Greg Palast audio file:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_07_25_palast.mp3

Your tax money at work...or at waste...it's a wonder there's anyone left to kill over there....http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs62.html

Here's a little video of libertarian/Republican Ron Paul's visit to my neck of the woods. I didn't go, but I know one of the people in the video.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3oyHij5Wpw

You have to admire Sam Smith, his head and heart are certainly in the right place. He's one of the few optimists left in the world. He's given us a lot to think about, and although I wish I could respond in a thematic way, I can offer only further observations touching on what he's said.-- I heard an interview of Barack Obama on NPR in which he said winning with 50% of the vote plus one isn't enough, that one can't really govern with that, and he's hoping to win with a broad coalition, like 60%, to actually accomplish anything. He also said that to get that kind of broad support, one has to be willing to work with people with concerns different from one's own. He didn't say, but I couldn't help thinking, it might mean subordinating some of one's own goals to the goals of others...say, sacrificing economic growth for the sake of the environment, or vice-versa.-- I watched the movie "Unreasonable Man" recently, about Ralph Nader. It's definitely worthwhile and thought-provoking. In fact I'm still trying to digest it. The movie does a great job relating Nader's upbringing in a politically-conscious family. Every morning at breakfast Nader's father would announce a "problem of the day," and by dinner every evening Ralph and his two sisters were expected to have thought about it and at least tried to find a possible solution. The movie lists many protections of modern life we take for granted but for which we owe Nader a debt of gratitude: mandatory seat belts, airbags, nutritional information, cigarette warnings, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, OSHA, etc.As early as the 1970's, some people urged Nader to run for President. For years he always replied by saying the country wasn't ready, that change had to start at the grass-roots, and that he wanted people to view democracy as something one participates in, not something one "consumes" like a TV dinner. But obviosuly by the late 1990's either conditions had changed or something had changed his mind. In the film he says that there were no honest candidates left and that the only way to get a major party to take your concerns seriously is to prove that you can deny them your vote.But Phil Donahue, a strong supporter of Nader's legal efforts and his 2000 presidential run, says that, despite a lifetime of progressive work, tragically Nader will be most remembered as somehow putting Bush in office. "That will be the first line of his obituary." Michael Moore, strong supporter of Nader in 2000, having seen the damage Bush wrought, by 2004 emphasized pragmatism over ideology, saying something along the lines of "a few minutes of pleasure can ruin your whole life."-- I recently read Greg Palast's book "Armed Madhouse," which I also highly recommend. (Palast is an American who reports for the BBC and who first broke the story of the Bushes, Katherine Harris, and Choice Point knocking thousands of law-abiding minority voters off the rolls in Florida in 2000 on the pretext their names sounded like the names of out-of-state felons.) Palast claims Clinton-Gore's support of NAFTA in 1993 cost the Democrats control of Congress in 1994. At the time, I had supported NAFTA, and I attributed the subsequent loss of Congress more to the failure of Clinton's health care initiative, Republican filibustering, and a sense that Congress couldn't get anything done. But Palast points out that without an economic reason to vote Democratic, labor stayed home and/or voted social issues. This jibes with something I heard an AFL-CIO rep say once on C-Span, that labor supports Dems 60% or more economically but only about 40% on social issues (guns, gay rights, abortion, etc.). And now, 15 years later, I'm not sure NAFTA was the right idea...but there's no going back.Then yesterday I heard an economic report on NPR about stagnating wages. It said that between rising health care costs and immigration holding wages down, US workers are making the same or less today as 30 years ago. The report concluded by saying, if you want to help US workers, you must contain helath care costs and control immigration. But then I think, hell, if we weren't in Iraq, we could fund health care for everyone here.At this point I haven't decided whom to support for President. I like most of the Democrats, though I have problems with each of them. And even if one agrees with a candidate's platform, there's always the question of how likely are they to get it passed (Carter and Clinton had limited success even with Democratic Congresses). But the Dems are all preferable to Bush-Cheney, or the current crop of Republicans. I may be leaning slightly toward Obama at this point. If Ron Paul were to get the Republican nomination (almost impossible), I might vote for him. I am planning to go hear him speak this weekend.

Would love your feedback on America 2.0 by Sam Smith.Do you agree with the diagnostic?Do you agree with the prescription?

Senor will be posting soon a great essay written by the mighty Sam Smith.It is an excellent piece on ways to think about the upcoming election and how to change the way we think about political engagement.If you've never checked out his work before, you're in for a special treat.Don't forget to look at http://www.prorev.comHe publishes a daily compendium of the day's more relevant news. There's always something that might fly under the radar screen otherwise, hence the name of his bulletin, Undernews.

What a great time we had in the Pacific Northwest! Tiny and Senyor did an outstanding job lining up what proved to be a fun set of gigs. Much appreciation to Ms. Meg who despite not sharing our views did share her home with us: MUCHAS GRACIAS!Enjoyed our gig at the FunHouse and enjoyed meeting EightHourDisease. Great seeing KT, our wonderful artiste, and a ton of friends. Very intrigued with the King N' Beast Sideshow of September 15. Not sure we'll make it but if we don't, it won't be from lack of wanting. Tiny had a lot of fun playing b-ball in the patio and i enjoyed talking to two cuates, Alfredo y Cesar. And no, to the kid who was up in my face part of the gig, i was NOT, i repeat NOT, wearing a toupee. I call my mohawk mullet my sanjaya.For me the highlight of the gig at Galway Arms was meeting the Ignorants from LA, especially Bo, Diego, and John. Very fun to watch and even more fun to hang with. Many thanks to Matt and Annie for letting us practice at their place all of the days we were in Seattle and for coming to this gig. And to the silent guy with the tophat who stayed in front of us for the whole gig - thanks bro for your silent encouragement.Later on, Friday, we heade to Portland. The live streaming gig at KPSU was characterized by a bunch of very nice engineers and it was good to meet Demian for the first time. Then the main event, Saturday the next day at BRAINSTAINS. http://www.brainstains.com A very great all-ages venue and community center, essentially the home of some very great folk. Great great people and energy there. They MUST meet the Beehive Collective in Maine. The two meeting is a natural.Only thing that was a little not-so-great was an exchange between three women and the vocalist for the band right before us (someone help me out - something about getting run over or something like that). The vocalist, a great guy in my opinion, in joking had said something to the effect that "if there are any drunk underage girls, our van is in the front". Not too different from a lot of comedy, and certainly a lot less than what i've heard Geroge Carlin. The women were understandably upset about how that comment could be taken - sure, i can see someone taking it literally and thinking that taking sexual advantage of a drunk person is fine or cool or funny - and so they confronted the vocalist. There was a back and forth that escalated a bit.For one, i think that this kind of discussion is GREAT but only if those engaged in the discussion are respectful. The women were clear that they felt personally offended and knew of other women there who were also offended. Fair enough. But i wonder, is getting in someone's face the way to resolve the different worldviews?One of the women at one point said to some of the young men that were defending the joke whether or not they would have felt so cavalier if the joke had been about raping little boys. Too bad i didn't have a chance to get more involved - had to run off to our set (got booed at the instagation of my bandmates for keeping everyone waiting) but i could have pointed them to our song BLACK TAR.What would i have done if the joke had been about a highschool physics teacher and p.e. coach in Charleston, SC, taking advantage of adolescent boys? I doubt i would have been so confrontational for my goal would have been to get the person to think about it a little and would have said "you know bro, that "joke" happened to me and it sucked..."Instead, in my opinion, the confrontational approach generated a defensive reaction to the point that even though i thought the vocalist was trying to listen a bit and explain his sense of humor - which i thought in part was beyond the call of duty - the discussion was more of a confrontation rather than a "can we try to figure this out together?: you think it's funny, i feel mortified, is there possibility of understanding each other?"Language is very tricky and i agree with the women: language can generate an atmosphere that permits or even encourages nasty things to happen. Thanks to changes in the law, this is called sexual harrassment and is an actionable offense. Part of what i'm trying to get at with BE SHIFT, beyond this particular issue but about language and confrontation in general. And yet, and yet, humor sometimes is very very harsh.I was glad the women were in an environment were they were able to bring this up, even in a belligerent fashion, but i wish we were ALL making more of an effort to communicate rather than to continue to perpetuate conflict. Although i tried to mediate a little bit, i felt that my input was unwelcome and possibly falling into a category of "you trypical malke, always trying to speak for us." Not the intention, just diffusing what was an unpleasant way for the other band to end a gig, obviously a gig where they had put heart and soul into it, gave away discs, and for which at best they got some gas money.Not to say one can be a cretin as long as one is also doing other good things, but if one is doing good things, they at least deserve the respect of a clear and open discussion, and not a confrontation in which they are incorrectly - in my opinion - accused of condoning rape.That notwithstanding, a great gig at BRAINSTAINS. Jerrald Love and many others: thanks for your energy and support!

Blowback from the 1980's Iran-Iraq war:http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000448

Great analysis of the Libby commutation. The highlighted words are all all hyperlinks, and the ending is "Rich," to say the least:http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11236

There are more contractors than troops in Iraq:http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/626324.html

Cool enough. I look forward to hearing your music Live.