November 3, 2009 archive

A Cast (e) of One

(dark & ugly essay warning; these feelings are just my feelings at this moment, not judgmental commentary on any reader here or elsewhere)

The idea of Unity is a sham that will never happen. We are all divided by invisible, unbreachable barriers of social standing.

We were having an amazing discussion last night, when I asked my husband how many people we could have the level of discourse we were having there were in our real world. The answer came up fairly thin. Sure, there were some, many of which have ended up living far enough away that we only see them once a year at Mini-Woodstock, most of which are people we met and befriended years and years ago. I am wondering if moving to this area was not a HUGE mistake. It seems chock full of bubbas or McMansion wannabees.

Most of our immediate circle these days are… how to say it? Sweet, adorable, fun, lovable people who think in totally alien ways to our thinking. Its not only their lack of education, their very interests and ability to make the leaps are different. Its hard to say what really binds us to them, other than convenience, other than the commonality of our social standing as members of the midwest rust belt working class.

Here on the Tubes, it is somewhat easier to find kindreds out of the thousands, at least per subject matter. You can find allies and equals to carry on nearly any level of discourse you choose. Of course, those relationships would never carry over to the real world, unless your social position is similar.

The truth of the matter is I fit nowhere. People like me don’t.  

Kucinich: Protect Rights of Consumers From Insurance Companies!

Dennis: Right again!

Kucinich: Protect Rights of Consumers From Insurance Companies!

Dennis: Right again!

Kucinich: Protect Rights of Consumers Free From Economic Death Threat of Insurance Companies!

Dennis: Right again!

Afternoon Edition

Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread

Now with World and U.S. News.  80 Story Final.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Karadzic defiant over boycott at first court appearance

by Mariette le Roux, AFP

1 hr 5 mins ago

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) – Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic defiantly demanded more time to prepare his defence Tuesday as he made his first court appearance since the start of his genocide trial.

Karadzic called the proceedings “bad from the start” after he entered the accused dock of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for a hearing on how to move forward in the face of his trial boycott.

He faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity over the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

Swashbucklers911truth upset with 9/11 steel used in us navy ships

Over nine tons of 9/11 steel was recently recycled in building a new navy ship. However, the use of the steel was controversial, according to a number of 9/11 truth groups including swashbucklers911truth, nauticalengineersfor911truth.org and seamensittingonthedockofthebayfor911truth.org.

The President of Swashbucklers for 9/11 Truth explained, “While using 9/11 steel may be patriotic, swashbucklers are very concerned that the steel is not strong enough. We don’t want to be in the middle of the ocean when the engine falls apart.”

However, these strength concerns about 9/11 steel were quickly dismissed by General Don T. Trustnist who was quoted in a recent Popular Navy Mechanics article. He said, “There are no problems. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. We found that the 9/11 steel melts very easily, so we were able to use it for intricate designs where it is much easier to pour into molds.” As for concerns about strength, the General made it very clear that the steel was not used anywhere steel would be heated. General Don T. Trustnist said, “There are many useful applications for this steel including railings, chairs and flagpoles. What is more patriotic than a 9/11 steel flagpole?”

Encourage Creativity and Expand Cross-Disciplinary Subjects: Knowledge as a Full Contact Sport

(Cross-posted from The Free Speech Zone)


Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

How Would Gandhi Blog?

Or MLK?

These two world altering engineers of social and political change have to be the models for political activism in the 21st Century. Both took a poor and disenfranchised constituency, organized, trained, and mobilized them. One causing enough publicity, shame, civil unrest, and gained just enough mainstream political allies to “overthrow” the British Empire.

The other did the same in gaining the end of Jim Crow laws and obtaining voting rights for African Americans and indeed all minorities in a deeply racist country.

It must be pointed out that both were seen as an alternative to the very real threat of armed revolt by the more militant of their constituencies.

And that both were brutally attacked in the press and the halls of power….and that both were assassinated.

But putting those unpleasantries aside, today’s directed thought, lol, is this…

If MLK or Gandhi was just starting out now and had the internet….even though many of their constituents didn’t….

What would Gandhi blog?

And what if their were no specific Gandhi or MLK figure to lead these movements? No single figure to galvanize the movement? Has their ever been a movement without a charismatic leader?

We are at a similar point in addressing the energy for change that is welling up around the world, people want change and we obviously need new structures for that change to flow through from the outside of the established political halls of power. Planet vs Profit is just one meme, one idea for channeling what we certainly hope will be a world changing People Powered Movement that seems to be on the horizon.

How can we help it to realize it’s potential?

Wanted: “Reality”-based criticism of President Obama

Crossposted at Daily Kos

    Of all the screwed up things the Republican party and their Corporate Media enablers have done maybe the worst is the souring of the debate on whether President Obama is doing the right thing or not. When the “faithful” opposition in American politics is more concerned with ACORN and socialism than it is with Corproate malfeasance or the corrupt status quo, it just isn’t worth debating with, but that debate is necessary and our system does worse without it.

    Similarly, the left has been conditioned by the raving right to interpret ALL criticism of President Obama as an attack on him. Many on the left see activists who criticize Obama as if they were joining in on the hyperbole, and they fear that Obama, and Democratic majorities, might fall if pressure from the left and the right becomes overheated. These people are often the loudest defenders of Obama, but are they really helping his cause?

     I firmly believe that we MUST, as activists and voters, be able to hold President Obama and the Democratic party accountable, otherwise they will walk all over us. In order to do this, we MUST be able to constructivly criticize our leaders, and since the right wing of American politics long ago left the reality based world, it is the left which must provide this criticism. The problem is, will others on the left allow it to happen?

    More below the fold.

Trippin Tuesday: Inside LSD (Updated)



from Erowid image vaults

Just wanted to give a heads up that National Geographic’s Explorer series will be premiering, Inside LSD, tonight (Tuesday 11/3) @ 7 PM and 10 PM; also showing on Sat Nov 7 at 4PM and Tues Nov 10 at 3 PM (TV Schedule).


review from NY Times

…as the 40th anniversary of Woodstock fades in the rearview mirror, the National Geographic Channel is giving LSD a second chance, as it were. On Tuesday night in its Explorer series, INSIDE LSD talks to scientists and therapists who are examining the narcotic (sic) anew, trying to learn specifically how it works in the brain and whether it might have uses that Jerry Garcia never envisioned. The program, as its narrator, Peter Coyote, says, is an attempt to separate the myth from the molecule.

One segment explores the possibility that some form of LSD could help sufferers of cluster headaches, and its footage of one such sufferer in the throes of an attack leaves you wishing the poor fellow relief no matter where it might come from. In another part of the program, a woman with terminal cancer talks about how an LSD trip helped her break free of the anxiety about death that was consuming her final months.

(note: I put “sic” after narcotic because LSD is not usually classified as such, medically or legally.)

On Closing The Deal, Or, Referendum 71 Polling Analyzed

It is now Election Day around the US, and one ballot question that is attracting national attention is Washington State’s Referendum 71.

Voting “yes” on the Referendum would codify in law various protections for same-sex domestic partners, and it is similar to a measure that the citizens of Maine are also voting on today.

We have polling data that is fairly fresh, so let’s take this last chance to look at where we might be, and what you should be looking for over the next few days as you attempt to judge how this one is going.

Justice?

It’s been about ten weeks since I fell and broke both wrists on August 18th. I am just now finally almost back to normal functioning. Whatever that means. While there has not been a whole lot going on in my visible outer world, there’s a lot going on in my own little mind. Still churning and brewing.

Meanwhile. August on, it’s been Health Care Insurance Not Reform farce and the rise of Grayson and lots of other fun stuff.

Guess what has been churning and brewing behind the MSM radar scenes in torture/justice news? I don’t know, somehow I quit paying attention. Thank goodness, the usual suspects did not.

First up, ACLU has this new video up. Go to their site to view it.

The men in this video were held at Guantanamo for years without charge and denied any meaningful opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention. But now they are finally free. This is their story.



(ACLU adds this note: “Please note that by playing this clip You Tube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see You Tube’s privacy statement on their website and Google’s privacy statement on theirs to learn more. To view the ACLU’s privacy statement, click here.”

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