For some reason I decided it would be entertaining to follow Sarah Palin on Twitter. She doesn't tweet much, so I forget I followed her and am always surprised when I see her pop up. Today she tweeted:

The words "palin" and "fact" used together always attract my attention, so I clicked, and was disappointed to see that she was actually re-posting content from GOP.com. But what made me click over to GOP.com was the headline for her reposted content: 

I love that some communications officer/copywriter over at GOP.com chose to use the word "falsehood," twice. It sounds so homey and self-righteous, which I guess is their target demo, so whatever.

Off I went, and was greeted by this charming young lady:

I know that the GOP.com relaunch a few months ago got a lot of buzz in the design blogosphere but I really wasn't paying too much attention because whatever, right? But I was missing out. She is AWESOME. WTF is she wearing? Where did she get that hat? Can you even buy a top like that, or did the model make it herself? Who is she supposed to be appealing to? Honestly, the GOP.com art director is on CRACK, just like the rest of the Tea Partiers over there.

P.S. Cannot even handle the absurdity of the Facebook comments on her post. Among hundreds:

and

Mary-Anne, do I have a shirt/hat combo for you.

James Cameron's new cliche-ridden blockbuster Avatar is prompting some of the usual debates that leak into questions of Hollywood racism and perceived or clear anti-imperialist impulses. Essentially, there are two questions. The first is a view that there is a problematic tendency in Hollywood to create white heroes who assimilate into 'peoples' of color and then lead the resistance (e.g. Dances With Wolves, Pathfinder, Last of the Mohicans), and a corresponding argument posited by, for example, class determinists and Zizek fans that this is irrelevant, and the US Marine in the plot represents a John Brown-like figure. On the other hand, is the clear anti-imperialism of a movie like this (albeit liberal, with groan-worthy Bush referencing) enough to absolve it of the sins of the exoticizing treatment of the native Na'Vi people, who take notes from general categories like Native Americans, African tribes, Jar Jar Binks, ewoks, and an assortment of Hollywood noble savage concotions.

As you can see, Leftpalate already missed its A-1 opportunity to get national media attention by entering the debate. We'll try to be further on the vanguard next time. Perhaps we can problematize Avatar in another way. For example, do the blue cat people have to be so damn skinny?

Courtesy DT

Because we have a huge love for the History Is A Weapon site and we occasionally twitter, we put a follow on History Is A Weapon to see if people tweet about it. And they do, sort of. What follows is a list of tweets that are not exactly about History Is A Weapon:

MOORE: He lived on both the revolutionary side as well as the reform side.
Source

 
C. Mitchell reports from Chicago NPR about efforts of radical youth centers and the heirs of Illinois Black Panther Party Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton Sr. to make sure that his martyrdom always serves the struggle he organized and died for. It's a great segment for public radio listeners, but let's be clear that there wasn't a gram of reformism in the his work.
 
The creation of systems of dual power, of infrastructure to meet the basic needs of working class communities coupled with political education, and of the demonopolization of the violence from the state, is not reformist. This isn't to shit on the work of, for example, advocacy work like that mentioned in Mitchell's segment that one interviewee is doing at the Cook County juvenile detention center. But Mitchell clearly tries to drown out the militancy of leaders like Hampton, remarking that "some Black Panther tactics may seem antiquated."
 
I asked him which tactics those are exactly. Let's disseminate information about socialist leaders like Hampton, and I know that it is Mitchell's politics to do so. But let's avoid making him safe.

This, my friends, is why this blog exists. Happy Anniversary, Seattle!

For your 20th, we'll get you a Jimmy Buffett version.

Via Just Seeds, where you can also find great holiday gifts.

Iraqi Checkpoint Videogame Detournement from Left Palate on Vimeo.

Burning Exchange: A Poem

I wanted to worship you,

in a coke bottle and rag church

When I confess to you,

My hail marys arc

To catechize your word,

All night, I will recite the prayer of hate,

The Exchange will burn,

Your apostles will get their due

(the Decalogue's sixth must be broken to correct the second).

All towers crumble.

Really, NYT? 

Well, I guess that is an awfully big smile.

Our First one is for Shell Corporation:

We have no morals. We will accept advertisements from any corporation.