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« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Don’t Start The Revolution Without Me
[ 8 Comments ]Posted on June 14, 2009 by admin in Politics
Sunday, June 14th, 2009Are you happy with the way things are? If not, are you brave enough to change them?
Are Americans Too Apathetic To Do This? |
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our social contract, and how the Right of Revolution is written right into the second paragraph of America’s Declaration of Indpendence. Why has this been on my mind? Because I honestly think our system of government is broken. I mean, broken from a citizen’s point of view; from the point of view of those who rule, everything’s pretty much how they like it. The masses are busy watching TV and laboring to buy things they can’t afford, and the power structure is resistant to anything short of a lobby group that’s backed by millions of dollars, or an all out revolution. And things are failing. Education is failing, health care is an atrocity, financial institutions have failed, major industries are collapsing, and even basic civility has taken a major hit over the last 20 or 30 years. So when will we as a collective react? I was inspired a little bit recently when a friend pointed me to a bunch of information about Situationist International, the French movement of the 50′s and 60′s that is credited with motivating the May 1968 wildcat strikes that literally brought France to a standstill. Why? Because in my view, nothing has been more Read the rest of this entry »
Tanks For The Memories
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 6, 2009 by admin in Politics
Saturday, June 6th, 2009Tiananmen, 20 years later. Maybe we could learn something about social change from the Chinese.
The man in the iconic photo here should be a reminder of the fact that those who rule only do so because the masses let them.It rarely occurrs to most of us, but the only thing that makes a rich man rich and a poor man poor is a social contract. Through more elaborate manipulations of social contracts, the rich man may persuade other men to align their beliefs with his, which gives the illusion of power, but this is simply another social contract. Which is why it astounds me that in difficult economic times, when many people are in fear daily that they may not be able to keep their homes or feed their children, or indeed are homeless or hungry, that other people continue to live in luxury. This is perhaps most appalling when those “other people” are the people we’ve elected to manage our civil and economic affairs, and they happen to be failing miserably at their jobs. What keeps this decomposing social fabric together? Our complacency and acceptance, I guess. This might be a good time to remember the bravery and fortitude of those who were involved the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 which lasted several months and were finally put to an end by the Chinese military in early June 20 years ago. When was the last time we saw this kind of self-respect and action amongst the populace of the United States? Probably not since 1776 or so. Boston.com has some great photos looking back at Tiananmen, 20 years later.
No Really, WTF California
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on May 30, 2009 by admin in Politics
Saturday, May 30th, 2009Proposition H8. Apply liberally for a pain in the ass.
California is an amazing and beautiful place. Some of the hippest, smartest people I know live there. Apparently though, none of them vote; how else could one explain the bizarre electoral and legislative behavior in the state since the 1990′s? Starting with the almost comical collapse of the $300,000,000+ per mile subway under Hollywood Blvd in 1994, California has exhibited some disturbing trends in voting, governing and law. This is the state that brought us the Rodney King trial, let OJ free, created the “Three Strikes” law that sends chocolate chip cookie thieves to jail for 25 years to life (at a time when the Netherlands’ jails can’t be kept full), elected a monosyllabic Austrian action movie star as governor, has a GDP greater than Spain but can’t balance their budget, and most recently, in spite of having the largest same-sex couple population of any state, can’t seem to pass simple same-sex marriage legislation. WTF, California, indeed. You used to lead the way in social progress and forward thinking, what has happened to you?
UPDATE: We uploaded this image to Cafe Press as a bumper sticker, and they blocked its usage for products within thirty minutes. You can still get the WTF, California mug while we set up an account with another service. And on a related note, did you know there really IS a WTF, California?
Our Constitution: It’s Just To DIE For
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 22, 2009 by admin in Politics
Friday, May 22nd, 2009Memorial Day weekend is a great time to ask if our constitution is still worth dying for. The latest change? The FCC can inspect your baby monitor without a warrant.
With Memorial Day weekend upon us, maybe it’s time to take a moment to honor those who have died for our great country. Or, more importantly, maybe ask ourselves if we would do the same, or if we even live in the same country they did. I mean, if one of the things you’d be willing to die for is the constitution, shouldn’t you check first to see if it still exists? We now know that not only did the Bush administration declare the 4th Amendment irrelevant, but apparently the new administration isn’t doing a lot to change things, and recently, the FCC has been taking things to a new level regarding search and seizure. You know that tag you’ll find on mattresses that says “Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law“? By now, most of us know it wasn’t directed at the consumer. But there’s another tag in your house you might be concerned about. Do you own a wireless router, a cordless phone, a baby monitor, or a cell phone? You know the label that you’ll find on some devices (and in that chapter of the manual you didn’t read) that refers to Part 15 of the FCC rules? Well, in a rather bizarre twist, the FCC has perverted these regulations to give themselves authority to conduct warrantless searches on private property. I’d suggest you mount your wireless router on the outside of your house, and put all your other devices in a lockbox outside your door. That baby monitor’s gonna be a problem though.
I’m Not A Democrat, But I Play One In The Voting Booth
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 12, 2009 by admin in Politics
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009White House Press Correspondents Dinners Haven’t Been This Much Fun Since Stephen Colbert Greeted His Paisan Justice Scalia With The Fangul
In spite of having some liberal mamby-pamby attitudes here on Dissociated Press, we hardly go easily on President Obama. In fact the last few posts about him expressed a lot of doubt about the job he’s doing. Well, being typical Americans, in only takes one good media event to sway our opinion. If you haven’t seen clips from the White House Correspondents Dinner last Saturday, take some time to watch (left). This event hasn’t been this much fun since Stephen Colbert stunned the audience into appalled, squirming silence back in 2006, adorning his performance with flourishes like giving Justic Scalia the Fangul and wrapping things up with the infamous Helen Thomas Chase Scene. It’s refreshing to see the POTUS’ intelligence and ability to laugh equalling that of the stand-ups and the press. In fact, his performance was probably better-pitched than Wanda Sykes’. Gobama!