Thursday, November 17, 2005

The Woodman tumbles

Mike phoned me to see if I was going to blog tonight. I told him probably and he pointed out that Elaine takes Thursday off because she has to run a group therapy session and that Seth's busy with work and school so if I do blog can I grab one thing from Democracy Now!?

Mike's a good friend and Democracy Now! is a good show so I'll pull something to spotlight and just do a mix post. First Democracy Now!:

FEC Announces Investigation of Hip-Hop Mogul Combs
The Federal Election Commision will investigate a conservative organization's complaint against hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, also known as Diddy. The National Legal Policy Center alleges Combs violated federal electoral and revenue laws by using a voter registration drive to promote the election of John Kerry in last year’s Presidential elections. Combs helped found the group "Citizen Change", which held a widely-publicized campaign to enlist young voters. The group cited instances where speakers made anti-Bush comments at Citizen Change events.

Do they really want to go there? Do they want us to turn around and note all the White churches that used their church's time to push Bully Boy? And didn't they learn anything from their attacks on Kanye West? African-Americans aren't too fond of seeing a bunch of White right-wingers (sometimes with a token Uncle Tom) trashing us.

They just gave P Diddy publicity and you can be sure no one will be trashing him in the Black community over the next few days. We know how to close ranks when we are under attack.

Lot of people seem to be closing ranks over Bob Woodward. Is it the cat that's got CJR Daily's tongue or is the coward? Me thinks it's the coward.

What does CJR Daily cover? The press. And where is there Bob Woodward story? It's no where to be found. Judith Miller? They yapped and yapped about her. There's not a bit of difference between the problems that led to Miller leaving the New York Times and those that Woodward faces now.

Both lived on anonymice. Both concealed things from their editors. Both were involved in Plamegate.

Is Bob Woodward an employee of the Washington Post or their chief client? That's the sort of question CJR Daily should be asking. (I haven't spoken to C.I. today. I did speak to Rebecca and I know from her some of what is going on at CJR but only a little.) So CJR Daily wants to cover the press in "real time" but can't find the "time" to cover what's going on with Bob Woodward.

Are they scared? Are they afraid of offending the biggest name in journalism? This all reminds me of the kid gloves treatment Doris Kearns Goodwin got when she was outed for plagiarism. It didn't stick to her. She can still go on Meet the Press and tubby Tim never will ask, "Is that your final answer? Are you sure that is your final answer or did you swipe it from someone else?"

A dumb kid like Jayson Blair sees all that sort of thing happen so it's no surprise he betrays the public and thinks he can get away with it and be rewarded for it. The biggies get protected and the little guys who do the exact same lying get their heads chopped off.

Where's the ridicule towards Doris Kearns Goodwin?

If you're white and of the clubby little set, people take a pass. Like CJR does today and yesterday on Bob Woodward. They are supposed to be the watchdog organization on the press and they've yet to write a piece on this. (Their whiney ass, embarrassing blog report doesn't count.)

C.I.'s nicest about CJR. The rest of us would love to heap the ridicule they've earned on them.
C.I. will participate, at The Third Estate Sunday Review, with a piece that's humorous and that sends up but that's about it.

I'm not slamming C.I. for that. I understand. CJR, in all its forms, can do great work. But they aren't doing great work these days. Their silence on Bob Woodward puts the coward in CJR, Coward Journalism Review. They ought to be ashamed. Even AJR (American Journalism Review) has weighed in on the topic of Woody.

Rebecca's not silent on Bob Woodward at her site. Here's something from "little miss run amuck bob woodward:"

his books read like transcripts of a barbara walters tv special.
so who can pretend to be surprised that it turns out while he was saying 'nothing to see her, move along' the whole time he's being less than honest?
hasn't his post-career since watergate been built upon being less than honest?there are 2 set of rules at the washington post, there are the rules for bobbo and then there are the rules for every 1 else.
'little miss run amuck' could have been and should have been bob woodward's name. while judy miller was still a reporter - yeah kiddies, once upon a time, she was a real reporter - bobbo was already a practicing stenographer.you get rewarded for stenography and bobbo certainly has been rewarded.
year after year he's trotted out as the 'brave' reporter who once helped break the watergate story. smarter voices ask the janet question: 'i know you used to do nice stuff for me, but what have you done for me lately?'
nothing.
forget barney, he is the white house pooch. belly scratched, head petted and fed, he was neutered and white house broken long ago.
need more info? check out c.i.'s 'Editorial: Someone explain to Bob Woodward that a reporter reports.'

I heart Rebecca. She's so passionate and so funny. Another writer I love, obviously, is C.I. and let's note "Editorial: Someone explain to Bob Woodward that a reporter reports:"

How ethical was it for him to weigh in on a case which he could be forced to testify on (and was forced to)? How ethical when he's not being upfront that he has his own conflict of interest?When he's saying on national TV that he doesn't have a "bombshell," that he doesn't even have a "firce cracker"?
He had something but he sat on it. And he failed to disclose while repeating cloaking himself in the guise of "objectivity" and wrapping himself in the name of the paper.
Bob Woodward was always the lightweight of Woodward & Bernstein (think of him as the McCartney of the two), willing to play the access game and that's partly why he's had his long career at the Washington Post and why Carl Bernstein moved on to other things.Now Woody, of the dipthong and "calcium in the backbone," is exposed as a party to something that resulted in a criminal investigation. He weighed in on that investigation. He never told the public that he was involved.
How ethical was that?It gets better. From the Post article:
Citing a confidentiality agreement in which the source freed Woodward to testify but would not allow him to discuss their conversations publicly, Woodward and Post editors refused to disclose the official's name or provide crucial details about the testimony. Woodward did not share the information with Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. until last month, and the only Post reporter whom Woodward said he remembers telling in the summer of 2003 does not recall the conversation taking place.
That's Walter Pincus. Once again, Woody has one version and Pincus another. (Think of Howie Kurtz's critique of the Post's coverage of the lead up to the war for another example of where Pincus and Woody's memories differ.)
Is that how it works? You can disclose to a grand jury but not to the public? Not if you're a reporter. If you're naming the source, you're naming it. If you're a reporter. Can you imagine what would have been said of Judith Miller if she'd tried that tactic?
Woody sat on a story. While sitting on it, he went around, identified with the paper, and weighed in on an investigation. Now Woody's has testified and named his source but wants to say that it's not the public's business.
It very much is the public's business. In June of 2003, he was a party to a conversation that was news but he elected to stay mum on the topic -- except when taking to the airwaves to attack Fitzgerald and to dismiss the issues involved.When you name your source to the grand jury, you name it to the public. You can't name for a criminal investigation and then, if you're a reporter, say, "Oh well I won't name to the public."
Why? Because naming to the public is your damn job.
A reporter reports.Confidentiality, like pregnancy, does not come in "bits." It's an either/or. Either you're pregnant or you're not -- either you do protect the confidentiality or you don't.
Woody needs to name his source.
The fact that he's taken to the airwaves to refute the importance of an investigation that he's now been drawn into only makes that more necessary.
He has outed his source to a grand jury. There is no more "confidentiality."The press does not function behind closed doors. It is supposed to serve the public.
The Post should force him to make a public apology for offering opinions on a case that he was involved in without revealing his own involvement. He deceived the public.
He weighed in using his name and reputation (such as they are) in what can be seen as an attempt to sway public opinion.
The opinions he offered now seem far less than objective.
If Woody can't come forward with his information, the Post needs to place him on unpaid leave.

If you missed it, and you may have because the ethics involved haven't gotten as much attention as the other details, Howie Kurts hemmed and hawwed around the ehtics in a piece in the Post.
I've used tehcnorati to read up on this and don't see anyone but C.I. that's raised the ethics issue. (C.I. would point out that the issue was raised to C.I. by people at the paper.) Maybe it's being discussed out there and technorati just doesn't pick up those posts?

I know they rarely pick up mine. I put the tags in, like Rebecca's asked us all to do, and most of the time, I don't even register on their pages.

Hope everyone has a good night.














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Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Little Ronnie

I was busy yesterday and only got time to check out Monday's Democracy Now! today. I want to note something C.I. wrote on it:


"Did Former Marine Jimmy Massey Lie About U.S. Military Atrocities in Iraq? A Debate Between Massey and Embedded Reporter Ron Harris" (Democracy Now)
[C.I.'s commenting on the story above.]
Did former U.S, marine Jimmy Massey lie or exaggerate about killing civilians in Iraq to the media? Ron Harris, a reporter embedded with Massey's battalion says Massey's claims are not credible. We host a debate with Massey and Harris.
Ron Harris is a tool. And that's the mildest term I could use at this site. I've been on the phone with Dona and we're both very vocal on this debate. Harris monopolizes the interview, refuses to answer questions and constantly refers to Massey as "Jimmy." There's a crack made about "or 6 year-old boys" made by Harris that's a smear.
There are so many problems with Harris. Besides "Let me finish" (Harris who can't shut the ___ up. He can't shut up. And no one gives a damn about hearing his spin of why he's attacking Massey. No one needed to hear it once, let alone over and over.)
He's an embed in bed with the military. He says "we" at one point referring to the military (as we noted here last week he does that in print as well). Brown's got the war lust and now he's out to attack Massey. Or, as he says, "Jimmy."
How important is Harris that he's allowed to call him "Jimmy"? It's condescending. It's like when the Bully Boy called Cindy Sheehan "Mom." It's out of line. Groan as you listen to him holler "Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy" when Goodman's even asked Massey to speak.
Dona said listening to him ask in his "cracking voice that verged on the falsetto, 'Can I finish?' over and over" was enough to make her throw something at the TV. I was luckier. I only had to listen to Harris, I didn't have to also see him. Or I guess we should call him "Ronnie." Ronnie is what we will call the embed who got in bed with the military and gladly slept in the wet spot.
Ronnie tries to confuse Massey, tossing out terms like "deep cover" that are journalistic. It starts out civil, the discussion until Ronnie goes on the attack early on. Harris monopolizes the discussion as though he can win by sheer wordage.
The points are:
1) Things not observed have been repeated.
Massey acknowledges that (and has before) on his part. Ronnie can't do the same and blows off all attempts to pin him down on that point (I believe Ronnie channels Cher from Clueless for this topic: "Whatever").
2) Massey's book has only been published in France, in French.
Ronnie went on CNN last week to attack the book. Ronnie doesn't read French. Which goes to point one. (Ronnie claims to have spoken to the book's co-author. Since her husband has already written a letter to the Sacremento Bee chastizing the paper for their eagerness to distance themselves from Massey, it's doubtful that her comments to Ronnie, "whatever" they are, back up Ronnie's views and spin.)
3) Public record.
Ronnie dismisses criticism of his own reporting (he was a war cheerleader quick to note "chemical weapons" found in Iraq -- they weren't). That reporting bears Ronnie's name so one would assume Ronnie is responsible for it. (But Ronnie seems the type who rarely takes accountability.) By contrast, Ronnie refers to a paper's report of a statement by Massey. It's the only thing he can find to back him up and he never gives the name of reporter or the title of the piece. So no one can verify Ronnie's claims this morning. If such a report does exist, the fact remains that Massey didn't write it and if all other reports don't include Massey making such a claim in his many speaking engagements it is highly possible the press reporter got the quote wrong. (Shocking! Isn't it.)
On verify, Ronnie seems to think he knows what Massey knows and doesn't know. Seer Ronnie states that Massey can't prove his comments and that Massey knows that. Massey responds he has recordings for his book. Ronnie just sighs a lot and says "Jimmy, Jimmy" (honestly, it's like he's trying to promote Madonna's True Blue album).
Ronnie shifts the topic anytime it's uncomfortable for him and is prone to issuing self-serving statements (he really is shouting out to Madonna, this is just like Madonna's performance in Evita).
Jim's on the phone now (yelling, Dona's passed it over to him). Which is good both because he has a point he wants made and because hearing someone even more angry than Dona or I actually has a calming effect.
Jim: "Sgt. Massey. That's what Ron Embed On His Knees should call Jimmmy Massey. It's what he would call anyone else who served. As a member of the press who has decided to attack someone, he has no right to be so familiar with Massey."
I'll pull an Amy Goodman and say, "And that will be our final word." Seriously, that was the point Jim wanted to make.

If you haven't watched the segment, watch it. (Or listen to it.) This is disgusting. And what disgusts me even more is that Ron Harris is African-American.

I don't know why that's surprising though. We've seen Condi Rice and Colin Powell play (as Harry Belefonte said so correctly) the house negroes for the Bully Boy. We've seen Armstrong Williams (a very strange man) sell out for an exact dollar amount.

History's full of Uncle Toms.

But there's something so disgusting to see an African-American so quick to carry the administration's water. Three Cool Old Guys had already seen it Monday when I spoke to them but I was behind and had to catch up. They told me I'd be furious and I was.

Uncle Toms really aren't surprising. But, as an African-American, it still hurts to encounter them.

There's no built in nobility in my race, I know that. I know we've got the same ratio of jerks as any other race. But when you see someone so desperate to destroy a guy, and willing to play fast and loose with the truth, if you're African-American, or if your me anyway, you start thinking, "Why is this man willing to smear to protect the Bully Boy?"

He's also protecting his own ass. Ronnie was an embed who did as he was told. He signed on to the agreement all the embeds sign on with.

He gave up his self-respect when he did.

Now he's willing to tear apart a guy who was doing what what Ronnie supposedly respects (serving the country) just to keep the truth from coming out.

I found it disgusting.

But there's a lesson here.

Some people will always sell out to suck up to power. Ronnie did.





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Monday, November 14, 2005

Bisquits & Ethics

Tired but posting. Three Cool Old Guys told me yesterday that I had to put the editorial from The Third Estate Sunday Review up here:

"Editorial: Bisquits and Ethics"
Guantanamo Bay. Where the doctors and the interrogators play. Where seldom is heard an ethical word . . .
Jane Mayer told us of the Bisquit program -- Behavioral Science Consultation Teams. They share medical issues, these doctors, with military intel and advise them on how to make the "interrogations" more effective. Such as what phobia a detainee may have.
Mayer's article was entitled "The Experiment" and we think that's an appropriate description of what's going on in Guantanamo. Medical professionals aiding and experimenting . . . on human beings. The Nazis conducted experiments on those they imprisoned.So how much can you take, America? How much can you tolerate and stomach to let Bully Boy continue his Terror on the World?
The SERE program developed these or similar techniques. The purpose then was to condition the military not to break under torture. Now the same knowledge is being used to harm.
Are you okay with that? What about when, as Laura Flanders pointed out on last night's The Laura Flanders Show, when these techniques migrate to our shore and our system of "justice"?Don't think they'll migrate? They weren't supposed to migrate from helping to train our military but now they're being used to harm.
They'll migrate if America doesn't find the guts and courage to say "no" now.
There is no justice in Guantamo Bay. There's no justice in what we're doing to people including people who were not even legally adults when we imprisoned them there -- imprisoned them with no charges, no contact with the outside world, no trial.
"These things take time."
Bully Boy's had over three years. How long does it take for you to grasp that this isn't the American way, it's the Bully Boy way. It goes against every principle we believe in.
And the courts have tended to agree that despite Bully Boy's power grab, they still have a right to rule on his actions. Monday the Supreme Court decided to review the Bully Boy's claim to military tribunals. So naturally, certain Republicans moved quickly to subvert the Court. We're not surprised that, we've actually grown used to that reaction from the Republicans.What did surprise us was the gang of five, Democrats who voted with the Republicans. Kent Conrad, Ben Nelson, Mary Landreau, Ron Wyden and the ever shameful Joe Lieberman. They've offered a variety of lame excuses. Kent-o Conrad wants to offer that on Veteran's Day, he heard that a law to keep the courts out of this would be a good thing.
That's his excuse. That's what he offers. Friday conversations to justify Thursday votes.
It's going to come up for a vote again in the Senate (nine senators were absent when the measure passed).
What kind of message will be sent that time? That we're scared little babies prepared to turn over all our rights, sell out all of our beliefs and that we have no faith at all in the justice system that this country built?
The so-called patriots of the right seem intent on tearing down everything they can. While saying they love the country. What exactly do they love about it? They attack every freedom that this country is supposed to embrace.
So which are you? Someone determined to dismantal our constitutional government (or just starve it down to the size where you can drown it in a bath tub)? Or maybe you're part of the look-the-other-way crowd?
At some point, you have to face reality unless you want to live the rest of your life in denial.
In dark times of the past, what's saved the country has been the courageous voices determined to speak out. These days, we hear a lot of silence. Some might call it apathy but we call it cowardice.
It's time for Americans to look at what's going on and ask themselves if this is okay? If this three year plus detention is okay with Americans?
If you don't stand up and speak out, you're aiding in the destruction of every belief that people fought for. Fought on battle fields, fought in courtrooms, fought in work places, fought anywhere that a light could be shone on the destructive path we were headed down.
In the past we were usually able to righten the course. But seems like we had a lot more brave voices then. It's time for people to start finding their voices and to join in singing "Save the Country." What's going on in Guantanamo Bay isn't just a nightmare, it's an American tragedy as we allow what we're supposed to stand for and believe in to be destroyed, month after month, year after year.







That's a great editorial and I didn't work on it so I'm not bragging on myself. Here's who is responsible for that editorial:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz
Wally of The Daily Jot

The other thing that they told me was that Air America Radio is thinking of cancelling Morning Sedition. That's the show hosted by two guys, but they used to have a woman when the show started, one White, one African-American.

Is the radio network just determined to go all White?

I doubt C.I. will write about this because I know the attitude there is that when Lizz Winstead was "disappeared" the network sent the message that they aren't about "family." They really did push that when they came on. But the other thing they pushed was Al Franken. C.I. calls Franken "Baby Cries a Lot" at The Common Ills.

I think that's being kind.

He brings on his friend from the AEI and he brings on the old guy from, I think, Nixon's administration who started the war on social security but he and Baby Cries a Lot never mention that. You listen and you think, "What are all these Republicans doing on this show?" I mean, is it Meet the Press?

Here's some other things you notice:

1) There's about one woman guest for every four men.

2) Episode after episode can go by without ever hearing the voice of an African-American.

It's a show by a baby boomer, white, male for others just like him.

Three Cool Old Guys pointed out that if they replace Morning Sedition with another White male host, you will have no African-American hosts all week. On the weekend, you'll have Kyle Jason and Chuck D's shows. Each airs just one night. And they both air late night. Guess us black folks stay up all night cause we being sleeping all day?

That's the message Three Cool Old Guys think the radio network sends out.

I thought this was supposed to be a liberal network?








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Thursday, November 10, 2005

It's not just the young people

Thursday. And I am posting.

Three Cool Old Guys say hello to everybody.

They were very vocal on wanting me to note an article C.I.'s noted at The Common Ills, Gareth Porter's "Witnesses Describe Ballot Fraud in Nineveh:"

Both U.S. military informants and testimony gathered by civil society leaders in Nineveh reported that the Kurds had spread the rumour in Nineveh province that voters who did not vote "yes" would lose their food ration cards. Many farmers and their families were said by the independent informant to have voted "yes" on the understanding that would ensure the renewal of their ration cards. The picture of voting irregularities and fear in Nineveh sketched out in these reports from non-Sunni sources collected by the U.S. military and civil society groups support the complaints about electoral fraud by Sunni political figures. And they belie the official portrayal of the referendum as a step toward political legitimacy and democratic development.

That's "democracy" and "liberation" is what they wanted me to put in here.

They wanted something else noted on this anniversary of Falluja, retired people aren't frothing at the mouth over Bully Boy. They see that in our church and at the nursing home they live in.
Our church is a Black church. Other races are welcome, but we're a Black church. And African-Americans haven't been big supporters of Bully Boy Bush (unless they were on the payroll like Armstrong Williams). But their nursing home is a mixture of races and the ones there who did support Bully Boy stopped as the war turned out to be lies and people kept dying.

Tuesday, they took me around to some of the former Bully Boy supporters. The thing I heard the most was that they were appalled that Bully Boy hasn't attended one funeral of an American military person who died in Iraq. This wasn't the thing that turned them against him but it was always the first thing that they noted. They'd name presidents who had attended funerals and they'd say it was shameful that Bully Boy hadn't attended even one. Then they'd usually follow that with their belief that he couldn't attend one because he knew he lied and he'd have to confront the costs of lies and deal with reality -- which he can't do.

Most of the people were white. One was a Hipsanic woman and one was a man whose parents had come over from Japan in the 1920s. These were the ones who had openly supported the Bully Boy and even voted for him in 2004.

Three Cool Old Guys know that this might be something that's just happening in their nursing home but they wanted it noted.

This came from the network news. They weren't online. This came from just following the network news and feeling like they were lied to. Until Three Cool Old Guys got their laptops, no one in the nursing home had web access.

And this was another big thing they voiced. They feel the news people on TV lied to them and continue to lie to them. They feel like if this were any other leader, Carter was the one they usually named the most, then Bill Clinton, the media wouldn't soft peddle or make excuses the way they do for Bully Boy. I heard names I'd never heard of, TV journalists from long ago, and they'd talk about how they asked hard questions at press conferences and weren't sucking up and laughing the way they do today.

This one woman told me that she blamed her vote in 2004 for Bully Boy on the press.

After Bully Boy and the network news, the third thing most distrusted was the AARP. They feel the AARP sold out the elderly when they got in bed with the administration to push the phoney programs. They said no one even talks about that anymore on TV and they can't figure out the new plans but can't believe that they will benefit from them.

It was really interesting to speak to them because we'd go up and they'd be smiling and Three Cool Old Guys would explain to them why they brought me over and they'd stop smiling and launch into these long lists of the ways the Bully Boy was ruining the country.

I heard "He needs to fire Karl Rove" a lot. That was for outing the CIA agent Valerie Plame. But what I heard even more than that was that he needs to be impeached.

I went back to tonight to talk to some of the ones there wasn't time to talk to Tuesday night and it was the same message. (I had told my date about them on our first date and she wanted to meet Three Cool Old Guys, so Tuesday we spent an hour and a half at the nursing home before going out to eat.)

I've got to do laundry and go get some milk and other stuff at the stores so this isn't a long entry. But Three Cool Old Guys thought this was important and I agree with them. It's not just the young people that have turned against the Bully Boy.





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Tuesday, November 08, 2005

The mix

I'm heading out for a date again tonight. (Same woman.) But I'm doing a "mix" post because I don't want Elaine to get nasty e-mails.

1) From Democracy Now!

Supreme Court To Rule on Guantanamo Military Tribunals
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will decide whether the Bush administration can use military tribunals to try detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay. In July a three-judge federal appeals court upheld that a tribunal made up entirely of military officials could try and sentence Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemini man accused of being Osama Bin Laden's bodyguard and driver. On Monday Chief Justice John Roberts recused himself from the case since he was one of the appeals court judges who previously ruled on the case.

2) My response? Something from The Third Estate Sunday Review that the following wrote:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz
and Wally of The Daily Jot.

"The Only Thing We Have to Hide Is the Ugly Truth"
Move along now and don't ask any questions.
That man over there, we're shipping him in Poland. Shut up or you'll be joining him and, trust us, you don't want to join him. Ten fingers aren't essential but they complete a set and you don't want to risk losing any of yours.
Okay, a little urine got on your Holy book but trust us, it must have come through the air ducts. Urinals can fill up quickly and when you're bladder's 'bout to bust, you improvise.
Some call them stress positions, we prefer to see them as isometric excercises.
Your family and friends? Think of all the time you've been spared hearing them recount their daily activities. Trust us, you're better off here.
You miss them? Well you can thank three years of being locked away in Gitmo for making you appreciate your loved ones. Think of all the people who don't have the luxury to appreciate their loved ones.
We've done you a favor. We are America, home of the brave, land of the free. We walk it like it we talk it, buddy!
Or do we?
Congress members set to visit Guantanmo Bay will not visit unless they can speak to prisoners. The answer, right now, is no. Does the Bully Boy think Congress can't be trusted? Does he think they'll smuggle in box cutters to the prisoners?
Now the UN has delcared it's December 6th visit is off unless they can speak to guards and, this is always the deal breaker for the administration, prisoner.What exactly is the administration hiding?
The hunger strikes are known. The force feedings are becoming known.
If you were held for three years with no charges brought and no right to a court trial, what lengths would you go to?
What is the government hiding?
Is it something far worse than the photos of Abu Ghraib?
Could it have anything to do with being in a similar position to the one they're in with Jose Padilla? Having staked their reputation on the guilt of those held, they're now trying to save face by refusing to allow anyone contact with the people being held? Has the administration that never knows how to admit they're wrong decided to bury yet another mistake?
For three years now the American public has largely given the administration the benefit of the doubt with regards to those held in Guantanamo Bay. Bully Boy and others called them terrorists, the media (and a large portion of the public) ran with that. Assurances were also made that they were being dealt with fairly and that we were taking measures to ensure that hearings would be held (military tribunals).
It's been three years.
What's the plan now?
We don't appear too concerned about how we look to other nations, are we at all concerned about how we'll look to future generations?
Who wants to explain what gave us the right to detain indefinately to future generations? Who wants to answer the "Well how did you know they were guilty of anything?" question?
When Japanese Americans were interned during WWII it was a stain on the country. It went against everything we are supposed to stand for.
What American principals are being upheld with regards to the Guantanamo detainees?
It's not American soil!" the administration argues -- as if Americans are only bound to the laws and rules of this country when they're on American soul. Jenna Bush goes into a hash bar in Amesterdam next week and twenty years later runs for office do you really think the "I didn't break a law because it's not illegal in Amsterdam!" defense will cut it?
We're supposed to treasure the Constitution and uphold it but the Bully Boy wants to argue that our beliefs only apply when we're on American soil. Patriotism confined to the shorelines apparently.
All that the administration is doing, they're doing in our names. After 9/11, the American public seemed willing to bury their heads in the sand and, like Congress, give the administration a blank check.
Are we all still wetting our beds at night and sucking our thumbs twenty-four seven or have we started to grow up a little? Enough to ask, "What the hell is going on?"
We need to be asking that. It's easy for the Bully Boy to dismiss questions of historical judgements with the reply that he'll be dead by then but historical judgements don't always take centuries. And if indeed he believes in a "higher authority," is he not concerned what will happen should he have to account for his behavior?
How will you account for yours if you continue to remain silent?

3) From Democracy Now!

Chalabi Heads Back to D.C.; No Investigation Yet on Iran Spy Charges
The Wall Street Journal reports 17 months have passed the Bush administration announced a full criminal inquiry into allegations that Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi leaked U.S. intelligence secrets to Iran. Since then FBI hasn't even interviewed Chalabi or any U.S. official connected to the matter. Chalabi is arriving in Washington today for his first official visit in two years. He is planning on speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on Wednesday and will be meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary John Snow.

4) From C.I.'s "NYT has to promote the AP today because NYT has little news:"

A question I sometimes get from visitors is "Aren't you too hard on Dexter Filkins?" No. I'm obviously not hard enough on him judging by the stenography in today's paper: "Chalabi, in Tehran, Meets With Iranian President Before Traveling to U.S. Next Week."
He goes to great length to quote Chalibli and makes little effort to inform readers of certain realities. Such as the Times acting as a megaphone for Chalibli's point of view. Dexter's not unaware that a niece of Chalabli was working for the Times in Iraq. But that's left out as is any harsh reality that might intrued on, "I will be back!" and the talk of how he might, MIGHT, be doing a little mission in Iran for the US government. There's no indication made of any attempts to determine the veracity of Chalibli's claims, they're just quickly rushed into print.

5) Also from C.I.'s "NYT has to promote the AP today because NYT has little news:"

We'll note the passing of C. Delores Tucker. From Douglas Martin's "C. DeLores Tucker, a Voice for Minorities and Women, Is Dead at 78:"

When she was 16, Mrs. Tucker raised her voice from the back of a flatbed truck to protest a Philadelphia hotel's refusal to admit black athletes. She went on to become the highest-ranking black woman in any state government when she served as secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 1970's.
She started the first Commission on the Status of Women in Pennsylvania and helped found and led the National Political Congress of Black Women. She held leadership positions in the Democratic Party, the National Women's Caucus and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among many other organizations.
Mrs. Tucker achieved perhaps her greatest fame in the 1990's when she campaigned against gangsta rap lyrics, calling them "sleazy, pornographic smut." At one point, she bought 20 shares of Time-Warner stock and rose at an annual meeting to demand the company's leaders read aloud the lyrics on records one of their subsidiaries was selling. They declined.


That's going to be it. It's a mix because I've got a date. I already visited Three Cool Old Guys and I'll write about that (or try to) on Thursday.










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Monday, November 07, 2005

Laughs and music

Readers know that I wasn't thrilled to see the white white white web ignore the passing of pioneer Rosa Parks. At The Third Estate Sunday Review, we usually do parodies and this Sunday's parody was a look at some out of it, apparently "progressive" bloggers. Here's one section of the mock website we created for "Googs," this is from "The wacky web:"

DEAD BUT NOT FORGOTEEN, REMEMBERING AN IMPORTANT WOMAN
I was thinking about John Edwards last night. Two Americas. So true. So very, very true. So this October 25, 2005, I want to note an important passing. Probably you've already talked about it because it was big news. She is missed.Of coure I'm speaking of Ann Forrest who passed away two decades ago. I often find myself reflecting on how much like her character (Zoe Barbille) in The Wise Fool I am. She filmed Dangerous Days and she really lived them because, like, in those days they didn't even have sound. Can you imagine how weird was that? Everytime someone moved their lips, you had to look at the title cards to figure out what was being said. I bet only the really rich could afford to have title cards carried around for them. Everyone else was mute in those days. That must have been hard but sometimes I get to thinking, "Googs, you could write title cards!" I could too. Watch: "Unhand me, you fiend, or face the wrath of John Edwards!" Sigh.But there really are Two Americas and I want to make sure we all understand that and, honestly, to be more inclusive. So on this monumental day, I want to note the passing, two decades ago, of the silent film actress Ann Foster. She remained silent so that we could all speak. Two Americas, the living and the dead.
12:01pm 10-25-05
COMMENTS
Who the hell is Ann Foster?
Tukie
Didn't Rosa Parks just die? Why the hell is Googs writing about some actress who died two decades ago?
Siddie
I bet if you asked Googs, "What's your favorite chocolate?" she'd answer, "White."
Lylonzo
Lylonzo, you are so banned! Posting privs revoked! Troll!
Googs


I think the thing we worked on turned out real funny and I was glad to be a part of it. And that was before I visited the nursing home Sunday afternoon and heard Three Cool Old Guys tell me their favorite parts of it. They loved it.

They also loved Sunday's edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review and felt it was the best yet. How come? Because of the funny feature about the wacky web, because of Ava and C.I.'s TV review which they love to read and laugh and also see the levels in it. But they just felt it was a really great mix with some serious stuff and some fun stuff and the book discussion. But they also enjoyed the thing where we answered Benji's question about what album we listened to the most that week. They just felt it was a really good blend.

Another thing that was really good, and you can consider tonight's entry a "mix" because I have a date tonight and am trying to hurry, is Kat, of Kat's Korner, album review "A Time To Dance:"

Diana Ross and I parted ways over Working Overtime. I could go with the new look (smudged make up, torn jeans) and could even take the jerky title track. What I couldn't take was an album that felt repeating a bromide over and over qualified for lyrics (and "meaning"). As high priestess of love, Diana didn't cut it. Apparently she's passed the robes to Stevie. They don't fit him any better than they did her.
I say that to say: Put on Stevie Wonder's A Time To Love to shake your ass.
Make that your priority and you can't go wrong.
I rushed to Tower the day A Time to Love came out and snapped up my copy. I went home and listened and was despondent to the point of contemplating if I should draw up a will? Then I threw a party and one of the albums playing was A Time to Love.
You can dance to this album.
That's no easy trick. With all the "beats" and name producers, the Disney Kids' hollow product still can't keep you dancing for an entire CD. Stevie is still the "Master Blaster." That's worth noting.
"So Kat, how come you ain't real high on the album?"
Well, for one thing, I've never been fond of romantic duets between father and daughter. Frank and Nancy Sinatra's "Something Stupid" was dubbed "the incest song." Natalie Cole and Nat King Cole carried on the tradition thanks to the "miracle" of techonology. "Unforgettable" stormed the charts but it was creepy as hell and played less like a tribute and more like a struggling artist's attempt to get a hit. (No, I don't mean Nat King Cole.)
On A Time To Love, "How Will I Know" carries on the creepy tradition. It's not a remake of the Whitney Houston hit which might make sense -- the father (Stevie) advising his daughter (Aisha Morris) to "trust your heart." Instead, they trade lines like "How will I know he loves me" and "How will I know she cares" which will creep you out unless you're from an extreme let-it-all-hang-out family.
Before the next parent-child duo contemplates recording a love duet, a bit of advice: DON'T!
That's not the only problem. "From The Bottom Of My Heart" attempts to build a song over a single musical hook. The problem with that is most of us already know "I Just Called To Say I Love You." If we want to hear that song, we'll listen to it.
At six minutes plus, "If Your Love Cannot Be Moved" tests your will if you're just listening. If you're dancing, you can get into the music and ignore the fact that Stevie's tossing off sentences the way INXS tosses flashcards in their video for "New Sensation" (which cribbed from Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" film footage). It adds up to nothing so move that rear and those feet but don't think.
You're better off not thinking throughout the album or you'll be depressed that, as Stevie Wonder runs through another decade as a recording artist, he has nothing to say lyrically.

There's more to the review so use the link. Hope everyone had a great weekend and sorry to rush through this entry.




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Friday, November 04, 2005

No real theme here

Awhile back, I wrote about how a big grocery store was closing in the area. Last night, I was at the nursing home visiting Three Cool Old Guys and they were talking about all the changes that they'd seen in our area. It was a really long conversation and I got home and crashed.

Elaine called me today to ask if I was getting e-mail about not blogging? I wasn't but she's gotten some. I've been mentioned in some of those and I'll plead my laziness and being tired as well.

Why tired? Honestly, working with The Third Estate Sunday Review is not just fun, it's also draining because I'm not a night owl like they are. They always work real hard to make sure Betty and I get done early because we have church on Sunday mornings.

Besides having fun, I think I learn a lot from working with them. So if any reader here has a problem with my absences, I'd ask if you'd prefer I just do the same sort of entries or stretch?
Just listening to Ava and C.I. debate sentences and jokes for their TV reviews is an education.
Like Kat, I never set out to have a daily blog so if that wasn't clear, let me state that now: Cedric's Big Mix is not supposed to be a daily blog.

In terms of daily blogging, you've got Rebecca, Mike and Wally. In terms of multiple times in a single day, you have C.I. And, if you didn't notice, Seth blogged Wednesday and today.

I go to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings and Wednesday nights. I usually visit the nursing home on Sunday afternoons, Tuesday nights and Thursday nights. Since I work a full time job, there's not a lot of time I have left so this isn't a daily blog.

If I stuck to doing a "mix" like I planned when I started this site, I'd probably be able to blog more often but I really like to have something to say when I write.

Thursday night, there was a lot to say and I listened as Three Cool Old Guys explained how there used to be real jobs in our city and we used to make stuff but now we just sell stuff that's made overseas and "retail clerk" is about all that most people will ever be able to aspire to.

That brought home how awful Wal-Mart's anti-union policies are. If these are the jobs that we'll have in the future for most people, we really need a union presence to make sure that the jobs pay enough to make a living at and to raise a family on.

Wal-Mart is a store I won't shop at. I don't like the blue smocks, I don't like the way most of my friends (African-Americans) report being followed around in the store. That includes my preacher who went in one day in his sweats. If he'd been stopping in after a service, he wouldn't have been followed. But he was wearing sweat pants and he was followed around.

News flash for all retail stores, African-Americans are shoppers too. You may see us and think, "Shoplifter!" but we are shoppers. I'm sure there are a number of shoplifters, as there are in any race, but we are also shoppers. Following us around and starting at us doesn't make us feel welcome in your stores and results in your losing shoppers.

Three Cool Old Guys remember when blacks shopped one place and whites shopped another. In my area now, we're pretty much mixed and there aren't many shops that are in an exclusive white area. So retailers should learn to be more welcoming to everyone.

But what really bothers Three Cool Old Guys is that our country doesn't make anything anymore. They say we've become a nation of shopping malls from sea to shinging sea. It's like we're a tourist attraction with all these shops to buy souveniers in but we've got a Bully Boy who's blackening our image around the world so don't count on anyone being too keen to visit.

The e-mails I have gotten have been about Rosa Parks and people saying thanks for remembering her. Three Cool Old Guys can't believe how little reaction from the "white" web her death caused. They think it's a case of young white kids not realizing how important she was as much as it is outright racism.

I told them about the e-mail I got asking how they were enjoying the net and they say they love it and are learning more each day. They've mastered e-mails and copy and paste, they surf like pros. Best of all, they're grandkids are e-mailing them. That really means a lot to them.

If you've got someone you know, friend or family, in a nursing home, I'm going to repeat that you may plan to call, write or visit and then get busy. But your family member or friend is still in the nursing home. They're not tired from battling traffic and no one's stopped by to invite them to go to a movie most likely. So although you're busy, that's probably not the case for them. If you're not making any efforts, they are going to feel forgotten.

I don't care if it's clipping out Boondocks from the paper and tossing it in an envelope, everything does matter. Something as small as that or a Dear Abby column lets them know that they are at least thought of.

Christmas will be here soon and it's tempting to buy a really nice present to make up for the guilt you have for not visiting. Instead of giving from your wallet, the best gift would be to give some of your time. If you're too far away to visit, sit down and write a letter or pick up the phone and call.

From what I see, mail means a lot. They will hold on to letters and clippings and carry them around with them to show. They may show their friends a letter or a clipping six times. When I walk through the entrance to go visit my three friends, there are always a few ladies who want to show me a photograph they were sent or a letter. Those things matter to them.

Without any kind of contact, it's like they're in Guantanamo Bay. So as the holidays come up, don't just think, "What can I buy?" You should think about making time. A visit would mean the world to them and there's a bit of a competition in the nursing home my friends are in to see who is visited and who isn't. But letters and phone calls matter too.

Don't worry about what to talk about. Things will come up. I got an e-mail from one of the Three this evening and he said they were talking about Kat's review ("A Time To Dance") all day. They haven't heard Stevie Wonder's new album. But they loved Kat's review and love her writing. We've never had a problem finding something to talk about, we've always had a problem having enough time to talk. So if you think there's nothing to talk about, you might want to wonder if that "boredom" you're worried about has to do with you and not with them?











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Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Talking about the news review

Did you really yell at C.I. over the phone? Yes. I was asked to by C.I. I called C.I. Sunday everning about a project my niece is doing for school and C.I. sounded worse than when we were all working on The Third Estate Sunday Review. C.I. had just gotten home and was about to go straight to sleep for "a nap" but was worried the "nap" would last more than a few hours. C.I. wanted to be sure if that was the case, that it didn't go on forever. So I offered to give a wake up call. There had been no sleep over the weekend and C.I. warned me, "Cedric, you are going to have to yell or I will pick up the phone, set it aside and go back to sleep." So I did.

I was getting up at that time and C.I. always helps me out so I was happy to return the favor.

Jess covered the protests that were brewing over Bully Boy's upcoming trip at The Third Estate Sunday Review this weekend and I saw something I wanted to note on that. This is Alan Clendenning's "Protesters March Ahead of Americas Summit :"

Arriving in buses and minivans at the seaside resort of Mar del Plata, the demonstrators gathered at a drab concrete sports complex several miles from the luxury hotel where leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere nations will meet Friday and Saturday.
"This is a chance for the real people to hold their own summit," said Wayra Aru Blanco, a 33-year-old Bolivian Indian, beating a calfskin drum as brightly dressed South American Indian women played reed flutes.
Protesters will spend days airing grievances from the Iraq war to free trade policies they say enslave Latin America workers. They are hoping to draw 50,000 people for their highlight event -- a protest Thursday as Bush arrives on Air Force One.

Three Cool Old Guys say that the news review The Third Estate Sunday Review does is one of the highlights of their weekend because it catches them up on some stuff they might miss and puts 'em a little ahead on some stuff coming up. They wondered about that and how we figure out what we're each going to do? We aren't assigned topics. We come up with our own. Lately, I've been offering the Bully Boy spin in a sarcastic way and then this weekend I did something serious because of Rosa Parks. But I always get to pick what I want and then if I need help, Dona and Jim will help me find stuff. Most of the time, I don't and just go with what Jess' parents and I can find. That's because I usually go fairly quick. Usually, I'm right after Jess.
Jess flies blind by going first and I thought that was brave and still do, but I also know from what I do that C.I. is right there with you. There's no rehearsal and this weekend, Dona and Jim were going, "Is he done?" because I just read a poem by Langston Hughes. I was done and C.I. had already figured that out and was giving a trnasition from my piece into the next one. Jess will tell you the same thing goes with him. His reports are rough up until C.I. says, "Now we go to Jess . . ." and Jess is not always sure what he's starting with until that moment. But he knows if he's not clear on something, C.I. will pitch in.

I'd really hate to go to last. To me that's the hardest because Dona's saying, "Cut one minute" or more to you as she's watching the time. Ava and Ty will strip their stuff to the barebone to make sure Kat gets as much time as they can spare. And that's usually while Betty's on that they're figuring the time which is why C.I. and Betty always do their conversations during the news review. Rebecca usually goes right after that and she'll cut her own stuff to the bones. Elaine and Mike have their thing going and that's because they're talking all week figuring out what to cover at their sites so it works real well for them to team up. I've done some stuff with them and they're great but they're on their own wave length.

I'm going to note Wally's thing later this week.

But I want to note this because Three Cool Old Guys think Wal-Mart gets away with a lot.

C.I.: Thank you for that report Wally. For news from the world of entertainment, we go to Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man. Betty, what do you have for us this morning?
Betty: C.I., no one wants to talk too much about it but for the fifth week in a row the show that America supposedly had to watch is down in the ratings: ABC's Desperate Housewives. 30 million watched last season's ender, 28.4 million watched this season's debut. Each week, this year, has seen erosion in the viewership and it's now down to 25.2 million. In the who the hell asked for it department, the otherwise unemployed Sylvester Stallone will make his sixth Rocky film and his fifth Rambo film. While Republicans punch their fists in the air and holler, 13 and 14 year-old boys ask, "Who?" As Robert Greenwald's Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices readies for release, Wal-Mart's trying to offset the Greenwald documentary with their feel good, Up With Corporations response film entitled Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why That Drives Some People C-R-A-Z-Y. The fact that they spell out crazy demonstrates how out of it the store that no self-respecting teen would purchase clothes at is. I spent time with my teenage nieces this weekend and apparently the must-say insult in their crowd is anything having to do with Wal-Mart. From, "Where'd you get that shirt? Wal-Mart!" to "Where'd you get that weave? Wal-Mart!" the corporation that just won't go away is fast becoming the punch line to any insult.
C.I.: Betty, Kat wants to jump in on this. Kat of Kat's Corner (of The Common Ills).Kat: Sorry to butt in but as someone a bit older than Betty, I'll note that it's a similar process to what happened with K-Mart. It stands for cheap goods and as a new group of teens comes of age that's been lugged to Wal-Mart once too often, they turn on it. If Betty's nieces are knocking it for non-political reasons, Wal-Mart should worry more about that than Robert Greenwald's documentary. I'll jump back out now.
Betty: That's a good point that Kat made. The teen years are all about what's hot and what's not for many and when something gets bad word of mouth, there are problems. With my nieces, they're not commenting on Wal-Mart's practices of hiring or insurance or wages. They're commenting on the store being uncool. As Kat points out, once that rep starts getting around, it's very hard to recover. You lose the teen girls, forget it. Greenwald's film opens in select markets on November 4th and can be purchased online. George Takei, known to millions as Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, came out this week. Takei, who's been in an 18 year relationship with Brad Altman, said, "The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay. The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young." Demi Moore teams with Sharon Stone, Anthony Hopkins, Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan for Emilio Estevez's upcoming film Bobby. Estavez will appear in front of the camera but he'll also be directing from a script he wrote. Finally, this coming Tuesday, Lifetime's Real Women will remember Rosa Parks with an Intimate Portrait featuring commentary from Ruby Dee, her late husband Ossie Davis and Gloria Steinem among others. Following that, Lifeteime Telivision will broadcast The Rosa Parks Story starring Angela Bassett as Parks and Cicely Tyson as her mother.

And you can also check out C.I.'s "'Labor Dept. Is Rebuked Over Pact With Wal-Mart' (Steven Greenhouse)" from this morning. The link Betty gives to the Wal-Mart film provides a trailer so you should check that out.



























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Monday, October 31, 2005

News review

Sample of the news review at The Third Estate Sunday Review. Click here to read it all.

Jess: As noted on Democracy Now!, on Wednesday over 15,000 rallies took place around the nation to note crossing the 2,000 mark for US military fatalities in Iraq. Quite a large number for a mid-week event and one that required getting the word out quickly.

C.I.: Thank you, Jess. We now go to Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix.

Cedric: As most will know already, Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who refused to give up her seat on the bus when ordered to do so which led to the a city wide, bus riders strike, passed away Monday. I've thought about what to say to note the death of a leader and toyed with a biographical sketch or a timeline. But one of the books we read for this week's book discussion offered something that I felt summed up things better than I ever could. From The Dream Keeper and Other Poems, Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son:"

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

C.I.: Thank you Cedric. Again, Langston Hughes' "Mother to Son." Rosa Parks passed away Monday at the age of 92. The following day the US military fatality rate for those killed in Iraq reached 2,000. For news on Iraq, we go to Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz and Mike of Mikey Likes It. We started with Mike last weekend, so Elaine, why don't you start?


Elaine: C.I., the official fatality count for American troops in Iraq stands at 2016. When the count reached 2,000 this past week, over . The official count for American troops wounded in Iraq is 15,220.


Mike: Three of the 2016 who've died in Bully Boy's war of choice are from yesterday, two from a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad and one died near Baiji.


Elaine: While the causes of death in those cases are clear, another military death is less so. The Associated Press reports that an unnamed American soldier was found dead Friday. The cause of death is under investigation. Al Jazeera reports that in Huweder, a car bomb has killed 26 Iraqis.









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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Rosa Parks

I had thought I'd be writing about churches tonight but that was before I saw "Rosa Parks: 1913-2005" at The Common Ills before going to bed last night.

I'll note this from Democracy Now!:

Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913-2005
Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92. It was 50 years ago this December that she refused to relinquish her seat to a white man aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and convicted of violating the state's segregation laws. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would spark the civil rights movement. The boycott would also help transform a 26-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Junior to national prominence. In 1958 King wrote "no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.''' Parks had been involved in the fight for freedom since the 1940s. She was active in the NAACP, helped raise money to defend the Scottsboro rape case and attended trainings at the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said yesterday ''She sat down in order that we might stand up. Paradoxically, her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom.'' Henry Louis Gates Jr called her "the Harriet Tubman of our time." After he was freed from jail Nelson Mandela recalled how Parks had inspired him and others in the South African struggle against apartheid. We'll have more on Rosa Parks in a few minutes.

Just a tip for white bloggers out there that are pushing a Democrat already for the 2008 race. The fact that Tuesday you noted no death today or noted a death today and it wasn't Rosa Parks didn't go unnoticed. In fact, one blogger who wrote that nothing has been the same since Paul Wellstone died resulted in 30 e-mails alone.

So when it's time to trot out and prop up their candidate, don't be surprised when you're wondering why "those blacks" aren't interested in hearing your lame opinion.


Rosa Parks died. Some of you blogged last night, some of you blogged this morning. Those who didn't note Parks death but chose to note the death, three years ago!, of Paul Wellstone or someone else, it was noted.

Though probably not noted the way they hoped.

Some of the e-mails are using terms like "racists" to describe these bloggers. I don't know if they're racist, I just know that they're stupid.


They can dig back three years to note Paul Wellstone but somehow miss that Rosa Parks died yesterday?

We get it. We see the "Whites Only" sign posted outside now.

Message received, as Ruth would say.


By the same token, we also noted who was there. That includes Democracy Now! which did an incredible job and reached into the Pacifica archives to find rare audio interviews with Rosa Parks. Delilah of A Scrivener's Lament is a name that got praised in e-mails. I'll give credit to John Nichols for noting Rosa Parks at The Nation.


I give no credit to a web site that provides links and at noon Tuesday had over 187 links on display but only one of the 187 was about Rosa Parks.

It sends a message.

So does a link to the hideous article entitled: "The Blue Tint of Indian Country; Democratic administrations have been kindest to Native Americans -- and come election time, Indians remember." The stereotypes are insulting the concept is patronizing and insulting. "We remember who took care of us."

African-Americans are supposed to play little children to the big Democratic Party too. Whites never seem to grasp how insulting they are when they use headlines like that.

So in the white white white world of the blogsphere today was a little whiter.

Now whether you call yourself "black," "Black," or "African-American" (I use the latter) or what, you've noticed that the death of John H. Johnson wasn't dealt with by most of the "left." That time they hid behind the fact that Peter Jennings had died. That was their excuse then.

What will the excuse for today be?

Back then they offered things like, "I didn't even know about John H. Johnson." Will they trot out the same excuse now?


Micah e-mailed me to tell me about a point Amy Goodman was making on WBAI today. It's basically, watch and see who devotes time to Rosa Parks and who doesn't. How your big media will give you 30 seconds top. I think that can be applied online too. Most shocking to me was how many didn't even see the point in giving her 30 seconds.


Who was Rosa Parks?

I can tell you who she was to me. I remember being told about her. I was looking at my mother and thinking that some man was making my mother get out of her seat and wanting to know why? My mother explained it was a white man.

I still didn't get it. That's because a lot had changed in the time since Rosa Parks took her brave stand. Yes, I was a little kid, but things had changed enough that I would even have to ask about it.

Rosa Parks was one of the trailblazers who fought fights that made things better. So much better that it can be hard to picture what it was like before the civil rights movement. You can try to put yourself in that time but you have to try hard.

Racism still exists. It's still around. It's not as open and in your face as it used to be. There's enough shame in society that the racists know they can't be as overt as they once could. But it's still around.

And it's there when someone feels that the most important thing to write about death wise is that Paul Wellstone died three years ago and not that Rosa Parks died yesterday.

The thing they don't grasp, trapped in their white white white white world, is that Rosa Parks' struggle is a struggle for everyone. It advanced the rights of one group, true. But with that advancement everyone came closer to being part of the human experience.

Listening to Democracy Now! today, I winced when I heard Rosa Parks speaking and she made a point of saying she wasn't sitting in the white section of the bus when she was asked to move. That's how far we've come. Today we think of what she did and we think that she refused to give her seat up to a man. At the time, she had to take pains to point out that she was in the black section.

But maybe we haven't come that far? The black section obviously still exists. That's why when a Johnson or Parks passes, it's not news. It's a story for black people. But when a Peter Jennings die, it's a story for everyone. That's the message that's sent out.

They are full of excuses online. "John H. Johnson? I didn't know he was big with your people!"
"Ossie Davis, uh. . .. " If the so-called left web wants to be inclusive, it needs to be inclusive.
Otherwise it's just empty talk.

I had huge hopes for this entry mid-day but I'm still angry. But as Three Cool Old Guys pointed out when I visited them tonight at the nursing home, I've got a right to be. We all have a right to be.



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Monday, October 24, 2005

Prison and the economy

Here's something I heard on Democracy Now! that I wanted to share:

U.S. Prison Population 2.3 Million, Largest in World
And new Justice Department statistics show the U.S. prison population grew by nearly 2 percent last year to nearly 2.3 million. According to the International Center for Prison Studies in London, there are more people behind bars in the United States than in any other country. Federal prisons in this country are now at 40 percent over capacity.

As C.I. always says, we've got a Bully Boy economy. I guess it's no surprise that while everyone else is laying off, the prison system is booming. I have three grocery stores in my area. Two real close and the other's about two miles away. Everyone needs to eat, right? So that should be a pretty good business, pretty safe.

All three are big chains, national stores. Last week, one of them announced it was shutting down at the end of this week. Even though they do business, they're not doing enough now that the energy prices are going up. The other one close by is turning off lights two hours before they close. Not all the lights, just enough that it's semi-dark in there if you go shopping late. First time that happened, I thought they'd changed their hours and were about to close.

I was hurrying around and I bumped into a stocker who told me I still had plenty of time but because of the cost of electricity, the store wasn't using all the lights the last two hours. So the lights in the frozen food cases go off, some of the lights in the produce go off, it's like the store's about to close.

But we're supposed to be pretending that the economy is going great. It's not going great. You can see that all around you. Take the grocery store. Tomatoes keep rising, milk's gone up, coffee's gone up. So when I read or hear someone saying, "The economy is doing good" I know right away that he or she doesn't shop for their own groceries.

Here's the scary part, this is fall. When winter gets here and you factor in heating costs, things are just going to get worse.

In 2008, we'll have had eight years under the Bully Boy (barring an impeachment) and so far, it's like we've lived six of them in denial. We're in denial about the war, we're in denial about the outing of Valerie Plame (Bob Somerby's really in denial), we're in denial about the economy.

Some people are cleaning up, no question. But that's not most people. If you're Halliburton or you own a prison, you're probably doing great. If you're a working stiff trying to make ends meet, things ain't so hot.

Here's a section of the news review from The Third Estate Sunday Review:



C.I.: Thank you, Jess. And to clarify, Brian Conley is an un-embed reporter with Boston Indymedia who is now reporting on Iraq from Iraq at Alive in Baghdad. As bird flu continues to be in the news, we turn to Rebeca, of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, to help us track the latest developments.
Rebecca: C.I. Britain's The Independent reports that "Armed police are to guard stocks of drugs used to fight bird flu." Geoffrey Lean and Francis Elliott report on this as England experiences its first case of bird flu. The bird, a parrot imported from Suriname, has resulted in a call by the British government for the end of importing wild birds to Europe. The Suriname government denies that the parrot contracted bird flu while in Suriname.
C.I.: Rebecca, if you or I wanted to visit England and we had a dog, our pet would be held in quarantine. Was that the case with the parrot?
Rebecca: Yes, in fact the parrot died in quarantine. The parrot arrived in England September 16th and had been held in quarantine until its death along with other birds from Taiwan. Australia is proposing thermal screenings of airline passengers and any flight suspected of carrying someone with bird flu would be quarantined for up to six days. The government of China has announced that the discovery of any case of human-to-human transfer of bird, or avian, flu will resort in the closing of its borders. Sweden has reported their first case of bird flu, a duck who died Friday. In Ha Noi, six million vaccines that will be used on birds to prevent the bird flu arrived from China. Delaware Online, The News Journal, reports that the migratory patterns of birds lead scientists to belive that North American birds will mingle with birds from Asia and transmit bird flu.
C.I.: Thank you, Rebecca. We'll note that on Wednesday, Democracy Now! devoted the hour to a discussion with Mike Davis on the topic of the bird flu. Davis noted, among other things, that flu is endemic with birds but that bird flu, unlike others they carry, is actually killing the birds. With news of Iraq, we now go to Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix.
Cedric: Well the trial for Saddam Hussein began last week following the successful turnout for the referendum on the Iraq Constitution.
C.I.: But Cedric, the trial's now postponed until November, a lawyer's been killed and the referendum results are being closely examined due to questions of fraud as a result of some areas reporting that over 90% of the population voted?
Cedric: C.I., that is true, but don't say it too loudly. The Associated Press' Mariam Fam is pimping both events as milestones. Friday, in The New York Times, I-Saw-It-All-In-Falluja-But-Kept-My-Mouth-Shut Dexter Filkins wasted 22 paragraphs analyzing the election returnsthat are not yet verified.
C.I.: We should note the headline to that "award winning" reporting by Filkins which was, "Iraq's Sunnis Voted In Large Numbers This Time, Officials Say." "Officials say" being key to the headline, to the report and to all that's wrong with The Times.
Cedric: C.I., the press is having a tough time pimping the latest Operation Happy Talk phase. Fam and Filkins obviously want to let loose with the rah-rah reporting but the trouble this time is that serious questions exist and the days when Filkins could turn a slaughter into a video game and actually win a report for it appear to have passed. But still they press on, those brave embeds, thankful that Judith Miller exists to take the heat off all of them.
C.I.: Cedric, thank you for that perspective piece. With more news on Iraq, we now go to Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz and Mike of Mikey Likes It! All week long, they pair up to select information from Democracy Now! to spotlight at their respective sites. Readers of The Third Estate Sunday Review prefer them paired up for the news review. We started with Elaine last week, so let's start with Mike.

I included Rebecca's part because of the bird flu and with the topic of this post being the economy, I think that's needed. If we have an outbreak of bird flu, we'll see that it effects one group of people one way, and another group another. Why? Money. If you've got it to blow, you'll probably be sitting pretty. If you're struggling to make ends meet, you'll be out in the cold with the flu.















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