) or the "527" groups (so named for the section of the tax code they fall under), like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which so effectively slammed John Kerry's campaign in 2004.
To get their message out, the conservatives have a powerful media empire, which churns out and amplifies the message of the day - or the week - through a wide network of outlets and individuals, including Fox News, talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, Oliver North, Ann Coulter, as well as religious broadcasters like Pat Robertson and his 700 Club. On the web, it starts with TownHall.com
Fueling the conservative message machine with a steady flow of cash is a large group of wealthy individuals, including many who serve on the boards of the Big 80.
Rob Stein has brilliantly documented all of the above in "The Conservative Message Machine Money Matrix," a PowerPoint presentation he has taken on the road across the country, preaching to progressives about the lessons that can be learned and the challenges that need to be overcome.
...
However, "progressives should not emulate what conservatives have done," says Stein, a former activist and chief of staff under Ron Brown at the Commerce Department in the Clinton administration. "Conservatives have built remarkably successful institutions and strategic alliances in the 20th century that presumably are consistent with their values and, we know, are effective in promoting their beliefs.
"Progressives have different values, this is the 21st century, the conservative infrastructure is in place and will continue to grow, and so we have to do it all differently," Stein adds. "We must build from both the ground up and from the top down. We must be technologically sophisticated and new media, narrowcast-savvy. We must build institutions capable of great flexibility to deal with the rapid pace of change in the world. We need a new generation of leaders able to integrate the local/global complexity of the world to manage our institutions in 2010, 2020 and beyond."
...
It Didn't Happen Overnight
The story of the conservative rise that Stein portrays begins back in the early 1970s, when there was panic among conservatives, especially in corporate boardrooms, that capitalism was under serious attack, and something drastic had to be done about it. The National Chamber of Commerce asked Lewis Powell, a former head of the American Bar Association and member of 11 corporate boards, to write a blueprint of what had to be done. The result, says Stein, is one the most prescient documents of our time. The memo lays out the framework, the goals and the ingredients for the conservative revolution that has gained momentum and power ever since. Two months after penning the memo, then-President Richard M. Nixon appointed Powell, a Democrat, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
...
Stein describes how the message machine works. If Rush Limbaugh wants something on vouchers – it's immediately in his hands; if Fox News' Bill O'Reilly needs a guest to talk about the "death tax," he's got him from one of the think tanks. Stein estimates that 36,000 conservatives have been trained on values, issues, leadership, use of media and agenda development. These are not the elected officials, but rather the cadre of the conservative network. Stein figures that the core leaders of the Big 80 groups he studied are about 2,000 people who make between $75,000 and $200,000 and have all been trained in the Leadership Institute.
The wealthy conservative families that have been the early bread and butter of the movement and continue their support are relatively well known at this point, including Scaife from Pittsburgh, Lynde and Harry Bradley from Milwaukee, Joseph Coors from Colorado; and Smith Richardson from North Carolina. Important networking goes on at the Philanthropy Roundtable, where groups are showcased.
But the key today to keeping the message machine fed is what Stein calls the "investment banking matrix," which includes key conservatives like Grover Norquist, Paul Weyerich, and Irving Kristol, who raise, direct, and motivate. Stein estimates there are about 200 key people who invest an average of $250,000 a year and about 135 of them also serve on the boards of the Big 80 groups
"Each of these groups are 'mission critical,' and they are strategic, coordinated, motivated and disciplined," says Stein, adding that the investment bankers monitor them closely.
Then there is the conservative media machine, which operated at full power to get George W. Bush re-elected in 2004. Conservatives and their allies were able to magnify their message through a network of right-leaning TV and radio channels, including Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel, which provided Bush and Co. with a 24/7 campaign infomercial - for free. Here was a news network with more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined, constantly repeating, often verbatim, the messages out of the White house and the Bush campaign.
More help for Bush came from the far-less known religious broadcasters. "Under the radar screen, the Christian Church community has created a formidable electronic media infrastructure and now plays a major role influencing public opinion," says Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. The religious media are producing and distributing "news," commentary and cultural guides, and their reach and influence are undeniable.
As veteran investigative reporter Robert Parry argues, Bush's electoral victory proved that the conservatives have achieved dominance over the flow of information to the American people - so much so that even a well-run Democratic campaign stands virtually no chance for national success without major changes in the media system. "The outcome of Election 2004 highlights perhaps the greatest failure of the Democratic/liberal side in American politics: a refusal to invest in the development of a comparable system for distributing information that can counter the Right's potent media infrastructure," according to Parry. "Democrats and liberals have refused to learn from the lessons of the Republican/conservative success."
The Road Ahead
Now, for the audience hearing Stein's presentation – in the face of such devastating information, and the power of the conservative juggernaut – one might expect that paralysis and depression would set in among the listeners. But in fact the opposite has been happening. The problem is being named. It is visible, concrete, it makes people angry and then determined to act.
And, says Stein, there are "very important lessons" to be learned from the conservative experience over the past 40 years. For starters, progressives must learn to find common ground and set aside some differences they may have. "A movement is built upon 'marriages of convenience' among disparate, but inter-related, strains of a broad coalition which is able to agree upon some core values," Stein believes. "It is okay for there to be disagreement within the family; not everyone will be equally interested in the same set of issues."
Citing the example of the Apollo Alliance, Stein says progressive groups "must develop well-managed, highly effective, issue-focused strategic alliances which transcend their institutional egos and their competitive instincts."
Stein sees reason for hope, citing the progressive momentum and energy evident during the 2004 presidential campaign in groups like the Center for American Progress, AmericaVotes, America Coming Together (ACT) and the Campaign for America's Future.
"However one evaluates the actual performance of these initiatives – and obviously they all have strengths and weaknesses – they represent a new breed of collaborative enterprise," says Stein. "AirAmerica, Democracy Radio, and Media Matters are also important new beginnings. And this is all happening because a highly energized, more strategic community of high net worth individuals made significant new financial commitments to all of these enterprises. This is exceedingly hopeful."
...
"A movement must have a diversified funding base of small, medium and large donors," Stein says. "The large donors must have the following attributes: be passionately progressive, intellectually curious, want to be operationally involved in the organizations they fund, willing to work and learn together as a community of donors, be willing to write very large checks every year to the groups they fund, and encourage their family and friends to also invest."
There are a lot of eyes on Stein as he moves forward to build a deeper, more dependable funding base for progressive infrastructure. Stein's effort is called the Democracy Alliance. He describes it as a network of high net worth individuals committed to promoting progressive ideals by investing in strategic, long-term local, regional and national capacity building.
THE FULL REPORT
by kos
Tue Feb 8th, 2005 at 12:16:31 PST
Alternet has the most comprehensive news article anywhere about Rob Stein's powerful PowerPoint presentation.
Read the article and store its contents for future reference. You'll be hearing a lot more about Stein and his PPT in the coming months and years. "
Excerpts from Alternet:
If you want to know how the conservative message machine was built and what progressives can do to respond, just ask Rob Stein.
Consider that the conservative political movement, which now has a hammerlock on every aspect of federal government, has a media message machine fed by more than 80 large non-profit organizations – let's call them the Big 80 – funded by a gaggle of right-wing family foundations and wealthy individuals to the tune of $400 million a year.
And the Big 80 groups are just the "non-partisan" 501(c)(3) groups. These do not include groups like the NRA, the anti-gay and anti-abortion groups, nor do they include the political action committees (PACs) or the "527" groups (so named for the section of the tax code they fall under), like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which so effectively slammed John Kerry's campaign in 2004.
To get their message out, the conservatives have a powerful media empire, which churns out and amplifies the message of the day - or the week - through a wide network of outlets and individuals, including Fox News, talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, Oliver North, Ann Coulter, as well as religious broadcasters like Pat Robertson and his 700 Club. On the web, it starts with TownHall.com
Fueling the conservative message machine with a steady flow of cash is a large group of wealthy individuals, including many who serve on the boards of the Big 80.
Rob Stein has brilliantly documented all of the above in "The Conservative Message Machine Money Matrix," a PowerPoint presentation he has taken on the road across the country, preaching to progressives about the lessons that can be learned and the challenges that need to be overcome.
...
However, "progressives should not emulate what conservatives have done," says Stein, a former activist and chief of staff under Ron Brown at the Commerce Department in the Clinton administration. "Conservatives have built remarkably successful institutions and strategic alliances in the 20th century that presumably are consistent with their values and, we know, are effective in promoting their beliefs.
"Progressives have different values, this is the 21st century, the conservative infrastructure is in place and will continue to grow, and so we have to do it all differently," Stein adds. "We must build from both the ground up and from the top down. We must be technologically sophisticated and new media, narrowcast-savvy. We must build institutions capable of great flexibility to deal with the rapid pace of change in the world. We need a new generation of leaders able to integrate the local/global complexity of the world to manage our institutions in 2010, 2020 and beyond."
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It Didn't Happen Overnight
The story of the conservative rise that Stein portrays begins back in the early 1970s, when there was panic among conservatives, especially in corporate boardrooms, that capitalism was under serious attack, and something drastic had to be done about it. The National Chamber of Commerce asked Lewis Powell, a former head of the American Bar Association and member of 11 corporate boards, to write a blueprint of what had to be done. The result, says Stein, is one the most prescient documents of our time. The memo lays out the framework, the goals and the ingredients for the conservative revolution that has gained momentum and power ever since. Two months after penning the memo, then-President Richard M. Nixon appointed Powell, a Democrat, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Stein describes how the message machine works. If Rush Limbaugh wants something on vouchers – it's immediately in his hands; if Fox News' Bill O'Reilly needs a guest to talk about the "death tax," he's got him from one of the think tanks. Stein estimates that 36,000 conservatives have been trained on values, issues, leadership, use of media and agenda development. These are not the elected officials, but rather the cadre of the conservative network. Stein figures that the core leaders of the Big 80 groups he studied are about 2,000 people who make between $75,000 and $200,000 and have all been trained in the Leadership Institute.
The wealthy conservative families that have been the early bread and butter of the movement and continue their support are relatively well known at this point, including Scaife from Pittsburgh, Lynde and Harry Bradley from Milwaukee, Joseph Coors from Colorado; and Smith Richardson from North Carolina. Important networking goes on at the Philanthropy Roundtable, where groups are showcased.
But the key today to keeping the message machine fed is what Stein calls the "investment banking matrix," which includes key conservatives like Grover Norquist, Paul Weyerich, and Irving Kristol, who raise, direct, and motivate. Stein estimates there are about 200 key people who invest an average of $250,000 a year and about 135 of them also serve on the boards of the Big 80 groups
"Each of these groups are 'mission critical,' and they are strategic, coordinated, motivated and disciplined," says Stein, adding that the investment bankers monitor them closely.
Then there is the conservative media machine, which operated at full power to get George W. Bush re-elected in 2004. Conservatives and their allies were able to magnify their message through a network of right-leaning TV and radio channels, including Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel, which provided Bush and Co. with a 24/7 campaign infomercial - for free. Here was a news network with more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined, constantly repeating, often verbatim, the messages out of the White house and the Bush campaign.
More help for Bush came from the far-less known religious broadcasters. "Under the radar screen, the Christian Church community has created a formidable electronic media infrastructure and now plays a major role influencing public opinion," says Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. The religious media are producing and distributing "news," commentary and cultural guides, and their reach and influence are undeniable.
As veteran investigative reporter Robert Parry argues, Bush's electoral victory proved that the conservatives have achieved dominance over the flow of information to the American people - so much so that even a well-run Democratic campaign stands virtually no chance for national success without major changes in the media system. "The outcome of Election 2004 highlights perhaps the greatest failure of the Democratic/liberal side in American politics: a refusal to invest in the development of a comparable system for distributing information that can counter the Right's potent media infrastructure," according to Parry. "Democrats and liberals have refused to learn from the lessons of the Republican/conservative success."
The Road Ahead
Now, for the audience hearing Stein's presentation – in the face of such devastating information, and the power of the conservative juggernaut – one might expect that paralysis and depression would set in among the listeners. But in fact the opposite has been happening. The problem is being named. It is visible, concrete, it makes people angry and then determined to act.
And, says Stein, there are "very important lessons" to be learned from the conservative experience over the past 40 years. For starters, progressives must learn to find common ground and set aside some differences they may have. "A movement is built upon 'marriages of convenience' among disparate, but inter-related, strains of a broad coalition which is able to agree upon some core values," Stein believes. "It is okay for there to be disagreement within the family; not everyone will be equally interested in the same set of issues."
Citing the example of the Apollo Alliance, Stein says progressive groups "must develop well-managed, highly effective, issue-focused strategic alliances which transcend their institutional egos and their competitive instincts."
Stein sees reason for hope, citing the progressive momentum and energy evident during the 2004 presidential campaign in groups like the Center for American Progress, AmericaVotes, America Coming Together (ACT) and the Campaign for America's Future.
"However one evaluates the actual performance of these initiatives – and obviously they all have strengths and weaknesses – they represent a new breed of collaborative enterprise," says Stein. "AirAmerica, Democracy Radio, and Media Matters are also important new beginnings. And this is all happening because a highly energized, more strategic community of high net worth individuals made significant new financial commitments to all of these enterprises. This is exceedingly hopeful."
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"A movement must have a diversified funding base of small, medium and large donors," Stein says. "The large donors must have the following attributes: be passionately progressive, intellectually curious, want to be operationally involved in the organizations they fund, willing to work and learn together as a community of donors, be willing to write very large checks every year to the groups they fund, and encourage their family and friends to also invest."
There are a lot of eyes on Stein as he moves forward to build a deeper, more dependable funding base for progressive infrastructure. Stein's effort is called the Democracy Alliance. He describes it as a network of high net worth individuals committed to promoting progressive ideals by investing in strategic, long-term local, regional and national capacity building.
THE FULL REPORT
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