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Are YOU A Neoconservative?
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Leaks and Landscape During a Dry Winter
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Thom Hartmann

The nation's #1 progressive radio talk show host and the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored winning author of 21 books in print. In its eighth year, The Thom Hartmann Program  airs live daily, NOON – 3pm, ET simulcast as both radio and TV on over 120 radio stations. into more than 50 million homes via both nationwide satellite TV systems (DirecTV and Dish Network). http://www.thomhartmann.com

Points of View

Written by Mike Papantonio | 05 May 2010
Posted in iNFORMATION PRESS - Points of View

It is obscene that Tom DeLay is not sitting in a Texas prison for felony charges brought against him four years ago. Instead, he has been dancing with the stars and making regular appearances on Fox News. In those latest talking head appearances, Tiny Tom has been telling us that Republicans should fight aggressively to make sure that unemployed Americans don’t get unemployment benefits. According to DeLay, American workers are slackers and paying them unemployment benefits will keep them from looking for a job.

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Written by Sandra Marshall | 07 February 2010
Posted in iNFORMATION PRESS - Points of View

For those that were wondering, I am still around. The last minute inspiration that led to the January issue, and this issue that follows, has thrown me deep into a swirl of growth, stimulation, expansion with an urge to let go of the old and grab unto the new.  A perfect example is the face lift on our home that just this minute was completed.  A year long project that began with new ceilings, flooring, and painting indoors and out, turned into new windows and coverings, a new front door, garage door, and beautiful redwood siding that adds a wonderful color accent to the exterior.  And we did everything in the greenest way possible.

It has been busy. The last few months I have begun to work on Earth Day, probably my most important project each year.  2010 year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970 in which over twenty million Americans from across the nation participated in teach-ins, protests, and actions to bring attention to environmental concerns of the day.  In 1990, twenty years later, still focused on solutions and to preserve and protect the environment, the Earth Day movement went global. It drew a record 200 million participants in 141 countries.  Locally, the grassroots community united to hold the first Earth Day event in San Luis Obispo County on April 21, 1990.

In recognition of the 20/40 anniversaries and the urgent need for each person to be the solution to the environmental concerns we face, the Earth Day Alliance, Inc. is asking everyone to “put your green footprint forward” Earth Day season: the first day of spring, March 20 through bike month, May 31.  We are asking individuals of all ages, groups, businesses, churches, cities, bands, schools, to commit to doing some act of green kindness.
By connecting the green dots with each others, and in everything we do our efforts and outreach will multiply and bring about increased results in the quickest amount of time. Register your green plan during February at www.earthdayalliance.com.

Earth Day SLO will take place on April 24.  We are working with others in the county to inspire the green theme, i.e. SLO Film Festival, Pismo Beach Concerts, SLO City Parks & Recreation and more. Watch for the green footprint we’ll be putting forward throughout the county.

The Earth Day Alliance, Inc., a nonprofit 501c3, was created for the sole purpose of coordinating an annual free Earth Day event and to raise awareness, offer solutions and unite the community for the wellbeing of the planet.  Your donations will support Earth Day 2010 and continuing education throughout the community.

Sandra Marshall

P.S. Watch for the long version of the transformation of Information Press. It will begin to unfold over the next few weeks.

Written by Mike Papantonio | 04 April 2010
Posted in iNFORMATION PRESS - Points of View

Glenn Beck had his crazy train running wide open a week ago when he again urged Christians to abandon their churches and follow him. Beck usually dresses up for his audience in costumes ranging from Bavarian Border Guard uniforms to Lederhosen. I expected him to deliver his “leave Christianity” message dressed in black.

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Written by Mike Papantonio | 01 February 2010
Posted in iNFORMATION PRESS - Points of View

A hyena will scavenge graves for food. It is an animal that shows no respect for the dead. Instead, it merely regards the misfortune of once-living carcasses as an opportunity.

In east Nigeria they have a belief that there are people who are capable of turning themselves into hyenas at will. Rush Limbaugh gave credence to that Nigerian superstition last week when he used the tragedy of 100,000 Haitian men, women, and children to promote himself as America’s number one radio thug without a conscience.

The pseudo-manly, rational thinker without a heart radio bit is nothing new for Rush. He has built his career by giving his listeners reasons to hate, fear, judge, and attack the easiest targets among our fellow man. Recently that target was dead, dying, starving, terrified Haitians who ranged in age from newborn to 90. Rush picks his targets well. While the world was seeing pictures of the bodies of Haitian children being dug up from earthquake rubble, Rush was once again reasserting himself as the “dispassionate”, “clear thinking”, wannabe tough guy who masters concepts that are beyond the grasp of less insightful observers. That is the Rush shtick. He projects this idea that as America’s conservative brain trust he is one of the few insightful thinkers capable of rising above those lesser human emotions like compassion, empathy, and decency. His 12 years in school no doubt equipped him for that. Rush is always selling himself as a character you might find in the cult books of Nietzsche or Ayn Rand. His listeners seem to eat up the idea of him being wholly unsympathetic but thoroughly narcissistic and all-knowing when everyone else around him is weighted down with those weak-minded beliefs that the well-being of our fellow man actually matters.

Limbaugh is much like that Nigerian mythical creature who evolved to the point that he is more hyena than human. When he suggested last week that there was no need for Americans to provide for Haitians because we have already paid income tax, he knew that statement would improve his radio ratings. A real “ditto head” would embrace that idea, and he knew it. After that, he used his mic time to politicize the tragedy by suggesting that, in keeping with Obama’s new healthcare reform “death panel” policies, Americans would be giving pills to Haitians to end their lives and their suffering. That was great radio entertainment in Rush’s world and I’m certain that as he spoke those words he was focused on how his clever snarkiness could extract bigger Nielsen ratings from the dead bodies of Haitian earthquake victims.

Haitians are easy targets for hate talkers like Rush. After all, they are black. And as we have heard from every neocon nut with a microphone, they pose an illegal immigration problem in America. They live in self-imposed and self-perpetuated poverty on a useless island. Worse yet, if you believe the TV evangelist Pat Robertson, they are Satan worshippers, capable of black magic and sorcery. As I watch this story unfold, I am hopeful that a surviving Haitian will use sorcery to change Rush’s bloated figure from a hyena back into a human being.

Written by Mike Papantonio | 02 March 2010
Posted in iNFORMATION PRESS - Points of View

Ann Coulter, last week, told the media there was hope for the conservative movement in America. Coulter said she was inspired by the small but enthusiastic group of “young right-wingers” who showed up at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. But when you do understand a little bit more about the leadership in that group of “young right-wingers” the idea of a bright future for the struggling movement is anything but probable.
James O’Keefe is one of those young right-wing leaders that the conservative movement embraces. O’Keefe showed up at CPAC only after he posted bail on felony charges he faces in New Orleans. That CPAC young right-wing leader was arrested for trying to tap the phone lines and computer system of a Democratic U.S. Senator. The criminal operation led by O’Keefe and several other leaders of the conservative movement’s “bright future” would not be considered inspirational by normal standards. It was a criminal operation not much different than one led by another conservative leader named G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy and his pals also believed that criminal break-ins and wiretaps should be part of the conservative social and political agenda.
Liddy’s felony convictions had no effect on how conservatives regard him. He is apparently a neo-con hero for young wing-nuts like O’Keefe. O’Keefe will no doubt become a conservative icon if he serves the full ten-year prison term he is facing for his political espionage. We can only hope.
The F.B.I. special agent who helped arrest O’Keefe explained that O’Keefe was disguised as a telephone repairman during his attempt to promote the conservative movement by tapping a U.S. senator’s phone. But do a simple Google search on O’Keefe and all his disguises are easily removed. You will see stories about his association to white supremacist groups as well as a dozen other neo-nut organizations that allow him to fit in perfectly with the birthers, the deathers, and tax protestors who kill people by crashing their airplane into government buildings. O’Keefe may represent the “bright future” by CPAC standards, but today he appears to be just another paranoid conspiracy freak who defines the new conservative movement.
It is no surprise that Ann Coulter was thrilled to see O’Keefe show up at CPAC. Coulter and O’Keefe are soul mates. She made that clear when she told us that the widows of 9/11 were “The witches of East Brunswick” who actually were “enjoying their husbands’ deaths.” She made those statements because those 9/11 widows were critical of the fact that “W” allowed that massacre to occur.
Ann also showed her best side when she said this about all Muslims: “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.”
The CPAC meeting this year was desperate to attract a younger crowd. They organized an event called XPAC that stands for “X-treme Politically Active Conservatives.” Imagine the excitement surging through the room at that “X-treme” rally when their most visible and most relevant young right-wingers – Coulter and O’Keefe – made their entrance. Gordon Liddy surely must have felt like a proud father. He saw clear proof that the nut never falls far from the tree.
Mike Papantonio hosts Ring of Fire, a nationally syndicated radio show.  He appears as a regular contributor with political commentary on Fox News Network.

Written by Mike Papantonio | 01 December 2009
Posted in iNFORMATION PRESS - Points of View

The next time you see a picture of a tea party protest, look closely and try to identify anyone in that crowd under the age of 30. If you identify as many as five “ralliers” in that age group, you should keep that picture because it will be a collector’s item. The fastest growing group of voters today is 18 to 30 year-olds. The idea that they don’t vote is a myth. Out of the 80 million votes that sent Obama to the White House, around 24 million were from the MTV, Xers, and Millennial Generation.

The newest group of emerging voters is often identified as the “O” Generation. That “O” represents Obama, not “old folks.” Eighteen to 30-year old voters will soon outnumber the remnants of baby boomers that are beginning to look like peculiar artifacts to a generation that is all in on the idea of “change.”

Young voters are not going away. There is a greater chance that the people in those tea party photos will see far fewer birthdays than the 18 to 30-year olds who seem to have very little in common with graying protestors.

Why does this demographics shift matter? Here is an example of why: When it became clear that the healthcare reform package might include a 5% tax on multimillionaires, conservative boomers went mad and 18 to 30-year olds yawned. They don’t have sympathy invested into the plight of millionaires. Unlike their parents, they never bought into the “trickle down” myth. That was where taxpayers were supposed to give more money to millionaires in hopes that some of that money would trickle down to the pockets of the average American. The “O” Generation regards Republican-driven teabag, anti-tax, anti-government; anti-most everything as an oddity that provides cheap laugh material for Jon Stewart’s comedy central programming. The disconnect between aging rabble-rousers and young voters wanting change is extraordinary. We laughed at Johnny Carson and Topo Gigio skits on Ed Sullivan. They laugh at politically-themed skits on S.N.L. and Bill Maher. We were a generation that believed it was okay for Henry Kravis to make $54,000 an hour while 47 million people live below the poverty line on less than $12,000 a year. The “O” voters are repulsed by such a reality.

What we are seeing with “O” voters is not a class war between haves and have nots. It can better be described as a generational war. Because of that, when the new GOP baby boomer tea party protesters scream about the evils of creeping socialism and big government, to young voters it becomes the equivalent of asking them to listen to Elvis on a vinyl LP instead of The Fray on their I-phone. The generational chasm is unimaginably huge.

When 18 to 30-year olds showed up to vote in 2008, around 70% of them pulled the “O” lever. They rejected the very old guard GOP. So it’s no wonder that the new GOP defined by Granddad’s “anti-movement” has even less appeal to young voters who hope to change most everything that appealed to Granddad. Chances are, they will continue to show up for national elections, but they won’t be wearing tea party apparel.

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