In his acceptance speech last night Sean Penn mentioned the "signs of hatred" he passed on the way into the Academy Awards. He was referring specifically to Shirley Phelps Roper and the rest of her "God Hates Fags" brethren from the Westboro Baptist Church. Since I didn't have a ticket to get into the awards ceremony I spent a bit of time interviewing Shirley Phelps Roper. Note that many of my questions were culled from the comments section of a video I posted last year of Shirley Phelps Roper also from outside of the Academy Awards.
NOTE: There are some really entertaining parts if you can stand to make it through the entire video!
The above video (1:09) has 2.5 million views on YouTube in the last month which makes it one of the most popular videos to ever come out of the UK. And while the short ad is ultimately a public service announcement warning drivers to watch out for bicyclists, it evidences important shortcomings in the human brain. Specifically, there is much in life that we miss or get wrong and yet remain convinced of our correctness.
For example, the brain often plays similar tricks on us when it comes to eyewitness identification during crimes and then at criminal trials. Every year an estimated 77,000 people become criminal defendants after being identified by a witness. Further, studies have shown that juries convict at a far greater rate (68%) with eyewitness testimony than without (18%). Legal experts note that next to a smoking gun, “nothing carries as much weight with a jury as the testimony of an actual witness.”
The above numbers are highly problematic when, contrary to conventional wisdom, studies show error rates as high as 50% when people are asked to identify people they saw for a relatively short period of time. Worse, wrongful identification skyrockets (70% in one study) when people are asked to identify a person of a different race.
Scientific experiments involving brain scans have provided some answers to why this occurs. White people, for starters, tend to “look at someone's hair and eye color” which is “not very helpful if they're being asked to distinguish amongst black people or Asians” where “hair color and eye color really don't vary too much”, says one Stanford scientist.
The real world consequences of this are devastating. According to the Innocence Project, 75% of convictions overturned through DNA testing involve eyewitness misidentification. And thousands of innocent people like Julius Earl Ruffin (middle), who spent 21 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, are incarcerated every year because of faulty eyewitness testimony.
So the next time one sits on a jury or, god forbid, witnesses a crime, remember the video above and that things are not always as they seem.
The Justice Department wants to keep a registry of all porn stars. This is absurd. More absurd is the conservative talk radio host, John DePetro, who MSNBC's Dan Abrams pits against adult film star Ron Jeremy to discuss the issue. The guy comes off as a sleazy, pervert, hypocrite. In other words, just like a conservative talk radio host.
And while one would think it difficult to out sleaze a man that has appeared in 1900 adult films, DePetro does so with relative ease. As such, I couldn't help but mashup his ridiculous comments at the end of the clip.
One hopes that with all the money the wealthiest 0.6% of Americans - who received 75% of $92 Billion in savings from Bush's generous tax policies on capital gains and dividends in 2005 - were able to get themselves a sweet second or third yacht. Of course, this is a double whammy for the other 99.4% of us who not only didn't see much benefit from Bush's tax cuts but now share in the responsibility of making up those lost revenues to the government. Some more fun stats from Citizens for Tax Justice:
*Half of all tax filers (67 million Americans) reported an adjusted gross income of less than $30,000 and received virtually NONE of the benefits from the tax cuts.
*0.6% reported incomes greater than $500,000 and received tax deductions averaging $81,204 and accounted for 73.4% of the total tax savings.
*13,776 tax filers with gross incomes greater than $10 million or 0.1% of all filers, received 28.2% of the total benefits averaging $1,876,280 each!!!!!
*The number of Americans living in extreme poverty has grown 26% since 2000. In all, 37 million Americans, or about 12% of the country, now live with “low food security,” uh, poverty.
*2 out of 5 elderly Americans live on less than $18,000 a year including social security.
*Low income Americans with disabilities experienced 50% cuts in their housing programs.
*Half of all IRS audits are now conducted on Americans making less than $25,000 per year.
For more dismal statistics on the rich poor divide see one of my earlier BRAD BLOG posts.
Thankfully Bush recognizes a problem when he sees it and before leaving on his month long vacation stressed that we need a new round of corporate tax cuts to make sure US corporations stay competitive!
In all fairness, it takes huge balls and a lot of propaganda to convince anyone that what the country needs is more corporate giveaways to the rich. That is a tall order that will require great effort by Bush. And it will be essential for him to recharge his batteries over a long vacation before the big sell. And if it means that he crushes Ronald Reagan's two term vacation record with 17 months to go in office, so be it.
Plus, nobody wants to be in the Capital during the God awful month of August when temperatures regularly hit a humid 100 degrees. Perhaps it was the heat that allowed Congressional Democrats to pass the new FISA law - which seems to get worse and worse by the day - before leaving on vacation. But Washington heat ain't nothing compared to Baghdad heat, huh, Tony Snow:
“You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August.”
Which helps explain why the Iraqi parliament is taking the month off as well. Surely our troops, a record 162,000 strong in Iraq, will get the month off too, right? I mean, one suspects that with all their gear, outdoor work and combat, the misery index (weather, though both work) would be worse for our troops than say an air-conditioned Oval Office, uh, speed boat.
Actually, while George W. Bush smashes records for vacation days our troops are getting tours of duty extended from a year to 15 months. And it is a bit odd that Bush would take off so much time right before the crucial General Petreaus report on Iraq. Especially since we are amidst:
“the inescapable calling of our generation”
Oh, I almost forgot that the greater troop levels were the result of Bush's January “Surge” plan. You might recall that the new plan came after great deliberation and partying during which time hundreds of our troops lost their lives:
Ultimately Bush decided upon following neocon Fred Kagan's (fresh off a “very cool” chinook helicopter ride over the Potomac) “Surge” plan which called for an additional 50,000 troops, uh, 35,000, no, 30,000, wait, 50,000, no, 30,000, hold on, 31,500, stop, 20,000, then 35,000, oh, let's just say more troops.
But here's the thing, while Bush and the lawmakers are getting much needed R&R, our depleted troops are dying in the heat of the Iraqi desert by the droves. Long time reporters in Iraq write about the grim picture. According to our own ambassador in Iraq, electricity in Baghdad can be counted on for “an hour or two a day” which is down from six hours earlier in the year and 16-24 hours under Saddam. Even the Brits admit the Surge will not succeed.
But none of this or the rising troop deaths can dissuade the Bushies who have already kicked up the propaganda so many notches that Emeril Lagasse must be envious. Sadly, the American people continue to buy into it. And the real big propaganda push will not hit until September.
Sadly, the truth is that there is nothing that Petraeus could say that would change the course of the war. As Eugene Robinson wrote in the Washington Post:
But if you think Bush is going to care what Petraeus's report says in September, get out of the sun immediately and drink lots of water. You're delirious.
Clearly Bush will continue this unjust, horrific war until the end of his presidency. And nothing from escalating American and Iraqi body counts to American geopolitical strategy can change his decision which was made long ago. W. has even stated that his presidency will be judged on the long term outcome of Iraq. And since pulling out or significantly reducing troops is akin to failure, Bush ain't budging. In other words, he's passing the buck to the next president.
This alone is immoral and it is patently absurd that a decision of this magnitude should rest with a man with such an obvious conflict of interest. And since everyone knows this, it is also immoral for the American people to standby and leave the decision to Bush.
And that would be true even if Bush were a moral person. The fact that he is not just makes the situation that much clearer. Lest we forget that he:
*Continues to push legislation to further enrich the super wealthy at the expense of the most needy in society.
*Imposes anti-condom policies throughout Africa which has led to a remarkable rise in HIV/AIDS.
*Signed a secret executive order authorizing the policy of “extraordinary rendition” which allows the CIA to kidnap any terror suspect from anywhere in the world and transfers them to prisons to be tortured and sometimes killed in countries like Uzbekistan and Egypt.
*Invades countries under false pretenses to further enrich the military industrial complex and his corporatist cronies.
Sick. Martin Luther King Jr. had it right when he said that “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” How can anyone read that short list of transgressions above and not believe that time is now?
*In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
*When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
*Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
*Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
*The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
We Americans like to think ourselves noble and a country that has done great things for the world. We stopped Hitler for crying out loud. Yes, but that was a couple of generations ago. And by remaining silent, this generation is burying the memory of the “Greatest Generation.” And our lack of action, for whatever reason, is as immoral as George W. Bush's action.
It is imperative that we wake-up to our faults and correct them before it is too late. For example, a glance at the two pictures below describe a world turned upside down by American military spending and penchant for war and killing:
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
We Americans seem to be the only ones oblivious to our faults. The entire world has been telling us we are ill for some time. The general consensus around the globe is that the US is a greater threat to world peace than even Iran and North Korea! And our best friends, the Brits, believe that only Osama bin Laden is a greater threat to world peace than the United States.
We are a sick country whose leaders continue to exploit our weakness. And our continued silence is immoral. We sit silently while our government exchanged our leader of the free world status with leader of rogue nations lambast. And if the people will not stand up united and force our leaders to listen to our will, we will become the “infamous generation” whose silence enabled George W. Bush and the corporate elite to destroy the Republic.
In what has to be one of the most insane legal rulings in modern business/sports, a judge issued an injunction (restraining order) that prohibits Pacman Jones, a suspended NFL football player, from participating in a professional wrestling match. The judge agreed with the argument made by Tennessee Titan team lawyers that wrestling was a hazardous activity that would constitute a violation of Pacman's contract. Maybe, but that hardly seems the issue.
The issue is whether an American citizen should be free to pursue a livelihood of his or her choice. And when the Court restricts such freedom, as it did in this case, it comes awfully close to condoning slavery. Yes, Pacman has a contract with the Titans who could pursue him for breach of contract should he participate in a wrestling match which arguably violates the hazards clause of his contract. The Titans could pursue money damages for bonuses paid out and would likely have grounds to cancel the contract with Pacman if the Team desired. But, this ruling restricts Pacman from engaging in a legal activity and prevents him from earning a living of his choice.
Imagine if the Arizona Cardinals had tried to prevent Pat Tillman from joining the Army Rangers. Granted, Tillman walked away from his $3.6 million contract when he joined the military. But Pacman should have that same option. Perhaps the Titans could have forced Pacman to choose between wrestling and football, but there is no way the court should have stepped in and ruled the way it did.
The ramifications this ruling could have on the American workforce, if allowed to stand, are enormous. It would basically preclude employee movement between businesses and industries, thus removing one of the most important bargaining chips of labor. Salaries would drop and working conditions would deteriorate as employers would not fear losing employees. But beyond the practical nightmare, the ruling is wholly un-American because it precludes a citizen from engaging in the pursuit of happiness.
SLAVERY: “is a social-economic system under which certain persons—known as slaves—are deprived of personal freedom and compelled to perform labour or services.”
In a prominent nod to one of the festival's lead sponsors, the logo for this year's Lollapalooza concerts in Chicago includes the tag line, “delivered by AT&T.” But Sunday's headliner Pearl Jam complained that AT&T delivered less than the band's full performance during its Lollapalooza webcast. The powerhouse telco turned off the audio during the song “Daughter” while singer Eddie Vedder was railing against President George Bush. That bit of censorship -- which AT&T says was a mistake -- gave a bit of fuel to the forces arguing for “Net neutrality” regulations.
The Pearl Jam live feed from Lallapalooza follows the censored AT&T webcast
The censored edited words that Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder was singing to the tune of Pink Floyd's “Another Brick in the Wall”:
George Bush, leave this world alone
George Bush, leave this world alone
George Bush find yourself another home
AT&T's excuse was that it was trying to block “excessive profanity” which makes sense only if “George Bush” is profane. Okay, it makes sense, but something tells me that was not what the corporate hacks had in mind. Of course, while AT&T now admits a mistake was made, the company also says that it was made by monitors hired by another vendor. Maybe a bit too convenient for the band which released the following statement on their website:
“AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.”
And the folks over at Save The Internet believe this is what is at stake with Net Neutrality:
AT&T routinely rails against Net Neutrality as a “solution without a problem.” They say Net Neutrality regulations aren’t necessary because they wouldn’t dare interfere with online content. At the same time they tout plans to become gatekeepers to the Web with public relations bromides about “shaping” Web traffic to better serve the needs of an evolving Internet.
Such spin needs to be held up to the light of experience. AT&T’s history of breaking trust with their customers includes handing over private phone records to the government, promising to deliver services to underserved communities and then skipping town, pledging never to interfere with the free flow of information online while hatching plans with the likes of Cisco, Viacom, RIAA and MPA to build and deploy technology that will spy on user traffic.
The moral of this story is never trust AT&T at their word. The company acts in bad faith toward the public interest and will do whatever it can get away with to pad it’s bottom line — including sacrificing the freedoms its users have to choose where they go, what they watch and whom they listen to online.
Hopefully this serves as a wake-up call to the American people of the vast propaganda campaigns being waged against us by our government, corporations and especially the corporate owned media. In other words, it was no accident that Vedder chose to sing his anti-Bush lyrics to the tune of “Another Brick In The Wall”:
We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
And this little “mistake” was the last straw for me regarding AT&T. I will begin the process of transferring my cell phone number to another carrier today. Any suggestions? And for those who think boycotting a corporation is ineffective it is worth noting that my decision will cost the company at least $700 over the next 12 months and perhaps more than $10,000 over the next decade. It doesn't take long for a few fed up people to make a difference. Just don't forget to let AT&T know why you are taking your business elsewhere.
America's super-rich have returned to the days of the Roaring Twenties. As the rest of the country struggles to get by, a huge bubble of multi-millionaires lives almost in a parallel world. The rich now live in their own world of private education, private health care and gated mansions. They have their own schools and their own banks. They even travel apart - creating a booming industry of private jets and yachts. Their world now has a name, thanks to a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank which has dubbed it 'Richistan'. There every dream can come true. But for the American Dream itself - which promises everyone can join the elite - the emergence of Richistan is a mixed blessing. 'We in America are heading towards 'developing nation' levels of inequality. We would become like Brazil. What does that say about us? What does that say about America?' Frank said.
In 1985 there were just 13 US billionaires. Now there are more than 1,000. In 2005 the US saw 227,000 new millionaires being created. One survey showed that the wealth of all US millionaires was $30 trillion, more than the GDPs of China, Japan, Brazil, Russia and the EU combined.
The rich have now created their own economy for their needs, at a time when the average worker's wage rises will merely match inflation and where 36 million people live below the poverty line. In Richistan sums of money are rendered almost meaningless because of their size. It also has other names. There is the 'Platinum Triangle' used to describe the slice of Beverly Hills where many houses go for above $10m. Then there is the Jewel Coast, used to describe the strip of Madison Avenue in Manhattan where boutique jewellery stories have sprung up to cater for the new riches' needs. Or it exists in the MetCircle society, a Manhattan club open only to those whose net worth is at least $100m.
I had a dear friend who had a nervous breakdown because he could not stand being black here. He could not stand the bullshit, no matter how his friends of all races loved him. He kept yelling about not being able to leave his skin. He moved to Africa. Born and raised and 38 years old all American boy had to move to Africa to find a life where his skin was not alienating him from his very life.
Heard someone griping about how there is no provision for race on the internet. They thought it was wrong, a bad omission. I think that is wrong. I love that I don't know anyone's color. I love that I don't have to watch people putting things in the context of their race. I love that I could be giving people in pain like my friend's a rest from that awful alienation. I love that people can love or hate or have any honest feeling toward each other on the internet without race ever being a factor. All it ever is out there is people hating your color or people jumping out of their own assholes not to hate your color... the choices my friend said drove him mad. “It's all being racist or anti-racist, which are both the same thing. We never get to just be together.”
