Toilet Paper Novels Hit German Stalls

“Germans who like to read on the toilet no longer need to take newspapers in with them, but can instead turn to novels and poems printed on toilet paper, a German publisher said Wednesday.

‘We want our books to be used. That’s our philosophy,’ said Georges Hemmerstoffer, head of the Klo-Verlag which publishes the toilet paper literature. About half of all people liked to read on the toilet, he said…. [The Shifted Librarian]

Ok, but how can you start reading where you left off the time before??

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Will Chafee Switch Parties?

Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) “paused a little too long for the GOP leadership’s liking” when asked by a CNN’s Jonathan Karl “whether he might switch parties if the chamber is deadlocked at 50-50 again after the election,” Roll Call’s Ed Henry reports. When pressed, Chafee paused and said, “That’s a decision that I’d really find difficult to make, very, very difficult. I’ve been a Republican a long time.”… [Taegan Goddard's Political Wire]

Like Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont who did switch, Chafee is a “New England Republican”, conservative on fiscal matters, more liberal on social issues, not inclined to mix religion with politics, and definitely uneasy about Christian fundamentalism.

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30% of the House votes NO on Iraq War

30% is way more NO’s than I expected.   Plus, 30% opposed in the House is more than we had for years during the Vietnam war protest days.  And this war hasn’t even started yet. 

So, having 30% of the House hardcore opposed at the beginning ain’t bad at all.

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PBS & Salon reject documentary about Florida 2000 election

Read about it on Danny Schechter’s Media Channel.org weblog.  He’s the producer of the documentary that PBS won’t air, and a decades-long reporter, producer, and activist.

PBS has now spoken. In early August, they decided they will NOT screen Counting on Democracy. They gave it a resounding “no:” no broadcast, and, then, a second no to distribution by the PBS “Plus” feed that gives local stations the option to air the show or not. Here’s what ITVS told us they said: “They felt strongly that the program was not journalistic in that it tried to appear to be unbiased by including a Republican, but he was mocked and made to look silly. They felt it was “full of cheap shots” and the narration was overly simplistic. They felt that “due to the subject matter, care needed to be taken to present a more balanced look at the subject matter” even if the show ultimately had a point of view “and that wasn’t the case.”

It is hard to respond to this type of a vague attack. As someone who has made over 200 magazine shows that aired on PBS stations, produced 50 segments for ABC’s prime time 20/20 newsmagazine and directed ten major documentaries, I think I know something about journalistic standards, and would beg to differ. Suffice, it to say, we have “creative differences.” As for only featuring three Republicans, we told PBS before they make their decision that other Florida Republicans refused to be interviewed. It didn’t matter. To them, their absence just proved “bias” on our part.

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Bad moon rising in Venezuela

Another day, another demonstration in Venezuela’s capital. As The Economist went to press, thousands of opponents of Hugo Chavez were to take to the streets to demand the president’s resignation. The Economist

The situation following the failed coup remains polarized and tensions run extremely high. Hard-line sectors within both the opposition and the government have shown little willingness to compromise or negotiate. Both utilize tactics of inflammatory rhetoric and confrontation, creating conditions that are likely to lead to more violence. Human Rights Watch

More than a few observers, both from the Left and the right, think a coup attempt is imminent in Venezuela.

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Unfortunately, no surprise

Woman killed in suicide blast. 

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv today, killing an elderly woman and injuring four others.

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Eek, a commie…

Psst. There are real live commies organizing in the Peace movement. What’s more, some of them are major organizers. However, not to worry.  No need to run to the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Not In Our Name organized the nationwide protests last Sunday. They - choose your theory - emerged out of / is controlled by / got jacked by / was an idea from the (Maoist) Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).  Gasp, you say?  Well, maybe not.  I helped organize the L.A. protest.  Did I see a Maoist agenda coming from NION?  No, I didn’t, and I was looking for it.  Is NION genuinely open to any group wanting to join? Yes.  Did the RCP members in L.A. NION - and there were several I knew of - do a superb job organizing the event?  Absolutely.

Another major group that is organizing against the coming war is International Action Center (IAC), which was started by Ramsey Clark, Attorney General under Carter.  IAC is allied with and/or a front for the (Stalinist) Workers World and are orders of magnitude more militant than NION.  Currently they are organizing the hopefully large Oct 26 protests in S.F.and D.C.

For most of the planet, if you announce you are Communist or Socialist, you will be met with a yawn.  It’s only here in the States where being a commie is viewed as a Big Deal.  It’s in our national culture to view them as skulking around in the dark, infiltrating organizations for their devious ends, and God knows what else.

Let’s look at it a different way.  Was I, as a Green, “infiltrating” NION, in hopes of pushing a Green agenda?  Yes, I admit, I was!  What’s worse, while I did identify myself as Green, there were, in fact, other Greens there who did NOT identify themselves.   Were they there undercover in order to do some serious skulking about?  Sorry, I am not at liberty to divulge the answer.

Ok, I’m being absurd, but I’ve got a point.  Leftie organizations form, split, and re-group like amoeba.  Any umbrella group, like NION or IAC, will have a multitude of groups in it - all with their own agendas.  Such groups may well be (and probably are) controlled by whoever started them.  This is not news.  Nor is it news if the group was started by Greens or Sierra Club members. It’s only (semi) news when started by “commies”.

Well, these particular commies are tireless organizers, who been hugely helpful in getting the peace movement going. Many other groups are now active in NION and IAC.  There’s room for everyone, and for whatever inevitable internal battles will occur along the way.  After all, this is the Left, where the circular firing squad is a way of life…

As always, politics makes strange bedfellows.  And, being on the Left, we can, of course, celebrate the diversity of it all! 

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Venezuela coup attempt drawing closer?

Venezuela Protesters Foil Arrest of Rebel General
Protesters beating pots and pans stopped armed Venezuelan security agents on Wednesday from detaining a dissident army general who criticized President Hugo Chavez hours before a planned opposition rally

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