Published by John Nichols at The Nation.I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately. -- George Carlin,The last vote that George Carlin said he cast in a presidential race was for George McGovern in 1972.When Richard Nixon, who Carlin described as a member of a sub-species of humanity, overwhelmingly defeated McGovern, the comedian gave up on the politi ...

Hello!I've been more than a bit swamped over the last month with many new happenings as my profile now indicates. Just returned from the National Conference on Media Reform in MN as well. Much to update, much to say...so much more is on the way...Stay tuned... ...

Indeed, who IS afraid of the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM)? Apparently the California Secretary of Agriculture Kawamura for starters. Why is the state of California AGAIN (see below) planning to poison its citizens with a carcinogenic pesticide-pheromone cocktail called Checkmate (nice strategic and metaphoric name with its applications) in efforts to "eradicate" a relatively nonexistent pest to protect pot ...

I don't normally look to the late night pop icons of court jester politics for insight or deep wisdom on national affairs (like about a quarter of the nation's youth), but, Jon Stewart's rendition of the last five years in Iraq was too close to home to pass up, I'm afraid. Notice how if we go backwards, Bush's policy makes sense, at least to him. This threads nicely with the last post here. We could laugh i ...

This says it all...VP DC in action. Commenting on American democracy and the theoretical role of the majority in public opinion on government policy, the VP, in disagreement with the current 64% majority of the public against the Iraq War, says, "So?" The public is just a meaningless, fickle obstacle. Unless the public is used (when manipulated by corporate media administration cheerleaders) to agree with o ...

So many things have happened in the past month or so, it's been hard to keep up. Not just on the home front with tenured apps, committee work, meetings, conference follow-ups (with an update soon at www.truthemergency.us), and the rest. But many other things have also been happening, say, with the primaries, the non-selection horse race that it is; record violence in Iraq and Gaza; a major industrial agro m ...

Truth Emergency USSanta Cruz Media Summit: Live this weekend Jan. 25-27Truth Emergency PNNUpdate by Peter Phillips and David Kubiak Many economists now doubt that government measures can prevent a major recession given the severe slump in the housing market, the subprime mortgage crisis, growing unemployment, declining consumer spending, and record high oil prices. Even harder times for working people are u ...

"Publicizing Truths with Consequence: Independent Media Power vs. the Corporate Coup"Quoting the Declaration of Independence is a tired cliche I never tire of...and neither have others throughout history when they found the republic in trying times.“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among thes ...

For those who have wondered how exactly we've gotten to this point as a nation- mired in the war crimes of Middle Eastern conflicts and in violation of International Law, suffering civil decay at home, possibly staring down a massive economic crisis- there's a trail to follow. From the USA PATRIOT Act that no member of Congress read in its final form to the Military Commissions Act and even more. We have a ...

Your cost for the current wars is estimated at close to $2trillion over the next ten years for a family of four.Where does it all go?No-Brainer, long overdue. We need to put a stop to war profiteering and the Washington/corporate/lobby revolving door. Want to stop war? Bleed it dry. Not in human costs, but in capital.Longtime friend, activist, fellow musician I've recorded with over the years, and cyber-pun ...