Alternatives to Swift Boat Vets
Thanks to Wonkette.com , I just found out about some great alternatives to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Deception:
Swift Yacht Vets for Bush
http:// www.SwiftYachtVets.com/
Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth
http://www.pleasurecaptains.com/
Cheerleaders for Truth
http://www.cheerleadersfortruth.com/
I’m still waiting to see the “Drunken AWOL Frat Boys for Accountability” group.
Posts
George Bush and the Phony Ribbon
With all this recent talk about John Kerry’s military records, there’s been a tendency to forget about the military record of his opponent. Thanks to RhinosBlog , I discovered an interesting thread at the DemocraticUnderground.com on the subject of a special ribbon that George W. Bush wore for a military portrait. Take a look at this photo from Presidential Library site of George H.W. Bush:
The photo was taken sometime before his promotion to 1st Lt. in 1970. In it he's wearing an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (AFOUA) and a Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (SAEMR) just below his pilot wings. According to a just-completed investigation by Walt Starr, Bush's unit (the 111th Fighter Intercept Squadron 147th Fighter Intercept Group) did not receive its first AFOUA until 1975. For weeks, the media has put John Kerry's 5 medals under a microscope. Now we learn that George Bush was so ashamed of his undistinguished service
Rant in your Undies!
If there was ever one contest that seemed appropriate to mention on this little blogsite, this is it. I just hope they don’t post the contestants in that awful Windows Media format….
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The Nerve Amateur Video Contest Presents "Rant in Your Undies 2004"
http://www.nerve.com/promos/videocontest/undies/
CONTEST THEME: Film a one-minute-or-shorter video that includes someone ranting in his or her underwear.
Nerve will award $1,200 in prizes to the best rants! The top 15 rants will appear on our website.
Have something to say to George Bush? Want Kerry to talk more about healthcare? Think there should be better toys inside boxes of Frosted Flakes? Whatever you're angry about, the best way to get attention is to scream like hell in your undies.
THE PRIZES:
Win $500 First Place!
Win $100 Second Place
Win $100 Third Place
Win $500 Audience Award
Click here for information on how to enter:
http://www.nerve
Comparing the Two Candidates
When one is evaluating political candidates, I think it’s worthwhile to consider their personal histories and how they treat their fellow human beings.
Some people seem to take pleasure in causing pain for others. Other people are genuinely concerned with the well-being of others, including their adversaries. Some people are humanitarians, and some people are blatant assholes.
When George Bush attended Yale University in the 1960’s, there was a bit of controversy over allegations that his fraternity, DKE, had hazed incoming pledges by branding them with an iron. Bush told the New York Times "it was just a coat hanger, and ... it didn't hurt any more than a cigarette burn."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040714_2436.html
As a child in Midland, Texas, George W. Bush enjoying killing small animals. He took great pleasure in exploding frogs with firecrackers.
http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-3nov2000-frogs.html
John Kerry & BCCI
I found an interesting article about one of the activities John Kerry initiated during the 1980s. Here’s some excerpts from “Follow the Money” by David Sirota and Jonathan Baskin in the September 2004 issue of Washington Monthly:
Two decades ago, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a highly respected financial titan. In 1987, when its subsidiary helped finance a deal involving Texas oilman George W. Bush, the bank appeared to be a reputable institution, with attractive branch offices, a traveler's check business, and a solid reputation for financing international trade. It had high-powered allies in Washington and boasted relationships with respected figures around the world.
All that changed in early 1988, when John Kerry, then a young senator from Massachusetts, decided to probe the finances of Latin American drug cartels. Over the next three years, Kerry fought against intense opposition from vested interests at home and
Michael Moore is OK with pirate file-sharing of Fahrenheit 9/11
Controversial film-maker Michael Moore has welcomed the appearance on the internet of pirated copies of his anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and claimed he is happy for anybody to download it free of charge.
The activist, author and director told the Sunday Herald that, as long as pirated copies of his film were not being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded.
“I don’t agree with the copyright laws and I don’t have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they’re not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose that,” he said.
“I do well enough already and I made this film because I want the world, to change. The more people who see it the better, so I’m happy this is happening.”
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT:
http://www.sundayherald.com/43167
The Conscience of Joe Darby
Unless I'm mistaken, GQ Magazine didn't really become popular for it's political commentary, military exposés, in-depth analysis of international affairs, or intellectual essays on controversial topics. Men's fashion tips, photos of scantily-clad women, and sports articles seemed to be the standard subjects in this stylish publication. That's why I was thrilled to see an article on Joe Darby in such an unlikely soapbox. Here's an excerpt from the article by Wil S. Hylton :
When he saw the horrific abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, Joe Darby knew he had to blow the whistle. But coming forward would change his life—as well as his family's—forever, and for the worse. Because back in his own community and in the small towns of America, handing over those photos didn't make Joe Darby a hero. It made him a traitor.
They shut him up. Fast. You never even saw him. No footage of him coming off the plane, no flags or banner
Happy Birthday Tori Amos!
Singer-songwriter Tori Amos has a birthday. She's also a member of the expanding list of concerned American entertainers that are completely fed up with the current political situation.
At her website, you can buy some cute little T-shirts with the slogan "TRIM YOUR BUSH."
If you'd like to buy one of these shirts, go to: http://store.tbentgroup.com where you can find full descriptions and images of the shirts.
I approve this message.
A Guide to the Swift Veterans
Today, the New York Times published an excellent article on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Deception. You can read this article by going to this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html
What I especially found interesting was the visual flowchart that documents the links between the people behind this group and George W. Bush. Did you know that John O’Neill, the main spokesman of this group was married to a woman that was appointed to the Texas State Court of Appeals by then-Governor George W. Bush? One of John O’Neill’s law partners was a paid counsel to Governor Bush that was hired as President Bush to the position of deputy counsel to the Department of Commerce? Harlan Crow, one of the other top dogs at the Swift Boat Veterans is a trustee for Daddy Bush’s official Library Foundation? Neither did I.
You can download this flowchart at
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/
Hypocrisy of RealNetworks case against Apple
I find Real Media to be one of the most annoying video formats ever. I could rattle on about how much I hate this format, but I think I’ll save my criticism for another time. Recently, Real ran into some controversy when it came up with an audio format that utilizes Apple technology for their own iPod-compatabile downloads. As an advocate of open source technology, I would normally approve of such innovations. When it comes to RealNetworks, it’s just another form of grandstanding by a major hypocrite. Here’s some information recycled from a post by Donna Wentworth on the Copyfight Blog .
RealNetworks put Fred von Lohmann criticizing Apple's FairPlay on its "Freedom of Music Choice" campaign website homepage. But something tells me it may decide to veto Fred von Lohmann criticizing Real's undistinguished record on promoting choice via interoperability.
Writes Fred at EFF.org:
http://www.eff.org/deeplin
A Day In The Life Of Joe Republican
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of medication, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what
JibJab and Folk Uke
That JibJab "This Land is Your Land" song parody is getting a lot of attention, as it provides some bi-partisan election humor. Ludlow Music, the company that owns the rights to the original song threatened to sue the folks that created this parody. What folks should be asking is "What would Woody Guthrie think of this parody?"
Now, obviously Woody's not about to make any statements right now, as he's too busy being dead, but Woody's family has an opinion on the parody, as expressed by Woody's granddaughter, Cathy at BoingBoing.net:
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/08/06/cathy_guthries_opini.html
From this link, I found out about Cathy's duo with Amy Nelson, whose dad is a guy named Willie. They call themselves Folk Uke, and luckily, they too have a website. When you go to the site, you can hear an adorable little song called "Shit Makes the Flowers Grow."
http://www.folkuke.com/
And i
Fact Check on the Swift Veterans
There's a group known as the "Swift Veterans for the Truth" that has been airing a new television commercial that's highly critical of John Kerry's military record. As it turns out, this group's version of the "truth" has little resemblence to actual events. You can see their commerical by logging onto http://www.swiftvets.com/ .
The John Kerry website has posted a detailed response to the lies perpetuated by this group. I would encourage all voters to read this.
http://www.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/080504_truth.html .
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