Category: Politics

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1984/1895

Today Democracy Now celebrated the 100th birthday of George Orwell by broadcasting a reading of the book from a Pacifica Radio archive recorded 25 years ago, and contrasted that with video and audio of Gulf War 2 footage. It’s called The Two Georges, Orwell and Bush: A Dramatic Reading of George Orwell’s Classic Work 1984 Interspersed With Recent News Clips From President Bush and Others.

“Make sure your miniature golf course has a distinctive appearance. My close personal friend Salvador Dali put his unique stamp on the Heritages course. The melting clock on the fifth hole is unforgettable. And I’m particularly proud of Guernica – the tenth hole – and Salvador’s personal tribute to Pablo Picasso. Nicklaus flipped for it.”
Bud E. Luv, on creative tax shelters, from his book “You Oughta Be Me”

Apparently this 8th grade exam is for teachers, not students – but it’s from 1895.

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On the Fremont Parade, fashion and nudity

The world’s most frightening SUV? Probably.

“There’s big money in fashion, for both men and women — even though the best most of us can do with clothes is hide how funny we look naked.”
60 Minutes’ Andy Rooney on fashion

There were more nude bicyclists in this year’s Fremont Parade than I’ve ever remembered. I’ll have another one-minute movie up tomorrow about it.

Must… keep… credit cards… at… bay.

Howard Dean formally announced his candidacy yesterday. I missed the event in Seattle, but the excitement around his campaign reminds me of the grassroots Nader support for the 2000 election. Kucinich has a similar groundswell. He’s not as liberal as conservatives make him out to be, which leads me to believe a Dean-Kerry or Kerry-Dean ticket may be a very realistic option.

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Democratic Presidential debates and The Human Scab™

Today the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition hosted eight of the nine Democratic Presidential candidates in a forum hosted on C-SPAN today. I loved Howard Dean’s straight-talk, Dennis Kucinich’s fiery speech (which will probably make him unelectable) giving me chills, and John Kerry’s record. My prediction is the primary will likely result in a Kerry-Dean outcome. Bob Graham was a no-show, and Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman put me to sleep. Al Sharpton was powerful and hilarious at times, in sharp contrast to the subdued Carol Moseley Braun. Some notable quotes:

“We have too many elephants running around in donkey jackets.”
Al Sharpton on the Democratic Party

“Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Joblessness is a weapon of mass destruction.”
Dennis Kucinich on the Bush administration

I covered Gephardt and other candidates for my high school newspaper in 1987.

Howard Dean (who announces his formal candidacy tomorrow at 10am) appeared on Meet the Press this morning, and endured an hour of tough questions posed by Tim Russert. He handled Tim rather well, and gave a decent, honest reply to his son’s recent trouble with the law involving the theft of alcohol from a country club, noting “he’s more than grounded — he has to face our government’s judicial system”.

Today while walking on Broadway, I saw the person referred to as “The Human Scab” in The Stranger. I came quite close to losing my lunch, and it’s going to take a while to remove that image from my mind. He needs serious medical attention.

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Boeing, Store Wars, The Messengers

On Thursday, Northwest Cable News had a one-hour special on Boeing, its new 7E7 plane, and the likelihood that the airline company will have the plane built somewhere other than Seattle. Governor Locke plans to reward Boeing’s behavior and its frequent layoffs with a $3.2 billion tax break over 20 years.

“It’s like Elvis… there’s [been] a lot of sightings all over the place.”
King Abdullah of Jordan on Saddam Hussein’s whereabouts

Get PBS to run Store Wars in your town. It’s about a West Virginia town that fights an incoming WalMart plan.

Nightline had a special called The Messengers, about a preaching competition held at the infamous Bob Jones University. A compelling story, but a bit creepy, as most of the contestants, around 18 or 19, looked very 1950s in appearance.

Bush waters down an EPA report, watering down references to global warming.

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Rube Goldberg Honda edition

Last night, I took a quiet night in and watched the C-SPAN book TV special featuring Molly Ivins, Bill O’Reilly and Al Franken. Al has an extensive interview in this Alternet article.

Wow. I’m fascinated that this UK Honda commerical utilizing a Rube Goldberg device structure took 606 takes to get done correctly, six million dollars to create, and used NO computer graphics or digital effects.

“I gave Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill the gavel medallion, and Ralph Nader the one with the Corvair on it. It looked great with his Nehru jacket.”
Bud E. Luv, on jewelry, from his book “You Oughta Be Me”

Woody Allen an intermediary for US-Franco relations? Yes.

Someone defaced the Labour Party website. Is Tony Blair man’s best friend? Maybe just Dubya’s.

The CD minimum advertised price settlement has been settled. If you signed up for it, you’ll receive a check for $13.

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Get your war on sex after death

The Webby Awards were held online this time, a far cry from the lavish Academy Award-like parties they used to have during the dot-com boom. The best humor site: Get Your War On, the best comic strip you could ever make with office clipart. The best political site: MoveOn.org, proof that the Internet can be used as a powerful social movement tool, like the efforts of the IMC.

My friend Clara and I saw Sex After Death at Consolidated Works. All of the theatre patrons stepped inside what looked like a cross-section of a hotaired balloon — large vinyl panels from floor to ceiling that formed a circle around us — with pillows on the floor. The actors performed behind the panels in silhouette, in addition to puppets and transparencies with illustrations to tell a story about a wet nurse and a little girl who descend into Hell to find a little boy and a dog, and the beings they encounter along the way. While slow in stretches, it had some genuinely funny moments and the originality of the presentation made it worthwhile.

Dr Samuel Waskal, founder of ImClone, was sentenced to prison today. Martha Stewart pleaded not guilty. While several other companies and individuals have been brought up on charges, none have been sentenced. Waskal is the first person to go to prison based on the almost-two-year-old wave of accounting scandals.

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Camlin Hotel becomes a Trendwest resort :(

A Seattle landmark has been purchased by Trendwest Resorts: the Camlin hotel is to be turned into an exclusive vacation hotel, and its famous piano bar and one of my favorite lounges, The Cloud Room, is to close. I hadn’t heard either that one of the best laundromat-cafes in Seattle, Sit ‘n’ Spin, has also closed. When I first moved to Seattle in 1994, it was a favorite spot of mine, and as Belltown became trendy, it, like The Vogue, looked increasingly out-of-place with brand new construction and pricey condominiums and Starbucks/retail complexes.

I don’t play it, but it turns out a group of people in the online community/game The Sims Online has created their own mafia to fill a leadership vacuum in their virtual city.

It looks like legal proceedings against Bernie Ebbers can continue with a report to be released Monday showing Ebbers had a direct role in Worldcom wrongdoings.

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C-Span and “Lying Liars”

Who says C-SPAN can’t be exciting? This weekend Bill O’Reilly and Al Franken went at it during a Q&A session at a book convention. The segment will re-air this Sunday, June 8, at 5:30pm EST. Discussion about the shouting match can be found at this link (scroll down to ‘Monday, June 2, 6:56pm ‘) or you can listen to it via an MP3 file or check out the banter from Al Franken’s website.

Check out Al’s upcoming book, ‘Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them‘.