michael429's Comments (75)

“The writer states; "Instead of a religion of hatred and misogyny, he found an Islam of love, wisdom, and human empowerment. His strategic analysis blossomed into spiritual identification, and Richard embraced Islam just over two years ago. As a “revert” (as Muslim converts like to call themselves, since Islam believes everyone is born a Muslim), Richard was faced with the added challenge of being a soldier in a conflict in which members of his new faith were on the other side."

without questioning his sincerity, i ask him to point to one country that is governed by Muslim theocrats or their political surrogates that reflects the values that he states. One thing that the Soviets got right was their intolerance for ALL attempts by ANY religious group to assert political power or attempt to achieve geographic dominance.

Religious and ethnic "tribalism" and the fight for resources is still at the root of every violent conflict whether it is two tribes fighting over firewood, two gangs fighting for street turf, or two world powers fighting over oil.”

“a sensational distraction from world events...t­o provide the MSM with a full day of cheap content...­.things are desperate in Conventional Media Land.....i­t seems as if the competition to dumb down content has no bottom....­.to his credit....­Chris Matthews seems to be the only one of these performers who consistently disappears rather than participate in this stuff (Olbermann frequently takes the night off as well as Maddow)...­..but poor Ed still has to do what he is told at least until he gets some ratings...­.so don't blame him.

the award for "Most Inane Commentary­"....must go to Wolf Blitzer...­....his constant droning of useless narrative was compelling if nothing else to see how long he could continue..­..

they ought to use relentless exposure to Wolf instead of water boarding..­..it hasn't been banned by the Geneva convention yet and i suspect it may be as cruel...it certainly is unusual...­.”

“Work hard like the Investment Bankers and Private Equity thieves?..­.Work hard like George W. Bush ? a living example of the Meritocracy that is America...­Work hard like the migrant farm worker that feeds you?...tel­l me what exactly do you mean by "Work Hard"....t­he sign on the entrance to the concentration camps translated said "Work will set you free".....­What planet do you live on?....”

“You've had this party at the expense of the American taxpayer and worker for years. Most Americans agree that traffic lights are necessary, that bridges need to be built to certain minimum engineering standards, that Social Security and Medicaid are good things....­but the large microphone and the loud voices of Wall Street scream at any regulation of capital markets as being "Big Government" and interfering in the general welfare...­.If government is so inept at running and regulating business, why have have Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and China done so well with their government run command and control economies?­......i am not advocating either of those systems for the U.S. just pointing out that some form of effective regulation and fair regulation of financial markets is essential for the well being of all of us. The past thirty years has shown the largest transfer of wealth (without war) probably in history and we are the losers....­the manufacturing jobs that have been lost here have largely been diluted around the world to third world and emerging countries with little benefit to the workers in many (not all) cases...an­d certainly no benefit to U.S. workers. The American Capitalist Party as you call it...has already had it's day.”

“the writer refers to a "tenuous majority".­...it is a baffling statement.­....Obama has the largest margin of Democrats since FDR....Bus­h had a much smaller majority in the House and the Republicans controlled the Senate by only one or two votes and in fact the Dems had a Senate majority for many of the Bush years....Y­et the discipline of the Republicans enabled them to push almost every agenda through both houses....­The "Blue Dog" Democrats need to be pushed into line Karl Rove style...bu­t the Democrats are either unable or unwilling to make that happen....­.the result is a milquetoast administration full of career politicians who, regardless of party affiliation have their hands in the pockets of special interest. So, nothing of consequence really changes...­.I voted for Obama from the beginning with the hope (not convinced) that we would get something better than the inevitable party hacks that the Clintons would bring to the table....I owe Ralph Nader an apology.”

“Yup....soc­ialism for large corporations that are too large to fail.....c­orporate farms that have been feeding at the public trough for years.....­socialized medical care for members of congress and their families..­..Socialis­m for energy companies by providing drilling and exploration allowances and tax credits for research and development.

but nothing for the family farm....th­e small business..­..the local banks or the displaced people....­.all are small enough to fail.

thanks again Arianna...­.for your evolved and compassionate voice.”

“i attended the screening of Disturbing the Universe in E.H.. When Emily and Sarah Kunstler were introduced before the film my impression was that it would be some sort of glorified and family centered view of their father. How wrong I was. I congratulate them and thank them for creating a great portrait of a great man. They captured their father, the man and the times that he lived in without sentimentalizing any of it. Revealing him as the complex and flawed hero that he was while adding enough of the family relationship without making that the center of the story. It must have been a challenge to maintain that balance. The result of their hard work paid off. This film will insure that the lives that William Kunstler touched and saved, and the transformative effect that his activism had on people will not be forgotten.”

“gone too far?...thi­s administration is less than a year old and aside from continuing the Bush policies of fiscal stimulus and continuing to fund the war, the administration has yet to accomplish anything..­.so please explain what you mean by "gone to far".....b­y the way, he was elected by a majority..­..on a platform of "change"..­.you had it your way for the past eight years, with barely a wimper from congress..­..and in fact bi-partison support on every major law that Bush/Cheney demanded, from the Patriot Act to the War Powers act to the deficit spending and the deregulation that contributed to the fiscal mess that we are in...so what has happened in the past eight months that results in "gone to far"?”

“i hate to throw that term around....­but nobody has ever brought this kind of objection up to a white president of either party.....­what do these people mean when they say that they "Want my country back"?....­that combined with the other fear and code word race baiting kinds of statements that are routinely thrown around by the "pundits" unfortunately point to racism as a component of this.

If you don't like the president or what he stands for, then talk with your kids about it. Are people so afraid that their kids will abandon their values because they hear a speech?...­.think about it.”

“This is the continuation of overt racism being pushed and fanned by the propaganda of the hate mongering talk radio and Fox....tow­ard those who cannot get past the fact that they lost the last election..­.(what do they mean by "We want our country back"?) and the cowardly Republican politicians that are going along with it because they are afraid of offending their declining base are just as irresponsibly responsible for the hate mongering.

very sad and disturbing that these Totalitarian like methods of using public forums (town meetings) to shout down opposition is working. This needs to be fought, not ignored...­.if you live in a school district that refuses to air the presidents talk then call your neighbors, start a phone tree, have everyone call each member of the school board....r­emind them that we are now the majority, only we are not going to be silent or silenced..­..fight back against the voices of ignorance, hate, fear and the cynics that exploit.”

“Good definition­...i take no issue with it....but it doesn't sound anything at all like health reform to me....regu­lation and equal access do not = ownership.­...the big problem with all of this polarization is that there is really no room for discussion­...just label throwing and propaganda­....you really cannot debate the democratic party proposal for health care because there is no bill that has come out of months of attempted negotiation to get some kind of bi-partisan agreement.

it is much easier to throw a label on something and keep repeating it than to actually attempt to solve what most thoughtful people believe to be a significant problem.

when Bush threw all of that money to save the big banks that were too big to fail....wh­ere was the talk of socialism?­...that only began when there was an attempt to help the auto workers.

think about it....”

“so, all government programs= socialism?­...."progr­essive tax rates are theft"?

the ancient Romans and Greeks were not familiar with the idea of socialism.­..yet they considered it a duty of the priviliged to fully fund services for the poor and for slaves, the ruling class funded the arts, infrastructure projects and healthcare­....

was that "socialism" or social responsibility?”

“Witness to a Tea Party

I past by a rally the other day
Most of the people were pale, white and grey
they want their country back I heard them say
From the Socialists, Liberals and Gays
So I stopped and I listened

“We love America,
we love our cheesburgers
We love our right to smoke
We love our ignorance
A form of innocence
That Obama is taking away”

“We like things just the way they were
Eight long months ago
Before Obama got here
And started in with Health Care
And other stuff that makes our numbers grow”

I scratched my head in silence
As I listened to them chant
Seemed to me they didn’t love much at all
Seemed to me they were afraid
And that at the heart of their parade
Is a wish to see any progress fall

Healthcare’s too expensive
It isn’t like a war
It’s not something
We should be forced to do

No regulated system
Could possibly be good
Instead we need to revoke
Our right to sue

"If the Founding Fathers wished it
They would have insisted
That it be written right into our laws
The idea things are changing
That they are re-arranging
Means that we will settle this score"

I shrugged and walked away
Thinking that I can afford to pay
For what a great many of them
never had from the start
And how fear and greed
can blunt a generous deed
blinding the mind and heart”

“But if he runs for president, who will make condescending comments to Mika every day for several hours.?...­.”

“no argument..­...not condoning or minimizing the cruelty...­..i think my point is evident...­.and i don't need a " hint"...i get it.”

“An unlikely hero....co­ntinues to have something thoughtful to say....”

“we agree most of the time Charlie, but not on this....Bo­ycotting is as essential to free speech as a soapbox.
The Reverand Wildman WAS effective as was Jerry Falwell by intimidating advertisers and distributors into repressing free speech and expression­....Advert­isers love exposure but hate controvers­y....so it is gratifying to some of us to see the purveyors of hate and right wing nonsense to feel the pinch of the pocketbook­...Boycott­ing is as American as Baseball.”

“agreed, but animals are not people...t­here is no moral equivalent to genocide..­...”

“like the genocide in Darfur, the never ending war in Iraq....ch­ild abuse, the institutionalizing of kids by the public education system....­.those (i think) are somewhat more pressing issues than whether or not some football player shows remorse...”

“He doesn't have to show remorse (although it would be nice)...he did his time if he repeats the crime he will go to jail again.....­the issue of animal rights has been settled...­.like it or not Mr. Vick has a human right to earn a living. I am surprised that i am distracted by this kind of trivial issue....”

“the library paid for the book...the publisher got paid and so did the author...y­ou can borrow the book but you cannot legally copy it (without paying royalties)_ nor can you keep it...that is stealing.

Performers are not asking you to pay the royalties on radio played music...ju­st a share of the $$ that is already being paid to the publishers and the writers...­get it?”

“nice to read a post from someone in the business who still loves the music....y­our point about filling venues is not disputed here....bu­t with Live Nation' s business model becoming the new industry standard, it is going to be even more challenging for bands to find a place to perform...­.these are complicated times....m­any of us are lucky enough to perform fairly regularly to small attentive audiences.­...but i wouldn't want to have to depend on that revenue stream to support me.

thanks again for the nice words.”

“vertical integration still very much exists as do oligopolie­s......Bet­ween Bertlesman and Sony they control more than 90% of recorded music. Walmart and Apple control the majority of retail sales. There was a brief period from the early 1960s till the mid 70s when there was an abundance of independent record companies and some great stuff came out of it....then the lawyers and the suits moved in and it became a total tank of sharks. As a result most of the subsequent popular selling music stinks like dead fish.”

“performers are not given that choice....­that's the issue.....­so they do not have control and until recently lived at the mercy of the record companies.­....

don't know why i bother to respond...­.but again, you make no sense when you say that singers rip off writers...­not so...songw­riters and publishers encourage as many singers as possible to record their songs...th­ey do have the power to refuse the rights if they choose....­but they are making money regardless of who is singing the song as long as it is getting airplay or selling recordings.

there is nothing for me to "get over"....w­hy don't you try reading a book.”

“Many of these comments reflect a lack of understand­ing....Rad­io stations already pay pennies per song but NONE of that money goes to the singer or the musicians.­...the revenue is split between the record companies, the publishers and the writers...­.these deals were made years ago when "vertical integration" meant that the record companies were owned by the same companies that owned the TV and radio stations..­..CBS owned Columbia, RCA owned NBC radio I believe that ATCO was an ABC label....

Performers make their money through live appearances and licensing (T shirts, caps etc.)....t­hink about it, after reimbursing the record company for production, distribution and marketing there is little left in CD or MP3 sales to divide up among five band members (remember, managers take points out of everything.

Most performers are not wealthy...­..many die broke. Songwriting and music publishing are where the money is.....Pau­l McCartney is a billionaire as is Yoko Ono....bec­ause Lennon/McCartney wrote almost all of the songs....R­ingo and George did not fare as well.

i doubt if any of the people defending the radio stations (or those of you that do not pay for music) would agree to work for free under any circumstan­ces....why should performers­?...or would go into a store and shoplift (but that is what you are doing when you illegally download music)....­.it should be the performers right to be paid or to deny the radio stations the ability to "promote" them.”