Thursday, December 09, 2004

Tobusytoblog... lately but I couldn't pass this up:
From the The Daily Cardinal interviewing George Twigg:

DC: What role do you feel you played in Kerry's Wisconsin victory?

George Twigg: My job was really just to get our side of the story out, and, conversely, when Republicans came into the state and made all these claims about the things we were doing, that we did some truth telling and made sure people knew what we felt was their real record on those issues.

DC: By "truth telling," what do you feel you exposed?

GT: One point this fall, George Bush was in Wausau for a campaign rally, and he was talking about how he was going to support this program called MILC, a price supports system for dairy farmers ... Two days later, Republicans back in D.C. killed the program. It was a really clear example of him making these campaign promises out on the trail ... We got this 30-foot tall inflatable dairy cow called "Marathon the Mad Milk Cow," and she followed around Bush and Cheney to a bunch of their events. We had people dressed up in cow costumes, talking about how Bush was, we felt, not being forthcoming on his position.

Michael Moore writes:
"Fahrenheit 9/11" has been nominated by the People's Choice Awards as the American public's "Favorite Film of the Year." The five nominees were chosen from a poll of thousands of Americans in mid-to-late November. The other nominees for best film are "Spiderman 2," "The Incredibles," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (with Jim Carrey), and "Shrek 2." It is the first time ever a documentary has been nominated for best film by the People's Choice Awards.

The People's Choice Awards are considered, among all the awards shows, to be the one which most accurately reflects the "mainstream" public opinion in the United States.

OK, now, here's the best part: YOU get to vote! Online. Now. Just go to http://www.pcavote.com/voting/film/f01.shtml, click on the little circle next to "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the "Favorite Movie" category and press the "vote" button. Voting is going on now and continues only through this coming Monday, December 13, at 3:00pm ET, so send an e-mail to your friends and let them know they can vote, too. Winners will accept their awards live on CBS on January 9.

Now, normally I wouldn't make a very big deal out of something like this. It's nice and I'm honored, but it's not exactly the number one priority on any of our minds these days. In fact, when we found out we were nominated over a week ago, I didn't even think to tell you about it or put it up on our website.

But then a group of top Republicans took out a full page ad in USA Today (and placed a similar one in the Hollywood trade magazine, Variety) proclaiming that "An election is over, but a war of ideas continues." The point of the ad was to say that while they, as right wing conservatives, were proud of getting rid of Kerry, there was still one more nuisance running around loose they had to deal with -- me! They also issued a not-so-subtle threat to the Academy Awards voters that, in essence, said don't even THINK about nominating "Fahrenheit 9/11" for Best Picture. And Bill O'Reilly recently bellowed that if the Oscars recognize my work this year, Middle America will boycott Hollywood.

I promise, if we win, to give a nice and polite speech.


The Backbone Campaign and a growing coalition of grassroots organizations from around the nation have come together to initiate a process to empower citizens to nominate and elect "The Backbone Cabinet, A Progressive Parallel Government."

With the election behind us, progressives must lead the way to reclaim the moral language of our nation. Creating the Backbone Cabinet is an excellent way to put forward individuals capable of communicating our vision, values and expectations.

The success of this endeavor depends on you! Make a nomination, rate and comment on existing nominees. Forward this to your friends and colleages. If you are part of another progressive organization, urge the leadership to join the growing coalition of sponsors. If you lead a group invite your membership to join in the process! Numbers matter! Please advertise this effort on your webpage and in your newsletters, blogs, etc.

Between now and January we will hold a series of secure I.R.V. i.e. Instant Runoff Voting processes through which citizens around the country can select their top choices for each position. Be sure to sign up to be notified when voting begins.

Sunday, December 05, 2004

You have one day left to place your bid on a ghost...
A woman, "marys454bb" in Hobart, Indiana is offering the ghost of her father for sale on eBay. So far, the ghost has received more than 80 bids, with a top offer of $14,935.66.

"Ever since my father died my 5 year old son has been afraid to go anywhere in the house alone whether it be day or night! I always thought it was just normal kid fears until a few months ago he told me why he was so scared. He told me "Grandpa died here, and he was mean. His ghost is still around here!" He then brought up the couple of times my dad tapped him with his cane and how mean his grandpa looked when he yelled at him. so up for auction is my dad's ghost along with his cane he used for getting around and hurt my 5 year olds feelings with."