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Whoa, whoa, whoa, KTLK just had a news brief about an explosion and missing workers on a Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico! Anyone have any info on this yet? Oil Slicks, possible causes? Anything?
WOOOOO HOOOO!!!!!
Immigration doesn't bother me, legal or illegal. What bothers me is that many companies are breaking the law by not only hiring illegals, but compounding it by paying less then adequate wages, not providing proper training and safety and using fear and intimidation to keep their workers in line (I'm certain this list could be added to). Laws are already on the books that address this issue, but they're rarely if ever enforced. Telling someone that they don't qualify for the rights we find to be self-evident because they selfishly choose to be born in another country doesn't sit well with me. People that clamor about illegal aliens are doing nothing less then spitting on the Statue of Liberty and the principals this country was founded on.
Nels,
I loved that "bit" too. I am amazed that Stewart can put together such great pieces on such a continuous basis.
Also, the other night I was trying to find “Coast-to-Coast” on the AM dial in the dark, and ended-up on the “wrong” side. I knew I was wayward because I encountered a radio station I didn’t know existed, even in “progressive” Seattle. There was a song playing that I had never heard before, but it was the kind of string-laden Philly Soul that I instinctively liked. The station catered to those who hold to the old school soul and R&B mentality. I continued to listen for awhile until they played a song I didn’t care for much, and left in search of my prior destination. What I mean by “mentality”—I’m sure there is a better word, I just can’t think of it at the moment—is that the commercials tended to be public service and community outreach in nature. One voice-over guy who sounded like Don Cornelius at one point intoned “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” Wow. You don’t hear that kind of stuff on hip-hop stations, or any other music stations that kids listen to, for that matter. This must be a generational thing; back in the 60s and 70s, the lines between justice and injustice were not so open to debate.
I recently purchased the DVD of the film “Black Dynamite,” which almost no one saw in theaters, but generally received good reviews. It sends-up the old blaxploitation genre through a comic-book lens, but retains the genre’s unmistakable political edge. You got to love a movie that knows that the trail of injustice leads all the way to the Honky House: “I should have known it was you all along, Tricky Dick.” Yes, those were the days when you could laugh and be informed at the same time by TV shows like “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” You won’t even find stuff like that on cable television these days. It doesn’t sell. People just don’t want to watch anything that suggests that they might have to get off their fundaments and do something, let alone stand for something.
Hey, Quark, how did you like Stewart's skit prior to O'Hara, where he to Fox to task about their "Fairly Unbalanced" (I refuse to use their tagline) BS, and their recent comments about the Daily Show?
Parts of it I thought was over the top, but he made some really stinging points that I enjoyed immensely.
Mark K: Apparently in Arizona, being brown is a crime. A bill passed by the Arizona legislature requiring police in the state to demand proof of legal status from anyone they merely “suspect” of being an illegal immigrant goes beyond even what Joe Arpaio has done. Let’s not kid ourselves, once you open this door, it will go beyond discomfiting only Latinos; what constitutes “proof” that you happen to be carrying on you is entirely at the discretion of the police officer, but for now it allows indiscriminate racial profiling without need for any justification. I have already pointed out the numbers here: most Latinos in the country are not only legal residents, but U.S. citizens. The problem, of course, is that racists think that every Latino they see is illegal, or may be one. To racists—whose beliefs are usually rooted in the many myths that have been circulated by the right (and left-wing “populists”)—Latinos merely represent another “threat” to white hegemony. Of course, Anglos in states with large Latino populations do have something fear, if only because of the way they have treated them; I have mentioned here before that every Democrat in Texas’ House of Representatives is Latino (and none are Republican), and every county that Obama won in the state in 2008 had a heavy concentration of Latino voters.
The question for now is just how racist are Arizona’s police officers; since Thom is a fan of Firesign Theatre, perhaps he recalls their skit “Deputy Dan Has No Friends” in which a Spanish-language primer for children is being translated. I can tell you from my own experience (especially in regard to Kent police), that if you look Latino, you are automatically a subject of suspicion; I mentioned here an incident where a cop demanded “proof” that I had a storage unit after he watched me use the key pad to the unit and followed me in. Nothing I said or showed him was sufficient “proof,” and he continued to detain me until the manager arrived and vouched for me.
But the difference is that the police here have not been publically given the go-ahead to practice racial profiling without reasonable justification (at least my many complaints about police harassment have been acknowledged). But the Arizona law will allow indiscriminate racial profiling; there are no guidelines on determining who is or isn’t an illegal alien, only an officer’s “suspicion” that could be entirely arbitrary or based on personal prejudice (I doubt the police will practice their prejudice against the nine percent of illegals who are European). One way to fight this, until a comprehensive immigration law is passed that creates a common sense work visa program (particularly one that takes into account how free trade with the U.S. has destroyed the livelihoods of many of Mexico’s poorest people), is for legal defense organizations to start keeping track of Latinos who are U.S. citizens who are detained under this law—especially those who couldn’t “prove” their citizenship and were locked-up—in order to prepare for a class-action law-suit against the state for massive civil rights violations. If nothing else, it would be hugely embarrassing PR for the state and Republicans.
I have to say that I disagree with those who say that we can “solve” the problem of illegal immigration by going after “illegal” employers, such as agricultural enterprises, and putting them out of business. The real problem there, as I have said many times here, is the nonsensical and prohibitively expensive work visa program that ignores the fact that there isn’t a “native” work force willing to do the required work that will keep these businesses, which must compete with imported produce, viable. Just imagine if we were dependent on imported food as well as oil.
Nels,
Yes, I laughed out loud!
Bringing in undocumented workers has done a lot to bust unions and lower safety and general working standards but another side of this is often overlooked. These undocumented workers have families and friends that often follow them. Many are not employed and have overwhelmed the social safety net, including welfare, Medicaid, and public housing. I believe this, too, was by design.
I watched that last night Quark. O'Hara really tried to side-step the issue, I loved it when Stewart suggested using "Tea-Bagger" in the title of his book. O'Hara didn't like that one bit, f'n hilarious.
Nels,
I'm SO with you! This is one of the things that frustrates me!
Last night, Jon Stewart got tea party leader John O'Hara to look at the inflammatory language he (O'Hara) and other teapartiers use. Very interesting conversation and almost satisfying. Second and third video clip on the following URL (the first clip is good, too, but unrelated):
http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/
Thom, Thom, Thom.. you keep saying progressives need to start using sound byte language like the cons do, then you use their labels. Don't call it "Free" Trade, call it what it is "Anarchy" Trade, trade with out rules and regulations. I believe the majority of your audience is smart enough to automatically know what you're saying if you just re-labeled it and used it.
Or am I wrong everybody?
Who cares if Lindsey Graham is gay? The real situation of note is that so many gays have taken refuge in the Republican Party to hide that aspect of their lives. It is sad and I truly feel bad for them. I would think their lives must be very stressful as a result.
Maybe someone should accuse William Gheen of being related to Ed. They both seem to need people's "hides." (Bad pun, I know...) Unfortunately, Ed's last name is spelled differently --- Gein.
http://crime.about.com/od/murder/p/gein.htm
BTW, I could name more despicable members (especially in its leadership) of the Republican Party than Graham! (I won't, though.)
This guests' (Gheen) proof is basically this, I have real gud Gaydar.
@mstagerlee, why does the statement "Glen Beck hunting down liberals" suddenly conjure up several various clips of Elmer Fudd out hunting?
I came across the following eulogy to John McCain's integrity on the editorial page of my local paper this morning -
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100421/OPINION/...
I find nothing in the content of the piece linked above that I can say I disagree with, BUT ...
Seems to me that anybody who treads the waters of the journalistic "profession" these days has gotta have hiimself a pair of big, heavy, hairy huevos to toss around high-falutin' words like "integrity". Yes, Mr. Kettle, that pot IS black - but check yerself, dude!
Are you giving us the WHOLE story about Goldman-Sachs and the causes of the financial meltdown? Are you publishing stories about how 47% of American households paid no Federal Income tax last year, while conveniently ignoring the billion-dollar-plus Federal tax refund to GE, and the hunderds of millions refunded to Exxon-Mobil?
Speaking as one who is proud to be one of those Progressives that Glenn Beck has vowed to "hunt down", I'd respectfully suggest that you take a look at the lies and half-truths you've been publishing as "News", before you impugn another man's integrity on your editorial page.
@Mstaggerlee and Robert S: Sorry about your college buddy...My number was 47. I had decided that, if drafted, I would go to Viet Nam and kill as many people as possible. At the draft physical, I found a sympathetic opthamologist who flunked me. However, being a college grad by that point, i probably could have gotten a desk job.
Thanks for the very cogent note, Jennifer - good on ya! And thanks for using your real name; I wish more would...
Thom
I'm encouraged to hear the Obama administration talking about jobs. I buy products "Made in the USA" whenever possible, they're just impossible to find. A perfect example, I went to Whole Foods yesterday (in Sonoma County) to buy some honey only to find that most of the honey on the shelf was from India. Honey from India here in Sonoma County? This is insane!
Let all Christians follow Jesus and be His disciples!!! Jesus was a pacifist, a liberal, and a progressive God. Jesus even healed people with pre-existing health issues and He never asked to see their health insurance card before healing them.
A Must Read Article
The damages have been completed against America’s teenage population. From the teen years and into adulthood Americans are assisting in the demise of the United States of Hell. We have lost our teenagers and their precious years of idealism and fairness. Our teenagers are witnessing daily our hypocrisy as a nation.
They see a nation rampant in hatred, corruption, and lies. And, we wonder what is wrong with our teenagers? I say that there is nothing wrong with them that some good, old-fashion repentance for our evil ways cannot cure. The United States of Hell needs a Pentecost, a rebirth in love, mercy, and forgiveness. The United States of Hell needs to return to God. The United Stares of Hell needs to return to the Sermon on the Mount.
You must read this article from a Baptist minister.
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=110069
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=110069
Rick in Canadia, you had family in the Great War too! I had a great Uncle that also fought in the war, apparantly it came as a great surprise the day he came home to the family and said he had signed up. He got gassed, but did survive the war. I know very little about his experience other than that, he was always a quite person, so his war time experience is largely unknown to our family.
Though Zero G's great uncle that fought on the other side, now that's a person's story I would like to hear (I know so very little about the Austrian-Balkan campaigns).
Some of the most progressive literature and artwork I've come across was created by veterans of that war. By the end of the war, few had any illusions as to war (all war) being nothing more than a crime against humanity.
Otto Dix, Eric Maria Remarque, Henri Barbusse, Seigfreid Sassoon, Wilfred Owens to name a few.
Zero G. I read the article clip you posted. Very interesting, but I still don't see how Oil directly lead Britain into a war with Germany. Germany was a young country at the time (having only been formed in 1871, by Bismark and the Franco-Prussian War). Germany didn't have much in the way of Colonies, and at the time Britain entered the war with Germany, I don't think the Ottoman empire had declared itself an ally of Germany (I could be wrong, and in all practicality, Britain could have expected a German-Ottoman alliance, even if one had not been so declared). It may explain even further why Britian was so eager to land troops in Turkey and thus fight the Gallopoli campaign. I always just figured that the line about helping Russia open the Dardenelles was sufficient, however, I'm currently reading a book by D.J. Goodspeed called the German Wars 1914-1945, and he really goes into depth on the diplomatic situation prior to the war. Britain was no natural friend of Russia. I never thought about it, but it doesn't make sense for them to want Russia to have a fleet that had access to the Atlantic and possibly be a major rival to them in the future if they weren't getting something in return... Ottoman Empire Oil. Britain was probably really relieved when Russia didn't receive the laurels due them at the end of the War since they capitulated and came to terms with Germany in 1917. Britain got the middle east, for the most part, until America stepped into the power vaccuum in the 1940's.
BTW, in retrospect it was in at least one country's best interest to enter WWI when it did, and that country was America. If Wilson had been wise and tough enough to pull it off, he would have realized he had Europe by the balls in 1919, he had the only army that wasn't exhausted and in large force on the only front that mattered at the time (the Western Front). What would England and France had done if during the Armistice but prior to the dissolution of troops on both sides, he told England and France these are the terms, or we're now on Germany's side? I know, I know, the thought unthinkable, but not all together implausible. There were English and French politicians that did fear this at the time.