Chris Hedges on Moyers & Company . . . .

Commentary from me is unnecessary.

Suffice to say:  Moyers' questions are pointed, and Hedges' responses are powerful.


Watch.

Think.

Act . . . .

Here Comes the Bride . . . .

From Seattle/Tacoma's NPR  KPLU.org yesterday:

Angela Marie Vogel, a local activist with ties to #MicCheckWallSteet and a initiative campaign to nullify Citizens United’s effects in Seattle, used a figure from an art installation in a downtown Seattle park to marry “Corporate Person.”

 “The purpose of the wedding is to highlight the insidious concept of corporate personhood – and its damaging impact on our community and the autonomy of our city council's legislative powers,” according to a press release of the event.

 The ceremony was conducted by Pastor Rich Lang of University Temple UMC and was staged by Envision Seattle, the group behind Initiative 103. If enacted, the initiative would provide a community bill of rights which strips corporate personhood and other judge-made constitutional "rights" such as free speech within the city of Seattle, the group said.

The happy couple is registered at all the usual corporate retail establishments, no doubt . . . .

Rapacious Oligarchy, Indeed . . . .

The second segment of yesterday's The Current is a Chris Hedges interview which is excellent.  Take 24 minutes out of your day and listen to the audio here.

The man nails it once again using terms to describe "the people who essentially hold power in the US" as those "with unchecked central authority" and are members of "a tiny, rapacious oligarchic class."

Good stuff . . . .

Bogus Banker Blues . . . .

Bill Moyers, Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith dissect J.P. Morgan/Chase's jamie dimon and other mafioso bankers in this Moyers & Company segment:
 

A pox on all banker's houses . . . .

Truth in Advertising . . . .

Lush Cosmetics has produced a rebuttal ad to the enbridge propaganda ad running constantly on BC TV stations:

 

 Much more accurate than the original one, don't you think ? ? ? ?

Side-Splitting Laughter on May 18th . . . .

From today's Adbusters email.

Full page link here.    Pay particular attention to the Laughriot on May 18th.

The May 2012 Insurrection

Tactical Briefing #30.

Adbusters , 26 Apr 2012

• #globalchange
• #M12
• #occupychicago
• #occupywallstreeet
• general strike

 

NICK WHALEN

Hey you dreamers, strikers and new left redeemers out there,

For thirty-one magical days beginning this Tuesday, May 1, we take the plunge and Strike! We block the Golden Gate Bridge; occupy a Manhattan-bound tunnel; seize the ports. In 115 cities, we march into banks, erect tents and refuse to leave. We disrupt financial institutions forcing thousands to preemptively close. Five thousand of us pray, dance, sleep on Wall Street and in front of the Fed and if the Bloombergs of the world bring out paramilitary police to intimidate us, we use our social media fire to call out 50,000 more occupiers.

Hope to hear ya'll laughing hysterically on May 18th . . . .

CISPA & C-30: Joined at the hip . . . .

From OpenMedia.ca today:



And from BGR today:

Thousands rally against CISPA cybersecurity bill

By: Dan Graziano | Apr 26th, 2012

The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), which is supported by more than 100 members of the House of Representatives, is scheduled to be discussed in Congress on Friday, where it will be the first bill to go to a vote since the collapse of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in January. The bill looks to give businesses and the federal government legal protection to share cyber threats with one another in an effort to prevent online attacks. Internet privacy and neutrality advocates, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, feel the bill does not contain enough limits on how and when the government may monitor private information . . . .

Stay informed and stay involved . . . .

Canadian Progressive Voices . . . .

Thanks to pale @ A Creative Revolution for taking up the banner for Canadian progressive bloggers.

 

It's not like pale's got nuthin' else to do, ya' know . . . .

Chow Down . . . .

Now for a break from our regularly scheduled program:



Hungry now ? ? ? ?

dickhead's Scared of Canadians . . . .

Score one for Our Side!

From today's Seattle Times:

Cheney deems Canada too dangerous for visit

Toronto - Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney canceled a Canadian speaking appearance because of security concerns sparked by demonstrations during a visit he made to Vancouver last fall.

Cheney was scheduled to talk about his experiences in office and the current American political situation at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on April 24.

 But Ryan Ruppert of Spectre Live Corp. said on Monday that Cheney and his daughter Elizabeth had begged off through their agent.

"After speaking with their security advisers, they changed their mind on coming to the event," Ruppert said. He said they had "decided it was better for their personal safety they stay out of Canada."

Last Sept. 26, Cheney was forced to stay holed up in the Vancouver Club for seven hours before it was deemed safe for him to leave. Demonstrators blocked the entrances and at one point scuffled with police.

Cheney critics accuse him of endorsing the use of water boarding and sleep deprivation against detainees while serving in former President George W. Bush's administration.

Before the Vancouver event, Human Rights Watch urged the federal government to bring criminal charges against Cheney, accusing him of playing a role in the torture of detainees.

It pays to participate, 'cuz occasionally we win one . . . .

More on the "Blessed" Season . . . .

As Rodney King would say:  "Why can't we all get along?"

From the CBC and other sources today:

Clergymen brawl at Bethlehem church

Fight erupts at traditional site of Jesus' birth

The annual cleaning of one of Christianity's holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy Wednesday, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.

The ancient church, built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations — Roman Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox. Wednesday's fight erupted between Greek and Armenian clergy, with both sides accusing each other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim.

_______________

A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at another's expense.

_______________

Although the roof has needed urgent work for decades, and leaking rainwater has ruined much of the priceless artwork inside, a renovation has been delayed all these years by disagreements among the denominations over who would pay.

Why is this not at all surprising?

How very moral and upright of them . . . .

bennie Speaks . . . .

But should anyone listen?

From Global Post yesterday:

Pope Benedict XVI urges faithful to see through "superficial glitter" of Christmas

Pope Benedict XVI lamented the commercialization of Christmas during the traditional Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

“Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity,” he said, Euronews reported.

He went on to urge worshippers to "see through the superficial glitter of this season" and to discover its true meaning, "the child in the stable in Bethlehem," according to the BBC.

 

Of course, he was surrounded by the glittering gold in the pic above and in the article itself while making this astute observation.

No doubt wearing the nifty little red numbers to the left, also.

His hypocrisy knows no bounds . . . .

It's Time . . . .

We're fortunate here north of the 49th - Not the same on the south side, tho . . . .

.

Oh, Come On . . . .

The name Mullet and bad haircuts?

Someone couldn't have seen this coming?!?

The Toronto Star has more:

The leader of a breakaway Amish group allowed the beatings of those who disobeyed him, made some members sleep in a chicken coop and had sexual relations with married women to “cleanse them,” federal authorities said Wednesday as they charged him and six others with hate crimes in haircutting attacks against other Amish.

Authorities raided the group’s compound in eastern Ohio earlier in the day and arrested seven men, including group leader Sam Mullet and three of his sons.
_______________


Johnny Mullet told detectives that it was his idea to cut the hair and beards and that he discussed the idea with his father, who gave him the addresses of two victims, the affidavit said.

Lester Mullet told detectives that after two attacks in late September, the men went home and told Sam Mullet what happened. He said his father laughed and called them nuts, the court document said.

Like I said:  "Oh, come on . . . ."

 .

1% Smackdown . . . .

Poor hank and condescending.

They don't look happy, do they?

Maybe 'cuz of this bit of news from SocialistWorker.org today?

OCCUPY CHICAGO won a victory on November 14 when the University of Chicago was forced to cancel a scheduled lecture from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and ex-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

_______________

The University of Chicago announced on its website that Rice and Paulson's presentations had been canceled "due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict"--but many wondered if the "conflict" actually lay in the university's plans to hold the event, and Occupy Chicago's plans to shut it down.

The truth is this: When threatened with a disruption organized by a movement that rejects the entirety of what they stand for, Paulson and Rice simply threw in the towel.

Even barry's former Chief of Staff, rahm-repuglican-lite gets a shout-out:

The effective derailing of the lecture represents a victory for Occupy Chicago, which has had to struggle for its right to exist. Over the past month, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has overseen two mass arrests conducted against Occupy activists involving more than 300 people. Emanuel's administration has also unambiguously denied the movement's right to a permanent space to occupy.

_______________

In May 2012, the NATO/Group of 8 summit is scheduled to come to the Windy City. Shutting down that event won't be so easy, but with this victory under their belt, we can be sure that the voices of Occupy Chicago will echo around the world.

Anyone up for a trip to Chicago next May ? ? ? ?

Robert Scheer Remembers bill clinton . . . .

In honour of bill clinton's latest book tour, this video of Robert Scheer recalling the "rest of the story" at an Occupy LA event sheds a bit more light on the clinton legacy:



Still wanna buy the book ? ? ? ?

H/T Tiana

Occupy Denver Elects a Leader . . . .

and our Four-Footed-Child heartily agrees with the choice . . . .



Boris: Who's the speaker at the 8:12 mark ? ? ? ?

Have a koch and a $mile ? ? ? ?

The right-wing-billionaire-zealot brother$ koch are about to fully engage their database war on the rest of the civilized world.

Feature article in today's GuardianUK reveals the details:

The secretive oil billionaires the Koch brothers are close to launching a nationwide database connecting millions of Americans who share their anti-government and libertarian views, a move that will further enhance the tycoons' political influence and that could prove significant in next year's presidential election.

_______________

The database will bring together information from a plethora of right-wing groups, tea party organisations and conservative-leaning thinktanks. Each one has valuable data on their membership – including personal email addresses and phone numbers, as well as more general information useful to political campaign strategists such as occupation, income bracket and so on.

_______________

At their most recent billionaires' gathering in Vail, Colorado in June, Charles Koch described next year's presidential contest as "the mother of all wars". A tape of his private speech obtained by Mother Jones said the fight for the White House would be a battle "for the life or death of this country".

Exhorting the 300 guests in attendance to open their sizeable wallets and donate to the Koch election coffers, he went on: "It isn't just your money we need. We need you bringing in new partners, new people. We can't do it alone. We have to multiply ourselves."

"We have to multiply ourselves."

Not unlike rats in a garbage dump . . . .


(Alison has more on how everything really does go better with koch here.) 


 

"The Party of the People . . . ."

Is not that "people friendly" according to this piece from SocialistWorker.org.

A snippet follows, but check out the entire piece here:

More generally, the truth is this: Democratic mayors may talk about how they sympathize with the Occupy movement. They may even try to speak in its name, as Quan has. But their office requires them to keep order and protect the interests of the 1 percent--and so they will turn to repression to try to stop the struggle from disrupting business as usual.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

THE SAME truth applies further up the chain, in the White House of Barack Obama, the first African American president of the U.S.

Where was Barack Obama, who claimed to understand the "broad-based frustration" of the movement, when Occupy activists in Oakland were reclaiming Oscar Grant Plaza after enduring vicious police violence 24 hours earlier? Answer: He was across the Bay at a $5,000-a-plate fundraiser for his presidential campaign.

Quelle surprise, eh ? ? ? ?

99% Action from Home . . . .

Something we all can do from home to annoy the 1%:



H/T BTO