RALPHY SEES THE PROBLEM…
0932 by Jeff Hess
5 November 2010
5 November 2010
WHERE I’LL BE THIS AFTERNOON…
0918 by Jeff HessShowtimes
Cedar Lee
2163 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH
1:40 4:45 9:25pm1hr 26min – Drama? Director: Jeffrey Friedman – Cast: James Franco, David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Treat Williams, Bob Balaban
Young Allen Ginsberg recounts in his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem “Howl.” Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, “Howl” is on trial. Prosecutor Ralph McIntosh sets out to prove that the book should be banned, while defense attorney Jake Ehrlich argues fervently for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the fervently passionate. “Howl” mashes up genres and rides wild emotions as it reveals all the ways a fearless work of art impacted its creator and the world.
What has destroyed the best minds of our generation?
4 November 2010
INCREDIBLY STUPID OR INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT…
2130 by Jeff HessMYANMAR/BURMA — I’m not smart enough to tell the difference from half a world away, but telegraphing your intent to massively disrupt a national election can either be seen as brilliant — the government will waste resources in a Keystone Cops routine — or stupid — the government will hunt you all down and lock you up for life, if you’re lucky. In either case, I expect that the results, both political and social, of Myanmar’s 7 November election will not be known for weeks.
From The Democratic Voice of Burma:
An activist network will attempt to spark a mass uprising against military rule in Burma on Sunday, the day of the country’s first elections in two decades, DVB has learned.
Moethee Zun, one of the leaders of the 1988 student uprising which was brutally put down by the army, said the People Action Committee (PAC) believed it could succeed where the ‘88 demonstrators failed. “We have no guns or bullets… but we have enough determination to end the dictatorship and restore democracy,” said Moethee Zun, one of the PAC’s seven leading members.
Motorcycle-riding taggers I can understand.
Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.
4 November 2010
4 November 2010
JOHNNY’S DAUGHTER ROCKS…!
0712 by Jeff HessJohn Boehner: Stop using my dad’s name as a punchline, you asshat.
Am I the only one who has noticed that if you transpose the fourth and fifth letters of our speaker of the house in waiting’s name that you get a secret message regardings his true purpose in life? [OK, so I’m late to the party.]
4 November 2010
3 November 2010
JOHN BOEHNER WISHES HE WAS THAN SHWE…
2130 by Jeff HessMYANMAR/BURMA — If politics in the United States worked the way it does in Myanmar, last night’s Republican victory would have been a monumental political triumph. All the Republicans would have need to do is cancel voting in places like my home county of Cuyahoga in Ohio so that those pesky Democratic votes wouldn’t have sullied the win.
The leader of the State Peace And Development Council (aka, Myanmar’s military dictators) General Than Shwe, doesn’t need to dream, he gets to make it happen.
From The Associated Press:
Election authorities in military-ruled Myanmar cancelled voting in Sunday’s elections in more areas where restive ethnic minorities are dominant.
The Union Election Commission cancelled balloting in the Nov. 7 elections in 12 more village tracts in six constituencies in Kayah state “as conditions are not conducive to holding a free and fair election,” according to an official notice seen Tuesday. Each tract comprises several villages.
The announcement in the official gazette gave no further explanation for the action, but exile Myanmar media have reported recent clashes between ethnic Karenni groups and government troops in Kayah state.
The commission in September announced the cancellation of voting in about 300 village tracts in 33 townships where restive ethnic minorities are dominant. The move is believed to have disenfranchised about 1.5 million people in more than 3,400 villages, though official numbers are not available.
Now that’s power.
And the disenfranchised? They’re pissed and taking action.
Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.
3 November 2010
3 November 2010
LIVING IN THE TIME OF ONE DOLLAR, ONE VOTE…
0653 by Jeff HessOne result of the 2010 campaign was clear before any ballots were counted: Democracy is in danger.
That sounds hyperbolic. But whatever remains of the quaint notion—call it a myth—that in a democracy citizens are more or less equal is in the process of being shredded, due to the rise this year of super PACs and secretive political nonprofits.
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s notorious Citizens United decision and other rulings, a small number of well-heeled individuals (or corporations or unions) can now amass a tremendous amount of political influence by throwing an unlimited amount of money into efforts to elect their preferred candidates.
And certain political nonprofits, such as Crossroads GPS—the outfit set up this year by GOP strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie (which with an affiliated group is spending about $50 million)—can pour tens of millions of dollars into the elections without revealing the source of their campaign cash.
Here’s the kicker: The 2010 campaign is merely a warmup for 2012 and campaigns after that.
Democrats, and progressive citizens of the United States, lost any political cushion we may have had last night. The struggle for Democracy begins this morning.
3 November 2010
3 November 2010
NOW IS THE TIME TO TEAR THE STRUCTURE DOWN…
0637 by Jeff HessThe Sun isn’t up yet, but I am after an unusually late night. I said this last evening to Anthony Fossaceca, Anastasia Pantsios and Jill Miller Zimon as we watched the meltdown together: Every salaried employee of the Democratic Party at the national and state levels should resign this morning.
Last evening’s debacle was not a matter begin out spent or out worked, Democrats across the country lost last night because we’ve forgotten how to lead and how to govern and anyone in the party who thinks all we need to do is tweak a few strategies may as well be consulting Tarot cards.
In my mailbox this morning I found this message from Tom Peters:
Burn the rotten edifice. Burn it to the ground and plow the ashes under.
2 November 2010
REUTERS: SANCTIONS WORKING IN MYANMAR…
2130 by Jeff HessMYANMAR/BURMA — I don’t buy the claim. Martin Petty, writing for the Reuters news service makes the claim that next week’s election in Myanmar is a result of the State Peace and Development Council (aka, the military dictators of Myanmar) belief that it can convince the West that they’re not so bad and that economic sanctions should be eased or even lifted.
The problem is that no one, East or West, believes that the elections are other than a sham.
Petty writes:
WHY IS MYANMAR HOLDING ELECTIONS?
Western sanctions and decades of corruption and economic mismanagement have crippled the resource-rich country, which was the world’s top rice exporter under British colonial rule before the military seized power in 1962.
Although trade with China and other Asian countries is picking up, the regime is a pariah in the West because of its poor human rights record. Military totalitarianism has long placed Myanmar’s regional allies in an uncomfortable position and its leaders probably recognize that some civilian participation in politics is necessary in order to appear legitimate.
Analysts say Myanmar wants to open up and attract investment. The generals know they must give up power — nominally at least — but they want to ensure they and their cronies have control of politics, the judiciary and the economy long into the future.
For the generals to believe that, they would have to be even more insular and clueless than I think they already are. Yet, I have to admit that Joseph Stalin decided to cut the Ukrainians’ rations in half based on his own propaganda of happy peasants and no one dared tell him that the people were starving.
Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.
2 November 2010
2 November 2010
2 November 2010
2 November 2010
DO POOR PEOPLE MAKE POOR CHOICES…?
0759 by Jeff Hess31 October 2010
29 October 2010
GONE THINKING…
1730 by Jeff Hess
From 1730 today until 1830 tomorrow, I will be off-line. There will be no new posts during this time, nor will I be checking email. Go for a walk. Have coffee with a friend. Read a book.
29 October 2010
UH, YOU FORGOT GOD(S)…*
0956 by Jeff Hess
*In the mouse-over footnote XKCD notes:
Not to be confused with “making money selling this stuff to OTHER people who think it works,” which corporate accountants and actuaries have zero problems with.
28 October 2010
THE SPIDER IS STAYING IN HIS WEB…
2130 by Jeff HessMYANMAR/BURMA — The man at the top, General Than Shwe, won’t dirty his hands by actually running for office in next weeks general elections. While there is no official announcement, I expect he’ll retain his position of power behind whomever the military dictators of Myanmar have chosen to win the election.
From Fox News:
The [Myanmarese] diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Vietnam, said Burma Foreign Minister Nyan Win told his counterparts that the longtime leader of the military-run country will not be on the ballot during the country’s first elections in two decades on Nov. 7.
“He will bow out of the scene,” the diplomat said, explaining what the Burma official said at an informal dinner Wednesday for delegates attending a summit for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “He will not be a candidate in the upcoming elections.”
Of course, Joseph Stalin never ran in a general election either.
Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.
