WordPress.com was wrong to censor an anti-muslim blog.

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 04, 2011 · 8:33 PM PST

2011/01/04 · 20:33

It's easy to defend freedom of speech as a universal human right when you agree with what's being said. When what is being said is heretical, bigoted, abohorrent, ugly, and regressive, it's much more difficult.

That is to say- when it's WikiLeaks, everybody is an advocate for Free Speech. The Internet Tough Guys come out in force to punish Enemies Of Freedom. Justice is (sort of) done.

But when it's some bigoted asshole with a stupid, poorly written and sparsely read anti-Muslim WordPress blog, there is no call for justice. His (nearly unreadable) blog simply goes silent, and the Enemies Of Freedom pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Poll

35 votes Show Results

Was WordPress.com wrong to censor Bootislam's Blog?

35 votes Vote Now!

Was WordPress.com wrong to censor Bootislam's Blog?

Yes

21 votes

12 votes

Other

0 votes

WHAT ABOUT THE ANTI-LIBERAL BLOGS??

0 votes

Pie

2 votes

New Wikileaks cables: US & China allied to wreck climate talks @ Copenhagen

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday December 09, 2010 · 2:56 AM PST

2010/12/09 · 02:56

US and China conspired against Europe in Copenhagen climate talks, according to WikiLeaks cables [Der Spiegel]

Confidential US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks now show just how closely the world's biggest polluters -- the United States and China -- colluded in the months leading up to the conference. And they give weight to those who have long suspected that the two countries secretly formed an alliance.

Kerry told his hosts that Washington could understand "China's resistance to accepting mandatory targets at the United Nations Climate Conference, which will take place in Copenhagen."

According to a cable from the US embassy in the Chinese capital, Kerry outlined "a new basis for 'major cooperation' between the United States and China on climate change."

Huh, that's funny.

And then that weird thing happened where we didn't get any kind of climate change bill passed through the Senate this year.

So if one of these events transpired on purpose, with the knowledge of the President, could it be that the other did as well?

Poll

27 votes Show Results

Why are we wasting our time with politics when the world is already burning?

27 votes Vote Now!

Why are we wasting our time with politics when the world is already burning?

Beats working

8 votes

I like being told what to do

0 votes

I actually have no idea

7 votes

I'm not

8 votes

Pie

4 votes

Oh, great, we lost Pelosi but have to keep Reid

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 02, 2010 · 9:43 PM PDT

2010/11/02 · 21:43

Great. Awesome. We lose the progressive champion, the one person doing actual work and producing good legislation, but keep the weak-spined idiot who could only do as well as passing Bob Dole's health care plan.

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 05, 2010 · 10:49 AM PDT

2010/08/05 · 10:49

I'm getting really tired of reading reflexive, thoughtless nonsense in comments sections about this issue, so I wanted to clear a few things up.

Poll

40 votes Show Results

I know ___ about net neutrality

40 votes Vote Now!

I know ___ about net neutrality

jack

5 votes

a little more now, thanks

25 votes

more than you (school me in the comments please)

10 votes

Joe Barton is probably not stupid. Really.

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 18, 2010 · 12:10 PM PDT

2010/06/18 · 12:10

It's hard to work on days like this.

As you probably already know, Joe Barton apologized on behalf of you and me, i.e. the federal government, to BP for making them set aside $20 billion to compensate the people whose lives they've ruined.

When I heard the name, it rang a bell. Turns out I've written about this piece of shit before, when I was much younger, much more naive, and much more earnest.

As usual, Joe Biden says it best:

Poll

65 votes Show Results

Joe Barton is

65 votes Vote Now!

Joe Barton is

An idiot

23 votes

Crazy

3 votes

Admirably discharging his duties to the plutocracy

37 votes

pie

2 votes

David Brooks is either lying or can't count to 100

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 06, 2010 · 10:27 AM PDT

2010/04/06 · 10:27

So David Brooks put out a column this morning, asserting that America is going to be just fine. Great news!

And then I read it.

This produces a lot of dynamism. As Stephen J. Rose points out in his book "Rebound: Why America Will Emerge Stronger From the Financial Crisis," the number of Americans earning between $35,000 and $70,000 declined by 12 percent between 1980 and 2008. But that’s largely because the number earning over $105,000 increased by 14 percent.

facepalm

Isn't Brooks supposed to be one of the "elite", or something? How did he pull that off without basic math skills?

Poll

109 votes Show Results

I am ______ about America's future

109 votes Vote Now!

I am ______ about America's future

optimistic

31 votes

pessimistic

56 votes

irrationally exuberant

7 votes

pie

15 votes

Cato Institute takes "think tank" to new ironic heights re: CU vs FEC

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday January 21, 2010 · 7:12 PM PST

2010/01/21 · 19:12

So, we all know what happened at the Supreme Court today, and as awful and spite-inducing as it was, reading the Cato "Institute"'s take on it was probably worse.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/...

The folks at Cato, always willing to defend the rights of corporate America at the expense of the "individual liberty" they claim to give a shit about, applauded the decision to allow corporations to spend unlimited billions spreading bullshit into our discourse.

Here's the money quote:

Today’s ruling may well lead to more corporate and union election spending, but none of this money will go directly to candidates — so there is no possible corruption or even "appearance of corruption." It will go instead to spreading information about candidates and issues. Such increases in spending should be welcome because studies have shown that more spending — more political communication — leads to better-informed voters.

Let's parse that out.

Poll

29 votes Show Results

Is the Cato Institute a well-meaning think tank?

29 votes Vote Now!

Is the Cato Institute a well-meaning think tank?

HAHAHA

5 votes

LOL

1 vote

ROFL

3 votes

LMAO

7 votes

WTF?

8 votes

BBQ

5 votes

Brace for the s***storm.

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 19, 2010 · 7:03 PM PST

2010/01/19 · 19:03

You know, I'm really stoked that the next couple of days are going to be filled with loud, stupid, ignorant people on my television set, proclaiming that "the American people" just rejected Obama's socialist communist Stalinist tax-gouging orgy of liberaldom.

And I love how the pundits are going to eat it up, and repeat every single word.

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 18, 2009 · 8:33 PM PDT

2009/09/18 · 20:33

So there are two videos are on the rec list right now. I caught both of them before they hit the Kos. Here they are again, for reference-

Rick Sanchez to Fox News- You Lie!

Ratigan LOSES IT on Party of No Healthcare

As a student of the American mass media, it occurs to me that something important might be happening in both of these videos, beyond the usual "OMG CNN TOTALLY SMACKED DOWN FUX NOISE!!ONE" kind of thing that flares up on liberal blogs everywhere over videos like this.

Poll

344 votes Show Results

Sanchez and Ratigan- sea change or ploy for ratings?

344 votes Vote Now!

Sanchez and Ratigan- sea change or ploy for ratings?

Sea change

136 votes

Ploy for ratings

130 votes

Pie

78 votes

Remedial critical thinking for NPR reporters

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 02, 2009 · 8:58 AM PDT

2009/09/02 · 08:58

Overheard just now on NPR:

Worker productivity, considered the single most important factor determining living standards, grew at the fastest pace in nearly 6 years during the last quarter. At the same time, labor costs fell by the most in 9 years.

By itself, this is not surprising- Americans are working harder for less money. This has been a theme since the late 1970's, when the Republican Party launched its long war on the American middle class.

What was surprising was the next sentence, so brazen in its stupidity that it can scarcely be believed.

The government said increases in productivity can push up living standards as companies can boost wages with increased output.

Poll

51 votes Show Results

Compared to a year ago, I am...

51 votes Vote Now!

Compared to a year ago, I am...

...working harder for less money

16 votes

...working just as hard for less money

4 votes

...working as hard for the same amount of money

11 votes

...working less hard for the same amount of money

2 votes

...working less hard for more money

2 votes

...working less hard for less money

4 votes

...working harder for more money

3 votes

...unemployed

9 votes

Conferring undue prestige on John Bolton is bad for America on balance.

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday August 05, 2009 · 12:37 PM PDT

2009/08/05 · 12:37

Jesus, to think I trusted the BBC.

First up on BBC World News this morning- John Bolton, on why Bill Clinton's successful rescue of the two kidnapped journalists in North Korea was "bad for America on balance".

His ostensible reason was that somehow, Bill Clinton going there "conferred prestige" on North Korea and "made them stronger", gave them a "propaganda victory", or whatever.

I suspected the real reason is that Laura Ling and Euna Lee were working as correspondents for Al Gore's TV network Current TV, and as such John Bolton didn't really give a shit whether they lived or died, but I digress.

Poll

21 votes Show Results

Fred Hiatt:

21 votes Vote Now!

Fred Hiatt:

Legitimate arbiter of opinion

3 votes

Cancer on the American media

18 votes

Obama's most shameful Friday Night News Dump yet re: CIA IG torture report

beatpanda

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 29, 2009 · 12:32 PM PDT

2009/06/29 · 12:32

Via Democracy Now:

Admin Delays Torture Report for 2nd Time

The Justice Department meanwhile has announced a widely anticipated CIA inspector general report on the Bush administration’s torture program will be delayed until shortly before the upcoming July 4th long weekend. It’s the second time the Obama administration has delayed the report’s release.

In other words, Obama's DOJ are a bunch of worthless cowards, and instead of owning up to the contents of the report, they're pulling a classic information warfare maneuver, like so:

Poll

117 votes Show Results

Will this story come out with a bang, or simply fizzle?

117 votes Vote Now!

Will this story come out with a bang, or simply fizzle?

Bang

22 votes

Fizzle

75 votes

Pie

20 votes

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WordPress.com was wrong to censor an anti-muslim blog.

New Wikileaks cables: US & China allied to wreck climate talks @ Copenhagen

Oh, great, we lost Pelosi but have to keep Reid

You don't know jack about Net Neutrality

Joe Barton is probably not stupid. Really.

David Brooks is either lying or can't count to 100

Cato Institute takes "think tank" to new ironic heights re: CU vs FEC

Brace for the s***storm.

NOT BREAKING: GOP is nuts. What took the MSM so long?

Remedial critical thinking for NPR reporters

Conferring undue prestige on John Bolton is bad for America on balance.

Obama's most shameful Friday Night News Dump yet re: CIA IG torture report