shout-out to arthur silber. i just rediscovered this guy.
it’s not the sex. it’s never the sex.
it’s not the drugs. it’s never the drugs.
it’s not the terrorists. it’s never the terrorists.
…but where can we go? when will it be a place where it really is the sex? where it really is the drugs? where it really is all about the terrorists?!?!
i don’t think that place exists. so where do we go?
you may be interested in seeing this. acquired from wikileaks.
someone forwarded some video from an apache helicopter in iraq to the staff of wikileaks, and it’s made a fairly wide hubbub in the anti-war circuit, even appearing on the BBC’s website (where i noticed it). the big stink regards the fact that two AP journalists were killed in iraq and all requests for video footage (via the freedom of information act) were not fulfilled. finally the video made its way to the public eye, and depicts the deaths of the journalists–along with perhaps a dozen others–and wounding of two children who had been in a vehicle driven to the scene to pick up the wounded. [Read more →]
in september ‘09, let-off studios’ editor was interviewed during the baltimore book festival. in a chance meeting, steve was taking a break from staffing the radical book fair tent and was asked a few questions about the election and subsequent presidency of obama. here’s his response.
as it turns out, the interview is part of a much larger project (thank goodness!) carried out by a staff member of towson university and their students. find out more regarding the obaltimore project and see more interviews.
happy anniversary to us: a nation of shiftless, easily-led automatons; the avaricious slime that exploits them; and the despair-addled, cautious ones who don’t know where to turn.
after some additional reflection on this episode, i felt it worthwhile to record for posterity.
the past two years have seen a marked increase in my own bicycle activity, and nowadays i’m a daily city bike commuter. i also frequently take longer rides on the weekends or holidays, weather permitting. in may of last year, i completed my first-ever solo bike trek, which lasted 166+ miles in 2.5 days. i invested in a new bicycle this past january, and completed my first-ever century (100+ miles in one trip) in june for the MS Bike Challenge with a few acquaintances of mine.
throughout all these events, trainings, and acquisitions, the notion of personal safety was often on my mind. of chief concern, of course, was actually owning and using a helmet. i just invested in a new one this past spring: one of those cool matte-finish, full-shell helmets that work for both skateboarding or bicycling.
because of my frequency of biking, as well as persistent news reporting, i finally invested in pepper spray last year. [Read more →]
i read an article this morning about a FEMA documentarian currently living in exile in south america; apparently, he was too good at finding evidence about foul play related to the u.s. government’s collusion with and involvement in the 9/11 attacks in new york city. here’s a fantastic response the documentarian has to an initially benign question, emphasis in bold is mine: [Read more →]
Follow this link to view a video on barry cooper’s new television show: kop busters.
i remember when this guy’s video came out, and how the flex your rights foundation lambasted him for advocating that citizens consent to searches of their vehicles during routine traffic stops. i also gave him a tough time on a public message board (not that it matters, honestly; i was acting the part of a f.y.r. fanboy), even going as far as accusing him of being a mole for the police department. this television show of his is impressive, and goes a long way in proving that he is what he says he is: a reformed police officer willing to show the corruption rife in his and other local police jurisdictions.
though i still don’t agree with his stance on consenting to police searches, hopefully he’ll have a chance to continue the show and spread the ideas of both drug decriminalization and corrupt police to the public at large.
there’s a lot of talk about how the new president of the united states is going to answer all our ‘hopes’ and create a truly ‘changed’ life in the u.s. at least i’m not alone in thinking those sorts of claims are bogus. i found an acute speculation on his cabinet and chief staffpersons, and it only confirms my suspicions that although his incoming presidency may precipitate a genuine change in the cultural landscape of the country, it points to business as usual in all other aspects of politics. For example:
Noticeably absent - anyone representing ordinary people. Workers, homeowners, the unemployed, the disadvantaged, the poor who’ve been hurt the most by Wall Street’s-caused financial crisis now morphed into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Their omission is clear evidence where Obama’s administration is headed, where his allegiance lies, and what his policy directives will look like. A rigid class society, white supremacism, and neoliberalism are safe in his hands.
– he’s for permanent occupation of Iraq;
– America’s imperial agenda;
– militarism and foreign wars;
– new ones against Pakistan; possibly Iran as well;
– an enlarged military;
– more troops to Afghanistan;
– a new Cold War with Russia;
– in 2006, campaigned for Joe Lieberman against anti-war candidate Ned Lemont;
– opposes impeaching Bush and Cheney;
– in July 2005, backed reauthorizing the Patriot Act with its police state provisions;
– supports Homeland Security funding to enforce them;
– supports the death penalty;
– privatized in lieu of public education;
– is one-sidedly pro-Israel;
– opposes universal single-payer national health care;
– supports medical providers in wrongful injury cases;
– backs “free trade” and initiatives like NAFTA;
– the right of mining companies to strip mine everything;
– is unresponsive to labor;
– supports biofuels production, big agribusiness subsidies, and the industry’s rage to make all foods GMO;
– supports the Bush administration’s energy policy; its huge subsidies and other generous handouts;
– backs nuclear power, loose industry regulation, and multi-billions in subsidies;
– supports the Paulson bailout plan and the fraudsters that get it;
– backs repressive immigration legislation affecting people of color;
– is beholden to his corporate backers; and
– is committed to a pro-business agenda overall.
from these policy/vote observations, to the lackluster (and very nearly comedic) selection of the republican party’s election pairing, to background reports of these proposed cabinet members, it’s a particularly damning analysis of all early predictions. read the full article here.
it’s a disappointing situation to behold: once again, a radical change in policies is alluded to, and when the people of the country are so desperate for a break, any change is seen as a good change. too bad skin colour isn’t significant in terms of determining political policy. on the surface there appears to be significant change, but beyond the cover, this is a book we’ve all read before.
an eye-opening article today that featured analysis of the recent election along with several predictions. a salient excerpt is below:
1. As the cultural Right shrinks numerically and is more out of favor politically, we can expect more attacks on the cultural Right in various forms, ranging from serious social discrimination, legal persecution or even violent repression. Consequently, much of the cultural Right will move away from its traditional “respect authority” stance towards a more oppositional or even revolutionary outlook. The militia movement from the 1990s may be a prototype for what is to come.
2. The “radical middle” or “middle American radicals” will become even more radical as their economic position continues to decline over the long haul, and will become more receptive to radical ideas.
3. The rank-and-file military will become more frustrated by persistently being required to fight in ever more numerous wars of increasingly dubious value. Remember the enthusiasms of Clinton and Gore for so-called “humanitarian war” (what Noam Chomsky has called military humanism)? Obama and his successors will likely bring more of the same.
4. Expect the growth of an increasingly larger “lumpenproletarian” class as more and more people are rendered unemployable either because of a deteriorating economy or because of the marginalization of more and more people through repression, imprisonment, persecution, discrimination, etc. The huge number of convicted felons under the “war on drugs”, for instance.
5. There is also the likelihood of an eventual split among the core constituent groups of the Left along several lines of fracturing. These include the division between the mainstream liberal-managerial-professional class and the class of more genuine dissident intellectuals, genuine anti-imperialist leftists, the pro-civil liberties Left, radicalized youth, lumpen, bohemian, countercultural or declasse sectors. Such divisions will particularly sharpen as political correctness becomes more powerful and has fewer qualms about fully displaying its fangs.
6. Look for an eventual splintering of the Left’s “official victim” groups (racial minorities, homosexuals, feminists, environmentalists,etc.) along both class and ideological lines. For instance, the marginalized gay counterculture vs the gay bourgeiosie, poor blacks vs the black bourgeiosie, and racial nationalist-separatists among the minority groups vs liberal-integrationists. These divisions will widen as the cultural Right becomes less powerful and is viewed as less of a threat by the cultural Left and by racial minorities and as the poor and working classes among the “official victim” groups notice they’re not really getting much out of all of this political correctness and triumphant liberalism.
7. The Left Establishment paradigm of “Western civilization vs the official victims of Western civilization” will become more and more ideologically untenable and demonstrably absurd due to the increasingly liberal-multicultural nature of the ruling class. Further, an increased number of women, racial minorities, gays, etc. holding political power will prove to be no more benevolent or competent than those whom they replaced.
should these predictions come to pass, they indicate a radical shift in the political landscape. maryland, where i live, is a decidedly democratic state with pockets of both republicans and a much smaller population of ‘radicals’ such as communists and anarchist. it will be interesting to see what happens in the midst of all this economic turmoil and fluctuations of international reputation. to see republicans take a lot of flak isn’t so disappointing; they’ve been bullies for a long time now. the immediately obvious downside of this is that while the traditionally disenfranchised are picking up the reins where the “good ol’ boys club” has been ousted, they’ll work in the same vein as their predecessors: destined to become corrupted and as self-serving as the supposed old order. such is the democracy foisted upon us, i reckon.
EDIT: as the embedded youtube video was messing up this page’s layout, i opted to include a link to the video instead. the modified post is below.
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found this just moments ago, on this holiest of holy days.
i’m going to be a lonely demonstrator this evening.
