The end is near

In less than 60 hours all votes will be cast in the presidential election. With any luck we will know shortly thereafter that we have elected a new President. Then the real work of righting this great ship of state begins.

These last four years and especially these past few months have made me almost a hateful person. I have all but lost faith in the American people. After all that the current administration has done (or failed to do) in the last four years, there is no way that this election should even be close. Yet the polls tell us otherwise.

Shortly aftert 9/11 when Dubya stood with the firefighter and spoke with the bullhorn and when he addresssed Congress I thought that maybe I was wrong about the guy. Nothing would have made me happier than for him to prove it; sadly, in the three years that followed he has only proven that my initial feelings about him being an incompetent tool of evil men were correct. I cannot stand to even listen to Bush any more, I get so enraged.

After the 2000 Florida debacle and subsequent Supreme Court ruling I felt sure that all of those people who were disenfranchised and those who just decided not to vote would make sure that their voices would be heard this time around. We will see shortly if that happens.

I can understand why selfish rich people want to reelect the guy, but most of the people that I see out there at Bush rallies and with Bush/Cheney bumper stickers on their cars are working people. The Jimmy the Cab Driver spot about tax cuts gets it right, most people who work for a living get no benefit from Bush's tax cuts. But just try to tell a Bush supporter that.

So the self-proclaimed uniter has succeeded in polarizing this country and the world. This man who can't think of any mistakes that he has made has the blood of tens of thousands on his hands. His black or white view of things has spread to his followers yet some of us can still see shades of grey.

Please...

...go read this:

From The New Yorker

THE CHOICE
Issue of 2004-11-01
Posted 2004-10-25

This Presidential campaign has been as ugly and as bitter as any in American memory. The ugliness has flowed mostly in one direction, reaching its apotheosis in the effort, undertaken by a supposedly independent group financed by friends of the incumbent, to portray the challenger--who in his mid-twenties was an exemplary combatant in both the Vietnam War and the movement to end that war--as a coward and a traitor. The bitterness has been felt mostly by the challenger's adherents; yet there has been more than enough to go around. This is one campaign in which no one thinks of having the band strike up "Happy Days Are Here Again."

The heightened emotions of the race that (with any luck) will end on November 2, 2004, are rooted in the events of three previous Tuesdays. On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, more than a hundred and five million Americans went to the polls and, by a small but indisputable plurality, voted to make Al Gore President of the United States. Because of the way the votes were distributed, however, the outcome in the electoral college turned on the outcome in Florida. In that state, George W. Bush held a lead of some five hundred votes, one one-thousandth of Gore's national margin; irregularities, and there were many, all had the effect of taking votes away from Gore; and the state's electoral machinery was in the hands of Bush's brother, who was the governor, and one of Bush's state campaign co-chairs, who was the Florida secretary of state.
[more]

Movie quote for today

The Big Lebowski

Donny: Are these the Nazis, Walter?

Walter Sobchak: No, Donny, these men are nihilists. There's nothing to be afraid of.

GOP steps in Al Qaqaa

Who's lying now?

Video Suggests Explosives Disappeared After U.S. Took Control
Evidence Indicates U.S. Military Opened Al-Qaqaa Bunkers, Left Them Unguarded

Oct. 28, 2004 -- The strongest evidence to date indicates that conventional explosives missing from Iraq's Al-Qaqaa installation disappeared after the United States had taken control of Iraq.

Barrels inside the Al-Qaqaa facility appear on videotape shot by ABC television affiliate KSTP of St. Paul, Minn., which had a crew embedded with the 101st Airborne Division when it passed through Al-Qaqaa on April 18, 2003 -- nine days after Baghdad fell.
[more]

Pentagon Lt. Col. Barry Venable said, "Another explanation is that regime loyalists or others emptied the facility prior to coalition forces arriving in Baghdad in April." And Dubya finally responded while campaigning in Pennsylvania yesterday using the same line, "the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site."

TV Crew Photographed Explosives Cache at Al-Qaqaa
Images Suggest Explosives Were There When U.S. Troops Arrived
JOHN MASON and JOANNA HJELMELAND, KSTP-TV


Oct. 28, 2004 -- A Minnesota television station news crew reporting from Iraq in the spring of 2003 came very close to the spot where tons of high explosives are alleged to have disappeared.

Based on GPS data and confirmation from officials of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, KSTP-TV 5 Eyewitness News determined its crew was on or near the southern edge of the Al-Qaqaa installation on April 18, 2003, nine days after the fall of Baghdad.

KSTP in St. Paul is an ABC News affiliate station. Its journalists were embedded with the 101st at the time and shot exclusive footage that may raise new questions about the controversy surrounding the fate of those munitions.

Some 377 tons of high explosives -- HMX and RDX and PETN -- are said to be missing from the Al-Qaqaa weapons depot and questions have arisen about what the United States knew about the site and what it did to secure it.
[more]

Meanwhile Rudy Giuliani went on NBC's Today show to bash the troops in Iraq:

"No matter how you try to blame it on the president, the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefully enough?"

Farewell baseball, see ya in '05

Thank god the Red Sox finally won a World Series. Now we won't have to hear New Englanders whining about "the curse" and always coming up short. The Phillies may be the losingest team in baseball but at least I've seen them win a World Series and I've attended one of their World Series games in person.

It was an exciting post season this year. Boston's comeback from three games down to the Yankees and then a World Series sweep was quite a feat. And in the NL I happy that Houston was not in the World Series. First, because they're from Texas and I find it hard to cheer on anything from Texas. Second, because I don't like Roger "I-don't-make-roadtrips-unless-I'm-pitching" Clemens and Andy "Power for Living" Pettite.

I thought that the Phillies had a good shot at the post season this year, but they had a major meltdown in July and never recovered. Ah well, next year starts in five months.

More Jimmy the Cab Driver

More Jimmy the Cab Driver ads from MoveOnPac.org:

• Number 4
• Number 5
• Number 6
• Number 7
• Number 8

And log in to MoveOnPac.org to watch Rob Reiner's "Mistake" from week three.

Maps

I was looking to see where lynchings took place and found this map:



I thought that it looked strangely similar to the 2000 election map:



Hmmmmm

An atheist president?

I vowed to stop commenting over there but I read this so I will comment here (and be accused of stealing content and making mean personal attacks).

You can read the whole thing in context at http://dumbgirl.bravejournal.com/entry/8105, but here's what disturbs me:

Eric: "I heard a poll quoted last week, credibillity unknown, that said the American People where far more inclined to elect a devout muslim to the White House, than a confirmed Athiest. This disturbs me..."

Amy: "...I understand why you find it that poll distrubing. I hope neither will ever be President"

And Amy seems to be one of the more level-headed Bush backers. Are Muslims and atheists somehow less than Christians? What is so scary about atheists or muslims? I am more scared of a leader who claims to be guided by God than one who makes decisions based on knowledge and understanding, whether he or she is christian, muslim, jew, atheist, or whatever.

Religion is a private thing. We have a constitutionally protected right to practice our religion and to be free from someone else's. Why must our leaders be seen praying at all. I would be much happier if there were absolutely no talk of religion during the campaign and during the president's term in office.

Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...."

Fundamentalist Christians and and their followers can spout off all they want about the Founding Fathers being christians but the facts prove otherwise. Jefferson, Paine, Franklin, Washington, and others were deists. As Deists they did not believe that Jesus was God, they did not believe in the Trinity, they did not believe that God took sides in a war, or that God intervened because of prayer. They believed that a Creator God made the world and set down natural laws and then was hands off.

Republicans please keep your God to yourselves; out of our laws, out of our Constitution. Thank you.

Site of the Day

shardsoglass.com

Live TV

...exposes no-talent frauds like Ashlee Simpson. She obviously lip-synched her first song and then this happened during her second song:
watch the VIDEO
...and she had the balls to blame the band.

Whatever...

Over the past few days (and months) I've been accused of many things, some true and some not true. The only thing that really bothers me is being chacterized as a mean-spirited liar and having people believe it to be true.

I foolishly jumped in to defend myself when someone wrote in the comments of this post that "(p)eople like...Rob and others of their thinking lash out with disgusting personal attacks, lies and false accusations." I'm sure that her motive was to get her friends to tell her that she is wonderful and those mean liberals should leave her alone, and I played right into it. It's useless trying to have a civil discussion with some people.

Anyhow it worked and one of the little ladies came to her defense:

Rob, I am going to get the last word. You have been provoking, teasing, and writing about Donna for months. I have seen it over and over again. All she has ever done is write in her own blog and commentate on her friends' blogs... I, for one, am sick of you acting so innocent like you have never done a thing. Like she would just feel this way towards you for no good reason... Come on! She has done nothing to you, yet you continue to obsess with commentating on your journal about her." -- Alice

Well, I've had enough of them. I tried to present them with another view of things, i.e. other than the Bush-is-chosen-God-and-can-do-no-wrong viewpoint. They don't want to know about it. I'll leave it to someone else to expose them to some of reality.

I don't write people off if we disagree about politics or religion. My best friends both happen to be medical doctors and both serious practicing Roman Catholics. We disagree about almost everything politically but that does not stop us from enjoying each others' company. They even chose me to be the godparent of their child--me the atheist. So there are open-minded conservatives and christians.

In fact I read this article today by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst of JesusOnTheFamily.org:

Why Are Some American Christians So Bloodthirsty?

Understanding Pro-war Christians' Indifference to Civilian Deaths
by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst

It's been going on for years now. Almost daily we read that another child, another parent, another sister or brother, another grandpa or aunt, is killed in Afghanistan or Iraq by U.S. weaponry in Mr. Bush's "war on terror." Sometimes it's a wedding party, or a bunch of kids, or a family of six. Sometimes it's a journalist, or a whole group of journalists, who may even be killed on camera in real time for all the world to see and hear.

But no matter how bad it gets, nothing seems to change Americans' support for war, which for some reason is stiffest among Christian supporters of the Bush Administration. "Stuff happens in a war zone." "Don't worry because God is in control." With these and other slogans, I've been reassured by countless pro-war Christians that, as long as civilians aren't intentionally targeted, taking their lives is okay, maybe even predestined, God's will.
[more]

So in my last two posts I've cited The American Conservative and JesusOnTheFamily.org and I'm the intolerant, close-minded fool? Okay.

The American Conservative endorses Kerry

Kerry's the One
-- Scott McConnell, Executive Editor The American Conservative, November 8, 2004 issue

You Bush supporters who claim to stand for "conservative" and "traditional" values please take note.

Remember this is the Executive Editor of The American Conservative writing in his endorsement of Kerry:

Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation's children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy.

Exactly what I've been saying for the past two plus years. Thank you Mr McConnell.

Women's libbers

I took a trip to Women's Right's National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York. It was a beautiful drive up there throught the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania and through Elmira and Watkins Glen and up the west side of Seneca Lake through the vineyards. It has been raining in this part of the country for about a week but the trees along the way were green and gold and red and orange.

There are some little shops in downtown Seneca Falls. My favorite was WomanMade Products which carries just that, all kinds of great stuff. They also had all kinds of bumper stickers and buttons from BushMustGo.net, so I picked up a few of those.

The exhibit at the park's visitor center is a bit dated. I don't think that anything has been updated since the late 1980s and it seems to present things from the perspective of a very 1970s idea of radical feminism. The park rangers, however, are very knowledgeable and were eager to answer questions about the Women's Rights Convention of 1848 and the participants in that convention.

I thought that it was interesting that only one signer of the Declaration of Sentiments lived long enough to see women get the right t vote in the United States.

Today I saw a film about a lynching in Delaware in 1903. One of the commentators noted that these "spectacle lynchings" were ritualistic events that involved the whole community. He said that more often than not it was a well-organized event that was very orderly and involved thousands of people, including women and children. Many of the more than 3500 documented lynchings from 1865 to 1920 took place outside of "The South". I think that everyone in this country that allowed lynchings to take place was just as guilty as the people who lit the fire or tied the rope or shot the gun. Just like today, those of us who allow our government to invade and occupy sovereign countries, to drop bombs on civilians, to hold torture and detain prisoners indefinately are just as guilty as those actively participating in such things.

Jon Stewart does Crossfire

Thank god for Jon Stewart. He refused to play their game at Crossfire. He told Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson that they are partisan hacks masquerading as a news program.

CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?

STEWART: Absolutely.

CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.

Watch the video

CARLSON: I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: OK, up next, Jon Stewart goes one on one with his fans...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.

I also liked this exchange:

CARLSON: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny.

STEWART: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey.

"It's a day for the good Lord, not for the devil"

Bible-belt fundies are freaking out about Halloween on a Sunday.

Sunday Halloween Irks Some in Bible Belt

By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer

NEWNAN, Ga. - Across the Bible Belt this Halloween, some little ghosts and goblins might get shooed away by the neighbors ? and some youngsters will not be allowed to go trick-or-treating at all ? because the holiday falls on a Sunday this year.

"It's a day for the good Lord, not for the devil," said Barbara Braswell, who plans to send her 4-year-old granddaughter Maliyah out trick-or-treating in a princess costume on Saturday instead.

Some towns around the country are decreeing that Halloween be celebrated on Saturday to avoid complaints from those who might be offended by the sight of demons and witches ringing their doorbell on the Sabbath. Others insist the holiday should be celebrated on Oct. 31 no matter what.
[more]

Words of wisdom from Gore Vidal

From: We Are The Patriots, GORE VIDAL / The Nation v.276, n.1, 2jun03

It was Benjamin Franklin, of all people, who saw our future most clearly back in 1787, when, as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, he read for the first time the proposed Constitution. He was old; he was dying; he was not well enough to speak but he had prepared a text that a friend read. It is so dark a statement that most school history books omit his key words.

Franklin urged the convention to accept the Constitution despite what he took to be its great faults, because it might, he said, provide good government in the short term. "There is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other." Think of Enron, Merrill Lynch, etc., of chads and butterfly ballots, of Scalia's son arguing before his unrecused father at the Supreme Court while unrecused Thomas sits silently by, his wife already at work for the approaching Bush Administration. Think, finally, of the electoral college, a piece of dubious, antidemocratic machinery that Franklin doubtless saw as a source of deepest corruption and subsequent mischief for the Republic, as happened not only in 1876 but in 2000.

Franklin's prophecy came true in December 2000, when the Supreme Court bulldozed its way through the Constitution in order to select as its President the loser in the election of that year. Despotism is now securely in the saddle. The old Republic is a shadow of itself, and we now stand in the glare of a nuclear world empire with a government that sees as its true enemy "we the people," deprived of our electoral franchise. War is the usual aim of despots, and serial warfare is what we are going to get unless?with help from well-wishers in new old Europe and from ourselves, awake at last?we can persuade this peculiar Administration that they are acting entirely on their vicious own, and against all our history.

We can correct the Court's mistake in a few weeks. We will not stand by this time around.

End of the century

The documentary film festival is now over. I went to see Ramones: End of the Century on Wednesday. What a good film.

The two hours flew by. It features some excellent interviews mixed with performance footage. Also, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder is credited. He shot some super 8 film with The Ramones in South America. And according to co-director Michael Gramaglia, who spoke after the film, Vedder will be a featured commentator on the DVD release that is scheduled for next spring.

The star of the film has to be Dee Dee. The filmmakers did two extensive interviews with him and everything he said was funny in his own naive way. At the other end of the spectrum was Johnny who seemed to be a miserable person his whole life. Dee Dee said that Johnny was the adult of the group, to make his point he said that Johnny would buy hamburger and potatoes and cook himself dinner while Dee Dee would eat hash and some chips. Joey was already sick when they started filming but they found an older interview with him that they used. Tommy, Marky, Richie and CJ are also in the film.

The documentary is limited release but if plays anywhere near you it is well worth a trip to see it on the big screen.

Stop Sinclair

via NewsHounds.us:

Sinclair Affiliates Ordered to Run "Stolen Honor"

The Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that, shortly before the election, media giant Sinclair Broadcasting will pre-empt normal programming to show the politically motivated anti-Kerry movie, "Stolen Honor". According to the article, the stations will be required to broadcast the movie. One wonders how the "fair and balanced" FOX News will handle this information. Will they use their power and influence to declare that this is a clear example of conservative media's attempt to influence an election? Or will they gleefully report and report and report on the story, giving Sinclair and "Stolen Honor" masses of free publicity.
[more]

Please Take Action
or call Sinclair's headquarters:
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters - Hunt Valley, MD
410-568-1500

What is terrorism

"Terrorism is not the weapon of the weak. It is the weapon of those who are against 'us' whoever 'us' happens to be."
-- Noam Chomsky, The New War Against Terror, October 24, 2001

Debate tonight

After the last debate the right wingnuts spent a day or two saying the Kerry cheated. They showed video of him pulling a pen out of his pocket and insisted it was notecards.

Indymedia, on the other hand, posted this:

Bush Blows Debate: Talks to Rove in Earpiece!

During the Presidential Debate Bush made what may be his most costly error- he exposed that he?s using an earpiece to help him answer debate questions. In the middle of an answer bush said, "now let me finish" as if someone was interrupting him - yet nobody did - he was talking to the person in his earpiece.

Listen to the mp3 yourself- or watch the video at c-span
rtsp://cspanrm.fplive.net/cspan/project/c04/c04093004_debate1.rm
ffwd to 40 min 30 sec

Listen - Let me finish

Even Salon, which is semi-mainstream, published an article entitled Bush's mystery bulge with a photo of Bush from behind where there is clearly some sort of box between his shoulder blades.

Maybe they will have to pat down the candidates tonight. Or maybe even do full body cavity searches to ensure no cheating.

***update 8:14 am***
Dissent will not be tolerated. The FBI is continuing the US governmment's harassment of Indymedia.

From Sydney Morning Herald:

FBI seizes Indymedia servers
By Online Staff
October 8, 2004 - 3:53PM

Rackspace has offices in the US and the UK. Independent Media Center, which is better known as Indymedia, was set up in 1999 to provide grassroots coverage of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) protests in Seattle.

Rackspace complied with the FBI order, without first notifying Indymedia, and turned over Indymedia's server in the UK. This affects over 20 Indymedia sites worldwide, the group said.

Indymedia said it did not know why the order had been issued as it was issued to Rackspace. Rackspace told some of the group's volunteers "they cannot provide Indymedia with any information regarding the order." ISPs have received gag orders in similar situations which prevent them from updating the parties involved on what is happening.
[more]

The Daily Show headlines

After ranting about the news yesterday I saw this:
Mess O'Potamia: Off the Record
...and had a good laugh. Thank god for The Daily Show.

"Sixty-four words explaining why he wouldn't cede power, now guess which two the Bush Administration jumped on like a fat kid on a Smartie."

"My guess is that if John Kerry said all americans should step up and do their duty, they'd attack him for talking about doody."
-- Jon Stewart

News?

For the past few months I have not been watching much of the 24-hour news channels. I used to just leave the TV on MSNBC or CNN while I was working and try to keep an eye on what was going on. But lately I have been looking elsewhere for my news.

Right now MSNBC is televising a Bush campaign speech in Wilkes-Barre and over each shoulder there is a sign reading "A SAFER AMERICA / A STRONGER ECONOMY". The crowd is chanting, "Four more years! Four more years!" Is this news?

Last night after the debate I saw Ken Mehlman on one channel and Joe Lockhart on another. What possible analysis could they give? This morning they have the candidates' daughters on their news programs and asking for their reactions to the debate.

Last week on 60 Minutes Andy Rooney suggested that CBS broadcast a one-hour news program every night as a public service:

Turn our Evening News With Dan Rather into a one-hour broadcast seven nights a week. Provide it as a public service in exchange for the license that CBS has to make hundreds of millions of dollars from the entertainment shows that Les Moonves puts on. -- Andy Rooney

That would be a great start. I would take it a step further and make the CBS news division completely independant. Make Viacom put a set amount of their operating budget into news but give them no control over the news division. Heck, tax anyone that uses the public airwaves for commercial purposes and fund a BBC-like news organization. I think that Viacom, Disney, GE, Murdoch and the others forget that they don't actually own the airwaves.

Anyhow, I downloaded the BBC desktop alert and now the little box pops up and plays that BBC sound and I know if there is anything important going on. Otherwise I try to catch All Things Considered on the radio, Democracy Now! on FSTV, and several news sources through their RSS feed online.

I know that Dubya wants to go around "the filter" to get his message directly to the people, but sometimes a filter is good. Fact checking is good. Questioning the government is good. Pointing a camera at something and televising it does not make it news.

GOP wants me to "fight the spin"

I just got this from Ken Mehlman and my pals at the GOP:

Dear Friend:

The debate tonight presents a tremendous opportunity for the campaign to attract undecided voters, but people's perceptions are shaped as much by their conversations around the water cooler as by the debates themselves.

The Vice President`s goal is to do what he`s been doing throughout this election: explain to the American people why the President`s policies are right for America and the world we live in today - in fighting the war on terror, in keeping our economy growing and in responding to the new challenges of the 21st century.

After last week's debate, the Kerry campaign spin machine managed to mask their candidate's flip-flops on the war in Iraq, imposition of a "global test" for protecting America, and repeated denigration of our troops and allies.

If we plan to win the election, we must fight back against their spin and make sure our friends and neighbors get the truth.

We need your help tonight!

oVisit www.GeorgeWBush.com/DebateFacts tonight during the debate so you will have the facts. Print and share them with your friends.
oImmediately after the debate, visit online polls, chat rooms, and discussion boards and make your voice heard. The major news networks will all have internet polls after the debate. Make sure you vote in polls on:
oMSNBC.com
oFoxNews.com
oABCNews.com
oCNN.com
oand even CBS.
oMake sure swing state voters know why you support the President by sharing your thoughts on message boards in target states.
oCall Talk Radio shows in your area
oWrite letters to the editors of your local papers.
oVisit Chat rooms on AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!

This is how they run their campaign and this is how they run the government. They think that if enough people repeat something that makes it so.

I just want November 2 to get here already.

Documentary film festival

A local independant movie theater is in the middle of a two week documentary film festival. I got to see two films this weekend--Control Room and The Corporation.

Control Room looks at the coverage of the Iraq War from the US Central Command Media Center in Qatar with a focus on Al-Jazeera. You get a real sense of how the US military uses the news media as a propaganda machine. From the story of the US attack on Al-Jazeera headquarters in Baghdad, which killed one of its reporters, to the Jessica Lynch rescue story this film gives you a feel for how news is "made".

The film seems to lack any real direction. It follows several people, including Hassan Ibrahim of Al-Jazeera. Ibrahim, who is described as an Arab nationalist, seems to be the most level-headed, intelligent, and likeable guy in the film.

The Corporation, on the other hand, is well-structured and pretty much focused. It starts with a history of the corporation and then the film is broken up into "chapters", each with its own thesis (some more persuasive than others). The film uses talking-head interviews interspersed with vintage clips to illustrate points. Among the talking heads are Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Peter Drucker, Vandana Shiva, and Michael Moore. Like Moore's films, The Corporation is satirical and witty yet it is weightier and not as easily dismissed by detractors.

The film takes a lot of time making the case that the corporation is by definition a psychopath. It uses a checklist of the characteristics of a psychopath and then uses experts to make the case that corporations exhibit all of these characteristics.

The Corporation made me think and I learned a few things. At one point Chomsky makes a comparison to slavery. He notes that while the institution of slavery is inherently bad there were slaveholders who were not necessarily bad people. One CEO that they use to illustrate the point is Ray Anderson, Chairman of Interface, Inc., who described how he had an epiphany about the impact of his company on the environment. Another part that made me think was a public meeting deciding whether the locality would allow more corporate fast food restaurants to open. One person said that people can choose not to do business with those places thereby voting with their dollars. Another person responded that rich people have more votes than him in that scenario.

Control Room just made me feel helpless and angry, The Corporation at least gave me hope that we can do something and that some people actually are doing something.

The other films I want to see are lighter fare. Ramones: End of the Century, Slasher, and Bukowski: Born into this all look pretty good. We'll see.

Debate: Round 1

Unfortunately, I had to attend a lecture last night (which was very good) so I missed a lot of the debate. I caught the last hour of it on the radio. I got home and saw only the last few minutes of The Daily Show and then switched over to C-SPAN and they were replaying the debate and it was at about the same point where I started listening on the radio.

So I am at a bit of a disadvantage here, I haven't seen the full debate nor have I heard any real commentary. But from what I did see Bush did not come off as a complete idiot. He did look (and sound) angry a lot of the time. I think he just does not like to be challenged on anything. I could hear the anger in his voice when Kerry or the moderator suggested he might have made a wrong decision.

I bet that he was the kid who would show up at the ball field with the bats and balls so he would get to decide who was on his team and he appointed himself pitcher, and batted first, etc. And then he gets to organized ball (Little League or whatever) and then he doesn't get to do what he wants to do all the time so he quits.

Back to the debate. I was surprised that Kerry was able to articulate his positions in only a sentence or two. I know Bush wanted to say "flip-flop" so bad. But I think that Kerry may have scored some points with people who were seeing at length for the first time. He may have pulled in a few people...or maybe not.

I'll have to turn on the cable news programs this morning and see how they are spinning it.

Jon Stewart on Fresh Air

Those of you who missed this can hear Jon Stewart on Thursday's Fresh Air. Yes, he's pushing his book, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction , but it's a good interview.