Katrina & Rita tribunal begins today

From internationaltribunal.org:

On December 8th and 9th, 2005 hundreds of Internally Displaced People from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita gathered in Jackson, Mississippi in a Survivors Assembly to demand accountability, reconstruction and restitution from all levels of the U.S. government. The Survivors Assembly was convened as a democratic institution to provide Survivors, with a vehicle for self determination. Their demands were in response to the government’s campaign of terror and genocide against the Katrina-Rita victims and survivors. Katrina and Rita were category 5 hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi leaving over 2000 dead or missing and over 800,000 without homes, jobs or help.

Why a Tribunal?

Since Katrina and Rita, the government has:

• Forcibly removed tens of thousands of New Orleans and Gulf Coast residents
• Disenfranchised tens of thousands of African-American voters;
• Refused to adhere to its own policies and procedures pertaining to the security and well being of internally displaced persons (IDP’s);
• Grossly mismanaged resources for the reconstruction of the region, including awarding no-bid contracts to big corporations connected to the Bush administration;
• Eliminated environmental and worker protection laws;
• Unjustifiably criminalized thousands of Survivors, particularly the displaced;
• Set up a reconstruction process that excludes effective input, oversight, and control over the process by the majority African-American population;
• Currently threatening to seize large portions of New Orleans owned and occupied by African Americans to ethnically cleanse the city to prevent the return of its historic majority.

I wish I could afford/had the time to go to this, since I live in New Olreans and all, but like Ron over at RealArt I've got no job and little money, but I will still be making a trip to Houston this weekend for a show with my band (hopefully).

I think a tribunal is an absolutely appropriate measure to take. The government is trying to get rid of the poor black populations of New Orleans and other places in the gulf coast, and there aren't nearly enough people fighting it, which includes myself. I hope they get what they want, but who knows if this will get any media attention at all? The corporate media, which means quite literally all media now, don't like to report on issues that might illustrate that there is still a huge racial problem in this country.

I'll just leave you with this thought: it's fucked up.

DROPPING LIKE FLIES

Roberto Gonzales has resigned. Obviously to escape criminal judgement. Lets see how low the White House approval rating goes by next fall, I think we can get a 0%, why not?

Back in NOLA

I don't know if I ever said anything but I stayed in Texas all summer and I'm about to head off to my first day of my third semester at UNO.

It feels so strange being back here after the last few months, last year was a brand spankin' new experience for me and it was so overwhelming it's hard to believe I'm about to do it ALL over again. I'm caught between depression and excitement. I really just hope my biology class isn't too hard. And english.

Anyway, that's all I'm gonna post about what's going on in my head, I'll proceed to post every three millenia, g'day.

Innocent Man Sentenced to Death Under Cruel Texas Law

From The Brooklyn Rail via Alternet:

On Tuesday, August 7, in a six-to-three decision, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his final writ of habeas corpus, giving the legal green light for his execution. Foster, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on August 30, is now at the mercy of the merciless Board of Pardons and Paroles. The odds are bad. Five out of seven board members must recommend clemency before Governor Rick Perry will consider it -- and in a state that has executed nearly 400 people in thirty years, clemency has only been granted twice. But Foster's supporters, who are spearheading a letter-writing campaign to the board and governor, are relying on one particularly salient detail to move their minds, if not their hearts: Foster didn't kill anyone.

[...]

Foster was convicted under Texas's "law of parties," a twist on a felony murder statute that enables a jury to convict a defendant who was not the primary actor in a crime. This can mean sentencing someone to death even if he or she had no proven role in a murder.

clickhereforallofit

So in Texas, and apparently most states that still have the death penalty, you can get a death sentence for NOT killing someone, NOT knowing about it, and NOT intending it to happen, just UKNOWINGLY helping it happen.

When a lawyer wants to get an accomplice convicted like this, they bring the jury in to decide whether the defendant "should have known" a murder would take place.

Texas: the big fat, lone star, fascist state.

The Official WHATTHEFUCK? clip of the week

Courtesy of Moveon.org:

Move over Rover!

Karl Rove?

Good effing riddance I say. That's some good ol' fashioned ridance.

But it's a little fishy. Why now?

Remember when Ken Lay left Enron, then like two days later the whole company collapsed...what if something's about to go down on the Hill...


UPDATE 8/14:
I think I was talking about Jeff Skilling leaving and Ken Lay taking over for that brief period before Enron collapsed, ANYWAY...

Friday Art Blog!

These are from a place The Drafted played at in Beaumont called The Art Studio, Inc. We played in this huge warehouse behind the actual studio and there was this back part that used to be offices or apartments or something and there was a lot of cool shit there. The photos of the paintings are from inside the studio and the ones of cool objects are from the warehouse.

All the creepy stuff was inside that opening you see to the left, there were a few rooms up there and below there was something that looked like it used to be a shop.




Really artsy pic!


Cool painting in the warehouse, reminds me of my mom, she loves roosters.


Very creepy markings, probably not authentic though


Old car, pretty rare I think


Scary elevator shaft







Very cool


My personal favorite


*Note these paintings were for sale and I could probably get in trouble for having them on this page, but no one stopped me from taking pictures of them so until I get a lawsuit threat, they'll stay here. You can purchase them at The Art Studio, Inc. in Beaumont, TX

Holy shit it's the movie of the century!

Superstar rap mogul C-Note runs into fierce opposition when he tries to join the super stuffy Carolina Pines Golf & Country Club. Undeterred, C-Note gets the brilliant idea to buy the land adjacent to the golf club's 17th hole, which he cleverly leverages to gain membership. C-Note's crew wreaks havoc as they bring their larger-than-life style to the club.


YESSSSS!!!

and.......ANDY MILONAKIS!


I smell an Oscar! (Oscars smell like goat cheese right?)

None So Blind as the 'Color Blind'

I was thinking some of these exact same things yesterday in the context of the Jena Six, as well as a slightly unrelated (or maybe not) Baytown event, so instead of my own rant I'll use this guy's.

By Sean Gonsalves via Alternet.org:

No matter how many times a disturbed white male shoots up a school, church or workplace, bombs an abortion clinic or is arrested for being a serial killer, nobody raises questions like: is something wrong with white suburban culture? The response is either: that's one sick individual, or it just goes to show you how bad society is getting

[...]

Quarterback Tom Brady knocks a girl up, then starts dating some other chick while the first girl is pregnant. And the water-cooler talk is: Tom is such a stud. Why did he leave the first girl? She's so pretty ... But if it's not Tom Brady, but Antoine Brady in the spotlight there's a whole different conversation, variations on the what's-wrong-with-those-people theme.

[...]

[...] it completely misses the point when "color blind conservatives" talk about "playing the race card," or making whites feel guilty. It's not about making anyone feel guilty, or making excuses for the morally questionable behavior of individuals who happen to be black. It's about being honest about cultural dynamics and majority power in a race-conscious society. As Rabbi Heschel said: we are not all guilty but we are all responsible.

clickhereforallofit

The not-so-unrelated Baytown event I've been pondering is this little-big uproar in about how we have to "take our city back," because supposedly Baytown has become just ridden with "crime." I haven't seen any such changes myself, but then again I live in Highlands. I'll tell you what change I have noticed in Baytown though: more minorities. Hmmm, could it be that the group I'm speaking of could really be worried more about keeping Baytown predominantly white than predominatly safe?

Someone said--I don't remember if it was quoted in a Baytown Sun article or if it was on their website's message board--but someone said, "I don't care what the stats say, crime has gotten worse in Baytown." This suggests that there are some numbers out there that are telling a different story than this psuedo-vigilante group, and makes me further wonder if these people are just looking around Baytown at the growing number of minorities and thinking, "These folks are up to no good! Crime is out of control!"

I use the term "psuedo-vigilante" because this group is actually planning on cooperating with the authorities about this supposed issue, and our new mayor was at their El Toro gathering. This isn't some kind of Minutemen thing, but at the moment it's still a little silly to me. Maybe I'm just naive, and I'll admit I've witnessed a tad bit more crime in recent years, but I still can't rightfully testify that Baytown's crime has really gotten BAD.

Neocons on a Cruise

From Johann Hari, Independent UK via Alternet, and with my emphasis:

From time to time, National Review - the bible of American conservatism - organises a cruise for its readers. I paid $1,200 to join them. The rules I imposed on myself were simple: If any of the conservative cruisers asked who I was, I answered honestly, telling them I was a journalist. Mostly, I just tried to blend in - and find out what American conservatives say when they think the rest of us aren't listening.

[...]

To my right are two elderly New Yorkers who look and sound like late-era Dorothy Parkers, minus the alcohol poisoning. They live on Park Avenue, they explain in precise Northern tones. "You must live near the UN building," the Floridian says to one of the New York ladies after the entree is served. Yes, she responds, shaking her head wearily. "They should suicide-bomb that place," he says.

[...]

"I went to Paris, and it was so lovely." Her face darkens: "But then you think - it's surrounded by Muslims." The first lady nods: "They're out there, and they're coming."

[...]

"Down the line, we're not going to bail out the French again." He mimes picking up a phone and shouts into it, "I can't hear you, Jacques! What's that? The Muslims are doing what to you? I can't hear you!"

[...]

" thank God for Fox News"

[...]

A Filipino waiter offers him a top-up of his wine, and he mock-whispers to me, "They all look the same! Can you tell them apart?"

[...]

"The coverage of this war is unbelievable. Even Fox News is unbelievable. You'd think we're the only ones dying. Enemy casualties aren't covered. We're doing an excellent job killing them."

[...]

"The election in the US is being seen by [the bin Ladenists] as a victory on a par with the collapse of the Soviet Union. We should be prepared for whatever comes next."

clickhereforallofit

I think "bin Ladenists" is my favorite. I know it's in brackets but I'm pretty sure the person really said that in another sentence or something, that's why Hari included it. These quotes aren't coming from your run-of-the mill Republican, these are conservative elites. But the really disturbing part is that ordinary people who label themselves as conservative look up to some of these cruise-goers that Hari meets.

If this is such a rich country, why are we getting squeezed?

From Alternet:

The commercial media is telling us two perfectly contradictory stories about the American economy. The first is how wonderfully rich we are in the United States. The stock market's booming -- some analysts predict the Dow will break the 15,000 this year -- the economy is expanding at a healthy clip, productivity growth is up and unemployment and inflation are relatively low.

But, at the same time, we're also told that we don't have the money to pay for a robust social safety net. When it comes to paying for universal health coverage, affording retirement security for our elderly, investing in programs for the poor or educating our children, we need to pinch pennies.

[...]

Saying that the majority of the country's economic gains in recent years have gone to the top one percent of the income ladder understates the trend. You have to cut the pie into even smaller slices to get the full picture. Because while the bottom half of the top one percent of the income distribution have done far better than the average wage slaves, it is a smaller slice still -- the top .01 percent -- that has grabbed most of the gains--seeing an impressive 250 percent increase in income between 1973 and 2005 -- from an economy that's grown by 160 percent.

[...]

An analysis by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez gives us the best perspective of what's going on for everyone else. They found that despite several periods of healthy growth between 1973 and 2005, the average income of all but the top ten percent of the income ladder -- nine out of ten American families - fell by 11 percent when adjusted for inflation. For three decades, economic growth in the United States has gone first and foremost to building today's modern Gilded Age.

[...] economists like to mention globalization, mechanization, or other factors that require us to be lean and mean and more "competitive."

[...]

But that's simply not true.

The economy--as measured by gross domestic product (GDP)--has grown by over 160 percent since 1973 (PDF).

click here for the whole thing

I really like how they used the term "Guilded Age," because that's exactly what we've been living in. Corporate media and corporate politicians boast about our economy, but most Americans don't benefit at all. We're systematically being ripped off, and it's completely intentional.

Meanwhile, talk radio pundits, and most cable news pundits, chomp at the bit about how poor people and anyone who questions our corporate system need to shut the hell up and realize how great our country is, and supposedly "liberal" CNN blatantly lies about the facts presented in Sicko and no one but Michael Moore himself calls them on it (just one example of many others I could name).

Some people don't realize how FUCKED UP this is.

While Europeans Vacation, Americans Toil

From Marie Cocco, Truthdig, via Alternet:

Stingy leave policies in the United States go hand and hand with weekly work hours that exceed those in many industrialized countries. And they parallel skimpy sick leave and family leave policies that give millions of Americans no effective safety net when illness or emergencies strike. Nearly half of private-sector workers--57 million people--have no paid sick days, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a chief sponsor of a measure to require at least some sick days for employees who work more than 30 hours per week. The problem is particularly acute for low-wage workers, more than three-fourths of whom get no paid leave when they are ill.

clickhereforallofit

Yeah, I'm at work right now, and I thought this was a good article to post. This topic is actually covered a little in Sicko, Michael Moore's new documentary. It's kinda early in the morning right now so I don't have much to say about this, other than it sucks but I'm not suprised in any way. I actually haven't read the whole thing yet, as I type this, perhaps I'll waste a little more time and do that. Hey, my boss straight up told me yesterday that he was running out of work for me to do this summer, might as well kick backk a little.

The Rise and Fall of Immigration Reform: Language Had Everything to Do with It

From HuffingtonPost.com, via Alternet, by Drew Westen:

To be compelling, and to defuse the morality tale on immigration of the right and righteous, our story needs to begin with the most important truth, for which we needed no reminder this week from London and Glasgow, that the protection of our borders and safety is the first task of government. It then needs to steal the thunder from the right that readily reverberates through the middle by adding to the incantation, "If they're going to live in our country, they need to learn to speak our language," the simple, progressive, and quintessentially American phrase, "because if they don't, their children will never know the American Dream, and we will have done nothing for them but to relegate them to second-class citizenship."

And it should remind those of us who can sometimes be moved to hatred or callousness when it is intermingled with the language of terror or prejudice, but whose better angels will heed our call if only we summon them, that we were all once strangers in a strange land, and that when we look in the face of an immigrant who wants nothing more than to work hard for a better life for his or her children, we are looking in the mirror.

clickhereforallofit

I'm at work so I can't spend long on this. I just thought this was a really good post on immigration.

In other news, I recently ordered this shirt from Alternative Tentacles' website:

Quite bored, quite at work

So I'm working at my dad's power plant again, here in Pasadena, Texas, but I'm doing slightly different work than I did last time. For the past two weeks my partner and I have been entering into a computer three pieces of information for each piece of equipment IN THE ENTIRE PLANT as according to records printed on May 4th, 1988 (just a few days after I was born).

I'm down to the last few pages right now, but I'm so tired (it's not even 7:30 yet) my body keeps cramping up while I type this stuff in. I'm trying to loosen up by taking the risk of slacking off and maybe getting in trouble, you know how blogs are.

There's hardly anyone here so I don't feel too bad about half assing it, thought it should probably mean the opposite, what with the whole 'holding down the fort' idea. But I feel the fort is pretty well held down here, even with everyone gone on vacation (including my entire immediate family, who are on the way to Califuckingfornia at the moment).

I've concluded that this new job I have here is easier on the body, but much harder on the mind. I used to mow grass all day. It was a riding mower and everything, but I had to wear long sleeves, jeans, boots, a hardhat and goggles, and in the summer that's not so comfortable. If I had that job today I'd have nothing to do at all, so this blog wouldn't be a total waste of time, but anyway, I think I'd much rather be doing that one despite the toilyness.

HA, but I really like how my work is at a computer, faced away from the doorway, so it looks like I'm working while I type this.

I'M GOING TO VOODOO!!

My crazy girlfriend bought me a three day pass to Voodoo fest 2007 for an aniversary gift!!! I can't believe I'm gonna see Rage Against the Machine!!!!

That's all I got right now, I think that's a pretty good entry.

Sicko

Last Friday morning I went and saw the first showing of Sicko's premiere at the one theater in Houston that is showing Michael Moore's new film.

I've written about his film's before and praised his work, but I'll admit I've become less of a fan as time has gone on. Sicko didn't turn me a born-again Michael Moore fanatic, but it's definately his best work to date. I think his film's have gotten progressively honest, each one looking more at all sides of the conflict in question and keeping everything relevant. I think this film could be his most influential one yet, if we just get the word out...and that's all I'm really trying to do with this entry.

For those who don't know (because this film has been waaaaay under promoted) Sicko is about health care, and it addresses the issue of whether universal health care could work in the United States. While he might paint a too rosey picture of France and Canada's (and others') health care systems, it's pretty obvious that the US's is much, much worse, not just by poor results but by its actual design (especially post-Nixon). Most people realize this, but the film does a pretty good job of debunking the myths about an evil, authoritarian result from adopting socialized health care. Fox pundits are already spouting the same old "we'd have to sacrifice everything" rhetoric that this film destroys!

The best line of the film:
"If we have the money to kill people [with war], we've got the money to help people."
-Tony Binn, former British MP

So go see Sicko, you won't regret it.

comment: why america hates paris hilton

This is a long insightful comment I posted at RealArt the other day. I didn't find anything to really write about so I'm just pasting this to make a new entry. I'm trying to blog more, even though it really shouldn't be a high priority...

I think people truely hate Paris because she's so needlessly rich. If that's true, this hatred doesn't say as much about sexual attitudes as it does about class attitudes.

I think "slut," and "cuntrag" and the like are just dirty words people use to express their anger towards her. Like when Michael Richards called those hecklers 'niggers,' not because he was racist but because it was sure to get them to shut up and leave (and they surely did). He was pissed (and I admit, out of line) so he used [the] most offensive word possible to piss them off too, not because he had anything against their ethnicity.

Not to say that sexism isn't a problem, I just don't think this gleeful reception of Hilton's incarceration is a text book example. There's more to it than sexuality, it's about money. After all, her money is why she's famous in the first place.

I've actually come to disagree with what I wrote, but it's still a valid argument I guess.

FUCK the system

From Yahoo! as usual with my lazy ass self:

Republicans blocked a Senate no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Monday, rejecting a symbolic Democratic effort to force him from office amid blistering criticism from lawmakers in both parties.

[...]

"They can have their votes of no confidence, but it's not going to make the determination about who serves in my government," Bush said in Sofia, Bulgaria, the last stop on a weeklong visit to Europe.

"This process has been drug out a long time," Bush added. "It's political."

clickhereforallofit

1) I was about to say there were more important issues that the Democrats should be dealing with, but no, this is a serious issue and it's good that they're addressing it, but are their hearts are actually in it? I guess the real question is whether the Democrats have any heart left at all. FUCK them anyway, as Ron said yesterday, I don't care what they do anymore, I know they're not on my side, they could care less whether Gonzales keeps his job.

2) How much more proof do we need that Bush is a downright dumbass and a total douche bag? "They can have their no confidence votes and 'rule of law,' Gonzo's my guy and I'm stickin' to him, right Bulgaria?" FUCK George Bush.

3) NO SHIT "it's political," it's the fucking Senate!! Know what else is political? Spontaniously firing off several lawyers who might oppose the administration, I'll be damned if that's not political. FUCK Gonzales.

Ron?

Okay, my videos suck

Well, I officially have to copy everything Ron from Real Art does in one way or another, and you should notice that we both have some video blogs, but mine are really short and weird while his are longer, funny, and hence entertaining. (Yes Ron, they're entertaining, especially the second one so keep it up, I'm diggin' it.)

Anyway, I just want to confirm that I know my videos suck. Ron's an actor so he's super comfortable with it, which is why he does it. So perhaps I shouldn't because I feel really awkward talking to a camera, especially alone. That last one was a little of my "poetry" which I use in quotes because I'm neither a poet nor a real artist anyway (check Ron's blog to get what I mean, and yes that's just more proof that I'm his little blog bitch). But yeah sometimes I come up with strings of words that sound interesting together and it's...not really poetry but pretty fucked up nonetheless.

Oh, and I guess I just don't blog much in general because I'm a lazy motherfucker.