Author Archives: Lisa

A Note From Bobby Re: FCC’s Media Ownership Changes

Leave a reply

Dear People,
For a long time, I’ve wanted to find some way to spread the word about issues I care about and let people know that there are simple ways to get involved and make a difference. So, as long as Lisa is willing to let me be a guest blogger, I see my mission as, not only to alert you to issues I care about but to provided ways you can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
So here’s todays concern:
I’m on the Moveon.org mailing list http://Moveon.org. They just sent a letter letting me know that their campaign to roll back the FCC’s recent rules changes needs everyone’s help and I thought I’d pass on their concerns to those of you not already on their mailing list. They need to put more pressure on the Senate in the next few days to get them to vote to roll back the recent FCC’s changes that would allow a few big companies to control our country’s airways.
So far their campaign efforts have been able to make our legislators rethink an issue big media thought they had in their pocket. Even if you’ve signed something before, now is a critical time to stand up and oppose their attempts to grab the public airways for their own. So, if you care about the issue too, please join me and other Moveon members in letting Congress know now by signing their petition at:
http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/
The letter they asked me to send to all my friends reads as follows (with slight modification by me ;-):
Later this week or early next week, the Senate will likely take up its last major vote on media reform, and it’ll be very close. After a grassroots groundswell tipped the balance toward rolling back the FCC rule change that would allow greater media concentration, lobbyists from big media conglomerates have been working around the clock to tip it back.
On Wednesday, MoveOn.org will be holding a crucial press conference with Senator Dorgan (D-ND) and Senator Snowe (R-ME) and groups across the political spectrum to highlight the broad opposition to the FCC rule change. MoveOn needs to show that over 100,000 people have voiced their demand that the Senate vote to roll back the rule change. Please help us reach 100,000 signers by this Wednesday — you can join us in signing at:
http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/
Together, we can make sure that America’s media is diverse, competitive, and balanced.
The final steps: Volunteer: We need your help. If you have some time to give, press here.
Donate: If you can’t give time, can you make a financial contribution to support this campaign?
Thanks for the support,
Bobby Lilly

Al Franken On The Daily Show

29 Replies

The Prince of Fair and Balanced was on the
The Daily Show last night.
Al took the liberty of pointing out the hypocrisy of the Shrub wearing a flight suit and performing in his little aircraft carrier escapade when, in reality, he not only let his daddy pull strings for him to get into the National Guard so he wouldn’t have to go to Vietnam, but then, he didn’t even show up for duty, and went AWOL for a year!
I might have to break this up into highlights. But here’s the whole thing for now.
Be sure to buy Al’s Book too. I’m just starting it, and I already love it. Everybody I’ve talked to couldn’t put the thing down till they were done.
Enjoy!

Al Franken On The Daily Show – Complete (Small – 13 MB)
Al Franken On The Daily Show – Part 1 of 2 (Small – 8 MB)

Al Franken On The Daily Show – Part 2 of 2 (Small – 6 MB)







The Daily Show (The best news on television.)

Holy Cow There’s A Bunch Of Stuff Goin’ On!

1 Reply

Wow I’ve got so much stuff in the kitty I’m a bit overwhelmed. I’m trying to get some of it up before I have to leave to teach class today at USF…
Last night’s Daily Show was a keeper from beginning to end. I’ve already prepped everything — Al Franken was the guest!
Then, for you Deannies, we’ve got Howard in SF last weekend and Howard raging on the Shrub’s sunday night begging session for more cash for Iraq.
Next, I’ve got the EFF talking about the RIAA’s Shamnesty program on three different channels.
Lemme try to at least get the Franken stuff up…(Yeah, like, quit yapping and start linking already….I know…I know….)
thanks!

Article In Salon On RIAA’s Shamnesty Program

Leave a reply


We don’t need your stinkin’ amnesty!
File sharers scoff at the recording industry’s offer of forgiveness for repentant downloaders.
By Farhad Manjoo For Salon.

Lisa Rein, a blogger at On Lisa Rein’s Radar
I would not participate in this program under any circumstances.
I don’t feel comfortable with the privacy policy — which has a pretty big exception, that the information would not be divulged, “except if necessary to enforce a participant’s violation of the pledges set forth in the Affidavit or otherwise required by law.”(Meaning if the RIAA receives a subpoena from another party.)
The RIAA doesn’t have the right to give full amnesty anyway — you could still be sued by the individual copyright owners/song publishers (like Metallica).
So they are collecting a big database of individuals that can be turned over to other individuals who will then sue the file-sharers anyway. And the file-sharers will have admitted to it, thinking they were getting amnesty. Forget it!

Continue reading →

Ted Koppel On The Dangers Of The Patriot Act

47 Replies

This program was broadcast on September 4, 2003 at 11:30 pm.
Ted Koppel put together an amazing Nightline where he interviewed folks from the ACLU and the Justice Department, among others — and was able to paint a frighteningly accurate picture of the Patriot Act and its new bastard brother, the Victory Act.
If you’ve only got a minute, at least watch his closing thoughts on the matter. (Small – 3 MB) (Links to the complete program are located below.)

The men who drafted our constitution, who framed our civil rights and protected our various freedoms under the law would, I suspect, retch at some of the bone headed, self-serving, misinterpretations of their intentions that they so often use these days to undermine the very freedoms they pretend to safeguard. The miracle of American Law is not that it protects popular speech, or the privacy of the powerful, or the homes of the priviledged, but rather, that the least among us, those with the fewest defenses thoses suspected of the worst crimes — the most despised in our midst, are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
That remains as revolutionary a concept now as it was in the 1780s. It makes protecting the country against terrorism excruciatingly difficult, but we cannot arbitrarily suspend the rights of one catagory of suspects without endangering all the others.

Also of particular interest was the interview with Barbara Comstock, Director of Public Affairs for the Justice Department. Ted Koppel wanted to know why everything had to be kept secret. Why your medical records could be obtained without your being notified, etc. She kept bringing up the “al qaeda safe house,” which Ted finally told her “your floggin that Al Queda safe house to death Ms. Comstock.”
Ted also had to keep correcting Comstock by inserting the word “suspected” when she was talking about who the Patriot Act was being routinely used against. (“Suspected” terrorists and “suspected” enemy combatants.) She just couldn’t stop forgetting that these people were only suspects. That whole innocent until proven guilty thing kept slipping her mind.
Here’s a partial transcript from the end of the interview. I’ve created a small clip of this. (Complete versions located below.):

“What I’m asking is, since we are in agreement is that what we are talking about is that these people are people who are “suspects.” None of these people is a confirmed terrorist here. If you have a confirmed terrorist, I guarantee you, everyone who is watching tonight is going to applaud you and say “way to go.” But we are still dealing with people here who are suspected of something…” Koppel said.
“Sure.” she said.
“..and who therefore presumably have the same rights as any other American citizen, if they are citizens.” Koppel said.
Then later…
“How do we define who falls under the provisions of this act as distinct from the normal protections that exist for American citizens? Is it just that you define it? You define someone as being a suspect associated with terrorism? And if you can make a case to a court than you can lift some of the restrictions that would otherwise apply?” Koppel asked.
“Well the restrictions that would otherwise apply are still there. What it is is that we are operating under the same type of legal structures that we have always operated under, but now we’re able to…” Comstock said.
“Well not quite. I mean there are some people, obviously, who have been put in jail and who aren’t even permitted to have attorneys or who are not permitted to talk with their families. Now we are talking about people who. (stops) Right?” Koppel said.
“That’s has nothing to do with the Patriot Act. That’s actually “enemy combatants” that are outside the Justice Department per view. And that is the President’s authority at war powers.” Comstock said.
“Suspected, enemy combatants.” Koppel said.
“But those are…actually they’ve been designated as enemy combatants.” Comstock said.
“Well, designated without a trial.” Koppel said.
“Yes.” She replied.

Here’s the whole show in “complete” and “parts 1 and 2” versions:

Nightline – The Patriot Act – Part 1 of 2 (Small – 26 MB)

Nightline – The Patriot Act – Part 1 of 2 (Small – 26 MB)
Nightline – The Patriot Act – Complete (Small – 52 MB)
I’ve also provided a clip of the cool ACLU commercial that was aired during the broadcast. (Small – 2 MB)





















Android Test For Mayorial Candidates

Leave a reply

So I know nobody really cares right now, with the recall going on and all, but San Francisco’s about to vote in a new Mayor this November, and I think it’s a pretty important election worth paying attention to.
I’m voting for Tom Ammiano. He’s my local rep, and a damn good one at that.
He also doesn’t hate poor people, like Gavin Newsome apparently does (arguably, the front runner in the race). As demonstrated by his actions in last year’s “Care Not Cash” campaign, Gavin likes to blame the poor for being poor and to take their benefits away without explicitly defining what “services” they are going to get in return…but that’s another story. (One with a happy ending actually, because a judge threw out the whole “Care Not Cash” fiasco some months ago!)
Anyway, for this article, that’s all beside the point. This puppy’s just plain funny.
Update: I just confirmed w/the Ammanio folks that these are real interviews! They are not made up.
(Funny, I guess Ammiano was the only one that got the Bladerunner reference 🙂

More Human than Human
A field guide for testing if the San Francisco mayoral candidates are human or not.
By John Holden for The Wave.

Continue reading →

Howard Dean On CNBC’s The Edge

Leave a reply

Here’s a great informal interview with Howard Dean by Carlos Watson for CNBC’s The Edge.
Howard talks about his policy, his son, you name it, and even plays some harmonica at the end.
This interview took place on an airplane in between campaign stops.
This program was aired on September 1, 2003.
Howard Dean On CNBC’s The Edge – Complete (Small – 23 MB)
Howard Dean On CNBC’s The Edge – Part 1 of 2 (Small – 11 MB)

Howard Dean On CNBC’s The Edge – Part 2 of 2 (Small – 13 MB)













Join MoveOn.org Against The California Recall

Leave a reply

This just in from my pal
Bobby Lilly.

Dear Lisa,
I got a notice from http://MoveOn.org asking me to sign a petition opposing the California Recall. You and I both know it’s a power grab by the Republicans blaming a relatively unpopular governor for stuff HE didn’t do and inflaming the political process just because some of them couldn’t stand to LOSE the last election.
I signed to show my opposition to this misuse of the Recall process which I believe should be used against serious malfeasance by an elected official not just because someone had the money it took and thought they could get away with it.
I hope there are a lot more people out there besides the two of us willing to take the time to oppose this Recall which has become a media circus and just another reason for the rest of the country to dismiss Californians as kooks. People need to be educating themselves about the unreality of the charges against Davis and realize that changing leadership at this point is NOT going to make the economic woes of this state (which are very similar to the problems states all across the country are facing) any better and all of us who believe it is WRONG need to be sure we are registered and get to the polls and VOTE it down.
In the meantime, I’m writing to ask you to join me in signing a “Recall No! Democracy Yes!” pledge to defeat the California recall AND pass it on. Click here to sign:

This is the message Moveon sent to me:
If the recall succeeds, it will set a dangerous precedent for the whole country. A far-right businessman spent 1.7 million dollars to bring us the recall campaign, and has thrown California into chaos. GOP leaders who should have condemned the recall instead cheered it on, hoping they could gain from the unraveling of our democracy. We can’t stand by and let this happen. These attacks on democracy are not a California issue or a Texas issue or a Florida issue — we all must step forward together and make it clear that elections will be honored in this country. This pledge is a national effort to mobilize one million California voters in the recall election. Please sign the pledge no matter where you live and please ask friends and family in California to sign the pledge and to remember to vote October 7.

Thank you.

Lisa’s voting against the recall and for Cruz Bustamante.

Cory’s Sequel To Down and Out In The Magic Kingdom

Leave a reply

Note: This is a short story, not a book, but I’m putting it in here anyway. It’s the sequel to the book. And if you haven’t read the book yet, you can read it for free, and then read the short story.
Cory Doctorow has written a lovely short story sequel to Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom.
Salon published it a few weeks ago. In case you need to print it out to read it (like I do), I’ve provided a complete version of the text.

God. God. The person was so old, saurian and slow, nearly 300, an original revolutionary from the dawn of the Bitchun Society. Just a kid, then, rushing the barricades, destroying the churches, putting on a homemade police uniform and forming the first ad-hoc police force. Boldly walking out of a shop with an armload of groceries, not paying a cent, shouting jauntily over his shoulder to “Charge it up to the ol’ Whuffie, all right?”
What a time! Society in hybrid, halfway Bitchun. The religious ones eschewing backup, dying without any hope of recovery, entrusting their souls to Heaven instead of a force-grown clone that would accept an upload of their backup when the time came. People actually dying, dying in such number that there were whole industries built around them: gravediggers and funeral directors in quiet suits! People refusing free energy, limitless food, immortality.
And the Bitchun Society outwaited them. They died one at a time, and the revolutionaries were glad to see them go, each one was one less dissenter, until all that remained was the reputation economy, the almighty Whuffie Point, and a surfeit of everything except space.
Adrian’s grin was rictus, the hard mirth of the revolutionaries when the last resister was planted in the ground, their corpses embalmed rather than recycled. Years and decades and centuries ticked past, lessons learned, forgotten, relearned. Lovers, strange worlds, inventions and symphonies and magnificent works of art, and ahead, oh ahead, the centuries unrolling, an eternity of rebirth and relearning, the consciousness living on forever.
And then it was over, and Adrian was sweating and still grinning, the triumphant hurrah of the revolutionary echoing in his mind, the world his oyster.

Continue reading →