SHE'S BAAAAAAAAACK!

GOOD RIDDANCE, ERIC HOLDER

Attorney General Eric Holder is resigning! What a great strategy, Obama! Pick a loser who will help you to subvert justice as the head of your justice dpt. Keep him for 6 years so that he's been able to damage most of your two terms, but see if you can't "freshen up" the office with one of your lackeys who is less unpopular right before an election. And this will ensure that Holder's investigation into the horrors of Ferguson, MO are put on hold--as if either of you was ever going to do anything about the Michael Brown incident other than make a speech, anyway. Although a "decisive" Holder's justice department did just force the Ferguson police who were wearing bracelets which demonstrated their support for the officer who shot Michael. Great move! Hide the members of that police force who would be the most likely candidates for intensive grilling.

I remember when Holder's appointment was announced. Reporters asked him if he intended to prosecute George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for war crimes. Liberals were heartbroken as we were told by Holder that this administration was "looking forward, not backward." As Nancy Pelosi chimed in that impeachment was "off the table." (In other words, let's not learn from our mistakes and let's set up a new Department of Justice with an attorney general and a president who will actively subvert justice in dealing with Iraq: one of the biggest and most illegal foreign policy blunders in recent US history.) Many puzzled Democrats, eager to make the distinction between typically dovish democrats which Obama had presented himself as when campaigning and hawkish Republicans, wondered if Obama was taking it easy on Bush's clear war crimes in falsifying information and misleading us into a baseless war in Iraq, because he didn't want to come right into his first term of office as an angry black man and turn people off. As if any policies in a country this huge are based on how angry a man of any color can be. Most politicians will play on our perceptions of race, sex, religion or anything else to muddy the water instead of picking apart their dastardly policies.

That was one of the first of many passes we gave Obama. The truth is, Obama wanted a p#ssy of an attorney-general who wouldn't prosecute anyone for war crimes to set a precedent by which Obama himself would not be prosecuted under when he committed his own crimes of war. The Obama administration not only blocked their own investigation into Bush/Cheney's clear war crimes, the blocked independent investigations like one from Spain and one from San Francisco. And then, after he was perceived as the Nobel Peace prize winner who was withdrawing from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama granted Bush and Cheney full immunity from war crimes in 2013. Maybe he was afraid a future GOP president would prosecute him for his rampant drone murders. Or maybe Obama just wanted to carry on that rich old tradition of rich older white men who start wars on false/murky pretenses. And prove along with Eric Holder, that good ole boys now come in all colors. I wonder Mr. Holder will now go into consulting for big oil, whatever Blackwater is calling itself today or some other giant industry that benefits financially from war. He certainly has a lot of experiences in justifying horrid crimes and sweeping them under the table. Thanks for giving him a shot, Obama! He blew it--as did you.

MORE:  FIREDOGLAKE.COM

ASPEN BIZARRE DISCO, INDEED!

After never visiting Hawaii, a couple of years ago I ended up working there three times in one year. I immediately hit it off with Hector R. Hoyos aka HRH Sisterface, a large and lovely diva who's known for her trippy vibe which includes acid colors and fanciful flowered turbans. A good time girl with a huge heart and a laugh like an earthquake, Sisterface is now not only an ordained minister available for those gay couples who want to be married by a plus-sized Mrs. Roper in Hawaii on acid impersonator, but also now a recording artist. She and her husband Grant have both turned me onto a lot of great dance music--hailing from the Baltimore/DC area and a contemporary of Kevin Aviance--Miss Face has added recording artist to her repertoire. Working with Man Parrish and producers like Aspen Bizarre Disco, miss thing has found her sound. An energetic mishmash of disco sound with nonsensical yet cheerful spoken lyrics. Check it out!

OK, THEN!

Post by Brandon Miller.

BUN-BUN IS GETTING ALL FANCY-LIKE!

For all of you who ever looked at me and thought "That relic needs to be in a museum"--you got your wish! This Wednesday October 1st I'll perform an hour set at Mad Museum. Here's how they curated the performers, which include Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, Andre Walker, Ralph Pucci, Yoko Ono and the Metropolitan Opera. It's all very fancy and but is also very inexpensive and almost sold out! Ticket info below:

MAD MUSEUM: "Makers were nominated by a pool of over 300  New York City-based cultural leaders and civic figures from a range of trades and disciplines, including museum curators, choreographers, academics, chefs, musicians, and journalists, with final participants selected by a jury led by Adamson and exhibition curator Jake Yuzna. From world-renowned cultural leaders to emergent enfants terribles, every maker selected demonstrates the highest level of skill in their respective field, whether by fabricating furniture or fashion; creating artworks, films, and architecture; inventing new possibilities for food; or reshaping educational and social gatherings.

The exhibition is structured as a series of immersive tableaus that present the diverse creative output of makers alongside one another. These environments will house live programs throughout the exhibition’s run, including fashion shows, performances, social practice projects, and culinary explorations, which will underline the relationship between material and immaterial making found in New York City today. Through this approach, NYC Makers will transform MAD into a production studio that links creative, innovative, and skillful makers into one immense collaborative undertaking: an undertaking that manifests the cultural capital of New York."

MORE INFO/TIX:   MADMUSEUM

BECAUSE A FALL IS ALWAYS FUNNY

Post by Panorama.

And here is a rotten singer for you!

Post by DJ Sharaz.

And while we're on the subject...

THIS HAS TO STOP

How do you get your license, which is inside your car, without "diving into your car" if you are outside the car? Think you had a bad day at work?

Post by WLTX News19.

DUMP HILLARY BEFROE SHE EVEN RUNS!

For those who see Hillary Clinton as decisive and efficient, that may be--as this incident shows. She's highly skilled at having her goons squash dissent if it goes against her--one of our 1st amendment rights.

"No, I'm not making a prediction.  She hasn't lost the nomination battle for 2016, not yet anyway.  However what she did do today, or what I should more accurately say, is she lost my respect.  Back in 2011, at a speech she, in her capacity as Secretary of State, was giving for international internet freedom, a worthy cause. During the speech, Ray McGovern, a retired CIA agent who became a political activist against the wars fought in our name in the Middle east, stood up and tuned his back on her, a silent form of protest. For that he was arrested for disorderly conduct.  From the transcript of the Democracy NOW broadcast about the incident:

RAY McGOVERN: Well, I was pounced upon. I was blindsided, really. I was looking straight to the back, minding my own business, the only offense being standing up when everyone else was sitting down. And without any warning, I was pounced upon by and what I call large-manhandled by a fellow who looked like an NFL football player in plain dress. I don’t know who he was. That’s why you hear me screaming, "Who are you? Who are you?" I never did get the answer to that. So it was really quite abrupt, quite violent. [...]
[T]hey put two sets of handcuffs on me very roughly. They were the iron or the steel handcuffs. They dug into my wrists. Well, you could see some of the stuff right here. And they put it behind my back, of course, and I started bleeding profusely over my pants. We have the pants; they’re full of blood. When somebody said, "Is that his blood?" one of the cops said, "No, no, I pricked my finger." Right.

Now that was bad enough, violating his 1st amendment right to dissent, and eventually the charges against him were dropped.  But what followed next was much worse. From the lawsuit filed by McGovern against the US State Department:

The complaint continues: [After McGovern's arrest]"The Department of State then opened an investigation into Plaintiff McGovern, including specifically his lawful, protected political beliefs, activities, statements and associations which it kept open for nearly seven months, despite all charges having been dropped against Mr. McGovern and despite having determined that Mr. McGovern was engaged in no criminal activity."
As the complaint states: "The Department of State issued a Be On The Lookout Alert ('BOLO Alert') for the then- 71-year-old McGOVERN which described his 'considerable amount of political activism, primarily anti-war,' displayed his picture and directed law enforcement that if Mr. McGOVERN was encountered, 'USE CAUTION, stop' and question him and contact the Department of State Diplomatic Security Command Center."

That is the type of thing one would expect of a person who was suspected of committing violent acts of terrorism, or of making threats against the US government or its officials, not an antiwar activist who served in the military - the Army - and then the CIA.  All he did was turn his back on Hillary Clinton and he was arrested in a brutal fashion, and then a political vendetta was carried out against him.  A BOLO Alert is no small matter.  Any trigger happy police officer or law enforcement official who saw him was required to stop, treat him as a dangerous individual, and immediately contact the Security apparatus at the State Department.  That would scare the hell out of me if my name ever got put on such a list.

Of course, McGovern was never officially informed of the order, but his encounters with law enforcement must have led him to suspect that he was on some sort of government watch list.  Ultimately, it took a Freedom of Information Act request to discover this wrongful action by our government.

McGovern was targeted by the State Department because he turned his back on Hillary Clinton, nothing more.  Luckily, we have some good news. The Judge in his case ruled in McGovern's favor and issued an injunction requiring the government to remove him from the BOLO watch list."

MORE:  DAILYKOS

SIERRA CLUB PETITION

In a speech at the UN Climate Summit in New York, the president announced new actions that the US will take in confronting climate change and climate impacts at home and abroad. He laid out the shared responsibilities of all nations, and committed the United States to ambitious next steps. 

Tell President Obama that America is ready for him to follow through on the promises he made today. 

The president called on the assembled world leaders to act, saying, "Our citizens keep marching, we cannot pretend we cannot hear them. We have to answer the call." 

And he's right -- the People's Climate March drew400,000 people to the streets of New York City before today's historic meeting of the United Nations. Those voices calling for climate justice and clean energy got the world's attention. They set the stage for President Obama's announcement today. 

In his speech, the president said: 
- America will meet our goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- We will put ambitious reduction targets on the table for next year's UN climate meeting
- That all of the world's major economies have a responsibility to do the same 

Take action now to make sure that these promises become reality. Send the president 50,000 messages by midnight so he'll know America is ready to lead. 

When world leaders meet again next year in Paris, they'll remember the president's speech today and they'll remember the huge energy of the People's Climate March on Sunday. It's up to you to make sure they'll also remember that America is ready to keep its climate promises. 

Michael Brune
Sierra Club Executive Director 

YES TO THIS SONG AND THIS VOICE. AND A BEARD MADE OUT OF FLOWERS!

FROM WIN WITHOUT WAR

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE!

The U.S. has gone back to war in the Middle East. This week's airstrikes in Syria were not to save those trapped on a mountain or to defend U.S. diplomatic personnel, but rather a clear escalation of American involvement in a regional conflict that the President himself says has no military solution.

Right now, Congress and the President are considering what to do next, and they need to hear from you that war is not the answer.

Last night, the U.S. launched the first attacks of a new, long-term war in Iraq and Syria. We need to say "no"—loudly, strongly and persistently—to this new U.S. war in the Middle East. Please write to the President and to your Members of Congress today.

Over 12 years of military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown us that U.S. military force is not an effective means of fighting terrorism. Recent analyses show that U.S. airstrikes in Iraq have not degraded ISIS, and may be increasing local support for the extremists. The Syrian people have suffered through three-years of civil war; the last thing they need is more bombing.

Thank you,

Stephen Miles
Advocacy Director
Win Without War

WINWITHOUTWAR

!!!

Post by Sharon Onevibration.

FROM THE UK'S PINK NEWS

Christian ‘ex-gay’ porn star: The devil comes out of your anus when you have gay sex

US gay porn star turned ‘ex-gay’ Christian fundamentalist Joseph Sciambra has recorded a bizarre video where he claims that anal sex causes gay men to give birth to the devil.

In the video, Sciambra who formerly appeared in gay porn for many years says that after finding God, he sought hospitalisation following damage caused to his rectum that meant he had to have his “sphincters almost stitched shut.”

There is video. 

MORE:   PINKNEWS

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Asking generals on our "news" if they think we need more airstrikes and boots on the ground to fight ISIS is like asking an unemployed drag queen who has been out of the limelight if she'd like to join a big new traveling show. The answer will always be yes! However, the audiences in the drag queens' shows may die from laughter or over a gorgeous costume, the "audiences" in Pentagon officials shows just die. And then the relatives of the slain join terrorist groups which either attack us here as at 9/11 or the Boston Marathon Bombing or join groups like ISIS so that there will always be another enemy to got to war with. Because if the US isn't at war, the trigger-happy trolls who have bribed every politician from Obama on down don't get paid.

Here's a telling look at who pays some of those former military "experts" saying that we will need boots on the ground, as Obama swears we won't. They are paid to lie and many of you believe them simply because they're on the news. Even the generals still employed by the Pentagon are saying that the battle against ISIS will require a sustained effort with boots on the ground. While Obama says the opposite. Hmmm. Isn't Obama the commander-in--chief which makes him their boss? So why are they telling the news a different story from their chief? Because it's a well-rehearsed good cop/bad cop routine and we're falling for it again. It really is disgraceful. Of them. Of us.The country that's supposed to be weary of war.

SENSATIONAL VIDEO!

SAD

VOTE. DAMMIT!

If minorities and the poor would vote, we'd never have another Republican president. Voter registration isn't glamorous and it isn't fun, but it also isn't fun when your social services are cut that you desperately need to stay afloat. Or when your government and police forces, like the ones in Ferguson, Missouri, see it as within their duties to stop & frisk or kill you.

Take Georgia, a red state that could turn blue if blacks would get out and vote. SLATE: "Georgia has roughly 700,000 unregistered black voters. If Democrats could cut that number by less than a third—and bring nearly 200,000 likely Democrats to the polls—they would turn a red state purple, and land a major blow to the national Republican Party. Or, as Michelle Obama said during a campaign rally on Monday, “If just 50 Democratic voters per precinct who didn’t vote in 2010 get out and vote this November—just 50 per precinct—then Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter will win.” Given 2,727 precincts in Georgia, that’s just 136,350 new voters."

However, Georgia's Republican party is alarmed by minority voter registration efforts because they know the power of harnessing the black vote. So the GOP governor is accusing the voter registration organizers of fraud, with 28 allegedly forged documents. But Georgia is only one state. There have been active voter suppression in many states aimed at people of color, the elderly and students by passing laws which force everyone to have state IDs. I realize that those of you who travel or drive may not understand why anyone wouldn't have an ID, but a lot of people are poor and the powers that be are also shutting DMVs where IDs so that they become harder to reach. And if you don't have a lot of money or a car, how are you going to get there?

Republicans know that America is turning a darker hue and that because they've aligned themselves with white bigots, they are eager to squash groups of voters who if registered, would vote democratic. In fact, if Republicans are seen as actively suppressing minority votes, it actually revs up their often prejudiced base. Are you going to let them get away with it? If you don't cast your vote, then you have no right to complain. Sadly, those whose lives would benefit most from a democratic government's policies choose not to even participate in the democratic process of voting. What will you do about it?

THIS TUESDAY, Sept 23, is National Voter Registration Day!

MORE:   Go to NATIONALVOTERREGISTRATIONDAY to register to vote or find out how you can join voter registration efforts near you.

WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON!

THIS WEEKEND: CLOWN'S SYNDROME IN LA

Demented drag diva Lady Bunny brings her critically acclaimed latest 1 & 1/2 woman show to the Cavern Club on September 19th, 20th and 21st. Expect over an hour of laughs from the queen who was just voted Time Out's #1 NYC dragoon--after all these years. This all-new show includes raunchy song parodies, Bunny's trademark Laugh-In skit lampooning celebrities from Justin Bieber to Kim Kardashian to Adele, musical selections from Frank Sinatra to Prince to Katy Perry and Daft Punk. Politically correctness be damned, this show is co-written by the bitter and hilarious Facebook sensation Beryl Mendelbaum. 6 performances only of what Michael Musto called "the funniest show in town" during it's NYC run! This intimate 75-seat venue will sell out. And the price is as cheap as her humor: $19.99! $24.99 at the door, cash only.

MORE INFO/GET TIX: BROWNPAPERTICKETS

THE BITTER GENIUS THAT IS FRAN

FRAN LEBOWITZ: I object to people who are rich in politics. I don't think they should be allowed to be in politics. It is bad that rich people are in politics, it is bad for everybody but rich people, and rich people don't need any more help. Whenever people say, "Oh he earned his money himself," I always say the same thing: "No one earns a billion dollars. People earn $10 an hour, people steal a billion dollars."

Please read the whole piece!

MORE:   PAPERMAG

LYPSINKA ON JOAN RIVERS!

And get ready, Lypsinka will FINALLY return to the NYC stage this fall in a trilogy of 3 shows.

PLEASE WATCH!

This video is of a young woman who was raped by a fellow student at Columbia University. Her attacker is still at school and she chooses to drag the mattress on which she was raped in her dorm everywhere she goes on campus. It's a protest/art project that helps her process her grief. Whatever it takes, honey. This video will show that rape is not uncommon at Columbia and that the school lets some rapists get away with it. There's some emotional testimony here.

This is rape happening at an Ivy League school. Rape also happens a lot in the military, to both women and men. The military encourages victims not to report the attacks because it can set back their military careers. Like Columbia, it allows rape to happen and then when it is reported, sometimes sweeps it under the rug.

Then we see several prominent pro athletes abusing women and even their children. And the organizations which make money off the athletes care more about $ than the women.

Why are we elevating brutes and letting them off the hook when they repeatedly rape women? Can you look at these three examples happening now and deny that there is a culture of rape in this country? And there can't be a culture of anything unless a lot of people are doing it and a lot of other people are letting it exist without reporting it or speaking out. This video gave me a lot of insight into how some women don't speak out because they're afraid, or it's been too traumatic to drag themselves through a humiliating court case after such a violation.

If I wanted to get a little new age-y, I'd venture to say that greedy @ssholes in world governments who are mostly male are raping Mother Earth. This is ugly. And it won't change until the attitudes of saying nothing and permitting it also change.

HMMMMMM.

Was the fact that ISIS has beheaded people the reason that you think military action is needed in Iraq? Then these questions are for you.

Did you know that the moderate Syrian rebels who the US wants to support sold the  journalist Steven Sotloff to ISIS who then beheaded him?

Did you know that these moderate Syrian rebels who the US wants to help beheaded 6 people itself not long ago?

Beheading is gruesome, but it does not constitute a threat to the United States. You can't go to war against beheading. And if it's so gruesome, why do we want to support "moderate" Syrian rebels who also behead people?

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO LATELY.

New tune co-written by Lady Bunion and NYC-based producers Groove Addix. Out on 9/22 but you can listen now or pre-order. Please check it out! My fave mix is #4, the housier one by Nick Marshall.

LISTEN:   ITUNES

THE QUEENS ARE FIGHTING BACK!

The neighborhood that contains Stonewall, birthplace of gay rights in this country and has long been known for it's bohemian flavor has a new type of resident which frowns on drag show.  Another long-term Christopher Street bar featuring queens is struggling to stay open and wants to stay in the Village. Too bad about the new residents' prudishness. Lips put on nightly shows for almost a decade and I don't remember any issues with precious babies passing by in a stroller being emotionally scarred. Unless giantess Jason Robert Gerber was wearing the blue bouffant barrel curls. If you think your kid will be scarred by seeing a drag show, don't move to the f#cking West Village! Diandra was just talking about the color vanishing from certain neighborhoods. No color, no flavor. Hmmmm. Please remind me why we pay a fortune to live in shoeboxes again"?

Boots & Saddle Shot Down by Locals Fearing Noise and Kids Seeing Drag Shows

""What about the kids walking by?" she said, adding that she was worried about children seeing drag performances.

MORE:   DNAINFO

WISDOM FROM THE WEB!

Last week my Muslim neighbor told me that the 11th of September was the anniversary of the happiest day of her life.

After seeing my shock, she quickly explained that she meant it was her wedding anniversary.

"I'm so sorry" I said, "I thought you meant the attack on the Twin Towers".

"That's ridiculous" she laughed, "I wasn't even born then."

NO MEMORY OF THIS!

Must have been one of those blackout nights. I remember trying to serve fish--at my current weight I'm serving whale--but I have zero recollection of throwing fish. Especially not at Courtney Love.

'I'm getting my confidence back': Courtney Love, 50, opens up about leaving her rocker past behind her for a new 'focused' life 


DAILY MAIL: 'My New York years were not a success,' she says. 'I was a big hustler. I worked in Times Square at a peep show. I squatted in the basement at [punk venue] ABC No Rio. 'That's before they had cement floors. I was sleeping on dirt. Once a month, I'd have to get up on stage while [drag queen performance artist] Lady Bunny would throw fish at me.

But I'd remember Dean aka Loretta Hogg bringing Frances Bean Cobain to see me perform at the Duplex when she was a toddler. When I came out she screamed "Mommy!"

MORE:   DAILYMAIL

A MOMENT!

UNITED AIRLINES IS PATHETIC. CORRECTION: THEY ALL ARE!

Here's a new racket! After 9/11 and the shoe bomber, we have to remove shoes, jackets, lotion and lap tops from our bags. And please save yourself the embarrassment and remove Ben Wa balls prior to your screening. Getting throughTSA now takes ages and seems to be different at different airports. I don't mind doing whatever is needed to keep flights safe. But when the airlines take advantage of the hassle to get greedy and offer to speed you through the hassle for extra coins, it kinda makes you wonder: Can't a terrorists get their hands on $49?

WAGE THEFT?

"Wage theft"--hadn't heard of that tactic whereby your boss robs you. By making you pay for your uniform, by randomly changing your hours, by understaffing so that you do the work or two people. And because jobs are so hard to find, you'd better be glad for a crap job with poor working conditions because you may not get another one. And you may work that shit job until you die because way less people can afford to retire any more. I'm glad fast food workers are striking nationwide and demanding higher minimum wages--if their bosses are making huge profits and they can't feed their families on what they earn, it's time to share a little bit of the wealth. I don't think fast food workers, some with college degrees who can't find work in their chosen fields, are asking for deluxe retirement packages. Just a living wage. Instead they get "borderline sweatshop conditions"--are these the kind of jobs that have been added under the Obama administration? Create desperation and then see how hard you can exploit people and make them thankful for crappy jobs they can't afford to quit instead of no work at all.


MORE:   NATIONOFCHANGE

SANDRA BERNHARD ON SOCIAL MEDIA

JUST FOR GIGGLES

DISTURBING

AN EXCERPT FROM THE GUARDIAN: "Dame Judi tells the Observer today aspiring actors beg her for money to help fund their training. She worries that acting may become an elite occupation for the children of the rich, because no one else will be able to meet the costs and take the risks. Ben Stephenson, the BBC's head of drama, said much the same at the Edinburgh festival but did not add that television is a racket, too. You cannot get a job in broadcasting unless you are prepared to work as an intern. In most cases, you cannot work as an intern unless you have family money to feed and house you.

But then who am I to criticise Stephenson when journalism is as much of a rich kids' game? Lindsey Macmillan of the Institute of Education found that journalists used to come from families 6% better off than average, whereas now they come from homes that are 42% richer. Indeed, British journalists, the supposed tribunes of the people, now hail from wealthier backgrounds than, er, bankers, an awkward fact that ought to cause embarrassment all round."

MORE: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/13/privileged-few-control-culture-politics-media

MATTHEW MARTIN TACKLES ROSE'S TURN FROM GYPSY

MY SERIOUS SIDE....

BY DJ COREY CRAIG--CATCH THE ENDING!

WHO'S PAYING THE PRO-WAR PUNDITS

A look at some of the pundits you see on TV recommending military action. They don't care about beheadings or even where we attack--IF we attack anyone anywhere, they get paid. Sadly, there's not much money in peace.

"But what you won’t learn from media coverage of ISIS is that many of these former Pentagon officials have skin in the game as paid directors and advisers to some of the largest military contractors in the world. Ramping up America’s military presence in Iraq and directly entering the war in Syria, along with greater military spending more broadly, is a debatable solution to a complex political and sectarian conflict. But those goals do unquestionably benefit one player in this saga: America’s defense industry."

And our media should be ashamed for giving air time to "experts" who are looking for ways to line their own pockets by going on the air and misrepresenting the facts, on what is supposed to be news.

“Mainstream news outlets have a polite practice of identifying former generals and former congressmembers as simply ‘formers’—neglecting to inform the public of what these individuals are doing now, which is often quite pertinent information, like that they are corporate lobbyists or board members,” says Jeff Cohen, an associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College.

MORE:   THENATION

MY ANNUAL 9/11 DIATRIBE

Knock! Knock! Who's there?
9/11
9/11 who?
I thought you said you'd never forget!

I'm glad I need a new cable box so that I don't have to see the non-stop 9/11 footage that we love to wallow in. Oh sure, it was a grisly attack which I saw with my own eyes down 6th Avenue and we have every right to mourn those that were lost. But here's a few things I'll bet the propaganda--I mean TV coverage--of 9/11 won't be focusing on.

George W. Bush and Condo-loser Rice ignored warnings that terrorists were to strike the WTC using planes. So they let it happen. Perhaps because they were inefficient. Perhaps they wanted the tragedy of 9/11 to occur so they could retaliate. I don't really need to entertain 9/11 conspiracy theories because the facts are damning enough.

There won't be much mention of the fact that the CIA trained Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11.

Bush used the tragedy of 9/11 to convince the country to attack Iraq--a country which had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no weapons of mass destruction. But America was in blood-thirsty GET REVENGE mode, so we didn't care which muslim country we attacked. We had no reason to attack Iraq, but the scum in Congress including Hillary Clinton voted to go to war against a non-enemy.

Attacking Iraq for no reason and then re-electing the man who began this attack is an indelible stain on the American psyche. If the couple thousand deaths from 9/11 were so awful, why did we go on to kill around 100,000 innocent Iraqis and displace millions more? Why did we cheer as we fished Saddam Hussein out of a hole and murder him--if he had never attacked us or had a hand in 9/11? It's not just that we're an ignorant and mean people--we were carefully manipulated into thinking we had to attack by all the anthrax mailings, yellowcake uranium tall tales, stories about the possible effects of sarin gas released by terrorists in our subways, and color-coded alert levels. And a media which regurgitated whatever the government wanted it to as actual news. After the Iraq war was widely acknowledged to be a mistake, CNN and the NY Times both apologized for not asking harder questions of the Bush administration as to why we were declaring war. In other words, your news isn't news. It's propaganda that spews what the government wants it to whether it's true or not. But the media apologized after the fact. When it was too late. After we've already begun a war and this proud, ethical country would never "cut and run"--despite the fact that we should never have "cut" in the first place.

The Iraq war should have taught us that the government should never be trusted. That our news should never be trusted. To his credit, Obama won over Hillary partially because he was one of the few senators to vote against the Iraq war which by then was seen as a mistake. Now the Nobel Peace Prize-winner is back at war with Iraq--and other than a beheading or a few stories about ISIS, ISIL or whatever they are calling it today--most of us have no idea why we are going to war again. We know the new cast of The View and who won Drag Race, but not about the questionable mission that we're sending young men and women to die for. First we were dropping humanitarian aid packages, then aid with bombs, but not sending troops. Gradually, we are sending more and more troops. No one knows why. We have different policies towards ISIS in Iraq and in Syria. Obama is siding with hawkish Republicans who always want war and don't need a reason. Spineless Democrats aren't saying much because to denounce Obama is to denounce their own party. The war may even be illegal. Hey, maybe that's why Obama never investigated Bush for war crimes--he knew that he'd be committing his own. But at least the NY Times is trying to ask harder questions this time around. This is from today's edition:

"But as President Obama prepares to send the United States on what could be a yearslong military campaign against the militant group, American intelligence agencies have concluded that it poses no immediate threat to the United States. Some officials and terrorism experts believe that the actual danger posed by ISIS has been distorted in hours of television punditry and alarmist statements by politicians, and that there has been little substantive public debate about the unintended consequences of expanding American military action in the Middle East."

Did you know that Obama, who said no boots on the ground in Iraq a month or two ago was preparing for "what could be a yearlong military campaign?" Here we go again. We've learned nothing from 9/11. As you mourn the victims, please also mourn your government's honesty and your news media's credibility.

There won't be much mention today of how George W. Bush's war in Iraq destroyed the country and helped lead to the chaotic conditions in which ISIS could grow. And there won't be much mention of how the "American interests" which Obama claims are so important to go in and protect are not Iraqi christians trapped on a mountaintop or beheaded journalists. Those "interests" are the oil produced in that region and the desire to establish US military bases everywhere. The desire to keep weapons manufacturers paid with the perpetual waging of war. Soldiers will lay down their lives not to protect the USA, but to protect oil companies and military contractors who have bought almost every politician from Obama on down. And there won't be much mention of the fact that US foreign policy screwing muslims around to secure oil has made this country so despised that there will be terrorist attacks on the US in retaliation for as long as we're alive. If the death and destruction of 9/11 was so horrible--and it was--then why is the US responsible for so much equally horrible unnecessary death and destruction? Why don't we care more about death and destruction that our tax dollars are paying for?  Because we're murdering innocent people who have a different skin color and religion? The government of the USA is the terrorist group responsible for the wreaking the most havoc on the world. The tragedy of 9/11 is nothing compared to what we have done to Iraq. And now we're going back in!

We re-elected Obama over Romney because Obama represented a drawing down from war. Romney, like most Republicans, represented picking new fights abroad. Funny how Obama won and now HE'S picking new fights. As America's schools, infrastructure, care for veterans and benefits for the poor continue to crumble. Those issues at home that affect how average Americans live we can't afford to fix. But we've always got tons of money to finance wars with countries which pose no threat to us.

LATRICE ROYALE AND JENNIFER HUDSON AT FASHION ROCKS

Post by Jeff Hobbs.

NADYA GINSBURG IS A SCREAM!

I KNOW GUY LIKE THIS!

Post by Scofield Papazian III.

A VERY ELOQUENT YOUNG MAN

Post by Prince Ea.

INCREDIBLE!

Post by Karnaval.com.

GET OUT AND VOTE TODAY, NEW YORK!

You know how every few years, panic strikes the hearts of NYC dwellers when we hear that rent control is going to end? And we collectively say "Shit! What are we going to do? How did we let this happen?" By not voting for state officials, that's how. Even though NYC is progressive, NY State is not so much. And the monied interests (i.e. real estate developers and landlords) grease the palms of NY state officials from the governor on down. Rent control is set to expire next June and candidates Zephyr Teachout (Governor) and Tim Wu (Lieutenant Gov) want to STRENGTHEN tenants' rights like rent control. To give NYC, where many of us are apartment-dwellers, more control over rents than the conservative interests in the rest of the state.

They are expecting low turnout in the democratic primary today. Please prove them wrong and get out and vote for Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu. If you are more concerned with the new cast of The View on Monday than your own rent, I hope you have good TV reception from the cardboard box you'll be living in.

Check out who this tenant org is endorsing for tenant rights in your area: http://www.tenantspac.org

A SCREAM!

Post by Starr Reynolds.

ISIS/ISIL IS NOT THE US'S ENEMY. YET WE ATTACK ANYWAY.

Praised for ending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, now he's going back in. In a sneaky way. For bad reasons. And ever-changing positions. The fact is, the US creates terrorists. We trained Osama Bin Laden before he turned against us. Bush destroyed Iraq and deposed Saddam which helped get ISIL or ISIS started. I'm glad this author is calling Obama and the Pentagon out on it, because most of you look at a beheading and think "Oh, America to the rescue!" When you're really rescuing oil companies' interests in the region and military contractors. Using US soldiers to die for their greed. Yet you'd rather look at a beheading as a reason to attack when so few of us comprehend the complex situation. And to take advantage of our confusion, Obama chooses war, which we praised him for ending. A mis-leader who rarely gets foreign policy right.

Barack Obama Is Fourth President to Put Americans At Risk In Iraq: Let Those Threatened by the Islamic State Fight It

HUFFPO: ISIL's rise is both a geopolitical failure and humanitarian disaster. However, so far the organization threatens the security of other nations, not America. Nor does the president have legal authority, necessary from Congress under the Constitution, to go to war again in Iraq.

Yet President Obama plans to unveil a detailed new war plan on Wednesday. The temptation to act is strong. After all, the Islamic State exists because of prior misbegotten U.S. actions. And the usual Greek Chorus is singing ever more loudly one of its many paeans to war. Just give war another chance.

Originally President Obama defended limited airstrikes "to protect American personnel" involved in "a humanitarian effort" to help Yazidis trapped by ISIL forces. Even then the initial strikes were suspiciously broad -- not on forces attacking U.S. personnel, but on artillery firing on Kurdish forces defending the Kurdish city where U.S. personnel were located. Then the president gave another address promising more attacks if ISIL "attempted to advance further." Since then airstrikes have been used to support more general Iraqi and Kurdish military operations.

The president did insist that he would "not allow the United States to be dragged in fighting another war in Iraq." He later reiterated that commitment, stating that "there's no American military solution to the larger crisis."

However, Pentagon officials referred to ISIL as "the enemy" and in a New York Times interview last month President Obama indicated his willingness to consider joining a refashioned Iraqi government in "pushing back" the group. Now the administration is vowing to "crush" the organization.

There still are well-founded humanitarian desires to help in Iraq and elsewhere. Unfortunately, however, options today are limited. Instead of jumping into another unnecessary and counterproductive war, Washington should step back, temper its ambitions, and place responsibility on regional players with more at stake in the conflicts and greater ability to solve the problems. The third time definitely isn't the charm for war in Iraq.

MORE:  

ACT NOW!

Urgent action needed: Big Telecom giants are about to force many of our favorite websites into an Internet slow lane, making them buffer sporadically and return errors.[1]

Click here to join RootsAction and OpenMedia in using the power of the free Internet to keep the Internet free.

Even if you've raised your voice on this issue before, now is the time for us all to speak as one. Right now, rules are being worked out[2] that could set a global standard[3] enabling Big Telecom Internet providers to force our Internet use into a slow lane. 

We have to raise a loud global call[4] by the crucialSeptember 15th deadline for public input.

Please click here to add your voice to a global movement of Internet users sending decision-makers a powerful message in the final days public input.

This ruling will determine whether you can access whatever you want, whenever you want, at full speed – whether that’s Netflix, your favorite online comedy site, or your online banking.

Big Telecom wants to take away that choice, and turn the Internet into Cable TV 2.0, where whole websites will be slowed to a snail’s pace.

The effects of this landmark rule-making will be felt worldwide.[5] Even for those who don't live in the U.S., many favorite websites do.

Join with Internet users around the world in the largest digital rights campaign the world has ever seen. We don't have much time: speak out now before the crucial deadline. Click here!

-- The RootsAction.org Team

P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, and many others.

FILE THIS UNDER TMI!

ROSIE PEREZ WORKING IT OUT!

AMY SEDARIS FOR MAC COSMETICS!

A GREAT POINT!

NY DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TOMORROW!

Wow! I didn't even know there was a primary until just now. Did you? Who are you voting for? Do you agree with this email from Daily Kos? I'd love to know your thoughts on it because I'm not too up on my local politics. But I am sick of phony progressive "Democrats."

DAILY KOS: You live in New York, and tomorrow--Tuesday, September 9--the New York Democratic primary. Here is everything you need to know about how to vote and why to vote.

Where is my polling location?
To confirm your polling location for tomorrow, click here to find it.

When are polls open?
Polls are open from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm in the following areas:

All five boroughs of New York City
Long Island (Nassau & Suffolk counties)
Westchester, Rockland, Orange & Putnam counties
Erie County (which includes Buffalo)
Anywhere else in New York State, the polls open at 12:00 noon and close at 9:00 p.m.

You want a higher minimum wage? Stronger equal pay laws? Campaign finance reform? Here’s what’s stopping all of those things:
Democrats won a majority of state Senate seats in 2012, but Republicans maintained control. How? Because a group of renegade “Democrats” stabbed their party in the back and caucused with the GOP to hand control to the Republicans, killing the Democratic agenda.

Two of those Democrats are facing primary challenges tomorrow, and Daily Kos has endorsed both challengers. They are:

Oliver Koppel for State Senate SD-34, who is challenging Jeff Klein—chair of the renegade “Democrats” and now dares to run for re-election as a Democrat.
John Liu for State Senate in SD-11, who is challenging renegade “Democrat” Tony Avella.
You can find your state senate districts using this map.

Why is Cuomo freaking out over the Lieutenant Governor’s race?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was partly responsible for this “coup” in the Senate, because he doesn’t want too much progressive legislation to complicate his presidential ambitions. And it gets worse. His hand-picked choice for Lieutenant Governor is Kathy Hochul, an ex-Congresswoman with a pro-NRA, anti-immigrant and anti-environmental record.

Daily Kos has endorsed Tim Wu—a solid progressive who is running on a ticket with gubernatorial challenger Zephyr Teachout, and would be a thorn in Cuomo’s side.

Cuomo is freaked out that Wu (who has the New York Times endorsement) could win, so he’s threatening to block pet projects for Democrats who might endorse him.

Please get out and vote for Tim Wu.

NOTES FROM JOAN RIVERS' FUNERAL

According to my friend Dan Mathews, who attended Joan Rivers' funeral today, the Gay Men's Chorus opened the ceremony with a rousing rendition of That's Entertainment. Then Howard Stern took the podium and quoted Joan from the last time she'd appeared on his show. He said that she said: "My c#nt is so dry that when I take a bath, all the water in the tub is sucked up into my c#nt. If only Whitney Houston had had the same dry c#nt, she would be alive today." Talk about getting the last laugh!

OUCH! DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL OLD? LOVED HER ON GOOD TIMES!

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE

Addressing climate change was to be one of Obama's 3 priorities in his second terms--according to him. Well, he just delayed doing anything on his other priority immigration, and nothing meaningful has been done on his third priority of guns. Now he's proving that climate change means nothing to him. A total loser even by his own standards. This petition whitewashes the White House's position by giving them an out: "It’s possible that President Obama and Secretary Kerry did not know about this decision, in which case they could intervene and put a stop to it. But if they do nothing, it will seriously call into question the President’s commitment to fighting climate change, and commitment to the test he himself set for ensuring that tar sands pipeline projects do not make climate change worse."

But Obama's job is to lick the butts of the corporation who make US carbon emissions the worst in the world, so he knew full well. That's why he kept this tar sands deal with a company that has a bad record of spills hidden from the public.


CREDO: If President Obama and Secretary Kerry don't reverse the State Department's approval of Enbrige's illegal scheme to double the tar sands flow through the Great Lakes region, it will make a mockery of the State Department approval process and the Obama Administration's commitments to take action on climate.

In August the State Department quietly posted documents revealing that it is allowing Canadian pipeline company Enbridge to move ahead with a shady and illegal pipeline expansion project that could nearly double the amount of tar sands crude pumped into the U.S. through its Alberta Clipper pipeline, in clear violation of its existing permit.1

Enbridge is responsible for the Kalamazoo tar sands disaster, the largest inland oil-spill in U.S. history.

But shockingly, the State Department is green-lighting this scheme without giving public notice of its decision, without conducting a detailed environmental review, and without a finding of "national interest," as required for Keystone XL and other new pipeline projects.

Expanding tar sands production, by any means, will lead to “essentially game over” in our fight against climate change. So it is crucial that we strongly challenge this decision.

Tell Secretary Kerry and President Obama: Stop Enbridge’s dangerous and illegal tar sands pipeline expansion scheme.

Enbridge has been trying since 2012 to get a presidential permit to expand the Alberta Clipper from its current permitted capacity of 450,000 barrels per day to 800,000 barrels per day.

Thanks in large part to our public pressure, activists have stalled approvals for this tar sands project and others, like the Keystone XL pipeline. So Enbridge concocted a dangerous scheme that essentially amounts to smuggling to get their filthy product across the border.

Instead of carrying tar sands across the border on the Clipper pipeline directly, Enbridge is diverting the tar sands flow to an adjacent 47-year-old pipeline, where it will travel 20 miles across the US border into Minnesota, then back to the Clipper pipeline. Disturbingly, the aging "Line 3" was not designed to carry toxic and corrosive tar sands crude, yet would be operating at more than double its current capacity.

Yes, this is a proven recipe for disaster: The 2013 Mayflower Arkansas spill was caused by a rupture of the similarly aging Pegasus pipeline, which had been also co-opted to carry tar sands crude.

Tell Secretary Kerry and President Obama: Stop Enbridge’s dangerous and illegal tar sands pipeline expansion scheme.

The quiet State Department approval of Enbridge’s pipeline scheme stands in clear violation of the process required to approve new tar sands infrastructure, and the National Interest Determination test the President set for Keystone XL: If the project significantly increases carbon pollution, it should not be approved.

This project, which could carry about half as much crude as Keystone XL, clearly fails that test.

It’s possible that President Obama and Secretary Kerry did not know about this decision, in which case they could intervene and put a stop to it. But if they do nothing, it will seriously call into question the President’s commitment to fighting climate change, and commitment to the test he himself set for ensuring that tar sands pipeline projects do not make climate change worse.

Only time will tell. But now is the time to raise our voices against the State Department’s approval of Enbridge's dangerous and illegal tar sands pipeline expansion scheme.

Thanks for taking action.

MORE:   CREDOACTION

FIRE ISLAND PRE-AIDS AND PRE-STEROIDS

20 IS THE NEW 40?

Young adults are too poor to party, though knitting's a trendy pursuit. Imagine selfies of girls knitting in nightclubs. And they are rebelling against rebelling and feel hey have nothing to rebel against. Yet they are too poor to get drunk? And can't pay for their educations? They're knitting instead of nutting? Nope--no reason to rebel whatsoever.

Charting the rise of Generation Yawn: 20 is the new 40

Forget sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Youth culture today is all about clean-living and wholesome hobbies. Don't believe us? Read on...

MORE:   TELEGRAPH

TRUTH!

THE JOAN RIVERS APPRECIATION PAGE

Joan was kind enough to volunteer to roast me on my 50th birthday at XL nightclub.

35 OF JOAN'S BEST LINES:

READ:   PARADE

JOAN AND THE CAST OF PARIS IS BURNING

I have strong opinions, so I can't really blame others for having their own. But I can still disagree with them. I'm a little surprised that many people are critiquing Joan Rivers for her recent statements about people in Gaza. I couldn't agree with Joan less on this, and I guess she was a Zionist. But Joan didn't make a lot of public statements about this, or any other of her politics. She wasn't a political pundit. Can't we just appreciate her for the main things she did talk about--great comedy? Do we have to hold her feet to the fire for a few statements? Do you agree with everyone all of the time? Do her that statements you don't agree with negate all of her life's work as an outrageous, groundbreaking A-List comedienne?

Joan was also a Republican, which I'm on the opposite political spectrum from. But I worked with her at a benefit for Theater Tweed years ago and popped into the dressing room she shared with Lypsinka. There she was, about to do an unpaid benefit gig and leaving for Japan in the morning. Joan and her manager were going to town, discussing this venue and that venue. And Joan was clearly driving the conversation--the manager really seemed more like an assistant. I've never seen anyone work that hard. So when Joan the Republican claimed that she worked too hard to give her money away to those who didn't, even I had to admit that after seeing her in action, she had a point. And I'm a big government supporter! I find it odd that people would slam her life's work because they disagree with her on a few things--and these were positions which she didn't really even state that often. I prefer to remember the laughs.

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE

77 percent.

That's the number of New Yorkers who support raising the minimum wage, according to a Siena College poll.

SO IF 77% can't get out elected officials to do what we want, then our government isn't representing us.

But our minimum wage is still stuck at $8 an hour, and it's leaving 3 million people – our friends and neighbors – behind.

Today, fast-food workers in 150 cities went on strike for a higher wage. They’re organized, they’re determined – and their ranks are growing.

Will you stand with them? New York State has the opportunity to lift 3 million low wage workers, like those on strike today, out of poverty simply by raising the minimum wage.

Click here to tell your State Senator that they must get behind raising the minimum wage.

Our state’s $8 minimum wage just isn’t enough.

Income inequality is worse here than anywhere in the country – and the gap widens every day as workers in fast-food restaurants, airports, car washes and grocery stores struggle to pay for basics.

Raising the minimum wage is about making sure that people who are working hard and playing by the rules can get by. It’s about reducing inequality – plain and simple.

Today’s strike shows how much momentum there is behind raising the wage.

This isn’t a protest, it’s a movement. The strength and collective action the workers are showing is unprecedented – and they need your support now.

That’s why I’m asking you to click here and let your state Senator know that you care about raising the minimum wage. Because everyone deserves a fair wage.

Thanks for all that you do,