Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier’s story is a disturbing and shameful, yet often paralleled, piece of Americana. It is simply a case of a person being targeted by our Government because they had the courage to publicly challenge it. Funny that in the land of the free and the home of the brave, a man has spent thirty years in prison for being brave enough to fight for the freedom of his people.

I recommend everyone read this article in the International Socialist Review. It’s an excellent article that details not only Peltier’s struggles, but the struggles of Native Americans.

I would also suggest everyone visit the The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee to learn more about this tragic case and what you can do to offer your support.

In addition, send your letters of support to Leonard:

Leonard Peltier
#89637-132
USP-Lewisburg
US Penitentiary
PO Box 1000
Lewisburg, PA 17837

I know some may look at this case and think that it’s not that important, but it is. Our government is capable of horrendous acts against those that dare to challenge it, and ot could happen to anyone of us at any time. In order for us to remain free, we must fight for the freedom of all.

Crude

This looks like a very interesting documentary.  It’s a pretty sad, yet all to common story: Big Company exploits the little man.  The people from Chevron deny and dispute the claims of the people are pathetic.

I really hate American politics!

I really hate American politics! Everything is so divisive and partisan. You read the headlines, everything is Dems this or GOP that. It’s liberal or conservative. You’re either a patriot or you hate America. The middle ground is eroding and it’s destroying the country. Poll after Poll seem to show the majority of Americans are middle of the road, they have both conservative and liberal beliefs. But if you look at national politics, it’s either one or the other. There’s no room for someone who is against abortion but supports gay marriage, or someone who is against the war and supports the Defense of Marriage act.

If we are going to survive as a country, we truly need to figure out how to get along and to respect the beliefs of others, and this goes equal for both sides, democrats are as divisive as republicans and republicans play partisan politics as much as democrats. To me the parties are lost, they are too far gone to be fixed and I believe its up to the people to step up and make a difference. We need to turn off the TV, put down the Wii controller and vote, not just in state and national elections, but in city and county as well, real change will start from the community.

But, alas, as the recent Lakers riots confirm, we are more concerned about sports than our freedom and our future, so I doubt anything will really change.

Quote of the Day

…the mass media. What are they? They’re huge corporations, massive corporations, linked up with even bigger corporations. They sell audiences to other businesses, namely advertisers. So when you turn on the television set, CBS doesn’t make any money. They make money from the advertisers. You’re the product that they’re selling, and the same is true of the daily newspaper. They’re huge corporations, selling audiences, potential consumers, to other businesses, all linked up closely to the government, especially the big media. What picture of the world do you expect them to present? – Noam Chomsky

Iran & the Lakers

I haven’t posted much here recently, mainly because life got in the way, but along with my new music blog, I am going to try and post here as often as possible.

So lets start with Iran. I found in funny that when watching the news the other day, it was hard to tell the difference between east LA and Iran; both were rioting, one for freedom and one for entertainment. That situation speaks a lot about us as a society and where our priorities are. We have experienced election fraud and corruption first hand seen over the last 10 years here in America.

We have seen both parties take questionable actions, yet we accept it. But when our beloved Lakers when a championship; we rush to the streets, riot and burn cars in celebration. Had we taken similar action in the 2000 election, the last 8 years may have been a lot different under President Gore, but instead the Republican Party learned what they could do and the stole the election again in 2004. Fortunately, the Bush Administration screwed things up so badly, they were unable to steal it again in 2008.

In Iran, the people are fed up with corruption and took to the streets to protest, while it may not change the eventual outcome, it does show the establishment there that the people are willing to fight and that will ultimately work in the peoples favor. So I for run want to express my solidarity for the Iranian people.

Pugs Atomz – Memorial

Just came across this video, pretty creative, love the Che T-Shirt:

Miriam Makeba – R.I.P.

“And why is our music called world music? I think people are being polite. What they want to say is that it’s third world music. Like they use to call us under developed countries, now it has changed to developing countries, it’s much more polite.”- Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba past away over the weekend after suffering a heart attack on stage in Italy.  She was an incredible presence in the world of music and will be missed.

Kid Koala – Floor Kids

Kid Koala has always been one of my favorite DJ’s and this video is just dope!

more about “Kid Koala – Floor Kids“, posted with vodpod

 

How is slavery different then welfare???

This is an amazing comment and it just sums up what is wrong with the neo-conservative mindset.

more about “Media Matters – Quinn stated that unl…“, posted with vodpod

 

Mutant Chronicles

Here’s another movie that looks really good, I hope it gets a proper release soon.  Looks like an interesting story, with a unique design and excellent cinematography.

Watchmen

I am so looking forward to this movie, I never read the graphic novel, but I believe it’s considered one of the best ever written.  I will be picking it up shortly.

“queer-lovin’ commie”

So yesterday I was called a “queer-lovin’ commie” by an acquaintance, while it was in jest, it was evident that there was some genuine distain for my beliefs.  This acquaintance was someone I have worked with for the last few weeks.  Yesterday he asked how I felt about the election.  I explained that for me, it was a bittersweet victory.  I explained my political beliefs and the reasons I voted for Obama. I also explained that I was disappointed that while as a country we made a significant statement regarding how we as a nation we voted for a progressive change, yet in California we voted for discrimination.

In response, he questioned why I, as a straight, married man, gave a dam about lettings “some fags” get married. He questions why it was even important because they could still have civil unions and could still live together and could still “do each other all they want.” And when I tried to explain it further, he called me a “queer-lovin’ commie” and walked away laughing and shaking his head.

What people do not seem to understand is that I could care less about if someone is gay or not.  To me this not a gay rights issue, it’s a civil liberty issue. I do not care if you think homosexuality is a sin or not, you do not have the right to tell consenting adults how to live their life. This is an instance where one segment of the population wants to dictate what another segment can do.  It is a limitation on a single group’s right to pursue their life.  It is a clear cut example of discrimination that should not be tolerated in this day and age.

The good news is that lawsuits are already being filed in California that will hopefully overturn the proposition because it contradicts the equal protection clause in the state constitution.

Prop 8 Passed….*&$!!@*&

What a paradox America is. On one hand the people stepped up, looked beyond race and elected America’s first non-white president.  Yet, in California and three other states, we stumbled on our close-mindedness institutionalized homophobia.

Prop 8 was a disgusting piece of discrimination based on a neo-conservative ultra-fundamentalist desire to make America a bible thumping wonderland of a corrupted narrow-minded version of Christianity.  The proposition should never have been on the ballot in the first place.  Its sole purpose was to eliminate the god-given right of people to marry the person they love simply because it didn’t fit into this corrupted interpretation of the bible.

The very idea of limiting a persons rights based on your beliefs is so opposite of what Jesus taught.  I know for a fact that Jesus would never have supported a law that forced one group’s beliefs onto another groups.  He would have been on the front lines of the anti-discrimination fight, and he probably would have been attacked as a false prophet by the neo-cons, who are too far gone to even understand the teachings of their Lord and Savior.

I am truly disappointed with the people of Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and especially California.  The propaganda for Prop 8 was based on lies, distortions, fear and ignorance.  They promoted the law as if it would make their children turn gay or it would ruin marriages or that they would be forced to send their kids to gay marriages.  It made people think that it would force them to accept homosexuality at all levels.  While people should accept it, I can understand that it makes people nervous and they don’t want it forced upon them, but the point is, the law did none of these things, all it did was make marriage only between a man and a woman, it would not have forced anything upon them, in fact, nothing would have changed. No one would have even noticed anything different.  But these ultra-religious fascists used fear to scare people into voting for it, and we fell for it.

So I say shame on 52% of Californians, 57% of the people of Arkansas, 56% of the people of Arizona and 62% of the people of Florida; shame on the Mormon church for ignoring their past issues with discrimination and supporting discrimination against another group of people; shame on every single Christian who completely ignored the teachings of Christ and voted for Prop 8 and shame on everyone else allowed their homophobia to help them discriminate. It is because of all of you that after taking a step forward with our new President, America has taken two steps back regarding the civil liberties of the people.

My Thoughts on Election ‘08

Congratulations Obama and America, I believe we both won a little something yesterday.  Obama won a long and difficult campaign and America won an opportunity to change our direction and to affect the way the world see’s us. 

I have said before that I supported and voted for Obama simply because he was a better choice then McCain, not necessarily because he was the best choice for President. Nor did I ever buy into the idea that he would fundamentally change America for the better.  America is too set in her ways for one man to make a meaningful difference. Real change would require a complete and revolutionary restructuring of America’s social, economic and political systems, something that will not happen anytime soon.  

That said, I do believe some change for the better will occur. Obama will take steps to repair the economy, albeit band-aids as opposed to cures. He will move to end the occupation of Iraq sooner rather than later, although, he’ll send the troops to Afghanistan instead. He will hopefully enact some meaningful healthcare reform, but I doubt we will see a universal healthcare system that is desperately needed. The biggest change, however, will be within the Supreme Court. Obama’s election will prevent the court from being stacked conservatively, which will help protect our civil liberties.  

So what does this all mean?  It means America will be a little better than we have been for the last 8 years and a little better than it would have been under McCain, but it also means that we can’t just sit back and relax, we need to continue to voice our opinions, we need to continue to be active in our communities, we need to continue teach our children to care about the country and the people.  The last several months have seen unprecedented activism, whether it was Obama’s fundraising or the “Ron Paul Revolution”; we have seen people take action in new and original ways.  During the ’04 election, there was a lot of activism based on the “Anti-Bush” philosophy that quickly died away after the election (PunkVoter, anyone????) Hopefully this time around, the momentum will continue and just maybe, real change will begin now.   

One of the most positive things I saw this election was the involvement of the youth. Having a few young kids myself, our television is pretty much always on Disney, Nickelodeon or the Cartoon Network and all three had election information.  Nickelodeon even had kids vote.  When I went to vote yesterday at my daughter’s school, her class was actually in the poling site watching the people vote and her teacher was explaining the process to them.  In addition, over the last few weeks, they have discussed the election and the candidates in her classroom. Even my 5 year olds kindergarten discussed the election process.  Several friends told me about how their children voted in the classroom or had very detailed discussions, most regarding the election process. So hopefully, this will lead to a new generation of informed voters who understand the process and the issues.

Quote of the Day – Nov. 5, 2008

I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator.
~ Mother Jones