connecting*the*dots

Bloomberg.com
Senate Panel Rejects Proposal to Probe Eavesdropping

March 7 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee rejected a proposal to investigate the Bush administration’s program of conducting electronic eavesdropping without warrants, while agreeing to create new congressional panels to increase oversight.

Lawmakers from both parties have been pressing for more information on the wiretapping without court orders since it was disclosed by the New York Times in December.

Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the panel, proposed the probe of the Bush administration’s wiretapping of communications between the U.S. and other countries without court approval. President George W. Bush has said he authorized the eavesdropping of communications linked to terrorists after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“This committee is basically under control of the White House,” Rockefeller told reporters after the two-hour meeting today in Washington. “It’s an unprecedented bout of political pressure from the White House.”

Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts said any inquiry would be detrimental to national security.

“We should fight the enemy, not fight each other,” Roberts, a Kansas Republican said. “The program is extremely important.”

After negotiations with the Bush administration, the panel voted to create a new subcommittee whose seven members, out of the committee’s 15 total lawmakers, would receive full briefings on the program. Those briefings had been limited to just Rockefeller and Roberts.

“What we need is oversight,” Republican Mike DeWine of Ohio, one of the new subcommittee members said. “What we need is to get into this program.”

I hate to break the news to Pat Roberts, but if Congressional inquiries become the equivalent of shit shooting through a duck, in the end, we the people are straight up fucked.

For those of you out there that think that checks and balances are still in order, well, it’s time to wake up. There’s apparently no such thing as a moderate Republican, or to use another phrase, one that gives a shit about our Constitutional rights.

The Carlyle Group was covered extensively in Fahrenheit 9/11. For those of you who refused to see the film, but are extremely upset about this port deal, I suggest you swallow your pride for a few hours and watch it.

As for the Olberman interview; there are some very real reasons that Bush is pushing this deal through. Our Navy needs the Dubai company controlled ports in the Middle East to continue the “War on Terror, “which progressively lines the pockets of The Carlyle Group more and more (sick, eh?). I’m sure international business doesn’t want to have ideology such as Homeland Security become a deal stopper in the future, but that’s a secondary concern to this President and his family at this point.

I mean come on, the bucks are rolling in.

Make that “Bush Lied, People Died Again“…

I knew this fucker was lying the moment he opened his mouth. Now that there is fucking evidence, the only question remaining is what bullshit line are we going to swallow so that more people — whether here or around the world — are going to become D-E-A-D because of this motherfucking slimeball?

I apologize for the profanity, but I’m beyond words…

If you care *one iota* about your neighbors — from the family living next door, to the families under the scope in Iraq, to the families who faithfully serve our nation, to the families who might be next somewhere around the world — go to the polls and vote Democratic in this year’s mid-term Congressional elections.

For those of you who are frustrated with politics and think it won’t matter or that you don’t have a voice, I have one thing to tell you: you’re *wrong*. The only way Bush will be impeached is if the Democrats regain a majority in one branch of the government. If they do, his ass is as good as gone.

I’m *not* a Democrat, but this is a means to an end.

Vote or Die! For real.

Kevin Powell is apparently running for a seat in the 10th Congressional District out of Brooklyn, NY.

“I have watched America go through many changes over the past few years, because of September 11th, because of the war in Iraq, because of Hurricane Katrina, because of the exploitation and manipulation of our values and our differences, and I want to use my voice, in Washington, DC, on a national stage, in a way that affirms our humanity, not denies it,” said Powell via a statement.

“America is not the country it once was, but we are still not the country we can be either,” he added. “It is time for new leadership, a new generation, to push us forward, and I want to be a part of that wave of fresh ideas, of new visions, for these times, for the 21st century.”

Vote or die, people! A brilliant Colbert Report interview is on the line here.

(via SOHH)

I don’t think I can top this gem, but I have to add some taint flavor of my own.

Back in 2002, when I was Nerve dating, I met a very attractive and seemingly cool woman. Our profiles showed we were both into hip-hop, specifically Talib Kweli, she was at a non-profit while getting her post-grad degree and lived just a few neighborhoods away in Brooklyn.

Perfect.

In our first email conversation I told her that I lived a subway stop away in Gowanus. Well, she had no idea where Gowanus was, so I described it as the “taint between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens; it doesn’t get much love.”

As you might imagine, I’m (happily) dating *a different* woman today.

Jan 6, 2006

Representative Howard Coble
United States House of Representatives
2468 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0001

Representative Coble,

As an American, I look to leadership to represent my best interests through local representation. In divisive times—times of national crisis—I look for intelligent decision-making and when possible, for bridges to be built, not destroyed.

I lived in Brooklyn, NY on 9/11 and worked just blocks from the WTC. What happened that day shook me just as hard as my neighbors, my fellow Americans and the rest of humanity. The initial response of President Bush to go after al Qaeda in Afghanistan was a decision I 100% supported, but somewhere along the line, Osama bin Laden became an afterthought. The man responsible for thousands of homicides became lost in a decision to go battle an ideological war, against an enemy of Osama bin Laden.

The moment President Bush lost sight of the criminal act; I began to lose confidence in his leadership capabilities. Simultaneously, the rest of the world began to lose respect for us as a nation.

President Bush and his administration lied to Congress, and the people of the world, regarding the justifications for going to war in Iraq. The original Niger investigation came about through proven, falsified documents. Joe Wilson’s eventual investigative report, which disproved the threat of Iraq obtaining yellowcake, was then completely disregarded before reporting results to Congress and the UN. To top it off, a CIA covert op—Joe Wilson’s wife—was casually outed, as if our administration were passing loose gossip in high school.

And now it’s been revealed that President Bush, like Nixon three decades ago, has carried out an illegal wiretapping program against citizens of this country. I’m sorry, but this President does not represent the America I pledged allegiance to for 12 years as an impressionable child.

Is our Constitution not worth anything?

These are serious offenses, which constitute High Crimes and Misdemeanors. I urge you to support impeachment immediately.

As a recently established resident of Greensboro, I’m looking forward to us building an open dialog moving forward.

Sincerely,

Sean Coon

I don’t often use these guys as an example of great journalism, but this Hardball segment is on point. They convincingly expose Dick Cheney’s lies regarding the tie between one of the primary 9/11 terrorists and Iraq.

The entire piece screams conspiracy to sell and then launch an illegal war.

Of course, this leaves me with a few questions:

• Who holds these men and woman accountable to such contradictions and lies? Congress? Another special prosecutor?
• Do we have to wait until there’s a Democratic administration in office before an investigation is launched?
• Is Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation expanding?

If it’s proven that this unethical administration schemed to launch an illegal war by knowingly using false evidence — a war which has already killed tens of thousands of people — I want justice.

And no, my sense of justice would not equate with a misdemeanor.

Back in July, I found myself following one of my usual late night routines; browsing flickr late at night, hopping from one intense image to the next, pulling myself farther and farther into the late hours of the evening. The image that ended my discovery scenario that night was one which framed a masked protester holding a sign reading, "Dictatorial Democracy!" The composition and message created an extremely striking and provocative statement. I dropped into the discussion thread, left a comment, marked it as a favorite and retired for the evening.

Fast forward two weeks; I’m in the midst of some serious self-transformation—from a corporate design lead to a full-time freelance information architect and blogger actively participating in the information revolution. I had too many thoughts bouncing about my head and needed to get them down as an explicit, lasting statement. I began crafting a post about what had led me to begin my dedicated contribution to political and cultural discourse. The visceral image of the protester jumped into my mind as a perfect visual cue, so I hopped over to flickr, grabbed it (CC licensed) and included it within the post.

When QOOP partnered with flickr to provide printing capabilities a few weeks back, I found myself creating a poster of the protect image before the application could even cool off. Within a week, the print arrived at my door and I was blown away by the quality.

Now, when I glance at the image on my wall, I not only visualize the thought process of the photographer as he composed the shot, but the philosophical drivers of both Stewart Butterfield and the flickr team as well. True, this is a physical remainder of one man’s passionate expression, but the implicit philosophies of an open business model resonates just as much in the tactile form of a print, one that didn’t belong to me but was "let go into the ether" to be used and reused. Both the photographer and flickr share numerous traits: a deep seeded passion, the desire for open participation and the use of technology as a vehicle for change. The end result is that one man’s political perspective—without the benefits of a political platform—is now a tangible, refined component of my home experience.

That’s extremely powerful stuff.

But with this one print in particular, if I don’t deconstruct the message further, I’d be guilty of simply adorning eye-candy on my wall. For as much as I love the image and the powerful message it delivers, after thinking about it for a few months, there’s a very romantic naivety to the whole scene.

Back To Reality

Our government isn’t structured for any administration to listen to the explicit desires resonating from the free speech of Americans. The Executive branch works with Congress, whose members have been elected by the constituents of each state. Free speech can move, motivate, challenge and change individuals, but it will never influence the Executive branch. Only polls of the American people have that power and the resulting moves by an administration are placating at best. If you want to elicit change through the actions of an elected official, you have to start on a local level—blog, call your congressman, volunteer in a campaign, meet with like-minded folk, organize unions, etc. Ranting alone will not make change occur.

Take old school corporate structure as a metaphor to government. How often do you think C-levels base their policy on the voice of employees or individual consumers? Sure, it may happen at times due to sheer coincidence, but policies are primarily based on:

1. Shareholder desires and concerns
2. Advertiser desire and concerns (if applicable)
3. The domain experience and agendas of executives
4. Client/user/customer desires and concerns
5. The input of employees

To a user experience designer like myself, this is in the very least ill-balanced, but it’s the common DNA of present day big money capitalism; first serve the desires of your investors, then serve the desires of the common folk—even the ones who use your products or services. Would Michael Dell listen to a bunch of individual customers over his shareholders or retail customers?

Probably not.

So, back to our current administration — considered by many to be the most secretive administration ever—the problem isn’t that Bush, Chaney and the rest of the gang aren’t listening to the people; the problem is that they’ve lied to Congress, creating false evidence to go to war, while simultaneously placing social reformations on the back burner. We don’t need to completely reinvent the wheel of our government and the constitution; we need to hold public officials (and corporate lobbyists) accountable to working within the legal parameters currently set forth. We need to remove the cries of a dictatorial democracy, and instead, hold ourselves accountable to participate within a collaborative republic.

Maybe I’ll create a re-mashed version of my new poster reflecting these sentiments and shoot it up to flickr. Who knows whose home it’ll live in next?

Delay, overheard on his cell phone, seconds before this shot was taken:

"Yeah! There’re gonna be a bunch of cockroaches where I’m going. I’m gonna make me a mint! Yee-haw!"

(via The Smoking Gun through blather)

what?
you don’t know how to step?
no, not omega, man…
walk tall.
walk straight.
walk proud.
nothing half-baked,
straight up into the crowd.
in comes the left
to cushion the drop of the right
put it back down…
bang!
the gavels brings on the sound
of purpose
of confliction
of ceremony
of wealth
an intelligently evolved design
kansas has nothing on this stealth
y
means of operation
man, it’s twisted beyond belief
you got corrupt politicians
doing their shit live on cable TV!
so while heads drop accapella type shit
with no delay
i’ll drop gangster type shit
like tom delay
there are…
two sides to a coin
the same flip property on a bill
how you think this shit keeps spinning?
how you think they get up on top of that hill?
drilling deep for your consciousness
stepping through your field of vision
handing out my flyers
of truth be told derision
left and right
price the hike
shit
stand to the side
i’ll rock the mic
like
when i go to sleep i know where my head is at
like
when i lay down for good i’ll know that i gave it back
like
when i walk down the street i know you don’t know my name
like
when i was a child i lived for the dearth of fame
like
politics is a sport, a vice, a betting man’s game
like
i gotta put this shit to bed as my girl puts this shit to shame
hold these fucks accountable
get your congressman to know your name

Whomever coined the phrase, “We learn from history’s mistakes” was only partially right — over the past 50 years, America seems to perfect them when given a second chance.

This isn’t new, but it’s worthy of being represented to the blogosphere. DJ Danger Mouse went after the Bush Boys six months ago, framing “The New World Order” in its proper context; money, power and US sponsored terrorism in the Middle East (Iraq vs. Iran). The temerity of an American leader to utter those four words to Congress is beyond frightening, as it sounds like propaganda straight out of Nazi Germany.

You’ll need the On2 Codec to view the QT Movie

(via Guerrilla News Network)

George Bush: "No one could have anticipated the breaching of the levees."

Really?

2001
Preliminary Public Health Issues
2002
PBS Special
City in a Bowl
2002
NOLA.com
Washing Away
2003
New Orleans Hurricane Impact Study
2004
National Geographic
Gone With The Water
2004
Independent Weekly
Disaster In The Making
June 2005
New Orleans City Business
New Orleans District of the US Army Corps of Engineers Faces

It took me 10 minutes on Google to find those references. I’ll just chalk up your statement as another lie, Mr. .. eh-hem… President.

But while we’re talking about the levees, let’s discuss what happened to the funding for the Army Corp of Engineers to finish the construction. Apparently, there was a specific article in the Times-Picayune on June 8th of 2004 which detailed the federal cuts for hurricane preparedness and levee construction and improvement in New Orleans. It’s not available on-line, but TMPCafe put together excerpts of the piece here. Here’s a taste:

The Bush administration’s proposed fiscal 2005 budget includes only $3.9 million for the east bank hurricane project. Congress likely will increase that amount, although last year it bumped up the administration’s $3 million proposal only to $5.5 million.

"I needed $11 million this year, and I got $5.5 million," Naomi said. "I need $22.5 million next year to do everything that needs doing, and the first $4.5 million of that will go to pay four contractors who couldn’t get paid this year."

[…]

The challenge now, said emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri in
Jefferson Parish and Terry Tullier in New Orleans, is for southeast Louisiana somehow to persuade those who control federal spending that protection from major storms and flooding are matters of homeland security.

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay," Maestri said. "Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

So apparently, occupying a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no weapons of mass destruction is a higher priority than shoring up a defense structure to ensure that the largest homeland disaster ever doesn’t occur. Your President, George Bush, moved FEMA into the Homeland Security classification bucket so he could draw potential disaster protection/relief funding into his War for Oil… er… Against Terror.

How’s that for blatant disregard for public safety? How many people are in American jails for simple possession of narcotics, while this man runs loose destroying our nation, murdering innocent people around the world, while lining his own pockets?

How pompous and disrespectful is this guy?

George Bush, Governor of Texas, giving the "one finger victory salute" before he addressed the state.

George Bush, President of The United States of America, flipping off the press and anyone watching.

No, Fuck You Georgie Boy. WHEN WILL THIS POMPOUS, INCOMPETENT, MURDEROUS, CRIMINAL, COKE-HEAD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!?

To the House and Senate: Your constituents are becoming furious. It’s time to relieve this man of his power.

we bring the live to the live to bring death to the all
barrels of dark reason tells the story of the gall
100’s of men and women have the power to stand tall
’stead they just stand by and watch the march to a fall
what’s up y’all?
who’s up for an overhaul?
who’s ready for a medicine ball
dropped from way outta site,
an old found depth and a new found height?
three times left… you know i’m right.
pushing the boundaries of air tight
i’m blasting through to ignite,
even in spite…
of my in-stability,
of my new-found city,
of the pity of a fitty-
sense
of the diddy of a twenty-
pence
of the quality of kweli…
hence
the expansion of a mos def
fence
intense custom eyes gives rise
two light blue hues cutting ties…
lost in the queue.
too much to say,
too much to do,
packing in the world for a step to the chrome-
a zone…
stepping up for a push and a lift two
a tone…
stepping back down
to step right back up
up,
up,
and away…

I’m a registered Independent, so everyone is fair game for me to criticize. And that’s my only beef with Michael Moore’s approach to his work. While I agree with his stance on about everything he’s dropped, he practically disappeared from the theatre-going public eye for eight years while Clinton was in office. Okay, he made “Big One,” but that doesn’t quite count.

If you’re a documentary filmmaker, attempting to represent the best interests of the people in this country, specifically the under-privilaged, don’t be partisan. There’s more than enough bullshit on Capitol Hill to sift through during any administration in the White House.

Greed, shadyness and stupidity don’t hold political cards.

I realize that Moore didn’t vote for Clinton or Gore in the last two elections, but his films projects a perception of a hardcore anti-Republican stance, instead of one that just supports doing the right thing, first and foremost. The government of this country—including the media—operates with the smoke and mirrors of a two-party system, meaning that Moore’s output can then be manipulated to work against the Democratic party, as he is presented as a strong supporter of “the other side.”

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a party to support per se, but when his agenda is to open the eyes of the fringe to sway votes (with Fahrenheit 9/11), middle-ground needs to be served in the midst of the sniper fire as a peace offering.

No matter! I’m counting the days for the release of “Fahrenheit 9/11.” I’m hoping he can put to celluloid at least a chunk of emotions that I’ve been struggling with for the past 3+ years. Call him what you may, but Moore does have a knack for capturing the poignancy of a particular issue.