Category: Power to the People

Eric Holder won’t like this

~ odd man out ~ 2 Comments

All I could think of when I read this story was Barack Obama and his attorney general and their absurd anti-marijuana crusade:

New Approach Washington unveiled new advertisements Wednesday that show former law enforcement officials supporting Initiative 502.

The ballot initiative would legalize the production and sale of marijuana in Washington state through state-licensed stores, if approved by voters in November. Under the proposed law, the Washington State Liquor Control Board would regulated marijuana-shops and possessing up to an ounce of marijuana would be legal.

“We know firsthand that decades of marijuana arrests have failed to reduce use and the drug cartels are pocketing all the profits,” says Charlie Mandigo, a former FBI special agent, in one of the ads…

‘Associates’ fight the power

~ odd man out ~ 1 Comment

The Waltons must be very disappointed by what’s happening at some of their plantations:

Walmart workers who went on strike in Illinois and California appear to have inspired some of their fellow big box employees, and now it looks like the movement is going viral.

Labor leaders said Tuesday, just one day before Walmart’s annual shareholder meeting, that workers at 28 stores in 12 states walked out and went on strike to demand the anti-union employer raise wages, improve working conditions and end retaliations against employees who attempt to form unions…

Berkeley labor economist Sylvia Allegretto found last year that just six of the Walton family’s richest members have a combined wealth greater than the bottom 30 percent of American earners put together…

A good man

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Link:

The owner of a café in the center of Madrid, Spain has become a hero of sorts and internet phenomenon after standing up to riot police and allowing protestors to seek refuge in his establishment. The incident took place yesterday, when thousands of protestors took to the streets to demonstrate against the government of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The man, Alberto Casillas, tells Eco Diario that he saw the whole drama unfold near the Neptune fountain, when police finally charged protestors and people began to flee the scene. “I saw a boy who was being beaten up by the police — he was bleeding — and I went to help him,” said Casillas, who let protestors inside his café. “I then stood in front of the restaurant and didn’t let the riot police in.” He also fed all of the protestors that had flocked to his business. You can see video of the incident, and much more, below:

Free Pussy Riot!

~ odd man out ~ 2 Comments

Sure, he’s full of shit, but the gist of recent remark by Vladimir Putin’s puppet would make a great bumper sticker:

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, has called for the three jailed members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to be freed.

But Pussy Riot’s supporters quickly dismissed the prime minister’s statements, noting his long history of appealing to Russia’s more liberal demographic while failing to follow through on delivering results…

There’s an app for that

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

This is great, because you can tell all your wingnut relatives they don’t have to take your word for it, they can see for themselves who’s behind the nastiest political ads this season. And of course, it goes without saying that every journalist should be using Ad Hawk:

As an ad slamming President Obama’s tax policies prompts a YouTube video, local software developer Bob Lannon takes out his iPhone. He opens up an app, holds it to the speaker and puts his thumb to a big button in the middle of the screen. Within 25 seconds, the app returns information on the source: a conservative super PAC titled Crossroads Generation. A splash page shows information on its spending for and against candidates of either party, a history of its ad buys and a link to information on its donors.


Following campaign money has never been easier—or more important. This year has seen an unprecedented flood of negative campaign ads in swing states like Pennsylvania. In the super PAC era of politics, voters may wonder about the veracity of mean-spirited advertisements sponsored by Orwellian-sounding entities. But courtesy of a group of activist Philadelphia software developers and their collaborators at a nonprofit government watchdog: There’s an app for that.


A free app released Aug. 22 by the Sunlight Foundation—an organization that seeks to ensure government transparency—Ad Hawk works like popular music identification apps Shazam and Soundhound. You hold your iPhone or Android-based phone to an audio source, and the app links you to information about that source. It’s just one of many citizen-empowerment apps that have cropped up as election season gets under way.

Moment of clarity

~ susie

Lee Camp, the very funny and perceptive comedian whose Moment of Clarity videos you’ve seen here, has a new book called, oddly enough, “Moment of Clarity.” Here are interviews with him about his new book here and here.

You can purchase it here or at his website.

It’s not easy, being a political comedian. He’s been blacklisted from his former college gigs, because truthtelling has its price. But if you can afford to show your support, I highly recommend it.

News You Can Use, Beer Edition

~ susie ~ 4 Comments

Howdy kids, Brendan here.

Some of you may know that I’m in the middle of opening a production brewery here in Philadelphia. It’s a pretty small operation for now -we’re still crunching numbers and tweaking the business plan- but when we finally open our doors in 2014, we expect to be cranking out 30 barrels at a time. That’s about 60 kegs each batch.

Anyway, we’re not licensed yet, so we can’t SELL our beer. But we CAN give it away for free! So, if you live in Philadelphia or thereabouts, come on out to the Interstate Drafthouse at 1235 East Palmer Street this Sunday, July 22. Starting at 4:00 PM, we will be pouring our Liaison lavender saison -a spicy Belgian farmhouse ale- and our Brownzilla brown ale -an American brown with a nice balance of hops and caramelized malts. Our beer is free… but make sure you enjoy some of Interstate’s awesome food and their impressive selection of craft beers.

Come on down, drink some beers!