As Above, So Below

Think Before You Hang Out Near The Janitor

2008-03-08T12:30:00.001-06:00

The Ad Council recently came out with a television commercial called "Think Before You Post. If you haven't seen it yet (and don't feel like clicking the clink) it's a run of the mill ad aimed at "youth" that once you post your picture anywhere online, it hangs out in cyberspace forever. While this seems like pretty harmless (and potentially beneficial, to kids who don't realize that kind of thing) information - there's a funny little quirk at the end.

At the very end of the video, after our poor girl just can't seem to get all those pictures off the school wall, a "creepy" looking janitor swings by, takes her picture and smiles at the camera. The voiceover reminds the viewer that *anyone* can have your picture.

I'm sure this has the intended effect on some impressionable youth as well as parents, making them nice and scared that the only people who use social networking sites are either sexual predators or their victims. After all, the only thing the largest and most easily accesible information outlet in human history is good for is porn. While that's all fine and good (I could drone on about the culture of fear, but I don't have the time at the moment), I can't help but think about our janitor friend. Are we supposed to believe that the local high school just happened to hire a sexual predator and not figure it out? Am I supposed to believe that by keeping my kids away from myspace that the man pushing the broom won't be able to harm them? Yes, parents should keep better tabs on their kids and yes, kids should pay closer attention to the kinds of things they post online. But seriously, why is it the janitor?

Smoke 'Em Since They Might Not Be Embargoed Anymore

2008-02-19T09:30:00.006-06:00

Man, I miss the cold war.

Fidel Castro, bane of the United States and capitalism for almost 50 years, has finally stepped down. We all knew it would happen sometime. Granted, my grandparents were barely young adults when he came to power - but all regimes come to an end, one way or another. Poor old Fidel is just too sick and tired too keep shaking his fist at capitalist pig dogs. Thankfully, there's no shortage of leaders in this country to keep shaking their fists at the evils of Communism. Though, as of late, our war of hearts and minds has wained. Frankly, we've been a little busy lately - too busy to worry about the likes of Fidel. We've had terrorism to keep us busy, and it's way easier to spot a radical Muslim than a card carrying member of the PLP.

Castro's resignation though, does add another nail into the coffin of an era. A simpler time, where our enemies had funnier accents, poofy hats, and enough nukes to blow up half the world.

A time when the lines between good and evil could also be defined by a clear curtain across Europe. Had Fidel's retirement come perhaps two decades earlier - we would've heard quite a bit about how this was a victory for the US. Unfortunately, all we've gotten is a pretty lukewarm response about how our president doesn't want to see "staged elections." After all, if you're going to stage an election, you damned well better be forking over some cash to the CIA - if you want it done right, at least.

So far, the most interesting thing to come of this ending has been media coverage of Cuba's totalitarian leanings. Because, as we all well know, the United States strongly opposes systems of government that deny civil liberties, jail people without trial, and restrict basic freedoms.

Hubris

2008-02-17T13:07:00.003-06:00

I was listening to one of the many podcasts I subscribe to today and got thinking. How bad are things, really? The victors naturally write the history and that history gets rewritten by new writers more than every few passing decades. A new authority comes to power and suddenly all of the atrocities of the previous regime are trotted up. A new worldview becomes popular and over time, certain "facts" get disputed, become more disputed, and eventually become laughable. Assuming humanity survives for the next thousand years, can we say that our most sacred scientific or religious beliefs, historical texts, and ideas will be valued? Will our time of progress and historical change be considered another "dark age?" Will our time of environmental disaster, constant warfare, and near global annihilations be considered a rennasance period?

The only time we have might be the present, but we all spend plenty of time considering the past and worrying about the future. The problem we run into however, is when we believe our time is the last time, best time, or most historical time. When we spend more time counting down the last months that our president is in office, we forget that just as many people did it for the last president, the one before that, and all the way back.

We are indeed cursed, to live in interesting times - so long as we believe our times are more interesting, more important, and more historical than any others. The truth is, all times are interesting - we just have a poor memory.

Sometimes Goodbyes Are The Language of Inspiration

2008-01-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

Kate and I ended up having a pretty long and intense discussion last night about how it is that creative, talented people, people with force and drive, people who know they want something better out of life - end up stuck in various situations they don't like. How is it that someone who's got so much chutzpah ends up shlocking for the man in a wage slave environment? How is it that people who are dreamers or revolutionaries or just plain good folks who want something better out of the world and out of life end up relegated to a work environment they hate?
I have a million and one theories on this, but part of it ends up being a kind of Shawshank redemption, "put up or shut up" kind of thing. We can spin a web of excuses for why we haven't been working on that novel, planting that rooftop garden, or touring the country - but at the end of the day, plenty of the responsibility ends up on our shoulders. We get comfortable, we get complacent. We end up so busy just trying to get through the day, we forget that there's more to life than just getting through the day.

We should be fucking living.

I've posted this quote at least once before, but I think it bears remembering: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." (Robert A. Heinlein)

In addition, a human being should be able to wake up every day without the fear that someone is going to keep him or her down. Be it a boss, a co-worker, a friend, a lover, a casual aquaintence, politician, officer of the law, obnoxious co-host of a tv show - you get the idea. If you're waking up hating your job, you should find a new one. If you're waking up hating your city, you should find a new one. If you're waking up wondering how the fuck you got into X situation, you should be planning and executing your escape.

I spent so much time planning my escape from a life of drudgery and mind numbing wage slave work, I buried myself in maps to the door. It's easy to get lost in your own dreams, easy to end up saying "I'm just so exhausted. I don't have the energy or the money to do..." It's harder getting out. Once you're comfortable spending your nights at home watching reruns you can quote in your sleep, emerging once every 3 months to make a drunken fool out of yourself - you forget that it's not normal.

At some point, you have to stop trying and start doing.

Amazing kicks in the ass usually have a spark that sets things off, and this one is no different. I'm quite proud but also sad to say "smell you later" to my good friend Emerson. He's moving onto greener, warmer pastures in L.A. Wish him well. You've been more than a good friend buddy, you've been an inspiration - you've been family. Take care - Chicago's really losing out with your departure. We'll miss you.

Cast The First Stone

2008-01-22T21:56:00.000-06:00

I’m sure I mentioned it before, but I have this thing where I just can’t trust the Ron Paul campaign specifically. Granted, I can’t (and won’t) trust any political campaign to fix my problems (or the problems of this country), but something about that man really irks me. While you’re still waiting on my thoughts on Zeitgeist (I haven’t forgotten), check out this lengthy article from TNR on the man.

Regardless of your feelings on the man and what TNR has to say about him (and others), there’s an important subtext to this article that I think directly relates to the typical "debunking" or criticisms of certain movements, particularly ones that are claimed "conspiratorial." Often, theories about government conspiracies - be they related to banks, 9/11, the CFR, and beyond - are put in the same box as bizarre lunatics. Believe that something is up with the Federal Reserve, and somehow you can end up sharing a bunk with people who believe that gays have an international agenda to spread "gayism." Believe that there are unanswered questions regarding 9/11, and soon after you’re having tea with guys in militia uniforms who believe that hollywood Jews were behind it.

People on the fringes often get lumped in with each other, whether they know it or not. While a libertarian and an anarchist can look at each other and see a completely different person, a card carrying democrat or republican might see the same guy sitting there. Generally, that works in reverse too. That’s an important perception that gets lost in rhetoric shouted from one end of the political spectrum to the other. We seem to think that everyone’s beliefs fit into a neat little box. One that we can check on a ballot and say "ah yes, I’m for all of these things and against all of these other things - just like everyone else."

Does Ron Paul have some decent ideas? I’ll bet he does. Does he have a pretty sketchy looking past? You bet. I’m also willing to bet that most other candidates have just as many skeletons in their closets as well.

While You're Waiting...

2008-01-09T21:05:00.001-06:00

Many of you have asked me if I've seen the zeitgeist movie and what my thoughts are on it. I just wanted to let you all know that I finished watching it for the first time earlier this evening. Rather than just conversationally post my thoughts I've decided to organize them into something a little bit more coherant. So, keep your eyes open - I'll have something in the next few days about it.

Right after watching it though - I happened upon this little video. I strongly suggest you take a gander.

Get 'Em While They're Young

2008-01-09T21:04:00.001-06:00

During the 1988 presidential election, I was in middle school. Back then, I did what all good children do during an election - I voted in the mock election for the same guy my parents were voting for. Well, at least, the candidate my mom was voting for. She swayed me by reminding me I went to a Catholic school and good Catholics were voting for Bush the elder because he was pro-life. My dad on the other hand just couldn't sway me for Dukakis. In fact, I don't think anyone could find him warm and fuzzy after that shot in the tank.

Today's parents don't have to worry so much for their kids. There's a book series to the rescue! Littledemocrats.net brings you two volumes - one for mom and one for dad - to help explain to your tots why you prefer an ass to an elephant. Had I seen cute woodland creatures putting out fires or known that squirrels would stop an elephant from crushing me, I might have cast my mock vote for the Massachusetts Miracle. You can show your kids how to become a fair, tolerant, and loving democrat with these easy to read "non-judgmental" books. With any luck, little Bobby and Susie will grow up with all the backbone of a jellyfish.

Read the full story here - at The Fall of Autumn!

The Politics of Taxes

2007-12-23T14:57:00.001-06:00

I was going to do your typical sour grapes post about Christmas, but that's pretty damned cliche' at this point, so I'll spare you the overused complaints.

With that said, the top of my list of complaints had to do with Ron Paul and his damned "revolutionary" canvassers. You know - the ones who run around putting up the signs claiming that the Ron Paul revolution will take place in 2008? The same ones who are putting up homemade looking signs on highways and tagging alleys? While your average political canvassers (not to be confused with Greenpeace kids or whatever other cause people are peddling, but the ones that come around only around presidential elections) do plenty to annoy me, the Ron Paul Peddlers get me extra worked up. Something about their in your face attitude puts me off the same way Larouchies, Worker's Weekly World, and Bob Avakian does.

But I'm not here today to complain about the Ron Paul revolution - I'm still working on the research for that. Today I'm here to complain about taxes, but not in exactly the way you think.

While reading up on his viewpoints so I could better deconstruct Mr. Paul's campaign, I came to the debt and taxes section, which contains the rhetoric one would expect regarding taxes. Too many taxes, too high taxes, government spending=bad, low taxes and low spending=good.

This is the same kind of thing we've heard since well before Bush I's proclemation "no new taxes." Taxes are always too high, according to every politician. But if that's the case, then we should have a large surplus, right? With taxes as "high" as they are, our education system should be top notch, we all should have fabulous health insurance, and that $479,000,000,000+ and rising Iraq war tab should be a sinch, shouldn't it?

None of those things are true, of course. While the US Government pisses away more money than a drunk on the ultimate bender, our schools get worse, public health keeps declining, and we keep having to send our friends overseas body armor. The solution, according to soundbytes of course, is to cut taxes further and decrease spending.

Haven't we been trying that for 20+ years?

The solution to our ever present money crisis isn't as simple as stopping the war, killing the defense budget, or just taxing the rich higer than the average citizen (mind you, all things sound like a pretty good start though). It's bigger than wall street fat cats, oil tycoons, and Dick Cheney's heart problem. The solution is not however, to cut spending and lower taxes. Cutting spending from a conservative point of view just means killing off more social programs and leaving more folks out in the cold. Lowering taxes is nothing more than the equivilant of a $300 refund - just enough cash to fill your gas tank, buy a week's worth of groceries, and hit a movie on Friday night as long as you hold the popcorn.

The lesson? First, don't believe for a second that a tax decrease will solve the budget crisis or cure poverty. If that was the case, we'd all be riding around in solid gold hummers at this point. Second, quit believing that Ron Paul, Barak Obama, any Clinton, Rudy, or whatever political all star is going to stop the ship from sinking. We've all been swallowing those pills for well over a few decades and we're still broke. Third, put a cadre of single mothers, unemployed veterans, and Walmart employees in charge of figuring out the budget. If you can figure out how to get you and your family by on less than $25K a year, (or if that amount of money sounds like alot of money) than you can probably manage how to get many people by on $13487.2 Billion dollars (2006 US GDP).

Ten is not a lonely number after all

2007-09-17T09:18:00.001-05:00

1. Dillinger 4 is still the best band ever.

2. The Brokedowns are amazing.

3. You should've gone to that show last night with me.

4. The new Bad Religion and Minus The Bear records are fantastic.

5. Having the internet at home is sweet.

6. This is great:
Thanks Billy.

7. We're finally getting close to being able to have a housewarming party. Hopefully you'll all be there.

8. Summer break is over. Fall of Autumn will now finally have more regular updates. Podcasts, news, reviews, rants, and more.

9. You might be lucky enough to see some new zines from me at the end of the month.

10. I've got one of those last.fm accounts. Now you can see if we're musically compatible and we can show off how cool we are by what obscure stuff we can put on our playlists. Or, we could just listen to some good tunes. It's up to you.

Career Advice

2007-09-02T11:29:00.000-05:00

Seems like there's a never ending stream of folks leaving the White House these days. The latest in the swarm of rats to abandon ship is Bush's third press secretary, former Fox pundit (and probably on his way back to the real limelight) Tony Snow. Switching press secretaries isn't uncommon, and I know I'd need some time away after a stint in giving confounding answers to reporters, not to mention a bout with colon cancer.

Tony however, isn't leaving for any of these reasons. Ari (easily my favorite of Bush's secretaries) and Scott left on the usual "spend more time with family...work in the private sector...will be nice to look back someday and laugh" reasons. Tony though, came right out and said that George and friends just don't pay enough. At this point, I wouldn't know whether or not $168,000 is enough to support a family with three kids, but I do know that plenty of people out there do it for much less.

The idea that six figures just isn't enough in this country aside, I'm just happy to see that the Fed has their priorities straight. No wonder Newscorp has deeper pockets - the Feds are busy enough trying to figure out how scrape up the $13 to $30K to pay the kids who get shot at on a daily basis.

I'm sure Tony will be fine. While cable news has no shortage of pundits, I'm sure having "White House Press Secretary" as your most recent job on your resume does wonders. It's also never too early to think about psuedo writing your autobiography, which is sure to hit the best seller list for at least a week.

Crying Wolf

2007-08-23T16:32:00.001-05:00

You're going to die.

Yes, that's right. You're going to die.

If it's not by disease, freak weather, car accidents, drug abuse, terrorists, heart disease, poor diet, or escaped rhinos from the zoo, it'll be something. I've come to terms with the fact that someday, be it tomorrow or in a few decades, I'll depart this Earth and this plane of existence. It's not a pretty thought or a comforting one, but it's an eventuality.

The fear of death though can be the most powerful tool in any propaganda machine's arsenal. I do wonder though, how often does the death card need to be thrown down before it becomes completely meaningless?

Witness this little gem I read from Salon today. Long story short, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell apparently believes that a congressional debate over the FISA debacle will directly result in the deaths of Americans. Mike was careful to add that it wouldn't only be Americans living in the U.S., but also Americans abroad involved in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

While plenty of people recognize that this statement borders on ludicrousness, I find it more creepy that at this point, I find it normal. I'm used to reading statements from politicians that state if we question or debate government policy, we're "aiding the enemy." I'm used to hearing the phrase "if you're not with us, you're against us." It's normal to hear someone from the right say "well, you should feel lucky that you're even allowed to protest at all."

The powers that be toss out veiled threats of disaster so much that if I were to believe in even a quarter of them, I'd be bunkering down somewhere with enough rations to sustain me for the next century - while letting the feds monitor my bunker camera system 24 hours a day. You never know what you might be saying in your sleep.

And that's the real question - how often can we claim the sky is falling before we fail to notice it?

Eyes on the skies

2007-08-21T14:59:00.000-05:00

My good friend Flea responded to my last post regarding the snippet I wrote on the Air and Water show. I was going to just reply to her, but I figure it's well worth reading. You can read her original response here.

Well, like you - I can and I can't. It is a weird thing though. At the same time we're (in the royal "we" sense) reveling in the machinations of war flying overhead, ooing and ahhing over the cool dives they make and neat smoke they spew, someone in the world is probably seeing the same thing, but with real explosives attached to those planes. There are plenty of pregnant women, families, etc around the world who suffer the grim reality of air raids. Hell, while Russia attempts to show off its own air prowess, they're accidentally (or someone's making it up, depending on whom you'd like to believe) launching missiles at Georgia, its former ally. The warhead failed to detonate, but the idea of an unexploded warhead sitting around on some patch of land can be equally as frightening. Cluster bombs are pretty much standard to drop on targets these days and at least five or so countries have significant unexploded bombs lying around patches of land. That however, usually is just written off as "collateral damage," just like most civilian casualties in warfare these days.

Mostly I treat things like the air show as a moderate inconvienience. Hell, there are times where I was walking around looking up and ooing and ahhing myself. Still though, I always have a weird knot in my throat thinking about just what those planes are for, and what the most powerful countries in the world (be they the United States or otherwise) can do with them.

Coffee, Planes, and Med Students, Oh My!

2007-08-18T20:43:00.001-05:00

1. Not having the internet at home blows. I've become one of those kids that sit at Starbucks with a laptop. I could sit outside and not have to patronize this ever so popular to trash establishment, but it's either too hot or too cold. Blame Chicago weather, blame HAARP, blame whomever - but I'm stuck drinking crappy overpriced coffee so I can feel like I'm connected to the rest of the world. Sorry kids, but stealing newspapers off my neighbor's front porch and 5 channels off the antenna just isn't good enough.

2. Speaking of the weather - there's nothing like hearing the roar of what should be world war IV (or possibly V, depending on how you look at it) over my head but then realizing it's just the fabulous air and water show. What's better than a display of US military superiority over Lake Michigan? Listening to it over the radio. That's right, just when you thought that nothing could be more boring than listening to a golf game broadcast over WBBM, I stumbled onto commentary on the air and water show while patiently waiting for my 8 minute traffic update. I'm sure this is a regular thing, but still - I guess if I was that interested, I'd be with every other rube on the beach.

3. Thankfully, I've had plenty of time to catch up on reading. Aside from devouring the latest Harry Potter book, I've read The Earth Will Shake, most of Empires of Time, and a handful of zines. Keep your eyes open for more zine reviews and hopefully some commentary on Harry Potter. Naturally, that was probably the best thing I'll read all year.

4. Now that I'm in Chicago's happening UIC/University Village neighborhood, I've gone from listening to random Latin pop music out of car windows to the prattle of frat boys, sorority sisters, and med students. I'm sure this is a fine neighborhood, but I'll take Univision over commentary on how messed up someone's lattee is. Then again, I am sitting in a Starbucks.

5. Finally, in the big wide world of U.S. politics - it seems that the rats are leaving the long sinking ship. Apparently, Rummy left before last year's election. Now, Rove and Hastert are on their way out, followed by a few other Republican senators. What does this mean? Well, nothing really, except that the next election cycle will have a few more contested seats, which in turn means a bit more mud in the eyes of television viewers.

From The Desk of The Great Developer

2007-08-12T12:35:00.000-05:00

Anyone interested in drilling to the center of the Earth with me? Let the Russians and Canadians fight over the North Pole. I'm sure Santa and his army of tiny toy making elves can put up a fight long enough to give the Canucks and the Russkies a serious run for their money.

While their busy with that, I recommend we drill down down down, as deep as we can go. There's probably millions of barrels of oil and other sweet nutrients down there being guarded by a handful of mole people. As mole people hate the sun, we just have to make sure the hole we drill is big enough to let some UV rays in. Give 'em a tan until they're willing to give us their oil, then maybe we'll let them keep a piece of their underground layer. We've had our trial run with the "native Americans" and got alot of sweet casinos out of it. Can you imagine what blackjack at thousands of feet below sea level is like?

The only thing we've got to worry about are those pesky environmental terrorists. Seriously guys, you give me a good laugh when I see you hugging trees - but don't you know there's money to be made? We all know global warming is the myth Al Gore invented the internet to perpetuate. I mean, seriously - this planet has been around for 6,000 years now. That's a long time. I think it can handle a little smog, waste dumping, and other such necessary byproducts of progress.

Thankfully, those damned hippies have little experience chaining themselves to things underground or in the arctic. Think a community garden in south central is hard to defend? Just try growing corn hundreds of miles underground. Why don't you guys just stick to working at Whole Foods and whining about some endangered species no one really cares about?

So come one, come all who are interested in the next great wave of resource exploitation. Damn the mole men and those "save the center of the Earth" folks! Let's scoop out what we need and build the biggest damned parking lot the world has ever seen. It'll be a great hub from Walmarts in the U.S. to the sweatshops in China. Think of all the wonderful savings on tariffs! Think of the children - Disneyland Center of the Earth, here I come.

There's a Shock

2007-07-08T13:34:00.000-05:00

I nabbed this from by buddy Will. No surprises here.

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous!

You drink everyone under the table.

Who's Your Inner European?

Fall of Autumn Quarterly Issue 4 Now Available!

2007-07-01T17:50:00.000-05:00

The summer installment of Fall of Autumn's quarterly zine is now available! This issue features:

- a roundtable interview of four great DIY filmmakers by Alan Lastufka
- a "magical" drink recipe from Kate Sandler
- an exploration of capitalism and community in independent publications from Aaron Cynic
- and more.

All this, plus zine and record reviews, along with an updated distro catalog. Download the PDF version here, or subscribe for free by sending an email with your mailing address to "distro-at-fallofautumn-dot-com".

RIP Punk Planet

2007-06-19T19:50:00.001-05:00

RIP Punk Planet: 1994-2007

I'm reserving more in depth commentary for another time, but I would like to say that I personally owe Punk Planet (and more than likely, you do to) more than a simple debt of gratitude. For more years than I can remember I read PP whenever I could, soaking in multitudes of not only great music writing, but great social commentary and political writing as well. It is a shame that another great independent publication that gave the world so many good articles and interviews goes under because of financial troubles. We will miss you, Punk Planet.

Dear Friends,

As much as it breaks our hearts to write these words, the final issue of Punk Planet is in the post, possibly heading toward you right now. Over the last 80 issues and 13 years, we've covered every aspect of the financially independent, emotionally autonomous, free culture we refer to as "the underground." In that time we've sounded many alarms from our editorial offices: about threats of co-optation, big-media emulation, and unseen corporate sponsorship. We've also done everything in our power to create a support network for independent media, experiment with revenue streams, and correct the distribution issues that have increasingly plagued independent magazines. But now we've come to the impossible decision to stop printing, having sounded all the alarms and reenvisioned all the systems we can. Benefit shows are no longer enough to make up for bad distribution deals, disappearing advertisers, and a decreasing audience of subscribers.

As to the latter two points, we could blame the Internet. It makes editorial content—and bands—easy to find, for free. (We're sure our fellow indie labels, those still standing, can attest to the difficulties created in the last few years). We can blame educational and media systems that value magazines focused on consumerism over engaged dissent. And we can blame the popular but mistaken belief that punk died several years ago.

But it is also true that great things end, and the best things end far too quickly.

As to bad distribution deals, we must acknowledge that the financial hit we took in October of 2005, when our newsstand distributor announced that it was in dire straits, was worse than we originally thought. As the dust began to clear from their January bankruptcy announcement, we began to realize that the magazine was left in significantly worse shape, distribution-wise, than they let on.

Add to that the stagnation that the independent record world is suffering under and the effect that has had on our ad sales, not to mention the loss of independent bookstores with a vested interest in selling our publication, and it all adds up to a desperate situation. This has been made far worse by the exhaustion felt from a year and a half of fighting our own distributor. It was a situation that didn't have an exit strategy other then, well, exiting.

The books line will continue to publish, and the website will continue to be a social networking site for independently minded folk; Dan will be staying with both, but Anne will be moving on, only blogging occasionally at punkplanet.com while she pursues other interests. All further inquiries about the magazine should be addressed to theend@punkplanet.com.

There probably isn't much else to say that we haven't already said in PP80—in articles about new activist projects, SXSW, the demise of the IPA, and transgender media, and in interviews with the G7 Welcoming Committee, Andre Schiffrin, and The Steinways. Read it, enjoy it, and find in it enough inspiration to last until we come back in some other form, at some other time, renewed and ready to make another outstanding mark on the world.

It's the economy, stupid.

2007-05-04T14:03:00.000-05:00

I guess for the past month I wasn't alone - then again, I start a new job on Monday (I'm one of the lucky ones). This is an interesting article though. Some numbers are a bit fuzzy on this. It appears the average hourly wage in this article was culled from information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They purport to get their information from a sample of 400,000 businesses and then mathematically extrapolate the information. What's curious is I checked what the US Census had to say, and it gave a very different picture.

The median income of all 233 million persons over the age of 15 in the United States (re: everyone who is working) is $28,567, which boils down to about 13 bucks and hour plus some change. Keep in mind that this also doesn't account for the people that are working below minimum wage or undocumented workers. Bear in mind as well, that that's an average. Think of how many friends you have right now that are making below 28K a year.

What does this all mean? Well, first of all - not having a job allows you plenty of time to do point and click research on labor statistics while searching for a job and doing a million other things.

In addition, it also means that the picture is bleaker than you might think. It's easy to talk about economic growth and decline when you're sitting in a nice leather chair wearing a suit that's worth more than my monthly budget for food. It's also easy to talk about the unemployed without talking about the underemployed. Try living paycheck to paycheck sometime, or better yet - without knowing where the next one's going to come from. For all the splendor we live in here, we sure know how to hoard it like it's 1933.

With Mayday just passing us, a summer of high oil prices on the horizon, rising health care costs, the rising cost of living, low wage increases, and the general downward spiral of our own economy (not to mention the role that we play in what happens to folks abroad) - it might just be time to rethink how we evaluate what economics really are, and what we need to do to fix things.

Motivation Station

2007-04-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

Today begins my first official day of temporary unemployment. For those of you who may not have heard, I recently terminated my employment at the social service agency I was working for. It wasn't a particularly easy decision, but it is for the best.

They transferred me a few months ago to a different department when they felt they needed someone who had "sales experience" to take care of a fledgling support business. After doing some time in this department, I began to realize working for the agency on a whole had finally taken its toll on me. While I love the people I worked with (in every position shuffle I experienced) and the cause attached to the job (the agency worked to benefit the lives of people with mental and physical disabilities), the exceedingly grueling commute combined with a paltry salary finally gave me more resolve in my efforts to get the hell out.

Luckily enough, family came through and something's opening up for me at a company about 10 minutes from my house. The pay is decent, and I won't be burning $200 to $300 in gas every month. Hopefully this works out for the better. Working with close family could prove to be good or bad, but I'm confident I can get past the hangups. The money and commute are just too damned good to pass this gig up.

For the next week, maybe even the week after though, I'll be free of any employment restrictions. I've got a handful of things left to tie up for the agency, and nothing else but time to work on projects that I really want to work on. That, and spend time with all of you fine people.

So please, call me, write me, e-mail me, send an owl - whatever. I might still be broke, but at least I'm not too exhausted or frustrated to hang out. Oh yeah, and keep your eyes open in the next few weeks. If the amount of time I can put into things like Fall of Autumn, The Wanderers, new zines, and other gigs now works out - you'll see some awesome stuff later.

Motivate me. There's only so much wine I can drink and grand theft auto I can play.

Malachi Ritscher's Mission Statement

2007-04-09T11:56:00.001-05:00

Click the album art to go to the download page
or click here to get it on iTunes!
Fall of Autumn presents Brent Kado of Avant/Chicago, reading Malachi Ritscher's Mission Statement. Malachi Ritscher committed self-immolation on the side of the Kennedy Expressway during morning rush hour on Friday November 3, 2006, as a protest against the Iraq war.

"Writing a cultural and entertainment weblog focused on the happenings around Chicago allows me to visit 40-50 different websites per week. During the first week of November of last year, one of the most forceful and captivating news stories I'd ever seen was covered by a few local blogs. A couple of days earlier an, at the time, unknown man, pulled his car over on the Kennedy Expressway and lit himself on fire near the Ohio Street exit. Days later the man (Malachi Ritscher) was identified by friends who had received his belongings via mail and by his mission statement and self-penned obituary on his website. Ritscher explains in his mission statement that his self-immolation (one of only nine such acts in American history) was a protest to the unnecessary war in Iraq. Clicking through Ritshcer's website is like reading an autobiography. Filled with pictures, notes and drawings, the site ends with his mission statement. His words in the statement, which you can listen to in part here, speak powerfully and poignantly about the state of our nation's politics, culture and ideology. The night I first read about his death, I spent at least an hour flipping through his site and then reading the mission statement. I was moved to tears. But it wasn't just his act of heroism or his honest, meaningful words that brought out the emotion, I was also lamenting from sorrow and shame. I was deeply saddened by the death of a man I did not know, a man so brave that he would take his life in order to take a more meaningful stand against this terrible war. While I had written a couple of pieces against the war and felt strongly about it's end, Ritscher's act left me in awe. But after reading his mission statement I also felt very ashamed. (maybe angry) What our country has done to us all is a travesty, a deep scar we will be living with for decades to come and here was a reasonable man that took it so personally that ending his life in protest seemed the only answer. I can honestly say that my passion and drive to speak out against ending the war rose to a new level after learning about Ritscher's death and reading his words. Which brings me to the recital that is available here. After being so moved by the story of Ritscher and his words, I was shocked to learn that his story was not widely covered in the media. I kept thinking that in some creative way I'd like to keep his message alive and in turn both pay him honor and continue speaking out against the war. And while I had a few ideas, the only one that came to fruition was a brief article I wrote for my weblog Avant/Chicago.

Months later when the good people who run Machine Media asked me to take part in one of their curated readings for the Around The Coyote Art Festival, Ritscher's words immediately came to mind. This was a perfect chance to creatively express what I had been compelled to do. While I have been performing my own writing for over five years, I'd never attempted to read someone else's material and nothing I'd read was as intense as Ritscher's mission statement. His statement (of which I condensed for length) speaks for itself. I only hope that putting a voice to his compelling thoughts, will further his endeavor for peace and understanding." -Brent Kado, avantchicago.com

You Are What You Eat.

2007-03-24T00:40:00.000-05:00

After reading this particularly amazing book review, I am further inclined to believe in the conspiracy that some unseen or hidden force exists that's keeping us, well, fat.

If you have the appropriate amount of headspace available, I strongly suggest making it all the way to the bottom of the scrollbar on this one. Not because anything in that book review justifies my claim that forces exist in the corporate, US, and world economy that make it easier to eat junk foods than healthy foods, but because it's a damned good article.

That being said, I do believe that we are socially engineered to eat mindlessly and develop eating habits based on advertising influence and peer pressure. In conjunction with this, it is much easier and more affordable to eat unhealthily than it is to eat healthy. Buying the cheap white bread is much easier on the pocketbook than buying the more healthy (and filling) whole grain wheat bread. Also, it takes much less thinking to do it. When you add that to the fact that most of us are (or at least feel) pressed for time every second of the day, it's much easier to pick up a 99 cent double cheeseburger than to pack a lunch for the day, even if that packed lunch is cheaper.

Conspiracies to make us fat, stupid, lazy, and self-righteous aside, I think the authors (of both the book and the review) are onto something with this. If it's one thing we enjoy, it's mindlessness. Mindless consumption is in the upper eschalon of our headspace these days, and the peak of the pyramid is food, propped up by television and day jobs.

Again, I need to read the book, but the conclusion the reviewer talks about goes only about halfway. Yes, it would be a good idea to develop some "good" mindless habits - tricking ourselves into eating healthier and getting more exercise. It'd be good if we tricked ourselves into saving more money or whatever. That still doesn't replace researching, reading, testing, and well, thinking about what we're doing. The best remedy to mindless eating and mindless consumption in general is to start thinking again. You might just be surprised at what you find.

Three out of four yuppies agree, podcasting is way better than Shakespear

2007-03-12T19:04:00.001-05:00

Click the album art to go to the download page
or click here to get it on iTunes!
Fall of Autumn presents a very special podcast, recorded live at Dulcenea as part of the Around The Coyote Winter Arts Festival. We were fortunate enough to put on (in conjunction with The Machine Media) a series of readings at this year's festival.

This episode (hosted by Kate Sandler) features the following pieces:
- Grant Schreiber - "If Shakespear Were Alive Today"
- Kate Sandler - "Ewok Art"
- Aaron Cynic - "Ire"
- Alicia Dorr - "Names...or I Didn't Write This While On Drugs"
- Kelsey Snell - "Three out of Four Yuppie Bitches Agree, Brian Urlacher Jerseys are Sooo Cute"

Also NEW today, I interviewed CraftyPod/DIY Alert!'s DIANE GILLELAND in a piece called Mark Your Calendars. And we've added two new regular columnists, JAMINA LIN of Oh My Stars zine and ALEXIS STEWART of The Rhododendron Reader. You can read their updates for this week in our new Columns section.

Mickey's Got Nothing on Buck Buck.

2007-03-02T16:10:00.000-06:00

“For the first time in history it is now possible to take care of everybody at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. Only ten years ago the ‘more with less’ technology reached the point where this could be done. All humanity now has the option to become enduringly successful.”

– R. Buckminster Fuller, 1980

I was listening to a podcast centered on Bucky last night while working on a few other things. If you haven't heard of the man, you should look into it. Ever been on that Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot Center? Based (and uncredited) on Bucky's book - and that little dome was designed by the man as well. Walt and Mickey might own the rights to the phrase "world of tomorrow," but they certainly couldn't have done it without the genius of Fuller.

Why should you care?

Read that quote again. He's not making that up. Technology is a gift, a tool - meant to make our resources abundant, work easier, and lives better. The problem is, we haven't evolved yet as a species to make good use of this. We're still interested in profit, hording resources...still seduced by the illusion of power and scarcity.

Basically, we just need to learn how to share. After that, learning how to climb the next step of the evolutionary ladder should be pretty easy.

Books can be sexier than bombs, you've just got to carve your niche.

2007-02-24T16:42:00.001-06:00

Is it that our "culture" has become so packaged, so glossy, so concerned with how sexy a product will look that we've eliminated the appeal of things older? Have we become so concerned with what's on the album cover, the sign in front, the back of the jacket, that what's inside just becomes filler? When we're writing motivational books based on motivational writing that's based on philosophy, have we lost something in translation? How has that affected our habits of reading, learning, and experiencing culture - and ultimately, how has that affected our will to venture forth into independent publishing, local watering holes, and basement shows?

Just a few words from a much longer discussion of "indy" culture. Check it out over here in our new columns section at the Fall of Autumn. Drop some knowledge - I know you all have some.

Literati Narcissista

2007-02-18T16:07:00.000-06:00

I’ve spent a good portion of my day reading the New York Times, McSweeny’s, Salon, and my usual brain brunch of stuff on disinfo.com. While typing a reply to an e-mail about some of my favorite non-fiction books, I stumbled on this little gem from amazon.com and was intrigued. After browsing and clicking around a bit, I ended up kind of accidentally starting one of those wish lists.

Yeah I know, I’m feeling as ill about it as you are. The idea of anyone knowing my account name and whatever being able to take a gander at the types of books I like is unsettling big brother type stuff to me. But after “vanity googling” and thinking long and hard about what my library card shows about my reading habits (not to mention my borrowing and debt collecting habits) – I’ll share my literary appetites with the rest of the cyberworld as well. Hey, if agent Smith (I think that’s the guy that’s assigned to me for the moment – agent Waxler is on vacation from what I hear) is doing his job correctly, he already knows that I’m radiating excitement regarding the upcoming release of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and I’ve still got that Hunter S. Thompson book on my shelf. If he’s really keen maybe he’ll realize that the only reason why I’m going to end up rereading Cosmic Trigger right now is because I lost my copy of the Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy and can’t afford to purchase E-mail to the Universe.

Sadly, that damned website doesn’t sell booze – so looks like this year the birthday pixie will have to trudge down to the liquor store like any other year, and Santa is going to have to squeeze Blizten and the gang into that tiny ass parking lot Binny’s has next Christmas Eve. Every April I usually get a set of plain 3X5 notecards that have the words “best wishes from the team” written on them in envelopes postmarked from Quanaco. This year, I hope agents Smith, Waxler, Albertson, Gerard, Newman, and the rest use their vast network of intelligence gathering and send me a copy of Failed States when it comes out. That or they can at least leave a bottle of Origin on my front porch for me. They’re only 5.99 at Jewel.

PPS. Christopher Hitchens is still an asshole, Suzy’s birthday extravaganza was great, I’m still working on that “legitimate” writeup of the Around the Coyote festival, and hopefully I’ll be able to use at least three of these fabulous writing prompts. If anyone wants to stop by and watch BSG with me call me, but you’re going to have to bring your own beer.

PPS. I realized today that I have at least three blogs. That’s fucked up. I hear the announcer’s voice in my ear saying “Aaron Cynic’s Got A Problem!” Thankfully, it’s not as bad as the problem a certain mustached celebrity will have with a dump truck full of Gin, but that’s another story altogether.

Your big brother news tidbits of the day

2007-02-13T19:34:00.000-06:00

First up, HB 506 on the floor of the Maryland House of Delegates. Apparently, Maryland Delegate Doyle Niemann feels that kids and their parents just can’t handle getting to school on their own. According to an article at the WTOP News website, the bill proposed by Delegate Neimann would put GPS tracking devices on truant children who are repeat offenders. Never mind that no one is really asking why the kids are skipping school or what the relationships the students have with their parents, it’s time to bag ‘em and tag ‘em!

Bills like this are one step closer to the stairway to fascism. Now I know you’re saying to yourself “c’mon, we need to step in and make these kids stay in school.” Instead of asking what’s wrong with the student, we need to start asking “what’s wrong with our schools?” Yes they’re probably under funded and dilapidated but perhaps we should sit down with the kids and ask them why they hate school so much. Maybe by talking to them, instead of at them, we might come up with a solution.

Secondly, we’re one step closer to living Minority Report. Scientists have found a way to scan the brain to read your intentions. A recent team of researchers developed a way to read people’s intentions before they act on them. Of course, this is heralded as a medical breakthrough and yes, it is pretty fucking amazing. On the other hand – we can all imagine what’s going to happen when that falls into the hands (if it hasn’t already) of the Pentagon, corporations, or well, pretty much anybody who doesn’t have any reason to want or desire control over the human mind. As you can imagine, I’ll have plenty more to say on this later.

Another Notch In Orwell's Belt

2007-02-12T13:51:00.001-06:00

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that U.S. military officials found more evidence linking some arms and explosives found in Iraq back to Iran. Are there forces in Iran supplying the Iraqi insurgency with weapons? Most likely. Should this come as a surprise? Not at all. From any of the reports we read day after day, we know the entire region is a mess, with weapons and more being supplied from any number of groups from any number of nation states or terrorist organizations. Hell, it wouldn't shock me in the least if even the Saudis were supplying the insurgency with weapons with one hand, while shaking ours with the other.

This is all standard stuff from the news media, complete with a quote reading "officials not only refused to be identified but also prevented reporters from filming the evidence or recording the briefing." Buried further down in the article (naturally) is the part that says much of the evidence was circumstantial - definitely not an uncommon component of reports like this. The most interesting part about this Tribune article though, comes at the very end where the reporter quotes an unnamed intelligence analyst who says "This idea that you're going to see an Iranian standing over an American with a gun--it's not going to happen...It's plausible deniability. They invented that stuff."

Now we come to where George would be proud.

The concept of plausible deniability In reality, that term comes straight from our own CIA - something any intelligence analyst should know. We've been kicking around that term since the 60's (and probably before). Plausible Deniability allows our officials and leaders to wash their hands of any guilt, wrongdoing, or other affair involving any dirty deeds done in the name of our government. It's the reason why "this tape will self destruct" after playback.

I'm sure you knew that however, and at this point might be wondering why a tiny quote in a small Tribune article is so important. This piece of newspeak keeps the eyes of the reader on the misdeeds of Iran, while simultaneously blinds them to the misdeeds of our government. Yeah, we've got sticky fingers too. We've had all sorts of blood on our hands for years now, and we invented a pretty good way of covering it up. Plausible Deniability is by no means a new concept, and you can bet your bottom dollar governments and leaders have been trying to get away with murder since they've been hording power over the masses.

The part that should interest us is the implication that "they" invented the idea. Our military has been using surrogate fighters and suppliers to fund operations in countries all over the world since Kennedy. Sorry folks, just like those chemical weapons in Iraq, Plausible Deniability comes with a "Made In the USA" stamp on it. That's the kind of thing that happens when we cede more powers to the executive, pay less attention to what our leaders do in our names, and ultimately stop paying attention to government "for our own good." Is it really any wonder why this administration has classified more documents than most other administration's in this country?

Around The Coyote

2007-02-07T22:43:00.001-06:00

Fall of Autumn will be hosting zine readings and a merch table at the AROUND THE COYOTE 2007 Winter Arts Festival on February 9th at Dulcenea (1431 N. Milwaukee) starting at 7pm sharp. (Readers are performing from 7 to 7:30 and again from 9:30 to 10:00)

A Visual and Performing Arts Day pass will set you back $10, but you not only get a zine reading out of it, but there's more performances, DJ's, films, and more. Plus, you'll get into all the other fantastic events that are happening as part of the festival in Wicker Park that night.
Scheduled to read with us are:
AARON CYNIC (Diatribe, Fall of Autumn)
ALICIA DORR (Random Life In Progress)
ERIC LABRAT (community radio personality/DJ)
ANDREW MALL (Living Proof)
LIZ MASON (Caboose, Quimby's Bookstore)
KATE SANDLER (Brainiac, Fall of Autumn)
GRANT SCHREIBER (Judas Goat Quarterly)
KELSEY SNELL (The Machine Media)

1,000 More Reasons To Love Zines

2007-02-07T11:46:00.001-06:00

ZineWiki.com, a Web site devoted to zines, independent publications and their publishers, reached 1,000 articles in the first week of February, just seven months after the project first launched.

ZineWiki was created by Alan Lastufka and Kate Sandler to document the vibrant underground publishing world. The result has been an ever-growing guide to fanzines, chapbooks, zines and small-press publishers which The Portland Mercury said "could herald a new era of zines." Karl Wenclas, co-founder of the Underground Literary Alliance, has called ZineWiki "a sign of new life."

Like Wikipedia, ZineWiki is an open-source database welcoming contributions from anyone, and striving for neutrality and accuracy. There now are hundreds of contributors. "It's been great seeing so many people stepping up and contributing. Each person has his or her own area of focus, favorite genres or zinesters, to add or revise," Lastufka commented, "I’ve learned so much just from editing the articles others have submitted."

Added Sandler, "ZineWiki is an online window into an offline world. It offers people a glimpse at the undercurrent of print publications that otherwise go undocumented."

In September 2006, the Chicago-based print magazine Punk Planet partnered with ZineWiki.com to offer exclusive online content including the article, "Unofficial Histories: Zine and Ephemeral Print Archivists," by Anne Elizabeth Moore. Other media sponsors have included Clamor Magazine and Broken Pencil magazine. SuperNaturale.com said, "As it grows, it's conceivable that ZineWiki could even act as a universal central catalog for zine librarians."

From the history, production, and distribution of the small press, to its writers, culture and publications, ZineWiki provides an overall view of the underground publishing world. While hitting 1,000 articles is a big step for ZineWiki, there is much more to come from this growing and exciting Web site.

It's not just mom finding the porno stash under your bed anymore.

2007-01-31T20:36:00.000-06:00

The internet isn't the escape it once was for nerds, wired hipsters, and other escape artists. It was much different 4 years ago before social networking really started to take off - but even more different in the mid 90's when anonymity was par for the course. Before the days of LJ and Myspace were messageboards and BBS. I suppose a BBS was pretty traceable (what, dialing out with your phone number and all) but with a messageboard, you were really able to be anybody you wanted to.

It took me a very long time to put up a myspace and get into the whole social networking thing. I was extremely against it at first, but I eventually accepted it as a natural progression of things. However, the more technology becomes widespread, the more it becomes easier to use and more accessible for people to use - that includes people of older generations.

I'd actually be less shocked to see my grandfather discover me on myspace than my parents, though I wouldn't be shocked if either of them did. Grandpa simply has more time to noodle around on the internet, though I don't think he'd have much interest in myspace unless one of those thinkpieces about how it's ruining America's children got through to him.

Though they loathe to admit it, most of my family are familiar enough with computers to know how to search for my name (which won't find you much) and I'm sure they've figured out that this Aaron Cynic character is the same person. That's all fine and good if they do, I don't really mind. It might spark an interesting argument or two about my activities or beliefs but that's just fine - I've been out of high school long enough. Who knows, we might learn more about each other in the process.

I think it's natural to be afraid how mom and dad or aunt petunia are going to react when they find out who you "really are." Mine for example, would probably die if they knew how bad my money woes were or how far out in "left" field my head is or whatever, but that's just life. It's part of growing up and part of maturing. Most of us (especially if we don't have great relationships with our families to begin with) naturally expect a certain amount of distance, but as the technological singularity grows ever closer, so do we as people - and that means running into uncle Walt on Facebook.

We can see that as a blessing or a curse if we like. We might be blessed with finding out more about each other and some of the people that we're closest in flesh and bone life to. On the other hand we won't always have the ability to hide our innermost feelings behind a screen. Rest assured though - it probably sucks more for someone a decade or so younger than you. At least your school isn't threatening to expel you because of something that a teacher found online.

Here's your chance, dear readers - drop me a comment and let me know if you've got any horror stories or any stories at all about your parents, teachers, employers, or others that you weren't too interested in "discovering" you online. Or hell, if you happen to be a long lost family member of mine, show yourself - it's about time you got yourself up to speed.

Me, Myself, Bob, Dick, and Jane - Lessons Learned

2007-01-28T18:24:00.001-06:00

If I could talk to my younger self, I might tell him that never, under any circumstances, should he get a credit card, loan, or make a deal with a bank. The idea that building credit so that later on in life he could afford dreams - dreams such as home ownership, boat ownership, and event attendance - is foolish and should be swallowed only with a large tablespoon of salt. Credit, banks, loans, mortgages, and anything else that predatory capitalism breeds will only end up getting you phone calls at all hours on all days from your lenders. You will be relentlessly pursued by robots and people from both Omaha and Bombay. You will never never see more than two or three digits in your bank account, and the idea of savings will always be laughable. The meager salary you earn will be portioned out between bills, rent, transit, and food with enough left over to maybe pick up a bottle of two buck chuck (now about three bucks and change with tax)

Admittedly, sitting in a drafty apartment slurping down soup and clacking away on a keyboard puts me ahead of a good 3/4's of the planet's population (you know, all those people that you can help for just the price of a cup of coffee a day), but that doesn't justify that in the most developed country in the world, a real wage increase (when adjusted for inflation) hasn't happened in around three decades. A real wage increase for the average American worker, at least.

For folks like Bob Selander though, their is no ceiling. Bob is the CEO of Mastercard, a credit card company which I owe a substantial amount of cash to. A good portion of this is thanks to high APR rates and late fees, but I've been doing the best I can to pay back Bob's company for the times I've had to use his services to pay for things. I'm sure Bob knows what it's like to rummage through the couch cushions for change, so that's probably why he's raking in a cool $9.2 Million dollars a year. He must've worked real hard over the years, which is why I'm sure he deserves to make almost 400 times what I make in a year. I'm sure though, if his company had that money I owe them in hand, he might sleep a little better at night.

This isn't about Bob though, it's about my younger self. I'm pretty sure he'd be pretty impressed with many of the things he'd accomplish over the years but would probably be gravely concerned that the grand slam breakfast he just bought yesterday was still being financed a decade later. I'd remind him though that a full belly is better than a full wallet and empty stomach. Hopefully, my older self is sitting in his flying car of the future somewhere, trying to teleport back in time to let me know that things will work out just fine.

I watched the movie "Fun with Dick and Jane" this morning, and things turned out fine for them in the end, I suppose. In it, Dick loses his high powered spin doctor job when the company he works for tanks right as Jane quits her job because Dick got a promotion. The family savings all happen to be in the company stock, and pretty soon Dick and Jane are going bankrupt and getting their lawn repossessed. Hijinks ensue when our hero and heroine realize that knocking off retail outlets and banks is the way to financial success. I won't spoil it for you, but I'll just say that everyone learns a lesson, and Dick and Jane appear to live happily ever after.

I'm not advocating armed robbery, but I'd say that it's pretty amazing that a middle of the road comedy can make more of a point about the dire wage gap in this country than most politicians. I'm sure they're working real hard - after all, they're not making six figures a year for taking a lot of vacation time.

I propose, instead of fantasizing about robbing banks and shooting from rags to riches, we swapped positions with those hard working, money making machines that are CEO's. We'll each work a day in another person's shoes, getting paid what they would make in a day. This means that CEO's can knock door to door trying to hawk merchandise, scrub toilets, and drive drunks home at 4am in Wrigleyville. They'll make whatever the janitor or cabbie would make in a day. We can play golf, sit in comfy leather chairs, and have our people call someone else's people. We'd make what they make in a day. If I were to swap with Bob (my friend at Mastercard), for example, I'd earn approximately $35,384.62 (before taxes) for a day's work.

It would be a good time I think, and we'd all learn a valuable lesson. The only snag is that there's only a few CEO positions, and there's plenty of low paid jobs to go around. Thankfully, that's easily solvable. CEO's can just keep swapping jobs with the average American worker, and I won't have to work for at least a year.

Well, this man doesn't crawl, he stands tall...

2007-01-13T18:14:00.000-06:00

The New Year is upon us – and I hope you all rang it in with gusto. New years mean new things and ideas, partnerships, friendships, revolutions, evolutions, and the never fully fulfilled resolutions. So far we've seen more of the same in current events, the world seems more tumultuous than ever. Our own government is more involved than ever in hot wars across the globe, our privacy here at home, and selling of our economy to the highest bidder. The rest of the world isn't fairing too well either. Global warming is on the rise, third world nations continue to be battered by brutal economic policies of the G8, and it seems like everyone and their motherland is interested in the proliferation of nuclear weapons. I'm sure that doomsday clock is inching ever closer to midnight.

But remember, we make our own fate. Each one of us can form and shape the universe to the best of our abilities. We might not have the ability to create massive change, but we've all got the ability to change ourselves, and put a drop in the bucket of universal goodness. For every war there's a peace between two neighbors being developed. For every famine, someone somewhere is working on a solution to feed the world. For every lost job or sick child, someone's working harder towards a better solution than capitalismconsumerism and universal health care.

As for me, I'm plugging along. From the big efforts of making the Fall of Autumn a bigger and better site/distro, to helping the Wanderers put out their record, to just trying to spend more time with all my wonderful friends and family, I'm doing the best I can. That's about all we can do.

Keep your eyes peeled, your ears to the ground, and your noses wide open. With any luck, you'll be seeing good things this year - and I hope to take you all along for the ride. Don't forget to tell your friends - I just might take 'em along too. Just be sure that if you're doing something amazing (I'm sure all of you are), you let me know about it.

And that's how the real revolutions will work. Now stop making New Year's resolutions, and get on with evolution.

(and that rhymes kids, and you know it rhymes...admit it)

Fate Of The Union

2007-01-12T19:14:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year

Click the album art to go to the download page
or click here to get it on iTunes!

Aaron Cynic (Diatribe/Fall of Autumn) and Grant Schreiber (Judas Goat Quarterly) take on what lies in store for us in 2007. Will the ecosystem survive another year? Will the Democrats be able to get anything worthwhile done, let alone be able to keep their noses to the grindstone for 100 hours straight? Who will replace Paris Hilton as America's new celebrity facination? All these questions answered plus more on Iraq and our facination with World War II...plus, Armageddon! Music by TSOL and Bad Religion.

NOTE: Fate of the Union is a new podcast series separate from the Zinester Podcast series. We are hosting their first episode to hopefully build an audience. This is not a zine reading, but rather, two zinesters talking politics, culture and global warming. If you'd like to tune in to the second episode of Fate of the Union, please subscribe by clicking below:

SUBSCRIBE TO FATE OF THE UNION

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ZINESTER PODCASTS

Santa Clause: Jolly Fat Guy, or Eurotrash?

2006-12-23T16:30:00.000-06:00

Thanks to a delicious article on Salon.com, I stumbled upon this ad for Fido - a Canadian cell phone company. Apparently, Fido's got some cahones - after all, I'll bet the jolly fat man's old allies Macy's and Coke might have something to say about him slimming down, trimming his hair and beard, and somehow reverse ageing. Even Mrs. Clause got updated - after all, why would the new Santa want to be seen at the disco with a granny? Even scrooge got a makeover, and now looks something like a metrosexual dark wizard.

I'm sure I don't need to comment on the commercial meglomania that is Christmas. You either buy it or you try not to but then buy it begrudgingly. We all know that big business is behind the rhretoric on Bill O Riley's famous "War on Christmas." After all, we need a lot less good cheer and a lot more angry WASPS fighting for the God given right to spread the message about spending on the birthday of baby Jesus.

Before you or I get too upity about the fact that Santa bought into the metrosexual lifestyle, we should remember that old Saint Nick was born to sling merch. Well, not Saint Nicholas, but his amalgamated American cousin. Even though my generation and generations before have grown up with the legend and magic of Santa - a hundred and fifty years ago, things were much different. Santa is possibly America's first real marketing icon - bread in a board room and raised in a department store.

Over the years though, our Jolly purveyor of all things green and red moved to the North Pole to grow and evolve. He now sits in our consciousness as more than just a smiling face on a can of Coke. Santa turned from an amalgam of various anglo saxon and pagan traditions to an icon. Believe in the magic of Christmas or not, the western world is used to seeing his face everywhere once our side of the globe turns cold. Frankly, now we're used to Santa showing up more to remind us that the world doesn't have to be what it is.

Eurotrash Santa just reminds us that at the end of the day, any icon they create or steal can be changed into something else and sold for a higher price.

The Devil and Mr. Chavez Pt. 1

2006-09-24T12:38:00.000-05:00

I've been reading a good amount of news lately on the uproar over Hugo Chavez's speech at the UN this past Thursday. It's interesting how most news sources as well as political leaders stopped paying attention after the first few minutes - mainly after he referred to a certain president as the devil. Not surprising, as after you get past the inflammatory rhetoric you'll find some interesting criticisms of the UN and complaints about US foreign policy in Latin America.

The most interesting part about the reaction here in this country of the speech isn't only that it's blown entirely out of proportion - but that it's a reaction to words that we often use in describing anyone we have an issue with. The number of times we've used the word "evil" to describe our enemies or perceived enemies is astronomical. In the 80's we used it to describe more than half the world - from Russia to parts of Latin America to the Middle East, and we've never stopped.

I'm not about to start debating the evilness of one regime or another. I'll leave that to the politicians and clergy. What all people should remember though is that the more time you spend calling people evil and devils, the less time you spend actually focusing on the real problems. Which is more important? Remember, fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. In other words, while we spend time spitting tacks back and forth about insults, people suffer. I guess it's just easier to worry about the pot and the kettle as opposed to facing and solving real world issues.

Look for a nice long piece on this next week at The Fall of Autumn.

The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living

2006-09-13T22:18:00.000-05:00

Talking to a good friend today, I was commenting on the recent bill that slid through the Senate Judiciary Committee, the National Security Surveillance Act. Basically, it's a wish list for the NSA and anyone else who's interested on making it legal to electronically spy on you and everyone else in the name of terrorism.

He commented that he wasn't too concerned as 1. he's not doing anything wrong and 2. he'll leave it to types like myself who get off on being an alarmist about things of this nature.

I can respect part of that, as many people recognize the dangers of government actions like this. I still feel strongly enough regarding this to point out again that while people may feel that they're not doing anything wrong and so there's no reason to worry about the all seeing eye, it's a slippery slope. What you're up to now might not be against the law on the books, but these are also the people interested in changing laws, not to mention *very* interested in watching the habits of those they govern. The iron fist doesn't slam down overnight - it's got to swing back first. When the boots hit the ground it's often too late.

In tandem, Business Week recently published a fascinating article on on the corporate world using their own social networking sites (not to mention poking around on myspace). Seems the very tool I'm using now could come back to haunt me later, if a prospective employer decided to do a bit of detective work on the internet. The alarming factor about this isn't that your boss can see pictures of you pounding down whiskey with your friends after hours. The alarming factor is that the place that signs your paycheck is even interested in what you're up to after hours.

A few years ago when I was working as a salesman my boss commented to me "you know, wherever you go, you represent our company's name." That still haunts me today. What I choose to do after I've punched out for the day is my own business, and the lifestyle I lead, political views I have, and so on, shouldn't shine any negative light on how I jump through hoops for greenbacks.

Trust me, these two things are related.

Your government is just as interested in what you're reading as your boss is, and while it may be an interesting synchronicity, it's certainly not an accident. Yes, the world is small and yes, most things are interconnected at this point. But if most people are still toiling away in jobs they'd rather not be doing just to make ends meet, it shouldn't drive their entire life. The same goes for the feds. If they were truly representing the people - they wouldn't have to be so afraid of them.

Get Your Word On

2006-09-03T13:52:00.000-05:00

"Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express, while excluding all other meaning and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods. This was done partly by the invention of new words, but chiefly by eliminating undesirable words and stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings, and so far as possible of all secondary meaning whatever." -Orwell, 1984, on the principles of newspeak.

The Christian Science Monitor recently published an article highlighting the current "debate" regarding the use of the word "Islamofacism" or other variants. While dolts like Mark Steyn have been using the word or similar terms for quite a few years now, I guess it takes the media a little bit of catching up to do when it comes to tweaking the cultural lexicon - unless of course, we're talking about the merits of words like "bling."

Shall we start at the beginning? First, the dictionary definition of the word fascism: "A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism."

Adding the world "Islam" to it would only make sense if there were some kind of centralized state in the "war on terror." However, since the war on terror, by the definition of its proponents, is a war on a stateless enemy - it is simply nonsensical to use the term fascism in this debate. I suppose you could argue that you have your dictator, a role that we'll say is currently played by Bin Laden. We all have seen that the role of the dictator can be interchangeable in this argument - first Bin Laden, then Hussein, then Kim Jong-il, then Bin Laden again, then Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...it's the best revolving door in aggressive foreign policy. But there is no centralized Islamic state to speak of. Yes, there are theocratic governments that follow Islam - but not one government.

Fascism as a word creates a vivid image in most reader's minds, recalling various horrors of World War II, the ambitious dreams of dictators, and the nightmarish hells that they create. Words are powerful tools, the use of the word "fascism" is only one of them. By creating a term such as "Islamofacism," pundits and politicians alike can strike fear into the hearts of the citizenry - demonizing the enemy in such a way that instead of fearing a small marginalized group of radicals, the world will begin to associate the religion of Islam with the ideals of fascism. This makes ideas like racial profiling, routine roundups, censorship of ideas, silencing dissent, and random bombings of "rouge states" much easier for the country to swallow.

Curiously enough, the aforementioned ideas are some of the basic tenets of a fascist government.

This debate brings up a much larger and more important debate - one of simplification and labeling. These days we're too used to getting our information in soundbytes and formulating our opinions based on one or two articles we read in a daily paper (or bit on a news show, cable network, or internet - however you get your news). We're not as afraid of admitting we might not have all the facts - but we've been listening to "stay the course" rhetoric for so long that we're caring less and less about learning new facts. We like our information simple and easy to digest, so we can go about living our lives. After all, who's got the time to read detailed analyses of foreign policy, historical context of this or that, or long winded debates? At some point in history we did. Technology was supposed to make this easier - but instead, it's made us easily distracted.

Careful now, good people. The more we allow words to be watered down, definitions to be changed, and history to be re-written - the more we're likely to make the same mistakes our ancestors have been making for centuries.

Clamor Gets The Shaft

2006-08-21T19:29:00.000-05:00

American Apparel Issues Ultimatum to Clamor Magazine

For Immediate Release:
Jason Kucsma, Co-Publisher/Founder
Web: www.clamormagazine.org

In response to advance previews of Clamor Magazine's forthcoming special section on American Apparel, the Los Angeles-based clothing company has issued a letter of demands from its Media Relations office.

Cynthia Semon, Media Relations Director at American Apparel, sent an email to Clamor Politics co-editor (and editor of the American Apparel section) Mariana Ruiz and Clamor co-founder Jen Angel, citing inaccuracies and accusing Clamor of shoddy and amateur journalism. Ms. Semon demanded, "if the article is not immediately removed online, along with a retraction and an [sic] public apology posted online and published appropriately, we will be forced to seek legal action in light of such gross, blatant, negligent and irresponsible journalism."

"We have issued a correction of unintended factual inaccuracies," stated Angel, "However, we have no intention of retracting the stories or the issue in which they appear. Apart from the correction we have made, we stand by those stories as they appear." The correction is noted below.

"We're publishing articles here that are critical of American Apparels business practices and challenge the credibility of their carefully crafted 'progressive' identity, and theyre not happy about that," said Clamor co-founder Jason Kucsma. "That a social justice magazine with a yearly operating budget of less than $150 thousand is being issued an ultimatum by a company that turned $250 million in profit last year seems a little incongruous to me."

Three articles, one photo essay featuring a former American Apparel employee, and a series of parody American Apparel ads make up a 10-page section analyzing American Apparels business model, sexual harassment claims made against founder and CEO Dov Charney, and the co-opting of progressive values to hype an otherwise less-than progressive workplace.

The Fall 2006 issue in which the special section appears is scheduled for a newsstand release of September 1, 2006.

Read more about the section at:
http://www.clamormagazine.org/blog

CORRECTION: In this Fall 2006 issue, we incorrectly reported that Mary Nelson, a store manager at American Apparel, had withdrawn her sexual harassment suit against CEO Dov Charney. It has come to our attention that the suit by Mary Nelson, a sales manager, is still pending, and that an unnamed store manager withdrew her suit against the company.

The Mad Scientist Solution

2006-08-21T07:28:00.000-05:00

For all the scrambling that politicians have been doing regarding global warming, they have yet to head over to the shelf marked "wacky ideas." Fear not though, those are slowly coming to us without the help of some senator trying to boost his poll results.

A German scientist has decided that the best way to keep the planet cool for the moment is by pulling a Mr. Burns and blocking out some sun. Wired published an article where Paul Crutzen speaks about his plan to shoot massive amounts of sulfur in the air which will bounce the sun's light back into space. He says that the preferred method is still to lower emissions and stop burning fossil fuels - but that this is a stopgap solution.

Temporary solution fine, good idea? Hardly. Sadly, this is exactly the type of stuff the powers that be would go for. A quick, easy fix - ment to be temporary but if spun the right way, just could take global warming off the issue table. I can just see it now, a massive fleet of hot air balloons covered in the flags of the G8, guns pointed dead ahead, firing massive amounts of sulfur into the stratosphere. Since it would need to be done every few years, we could even make a holiday out of it! It'll be just as effective as one of those suburban "lights out on crime" nights.

Just like our economic, domestic, foreign, and every other problem, global warming will not be going away anytime soon. And while I'm glad that more people can admit that we have a problem (it's always nice to see millions of dollars shoved down a drain into disproving what more than the majority of the world sees), it's time to lay all our cards on the table and confront such weighty issues. I prefer to save handing our fate to the mad scientists for the last ditch effort.

Reaction and Response

2006-08-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

Concerning the now foiled terror plots in Britain and the American reaction. The plot was to detonate liquid explosives on planes. Reaction: banning all liquids from planes, cell phones, more armed guards in uniform, and no waiting curbside to pick up arriving friends or family. Result: more scared, cranky people who feel the need to tell news cameras that they feel a tad frustrated but okay because it makes them feel safer.

Let's analyze.

First, by banning all liquid substances and cell phones from carry on packages on planes, it implies that the government did not didn't think about the possibility of liquid explosives on planes before this plot was uncovered. Sounds just like the first reactions after 9\11 - the shouts that "we never thought this possible before!" when it was painfully obvious that plenty of people theorized that it was in fact, possible.

Second, the band won't last very long. After 9\11 we saw plenty of pictures of trash bins full of nail clippers, files, small scissors, etc. Before this plot was uncovered, the rules had been relaxed to a point that made it seem less absurd. After all, anyone with a shred of rational thinking could not possibly believe in this day and age, with sky marshalls on every plane, among other security measures - that a nail file could hold an entire planeload of people hostage. I didn't buy it then, and I don't buy it now. The same can be said about having to check your sealed bottled water at the door. I'm not exactly sure how one can reseal a bottle of anything, let alone get it past bomb sniffing dogs and police armed with automatic weapons - but then again, that's probably why I'm not employed by the TSA.

I've spent some time watching television news reports on America's reaction to the foiled terror plot. As expected, alot of seemingly stressed out and mildly frightened white suburbanites show up in front of a microphone to say that overall, they're relieved about the extra security measures. After all, it's keeping them safe. Why, they hardly even notice the extra armed guards pacing back and forth, guns at the ready. No one minds the extra security measures, no one would ever question it. And that's the real lesson of all of this. With every foiled terror plot, the iron fist gets tighter, and there are more jackboots on the ground - and the people welcome it with thunderous applause.

Loose Change, Loose Theories

2006-08-11T19:06:00.000-05:00

Sadly, neither side gets it. The 9\11 conspiracy theorists just can't understand why no one belives their story. The flip side of the coin – anyone who tries to debunk the theories ends up doing so without answering anyone's questions.

The fact is, five years on and there's a million things about that day that the public does not know. Whether or not it's an elaborate cover-up or truly for “national security,” I don't think we'll ever find out. One thing is for certain though – by calling conspiracy theorists on their shit by saying “where's the plane IT'S IN A THOUSAND PIECES.” isn't going to get you anywhere.

I've seen Loose Change. I've read The Big Wedding. I've read seen hours worth of footage, read countless reports, seen hours worth of footage, and have a file cabinet's worth of stuff I've printed off the internet. There are plenty of things that don't add up. In addition, any government with the patience, money, and motive could pull something like that off. After all, if I'm supposed to believe that a rag tag band of men that have bases in caves half a world away can do it – is it so much of a stretch to believe that it is at least possible for the world's richest and most powerful government to pull it off?

Journalists who spend their time and ink on penning stories about 9\11 conspiracy theories need to realize that by just calling them “absurd” and “amateur,” they're not really debunking anything. It's pretty hard to swallow that the twin towers were incinerated from a satellite in space, but it's equally hard to swallow that the men who hijacked the planes were able to pull off such amazing flight tricks with only training on small engine planes. The investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing went on for weeks and months and the wreckage was analyzed. The World Trade Center rubble was carted off overseas and no one has been by to take a look at it.

Now the average lapdog journalist would take the preceding paragraphs and tear them to shreds, calling me a conspiracy theorist or whatever. That's good. It furthers my point. We need to ask questions. We need answers. But when we demand answers to our questions we get stonewalled. We hear “classified” or “conspiracy nut.” When I say we I mean the people. The people of this country deserve a right to know every detail about every second of that day. The questions such as “where's the plane from the pentagon?” should be answered in full without insult or sarcasm. After 5 years of war, death, destruction, secrets, and lies our government owes us that much – and a hell of a lot more.

Kablam! Richie Rich and 9\11

2006-07-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

Seems that the creator of Richie Rich, along with some other very experienced comic book artists are preparing to release a comic based on the 9\11 Commission report. Another notch to add in the ever growing zeitgeist surrounding 9\11. With Oliver Stone's movie on the way, it's only a matter of time before we get a television series out of the deal. After all, we've already got commemorative coins and plates, and it's only fitting that the event be immortalized in the thousands of 9\11 themed tattoos every patriotic American traced in their skin. There will be a hullabaloo about the comic or Stone's movie or the next piece of 9\11 themed pottery someone creates, and we can all talk about whether or not the ephemera created is "respectful," instead of asking those pesky traitorous questions.

AMC 2006!

2006-06-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

Just got back in town a little while ago from The Allied Media Conference in Bowling Green, Ohio. Definately a good time. Got to meet lots of good people, sell lots of zines, bowl, and see a fantastic hip hop show. For the next week or so I'll be mired in the distro, reorganizing our collection, working on a review of the conference, and reading lots and lots of zines. Definately glad to see old friends, make new ones, and share pints of cheap beer (and whiskey) with all. Much love to Joe from Microcosm, Mindy and the Love Bunni Press people, Jason, Jen, and Evan from Clamor, Tyler from the radio station, Steve at Cincinnati City Beat, and anyone else I might be forgetting. I think thanks to Kate, Emerson, and Mitchell go without saying.

Parenthetical Insert

2006-06-01T18:55:00.000-05:00

As you can see from some previous posts, I've been thinking a lot about immigration lately. Not really immigration, but borders. Not borders really, but "ways of life." At least that's what gets a lot of people up in arms. We've always had a funny way of being defensive about "our way of life," no matter what that way is. Every time Americans get into a brawl somewhere in the world, we chalk it up to people attacking "our way of life (many times when we happen to be in some other part of the world assaulting someone else's. Look to our involvement in Latin America throughout the Reagan years.)." When we worry about immigrants crossing our border, it's the same thing. This theme isn't universal to the states, as humans from one culture to the next consistently roll up their sleeves to defend themselves from this assault and the next.

Culture is a funny noun. While humans like to see it as what defines the larger society they live in as whole, we also tend to look at it as part of our individual core. Cultures don't get blown to bits in war - people do. On the other hand, cultures do get attacked. Be it when the libraries of Alexandria burned, when the museums of Iraq were looted, when the Germans nearly annihilated the Jews - the list goes on indefinitely. Culture, "ways of life," are another piece of what gets obliterated in wars. Just like war, it's a sad, damnable offense.

What about when a culture legitimately changes, however? Many people (on all sides of the political spectrum, in more countries than the U.S.) appear to lose sleep at night over the immigrant population streaming in, changing their particular culture. These folks appear to be afraid that overnight they'll wake up in an alien world - everything they've known and loved about their ways of living eviscerate.

I could attribute this feeling to conservatives or right wing thinkers but it goes beyond that. Average folks with few political leanings can be seen huffing and puffing when someone of a different part of the world can't speak the proper language (although I'd like to point out that you can find people in almost all parts of the world who speak English...signs and maps too). I guess we've all got a little xenophobe in us from time to time. It's a shame really. What we forget so many times is that our way of life is fluid, our mode of thinking like a river. People change, political climates overthrow themselves, philosophy's fall in and out of popular opinion. The individual forgets that he\she is part of a larger society which is part of a larger world which is part of a large and infinite universe. Beyond that, history is a long period of time - whether you believe it to be six thousand years, six million, or 15 billion. We forget that over history, thousands of "ways of life" were born, lived, and died.

Many more of those ways survived throughout the ages, because they learned to adapt and change. Something that we as humans, tend to forget is one of our greatest abilities.

Fear not. If no one is pointing a gun to your head or a warhead at your home, your way of life has little to fear. It might change a little, but that's what we like to call evolution.

Chapterhouse

2006-05-30T15:39:00.000-05:00

"Enclosures of any kind are a fertile breeding ground for hatred of outsiders," she said. "That produces a bitter harvest."

Go Figure.

He Who Laughs Most

2006-05-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

Steven Colbert's performance at the White House press corps dinner was funny, no matter what the critics say. It's very telling when the major players in the press are first silent, then finally come out by calling Colbert "rude" or "unfunny." I suppose the truthiness stings alot when it hits close to home.

At this point, it's become pretty obvious to many people that the mainstream media hasn't been able to get their act together in providing "fair and balanced" "journalism." I think it also goes without saying that this administration and this government have never had the interest of the citizenry at heart. That's why so many people love shows such as The Colbert Report and The Daily Show; it's also why more and more people are turning to the internet, bloggers, and "less respected" journalism. It may not be polished, pretty, or (sometimes) popular - but it does provide us with a different outlook as well as something we can sink our emotions into.

In an age where the society which we live becomes more Orwellian with every soundbyte, where the gulf between the powerful and powerless widens after every financial quarter, when the citizenry becomes more apathetic after every election - it's a breath of fresh air to see more people turned onto media outside of the mainstream, even if it's only to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

We elect "leaders" that make the masses believe they're "of the people," but how many of us went to Yale, hunt quail, have made more than a hundred grand in a year, or can even afford more than one or two suits? Politicians and pundits often view activists as quixotic but I charge that they're the ones living in an unreal world. While they clamor about changes they will make and spend millions on PR campaigns to let us know how great they are - we're the ones in the trenches trying to eek out a living. The more they see this, the more they tell us it's not true. The more light thrown on the inequities of our society, the more they get their cheerleaders to tell us everything will be alright.

What America needs is more Colbert's and less politicians. Perhaps then we can not only get some perspective, but also learn to laugh at our foibles.

I Suppose.

2006-05-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

Vacations That Aren't.

2006-05-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

I've been in Peoria for work. This pic wasn't taken there, but I had alot more fun in this photo than in Peoria. Lesson learned: drinking at basement shows is way better than drinking before you have to get up early and listen to lectures all day.

More on this breaking news as it develops.

Mayday!

2006-05-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

Some photos of the Mayday Rally for Immigrant Rights in Chicago.

Remedy

2006-05-06T11:05:00.000-05:00

Dear blog,

I apologize for neglecting you for so long but you know how I can be. For a good amount of time I'll be prolific, updating you with all sorts of stories and rants and even legitimate pieces from time to time. Then I'll leave you be, dropping in here and there with faint apologies for spending so much time away. Sorry bout that.

Hopefully I'm back on the wagon - let's make it stick.

The War That Isn't

2006-04-17T08:31:00.000-05:00

How The Christian Right Paints Itself Into a Corner (originally published at the fall of autumn)

In a country who's population is (as of 2000) more than 75% Christian, it's hard to believe that Christianity is under attack. However this week, in Washington D.C., Rick Scarborough and Vision America would have you believe otherwise. Scarborough is host to a conference called "The War on Christians". With session titles such as "What Difference Does A Biblical View of Science Make In Discerning Truth?" and "How Do We Restore America to 'One Nation Under God?'" one might believe that crucifixions may come back into fashion.

Is Hollywood leading our children down a moral sewer? Probably. Is that the fault of "liberals," who spend their time conspiring behind closed doors to brainwash the children of America into freedom hating, gay loving, unrepressed sexual deviants? Hardly.

Rick Scarborough has written books with titles such as "The Criminalization of Christianity," "Liberalism Kills Kids" and "Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk." From the his perspective and that of Vision America, the wolves sit at the doorstep, waiting to blow down the house that God built, blessed, and will ultimately hold his Throne when the rapture occurs. Vision America touts its support for the Values Voters Contract With Congress, a laundry list of wants from the Christian right that includes the usual anti-abortion and pro censorship legislation. In addition, Values Voter desires "legislation to reverse the loss of religious liberty for churches concerning their involvement in moral and social issues," a bill called "The Workplace Religious Freedom Act to promote religious accommodation in employment (H.R. 1445, S. 677)," and "The Workplace Religious Freedom Act to promote religious accommodation in employment (H.R. 1445, S. 677)." That's just for starters.

Christian conservatives use fear mongering and scare tactics to influence their base - that's a given. As far back as I can remember, the "moral majority" paint themselves as the underdog, the comeback kid, the ever persecuted little guy. Given that 75% of the population identifies with at least some of their beliefs, I'm not sure how that qualifies as "little." But fear gets feet moving. The feeling of being attacked motivates even the most politically apathetic of citizens to the polls or at least increases their outrage. Guys like Scarborough know this. They know how to cleverly word arguments and show statistics in order to prove their point. Spend enough time reading the rhetoric and you too might begin to believe that not only is Christian culture dying, but that there are very few vanguards left. After all, according to Vision America "They seek to silence our witness and to banish Christianity from the public square." Who are "they?" The usual suspects of course - liberals, Hollywood, Democrats, people who believe in the firm separation of Church and state, etc.

One of the hardest things for Christians to come to grips with at times is how ubiquitous the religion can be. You can find a church (of one denomination or another) in almost every city and town in America. You won't find a mosque or synagogue dotting every piece of the American landscape. It may seem to many that the Ten Commandments found the base of our moral code, but if you plan to mount those to a wall than you'd better be prepared to put it up side by side with the Koran, the Tao, and every other religious artifact that acts as a moral code for one group of people or another.

Christianity is not a dying religion. There are 2.1 billion of us. The idea that Christian laws and value judgments should be imposed on a culture made up of hundreds of different faiths might be waning, and I can't say that I'm too shook up about it. Evangelicals like Scarborough spend most of their time decrying what they find morally objectionable because it's easy. Anyone can stand at a pulpit and bark about how America is losing its values. Generations of preachers have given that speech. If organizations like Vision America spent even half as much time, money, and effort into *acting* on Christian values (feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick) instead of mostly pitching words, we'd be in a much better place. Helping people out of the gutter however, isn't as eye catching as damning them to hell.

Perhaps the best summation of the evangelical side of life could be summed up by the most Evangelical of all - Mr. Pat Robertson (absent from the conference, but omnipresent in the "War On Christians"). Mr. Robertson is usually saying something outrageous and offensive about a group he finds morally reprehensible. Some remarks he made about Hurricane Katrina are very telling. In a letter to Dateline Hollywood he writes, "As I have stated repeatedly on "The 700 Club," Hurricane Katrina occurred because New Orleans is the epicenter of sinful jazz music in America." Did global warming have anything to do with a massive hurricane the likes which this country hasn't seen in decades? No. Did bloated bureaucracy and poor government planning have anything to do with bodies in the streets weeks after the disaster? No. Do poverty and racism have anything to do with the mishandling of Katrina? No. It's all about the jazz music.

Dig in America - the ills of the world have nothing to do with our actions. As long as we straighten up, fly right, and listen to the spin from self appointed vanguards of Christianity, we've got nothing to fear. God will surely smite them all for their loose morals, and reward us with health and wealth.

After all, it is all about the jazz.

To Do List

2006-03-29T08:10:00.000-06:00

I've been busy neglecting this blog here so I'll give you some homework while I keep the burner warm. Give this a read - it's my latest piece for The Fall Of Autumn. After that stop by and browse around. You know as a consumer you're dying to pour some cold hard cash into the coffers of some independent media.

When you're done over there listen to some fine tunes and check out a show - chances are, you'll meet me in the flesh (if you haven't already). We can have a pint or two together and discuss the fate of the world and the inner workings of the universe.

Or you can just stay tuned - I'll have some interesting stuff next week. Either way, stay on your toes.

Ps. If you have printer ink for an hp 2350 that you're willing to give me I'd buy you a drink.

I Know You Are, But What Am I

2006-03-09T08:04:00.000-06:00

On the international scene, Americans spend most of their time holding the high and mighty stick of moral superiority. As the self appointed champions of democracy, we love to get in the face of other countries, especially when it comes to a spotty human rights record.

Enter China.

Like one of the fatter bullies on the playground, China is a walking target for criticism when it comes to human rights. We've been wagging our finger hard since Tiananmen Square and before. They're big, they're bad, and they don't like it when their masses of citizens yearning to breathe free speak up about it.

Sound familiar?

After one of our country's criticisms China smacked us right back square in the jaw. Citing institutionalized racism, our penchant for off shore prisons (not to mention our rate of incarceration on the 'homeland.'), and even the newer wiretap scandal - China published it's answer to the US State Department's annual report on human rights practices. The report fires back at us, making a pretty good attempt at calling us on our shit.

We're sitting at the foot of what could be a pretty large international pissing contest. Too bad it's the bullies on both sides using the smaller kids for cannon fodder in their battle of who's a better bitch slapper.

At Least I Can Build A Fire

2006-02-25T11:03:00.000-06:00

There's something to be said for Mr. Les Stroud. Every week he gets dropped of to a foreign location with 55lbs of camera equipment and a handful of "supplies" (non-working lighter, length of rope, maybe a piece of beef jerky) and is expected to survive for 7 days on whatever he can find. Les wanderers around forests, swamps, deserts, arctic environments - basically anywhere that most humans have little desire to venture, not to mention little chance of survival.

Les films and narrates his experiences facing some incredible challenges by mother nature. He talks to his cameras - teaching the viewers how to make a fire with some sticks, build shelter out of tree husks, or turn one's hat into a cooking utensil.

I sit back on my comfortable couch at home at watch and wonder.

We have a basic survival instinct. We've got our fight or flight instincts. We know to pull our hands off the stove when they get hot and know that we should lay low during a lightning storm. We know to trust our instincts and our gut when we get a bad feeling about someone who's been following us for a little while down a dark alley or when the car in front of us bobs and weaves across lanes on the highway. We've got a good handle on our societal survival skills as well as our urban survival skills.

But what about the woods? What about the swamps and deserts? How much of a connection have we lost with the planet in which we live? How many people know how to make a raft out of wood and other plant materials they find? Yes, we've all got a little bit of boy\girl scout training or camping experience - but would we be able to keep warm in an open field in the middle of winter?

A lot of us love to head out to less urban pastures to reconnect with mother nature but we make sure that when we're roughing it we have plenty of good tunes, beer, and toilet paper (not that there's anything wrong with any of those items). We love to stare at the starry night sky - preferably from a tent with a TV and space heater. We would enjoy nothing more than a few days in an exotic location, where the scenery is beautiful and the umbrella drinks keep coming and a massage is only a phone call away.

I'm just as guilty as anyone. I'm sitting here watching another human survive in conditions that would probably kill me just from my own ignorance and lack of training. I tell myself I'd like to give it a shot, getting through the day with my wits and whatever I could scrounge - but I do that anyway in a sense. I survive in an urban environment using what little money I make and marketable skills I have. I might not have to kill an animal with a trap I set or eat bamboo shoots I find, but I do have to make sure I've got enough cash on hand to keep the heat running and the fridge full.

I guess in a way, we're all our own survivors - so long as the power stays on and the store stays open.

Hard At Work.

2006-02-13T18:06:00.000-06:00

Perfect for hitting the 101 post mark don't you think?

Money, Mouths, and Morals

2006-02-10T15:55:00.000-06:00

There’s a very interesting article at the New Yorker’s website profiling Bush’s top speechwriter Michael Gerson. One particular quote stands out above all others in summing up the Bush administration philosophy. Commenting on why he split ways with the Democratic party during the early 80’s Gerson says “In college, I was becoming very active in the pro-life cause, and there was no room for our position…The Democratic Party, in many ways, abandoned its great tradition of caring for the weakest members of our society. It has elevated a philosophy of choice and individual autonomy above the needs of the unborn, the handicapped, and, on the question of euthanasia, the elderly.”

When it comes to the abortion debate his point holds up. Traditionally Democrats don’t make much room for pro-life advocates. But the rest of the statement doesn’t necessarily add up. While I’m not particularly sure of the Democratic party’s standpoint on euthanasia, I can say that regarding the disabled they’re a little more on the ball than the current administration. Bush and co talk big but when it comes time to put their money where their mouth is, they fall short. The same goes for the elderly. Republicans take great care using moral legislation in demonstrating how “compassionate” they can be but when it comes to an individual’s day to day life on this Earth, their pockets are empty.

A perfect demonstration of the administration’s logic – talk big, talk bold, question the morals of the opposition. Befriend America’s underdogs in word, but look out for number one in deed.

When Children Are Criminals

2006-02-09T08:13:00.000-06:00

A six year old boy in Brockton, Mass. just got hit with a sexual harassment charge. According to the reports, the boy was suspended from school for three days for putting his hand down the waistband of a girl's pants and touching the skin on her back. The boy maintains his innocence, stating that the girl touched him first and provoked it. This is a classic case of he said she said, and truth be told - the male in this situation did probably touch the girl inappropriately in one manner or another.

These are first graders! I can tell you without a doubt that I had little idea what sex was in first grade let alone "sexual harassment." That's a moot point according to the boy's school. They not only suspended him but feel justified in doing so. The case was also reported to the district attorney's office and though no legal charges have been filed (yet), this boy's life in the spotlight is rapidly growing. His mother has kept him home from school and now wishes to transfer him somewhere else.

The story keeps getting better, with all sorts of officials and authorities on one subject or another weighing in. One article reports that a school principle said "They could be imitating what they've seen," referring to television, movies, and the internet. While I won't deny that media plays a large influence on children, this entire case falls squarely in the hands of a much smaller group of people. The parents of the two children and their teachers at the local school.

Who was supervising these kids? Who is responsible for teaching them that certain types of behavior are inappropriate and more importantly *why* those behaviors are inappropriate? Instead of sitting the two children down together and asking them what happened and then explaining to the boy why what happened was wrong (and the girl too, if she did in fact ask the boy to touch her) these people have dragged the legal system, politicians, and now the whole country into a matter that happens more often than you think.

The precedent for this case was set in 1993 in Minnesota when the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights ruled a local school had violated the rights of a first grade girl by allowing boys in the school to make lewd comments about the girls and the male anatomy. Regarding the boy in Brockton, we have a completely different case. This is not a group of kids tormenting girls - this is one boy who has yet to learn the difference in what behavior is appropriate or not when it comes to members of the opposite sex in a classroom setting. He's not going to learn any better by having his named dragged through the mud and being forced to deal with situations that are simply too adult for him.

That's the larger problem with schools today. We're more concerned with law and order than learning. We're more concerned with discipline than teaching. It's much easier to throw the law at a child than to sit him down and have a long talk with him. These types of cases set another dangerous precedent - that it's okay to apply the rules before all parties have a chance to understand them. While I agree that "Civil rights has no age limit," we should have the common sense to know we need to explain things a little bit more when it comes to children.

The Scepter and The Bottom Line

2006-02-06T08:20:00.000-06:00

(or "No, Seriously. Horation Alger Is Dead")

If you're curious about my last little quip about the all powerful "free market," feast your eyes on this.

An article on the AP this morning about Bush's budget proposals highlight what really boils the blood about our current choice in economics. Political administrations always look for the quickest fixes on balancing the budget and that usually means a slash and burn on social programs. While we dump billions of dollars into the coffers of the war machine, we eliminate the smallest programs that only cost a fraction of what our spending on means of destruction cost.

Republicans and free marketeers (as well as a healthy amount of dems and others) like to put all of their eggs in the basket of blaming the poor for their own situation. To many of that ilk, social programs like Welfare or the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Social Security - pretty much anything that is not relevant to security matters in this country. This means if you're a non-profit agency or government agency that puts its best foot forward in helping the less fortunate, you're always worried about the meat cleaver of budget cuts. However if you're a defense contractor, weapons manufacturer, or company that makes survelance equipment you can bet your top dollar you'll be getting the royal treatment.

With the divide between rich and poor growing leaps and bounds every day and the middle classes shrinking, more programs designed to give the poor a leg up in the rungs of the social ladder can expect to be targeted for elimination. While this is a nice quick fix to keep the money flowing towards the pentagon (and the pockets of everyone who's got a hand in the till), it really helps the further downward spiral of so many that once lived a life of comfort and security. The free marketeers will place the blame squarely on the individual in a very calvanistic manner, pointing out that people need to get jobs, save money, pull up their bootstraps and the like. Since most of those guys only have their cherished heritage to back them up ("My grandfather came from the old country and shined shoes to make a living and now i'm reaping the benefits, and so forth) they'll never know how difficult it is to get that job, how you get pushed out of the park for shining shoes or asking for a quarter. Those guys won't realize that once the debt starts piling up there's little way to swim back to the top. When you're pulling down less than $250 a week and the bills to heat, electrify, and water your rental unit crest over half of your monthly income - I'm not sure how much you can save.

Let's also not forget that most employers (save companies such as Walmart who can get away with unpaid forced overtime) frown upon overtime as well as second or third jobs - after all it makes scheduling difficult and the PR look bad (I was told by an employer once that I shouldn't have a second job, as it makes the company's image look bad). Yes, you can shop at Walmart for those low low prices but when the whole world is run by Walmart and its copies, you can bet we're going to have a shortage in the business gene pool.

Perhaps that's what so many economists and politicians can't see. If the "free market" is really the end of the line in economics, and we're really at the "end of history" as some say - we're going to be royally fucked when we have to resort to inbreeding.

Everything You Wanted To Know, And More

2006-02-05T16:39:00.000-06:00

While my week itself has actually been pretty eventful, I'm not feeling particularly interested in writing anything heavy at the moment. I'm in the process of working on my written commentary on the State Of The Union (yeah I know the regular news media has already cycled through it but some of us work a little slower) as well as a podcast for The Fall Of Autumn but you'll have to wait till things slow down a bit. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seats. For now, here's the ever popular internet questionaire that I yoinked off of Will's blog. Enjoy:

Four jobs I’ve had
1. Bagger at Jewel\Osco. I quit just before they could fire me for being a punk ass kid.
2. Stressed out underpaid "Sales Associate" for Ace Hardware. In addition to giving advice on how to fix stuff I had never fixed before and pointing towards the screw aisle, I set up most of the store I worked at, and half of it is still that way.
3. Stressed out underpaid "Customer Sales Supervisor" (business to business sales) for copymax. While I was supposed to just put on some nice clothes and convince people to spend thousands of dollars on printing at copymax, I also got the pleasure of doing everything else in the department except scheduling and payroll.
4. Job Developer\Employment Specialist\Master of Good Intentions at a social service agency. I work with disabled people in helping them find work. So far, the most rewarding job I've ever held while also making me dislike the capitalist economy even further. Go figure.

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Fight Club
2. Lord Of The Rings (any of them)
3. Star Wars (the first trilogy)
4. I Heart Huckabees

Four places I have lived
1. Tinley Park, IL (parents)
2. Chicago, IL (pilsen neighborhood)
3. So far I've only lived in those two places.
4.

Four TV shows I love
1. The Simpsons\Family Guy\American Dad (they count as one - part and parcel as Will said)
2. Stargate SG1\Atlantis\Battlestar Galactica (again, part and parcel since they're all on at the same time)
3. Daily Show\Colbert Report (again, part and parcel)
4. Mythbusters (I wish I was smart enough to have that job)

Four places I’ve vacationed
1. Phoenix, AZ
2. Mexico\Jamaica\Cayman Islands (I went on a cruise once)
3. Washington DC
4. Ocean City, MD

Four of my favorite dishes
1. Most "fake meat" things from Soul Vegetarian
2. Steaks with bacon wrapped around them.
3. Sub Sandwiches
4. Gyros

Four sites I visit daily
1. Stupid Myspace
2. Disinfo.com
3. Chicagohardcore.net
4. Fallofautumn.com

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Somewhere warm and sunny with good scenery like Sedona, AZ
2. Another plane of existance where I exist as pure energy and have some sweet knowledge of the universe.
3. Somewhere in the Star Trek Universe, preferably the TNG universe on a nice planet or at least a good ship that has a kick ass holodeck.
4. Somewhere exotic on a fascinating trip\adventure exploring strange new cultures. Oh wait, that's star trek. Like that but in this reality on this planet is cool with me. You know, Ireland or something. Maybe Easter Island or those Chinese pyramids.

All Eyes Face Forward

2006-01-28T18:28:00.000-06:00

I love the buildup to the State of the Union address. One side spends all their time preparing for a meaningless speech full of half empty promises, vague predictions about the future, and a recap of the glass being more than half full. The other spends all their time preparing for a meaningless speech full of half empty promises, vague predictions about the future, and a recap of the glass being more than half full - except they're seeing it as less than half empty. Talking points are written, rebuttals are practiced, organizers prepare for the obligatory march in the streets for a few hours, and the current administration gives themselves a pat on the back.

It's not as good as the republicrat conventions or election buildups, but it is our yearly reminder that everyone in this country is pissed off.

I've tried to keep my eyes on the screen during presidential addresses as much as I can but I tend to get too distracted flipping between the different broadcasts to see what backgrounds the networks decided to go with (red white and blue...or white blue and red? We report - you decide). Beyond that, I just can't look the man in the eyes.

It's not only George - I did the same thing with Clinton. I'd say I wasn't able to look George the First in the eyes, but I was too busy watching cartoons and worrying about getting all my homework done. Like all good children my parents raised me to adore Ronnie (and we all wanted to be a little like Alex P Keaton, didn't we?), and I was only a drooling infant when Jimmy left the stage. Now that I'm old enough to comprehend and care about what the "state of the union" is, I'm paralyzed with anger and complacency.

If I can get out of work on time, I'll do my best to hit the streets during rush hour to make some noise and drown out the lies - then I'll head home with everyone else and try not to look directly at the eyes of big brother (after all, it's like staring at the sun too long - one goes blind with too many visions of freedom). While half listening and half wishing there was better programming on television, I'll mock the words the speech writers gave our fearless leader. I'll tell myself I can counter every point, expose every lie, and prove every projection wrong. I'll cringe every time the word "freedom" rolls off the tongue of the president. I'll listen, I'll react, I'll think, and I'll speak out. Someone will tell me I should be so lucky.

Somewhere down the street another citizen will watch in adoration. He will cheer his fearless leader on. She will thank God for sending us an emissary willing to go the extra mile to preserve our ways of life when we're so threatened. When their eyes turn away from the television, they will be reminded of their place in life, and go on living as best they can. Someone will tell them that they should be so lucky.

This presidential address will be just like last year's, and that one was just like its predecessor. The ones following this year's will be the same. Our responses will be similar. It's the perfect government, the perfect crime. They report, they decide and we respond the ways we're programmed. Most of us will go on living our lives the way we always have.

We're lucky to live in a land so free that we have the freedom to chose to worship, abhor, or ignore while those that are the objects of our ire or adulation make the really tough decisions for us.

Productive Start

2006-01-10T19:33:00.000-06:00

Check it! I've got a new piece on thefallofautumn.com! Read it and leave some commentary if you would. If you're not registered for the site, do it! You'll enjoy what you find.

Send Me Music

2006-01-08T23:28:00.000-06:00

Please.

Belated Christmas Gift

2005-12-29T18:54:00.000-06:00

Questions that keep you lying awake at night.

2005-12-23T07:42:00.000-06:00

If it's possible that all of existence is a dream, and we are really figments of someone or some entity's imagination, then is it also possible that certain people or things are figments of humanity's collective imagination?

One Liner

2005-12-20T10:37:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know it's only one line in an article but I think the comment illustrates a very important and sad point regarding American workers these days. Today, New York City transit workers went on strike causing a transportation nightmare in NYC. Time.com reports on the strike, throwing around some comments by locals regarding the effects of such an action at this time of year. The article talks about a lawyer named Ben and states "The specifics of the labor unrest don’t really interest him, he said. 'I really only care about getting to work.'"

It's a great shame that unions have so little respect these days. Granted, many have brought it upon themselves considering the amount of corruption in many union circles. It also doesn't help that so many unions take an extremely passive role in bargaining for better packages for their members. However it is a shame when the very concept that brought us the 8 hour work day, abolished child labor, and gave us the weekend (among many other things) is so vilified in today’s culture.

The war on unions dates back to their inception and workers have been losing out since before I was born. Many companies do the best they can dissuading their employees from unionizing, using everything from disinformation to threats of physical violence. Should a union be in place, many employers do the best they can to make it as impotent as possible. The American people no longer respect the idea that workers should ban together and fight for their collective economic interests. Instead we are content to complain around the water cooler about low pay, bad insurance, and whatever other gripes may come to mind. When someone does finally have the courage to come forward and make a difference we'll support in theory, but when it comes to making any kind of sacrifice, we'll tuck tail and run - content to squabble over whatever scraps we can get.

No wonder the top 1 percent of our population controls nearly 40% of the wealth in this country.

Idling

2005-12-18T23:49:00.000-06:00

I should be writing, reading, studying something, working, whatever. Instead I'm drinking a glass of hipster wine and staring at the internet. Productivity is for suckers I suppose. Guess some days are better than others, and we just have to keep plugging along.

The double edged sword that ends up killing you is the one you love the most.

Mapping The Tapestry

2005-12-16T14:01:00.000-06:00

I read White House grandstanding and speeches that come from "official" sources like commuters slow down for a horrible car accident. I hate looking, but I can't help it. The more shit that's shoveled towards a timid media and the more it's spun, the more I can't help but read on with half covered eyes.

The latest great debate to flash across our telescreens regards the sunset of the PATRIOT ACT, which created quite a stir in Washington in recent weeks. It seems that some senators actually got around to reading it over the past few years, and have decided to tell the rest of the government what many of their constituents have been hopping mad about for years.

Today, Bill Frist said "The Patriot Act expires on Dec. 31, but the terrorist threat does not," We have a clear choice: Do we advance against terrorism to make America safer or do we retreat to the days before Sept. 11 when terrorists slipped through the cracks.'' While I won't argue that the threat of terrorism doesn't expire when the PATRIOT ACT does, I will contest that out of the 10 "terror plots" that the administration claims its foiled (I might add that they have made very little commentary on exactly how the PATRIOT ACT has assisted them in this regard, aside from the typical vague statements), I'm not sure how many of them were aided by monitoring civilian library and financial records.

Mr. Frist does touch on a very important issue however - freedom versus security.

Just today, the New York Times confirmed something I think many Americans have long suspected, that the NSA has been monitoring phone conversations on domestic citizens. While they contend that the wire taps and monitoring concerned mainly domestic calls to international numbers (or vise versa), I think the rabbit hole goes quite deeper.

Take the FBI's COINTELPRO operation, which from 1956 to 1971 boldly observed, infiltrated, and sabotaged a host of political dissidents and radical organizations. How about the pentagon keeping tabs on today's anti-war protestors? I've attended many a protest, and I can guarantee that more than just the news media nabbed a shot of me. I'll never forget turning a corner and seeing a state police bus with officers in full SWAT gear taking pictures and video, accompanied by men in fatigues also taking video, as well as uniformed police. Government officials and media hounds can poll the American people all they want about the freedom versus security debate, but even some of the staunchest conservatives I know will cringe when I point out that their picture is taken over 100 times in downtown Chicago alone.

If you want to move further down the "conspiracy theory" chain, take a look at programs like Echelon or Carnivore - both very interesting ways for the good folks in black suits to keep tabs on ordinary Americans. While I'm at it I might as well mention the pentagon's Total Information Awareness project, which they supposedly scrapped after a huge protest, but probably still have running in the "black ops" file. Our government needs no reason to comment on these programs (words like “plausible deniability” keep ringing in my ear) and our mainstream press feels that information such as this falls well in the crackpot domain, but read enough about it and you just might start looking over your shoulder a little bit more – not at the face of the next terrorist, but that of Big Brother.

Quick Bits

2005-12-11T23:22:00.000-06:00

I just rolled into town not too long ago from a wonderful stay in Phoenix, AZ. This 4 day jaunt out west made possible by Kate's wonderful family was just what the doctor ordered. I may be exhausted now, but after a little home town rejuvination I'll be back on track, with alot more to pound on the keyboard about. Here's a bit:

If you're ever in need of a few drinks and only have cash for one or two, saunter up to a hotel bar, plop yourself on a stool and brood for awhile. Listen to the obnoxious drunk two seats away from you guffaw at his own jokes, then back him up. Play your cards right and you'll be drinking good whiskey and maybe even getting a decent conversation out of it. Bonus: the guy to the right of him has a mustache and cowboy hat, and is full of mountain man wisdom.

Most of the movie Starship Troopers was filmed in Sedona, AZ. Take a look at the background in the movie and picture the cliffs more red. Then pass out - you've been drinking all night and told your new hotel bar friend you'd back him in a fight he picked - even though he's almost 7 feet tall.

A Footnote

2005-12-04T18:43:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if it was that speech or the aftermath of pundits and commentators, but during the flurry of news that followed I again heard something that boils my blood. "Jobs that Americans don't want."

Aside from the both racist and classist notions lurking under the surface, let me just take a moment to bring something to light. Those "jobs that Americans don't want" they're referring to comprise the jobs that make minimum wage or less (less than minimum wage a staggering concept in itself considering the meaning of the word "minimum"), hazerdous jobs, or simply less glamorous ones than the upper and middle classes are accustomed to.

I work helping disabled individuals find jobs. Many jobs I find for clients fall into the "don't want" category. Factory jobs, custodial work, retail, and food service - jobs that pay low, have few benefits, and no glamor. In the same hand, those jobs give my clients a feeling of accomplishment, and a little more of a leg up in a society that has all but forgotten they exist.

Unemployment is still in the 5% mark, and that's not factoring in many of the working poor, homeless, and other "errors" in the margin. Reality check - that's a minimum of 15 million Americans jobless.

The society we'd like to believe in doesn't exist. While wealth may truly be a ghetto and I will never lose my utopian ideals, I do recognize that employment is necessary for most individuals in this country to get by. Don't tell me that any job that hasn't been outsourced isn't one that "Americans don't want, or won't do." They'll do them alright - and if we quit using slave labor and sweatshops we just might have enough to go around for anyone, including supposed "illegal" (just how can anyone be illegal - doesn't everyone have value?) members of this society.

Connect The Dots

2005-12-04T17:39:00.000-06:00

On November 28th, president Bush spoke in Arizona regarding a new plan to better secure our borders. While I've accepted the fact that lady liberty now holds a sign reading "no vacancy," I can't help but wonder how more xenophobic Americans can get regarding immigration. Seems not too long ago many of this generations parents were showing up on boats from all over Europe, trying to make ends meet.

Aside from the usual gloom and doom topped off with the sweet sound of arrests and deportations that make it all better, Bush's speech brings to light a little gem of information that will surely slip by most - and get filed into the "conspiracy theory" bin by others. Towards the end he says "When agents can take advantage of cutting-edge equipment like overhead surveillance drones and infrared cameras, they can do a better job for all of us. In Tucson, agents on the ground are directing unmanned aerial technology in the sky, and they're acting rapidly on illegal immigration or illegal activities they may see from the drones."

This may seem a sound idea to even those on the middle of the political spectrum - the same way it seemed reasonable to deploy those drones during the "beltway sniper" crisis. It may seem reasonable the way it seems reasonable deploying hundreds of cameras throughout populous areas of major cities. In the same way it seems reasonable if you believe that there's not much wrong with Chicago's new automated traffic control system - touted to be the relief to traffic congestion, but also used to nab speeding motorists.

When Bush campaigned in 2004, he did so on a platform of national security. Not only did that platform carry him home to the White House for a second term, but it also helped further change our societal and cultural dialog. It's common knowledge that politicians and authority figures use fear mongering and scare tactics when trying to convince their subjects of a procedure, policy, or tactic. Americans still buy into it - and we vote with our ignorance of intrusive technology and its long term affects.

Unmanned drones flying over the borders directly violate the Posse Comitatus Act, considering they're still military hardware. However with the seemingly inevitable charge of UAV's into everyday police actions, Americans will probably further forget the law, and let the feds have yet another high tech gadget to keep a close eye on us.

I've heard time and time again "Why do you fear being watched if you're not doing anything wrong?" Perhaps the simplest answer would be “who will watch the watchers?” When the eyes behind the cameras and drones work for the same individuals who busy themselves with attempts at changing laws to further control and limit our freedoms, how can we look into those eyes with a feeling of trust?

The Tip Of An Enormous Iceberg

2005-11-13T10:32:00.000-06:00

According to an article published on Capital Hill Blue , a memo has been making its way around the GOP, suggesting a new terrorist attack on U.S. soil would boost Bush's approval rating and restore his image as a leader to the American people. Lately polls have been lower than pre 9\11 levels, back when much of the world thought his administration was a joke.

This isn't the first time politicians and military brass have dreamed up such scenarios. A few minutes on google and you can read all about the possibility that Roosevelt let Pearl Harbor happen (you're free to make your own judgments on whether or not that is true). Operation Northwoods though, has alot more tangible evidence to it. In 1962, DOD leaders wanted to stage a few “fake” terrorist attacks in Florida to galvanize support for attacking Cuba. While never enacted, it does teach the world that this government feels its people are expendable when it comes to furthering their goals.

The current administration believes that approval ratings will climb back up if Bush can rally Americans around the flag again – and they're right. Another tragedy on the steps of this nation would bring us all together, sympathizing with the victims and howling for the blood of enemies. Now before anyone throws down the unpatriotic\unamerican card take a hard look at your media and your leaders. Whether or not you agree with their practices makes little difference - you know the tactics. The spin masters would be in full control the moment such a horrifying act occurred. I'm sure Karl and company would know just the right buttons to push to get whatever pieces of the agenda they needed through.

They pushed Iraq the same day 9\11 happened, which was on the shelf as part of PNAC's wish list for years. The PATRIOT Act squeaked its way through Congress in a matter of weeks, with many officials admitting they had not even read the bill. When you do look at the bill, you'll realize that it's something which would've taken alot more time than a few weeks to craft. Those happen to be two small pieces in a vast tapestry of deceit, shady dealings, and fear mongering that's herded the American public into a state of perpetual fear and mindlessness.

For our “leaders” it's just another day at the office, for the rest of us – it's our lives. The true goals of those in power manifest themselves when things like this leak to the press. The people don't need to be rallying around a president surrounded by men who would use them so maliciously.

Livin' The Dream!

2005-10-31T13:28:00.000-06:00

On Friday, Oct. 21st, during an indictment hearing for Tom Delay, his lawyers pressed that a new judge be appointed to a case. The reason behind this - Judge Bob Perkins dontated money during the 2004 election to the site moveon.org. Apparently, Delay and his lawyers must feel that because of the 34 donations Perkins made to the "liberal" advocacy group, he won't get a fair shake. This is a brilliant PR tactic by the right, bringing attention away from Delay's charges. The issue of moving the trial will now go to B.B. Schraub who according to the article on Yahoo! news, contributed heavily to republican causes. Kinda reminds me of the "fair and balanced" claim Fox news makes all the time.

On the same tip, Progress For America has taken up the cause of advocating the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. PFA was instrumental in getting the Bush\Cheney Whitehouse in office, yet claims to be a "nonpartisan" advocacy group. Again, nothing seems to beat the right hand doing the opposite of what it says. Remember what your parents told you? "Do as I say, not as I do?"

Orwell would be so proud.

Happy Halloween

2005-10-30T23:34:00.000-06:00

Architect

2005-10-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

There's an interesting little piece in the Guardian from yesterday that touches on something I was writing about a few weeks ago. Without a doubt, Evans hits the nail on the head with this one - and I couldn't agree more with the statement "If this really was the end of history, it would be an awful anticlimax." He does however argue that the major parties have no grand vision, and I would like to touch on that for a moment.

There is a vision and strategy I believe, a very simple vision, that many people forget about. Orwell pointed it out in 1984 when O Brien explained to Winston the answer to his most simple question, "I understand how, but I do not understand why." O Brien answers "The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power..."

It is the same for current governments, political parties, and politicians. At the end of the day it's not about anything else but keeping and maintaining power and control. What happens when a politician moves out of office into the private sector? Generally he\she will sit in some sort of seat of power in a major corporation. After all in this world, money and power sometimes go hand in hand - and that's the way to get in on the ground floor.

Evans says "Despite our historically unprecedented wealth, more people than ever before suffer from depression" and I couldn't agree more. That plays into the grand vision. Keep the masses spiritually void, fill them with desire for wealth and power, and let them fight it out between one another. Should one of them make it to the top, recruit him - adding another soldier to export the grand vision.

I can't answer how to make things better exactly. I don't believe anyone can. We've all got ideas, hopes, visions, and dreams. It's up to us to decide if they're just and see them through. For the time being just remember that knowing there is a trap is the first step to evading it.

Overdone by now

2005-10-28T08:35:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a sports fan, but I will say it's not bad to be a part of history. Congrats to the Sox on giving the southside a reason to rush in the streets and throw a party.

Equations

2005-10-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure I've figured out that the entire business world has it wrong. If humans were meant to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to go to work, we would have it hardwired into our brains. Instead we need to use (sometimes) several devices to jolt us out of peaceful slumber. You wonder why you're not so much interested in the "work" you do? Look at the time you have to wake up, and think about what you were doing before bed. Multiply that by what you prefer to do, and you'll have your answer.

Ps. Don't mix Brandy and Vodka before having to go to sleep before an early rising day.

Fun With Technology

2005-10-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

Got some time to kill? Here's a fun way to do it. Just visit the United States Patent Office and start searching for things. You'll be surprised at what you'll find. Some examples:

Weather Modification

RFID Tags for everything!

"Non Lethal" Weapons

Subliminal Fun

Just a few fun items to kill off a few hours on a national holiday.

Get Your Shots, Hide Your Porn

2005-10-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

Recently, the Feds have taken an interest again in the porn consumption habits of Americans. According to this article in the San Fransisco Gate, both the Attorney General and the head of the FBI have taken an interest in the "'manufacturers and purveyors' of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults." What this means in the long run, one can only guess - but I have a feeling it's just another step in the hard right's long walk to controlling whatever aspects of life they can get their hands on.

Speaking of total control, yet another tragic disaster has given the current administration pretext for tightening their grasp on the American people. In the wake of Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters that this country has seen in my lifetime, the White House has put the idea of an outbreak of Avian Flu on its agenda. In almost no time, every major media network jumped on this story, giving grim details of what a pandemic in this country would mean. Certainly it is a worthy concern, something that everyone should be concerned about.

What has not been commented highly on however was Mr Bush's comments regarding a federal response to such a catastrophe. Who should be responsible for spearheading such a response? The military, of course. This in effect, violates the already tattered Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 - and gives the administration all the pretext it needs to enact martial law. The idea of a military response to a domestic problem isn't only limited to outbreaks of disease, but would be applied to any major disaster.

The idea of a military response to a natural disaster may seem like an effective way of assuring that no one drops the ball, but the end result could mean the end of the already failing democracy we think we have. Over the past decade we've seen the slow erosion of our civil liberties with things like the Patriot Act, Clinton's Defense Authorization Act, and the general contempt the current administration has for dissenters. Is it surprising that they would move further towards complete executive control?

If this keeps up, one day we might find the FBI's 10 man task force has grown into an army, ready and willing to knock down our doors for the slightest offense.

They're not gonna take it

2005-09-21T23:42:00.000-05:00

Apparently, those organizing the relief effort are singing this tune while New Orleans sinks. According to these articles from The Daily Mirror, Mother Jones, and MSNBC, aid offered on all sorts of fronts is being repelled by FEMA and the Feds. Apparently, if it doesn't come from a well connected corporation, it's unfit and might as well be sent to the pyres.

Add to this the ingenious logic from our fearless leader, somehow believing that by paying workers less, it will provide more economic growth in the end. The short answer is yes, it sure will - for the property developers, contractors, and big box retail outlets that will spring forth from this horrible tragedy.

Good to know that our leaders are looking out for number one!

Deep Thoughts

2005-09-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

Survey Says...

Sometimes I wonder if all those little online surveys that people send through their e-mail are actually from some government agency, collecting data on all of us. Or maybe they’re made up by advertisers and credit card companies, for when they decide to partner up with HAARP and send ads directly into our brains. Either way, if anyone ever analyzes the ones I fill out, they’ll probably think I’m some sort of scotch drinking, gunpowder sniffing, conspiracy theorizing whackjob – which is probably not too far from the truth. I guess in the future I’ll be able to look forward to dreaming of Dewers and Krazy Kaplins.

I couldn't agree more

2005-09-19T18:29:00.000-05:00

"The human race is an unfair and stupid competition. A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some people are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side. It's not surprising some people have given up competing altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk food and shout abuse.

What we need in this race is a lot more streakers."

- Banksy

Going's On

2005-09-12T18:56:00.000-05:00

Check it out! My friend and co-worker Alan has decided to throw his efforts into the mix in the zineing\blogging world both with his own site, and some (upcoming) additions to the diatribe site. He's even added some space for us on his own page. Check his shit out, support him, and us too!

Our Problem With Help

2005-09-08T08:36:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like being too proud to refuse help from those whom you have disagreements with. Kudos to you, Mr. President, for refusing help for people who've been begging for it. If you don't want to take Chavez's aid, that's fine - but maybe Mr. Robertson should be trudging through some sludge and delievering food to the starving. I'm sure he's done all that he can though - it's alot of work to sit back and collect donations.

I'm not too sure about the comment in there about conservative bloggers and others saying that no other country will come to our aid, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit for those claims to be made. Not only do we love being the underdog in this country, but we love being the unappreciated martyr, standing tall without the help of the rest of the world. Is it that big of a surprise that when the rest of the world pledges to help us, we either refuse (in the case of nations that we deem unfriendly) or begrudgingly accept?

Oh, and as for people who don't want to play the "blame game," that's fine. But while you're not playing that game, maybe you should be doing a little more than just saying that you don't want to play it. As my good friend Will has put it, I can't wait for more bullshit committees to find a few officials to blame a year or so after the fact.

Just another day in bureaucracy.

Worse Before Better

2005-09-04T17:57:00.000-05:00

Katrina is probably the worst disaster this country has seen. More of a disaster however is the handling of it. I think this shows beyond the shadow of a doubt, that our federal government hasn't done much in the way of preparing for the after affects of a disaster, if it doesn't involve a military response. Somehow our leaders know just how to respond, as long as they have something to shoot at. When there's no one to point a finger at and respond to with force, people seem to throw their hands upwards in the hopes that things we'll all just work out.

Many were very quick to blame looting as a reason that relief has been slow. Looters (or "finders," depending on your race and class) are criminals by default, and therefore can be delt with in a military fashion. I highly doubt those sitting in opulence and power right now have spent five days panicked and starving, trying to deal with the fact that life has irrevocably altered for the worst. Given that those in New Orleans haven't been able to rely on any agency for help, they have to find a way to survive on their own. If that means taking supplies that would have been or will be tossed during the clean up effort, then so be it. Yes, there are opportunists in looting - but you tell me that oil companies, property developers, and magnetic ribbon makers aren't licking their lips as we speak over how to profit on this tragedy.

We've lost a great city, an untold amount of lives, and the effects of New Orleans will be long felt by everyone in this country. Instead of playing the blame game, not letting in relief, and relying on a hierarchical structure that dropped the ball, we should be working together to our best efforts to do all we can to save lives, and then rebuild them.

PS. There are many trying to blame the victims of this disaster for not evacuating. I'd like to point out that first off, heading to the superdome WAS the evacuation plan. Secondly, if you live in a major city, are broke, don't have a car, don't know anyone out of town, or any combination of the above - how are you supposed to leave and where to? It's hard to get the hell outta dodge when you've got nowhere to go, and no way to get there. Instead of trying to make people who are in dire straits feel worse - maybe you should just suck it up and get to work.

PPS. If you were really serious about evacuating people, why didn't you offer transit and housing for people BEFORE the huricane hit?

2005-08-20T14:09:00.000-05:00

Movin' On Up

2005-08-03T16:16:00.000-05:00

My move is completed. Now begins the daunting task of getting everything set up. You never realize how much crap you've accumulated over the years until you've got to box it, then unbox it, and figure out where it's all supposed to go. I still have no internet access, but I should be up and running next Tuesday. Look forward to pieces about REAL ID, my first week living in Chicago, information about Diatribe Number 5, and more.

Slow Moving

2005-07-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to keep up lately, but I'm in the process of (finally!) moving to the city, so that's been taking up most of my time lately. But here's a few quick things:

I guess there's a war going on somewhere, a plethora of natural disasters, and millions of people across the world suffering – but it's a slow news day. Yes, this was the banner headline this afternoon when I signed on AOL to check the news. What's incredible is that 279,464 people (myself included, so I could see the results) took the time to vote in AOL's "flip flop" survey. I guess fashion faux-pas at the White House go down smoother than a new supreme court nominee or the current Karl Rove debacle.

Remember all that buzz about national ID cards? Well, governors are concerned about it. This week at a conference, they voiced their concern, saying that it may cost too much to implement. Never mind that the REAL ID act, which passed through on the coattails of an $82 billion dollar military spending bill, essentially creates a national identity card that could allow government to monitor just about everything you do – our "representatives" are afraid of who will foot the bill. In the end, I'm sure it will be passed onto taxpayers who would probably not prefer to give Homeland Security the ability to RFID tag an ID they must carry around. For now, check out the links – I'll have a bigger piece on this here and in the next issue of Diatribe.

Finally, Newscorp. has just purchased Intermix Media, Inc. the owner of internet wonderland myspace.com . Could this mean we'll start seeing profiles for such superstars as Sean Hannity or Geraldo? I would love the chance to see pics, blog entries, and the general interests of Bill O'Rielly. One can only dream…

It took me about two days to post this, so you can see I'm moving at a slower pace lately. Look for much much more once my move is completed and Diatribe 5 is thrown to the wind for your reading pleasure.

Bottle Rocket

2005-07-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

I watched some municipal fireworks last night, the kind that "trained professionals" blow off from barges off of lakes. Everyone looked towards the sky as a trail of sparks turned into a bright flash and loud bang. It lasted for a half hour, had a little grand finale, and everyone clapped and went home. I've been watching displays like this almost every fourth of July since I was a kid.

Before these displays and after however, I don't just go home. I have my own shows. I'll drop tons of cash every year on my own fireworks and spend hours in the streets with friends making all sorts of things explode. Throughout my own pyro career I've set a friends lawn on fire, blown up a bonfire, set half of a friends roof ablaze, had more bottle rocket wars than I can count, and blown up countless action figures and other little plastic objects.

I notice the signs in front of fire stations more and more every year, pleading with people not to play with these dangerous, exploding toys. Sparklers burn at 4000 degrees farenheight, bottle rockets take out eyes, a little kid the other day blew his hand off. I read about how my state spends large sums of money policing and confiscating fireworks from would be pyromaniacs as well as family parties and picnics. This time every year I hear on the news about some poor kid who is now deaf in one ear, or permanently blind from an erant bottle rocket.

I understand the panic of parents and city officials when kids play with small incediary devices. I understand wanting to keep dangerous materials out of the hands of people who may hurt themselves with it. However I'll never be able to grasp the throngs of people who can just watch a display and just go home.

Perhaps that's the way things go these days. Who needs to play any sports when there's a dozen different ESPN channels? Who needs to have a few friends over for a poker game when you and your friends can watch celebrities play for higher stakes? Why bother with all the danger and trouble of your own fireworks show, when you can watch trained experts from the safety of the beach - or even your home television.

While we're busy keeping ourselves safe and sound, we're also slowly losing our drive for any kind of danger, any kind of adventure. More and more people "leave it to the pro's" these days, and are content to couch jockey their way through life. Many people wonder why the corporations seem unstoppable in taking over our entire lives these days, it's because they've made it easier and more desireable for us to become spectators instead of participants.

Happy America Day

2005-07-03T14:06:00.000-05:00

This year, celebrate the birth of your favorite democratic nation by reading any number of interesting factoids about it! Some of these include:

Federal departments all over the country are now classifying documets at a rate of 125 a minute!

Homeland Security budget increased for 2005 by 3.6 BILLION dollars. That's just 20.4 BILLION DOLLARS over it's initial 2001 budget. Don't you feel safer already?

The house recently voted to underfund veterans benefits by 1 BILLION dollars. At least there will be a nice parade over the weekend!

And who could forget, this day where we celebrate our independence from tyrannical government and our freedoms to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the flag burning amendment! Thanks to a 286-130 house vote, our freedom to punish evil people who exercise free speech is well on its way to being written into our glorious constitution!

Top it all off with a frosty mug of eminent domain seizures easing up, and you've got a pretty sweet July 4th party!

While we're out drinking the night away, and watching all the pretty colors explode in the sky, our leaders are doing the best job they can making us as safe from all those pesky little freedoms that get in the way of true democracy. Here's to you, America!

Superblog!

2005-06-27T01:01:00.000-05:00

I couldn't find it until now, but thanks to the wonderful people at AMC, I'm feeding into an amazing network blog comprised of some brilliant people. Check it out, if you haven't already: http://www.superblog.org/planet/amc2005/

Thanks AMC!

Quenching A Thirst

2005-06-26T14:05:00.000-05:00

For about a week now, there's been a "water ban" in my little town of Tinley Park, IL. This means no watering your lawn, washing your car, hosing yourself down, putting out the slip and slide, etc. The village better not see you outside with a hose - unless you're interested in a ticket for a few hundred bucks. Apparently the ban is in place because of the heat, combined with a busted water pumping station in Oak Lawn.

Today I was listening to a priest's sermon regarding this matter. I'm not sure I totally understand the point he was getting at, and how he tied it in with Christ (as most sermons usually do), but something about the first half of his speech caught me. When he was speaking of the water ban, he harkened back to the middle ages, a time where the "throw the baby out with the bathwater" phrase originated. He went on to tell the congregation how lucky we are to live in a time of water abundance, where we can bathe daily and water our flowers and so forth.

Water abundance, for sure. Comparing our fortune with that of Eurpeans in the middle ages? Highly dubious. This was a perfect opportunity to point out the fortunes of the west such as water abundance, and where it really comes from.

I'm no expert on the global politics of water, but I do know that while we're policing suburbanites from washing their cars, at least a billion have no access to clean drinking water. Powerful corporations continue to do their best to privatise the use of water while local populations suffer. And most of this is for the benefit of the American consumer.

So before you go rejoicing in the glorious progress that is modern man, keep in mind that it's not universal, nor is it world wide, and it would be best not to ignore the crisis the world will soon face.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr58/en/index.html

http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featlydersen_water_p.shtml

http://www.healthy-communications.com/waterrunningout.html

Short Updates On Longer Events

2005-06-24T09:49:00.000-05:00

Quickly:

I spent my last weekend in Ohio at the Allied Media Conference. There's a review of it two posts down.

Diatribe number 5 is in the works. It should be done in a few weeks. I've got a few guest spots (which were published in a special edition AMC issue), some materical from this blog, and a few other surprises. Maybe even a band interview or two, if I can get them turned out.

There's alot of incredible zine events around Chicago coming up in July. There's a reading on the first of July at the hideout, a reading at Mojoe's on the 9th, and a picnic on the 16th. Details will be forthcoming.

The Wanderers are playing the Mutiny in Chicago on the 29th. I don't care where you're reading this from, you should be there.

At some point this summer I'll have a much more personal zine out called "You are here, this is not."

I was recently featured in an article in UR Chicago. Watch for my response.

I've got many more things coming up. I just have to stop putting them off.

Breads, Circuses, and Flags

2005-06-24T09:08:00.000-05:00

Round and round we go. On the congressional docket recently, we have a brand spanking new flag burning amendment. It passed in the House the other day, and many believe that it may pass the Senate due to 4 new republicans as well as "a public still stung by the terrorist attacks in 2001" as one news article puts it.

Feelings on flag burning in this case I think should take a back seat to rationality. First of all, we have the actual language of the amendment. Supposedly it is simply one line which states "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." That's pretty broad language, the kind that lawmakers love to find clever ways of interpreting. Having exactly what powers? What punishment fits the crime of flag burning? Will police issue citations or fines? Could we go to jail? How about being thrown on the terrorist watch list?" Why not stuff unamerican flag burners into gitmo, or worse? Having the "power to prohibit" can mean almost anything.

If you take a look at the flag code, which I stronly suggest, you'll find out flags that are torn, dirty, or generally worn out should be taken down and BURNT. In most towns, the American Legion will take care of this for you. However, that is technically physical desecration of the flag, and Congress (if they wanted to) could use their powers to prohibit it.

Also in the flag code you will find that anywhere a flag is displayed improperly (such as below the flag of another nation or business, hung in a manner that could soil it, etc) it is in violation. Will congress busy themselves, or perhaps make law enforcement busy itself monitoring such infractions? Dig a little deeper and you'll find that according to the flag code, it should not be used as apparel, and "NEVER BE USED FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES IN ANY MATTER WHATSOEVER." If that is the case, then using the flag in your July 4th sales, having it printed on your speedos, even used on the T-Shirt that says "try and burn this one!" is illegal and could be construed as physical desecration of the flag. Will Congress use its new powers to prevent this travesty?

My point here is simple. Flag burning is not common in this country. Even if it was, should our supposedly "elected leaders" be spending OUR TIME and OUR MONEY attempting to pass half hearted constitutional amendments which are clear attacks on a select group of people and on free speech?

If you love your country's flag, good for you. If you believe that it is a symbol of the freedoms you think you still have, good for you. If you honor it because of the "brave men and women fighting overseas," pat yourself on the back. And while you and congress are spending all that time fighting for your flag, it's stars and stripes bound together by cloth and stitching, real men and women are dying overseas due to lack of equipment and ammunition. Real human beings at home are dying of starvation. Real people, flesh and blood, citizens of this country, are poor and impoverished, out of work and out of health care. Real humans, citizens of the world are under constant fear of death, war, famine, and disease. Real people, citizens of the world, are having their rights to free speech and free expression trampled on by oppressive governments. While you're sitting wherever you are, safe in your home or office, worrying about a piece of cloth that symbolizes your beliefs, others are dying for theirs.

If you really believe in freedom and justice for people not only of this country, but the world - you'd put this amendment on the back burner and focus on what's really important, the welfare of people.

Team Chicago 5, BSU 0 *

2005-06-20T20:40:00.000-05:00

This year marks the third or fourth that I've spent a weekend ripping it up in Bowling Green, Ohio at the Allied Media Conference. For those of you that are unaware, AMC is put on by the good folks at Clamor Magazine. It's a three day gathering of independent media activists, zine writers, stencil pirates, bloggers, and pretty much anyone who has an interest in changing the current media landscape. The conference includes a wide variety of workshops and skillshares, a film festival, some great late night entertainment, and a varitable warehouse of distros and other organizations. I recommend it highly to anyone who has an interest in creating or supporting independent media.

We left late Thursday night so that I could catch the symposium on media literacy Friday morning. Kate, Alicia, and I stayed the night in a big empty church that had been rented by the AMC organizers. Though I slept like a rock, Kate was kept up most of the night by random noises, errant birds that flew through the open front door, and a maintinence guy who showed up at 4am.

I attended the media literacy symposium in the morning, catching the opening pleanary and a really good session on zinemaking in the classroom. Though most of it was geared towards first time zine makers, I got to read alot of interesting zines made my children. I can't remember any of the names, but I know one particular series of zines chronicled what appeared to be a 3rd grade student movement fighting for their rights to sit where they want during lunch. While snacking on a delicious salad, the crowd at lunch got to pick apart some propaganda provided for us by the keynote speaker. All in all a productive morning. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Kate and Alicia, as well as some new friends we met that afternoon.

We spent some time later that evening helping register people for the conference, got some food, and Kate went to sleep. I went to the show sponsored by the AMC that night at Howard's. While some of the music was interesting, I missed the one band I really wanted to see, Defiance Ohio. According to most of the description's I've heard, they're acoustic folk punk that puts on in incredibly energetic live show. Sometime I'll get around to hearing\seeing them. I was busy drinking in the street, hanging out with some pretty cool buskers, one of which had a digeridoo. He was kind enough to tell me where I could purchase one, and after I explained how low on cash I was, offered up advice on making one of my own. After polishing off quite a bit of rum, I headed back into Howard's, played some deer hunting games, and drank mini pitchers of the cheapest beer I could find. At some point Brandon of Foul tackled me, humping me on the floor, much to the bouncer's dismay. Fortunately enough we were allowed to stick around and leave peacefully of our own accord later.

After a few hours sleep we loaded the Diatribe Media galaxy of merchandise onto an 8 foot table, sandwiched in between Loop Distro and Katherine Hodge's, who has a variety of reall cool zines and projects. Billy (Loop Distro) was kind enough to sell me a huge dollar sign I could wear around my neck, and Katherine showed me an article appearing in UR Chicago about our monthly Mojoe's readings, and relationship with Brent Ritzel. I've thought alot about the article and situation, and coming in the next few weeks you'll see a piece show up on this blog, as well as Diatribe 5, regarding it. I assumed the water already passed under the bridge (as I did spend some time hanging out with Brent at his table, and things seemed to be fine over there) but I've been wrong before.

Over the next 2 days I gave out hundreds of zines, mostly copies of Santiary and Ship - but also a few copies of a special AMC edition of Diatribe. I didn't sell a damned thing - didn't make one red cent. Kate did pretty well with Brainiac, her vegan lipgloss, and the Army Of Compassion. If I had the talent for craft I might actually make a few bucks too, but Diatribe has never been a money making operation. I bought and traded for many zines, my favorite so far called The Family Suckass. Each issue has its own hilarious title, such as "I'll Piss In That Rubber Boot For Five Bucks," or "I Found It In My Urethra!" They're comprised of old Family Circus comics, with new, hilarious captions. If you can find them, buy or trade for them.

I attended as many workshops as I could, including Kate's on one page recycled zines made from trash, zine readings as hosted by Brent Ritzel, and the movie "Still We Ride." The readings were great, most noteably Christoph Myer's (28 Pages Lovingly Bound With Twine) and Lip Magazine's. Order a copy of Still We Ride when you get the money. I poked my head in a few others when I could, but just manning the table combined with meeting and hanging with other zine writers and activists kept me pretty busy.

Saturday night brought us the annual AMC Bowling party. Before heading off to bowl, Kate and I met up with Alicia, Brandon of Foul, Andrew of Living Proof, and Katherine of Noncompliant. We hung out in a dorm lounge, sipping on a variety of alchoholic beverages. Loudly and obnoxiously we decided to form Team Chicago, which you'll begin to hear about in a few months. Watch out, we've already got a rep for public drunkeness and noise complaints. Soon enough all members will have jersey's, and we'll slowly change the landscape of zinedom in Chicago as you know it. Team Chicago walked to the bowling alley, getting there entirely too late to participate in bowling. Instead we drank and talked the night away. Billy kindly offered us a ride to the after dance party where they served fishbowls of beer for about 2 bucks. Not a bad deal.

After Sunday's workshops we packed up, got lunch, and took off. Somehow I drove into Michigan, but we still ended up home safely. I'm missing some copies of Lip Magazine, Verbicide, and a few other zines I bought at the conference.

Looking back, I made alot of new friends, spent some time with old ones, and got rid of hundreds of my zines while picking up alot of cool projects other people have worked on. I saw some bands I don't remember, barricaded myself in a lounge, and drove across four state lines in one day. We ate lunch at the second best vegatarian restaurant I've ever been to (Squeeker's) - the first being Soul Vegetarian right here in Chicago. The people at Clamor are some of the nicest, most accomodating folks I've met in the midwest, and their interns are alot of fun to hang with. We'll all be back next year, bigger and badder than ever. Until then Bowling Green, rest easy - you'll need it.

* I'm sure this review could have been longer, more specific, and included a thousand other stories and tales of adventure that happened over the weekend. However, this is my own personal perspective. I've left out quite a bit due to time constraints and my sheer lack of good reviewing skills. Visit the AMC website for a listing of what went down at the workshops. While you're at it, search out other reviews and then let me know about them. I'm sure they're better than this one.

** I've tried to include as many links to people's sites as possible, if I forgot yours let me know.

*** If you're the guy who was doing the interviews for a graduate project on zines, I'm sorry we didn't get to meet. If you'd still like to talk feel free to e-mail me.

Smart Bombs, Smarter Kids

2005-06-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

There's an interesting article in the Washington Post this morning, which basically goes through the current sort of crisis that the Army is having regarding soliciting new recruits. It's no secret that there numbers are down, and more and more kids these days are choosing not to sign there lives away to Uncle Sam's war machine. The interesting part of the artcile is at its conclusion, where it says "A strong Army fighting force is essential not only to America's worldwide interests, but indeed to our survival as a nation and the life we enjoy today. But if the decline in our Army's strength continues, make no mistake, we could readily lose that way of life."

This I believe is just another small bit of proof that our government is not interested in "spreading democracy," or "fighting for freedom," but instead in empire-building.

Make no mistake, I have many friends in the military. I have several in Iraq and Afghanistan. I love them dearly. Not a day goes by where I don't worry about their safety. Not a day passes where I don't wonder about their safe return. Fortunately enough, one of them did come home recently. He's still has a couple more years to serve, but we all hope he doesn't have to leave our soil again. This particular solider is much like the ones mentioned in the article. He signed on well before GWOT (Global War On Terror) began. He signed on because he felt he needed direction, a good job, and an education. All of those were promised by the recruiter. Ducking bullets overseas was not.

Granted, if you're signing up for any branch of the armed forces, you should be well aware that your chances of dodging bullets for Uncle Sam are great. You should also be well aware that you'll be firing back in the name of Uncle Sam, and whatever he says the reason is. But the marketing the military used to do didn't highlight these realities. This was in the days of "humanitarian efforts" and learning "real skills for college and the workforce." Today the television ads are much more like a video game (the Army also has its own video games now as well) or blockbuster film. You're in the desert, fighting with your team against an evil dyabolical enemy. You're low on supplies and ammunition, but you get the job done. Why? Because you're part of the best, most elite fighting force in the world. You're part of the United States (insert branch here). Que some Disturbed, show some planes flying, tanks rolling, and we're out. Sounds pretty good right? No body bags, no blood, no one even gets killed. It's all implied, but you get a real sense of invinsibility because you're part of the winning team.

This brings me back to the Post article. What it says on the surface is the same thing military recruiters have said since before the cold war - that we're fighting for our freedom, our way of life. That statement conjures up all sorts of imagery close to our hearts. We're fighting for the freedoms we enjoy like speech, religion, civil rights, and all those things we love to pat ourselves on the back for. When it comes down to it though, none of those things are threatened by any foreign power. Americans aren't being shot at overseas because someone has a problem with our right to vote, or because someone has a problem with our ideas (ever slowly eroding) on religious tolerance. We're being shot at overseas because we were never asked to occupy any country in the first place.

The "way of life" the Post article really refers to is the one of overconsumption, overindullgence, and empire building our self appointed leaders are interested in. It's the way of life where profit comes before people, where freedom of choice means choosing between Shell and Texaco. The way of life which allows a chicken in the pots of the rich, and a military base on every country we have an economic interest in. The way of life that our soliders and the public think they're defending is very different from the one that politicians and wallstreet stockbrokers have them defending.

Perhaps the problem of recruiting today's youth is because they're smart enough to see that.

Now It's Personal

2005-06-07T21:18:00.000-05:00

I took a break. Had to get my thoughts together. So far, I've come up with nothing. I read an entire article not too long ago devoted totally to its authors writers block. If nothing else, that should be forthcoming sometime soon.

If you're curious to what's been going on I've been working. I should be working hard getting my ducks in a row as the woman who shares my office says. You'd think that I would have at least spent my time slacking off adventuring, meditating, or something useful. Unforunately for my liver and lungs that's simply not true. I've got a stack of books on my right unread, a stack of papers to my left that needs to be sorted, checks that are supposedly in the mail, and a mountain of paperwork at my office. I should be filing forms, cleaning house, and working my brain but instead I've shut down.

Now it's time to start digging up instead of down. I only hope the whole isn't too deep.

Support Our Troops, The Kentucky Way

2005-05-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

While the movie "Monster In Law" may be crappy, and surely deserves to move quickly to the dustbin of the video store, the film should not be banned for something an actress did over 30 years ago. According to this MSN artcile, a Kentucky theater owner has pulled the film which stars Jane Fonda, because of her role in opposing the vietnam war. This is nothing new for the owner, who has pulled other Fonda movies, as well as movies like Farenheight 9\11. The justification the gentleman makes is rather simplistic, stating that "I think when people do something, they need to be held responsible for their actions," and "When you give the enemy aid, it makes the war last longer." That's the part of the story that interests me.

These theaters are near a military base in Fort Knox. The owner is a Vietnam veteran. It makes perfect sense for them to pull the plug on films they deem "unpatriotic." What doesn't make sense however, is their justification. Perhaps I'm missing something from the story (I've read more than one, they're all relatively the same) but it seems to me that this fella shouldn't only be opposing the movie "Monster In Law," but he should be up in arms over the treatment, or lack thereof, of our boys currently in Iraq.

If you really want to talk about "aiding the enemy," and accountability, how about holding accountable the officers at the top of the command chain, who sit comfortably in their bunkers, sending 18 and 19 year old kids off with little supplies and armor into a warzone. How about those people on capital hill who "did something" and started a war under false pretenses and now have no hope of ever getting out? I could go on.

I suppose my thoughts on this matter (there are hundreds of stories of censorship of music and movies critical to the US) come down to this. When your justification for censorship is "aiding the enemy," you need to ask yourself one question: Which is easier, pulling the plug on a movie because its actors and actresses have dissenting opinions, or asking State and military officials why our troops are underfunded, underarmed, and fighting a war that has a transparent justification?

The Story Behind The Story

2005-05-18T22:17:00.000-05:00

The world has been up in arms about the recent Newsweek article regarding prisoner abuses in Guantanamo Bay. What's interesting is the framing of this story, as well as the reactions worldwide. I wrote the bulk of the following words on a friends blog, regarding a piece he wrote regarding some comments made by Don Imus. You can read it here: http://williampshannon4.blogspot.com/2005/05/journalists-heed-i-man.html

I think one of the things that's not being reported on about this Newsweek catastrophe is that the incident *is* most likely true, and there are sources to back them up on this, they're just not pentagon or state sponsored sources, so no one gives a shit.

I'm not a fan of anonymous sources either, but I do defend the right to use them. After all, if the Pentagon and Homeland Security can come out and say "we have anonymous sources that say a terror attack is going to happen sometime, somewhere," then how come a reporter can't do something similar? Don't forget that unnamed sources are used all of the time and every day in thousands of news articles.

Kate and I were having a discussion about this, and she brought up a very interesting point. Basically, according to the government, they're pissed off that someone received what may be faulty information and ran a story on it. Supposedly, the recent rioting overseas was caused by this story, and therefore 15 people died because of someone running with some faulty information.

Now turn it around. The United States has fought an entire war based on faulty information, and now hundreds of thousands of people are dead because of it. Who's accountable for that? How can the White House expect accountability in the press room when there is none in Washington DC? But I'm sidestepping here.

The real issue here is the use of anonymous sources. If we were to say, disavow everything anonymous sources have given us, we'd not only have to retract some stories recently - but every report coming out of any Washington agency would have to be retracted. After all, there are whole organizations that base their every day actions on "anonymous sources."

The other part of anonymous sources is simply this: sometimes, people don't want to have to face horrible repercussions for their statements. Think about those sources that blew the whistle on Enron. If they had to give their names and phone numbers to the public, would they have come forward so easily? There's a million situations similar where people simply don't want to be identified for their own protection. In this case, a Pentagon official who brought to light some damning charges against his bosses (which as I've said before, are already credible and were fact checked twice, actually) didn't want his name listed. If I worked for the Pentagon and wanted to blow the whistle on abuses, I wouldn't either. Who knows what could happen to my career, myself, or my family?

Another thing you have to remember about this (and the conspiratorial side of me has more to say about this) is that this story has already broken, and has been going on for years. No one in the mainstream has been talking about it. You can read some recent articles on prisoner abuses in Gitmo here:

http://www.dispatch.co.za/2005/05/18/Foreign/akoran.html

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1168937,00.html

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1153400,00.html

There's also a really good perspective article on this news story and overall situation here:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/observer/archives/2005/05/18/newsweek_scandal_some_perspective_anyone.html

You can poke around on the internet and in the back pages of newspapers and foreign sources, and you'll find that Guantanamo Bay is not a bed of roses as many conservative pundits have said before. There's constant and consistent abuse. However, because all of the sources come from either prisoners or foreign media, Americans don't believe it. Not because it isn't true, but because so many people seem to trust our media (which are really just lapdogs for state officials) that we can't believe it if it isn't on a cable news network.

This I think, highlights a much larger problem in not only American journalism and media, but also in American consumption of said journalism and media. A HUGE percentage of people are skeptical of the media, unless it comes from a state sponsored source. That's a problem. The problem is not anonymous sources or Dan Rather, the problem is that we're eating the shit that is shoveled to us like ice cream. We don't question, we don't poke, we don't prod, we don't research. We're content to sit in our homes and digest the news, without ever questioning what it's doing to our worldview.

This is a very dangerous time for journalists and media. The state wants more lapdogs, more pushovers to shovel their agenda on the masses. The people of this country need skeptics and questioners. The only way for a democracy to survive is if it's people are well informed on what their government is up to. Simply put, we're in danger of surviving, because we're in the dark.

Light Mayhem and Media Reform

2005-05-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

I've been out for awhile. It's been nice. I love to travel, and I especially love to travel for something like the National Conference On Media Reform. Not only do I get a chance to get out of Chicago for awhile and see another city, but I also get to rub elbows with hundreds of like minded people, and even a few celebrities.

Looking back, the whole trip becomes relatively blurry. Attribute part of that to the whirlwind of panels and discussions, and the other part to the copious amounts of alchohol I took in at night. By day I'd do my best to get to and from such sessions as "Visioning a Media System that Serves Our Democracy and Culture" and films like "Weapons of Mass Deception," and by night I'd talk shop and drink with some of my good friends, both old and new.

According to the conference organizers, the conference was 2500 strong. Thanks to Josh Breitbart, at least 1000 of those people have copies of the zine "Sanitary and Ship." Thanks to Kate, Phil Donahue is one of those 1000. If you're reading this Phil, that means you took the time to read the zine. If that's the case I salute you.

But it wasn't all shaking hands with and winking at media celebrities in elevators. I got some work done too. We pulled of a fun (albeit small) zine reading in the hotel lobby. Some sessions lead to good discussions and spawned various ideas you'll see in the future. I've got some more collaberators, a few new tricks up my sleeve, and definately more fun on the way.

Any big event will have its down sides, and the NCOMR isn't exempt. I wish I would've been able to attend more sessions. I'd have liked to be at the Thursday night pre-party (which really should've been the Friday night after reception party). The conference itself could've used more interactive sessions, and better facilitated the ones that were. I would've loved to see more radical critiques of media and government, and longed for a better promoted and attended distro\lit section. Not to mention I didn't end up going to the top of the arch, missed seeing City Museum alltogether, didn't swim, and did not have the bitchenist media reform hotel party all year. Such is life...

Overall, spending a weekend in St. Louis devising ways to reform a broken American media was a damned fine decision. Not only am I a little more connected, a little more educated, and dare a say - a grain of salt wiser... plus, I've also got a pile of great reading material on my floor to wade through.

Answers I can't find questions to

2005-05-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

My skin is not my own.

I'm crawling with contradictions, stuck somewhere between the place I am and the place I want to be. For every wall I tear down it seems to more spring in its place. I've got big plans and even bigger ideas, but there's a hurdle that I can't seem to jump. I consume mass quantities of sci fi on a daily basis, and I'm wondering if that is a problem. There's a reality I've created in my head, a self that I can never live up to. I don't have heroes, but there's a place in my mind that I am, but reality hasn't shifted there yet. I placate myself with delusions of granduer. Something's coming, I can feel it. Am I supposed to wait for it, or do I have to bring it about on my own?