Blues for Mai Cramer



Quote
"The imperial presidency has arrived. On the domestic front President Bush has found that in many ways he can govern by executive order. In foreign affairs he has the nerve to tell other people that they should get rid of their current leaders. Amazingly, with Americans turning into a new silent majority and Congress into a bunch of obeisant lawmakers, he is getting away with such acts. The lawmakers are worried that Bush will play the "patriot card" in the November elections to attack dissenters and opponents."
Helen Thomas, July 3, 2002

Tribe
Blake
Cocroft
Copeland
Cornett
Doctorow
Lasica
Levine
Paul
Poe
Powers
Robins
Searls
Winer

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of the day

The Blacklisted Journalist
"A professional journalist since 1950, Al Aronowitz, founder, editor and publisher of THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST, has met and/or has known; or has had a friendship with and/or has had a close association with; or has interviewed and/or has written about some of the greatest figures to have ennobled our culture, including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Michael McClure, Jerry Garcia, Phil Spector, Janis Joplin, Bobby Darin, Jane Fonda, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, William Carlos Williams, William Burroughs, Ernest Hemingway, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, David Bowie, Peter Townshend, The Band, Merle Haggard, Charlie Pride, Johnny Cash, Steve Allen and ad infinitum. Many of whom, if not all, are or will be featured in articles and stories on this website."

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My brother's project
USS Saratoga Museum Foundation

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Subterranean Homepage News
at projo.com

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The Reader
Vacation edition of Subterranean Homepage News

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July 6-7, 2002

"With God on our side": Interview with a WW2 combat infantry veteran who recalls seeing that phrase on the belt buckles of dead Germans. He's also the judge who declared "under God" unconstitutional. (Song clip, Dylan, MTV unplugged version)
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Digital Rights Management comments for psychics: From Slashdot: "The United States Department of Commerce Technology Administration (TA) announced a public workshop on digital entertainment and rights management. They're taking public comments here according to the announcement, but they sure have hidden it well. Can anybody find the form? The deadline is July 11!!"

The hearing is July 17.

If you can find a form on that site, you can comment; there also doesn't seem to be an email link. Of the people, by the people, for the people!

Updates: -- "FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further information relevant to the substantive issues to be addressed by this workshop may be obtained from Chris Israel Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, Technology Administration, (202) 482-5687."

-- "I would think sending an email to [email protected] would work also."

(I just emailed them, and will post any reply.)
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My generation: Paul Andrews writes, "Why wouldn't Bush want the FBI to finger Mr. Z?," he asks about the scientist with close ties to our biodefense program who was infuriated when his top secret clearance was yanked a month before the anthrax attacks began.

"For the same reason it does not want bin Laden apprehended. For purposes of distracting a country with perpetual war, a terrorist in the Bush is worth hundreds in the hand."

Cynical? Nope, Paul is of my generation. In the late '60s and early '70s we upended a culture we couldn't bear to live in, at enormous personal cost. Violent verbal battles were fought between parents and their children (us!) over support of the Vietnam war as a litmus test of patriotism, the injustice of racial prejudice, the emptiness of a life lived only to make money, a woman's place, illegal weeds, hypocrisy /what the neighbors will think and, most personally, hair and skirt length, corsetry and virginity and The Pill.

Some families shattered beyond repair under the unwillingness of either the old world or the new to yield their values. One of the biggest clashes was over blind faith in our leaders.

We -- the young -- learned early we could not trust the government. Governments lie:

Distinguished journalist Flora Lewis, who died last month, wrote in the August, 2001 in the International Herald Tribune,

I find it astonishing that George Bush, who came of age in the Nixon era (he turned 56 yesterday), forgets the folly of equating blind acceptance of governmental policy with patriotism.

"Among the many echoes of prior presidencies in Bush's (2002 State of the Union) speech, one caught a whiff of Richard Nixon: the assertion that Americans deserve the same bipartisan unity on domestic policy as on war policy. The implication - though he did not push it - is that opposition to his domestic agenda is unpatriotic," wrote Morton Kondracke of Roll Call.

The Patriot Act, Homeland Security -- the protests have begun. Here's a gathering of stories by the loyal opposition. Civil liberties we have lost since September 11 at Utne Reader.

There is no security.

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Nonprofit cyberpopulism: "Simputer: Radical simplicity for universal access. The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man."

Made in India, it will cost $200 and up, and run on two AA batteries. Here's the story. via Robot Wisdom.
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Feast your eyes: Judy Chicago's art piece The Dinner Party (photo) is finally receiving a permanent home at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Chicago's own website gallery explains what it is: ..."a work of art, triangular in configuration, 48 feet on each side, that employs numerous media, including ceramics, china-painting, and needlework, to honor women's achievements. An immense open table covered with fine white cloths is set with 39 place settings, thirteen on a side, each commemorating a goddess, historic personage, or important woman. " Via f-word
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Death without dignity: The first baseball player whose name I knew was Red Sox slugger Ted Williams, who died Friday at 83. And now, CNN reports, they're fighting over the body. "On Saturday, Williams' estranged daughter accused her half brother, John Henry Williams, of planning to cryogenically freeze their father's body and preserve his DNA, perhaps to sell in the future. "
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Earlier:
July 5
July 4
July 3