From the Land of the Clueless

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg thinks he’s found a way to pin down rowdy protesters at the Republican National Convention — by offering them a powder-blue button that labels them “Peaceful Political Activists.”

Wearers of the buttons get discounts at restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues! Wow, what a cunningly designed trick to appeal to protestors, all of whom of course, are more focused on monetary discounts than protest, uh huh. 

In exchange for the package, the protesters must promise to obey city laws and regulations and pick up their blue pledge pin.

I expect to see, in response to this brain-dead idea, lots of anti-Blue buttons appearing in New York. Hmm, maybe red buttons for socialists, black for anarchists, and of course, pink for Code Pink.

He acknowledged, however, that compliance was voluntary.

“We can’t stop an anarchist from getting a button,” the mayor said when asked if the pins could guarantee good behavior. “I don’t know how many anarchists will want to wear this button…. But they still would get the discounts as long as they have the button.”

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Queztal & Hummingbirds

I bought this beautiful pencil drawing a few months ago at an art show at the late, sadly missed, Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica. They asked if they could keep it for the duration of the show, I said sure. It then went to Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural in Sylmar for another show, and I finally picked it up yesterday.

It’s by Jack Morris, who is an inmate in the dreaded Special Housing Units (SHU) in the fearsome Pelican Bay State Prison, the highest security California prison. In a SHU, you are in your cell 22 hours a day or more and the rule is “no human contact.” Speaking to others is not allowed. Sounds like cruel and unusual punishment to me. He’s been there for years.

You are not put in a SHU for the severity of your crime, you are put into a SHU because a guard says you are a gang member or were in contact with one. There is no appeal. The only way out is to be paroled, to die, or to be released back into the general population, at which point it will be assumed you snitched on someone.  

From Jack’s handwritten note on the back of the drawing:

Color pens, pencils, and pastels are not allowed in the “hole.” The colors in this drawing were developed by scraping paper pulp out of old magazines.

Utilizing a rolled piece of toilet paper dipped in the pulp, I transfer it onto the drawing.

Additional colors are obtained from the coating of vitamins or coffee.

All the art in this show was by inmates. All the proceeds go to an organization Jack helped start called PROTECT (Prisoners Reaching Out to Educate Children and Teens), which works with at-risk youth.

Our interest is not in telling young people what is right or wrong - that’s their choice. Instead we believe we’re in a unique position of being able to point out the consequences of one’s actions, attempting to emphasize the importance of education as an alternative.

They do this through the only means open to them, letter writing.

Contact
Jack L.Morris C-06409
P.O. Box 7500 D7-217
Crescent City, CA 95532

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Iraqi police threaten to kill reporters in Najaf

Iraqi police have threatened to kill every journalist working in the holy city of Najaf, where US forces are locked in a tense stand-off with Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army.

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AP Poll Numbers on Iraq War Opinion

The first number is the current poll, the number in parentheses is from a Dec. 2003 poll.

United States

Made the right decision, 48 percent (64)
Made a mistake in going to war in Iraq, 50 percent (34)

Bush administration

Made the right decision, 45 percent (67)
Made a mistake in going to war in Iraq, 53 percent (29)

From another poll

Last December, when Saddam was caught, public support for Bush was 2-to-1 in favor. Now the public is evenly divided on whether the war was the right thing to do or whether it was a mistake.

Older people, minorities, people with lower incomes, residents of the Northeast and Catholics are among those increasingly skeptical of the war effort, according to Associated Press polling.

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eBay buys 25% of Craigslist

Online auction giant eBay has acquired a 25 percent stake in Craigslist, the wildly popular online trading site that lets users find anything from jobs to event tickets to dates.

The eBay investment comes on the heels of a move by Craigslist to start charging a $25 fee for employment listings on two of its more popular regional sites — New York and Los Angeles.

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It HAD to happen

Polyphonic Spree percussionist mistaken for terrorist

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