Please take a moment to read the story of just one couple, Julie Rose and Lynda Brocchini, who will be affected by Prop 8. So sad that yesterday's overwhelming vote for progress didn't extent to the rights of our GLBT friends.
Click HERE to read, and please Digg and Stumble to help put a face to the victims of Prop 8.
Results tagged “Democracy” from Powers Perspective
Do you think your vote's going to count this year? Think again. Unless you take action now, your vote may already be lost. Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast, who uncovered exactly how the election was "won" in 2000, teamed up with activist, attorney, broadcaster and writer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to find out if democracy was in a better state eight years on. In their report, which was published this month in Rolling Stone, they concluded that the 2008 Election had already been stolen. They are now challenging you to steal it back.
"If Democrats are to win the 2008 election, they must not simply beat John McCain at the polls -- they must beat him by a margin that exceeds the level of GOP vote tampering," Palast and Kennedy summarized. But all is not lost -- yet. To this end, the dynamic duo prepared an adult comic, Steal Back Your Vote, which outlines the six ways these thieves (who would call themselves "patriots") are trying to deprive you of your vote, and empowers you with seven ways you can snatch it back.
We checked in with Palast, a self-styled Sam Spade-like detective turned writer (he started out as a corporate investigator), to get the skinny on this 2008 election crime wave (and, no, the criminals aren't members of ACORN).
Click HERE for my full Suicide Girls interview with the intrepid Mr. Palast, P.I..
Real Time comedian Bill Maher and Borat director Larry Charles are men on a mission: to destroy society's blind faith in God. The medium they chose to convey their doctrine is not a dusty old book, but an entertaining documentary which highlights the ridiculous aspects of religion, hence its name, Religulous.
In an effort to spread their brand of enlightenment, Charles and Maher embarked on a romp around the world, questioning religious beliefs in the places they began and the palaces they paid for. The duo returned from their three-month pilgrimage with oodles of often-funny footage, much of it shot guerrilla-style as with Borat. Stringing interviews together with biting commentary and incisive footnotes, (to quote Kazakhstan's most famous fake export) they present their "cultural learnings" which they ultimately hope may "make benefit" of our "glorious" globe.
I chatted with Charles, who mastered absurdity while working on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and took the opportunity to challenge a few beliefs of his own.
Click my HERE for full SuicideGirls.com interview.
Never has there been a time when Americans needed to rage more against the machine. As we weather a perfect storm of a Great Depression-like financial meltdown, a war that's more costly (in so many ways) than Vietnam, and daily scandals that make Watergate look like a Boy Scout prank, guitarist, singer and songwriter Tom Morello is raging hard, on stage, on CD, and on the streets, where he's repeatedly risked his own life and liberty fighting what he believes are the true forces of evil.
A Harvard Political Science graduate, Morello has seen democracy in action both as an insider, while working for a United States senator, and on the frontlines. He faced a pitched battle with 700 riot police while participating in protests outside the Pepsi Center in Denver during the recent Democratic National Convention and days later was threatened with arrest while attempting to perform with his band at a rally on the Capital Lawn in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention. Despite skirmishes with the authorities at both events, Morello refused to be silenced.
Having expressed his anger loudly with his bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, in 2007 he found a quieter voice with One Man Revolution, his first solo release under The Nightwatchman moniker. On September 30, The Nightwatchman returns with a more introspective album, The Fabled City, but (somewhat conversely) this time he's amped-up and ready to rock.
Click HERE for full interview.
He's a lumberjack and it's OK,
Seems anyone can run for office - as long as they're not gay!
If you think the election's not quite silly enough yet, click HERE to sign up and show your support for Michael Palin's presidential candidacy, and get a free fuzzy thing.
Sicko moviemaker Michael Moore is making his latest film, which documents his 2004 Slacker Uprising campaign, available as a free download for three weeks starting September 23. The flick features overachieving (or are they failed?) slackers R.E.M., Tom Morello, Eddie Vedder and Roseanne.
Click HERE for Moore info.
I'm not exactly a fan of traditional beauty pageants, but the upside is they're supposed to provide a steady legion of Stepford women who are supposed to enjoy travel and looking after animals and children. John McTainted's newly announced vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin is the exception to this rule. Palin won the Miss Wasilla title in 1984 and placed second in the Miss Alaska competition, but she's no ordinary beauty queen....
Click HERE to continue...
Well how can you refuse an offer of free oil? Show your support for the man with a message you can approve of by visiting www.johnmctaint.com.
I've just finished watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance, a rare talent show that actually puts the emphasis on talent. I'm happy that street dancer Joshua won against the odds, and stiff competition from those with more formal training, though I have to admit I was rooting for Katie (who came in third) and the Debbie Allen trained Will (who got knocked out way earlier than I think anyone expected).
One of the nicest moments of last night's show was watching Katie and Will reprise one of the most stunning performances of season four, their pas de deux, which was choreographed by Desmond Richardson & Dwight Rhoden and set to LDS American Idol contender David Archuleta's interpretation of the John Lennon song "Imagine."
I love the song, it's one of my all-time favorites, and Archuleta's performance has its merits, but here's where I have a problem; American TV seems to have a very selective memory when it comes to the song's lyrics. It's like the majority of the nation has mass amnesia when it comes to that sociopolitically tricky second verse, you know, the really profound one which talks about doing away with religions and countries in order to achieve world peace. In case you've forgotten, since the verse in question is almost always edited out when the song is broadcast on TV, this is the message Lennon intended us to hear:
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Robert F. Kennedy talks eloquently about how the media has failed democracy (click HERE to view video). But has an apathetic democracy also failed the media, by consistently undervaluing it and failing to protect it? I guess it's a question of the chicken or the egg.
Further Reading:
Propaganda, Filler And Fodder: How The News Doesn't Work
Fox Buys Beliefnet: Divine Intervention Or Deal With The Devil?
Are Murdoch, Fox, And News Corp. Plotting A Shift Into The Blue?
UnChristian: A New Understanding Of Contemporary Christendom In America
Blind Faith: Evolving Church and State With Reason And Religion
Britney Hits The Confessional To The Displeasure Of The Catholic League
The Zen of Tax, That $600 Bribe, And the Enslavement of America
