Natasha Bedingfield proves, on stage, shag rugs aren’t just for the 70s anymore.
Daily Music Selection
Written by Bill Moyers This article is adapted from a speech Bill Moyers gave in October at Public Citizen’s fortieth-anniversary gala. During the prairie revolt that swept the Great Plains in 1890, populist orator Mary Elizabeth Lease exclaimed, “Wall Street owns the country…. Money rules…. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags. The [political] parties lie to us and the political speakers mislead us.” She should see us now. John Boehner calls on the bankers, holds out his cup and offers them total obeisance from the House majority if only they fill it. Barack Obama criticizes bankers as “fat cats,” then invites them to dine at a pricey New York restaurant where the tasting menu runs to $195 a person. That’s now the norm, and they get away with it.
Written by Laura Harrison McBride I used to write a “lowly paid” column about ethics for a nominally unaligned online newspaper that turned out to be right of Genghis Khan’s center. In short order, the “opportunity” had turned into a nightmare in which I had to field excessive and abusive commentary from that organization’ core constituency, right-wing zealots who make Ann Coulter look sane and balanced, and some of the more gormless right-wing writers on the site itself. No matter. Perhaps those articles have enlightened someone, which was my intention to begin with, not―lord knows―getting rich on the internet via pay-per-click. In those columns, I dealt with ethical concepts, one of which was touched upon by Matt Taibbi in his recent Rolling Stone article about his first glimpse of a presidential wannabe, Rick Perry: The Best Little Whore in Texas. Wrote Taibbi: …voters who want to know who Rick Perry really is would do well to remember the advice of noted political analyst Hannibal Lecter, who instructed Jodie Foster about the serial killer she was tracking in The Silence of the Lambs. What does he do, Lecter asked, this man you seek? He kills women? No, that is incidental. Don’t…
Written by Andy Borowitz Dear American: American corporations have taken a beaten recently. We’ve been accused of everything from buying elections to subverting the Constitution to being puppet-masters of the Supreme Court. To these charges we say: Well, duh. As a wise man once said, “Corporations are people.” Therefore, to be treated like a person in America today, it stands to reason that you must become a corporation. That’s why, for a limited time, we are offering every man, woman and child in this country a chance to incorporate and become a card-carrying member of Corporation of American Corporations (CAC™). As a newly-formed corporation, you’ll immediately reap the benefits that such other CAC™ members as the Koch Brothers enjoy, such as: – Exemption from Federal, State and local taxes – Freedom to despoil America’s air, water, and birdlife – Exclusive opportunities to sell weapons to Iran So join us, won’t you? Wire the Corporation of American Corporations ™ a payment of $10,000, and start enjoying the rights and privileges that the U.S. Constitution used to grant to ordinary individuals. Don’t pass up this amazing offer. We promise you: it’s too big to fail. Sincerely, The Corporation of American Corporations™
From Naomi Wolf’s arrest in New York to shootings in Tucson and Florida, forces face allegations of abuse of power. Written by Paul Harris for The Guardian, UK fficer Michael Daragjati had no idea that the FBI was listening to his phone calls. Otherwise he would probably not have described his arrest and detention of an innocent black New Yorker in the manner he did. Daragjati boasted to a woman friend that, while on patrol in Staten Island, he had “fried another nigger”. It was “no big deal”, he added. The FBI, which had been investigating another matter, then tried to work out what had happened. According to court documents released in New York, Daragjati and his partner had randomly stopped and frisked a black man who had become angry and asked for Daragjati’s name and badge number. Daragjati, 32, and with eight years on the force, had no reason to stop the man, and had found nothing illegal. But he arrested him and fabricated an account of him resisting arrest. The man, now referred to in papers only as John Doe because of fears for his safety, spent two nights in jail. He had merely been walking alone through…
