2003 – Page 47 – commonplacebook.com

Sorry, Lafayette, I’m Staying Home

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 14, 2003
Post category:Politics

A Florida congresswoman, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite is proposing legislation to enable families of war dead who are buried in France to exhume their bodies and bring them home to be buried in the United States. Her explanation: “I, along with many other Americans, do not feel that the French government appreciates the sacrifices men and women in uniform have made to defend the freedom that the French enjoy today.”

Never mind that the reason we enjoyed any of the freedom we used to have in this country is because the without the help of France, we would never have won the revolutionary war. That’s the reason Eisenhower sent a message to the French on the eve of the D-Day invasion: “Lafayette, I’m coming.” And General Lafayette, the Frenchman who came to our aid, loved America so much that he wanted to be buried on American soil.

Memory Hole and Unknown News

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 14, 2003
Post category:Current Events Politics Recently Read

The Memory Hole: ” The Memory Hole exists to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known. The emphasis is on material that exposes things that we’re not supposed to know (or that we’re supposed to forget).”
Unknown News: “The news you need, whether you know it or not. We try to spotlight news that hasn’t gotten enough (or appropriate) attention.”
Both these news sites monitor and record big news reports, and in the case of The Memory Hole, when a newspaper censors itself for some reason, they will take note of the original writing and how it’s been changed. For example, check out how the New York Times deleted mention of Police Snipers at a recent anti-war protest.

Tracking the Right-Wing Astroturf

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 14, 2003
Post category:Politics

Here’s what it is: leaders of the GOP will send out canned letters to select constituents in key media markets across the country, and these constituents will then turn around and e-mail them to the “letters to the editor” section of various local newspapers and magazines as well national publications. Many of these media outlets are pretty gullible and will print these astroturf letters routinely, and end up being nothing more than unpaid advertisers for the Republican party. The Indianapolis Star has one in it’s pages nearly every day, because, well, they aren’t the brightest bulbs in the socket.
But if you can find the letters ahead of time, like this blogger has, you can have fun with Google and spot the letters in papers all over the country.

Boycott Brand America

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 14, 2003
Post category:Politics

How do we – from Tokyo and Bombay to London and Los Angeles – take a stand against Rogue Nation USA? Here’s an idea: we hit the superpower with a boycott the whole world can see, and that American power can really feel. For most of us, the clear symbols of American culture gone wrong are the corporate logos that make up Brand America. So we empty the McDonald’s, the Niketowns and Hollywood cinemas. We clear out Disneyland. We turn off Fox, CNN and MTV. We shut down Esso and Texaco, Gap and Starbucks.

My Favorite Atari Game Ever – Adventure

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 14, 2003
Post category:Art Recently Read

Is now a flash video game by Scott Pehnke – Adventure. That’s so cool. Except that I can’t play it until tomorrow when I’m not at work. 🙁

On a lighter note…

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 13, 2003
Post category:Journal

Geri halliwell mentions she once had a lesbian fling. Woo Hoo!

Give it up, George

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 13, 2003
Post category:Politics

You’ve probably all heard the story by now of how our esteemed elected officials decided to change the name of french fries and toast (“House cafeterias change names for ‘french’ fries and ‘french’ toast”) to “freedom fries” and “freedom toast” on the house menu because the French are opposed to us starting an unjustified war with Iraq and then profiteering from it.

Well, check out all the shit at the White House that was given to us by the French. I could use some of that stuff… hand it over, George. Come to think of it, they gave us the Statue of Liberty, too. Geez, I hope that since we’re no longer a free country, they don’t decide to ask for it back.

More proof of the dangers of the Patriot Act

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 13, 2003
Post category:Indianapolis Politics

The FBI seized and opened, without warrant or legal right, a package being exchange between two reporters containing unclassified information about terrorism. The exciting thing about it is that the government’s illegal seizure occurred right here in Indianapolis at the FedEx hub, and the jackass FBI guy who made the bonehead decision to snatch the package was our own local guy, Doug Garrison. Sure, our government isn’t out of control. And sure, we aren’t a bunch of rubes out here in Indy.

Iraq has never been a threat

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 13, 2003
Post category:Politics

More evidence that Iraq is no threat whatsoever to U.S. security.

It’s not about the oil?

Post author:HFM
Post published:March 13, 2003
Post category:Politics

Read this article in the New Yorker and then try to tell me that this war isn’t about businesses in our country trying to gain control of the Iraq oil.