Dear Kitty. Some blog

From BuzzFlash in the USA:

Sarah Palin “Going Rouge” Coloring Book: Receiving National Attention as a Great Comic, Hands-On Parody of Palin’s “Going Rogue” Book

By Julie Sigwart and Michael Stinson

This video from Israel is called Peace Now demo 011009 (during the Gaza war).

From the daily Haaretz in Israel:

15:18 26/10/2009

Peace Now director barred from Knesset after Borat-style video

By Haaretz Service

The Knesset speaker barred the director of Peace Now from entering the parliament on Monday, after activists from his left-wing group interviewed rightist MKs while posing as students.

Following the incident, Peace Now said it had wanted to make a “Borat-like” film to expose the lawmakers’ embarrassing remarks, referring to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s alter ego, a clueless Kazakh journalist.

The group subsequently condemned the ban imposed on Yariv Oppenheimer.

“Peace Now rejects this attempt to punish the movement in the actual place that is supposed to guard the freedom of movement for all of society - whether left- or right-wing,” the organization said in a statement.

On Sunday, three Peace Now activists were arrested at the Knesset for asking to interview right-wing MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) while posing as students.

The three were released from custody shortly after the arrest, but a complaint was filed against them for impersonation and for trying to deceive an MK.

This video from Britain is called Nick Griffin’s Downfall …. Parody - Nick Griffin on Question Time………… Satire; based on the German film Der Untergang, about Adolf Hitler’s downfall.

The BBC and the BNP: here. And here.

Slap Nick Griffin Internet game: here.

The National Union of Journalists has called for “tough and urgent” police action in response to the physical violence, intimidation and death threats members covering far-right demonstrations endure: here.

This cartoon by Ted Rall from the USA compares Guantanamo Bay torture camp to an unfair school. Guantanamo Bay, which President Obama promised to close down; but which may still be open after Obama’s deadline.

A declassified ruling by a federal court judge reveals that Fouad al-Rabiah, an innocent Kuwaiti prisoner who was ordered released from Guantanamo three weeks ago, was brutally tortured into making false confessions by US interrogators and repeatedly threatened until he confessed to terrorist activities in which he was not involved: here.

This video is the trailer for the new film by Michael Moore, Capitalism: a love story.

Moore’s latest screen gem, “Capitalism: a Love Story,” may be the most he has moved away from support for capitalism and the closest he has come toward advocating socialist solutions. His final comment on the matter? “Democracy is the system” he likes best: here.

See also here. And here. And here.

Having spent much of his adult life campaigning on issues including the arms trade, the illegality of the Iraq war and the misdeeds of Coca-Cola, comedian and activist Mark Thomas has now turned his attention to the ongoing financial crisis: here.

Britain: In a surprisingly bold move the TUC has invited Linton Kwesi Johnson to headline an event for its World Day for Decent Work. The day will focus on the impact of the international financial crisis on workers’ rights: here.

This cartoon by Mikhaela from the USA is about healthcare debates. From her blog:

Drew this a few weeks ago after my parents encountered some unpleasant characters with Obama-Hitler signs at a town hall. If I had drawn more recently he’d be toting a bunch of machine guns.

Right-wing march in Washington against Obama health care plan: here.

“Sick for Profit”: Robert Greenwald Documentary Exposes Salaries, Claim Denials of Health Care Profiteers: here.

This video from the USA is called DN! “Astroturf Activism”(1\2): Leaked Memo Reveals Oil Industry Effort to Stage Rallies.

The part 2 video is here.

From the New Scientist in the USA:

August 26, 2009 5:05 PM

US business lobby demands Scopes trial for global warming

Shanta Barley, reporter

The US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest federation of businesses, has demanded that the Environment Protection Agency hold a public hearing to put the science of global warming on trial, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

The Chamber apparently envisages the lawsuit as a 21st Century Scopes trial, the 1925 legal case that overturned the Butler Act, a law forbidding the teaching of evolution in US schools.

Huh? Don’t they realise that science won in that case?

In April, the EPA paved the way for strict regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by ruling that climate change is bad for human health - and therefore subject to the Clean Air Act.

Now, with only a few weeks left before the policy change becomes official, the Chamber of Commerce is fighting back, demanding a public hearing to “force transparency” from the EPA regarding its evidence for the decision.

Not that they’re being taken seriously. The move has been dismissed as a ploy to sow political discord and undermine global warming legislation. The EPA itself shrugged off the threatened lawsuit as both a “waste of time” and “frivolous”. Ouch.

Indeed, Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist for the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists, says that the Chamber’s campaign against climate change [science] is reminiscent of the Salem witch trials - “based on myth”.

The Yes Men Pull Off Prank Claiming U.S. Chamber of Commerce Had Changed Its Stance on Climate Change: here.

“Forget ‘alternative’ energy — it can’t work!” That — and in almost those exact words — was among the messages of an article published in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Weekend Australian on August 8 by journalist Terry McCrann: here.

The BBC gave in to a “ludicrous” concern about impartiality when it dropped a day of programmes intended to raise awareness about energy efficiency and climate change, one of Britain’s most senior scientists says: here.

Climate myths: Any cooling disproves global warming: here.

USA: Bush Administration covered up global warming finding, then deliberately kept from Democrats: here.

The US Chamber of Commerce is taking a real hammering on Facebook these days. A visit to its wall finds a significant number of visitors demanding that it stop fudging its membership numbers: here.

Twitter is down.

It is good then, that the web site of United States cartoonist Stephanie McMillan is still up.

For instance, with this cartoon.

This cartoon by Stephanie McMillan from the USA is from her blog.

It is about Big Oil financing pro global warming rallies in the USA; see also here.

Health Insurance Lobby’s Stealth Astroturf Campaign Revealed! Here.

US Nazi Groups Look for New Recruits at Tea Parties: here.

After dancing (see also here), corrupt United States Republican politician Tom DeLay will become a movie actor … At least, according to Internet Weekly in the USA:

Tom DeLay To Star In Jailhouse Rock Remake

SUGARLAND, TX (IWR News Satire) - Tom DeLay announced today that he will be starring in a remake of the Elvis Presley movie Jailhouse Rock to help pay his mounting legal fees for the recent string of criminal charges brought against him in his home state of Texas.

Mr. DeLay will play Vince Everett, who is serving a twenty-year to life jail sentence for felonious obnoxiousness and money laundering.

While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, played by Orrin Hatch, introduces Vince to the record business.

Everett then becomes an overnight sensation as a rockabilly gospel singer and is eventually paroled by President Bush.

Unfortunately, Vince ends up back in the state pen after he is arrested for extorting lunch money from school children.