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Damn zombies back again!

It seems as though the Double L gyroscopic undead attractor was activated last night which led to countless zombies converging on the San Francisco library where a debate among mayoral candidates was taking place. One mayoral candidate didn’t make it out alive. Chicken John Rinaldi was captured and turned into a zombie as this footage indicates. Best to stay away from the west coast of the US at all costs.


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Last Chance to Save Internet Radio

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Some bad news today in the fight to save Internet radio. Turns out the courts denied the stay of the royalty rate increases set by the Copyright Royalty Board. If this stands, all Internet radio stations will be out of business as of this Sunday, July 15th. Read Rusty’s analysis of the situation and then PLEASE CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN TODAY! SERIOUSLY! This is huge and grassroots action is critical to get Congress to act.

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Josh Wolf owns Colbert

Friend and fellow video blogger Josh Wolf, who had 7 months of his life taken from him by the federal government, made a stellar appearance on the Colbert Report last night. Josh was solidly on his game, even catching Colbert off guard a couple of times. It’s rare to see both Thomas Paine and Charles Manson invoked in an interview, but it all makes complete sense. You gotta watch!

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Radically Honest Politics

If I still lived in Virginia, I would so vote for this guy, Brad Blanton. He wrote a book called Radical Honesty that a lot of people say good things about. I am really suprised to see someone from my old home state that isn’t a tobacco farmer, lobbyist, corporate whore, televangelist or some other occuptation that puts them far right of reality. There is hope for Virgina yet. Check out Blanton’s ‘uncampaign’ video.

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Back home in DC for a spell



Comet deli
Originally uploaded by ekai.

Ah Washington, DC. I like that there’s no billboards or highrises and instead plenty of old school brick architecture. I don’t miss the smokey inside of bars, which may happily change soon as DC comes online with local anti-smoking regs. It was nice to meet new blogger friends. Shoutouts to Tony, Jamy, Shannon, Reya, Danielle and Rob, Michael, Celeste for dragging me to the Science Club.

I was dismayed to hear that the Comet deli & liquor store in Adams Morgan is closing its doors after being a neighborhood institution since the 1930’s. I used to go there for lunch at least a couple times a week when I worked at the Washington City Paper back in the mid-90’s. I remember ol’ white haired Sid, the proprietor of the place, ringing me up on the ancient massive analog cash register while imparting his unique acerbic whit. He passed away in March of this year and his widow Bernice just can’t carry the torch anymore.

The closing of Comet is bringing to light the larger issue of gentrification of the eclectic Adams Morgan neighborhood. It’s one of the most diverse, unique and independent neighborhoods in all of Washington, DC. The place is chock full of restaurants and boutiques run by refugees and ex-patriots of nations far from our shores. It really is the only place to go for Ethiopian food. As the bleak horizon filled with chain stores and neighborhood homogenization becomes ever closer, I’m reminded of the successful legislation that we’ve passed here in San Francisco to give neighborhoods the right to decide whether they want chain stores taking up space amongst them. I’m not sure how the local political winds would favor such a thing in DC, but I hope that some clueful neighborhood activists will take a page from San Francisco and try something similar. I’m sure most businesses and residents in Adams Morgan would support such a thing, if only the DC City Council can show the political will. I’d hate to see Adams Morgan go the way of Georgetown.

Netflix and Schwarzenegger Get Cozy

Netflix in Arnie's pocketEveryone’s heard of Netflix, they’ve got over 3 million subscribers. You are probably one of them. Did you know that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings donated 3/4 of a MILLION DOLLARS to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s very “special election” campaign? $730,000 to be exact, mostly going to Proposition 77, the redistricting “reform” measure that gives the power of redistricting to a group of old crusty white men. On the face, Prop 77 has good intentions, but is a crappily crafted piece of legislation that is part of Arnie’s power grab agenda. Reed says, “Win or lose this cycle, I’ll continue to invest both philanthropically and politically, I don’t feel any donor fatigue, because improving California” is “a multi-decade effort, not a one-shot fix.” If by “improve” he means “owned by big business and conservative interests” then brace yourself California! It’s a bit curious as Hastings has traditionally given to Democrats, though a only a drop in the bucket comapred to the amounts he’s doling out to Arnie this year.

There is an alternative. GreenCine, pronounced GREEN-SEEN. It’s just like Netflix but without the evil. GreenCine, based in San Francisco, is owned by a couple of independent cinema nuts. Their focus is more on independent films, documentaries and anime while still harboring the full array of Hollywood blockbusters. They have a thriving online commununity and make daily recommendations. They don’t donate a million dollars to a bad washed up actor turned bad washed up politician. They DO donate a portion of their profits to local non-profit film arts organizations. GreenCine likes to support organizations that make better films.

On this election day, how are your dollars voting?

[thanks to George for the source photo]

Just got a Push Poll

I just got an automated ‘survey’ call from an outfit identifying themselves as FEC Research. It was a computerized voice response call asking leading questions regarding Propositions 73 and 75 here in California. This guy from Santa Barbara got the exact same call. As did this fellow San Franciscan. One more. Push polls are not really polls at all but are the product of someone paying to try and convince me how evil or great a candidate or ballot initiative is. The language they use to describe the ballot question is biased and leading. Under the guise of a poll, I am asked my opinion when really it’s about influencing my understanding of ballot question to sway my vote.

The number on my caller ID is 571-522-1180 which points to an outfit in Northern Virginia called ccAdvertising. According to a little investigative work done by DailyKos, they are hired by mostly right wing campaigns to spread their deception. Surprise! Suprise!