Max Yasgur & Jimi Hendrix, 1969

The best in us keeps trying to come out. But since power (temptation) corrupts, the best often comes from the unpowerful.

[Update: the video originally posted below, which included both Yasgur's speech and Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner," has been removed; I've replaced it with the two videos below.]

Newsflash! Traditional News Media Losing Audience

. . . because they stopped reporting news.

Per Reuters, "[n]early 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news, according to a new survey.

"While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities . . . "

Half-A**ed Attempt to Make up for Recent Shortage of Images

Both from the NASA image gallery. The second image is of Mercury, the planet closest to our Sun, named for the god of communication.

Love Me Some Barack

I'm sorry, but is this as funny as I think it is . . .

Love Me Some Barack
(To the tune of: Loves Me Like A Rock by Paul Simon)

When the OxyContin Kid
Plays the Obama/Osama game
I say that’s voodoo, voodoo for stupid people
But the time has passed for ploys
Charlatans and other liars
Obama this country, this country
You give the hope it needs, so help me
Oh I love me some Barack
I love me some Barack Obama, yeah love me

Then that silly child Ann
Went and attacked your middle name
I say that’s voodoo, voodoo for stupid people
I smell desperation’s plans
Exercises in futility
Obama this country, this country
You give the hope it needs, so help me
Oh I love me some Barack
I love me some Barack Obama, yeah love me

(It goes on; more here. SalmonChantedEvening, for babylonsister.)

Where "Trickle-Down" Works

I've seen no credible evidence that trickle-down tax policies ever benefitted anyone other than the rich. After all, it's human nature that those who have will tend to try to keep.

But "trickle-down" may in fact work, though in a whole 'nother context -- that of moral behavior.

Per the Inter Press Service, "U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to descend on Washington from Mar. 13-16 [2008] to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in those countries.

* * *

"Iraq Veterans Against the War argues that well-publicized incidents of U.S. brutality like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the massacre of an entire family of Iraqis in the town of Haditha are not the isolated incidents perpetrated by 'a few bad apples,' as many politicians and military leaders have claimed. They are part of a pattern, the group says, of 'an increasingly bloody occupation.'

"'The problem . . . is that policymakers in leadership have set a precedent of lawlessness where we don't abide by the rule of law, we don't respect international treaties, so when that atmosphere exists it lends itself to criminal activity,' argues former U.S. Army Sergeant Logan Laituri, who served a tour in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 . . . "

After all, it's human nature that if our bosses behave like criminals, we should infer that maybe that's how we need to behave.

Primary Voting 101 -- Pls Share This

It's easy, it's fun; here's what you need to know.

In Texas and some other states, we're having primary elections this Tues., March 4. This year for the first time in decades, the TX primary actually matters for Dems.

If you haven't decided who to vote for, or maybe even if you have, pls see my previous posts, esp. Litmus Test #1.

The drill varies depending on your location, but in TX, any registered voter can vote in the primary.

The following info is for Dallas County, TX. You can find your polling place (your place to vote) here (Dems) or here (Repubs). (Find your precinct number on your voter registration card.)

If you're not already registered, you can get a registration form from any U.S. Post Office, among other places. If you're not already registered, just go ahead and get that done now, even if it's too late for this primary. Like most things in life, better late than never.

If you're not sure whether you're registered or just want to confirm you haven't been kicked off the roles (legally or otherwise), go to canivote.org (this site is maintained by an association of Secs. of various States, so I believe it should work for states other than TX). I wouldn't assume it's foolproof, but it's better than nothing. (Lately, provisional ballots have seemed to have a way of not being counted.) In Dallas County, you can also check here.

In TX, once you vote in one party's primary, your registration card will be stamped to show it, so you won't be able to vote in the other.

Different political parties in different locations have different rules re- primary voting. In the Dem primary in TX, there's a two-step process, and the second step allocates 1/3 - 1/4 (I've seen both numbers) of the delegates; so if you're avid for your candidate, go on and vote in the regular way, and then for the second step, go back to your polling place at 7:15 pm and sign in under your candidate's name. You don't need to stay for the rest of the proceedings unless you want to participate in the selection of the individual delegates to the national convention.

Litmus Test #2: Will You or Will You Not Re-Institute the Draft

We should demand that each candidate answer: Would you, under any conditions, re-institute the draft? If so, under what conditions? And what's your current best guess as to the soonest those conditions might materialize?

(We should also insist on the candidates' detailed positions on election reform and media reform, including real net neutrality.)

Litmus Test #1: Did You or Did You Not Authorize the Invasion of Iraq?

I used to think, ok, Bush lied to Congress as he lied to us all. But it's no longer plausible to me that any D.C. insider could have been so hoodwinked -- esp. not Clinton, with her years of "experience."

As I pointed out in a previous post, the point was NOT whether or not Hussein had WMD's (though it turned out he didn't). The critical issue was, was the threat that he'd use them against us not only so real but also so imminent that we could not even afford to give the U.N. inspectors a few more weeks to complete their work?

There was never any credible evidence that Hussein would have the capability or desire to attack the U.S. with WMD's any time soon.

I saw through the lies: how can I, why should I rely on anyone who, at closer range, failed to do so -- or who chose to hope they wouldn't be held accountable for a bad faith vote on such a crucial matter?

Obama was not my first choice. But Clinton, for whatever reason, got the Iraq war wrong, while Obama got it right. I can't get over that.