Fr: Jeff Hess
To: All my Facebook friends
Re: My Facebook evolution

As I indicated above, I’m done (mostly, sort of) with Facebook. I’ve yet to meet anyone who won’t admit that Facebook is a huge time suck and that if they had the discipline they wish they had, they’d be focused elsewhere during the time they burn through checking Facebook. Like any good 12-stepper, I’m admitting my addiction and walking away.

I won’t close my Facebook page, I just won’t be logging on to read Facebook. That doesn’t mean I don’t find value in what you have to say, I just won’t be waiting in front of the computer screen to read what that might be.

If you post information that you believe I will find interesting or that you would like to engage me in a conversation about, feel free to tag me with the @ symbol and Facebook will send me an email alerting me to that fact and I will respond because I value my friends and what they have to say.

I’ve ignored Twitter for weeks in this manner and apparently I haven’t missed any important information. I have every reason to believe that Facebook will prove to be just as insignificant.

As always, I believe that creating community is all about our shared conversations: community cannot be created by shouting into the void. In that vein, for the month of June I intend to re-invest my previous Facebook time in what I consider to be a much more valuable conversation platform: Civic Commons. See you there.

Very respectfully,

Jeff

From PowerLine:

Yes, [President Barack Hussein] Obama played to the cheap green seats by delaying the Keystone pipeline, but the Alaska decision shows where the real action is. As the New York Times story continues:

And now, the president is writing a new chapter in the nation’s unfolding energy transformation, in this case to the benefit of fossil fuel producers.

“We never would have expected a Democratic president — let alone one seeking to be ‘transformative’ — to open up the Arctic Ocean for drilling,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.

Well get used to it Michael. It’s what happens when you make yourself a wholly-owned subsidiary of one political party. If you go further into the story, the irony emerges that the key to breaking the bureaucratic logjam to approve the permit was a Democratic president and a Democratic senator from Alaska (Mark Begich) who would like to be re-elected:

The intensity of Shell’s campaign was matched by the fervor of Mark Begich, the new senator from Alaska. He had won his seat in something of a fluke, defeating the longtime Republican incumbent, Ted Stevens, who was ensnared in what later turned out to be a deeply flawed Justice Department corruption investigation.

No politician in Alaska can survive as an opponent of any oil development, including those in the waters of the Arctic, the National Petroleum Reserve and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Mr. Begich enthusiastically supported all three.

[Snip…]

A Begich aide said that the unstated premise of every conversation with the president was, “You need me, and I need the Outer Continental Shelf in the Arctic”

Item: Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, Obama has grown very quiet about climate change. He can spot a political loser from a Chicago mile away. He’s not attending the UN’s 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit that started the whole climate diplomacy circus. Twenty years ago the greens browbeat President Bush to attend, which he ultimately did. But the craven greens seem to be giving Obama a pass.

This is simply further evidence for why President Barack Hussein Obama and the the left wing of the Republican Party (aka Democrats) have lost me as a voter.

I do not yet know who I will give my political and financial support to his fall, but I know it will not be our sitting president.

I must seriously question the thinking of any member of the Occupy Wall Street movement and all voters who are not either part of the .001 percent or their minions who intend to vote for a Democratic Republican candidate in 2012.

One of the hallmarks of the Communist governments of the Soviet Union was that they gave the appearance of a democratic system — voters regularly went to the polls to cast their votes — but because they ran a one-party system, no real choice existed.

We reached that point years ago here in the United States, but I allowed my own political blindness to keep me in denial. No more.

A difference that makes no difference is not a difference.

I will be looking for a candidate who may not have my personnel best interests at heart, but one who does so for the best interests of most American citizens.

And by they, of course, I mean the .001 percent…

from Mano Singham:

The Occupy movement was mistaken when they protested the outsize influence of the one-percenters. It is actually much a smaller group that controls the US government. The Republicans cater to the top 0.0001%. They are supported in this effort by the clueless Tea Partiers who think that this elite group is good for the country. The Democrats cater to the top 0.001%. The remaining 99.999% are merely election fodder.

0518: The John Edwards debacle

So the battle begins…

I found this test through a post by Mano Singham. I wish it were possible to printout all my responses because I found myself thinking and rethinking some of the questions that I found unclear, slanted or simplistic.

While we both scored in the lower-left quadrant (Mano scored -6.5 on the Economic Left/Right scale compared to my -5.5 and -6.5 on the Social Libertairian/Authoritarian scale compared to my -4.77) he clearly is more liberal than I.

From The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:

ELYRIA — A foreclosure lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the owner of the River Street Square shopping center near Midway Mall in Elyria, which contains a former Walmart.

The lawsuit was filed by U.S. Bank National Association against First Interstate Elyria Limited Partnership.

The suit states the partnership owes $13.3 million of the original $15 million that it had borrowed.

It also seeks tens of thousands of dollars in interest and nearly $663,000 in late fees.

The suit was filed by the U.S. Bank National Association, the successor to Bank of America National Association, as trustee for the registered holders of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp. commercial pass-through certificates.

Besides the empty Walmart, the shopping center includes Best Cuts, BW-3, Deal$, Dots, Famous Footwear, Petsmart, Radio Shack, The Avenue and the Original Mattress Factory, according to the First Interstate website.

The Walmart closed after the opening of a larger one at Chestnut Commons in Elyria.

Mitchell Schneider, president of First Interstate, said negotiations regarding the future of the River Street Square property are under way.

“We’re in the process of working things out with the bank,” Schneider said.

Representatives of several stores in the shopping center declined to comment, except to say they were unaware of the foreclosure lawsuit.

Via Cavana Faithwalker…

From my brother:

First they came for the Muslims, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Muslim.

Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the certification of the Attorney General, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an immigrant.

Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a suspect.

Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military commissions, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a non-citizen.

Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced “sneak and peek” searches, and I didn’t speak up because I had nothing to hide.

Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn’t speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.

Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America’s enemies, and I didn’t speak up because…… I didn’t speak up.

Then they came for me……. and by that time no one was left to speak up.

YEA FOR EVERYONE WHO STANDS UP FOR THE OTHER.

The latest in the hundreds of begging emails I’ve recieved from MoveOn since 2004:

Dear MoveOn member,

With November fast approaching, we need to make some hard decisions about which campaigns we can afford to take on, and which ones we’ll have to sit out.

There are so many important races this year. Of course there’s the presidential election. But the U.S. Senate is up for grabs, too. There’s the Scott Walker recall in Wisconsin. If we can elect Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, that will be huge.

It’s like picking which of your kids you love the most. I just can’t do it.

But I’ll be honest—if we can’t increase our budget, we’re going to have to pull the plug now on some absolutely crucial campaigns.

Can you chip in $5 to help make sure we don’t have to sit out some of these critical campaigns?

Click here to chip in $5 and help MoveOn take on more campaigns this election season.

Please, make the begging stop. Pull the plug!

Roldo Bartimole writes:

You have to wonder about the decision-making of the new crew at WKYC-TV when investigator Tom Meyer is allowed to use one ex-con’s opinion to air about another’s desire to leave jail. Jimmy Dimora requested a jail leave for health purposes.

Wouldn’t the natural move be to contact be Dimora’s prosecutors for what they think? The Plain Dealer did it that way. So should have Ch. 3’s anchors responsible for what goes out over the airwaves.

Instead, Meyer used disgraced former County Auditor Recorder Pat O’Malley to comment on the Dimora request. Why not ask Frank Russo?

It’s not the first time Meyer has made O’Malley an expert. It should be the last time, however. It should be an embarrassment for WKYC-TV.

Pat O’Malley? This guy took an obscenity plea after an FBI probe. The charge said he “did knowingly use an interactive computer service for the carrying in interstate and foreign commerce of numerous abusive, lewd, lascivious and filthy pictures, writings and other matters of indecent character.”

O’Malley was being investigated by the FBI on a smelly billboard deal Continue Reading »

Roldo Bartimole writes:

Anyone enjoying the near perfection of County Executive Ed Fitzgerald? This guy takes the cake. Smooth as frosting. Goes down easy.

He wants all of the casino tax money due to the state to be spent in downtown Cleveland.

Why? He’s currying to the people who don’t give a shit about Cleveland outside of that small area. It’s pays allegiance to the corporate agenda here. And makes him friends among the bigwigs.

It’s the go-along to get-along standard of politics. It works for so many. Not the best either.

What’s so amazing about this non-debate debate about the casino cash is that it is being posed by our “reform” county government as a choice between downtown Cleveland and the inner suburbs, which are also hurting.

But it’s business as usual.

What the hell happened to the geography between Continue Reading »

If Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton does not resign then she will lose all credibility and hope, however faint, of obtaining the oval office in the future. This is her yellow-cake moment.

From Glenn Greenwald:

For the moment, leave to the side the question of whether knowingly administering ineffective vaccines to Pakistani children is a justified ruse to find bin Laden (just by the way, it didn’t work, as none of the health workers actually were able to access the bin Laden house, though CIA officials claim the program did help obtain other useful information). In light of all the righteous American outrage over this prison sentence, let’s consider what the U.S. Government would do if the situation were reversed: namely, if an American citizen secretly cooperated with a foreign intelligence service to conduct clandestine operations on U.S. soil, all without the knowledge or consent of the U.S. Government, and let’s further consider what would happen if the American citizen’s role in those operations involved administering a fake vaccine program to unwitting American children. Might any serious punishment ensue? Does anyone view that as anything more than an obvious rhetorical question?

As for all the members of Congress up in arms over the arrest, conviction and sentancing of Shakil Afridi — to steal a phrase from former Secretary of State Collin Powell — c’mom people, think!

Nigger, Wop, Kike, Spic, Chink, Faggot, Retard, Communist, Liberal, Socialist, Anarchist…

One of the insidious ways those in power retain that power is by making those they need to hold power over less than human. The task is really all too easy: to demote another human to the status of other you simply have to attach a dismissive pejorative that is understood only in the broadest and most general way to the individual or group.

For racists, words such nigger, wop, kike, spic and chink are handy. For the homophobe or closeted homosexual in denial, faggot rolls off the tongue. For the ignorant, retard provides a quick retort. For the wealthy one percent and their minions, communist, liberal and socialist (the favorite of the Tea Party) draws a clear line in their minds between us and them.

Thanks to the people involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, an old pejorative that has not seen much use for nearly a century is slinking back into our political vocabulary: anarchist. An anarchist is a bomb-throwing, unwashed lunatic with filthy clothes and hair whose only motivation is jealousy driven by the wealth and lifestyle achieved by honest, productive citizens who have worked hard for their rewards and deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Right?

Only if you either a.) are a member of the one percent; or b.) depend upon the one percent for your table scraps.

In an America where homegrown journalists are greatly compromised by the one percent’s control of our media, we must turn to the rest of the world to begin to understand what we’re not being told. Cleveland anarchist and Occupy Cleveland activist ZachyIraqi Schraufl linked to this Al Jazeera piece last night.

The easiest way to explain anarchism is to say that it is a political movement that aims to bring about a genuinely free society – that is, one where humans only enter those kinds of relations with one another that would not have to be enforced by the constant threat of violence. History has shown that vast inequalities of wealth, institutions like slavery, debt peonage or wage labour, can only exist if backed up by armies, prisons, and police. Anarchists wish to see human relations that would not have to be backed up by armies, prisons and police. Anarchism envisions a society based on equality and solidarity, which could exist solely on the free consent of participants.

Like all utopian ideals, an anarchist society is feckin’ hard to realize. That does not excuse society from striving toward the utopian, for in the effort there is benefit.

That’s how I see the Occupy Movement: it strives for a utopian society based on the universal Golden Rule, where humans treat humans like humans. Dr. King understood. Nealy 50 years ago he delivered a 17-minute speech that recognized the reality that the struggle for freedom and equality is a hard slog, but demanded that we engage in the struggle nonetheless.

If you’re not fighting for that, what are you doing?

1649: This Third Party Makes a Difference, also… and… and… and…

From Occupy Cleveland via Facebook:

Occupy Cleveland Foreclosure team lives! Take action NOW!!!

Friends, supporters and neighbors, yesterday more than 100 community members successfully forced the sheriffs and police to retreat after they tried to evict the Cruz family’s home.

While the house is secure for now, it is still under threat of imminent eviction.

We urgently need your support to demand a negotiation on the Cruz family’s mortgage.The Cruz family home fell into foreclosure after PNC Bank failed to withdraw a monthly payment, then demanded two months’ late payment for their own mistake. For over three weeks, Occupy Homes has occupied the Cruz family home in a round the clock eviction blockade at 4044 Cedar Avenue in South Minneapolis. After failing to clear the house of Occupy Homes activists and lockdown devices, they left.

Please support the Cruz family, and supporters continuing to risking arrest in the house by calling these numbers with the following demands. Together, we can put the pressure on banks and authorities to support the Cruz family and set a new precedent in the anti-foreclosure movement.

Please take five minutes to call these five people:

1) Fred Solomon, PR executive for PNC Bank at 412.762.544 and demand PNC 1) renegotiate the Cruz’s mortgage AND 2) tell Freddie Mac to halt the eviction.

2) Brad German, PR executive for Freddie Mac at 703.903,2437 and demand that Freddie Mac halt the eviction of the Cruz family.

3) Richard W. Stanek, Sheriff of Hennepin County at 612.348.3744 and tell him “shame on you!” for attempting to evict the home days after we informed him the bank was negotiating with the family. Demand that they not evict the family from their home.

4) Inspector Lucy Gerold, Minneapolis Police Department Precinct 3 at 612.673.5703 (Press 3 and ask for Lucy) and demand that they hold off on using the police to evict the Cruz famly while the bank is in negotiations with the Cruz’s.

5. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak at 612.673.2100 demand that he not send the police to evict the Cruz’s while the bank is in negotiations with the family.

Occupy Homes MN

The sad reality of online petitions is that their primary purpose is not to garner support for a cause or issue, but rather to collect contact information for fundraising actions.

So yesterday when Mother Jones sent me this email I didn’t even blink before I deleted the plea.

Here’s my major objection: nowhere in the letter, or on Brown’s website, could I find the actual language of a proposed Constitutional Amendment and only a fool lends their good name to a cause the details of which they are ignorant.

On Brown’s website you’ll find this language:

We, the undersigned, believe that democracy is not for sale. We believe that corporations are not people. And we hereby pledge our support to a Constitutional Amendment designed to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.

That’s what I call a Faux Progressive Statement. It contains Truthiness, but not real Truth. Here’s what I mean.

Imagine a Constitutional Amendment that reads: “The 5-4 Supreme Court of the United States vote in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was bad and corporations are not people.” Would I, or anyone with half a brain support such an amendment? Of course not.

If Senator Brown, one of the good guys, wants me, or the rest of the full-brained Americans of voting age, to support his efforts to reverse the Court’s actions, then he needs to show me the language.

Until I can see the words, I’m not signing any petitions, online or otherwise.

From Jim Sheehan at the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op:

OCBC is hiring! Bike Mechanic needed!

The Ohio City Bicycle Co-op needs more help to repair donated, used bikes for our education programs and retail sales. We are seeking a bike mechanics with at lease 2 seasons of professional bike shop repair experience for part- or full-time employment; at competitive pay, full health benefits (if full-time, after 30 days), flexible hours, and relaxed working conditions (no sales, or even answering the phone!). Seasonal, but may lead to a permanent position with additional responsibilities. Psychic bike-diagnostics skills and a sense of humor would both be useful. OCBC is an absolutely non-discriminatory employer: everyone qualified is encouraged to apply.