Silenced Majority Portal

"Celebrity" Hiltons are some of McCain's Big Donors!!

McCain is running an ad in battleground states in which he compared Obama to celebrities Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. It has also gotten an inordinate amount of free publicity because he has the corporate media in his pocket, since he's their servant.

So who are some of his big fans and donors? None other than Paris Hilton's parents. Britney herself was a 2000 Bush supporter (no idea where she stands re. politics at the moment.)

Anyway, celebrities in Hollywood are pissed, because they know that Obama isn't a "celebrity" in their scheme of things - he's a "rock star." Paris doesn't consider herself a "political person" but a friend said she was irritated at the use of her name by McCain. It really would be kind of creepy.

Paris's rich grandpappa is also pissed at McCain - he, like her parents, has donated heavily to McCain's campaign, only to have the family name insulted.

McCain wears $520 imported, Ferragamo Shoes

Who is an elitist?

What is the media narrative?

A welcome counterpoint: Black talk radio

We frequently lament the existence of conservative talk radio (& tv & print) pundits, not because they don't have the right to free speech, but because they are ignorant and hateful. New York Times had a lengthy and meaty article last week on Black Talk Radio. It's exciting to me because I believe in "Be the Media" - there are so many voices corporate media blacks out, even as the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Clear Channel allow the hate on the right that should by rights be marginal.

Pictured is Warren Ballentine, who spoke from a Mall in Atlanta when McCain had spoken to the NAACP.
“He came out talking about how good of a race Barack Obama was running, and how proud he was of Barack,” Mr. Ballentine said. “You know he went back home and said, ‘I can’t believe I spoke in front of all those Negroes today!’ He was pandering to the crowd, talking about how he felt when Martin Luther King Jr. died,” Mr. Ballentine went on. “However, he didn’t vote for the holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.” Mr. Ballentine has at least three million listeners and hails from North Caroline. He pushes get-out-the-vote and grassroots involvement.

Stations like Air America have filled some of the gap but with Obama running, here is a new bunch, and then there are the Hispanic stations like the ones that got the big immigration rallies going (along with text messaging.)

“Urban stations can be in ’08 what Rush Limbaugh delivered for conservatives a generation ago,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, who has a two-year-old radio program that is now syndicated on stations throughout the country.

Mr. Limbaugh and other conservative hosts generally support Mr. McCain. A spokesman for the McCain campaign, said, “John McCain believes every person is entitled to their opinion, no matter how outrageous.”

Ebony magazine listed Obama first among the “25 Coolest Brothers of All Time,” alongside Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. Caribbean stations play songs about him. When I saw Stevie Wonder, it was a complete endorsement for Obama.

No Car Sundays in Seattle .. but polluting hydroplanes & Blue Angels this weekend

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels called a news conference Wednesday on busy Alki Avenue to announce "car-free days. As part of the city's "give your car the summer off" campaign, selected roads will be open only to pedestrians and bike riders on certain Sundays this summer.

But look what we have this Sunday ... right up there with NASCAR..

Here is what the police say:

Prepare for possible backups if you're traveling on Interstate 90 across Lake Washington today and during the next three days. Police are blocking stopping traffic for the Blue Angels, who practice the air show Thursday and Friday and have full runs for the Seafair festival Saturday and Sunday.

Cops know they're going to be noisy and ask that people don't call 911 to complain. "There absolutely nothing that can be gained by calling 911 to report loud noise by the Blue Angels," police spokesman Mark Jamieson said. "There has been plenty of forewarning."

Ludacris & McCain both weigh in on Obama

McCain compared Obama's "celebrity" to Britney Spears & Paris Hilton. I went to YouTube and the link for the McCain "Celeb" video went to a McCain website with no embed code (unless you search for it.) I saw it earlier and with the sound off, it's a great Obama ad! With the sound on, I still don't get the point and neither do some Republicans. Is it that Obama is popular in Germany therefore that is bad for America? Were Ahnold and Reagan qualified - they were a body builder and a cowboy actor.

Ludacris called Hillary a bad name, and dissed McCain, Bush and Jesse Jackson. The Obama campaign had to disavow it and talk about family values and Fox News printed out the lyrics plus gave all their voyeurs a peek. I actually quite like it.

Slugbug

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Obama has said he listens to Ludacris and met with him in Oct 2006 when he was considering a run for the presidency. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss young people.

Ludicris was evidently inspired by the candidate and created this rap video about politics and the election. I think it will inspire young people to vote, but the Obama campaign denounced this video.

"As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement today. "This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics."

I listened to it, and, unlike a politician, Ludicris is able to speak his mind. A great rap artist is able to cut through the bullshit and tell it like it is. Ludicris, in my view, does that with this video.

Kayakbiker
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Here is part of the retarded memo from the McCain campaign.

To: Interested Parties
From: Rick Davis, McCain Campaign Manager
Re: Barack Obama's Celebrity

Barack Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world, comparable to Tom Cruise, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. As he told Congressional Democrats yesterday, he has become the "symbol" for the world's aspirations for America and that we are now at "the moment ... that the world is waiting for."

Only a celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude could attract 200,000 fans in Berlin who gathered for the mere opportunity to be in his presence. These are not supporters or even voters, but fans fawning over The One. Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand "MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew -- Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula.

The London Times, to whom we must look "ludicrous":

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says the bottom line is that the comparison of Obama with Spears and Hilton is unlikely to change many voters minds about the Democratic candidate. “The typical viewer will fail to see the analogy,” she said. “Voters believe Senator Obama is a celebrity, but not in the same sense as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.” Obama was said to be particularly baffled by the comparison with Paris Hilton, whose name he has often cited when criticising President Bush’s decision to raise the threshold for America’s inheritance tax. “The Paris Hilton Tax Break,” he frequently calls it. But it’s nothing personal, apparently. “I've never even met the woman,” Obama admitted yesterday.

Esperanza Spalding, Voice of the Bass

(photo removed pending permission from photographer - see comment below - see photography site for nice photos of musicians)

You must listen to this woman. Buy her CD. Read about her life. Go to her website and MySpace page. It was NPR who called her "Voice of the Bass" and our local affiliate has been playing the heck out of her CD, released in May.

She is Esperanza Spalding and she is originally from Portland, where she became a working bass player at a blues club there. Everyone else was a seasoned veteran. The trumpet player used to gig with Ornette Coleman. They needed a bass player and Esperanza had only been playing for two months, after having picked up a bass quite by accident and just taking off with it. Within a year, she was doing gigs with six or seven different groups around Portlands - two jazz septets, a trio, a fusion group, etc. She also had a full-time job. She was home-schooled most of her childhood and didn't adapt well to an arts-focussed private high school to which she got a scholarship, and dropped out. She passed her GED and enrolled at a local university but was unhappy there as well and was convinced to apply at Berklee in Boston. She was awarded a scholarship but lacked money for a plane ticket and housing. Friends helped her via a benefit. She then lived rent-free with a family friend in the suburbs but had to walk two miles to the train station, sometimes through snow, to commute with her bass.

The competition and grueling pace almost did her in, but love of music kept her going. Now she is on the faculty, at age 23. She has toured with Patty Austin, including to Italy, and gigs in the Boston area. Pat Metheny is an admirer. She is modest but when you hear her, you will be amazed at her voice and for me, it's also the bass lines. & she's beautiful.

Here she is on Letterman.

Here is a review of her CD: (I got three songs on iTunes - there goes my credit card again!)

RISING JAZZ STAR: THE HOT BASS AND HIP VOICE OF ESPERANZA SPALDING,

Four and a half ENJOYABLE Stars!! A star is born! On her second CD (billed as a debut, but the successful CD Junjo is already out there) Esperanza Spalding, the petite young lady with the spectacular afro hairdo, is revealed as a 23 year-old jazz phenom who is packing a triple whammy: she has a lithe and lovely golden-toned voice; has prodigious, fleet-fingered double bass technique; and produces artful musical compositions and lyrics. And she often uses them simultaneously in a spellbinding manner, sometimes singing in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and in what can only be described as 'Esperanza-ese'. Ms Spaldilng has appeared in DownBeat magazine, performs at jazz festivals, and has played with mentoring heavyweights such as Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, and Joe Lovano. And at age 20 and already an alumna, she was the second youngest faculty member at the prestigious Berklee College of Music (a teenaged Metheny was the youngest).

The 'best of the best' begins with a bouyant version of Milton Nascimento's classic about a place called "Ponta de Areia" (Sand Bridge) built over a repetitive piano-bass figuration with her voice soaring above it all backed by Gretchen Parlato. "Fall In {Love}" and "I Know You Know" show her wonderful ballad and uptempo singing abilities, respectively. "Cuerpo and Alma" (a double-timed Spanish language version of the classic "Body and Soul") based on Ms Spaldings eight-note bass motif is sweetly and poignantly sung featuring a hard-driving Tynerish piano solo by Leo Genovese: and the concept works. And her pizzicato bass playing throughout the CD is very impressive, especially the 'tour de force' "Mela" where she scores big on both bass solo and a soaring, swooping vocal solo. Donald Harrison's sinuous sax, Ambrose Akinmusire's hot trumpet, ace guitarist Niño Josele, the percussive fireworks of Jamey Haddad & "El Negro" Hernandez, Gretchen Parlato's & Theresa Perez' background vocals, and Otis Brown's protean drumming contribute mightily to this excellent session. Esperanza Spalding is a rising jazz star and this recording is Highly Recommended. Four and a half MARVELOUS Stars. (this review is based on an iTunes download.)

Seattle City Council says plastic bags and styrofoam are evil

Seattle City Council voted 6-1 to ban free bags at groceries, drugstores etc. staring in 2009. One councilwoman dissented, saying that the bags make great trashcan liners. This is a lame excuse because they can certainly be used more than once for purchases and still live on to line the trash can. Styrofoam takeout containers are also going to be verboten and soon after that, we'll stop seeing those meat and seafood trays made of the indestructible material. I considered buying some shopping bags but I actually have quite a few of those conventioneer bags that are given out at trade fairs that can be put to better use than sitting in the back of a closet.

Bags have also been banned in Los Angeles as of today, San Francisco earlier this summer (they were first) and also Ireland, Bhutan, China, several African countries and parts of Alaska. One man even has a mission to save the plastic bag, but despite their usefulness, there are hundreds of miles of bags and disposable diapers floating around in the ocean like archepelagoes.

God Sends a Sign to the Goshen Family

Some Hoosiers found Jesus on the side of a cat they found in their backyard.

Does anyone know what happened to the other two kittens?

Monica Goodling Was Just Doing Her Job

I just finished reading the Government Report An Investigation of Allegations of
Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the
Attorney General. After reading this report, I have no doubt that Monica Goodling was hired to politicize the Department of Justice. Her title was White House Liaison and Senior Counsel to the Attorney General. She was responsible for interviewing and processing candidates for political positions. “In that job, she also interviewed and was involved in the selection of career attorneys who were candidates for temporary details to various Department offices, and candidates for immigration judge and Board of Immigration Appeals positions.”

What was her training for such an important job?

Goodling graduated from Messiah College in 1995 and received a law degree from the Regent University School of Law in 1999. From 1999 to February 2002, she worked for the Republican National Committee (RNC) where she held the positions of research analyst, senior analyst, and deputy director for research and strategic planning. Among her duties was what she described on her résumé as “a broad range of political research.”

Goodling, who never practiced as a lawyer, was responsible for hiring career attorneys and immigration appeals attorneys. I wonder how she knew what questions to ask a prospective employee?

Here is a list of questions that Goodling asked candidates, even ones who were hired for non-political positions.

The list included the following:
Tell us about your political philosophy. There are different
groups of conservatives, by way of example: Social
Conservative, Fiscal Conservative, Law & Order Republican.
[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to
serve him?
Aside from the President, give us an example of someone
currently or recently in public service who you admire.

We found that this last question often took the form of asking the candidate to identify his or her most admired President, Supreme Court Justice, or legislator. Some candidates were asked to identify a person for all three categories. Williamson told us that sometimes Goodling asked candidates: “Why are you a Republican?”

If that doesn’t make you sick, check out this zealous behavior:

Several candidates interviewed by Goodling told us they believed that her question about identifying their favorite Supreme Court Justice, President, or legislator was an attempt to determine the candidates’ political beliefs. For example, one candidate reported that after he stated he admired Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Goodling “frowned” and commented, “but she’s pro-choice.” Another candidate commented that when Goodling asked him to name his favorite judge, it seemed to him that she was trying to “get at my political views.”

Of course, candidates were questioned about gay marriage and abortion:

Willamson (a co-worker) said that she and Goodling took notes during candidate interviews, which were maintained in folders for the candidates.14 We also found that many of Goodling’s and Williamson’s interview notes reflected that the topics of abortion and gay marriage were discussed during interviews. It appeared that these topics were discussed as a result of the question seeking information about how the applicant would characterize the type of conservative they were. We received information from our survey that 34 persons interviewed by Goodling or Williamson said they discussed abortion, and 21 said they discussed gay marriage.

One person informed Goodling’s boss - Kyle Sampson - that she was asking illegal questions about abortion, but the boss doesn’t recall that conversation. He does recall a conversation about the need for more training. Yea, right.

Goodling conducted extensive internet "research" on job candidates. It appears that her research experience and ability was related to simply typing people's names into search engines on the internet and seeing if any dirt (e.g, a link to democratic party) came up.

Goodling used an Internet search string in her hiring research that she had received from Jan Williams, her predecessor as the Department’s White House Liaison. At some time during the year Williams served as White House Liaison, she had attended a seminar at the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and received a document entitled “The Thorough Process of Investigation.” The document described methods for screening candidates for political positions and recommended using www.tray.com and www.opensecrets.org to find information about contributions to political candidates and parties. The document also explained how to find voter registration information. In addition, the document explained how to conduct searches on www.nexis.com, and included an example of a search string that contained political terms such as “republican,” “Bush or Cheney,” “Karl Rove,” “Howard Dean,” “democrat!,” “liberal,” “abortion or pro-choice,” as well as generic terms such as “arrest!” and “bankrupt!”

And here is her Lexus-Nexus internet search string:

[First name of a candidate]! and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!
In addition, Williams provided to Goodling the White House document described above entitled, “The Thorough Process of Investigation.”

The Thorough Process of Investigation? Wow. How long will it take the country to recover from this kind of partisan destruction. It appears that competency had nothing to do with the hiring process. Goodling has limited immunity from prosecution. If she lied during her testimony, she could be prosecuted. But then Bush would pardon her because she did such a great job.

It's time for change.

Is McCain more similar to Bush & Cheney than we thought?!

Like Cheney, he has his own secret energy people.

Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the ban on offshore drilling. Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain in June with 2/3 of this after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May. After his speech, he held a series of fundraisers with oil men - private luncheons at Texas country clubs and the like.

John McCain: total oil money in three and a half months=$882,000

John McCain: total oil money in two weeks=$825,000

How much did he get from the oil companies in July?

for more
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Like Bush, he is part of a corrupt family with repetitive dysfunction.

McCain was involved 20 years ago with the "Keating Five" scandal, which had to do with failed savings and loans (he was one of five Senators who tried to head off a federal investigation.) Now history repeats itself - only this time it's his son Andrew , who appears to be fleeing from a failing bank so the family name will not be associated further with that fiasco.

Thanks to Kayakbiker for alerting us to this great YouTube video & pointing out that John McCain is "losing the YouTube wars."