Wedge Issues Work for Republicans

Lou Dobbs got busted on Democracy Now last week using plumped-up numbers to exagerate how many illegal aliens are in federal prisons and that they're responsible for the increase in leprosy in the U.S. When Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez called him on his statements and informed him that what he claimed to be 30 percent was really six percent, according to the Justice Department he got defensive.

Watch here.

Iran Doesn't Have a Nuclear Weapon - Yet

But America does, along with Russia, Britain, France, Israel, Pakistan, India, North Korea and China.

Jonathan Schell book, “The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger,” discusses nuclear proliferation and how the Bush administration has ushered in a new nuclear era and encouraged other countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction.
Watch or listen to an interview of Schell on Democracy Now talking about the two biggest threats humanity faces today: nuclear weapons development and climate change.
Here's an excerpt of a response to Amy Goodman's question about what would happen if the U.S. did drop a nuclear weapon.

"...there is no city in the world that can’t be annihilated with a nuclear weapon of the appropriate size. And, you know, it occurs in many ways. First is the tremendous flash of heat, called the thermal pulse, which radiates out perhaps ten miles in every direction, setting fire on everything that it touches, that it reaches, and creating a firestorm. Second, you have the blast. And finally, you have the radiation. So it’s a kind of overkill exists, even within a single nuclear explosion, so to speak...just imagine even one—not to speak of three or—I mean, if it’s a hundred, then countries and continents are gone. Imagine any country on earth without its top hundred cities. If it’s one or two weapons, then you have a political convulsion of the first order, and you’d have to ask first: if it was a country that enjoyed liberty, would those liberties survive? I think they’d be gone the next day. I think that would be the first casualty. You’d have to wonder whether the government itself would survive under those conditions. So, you’d be in a different and unpredictable world.

Schell says Reagan and Gorbachev were both for nuclear disarmament. It's a good interview.
For more information about the nuclearization of the world, check out Beyond Nuclear, a site by Dr. Helen Caldicott, a leading figure in the disarmament movement and founder of the Nuclear Policy Institute.

Yell Fire - new from Michael Franti & Spearhead

Michael Franti visited war-torn areas in Baghdad, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to experience and document the human cost of war. His new documentary, "I Know I'm Not Alone," debuted with the release of his new album Yell Fire.


Did you know that in 2005, Franti, speaker for social justice and human rights, became the first recording artist since Johnny Cash to perform at the maximum security level-4 section of Folsom State Prison? I did not know that. But now I do. Thank the gods for the Internet.
He's lectured at some of the country’s top universities, like Yale, Georgetown and Stanford.

I like the optimism and hope Franti weaves into his work despite its depressing subject.

See You in the Light, from Yell Fire

I've been traveling
down this river
so many rocks pop up in my sight
i got to make some quick decisions
should i go left or should i go right
i pray for guidance
and protection
it keeps my boat water tight
and i know
if i just keep on believing
every little things all gon' be alright
but when i wake up
in the morning
i hope i see you
in the light
and the loveliness
and the tenderness
and the happiness
and the openness
and togetherness
and the uglyness
ya ya
vampires gather round me
anglin' to take a bite
they wanna drink my blood of courage
and try to take away my fight
but no no no they cant do that
noooo
for one truth i learned in life
you want to scare away the vampires
and simply guide them into the light
(Chorus)
in the morning
in the morning
in the morning
in the morning
and when my time is done
i did some right i did some wrong
call my name to kingdom come
spread my wings in flight
i hope that when my day is over
my love i see you
in the light
YAAAAAAAA
(Chorus)

Banksy In Israel. Nice Timing.

Just in time for the holidays, Banksy hits Bethlehem.

Thanks to Yewknee for posting the article.