Les métaphores de la tristesse.

Farewell Seattle P-I: A Photo Journey

2009-03-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Seattle P-I and I had a love hate relationship. In my youth, I wasn't a big fan of its coverage. As time went on, and the Seattle Times moved further and further to the right, the P-I became the only source for a centrist (maybe slightly center-left) daily voice in Seattle. In such a majorly center-left city, to be left solely with a paper that endorsed George Bush in 2000, came out in favor of going to war in Iraq, and endorsed Dino Rossi in 2004 and 2008, is an absolute disgrace. In light of the loss, I leave you with a photo journey through the years of the Post-Intelligencer.

1920's

1930's

1940's

1950's

1960's

Tomorrow we will visit another four decades of pictures!
R.I.P. Post-Intelligencer (1863-2009)

K Hates Sandwiches!

2009-02-27T02:24:00.000-08:00

This is Caroline:

She hates sandwiches! Clearly, she needs to be excommunicated from Seattle!

Dustin Lance Black Wins for Milk

2009-02-23T01:09:00.000-08:00

Dustin Lance Black, the writer of Milk, won an Academy Award tonight for Best Screenplay. While I was very happy to see Milk win this award, his speech was astounding. Black weaves his own personal story into the notion of gay rights and calls for marriage and general civil rights equalities. It pretty much speaks for itself, so here ya go:

The Grendel Academy Awards - Actor in a Supporting Role

2009-02-10T03:11:00.000-08:00

Leading up to the Oscars, I will be laying out my picks for who I want to win the Academy Award in each category...this isn't who I think will win, but who I think SHOULD win.

Josh Brolin

Josh Brolin plays Dan White, the conservative former fireman who is elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at the same time as openly gay politician Harvey Milk. This is the first Academy Award nomination for Josh Brolin.

Robert Downery, Jr.

As Kirk Lazarus, Robert Downey Jr. plays a white Australian actor who has immersed himself completely in his latest role as an African-American soldier. This is the second Academy Award nomination for Robert Downey Jr. He was previously nominated for:
CHAPLIN (1992) Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Brendan Flynn, a progressive priest in a 1960s Bronx school who is suspected by its head nun of improper relations with a student. This is the third Academy Award nomination for Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was previously nominated for:
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007) Nominee, Actor in a Supporting Role
CAPOTE (2005) Winner, Actor in a Leading Role

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger portrays the Joker, a psychopathic criminal mastermind who will stop at nothing in his scheme to outwit and humiliate Batman. This is the second Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger. He was previously nominated for:
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role

Michael Shannon

As John Givings, Michael Shannon plays a young man confined to a mental institution whose dinner with his parents' friends unleashes his relentless propensity for telling the truth. This is the first Academy Award nomination for Michael Shannon.

To be fair, I have not seen Revolutionary Road. I hope to before the Oscars, and if I do, I will report back. This is tough. I loved Hoffman in Doubt and Brolin was phenomenal as the despicable Dan White. But I'm afraid I am gonna have to go with my heart on this one and vote for Heath Ledger. The Dark Knight was a fantastic movie and he was great in the role. He was creepy and awesome and so so dark.

Returning to the Internet!

2009-01-28T03:08:00.000-08:00

So, I know it has been some time since I have posted, and you are all probably wondering what has happened...but following the loss of my laptop, I was left without regular internet access. I have recently borrowed an iBook G4 that I am still learning how to use (I have always had PCs), but it looks like I should be online now with the ability to write...so expect some blogs in the near future. So much has gone on, and I have so much to comment about, but I will do my best to pick and choose for now. At least until I get my own laptop. In the meantime, if you want a music fix, head over to Seattle Subsonic and read my posts there! www.seattlesubsonic.com.

Philip Seymour Hoffman creates DOUBT

2008-12-16T00:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was lucky enough to see a sneak preview of the new movie DOUBT. Doubt is the film adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s multi-award winning play Doubt: A Parable. The film was directed by the playwright, and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Fr. Brendan Flynn, Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, and Amy Adams as Sister James. Taking place at a Bronx Catholic elementary school, the story unfolds as the showdown between the charismatic Fr. Flynn, who seeks to modernize the Church in his Congregation, and Sister Beauvier, the hard-headed school principal who suspects Fr. Flynn of paying “special attention” to the first black student to attend the school. Sister James, a young, idealistic nun, is caught in the middle.

Here is the trailer:

Doubt - Trailer

While the film does have its lulls, as a whole I found the film very well done. First, the film played very strongly on symbolism, using stormy weather to show the “storm” taking place within the school. It allowed the tension to grow and develop the themes that ran throughout the film, including morality and authority.

Second, the cinematography was outstanding. At many times throughout the film, the camera would take cockeyed angles, showing the characters in less-than-usual shots. This heightened the on-screen conflict and only furthered the mood set by the heavy symbolism.

Finally, the acting was superb. Meryl Streep is fantastic as the time-hardened nun, who likely has a soft interior, while Philip Seymour Hoffman wows as the angst-ridden priest being torn apart from the inside out. It is no wonder the film is already being nominated for awards from Best Picture to Best Supporting Actress (having been nominated for 5 Golden Globes and 4 Satellite Awards). Go check it out.

Prop 8 The Musical

2008-12-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

I am glad Huffington Post is finally putting this out there for more people to see. If you havent seen the video, here it is:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

I think anything with the likes of Jack Black, Andy Richter, Neil Patrick Harris, Margaret Cho, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, and more you really can't go wrong.

SCOTUS Opens 2008-09 Term With Anti-Environment Ruling

2008-11-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

With the start the 2008-09 Term, the Supreme Court of the United States continued its march to the far right, and dealt a blow to environmentalists, when it ruled today on the case of Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council . In the decision, the Court overruled a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that had upheld a lower court injunction upon the Navy's use of sonar.

The dispute first started back in January when President Bush issued the Navy an exemption from abiding by a law which did not allow for the use of Sonar off the California coast. In the case, the plaintiffs were arguing that the use of sonar violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) because the Navy did not prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) before conducting training using sonar. Thus, it was for SCOTUS to decide whether the national security interests of the Navy overrode the environmental concerns of the use of sonar.

Yet, in a 6-3 decision,Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, held:

We do not discount the importance of plaintiffs’ ecological, scientific, and recreational interests in marine mammals. Those interests, however, are plainly outweighed by the Navy’s need to conduct realistic training exercises to ensure that it is able to neutralize the threat posed by enemy submarines.

At issue here is the health of marine mammals, most notably dolphins and the endangered beaked whales. While the Navy argued that there is no proof that sonar can hurt such mammals, the Navy's own environmentalist assessment has stated that the use of sonar off the coast of California "could disturb or harm an estimated 170,000 marine mammals, including temporary loss of hearing in at least 8,000 whales." Similar studies by environmental groups have shown that the use of sonar had led to beached whales Greece, the Canary Islands, and the Bahamas, "with autopsies show[ing] signs of internal bleeding near the ears." The fate of the beaked whale when confronted with sonar is extremely horrific, causing hemorrhaging and death. Justice Ginsberg noted all of this in her Dissenting Opinion, stating:

...this likely harm—170,000 behavioral disturbances, including 8,000 instances of temporary hearing loss; and 564 Level A harms, including 436 injuries to abeaked whale population numbering only 1,121—cannot be lightly dismissed, even in the face of an alleged risk tothe effectiveness of the Navy’s 14 training exercises.

The reason why this decision is erroneous, in my opinion, is that the Navy was not in fact prevented from going forward with the tests. The 14 tests were to go forth as schedule, simply with some limitations that would allow for the safety of the marine mammals. The injunction simply forced the Navy to create a twelve nautical mile zone off of the coast where sonar could not be used and to turn off sonar within 2,200 yards of any marine mammal. Even then, as Justice Breyer noted in his opinion that concurred in part, and dissented in part, the 2,200 yard limit was in place "except when sonar is being used at a 'critical point in the exercise,' in which case the amount by which the Navy must power down is proportional to the mammal’s proximity to the sonar." He further noted that:

With respect to surface ducting, the Navy is only required to shut down sonar altogether when a marine mammal is detected within 500 meters and the amount by which it is otherwise required to power down is again proportional to the mammal’s proximity to the sonar source.

In the end, These precautions were reasonable in light of the damage that sonar causes to the mammals, especially considering that it would still allow the Navy to carry out the exercises it wished to do. I would have to agree with Justice Ginsberg (and, in part, with Justice Breyer).

Sadly, the Court did not even address the legality of Mr. Bush making such an exception in the first place, as the Roberts Court does again what it does best: skirting major issues by keeping the decision extremely narrow. Justice Ginsberg addressed this in her dissent, stating that in order to avoid the NEPA restrictions (which would only have required the Navy to make the aforementioned EIS), "the Navy sought dispensation not from Congress, but from an executive council that lacks authority to countermand or revise NEPA’s requirements." It is too bad that the majority opinion does not have the foresight of Justice Ginsberg, and could not prevent the further (and likely Unconstitutional) expansion of Executive Power on the part of Mr. Bush.

Keith Olbermann Weighs in on Prop 8

2008-11-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

I have been a fan of Keith Olbermann for a long long time. Well before he was the host of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Olbermann was co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter with Dan Patrick. From 1992-1997, I enjoyed watching his whitty quips and great homerun calls.

Because I had only known Olbermann as a sports anchor, it was a shock to me when he started doing political analysis. However, it was not until this election cycle that I started to pay attention to him, and I am sure glad I did. The highlight for me was always the "Special Comment," in which Keith sounds off on a topic. So often insightful, and always fiery, the "Special Comment" is an essay on a topic of Keith's choosing. While there were many great ones during this election (a highlight being his attack on Hillary Clinton for raising the spectre of assassination and RFK when speaking of Obama), this all culminated in one of the best journalistic comments I have ever heard in my life.

In a plea for justice, in a plea for human rights, Mr. Olbermann's latest "Special Comment" found him speaking out on the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which altered the California State Constitution to ban gay marriage. It is absolutely astounding. Here it is:

If you are not moved by that, you are heartless.

Making Headlines: Obama's Win Around the World!

2008-11-10T19:40:00.001-08:00

South Park Tackles the 2008 Election

2008-11-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

On the day after the election, South Park aired an episode where Obama wins the elections. This isn't too shocking considering that they could make it in advance (even though an episode takes less than a week to make), but because it had parts of Obama's speech in it! Though the episode had Obama winning the election, South Park creator Trey Parker said that they would have aired it anyway if McCain had won. As the Los Angeles Times points out:

The episode still wasn't completed on the eve of its air date. They needed to replicate the stage on which Obama gave his acceptance speech, and record voice-over excerpts from the transcript for the episode's cartoon reenactment of the oration. They finished production on the episode Wednesday morning, about three hours after they normally wrap.

Here is a clip of the speech:

What is hilarious about this episode is that it is equally critical of supporters of each side. In a fashion that South Park tends to do better than anyone else, the writers were able to mock both sides in such a way that you can't get mad because it attacks the stereotypes of each reaction. Just look at Randy Marsh's excitement in that clip! And yet, take a look at the reaction of the McCain supporters:

or this clip:

Ike reminds me of the few Republicans I know. Maybe it is because I supported Obama, but I still tend to find the Obama crowd's reaction more appropriate (as if the world would end if Obama became President...how stupid can you be?!). Then again, I have been accused by more than one Republican of having "drank the Obama Koolaid." Which is funny to me, since I spend a good portion of my day studying politics and world affairs, and I think Obama is too right wing...but he stands for something much greater and that's what matters most! (Besides, I would rather have someone supporting the right {ahem...correct} side for the wrong reasons that support the wrong side.)

Much like I experienced here in Seattle, South Park also covered the celebration in the streets afterward.

People were getting pretty ignorant in the streets, breaking bottles and whatnot, but nothing like turning over a cop car. And, shockingly, when the cops told people to leave, all the sudden people busted out brooms and started sweeping the streets...it was pretty fantastic.

The episode runs off on tangents from there, but is still pretty great. You can watch the whole thing at the South Park Studios website.

The White House Weighs in on President-Elect Obama

2008-11-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days, different members of the Bush Administration have weighed in on Barack Obama being the first black President of the United States. From President Bush to Condoleezza Rice, they have all spoken of this momentous occasion in US history. One member of the White House, though, is clearly a little bit peeved about the election results. I am not sure if it is because he doesn't like Obama, or because he doesn't want to move out, but Senior White House Pet, the Scottish Terrier Barney, is pissed. Here is a video of the testy terrier following a press conference about the White House transition.

According to his White House biography, Barney was born in September of 2000, the son of Coors (a Scottish Terrier owned by former Environmental Protection Agency Director Christine Todd Whitman) and Kelly (of Champion Motherwell Stormwarning).
This means he has spent almost all of his life in the White House. I guess he just doesn't want to go, and is likely angry that Obama has promised his girls a new puppy. He does seem to be a nice dog though. Enjoy some more pictures of Barney.

Celebrating in the Emergency Room (a.k.a. How I Spent Election Night 2008)

2008-11-06T02:56:00.000-08:00

So, it is not very often that I write stories of personal trials and tribulations on this blog. Sure, you get opinionated political rants and movie endorsements, but you rarely get a story about something going on in my personal life. Yet, I figure this is a story worth telling. Here is my story of the night we elected Barack Obama!

I had been running behind all day...people were going to start showing up around six pm for the joint election results watching party I was having with my neighbors across the hall. Other than a sink full of dishes, my apartment looked pretty damn clean. People were already arriving. James (my best friend growing up) and Saku (my law partner) were already at my place, and Arrendt and Jake had at least 10 people in their apartment (including a super cute girl named Lauren who I only got to talk to for a few minutes because of the events about which you will read), when news broke that Obama had won Ohio. We were giddy. A bunch of us took celebratory shots of whiskey! That pretty much meant Obama was going to win the election. It somehow seemed fitting that I was with two of my closest friends, who are both black, when we knew we were likely to have our first black president. I was literally jumping up and down with glee.

Shortly thereafter my parents arrived. My dad was still parking the car, and I took my mom over to meet the neighbors. My mom had brought over gourmet lasagna she had prepared, to add on to the Tofu Yakisoba Stirfry I had made, and I started to cut pieces of cheese from a tin of Cougar Gold to put with crackers. Somehow, in the process, my hand slipped and the serrated edge of the can nearly sliced off the top of my right index finger. Luckily it stopped a few centimeters short of taking the entire piece of skin off, and just missed my knuckle, but I had to be rushed to the E.R. after it became apparent that the bleeding was not going to stop and that the cut was pretty bad. Here is a picture I took in the emergency room (hence the low quality):

Once I got to the E.R. they asked me all sorts of questions and then I got to go sit in the waiting room and watch the CNN election results show (the MSNBC coverage I had been watching at home was so much more enjoyable!). Then at 7:53 pm, I had to go back into a room to be evaluated...yeah that's right...SEVEN MINUTES BEFORE THEY WERE GOING TO OFFICIALLY CALL THE ELECTION.
So there was no celebration for me, just text message after text message of people expressing their joy. The calls started to roll in too (me having to say time and time again that I was sorry I could not talk but I cut myself and they don't allow phones in the E.R.). Then I got a tetanus shot. Ow.
Luckily, right before Obama made his speech, the nurses started streaming CNN. So, at the nurse's station we all stood, watching his speech. All of the nurses, me, my mom, the guy who broke his ankle because he missed a step while canvassing for Obama, a cute gay couple who were holding hands, and a disgruntled doctor who wanted to be watching the speech and not working. About half way through the speech they took me back to clean my wound and stitch it up. (At the end of the speech, apparently all of the nurses and patients out there hugged). Once that was all said and done, it looked like this:

Seven stitches and four hours later I was out the door and headed back to my apartment. I was very happy, but at the same time I was feeling pretty down about Prop 8 passing in California. On the way back we ran into a giant parade of what must have been a thousand people celebrating, but my mom wouldn't let me get out of the car. Everyone had left my apartment but Saku, (my co-dj on KGRG) Nicole, and my dad. People had continued to show up at my party who never even got to see me, let alone celebrate with me. I was super bummed. I was in a ton of pain, but luckily the two whiskey drinks I had (and the vicodin I took) tempered it a bit...so after Nicole left, Saku and I headed out into the streets of Capitol Hill;. Stupidly, in my haze, I forgot to bring the memory card for my camera, so I will have to rely upon other people's videos to show you what went down.

First, we caught up with a small parade of about 50 people heading downtown. But right when we got on the cusp of downtown, Saku and I decided to head back up the hill to Broadway to see what was up. And, once we got there, everything was OFF THE HOOK! Here is a video of what it was like:

Obama Election Celebration in Seattle from Ray Lucke on Vimeo.

It was even crazier before I got there...this was the scene:

and here are a couple videos of the crowd singing the national anthem:

and

I have never seen anything like it before in Seattle. People were laughing. People were crying joyfully. I was just kind of in awe. I was in pain and the gravity of everything hadn't hit me yet. I was excited though. And I ran into a bunch of friends up there. I think I am still kind of in shock. In 2004, I cried tears of sorrow. This time around, it is tears of joy. What a momentous day in American history! I am sorry that I missed a lot of it, but hey...I have a story to tell and we can now begin healing from the past 8 years. 8 years of civil rights being set back 150 years. 8 years of war. 8 years of agony. Thank god it is almost over!

The Passing of a Seattle Legend: R.I.P. Tuba Man

2008-11-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

November 4th was not only a day of celebration, it was also a day of sadness as Seattle mourns the passing of Edward McMichael. Known as the "Tuba Man" to those who crossed paths with him, he passed a week after being severely beaten by five young teens. Two fifteen year olds have been arrested and the other three are still at large. According to the AP, the police are saying the death was directly related to the assault a week prior.

The Tuba Man was a fixture at Seattle sporing events. You couldn't go to a game without seeing him outside playing. He was so beloved in Seattle that they have set up a Memorial Fund to honor his memory. So, if you have any extra cash, donate...he will be missed outside of Seahawks and Mariners games (although I saw him frequently at the late-Sonics games). Sad news.

And the Winner is...

2008-11-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

Picture by Me from a Henderson, NV Town Hall

Seattle was crazy last night...although my experience was a little different since I spent most of it in the ER. But more on that another night. Here is Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert with the call!!!!

Good job, friends! We did it!

Dear Red States...

2008-11-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

Back in 2005, there was the infamous craigslist posting entitled "'Dear Red States...'A Letter From the Blue." In this supposed letter from the blue states, they explained why they were leaving the red states...and hilarity ensues. Now, as we have come upon the 2008 election, it seems some clever so has revamped it for this election (by adding a single clause at the beginning). For those who haven't seen it yet, sit back and enjoy!

Dear Red States...

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and
we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon,Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy b*****ds believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out,
Blue States

And thanks to Sim and The Albert Square for getting me wise to this version!

You Can Get With This or You Can Get With That: Black Sheep Remix Hit for Obama

2008-11-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so, maybe I am dating myself...but back in 1991 my cousin Patrick introduced me to Black Sheep. Their first album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, pretty much never left my cassette deck. I can even remember singing songs off of it in Sunday school with some kids. With hits like "Flavor of the Month" and "Strobelite Honey," it was the shit! However, the song that I absolutely adored, along with the rest of America, was "The Choice is Yours".

In light of the upcoming election, Black Sheep have re-recorded their hit song in an endorsement for Barack Obama.

Man that song still gets me hyped...this version even more so! Thanks to RAINDROPHUSTLA for getting me on to this!

Grendel Election Endorsements & Voter Guide: Washington State & Federal Elections

2008-11-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

That’s right friends, here is my voter guide for this upcoming election. While I will focus primarily on Washington State, don’t you worry California, some of your three billion propositions (don’t foget to vote maybe on Prop 12,963 to make Jim beam the official drink of Wednesdays!) will be covered. Now, to avoid getting too long winded, here we go…

FIRST AND FOREMOST…VOTE YES ON PROP 1 TRANSPORTATION! Enough of Seattle being a backwards, no mass transit having, hick town. JUST DO IT FOR CHRIST SAKE!

President: John McCain vs. Barack Obama vs. Third Party Candidates
This one was harder than you may think. And, no, I would never consider voting for John McCain (frankly, if you aren’t making over $1 million and you vote for McCain, then you probably voted wrong). In short, the Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez ticket is very intriguing to me…it has nothing to do with Ralph Nader though. Sure, he may be one of the best citizen activists we have had. And no he did NOT cost Gore the 2000 election…Gore did. But Matt Gonzalez is extremely appealing to me. He was a member and president of the San Francisco County’s Board of Supervisor’s, and narrowly lost defeat as a Green against Gavin Newsom in the 2003 SF Mayoral race. But, in the end, this election is too important, and I am not about to tell my kids that I didn’t vote for the first Black President (barring another stolen election).

Governor: Dino Rossi vs. Chris Gregoire
This is easy. Sure, Rossi has a handful of good ideas. But we’re saying, like, four! He opposes funding for women’s health care, says he will veto any bill legalizing gay marriage, and Rossi says things like “I will not lower minimum wage,” meaning, also, that he will not RAISE it! Sure, I do not particularly like Gregoire, but Rossi would be a fucking nightmare.

U.S. Congressional District 7: Jim McDermott vs. Steve Beren
How can you not vote for Dr. Jim?! He is one of the few great Congressmen in this country.

Secretary of State: Sam Reed vs. Jason Osgood
There was a time where Sam Reed was a respected, non-partisanesque Secretary of State. Then he had to go and show his true colors as a Republican hack when he applauded a court decision to allow Rosi to run as GOP instead of as Republican, so he could distance himself from McCain. Ridiculous. Find me on the next election’s ballot as the candidate of the “Liberal Whiskey and Music Party.”

School Superintendent: Randy Dorn vs. Terry Bergeson
Terry Bergeson, the champion of the WASL, seems to not even understand the significance of her own test. Is it good? Bad? Who knows…she sure hasn’t taken a stance on it, and without proper funding e may never know. Dorn is Executive Director of the Public School Employees of Washington and wants to fix WASL. Vote Dorn.

Initiative Measure 985
Oh man. On first blush, this seems great. But, knowing it is a Tim Eyman bill, you KNOW you have to look deeper. That douchebag is always trying to fuck something up. This time, it is our transportation system. Sure, opening the HOV lanes after hours sounds great. They do it in California. Yet, it is the other aspects of the bill that are bad. Opening up carpool lanes 18 hours a day may be good, but it also (as the stranger points out) takes local funds for transportation and puts it in a statewide pool, takes money away from education and health care/public safety, and prohibits tolls that will be required to retrofit the decrepit 520 Bridge. Just vote no. Please.

Initiative Measure 1000
Death with dignity. I have the right to die if I want to. And the best way is for me to consult with two doctors who can help me do so pain free if I have less than 6 months to live. The scare tactics the opposition use have proven unfounded in Oregon, where they have the identical law. I understand if you don’t want this ability for yourself, but don’t use your morals to tell me what I can do with my life. Vote yes.

Initiative Measure 1029
Requiring further certification for home health care workers is a great idea. But it is expensive, will drive up public and private costs, and almost doubles the training required. This is a good idea, but a poor outcome. Let the State Legislature do it. Vote no.

King County Charter Amendment 8
Nonpartisan County Council elections?! Hell no!

City of Seattle Propositions
Prop 1: Yes for Pike Place Market.
Prop 2: Yes for Seattle’s Parks and it will barely cost you anything.

Here are some other races that you’ll just have to take my word on:
Attorney General: John Ladenburg
Lt. Governor: Brad Owen
State Auditor: Brian Sontag
State Treasurer: Jim McIntire
Commissioner of Public Lands: Peter J. Goldmark
Insurance Commissioner: Mike Kreidler
King Country Superior Court-Positions 1, 22, & 37: Holly Hill, Tim Bradshaw, Jean Rietschel.

Grendel Election Endorsements & Voter Guide: California Proposition Edition

2008-11-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

Above I covered Washington State and Federal races. However, there are some key California propositions that we need to discuss...

(summaries courtesy of The California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit who seeks to "shape a more informed and engaged electorate by emphasizing the use of new technologies.")

Proposition 2 - standards for confining farm animals

• Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.
• Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes.
• Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.
• Fiscal Impact: Potential unknown decrease in state and local tax revenues from farm businesses, possibly in the range of several million dollars annually.
• Fiscal Impact: Potential minor local and state enforcement and prosecution costs, partly offset by increased fine revenue.

A “YES” vote on this measure means: Beginning in 2015, state law would prohibit, with certain exceptions, the confinement on a farm of pregnant pigs, calves raised for veal, and egg-laying hens in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.

This seems to be a pretty good initiative. Minimal financial impact. More humane conditions means higher quality products. Vote yes.

Proposition 4 - would change the California Constitution to prohibit abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent or legal guardian

• Changes California Constitution to prohibit abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent or legal guardian.
• Permits notification to certain adult relatives if doctor reports parent to law enforcement or Child Protective Services.
• Provides notification exceptions for medical emergency or parental waiver.
• Permits courts to waive notice based on clear and convincing evidence of minor’s maturity or best interests.
• Mandates reporting requirements, including reports from physicians regarding abortions on minors.
• Authorizes damages against physicians for violation.
• Requires minor’s consent to abortion, with exceptions.
• Fiscal Impact: Potential unknown net state costs of several million dollars annually for health and social services programs, court administration, and state health agency administration combined.

Really? This again?! When minors do not tell their parents about an abortion it is generally for a reason. As the Young Progessive Majority group points out, “In the real world, initiatives like this force scared, pregnant teens into seeking unsafe, illegal abortions, or even to consider suicide.” If you are against abortion, go all out, quite with this slowly melting it away stuff…go to where it belongs: the federal courts! But as long as it is here, back the fuck off.

Proposition 5 - would expand treatment programs for persons convicted of drug and other offenses, and changes sentencing and parole policies

• Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.
• Allocates $460,000,000 annually to improve and expand treatment programs for persons convicted of drug and other offenses.
• Limits court authority to incarcerate offenders who commit certain drug crimes, break drug treatment rules or violate parole.
• Substantially shortens parole for certain drug offenses; increases parole for serious and violent felonies.
• Divides Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation authority between two Secretaries, one with six year fixed term and one serving at pleasure of Governor. Provides five year fixed terms for deputy secretaries.
• Creates 19 member board to direct parole and rehabilitation policy.
• Fiscal Impact: Increased state costs over time potentially exceeding $1 billion annually primarily for expanding drug treatment and rehabilitation programs for offenders in state prisons, on parole, and in the community.
• Fiscal Impact: State savings over time potentially exceeding $1 billion annually due primarily to reduced prison and parole operating costs.
• Fiscal Impact: Net one-time state savings on capital outlay costs for prison facilities that eventually could exceed $2.5 billion.
• Fiscal Impact: Unknown net fiscal effect on county operations and capital outlay.

A “YES” vote on this measure means: Drug treatment diversion programs available primarily for persons charged or convicted for a nonviolent drug possession crime would be expanded. Some parole violators would be diverted from state prison and parole terms would be reduced for others. New rehabilitation programs would be expanded for offenders before and after they leave prison. Some inmates might receive additional credits to reduce the time they stay in state prison. Possession of less than 28.5 grams of marijuana would have a lesser penalty than under current law.

This is a chance to rehabilitate, instead of jail. This is a law all states should pass.

Proposition 8 - changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California

• Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
• Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
• Fiscal Impact: Over the next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly from sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments.
• Fiscal Impact: In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO TAKE AWAY A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT UNDER THE CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION. Even the conservative major San Diego newspaper is against this. And if you vote for it you are a bigot. Don’t ever speak to me again. That’s all.

Proposition 9 - requires notification to victim and opportunity for input during phases of criminal justice process

• Requires notification to victim and opportunity for input during phases of criminal justice process, including bail, pleas, sentencing and parole.
• Establishes victim safety as consideration in determining bail or release on parole.
• Increases the number of people permitted to attend and testify on behalf of victims at parole hearings.
• Reduces the number of parole hearings to which prisoners are entitled.
• Requires that victims receive written notification of their constitutional rights.
• Establishes timelines and procedures concerning parole revocation hearings.
• Potential loss of future state savings on prison operations and potential increased county jail operating costs that could collectively amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, due to restricting the early release of inmates to reduce facility overcrowding.
• Net savings in the low tens of millions of dollars annually for the administration of parole hearings and revocations, unless the changes in parole revocation procedures were found to conflict with federal legal requirements.

A “NO” vote on this measure means: Victims will continue to have the statutory right to be notified of certain criminal justice proceedings, such as sentencing and parole proceedings. Whether victim restitution would be ordered would remain subject to a judge’s discretion, and the manner in which money collected from defendants is distributed would remain unchanged. Current waiting periods for parole revocation hearings and parole consideration would remain unchanged. All parolees would continue to be entitled to receive legal representation at parole hearings. State and local governments could take steps to release inmates early to reduce jail and prison overcrowding.

Sure, the rights of the victim are extremely important. But there are already so many bars to a fair justice system in our country. We really do NOT need more. There is already a law in place that is known as a victim’s bill of rights that balances the rights of victims vs. rights of the accused. Please vote no.

The Myth of Voter Fraud: ACORN & Republican Efforts to Suppress the Vote

2008-10-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

For quite some time now I have been meaning to write on the topic of ACORN. From the beginning, this Republican tactic of yelling "ACORN ACORN ACORN" has been a complete (excuse my language) FUCKING joke. What it has done is that it has forced the Media and the Public to focus upon Voter Fraud (when there has never been a single documented case of this occurring...and even though they claim there are over 5 million examples, when asked for names of people who voted illegally, they can't even give 5, and all of those that they have given have been REAL voters) when the REAL problem that is occurring is VOTE SUPPRESSION on the part of the Republicans. This was widespread in 2000 and 2004.

In fact, in 2004, it has been shown through an audit that in Ohio alone Kerry was illegally cost 200,000 votes (and that was in only 18 counties), well over the margin that Bush won by and more than enough to catapult him to the Presidency. That is just one state. And it is happening all over again in Ohio.

Don't be surprised, the Republicans are trying to steal this election. It will occur in 2008. In fact it already has. 1/9 voters in New Mexico...Purged! In Colorado? Well that figure is 1 in 5. All we can do is hope that more people turn out than are suppressed.

Lucky for me, I don't really need to write too much on this, as a professional has done it for me. Here is Robert Greenwald's new short film on ACORN:

Pretty scary stuff, huh?! Want to know how to steal back you vote? Greg Palast and RFK, Jr. are here to help. They have created a website at stealbackyourvote.org with a nice comic book. Here is a sample of how they say to steal your vote back in the comic book:

The site also include a film that Palast made on the subject:

Steal Back Your Vote! from Greg Palast on Vimeo.

So, I know you are all worried now, but that is why it is important to make sure your vote counts. The elections were stolen in 2000 and 2004...let's not let it happen again. Now get out there and VOTE!

Conseratives Love Obama!

2008-10-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

In a week where he have seen several key Conservatives come out in favor of Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, the tide seems to be shifting even further in Sen. Obama's favor. As the polls move more and more to the left, and people are becoming more concerned with Sen. McCain's erratic behavior, even some of the most surprising individuals and entities are coming out in Obama's favor.

First, the one we have all been talking about. On Meet the Press this past weekend, former Secretary of State (and still Republican) Colin Powell endorsed Obama, saying that he is a "transformational figure" and going on to say:

because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, [Obama] has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.

But that wasn't the only major endorsement from the Right. Let us not forget about Christopher Buckley, son of National Review founder and Conservative intellectual (yes, that wasn't always an oxymoron!) William F. Buckley, who proclaimed in his endorsement of Barack Obama, "Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama." Making the "Conservative case for Obama," Buckley declared:

Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy “We are the people we have been waiting for” silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for.

Third, Conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish, came out in favor of Obama, saying "I may have been an appointee in the George H.W. Bush administration, and master of ceremonies for George W. Bush in 2004, but last Saturday I stood amidst the crowd at an Obama event in North Philadelphia." In his explanation he declared "John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I’m voting for a Democrat for president." You can listen to his endorsement here.

And let us not forget the endorsement of Frank Schaeffer, son of evangelist Francis Schaeffer and one of the founders of the Christian Right movement. As he stated on Democracy Now!:

I come from an evangelical family that was really evangelical royalty in the ’70s and ’80s. My father was a frequent guest in the Reagan, Bush and also even the Ford White House—Bush, first, that is. And my background, therefore, was very unthinkingly Republican. We were always just associated with these folks. And so, in 2000, I was actually on a number of evangelical and right-wing stations, like with Ollie North, for instance, on his radio station, pleading the cause of John McCain, who I thought would be a much better candidate than George W. Bush.

His interview was preceded by an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun entitled An Open Letter to John McCain, which chastises the Senator for "Deliberately Feeding the Most Unhinged Elements of Our Society the Red Meat of Hate."

In a most striking series of passages, Schaeffer proclaims:

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain....You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate...John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that [surround] the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are [a bitterly divided country] on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there...“Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.

However, it isn't just the columnists that are getting in on the act. It seems as if newspaper after newspaper is endorsing Barack Obama, even those who have traditionally favored Republicans. In the last couple of weeks we have seen the Chicago-Sun Times, Kansas City Star, Southwest News-Herald (Ill.) and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution all endorse Sen. Obama. These papers, however, favored John Kerry in 2004. On this list we can now include The Houston Chronicle, The Austin American Statesman, and The Denver Post, all of which endorsed George W. Bush in 2004. And, maybe most shockingly, the Chicago Tribune has endorsed a Democrat for the first time in its 161 year history, opting for local favorite Barack Obama.

Overall, Sen. Obama now leads the newspaper endorsement tally 121 to 42. In 2004, John Kerry did not even come close to this 3-1 margin, beating out President Bush by a 213 to 205 margin. What may be even more significant is the circulation of the newspapers that have endorsed Obama. While the papers that have endorsed Obama have a circulation of 13.5 million readers, those that have endorsed McCain have a circulation of only 3.8 million readers.

All in all, even considering the way the election seems to be going, it is nonetheless a surprising series of events for so many Conservatives to favor Barack Obama. Let's hope they can sway some of their followers.

The Presidential Campaign Goes Comedy

2008-10-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

Every four years since 1960 (save for 1996 and 2004), the Presidential Candidates speak at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a fundraiser for Catholic charities. Al Smith was the four-time Governor of the state of New York, and failed Democratic Presidential Candidate of 1928, losing to Herbert Hoover because of his Catholicism (as they feared he would answer to the Pope) and his perceived anti-Prohibitionism. He was the first Catholic to be a major party nominee (the first Catholic Candidate overall being Charles O'Conor of the Bourbon Democrats in 1872).

This time around, both Candidates spoke at the dinner, after neither candidate was allowed to in the last election due to the spat between John Kerry and the Catholic Church on the issue of abortion. First, it was John McCain's opportunity to wow the crowd with his comedy...

If your reaction was the same as mine, you are wondering why McCain hasn't been showing this side of himself the entire campaign? I was literally on the floor I was laughing so hard. This must be why they say he is so good in Town Hall meetings (although he was pretty horrible in the sole Town Hall Debate). After McCain came his Democratic counterpart, Barack Obama...

Obama was pretty funny, too. I do not think his comedy rose to the level of that of McCain's, but I was still highly impressed nonetheless. In a time when the smear campaign (especially from the McCain/Palin ticket) has been in full force, it was good to see some good natured, and yet sometimes vicious yet funny, blows be thrown at the opponent. And the self-deprecating humor, especially from Obama, is always a favorite of mine.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Boring

2008-10-20T02:47:00.000-07:00

I know, you all probably want more political commentary...and believe me it is coming. But if you will recall, I do talk about film and other pop culture items from time to time. Thus, I present for your viewing pleasure the trailer for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist!

Now, I had heard a lot about this film. That it was great. Just like Juno. That it was horrible and not worth your time...and the truth is somewhere in the middle there. As a huge fan of Juno, I think I was going into this film with higher expectations. The premise of the film is super "cute" and it could have been absolutely amazing. And yet, what comes out seems really contrived. Michael Cera, who plays Nick, is essentially playing the exact same character he does in every film...and yet, someone that didn't bother me. I expected it to, since he is certainly now typecast as the shy emo kid who is way into music and pretty smart, and maybe even a little bit artsy, who somehow gets girls (now THAT requires willing suspension of disbelief...otherwise I would be rolling in the ladies...kidding, kidding!).

The film was just missing that certain something. There were times where it was overly predictable, and the connection that the two main characters so obviously had with each other (based upon the way they acted) just didn't seem plausible. At times, I was just plain bored (good thing I brought oranges and carrots with me to keep me entertained). And...the things I laughed at were mere chuckles, nothing too grandiose. Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad film, it is just that it could have been so much better.

I don't want to give too much away about the film, so that if you feel compelled to go watch it you still can, but I will say this...unless you are going on a date with a guy or girl you have just started seeing, you might as well wait for video. That is really the only reason I can recommend paying the $10+ to go see this in the theaters. Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad film. There were several parts I enjoyed quite a bit, and I would venture to say that I may have even liked the film as a whole. But at best I would say maybe 3 stars. It was missing that super cute factor to make it a great date movie, and a great movie for all you hopeless romantics out there (cough cough this guy).

In the end, what I really wanted was this:

Presidential Debate No. 3: Eye Rolling Spectacle

2008-10-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

There is so much I can say about this debate...and I know you, my loyal readers, have come to expect me to comment. However, every single issue in the debate I could write for pages on. So I will simply say these three things:

1) McCain was strong in the beginning. I was impressed by his poise considering the way he acted in the previous two debates. Then, at some point, it was like he lost his mind. He got fed up and grumpy and the crotchety ol' McCain we have come to expect came out. Much like the Nixon/Kennedy debate, those people I have talked to that only listened on the radio thought McCain won. But it isn't telelisten...it is television!

2) In my opinion, and I have actually been very critical of Obama in the debates despite the fact that I think he won the first two, Obama also won this one. His answers were more effective and he was able to brush of McCain attacks and set his own vision. Every poll on every news network of undecided voters agreed with this opinion. Enough said.

3) This sums up the entire debate:

Sorry for the sort coverage, I just have a lot of other things I would like to cover coming up soon. Expect some information on ACORN, Palin, and I each day starting next week I will cover two issues on our local ballots here in Washington, and one of interest from another state...if you have any suggestions for sommething you would like me to go over, just let me know!

Why is the Right so Angry?!

2008-10-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

After 8 years of Bush, and the way every part of our society has been utterly devastated (even Jimmy Carter is now attacking Bush on the economy), you would think that it is us on the LEFT who should be angry. I mean, maybe we are. I am angry. I cannot believe that even this many people would support McCain and am sick of this country moving further and further to the right. There are parts of the Obama platform which, under a Kennedy administration, were considered so far-right wing that candidates who advocated such things lost in landslides (but we can get into the whole Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush fleecing of the electoral system another time). And yet, it seems like us on the left, when we are angry, use intellect and go out and try and make a difference, not just spew angry, hateful rhetoric.

THAT'S RIGHT!!! I AM MAD!!! I am angry that McCain can continually state that the surge in Iraq was successful, and that Obama tacitly agrees with this, when a recent UCLA study showed very clearly it was in fact not the surge that has lessened violence in Iraq. As the study itself states, "the surge has had no observable effect." Using nighttime light signatures, it was shown that it was in fact ethno-
sectarian neighborhood homogenization that led to a decrease in violence. As one ethnicity was essentially killed or driven out of a neighborhood, leaving the majority ethnicity to "rule" the neighborhood, the violence would, understandably, lessen in that neighborhood. So why doesn't Obama say this? Why doesn't he fight back? This would shore up his position on Iraq, and would give McCain no legs to stand on with this issue.

So, while the Left uses logic and strong arguments to defeat the nonsense on the right (and yes, 90% of it is nonsense), the Right yells and screams and, you guessed it, turns into an angry mob, or so says McCain's former top strategist, John Weaver. Weaver has even called upon McCain and Palin to stop stoking the flames of hatred and anger, and to control the crowds (since such crowds would be unattractive to a swing voter). Obviously they are not doing their job...watch this:

And another thing, I am tired of people on the right calling Obama socialist...there is NOTHING remotely socialist about the policies of the Democratic party. Health care, you say?! ummm...no! Obama is not calling out for health care for all, he wants health INSURANCE for everyone. Big difference. Speaking of socialists, shall we talk about Wall Street bailouts? Enough said. Now go forth and (try not to) be angry!

The Simpsons and the 2008 Election: A Sign of Things to Come

2008-10-04T01:24:00.000-07:00

The Simpsons have always been political. As many of you out there know, the writers of the show have a knack for dissecting American Politics, in a humorous yet oftentimes extremely cynical way. Who can forget the 1996 episode Treehouse of Horror VII in which the aliens Kang and Kodos kidnap Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, placing them in suspended animation tubes, and then impersonating them in order to win the 1996 Presidential Elections (and thus enslave humanity for their alien race). This speech by Alien Dole sums up American Politics so very nicely:

And let us not forget, this is also the episode where the earthlings threaten to vote third party when they discover what has happened, and Kang tells them to go ahead and throw away their votes (confounding Ross Perot)!

There have also been numerous Presidential appearances. Here are a few examples:

Yet, as FOX has moved more to the right, the show has begun to criticize the media and mock the right wing notion of the so-called liberal media, flying in the face of its parent network. This has been matched by calls on the right of a liberal bias, and yet if you listen to the DVD commentary Matt Groening makes it clear that although there are people on the writing staff who are extremely liberal, there are many conservatives, including the main writer of episodes, John Swartzwelder.

Why do I bring all of this up? Well...news has broken that on November 2, the Simpsons episode that airs will have Homer going to his polling place to try and cast a vote for Barack Obama. And here is the madness that ensues:

Pretty scary, huh?! It hits a little too close to home with all of the dirty tricks Republicans are already pulling, from caging lists to using foreclosures to bar voters. This is why people need to turn out in record numbers to vote for Obama...there will be many who experience what Homer does here, and those that get their votes through need to outnumber the Homers of the USA.

Managing Expectations: Sarah Palin and the V.P. Debate

2008-10-03T02:29:00.000-07:00

For the last week, I have been saying to anyone who would listen that they should not underestimate Sarah Palin. Sure, she doesn’t know any Supreme Court cases other than [i]Roe v. Wade[/i], but if there is one thing she knows how to do, it is use rhetoric to create nice little sound bites. And what does a debate provide? The opportunity to create such sound bites with questions that are pretty much expected to come, making it easy to prep for them. Thus, when every once was saying they couldn’t wait to watch Palin make a fool of herself, I was saying hold on a minute…have you watched the Alaska Gubernatorial debates? Because I have, and she can hold her own.

That being said, there was no way that people weren’t going to be impressed by Gov. Palin in tonight’s debate? When you set expectations that low, it is an easy bar to jump over. Even during the debate I could see the media spin already: “America Gets to Know Palin…And Loves Her!” Middle America was going to eat her phony, obviously played-up Fargo accent and her folksy pronunciation of words (nuke-you-lur anyone?) right up! However, what I didn’t expect was for Joe Biden to shine so brightly…

Although, maybe that shouldn’t have been the case, since it was Sen. Biden who delivered probably the two best moments of the Democratic Primary debates:

and

Time and time again, Joe Biden effectively attacked John McCain, with straight forward, factual comments. Here is one hard hitting example:

That is one of the most effective attacks I have heard made upon Sen. McCain, and it was made in the right place…a nationally televised debate. So much for all that maverick talk.

And, in one of the most heart-felt moments I have ever seen from any public official (making the whole Hillary crying debacle in the primary look like the ploy for votes that it was), Sen. Biden choked up, and had to fight off tears, while speaking of being a single father after the death of his wife and daughter:

Look how the uncommitted voters of Ohio responded to that on the bottom of the screen…wow! That was not just some stunt…that was real pain. And people could see that. Biden impressed me. I think he is an even better debater than Barack Obama.

Palin, for all of her composure, delivered line after line of deceptive information. And when the McCain-Palin’s stance on an issue was attacked (especially early on), she would oftentimes simply try to change the subject. See for yourself:

Thus, for the second straight debate, I was wrong. My impression that America would likely side with the folksy Republican candidate over the “elitist” Democratic candidate was off base (what kind of bizarro world do we live in where the truths of the 2000 and 2004 campaigns no longer apply?! I guess Bush still had people fooled in 2004…?). Although, I was correct that people would be impressed Palin…just wrong that this would in turn cause people to believe she won the debate.

First, those same uncommitted Ohio voters I spoke of above overwhelmingly felt Biden won the debate, with 51% saying Sen. Biden won the debate, while 36% said Palin won:

Second, the extremely detailed CBS-Knowledge Networks poll also showed Joe Biden to be the winner. It broke down as follows:

WHO WON THE DEBATE?
(Uncommitted Voters Who Watched Debate)
Biden 46%
Palin 21
Tie 33

The other numbers from that poll bear this out even further. In terms of the uncommitted voters’ opinions of the candidates, following the debate, 53% had a better opinion of Biden, 5% had a worse opinion of Biden, and 42% held the same opinion of the candidate. As to Sarah Palin, 55% had a better opinion of her, while 14% actually had a worse opinion of her, and 30% felt the same.

When asked about whether the candidate was knowledgeable about important issues, prior to the debate 79% said Joe Biden was (with 17% saying he was not), while after the debate, a whopping 98% of the uncommitted voters who were polled said that Joe Biden was knowledgeable (while only 2% said he was not). This same question in terms of Gov. Palin had 43% of voters prior to the debate saying she was knowledgeable, while 66% said she was after the debate (pre-debate 54% said she was not knowledgeable, while only 32% said she was not following the debate).

Similarly, and most significantly, the uncommitted voters were asked whether the candidate would be an effective President if necessary. The numbers bore out like this:

Is Joe Biden prepared for the job of Vice President?
Pre-Debate:
Yes 66%
No 30

Post-Debate:
Yes 91%
No 8

Is Sarah Palin prepared for the job of Vice President?
Pre-Debate:
Yes 35%
No 62

Post-Debate:
Yes 44%
No 56

These uncommitted voters saw a huge jump in their view of Biden’s preparedness to lead, while the jump for Palin was quite small.

Finally, even ex-Bush officials declared Biden the winner.

Maybe I need to have more faith in the American voter. 8 years of Bush has tested my opinion of them, but alas, maybe I’m coming back around. Whatever the case may be, I leave you with this humorous portrayal of the entire Palin situation:

Delving into the Debate: Looking Further at the CBS Poll

2008-09-27T03:36:00.000-07:00

As I noted in my last entry, CBS has what it believes a very accurate polling process that follows undecided voters and their opinion of the debate. It was this poll that initially caused people to proclaim that Obama won the debate...but delving further in the poll it looks as if Obama may have won over voters while McCain lost people with his demeanor. Check out these numbers from the poll.

What we see in the poll is that when the undecided voters were asked what their presidential preference was pre-debate vs. post debate, Obama held a 36-34% advantage before the debate, while he held a 41-29% advantage following the debate.

Furthermore, it appears as if Obama made himself more of a known quantity. Only 44% of undecided voters thought Obama was prepared to be President pre-debate, while 53% said he was unprepared. Post-debate, 58% of these same undecided voters declared Obama was prepared to be President, compared to 40% that felt he was unprepared. John McCains numbers on the same question remained virtually the same.

Even more interesting, prior to the debate only 58% of undecided voters polled felt that Obama understood their problems (with 40% saying he did not). Following the debate, that number stood at 79% saying he understood and only 21% saying he did not. That is a net gain of 21%. McCain also saw a modest gain in this number, as his number grew by 5%.

Finally, it appears as if John McCain's cantankerous attitude made many of the undecided voters have a less favorable opinion of him following the debate. While 32% of undecided voters polled said they had a better opinion of John McCain, an astounding 21% said they had a worse opinion. For Barack Obama, 46% of these same undecided voters had a better opinion of him, while only 8% had a worse opinion of him. What was their qualm with McCain? According to the poll, it was that "he 'didn’t control himself well under pressure,' that he was 'angry and bad-tempered,' and that he 'talked too much about the past.'"

Apparently, this was a more resounding victory for Barack Obama than even I thought. As this story is relayed in the media, it is inevitable that people will start to have their opinion reflect what is being reported, and Obama will be considered by most to have won. All that is left is to see if the polls reflect this.

CBS Releases Initial Poll on Debate

2008-09-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

CBS has teamed up with Knowledge Networks to create highly accurate polls as to how the debate plays out with Uncommitted voters. And, surprisingly, Obama was viewed as the victor! Here are the results from the initial poll:

39% of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Barack Obama was the winner. 24% thought John McCain won. 37% percent saw it as a draw.

46% of uncommitted voters said their opinion of Obama got better tonight. 32% said their opinion of McCain got better.

66% of uncommitted voters think Obama would make the right decisions about the economy. 42% think McCain would.

48% percent of these voters think Obama would make the right decisions about Iraq. 56% percent think McCain would.

These results actually surprise me somewhat because I thought the way Obama attacked McCain on Iraq was extremely effective. The way he laid out every way that McCain was initially wrong on Iraq was very strong. But apparently it was the economy that played in Obama's favor.

Elitist vs. Folsky: My Initial Response to the Debate

2008-09-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

For me, watching this debate, it was a pretty strong victory for Obama. His ability to hang with McCain on the issues of foreign policy, when McCain is supposed to have a ton of experience on foreign policy, shows clearly that Obama can stand with the big boys. Time and time again he would wade through McCain's mischaracterization of his stance, and then restate his own stance.

And, yet, the media is likely to spin this as a victory for McCain. Obama's inability to take control of the conversation when McCain would misrepresent his view (simply because McCain would keep talking), thus forcing Obama to try and talk over the moderator, makes Obama look bad. McCain's sniveling comments, funny faces, and mis-speaks show me why he is not someone we want to lead our country...for those that are small town, he comes off as folksy. Obama, with all his facts and plans comes off as elitist. How do I know this? My one Republican friend, who claimed the other day she was likely going to vote for Obama, said Obama came off as all holier than thou and his tone was disgusting. That's likely to be the reason small town America will connect with McCain in this debate. Even though Obama thrashed McCain on Iraq laying out clearly every issue in Iraq that McCain was wrong on. And McCain came off as lecturing Obama on foreign policy simply because he claims to have "more experience." He said, and I quote, "I honestly don't believe that Sen. Obama has the knowledge or experience and has made the wrong judgments in a number of areas, including his initial reaction to Russian invasion...uh...aggression in Georgia." Wow. Just wow.

Let's also note that McCain made a huge gaffe on the issue of Pakistan, stating that it was a failed state when Musharraf took over...and yet I bet the media finds a way to spin that as a possibility since he did come into power during a coup.

All in all, a failure by McCain to win this debate (pundits seem to be calling it a tie), is likely a long term victory for Obama.

The Presidential Debate #1: BLOGGING LIVE!

2008-09-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Debate is over.

7:35 PM: McCain goes after Obama, saying he is like Bush..."I honestly don't believe that Sen. Obama has the knowledge or experience and has made the wrong judgments in a number of areas, including his intial reaction to Russian invasion...uh...aggression in Georgia." - John McCain

7:30 PM: Candidates are discussing the likelihood of another 9/11 attack. Obama says we need to go deal with terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that we need to fix our standing in the world. McCain says Obama wants to forget about Iraq and that signals victory to Al-Qaeda. Obama says we need a broader strategic vision.

7:25 PM: Thanks to HuffPost for noting that Obama is wearing a flag pin and McCain is not!

7:16 PM: Lehrer asks about Russia.

Obama says their actions in Georgia were unacceptable and lays out what Russia must do in that situation.

McCain says Obama is naive. Lays out that the Russia attack on Georgia had to do with energy and the pipeline. Obama agrees with the McCain assessment other than his portrayal of the Obama response.

7:12 PM: McCain makes a joke about being President. Nobody laughs.

7:03 PM: Lehrer asks about the threat of Iran.

McCain says that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, they are an "existential threat" (wtf?! he needs to learn the meaning of that word) to Israel. He says sanctions on Iranian could have a beneficial affect and says that they have a lousy government! Wow! I can't believe he would say that out loud (to quote his own phrase).

Obama talks about Iran funding Hezbollah and Hamas, and that our policy over the last 8 years on Iran has not worked. That we cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran.

McCain struggles with the President of Iran's name (ACK ACK ACKMIN ACKMINDINADINADINADINADINADINAJAD)

6:57 PM: Lehrer asks about Afghanistan and the candidates spar over Afghanistan and Pakistan. They re throwing one liners back and forth. McCain tells a sob story about a mother of a fallen soldier giving him a bracelet to wear for her son. Obama says "look, i have a bracelet too." McCain accuses that Obama didnt go to Afghanistan so he must not care about it either. McCain then says Pakistan was a failed state when President Musharraf came to power and anyone who went there would know that. (While Musharraf did take over in a coup, to call them a failed state at that point is a fucking joke).

6:50 PM: The candidates are arguing over Obama's plan in Afghanistan. Literally talking over each other. I don't know why either of these candidates are saying that the surge in Iraq worked. A UCLA study that came out this week said that that wasn't the case, that sectarian violence lessened because of ethnic cleansing in neighborhoods.

6:44 PM: McCain goes after Obama saying he never visited Afghanistan and that the surge worked. Obama retorts by saying it wasn't his committee that would deal with that. Says that, "John, you like to think the war started in 2007, when it really started in 2003," and then goes after McCain for all the things he was wrong about at the start of the war.

"I'm afraid Sen. Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy" - John McCain

6:39 PM: Lehrer asks about the lessons of Iraq.

McCain says our initial military success disappeared because the war was badly mishandled. That he went to Iraq in 2003 and came back and said we needed a new strategy. He claims the current strategy has succeeded and we will win in Iraq.

Obama says this war was wrong. That we shouldn't hesitate to use military force but we need to use it wisely.

6:35 PM: Obama says we are spending $300 billion in tax cuts for people that don't need it, and we are not funding health care, then our values need to be reanalyzed.

McCain says the Obama health care plan take choice away from families and gives it to the government. Then rails on and on about spending. Apparently he has "plans" to reduce unnecessary spending.

6:33 PM: McCain calls for a spending freeze on everything but caring for veterans, national defense, and several other vital issues. Obama responds by saying that's using a hatchet when we need a scalpel. ZING!

6:28 PM: Obama says to eliminate the programs that don't work and to bolster those that do. McCain retorts by saying we need to cut subsidies for ethanol, attacks Obama for having the "most liberal" voting record in the Senate (and Obama responds with a sinister laugh like he is going to tear him apart), and then McCain goes on to talk about defense spending. The debate seems pretty even to this point (although Obama's answers are more to the point).

6:25 PM: Obama and McCain are sparring over taxes. It is somewhat humorous. They accuse each other of misrepresenting the numbers. Obama seems scholarly. McCain seems folksy (although I think he is just acting like a child). That is probably good for McCain.

6:18 PM: McCain retorts by going after Obama saying he didnt start cutting spending until AFTER he was running for President and says Obama will raise spending.

Obama responds that by ending tax loopholes, as he plans to do, will pay for all the tax cuts. He says his plan will help the middle class and McCain's does not.

McCain lays out specifically what he is thinking in terms of the business tax cuts, saying he wants to cut it so businesses will remain in the USA and not go abroad. He then again says Sen. Obama is a "recent convert" because he requested pork barrel funds prior to running for President. Asks what Obama's definition of rich is...

Obama lays out what his tax plan is, saying that 95% will get tax cuts but the top 5% wont see a rise in their tax rates. He then goes after McCain saying that although business taxes are high, there are so many loopholes that they pay way less. He then says McCain wants to tax health benefits.

6:15 PM: Jim Lehrer asks specifically what each candidate would do as President to fix the economy.

McCain says he would cut pork barrel spending and would veto all spending bills.

Obama agrees spending limits are good...but attacks McCain for his tax plan that includes tax cuts to the rich, with CEOs getting $700,000 in tax cuts. He then lays out his plan (tax cuts for 95% of working families)

6:10 PM: Obama says he is likely to vote for the bailout plan but says he has yet to see the language. In an otherwise excellent retort about wall street vs. main street, McCain misleads by saying he called for the resignation of the head of the SEC. He in fact said he would fire him if he were President (a power the President does not have).

Obama goes after McCain on saying the fundamentals are strong. McCain responds by saying he has faith in American workers to get by. Non-responsive, yet an excellent answer.

6:02 PM: Obama open the debate with an excellent answer about the economy. He seems to be on a roll. He even attacks Mccain. McCain responds initially by mis-stepping (not knowing Sen. Kennedy is out of the hospital and forgetting where he was), but powers on to an excellent answer, making him come off as extremely likeable.

No End In Sight: Iraq War Documentary Available to View in its Entirety Online

2008-09-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

No End in Sight, Charles H. Ferguson's documentary about the occupation of Iraq, is available to watch for free on YouTube until November 5th. The documentary focuses on the first two years of the invasion and the miscalculations of the Bush Administration in engaging in the invasion in the first place. The basic premises of the film are that:

* The rise of the insurgency was not anticipated
* Proper security and basic utilities were not provided for Iraq
* They did not foresee the sectarian violence or potential civil war

What makes this film so significant is not any sort of revelations that come from the film (since most of the information was known in advance of the war by many intellectuals), but that key members of the occupation leadership and the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) lay out how the Administration mismanaged the war. This leads to the damning, and widely acknowledged, conclusion that the Bush Administration refused to listen to outsiders who could have foreseen such results. The interviewees include the likes of:

*General Jay Garner( who ran the reconstruction before L. Paul Bremer)
*Ambassador Barbara Bodine
*Richard Armitage (who was deputy secretary of the State Department)
*Robert Hutchings (who was chairman of the National Intelligence Council)
*Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (who was Colin Powell's chief of staff)
*Col. Paul Hughes (who was part of ORHA and then the Coalition Provisional Authority)

The documentary was critically acclaimed (not only having received a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but appearing on the Top 10 list of many critics) and so now, sit back, and enjoy:

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Mashup!

2008-09-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

For those that do not know the genius of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia...make sure you are tuned in to FX this Thursday night at 10pm so that you can see the season 4 premier! On the website you can even make your own trailer...here is mine. ENJOY!

Darkly Dreaming Dexter: Showtime's Dexter Returns on September 28th

2008-09-17T01:41:00.001-07:00

Yep... It's back soooo soon! Everyone's favorite serial killer is back for a third season on September 28. Here's a preview:

Some highlights of the upcoming season (not really too much in the way of spoilers):
Jimmy Smits is added to the cast.
Dexter kills an innocent.
Dexter is becoming "more human."
Deb gets into a serious relationship (again?!).
Masuka's character gets more developed.

NOW GO...WATCH...ENJOY!

Heavy Metal in Baghdad: Inside the Life of an Iraqi Band

2008-09-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

The premise behind the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad was to follow the career of the band Acrassicauda, an Iraqi heavy metal band who simply wants to make music. Instead, the picture that emerges is the harshness of life in post-Saddam Iraq, and the desperation of a people who are suffering at the hands of war and destruction. Here is the trailer:

Those of you who know me, know that I am not all that into heavy metal. Sure, in my youth I enjoyed Metallica quite a bit. But these days, those songs are nothing more than nostalgia for me. That being said, this is a riveting documentary that follows the lives of a band who are the only heavy metal band in Iraq. What comes from the documentary is the despair that they all feel, and the importance of their music as an outlet…not only for them, but also for their fans. Sometimes comical, other times devastating, the film shows the reality of what life is like on the ground in Iraq.

What stood out the most for me is that the image the band paints is so different from that which we see in our own media. For the band, life is horrendous. Even though two of the members live only 15 minutes from each other, because of the violence they don’t see each other for months at a time. One member even goes so far as to say that the conflict between the Shi’ites and Sunnis is manufactured by the politicians (he and his wife each being of the different Islamic faiths). All these guys want to do is rock, and everywhere they turn they aren’t allowed to.

The film is out on DVD, so go check it out. Even if you aren’t that into music you will be able to appreciate it!

Lies Lies Lies: Why Does Barack Obama Want Our Kindergarteners to Start Fucking?!

2008-09-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

It has taken some time, but the so-called “Liberal Media” is finally reporting on some of the misleading advertisements and statements that the McCain/Palin campaign has been disseminating since the RNC. The most notorious of these misadventures in stretching the truth is one of the latest McCain attack adds that declares that Obama wants to teach our kindergarteners to learn about sex before they can even read. Wow! Here is the ad:

Okay, this is just ridiculous. Without even looking at the facts, HOW CAN ANYONE BELIEVE THAT BARACK OBAMA WOULD WANT KINDERGARTENERS TO BE TAUGHT COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION?! Unfortunately, not all Americans are so smart…they tend to believe the lies spread about him (remember that whole Muslim thing?). But, instead, let’s step into a time machine and travel back to 2004, and look at the fact that Alan Keyes made these same allegations in Obama’s Senate Run. His attempts to attack Obama on this issue weren’t successful then, and McCain’s attempt to do it now is down right misleading. And what is the basis for this accusation? Illinois S.B. 99.

First off, the ad implies that Barack Obama was somehow responsible for the legislation (his “one accomplishment”). And yet he was not even one of the sponsors of the Bill. Furthermore, the bill never even passed.

That being said, let’s look at the Bill itself. The text of the Bill is long, but there are two significant parts to look at:

Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV…[but] shall emphasize that abstinence is an effective method of preventing unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV…

and

Course material and instruction shall teach pupils to not make unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances and how to say no to unwanted sexual advances and shall include information about verbal, physical, and visual sexual harassment, including without limitation nonconsensual sexual advances, nonconsensual physical sexual contact, and rape by an acquaintance.

So, the text of the bill does state that comprehensive sex education could be extended to those in K through 12. But, as Barack Obama has stated ad naseum, it is the latter provision that is significant for elementary school aged children…to teach them how to avoid sexual predators and what to do when sexual advances are made against them. The whole idea is to teach age appropriate sex education

However, for those that may have been concerned that the “comprehensive sex education” might be extended to kindergarteners, the Bill, itself, ensures IN THE VERY FIRST CLAUSE that objecting parents do not have to allow their kids to learn sexual education at school, as it starts out:

No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any class or course in comprehensive sex education if the pupil's parent or guardian submits written objection thereto…

In short, it would have given parents the right to prevent any such lessons from being taught to their children. In the text, they are even given the right to go over the materials and ensure that they are acceptable. All in all, a pretty misleading advertisement by the McCain/Palin team.

And that is just one example…let us not forget other such inaccuracies as Sarah Palin’s stance on the “Bridge to Nowhere,” the statement that Barack Obama wants everyone’s taxes to be raised, or that Obama’s “Lipstick on a Pig” comment was gender based, amongst many others (each of those could encapsulate a single blog entry and I do not have the patience or wherewithal to go through with each statement right now).

As Huffington Post reports, the media sources now calling into question McCain’s “gutter politics” and/or mistruths include The New Republic, CBS, MSNBC, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chicago Tribune, Slate, Washington Post, The American Prospect , and even the McCain championing Associated Press. It is about time the media started wising up to such misdeeds! Now, let’s hope they keep it up!

The Return of the Crocodile Bolsters Seattle Music Scene

2008-09-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

My buddy Andrew Matson is reporting in the Seattle Times that the Crocodile Café will reopen in April. For those of you not in the know, the Croc was one of the best venues in Seattle. It had the best sound you could find in the entire city and had a great atmosphere to see a show, having a capacity of 350 (although it usually averaged around 300 a night). It was a place where you could have seen Nirvana, Mudhoney, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse (when they were still local), and even the Beastie Boys (who played a Jazz set there not long before it shut down). I even saw an amazing Lucero show (with William Elliot Whitmore and Whiskey & Co.) there with Zack from Like Claws! back in October. But then, in December, it was abruptly closed.

It now appears as if we may have it back, this time with a larger capacity (of about 400)and the back bar turned into a pizza shop. And luckily Jim Anderon will still be running the sound...so everyone rejoice...THE CROC IS BACK!!

Sarah Palin: The Anti-Woman Candidate!

2008-08-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

So, I have to interrupt my DNC coverage (don't worry, I will get back to it...guests have simply been in town and I have been playing host) to discuss John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin to be his Vice Presidential Running Mate.

I wasn't really sure who McCain would pick, but the choice of Palin, although bold, is a powerful move. It is the first time a woman has been the VP choice of a Republican candidate, and is an opportunity for women to further move ahead in the world...by having a woman only one step away from the Presidency, little girls everywhere can know that they one day may have the chance to be President.

Then again, woman or not, is an anti-choice, anti-gay rights candidate really a positive step for women? I sure don't think so. Here is a woman who has been heralded as a "Pro-Life Champion" She also wants public schools to teach Creationism. Oh, but you say she vetoed a bill that would ban giving benefits to gay domestic partners...but she also supported the Alaska ban on gay marriage...so much for those gay friends she claims to have.

The important thing to note here is that the choice under cuts the McCain campaign in two very important ways. First, it is a blatant attempt to pick off Hillary voters thought to be fed up with the lack of an Obama-Clinton ticket. But, really, do you think Hillary will for a second allow people to believe she would support McCain-Palin over Obama-Biden? In her speech at the DNC she made it clear that McCain does not stand for women's rights...but that Obama does...no way would she not diffuse the opinion that voting for an anti-choice woman is a good move for women.

Second, it absolutely 100% destroys the experience argument that McCain is constantly making against Obama. Palin has governed a state with a population of only 683,478 people. As pointed out at TPM Election Central, Obama governed almost 27 times that many people when he was in the ILLINOIS STATE SENATE.

Oh, and let us not forget that she was runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska Beauty. That's novel. Forget it, I change my mind, she is qualified!

I think Obama spokesman Bill Burton put it best:

Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same.

This curve ball in the campaign is exactly what we needed post-DNC...more evidence to the American Public why Obama is the only possible choice for President.

DNC ’08: Dennis Kucinich Calls Upon America to "Wake Up!"

2008-08-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

In what will surely be the highlight of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio called upon America to WAKE UP!!! Sure, I am biased, as a perennial Kucinich voter (who knows what I would have done if he was still running by the time the Washington State Caucus came around). The amazing thing about this speech is that it was made to a partially empty hall. And yet he got them fired up and fed off of their energy. Has anyone else watched the day speeches today? SO boring. SO monotonous. And yet he got me fired up KUCINICH '08!! WOO! Oh wait, I mean Obama/Biden '08...yeah!

Here is his speech:

And with lines like this...how can you not LOVE it..."If there were an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging, and misappropriation...this administration would take the gold!" That's why you should all go order this:

And if you can't watch videos...here is the text (but i recommend watching it!)

It's Election Day, 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake up call. Wake up America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo‐con artists seized the economy, and have added four trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt. We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil, and twice what we paid for health care. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes,
their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the President's oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil. Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.

If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating this Administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want
another four year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children's inheritance and hollow out our economy. We can't afford it America.

Wake up America, the insurance companies took over health care.
Wake up America, the pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing.
Wake up America, the speculators took over Wall Street.
Wake up America, they want to take your Social Security.
Wake up America, multinational corporations took over our trade policies, factories are closing, good paying jobs lost.
Wake up, America. We went into Iraq for oil. The oil companies want more. War against Iran will mean $10 a gallon gasoline. The Oil Administration wants to drill more ‐‐ into your wallet.
Wake up, America. Weapons contractors want more. An Iran war will cost five to ten trillion dollars.
This Administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track
of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline, and electricity skyrockets.
They skillfully played our post‐ 911 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Everyday we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.
Wake up America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left.
This is call for you to go from down to up.
Up with the rights of workers.
Up with wages.
Up with fair trade.
Up with creating millions of good paying jobs rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems.
Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.
Up with health care for all.
Up with education for all.
Up with home ownership.
Up with guaranteed retirement benefits.
Up with Peace.
Up with Prosperity.
Up with the Democratic Party
Up with Obama ‐ Biden
Wake up, America.
Wake up, America.
Wake up, America.

DNC ’08: The Liberal Lion Delivers a Hope For the Future

2008-08-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

It was not long ago that Senator Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer. For me, this was a sad day. The man who has often times been called the Liberal Lion of the U.S. Senate is someone who should inspire us all. In a time when politicians continue to move to the right to appease Republicans, Ted Kennedy has refused to do so. He is a man who, save a few personal mistakes, would have been a greater President than either his brother Jack was, or his brother Bobby would have been.
Before Kennedy spoke, a retrospective on the man aired at the convention. This short documentary was made by Ken Burns and really showed the man behind the politician.

This is a man who, upon losing to Jimmy Carter in 1980, made one of the most important economic social justice speeches of the post-civil rights era at the Democratic National Convention. That speech included such highlights as:

My fellow Democrats and my fellow Americans, I have come here tonight not to argue as a candidate but to affirm a cause. I'm asking you -- I am asking you to renew the commitment of the Democratic Party to economic justice. I am asking you to renew our commitment to a fair and lasting prosperity that can put America back to work.
…
Let us pledge that we will never misuse unemployment, high interest rates, and human misery as false weapons against inflation. Let us pledge that employment will be the first priority of our economic policy. Let us pledge that there will be security for all those who are now at work, and let us pledge that there will be jobs for all who are out of work; and we will not compromise on the issues of jobs. These are not simplistic pledges. Simply put, they are the heart of our tradition, and they have been the soul of our Party across the generations. It is the glory and the greatness of our tradition to speak for those who have no voice, to remember those who are forgotten, to respond to the frustrations and fulfill the aspirations of all Americans seeking a better life in a better land. We dare not forsake that tradition. We cannot let the great purposes of the Democratic Party become the bygone passages of history.

JFK and RFK were a new hope for America. Tonight, in a surprise appearance at the DNC, Sen. Ted Kennedy showed that the new hope for America could be Barack Obama. He called for health care for all Americans to be viewed as a fundamental right and not a privilege. Here is his speech:

Now, we shall see if Obama can live up to this expectation. I fear that politicians, including most Democrats, are too beholden to special interests to ever live up to such expectations (there is a reason I tend to caucus for Dennis Kucinich)....but we shall see! I hope for all of our sakes Ted Kennedy is right.

DNC ’08: Michelle Obama Adds Humanity to Campaign

2008-08-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, I remember sitting on my couch and watching Laura Bush speak at the RNC. You could tell she wasn't comfortable. Or maybe she just sounds like a robot all of the time...

Tonight, however, we saw a different politician's wife speak, and she was quite captivating. Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic Convention and was able to add a human face to the Hopemonger Barack Obama. Is it really so surprising that a woman who was once the Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit that focuses on youth and social issues, could speak so candidly and yet so eloquently on a bright futue for our country?

Teresa Heinz-Kerry was a good speaker, but Michelle was inspiring. Take a look for yourself...

Tropic Thunder: Comedy & Controversy

2008-08-14T00:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I headed out to Bellevue (there were no Seattle showings anywhere close to me...what the hell?!) to see the midnight showing of the release of the new movie directed by Ben Stiller...TROPIC THUNDER. For those who have yet to see the trailer, here it is:

Tropic Thunder is the story of a bunch of big time Hollywood actors trying to make a movie about the Vietnam War. When the man behind the financing of the film gets angry with the director for his failure to keep the film on budget and on time (the movie is already a month behind schedule after one day), the director decides to go rogue, and film the movie in the actual jungle...not on set but in "the shit," as they call it in the film. However, once they get dropped into the jungle, the actors find themselves in something much more dangerous...an actual fight for their lives. Action, gore (it is a Vietnam War movie of sorts, afterall...), and comedic moments galore ensue.

The film itself is a satire on great Vietnam War movies of the past, with obvious allusions to Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket. It stars Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman (the biggest action star in the world who is on the backside of his career), Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus (an multi-Academy Award winning bad boy Aussie), and Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino (a rapper who is attempting to move over to acting). Jack Black is also one of the main character, playing Jeff Portny (a drug addled comedic actor famous for portraying every character in his series of films called The Fatties). Here is a clip of his character in action:

Well, folks, youtube is rejecting this video, so let's go with RDJr in action instead:

And I certainly can't forget to mention Nick Nolte playing Four Leaf Tayback, the Vietnam Veteran who wrote the book upon which the film they are all making is based. I could go on forever, as each character in the film could be discussed at length, but I will simply say there are also important roles played by Jay Baruchel (from Almost Famous and Knocked Up), Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, and Matthew McConaughey.

The biggest highlight in terms of actors in the film is Tom Cruise's Portrayal of Les Grossman, the financial backer and executive producer of the film being made. Ever since Tom Cruise has become an open Scientologist, I have lost all respect for him. I haven't particularly wanted to see his films, and really wished he would just go away. And yet his role in this film made it so I couldn't help but like him. His character is absolutely hilarious. Maybe this will create a new career path for Mr. Cruise, as he moves into the Comedy genre.

While there has been some concern over Robert Downey Jr.'s character, who is a white man who darkened his skin to play a black man, most of the controversy has come from the way the film treats the mentally challenged. The main thrust of the protest has come from the fact that Ben Stiller's character was the star of a flop movie where he depicted a mentally challenged individual.

People are primarily offended that this fictional film becomes a tool to make fun of the mentally challenged, and have condemned the rampant use of the word retard. The film deals with Stiller's character having played a mentally challenged individual head on in this scene:

In response to the protest, Dreamworks has pulled the Simple Jack Website off the internet, and it is not even available through the use of google's cached sites. Here's the thing, though...I am not exactly sure why this one issue has been so jumped on. Why isn't the media also attacking the stereotypical depiction of Asians? Or the lack of any resolution to the discussion that takes places even in the film as to why a white man is playing a black man? This movie is offensive in a lot of areas...that does not mean it is not funny. Especially when you consider what Jack Black has to say on the subject...

The jokes are all in context of what some actors are willing to do to win an Oscar...That is a longstanding joke in Hollywood — that certain types of roles, like the one joked about in the film, help put you in the minds and eyes of the Academy voters and to what lengths some actors will go to bring one of those gold bad boys home.

All controversy aside, I enjoyed this film quite a bit. Sure, a lot of the humor is stupid and offensive, but as a whole I found myself laughing quite a bit more often than I expected. The movie did not try too hard to constantly make joke after joke to the point where it becomes forced, something that a lot of comedies are failing to do these days. It is not the funniest film I have ever seen (no way can it live up to the likes of Superbad, 40 Year Old Virgin, or The Jerk), and probably isn't even the funniest movie this summer (I actually enjoyed Step Brothers a bit more), but between the comedy, action, and gore...it is one you should definitely check out. With films like Tropic Thunder and the works of Judd Apatow, it looks like R-Rated comedies are on a comeback...and I, for one, couldn't be happier.

Obama vs. McCain: A Picture Is Truly Worth A Thousand Words

2008-08-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

So I will leave it at this:

Campaign Advertisements: Now This is Just Getting Silly!

2008-08-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

It started way back in the primaries...who can forget Hillary Clinton's 3 AM ad accusing Barack Obama of being soft on National Security. Way to chalk up points for the other team, Hillary. Then again, that is not so surprising considering the leaked Clinton internal campaign strategy memos showing that she intentionally sought to portray Obama as a foreigner and bring up Rev. Wright as often as possible.

Then we moved on to the General Election and the McCain ad calling Obama a celebrity, putting him next to images of Brittey Spears and Paris Hilton.

Awesome come back there, John. "Don't vote for Obama, he is popular in Europe. He is like a rock star. I may be boring and can't inspire a single person with my speeches, but I'm no celebrity! I'ma leader." Okay, whatever.

But now there's this: Obama's ad flipping the issue, calling McCAIN the celebrity.

Now...this ad is very well put together. It is funny and extremely clever. It's flashy. It implies that McCain would be another four years of Bush. It turns the tables back on McCain on the whole celebrity issue. And, in reality, it is pretty dishonest.

I do agree, McCain would be (in a lot of instances) more of the same when it comes to Bush policy, and we certainly cannot afford another four years of a Republican in power (especially with two looming Supreme Court vacancies), BUT...to use images of McCain on various talk shows to imply that he is the one that is in fact the celebrity is pretty misleading. I mean, after all, hasn't Barack Obama appeared on late night and talk show programs? Yup, he sure has:
The Colbert Report (2008)
The Daily Show (2005, 2007, and 2008)
The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2008)
Late Night with Conan O’Brien (2006 and 2008)
Late Show with David Letterman (2004, 2007, and twice in 2008)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (2008)
The Oprah Winfrey Show (2006 and 2006)
Real Time with Bill Maher (2005)
Saturday Night Live (2007)
The Today Show (2007 and 2008)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2006)
Tavis Smiley (2004 , 2005, 2006, and 2008)
WWE Monday Night Raw (2008)

Well, there you have it. They must BOTH be celebrities. They are both running for President and are both super famous. Obama is just more captivating. It is time for the Obama team to go a new angle, and get back to the policy attacks (which the ad nicely contains in the middle there...they just simply get lost with the celebrity message!)

Either way, at least we don't have any commercials with fun images like this from the Olympics:

Way to hold the flag the proper way King George II.

Realism vs. Idealism: A Progressive Critique of Obama’s Energy Policy

2008-08-08T04:32:00.000-07:00

As a Kucinich supporter who caucused for Barack Obama, it is not surprising that while I support the candidate (and may actually be voting for him, rather than against the other candidate, for a change), I am at odds with him on certain issues. Thus, when I decided to delve into Obama’s New Energy for America plan that was released earlier this week, I was expecting to outright reject a good portion of it. After all, the Democrats are not exactly that green friendly. Sure they talk the talk, but generally they are too beholden to big corporations to ever walk the walk. It is why Al Gore has been so much more effective as a public citizen than he ever was while in office. And yet, somehow, while reading his plan, the Idealist in me (that calls for radical energy changes) seems to have given way to the Realist in me. If we are going to move in the right direction on energy policy, it may just require some give and take.

I know, I know, that is blasphemy from the guy who has oft been quoted as saying that, when it comes to the Congress, “it is better to get nothing done than to get the wrong thing done.” But here’s the deal, and I will put this bluntly…we’re fucked! We need to change our direction on energy and change it now. If you consider how difficult it will be to get politicians who receive millions of dollars in campaign donations from major polluters to vote against their own self interest, then to truly blaze a new path there has to be some give and take. In an ideal world, this would never be the case, but in reality we have a lot of work to do and getting started in that direction is a necessity. That being said, let’s take a look at this highly nuanced and intelligent plan and discuss what positive and negatives come from it, and whether such negatives are necessary evils.

First and foremost, the plan contains some lofty aspirations. From providing relief from high gas prices to developing renewable resources, the plan has far reaching goals. According to the Obama team, his plan will achieve the following:

• Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.

• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined

• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars – cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon – on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America

• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050

It is easy to make such claims; McCain, afterall, has said that he will just come up with one hundred something billion dollars tomorrow if need be (without explaining how). The real question, then, is whether Obama’s plan is viable and beneficial.

SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS

On the question of providing immediate relief at the pump, the plan calls for an emergency energy rebate, a crackdown on oil speculators, and a release of light crude oil from the strategic reserve (with intention of later replacing it with heavy crude oil) to lower oil prices. While the first two are an excellent idea no doubt, the notion of lowering prices by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve may not be the best plan.

Although it is not explained exactly how the rebate will be implemented, the plan calls for an emergency energy rebate to be paid directly to individuals ($500) and married couples ($1000) by requiring oil companies to pay it out of “their record-breaking windfall profits.” Now this is an idea I can get behind. Basically, the government would levy a windfall profits tax against oil companies. It seems only fair considering that while we are all paying more at the pumps, Exxon is reporting second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion, the largest profit by any U.S. corporation EVER.

Second, the plan seeks to end rampant oil speculation by closing loopholes in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations and increasing transparency on the speculative market. Sounds good. Transparency is always a plus.

Third, Obama calls for a drawing down of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (for those unfamiliar with the SPR, this report contains an excellent explanation and history of it.) As the aforementioned report nicely lays out, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975 allows for a drawdown of the Reserve if the President finds that there is an interruption in the energy supply that creates the following conditions:

(a) an emergency situation exists and there is a significant reduction in supply which is of significant scope and duration; (b) a severe increase in the price of petroleum products has resulted from such emergency situation; and (c) such price increase is likely to cause a major adverse impact on the national economy.

Later, in 1990, Congress amended the EPCA to allow for the President to drawdown from the SPR for a short period without declaring such an emergency and granted the President the authority to “loan” oil from the SPR as long as it is returned with a “premium” of additional oil.

Thus, Obama is seeking to do the latter, with the premium being that light crude is being replaced with heavy crude. Although I don’t say this very often, I think this might be one time where I agree with President Bush that this is a bad idea. While an immediate addition of more oil could lower gas prices, it also may have no impact at all. The oil companies are already making record profits, and yet we have seen no benefit. I am afraid I have to say I agree with the President when he asserts that drawing down the SPR in the absence of a severe energy disruption is contrary to the purpose for which the SPR was created and will simply make our nation more vulnerable to a supply interruption. Of course Obama is only attempting to implement the bill that was offered to the House of Representatives by Democratic Reps. Lampson and Markey (H.R. 6578 Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Drawdown and Swap) and failed to pass on the House on 24 July (although Mr. Kucinich voted in favor of it, so maybe I should reconsider my opinion). One key reason why I do not think this should be done, other than the above mentioned notions, is that studies are already showing that people are adapting to high gas prices, in such ways that could provide long term benefits. We need major changes in the way we treat gasoline. I myself have been walking and using the bus much more than I ever did in the past. Considering how minimal the short term benefits would be, this solution is likely not the answer. Rather than drawing from the SPR, it may be a better idea to levy a larger tax upon windfall oil profits to provide more direct benefits to consumers…or how about some price controls and nationalization of any companies found guilty of price fixing? That may be extreme, but would certainly prevent such future abuses and may be entirely legal.

MID-TERM & LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS

According to the plan, the two major issues facing the nation in the long term are global warming and the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. According to Obama, it is a “moral, environmental, economic, and security imperative” for the United States to tackle these issues in a sustainable manner. He seeks to do this by addressing climate change, investing in energy while creating new jobs, making our automobiles fuel efficient, promoting the domestic energy supply, diversifying energy resources, and committing to reduce energy consumption and cost.

Climate Change

Obama seeks for the United States to address global climate change by implementing a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and by re-engaging the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and bringing nations together to find an effective solution to reduce emissions. It is about time that the U.S. become a leader on fighting pollution again; rejoining UN efforts to curb global warming and introducing a cap-and-trade system that has worked in Europe and was recently adopted by British Columbia is a step in that direction.

Investment in Technology and Clean Jobs

The plan seeks to use money raised from the cap-and-trade auctions to invest in basic research, technology demonstration, and aggressive commercial deployment and Clean Market creation. $150 billion will be invested over 10 years to:

accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial scale renewable energy, encourage energy efficiency, invest in low emissions coal plants, advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, and begin transition to a new digital electricity grid.

This will allow for the creation of a new, highly skilled workforce that can fill the estimated 5 million new green jobs that will be created by the plan. This new workforce will include veterans, as money will be invested in counseling and education for said veterans in the field, along with the creation of “career pathways” and “educational programs” that within the industry. Training Programs would also be implemented for the general population. Furthermore, the plan seeks to create a federal grant program that allocated money “to the states to identify and support local manufacturers with the most compelling plans for modernizing existing or closed manufacturing facilities to produce new advanced clean technologies.”

While this is quite an arduous task, taking action in this way would certainly help pave the way for a greener future. It would also create jobs that are much needed in our country. Too often professional jobs are being replaced with jobs in the service industry; here is a chance to create new jobs and help the environment at the same time. I am in.

Fuel Efficiency

The plan also seeks to create greater fuel efficiency by increasing fuel economy standards, developing advanced vehicles (including putting one million plug-in electric cars on the road by 2015), partnering with domestic automakers, mandating that all new vehicles are flex-fuel, developing sustainable biofuels and the infrastructures to support them, and establishing a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). This all sounds great. The only snag could be the resistance of automakers (for an amazing discussion of this, go rent the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?). However, the plan seeks to alleviate such concerns by providing $4 billion in tax credits and loan guarantees for domestic automakers so that fuel efficient cars can be built in plants in the United States. Again, ambitious, but all of these things are sorely needed.

Domestic Energy

The plan further calls for increased production of oil and gas domestically (without opening areas that are currently protected). This includes offshore drilling and working with the Canadian Government to construct the Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline. Further offshore drilling would seem not only to be a mistake, but is a complete reversal of statements that Obama has made in the past. Apparently he now agrees with President Bush, who only a few weeks ago lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling that was officially banned by the executive order of his own father in 1990. The last thing we need is to further our dependence on oil. Sure this may slightly change our dependence on foreign oil, but it will not have any sort of immediate impact. Maybe this is Obama reaching across the aisle in a nod to his Republican counterparts, but embracing the idea as a whole seems like a bad idea. However, if it gets the Republicans to vote in favor of the rest of the plan, then by all means, we can give a little if it will result in a long term solution that does not include off shore drilling.

Diversification of Energy Reources

The plan that Obama puts forth rightly notes that we need to diversify our energy sources, rather than simply relying upon one new technology. In order to do so, he proposes requiring that 10% of electricity must come from renewable sources by 2012, developing clean coal technology, and only allowing expansion of nuclear energy if it is safe and secure (which includes developing safe ways to store the waste already out there). Clean coal may be an oxymoron, but it is a move in the right direction. Enough said.

Reducing Energy Consumption and Cost

Finally, the plan calls for making the U.S. the most energy efficient nation in the world. He first seeks to do this by setting an aggressive energy efficiency goal of reducing electricity demand by 15% from the Department of Energy’s current projected levels by 2020. According to the plan, this will save consumers $130 billion and reduce carbon emissions by over 5 billion tons by 2030. Furthermore, he would require that all new buildings be carbon neutral by 2030, overhaul federal efficiency standards for appliances, and reduce federal energy consumption (as “the federal government is the world’s largest single consumer of energy in the world”). Finally, the plan would allow for incentives paid to utilities that implement green changes, make a major investment in the nation’s energy grid to allow it to be more efficient through the creation of a Smart Grid, aid in the weatherization of American homes, and build sustainable communities that are built around bicycles and other alternative transportations.

Maybe it is just me, but this last part of the plan seems the most ambitious. While changing standards, modernizing the power grid, and creating new incentives are done easily enough, the creation of sustainable communities may be the most difficult (and, in the end, if carried out, it could also be the most effective solution). While the higher gas prices have caused people to resort to alternative means of transportation already, there are areas of the country where the notion of public transportation is nonexistent, let alone the ability to travel via bicycle or foot. This would require a major investment in infrastructure and safety measures. However, cost aside, doing so can only be beneficial.

This analysis is by no means complete. It was a large task to undertake, and the longer I was at it, the more taxed my brain became…but as a whole I have to say: The Obama Energy Plan may have some parts with which I disagree, and may be extremely difficult to implement, but it is this sort of radical change that is needed. If we all embrace such changes, such a plan may just work. And then we can leave this planet in a better state than it was when we found it, so that future generations may enjoy it.

Wow, that was a lot to cover. I hope that it can help you develop your own opinion on the policy that Obama is putting forth. Next time I will tackle John McCain’s energy plan (THE LEXINGTON PROJECT: An All of the Above Energy Solution).

The Myth of the Liberal Media: Obama Edition

2008-08-03T02:48:00.000-07:00

No matter where you turn these days, someone is talking about how Barack Obama is the media darling. How he gets all of the coverage and is being treated like the President when the election hasn’t even occurred yet. This notion that Obama gets all the media attention was a favorite talking point of Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was refusing to drop out of the race (never mind the fact that the Media kept her in it but talking about how it was a race down to the wire even when it was all but impossible for her to get the nomination). Unsurprisingly, it seems as if John McCain’s team has taken up the Clinton motto and now cries foul at the coverage that Obama is getting.

The Liberal Media scare tactic has been one the right has been using for years. And yet, the Neoconservative mouthpiece himself, Bill Kristol, has declared ”The liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.” So what can we make of the latest effort by the right to proclaim a liberal media bias in its coverage of Obama? Pure lies and spin (what Fox News does best)!

Last week, the Center for Media and Public Affairs released a study showing that, in fact, the major news networks have been harder on Barack Obama than they have on John McCain. As the press release on the study declares:

These results are from the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) 2008 Election News Watch Project. They are based on a scientific content analysis of 249 election news stories (7 hours 38 minutes of airtime) that aired on ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and Fox Special Report (first half hour) from June 8, 2008 to July 21, 2008. Previously we analyzed 2144 stories (43 hrs 30 min airtime) during the primary campaign from December 16, 2007 through June 7, 2008. We report on all on-air evaluations of the candidates by sources and reporters, after excluding comments by the campaigns about each other.

The study showed that of all on-air coverage of Barack Obama since the end of the primaries, seventy-two percent (72%) of it was negative. During that same time, however, John McCain has only received fifty-seven percent (57%) negative coverage. This is a huge turnaround from the primaries where the media coverage of Barack Obama was only thirty-eight percent (38%) negative (and although the Clinton coverage was a balanced 50/50 for the most part, much of the so-called negative coverage she received had to do with the performance of Mr. Clinton, who received a whopping seventy-six percent (76%) amount of negative coverage).

What the Right would like you to believe is that more coverage in terms of time spent discussing a candidate will show a liberal bias. Afterall, since June 8th,Obama has been the subject of 120 stories on the big three’s evening news programs, while McCain has only been the subject of 80. Hazzah! The media must favor Obama then…but look at the numbers, it doesn’t work that way. If Obama is receiving one and a half times the coverage of McCain, and yet 72% of that coverage is negative, it would follow that OBAMA IS RECEIVING BY FAR MORE NEGATIVE COVERAGE. That is roughly 86 negative stories on Obama, more than the McCain’s total number of stories. Delve further into the numbers and you see that McCain had roughly 45 positive stories to Obama’s 34. Needless to say, more coverage doesn’t necessarily mean a bias in any candidate’s favor.

If the numbers aren’t enough for you, let’s look at an anecdote. After goading Obama to travel abroad, the McCain team began attacking the presumptive Democrat nominee for leaving the country during campaign season. Then they released this ad claiming that Obama only gives a damn about the troops when the media is around:

If the media had some sort of pro-Obama slant, they certainly would have taken McCain to task for this commercial. Let’s forget for a second most of the false claims in the ad, like the notion that he is against troop funding, and focus upon the idea that the troops are merely a photo op for Obama. The claim in the commercial is that because Obama had time to go shoot hoops for the troops in front of the cameras, but canceled his visit to an Army base in Germany, that he is not for our troops. However, as a Pentagon spokesperson has clarified, officials at the Pentagon told the Obama camp after Obama was already en route that he could not visit the Army base with campaign staff in tow, stating that “[w]e informed the Obama staff that he was more than welcome to visit as Senator Obama, with Senate staff. However, he could not conduct the visit with campaign staff.” Thus, Obama had no choice but to cancel that specific visit.

Upon this realization one might think the so-called Liberal Media would go after McCain for such tactics. While the networks did comment upon the fact that Obama responded to McCain’s attempt to paint him negatively, they all (initially) failed to mention that the ad was in fact FALSE. MSNBC did eventually note that the ad was false, but the networks in general did not jump on McCain the way they would any other candidate who makes such a false statement.

So, the next time someone tells you there is a liberal bias in the media, tell them to get their facts checked. It shouldn’t take astute observations by the likes of Jon Stewart for people to start getting that the media goes after Obama. Then again, he does it better than anyone else:

The Next Coming of the Murder City Devils: Black Eyes & Neckties

2008-07-30T00:35:00.001-07:00

I made sure to get down to the Capitol Hill Block Party early last Friday so that I could check out Black Eyes & Neckties (BENt), a band we had played on our KGRG radio show D.I.Y. for the first time just a few days before. In the underground Seattle scene there had been a buzz about this Bellingham band that their website describes as "dark garage punk and horror rock with an infections frantic energy that's hard to match."

We walked into Neumo's just in time for the show to start and I was immediately blown away. They sound like the Murder City Devils. This is not to say they are exactly the same, but all of the things that make MCDs good is what makes BENt so great. The driving guitars, the screaming vocals (and a singer that looks kind of like Spencer to boot), the organ...it is all so familiar. And yet, these guys seem to bring something even more to the table. At one point in the set Brenda Grimm, the organist, tackled the guitarist as he continued to play. They had so much energy, so much gusto, that half way through the set I was texting every music lover I knew telling them how amazing it all was. You can check out more about them here or here. Enjoy the pictures I took!

Step Brothers: Will Ferrell's Return to Comedy

2008-07-25T03:50:00.001-07:00

It seems like it has been awhile since I have enjoyed a Will Ferrell film...Although, I have to admit, somewhere along the line I stopped watching them. I have heard that Blades of Glory was decent, And I don't mean to blaspheme, but I could barely sit through Talladega Nights. I had to stop it half way through and finish it at another time. But where I though all of those films were lacking, Step Brothers comes through.

Step Brothers is the story of Dale (John C. Reilly) and Brennan (Will Ferrell), two forty-year-olds who still live with their parents. When Brennan's mom (played by Mary Steenburgen of Back to the Future III and Nixon) and Dale's dad (portrayed by Richard Jenkins...YES THE DAD FROM SIX FEET UNDER!), the two "children" are forced to move in together, bond over a hatred for Brennan's younger brother, and hilarity ensues.

While the film is over the top, silly, and sometimes just plain stupid, it harkens back to a time of Will Ferrell films that you wanted to quote ad nauseam. The childishness of the jokes is at first a little overbearing, but as the film progresses, and you get to see Reilly and Ferrell play off one another (man I bet the blooper real for this film is spectacular!), the true genius of the film begins to come through. It is one liner after another of pure gold. I'd give some examples, but I don't want to ruin the film for you! Sadly, the previews already give away too many of the jokes (although I do have to say that the jokes go even further than those that are shown in the preview).

Now, all of that being said, this isn't the best comedy you will ever see. It is no Superbad or Knocked Up, but it is a step up from Talladega Nights and Walk Hard (a film I somewhat enjoyed, but mainly because I had very low expectations going into it). So, if you are a sucker for comedies, or just plain love Will Ferrell, go check out Step Brothers...you won't be disappointed.

Revisiting the Agony & Irony: A Review of the DELUXE EDITION of Alkaline Trio’s New Album

2008-07-03T03:18:00.001-07:00

If you will recall, it was only a week ago that I reviewed Agony & Irony, the sixth studio album from everyone’s favorite pop-punk masters of the macabre, Alkaline Trio (which can be found here. While my review gave moderate praise to the record, it focused primarily on the fact that the album brought the band further away from the sound that had caused me to love the Trio in the first place. However, after going out and purchasing the deluxe edition of the album today, I have to say…Now I get it!!

Beyond the disc that comes along with the regular version of album, the deluxe edition of the album includes a 28 page booklet in a hardbound book and a second disc of acoustic tracks and a b-side. The track listing for the second disc is:
1. "Burned Is The House”
2. "Maybe I'll Catch Fire (Acoustic)"
3. "Live Young, Die Fast (Acoustic)"
4. "Into the Night (Acoustic)"
5. "Over and Out (Acoustic)"
6. "Lost and Rendered (Acoustic)"

The disc starts out with “Burned is the House,” another Dan opus that surely should have been included on the album. It stands out as one of the best overall tracks in the package. The label must have left it off simply to ensure that fans would purchase the deluxe edition of the album (not to mention the itunes version which includes the bonus track “In My Stomach” which is available nowhere else). However, it is the acoustic tracks (following the Trio standard, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire) that truly bring the album together.

For all my complaints about the overly polished output of Josh Abraham (who has also produced numerous bands I despise, including Korn, Limp Bizkit, Staind, and Linkin Park), the pure genius of the new album comes out in the stripped down, acoustic versions available on this second disc. No longer am I focusing on the change in their sound, but instead I am obsessing over the macabre ballads. Without all the bells and whistles (save the accompaniment of what sounds like a French horn on “Live Young, Die Fast”), you can hear these tracks in their purest form. With each track comes another glimpse into the writing process for Alkaline Trio, as well as the realization that these tracks are as much the Trio as anything they have ever written. I found myself singing along with each one, haunted by their beauty. Even the lyrics are even more intelligent than I first thought, which is one of the aspects of the record I praised in my initial review.

Now, after listening to the acoustic tracks, I have gone back and listened to the album versions, and I realize that I now have a new appreciation for those tracks. While it is a much more mature sound that previous Alkaline Trio records, and I do have to admit I still want the good old days of Goddamnit and Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, I am happy with it and would recommend it to longtime Trio fans and new listeners alike. Just a word of advice…for you diehards, start with the second disc! That way you may enjoy your listening experience at the earliest opportunity.

Liberals for Corporate Handouts (or Why I Will Miss My Supersonics!)

2008-07-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

People are always surprised when they find out I was born 9 weeks early. My response to this has always been that I was so excited about the Sonics winning the Championship (my mom took me to the Championship Parade inside her belly) that I just had to get out of that womb and into the real world. Little did I know that that would be the last time Seattle would celebrate a professional championship (yes yes, all you Storm fans, I know…they won the WNBA Championship. In fact, I was at both games that they won in the finals that year and celebrated their WNBA Championship with the crowd in Key Arena…BUT IT IS NOT THE SAME!). And today it was ensured that my beloved Sonics would not be winning another as they are on their way to Oklahoma City.

That’s right, the city of Seattle has settled its lawsuit with the Sonics and the team is now officially free to move. What does the city get in exchange? $45 Million… and another $30 million in 5 years if the state legislature does not authorizes at least $75 million in public funding to renovate Key Arena or we don not get a new NBA franchise by then. Seattle also gets to keep the team name, history, and colors. According to the city, this put the pieces in place to regain a franchise, as the NBA has said a renovated Key Arena would be suitable to replace the team.

Now, those of you who know me well know how liberal I am. So how could I possibly support the sort of corporate handouts that comes along with professional sports? I am a man full of contradiction…I love my Seattle Sports teams. I have season tickets to the Seahawks. I split season tickets to the Mariners with 7 other people. I have season tickets to the Sounders FC and they don’t even start until 2009. I go to most Washington Huskies football games, and I attended every home game but one from 1986 through 1998. And last year I had a 25 game plan (over half a season) to the SEATTLE SUPERSONICS! So, when all the liberal groups I was a member of starting saying all those years ago how no money should go to the Sonics, I broke rank and talked back to them, igniting a flame war causing me to no longer associate myself with such groups.

For those liberal groups, it was as simple as corporate handouts. Why should we give this large corporation money? They would bring in evidence of the negative impact that bringing a team to a region had on the local economy. Although I repeatedly tried to point out to them that 1) the team was already here so these stats were meaningless, 2) what should be looked into is how many jobs would be lost and how many local businesses would be affected, 3) there are many monetary and intangible benefits of having a team including how much money is raised for charity and how the city can come together around sports franchises, and 4) the way the team sought to create this “corporate handout” was through the extension of a pre-existing tax.

First, like I said, they would constantly cite figures about the negative economic impact a new team coming to the region brings. When I tried to point out that these statistics were not relevant to the current discussion because the team was already here and we should instead focus on the economic and intangible benefits that the team brings and balance that against the investment that would be made, they were having none of it. Logic be damned, as long as the Sonics left, they didn’t care what route they would be takes.

Then came the discussion of the money that would leave along with the Sonics and the other monetary benefits of having the team in Seattle. The millions in charity work that the Sonics do (which is more than the Seahawks and Mariners combined, the $20 million in sales tax that was paid to the state each year that has ALREADY been figured into the state budget (and thus spent), the 1200 jobs that would be lost by those who work directly for the Sonics and events surrounding the team, and, as economist Lon Hatamiya, former Secretary of Commerce of the State of California, estimates, the direct impact of nearly $1 billion in the last five years that the Sonics have brought into King (and an adjoining) County. In short, A LOT OF REVENUE THAT THE CITY AND STATE WOULD BOTH DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY NOT BE SEEING. This isn't even considering such benefits to local business as detailed by the local business owner I heard on the radio today who talked about how Sonics games brought in an extra $1000 worth of sales those 41 days per year, something that does NOT happen for him during concerts at the Key...he is now going to have to lay off 10 employees and his business may just out right fail!

What this meant was that the money given should not outweigh that received. So how did the Sonics under then owner Howard Schultz want this handout? By extending a tax on hotel rooms, rental cars, and restaurants that already existed (yes the same thing that the city was against then but IS NOW IN FAVOR OF, or so Mayor Nickels would lead us to believe at his press conference this afternoon). Now, the people who argued against extending this tax said that it should go to schools, hospitals, and roads. Other than certain state constitutional restrictions that may preclude such a thing, I would support that. Fine, let’s extend this tax and use it for schools. Seattle Public schools could sure use the improvement. But you know what? It didn’t happen. It wasn’t going to happen. So as long as that is the case, why not use it to preserve the $1 billion in economic impact the Sonics have brought us over the last 5 years? Afterall, sometimes you have to invest money to get a return (as Tacoma surely knows, after investing $21 million in a new golf course that will translate into a total economic impact of at least $100 Million from the 60,000+ fans that will be attending the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.)

People ask me about the Key Arena, and why Seattle deserves a team if the Arena is so bad. Those of you who ask such things (mostly you folks down in the Bay Area) obviously have never been to a Sonics game. The Arena itself is one of the best possible places for a fan to watch a game. While you may be sitting way up in the rafters, you still have a great seat. The whole issue for it not being NBA friendly is that it doesn’t have good enough corporate boxes. I don’t know about you, but whether a stadium had great luxury suites has NEVER influenced my opinion of the stadium…you know why? Because I have probably been in one for one Sonics game, one Seahawks game, and a handful of Mariners games in my entire life.

And finally, for those of you who think that Seattle shouldn’t get a team because no one goes to games…the fan base is still here. People just didn’t want to support a lame duck franchise that is deliberately losing to try and leave town. Just listen to these chants at what has now officially become the final Sonics home game ever.
Save Our Sonics!

Bennet Sucks!
And here is the final minute of Sonics basketball at Key Arena. Somewhere in the stands I was weeping as Kevin Durant led the Save Our Sonics chant. Even my dad couldn’t hold back the tears.

Now, to the settlement itself…if the city was going to lose the lawsuit and the Sonics would leave anyway (which was unlikely), it was a good deal. If it would have prevented the NBA from working with us in the future, and the team was just going to leave after 2 years and we’d never get a franchise, it was a good deal as long as we get a team. But for me, nothing can replace the memories the team brought me. And I hold both the ownership group of Howard Schultz and the politicians across the board accountable for that.

From staying up past midnight in about 1986 and hiding under my covers listening to a triple overtime shootout against the Trailblazers to sitting in the very last row during an early 90s playoff game with my mom, the Seattle Supersonics were an important part of my life. Lest you forget…I was the fat kid growing up. Girls didn’t like me. So what did I have? Music and sports. While you were off going on dates, I was watching Big Smooth knock down threes in the Colisseum. I was watching GP steal the ball like it was nothing. And I was watching Squatch sail down from the rafters in front of sold out crowds. You had Sarah and Erin and Allison. I had Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Nate McMillan, Xavier McDaniel, Dale Ellis, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins, and Steve Scheffler.

Maybe someday, when a team moves here, I will be sitting in the new Seattle Supersonics arena with my very own kids. In the meantime…Squatch and I will be here crying in our beers:

The Agony & Irony of Your Favorite Band Becoming Mediocre a.k.a. Learning to Lower Expectations

2008-06-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

Let's hop in our delorians, crank it up to 88mph, and go back into time just for a second. It was 2000. Alkaline Trio had just released Maybe I'll Catch Fire and Alkaline Trio on Asian Man Records. They were clearly one of the best underground bands around. It was a time when, as the rumor goes, you could still get into Alkaline Trio shows for free if you had an Alkaline Trio tattoo. It was then, at the ripe age of 21, that I got the Alkaline Trio heart and skull tattooed on my arm. There was no blood pact. They weren't being played on corporate radio. And every little emo kid didn't have it tattooed on their body (although they are easy to pick up when they find out I have one haha).

Now fast forward to next week. July 1, 2008. Open your cd player, put in the new Alkaline Trio record Agony & Irony.

If this is your first time hearing Alkaline Trio, you are probably pretty stoked. The driving intricately layered guitars leave you smiling. The intelligent and darkly cliched lyrics make the corner of your mouth snarl up into a grin for a second.

From the fast, almost ska-like cadence of "In Vein" to the slow ballad of "Live Young, Die Fast" and beyond, Alkaline Trio shows maturity from their older work. They have grown as musicians, lyricists, and image conscious individuals. No longer do they simply rely upon skulls and blood, but instead craft such images into stories of relationships and gloom. It is the same old story, just from someone who has learned to use an expanded vocabulary to create the story of doom.

For the die hard Alkaline Trio fan, someone who has been there from almost the beginning, the album is a bit too overproduced. When I listen to it, there are moments that I feel bored. There are moments where I feel the tracks are too polished and I long for the raw tales of crying in beer. That being said, I have only listened to the record once, and in it I can still hear some excellent songs that although they are not my favorite Alkaline Trio tracks, I can already tell they will grow on me.

As a huge Matt Skiba fan, I have to say that on Agony it is the Dan tracks that shine. From the first time I heard "In Vein," when the band released it on their myspace for 24 hours, I knew I loved the song. There are moments when the song dags on a little too long, but as a whole I think it is a great upbeat track. Oddly enough, although I find the Dan tracks to carry the record, but favorite track has to be "Into the Night," with Skiba crooning "So sing to me your darkest secrets/Time to leave behind your regrets/Before we get lost in the blink of an eye." This track is more of the traditional Alkaline Trio formula (harkening back to a time when you knew a song was the Trio as soon as you heard the opening notes strummed on Matt's guitar).

If this was my first exposure to the band, I would probably rave on and on about the record...but because I am stuck in the box of wanting the past Trio songs to be recreated in some new form, I can't help but be let down. This is no Goddamnit. There is no "Mr. Chainsaw" or "Radio." But, I do think that after a few listens I will consider it to be a strong record. It is an improvement upon the two or three tracks on Crimson that I enjoyed (although I feel as if those few tracks on liked on that record are pretty great). And as major label releases go these days, I do think it tops most of the other stuff out there.

In the end I am torn...do I want to like this record because it is Alkaline Trio? Or
is it actually growing on me the more I think about it? Will it be like Against Me's major label debut that I absolutely hated at first, but which I now tolerate on some occasions, yet enjoy on most occasions? I think it is probably the latter. I hope it is. I'll give it another two or eight spins and update further.

Wanted: Assassin Flick Takes Action to a New Level

2008-06-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

On June 27, the long awaited film "Wanted" comes out in the theaters. I was lucky enough to see a sneak preview of the first english-language film from Russian director Timur Bekmambetov this past Wednesday, and I have to say, if you are somewhat into action flicks, it is certainly worth checking out!

Starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman, it is the story of Wesley Gibson (played by McAvoy), a 25-year-old self-proclaimed nobody who works in a cubicle, has a girlfriend who cheats on him with his supposed best friend, and whose father walked out on him when he was just a baby. In short, he thinks he is a loser and refuses to do anything about. Then one day Fox (played by Jolie) comes walking into his life and says she knows his father and that he was in fact an assassin. Fox recruits Wesley into The Fraternity, a secret assassins society, who seeks to train Welsey into the assassin he was born to be. From there, all hell breaks lose and McAvoy is transformed from a loser into a trained killer, seeking revenge upon the assassin who killed his father only days earlier.

Morgan Freeman plays the stoic character that you probably have come to expect from him. He is Sloan, the head of the assassins order that ensures order in the world. Sloan, however, is somehwat of a badass and has some Samuel Jackson-esque one liners that had me laughing with glee.

Angelina Jolie plays Fox as a cold hearted assassin, who is Sloan's right hand (wo)man and trains Wesley into a killer. She has an affection for Wesley, but does not let that get in the way of the code by which she lives...the Fraternity assassinates the names they are given because the death of one could save the lives of thousands.

The film is full of twists and tons of action, but for those that are squeamish, there is a ton of blood. It takes American action film to new levels...in the same way that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon took martial arts films to a new level (thanks Pope!). For that reason I say that if you are into action films, go out and see it...you will not be disappointed.

Alkaline Trio to Release Nike Shoes

2008-06-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

So Alkaline Trio has announced that on June 27th (good date!) they will be releasing their new Nike Heart and Sole Air Zoom shoes. At first, although I thought nike and the trio were a weird pairing, but I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt...afterall they demanded that the shoes be vegan since they are vegetarians! However, once i saw the shoe, I was let down. Here is the video that they are using to promote including Matt Skiba talking about the shoe:

In the video Skiba says..."Dude, I can't believe this [the alkaline trio logo] and this [the nike swoosh] are on the same thing...It's like the best...It like makes my life." I can't tell if he is being serious or not. Being a successful musician where you can live off the money and be on a major label is okay...but being on a nike shoe means you can die happy?! Is he really hurting for money so bad they had to do this? Did the label push them into it? He's always been nice to me, and is best friends with Mike, so I will still give him the benefit of the doubt, but it just seems a little bit too much for me...I mean, I guess if i thought the shoe looked awesome i wouldn't care as much, but the original Londons that Macbeth release (both the suede which i rocked forever, and the full grain which came later) that had Trio lyrics in them were SO MUCH BETTER!!
You decide:

vs.

(I wish I could find a pic of the suede ones...they are so much better.

I don't know...maybe they will grow on me. In the video they look thinner and more sleek. Maybe the picture they are using to promote it is just bad.

But I am still shocked...a pairing of Alkaline Trio and Nike? What's next...Against Me! and a major label? oh wait...!!!

THIS JUST IN: SCOTUS preserves Habeas Corpus...Scalia is still a Dick!

2008-06-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

In a 5-4 ruling today, SCOTUS said that in the case of Boumediene v. Bush that Habeas Corpus applied to detainees at GITMO. Although this does not expand their rights at all, it prevents the final death knell in what is one of our most important rights and what ensures we stay a democracy.

From Wikipedia:

Habeas Corpus is the name of a legal action, or writ, through which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention of themselves or another person. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.

It was an amazing rebuke not only to the President, but to the Congress, and is something we don't see too often...the Supreme Court actually ruling the right way has been sparse recently. And, of course, the 4 dissenting judges were the quartet of the most dangerous men in America: Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. Those 4 men have done more to set back civil rights than any other in Americas.

A few of the highlights from the 70+ page majority decision eloquently written by Justice Anthony Kennedy:

Security depends upon a sophisticated intelligence apparatus and the ability of our Armed Forces to act and to interdict. There are further considerations, however. Security subsists, too, in fidelity to freedom’s first principles. Chief among these are freedom from arbitrary and unlawful restraint and the personal liberty that is secured by adherence to the separation of powers. It is from these principles that the judicial authority to consider petitions for habeas corpus relief derives.

Within the Constitution’s separation-of-powers structure, few exercises of judicial power are as legitimate or as necessary as the responsibility to hear challenges to the authority of the Executive to imprison a person.

and

The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right of first importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law.

And from Souter's concurrence:

After six years of sustained executive detentions in Guantanamo, subject to habeas jurisdiction but without any actual habeas scrutiny, today’s decision is no judicial victory, but an act of perseverance in trying to make habeas review, and the obligation of the courts to provide it, mean something of value both to prisoners and to the Nation.

On another note, Justice Antonin Scalia showed his true colors in this decision...Scalia's dissent is worth reading, even for you all that are not nerds like me, for such statements as "it will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed." Unbelievable.

Some of the other highlights from one of the worst opinions Scalia has written (generally, even when I disagree with him, which is 99.5% of the time, he at least comes off as intelligent...here he does not):

America is at war with radical Islamists. The enemy began by killing Americans and American allies abroad...

and

The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today.

We have been living to regret Scalia opinions since he took his seat on the court in 1986. Thank god this is one we will not!

The 2008 Grendel Birthday Bash

2008-06-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all to the Grendel Birthday Bash featuring Clamhammer, Fresh Espresso (a.k.a. P Smoov & Rik Rude), and Martyrs of the Apollo Guild.

Obama Clinches Nomination!

2008-06-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Quite an historic day...Makes me proud to be an American for a change.

Update: Here is the speech he will deliver tonight!

Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.

Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said - because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another - a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign - through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.

At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.

That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.

We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning - even in the face of tough odds - is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency - an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are Independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn't just about the party in charge of Washington, it's about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.

All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren't the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn't do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - we cannot afford to keep doing what we've been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say - let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.

In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.

Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.

It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.

It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college - policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.

And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians - a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn't making the American people any safer.

So I'll say this - there are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them.

Change is a foreign policy that doesn't begin and end with a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged. I won't stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years - especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.

We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must. It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It's time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home. It's time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda's leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century - terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That's what change is.

Change is realizing that meeting today's threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy - tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn't afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy. That's what the American people want. That's what change is.

Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. It's understanding that the struggles facing working families can't be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation. It's understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.

John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy - cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota - he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for.

Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay the medical bills for a sister who's ill, he'd understand that she can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That's the change we need.

Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand that we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future - an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need.

And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America. That's why I'm running for President.

The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon - that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I've walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I've sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I've worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.

In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.

So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.

So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.

So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom's cause.

So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that's better, and kinder, and more just.

And so it must be for us.

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Keith Olbermann, the End of the Nomination Process, and Fuck the South

2008-06-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who do not follow Keith Olbermann since his ESPN days, he has always been a pretty awesome pundit, whether it is sports or politics. Here is something from his ESPN days...

He has a segment on his current political show on MSNBC where he makes a "special comment" on different situations. The most intense one I have seen yet came on Hillary's assassination remarks. Her remarks really bothered me because it is entirely possible that the Clintons are not above inciting racial hatred to have Obama eliminated and have her take office. They have shown who they truly are over the last few months. At worst, her comments were extremely irresponsible. Here is what Olbermann had to say:

I think his outrage sums it up perfectly. I have come to respect Keith Olbermann so much more over the last few years and I am glad he is sdoing what he does!

On another nother, looks like tonight is the end for Hillary Clinton. SHe is now maneuvering for VP. Let's hope this doesn't happen. I don't think I can vote for Obama if she is on the ticket. Might as well just pick Cheney to be his VP.

And finally, i wanted to remind everyone of this blog that was posted at fuckthesouth.com the day after the last Presidential election. I didn't write it (I probably would have worded it much differently), but much of what it says has resonated with me.

November 3, 2004

Fuck the South. Fuck 'em. We should have let them go when they wanted to leave. But no, we had to kill half a million people so they'd stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves - yeah, those are states we want to keep.

And now what do we get? We're the fucking Arrogant Northeast Liberal Elite? How about this for arrogant: the South is the Real America? The Authentic America. Really?

Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment giving you the right to keep your assault weapons in the glove compartment because you didn't bother to read the first half of the fucking sentence? Who do you think those wig-wearing lacy-shirt sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?

No, No. Get the fuck out. We're not letting you visit the Liberty Bell and fucking Plymouth Rock anymore until you get over your real American selves and start respecting those other nine amendments. Who do you think those fucking stripes on the flag are for? Nine are for fucking blue states. And it would be 10 if those Vermonters had gotten their fucking Subarus together and broken off from New York a little earlier. Get it? We started this shit, so don't get all uppity about how real you are you Johnny-come-lately "Oooooh I've been a state for almost a hundred years" dickheads. Fuck off.

Arrogant? You wanna talk about us Northeasterners being fucking arrogant? What's more American than arrogance? Hmmm? Maybe horsies? I don't think so. Arrogance is the fucking cornerstone of what it means to be American. And I wouldn't be so fucking arrogant if I wasn't paying for your fucking bridges, bitch.

All those Federal taxes you love to hate? It all comes from us and goes to you, so shut up and enjoy your fucking Tennessee Valley Authority electricity and your fancy highways that we paid for. And the next time Florida gets hit by a hurricane you can come crying to us if you want to, but you're the ones who built on a fucking swamp. "Let the Spanish keep it, it’s a shithole," we said, but you had to have your fucking orange juice.

The next dickwad who says, "It’s your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the ten states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? Go on, guess. That’s right, motherfucker, they're red states. And eight of the ten states that receive the least and pay the most? It’s too easy, asshole, they’re blue states. It’s not your money, assholes, it’s fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: buy your own fucking stop signs, assholes.

Let’s talk about those values for a fucking minute. You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the blue states got the values over you fucking Real Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping dickwads? Well? Can you guess? It’s fucking Massachusetts, the fucking center of the gay marriage universe. Yes, that’s right, the state you love to tie around the neck of anyone to the left of Strom Thurmond has the lowest divorce rate in the fucking nation. Think that’s just some aberration? How about this: 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are fucking blue states, asshole, and most are in the Northeast, where our values suck so bad. And where are the highest divorce rates? Care to fucking guess? 10 of the top 10 are fucking red-ass we're-so-fucking-moral states. And while Nevada is the worst, the Bible Belt is doing its fucking part.

But two guys making out is going to fucking ruin marriage for you? Yeah? Seems like you're ruining it pretty well on your own, you little bastards. Oh, but that's ok because you go to church, right? I mean you do, right? Cause we fucking get to hear about it every goddamn year at election time. Yes, we're fascinated by how you get up every Sunday morning and sing, and then you're fucking towers of moral superiority. Yeah, that's a workable formula. Maybe us fucking Northerners don't talk about religion as much as you because we're not so busy sinning, hmmm? Ever think of that, you self-righteous assholes? No, you're too busy erecting giant stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in buildings paid for by the fucking Northeast Liberal Elite. And who has the highest murder rates in the nation? It ain't us up here in the North, assholes.

Well this gravy train is fucking over. Take your liberal-bashing, federal-tax-leaching, confederate-flag-waving, holier-than-thou, hypocritical bullshit and shove it up your ass.

And no, you can't have your fucking convention in New York next time. Fuck off.

Bill O'Reilly is a Jerk!

2008-05-12T20:45:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know that title is something most of you already know...but for those of you who have yet to see this video that was leaked today:

Man, what a hot head... and if that wasn't enough to convince you, check out this montage:

Nothing too enlightening today, just wanted to share this with you all...

The Death of Mildred Loving

2008-05-06T00:28:00.001-07:00

This past Friday, Mildred Loving passed away at the age of 68 at her home in Virginia. Most of you may not know who Mildred Loving, and yet in 1967 she was involved in one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions ever made. It is this decision to which the current SCOTUS should look when it makes any sort of ruling on marriage issues, and yet the Court fails to do so. It is for this reason that we need to get justices on the Supreme Court who actually care about civil rights, and use the Constitution in the way it was meant to be used…as a means to provide rights to us all.

In Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), SCOTUS found that Virginia’s “Racial Integrity Act of 1924,” which contained its anti-miscegenation law, was unconstitutional. For those of you who didn’t have to have words like “anti-miscegenation” become part of your vocabulary in school, basically the law said that it was illegal to have an interracial marriage. The court, in its wisdom, overturned its 1883 decision in Pace v. Alabama, 106 U.S. 583 (1883), which upheld such laws. To most of us, at least those of us that are open minded and not racist, the facts of the case are pretty astounding.

The plaintiffs in the case were Mildred and Richard Loving, who had been married in 1958 in Washington, D.C., and were arrested and plead guilty to miscegenation. Section 20-59 of the Act stated that “If any white person intermarry with a colored person, or any colored person intermarry with a white person, he shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than five years.” (See Loving, 388 U.S. 1, 4). There were also provisions which automatically voided “all marriages between ‘a white person and a colored person’ without any judicial proceeding.” (388 U.S. at 4-5).

In a letter she wrote last June, on the 40th anniversary of the ruling, Mrs. Loving described what she and her husband had to endure:

Not long after our wedding, we were awakened in the middle of the night in our own bedroom by deputy sheriffs and actually arrested for the “crime” of marrying the wrong kind of person. Our marriage certificate was hanging on the wall above the bed. The state prosecuted Richard and me, and after we were found guilty, the judge declared: “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” He sentenced us to a year in prison, but offered to suspend the sentence if we left our home in Virginiafor 25 years exile.*

Eventually, the Lovings filed suit stating that such anti-miscegenation laws violated the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause. Interestingly enough, the Presbyterian and Catholic Churches each took strong stances in favor of allowing inter-racial marriages so as to help sway public opinion on the matters. On June 12, 1967, in a unanimous decision, the Warren Court held that anti-miscegenation laws violated both the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, stating that:

To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State. (388 U.S. at 12).

For Mildred Loving, it was not even a political question, it was one of a right to be in love and marry that person. She saw this right as something that extended to everyone, no matter the circumstances. She said:

I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people’s civil rights. *

Although it will never happen with the extreme Right Wing makeup of the current Supreme Court, hopefully future Courts (and this will obviously be many decades in the future, since we have our current extreme right wing Court for at least the next 30 years) will listen o her thoughts, and the Warren Court’s rationale to gay marriage. Because what is truly the difference between a classification based on race and a classification based upon sexual orientation…not much! Prior to this ruling, the logic of the courts was that banning interracial marriage did not infringe upon one’s rights because a white man and a black woman could still get married…just not to each other. It is the same logic they use now for gay marriage…a lesbian can get married, just not to a woman; She CAN marry a man! How this obvious parallel cannot be evident to every court who rules on it, including our own Supreme Court in the State of Washington, is beyond me. They always sidestep the issue…and maybe with the coming California ruling a state will finally do the right thing.

In short, although a reluctant hero, we should all remember the legacy of Mildred Loving and hope that our future generations will continue to move us forward in terms of civil rights and equality. Currently we are rolling back 150 years worth of civil rights with the decisions that the Roberts Court is making, and let’s hope that one day the damage can be undone.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the Media!

2008-05-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have talked to a lot of people about Rev. Wright, but I think it is time to expand the dialog. The media, who has been against Obama from the beginning (don't believe the Clinton spin), has continuously used the spectre of Jeremiah Wright to attack Obama and scare white people away from voting for him. But, let me ask you...how many people have actually heard his comments in context?

Here is the sermon it its entirety following 9/11:

Now, nothing he says in there seems to outrageous to me. Sure, take a few soundbites out of context and he sounds crazy...but listen to the ENTIRE sermon and NO!!! This man is giving a sermon that asks us rethink or own lives in light of 9/11 and to engage in self-examination and your relationship with God. Sounds a LOT more reasonable than some of the stuff I hear come out of right wing pastor mouth. And don't even get me started on Hillary's pastorate (There is a book coming out entitled The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power which talks about her pastorate--in the general sense, not having to do with Hillary in any way--and how it is broken into cells and that "[a]t the heart of the Family's American branch is a collection of powerful right-wing politicos, who include, or have included, Sam Brownback, Ed Meese, John Ashcroft, James Inhofe, and Rick Santorum."*)

In short, the Media and the Right Wing (and Hillary Clinton, or is that redundant?) is using Rev. Wright as a means to taint Obama's run. Those of you who have talked to me about Obama know that 1) I caucused for him, 2) I do have reservations about Obama, and 3) I truly wish a more liberal candidate could win because Obama is rather centrist despite what the media tries to paint him as...however, I think he is our only chance to beat McCain in November. Or at least I though that...thanks to Hillary and her campaign, that chance may be evaporating. She coninues her scorched earth tactics while people within her campaign admited months ago that she had less than a 10% chance of winning. Some within the campaign said 5%. Now, with more primaries gone by, and Clinton only having gained (literally) a few delegates, that chance is almost nil. Yet she continues on wasting money and hurting the Party. I think maybe it is time that HER chickens come home to roost and she is booted from the party! What do you say Howard?

Point Pleasant: One of the Best TV Shows Nobody Saw!

2008-05-04T01:28:00.001-07:00

***Start by reading the note at the bottom if you ever read my “Willing Suspension of Disbelief: A weekly dose of the cult, obscure, and underrated films that everyone should watch!” column…***

So earlier this week, as my friend Liz and I were hanging out having a vegan taco night, I told her I had a show that she might really enjoy. Unsurprisingly, she had never heard of it…because very few people actually have (especially considering it aired on FOX)! However, after an episode or two, I had her hooked. And rewatching the show has simply reminded me of how much I love the show and how you should all go check it out!

Point Pleasant was a little known television show that was cancelled in March 2005 after only 8 episodes because FOX expected it to put up American Idol type numbers (Which is pretty stupid because Idol’s numbers are not reachable by almost any show and the show’s debut was the highest rated new drama debut on FOX in over three years amongst 18-49 years old and was the highest rated debut overall since 24 debuted in November 2001). Executive produced by Marti Noxon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame), Point Pleasant is the story of Christina, a young girl who wakes up on the shores of Point Pleasant, NJ in the middle of a violent storm. She is taken in by a local family and the trouble begins brewing.

Once Christina arrives in the town, all hell begins to break lose, and everyone around her seems to find some sort of trouble, as friends become bitter rivals, people fall prey to their inner demons, and strange occurrences and accidents happen all over. All the while, Christina is searching for her mother, who once lived in the next town over and was helped by the local Catholic Church.

Soon after Christina discovers that she bears the mark of the beast, she begins to have visions of terrible death and destruction in the town brought about by her own doing. She learns the man that raised her was actually working for her real “father,” none other than the Devil himself. Soon the Devil sends in an aid to help Christina reach her destiny of taking over the world and destroying it.

In short, Point Pleasant is about the battle between good and evil, literally, as the minions of Satan and devotees of God work to win “the final showdown,” which is taking place in the town of Point Pleasant. It may be a mixture of Twin Peaks and the OC, but the cliffhanger endings to each episode leave you wondering whether Christina will be able to overcome the evil inside of her and reject her father.

While I watched the show every week that it was on, it took until the 6th episode to really get me hooked. It was at that point that the show started to get astonishingly great. But, they cancelled it after only two more could air. However, once I had watched the entire series in the DVD set, I was stunned that the show would not be coming back. I felt that, after watching the last few episodes of the show, this series was probably the first time anything had even come close to matching the brilliance that was Twin Peaks. And, as the series concludes, you are left to wonder what will happen to the town of Point Pleasant and the people in it. Will good triumph over evil? Or will Christina show her true colors and allow Satan to rule the earth? (And, not to give out too many spoilers, but at some points she is so fucking bad ass it is AMAZING!) Sadly, we will never know, but I still urge you to go check out this show. You won’t be disappointed.

***Note: a good portion of this was taken from an article in a column I used to have entitled “Willing Suspension of Disbelief: A weekly dose of the cult, obscure, and underrated films that everyone should watch!” However, I did attempt to update where necessary***

Doomsday...Horribly Awesome or Awesomely Horrible?

2008-04-29T02:03:00.000-07:00

So, this is a blog I’ve been meaning to write for awhile, but for whatever reason I never have. It probably isn’t much use for you now that it is not in the theaters, but hey, my advice would have been to just rent it anyway…so here goes:

DOOMSDAY

Wikipedia gives the following synopsis (although this is a partial so it does not reveal to much) of the film:

In 2008, a lethal plague ("Reaper") has infected Scotland. As the country is walled off by the government to quarantine the infected, a young girl, Eden, is amongst the last to be airlifted out. In 2033, a fully-grown Eden (Rhona Mitra) leads a police task force, the DSS. Reaper has spread to England, and the Prime Minister (Alexander Siddig) orders an excursion into Scotland to locate a Dr Kane (Malcolm MacDowell), who the PM hopes will be able to find a cure.

I cannot even begin to explain to you how ridiculous this movie is. I went to a midnight showing the night it was released, and there were probably about 15-20 of us in the theater. I’ve never been to a film that was so awesome and yet so bad at the same time. We’re talking like Snakes on a Plane awesome (yet, maybe not THAT awesome). Which brings us to the plot itself. The storyline, along with the action, music, and acting, is all WAY over the top. But much like Snakes on a Plane, it knew it was over the top, and thus it did not take itself too seriously. Therefore, it went from being awesomely horrible, to maybe, just maybe…HORRIBLY AWESOME!

The film starts off in a 28 Days Later style infection film, morphs into a Resident Evil -esque mission around people with infections film, take a b-line into a film akin to Mad Max (a.k.a. Warped Tour 2030), and then, when you least expect it…IT TURNS INTO A KING ARTHUR KNOCK OFF. WHAT THE FUCK?! I seriously laughed out loud at one point in the film when all of the sudden knights in shining armor showed up. It was so gloriously bad. I was on the sticky ass floor, doubled over with laughter…I was in convulsions.

The film, itself, had quite a bit of gore, and more action than anyone could ask for. Car chases, knight fight sequences, police style raids, cannibalistic burnings at the stake, so on and so forth. Don’t believe me about the action? Check this clip:

It was graphic and had a female main character who kicked so much fucking ass (both literally and figuratively). I wish they had showed the end of this clip (hint: she beheads the woman she is fighting), but if this isn’t enough to get you to watch, then damn, you must not like horribly bad action films (that are really quite great)!

Go rent this movie, especially if you have a nice surround sound system…the DVD comes out in July! SO you better Netflix it!

Circus Contraption @ Neumo’s (26 April 2008)

2008-04-28T03:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, Liz and I headed over to Neumos to see this band called "Circus Contraption." If you haven't seen them yet, I think you probably need to. Really, they are more than a band...they are an experience. Sprinkle together 1/3 circus freak side show, 1/3 macabre horror, and 1/3 big band jazz…and you might even begin to describe the show.

Here is a short clip of one of the songs they performed (this is not at the show we were at, but what I could find on YouTube):

There were no jugglers, stilt walkers, or fire-eaters, but still great. For another taste, check out this music in this clip:

So, we headed over to the show, bought our tickets, and then ran over to the Maharaja to get some cheap, yet strong, libations. We made it back just in time to catch most of the set of the band “Awesome.” I know Kate is a huge fan of theirs…and I did enjoy them, but since I wasn’t really sure what to expect, I think I was a little let down. I liked their music fine, their harmonizing was awesome (pun intended), but lyrically they seemed to be lacking.

Circus Contraption, however, far exceeded any expectations I might have had. There were some weird people in the crowd (like the older woman with perma grin who kept literally pushing into Liz because she was “in her spot” well before the band even went on or the girl with the horrible tribal tattoos who kept trying to do stripper moves), but then there were the weirdos (people dressed up like they were part of a circus) and I thought those people were kinda cool.

For this show the band consisted of the following members:
Armitage Shanks (although as the ringleader, not a butcher)

Dexter Mantooth

Pinky d’Ambrosia

Chameleo

Shmootzi the Clod

Bunny LaMonte

And a few other souls I cannot identify at the moment…But we had keys/accordion, and another member of the brass section. They all played a ton of instruments, so its hard to narrow it down for you (for example, the Ringmaster, at one point, was simply playing sandpaper). For example, Sally Pepper made an appearance.

They started out with 3 older songs, and then played their newest album, for which this was a record release show, all the way through. It was very good times, other than the fact that it was so hot in there that during one slow song we actually had to go outside for a few minutes. Liz was a little bummed they didn’t play more old stuff.

What is really exciting, however, is that they have a new show, with the FULL CIRCUS, that they will be performing in Fremont starting in May.

As they put it:

The SHOW to End All SHOWS presents a traditional American circus as it romps joyfully toward oblivion. featuring Pink Poodle Girls, A Ball-Balancing Seal Boy, A Real Mermaid, and an original music score by the incredible Circus Contraption Band!
Previews run May 16-18, and the show runs May 22 through June 22 at our new space in Fremont.

And that the show…

imagines a family-owned circus with all of the glamour and glitz of the 70’s and 80’s. The time, however, is now, and the glamour shows signs of decay. A sense of imminent destruction looms as things begin to go awry under the tent. The Ringmaster insists upon the willful denial of their world’s demise by not only his progeny, but also the audience. This twisted take on Americana tells the story of the show that must go on, despite all evidence that the show, and maybe even the world, will be extinguished before the closing act.

I’ll be there…WILL YOU?!

México contra China en fútbol en el campo de Qwest

2008-04-17T03:20:00.000-07:00

Nate and I headed over to Qwest Field this evening to watch Mexico battle China in a friendly soccer match. And this has to be the best match I have ever seen in America. Generally, games here are kind of anti-climactic. However, even though this was a meaningless friendly, you would never have known it!! The 56,416 fans in attendance roared in a way that was reminiscent of Seahawk fans in that stadium (If you don’t think they weren’t a 12th man à la the Seahawks, check out what the coach of China said: “For us it was very difficult…I think the public for Mexico is like a 12th player.”) The atmosphere was so electric, I thought I was back in Paris in 2000 watching Paris Saint-Germain take on Bayern München all over again. In the end, Mexico topped China 1-0, as 19-year-old Cesar Villaluz scored in the 14th minute. By the end of the game, the entire stands had devolved into one giant party, with the fans barely paying attention to the play on the pitch. All in all, this made me very excited for the upcoming MLS team here in Seattle.

Before I get to the pictures from the match, I do want to comment on one absolutely appalling thing I saw outside the stadium, at the Fútbol Fiesta (an outdoor area where all sorts of booths were set up). At the Home Depot booth they had a game where you could win a prize if you won a race they had set up. I wish I had taken a picture of this, because just thinking about it, it is almost unbelievable they would do this…they had two astro turf grass strips set up, and you were supposed to race a mini lawn mower (like a toddler would play with…even made out of the same kind of plastic as a big wheel) around cones to one end of the area and back to the start. Somehow, this seemed really racist…but maybe it was just me (which it wasn’t, because Nate was equally uncomfortable).

Let me know what you think of the pictures…

Election 2008 Update: Political Advertising & NAFTA (Shame on Obama?)

2008-03-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

Continuing what was a theme set by my last blog, I would like to comment on another political ad that has just been released by Hillary Clinton. Just in time for the primaries on Tuesday, the HRC campaign released this misleading ad:

Wow, way to take the comments out of context, Hillary. That's really not h ard to do and we could easily do it to you. However, let's look at his whole statement at the debate that took place last week and see what was really being said:

Clinton: I also have heard Senator Obama refer continually to Afghanistan, and he references being on the Foreign Relations Committee...He chairs the Subcommittee on Europe. It has jurisdiction over NATO. NATO is critical to our mission in Afghanistan. He’s held not one substantive hearing to do oversight, to figure out what we can do to actually have a stronger presence with NATO in Afghanistan.

Obama: I became chairman of this committee at the beginning of this campaign, at the beginning of 2007. So, it is true that we haven't had oversight hearings on Afghanistan. I have been very clear in talking to the American people about what I would do with respect to Afghanistan. I think we have to have more troops there to bolster the NATO effort. I think we have to show that we are not maintaining permanent bases in Iraq because Secretary Gates, our current defense secretary, indicated that we are getting resistance from our allies to put more troops into Afghanistan because they continue to believe that we made a blunder in Iraq.

So the HRC campaign has attacked him repeatedly about this after the debate, now charging that he is soft on security because they haven't had hearings. Last time I checked, Afghanistan wasn't in Europe, but I could be wrong. Now, that doesn't preclude such hearings from taking place, since NATO is heavily involved in the region, but you'd think that maybe hearings would come from the subcommittee on the Middle East?

So, yes, what she says is true...but the charge is somewhat unfair if you believe Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN). As noted on politifact.com, Sen. Lugar's camp defended Obama.

But Clinton’s claim, while technically true, is unfair, said Andrew J. Fischer, a spokesman for Republican Sen. Richard Lugar. Lugar now serves as a minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee, but he was the chair, from 2003 to 2006, when Republicans controlled the Senate. He is the ranking Republican on the committee.

Fischer, who is a minority staff member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said something as major as NATO’s role in Afghanistan would typically be held before the full Foreign Relations Committee, rather than Obama’s European subcommittee.

So not only is her charge somewhat dishonest, it seems as if the logic from the ad could easily be turned against her..."Hey Hillary...are you too busy to release your taxes? Yes, you are?"

And, to remind you all that I am a Kucinich supporter who has simply embraced Obama, I am exrtemely disheartened by recently breaking news on Obama and NAFTA, if it is in fact true. According to CTV.ca, a candian tv channel:

Within the last month, a top staff member for Obama's campaign telephoned Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and warned him that Obama would speak out against NAFTA, according to Canadian sources.

The staff member reassured Wilson that the criticisms would only be campaign rhetoric, and should not be taken at face value.

Here is the story in question...

To me, that's a pretty damning report, and could lead us to my greatest fear in this campaign...that in supporting a candidate that is more centrist than I would like, we will end up with a candidate who isn't really a CHANGE. Now, the Canadian government is emphatically denying that this ever occurred. But, as The Nation reminds us when you read their article on the topic, "CTV has a very credible source -- a a high-ranking member of the Canadian embassy -- who has provided the network with details of the call and a timeline." SO...who to believe? I really don't know. All I can do is hope it is not true.

Hillary Clinton has gone TOO FAR!

2008-02-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

So, the new Hillary Clinton ad is Alarming. And it is meant to be.

Seem familiar? Yeah, it is the same kind of scare tacics LBJ used in the 60s!

And it is just disgusting. I expect such dirty tacticts from republicans, but thus far McCain has actually refrained from it. Leave it to Hillary play this card.

Next thing you know this will be her campaign theme song:

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

UPDATE:
Turns out a McCain Supporter made the same argument for McCain over a month ago. Language is too similar for it to be using a common theme (a scene a faire if you will).

Music Makes Me Happy...Even When It Is Sad!

2008-02-12T02:25:00.000-08:00

As I left for my radio show this evening, I was in a foul mood. I had a pretty decent weekend, spent a lot of time with friends out at bars, had visitors come in from Portland who took me to The Hard Sell ( a DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist and Kid Koala Show which, by the way, was amazing...all 45s!!), and I even had a nice dinner with a friend this evening. But in the time between coming home from dinner and leaving for my radio show my mood turned sour. I have a feeling it has to do with the looming holiday, but considering I tend to celebrate NOT celebrating the holiday (some of you old timers may recall back in 2005, when I wasn't single mind you, and I cracked open this egg of knowledge...

The Corporatization of Love
Can someone explain to me why Valentine's Day might exist other than to get corporations a bunch of money by selling the same old shit at exorbitant prices? For example, tomorrow, a dozen roses will cost $9.99 - $19.99. Yet, TODAY, today they are $79.99 - $129.99 (oh, why not splurge for that 4 dozen roses bouquet for $289.99?). Any love that one has today will likely be the same tomorrow, so what's the difference? Why not wait til tomorrow to "celebrate your love" and spend that extra sixty some-odd dollars on another gift? But, this brings us to an even more pertinent issue. Valentine's Day is bad not just because it lets corporations hold people hostage and thus profit off of something that should be celebrated every day, but also because it makes people feel really shitty. It's like "hey loser! no date? haha, you are gonna die alone! you might as well go slit your throat because you are the ONLY one without a date." I say fuck that.

...on why we should just not care about the holiday).

Regardless, for whatever reason, I was not in a good mood. I had no real interest in going to my radio show and I certainly didn't want to have to pick out a bunch of music to play for the few people I might have listening. However, as I started playing music, my mood started to lighten. Song after song I became happier and more peppy, to the point where my radio show totally made my day. It reminded me, yet again, how important music is to me. Pretty much no matter my mood, there is music that will make me happy.

In this instance, the music that made me happy was listening to stuff that I used to play on my show back in the day on KSCU. Gems that most people in these parts either a)have not ever heard or b) do not necessarily like. I busted out the likes of The Wunder Years (who haven't been around since 2001), Gogol Bordello (who, for whatever reason, I have barely played on my show at all in quite some time), and the ultimate song from the KSCU days (except for maybe Old Skull's version of Homeless):
Robyn Hitchcock's Viva! Sea-Tac

After all of that, I was so happy. My mood turned around completely and I had a bounce in my step.

At this point I would like to make a slight interlude and show you the video for Homeless by Old Skull. This has to be one of the funniest/saddest/absolutely most amazing things I have ever seen/heard. Nine Year Olds playing punk! I used to play this vinyl ALL THE TIME on my show. And the part where the kid screams "Ronald Reagan Sucks! I Hate Ronald Reagan!" Classic!

Okay, enough of that, back to the topic at hand (although that kind of proves my whole point, as I am in a REALLY good mood after watching that gem).

What really got me thinking was that some of the music that lightens my mood might, for some others, make their mood worse. For example, if I am going through a rough breakup, or if I have just had my heart broken, it makes me feel better to listen to depressing music because it makes me realize that others out there feel like I do. Then everything is okay. I remember Justin, who at one point went through a breakup at roughly the same time I did, was the opposite and would always try and grab my iPod and change it to some happy sappy bullshit. For my money, when that happens, just throw this track on repeat and nothing in the world can be wrong:

So, trusty reader, this is where you get to be interactive. When you are going through a patch of heartbreak, what's your medicine? Do you reach for the songs of sadness and despair, or do you want lollipops and head bobbing? What's your poison? Tell me!

I'm No Politico, But It Is Time to Get Political...

2008-02-05T02:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I love the fact that I have a Tivo. It lets me record television programs without actually having to watch the television. That means I can get my dose of The Daily Show (or, as it is known until the writers strike ends...A Daily Show), and weekly doses of Family Guy, The Simpsons, and maybe a little It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. if you don't know IASIP, get on the bandwagon people...it is simply amazing. check it:

So, I get a call today that says Hillary Clinton cried again. Yes, really, it worked so well before, that she DID IT AGAIN. However, this time Fox News thought it was sincere. Why? Well maybe it is because Ann Coulter has said she will support Clinton if McCain gets the nomination. Yes, she really said that HILLARY CLINTON IS MORE CONSERVATIVE THAN MCCAIN!

Then, as I sat at home tonight watching the Simpsons on the Tivo, more Clinton talk (about Bill, but Clinton nonetheless). This amazing scene came on. Take note that this is a flashback episode to the 90s, which then uses prescient comments to bash Bush...

It is hard for me to understand why Hillary is the candidate that people believe are electable. I am telling you this now, if Hillary runs against McCain, HILLARY WILL NOT TAKE OFFICE. I initially would have said that she would not win the election, but because she very well could but have it stolen away from her like both Gore and Kerry did, I won't say it. Here's the deal. Hillary Clinton is a lightning rod. People on the right HATE her. People on the left side of the right HATE her. I'm A Kucinich supporter who voted for Gore and Kerry in the last two elections and I HAVE HAD IT. If she is the Democrat nominee, I'm voting Nader:

And this is a a common sentiment. Many people will no vote for her. Many would vote McCain if it is Hillary. She will lose, for real, and we cannot have that. 4-8 more years of Republican rule will destroy this country even more than it has been. SCOTUS, as it stands, has set civil rights back 150 years under GWB, we need to ensure it doesn;'t become even more right wing. Obama is the only way left to do that. But, when it comes down to it, Hillary is simply wrong on the issues and is not a progressive in any way...

HILLARY IS WRONG ON THE ISSUES.
Sure, there are not necessarily huge distinctions between the two candidates, but the distinctions exists nonetheless. We will start with National Security. Boy should couldn't be more wrong.

#1 - Nuclear Weapons.

#2 - The Iraq War.
Yep. Hillary let Condi convince her to vote for the Iraq War, and ignored intelligence reports that stated the OPPOSITE of what Condi was telling her. Yes, even I could rebut the logic Condi used before the war by doing some simple reading...so why couldn't an intelligent Senator with lots of aids?

#3 – Iran

Hillary voted yea on the Kyl-Liberman Iran Amendment that essentially gives Bush the power to make war with Iran. Awesome, just what we need…MORE WAR. And let’s do it with a bigger country, that has more rugged terrain, a much bigger army, and has more religious extremists than Iraq does. Good call Hillary. Don't even get me started on Pakistan.

What about domestic issues, you say? Okay, well she attacked Obama for opposing the harsher prison sentences mandated by federal sentencing requirements and says that his progressive background and voting record are negative things. She is also wrong on immigration:

If Pat Buchanan agrees with her on immigration, then she is DEFINITELY wrong. Sure Hillary, let's scapegoat immigrants. What happened to the whole Chips and Guacamole analogy, Hillary? Anyhow, that is enough for now...this could go on FOREVER!

HILLARY'S TRACK RECORD SHOWS ANTI-PROGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

First off, as many of us first learned this week, but which others have known for years, Hillary Clinton spent six years on the board at Wal-Mart! Yes, really. Sure, she claims to have wanted to promote women at Wal-Mart, but it is my understanding that women are allowed to be part of unions. Isn't that the case? Or did GW finally get that law through that bans them from unions and takes away their vote?

Or, maybe we should consider the fact that feminists are abandoning her. Seriously, if she were such a great candidate for women (because, yes, she gets to play the I am a woman card vote for me, while Obama cannot play the race card), then why are feminist leaders saying to NOT vote for her? That's right, NY Feminists for Peace have endorsed Obama, not Hillary.

IF NONE OF THAT CONVINCED YOU...
Deniro supports AND IS CAMPAIGNING FOR Obama. Enough said.

As a writer for Daily Kos says, "Voters are faced with the following choice: (i) select a familiar partisan gladiator and hope she will out maneuver political opponents in the zero-sum game of Washington politics, or (ii) support a new American Majority that can begin to make progress on the issues of the day." The answer is simple friends. For our nation, vote this way...

Review from Seattlest of Beat Battle I Judged Last Month

2008-02-05T01:52:00.000-08:00

You might remember that last month I was a judge at a Beat Battle over in Ballard (Seattle neighborhood, for those of you who aen't familiar). Here's a write up we got!

http://seattlest.com/2008/01/08/we_review_a_gra.php

Seattlest attended the late-night Graffiti Rock beat battle at The Sunset on Saturday night, casually organized by P.U.S.H., primarily so we could remind ourselves what Ballard looks like.

Ballard's doing fine, in case you haven't been there recently either, and djblesOne of Massive Monkees took home the battle's imaginary trophy somewhere around 2am; second place went to Sportn' Life DJ Nphared (interviewed by Seattlest here). Both of the finalists brought beautifully composed, rock-hard, trampoline-tight beats to the event, but in the end, djblesOne's complex compositions won out.

The surprise of the night was when hot producer Brainstorm (pictured above), second-place winner at the Big Tune Championships, lost his first (and therefore his only) round to Rudy (of Rudy & the Rhetoric) in a unanimous but hotly crowd-contested decision from the three judges. Boo! Hiss!

We actually loved Brainstorm's second beat, a jazzy, sexalicious stoner number, but the judges felt it wasn't the best choice for the first round of a battle.

In hiphop, love and war, strategy is right up there with sheer technical skill and musicianship; Rudy not only was on the winning left side of the stage (hooked up to a Mac built to play hard beats) but also brought some of his best drum-crunching, creative beats to a first round battle he didn't think he'd win. We are fond of Rudy, and surprisingly fond of his beats, but it was certainly a shocker to see Brain dismissed so early in the evening.

The other competitor we were particularly feeling that night was MTK, who played some of Seattlest's favorite beats of the night (including a guitar-plucking "Fuck You" refrain against Sabino and a crunchy, driving beat against blesOne). We liked PSmoov's work, but only got to hear two beats from him. GMK and Johnny Magnum pulled off a short but very sweet performance of some of their best tracks before the final round of the beat battle, which was fun. Judging the event: Larry Mizell (Cancer Rising!), Andrew Matson (Seattle Times hiphop journalist), and Cameron Collins (of Saku Collins Entertainment & Media Law Group). Big Rob hosted: "Let's flip a coin. Who's got a coin? ... And it's heads. And that," as he bent down to pick up the coin, "is my ass crack." By the end of the night, the battle had devolved into a series of drunken insider jokes from the judges and long, mildly funny stories from Big Rob; we still enjoyed the showcase of local producers' work. We also enjoyed leaving Capitol Hill on a Saturday night for once.

REPOST: Stories From Punk Rock Bowling Vol. 01: Background and Observations

2008-02-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

So this one isn't going to be very exciting. More of a description of the ongoings and some thank yous. The real juicy stuff is to come... but I will put initial observations at the bottom:

So I got there Tuesday night. Just hung out for a few days until Thursday when people started showing up. Already, on that first night, people were super drunk. I was surprised at how hard some people were hittin the bottle considering we had a full weekend plus bowling left. And I'm not even talking about my team. We represented Asian Man Records and were pretty much awesome. The first day we bowled pretty poorly, but bowled just well enough to advance to the B league playoffs. 56th in the B group (which meant 88th overall). The second day, we got 15th in B group (47th overall).

We were rollin strong too...huge crew. So I say thank you to new and old friends who really made the weekend: James, Darin, Rich, Ruben, Jessica, Linney (+2), Jen, Kate, Haley, Jacob, Kevbo, Jamie, John, and my cousin Brian! And I am positive I forgot others, but love me anyway! OH...and a BIG thank you to Mike Park!!!!

Observations:
1) People at Punk Rock Bowling get really really drunk.

2) Fat Mike isn't so fat anymore. Cocaine, anyone? He still writes good music though.

3) Our group of friends definitely had the most attractive girls. Big ups to the ladies for making us look good!

4) Nothington and American Steel, who both performed at the show, fucking rule.

5) The guitar player from American Steel looks like Andrew from Against Me!

6) I bet you the Tell-Tale Heartbreakers are insane live, although I have never seen them. Their lead singer is pretty awesome though.

7) McDonald's is putting some super dirty toys in their Happy Meals, and they should probably be stopped.

Go look at it in person and just think of whether the Golden Girls were a porno about rabbits...pretty gross.

8) Even smokers think it is too smokey in Vegas casinos.

9) You can't leave Vegas without gambling...I bet a whole dollar!

10) The best haircuts come in hotel bathrooms from hairdressers on vacation!

REPOST: SoKo is So French!

2008-02-05T01:48:00.000-08:00

Stéphanie Sokolinski a.k.a SoKo!!

So my business partner just got back from Germany and told me about this new female singer that is all the rage. Apparently she is a well known french actress (Stéphanie Sokolinski) who is now playing music. It is straight up indie. Kind of like a french kimya dawson (moldy peaches, juno, anyone?). Kind of like feist. But she is blowing up in Europe. No one here knows her here yet. And you can tell this is going to be something KEXP is going to eat up so hardcore!

Show review from Gigwise UK:
"It's difficult to know what to make of our French friend. Playing a solo show with just ukulele and keyboard (She is normally supported by a full band) she comes across as a real life Phoebe Buffet with song titles such as 'I Hate Your Dog', 'Baby Cat' and 'I Think I'm Pregnant'. There's definitely the influence of Daniel Johnson throughout with very little attention paid to the music, all simple beats and strums, and nursery rhyme like storytelling but beneath the simplicity the words cut deep with an emotional wit. Shy and bumbling throughout there is something charming about Soko in her innocent persona that makes her music no matter how absurd beautifully arresting."

REPOST:Ska's Not Dead, It's Just Malnourished & Underfed

2007-09-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, this is a repost...in light of the Aggrolites (or aggregates as this dumb girl with a tramp stamp called them) playing bumbershoot.
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First, I know...that line is actually about hip hop. But you know what?! Before hip hop was ever "dead", people were always saying ska was dead. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say "you still listen to ska? I was way into it in high school, but i don't like it anymore." What I find really funny is most of those people were into ska AFTER the third wave craze...which reached its pinnacle during MY highschool years. And the people that tell me this are generally younger than me! So what exactly is it about ska that drives people away? I mean, for me, ska was a natural progression as I became MORE knowledgeable and intellectual about music. Reggae is something I listened to in middle school; ska was its better (and we won't even get into the debate about how it can be seen as two separate trends that simply have similar roots since they both came from Jamaican Mento, with ska breaking off into rock steady which eventually lead to reggae).

Okay, we'll step back here because knowing some of you, you are like "3rd wave ska? what the fuck is the difference?" Here is a quick synopsis for you. But please note, I am not even going to go into the racial and political movements associated with the genres...that is a whole different story which is a great topic but beyond the scope of this blog.

First Wave Ska: finding it's roots in the Mento music genre of Jamaica, as the American invasion of R&B came in, the two genres fused to form ska. It took the beats and bass of American R&B and mixed it with the guitar strum that emphasizes the up of the second, third and fourth beat of Mento. When you think of the First Wave of Ska, generally you think of such artists as The Skatalites and Bunny and Skitter. Here's a Skatalites video for you to get the idea:

Second Wave Ska: ahhh... Two Tone Era. Here is some amazing music! It was the fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with the lyrical content and aggressive guitar chords of 70s punk that took place in the UK. They were all about racial unity. Bands like The Specials, The (English) Beat, Bad Manners, The Selecter, so on and so forth...and for those of you who are like "whatever, I listen to other British bands;" many artists who become huge (like the Police) started out as ska bands. And Elvis Costello produced the first Specials record, so he was a major part of the scene! Unfortunately when you mixed the working class skinheads (not what you think of as skinheads here, not racist, but pretty much dressed the same) with the Rude Boys, well, violence would break out in the dancehalls and people stopped booking ska. Sadly, it went away for awhile.

Here are some videos from the Specials, Bad Manners, and, The Selecter:
The Specials

Bad Manners

The Selecter

Third Wave Ska: in short, third wave is a fusion of the two tone ska of the second wave with modern punk rock. Its much faster and can oftentimes sounds just like punk rock but with horns. Just like the 2nd wave, it features brass instrumentsand a heavily-accented offbeat. Skankin Pickle, Op Ivy, Mustard Plug, Reel Big Fish, No Doubt (pre-Tragic Kingdom), Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Catch 22/Streetlight Manifesto...and you even has bands like the Slackers, Hepcat, and the Aggrolites that continued to play 60s style ska. This was probably the pinnacle of ska popularity wise, as it became huge in the US between 1995 and 1998. By the early 2000s, a lot of the bands broke up, and there really haven't been too many new ones coming into existence...however some of them are still rocking. You can go see the Aquabats, the Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, and a handful of others even to this day. SM even has an album that is about to come out and RBF put out an awesome live record last year... Here are some videos from Streetlight manifesto, Reel Big Fish, Tim Armstrong, Skankin Pickle, and the Slackers so you can see what it is like:

Streetlight Manifesto

Reel Big Fish

Tim Armstrong
yeah seattle!

Skankin Pickle
oh look how young mike park is!!

The Slackers

And all of that music is amazing...so I do not really understand how someone who listens to crappy, untalented bands can't even see the good qualities in ska, even if they do not like it. I can recognize talent even if I do not like the music. But more importantly, Ska is still here, so keep listening. You can go see Streetlight Manifesto, Reel Big Fish, The Slackers, Monkey, etc... I mean, come on, the Aggrolites are playing Bumbershoot!! And more importantly, even if you are not a ska fan, the shows are FUN! You can dance and skank all day. the Bad Mannner/Monkey show I went to a few weeks back was amazing. I was skankin my ass off....YES ME, THE ONE WHO DOESNT DANCE!! It was awesome times. So broaden your mind...even if you were once a fan and are not anymore, give it another try. You just might like it. And even if you don't, at least you will have one hell of a time!! So get on that internet and start illegally downloading ska song songs...and if you like them go buy them!

All this has made me want to go to a Streetlight Manifesto show.