Help Fight Telecom Immunity for Gross Violations of Your Fundamental Rights

Re-shaping reality is easier and more fun than you may have imagined.

Pls call all your congressional reps NOW and tell them they are NOT authorized to waive your Constitutional rights to be free from governmental searches without probable cause (see here or here for more details).

You can find your reps' contact info here (which link will, by the way, always be available on the sidebar of this blog at left).

Here's a script (don't forget to delete the superfluous quote marks; and feel free to customize):

"I object to any abrogation of the liability of the telecoms for their collaboration with the Bush administration in violating my Constitutional rights.

"As you know, the indiscriminate, warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens began BEFORE 9-11.

"As you also know, the U.S. Constitution is supposed to PROTECT me from searches and seizures not supported by an oath or affirmation "particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized." The government is NOT allowed to go on fishing expeditions indiscriminately violating my privacy for purposes that may or may not be in my best interests.

"If telecoms are given immunity for these flagrant violations of my rights, there's no limit to what may be asked of them by this or future administrations. Moreover, immunity will make it more difficult to investigate and hold accountable those in the Bush administration responsible for this abuse.

"Please honor your oath of office by protecting my Constitutional rights against this and every other attempted incursion."

Cool Science Toy

Designed by Emil Ernerfeldt for supervisor Kenneth Bodin, HPC2N/VRlab, Umeå University, Sweden, to allow kids to create their own educational toys.

You can download the program for free here. (Sorry, it only works on PC's and Linux machines now, though a Mac version is in the works.) As a starter tip, turn gravity off when you’re attaching stuff to the background (right click after selecting “affix” tool).

(Thanks, Ben!)

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.