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November 7, 2008 archive
Nov 07 2008
Muse in the Morning
Nov 07 2008
Is it really over?
As I watched the election results roll in, as I watched as the mega-states went to Obama until you knew it was unevitable, I sat smiling; not that merely Obama won, but, that two little girls would walk into the White House in sheer wonder.
Well, the honeymoon ends quickly in politics.
One of the things we heard out of Obama’s camp was that they didn’t want any retreads in their administration.
That was then, this is now.
Nov 07 2008
You Are The People. (Updated)
cross posted from The Dream Antilles
In Ireland, I am informed, they have some venerable traditions about drinking. When you go to a party, you bring two bottles: one for tonight, and one for the host at a later time. You uncork the one for tonight and throw away the cork. That way the bottle will have to be consumed tonight.
And so we celebrate the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States. Let’s drink the entire bottle. Let’s deal with the hangover. And then, let’s go back to work.
Join me with Advil below.
Nov 07 2008
writing in the raw: experience is unconditional
experience is unconditional.
i heard this guy, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, say that in a video in Edger’s essay Been a Long Time Coming.
it was like someone hit a bell and the clarity and simplicity of its sound keeps reverberating in my head.
experience is unconditional. how simple: that which happens to us happens.
what, then, are the mechanisms that condition our experience?
i’ve been thinking about this in the context, of say poking fun at Sarah Palin (she doesn’t seem to realize Africa is a continent).
Is it dismissive or disdainful when I label 59 million people who voted (a second time) for bush as stupid?
i wonder how our reactions to those of others might condition experience and the ensuing interactions among us. what am i filtering out that makes it near impossible for me to understand teaching creationism as science? it isn’t so much that i mind another view point, but come on. it is religion. not science. or is it?
Nov 07 2008
CodePink NYC’s BUSH IS OVER PARTY!
While this does not promise to be as hilarity generating as either a “We Will Not Be Silent” party invitation or the prospect of an accidentally transgendered Hi-Carb Barb in a towel, it will still be as loud and joyous as only CodePink can make it. Come on down to Times Square next Wednesday and share some pink lemonade and some party vibes with CodePink NYC!
I’ll be there, will you?
We’re all still recovering from Election Night Fever. (Did you know that 85% of voters in New York City pulled the lever for peace and diplomacy?) But we are planning a rocking NEW ERA party for next Wednesday and joining a HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE march and rally for universal healthcare next Thursday.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH at NOON PARTY AT MILITARY ISLAND TO CELEBRATE THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA!
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12, noon
WHERE: Times SquareMeet us at Military Island, at the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets. We’ll bring the confetti, the pink crowns, the party hats, the noisemakers and the good news. Wear lots of pink and festive attire. Sign up through our CREDO Mobile page and pass along to your friends! You can also sign up here if you want to get further updates and help out on the day!
lf you belong to an organization and you want to co-sponsor this action please contact [email protected] or call the NYC office at 646.723.1781.
Please note: this is a positive, pro-peace, fun, creative, high-energy, celebratory, non-arrestable action in which everyone can participate!
Nov 07 2008
All Apologies….
I am straight and my gay culture/history knowledge is limited to a few childhood friends who were gay, going to a few gay pride parades because the parties afterward were excellent, I know who Harvey Milk is and I know about Stonewall.
But I just can’t give progressives a pass on this one. I can’t. I can’t tell gay/lesbian/transgendered Americans to “wait and be patient” and explain to them that their rights are not a priority. I do not know what it is like to face the hatred and oppression that gay Americans and those across the world who are gay must face.
For how long are gay Americans supposed to be patient? For how long should straight folks expect them to support other priorities on the progressive mystical agenda while getting nothing in return? For how long are gay Americans expected to be “reasonable” with their demands? For how long are they supposed to pretend that inequality is alright as long as we (the straight folks) “accept” them? Do we think that is all gays want? Do we think gays are just happy not to get beat up every five minutes ( which really still happens )as a measure of our so called “toleration and progress”. Progressive hesitation is starting to sound like liberal racism ” oh I have a black/gay/person who is different friend” therefore I pass the “test.” And yes, I have trotted out my black friends in stories to prove I am somehow “less racist” than other Americans.
The only good thing about the proposition in Arkansas that prevents unmarried people from being adoptive or foster parents is that it hits straight people and gay people hard. Maybe it will make the straight folks go hmmmmmmm. Or not, I don’t know.
Nov 07 2008
Post-Election Water News
I’m not sure of which the two I am more worried about: food shortages or water scarcity. A lack of water to meet daily needs is a reality for many people around the world and has serious health consequences. I have read that it affects 4 out of 10 people in the world as water demand has more than tripled over the last half-century. Signs of water scarcity have become commonplace. As for the food situation this year, once again world grain harvest is projected to fall somewhat short of consumption due to a number of factors and the new bete noire, ethanol. United States department of agriculture (USDA) data said that in 2007, production of food grain in world was 22 million metric tonnes short of consumption. This year is projected to be a better harvest but by how much? Will there be enough to store? The price of rice has risen by three-quarters in the past year, that of wheat by 130%, and this economic crisis could not have come at a worst time for developing countries as foreign aid is rapidly dwindling to a trickle.
Fortunately Obama will be in charge, the current WH idiot will be a distant memory and better agricultural policies will be put in place.
Nov 07 2008
Recycling America’s auto industry
If the peak oil theorists are correct, within 20 years Americans will have to live on 10% of our current per-capita energy consumption. This means that the auto industry as we know it must undergo radical change. The conclusions for the auto industry are clear, and it will be up to the Obama administration to transform it according to the following imperatives:
1. The era of high personal mobility is ending. Americans may still own lots of cars, but they will be driving and replacing them dramatically less.
2. Auto sales are going to plunge to a fraction of what they are today, and the types of cars and trucks sold will shift to electric-powered vehicles.
3. The productive capacity of America’s auto makers must be shifted to the manufacture of other goods to avoid massive unemployment and further economic collapse.
4. The precedent of WWII factory conversion of manufacturing away from automobiles should be followed by the Federal Government, but it is mass transit vehicles, buses and train cars that should be produced, not weapons.
5. The production of clean buses, electric locomotives, and rail cars will absorb the unemployed and under-employed workers of the auto industry and enable the rapid expansion of public transportation in America.
6. The Federal government should supply funding, leadership, and technical assistance for this strategic industrial conversion.
7. Fiscal stimulus, in the form of massive subsidies for the build-out of inter-city rail, light rail, and bus service, will be the most productive anti-recessionary policy the government could pursue.
Americans should understand that the current economic turmoil is not a temporary interruption in our old energy-squandering way of living, and that the fat times are not going to return soon. We have got to radically restructure our society to function with less energy, and we will have to start with our automobile industry.
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