The Hollywood Liberal

Wisconsin GOP Holds Senate
Wisconsin Democrats have fallen short in the attempt to pick up three state Senate seats through recall elections and take a majority in the chamber. As of early Wednesday morning, with six incumbent Republicans on the ballot, Democrats have defeated two — but narrowly missed out in two others. Democrats defeated Republican state Sen. Dan Kapanke and state Sen. Randy Hopper.

Late Late Night FDL: Blueberry Hill
Nat King Cole and Billy Preston — Blueberry Hill, from The Nat King Cole Show.

Nat King Cole and Billy Preston — Blueberry Hill, from The Nat King Cole Show.

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London Riots: They’re Paying Attention Now
It’s day four of riots and madness in the U.K., and if we want to understand what’s happening, we’d best pay attention to young journalists like Laurie Penny, who wrote Tuesday: “Angry young people with nothing to do and little to lose are turning on their own communities, and they cannot be stopped, and they know it.” Penny Red (posted on Aug. 9) via @JPBarlow: In the scramble to comprehend the riots, every single commentator has opened with a ritual condemnation of the violence, as if it were in any doubt that arson, muggings and lootings are ugly occurrences. That much should be obvious to anyone who is watching Croydon burn down on the BBC right now. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, called the disorder ‘mindless, mindless’. Nick Clegg denounced it as ‘needless, opportunistic theft and violence’. Speaking from his Tuscan holiday villa, Prime Minister David Cameron – who has finally decided to return home to take charge – declared simply that the social unrest searing through the poorest boroughs in the country was “utterly unacceptable.” The violence on the streets is being dismissed as ‘pure criminality,’ as the work of a ‘violent minority’, as ‘opportunism.’ This is madly insufficient. It is no way to talk about viral civil unrest. Angry young people with nothing to do and little to lose are turning on their own communities, and they cannot be stopped, and they know it. Tonight, in one of the greatest cities in the world, society is ripping itself apart. Violence is rarely mindless. The politics of a burning building, a smashed-in shop or a young man shot by police may be obscured even to those who lit the rags or fired the gun, but the politics are there. Unquestionably there is far, far more to these riots than the death of Mark Duggan, whose shooting sparked off the unrest on Saturday, when two police cars were set alight after a five-hour vigil at Tottenham police station. A peaceful protest over the death of a man at police hands, in a community where locals have been given every reason to mistrust the forces of law and order, is one sort of political statement. Raiding shops for technology and trainers that cost ten times as much as the benefits you’re no longer entitled to is another. A co-ordinated, viral wave of civil unrest across the poorest boroughs of Britain, with young people coming from across the capital and the country to battle the police, is another. Read more

It’s day four of riots and madness in the U.K., and if we want to understand what’s happening, we’d best pay attention to young journalists like Laurie Penny, who wrote Tuesday: “Angry young people with nothing to do and little to lose are turning on their own communities, and they cannot be stopped, and they know it.”

Penny Red (posted on Aug. 9) via @JPBarlow:

In the scramble to comprehend the riots, every single commentator has opened with a ritual condemnation of the violence, as if it were in any doubt that arson, muggings and lootings are ugly occurrences. That much should be obvious to anyone who is watching Croydon burn down on the BBC right now. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, called the disorder ‘mindless, mindless’. Nick Clegg denounced it as ‘needless, opportunistic theft and violence’. Speaking from his Tuscan holiday villa, Prime Minister David Cameron – who has finally decided to return home to take charge – declared simply that the social unrest searing through the poorest boroughs in the country was “utterly unacceptable.” The violence on the streets is being dismissed as ‘pure criminality,’ as the work of a ‘violent minority’, as ‘opportunism.’ This is madly insufficient. It is no way to talk about viral civil unrest. Angry young people with nothing to do and little to lose are turning on their own communities, and they cannot be stopped, and they know it. Tonight, in one of the greatest cities in the world, society is ripping itself apart.

Violence is rarely mindless. The politics of a burning building, a smashed-in shop or a young man shot by police may be obscured even to those who lit the rags or fired the gun, but the politics are there. Unquestionably there is far, far more to these riots than the death of Mark Duggan, whose shooting sparked off the unrest on Saturday, when two police cars were set alight after a five-hour vigil at Tottenham police station. A peaceful protest over the death of a man at police hands, in a community where locals have been given every reason to mistrust the forces of law and order, is one sort of political statement. Raiding shops for technology and trainers that cost ten times as much as the benefits you’re no longer entitled to is another. A co-ordinated, viral wave of civil unrest across the poorest boroughs of Britain, with young people coming from across the capital and the country to battle the police, is another.

Read more

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Anonymous Is Going to Try to Kill Facebook (Video)
Remember, remember the fifth of November 2011. That’s the day hactivist collective Anonymous plans to “kill” the second-busiest website on the Internet “for the sake of your own privacy.” In a video message, Anonymous warns that “you are not safe from them [Facebook] nor from any government” to which the social networking website feeds information. It “is impossible” for Facebook members to delete their own accounts, the message continues, and “Facebook knows more about you than your family.” Unless your family is on Facebook, in which case your relatives tend to know all too much about you. Anonymous has a lot of trophies on its wall, but Facebook is an ambitious target, perhaps having been selected as a show of strength amid police raids against alleged members of Anonymous. If the group is successful, in addition to upsetting Facebook it will irritate many of Facebook’s 750 million active users, who, together with the site’s other visitors, twiddle away more than 700 billion minutes each month poking each other (this according to Facebook’s numbers). Anonymous acknowledges as much in the video below, which takes more of a persuasive angle than its other messages, as in: “One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the Internet, we are not harming you but saving you.” (By the way, the fifth of November is Guy Fawkes Day, in commemoration of the night in 1605 that Fawkes tried to blow up the British Parliament. Anonymous supporters sometimes don Guy Fawkes masks as seen in the movie “V for Vendetta,” and the comic book series it was based on.)  —PZS Via Business Insider:

Remember, remember the fifth of November 2011. That’s the day hactivist collective Anonymous plans to “kill” the second-busiest website on the Internet “for the sake of your own privacy.” In a video message, Anonymous warns that “you are not safe from them [Facebook] nor from any government” to which the social networking website feeds information.

It “is impossible” for Facebook members to delete their own accounts, the message continues, and “Facebook knows more about you than your family.” Unless your family is on Facebook, in which case your relatives tend to know all too much about you.

Anonymous has a lot of trophies on its wall, but Facebook is an ambitious target, perhaps having been selected as a show of strength amid police raids against alleged members of Anonymous.

If the group is successful, in addition to upsetting Facebook it will irritate many of Facebook’s 750 million active users, who, together with the site’s other visitors, twiddle away more than 700 billion minutes each month poking each other (this according to Facebook’s numbers). Anonymous acknowledges as much in the video below, which takes more of a persuasive angle than its other messages, as in: “One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the Internet, we are not harming you but saving you.”

(By the way, the fifth of November is Guy Fawkes Day, in commemoration of the night in 1605 that Fawkes tried to blow up the British Parliament. Anonymous supporters sometimes don Guy Fawkes masks as seen in the movie “V for Vendetta,” and the comic book series it was based on.)? —PZS

Via Business Insider:

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• August 9, 2011 Dispatches From Cairo: Ramadan, Revolution and Rumors
• August 9, 2011 The Man Who Doesn’t Want to Be President

Wisconsin Recall Election Results: Live Updates From The Badger State
The post and live blog below are a collaboration between Patch and HuffPost reporters. Six Wisconsin senators fought Tuesday to keep their jobs in a…

Labor Fight Remains Key Part Of FAA Dispute
WASHINGTON — At the heart of the bitter dispute over funding the Federal Aviation Administration is an ongoing brawl between Republicans and Democrats over the…

James Peron: Big Government’s Real War on Marriage
The power of the State to tear loving couples apart is indeed a frightening, intrusive one. It is one that is still being used to destroy loving, married couples, simply on the basis that both are of the same gender.

Economc Turmoil Could Spell Trouble for Innovation
While the stock market has plummeted on concerns about the near-term strength of the American economy, the larger issue could be that the long-term prospects…

Matt Damon For President?
In “The Adjustment Bureau,” Matt Damon was a Democratic candidate for Senate. Michael Moore wants him to take it to the next level — in…

Fox News: Trump For Treasury!

After relentlessly hyping his potential presidential campaign — as well as his birther claims — Fox figures are now promoting Donald Trump as a replacement for Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary, despite the fact that Trump’s companies have reportedly filed for bankruptcy on four occasions.

Fox Figures Campaign To Replace Geithner With Trump

Huckabee: “Ask Donald Trump To Be Treasury Secretary.” On the August 6 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends Saturday, guest co-host Juliet Huddy asked Fox News host Mike Huckabee who he would “be interested in seeing” replace Geithner. Huckabee responded:

HUCKABEE: President Obama would never pick anybody who I would like to see there. I mean, I would like to see a true conservative. Get Steve Forbes, get someone who has a real — ask Donald Trump to be Treasury Secretary. Go for someone who is completely unorthodox —

HUDDY: There’s a headline today —

HUCKABEE: — and unconventional.

HUDDY: — Mike Huckabee asking for Donald Trump to be Treasury Secretary.

HUCKABEE: Have Donald Trump take the job for 90 days. [Fox News, Fox & Friends Saturday,

[Fox News, Fox & Friends,

[Fox Nation, 4/15/11, via Media Matters]

Hannity Jumped Aboard “Trump 2012” — Birtherism And All. During the April 15 edition of his show, Hannity helped to promote Trump’s birther claims, later airing a graphic promoting a “Trump 2012” presidential run. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/15/11, via Media Matters]

Palin On Trump Allegedly Sending Researchers To Hawaii To Investigate Obama’s Birth: “More Power To Him.” On the April 9 edition of Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin said of Trump’s claim that he sent researchers to Hawaii to investigate Obama’s birth certificate: “More power to him.” Palin later stated, “I think that [Obama] was born in Hawaii, because there was the birth announcement put in the newspaper, but obviously, if there’s something there that the president doesn’t want people to see on that birth certificate, that he [seems to] be going to great lengths to make sure that it isn’t shown, and that’s kind of perplexing for a lot of people.” From Justice with Judge Jeanine:

JEANINE PIRRO (host): All right, Governor. Donald Trump, who is considering a run for the presidency, says that he’s got investigators in Hawaii looking for President Obama’s birth certificate. What do you make of that?

PALIN: Well, I appreciate that the Donald wants to spend his resources in getting to the bottom of something that so interests him and many Americans. You know, more power to him. He’s not just throwing stones and – from the sidelines. He’s digging in there; he’s paying for researchers to find out why President Obama would have spent $2 million to not show his birth certificate. So, you know, more power to him. [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 4/9/11]

Fox’s Morris Reportedly Said Trump’s Birther Claims Are “Within The Foul Lines.” In an April 2 article about Trump, the New York Post reported that Fox News contributor Dick Morris said that Trump’s recent “birther talk” is “within the foul lines,” while “everyone else who spoke with The Post [sic] thinks it’s a major tactical mistake.” [New York Post, 4/2/11]

Wisconsin Expanding DMV Services For Voter-ID, After Complaints About Closures
The state of Wisconsin’s recently passed Voter ID law will now result in an increased cost to the state, as Department of Motor Vehicles offices are expanded in order to accommodate the increased demand for photo identification cards.

NM Mayor: I Was Quite Drunk When I Signed Those $1 Million Contracts
Ever have one of those nights where you wake up with a hangover and $1 million worth of architecture contracts?

Presented By:

Is Mitt Romney Weird?
Michael Crowley wonders whether President Obama’s attempt to portray Mitt Romney as “weird” is using a dog whistle to raise questions about the GOP frontrunner’s religion.

“To my ears, that rings of innuendo about his Mormon faith, and surely any sophisticated political strategist would anticipate that reaction. Romney’s Mormonism, much like Obama’s race at a similar point in the 2008 campaign, remains a fascinating and still little-understood political variable. It’s hard to imagine it as a net positive, however, and that Politico story leaves me wondering how much Obama’s advisers are ready to make of it. You’d like to think that the people who work for a man who has been slurred countless times because of his race would take a higher road, so hopefully I’m just reading too much into this. Time will tell.”

Quote of the Day
“We believe there’s dirty tricks afoot.”

— Wisconsin Democratic spokesman Graeme Zielinski, quoted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, alleging fraud in at least one state senate recall race.

Do Democrats Still Try to Recall Walker?
The big question after Wisconsin Republicans likely held on to control of the state senate after winning four of six recall races last night — pending a possible recount and legal challenge — is whether Democrats will still push to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R) next year.

A related question is whether former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) shifts his sights from taking on Walker to trying to return to the U.S. Senate.

Fed Vows to Keep Interest Rates Near Zero
The Federal Reserve Board made “an unprecedented pledge that it will likely keep a key short-term interest rate exceptionally low until at least mid-2013 — a sign of how long the central bank believes the economy will be burdened by anemic growth and high unemployment,” USA Today reports.

Wisconsin Recall: Dems Take Back 2 Seats From GOP; Republicans Retain Control of State Senate
Last night’s recall elections were the Republicans’ to lose. And they lost two seats, while Democrats lost nothing.

The Streets Of Tel Aviv: Bursting The Bubble?
More than a hundred thousand young Israelis, in every major city, took to the streets on Saturday night to protest the prohibitively high cost of living, especially the very high cost of housing. Last week, a tent city went up…

Ransom Paid
Anyone who characterizes the deal between the President, Democratic, and Republican leaders as a victory for the American people over partisanship understands neither economics nor politics. The deal does not raise taxes on America’s wealthy and most fortunate — who…

Fact-Finding Mission Gathering Evidence On Assad For ICC Trial
The Los Angeles Times reports that “at least one Western government” is funding a project to gather evidence that could be used against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a trial at the International Criminal Court. According to an anonymous “Western official,” the fact-finding mission “mostly involves assembling testimony from Syrian refugees that conforms to standards […]

The Los Angeles Times reports that “at least one Western government” is funding a project to gather evidence that could be used against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a trial at the International Criminal Court. According to an anonymous “Western official,” the fact-finding mission “mostly involves assembling testimony from Syrian refugees that conforms to standards of international law necessary to sustain a war crimes trial” at the ICC. The official “stressed that no decision had been made among diplomats to press the Security Council to refer Assad and his family to the court.”