The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ

Original post at P!

My Dear Friends and Allies:

I was not in the streets of Chicago forty years ago, but many of my close friends were. I will not rehash the details of those days, The Days of Rage that followed, nor the history and context of those times. All that is readily and copiously available.

As you reflect and, I hope, recover from yesterday's events, I urge you to think carefully and choose wisely in these next few days. There is great danger in unchecked emotion and thoughtless action. I hope you will not see martyrdom as an option.

We live in a time and place of ubiquitous mythology. While much of that mythology is recently contrived by the corporatocracy to justify its slash and burn juggernaut, a mythology has also been constructed by the Left to cover its steady demise over the four decades since the fiasco by the lake. I feel it my responsibility to discredit some of that mythology, and I will do it quickly and bluntly. It is best bludgeoned rather than surgically carved.

In spite of the fact that the Chicago Police Department made a fool of itself, more damage was done to the image of the Left than to that of the reactionary Right. Those few days, in fact, rang the death bells for any effectiveness that Port Huron might have hoped for.

FIGHT BACK - AN INTERNATIONAL, ANTI-WAR, SOCIALIST BLOG

So who are the "Terrorists"in the Middle East?As we hear the sauctimonious statements from right wing Israeli leaders about the victory of Hammas consider these two deaths of children in recent days.(1) Israel's shooting of young girl highlights international hypocrisy, say Palestinians. As the votes were counted in the Palestinian election and the scale of Hamas's landslide became apparent to the world, Aya al-Astal drifted away from her home and wandered towards the fence along the border between the Gaza strip and Israel.

Vlogging...Video Weblogging

Have you guys heard of it?

It's all the rage, I have tried it and practice it's weird rituals...

What do you think?

Evidence that there were plans for another Bush war against Iraq existed from the beginning of W Bush's first presidency. Google up his first inaugural speech and peruse the last line about "an angel in the whirlwind." This was nothing more or less than a cowboy's threat to Saddam Hussein, recalling W's daddy's war(desert storm)in a reference not intended for the American people but for foreign eyes and ears.

Was anyone else incensed that W used his first official act as President to lob a not-so-subtle volley at Iraq, and we, the citizens of this nation, were just spectators on the sidelines? His first speech should have been for us, not Saddam Hussein.

I don't think they would have taken such a big risk in outing Joe Wilson's wife just for revenge, although I believe they are certainly capable of such hostility. It was a calculated risk that was taken to keep a lid on any other honest agents out there in the field who might have uncovered the web of lies, manipulation and deception that eventually took us into war. One more expert like Joe Wilson disputing those 16 words could have scuttled the whole operation.

An anti-war progressive blog covering UK and World events. A socialist muti-media blog helping to change the world. Articles, comments, news and updates on the latest news. Keeping you up to date on the progressive action in the UK and around the World. Video, audio and plain print - we have someting for everyone interested in a radical view on the World today.

Adam explores why we're still in Iraq- and it has nothing to do with terrorism.

Ok - check out this free online movie site, it's purpose is to provoke the viewer into launching an investigation into the meaning of their life.

A new movie up every Monday morning, only 2-5 minutes long ... uses interviews with celebrities and extraordinary ordinary people.

http://www.monday9am.tv

Love to hear the views/debate from each movie.

NIC - (in London)

Source: UMWARoberts says Blankenship can't "shut me or the UMWA up" when it comes to speaking about issues critical to UMWA members and working families In his first public response to a lawsuit filed by Massey Energy and its CEO, Don Blankenship, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts said today,"Don Blankenship's attitude seems to be that if he can't have his way and bully people into doing his bidding, then he'll sue them. Well, I've never backed down from bullies, and I'm not going to start now. "By filing this suit, Don Blankenship wants to shut me up and shut the UMWA up when it comes to talking about issues that our members and working families care about," Roberts said. "He can't stand it that we won't bow down to him and his way of thinking. I've got some news for Don: This union-and this union leader-have never backed down to bullies, and we never will. "If you don't stand up to bullies, you just encourage them to go further and run roughshod over more people," Roberts said. "Don Blankenship's been trying to do this for some time in West Virginia, and I'm here to say that those days are over. We're looking forward to vigorously contesting and prevailing over Blankenship's desperate attempt to use a lawsuit to gag those who are the voices of the citizens of West Virginia." Massey Energy and Blankenship filed suit in Fairfax County, Va. last month seeking damages from the UMWA and Cecil Roberts personally regarding statements that Massey alleges damaged its business, as well as the company's and Blankenship's reputation. The suit also alleges, among other things, a conspiracy between the UMWA, the Charleston Gazette, West Virginia Consumers for Justice and West Virginia AFL-CIO President Kenneth Purdue to damage the company and Blankenship.

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life

Arnold Schwarzenegger faced 15 minutes of booing when he spoke at Santa Monica College. The school is the Governator's alma mater. Hey, no community college is too good for this superstar.

Here is a video his commencement address. A disturbing part of the video is a police officer taking a protest banner from students. That certainly is not legal. Yet, stuff like this has happened frequently since the 2000 election.

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life

Via Kevin Drum: there is no better form of medicine than that practiced by Doctor Bill Frist. The man is so good that he can diagnose patient Terri Schiavo without ever meeting her.

"She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli."

The autopsy report.

The autopsy released Wednesday on Terri Schiavo backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding she was severely and irreversibly brain-damaged and blind as well. It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused before she collapsed.

Crossposted from Comments From Left Field.

(This entire post is clipped directly from DemocracyNOW.)

A U.S. military contractor in Iraq is at the center of a controversy over
how American-forces disbursed and accounted for hundreds of millions of
dollars in Iraq.

The firm, Custer Battles is being charged in a
lawsuit of defrauding the Coalition Provisional Authority of tens of
millions of dollars during work in Iraq, which included securing
Baghdad International Airport.

Two former employees sued the company last year under the False Claims Act, seeking to recover
damages on behalf of the US government. They allege that Custer Battles
repeatedly billed the occupation authorities for nonexistent services
or at grossly inflated prices. A few months after they filed the suit,
the Justice Department declined to intervene on the whistle-blowers'
behalf.

Because the case is the first to be unsealed involving
the charges of fraud in the multibillion-dollar Iraqi reconstruction
effort, it could set precedents.

Following is an interview from DemocracyNOW with Robert O'Harrow, Jr. who is author of the frightening new book about the security/industrial complex No Place to Hide. Once again, a must see interview from Amy Goodman. Enjoy!

Robert
O'Harrow, Jr. , reporter for The Washington Post and is an associate of
the Center for Investigative Reporting. He was a Pulitzer Prize
finalist for articles on privacy and technology and a recipient of the
2003 Carnegie Mellon Cyber Security Reporting Award. NoPlaceToHide.net

Le Tigre has a video for the song New Kicks The song samples speeches and and crowd chants at peace rallies. Fun fact: Kathleen Hanna of Le Tigre once spray-painted on Kurt Cobain's wall that he "smelled like teen spirit." The rest is history.

Democracy Now! has released streaming video of William Rivers Pitt speaking at the Progressive Democrats of America Summit in Washington D.C.

"The alternative media, all of the people who are involved in this, need to engage the mainstream media on its own ground. And we have to do it in a number of different ways. First way, I think, the alternative media would do well to help promote in any way, shape or form, internet connections and easy access to internet and easy access to machines in poor and rural communities...." [link to video and full transcript]

"The American people want a politician who speaks their language, and speaks it badly." - Harlan McCraney, President Bush's senior speechalist.

Watch Video in Mediaplayer

Here - the debate about certifying the Ohio vote. Live.

Watch Daily Show Clip: Relief Pitcher

This is hilarious... just watch

I picked up a copy of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man after watching an interview with the author, John Perkins, on DemocracyNOW. Apparently I was not the only one motivated to buy it after that interview, the following day the book shot to number one on Amazon.com and is now on the New York Times Bestseller list. As a special New Years Eve treat, Amy Goodman dedicated her entire hour yesterday to a new interview with the author. This book is a must read for Progressives AND Conservatives alike as it rips the facade off 50 years of US foreign policy.

Choose your poison from the links below and enjoy this excellent interview!

Watch these hot young conservative girls tell the American people all the sexy things they want to hear. Click the link. You know you want to. It's SFW. (Via Monkeyfilter)