Activism

Rusticus’ Broadside

“Are we in like Manner to be given up to the Disposal of the East India Company, who have now the Assurance, to step forth in Aid of the Minister, to execute his Plan, of enslaving America? Their Conduct in Asia for some Years past, has given simple Proof, how little they regard the Laws of Nations, the Rights, Liberties or Lives of Men. They have levied War, excited Rebellions, dethroned lawful Princes, and sacrificed Millions for the Sake of Gain. The Revenue of Mighty Kingdoms have centered in their Coffers. And these not being sufficient to glut their Avarice, they have, by the most unparalleled Barbarities, Extortions, and Monopolies, stripped the miserable Inhabitants of their Property, and reduce whole Provinces to Indigence and Ruin. Fifteen hundred Thousands, it is said, perished by Famine in one Year, not because the Earth denied its Fruits; but [because] this Company and their Servants engulfed all the Necessaries of Life, and set them so high at a Rate that the poor could not purchase them. Thus having drained the Sources of the immense Wealth…they now, it seems, cast their Eyes on America, as a new Theatre, whereon to exercise their Talents.” — Rusticus, in “The Alarm”, a colonial American “Broadside”, 1773.

Sound familiar? Even in 1773, Americans were concerned about the behavior of Corporations and Their Intentions. They were not for the Common Good. They were as they are now, in it for themselves. Note too in this excerpt, that Rusticus’ concerns have echoed down to the present day.

 

Activism, Reprints & Crossposts

The Sheltered Existence, Pt 9 One Paycheck Away

EveryoneIs
Yesterday, Sunday Sept 25, I was down occupying Wall Street. I saw a wide range of Americans – young, old, middle-aged, Veterans, New Yorkers, out-of-towners, and we all were there for one reason: To bring attention to the rising inequity that is occurring while the Foxers try to mock with outdated insults like “hippie” and “get a job”. Yeah, I am homeless, and I work. Just not earning enough to pay the rent.


When a group of NYFD walked through the plaza, a cheer and applause rang out.

Until the night fell, the NYPD were cool. Yes, there was an attempt to intimidate, but it didn’t quite work they way the Commanding officers hoped.

No arguement

I met people who were respectful, well-spoken, and quite concerned for all Americans. Why should we be mocked for exercisng our First Amendment right to gather, express and petition? I mean, isn’t that why we’re “fighting ‘them’ over there”?
DefendingOurFreedoms
Shadow2

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So, WHY were members of the media arrested? Why is the NYPD arresting citizens for taking photographs and videos?

Activism

What a difference 12 hours make

I have a friend named Michael, who I just talked to for the first time since The Great Firewall was thrown up in China.
We became friends due to our love for The Daily Show & The Colbert Report (see, “torrenting” can have a positive effect on the world). We started chatting about the show, and he owns the only autographed first edition, possibly the ONLY copy of  I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU).

He’s traveling through SE Asia, and now has the capability to chat with me and his other friends outside of China.
There’s only a 12 hour time difference.

Missed you, my friend.

Activism, Ghimeabragh

wanna avoid getting sick from your dog or cat?

WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS! While dealing with the typical hate on dog owners seem to have towards cat owners, blah blah bla disease… like your dog is the healthiest thing on the planet. A liitle research turned up this CDC article:  Animals: Dogs | CDC Healthy Pets Healthy People.  Yes, your dog can transmit the following illnesses: giardia, or hookworm, Crypotsporidium, Lyme Fever, Ringworm, Tapeworm, Salmonella, or Rocky Mountain Fever among others.

How do avoid the possibility of contracting any  of them? Simple:  just as it is with avoiding illnesses transmitted by cats, inlcuding taxoplamsis, is to wash your hands.

If you’re healthy, you probably won’t contract any of the above from your dog, but if you have a compromised immune system, then you need to be more careful.

 

 

Activism, Reprints & Crossposts

The First Amendment does not protect your right to deliberate inflame

Terry Jones is directly responsible for this. Arrest Jones for giving Aid & Comfort. The 1st Amendment does not protect one from the yelling of “FIRE” in a crowded theater if there is no fire, and done purely for the panic response. Jones is a fifth columnist who needs to be tried as such. He cannot hide behind “we gave it a trial and found it guilty”. That’s the same as holding a fencepost responsible for embedding a splinter in a rancher. The teaparty and people of Jones’ quasi-religious ilk refuses to understand that words have consequences. and some are very very fatal. Just ask the 20 people who died as a result He knew the CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER  to Life and Limb should he go forth with the book burning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. […] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.

Yet, he just didn’t give a shit. It wasn’t HIS life or HIS limbs that would bear the scars of retribution. from the NY TIMES article

Unable to find Americans on whom to vent their anger, the mob turned instead on the next-best symbol of Western intrusion — the nearby United Nations headquarters. “Some of our colleagues were just hunted down,” said a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kieran Dwyer, in confirming the attack.

YOU ACHIEVED YOUR AIM. HOPE YOU WERE WELL PAYED BY THE DESTROYER OF SOULS.

WITH FREE SPEECH, COMES RESPONSIBILITY

 

NOTE: This originally appeared as a note on my facebook page, which led to a lively and civil discussion on the limits of free speech and its repercussions. One friend brought up flag-burning. No one, to my knowledge or reporteed in the news has been killed for that act. Beaten up and/or arrested, but not murdered.    

update: Jones has called the repercussions in Afghanistan “tragic”, but he isn’t repentant, and the death toll due to this incident ha passed 50

Activism, Rumours Gin Mill

I HAVE IT!!!

and, I owe it to Stephen Colbert and his segment, THE WøRD. It has been said, that when an AA meeting is so successful, that people will “fall off the wagon” in order to facilitate meetings. A ‘re-probleming”, so that there is a “better” reason for other members to talk about their struggles and success with their desire for alcohol.   In the Jan 18, 2011 segment of THE WøRD, Colbert pointed it out: Civil Rights has been so successful in certain areas, that there are those who “feel the pressing need to undo it in order to address it” They’re not bigots, just people who fell off the Equal Rights wagon.

Since WP will not permit me to embed the clip, the clip can be found here or, you can click on the post above.

Activism, Rumours Gin Mill

After Eric Cantor’s “treason”, can a Jew ever be President?

With the revelation that Sen. Eric Cantor (R-Va) held a one-on-one meeting with Israel’s Netanyahu and assured him

that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration and what has been, up until this point, one party rule in Washington. He made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and that the security of each nation is reliant upon the other.

Cantor later walked this back.  But the damage has been done. Those that believe the Zionists control Washington, like David Duke,  have their evidence of the “ZOG”. Indeed, he quickly picked up onto Glenn Greenwood essay and emblazoned it on his own site: Eric Cantor’s Pledge of Allegiance (to Israel over America! ) Greenwald I’m sure would not be pleased by the addition of the last phrase to his essay title (which is the only editorializing Duke brings to the essay), but the fact this has been picked up by the likes of Duke brings to the table of suspicion a bit of “proof’ that a Jew can’t be a loyal American, but instead owes loyalty first and foremost to Israel.

from the jpost.com:

One-third of Americans believe that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States, according to figures presented to the Knesset on Tuesday by Anti-Defamation League director Abe Foxman. “This belief is so out of sync with everything else happening in America, with the fact that there’s so much acceptance of Jews in all phases of life – academia, commerce, media, politics,” Foxman told The Jerusalem Post.

The ADL goes on to blame Carter and others for this “shift”. There has been no shift, just as the teaparty allowed the closet bigot to be free, so has Carter allowed the closet bigot to spew his or her theories on American Jewish loyalty. Foxman goes on to “speculate” on my voice in American political discourse being quieted by fear. He does a a very small point. He is counseling in couched terms, to do exactly that and shut the hell up on Iran and other existential threats to his manhood.
and, here:

The phrase “dual loyalty,” though salient for Jews because of their history, is, according to Kelner, not appropriate to the current situation.

“I would argue that this is a case in which the history is not giving us the language that is appropriate for making sense of what’s going on,” Kelner said. “Because it is not a question of loyalty to a unitary American government or a unitary government in Israel. It’s about partisanship in Israel. It’s about partisanship in the United States. It’s about partisanship within the American Jewish community.”

In fact, those American Jews who view Obama’s push toward a settlement of the conflict as progress express no fears of being accused of dual loyalty. On the contrary, they feel their interests are now aligned with the administration’s, if not with the current Israeli government.

“I admit that there is anxiety,” said Robert Wexler, the former Florida congressman who is now the president of the Center for Middle East Peace & Economic Cooperation, a Washington-based think tank. “There are some actors in the political process that make it their business to question the motives of those who seek to end the conflict. And I think that’s a misplaced effort. A continuation of the conflict does not help Israel. Fighting two wars every three years, facing an enemy that is better armed and better equipped each time, that does not help Israel.”

In my humble opinion as a mere Citizen, Cantor undid a lot of what Wexler was talking about, and deliberately so. The American Right cannot exist on a plane where a resolution to the conflict in the middle east is achieved, as it will destroy the Christian Right’s Endtimes Game.

Activism, Rumours Gin Mill

The Mad November Teaparty

While listening to C-Span, there was a comment about Boehner raising money for Rand Paul, yet not endorsing any of the winning teaparty candidates.  It occurred to me, that all the dire talk regarding a Republican takeover of the House may not be all it’s cracked up to be. As a lot of us have noticed, the teaparty really  comprised of sore losers, what with the defeated refusing to share stage and endorse the winning Republican candidate.  How will this shape up at the polls? Will they stay home? Will they vote “None of the above“? It feels to me, that they will stay home, since they will not hold their noses and vote for the unholy not “conservative” (i.e. radical/extreme) GOP candidate. THAT would be “politics as usual” and “surrendering”. In other words, the dodos are running a caucus race.
Alice and the Dodo caucusing Pictures, Images and Photos
This does not mean that those of us on the “Left” Progressives, Moderates and others should sit on our asses and stay home. Quite the contrary, we should be out firing up our “disaffected” peers. Democracy is a grassroots, community organized affair.
Photobucket

Activism, oil on velvet

Uncomfortable Art in Newark or, F#*K CURATORS

On Saturday August 28, at Newark‘s Index Gallery, a little gallery show was held featuring the art of

TaskOne, …Mr. Mustart, Serron and Dmitry Gubin. Ironically it was curated by Extranjera. The name of the exhibit stems from the difficulty talented, controversial artists and their provocative subjects have in getting a gallery show without compromising their vision.  While all of the artists are extraordinary, Serron is a standout. His art is political, provocative, confrontational and frankly uncomfortable. It was Serron I had the opportunity to chat with about his art, and his modesty about his talent was amazing. Soft-spoken with a keen eye, his works hark back to the politically active years of the 1960’s from the Newark Riot piece to his take on an old joke to placing that very uncomfortable word “Nigger” square in your face in such a way that the soul-killing meaning of that words cannot be avoided or justified by use by anyone. One work, is mixed media paint and paper. “FREE HUEY”. A flier for a fundraiser in support of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense (a/k/a THE Black Panthers of Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Prof. Angela Davis)

TaskOne has a style reminiscent of contemporary anime,  Dmirty Gubin is bold strokes of color. …Mr. Mustart uses found pieces such as chinese take out menus overlaid with “Hello Kitty!” Keep your eyes open – you’ll be hearing more of all of these Newark, NJ talents.

Activism, Vocal Booth

An old letter to my father regarding my mTBI

I wrote this two years ago – it’s been slightly edited:

Dad

you asked me on the phone today, why I am working if I am 100% disabled. Did you ever stop to think, that I am earning more money working? That I have an apartment, instead of “living” in a shelter for the next 6-10 years and receiving around $450/month? Yes, father, I am actually making more money working. Have you considered, that since my assault, I have been royally screwed by every single State/City Agency I have had contact with – from the Independent Living Centers, where I was kicked to the curb, and have never had the courtesy of a reply from the Center’s Manager, to having a bogus “student loan” reported as a “default” on my credit, (yeah, my credit wasn’t too good, but still) to having “advocates” for my welfare lie to me, to having housing affidavits not sent in, to just dealing with shit on my own, because I realized that no one will really help. NO ONE in this Hell Hole gave a damn, The Center for Jewish Poverty and J— included.

Look what I accomplished daddy, and tell me why you don’t seem to appreciate what I have come through. Not even our “own” gave a damn.

why do you not like me? that’s what it feels like to me. To you, I may be being “silly”, “ridiculous”, or whatever other adjective you wish to use, but dad, it’s how I am feeling. I come to you for help/advice and you tell me essentially I am full of shit. “How can I be disabled? you work. Well, guess what? I am in the “High Functioning” category of TBI. and, that entitles me to ADA protections. Hey, maybe, I should have been left in a coma, or more visibly injured. Then you wold believe I am disabled. But I don’t look or sound any different than before, so how can I have deficits? You’ve read the Neuropsycholigical report. Was that bogus?
This is similar to what I feel everyday:
http://brokenbrilliant.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/ruminations-of-a-high-fuctioning-mtbi-survivor/

“But seriously, folks, there must be a better way for tbi survivors to make a living, than having to schlep into an office and be surrounded by people who neither understand nor care about your condition. I’ve worked with disabled people before, and while our employer did accommodate them, and they were great friends with everyone they worked with, the simple fact is, they had to work like the dickens just to get by “normally.” And while people did help and reach out to them, there was always that undercurrent of pity that makes my skin crawl.

I just can’t bring myself to “play the disabled card” as a tbi survivor. I’m still up in the air about whether I’d even mention it to an employer. I certainly will not mention it to consulting clients. That would totally work against me, I believe.

I just need to keep it to myself, unless there’s an expressed need to let people know what’s going on. I guess it’s all in a day’s work for a tbi survivor… trying to figure out how to navigate the working world. Or the world in general.”

See, dad, no one really does give a shit. No one believes.
http://www.braininjurylawblog.com/cat-10-myths-of-brain-injury.html
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/21644a.htm

I also just cut my nose to spite my face. Joined a LinkedIn group fr mTBI survivors, and left afte being asked in email about my creds: Survivor, caregiver or doctor, and all because I posted two of the links from this email into that group.

LISTEN UP: IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE BACKSTORY, ASK ME UP FRONT, AND IN PUBLIC.

FML