Notes on Pulling the Sky Down

2009-01-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

So Obama has ordered that Camp X-ray be closed. This is the facility located in the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that houses various "enemy combatants" captured during the Bush Administration's War on Terror. This is a positive step, but as I am weary of politicians I will wait and see whether or not the President does what is constitutionally appropriate. By that I mean:

1) Order the immediate release of all prisoners whose innocence is no longer in question. If they are unable to return to their countries of origin for fear of persecution, then they must be offered asylum in the United States.

2) Move all cases, and I mean ALL cases, to civilian courts. The category of "enemy combatant" is extra-legal and has never been recognized by International Law.

3) If the government is convinced that a detainee is a threat, but has no concrete evidence with which to prosecute them for crimes, then they must be released. If they cannot present evidence for fear of exposing intelligence assets they can order a judge to impose a strict gag order on all proceedings. Such an order would prohibit a defendant from communicating with anyone but defense counsel, but would not impede said counsel's duty to investigate the crimes in question to disprove evidence produced by the state. All proceedings could come under judicial oversight without having sensitive information made public.

2008-12-09T16:31:00.002-05:00

I'm not a "Moderate." Thank goodness. Being a moderate in the United States means somehow accepting that Americans still have a right on some level to tell smaller countries what kind of government's they're going to have, and what kind of economic system is going to dominate the world.

And what's more sickening about so-called "moderation" is that holding this position requires that you totally ignore the fact that the United States is no longer going to be able to maintain a position as a global hegemon. So really, "moderates" are living in a dream world where Americans open their mouths, and the third world doesn't roll its eyes and say "Oh give me a damn break."

2008-11-04T09:30:00.004-05:00

As I waited in line this morning to vote, there were Democratic activists reminding folks in line that Fairfax County allows for paper ballot voting in the event that a voter would like to have a paper record of his/her vote. A man behind me in line kept mumbling that this was solely an attempt by Democrats to "further propagandize". Gee, mister, that kind of "propaganda" seems pretty tame compared to canvassing black neighborhoods and telling residents that it's illegal to vote if you've gotten a traffic ticket.

****

I'm not down with either of the major party candidates. But regardless of one's political affiliations, it is important to take a moment and consider that tomorrow morning a black man could be the president-elect of the United States. If this happens, it will be one of the single most significant moments in the history of this country. In 1908, blacks were being lynched on a regular basis throughout the country. In North Carolina, black men were often arrested on minor offenses, sentenced to years of hard labor, so that political bosses could make money from the private contractors they sold the labor to. The very idea that African Americans were equal to whites was a radical one. In 2008, an African American could very well be chosen as the chief executive and leader of the nation.

Could it be then, that one day the office could be open to anyone? Perhaps one day, just maybe, an Arab Muslim, or dare I dream, an Atheist?

Orwell should have titled his book "2008."

2008-10-28T13:30:00.005-04:00

The United States attacked Syria yesterday. There was no declaration of war. There was no speech by the President before Congress. Congress didn't vote on it. It was just done. The American people have no problem with this. All the government has to say is "there are terrorists there", and the people just accept it.

The United States of America is in a state of perpetual war. The American people are so acquiescent to militarism that new conflicts with new countries are regarded as just another soundbite.

A militaristic society is one where decision making power is heavily centralized. The decision to fight wars is not made by the people, but arbitrarily by leaders. To maintain such a system under the guise of a democracy, it must be manipulated and managed so that the formal sphere of political discourse is a tiny one, wherein only a small number of ideas are considered acceptable. To advocate for an end to perpetual war, and end to interventionism, to bring the troops home from all over the world, to cut the military budget, to withdraw from NATO, is to open yourself up to ridicule and accusations of treason.

2008-10-08T09:37:00.012-04:00

Random and badly focused thoughts regarding last nights debate:

Only one thing really surprised me in last night's presidential debate: Tom Brokaw's question to the candidates referencing two British military and diplomatic officials who claimed that the U.S. military's strategy in Afghanistan is doomed to failure.

Rarely does the American media ever expose what is regularly reported in the foreign press, and apart from this one question, most of last night's debate reflected that closed-mindedness. My excitement at both candidates having to answer such a direct question dwindled when I heard their responses, as well as most of everything else they said.

The candidates, and clearly those "randomly" selected citizens who were present to question them, are clueless. Totally. On foreign policy, no one questioned, and both candidates clung to, the dogma of interventionism and American exceptionalism. John McCain seeks to put a freeze on spending, except when it comes to "defense" (read "perpetual warfare state"). He and his neo-conservative advisers seem to worship war as an end unto itself. Barack Obama talks openly of violating the sovereignty of Pakistan, a country with a fragile new government. What he seems to be blind to is that every U.S. cruise missile attack and commando raid into Pakistan undermines the legitmacy of that government and pushes them further towards collapse.

On the economy, I could not fault the candidates for not being able to dictate a reasonable solution to the coming currency collapse, because the questions being posed to them were based on flawed assumptions. One man asked what the fastest road to recovery is. I suppose it would be irrational to expect a politician to say something like "well, if by road you mean 'massive spending reductions' and by fast you mean 'generation'....". Such honesty isn't really an option. Earlier in the CNN broadcast, an undecided voter in a pre-assembled focus group told Soledad O'Brian that she wanted to know how the candidates were going to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. Again, the honest answer of "by turning the Dollar into kindling" would probably have sounded bad.

But the night still had interesting moments. I watched the debate in a bar in Adams Morgan, where I ended up chatting with a friendly German guy about the candidates. We agreed that the vilification of Russia (click here, scroll down) by the United States government is not something that resonates with most Europeans, who are not fearful of a Russian invasion. Russia's current trade surplus is dependent on its energy exports and a good amount of that ends up being consumed in Europe. Such dependency on foreign markets for their current growth would make hostility towards the EU entirely counterproductive. He made another interesting point about how he finds it odd that some Americans deride Obama as a socialist, when in Germany he would be more closely aligned with the center-right Christian Democratic Union, as opposed to the nominally socialist Social Democratic Party. I told him that our political process is tightly controlled, and while we don't have the coalition style government-building the Germans have, we do have an informal coalition of Democrats and Republicans, who agree to keep the electoral process rigidly controlled and tightly managed.

So who am I voting for? Well, I just can't answer that. McCain and Palin do frighten me, there's no way around that. But Obama leaves me feeling flat. I took a look at his website, and I am glad that he and Joe Biden are pledging to support the Employee Free Choice Act, and to reverse rulings by the National Labor Relations Board that classified thousands of nurses as supervisors, hence inelligible for union membership. But my views on workers rights are directly connected to my views on war, in that war kills workers, their families, and their children, and strips the economy of resources that can be invested into basic services and community building.

I suppose I have to stay optimistic. Maybe the increased number of people that will be voting in this election could mean a more politically and economically aware electorate in the future. That would be a positive step. But only time will tell....

Ok. Rant's over. Nothing to see here.

NOTE:

This seemed somewhat relevant to what I wrote about the vilification of Russia:
I Survived the Georgian War

2008-10-02T16:31:00.004-04:00

WOULD PEOPLE PLEASE START GIVING A SHIT THAT THE U.S. ECONOMY IS GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET!?!?!?

DOES ANYONE NOTICE THAT WALL ST. IS TRYING TO GET AWAY WITH A MASSIVE PIRACY SCHEME?! FOR LIKE THE SIXTH TIME IN FOUR WEEKS??!?!?!?!?!

THIS ELECTION IS AN IRRELEVANT DISTRACTION FROM THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE DILDO BEING JAMMED UP OUR COLLECTIVE ASSES! HOW THE HELL CAN THIS COUNTRY BE SO BLIND?!?!

2008-09-29T10:13:00.004-04:00

I'm no economist. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete moron when it comes to money, but I tend to keep things pretty simple in my life. I've never invested in a mutual fund, much less owned a credit card, or lived off of what I don't have. I have taken out one loan in my life, for my car, which I bought from my mom. If I can afford a luxury, I'll buy it. If I can't, I won't.

But when it comes to the current economic collapse of U.S. financial markets, I'm kind of speechless. I know how this crisis started. I remember thinking back in the 1990's that our economy couldn't be healthy if it was based on real estate speculation and people living beyond their means. I knew that a government that dumped $300 billion dollars a year down the pork-barrel of military spending (that was the military budget of the Clinton years) was wasting money that could actually have been invested at home to create tradable services and industries domestically. I knew that a population so consumed with consumerism, a generation so convinced that prosperity was their right, not their privilege, was bound to destroy itself.

Nonetheless, I have no idea how my generation should proceed. If it were up to me, I would never reward bad asset management by buying bad assets off of bad managers. I would let the market take the hit that it's going to take anyway, and not prolong a crisis. The American people have to start facing a fundamental reality. This economic crisis has been caused by overspending, by our government on war, and by the people on everything. Individual citizens, and their government, must realize that in order to weather this storm, they will have to stop spending more than they have.

EDIT:

I want to make really clear what I mean by "stop spending more than they have", because what we're all going to have in the coming years is going to be very little. We are entering a period of total economic meltdown, regardless of what stupid shit the criminals in congress and wall street do. Double-digit unemployment, a drop in living standards, and the inability to feed and clothe ourselves, these could be realities for not just the poorest of the poor. We blew it America, and we're going to pay.

It's all in how you tell it.

2008-08-28T11:25:00.004-04:00

In today's Washington Post, there was an article by Glenn Kessler analyzing what the recent Russian-Georgian War really said about Russian power. One thing Mr. Kessler wrote caught my eye:

"After Georgian forces moved into the separatist enclave of South Ossetia early this month, Russian troops attacked Georgian military installations and moved close to Georgia's capital before partially pulling back. This week, Moscow recognized the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a move the United States and European nations condemned as undermining Georgian sovereignty."

It is in Mr. Kessler's choice of language that we see how major newspapers and television networks in this country are constructing the dialogue of a "New Cold War". Georgian soldiers, artillery, and aircraft did not suddenly attack South Ossetia and destroy the city of Tskhinvali. They instead simply "moved into" a "seperatist enclave".

Well in that case, Serbia "moved into" a "seperatist enclave" in Kosovo, and China "moved into" a "seperatist enclave" in Tibet.

2008-08-26T09:33:00.002-04:00

That link I posted yesterday isn't working for some reason. I'm assuming Common Dreams doesn't like having their articles hyper-linked by bloggers. So I just went and found the original here.

2008-08-25T11:04:00.003-04:00

I like Joe Biden's stance on Labor issues. But this op-ed from Common Dreams makes a good case for why he's a bad choice in the area of foreign policy.

Having experience in international affairs does not mean you have experience practicing good judgment. Both Biden and McCain have terrible judgment on Iraq. If Barack Obama continues to alienate his base by appealing to pro-war interests, he will lose this election.

Howzabout a round of Caucasians, on me....

2008-08-11T10:12:00.006-04:00

Boy, war is dumb. I mean, I think someone needs to make a movie called "This dumb war." This film could be about any war, so perhaps it should be set in some kind of surrealist or fantasy setting. Either way, it should just get the point across that war is absolutely stupid, and no matter what country a person lives in, no matter how advanced their culture supposedly is, anyone and everyone is susceptible to the odious social forces that bring about, and are brought about by, war.

So... why exactly is there a war being fought in the Caucasus region of Central Asia? Because of longstanding tensions emanating from the desire of practically every little ethnic group to have their own country? Because "The West" can't seem to keep from supporting governments hostile to Russia? Because Russia is a big bully?

I think all these reasons probably fit into the equation. But the immediate cause was the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili - by no means a friend of democracy as he claims, but instead a little neo-con inspired autocrat - throwing his country headlong into armed conflict with a superpower. Only a complete imbecile would take a country like Georgia (which is nearly half the size of the U.S. State with the same name) to war against one of the most powerful militaries on earth. And only someone so clearly inspired by non-realist thinking, again this brings to mind neo-conservatives, would honestly think the United States or the European Union would risk a massive World War-type confrontation over a speck of shit country in one of history's most fought over regions.

Yet... this is war, and as I said with war comes stupidity. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have issued statements condemning the war as being caused by Russian aggression. I mean, really.... Russia is the aggressor? Any more so than Georgia? What is with Americans and their need to take sides, to form good/evil dichotomies out of situations that are terribly complex? If the Russians are the bad guys, why are all the refugees in South Ossetia heading to Russia for protection? Why are they so terrified of Georgian troops? I mean, the Russians aren't saints, and they are definitely taking advantage of this situation to make sure Georgia is divided and weakened, but what would our Neo-con/Neo-Liberal foreign policy establishment prefer? For the Georgians to do to South Ossetians or Abkhazians what the Serbs did to Kosovo?

But some do in fact think this stupid war (yet another in a history of stupid, stupid wars) is our business. I do not understand this mentality. It is pervasive here in Washington, however, where bureaucrats and think tankers create their own abstract realities of how the world should be, and look to politicians in both major political parties to use the United States military as a way to do it. They really love telling Americans how essential it is to take one side or another in some war that has nothing to do with anything happening in the U.S.A. Of course, the moment someone suggests to these "freedom-loving" apparatchiks that they themselves abandon their cooshy lives in DC's many suburbs, or it's recently gentrified urban yuppie-nests, they cringe. Because giving up that kind of luxury when some poor sclub from Tennessee can go on your crusade's for you...

...that would be stupid.

Hiroshima - Never Forget

2008-08-06T10:44:00.005-04:00

Crisis averted?

2008-08-04T12:26:00.003-04:00

According to David Ignatius, the United States is not planning to bomb Iran anytime soon. In fact, the Bush Administration is going to announce the creation of a U.S. interests section in Tehran, the first official American diplomatic in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

It may be too early to breathe a sigh of relief, of course, because this type of "realistic", diplomacy-based foreign policy thinking does not fit into the history of the current American Presidential administration. Nonetheless, Ignatius is a well connected columnist in Washington. If what he writes is true, there may not be a war with Iran after all.

(PHEW!)

What's my identity?

2008-08-01T16:08:00.003-04:00

I am currently reading "War is a force that gives us meaning" by Chris Hedges. In it he argues that war is a powerful social intoxicant, because it produces for humans a wide range of emotions that give us a sense of direction and meaning in life. Hedges, who has first hand experience with the horrors of battle, makes the point that it is precisely war's horrid brutality that makes us hate it and love it.

Hedges' argument about emotional intensity corresponding to a need for meaning in one's life interests me. When people enter into social arrangements which are bad, such as the social arrangements necessary for the prosecution of war, do they do so because in spite of any negative consequences, being involved in a bad situation still gives them a sense that they are involved in something? Perhaps this explains why people stay in bad relationships. It probably even explains addictions; not just to drugs and alcohol, but also to work or shopping.

Just a thought.

2008-07-29T09:37:00.001-04:00

Army recruiters threaten teenagers to increase enlistment numbers

"Beat those swords into ploughshares, then beat those ploughshares into grenades."

2008-07-22T09:42:00.009-04:00

Barack Obama's Op-ed in last Monday's New York Times, along with his visits to Iraq and Afghanistan have apparently done well for his popularity in the United States. His call for a 16-month phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq is certainly going to gain him support amongst voters, the majority of whom finally see the U.S. presence in that country for what it is: the result of an ideologically driven program to decieve the American people into engaging in an imperialist nation-building exercise that reaped benefits only for political hacks and the military industrial complex.

Sadly, however, Obama isn't about to abandon nation-building as a way of spending American tax dollars. Instead of bringing the troops home in 16 months, he makes very clear that he seeks to "redeploy our combat brigades" in order to meet "our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven." He also has no desire to actually end our involvement in Iraq either:

"After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and , so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces.... I would consult with commanders on the ground and the Iraqi government to ensure that our troops were redeployed safely, and our interests protected."

How is maintaining enough troops in Iraq to go "after any remnants of Al Qaeda", not just in that country but in "Mesopotamia", (a region that feasibly could include Syria, Jordan, and Iran) an end to the war? What does he mean when he refers to "our interests" being "protected"?

This is a case of beating your swords into plowshares, and then beating those plowshares into grenades. Mr. Obama is making a politically expedient move: Assuage the anti-war voices in the United States by calling for a supposed withdrawal from Iraq, while also trying to appear strong in the face of the enemy, whoever that happens to be if he gets elected.

Then there is the issue of "our broader strategic goals" in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What Obama and sadly most Americans, who still view this conflict as the "good war", do not realize is that like any front in the "War on [insert euphemism]", the war in Afghanistan will never be "won" because you cannot ever destroy an idea. In the case of Afghanistan, that idea is a historical tradition: Resistance to foreign occupation. Like the unforgiving terrain of that nation, Afghanis are unforgiving towards outsiders who come bearing arms. From as far back as Alexander the Great, to the Mongol conquests, further on to the occupations by the British and the Russians (later the Soviet Union), no one has ever really held Afghanistan. It is a nation of nations; different languages, ethnicities and tribes, each supported by a foreign interest hoping on stabilizing the country enough to extract the valuable gas and oil deposits common through central Asia. Obama's clear shortsightedness in hoping to "win" a war there is based on a typical lack of historical thinking.

Also, beyond pragmatism, the U.S./NATO invasion of Afghanistan was no less immoral than the invasion of Iraq. The number of Afghanis who have died as a result of the anti-Taliban/Al Qaeda campaign has by now far exceeded the number of people killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. President Bush, acting without consideration for diplomatic alternatives, and exploiting the anger and fear of the U.S. population, as well as their ignorance of their government's long history of foreign interventions, attacked a country full of people who had never threatened them. Bush, and his cabal of neo-con advisers, convinced voters that finding Osama Bin Laden would be as simple as it looks in war movies and commando-oriented video games. The United States government thought, just as in Iraq, that invading a country and altering its political landscape would be a cakewalk since all human beings desire an American style of "freedom." The past 7-years of resistance in Afghanistan have proven that idea wrong.

Now that war has spilled over into Pakistan, a nation that is tacitly an American ally. Obama sites this nation as an Al Qaeda "safe haven". What does he propose to do about it? Pakistan's new government is unhappy with America's actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and may not cooperate with anti-terror operations. How does he propose to deal with that? More unilateral action?

Obama ends his op-ed with the words "it's time to end this war." But really, it's a deception: The war will go on, regardless of who's elected President, or to Congress, or whatever. Our constant state of war, that fuels the military industrial complex, will continue to eat up our tax dollars. And our healthcare, infrastructure, and educational systems (not to mention our debt and trade deficits) will suffer for it.

2008-07-10T15:59:00.000-04:00

A Union Story by David Macaray

A Call to Arms

2008-06-25T09:01:00.007-04:00

A war with Iran is looking ever more likely. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, is going to Israel to disuss ideas over strategy, with the Israelis saying they'll attack if the United States does not.

A war with Iran benefits no one but the war industry and those in Washington who make their money as the mouthpieces of the the war machine. By attacking Iran, the United States will be forcing itself into another endless war, and will increase the chances that yet another massive terrorist attack will happen on American shores. Israel's security, for which this war would be fought, to which every presidential candidate must make a commitment in order to get elected, is not the problem of the United States but of the citizens of Israel.

So this is a call to arms. More and more polls show that Americans are tired of endless war and it's time to put that resentment into action. Right now, there is legislation on the floor of the House of Representatives granting our know-it-all president the power to "initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the suspension of Iran’s nuclear program."

This bill is called resolution HR 362 and has already gained 170 co-sponsors. A similar Senate resolution, SR 580 is also being proposed for committee. We have to stop these bills from passing. Log on to the Just Foreign Policy website and send in their form letter. Just confirm your zip code and hit the "Go" button, and they'll tell you who your representative is, in the event you don't know. Or contact your House Rep and Senators on your own. However you want to do it, just take some action!!!!

Apart from contacting Congress, the time has come to stop acting as if that is our only means of political expression. We need to start thinking of ways of taking politics out of the formal sphere of capitol buildings, statehouse, and lobbyists offices, and putting it into new informal spheres: the streets, our workplaces, parks, art-houses, theaters. The wars being fought now in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war that could be soon fought with Iran, will not be ended by people elected into a rigged system. It will be ended when Americans finally say, "ENOUGH!" and stop the war machine from moving forward.

NOTE:

Here's something off A Just Foreign Policy's blog. Israel's recent military exercise in the Mediterranean, meant to warn the United States of their desire for action, may just be a bluff. Check it out!

2008-06-17T13:56:00.002-04:00

Reason #1

Reason #2

Reason #3

....That there won't be any "change" happening in 2008.

That is, unless, we all decide to get on the streets and put some monkey-wrenches in the gears of their machine....

2008-06-10T12:41:00.002-04:00

Apparently the Politics & Prose bookshop doesn't like sponsoring people with differing viewpoints then them:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/06/AR2008060603066_pf.html

2008-06-05T14:12:00.004-04:00

Back in February, I wrote a little piece regarding the F-22 Raptor, and how it represents the power the War industry has here in the District. Today Christopher Preble of the CATO institute (yes, yes, the very paleo-conservative CATO institute), wrote a piece that goes more into the waste of building the fighter in the first place. One statement he makes is particularly telling:

"The F-22 is an exceptional aircraft, but it faces only a hypothetical enemy in a future war that may never occur. The Air Force hasn't even deployed F-22s to Iraq or Afghanistan, since they're not well suited to the battles being fought there. The F-22's armor is too light even for small-arms fire, which forces it to drop its ordnance from high altitude. That increases the likelihood of civilian casualties, which make it harder, not easier, to win the support of Iraqis who remain deeply skeptical of American intentions."

So why the hell is the U.S. Taxpayer spending money on such a piece of crap? Probably because even though the overall manufacturing sector that used to provide high paying jobs to American workers has dwindled, weapons manufacturing still provides jobs. Jobs that are by nature dependent upon politicians looking to get votes. Never mind that it's a job constructing a death machine that no one will ever use.

2008-05-20T09:01:00.002-04:00

This is my job. What I do during the day to make money is done solely so that I can do this. One day I may decide it's not what I want to do. But that day isn't today, and it won't be tomorrow.

Acting rules.

Happy May Day!

2008-05-01T11:03:00.000-04:00

Today is May Day, a day most Americans are unfamiliar with, but is celebrated around the world as International Workers' Day. It is a day the international labor movement celebrates its successes and gears up for further battles.

May Day, though not celebrated in the United States, commemorates a moment in American history. On May 1, 1886, workers across North America struck for an eight hour work day. In Chicago the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. attempted to bring in scabs to replace striking workers. Fighting broke out as strikers attempted to prevent the scabs from entering, and police responded by attacking the strikers and killing four of them.

Anarchists in Chicago immediately called for a demonstration protesting the killings to be held the next day. August Spies, one of the rally leaders, made clear before the authorities that the crowd intended no violence. Nonetheless, as the last speakers were finishing up, Chicago Police appeared and ordered that the crowd disperse. They then marched in formation towards the crowd. A bomb was thrown, it is not known by whom, which killed a policeman. The police returned fire. When the smoke cleared, seven police and four protesters were dead. It is unknown to this day whether the police were killed by protesters or by friendly fire.

Eight protest leaders were put on trial for inciting violence. Seven were sentenced to death, of those three would have their sentences commuted. They were executed for an act which they could not be linked to, apart from the fact that they organized a rally that Chicago's Police Department turned into a massacre.

In 1890, the American Federation of Labor decided to once again rally for an eight-hour work day on May 1st. Samuel Gompers, then head of the AFL, informed the Second International in Paris of the plans, which quickly passed a resolution calling for worldwide demonstrations of solidarity. Hence the very first international Labor Day.

In the United States, because the Soviet Union made a national holiday out of May Day, Congress chose to make May 1st Loyalty Day. And in order to NOT commemorate the Haymarket massacre, the United States has its Labor Day on September 5th. It is a Labor Day devoid of celebration, demonstration, and protest. It is a Labor Day where people gorge on bad food and go to mattress sales. It is a Labor Day where no one actually gives a damn about Labor.

But consider for a moment how even if you've never been a member of a union, how different your job would be if a labor movement didn't exist. Think how quickly bosses would fire people, how easy it would be to cut wages. Even the mere existence of organized labor scares employers into offering their employees competitive wages and benefits. Take stock of these things today, and remember all those people who marched, organized, and died for them. And remember that the fight for better wages, conditions, and respect is not over. Not by a longshot.

2008-04-29T09:32:00.003-04:00

Dear Maple Trees,

you saluted me
one thousand paratroopers
guard me as I pass.

Thanks.

Goodbye April.

2008-04-28T13:07:00.002-04:00

I sadly haven't posted anything in recent weeks due to a very busy rehearsal/performance schedule. That sucks, because on multiple occasions I've had thoughts pop into my head that made me want to write something. However, now that I'm down to rehearsing for one show, I'm hoping I'll be more inclined to write again.

And about that show: The Oresteia, by Aeschylus. It's coming together slowly, but surely. I'm truly blown away by how well the various choruses are turning out. It's a different kind of acting than I'm used to, having to think as a group, try to act as if almost of a single mind at times. I really love that kind of challenge, though, because it makes me a stronger performer by forcing me to listen to, and be in tune with, what's happening on stage at all times.

On a totally unrelated note to that, I saw a fantastic movie a few days ago: Land and Freedom. It's about an unemployed Liverpool man, a member of the Communist Party, who goes to Spain in 1936 to fight in the Civil War. He ends up not joining the International Brigades, but joining the POUM militia, and taking part in Catalonia's social revolution. It's a really great story about idealism and betrayal and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of revolutionary movements.

The weather sucks outside. Seriously.

2008-04-03T08:53:00.002-04:00

The Good Woman of Setzuan, the play I'm currently in with Constellation Theatre Company, has received a few reviews in the past couple of days. I am posting them here in the interest of shameless self-promotion:

Washington Post Review

AllartsReview4u (You'll have to scroll down a bit to find it)

The Examiner Review

2008-03-31T10:45:00.000-04:00

I've generally never been a fan of Lyndon Johnson. But James Carroll's op-ed in today's Boston Globe really throws a new perspective on the man.

Forty Years After Vietnam: A Reckoning.

I couldn't stop myself...

2008-03-28T16:37:00.000-04:00

....it made me laugh....

see more crazy cat pics

Can he become even more Palpatine-ish?

2008-03-24T10:13:00.001-04:00

Crooksandliars.com get's it right: Dick Cheney "sincerely doesn't give a f*ck what you think."

2008-03-17T16:33:00.003-04:00

Perhaps I'm taking a pretty unpopular spin on this whole scandal regarding Eliot Spitzer's sexual improprieties, but here goes....

Eliot Spitzer should face no criminal charges for sleeping with a prostitute. In fact, he shouldn't have even resigned as Governor of New York. If this country were sane, which it is not, prostitution would be legal and regulated in every state in the union, and lonely middle-aged men, or women, with marital problems (like Spitzer) would be able to visit as many prostitutes (male or female, straight or gay) as they wanted provided they could pay for it and provided those prostitutes were consenting adults who had passed a state mandated STD test.

Spitzer resigned, of course, because he was a hypocrite in his personal life. But unless someone tells me this young women he slept with was underage at the time, or that he raped her, then there is no reason that should affect his political position. This whole scandal was a political assassination. Spitzer was targeted because he was the only man with power investigating corrupt business practices on Wall Street.

2008-03-17T09:15:00.002-04:00

Yeah, this pretty much sums up my feelings:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/89-saint-patricks-day/

2008-03-10T09:01:00.006-04:00

A typical winter morning for me, meaning I woke up late and took forever to get ready. To save some time, I decided to pick my breakfast up on the way to work. There's a Manhattan Bagel shop down the street from my job where breakfast with coffee is less than 5 bucks. I've been going to this place for nearly a year now. I don't even have to tell them what I want, they just say it for me: "Egg and Provolone on Pumpernickel, yeah?"

It was the same this morning. I smiled and said thank you, then walked over to their coffee machines and poured myself a cup of hazelnut coffee. My friend Alex introduced me to it a while ago, and like him, I became hooked quickly.

I poured myself a cup and moved over to the payment line. After I'd paid, whilst putting my change back into my wallet, I heard a customer to my right say "Oh FORGET IT! I'm going someplace where the goddamn people speak English!" I looked over and saw this well dressed man angrily put his drink back into the display cooler he'd gotten it from. I realize now I must have been staring at him with a puzzled look, wondering how he could think the guy behind the counter wasn't speaking English (I've been ordering food from this same dude for a year, remember). The man then looked at me, his face expressing a need to find solidarity with his indignation. "Can you believe this place?", his eyes ask me.

I looked back at my change, shook my head and uttered, "Fuck you, asshole."

He left the shop. I don't know if he heard me say the words or not. I don't care if he did or didn't, or if it offended him. He ruined my morning.

Classic Flash Cartoon

2008-03-06T14:15:00.001-05:00

One of the funniest things ever created for the Internet.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/band/

2008-02-28T17:00:00.002-05:00

It's cold out.

2008-02-21T08:51:00.001-05:00

As of 9:18 AM, it is 23 degrees (F) outside. That's -5 degrees for you metric types.

I HATE WINTER.

2008-02-19T13:33:00.002-05:00

I just found out about this awesome website. It's the creation of journalists dedicated to transparency, and seeks to publish leaked documents that expose government and corporate wrongdoing. Check it out:

Wikileaks

Now we're back where we've begun....

2008-02-07T09:46:00.000-05:00

The War Department (what some call the "Defense" Department) has decided not to ask Congress for the necessary funding to halt production of the F-22 Raptor. The reasons for this are purely political. The Raptor is the most advanced, and most expensive, fighter jet ever built. Each individual plane has cost (based on the total amount of money spent during it's entire development and procurement phase) roughly 360 million dollars. The United States is involved in two wars and yet the Raptor has never flown a combat sortie in either. The only excuse for this monumental waste of taxpayer dollars is that the project employs people in 40 states. No politician is likely to lose an election by calling for increased spending on war. Few could ever hope, however, to hold on to their positions in Congress by calling for a reduced military budget.

War lobbyists, like all lobbyists, aren't concerned with who is in power. In fact one of the most ardent opponents of the Iraq war, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, is a major recipient of campaign contributions from, and a major advocate for, the war industry. Back in October, it was reported that Hillary Clinton had received more contributions from weapons companies' employees than any other candidate. Hillary was definitely the winner, Barack Obama and John Edwards have also recieved big chunks of war money. This is how Washington works of course. Those who lobby recognize where the political wind is blowing, and begin making contributions in that direction. And this is precisely the reason that things will not change in this city for a very long time.

Hmm.... "Change."

That's a big word these days. Everybody wants it, and it seems to have become the keyword of the 2008 Presidential Election. But what do people mean when they say it? I'm not sure what the Republicans want to change. They are the embodiment of the selfish paternalism and corporatism of the past 20 years. They function pretty blatantly as a tool for the ultra-rich. They claim to want small government, but spend insanely. They claim to protect free markets, yet openly facilitate no-bid contracting. I can go on, but do I have to?

And Democrats? Change? Well they definitely want it. But instead of truly looking at what needs to change for the future, most of the party faithful are holding on to visions of their past. Liberals, if one observes the primary campaigns of their leading candidates, desperately want to feel good about their government again. Both of the major Democratic contenders are where they are because they are marketed as throwbacks to our supposedly glorious past. Hillary Clinton's candidacy is a result of her base's positive memories of the her husband's administration, and Obama has been compared to JFK and Lincoln so many times (and yes, Lincoln was a Republican but it seems Democrats claim his legacy as their own anyway) that I forget what year I'm in.

These comparisons to the past are convenient for the campaigns. They illicit immediate positive emotional responses: Our past was good, we should look back to that. This mentality, however, totally ignores the real lesson we should be taking from our past, which is how not repeat all the mistakes we’ve made.

I’m not sure why progressives attach themselves to JFK. His foreign policy was rather disastrous. Apart from beginning our direct military involvement in Vietnam, the man, through the CIA, approved of the training of foreign mercenaries to overthrow the government of Cuba. His legacy was “saved” when he faced down the Soviets a year later in the Cuban missile crisis, but would a reluctant Khrushchev have made such a provocative move had Kennedy not provided him with clear evidence that the United States intended to invade the only Soviet ally in the western hemisphere?

And what of Bill Clinton, the real reason most of Hillary’s supporters think she should be President? He pulled UN inspectors out of Iraq in 1998 and bombed the hell out of it, even though there was no evidence then that Iraq was producing WMD’s. He, like Bush, was absolutely convinced that Saddam was the next Hitler. Though Clinton didn’t invade the country outright, he did with the help of the UN and Tony Blair impose a sanctions regime on the country that was beyond draconian. Iraq was prohibited from purchasing everything from water-purification systems to pencils. A UN report in 1996 estimated that 500,000 Iraqis had died since 1991 as a result of chronic shortages in food and medicine. In 1999, When then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was asked by a reporter if the deaths of all those people worth keeping Saddam in check, she answered yes.

When you look at it historically, the actions of these leaders provided a historical precedent for the actions of the Bush Administration. If we as a country really want to change the direction that we're going in, we need to start analyzing our history in a critical and honest way. But beyond that, we must also dismantle the structures of power that will not allow for new ideas to take hold and prevent the disasters of the past.

As long as the United States government is employing people in 40 states to produce weapons, there will be no political incentive for politicians to make peace instead of war. As long as weapons manufacturers make billions off of long-term contracts, they will be able to dole out campaign contributions in amounts far exceeding the anti-war movements coffers, thus keeping things as they are. Until this structure can be dismantled our government will be controlled by these manufacturers, who profit from the killing of the world's poorest. Remember, you can't build a bomb without using it, and you can't build one without spending money that could otherwise go to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, and cure the sick.

The times change, like record shops....

2008-01-26T18:10:00.001-05:00

A story:

It was the summer of 2002. I had just returned from Europe where for the last three weeks I had been relentlessly seeking out vinyl records. I had made the decision during my time in Holland that I was going to become a vinyl geek and simply put there are no shortage of good music shops on the continent. Utrecht, the city I lived in, had at least 4. Anyway, when I got back to the states all I wanted to do was find vinyl. I found several stores via the phone book and searched them out. The most incredible and the only one I even remember was Orpheus in Clarendon.

Orpheus was awesome because (1) it had a pretty incredible selection of used and new vinyl, and (2) it was run by the weirdest looking dude I'd ever seen: A hippy who always seemed to be wearing the same denim shirt and pants every time I went in, and who was known locally for never wearing socks or shoes over his hideously unmanicured feet. His hands weren't that much better. I figured at some point in his life someone had told him about the beauty of nail clippers, but he had decided to ignore this advice in order to more closely resemble Gollum.

...to each their own, right?

Well now Orpheus is closing. I haven't been back there in a long time, mainly because I never replaced my record player after it broke three years ago, and hence didn't see a point to purchasing new vinyl. But I rode by there on my bike today and saw the "Everything must go!" sign and my heart sank.

I mean, what will replace it? Seeing how the Clarendon area is developing the space will probably be rented out to some asshole who wants to open a boutique of some kind. You know, the kind of place that sells handbags. Or pants. Fashionable pants. Made of dead cow skin. The kind of place that necessitates that you call it a "boo-TEEK", which will annoy the shit out of me because I hate that word. And when people tell me about how awesome the new store in Clarendon is I will cringe. I will cringe because I will remember how years ago I walked into that space, which smelled of mildew and hippy feet, and bought a used copy of Motorhead's "Overkill" that rocked my balls off so much I never wanted to listen to the CD version again, hence finally forcing my conversion to music snobbery. I will cringe because it will remind me that Arlington is now, and will forever be, populated by soul-less, workaholic automatons that DO NOT ROCK. I will cringe because one more part of the world that was unique won't be there anymore, and one part of me will be gone with it.

2008-01-25T14:17:00.001-05:00

The Sanctions Trap by Scott Ritter

Kucinich is out.

2008-01-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

Dennis Kucinich has bowed out of the Democratic Primaries. He said he will not endorse another candidate. Neither will I.

Dennis' candidacy teaches all of us a sad lesson. If you want to get nominated for President in the United States, you've pretty much got to be a foot soldier for business associations, the war industry, and the pro-Israel lobby. You'd think that organized labor, the anti-war movement, civil libertarians, and mainstream environmentalists would flock behind a candidate who has so forcefully supported them in the past, but they are so locked into supporting candidates who are "electable" that they sacrifice everything they are fighting for in hopes of maybe getting a voice. That Ron Paul has been so successful at getting votes from traditionally leftist anti-war voters is only further proof that there really isn't a "Left" in this country anymore.

935 lies (so far) and counting.....

2008-01-24T14:09:00.000-05:00

Report details administration lies.

2008-01-23T13:54:00.000-05:00

SHOWS I'M IN!!!

The Good Woman of Setzuan
By Bertolt Brecht
Performances – March 27 – April 20, 2008

AND

The Oresteia
Freely adapted from the original by Aeschylus
Performances – May 8 – June 1, 2008

At the Constellation Theatre Company!!
Check out the website for ticket info.

********

Garbage Day...

2008-01-22T13:36:00.000-05:00

2008-01-14T09:08:00.000-05:00

Anybody notice how it's not really cold outside? I mean, it's chilly, but it's not the type of cold I feel is typical of January. Then I read in the Express this morning that the Antarctic ice sheet is melting faster then expected (though still a long way from melting completely), and I think to myself "I need to buy some land up in the Blue Ridge mountains.... Could be valuable beach front property one day."

2008-01-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

The Brazilian sun, for those that don't know, is not the same sun that rises above the rest of the world. That sun is at the center of a solar system, and the earth revolves around it. That sun is responsible for the various seasons on earth, that sun is both warm and cold. The Brazilian sun is a special sun that rises from the earth only for Brazil, and lays upon this country the unbearable heat found only at our planet's core.

Seriously, it's hotter than me, nude, with chili sauce.

********

Conversations with my family here are very interesting. Everybody has an opinion on everything, and they relate these ideas to you at the exact same time as everybody else. My ears work overtime while I'm here to take in all the information. Considering I can't hear very much over all the clamor, I should probably consider learning how to lip-read.

Also, I have new family members. My cousins are marrying and popping out children at an amazing rate. So watch out, United States of America, Brazilians are breeding. Soon they'll be looking to buy just as many stupid products as we do.

2007-12-26T12:39:00.001-05:00

Just went out to get lunch. It's rainy and miserable outside. However, on Friday I will be in Brazil. According to my cousin it's hot and sunny.

Everybody out there have a happy new year!!

Dagness

2007-12-23T22:11:00.000-05:00

So I didn't write this when it happened, but I'm sure some of you heard about stupid ol' Joe Lieberman endorsing stupid ol' John McCain for President. In that moment, I wanted to approach every asshole who criticized me for voting for Ralph Nader in 2000. Dick Cheney is an ass, but what has Joe Lieberman done since then that has made him any different from Tricky Dick? Did not this endorsement only solidify how much of a militarist he would have been had he been vice president?

Lieberman voted for the war in Iraq, still stands by it, and even dropped his party affiliation in order to run AGAINST an anti-war candidate in Connecticut in 2006. Democrats, who can't seem to accept that their party is just as dirty and opportunistic as their Republican counterparts, would have you believe that Al Gore would never have ordered an invasion of Iraq, but they forget that it was the Clinton-Gore team that maintained brutal sanctions against Iraq through out the 90's. Had Gore been elected and then been unable to capture Bin Laden following 9/11, why wouldn't he choose a convenient scapegoat in Iraq? What makes him so damned special? His V.P. certainly would have endorsed the whole affair, and his predecessor had no problem dropping bombs on Iraq in 1998 for the same reasons Bush invaded five years later.

Liberals seem to get nostalgic for Al Gore now that he's a Nobel prize winner, but he didn't talk at ALL about global warming in 2000 the way he does now. On top of that, had he won the election then, he and his buddy Joe Lieberman would have continued Clinton's misguided policy towards Iraq, and still would have launched the illegal and immoral invasion of Afghanistan.

####

I think it might be time for Americans to really consider boycotting their election system. Voting, in a process rigged to only allow the most militaristic of candidates to actually get nominated, is like handing these "leaders" a blank check. Election boycotting is a common tactic utilized worldwide by those who oppose the corrupt system they are living under. All states expend resources to prove their legitimate right to rule over people within their borders. Election boycotting denies them that ability to manufacture consent.

IF VOTING REALLY CHANGED ANYTHING, IT WOULD BE ILLEGAL.

HOLY CRAP!!!!

2007-12-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

The Day the Music died.....

2007-12-12T09:14:00.000-05:00

John Lennon was assassinated today in 1981.

Just thought I'd point that out....

YOW!!!

2007-12-11T15:24:00.001-05:00

Holy crap I never update anymore! Why? CUZ NOTHING IS HAPPENING!!!

Well that's not true. I am in the midst, as always, of intense existential analysis. For many years I accepted AS FACT that human beings were unified by one common desire, to justify the world around them and to extract definite answers from reality. I no longer accept this premise. Since our ability to understand the universe is related heavily to language, and since the ability to speak is not inherent to all human beings (it is something which can only be learned at a young age), then the search for truth in the universe is not something that all human beings take part in. It is something which must be nurtured.

What are the implications of this? Well.... I'm not sure. It hit me while I was contemplating a meaningless existence. It made me quite calm to think of the universe as one spectacular coincidence, and life as one absurd episode after another. All of it an ocean of experiences, where you can swim in any direction or the current can carry you away. The latter of course being more likely, as the "current" is analagous to mass media, consumer culture, patriarchy, and oh, THE FUCKIN STATE!

I just saw a listing for auditions for a Coca Cola Commercial.... fuck that, I ain't submitting to them. They kill labor leaders in Columbia. I don't even drink soda. It's rotten.

Afaaowrigsdlfnas;difa;iohanrwwngwns CAN YOU TELL i'm at work!!!!! !SDGA

New Patriot Act

2007-11-28T09:15:00.001-05:00

Check out this bill that just passed through the House of Representatives 400-6. It was sponsored by a DEMOCRAT!

http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=1185

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T12:57:00.000-04:00

Tape on my face.

Come see me in some play I'm in that I think I know the lines to.

2007-10-29T11:21:00.000-04:00

Has the onset of winter got ya down? Are you afraid you'll be bored at home in November cuz of the cold? Then go drinking! It will cheer you up! Of course, you'll end up spending a chunk of change and feel crappy in the morning, so why not spend your money on something that you can deduct from your taxes? Like tickets to the show I'm in!!

What:
An O'Henry Christmas
by Howard Burman

Where:
Vpstart Crow Produtions
9008 Center St.
Manassas, VA 20110

When:
Thursday, Nov. 8 – 8 p.m. (Pay-What-You-Can Preview)
Friday, Nov. 9 – 8 p.m. (Opening Night)
Saturday, Nov. 10 – 8 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 11 – 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (Talkback after the matinee)
Thursday, Nov. 15 – 8 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 16 – 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17 – 8 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 18 – 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Here's the link to the show info on the Vpstart Crow website. http://www.vpstartcrow.com/news/news_2007_0826.html

George Carlin tells us the sad depressing truth

2007-10-24T23:26:00.001-04:00

Warmongers for Clinton

2007-10-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

Clinton campaign cashes in on the War Industry.

"Employees of the top five US arms manufacturers – Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon – gave Democratic presidential candidates $103,900, with only $86,800 going to the Republicans. 'The contributions clearly suggest the arms industry has reached the conclusion that Democratic prospects for 2008 are very good indeed,' said Thomas Edsall, an academic at Columbia University in New York."

Sting = Wanker

2007-10-16T09:18:00.000-04:00

Off the Inveresk Street Ingrate blog:

AP: I actually heard a horrible story about Sting -- where'd I hear this story, about someone who went to dinner with him, and a few other people...

TB: I sent you that! From the Holy Moly newsletter...

AP: Yeah, you did! He pulls out his iPod during dinner, cutting himself off from the conversation...

TB: ... and the guests ask Trudi if they said anything wrong, to make him be so anti-social. She says, "He always does it, and the worst thing is, he's listening to his own fucking music."

2007-10-04T10:55:00.000-04:00

Interesting interview with Greg Grandin on the legacy of Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

"I Hate All Iranians"

2007-10-03T11:08:00.000-04:00

Grace Jones' evil white twin (click on the photo):

2007-10-01T13:03:00.001-04:00

George Bush criticized the government of Myanmar for human rights violations.....

....in other news the Pot has finally admitted to being as black as the kettle. I guess some folks know when to call a spade a spade.

Dear Columbia University President Lee Bollinger....

2007-09-27T14:56:00.001-04:00

... Dubya said jump, whatcha gonna do?

Enough About Politics, eh?

2007-09-26T09:31:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my friend Luke, the bike that I've been slowly building for TWO YEARS is finally complete! YAY! Joy! Glory and Spitballs!

I plan to ride it this weekend, hit lots of hills and return home completely exhausted. After that, I'll eat gold! Sweet!

Speaking of bikes and gold, check out this awesome picture!! It's gold!

SHUT UP I'LL NEVER STOP

2007-09-24T09:38:00.000-04:00

Dilbert on Ahmadinejad.

U.N. calls for Nuke-free Middle East,....

2007-09-21T11:58:00.001-04:00

...USA and Israel say that's just a bad idea.

I want to remind everyone reading this article, which in my opinion is heavily skewed against the passed provision, that Israel is the only country in the middle east that possesses nuclear weapons. Israel never complies with IAEA regulations because Israel refuses to sign any nuclear arms control treaties. Also, unlike Iran, they are occupying territory that is not theirs.

Hillary Clinton, shamelessly political as ever.

2007-09-17T09:09:00.001-04:00

Hillary Clinton is an insufferable piece of shit. There, I said it. Her pro-Iraq War stance pisses me off. Her support for an attack on Iran pisses me off. Her undying support for Israel pisses me off. But now, a new thing she's supporting really pisses me off: Requiring that Americans get health insurance. That's right. Read that again, carefully. She's not advocating the creation of a National Healthcare service. She's not trying to end for-profit medicine. She's advocating even GREATER subsidization of private health care, and claiming, through some kind of insane bullshit logic, that further subsidization of a system that is already heavily subsidized AND inadequate is going to make health care more affordable. And actually, it's not even subsidization, it's tax credits.

Drug developers get subsidies. Agro-business gets subsidies. Individual Americans without health insurance, will get a tax credit.... To pay for health insurance which they will be held in contempt for not having.... Maybe those people should take the money from that tax credit and form a powerful lobbying group that can provide the kind of campaign money necessary to convince Hillary that they need subsidies too. Or a decent not-for-profit health care system.

Hillary, you are a corporate suck-up she-devil.

EDIT:

One more thing. That "dude" that's cryin' his eyes out telling everyone to leave Britney alone is a pre-op tranny. 'Nuff said.

2007-08-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

Greatest intro to a song, ever:

Yeah!
Why do American punk-rock boys always go out with the American new-wave hooker girls? I don't know! I don't like it!

I come from Norway and we don't like punk-rockers going out with the little bullshit new-wave hooker girls. We are going to teach you all a lesson. In Norway punk-rockers go out with punk-rock girls or telephone hookers, unless...they go out with themselves and do homosexual activity. This is a Norwegian folk song from Bergen, Bergen-Belsen, it is called “Tomorrow I'll Be Dead Because I Went Out with a New-Wave Girl Even Though I Was a Norwegian Punk-Rocker!!!"

2007-08-21T22:44:00.001-04:00

Why Hizballah ain't so derned bad....

2007-07-29T22:22:00.000-04:00

Baghdad is victorious....

2007-07-19T12:01:00.000-04:00

Anybody remember this slice of joy from the '80's?

The best part is, you can watch whole episodes here:

http://nostalgiamanila.blogspot.com/2006/01/80s-cartoons-watch-silverhawks-full.html

Me! DYING!!!

2007-07-18T09:23:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I got a part on a student film/web series called "Last Rights" as a hitman. My appearance in this series is limited to one scene in which I have no dialogue, so I wasn't going to make a big deal of it. That is of course until I saw that I made the preview!! Woohoo!

So check it out. It's not difficult to find me, I'm the dude getting wacked.

2007-07-16T08:47:00.000-04:00

The only thing better than Brazil winning the Copa America, is Brazil winning the Copa America by defeating Argentina 3-0.

Oh, cry for me Argentina
The truth is you're overrated!

Congresswoman Sheehan??

2007-07-12T10:47:00.000-04:00

Cindy Sheehan is saying she will run against Nancy Pelosi if the California congresswoman does not seek by July 23rd to impeach President Bush. Reading about this gives me some hope that the next election might actually wield a more interesting result than normal.

EDIT:
I want to point out that Nancy Pelosi was kind of a hawk back in the 90's in regards to Iraq. She supported the brutal UN sanctions regime that killed 500,000 Iraqis, as well Operation Desert Fox, when the US Air Force bombed the hell out of Iraq for not complying with UN weapons inspections. Don't believe me? Here's a quote from December 16th, 1998:

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."

2007-07-10T15:01:00.001-04:00

Hey all!

So I'm in a play, AGAIN.

It's called Telemonster and you're all invited... to buy a ticket and come see me in it.

Where:
DC Arts Center
2438 18th St. NW
Washington DC 20009

When:
July 25th at 7:30 pm
July 27th and 28th at 10pm

To purchase tickets go to http://www.capfringe.org/ or call 1-866-811-4111.

Curious about the show? Lucky you, there's a website!: http://telemonster.i8.com/

Hope to see some of you there!

2007-06-29T09:25:00.000-04:00

Did the US frame Libya for the Lockerbie bombing?

2007-06-25T11:52:00.000-04:00

This movie's messed up. In like, a million different ways.

2007-06-18T13:41:00.000-04:00

The song I am currently unable to get out of my head.

Been a while....

2007-06-11T09:29:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting this blog. Here I go starting up my old blogger account, only to treat it like a five year old would treat a toy he begged his mom to buy him cuz it was all shiny, only to pretend like he didn't want it later.

Well, I'm not gonna write about politics, because there is NO GOOD NEWS EVER!!!! The media still misrepresents everything, the U.S. is still occupying Iraq, and Israel still totally sucks. Democrats and Republicans are still the same, Americans are still too complacent to do anything about it, and Alex Pittman is still in college. Nothing ever changes!

So screw politics. Howzabout my acting, you ask?

Well, I'm still in the show "Telemonster" (http://telemonster.i8.com) for the Capital Fringe Festival. It's a comedy, so you could actually laugh if you wanted to. Check the URL for performance dates.

I got new headshots done on Sunday. I think they make me look really sexy. Too sexy. They make me look so clean cut and wholesome that I want to attach some shocking and inappropriate statement to each one as a caption just to keep me "real". Stuff like, "I do hairy dudes" or "Back door only, ladies" or "If he wasn't also my bro, I'd call him dad". I dunno, maybe all y'all out there in the blogosphere can help me come up with some good ones.

Apparently someone told me that DC has the second largest population of single people under 30 of any city in the US. Well, being that I've been out of the dating game for so long I think this is a sign that I need to get back out there. So I want to make it my goal this summer to hit all the singles bars in DC and get all those singles MARRIED!! I'm sick of seeing all this pretentious post-college carefree yuppy life-stylin' going on. Start getting married and having babies you rich bastards, we're never gonna beat the terrorists with their billion-baby families unless we start producing little suicide soldiers of our own!! LET'S GET SERIOUS FOR ONCE!!

EDIT: Okay I know I said I didn't want to bring up politics but check out this INSANE STORY about the military's idea of constructing a "Gay Bomb" and using it on enemy soldiers.

Cindy Sheehan quits

2007-05-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

Cindy Sheehan, the woman who galvanized the antiwar movement by camping outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas to demand an answer as to why her son died in Iraq, has quit. As she explains:

"Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives," she wrote. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most."

I saw Cindy Sheehan speak at a rally in DC almost two years ago. The impression she made on me was very deep. I, never one to trust American corporate news, had been very skeptical initially of this woman that the media was labeling as the face of the antiwar movement. But when I saw her and heard her speak, I was moved on a very personal level. This woman had lost her son because our government had lied. They lied to her, they lied to her son Casey, they lied to all of us. She decided to take her anger and her loss and turn into a cry for peace and justice. She didn't want to be elected to office, she didn't want money, she wanted this war to end. She wanted the liars responsible for starting it to be brought to justice.

2007-05-24T10:23:00.001-04:00

McDonald's wants "McJob" out of the Oxford Dictionary. Hmm...

2007-05-22T16:10:00.000-04:00

Former chief of CIA's anti-Bin Laden unit speaks out.

2007-05-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

So it looks like I won't be involved in the "Decameron, Revisited" as previously posted. I will instead be working in a Capital Fringe Fest show titled, "Telemonster". The showdates are July 25th, 27th, and 28th at the DC Art Center Theatre.

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My bike is in the shop till Wednesday. Lame, I know. The front breaks were squeaking horribly, and the fork kept bouncing whenever too much pressure was applied to the lever. No amount of adjusting or cleaning seemed to do anything, which probably means either the brake shoes are old and overused or the wheel is untrued. The shop I took it to was a definite last choice, "Spokes, Etc." in Vienna. Their mechanics are assholes, always talking to you like you know nothing about bikes and as if they have no time for you.

So while I do miss my steed, I turned my loss into an opportunity and walked to the metro this morning. It was a great day for it too, though no one else seemed to think so, evidenced by the lack of anyone else walking. I thought for a minute about all the people who drive to the metro even though it's so close to their houses, just because they can't stand a 30-minute walk, or are afraid of getting sweaty. But then I wondered if it was more than that. Maybe it's the status of driving everywhere that keeps people from trying alternatives. I mean, people in the Mclean/Falls Church area tend to be pretty wealthy, and they tend to have no shame in showing it off. An automobile is the perfect opportunity to do that. In a sane society, such vanity and waste would be chastised and those people shamed into walking, or biking, or (GASP!) taking the bus. But in the bizarro logic of the rich and mighty, being able to drive any kind of car for even a short distance is a way of showing off one's prosperity. And as anyone who's ever lived in NOVA, who isn't a total dooshbag (they do exist!) can tell you, the opportunity to put your wealth on display plays a big role in how people socialize around here.

Truly a shame. Because let me tell ya, if I had the money to spend on a "luxury" SUV, I'd buy one of these sweet babies right here.

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This was a disturbing bit of news off the British press today. I don't know what the hell the Army was thinking in concocting such a plan. Luring an adversary out of hiding under the guise of a truce in order to kill them is horribly dishonest. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was the same dirty ruse used in the film Braveheart by the pro-English barons to lure William Wallace out of hiding. Did Bush, or some lackey general, see that movie and think, "Hey! What a great idea!"? Were they aware that the spirit of the film implied that such actions are immoral?

Reading about a trick this dirty forces us to look at the occupation of Iraq in perspective. So often we've seen terrible images, or read horrific stories, of atrocities committed by one faction or other of an insurgency that seems to direct its rage in many directions once. The corporate media presents the United States as being stuck in the middle of a sectarian war, like some referee in a boxing match. But when you read about things like this, or this, you begin to see that the intense hatred felt by Iraqis for the occupation indeed has a context.

Ron Paul, all alone.

2007-05-16T09:07:00.000-04:00

I didn't realize the Republican candidates had a debate last night. I mean, had I known I still wouldn't have watched it, since like the Democratic debates it's really just about giving airtime to the media's favorite candidates, i.e. John McCain, Rudy Giuliani. Rep. Ron Paul (TX), however, took the opportunity to rebuke the other candidates in their "I'm a bigger fascist than you are" game, and made a statement rejecting America's interventionist foreign policy.

Of course, when I saw the roundup on CNN this morning, they spun it as Ron Paul making a statement attacking patriotism, with Rudy Giuliani rightfully putting him in his place by yelling, "....I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn’t really mean that."

Rudy, you are an immature asshole, and no intelligent person gives a shit anymore that you were New York's mayor during 9/11. You're like the Matt Damon puppet in Team America: World Police, but instead of saying your name like a dimwit you just yell "I WAS THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK ON 9/11!!"

I'm glad Ron Paul had the guts to say what he did in front of that audience.

2007-05-15T15:20:00.000-04:00

Jerry Falwell died today. So it goes. I'm not surprising anyone when I say I couldn't stand that homophobic, dispensationalist, fundamentalist sack of shit. I wonder what other clean-cut hypocrite the Christian Right will get to replace him....

In happier news, I've been cast in a play that's actually being put on right here in Mclean. It's a professional gig, in that I get paid crap, but paid nonetheless. It is called "The Decameron, Revisited" and was written locally by play write Rachael Bail. I don't know much more about it than you at this point, other than it's a reinterpretation of, well, the Decameron. As always, when I know more, I will post showtimes online.

Youtube and IMDB

2007-05-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

Yay, acting!

So not only is the film I did for the 48 hour film project on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFgMDJVANrs), but I am now listed on the Internet Movie Database(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2639877) for a short role I did in a local film a few weeks ago.

My career... ADVANCES!!!

48 hour film project

2007-05-10T09:32:00.000-04:00

Butts were kicked last night and fools got served at the DC 48 hour film project. "Imaginary Joe" premiered with several other awesome short flicks, and I honestly can't say which movie will advance to the next round. I can only honestly say which ones won't. But I will refrain from saying anything, since it would be rude.

What I can say is that Anand and I received many compliments for our film, and I had the honor of becoming a minor celebrity after the showcase was over. Which is cool, in that I had obviously just gained a lot of exposure. It was weird though, in that compliments are scary to me, especially in large numbers all at once. I never really know how to appropriately respond to a random stranger who says, "YOU WERE SO GREAT!" I usually smile and thank them, but always get the impression my response was inadequate. I then thank them for coming, trying to deflect attention away from me and all the questions I might be asked about how challenging it must have been to play an anxiety-ridden, chain-smoking, alcoholic. "Very challenging," I want to say, "So challenging I need to go to a bar right now and order pint after pint of delicious, life giving beer so I can forget an entire room of people is suddenly looking at me"

2007-05-09T14:23:00.000-04:00

Can anyone tell me the name of the song that was played in the incredibly dramatic finale of the movie "Glory"? It's the same music from the movie "Excalibur", used in the scene when Arthur and his knights charge out of Camelot to confront their enemies.

Anyone?

2007-05-07T09:42:00.000-04:00

A student film I starred in, "Farewell, Providence", is now in my possession in the form of a DVD. I am considering having a bit of an informal NOVA screening for anyone who'd like to see it. I will let you all know if i decide to do that. For those who wouldn't be able to make it here for such a screening, I can also burn the DVD and mail it to you if you're interested.

Another short film I worked on, for the 48-hour film project, titled "Imaginary Joe" will be premiering on Wednesday at the AFI in Silver Spring. I will be going if anyone cares to join me. Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/events.aspx. Again, for those too far away to join me this film will, as I understand it, be available on Youtube in the coming weeks.

Commuting

2007-05-04T13:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I did not ride my bike to work. It wasn't the first time this happened since I started bike commuting with the advent of spring, but it was the first time I drove to work without having any particular need to do so. By that I mean, I didn't have an audition in Maryland right after work, or some other professional engagement which I wouldn't otherwise be able to reach by bike or metro. It wasn't raining, or snowing, or windy outside either. It was a perfectly sunny spring day in Virginia (there is no place on earth, in my opinion, with as beautiful a spring). I ended up driving because I ran late in the morning and in my rush to jump on my bike I forgot to pack my office clothes into my bikebag. By the time I discovered this, I was already a few miles from my house. I had to bike back home to get my clothes, after which I realized I would be late if I tried to cycle to work again. So... I drove.

And man, did it make a difference. I've heard that regular exercise improves your mood as much as your health, but I swear that after not riding too and from work that day I was the grouchiest son of a bitch I had been in weeks. When I got home I couldn't get the scowl off my face. I was so grizzled my whole head started to hurt. Just sitting at that stupid desk for eight hours without that workout before and after really changed how I felt about the day.

So... I guess the moral of all this is... RIDE YOUR GODDAMN BIKE!! IT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL GODDAMN BETTER AND YOU'LL BE A LOT LESS ORNERY AND MAD AT PEOPLE!!!

2007-05-02T16:28:00.000-04:00

I am restarting my old blogger account. Good for me. I am rather tired of having multiple blogs, so I really just want to synthesize it all into one space.