How Not to Protest

Medea Benjamin, the Zelig of political protest, yelling "war criminal" at former Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld, one of the architects of the Iraq War.
Rummy seems oddly unmoved. The tux remains unrumpled.

It may not be an appropriate way to protest...but she's not wrong...and it seems this video has gone viral...so, perhaps it is completely appropriate...if only the rest of the population were as angry and had the balls...

Chomsky on Obama

World-renowned public intellectual Noam Chomsky discussed the meaning of President-Elect Barack Obama’s victory and the possibilities ahead for real democratic change at a speech last week in Boston. It was his first public appearance since the election.
In a fashion we welcome, Mr. Chomsky is critical of some of president-elect Barack Obama's recent actions and implies that we should keep a watchful eye on our government.


Part 2 HERE
Part 3 HERE
transcript HERE

St. Paul Police Harass Journalists

ST. PAUL, Minnesota --Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her. Video of her arrest can be seen HERE.
An Associated Press photographer was also arrested during the first major protest march of the convention.
Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention and were being unlawfully detained. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.
more HERE

...like a Good Bad Neighbor, Big Brother is There

The full scale of Bush’s assault on our civil liberties may not be known until years after he’s left office. At the moment, all we can do is get glimpses here or there of what’s going on.
Colorado is one among of handful of states (including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.) where hundreds of firefighters, paramedics, police, and even corporate employees are being trained to hunt down and report a broadly defined range of “suspicious activities.” They’re called Terrorism Liaison Officers. The federally supported initiative trains them to look out for “observed behavior that may be indicative of intelligence-gathering or pre-operational planning related to terrorism.”
more HERE
Democracy Now! interview w/podcast, etc. HERE