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RECENT POSTS

Good Looking Out, BP

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

BPknows

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Props to Know in CA: YES on 15, NO on 16!

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

If you live in California and have been overwhelmed by all the mailings from vaguely legitimate groups about the upcoming propositions on Tuesday’s ballot, here are a couple you should know about and share with your friends and lists.

YES on Proposition 15, for Clean Elections.

This proposition does two significant things: It starts a pilot program wherein candidates for Secretary of State for California in 2014 and 2018 will have the option of accepting public funds for their race instead of seeking donations. Contrary to what many of these mailers have been repeating, these funds are not from taxpayers. Where does the money come from? Lobbyists. The current state fees for lobbyists to register to be able to collect money to affect elected officials is cheaper than it is to apply to college. This prop will make California lobbyists registration fees closer to (but still not as much as) the cost of auto registration in California.  Read More »

Posted in Blog, Huffington Post | Leave a comment

Obamarella

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

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Diebold Does it Again: ATM Specs, Anyone?

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Not that there is much credibility left to Diebold, the ATM banking machine company that did to voting machines what BP did to off-shore drilling–which is to say, brilliantly convince even their most steadfast defenders that they should not even be in this industry, ultimately requiring federal intervention from supremely reluctant politicians that have been taking their money all this time.

With the SEC lawsuit and $25 million settlement with Diebold, as well as its investigation of three top Diebold executives, there are still numerous investigations into the legitimacy of Diebold being able to sell off their voting machines division, Premier Election Solutions, to their only other competitor, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), thereby creating a voting machine maker monopoly.

If Diebold’s top leadership has been found by federal investigators to be guilty of inflating their profits, is it unreasonable to be able to ask if their number-crunching company approach has carried into their administration of numerous elections that have long stood out as dubious? Read More »

Posted in Blog, Huffington Post | Leave a comment

Diamond District brings D.C. Hip Hop to L.A.

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

The venerable DJ store Fat Beats on Melrose was welcome to L.A.’s first visit by Hip Hop artists Diamond District, an infectious charge of old school rap flavored by the emcees’ region, the “DMV” — the area spanning D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, a merging of affluent areas with impoverished neighborhoods wrapped around the heart of America’s government. The group gets its name from the diamond-shaped layout that is the District of Columbia.

In this video, emcee/producer Oddisee explains Diamond District’s musical goals, and the group performs their album’s opening song, “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill.” Insisting on getting the small gathering hyped, Oddisee leads those present in call and response during the song, rather amusingly.

Read More »

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Broadcasting in Primary Colors at the eGuiders Studio

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

Today I appeared on the Interwebs with eGuiders Live from their Los Feliz studio, discussing my film PAY 2 PLAY and my recent coverage of the Ohio primaries.  Host Marc Ostrick was witty and urbane, and he screened a series of clips from the recent political dramas I have been following.

Read More »

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Diamond District at Fat Beats, West Hollywood

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

D.C. Hip Hop came to West Hollywood yesterday as Diamond District gave an in-store performance to celebrate the release of their debut album In the Ruff.  This song is “I Mean Business,” and already seems like a classic.  Fat Beats’ illustrious interior featuring decades of rap greats plastered over every angle makes for an effective setting.

More video to come of Diamond District’s first L.A. appearance.

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Diamond District

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

D.C. hip hop artists Diamond District shone in East LA tonight. Check them Saturday at Fat Beats on Melrose & Curson in West Hollywood at 5:30 pm doing an in-store performance. (And remember, you first heard of them from me!)

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A Threat to Documentaries

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

In a disturbing precedent, a Federal judge has ordered a filmmaker to surrender over 600 hours of raw footage he filmed about a long-running suit against Chevron

Court Orders Documentary Filmmaker Surrender

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Ohio Underdog: Surya Yalamanchili Wins Primary for U.S. House

Posted by John Wellington Ennis

In a race that drew national attention in its closing days over allegations of race-baiting and conspiracies, the winner of the Democratic Primary for U.S. Representative in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District is political newcomer Surya Yalamanchili. Yalamanchili, or “Chili” as he is also known as, is 28 years old and left his job as the youngest brand manager in Proctor & Gamble’s history to run for office full-time on a threadbare campaign out of his condo.

Yalamanchili will now challenge U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt in November for her House seat. While the political establishment has already taken a dim view of his chances, Yalamanchili has already exceeded expectations in winning the party nomination, and has the networking ability you might expect from someone who worked at LinkedIn. Besides, he was on “The Apprentice,” and those people are hard-core.

Here is Surya’s speech Tuesday night upon hearing that his opponent David Krikorian had conceded the election.

Posted in Blog, Huffington Post | Leave a comment

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  1. twitter (feed #4) RT @ApocalypseHow: I think "cocaine-filled purse" is actually a pretty good description of Paris Hilton herself. [#] 5h ago via Twitter
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  3. twitter (feed #4) If you can't speak the language and respect our Govt. laws, LEAVE! RT @Gawker: AZ Gov Jan Brewer Debate fail http://gawker.com/5628587/ #p2b [#] 11h ago via Twitter
  4. twitter (feed #4) Blame the Immigrants! RT @Gawker: AZ Gov Jan Brewer Embarrasses Self With Disastrous Opening Statement http://gawker.com/5628587/ #WTF [#] 11h ago via Twitter
  5. twitter (feed #4) Free Todd Palin [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  6. youtube (feed #2) Shared 2 videos. 1d ago via YouTube
  7. twitter (feed #4) RT @markos: Brown & gay people are still fair game, though. RT @MPOTheHill: Top House Republican: Stop demonizing the oil industry http: ... [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  8. twitter (feed #4) New Alec Monopoly piece just up! http://tweetphoto.com/42693369 My short doc on him just featured at Wooster Collective: http://is.gd/ePD4Z [#] 1d ago via Twitter
  9. twitter (feed #4) My Fall Lineup! http://conta.cc/aO4AZr via [#] August 31st via Twitter
  10. youtube (feed #2) Liked Labrador and Dolphin August 31st via YouTube
  11. twitter (feed #4) I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Factory Farming is Mean & Nasty - FDA Finds Maggots, Manure, Rodents in Hen Houses http://newse [#] August 31st via Twitter
  12. youtube (feed #2) Shared HawdWerk.mov August 30th via YouTube
  13. twitter (feed #4) RT @Sock_De_Jour: Off-Duty Black Cop Facing Gunman Calls for Help; White Cops Beat Him and His Family « http://bit.ly/a6uFa6 #policebrut ... [#] August 30th via Twitter
  14. twitter (feed #4) Hitchens on Glenn Beck's Million Straw Man March: http://bit.ly/9Slsvt 'the Waterworld of white self-pity' [#] August 30th via Twitter
  15. twitter (feed #4) RT @GOPLeader: Where are the jobs? / On Wall Street, K Street, and in Beltway Bars, all thanks to you, John Boehner. #tryhelping [#] August 30th via Twitter
  16. twitter (feed #4) Oh, just tell us how to vote, Media! RT @JeffersonObama: NEWSWEEK: Dems May Not Be Headed for Midterm Bloodbath: http://bit.ly/9CMLBH #tease [#] August 30th via Twitter
  17. twitter (feed #4) I am not one to scare easily, but what should I do if I wake up to find @TomCruise following me on Twitter? #willselfdestruct #LRonHubbard [#] August 29th via Twitter
  18. twitter (feed #4) On 5th anniversary of Katrina, an expose doc from Mr. Burns & Smithers: Harry Shearer vs. the Army Corps of Engineers http://bit.ly/cW0l3q [#] August 29th via Twitter
  19. twitter (feed #4) Palingenesis: Just whose 'honor' was being 'restored' at the big Glenn Beck rally? http://t.co/INCpTt1 via @crooksandliars [#] August 29th via Twitter
  20. youtube (feed #2) Liked Who Is Alec Monopoly? August 29th via YouTube
  21. twitter (feed #4) Our calendar is actually the same used by Muslims, part of socialist plot led by fascist Obama since his birth #BeckRallyNoShowExcuses [#] August 29th via Twitter
  22. twitter (feed #4) My short doc "Who is Alec Monopoly?" brings out fans & haters: The Dirt Floor http://bit.ly/boC3Ci & @HuffingtonPost http://huff.to/dtk0XT [#] August 28th via Twitter
  23. twitter (feed #4) RT @aravosis: RT @AMERICAblog: First-hand report from Beck Rally -- including a personal counter protest http://bt.io/Ftly #whitestock #rahm [#] August 28th via Twitter
  24. twitter (feed #4) Alec Monopoly strikes again in my hood. HOW DOES HE DO IT?! http://tweetphoto.com/41967206 [#] August 28th via Twitter
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  26. twitter (feed #4) RT @Knownhuman: The awesome thing about #Whitestock? No lines at Wal-mart right now. [#] August 28th via Twitter
  27. twitter (feed #4) In my film FREE FOR ALL! which can be seen for free at www.freeforall.tv, I thoroughly investigate Ken Blackwell... http://huff.to/aA2Xyj [#] August 28th via Twitter
  28. twitter (feed #4) Beck draws on Obama stump speech from 2008 race - http://yhoo.it/ajuGmH - "Because he's so evil and fascist, let's steal his act." #fail [#] August 28th via Twitter
  29. twitter (feed #4) Beckapalooza NOT political? "pamphlets included a picture of the president with a Hitler-style mustache. http://t.co/lWTTK0v #whitepower [#] August 28th via Twitter
  30. twitter (feed #4) "Glenn Beck's march will change nothing. But you can't blame Glenn Beck for his March-on-Washington envy," http://is.gd/eIztk #whitepower [#] August 28th via Twitter
  31. twitter (feed #4) At @FatBeatsLA for @hawdwerk in-store, and to see off the venerable DJ store on Melrose, which closes 9/18 #hiphoplives [#] August 27th via Twitter
  32. twitter (feed #4) RT @daveweigel: Glenn Beck makes surprise appearance at FreedomWorks rally! [#] August 27th via Twitter
  33. twitter (feed #4) Who is Alec Monopoly? http://huff.to/aY0rY8 via @huffingtonpost Is is street art or vandalism? My shot doc on LA artist & Monopoly metaphors [#] August 27th via Twitter
  34. generic (feed #3) Posted Who Is Alec Monopoly? August 27th via Huffington Post
  35. twitter (feed #4) GOP Itching to Investigate Obama http://newser.me/cjb69o [#] August 27th via Twitter
  36. twitter (feed #4) RT @jaketapper: In '05, I profiled for GQ gay activist Mike Rogers, who outed closeted gay GOPers, incl Mehlman, who denied it at time. ... [#] August 26th via Twitter
  37. twitter (feed #4) You've seen his art work all over LA, but who is Alec Monopoly? http://pay2play.tv/?p=256 [#] August 26th via Twitter
  38. twitter (feed #4) Booth at NoHo Diner dedicated to the glory days of Hollywood when apparently spanking dames seemed classic: http://tweetphoto.com/41377571 [#] August 25th via Twitter
  39. youtube (feed #2) Shared Who Is Alec Monopoly? August 25th via YouTube
  40. twitter (feed #4) RT @MoveOn: Check out this great article by @KatrinaNation about @Target, Citizen's United, & Our Campaign http://j.mp/KatrinaWaPo #Other98 [#] August 25th via Twitter
  41. twitter (feed #4) RT @TIME.com Is this the worst candidate interview ever? http://su.pr/2HwYOq / @SarahPalinUSA will back him. But that poor interviewer... [#] August 25th via Twitter
  42. twitter (feed #4) If YouTube's popup ads to my videos are based on who they think I am, I apparently read as a gay republican. [#] August 25th via Twitter
  43. digg (feed #6) Liked You Will Never Look At A Duck The Same Way (PIC) August 25th via Digg
  44. twitter (feed #4) RT @Jesus_M_Christ: #Youknowwhatsannoying? When people use your name to justify their insane beliefs. [#] August 24th via Twitter
  45. twitter (feed #4) Right on @UncleRUSH - Russell Simmons Unveils Ground Zero Street-Art Protest Supporting 'Mosque' - http://tinyurl.com/235zem6 [#] August 24th via Twitter

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