Blogging on Meds

For my money, Obama narrowly won this debate, although McCain was a little sharper than I’d expected and certainly scored some points. McCain is the guy who’s had a brutal two weeks, and it only got worse after his stunt where he said he was “suspending” his campaign and suggested the debate should be postponed, and in the polls, and a draw doesn’t do him any good. It is especially damaging to McCain when you consider that the foreign policy largely took center stage last night, and this is an issue that goes to the heart of McCain’s campaign. He’s painted himself as the foreign policy expert and the experienced hand, and he had to clearly demonstrate that he was superior to Obama in this regard. He did no such thing. Obama went toe-to-toe with McCain on all the foreign policy questions, and he hammered McCain on Iraq very effectively. In my mind, McCain scored some points when he lambasted Obama for agreeing to sit down with the Iranian president, but overall, McCain couldn’t separate himself from Obama on the issues of Russia, Georgia, Afghanistan, or Pakistan. McCain’s fumbling of the Pakistani president’s name (he called him Qadari but it’s Zardari) maybe wasn’t the biggest deal, but he claimed that Musharraf took over in 1999 when Pakistan was a “failed state.” That’s simply false. I thought Obama did a great job explaining why the more important fight was in Afghanistan. Overall, Obama showed the voters who are uncomfortable with his grasp of foreign policy that he knows his stuff and would do what it took to protect America. McCain needed a clear win on his central issue of foreign policy, and he didn’t get it.

Obama let the economic debate center too much around earmarks and spending, but he still outclassed McCain on those topics. Most voters rate the economy as their number one issue, and I think Obama was clear about his tax cuts for the middle class and how he planned to make sure everyone had health care, and he slammed McCain for his tax cut plan for the wealthiest and for his giveaways to the oil companies. The economic portion was a clear win for Obama, in my opinion. Both candidates fumbled the ball a bit on the financial crisis, so that was a wash.

So, what did everyone else think? The snap polls of undecided voters following the debate gave Obama a clear win, but it’s usually best to let things settle for a few days and then look at the polls. A lot of people noticed McCain wouldn’t look Obama in the eye and was dismissive of him, and I don’t think that will sit well with people.

The next debate will be on domestic issues, and the final debate will be on the economy, so we’re now moving on to Obama’s turf, which is not good news for McCain.

Pool Photo By Chip Somodevilla

RELATED POSTS:

• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads

Excerpts from Charlie Gibson’s interview with Sarah Palin were released on ABCNews.com, and in a telling moment, Sarah Palin said that war with Russia would “perhaps” be necessary if Georgia or Ukraine were admitted to NATO and Russia invaded either nation.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

Putin thinks otherwise. Obviously, he thinks otherwise, but…

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that’s a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

Palin is advocating, as McCain and the hawks in the administration have for some time, that Ukraine and Georgia should both be admitted to NATO, a position that is at odds with the one held by our NATO allies. Most NATO countries were wary of admitting Georgia specifically because of issues of territorial integrity, i.e. the problems in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and because of Russian influence in those areas. Palin thinks that both countries should be admitted to NATO, and if Russia were to attack, the US would “perhaps” have to go to war with Russia, since NATO takes the view that if one country in the alliance is attacked, then all countries in the alliance must come to its defense. She’s right that the NATO treaty calls for all countries to defend an ally in the alliance if it’s attacked, but the larger problem here is that she’s willing to roll the dice on Georgia and Ukraine despite obvious Russian resistance to the plan, and if Russia attacks, well then, we’ll probably have to go to war. It’s the fact that her attitude, one that mirrors McCain’s, is to shoot first and ask questions later. The situation in that region is already serious, but McCain and Palin think that we should ratchet things up a few notches more and if the end result is war, then so be it. It’s this flippancy with respect to foreign policy that has gotten us bogged down in Iraq, and Palin and McCain seem not to have learned anything in the last 6 years in Iraq.

Here’s another example of Palin’s aggresive defense of Georgia, from earlier in the interview:

GIBSON: Let’s start, because we are near Russia, let’s start with Russia and Georgia.

The administration has said we’ve got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

PALIN: First off, we’re going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain’s running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep…

GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there.

Russian undoubtedly was overly aggressive and used a disproportional amount of force when it invaded Georgia and pushed into Georgia proper, destroying its military installations and naval vessels. And, it’s pretty clear that Russia was basically waiting for Georgia to try to retake either region by force so that it had a reason to invade. There’s no way that Russia put together an attack like that in 24-48 hours. It was planned out, Saakashvili obliged, and Russia responded. But, unprovoked? Did she forget that the US had specifically warned Saakashvili not to take any aggressive military actions against either breakaway region because Russia would respond? Russian claims of genocide were clearly overblown, but a Russian military response was hardly out of the question given that Russian troops were stationed in South Ossetia and thousands of people in each region are Russian citizens. In the larger context, Russia was obviously drawing a line in the sand with respect to what it viewed as NATO interference in its backyard, and it moved to protect what it views as its legitimate interests in the region. So, should we keep pushing for Georgia and Ukraine to be admitted to NATO? F. Stephen Larrabee of the CFR thinks that this a time for caution, not further escalating tensions.

The issue here is not simply Georgia. Georgia is a sideshow. What the Russians are really concerned about is Ukraine. Georgia’s entry into NATO wouldn’t have major strategic consequences for Russia. Ukraine on the other hand, is a very different matter. That would have much greater strategic consequences and destroy any possibility of trying to develop a Slavic Union composed of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It would also have an effect on the Russian defense industry because they don’t want to break those ties between the defense industries of Russia and Ukraine. So the strategic consequences of Ukraine joining NATO far exceed those of Georgia. In short, this is much more about Ukraine.

The real question for the United States in the aftermath of what happened in Georgia is whether this is the right time to accelerate efforts to bring Ukraine into NATO? I would think this would be a time when we want to be cautious and careful.

Also, what about Palin’s experience with Russia?

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

Super! So, she’s apparently learned all she needs to know about Russia by being that country’s neighbor and because you can apparently see Russian land from Alaska. That’s very comforting.

RELATED POSTS:

• Guitar Hero / Gibson Charity Art Auction at SXSW
• next racist to be kicked off the air, please.
• Ian MacKaye = Jesus?
• Neighborhood Festival fun in LA September 9th
• Today’s Reads

Denver!!!

I love the Obama font. And Michelle’s looking good…

OMG He’s Black!!!
Slate noticed Obama is black. In a story sub-headed “RACISM IS THE ONLY REASON MCCAIN MIGHT BEAT HIM,” Jacob Wesiberg, Slate’s eic, states the obvious. Duh. A black dude with a middle name of Hussein is running against an Irish John and it took Slate 19-months to write the obligatory Holy Shit This Guy is Black story? I love Slate. But they’ve sucked lately. Georgia’s war didn’t get any coverage. They haven’t run much from Afghanistan. And they’re election stuff has been 2nd tier. Where’s Meghan O’Rourke? Hopefully at the DNC.

Bubba Factor
Are the Clintons trying to steal the DNC? Politico thinks so (and Drudge leads with it). Tensions Boil, reads the headline:

One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is “Securing America’s Future.” The night’s speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

The former president is disappointed, associates said, because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas —emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s.

The Clintons are the non-story of the week…

All About Joe
Everyone in America is eager to learn about Joe Biden, O’s veep. His book, Promises to Keep (Random House 2007), is now a bestseller:

As of Sunday afternoon, the book was at No. 31 on the amazon.com bestseller list, and No. 11 on Barnes & Noble’s list.

It’s 24 on the Amazon list right now.

I’ve seen Biden speak on a hand-full of occasions. Most notably, I saw him at a foreign policy luncheon at the Kennedy Museum during the 2004 Boston DNC. Biden sat on a panel with Madeline Albright and Iraq’s deputy PM, among others. This was when Iraq was in the midst of a two-front uprising. On Iraq, Biden was fluid though a little over state-y.

At the time, rumblings of an 08 Biden run were abuzz, but the two foreign affairs junkies with me were convinced he’d be a great Sec State but not Prez material. I never considered him for VP. But what a great choice. Biden’s funny, can be a dick, and knows his stuff. Considering he lost his wife and child at 29, ascending to the second highest office in the land to serve in their honor makes me happy as a little girl who got a pony for her b day.

TNR Kisses Lizza’s Ass
The New Republic says 2008’s best political profile was Making It: How Chicago Shaped Obama by The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza. Of course, Lizza used to work for TNR. Unfortunately, his piece, while long and in-depth, glossed over much of Obama’s Chicago rise. For a better portrait of O’s Chicago days, buy David Mendell’s Promise to Power.

Reading Lizza’s piece, you could tell he was practicing access journalism. I felt like Axelrod was living in his brain, revising history. Most specifically, Lizza glosses over O and Michelle’s ties to real estate developers like Valerie Jarrett, Allsyon Davis, and Tony Rezko. Jarrett is who got the Obamas into politics (luring Michelle to city hall in the 80s). It was Jarrett, Rezko, and Davis who gave O his initial $$$ for his state senate run.

These folks are also (in)famous in Chicago for pushing private-public housing partnerships. Yes: in the early-90s, Chicago’s public housing authority was a mess. And these Jarrett-Rezko-Obama private-public policies made sense, at the time. What doesn’t make sense is why so many of the public units Jarrett ran (as CEO of Habitat INC, a title she holds today) went to shit under her watch. Or how Rezko took $40 million plus in federal tax credits, ran complexes into the ground, then moved into condo development with the dough he earned. A high number of the units owned by these folks are now back in public hands. Weirder still, Obama continues to support these policies without modifications even though they failed.

For all the right wing media’s attacks, Obama’s housing policy—which has left thousands of poor blacks negatively affected—has been left largely untouched. Valerie Jarrett is hated by blacks on the South Side. She’s #3 or 4 in the Obama campaign. Yet she’s only received minimal—and glowing—coverage. Why? You can’t Swift Boat a guy for fucking over the very poor blacks that white GOP assholes love fucking over. If anything, Obama’s questionable South Side housing record would help him with the Swift crowd.

Happy DNC viewing everyone…

RELATED POSTS:

• “Burning New York” is off the presses
• Gingko re-prints T-Shirt 360
• FOUND! my mentor!
• I keep trying to call Jeff Neumann in Cairo
• the Wrench

Chris Hondros, one of the best conflict photographers in the world, is in Georgia. Below are two pictures taken Sunday in the Russian-occupied Georigian city of Gori. On the left is a checkpoint; to the right, an armored personal carrier drives by a woman with a loaf a bread. Today, the Times reports on mass looting and limited ethnic cleansing in Gori’s suburbs. 

Georgia has been under Russian siege since  August 7th, the same day the Olympics opened in Beijing. Watching this capitalist-authoritarianism (f*ck Gazprom and China’s Sovereign Wealth Fund) debut on the world stage is making me feel really

RELATED POSTS:

• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• The Box: Nightclub of the Year
• Managing Risk
• Bobby Fischer is Dead

Barry at the bar in Reno, yesterday…EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

So, here we go. One week until the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Obama is expected to announce his running mate this week, and I’m gonna rank my top choices. Since I’m still not sure America will vote for a black dude named Barack over a honky named John, my VP picks are based on national following, potential honky attraction, and voter trust value . 

1. John Kerry
This was floated by WBZ Boston Friday and picked up by Drudge this weekend. I think Kerry supplies everything Obama needs to win undecided voters’ trust. Kerry’s been a Senator for decades. He’s fought the GOP in a Presidential election—and won more votes than any Democrat ever. He served in Vietnam, with honor. He’s a national brand who’s been uber-vetted. Obama-Kerry is a sure win.

2. Hillary Clinton
George Stephanopoulos says she’s a “50-1″ shot. Still, Obama-Clinton is another can’t lose option. No one hates Republicans more than Hillary (they tried to ruin her family, dammit!), and she got 18 million votes in the primary. I disagree that the Clintons’ “baggage” would really affect Obama. Even post-Gore and Cheney, the VP is still a relatively weak office. Clinton as VP would neutralize her.

3. Joe Biden
As much as I love Biden, he is a bit of a loose cannon and may wind up as a liability in the general—kind of like a smart Dan Quayle. But the guy has the Washington and foreign affairs experience Obama lacks. I don’t know if it’s a sure thing, but Obama-Biden is a great ticket.

4. Sam Nunn
Nunn’s a fine peacenik, but after three decades in Washington, he’s hardly a changenik, and if you’re gonna forgo the whole “new politics” thing you mine as well pick an established national candidate like Kerry or Clinton. Nunn might be able to deliver Georgia, but he won’t help much in winning voter trust nationally.

5. Kaine, Bayh, Warner…
Yes, each brings a potential swing state victory, but none are nationally known, meaning the O Team will have to sell two personas instead of just The One. 

Whatever happens, Obama better not pick a Republican.

RELATED POSTS:

• FOUND! my mentor!
• the Wrench
• little Jake is all grown up
• a Sham art show
• next racist to be kicked off the air, please.

UPDATE 11:14AM: President Bush right now: “The United States and the world expect Russia to honor its word,” and not push regime change. “I am sending Condeleeza Rice to Paris and Tbilisi. ” Bush added, “We expect all Russian forces to leave Georgia.”

UPDATE 10:45AM: Commies bluff, turn convey north outside Tbilisi, head back towards Motherland.

UPDATE 10:14AM: Worldwide news sites (BBC, YahooNews, GoogleNews, Al Jazeera) all reporting of “Russian thrust” towards Georgian capital. NYT’s website leads with…a Chinese gymnast at Olympics!

UPDATE 9:48AM: Times UK reports 100 Russian “vehicles” en route to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. It seems the ex-Commies want to be fighting near the capital before Bush tells them to capitulate in his am presser—though Russia denies they plan to enter Tbilisi or remove Saakashvilli.

Georgian ‘fugees. Russian “peacekeepers.” AFP.

Yesterday, I didn’t know what to make of Russia’s supposed truce. So you’re going to annex Ossentia and Abkhazia, push to the heart of Georgia, then call a truce without backing off? Sounded more like a bid for time. Actually, the whole invasion seems too risky for Russia not to push for a big end result—ie regime change. Yes, the diplomatic consequences could be Cold War-lite (sanctions), but Russia, I mean Gazprom, knows the West has limited options and that Georgia is the first stop on the Caucasus’ resource road. The Guardian has a blistering report up from Gori, a small, militarized city in central Georgia, where 25 tanks followed by hundreds of “irregular” guerillas are killing and looting right now:

Villages in Georgia were being burned and looted as Russian tanks and soldiers followed by “irregulars” advanced from the breakaway province of South Ossetia, eyewitnesses said today.

“People are fleeing, there is a mood of absolute panic. The idea there is a ceasefire is ridiculous,” Luke Harding, the Guardian’s correspondent, said.

Earlier, witnesses reported a military convoy heading towards the Georgian capital Tbilisi, but it later turned off the road and headed back towards South Ossetia. Russia denied any advance.

Harding, watching villages near Gori burn, said witnesses had told him Russian military, including at least 25 tanks, had moved from the Russian-controlled South Ossetia into the villages. “They asked villagers to hang white flags or handkerchiefs outside their houses if they did not want to be shot, they say.”

The tanks had passed through the village of Rekha at about 11.20am local time. “Behind them (say eyewitnesses) is a whole column of irregulars who locals say are Chechens, Cossacks and Ossetians. Eyewitnesses say they are looting, killing and burning. These irregulars have killed three people and set fire to villages. They have been taking away young boys and girls,” said Harding, watching smoke rise from another village, Karaleti.

P Bush is to speak later this morning from the Rose Garden…

RELATED POSTS:

• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Jiu-Jitsu champ, Ryan Gracie dies at age 33

As Hassan pointed out on this site last Thursday, John McCain is a bit of celebrity himself.

The Obama campaign finally came out with an ad hitting on that point. I watched in dismay in 04 as the GOP turned Kerry into a French aristocrat, who flip flopped, and lied in order to win his purple heart. They went as low as to hand out Purple Heart band aids at their convention.

It is pathetic that this is the level that we have sunk to already in August, but so is the nature of US politics. If Obama is going to win this thing his campaign must be quicker at countering these silly attacks. When Paris Hilton is quicker to respond then a presidential campaign you know you are in trouble.

Meanwhile, as our media helps turn the election of the next president into a reality show, the NYTimes reports that Russia is pressing into a 2nd front in their war against Georgia. President Bush has decided to stop cheering at the Olympics and actually discuss a matter of global importance when he holds a press conference at 5:15 in the Rose Garden. Will he confront his soul mate?

Below Bush & Putin at Olympics

On a side note, if you were Russia and just had an election that the world looked at as a joke, wouldn’t you send your newly elected president to represent your country in Beijing instead of the prime minister who everyone already thinks is running the country? Instead they send Putin and then wait for the beginning of the Olympics to start a war.

RELATED POSTS:

• music video for SAMIAM is DONE!!!
• Ian MacKaye = Jesus?
• Police brutality against skateboarders, AGAIN.
• Start Today
• Today’s Reads

Those Euro peace-mongers are at it again. Russia invades Georgia and the Olympics lead the NYT’s homepage? BBC:

Russia says 12 of its soldiers are dead, and separatists estimate that 1,400 civilians have died.

Russian tanks have reportedly reached the northern suburbs of the regional capital, Tskhinvali, and there were conflicting claims about who was in control of the city.
“Now our peacekeepers are waging a fierce battle with regular forces from the Georgian army in the southern region of Tskhinvali,” a military official was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency, Interfax.

Georgian forces had moved on Thursday night to regain control of the province, which has had de facto independence since a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russia was making war on his country.

US help requested by Saakashvilli, Guardian:

Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory,” he told CNN. “We are a freedom-loving nation that is right now under attack.” He called on the US to intervene, saying it was in Washington’s interests to help his country.

Tskhinvali was reported to have suffered badly under heavy bombardment.

RELATED POSTS:

• Program:Repeat films
• Ian MacKaye = Jesus?
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads

Pic by Vano Shlamov, MIG firing missiles…

Yesterday Georgian troops invaded the breakaway province of South Ossetia, killing 25. Now, reports of a Russian counter-invasion may place Georgia and Russia in a “state of war,” according to the Georgian national security council.

MOSCOW (AFP)–A Russian military convoy entered the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia Friday, Russia’s three main news agencies reported, citing
witnesses.
 
Their reports came shortly after about 50 heavy Russian tanks, trucks and
troops were seen by an AFP reporter Friday heading towards South Ossetia,
traveling through the Russian province of North Ossetia.
 
Georgia’s National Security Council warned that Moscow and Tbilisi would be
in “a state of war” if the reports of a Russian military convoy entering South
Ossetia proved true.

RELATED POSTS:

• Program:Repeat films
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads

David Matysiak is an Omaha-based musician and artist. He’s also my cousin. Originally from Georgia, Matysiak left the south for Nebraska’s more fertile—and affortable—creative grounds. His first project as a fellow at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art has just been completed. Called Telephono, the interactive work involves various musicians sending tracks to one another, each adding or tweaking the original song.  

Paste Magazine’s Henry Freedland writes:

Omaha musician David Matysiak began 15 new songs knowing that somebody else could completely change his initial idea—and that was the point.

Matysiak, a resident at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art and lead singer for the band Coyote Bones, began Telephono as an audio experiment to put musicians from around the world into productive contact with one another. He would begin a song and send it to the next person in the chain (usually around four people long). Each subsequent musician would manipulate and reinterpret the audio file before passing it on down the line. 

Sound familiar? The project takes its cue from the children’s gameTelephone, in which a whispered secret is passed around a circle and almost always gets back to the teller changed—sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident. Communication, it teaches, is a complicated endeavor.

With Telephono, Matysiak looked to take this idea into a creative direction. And as the titles suggest (”Mazzy Star married our hearts that night in 7th grade when we first french kissed” is one, to give a taste), the project is not an empty exercise in Internet philandering and crossed wires, but rather a hopeful look at the potential of cooperation across terrestrial and sonic boundaries. 

Those involved ranged from local Omaha musicians Matysiak knew well—like oft-collaborator Nick White from Tilly and the Wall or Eli Mardock from Eagle Seagull—to various artists worldwide, including  such disparate locations of Italy, Sweden and Denmark. Other contributors included Tim Kasher of Cursive, Bob Nanna of Braid and Hey Mercedes, Ludvig Rylander of The Concretes, Jason Lowenstein of Sebadoh and Jonas Bjerre of Mew.

In the end, Telephono yielded 40 unique song files spread over the 15 musical projects. Box sets contain five vinyl records’ worth of 12 sets of these creations, with art by Georgia’s own Jordan Noel. The listening/release party will be held on July 17 at the Bemis Center in Omaha.

Related links:

Telephono.org

CoyoteBones.com

Omaha.com: “Omaha musician plays it forward”

RELATED POSTS:

• music video for SAMIAM is DONE!!!
• THIS IS NOT A FILM FESTIVAL AT A TRADE SHOW!
• Program:Repeat is coming!
• Guitar Hero / Gibson Charity Art Auction at SXSW
• Program:Repeat films

There’s been some chatter in the last few days about Libertarian pres nominee Bob Barr’s chances to play spoiler to John McCain come November. This the former conservative Republican who first got famous for publicly licking whipped cream off a woman’s breasts (he said it was for charity), tried unsuccessfully to ban wicca in the military after seeing a special report on the O’Reilly Factor (resolution: “BARR DEMANDS END TO TAXPAYER-FUNDED WITCHCRAFT ON AMERICAN MILITARY BASES”), and tried — again unsuccessfully — to sue Bill Clinton, James Carville and Larry Flynt for $30 million arising from emotional distress he suffered during the Clinton impeachment proceedings (Barr was one target of Flynt’s cash offer to anyone with evidence of GOP congressmen with past extramarital affairs). Even if his present candidacy has no consequence whatsoever, this is one of America’s greatest newsmakers and it’s good to have him back.

The Libertarian Party has never scored better than 1.06% of the vote in the big election, and in 2004, nominee Michael Badnarik only got 0.34%. But the Libertarian Party has never had anyone with half the notoriety of Bob Barr. Barr was one of those archetypal congressional Republicans of the 1990s. As senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, he threw a fit at the Waco hearings, tried to get Clinton impeached before there was Monica Lewinsky, and served as floor manager for the post-Monica impeachment proceedings.

At the same time, Barr turned a lot of heads as an ardent supporter of privacy rights — surprising coming from an ex-CIA analyst. Barr won more oversight of the FBI’s “Carnivore” monitoring system, unsuccessfully tried to limit government inspection of bank accounts, and opposed warrantless police record requests to telecoms (sound familiar?). And before he was squeezed out of his suburban Atlanta seat by Democratic redistricting in Georgia, Barr also criticized portions of the Patriot Act as granting overly broad surveillance powers, although he ultimately voted in favor of the Act. Barr was a real thorn in the side of Democrats while on the Hill, but they probably would have appreciated having his voice around after the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program came to light in December 2005.

(more…)

RELATED POSTS:

• Police brutality against skateboarders, AGAIN.
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Hassan Chop, South Asian-American, Socio-Economic Analyst

For a longer history of the removal of the Cherokee, see here:

“No better symbol exists of the pain and suffering of the Trail Where They Cried than the Cherokee Rose (pictured at top of page). The mothers of the Cherokee grieved so much that the chiefs prayed for a sign to lift the mother’s spirits and give them strength to care for their children. From that day forward, a beautiful new flower, a rose, grew wherever a mother’s tear fell to the ground. The rose is white, for the mother’s tears. It has a gold center, for the gold taken from the Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem that represent the seven Cherokee clans that made the journey. To this day, the Cherokee Rose prospers along the route of the “Trail of Tears”. The Cherokee Rose is now the official flower of the State of Georgia.“

RELATED POSTS:

• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Jiu-Jitsu champ, Ryan Gracie dies at age 33

Everyone sort of loves Canada, or at the very least has very few bad things to say about Canuck Nation. Her people are all pretty friendly, intelligent, make some mean maple syrup, and they rule the sport of hockey. I lived there for 4 years, and it’s a lovely place. However, Canada’s got a dark side as well. I was completely ignorant of Canada’s history with the Native Canadian population (and pretty much its history in general), so it was shocking to read that the Canadian government in the 1920s forced Native children between the ages of 7-16 to attend residential schools that were “dedicated to eradicating the languages, traditions and cultural practices of Native Canadians…“ It gets worse, though: “Children were forced to leave their parents and were harshly punished for speaking their own languages or practicing their religions.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Canadian government “has admitted that sexual and phsyical abuse in the schools was widespread.” The schools were opened in 1920 and only began shutting down in the 1970s, so we’re talking about 50 years of the children of an entire race being forcibly assimilated, harrassed, punished, and abused. Not surprisingly, the schools have been linked to “the widespread incidence of alcoholism, suicide and family violence in many native communities.” Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, apologized to Native Canadians last week, and the government took other steps, including a C$1.85 billion payout to surviving students, to start to make amends.

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked considering that Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren forcibly removed thousands of Native Americans from the South in the 1830s following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, Chicasaw, and Cherokee tribes were all relocated to the West, mainly to Oklahoma. The Choctaw were the first to go, after being coerced into signing a treaty giving up their land. One of the Choctaw leaders remarked:

“We as Choctaws rather chose to suffer and be free, than live under the degrading influence of laws, which our voice could not be heard in their formation.”

A Choctaw Chief said that the removal had been “a trail of tears and death.” Out of the 15,000 members of the tribe who were removed, approximately 5,000 died on the long journey, which was undertaken in the winter and for which the US Army did not bring enough food or supplies. The Cherokee were removed in 1838, and out of 17,000 who were forced West, about 4,000 died. The Cherokee called their route “Nunna daul Tsuny” or “The Trail Where They Cried.”

I don’t know why I thought that Canada would be any different. I guess people are just bastards everywhere.

Upon seeing the Choctaw removal, Alexis de Tocqueville said:

“In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and destruction, something which betrayed a final and irrevocable adieu; one couldn’t watch without feeling one’s heart wrung. The Indians were tranquil, but sombre and taciturn. There was one who could speak English and of whom I asked why the Chactas were leaving their country. “To be free,” he answered, could never get any other reason out of him. We … watch the expulsion … of one of the most celebrated and ancient American peoples.”

RELATED POSTS:

• Program:Repeat films
• The Explosion implodes
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads

For those of you who watch the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, which is, in my opinion, easily the best news program on television, you were just treated to Barney Frank crushing Tom Price, a Republican representative from Georgia, in a debate on housing. The topic was the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act of 2008, also known as Barney Frank’s housing bill. President Bush yesterday threatened to veto the bill if it reached his desk, but the House passed it anyway by a 266-154 vote, with 39 Republicans voting with Democrats.

Price used the same GOP talking points that President Bush used yesterday, suggesting that the bill will cost taxpayers $300 billion, is a bailout for lenders and speculators, and is not really necessary because the administration’s plans (Hope Now and FHA Secure) have helped close to 2 million people already. He also suggested that the market will find the solution to the problem.

Frank was in classic form, saying that Price’s points were the silliest thing anyone had ever heard, even those who watch the Cartoon Network (full disclosure: I watch the Cartoon Network). He dealt with the $300 billion price tag first:

(more…)

RELATED POSTS:

• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Today’s Reads
• Hassan Chop, South Asian-American, Socio-Economic Analyst
• John BONER’s (R) year-end comments

MICWU - pronounced Mee-Kwoo

Review of Civil War reenactors - real life, day to day “Joe Blow” type of people.

Spawning from the video gaming idea, referring to the Grand Theft Auto people, I realized that there are soooo many groups of people that could be written about in the Nerd Alert category. Well after seeing a program on TV recently about these reenactors, I have a new appreciation for the dedicated nerds and how much time, money, and energy they spend on their non work days. Doing little research for myself, I found multiple websites here, and here, on strategy, events, paraphernalia, history (not of the war itself but of the reenactor history), etc.

These reenactors are 110% balls to the wall invested in their passion as much or more so than the video gamers. From authentic Civil War era clothing, to the guns and weaponry that they use in their “battles” I’d categorize them with the NASCAR nerds, Coney Island Polar Bear Club people, and “bloggers” like us.

Apparently the Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment is the largest battle with 2 battles per day for 3 days straight. Over 100 canons, fake Abe Lincoln, wannabe General Ulysses S. Grant and rip-off General Lee, and 400 mounted Cavalry.

These reenactors “reenact” the Civil War from Georgia in the south to as far north as Ohio. Maybe next year I’ll go down south and photograph this…I’m now the nerd. (none of the images are mine)

P.S. Fuck the Civil War.* (Edit* No, what I mean is, I’m not a fan of Americans killing Americans - yes apparently I’m ignorant - and it’s not that I’m not interested in the Civil War, it’s that I’m more interested in why people play dress-up and pretend to die  and shoot canons and ride horses in full regalia and negotiate terms and conditions of battle for an event that happened so long ago - 150 or so years ago…)

RELATED POSTS:

• music video for SAMIAM is DONE!!!
• Program:Repeat is coming!
• Program:Repeat films
• the Wrench
• Bay Area Skate Video Premiere in SF

This is getting ugly.

RELATED POSTS:

• Obama wins Georgia
• The Tally So Far
• The 2008 Youth Vote
• Where the Dems Are Headed; George Bush is Pussy.
• Observed; Cali to Rescue?

Why is it that in a red state full of shitty people doing terrible things, nature takes out one the good ones? Mrs. Bonnie was known as a wonderful Gramma, Mother, Wife, and devoted lover of animals. Her death, along with the critical injuries of her husband and the many deaths of her dogs and other various animals is a tragic loss and we send our love to her friends and family at this time.

An Article from cnn.com

By Wynn Westmoreland

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — I met Bonnie Turner seven years ago when I was looking for a puppy.

There was just simply no one better to turn to than the eccentric grandmother who loved animals so much that her 86-acre North Georgia farm was home to donkeys, goats, high-priced show dogs and even a few wayward deer.

On Saturday, nothing was left of that bucolic sanctuary after a 130-mph tornado ravaged it. Bonnie died, thrown 50 feet from her home as her husband Michael cried out her name, their neighbors Joe and Jamie Wheeler said.Her death has shaken me. Images of the animals that died — at last 35 dogs and 100 still missing — make my voice crack when I speak about her.But I want her to be remembered as more than a victim, as probably does the family of the tornado’s second victim in Floyd County. Watch destruction in Floyd County »

Bonnie — whom everyone called Mrs. Bonnie — was a retired veterinarian’s assistant. Her husband, Michael, who now lies in a hospital in critical condition, built a home for them. Her “Mikey” was a man who knew that something beautiful takes time to build.

He spent hours making ornate clocks that decorated their home, and many more helping his wife oblige the physical rigors of taking care of dozens of animals. A band of Chihuahuas and a few of her award-winning American hairless terriers nipped at her ankles as she performed her daily chores.On a cloudless day in April in 2001, I visited Bonnie with a friend. She told us to lie in the grass, and she went inside her house, unleashed about a dozen puppies and watched as they ran out the door toward us. They began licking our ears, noses and toes.I noticed that a small, black-and-brown Chihuahua was trying to get my attention. I had been looking for a white female one, but Mrs. Bonnie would have none of that. “That’s your dog, he likes you,” she told me.I named the 4-pound Chihuahua Jesse James.During the years since, I often called Bonnie with questions about Jesse or dogs in general and she was always there to help.I wish everyone could have met her and experienced some of the happiness she evoked in so many. She is a soul who will be deeply missed.

Bonnie left this quote on her Web site, www.flinthillkennel.com: “Beauty such as this is a gift, and I’m often in awe of this world we’ve been given.”

RELATED POSTS:

• music video for SAMIAM is DONE!!!
• Program:Repeat is coming!
• Guitar Hero / Gibson Charity Art Auction at SXSW
• Program:Repeat films
• the Wrench

Today, The Guardian goes through NY Mag’s “Best of” issue’s food sections and re-selects a top ten. Below, I’ve reselected their reselections.

Waverly Restaurant.

1. Best fried chicken
They say: Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill (308 W 58th St, + 212-397-0404).
We say: Egg (135 N 5th St, Brooklyn, + 718-302-5151). As Peter Meehan, the New York Times restaurant critic rightly noted, “A good fried chicken is hard to find. Especially in New York City. But the fried chicken at Egg in Williamsburg, Brooklyn: it’s good.” Not only good. It’s great. Meehan is right because the fried chicken is made at Egg by Stephen Tanner, a man from Georgia whose mind is fried in the best way possible. Tanner was the genius behind the now-closed Pies n’ Thighs, a fried chicken cult favourite.

Me say: Kennedy Fried Chicken. Blue Ribbon rules. But if go there and eat fried chicken you’re wasting your money. Who besides Blue Ribbon offers bone marrow and escargot at 3am? (Try the raw bar at Blue Ribbon Soho’s non-sushi location. Eat the crawfish.) Egg is in Williamsburg. Eating fried chicken in Wiliamsburg is the munching equivilant of a mustache—aka way too ironic. Go to any Kennedy’s location with a bullet-proofed kitchen.

2. Best Wine Bar
They say: Gottino (52 Greenwich Ave, + 212-633-2590).
We say: Peasant Wine Bar (194 Elizabeth St, + 212-965-9511). Gottino is new and nice and has a marble bar. It oozes spanking new rusticity. Peasant Wine Bar, a converted cellar in NoLiTa, makes Gottino seem like a Disney ride. Peasant is cozy in an unforced way, has a solid menu (courtesy of Peasant, the upstairs restaurant), and a small but expertly chosen wine list.

Me say: Wine bars are for yuppies trying to act sophisticated and impress girls with their credit cards. Still, the Guardian is on to something in recommending Peasant. Almost. Peasant’s owners recenterly opened Bacaro on Division St at Canal St in Chinatown. Roughly translated, Bacaro is Italian for wine bar. Roughly located on the fringes of downtown gentrification, Bacaro’s basement is a grunge-y maze. It’s staffed by a crew who used to work at uber gay bars the Hole and the Cock. Where better to drink wine than amongst this art fart, drug dealer/doer crowd?

3. Best pizza
They say: Actually, NY mag has cleverly skirted the issue here by picking one for each borough. In Manhattan, they tap Una Pizza Napoletana (349 12th Street, + 212-477-9950).
We say: Agreed, Una Pizza Napoletana is good. But, if you must sample only one, check out Park Slope’s Franny’s (295 Flatbush Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, + 718-230-0221). Whereas UPN offers the most ascetic of menus, at Franny’s, you can choose from a large and shifting selection of toppings. Also, without qualification, the crust on Franny’s Neopolitan pies is something approaching the ideal form of pizza crust.

Me say: John’s Pizza by the W 4th stop in the West Village is the slicer’s delight. But Pizza Gruppo on Ave B and 11th offers NY’s most unique pie—uber thin crust with strange, perfect cheese. Plus, Gruppo’s staff includes not only a competition eater (Eater X—world champion jalepino eater) but also the most relaxed mann on earth, Evan Mann, who handles day shifts, when you can score two slices and drink for $4.

The best pizza, however, is cooked by Gianni at Lil Frankie’s. When Fat Man Batali was opening his low-rent Babbo, Otto, he came in to Lil Frankie’s with notepads and a three-man team and literally stole Gianni’s recipe.

4. Best steak (not in a steak house)
They say: Park Avenue Winter (100 East 63rd Street at Park Avenue, + 212-644-1900), which must be a joke. Not that the steak there is “bad”, but…
We say: To call PAW the best when Momofuku Ssam Bar (207 2nd Ave, + 212-254-3500) is serving it’s rib eye only 40 blocks south defies logic and righteousness. The steak is hung for 28 days and feeds four hungry diners. OK, it costs $200 and must be ordered a day in advance, but it’s a compact mountain of flavourful meat, a communal experience, a primal bonding ceremony, a bloody success.

Me say: This category cancels itself out. Really, who wants to know best place to get a steak that’s not steakhouse? Like positing: Best Place to Pick Up a Turkey Haired Stripe Wearing Indie Chick On The Upper West Side…

5. Best dive bar
They say: Mars Bar (25 E 1st St, +212-473-9842).
We say: Sophie’s (507 E 5th St, + 212-228-5680). I mean a dive bar is a dive bar is a dive bar. The appeal is the same: cheap booze, no pretension, hopefully a toilet seat with a lid. Sophie’s has all three plus, it has picaresque East Village characters who seem to have walked out of the pages of Henry Roth’s Call It Sleep; a truly wonderful jukebox (everything
(everything from The Pogues to Gang of Four); and a wickedly competitive pool table.

Me say: It’s tough to beat Mars Bar—good call NY Mag. There’s been multiple abortions in Mars’ bathroom, and you can still score heroin and coke there during Junky Happy Hour, Sunday to Sunday from 1am-4:15am. Sophie’s is decent, but selling its jukebox as “everything from the Pogues,” Irish/London folk-punk, “to Gang of Four,” London post-punk, in a London newspaper is lame. Those are the two most jukeboxed bands in New York. Since both these dives are in the East Village, I’ll offer a few additional choices without literary references.

Best Dive Bar to Get Your Ass Kicked In: Manitoba’s. A hardcore punk bar on B and 7th, Doc Marten Skins (DMS) still hang there and will gladly steal your women and drugs after pummeling you. Just yell “Ezec’s a pussy!!!!” or “Freddy Madball can suck my ass!!!” or “Agnostic Front sucks!!!”

Best Soundtracked Dive: Music Box, on 13th and B. It’s got a high/low rock n roll vibe, and the bartenders iPod a great selection.

Best Overage/Underage Dive: Blarney Cove, on 14th btwn B and C. With an 8am first call and 4am last call, and combined with no ID checker, this is the only bar where the under-21 set and Medicaid crowd compete for a gray haired bartender’s attention.

6. Best karaoke:
They say: Izakaya Izu (9 E 13th St, + 646-486-7313).
We say: By far the best karaoke in the city is Winnie’s (04 Bayard St, + 212-732-2384), an old Chinese hangout behind the courthouse in Chinatown. The only problem? It’s where all the NY magazine editors hang out. Understandably, they didn’t want to blow up their spot. But the world deserves to know about Winnie’s $1 songs, $4 Tsingtao and the dreadlocked black guy wearing all-white and singing in perfect Cantonese.

Me say: White people may only study the ancient art of karaoke in Asia, preferably on a remote Filipino island with trannies, hookers, and Chinese/Malay business men. PS: If I ever hear a Billburg Madonna duet ever agin my head shall explodeth…

7. Best hamburger
They say: Resto (111 E 29th St, + 212-685-5585).
We say: Royale (57 Avenue C, New York (+ 212-254-6600). Old school cheeseburgers served with a perfect mass of fries, which are exemplary.

Me Say: Nice call Guardian. Royale is “examplary,” especially med-rare with the drippy, tempura-style onion rings. But…the jukebox’s Foo Fightery/Springstenian vibe is too loud. So eat out back if you can; rare is the the downtown bar with a solid garden scene.

Still, there is a better burger at Joe’s Restaurant on 6th Ave and 12th. The perfect diner, Joe’s grilled bloody meat outdoes both Corner Bistro (commonly cited as NY’s burge par excellance) and Royale in flavor and tenderness. Order the deluxe, as the fries are serendipitous (I have no idea what that word means).

8. Best 24-hour coffee shop
They say: Veselka (144 Second Ave, + 212-228-9682).
We say: Tick Tock Diner (481 8th Ave, + 212-268-8444). Veselka is in the East Village and serves mediocre diner food. Tick Tock Diner is behind Pennsylvania Station and also serves mediocre diner food. But 24-hour coffee shops were never about the kitchen. It’s about who’s tucked into that booth at 4.30am, drinking a vanilla milkshake and eating a steak and nothing beats the sad parade of commuters and stranded souls at Tick Tock, eating away an eternal wait, one fry at a time.

Me say: As a semi-pro Cheese Fry Sampler, 24-hour diners are a category I know well. Both the Guardian and New York both miss their targets here.

It’s 5am. You’re craving cheese covered chicken fingers; meatloaf; clam strips; a bacon, egg and cheese on a crossiant; key lime pie; another beer; a milkshake; and fresh-squeezed carbonated lemonade. There’s only one place to go: The Waverly Restaurant, on 6th Ave at Waverly Place. (Fuck the Waverly Inn!) For service, decor, and food, no diner in New York touches this Greenwhich Village landmark. The Waverly Diner takes the only-in-NY vibe Katz’s strives for, de-touristifies it, and hires professional waiters. And the menu has a staggering 4389 selections.

9. Best deli
They say: 2nd Avenue Deli (162 E 33rd St, nr Third Ave, + 212-677-0606).
We say: Katz’s (205 E Houston St, + 212-254-2246 ) 2nd Avenue deli recently moved to 3rd avenue. (Don’t ask.) Katz’s is hands down the best deli in New York. It’s still there on the corner of Ludlow and Houston. Their pastrami sandwich, as compared to its 2nd Avenue competition, shows the latter to be ungenerous, unfulfilling and well, 2nd rate.

Me Says: Really this is the Best Jewish Deli category. With $15 dollar sandwiches, both KatzR