Politics and Poetry 3: Across the spectrum

Hey Revolutionaries, feeling a bit splintered today. Could be the zen yoga countered with the running of the retards on the local Metro. Regardless, here's some headlines from all across the news spectrum, finished up of course, with some poetic license. Enjoy!

Doctors without borders: First of all, watch this video: Syrian mobile hospital.  Even as a lover of words, I fall short, grasping at suddenly weak verbal descriptions of the images in this video. Dr. Kasem is a doctor in the city of Al Qusayr, couched in a torrential province under constant attack by Syrian government forces. It is against the law to treat the wounded civilians. Dr. Kasem holds his oath to save lives above any oath to his violently corrupt government. He works in kinetically make-shift conditions, noting that the hospital is now used by snipers to rain down artillery shells on everyone and anyone, including a 6 year old in Dr. Kasem's care who was badly wounded - his liver, kidney and stomach all hemorrhaging. "You see this boy - is he terrorist?" he asks pointing to the boy, wrapped in blood stained gauze. "They are terrorists," he says motioning out towards the streets where gun fire can be heard in a never-ending sweep of mind-splitting ambiance. "After the revolution, before the revolution, during the revolution, I will help" he says, resolutely looking into the camera of photo journalist Robert King.
Sitting back and letting his words and actions cascade over me, I can't help but think...we aren't bold enough to challenge this regime, but we happily challenged Afghanistan and Iraq...there must be no pot of gold at the bottom of the Syrian rainbow...

Squeaky clean racists: The KKK has put in a bid to adopt a stretch of highway in Union County (is this irony hitting anyone else?) Georgia. The request was filed on May 21 and would give the KKK state recognition for its efforts. According to the white cloaked crusaders they're doing it "to keep the mountains beautiful." State officials have agreed to discuss this rather controversial bid. In my opinion, let 'em clean it up - I didn't realize they were environmentally inclined, but hey, I don't think the trash cares if white trash shuffles them along, might be a happily symbiotic relationship. I would simply state that any credit will be given to the individuals and not the organization, which is probably fair since I don't see the Grand Dragon out shoveling shit on highway 515 very often.

A politician's promise: No really, he promises tax reform. Senator Max Baucus (Democrat), the top Democratic senate tax writer, has promised a comprehensive tax reform bill that will please and gain support from both sides of the aisle. Yeah, and when I was little, I was promised a castle by some fat powder puff in the mall. I have to say, he makes good and valid points, but talk is cheap - our ever growing deficit is not. "Tax breaks have doubled since 1986. They now cost as much in revenue as the entire income tax brings in." And since 1986, there have been about 15,000 changes made to the tax code, one of which brought the number of "temporary" tax breaks from 14 to over 132, with seemingly never ending extensions. Although Baucus is confident, I'm not the only one who's skeptical. According to Howard Gleckman, editor of the blog TaxVox, there's no set foundation to discuss tax reform, like for example, how much taxes should be brought in. With such a fluid and ethereal tax paradigm, how can people with deep rooted and steadfast ideologies grasp this airy musing? And that's not even talking about the cave dwelling, blood sucking lobbyists who will descend on the capital like the walking dead in a Rob Zombie movie, groaning and demanding tax breaks for their thick walleted keepers. I appreciate your fervor Max, but I think it'll be more effective if we raze this bitch and build her up from the ground. A broken system can't fix itself.

Interrogation Room

Close these doors and 

let’s go

Caged room

tense -

to the bone

Break

or you’ll burn

if you stay

mark my words

Our world

Can’t be saved

Mark my words!

There’s no need to fight

they say, cutting the lights

You know life would be grand 

if you just took my hand
There’s no need to fight

they say, cutting the lights

and if I die in this cave,

I just wanna know

Who’s slave am I?

Have you made up your mind?

Give up,

Shut Up!

It’s time...

Break

or you’ll burn

if you stay

mark my words

Our world

Can’t be saved

Mark my words!

There’s no need to fight

they say, cutting the lights

You know life would be grand 

if you just took my hand
There’s no need to fight

they say, cutting the lights

and if I die in this cave,

I just wanna know

Who’s slave am I?

Politics and Poetry 3: Rant and Rave

For those of you who know me, I have an opinion on everything. From politics to spreading peanut butter, it is rare that you find a topic I don't have a comment on deck for.
That being said, I have learned to pick my fights over the years. Believe it or not, I was once an arrogant, far left, borderline extremist who didn't wear shoes, thought all Republicans were evil and all Southerners racist bigots.
From that time, I grew up, put on shoes and moved center ; moved forwards and realized that this country isn't going to fix itself from the see-saw extremes of right or left. It has to be balanced and progressive (no, not the party). From a center stand, you can survey both sides and move with a decision that reflects the best of a nation, not an ideology.
Today, while perusing the internet in search of topics for this post, I grew irritated and depressed. It happens now and then, never to my surprise but always to my disappointment. The political pages of this digital expanse were plastered with nothing more than left/right rubric, the exasperating back and forth of extremes: birthers, racists, and anti-mormons, oh my. Useless and petty commentary that had about as much to do with election issues as what I ate for breakfast.
I noticed another open tab, almost pulsating with disgust, a number which I used in another article I recently wrote: 82,000. That's how many people are homeless on any given night in Los Angeles, just Los Angeles.
Now that, is an issue.
I don't give a rats ass who Romney prays to. I don't give a damn who Obama used to pray with. I'm not electing a god or a priest. I'm electing a president - a president who will make promises now that will fall through the cracks later, just like the people I see outside my window.
And that's ok?

Understand that silence is a response. 

What about jobs? What about education? What about the kids I used to babysit for eating dust in Afghani caves? What about trillions of dollars in debt with my name on it?
With all this on the chop block, all we can think to consume is gossip on forged birth certificates? Come the fuck on, people.
And don't push the blame off. It's on us. You can't blame the host if the guest agrees to eat shit.
Instead of throwing some facts and commentary down - today, I'm simply going to leave you with this rant and rave, this little morsel to chew over, in the hopes that it won't just end in talk.


Apathy

Apathy is a cancer that kills the soul

These are the lies
you eat
when they feed you

You didn’t wake up when
our freedom died

How DARE you now
question why

This is not a game
no “other side” to blame

We chose this course by never
Demanding more

...would you LISTEN?!

there’s so much wrong
how could you write another song
about
sex, drugs and rock n roll
welcome to the tearing of my soul

come in, come in -
guilt tastes like fault
take a seat right there by the bank vault
I WANNA REACH YOU SO BAD!
would you hold up your hand
And DO SOMETHING

I miss something I’ve never known
a country with no corporate throne
I see it - every day -
my mind peddles truths that aren’t real

Do you dream in freedom
Do you see in ideas of change
Do you get sick from reality -
born from our slavery

Politics and Poetry 1

Hey Revolutionaries,

Reading these posts, you may think I suffer from extreme indecision and wavering dedication. Although those are both sometimes true, I have been trying to figure out the best way to use this blog, and now have a new idea: Politics and Poetry.
Without getting too into specifics, suffice it to say, that those two things are the meat of my writing.
Now, instead of writing whole posts dedicated to one political topic, I'm going to do bullet points of a few - the news, my take, etc. At the end, I'll have a poem to close it out. Without further adue...politics and poetry, entry 1:

• Birthers: Members of the extreme right, aka, much of the right, just won't let go of Obama's eligibility as president. Although his birth certificate was released by the White House last year, that's just not good enough, it seems. Some harp on the fact that because Obama's father was Kenyan and not a US citizen, it negates his citizenship...um...since when? My mother didn't become a citizen until I was 20 but I'm sure as shit an American citizen. Go back far enough and even the guy holding a "President Jihad" sign is no more American than Kim Jong Il. Still others are convinced that the certificate was a fake. Needless to say, this isn't doing wonders for candidate Romney's campaign. While he tries to focus on the economy and the shortfalls of Obama's term, many of his constituents pull the spotlight towards the entirely superfluous and ridiculous subject of citizenship. It's working on convincing many swing voters that the right is ripe with extremist nut jobs that care more about conspiracy theories than fixing this country. Well...judging by Romney's comment on our wonderful "safety net" for the very poor, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say he's out of touch. However, if you know anything about me, you know I feel that both sides are out of touch with anything but corporate bottom lines and career politics. But I digress...Iowa Republicans have now written into their party platform that all presidential candidates, starting this year, must "show proof of being a natural-born citizen."
In Arizona, Secretary of State Ken Bennett announced that he may keep Obama's name off of the ballots if he does not receive valid proof from Hawaii on Obama's citizenship.
I wonder if anyone has noticed the tumbling world market or the drone controversy...

• European Ties: We may not give much thought to the fact that Europe's economy is faltering, but we should. We are linked inextricably to the fate of the Eurozone. We may not have much stock in Greece but if Italy, Spain and Ireland follow suit, many of our exports would falter, thus hitting our domestic economy hard. Not to mention the slowdown in China - all in all, it is a dangerous time in the global economy and while we focus our energies here, it is vitally important to stay up to snuff on the goings on outside of our own borders.

• Egypt Election: Today was election day in Egypt. A 70 year old woman remarked in joy at this being the first time in her life that she has ever voted. The polling will take place over two days and tens of thousands of monitors are patrolling to make sure that the election is fair. It is the first time Egyptians will not know the outcome of a presidential election until the ballots are cast. This is a huge step for Egypt - being that they are the largest and arguably most powerful nation in the Arab world, this election will set the tone for others in the region. By wednesday afternoon, monitors mentioned only minor violations such as voters trying to convince others before heading in to vote. On the ballot are 13 candidates, including a representative from the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi, Amre Moussa, who served as foreign minister under Mubarak and headed the Arab League; Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh, a moderate Islamist running as a respected independent; Ahmed Shafik, who was Mubarak's last prime minister; and Hamdeen Sabahy, a leftist dark-horse contender.
While tension rides high that the interim military government will try to hijack the elections, loudspeakers atop tanks broadcast to the contrary, assuring voters that as soon as elections are over, power will be handed over to the president-elect.
Having followed the uprisings last year, and watching the 16 month interim, where reform was slow but dedication was unwavering, I hope for the best.
We could learn much from Egypt and the Arab Spring.
I'll leave you with this thought: if the people of a dictatorship can create, in 16 months, the first democratic presidential election in the history of that nation, why can we not find our way back to it?


Fool's Oasis:

How many men have you heard lying
as they dropped the ball?

And how many flags did you see flying
when the bombs fall?

How many friends would you hear dying
before you hit the wall?

Is it strange that they despise?

Oh this fool’s oasis...
this
fool’s
oasis.

Ever seen your hands stained red?
How does it feel when you go to bed?
A baby dies, a soldier cries -
we look with apathetic eyes...

Is is strange that they despise?

Oh this fool’s oasis...
this
fool’s
oasis.

Into the bomb,
into the bomb,
into the bomb
shelter.
Into the bomb,
into the bomb,
into the bomb
shelter...

Pics for thought...

New video blog will be up by the morning. Check it out on YouTube and the underground music and media mecca, Atomic Visions...in the meantime...

Bullet points

Some bullet points for the meetup this coming Sunday March 14th.
Please comment on them and tell me your thoughts as well, and join us on the 14th.

One thing we discussed was what to call our movement/group. I came up with a couple of ideas, but I don't know if they work. Thoughts?

-ICU (Informed Citizens Unite) Also a take on the face that this country is in emergency mode, something has to be done fast, and efficiently...
-FWD (Forward We Demand) Doesn't really sound right, looking for another "D" word since I like the idea of moving forward not left or right as a bit of a slogan of sorts.

As far as the group is concerned,
-visibility, both on the ground and online.
-informing people in both those arenas.
-video blogs of our meetings and actions. give people insight to who we are and what we do. i think that's very important.

As far as key issues I feel we need to pursue:
-corpotocracy. this is an umbrella issue b/c as we discussed on the 6th if you were there, so many things touch on this one subject. it is responsible for much if not all of the problems we have today.
i. the bailouts: i choose this b/c it's a very rare unveiling of the clear cut
symbiosis of government and the corporate world
ii. the failing economy: this has a lot to do with the bailouts but i choose this
as a key argumentative issue b/c so many people on both sides and inbetween
can agree that this is a big problem. our information that we offer on a
centralized hub website can offer answers and further bring people to fight
for themselves and their families.

Again, please comment and bring ideas. I will be posting this on a few different forums, hope to hear from all of you soon, and see you on the 14th @ 5pm PST.

Rooftop Revolutionaries

A group of concerned citizens just held our first skype chat. We discussed, for two hours, plans and ideas on how to move forward, not just left and right. Over the course of the next week, we'll be outlining bullet points for action on key issues. I strongly encourage anyone who reads this to join us, next Sunday the 14th @ 5pm PST and help us with this great feat of reclaiming this country for the people, by the people and of the people.

One minute mission

Here's the link for the newest video...trying something a little different...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThYXgHScDEc


*I won't be posting videos here until the issue is solved, so look on youtube till then. Sorry for the inconvenience