During the era of the Bush regime, I have noticed the following in places I have lived and have heard similar reports from individuals in other parts of the country.

- They refuse to forward mail that comes to your home from a previous occupant.

- Sometimes they throw away your mail when it is on vacation hold.

- Lines are getting much longer at post offices.

- Stamp vending machines are poorly maintained.

- "Return to Sender" for former occupants is ignored. They just leave the letter in your mailbox.

Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq "reconstruction" will be the most infamous examples of the Bush regime's complete inability to govern, but the Post Office will be another obnoxious legacy of their incompetence.

 

The local Staten Island Advance finally called for Rep. Vito Fossella (Rep. Staten Island/Bay Ridge NY) to resign yesterday. The bizarre and innapropriate thing is that they were more bothered by the extramarital affair revealed by Fossella's DWI arrest than the actual DWI arrest.

Serious as drunk driving is, we, like many people, were prepared earlier this week to say he should accept his legal punishment, including mandatory jail time, and warranted public scorn for the DWI charge, and then return to the House of Representatives a chastened man.

We thought he could come back from this severe setback as a strong, visible advocate against drinking and driving.

It's true, as many have said, that he could have seriously injured or killed someone as a result of this irresponsible act; fortunately, he didn't. The actual result of a reckless act must be weighed in assessing its consequences, we believe. A person who has had such a close call is often a far more ardent and persuasive proponent of avoiding the risks of DWI.

You can tell the influence of the conservative Catholicism on Staten Island, where doing something that endangers peoples' lives is less of a problem than a personal sexual matter.

Anyway, even if their reasoning bites, they are finally calling for Fossella to go.

Here we have yet another sanctimonious, pro-war, heterosexist, anti-choice Republican getting in trouble on "morals" critiques. I suppose there is some irony in it all.

 

From USA Today 5/8/08 (hat tip to From the Left):

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

Yes, and that pattern is sickening.

That psycho Republican acts like the only people who work hard are 100% Aryan pure white. She should resign from the Senate and live the rest of her life in obscurity after this.

If she steals the nomination via superdelegate scam, I will work hard to support the Green candidate. And, I'm not 100% white.

 

NASA image of Nargis in Indian Ocean


Hat tip to Ten Percent, which has a list of charities offering assistance to the people of Burma. That blog has been one of the best portals for information on Burma for some time now. Below, I've weeded out the list, taking out charities that are religious, discriminate on the basis of age, aren't offering specific cyclone relief, or who don't have online donations capacity.

Direct Relief International [In the "Designation" field, choose Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone.]

Mercy Corps

US Campaign for Burma (Check the "Check Here to make your donation go to relief efforts" box at the bottom of the form.)

Action Against Hunger (UK - donations in pounds - in "I want my donation to go" choose "to the Burma emergency appeal")

CARE UK (donations in pounds)

Rick from Ten Percent also linked to this Photo Gallery of the Effects of Cyclone Nargis.

One has to wonder if Global Warming played a role in the severity of the cyclone.

 

Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG) has been an excellent voice in speaking against the thefts of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and the enormous corruption of the GOP. However, they have this weird blind spot when it comes to the Clintons. After a silly softball encounter/interview with Bill Clinton, it became obvious that somebody needed to contact them and let them know that there is no excuse for pandering to corrupt, racist, homophobic, Republican war criminals like the Clintons.

I generally admire your organization, but I find it disturbing the way you pander to the Clintons, who are right-wing Bush Republicans pretending to be Democrats. The softball interview that was done with Bill Clinton as he was campaigning in North Carolina is an example of the irrational attachment you have with those Phonycrats.

Hillary and Bill Clinton always make nice promises, but their economic record is about NAFTA/WTO/other corporate trade deals. Clinton trade policies, along with Bill Clinton's successful financial markets deregulation push, are playing a major role in our current financial crisis.

On the international front, the Clintons are literally guilty of crimes against humanity. Bill Clinton murdered over 1 million Iraqis with his sanctions, and Hillary helped Bush murder over 1 million with the Iraq War, which she pushed for ruthlessly, and she is committed to continuing throughout any administration of hers.

Hillary Clinton is so crazy she voted for war with Iran in 2007, and she keeps threatening to launch a massive nuclear attack against that country. She is even more bellicose than Bush.

Don't forget that Hillary and Bill Clinton also are viciously racist and homophobic, while pretending to be the opposite. "Welfare Reform" and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" are two examples of this. Bill Clinton's gradual push against Affirmative Action is another. Hillary Clinton's campaign to erode the Democratic Party's position supporting abortion rights is still another example of why the Clintons can never be trusted on any civil rights issue.

One of the most ugly aspects of their political behavior is how the Clintons have made Aryan supremacist hate one of the main campaign themes. Of course, the white supremacy is hardly limited to the rhetoric of this campaign. Don't let the corporate media blind you to all the racist/GOP-style voter suppression the Clintons have used in this campaign.

Hillary Clinton also keeps threatening to steal the Democratic nomination via a superdelegate scam. The Clintons steal elections just like Bush/Rove.

Please, look at records, not rhetoric. Please don't be fooled by bigoted, corrupt, war criminal Republicans like the Clintons. The Clintons and the Bushes are just different brand names on the same product.

Here's yet another GOP mugshot courtesy of the Fossella Five.



The corporate media haven't given Vito Fossella's DWI arrest as much play as it would have gotten if the only GOP representative in NYC was a Democrat. (Fossella misrepresents Staten Island and the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn.)

NY-13 has called for Fossella to resign from Congress, and that blog has some valid reasons.

My reasoning is simple. DWI is far more serious and dangerous than paying for some hookers, and Eliot Spitzer was hounded out of office by the corporate media after being accused of that lesser crime. The corporate media have one standard for wealthy and prominent Republicans and another for everyone else. This hypocrisy must end.

Vito Fossella needs to get out of Congress now!

 

From Notes from the Underground 5/3/08:

The pro-Clinton group Women's Voices has been robo-calling minority neighborhoods in North Carolina with a message stating that voting registration materials will be sent to their homes in the next few days. These calls have gone out to registered voters, and the NC voting board says the distributed information is completely false. The purpose of the phone calls is to create doubts in the minds of potential Obama voters regarding their registration, in hopes that they'll stay home on Election day.

The group is run largely by pro-Clinton operatives, included Clinton Campaign Manager Maggie Williams. Women's Voices has admitted to making the calls, and apologizes for any inconvenience they may have caused. In fact, the group has run these same calls in several states with contested primaries, including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. In each instance, Women's Voices admits the deception, apologizes, then moves on to run the same scam in another state.

...

The real story is the mainstream press's odd refusal to report on voter suppression of minorities, including Karl Rove's vote caging schemes that were described in detail last year by Greg Palosi, and ignored elsewhere. To find out more about vote caging, go to Google and type "vote caging," and wonder, as I did, why we haven't heard more about this.

White supremacy has been the main campaign theme for Hillary Clinton and her band of bigots. They are using tactics that reflect their sickening values.

Once again, there just isn't any excuse for supporting Hillary Clinton. She is pure evil.

 

It's official. Hillary Clinton is a batshit crazy Republican.

From ABC News 5/4/08:

ABC News' Mary Bruce reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., defended this morning her comments that she would "obliterate" Iran if Iran ever attacked Israel with nuclear weapons.

"Why would I have any regrets?" she asked in an exclusive appearance on a special edition of "This Week" from Indianapolis, Ind. "I'm asked a question about what I would do if Iran attacked our ally, a country that many of us have a great deal of, you know, connection with and feeling for, for all kinds of reasons. And, yes, we would have massive retaliation against Iran.

"I don't think they will do that, but I sure want to make it abundantly clear to them that they would face a tremendous cost if they did such a thing," she added.

Rival candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has said her comments are reflective of George W. Bush and could further harm America's reputation abroad.

Obama is absolutely correct in comparing Hillary Clinton to Bush. Last year, I blogged about some of the many similarities between Clinton and Bush.

There is just no excuse for any Democrat to continue supporting Hillary Clinton.

 

The first eight reasons apply to people within the US and abroad, while the last two primarily relate to us American folk. I'm sure that there are more reasons to boycott that I have neglected to mention.

1) Dangerous and shoddy Chinese products

The fascist regime in China has very few workplace or consumer safety standards, and consumers around the world are suffering for it. Here in the US, the crappiest junk made in China is targeted towards 99 cent stores, who have a customer base that primarily is latino and black.

The US and Chinese governments needs to stop pandering to corporate interests and set up/enforce some real safety regulations.

2) China's Occupation of Tibet

China has no business occupying Tibet. They are different countries with dramatically different cultures. Obviously, the first responsibility of those of us from the US is to oppose the Bush/Clinton/Cheney/McCain occupation of Iraq. However, we also have a duty to show solidarity with the Tibetan people and their right to self determination.

The brutal crackdown against the Tibetan people ahead of the Olympics makes watching the Olympics morally unacceptable.

3) Lack of respect for the right of Taiwan to self-determination

Like the Bush regime, the Chinese fascists need to get over their imperial designs and their hegemonic behavior. Taiwan is a separate country from China in terms of actual facts on the ground, and the cultural landscapes are quite different considering Taiwan's lack of involvement in the Cultural Revolution and the influence of Taiwan's large indigenous population.

China's sabre rattling is irresponsible and counter productive. Let the Taiwanese make up their own damned minds.

4) Spectator sports promote obesity

One of the dirty secrets of the obsession with spectator sports is that it is sedentary and treats physical activity as something that can be experienced vicariously. It is far more athletic to take a leisurely stroll in the park than it is to watch the most talented and skilled athletes while sitting on your ass.

The Olympics could learn a lot from the Gay Games' open participation and emphasis on building grassroots athletic clubs.

5) Human rights violations inside China

Amnesty International has yet to call for a boycott, but their website gives plenty of grounds for such an action merely on their page for human rights violations in China.

Issues AI mentions include:

- Executions
- Abuse of human rights activists
- Censorship


6) China's Role in Darfur

Addiction to oil causes countries to do terrible things. In the case of China, their lust for Sudan's oil reserves has caused the fascist government to finance the Muslim fundamentalist regime in Sudan and that regime's genocide in Darfur. Save Darfur has called on Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. They should take it one step further and call for people to skip the entire thing.

Save Darfur makes some good points, though.

The peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID, was authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1769 on July 31, 2007. China was president of the Council at that time and pushed for the resolution's passage. Thus, after years of thwarting UN action against Sudan, China seemed to begin to play a modestly constructive role. China, itself, claimed credit for advancing peace and security for the people of Darfur.

Unfortunately, Beijing's assertion was both premature and inaccurate. The Government of Sudan has put up a series of obstacles to UNAMID's deployment. Even more dishearteningly, Sudan has again stepped up its campaign of terror in Darfur, destroying villages in West Darfur, killing innocent civilians, and displacing tens of thousands more. A robust peacekeeping force is an essential element of a strategy to stop the violence and allow people to return home.

In substantial part, Khartoum has been able to ignore the UN's will and continue its violent acts because of China's fierce diplomatic protection. Beijing helped strip sanctions language from UNAMID's authorizing resolution, signaling to Sudan that it could block deployment of the force with impunity. Soon after the resolution's passage, China also resumed its role as apologist for the actions of Khartoum at the United Nations.

As Sudan's largest economic partner, major military supplier, and chief diplomatic supporter, Beijing is in an unrivaled position to persuade Sudan to change its behavior. Beijing can use its vast influence to insist that Khartoum consents to the swift and effective deployment of UNAMID; that Khartoum halts its military operations, as well as those of the Janjaweed, that directly or indirectly target civilians; and that Khartoum engages constructively in the peace process. By not using that influence, China remains the primary enabler of the atrocities committed by the Government of Sudan against the people of Darfur.

7) China's Role in Zimbabwe

The Chinese government has sent arms to the brutal, and semi-dictatorial government in Zimbabwe. From the Independent 4/18/08:

A Chinese ship docked in Durban harbour late on Wednesday carrying three million rounds of ammunition for small arms, 3,500 mortar bombs and mortar tubes, as well as 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, according to local media.

8) China's currency and trade policies

The fascist government is using predatory trade and currency policies which make the wealthy in China and abroad wealthier, but those policies create poverty and misery throughout the world. "Made in China" has become a global symbol of job losses and despair.

9) Right-wing Bias on NBC and MSNBC

The Beijing Olympics will be broadcast by General Electric's TV networks, including NBC and MSNBC. NBC News has a truly obnoxious pro-war and general rightist bias that fits too well with GE's profit motives for its war business. The same goes for the vast majority of programming on MSNBC. Watching the Olympics on GE's networks rewards them for their deceptive propagandizing of the American people.

10) GE's War Profits and Other Deeds

GE's networks propagandize for war largely because GE makes so much money off of war. From Responsible Shopper's Profile of GE.

• GE is responsible for toxic Superfund sites, knowingly exposing people to radioactive material, and has been fighting Superfund clean-up laws that hold the company accountable for damage caused by years of careless PCB dumping.

• GE has also secured millions of dollars in defense and military contracts, earning itself a place among notorious war profiteering companies.

• General Electric is the largest, most influential corporation in terms of revenue and scope of its media operations and ownership.

The full profile goes into much more detail. Boycotting their broadcasts of Olympic events is a way to turn an expensive investment (Olympic broadcasting fees) into a big dud.

All of the first eight items are valid arguments for a total boycott of products made in China. However, unpatriotic corporations in the US have shipped so much of our manufacturing base to China that it would be difficult to stop buying items made in China entirely. A good place to start is to look for "Made In China" labels and beginning to seek alternatives.

 

"Choice" is wonderful when the subject is abortion rights. However when crazed religious extremists natter on about sexual orientation being a "choice," it gets annoying. It is used as a pretext for bigotry, and it dismisses the life experiences of queer people.

Pagan Sphinx has pointed out a fabulous protest her daughter was involved in against a militant fundamentalist who chose Smith College as a venue for publicizing the book, The Born Gay Hoax. Catch the Feministing post on the protest.

I've never quoted comments from anyone else's blog before, but one from ann bran on this posting is brilliant.

You know what’s ridiculous? Pretending that it actually matters whether sexuality (excuse me, ‘sexual deviance’) is innate, a choice, or some more fluid mixture of a sundry of things. Last I checked, it isn’t hurting anybody, and I’m gonna do as I damn well please, thank you. Though I love that I’m to blame for the end of civilization, God, and probably kittens too. (And this wouldn’t be complete w/o a reference to DTWOF.) You’ve got a lot of nerve, blaming your crack-smoking children on me.

If people weren't so nutty, they would realize that homosexuality and bisexuality would be perfectly valid choices, if this were an area where people actually get to make those decisions. Too much of queer discourse on sexual orientation is just too damned defensive. So many people discuss being queer as something they have to excuse or apologize for. Even many of our "leaders" are far too defensive about who and what they are.

We need to gain the subtlety of thought and expression necessary to reject the agenda and arrogance of claims that sexual orientation is a choice or that gender identity is a choice, while also rejecting the notion that there would be anything wrong with choosing to be transgender, bisexual, lesbian, or gay.

We're here! Were queer! We're faaaaabulous! Get used to it!

(I know it's retro, but it's still as valid today.)

The militant, Christian fundamentalists at the deceptively named "American Family Association" (AFA) are on a new jihad. They are angry because two gay characters have fallen in love and kissed on As the World Turns.

Here's the Advertising Age article on the subject.

A gay character has been on ATWT for a while now. Last year, he finally got a storyline involving a same-sex relationship with a new character named Noah. The Christian Taliban is calling a boycott of Proctor and Gamble, which owns the show. It's time to counter the nuts. Hat tip to Nichevo for posting contact information for P & G.

If the enemy succeeds, they will feel empowered to continue. That's
why even non-ATWT viewers need to call. You can be sure that
homophobes won't end with ATWT. So please mobilize your friends and
ask them to call fast and often.

800-331-3774

Press 2 - to choose the Nuke storyline
Press 1 - to say you want it to continue

You may have no interest in watching ATWT or any other soap, but the reality is that soaps have cultural power, especially among the working class. It is important to resist the efforts of Christian extremists to censor soaps, and impose their Christian supremacist agenda.

By the way, the AFA has posted video of Luke and Noah on YouTube. Thanks to them, you can watch two guys kissing. They call it "repulsive." I call the AFA repulsive.