Sorry, to be away but I have numerous coding deadlines looming. So... watch this...

ABC/Post Polling data confirms that voters are not blaming President Obama for current economic conditions. They have their feet firmly planted on the ground and are well aware of who caused this mess.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama benefits from a broadly held perception that others bear the bulk of responsibility for state of the U.S. economy, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll published on Tuesday.

Asked who was responsible for the economic meltdown, 80 percent in the poll blamed banks, financial institutions and corporations. Some 70 percent also blamed consumers for taking on too much debt and the former Bush administration for lax regulation.- Reuters

They have been trying hard to shift the blame, obscure the reality but it is really as if the public is waking up after the last 8 years, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and saying no more to the crazy spin and alternate reality of the GOP.

There may be hope.

"Only the mediocre are always at their best." Jean Giraudoux

(photo from getty images)

Famous Ford model, Model Carmen Dell'Orefice lost everything in the Madoff ponzi scheme. She just gave an interview with Women on the Web and she spoke some sage advice for the future. If everyone listened to this-- we'd go a long way to not repeating history.

When asked if she would ever invest in the stock market again she said yes. But she had learned an important lesson. One more about injustice and greed and less about Madoff specifically.

CARMEN: I would take whatever percentage per year that the “normal” person makes on his or her investments and never, ever expect to make more than my neighbor can because I would now know, I would know — not even suspect — that some injustice is going on (laughs wryly) when you are getting more than your neighbor! - interview by Billy Norwich

That's a pretty good way to put it I think.

One problem I have with the reporting and legislating that is circling around this economic crisis, is that the news media generally does not report any of this with a human face. Jobless numbers are not numbers-- they are people without jobs. Forclosure rates are not %s they are families who have lost their family home. (not their house, their home!) Here's a glimpse of the sea of humanity of our fellow Americans out of jobs in Hawaii;

With local unemployment at a 30-year high and a reeling economy showing few signs of regaining its legs anytime soon, some 8,100 job-seekers crowded the grounds of Honolulu Community College yesterday to take the first step in securing one of 160 new jobs at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.- Michael Tsai, Honolulu Advertiser

And the news on the Big 3, and the failing retail and sectors mean that for sure we haven't hit bottom yet. We need the media and our politians to be looking at and discussing the human faces of this crisis; the tent cities, the job fairs, the evictions. If for no other reason than to shake them awake to the fact that people are suffering, and already sacrificing. The crisis is real and urgent.

It hasn't been a good couple of weeks for Team Sarah, Sen. McCain is back out there talking about a wait and see attitude about 2012-- not willing to support his former running mate.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And looks like the new crack team over at SarahPac who are supposed to be handling her DC outreach and future campaign building efforts is not all that in touch with the Governor and her office in Alaska. This has had the effect of making the whole crew seem even more unprofessional than they have before. The newest Brouhaha is over Sarah not knowing she had agreed to appear at an RNC senate-congressional fund raising event.

The NRSC and the NRCC, it seems, were under the distinct impression that Palin would headline the annual Republican House-Senate fundraising dinner in June. The committees went so far as to issue a joint press release trumpeting her appearance and national news outlets quickly noted her prime speaking engagement.

All of it was news to Palin, though. When the Anchorage Daily News called for comment, Palin spokesman Bill McAllister said the governor didn’t know anything about the event. The national committees, meanwhile, explained that Palin’s appearance had been confirmed by SarahPAC, Palin’s Virginia-based political action committee.

“It has been painful to watch the staff handling of her since the election,” said one former aide and loyalist. “There is small margin of error at this point.”

“She is great, but she is ill-served by a staff that is clearly in over their heads,” added a national Republican operative who has worked with Palin. Politico.

All of this is so shocking (not) to those of us who found her VP election team to be so professional. (dripping sarcasm embedded) For all you lefty progressives that want Sarah to be the candidate of choice in 2012, better start hoping the team get's their shit together. It sounds like the Washington insiders may soon be turning their backs on Sarah as a presumptuous, not ready for prime time, prima donna.

Now I am the first one to admit that the auto industry as it now stands has not been viable for a while. But in order to be more competitive things like healthcare also have to be reformed. In the meantime it seems like a deadly double standard that the Obama adminstration has said yes to the likes of AIG even when they won't say how they are spending the money and have yet to really work to help the taxpayers who've bailed them out, but NO to the auto industry which employs directly and inderectly upwards of 3 million people!

Here's the word today from The White House,

The White House says neither General Motors nor Chrysler submitted acceptable plans to receive more bailout money, setting the stage for a crisis in Detroit and putting in motion what could be the final two months of two American auto giants.

President Barack Obama and his top advisers have determined that neither company is viable and that taxpayers will not spend untold billions more to keep the pair of automakers open forever. In a last-ditch effort, the administration gave each company a brief deadline to try one last time to convince Washington it is worth saving, said senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to more bluntly discuss the decision. from the AP

It seems pretty unfair too, that the very banks and wall street types that crashed the economy are partly the reason that Americans can't buy cars and so the car industry is in even more trouble than it would be.

Not sure what I mean? Look at this part of the problem. Japan's auto industry is very efficient and was very profitable but it too is laying off workers and closing plants. Why?- cause Americans aren't buying cars.

I think we have to fix the economic disaster caused by wall street before we can truly decide what has to happen to Motor City.

We read more about poverty, hunger and the plight of children around the world than we do in our own country. Even now, when things are getting worse. More families in shelters, more kids homeless, more people on food stamps, this problem needs everyones nickels and dimes just to get through this next year.

The folks at Share our strength do a funding drive to help local shelters and organizations feed hungry kids in America. The event(s) is called "The Great American Bake Sale." It is easy, they give great online and offline tools to make sure that people are successfully empowered to get involve and make a difference. And it is nationally organized but locally effective.

I wrote about it on Budget Artists. You can read more there or go straight to the source and sign up.

Yes, a bit more weekend silliness. (Larue, you'll just have to get over it)

Done That.

The GOP seems (is) totally out of touch, between rejecting stimulus money for people in real need, focusing on idiotic trivialities like the president using a teleprompter, they seem to have no idea what the world they live in really looks and feels like to the American people.

They focus on the stupid small meaningless echo chamber minutia all And to make matters worse the downplay, degrade, scoff at and trivialize the real life struggles, issues, concerns and dangers that Americans are facing.

There is no better example than GOP darling Bobby Jindal who recently turned a very important (literally) Mountain-sized issue into a molehill sized joke.

Washington, DC (AHN) - During his prime-time speech last month rebutting Obama's stimulus plan, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal mocked the president's "wasteful spending" including "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.'"

Jindal's line immediately drew criticism from the likes of scientists, geologists, journalists and people on both sides of the political spectrum who understand the importance of something as seemingly wasteful as volcano monitoring.

But Jindal's political misspeak is looking even worse now, days after Alaska's Mount Redoubt erupted some 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. Part of the stimulus package lampooned by Jindal was slated to go to monitoring Redoubt, which was very high on the list of volcanoes needing increased scrutiny. The Examiner

By the way, if you haven't been following this geological headline story, Mount Redoubt has erupted 6 times since Sunday... but I am sure we don't need to be monitoring things like that, right? yeah-- right.

What issues, thoughts, plans or schemes are you chewing over this weekend?
do tell...

h/t pearl for the great mug shot

are the ones that come from any outift Gov. Dean is involved with. He's back at DFA (and on CNBC, and lots of other multitasking), and trying to make sure that there's a reasonable line in the sand when it comes to American health care.

Give America a choice. We support healthcare reform that allows individual Americans to choose either a universally available public healthcare option like Medicare or for-profit private insurance. A public option is the only way to guarantee healthcare for all Americans and its inclusion is non- negotiable.

Any legislation without the choice of a public option is only insurance reform and not the healthcare reform America needs.

here's the link.

see more Political Pictures

The NYC Port athority has decided against naming the new building at ground zero "Freedom Tower."

Earlier today, Port Authority chairman Anthony Coscia explained that the agency will be referring to the tallest building at Ground Zero not as Freedom Tower but as its legal address, 1 World Trade Center. The Daily News reports Coscia as saying, "As we market the building, we will insure that it is presented in the best possible way - and 1 World Trade Center is the address that we're using. It's the one that is easiest for people to identify with - and frankly, we've gotten a very interested and warm reception to it."

Is this the Port Authority's way of detaching itself from the protracted design process for the skyscraper and more than a little bit of jingoism? from the gothamist

I've had my problems, many of them, with the port authority and the process of rebuilding on this site, But I fully agree-- let's call it by it's address- not by some neo-con fantasy that involves spreading democracy around the world at gun point or revenge on people that had nothing to do with the attacks we suffered. People will honor this site and the sacrifices that were made without some canned, fake, glorified naming.

If you head over and read the whole piece at the gothamist you can vote in the poll on "Freedom Tower" vs. "1WTC."

... but I always like his common sense.

Obama spoke of trying to break out of the Washington bubble. "Every once in a while we like to get out of this town," he said, mentioning a recent trip to California. "It is important to get out of the hall of mirrors and listen to what is happening."

The president told the crowd that he has taken to reading a sampling of letters that come to the White House.

"In Washington it's easy to pay attention to the cable chatter," he said. "You know, one day I'm a genius, one day I'm a bum. There are going to be days the market goes up, days the market goes down." - from The Hill

And I love that his mocking of the beltway bubble makes them go nutso!

I looked up from the madness to see that we have lost another giant of a man:



I remember my parents being proud of him, proud that, as a scholar, he felt that our history was worth the time and effort to understand, and worth knowing for all Americans.

from Wikipedia:
John Hope Franklin (2 January 1915 – 25 March 2009) was a United States historian and past president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University, he is best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and continuously updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor...In 1976, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Franklin for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities.[5] Franklin's three-part lecture became the basis for his book Racial Equality in America.[6]

"My challenge," Franklin says, "was to weave into the fabric of American history enough of the presence of blacks so that the story of the United States could be told adequately and fairly."

more resources of this great American historian:

3 hour Booktv interview
The John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies

This is a great website of contact details for Congressional 'Blue Dogs':

http://www.ourfuture.org/node/36490

Please make a habit of calling them and pressuring them to support the Obama Administration's agenda (instead of attempting to water everything down, like health care and currently banking reform).

Rachel's got a great segment on these guys...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

So, everyone, keep in touch with your friendly neighborhood blue-dog. (ick)

h/t commenter MDS on the contact site

Answer: The corporate news media's spin, slant, BS stories always with the hidden agenda. In other words, same shit different day.

So Obama did this wonderful, farsi, new years outreach message to Iran. The king of cool taking it right to the government and people in one of our most tangled and difficult relationships in the globe.

How did it go?

Well, if you listen to the Corp. Media--- He was rebuffed, dismissed, slapped, ignored???

But was he?

I am sure you will be surprised(not) to find out that the media has misrepresented the Iranian response in an effort to continue their fear based journalism, with corresponding fear fonts, fear sound effects and fear graphics. Cause that's what brings in the ad revenue? Right?

In case you missed it...Here are some of the angry, cold, face slap, rebuffing responses from Iran...

The office of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was among the first to respond to Obama's "overture."

In a statement to Press TV, Iran's English-language television channel, presidential aide Ali-Akbar Javanfekr said, "If Mr. Obama takes concrete action and makes fundamental changes in US foreign policy towards other nations, including Iran, the Iranian government and people won't turn their back on him."

As reported by the Iranian Fars News Agency, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki commented on Obama's address, saying, "We are glad that Nowruz has been a source for friendship and we are pleased that the Nowruz message is a message for coexistence, peace and friendship for the whole world."

Press TV itself reported on President Obama's address in a March 20 online article titled "Obama scores points with Iran message," noting that "his remarks, a significant departure from the tone of the previous administration, were well-received around the globe." The news channel also carried a link to Obama's address.

The US media generally focused on the response by Iran's Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is not only the country's top religious leader but also its military commander-in-chief.

Addressing a large crowd on March 22 in his home town of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, the ayatollah touched on Obama's remarks, noting that "Of course, we have no prior experience of the new president of the American republic and of the government, and therefore we shall make our judgment based on his actions."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but neither was it a cold rebuff or dismissal.- from Phil Walayto on Truthout

And they wonder why newspapers are going out of business, and people don't trust the network and cable news shows.

In another huge departure from Bush era legislation, President Obama is stopping the dumping of toxic waste from mining in a rural valley.

Yesterday was a great day for the people of Appalachia and for all of America. In a bold departure from Bush-era energy policy, the Obama administration suspended a coal company's permit to dump debris from its proposed mountaintop mining operation into a West Virginia valley and stream. In addition, the administration promised to carefully review upward of 200 such permits awaiting approval by the US Army Corps of Engineers.- Robert F. Kennedy Jr in the WaPo

Could it be that someone is going to finally try to help this region? Someone in Washington is going to think more about the people and the planet than about the mining companies and the money? fingers are crossed.

In case you missed it, one of the stories in the lefty blogosphere this weekend was Amanda Terkel being accosted/ ambushed by Bill O'Reilly show hack Jesse Waters. Amanda was followed, while on vacation, and then ambushed and asked a bunch of ridiculous questions all the while the O'Reilly team worked to polish the turd attitude he has about women and rape. Well, Keith was on it right away and thankfully had Amanda on his show to tell her side of the story and to explain to the public what a bunch of bullies O'Reilly and Jesse Waters and the whole fox team are.



And lost in all this bullying and B.S.. is the real and troubling fact that what Amanda was criticizing in her blog post was Bill's assertion that a rape victim who was picked up, raped and murdered was asking for it because she was drunk.

nice.

The online job site Monster.com has been attacked by hackers resulting in lost user data on the site. Monster said “we recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken, including Monster user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data.” The company is recommending you immediately change your password and look out for phishing emails. USAJOBS (the U.S. government official job site) was also affected. from Business2.0

The First time, in 07- some 1.6 million users' data was compromised. You'd think that since monster has so much private info, resumes and other information about users that they'd hire a decent net security person. This time around the increase in user #'s due to the economic crisis, must have made this a real treasure trove for the hackers. Sheesh.

Well- tonight, Jindal gets a do-over on his coming out party.
And the news is that Pretty-Palin is starting up her robo call machine in Iowa. It must be time to begin the 2012 election season 3 1/2 years early- Oh yea. sigh.

KCCI confirmed Tuesday that some Iowa Republicans have received automated phone calls from Sarah Pac, governor Palin's political action committee.

The calls asked Iowans several questions including whether they have a favorable opinion of Palin.

Some Iowans received the calls over the weekend and as did some voters in New Hampshire.

Anyone have an good tips on surviving the stupid for long periods of time?

The villager corporate media whores were all atwitter about the fact that Obama used a teleprompter for his opening remarks. For those who don't go over to the right wing blogs, this is something the right have been crowing about for quite some time. At the end of the press conference today David Gregory felt necessary to make it the first thing he mentioned. Dropping it into this "analysis" like a big sneering sneer-like thing. What it had to do with anything nobody knows.

Let's gloss over the fact that he then did 40-50 minutes of Q&A with intelligent answers. Answers that in some cases were much better than the questions asked. I am looking at you Mike Allen, (Politico.)

This teleprompter thing is going to be a thing, I can feel it.

commentary mine, and yours in the thread please

As you all might remember, controversy was everywhere in the 2008 primary process-- from seating, not seating delegates, moving primaries ahead, pushing them back, turn-coat delegates and committee members who defected (PUMA, questions about the necessity of the Super Delegates and a truck load of other issues-- it was a rocky though exciting primary.

Everyone agrees that some changes are probably needed and today Gov. Tim Kaine, new chair of the DNC announced a commission to make recommendations for process changes.

Washington, D.C.—Today, Governor Tim Kaine, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, announced the 37 member Democratic Change Commission, which will recommend changes to the Democratic Party’s rules for the 2012 presidential nominating and delegate selection process. Governor Kaine also announced that he has named Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri as Co-Chairs of the Change Commission.

“This Commission will focus on reform that improves the presidential nominating process to put voters first and ensure that as many people as possible can participate,” said Kaine. “I want to thank all the members of the Commission who have agreed to serve, including Congressman Clyburn and Senator McCaskill who have graciously agreed to serve as co-chairs.”- from a DNC press release 3/23/09

I became a DNC offical at the convention and in 2012 I would be one of those Super Delegates so I am curious about the changes coming. Happily they are starting early enough to iron out the details well before we start the campaign season in 2011-- and since hopefully we will be looking at re-electing Obama, it will be an easier test bed to roll out changes (less contention).

Never forget that the media we have now are the same folks that served as "lap dogs" to Bush and co. And you may not realize it but they are still carrying water for Bush, Cheney, and the whole crew every day. Not by what they are saying, but by what they are NOT saying. Media Matters today sent this very important message to the corporate media.

Where's W?

The media's refusal to involve the Bush administration in any of a wide array of stories about the economy deprives their consumers of the very analysis of policies that would help them understand and evaluate proposals to address the crisis. Regardless of one's assessment of the Obama administration's handling of the economy so far -- and the administration has its share of critics from across the ideological spectrum -- to erase the Bush administration from the picture is to deny the public and history a real understanding of how the country got to its perilous economic position. The consequences of that denial could be catastrophic -- an absence of public support for genuine solutions and, worse, the fomenting of public demand for the reinstitution or expansion of the deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy that many economists say led to the recession in which the country now finds itself.

The Obama administration inherited a massive deficit, high and rising unemployment, a massive bailout-in-process of the major financial institutions, and a high rate of mortgage foreclosures. The current economic and financial crises are not random acts of nature, unpredictable and unpreventable, but are consequences, at least in part, of policy decisions made during the previous administration. George W. Bush was president for eight years and did not leave office until January 20, 2009. Policies carried out during his tenure had lasting consequences. Press coverage should always reflect this reality.- Read the rest at MM

The economy is the most obvious way this is playing out, but think about it-- it is also present in their reporting on the two wars, on Iran and relationships in the Middle East, on education reform, on the climate crisis. The corporate media never mentions the 8 disasterous years that put us in dire straights on all of these issues. To ignore what got us here is a strategy that is purposefully being played out to make Obama and the Democratic Party own these issues 100% for the midterms next year and the general election in 2012. Plus forgetting history often dooms us to repeating it.

Smart people. I am curious who the 5 are who want to hold on to taxpayer money that they do not deserve. I suspect we will find out eventually- and they might regret that decision. But anyway-- good thinking to the 15 who decided that they wanted to sleep at night with a less-guilty conscious.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fifteen of 20 American International Group leading bonus recipients have agreed to give them back in full, said New York's top legal officer who is probing into $165 million in executive pay at the troubled company bailed out by the U.S. government.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told reporters on a conference call on Monday that he hopes to recoup $80 million of bonus payments, or about half of the $165 million paid by the giant insurer on March 15.

Twitter continues to be the hot topic of the day, but as a long-time user I am not surprised at the idea of the growth and popularity. The real numbers though are quite something.

Nielsen Online reported that Twitter has now surpassed Facebook and others to become the fastest-growing site in the "Member Communities" category for the month of February.

Twitter.com increased 1,382 percent year over year, from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009.

The report is an online snapshot- but one surprising catagory was in age groups. The largest demographic using twitter is not the kids or college students, but adults ages 35-49. (hey that's me!)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Twitter Frenzy
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things w/ Demetri Martin Political Humor

Twitterer. Father. Loves Jesus & web design.
Welcome to my site. I am a conservative Christian and engineer.
I love the Lord, my kids, and social media.

None of these are real quotes, but all of them are composites of messages that I’ve been noticing as my Twitter participation has increased recently. My circle got a bit wider, and I found more folks, so more folks found me (not the same ones, in many cases). And some of them are overtly religious, listing their religion as a major part of their mini-profiles.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Is there?
Well, of course not. To each their own. Live and let live. etc.

Then why do I get a bit uncomfortable when I see these prominent web declarations of faith in this setting?

My disclaimer here is that I don’t have an aversion to religion if it’s sane, which my experience tells me most religious people are: they’re just differently focused than I am when it comes to this subject. I don’t mean that anyone would or should change their behavior – it’s just that when I found myself hesitating to follow folks or grab their RSS feeds, to gleefully partake of their information streams as I would normally do, I started to wonder why...

I mean, I grew up in a very Baptist household, Black Baptist, which meant regular compassionate visits to sick and shut-in, liberation theology in action, leading the church choir, Daddy getting ready for sermons in his study, going on church visits when we didn’t have a church home...it was normal. The people around me were in the church, or family, or my school friends. When kids got shot in my neighborhood, church was a big part of the sad rituals. As I got older, I argued theological philosophy (and its inherent misogyny) with my father and the religious scholars that sometimes came to visit, of a variety of faiths.

I grew out of going to church every Sunday and attended for all the various holidays. Then I grew into hardly going at all, enjoying the rare visits more because I no longer felt guilty about not making them. And I love the choir and the music, so that’s a plus. My parents have been gone for many years, so there’s no immediate family reason to go.

But, now that I muse about this out loud, I think that it’s not about my church background. Perhaps it’s about my own general reluctance to share information about my relationship with religion in such an immediate way, unless it’s with people I’m already close to – or at least if someone asks me (this post is an exception, clearly). Almost a New Englander’s reticence, a sense that some things are better left private. I’m not sure why, but that little recoil is certainly there when I see folks in my area of business kind of make that information a part of their 'Hello'. Rationally, I applaud them for being open and upfront about their priorities – there’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be.

But, at least for the past few weeks, I found myself thinking: this person has interesting posts and information to share, but they’re overtly religious, and something moves my finger away from the Follow button...I’ve been doing that without questioning it, enough to notice. This is a kind of confession, I guess - I'm probably missing out on some great perspectives...

I love people like Maya Angelou, and Bill Moyers, whose deep Christian faith is a bedrock of their existence. But, at the same time, I don’t know that they’d find the need to declare it in just this way... (although can you imagine Maya Angelou on Twitter? nah. I can't either.). I imagine it more as a private matter, a gift of real revelation shared. Or perhaps a faith that's lived, without a need for declaration...

The American News Project set out in one day to attend every congressional political fundraiser that was going on in D.C. - turns out that on that particular day there were between 20 and 40 major fundraisers in just one day. And this is all while the congress was in session and working for us?

Listening to Bill Moyers' latest podcast: he interviewed Marta B. Peláez, who is President and CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services in San Antonio, Texas, working to stem the rise of domestic violence and Mike Davis, who teaches creative writing at the University of California, Riverside; a Socialist, former meat cutter & truck driver, and MacArthur Grant recipient.

At the end, Bill talked about a book called: THE SPIRIT LEVEL: WHY MORE EQUAL SOCIETIES ALMOST ALWAYS DO BETTER by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. It's out in the UK, and it's coming out in the US next year.

I haven't read it yet. Nonetheless, I retain the right to riff on the title, on why such a common sense idea is such uncommon practice. It seems obvious, no? Everyone eventually suffers if the balance of power, the gap between haves and have-nots, is too wide, whether it's in the home of an abuser, or in a society of me-first capitalists - and everyone else.

But the reasons are obvious as well. It's in the interests of the ruling class to keep on ruling. The people who have power don't want to share it - they are short-sighted, believing that they will always be as they are now, and never feel a need that they can't buy.

Short-sightedness is a human failing: I feel it myself in other areas of my life (health, etc). But I think the lessons of history are appropriate here: Frederick Douglas said it, (and he lived in much tougher times than these), after Reconstruction:

Whatever may be tolerated in monarchical and despotic governments, no republic is safe that tolerates a privileged class, or denies to any of its citizens equal rights and equal means to maintain them.

We've not just tolerated, but celebrated a privileged class, with aspirational rhetoric about invisible hands and faux-free markets,to the clear detriment of our progress as a nation. I believe that the definition of capitalism needs to change, and the nature of what we're striving for needs adjustment, not just because of the economic crisis, although that's one big old catalyst, but because our American vision has had blinders on, and a narrow view that's not fitting for our huge American spirit.

The challenge is to pull the strands together of the cowboy and the slave, the frontier mother and the suffragette, the civil rights worker, the farmer, the railroad worker, the geek, the nurse and the captain of industry, to honor what we all contribute to our society, and to build a new frame that's big enough to hold us all.

Spring is springing here. See any Butterflies yet?
What are you doing this weekend?

Me? Work and some more work.

Plus a bit of celebrating various personal and professional breakthroughs of me and mine. Also writing up my panel proposal for Netroots Nation 09, and researching more content for our coming soon killer iphone ap.

And you? Do tell...

Here's the thing. The Obama Special Olympics gaffe on Leno was not bad because it was about the Special Olympics, It was bad because it was a discriminatory comment in general. It was a mistake, people make them. And they should apologize and be more careful. But to blow this up as particularly aggregious because it was about disabled people is total B.S.

My takeaway from Mencia's disabled humor is you either make fun of everyone (as a comedian) or you make fun of no-one. Period.

Obviously the President should make fun of no-one. That should be understood. I am not excusing his comment. But I don't think that the Special Olympics Bowling joke was any worse or any better than the "Sweetie-gate" slip up during the primary.

I think we really do discriminate MORE against a group when we hold them as somehow more scared, more off limits. That is the thing about immigrant humor, sexual humor, racial humor, it should all be equally viewed. Either you can laugh at the human condition as a whole, or you can't. And making that point should be the job of people like Mencia, not Barack Obama. We all know that. But to somehow make the point that it is worse to make fun of one group rather than another is just stupid. The wingers are trying to blow this up-- that he's a worse person because the disabled should be off limits to everyone. So it is ok to make fun of blacks in the "Barack the Magic Negro Piece" --ha ha just a bit of holiday humor. But it is somehow beyond the pale to make fun of someone with a handicap. Typical wingnut logic.

President Obama apologized. We all have made this kind of mistake sometime, somewhere about some group that we shouldn't make fun of. Time to move on. And I am sure Michelle totally kicked his ass about this one when he got home.

So let's get back to work.

Move-on has a great internet campaign to gather names and outrage into a powerful unified force, plus you get to throw tomatoes at the front of the AIG building! (oddly addictive as the predicted) Enjoy and spread the word.

In great news, The President has decided to grow a garden on the lawn of the White House. This is awesome news for slow food advocates, and lots of people worked hard on this campaign.

Eat the View's 14 month advocacy campaign and 10 month petition drive have come to a successful end. Major news sources are reporting that the Obamas have heard our call and are planning on converting part of the White House's South Lawn back into a healthy, edible landscape. Now is the time to celebrate and thank the Obamas for leading by example. In particular, we want to applaud First Lady Michelle Obama for her leadership in promoting healthy, sustainable foods for children and families.

Thank the president and the first family here. This was a personal passion of mine and it is just wonderful news. What a great example. I am thinking now about getting those bucket tomatoes going in my little Tokyo apartment complex! What are you growing this year?

Andy Warhol Dollar Sign 1982

Hi, In addition to this lovely place and my work at The Group News Blog, I got a new gig with some friends of the GNB and FL family. It is called The Budget Artists. And it is full of great writers and content developers whos passion and drive is to share information on how to live happily, and cheaply in these economically difficult times.

I am writing there as the editor of the food channel. So be sure to wander over and check us out. We are just ramping up but there is already some great content posted. If you have any suggestions that you think would make the site better, or story ideas-- the team is interested in feedback. And I am open to any and all food related ideas that folks would like to see.

Come read us soon.

Since it is Still St. Paddy's Day week...



Also in honor of my buddy Brent O'Leary! first name in the chorus, who is running for City Council in NY and who went to the White House on Monday to celebrate with the Irish Americans for Obama crew.

One of the stories I read after the Appfrica panel at SXSWi was a story that has been making the rounds. All about a Blackboard Blogger! Totally cool analog story in the digital world. A good reminder of the theory that "Content is King" everything else is just a distribution channel or tool. Tools are only as good as the content being served up. Anyway, this guy rocks.

Alfred Sirleaf is an analog blogger. He take runs the “Daily News”, a news hut by the side of a major road in the middle of Monrovia. He started it a number of years ago, stating that he wanted to get news into the hands of those who couldn’t afford newspapers, in the language that they could understand. from WhiteAfrican.com

Definately worth reading the whole post and the links in the post.

Friend of FL and former speaker at a booksigning for Democrats Abroad Japan, Juan Cole was last night's guest on The Colbert Report!

Read about it all on his blog Informed Comment. I can't wait to watch it later tonight.

For a year or so now, the other readers out there have lagged behind the Amazon Kindle, Largely because Amazon made more titles available than anyone else had. But that is gonna change, right about now.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Google Inc. is making half a million books, unprotected by copyright, available for free on Sony Corp.'s electronic book-reading device, the companies were set to announce Thursday.

It's the first time Google has made its vast trove of scanned public-domain books available to an e-book device, and vaults the Sony Reader past Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle as the device with the largest available library, at about 600,000 books.

Now I am torn? Go ahead and get that Kindle I've been coveting? Or get the Sony Reader instead? Hmmm? Time to go back to the research drawing board. But for sure there is a new reader in my future. If for no other reason than to make my carry on lighter on the plane. And to show off to my book group friends as well of course :-)

Does anyone have either of these? And if yes, what do you think?

This sad story lives in the intersection between the internet good and the potential misuse for bad. In Japan a mobile sns site called crime mates was set up to, I guess, get like minded bad people together- Great-- just what we need.

And the results can be as deadly as this;

On Wednesday, 38-year-old newspaper salesman Tsukasa Kanda and Yoshitomo Hori, 33, were given the death penalty, while Kenji Kawagishi, 42, received a life term for turning himself in after the slaying. Hori and Kawagishi were unemployed at the time of the murder. Prosecutors had demanded the gallows for all three.

The defendants kidnapped company worker Rie Isogai, 31, on a road in Nagoya on the night of Aug. 24, 2007, stole her money, beat her multiple times and strangled her with a rope. They later abandoned her body in a forest in Gifu Prefecture, the court said.

The murder outraged the public, not only because of its cruelty but also because the three defendants became acquainted with each other through a mobile phone Internet site soliciting "crime mates."- Japan Times

I really am the text book definition of a doe-eyed optimist. And I'd like to believe the net result of the net is positive. But it is important to keep the misuse potential in mind and guard against it. At least when the baddies document their intent online-- evidence and prosecution are easier too.

So a week into all the budget debate-- and the GOP lead by Representative Boehner have released a new YouTube video complaining about the President’s plan for the budget which will invest in our country’s economic future. After listing up all their complaints, Representative Boehner still failed to offer any alternative.

Today’s video comes just days after Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed on ABC’s This Week that Senate Republicans will not offer a budget of their own, but will instead seek to derail the President’s budget with a series of amendments during the upcoming budget debate.

All they got is No. I hope the American public sees through this crap. They have no ideas, no plan, and no integrity. But then this is not new news.

I am jetlaggin' bad, But I loved loved loved SXSWi. Definitely going back next year!
What are you all up to? It's quiet out there... too quiet.

do tell...

Sounds like the First Family was missing their hometown version of St. Paddy's day-- As everyone knows Chicago turns their river that cuts through the city green each year in honor of Irish Americans everywhere. Looks like the tradition has come to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is going green for St. Patrick's Day. The water in the fountains on the north and south lawns of the White House has been dyed green to mark the national holiday of Ireland...

"It's a little piece of home for our new home," said Lelyveld, who is also from Chicago.

Lelyveld said it's the first time the water in the White House fountains has been dyed. The green hue will stay until the dye runs outs...

Hope everyone is having a lucky day full of Kisses, cornbeef and cabbage, and green beer!

as part of our FL team braves the wilds of Austin, I'm undrafting some recent thoughts...

Do you remember Marvin Gaye? If you do, as you read, see if you can hear his rich, questioning voice and the music in the background as we take a little trip into the American landscape.

We begin with the Motley Fool. I've been on their mailing list for years, I suppose as a mild bit of pop anthropology: Capitalists in the Mist. I save them up for insomniac nights. They do not soothe me. They often enrage me. But, lately the conservative capitalists on the list have reached a fevered pitch. They toss the same faux-erudite political flames that folks in the States see on Fox Gnaws - and in the emails of fearful relatives. Here are some quick links for combatting the wilfully dopey:

WWII solved the problem of the Depression; FDR had nothing to do with it.

Debunked here and everywhere sane: The Republicans' Fatal Misreading of FDR -- and How It Would Worsen the Depression via Huffpo)

Poor black men in string vests sitting on their rocking chairs were redlined by banks for a reason all these years - the economic freefall is the result of liberal lending policies

Debunked by the stark evidence to the contrary here: Blame O.C. for the world meltdown)& here Orange County Under Siege of Foreclosures h/t Hubris Sonic

But this set of crises is an opportunity to change the way we see capitalism. Or do we need to go even deeper and change the way we see community? Or, like our President, do we need to muster up the energy and intelligence to multitask?

One course of action that seems to be a very difficult, but perhaps necessary way to proceed, is privileging compassion, celebrating people who are compassionate. Not in a religious sense, necessarily. Just in terms of acting out of compassion in everyday life being the 'cool' thing to do. In this regard, I highly recommend listening to/watching Bill Moyers' recent interview with ecclesiastical scholar & freelance monotheist Karen Armstrong . An excerpt from Karen:

Well, my work has continually brought me back to the notion of compassion. Whichever religious tradition I study, I find that the heart of it is the idea of feeling with the other, experiencing with the other, compassion. And every single one of the major world religions has developed its own version of the Golden Rule. Don't do to others what you would not like them to do to you.

You see, the Greeks too, they may have been not religious in our sense, but they understood about compassion. The institution of tragedy put suffering on stage. And the leader of the chorus would ask the audience to weep for people, even like Heracles, who had been driven mad by a goddess and slew his own wife and children.

And the Greeks did weep. They didn't just, like modern western men, wipe a tear from the corner of their eye and gulp hard. They cried aloud because they felt that weeping together created a bond between human beings. And that the idea is you were learning to put yourself in the position of another and reach out, not only to acceptable people, people in your own group, but to your enemies, to people that you wouldn't normally have any deep truck with at all.

If you agree that the spread of compassion could create a bedrock change in our society, how do we make like the 80's, when cash and big swinging ducats were cool, but change the focus in the other direction? How do we make compassion deeply cool?

Well, What the heck is up with you?
I had tacos today from the Taco Shack (totally YUM) and I am getting pretty overwhelmed with sxswi input. You?
Do tell...

Yesterday @ SXSWi the keynote was the netroots own Nate Silver from fivethirtyeight.com. Nate talked about his work with polling, and his general outlook. Great speech, and what was really wonderful and refreshing about Nate as a speaker-- he doesn't underestimate or talk down to people. Big Brain but very accessible.

But something was going on during the speech that was equally as interesting.

Sunni Brown, the owner of Brightspot was recording the speech graphically at the front of the room. So interesting, totally brilliant, and what a great way to capture and look at information. she used a large 3 panel paper (not shown in picture). It was a small moment, but these small creative things are the most impressive part, for me anyway, of the sxsw experience. Very cool stuff and very genuine people.

I came to SXSWi this year, my first time, to be inspired. To look at things in a different way. On the first day (2 days ago) I went to the Rawking SXSW panel which was set up to give beginners tips on what to do and what to see. The fantastically funny Baratunde Thurston was on that panel and one thing he said that has really changed my experience so far was "Try to go to sessions that you would not normally be drawn to-- you are likely to learn more interesting stuff outside of your comfort or expertise zone.*

With that in mind I am sitting in a panel about Tech and dev. in Africa. I have traveled a lot but have no experience in Africa-- I only know the ngo stories there. The things that the news and aide communities talk about. The panel is amazingly talented, and their companies, links, and projects are completely amazing.

The sense from the panel is
1. There is incredible opportunity in Africa, and by working in tech in Africa-- you can do good and learn so much
2. You need to be in Africa to dev for Africa-- but if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
3. Great testing bed for new stuff.
4. Tech inclusion can lead to social and global inclusion

Now talking about Ushahidi which is and has done amazing things with crowd sourcing crisis news.

Major sense, is that doing development ngo work only-- focuses on dealing with immediate needs but what is needed is building on innovation, on bringing solutions and tools from and to the people.

Open source has been huge for africa. For obvious reasons open source means that basic buy in is not a hurdle.

Gov. should use open source and local contractors to make a longer range difference.

Update: Appfrica panel is doing a great job of opening minds. Whiteafrican.com is a great place to read and learn about opportunities and information about this specific area both intellectually and geographically.

Great aggragator for the region at afrigator (oooh gator in the name AND logo!)

Born 14 March 1879.

Not least because I also consider myself an agnostic, he's been a hero of mine for many years:

"My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.

When it comes to science, I have what he would have called 'an average mind'. But, I enjoy listening to his descriptions of the way the universe works:


I wonder what he would have made of the 'course correction' that we are attempting now, to morph the faith in free market capitalism into something infinitely better, and for the greater good.


It's a lovely thought to think of him now, riding a beam of light...

AMoDA "Austin Museum of Digital Art" Sponsored their 4th annual laptop music battle last night- We checked out most of round one. But by then too cold and tired-- it was great though.



Love those rock em sock em laptops! In the rounds we saw there were some pretty damn talented musicians. Nice stuff. More updates on twitter you can follow me littlestgator

For tonight, trying to choose between the razorfish and the digg parties. Don't think I will have enough energy to do both.

Working hard for my blog. Attended Burlesque show, to get the skinny.



Pastry and Pasties, it was a cupcake and burlesque event. Awesome and the Shiner Bock was great.

Just a little collage to whet your appetite. the day included panels, BBQ, cupcakes, Burlesque and more BBQ. More tomorrow when hopefully I have slept and had some tea.



PS the man in the box is our own HS who got chosen to be a participant in a panel for scam school!

HS and I are both headed out to SXSW Interactive (3/12-3/17) in Austin. We'll send some tech and creativity reports from the road. AND I am going to try to convince the Fabulous JEN of News Blog fame, to write something for us from SXSW Music 3/17-3/21) as she'll be there week 2.

Anyway, really looking forward to it. We'll let you know what we think during and after.

Also can't wait to land in an airport in the USA and see the new president's photo when I go through customs.

Looks like Bristol's going to go it alone. Breaking off with the father of her 2 mon. old baby-- Bristol is kicking Levi to the curb. Buh-bye.

Levi's sister Mercede Johnston says Bristol actually broke up with Levi more than a month ago, is not attending school and rarely lets her baby daddy see their young son. Mercede also says Bristol even told him that she hates him and, when she learned she was pregnant, wished the baby wasn't his.- from Radar

Stay tuned for the next episode of Moosemeat and Russia From My Porch.

I Love Baratunde-- and the Young Turks Cenk and they are doing a pretty fantastic little project over here-- it's basically a back and forth about talking about race.
What do you think? Good example of using tech to a real purpose.

Alright! Did my Narita Airport Last Sushi for God Knows How Far thing. Changed money, flashed my fake red carpet card to get in to the FREE wine and beer and wireless. Presently getting lit in prep for my flight to Austin for SXSW. Anyone else going? I'm buying!

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has created a White House council to advise him on issues facing women and girls.

Obama on Wednesday said the nation must work to make sure its daughters and granddaughters have every opportunity to succeed. Obama says he watched his single mother raise his family and his grandmother denied promotions at her job. The president says his administration should help women facing challenges like that.

Obama named senior adviser Valerie Jarrett to head the group, and says official Tina Tchen (CHEN) will run its day-to-day operations. Members of the Cabinet will serve with the panel as well.

During the primaries when the blood sport between the Clinton and Obama factions was at it's peak one of the criticisms of Obama that I found the most ludicrous was the idea that he was a sexist pig. Seriously-- if you had seen his wife speak, even once...If you had read the story of his mom... if you had met or seen his sister Maya... There was no way you could give any serious thought to that allegation. Sexist? yeah right. Do you think Michelle Obama would put up with that for a half a second... hell even at their young ages I don't think Malia or Sasha would put up with it. No sir.

So I am not surprised-- but pleased that after already passing the Lily Ledbetter Pay Equity act, and removing the global gag rule provisions-- President Obama is going to take this approach to women's issues. He is clearly looking at all of these tasks in an integrated way. How does the economic policy, foriegn affairs policy, health care, education-- how do all of these things effect women in our country? I expect great things in this regard, and I believe that Barack is appreciative of the amazing women in his life and aware of his mother's extraordinary accomplishments and of her efforts on his behalf as he goes to work in the oval each and every day. He is aware of the sacrifices that Michelle has made to help him over the years- aware of the debt he owes these women and the responsibility the office bears for the betterment of ALL Americans.

Is their any doubt that after the Bush, and Clinton years for that matter, that we are seeing something new in a President who has a comfortable and healthy relationship and respect for the women in his professional and personal life? The answer to that question is clearly a resounding no.

Yum!

Do you drink coffee or tea? How do you take it? Favorite coffee shop or cafe? Home brew? Folgers Crystals?

and how about the news?

do tell...

Protesters target U.S. foreclosed-homes auctioneer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An auction of foreclosed homes in New York City on Sunday drew protesters who blamed banks for an epidemic of home losses and called for a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures.

Two dozen people marched outside a Manhattan convention center where Real Estate Disposition Corp was auctioning off several hundred foreclosed homes, chanting and carrying signs reading "Banks get bailed out, people get thrown out."

The protesters said their argument was not with would-be homebuyers, who streamed into the auction without taking much notice, but with banks that had reaped benefits of government bailout funds after years of irresponsible lending practices.

"We're not angry at the people who are looking for a cheaper home," said Larry Holmes, a spokesman for the Bail Out the People Movement, which staged the demonstration.

But REDC, which the group said was the nation's largest private auctioneer of foreclosed homes, was "making money off other people's misery," Holmes said.

He called on Washington to declare a moratorium on foreclosure and evictions to give struggling families a chance to get their finances in some kind of order and potentially keep their homes.

"Many of these homes being auctioned today may still be occupied," Holmes said. "What is happening to these families. Are they living in their cars? And are they being bailed out, like AIG or Citicorp?" --Reuters

This same thing went on during the depression. Farmers would attend their neighbors home auctions and intimidate buyers into skedaddling, sheriffs too would suddenly remember an appointment in another county. Their methods convincing them were a little more aggressive then protesting in front of the auction. But then these are people who ate salted tumbleweeds to survive, literally. They would soak them in water and then salt and eat them. I don't know if foreclosure auctions will get more protestors, but they ought to.

These are the type of protests that our Murika Lovin' friends on the right should be supporting, should be getting out for. Not the faked up astro-turf corporate sponsored hollow mockery of shams that they are paying people to attend. No, they just can't help themselves. They must serve their corporate masters. I find it fascinating how revealing it is that when this opportunity, for lack of a better word presents itself. An opportunity to show how they are the real party of grassroots, party of the working man. They slavishly get out and protest, raise money, and stand in the street, for corporations! For Banks, for Wall Street Traders.

Honestly, just how clueless are they? Don't answer that. This situation is tailor made for them to work their way right back into power. It is almost like they can't even perceive it. Like they are 2D people in a 3D world.

The DNC press release today boils it down quite well. 50 days into the Obama administration and what has the republican party been up to?

Saying No. Doing Nothing. (except apologizing and kissing up to Rush) and Voting time and again against the very urgent help Americans need.

“While President Obama has spent his first 50 days in office working to address the challenges facing America’s working families, Republicans are more interested in saying no and driving down poll numbers,” said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Brad Woodhouse. “Instead of joining Democrats in supporting the President’s economic recovery plans, Republicans in Congress have chosen to follow Rush Limbaugh by becoming the party of no. Americans want leaders who will work together to confront the challenges we face. When Congress debates the President’s budget, Republicans should stop following Rush Limbaugh and instead help the President create jobs, fix our schools, reform our health care system, make America energy independent, and lay the foundation for long-term growth in the 21st Century.”

When children turn about 2 years old-- one of the stages they go through and where the moniker "Terrible Twos" comes from-- is they start saying No! No! No! No!-- do you want to go outside? No! do you want to eat dinner? No! You get the drift.

So now we know, the GOP and all their fawning, clinging, mindless, dittohead base, are nothing more than a bunch of 2 year olds. Stamping their feet and saying "No".

In the meantime, what have the grownups gotten done so far? (and these are just a few of the many things that have happened in 50 days)

In just 50 days, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have..
*Provided health care to 11 million children by expanding SCHIP
*Promoted equality in the workplace by passing the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
*Lifted the Ban on life-saving stem cell research
*Passed an economic jobs and recovery plan that will save or create 3.5 million jobs

And we are just getting started!

We need to add a big Time Out Chair in both the house and senate-- there are quite a few people who should spend some time sitting there and thinking about what their jobs are supposed to be.