When the crisis hit Haitai, it was non-stop news. I know that they are our neighbors. I know thay are very poor. I know we screwed them over many times. But heck, the axis of the earth changed in Chile. People are strarving there. Yes they are a wealthy country, but man they need help. So tell me, what’s happening in the city that we can all do our thing and help them out? Do you want me to put something together. I could be ingnorant, point me that way!
Archive for the ‘Violence’ category
So, what’s up with Chile?
March 3rd, 2010Even Stranger Video of the Day: Michael Jackson Impersonator Kicks Repo Man in the ‘taint
July 2nd, 2009Repo man is kicked in the taint by a Michael Jackson impersonator. Never thought I’d write that sentence. (h/t jalopnik)
Just Yikes
June 18th, 2009
Zzzzz
I was out for most of the day running errands and getting ready for my trip to San Francisco tomorrow and enjoying another (really hot) day in Madrid. It was wonderful. I signed the lease for my new apartment, which is located a stone’s throw from the Royal Palace (the biggest in Europe – the Palace, not my apartment) and came home to walk the dog and clean the house.
I quickly fired up the ol’ Mac and took a swing around the intertubes and I gotta tell ya, sometimes you just need to take a break. In fifteen minutes I read:
- Barney Franks doesn’t think the DOJ DOMA brief was so bad
- Bush’s NSA spied (accidently) on Bill Clinton
- Holder will not prosecute domestic spying violations
- Bush spoke out against Obama on Gitmo
- There now appears that a pro-choice nominee for a sub-cabinet position was successfully filibustered (not really, just threatened – nowadays you just need to say there might be a filibuster) by the Republicans because she is pro-choice
- There is now a permanent 60 vote supermajority needed for EVERYTHING in the US Senate/snark
- The public health care option is hanging by a thread because it doesn’t have 60 votes
- The Republicans are going to carry out their own Iran policy
- North Korea is planning on firing a missile towards Hawaii
- Convicts have no right to DNA tests
- and PETA is very upset that the president killed a fly.
Had enough? I’m going for a walk and taking a break. Sometimes you just have to disconnect.
See you from SF.
Cautious Support for the Iranians in the Streets
June 15th, 2009
Initially it seemed almost impossible to find much on traditional media about the Iran elections. Facebook, twitter, and the like were the most common forms of information leaking out into the world. We’ve heard terrifying, hopeful, real, and unreal bits and pieces. Some of the blogs are outright breathless with coverage now.
The scenes are incredible. That there were somewhere between 1 and 3 million people marching illegally against the results is simply amazing. There seems to be a bit of a civil war happening in the upper echelons of the religious leadership.
Salon has a great story on how the marches are less about the elections or the candidates and more about the current Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His grip on power seems to be in question.
What do we do from the outside? We don’t have all the facts. Are the terrible scenes we are seeing parts of Tehran and the rest of the country is more indifferent? I am wearing green today. I am choosing to lend whatever support I can. I believe Iran is the most Western affiliated country culturally in that part of the world (Israel excepted). I have no idea what a change would bring.
I have been disappointed by hope for change a lot lately. But I also have chosen not to lose my capacity to still hold on to it.
Tweeting from Iran
June 15th, 2009- myfreedomfirst I think Americans need to call their congressmen and senators. Get them to condemn this brutality #IranElection#TCOT
KellyJaye RT @jeffersondewitt: RT @arashpour: Iranian literally beaten to death by guards: http://bit.ly/14fWUX #iranelection
guardianangel08 Ugh!I feel so helpless,i wish there was more i could do. #IranElection
adreier RT @IranElection09 Is this hopeless? We’re up against a vicious enemy that has no boundaries, that has weaponry… God help us #iranelection
do_re_mi RT @Change_for_Iran Reza is looking very bad & they will shoot at us again if we try to leave here. #iranelection
efleischer RT @change_for_iran Reza is looking very bad & they will shoot at us again if we try to leave here. #iranelection
geekygirl602 RT @thehuffpost: http://HUFFPO.ST/cgV have to say I am shocked by news that the EU has already accepted Ahmadinejad’s victory #iranelection
neysn RT @mideastyouth @Kawdess @Elizrael @Gita@Mynumberone1988 Song for Iranian Students: ♫http://twt.fm/159275 #IranElection
charlesbarry RT @heretec Actual Iran election results- leaked by Interior Ministry today: Mousavi 48% Karroubi 28% Ahmadinejad 13% #iranelection
sd913 RT @craignewmark: RT @dlayphoto: @craignewmarkPlease wear green on Monday for freedom in Iran. #IranElection#NewIran #weargreen
pozasalon @theobserver -The Iranian Twitter revolution – this is happens when 70% of your population is under 30. #iranelection
gransome RT @rosietypewriter @oxfordgirl Channel4 coverage quite excellent http://bit.ly/StnOu #iranelection
CaliDeals RT @PatrickRuffini The message from here to you in Iran: We’re with you. DON’T STOP until the dictator is gone#iranelection #weargreen
JoshSkolnick RT @rkref: RT @thehuffpost: http://HUFFPO.ST/cgVshocked by news that the EU has already accepted Ahmadinejad’s victory #iranelection
sowhatquestion RT: @paladine: Dr’s needed ! RT@Change_for_Iran Reza is looking very bad & they will shoot @ us again if we try to leave #iranelection
silencednomore just rec’d call from family members on cel in Tehran – thank God, all are safe for now #iranelection@iranrevolution
charlesdowd twitter users tweeting live from #Iranelectionbloodbath. follow them 4 unfiltered live news @Change_for_Iran@persiankiwi
theholymoments Catsparrow http://twitpic.com/7c85l this is an amazing photo. What a brave lady. #iranelection
zendegy We shoud keep #iranelection top of the Trending Topics list, Twitter is the only thing they have left #iranelectionPLEASE RT (via @twazzup)
waanderlust RT @rtorres America to wear green tomorrow for freedom in Iran. Retweet please. everyone needs to see this.#Iranelection
What is happening in Iran?
June 15th, 2009
The Flag of Iran
It is hard to get a clear sense of what is happening in Iran, especially outside of Tehran. The BBC, among others have been ordered out of the country. It appears that the US media is not covering this with the blanket coverage that much of the rest of world is providing. The exception, perhaps being Al-Jazeera, who may be representing fears in other countries of popular uprisings.
Andrew Sullivan is giving stellar coverage of what is happening, and I recommend you check him out. Andrew notes that the EU has oddly seemed to recognize the election as legitimate in the substantial part and that Newsweek seems to report the results as if there is little to question. There are reports that the losing party was told initially that they had won. El Pais reports on the “sons of the revolution, ” reminding us that 70% of the country is under 30 years of age, and that they want change
Meanwhile, rioting, protesting, and amazing statements continue to come from around Iran. It appears that the regime itself is in some turmoil and that there are statements from the election council itself, as well as former revolutionary leaders, questioning the legitimacy of the vote. Some are comparing this to Tiananman Square. I fear that just like there, we will see that the army will crush the dissenters. None of us have any idea where this is leading or what this might mean for US policies in the Middle East.
It seems that the extreme right wing of the US is supporting or at a minimum hoping for a win by the ruling regime, so as to bolster their hope for a bombing of Iran.
Joan Walsh vs. Bill O’Really? (yes, cleverly spelled incorrectly).
June 14th, 2009
Salon's Joan Walsh
Joan Walsh of Salon has a great meta blog post about why she decided to go on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News. She also updates following the broadcast, and does a good job exploring her mindset in making the choice.
Joan, I love you, but you shouldn’t have done it.
Well, it was so not fine. I think the high or low point was when he shrieked at me, “You have blood on your hands!” At one point he also either told me to “Shut up” or “Be quiet,” I can’t remember. (If I’m wrong about that, when I see the clip, I’ll correct it. UPDATE: Actually, he shouted “Stop talking!”) He called me “vile.” I think I said he was vile, too. There were a couple of “I know you are but what am I?” moments that I’m not totally proud of. It was a kaleidoscopic nightmare, a TV acid trip, and I don’t do acid. It almost seems like O’Reilly does, but I don’t think so. The man is driven by demons. God bless him and save him.
I have been on Fox News broadcasts several times during the initial Winter of Love in San Francisco, when Gavin Newsom started the marriage-go-round in the City by the Bay. Mostly, I appeared on their “news” segments, but I did also do Fox and Friends and a few other programs. I got on their index card and they would call from time to time. One of the times I went on I thought was one of the worst things I’d ever done professionally. A producer (an older, and I’m sure gay, man) told me I held my own well, but it was really said in that way a father tells his son that he took a really good swing on that final strike out.
One show that invited me on was the O’Reilly Factor. This was not related to the weddings at the time, but was some time later, and I can’t remember what. As Joan says, the producers couldn’t have been nicer. I told them I would call them back. I talked to my friends, especially those who don’t do any media, and they all smartly said, “are you crazy?!”
By the time I called back to decline, they had already moved on to someone else. I never regretted the decision. You can’t win in those situations. I’ve done conservative radio programs and some television where the odds are against you, but O’Reilly really is a set up. The only other person I turned down for similar reasons was Laura Ingraham, who’s producers kindly assured me that she was supportive, she had a gay brother. There was nothing to fear. Nope. There are a group of extremists out there that you just can’t talk to.
Joan, good try. I think you are great, and I love watching you on the shows you do. But this one, you should have sat out.
Iranian Election Protests
June 14th, 2009
Hossein Mousavi
US media does not seem to be covering this as closely as it is being covered elsewhere. It seems like an enormous news story with which we have no idea the evential outcome. What should US policy and statement be at this time? Best for us to shut up awhile, I think, so as not to be seen as interfering ad thus strengthening the current regime. This potentially unsettles the middle east even more than before, and could potentially increase the likelihood of Israeli attacks on Iran, or other unforeseen actions.
Video from the UK’s Channel Four:
American Extremism
June 10th, 2009On one occasion we have a religious zealot anointing the doors of the Senate hearing room in which the Sotomayor hearing will be held. Secondly, we here about a shooting at the Washington, DC Holocaust Museum.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
