The party of pussies...

Bush's pick got confirmed as Chief Justice today. I can't blame Republicans for being Republicans - I mean, who did we think they were going to put in there, Noam fucking Chomsky? - but the capitulation of the "opposition" party really chaps my ass. 22 out of 44 Democratic senators - half!! - voted for Bush's guy. This shit went down when his approval ratings suck, he looks like an assclown after Katrina, Rove and DeLay are both in legal trouble, and Big Dick Cheney was under anesthesia - it was the perfect opportunity to show some backbone. All the other team's stars were on the fucking bench. But no, they folded like they always do. Even Pat Leahy and Russ Feingold, for Chrissake. Rrrrrrr...

I am utterly sick of electoral politics. Denise was looking at the November ballot and talking about reading through all the initiatives, etc... I can't even get excited enough to go vote down Jerry Sanders. Real change is not going to happen through elected officials. I mean, I can see the benefit of trying to stop real psychos, like Bush or David Duke, from getting elected. By and large though, I would like to see progressives focus more on organizing people and less on grooming star candidates like Hillary or Obama (Goddess bless him). But, I'm an apocalyptic anarchist, so I see no remedy until things get so out of control that we have a revolution. Which - don't get me wrong - will suck for the people still in what will soon be known as "the former U.S.A." But it will be better for the world in general when this big crazy country gets split up into a bunch of little Whiteman-istans.

Another entry in my list of potential disasters to come: prehistoric viruses from the ice! Whoo-hoo! Bring on Captain Trips and Randall Flagg!

Working with what I have...

My life has been sort of low level chaos of late. Denise has been mad busy and I wish we could see each other more... but that's karma, and on balance it's the right energy for us. Meanwhile, work has been weird: we are dealing with the Puerto Rico school system, bringing up fifteen to thirty schools a day on to satellite internet. It's been interesting trying to get my Spanish up to the level where I can communicate technical issues over a shitty cell connection. I'm realising I don't speak the language near as well as I thought I did, but at the same time I have more confidence in at least speaking conversationally at a basic level.

I thought I would be speaking more Spanish in California than I ended up speaking. It's a lot like Hawai'i in that way; people stay in their ethnic enclaves for the most part. Hell, the woman I'm in a relationship with is Italian-Irish-German like myself! I'm really interested in bridging the culture gap more, same as I did back in the islands. The anti-Minuteman protests are over, so having missed out on that I am going to have to strike out on my own. I'm scouting for pro-migrant organisations I can help out with; like everything else in my life, though, it is going to have to wait on my schedule becoming more stable.

I'm relieved about this hurricane - both that the direct loss of life is low to none, and that we're not looking at more and more gas price increases. I'm still buying my gas almost exclusively at Citgo, so I feel pretty good about paying a little more than the absolute lowest price since it goes to help the poor, even in this country. My economics are still a little tight... which is another reason why it's good that I don't have a lot of time to spend with D... less temptation to spoil her!

He's Baaa.... aaack!

Now that nobody reads this thing anymore... guess I can get back to writing. Journaling. "To blog" is not a verb. So there.

I got distracted for a while by my move, and by Hurricane Denise, but now I'm settling into what feels like a new pattern. Nothing too monotonous, you understand... there will definitely be some good chaos with the changing around of my work schedule, and with D back in my life there's no chance of things being boring. But I am really feeling like I'm here now, and like I am establishing the next phase of my life.

We've been working a lot of disaster recovery issues from New Orleans at work, and since they have Fucks News on all the time I have just been marinating in Katrina stuff. One day, after work, I took my usual walk down to the beach. On my way back, I noticed two big white buses and a cop car out in front of the Apple Tree. There were a bunch of African Americans kind of milling around, and I noticed they all had really really thick Southern accents. You see all kinds of things in OB, so I just kept cruising on. A few paces later, though, I stopped. I turned back around, and I made eye contact with a guy about my age. I asked him, "are you from New Orleans?" He said, "Yeah." I shook his hand, did the guy handshake/body-check/hug thing and told him, "I'm glad you're all right."

I really think we're moving into a period of increasing danger and collapse. I believe we are already in a period of rapid climate change, of which Katrina was just a dramatic symptom. people have already forgotten about the peat bogs melting in Siberia, which will speed things up even more. At the same time, the US Empire is going to be starting its period of collapse, and it's not going to be pretty. The economy is also very unstable and that will make all of the other problems worse.

If I sound mad pessimistic, that's because I am. At the same time, I have a lot of hope at the individual level. The important people in my life really love me, and there small groups of committed people all over the world doing wonderful things. It will be a time of widespread chaos... and I do love chaos! So I'm not depressed about it, though I want to cry for all of the lives that are going to be cut short in the coming years.

Work for change. Be brave. And love those who are close to you.

Americans "oppressed..."

I love this!

Venezuelan leader: U.S. citizens oppressed

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Saying that U.S. citizens are oppressed by their own government, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised Friday that he would not visit the United States again until Americans "liberate" their nation.

Chavez, in Havana for trade talks, told an international gathering of activists here that before an earlier trip to Cuba, a U.S. State Department undersecretary he did not identify warned him not to go because he would no longer be received in Washington.

He said he went ahead with that trip anyway, and later traveled to the United States to visit U.S. President George W. Bush, who he said greeted him with a Coca-Cola in his hand.

"I have not returned, nor do I think about returning again, until the people of the United States liberate that nation," said Chavez, saying that Americans are "oppressed" by their government and U.S. media.

Chavez considers Cuban President Fidel Castro a political ally and close personal friend, and Washington has grown increasingly alarmed by their deepening political and economic alliance.

During Chavez's current visit, the two countries have signed a host of economic and other accords, including a deal for Cuba to buy $412 million in goods from the South American nation, with Cuba waiving all import duties.

Venezuela's state oil company also has opened an office in Havana this week, agreeing to help explore for and refine any crude deposits discovered off the island's coast. It also announced that the 53,000 barrels it has been sending to Cuba since 2000 at preferential terms was recently increased to up to 90,000 barrels daily.

Chavez also criticized the current Latin American tour by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, referring to her as an "imperial lady" who is trying to divide and conquer the hemisphere's developing nations.

Despite Chavez's anti-U.S. comments, his country is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and a top crude supplier to the United States.

Hilo my hometown...

Hilo can drive you crazy, get on your nerves, then one day show you how sweet and beautiful she can be. Oh well, I never intended to leave forever, or get this place completely out of my head and heart. But the wedding yesterday really gave me crazy homesickness pangs. I kind of feel like a traitor... for all these years of being a Hilo booster, "the Big Island's so great," etc... now I'm the one who's bailing. Wah.

David wants to throw me a huge party on Cinco de Mayo (but really on Siete de Mayo because Cinco's on a Thursday this year). And Mrs. Miyashiro wants to make me a huge turkey dinner. Wah. Wah. Waaah!

I know I'm doing the right thing, it's not that. It's just more painful than I had thought to uproot myself.

Benedictus Sextus Decimus...



Former Hitler Youth. Headed (until today) the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, formerly known as the Inquisition. Thinks Turkey is "too Muslim" for the EU (which has like 50 million Muslims). Tells American Catholics how to vote... and may have handed the election to George W. Bush. Believes civil unions is "the legalisation of evil."The silencer of Hans Küng. The liquidator of Liberation Theology. The "Panzerkardinal."

Well, as Yoda said, "always two there are; a Master and an Apprentice." So, we should keep an eye on Darth Benedict's student...

"Christo-fascism..."

I have been trying really hard, over the past number of years, to come to terms with my Christian heritage. I'm a pretty spiritual man, and though nominally a Buddhist for some time, I really support the Dalai Lama's injunction to stick to one's religion of birth. But, despite all the many wonderful Catholics I have met and read about, there's just far too much in the tradition and the dogma that I cannot accept, and I no longer feel at home in the Church.

I have been able to develop a good respect for the many great things that committed Christians have done to further the cause of social justice and the search for transcendent truths, either as a result of, or in spite of, their faith. So it's really hard for me to accept the increasing intolerance of American Christians, and the sort of naked grab for power. This certainly involves many Catholics, but it is mostly Protestant fundamentalists - activist, politically-connected, and rich - that are leading the charge. As a non-Christian, I don't feel like I'm picking on any one sect, but rather a whole political drift that offends and worries me. Call it Christo-fascism.

>One glaring and painfully obvious example - and one that is totally off the radar of the national media - is Senate bill S. 520 (House version H.R. 1070), AKA the "Constitution Restoration Act" (CRA). The stated purpose of this bill - right at the top, without any weasel words or fudging - is to prevent the Supreme Court from having "jurisdiction to review... any matter... against an entity of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer or agent of Federal, State, or local government... concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government."

Goddess help us!

This is another scary chapter in the spread of a certain kind of millenialism in American society. In every era there has been one or another group of Christians adamant in their belief that Christ's return is imminent. What's new about these times is that there are End-Timers in positions of power in the most powerful country on the planet. It may be years before we know the degree to which the Iraq war was at least partly advocated by those who wanted to provoke Armageddon in the Middle East in order to hasten the Glorious Appearing of Jesus Christ. But what is manifestly obvious - from the Terri Schiavo shitstorm to the illegalization of D & X and on and on - is that the voices of people who believe the world is ending are louder than ever in the halls of government. And they are almost unopposed, largely I think because of successful (and untrue) propaganda that the ruling party's victory in the last national election was due to the electorate's "moral values."

We are being manipulated, lied to, and confused into what may well be an American Taliban state. And progressives, rationalists and freethinkers are silent and marginalised.

Keep your eye on the CRA here.

And pray.

The Bolivarian revolution in the time of "World War IV..."

We're moving into an era of stark choices and harsh realities. American millenialist fundamentalism, wedded to good old fashioned economic imperialism, is locked in a death struggle with its freakish mirror image: Muslim jihadists bent on a restoration of the ancient Caliphate. Hovering around the edges is a sort of nervous European "kinder, gentler" capitalism: too timid to be a real counterweight to the US, but unhappy with its extremism. China seems to be sitting this one out.

And then there is the global South.

The billions below the Equator have never done well with modernity, and they were pawns in the global power struggle of the last century. But some of the best ideas on how to build a saner society have come from the South. Despite this marginalisation, one nation in particular - oil-rich Venezuela - is increasingly drawing attention to itself for its novel political ideas.

The Bolivarian revolution is often associated with Chávez, and while he obviously provided a strong initial impetus - not to mention, political power - towards that work, it is clear that at this point the movement has a life of its own.The goal of the Bolivarian revolution involve social change in the context of a participatory democracy, where citizens are carrying out programs in their own communities, under their own control. I liken this dynamic element of the Bolivarian revolution, echoes of the old principle of subsidiarity, that revolutionary principle first enunciated by, of all people, a Catholic Pope.

A significant element in the Bolivarian revolution is the importance of education. The goal is to have free education from childhood to the graduate level carried out to further Bolivarian ideals in different spheres of work. According to the rector of the Bolivarian University: “education is not just to create professionals. Education is much more than that. Knowledge is power, and more people with knowledge empowers the whole population. Educating women empowers not only the women educated, but the whole population. Creating critical thinkers, a population of intellectuals, is a much more profound project than just preparing people for jobs.”

An interesting part of all this is that the revolution, for once, is well funded. In these years of high prices for oil, Venezuela's state oil company is generating big profits to be invested in social programs: what Chávez has called sembrar el petróleo (to harvest the oil). In this instance, the rich are not being expropriated to finance the revolution. Rather, in a geopolitical act of jiujitsu breathtaking in its irony, the capitalist system's thirst for oil is being exploited to finance a post-capitalist alternative. This is probably one of my favourite elements in this whole story.

The Venezuelan government under Chávez has created a number of different programs which are called "missions:" Mission Robinson, which is concerned with elementary level education; Mission Ribas, for high-school level education; Mission Sucre at the college level and Mission Vuelvan Caras ("about face"), which provides education in the trades. In addition,Mission Mercal brings staple foods to the barrios and countryside at prices affordable by Venezuela's poor. And Mission Barrio Adentro ("into the neighborhood") is establishing an expanding network of neigborhood clinics. This effort has been spearheaded by Cuban medics - who are, however, soon to be replaced by Cuban-educated Venezuelans - to staff clinics for the poor.

The Bolivarian revolution presents an alternative model for a real and participative democracy. The Bolivarians pursue the old socialist goals of health care for all, free access to education and a decent quality of life, but without the stultifying bureaucracy and social injustice that doomed the dinosaurs of the Soviet bloc. If it delivers on even a fraction of its promise, it will stand as a shining example that the world need not follow the scary and dehumanising path laid out by the dour men and their Bibles and Korans.

[*] Heinberg, Richard, “The Party’s is Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies”, 3rd Edition Revised, New Society Publishers, Canada 2003.

Using the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression...

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: The Garrote of Courteous Debate.

Get yours.

RIP Karol Józef Wojtyła...



I saw the pope in 1979, with a million other people in a monster outdoor Mass at Logan Square in Philadelphia. He spoke with a heavy accent and made his famous declaration "the priesthood is to be permanent, celibate and male." A tough, conservative Pontiff went over huge in tough, conservative Philadelphia, and I was in one of my brief Catholic periods. I went to Mass maybe five times that year.

Eventually I got some perspective on the Pope... all the anti-woman, anti-gay, top-down, do-as-We-say rhetoric took the shine off his halo for me. The final straw was when he purged Liberation Theology in Latin America, at a time when the Church was the only institution standing up for the poor, and priests and nuns were raped and slaughtered.

Of course, my heart goes out to all who are touched by his death. And big ups to him for recognising anti-semitism and promoting humility and atonement among Catholics. But, to me, this hard-line, hard-ass Pope was no Saint.

RIP Terry Schiavo...

I almost don't want to post anything on this, cause it's been so incredibly overplayed. But lost in all the crazy Culture War atmospherics is an incredibly poignant fact: this woman lay in a "persistent vegetative state" (whatever the fuck that means) for years due to complications of her bulimia.

Now imagine that neither her husband and her family claims to be aware of her condition. She lost more than a hundred pounds. She had stopped menstruating. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nails brittle, she bruised easily. I mean Jesus Christ.

It's just amazing than no one wants to talk about this. How many other women are dead and dying of this horrible sickness, this hidden secret of our thin-obsessed society?

Respect your Mother...

This Easter, my friend Heather got a heavy lesson in caution while in nature. I'm still in shock with how easily she could have been taken... and appreciative at how gentle our Hawaii climate is. Add it to the list of things I will miss...

Clever...

The answer to the classic neo-con question here.

Instead of my own writing I'm linking to other people's. Gee this "blog" stuff is easy!

Seriously, I'll write something real at some point..

Democracy in a persistent vegetative state...

I'm just gonna go ahead and throw this whole thing in here... this is really happening in 2005 America.

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures?

Friday, March 25, 2005

By John Gibson

Just to burnish my reputation as a bomb thrower, I think Jeb Bush should give serious thought to storming the Bastille.

By that I mean he should think about telling his cops to go over to Terri Schiavo's hospice, go inside, put her on a gurney and load her into an ambulance. They could take her to a hospital, revive her, and reattach her feeding tube. It wouldn't save Terri exactly; she'd still be in the same rotten shape she was in before they disconnected the feeding tube.

But the point is, the temple of the law is so sacrosanct that an occasional chief executive cannot flaunt it once in a while, sort of drop his drawers on the courthouse steps and moon the judges, as a way to protest the complete disregard courts and judges have shown here, in this case, for facts outside the law.

For instance, Michael Schiavo and Terri Schiavo are still married, under the law. Anybody else in the world notes with interest that Michael Schiavo has a new love interest and has been engaged in living long enough that he has two children by her.

Now let's see — any woman in America can see Michael Schiavo and Terri Schiavo are not really married anymore. But judge after judge after judge after judge still nods his or her head and mutters, married? Yup, they're married?

This is important because as husband, Michael Schiavo is her guardian and allowed to say what happens to her, how the money in her estate is spent, and so forth.

There are other issues that all the judges here have decided don't rise to the level of importance — that they would order Schiavo kept alive while more hot air is expended on this subject.

But for me the big one is the judicial tendency to say, as long as the law and the process has been followed correctly and justly, doesn't matter if she lives or dies.

Strikes me that that's adherence to law to a fault.

I know lawyers and judges don't think that way, but real people do.

Oh John, you're not saying judges aren't real people, are you?

Well, judging by what happened here, I'd say yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

So Jeb, call out the troops, storm the Bastille and tell 'em I sent you.

When this country has its own Reichstag fire, we can't pretend we didn't see it coming.

In uncharted territory...

Can't say it better than my man Gore (no, not him; the other one): "This is something new under the sun--that a president, just because he feels like it, can declare war on anybody."

http://citypages.com/databank/26/1268/article13085.asp

And let's hear it for Uncle Noam:

http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=6805&sectionID=41

Good Friday, everybody. It's a great day to be a lapsed Catholic...

Arrested development

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

You Are 27 Years Old

27 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Erik made everyone play the "guess how old Paul is" game. Closest guess: 28. So does this mean I am youthful or childish? Oh well. At least I have all my hair.

Losing my religion...

Before the coverage gets too overwhelming I just want to say big ups for Ashley Smith, the Christian lady that talked the Atlanta killer down and saved her own life in the process. The news keeps talking about her "bravery," and hell yeah she was brave... but more than that she was compassionate. She engaged with this guy and showed human kindness to him... even though he was probably among the people least deserving of any sympathy on that day. I think if people want to know "What Would Jesus Do," well one of the things he might do is make eggs for a homicidal maniac who was holding him hostage.

And I don't think Brian Nichols can blame his shit of the fact that very few of the so-called Christians act like they are. But it would sure be a better country if all those churches taught Ashley Smith's kind of Christianity.

'Nuff said about that...

I've been really struggling with my attitude about religion over the past days and weeks. I have really tried to embrace a sense of God in the world, ever since I went to the vipassana retreat where Trudy Goodman talked about God (the weekend Shari left me, hmm). I have seen other people's faith and thought it seemed to be a centering influence in their lives. But it really doesn't seem to be taking with me. In good times and bad, I think about God and thank God or ask for strength... but it seems hollow to me.

I am a spiritual person, and I do still hold a very strong connection to my practice. I am superstitious and pagan as ever, if not more so... but God and religion really don't seem to be a part of my world. And so, recently, I've been getting more and more OK with that. I am, after all, a thoroughly postmodern man. And, for all the Tarot cards and ritual, I'm a computer scientist and a Philly hardhead. So I feel like what I am after is what's called an integral spirituality, bringing together the seemingly disconnected worlds of science and spirit.

So where I will end up in my relationship with God is anybody's guess. I don't intend to give up my fondness for the Catholic liturgy, rosary beads, my Tarot or my athame. But I'm reaching towards a higher place, and that feels good.

If scary.

Back to Earth...

I'm starting to get my equilibrium back after my trip to the Relationship Twilight Zone over the past bunch of weeks. I got my latest "last email" from L last night... maybe this one will be the last last, who knows. It would be nice, cause I still haven't really processed what went down. So much of the San Diego trip has a dreamlike quality to it, it's like if I hadn't seen Michelle and Olive it'd be like I didn't go there at all.

Anyway, I'm back, and Blogger is behaving itself for a change, so we'll see if I can get back my momentum. It feels like a whole "new-period" period; between the stress and the compensatory partying/sleeping in/not running I picked up a good 5 pounds too... so I need to turn over a new leaf: blog regularly, run, cut the beer and chocolate. Etc.

David's birthday party last night was a nice change of pace. I went around telling everybody about my move and felt bad about it; people seemed sad and I felt sad. I miss the Big Island already! I'm sure after a month over there I'm going to wonder why I ever left. I still feel it is the right decision, but I definitely want to do a lot of Big Islandy things over the next months.

Anyway, I'm sick of college, single, getting over a horrible breakup and out of shape: but I still love this fucking life! God I'm weird.

Why?

These are Hawai'i based Marines and Sailors that will never ever again hold their children, never kiss their parents, never embrace a lover, or watch a sunset or smell a rose. And for what? For fucking what?

Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Etterling

Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper

Hospital Corpsman Third Class John D. House

Lance Cpl. Saeed Jafarkhani-torshizi Jr.

Corporal Sean P. Kelly

Lance Cpl. Allan Klein

Corporal James L. Moore

Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov

Lance Cpl. Rhonald Rairdan

Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos

Lance Cpl. Darrell J. Schumann

First Lt. Dustin M. Shumney

Corporal Matthew R. Smith

Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence

Support the troops. Bring them home.

Outrage du jour

So now the military has a special unit to do "extra-legal missions to combat terrorism in the United States," at "high-risk events like the Olympics and political party conventions." At what point are people going to start giving a shit what is happening?