"Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles" by Captain Beefheart
on Outrage: The Week in Review
This has been an eventful week. And there's plenty to be outraged about if you pay attention.
1) The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that private property can be seized via eminent domain for private development was handed down on Thursday. Basically, what the decision sets up is a system under which no one's property is safe from a developer or business approaching a local government and, with the proper sweet talk, having the government buy up homes and sell them back to that developer or business and say it was in the best interest of the community. I'm not against the idea of eminent domain; it is written into the 5th Amendment for a reason: if the government needs the land for public use, it needs a way to obtain any land it needs. But the New London situation, in my opinion, oversteps the intention of eminent domain.
This decision will lead to problems in the future. Justice O'Connor, along with Justices Scalia and Thomas, wrote the dissenting opinion, stating, "Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power." She adds, "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory." I don't consider myself to be of the same philosophic viewpoint as the dissenting Justices, but, in this case, they represent my opinion exactly.
To read the actual decision, visit this site. The dissenting opinion begins on page 27.
2) The House passed an anti-flag desecration amendment proposal on Wednesday. We've been over this already on this site, but it bares repeating, so go read over that post and look into the matter further for yourself.
3) The Right is trying once again to dismantle the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This week, there were proposed budget cuts and the appointment of a new president, who just happens to be a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Since the days of Richard Nixon, the right wing in America has been hard at work to discredit and remove funding from our public broadcasting system, one of our great national treasures. If you listen to NPR for their great news coverage or if you value the great journalism of shows like Frontline, Now, or Newshour on PBS, you should take an interest in any attempts to change the way they conduct their work. In an era of shouting neo-cons on the radio and pseudo-journalism on the networks and on the cable outlets, the public stations are a beacon of what America needs from its media to have a healthy democracy...a concept that threatens most Republicans.
on The Motorcycle Diaries
One of the best movies I have ever seen. Beautifully shot, wonderfully written, based on a true story. Ernesto Guevara is one of the best characters in film history. The story is based on the travels of two Argentineans, Guevara, a young medical student a semester away from becoming a doctor, and Alberto Granado, a 30-year-old biochemist. They set out from Buenos Aires on a beat-up motorcycle they name 'The Mighty One," to see Latin America in its entirety. Along the way they see the injustices of the world firsthand and they are affected by them.
The Motorcycle Diaries gives an account of a great journey with significant historical implications. Because of the travel across Latin America, Che Guevara became a revolutionary, aiding in uprisings in Cuba, Nigeria, and Bolivia, where he was murdered with the support of the CIA. This movie shows those coffee shop revolutionaries and the teenagers shallowly wearing a shirt with his image, who Che Guevara was and how he honestly cared about people and helping the downtrodden. Watch this movie.
The Jobey Poll
Which commercials are better: The 'Got a little Captain in ya?' Captain Morgan commercials or the 'Hooray Beer' series from Red Stripe?
This has been an eventful week. And there's plenty to be outraged about if you pay attention.
1) The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that private property can be seized via eminent domain for private development was handed down on Thursday. Basically, what the decision sets up is a system under which no one's property is safe from a developer or business approaching a local government and, with the proper sweet talk, having the government buy up homes and sell them back to that developer or business and say it was in the best interest of the community. I'm not against the idea of eminent domain; it is written into the 5th Amendment for a reason: if the government needs the land for public use, it needs a way to obtain any land it needs. But the New London situation, in my opinion, oversteps the intention of eminent domain.
This decision will lead to problems in the future. Justice O'Connor, along with Justices Scalia and Thomas, wrote the dissenting opinion, stating, "Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power." She adds, "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory." I don't consider myself to be of the same philosophic viewpoint as the dissenting Justices, but, in this case, they represent my opinion exactly.
To read the actual decision, visit this site. The dissenting opinion begins on page 27.
2) The House passed an anti-flag desecration amendment proposal on Wednesday. We've been over this already on this site, but it bares repeating, so go read over that post and look into the matter further for yourself.
3) The Right is trying once again to dismantle the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This week, there were proposed budget cuts and the appointment of a new president, who just happens to be a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Since the days of Richard Nixon, the right wing in America has been hard at work to discredit and remove funding from our public broadcasting system, one of our great national treasures. If you listen to NPR for their great news coverage or if you value the great journalism of shows like Frontline, Now, or Newshour on PBS, you should take an interest in any attempts to change the way they conduct their work. In an era of shouting neo-cons on the radio and pseudo-journalism on the networks and on the cable outlets, the public stations are a beacon of what America needs from its media to have a healthy democracy...a concept that threatens most Republicans.
on The Motorcycle Diaries
One of the best movies I have ever seen. Beautifully shot, wonderfully written, based on a true story. Ernesto Guevara is one of the best characters in film history. The story is based on the travels of two Argentineans, Guevara, a young medical student a semester away from becoming a doctor, and Alberto Granado, a 30-year-old biochemist. They set out from Buenos Aires on a beat-up motorcycle they name 'The Mighty One," to see Latin America in its entirety. Along the way they see the injustices of the world firsthand and they are affected by them.
The Motorcycle Diaries gives an account of a great journey with significant historical implications. Because of the travel across Latin America, Che Guevara became a revolutionary, aiding in uprisings in Cuba, Nigeria, and Bolivia, where he was murdered with the support of the CIA. This movie shows those coffee shop revolutionaries and the teenagers shallowly wearing a shirt with his image, who Che Guevara was and how he honestly cared about people and helping the downtrodden. Watch this movie.
The Jobey Poll
Which commercials are better: The 'Got a little Captain in ya?' Captain Morgan commercials or the 'Hooray Beer' series from Red Stripe?
posted by TheJobey @ 6/26/2005 02:04:00 PM
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