0831: More on Obama’s disdain for due process and civil liberties

Via I See Invisible People…

[Update @ 0752:

Happy — By far the most traffic of any stop to date; on a par with both the Lee and Mayfiled roads Phoenix coffee houses… Sad — stack of James Levin literature in the window and being told I can’t take a picture of myself… (Assignment for any Tremonter: stop in at Civilization and either take, or have someone else take, a picture of just you; how much you want to bet that no one blinks.)

Update @ 0733:

Happy — best pastry yet on the tour (I’m having a raisin scone)… Sad — choosing was way too hard.]

This morning on the Tim Russo 2010 Coffee House Tour I’ll be drinking espresso at Civilization in Tremont on the corner of West 11th Street and Kenilworth Avenue. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in, introduce yourself, mention this blog post and the coffee is on me.

I hope to see you there.

My schedule for the rest of the tour is:

06 August at 7:30 a.m., Moko Coffee at 1505 Euclid Avenue;
9 August at 7:30 a.m., Steve’s Family Restaurant at 4457 Broadview Road;
11 August at 7:30 a.m., Gabe’s Family Restaurant at 2044 Broadview Road;
13 August at 8 a.m., Phoenix Coffee at 1700 East 9th Street;
16 August at 8 a.m., Artefino at 1900 Superior Avenue East;
18 August at 8 a.m., Phoenix Coffee at 1300 West 9th Street;
20 August at 8 a.m., Civilization Coffee House at West 11th Street and Kenilworth Avenue;
23 August at 8 a.m., Loop Coffee House at 2180 West 11th Street;
24 August at 7:30 a.m., Shipley’s Coffee House at 3664 E. 65th;
25 August at 8 a.m., Lucky’s Café at 777 Starkweather;
26 August at 9 a.m., Algebra Tea House at 2136 Murray Hill Road; and finally
27 August at 8 a.m., The Coffee House At University Circle at 11300 Juniper Road.

I won’t be hard to find, I’ll be the blogger with the bright yellow Why Vote Russo For County Council sign on the back of his laptop screen.

Not even Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates could write 17 quality novels in two years.

Mano Singham nails the story.

MYANMAR/BURMA — I know that I should see the United States adding our name to the roster of nations calling for a war crimes probe against Myanmar’s military dictators as a positive move, but I just can’t get behind it. Unless we’re willing to create an international legal system and police force with the authority to actually enter a nation, and arrest those charged with war crimes, this is all window dressing. The move, however is what it is.

From the BBC:

The US move has been welcomed by human rights organisations like the US Campaign for Burma.

“This is the right and timely action by the Obama administration in response to the power-thirsty and brutal generals in [the Burmese capital] Nay Pyi Taw, who are expecting to delete their dirty crimes by putting a sham constitution into effect through a sham election,” said the group’s executive director, Aung Din.

“This is a clear message that the United States will not recognize their show-case election and will make them accountable for their horrible abuses against their own citizens.”

It is unclear what impact, if any, the commission will have on the leadership, particularly the ruling General Than Shwe.

There in lies the challenge. As long as Than Shwe and any others charged are able to stay within their own borders, the charges are meaningless.

[Update @ 1709] 1323: 2,709 days later, Operation Iraqi Freedom ends

Poll shows more Americans think Obama is a Muslim

That guy who does a mad imitation of Tim (no relation to Frank) Russo was back on the ether last night, informing Cuyahoga County Council District Seven voters why Clark Broida Broidatelli tried to tell them at Tuesday night’s Cuyahoga County Council District Seven forum in Holy Name Church, that local officials bear no responsibility for the housing meltdown in Cuyahoga County.

Cord Jefferson:

Schlessinger’s ultimate point — “Black people say ‘nigger’; why can’t I?” — is, of course, historically ignorant, culturally ignorant and, worst of all, hackneyed. But what she said wasn’t racist, and claiming that it is gives both her and the word more power than they deserve.

My time in the Navy was my first exposure to Black people in any meaningful way. Being ignorant, I first tried to show my lack of prejudice by adopting pieces and parts of their culture. That went over like a fart in church.

What I gradually learned that people are not a culture, but rather a culture is people, and that I couldn’t interact with the culture until I learned to interact, respect and accept the person in front of me as a fully realized human. It’s a lesson I continue to learn and, I think, gradually get better at.

It’s been a busy week in Wally World: the Universe’s source of cheap plastic crap. On The Writing On The Wal — the blog USA Today says should be on its readers’ radar — Jonathan Rees and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.

WALMART HATES MARRIAGE… A large part of the Walmart Myth is that the corporation somehow supports family values, exudes patriotism and reveres the right religion. That is all bull shit, of course. A corporation is dedicated solely to improving shareholder value. Keep reading…

WOULD YOU RISK YOUR LIFE FOR WALMART…? A common mistake among people faced with a crisis is that they will risk their lives to save stuff. People fleeing burning homes will stop to grab important papers or photo albums. When the stuff in danger belongs to your employer, the equation has to change. Keep reading…

HOW DID WALMART DONATE $288 MILLION…? So, Walmart tops the corporate list of givers and a 35-year-old atheist, geeky, weird, learned, witty, snarky, inept, bookish, musical, Canadian female has a theory: Walmart is not the giver, Walmart is the conduit. It’s all about the flags. Keep reading…

WALMART STILL WANTS FISK U’S O’KEEFES… More than two years ago, Jonathan covered the story of Tennessee’s Fisk University attempting to sell its donated collection of paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe to Alice Walmart for Crystal Bridges, her private museum collection and thought the case was over. Keep reading…

THEY REALLY, REALLY HATE WALMART… Business Week prints this snipet in a story about popularity: Wal-Mart, which registered $405 billion in sales last year and is the largest retailer in the world, sold more bananas than any other single item. and in the 2,241 comments, guess what the topic is? Keep reading…

WALMART: ALL THE LITIGANTS WILL DIE FIRST…? In September 2006, a Jury found that Walmart had illegally required workers to labor off the clock during breaks and after their shifts were over. The court awarded the litigants in the class action suit $185 million. They’re still waiting to see a single penny. Keep reading…

WALMART HIKES PRICES 65 PERCENT…? A week ago I wrote about how a JPMorgan study found that a tracked basket of good from Walmart had risen in price 5.8 percent during June. A follow-up examination of the data shows that the bounce was much greater than it first appeared. Keep reading…

WHY THE ECONOMY IS BROKEN… I’ve repeatedly used variations of the statement that a corporation exists only to increase shareholder value and that nothing else matters if it conflicts with this principal. Goldman Sachs’ story on Walmart’s expected earnings report is instructive. Keep reading…

WHERE CAN WALMART CUT COSTS…? Walmart is like the Federal Government, the only place left to cut costs is the number of employees it hires and the amount of money it pays them, and like the Federal Government, when Walmart cuts costs it ensure lesser service to its customers. Keep reading…

[Updatge @ 0804:

Happy: Watching my first video of last night’s Cuyahoga County Council District Seven forum at Holy Name Church in Slavic Village… Sad: realizing that I’ve got a lot to learn about my camera…

Update @ 0752:

Happy: Espresso in the morning at the West 9th Phoenix… Sad: a dearth of people to tell about Tm Russo’s forum juggernaut last evening at Holy Name in Slavic Village…]

This morning on the Tim Russo 2010 Coffee House Tour I’ll be drinking espresso at the West 9th Street Phoenix Coffee House. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in, introduce yourself, mention this blog post and the coffee is on me.

I hope to see you there.

My schedule for the rest of the tour is:

06 August at 7:30 a.m., Moko Coffee at 1505 Euclid Avenue;
9 August at 7:30 a.m., Steve’s Family Restaurant at 4457 Broadview Road;
11 August at 7:30 a.m., Gabe’s Family Restaurant at 2044 Broadview Road;
13 August at 8 a.m., Phoenix Coffee at 1700 East 9th Street;
16 August at 8 a.m., Artefino at 1900 Superior Avenue East;
18 August at 8 a.m., Phoenix Coffee at 1300 West 9th Street;
19 August at 9 a.m., Algebra Tea House at 2136 Murray Hill Road;
20 August at 8 a.m., Civilization Coffee House at West 11th Street and Kenilworth Avenue;
23 August at 8 a.m., Loop Coffee House at 2180 West 11th Street;
24 August at 7:30 a.m., Shipley’s Coffee House at 3664 E. 65th;
25 August at 8 a.m., Lucky’s Café at 777 Starkweather; and finally
27 August at 8 a.m., The Coffee House At University Circle at 11300 Juniper Road.

I won’t be hard to find, I’ll be the blogger with the bright yellow Why Vote Russo For County Council sign on the back of his laptop screen.

MYANMAR/BURMA — Corporate behavior is part of the problem, not of the solution. Barclays provides the perfect example. While the rest of the world struggles with how to starve the beast in Myanmar, Barclays sees a business opportunity and seizes it, laundering more than $500 million for governmental and private sector interests during an eleven-year period. Will the fine great enough to make a difference?

From Democratic Voice of Burma:

British banking giant Barclays has paid out US$298 million to settle charges of hiding transactions with banks from US sanctions-listed countries, including Burma.

The payment was made to a US court after Barclays was charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act, with transactions between 1995 and 2006 totalling some US$500 million.

“Barclays violated both US and New York state criminal laws by knowingly and wilfully moving or permitting to be moved hundreds of millions of dollars through the US financial system on behalf of banks from Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Myanmar [Burma],” according to court documents seen by Reuters.

The bank has, in effect, been laundering money for institutions whom are unable to function in the global financial system because of strict US sanctions. Despite the ruling yesterday, Barclays’ share price rose 1.1 percent.

This last bit only reinforces the systemic and structural disconnect between business and the welfare of people.

Make today great, Myanmar…

I have checked a few of the quotes below and found that Snopes, among others, debunks them with glee.

I see this as a reaction to the long, well-documented, list of misstatements by President Ronald Reagan, Vice President Dan Quayle, President George W. Bush and Governor Sarah Palin, among others.

Does Vice President Joe Biden whip out some doozies? Of course he does. Do we all let our mouths get ahead of our brains at times? I know that I do.

In the electronic age we have come to fear dead air and will say nearly anything to avoid it.

The world needs more dead air.

Untill we get it, enjoy this latest edition of Teabagger Tuesday.

Great Orators of the Democrat [sic] Party

“One man with courage makes a majority,” President Andrew Jackson. [I love this one, because it is the kind of insanity a teabagger would love to spout. JH]

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“The buck stops here,” President Harry S. [sic] Truman.

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” President John F. Kennedy.

And, from today’s genius Democrats. Continue Reading »

MYANMAR/BURMA — The worst I might expect from my blogging would be to lose my job if I were to anger someone enough that they would start a murmuring campaign about a perceived controversial issue or position I blogged about. I could be financially hurt, but not impoverished, imprisoned or executed. The reactionaries haven’t gotten that firm of a grip on America, yet.

In Myanmar, with the oppressive State Peace and Development Council (aka Than Shwe and his fellow military dictators) in power, bloggers are in serious danger of all of the above. Yet they continue to blog.

From The Asia Sentinel:

To say blogging can be hazardous is an understatement. Although Burma has some of the severest internet controls on the planet, hundreds of bloggers have managed to elude authorities, making quick entries in Internet cafés under the eyes of watching staff and getting out before they are caught. Burmese law prohibits citizens from using the Internet to send critical information, photos or videos to foreign audiences. Getting caught can result in long prison terms.

According to the Independent Press Service, earlier this year Win Naing Kyaw, a former military officer, was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending photos of a ranking junta official’s visit to North Korea to an exile news site. Ha Hla Win, a 25 year-old teacher, also received a 20 year sentence for being an “undercover journalist” for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma. One former official was given 35 years in prison.

Nonetheless, the bloggers have managed to broadcast news even though the junta assiduously seeks to block any website that carries information about the country, even prohibiting access to emails. The blogs have been essential to outside news media, whose reporters are barred from entering the country if their names are known. Connection speed is a big problem, at 512 kilobytes per line, the equivalent of a basic ADSL individual connection. But up to 10 to 15 computers share the same line, slowing down things to the point that it takes 10 seconds to open an email or load a page, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Nonetheless, they are also essential to Rangoon’s young. At an Internet shop, young people crowd the booths. Although no date has been set for the election, online forums have already flourished. University student Mi Sike Ka-mar Chan says she has learned a lot about the election online.

Media isn’t dying, it’s changing. The good will flourish and the bad won’t. The important bit is to keep experimenting.

Make today a good day, Myanmar…

1532: What, exactly, is going here?

[Update @ 1000:

Happy: Tim Russo is going to win this one… Sad: I have to get on with my day…

Update @ 0934:

Happy — Laura McShane puts her name on a Tim Russo comment… Sad — Henry Gomez just emailed me that he had a prior commitment this morning…

Update @ 0923:

Happy — Tim shoots my first video… Sad — Doesn’t anyone at the PD drink coffee…?

Update @ 0857:

Happy — Tim is here, took a picture for the top of this post (I’ll upload later today) and shot my first YouTube video (I am so not ready for prime time)… Sad — Still no Henry Gomez…

Update @ 0848:

Happy — The candidate himself, Tim Russo, is joining me for coffee… Sad — WMJI on the radio, AM radio used to be entertaining…

Update @ 0708:

Happy — free parking spot on E. 19th… Sad — James Levin signs all along the front of the building… Happy — egg, bacon and cheese Pannini… Sad — No mayonaise… Happy — double shot of espresso… Sad — Espresso served in a paper cup, espresso to go is just wrong…]

This morning on the Tim Russo 2010 Coffee House Tour I’ll be drinking espresso at the Artefino Art Gallery Cafe and hoping that Plain Dealer reporter Henry Gomez might join me for a free espresso. I expect to get there at around 7:30. (I’ll stay late, Henry, if you let me know you’re coming.)

To everyone else, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop in, introduce yourself, mention this blog post and the coffee is on me.

I hope to see you there.

My schedule for the rest of the tour is:

06 August at 7:30 a.m., Moko Coffee at 1505 Euclid Avenue;
9 August at 7:30 a.m., Steve’s Family Restaurant at 4457 Broadview Road;
11 August at 7:30 a.m., Gabe’s Family Restaurant at 2044 Broadview Road;
13 August at 8 a.m., Phoenix Coffee at 1700 East 9th Street;
16 August at 8 a.m., Artefino at 1900 Superior Avenue East;
18 August at 8 a.m., Phoenix Coffee at 1300 West 9th Street;
19 August at 9 a.m., Algebra Tea House at 2136 Murray Hill Road;
20 August at 8 a.m., Civilization Coffee House at West 11th Street and Kenilworth Avenue;
23 August at 8 a.m., Loop Coffee House at 2180 West 11th Street;
24 August at 7:30 a.m., Shipley’s Coffee House at 3664 E. 65th;
25 August at 8 a.m., Lucky’s Café at 777 Starkweather; and finally
27 August at 8 a.m., The Coffee House At University Circle at 11300 Juniper Road.

I won’t be hard to find, I’ll be the blogger with the bright yellow Why Vote Russo For County Council sign on the back of his laptop screen.

From Civic Commons‘ Curator of Conversation:

Hey there, I hope you had a great weekend. There’s a project we’re starting with some colleagues at the Akron Digital Media Center, and I wanted to tell you about it and find out if you might be able to help us out?

We’re calling it The Civic Commons Citizen Correspondents Corps. I know. It’s a little long–but it is kinda catchy, right?

Anyway, it’s real simple: we’re recruiting citizens from across Northeast Ohio who are interested in making a difference in their community and in the entire region. The recruits don’t need any journalism background at all. The only requirements are:

• a belief that well-told stories have the power to change the world
• an allegiance to truth and transparency?
• availability for a three-hour training and planning session in Akron
• a strong desire to put newfound skills and untapped potential to work producing content for the Civic Commons and www.theciviccommons.com.

The sessions are August 25th or September 18th, both in the afternoon, both in Akron, and there’s more information here.

?Here’s how you can help:

1. If you’re interested in being a part of the the CC Citizen Correspondents Corps, email us: info@theciviccommons.com.?

2. If you know someone you think would be just great send this to them (and send us a note about them, too, so we can send a personalized sort of invitation!)?and,

3. We’d love it if you’d share with your friends what we’re up to. Tell them they can keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter, and they can sign up for our emails and updates at www.theciviccommons.com.??

All the best,?
Dan

Dan Moulthrop?
Curator of Conversation

I emailed Dan this morning for permission to sit in and observe the training process.