Must to See: Robert Newman's History of Oil

British comedian Robert Newman has put together a frequently hilarious 45-minute documentary/performance piece on the history of oil over the last 100 years or so. Much of the story is familiar, but as a Brit he is able to offer historically based insights, such as when he argues that the planning and construction of the Berlin-Baghdad Railway -- to provide Germany direct access to middle east oil -- was one of the primary causes of World War I. Available on Google Video.

OpEd: Dwayne Booth

Probably because he doesn't hold down a chair on the editorial page of a major metropolitan newspaper, Los Angeles-based political cartoonist Dwayne Booth, a.k.a. Mr.Fish, isn't as renowned as he deserves, but his work, appearing regularly in the LA Weekly and the Los Angeles Times, and on Catch of the Day, a daily cartoon blog for the Weekly's website, as weekly cartoonist on Harpers.org, on Bob Scheer's Truthdig, and as a featured cartoonist on Daryl Cagle's exhaustive cartoon archive at MSNBC.com, is worth chasing down. His dry, ironic drawings appear in three of Cagle's print collections: The BIG Book of Bush Cartoons, The Best Political Cartoons of the Year 2006, and The Best Political Cartoons of the Year 2007. Search him out.

I'm just sayin'...: Dems and Reps wired differently

Conservatives and liberals have different patterns of neuronal impulses when confronted with unexpected circumstances, reports Harper's. Scientist have found that self-described conservatives pressed the wrong button in response to a new stimulus 47 % of the time, whereas avowed liberals had a 37 % error rate; liberals have double the activity of conservatives in the anterior cingulate cortex, a deep region in the brain that helps people recognize a "no-go" situation.

Like invading Iran, perhaps.

The Corporate Media: Unfair and, in every sense of the word, Unbalanced

For a measure of the media bias against the Democrats, consider this from Shoddy! Tawdry! A Televised Train Wreck! (New York Times, 2008-04-20), Frank Rich's meditation on ABC's trivialization of the issues during this week's debate:

At an Associated Press luncheon for newspaper editors in Washington last week, Mr. McCain was given a standing ovation.(The other candidate who appeared, Mr. Obama, was not.)

The editors can't rouse themselves to be polite, let alone fair.

Action: Move on, MoveOn -- Activist/Troubador James McMurtry has his own video contest

Singer-songwriter and reluctant activist James McMurtry (see, Impractical Proposals, 2007-08-05), and Lightning Rod Records are having a contest so fans can create their own music videos to the protest song, “Cheney’s Toy.” From the entries, McMurtry will choose the best videos and post them on his MySpace page and website. If needed, fans can create videos using slideshow applications at RockYou.com. Creators of each of the top five videos will receive t-shirts and autographed copies of McMurtry’s new album, Just Us Kids, and the best video will also receive an 8 Gb Apple iPod Nano with video capabilities. Here's an entry in the contest:

And another:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKUE0RTuw24
Contest info:
http://jamesmcmurtry.com/4contest.html

Nightlife: Main Street, Santa Monica.

No. Really.

If you say nothing happens on Main Street in Santa Monica, nobody's going to argue with you, but it's not really true. The World Cafe has returned to its roots midweek evenings in the no-cover front lounge, with "Hump Day Comedy" stand-up Wednesdays at 9 and live acoustic music Tuesdays at (I think) 8 (I chanced on a terrific singer-songwriter there a couple of weeks ago). Meanwhile, starting in May, Enterprise Fish Co. introduces "The Lounge," with live DJs, wine and cocktails, and tapas that, if up to the FishCo's usual standards, will be terrific.

In the shorter run, at Powerhouse Theater on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. until May 10, Hal Ackerman takes a frank look at his own mortality in his "poignant and often humorous" play, Testosterone: How Prostate Cancer Made a Man of Me, joined by supporting cast members Dennis Lee Kelly and Lisa Robins. Co-chair of the screenwriting program at the U.C.L.A. School of Theater, Film and Television where he has been on the faculty for 22 years, Ackerman completed treatment for prostrate cancer in 2001.

Powerhouse Theater, 3116 2nd, 310-396-3680.
Enterprise Fish Co., 174 Kinney, 310-392-8366.
The World Cafe, 2820 Main, 310-392-1661; carldegreg@yahoo.com

Gun Control: Candidates continue to muddy the issue

During the late great debate, in another feint to the right, Barack Obama endorsed the National Rifle Association's purposeful misreading of the Constitution, saying that he believes "as a general principle" that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to keep and bear arms.

He also has favored some controls on guns; his position on firearms, like Hillary Clinton's, may be so "nuanced" as to be meaningless.

Obama's reading of the Second Amendment is contrary to that of most Democrats; contrary to the Supremes, who when they last ruled on the question in 1939 held that the wording ensures a collective right that applies to the states; contrary to public safety officials in most urban areas; contrary to the plain English of the document; and contrary to common sense.

It is, however, a strongly held position in the parts of rural Pennsylvania where he isn't doing very well. I guess we'll have to hope he's just pandering again (i.e., lying to get elected). Otherwise, we'll be forced to start taking seriously what he says -- about this and health care and militarism and Middle East politics and nuclear energy and ethanol and the death penalty and the Patriot Act and a host of other topics -- and that could leave an awful lot of us without a horse in this race.

A particularly egregious example of corporate media's trivialization of our politics

What's the big news this weekend? I dunno, how about Bush sanctioned torture? What does CNN want to talk about? Barack Obama's verbal "slip" that some of the residents of impoverished parts of Pennsylvania, having been abandoned by the political system, are "bitter." Here's what Crooks and Liars has to say about it: CNN Thinks Obama’s Words Are More Important Than Bush’s Torturing. If this is how the media covers Bush at this point in his sorry career, imagine the free ride John McCain is going to get as we head toward November.

See also, Clinton's "Bitter" Exploitation (DavidCorn.com, 2008-04-14)

Music: My latest Slacker station

Slacker is an online music service that allows you to program your own stations for listening online for free or for downloading to an iPod-like device of their devising. My latest channel, The Golden Pals (I started building the line up from the Golden Palominos), is a pretty mixed bag of mostly outsiders, including the likes of Frank Zappa, Nico, Mike Oldfield, Bill Frisell, Björk, The Deviants, Steely Dan, John Cale, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, Captain Beefheart, Colosseum, David Bowie, Pearls Before Swine, Bill Laswell, Eugene Chadbourne, The Fugs, The Godz, Sun Ra, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Soft Machine, The Holy Modal Rounders, etc., to which, now that I think of it, I'll add Alex Chilton and Scott Walker. The Golden Pals on Slacker.

More:
Alvin and the Hip Monks: Dave Alvin, Beat Farmers, Carrie Rodriguez, Chip Taylor, Chris Whitley, Freedy Johnston, Greg Brown, John Doe, John Hiatt...
Angel's Band: Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Candi Staton, Eric Benet, James Carr, Latimore, Jill Scott, Will Downing, Johnny Adams, The Dells...
Bob's Mob: Bob Dorough, Bill Henderson, Helen Merrill, Jon Hendricks, Lee Wiley, Dave Frishberg, Betty Carter, Andy Bey, King Pleasure, Bobby Troup, Ernie Andrews, Little Jimmy Scott, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Hartman, Nat King Cole, Mose Allison...
Charted Territory: Larger jazz aggregations from Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman to 8 Bold Souls and Alexander von Schlippenbach...
Fats' Cats: Building from Fats Waller, an eclectic mix extending from Tiny Grimes and Leroy Carr to Big Joe Williams and Jay McShann...
The Harmoniacs: Doo Wop and related styles, from the Ink Spots to the Impalas, Robert & Johnny, The Orioles, The Dubs, The Harptones, The Jive Five, and Lee Andrews and the Hearts...

Action: Join L.A.'s Workers April 15, 16 and 17th

March from Hollywood to the Docks

This comes from L.A.Union, the AFL-CIO's Los Angeles County umbrella:

Actors, longshore workers, janitors and other working Californians will be embarking on a three-day, 28-mile march from Hollywood to the docks of San Pedro. These union members and community allies will symbolize more than 350,000 workers who will be fighting for new contracts this year to stay in the middle class or move themselves out of poverty.

Many marchers will be camping out for the entire march, but several events and rallies will be held over the course of the march, so even those who cannot make the full commitment will be able to participate. You can find a full schedule of events at
http://www.hollywoodtothedocks.org/events.asp.

The march will kick off with a rally on Tuesday morning, and will conclude on Thursday with a massive demonstration at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Everyone is encouraged to show their support for the marchers at these and other events throughout the three-day march.

Kick Off Rally - March to follow Tuesday, April 15th at 9:00 am Hancock Park at the La Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard in L.A.

Rally at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro Thursday, April 17th at 6:00 pm Berth 87, W 1st St & S Harbor Blvd in San Pedro.

2008: Wishful Thinking on the Left

Glen Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda Report, has this to say about Leftists who have adopted Obama as their Savior:

...Is anyone prepared to challenge the Rightists in Obama's organization?

Hell no. Nobody on the Left has any leverage on the Obama campaign, which has always been a corporate machine. The only option open to the Left is to pretend that they are standing like sentinels to ensure Obama doesn't capitulate to the people who already own him. The most pitiful communication on this subject comes from Tom Hayden, Bill Fletcher, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Danny Glover - the last of whom I consider an honest and decent fellow.

The self-styled "progressives" attempt to upend history and fool everybody, including themselves. The four claim that current conditions can be compared to the 1930s, when "centrist leaders" were compelled by activists "to embrace visionary solutions." There's a huge problem with that reasoning, however. In the 1930s, there were already strong movements existent before Franklin Roosevelt's 1932 and 1936 runs for the presidency. It was the movements - many of them communist-led - that shaped the Roosevelt campaigns and the New Deal, that in fact changed history. Today's four wishful signers insist that "even though it is candidate-centered, there is no doubt that the campaign is a social movement, one greater than the candidate himself ever imagined."

Really? Believe that hogwash when any of the loyal Lefties demand Obama discard his plans to add 92,000 addition soldiers and Marines to the total U.S. military ranks, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and bringing with it the certainty of more wars. Never happen. The signers have already claimed the political campaign is a movement. Would they expose themselves as poseurs and fakers by making futile demands on the campaign, which is, after all, supposed to be one with the "movement?" Would they risk being told to shut up? No, it's too late for Hayden, Fletcher, Ehrenreich, and Glover to strut around as if they have options; they pissed all that away in the initial glow of Obamamania, and from now on will have to accept their status as hangers on.

In the greatest irony of all, Black voters have convinced themselves that they are in a stronger position than ever in history, when the exact opposite is true. Having asked for nothing but Obama's autograph, they will get nothing from him for the next four years. No doubt, this will be a period of deep humiliation - as it should be. We'll call it "The Years of Living Vicariously."

There is no substitute for a real movement. The Obama stage handlers have proven that, in the absence of a movement, they know how to construct something that looks much like the real thing - at least to those who are eager to believe. This election season, we had millions of eager believers, but very few real leaders and not enough movement builders. We will have four years to correct the mistakes of 2007-'08.

Justifiable distaste for the Clintons led many on the left lend their support to Obama on SuperTuesday without getting anything in return. The idea that they are in a position to demand anything from the candidate now is delusional. Even if he had made promises, there'd be no way to collect on them; "leftists" these days earn the title by adopting opinions, not by leading organizations that can hold politicians accountable.

See also: MoveOn.org continues to shill for Obama (Impractical Proposals, 2008-03-13) and MoveOn, move back to the issues (Impractical Proposals, 2008-02-17)

Polls: 76 % say U.S. ready for black president

According to a poll reported by CNN, 76 percent of Americans believe the country is ready to elect a black president, up 14 percent since December 2006. The tally also indicates that more whites than blacks think the country is ready to follow an African-American. "Of the white Americans surveyed, 78 percent said the country is ready, as opposed to 69 percent of African-Americans polled."

The polltakers did not ask how many respondents think there already has been a black president, but given the pervasive influence of television and the movies, it would be no surprise if many Americans think they've already lived through the administrations of two great black presidents, Tom Beck and David Palmer.

Played respectively by masterful Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact and charismatic Dennis Haysbert on 24, black chief executives have displayed magnitudes of courage, intelligence, idealism, resilience and competence far in excess of what's been offered by anyone seen puttering around the Oval Office lately.

What sensible voter wouldn't favor more of a good thing?