Words From Immortal Technique

It's like Cambodia the killing fields uptown
We live in distress and hang the flag upside down
The sound of conservative politicians on television
People in the hood are blind so they tell us to listen
They vote for us to go to war instantly
But none of their kids serving the infantry
The odds are stacked against us like a casino
Think about it, most of the army is black and latino
And if you can't acknowledge the reality of my words
You just another stupid mother fucker out on the curb
Trying to escape from the ghetto with your ignorant ways
But you can't read history at an illiterate stage
And you can't raise a family on minimum wage
Why the fuck you think most of us are locked in a cage
I give niggaz the truth, cause they pride is indigent
You better off rich and guilty than poor and innocent
But I'm sick of feeling impotent watching the world burn
In the era of apocalypse waiting my turn
I'm a Harlem nigga that's concerned with the future
And if your in my way it'd be an honor to shoot ya
Up root ya with the evil that grows in my people
Making them deceitful, cannibalistic and lethal
But I see through the mentality implanted in us
And I educate my fam about who we should trust

- "Harlem Streets"

A Fraudulent Man

Ex-Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi is facing up to 20 years in prison for allegedly taking kickbacks in yet another State House corruption scandal that has cast a pall over Beacon Hill and sent the onetime iron-fisted leader’s former colleagues scrambling for cover.

DiMasi was hit with fraud and conspiracy charges yesterday in a scathing indictment that painted him as the “coach” of a team of conspirators who cut lucrative deals in backrooms and on golf courses from Boston to Florida, lining his own pocket to the tune of $60,000, federal agents alleged.

Prosecutors said DiMasi used his legislative might to steer $20 million in taxpayer-funded software contracts to Cognos in 2007. In exchange, the Canadian firm funneled payments to an unnamed lawyer in DiMasi’s law office, who in turn cut the then-speaker checks ranging from $4,000 to $25,000, authorities alleged. - Boston Herald

Judge Mark L. Wolf would have given DiMasi a smack down.

Fairy Stories

It’s Alright Bro, I’m Only Bleeding

BLAM! The clubs struck his spine once more. BLAM! Then his skull. Observing the red smeared on the Copper’s billy club, John could tell he was bleeding…. bleeding to death it seemed. John wasn’t always in this much trouble. There was a time when his life was nothing but serene. When he was young and filled with hope, before the weight of the world would jostle his vigorous spirit.
More than thirty years earlier John was born on July 4, 1976. The doctor claimed that he was the happiest baby he had ever delivered. His big, bulging, blue eyes attracted everyone in near sight. John’s parents provided an exemplary home for him. He had a tremendous education, a safe environment, and best of all, plenty of friends with which to play.
You know those memories that you will remember for the rest of your life? Well, the day John met Jerry was one of those days. The two seven year olds stood in stark contrast to one another. John had long, brown hair, big, blue eyes, and the most natural smile that was so giant that one would think somebody slipped him some stimulant. Above all, he stood up straight and tall with courage of a fire fighter. Jerry, on the contrary, had curly, blonde hair; light, brown eyes, a nervous, almost neurotic smile, and a slouching posture to say the least.
On one particular sunny day every child in the neighborhood was out to play. Most of the little rapscallions played army in the trees and behind bushes. That was the “thing” to do on Spring Street. All the boys were coaxing Jerry, being the small, scrawny kid he was, to jump out of the tree and land perfectly on the grass. Jerry cried, “It’s too high. I don’t want to kill myself!!!”
“Aww come on, yeah big baby, just jump,” yelped another rascal.
“Ehh, he’ll never do it, he’s too big of a wussy. Let’s scram.”
So, the boys hopped on their bikes and careened off down the road. Feeling relief, that he could now safely come down, Jerry smirked and began his departure. But, all of a sudden that smirk turned into a furrow of worry. His sock was caught in one of the branches of the tree. He was beginning to collapse. He screamed his lungs out for help and fortunately help came… well, help had already been there. You see, John had remained stationary the entire time; he was lost in his own world, lying back on the greenest grass gazing past the sky to the places adults could no longer see. Realizing his army buds had ditched him, he wasn’t sure what to do next. But, being the valiant seven year old liberator he was, he immediately informed Jerry to jump and promised to catch him.
“Urghh I don’t know if I trust you!” he exclaimed.
“Just go, you can trust me! Believe me, you can trust me!” John demanded.
“Uhh, alright fine, here it goes.”
Jerry leapt like he had never leapt before, sporting a gigantic, anxious expression across his face, while he flew through the air. Finally, landing in his knight in shining armor’s arms, Jerry felt saved. From that moment on the two boys spent the rest of their adolescence together; they were inseparable. But, unfortunately, when it came time for high school graduation, the boys parted their ways. John went to UCLA to study film and Jerry ventured into economics and business at Fordham. The pair promised to stick together after high school, but they managed to only see each other a few times during their college breaks, with each year growing further and further apart to the point that the other was just an old friend each rarely mentioned. By the time Jerry was at the altar; John was not even a consideration as a name on the invitation list.
So, what happened to these two young men? John annually changed his major, eventually earning his BA in Political Science, becoming a cool, hip, radical Professor of the subject. The rest of his life was devoted to his tireless activism and charity work. Politically standing, he claimed to be an anarchist and uses his modest fame and prestige to mobilize students and anyone else he meets. Thus, making him an immensely controversial figure in his community.
Jerry’s story does not even remotely reflect John’s lifestyle. At Fordham, Jerry earned his BA in Economics and has since become a successful stockbroker and internet entrepreneur. He is now happily married with two children, Sam and Joe. His office stands right in the heart of the dark lord’s terrain, Wall Street. But, today was unusual for him. As he made his usual stride into his workplace, he had the great privilege of being hurled with all sorts of verbal abuse, “TRAITOR,” “CORPORATE THUG,” “CAPITALIST PIG,” amongst others. Jerry did not realize what the commotion was all about; a demonstration was taking place outside the New York Stock Exchange, organized and led by none other than John. Wearing a shirt displaying an inverted American flag a la Abbie Hoffman, the young man captivated not just his followers but “regular” passerbys in the street as well. The main points he made reverberated through the city, it seemed. “This is a bailout for Wall Street, not Main Street!” he hollered. “700 billion dollars coming out of your pockets to enrich those that drowned us in this economic whirlpool to begin with.”
Despite the fact that the protesters had permits to express their First Amendment rights and had caused no physical harm to anyone, the police arrived in full out riot gear to disperse the crowd. Suddenly billy clubs, rubber bullets, and tear gas filled the air. John instructed his fellow freedom fighters to “resist the pigs.” But, it was too late. They were outnumbered. Next thing he noticed, the clubs were striking him and he hit the pavement. Defenseless, he raised his head, as if someone could save him.
Simultaneously, John’s and Jerry’s eyes met, and they realized who the other was. Jerry knew how many times his pal had saved him in the past and felt the desire to return the favor, but as he stared in his eyes, he realized how different their lives had become. Jerry instead turned his back and returned to his work, tears rolling down his cheeks. As John felt the cuffs placed on his hands, he felt another blow to the head from a cop, but the biggest blow was the betrayal of an old friend.

Peltier Denied

Imprisoned American Indian activist Leonard Peltier has lost another round in court in his effort to compel the FBI to disclose about 10,500 pages of documents about his case.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Wednesday rejected Peltier's claim that the district court should have reviewed all the documents, not just a sample of about 500 pages.

The appeals court said Peltier didn't make that argument during the trial, so the Minnesota district court did not abuse its discretion.

Further, the appeals court said the lower court was correct in ruling that the Freedom of Information Act's exemptions cover the bulk of the disputed documents, shielding them from disclosure.

Peltier is serving two life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff near Oglala, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He has appealed his conviction several times without success.

In 2001, he requested and received more than 70,400 pages of FBI records on himself. The FBI claimed thousands of additional pages were exempt from the FOIA because they could reveal confidential sources, among other reasons.

— Associated Press
Damn, the courts never like political prisoners.

U.S Gov't Wants Hackers

YAHOO! - WASHINGTON – Wanted: Computer hackers.

Federal authorities aren't looking to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks.

General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could "think like the bad guy." Applicants, it said, must understand hackers' tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.

In the Pentagon's budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will increase the number of cyberexperts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.

With warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyberattack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.

Interesting.

Watch Out For...

Right Wing Extremism

Obama Seeks More Muslims

In a bid to get more Muslim Americans working in the Obama administration, a book with resumes of 45 of the nation's most qualified—Ivy League grads, Fortune 500 executives and public servants, all carefully vetted—has been submitted to the White House.

The effort, driven by community leaders and others, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was bumped up two weeks ahead of schedule because White House officials heard about the venture, said J. Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association who sifted through more than 300 names.

"It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put [the president] in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community." - Chicago Tribune

Affirmative action applied to religion. Reverse discrimination.

Political March Madness

Click...

Here: http://www.npr.org/news/graphics/2009/mar/bracket2012/

And Vote For...

Tierney Votes "Yes" On H.R 1617

Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act of 2009 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate a full-time privacy official for each of the following Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components: (1) the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); (2) the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS); (3) Customs and Border Protection (CBP); (4) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); (5) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); (6) the Coast Guard; (7) the Directorate of Science and Technology; (8) the Office of Intelligence and Analysis; and (9) the Directorate for National Protection and Programs. Grants each component's privacy official primary responsibility for implementing the privacy policy for DHS established by DHS's privacy officer.

Increasing the size of the bureaucracy = not good. Our Representative John F. Tierney was among the 412 people in the Congress who voted "Yes." Dr. Ron "No" Paul lived up to his name and Constitutional values via his vote.

Audit The Fed

Why not? As I saw one commenter write...the Federal Reserve System is not above the law.

Funny Commentary on OSHA

...What I do want to call OSHA’s attention to, however, is the fact that it might not be necessary for people who work at the very tops of houses and office buildings to wear a piece of protective equipment designed to protect the human head from falling objects. Since it relatively rare for objects to fall out of the clear blue sky, rendering us poor roofers unconscious, it might be wise for OSHA to allow us to do our work unencumbered with these bulky, horribly uncomfortable and often dangerous pieces of equipment.

(As an aside, I might mention that I was recently asked by one of my colleagues why the U.S. government was foolish enough to insist that roofers wear hard hats. Such an absurd and paternalistic law, he explained, would be openly mocked and flaunted in his native country. Before I had a chance to answer, one of his fellow countrymen sardonically responded that we needed to be protected from getting whacked in the head by los pájaros. In retrospect, I imagine that this is probably the best answer that can be given to the question, although it would probably take a bird the size of an eagle or a crane to do any significant damage to the human head).

I am sure that OSHA has the best of intentions in insisting that we wear protective headwear with nothing but the heavens above us. I’m sure the thinking runs something like this: "It’s better to be safe than sorry... - Lewrockwell.com

That's just a snippet. Read the whole thing here.

Jeffrey Miron on Drugs

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Over the past two years, drug violence in Mexico has become a fixture of the daily news. Some of this violence pits drug cartels against one another; some involves confrontations between law enforcement and traffickers.

Recent estimates suggest thousands have lost their lives in this "war on drugs."

The U.S. and Mexican responses to this violence have been predictable: more troops and police, greater border controls and expanded enforcement of every kind. Escalation is the wrong response, however; drug prohibition is the cause of the violence.

Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground. This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead. - CNN.com/Jeffrey Miron

If you all recall, Miron spoke with former É big man, Ben Tan, about the war on drugs a few months back. It's pretty cool to see something like this on the front page of CNN.

Volunteer Corps H.R 1388

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new "volunteer corps" and consider whether "a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people" should be developed.

The legislation also refers to "uniforms" that would be worn by the "volunteers" and the "need" for a "public service academy, a 4-year institution" to "focus on training" future "public sector leaders." The training, apparently, would occur at "campuses."

The vote yesterday came on H.R. 1388, which reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps. - WorldNetDaily

Guess who voted in favor of this fascist bill? Our own John F. Tierney.

Obama Guarantees Better Days Ahead

LOS ANGELES – Buoyed by adoring crowds far from Washington's political wars, President Barack Obama guaranteed Americans on Thursday that the nation's economy will recover, though he asked them for patience.

Obama looked every bit the campaigner as he sometimes mocked his GOP critics, and sometimes asked people to forgive his shortcomings. In general, his demeanor and message were more upbeat than in recent days when public fury over executive bonuses dominated Congress.

"We will come out on the other side stronger and a more prosperous nation," he said, acknowledging the nation's economic crisis. "That I can guarantee you. I can't tell you how long it will take, what obstacles we'll face along the way, but I promise you this: There will be brighter days ahead." - Yahoo! News

Okay, but you have nothing to do with the economy. It's the Congress, stupid!

Treasury Demanded Loophole

The Treasury Department demanded that Sen. Chris Dodd insert exemptions into the stimulus bill that allowed bailout recipients to receive bonuses, the Connecticut Democrat said on Wednesday.

According to Dodd, officials at Treasury expressed concern that if the government were to prohibit payouts, it risked being sued by companies like AIG, which had contracts stipulating that bonuses were to be paid.

At the urging of Treasury officials, Dodd modified a clause he had previously inserted into the stimulus that prohibited bonuses from being issued by bailed-out companies. An exemption was added to allow bonuses that applied to in-place contracts. - The Huffington Post

Wall Street's in Washington!

Tax The Rich

Why The GOP Can't Win W/ Minorities

Today conservatism is stigmatized in our culture as an antiminority political philosophy. In certain quarters, conservatism is simply racism by another name. And minorities who openly identify themselves as conservatives are still novelties, fish out of water.

Yet there is now the feeling that without an appeal to minorities, conservatism is at risk of marginalization. The recent election revealed a Republican Party -- largely white, male and Southern -- seemingly on its way to becoming a "regional" party. Still, an appeal targeted just at minorities -- reeking as it surely would of identity politics -- is anathema to most conservatives. Can't it be assumed, they would argue, that support of classic principles -- individual freedom and equality under the law -- constitutes support of minorities? And, given the fact that blacks and Hispanics often poll more conservatively than whites on most social issues, shouldn't there be an easy simpatico between these minorities and political conservatism? - Wall Street Journal

Read on...

Justice Thomas Lays It Down

LEXINGTON, Va. – Americans today are self-indulgent and don't make the sacrifices that their parents and grandparents did, and the nation's leaders don't ask people to act for the higher good, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Monday at a Virginia college in a rare public speech.

"Our country and our principles are more important than our individual wants," Thomas told close to 400 people who greeted him with a standing ovation at Washington and Lee University, a Shenandoah Valley liberal arts school.

He quoted President Kennedy's famous, "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech, but said Americans today are more likely to say, "Ask not what you can do for yourselves or your country but what your country can do for you." - Yahoo! News

I second Thomas here.

Ron Paul Owns Baldwin on the Drug Issue

Iran Declared A Space and Nuclear Power

TEHRAN, March 13 (RIA Novosti) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that pressure from Western powers trying to keep Iran in economic isolation have in fact spurred the country to become a space and nuclear power.

"Had you not been bad-tempered and blocked the way, the Iranian nation would not have been present in space, and would not have become a nuclear power," Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying at the inauguration ceremony of a natural gas deposit in the Bushehr province.

Iran put its first communications satellite, Omid (Hope), into a near-Earth orbit on February 2. The research satellite was carried into orbit by a home-made launch vehicle, Safir (Messenger). Iranian Communications Minister Mohammad Soleimani earlier said that the country's scientists were working on the creation of four new satellites to be placed into near-Earth orbit. - Rian.ru

Not to sympathize with him, but it is America's hegemony that has contributed to Iran's (and many other nation's) build up.