I profoundly admire Apple for taking a stand against Prop 8 (Prop Hate)

From their website, posted on October 24, 2008 at 10:18 (http://www.apple.com/startpage/):

No on Prop 8
Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

Blaming the victims of the crisis

Recently I was arguing the same point this article makes with some petty bourgeois acquaintances, one a hopeless reactionary, the other a closet libertarian. They were making Wall Street's case that the entire financial crises is due to the government forcing innocent institutions like Countrywide to lend to brown (read Latino) and black people. I said "even if they did, and loans were made to every single black and brown person in the country, that still only accounts for roughly 20% of the loans. How do you account for the other 80%?" They were unable to answer it, and just reiterated the right wing 'talking points.'

Palin: the View from British Columbia

Hands down the best prose on SW this year

Brian Jones is a genius, witness:

I'm not sure which is more frightening, though: watching McCain and Palin whip a crowd into a patriotic, anti-Obama frenzy with racist code words, or watching McCain try to backpedal when audience members drop the code and speak in plain language?

Called the Congressperson!

I have very little faith in bourgeois representative democracy, but there are times when you can get a little bit of input. While we all know struggle is far more important than voting, the looming danger of HR 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act was worth the quick phone call to voice my opposition. Representative Xavier Becerra, had the good sense (or at least political acumen) to vote against the first version of the bill. I called his office today to thank him for that and to strongly state my opposition to the Senate revisions. Lets hope the House rejects the "Bankster Bailout" again. While Bush and all the other ruling class representatives are trying so hard to convince us we are all in the same boat, we always need to remember -- "the working class and the employing class have nothing in common."