Although ya try to discredit Ya still never edit The needle, I'll thread it Radically poetic Standin' with the fury that they had in '66 And like E-Double, I'm mad Still knee-deep in the system's shit Hoover, he was a body remover I'll give ya a dose But it'll never come close To the rage built up inside of me Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy . . In America We Kill Our Prophets
Movements come and movements go Leaders speak, movements cease When theirheads are flown 'Cause all these punks Got bullets in their heads Department of police, the judge, the feds Networks at work, keepin' people calm
You know they went after King When he spoke out on Vietnam He turned the power to the have-nots And then came the shot
In America We Kill Our Prophets
Wit' poetry, my mind I flex Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' dat fitnesse Whadda I have to do to wake you up To shake you up, to break the structure up 'Cause this blood still floods in the gutter I'm like talkin' photos Mad boy kicks open the shutter Set the groove Then I stick and move like I was Cassius Rep the stutter step Then bomb a left upon the facists Yea, the several federal men Who pulled schemes on the dream And put it to an end
In America We Kill Our Prophets
Ya better beware Of retribution with mind war 20/20 visions and murals with metaphors
The networks at work, keepin' people calm Ya know they murdered X And tried to blame it on Islam He turned the power to the have-nots And then came the shot
Conservative Philosophy Of Greed And Corruption Has Damaged U.S. Economy
And now they want another four years in power?
The sad, and utterly frightening fact is that nearly half the U.S. electorate is bending over and begging for more.
I honestly wish there were blue, and red states so that we could divide into two nations. One (Blue) a prosperous rationally ruled nation of equality, the other (Red) a bankrupt and corrupt nation ruled by a small powerful elite in which all the dumbass trailer trash who supported such shit live as white slaves.
The more I listen, and learn about the current state of the U.S. economy the more convinced I am that the people running the show haven't a clue how to save us.
There's no certainty that a trillion dollar bail out of the financial industry will keep hundreds of banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms, and mortgage companies from crashing into insolvency.
Nor is there any convincing evidence that a bail out will restart a failed real estate sector, or save the failed U.S. auto industry.
There are in fact so many companies in trouble that one trillion dollars may only be a start.
The simple fact is that the Bush Administration deliberately, as a matter of philosophy and greed, sabotaged the regulatory bodies which would have prevented the current economic meltdown.
And now that same administration is attempting to ramrod a swindle of historic proportion which would allow that morally bankrupt administration to dispense a trillion dollars of the taxpayer's money without any kind oversight.
We my fellow Americans are in a lot of trouble.
The American economy is like the Titanic, with those in the first class sending their gang of enforcers down into the lower decks to shake down the impoverished for all they are worth just prior to abandoning ship.
We've seen it before, all those who have profited from the sham Bush economy will keep their spoils, and will even profit again as consultants in phase two of the sham, and tax payers will be stuck paying interest for treasury bills sold to Arabia, and China for generations to come.
The Bush Administration is the most corrupt administration in the history of America, and anyone who continues to support it are unpatriotic.
This is a song I listened to, and liked when I was four years old. The Beatles' song, "I Want To Hold Your Hand", had just crossed the Atlantic, and was very popular, and getting much airtime. My memories take me back to the summer of 1964. I had not yet begun to attend Kindergarten, and I had a great deal of time to play and play and play, and this was one of the songs I used to sing to myself while I played.
I have a very strong memory of listening to, and singing this song in my front yard on Lincoln Street in Springfield, Illinois. I sort of knew the words because they were very simple (i.e., "I want to hold your hand"). A little child prefers simple songs, and perhaps that is what made the song so easy for me to learn, to like, and to remember.
One benefit of having older female siblings was that as a child I was exposed to Rock and Roll, and the British Invasion.
Oh yes, I have memories all the way back to infancy.
How do I know my age then? I reviewed my early childhood memories with my mother, and she confirmed where, and what year it would have had to have been in order to have experienced those events.
Years later while doing genealogical and family history research I confirmed what my mother had told me. I very clearly have memories of infancy, age one, age two, age three, age four, age five, and every year after that.
Studies show that most people don't have accessible memories from that early in life, but for some like myself such memories are very precious indeed.
Here's some information from Wikipedia on the Song
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English pop and rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment. McCartney and Lennon did not have any particular inspiration for the song. Instead, they had received specific instructions from manager Brian Epstein to write a song with the American market in mind.[2]
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the band's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, starting the British Invasion of the United States music charts. It also held the top spot in the United Kingdom charts. A million copies of the single had already been ordered on its release. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became The Beatles' best-selling single worldwide.[3]
Background and composition
Epstein was worried about The Beatles' lack of commercial success in America—their earlier singles had flopped there—and so he encouraged Lennon and McCartney to write a song that would appeal to American listeners.[2] McCartney had recently moved into 57 Wimpole Street, where he was living as a guest of Dr. Richard and Margaret Asher. Their daughter, actress Jane Asher, had become McCartney’s steady girlfriend since first meeting earlier in the year. This location briefly became Lennon and McCartney’s new writing base, taking over from McCartney’s Forthlin Road home in Liverpool.[4] Margaret Asher taught music in a "small, rather stuffy music room" in the basement[4] and it was here that Lennon and McCartney sat at the piano and composed 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'. In September 1980, Lennon told Playboy magazine:
“
We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher's house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, 'Oh you-u-u/ got that something...' And Paul hits this chord [E minor] and I turn to him and say, 'That's it!' I said, 'Do that again!' In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that—both playing into each other's noses.[5]
”
In 1994, McCartney agreed with Lennon's description of the circumstances surrounding the composition of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" saying:
“
'Eyeball to eyeball' is a very good description of it. That's exactly how it was. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' was very co-written. It was our big number one; the one that would eventually break us in America.[6]
”
In the studio
The Beatles started recording "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at Abbey Road Studios in Studio 2 on 17 October1963. Notably, this marked the end of the Beatles using two-track recording; from then until 1968, all Beatles releases were recorded on four-track machines. Curiously, the song’s intro has an extra half a beat leading into the vocal. As it is unlikely to have been recorded in this way (the Beatles never played it like this live, although they did have to mime to it) it is therefore probably the result of an imperfect edit - the whole intro section from an earlier take spliced onto take 17. A studio montage in The Beatles Anthology includes an audio clip of McCartney instructing Ringo Starr on the dynamics of the drums in the song's intro.
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was one of the few Beatles songs (along with "She Loves You") to be recorded in German, entitled, "Komm, gib mir deine Hand". Odeon, the German arm of EMI (the parent company of the Beatles' record label, Parlophone Records) was convinced that the Beatles' records would not sell in Germany unless they were sung in German. The Beatles detested the idea, and when they were due to record the German version on 27 January1964 at EMI's Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris (where the Beatles were performing 18 days of concerts at the Olympia Theatre) they did not arrive for the session. Their record producer, George Martin, was outraged, and insisted they give it a try. Two days later, the Beatles recorded "Komm, gib mir deine Hand", one of the few times in their career that they recorded outside of London. However, Martin later conceded “They were right, actually, it wasn’t necessary for them to record in German, but they weren’t graceless, they did a good job”.[7]
"Komm, gib mir deine Hand" appeared in full stereo on the US Capitol LP 'Something New' and currently on the new Capitol CD compilation called "The Capitol Albums Vol. I".
Launching the invasion
In the UK, "She Loves You" (released in August) had shot back to the number one position in November following blanket media coverage of the Beatles (described as Beatlemania). Mark Lewisohn later wrote: “'She Loves You' had already sold an industry-boggling three quarters of a million before these fresh converts were pushing it into seven figures. And at this very moment, just four weeks before Christmas, with everyone connected to the music and relevant retail industries already lying prone in paroxysms of unimaginable delight, EMI pulled the trigger and released 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'. And then it was bloody pandemonium".[8]
On 29 November1963, Parlophone Records released "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the United Kingdom, with "This Boy" joining it on the single's B-side. Demand had been building for quite a while, as evidenced by the one million advance orders for the single. When it was finally released, the response was phenomenal. A week after it entered the British charts, on 14 December1963, it knocked "She Loves You", another Beatles song, off the top spot, the first such instance of the same act taking over from itself at number one in British history, clinging to the top spot for five full weeks. It stayed in the charts for another fifteen weeks afterwards, and incredibly made a one-week return to the charts on 16 May1964. Beatlemania was peaking at that time; during the same period, the Beatles set a record by occupying the top two positions on both the album and single charts in the United Kingdom.
EMI and Brian Epstein finally convinced American label Capitol Records, a subsidiary of EMI, that the Beatles could make an impact in the United States, leading to the release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with "I Saw Her Standing There" on the B-Side as a single on 26 December1963. Capitol had previously resisted issuing Beatle recordings in the U.S. This resulted in the relatively modest Vee-Jay and Swan labels releasing the group's earlier Parlophone counterparts in the U.S. Seizing the opportunity, Epstein demanded US$40,000 from Capitol to promote the single (the most the Beatles had ever previously spent on an advertising campaign was US$5,000). The single had actually been intended for release in mid-January of 1964, coinciding with the planned appearance of the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. However, a 15-year old fan of the Beatles, Marsha Albert, was determined to get hold of the single earlier.[9] Later she said:
“
It wasn't so much what I had seen, it's what I had heard. They had a scene where they played a clip of 'She Loves You' and I thought it was a great song ... I wrote that I thought the Beatles would be really popular here, and if [deejay Carroll James] could get one of their records, that would really be great.[10]
”
James was the deejay for WWDC, a radio station in Washington, D.C. Eventually he decided to pursue Albert's suggestion to him and asked the station's promotion director to get British Overseas Airways Corporation to ship in a copy of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from Britain. Albert related what happened next: "Carroll James called me up the day he got the record and said 'If you can get down here by 5 o'clock, we'll let you introduce it.'" Albert managed to get to the station in time, and introduced the record with: "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time on the air in the United States, here are the Beatles singing 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'"[9]
The song proved to be a huge hit, a surprise for the station, as they catered mainly to a more staid audience, which would normally be expecting songs from singers such as Andy Williams or Bobby Vinton instead of rock and roll. James took to playing the song repeatedly on the station, often turning down the song in the middle to make the declaration, "This is a Carroll James exclusive",[10] to avoid theft of the song by other stations.
Capitol threatened to seek a court order banning airplay of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which was already being spread by James to a couple of deejays in Chicago and St. Louis. James and WWDC ignored the threat, and Capitol came to the conclusion that they could well take advantage of the publicity, releasing the single two weeks ahead of schedule on 26 December.
The demand was insatiable; in the first three days alone, a quarter million copies had already been sold. In New York City, 10,000 copies flew off the shelves every hour. Capitol was so overloaded by the demand, it contracted part of the job of pressing copies off to Columbia Records and RCA. By January 18, the song had started its fifteen-week chart run, and on 1 February, the Beatles finally achieved their first number-one in America, emulating the success of another British group, the Tornados with "Telstar", which was number one on the Billboard charts for three weeks over Christmas and New Year 1962/63. The Beatles finally relinquished the number one spot after seven weeks, passing the baton to the very song they had knocked off the top in Britain: "She Loves You". Hunter Davies's biography of the band states that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" received certification for sales of 5 million copies in the US alone. The replacement of themselves at the summit of the U.S. charts was the first time since Elvis Presley in 1956, with "Love Me Tender" beating out "Don't Be Cruel", that an act had dropped off the top of the American charts only to be replaced by another of their releases.
With that, the "British Invasion" of America had been launched, and the music scene there would never be the same. Throughout the whole of 1964, only British artists were flying high at the top of the American charts; besides the Beatles, other dominant British acts of that period included the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Hollies and Herman's Hermits.
The American single's front and back sleeves featured a photograph of the Beatles with Paul holding a cigarette. In 1984, Capitol Records airbrushed out the cigarette for the re-release of the single.
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was also released in America on Meet the Beatles!, which groundbreakingly altered the American charts by actually outselling the single. Beforehand, the American markets were more in favour of hit singles instead of whole albums; however, two months after the album's release, it had shipped more than three-and-a-half million copies, a little over a hundred thousand ahead of the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single.
Aftermath
The song was greeted by raving fans on both sides of the Atlantic but was dismissed by some critics as nothing more than another fad song that would not hold up to the test of time. Cynthia Lowery of the Associated Press expressed her exasperation with Beatlemania by saying of the Beatles: "Heaven knows we've heard them enough. It has been impossible to get a radio weather bulletin or time signal without running into 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'."[11] Another critic declared that the Beatles were "really pretty boring to listen to. Their act is absolutely nothing," and that "[t]heir greatest asset is that they look like rather likable, almost innocent young fellows who have merely hit a lucky thing."[11]
Bob Dylan was impressed by the Beatles' innovation, saying, "They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid."[12] For a time Dylan thought the Beatles were singing "I get high" instead of "I can't hide". He was surprised when he met them and found out that none of them had actually smoked marijuana.[13]
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was not subject to numerous cover versions like other Beatles songs such as "Yesterday" or "Something", although Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops Orchestra did attempt an instrumental version in 1964, which actually rose as high as number 55 in the American charts.[specify] Another cover was by the Moving Sidewalks, who made a psychedelic version in the late 1960s. French parodic band Odeurs covered the song as a military march sung with a strong German accent. The pre-"Dirty Water" Standells performed the song in a guest appearance as themselves in the sitcom The Munsters, along with another song called "Do the Ringo." Jennifer Cihi, a Canadian singer of Sailor Moon fame, did a cover of the song for the album Sailor Moon & The Scouts: Lunarock. Most notably, bop-guitarist Grant Green included a stunning jazz recording of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as the title track of a 1965 album. Interestingly, the other tunes were jazz standards, perhaps validating Green's prescient appreciation of the Beatles' burgeoning musicality. The American band Sparks also delivered an unusual Philadelphia Sound-style cover of the song in the mid-1970s. It was also covered by R&B band Lakeside. The Beatles/Metallica fusion group Beatallica performed an homage to the song, titled "I Want to Choke Your Band", on their 2004 eponymous second album.The song was also covered by Jennifer Cihi (Serena) - Sandy Howell (Raye) from Sailor_Moon_soundtracks_(USA) (contemporary dance).
Neil Innes' the Rutles also memorably pastiched the song with laser-like accuracy as "Hold My Hand" in 1978, while British pop duo Dollar had a UK Top 10 hit with their version in January 1980 (coincidentally charting simultaneously with The Tourists' cover of "I Only Want To Be With You", which had originally been a hit for Dusty Springfield concurrently with the Beatles' version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand"). On Devo's debut album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, the song Uncontrollable Urge opens with a distorted version of I Want to Hold Your Hand's opening riff. In the 2007 filmAcross the Universe, T.V. Carpio sings a slowed-down cover version of the song in character as a young lesbian pining over a seemingly unattainable classmate.
For the 2006 album Love, coinciding with the Cirque Du Soleil production of the same title, George Martin and his son, Giles, melded the original studio recording (truncated) with a live performance at the Hollywood Bowl, complete with screaming hordes of teenage girls and the famous introduction from The Ed Sullivan Show, "Here they are ... The Beatles!!"
The Beatles' recording of this song also appeared as the opening track in the 1997 Time-Life 6-CD boxed set, "Gold And Platinum: The Ultimate Rock Collection", marking one of the very rare times that a Beatles recording was featured in an American-released various artists compilation collection. This set also featured one song each from the solo members of the Beatles: "It Don't Come Easy" (Ringo Starr), "Band On The Run" (Paul McCartney), "(Just Like) Starting Over" (John Lennon) and "All Those Years Ago" (George Harrison).
Melody and lyrics
Reminiscent of Tin Pan Alley and Brill Building techniques and an example of modified thirty-two-bar form,[16] the song is written on a two-bridge model, with only an intervening verse to connect them. The original song has no real "lead" singer or even a clearly defined melody, as Lennon and McCartney sing in harmony with each other. It could be argued that Lennon is leading McCartney, as Lennon's vocals are more prominent on the recording; however, when the Beatles performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, McCartney's vocals could be heard more clearly (although this may have been due to a poor audio mix).[17]
My nation is the result of hundreds of years of struggle toward equality And within my lifetime I have seen a miracle in which the majority A real majority has grabbed power from a privileged few.
People have given their lives for me. Unrecognized people have been beaten and terrorized for me Taking power from the white man and giving it to everyone Was an act of sacrifice for me Even though I am a white man
My country is very much rife with division Rich versus poor White versus black Hispanic versus Anglo I could go on, and on, and yet Despite these divisions we are one people
In America ghettos have no walls too high to scale And despite what anyone says most Americans Want equality, and prosperity for everyone
It is a nation both coming to grips with, and simultaneously burying its past And in the words of the prophet Zimmerman, America is a nation busy being born.
Unlike many older established nations My nation isn't made up of one ethnic group My nation isn't monopolized by one religion My nation isn't one color
America has a diversity and yet hasn't torn itself apart
We are a unique experiment in the making. And that is why I hope only the best for this land. I may say things critical of an administration But do not confuse my approach as unpatriotic
Because I love my country.
And that love of the nation, and the people is what drives my passion to write of politics.
Most of my regular readers are quite aware of my support for Barack Obama. And my liberal politics. Some who know me best also know I can be quite conservative. I am a mutt of sorts which is only natural since I am an American.
As the election nears. And as the rhetoric on all sides intensifies let us on all sides of various debates continue to remember That after the election we will all still be here together Americans
And while we may disagree we agree upon most things no matter what we are told. And it is in our common interest that lay our strength Yes, we can.
We can put aside our differences and demand that our government act in the best interest of the many, of the people, and not just the few and the powerful.
WASILLA, Alaska (CNN) -- For more than two decades, current Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a practicing Pentecostal.
Palin - Iraq War Planned By God
Speaking of the troops in Iraq, Palin says on the video, ""Pray for our military men and women who are striving do to what is right. Also for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for -- that there is a plan, and that plan is God's plan." Watch Palin speak at her former church »
Palin - God Helps "Seal The Deal" In Gas Pipeline Projects
Her campaign says she doesn't mix her faith with government business. But Palin did ask her audience to pray for $30 billion natural gas pipeline she is on a mission to build in Alaska. In the video Palin says, "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas pipeline built. So pray for that ... I can do my job there in developing my natural resources. But all of that doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart is not good with God."
Palin's Current Church - Terrorism Used By God To Punish Jews
Palin now attends the Wasilla Bible Church. She was there on August 17, just days before entering the national spotlight. David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus, was a speaker. He told congregants that terrorist attacks on Israel were God's "judgment" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity. Brickner said, "Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. When a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment -- you can't miss it."
The McCain campaign says his comments do not reflect her religious views. Palin's spokeswoman says she is pro-Israel.
Palin's Pastor - Vote Democrat And You'll Go To Hell
Pastor Ed Kalnin, the senior pastor of Palin's former Pentecostal church, has also come under fire for his comments. In 2004, he told church members if they voted for John Kerry for president, they wouldn't get into heaven. He told them, "I question your salvation."
Assembly of God issued a statement online in response which said Kalnin was "joking" when he suggested "Kerry supporters would go to hell," and statement went on to say, "We do acknowledge in hindsight that it was careless, and we do apologize for that. This statement is not written as a defense, but as a clarification."
Palin has done little while in office to advance a social conservative agenda. She told the Associated Press in an interview in 2006 that she would not allow her personal beliefs to dictate public policy.
"I've honestly answered the questions on what my personal views are on things like abortion and a lot of controversial issues," Palin told the Associated Press. "I won't hesitate to answer those questions about what my personal views are, but I am not one to be out there preaching and forcing my views on anyone else."
But in the last week, her religious background and outlook has certainly spurred debate far beyond Alaska.
RNC "Protesters" Looked For Trouble & Cops Provide It
"Some May Respect The Badge, But All Fear The Gun"
For International Readers, in the United States, the police are used to infiltrate political groups, break into homes without warrants, detain and arrest people on false charges, confiscate political materials, arrest journalist, arrest lawyers. Sound familiar? Land of the Free and Home of the Brave?
Now all of this is in addition to the general state of surveillance that Americans live under including having every aspect of their lives under review by the State.
In America we are allowed to work in order to pay taxes, to serve the police, and military, and make more children to hand down our way of life to the next generation. In the mean time we storm ass all over the world, and want to promote our "freedoms".
In the videos you are about to see I couldn't be more proud of these young people. Twenty years ago, and this would never have happened, but there are tens of millions of young Americans who detest what has become of their nation. These young people have the courage to stand up for their country, and hopefully, we pray, that it isn't too late.
As the Bush administration gasps its last stinking rotting breath the GOP hopes to somehow maintain its sleazy corrupt grip upon the reigns of power. Stay tuned folks, it's about to get interesting.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some Protesters (Protesting is not a crime) broke the law, and the police were only doing their jobs arresting. Having said that the methods and techniques employed by law enforcement violated hundred's, if not thousand's, of citizen's constitutional rights - which makes the police law breakers too.
Live Feed Uptake Journalist Video Of RNC Cops Arresting Hundreds!
Watch As Live-Feed Uptake Journalist Narrowly Avoid Arrest
In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, the FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force actively recruited people to infiltrate vegan groups and other leftist organizations and report back about their activities. On May 21, the Minneapolis City Pages ran a recruiting story called "Moles Wanted." Law enforcement sought to preempt lawful protest against the policies of the Bush administration during the convention.
RNC - Police Raid On "Convergent Center" Finds No Weapons
Since Friday, local police and sheriffs, working with the FBI, conducted preemptive searches, seizures and arrests. Glenn Greenwald described the targeting of protestors by "teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets." Journalists were detained at gunpoint and lawyers representing detainees were handcuffed at the scene. "I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault rifles, pump action shotguns," said Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who is representing several of the protestors. "The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children were held at gunpoint."
RNC Police Raid Homes - Gather People For Detention Centers
The raids targeted members of "Food Not Bombs," an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group that provides free vegetarian meals every week in hundreds of cities all over the world. They served meals torescue workers at the World Trade Center after 9/11 and to nearly 20 communities in the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina.
Also targeted were members of I-Witness Video, a media watchdog group that monitors the police to protect civil liberties. The group worked with the National Lawyers Guild to gain the dismissal of charges or acquittals of about 400 of the 1,800 who were arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. Preemptive policing was used at that time as well. Police infiltrated protest groups in advance of the convention. Nestor said that no violence or illegality has taken place to justify the arrests. "Seizing boxes of political literature shows the motive of these raids was political," he said.
RNC - Police Continue To Win Hearts And Minds
So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protestors who have committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by months-long espionage efforts to track what they do," Greenwald wrote on Salon. Preventive detention violates the Fourth Amendment, which requires that warrants be supported by probable cause. Protestors were charged with "conspiracy to commit riot," a rarely-used statute that is so vague, it is probably unconstitutional. Nestor said it "basically criminalizes political advocacy."
RNC - Police Round Up Journalist And Lawyers
Further evidence the political nature of the police action was the boarding up of the Convergence Center, where protestors had gathered, for unspecified code violations. St. Paul City Council member David Thune said, "Normally we only board up buildings that are vacant and ramshackle." Thune and fellow City Council member Elizabeth Glidden decried "actions that appear excessive and create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation for those who wish to exercise their first amendment rights
On Sunday, the National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against Police Brutality filed an emergency motion requesting an injunction to prevent police from seizing video equipment and cellular phones used to document their conduct. During Monday's demonstration, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. At least 284 people were arrested, including Amy Goodman, the prominent host of Democracy Now!, as well as the show's producers, Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. "St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city to be," Greenwald wrote, "with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations." Bruce Nestor said the timing of the arrests was intended to stop protest activity, "to make people fearful of the protests, but also to discourage people from protesting," he told Amy Goodman. Nevertheless, 10,000 people, many opposed to the Iraq war, turned out to demonstrate on Monday. A legal team from the National Lawyers Guild has been working diligently to protect the constitutional rights of protestors.
Being the Tuesday evening after a three day weekend, a weekend in which I stayed up entirely too late, I felt very sleepy, and wanted a nap when I came home.
And so I took one, and actually wasn't interrupted!
The nap was so long that I actually experienced some REM sleep, and had one or more dreams.
The last dream had a snippet which was odd, but only because it referenced my friend, Dave of the11thhour.blogspot.com. Actually it made reference to one of his mother's quilts.
I was in a different time and place, and so I am assuming it wasn't the now-when, but perhaps the recent past, or seeing through the eyes of another person (yes, I believe in that).
I was at a home in which everything was being moved, or actually had already been moved.
It was empty, except for some scraps of some cardboard boxes, and perhaps some moving tape.
But there was a desk, or some kind of pedestal sitting in the middle of the room - where I guess many boxes had moved through - a command center for the family which just moved.
Upon the squat little table lay a quilt - or perhaps it was an old comforter with patchwork.
I looked at it, and I felt I knew that I had seen it before, that it had belonged to my friend Dave's mother. It was a quilt, but not really a quilt as much as it was a heavy duty patchwork type comforter that was old. Something from the 1950s perhaps, and it had a pattern which I totally recall having seen at Dave's house perhaps on an old comforter at his house years ago.
Something I believe Dave would have used during his college years in the extension room which he blogged about.
I asked the mover, did I say there was a mover, who had just moved out of the house, and he said that he didn't know.
I said I knew who had just moved out, and that before he continued to move someone into the house that I wanted that old blanket.
He began to speak Spanish, but I believe I understood that he objected to me just taking the blanket, and I realized I was going to just take it anyway, and then
I realized I was dreaming, and decided I wanted to remember the dream and so I deliberately awoke.
Dream Ends
I went to see my daughter - no longer dreaming here folks - and she asked me about Sigmund Freud. She had just learned about Freud for the very first time today.
I told her that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and that Freud had some interesting ideas about dream interpretation, and I saw the coincidence in my half dream like state (which I still was in) while telling my daughter about dream interpretation, and considered it
more than just a coincidence
So I decided to write about my quilt dream, and post it.
Click on the photo to enlarge it. I just thought this car looked very retro in a Mid 1980s kind of way. In fact I had never even heard of this car until today. I gave it the walk around, and snapped some photos of it. I then looked it up on Wikipedia. Made by Mitsubishi, and sold in the U.S. by Chrysler. The rear of the car (I didn't post the pic due to license plate) has wording that it is a "European Import", but I'm not sure how that could be.
Someone has taken very good care of this little red sports car for the last nineteen to twenty four years. If you check out the rims they look original, and are in perfect condition along with the rest of this car. Sort of as if someone had just transported it to 2008 from 1985!
A Red Chrysler Conquest SRi
The Chrysler Conquest doesn't shout luxury, and is an odd looking car from my perspective here in 2008. Some slight modifications, and this car would have been sex on wheels, but there's too many straight lines for me. Still I find the style peculiar to the 1980s, and therefore interesting in a historical kind of way.
Red Chrysler Conquest SRi in Springfield, Illinois
The front turn lights and air intake make the front of the car look like a squished fish face. No front license plate completes the sporty look. Definitely Japanese in style. Chrysler stopped making Conquest SRi at the end of the 1980s, and so I guess it was a kind of "New Wave" sports car for those who couldn't afford a porche.
By the way, the suped up version of this car took many victories in various races at the time.
I took this photograph from the parking lot of the Super Walmart off Dirksen Parkway in Springfield, Illinois on Labor Day 2008.
Summary: Think plug-in flex fuel hybrids operating on biodieselhol made right here in the USA. The biodieselhol would be a mix of cellulosic and algae derived Biobutanol, and algae-biodiesel.
Such a mix would burn cleanly, be carbon neutral, domestically produced, renewable, and priced at today's fuel prices. It would not drive food prices up. It would be used in small super efficient diesel engines that would charge plug in hybrids (which use electric motors) when needed - thus achieving up to 100 MPG in an average sedan, or about half that in a full sized truck or SUV.
Think 80-100 MPG (easy to achieve, and already has been with a battery pack, and plug in kit using a Toyota Prius) for sedans, and 40-50 MPG for full sized flex fuel plug in hybrid trucks and SUVs.
Biodiesel and ethanol could be used to heat homes, and power factories.
The technologies are all converging on providing a solution to the problem of oil, and it is just a matter of having a government on the people's side long enough to help industries to convert.
Any solution will take time. No one can snap their fingers, and suddenly replace imported oil. Any solution will take decades. Existing automobiles will take up to thirty years to eliminate from the nations roads, and my plan would accelerate that to twenty years.
I recommend that the U.S. government take the major role in the transition toward a carbon neutral economy. Industry will do the work, but government needs to play an important role in getting the process started.
First, this will cost money, lots of it, so no balanced budget for awhile.
I don't pretend to know all of the details so I'm going to keep my proposal very rough.
NOT SO MUCH A PLAN AS SOME IDEAS I HAVE WHICH I'D LIKE TO SEE IMPLEMENTED
I would implement a cap and trade program for green house gas emissions.
I would implement tough CAFE standards on cars, suvs, and trucks so that within ten years such fleets must average 45 MPG, within fifteen years 55 MPG, and within twenty years 70 MPG.
I would provide tax breaks to homeowners, landlords, developers, etc., to increase the energy efficiency of their commercial and residential buildings.
I would also restore, and triple tax breaks on the purchase of hybrid automobiles.
I would triple federal tax breaks for businesses, and homeowners which install solar voltaic systems.
I would provide federal grants to rural school districts which purchase solar systems and wind turbines to provide power for their schools.
I would mandate that all federal automobile fleets, including the postal service, use hybrid vehicles, and run on flex fuels.
I would mandate that every federal building install photovoltaic, and/or solar heating systems.
I would provide federal grants to each state to subsidize the installation of solar heating and electric systems to heat and power every state's governmental buildings, all the way down to the municipal level.
I would provide federal grants to any university, community college, secondary, and elementary school in the nation to help pay for the installation of photovoltaic systems.
I would provide grants to State, County, and Municipal governments to replace their fleets of automobiles and trucks with hybrids.
I would promote the use of biodiesel, cellulosic-ethanol, and biodieselhol in all military land, ships, and aircraft with the exception of nuclear powered craft. Jet aircraft fuel would also be derived from renewable sources.
I would pass laws which encourage municipalities to allow homeowners, and businesses which produce more electricity than they need to sell it to the utility companies, and force utilities to purchase that power.
I would provide tax incentives to investors in green companies.
I would provide low interest rate loans to businesses seeking to develop cellulosic ethanol.
I would provide low interest rate loans to businesses seeking to develop bio diesel.
I would fully fund mass transit programs, and high speed rail programs.
I would provide grants to governmental bodies to switch their mass transit systems so as to rely upon renewable domestically produced carbon neutral forms of fuel and energy.
I would fund cash rewards programs to businesses which pass milestones in the development of technology and processes which lead to energy independence.
I would fund carbon sequestration pilot programs (clean coal).
I would authorize the building of the next generation of nuclear power plants, and begin the process of moving and processing of spent nuclear fuel to the Yucca Mountain long term storage facility.
I would subsidize a proof of concept program on cracked rock geothermal, and provide tax breaks to companies starting such power plants.
I would provide grants to each state which could be used to build very large energy projects of their own choosing as long as they were carbon neutral, and use domestically produced energy.
I would encourage through grants and tax breaks the development of small scale hydroelectric plants.
I would require that all fuel service stations in the country offer ethanol based flex fuels, and biodiesel. Such stations would receive grants and tax breaks to pay for the cost of the installation.
I would provide for tax breaks for households and businesses which would install LED lighting, replacing less efficient forms of lighting. Less efficient forms of lighting would become illegal to sell after ten years.
I would make the standard gasoline engine illegal to sell (new) within ten years. Engines would need to be able to burn flex fuels, including: ethanol, biodiesel, or biodiesalhol.
I would make the sale of gasoline illegal within twenty years.
I would cut red tape, and reduce approval time for use of federal lands to be used by corporations, and municipal power companies for the development of those lands for photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric power plants.
It could take ten or twenty years to break our dependence upon foreign oil, but it could be done in a way that creates jobs, and helps our economy. We're going to have to do it anyway, so why not do it in a way the benefits the people of the U.S. instead of waiting until the oil economy collapses.
We see in the screen capture above that CNN fails to indicate if their story title is a quote, an opinion piece, or simply a CNN pronouncement of a legal, or scientific fact. CNN, the advertising slut that it is, has continued its downward spin into the realm of such "news sources" as FOX, and the Globe. When it's not talking about politics it's filling its airtime with missing toddlers, and missing white women.
Why any real red state American simply knows that Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is both a pioneer and a Maverick. It's even in children's books.
Every red state child knows the story of Sarah Palin. When she settled in Alaska she had to fight huge polar bears, and fly around in her helicopter using her machine gun to kill giant moose. She was a real pioneer, killing wild bears, and helping lumberjacks and oil company executives to build an oil and natural gas pipeline.
Oh yes, and she's a game changer. By the way, there's no identification at all in the article that the piece is quoting a source, or that it is a opinion piece. Therefore we must consider this article to simply be a statement of fact - without sources. CNN has endorsed the McCain Palin ticket! It's official!
Hurricane Gustav Will Lead To Higher Gasoline Prices
With Hurricane Gustav headed toward the gulf at least a few oil related facilities will be disrupted, and with even a hint of disruption will come speculation on the oil commodities market - which means higher gasoline prices at the pump.
Unfortunately gasoline prices are already high, and with the labor day weekend anyone wanting to top off their tanks in preparation of even higher prices won't get much of a break. However, there's no telling how high gasoline prices could go.
Average Price of Regular Gasoline 08/30/2008 Springfield, Illinois Was $3.80/Gallon
Depending upon the track of the hurricane, and the amount of damage to offshore facilities, and coastal refineries I'd say we should expect to see prices over $4.00 per gallon by the middle of next week - perhaps even higher.
We in the U.S. might get lucky, and the hurricane may be made to veer off toward Mexico, but from all indications the time needed to make major changes in hurricane Gustav's course is rapidly coming to a close.
After a long week I'm a bit tired, so I'll relax a bit this evening with the wife. In the mean time watch this video on "George" McSame's pick for V.P. - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Governor Palin seems like your average conservative nutcase from Alaska.
Kill the Whales and Polar Bears Dudes! Oh yes, and like McCain she's owned lock stock and oil barrel by the oil industry.
Wow, where do I begin. Barack Obama gave a stirring acceptance speech tonight. I've seen many political speeches, and this one was one of the best I have ever witnessed.
I do, and have believed that now is the time for America to take a different direction, and I honestly believe that Barack Obama is the man that can take us there.
Will we win the upcoming election?
I don't know. The rich in the United States are used to controlling who gets all the cookies, and they aren't going to be happy having to share. But we as a nation are at a crossroads as to what type of nation we shall be.
Is the U.S. just a large third world dictatorship similar to those seen throughout the developing world, or is it an advanced nation like those in Europe, or Japan?
Only time will tell, but I'm sure hoping if enough voters come out and support Barack that it will be harder for the Republicans to steal the upcoming election like they did the 2000 election.
Today I emailed a person I know is a "conservative". Actually she is a "Christian" and believes that true Christians are always Republicans.
I sent her an email in which I asked if it made good sense to spend $7,000,000,000,000 on imported oil from the Middle East over the next ten years (actually closer to Ten Trillion).
I asked her if that is what a true patriotic American would support.
I came by her place of business, and with her permission I leaned over to check for my email in her inbox.
She had deleted the email.
That's right. She had immediately deleted it.
She was afraid of even considering such an issue as it might create doubt that the only choice she has is to support a Republican candidate in the upcoming Presidential election.
It is like a form of mental insanity.
I felt as if I were a character in a B grade movie in which I suddenly find myself surrounded by pod people.
I then spoke with another Republican.
I told her I was so excited about watching Barack Obama tonight.
She told me that she would never watch the convention tonight.
I asked her why, and she responded,
You mean watch Osama Bin Laden speak tonight?
This was the best she could do.
She had no other rational reason to provide, just some crazy response that one would expect from a grade school child.
The nation is filled with two types of people.
Those whose eyes are open, and those whose eyes are shut.
The nation has been run by the most corrupt regime in history, and those who put the evil regime in power live in fear of ever learning the truth.
For if they did - they would have to live with the guilt of what they have done to this nation, and the world.
We live with the truth buried deep inside us all. We tell ourselves that it doesn't really matter. That the truth is for someone else to grapple with. That it is for another time and place, but not now.
We spend our lives scraping an existence along the surface. The surface of what we think little of day to day. But down inside deep within - it is there waiting Waiting for that moment to express itself - to take flight
Our crude bodies demand food water sustenance The things we seek the things we hunt we then worship And as we age as we rot we close our eyes and try to forget That which has awaited within us from the very start
On that day that final day that final moment after which We shall be no more we believe we shall find our escape Perhaps in our devotion to some higher power or some greater good We seek this form of immortality and hope and pray
And after we are gone it exist another day within another And when we are forgot it continues beyond us awaiting And it leads us to ask - when will there be union? When will there be oneness?
Springfield, Illinois - Crowd of Thirty Five Thousand Line Up For Blocks To See Obama
The photo above was taken on 9th Street in Springfield, Illinois. The view looks north toward the intersection of 9th and Adams Street. The line of attendees snakes west on Adams past 7th Street and then reverses to the east returning to 9th Street. The line then continued north toward Washington Street.
Everyone seemed to be following a set of informal rules of not sneaking into line. Black, brown, white, young, old, male, female, rich, poor, middle class, gay, straight, east side, west side - everyone seemed to be in positive mood. We were all headed to the same place together.
Springfield, Illinois - Looking West On Adams - Line To Barack Obama and Joe Biden Speech
Something to scare of Republicans - who have always ruled by inspiring fear among the people in an attempt to divide us against each other - divided we have fallen - to the powerful, and corrupt, over and over again.
The photograph above was taken in the middle of Route 66 in downtown Springfield, Illinois. Just in front of the oldest bank in Illinois, Marine Bank. Looking back toward the corner of Sixth and Washington many in the crowd begin to lower their heads in prayer - just before Barack Obama came on stage to make his VP choice announcement.
I know, She'll Never Read The Message I Sent Via The Obama Website
Michelle:
It was such a privilege having you back in Springfield, Illinois for Barack's announcement that he chose Senator Biden as his running mate.
I proudly stood in arctic cold weather in February 2007 to see Barack, and then again to stand with thirty five thousand others the day Barack introduced us to Joe.
There is, however, something I must mention to you, something important because I know you'd want to know about it, and it affects your supporters, and the campaign.
For days now, since you left our community there's been an ongoing online expression of concern, some of it very angry and partisan, some of it not, about the numbers of people who physically collapsed, and the hundreds of others who nearly did, from heat exhaustion during Barack's speech.
I myself barely made it through the speech without passing out, and became sick afterward.
The Secret Service would not allow anyone to bring in bottled water, and the local media promised that there would be water available inside the event area.
However, once inside it became painfully obvious that it was nearly impossible to reach the few areas where water was being distributed.
Now Barack's detractors are suggesting that he, as the leader of his campaign, has shown a lack of leadership by not making certain that his campaign look out for his supporters under such dangerous conditions.
Quite frankly I doubt if you'll ever read this, but I hope that somehow you'll be made aware that many people I have spoken to have expressed their concern over just how close we came to having a major incident take place.
I hope that some of the money I donate, and will continue to donate, will go toward the purchase of provisions which volunteers can distribute to your supporters so as to help avoid anything like what happened here in Springfield.
Best of Luck, and God Bless!
A Letter To Michelle Obama From A Supporter In Springfield, Illinois
Incredible Only Because It Was Taken On A Cell Phone
From dozens of meters away.
I have several others of this type. I abandoned my real cameras so as to stay as light as possible for the event. Lesson learned, and I'll never do it again. I also have one, or two of Biden - pretty much like this. Kind of funny that I'd even write a post on this photo, but it's about all I have.
Actual Cloud Which Crowd Attending Obama Speech Cheered
Mike Davlin: How hot was it? JeromeProphet: It was so hot that the crowd attending Obama's speech cheered for cloud.
That's right folks it was that hot and humid in downtown Springfield, Illinois on August 23, 2008, the day that Barack Obama came to Springfield with Joe Biden to announce his VP pick.
Springfield, Illinois 08.23.08 - A Confused McCain Supporter Drove Miles Just To See Obama
Seemed like a nice enough fella, hair dye and all, but Dave and I ditched him. He seemed fascinated with our cell phones. Don't they sell cell phones in Mason City?
Here's Joe Biden Introducing Himself To Obama Supporters
I was expecting Senator Obama to pick Hillary Clinton, but I guess Joe Biden could be a better pick. Joe Biden probably doesn't arouse the same hateful knee jerk response that both Bill, and Hillary Clinton have. Joe Biden also has more than three decades of experience in the Senate, with his strong point being foreign policy.
And while I'm not expecting the upcoming Vice President to be anywhere near as powerful as the current puppet master, Dick Cheney, I do believe that a VP pick should consider how good of a President that VP would make in case the President couldn't finish the term out. In that regard it looks like Obama made a safe choice.
Look for me in the crowd. I'll be wearing a black pull over (with collar), and maroon sweat pants, and brown New Balance sneakers. And maybe, just maybe a very small camera bag. Oh yes, and sunglasses.
I'll be using my cellphone as my camera this time, and so if you're interested you can go to:
www.sureyouare.blogspot.com to check out my semi-live uploads of both video, and photos. I won't bother with text.
I'll be out there with Dave of The11thhour blog. We both decided that waiting three hours while standing completely surrounded by hot sweaty people half a football field away from Mr. Obama was not really worth it - so we're going to arrive a bit after eleven, but before noon.
So I better go now, and hope it doesn't rain - because I'm not taking an umbrella.
