How to have a better media with Dave Eisenstadter

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Wednesday September 06, 2017 · 5:07 PM PDT

2017/09/06 · 17:07

For years I have read the Valley Advocate. 20 years ago they had *THE* best personal ads, the S&M Xena looking for her Gabrielle ad was brilliant. They also have some great interviews about how artists struggle to make money as well as bad movie reviews and really good thought pieces and some wonderful long form articles. There are also articles about farting in Yoga class and other things you’d expect in an Alt-weekly.

One of the writers in the Valley Advocate is Dave Eisenstadter, whose work has blossomed after the election of Trump.

I don’t have a bio to give you, but you should give him a follow and follow the Valley Advocate, too. You might find something interesting in there.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday August 23, 2017 · 5:06 PM PDT

2017/08/23 · 17:06

Before my computer died, Mitch Landrieu gave an amazing speech about removing Confederate statues in New Orleans.

Now, before I go on, I don’t know much about Landrieu, but I know two things about him. His father, Moon Landrieu, was a successful Lousiana politician and worked in the Carter administration. His sister, Mary Landrieu, was a pro-oil New Democrat and I celebrated when she lost her seat. I don’t want to judge him based on his sister’s records, but it seems to me that Mitch has national aspirations. Based on the one speech, I do want to know more.

If you’ve not seen or read the speech, I recommend doing so.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday August 16, 2017 · 5:06 PM PDT

2017/08/16 · 17:06

My computer died, and suddenly I couldn’t post these images. I’m nearly ready to post regularly and then this weekend happened.

I have lots of thoughts, but they aren’t very well organized. So I'm just going to tell the story of how I once met one of the organizers of the Charlottesville racist rally.

I completely cosign this statement from bell hooks.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday May 24, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/05/24 · 17:05

So I looked up on Wikipedia, the whole of human knowledge, what Asian Pacific Heritage is, just so I know who to include, and Wikipedia said India is included in that. Also, Australia, which seems wrong. Now, I’ve been looking for an excuse to run a graphic of Vijay Prashad, but I didn’t expect it would be during Asian Pacific Heritage Month.

So next week either I will make one of Paul Hogan or a Koala bear.

If you don’t know Vijay Prashad, you really should. He is an international public intellectual, who is really engaging when he speaks. He’s also written a number of books, including Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, and Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses: Stocks, Jails, Welfare. During the election, I intended to use a quote from him and for some reason, I forgot. So I will share it now:

When Americans say Benghazi, what they mean is Hillary Clinton’s attempt to become president.

If Hillary comes back, I might still use this quote.

Also, Vijay Prashad lives one town over from me. Someday I hope to meet him. I keep missing him speak when he does something local. Someday.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday May 17, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/05/17 · 17:05

Yuri Kochiyama was an important activist that has been almost forgotten. Much like the women who supported Dr. King, she has been virtually erased from history.

However, she is an icon. The iconic image of Malcolm X after he was shot, she was the woman cradling his head. Though erased from the Spike Lee film, she was a student of Malcolm X and was a part of the Black Panthers movement.

She was also a radical. She stirred up controversy by saying Osama Bin Laden was a hero. If you listen to her entire argument, she makes an intriguing point that I wrestle with. I agree with parts of her argument and it is an indictment of all Americans in our complicity of the horrors done in our name. It’s a point we should all wrestle with.

She passed away in 2014.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday May 10, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/05/10 · 17:05

Robert Yasumura is a brilliant comedian whom you should follow. He used to be on the Jimmy Dore show and is one of the smartest comedians I have ever heard. I’m not sure if there is a project he is working on. However, you should follow him on Twitter.

Also, this is Asian Pacific Heritage month. It’s a good time to remind everyone that they are developing a Buckaroo Banzai TV show, and the character is supposed to be Asian. (His father was a Japanese scientist and his mother was Scottish.) Although Peter Weller was amazing as the title character, in the reboot they should hire an Asian actor to play the part. I would love to see Robert Yasumura play Buckaroo Banzai but honestly I would love to see any Asian-American actor take on the part. (BD Wong would be another good choice.)

Sadly, there is a lawsuit over the rights of the property. So we have to to tweet out at Kevin Smith and MGM that they really need to #MakeBuckarooAsianAgain. To help the studio, tweet your choice of who should take over the role.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday May 03, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/05/03 · 17:05

If you don’t know Jeremy Scahill, you’re living under a rock. He is the best journalist to follow our foreign policy. He covered the Drone War and its effects. He’s reported on the front lines. He’s covered the mercenaries who murder in our name, and he has also been on corporate media as one of the few voices of dissent they let on.

Now he has a can’t miss podcast, Intercepted.

Before I get into my comments, let me just add my 2-cents on the Bill Maher controversy: Nobody should go on or watch the show, Bill Maher is a racist. I don’t care that he invited a fellow racist on his show, even if that racist is also a Nazi pedophile. Maher should have retired years ago so we don’t have this show with a host who makes racist jokes, explores the faux intellectualism of Islamophobia, and who gives pedophile Nazis a national platform. Scahill should not have gone on Bill Maher, not because of the Nazi pedophile, but because of Bill Maher.

Also, auto correct keeps changing Scahill’s name to Swahili.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday April 26, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/04/26 · 17:05

For my long time readers, you know I grew up with Jim Hightower. I remember the Karl Rove smear campaign that ended his political career, giving a young Democrat named Rick Perry a chance to beat Jim Hightower in the primary. (Go a head, look it up if you don’t believe me, Rick Perry was a Democrat and it was Karl Rove’s first campaign.)

I remember Jim Hightower doing the occasional editorial on local TV after that.

Jim Hightower, lost in the political landscape, inspired by I.F. Stone, who was lost in a similar fashion when he was blacklisted in the 50s, started his own small media company, publishing his ideas. (And doing so before the internet.) His folksy populism has made him into someone who the Democrats should emulate while they center on the most marginalized in our society.

If you don’t follow Jim Hightower, you should. I also think his book “If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They'd Have Given Us Candidates” is worth reading even though it focuses on the 2000 election. It’s about the history of how the Democratic establishment became a right-wing corporate owned party and some smart ideas of how to start winning elections again.

Also, check out his bi-weekly podcast “The Jim Hightower Radio Lowdown.” It’s where this quote is from and is the type of editorial I remember back in the early 90’s on my local Texas station.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday April 19, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/04/19 · 17:05

Before I say my opinion of Adam Brodsky, let me say his songs since the election have been amazing. “This Is Not Normal,” like most Adam Brodsky songs, is songwriting at its best, each line not only fits the meter but it says more upon inspection than when you first hear it.

I do find it hard to be an Adam Brodsky fan. His singing voice makes it hard to tell people “You guys, you gotta check this song out.” I will say that hasn’t stopped him. He sounds like Bob Dylan trying to perform like the Sex Pistols at times. He does a mix of novelty songs, great folk songs, and political songs. His album “Folk Remedy” is the best place to start. As a producer, he’s also fantastic.

You should also listen to his irregularly released podcast Rhymes Against Humanity.

There is a Facebook video of Adam Brodsky playing this song, but not everyone has Facebook, so I’m also linking it to his website. The song starts at the 14:23 mark.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday April 12, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/04/12 · 17:05

In a way, you can argue Woody Guthrie was the first punk rocker. He was a hobo rebel who stood up against fascists foreign and domestic and was the spiritual father to Bob Dylan and Joe Strummer. He toured with Pete Seeger and wrote the songs that would later be co-opted by Republicans who carefully edit out his socialism.

He was an activist, a labor leader, and he and I share the same birthday. I don’t make music, but I hope my pen, my pencil, my brush, my computer, like Guthrie’s guitar, kill fascists.

He passed away in 1967, leaving us “This land is your land,” “You Fascists are Gonna Lose,” and of course the now classic “Old Man Trump,” where these lyrics came from.

That’s right, over 60 years ago Woody Guthrie wrote a song about how Old Man Trump was a dirty racist. Granted he was talking about his father, but whatever; racists gotta hate.

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday March 29, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/03/29 · 17:05

Since 2014 I end March with a Maddow. Why? For two reasons, because it’s Women’s History Month in March and because April 1st is her birthday.

I wanted to continue my work of making fake album covers and this image of Rachel Maddow was perfect for this.

Even though The Rachel Maddow Show hasn’t been as good since Bill Wolff left the show and MSNBC has become a neo-cold war, anti-Russia channel, it’s still the best show on the network and I don’t miss an episode. Happy birthday Rachel Maddow!

RightAboutNow

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Wednesday March 22, 2017 · 5:05 PM PDT

2017/03/22 · 17:05

I have a living document that is over 100 pages of quotes which I am working from to make these. Some I have no clue where I came across the quote. This one is one such quote. It’s apparently from the book The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed. I am constantly adding to it from what I read and listen to. That being said, I know very little about Barbara Ehrenreich's life and have no catchy story behind the image.

No matter what, this statement I endorse 100%.

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How to have a better media with Dave Eisenstadter

Why Honoring the Confederacy is a National Embarrassment with Mitch Landrieu

That time I met the organizer of the Charlottesville Racist Riot and Made Him Pause for a moment.

How to find Solidarity in the Age of Trump

Yuri Kochiyama and lessons we need to learn

How Jeff Sessions and Rudy Giuliani are as bad at History as they are lawyers

What ISIS and the KKK have in common.

Jim Hightower and why Democrats must understand how Republicans hear their leaders

What is Normal with Adam Brodsky

Woody Guthrie

This Town Needs a Civics Lesson with Rachel Maddow

How to be a true patriot with Barbara Ehrenreich