A Tribute to the Late and Great Speculative Artist Leo Dillon

Legendary artist Leo Dillon, of the legendary and interracial (from way back in the 50s when you could get lynched for that kind of thing...) artistic couple Leo and Diane Dillon, passed away on Tuesday. I could never figure out who did what (I heard one story about how they could finish each other strokes...) but the results were astonishing.

Here's all the art I could find.

 

 

PA Green Party Sensibly Chooses Jill Stein over Roseanne Barr for presidential nominee.

(Commentary with links.)

Crossposted at my Progressive Examiner Post.

The Green Party of Pennsylvania sensibly chose not silly candidate Jill Stein over the slightly silly candidate Roseanne Barr for their presidential nominee several days ago. Yet it was actually a pretty tight race as Stein only won by four points with a 51 to 47 percent margin. They're also doing it proportional representation style even though Jill Stein has won all 20 contests so far, according to the Green Party press release.

Just personally, I just don't think that Roseanne Barr would be the best candidate for the Green Party. I can sort of imagine Jill Stein being a real contender if she was able to raise about 100 million dollars or so. I guess I'm curious why Barr, who has a reported net worth of $80 million (Wouldn't swear by the source but that seems about right for a successful sitcom star...)doesn't just become a kind of rainmaker for the party where she would wield the same kind of power. She could be the Karl Rove of the Green Party...

 A while back I wrote that 35 million was the sweet spot to fund viable third party races, about 10 million for five modest senate races and $200 grand for 25 or so house seats. It was called the 5/25 Plan. You could actually win a race if you spent those kinds of amounts on a pervasive field canvass and even real ads during the last month of the campaign. It sure would be fun to find out. Here's a place to give $45000 to a progressive 527 if Ms. Barr or anyone else is so inclined to give it a try.

Roseanne, of course, wouldn't have to come up with the entire 35 million but if she gave other members of the Hollywood Left might decide to give it a try. Just dreaming out loud. She would be more effective as a financial backer than as the face of the party.

Anyway, here's the rest of the press release sent to me by the Pennsylvania Green Party:

The Green Party of Pennsylvania has completed its balloting for a presidential nominee and can now announce that Dr. Jill Stein, a Massachusetts physician, has defeated actress-comedian Roseanne Barr in a hotly contested and close race conducted through caucus events in areas with established Green Party locals.  Stein will receive four of Pennsylvania’s seven delegates by virtue of her taking 51% of the votes cast.  Barr secures three delegates through her taking of 47% of caucus support.  Kent Mesplay of San Diego, California also competed in the Green primary and received 2%, not enough support to claim any of the state’s delegates.

Upon learning of her Pennsylvania victory Stein noted, “I am grateful to have the support of the Pennsylvania Greens in their state caucuses.  The national Green Party is united as never before for a strong voice in the 2012 Presidential election, at a time when the public has been clamoring for a principled alternative to the establishment parties that have brought us to the breaking point.”  She also said she will aid the Greens in securing access to the PA General Election ballot  adding, “I look forward to working with Pennsylvanians to get the Green Party on the ballot, and give Pennsylvania a chance to vote for the solutions they are clamoring for : an end to unemployment, health care as a human right through Medicare for All, an end to student debt and foreclosures, free public higher education, bringing the troops home, ending climate change and especially putting an end to fracking.”  To date the Green Party has had contests in 19 states and the District of Columbia and Stein has won all 20 contests.  She is now slightly more than halfway to the 206 delegates needed to be assured the presidential nomination at the United States Green Party National Convention, to be held in Baltimore July 12, through July 19.

Between April 10, and May 14, the Pennsylvania Greens held caucuses around the state.  Berks County (Reading) started the caucus season; while Lancaster County was the final county holding and event.  “Since we are prohibited from participating in the PA Primary Election, we have to fund our primary season on our own, I believe the Democrats and Republicans should do likewise and spare the taxpayer” said Jay Sweeney of Wyoming County and Green Party Steering Committee member.  “Our folks were awesome.  We had caucuses from the Buzz Café in Philadelphia to Citizen Power in Pittsburgh; from Pennsylvania businesses like Boscov’s in Wilkes-Barre and Greenline Paper in York; from the Swarthmore Borough Building to Keystone College; our locals put together 13 caucuses.” Sweeney added.  

The Green Party of Pennsylvania is an independent political party that stands in opposition to the two corporate parties.  The Green Party of Pennsylvania stands for grassroots democracy, social justice, non violence and ecology.  

For more information visit our web page or call 888-721-4733.

Jill Stein http://www.jillstein.org/

Roseanne Barr http://roseanneforpresident2012.org/

Kent Mesplay http://mesplay.org/

Green Party of Pennsylvania   http://www.gpofpa.org/

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org/

2012 Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention http://www.gpconvention2012.com/

Commentary with links.

They used to have a place at the Examiner where you could state that what you were doing was a kind of editorial news. So I'm using this site to do that.

If I link to this page then I'm writing an editorial backed up by facts and links. It's not quite objective news because I'm taking a perspective. But if I do it correctly you will learn something.

Sign the Amnesty International pledge against Shell Oil.

ITEM: Something interesting from Amnesty International. Now that we have an African American president I'm sure he'll take care of this. Or they'll use an African American president to kill Muslims and excuse the usual kinds of expropriation that evil multinationals do abroad, especially in Africa. I'm sure its one of those options...Sign the pledge.

May Day Rally at 5:30 PM today at Freedom's Corner, Hill District.

ITEM: May Day Rally to be held today.

Review of Hyperink's "Understanding SOPA and PIPA". Short version: Not good.

This was the second book that I was supposed to write for Hyperink. The book Hyperink ended up publishing is not a very good book and in fact is far inferior to the book that I turned into them.  That's what I get for trying to explain that fair use isn't plagiarism. But I do intend to self publish that book that I wrote, written by a guy who knew what the fuck he was talking about. Oh, I spent my 2.99 on the book and you know what? There is a reader response section. Well, I'm a 12 year member in good standing over there at Amazon...I think I'll make a comment or two...Do you have any idea how I wished I had this tool of the Internet when I was beginning my career? You have no idea...(On the other hand, I wouldn't have appreciated this power! This would have been something that I would take for granted as things I could do. You have to remember those days to value the present...)

Oh look. My Amazon review was approved! And here it is:

  Poorly researched "objective" book written for dumb laymen, not "hackers"., March 26, 2012

By Philip Shropshire

This review is from: Hacker's Guide To SOPA and PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act) (Kindle Edition)

Well, first, the book that I delivered to you was a much better, much more intelligent, much better researched book than the "book", and I use that term loosely, that you actually decided to go with. Its a very good study of why the corporate mentality doesn't produce writing of interest, intelligence or vitality.

Two, the book is written for four year olds, not hackers. For example, there are workarounds to SOPA and PIPA, everything from browser encryption protocols to the old TOR network to virtual private networks. None of this is even hinted at in this poor excuse of an effort. It's not even stylishly written. Joshua should stick to code.

Three, there are a total of about seven links in this "book". (What's the nonfiction term for "short story"?)and there is almost nothing verified about any of its declaratory statements. For example, when he talks about how  "The Acts were primarily aimed at preventing U.S. Internet users from accessing illegal content", well, everybody who's anybody on the Internet disagrees with you Joshua. What's actually really really amazing is that Marc Andreessen, the guy who gave Kevin Gao, the founder of Hyperink, over 1 million in funding(!), also hates the bill! Look up "An Open Letter to Washington" on the Google...I believe Marc's exact words were that these bills would "give the US Government the power to censor the web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran..." Perhaps Marc should have a good talking to with Kevin about the kinds of harmful laws that can destroy everyone's business model, including Hyperink's!

Four, it totally misses the point that the war continues with both the ACTA and TPP treaties. Inexcusable. These treaties would accomplish what SOPA and PIPA failed to do. Again, something that real hackers would want to know and that real writers would write about. Not info found in this 2000 word essay.

Five, it's "gizmodo" not "gizomodo". What do you pay your editors for anyway?

Bottom line: not worth nine cents let alone $2.99. You would be better off looking at Wikipedia entries. Pathetic. And you know what? I don't even blame Joshua. I blame his editors and his publisher. You get what you pay for. There's a difference between "objective" and "advocacy" journalists. Here you needed an advocate for your own damn business model.

 Sincerely,

Philip Shropshire

The Republican woman in this illustration begins to question her allegiance to the GOP....

ITEM: Found on Facebook. Why do the ladies vote Republican? There are signs that there will be less of that in light of this War against common sense contraception...

Yes I'm pissed off at that Trayvon Martin shooting. Who wouldn't be?

 I am, like most African Americans, deeply pissed off over the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida. A black kid who I resembled at 17 and who resembled the current president and also the current attorney general. There isn't much I can do except fume however I wish the two slightly more powerful African Americans that I mentioned would make an angry comment or two. I guess Zimmerman has to be a dim witted terrorist you're entrapping or a medical marijuana facility in order to get the attention of those guys...no I'm not impressed by just the grand jury. I remember the everything is fine federal verdict on the Jordan Miles beatdown, not to mention not intervening in that Georgia death penalty case, or betraying me on Keystone and the public option...Washington Generals party indeed.

Atheist Billboard with questionable imagery not popular with the saved...apparently.

(This happened some weeks ago. Just getting around to posting it here...)

ITEM: Probably not the best way to convert black religious people to the joys of faithlessness (Does keep your Sunday mornings relatively free...) but it is an effort. Actually, if you read the article, which I eventually did, they're not trying to. They're looking for people who have doubts about the whole communion good times after death stuff. I suppose African American humanists are more subtle small steps kind of billboard people. Some reaction from Harrisburg's right wing rag, a very conservative paper that probably represents Pennsyltucky very well.

Related: Facebook conversation featuring religious people talking about the billboard. Verdict: Not popular with the saved.

What I'm beginning to think about women who vote Republican...

ITEM: I just think that black people who support the Republicans are kind of idiots. I'm beginning to think the same of women who vote Republican.

Really interesting and science fictional interview with Boing Boing co-creator Mark Frauenfelder

March 22

ITEM: Really good interview with that Mark guy from Boing Boing. I wonder if the "unschooling" reference has anything to do with the Ivan Illich "deschooling" term? Probably not..nice look at the future of tech.

Review of the "Delaneyesque" Prophet 21 (Two Big Thumbs Up)

ITEM: Yet another comic book review. Here's a snippet:

I really had no idea what to expect from this property when I picked it up. What I found was one of the most intense SFnal comics that I had read in a while. In fact, the weirdness is so sublime and relentless that I do believe this is the first comic that I can describe as “Delaneyesque”, mainly for its disturbing portrayal of the alien sex drive.

How disturbing? More snippet:

Four: But the highlight for me would have to be the man on alien sex. And I’m not talking about the hot kind like with say certain Borg queens or blond cylons. Nope. Really alien.

Read the whole thing as they say.

Explanation of Acid Jazz and More Acid Jazz Channels

The supplier of my channel decided that I'm quite insane and had way too many vids on the channel (possibly a true diagnosis) so they split up my channels. The newest 1000 vids I've added can be found at the top of Three Rivers Online. 

That would be the Acid Jazz Channel.

If you miss a video or remember the old videos I posted in, say, 2009, then you can find the More Acid Jazz Channel at this page. I actually like more videos and variety better. There are about 3500 vids on that channel. But that's just me. I'm also hoping that the channel provider will eventually catch up with my psychosis.

All the Moebius art that fits

ITEM: More Moebius.

A complete obit roundup by The Comics Reporter guy.

ITEM: Rest in peace Moebius, arguably the most gifted artist to ever do comics.

As per usual The Comics Reporter has the best roundup, with a nicely written obit and a video roundup of all things.

New Review of Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

ITEM: My new review of "Fatale 1" is up.

Here's a bit:

“Fatale” looks to be an intriguing combination of “LA Confidential” and “Angel Heart”.

Or if you haven’t seen those movies a combination of California Noir and California Noir combined with Real Magick. Its a little hard to describe but it starts out in 2011 with the funeral of a writer named “Dominic H. (Hank?) Raines”, a man in his 70s who’s described as an atheist who hates all religions. (Just as an aside: just because you’re an atheist doesn’t mean you hate religion. It just means that you don’t believe in them although this character would seem to have a different motivation: religions and their crazy vindictive gods are real and destructive but back on point…) His funeral is attended by his godson who now has control of the late writer’s estate, whose work he derides as being commercial yet hackish junk. Sounds a little like cheap pulpster Mickey Spillane, or the poor man’s Raymond Chandler.

Read the rest here.

Ed Gainey for PA State 24th: He'll knock on your door and make an effort.

ITEM: Ed Gainey is running against dinosaur Joe Preston for the 24th legislative district. I know this because he knocked on my somewhat lower class Wilkinsburg door this weekend. He made a very compelling case against Joe for voting for the "turn off poor people's heat in the winter" bill and being unresponsive on the Marcellus Shale issue. I was surprised that Joe didn't get the endorsement this year and that Ed had won it. If I remember Ed from the familiar Dem faces I've seen he's worked downtown in some kind of political capacity for the last seven or eight years. Definitely a machine guy but that doesn't mean he couldn't be better than Joe. I guess he's got my vote since he made the effort, especially since my steps are kinda shaky and he made the trip anyway. I also thought he was respectful yet critical of Joe's leadership. I suppose Mr. Preston could change my mind if he makes it to my door. Doubtful.

For the record, I'm completely angered by the ineffectiveness and corruption of the state's Democratic Party leaders. The goal of the Democratic Party in 2010 had to be win something: the state house, the state senate or the governor's seat and they went 0 for 3. We lost the redistricting war which means we may have lost the state for the next 10 years to the openly and successfully fascist Rush Limbaugh Republican Party. I could lose bus service and lots of other essential things over the next decade or so. O Canada...Or Norway. I might leave if I could ever afford it...

Pittsburgh Photo: Shot of East Liberty Near the Target

ITEM: Slightly altered pic of East Liberty. Over at my Flickr site which I'll be updating with my art. All with a creative commons license I think. Taken several days ago.

Review of Aetheric Mechanics

ITEM: Review of a surprisingly good Warren Ellis comic.

Here's a bit:

Warren Ellis is often a mixed bag. He usually tries to write too much (If I had to pick a writer who I thought was on or was trying to attain Modafinil…) and occasionally you’ll get a Warren Ellis story that’s a little thin or has two pages of dialogue and 20 pages of “action” or at least that’s how I remember that one issue of the “Global Frequency”. However, when Ellis is on he’s one of the best comic book writers in the world (Alan Moore level as I once explained to Jorn Barger) and a very good and well versed science fiction writer as well.
“Aetheric Mechanics” is Warren Ellis when he’s on. When I looked at this at first I thought this was a take on the Steampunk genre, which it looks like and which he’s also done with “Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island“. But it turns out to be something completely interesting and science fictional. Spoilers ahead as they say.

Read the rest here.

Review of Jonathan Hickman's "The Nightly News"

     ITEM: I usually don't reprint my reviews but this one was kind of interesting. So...

Its hard to describe just how unique and original just the concept of “The Nightly News” is.




It doesn’t feature capes or underwear perverts but it does feature a very intelligent sense of violence that could be aimed at the Fourth Estate. In fact, as a former reporter, not a big time reporter mind you but I did work for a daily at one time, I can tell you that this critique waged by the terrorist group composed of both The Voice and The Hand is completely accurate.


“The Nightly News” is also very prescient in that it predates and predicts the rise of groups like Anonymous, Wikileaks and various other new media terrorists. I mean, it would be bad if these groups used force to kill people but you wouldn’t think they didn’t have a reason…


It’s as if someone actually decided to read the best modern press criticism and create a terrorist group that’s willing to shoot people in the head over it. And make it into a thrilling comic book adventure.


(Just as an aside here are the fount works/writers of corporate press criticism: “Media Monopoly” by Ben Bagdikian, try to find what you can of A. J. Liebling’s “Wayward Press” columns and here’s a nice primer by the great Noam Chomsky and Ed Hermann called “Manufacturing Consent: A Propaganda Model” and you’ll get the point. The press no longer works as an independent verifier of truth and corruption. This is why documentaries like “Sicko” and “Gasland” break big stories because your corporate press outlets work pretty much like PR firms. They even feature the same kinds of people although they  make less working as reporters….)
Here’s a page:

That statement about “Twenty companies” controlling everything is taken straight out of Bagdikian’s “Media Monopoly” mentioned earlier. In fact, I’m pretty sure that number is down to about five or six. Now here’s something curious. You see that guy in the lower right hand corner? His name is David Allen Kite but his resume sure looks like Walter Cronkite’s. Spoiler: He gets shot by the way. But first he accuses Walter of being a stooge for the CIA. In fact, he mentions several other prominent journalists as being CIA plants, which I discovered has a basis in fact.


Here’s the statement from one of the crazy assassins:


“You weren’t alone: Paley, Jackson, Luce, Sulzberger…How long were you on the payroll of the CIA?”


There’s actually evidence that this is actually true. I heard about that and I had seen it in my own career as a reporter not necessarily from the inside but there was pressure not to report on what was happening in South America in places like Nicaragua and El Salvador. I think the story that Jonathon Hickman bases this on is this Carl Bernstein report in Rolling Stone back in 1977. I haven’t read it closely enough to find out if Cronkite was mentioned. But that just goes to show you the level of the research involved here. This is light years beyond in conception of the average dopey comic books I usually review. (I’m looking at you John Byrne’s meaningless “Cold War” comic books…)


Just for the record I don’t agree with the tactics of either The Voice or  his Hand. There is something called “The Internet” which has all kinds of alternative press outlets for both the left and the right. This is why SOPA and PIPA fell to defeat recently so no need to shoot people in the head.


The story begins with a team of 3 shooters killing at first random people in order to draw news people to the scene in order to shoot them. Not necessary. Unless its Fox News of course…just kidding. Or am I? I should also point out that your local news stations offer practically worthless information. But again: summary execution not an acceptable option.


I should point out that the artwork is outstanding. It’s not necessarily that the figures are super well drawn but that the overall design is just flat out brilliant. It’s not just a comic that’s well told but told in a completely new and interesting way. You know how films like “Sin City” and “300″ have their own particular color coded cinematography? That’s exactly how “The Nightly News” works with its dizzying array of pink pastel geometric backgrounds. 


Bottom line an outstanding work that you can actually research into later. It’s that dense. 4.734 out of 5 stars. Completely original and well thought through.

Sign the Amnesty Intl. Pledge Against Evil and Vile Shell Polluters...

ITEM: Something interesting from Amnesty International. Now that we have an African American president I'm sure he'll take care of this. Or they'll use an African American president to kill Muslims and excuse the usual kinds of expropriation that evil multinationals do abroad, especially in Africa. I'm sure its one of those options...Sign the pledge.

Philip Shropshire is Number One in General Technology & Reference. Kneel before Zod...!

Some clarification: I am number one in "Top 100 Free". Do I get paid for that? I'm hoping that Amazon pays for that and I get something out of it like, say, "money". Probably not. But its 466 overall, in the Whole Wide World, and its probably not bad promotion for a guy named "Philip Shropshire". I've had worse days. I guess I need to self publish some more books and get a boost from this...This screenshot was taken an hour ago....

Pics of Firedoglake's Drop Off at Occupy Pittsburgh, Plus Other Shots Taken at Daytime.

There's about an hour left to vote at Firedoglake's Best Occupy Actions contest. I'm going hometown even though this current Occupy location might be forcibly evicted within the next several days.

I helped deliver some Firedoglake packages (gloves, jackets and other winter clothes...) with Dean Mougianis  to the Occupy Pittsburgh's camp some weeks ago. Thought I should post these pics before they're shut down within several days. It's not over. Decentralize decentralize decentralize...

I also took some pictures in the daytime last Saturday when I just happened to be downtown. One more thing: thank you Occupiers for doing a very hard and difficult kind of protesting. I think its helped things on a number of issues even though we still have a long way to go. We have to create some alternative parties.

People can send me the names and I will add them.

And here are some of the pics I took last Saturday in the day, where my cheapie sub 100 dollar digital camera can take better shots.

My Review of Noche Roja over at Comics Forge

ITEM: My review of "Noche Roja" is up at Comics Forge. I think it means "Red Night" or bloody night considering all the murders that are involved.

An excerpt:

 What’s remarkable is that Noche Roja is one of the few comics I’ve read that talks about the Mexican present and Third World misery...Yes there’s WW3 but its not published by a major label indy imprint like Vertigo. This is a present that could easily turn into the American future. You can definitely tell that the writer has spent time living in the Third World. Without giving too much away, the story involves a number of issues that pervade the daily routines of the Mexican poor. 1.) You can be murdered very easily if you’re a journalist in Mexico. 2.) The treatment of Mexican workers, mostly women, is pretty horrible. Those workers are mistreated and abused for the most part. They don’t make a living wage and those factories have successfully lowered the standard of living for every U.S. Citizen. 3.) There are a number of unsolved murders (100s I think…) of mostly women within the Maquiladoras. It’s a serial killer’s dream.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, this all makes for a great and truly entertaining and suspenseful graphic novel.

Read the rest here.

Striking New Comics by Stephanie McMillan and Ted Rall

(originally published Jan. 27th)

ITEM: Ted Rall has been arguing against nonviolence as a sole tactic in the struggle for a long time. I sort of fall off the wagon when he recommends that black folks should be the first to rise up in violence against the state. I, for one, think that New York cartoonists should be the first to take on the might of drones and local police and state police and national guardsmen and if that wouldn't be enough the US military. Then, and I say this as an unofficial spokesperson of the Black Community, we shall watch your results and act accordingly. (Just for the record: Anonymous hacking is the way to go.) I suppose he joins his sometime animation cohort Stephanie McMillan, who draws, arguably, the most radical comic strip I have ever read, in making the argument that nonviolence won't beat the Nazis, or the friendly (sometimes gorgeous) face of American Fascism as foretold by Bertram Gross.

Related: Here's a taste of Stephanie's newest. She's been critical of the Occupy Movement as of late even though she's been an early and vocal supporter. This is a familiar plotline for all you Doonesbury/Mary Worth fans. Our two characters are using arms attained by a German drug dealer in order to attack a corporation known as Omnicorp to stop them performing a geoengineering experiment. Just like South Park...

More Related: Derrick Jensen, also one of Stephanie's collaborators and most likely to be shipped to the FEMA camps (looks like those camps are real Jesse Ventura notwithstanding...), has articulated this view with the Environmentalist's version of Star Wars. Also: The Gandhi Shield. And: A different Indian hero.

           ITEM: I will not be writing about She Who Cannot Be Named today. Or as I call her: The Face of Terror.

You probably won't get arrested for wearing this on a t shirt I think...

ITEM: Sigh. Why hasn't my photoshop work turned me into an international art superstar...? Not fair... 

You can even buy the tshirt if you don't mind being arrested on public obscenity charges. Great for schools I'm sure...

61 in January...? Nothing to see here folks move along...

ITEM: Yeah. 61 degrees in January. Right. Thank goodness global warming isn't real...

Here's that video.

Or you could buy my photoshop art over at Cafe Press. Or not. Your call.

Or you could buy my art as a mousepad over at Cafe Press, which I haven't updated in over 10 years. Should probably do something about that...More art samples here. Nope I never sold any but people liked the work...

Stop SOPA. Stop PIPA.

     ITEM: No blackout for me because I just don't have that many readers where that will matter. But I will certainly support those efforts. I and 20 other people in the world love the Acid Jazz Channel apparently. There is no Acid Jazz Channel without Youtube. Youtube is probably dust if either SOPA or PIPA pass in their current forms. I'm going to do what I can as a citizen but we should all thank our lucky stars that powerful players  like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are on our side. Those lobbies are what's stopping SOPA and PIPA. Not the public good. Now if we could only get them to care about indefinite detention...Here's what you will find on Boing Boing's page today:

503: Service unavailable

Boing Boing is offline today, because the US Senate is considering legislation that would certainly kill us forever. The legislation is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), and would put us in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.

This would unmake the Web, just as proposed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). We don't want that world. If you don't want it either, visit American Censorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information on this and other issues central to your freedom online.

Some late MLK commentary...

ITEM: I guess the above would be my commentary on MLK's birthday. Thanks to local activist Celeste Taylor for pointing this out to me on Facebook. My other commentary is that the drug war has pretty much destroyed The Dream, unless that dream is undermining public education and pushing as many black men as possible into the prison industrial complex. More on that issue over at Democracy Now. My African American president has done nothing to slow down the drug war and hasn't even made the easy call toward marijuana legalization. He could have made a difference with the California ballot initiative that would have legalized marijuana. Firedoglake's Jon Walker lays this all out. Barack Obama: Not a field negro.

More inappropriate yet legal talk about MHS PR Flak Connie McNamara (Public Figure)

I had two headlines in mind but they kind of didn't fit.

More possibly inappropriate but not illegal commentary about Milton Hershey School PR Flak Connie McNamara

or:

Let's not call this a MHS PR Flak Connie McNamara Obsession

ITEM: So I'm still thinking about this Connie McNamara MHS thing. You don't understand I used to sit in the woman's dorm room.* I think I sat on the floor as a clever psychological move to downplay the fact that I was a towering six five black guy. I think she was, what, 5 seven with heels...? Anyway, she described herself as being "mousy". And I thought, to myself certainly, well then "mousy is something I'm into apparently...". Now, when I watch her on these Youtube clips not only does she not seem "mousy" but she resonates, well, power. This is more in the line of a Game of Thrones Matriarch in Red. That might be the kind of power one emanates when one has great wealth. She might make low six figures in her current post and from other postings on the Internets one of her hobbies with her late husband was "refurbishing homes". Not the kind of hobby poor people can get into. Possibly a millionaire. Possibly making ends meet with three kids to feed even on a low six figure salary. Possibly looking at the rare occurrence of not having a job since she left college in 1985 (How many people can say that? Connie's emotional intelligence is off the charts...) since this somewhat tainted Zimmerman guy is leaving. Are they looking for a new team? I don't think I want to know...Or perhaps the power comes from something tragic. I did find out, not with any deep searches just the Google, that her husband died in 2006 leaving her with three children under the age of 10. I can't even imagine how painful that would be. Or what's tougher: telling your three young daughters that their father won't be coming home or facing off against Anderson Cooper? I have a feeling that if I survived the former that the latter would mean nothing...It would certainly make you stronger in a Nietzschean sense.

I also wanted to point out that when I mentioned that Connie, still a practicing Catholic from what I can tell and an early supporter of Liberation theology I'm just now beginning to surmise (our earliest conversations were about Archbishop Romero and the nuns that got slaughtered in El Salvador...) was "non abstinent and impulsive" as a young person in college I didn't mean that in a bad way.

(Aside: Connie was a serial monogamist like most Americans back during the years of 81 to 83. First with Curt the fiancé she didn't marry and then that black haired kid she saw Nikki Giovanni with when Curt was studying abroad and then Curt again when he got back...Doesn't make her a bad person. Words like "normal" and "healthy" come to mind.. I think the fiancé bit was a bit of rationalization, which means her Catholic upbringing had an effect on her...possibly more on this later...Must investigate. Hurm.)

I think that's the strongest part of her argument with Anderson Cooper on that show of his. Those words struck me as completely truthful and not talking points. Where I think she loses the argument is what kind of outside independent medical advice the board got or did they even seek it out. My guess is that they did not. This is where Connie admits that she wasn't in on those meetings with the medical staff, not independent of the board I'm guessing. The prevailing medical evidence seems to be that there just isn't that much of a risk of transmission. Though, after taking a look at the many many longshots that have happened at the Milton Hershey school such as in this particular instance perhaps the MHS board doesn't equate low percentages with no chance at all...and think of the damages if another child was infected. More on this later. Or I might wait another 30 years to comment more. Who knows.

Related: I signed this petition in favor of letting that kid in the school. Of course, in a strong and loving world this kid would have wonderful public schools to choose from with decent food and teacher/student ratios in the 16 to 1 range. He wouldn't have to be, what's the word, "adversarial" in order to get a decent education. The school has a wonderful shot because the board is full of republican operatives  and republican judges tend to be loyal. Plus they have an 8 billion dollar endowment. They'll get good lawyering. Just like when you're rich you can buy "reasonable doubt" you can probably also buy some kind of novel exception question that you can pitch to the appeals courts. Republicans tend to throw a lot of Hail Marys and they often win. The 2000 election being the most publicized outcome and this evil Texas redistricting plan being the latest late quarter throw to the endzone...the school should lose if the courts didn't tilt toward both Republicans and the rich. I guess we'll watch and see...

*These are my memories from the time I spent with Constance from 1981 through 1984 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I have not spoken to Connie in over 28 years although I think I sent her a letter back in 1992...no I don't know why. I'd like to say I was drunk but I don't drink...