This is this morning's Democracy Now. It does two things(1)It debuts Bill Moyers expose of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), one of the most dangerous weapons in the Republican arsenal and (2)It broadcasts Julian Assange's message to the UN and discusses WIKILEAKS,after doicuments are said to show it was designated "an enemy of the people". Clearly the U.S. government & vampires share at least one characteristic - neither can stand the sunlight. http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/wbai_120927_080006dn.mp3

Bibi's Chutzpah | Foreign Affairs

Bibi's Chutzpah | Foreign Affairs

"Romney seeks to sharpen message on his Agenda"

From today's NYT: "With the time dwindling for him to gain an edge😃 in the presidential race and with an outbreak of finger-pointing👎 signaling trouble in his campaign 😃, Mitt Romney plans to begin an offensive this week, his aids said, seeking to give voters a clearer picture of where he wants to take the country"
Well! If he provides even a remotely honest "picture of where he wants to take the country," an action I'm not sure he is capable of doing, he will clearly alienate any sane voters still considering voting for him.

Akin for the Truth: How Are US Religious Fundamentalists Any Different Than Middle Eastern Ones?

I have thought for some time: "Why are U.S. fundamentalists different from Middle Eastern fundamentalists?"

Akin for the Truth: How Are US Religious Fundamentalists Any Different Than Middle Eastern Ones?

Paul Ryan Goddam! | The Nation

Melissa Harris Perry is one of the best analysts here's her take on Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan Goddam! | The Nation

Guardian.co.uk - Julian Assange asylum: Ecuador is right to stand up to the US

Julian Asange has been granted asylum by the Ecuadoran govt. This move is intended to avoid his
extradition to Sweden
from where he would most likely be turned over to the U.S. to be tried for treason. The Swedish gov't has been offered the opportunity to question Asange about alleged sexual crimes in the Ecuadoran Embassy - they have refused. It would seem as if both Britain & Sweden are acting as agents of the U.S. in this case
Guardian.co.uk - Julian Assange asylum: Ecuador is right to stand up to the US

Low hanging clouds over Mt. Chocorua

Low hanging clouds over Mt. Chocorua (from the Chocuroa Heights Development down the road from World Fellowship)

World Fellowship - outside Lloyd Lodge

When all is said and done, this is why I come to World Fellowship

"Occupy Obama" @ World Fellowship

Chris Owens led a lively discussion of Obama at World Fellowship this morning

About those who can

For a while I've been leaning toward a new version of an old saw:
Those who can do,
Those who can't go into politics.
But after a rousing World Fellowship discussion of Obama this morning which veered into a discussion of teacher evaluations I have a new version:
Those who can do,
Those who can't evaluate those who do

Can the Caravan of Peace End the War on Drugs?

Can the Caravan of Peace End the War on Drugs?

Economic Update: Professor Richard D. Wolff: WBAI, Sat. Aug. 4th

Economic Update: "Economic Facts and Realities" | Professor Richard D. Wolff

"Hope Springs"

"Hope Springs"
Directed by David Frankel
Written by Vanessa Taylor
Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones & Steve Carrell

Last week we saw "Hope Springs" at a NYT Film Club screening. The first thought that entered my mind while watching it was wow, an American movie about people over 25 without a gun or a badge, amazing. But then you will be swept away by two of the best performances we'll see this year. Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones are at the absolute peake of their form. I doubt that any other American actors could have done as great a job as they do. If Jones and Streep are not nominated for Oscars this year, the awards won't be worth a damn. One more word about the acting: I think both have often used aspects of the character to create their performances (Streep is famous for her accents) in "Hope Springs" they are fully exposed with nothing between each of them and the camera except their talent and basic human understanding.

The story is essentially very simple. After 30 odd years of marriage Kay (Streep) and Arnold (Jones) have grown apart (to say the least). They don't talk, they don't touch, they don't even sleep in the same room. Kay grows tired of this situation and wants more. She finds a couples therapist (Steve Carrell) on the shelf in a bookstore and virtually demands that an extremely reluctant Arnold join her for therapy in the furthest reaches of Maine. I don't think it will give anything away to say that the rest of the film deals with Their struggle to either save or destroy their Marriage. Kay is unwilling to settle for the status quo and Arnold wants to keep everything as it is. Who wins and how it turns out for their marriage is what the film is all about. And it's a struggle that's worth sharing with them even if at times it might make you a bit uncomfortable. It did me.

"Hipe Springs" is a very real story about real people - not the usual Hillywood fantasies - struggling to find a way to live in a very complicated and destructive world. We need more films like this.

Guardian.co.uk - Wealth doesn't trickle down – it just floods offshore, research reveals

This study of the amount of tax dollars that are stolen from the nations where the wealth is made is almost surely one of the main reasons Romney refuses to release more than a piddling two years of tax returns. Where is Romney's wealth?

Guardian.co.uk - Wealth doesn't trickle down – it just floods offshore, research reveals

Farewell, Alex, My Friend » Counterpunch

It was possible to have often disagreed with Alex Cockburn and still believe it's important to recognize his contribution to our struggle and know he will be missed.

Farewell, Alex, My Friend » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Recent right-wing nonsense

Mitt Romney: "To say something like that is not just foolishness, it's insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America."
What is "that"? Obama said that if an entrepreneur succeeds in business that he or she doesn't do it on his or her own but with the help of others and a government built infrastructure. Romney says that's insulting to every entrepreneur. I wish we could just LOL. In any sane society this man would be made to sit in the corner with a dunce hat on his head. In this society he is running for president.

Michael Goodwin in today's (7/22/12) N.Y. Post: "It was inevitable that a left-leaning news organization would be the first to inject politics into the Colorado massacre story."
Which "left-leaning publication" could he be talking about? He goes on: "ABC News performed down to type..." It certainly is nice to welcome ABC into the family of "left-leaning publications".

"I believe it was all god's plan and for me to second guess it or judge it...." So said George Zimmerman about his shooting and killing unarmed teen Trevon Martin. it would seem, if Zimmerman was carrying out amyone's plan, it was much more the devil's plan he was carrying out. But I suspect it was his own.

How much more insanity do we have to put up with before we collectively say Basta! Enough insanity.

"Fuel on the Fire": Author Greg Muttit on Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq.

If you remember in 2004 & 2005 (and Chelsea neighbors even now)at every anti-war demonstration there were signs declaring "No Blood For Oil" and all the administration denials. Now we learn in Greg Muttit's new book "Fuel on the Fire" & in this interview from Democracy Now this morning that the spilling of American, allied & mainly Iraqui blood was in fact spilled to
enrich the oil companies. They seem to be the main beneficiaries of the invasion & occupation.

"Fuel on the Fire": Author Greg Muttit on Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq, Arab Spring

Your Friday the 13th Daily Kos Multimedia Morning - July 13, 2012

Your Friday the 13th Daily Kos Multimedia Morning - July 13, 2012

Woody Guthrie at 100: Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Will Kaufman Honor the "Dust Bowl Troubadour"

Who better to acknowledge the founding of the U.S. than Woodie Guthrie & Pete Seeger. Who better to cut through the triumphalism that pollutes the air on July 4th. Here they are:

Woody Guthrie at 100: Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Will Kaufman Honor the "Dust Bowl Troubadour"

Democracy Now! Live Coverage of U.S. Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling: Tune in Thursday 10-11am EDT

Despite the obvious inadequacied of the health-care law, it is a desperately needed 1st step needed by most of the 99%. If the Supes decide against it they will be acting to defeat Obama not uphold the Constitution, which of course is their sworn duty.


Democracy Now! Live Coverage of U.S. Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling: Tune in Thursday 10-11am EDT