Mood:  chatty

I ran across these photos, which were cross-posted by a reader of Jezebel.com's article on police harassment of female journalists working the protests on Saturday and Sunday. They're quite telling of how the relationship between a handful of black bloc wanna-be anarchist protestors and police bleed into what was otherwise a peaceful protest to turn it into a wasteful mess. While I understand rage and frustration, having lived with it for so long myself, I also know that "smashing the state" is more likely to backfire unless things have gotten so shitty that everyone decides to do it all at once because all hope is lost. Until that happens, and nothing matters anyway, the small number of violent protestors do no one actively and positively working for change a single favor (unless a few of 'em like the thought of people on their side being arrested and threatened with rape by creepy, exhausted cops), and for that reason their actions come across as being more about their own bragging rights. When ego enters the picture, rationality flies out the window, and they're sometimes no better than the people they're supposedly against. 

The first and simplest definition of anarchy is "self government" and I respect people who live as free as they possibly can while still within the borders of the country protecting them from the world outside theirs. When I was a teenager, I met a guy who was a self-proclaimed anarchist. He was on his way to live on a farm collective near College Station that was started by another friend of his years beforehand. The people starting the project did so with a simple idea: work for The Man, save some money, buy a farm and drop out of society. If you want to be a real "anarchist" then go govern yourself already. Instead of spanging and smashing, take your lumps, earn some bread, and drop out in the best way you know how. Build a farm, expatriate, seastead, write a book, make music and art, and/or influence the people with the gifts of your mind, but don't pretend that lighting an empty police car on fire in the middle of an intersection is going to help.

Mood:  don't ask

If you care about your wives, daughters, female friends, cousins, yourself (especially if you're a woman, or a man who has suffered sexual assault) and the future of this country's true moral compass, please do us all a favor and vote the following chumps out of the Senate in the next election:

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Why, you ask, would you want to do this, especially if you may have voted them in, and if they've managed to do some good in other ways? The answer, my friends, is plain and simple: they support our fellow citizens' right to rape and shatter the lives of those you care dearly about, and to do so with impunity. The Senators above voted against an amendment that would make it illegal for military contractors to hide, detain, or otherwise threaten or keep employees from reporting RAPE. You heard it right, everyone. RAPE. Sexual assault of another person. Victimization, humiliation, and possible attempted murder. It seems the representatives above care more about corporate profits than they do your friends, relatives, and you. They think it's fine if companies hired to support and even protect our men and women overseas detain rape victims -- not the people charged with assaulting them -- and deny the victims food and water, and otherwise terrify them into not reporting a rape within the company.

If you honestly think this is alright, you need to pinch yourself and make sure you're still human. Otherwise, for those of you who are rightfully disgusted or even only mildly irritated by this blight against our shared humanity, may I remind you that there are other Republicans and Libertarians -- honest, hardworking, good moral people -- to vote for if you're going to swing that way? C'mon, do your wives, daughters, cousins, friends, yourself, and all of humanity a favor and vote these clowns out of office in the next election!

Mood:  blue

Seriously. He makes a decisive move to ban clove cigarettes at the behest of Phillip-Morris, who helped sponsor the bill, but can't make up his mind on the public option in health care? Ugh. Yeah, he's done a few good things for us gals, but other than that, we've got nothing.

Mood:  incredulous

Sorry; this is just a quick break from my Rainmakers series. I wanted this month to be all about good news, but -- ugh -- I thought I should repost this, stat.

This just came at me from Mother Jones:

"The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF) gives the president the ability to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" and shut down or limit Internet traffic in any "critical" information network "in the interest of national security." The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition would be left to the president."

The bill was introduced by Republicrat Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). Do your own research, find out as much as you can, and spread the word. It's not just the threat to individual liberties that we should be worried about, but also the incompetence of the federal government in handling our personal information.

During a true emergency -- when it is vitally important for citizens to be able to communicate with loved ones and friends, do you REALLY want the government -- who did such a bang-up job with Hurricane Katrina and other disasters -- being the only ones in control of YOUR information?

Mood:  a-ok

If you haven't seen Maira Kalman's monthly NYTimes blog, And the Pursuit of Happiness, you should check it out! Full of artful commentary -- literally -- on the American life, it's a thoughtful, touching reminder of everything this country still has to offer.

This week's entry, called So Moved!, is on the justice system.

Mood:  cheeky

During the 7 years I worked for Burning Man's Department of Public Works as a heavy equipment operator, rigger, and documentor, I got to see a lot of art, some of it so bad that I could barely stand to look at it most of the time.

However, being somewhat of an empathetic person, I had a magical epiphany of sorts late one night on a post-work bender when coming upon a particularly hideous piece of art that served as a landmark in front of our camp. For several days, this hideous thing pointed my way to my camp when I was lost; it was so bright, glittery, and monstrous that I couldn't help but see it, thus it guided me home on more than a few occasions. The desert is huge, and it's easy to lose your way home sometimes without a landmark; even the most sober among us can admit to being turned around by the sites and sounds of Black Rock City on occasion.

Anyway, one night, I was hanging out with a friend who was dismayed -- actually ANGRY -- by the bad art; I mean, he really, really, REALLY hated it, felt like bad art was a travesty, an abomination of nature. He was downright mean, and it gave me pause for a moment when I thought of the artists who built the offending piece.

Those artists had to conceive of said piece, find the materials, and probably pay for some of them, and from there they trucked it all to the desert and actually built the thing with enough care and forethought so it would withstand the elements for the entire week of the event or possibly even longer. It suddenly seemed very sweet to me, all of this bad art, and I chafed at my friend's vitriol.

"Well," I quipped to him, "It's some hideous shit, I know, but somebody loves it!"

This morning, watching GWB grin and wave like Alfred E. Newman as he climbed onto the ex-Presidential airbus, I couldn't help but be reminded of the bad art of Burning Man.

Despite all of the bad his administration either caused on its own or continued through a long line of 20th century Republicratisms, he's somebody's son, somebody's family member, husband, father, friend, and yes, leader. Though I can't say he's mine -- I basically supported 2/100ths of his policies, I believe -- I can at least acknowledge his basic humanity, despite the fact that he's denied so many of us ours. He is human. He's far from being my favorite human by a longshot, but, dangit, somebody loves him, and that's an important thing to remind ourselves of when we're talking about making a lasting change in the world.

Reaching across the aisle to the other side, ruling from a pragmatic, but progressive center, is going to be a tough fucking job for even the most dignified and intelligent among us, especially considering how things have gone over the past eight years.

Welcome, Barack, 44th President of the United States. You've definitely got your work cut out for you.

Mood:  celebratory

A guy we know from one of the more conservative areas of the SF Bay groused yesterday about everyone being given today off in his office.

     "I'm not black, it's not my holiday, so why should I take the day off?"

He was upset about the office being closed and about not having the opportunity to work on a project.

When MLK, Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech, the idea was for black, white, and indeed all races and creeds to come together. His message wasn't just about black pride and empowerment, though it certainly played a large part in his life for obvious reasons, but rather about all of us coming together to bring about a greater sense of peace (in other words, an absense of war) in the world. 

From the I Have a Dream speech:

      "The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We can not walk alone."

MLK, Jr. Day, as well as today's Day of Service, isn't just about black suffering and spiritual renewal; it should instead be considered as a day when everyone in this country comes together in the name of true, lasting equality.

As I've heard it said many times by people a lot wiser than myself, "The world is what we make of it." Sure, something unplanned and bad may happen from time to time, but if we allow a bad incident to spin our lives completely out of control, if we allow it to breed hate, distrust and divisiveness and nothing but, then we have solved nothing. We are merely the sum of our parts, the uncivilized "selfish gene" in action. We become our own mini version of the current financial crisis.

As a childhood abuse and also as a sexual assault survivor, I know this from the deepest part of my soul. I was angry and broken immediately afterwards, sure, but I also had a lot of friends of different races, and had a few good male friends at the time, and while my rape and subsequent recovery turned me into a louder, more confident and fit feminist (I'd been pro-equality ever since I was a young child), I decided I could not let the violence done against me push me into a realm of useless, permanent bitterness, which would only empower the rapist, not me.

I decided general, blinding hatred was counterproductive to my development. Instead, I allowed my anger and disappointment to become a healing force, to push me into action, into self-defense and weapons training, into higher education and into spiritual education for both myself and those around me. I decided to heal and become an activist, and because of this, men and women who were unsure of feminism or even one another heard my voice, and they, in turn, lead others, became brothers and sisters, and were able to turn the tides in their own lives.

Part of my response came from the fact that I was raised by and around people of all races, some who were abusive toward me, one another and/or toward women -- who were, in turn abusive (often out of frustration, but some were just plain ole nutso) to those weaker than themselves  -- and I knew better than to let my anger against men  consume me because of my past experiences growing up. In short, watching so much bad happen all around me caused me to seek out the good wherever I could, even if it was only in a song, a sunset, or in the laughter of a friend over a bad joke.

I won't lie and say I'm a completely open book; we all have to maintain our guard against those who seek to hurt us. We have to protect ourselves. However, the closed mindset, the lizard-brained part of humanity that seeks to separate, to divide, and to look the other way when someone suffers unjustly does nothing to serve humanity in the end, and pushes everone that much closer to the void instead. You can invite your demons over for tea or a beer every now and then -- in fact, it's good to check in every once in a while and see how things are progressing or regressing -- but I implore you to give them boundaries, to tell them when it's 2am and time to leave the bar. The power is in our hands to do such a thing, and if you're feeling overwhelmed, I highly suggest you volunteer somewhere that the people have it a lot worse than you. Your perspective should hopefully shift. Most of us here are pretty fucking lucky most of the time.

We make so much of our own luck, our own pain and suffering, and our own bitterness out of every little thing that comes our way. I'd like to say that from personal experience, it's up to each one of us to not only survive (that's only the first part), but instead to LIVE. It's okay to be pissed off from time to time, to say stupid shit or to even be counterproductive in the short term, but eventually these emotions should lead somewhere else in life.

With that in mind, I invite all of you to participate in a Day of Service, be it for a community event or something as simple as visiting an aging, lonely relative. Every little bit helps, especially when you ask the person you're helping to pay it forward instead of only expecting immediate reward or payment for yourself alone. Eventually, someone takes to heart your offer, and they ask someone else to do the same.

If we're able to put aside our differences and work on our universal natures, we're much more inclined to make lasting change. If all we can see is black-vs-white, man-vs-woman, us-vs-them, then we're doomed to be sacrificial pawns in a power game the majority of us are not equipped to play.

Mood:  d'oh

...there's always Joe the Plumber ranting about journalistic ethics in Israel on Pajamas Media...granted, the comedy is purely unintentional, but nonetheless, it's pretty funny. It's also revealing of the sad state of Republican affairs -- as well as it is the Ugly American persona -- that anyone takes a guy like Wurzelbacher seriously. It's not his lack of experience that catches my attention, but rather the fact that his point of view is unlearned, inarticulate, and forgetful of history.

Can't the Republicans do better than this? I know FOX and the other Republican media outlets suck, but I also know smart Republicans and Libertarians exist, as I happen to be friends with a few. While we may not see certain things eye-to-eye, my pals are at least reasonable and intelligent enough to get their points across without resorting to outright lies and the repeating of the kind of simplistic, cornball ideas that would embarrass a fourth grader.

I don't understand the current disconnect between Republican intelligence and popular party rhetoric. Help?

Mood:  cheeky

Confused? Perhaps The Simpsons can help.

Though I understand the importance of reaching across party and social lines, there comes a time when a person can stretch themselves so thin that they help very few.