Slumdogs, Western Guilt, And Executive Transvestites

I saw Slumdog Millionaire a couple of nights ago, and it is the type of movie that does not leave you... yesterday's tragic events in Mumbai have only added to my new found macabre fascination with the place...

Directer Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) did the impossible, skillfully bridging the gap from east to west, making his film palatable to our western culture without stealing its Indian soul... This film was so visceral that I could practically smell the slums of Mumbai. Boyle made you laugh, cry, smile and identify with characters that lived in such stunning poverty that there simply aren't words to describe it...



There were scenes that made you want to recoil in horror, scenes of cruel injustice that made you furious, and scenes that made you believe in the corny improbability of true love... There were characters in this film who had literally nothing but their wits and the clothes on their backs...

And all of this made me think about the meaning of Thanksgiving Day (Ok, I realize I've just rolled the car, but work with me here...)

We in the west piss and moan about life's pitfalls and disappointments, and yet we are perhaps the luckiest people on earth. Understand that of the estimated 6.7 billion people on this planet, 2.7 billion live on less than $2 a day... add to that another 3 billion who aren't doing much better...

Since you are probably reading this at home, on your own computer, I can deduce that you are one of the 1 billion lucky ones...

How about this for some perspective?

At your lowest of lows, you are better off than 85% of the earth's population...

Tomorrow we will gorge ourselves on more food than most people on this earth will see in several months...

Enjoy...

So, now that I have you sufficiently depressed and guilt ridden, let me soothe your psyche...

Enjoy the effervescent executive transvestite comedic stylings of Eddie Izzard as he accurately describes what happened on that fateful day in October 1621...

Feeling better?

Alas, we all have much to be thankful for...
Happy Thanksgiving to all...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

An Inconveniant Politician

Earlier this year ex-New York governor Elliot Spitzer was fingered by the FBI in a prostitution sting which ultimately led to his humiliating resignation on March 17, 2008.

To understand fully why Spitzer was targeted, one need look no further than his stint as the New York State Attorney General. Spitzer was a modern day Elliot Ness, taking on corporate white collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud and environmental protection. While the Bush Administration feigned surprise and then acted self-righteous and indignant over the Enron and Tyco scandals, Spitzer decided to do something about the culture of criminality on Wall Street and sharpened his cleaver.

Up until his downfall, Spitzer was one of the ONLY prominent politicians raising awareness regarding the less than admirable goings on in the banking industry. Like a bull in a china shop, he went over the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission a number of times. He went after price fixing, investment bank stock manipulation, and prosecuted the 2003 mutual fund scandal. He also set his sights upon former NYSE chairman Richard Grasso, claiming that Grasso's $190 million goodie bag was a payoff courtesy of a hand-picked compensation committee consisting of bigwigs from NYSE-listed companies. (Gee, I don't see any conflict of interest there at all...)

And in an act of supreme hypocrisy, he led investigations into prostitution, supporting legislation targeting the sex trade, including a provision aimed at men who frequent prostitutes. (got his come-uppance there, didn't he?)

In short, Spitzer made some very, very powerful enemies... and dangerous ones as well (he kicked the Gambino crime family out of Manhattan's garment and trucking business) He got $1.4 billion in fines from investment banks (looks as so they are getting that back, and then some...)

So reviled was Spitzer that when word of his resignation hit the NYSE trading floor, spontaneous applause broke out among the traders.

So would the Feds carry out their investigation and prosecution of Eliot Spitzer?

Ummmm... no.

On November 6th, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia announced that Spitzer would not face criminal charges for his involvement in the sex ring citing that no evidence of misuse of public funds was found and therefore pressing charges would not serve the public interest. Ok, so he used his own money (big deal, he's rich), but Spitzer was guilty of violating the Mann Act, which makes it a federal criminal offense to knowingly transport any individual, male or female, across state lines for the purpose of prostitution or sexual activity.

And yet... charges dropped... interesting...

Makes me speculate there were some negotiations... and fine scotch in a smoke filled room somewhere...

This certainly isn't the first time a powerful man screwed himself royally by thinking with his little head instead of the big one. Spitzer obviously thought he was untouchable... and why wouldn't he be? He swims in the world of the big fish... After all, it is common knowledge that rich, powerful men often seek the comfort of high end prostitutes and mistresses... Captains of industry, politicians, bankers, movie stars, athletes, etc... and most of the time the golden rule of discretion is observed... don't ask, don't tell... It is estimated that Spitzer spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000 on comfort food over several years. Hell, some of W's Saudi friends blow $100,000 on hookers in a single weekend. Why is it they never get prosecuted?

And what of this... The FBI took down an entire prostitution ring and the ONLY client charged was Eliot Spitzer?

Really?

Interesting... because one can safely assume that there were other clients... rich and powerful ones to boot...

So the question remains, why were their names not splashed across the front page of the New York Times?

Did Spitzer commit a crime?

yes...

Was he singled out?

In my humble opinion, most assuredly...

Yesterday the New York Times carried this story speculating that perhaps Mr. Spitzer didn't so much as fall... he was pushed... So in other words, one can deduce that the entire point of the sting was not to actually prosecute Spitzer, but to remove him from office, to shut him up and ruin him, to damage his credibility.

One month before Spitzer's downfall, he wrote this op/ed in the Washington Post, which I have decided to post in its entirety... It's contents were as damning as it's foresight was accurate... The boy was clearly onto something and he needed to be removed.

Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime
How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers

By Eliot Spitzer
Thursday, February 14, 2008; Washington Post - A25

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.

Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.

What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.

Throughout our battles with the OCC and the banks, the mantra of the banks and their defenders was that efforts to curb predatory lending would deny access to credit to the very consumers the states were trying to protect. But the curbs we sought on predatory and unfair lending would have in no way jeopardized access to the legitimate credit market for appropriately priced loans. Instead, they would have stopped the scourge of predatory lending practices that have resulted in countless thousands of consumers losing their homes and put our economy in a precarious position.

When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.

So there you have it...

Spitzer has been laying low for the past eight months, trying to rehabilitate his image by doing pro-bono work while managing his father's massive real estate holdings...

Approached by reporter in mid-September, Spitzer bemoaned the federal rescue of the insurance giant AIG and recalled how he had forced their chairman to resign in 2005 amid suspicious accounting discrepancies. “I committed my sins, and I’ve paid for them,” he said. Then, regarding AIG he stated, “But I was right.”

Yes he was... too right for his own good.

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

His Own Private Idaho

During a pre-recorded interview with Japanese television Sunday, our esteemed buffoon in chief George W. Bush stated that he believed the Iraq war to be a success and was "very pleased" with what is happening there.

This isn't the first time he's stepped outside the realm of reality to reveal the little dream world in which his addled mind resides. Back in March he told the Times of London that the resurgence of violence in Iraq was a "very positive moment."

Ah yes... the power of positive thinking... a theory developed by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in the fifties, a Protestant preacher with no formal mental health training... Far eastern meditation made palpable for the right wing happy clapper Jesus sects...

A theory where through constant repetition of positive thought you can circumvent the conscious mind and alter your viewpoints through the power of suggestion, until you no longer have the ability to think critically. Peale wrote, “Let them (positive thoughts) sink into your unconscious and they can help you overcome any difficulty. Say them over and over again. Say them until your mind accepts them, until you believe them – faith power works wonders.” (And it makes that annoying kid at Sunday School much easier to deal with... you know, the one with all "questions?")

Blind faith.

C'mon man, how awesome is that...?

Imagine going through life with a dumb smile permanently plastered on your mug... Working through life's many challenges just by altering your perception of reality.

This could really work for the poor... they could just tell themselves over and over that they have jobs, food, shelter, and health care... and voila, all those perceived socio-economic ills fall magically by the wayside...

W. has worked this scam to perfection. Down is up, wrong is right, night is day... After all, if you know you are right then no one can tell you that you are wrong.

Bush's utterly profound statement about the "success in Iraq" gave me reason to pause and “imagine” some great quotes throughout history, had the "power of positive thinking" been in effect...

March 15, 44 B.C., Julius Caeser: "Steak knives? You guys brought food?"

36 A.D., Judas Iscariot to Jesus of Nazareth: "Dude, no worries... I got your back."

1502, overheard somewhere along the West African coast: "Hey look... white people on ships... Let’s go see what they want." (stolen from David Chappelle)

June 19, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo: "Je célèbre cette grande victoire!"

June 25, 1876, General George Armstrong Custer near the Little Bighorn River: "I imagine Crazy Horse and I will settle this like civilized gentlemen."

May 7, 1937, Captain of the Hindenburg, Ernst Lehmann: "Oh look, a fire… let’s make smores."

Fall 1942, Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus on the banks of the Volga: "What a wonderful place to camp for the winter."

November 18, 1978, overheard in Jonestown, Guyana: "mmmmm... grape... my favorite!"

February 23, 2004, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan: "If we drop interest rates, give everyone a loan regardless of their ability to pay it back, and then chop up those loans into complicated debt instruments and sell them to unsuspecting financial institutions across the world without any oversight or regulation, the economy will be great forever."

December 26, 2004, overheard off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia: "Come on in, the water is just fine."

(Ok... that last one was just plain mean...)

So there it is kids... the key to eternal happiness is within your grasp... just alter your perceptions and even a shit sandwich like Iraq can taste like filet mignon... It works for the President of the United States, so why not let it work for you?

Bon appetit.

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Let's Get Ready For Some Futbol!!!

I'm going to the MLS CUP tomorrow... the championship of American professional soccer.. while this may not seem like a big deal to most American sports fans, I think it is important to support the growth of soccer in this country... if for no other reason than it connects us to the rest of the world, where soccer is the most popular sport by far...

Oh, there is one more reason... I happen to enjoy soccer...

I not a big "USA, USA!!!" blowhard... in fact I abhor that type of jingoistic fervor... but the other day I came across a piece written by some wanker in the UK press spouting off about how David Beckham is a loser and how our soccer is crap...

First of all, in defense of Beckham, he has been nothing but an absolute gentleman and fine ambassador of the game despite the glaring spotlight and the ridiculous expectations placed upon him... (not to mention the wife... EEEK!!!) While the Galaxy have been pretty disastrous on the field, the stadiums are packed wherever they play... so one could argue that despite the Galaxy's lack of success, Beckham has been pivotal in increasing the popularity of the game here in the United States.

Secondly... Yeah I get it... I've heard the snobby argument that the MLS is not as good as the English Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga, La Liga etc...

Ok... of course its not... but soccer in North America has gotten to the point where at least it is watchable, which is more than I can say for ice hockey in Great Britain, or baseball in Italy, or American football in Germany...

Agreed, our soccer is inferior compared to the top European leagues, but one must also consider that soccer is fifth in popularity in terms of American team sports... and yet, despite this handicap, the United States still puts a competitive national team on the field for international competitions...

It'll be New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew tomorrow... (one thing I cannot stomach is the RIDICULOUS names they've given most MLS teams... for instance, Real Salt Lake? good god...)

Both teams feature outstanding South American players, Colombian Juan Pablo Angel of New York, and Argentine Guillermo Baros Schelotto for Columbus... which brings me to another point... if one were to scan the starting lineups of the top four English clubs, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal... how many of those players carry UK passports?

So there...

In my life/journalistic career I have had the pleasure of attending a World Cup Final, the Stanley Cup Finals, the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the NBA Championship Series... after tomorrow I'll still have a Champions League Final, College Football Championship and an F1 race to go... (and for some odd reason I'd love to go the Grey Cup as well...)

My amigo Mik (of the fabulous New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack - MySpace here) has promised me the spectacle of a proper English football match when I visit the UK in February... mmmmmmm... eating meat pies and baked beans, while slurping strong ale and singing hateful songs about the opponents' many inadequacies... I simply cannot wait...

Late Edit: For those who care about such things, Columbus won a rather sloppy game 3-1...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Sarah The Surreal

Sarah, at home with her pets...

I was gonna lay off Sarah Palin... but God bless her, she is a comedic gift that keeps on giving...

Part of me... albeit a VERY small part of me really wished Palin would have become our president... if only for a few more priceless moments like this...

There she stands, giving an interview, while a man slaughters turkeys right behind her...

Watch the video, but beware... some of you may feel squeamish...

Some people may find this type of uninhibited behavior refreshing... I am not of that ilk... The next time we see her give an interview there might be some local yokel behind her shitting in a bucket...

"Hello Sarah" he waves, "How ya doin?"

Palin cheerfully responds, "Oh hi Joe, say... that must be your friend there in the wood chipper."

Just imagine what a Sarah Palin presidency would have looked like... Caribou, gutted and hanging all along the White House lawn... a duck blind in the rose garden... Todd shooting squirrels from the Lincoln Bedroom... moose chili served in the White House cafeteria... a salt lick in the east colonnade... orange hunting vests on the Secret Service detail... the pelts of dead varmints strewn about the oval office... and of course, lastly, who could deny the appeal of a 15 course roadkill buffet par excellence for the foreign dignitaries...?

As macabre as this was, I couldn't help but burst out laughing... I'm still not convinced that this isn't just another SNL skit... She babbles on and on while the poor writhing bird at her immediate rear buys the farm...

Does she not have a publicist, a handler? Is there no one in her midst who is remotely professional? Could no one have kindly asked the farmer to stop the culling of gobblers while they were rolling the cameras...?

Or is this just part of her endearing shtick? Is this her sanguine pitch to the hunting and fishing crowd to let them know she is one of them?

Well if that is the case, why not try this... hand her a rifle, put her in a red, white and blue bikini and have her roll around the slick killing floor of a slaughterhouse moaning "Drill, baby drill!!!?"

"You betcha, dat awda git 'em reel 'cited!!!"

Yup, good ole Sarah... a REAL American...

Look, I'm not naive... I know the bird I'll be wolfing down next Thursday likely met with the same gruesome fate... but Jesus lady... show a little decorum... please?

You can take Sarah out of Alaska, but you'll never get the Alaska out of Sarah...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Fuck Texas, Sing For Us...

Throughout my vast travels I have come to meet all sorts of incredibly interesting and talented people...

Justin Sullivan is one of them... In fact this blog is named after the nickname he gave me, "harbinger of doom"... because... well... I do doom rather harbingeringly...

I first met Justin in 1989 in Hollywood, California where we proceeded to boot a soccer ball around the Roxy parking lot while discussing the sad state of English football... And then again at Whisky a Go Go in 1993, where I interviewed him for some local LA rag I no longer even remember the name of... These were the halcyon days of grunge, and Justin's band, New Model Army, had just signed a deal with Epic Records, who were looking to market a successful English rock band with folk/punk roots as a "Seattle grunge" (this is my opinion) band...

It did not work.

The "problem" with New Model Army was integrity...
As in, they had too much of it...

When this "grunge" tactic failed to produce the results Epic desired, there was a mutual parting of ways shortly thereafter... Alas, New Model Army would not tour the States again for 10 years...

Integrity...

Tough word...

Attributed to many, earned by few...

Justin and I didn't actually become friends until many years later, when I began "volunteering" to "help" him out with his career... I have on many occasions, tried to get Justin to blog, market, promote, bamboozle, hoodwink, swindle and just plain sell-out... but to his credit, he hasn't... hell, despite all of my cajoling, prodding and whining, he still hasn't even updated his mid-nineties era looking website... he is who he is... a world traveller, a keen observer, a tolerant philosopher... a rock and roll pirate armed with a Gibson SG...

He and his obscenely talented merry band of madmen still play before rabid crowds that number in the thousands throughout Europe, as well as equally fervent hundreds here in North America and elsewhere...

He is successful on his terms, what you see is what you get, and above all, as a friend and fan, I deeply respect that...

New Model Army has a new record out this week, charmingly titled "Fuck Texas, Sing For Us", which was what a New Orleans audience was chanting after Justin explained that he needed to save his voice for the Austin, Texas show the next evening and that another encore wasn't perhaps in his best interest. Alas, the Cajuns did not concur with his sound reasoning...

"Fuck Texas, Sing For Us" is a live record, and New Model Army is above all a LIVE band... seeing them play is like spending a winter's week on the North Sea... beauty, intensity, power, fury, fragility...

integrity...

I am going to be championing friends of mine from time to time in this space... and I couldn't have begun with a better choice...

New Model Army's new CD is available here

Please check it out...

And here is the MySpace Site, which I had to do in a guerilla fashion until he finally surrendered to its existance... (Viva la MySpace!!!)

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Surgical Steal

In what will unquestionably turn out to be the ultimate game of hot potato, how will the rest of the world continue to prop up the ailing US dollar while simultaneously plotting its destruction?

This was the thousand quingentillion dollar question posed before the G20 as they dined upon fruitwood-smoked quail with quince qastrique, quinoa risotto, thyme-roasted rack of lamb, tomato, fennel and eggplant fondue, served with chanterelle jus (you gotta have dippin' sauce, folks...) in Washington DC over the weekend... (no Food 4 Less fare for these folks...)

You see, because their banks are stuffed with our funny money, the rest of the world can't just liquidate their Federal Reserve notes onto the open market, as that would crash the dollar and cause a global calamity...

And yet, at the same time, the other occupants of the globe are sick and tired of propping up and paying the tab of the mean, thirsty drunk at the end of the bar... (that drunk is the United States, in case there is any confusion)

Trust me, they are looking for ways to 86 us...

So, how is this going to work? Are we heading towards the introduction of a new world reserve currency... or at least a one world standard...? And who gets the final vote on that? Are we about to launch a Bretton Woods II...? (here is a good primer on Bretton Woods I)

Will it be a basket of European, Chinese, Russian, and the Middle Eastern currencies? (you know, people with resources... people who still MAKE things...)

Will we have one bank... to rule the world?
And if so, who takes the ring to Mordor? (sorry, I couldn't resist...)

Because, that is the end game... As all things moneyed continue to swirl down the toilet, the powers that be are likely going to print even more goofy paper... (Instead of freeing up the system, and basing it on something worthy... like say, a GOLD standard...?)

But trust them... they are going to control it this time... they PROMISE... And what what could possibly go wrong?

So here we go again... drain the swamp... devour everyone's savings... reset all calculators to zero... re-launch the ponzi scheme... (Cough cough... ahem, excuse me... What I meant to say was "rescue the global economy"...)

It is going to take one heckuva skilled surgeon to extricate themselves from the cancer we infected them with... they are going to attempt to keep this rotting, festering corpse on life support, and bleed it slowly... remove its organs one by one while keeping it on life support... but in doing that, its fetid stench and decay will continue to infect the purchasing power and earning potential of every man, woman and child on the planet...

The ruling class of United States wants anything but a one world bank, but not for reasons of justice and morality, but of greed... you see, as long as the United States has the world's reserve currency, we get to print as much money as we'd like and the rest of the world has to send us goods and services in return, regardless of its "worth"...

To oversimplify, with the end of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, comes also the end of our ability to steal from the rest of the globe with impunity...

And since our entire lifestyle and economic well-being is based upon this rampant theft... well, I'm sure you can see what a rosy future we all have before us once we can no longer engage in our comfortable life of crime... Better stock up on rice and beans, and guns and ammo... for we are in for one helluva rough patch...

Every American will enjoy increasingly higher prices for consumer goods and services... along with wages that won't go anywhere but down... And pay no attention to the government's inflation and unemployment statistics... for they are as rigged as a 2004 Ohio voting machine...

The ever brilliant Dr. Paul (we have a love/hate thing) discusses the dilemma facing the global economy in further detail and with much more credibility than I'll ever have... watch and learn...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

A Solution

For those of you outside of California, Proposition 8 was a recently passed state ballot proposition that amended the state constitution to restrict what should define marriage.

It was a bitterly contested fight between the secular progressives (Democrats) and Christian conservatives (Republicans) (no worries... I understand that I just made a broad generalization there)...

Despite staunch opposition from Republican Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger, State Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the mayors of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego as well as every meaningful editorial board in the state, Prop 8 defeated the previously passed May 15th, 2008 California Supreme Court decision that had recognized same-sex marriage as a fundamental right.

The official ballot title language for Proposition 8 is "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry." The entirety of the text to be added to the constitution was: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

In essence: Prop 8 proponents sought to deny "same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage — in areas such as inheritance, income tax, insurance and hospital visitation"...

In the run up to this latest election, we Californians were subjected to an endless scare campaign of epic proportions... The pro Proposition 8 junta put forth the hysterical right wing talking point that the "Gays" were going to teach homosexuality to your children in schools, and that you'd have no say in the matter... These nutters describe homosexuality as if it were some type of human parvo-virus... spread on contact...

Ironically, it has been (incorrectly) stated that perhaps it was the influx of first time black voters, brought into the fold by the Obama campaign that turned Prop 8 into law...

However, based upon the map below one can clearly see that this is not the case... as the areas where black voters predominantly live all voted against the proposition...



And take a look at this research from Nate Silver at his fabulous site:

fivethirtyeight

Prop 8 Myths

Now, it's true that if new voters had voted against Prop 8 at the same rates that they voted for Obama, the measure probably would have failed. But that does not mean that the new voters were harmful on balance -- they were helpful on balance. If California's electorate had been the same as it was in 2004, Prop 8 would have passed by a wider margin.

At the end of the day, Prop 8's passage was more a generational matter than a racial one. If nobody over the age of 65 had voted, Prop 8 would have failed by a point or two. It appears that the generational splits may be larger within minority communities than among whites, although the data on this is sketchy.

The good news for supporters of marriage equity is that -- and there's no polite way to put this -- the older voters aren't going to be around for all that much longer, and they'll gradually be cycled out and replaced by younger voters who grew up in a more tolerant era. Everyone knew going in that Prop 8 was going to be a photo finish -- California might be just progressive enough and 2008 might be just soon enough for the voters to affirm marriage equity. Or, it might fall just short, which is what happened. But two or four or six or eight years from now, it will get across the finish line.

It was the typical agents of intolerance within red state California that voted to strip gay couples of their civil rights, the elderly, the Republicans, the Catholic church, the religious right, stadium church evangelical Christians (you know... all the organizations typically rife with closeted gays)...

In fact almost half of the $35 million used to promote the measure came from Utah... the Mormon Church to be specific...

Oh the irony... the religion that pretends to abhor polygamy (but has sects within it that still practice it) wants to "protect marriage"... Sorry if I've offended anyone, but any religion that gets its start from a self-appointed prophet named Joseph Smith who had a vision of an angel named Moroni who gave him some golden tablets, a sword, and a breastplate (items which only he had ever seen) in 1823 has got to be a little off center... as well as insular... but hey, supposedly we are a free country... and we all have our legends... believe what ever you want to believe... just don't force your dogma and morality upon another's civil rights... (I imagine I've just landed myself on an enemies list somewhere in Temple Square, Salt Lake City... oh well, take a number and get it line...)

While I truly feel for Andrew Sullivan's opinion on gay marriage... I think I may have a solution to the problem...

End marriage as a state or federally sanctioned institution.

Period.

It is my opinion that marriage is largely a socially mandated institution, and all who wish to engage in it should be allowed to do so in their own house of worship or in ANY ceremony the couple in question deems fit as a way to publicly express their affection and commitment to each other... the state should have no influence or bearing on who, where, how and why we should marry... This is an issue of FREEDOM... of separation of CHURCH and STATE...

All couples who wish to do so, should enter into CIVIL UNIONS as a public statement of responsible commitment... For the purpose of child support, inheritance, income tax, insurance and hospital visitation only...

No dogma, no bigotry, no sexism, no racism, no homophobia...

I vote "NO" on state sanctioned marriage...

"YES" on civil unions for EVERYONE...

And "YES" on private marriage... to whomever you should wish to betroth...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Coming Clean

Wired magazine has an interesting story regarding January 20th, 2009... You know... the date of Barack Obama's inauguration as this nations 44th president...?

But that date is important for another very significant reason... Apparently, according to "Wired" and esteemed journalist Seymour Hersh, January 20th is when the truth will come out regarding the Bush Administration's nasty little habit of domestic warrantless wiretapping... you know, the "Terrorist Surveillance Program"... where just about any of us could be deemed as an enemy of the state...

Some highlights:

"I'd bet there are a lot of career employees in the intelligence agencies who'll be glad to see Obama take the oath so they can finally speak out against all this illegal spying and get back to their real mission," says Caroline Fredrickson, the ACLU's Washington D.C. legislative director.

New Yorker investigative reporter Seymour Hersh already has a slew of sources waiting to spill the Bush administration's darkest secrets, he said in an interview last month. "You cannot believe how many people have told me to call them on January 20. [They say,] 'You wanna know about abuses and violations? Call me then.'"

Any attempts at public oversight have been met with a slew of Bush Administration lawyers, who've proceeded to kick sand into the eyes of investigators while bullying inquiring journalists... Clearly, the level of surveillance was so over the top that career spooks aren't willing to spill the beans while Herr Bush is still at the helm... Lord knows any potential whistleblowers understand that a Justice Department with Bush at the helm could charge them with anything from a 17th Century treason statute to having them declared guilty of witchcraft... Hell, I bet there is still a dusty old sedition law somewhere that no one has used in a while...

To the gallows!!!

Makes one wonder what else will come out in the wash... Makes one wonder about one way plane tickets, foreign bank accounts, dual citizenships, and extradition treaties... Makes one wonder if that late night booty call you made was enjoyed by more than you and the booty... Makes one wonder if they are reading this blog post right now...

Remember kids, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you...

Anyone wanna take bets on some very suspicious pardons on January 19th?

Begs the question... Can a president pardon himself?

And then there's this... Bush may be able to block subpoenas even after leaving office

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

The Bitter Consequence Of Ridicule

This morning I awoke to the news that a woman had committed suicide in front of Paula Abdul's house... turns out she was a "fan" as well as a ex-American Idol contestant...

LOS ANGELES — A fan of Paula Abdul whose failed audition for "American Idol" aired in season five was found dead in a car near the home of the pop star and judge she admired, authorities said Wednesday.

Police indicated that Paula Goodspeed, whose rendition of "Proud Mary" was roundly criticized by Simon Cowell and rejected by Abdul and Randy Jackson, had possibly committed suicide, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. An official cause of death had not been determined.

Authorities found Goodspeed's body Tuesday evening in a car that photos show bearing the vanity license plate "ABL LV" in a Los Angeles Lakers frame. Her parents had reported her missing hours earlier and expressed concern that she might hurt herself.

"I am deeply shocked and saddened at what transpired yesterday," Abdul said in a statement released by her publicist, Jeff Ballard. "My heart and prayers go out to her family."

Goodspeed's audition was aired during the season that began in January 2006. She told the show's host, Ryan Seacrest, how she was a huge fan of Abdul and created life-size paintings of the singer and former Laker Girl; she also called Abdul "beautiful" after Cowell said he noticed a resemblance between Goodspeed and Abdul. But Cowell also made light of Goodspeed's braces and bloggers trashed her appearance, which she noted in a MySpace posting months after the show aired.

So Abdul is "shocked"???

Really?

I must say that I'm not surprised... I'd love to see a "where are they now" type investigation on some of these former American Idol contestants... especially the ones who were ridiculed and humiliated...

I can say with pride that I have never actually watched an entire episode of American Idol, and yet, if you watch television or surf the web there is little you can do to escape it's fetid existence... I can actually name the winners and runners-up... It pains me to know that the few valuable intact brain cells I have left are being occupied with this garbage... but I digress...

What pains me even more is that I live in a culture that has deemed it appropriate to laugh and humiliate others on prime time nationwide television... And spare me the "they asked for it" speech... some of the contestants are obviously untalented, deluded, or just plain mentally challenged... and I know for a fact that contestants go through multiple auditions before they even reach Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul... So just why do some of the obviously untalented contestants make it in front of the big three?

Ratings...

Because the American public enjoys snickering at those less fortunate... those who do not exactly fit the accepted standards of beauty, or decorum... we like to make fun of the socially awkward, the homosexual, the obese, the unattractive, the "losers"... And once they bomb on the show, the internet takes over, bloggers peel away what little dignity the failed contestant had left... it becomes a feeding frenzy of hate and ridicule...

This is how low we've sunk as a society... this poor woman, sitting dead in her car is a direct result of this culture of crassness... and trust me, there will be more like her...

So I have an idea... a big ratings booster...

Mr. Cowell, why not cut to the chase and just put cameras inside a mental hospital and do American Idol there?

It certainly would be a lot safer for the contestants...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR "THOUGHTS" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Order Arms

It is Veteran's Day for a couple more hours... and being a Vet, I've long ago expressed a desire that we not be celebrated with a "day" in our honor... but with a foreign policy that does not waste our blood and honor... that said, here are some random thoughts...

The other day while standing in line at the grocery store, I noticed a gentleman in full Vietnam Vet regalia...

Hat, vest, pins, unit insignia, hell, he was even wearing his jungle boots...

Intrigued, I struck up a conversation with him... He told me he was 101st, I was in the 82nd, so naturally there was kinship as well as rivalry...

He did two years... 1967-69... arguably the worst time to be in Nam... 101st were the guys who mounted the legendary and brutal assault upon Hamburger Hill...
I was in from 1983-89... the Reagan years... much posturing, overthrows and imperialism, a few skirmishes here and there, but not 1/1,000,000th of the violence and hell this gentleman had witnessed...

As I was speaking to him, what struck me was how different our military service had affected us...

Most people would never guess that I was ex-military... it isn't something I speak about freely, and quite frankly, some of the events that I witnessed and contributed to make me quite uncomfortable... Despite my love of the United States Army, I don't wear it on my sleeve...

And yet, the Vietnam War so profoundly affected this gentleman that it came to personify him... it is as if he went into a time capsule and never left... it is still 1968 to him... he wears all the trappings of that war with dismay over the buddies he'd lost... dismay over a country that betrayed him by sending him into a war they had no interest in winning... a country that rejected him when he returned... He is equally proud and in perpetual pain... He went there a boy and came home a caricature... so affected by what he'd seen that it became his very being... Can you imagine two years of your life forever defining who you are? Most of us cannot... It is more than tragic... go to any VA hospital and you'll see guys like that stacked up like chord wood...

I understand brotherhood, I get camaraderie... you don't really get the same feeling from being on a football team, or in a frat... you don't share the same level of love and sacrifice... I've been watching the miniseries "Generation Kill" on HBO lately... and while it may offend some of the liberal sensibilities I've developed in my later years, the series accurately portrayed what it is to be a soldier... at least how I remembered it... I highly recommend you check it out...

Generation Kill

Its all there... ill timed humor, endless boredom, epic exhaustion, fervent homophobia, latent racism, gross discomfort, disgusting food, stunning immaturity, public drunkenness... warrior poets, violent hicks, dangerously incompetant junior officers, blindly ambitious senior officers... all of these things... occasionally interrupted by bouts sheer terror combined with absolute chaos...

War isn't political when your boots are on the ground... war is about surviving day to day... staying alive, watching your ass, and your buddy's ass as well... it is about all the things they write about... duty, honor, love, sacrifice... And sadly, most of the time these wonderful and virtuous qualities are abused by the powers that be...

Back to the Vietnam Vet... After we parted it struck me that someday, maybe when I'm 60... I'll run into a 40-year-old in full Iraq War regalia... and he'll have that same thousand mile stare in his eyes...

GO ON... LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...

Welcome all GOOD Canadians...

As many of you may know, I contributed to the dumbing down of Matt Good's site for a couple of years... and with great pleasure I might add...

www.matthewgood.org

Matt is an amazing musician, progressive thinker, armchair historian, as well as a close friend... I thank him for sending you all south of the border and am looking forward to locking horns with some of you in the future...

Never be afraid to call me on my bullshit...
As I am most certainly not afraid to call you on your bullshit...

xo

Roy El Saghir

Welcome To The House Of Pain

Yes indeed, crime pays...

You wont believe this...
You really need to read this... the whole thing... Slowly... Twice even...
Understand what it is...

Do not just excuse yourself by saying you don't understand... or that it is too complicated... It isn't... take the time to COMPREHEND IT.
This is of the utmost IMPORTANCE to you...

http://www.truthout.org/111008A

It is an incredible tale of outright theft... of sleight of hand... A head fake followed by a jaw crushing uppercut...

I originally (and stupidly) predicted they'd surround the sinking economy with inner tubes, float it until after the election, and then drown it on Obama's watch, but no...

They did one better...
They robbed the store and left Obama with NOTHING to work with...
This is the Bush Administration's farewell "Fuck You" to the American taxpayer...
This was a smash and grab of epic proportions...
You really have to stand back and admire that level of criminality...
It is a sight to behold...

My friends, there was no actual "crisis"...
It was completely manipulated and manufactured...
If you read this article carefully you will see that they were having talks about rescinding section 382 of the tax code LAST YEAR... The Republicans have been trying to do away with it for YEARS... and in the September we were all to believe that we were on the verge of a collapse that no one saw coming?

Really?

REALLY?!?!?

Funny that... because I saw it coming... And I'm an IDIOT.

As I was saying all along...
Just as in 1929, this "collapse" was planned...

These people are very, very intelligent criminals with the "law" on their side... They created a crisis, and then found a way to get YOU to pay for it...

Our elected leaders have sold us down the river...

And in the same breathe they will proudly extoll the virtues of the free market while damning socialism... well, folks, we have socialism... for the bankers, for the ruling class... and you and I, well, we get to play the part of the serfs... the landless peasants... the hungry proletariat... the perpetual debt-slaves... In comparison, at least the old Soviets were somewhat honest about their graft...

You see, in actual free market capitalism as it is commonly defined... if the bank goes tits up, they go out of business... whereas in banker's version of free market capitalism, if the bank go tits up, YOU go out of business...

Utterly brilliant...
Privatize the profit, socialize the losses...

But mention universal health care, social security, and free education and you risk being shouted down as communist by some McCain/Palin bible thumper with three teeth in their head...

And now, in case your head hasn't already exploded, read this...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOngFPgq7r3M&refer=home

They refuse to divulge where they've "donated" the $2 trillion WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR...
Ladies and gentlemen, we've just been financially RAPED...
It is of the utmost importance that you understand what has just happened here...
They printed $2 trillion dollars out of thin air and threw it like lighter fluid onto the coals of an already inflationary barbecue...
Wait until all that funny money trickles down into the economy...
Say hello to $7 gallon of milk... and $8 gas... and those predictions might be on the LOW END...
And say hello to a forest fire of hyperinflation that they will find a way to pin on Obama...
Say hello to Carter Administration Part II... Say Hello to Palin 2012...

Yeah... we'll get "Change" alright...
It'll be all that is left in our pockets...
And I say this as one who voted for the man, purely because the alternative was so beyond horrific...
It is going to get much much worse, and it gives me no pleasure to say that...
And meanwhile, the mainstream media will play along... pay no attention... nothing to see here... move along... Hey look, Angelina is preggers again...

But in truth, Obama is also somewhat responsible (as are the whole lot of them) as he voted FOR the bailout plan, more than likely for political reasons...
I imagine it went down something like this... We'll give you the Oval Office if you play along with the money men... if you don't, well, you can still be a senator from the great state of Illinois...
I'll be amazed if Obama finds his way out of this morass with his wits intact... much less his cranium... because as things get worse economically, they mentally challenged among us are going to pin this on the "nigger, communist, socialist, terrorist"... And egged on by the ravenous right wing kooks on the radio, this non-Mensa candidate will take it upon himself to attempt the heroic deed of ridding the "Real America" of the Obama menace...

People rarely recall how much JFK was hated... that this kind of hate manifests itself in visceral ways...

It is common knowledge that Obama wants to do a New Deal II, a massive public works project... and I support that, if for no other reason than it will keep the great unwashed rabble from attacking each other with pitchforks and torches... I also believe that every young man and woman should be required do two years of national service... be it military, social welfare, housing, parks and recreation, etc...
Now as how to pay for this?
well now... can't we just print even more money?

Aye, now there's the rub...