Darkstar

Nader's "Grassroots" Campaign

TomPaine.com - Nader's "Grassroots" Campaign

For many progressives, even if you didn't vote for Ralph Nader in 2000, you had a lot of respect for what he was doing. It took guts to challenge the two-party duopoly, and Ralph seemed just the guy to do it. Fast forward four years. Nader's struggling for supporters and resorting to some unsavory techniques to get them. Turning to the GOP's phone lists, right-wing big money donors and, yes, Armey's army is no way to run a principled campaign.

Bush Protesters Arrested

WVGazette Story

A husband and wife who wore anti-Bush T-shirts to the president’s Fourth of July appearance aren’t going down without a fight: They will be represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union as they contest the trespassing charges against them Thursday morning in Charleston Municipal Court.

Police took Nicole and Jeff Rank away in handcuffs from the event, which was billed as a presidential appearance, not a campaign rally. They were wearing T-shirts that read, “Love America, Hate Bush.”

10 Stories the world needs to know more about

10 Stories the world needs to know more about
The United Nations has prepared a list of Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About. It's an amazing list and it puts the so called war on terror and the war in Iraq (not the same thing, right?) into perspective.

Reading List

I am trying to keep a running reading list ....

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie (1993) Native American short stories. Consistently great.

Crossing Open Ground - Barry Lopez (1983) The essay on teaching kids about the woods is worth the price of the whole book, but the other pieces are fantastic, too.

Heaven Lake - John Dalton (2004) In hardcover still, but if you are looking for a travel novel while on your long travels, this one is nice.

In Fantasy/SF, I give "The Knight" by Gene Wolfe my kudos. Best fantasy novel I've read in years. Breaks all conventions, at times hilarious, will challenge the reader to fill in the gaps. Also, if you haven't read "Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan yet, you'll love it. Think John Woo over-the-top action, sex, and great story and characters. Thoroughly entertaining. Also.. the Book of the New Sun

And, if you haven't read "The Known World" (recent Pulitzer winner), make sure you put it on your list of "Books I will Read at Some Point in My Life".

good primer on the rise of modern conservatism in America that has just been published. Written by a couple of English journalists at the Economist, it's refreshingly free of spin (as much as it can be anyway). Good for people like me who follow politics but don't make them my profession. It's called "The Right Nation."

Kill this Amendment

The Washington Post has an interesting editorial about the Same Sex marriage constitutional amendment that was shot down in the Senate today.

CONSIDERING THE volume of work Congress has yet to do before members leave town, the Senate's insistence on considering a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is telling. Congress has failed to pass a budget resolution or any appropriations bills and remains deadlocked on such important public policy issues as corporate taxation and class-action reform. Yet today, the Senate will take up a cloture vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment. Everyone knows that, in the Senate, the proposed amendment is well short of the votes needed to send it on to the states; even making it to a vote on the merits is highly unlikely. The reason the Senate is moving forward is politics of a particularly crass and ugly sort: Gay marriage has become a national electoral issue. And Republicans believe it is one that can help President Bush, who has come out in favor of the amendment, and make life difficult for Sen. John F. Kerry (D), who not only opposes it but also hails from the very state -- Massachusetts -- whose highest court provoked the current showdown with a decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Precisely because of the weight conservatives have put on this issue, today's vote, despite its preordained outcome, has become deeply important. It requires senators to take a public stand on a question of deep principle: Are they willing to warp the entire American constitutional structure to prevent people who love one another from marrying?

United, Not Divided

MoveOn.org: United, Not Divided

Congress is about to vote on amending the U.S. Constitution to deny marriage equality to same-sex couples. Never before has our Constitution been amended to take away anyone's rights. Yet our Senators will vote on this amendment in the next 48 hours. It's urgent that we speak up now. This hateful divisiveness has no place in America.

We can't let anyone, or any group, be singled out for discrimination based on who they are or who they love.

Tom Mauser's Petition to Renew the Assault Weapons Ban

Tom Mauser's Petition to Renew the Assault Weapons Ban

Ok.. I don't usually post petitions on my blog, but I am intrigued by this new technology being used to track email petitions across the Internet. If you are reading this post, can you please click on the link above and sign the Assault weapons ban petition? I am interested to see how this petition system can track who signs up. Feel free to pass the link on to other folks.

In most states, eighteen-year-olds will be able to walk into gun stores and buy new American-made AK-47s.

In many states, it will be possible to bring concealed TEC-9 assault pistols, loaded with thirty rounds of ammunition, into bars, churches and sports arenas, and even public schools and universities.

In many states, kids as young as 13 will be able to buy brand new American-made AK-47s at gun shows and through classified ads.

New assault weapons will be advertised over the internet.

New rapid-fire ammunition magazines that allow guns to fire up to 100 rounds without reloading will be mass-produced and sold on a cash-and-carry basis to anyone, with no questions or background checks.

Tom's Petition is powered by ForwardTrack, a technology developed by Eyebeam R&D to promote on-line activism. The technology tracks and maps the diffusion of email forwards, political calls-to-action, and petitions. Our goal is to help people understand decentralized networks and see the power of "6 degrees of separation."

Why Bush Should Leave

The real reason Bush should lose the election.

5 Reasons Edwards is a good choice

Kerry's Number Two Is a Number One Choice

Five reasons why John Edwards is the perfect choice – and will leave Dick Cheney dropping the F-bomb.

Nader debates Dean

Justice Talking is broadcasting a debate between Howard Dean and Ralph Nader today. With so much at stake in this election, now is not the time for a third party candidate. Governor Dean will make the case that anyone who cares about the future of our country and undoing the damage George Bush has done will be voting for John Kerry.