Tennessee Tea Party advocates editing textbooks, a move from the Communist playbook
Posted: January 16, 2011 Filed under: Politics | Tags: china, Communism, founding fathers, List of national founders, Politics, Tea Party, Tennessee, Thomas Jefferson, United States, Washington Leave a comment »
Image via Wikipedia
Tea Partiers in Tennessee want to selectively edit history textbooks by removing all negative portrayals of our founding fathers. For a political party so focused on avoiding a Communist America, the Tea Party in Tennessee appears to know nothing of Communist history.
The act of editing educational textbooks, with the purpose of making certain leaders more favorable, was employed by the U.S.S.R in many (unwilling) Eastern Europe satellites. Oh, and Communist China still does it. Oops. Read the rest of this entry »
How’s this for irony:
Posted: January 12, 2011 Filed under: Politics, Strange | Tags: Arizona, Blood Libel, Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Lee Loughner, Jews, Sarah Palin, Tucson Arizona Leave a comment »“Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn,” Palin said in the statement.
pulled from WaPo’s “Blood Libel”, social sin and Sarah Palin
…
“And once again we’re reminded that words matter. Communication is the heart and soul of American democratic governance, but there hasn’t been much fruitful discourse of late — among members of Congress, between the people and their representatives or in the public sphere. We need to get better at communicating not only quickly, but civilly.” – Joanne B Freeman, in NYT’s When Congress Was Armed and Dangerous
September 11th has come and gone….
Posted: September 12, 2010 Filed under: New York City, Politics, War | Tags: Mosque, quran burning, September 11 2001, Terrorism, United States, War on Terrorism, Warfare and Conflict, WTC, wtc monument Leave a comment »Should I have written about September 11th yesterday, considering I was there on 2001, stuck in midtown when the city went into lockdown?
I didn’t want my voice to be part of the media circle-jerk, or the mosque protest/Quran burning madness.
Maybe I will write about it for the 10 year anniversary.
Wait… Did I just write “10 year”? Has it been 9 years already?
And no memorial has been built on that site yet (the lights don’t count, sorry)….?
Shameful. Absolutely shameful.
China develops new missile, tells the US to ‘Beat It’
Posted: August 23, 2010 Filed under: Politics, Techology, War | Tags: Chinese military, DF-21D, Japanese military, pacific power, US Navy, US- China debt Leave a comment »In case you have not heard, China has developed a new version of its already powerful “East Wind” missile, named DF-21D. The DF-21D makes the US military shake in their boots, as it shifts power over the Pacific Ocean to China.
Explained in laymen’s terms, the US navy cannot defend against this missile. This Chinese missile flies en mass into space, re-enters the earth’s atmosphere at enormous speeds on top of US carriers (making it hard for the US to pick up on radar) and then before impact, explodes into even smaller missiles. It is almost like shrapnel in principle (big explosive, with tiny ones inside), except this missile is specifically designed to destroy US carriers.
(notice the above video was created when news of the the DF-21D came out.)
Yeah, so the US no longer controls the Pacific. A little worrisome, but not really, because China would never do anything to hurt the US, considering we owe them almost a TRILLION dollars. If anything, this is to remind the US to leave North Korea and Taiwan alone.
And just for fun, here are Japanese and American Navy commercials re-mixed:
Both videos are also found on CollegeHumor, a site I visit dailyjust to watch their internet video selection (superb!) and original sketches.
Explaining Jobbik, the 'Tea Party' of Hungary
Posted: April 26, 2010 Filed under: Politics, Travel | Tags: anti semitic, Budapest, deportation, EU, European Union, Fidesz, Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union, Hungarian, Hungary, illegal immigration, IMF, International Monetary Fund, Jobbik, Krisztina Morvai, Movement for a Better Hungary, Prime minister, pro-palestine, Socialists, Tea Party, Treaty of Trianon, United States, Viktor Orbán, welfare 7 Comments »
Image via Wikipedia
I would like to interrupt my regularly scheduled video game posts to comment on the recent right wing party’s victory in the Hungarian Parliament. Hungary now has a new Prime Minister-in-waiting; Viktor Orbán, and a new ruling party; Fidesz. Fidesz, the center right party:
made history as the first Hungarian political party to capture a two-thirds majority in the 386-seat parliament since Hungary’s first post-communist elections in 1990.
Fidesz defeated the ruling Socialists who have been in power for eight years, amid public anger over scandals and the economy.
Sunday’s election results give the ruling Socialists 59 seats and the far-right Jobbik Party, 47 seats
via Business Weeks Hungary’s Center Right Sweep Parliamentary Elections
I couldn’t help but notice how “Jobbik” has been portrayed over the past couple of weeks. Jobbik voicing “anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy rhetoric“? I don’t claim to be an expert, but when I was in Budapest over Christmas, I encountered people my own age who were very sympathetic to Jobbik. I am talking about people who work in ad agencies, PR firms, TV stations and soon-to-be lawyers. One law student, attending a prestigious law school in Budapest, is being taught by Krisztina Morvai, a fellow leader of the Jobbik party (to note, how can Morvai be anti-semitic when she has had 3 children with a “Jewish” man? Also to wonder, if someone is pro-Palestine, does that make them anti-semitic? ). The Jobbik supporters I met weren’t anti-semitic, and no more anti-gypsy than any one else in Hungary, …or Europe for that matter. Why would my generation of college-educated, internet browsing individuals be sympathetic to a party that was “Hitler-esque”? I don’t want to use the word “slander” to describe the media coverage, as that is what Jobbik is calling all this negative attention, but I have to agree the coverage certainly isn’t balanced.
What really gets me are the media sources, which are almost entirely from “socialist” countries. It makes sense then that any news reaching the US about Jobbik would have a negative spin. None of the stories talk about Jobbik’s economic policies, or ideas on agricultural reform, or how to root out corruption in government. I would like to take this moment and explain a few things about Jobbik:
Anime: Why two nukes on Japan wasn't enough
Posted: March 28, 2010 Filed under: Entertainment, Film, Politics, Uncategorized | Tags: Anime, Archer, Astro Boy, Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Barack Obama, Business and Economy, Cowboy Bebop, ghost in a shell remake, Government, Hayden Panettiere, Japan, Kurosawa, Neon Genesis Evangelion, New Hampshire, New Hampshire House of Representatives, Nick Levasseur, Nuclear weapon, Ozu Yasujiro, Paprika, Pearl Harbor, Politics, steven spielberg, United States, United States armed forces 5 Comments »
Image via Wikipedia
Two days ago, New Hampshire state representative Nick Levasseur wrote this as his facebook status: “Anime is a prime example that two nukes just wasn’t enough” . (Click here to watch a video compilation of the local media’s take)
The medias coverage has focused on him either being a racist (another right wing media link), or on how this is an insult to anime.
Nick appears to be around 26 years old. Nick looks like he watches anime. I think Nick was telling a joke. A really bad one, but nonetheless, a joke. Would you ever hear a Japanese politician joke that they should bomb Pearl Harbor again because they just can’t stand our summer blockbusters? Absolutely not.
This isn’t the first time Nicky has made really bad jokes though. Back in 2007, on his Myspace page he listed under his interests: “the hunting of neo-conservative Reaganites” and in 2008, also on his Myspace page, he described himself as “the magic mushroom. Shove me in a dark place, feed me a fist full of shit, and watch me grow!” This latest attempt at a joke, by insulting the Japanese tragedy, reveals his under developed sense of humor.
No other country in the world has been attacked with nuclear weapons, and if you know ANYTHING about Japanese history, or culture, you know to this day they still struggle with that happened to them (hello, Godzilla films?). Consider the new book, ” The Last Train from Hiroshima” or even this recent gem about Hayden Panettiere’s efforts to save dolphins in Japan:
As the group arrived, a truck of right-wing nationalists blasted slogans, saying Japan should not be singled out for whaling and dolphin hunts because Westerners “are killing cows.” They also demanded President Barack Obama apologize for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
-‘Heroes’ Actress visits Japan dolphin hunt town via Associated Press
Japanese society has long used the arts to deal with their nuclear past, and if you are going to include anime in this artistic realm, you have to mention the famous manga-turned-anime-turned-American-film Astro Boy. Astro Boy was born in 1951…. just years after the bombs were dropped. Astro Boy’s name in Japan is “Mighty Atom” and is a direct reference to the nuclear attacks. Astro Boy was made to appeal to little boys, perhaps to help the children cope with new post-war reality?
Sadly, this joke also reveals that Nick has never seen any good anime. Action movies tend to be really bad too, but I don’t go around advocating the bombing of Hollywood…. and every once in a while, an action film does comes along that I can appreciate (Fifth Element, for example…). The same applies to anime.
If you’d like to watch some good anime films, I’d recommend anything by Oscar winner Hayao Miyazaki, as well as the films Paprika, Ghost in the Shell (which Spielberg is remaking), and Perfect Blue. For anime series, I’d recommend Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Lain (though the last two do get creepy later on).
Chicago needs a hero
Posted: February 5, 2010 Filed under: Chicago, Politics | Tags: air pollution, Alexi Giannoulias, asian carp, Blagojevich, Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority, Harvey Dent, Illinois, Illinois Primary, low voter turnout, Missouri, Parking meter, Political corruption, Politics, Republican Party, Scott Lee Cohen, seasonal depression, Two Face, water pollution, Wisconsin 10 Comments »
Harvey Dent via Wikipedia
There is something wrong with the people in Chicago. I’ve come to the conclusion that Chicagoans are masochists. Or they are insanely depressed and they revel in their misery. Why? Before I go into the political scandal running through the media tubes right now, let me first consider the weather.
Tough titties for bondage columnist running for office
Posted: January 29, 2010 Filed under: Chicago, Politics, Strange | Tags: Alderman Richard Mell, Blagojevich, bondage, corruption, Deb Mell, family dynasty, february 2nd primaries, gay, Jack Rinella, Joe Laiacona, lesbian, Politics, s & m, sex 5 Comments »
Bettie Page getting spanked, via Wikipedia
The 2010 40th district race for State House rep has been called historic for two reasons: this is the first time two openly gay candidates are running against each other (there are 14 gay candidates on the ballot this February 2nd), and second because this is the first time a bondage columnist is running for office.
Joe Laiacona, a part-time computer science teacher at Columbia College by day and leather master named Jack Rinella by night, is running against incumbent Deborah Mell. If that last name sounds familiar, it’s because Deb Mell is Blagojevich’s sister-in-law, and was the only one to vote against the governor’s impeachment. Deb Mell is also the daughter of Alderman Richard Mell, the “driving force” behind Blagojevich’s win as governor.
Illinois Green Party feels threatened by 24 year old
Posted: November 13, 2009 Filed under: Chicago, Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, Chicago, Cook County Board President, Cook County Illinois, Democratic, Democratic Party, Dorothy Brown, Green, Green Party, Sean Burke, Todd Stroger, Tom Tresser 5 Comments »
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The race for Cook County Board President just got a little bit more interesting:
While the petition battles of Todd Stroger and Dorothy Brown have occupied the minds of political junkies watching the Cook CountyBoard President’s race, another petition challenge of interest has gone by unnoticed.
Green Party candidate Tom Tresser, who made a name for himself as the leader of the anti-Olympics group No Games Chicago, has challenged the petitions of his Green Party primary opponent Sean Burke upon finding out that Burke is associated with the web address for the Cook County Young Democrats.
via NBC Chicago “Green Party Candidate Challenges Primary Rival’s Affiliation“
Little information about Sean Burke is available, but the Green Party is already in a tizzy. Green Party Watch went and wrote a piece about how the Democrats are “playing dirty tricks” and cited another example of a Green Party candidate being challenged in another district as proof. Further investigation on the internets reveals that in the second case mentioned the Democratic nominee is also being challenged. To add further fuel to this fire, Tresser went ahead and wrote on his blog why he was challenging Burke, saying:
The Machine has taken note of the Green Party and it’s entirely appropriate to protect the party from candidates who are running to mess with us. I and some of my mentors and Green Party allies believe that the party needs to protect itself from people who want to run as a Green but who do not hold to the core values of the party, are not reformers, are not fighters, who are serving the Daley-Stroger Machine and who actually want to damage viable Green party campaigns.
The whole thing sounds downright paranoid. If you scroll down the NBC link, Sean Burke made the first comment on the story, and the only reaction to his post was by another commenter making fun of Burke’s website and telling him “you’re full of crap”. This Burke is 24 years old, and I buy his switch, his disenchantment with the Young Democrats. The Green Party platform is an interesting mix of Republican and Democratic ideas, and I myself can understand the appeal. Everyone is always hammering on about how our two party system is broken, with the two parties we have bickering incessantly while slowly morphing into one another. Is it that hard to believe someone from the Young Democrats would want to join the Green Party?
By Tresser calling out Burke (who may have just put his name on the ballot for a whim, because why not considering the politicians that run Chicago?) he may have actually helped Burke’s candidacy while also alienating potential Green Party members. I campaigned for Ron Paul and later Barack Obama, but if I now decide to join the Green Party will I too be called a spy and saboteur?
Hungarian Rhapsody: my family's escape from Communism
Posted: November 9, 2009 Filed under: Chicago, Politics | Tags: Austria, berlin wall, Budapest, Cold War, Communism, Eastern Europe, fall of communism, Germany, History, hungarian communist youth league, Hungary, Iron Curtain, Italy, KISZ, latina, lost luggage, new york city, Pan Am, refugee, refugee camp, Sopron Picnic, Twentieth Century, UNICEF, United States, venice, vienna, West Germany 7 Comments »
A Communist statue still standing in Budapest, extremely ironically called the "Statue of Liberty"
Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a historic occasion the West marks as the collapse of communism. Months before the wall came down, Hungary had opened its own “Iron Curtain” of guard towers, mines, and electric fences that lined the border between Austria and Hungary. A family friend Lajos used to have the job of patrolling this border, and told me the story of how one day he threw off his body armor and gun, and told his fellow patrol guard and good friend that he couldn’t do it anymore. He ran for the border, and told his friend he could shoot him if he wanted. Needless to say, Lajos wasn’t shot, but he never saw his friend again.
Communism was never a natural fit for Hungary. The country’s aristocratic past, as part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, never dimmed from memory. After the 1956 uprising, Goulash Communism was instated to appease the populace. It was because of this little bit of capitalism that my mother was able to open a flower shop in Budapest. Still, the relationship with Hungary’s Communist leaders remained strained.
When the border between Austria and Hungary was opened in May 1989 (some say the Sopron Picnic in August was the official opening), many Eastern Germans used this route through Hungary to get to Austria and back to West Germany.
I thought I would throw other Eastern-European nations into the media mix today by sharing the story of my Hungarian -American exodus.
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