Posts filed under ‘Chrish’
Yo, Kansas City Star — Why Didn’t You Publish These Letters?
My friend ChrisH sent these two letters (below) to the Kansas City Star newspaper.
Insofar as the Star didn’t see fit to publish them, I’m publishing them here.
October 22, 2010:
In his letter Friday 10/22/10, Derrick Sontag of Americans for Prosperity defends his organization as a “non-partisan, grassroots-driven organization that advocates for limited government and free market principles” and denies it is a “a front group for large corporations.” Methinks he doth protest too much.
According to Sourcewatch.com the group is
“…an astroturf front group started by oil billioniare David Koch and Richard Fink (a member of the board of directors of Koch Industries ). AFP works together with the Koch family’s other conservative foundations and think tanks .”
There is much more information that puts the lie to Mr. Sontag’s assertions of people-powered rebellion. There may be 4.5 million members/supporters, as he says, but they did not grow this organization. They are merely the very useful face of it.I urge all interested voters to utilize Sourcewatch to find out straightforward and documented facts about the fascinating web of money and corporate interests that operates behind American politics.
Chris H
March 13, 2011:
In October 2010, before the critical elections that turned the House of Representatives over to Republicans, I wrote a letter to The Star rebutting Derrick Sontag’s (10/22/10) contention that his Americans for Prosperity was “not a front group for large corporations,” and provided links to the website Sourcewatch.com that detailed the so-called grassroots organizations’ umbilical cord to the Koch brothers. Unfortunately, that letter of mine was never printed and voters were not made aware of a valuable resource that would have shed some light on exactly who they were voting into power.
Now we see, in Wisconsin and seeping across the nation, who Americans for Prosperity were really representing – it’s not you, not me, not the working class, and not the middle class. I denounce The Kansas City Star for only printing one side of a crucial issue and not doing a better job of informing its readers, which is, presumably, its mission.
Of course, this will never see print either.
Chris H
It’s no wonder corporate hacks manage to slither into office. Our media doesn’t educate and inform us about them, their background and their backers so all we know is what their glitzy, sanitized campaign ads and fliers tell us.
MRI Art
These beautiful images are brought to us by hi-tech machinery, but they show us that the intricate and wondrous designs of nature are even more amazing. I especially love the broccoli and the artichoke – like fireworks!
More and animation can be found here.
It’s raining oil in Louisiana
All I can think is “what have we done?”
How the oil spill affects everyone – the food chain
When I was a wee child in grade school I did a paper on the food chain (with illustrations! I still have it, sentimental sop) and as with most things we learn early, it’s really stuck with me, the interconnectedness we share with even the tiniest plankton. That’s why I’m angered at the cavalier attitude about the oil spill by people I assume are not usually stupid. Not you, of course; but please pass on this article on the subject to any blissfully ignorant folks you may know.
Election fraud in SC?
Did you see Keith Olbermann’s interview with the new Democratic SC Senate candidate last night? (See here if you haven’t yet.) Uncomfortable and weird, to say the least. My immediate thought when I heard of Greene’s win was “election fraud.” After seeing the interview I was more convinced than ever, and am gratified and relieved to read at BradBlog that
“experts now examining the actual election result data from both SC’s unverifiable Election Day touch-screen machines and its electronically counted paper-ballot absentee voting system are noting “curious” and even “staggering” disparities, suggesting what some Election Integrity experts are describing at this hour as “clear signs of ELECTION FRAUD in South Carolina”…”
Here we go again; Republicans willing to do ANYthing to retain/reclaim power. The first step is to ramp up the right-wing media machine and make it “common knowledge” that the electorate is dissatisfied – check. And the so-called liberal media just goes along, dumb and blind, accepting every inexplicable oddity without question. But we must be aware and be prepared for what is surely coming. Get rid of those goddam paperless voting machines!!!!!
Snark at BP’s expense
While there is absolutely nothing to smile about in the Gulf, this send-up of BP executives’ incompetence and dithering is pretty amusing.
New BP logo contest
A number of my friends on Facebook have changed their profile pictures to reflect their outrage at BP and the lackadaisical, incompetent response to the catastrophe in the Gulf. Here’s a site that is sponsoring a contest for a BP logo redesign. Enjoy!
Graphic of oil on the Gulf Coast
From The New York Times, “Where oil has made landfall on the Gulf coast.“ Not said: so far. This is going to get so much worse before it gets better; last I heard, they are saying it could keep flowing at the current rate through August. I’m starting to believe those end-of-the-world predictions might not be so far off.
Helen Thomas: mainstream media “played ball” with Bush administration
Helen Thomas has only been retired 48 hours, but we can already read about what she thinks of the Bush administration and her fellow journalists here…. and it’s not a very high opinion.
What’s wrong with the media, in a nutshell
I just witnessed a perfect example of what is wrong with broadcast media. I turned on MSNBC to see if anything is new, and US Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, national incident commander for the Deepwater Horizon response, was taking questions from media over the phone. The first question was from a reporter with Rolling Stone, a good sign to me – not the usual stupid questions I’ve come to expect from most mainstream journos. Next up was someone with Argus Media, an unknown to me (until just now) – good.
But Ms. MSNBC interrupted and told the audience that they would bring us anything (they deemed) “newsworthy” later, and instead went to their pre-arranged interviews with, of all people, Trent Lott. I turned the teevee off, certain that I’d hear nothing but oil company talking points from him, thinly disguised with his own personal connection to the area.
So instead of hearing questions from different perspectives and answers straight from the source, we were fed a staged interview by a savvy news reader and a corrupted politician. No wonder people tune out and become cynical.
Exxon Valdez lawyer sums it up
It’s depressing as hell, but at least his honesty is a welcome breath of fresh air in all the denial, finger pointing, and BS.
“Exxon Valdez Lawyer: Louisianans, ‘To use a legal term,” are ‘Just fucked.”
FOX News toned-down patriotism?
I have to admit that since I quit watching FOX so you didn’t have to, I very rarely check in on the network and practically never go to their annoying, slow, website of lies. But I thought I’d go see what they’re doing about Joran Van der Sloot’s murder confession and arrest, assuming it would blanket the front page as much as any of the Natalee Holloway coverage that they brought us (instead of news of what the Bush administration was actually doing). Nah. There are the primaries, the oil in the Gulf, a missing child and, oh yeah, this:
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GOP Rips Obama ‘No Excuses’ Speech
Republicans taunt president’s ‘don’t make excuses’ grad speech, saying he’s passed the buck plenty of times
But what really struck me was the lack of color. When I was a regular, before a bi-racial Democrat was elected, FOX was all about respecting the man in the Oval Office, shutting up and supporting the country, and wrapping themselves in the flag. The website was a nightmare of distractions and bright colors; now I see their enthusiasm is tempered, as evidenced by the muted colors:
They give themselves away in a million little ways.
Socialism’s appeal
So I was in the city yesterday and there were three different times when emergency vehicles drove by with their sirens blaring. As we should, all cars in both directions pulled over to let them pass, and I was struck again by how orderly it was and how safe that simple rule makes us all. There are so many places in the world where chaos reigns on the streets, and I’m thankful that we have these “socialistic” systems in place.
One of the emercency vehicles that passed me pulled over a short distance ahead and traffic slowed enough that I could see two police officers approaching a professionally dressed man who was “standing guard” over a scruffy-looking older man who was prone on the ground at a bus stop shelter. As an ambulance approached form the opposite direction, I thought about different attitudes people might have about the scene. I was proud that I live in a country where even the poorest and least productive among us will get aid, and even though my tax dollars are being used – to pay the cops, the fire department and ambulance workers – I don’t begrudge the poor old sod. What the hell, it’s only money and he is a human being, and I imagine what brought him to this desperate condition. On the other hand, I imagine the teabaggers would be bent out of shape that this man who contributes nothing was sucking dollars directly from their pockets, money that could be better spent on flag shirts and lawn chairs for their protests against their government. The supremely well-off right-wingers would also resent their contributions to the system that may well have saved his poor life yesterday, because they “work hard” for their money and shouldn’t have to scale down their lifestyles just so he could simply live – no, the “party of life” has no use for all this coddling of the downtrodden.
I wonder. I wonder what came first, the wealth or the greed? I wonder how people enjoy themselves when there is so much suffering. I wonder what kind of disconnect one has to employ to reconcile their “Christianity” with their contempt for those less fortunate, or for those who simply screwed up their own lives. I wonder what has happened to the mythical “compassionate conservatives.” I wonder what’s going to happen to our nation, to my children’s future. I hope the good guys win.
Trickle down screw ‘em attitude
These folks are blaming the banks for being stupid enough to lend them money, and living in their foreclosed home while using the mortgage money for other things. Ah, to be old and irresponsible! I guess they figure that the bankers robbed us, so to hell with them – but once again, it’s responsible borrowers (like me! and probably you!) who bear the load. Grrr.
Oakland CA progressive on pot
It may be desperate measures, but Oakland’s (CA) move to tax and license commercial marijuana use will a.) bring revenue to the city in said taxes and fees, and b.) save the city money it might have spent in pursuing petty potty “crimes.” Once the rest of the nation realizes (slowly, I’m sure) that decriminalizing the evil weed is not going to bring the ruination of our society will we finally see the repeal of prohibition? With the destruction of the environment nearly complete, the economy tanked and the treasury looted, it might not be a bad idea to let everyone spark ‘em up and mellow out.
Should that happen, I expect Monsanto or some other corporate giant will patent the plants (if they haven’t already) and we’ll have another crime created, saving seeds and growing your own. Land of the free…..
Life isn’t fair, in spades
So exasperating to read about $750 bathing suits on the Style pages while just a click away on the news page hundreds of thousands of Americans see their jobless benefits slipping away. What on earth will these people do? John Edwards may be a sleazeball, but he was right about “two Americas.” Unfettered capitalism at its ugliest.
Going against the mainstream
Romanian tennis star Simona Halep was burdened with a size 38DD bosom, which caused her pain and interfered with her game, so she had breast reduction surgery which made her a 34C. Predictably a number of her male fans are bemoaning the change, but hats off to her for being practical, and for not exploiting what could easily have made her a well-paid celebrity/porn icon.
What is it with guys and humongous boobs anyway? Is this a result of society’s shift to bottlefeeding babies?
Most sunscreens make false claims, can hasten cancer
I’ve had my share of severe burns in the pre-sunscreen days of my youth and live in fear of skin cancer manifesting. To that end I stay in the shade or cover up and wear sunscreen if I must be out in the sun for any length of time. But I had an intuitive feeling that lathering on chemicals would ultimately be proven to have its own downside, and here it is. The study by the Environmental Working Group finds that the FDA knew of these concerns ten years ago and did nothing; now they deny they knew (although the paper trail proves otherwise.) More bureaucratic incompetence, or cynical corporation-favoring suppression of evidence?
13 year-old’s amazing accomplishment
At age 13, Jordan Romero has not just become the youngest person to ever scale Mount Everest. He has fulfilled his dream of climbing the highest summit on each of the 7 continents. Kids are amazing and, given support and encouragement, can do anything! Such a shame to waste their precious youth stuck in a hard little desk day after day, for so many years.
Rand Paul cancels due to Foot-in-mouth disease
For only the third time in its history, scheduled guest Rand Paul has cancelled his appearance on this Sunday’s Meet the Press. Guess his handlers are scrambling to find a way out of the awful mess he’s made for himself by airing his true beliefs on civil rights last week.
You are what you eat
Michelle Obama’s project to raise awareness of the link between nutrition and health is already having an impact – on the soda lobby. “Big Soda” has increased their lobbying expenditures from $140,000 in 4th quarter 2009 to $5.4 million in Q1 2010, a stunning 3,785% increase!
“Liquid candy,” as we call it, currently enjoys tax exempt status in many places as it is marketed under the umbrella of “groceries.” Some health advocates want to go beyond rescinding that status and add large surtaxes to discourage consumption, which they say is at the root of America’s obesity and diabetes epidemics. Is America ready to give up its ba-ba and teach our children about the indisputable links between what we consume and how it affects us? Or will we let the noisy, ignorant anti-change crowd triumph again?
Please Welcome Chrish as a Guest Blogger
My dear friend Chrish, who I worked with on Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism during the spring of 2004 and at the NewsHounds through the 2008 presidential election (ugh, it was a long haul), is going to join me here as a guest blogger.
She will add her snarky, wise POV on Fridays and as the spirit moves her, over the weekend.
Can’t. Wait. To. Read. Her. Posts!
You’ll love her.
