Why don’t they just enact a poll tax

Voter suppression is the only hope of the GOP.  As I have noted several times, these Republican governors and their lackey state legislatures are passing laws making it so hard to register to vote that votes are clearly suppressed.  But what I had not tuned into was the at least in Florida they have gone a step further and  passed laws that hamper or forbid third party entities from conducting registration drives and the like.  I heard on Thom Hartman’s show this morning that the League of Women Voters has ceased all their registration efforts in Florida out of fear of being prosecuted for breaking the new laws!  Here is a good article discussing the problem. 

I am thinking seriously about drafting a letter to the U.S. Attorney General urging him and his office to determine that this law is not in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

~  Tom

The primacy of being over having

I never cease to marvel over the hypocrisy of so-called devout Christians who espouse selfishness and greed, while abandoning the poor and less fortunate.  That is why I was gratified to read that the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a strong and thoughtful critique of the global financial system this week.  E.J. Dionne has a great article on the subject in today’s WaPo,  Here is a taste:

The report spoke of “the primacy of being over having,” of “ethics over the economy,” and of “embracing the logic of the global common good.”

In a knock against those who oppose government economic regulation, the council emphasized “the primacy of politics — which is responsible for the common good — over the economy and finance.” It commented favorably on a financial transactions tax and supported an international authority to oversee the global economy.

The article goes on to explain that conservative Catholics are apoplectic over the report and are trashing it.  In response to that, E.J. makes the following cogent and telling observation:

 My, my. It is always entertaining for those of us who are liberal Catholics to watch our conservative Catholic friends try to wriggle around the fact that, on the matters of social justice and the economy, Catholic social teaching is, by any measure, “progressive.” Conservatives regularly condemn liberal “Cafeteria Catholics” who pick and choose among the church’s teachings. But the conservatives often skip the parts of the moral buffet involving peace, social justice and what Pope John Paul II called the “idolatry of the market.”

E.J. also weaves in the “OW” demonstrations.  All in all it’s a worthwhile read.

More true than I’d like to admit…

These posters are supposed to be humorous, but I’m afraid they are more true than most of us would like to admit.

~ Tom

Some fantastic photos

These photos really moved me for some reason.  They were all taken shortly before I was born in 1944.  I can’t stop looking at them.

At last! Rick Perry makes some sense.

Save a pretzel for the gas jets…

Rick Perry making perfect sense.

60’s vs. now–some comparisons

I have been trying to avoid just posting links to articles that, while interesting to me, probably don’t ring the bells of many others.  However, the Insight section of yesterday’s SF Chronicle contained this terrific piece by a guy previously unknown to me: Paul Saffo.  After reading it over a couple of times I found myself nodding in agreement, and in the end hoping  that a lot of the possibilities he outlines will come true. 

The article is short, so you can read it without sacrificing a lot of time.  Here is an excerpt early on that set the tone for me:

Comparisons of this movement-in-the making and the '60s are as tempting as they are obvious. Now as then, it is well-educated, restless youth who are in the protest vanguard for the simple reason that the actual downtrodden are too busy trying to survive to devote time to a cause. However, the '60s student activists marched against a backdrop of prosperity and low unemployment. The Establishment had jobs waiting for the anti-Establishment protesters whenever they decided to hang up their love beads. Today's new grads are faced with diminishing salaries and jobs in areas that do not employ the skills learned at university. Occupy's activists aren't just marching to save others - they are marching on behalf of their own futures.

The current economic climate contrasts sharply with that of the '60s, when an affluent and complacent middle class acted as social ballast against radical change. The middle class today is smaller and buffeted by underwater mortgages, unemployment and disappearing 401(k)s. This is an insecure population likely to agree with the sentiments of the demonstrators and, as the Tea Party has already shown, likely to protest as well.

Tony belongs on “Birth of the Cool” ‘cause he’s so cool

I am hoping I can make it to eighty-five.  Here is something that inspires me to do so.

I saw Tony at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2005, and he just captivated the entire crowd.  He was so delighted at the reception he got that he danced around like a little kid when he got the “standing O” at the end.

Beatles “1”

We were up at the Tahoe-Donner place this weekend getting it ready for winter.  On the way home today we decided to play the Beatles album “1,” which contains 27 of their top selling singles. 

As I was listening to hit after hit rolling out of the speakers I was struck with what marvelous song-writers Lennon/McCartney were.  Almost all of the tracks are less then three minutes long, but what I realized is that each of them did not need to be a second longer.  And, I noted that each of these little gems was distinctly different than all of the others. To be able to consistently write such wonderful songs without being totally repetitive or derivative was an amazing feat.  (And of course they wrote many more, which can be found on their albums.  For example ‘Norwegian Wood” is not on this CD.)

Of course the other result of playing the album was a huge, continuing jolt of flashbacks and contact highs, tinged with a bit of regret over the loss of what once was.

If you really don’t have a lot of Beatles albums and want to have just one CD that has “all the hits,” you should snag this CD.  Even if you have a lot of Beatles stuff, this CD is worth buying and throwing in your car for the long and winding road.

~ Tom

The Lincoln Lawyer

Over the weekend I watched the Blu-ray version of “The Lincoln Lawyer,” starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Philippe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, Michael Pena, John Leguizamo and Josh Lucas. I had read the book a while back an enjoyed it quite a bit, so I was reticent about checking out the movie. My fears were ungrounded. Actually, I think I like the movie better than the book.

Because the plot is full of twists, shocks, and surprises I will only say that the film worked for me on every level. I thought it was well directed, giving off a real “Los Angeles vibe” that was essential. I like McConaughey, but feel like he has been miscast in a lot of his movies. Here, he is absolutely perfect to the point of me thinking at the end, “no one else could have played that part as well as he did.” The script is snappy and smart, but serious and weighty when it needs to be.

In short, I really had a good time with the film, and I’ll bet you will too. So, next weekend, rent the DVD (Blu-ray if you’ve got a player), pop up a batch of popcorn, grab a Coke, plop down on your couch, and have a fun evening. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

~ Tom

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"A narcissist is someone better looking than you are."

Gore Vidal