Oh look I’m on Neil Gaiman’s blog:
http://www.neilgaiman.com/extras/9thBlogiversary/images/1265753577_hineil.png
Latest Whispers RSS
-
Shadowflare: -
Shadowflare:
is Tweeting in a circle!
-
Shadowflare:
The United States Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, has decided that not only do corporations posses all the rights that individuals are guaranteed by the Constitution, they are also now allowed to spend money, without restriction, on political campaigns. No longer do they need to buy off our public officials from behind the scenes through lobbyists and backroom deals. They can now openly spend billions on getting the people they want elected.
It was a 5-4 decision, meaning it could be contested at some point, however for the time being, come the next few election cycles, the will of the people no longer matters. Instead of everyone getting a voice and a chance to have their financial contributions to candidates mean something, the select few at the reigns of corporate machines get to dilute electoral campaigns with billions. And since 5 corporations own all of the world’s media outlets, they will control what message gets out, who gets exposure, etc, basically fixing races all across the country.
There is currently an effort underway to collect petition signatures to support a constitutional amendment to strike this ruling down and make it impossible for Corporate America to ever be able to accomplish this again.
http://freespeechforpeople.org/
It’s been a long-held popular beliefe that our public officials are already bought and paid for. But at least there’s some shame about it and an effort to hide it a little. Now all bets are off as Frito Lays brings you the State of the Union and the Capitol Building gets sponsored by Pfizer. They don’t have to sneak around anymore, and now politicians will be openly vying for blessings from their corporate overlords.
This has the makings of a dystopian nightmare.
-
Shadowflare:
Iranian protests, which started in the aftermath of the controversial presidential elections last summer have erupted into new waves of violence.
This new resurgence of protests comes after the death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a strong voice of opposition against Iran’s current regime.
-
Shadowflare:
MINNEAPOLIS – Starting on 3rd and continuing on until the 5th, anti-war protests have broken out across Minnesota. On Wednesday night, hundreds of protesters marched downtown and were met with police resistance as they chanted slogans and handed out flyers against Obama’s announcement that 30,000 more American troops will be deployed to the Afghanistan arena.
Arrests were made on Wednesday night, however there was a more peaceful assembly on Saturday afternoon as the Hiawatha and Lake intersection in South Minneapolis where 200+ protesters chanted, held signs and received cascades of approving honks from passing motorists.
The protesters are a collective of different local anti-war groups, and their speakers called for further collaboration and cooperation between the groups. Further pickets are planned for December and very likely for a long time after in response to what has been an unpopular announcement from the president.
These protesters are by and large former supporters of the president who worked to put him in office for the expressed purpose of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq, and many expressed their disappointment. Obama ran on ‘winning the Afghanistan war’, yet elements within his base were hoping that he would change his mind about that. The rising tide of malcontentment with Obama had previously been confined to the hard rightwing and the Tea Party movement, but has now expanded into the leftwing as is evidenced by these protests.
Sources
MNDaily – Anti-war protesters march in Minneapolis, arrests made
YouTube – DASWO Anti-War March Minneapolis 12/2/09 -
Shadowflare:
The Australian government may be on notice from internet groups for a proposed internet filter, but if they follow this politician’s lead, they may redeem themselves. Australian Senator Xenophon is looking to take his country in the same direction that Germany, France and Belgium have gone with regards to the Church of Scientology by having them investigated for fraud and to re-examine their religious status and the tax benefits that go with it. The following videos are two parts to his speech before Australian Parliament:
This is giving hope to tens of thousands of Anonymous protesters, ex-Scientologists and other enemies of the cult who have been urging world governments to take action since January of 2008. Germany has declared Scientology a criminal organization, while France has just recently convicted them of fraud. Australia would be the first English-speaking country to take such a massive measure against the organization since the U.S. Federal government prosecuted the masterminds of the ‘Operation: Snow White’ infiltrations of the IRS in the 1950s.
-
Shadowflare:
Women Against Military Madness (W.A.M.M.) picketed outside of the Beth-El Synagogue in St. Louis Park, Minnesota last night, protesting against torture and war crimes they attributed to Former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice who was speaking at the temple at the very same time.
An hour beforehand protesters collected from all around the neighborhood and beyond, carrying signs, donning orange jumpsuits and wearing black sacks over their heads to symbolize the many alleged torture victims at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the prison upon his inauguration in January, however critics have maligned him since the facility remains open and operational.
Other complaints concerned the Obama Administration’s refusal to release ‘torture photos’ of inmates and Rice’s pre-war claims of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction. Most of the 150 protesters left after the speech officially started inside at 6:00PM. Some stayed until the meeting was adjourned, hoping to catch a glimpse of Condi leaving the building, but she was never spotted going either in or out.
The synagogue, which charged $50 for tickets, hosted a packed house of 600+ to hear Rice’s speech about Israeli-US relations. An ‘unrestricted Q and A’ was advertised, but both protesters and FOX reporter Leah Beno have confirmed for us that only 5 questions were asked, and were written by attendees on cards beforehand and cherry-picked by moderator Don Shelby.
Protesters played music and sang and shouted their own questions into the building regarding Rice’s recent statement that ‘We did not torture anyone’, a claim that many dispute due to military courts and other government officials admitting that abuses did occur within Guantanamo Bay.
-
Shadowflare:
@cnnbrk We want the public option! Look at the polls! Tell your audience what the American people want. #cnnprotest
-
Shadowflare:
Remember, remember
-
Shadowflare:
@cnnbrk We want the public option! Look at the polls! Tell your audience what the American people want. #cnnprotest
