Silenced Majority Portal

The Life of Franken Sign (a photo Essay)

It starts for many of us at the Minnesota State Fair.  You can pick up signs at a candidate's booth, and I visited Al Franken's to take care of business.  In the image below, it appears someone is lecturing Al's volunteers; we have had enough of that!

The State Fair is also a place to observe the "seed art" of Minnesotans (several examples are in this post).  In recent years, some of it has been political, like this one imploring Minnesotan's to "Spare Us the Norm."

I also visited the Democratic State Farm Party's booth, and they had a board where people could volunteer reasons why we should dump Norm.  Examples included Coleman's opposition to healthcare reform and not investigating spending abuses for no-bid contracts in Iraq.

We put up our signs, worked the phone banks, and voted.  As seen below, the photo of my ballot demonstrates that I was not one of the Lizard People.  

But after the election, we didn't have a winner. At the end of the original count, Norm was ahead, but a recount was triggered by the close vote.  It doesn't take long after election day for winter to arrive, and in Minnesota, that means snow.  They say that Eskimos have 7 different words for snow; In Minnesota, we found all 7 kinds covering our Franken signs.  

In January, I was watching the vote-count live on TheUptake.Org and I and thousands of others saw Al take the lead for the first time.  

There was zero probability that Norm would lead again, but the delay tactics started. The grass started growing.  Another season was passing.  

It was time for the May Day parade, and Al's supporters, and Minnesotans in general, were thinking it was past time for Minnesota to have a second senator.

And Today we learned that it finally did end. Senator Al Franken.  It sounds good to say that. 

I hope Senator Al Franken can start soon cleaning up after the previous residents.

  

Jacko Commemorative TIME Cover

I paged through it on my lunch hour - interesting stuff on the very young Jackson Five.

Stoning of Soraya M Trailer - Iranian Film

Iran's Brave Leading Lady

The Stoning of Soraya M., is directed by the Iranian-born Cyrus Nowrasteh. It's based on a book published in France in 1984 by a French-Iranian journalist which recounts the story of Soraya Manouchehri, executed for adultery in an Iranian village after being framed by her husband, who sought to marry an adolescent girl and rid himself of the mother of his six children. 

Franken Is "In" So Nyc Can Finally Get a Haircut!

I saw the news at work!  Nyc let me know that Michelle Malkin used a "Send in the Clowns" video on her website (her reference to Franken) to she is pissed.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/30/franken-fied-make-way-for-another-clown/

& Nyc says 'Our Long National Nightmare is Finally Over, and now I can finally go get a damned haircut.'  He said he would not do so til Franken was allowed to be Senator. Here he is in Germany with his grown-out hair and his laptop.

Now I will go get a picture of his last haircut, which he got during the Obama Inauguration, at the Senate barbershop. & then he'll probably show up soon with his new haircut.

Glenn Beck Brags About Burning the Flag

This is even wierder than the Scientology article I just read.

  

New York Subway Stations Named for Banks

The MTA officially has sold naming rights to one of its busiest subway stations in Brooklyn.   It's a London-based bank and the deal was for $4 million. All of the subway stations at the Brooklyn hub will have Barclays Center added to their names.  

One person interviewed in the article said:

"To rename the 59th and Lex stop the McDonald’s stop — it ain’t going to work. I don’t think it will stick.” 

There is all kinds of creepy stuff in this article: New York Subway Stations Named for Banks

Continuing the Hemp Theme .. Pot Found in Casket

A casket minus a cadaver yielded nearly 100 pounds of marijuana after a traffic stop in Dallas. William Dale Crock of Cave City, Ark., was in jail Friday on a marijuana possession charge, plus traffic and seat beat violations. Dallas police say Crock was arrested Wednesday when bundles of marijuana were discovered under the casket's cover and pillow.

Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse (JAN'-see) told said the van turned up during surveillance on a suspected drug house. Police stopped the van in Mesquite, after noticing Crock not wearing a seat belt. Officers also said he allegedly ran a red light and did an improper lane change.  A drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the casket in the van.

story

Oregon Passes Hemp Bill

 

Oregon Passes Hemp Bill 
Becomes Sixth State in 2009 to Take Action 
State Pressure to Grow Hemp Continues to Mount as Business Booms

SALEM, OR — Today, by a vote of 46 to 11, the Oregon House passed SB 676, a bill that permits production and possession of industrial hemp and trade in industrial hemp commodities and products. "I am glad that Oregon has joined the list of states that have agreed that American farmers should have the right to re-introduce industrial hemp as an agricultural crop," says SB 676 sponsor, Sen. Floyd Prozanski. "By passing SB 676 with strong bi-partisan support, the Oregon Legislature has taken a proactive position to allow its farmers the right to grow industrial hemp, to provide American manufacturers with domestically-grown hemp, and to profit from that effort." The Oregon Senate passed the bill by an overwhelming majority vote of 27 to 2 on June 19.  If the Governor signs the bill, Oregon would become the ninth state to authorize regulated hemp farming under state law.

New American Craze - Bringing Guns to Church

from James - reading his email up in Canada

 

AOL poll results on the "Bring guns to church" thing in Kentucky.

 

What do you think of the event?

It seems fine

63%

9,230

It bothers me

 37%5,351

Total Votes: 14,581

 

http://news.aol.com/article/guns-in-kentucky-church/546706?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl7|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fguns-in-kentucky-church%2F546706

Young Japanese Are Starting to Protest Over the Shitty Economy

Protest is a rare thing in Japan but that's about to change. 

They're gathering in public and condemning their government for lack of jobs and opportunity.  This country hasn't really seen protests since the '60s.  Seminars are run to train people in modes of protest such as poster making and internet activism.  Unemployment is just under 10% for the 15-24 year old group, and unemployment and welfare are sparse.  More money is spent on pensions and health for older people than on training young workers.  

As the economy shrunk, many young "temporaries" lost their jobs.  When Canon and Toyota fired workers, some lashed out publicly, confronting managers at the factory gate in front of cameras or suing them.  Workers seek to unionize.  There is not a mass movement, but there is a definite rise in activism.  

Some quotes from the article:

“Japanese feel it’s shameful to get involved in protests,” said Makoto Yuasa, a longtime activist. “Many still look at us suspiciously, like we might be making bombs.”

“The poor man’s revolt has finally begun!” Mr. Matsumoto shouted at a recent demonstration, banging on a full set of drums perched atop a piece of plywood on wheels.