Monday, December 12, 2011

Port shut down today

Will it succeed? We're gonna find out. We're going to bring it to those lazymuthafuckahs on Wall Street..

Monday, November 14, 2011

This is Madness...

This year the city of Oakland closed 13 schools in an attempt to save 2 million dollars. With last nights eviction of Occupy Oakland, the city of Oakland has now wasted 5 million dollars quelling democracy.
This is madness.
This is madness.
This is madness.

The angry music hour presents...

I heard this cut from Scottish Artist Finley Quaye for the first time today, and the bass run has stayed with me, moving me, rolling on, and on, and on... It also takes away some of the frustrations I feel about the shortcomings of the movement, the stumbles, the naivete... Hope you enjoy it too

Finley Quaye
Even After All


Saturday, November 12, 2011

Reflections on St. Louis

Last night, The Mayor of St. Louis ordered the eviction of Occupy St. Louis from Keiner Plaza. This story has, of course, played out in many other American and European cities. However, look at the two pictures below:


Do you notice anything different from the pictures you've seen from other cities? NO RIOT GEAR. Hell, these cops aren't even wearing helmets. No batons, no pepper spray, no concussion grenades... just their standard issue police uniforms. They aren't even standing in a defensive position - in the bottom photo, one of them has his hands in his pockets. Now, look at the picture below:
If you want to know who's looking for a riot, look who came dressed for one.

I don't know where the above picture was taken, but it doesn't matter - In Oakland, that is how they came to clear Oscar Grant Plaza. In Seattle, that is how they came when we protested Jamie Dimon at The Sheraton. In Paris, that is how they came to clear the plaza at La Grande Arche de la Defense.

The cops are the rioters - they are the instigators. The state is the source of violence. Everytime...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Boots Riley Statement on the Oakland General Strike

In the wake of Oakland's successful general strike, there is of course some internal struggle over tactics and the role of the small handful of windowbreakers at the march. Now I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of people in the movement view reckless adventurism as pointless and damaging. Pointless actions like random petty destruction are a distraction, and do nothing to advance the cause. Hoever, if those who are willing to take more radical action are shut out, then you have nothing but the same toothless, pointless, ineffective rallies we have suffered through for decades. I'll let Boots take it away:
The truth is that while almost everyone I know in Occupy Oakland (including myself) thinks that breaking windows is tactically the wrong thing to do and very stupid, many people do not agree with non-violent philosophy. If you kicked those folks out then you would have a body of folks that wouldn't have been radical enough to even call for a General Strike. Occupy Oakland, on the whole, has a radical analysis that leads us to campaigns that others wouldn't and which also capture people's imagination. For instance, as I've said before, Gandhi was vocally against strikes because physically stopping someone from what they want to do is violent. Occupy Oakland has called for a diversity of tactics- which is different than our New York comrades, however I don't think that is supposed to mean that you use every tactic every time. We are so large here precisely because our actions have teeth. If the police blockaded at the port- we would have had 2 choices. The first would have been to let them stop us from getting there- with them thereby calling a victory against OO. The second choice was for us to quietly push through them with the shields we had in the front of the march and using our power in numbers to get through. That would, technically, not fall into non-violent philosophy. I think it is the fact that police knew that we had tens of thousands and we would push through there if necessary, that caused them to stay away. Also, everyone here seems to be inspired by Arab Spring, Greek movements, and other similar movements in Europe. None of those were non-violent in nature. The Egyptian folks burned down a police station, for instance. Everyone I know thinks that tactics like that here would cause the movement to be crushed, so those tactics are not on the table- I'm just pointing out that people are saying that this is emulating a movement which was pretty violent. But, I think the discussion is about tactics, not about adopting non-violent philosophy. On November 2nd, a large group of people with many contradictions successfully shut down the city in the biggest action with an overt class analysis in 60 years. People all over the world, all over the country, all over Oakland- are excited by this. If you are threatening to leave because, in the midst of this mass action some people broke windows and we are all trying to figure out how to work together, then you're missing the point and you'll be missing out on history. Don't let the media frame the discussion. The average everyday person was empowered by what happened on November 2nd. Every movement has contradictions, we aren't told about them so we think this movement should be different- there was violence during the Civil Rights movement. The pastor that had MLK's job before him at Ebeneezer Baptist Church had just made all of his congregation buy shotguns. The NAACP had an ARMED chapter in North Carolina. You can wait 50 more years for your perfect movement, or you can realize that it's here.

And that, as Carol Burnett used to say, is the truth.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

GENERAL STRIKE!!!

Will the folks in Oakland pull it off? It looks that they might - if they do, this will be one of the most historically significant days in our lifetime. Here's Boots Riley of The Coup on the events that led to the call for a general strike:



And here's Boots throwin' down with The Coup.
We Are The Ones



Oakland, show us how it's done!! You are inspiring a whole movement!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

One of my favorite songs... great video too
DEAD PREZ : RADIO FREQ

Hard Knock Radio 10/26/11

If you have not heard of Hard Knock Radio, well, now you have. HKR is a daily news show out of Berkeley, CA. At this link, you can listen to an archived stream of the show that aired today, 10/26/11. It contains on the street interviews with citizens as they are being attacked by the state. It is a must listen. This is the future, the near future, for each and everyone of us.
So is this:







And this:


We are all Scott Olsen

Video of attempted murder of Scott Olsen

Below is video of the Oakland, CA., Terrorist Force throwing a concussion grenade into a group of protesters attepting to assist Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen after he was shot in the head with a "non-lethal" projectile. Scott Olsen is now in critical condition.

The angry music hour presents...

Dedicated to the fascist, violent Mayor of Oakland, attempted murderer Jean Quan.
Be safe, Oakland...
Fuck You!
D.O.A.


POLICE RIOT IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

What is happening, right now, in Oakland, is a POLICE RIOT. The POLICE have attacked innocent citizens without provocation. In a "liberal" city, with a "liberal" mayor, In a state governed by ex Linda Ronstadt boy toy Jerry Brown, The POLICE are rioting with the support and blessing of the "liberal" cognoscenti. On orders from them. While just a few short miles to the west, Pres. Obama wines and dines the 1% at $7500.00 a plate, the goon squads of the "liberal" elite shoot rubber bullets, concussion grenades, bean bags and tear gas at the rest of us.
Ask yourself this question:  Why didn't the police every use any of these violent tactics against Teabaggers who showed up with guns to protest Barack Obama? Remember, teabaggers SHOWED UP WITH GUNS. They FLAUNTED their guns. They mumbled constantly in a threatening tones about the 2nd amendment, while their CANDIDATES ominously spoke of "2ND AMENDMENT SOLUTIONS"
No, they only do this when WE peacefully hold sit ins.  Not when conservatives show up with guns.  It's almost as if the police in all of these various cities are hoping to provoke the demonstrators into responding in kind.  (SNARK)
 I'm actually amazed they haven't.
 I would have no problem if they did.
Of course, we won't, because WE always take the high road. Through out history, violence has always BEGUN WITH THE STATE. People have never risen up in violence WITHOUT PROVOCATION. Ever. The state has always pushed the people to respond to ESCALATING BRUTALITY.
Now, ask yourself this: How long till the next "Kent State"? How long till they are "cutting us down"? Hmmm? Months? Weeks? Hours?
What is happening in the various Occupy camps across the world cannot and will not be tolerated by the elite. When people begin discussing what holds them back, en mass, together, The status quo will always lose. THEY KNOW THIS. Direct Democracy is an anathema to their system. It cannot be TOLERATED. That is why the OAKLAND POLICE FORCE is rioting like the Contras on crack tonight. That is why the people of Oakland are being given the same treatment that the CIA offered to the people of Nicaragua and El Salvador. Keep up the struggle, heroes of Oakland. You are not alone.
In Solidarity
The Match

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Dirty Fucking Hippies are Still Right...

One of the right's most juvenile criticisms of the OWS movement is that it's just a re-hash of the old hippy movement. Of course, that is not the case, and only the most intellectually vapid would parrot this drivel. But... what if that were the sum total of OWS? What if OWS consisted of nothing but old, grey haired hippies, once again taking to the streets to promote their agenda? Why would that be a problem? After all,
The Dirty Fucking Hippies Were Right!!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Today at Occupy Seattle...

Today, at Occupy Seattle, I watched as a man gave an hour long crash course in Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives, And other toxic economic scams and how they led to the collapse of the economy. I counted 76 people taking this impromptu course in economics. Think about that for a second - about 80 Americans, standing on a street corner discussing economics instead of sitting at home watching TV. That is a monumental shift. That is change you can believe in.

Friday, October 21, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

I've seen alot of video lately of cops attacking protesters - NYC, Athens, Chicago, Melbourne... and this song always comes to mind. Somewhat Ironically, this song is written about the notoriously violent Los Angeles cops, (I think) which is really the one city where occupiers have been welcomed in the USA.
Anyway, here's
Police Truck
The Dead Kennedys

BofA tries to fuck us - again

From crooksandliars, BofA is trying to dump $74 trillion in derivatives into FDIC insured accounts. Think about that for a second... $74,000,000,000,000.00 in fraud, dumped into FDIC accounts so that the corporate controlled government will "insure" the loss.


Bank of America Corp. (BAC), hit by a credit downgrade last month, has moved derivatives from its Merrill Lynch unit to a subsidiary flush with insured deposits, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation…
Bank of America’s holding company — the parent of both the retail bank and the Merrill Lynch securities unit — held almost $75 trillion of derivatives at the end of June, according to data compiled by the OCC. About $53 trillion, or 71 percent, were within Bank of America NA, according to the data, which represent the notional values of the trades.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The 99% Declaration

This is a call for a new constitutional assembly to take place July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia. Read it. Share it. This is what is needed to address the myriad of problems confronting us - mass engagement from OUTSIDE the system. The system is truly and utterly broken. It must be changed from without or it will not change.

The most wonderful time of the year...

Riot Time!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Now that is what I call progress

Yesterday, in Seattle, a reporter from The Stranger witnessed this exchange:

A cop on a bicycle, talking sincerely with a middle-aged lady in a purple fleece jacket about the crowd at Westlake: "No, it's really interesting, it's really interesting—this could be the genesis of this whole new thing, this society, that they're talking about."

Good morning!

Yesterday's global action was a huge success. From Seattle to Madrid, Tokyo to Times Square, Pepople rose up and demanded economic justice. I feel it was truly an historic day, the beginning of a true Internationale.
Here's a message to all the hater's out there, from London's Lowkey.



In Solidarity,
The Match

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Billy Bragg 
All You Fascists Are Going to Lose

The first occupy wall street protester...

Was probably Jesus, throwing the moneychangers out of the temple. Yet modern day fundamentalists worship the money changers, and deride the people trying to remove them from the temple... go figure.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

If I weren't sick...

This is the message I would take to today's GA at occupy Seattle:

Just. Move.To. City. Hall.
Right now, you are allowing yourselves to be played by the system. What is important is the occupation itself, not so much the ground upon which the occupation takes place. (Although that is important, too) You are allowing the system to create divisions and rend you apart. You are, in effect, doing their work for them. Move to city hall, put up tents and refuse to move them. Read the Los Angeles city council's three page proclamation of support to every camera. Take over the city council chamber and read it there. Make everyone aware that in LA, the mayor and the council are behind the occupation 100%
Plan an effective action for everyday. Use all those internet skills to find out about every bankers meeting, every politician coming to town, every stockholders meeting, etc. and disrupt it. then reconvene at base camp fo rthe GA and plan what to disrupt/shut down the next day. March to colleges and hold rallies about student debt. Find a family facing foreclosure and keep them from being evicted. Find a family that is being refused insurance coverage that will save a life, and occupy the insurance company offices in support. Plan actions that matter. Stop trying to get arrested just for the fuck of it. Get arrested for something that matters. (Like preventing a family from being evicted.)
Quit bickering about here, or there. Quit destroying yourselves in service of the masters.


Maybe tomorrow I'll be well enough to attend the GA, if they don't self destruct tonight.

The angry music hour presents...

Tonight's selection is from France.
La Rage
Keny Arkana

That was all we need, man, a spark...

occupy seattle cold, tired and edgy

Last night the General Assembly in Seattle voted overwhelmingly (84%) to accept the Mayor's offer of the park adjacent to City Hall, contingent on some demands. Later that night, another assembly was called, and that one voted to stay, albeit by a much less than convincing margin. My feelings are that there is not much lost by sleeping at City Hall and protesting Westlake during the day. There are excellent arguments for staying and pushing the envelope, as well. What is important is that the occupation continue, and that the movement not be fractured by internal debate. One of the lessons learned from previous horizontal, consensus based movements that debate and vote continually is that you get used to winning and you get used to losing. While all politics is personal, one must not take small defeats personally. Continue to agitate for your position when it is relevant to the zeitgeist of the moment, but be willing and able to move on in solidarity when it is time to move forward. More on yesterday's votes HERE and HERE.
In Solidarity,
The Match

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Tonight's selection is my favorite Crass song, Do They Owe Us A Living?

The living that is owed to me I'm never going to get,
They've buggered this old world up, up to their necks in dept.
They'd give you a lobotomy for something you ain't done,
They'll make you an epitomy of everything that's wrong.

Do they owe us a living?
Of course they do, of course they do.
Owe us a living?
Of course they do, of course they do.
Owe us a living?
OF COURSE THEY FUCKING DO.

A second occupation begins in Seattle

Last night, as a result of more than $1.5 million in federal cuts, SHARE/WHEEL, a local homeless center, was forced to close all 15 of it's indoor center, a loss of 300 indoor sleeping spaces. They have begun an occupation around the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation at 5th and Mercer. Story in The Stranger.

The tipping point

I am fascinated by Anonymous, and the possibilities they represent. They are masters of agit-prop.

Democracy and capitalism don't mix, part deux:

On the heels of this mornings rant, this story from counterpunch.org:

If you’re a Wall Street behemoth, there are endless opportunities to privatize profits and socialize losses beyond collecting trillions of dollars in bailouts from taxpayers. One of the ingenious methods that has remained below the public’s radar was started by the Rudy Giuliani administration in New York City in 1998. It’s called the Paid Detail Unit and it allows the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street corporations, including those repeatedly charged with crimes, to order up a flank of New York’s finest with the ease of dialing the deli for a pastrami on rye.


The corporations pay an average of $37 an hour (no medical, no pension benefit, no overtime pay) for a member of the NYPD, with gun, handcuffs and the ability to arrest. The officer is indemnified by the taxpayer, not the corporation.

New York City gets a 10 percent administrative fee on top of the $37 per hour paid to the police. The City’s 2011 budget called for $1,184,000 in Paid Detail fees, meaning private corporations were paying wages of $11.8 million to police participating in the Paid Detail Unit. The program has more than doubled in revenue to the city since 2002.
Like I said, democracy and capitalism don't mix. Capitalism and fascism, on the other hand...

Democray and capitalism don't mix

Last night in Seattle, police began using psy-ops tactics against occupiers In Westlake Center, making regular announcements to clear the park or face arrest, then not following through. These orders were apparently issued by a Lt. Nollette, without approval of the Mayor's office, or knowledge of the Mayor's office. The purpose, of course, was to disrupt the sleep of occupiers by forcing them to repeatedly link arms in defense.
In Boston, Police attacked an Occupyboston site, arresting and beating dozens of occupiers. In Des Moines, Iowa, cops arrested 40.
All of this illustrates the basic truth of a speech given by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek to Occupy Wall Street on Sunday, 10/9/11. In the speech, he commented on the illusion that capitalism and democracy are somehow intertwined: "If communism means the system which collapsed in 1990, remember that today those communists are the most efficient ruthless capitalists. In China today we have capitalism which is even more dynamic than your American capitalism but doesn’t need democracy."
Modern day capitalism is anti-democratic. It is the a quasi-hybrid  of feudalism and fascism. If the evidence for this is not yet clear to you, it will be soon enough.
In Solidarity,
The Match

Monday, October 10, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Of course, no bottle, fuel, rag day would be complete without an angry music entry.
Dead Prez
Hip Hop


What demands? We don't need no stinkin' demands...

Perhaps the most pervasive criticism of the Occupy Everything Movement is that there is no singular message or demand. This is, of course, complete and utter horse poop. The message is pretty goddamn clear to anyone willing to open their fucking ears - people are sick and fucking tired of the financial elite stealing everything, be it the wealth of nations, the tools of democracy or elections. People are finally giving voice to the frustrations they feel, and stating openly and publicly that the system is broken beyond repair. They are beginning to understand the enforced powerlessness that working within the system creates. And they have a demand - They are demanding redress of their grievances. They are demanding the future promised to them. They are demanding a future for the next generation. They are demanding power, real political power.
Now, the entrenched politicos don't see it that way, of course. They are in an absolute tizzy over the outrageousness of it all. Some of them simply don't get it at all - they are so invested in the system that anything that comes from without is simply indecipherable to them. Some, like ultra-rightist Rep. King of New York do get it, and it scares the shit out of them. He recently said, “It’s really important for us not to give any legitimacy to these people in the streets. I remember what happened in the 1960s when the left-wing took to the streets and somehow the media glorified them and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.”
One of the best analysis I have read comes from this blog, adriennemareebrown.net, specifically this post :
and in terms of the demands, it seems the central demand is to build and expand a conversation that is long overdue in this country, a conversation which doesn’t have simple cut and dry demands. we are realizing that we must become the systems we need – no government, political party or corporation is going to care for us, so we have to remember how to care for each other.

and that will take time, and commitment, a willingness to step outside of the comfort of the current and lean into the unknown, together. to listen to each other across all real and perceived divides...
the whole thing seems so utterly not produced, not micromanaged, and not acting from a place of crisis which excuses top down elitist decision making processes – not rushing itself...it feels spacious. it feels like something you can do, no matter where you are, by authentically applying yourself to the changes you wish to see.
And that, I think is a brilliant summation of the whole kit-n-kaboodle. The detractors are really crying because we are not doing 'it' the way 'it' has been done before. We are blazing a new path, and leaving the old forces, left and right, behind.
And nobody likes being left behind, so they attack the vanguard. Their mewling, however, is both impotent and immaterial. WE have forged ahead with out them, and that scares the fuck out of them. As well it should.
In Solidarity,
The Match

It's been a long, long time...

I started this blog a while back out of frustration. Frustration with the world, with the political paradigm, with the entrenched left, with my own inaction, with the lack of a cohesive voice that spoke for me. It was, and is, a cry for attention. Not for myself, but for all the like minded, the disaffected, disenfranchised and the dissed. After a bit, I fell off. I never really found the voice I was seeking, and never quite found the focus point that would make it all more than just me howling at the moon.

Then the Occupation started.

So, I'm going to try to get this little project up and running again. The focus will be the occupation movement sweeping the globe. This will be a holding cell for subversive ideas, relevant links, stories and analysis of the struggle now being engaged in the streets of America. I will twitter updates at iamthematch. I hope it is helpful to some.

OCCUPY. RESIST. PRODUCE.

In solidarity,
The Match

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The GOP is so punk rock

This pretty much sums up the opening salvo of the GOP primaries in Iowa last night.

Pretty Vacant - The Sex Pistols

Friday, June 10, 2011

What Goes Unsaid...

While our alleged media wastes endless hours and days over Palin's Revere revisionism and Anthony Wiener's wiener, important shit keeps being ignored. Among those things that shall not be discussed by the chattering classes is the fact that, thanks to Bush and Obama, it is now totally and completely legal for the executive branch to do the things that got Nixon into trouble. Thanks to Bush and Obama there is absolutely no check on the power the President wields. We now live in a defacto fascist state. Daniel Ellsberg had legal recourse - Bradley Manning does not.
There is no "freedom' anymore in the "Land of the 'Free'"

The Great Insurrection - Linton Kwesi Johnson

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Ever-Repeating Circle of History

Andrew Mellon was the Secretary of the Treasury from 1921 through 1932. With hindsight being 20/20 and all, we know that he was, in fact and deed, one of the worst, most inept and corrupt people to ever hold the post. He is the man, after all, who wrote the prescription that brought about the great depression. He was also deeply Calvinist, and advised Herbert Hoover to
"liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate… it will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people."
Also high on his list of priorities was reducing taxes on the wealthy and draconian deficit hawkery.
We know how that story ended.
Today, via Americablog, we learn that the Obama administration is quite perturbed to learn that some Democratic members of the Senate are suggesting that perhaps, just maybe, there should be some attention paid to job creation.
The Obama administration on Tuesday night might have thrown a wrench into Senate Democratic plans to pass what they see as a jobs bill — by implying the bill spends too much money.

In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House said it supports the broad goals of the bill.

"However, the bill would authorize spending levels higher than those requested by the president’s Budget, and the administration believes that the need for smart investments that help America win the future must be balanced with the need to control spending and reduce the deficit," the administration said.

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, we also know how the current round of deficit hawkery will end - with The Great Depression 2.0.

Assholes.

Anyway, here is a song.
W-4 - dead prez

Thursday, June 2, 2011

What middle class? Where?

From one of my favorite little bogs, mockpaperscissors, comes this little tidbit: Madison Ave. Declares ‘Mass Affluence’ Over Yes, Madison Ave. has read the writing on the wall and declared that only the ultra-rich have enough money to purchase things, so henceforth advertising directed at the average (former) consumer is a waste.

Also in today's media perusals I ran across this article from Forbes magazine:
How Our Largest Corporations Made $170 Billion During Great Recession And Paid No Taxes

Today, and not a moment too soon, the non-profit Citizens For Tax Justice (CTJ) has put out their findings revealing that twelve of the nations largest Fortune 500 companies, while making $170 billion in profits during the period of The Great Recession, paid an effective tax rate of negative 1.5%.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Which brings us around to today's musical selection:

Gang of Four - To Hell With Poverty

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Unreported rage sweeping Europe...

Protests are building across Europe as people become more and more disillusioned with the status quo. Not that you would hear about such things in the American 'media'.
In Spain:
Dubbed "los indignados" (the indignant), tens of thousands of demonstrators packed squares across Spain in a wave of outrage over high unemployment and government austerity measures in the runup to local and regional elections on May 22.
In Greece:

On Monday about 30 tents were laid out in Athens' central square, as part of a daily gathering that kicked off last Wednesday and which is seen less politically motivated than traditional protest rallies called on by labour unions.
"Finally, it was time we woke up from the lethargy. We feel the need to step forward, to state our disappointment, our disgust, our anger and end any kind of tolerance against all those who bear the responsibility," a movement called "The Indignant Citizens" wrote on a blog.
In France:
...riot police cleared out the Place de la Bastille on Sunday evening after hundreds of protesters gathered on the steps of a popular opera house there. Protesters estimated the turnout at over 1,000 and cited several arrests as well as some injured. Police said around 500 people had shown up.
"We started these spontaneous gatherings around 10 days ago and they are growing," said one protester, who asked not to be named. "At first we were just a few and now hundreds are showing up every day, with big spikes on the weekend.

Rebellion is good. Rebellion is necessary.  When do we rebel here? Let's hit the streets, people!

Rise - Flobots

Monday, May 30, 2011

Winter in America....

This video of activist Adam Koresh being attacked and beaten by uniformed terrorists is all over the internet right now.

In it we witness the violence of the waning days of an empire. Truly nothing justifies this ridiculous use of state sanctioned terrorism. We now live in a police state where even the most banal and pedestrian manner of protest is met with an overwhelming display of state brutality. Ironically, it all takes place at a memorial built to honor a man who once said "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."

It brought me to mind of this elegant song by the now departed American hero, Gil Scott-Heron, titled "Winter in America".

The Constitution
A noble piece of paper
With free society
Struggled but it died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
Looks like it's hoping
Hoping for some rain

And I see the robins
Perched in barren treetops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow

And now it's winter
It's winter in America
And all of the healers have been killed
Or been betrayed
Yeah, but the people know, people know
It's winter, Lord knows
It's winter in America
And ain't nobody fighting
Cause nobody knows what to save
Save your souls
From Winter in America

Friday, May 27, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Tonight we mourn the loss of one of the greatest voices of the sixties, Gil Scott Heron.

Gil Scott heron - B Movie

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

How long...

till Orly Taiz insists that Osama bin Laden was buried at sea to hide the fact that he is in reality Barak Obama's real father?
Inquiring minds wanna know.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Crass - So What?

Osama bin Laden Dead

But honestly, what does it fucking matter? Laden was never anywhere near the threat he was made out to be. He blew his wad on 9/11. A heinous day, one truly shocking and despicable act of mass murder. That was all he could accomplish. He and his merry band of fanatics were never a true, existential threat to this or any other nation. They were nothing but a convenient excuse to turn the screws and advance the right wing agenda.
His death today is nothing more than a convenient excuse to prop up the shattered credibility and sagging popularity of an irrelevant President.
I mean, good that he's dead and all, don't get me wrong. It's just, you know, yawn, whatever.
There is much more important shit happening.
Like cutting social services to feed more imperialist military adventures. Eyes on the prize and all.

Monday, March 21, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Dead Prez and The Coup - Get Up

Ain't That America...

Somethin' to see, baby

This is what's wrong with America

From Americablog,  This article shines light on ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council .
What is ALEC? It is the fountain from which flows nearly every rightwing legislative act aimed at increasing corporate power and disempowering and disenfranchising working people. In a nutshell, ALEC is a national right-wing group that writes "model" legislation for its members. Who are its members? Republican state legislators and private organizations (think ExxonMobil).
Ever get the feeling that the rash of anti-union legislation sweeping over several states is coordinated? That is because, as outlined in this NYT article, it is - coordinated, in fact, by ALEC:
A group composed of Republican state lawmakers and corporate executives, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is quietly spreading these proposals from state to state, sending e-mails about the latest efforts as well as suggested legislative language.

NPR also has an excellent article on ALEC. Quite a coincidence that NPR's funding is now on the chopping block, dontcha think?The NPR article explains how it all comes together:

Only 28 people work in ALEC's dark, quiet headquarters in Washington, D.C.  And Michael Bowman, senior director of policy, explains that the little-known organization's staff is not the ones writing the bills. The real authors are the group's members — a mix of state legislators and some of the biggest corporations in the country.
"Most of the bills are written by outside sources and companies, attorneys, [and legislative] counsels," Bowman says.
Here's how it works: ALEC is a membership organization. State legislators pay $50 a year to belong. Private corporations can join, too. The tobacco company Reynolds American Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and drug-maker Pfizer Inc. are among the members. They pay tens of thousands of dollars a year. Tax records show that corporations collectively pay as much as $6 million a year.
With that money, the 28 people in the ALEC offices throw three annual conferences. The companies get to sit around a table and write "model bills" with the state legislators, who then take them home to their states.
This, my friends, is why our 'democracy' has become a sham. You and I have absolutely no power to change it. We are not part of the process. The process is money, and we ain't got none. Read it all.
Then weep.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

the angry music hour presents...

Sly Stone was born this day, in 1943, in Denton Texas.
Everyday People/Dance To The Music Medley - Sly and The Family Stone

Monday, March 14, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

In Japan, the fourth reactor is now on fire. Partial meltdowns of reactors 2 and 3 are confirmed. The jet stream points like an arrow toward my home.
Whatcha Gonna Do? - D.O.A.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Sunday Morning Music Trivia

No time this morning for research, so enjoy this great live performance of "White Riot" by The Clash.

Things that make you go AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH

Watch this clip, courtesy of mockpaperscissors. Cringe as the fascist bobbleheads on CNBC prattle on about how the devasting earthquake in Japan, has, so far, THANK THE GODS, not had any real impact on that most important of things, the great, holy commodity markets.  Cry for humanity as Larry Kudlow makes this vile, disgusting comment:

The human toll here looks to be much worse than the economic toll and we can be grateful for that.
Assassination is too good for their ilk.

Friday, March 11, 2011

1.2 Trillion Wasted...

This article should make your teeth grind. This is what the new austerity is paying for - 1.2 Trillion in "defense" spending. This fucking country is NOT BROKE. It is awash in money, a veritable gusher of cash that pours undeservedly towards the Department of War.
Again, there is NO BUDGET CRISIS. America just prefers to spend it's vast wealth on murder.
Does that make you proud to be an American? It makes me fucking well ashamed.

The angry music hour presents...

Capital, it fails us now
Comrades, let us seize the time...
Gang of Four - Capital (It Fails Us Now)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Fascist Regime

Inside The State House, Madison, Wisconsin, 3/11/2011

The angry music hour presents...

Plus ca change, plus ca le meme chose..
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Tom Waits - Brother Can You Spare A Dime?

Fascism in action

Video of the fascist denial of basic human rights in Wisconsin:

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Dedicated to Wisconsin Governor Walker

Liar - The Sex Pistols

This is What DemocracyFascism Looks Like

The TBTB (Tea Bag Terrorist Brigade) has successfully denied unions in Wisconsin the ability to bargain collectively by removing the provision from the budget and presenting it to committee on it's own. Here's how and why: In Wisconsin, the Senate must have a quorum to vote on budgetary issues. (20 senators would constitute a quorum) There are 19 TBTB Senators and 14 Democratic Senators - this is why all 14 Democratic Senators left the state, to filibuster. The TBTB then stripped the collective bargaining clause from the budget brought it to committee and voted for it. Since there were no budget items, no quorum was needed.
As to the why:
Prior to the vote, the Associated Press reported: "Democratic Sen. Bob Jauch says he thinks Republicans plan to 'ram through' parts of the bill that take away collective bargaining rights but that don't cost any money."
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who has been in exile in Chicago, expressed his outrage to the Wisconsin State Journal. "They have been saying all along that this is a fiscal item, we've been saying it is not," said Erpenbach. "They have been lying. Their goal is to bust up the unions."
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R), the Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader,Today, on FAUX:
"If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin."
Thankfully, unions in Wisconsin are discussing a General Strike. For all of our sakes, I hope they go for it.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Repeat a lie often enough....

You have probably heard the quote "Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes truth", or some variation of it. It is usually ascribed to either Adolph  Hitler or his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, although neither of them actually said it. Goebbels accused the British of doing it in a diary entry, dated 10/16/1928 ; "The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous." . Hitler accused the Jews of doing it in Mein Kampf when he claimed there was a strategem of Jewish lies using "the principle & which is quite true in itself & that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily."
The quote is much bandied about lately, as it is fitting for the times we live in, but it got me thinking; What is so hard about repeating the truth often enough for it to be accepted? For instance, what if there were voices in the media, on the streets, around the water cooler repeating over and over this simple truth: There is no budget crisis, there is a revenue crisis. Or: The deficit is caused by tax give-aways to the wealthy. Simple, to the point, easily understood and undeniably true, yet no one in the beltway says it, certainly not President Punk Ass Bitch. Someone, somewhere, needs to start saying these things loudly and proudly.
As I contemplated this earlier today the third verse of Slip Kid by The Who kept running through my head:
Keep away old man, you won't fool me
You and your history won't rule me
You might have been a fighter, but admit you failed
I'm not affected by your blackmail
You won't blackmail me
And hence today's angry music hour. Enjoy.

The angry music hour presents...

The Who - Slip Kid

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sunday Morning Music Trivia

Well, Sunday Evening - So shoot me.  MC Solaar was born Claude M'Barali In Senegal to Chadian parents. When he was six months old his parents emigrated to France where they eventually settled in the Paris suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. He studied languages at the Jussieu university campus, and was a post-graduate in philosophy. As a rapper MC Solaar is known for his complexity, which relies on word play, lyricism, and philosophical inquiry. Critic Dan Gennoe attests to Solaar's "flow et vocabulaire" by noting "the flow of his words is staggering, as are the low-slung grooves that they roll to; deftly vaulting all language barriers." Indeed, I can't begin to translate his output, but in the end it is almost not relevant; The stunning flow itself transcends mere language. 
MC Solaar - La Vie Est Belle

Sunday, February 27, 2011

That Damn Liberal Media...

100,000 in the streets of Madison, Wisconsin. (population 235,000) Protests in support around the nation. Wisconsin police join protesters occupying state house. The lead on CNN? Two year anniversary of the fucking fascist Tea Party Terrorist Brigades. Sure makes me wanna throw a fucking brick through a fucking window.

Sunday Morning Music Trivia

Syd Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006), born Roger Keith Barrett, was  a founding member of  band Pink Floyd. He left the group in 1968 amidst speculations of mental illness exacerbated by heavy drug use. Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett's behaviour became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs, notably LSD.
There are many stories about Barrett's bizarre and intermittently psychotic behavior, some known to be true. According to Roger Waters, Barrett came into what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It, Yet?". The song seemed simple enough when he first presented it to his bandmates, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn and they eventually realized that while they were practicing it, Barrett kept changing the arrangement. He would then play it again, with the arbitrary changes, and sing "Have you got it yet?". Eventually they realized they never would and that they were simply bearing the brunt of Barrett's idiosyncratic sense of humor.

 Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett) - See Emily Play


Saturday, February 26, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

It never occurred to me before I saw this clip, but Sweet was the original Hair Band. I hope Motley Crue paid them royalties.
Sweet - Fox On the Run


Required reading: We're broke, cry the rich. Make the poor pay!!

From the Fabulous Glen Ford Of Black Agenda Report:
If Wisconsin is broke, it is because the GOP has chosen that it be so in order that multinational corporations can remain rich.”

A Theory

President Punk Ass Bitch won't, no, make that can't make a simple statement of support for the right to collective bargaining because it might call attention to the sad fact that he froze the wages of federal workers in a cynical ploy to endear himself to people who loathe his very existence. What a sorry ass piece of shit.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Outside of society/
If you're lookin', that's where you'll find me..

The Patti Smith Group - Rock n Roll Nigger

Monday, February 21, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

On this day in 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in Harlem N.Y. In his honor, The Angry Music Hour offers his famous speech "The Ballot or The Bullet" Yes, you are required to listen to the entire 53 minutes. No cheating.

Presenting Abraham Lincoln (Communist, IL)

From The Rude Pundit:
Abraham Lincoln Would Fuck Up Your Conservative Economic Ideology:
Just a quick one before taking a personal day: three quotes from the greatest great great president who's not Ronald Reagan (duh), since everyone's a-pondering what our forefathers and mothers might think of the Wisconsin uprising. These are from Abraham Lincoln, noted quorum-stopper and occasional Republican (whenever the GOP needs his corpse, they dig it up and make it dance, but otherwise, they just let him rot):

1. "I am glad to know that there is a system of labor where the laborer can strike if he wants to! I would to God that such a system prevailed all over the world." - From a speech on March 5, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, regarding a shoemaker's strike (which, believe it or not, involved 20,000 shoemakers who were not, apparently, elves).

2. "Inasmuch as most good things are produced by labor, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labor has produced them. But it has so happened, in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have without labor enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a worthy object of any good government." - From his notes about tariff policy, scribbled down on December 1, 1847.

3. "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits." - From his 1861 State of the Union address, decrying "the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of government."

Hey, patriots, on this Presidents' Day, suck on those stovepipe hats.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

More Required Reading

Robert Reich:

Last year, America’s top thirteen hedge-fund managers earned an average of $1 billion each. One of them took home $5 billion. Much of their income is taxed as capital gains – at 15 percent – due to a tax loophole that Republican members of Congress have steadfastly guarded.
If the earnings of those thirteen hedge-fund managers were taxed as ordinary income, the revenues generated would pay the salaries and benefits of 300,000 teachers. Who is more valuable to our society – thirteen hedge-fund managers or 300,000 teachers? Let’s make the question even simpler. Who is more valuable: One hedge fund manager or one teacher?

Deep Thought

If people are in the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, fighting for basic labor rights, shouldn't our allegedly socialist, Kenyan usurper be, like, I don't know, leading the charge or something? I mean, if he was a socialist or, heck, even a member of the Democratic party, he would.

Sunday Morning Music Trivia

French Legend Jacques Dutronc has been making music as long as I have been alive. Of his music from the 60's, All Music Guide said, "Dutronc's early hits were rough but clever exercises in European garage rock, with Dutronc and his band laying out a simple, tough vamp as he sneered his witty, pointed lyrics about a life lived amidst the chaos of the '60s with all the sweet venom he could muster... like Dutronc's role models Bob Dylan and Ray Davies, he could write melodies strong enough to work even without their excellent lyrics, and his band had more than enough energy to make them fly (and the imagination to move with the musical times as psychedelia and hard rock entered the picture at the end of the decade)" He is also known in France for his long and varied acting career. Here he sings cuttingly about political opportunism in the 60's:
Je suis pour le communisme, 
je suis pour le socialisme
Et pour le capitalisme 
parce que je suis opportuniste.
Jacques Dutronc - L'Opportuniste

Some Light Reading

As the War On Working People heats up, it is essential one stays informed.
"First Amendment Remedies" sums up how working people are taking back their constitutional rights
"America the Baroque" examines similarities between modern America and 17th century Spain
"Bringing Home 150 Troops" puts Wisconsin's budget "crisis" in perspective vis a vis how much we waste daily in Afghanistan
"12 Things You Need To Know" lays out the lies surrounding Wisconsin's ginned up faux budget crisis.
"Egypt, Wisconsin and the Future of  Democracy" lays out the a global perspective.
Truthout has an article on the upcoming protests planned for February 26th
How to plan a "U.S. Uncut action on the 26th, from The Nation 
 Governor Scott's wingnut history is long and well documented

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Gil Scott-Heron: Home is Where the Hatred is.
Perhaps the most direct condemnation of heroin ever recorded.
home is where i live inside my white powder dreams
home was once an empty vacuum that's filled now with my silent screams
home is where the needle marks
try to heal my broken heart
and it might not be such a bad idea if i never, if i never went home again

Can we get some justice up in this bitch?

Not only has he "forgotten" to claim his wife's income for TWENTY STRAIGHT YEARS, (quite an omission for someone who supposedly is an expert on the law), he did not recuse himself from the Citizen United case even though they spent $100,000 campaigning for his nomination to the Supreme Court.
I-M-P-E-A-C-H the bastard already. Sheesh.

Socialist Job Creation

Imagine, if you can, for a moment, "your" government actually helping people start their own businesses. Now try to stop laughing.

To the unemployed, sick, disabled and poor:

A suicide letter from the American underclass.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Thoughts on Egypt

Remember when white folks in Eastern Europe took to the streets and the President was all like, "Tear this wall down!" ? Don't seem to hear the same sort of rhetoric when it's brown folks in the streets.
Jared Ball of Black Agenda Report sums up the hypocrisy nicely in this piece.

Perhaps all the silence relates back to Obama’s continued Reagan-like behavior and what this means for the Left in this country. If Obama is only slightly better than Reagan on foreign policy but just as bad as Reagan domestically then all of his supporters have a real river of hypocrisy to cross. His policies on education, taxes, war and the poor look a lot like the Ronnie Ray-Gun policies we once knew were no good. His extension of the Patriot Act, Today's Counter Intelligence Program, seems eerily familiar too. And until he does so Obama is like Reagan in having pardoned no political prisoner. Maybe that is the dilemma. Having to discuss the real Ronald Reagan might also mean having to discuss the real Barack Obama.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

This has always been one of my favorite Iggy songs, and this is a great live performance from Manchester, circa 1977. Enjoy.
Iggy Pop - The Passenger

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Mubarak family stole 70 billion?

The Guardian reports that the Mubaraks may have up to $70, 000, 000, 000 squirreled away. Makes me wonder how much the Bush's managed to steal...

Sunday Morning Music Trivia

Formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975, after the breakup of Rocket From the Tombs, (Other members of RFTT went on to become The Dead Boys) Pere Ubu was at the forefront of the punk rock / new wave movement. Taking their name from a character in a French play, (Roi Ubu by Alfred Jarry), Pere Ubu created an eclectic, revolutionary sound they called "Avant-Garage". Lead singer David Thomas says the term was "a joke invented to have something to give journalists when they yelp for a neat soundbite or pidgeonhole."
Of their second single, "Final Solution" (backed with "Cloud 149"), one scribe wrote that Ubu's "call for a 'final solution' was the cry of teen angst run down in the decaying rust belt of America, and unlike the British punks who were looking around England the same year, seeing no future, and hating what they saw, Ubu reveled in it." (They would rarely perform this song after some listeners misinterpreted it as being associated with the Nazi final solution.)

Pere Ubu: Final Solution

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Angry Music Hour Presents...

For the people of Tahrir Square, Soobax by K'naan. Soobax translates as "come out". A translation of the chorus:
Dadkii waa dhibtee nagala soobax:

(Translation- you have exasperated the people so come out with it.)

Dhibkii waa batee nagla soobax:

(Translation - The troubles have increased so come out with it.)

Dhiigi waad qubtee nagala soobax:

(Translation- you've spilled the blood so that it drains on the Roads, so come out with it.)

Dhulkii waad gubtee nagala soobax:

(Translation-You've burnt the root of the earth, so come out with it.)


More Required Reading

The Arab World is On Fire - Noam Chomsky, via Truthout:

Observers compared the events to the toppling of Russian domains in 1989, but there are important differences.
Crucially, no Mikhail Gorbachev exists among the great powers that support the Arab dictators. Rather, Washington and its allies keep to the well-established principle that democracy is acceptable only insofar as it conforms to strategic and economic objectives: fine in enemy territory (up to a point), but not in our backyard, please, unless it is properly tamed.
One 1989 comparison has some validity: Romania, where Washington maintained its support for Nicolae Ceausescu, the most vicious of the East European dictators, until the allegiance became untenable. Then Washington hailed his overthrow while the past was erased.
 and this:

A common refrain among pundits is that fear of radical Islam requires (reluctant) opposition to democracy on pragmatic grounds. While not without some merit, the formulation is misleading. The general threat has always been independence. In the Arab world, the U.S. and its allies have regularly supported radical Islamists, sometimes to prevent the threat of secular nationalism.
A familiar example is Saudi Arabia, the ideological center of radical Islam (and of Islamic terror). Another in a long list is Zia ul-Haq, the most brutal of Pakistan’s dictators and President Reagan’s favorite, who carried out a program of radical Islamization (with Saudi funding).

Required reading

Why Mubarak is Out From the article:
Many international media commentators – and some academic and political analysts – are having a hard time understanding the complexity of forces driving and responding to these momentous events. This confusion is driven by the binary “good guys versus bad guys” lenses most use to view this uprising. Such perspectives obscure more than they illuminate. There are three prominent binary models out there and each one carries its own baggage:  (1) People versus Dictatorship: This perspective leads to liberal naïveté and confusion about the active role of military and elites in this uprising. (2) Seculars versus Islamists: This model leads to a 1980s-style call for “stability” and Islamophobic fears about the containment of the supposedly extremist “Arab street.” Or, (3) Old Guard versus Frustrated Youth: This lens imposes a 1960s-style romance on the protests but cannot begin to explain the structural and institutional dynamics driving the uprising, nor account for the key roles played by many 70-year-old Nasser-era figures.

The situation deteriorates in Egypt

The elation I felt last week as the masses took to the streets in Egypt has slowly turned to dread and apprehension as covert government forces brutally attack and murder people in the streets. Yesterday I watched as undercover police posing as counter-demonstrators charged into crowds on horseback and camelback, armed with clubs and machetes. Journalists were hunted down and beaten. Today, Journalists are being rounded up and arrested. Something is planned, and the security apparatus is trying to make sure we don't witness it. I just watched video of a police van plowing into a crowd of people - it is too disturbing to share.
There was no violence when the people took to the streets. None. The only violence is being perpetrated by the state. Until the violent acts of 'pro-government' thugs, what transpired was what always transpires when the masses reach the tipping point - They mass and become empowered by their numbers. Each one has a cathartic revelation - "I am not alone!" The state has a cathartic revelation as well, when it becomes apparent that the people have realized that they can organize and speak with a common voice.
What has been uncorked in the Middle East can not be contained. Indeed, it has already spread across the region. But these are brutal regimes, more brutal than the former Eastern Bloc, and they will most likely die a very violent death. I hope the forces of democracy will prevail over those of Theocracy and repression.
My fingers are crossed. There is not much else I can do.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

Apparently, "map of Tasmania' is Australian slang for pubic hair. Now that you know that, this song will make sense.
Amanda Palmer - Map Of Tasmania

I'm sure this is all quite unrelated...

In Tennessee: 
The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.” (May I point out that the plural of 'curriculum' is 'curricula', you fucking stupid teabaggers.)
In Washington:
A backpack bomb with the potential of killing or injuring dozens of people was found Monday along the route of a Martin Luther King Day “unity march” in downtown Spokane, Wash., authorities said today.
“It was a device that clearly was intended to harm or kill people,’’said Frank Harrill, a senior FBI agent and spokesman for the bureau’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force.
In The Confederacy: 
Every year, the doors of the state Capitol bear notices that offices will be closed the third Monday of January to honor Dr. King and Gen. Lee. Arkansas is one of three states to commemorate both men with a state holiday. The others are Alabama and Mississippi.
In Alabama:
''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters," he (Governor Bentley) said. "So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister." 
(This teabagging sack of shit had the nerve to deliver this repulsive missive from Martin Luther King's pulpit )

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Monday, January 10, 2011

Yes, Virginia, rhetoric leads to violence

The punditocracy is all a flutter, trying to assure anyone who will listen that Saturday's massacre in Tuscon is the act of a lone lunatic, and is certainly not in the least bit connected to the rise of right wing hate radio and the mainstreaming of paranoid conspiracy theories, militarism, birtherism and end-of-America-sharia-law-is-imminent poppycock that is the staple of Faux News.
Please.
We all witnessed with our own eyes the insane spectacle of spittle flecked middle aged white folks screaming that health care was a socialist plot to kill Granny. We all witnessed them bring guns to campaign rallies to intimidate anyone to the left of Atilla the Hun. We all witnessed with our own eyes their violent actions at town hall meetings, we watched them stomp heads in Kentucky... David Neiwert puts together a long list of recent right wing violence here.
Here in Washington State the owner of Ruby Ridge Dairy, Dick Bengen, is so lost in the violent rhetoric of the right that instead of dealing honestly with the employees he has abused and cheated for years, he chooses instead to threaten them with a rifle for daring to assert their human right to organize a union.
None of this is particularly new. The right has always responded violently towards the prospect of progress.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

We're all Rwandans now?

Compare and contrast American media today with this paragraph about media propaganda in Rwanda leading up to the genocide in 1994:

...the news media played a crucial role in the genocide; local print and radio media fueled the killings while the international media either ignored or seriously misconstrued events on the ground. The print media in Rwanda is believed to have started hate speech against Tutsis, which was later continued by radio stations. According to commentators, anti-Tutsi hate speech "...became so systemic as to seem the norm." The state-owned newspaper Kangura had a central role, starting an anti-Tutsi and anti-RPF campaign in October 1990. In the ongoing International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the individuals behind Kangura have been accused of producing leaflets in 1992 picturing a machete and asking "What shall we do to complete the social revolution of 1959?" – a reference to the Hutu revolt that overthrew the Tutsi monarchy and the subsequent politically orchestrated communal violence that resulted in thousands of mostly Tutsi casualties and forced roughly 300,000 Tutsis to flee to neighboring Burundi and Uganda.

The parallels are, of course, obvious, and no, there is no equivalency, and any attempt to draw false equivalencies between left and right in this matter is intellectually dishonest at best. The 24/7 drumbeat of lies, distortions and hateful and eliminationist rhetoric that pours forth daily from Faux News has no equivalent outside Rwanda and Nazi Germany. And yesterday Roger Ailes reaped his reward - five dead, including a nine year old girl.  Of course, attempts will be made to place the shooter on the left end of the spectrum, but again those attempts reek of intellectual dishonesty. The blame for this lays squarely with the American right - nowhere else.

Sunday Morning Music Trivia

Cockney Rebel was formed in London in 1972. Almost from the beginning the bands lead singer, Steve Harley, alienated the press and his fellow band mates with his relentless self-aggrandizement. In 1974 they did their one and only UK tour, after which the tensions in the band tore it apart. Re-emerging as "Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel", Steve Harley achieved his greatest success with this surprisingly bitter send off to his former band mates. Here he performs "Come Up And See Me" with studio musicians on TOTP in 1975. Enjoy.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

The angry music hour presents...

K'naan - Kick Push
The world is singing in a new voice - America does not understand. Pity.


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Lessons from Europe

In Europe, Austerity measures have been met, righteously, by large protests and direct resistance under this simple banner:  "We Won't Pay For Your Crisis" . Why can't the American left come up with simple, to the point messaging like that? It really isn't rocket science.
God, I wish I lived there instead of here in the belly of the dying beast.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

There is nothing wrong with Social Security - nothing.

The attacks on Social Security are premised on three massive lies.
1) Baby boomers will bankrupt the system:
Bullshit. Reforms undertaken during the Reagan Administration solved this potential problem. Here are the numbers to prove it. Yes, there will be a problem several decades down the road if some reforms are not taken again. What is being discussed now is not reform, but the destruction of the most successful program in the history of the nation to further enrich the wealthiest people on the planet. DON'T FALL FOR IT.
2) There is no Social Security Trust Fund:
Bullshit. From the SSA.gov FAQ:
Far from being "worthless IOUs," the investments held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U. S. Government. The government has always repaid Social Security, with interest. The special-issue securities are, therefore, just as safe as U.S. Savings Bonds or other financial instruments of the Federal government.

Remember back when people used to buy savings bands for their kids? Same thing. Social Security surpluses are safe, as in safely out of the hands of the investor class who desperately wants to get their criminal hands on OUR money. DON'T FALL FOR IT.

3) Means-testing benefits does no harm to Social Security:
Bullshit. Social Security is an insurance program. We all pay into it, and we all get to draw from it when we are old, or disabled, or orphaned, etc. IT IS NOT A WELFARE PROGRAM.  Everyone is entitled to draw from it. Means testing removes this objective standard and replaces it with a subjective one. DON'T FALL FOR IT.
And if anyone repeats any of these lies to your face, PUNCH THEM. No seriously. Anyone who repeats any of this unmitigated, fascist bullshit to your face is no different then a thief in your home. Second amendment and all that. 
The Match 

Where to begin...

It's a new year. Over my short break the outrages piled up so high I simply don't know where to start. It is obvious that the main theme for the media this year will be the coming austerity. Working people need to suck it up and pay for the crimes of the oligarchy by giving up unions, benefits, living wages, unemployment insurance, social security... ugly shit is in the works. I'll do my best to keep up with it. In the mean time, T-Rex, Children of the Revolution: