Wednesday, June 23, 2010

When FBI Agents Knock: Videotape Them!

While states have been making it illegal to photograph or video police, the FBI evidently still lets you videotape their interviews when they come knocking to see if you know ANYONE who plans property destruction or violence at demonstrations. (And remember if they can prove you accidentally heard someone joke about such things and didn't report it to them you CAN be jailed for not revealing that info.) I don't know if they are knocking at anticapitalist black block window smashers' doors, but they did knock at the door of a Mother of Five who attended a protest against Israel's May 2010 attack on the humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza that killed 9 activists.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Wayne Root: "Shut up and take Jewish Voter$ Money"

Wayne Allyn Root (website) (wikipedia article) B.S.'d himself into being the Libertarian Party V.P. candidate in 2008, but lost in his bid to become the Chair of the party in 2010. He's a self-promoting Rich Gambler (or so he says) who gets on a lot of right wing television. He's got one of the biggest egos I've seen in the party since Aaron Russo who made a real ass of himself running for LP presidential nomination in 2004. Root may be more libertarian than your average Democrat, but there are lots of Republicans who are far more libertarian. He did get elected to the Libertarian National Committee and now a lot of libertarians are passing around a resolution saying "LNC members should always clearly distinguish between their own personal views and the Libertarian Party's stands whenever the two are not congruent." I call it the ROOT, KEEP YOUR DAMNED REPUBLICAN MOUTH SHUT resolution. Photo above is from this article about Root and the party. (Note: No, Palin and Beck are NOT libertarians!) (David Weigel also covered the controversy in the Washington Post.)

Of course, Root has earned his "shut up," having declared on his FaceBook page (this link for "friends") the following four messages in a row to Libertarian Party co-founder David Nolan telling libertarians to stop criticizing Israel because Jewish voters contribute half the money to Demopublicans and the Libertarian Party will never get anywhere unless it kisses their butts. Talk about ethnocentric special interest pleading. Please go back to the Republicans, Wayne boy.


Wayne Allyn Root
David...you're small theoretical universe of hundreds of people ...90% of whom includes Libertarians...is hardly a scientific model. How about FACTS? Do they matter to Libertarians? Here are real scientific numbers...in the 2004 Presidential election over 60% of all monies donated to the Democratic Party were donated by Jewish voters. And here's the truly interesting and surprising number...over 40% of all the monies donated that same year to the GOP was from Jewish voters.

Add it up David...that means over 50% of all political donations in the United States comes from Jews. 50% of every dollar given to political candidates. So perhaps the fact that the few hundred people you've spoken to don't mention Israel means absolutely nothing. The biggest donors in American politics...most of whom are either Jewish or Christian believe very strongly in America supporting Israel. I wonder...maybe...just maybe...if this one issue thats so important to pretty much every big contributor in all of American politics...might be THE disconnect that has resulted in 39 years of futility...and almost zero campaign contributions from big donors to the LP? Maybe theres a disconnect there as big as the Grand Canyon. Maybe.
June 12 (2010) 12:45 am

Wayne Allyn Root
Now let's bring it home in a more personal and scientific way...while LP candidates can't raise any serious money for races like Congress or Senate or Governor...while it's hard to raise even $100 as a Libertarian candidate...I just raised $25,000 in 2 weeks for an intra-party race (Chair) that no one outside the LP cares about. And all of my donors wrote $1000, $2500 and $5000 checks. All were business owners...and every one of them considers Israel a very important issue. Understanding the power of my fundraising ability and my highly unusual success in getting donors to write big checks for the LP...perhaps Libertarians should step back...listen...and learn a valuable lesson. The LP has made a big mistake and miscalculation on this issue for 39 years. Is it the most important issue? Absolutely not. It's not even in my Top 10. But it is a very important issue to the biggest donors in American politics. And it is certainly a DISASTER to say negative, vicious, derogatory things about our ally Israel.
June 12 (2010) Wayne Root 12:53 am


Wayne Allyn Root
Interestingly, I do not ask Libertarians to love Israel...or support Israel...I ask them to stop making outrageous statements that denigrate Israel for defending herself...and stop making supportive statements about terrorist organizations like Hamas ...and stop showing propaganda videos on Libertarian's Facebook page that are created by terrorists that paint Israel as the devil. If you ever want to win elections or raise money from mainstream patriotic Americans this has to stop. Public perception is 99% of politics...and Libertarians are painting a horrible public perception...and showing a terrible lack of judgment.
June 12 (2010) 12:58 AM


Wayne Allyn Root
Lastly David...I'm interested how much money you raise for your U.S. Senate run versus John McCain? My guess is the hundreds of people you meet at events in Arizona that share a lack of interest in Israel...will collectively donate about $2.50. Meanwhile John McCain and his Democratic opponent will each raise $1,000,000 at one single fundraiser dinner in Scottsdale from donors who all care VERY much about Israel. Perhaps the LP has lacked judgment on this issue for 39 years. Unfortunately thats not all the LP has lacked...we've lacked MONEY. No coincidence.
June 12 (2010) 1:01 AM

UPDATE - David Nolan's Resolution before the Libertarian National Committee:
RESOLUTION CLARIFYING THE ROLE OF LNC MEMBERS
IN THEIR ROLE AS REPRESENTATIVES TO THE PUBLIC

WHEREAS members of the Libertarian National Committee are viewed by the voting public as representatives of the Libertarian Party, its principles, and its policy stands, and

WHEREAS the principles and policy stands of the Libertarian Party are clearly spelled out in our national platform,

THEREFORE the Libertarian National Committee hereby instructs its members to adhere as closely as possible to the national platform when stating “the Libertarian position” on issues - especially when being interviewed by news media, civic groups, and others who have the ability to influence public opinion. LNC members should always clearly distinguish between their own personal views and the Libertarian Party's stands whenever the two are not congruent.


Update: On November 21, 2010 David Nolan had a stroke while driving and died, the day the LNC meeting voted to support a slightly amended version of the resolution. They were unaware of his death at the time.

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies

A simple test: 1) are there at least two women in the movies with names; 2. do they talk to each other?; 3. do they talk about something other than men? When a male complained about women always talking about men on facebook I replied: And men babbling about sports and war all the time is - cool?? Hint: Males babble about dominance games, women babble about how screwed over they are in a world rule by people obsessed with dominance games.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Video: Dog Saves Road Injured Dog


While humans are busy killing each other because of silly ideas in their head, one dog in Chile pulled another hit by cars out of traffic. This Indian blogger agreed. Unfortunately, the injured dog died and its friend is one of the 200,000 wild dogs running around Santiago. Of course, a hungry pack of little dogs could be a scary site. Just like a hungry pack of humans.

But let's not get started on survivalism vs. cannibalism - or the book and movie THE ROAD, which I've read and seen. Or let's think about what happens as Peak Oil production skids to a halt, or nuke war breaks out, or sunspots fry all the electrical circuits on the planet, or some combination of the above, and governments try to manage things - for the benefit of the rich and well connected - instead of letting free people engage in free trade and mutual aid. So many issues, so little time to blog about them all.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Maxwell, the purring dog

Thank heavens for the little animals, instinct driven as they are, that make us forget the intelligence driven wickedness of the low consciousness human beings who rule the world...

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Greenwald vs. Spitzer on Gaza Flotilla Attack

It's Greenwald the Righteous Jew vs. Spitzer the Honest John turned Whore for Israel, dishonestly representing a foreign nation's occupation and subjugation of another people. I guess that's MSNBC's way of being "fair and balanced."

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Remember USS Liberty - and the Gaza Flotilla

* Turkey to use military ships to escort aid flotillas.
* Israel says -
Oh, this isn't serious.
*
Israel threatens it will be worse next time.
Can war, the Samson Option and world nuclear war be far behind?
Don't ask President Obama, he's too busy covering Israel's ass. While Israel creates anger and even hatred of innocent Jews - even those who speak out against these indignities and call for true justice for Palestinians, including right of return. And some remember Israel's 1968 attack on the USS Liberty which killed 34 Americans.