2005 December | buzz twang

Wise Words to Ring in 2006

December 30, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Everybody says, “Look at how bad these guys [the Bush administration] are.” Well, that’s easy, they’re beating themselves into the ground. But we can’t just be the party of “I disagree.” We have to be the party of “here’s the way out.” These Democratic senators voted for the war and say they were misled. They [...]

Hating Your Fellow Citizens….Because they disagree with you…

December 28, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

James Wolcott makes an observation, one near to my own heart, on the hateful words that flow like water over at Little Green Footballs: This one sentence amid all that writhing distemper leapt out at me: “May he [i.e., me] be kidnapped by ‘insurgents’ in Iraq then appear on an ugly net broadcast. I wonder, [...]

Fear Mongering

December 27, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

The fear machine kicks to life once again, and releasing classified information to spark that engine is just par for the course. Via Digby from Bruce Greenwald: The Administration’s purported efforts to find radiological activity in Muslim mosques is now supposed to be thrown onto the pile along with its lawless NSA eavesdropping program, so [...]

DHS investigation of "Little Red Book" a Hoax

December 25, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Seems that the UMass Darthmouth student who claimed that DHS agents investigated him for requesting a copy of Mao’s Little Red Book via inter library loan is a fabricated lie by the student in question. My initial reaction, as noted in the post below, was to believe it. I should have listened to my inner [...]

Friday Lyrics

December 24, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Christmas In Washington (Steve Earle) It’s Christmastime in WashingtonThe Democrats rehearsedGettin’ into gear for four more yearsThings not gettin’ worseThe Republicans drink whiskey neatAnd thanked their lucky starsThey said, ‘He cannot seek another termThey’ll be no more FDRs’ I sat home in TennesseeStaring at the screenWith an uneasy feeling in my chestAnd I’m wonderin’ what [...]

Power Grab

December 23, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Peter Daou has written an interesting piece on the right-wings grab for power in the United States, how it has unfolded and what may lie ahead: The Dynamic of a Bush Scandal: How the Spying Story Will Unfold (and Fade)- The third button on the Daou Report’s navigation bar links to the U.S. Constitution, a [...]

Information Control

December 19, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

The incident where a Darthmouth student was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security for requesting a copy of Mao’s Little Red Book is more than a bit frightening. It is the type of action that many on the right insist is keeping us safer and is part of the GWOT, but once again, I [...]

Words of the Day

December 18, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.- John Lennon buzz-twang : news and views : blog

Conservative Talk…

December 17, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Harry Shearer via C and L… Ann Coulter talks (Quictime) like a junkie… very conservative of her… It’s silly really. She’s a nicotine addict, which is something I relate to. The joke she makes though, is so… 80′s. Very out of date. And, seems a bit hypocritical coming out of the mouth of a voice [...]

Following the Media Crowd

December 17, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Directly relating to and updating an earlier post on the killing of Rigoberto Alpizar,

I feel so safe

December 17, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

This is what we have become… witess the pathological dehumanizing of another human being… When “agitated passenger” Rigoberto Alpizar was shot for wearing a backpack and attempting to disembark a plane, while also reportedly saying “I have a bomb!” with his wife trailing behind him yelling “he’s not well, he’s got a disorder!” a good [...]

Teach your Children (Oppression)

December 4, 2005 by DJ Lanphier

Opression of teachers is a problem both here in the United States and in less democratic nations, such as Saudi Arabia. The impetus behind the oppression of teachers and what they can and can not say to a classroom of students is identical in many ways. (Although the choice of punishment is different.) For example, [...]