Psyched!


Also, I've discovered a pretty damn cool MP3 blog (with a great name) - The Music Slut. I like the song from the Explorer's Club; Annie Lennox does a decent version of "Many Rivers to Cross" too. Check it out kids.

Chomsky on 9/11

Found these on the newly revamped Znet. You may find his take on 9.11 surprising.

* Chomsky on 9.11 - part one

* Chomsky on 9.11 - part two

Good reads on Ethiopia Adoption:

* My Ethiopian Daughters, By Rita Radostitz, from Adoptive Families Magazine
* Finding My Daughter's Roots, Melissa Fay Greene from today's Parade Magazine

Had to post about two sites devoted to sound effects. It's a Web 2.0 concept where people contribute sounds they collect.

The FreeSound Project

SoundSnap.Com

I snapped this picture today on the way home from work. How weird is it to look over to the car next to you and see someone travelling around with a dummy in the passenger seat?

Music Tip:

Check out this find from the music blog, Swedesplease:



I rarely am disappointed by the stuff on Swedesplease - go there often.

Gotta really get started hardcore on GTD - clean out that inbox. Here's a good post on 43 Folders that might help:

http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/08/getting-started-with-getting-things-done/

6/17/2007 No Talking Heads Topics
(guests will be TJ Johnson, Marco Rosaire Rossi, Geov Parrish)

Local

Charges Against Olympia Port Protesters Dismissed, Olyblog.net
Port defendants prevail, the Olympian
------------
Olympia, port back action on Budd Inlet, the Olympian
------------
Benroya Co. expresses interest in buying Tumwater Brewery
- Olympian coverage
------------
National

Federal Court Rules in Favor of 'Enemy Combatant', 6/11/2007, Washington Post

"The President cannot eliminate constitutional protections with the stroke of a pen by proclaiming a civilian, even a criminal civilian, an enemy combatant subject to indefinite military detention," the panel found. "Put simply, the Constitution does not allow the President to order the military to seize civilians residing within the United States and detain them indefinitely without criminal process, and this is so even if he calls them 'enemy combatants.' "

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International

6/10/2007 No Talking Heads Topics (work in progress . . .)
(guests will be TJ Johnson, Jacqui Brown-Miller, Geov Parrish)

Local

Plan B legal action possible; Board sends Thriftway case to legal team
- Olyblog coverage
- Olympian coverage
------------
Update on Shelton raid?
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Candidates for Olympia City Council, Mayor and Port of Olympia
------------
Olympia apartment deal near



National

Libby Receives 30 Months in Prison in CIA Leak Case
------------


International

Listening to Steve Scherr interview Al Gore (click on the picture to go to audio of the show on KUOW website) - I love how Gore is coming off as a media critic - let me point out that Noam Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" made all of these same points almost twenty years ago and this is not a new critique. It is a good critique he is making.

My criticism of Gore is that he is making this critique too little, too late. Access to media is BETTER these days because of the internet. The TV has less relevance, in my opinion, than when Gore was Vice President.

I guess I'm glad Gore is making these points but it's so disheartening sometime to work on media issues your whole life and then have someone come along in your later years and say, "Oh, by the way, you were right!" (OK, I'm only 37 but I've been at it for over a decade).

6/3/2007 No Talking Heads Topics (work in progress . . .)
(guests will be TJ Johnson, Pat Tassoni, Geov Parrish)

Local

Shelton raid: 4 sites, 16 arrests, The Olympian. ICE conducts raid, 4 have warrants, 12 don't.
------------
Soldier’s death 20th of month, Tacoma News Tribune
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Fort Lewis decision to end individual memorial ceremonies 'under review', United for Peace, Pierce County
- coverage from the Tacoma News Tribune
------------
War Symposium in Tacoma, coverage on OlyBlog.net

National

Monica Goodling Testimony and How it Implicates Rove and the White House in 2004 Election Vote Fraud
- mainstream news journalists try to figure out what "vote caging" is while Greg Palast blazes ahead, as usual.
- Brad Blog coverage.
- Dahlia Lithwick from Slate coverage.

5/20/2007 No Talking Heads Topics (work in progress . . .)
(guests will be TJ Johnson, Janet Blanding, Geov Parrish)

Local

United Churches to Take Camp Quixote, Olympian
- City of Olympia wants their stay to be shorter
------------
Funding for Heritage Center project approved, Olympian
- facility to replace GA building; not to open until 2011 or 2012.
------------
New rail cargo facility proposed for site near Millersylvania State Park, Olympian
- opposition to site attends early planning meeting in Tenino on Monday night, 5/14/2007.
------------
Court issues partial stay in Watada's second trial, Seatte Times
- the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in Arlington, Va., granted a partial stay of the defense motion. It has given Fort Lewis prosecutors 10 days to respond to the defense arguments, and also extended to the defense the option of filing a second round of briefs.
- the appeals court issued its decision after defense attorneys Kenneth Kagan and James Lobsenz of Seattle moved to dismiss all charges against Watada based on a double jeopardy argument.
- Coverage by University of Pittsburgh Law School Website here.

National

Mumia Abu-Jamal Hearing in Phildelphia (Philly IMC roundup)
- 3rd Circuit Court expected to rule in as little as a few month or as long as a 6 months to a year.
- see previous blog post with a media review on hearing.
------------
McNulty, Deputy AG, Resigns; Cites Personal Reasons Unrelated to US Attorney Firings
- Senators Call for No-Confidence Vote on Alberto Gonzalez
------------
Cheney Claims Absolute Immunity (seriously)
- Cheney also claims to be legally akin to the President; sounds like he's threatening people to impeach him - "C'mon, I dare ya!"
- Story currently #9 on Technorati "Popular News" stories - 5/18/2007 @ 10:21pm
- Update: Story currently #6 on Technorati "Popular News" stories - 5/19/2007 @ 9:05am
- Update 2: Story currently #5 on Technorati "Popular News" stories - 5/19/2007 @ 12:37pm
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Former Marine Corp Commander and former Commander In-Chief of U.S. Central Command Explain Why Torture is Bad
- top rated story on Technorati "Popular News" stories - 5/18/2007 @ 10:42pm

International

World Bank President Wolfowitz, Iraq War Architect, Finally Resigns
- in a carefully worded statement, World Bank Board accepts Wolfowitz claim that he made mistakes in good faith and praises his performance.
------------
New Michael Moore film focuses on U.S. healthcare system - "Sicko"
- nice takeaway quote from review in Salon -

". . . But Moore's overall point is, I think, inarguable: Flawed as they may be, those (Canadian, French and British healthcare) systems are a hell of a lot more humane and civilized than anything we've got. (Life expectancy is significantly higher, and infant mortality lower, in all of those countries than the United States. Whatever outdated stereotypes you may hold, these days poor people in Britain are statistically healthier than rich people in America.)"

Review of media from May 17th, 2007 Mumia Abu-Jamal Hearing

Spectators Pack Courtroom as 3rd Circuit Hears Appeal in Mumia Abu-Jamal Case
from Law.com (subscription)
I can see the entire text of this today but it may disappear. This is a great review of what actually happened in court on the 17th and the issues the judges are dealing with.

Dave Lindorff and Linn Washington: Mumia Case Reaches Climax
from Buzzflash.com
This is a really informative article of what the outcome could be in Mumia Abu-Jamal's latest court hearing. The case, once again, has become absolutely gripping. The article also talks about previous rulings of the judges who make up the Third Circuit.

RADIO INTERVIEWS with observers of Mumia's hearing today
from Philadelphia Independent Media Center
Hans Bennett interviews Ward Churchill, German Parliamant Member Volker Ratzmann, Ramona Africa, and Mark Taylor with Educators for Mumia

Blog Post about May 17th Trip to Philadelphia Covering Mumia Trial (pics of rally, etc)
Useful to see the pictures of the days events

I fuckin' love this song and this band!

5/13/2007 No Talking Heads Topics (work in progress . . .)
(guests will be TJ Johnson, Jacqui Brown-Miller, Meta Hogan, Geov Parrish)

Local
Downtown Safeway to Close in June
Oly City Council Cuts School Impact Fees to Encourage Downtown Development
Tumwater Investigates Making Old Brewery a Regional Historical Tourist Attraction
Camp Quixote Use of OUUC Space Ends on May 19th
Estimate for port dredging skyrockets to $6.2 million; Increased cost could lead to higher taxes ( . . .higher taxes! Over my dead body!)

Regional
3 US Attorneys Speak at Seattle U; AG Gonzalez Testifies Again (so what?)
(Weird . . .) Dead fawn, dressed like baby, left outside Tacoma theater

National
Michael Moore Investigated
NYTimes: Colleagues Cite Partisan Focus by Justice Official
A pivotal hearing on case of Abu-Jamal
Police intimidate Mumia supporters as May 17 court date looms by Hans Bennett
- can tie into Jacqui's story, "Three US Newspapers Reverse 100-Year-Old Stand on Death Penalty" from the Inter-Press Service.

International

McKay, Iglesias, Charleton

I attended a forum today on the firing of 8 US attorneys (referred to as USAs in the handouts) at Seattle University (organized by my dad) and it was really informative.

One professor started by giving a historical background of the office and how an act in the 1700s created the positions of USA. Then, how the Justice Dept was created in the 1800s.

Another professor described the role of the office and some of the tensions that exist when some USA adhere to central control of the office vs more local autonomy.

The 2nd session had the three former USA, U.S. Attorneys Paul K. Charlton (District of Arizona); David Iglesias (District of New Mexico); and John McKay (Western District of Washington, now Visiting Faculty, Seattle University School of Law).

A woman in front of me was live blogging to an About.com website about US Politics - I think she got her headline the most right ("McKay: Time For Special Prosecutor"), especially since McKay was squarely asked if a special prosecutor should investigate the firings and his answer was an unequivocal "Yes!".

Good job dad - I'm especially proud of you!

Mother's Day for Peace

Just a reminder, I'll be debuting my new public affairs program tonight on KAOS at 5pm - "No Talking Heads" - hope you can listen in. (I'm still not crazy about the name, so I'd consider a new name for the show if the right one hit me.)

And, you can tune in every Sunday night at 5pm for the same.

I'll be reviewing the weeks news tonight with Olympia City Councilman TJ Johnson, Olyblog founder Rick McKinnon and co-editor of Eat the State, Geov Parrish. (links of interest below)

We want your phone calls as well - the number to call is 360-867-5267 - so call in if you have any news you'd like to discuss or share.

http://kaos.evergreen.edu/listenlive.html

or tune into 89.3FM if you're in the South Sound.

TTYL,

Howard Rosenfeld

http://hrstruggle.blogspot.com/

http://www.beyondhiroshima.org/

http://olyblog.net/

http://eatthestate.org/

I just added the ability to leave comments . . . seems like such a simple thing. Don't know why it just occurred to me.

Oh well.

Hey, my new radio show, "No Talking Heads", starts this Sunday night, April 29th at 5pm on KAOS in Olympia. It's on 89.3 FM or hit the KAOS link for the web stream. Hope you can listen and call in!

Shopping with a Conscience

We should have had this the last year I co-chaired the UU Social Justice Committee . . . doh!