Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is a 21-member association of economies from the Asia-Pacific region…

Makana serenades APEC leaders with pro-Occupy protest song

By Mary Vorsino

POSTED: 12:05 p.m. HST, Nov 13, 2011

Slack-key celebrity Makana used his performance at an APEC dinner last night at the Hale Koa Hotel as an opportunity to get his pro-Occupy Wall Street movement views out to President Barack Obama and other world leaders.

Makana wore an “Occupy with Aloha” t-shirt under his black blazer and sang his newest song, “We are the Many,” an anthem of sorts for Occupy protestors….

Video from the gig:

Makana: So I just came from playing the world leaders dinner at APEC, uh, here in Honolulu for the Obamas and, I guess, nineteen or twenty other world leaders. So I showed up and did my gig and I started to look around and I thought about this song I just wrote called “We are the many”.

[Makana’s T-shirt says…

occupy with aloha]

And it was an incredible experience to sing the words, those words, to that room of people.

[ye come here gather ’round the stage,

The time has come for us to voice our rage]

And I didn’t belt it out, I started out very subtly and subliminally. And I was like, ye come here gather ’round the stage, the time has come for us to voice our rage. Did he just say what I think he said? And then I realized that, wow, I didn’t get in trouble, so I played it again and I made it like a different version of it, ended up playing it for about forty-five minutes.

To be able to sing that there was an epic feeling. It felt right. My uncle always told me, play what’s in your heart and play to the audience, you know, play what you feel is right for them. That’s what I did.

And I found it odd that I was afraid to do it at first. I found that disturbing. That’s kind of why I did it. I didn’t like the idea of being afraid to sing a song that I created. I never in my life been afraid to sing anything. If that’s what we’ve come to in the world where we’re afraid to say certain things in the company of certain people, I think that’s a dangerous place to be.

And so, for me to move out of that space I had to sing the song. And that’s what I did.

And, they probably paid him for the gig. Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento…

The Springfield Police had a rough day on Friday:

…On this day in Springfield, the police were non-aggressive, polite and respectful and did their job without riot gear, mace, rubber bullets, and tear gas. Maybe police in other cities can learn from this… both the tactics AND the keys!

Congrats to progressive bloggers Adam Shriver of St. Louis Activist Hub and Sean Soendker Nicholson, formerly of Fired Up!, currently with Progress Missouri. They posted screen shots of Akin’s campaign claiming on Twitter that he had been endorsed by Paul Ryan.  But oops, that wasn’t exactly so, and Politico picked up the story. Their piece pointed out that:

“Akin’s campaign team is either not acting in good faith or inept – either of which will darken his chances at capturing the GOP nomination next August.

But this mistake is hardly the first for a campaign that was slow to organize out of the gate last spring.

Catanese used that statement to launch a critique of  Akin’s gaffes, including starting without a competent press person; overspending; and being forced to apologize for saying that “the heart of liberalism is really a hatred for God”.

I say these missteps are perfectly understandable on Akin’s part. He represents a district so profoundly dedicated to Republicans that he has never needed a competent press person. He just sequesters himself and keeps getting reelected. Indeed his refusal to have any contact with a–yechh!–liberal prompted Carl Peterson to observe recently that Akin has made himself so invisible that we may soon find a picture of him on a milk carton.

To win the primary, Akin will surely have to show himself in venues where the general public would be welcome. So far he seems to struggle with that concept.  

At last night’s republican presidential debate:

November 13, 2011 9:35 AM

Republicans return to the torture ‘debate’

By Steve Benen

….Co-moderator Major Garrett read an email from a veteran of the Vietnam War who believes “torture if always wrong in all cases,” and asked if the candidates agree. The question was first directed to Herman Cain, who said he’d do whatever military leaders said they wanted to do. Garrett pressed further, specifically noting the argument over waterboarding. Cain replied:

“I agree that it was an enhanced interrogation technique…. Yes, I would return to that policy. I don’t see it as torture. I see it as an enhanced interrogation technique.”

This generated applause from the South Carolina audience….

[emphasis added]

From Show Me Progress, A Small Clique Of Legal Extremists… (February 24, 2008):

….Meanwhile, the Army thought that it needed to emphasize that “waterboarding” people is not a good idea:

U.S. Department of Defense

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

Presenter: Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell November 14, 2007

…Q  The alert that went out reminding military personnel about the military ban on waterboarding — was that in response to any specific event or specific comments by military personnel that made you think you needed it? I mean, most notably, General Honore’s comments about waterboarding from last week — was this a response to those comments?

MR. MORRELL: Yeah, I think that went through — I think that was an Army mandate, if I’m not mistaken. But I do not know what precipitated them or prompted them to choose to remind their personnel of the fact that waterboarding is a practice that is forbidden under the Army Field Manual. But I think it is — I wouldn’t read anything into it, but I think it’s always worthwhile to remind our men and women in uniform — and all those who work for us, for that matter — what the rules are and what they aren’t. And the rules forbid such practices throughout the U.S. military…

[emphasis added]

The 1992 Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation [pdf] provides for “two tests”:

If you think that someone who you act upon believes it’s a violation of their rights, or if you believe that the act, when applied to an American prisoner, would violate their rights, then don’t cross that line….

And the South Carolina republican debate audience applauded torture.

“…the rules forbid such practices throughout the U.S. military…”

The Plum Line

Posted at 11:57 AM ET, 11/12/2011

Prediction

By Greg Sargent

The ultra wealthy will spend a whole lot of undisclosed money on a whole lot of ads filled with a whole lot of lies designed to dupe a whole lot of struggling Americans into believing that their number one problem in life is a rag-tag band of nose-ringed hippies who somehow managed to compel our media to tentatively begin a discussion about this, and the very modest actions we should take to begin to change it.

Update: And it just might work.

Also, too.

That is all.

Previously: Campaign Finance: Gov. Jay Nixon (D) continues… (November 11, 2011)

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commisssion:

C001135 11/12/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Benchmark HM LLC 1795 Clarkson Road Suite 200 Chesterfield MO 63017 11/10/2011 $25,000.00

C001135 11/12/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Richard Miller PO Box 777 Pittsburg KS 66762 Miller’s Professional Imaging CEO 11/10/2011 $10,000.00

C001135 11/12/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Express Scripts, Inc. One Express Way Saint Louis MO 63121 11/10/2011 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

That’s a total of $45,000.00 yesterday for Governor Jay Nixon (D) and $0.00 for Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder (r). This is becoming routine

The St. Louis Police Department removed the Occupy St. Louis folks from Kiener Plaza last night.

Via St. Louis Activist Hub and @Taunia_Adams:

@DKSheets David Sheets

OK, bring in the Clorox truck: @rlippmann Parks crew is beginning to clear the grounds of #OccupySTL protest. 7 hours ago

@DKSheets David Sheets

Kiener Plaza now cleaner plaza? #STL #OccupySTL 7 hours ago

David Sheets @DKSheets St. Louis, MO Writer, editor at St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com; president, St. Louis chapter, Society for Professional Journalists

[emphasis added]

Really? Anything about what’s being protested?

@CheathamKMOV Craig Cheatham

Visitor leaving #occupystl protest says “it smells like hippie!” #notquitePolo 16 hours ago

Craig Cheatham @CheathamKMOV Saint Louis Investigative reporter trying to tell stories in fewer than 140 chars. I need more time!

[emphasis added]

Because when you’re covering a story where anyone spends a significant amount of time outside, like a youth organization camp out or a professional sporting event locker room post game, you should always mention hippies.

It’s time to convene another panel on blogger ethics.

On Thursday, state senators held a hearing in St. Louis on whether accepting federal money to create a Missouri health exchange was advisable. At this hearing, unlike the two in Springfield and Kansas City, those in favor of the ACA and health exchanges were allowed to speak. And they did. Advocates of an exchange packed the room, and of the 37 people who testified, 30 favored the creation of a Missouri health exchange.

Mary Clemons of Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice summed up their sentiments nicely. She allowed as how the senators had had to listen to quite a few health care horror stories, but she said the speakers weren’t looking for sympathy and a pat on the back. They were looking for our legislators to do something about the problems.

Scott Rupp (R-Wentzville) chaired the hearing–graciously. Brad Lager (R-Savannah) and Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield) attended. Joe Keaveny was the lone Democratic senator in attendance. Jim Lembke (R-St. Louis) was there, even though he’s not on the committee. Rob Schaaf (R-Buchanan and Platte Counties) and Luann Ridgeway (R-Smithville) participated via a phone link.

Advocates packed the room and dominated the mike. But Obamacare haters also had their say. The video juxtaposes the two sides, with each person who criticizes an exchange followed by someone who answers his objections. I tried, honest, to give you the flavor of the comments from both sides in three minutes or less of video. Couldn’t be done. So watch as little or as much of it as you want. Ed Martin dominates the negative comments at the beginning for the sake of those who aren’t going to watch it all but who want to see that side’s celeb in action.

There are two more videos to come: footage of the Anthem representative speaking in favor of creating an exchange and, for the wonkish among you, the rather lengthy exchanges between the senators and St. Louis University health care researcher, Sidney Watson.  

Today, at the the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C001135 11/11/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Robert Blitz 61 Portland Drive Frontenac MO 63131 Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch Attorney 11/9/2011 $6,250.00

C001135 11/11/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers & Glass, PC 120 S. Central Avenue Suite 130 Clayton MO 63105 11/9/2011 $6,250.00

C001135 11/11/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Holloran, White, Schwartz & Gaertner, LLP 2000 S. 8th Street Saint Louis MO 63104 11/9/2011 $6,250.00

C001135 11/11/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI O’Brien Law Firm, PC 815 Geyer Avenue Saint Louis MO 63104 11/9/2011 $6,250.00

C001135 11/11/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI B & B Boats & Bikes, Inc. 110 Missouri Avenue Sikeston MO 63801 11/9/2011 $10,000.00

C001135 11/11/2011 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI The Padberg & Corrigan Law Firm 1926 Chouteau Avenue Saint Louis MO 63103 11/9/2011 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

That’s a total of $45,000.00 today for Governor Jay Nixon (D) and $0.00 for Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder (r). Go figure.

H.R. 3035, the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011, which was introduced by Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry and cosponsored by Missouri’s Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-9) among others, seeks:

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit informational calls to mobile telephone numbers, and for other purposes.

In other words, this bill would permit businesses to send spam robo-calls about their products to your cell phone, using the minutes you pay for.

It’s been illegal for telemarketers to initiate contact via cellphones since the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991. H.R. 3035 attempts to circumvent TCPA provisions by specifying that businesses can phone (or robo-call) your cell phone “for informational purposes” as long as the call does not “constitute a telephone solicitation.” If this bill were to pass, you could end up paying for minutes that some random stockbroker , say, might use to “inform” you a few thousand people, via a recorded message, about a new offering (without, of course, specifically soliciting a purchase).*

The folks pushing this bill, which includes entities like the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, contend that the probibition on the use of cell phones enacted by the TCPA is outdated because

Congress intended this restriction to protect consumers against the then-daunting per-minute costs and privacy concerns associated with unsolicited incoming calls from telemarketers. But this restriction applies equally to informational calls. In addition, most wireless consumers are now covered by flat-rate plans, and even for those who are not, technological advances and increased competition have greatly reduced per-minute charges.

Hunh? Do you want to waste your minutes on mechanized telephone spam? Do you just love the idea getting dozens of robo-calls daily? If you do, fine. But if you don’t, let your congress person know that fact. Make some noise so that folks will know that if they vote for this they’ll generate enough ruckus to more than outmatch the “good will” that they will earn from businesses eager to use our phone billing plans for their own ends. For what it’s worth, MoveOn.org also has a petition you can sign.

Finally, for those of you who can’t figure out what this does for anyone besides the 1%, if you live in the ninth congressional district, maybe you should let Rep. Luetkemeyer know that you don’t appreciate being sold out. Or, even if you don’t live there, if  you know someone who does, maybe you could let them know what their representative is plotting. I wonder how many of his constituents actually know what he’s up to when he isn’t busy trying to thwart those damned climate scientists and their pesky theories about global warming?

*Sentence edited to clarify the meaning.