Displaying 0 To 0 Of 0 Comments Open Carry is a Whites Only Law Well written article, and I have to also shout out to RSG music citing his concerns over the gun culture. We have all agreed that the NRA and other pro-gun lobbyists have needlessly ginned up the fear factor to boost gun sales and memberships and to make their lobbying efforts more effective. What is ironic is that now police officers must treat any interaction with the public as a potentially armed interaction. » Posted By M Cubed On September 26, 2014 @ 12:12 pm Dear Trolls: Yes, I do think Barack Obama is a Very Good President and Here is Why What will change in the Obama Administration when Eric Holder is gone? Will we see a new AG who is willing to go after Wall Street with some gusto? I will contend that the free pass the corporate miscreants were given by Holder will rank in the long run as one of the great failures of the Obama legacy. » Posted By M Cubed On September 26, 2014 @ 12:51 pm Ferguson Police Force Deployed to Iraq My Dear AdLib–I hooted out loud in my library when I read the first line of your post. It is a brilliant piece of satire! And dead-nuts on target. Thank you so much for the laugh, and thank you for letting us see yet another side to this event. » Posted By M Cubed On August 22, 2014 @ 4:53 pm Ferguson: Why Does a Mostly Black City Have Mostly White Government & Police? And this is why busting the unions is on the top of ALEC’s to do list. » Posted By M Cubed On August 19, 2014 @ 8:23 am Thank you for the cogent information, Murph. Representative Norton is clinically correct in her assessment. But the question remains: “how do we bell the cat?” It is all well and good for white people like me to stand outside the riots and give suggestions about self-sufficiency and agency–but I will no doubt sound to those inside the circle of fire as if I am towing the t-party line. We can see that the majority of people in Ferguson need to take matters into their own hands, rather than allowing the white elite or the black trouble-makers to define them. I would say that there are plenty of law-abiding folks there who could form citizen militias and stand watch over the businesses at night. But what will stop the white police force or the National Guard from arresting them or worse for violating curfew. I get the niggling feeling that the police really want the violence to continue as a justification for their reaction. » Posted By M Cubed On August 19, 2014 @ 8:12 am Heck of a tale, Nirek–thank you so much for sharing with us. I was just a young girl in 1968, and so my memories of Vietnam were of the little blue men and the little red men that would appear on the TV next to the anchor when he read the casualty numbers for the day. I really appreciate your putting meaning into those little blue and red men for us. I could tell there was nothing glamorous about your war. I don’t really have any questions right now–just very moved by your candor. Thanks again. » Posted By M Cubed On March 31, 2014 @ 12:04 pm Ladies and Gentlemen, Our Corporate Anthem Nicely written, RF Dude! You are so right on the money when you bring up this film–it is a perfect warning for our days. It was directed by Norman Jewison, who made the quirky but beautiful “Thomas Crown Affair” in 1968, then the mega-hit “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1971. Those two films gave him enough cache and freedom to absolutely rock the world with his next two films: “Jesus Christ Superstar” in 1973 and “Rollerball.” He struck out hard against politics, organized religion, and corporatism, and asked his audiences to really question their everyday lives. I was too young to see an R movie when “Rollerball” came out, but I remember the controversy surrounding it. » Posted By M Cubed On December 15, 2013 @ 3:27 pm Huffington Post Goes NSA on Its Members Feels like old home week–thanks AdLib, Kalima et al. for providing a lovely and interesting place to hang out. Be visiting more often. » Posted By M Cubed On December 12, 2013 @ 7:32 pm Tea Party Republicans To Offer PR Services To Serial Killers Brilliant, utterly Brilliant! You have hit the nail on the head, Ad Lib! » Posted By M Cubed On October 9, 2013 @ 10:58 am My favorite O’Toole movie–and this is more a guilty pleasure than a great film–is “The Stuntman.” It is a quirky little film made in 1980 about a Vietnam Vet with PTSD (as it is called now) on the run from the law (won’t tell why because it is a spoiler) who ends up hiding with an on-location film crew shooting a World War I film at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego (“Palm trees? Who had the audacity to plant palm trees in the middle of MY film location?”). O’Toole plays the film’s director as a much-bigger-than-life, over the top autocrat (“If God could do the tricks WE can do, he would be a happy man!”) Lovely twists and turns–one hardly knows what is real and what is fantasy–just as a good film on making films should be. » Posted By M Cubed On December 16, 2013 @ 10:42 am One commentator characterized the t party as having apocalyptic fantasies. I think they see themselves as the last final hope for America at the end of the world. And they would be wrong. Once this guy Huls wakes up and finds he has gone through all his savings and can’t afford his home of his car or food (he’ll hang onto his gun, no doubt) will he then question his unswerving loyalty to Cruz? What an idiot! » Posted By M Cubed On October 9, 2013 @ 11:12 am Bill Moyers – McCarthyism in the 21st Century Fantastic post, Sue! It is critical to remind ourselves of the battles we already fought, and more importantly how we won them. » Posted By M Cubed On June 30, 2012 @ 10:58 am Happy Saturday Morning, all. I read with great amusement the upcoming coronation of Tsar Vladimir the Diminutive. I think he will be the fourth Vladimir. I would be curious if the US will be represented by anyone other than a washed up movie actor and finished political deflated balloon. Deep down, I like that there will be a handful of elites in the old world who know how to throw a real party, and are more than happy to get out the good china for the guests. » Posted By M Cubed On May 5, 2012 @ 5:39 am The Religious Right Assault on America – Education Excellent article, Sue. Your comments about the RR packing local schoolboards is dead nuts on–the LDS church has been doing it for years now. » Posted By M Cubed On March 21, 2012 @ 6:20 am I wonder if this is the old notion of doing the survey over landlines that skews the answer right. Also, I think the idea of “likely voters” reflects older voters as being better at planning ahead and having the time to vote, as opposed to younger voters who are more flexible in their planning because they have to be. » Posted By M Cubed On May 5, 2012 @ 5:18 am Hi Bito, thanks for this link. The heartland group is a particularly nasty one. Real old boys club. BTW, for fun I ran my own university through Muckety, and we scored a 92. Depressing. » Posted By M Cubed On May 5, 2012 @ 5:15 am My Great grandfather was a Mason–I have a very cool pic of him in his apron and an enviable mustache. My Grandmother was Eastern Star and my mom participated in some of the rituals. However, the whole fraternal order stuff never appealed to me. I find it interesting that the Masons formed to counteract the confraternities of the Catholic Church, yet in America, the Catholic Church found itself excluded from the lodges (as different from the fraternal orgs) so they formed such groups as the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Columbus. All very fascinating, but still exclusionary. But that is the whole idea behind secret societies, anyway. » Posted By M Cubed On March 21, 2012 @ 6:40 am Just want to touch bases and sing out my praises for Planet POV. This website has grown bigger, yet still retained a professional quality, a passionate attitude, and a respect for the community. Please keep up the terrific work. » Posted By M Cubed On March 21, 2012 @ 6:27 am God, Guns, Greed – Face of Dominionism Kilgore, I have heard their argument as being: it prevents the state from interfering in my religion, but it says nothing about my religion interfering with the state. This frightens the oatmeal out of me! » Posted By M Cubed On September 12, 2011 @ 5:49 am Libertarians Join the Attack on The Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center, in my opinion, is doing the work of the angels here on Earth. They are an invaluable resource for tracking the hate groups in our nation and assisting in court cases when needed. And they do their work in the open and inside the law–which really gets the goat of the groups they track. These groups hate having to comply with laws that make society better for the rest of us, but prevent them from doing what they want to do–like discriminate. No doubt they miss the good old days when they could lynch an “uppity n*$$er” and let the rest of the black community know their place. The Obama Administration did not make racism worse. Fox News and the multitude of AM radio talk show hosts and a proliferation of hate and conservative web sites gave those who were already prone to be racist a public forum and permission to air their views. Too many involved in conservative politics and causes have seen the racists as useful idiots to add fuel to the opposition against Our President. Thankfully we and groups like the SPLC can see right through this charade. » Posted By M Cubed On September 12, 2011 @ 5:38 am Can we talk? What do you say when the person asking is a right-winger? Kes–I loved your initial response to this woman, but her reply covered the same old tired talking points we have all seen hundreds of times over at HP and other places. Your letter was lively and heart-felt, with many beautiful turns of phrase and original thoughts. Her response? Copy and paste. Does she think she is going to inculcate you to her way of thinking–which is obviously someone else’s thoughts she has stolen? Will you be one more tick on her tally board? Is she sharing her heart, or is she looking for a victory? » Posted By M Cubed On September 12, 2011 @ 6:39 am Run for the hills, everyone! The badass Honey bear is comin’! Wonderful sketches, whatsthatsound. You have brightened up our morning! » Posted By M Cubed On March 11, 2011 @ 6:40 am The Rise and Fall(?) of Glenn Beck Another thing,what people really liked about Beck’s show was the positive message–or so they said. His revisionings of American History were some of his most highly rated shows, and of course the Rally to get On-her was all about his positive vibes. Then he started getting into the more complex theological musings.And yet, I don’t think his most dedicated viewers wanted the complex stuff of conspiracy theories. As long as he kept his message to the simplistic progressives=fascists simplified Jonah Goldberg nonsense, his audience followed. The islamo-fascist/protesters/progressive/Soros stuff just left them confused. And has anyone noticed what fresh breath Adonai has? 😉 » Posted By M Cubed On April 21, 2011 @ 2:56 pm Nicely said, Adonai! I have been wondering why his popularity is slipping–and I like your explanation. His message is so remarkably transparent, and so are his motives. Even a blind pig could find his truffles! And the end of the world meme gets old very quickly. Since he was not able to point at a day and a time, I really think people just lost interest. Even the Bolsheviks realized they could not depend on “war communism” to sustain the revolutionary fervor. » Posted By M Cubed On April 21, 2011 @ 2:43 pm Thank you for this thought provoking piece,Chernynkaya. As a four-year-old, I dressed as a matador for Halloween. I am sure I was inspired by the kind of art one used to see in homes of the early sixties–my grandmother traveled to Mexico frequently, and I remember these kind of prints in her home. I thought they were so brave and beautiful. And of course, no one is going to tell a four-year old American girl that the bull dies. I guess I thought it was more like football, where the teams meet each week. Anyway, all this made me think about the nature of spectacle. That the beauty and thrill of the bullfight comes from both an aesthetic creation and the inherent danger. And that the approach is ritualistic–that the same form is followed time and time again, and that the basic demand in the sacrifice of the bull. However, unlike ritual–where you know the priest will elevate the host at a particular moment, there is no question that the sacrificial element will remain quiescent in the chalice. Guess I will have to read some Hemmingway to get some insights on that. » Posted By M Cubed On January 27, 2011 @ 7:26 am You want to ignore the hate groups, but after Spokane … Thanks! » Posted By M Cubed On January 23, 2011 @ 6:28 pm Khirad: Beautiful area, but some ugly people. Why is that so frequently the case? » Posted By M Cubed On January 23, 2011 @ 6:19 pm Yes, I am very impressed with this site and look forward to reading more. Thank you for making me feel so welcome. » Posted By M Cubed On January 23, 2011 @ 6:17 pm Hello ChoiceLady, I do not think we can under-estimate the connections between these groups. These are not lone wackos–no matter how the MSM want to portray them as. The Internet has only made it that much easier to keep in contact, spread information, and organize activities. » Posted By M Cubed On January 23, 2011 @ 6:16 pm Well written article, Pepe! Yes, I do remember the hate groups. I lived in Moscow, ID for a while, and I worked on an amateur theatre production of Steven Deitz’s “God’s Country.” The play is about the assassination of radio talk show host Alan Berg by members of the Order–a splinter group of the Aryan Nation. We had a consultant for the production: a retired FBI investigator who worked on the Order’s crime spree. They robbed armored cars, banks, etc to fund their organization. » Posted By M Cubed On January 23, 2011 @ 1:53 pmComments Posted By M Cubed
This does not excuse any of these episodes of violence. However, it does explain why police officers have stopped treating citizens as citizens, but as felons–except for the nuts who are practicing open carry as a political statement–those people get treated with kid gloves, when they should be hauled off for psychiatric observation.
Part of the police training is the shouting of demands in order to keep the suspect disoriented and to test the po’s control over the situation. WTF did the cop expect when he yelled at the guy to get his licence? The guy was either going to reach in his back pocket or into the car, either motion would seemingly have gotten him shot.
I am dismayed, I have no answer. .
Additionally, I will have to say that the continuance of the covert culture of government spying on the American People, as well as our complete disregard for the principle of habeus corpus and individual rights in terms of the war on terror, will continue to be the rotting infestation of our noble Constitution. Has President Obama done all he could to eradicate this? Or is he trapped in that same trap LBJ was caught in when it came to defense of our rights in the face of the Republican onslaught and the great powers of the Military/industrial complex?
Jewison’s brilliance, as well as awesome scriptwriting and art direction have left us a terrific piece of art which will resonate today, and warn us what could happen.
I am currently reading about the history of technology, And the author contends–and ably demonstrates–the realities of the post-World War II world, in which the American military industrial complex of the 1950s was hardly at all different from the Soviet system. The American military got whatever it wanted. Bell Labs developed the transistor (gateway to solid state technology) and the military wanted to keep it a secret. Instead, the military realized that they need so much production to build the missile defense systems that they allowed Bell Labs to license the patent to other companies, but the military would then purchase almost 100% of the product. The early labs and production facilities for solid state equipment was paid for by the military, and there was almost none of the earliest digital computing technology that was not totally funded by the Air Force and the Army Signal Corps. Our “free-market” nation was in thrall to the MIC for almost 15 years after the end of WWII. It was only in 1966 that the military consumption of transistors drop below 50% of the total output of American factories. And there are no American corporations that dealt in high tech since the 1950s that were not beholden to the military for their start up capital or their research and production facilities. No free market here.
On a side note: my husband and I create videos for a Christian publisher, and they sell to churches and home schoolers. Yes, we have figured out how to make money off of them. However, we researched our distributor very carefully, and found that they take a very ecumenical approach and sell to all confessionals and refuse to distribute such nonsense as “intelligent design” etc. If they did, we would walk away from them immediately.
This has not stopped us from practicing some self-censorship of our products in order to make sure we will not be banned. For example, we have decided not to use the n-word in a direct quote from a historical figure. We do mention in the DVD extras that this person did say it. Honestly, the historian in me cringes. However, the use of the word has absolutely no bearing on our story, and it would be a shame if our documentary was dismissed out of hand for its use, rather than for the content of the piece. We also edit quotes for length–is this not a distortion of the historical record? We all have to be mindful that this practice is quite common-place in all historical documentaries–even Ken Burns practices it.
BTW, the reviews of our work in the Amazon website include such gems as the reviewer who proclaimed our documentary was “inspired by Satan,” because we do not definitively state that every word in the Bible is literally true and written by God himself. I wear that comment as a badge of honor!
I would take anonymous trolls over this sort of personal angst any day. With the trolls, at least I can log off without any emotional trauma.
Sometimes people need to crawl into bed, close their eyes, and get a good night sleep. And Beck’s nonsense would not let them do that.
Ironically, the production of “God’s Country” I worked on was done just a few blocks from one of the bombings. When we did our production, we knew it would be controversial. So we invited a host of public officials and representatives from churches and synagogues and community organizations to a special presentation. We also had discussions with the audience after the show.
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It amazes me that we are not seeing the outcry from all corners of this nation about this incident. After all, the Aryan Nation was the hub of the hategroups in America, and from the largess of Richard Butler comes connections to skinheads, neo-Nazis, the Church of the Creator, Randy Weaver, the Freemen movement in Montana, and of course the militia movement featuring Timothy McVeigh. This is not the Becktian fantasy of George Soros funding everything progressive–these are real personal and financial ties that outfits like the FBI, HDS, and the Southern Poverty Law Center have all been keeping track of.
However, thanks to the NRA, the conservative think tanks, and their mouthpiece Fox, the nation cannot have a discourse about this group. Remember the HDS report that was supposed to come out in early 2009–the one that showed evidence of right-wing extremist groups actively recruiting members of the military because they had weapon and incendiary-device training? And that the HDS had to change the report to please the right–how dare the HDS besmirch the military like that?
Sadly it will take another Oklahoma City bombing before we can talk about it. And we came darn close to having that conversation in Spokane the evening of MLK Day.
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