CC's Rants, Raves, n Pix

Friday, July 02, 2004

 
What The Bleep Do We Know!? - Spiritual Movies, Quantum Physics, Brain Science, Spirituality

I just saw Fahrenheit 9/11 and it was truly amazing must-see incredible movie history, and history being made. I hope you all will go see it. You are voting for victory right? voting for victory of our communities over corporations. If not, write me immediately so I can explain.

But this movie, "What the Bleep" is maybe the most important one to see just after Michael Moore's. It gives us the tools to change the reality, not just more details about the reality we must change. If you are already on the bus, get on the next bus into quantum physics, brain science, and spiritual awareness. If it's not in your town yet, read the synopsis...here's some of it:

The film employs animation to realize the radical knowledge that modern science has unearthed in recent years. Powerful cinematic sequences explore the inner-workings of the human brain. Quirky animation introduces us to the smallest form of consciousness in the body – the cell. Dazzling visuals reinforce the film’s message in an exciting, powerful way. Done with humor, precision, and irreverence, these scenes are only part of what makes this film unique in the history of cinema, and a true box-office winner.

Stacey De Polo 12:27 AM

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

 
CBS Has Refused To Air MoveOn.Org's Contest-Winning Ad "Child's Pay" during the Superbowl

They will allow two White House ads to play during the telecast, however.

Sign up here to Boycott CBS on Superbowl Day (February 1st).
Spread the word on your email lists about this action. Moveon.org has become so powerful through this type of campaign so if you are feeling frustrated and disempowered, I highly recommend doing this action. It feels good and we are more powerful than we realize.

For a fun way of realizing our power online, check out the closest I will ever come to advocating bombing as a strategy..."Google Bombing." For a demonstration of the result, visit google and do a search for "miserable failure" to see for yourself how concerned netizens are objecting to the administration's criminal behavior.
While you are there, take a listen to Mokai's new song on the subject (Criminal Behavior): "You Can't fool Me" . The full article is in the NY Times but you gotta register to read it.

Stacey De Polo 5:43 PM

Monday, December 29, 2003

 
This is strange, for anyone who knows me only over the last decade, but I am knitting. I can't really believe it and nor can others. One of my sisters said..."can she really keep still for that long?"

but anyone who has knitted must know the power it has to calm you even when you seem so wound up that nothing could.
well, at least this is what I discovered trying it. Plus it produced a really nice scarf. see pix below. I highly recommend knitting if you havent' tried it yet. I even found some cool videos to show you how to get started

One of my New Year's resolutions is to try to live a less stressed out life and this knitting thing...just might help. If it doesn't, it will at least produce some nice fun scarves that didn't involve sweatshop labor....well, unless you consider my office a sweatshop, which it does resemble sometimes. [actually, the yarn, I am sure, is not exactly produced by rich white folks with good healthcare and fair wages...hmmm, maybe I can find some that is ;-]



Stacey De Polo 9:10 PM

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

 
READ and WEAP,

The growing threat to our democracy is alarming, and it's not coming
from terrorists overseas. Please read on.

-Peter

Hack the Vote

New York Times

By PAUL KRUGMAN
OP-ED COLUMNIST
December 2, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/02/opinion/02KRUG.html?th

Inviting Bush supporters to a fund-raiser, the host wrote, "I am committed
to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." No
surprise there. But Walden O'Dell -- who says that he wasn't talking about
his business operations -- happens to be the chief executive of Diebold Inc.,
whose touch-screen voting machines are in increasingly widespread use across
the United States.

For example, Georgia -- where Republicans scored spectacular upset victories
in the 2002 midterm elections -- relies exclusively on Diebold machines. To
be clear, though there were many anomalies in that 2002 vote, there is no
evidence that the machines miscounted. But there is also no evidence that
the machines counted correctly. You see, Diebold machines leave no paper
trail.

Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey, who has introduced a bill requiring
that digital voting machines leave a paper trail and that their software be
available for public inspection, is occasionally told that systems lacking
these safeguards haven't caused problems. "How do you know?" he asks.

What we do know about Diebold does not inspire confidence. The details are
technical, but they add up to a picture of a company that was, at the very
least, extremely sloppy about security, and may have been trying to cover up
product defects.

Early this year Bev Harris, who is writing a book on voting machines, found
Diebold software -- which the company refuses to make available for public
inspection, on the grounds that it's proprietary -- on an unprotected server,
where anyone could download it. (The software was in a folder titled
"rob-Georgia.zip.") The server was used by employees of Diebold Election
Systems to update software on its machines. This in itself was an incredible
breach of security, offering someone who wanted to hack into the machines
both the information and the opportunity to do so.

An analysis of Diebold software by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Rice
Universities found it both unreliable and subject to abuse. A later report
commissioned by the state of Maryland apparently reached similar
conclusions. (It's hard to be sure because the state released only a heavily
redacted version.)

Meanwhile, leaked internal Diebold e-mail suggests that corporate officials
knew their system was flawed, and circumvented tests that would have
revealed these problems. The company hasn't contested the authenticity of
these documents; instead, it has engaged in legal actions to prevent their
dissemination.

Why isn't this front-page news? In October, a British newspaper, The
Independent, ran a hair-raising investigative report on U.S. touch-screen
voting. But while the mainstream press has reported the basics, the Diebold
affair has been treated as a technology or business story -- not as a
potential political scandal.

This diffidence recalls the treatment of other voting issues, like the
Florida "felon purge" that inappropriately prevented many citizens from
voting in the 2000 presidential election. The attitude seems to be that
questions about the integrity of vote counts are divisive at best, paranoid
at worst. Even reform advocates like Mr. Holt make a point of dissociating
themselves from "conspiracy theories." Instead, they focus on legislation to
prevent future abuses.

But there's nothing paranoid about suggesting that political operatives,
given the opportunity, might engage in
Stacey De Polo 1:51 AM

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

 
If you don't see text here, scroll down..it's there!

Mokai played some really cool shows last weekend and I wanted to post some pix I took. Mia Mustari joined us on our trip too. We had a great time playing to a full room of very relaxed folks up at Harbin Hot Springs on Saturday. They started the set with a beautiful Native American chant and did a variety of Mokai's originals and a few of Mia's too, with a traditional or two thrown in there. Folks really seemed to like it.
		Sunday night, Mokai's new trio took Cotati by a storm, playing jammed out versions of Mokai's tunes at the Tradewinds Bar. He busted out the electric guitar for most of the set, but this photo has him on his new acoustic Gibson. Both guitars sounded great that night, as did the band and Mia. If you aren't yet on Mokai's email list, sign up at mokaimusic.com
And we returned to SF to take part in an unusual night called "Viv and a Movie" which happens every Monday at the Red Devil Lounge . Many, many thanks to Nadia and her posse for showing up to hear Mokai and hang out.   We are so excited to return to the Red Devil in November with the full trio, so mark your calendars and show your earthworm luv...Nov. 21, TourBaby SF!

Stacey De Polo 2:26 PM

Monday, October 06, 2003

 
Schwarzenegger Accused of Involvement in $9B California Swindle with Enron’s Ken Lay

"Investigative reporter Greg Palast reveals how Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is part of a larger scheme to help Enron and other power companies avoid paying back $9 billion in illicit profits by replacing Gov. Gray Davis.

At the center of the story is a private lawsuit filed last year by California's Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante to make Enron and other power companies pay back $9 billion in illicit profits. The suit shows how they carried off the profits by fraudulent reporting of sales transactions, megawatt "laundering," fake power delivery scheduling. Palast cites a 34-page internal Enron memo he obtained.

Schwarzenegger has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001 he met with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay and convicted stock swindler Mike Milken in a hotel room in Los Angeles. The meeting was allegedly part of a plan to recall Gov. Gray Davis and replace him with someone who could make the legal threat go away. "

This is not exactly shocking news, but news it is, and at the 11th hour. I really had this idea that I would stop blogging about politics and do more music reviews and stories about all the cool events I promote and attend. But I can't help it. This is out of hand. I must speak. We must vote. call everyone you know in California.

I am actually changing my vote. I was planning to vote Camejo and support the Greens but the stakes are too high. This recall is now so obviously part of a mastermind strategy orchestrated by a faction of the republican party that I have been fighting against since I cam to Cali. IF you don't know who Pete Wilson is, read this article before you vote. We must stop them. One think Greg Palast points out is how undemocratic the numbers are...Even if Davis gets 49% of the voters saying no to recall (and essentially confirming their support for him), arnold could win with a mere 35%. The math is incredible! This boils down to a much easier way for republicans to game the system than a normal election process.

I actually signed the recall petition because of my disappointment with Davis on environmental issues. Seems so silly now, as we are sitting on the eve of the takeover. I can't believe they are getting away with this. I hope they don't. Please do everything in your reach to stop them. Be creative. Get out the vote. Stop the US occupation of California NOW!

Stacey De Polo 5:55 PM

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

 
This is an experiment with the new photo upload features of blogger.
I have a great shot of Mokai on stage at Earthdance last weekend. He performed just before Michael Franti and Spearhead hit the stage and it was awesome. He did his new song "Criminal Behavior (you can't fool me)" and the crowd loved it shouting "you can't fool me" over and over.




And here's another shot of Mokai entering the beer garden just after his set, running into a friend named Vidal who he's known for many years. Vidal's kids are both recording artists and Jeremy who plays drums for Mokai from time to time is also the drummer of Vidal's daughter Luna Angel's band.
















Once inside the beer garden Mokai hung out with another performer from the weekend, Joanne Rand. I caught her amazing set on the Arlo Haggler stage earlier that day. if you have never heard her, please treat yourself to a sample at http://www.joannerand.com


Stacey De Polo 6:19 PM