Three Rivers Online: We're Putting the Alternative Back Into the Press/Editor and Publisher Philip Shropshire

Important Update: For New Vid Adds Go Here and Here (Widescreen!) Got tired of looking for new videos. Note to Atrios: the kewl kids aren't creating old fashioned MP3 lists. They're creating their own television channels. I told you I'd have my vengeance Reginald Hudlin. Newest version of the Anti Bet on J/Anti Tony Mowad jazz channel. Actually, it's more than just acid jazz. There's straight ahead and a few rock tunes thrown in for good measure. Plus toons and politics. This is set on random play so every time you refresh the 80 ~~230~~ ~~350~~ ~~502~~ ~~1060~~ ~~2100~~ 4500 or so vids appear in a different order. You shall rue the day that you crossed me Reginald Hudlin. And Goddamn you Reginald Hudlin. Goddamn you and BET on J to Hell. More legal update: This is actually more of a search engine (me plus the tech). All of these vids are available on the public youtubes and such. Vids that are copyright violations are often taken down. More Update: Fullscreen function fully enabled. ON the bottom right corner that's the box that's furthest to the left.

Sept. 6

Gloria Steinem, on the left, on Sarah Palin, or as she's sometime referred to around here "Mullah in a Skirt" (I might trademark that....) or as one Salon reader put it: Auntie Tom.

But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.

Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."

This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.

....Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.

More from the muckrakers and bottom dwellers who simply can't accept boundaries and limits from...mainstream Vanity Fair?

There's a poll at the end of this by the way and most people think that Trig is Bristol's kid and that the current pregnancy might be faked to cover it up. Again, this is real news. Really. No matter what Markos says. Interesting comment on the photos timeline:

Good start - but you did leave off some of the most puzzling info! 1. For example, this early February 2008 picture from the Alaska Daily news (http://www.adn.com/politics/story/339576.html) when she was in theory five-six months pregnant. 2. The extended podcast of her walking crisply from her house to her office at six-seven months pregnant. (http://alaskapodshow.com/index.php/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-pregnancy-scandal/) She doesn't look or act pregnant, and the filming crew didn't see that she was pregnant. 3. The videotape of her at a Newsweek conference in March 2008 (seven months pregnant), where she similarly does not look like (or stand up like) she's remotely pregnant (http://www.newsweek.com/id/156190 go to #8, especially last 30 seconds) 4. The photo of her at the National Governors Association conference in late February 2008 (don't have the link to the photo at the moment, but she looks very trim). 5. The uniformly disbelieving reactions of Alaskans (including her own staff) to her pregnancy announcement in early March 2008, as reported at the time bby the Alaska Daily News (http://www.adn.com/front/story/336402.html). 6. This March 14, 2008 photo of her published in the Alaska Daily News (seven months), again, showing her as very trim. (http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/345168.html) 7. And, the very warm family pictures posted by Sadie (boyfriend Levi's sister) on Sadie's myspace page, where Sadie is cradling baby Trig, and speaking of Trig and Bristol as members of Sadie's own family. (see http://flickr.com/photos/30128128@N04/sets/72157607061462256/ for a saved set of these photos). If your going to do a great, definitive timeline like this (thank you!), these items really need to be accounted for as well!

Related: Partially Salvaged Daily Kos post that started it all. Read all about it.

Have to admit this a pretty good Al Franken Ad. Don't know why dems don't use more of that Hollywood mojo...you could easily use it for McCain/Mullah with a Skirt. Just show two people running...

Sept. 5

Kowardly Kos Strikes Again

I just happened to have a page of this spiked diary hanging around that Markos spiked. I placed it here. Its missing around 500 comments but you can see the essence of the argument for yourself and determine if censorship should have been used. This poster placed two diaries on this topic. The first one has gone down the memory hole and I've restored three fourths of the second post. This was all public record of course.

I wrote this introduction:

This page was spiked by so-called new "journalist" Markos Moulitsas. Completely cowardly. Here's a thought: politicians shouldn't turn their back on promising to filibuster FISA and then not do it. Markos shouldn't pretend to be a "journalist" and then censor stories. The worst that can happen here is that this story is proven false. Then we can move on to the many many other interesting Sarah Palin scandals whether its trooper gate or book banning gate or sleeping with your husband's business partner gate, whatever. The best that can happen is that we prove that she faked her last pregnancy to hide the shame of an illegitimate child or she was purposely trying to miscarriage by taking that incredibly long and dangerous plane trip. That's how my grandmother lost one of her kids. Perhaps that was the point. This goes to the heart of their lying hypocritical family values bullshit. Look, we bring knives to the knife party. We bring guns to the gun party. Nothing is off limits. The future of the planet is at stake. All tools must be used to defeat this Mullah in a Skirt. And if you want to discuss things without being censored or disemvoweled, go here. (Unless you spam...)

By the way, if you're still interested in this discussion, try "Scienceblogs" (which, unlike Markos, has figured out that all of these things are worthy of discussion.) Ed Brayton gets this correctly.

Many commenters seem to think that this has something to do with getting people to vote against McCain. Sorry, not true. This has no effect at all on my vote no matter what the truth turns out to be, nor do I think it should have any effect on anyone else's vote. As many have pointed out, there are far more important and relevant issues if we're talking about who to vote for. None of that has anything to do with why I posted on this subject. I just find the notion that someone would try to pull this off really fascinating and I want to know if, in fact, they did. I think there's some compelling evidence that has been offered. There have also been some false claims made about it on both sides (misdated pictures, for example). I'm quite curious to know what the truth is and that's why I'm writing about it and inviting new evidence that might debunk the allegations. I don't have any political stake in what the truth turns out to be at all, nor do I think anyone else should. I just think it's a really fascinating story.

Posted by: Ed Brayton | September 1, 2008 2:05 PM

Ed understands what online journalism is supposed to be about. But I do disagree with his determination that this wouldn't be a good reason to vote against somebody. It obviously would be a good reason to vote against someone, especially if your base is made up of puritanical, fundamentalist holy rollers.

Sept 2

You can see a visibly pissed off Amy Goodman today at Democracy Now here. For people who don't know this, like, say, my mother: Amy Goodman is one of the best journalists working in the country today. She isn't the richest. She's not as entertaining as say a Jon Stewart or Keith Olbermann. But she's completely independent. And unlike those aforementioned guys you can't turn her off. Unless you murder her or beat her senseless while refusing to read the big rectangular press credential tags around her neck. One of the things that troubles me about her arrest is that she isn't in the best of health. Its been speculated that the paralysis on one side of her face is stroke related. This brings us to another uncomfortable question: what happens to Democracy Now if Amy Goodman can't continue the job?

One thing that I wish Amy would do is take at least six weeks off per year not to fool around but to lower her stress and to work out. Have people like Naomi Klein (who would be a perfect replacement for Amy if something bad were to happen), Mike Moore, Greg Palast, Jane Hamsher or Glenn Greenwald take over for one or two week runs while she gets better or just, frankly, preserves her health. They should also be allowed to produce for the week. I'd be curious as to their takes on the news.

One more thing: Sue! Sue em for a hundred million dollars. Fund Democracy Now forever.

August 31

A Special Republican Family Values Edition of Around the Internets

You know, when I look at that picture, I don't immediately think of a bible thumping, anti choice, anti abortion even in the case of rape or incest, anti birth control kinda of a gal. I think more along the lines of "One hundred dollars?...Are you crazy? I can go sixty at best...Hey, no need for your big Mafia Aleut goon pimp to get rough with me I can leave on my own..." (Alleged nude photo at the Red Light District.)

First there's this sum up from "Hotties in the News"

She is currently under Federal Investigation for corruption....She may not believe in Global Warming...She's not interested in saving the Polar Bears.... She doesn't care much for evolution in education.... She doesn't know much about being Vice President.... She's heard about Iraq on the news.... She doesn't seem to know anything on the economy, or global politics....Many Alaskans are scratching their collective heads in bewilderment...Yet John McCain's Republican Vice Presidential running mate is SMOKING HOT (& that's all that appears to matter TO American voters!) And without knowing jack shit about her politics, 58% of American males just love Alaska's Sarah Palin... and here's why, in pictures.

Second, there's this potentially huge scandal on whether or not Sarah Palin is a grandmother and not a mother. The federal scandal has been kicked around at the Daily Kos for months now but if this scandal is true, well, her name would have to be withdrawn like Harriet Myers. Now, this could be a left version of the Obama birth certificate controversy (Of which there is none. In fact, the only person with a controversy is John McCain who isn't native born but he's such a horrible candidate who would want to eliminate him...) but in the world of not teaching your children about sexuality or birth control it makes perfect sense. And of course you would have to be ashamed about it. Anyway, here are the juicy parts of the Daily Kos story. It also has photos and videotape. This is the kind of journalism that papers used to do and this is also why papers are dying, deservedly so I might add.

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better...

People like to think the vetting process is secure, and completed months ahead of time, but ABC News has reported otherwise, painting a picture of a quick vetting process for Sarah by a small, but secretive group of McCain's legal staff. A proper vetting process under those circumstances would only go so far, and the true media vetting process has just begun.It doesn't come as a surprise that this story was never properly researched. Palin was never on the National scene for more than a few minutes at a time, and local reporting only goes so far on a governor with an 80% approval rating. However, the motivation to cover daughter's pregnancy aligns with her political standings. She valiantly did not perform an abortion, but fell into the fundamentalist way of thinking, and covered up for the illicit (but natural) action's of her daughter. There could be calls below to delete this information. Calls that this type of information is muckraking and 'below us'. The truth is not below any progressive, nor any citizen of the world that is one heartbeat away from having Palin as leader of the free world. We simply ask that she be forthright, honest, and not waste our time with such juvenile games that anyone with eyes can see as fabrication.

Bristol Palin rightfully should be able to embrace her child in public as her own, with no shame, and no quarter. And a mother should be just as accepting.

I guess we could ask for DNA tests just to clear things up. Here's a question: who's the real father?

Update: Daily Kos diary spills water on the rumor. Could you get the doctor to lie as well? Perhaps this isn't true. Only a woman could look at those photos and determine if she was five or six months pregnant.

August 28

Jack Kirby would have turned 91 today. Best tribute, by far, at the Comic Book Reporter.

Not a bad speech from Obama.

August 25

I totally missed this. You and I can learn more about it here. I have no idea if the stories are any good or at the Alan Moore/Warren Ellis level but I would love to read them.

Jenn Jannon, who should be named formerly in a suit I'm preparing within the next several months, can be found on the Internet talking, hilariously enough, about Working America's "Bad Boss" contest. You would think that someone should enter Ms. Jannon being that she'll probably be sued for both age and race discrimination. I tried to make this point at something called the "Gay City News" but they haven't seen fit to publish my letter. Luckily, we live here in the future, so I can publish my own damn letters thank you very much. Here's what I wrote. Try censoring me. (And yes, I placed both phone calls and emails to two of the editors, Paul Schindler and Troy Masters, and they didn't return my email or my phone calls.) I should point out, again, that the positive aspect of this story is that you should fire people who are being sued for race and age discrimination. If you were at all "smart" that is...

Well, the worst thing about Jenn Jannon is that I'm suing her over race and age discrimination. There's also some evidence that Jenn Jannon could be a great nominee in her organization's own bad boss contest.

For more information on my lawsuit go here:

http://mirroruniverse.blogspot.com/2008/03/have-i-mentioned-that-im-suing-jenn.html

For what other people have said about Jenn Jannon go here. Look, when your nickname is "Hitler" maybe you're not a good manager...:

http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2008/04/29384_comment.php#29556

Philip Shropshire
www.threeriversonline.com

PS: Now, on her old myspace page, which I've managed to save, she does refer to herself as a
"bisexual" if that makes it all better...Frankly, I think Ms. Jannon is a terrible person to
promote this particular contest and if the labor movement was smart they would fire her...I offer that in a positive constructive spirit that aims to help the labor movement...

Changiness We Can Believe In

Joe Biden. Meh. Yes, there are a lot of prudent reasons to go with Joe Biden but we seem to be hearing this a lot whenever the O man moves right, which is all the time. He is noticing that his poll numbers are plummeting right? He's still raising lots of money but so what if you lose. Republicans lose all the time when they have money because people see through them. He does know that he has to attract white liberals and white liberals tend to read stuff. In fact, they tend to get their news online. Where else would they go, Fox News? Thomas Friedman at the Times?

There's also encouraging the crazy people to put a bullet in you because if you shoot the black guy we get white regular guy Joe Biden. Thanks for energizing the Krazy Klan with a gun segment of the population. No thanks. Really. Ignore the history of this country putting bullets into black leaders. Remember: You're special and nothing bad will happen to you.

Related: Here's your Joe Biden roundup. Sam at Undernews gives us the good and bad about Joe Biden. I think I can state that Glenn Greenwald is not impressed. You should also watch this special two hour Democracy Now clip for more information on why we really don't have an opposition party in the United States.

August 21

Ouch. And "heh". And...Obama Strikes!

August 20

Because we need a nicer family friendly Sin City. Related: Warner Brothers released an animated version of the first issue of Watchmen online for free. I really liked it although they should have hired a woman to voice Sally Jupiter. And of course the writing is brilliant. Alan Moore is one of the greatest writers alive, period. Maybe ever. Please do this with Promethea, Top Ten, Tom Strong and the League. Watch below:

Link: sevenload.com