RTR's Monday Moanin' 4 May 2009

Random observations in my Monday moanin’…

= The U.S. Army had an elaborate recruiting set-up at a shopping mall over the weekend. The display included tents with shooter video games and banks of computer stations.  A “Soaring Eagle” Computer Tournament was operated at the computer stations.  I saw a good number of minors tapping away at the computers.  In fact, most of the computer-oriented activities were big attractions to minors.  Doesn’t the Army know that -- just like torture -- recruiting minors is illegal under international law?

= The Army had plenty of “freebies” at the mall to hand out:  decks of playing cards, computer game CDs, pseudo dog tags, computer mouse pads and more.  The freebies were care of the military’s desperate multi-billion dollar recruiting budget, which is paid for by our tax dollars.  Noticeably absent from the scene was protesting anti-tax teabaggers who oppose wasteful spending.

= Incredibly, the media blared the supposed identity of Mexico’s “Patient Zero,” the person who may have started the swine flu pandemic.  It turned out to be a 5-year-old boy from La Gloria, a town in southern Mexico.  He was identified by name and his picture published in print and across the Internet.  There are two problems here: (1) How and why would the press want to violate the medical privacy of a minor on a world wide scale? and (2) Why should we seriously believe that this singular little boy in that little Mexican town was the originator of the flu virus? 

= In the credit card reform debate in Washington, I have yet to hear or find details that the federal legislation will return to the states the power of regulating and establishing the interest rates offered by credit card companies.  I will keep looking…

= This caught my eye in Sunday’s editions of the Lansing State Journal and the Chicago Tribune:  separate stories related to Mexican/Latino issues were both accompanied with prominent photos of individuals sporting Mohawk haircuts, a rare look you would find among the thousand of people participating in the covered events.

= Lansing (MI) incumbent Mayor Virgil Bernero officially announced over the weekend that he will run for re-election.  I don’t know what to make of the fact that Bernero was voted both the favorite local politician and worst politician in the Lansing City Pulse’s recent Top of the Town contest.   

= Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in press accounts warning that Iran is gaining influence in Latin America.  Apparently, the State Department, CIA, and the military establishment are continuing the campaign to demonize Iran, the one Middle East oil country the U.S. does not influence.  I still point to Iran and Venezuela as the U.S. military establishment’s top two targets for military “intervention.”  The fabricated incidents to justify the actions have not yet been revealed, though plenty of hints exist.

= I’m surprised that I’m surprised about the amount of television people watch, as evidenced by the streaming commentary across Twitter.  After years of limited TV service, I recently expanded my cable service to get more channels. Not much has changed. Programming is very weak. Somewhere along the way, the medium jumped the shark.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Rico Thomas Rico Launches Online Video News Channel

RTR has launched a news channel on the web and is now broadcasting Rico Thomas Rico webcast.  Video news content will be added daily, including recordings of speeches, interviews, and live broadcasts.  Content, including live programs, will be announced.  

-- Rico Thomas Rico

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The Radical Reunion Won't Be Televised

The television and movie writers are still on strike. I won’t cross the picket line. I fully support collective bargaining and hope the Writers Guild drives a hard bargain.

In observing the Writers Guild walk out from afar, I relish in the opportunity to see the faces of the people who write the drivel that ends up being broadcast on television or shown on the big screen. Too many times I have muttered to the screen, “Who writes this sh*t?” A number of times I have felt robbed of two hours of my life watching some stupid, worthless movie. (Remember the movie, “Mrs. King Kong”?) So now there they are – those usually-faceless script and screenplay writers – appearing on the evening news walking the picket line and pictured on the Internet.

I’ve been slowly divorcing myself from television over the past few years, progressing from the 100+ channels on cable to your bare-bones basic package today. The chance of catching worthwhile programming is the same with either package...and the same with or without a strike.

But who needs television? The good sh*t is out on the streets, where truth and reality roam and where concerned citizens struggle to write (and right) history.

Two weeks ago, for example, the Super Bowl of Activism happened in the Lansing Area. On Wednesday, November 14th, citizen activists had the choice of meeting and interacting with Anna Beltzer, Rev. Edward Pinkney, or Adrian Campbell. Also, the new Peace Over Prejudice Campaign at Michigan State University (MSU) held a panel discussion on “Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism.” And I believe Everybody Reads Bookstore was hosting a guest author that night.

If you sat home watching TV on November 14th, you’ve got to check yourself.

Tomorrow’s another big day, too, for citizen activists. The MSU Student for a Democratic Society (SDS) is holding a “reunion” in East Lansing, Michigan. SDS radicals Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn are scheduled to attend, along with former MSU professor Bert Garskof. The original SDS president, Alan Haber, will appear too. There will be some Big-Time Radical History packed into Kedzie Hall tomorrow at 7 p.m. (Nov. 30, 2007).

(Ayers and Dohrn were featured in the movie, “The Weather Underground,” at the Peace Education Center’s movie night earlier this year at Magdalena’s Tea House.)

Of course, these radicals – and their local cohorts, young and old – plan to revisit their old pals at the East Lansing Marine Recruiting Station on Grand River earlier in the day at 2 p.m.

The evening event should be electric, too. If you know your SDS and Weatherman history, you will know that the SDS had a serious riff within the organization way back when. And both sides of that riff will be on hand tomorrow, I’m sure. I’ve already heard first-hand grumblings from former SDS activists who live here in town and, apparently, there are issues that still need closure. I won’t miss it.

So cut off the TV, grab your family and friends, and let’s all meet in East Lansing to write some more history.

-- Rico Thomas Rico

Note: Stop back tomorrow and Saturday for more reports, pictures, and videos.