Accidental Blogger

Irony of the Day (Joe)

Way back in the day (last October) I went off on Dozier Internet Law for its absurd website terms-of-use page, which made a number of laughable legal claims; these appear to me to basically be intellectual-property claims couched in contract context.  I was particularly impressed by the You May Not Link Here Clause: "we ... do not allow any links to our site without our express permission."

Well, one Accidental Blogger reader recently brought to our attention a new suit filed by Dozier, in which it will reportedly sue an internet user for not linking to its website.*  Nice!

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* I hope or assume that this description is an oversimplification.  Really don't care.  I just like the implication that you can be sued for linking to Dozier's stupid website or, in the alternative, for precisely the opposite.

An Unhealthy Obsession(Sujatha)

A couple of weeks ago, an insert containing a DVD was in my Sunday newspaper : 'Obsession', with the O represented by a Crescent and Star, well recognizable as the symbol of Islam, and the N ending in the business end of a machine gun. The linkage implied was all too clear, despite miniscule disclaimers to the contrary about the majority of Muslims being peaceful- that " Islam = Terrorism".
The DVD purports to give an 'insider's view' of the  'War against the West', but I didn't feel too keen to give that piece of propaganda any viewing, until a week ago, a second DVD arrived, this time in the mail. My, those are some determined people trying to get out their message. So I kept it aside, intending to view it when I could make the time, to see why it was generating generous quantities of protest letters to the editor.

This morning, however, reading about a 'Hazmat' incident at a mosque in Dayton, it became all too clear what the target audience and the intended effect was.

The Muslim community gathered Sunday, Sept. 28, 48 hours after an unknown irritant disrupted worship at the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton.
"We were in the midst of the Fifth Prayer when people started coughing," said Ismail Gula, the society's secretary.
Gula said the building was evacuated and the service to break the daily fast of Ramadan continued at a nearby facility.
He said he had no idea what might have caused the incident. "It might be anything," he said.
Gula said he had received many calls of support from Christians and Jews over the weekend.
...

Also on Sunday, members of several Dayton religious groups were scheduled to view and discuss a DVD about Islamic radicalism mailed to some area homes and circulated with newspapers here and around the country.
"Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," was a paid advertising insert in the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun, Hamilton JournalNews and Middletown Journal, all owned by Cox Ohio Publishing, on Monday, Sept. 22. It appeared in more than 70 other newspapers nationwide.
The Rev. Gary Percesepe, executive director of Greater Dayton Christian Connections, characterized the DVD as "fanning the flames of fear and prejudice against Muslims, with the potential to inspire hate crimes."

What was the provenance of this DVD, which is being distributed by the millions through newspaper inserts and direct mail?  Why are they playing the fear card as in " The threat of Radical Islam is the most important issue facing us today...It's our responsibility to ensure we can all make an informed vote in November"

This NPR link sheds some more light on who is behind this:

Obsession was produced by the Clarion Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity, which cannot get involved in campaign politics.
But its spokesman has said the newspaper distribution had one purpose: to make terrorism a presidential campaign issue where it counts — in the battleground states. He said Clarion did this with a half-million dollar grant from a secret donor.
And others have been promoting Obsession in other ways. Joe Wierzbicki, a political consultant, offered free copies of the DVD to listeners on a talk show in Detroit last month. He was promoting a free screening of Obsession on Sept. 11 in Dearborn, a city with a large Arab population.

The DVD (at least the trailer and the couple of scenes that I deigned to watch) was rife with clips of Arabic and Iranian propaganda of kids yelling 'Death to America' , imagery of the aftermath of bombings in Israel, the ubiquitous footage of 9/11, a self described former PLO terrorist now reformed and equating Palestinian propaganda with the methods used by Nazis to revile Jews. The interesting twist is that the same techniques were being used to revile Muslims through a good part of the film (based on the chapter headings which were all vilifying 'Radical Islam').

Where will it all end, this incitement to hate and violence? Will this Obsession convert Muslims into the new Jews, at least in America?

'Hari Puttar' Redux (Dean)

The long awaited resolution to the hotly contested Hari/Harry Puttar/Potter suit has emerged, in Hari's favor. Well, not really long awaited, and probably not all that hotly contested. In fact, this case, like the recent suit resulting in an injunction prohibiting the publication of a Harry Potter lexicon, pretty much points out the imbecility of some areas of so-called intellectual so-called property law. Rowling's publisher won that suit, so I'm happy to see Warner Bros.'s claims rejected here. The notion that Hari might "confuse" consumers into thinking he's Harry is absurd. The lexicon case may be a closer call, but I find myself among a slim minority who believe the probably badly-executed lexicon shouldn't have been held to infringe on Rowling's (or the publisher's) copyright, despite what the judge found to be copious copying from Rowling's works. It was nothing more nor less than a reference work focused on the text of the series. There is no other sensible way to produce a useful lexicon. One must copy and paraphrase another's so-called original text.

Is religious prejudice a cover for racial bias?

Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times thinks so.  Despite the Reverend Wright controversy and his own declaration of how he came to embrace the Chirstian faith, a substantial percentage of American voters, many of them Democrats, persist in their belief that Obama is a Muslim. Kristoff suspects that this is stubbornness on the part of some voters who cannot comfortably admit that the real reason they will not support Obama is his skin color and not his faith.

What is happening, I think, is this: religious prejudice is becoming a proxy for racial prejudice. In public at least, it’s not acceptable to express reservations about a candidate’s skin color, so discomfort about race is sublimated into concerns about whether Mr. Obama is sufficiently Christian.

The result is this campaign to “otherize” Mr. Obama. Nobody needs to point out that he is black, but there’s a persistent effort to exaggerate other differences, to de-Americanize him.

Sarah Palin: The "Super Mom" on political parade

"I just loathe the way Palin is using her kids, especially the baby, as a sort of shield. Conservatives cut funding, always, consistently...so just popping out children left and right does not make someone a good advocate for them. I don't think people are realizing how disastrous she could be for social services," writes Matt in a comment.

Many others are having similar thoughts on seeing Sarah Palin's Family Values image being peddled by her party. In fact, the author of the following article nervously recalls having seen Sarah Pralin once before --- in Iran! [via Leiter Reports]

I grew up in Iran and immigrated to US to avoid living in a theocracy. Lately though, the trajectory of US politics is something to worry about, not only to me, but also to many others in my predicament.

Wednesday night at the Republican convention was an especially poignant moment. I was watching Sarah Palin deliver her acceptance speech. As I was watching her, her family, and her adoring fans in the Republican convention, I could not overcome a feeling that I have seen this scene before...

Right after the Revolution in Iran and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the Iran-Iraq war was started. To be fair, Iraq started that war, but the new revolutionary leaders of Iran saw the war as a godsend. They milked it for all it was worth. They labeled anyone against the war as a traitor or unpatriotic. Anyone who suggested that there may be a negotiated settlement was ridiculed and purged from power. Even Ayatollah Khomeini once said that this war is a blessing from God himself. You may see the parallels here already, but keep reading.

More here.

Community Organizer

An apt rejoinder to the "elitist" put down of Barack Obama by Sarah Palin and other Republicans. (link)  Another Biblically correct shirt maker takes the slogan one step further; Democrats are having fun too.

The "Vicktory" Dogs

Taking a bit of a break from the faintly sinister and patently ludicrous political theater surrounding the US presidential campaign, I am happy to bring you news of a different kind.

Stories that lift our spirits very often describe the triumph of the utterly vulnerable - the miserable underdog beating incredible odds. In this particular case, the underdogs happen to be real dogs and this is the heartwarming story of their rescue from debauched cruelty and certain death.

Little over a year ago, we learnt about the criminal activities of ex-NFL star Michael Vick who was caught and later sentenced to jail for the brutal torture of several pit bulls that he used in illegal dog fighting. Vick is currently in jail serving a sentence of 23 months (too lenient, in my opinion). But what about the abused dogs, some of whom were bred to be vicious killers and others as terrified bait animals? At the time of the court case, the conventional wisdom (including that of various animal welfare organizations) was that the dogs had been so severely abused that they were beyond rehabilitation and needed to be euthanized. But Best Friends, an animal rescue agency in Utah thought otherwise. Volunteers from Best Friends pleaded with the court for a chance to return Vick's dogs to normalcy through patient and humane care. Luckily for the dogs, the judge agreed to give the animals a second chance after the hell hole to which Vick and his cronies had condemned them from puppyhood. The tragic story now has a happy ending. Read about the loving rehabilitation and amazing transformation of the dogs on the Best Friend's website: (I have added Best Friends to the list of animal charities I plan to support regularly)

National Geographic filmed the progress of the vicious, suspicious or coweringly nervous dogs to trusting, playful animals some of whom have already been adopted by dog lovers. The documentary aired on September 5 on the NG channel in their series Dog Town. (Unfortunately I missed the full documentary but saw a few incredibly touching and gratifying scenes from the film on a news show. I hope to watch the episode on September 12 when it will air again.) More about Dog Town and the Best Friends Animal Society in the L.A. Times.

It has been a summer of awe-inspiring, thought-provoking spectacle on television. First the Summer Olympics, then the Democratic and Republican national conventions and now the return of "DogTown." If that sounds sarcastic or snarky, it isn't meant to. The two-hour season premiere of the popular National Geographic Channel show is titled "Saving the Michael Vick Dogs," and if there were such a thing as an Olympics for animal rescue and rehabilitation, this would be it.

Last December, the Atlanta Falcons' star quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for operating an illegal dog fighting venture on his Virginia property. Forty-seven pit bulls in various states of physical and psychological damage were found at Vick's Bad Newz Kennels; eight more corpses were discovered buried nearby.

It has been a summer of awe-inspiring, thought-provoking spectacle on television. First the Summer Olympics, then the Democratic and Republican national conventions and now the return of "DogTown." If that sounds sarcastic or snarky, it isn't meant to. The two-hour season premiere of the popular National Geographic Channel show is titled "Saving the Michael Vick Dogs," and if there were such a thing as an Olympics for animal rescue and rehabilitation, this would be it.

Last December, the Atlanta Falcons' star quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for operating an illegal dog fighting venture on his Virginia property. Forty-seven pit bulls in various states of physical and psychological damage were found at Vick's Bad Newz Kennels; eight more corpses were discovered buried nearby.

At the time, many animal rescue experts recommended that the dogs be put down; so traumatic had the abuse been, so long had been their imprisonment that rehabilitation seemed impossible.

Others, including the veterinarians and trainers at Utah's Best Friends Animal Society, argued that the dogs could be saved. A judge finally agreed, and more than half were turned over to various shelters and rescues; the 22 most troubled dogs were sent to Dogtown.

Located on 3,000 acres of canyon country in southern Utah, the Best Friends sanctuary is one of the largest and no doubt the most beautifully located no-kill animal facilities; Dogtown is its canine program. For the past two years, "DogTown" the show has chronicled the staff as it healed and trained various ill, hurt, abused, abandoned and behavior-issue-plagued dogs.

In other words, it's a hard-core dog-lovers kind of show.

But even those folks who have never adopted a dog, loved a dog, pet a dog or met a dog will sit riveted as the four toughest cases of the Vick survivors are brought back from what can be described only as the brink of torture-inflicted canine insanity.

Behind the scenes at the GOP Convention

After a shaky start, the Republican National Convention picked up tempo by midweek. The party reached its high point on Wednesday, the 3rd of September, when John McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska brought the house down with her acceptance speech. McCain wrapped up the convention the next day with a patriotic story and a promise to "change" Washington during his own address. Those of us who watched the convention coverage on TV, saw the razzle dazzle and choreography of the orchestrated events. Now it is being reported that the GOP stagecraft wasn't exactly flawless. For example:

• Like any political gala designed to tug at the heartstrings of voters, the Republican convention was awash in symbolism and iconography, most of them easily understood. But for reasons that remained unclear for half a day, McCain delivered his acceptance speech before a giant image of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood. Neither the audience in the hall nor TV viewers recognized the building or its particular significance in relation to the speech. The McCain campaign cannot explain why this particular school was used as the back drop on McCain's big night. Although the campaign won't admit it, it is now widely believed that the image that was intended to be there for patriotic symbolism was that of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. and not the school. The inept stage crew got the props mixed up and the principal of Walter Reed School is now unhappy that her school's photo was appropriated by the RNC without permission.
• When anti-war protesters interrupted McCain who peppered his speech with references to patriotism, honor and national security, he placated the audience thus:

  "My friends, my dear friends ... please, please don't be diverted by the ground noise and the static," McCain said. "I'm going to talk about it some more, but Americans want us to stop yelling at each other."

  What McCain must have known but didn't say, is that the protesters, who were "escorted" out by security guards were not mere "ground noise and static". They were Iraq War veterans who have hounded McCain at other public events because of his support of the war but not of those who are fighting it.
• Sarah Palin delighted the audience at the convention with many homilies about her down-home, common sense, non-elitist approach to governing. One punch line that got thunderous applause was when Palin decried the unnecessary perks of the governor's office.  "That luxury jet was over the top ..... I put it on eBay," she declared. But being the  consummate stand-up comic that she has proved to be, Palin knew exactly where to end her narrative to elicit the loudest cheer. It turns out that she did "put" the plane on eBay but she did not "sell" it.  The plane was later sold to a private buyer for $300,000 less than the asking price. Yet Sen McCain later told audiences during campaign stops that his running mate had sold the plane on the Internet for a profit.
• McCain spoke at length about fighting corruption, reducing the size of the government, defeating terrorists, cutting taxes and of honor and pride. He spoke more briefly about the economy, energy independence and education. On health care, he had only this to say: 

My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His [Obama] plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

Perhaps McCain had so little to say on this issue because he doesn't really believe that health care is a problem for most Americans. John Goodman, a health care adviser to the McCain campaign has claimed that there are no "uninsured Americans" because everyone has access to the hospital emergency room.  (McCain's campaign has now disassociated itself from Goodman)

Senator McCain has admitted that he doesn't understand economic issues very well. It is therefore not a surprise that he did not address the challenges facing the US economy in his speech. The day after the GOP convention ended, the US Department of Labor released a report showing that the US unemployment rate rose in the month of August to 6.1%, the highest in five years. Perhaps it is time for the McCain campaign to hire an economic adviser like Goodman who can redefine joblessness and declare, "There are no unemployed Americans;  there are only persons of leisure with access to eBay where they can sell at a profit all the accumulated junk in their basement and make a living."

Post Convention Updates:

The Invisible Sarah: The upcoming Sunday talk shows will be bristling with the presidential candidates answering questions of reporters and making their case to the public. One candidate who will not speak to the media is Sarah Palin. The McCain  campaign says that she will speak "directly to the American people."

Pray Away The Gay:  The church attended by Sarah Palin has planned a conference to promote the conversion of homosexuals to heterosexuals through the power of prayer. The "Love Won Out" conference is scheduled for the 13th of September in Anchorage, Alaska.      

Right Wing Weather Forecast # 2

Right wing religious bigots routinely hear from God.  They are also given to interpreting natural and man-made disasters as retributive justice wrought upon those who stray from Christian values as defined by them - not a surprising quality among the deluded and the vindictive. But where the bigots go wrong is when they start believing that God too hears them and their mean-spirited prayers.

It has now come to light that evangelical pastor James Dobson's organization Focus on the Family had posted this video on its website prior to the Democratic National Convention - praying for rain of "Biblical proportions" on the evening of August 28, the day Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech outdoors before an audience of nearly 80,000 at the Mile High Stadium in Denver. (The video was later removed from Dobson's website but survives in cyberspace). The temperature in Denver on August 28 turned out to be balmy and the skies remained crystal clear. The supreme irony of course is that just three days later, the Republican National Convention was in total disarray when its inaugural day festivities got side swiped by Hurricane Gustav roaring into the Gulf Coast. I don't believe any supporter of Senators Obama & Biden had organized public prayers for weather interference against their political opponents' plans.

(click to enlarge)

Republican "Family Problems"

After hurricane Gustav's glancing blow derailed the Republican convention for a day, the news media and tabloids are all over hurricane Bristol, the real storm which is at the center of this year's GOP festivities that threatens to expose the hypocrisy of the party's "Family Values" bigots. Of course, the sanctimonious right wing morality brigade is spinning like Dervishes to put a holier than thou gloss over Sarah Palin's messy personal story. John McCain is resolute in his claim that Palin was thoroughly vetted but nobody is buying. The public too sees the irony of the events that have unfolded at the cost of one 17 year old whose ambitious parents spared little thought before pushing her into the national limelight at a vulnerable time in her young life. Many are asking now, "What about other young pregnant teens, especially poor ones, who may or may not have the financial or family support that Bristol Palin apparently does? Will the Republican Party show the same understanding and sympathy for them?"

Here is a sample of letters to the editor in today's Houston Chronicle; only one letter asks everyone to butt out of Sarah Palin's personal life.  And a cartoon by Chronicle's Nick Anderson.  (Anderson should have added, "...and I am a Democrat" to the young woman's statement."