A lot of people have written, this year and many other times, about how even as Dr. King has been elevated to an icon his message and vision have been watered down and passed over by the media. As part of my own tiny effort to combat that tendency, here’s an audio recording of Dr. Kings landmark speech on why he opposed the war in Vietnam.

Now, obviously, I’m not a pacifist or a Christian; but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the courage of a man who unfailingly spoke and acted according to his own conscience. So lets take that inspiration for courage and dedication from him this year, remember him and all of the other hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been murdered for speaking up for justice and equality; and work to finally make his dream - the whole thing, not just the empty cliches we see on television every year - a reality.

Posted: January 21st, 2008 under politrix, race & racism, video.
Comments: none

My (new) favorite video from Pat Condell.

Posted: January 14th, 2008 under gods & religion, video.
Comments: 1

Saw this in the New Scientist, I’m just going to repost the entire thing here since you can only read the intro to the article on their site w/o a subscription:

03 January 2008
Magazine issue 2637
www.newscientist.com/article…OJIMBLAC

Removing lead from petrol was supposed to prevent damage to children’s
mental development. Now it seems that traffic fumes may still be
impairing their learning - because of the soot particles it contains.

Read more »

Posted: January 10th, 2008 under enviornment, science and history.
Comments: none

Saw an editorial by Tedd Rall today that says pretty much exactly what I’ve been saying about the US government for a very long time - that we are teetering on the edge of overt fascism and that the long-term consistant support of the American government for overtly fascist regimes is not some sort of an odd anomaly, but is actually completely predictable and consistant with everything we know about our ruling elite. peep game:

NEW YORK–What would you do if you learned that Bush Administration officials wanted to round up thousands of Americans and throw them into concentration camps?

For all we know, there is no slippery slope. It’s entirely possible that extraordinary rendition, eliminating habeas corpus, and the torture camps at Guantánamo and elsewhere are exactly what the government says they are–tools for fighting terrorists, not domestic political opponents. But how likely is it?

History is clear: Over and over again, the U.S. government places fascists in powerful positions. Once in office, they exploit wars and national tragedies to roll back hard-won freedoms. They’re Democrats as well as Republicans.

Ted Rall - The Iron Fist in the Velvet Glove (click the link for the full article)

Dude is dead on, I’m just amazed that his article got syndicated through yahoo news.

Posted: January 9th, 2008 under culture war, politrix.
Comments: none

I’ve just gotta take a second here and throw out some massive respect to ICE CUBE, for dropping some real shit to start off the year and putting it all in perspective for motherfuckers that want to complain about how violent Rap music is. fuck ya’ll. get the government to stop torturing and murdering people all over the planet and then maybe we can talk about violence in music.

Posted: January 6th, 2008 under culture war, hip hop.
Comments: none