Hittin' My 30s and Lovin' Ya'll

I am in the last week of my 20s. 4 days to be precise. Thursday at 6 in the morning I will be 30 years old, will have completed my first feature film (I still have 3 days), and will have just returned from 2 weeks of travel in San Francisco and New York that were awe inspiring, productive, and incredibly rewarding.

So rather than my usual political rants and projects to feature, I want to put a shout out to all the incredible people whom I love and who have inspired me! Thanks for keeping me kicking for 3 decades and counting!

I always hoped the revolution would come when I was in my twenties. Well, liberation doesn't appear to be around the corner--rather preparation for untold economic and ecological destruction seems necessary. So for this reason, my 30s will be a time of health, joy, liberation, possibility, and skill learning so that when the shit hits the fan, I'll be ready to rumble with a good attitude.

Here's to possibility, getting older, and finding more amazing, romantic, loving people to accompany us through the struggles of our days!

Joy and Liberation! Pleasure, Revolt, Despair! Love, Autonomy, Possibility! Here come the 30s. Goodbye 20s.

Yum!

San Francisco Graffiti makes me hungry!

1-2-3 Community Space and the Bed-Stuy Block Party

Last night I visited my friends Dara and Josh in Bed-Stuy. They took me to a block party put on by the 1-2-3 Community Space, a New York-based anarchist collective. Of all the anti-authoritarian events I've been to, this was one of the best. First of all, neighborhood folks came out in full force. Hip-Hoppers, spoken work artists, various automobile clubs, and anarchists wandered around listening to music and enjoying the warm evening. What I loved about the event was that it was not so judgemental, anarchistically more holy than thou that folks came out without worrying about acting right, being punk enough, or being overwhelmed by white cultural presumptions. The event was intergenerational, joyful, and revolutionary in its inclusiveness, pleasure, and cultural integration.

Monster U.S. -- Leave Iran Alone!

According to the New York Times The Bush Administration continues swaggering about defending Israel from an attack by Iran--the provocation--weapons testing. Now, call me batty, but I think the U.S. has a substantial history of weapons testing, and not just in the desert but on civilian populations. Having tested 1063 nuclear bombs, we have a long history of ecological devastation and military bravado in tests that far exceed Iran's handful. As the only country to drop a nuclear bomb on civilians, as a country with a military budget 96.8 times larger than Iran's and still incapable of fighting the Iraqi Resistance, the United States needs to look in the mirror before talking about other countries threatening the world.

A few U.S. Military facts from Global Issues:

* US military spending accounts for 48 percent, or almost half, of the world’s total military spending
* US military spending is more than the next 46 highest spending countries in the world combined
* US military spending is 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran.
* US military spending is almost 55 times the spending on the six “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) whose spending amounts to around $13 billion, maximum. (Tabulated data does not include four of the six, as the data only lists nations that have spent over 1 billion in the year, so their budget is assumed to be $1 billion each)
* US spending is more than the combined spending of the next 45 countries.
* The United States and its strongest allies (the NATO countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia) spend $1.1 trillion on their militaries combined, representing 72 percent of the world’s total.
* The six potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together account for about $205 billion or 29% of the US military budget.

Clearly, if one wants to look for today's totalitarian regime, the United States is the obvious culprit. Please, let's keep the U.S. hands off Iran.

Obama Vote Forgives Corporate Crime

According to the New York Times, Senator Obama voted for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a bill that expands the U.S. government's surveillance abilities and gives legal immunities to phone companies who broke the law and assisted the National Security Agency's post 9/11 wiretapping program. Supporting a law that sets a precedent giving corporations the right to violate constitutional rights, Obama demonstrated his commitment to an authoritarian state, corporate-state complicity, and an inability to stand up to corporate and government power. While John McCain failed to vote, as he was busy schmoozing on the campaign trail, he has been an outspoken supporter of the bill. Both leading candidates want to appease corporate criminals and government criminals alike. This alone is a reason to reject our criminal state and the two capitalist parties that lead it.

When I am asked why I am not an unconditional supporter of Obama, his Free Market rhetoric, vote for wiretapping, and vote for the War in Iraq all demonstrate a commitment to corporations over human liberties and lives. Such commitments fail to attract me.

Queer Anti-Displacement Coalition

Regarding the city of San Francisco and many other spaces that are friendly for wealthy, white gay folks, gentrification continues to be a major issue. As I was walking up the street I came across a sign for the Queer Anti-Displacement Coalition that is doing work to stop the eradication of queer cultures that fall outside Gavin Newsome's marriage paradigm. I look forward to finding out more about their work!

Patriotism: A Cruel Form of Terror

Many cynical people who think national borders are a mythological joke still resort to patriotic swaggering on the Fourth of July to demonstrate their commitment to their country. Tonight I will be joining friends to watch the city of San Francisco blow up fire works evoking countless bombs that have been dropped on people throughout the world. The bright lights and loud noises, the smoke and the crowds will ultimately remind me of the loud noises of crowd control devices and will probably make me cringe. I will think of these countries:

Afghanistan 1998, 2001-present Bosnia 1994, 1995 Cambodia 1969-70 China 1945-46, 1950-53 Congo 1964 Cuba 1959-1961 El Salvador 1980s Korea 1950-53 Guatemala 1954, 1960, 1967-69

Indonesia 1958 Laos 1964-73 Grenada 1983 Iraq 1991-present Iran 1987 Kuwait 1991 Lebanon 1983, 1984 Libya 1986 Nicaragua 1980s

Pakistan 2003, 2006 Panama 1989 Peru 1965 Somalia 1993, 2008 Sudan 1998 Vietnam 1961-73 Yemen 2002 Yugoslavia 1999

all bombed since World War II.

I will think of the 50 gunshots fired by the New York Police department at Sean Bell. I will think of the millions of people murdered by U.S. Imperialism.

The flickering lights, the screaming crowds, the throngs of patriots will remind me of every time the United States has used explosives and guns to murder and terrorize people around the world. What the U.S. calls Independence day is a day when hundreds of thousands of fireworks resurrect the despicable pride of patriots. Karmic retribution, what Chalmers Johnson refers to as Blowback, threatens the future of this country. Terrorism against the United States occurs because we have waged terror against billions throughout the world.

Stacy and Craig are Married!

Well, the wedding was a tear jerker. It took place in the City Hall in San Francisco where a number of other people were getting married--two older lesbians wearing matching white suits and carrying pink carnations, two hot young gay boys, and Stacy who dressed exquisitely in a remarkably gender queer, Marlena Dietrich-like pin-stripped suit with an adorable hat, a wallet chain, and a handkerchief. Craig, a tall, bear of a man, wore a white sports jacket, a hot black v-neck sweater, and looked absolutely stunning. At tonights dinner, Stacy wore a high-femme sequin dress and Craig had a Hugh Hefner-esque jacket! The food was outstanding. Hillary and I ate 4 types of mushrooms including chanterelles. My pinot noir was outstandingly smoky!

If you can't tell, Hillary and I being are spoiled like crazy at this wedding. I love it!

San Francisco Wedding

Having been gone from Denver for over a day and leaving some of the pre-DNC chaos behind has been good. I've reconnected with old friends and have eaten some amazing vegan food. I am in San Francisco to go to a wedding, which is something, I must admit, I rarely am willing to do. My friend Stacy is amazing, so of course, I am here.

While I'm thinking about marriage, a few years ago I signed onto something called the Beyond Marriage campaign which was an alternative framing to marriage issues that I found to be more inclusive than the mainstream "gay marriage" framework If you've not checked it out, you should.

Fortunately, I have every bit of faith that my friend Stacy and her partner Craig are amazing and if this is what floats their boat, well, all the Best Wishes in the world. Hillary and I are off to get some lunch before we head to the court--an institution I haven't been in since either I or friends have been arrested--and today we will enjoy the ceremony of state approved love.

In the Bay--Saw Just Seeds

I'm taking a quick trip to San Francisco. I was just at Modern Times bookstore, looked up on the wall and saw Just Seeds posters for sale. It warmed my heart a bit. If you're looking for some culturally radical amazing posters to do some radical decorating with, you should check out Just Seeds. I've loved Josh MacPhee's Peoples History Project for years but now that the project has expanded even more amazing radical prints are available.

The Homeless Go to the Zoo

With the Democratic National Convention coming to town, city planners and police have had to wrangle with questions about the fate of the homeless during late August. Many rumors have spread that homeless people will be removed during the DNC. People have reported incidents of increased police harassment. None have seemed to create a workable plan.

According to the opening line of Allison Sherry's Power to the Street People During the DNC featured in todays Denver Post:

Denver police Cmdr. Deborah Dilley has a message to the 3,900 homeless people who live in the city: You can stay where you are between Aug. 25 and 28.

Dilley is attempting to reverse rumors that police will be shipping people out of the city to remote suburbs. The idea that homeless people could be swept indicates the violent power the state has over the public imagination.

The article goes on to state:

One man has loaned five flat-screen televisions for shelters so the homeless can watch the action live on cable television. An advocate is pushing for vouchers to movies, museums and the Denver Zoo so the population can enjoy the city's cultural scene for free. There are plans for a voter-registration drive. One of the city's ministries will run bingo games at night.

What homeless people should have is not a free trip to the zoo, bingo, a picture show, or a museum. The homeless should have direct line of communication to the centers of power within the Democratic Party. Of course, the DNC, committed to bolstering the security of the middle class has little room for poor people.

Dilley goes on to say:

"We have never hid the homeless in the past, and we won't hide them now," said Dilley, who works in District 6, which includes downtown. "This is going to be a traumatic time for . . . them."

Of course it will be traumatic as 56,000 people come to be wined and dined by corporate power while poor people suffer, starve, and die from a lack of basic social services the world over.

Dilley does remind us that homeless people will be targeted for typical homeless behavior.

The article goes on to state:

While Dilley is adamant that it will be business as usual, she emphasized that some activities typically engaged in by the homeless are still illegal, and people could be cited.

In the city's "Business Improvement District" — which roughly spans Speer Boulevard to 20th Street and Wynkoop to Grant streets — it is illegal to sit or lie on the ground during the daytime.

Panhandling is legal, but there are almost a dozen restrictions, including asking for money too close to a restaurant or a bar, a bus stop, or an automated teller machine.

So no, homelessness will not be illegal during the convention--rather, sitting or lying down will continue to be a crime. Asking for help near a restaurant, bar, bus stop or ATM will continue to be a punishable offense. Dilley is defending the City of Denver's doublespeak by stating that on the one hand, homelessness is not a crime, but rather, homeless behaviors are crimes.

Will the city's homeless population buy these ludicrous laws, take free trips to watch monkeys and lions, avoid sitting or sleeping in certain areas, and spend long days and nights in shelters that are forced to be open? Or will the city's homeless population be amongst those people in the streets who've had enough of the spectacle of electoral politics in a capitalist oligarchy.

Time will tell.


Couch Potato Revolution