Steelydan3 So I've created Act Green ChipIn campaigns for both of their campaigns. Here's the widget for Ian Murphy: Here's the widget for Cheri Honkala. Related: Both of these campaigns have created excellent ads and excellent websites. I can't tell you how rare that is for Green Party campaigns. These are two very talented candidates. Ian Murphy is also the first candidate to ever run for a major office who has created a national story with a viral video. We'll see how well that translates to the campaigning stage. Here's the ad by Cheri Honkala. Here's the ad by Ian Murphy, which is funny. Kind of a John Belushi vibe with a slight dig at Palin's infinite Stupidity. I like the anger part. I just think that a campaign based on frustration with both parties can make traction, even in this district described as conservative and rural. More Related: You can also give directly to their campaigns here and here. More Related to the Hollywood Left, Matt Damon and other rich people appalled by the GOP lite leadership of the Washington D.C. Dem establishment: Okay, you're Matt Damon and you're mad. You're Bourne mad. You've got a magazine in your hand and you want to kill the two party duopoly but you can only give 2500 bucks. Where or where could I, Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, indirectly support a campaign with a million dollars? An Angry Jason Bourne or Ed Begley Jr could make unlimited contributions to the Greater Good Coalition, a public interest 527. Theoretically anyway...
Steelydan3 (For working links go here.)
ITEM: My brilliant career with the Examiner news service, run by apparently the Colorado version of Richard Scaife, appears over. Oh, where will I get an extra 40 to 90 dollars a month? I’d probably make more money panhandling. By the way, my career path over the last 10 years resembles this man.
Anyway, so this is the story that got all of my privileges pulled. I don’t know exactly why those privileges were pulled even though I did ask . The reasons given by my “editor” Jessica Centers, our guidelines and high standards and whatnot, would make sense at a place like Firedoglake. Those reasons don’t make sense at the Examiner, where writers have routinely just made stuff up so to speak and weren’t caught for weeks. Do a search for UFO stories at the Examiner. I mean, the truth could be out there, but not from those writers… It would also have made a bit more sense had you cancelled the first two–
http://www.examiner.com/x-10379-Pittsburgh-Progressive-Examiner~y2010m7d21-Jim-Frank-Wilkinsburg-Code-Enforcement-or-sleazy-70s-Mafiastyle-goon-demanding-payment-or-else
and
http://www.examiner.com/x-10379-Pittsburgh-Progressive-Examiner~y2010m7d30-Code-Enforcer-Jim-Frank-lies-about-blackmail-attempt-and-runs-away-from-me-like-a-little-girl
–stories in the series and not just the third. That would have made sense.
And now that I no longer work for the examiner I can state this: some of the worst writing I had ever seen is printed at Examiner.com. You can definitely apply Sturgeon’s law to that particular enterprise. There are some good writers at the Examiner but its very rare that you find an actual “story” of any kind. The only reason I didn’t mention it before is that I thought it was bad form and an obvious misplacement of loyalty: Never badmouth a brand that you’re a part of. (Although I was about to ask. Some of the Examiner.com occult/paranormal/religious stuff was just too good to pass up at my atheism post…)
By the way, I lost all three of my posts not just the title of Progressive Examiner, but also the elections 2010 post and the Atheism post which I had finally figured out how to localize. Stay classy Jessica. What’s also funny: the work I did on the Jim Frank stories was the most reporting and “work” that I did since arriving there. I actually had to do “things” in order to write those stories. I had to research the case law. I had to talk to two reps at the Allegheny County DA’s office. I had to look over Wilkinsburg city ordinances. Most times, I’m just reworking press releases. This is why when people talk about the “dignity of work” my eyes glaze over in disbelief. If you have a choice between a “job” at the examiner– or some other non union no rights private sector job–or unemployment benefits, then take the unemployment benefits. You can rely on those. You can’t rely on many private sector jobs. There’s an essay there someplace. Long live the 99ers….
More on this later. Oh one more thing:
ITEM: I spoke to high placed sources within the Wilkinsburg city government (sounds way more official than I ran into Jim Frank’s boss at the Wilkinsburg Farmer’s Market….) and it looks like Jim has taken a leave of absence due to “health concerns”. Here’s a speculative opinion: Jim Frank would still be on the job and healthy if I hadn’t written this or this or this. This is why the powerful hate the modern Internet. It allows little people like myself to fight back on an enormous world stage. I have much more power as an online writer than I ever had as a reporter. The powerful hate this as well.
Luckily, the current Internet allows for little people and the super hackers behind Wikileaks to fight back.
ITEM: Unfortunately, this is why people are trying to kill the current Internet, or the only show I like that has managed to stay on the air for more than 13 years. Its gets better every year. This all ends if network neutrality ends. An Internet like cable tv would be a very mediocre Internet. It would also be controlled entirely by Fox News types which is why when Democrats like Chaka Fattah and Alan Grayson back the telcos against net neutrality it makes me want to tear my hair out.
ITEM: Sign the Don’t Be Evil Google Petition.
Labels: examiner.com, hyporcrisy, Jessica Centers, Jim Frank, Wilkinsburg goon
(For working links go here.)
Jessica Centers is not credible!
Jessica Glynn Centers is not credible!
Steelydan3 (For working links and atheist toons go here.)
ITEM: Just a few points about the South Park situation, which I can watch here in Pittsburgh so this is local so there (!):
1. I kind of wish that Comedy Central would fire the South Park creators because I really think that they would do just fine online. I’m not sure if they would make as much money online but they would be independent and they could kind of say whatever the bleep they wanted. I also think they could create a whole industry of truly independent artists who own their stuff. Related: Reddit poll.
2. By the way, here are things that I’ve seen on South Park that haven’t been censored in the last few weeks: guys riding on their enlarged microwave radiated testicles as they travel to the legal marijuana store. Even the censored edition featured, respectively, Buddha doing coke lines and Christ watching Internet porn…I don’t quite understand the station’s censorship policy. I really don’t. Related: Jon Stewart can flip off the Islamofacists (true in this context I’m afraid…) and he lives in the same city as the guys who issued the death threat. And he’s Jewish! I’ll say this again: I don’t understand their policy, quite.
ITEM: The writer of Jesus and Mo’ is really really enjoying the Catholic Scandal. He or she really is. You could take a look at the whole month of April or March for examples but I think I picked the funniest one.
visit
visit
March 30th, 2010
ITEM: You can now find Ruben Bolling, one of the best cartoonists ever, over at Boing Boing. New comic features the recurring character of Godman. Here’s a clue about this week’s meaning: Billy Billings is the Pope. Let me repeat this: Billy Billings is the Pope. And send money to Billy Billings…you don’t want to burn in Hell do ya’?
ITEM: Over at my Progressive Examiner gig I link to a bunch of progressive sites and one site that I call: “Token Conservative Site”. That’s not what the site is called so its kind of a joke that only some people will get, say, the kewl people. Anywayz, I read the site occasionally and the writer calls this Rob Rogers cartoon “hateful anti-catholic rubbish”. I don’t think this is a hateful cartoon. First, its a funny cartoon and that’s the first rule, or as the writer (apparently Catholic) John Lewandowski might better comprehend: being funny is the First Commandment of Toons. Second, I would hope that you can criticise the Catholic Church’s protection of child rapists without that being construed as necessarily being Anti Catholic. If not, then one would have to conclude that being Anti Catholic is a deliciously good thing. Here is that Rob Rogers cartoon presented for journalistic and commentary purposes blah blah blah…
Actually, this whole silly commentary deserves more, well, comment….
Steelydan3 Welcome to your new AlterNet blog. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Also, be sure to check out blogs by other readers at blogs.alternet.org
Thanks for reading,
The AlterNet Staff
