I Read The News Today, Oh Boy: November 18, 2008

Tee shirts celebrating the victory of President-elect Barack Obama are offered for sale at a shop on Michigan Avenue November 17, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Obama, a long-time resident of Chicago, has set up his presidential transition office in the federal building a few blocks off Michigan Avenue. By Scott Olson/Getty Images.

We don't just need more Democrats -- we need better Democrats; the Senate Democrats are poised to leave Traitor Joe Lieberman in charge of the Homeland Security Committee. He failed to investigate the Bush Administration's failures in Katrina and Iraq during the past two years, but you can be sure he will be in high dudgeon soon enough for some perceived weakness by Obama. This is just disgusting behavior on the part of Senate Democrats who may as well be wearing "kick me" signs on their backs today.

In other bad news, AP reports that Obama's Justice Department will not prosecute anyone for torture. Again, this is a sign of weakness on Obama's part, and of not knowing his recent history. Democrats failed to prosecute the Iran-Contra criminals in the 1980s; and they formed the nucleus of the PNAC that led us into the disastrous war with Iraq. The torture cabal must be prosecuted and imprisoned so that they can't regroup and take over government again in 15 or 20 years. What Digby said: "when you let Republicans get away with murder, they will do it again."

Bushco is "burrowing" political appointees into civil service jobs -- career jobs -- in federal agencies. They're going to spend the next 63 days laying landmines for the Obama Administration.

Obama has named two attorneys who have fought in favor of Net Neutrality to head his FCC transition team.

Gregory Craig has been named Obama's White House counsel; he "quarterbacked" President Clinton's impeachment team.

The TSA's security theatre of the absurd is completely ineffective. Their own statistics show that less than 1% of people singled out for "behavior detection" were arrested (1,266 arrests of more than 160,000 people searched). As BoingBoing notes, who could have anticipated that a "'behavior detection' system whereby slack-jawed, water-confiscating security officers [are] trained to recognize your 'micro expressions' and single you out on the basis of a twitchy eyelid or a sweaty upper lip" would not work?

Query: Is Lisa Miller, Society Editor of the Newsweek (and OnFaith panelist at the Washington Post), the AntiChrist? Because she wrote a column that will be published in next week's Newsweek asking the same question about Barack Obama. Newsweek, asking if our next President is the AntiChrist. As evidence of bias, I present the fact that Newsweek never asked this question of either George W. Bush or Dickhead Cheney, both of whom could credibly claim to be Satan walking. Seriously, Newsweek: WTF?

To Do List: Be An Activist

De-Authorize the War Now. Sign Bill Richardson's petition to Congress to de-authorize the war before the summer break.

Save the free and open internet. Use the button on the right to send your story to the FCC. The comment period ends June 15th, so don't delay.

Write to Al Gore, if you want him to run for President. Or if you don't. The address of his Nashville office is 2100 W End Ave, Nashville, TN 37203. Sign the petition to draft Al. Check out pictures of the solar panels on the roof of his house here (he had to petition to change the zoning laws to install them!)

Use the Sudan Divestment Task Force's Screening Tool to learn if any of your investments are in the Sudan.

Stop Big Media. Use the links on the right to contact the FCC to protect local media, promote diversity, and stop Rupert Murdoch from taking over the information delivery highway.

Public Service Announcement

Your phone company paid for this ad

If you see this ad anywhere on the internets, be advised it's bought and paid for by Big Telecom.

Yes, the same immmoral bastards who sold your telephone records to the federal government are putting up stick figure drawings to get you to give them complete control over the internet.

Suckers. They think we're suckers. Don't get sucked in. Go to SavetheInternet.com to learn the real story.

Media Citizen: Telcos Seek to Deceive Bloggers with Cartoon


Previous posts:

Save the Internet, Part Deux (May 2, 2006)

Update [Net neutrality voted down in House Committee] (April 27, 2006)

A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet (April 25, 2006)

Save The Internet.com (April 24, 2006)

Save the Internet, Part Deux

AlterNet: Markey introduces Net Neutrality Act

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) threw down the gauntlet just moments ago, introducing the Network Neutrality Act of 2006 [full text HERE], which "[offers a] choice between favoring the broadband designs of a small handful of very large companies, and safeguarding the dreams of thousands of inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. This legislation is designed to save the Internet and thwart those who seek to fundamentally and detrimentally alter the Internet as we know it."

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Here's the updated action list, from Matt Stoller via pachacutec:

1. SIGN a Net Neutrality petition to Congress.

2. CALL Congress now. Especially, tell your rrepresentatives in the House to support Markey’s Net Neutrality Act of 2006, but educate your senators on this issue too, as the fight will soon move there.

3. WRITE A LETTER to Congress.

4. MYSPACE: Add "Save the Internet" as a friend.

5. Check out the BLOG RESOURCES about this issue, including "Save the Internet" logo.

6. VISIT the SavetheInternet coalition Web site for more information.

Former Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry is out there pimping for Big Telecomm for a big fee (and whining about how he's being treated by the little people on Huffington Post).

What's it with all those former Clinton staffers turning to the dark side? Like Donna Shalala living in a 9000 foot square mansion in Florida and screwing the janitors at the University of Miami who just want to make a living wage (right now they make $7.53 an hour. She couldn't feed her little show dogs on that.)? Did they all lose their souls in the swamps of Washington, DC?

Previous posts:

Updates (April 27, 2006)

A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet (April 25, 2006)

Save the Internet.com (April 24, 2006)

Updates

1. Orrin Hatch is asking questions about the Nevada bomb test scheduled for June 2nd:

Booman Tribune: Mushroom Cloud to appear over NV June 2nd

When even Sen. Orrin Hatch questions the sanity of this move, you know there's a problem:

SALT LAKE CITY U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch wants reassurances that a massive explosion test planned for Nevada this summer won't disperse radioactive material from past nuclear weapons tests.

Hatch, R-Utah, has joined a group of Congress members voicing concerns about "Divine Strake," the detonation of a 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb scheduled for June 2 over the Nevada desert.

Although the bomb isn't nuclear, there are concerns that it could shake loose radioactive material from past tests at the Nevada Test Site, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Previous post: This Won't Be On Your Front Page Tomorrow, But It Should Be (April 19, 2006)


2. Secretary of State Matt Brown has pulled out of the Democratic race in Rhode Island for the right to oppose Lincoln Chafee in November; send your Democratic contributions to Sheldon Whitehouse. Let's get a real liberal back in the saddle in Rhode Island, not a faker. (hat tip, dailykos)

Previous post: My Political Dollars at Work (April 17, 2006)


3. Net neutrality lost in the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 34-23. Five Democrats, recipients of Big Telecomm money, voted with the Republicans and against net neutrality. Matt Stoller is rallying progressives to give those jamokes a call and a chance to move into the light. Our calls and emails narrowed the margin, and now the fight moves to the full House, and the Senate.

Previous posts: A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet (April 25, 2006)

Save the Internet.com (April 24, 2006)


4. Oh, and on Monday this post was featured on Peter Daou's blog report, "Daou Report", on salon.com. Cool.

A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet

From Steve Gilliard at The News Blog:

Killing your job, killing your life

A lot of people have been discussing "net neutrality" this week . You can hit this site to get the details.

But like a lot of political wonks, they're talking about bills and lobbying, and it all may make your eyes glaze over.

But it's really simple.

Remember the old AOL? How you were restricted to what they offered, and couldn't reach the internet. And when you could, you were stuck with their browser?

Do you want that back?

No?

Also, there's been a lot of talk about blocking and slowing sites.

Think that's a small deal? Try reaching WebMD and not get it, when your kid is sick. Or being blocked from paying your Time Warner bill on a Verizon DSL line. Or being fired because your company is now paying millions to send interdepartmental e-mail and they have to make cuts.

The Telcos want to not only change the internet, they want to change your life. All of the things you now take for granted, like sending a text message via e-mail, or checking your mail on any computer, or seeing your kids homework assignment from pre-k to college course syllibuses. or that nanny cam or home security you set up.

This is not just about laws and computers, but your life.

Think about how we use the internet for the daily functions of our lives, banking, keeping in touch, dealing with distant workmates, ordering hard to find items.

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Everyone is worried about political speech and using Google. and those are real concerns.

But this will change the way you use the net to make your life better. It will limit your choices and the ability to have the life you want, the way you want. It will limit what bank you use, what shows you follow, what make up you use and how you wash your clothes. It may even limit your ability to protect your home from robbers and your child from abuse.

If they can charge for services online, they can limit your ability to live the life you choose. That cam in the Pre-K you check in on your kids with, may cost too much for the school if you have to pay to get live video. You may find the cost of checking on your house with streaming video too much.

When my 10 year old nephew needed ties for school, real ties, not clip-ons, it took me two hours to find some at a reasonable price, but I found them. My sisters couldn't find them in stores, but I found them online. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have access to the Internet. Within a week, he had ties for every day of school. Is that a big deal? No. But it made a difference.

Their quest for profits isn't just about limiting your speech, although it will have that effect. It will limit your life. All the little things you do, from order silicone bakeware to planning your Vegas vacation, will now be subject to the whims of the people who own the pipes.

When you write to your Congressmember, remind them how easy the Net has made their lives, their personal lives, and how the Telcos want to limit that, based on the spurious idea that they need to make a profit from the Internet. Call it Google envy.

The problem is that the internet is now the main highway for life in the west. It makes real life that much better. We're no longer limited to local shortages and catalog ordering. Small companies can make their livings from customers around the world. And the telcos want to end this in the illusory search for profits.

The telcos want to go back to the past, and ruin your life in the process.

Save The Internet.Com

The reason you can read my somewhat radical opinions on the internet (actually, I believe I am middle of the road, and the country is dangerously tilted to the right) is because the big telecommunication companies (Big Telecomm) aren't allowed to block content they disagree with. Now Big Telecomm wants to decide what you see.

Not just bloggy paranoia, as SaveTheInternet.com tells us:

This isn’t just speculation -- we've already seen what happens elsewhere when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. Last year, Canada's version of AT&T -- Telus-- blocked their Internet customers from visiting a Web site sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating. And Shaw, a major Canadian cable company, charges an extra $10 a month to subscribers who dare to use a competing Internet telephone service.

As citizens, we need to fight for free speech to continue to rule on the web, and urge Congress to vote for Net Neutrality. Sign the petitions (links below), call your congressperson, write letters of the editor to your local paper. The net neutrality bill is being marked up in committee this week, probably Wednesday.

MyDD: The Internet Freedom Fight: A Round-Up

Background on the Issue: The internet is open because private companies haven't been allowed to block content they don't like. Now the telcos want to make it so they can block what you see.

The Threat to You is Real: Telcos have already blocked competing services, censored emails, and prevented customers from reading political web sites. Why do you assume they care about your rights?

Come On, This Isn't Really Happening: Fine, don't believe me. Ignore the fact that the CEO of AT&T is on record that this is going to happen. You can pretend that this won't affect you, if you want.

'Net Neutrality': A Simple Explanation: Annoying tech issue, maybe, but you can watch this this simple video explanation.

Explaining the Players in the Fight: It's a corporate cartel with bought and paid lobbyists versus a free market and citizens groups.

Can we win this fight? Yes, we can. Congress isn't that set on giving away the internet. They just don't understand the issues involved and don't think anyone's paying attention.

What You Should Link to:
SavetheInternet.com
Moveon Petition
Save the Internet on MySpace

Digby: Save The Internet