ace band yo

as i am on the band suggestion kick i will also say that the twin cities group: the nancy drew crew is really worth listening  to if you dig wack political white hip hop. 

listen to "college inc."

  http://www.myspace.com/nancydrewcrew  

two films that must be watched

SHELTER: A SQUATUMENTARY

"With skyrocketing property values, rent and home ownership have become unaffordable at best, and impossible at worst. Thus people all over the world are reclaiming housing as a basic human right by continuing the tradition of squatting. This documentary film explores the squatting movement in the East Bay from 2004 to 2007."

 

SURFING THE WASTE

A musical documentary about dumpster diving. so darn funny. and reminded me of my pals in nyc. look for the bike powered blender.

both of these should be available at your local info shop/interesting persons house. and you should borrow them.

old health

I was reading some articles on Irish health care. it is such a messy issue but in the 1970s the Catholic Church still controlled much of the system; they set up and ran most of the country’s hospitals and clinics.  They ran it as a private system that a citizen could voluntarily join.  In 1971, the Republic of Ireland created a system of eight health boards.  These boards were responsible for operating in specific areas; Ireland was divided into regions and put under jurisdiction of a chief executive officer of the board.  Reform of this system was needed due to the politicization of the appointment of its members. Officers were chosen based on their political affiliations and as a result medical decisions were often weighed on how they affected parties rather than their benefit to the community and patients.

 

who needs health

The Adelaide Hospital Society, published a report in april, which suggested the development of a “carefully-designed comprehensive social health insurance system in Ireland [that] would provide equal access to medical care for every citizen in Ireland based on need and not financial means,” Hunter, Niall. “Call for new health funding scheme.” 16/04/2008

The government would have a separate tax for this program, and the amount required by each citizen would be based on income. If an individual were unable to pay, the government would subsidize them. 

i dont like communism but this is interesting

propaganda posters are a far better way to convey messages. i guess we sort of have them- billboards. but i really wish there were still such amazing political posters, particularly like the soviet ones. It is hard to motivate a struggling and dilapidated country.  the graphic posters, with bright colors, showing the resilience of the Red Army and idealized images of Russian workers rising above capitalism, were motivational to the workers and the soldiers. 

some thoughts on red

i really am interested in color effects in propaganda. 

“In the 1940s, the Russian scientist S V Krakov provided support for Lüscher's theories by establishing that the colour red stimulates the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system, while blue stimulates the parasympathetic part. These findings were confirmed in 1958 by Robert Gerard of the USA, who found that red was disturbing to anxious or tense subjects, while blue had a calming effect. Red produced feelings of arousal and blue produced feelings of calm, tranquility and well being.”

1936 El pueblo se alza como un vendaval

please read this website. http://sindios.info/iniciosin.html

more importantly listen to the magnificent music that is my life's distraction.

i dont really like this man

but i like architecture. thomas jefferson’s cultural and educational beliefs were modeled in his creation of the university of virginia.  in the school there is a balance of open lawn space with academic buildings and housing. the library was built as a version of the Pantheon in Rome. a unique, and controversial, structure at the school is the Rotunda, which is located in the center where traditionally a church would have been built.

sproul brawl

oh and i do nto think that, in his later life, mario savio necessarily "sold out." the free speech movement, which he was a significant participant, was about rejecting the policies of the berkeley administration. there was not an anti-faculty belief. 

the higher ups at the university objected to allowing students to demonstrate and drum up support for off campus and especially out of state political issues. particularly the voter registration and anti-discrimination work in mississippi and the rest of the south. the school also had a strictly two party affiliation policy, so projects (demonstrations, tabeling, etc) had to go through either the democrat or republican clubs. 

there was faculty support of the FSM because their rights were infringed upon as well, (the loyalty oath, etc). they were being used to keep the students cogs for the regents. they should have risen up sooner, sure. 

i think that if anything, savio becoming a professor, was rather logical. he was not fighting against all authority (whether or not i believe he should have been is another issue). the movement was a fight against abuse of power 

and abraham lincoln is a tainted, tainted man.

for all the revolutions

ive been reading about the two major revolutions in russia in 1917. The first was the February Revolution and the second, the October Revolution. the revolutions were in response to the years of overbearing monarchies.  people wanted a government that they could be a part of and participate in. when the revolutions were growing, the government was suffering from wwi. there were still food shortages and high prices for basic ingredients.  people thought the Tsar, II, didnt understand their plight and they blamed him for the economic issues. the peasants were also moving to the industrialized cities in large numbers, creating a more centralized labor force.  the workers in the cities lived in crowded and unsanitary housing, working in factories that were dangerous and were paid insufficiently.  a benefit to moving to the city was that the peasants were exposed to politics and the realization that they could have power over the owning class through strikes. the feb revolution was sporadic and not organized; it started on the 23^rd in the capital, Petrograd.  The factory workers walked out to demonstrate against the shortage of bread and by the 25^th most every industry in the city had been shut down.  students, teachers, and white-collar workers also joined the demonstrators. The police could not handle the protesters and many of the soldiers ordered to shoot at the demonstrators refused to fire.  soon after, the Tsar abdicated his thrown under the pressure. 

Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party, led the October Revolution.  the second revolution was based on commie ideology and the writings of Lenin and Karl Marx.  the revolution ended the short reign of the Provincial Parliamentary Government, which governed in between revolutions.  multiple councils made up of local peasants and workers replaced the provincial parliament. the ending goal of the Revolution was for an economic system that would not be based on class and social status.  it would be one where the people hold a common ownership of the means of production.

i am a that

the other day i was walking home at 12;45am from developing photos and saw a little brown dog. he was shivering and looked friendly (as i think all dogs do). i whistled to him and he trotted across the street and cautiously approached me. we bonded and then i started to head home. he followed me for nearly three blocks. running up to store entrances, smelling for food and then running back to me. 

i started to think he was going to join my merry household. there was a collar around his neck but there was only a name and address, no phone number. My plan was to feed him and let him stay with me until i could figure out where his house was to return him.

then he ran into the open door of a bar we were passing. i was somewhat obligated to rescue him. i explained to the bouncer (who was running around the bar trying to catch my excited friend) what had happened and how i had ended up with this short shadow. surprisingly the guy was super nice and told me to wait outside and he would look for a phone book so we could look up the name on the dog tag. 

For the next twenty minuets at least fifteen bargoers became involved with this little doggie's life. We could not find a resident phone book, so someone tried googleing it on his phone, only to have his phone die in the process. everyone had ideas on how to figure out the owner's location. 

part of the problem was that so many of these well wishing individuals were rather intoxicated and all set on how this dog was going to make it home even though none of them had even heard of the street.

we even asked a kind taxi driver who stopped to pick someone up, and he could not find the street on his maps.

the whole time i was holding on to my new friend and he just sat contentedly, happy with all the attention.

at long last some guy found the street on his phone map. his friend had a car and they said they would take the pup to his home. 

to be exact, the friend said that they would take the dog, "but not that" (meaning me). he was kind of drunk and i dont think he thought i was close enough to hear. i thought it was rather humorous. i am a that.

Burn as long as you can, until the end of the world.

http://www.kalashni.net/homepageBarra.htm

Music is a gun loaded with future

Under a white sky condemned to be a still presence


Music is a gun loaded with future it’s a bloody cloud, it’s a clear promise,


A blow shot in the middle of the breast,

Music is a gun loaded with future. It’s a shining fist.

 

Blood is spilling over the chords, from wounded wrists by sharp ice.

Throats grasped by the great cold, the grooves of a dirty vinyl.


Scream as you can, music is a gun loaded with future!


Burn as long as you can, until the end of the world.

It’s a Molotov made with cries,

thrown from a sideral hand


Over the people busy in christmas shopping.


It’s something written with red spray and evanescent borders


Music is blood that you have in your veins.


It’s a desperate fight !

 

Take a holed cloth and a neck made of glass,


Pour petrol until ¾,


Then a broad gesture ploughs the clear sky


Just a row, a target, a look and a fire that change…

my new fave band

sin dios is an anarcho-punk band from spain who started out playing shows in squatted houses. there songs are about resistance and liberation of all peoples. good stuff.

one of the videos i like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_geqOUKH2U

even better

http://greekpostpunk.blogspot.com/

i have no idea what they are saying

i just discovered this '80s greek punk band ausschwitss. i do not speak greek so i have no idea what their songs are about but i like the bass. haha. they only have a few songs surviving their break up, which can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/ausschwitz

sin dios

Casa okupada, Casa encantada

Somos los duendes que habitan en las casa abandonadas,

La propiedad privada es un robo, y lo nuestro arte de magia.

Una casa okupada es una casa encantada,

Cuando haya un desalojo, aparecemos en otra.

El hechizo está en hacerlo todo con tus propias manos,

Convirtiendo cuatro muros en espacios liberados.

Una casa okupada es una casa encantada,

Cuando haya un desalojo, aparecemos en otra.

¡¡eh, burgués especulador!! Vigila bien tus propiedades

"our newest endangered species"

I was reading the blog, Bike Snob NYC, today. there was a long post about how messengers are a dying culture. I liked the ideas on how to keep them alive. This was one of my favorites: 

"If you work in an office for a large company, there’s a constant trickle of money that you can re-direct into the deserving pocket of a bike messenger. How? Messenger stuff unnecessarily! For example, every day people waste millions of man-hours instant messaging each-other during business hours. While you’re burning your employer’s money you might as well help out a starving messenger too. Instead of IMing, just messenger Post-It notes back and forth. Your average exchange with a friend about what you had for lunch, how stupid your boss is, or how much your new underwear itch is good for at least twelve messenger round-trips. And that’s money he can spend on essentials like food, rent, and tattoo time."

enjoy more here:

the wabash cannonball calls

i need to migrate. this winter business is not my bag.  i left for last winter and now am reminded why.

so entertaining

State-level analysis-

·      Emphasizes the characteristics of states, what states do, and how they make foreign policy choices.

·      Much of what goes on in world politics revolves around interactions between governments

·      Important: foreign policy making process: the influences and activities within a country that cause its government to adopt one or another foreign policy.

on edu and la

The problem of poverty in Central America is growing; this is due to such things as lack of education and globalization. A huge cause of poverty in Central America is lack of proper education. The majority of the people have not had any type of schooling.  Lack of education creates dependence, dependence on people to read for you, which opens the opportunity for people to cheat you.  The elite run the governments and it is in their interest to keep down the poor so that they can exploit them for cheap labor.  If the people were given the opportunity to learn and go to school they could possibly open their own business and sell their products at better prices.  They also would be more knowledgeable on which candidate to vote for in elections because they could read the information themselves.  The poor have little access to the means pf production or the final product; they are simply a cheap source of production.  Exploitation by countries like the United States has also caused Central America to stay poor. The more developed countries that send corporations down to Mexico and set up sweatshops to make cheap goods for Americans to buy, force the independent stores to close and the workers get cheep paying jobs in Maquiladoras because they lack the education to work for themselves.  The workers slave away barely surviving on the pittance they receive; they cannot afford to send their children to school and so by continuing their dependence on America and other EDCs.  The average Salvadorian lives on one twentieth of what Americans live on.  The majority of the rest of Central Americans live on less than two dollars a day and most are under the poverty line.   Costa Rica is a good example of a country that is emerging from poverty.  The leaders put emphasis on democracy, getting rid of the armed forces, and moderating the inequality of income, and prioritized heath care.  They are significantly better off then some of the other Central American countries.  In Guatemala the number of 18-23 year olds who had received some sort of higher education was one in five as opposed to one in three Costa Rica.

crunchy apples

Jacobo Arbenz was a Guatemalan nationalist and whose reform of the country alienated conservative wealthy landowners and the US, resulting in his removal by the CIA. During his presidential campaign, Arbenz promised to free Guatemala from its dependency on the United States and make it an independent capitalist state. Arbenz continued and expanded many of Arevalo’s reforms. For example: in 1952 he formed a program that would allow the government to expropriate uncultivated land to families.  The people who had part of their land taken were paid the in how much it was worth in taxes. To show how serious he was about land reform he gave a percentage of his own land.  The United State’s problem with Arbenz’s land reform was that he was taking land from the United Fruit Company. The UFC was the largest landowner in Guatemala; most of the land however, was uncultivated. Higher-ups in the American government, like the Dulles brothers, were important shareholders in the company and would suffer if the UFC pulled out or lost money. Arbenz was forced to resign and flee his country because he knew that the USA was sponsoring a coup d’etat.  A US supported military dictator, Colonel Carlos Armas, who replaced him in 1954.  This is just another example of American imperialism and globalization.

while you were shopping....

As a product of capitalist greed, leading to globalization, Latin and Central American countries have been kept underdeveloped to benefit American companies.  Latin America is full of natural resources like oil, coffee, and sugar cane and could be much more economically and politically stable if they were able to keep the profits of their production instead of having the US take it through their multinational corporations that have set up sweatshops in the countries. With NAFTA and CAFTA, USA companies can move to Mexico and pay the workers lower wages without having to worry about unions (they just make them “disappear”) or other laws as they do in America. The wages are low for Mexican workers often they have to look in landfills for food for their children. Another negative effect that NAFTA has had on Mexico is that the farmers cannot compete with subsidized American farmers so they have to look for work in the sweatshops.  NAFTA is a policy that further forces the dependency of Mexico on the United States for economic growth.  Though, it must be said that the United States has become dependent on the cheap products that are made in Mexico.  The US supporting leaders like Diaz and removing leaders like Arevalo and Arbenz, does nothing but detract from the development of Latin America, as Bureaucratic-Authoritarian/Military governments tend not to give up power easily or fairly, keeping Latin America in a constant state of coups and violence.

"to stop being a hypocrite and start living out what I believe"

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2008/1128/1227739082279.html?via=mr

Latin American politics for fun

The relationship between the former Sandinista Government in Nicaragua and the United States was not one of milk and cookies. The Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN, ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990; they led a revolution that was aimed at freeing the indigenous people from the imperialism and abusive capitalist state run under the Somoza government; they formed communal farms and nationalized land. They also, in 1980, started a Literacy Campaign and reduced the percentage of illiterate people from 50% to 12.9%.  The Sandinistas saw education as a right that all Nicaraguans had, not simply the wealthy. In 1981 newly elected president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, condemned the Sandinistas for working with Cuba to support revolutions in Latin America. Under Reagan, the CIA began supporting, financing, training and arming rebels, the Contras, to fight against the FSLN. The Contras were an armed group that formed to oppose the Sandinistas after the Somoza dynasty was overthrown. The Contras and the Somoza government killed about 81,000 people-mostly civilians from 1975-1981. The Contras attacked coffee plantations and other civilian targets; most Nicaraguans opposed them, as did human rights groups. The Contras were supported by the United States through the CIA to fight against the Sandinistas; at the same time the Congress of the United States was condemning their actions-rape, torture, kidnapping- as terrorist activities. The Contras employed such tactics as planting mines in busy roads, attacking day care centers, hospitals, bridges, power buildings and schools, causing major casualties. The plan behind sabotaging public civilian places was that it would disrupt the economy and government ideally resulting in displeasure in the Sandinistas. In 1983, Congress prohibited the funding of the Contras by the US. The Reagan administration ended up selling weapons to Iran and having the money sent back to the Contras in Nicaragua-The Iran-Contra Affair. In 1984, Nicaragua had their first democratic elections and the FSLN won with 67% of the vote. The US held major propaganda campaigns to try to discourage the Nicaraguans to vote for the Sandinistas. Due in part to the Contras terror rampage, inflation rose exponentially and there was dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in stopping the terrorist attacks and in reinvigorating the economy. The Sandinistas lost popularity in the late 1980s, and in 1990 the US backed candidate Violeta Barrios de Chamorro won the election for president. 

get global

The Maastricht Treaty was signed in the Netherlands in 1992 and served to create the European Union. The Treaty helped create the widely shared currency of the euro, making international trade easier and more efficient. The European Union is the successor to the European Community, whose 12 nations collectively created the biggest economic market in the world. Psh who needs sovereignty? we've got globalization!

more troops= peace......?

Somehow when politicians say that they want to end a war or create peace, they always mean add more troops to the area.
interesting: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1121/breaking88.htm

Alt Edu

“Education is a process of drawing out, not of driving in; that the child must be let free to develop spontaneously, directing his own efforts and choosing the branches of knowledge which he desires to study; that, therefore, the teacher, instead of imposing or presuming as authoritative his own opinions, predictions, or beliefs, should be a sensitive instrument responding to the needs of the child as they are at any time manifested.”

-Bayard Boyesen

good quote

"My advice: Take up yoga, lefties, because you're gonna need an awful lot of flexibility to perform the contortions necessary to explain and justify President Obama's actions over the next four years." http://www.mickeyz.net 

this is a start

Some might find it pointless and futile to not go to class because the prof said not to come if we did not vote. I could overlook the comment, arrive in class, think silently about what I believe and leave it at that. That's not how I roll. Not voting is a serious choice that I do not treat lightly.

I am an anarchist [I have been outed]. That does not mean that I throw bricks through random windows and want to violently destroy every microcosm of organization that exists. What I believe is that the system we have that is based on capitalistic and hierarchical ideas needs to change. Ideas are what keep it going, not it actually being right- it is the thought of it being right.

There needs to be true, deep, cleansing change, gutting change. The sort of change that does not come from voting booths. The very fundamental nature of the system needs to be redone. I do not have a blueprint for development of “the perfect society” but it is one where respect is given to individuals needs and consensus is reached on plans or ideas that should be implemented. I will, at some future time express my ideas of anarchism.

Even if you believe that the type of democracy we have is right, participation EVERYDAY is essential. How many years have politicians campaigned, been elected and then forgotten what they stood for? Most every time. They are not held accountable by the people who elect them.

I agree that this election was a particularly significant one. Having the first non-white president elect is seen by many as a massive achievement. People tried to tell me that of all times to lay down my ideologies this would be the time. On the contrary, this is the most important time to stand behind my anarchical beliefs. Close is not what I fight for. Close still disenfranchises people, still kills people, and tends to allow individuals to feel a false sense of success- leading them to believe they deserve rest.

Neither candidates, nor most any individual running for election, are going to attempt a legitimate end to the occupation of Iraq. They are not going to fight for a sustainable energy development, fight to end the rape of this earth. Which box do I check to end sweatshops? to say that I will only buy from companies that pay their workers a fair wage and allow union organizing to keep hierarchy extinct? There is not a check that can ever express that. I have a loud voice and I will run in the streets until we can collectively create true change. Voting is fear of exercising one's actual voice. Get out in the streets.

I know not everyone is able to participate in direct action or is comfortable being an activist. There are many ways that people who do not agree with militancy. Community actions like food cooperatives, volunteering with Food Not Bombs, tutoring in schools are all examples of such actions. Building a community and network is a highly effective way of protecting each other and gaining a voice.

Quite frankly we have reached a time where comfortablity is no longer a valid desire. I am speaking of laziness and expecting "change" from the simple act of checking a square on the ballot. If you believe that elections and voting are what will create a better, peaceful world and if you are going to vote, than vote and then (please) YELL! Do not shut up and wait for the next election. There are far too many people around the country and around the world who suffer every day from policies and implications of policies brought on by this system of government that I am begging to deconstruct. Speak up and don't shut up.

These thoughts are not articulated as smoothly or strongly as I would wish them to be. I am sure there are cavities in my ideas, but please ask me kindly and I will defend them, maybe. This is only a start, I have much more to explain and think about.

do not forget

I DID NOT VOTE

DON’T TELL ME TO VOTE IN A SYSTEM I DESPISE. THE STREETS ARE MY BOOTH AND MY REPRESENTATION IS MY VOICE. Allow me the small favor of simply listening to my reasoning.  I do not expect minds to be turned around or for you to expect re-formation of my values. In the next posts I will attempt a more rational explanation of why I will not sacrifice my beliefs to participate in this system. 

vote and shut up?

"Electoral politics dominates the imaginations of people in the United States to an unparalleled degree. Whenever the question of social change arises, one is always pointed to the ballot box: if you don’t vote, you can’t complain, which is to say, vote and shut up. One might argue that there is no more strategic target for direct action than the conventions, which represent the total hegemony of the two-party system."

I will not shut up and I will not vote-thereby giving legitimacy to a system that is not ideal. i am not a blind young idealist. do not stomp on me, join me.  you do not have to refuse to vote, do what you want but make sure you do not simply vote and shut up. yell when they try to silence your voice. acceptance is not democratic. 

if the system dont work build a better one

antirepublican antidemocrat if they self-destruct it'll be anticlimactic.

too long.

28 days. ended.

da-fine

I recently discovered the history of the word paraphernalia: "in former times, items of property given to a wife on her wedding by her new husband and thereafter legally her own."

more on fun state government

General history of initiative use: Started in South Dakota in the mid-1880s by Robert W. Haire. New Jersey was also key

even the economy has mood swings

 when referring to state government issues, business cycle refers to the ups and downs of economic activity. There are shifts between periods of rapid growth of output and then periods of stagnation or decline (recession). what makes the job difficult for the budget office to create an effective state budget is that the business cycle is not easy to predict in terms of patterns. i have realized that writing budgets at this level requires a creative mind capable of great guessing.  “Rainy-day funds” are sometimes established for use during a recession to boost the economy. However, most legislatures do not see why the governor does not use the extra funds to fix immediate problems with the budget or programs. The budget really needs reserves so it does not suffer too much stress when the business cycle turns down. i actually think this is rather worth knowing. not worth participating in, but one must spend copious amounts of time studying what they distain if they wish to destroy it, someday. 

nebraska different, really?

Nebraska is pretty wack as it is.  I used to hang out with some guys in Omaha when i lived in West Iowa. they took pride in their senator being voted dumbest in the nation. i've been reading about the state legislature in nebraska it is the only unicameral legislature in the country. it was set up in 1934, through a constitutional amendment that dissolved the House and granted all the powers to the Senate. the pusher, George Norris,  argued that a bicameral system was based on the British House of Lords and was undemocratic. as this was during the Depression the desire to cut costs also played into the unicameral plan. it was pointless to have two bodies doing the same thing and also a waist of money. some nerdy information is that the Senators serve for 4 years. ½ of the seats are up for election every 2^nd year. they earn $12,000/yr. and are elected in nonpartisan elections with one nonpartisan primary that picks top two to run in the general election. i should put quotations around the word nonpartisan. unofficially the Senate is overwhelmingly republican. oh, and their sessions run 90 working days in odd-numbered years and 60 working days in even-numbered years. this leaves time for running for reelection. 

class dismissed. 

do not block the capitalistic monster

The WTO is a force for globalization. Through WTO policies and the opening up of countries to foreign investments, factories and other companies will go where they can pay the least to produce their product. This happens at the expense of the laborer who, in most cases, cannot turn to a union for disputes of wage and conditions.  The WTO also ruled it illegal to ban a product in how it was produced, such as by using child labor.  

bello bellow

In his writings about conduct of soldiers and their governments once the war has begun, Jus in Bello, St. Aquinas says that there must be proportionality.  The offensive force should not annihilate the defenders if the initial crime resulted in the death of few. Proportional to the wrongs endured. One death is more than should be killed, but when the death toll of Iraqis is beyond 100,000 where as the deaths recorded on 9/11 were nowhere near that. The fact that the country of Iraq is in shambles and the government is essentially in the control of their conquerors, is evidence enough of the obvious disproportional force used. 

"let's take the day off"

     

in the middle of a bombed out street whose business long ago fled and whose residence spend transitory moments on their way to anywhere else, sits this billboard. i was in west belfast. this is not ritzy london where a billboard like this would be possibly more fitting. 

who has the time/money/freedom to wake up and take the day off?

when your city is controlled by a puppet government and when those who have power are in another country how can you expect to be able to spend the day surfing? 

these adds are ways of allowing impoverished areas a glimpse of what capitalistic culture they could achieve by oh, ya know, just a few extra days at work. 

i do what i want

I was reading through some old newspaper articles looking for information about what happened as the war in Iraq was was being concocted. I found an interesting one concerning the knowledge of the British government. Minutes of a private and extremely sensitive meeting held in 2002 between Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and his close government staff were released in 2005. They show the amount of information that the government knew in the run up to the war. The knowledge that Iraq was not a major threat, as foreign secretary, Jack Straw is quoted as saying: “Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, [sic] and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran.”[1] This is a significant and damning admission because the war would not be considered legal in the international community if the U.S. and England went into Iraq to just to depose Hussein.  They are strong states however and have great power on the Security Council in the U.N. Few can stand up to them without fear.

---

[1] Smith, Michael. “Blair planned Iraq war from the start,” The Sunday Times. 1 May, 2005.

flower power whoopee

I cannot be too depressing, here are the blissfully happy people who see the world through tie-dye sunglasses.

The Idealists believe that there can be a better and more peaceful world and that, to reach such a time, war will be used as little as possible.  Their philosophy is that human nature is good and moral. Replacing actions of greed, selfishness and viciousness, which can be overcome, are ones of peace, justice and diplomacy.  Idealists view free democratic societies as the most fitting because ideas are worked out through cooperation.  In the alternative states, problems are more likely to arise as national interest forces competition of resources that are not unlimited. Idealists see ideologies of unilateralism and issues of sovereignty as the main causes of conflict between states.

my body swallowed my bone

i broke the c7 vertebrae in my neck. that is the last bone on the way to the backbones. according to some medical dictionary, which does a far funnier job defining than i could, the:

"C7 (cervical vertebra): C7 is the symbol for the 7th cervical (neck) vertebral bone (C7) which is sometimes called the prominent vertebra due to the length of its spinous process (the projection off the back of the vertebral body).

The spinous process of the top thoracic vertebra (T1) just below C7 is sometimes even more prominent than that of the 'prominent vertebra'."

i broke off the part that they call the "spinous process" that makes it the "prominent vertebra." i lack prominence. the prominence is floating in my cavernous body awaiting to be consumed by the little munchers that dissolve dissident bone matter.  what kept these janitors from sweeping the bones away while they are in their proper place. i suppose a medical degree will not be greeting me this may.

reality

here  are some of my latest depressing thoughts on political science. particularly relating to the current folks in power.

Realists look at the world with less emphasis on ethics and more on balance of power and the idea that human nature is fundamentally bad and must not be trusted. This is because they believe people will always pursue their own self-interest. Realists wish to attain power, domestic or international. There is also the Darwinian influenced idea that strong states will take over those that are incapable of supporting or defending themselves and that in essence might is right.

is peace created through fear?

Hobbs is known well for his grim outlook on humanity: that people are brutish and mean, crude and act only for their self-interest. He believed that what urges man towards peace is his fear of death and being killed.  So get rid of the others and you will live eternally.

moldy peaches

my father used to house-sit for an old priest when he lived in japan. the other day he told me the poor guy was ordered not to eat day-old bread by his doctor because his stomach could not digest it and the bread would mold in his belly. imagine the day you could no longer dumpster dive for fear of cultivating fungi farms in your tummy.  

Some pretentious b.s.

Women's roles in art are traditionally portrayed as weak, emotional, and with emphasis to their ability for reproduction. A feminist would argue that these creative renditions of women are purely that, interpretations, not reality. The roles portrayed by women in pieces like David's The Oath of the Horatii are not biologically based, they are created by a society (dominated by males) to impose on and use the female form to please the male funder/viewer.

A feminist approach to looking at art means analyzing the peice in terms of its portrayal of gender-how men and women are rendered in their social roles through use of stance and color choice, among other things.

In the above mentioned painting by David, the men are confident, controlled and powerful. This contrasts the helplessness of the women, huddled together and openly displaying their emotions. The men are created using strong, hard angles rather than the slopped and soft shapes of the female forms.

Analyzing the color with a feminist approach would see David's choice to use subdued and languid tones on the women as representing them with less respect than the men whose clothing colors are vibrant and commanding confidence and self-conference. 

Hmmmm.... is this total crap. Well, yup. I think I forgot to think about history.

Escape to Tottenham

Today I found out an interesting fact about one of the founders of the Guinness Book of World Records. Ross McWhirter was a racist political activist who thought that there should be restrictions on the rights of Irish in England. On November 4, 1975 he offered £50,000 Pounds to anyone who would rat on the Irish Republican Army. He was shot dead  during a year long shooting campaign in London by the IRA in Nov 27th. 

Humph.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 I thought that Sleep was eight continues hours of John Giorno sleeping. Sleep has been much of my thoughts these days, and I was reminded of my long wish to view this film. I was reading a memorial of the filming and found out that the Bolex movie camera that Warhol used was only able to shoot 4-minutes of film at a time. He shot six and a half hours (thank you drugs) and the rest, to make up eight hours, was looped.

Andy Warhol:

"I could never finally figure out if more things happened in the sixties because there was more awake time for them to happen in (since so many people were on amphetamine), or if people started taking amphetamine because there were so many things to do that they needed to have more awake time to do them in... Seeing everybody so up all the time made me think that sleep was becoming pretty obsolete, so I decided I'd better quickly do a movie of a person sleeping. Sleep was the first movie I made when I got my 16mm Bolex."

wheres the vodka

we had band practice. i couldnt move my arms. and we couldnt tune the violin. and we were missing our other guitar player. we did have a loyal lovely listener. we need an accordion player.... any takers?

blockade

It is easier to hide the death of native demonstrators than the deaths of foreign demonstrators.  So the attraction to have individuals from the U.S. or other powerful countries is high. Violence is less likely to be used around demonstrators in, for example Israel, when they “act as ‘human shields,’ positioning themselves between members of the IDF [Israel Defense Force] and the Palestinians, standing in the way of bulldozers poised to demolish houses and placing themselves in crowds so that the IDF will be less likely to use real bullets if violence breaks out”[1]

---

[1] Wenig, Gaby. “Human Rights Activists of Aids to Terrorists.” Jewish Journal. Sep. 11, 2003 

if we dont see it, does it matter?

If the government squashes a peace movement and there is no independent media, political leaders suffer little consequence. However, if the world watches a nonviolent group be murdered, support (not necessarily foreign governmental support) seems to grow for the victim. 

notes from my readings

“Discussion of terrorism is full of moral outrage and fear because it is cloaked in secrecy and attacks either ordinary citizens or political leaders.  Yet it is hard to see what is more outrageous or frightening about a bomb placed under a car or in a bus, than a missile that comes out of the sky.  War is hell when it strikes, regardless of how it strikes.”

                                                            --The Penguin Atlas of War and Peace Dan Smith

This is why I do not understand the dividing of who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter, democracy-bringer, etc.

this is the new frontier

When I was living in Iowa I had to video a speech rudy giuliani gave. I was just doing some editing with the clip and recent events caused me to find particular importance to his ideas on health care. I guess he is often asked to recommend hospitals to individuals going through prostate cancer, which he survived.  He talked about no one ever calling him up for references to Cuban hospitals or English hospitals- or any country with a nationalized health care system.  People always want American ones. He thinks therefore a privately owned system is better, disregarding the fact that Cuba does have the best health care system of the developing world.  The reason that they are not as good as the United States is not because the system in nationalized but because they must make due under the strain of our sanctions against them.  one of the guys I was working with in Iowa is in Cuba right now doing a project on the health care system. I look forward to his findings.

crash

i have great timing for physical destruction. i was born right after the 87 collapse. i went into the hospital in 89 for treatments while san francisco burned (i was living near LA). and i bash my head and break my neck the day the stock market bottoms out. i miss all the great news because every time im in the hospital.

hear the rush of the mighty engine hear the lonesome hobos call

I was watching "Catching Out," a film about travelers who train hop around the country. It reminded me of a girl I ran into once who had survived two years crisscrossing the U.S. by freights. She stopped when she wanted to and would connect in various cities with other freegans. She talked a lot about the stricter laws about hopping, as was mentioned in the film. Quite a fascinating character.

edu

There needs to be a wide re-education of the population against their (our) long lasting ideas and ignorant abusive beliefs. Liberation in education.

do away with everything that enslaves you

There needs to be more of an emphasis on the destruction of the backings of capitalism. If capitalism is destroyed there exists still the structure to reconstruct an abusive system. This includes what you  believe.

education should be about learning HOW to learn not what to learn.

crass said it right

Most true statement yet:

"Yes that’s right, punk is dead, it’s just another cheap product for
the consumer’s head. Bubblegum rock on plastic transistors,
schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters. CBS promote
the Clash, but it ain’t for revolution, it’s just for cash. Punk
became a fashion just like hippy used to be and it ain’t got a
thing to do with you or me."

Individualgroupism

In life we are taught not to be individuals, we are taught to adjust our selves to the group. We are told to be and to act as individuals but the officials suppress our individualism.  Why does society say we are all individuals?  We are all individual-groupies. 

1% Free

I am not a fan of hippies or of the hippy culture. However, there was a group I admire that formed out of the 1960s hippy counter-culture.  Personally, I would believe them to be early punks, but that does not matter. They called themselves Diggers after the English group which I wrote about in the below post.

The re-formed group expanded the ideology of not owning land and encouraged the communities to live as socially conscience and uncapitalisticly as possible.

For a long time I have admired one of the San Francisco group's founders, Emmett Grogan. He opposed the sell-out culture that became of the alternative movement. The way to truly live what you believe is to act the way you believe even when there are not critics or is not a crowd.

The Diggers performed street theatre of plays written by the community, often about relevant social and political issues. They created free stores where people could bring items they did not need so those who did could take them.  One of the most successful contributions to the Bay Area was distributing free food in Golden Gate Park.

Obviously there are issues that arise from creating a new and not totally separate society. The group to payed to rent the Free Store building and the free food usually was made by volunteers but the ingredients bought. I have many conflicting views on the benefit of living within a system you despise. Not everyone should agree to live the same way, so smaller communities of people that follow similar ideologies should live separately and connect to other societies for things they lack. I am ignoring individuals who are too selfish or ignorant to explore who they are (whether or not they actually live it)

And now you have the power of the land in your hand

The Diggers formed in the late 1600's in the aftermath of the English Civil War and in reatcion to the suffering of the working class. Their underlying belief was that no person should participate in the slavery of property ownership. Each Digger community was formed without a hierarchy or systems of class.

A prominent Digger, Gerard Winstanley, wrote the pamphlet "The Law of Freedom in a Platform. " (The pamphlet can be read here: http://www.bilderberg.org/land/lawofree.htm) The writing was directed to Oliver Cromwell -the General of the Commonwealth's Army. Winstanley called for "the free possession of the land and liberties be put into the hands of the oppressed commoners of England."

Rather easily Cromwell destroyed the Diggers. Though, temporarally there was a surviving branch called the Levellers but my interest in them is not great, yet.

labels

How can one call themselves one belief system? I agree with points of many philosophies and ideas, but to put myself in one category is not particularly favorable.  There is however, one label that I am comfortable placing on myself and that is Freegan. That is not all I am though. If I were asked "Are you a Anarchist?" I would not respond "no, I am indeed a Freegan." Far too many such ideas overlap.  

Alliberi allotjament per a totes les persones

*Read the post below before this one*

Park Güell's origins represents all that squatting opposes. It was created the early 1900s as a place wealthy Catalans could escape to.  A place they could forget the poverty and pollution of the city- where the impoverished and overworked proletariat lived.  How could (can) one justify buying fresh air for private use?

The Park is now public and is often frequented by squatters. 

The photo above I took during an art show in which some of the squatting community took part in.   

101 Walterton Road

Much of my day was spent in the darkroom sniffing chemicals and developing photos I should have printed months ago.

I am fully aware that wet photography is vanishing and that the future is all digital. Until I am unable to find or pay for supplies, the spare moments of my life will be spent alone in the dark.

The negatives I worked with were mainly ones I took in Barcelona. Looking at the images is such a thrill because this is the first time I have seen them since I framed each in my lens.  

The photo above is of a well known squatting community in Barcelona. Squat and Resist. This is where most of my NYC squatting friends have stayed at some time.  The location of this squat is ideal. It is located right on El Carmel hill which is also the home of Park Güell. 

This will have to be continued in a new post because I seem to only be able to post one photo at a time.

polly want a cracker?

I was having an argument with my friend earlier today about the idea of owning pets. Ideologically I do not condone such actions of ownership, however I happen to own one of the most horrific animals to captivate. By horrific I mean on my part to claim it as my possession. Charlie is a yellow parakeet and I have had her/he/it for about four years.  My friend has two dogs that he takes running everyday, that is more justifiable than having an animal whose existence revolves around flight-something we unfortunately cannot do together. To make up for that, Charlie takes frequent flights around my apartment. Though not nearly as freeing and right as if the bird were in its natural habitat, I cannot just dump it down in Australia and expect survival.  I can however refrain from obtaining any other animals. 

I suppose this is another of my half thought out philosophies that should stay in my head because I cannot live them out.

A disclaimer: I am not a crazy animal rights activist, I do not agree with organizations that think animals are equal or better than humans (nor am I saying that humans are better than animals), and there are always times to amend ones beliefs. Especially when the writer has no idea what she believes. 

A murderer would never parade his crime in front of an open window.

Hitchcock’s film “Rear Window” would have been more dramatic if he had made it in black and white.  Black and white films tend to be more suspenseful and mysterious, and they heighten abnormality because of the use of shadows and value.  When watching a black and white film, the audience pays more attention to the symbolism of light and dark, which is a key element in mystery and suspense. As I read the short story by Woolrich, I imagined the main character, Hal Jeffries, as a man shrouded in the darkness of his apartment, because the story takes place mostly at night, with the lights off so that Jeffries can see the man in the opposite window.  Another part I thought would have benefited from being shot in black and white is what Jeffries sees in the opposite window, in the home of Lars Thorwald, the murderer.  In Woolrich’s story, Jeffries watches Thorwald pace back and forth in front of his window, which I pictured to be more dramatic than Hitchcock made it.  I would have shot the scene in the darkness with only Thorwald’s shadow visible as he walks past the window.  That conveys to the viewer, as darkness traditionally does, that he is evil or is doing something wrong. I would have never shown his full face in the film; he would always be partly in the shadows, as though he had something to hide.           

Hitchcock, however, chose to use color. In a film, color can be a distraction, as it makes the audience feel safe and comfortable because it is normal and familiar.  In “Rear Window” color can take away from the evil of Thorwald because of the lack of drastic contrast in color that black and white give.  Perhaps, though, Hitchcock chose to film in color because he had added a romantic subplot with Lisa.  Color is an effective way in which to convey romance.  One of the most memorable scenes in the film is that of Lisa’s face as she leans to kiss Jeffries.  Her face fills the camera lens, representing what Jeffries sees, and the vibrant colors of her full lips, covered in red lipstick and her vivid blue eyes are beautiful -- yet distracting from the danger and evil of the main plot.

R.I.P.

I was reading Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri’s Ojibwe; Waasa Inaabidaa, and began to think about the contrasts of our two cultures. 

I found it interesting especially, the contrast of our respect for the dead and the Ojibwe’s.  In our society, the only time that we really respect dead is at their funeral when they are buried, then we forget them.

We have dug up so many slave and Indian burial grounds to make way for supermarkets, parking lots and office buildings.  We would even dig up our own parents’ grave to make way for “progress.”  This is not how the Ojibwe teach their children to treat the area in which their dead lie: “They need to know their roles in protecting the area from any future development and of their responsibility to work to have the area forever set aside as a place to honor the Lake Superior Ojibwe,” (Peacock and Wisuri p. 41).

I like the awareness and respect that is carried from generation to generation in the Ojibwe culture for the people that have passed away.  There is a great effort to remember them.

past effects

Art often subconsciously reveals pain and misery suffered by an artist in their early life that the artist has tried to repress and hide from their thoughts.   No matter how hard we attempt to stifle and ignore the disturbing experiences of our past, psychologist Sigmund Freud argues they are continually altering our behavior.

The surreal piece “The Garden of Earthy Delights” by Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch, reveals his fear of the wide spread earthly devastation and the end of the world.  This fear was fueled by the discernment that every one, even the Pope, is a sinner; there is no escape from the final judgment. The overbearingness of religion in the lives of individuals and the corruption of the Church are also influence in this painting.

cashmere or kashmir

I was reading some BBC news about the situation in Kashmir and decided that I significantly lack knowledge of that region. So I've been reading up on the history.

After India received independence form Britain in 1947, the ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, had to decide whether to join with Pakistan or India.  He could not decide and wanted to be sovereign.  He signed an agreement with Pakistan, but not India, that services between countries like trade and travel would not be stopped.  Tribesmen from Northwest Pakistan started attacking and raiding people in Kashmir.  In October of 1947 they invaded again and Maharaja Hari Singh called for help from India.  India said that it would be safer if Kashmir were to temporarily become part of India.  Pakistan was obviously angry and claimed that Maharaja Hari Singh was not in charge of Kashmir anymore because he had fled the country.

            This decision to accede to India sparked the following decades of violence.  There has also been a growing movement in Kashmir, since 1989, against Indian rule.  There is fear around the world that the fight over Kashmir could spark a nuclear war, as both Pakistan and India claim to have nuclear weapons.  

jus ad bellum

The idea of a "just" war can only be acknowledged as truth or possibility by one who has not suffered the horror or known the indiscriminate nature of war. Though it has been.

I also do not mean this to suggest that I condemn all forms of war. But I would never consider them "just." 

There needs to be some balance

The modernization theory is also known as the development theory.  The theory is the idea that the more developed and modern a country becomes, the more possibilities for progress there can be.  A problem arises in that “developing” the people, for example in Latin America, often causes the abandonment of their traditions, culture, and customs. 

don't deconstruct

            I was reading some art history book I found in the library about the Marxist analysis of art and became rather carried away. Here it goes:

Karl Marx wanted equality between the ruling and working class.  He argued that this would come about through communism when the proletariat realized that they controlled production and turned against the owners of the funds for production.  The Marxist approach to critiquing art is inspired by his economic philosophies; looking at a piece of art in the context of who created it, who funded its creation and who profited from it. Not understanding the context during which an artwork was created leaves the viewer at a great disadvantage.  They see the piece only through aspects of color, composition, and their interpretation of the situation.

Gothic art was an art style originating in Western Europe that had to do mainly with churches and the religious world.  The construction of Gothic art structures is filled with class-based injustices, religion often playing a significant role in such repressions. Religion kept the peasants below the ruling class by twistedly claiming that service to the wealthy was their God-given duty, in return they were to be given protection.  It is basic knowledge that none of this is the truth, and that the serfs were treated abysmally.

Many of the church’s monks and Abbots were creators of the religious art.  Like French Abbot Suger, whose religious architectural advancements included pointed arches, high windows that light could emanate through, and stained glass panels.

What happened in the Middle Ages to the middle class was that in their attempt to free themselves from the landed nobility’s grip, they fell further into the control of the church.  They built their own communities and started to govern themselves, but continued to construct cathedrals commissioned by the hierarchy of the church.

Often the working class was hired to create and carve the door jam statues of cathedrals.  The west façade of the Chartres Cathedral is of four Hebrew scripture figures and though their bodies are stiff and stylized though their faces start to look more realistic and less like the religious art before that feared any similarities to humanity.

In their creations the carvers followed the dictates of the church leaders who requested the pieces.  There was however, introduction of some traits significant to the carvers’ economic status: materialism, humanism, and individualism.

 

where in the world is seychelles?

Much of today I have spent taking geography quizzes online and filling in names on my blank maps. In the next two weeks I have a test where I must be able to label the majority of countries in the world. Why do we not spend a greater amount of time learning world geography in school? The class I am taking is not required, and I imagine that most of the students here never bother looking at a map besides perhaps one of Europe (probably Western).  It is really not that hard if proper time is spent on it.  The understanding that one gains from knowing where countries are connects the news all together. Events make more sense when you understand the geography of countries and locations.

sign, sign, everywhere a sign blocking out the scenery, breakin' my mind

The reason that I did not post yesterday is that I left early in the morning to spend the day at my friends’ farm.  We had no internet and only bought a phone last Spring. The water comes from underground springs that shoot cold pure water all year around and the outhouse is in full running order. For as long as I have known this couple they have owned this farm and spend all their spare time fixing the old house and growing most all their food. Though they have added some modern “necessities” to the house, they kept most of it the simple way it was built after the Civil War.

The farm is five acres, most of which are overgrown flower fields. They also grow apples, corn and herbs closer to the house. The immediate backyard is a shaded grassy area with tables and chairs where they often have dinner guests.  There is such a sense of freedom and peace visiting them. My friends' energy and happiness is explosive.

Their huge project last summer was to rebuild the barn. Walking out into the back yard one would never guess the structure was anything less than original. To make it look authentic they harvested boards and roofing from two old barns in the area whose owners were more than happy to see go. Over the years they have befriended some Mennonite families who live near by and who helped plan out and construct the barn. The barn has two parts, one is where they hold dances and keep their equipment and antiques and the other section is where my friend has his ceramic studio. All of their dishes and plant pots are pieces that he created.

They are both teachers, one Art and the other History. The farm is near Lake Michigan and, after a feast of homemade bread and local vegetables in the form of soup and a variety of salads, we hiked down to the water.

I was shocked to see what made up the “public” beach: it was a stretch, maybe, 100 yards by 40 ft. It is absolutely crass and ridiculous that people can “own” beaches. I know that they do not own the water and that the public can walk along the sand. The argument that they are protecting the nature is honorable but totally wrong. (Private property is erroneous but a completely overwhelming topic right now.) Most of the area is dune grass and people would not in any normal circumstances go traipsing through there. If we do not trust ourselves to respect land than, though I do not agree with this, the conservation groups should own the land and put their own signs up that simply ask people not to walk on it.  People just need to chill out and learn how to own themselves instead of trying to buy up everything around them at the expense of the rest of us.

I find a connection here with apartment buildings “buying the sky” to keep their prices up and prevent the row house affect. 

"And the sign says "Anybody caught trespassing will be shot on sight" So I jumped on the fence and I yelled at the house "Hey, What gives you the right To put up a fence  And keep me out, But to keep Mother Nature in? If God was here He'd tell it to your face 'Man, You're some kind of sinner.'"

Now everywhere the walls Rise up at their command

Today I learned about the history of waste disposal containers. As well as that Dumpster is capitalized in many transcripts because the name of the brothers who created them is Dempster.

Okupa Y Resiste!

There are many arguments made by for squatting (okupa). Some do it for economical reasons; NYC is nearly impossible to afford rent. Many squatters are capable of paying into the capitalist system of rent or ownership but do not do so in solidarity with the first group.

Today I was talking to my friend, who is still in NYC, about his squatting experiences in Barcelona and Amsterdam.  He is a college graduate who could get a “regular job” and succumb to the system but refuses and has engrossed himself with understanding the abused and ignored faction of squatters.

I started thinking about the connection between squatting communities around the world made possible by modernization and was wondering if that is not somewhat questionable.  If one believes that globalization is a destructive and immoral force how does one justify owning the technology that perpetuates such depravity? I find validity in the argument that using the internet brings more awareness to issues and makes communicating to travel between squats easier. However, I know plenty of squatters who have survived with no modern devises and lived all around Latin America. Actually, most of the squats there refuse to associate with other squats that use technology.  The best way for communication is through the ever-moving squatters who carry information, though slowly, all around the globe.  Really though, where does one draw the line?  Our culture wants us to believe that we cannot completely disentangle ourselves from the modern world. I will keep dreaming and slowing working to become a self-sustaining mountain woman.