Global
my bike is my statement of purpose...
as i slide and i glide
one second from suicide
and the sound of screeching car tires
and busses
and shuttlebusses...
petrolium driven missiles
weapons of mass destruction
distraction
to lives of fast lives and bikinis
and arbitrarily expensive martinis..
i was taught to believe that i NEEDED TO BE TAUGHT.
caught
by 'Copy-Right' and 'Pat-Pending'...
i discovered 'The Power of Lending'
and "Big Mac, Fillet-o-Fish, Quarter-Pounder, French Fries..."
advertise
mesmerize
hypnotize
in movies and publications
full of mental masturbation
25% 'meaning'...
75% ads...
is that the meaning of life?
as in 'i coulda..'
'i shoulda...'
'i woulda...'
done some-thing with my life?..
cause NOW is where i'm living
not 'Making THEIR Living"
selling away opportunities
when right NOW
my bike...
is my statement of purpose.
as i slide and i glide
one second from suicide
and the sound of screeching car tires
and busses
and shuttlebusses...
petrolium driven missiles
weapons of mass destruction
distraction
to lives of fast lives and bikinis
and arbitrarily expensive martinis..
i was taught to believe that i NEEDED TO BE TAUGHT.
caught
by 'Copy-Right' and 'Pat-Pending'...
i discovered 'The Power of Lending'
and "Big Mac, Fillet-o-Fish, Quarter-Pounder, French Fries..."
advertise
mesmerize
hypnotize
in movies and publications
full of mental masturbation
25% 'meaning'...
75% ads...
is that the meaning of life?
as in 'i coulda..'
'i shoulda...'
'i woulda...'
done some-thing with my life?..
cause NOW is where i'm living
not 'Making THEIR Living"
selling away opportunities
when right NOW
my bike...
is my statement of purpose.
Watching the high school kids tottering up the hiking trail
under ridiculous burdens I was reminded of the studies of GIs who jumped
into the surf in the Normandy landings with 80-pound packs on their backs
and promptly drowned. These days, the overloaded backpack is coming under
scrutiny as kids totter home from school hefting 30-pound loads. I've become
a devotee of the famous long-distance hiker Ray Jardine, whose philosophy of
life and loads is set forth in his 1992 classic "Beyond Backpacking," which
should be nestled next to the works of John Muir on your bookshelf.
Jardine and his wife Jenny have hiked all the major trails, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian, and watched with horror as overloaded plodders lost any sense of pleasure and often quit the trail altogether. After thousands of miles and much experimentation, the couple ended up with a total packweight each, minus food and water, of around 8 pounds.
Jardine and his wife Jenny have hiked all the major trails, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian, and watched with horror as overloaded plodders lost any sense of pleasure and often quit the trail altogether. After thousands of miles and much experimentation, the couple ended up with a total packweight each, minus food and water, of around 8 pounds.
A beautiful ravine is endangered that is currently protected by zoning laws. A local builder wants to build on the land, but the zoning board has the final say. Let them know what you think and find out more information at: www.savewalhalla.org.
"It's not about oil. It's not about oil."
But we're taking their oil. And not just to finance reconstruction.
Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of the Iraqi occupation, made that clear back in July when he declared that Iraq needs to accept foreign investment and privatization of its oil before a permanent government is put in charge of the country. In other words, democracy is welcome only after the most important economic decisions for the future of Iraqis have been decided for them.
You’d think that such a blatant rejection of democracy and obvious grab at Iraq’s oil would attract more notice. Bremer made it clear that corporations have priority over people in Iraq, and that the U.S. occupation plans to ensure that.
Our occupation of Iraq has an eerie similarity to another intervention in the Middle East that occurred 50 years ago--the CIA-British coup that ousted Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mohammed Mossadegh and installed the infamous Shah of Iran.
But we're taking their oil. And not just to finance reconstruction.
Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of the Iraqi occupation, made that clear back in July when he declared that Iraq needs to accept foreign investment and privatization of its oil before a permanent government is put in charge of the country. In other words, democracy is welcome only after the most important economic decisions for the future of Iraqis have been decided for them.
You’d think that such a blatant rejection of democracy and obvious grab at Iraq’s oil would attract more notice. Bremer made it clear that corporations have priority over people in Iraq, and that the U.S. occupation plans to ensure that.
Our occupation of Iraq has an eerie similarity to another intervention in the Middle East that occurred 50 years ago--the CIA-British coup that ousted Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mohammed Mossadegh and installed the infamous Shah of Iran.
Just read Dr. Fitrakis's article posted at Online Journal. Earleir
today, I was leafletting agains the recall of California Governor Grey
Davis. One young fellow walked by and I asked him if he knew about the
recall.
"Don't bother me"
Don't you want a democracy? I asked
" I don't care, I am going home to watch a football game."
"So it's OK with you if the country goes Fascist?" "It's OK fo r other people to make decisions that could dramatically afffect your life?"
"You are delusional" he said.
I could only think, "So I'm delusional?"
Many people are way beyond help. And he is a young guy. Where does that leave the future?
Anyway, thanks for your work.
"Don't bother me"
Don't you want a democracy? I asked
" I don't care, I am going home to watch a football game."
"So it's OK with you if the country goes Fascist?" "It's OK fo r other people to make decisions that could dramatically afffect your life?"
"You are delusional" he said.
I could only think, "So I'm delusional?"
Many people are way beyond help. And he is a young guy. Where does that leave the future?
Anyway, thanks for your work.
Just wanted to say I was really impressed with the
Farm Aid article by Harvey Wasserman. It really
rang true to me at each turn and I was also at almost
everything he explained.
If you'd like some pictures to go along with the article I've got some posted at:
www.funtigo.com/kelvs
Check under "Farm Aid 2003 Keeper."
If you'd like some pictures to go along with the article I've got some posted at:
www.funtigo.com/kelvs
Check under "Farm Aid 2003 Keeper."
Democrats in Congress have abandoned their efforts to investigate the White House's use of questionable intelligence information about Iraq's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, saying the issue has been "eclipsed" by President Bush's request for $87 billion from Congress to continue funding the war there.
David Helfert, a spokesman for Congressman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, who criticized the White House for relying too heavily on murky intelligence to get support for the war, said Friday that Congressional Democrats would no longer pursue hearings on the intelligence matter.
"We're past that," Helfert said, referring to the intelligence issue. "Those questions were eclipsed by the supplemental request by President Bush for $87 billion" to fund the Iraq war. "Congress if focusing on asking questions about the $87 billion, what it will be used for and whether it's worth it. It would be a good characterization to say that the intelligence questions on Iraq and how the President came to believe that it had weapons of mass destruction are no longer an issue."
David Helfert, a spokesman for Congressman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, who criticized the White House for relying too heavily on murky intelligence to get support for the war, said Friday that Congressional Democrats would no longer pursue hearings on the intelligence matter.
"We're past that," Helfert said, referring to the intelligence issue. "Those questions were eclipsed by the supplemental request by President Bush for $87 billion" to fund the Iraq war. "Congress if focusing on asking questions about the $87 billion, what it will be used for and whether it's worth it. It would be a good characterization to say that the intelligence questions on Iraq and how the President came to believe that it had weapons of mass destruction are no longer an issue."
On September 10, opening day of the Fifth Ministerial of the World Trade
Organization, Lee Kyung Hae, leader of the Korean Federation of Advanced
Farmers Association, climbed the fence that separates the excluded from the
included and took his life with a knife to the heart.
"I am 56 years old, a farmer from South Korea who has strived to solve our problems with the great hope in the ways to organize farmers' unions," Lee read from a statement minutes before his death. "But I have mostly failed, as many other farm leaders elsewhere have failed."
"I am 56 years old, a farmer from South Korea who has strived to solve our problems with the great hope in the ways to organize farmers' unions," Lee read from a statement minutes before his death. "But I have mostly failed, as many other farm leaders elsewhere have failed."
Senate debate on the 2004 foreign aid bill could take
place within the next week. Included in the bill is $500 million in
aid - largely military and police aid - to Colombia. However, the
Senate appears set to approve the Colombia aid portion of the bill
with no debate. More than $2.5 billion in taxpayer dollars has gone
to Colombia in the last three years, and there is no indication that
the broad and vague goals of Plan Colombia have been met. Drugs are
just as available on U.S. streets. Nineteen civilians are killed
each day in the crossfire of violence between the paramilitaries,
guerilla groups and the Colombian armed forces, up from 12 per day
three years ago. The fumigation policy aimed at destroying the coca
fields has displaced farmers and left them with no economic
alternative, while simply moving coca production to other countries
in the region.
Action: Contact your senators and ask them why they are not talking about Colombia policy. Express your concerns about the policy of continued military funding for Colombia.
Action: Contact your senators and ask them why they are not talking about Colombia policy. Express your concerns about the policy of continued military funding for Colombia.
Bob - I just read your article on voting technology and the CIA www.counterpunch.org/fitrakis09082003.html. I've been covering this issue for the past year. Here is an excerpt of a speech I gave this past Sunday at a forum I hosted in Philadelphia.
"The boards of many of these companies are dominated by top donors to the Republican Party, former high ranking military officers, and several ex-CIA directors. The CIA directors include: James Woolsey, Bobby Ray Inman, and John Deutch, and as mentioned before, Robert Gates and Frank Carlucci. The CIA, it should be remembered, has a decades-long track record of assisting in the brutal overthrow of democratically elected governments around the world."
I've collected a lot of stuff and put it on my webpage www.ecotalk.org/VotingSecurity.htm. Help yourself.
Again, good work.
"The boards of many of these companies are dominated by top donors to the Republican Party, former high ranking military officers, and several ex-CIA directors. The CIA directors include: James Woolsey, Bobby Ray Inman, and John Deutch, and as mentioned before, Robert Gates and Frank Carlucci. The CIA, it should be remembered, has a decades-long track record of assisting in the brutal overthrow of democratically elected governments around the world."
I've collected a lot of stuff and put it on my webpage www.ecotalk.org/VotingSecurity.htm. Help yourself.
Again, good work.