'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
Re-Elect Al Gore
By Baron Dave Romm
Editorial for program aired 10/9/04.
Let's take a look at the candidates running for the presidency.
George W. Bush's first impulse is always to run away and his second impulse is to lie about it. He claims to be "born again" but does seem to be one of those "9-Commandment Christians" for whom truth just flies out the window when the facts don't support their reckless stubbornness. Many people, including us here, call Bush a "moron", but that's something of a misnomer. He's not stupid, he's lazy. He doesn't like to think. He likes to go on vacations. He doesn't read or make good decisions or pronounce "nuclear" correctly. And then refuses to admit that he was wrong. For a religious person to refuse to be humble in the face of the Lord is very disturbing. Bush just doesn't care.
As a politician, he has been an unmitigated disaster. His environmental programs can best be described as "letting the fox run the chicken coop". The world is less safe because of his callous disregard for human lives in favor of corporate greed. Your life is endanger because Bush and the conservatives have shredded regulations protecting your air, water and food.
Bush's flip flops on terrorism are impeachable offenses. When presented with a memo entitled, "Osama bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the US", Bush went on vacation. On 9/11, Bush sat there stunned, then spent the day running away. After 9/11 Bush turned America's worst day into a political excuse to ram his hideous conservative agenda down the throats of America.
George W. Bush has no moral compass and surrounds himself with evil and/or incompetent people. He is, quite simply, the worst president the US has ever had and the least ethical person ever to reside in the White House. Corruption, incompetence and outright lying are the hallmarks of the Bush presidency. Shockwave cannot, in good conscience, support someone who should be in front of a firing squad.
The Democratic challenger is John Kerry, and there is much to recommend him for president. Intelligent, hard working, a capable leader and a resolute prosecutor, Kerry has spend more than three decades serving his country. Too many people support Kerry just because he's not Bush. That is, to be sure, a very good reason to vote for the Democrats. Republicans these days simple don't believe in democracy, and it's up to the Democrats to restore this country's honor and integrity. John Kerry can do this. Indeed, Senator Kerry feels its his duty to help America in this time of crisis. And therein lies the problem. In two debates with Bush, Kerry has been the better candidate and better person twice. But both times he looked bored. Someone who's used to fighting the Viet Cong or Senate Republicans is taking the challenge of the presidency as just another public service. Shockwave wants someone more engaged in the presidency.
Ralph Nader used to be one of my heroes, and now he's just a bad joke. He has, however, harped upon one issue that seems to get lost in the campaign rhetoric, largely because he identified the issue but got it wrong. The conservative news media and other pundits keep saying this election will be decided on the "independents" who haven't made up their mind yet. But those swing voters aren't the 5-10% of undecideds, they are the 60-70% of the people who don't really care about voting at all. About a tenth of the people who don't care will go to the polling booth, and the stupid people will decide elections. That's really a sad commentary on America. Fortunately for the Democrats, this year people are so angry at the conservative Republicans that more Democrats have been registered to vote than ever before. This is why the polls are all wrong: They only count people who voted before. The Republicans are doing everything in their power to prevent people from voting, just like they did in Florida, Missouri, Georgia and other places, and are resorting to threats and intimidation to scare voters away from the polls. To a conservative, the ends justify the means. The Republicans are going to cheat in a very un-American way. That's why much of Nader's support comes from the far right. Republicans want to game the system, they don't care what the people think. No, we cannot support Ralph Nader.
America needs a president with experience in government, a proven leader, a veteran, an expert in counter-terrorism and someone cynical enough to deal with the corrupt Republicans on their own terms. The best choice to lead this country in these trying times is the person who got the support of the American people in the 2000 election. Shockwave proudly supports the re-election of Al Gore.
Al Gore is a strong environmentalist who supports our troops while leading the nation with intelligent military decisions. He will appoint good people. As vice president, he reduced the size of government and helped the economy boom and helped deliver budget surpluses. Al Gore was the winner in 2000 and is still the best candidate in 2004. Re-elect Al Gore!
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, you can order Shockwave Radio Theater CDs, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm continuing to collect extra-weird stuff.
Weekly Column
Mike Palacek
Reader Comment
Re: DUMBya's behavior at 2nd debate
Bush's behavior at the second debate? Embarrassing. He needed Ritalian. I've seen autistic children with more self-control than he showed.
Yelling, smirking, laughing at his own sick attempts at humour, strutting around like the cock of the walk.....it didn't impress anyone with a working brain and made Senator Kerry look even better than he did in the first debate.
How about how he refused to admit that he's ever made a mistake?
That said, why were no pro-CHOICE women among the questioners? The first woman looked like the Church Lady and that blonde....she looked like someone who protests outside family planning clinics. And when DUMBya talked to her, I thought she'd cream in her pants.
Scary! This jackass basically tells her that embryos matter more than people with diseases and she thinks he's great!
Terry C
NJ
Thanks, Terry!
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Reader Suggestions
More Bumper Stickers
Iraq Before Bush: Not A Threat
Iraq After Bush: A Major Threat
On Clinton's Watch: No Americans Killed In Iraq
On Bush's Watch: Lots of Americans Killed In Iraq
Before Bush: Iraq Not A Recruiting Ground For Al-Quaeda
After Bush: Iraq Is A Major Recruiting Ground For Al-Quaeda
Bush Blinked -- And Blinked -- And Blinked
George W. Bush: 44 Reasons For Invading Iraq -- None Of Them True
George W. Bush: The Turkey-Strutting President
Bush/Cheney 2004: Taking The Big Lie To Higher Levels
Bush/Cheney 2004: Record Profits For Energy Companies; Record Prices For Consumers
A Message For Undecided Voters: Iraq Had No WMDs
Thanks, Bruce!
Reader Reviews
2 from Heather
A movie weekend at the homestead. A bonus 2 reviews!!!!
Saved! (2004)
I remember the controversy and call for "boycott" of this movie in the theatres during it's release. My kids brought it home on dvd and we thoroughly enjoyed it and can see no reason for the outcry. It tells the tale of Mary (Jena Malone), a good Christian girl who goes to a good Christian high school in Baltimore where she has good Christian friends, mainly Hilary Faye played to perfection by
Mandy Moore. She gives an outstanding performance complete with commando prayer meetings and God-Rock power ballads. When Mary's perfect Christian boyfriend, Dean (
Chad Faust) announces to her that he may be gay she sees a vision of Jesus in her pool and with religious fervor does everything in her power to help him turn straight, including offering up her virginity. But none of it helps because Dean's caught and sent to a "degayification" center and Mary ends up pregnant. It's during her time of need that she becomes real friends with the school's set of outsiders including Cassandra (
Eva Amurri), the school's only Jewish girl; Roland (
Macaulay Culkin), Hilary Faye's wheelchair bound brother, and Patrick (
Patrick Fugit), the skateboarder son of the school's principal, Pastor Skip (
Martin Donovan)Hilary Faye turns her into a social outcast and this teaches her the real meaning of her faith.
This is a great teen movie - it gives them a perspective on tolerance and unconditional love vs. blind faith. I give it 4 out of 5 crosses for making teenagers think about what is important in life - LOVE.
Super Size Me (2004)
I wish that Morgan Spurlock had made this movie 10 years ago when my kids were wrapped up in McDonald's Happy Meals and the "rinky-dinks" - garbage toys that we would step on during the night. Spurlock makes himself a test subject of this documentary about the fast food industry. We see him eating a diet of McDonald's fast food, three times a day for a month straight.
Heather
Thanks, Heather!
'National Anthem: Inside the Vote for Change Concert Tour'
Live Webcast - TONIGHT
6:30PM EDT on Monday October 11th
Vote for Change wraps-up its 33 city, 11-state tour with a grand finale set for Monday, October 11th in Washington, D.C. with a sold out show at the MCI Center. Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Jurassic 5, Keb' Mo', Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, Pearl Jam and R.E.M will perform.
This unprecedented and historic concert will be accessible to millions via a live webcast entitled "National Anthem: Inside the Vote for Change Concert Tour." Viewers are encouraged to download the free RealPlayer 10 (for Windows, Mac or Linux desktops) in advance of the October 11th grand finale.
For more info, NATIONAL ANTHEM: INSIDE THE VOTE FOR CHANGE CONCERT TOUR
Purple Gene Reviews
'The Motorcycle Diaries'
"THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES" -
directed by
Walter Salles and Starring
Gael Garcia Bernal as CHE (Mama Tambien) and
Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto Granado:
What a beautiful day in Oakland, 80 degrees and clear,
the A's and the Giants are out of the pennant race,
the Raiders and the 49ers suck bad, and my
grandaughter is off to the pumpkin festival with my
3rd ex wife.......What a perfect day to go and hide in
the back of the sunday afternoon CHURCH of the CINEMA
and take in a foreign film.
I'd seen a couple of trailers about it and actually
reviewed a terrible predicessor to it ("Che! (1969)") but I
was looking forward to a ROAD MOVIE and a BUDDY MOVIE!
Well the
MOTORCYCLE DIARIES was all of that!!!
From the poignant departure in Argentina, through
Patagonia,Chile, Peru and Venezuela the filming and
scenery was absolutely stunning.....2 college students
chugging along on a crippled NORTON motorcycle through
this picturesque part of "THEIR" world.....But things
change subtley and surely for young "CHE" (Ernesto
Guevara)...as he began to see the terrible
displacement and enslavemment of the indigenous
peoples along the way. If this had been a story about
young WOODY GUTHRIE in North America, the soundtrack
would have been "THIS LAND IS YOU LAND - THIS LAND IS
MY LAND!!!!!!
But this is 1952 and CHE is only 23 years old and we
get to see this transformation and awakening in him.
The quality that comes out about CHE is his growing
compassion for the poor and the sick and we see him
end the road trip at a LEPER COLONY that is separated
from the mainland by a river.....
This movie needed a powerful ALEGORY to bridge the gap
of YOUNG ERNESTO to CHE the Revolutionary!!! After
celebrating his leaving the colony and his birthday on
the MAINLAND with the NUNS and Directors..... He
decides that he must swim across the river back to
where the PEOPLE (the lepers)lived......like going to
CUBA to help in the revolution....well, the current
was strong and his asmatic lungs almost gave out ...
but he made back to the leper colony and celebrated
with them before he floated off to change the
world....
Purple Gene give this movie 9 CUBAN CIGARS out of 10
for taking me away to another world on a lovely
SUNDAY!
PURPLE GENE
Thanks, Purple Gene!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny by day, foggy by night.
Honored for Writing Achievements
Studs Terkel
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Studs Terkel was honored Sunday for his lifetime of achievements in writing and broadcasting.
Terkel, 92, is the recipient of the Elijah Parish Lovejoy award, given annually to outstanding journalists by Colby College. The award is named after a Colby graduate who was murdered in 1837 while defending the press against a pro-slavery mob in Illinois.
Terkel, who is recuperating from a fall, was not able to attend Sunday's presentation, but Chicago author Alex Kotlowitz accepted on his behalf.
Studs Terkel
And John Fogerty
Pete Seeger
"This is the guy who wrote 'Where Do the Children Play?,"' says Pete Seeger.
He is pondering the fact that Yusef Islam, who as Cat Stevens also wrote "Peace Train," was denied entry into the United States because of -- to use the words of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge -- "some relationship" between the artist and terrorist activity.
Seeger, who gave us "We Shall Overcome" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!," was blacklisted in the early 1950s as a member of pioneering folk quartet the Weavers. The legendary folk singer has just been informed that the title track from John Fogerty's new album, "Deja Vu All Over Again," alludes to Seeger's nettlesome '60s anti-war anthem "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy."
The Vietnam-era song is an allegorical tale of reckless military maneuvers in a Louisiana river ("We're waist deep in the Big Muddy/And the big fool says to push on!"). Controversy surrounding Seeger's performance of it on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1968 contributed to the TV show's cancellation.
For the rest, Pete Seeger
New U.S. Citizen
Peter Frampton
The long blond hair and sexy magazine covers that forged British rock star Peter Frampton's image as a teen idol of the 1970s are gone. That's just fine with the recently naturalized U.S. citizen, who is pouring his passion into writing and performing new music - and becoming a political activist in America's heartland.
Frampton, who said he was motivated to become an American citizen by the Sept. 11 attacks, also has become active in national politics.
He volunteered to perform at a private fund-raising concert in Cincinnati this summer for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and appeared on stage in Toledo, Ohio, recently with rock musicians Neil Young and Pearl Jam as part of the "Vote For Change" tour.
"I was pretty naive about American politics," he said, laughing about coming out of a grocery to find someone had removed the Kerry sticker from his car. "Now I have one inside my car window so no one can take it."
Peter Frampton
Charity Event
The Osbournes
There was no ham-tossing or obscenity-spewing in the Osbournes' backyard in Beverly Hills on Thursday night.
Instead, it was a little bit of glitz and a lot of music with some fund-raising in between. Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne opened the doors to the home made famous by the cameras of MTV to host "An Evening at Home With the Osbournes," a charity dinner featuring Elton John to benefit both the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Foundation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Showing their faces and dining on Asia de Cuba cuisine were George Lucas, Robin Williams, Tori Spelling (with new husband, Charlie Shanian), Jennifer Love Hewitt, Quincy Jones, John Stamos, Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
The Osbournes
Truth Stranger Than 'Strangelove'
'Dr. Strangelove'
"Dr. Strangelove," Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film about nuclear-war plans run amok, is widely heralded as one of the greatest satires in American political or movie history. For its 40th anniversary, Film Forum is screening a new 35 millimeter print for one week, starting on Friday, and Columbia TriStar is releasing a two-disc special-edition DVD next month. One essential point should emerge from all the hoopla: "Strangelove" is far more than a satire. In its own loopy way, the movie is a remarkably fact-based and specific guide to some of the oddest, most secretive chapters of the Cold War.
As countless histories relate, Mr. Kubrick set out to make a serious film based on a grim novel, "Red Alert," by Peter George, a Royal Air Force officer. But the more research he did (reading more than 50 books, talking with a dozen experts), the more lunatic he found the whole subject, so he made a dark comedy instead. The result was wildly iconoclastic: released at the height of the cold war, not long after the Cuban missile crisis, before the escalation in Vietnam, "Dr. Strangelove" dared to suggest - with yucks! - that our top generals might be bonkers and that our well-designed system for preserving the peace was in fact a doomsday machine.
What few people knew, at the time and since, was just how accurate this film was. Its premise, plotline, some of the dialogue, even its wildest characters eerily resembled the policies, debates and military leaders of the day. The audience had almost no way of detecting these similiarities:Nearly everything about the bomb was shrouded in secrecy back then. There was no Freedom of Information Act and little investigative reporting on the subject. It was easy to laugh off "Dr. Strangelove" as a comic book.
For a great read, 'Dr. Strangelove'
Numbers Up on Hurricanes
Weather Channel
Hurricane season has battered Florida, but it's been more than kind to The Weather Channel, which posted its biggest ratings month in history for September.
The network posted a single-day record, reaching 1.9 million households the day before Hurricane Ivan made landfall. The next day, as Ivan roared ashore, The Weather Channel beat all other news channels, including CNN and Fox News.
The network also posted a weekly ratings record between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5, when Hurricane Frances hit Florida's east coast. For the third quarter, July through September, The Weather Channel's ratings were 43 percent higher than in 2003.
Weather Channel
Surfaces As News Story on Schools
Bush Ad
The Bush administration has promoted its education law with a video that comes across as a news story but fails to make clear the reporter involved was paid with taxpayer money.
The government used a similar approach this year in promoting the new Medicare law and drew a rebuke from the investigative arm of Congress, which found the videos amounted to propaganda in violation of federal law.
The Education Department also has paid for rankings of newspaper coverage of the No Child Left Behind law, a centerpiece of the resident's domestic agenda. Points are awarded for stories that say resident Bush and the Republican Party are strong on education, among other factors.
The news ratings also rank individual reporters on how they cover the law, based on the points systecover the law, based on the points system set up by Ketchum, a public relations firm hired by the government.
The video and documents emerged through a Freedom of Information Act request by People for the American Way, a liberal group that contends the department is spending public money on a political agenda. The group sought details on a $700,000 contract Ketchum received in 2003 from the Education Department.
An excerpt from the Education Department video
Bush Ad
Captures Campaign Process
Alexandra Pelosi
From the moment she met John Kerry, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi knew she wouldn't be making "Journeys with John." "She's going to lampoon all of us. She's going to have us all do stupid things," Kerry said more than a year ago when first approached by the camcorder-toting Pelosi. Teresa Heinz Kerry looked on as if a skunk had waddled across the room.
But Pelosi, who profiled candidate George W. Bush in 2000, wasn't looking for the star of a sequel. She went back to the campaign trail more to expose a dysfunctional process than a particular candidate. The quickly edited film "Diary of a Political Tourist" premieres Monday at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT on HBO.
Alexandra Pelosi
Moguls Win, Americanization of Media To Begin
Oz Election
Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer stand to be among the major beneficiaries of the Australian government's win at Saturday's Australian elections.
The vote will likely mean Prime Minister John Howard's conservative Liberal/National Party coalition will control both houses of Parliament -- the first time an Oz government has enjoyed such power since 1981.
That would enable the government to repeal cross-media ownership laws and relax the limits on foreign investment in media, measures that had been blocked by the previously hostile Senate.
Ending cross-media ownership restrictions, which currently mean no company can own a newspaper and TV station in a capital city, would also pave the way for Packer to make a bid for the Fairfax publishing empire, which the mogul has long coveted.
Oz Election
The Bacteria Behind Flu Vaccine Shortage
Serratia marcescens
The reddish bacterium to blame for this year's shortage of flu vaccine has a colorful history.
Until the 1960s, Serratia marcescens was considered harmless - so safe, in fact, that the military secretly dispersed it across U.S. cities in germ warfare studies. Today, Serratia is blamed for urinary tract infections, infected surgical wounds and pneumonia, usually spread among hospital patients.
Before the 2004 flu season, Serratia was most notorious for its role in germ warfare studies.
During one such test in 1950 - "Operation Sea-Spray" - Navy vessels cruised the San Francisco coast, spewing huge amounts of the bacterium into the air over the city. At least one hospital noticed an increase in pneumonia patients.
In the 1970s, when the military disclosed the tests, a San Francisco family sued over a pneumonia death they blamed on Serratia. Courts ruled the government was immune from such lawsuits.
Serratia marcescens
World Monopoly Championship
Antonio Zafra Fernandez
A Spanish lab technician needed only two hours to amass a small real estate fortune and drive a Norwegian mutual fund manager's railroad empire into bankruptcy to capture the World Monopoly Championship on Saturday.
Antonio Zafra Fernandez, 36, of Madrid pumped his fist in the air after he bested Norwegian Bjorn Andenaes of Oslo in the beloved board game to take home the $15,140 prize - equal to the amount of play money in a Monopoly set.
The companies that sell Monopoly around the world flew players from 38 nations to the Japanese capital for the two-day event, first held in 1973 in Washington.
The four finalists, all dressed in tuxedos, competed Saturday while a Mr. Monopoly - decked out in a silver mustache, top hat and cane - hovered near the stage. A real banker managed the tournament's money.
Antonio Zafra Fernandez
In Memory
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve died suddenly at 5:30 p.m. yesterday of heart failure. He was 52 years old.
On Saturday October 9, Reeve fell into a coma after going into cardiac arrest while at home. Reeve was being treated for a pressure wound that he developed, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection. Reeve was admitted to Northern Westchester Hospital on Saturday evening and never regained consciousness. His family was at his side at the time of death.
Dana Reeve, Christopher's wife, issued this statement: "On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester Hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband. I also want to thank his personal staff of nurses and aides, as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."
Reeve is survived by his mother Barbara Johnson and his father Franklin Reeve, his brother Benjamin Reeve, his wife Dana, their twelve year old son Will and his two children from a former relationship, Matthew (25) and Alexandra (21).
At this time, no plans for a funeral have been announced. Additional information will be released as soon as it is available. Please visit www.christopherreeve.org for the most up-to-date information.
For those who care to do so, the family has requested that donations be made in his honor to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation -- Cards may be sent to the family in care of the Foundation at 500 Morris Avenue, Springfield, NJ 07081.
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
