cg.eye's blog

I've filled out my mail-in ballot, except for one space.

2008-10-30T23:49:44-04:00

I can't fill in Obama's name, not yet.

I can't give up the hope that someone in our political culture will notice if McKinney's policies are supported by voters. Yes, I know she has no organized downticket presence, and the WaPo article made her and her supporters sound addled, and everyone and his banker thinks Obama's the smart play.

But I cannot forget how he allowed his supporters to treat people he thought were in his way. And I have absolutely no faith that he can profit from his own triangulation of his backers' neo-liberal interests with his gauzy rhetoric to Americans.

Melamine, for Dinner? Again?

2008-09-13T03:37:50-04:00

This time for babies:

In August, Sanlu's testing "revealed melamine in the baby milk powder and showed that it was contaminated," the ministry statement said. It did not say when Sanlu alerted authorities about its findings. On Thursday, the dairy announced a recall of 700 tons of formula made before Aug. 6.

A New Zealand dairy cooperative that owns part of Sanlu said Friday it believed none of the tainted powder was exported.

Kidney problems in infants were reported as early as mid-July but authorities failed to launch a food safety investigation, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Another news report said the dairy received complaints as early as March.

Help is where you find it -- so I'm recommending one DKOS poster

2008-09-04T17:08:00-04:00

I've stayed away from Daily Kos because y'all know why, but there's one poster there, DogEmperor, who is the go-to guy for all your Christianist /Dominionist research needs:

http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/

I started out with Palin, went to Assemblies of God and the cell-church movement (in which he might fail to account for Saddleback and their adaptation of that approach for more mainstream megachurches), and fell into Amway, Hobby Lobby and US Plastics -- the corporations that back the takeover (steeplejacking) of non-cult churches until they spill out with feral Russian murderous homophobes. It's like a horror show with Air Force access to nukes, and The Family having access to Senator Clinton.

The GOP held their roll call last night.

2008-09-04T15:24:17-04:00

Whoa. They even beat us in dumb show.

"After Sarah Palin speech, GOP conducted roll call vote. Second-place finisher: Ron Paul, with 5 delegates; third place, Mitt Romney."

http://twitter.com/RMN_ME

Now I heard squat about the roll call vote today. Did you? Searched for "roll call" on my papers' websites, and found nothing. Found this through Google:

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/a...

"Sarah Palin's speech may have been the highlight of Wednesday night's Republican National Convention, but the official business was to formally nominate John McCain as the Republican candidate for President.

Palin has been vetted... but McCain wasn't in charge.

2008-09-01T19:16:20-04:00

The CNP

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

The 'pash', viral marketing, and the way we live now.

2008-07-21T22:17:16-04:00

So I saw The Dark Knight, and I liked it. I admired its seriousness among the bombast, but did not love it. I had bones to pick about its plot --

A DA is the salvation of his city?
And he uses RICO, a Federal instrument? Without Federal intervention?
And offers himself up as bait, endangering the prosecution of hundreds of criminals to catch one psycho?
And houses his star witness with the psycho in a corrupt precinct house? And orders no metal wanding of the psycho's henchmen with cellphones visibly sewn into their flesh?
Really?

McCain: If you roll the Hard Six, have the decency to claim it on your taxes.

2008-07-11T01:53:19-04:00

In the spirit of wishing openness and transparency for all our presidential candidates' affairs:

Mc Cain has a bit of a gambling problem -- he doesn't acknowledge that he does gamble, at least to the one group that matters, the IRS. From the Time article:

Trolls, captured in their natural habitat.

2008-07-09T01:13:05-04:00

I know, I know, Susie's good people, and she's been patient with one very persistent troll. (She's also got car trouble, so she has more important things on her mind.) But when I read this post and saw the exact same paragraphs quoted by two different trolls -- one full force nasty, one concern-like -- I lost my sense of decorum and good taste.

Troll A:

I suppose you could follow the lead of historiann, anglachel, riverdaughter, and the rest of the PUMA dead enders and claim that obama is really another hitler, worse than bush, planning a totalitarian takeover of the US of A, etc. etc.

or, if you read the original article you find this:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Ralph Nader:

2008-06-25T12:30:45-04:00

Well, no one could say Mr. Nader is a shy, retiring type:

Nader was asked if Obama is any different than Democrats he has criticized in the past, considering Obama's pledge to reject campaign contributions from registered lobbyists.

Oh, now he goes for the Windfall Profits Tax.

2008-06-10T07:54:26-04:00

Now it all makes sense.... as long as the American consumer doesn't get a bit of direct relief first:

"I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills," the Illinois senator said.

It's a full-Democratic congressional push, so it just might have a chance...

"Senators were to vote Tuesday on whether to consider a windfall profits tax against the five largest U.S. oil companies and rescind $17 billion in tax breaks the companies expect to enjoy over the next decade."

Regarding the "authoritarian left", Steve Diamond is not an idiot.

2008-06-08T22:57:16-04:00

Bringiton, I think you're lumping the wildass speculation in No Quarter's comment streams with the relatively well-considered and sourced work Diamond has done. It's part of his job as a labor activist to fight the damage corporations have done in spreading the "Labor = Mafia/Corruption/Communists!" meme.

Read this post, and tell me he's not discussing the same subject as we are: How Obama's most feral handlers and supporters would really appreciate it if we stopped asking for solid reasons to support his campaign, and instead just give them our money and loyalty now, OK?

Leverage. How come the DNC's forgotten what it looks like?

2008-06-08T07:59:37-04:00

(reposted from a comment on Avedon's blog)

How can leverage be built, or used, without the threat of a negative outcome?

If votes from Clinton supporters are desired, doesn't someone have to ask for them?

Doesn't someone have to stop insulting them by continually saying their opinions are invalid, that their power is either illusory or unimportant, or that they are delusional for wanting to wield that power in the first place?

Since there are no third parties worth even that much of a damn to consistently field downticket candidates in every state, how else should Clinton supporters -- who have been called everything from bitches, dried-up divorcees, to racists -- behave, but to offer their votes to the McCain campaign if their policy concerns are not discussed with respect?

Disavowing Rezko? Feh.

2008-06-05T02:26:01-04:00

Disavowal is for amateurs. Let's see if the crackerjack MSM deigns to ask this important question:

"Senator Obama, should Mr. Rezko not succomb to a small airplane crash or a massive heart attack prior to his imprisonment, would you rule out either giving him a pardon or commuting his sentence on wire and mail fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting bribery?"

"If you are not ruling out the possibility of showing him mercy, should we expect your pardon to occur before or after you declare your reelection campaign?"

"Would a promise either way be as firm as your promise to your Illinois constituents to serve your full term, instead of interrupting it with this, your first presidential campaign?"

"Do they allow Unity Ponies in prison?"

Questions, questions....

It has begun (like it never stopped)

2008-05-26T04:12:01-04:00

I was prepared to go to bed when I read this:

Black campers recruit against history, stereotype
(...)

GADSDEN, Ala.—The throngs filling campgrounds across America this weekend will include hardy outdoors types and those who prefer creature comforts, but they'll have at least one important thing in common: Nearly all of them are white.

A small but committed group of campers is trying to change that by growing a generation of black campers, one person at a time.

The National African-American RVers Association is composed almost exclusively of black people who camp, although it includes a few whites and Hispanics. The group doesn't have much money to buy ads or solicit new members.