Mood:  spacey

 Z3 Readers, I would like to introduce this next blog post with the ever so poignant phrase, "Fuck The Corporate Media" ... now lets enjoy the article.

The media's deliberate stupidity

by Jamison Foser

http://mediamatters.org/

For weeks, the news media have been buzzing about earmarks in the recently signed omnibus spending bill. We've been told over and over that the bill is "loaded," "filled," and "stuffed" with earmarks. Since earmarks made up less than 2 percent of the bill's total spending, this is a little like saying Alaska is "filled" with people.

But John McCain doesn't like earmarks, so that's where the media have focused their attention. (OK, there's more to it than that, but not much.) Unfortunately, they've done so in the most juvenile way possible. Following McCain's lead, the media's assessment of the earmarks consists of nothing more than sarcastically listing them, as though they are self-evidently a waste of money. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently described the approach McCain and the Republicans have adopted:

The intellectual incoherence is stunning. Basically, the political philosophy of the GOP right now seems to consist of snickering at stuff that they think sounds funny. The party of ideas has become the party of Beavis and Butthead.

And the media have gone right along with it, producing news reports about the spending bill that are no more substantive than an adolescent chortle: Heh, heh, he said "pig waste." Heh.

Consider, for example, the honeybee. If you have watched television news or picked up a newspaper in the past several weeks, you've probably heard about federal funding for honeybees.

The assault on the honeybee began with the stimulus package, when CNN and other news organizations dutifully repeated GOP attacks on the inclusion of $150 million for "honeybee insurance." Columnist Charles Krauthammer went so far as to call the bill an "abomination" for including the honeybee insurance.

Now, there are a few things you need to know about the honeybee insurance. First, there was no such funding, according to Los Angeles Times business columnist Michael Hiltzik. Second, if the funding did exist, it would have amounted to somewhere around two one-hundredths of 1 percent of the stimulus package. Third, if the funding existed, it might well have been a wise use of money. We'll come back to that part.

Having had some success ridiculing bee-related spending in the stimulus, Republicans went back to the well during debate over the omnibus spending bill, attacking the inclusion of $1.7 million in funding for honeybee research. And the news media were quick to join in, eagerly repeating the attacks -- and, in many cases, adopting them as their own.

This time, the funding the media ridicules does exist. Progress! Still, there are a couple of important points that the national media left out.

First, the honeybee funding amounted to 0.00041 percent of the bill, or one-half of one penny per American. All earmarks combined represented less than 2 percent of the bill -- crucial facts that were almost never mentioned by the media. Los Angeles Times reporter (and former Laura Bush press secretary) Andrew Malcolm actually defended the media's disproportionate focus on a tiny fraction of spending: "Defenders defensively point out that's 'only' 1 or 2 percent of the total bill. So? To 99.89% of Americans, $7.7 billion is a manure-load of money."

But that's one of the key purposes of government: paying for things collectively that 99.89 percent of us couldn't afford to pay for individually. Not to mention the fact that in focusing on the 1 or 2 percent of the bill that constitutes a "manure-load of money," Malcolm and his ilk are ignoring the 98 or 99 percent of the bill that constitutes 49 or 99 manure-loads of money. See, when people point out that earmarks make up only 1 or 2 percent of the bill, they aren't saying earmarks don't matter, they're saying earmarks don't matter as much as things that make up a significantly larger part of the bill. Malcolm thinks he's serving as vigilant defender of the public purse; in fact, he's distracting attention from things that really cost money. He fails even on his own questionable terms.

Back to the honeybees, and to the other point that has been absent from media coverage of earmarks: Honeybees are pretty important. See, humans need food. Without it, we die. And bees not only produce honey, they pollinate all kinds of crops -- onions, cashews, celery, strawberries, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, apples ... you get the picture. Honeybees play an important role in our food supply, and our economy. And honeybees have been disappearing at an alarming rate in recent years, for reasons that are not fully known.

Here's how the state of Pennsylvania described the problem last May:

Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff today said the commonwealth will increase funding to continue research on the potentially devastating "Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder."

"Honey bees are critical to Pennsylvania agriculture and to our state's economy," said Wolff. "Pollination from the honey bees determines fruit set and increases fruit quality at an estimated value of $80 million. We can't afford to be lax in dealing with this problem."

According to a study by two Cornell University professors, honeybee pollination accounted for $14.6 billion worth of crops annually between 1996 and 1998.

Honeybee research doesn't sound so funny now, does it?

Now, you can't expect most Americans to know this. Most Americans don't give much thought to bees beyond hoping they don't get stung by one. And that's fine: The life cycle and migratory patterns of bees, and their resultant effects on avocado and cucumber growth, are fairly obscure subjects. We can't, and shouldn't, expect the typical American to know about or act upon these things. After all, there are a lot of obscure but important things that, as a nation, we need to know about and act upon. We can't know about and act upon them all individually; it's literally impossible.

That's another of the reasons we have a government: to know about and act upon the things we cannot know about and act upon individually. It's one of the reasons we watch television and read newspapers, too: They have the resources that we lack to learn about important but obscure things, and the ability to educate us. (This is where some defenders -- and critics -- of the news media will remind me that the media's job isn't to educate the public, much as I might wish it was; their job is to make money. To that I say: How's that working out? Maybe it's time to try a more serious approach.)

Instead, they treat it all like one big joke. Why? Because John McCain told them to -- and the national news media have long served as Ed McMahon to McCain's Johnny Carson. McCain posted a few uninformed wisecracks about earmarks on his Twitter account, and the nation's political reporters unquestioningly repeated his cheap shots verbatim, as though their role in life is to simply bellow "HA! You are correct, sir!" whenever Johnny makes a joke.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank, for example, claimed, "It was hard to fault McCain on the merits as he described contents of the $410 billion spending bill," pointing to the honeybee funding as an example. But how would Milbank know? Neither he nor McCain bothered to actually assess the merits. Simply listing "$1.7 million for a honeybee factory in Weslaco, Tex." is not considering the merits. It's pretty much the opposite of considering the merits. But it is as close as Milbank would come.

Milbank went on to quote McCain: " 'What does that mean?' McCain demanded. 'What does "sustainable Las Vegas" mean?' " That's where a serious journalist would have pointed out that it's John McCain's job to know what "sustainable Las Vegas" means, that he has an entire staff to help him find out, and that a few seconds of online research quickly yields an answer: the funding is for an initiative at UNLV that involves "research on water, energy, health care and transportation challenges facing the city and the region, including Arizona and California" and is modeled on a program based in McCain's own state.

A serious journalist might even have pointed out that John McCain pays his Senate staff more than the amount of the earmark in question. Might even have asked which is the bigger waste of taxpayer money -- a program designed to help a rapidly growing region meet its energy, health-care, and transportation needs, or a senator who spends more money paying his staff, but doesn't ask them to find out the purpose of the program he is criticizing?

Dana Milbank did none of those things.

Then there's CNN. The cable channel has cited the honeybee funding several times, never bothering to explain it. Last Saturday, for example, CNN's Josh Levs offered examples of earmarks in the bill -- John McCain's examples, of course: "Take a look. John McCain named some. We're going to show you some examples, $1.7 million for a honeybee factory in Texas, another $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa. There's a million dollars in there for cricket control in Utah."

Then four days later, Levs was back on the air -- and again talking about honeybees and crickets. Asked directly about the cricket control, Levs answered, "Maybe people there have problems with crickets."

Poor Levs, four days after his first report, he was still talking about those crickets -- and still didn't have a clue. I know the nation's newsrooms are facing cutbacks, but they still have Google at CNN, don't they? Type Utah cricket control into the online search engine and the second result is a U.S. Geological Survey report that begins, "Grasshopper and Mormon cricket (Orthoptera) populations periodically build to extremely high numbers and can cause significant economic damage in rangelands and agricultural fields of the Great Plains and Intermountain West."

If you doubt that the news media have been playing Butt-head to the GOP's Beavis, just watch this video of MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell interviewing Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. Here's O'Donnell describing the stimulus bill:

O'DONNELL: It is filled with pork. ... Six-point-six million dollars for termite research. Two-point-two million dollars for the center for grape genetics. One-point-eight million dollars for pig-odor research in Iowa? I mean, come on, Governor. I know you're not in Congress, but this has got to make governors like you mad. You think the people in your state want to pay for $108 million [sic] in taxpayer money going to pig-odor research?

You really have to watch the video to hear how O'Donnell's voice is just dripping with scorn. She doesn't spend so much as a second assessing, or asking about, the merits of the programs. Instead, she just dramatically emphasizes the words "pig-odor research." Heh. Heh. Federal funding to study pig crap! Heh. Heh.

Then Doyle explained that pig odor is actually a pretty big problem for Midwestern agricultural states like his, at which point O'Donnell pretended that her objection all along had been the way the funding came to be -- via earmark -- rather than what it was for. Bull. If her objection had been with the funding mechanism, there would have been no reason to mention what the funding was for, certainly no reason to do so sarcastically. She wasn't commenting on the mechanism, she was behaving like a 12-year-old -- and not a particularly mature 12-year-old, either.

Now, I don't know if the honeybee funding or the cricket funding or the pig-odor research or any of the other earmarks are good ways to spend federal funds. Maybe they're well-run, effective programs that meet an important need, and maybe they aren't. What I do know is that simply cracking jokes about crickets and bees and pig waste rather than taking even 20 seconds to determine what the funding is intended to do is a spectacularly bad way to find out.

America faces great challenges. We are unlikely to meet those challenges through deliberate stupidity.

Jamison Foser is Executive Vice President at Media Matters for America.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 7:40 PM PDT

Updated: Wednesday, 25 March 2009 9:26 PM PDT

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Mood:  energetic

Z3 Readers, family and frinds, This just came in from my hero Ralph Nader. There is a YouTube video to watch, as well as the text that copied from the YouTube page:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsVvrGk3PH0

Where is Ralph Nader these days? In court, taking his battle to reform ballot access laws in the United States to the judiciary. Nader is fighting an alleged conspiracy hatched against him in Boston at the time of the 2004 Democratic National Convention held in the city.

Ralph has successfully defended his federal appellate win in Arizona over the state's unconstitutional restrictions on petition circulators. Arizona banned out-of-state petitioners, a practice that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found to be unconstitutional. Not giving up easily on challenges to the 2-party system that dominates American politics, state officials had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the appellate decision striking down Arizona's restrictive ballot access law but the high court today decided to let the decision stand.

A leftover from Nader's 2008 presidential campaign? No, the case is a holdover from the 2004 electoral bid by America's most famous consumer protection advocate.

In 2004, Ralph Nader was the target of an unprecedented legal attack in almost two dozen states with 29 legal actions brought, financed or instigated by the Democratic Party. The lawsuits, many of them frivolous, were brought to keep Ralph in court and not on the campaign stump.

After the dust settled, it was clear to Nader that he had been the target of an abuse of the court system by a major political party to deprive him of ballot access. Ralph then filed suit against the Democratic National Committee for the legal conspiracy.

The lawsuit was dismissed at the District Court level of the federal court system and Nader appealed to the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals where oral argument is scheduled for later in the month.

Nader's brief to the appellate court addresses some of the pending issues. Nader charged the Democrats were guilty of "overtly corrupt and even unlawful conduct."

Nader argued the appeal should go forward because, "Defendants denied and fraudulently concealed their tortuous conduct, and because they remain engaged in ongoing acts in furtherance of their unlawful conspiracy."

"Defendants wrongfully invoked state statutes and federal campaign finance laws as a pretext to bankrupt their competitors by forcing them to incur litigation costs in the defense of a pattern of baseless and repetitive claims."

Nader alleges that in Pennsylvania the political conspirators "planted approximately 7,000 fake signatures" in his petitions so they could later claim the petitions were fraudulent. The Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett has indicted a dozen Democrats for illegal work on petition challenges in 2004 in a scandal dubbed "Bonusgate" because the state legislative workers were paid a bonus for their dirty work.

Nader continued his assault on his Democrat opponents, "Conspirators engaged in sabotage and other unlawful acts intended to manufacture grounds for their otherwise baseless litigation."

Nader likened the Democratic lawsuits against him to "malicious prosecution" which were only filed to advance "baseless claims" designed to bankrupt his campaign. The lawsuits were "wrongful and abusive" of the judicial process.

Nader says the conspiracy against him came together in July 2004 in a meeting of thirty-six conspirators at the Four Seasons hotel in Boston. Oral argument is scheduled in the case for March 20th in Washington, D.C.

Audio:
Ralph Nader speech at the Nader / Camejo 2004 campaign rally in San Francisco.

Brief intro by Matt Gonzalez, President of the SF Board of Supervisors.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 11:52 AM PDT

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Mood:  bright

Z3 Readers ... this page was gleaned from this link below, a few spelling corrections and a couple word-changes were added/changed by myself.

http://aspaceinside.googlepages.com/saferspacepolicy

Safer spaces are welcoming, engaging and supportive.

We want this conference/event to be a space where people support each other and can feel free to be themselves.

We want this to be a place where abuse and discrimination is not tolerated.

We hope that everyone at this event is made aware of the idea of 'safer spaces' and that you are proactive in helping make this a safer space too.

People attending this conference are asked to be aware of their language and behavior, and to think about whether it might be offensive to others.

This is no space for violence, for touching people without their consent, for being intolerant of someone's religious beliefs or lack thereof, for being creepy, sleazy, racist, ageist, sexist, hetero-sexist, trans-phobic, able-bodiest, classist, sizist or any other behavior or language that may perpetuate oppression.

What we need to do to create a safer space:

·         respect people's physical and emotional boundaries

·         always get explicit verbal consent before touching someone or crossing boundaries

·         respect people's opinions, beliefs, differing states of being and differing points of view

·         be responsible for your own action. Be aware that your actions do have an effect on others despite what your intentions may be

·         take responsibility for your own safety and get help if you need it

·         look out for kids and animals at all times and try not to leave anything around that could endanger them or other adults

·         the conference/event space and all workshops are alcohol, nicotine and drug-free until the evening Any group or individual engaging in violence (including sexual violence and harassment) within the conference/event will automatically be excluding themselves. The conference/event organizers will be asking them to leave immediately.

Need some assistance?

If you experience or witness any behavior that crosses your boundaries or makes you feel uncomfortable or if you are feeling like you would like to talk to someone anonymously about anything please feel free to talk to one of the event organizers.

Any conflict arising in the safe space that at least one party feels cannot be resolved without some help, should seek the assistance of one or more of the organizer crew.

If the conflict cannot be resolved with them it may be taken to the whole conference/event to make a final decision on what action needs to be taken.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 7:51 PM PDT

Updated: Wednesday, 25 March 2009 9:27 PM PDT

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Mood:  vegas lucky

http://www.videosoftheworld.com/vow/geo.asp?country=venezuela

VideosOfTheWorld.com [BETA]     Explore the world in video and now search
     Venezuela Home       Explore other countries

NEW! Venezuela Search Engine (www.google.co.ve): Enter your search terms Submit search form

There are 1000 videos for Venezuela.

1. Venezuela Bolivariana: People and the struggle of the 4th world war - ... on the impact of financial neo-liberalism on Latin America and other parts of the world and what Hugo Chavez is doing to stop its spread in Venezuela. - 1 hr 17 min
2. Venezuela: Embassador NNUU - ... Ambassador to the United Nations Lieutenent Colonel Francisco Arias Cardenas presented his views on public television about Hugo Chavez President of Venezuela - 2 min
3. Greg Palast covers a story on President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela - Greg Palast goes to Venezeula and interviews President Hugo Chavez. Some of the topics include the solidarity Chavez is gaining in Latin America and  ... - 11 min
4. Caracas Venezuela - This is a simple video of Caracas, Venezuela shot out a taxi cab window. The idea was to give you an idea of what the city looks like. - 3 min
5. THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED - ... IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLESHUGO CHAVEZ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA IN 1998, IS A COLORFUL,UNPREDICTABLE FOLK HERO, beloved by his nation' ... - 1 hr 15 min
6. Ronaldo v Venezuela - This video is Brazil against Venezuela and ronaldo will score. - 1 min
7. Inside Latin America Chavez's Venezuela: Bush Over A Barrel - Greg Palast Investigates: Hugo Chavez - 11 min
8. Stock Footage:Closeup of flag of the Venezuela waving in wind - ... Real Time, Full Frame, Venezuelan Flag, Striped, Yellow, Star Shape, Venezuela, Blue, Red, This clip comes from Getty Images, the world's leading creator ... - 10 sec
9. JEREMY DEAR reports re: TUC delegation to Venezuela - ... NUJ/HOV steering committee member reports Back on TUC delegation to Venezuela June 14 2006 - 5 min
10. U.S. Men's National Soccer Team vs. Venezuela: Match Highlights - ... s all_access video presents...Watch highlights from the USA's win vs. Venezuela, including Brian Ching and Clint Dempsey's goals.Keywords: US Soccer, ... - 3 min
11. U.S. Men's National Soccer Team vs. Venezuela: Pre-Game Comments - ... chat with the media, and Drew Carey, before their May 26 match vs. Venezuela.Keywords: US Soccer, U.S. Soccer, USSoccer, United States Soccer, Soccer, ... - 3 min
12. Stock Footage;Tourist couple shopping at outdoor stands / woman tries on hat / Margarita Island, Venezuela - ... Island, Market, Heterosexual Couple, Blond Hair, Men, South America, Venezuela, Tourist, Hat, Adults Only, Caucasian Appearance, Women, Two People, Shopping, ... - 19 sec
13. Stock Footage;wide shot city of Caracas with mountains in background / Venezuela - ... Latin America, Day, Cityscape, Urban Scene, South America, Venezuela, Caracas, Horizon Over Land, Mountain, Outdoors, Horizon, This clip comes from Getty ... - 6 sec
14. Stock Footage;View from space of Venezuela / Orinoco River visible - ... America, Planet, Earth, River, Orinoco River, South America, Space, Venezuela, This clip comes from Getty Images, the world's leading creator and distributor ... - 28 sec
15. Stock Footage;Woman lying on beach / man with ball runs by / wind blows umbrella away / Margarita Is., Venezuela - ... Island, Ball, One Piece Swimsuit, Men, Wind, Running, South America, Venezuela, Sea, Adults Only, Caucasian Appearance, Sunbathing, Beach Ball, Chasing, ... - 10 sec
16. U.S. Men's National Team Manager Bruce Arena's Post-Game (Venezuela) Press Conf. - ... Arena meets the media in Cleveland following the USA's 2-0 win vs. Venezuela.Keywords: US Soccer, U.S. Soccer, USSoccer, United States Soccer, Soccer, ... - 5 min
17. Stock Footage;Silhouette of couple running on beach at sunset / boats + birds in background / Margarita Is., Venezuela - ... Island, Heterosexual Couple, Bird, Men, Running, South America, Venezuela, Silhouette, Night, Sea, Adults Only, Orange, Dusk, Harbor, Beach, Women, Pelican, ... - 12 sec
18. Ronaldinho (goal against Venezuela) - goooool - 14 sec
19. Venezuela - Unravelling Venezuela's Revolution - ... left owing thousands of dollars they never received. All around Venezuela, there is a belief Chavez is surrounded by a corrupt clique. “People very high ... - 24 min
20. REGGAETON DE VENEZUELA PAL MUNDO 02 - CYBERSTAR - JOGZ - NERIO & WAGZ - VIDEO REGGAETON TEGO CALDERON - JOGZ - NERIO & WAGZ - 3 min
21. DECOUVERTE DU VENEZUELA - Decouverte du VenezuelaCircuit Nouvelles Frontieres VEN CI 002 Aout 2005 - 39 min
22. World's Best: Big Bites: Venezuela - The python's mouth contains up to 200 barblike teeth which point backwards gripping its prey - the snake has four jawbones that allow the mouth to expand  ... - 5 min
23. U.S. Men's National Team vs. Venezuela: Post-Game Comments - ussoccer.com's all_access video presents...Go inside the locker room before the USA-VEN match, then hear the players' post-game reactions.Keywords:  ... - 5 min
24. LOS YASURI YAMILETH DEL TACHIRA - VENEZUELA CYBERSTAR - JOGZ - NERIO - WAGZ - ESTE ES LA VERSION DESDE EL TACHIRA PARA EL MUNDO DE YASURI YAMILETH.... ESPERAMOS SUS COMENTARIOS, OPINIONES Y CALIFICACIONES... ENTRE PANAS FILMADO  ... - 2 min
25. Venezuela Bolivariana: People and Struggle of the Fourth World War - Presented at Globians Film Festival 2005: Venezuela Bolivariana: People and Struggle of the Fourth World War by Marcelo Andrade Arreaza examines the Bolivarian ... - 1 hr 17 min
26. Hands Off Venezuela Film (13mins).mp4 - ... internationally. Now active in over 40 countries, the Hands Off Venezuela campaign has been at the forefront of this movement. Just in Britain alone, ... - 13 min
27. Macamba Helicopter Flight Isla Margarita & Venezuela - A Helicopter Flight with the Airforce of Venezuela, From Porlamar Isla Margarita to Caracas and Maracay Venezuela - 10 min
28. News story on Hugo Chavez the president of Venezuela - ... on the recent policies and speeches given by the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez. Venezuela is the world's 5th largest oil reserve.March 27th 2006. - 12 min
29. Jorge Martin Interview on importance of Venezuela elections.mp4 - Jorge Martin, International Secretary of Hands Off Venezuela, speaks about the importance of the re-election of President Chavez in relation to developing ... - 3 min
30. Sexy girls from Venezuela - check out thiese hot Venezuela sexy girls. thiese girls played strip poker with us, undressed, taked off their bra, their clothes, and later showed their ... - 3 min
31. Venezuela TV - ... is proud to introduce CMT, the national television channel from Venezuela. CMT offers the best programming suited for all audiences. With CMT you can ... - 12 min
32. Jorge Martin from Hands Off Venezuela speaks at RAN conference July 15 2006 London - Jorge Martin from Hands Off Venezuela speaks at RAN conference July 15 2006 London - 2 min
33. Miss Venezuela, MW517 - Federica Guzman a 24 year-old television hostess is Miss Venezuela. - 36 sec
34. Documental Venezuela - Documental Venezuela - 14 min
35. Macamba Promotionvideo Venezuela - Promotional Video of this beautifull country: Venezuela - 11 min
36. Come to Venezuela! 5 minutes video - 5 minutes short video of Venezuela - 5 min
37. Venezuela by Air! - The following video is aerial footage of Caracas, Venezuela, South America. It was recorded out the side of a helicopter. You can see city, terrain ... - 6 min
38. Antisemitism in Venezuela - The video talks about the state of current affaires in Venezuela, where Chavez is known to have restricted freedom, is seking to purchase arms worldwide, ... - 3 min
39. RICA CHICA EN VENEZUELA - CHICA BAILA SAMBA EN VENEZUELA - 39 sec
40. Venezuela. Cortesia de INATUR. - Venezuela. Cortesia de INATUR. - 10 min
41. Venezuela. Cortesia de INATUR. - Venezuela. Cortesia de INATUR. - 10 min
42. Venezuela - Uncle Sam's Coup - ... praising the coup leader as “the right man at the right time for Venezuela”. Remarkably, although the coup failed, Washington has stepped up its funding ... - 16 min
43. JAVID GHERSY @ MAURO PICOTTO - CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 - JAVID GHERSY @ MAURO PICOTTO - CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 - 19 min
44. vincenzo.venezuela 2006 - viaggio in venezuela ,enzo ,leo,ciccio,piero - 14 min
45. Coro, Venezuela - short impression of nature and beaches in Coro region, the former capital of Venezuela - 1 min
46. come to VENEZUELA - Come to Venezuela: Magic land, The Caribbean's Best Kept Secret. Salto Angel, Angel's fall, Gran Sabana, Amazonas, Roraima, Autana, etc... - 13 min
47. 2da valida nacional ipsc venezuela 2005 - shhoting the 3 valida nacional venezuela 2005 nivel III ipsc - 22 sec
48. west caribbean md82 crash in venezuela - 3d simulation of the west caribbean md82 crash in venezuela. This stock animation footage is available for purchase from stockaninews.com. Click the link ... - 16 sec
49. Macamba - Venezuela: Caracas, Colonia Tovar, Maracay, Maracaibo - Video about our visits to Caracas, Colonia Tovar, Maracay, Maracaibo in Venezuela - 13 min
50. CHAVEZ THANKS HANDS OFF VENEZUELA - Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez thanks the international solidarity campaign "Hands Off Venezuela" and it's founder Alan Woods and thanks them for ... - 2 min
51. Canaima Venezuela - visita a Canaima - Venezuela - 15 min
52. CalTV: Venezuela - Sonia's Venezuela Piece - 3 min
53. MAURO PICOTTO @ CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 1/3 - MAURO PICOTTO @ CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 1/3 - 26 min
54. MAURO PICOTTO @ CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 2/3 - MAURO PICOTTO @ CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 2/3 - 21 min
55. A view of Caracas, Venezuela - A view of Caracas, Venezuela - 1 min
56. SMART GENERATION VENEZUELA - VENEZUELA TIENE NUENA GENERACION DE RELEVO - 2 min
57. Bikinis, Barracuda & Bonefish - Fly Fishing Action in Los Roques - Venezuela - Fly-Fishing action for Bonefish & Barracuda on Los Roques Venezuela. Watch the electric power of Bonefish on the fly or the explosive power of Baracuda ... - 5 min
58. Andy Higginbottom from Columbia Solidarity Campaign speaks about Venezuela at RAN conference July 15 2006 London - Andy Higginbottom from Columbia Solidarity Campaign speaks about Venezuela at RAN conference July 15 2006 London - 2 min
59. Churum Merum (Angel falls) in Venezuela - The Chrum Merum or Angel falls in Venezuela - 12 sec
60. Venezuela Glass Studio - This piece shot on location in a glass blowing studio in Caracas, Venezuela, November 1999. - 1 min
61. Hoplias Aimara from Venezuela - Hoplias Aimara is 76cm, caught near Angel Falls-Venezuela.Hoplias Researchhttp://www.geocities.com/hopliasrese>>arch/DataBase.html - 17 sec
62. XJ doing rock crawling in Venezuela - XJ doing rock crawling in Venezuela - 9 sec
63. Come to Venezuela! 11 minutes video - An 11 minutes video of Venezuela - 11 min
64. venezuela bella - venezuela - 18 sec
65. club land rover venezuela - range rover, discovery, defender, venezuela, 4x4, offroad - 10 min
66. Venezuela Diet Coke and Mentos 1.0 - First test of Diet Coke and Mentos, Caracas Venezuela - 24 sec
67. SAS- VENEZUELA - SAS- VENEZUELA - 5 min
68. MAURO PICOTTO @ CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 2/3 - MAURO PICOTTO @ CARACAS, VENEZUELA 2006 2/3 - 21 min
69. VW Golf GTI Big Turbo upgrade Kartec Venezuela 14 psi - VW Golf GTI 14 psi 320 HP Big Turbo Upgrade Caracas Venezuela - 34 sec
70. VENEZUELA DESPIERTA! JESUCRISTO HOMBRE LLEGO! - MIREN COMO LOS BENDECIDOS DE VENEZUELA LE ANUNCIAN AL MUNDO LA VERDAD DEL EVANGELIO! LA RELIGION LE HA MENTIDO AL MUNDO POR SIGLOS Y BASTA YA! DIOS ESTA ... - 7 min
71. Venezuela revolution - 3 french, 1 English, 1 Spanish "Proceso Revolucionario Venezolano". Chichiriviche de la costa. Venezuela. - 24 sec
72. wisin y yandel en venezuela - poliedro - 40 sec
73. venezuela UK teens relationship party lingerie - Those exotic women know how to make you sweat, then they get undressedSexy hot black Spanish girls into online dating websites - 32 sec
74. Venezuela está lista - Venezuelan Army disembark war games, preparing to reject de US invaders. - 1 min
75. VW GOLF GTI in little highway Venezuela Kartec - Mi VW Golf GTI en pruebas preliminares... en autopista Sambil... - 59 sec
76. VW Golf GTI Big Turbo 260Kms/h on Dyno Kartec Caracas Venezuela - Test Top Speed.... 260kms/h on dash @ 6800 rpm.... aun le quedan 700 rpm por aprovechar... - 56 sec
77. Miss Venezuela - www.drongle.lx.ro - 10 sec
78. venezuela lingerie naked teens UK teens - Meet Beautiful Latin Women, Colombian Women and Latin Ladies on the Coast for Dating - 33 sec
79. Greg Palast and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela - http://www.linktv.org/ - 27 min
80. Video de octavo grado DON BOSCO (venezuela) - ..... - 5 min
81. venezuela dating nude teens butts - Snow Bunny Girl looks for Good sex - 32 sec
82. Alienación en Venezuela - Video de Jacqueline Clarac - 3 min
83. venezuela - actividad - 2 min
84. venezuela - los portu - 2 min
85. VW Golf GTI @ 12 psi, tacho sight.. Kartec Venezuela - A tan solo 12 psi, aceleracion en segunda marcha... - 28 sec
86. Sunset behind Amazon or Orinoco River, Brazil, Venezuela, rainforest - To download and license this royalty free clip, please go to www.dvarchive.com and use the clip number or any of the words listed in the description  ... - 7 sec
87. Sunset behind Amazon or Orinoco River, Brazil, Venezuela, rainforest - To download and license this royalty free clip, please go to www.dvarchive.com and use the clip number or any of the words listed in the description  ... - 7 sec
88. Hoatzin bird South America, Venezuela, wild colorful birds fighting and agitated in nest, from Orinoco River - To download and license this royalty free clip, please go to www.dvarchive.com and use the clip number or any of the words listed in the description  ... - 13 sec
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91. Salida de Merida Venezuela - Atr Santa Barbara - 4 min
92. Zoom out from Angel Falls, Venezuela, high spectacular waterfall - To download and license this royalty free clip, please go to www.dvarchive.com and use the clip number or any of the words listed in the description  ... - 22 sec
93. Venezuela Hacia el Liberalismo - Liberalismo - 29 min
94. Mochima venezuela - Video del pueblo - 22 sec
95. Marian Ines Venezuela Baby - My cousin is very nervious - 9 sec
96. venezuela hard bodies bikinis butts - Meet Beautiful Latin Women, Colombian Women and Latin Ladies on the Coast for Dating - 33 sec
97. Programas y commerciales de venezuela/ Commercials from venezuela - comerciales venezolanos grabado con mi "cowon A2" y directv-------------------venezuelan commecials recorded with "cowon A2" and directv - 8 min
98. venezuela dating russian teens lingerie - sexy young teen girl plays in the ocean - 35 sec
99. Antropología en Venezuela - Videos de Jacqueline Clarac - 2 min
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Posted by Joe Anybody at 1:12 AM PST

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Mood:  irritated

Hey Z3 Readers I ran across this discussion on WMG and their shitty treatment of YouTube users ... I found the information here:

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/21/in-dispute-warner-music-wmg-and-youtube-both-losers/ 

Warner will pull a vid with anybody singing "happy birthday to you" on it! Bankrupt Warner Music Group! Warner's stock is at $2 a share.. it won't take much to bankrupt them. encourage millions of viewers to set up accounts with Youtube devoted solely to uploading warner videos.

Every time they get taken down, upload more warner videos. That will also leave thousands of videos without audio with the message that they have been *silenced by WMG*..bad publicity for WMG. warner will go bankrupt with overtime trolling. Everybody should swamp WMG with their complaints!

use www.faxzero.com to send free faxes.
Warners fax is 212-275-3985.
Warner's phone: 212-275-2000.
Google/youtube fax: 650-253-0001. Google/youtube: Phone: 650-253-0000

Posted by Joe Anybody at 11:22 PM PST

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Mood:  hug me

Swords or Ploughshares: 

 Empowering Smart Decisions

in Difficult Times

After World War Two there was a dramatic shift in our national economy.  That war was, and continues to be, trumpeted as the way out of the Great Depression.  Since then our country has maintained an ever increasing level of military spending as a means of ‘stimulating our economy.’  After a generation of considering illogical and unnecessary military spending essential to our economic growth, it is no wonder in 2009 the Pentagon budget dwarfs the budgets of many small industrialized countries. 

Seymour Melman, an economist, writer, peace activist, and gadfly of the military-industrial complex was the first to question the legitimacy of this economic model.  His book The Permanent War Economy and Pentagon Capitalism set the stage for the first of many Peace Action campaigns to reduce the military budget.

Under the leadership of then Peace Action board co-chair and International Association of Machinists leader William Winpisinger, Peace Action mounted a campaign to support Congressman Ted Weiss’ “economic conversion” legislation.  The basic premise was:  if we can ramp up our economy by spending money for war during war-time, then we can do the same during peace-time by investing in domestic and human needs. 

After suffering under the neo-conservative yoke of the Reaganites many at Peace Action were hopeful when President William Clinton promised to reduce the military budget.  We launched our Peace Economy Campaign to reinvest money wasted on Star Wars and Cold War weapons into rebuilding our economy from the bottom-up.  We endorsed the Congressional Black Caucuses’ Alternative Budget and waited for Clinton to present his budget. 

Clinton did cut the budget, but not in a way that promoted a peace economy.  He cut military personnel and none of the Reagan administration weapons.  He fully funded Star Wars and refused to reduce our nuclear arsenal.  The types of cuts he made and did not make set our peace economy campaign back.  Conservatives pointed to it as naiveté and progressives were compelled to condemn it for being ineffective.  In reality, the cuts Clinton made to the personnel in the military were just reinvested into the Pentagon and its weapons systems.

President Obama has made many promises about the military budget.  He has said he wants to “stop waste and cost overruns”; he wants to phase down our occupation in Iraq and call it a reduction in military spending.  Are these smart cuts?  They may reduce the balance of the Pentagon budget; but, they do nothing to promote a peace economy.  Even eliminating all the costs associated with our occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan the U.S. military budget is still larger than that of all other nations combined. 

Peace Action is ramping up a campaign to make sure that the Obama Administration does not go the way of its Republican and Democratic predecessors.  Our second Peace Economy Campaign will officially kick off in April with protests in cities and towns all over the country.  We’ll use the 6th anniversary of the Iraq occupation to draw attention to the wasteful spending and Tax Day actions to ask the people of this country, “where do you want your tax dollars spent.” 

In the long term, our goal is to reduce the military budget by making smart cuts in our military spending and greatly decreasing our military presence around the world.  To this end we co-sponsored the Security Without Empire Conference on Military Bases last week.  In the coming months our political team will make lobby visits around the nuclear non-proliferation treaty talks and the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 

Peace Action will continue to oppose any U.S. military occupation both on moral and fiscal grounds.  This summer we’ll take that message to millions of American homes; knocking on doors with our message.  We believe that change comes from people, not presidents.  Together, we can deliver change to the country one dollar at a time.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 8:08 PM PST

Updated: Saturday, 7 March 2009 8:36 PM PST

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Mood:  don't ask

End the Use of Chimps in Research

Watch Our Video, Then Take Action

http://video.hsus.org/  

VIDEO LINK - PLEASE WATCH.

A nine-month-long undercover investigation by The HSUS has exposed the mistreatment of nearly 300 chimpanzees and other primates at the New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) in Louisiana. These chimps, living lives of deprivation and misery, are among the more than 1,000 chimps languishing in laboratories across the United States. Chimps, our closet genetic relative, are complex, social, and long-lived creatures. Many chimps currently warehoused in research facilities have lived for decades behind bars. Especially heartbreaking are stories of the 26 elder chimps at NIRC, who were taken from their mothers in the wild.

The Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326) has just been re-introduced in Congress. This legislation aims to end invasive research on the chimpanzees remaining in laboratories, retire the approximately 500 federally-owned chimpanzees to permanent sanctuary (including the elder chimps at NIRC), and make the recent decision by the National Center for Research Resources (part of the National Institutes of Health) to stop funding the breeding of federally-owned chimpanzees permanent.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 3:17 PM PST

Updated: Friday, 6 March 2009 9:04 PM PST

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Mood:  sharp

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Hey Now Z3 Readers here is a stomach aching torture file blog. Seems Mr Darkside (war criminal cheney the dick) has been hiding the facts again.

 What facts?

Gee Mr Darkside, could it be the 92 tapes you had destroyed? What we have known for years here at Z3 headquarters is this type of criminal activity has been going on day and night and with no one holding these evil doers accountable.

Missing files....?

Give me a break!

They must think we are stupid.

Well John Q Public may be ignorant and naive but the Z3 Report readers know all to well what is going on in them dark dank holes that fly USA flags over the entrance while they do the bidding for Mr Darkside and use criminal tactics in the name of justice.

I bet those 92 tapes contained some filthy shit. And it probably had a 'made in the USA' stamp on the box. Actually smooth dick probably has them at home in his family room for viewing privately.

Posted March 2, 2009 | 06:53 PM (EST)

 92 Destroyed Tapes: A Need to Shed Light on Cheney's "Dark Side" 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/92-destroyed-tapes-a-need_b_171240.html

By: Coleen Rowley

When I first posed these hard questions in the NY Times about the C.I.A. torture tapes, we were all under the belief that only two tapes had been destroyed. Now that we know it was ninety two tapes, all kinds of further questions emerge. But the most pressing is this one: how can this still be swept under the rug?! Sweeping dark things under the rug is never the answer. And despite the crude attempt to avoid accountability by shredding the evidence, I can't imagine a time there was such a need for an independent prosecutor to shed light on what Cheney once termed "the dark side".

______________________________________________________

Published in NY Times: December 11, 2007
To the Editor:

Re ''C.I.A. Destroyed 2 Tapes Showing Interrogations''

(NY Times front page, Dec. 7):

You don't need to have worked as an F.B.I. agent for 24 years as I did to know that shredding the evidence is always a clue. What's the common thread underlying the C.I.A.'s destruction of videotaped harsh interrogations in the midst of ongoing legal inquiries; President Bush's last-minute commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence; the millions of White House e-mail records missing in violation of the Presidential Records Act; and the administration's current push to give immunity to the telecommunication companies suspected of engaging in illegal eavesdropping and surveillance of Americans?

Clearly, the only way the Bush gang can protect itself now from accountability is to suppress the truth. To do so, officials must destroy hard evidence and, at the same time, protect and immunize those who followed their illegal orders.

Their contempt for the rule of law cannot get much worse. They learned from Nixon's Watergate, and they're trying not to leave any Oval Office tapes around. Coleen Rowley
Apple Valley, Minn., Dec. 7, 2007

__________________________________________________

 As if America didn't have enough evil to account for in its history of bigotry and witchburning. Now we are dishonored even further. Thanks a lot, Dubya, Cheney, the CIA and anyone else who contributed to this kind of sneaky, unlawful, rule-breaking thuggery that made the world hate us. I want to see them on trial yesterday.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 7:54 PM PST

Updated: Friday, 6 March 2009 9:06 PM PST

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Mood:  chatty

 Hello my friendly concerned Z3 Readers,

 I just found this tid-bit of information through my email from

"Mother Jones Magazine" here is the URL link:

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2009/02/your-water-bottle-one-quarter-full-oil

***********************************

Your Water Bottle Is One-Quarter Full Of Oil

Posted by Joe Anybody at 2:05 PM PST

Updated: Monday, 2 March 2009 2:09 PM PST

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Mood:  caffeinated

 Abu Ghraib to Reopen

.

- complete with children's playground -

.

Welcome back - Abu Ghraib's bad old days are over, claim jailers.

Now, nearly five years after its role in one of the world's biggest human rights abuse scandals, Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail has re-opened with a promise of decent conditions for inmates - including a gym, computer chatroom and hair salon.

The prison, which earned global notoriety in 2004 after US jailers filmed themselves tormenting and sexually abusing Iraqi prisoners, was shut down two years ago when America handed control of it to the new Iraqi government. Iraqi and US officials, who believed its closure would end what had become a symbolic rallying point for the anti-US insurgency, moved its inmates to another facility on the Kuwait border.

But yesterday, after a fresh lick of paint and extensive refurbishing, it officially opened its doors again, purporting to offer conditions more familiar to inmates of a prison in Scandinavia. As well as modern medical and dental facilities, there is a courtyard for visiting families that contains a children's playground and water fountain. Inmates also have a mosque, and will be able to sew their own clothes in a small sewing factory. Mindful of its fearsome reputation, Iraqi officials in charge of the makeover have even changed its name from Abu Ghraib to Baghdad Central Prison.

"The prison is officially open and we have received inmates. Hundreds are present," said prison director general Alsharif al-Murtadha Abdul al-Mutalib, who yesterday invited reporters to tour the jail, which is set behind watchtower-guarded walls in one of Baghdad's western suburbs. It will eventually be home to around 14,000 prisoners.

In all, 11 US soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws and five others were disciplined over the torture allegations in Abu Ghraib. American authorities implemented a series of reforms in the aftermath, although they still faced complaints about prolonged detentions without charges.

Conditions were far harsher there during Saddam's time, however, when the double gallows in the jail's execution chamber was in regular use, and cells were so over-crowded that inmates used to have to take turns to sleep. Just ahead of the US invasion in 2003, Saddam granted an amnesty to some 60,000 inmates that it was then holding, adding greatly to the law and order problems that beset Baghdad when his government finally fell.

Under a bilateral security agreement that calls for a full US withdrawal by the end of 2011, American commanders have to hand over around 14,000 Iraqis that they are still detaining as suspected insurgents or militia members.

Most of those detainees are expected to be freed without charge, but some will face trials under Iraqi law. Despite the promises made by Iraqi officials during yesterday's re-opening ceremony, human rights groups say prisoners in Iraqi custody are frequently beaten, abused and denied due process.

Last year, the Iraqi government said it would turn a section of the 280-acre prison into a museum documenting Saddam's crimes, but not the abuses committed by US guards.

Posted by Joe Anybody at 2:32 PM PST

Updated: Tuesday, 24 February 2009 2:46 PM PST

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