Recently in Current Events Category

Apparently Andy Dick was arrested for suspicion of drug possession and sexual battery early Wednesday morning July 16, 2008, in Murrieta, Calif. He's accused of possession of marijuana and xanax and, get this: pulling down the tank top and bra of a 17 year-old girl.

That picture looks like he's peeing himself and you know what? He probably is.
He defines his last name, doesn't he?

(AP Photo/Riverside County Sheriff's Department)

I am not one of these people that thinks that all deaths leave the world a poorer place. While I am against the death penalty, I am not above taking a little pleasure in the death of particularly vile people and today is no different. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about such pleasure taking, but not today. Today marks the death of someone who cause such misery in his life that his passing is cause for a massive exhale of relief.

Jesse Helmes was a dark-hearted bastard who was almost a caricature of the stereotypical pre-Civil Rights era Southerner. I say "almost" a caricature because he indeed was racist, homophobic, anti-art, Red-baiting, anti-choice...anti-everything all-purpose bigot. He led the fight against establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday, blocked ratification of the Test Ban Treat and Kyoto Protocol (not to mention Salt II) and campaigned against womens rights, gay rights and overaLl civil rights for decades in the US Senate.

In recent years Helms was approached by Bono to help the singer in his quest to reduce 3rd world debt and the suffering it causes and like many older staunch conservatives, he worked to repair his image, becoming more "compassionate" in his dotage. Late life reversals not withstanding, the man was a vile human being and like the Reverend Jerry Falwell, the world is a better place without him.

Thanks to Eugene for the heads up....

HBO, George Carlin's cable TV home for decades will remember the man this week with two marathon runnings of many of his HBO specials on HBO2 as well as an airing of his most recent special, "George Carlin: It's Bad for Ya," which premiered on the network in March, on HBO channel on Friday, June 27 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

The HBO2 schedule for 11 Carlin HBO specials is (all times ET/PT):

Wednesday, June 25
8:00 p.m. George Carlin at USC (1977)
9:30 p.m. George Carlin Again! (1978)
11:00 p.m. Carlin at Carnegie (1983)
midnight Carlin on Campus (1984)
1:00 a.m. Playin' with Your Head (1986)

Thursday, June 26
8:00 p.m. What Am I Doing in New Jersey? (1988)
9:00 p.m. Doin' It Again (1990)
10:00 p.m. Jammin' in New York (1992)
11:00 p.m. Back in Town (1996)
12:05 a.m. You Are All Diseased (1999)
1:00 a.m. It's Bad for Ya (2008)

Like any artist, Carlin wasn't 100% successful 100% of the time, but he was smarter, funnier, more insightful and irreverent than anyone out there for almost 50 years.

And here....his rather brilliant take on organized religion:

Legendary comedian George Carlin has died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, according to Reuters and other sources. The first ever host of Saturday Night Live, Carlin was set to receive the Mark Twain Prize from the Kennedy Center, a lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding comedian.

Carlin has long been my favorite political and social satirist and his voice, forever honest, will be missed. Today the world is short one of its most strident and unflinching observers. With the country in a seemingly unending war (two of them, actually), a growing gas crisis and almost constant government corruption, we need his unflinching honesty, clearness of vision and common sense now, more than ever.

Rest In Peace, George Carlin.

Over the next few days I hope to post a few of my favorite Carlin clips. And remember:

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits!

Reuters is reporting that an estimated 1,150 prisoners, including 400 Taliban were set loose from a prison in Kandahar, today. The door was apparently blown open by a truck bomb, presumably as part of a massive Taliban-organized prison break.

Are you kidding me? Oh, goodie. If there was any doubt that we were fighting two wars, they're gone, now. 400 more Taliban on the loose in Afghanistan?

Something tells me the Stop-Loss fiasco is going to continue for years.

NBC News' Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert died of an apparent heart attack this afternoon after collapsing at work in Washington DC. This is for sure a great loss, as Russert was a straightforward and well-respected journalist and the longest-serving host of NBC's Meet the Press, itself the longest-running US television program in history, having been on the air since November 6th, 1947.

Russert was a consummate newsman (and attorney) and his voice will be greatly missed during this most critical of election years. NBC anchors Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams are telling some great stories about Russert on MSNBC right now.

One of the great ones came from Williams who mentioned that facade of the Newseum in Washington D.C. is inscribed with the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Whose idea was that? Tim Russert.

In this time of a flaccid White House press corps and dwindling ethics and excellence in news, Tim Russert will be sorely missed.

Links about the story at Mahalo.

This is one of Mr. Olbermann's occasional "special comments" from his week-nightly program Countdown with Keith Olbermann and you need to watch it. It aired yesterday and it's brilliant. It's truth spoken to power (albeit indirectly) like it is rarely seen on television in the United States (or anywhere else, for that matter) and it is genius. It's a bit long (12 minutes) but completely worth it. If you're even a little bit like I am, it will have you clapping, laughing, scowling and whooping at the ceiling. It's the news commentator's version of a beautiful jazz riff. It's goes, man! You just wish you were in the corner of a dark and smokey Greenwich Village bar, yelling "Go man, GO!" at the top of your lungs.

Yes, it's that good.

And while you're at it, if you like this, send an email to letters@msnbc.com and tell them that even if the barbarian hordes of the FCC, the GOP or Cheney himself descend on 30 Rock, the truth must be told and Keith must remain on the air.

A friend of mine reports that when she went to vote in Brooklyn on Tuesday and used a paper ballot, the only choices were Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. From what I know, this is a violation, since John Edwards was still on the New York State ballot. I know, because I voted for him. I also am not sure as to why she would have been given a paper ballot (I forgot to ask), since according to this, there are only three reasons one would even receive a paper ballot.
Can anyone out there shed some light on this?

Ever since my choice for the democratic nomination, John Edwards, suspended his campaign, I have been besieged by friend and stranger alike, urging me to vote for Barack Obama. Literally no one I know has approached me about Hillary. Maybe that says something about my friends or Hillary or maybe it says something about me. It doesn't matter, because the only way I hold my nose and vote for her is if she's the nominee in November. The thing is, I couldn't bring myself to vote for Obama, either. Many of my friends are somewhat incredulous at my recalcitrance, but I have my reasons.

First a little background. My mother was a proud and politically active woman of mixed ethnicity but I think she identified most often as black. She was a filmmaker, author and journalist and paid close attention to the goings on of the day. She was deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement and I was raised in an politically aware home. But let's be honest, unless you know me or are very race conscious, you wouldn't know I was anything but Caucasian (or maybe Latino. I get that on the streets of NYC all the time). That said, I was raised in a multi-ethnic home and am myself very conscious of my heritage.

I am a feminist and a civil rights activist and I would be more than happy to see the first woman president or the first black president. The thing is, I will not and cannot sacrifice my overall political beliefs and I flatly refuse to do something so base and crass as to sell my vote for race or gender. This year's race for the democratic nomination has been framed by the media for over a year as Clinton vs. Obama and as a result, the candidate most committed to the wellbeing of the people, John Edwards, was marginalized from the start. He really never had a chance and for that, the mainstream media should be ashamed. It's clear, at least from my perspective, that John Edwards preached what was fair and good: An end to the dominance of Big Pharma and the insurance company lobby, the return of the government to the people, the end of corporate media dominance...oh.... Ooops!

So, John Edwards was, for my money, the most progressive, committed and honest person in the democratic race and he got my support. When he dropped out, I fully expected a switch to click in my head and start to get excited about Obama, but you know what? I couldn't do it. I don't like his heathcare plan, he strikes me as an appeaser, I don't fully trust him and he never says anything. It drives me nuts. His speeches are like revival meetings and while I love a good call-and-response, "Yes we can" doesn't really say much besides, well, "yes we can." Besides, I'm loyal. When I support someone, I support them and in the absence of an endorsement from Edwards, I felt no compelling urge to vote for Obama.

The thing is, it's all about November, for me and who can beat John McCain (for he's clearly the likely nominee). Unfortunately, the only candidate who was the clear winner in that contest is no longer in the race. In poll after poll, you democrats all over the country named Edwards as the candidate you thought could most beat the republicans in November and in poll after poll you named Edwards as the candidate who most cared about people. And what did you all do? You voted against your interests and against the interests of the country as a whole. I just don't get it. If you really thought Obama or Clinton were more likely to win, the results would make sense, but you didn't. You said Edwards was a better candidate and cared more about you and then you went out and voted for someone else. Shame on you.

Photo of John Edwards by George P. Stern

This was reported over the weekend but I am only now getting to it. Once again we have some evidence that not everyone votes with the media. The smart vote, the smart play, the real, caring position is to vote with your head. Not with the color of your skin and not with your gender. Yes, an African American president would be an amazing and historic event, as would a woman president. But that's not how we should be voting. Ask yourself a few questions:

Who has a position on the war that makes most sense?
Whose health care plan takes care of the most Americans?
Who really cares for the working class of America and acknowledges that we actually have poor people here in the United States and doesn't just keep repeating "middle class" in a cheap attempt to avoid admitting that there's an underclass?
In short, who really gives a damn about those who need the most care? About the veterans who can't get health care? About the homeless? I know most of you reading this are not poor, are not homeless but there's a very important message to take way: There but by the grace of god go I. Whether you believe in god or not, this is a lesson to learn. It doesn't take a whole lot to drop a few tax brackets and end up on the outs.

It's not a sin to be poor. It's not wrong to admit that we've failed as a nation and that America has let millions of people fall through the cracks. It's not "bad politics" to say "Our system is broken." What is wrong? What is evil? What is unforgivable? To not fix it! To fail to do everything possible to help these people who are in need and to lift them up and give them a hand. Now that would be a sin.

Over the weekend, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s son, Martin Luther King III wrote the following letter of support to John Edwards. I hope you take it to heart and to head and vote for John in a primary near you!

January 20, 2008
The Honorable John R. Edwards
410 Market Street
Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Dear Senator Edwards:

It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father's legacy. On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.

There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father's legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.

I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.

You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don't have lobbyists in Washington and they don't get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.

I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.

From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.

I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.

So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.

Sincerely,

Martin L. King, III

Larry Miller (10 Things I Hate About You) has a new piece at The Huffington Post about the WGA strike and it's pretty fantastic. It puts the issues into simple and concise terms and engaging imagery (do screenplays really equal commodes, Mr. Meyer?).

"There Is Power In A Union"
by Billy Bragg

There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hand of the worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand
There is power in a Union

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses way, sir

The Union forever, defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far-off lands
There is power in a Union

Now I long for the morning that they realise
Brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?

Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?
What a comfort for the widow,a light to the child
There is power in a Union

The Union forever, defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand
There is power in a Union

Friday marked the New York City premiere of Alex Gibney's Oscar-nominated documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side, the rather grim story of a young Afghani goat herder and taxi driver named Dilawar who is mistakenly suspected of being a terrorist by our military intelligence. Brought into Bagram for interrogation, Dilawar is subsequently tortured and killed by his interrogators. The ThinkFilm release gets to the darker truths, namely that not only is the intelligence questionable in the first place but that the interrogators were, in fact, young soldiers utterly untrained and inexperienced in the ways of proper interrogation techniques.

Matters are made worse when the soldiers are encouraged by their superiors to go to any lengths to get their confessions. In addition to the now prosecuted soldiers, among the interview subjects are New York Times journalists, various academics, politicians, former military brass and, most notably, Gibney's own father who died during post-production. Frank Gibney, himself a former interrogator during World War II, best expresses the sense of outrage with the Bush Administration and as images of Bush, Cheney, Rumsefeld and Gonzalez flash across the screen it's hard not to squirm in your seat by your own sense of frustration. There doesn't seem to be any level of success when it comes to the administration's war on terrorism, itself an unforgivable reminder of those who perished on 9/11.

Gibney, who also directed the award-winning Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, recently met with journalists and described the challenges and rewards of making Taxi to the Dark Side. Here are a few of clips from that interview.

Clip #1: Gibney discusses his father Frank's experiences as an interrogator during WW II:

According to multiple news reports, the NY police department found Heath Ledger dead in his a New York City apartment at about 3:30pm today and some reports are mentioning that pills were found near the body.
Here's the New York Times story.

Jesus. What a horrible story. Ok, it's not a chemical spill in India, but he was a talented young man with a small child and at 28 had the makings of a long and glorious career ahead of him with the potential to move and entertain literally billions of people over his lifetime.

UPDATE: Apparently the apartment was owned by Mary-Kate Olsen.
According to CNN.com, the police have said that the pills appeared to be over the counter sleeping pills but the NY Times reports that both prescription and non-prescription pills were found at the bedside.

UPDATE #2: According to the updated New York Times story, the apartment is NOT owned by Mary-Kate Olsen

CNN had 17 undecided South Carolina voters rating the candidates throughout the debate. At the end, according to CNN, they thought Edwards had won the debate but "half" of them were going to vote for Obama because they felt he had the better chance of winning the nomination.

Don't they understand that if everyone who felt that way actually voted for Edwards, he might have a realistic chance at winning? This is an amazing and historic primary campaign, but also a supremely frustrating one.