ghostsinthemachine
ghostsinthemachine's JournalInside the Rowdy, Racist Canceled Trump Rally
Fuck Donald Trump!"
I've been outside the UIC Pavilion for about ten minutes when I first hear someone shout it from a passing car. It's about 2:00 on Friday afternoon. The heckler, in a silver sedan, has come to a rolling stop to yell at the line of rally attendees — now long enough to snake along the length of the arena and a parking garage. The doors to Trump's rally won't open for another hour, and already at the south entrance, the maximum-capacity line has been shut off to any stragglers.
Ever since Trump announced he'd be coming to the University of Illinois at Chicago, it hadn't made sense to me — Chicago writ large isn't natural Trump territory, much less UIC, with its young, diverse student body. This wouldn't be one of his barn-burning romps through the Deep South; this would be a pitched drive onto enemy territory, for Trump as well as his supporters — almost uniformly suburban or out-of-staters. Worse, the Trump camp seemed to have a ready-built opposition in formation: the coalition of largely black and Latino activists who had lately rocked Rahm Emanuel's mayoralty, amidst the compelling evidence his administration had covered up the police murder of unarmed teenager Laquan McDonald.
On Friday, it doesn't seem like that force has materialized. A Trump supporter named Matt is dual-wielding signs, mocking the paltry number of protesters: "At Least You Tried, Protesters!" and "Liberals Claimed 3,000 Strong — I See 30." The count isn't that low — there are about 50 of them across the street and kitty-corner to the main entrance — but I'm still surprised by the thin ranks.
"I can't afford to go to a top-tier university, and I've been working since I was 15 years old," Matt tells me. "I've been busting my ass my entire life."
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-rowdy-racist-canceled-trump-rally-20160313#ixzz42pxbTuZD
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"Background Checks For Guns Could Save Many Lives: Study"
"Background Checks For Guns Could Save Many Lives: Study" - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/background-checks-gun-deaths_us_56e22db5e4b065e2e3d5776d
Yep. If I hear one more person tell me that more guns equals safety I am gonna stick this under their nose and say " you are wrong Bub" (BTW, I am old enough to call people Bub, one of the great pleasures of being old).
Yeah. Guns kill people.
Congressman from Oklahoma attacks San Francisco Mime Troupe!
From SF Mime Troupe....Congressman from Oklahoma attacks Mime Troupe!
Rep. Steve Russell
It has come to our attention that The Lead with Jake Tapper on CNN did a bit featuring us recently. Apparently Congressman Steve Russell (R-OK) doesn't like arts funding, and wants to use our NEA grants as the poster child - even though the amount we get from the NEA is less than our military spends each year on waterboarding classes.
Clearly, we're doing something right. If this doesn't make you want to support the Mime Troupe, nothing will. If you'd like to help us survive against attacks from neo-uberconservatives like Congressman Russell, please donate to us now!
Donate here: http://www.sfmt.org/index.php
I love the Mimers. Free theater! ART FOR THE PEOPLE.
"Here's to Flint" Documentary aired on Democracy Now today....
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/3/8/heres_to_flint_the_untold_storyLove D.Now and Amy Goodman. Excellent story and audio of the documentary. I learned a lot about Flint and what really went on there. Now when someone says "Flint isn't a republican thing" (as someone did the other day) I can tell them it's 100% a Republican thing" and then tell them why, in detail. (Before I told him the basics)
Happy International Womens Day! And now for some music!
Words and Music by Peter Gabriel
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon
We are shakin' the tree
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon
We are shakin' the tree
Waiting your time, dreaming of a better life
Waiting your time, you're more than just a wife
You don't have to do what your mother has done
She has done, this is your life, this new life has begun
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon
We are shakin' the tree
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon
We are shakin' the tree
Turning the tide, you are on the incoming wave
Turning the tide, you know you are nobody's slave
Find your sisters or brothers who can hear all the truth in what you say
They can support you when you're on your way
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon
We are shakin' the tree
Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon
We are shakin' the tree
Changing your ways, changing those surrounding you
Changing your ways, more than any man can do
Open your heart, show him the anger and pain, so you heal
Maybe he's looking for his womanly side, let him feel
You had to be so strong
And you do nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all
We're gonna break it down
We're gonna shake it down, shake it all around
[Incomprehensible]
No no no no no no
No no no no no no
No no no no no no
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
It's your day, a woman's day
You had to be so strong
You do nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all
We're gonna break it down
We're gonna shake it down, shake it all around
(Souma Yergon, Sou Nou Yergon is a Senegalese term meaning, “If we had known, if we had only known”.
"The Brainwashing of my Dad" documentary Explores the Scary Influence of Right-Wing Media
'The Brainwashing of My Dad': Documentary Explores the Scary Influence of Right-Wing Media
Filmmaker Jen Senko examines the effect of conservative media through the lens of her own father's radicalization and its impact on her family.
The new documentary The Brainwashing of My Dad explores one of the most bizarre media phenomenons in this country: the dangerous power right-wing media can have on everyday people.
As filmmaker Jen Senko tried to understand the transformation of her father from a non-political, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic, she uncovered the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP; the Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion, especially the universities, the media and the courts; and under Reagan, the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine.
As Senko's journey continues, we discover that her father is part of a much broader demographic, and that the story is one that affects us all.
Through interviews with media luminaries, cognitive linguists and grassroots activists including Noam Chomsky, Jeff Cohen, George Lakoff and others, The Brainwashing of My Dad unravels the plan to shift the country to the right over the last 30 years, largely through media manipulation. The result has led to
MORE HERE http://www.alternet.org/media/brainwashing-effect-right-wing-media-my-dad-and-nation
The New York Times' first article about Hitler's rise is absolutely stunning (Trump parallels)
On November 21, 1922, the New York Times published its very first article about Adolf Hitler. It's an incredible read — especially its assertion that "Hitler's anti-Semitism was not so violent or genuine as it sounded." This attitude was, apparently, widespread among Germans at the time; many of them saw Hitler's anti-Semitism as a ploy for votes among the German masses.
Times correspondent Cyril Brown spends most of the piece documenting the factors behind Hitler's early rise in Bavaria, Germany, including his oratorical skills. For example: "He exerts an uncanny control over audiences, possessing the remarkable ability to not only rouse his hearers to a fighting pitch of fury, but at will turn right around and reduce the same audience to docile coolness."
But the really extraordinary part of the article is the three paragraphs on anti-Semitism. Brown acknowledges Hitler's vicious anti-Semitism as the core of Hitler's appeal — and notes the terrified Jewish community was fleeing from him — but goes on to dismiss it as a play to satiate the rubes (bolding mine):
More: http://www.vox.com/2015/2/11/8016017/ny-times-hitler
My friend's boyfriend (now fiance) is abusing her and she won't quit him....Redux
The Original thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027646381
Original post here:
"My friend is being abused by her boyfriend and won't quit him
She meets guy online. I tell her he is an abuser after a couple of weeks when she tells me some of the things that are happening. No violence (yet),, but some pretty glaring stuff.
They go out, she calls me to save her. This goes on for months and months.
Then, last Friday she calls me and is in tears. He got drunk and picked a fight over something in her past. I go rescue her. I think she is going to go home (a place she doesn't like to be, she shares a house) when we part. Instead, against my advice, she goes to his house (where she has almost moved into). He is still drinking and again picks a fight with her. This time he hits her (behind the head, abuser's target so no marks). They fight like crazy, he spits on her, punches her, tackles her but she never calls 911. Somewhere along the line she gets a kick in and gives him a black eye (she is all of 90 pounds).
I get no call until Friday asking me to come to her work (bartender at a dive bar) and I notice she is now wearing an engagement ring! Then she tells me the harrowing story of the last week. Giving him all the excuses possible (his "ex was a black belt so he is scared", " he was drinking hard alcohol" "it is so perfect when he isn't hitting me...all of them). She tells me he is going to buy her a 5000 dollar ring and shows me the wedding dress she has picked out. I am flipped out.
We go out for a while, have some fun and try to talk to her.(he is at work so this will remain secret). I tell her how this is a classic abuser story, everything this guy is doing leads up to abuse. He wants her to quit her job, get married etc.
I Nam telling her that he is an abuser and that it will only get worse. I tell her that every time it gets worse and will get worse UNTIL HE KILLS YOU. Again, like the week before, I think I am getting through to her, this time talking about options etc and we part, with her saying she is going to go home and move her stuff out of his house today while he is at work. I even told her that I would be pissed if she went back....
I tried texting her last night (don't do something stupid) and again this morning. She also agreed to let me accompany her when this goes down. No return calls or message. That tells me she went back to him. (That's the scenario every other time).
She won't go to WEAVE or call the cops when he beats her. She is so desperate to have a man in her life that it is clouding her thoughts. You would not believe it, she is very beautiful with an amazing funny personality, but it takes a man, any man, to make her feel good about herself. She has the lowest self esteem of anyone I've ever met.
My question is... What do I do? I am at the end of my tether here. She continually goes against my advice (then tells me I was right a week later, but still goes back) and her drama is upsetting my normally drama free life. If I was 20 years younger I know how I would deal with it, but now I am an old man, so that's out. What do I do here? Her parents live a distance and I don't know how to reach them without going through her. WEAVE needs her to call, they can't help her without her say-so. The cops can't help either.
What should I do when I get the next call?"
So she texts me on Monday and tells me she is getting married in three weeks and that he treats her like a princess, and he was drunk and now they both have quit drinking.
I have yet to respond. How do I respond? I really don't need this crap in my life. If I get invited to the wedding? What aobut mutual friends which I have been avoiding since all of this?
Wanna hear the best live band out there tearing it up?
Some videos and the complete show here (great recording too) if you scroll down. These guys are going for it this year. Blowing people's minds completely.
http://liveforlivemusic.com/news/tedeschi-trucks-band-welcomes-jorma-kaukonen-for-dylan-bb-king-covers-full-audio-video
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