The G Manifesto

Block the Vote: Rolling Stone, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast

Allegations of voter fraud are only the latest rationale the GOP has used to disenfranchise voters — especially blacks, Hispanics and others who traditionally support Democrats. “The Republicans have a long history of erecting barriers to discourage Americans from voting,” says Donna Brazile, chair of the Voting Rights Institute for the Democratic National Committee. “Now they’re trying to spook Americans with the ghost of voter fraud. It’s very effective — but it’s ironic that the only way they maintain power is by using fear to deprive Americans of their constitutional right to vote.” The recently enacted barriers thrown up to deter voters include:

1. Obstructing Voter-Registration Drives

Since 2004, the Bush administration and more than a dozen states have taken steps to impede voter registration. Among the worst offenders is Florida, where the Republican-dominated legislature created hefty fines — up to $5,000 per violation — for groups that fail to meet deadlines for turning in voter-application forms. Facing potentially huge penalties for trivial administrative errors, the League of Women Voters abandoned its voter-registration drives in Florida. A court order eventually forced the legislature to reduce the maximum penalty to $1,000. But even so, said former League president Dianne Wheatley-Giliotti, the reduced fines “create an unfair tax on democracy.” The state has also failed to uphold a federal law requiring that low-income voters be offered an opportunity to register when they apply for food stamps or other public assistance. As a result, the annual number of such registrations has plummeted from more than 120,000 in the Clinton years to barely 10,000 today.

2. Demanding “Perfect Matches”

Under the Help America Vote Act, some states now reject first-time registrants whose data does not correspond to information in other government databases. Spurred by HAVA, almost every state must now attempt to make some kind of match — and four states, including the swing states of Iowa and Florida, require what is known as a “perfect match.” Under this rigid framework, new registrants can lose the right to vote if the information on their voter-registration forms — Social Security number, street address and precisely spelled name, right down to a hyphen — fails to exactly match data listed in other government records.

There are many legitimate reasons, of course, why a voter’s information might vary. Indeed, a recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that as many as 20 percent of discrepancies between voter records and driver’s licenses in New York City are simply typing mistakes made by government clerks when they transcribe data. But under the new rules, those mistakes are costing citizens the right to vote. In California, a Republican secretary of state blocked 43 percent of all new voters in Los Angeles from registering in early 2006 — many because of the state’s failure to produce a tight match. In Florida, GOP officials created “match” rules that rejected more than 15,000 new registrants in 2006 and 2007 — nearly three-fourths of them Hispanic and black voters. Given the big registration drives this year, the number could be five times higher by November.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is my personal favorite political figure. I have met him many times and heard him speak many times. The guy is first class.

His environmental work and writings on Media are G Manifesto Certified on the real.

Riverkeeper

http://www.stealbackyourvote.org

http://www.ringoffireradio.com

The Rest is Up to You…

Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA Your favorite International Playboy’s, favorite International Playboy
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com

Blocking the vote Rachel Maddow Robert F. Kennedy Jr

Sabado Gigante, The EP – Dj Noble /Nico B

Sabado Gigante, The EP: Inspired by the music of Hector Lavoe. Conceived and executed by Dj Noble and Nico B. Art direction and design by Mind.

Thank you very much to those of you who have shared, listened to, and checked for our music each week. Please find the front and back cover art attached. Finally, zshare link follows:

http://www.zshare.net/download/501071555198a909/

“We got LA KEDZIE on deck, yes we coming right back”

Respectfully,

Nicolas
myspace.com/nicob

Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza off the backboard Dunk

Stylin on Bamas.

Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza off the backboard Dunk

That’s how the Game is played.

The Rest is Up to You…

Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA Your favorite International Playboy on the Rise’s favorite International Playboy on the Rise
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com

Snoop Dogg presents:

Dubb Union – Westurn Union Ft. BJ & Daz Dillinger

Sarah Palin, The Real America

It is unbelievable that attacks on the big city and the coasts are en vogue in this day and age. As if, small towns are more “American” than big cities. Hell, I am surprised people even admit they are from small towns. Being a Big City Playboy all my life, I would almost take offense to this non-sense if it wasn’t coming from such narrow minded people.

Sarah Palin recently busted off this idiotic statement lately:

“We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.

This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom.”

Palin: “Best of America is in the Small Towns-little pockets of what I call the Real America

In the effort of balance, I am going to take the other side on this.

I have driven cross country a few times (I was a young proto-type G in my “transport” days) and seen many small towns. To be completely honest, these “these wonderful little pockets” are real shitholes. I remember I thought it was going to be all “On the Road” like my man Jack Kerouac and great seeing small town America. Well, it wasn’t. (Although, peeling girls in these spots is easier than beating your little cousin at five card stud with a loaded deck.)

Small town America is all about chain restaurants, gas stations, poor dentistry, racism, broke people, provincial attitudes, bad clothes, country sounding accents, words that don’t make sense, endless churches, Meth Labs, and Wal-Mart. And those are the positives. Small town America is where girls grow up, turn 18 and move to LA to get into porn.

Some of these places you can’t even get a drink. Seriously, there are DRY counties. No wonder people do so much Meth.

I mean, hell, Olive Garden is the best Italian Restaurant in these towns.

Really, the only thing they are good for is finding someone in the witness protection plan if your a hitter.

Soon after, Moronic McCain advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer said:

“I certainly agree that Northern Virginia has gone more Democratic. … But the rest of the state — real Virginia if you will — I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain’s message.

Real Virginia, I take to be, this part of the state that’s more Southern in nature, if you will.”I have always thought of Northern Virginia as a Dump. Strip malls, sheep-like mentality, pleated pants and parkways full of traffic. If it wasn’t for Northern Virginia, there wouldn’t be lines outside of nightclubs in DC. But the rest of the state is pure hell. Not like I have ever been, really. But I can only imagine. (The place where NERD, Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, and AI must be kind of dope though).

It’s pretty funny since these Republican lovers of “Small Towns” hate France. Now that is a place with good small towns.

Give me a beach town in the French Basque country, wine, great food, and beautiful topless girls any summer day. Now that’s a good small town.

I guess I like “Small towns” too.

The Rest is Up to You…

Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA Your favorite International Playboy on the Rise’s favorite International Playboy on the Rise
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com

Public Enemy – Harder Than You Think

Andrew Lahde, Hedge Fund Manager, Goodbye Letter

Thanks to Doug and El Miz for making me aware of this.

Andrew Lahde, manager of a small California hedge fund, Lahde Capital, returned 866 percent betting against the subprime collapse.

Last month, he shut things down, claiming dealing with his bank counterparties had become too risky.

Here is his Goodbye Letter. Smooth.

“Today I write not to gloat. Given the pain that nearly everyone is experiencing, that would be entirely inappropriate. Nor am I writing to make further predictions, as most of my forecasts in previous letters have unfolded or are in the process of unfolding. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.

Recently, on the front page of Section C of the Wall Street Journal, a hedge fund manager who was also closing up shop (a $300 million fund), was quoted as saying, “What I have learned about the hedge fund business is that I hate it.” I could not agree more with that statement. I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.

There are far too many people for me to sincerely thank for my success. However, I do not want to sound like a Hollywood actor accepting an award. The money was reward enough. Furthermore, the endless list of those deserving thanks know who they are.

I will no longer manage money for other people or institutions. I have enough of my own wealth to manage. Some people, who think they have arrived at a reasonable estimate of my net worth, might be surprised that I would call it quits with such a small war chest. That is fine; I am content with my rewards. Moreover, I will let others try to amass nine, ten or eleven figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck. Appointments back to back, booked solid for the next three months, they lookforward to their two week vacation in January during which they will likely be glued to their Blackberries or other such devices. What is the point? They will all be forgotten in fifty years anyway. Steve Balmer, Steven Cohen, and Larry Ellison will all be forgotten. I do not understand the legacy thing. Nearly everyone will be forgotten. Give up on leaving your mark. Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life.

So this is it. With all due respect, I am dropping out. Please do not expect any type of reply to emails or voicemails within normal time frames or at all. Andy Springer and his company will be handling the dissolution of the fund. And don’t worry about my employees, they were always employed by Mr. Springer’s company and only one (who has been well-rewarded) will lose his job.

I have no interest in any deals in which anyone would like me to participate. I truly do not have a strong opinion about any market right now, other than to say that things will continue to get worse for some time, probably years. I am content sitting on the sidelines and waiting. After all, sitting and waiting is how we made money from the subprime debacle. I now have time to repair my health, which was destroyed by the stress I layered onto myself over the past two years, as well as my entire life – where I had to compete for spaces in universities and graduate schools, jobs and assets under management – with those who had all the advantages (rich parents) that I did not. May meritocracy be part of a new form of government, which needs to be established.

On the issue of the U.S. Government, I would like to make a modest proposal. First, I point out the obvious flaws, whereby legislation was repeatedly brought forth to Congress over the past eight years, which would have reigned in the predatory lending practices of now mostly defunct institutions. These institutions regularly filled the coffers of both parties in return for voting down all of this legislation designed to protect the common citizen. This is an outrage, yet no one seems to know or care about it. Since Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith passed, I would argue that there has been a dearth of worthy philosophers in this country, at least ones focused on improving government. Capitalism worked for two hundred years, but times change, and systems become corrupt. George Soros, a man of staggering wealth, has stated that he would like to be remembered as a philosopher. My suggestion is that this great man start and sponsor a forum for great minds to come together to create a new system of government that truly represents the common man’s interest, while at the same time creating rewards great enough to attract the best and brightest minds to serve in government roles without having to rely on corruption to further their interests or lifestyles. This forum could be similar to the one used to create the operating system, Linux, which competes with Microsoft’s near monopoly. I believe there is an answer, but for now the system is clearly broken.

Lastly, while I still have an audience, I would like to bring attention to an alternative food and energy source. You won’t see it included in BP’s, “Feel good. We are working on sustainable solutions,” television commercials, nor is it mentioned in ADM’s similar commercials. But hemp has been used for at least 5,000 years for cloth and food, as well as just about everything that is produced from petroleum products. Hemp is not marijuana and vice versa. Hemp is the male plant and it grows like a weed, hence the slang term. The original American flag was made of hemp fiber and our Constitution was printed on paper made of hemp. It was used as recently as World War II by the U.S. Government, and then promptly made illegal after the war was won. At a time when rhetoric is flying about becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy, why is it illegal to grow this plant in this country? Ah, the female. The evil female plant – marijuana. It gets you high, it makes you laugh, it does not produce a hangover. Unlike alcohol, it does not result in bar fights or wife beating. So, why is this innocuous plant illegal? Is it a gateway drug? No, that would be alcohol, which is so heavily advertised in this country. My only conclusion as to why it is illegal, is that Corporate America, which owns Congress, would rather sell you Paxil, Zoloft, Xanax and other addictive drugs, than allow you to grow a plant in your home without some of the profits going into their coffers. This policy is ludicrous. It has surely contributed to our dependency on foreign energy sources. Our policies have other countries literally laughing at our stupidity, most notably Canada, as well as several European nations (both Eastern and Western). You would not know this by paying attention to U.S. media sources though, as they tend not to elaborate on who is laughing at the United States this week. Please people, let’s stop the rhetoric and start thinking about how we can truly become self-sufficient.

With that I say goodbye and good luck.

All the best,

Andrew Lahde”

PDF of the Letter

The Rest is Up to You…

Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA Your favorite International Playboy on the Rise’s favorite International Playboy on the Rise
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com

The LOX – We’ll always love Big Poppa