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June 30, 2005
There Goes 'Welcome to the Neigbhorhood' --
Reality TV Hits Too Close to Home
ABC pulled a reality show scheduled to debut July 10 after it was disclosed that the TV show may violate the federal Fair Housing Act.
In "Welcome to the Neighborhood" seven families competed to win a suburban home near Austin, Tex.
The group of families was composed of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian, a white gay couple with an adopted black child, and other folks generally less than desireable to White suburban America. (See the whole list, and story in this Washington Post article.)
In the show, three families already in the neighborhood (all "three white, Christian, and Republican" according to the Post), handpicked the winners. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits allowing race or religion (I don't know about sexual orientation) from playing a role in the transfer of homeownership.
It's hard to believe they were going to put this on the air. And yet, sadly, it isn't. "Will & Grace" aside, the entertainment industry remains a reflection of white-majority Americans, who often don't realize horribly intolerant they are, even when they think they're being such wonderful folks -- "Aren't we nice for letting negroes move in (just so long as they're not gay or athiests)?"
And the title. "Welcome to the Neighborhood" is clearly white wash for the old adage, "There goes the Neighborhood" (whether the shows writers are aware of it or not). It's kind of like the "eenie meenie minie mo" rhyme, which most people don't realize was not originally followed by "catch a tiger by the toe", but "catch a nigger by the toe"! I learned that myself 25 years ago, when a childhood friend told me his grandmother still said it that way. Don't even get me started on the when they changed the fast food restaurant "Sambo's" to "The Jolly Tiger"*, or the minstrel blackface origins of Daffy Duck.
The icing on the cake is this story ABC promo photo, below, which shows not the diverse families competing, but the nice white people who have allowed diversity into their suburban cul de sac. No offense to these families (I mean hell I don't know them, and lord knows plenty would not even entertain the thought of "welcoming" anyone), but sheez.
Nice Day for a...White Welcome
*Ok,if you really want to read some odd stuff about Sambo's/The Jolly Tiger, see the following:
The change of name from Sambo's to The Jolly Tiger (in only some locations?) apparently took place after a 1978 request from Massachussetts State Rep. Thomas K. Lynch.
http://www.barnstable-patriot.com/archives.php?45,2800,1835102,1835102xp,5,1998,Doc,doc.html
In Ohio, a court held that the city of Toledo could not deny Sambo's the right to use the allegedly racist name on it's restaurants (after switching to "The Jolly Tiger" resulted in lower sales).
http://aalto.arch.ksu.edu/jwkplan/cases/sambo.htm
http://www.stormfront.org/archive/t-106443Denny's_benevolence_toward_King.html
Interesting that I had to find the above Nazi site to learn that the there is still a "Sambo's" in Santa Barbara...
http://www.santabarbara.com/dining/a_stones_throw/sambos/default.asp
Posted by MJuhre at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
One step closer to monopoly
Bank of America today announced it agreed to buy MBNA Corp.
MBNA is the biggest independent credit card lender (the other is Chase's credit card division, which it purchased from BankOne, which previously merged with First USA).
After this merger, Chase and Bank of America will be the creditors for almost every MasterCard and VISA issued in the U.S. (Your Starbucks VISA or that MasterCard your bank issued to you is almost certainly underwritten by one of these mammoths).
Stay tuned for tomorrow's headline:
Big Commercial Bank to Buy All Other Remaining Commercial Banks
The new entity will be known as "MonolithicUSA The No. 1 (and only!) U.S. national bank"
Posted by MJuhre at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2005
Democrats Play Bitch to their GOP Masters…Again
No fists this time, but the House floor again erupted in a spat between Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), and several Democratic representatives.
After two hours of testimony and a number incidents of the Congressional equivalent a cafeteria food fight, Sensenbrenner ended a June 10, Judiciary hearing on the USA PATRIOT Act over the protest of several Democrats. In true GOP “I’m your daddy now” fashion, Sensenbrenner ignored the Dems, took his gavel and walked out of the room, joined by several of his GOP Congressional minions. He then had the microphones in the room turned off, forcing Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) to shout out his last point.
The fun began at the opening, when Sensenbrenner, a co-author of the PATRIOT, insisted that the only witness testimony that would be pertinent to the hearing, and thus included in the record, would be testimony pertaining to the decision of whether or not to renew 16 expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Democrat John Conyers (D-Mich.), had a different view.
Conyers: "We can do this in a friendly tone or in a hostile tone. I think that tells the story to everybody about what the real environment is like here [in Congress]...It's very important that we understand that in this committee and in the other body, we've gone way beyond the 16 sunsetting provisions [of the USA PATRIOT Act], as we all know, and there are more coming every day. To suggest to me and our membership that we are now going to talk about the 16 sunsetting provisions precisely misses the point about why we've called this hearing."
Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc., Judiciary Committee Chair): "Will the gentleman yield?"
Conyers: "Of course."
Sensenbrenner: "Ahh, the Chair has complied with the rules. The Chair believes in complying with the rules, and the Chair expects all the other members to comply with the rules, which includes the rule of the House of Representatives relevant to pertinence and relevancy, and the Chair will enforce those rules as written."
Conyers: "Well, I'm happy to have yield for that information. But section 1001 of the PATRIOT Act, gave the Inspector General the responsibility of investigating, quote, 'complaints of alleging abuses of civil rights and civil liberties by employees and officials of the Department of Justice. All of the topics today that are before us with these four witnesses fall under this category. It does not say only civil liberties [and] abuses under the PATRIOT Act, but civil liberties in general -- in their totality. And all of the witnesses today, I claim, are experts in this area. So, we didn't come here to have a special hearing to be told that we're only going to investigate 16 sunsetting provisions -- that's what we've had nine, ten, eleven hearings about. The question is about the issues of violations or abuses alleged of civil rights and civil liberties. So we didn't come here today to be muted by some well-intentioned recitations of the rules by the Chairman. And I thank you and I return the time."
(At that point, Conyers was then immediately muted by a recitation of rules by the Chair.)
Sensenbrenner: "The Chair strikes the last word and recognizes himself for a brief five minutes." ("Striking the last word" an often-used but odd parliamentary tactic to extend debate time during the amending process. A request to "strike the last word" is essentially an introduction of a "phantom" amendment a pending bill, or rather an amendment to the last amendment already being debated. The "amendment" gives the requestor more time to speak under the House "five-minute rule," which allots five minutes for the mover of an amendment explain it and five minutes for an opponent to rebut. To really understand this, see a much more detailed explanation -- and I suggest read it twice -- here).
Sensenbrenner went on to stop witnesses from testifying as soon as the rules would permit him to do so. When he cut some off in mid-sentence Deborah Pearlstein, U.S. law and security director of Human Rights First, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) got miffed. Nadler is definitely one of the Democratic few members with discernable gonads (Go Nadler!), but in this instance was bent over by Sensenbrenner.
Pearlstein (speaking on the lack of diligence by the Pentagon to prosecute widespread allegations of prisoner abuse): “...This is a failure of the Department of Justice. This is a failure of the Pentagon. This is why we believe in independent commission is needed to look at these things. On the point of why the international community and many Americans may be frustrated by this--”
Sensenbrenner: “...[T]ime has expired. The gentleman from Arizona [is recognized]. The gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Franks.
Nadler: “Mr. Chairman, point of order.”
Sensenbrenner (ignoring Nadler): “The gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Franks, is recognized.
Nadler (louder and more forceful): “Point of order Mr. Chairman.”
Sensenbrenner (in an annoyed voice of resignation): “The gentleman will state his point of order.”
Nadler: “Mr. Chairman it is generally been the practice of this committee that witnesses are permitted to finish their sentence or what they’re saying and not be interrupted in midsentence--”
Sensenbrenner: “The rules state that the Chair has the prerogative to recognize members and to enforce the time limits. The Chair is enforcing the time limits and the gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Franks, is recognized.
I think it's time that Democratic members of Congress arrive on the House and Senate floors wearing the ball gags and chains. It would be kind of like the Christian-Right-Terry-Schiavo fanatics wearing duct tape gags with "Life" written on them, except the new Dem attire would also well illustrate their role as the classic S&M submissive in their current relationship with the GOP.
Their good intentions aside, the Dems always end up looking stupid no matter when they try to complain about the Republicans' continuous efforts to ream them, so they may as well go whole hog.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is demanding an apology.
"As House Democratic Leader, I expect all Members to be treated by the majority with dignity and respect. I will ask Speaker Hastert to order Mr. Sensenbrenner to apologize for his behavior to the witnesses at the hearing [Friday], and to promise that this will never again happen," Pelosi said in a press release on Friday.
Ms. Pelosi, the GOP squats down and craps on dignity and respect at every turn. It’s time to stop trying to raise the level of debate to your desired level and play the game that the Republicans have . Don’t give the “then we’re no better than they are” nonsense. Get in there!
"Chairman Sensenbrenner proved again today that he is afraid of ideas, and that Republicans will stop at nothing to silence Democrats,” Pelosi said. “It is quite ironic that at a hearing on the impact of the Patriot Act on civil liberties, the Republicans attempted to suppress free speech," she added, saying that Democrats will not be silenced.
Yeah I’ve heard that before. Ms. Pelosi, until the Democrats learn to stop fighting fair, they will continue to have sand kicked in their face every time. It’s time you learn to throw sand in the eyes of your enemy and kick him in the nuts before he has a chance to bitch slap or sucker punch you.
What is wrong with you people?
From the June 10 hearing, here is the simple illustration of the difference between Republicans and Democrats, and why the Republicans almost always prevail. The GOP shouts the Dems down and the Dems just whine like sissies.
Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc., Judiciary Committee Chair): "Will the gentleman yield?"
Conyers: "Of course."
(Later)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) to Sensenbrenner: "Will the gentleman yield?"
Sensenbrenner: "--No I will NOT yield."
Posted by MJuhre at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2005
Another UFO Weirdo Makes for Nifty Follow-Up to Yesterday's Posting
A CF reader asked "What's up with the UFO action in the news lately?" after reading this June 9 news story about a Brit who allegedly hacked into U.S. government computer networks because he thought they were hiding evidence of the existence of UFOs.
Highlights from the story:
A British computer whiz who allegedly hacked into Pentagon and NASA networks because he thought they were hiding evidence of the existence of UFOs is fighting extradition to the United States...
...McKinnon -- known online as "Solo" -- allegedly accessed 97 U.S. government computers, stole passwords, deleted files and shut down military computer networks, crashing 300 computers at Earle Naval Weapons Station in Colts Neck, N.J., shortly after 9/11...
...According to British press reports, McKinnon, who was unemployed but had worked as a computer engineer, dressed like his hero, glam rocker David Bowie, and believed that U.S. defense networks were concealing evidence that aliens had visited Earth.
Posted by MJuhre at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2005
Nutjob Religious Dude Invokes UFOs on Local TV News
A Las Vegas local news channel goes to meet "the prophet Yahweh" who claims his prayers invoke UFOs. The camera crew got more than they bargained for:
1) Click here (after reading steps 2 and 3).
2) Then click on "Click here to launch the NEW Action News Player"
3) Promo for Action News starts: Click on "UFO Video" in Action
News video window
Posted by MJuhre at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)