Sleight of Hand: GOP cornered and dangerous

Nothing to see here! Hey, look at that ACORN!
As the end looms, and the smoke clears, the GOP strategy seems clear. It doesn't seem like anyone on the Democratic side is taking a victory for granted, but McPalin's outlook is pretty bleak right now. So, from what I'm hearing and reading, the last strategy is outright stealing the election by reverting to 18th and 19th century voter suppression strategies.

The Repugnicans have been screaming bloody murder about voter fraud, trying to get everyone talking about ACORN, but the true cases of voter fraud are rarer than lottery winners. This is all just a smokescreen to distract people from what is happening across the country, all in the perverted name of the Help America Vote Act. Just like in Florida in 2000, several states are thinning out the voter rolls, and often more likely in poor and ethnic areas. According to the Steal Back Your Vote comic book, co-written by Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Greg Palast, Republican lawyers across the country are challenging and intimidating voters. In their recent article in Rolling Stone, they wrote:

On Super Tuesday, one in nine Democrats who tried to cast ballots in New Mexico found their names missing from the registration lists.

A lot of voters are being challenged because their records don't match on the Drivers License database with the Social Security data. I was called to jury duty twice in one year, just because one list had my name spelled differently than another list. Maybe I won't be able to vote either! I just ran across this story about how certain Florida counties are refusing to go along with the real strict hassling of voters. This is out there to be paid attention to.

This has to bubble up to the top of the media consciousness soon, before it's too late. Please pass the word about this strategy. Enormous sunlight needs to shine into these dark ugly corners, if we are to preserve our democracy.

Insert Caption Here!

according to the ABC caption:

Republican presidential nominee John McCain almost heads the wrong way as he leaves the stage after shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama after the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008.
(Jim Bourg/Reuters)

So, what I really would like is for as many of you as possible to write your own caption for this photo!

A Stake Through The Heart

Hunting for Vampires
OK, so I got this weird image/fantasy about the change this country could go through. It seems like lately the McCain/Palin beast has been all too willing to summon the dark demons of fear and prejudice in in their naked drive to keep the Cheneys of this world in power. I feel like the promise of an Obama presidency is so enticing, and will be such a positive step for this country, but these demons need to be quelled. My hope is that enough people will wake up in time to 'drive a stake through the heart' of this darkness, and will stay vigilant after the election to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The moment Bill Clinton was sworn in, he was under attack by these same forces. Just how much more could he have accomplished if he didn't have 'that weakness?' Can a President Obama summon the kind of unity needed to transform this country into what it could be? That's why we need to keep these demons in check, to not let them out of the box ever again. Yeah, yeah, dream on Geoff.

When I was doing a little web search on the phrase stake through the heart, a weird story popped up. Apparently, some real vampire hunters in Serbia dug up the body of Slobodan Milosevic, and rammed a wooden stake through the heart of the former dictator to stop him 'returning from the dead'. Apparently some people take the concept just a tad too literally!

One of the reasons I like Star Trek so much is that it presents a world where the decision has been made to leave institutionalized poverty behind, forever. It still exists on other worlds, but humans have left it all behind. Can we ever unite to such an extent? It seems unlikely in the face of so much entrenched self-interest, but hey...

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Donna Brazile Is Not Going To The Back Of The Bus

My friend Jeff Johnson forwarded this video from Donna Brazile that hits the nail on the head. I wanted those of you who aren't already on Jeff's list to see it too. This comes at the end of an 80-minute panel, and Donna just launches into this wonderful ad-lib. This is incredibly timely, considering the incredibly facsistic, racist rallies that Palin and McCain were whipping into frenzies on Monday. Donna's comments were this weekend, before the ugly incidents.

Bluegrass Bikeride

Saturday in Golden Gate Park
I slept most of the morning, while Martha was away at a Peace Corps conference, and decided that now that the sun had come out, maybe I'd get on my bike, and head over to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which has become such a huge annual affair in Golden Gate Park.

Once I got to the park, it was somewhat uphill, and even though I'm in better shape now, I was sure breathing hard on my way past the buffalo, and on to the western border gate of the festival. There were so many people, bike riders were asked to walk their bikes, so my ride turned into a walk. I could hear the sweet pedal steel of the Desert Rose Band, playing on the Star Stage. When I got close enough, I tried to take my picture, with the stage in the background. Now and then, my iPhone camera gets its brain scrambled when taking a picture, and it seemed somewhat fitting I should get this chopped-up image of me still huffing and puffing!

I headed farther into the park to the Rooster Stage, and caught the very last songs of Nick Lowe. Before I got close enough to see, I could hear a solo acoustic guitar singing "I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll," one of Nick's classics. I was hoping that maybe Elvis Costello would join him at the end and sing "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding," a Nick Lowe song most famously done by Elvis. Elvis wasn't in the building, but my wishes were granted anyway, as Nick closed his set with a slower, tasty solo acoustic version. That was worth the bike ride right there!

At this point, I walked my bike (very slowly; walking a bike through a huge crowd is not so easy!) over to the Arrow Stage, where Jerry Jeff Walker was playing. Heard some nice tunes, such as the pretty Navajo Rug, Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother, and heard LA Freeway as I headed back home. Kind of nice to have these lyrics stuck in my head as I left the vicinity for the ride home:

If I can just get off of that L.A. Freeway
Without getting killed or caught
Down the road in a cloud of smoke
For some land, some land that I ain't bought, bought, bought
If I can just get off that L.A. Freeway
If I can just get off of that L.A. Freeway
Without getting killed or caught

What About Now?

Enough!
I'm sick to freakin' death of the underlying text of what passes for politics in this so-called Greatest Country on Earth. The news media simultaneously reports that many white voters think blacks are "too lazy, violent, and responsible for their own troubles." At the same time we hear some people think Obama is too elitist, too priviledged, too refined.

We hear whispers about how he's really a radical Muslim, while hearing about his so-called racist black Christian pastor.

Make up your freakin' mind!

I'm sick of basically getting the idea that America is "not ready" for a black president, while of course having to put up with comments about how he's not black enough. I don't feel like waiting. I've waited long enough. 8 years is more than enough. How's NOW work for you?

From Robbie Robertson's song What About Now:

There's gonna be a change of season
Indian summer look around and it's gone
Why you wanna save the best for last
We grow up so slowly and grow old so fast

We don't talk about forever
We just catch it while we can
And if i grab on to the moment
Don't let it slip away out of my hand

Chorus:
What about now
Forget about tomorrow
It's too far away
What about now
Close your eyes
Don't talk of yesterday
It's too far away, too far away
What about now

I'm coming out of the shadows
I'm getting of of this one way street
Blue memories they just gather dust
Leave them in the rain they turn into rust

Did you see the march to freedom
Did you ever see savannah moon
All the people walking in a line
Said to the man, is it my time?

Chorus

In the walk of a lifetime
When you know it's the right time
I can't wait until the ship comes in
I can't wait starting all over again
The errors of a wise man
Make the rules for a fool

MP3 (with vinyl record scratch noises!)

Fox in the Henhouse

Wall Street Worries
Sure, there are probably people who shouldn't have been given home loans, and no, government shouldn't always be the solution for bad judgement, but the latest fiscal crisis is so much more than just a few bad loans to people in no position to repay them. There has been a massive deregulation of the finance industry by the same folks who have brought us privatization of almost everything.

Now, people by the score are losing their homes, their jobs, and their dreams, and all the government can do is defend executive compensation for CEO's of bankrupt firms? And oh, by the way, in case one is not that good with powers of ten, the $700 billion price tag is on a par with the cost of the Iraq war. So, it's not like I don't want the government helping us out, I mean, that's what government should be doing, right? But...do I trust the current regime with that many zeroes? I just don't have that kind of faith.

I will say that the potential is here for the biggest heist in history. Shall we give them a blank check?

Omigawd!

Winter Wonder Phobia?
If you know me, you know I'm a corny guy when it comes to Christmas. I like looking at gawdy xmas light displays, I enjoy watching It's a Wonderful Life, and I love endlessly listening to the Phil Spector Xmas album. But yesterday, while I was at Costco, and it's not even October yet, the sight of this Santa display freaked me out!

Talking about how early they commercialize Christmas is nothing new, and of course we all know Costco is simply putting things out in advance of the season, but it still freaked me out! Am I being unreasonable?

10,000 Electric Guitars Were Groovin' Real Loud

Irony Indeed!
After years of making lots of noise (after all, one of my screen names is basstooloud!) it's only fitting that this should happen to me. I offered to host the guitar jam club for another teacher after school today, and this guitar army descended on my classroom.

This clip is 22 seconds long. Imagine an hour of this!

Ramadan Sunset Dinner

Break-fast dinner with the Muslim Student Union
Tonight we had the pleasure of sharing a meal with Muslim and non-Muslim coworkers and students at the school I work at. We were invited to share this meal during the month of Ramadan, where practicing Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for an entire month. It was a simple gathering, the first time I had attended such an event. In what was a cosmic coincidence, it was a beautiful clear sunset in the land of Daly City, where fog rules most of the time!
We were treated to a tasty meal, and all had a good time.
One woman spoke briefly about the event, and how it brings one closer to God, and also how it brings awareness of other people around the world who do not have enough to eat.
I share this event with you mainly to see if anyone else has attended such a meal before.