OT time or how I learned to love/hate my local world
I'm having a hard time dealing with the 'world as we find it' these days. I find myself focusing on local, state and regional as far as politics go. Politics, local, regional, national and global are not really separate from the global society at large. They seem to be a symptom of the general malice the world at large is suffering under. I do not blame ordinary people however as they really do not have any meaningful choice about the direction or agenda that is imposed on them. We hear online from everybody and his dog what the problem is and yet nobody has a solution. The cacophony of voices are powerless they just echo and mirror the divisions offered by unmitigated global power. The vampire squid on humanities face.
Locally it looks a lot like the present global so called reality. Axelrod's 'world as we find it'. I do live in American urban land so maybe that colors my perception. I doubt it. I'm no dummy I can see what's going down. I can also tie it to the what is going down across the universe. Bad news and getting crazier by the day. I wish I could write a cheerful OT that said Yeah Bernie or fall looks great. It doesn't it's freaking weird weather wise and not in a good hopeful way. Bernie is not the solution but he offers the elusive hope we all want. Same with my community the one I moved to in the 90's cause it was a diverse, affordable and livable place. Long gone that.
Now for the hopey side of this depressing and frightening global/local screw we all face. People do not seem willing in my community and other communities across the world to roll over and knuckle under to the reality were told is inevitable. People are resilient they keep moving along, that's how we got those self evident truths and inalienable rights. Sure they will go along out of fear of losing what they have but once they realize they too are up for the axe be it economic or just staying alive how do the powers that be keep the riff raff in line?
In my city the pillagers who by the way are Democrat's are in full power and demolishing this city neighborhood by neiborhood. Their vision is to make it grow, grow to accommodate unlimited growth for growths (profits) sake. FIRE is alive and being fed by investors from Shanghai to every slimy investor this world has allowed to flourish and rule the world. Anyway enough I'm getting off my soap box and bringing you some local music not of the yuppie type like the Decemberists for your enjoyment.
I'm clueless as how to alter the world, politics won't do the trick as they are rigged regardless of denomination as we find it. I'm not moving out of my house, neighborhood. community, to enable the demolition of a city I live in and call home. Send me more letters telling me you want to buy my old tired house to bulldooze down and build the slums of the future, cause the suburb's are no longer profitable to the developers from hell. I do see plenty of everyday people walking the streets and i hope we will prevail.
Some local music from the PNW, some old some local some new.
These guys played at my graduation prom on a boat in the Willamette river.
This band from the 80's was one my husband played with on a bill while in SF where we lived until the early 90's. A Portland local band.
Then there was Elliot Smith another grundge? suicide from the 90's PNW ...better then Everclear imo...
Another local Portland band I liked from the 90's that's still alive and kicking as their reincarnation The Pynnacles
So now there are over 1000 bands in Portland. Here's my favorite..Could be I'm biased as this is Shahryar's band the Cool Whips but still it's great.
Comments
Excellent OT, Shaz! Share many of the same sentiments
that you've expressed.
No, you're not biased--I especially enjoyed the Cool Whips, too!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
It seems as though it's everywhere
The rampant greed aided by corrupt elected officials that is destroying our homes, our lives, our earth. There are times when it gets to be too much for me too. Lately my personal life has been too crowded with real life stuff and it has been difficult for me to follow all the outrages that are being committed all over our country and the world. So I retreat into more mundane things.
I know I cannot carry the burdens of the world on my shoulders nor can I or any other one person change things alone. My other half does not understand why I am even concerned or try via my small one on one efforts (Occupy, Peace vigil) to make one drop of change in a huge ocean that seems against us. I think it is the only way I personally can deal with it.
We all have our ways and even if it is dropping out, we have to do whatever preserves our sanity. I applaud you for your always raw honesty in your comments and in this wonderful open thread. This is definitely a conversation worth having and I hope others will join in with their own thoughts.
I really enjoyed the music, especially Shah's group, the Cool Whips. If this cut is typical, they have a great sound.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Good morning
Adding to the gloom and doom is fall. We've lost all sunlight by 7 pm and don't get it back until 8 pm. I am also sick with a cold. Another perk of the season changing is everybody gets sick.
I'd like to know how S. Carolina can expect aid of any kind while supporting small government and not supporting aid for NJ. I think people should get what they vote for.
If we are going to have mass migration due to climate change, I think we should start setting up the rules for people asking for a residence in a new state. First we build a fence between the north and the southern coastal states. MI has a ton to offer until you get to our invasion of the red body snatchers. F@#kers are really doing a number of this state. Truly feel like I live in Mississippi or Texas.
Maybe when (and if) the sun comes up....
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Well, as someone who lives
in a red state, I have a sad. There are some damn good people who live in states in the South. If you read any of the diaries of the Asheville meetups, you would see how much people like those from the Asheville group and people like Rev. Barber are doing to try educate people here in the South.
It is easy to be angry with people with whom you disagree. But for me, as a humanist first, I personally do not subscribe to the idea of penalizing victims of a national disaster simply because they voted differently. I am of the opinion that reaching out and embracing our commonality goes much further than emphasizing our differences. This is something I have learned from my activism in both Occupy and my Peace vigil.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
MI is red....
I don't feel sorry for us one bit. Detroit sat on their asses and didn't show up to vote. We had an unpopular governor that should have been easy to throw out. His opponent was Mr. Rogers....really nice and about as exciting and charismatic as oatmeal. He could have campaigned on legal pot and using the money to fix our road and funding our schools. Instead, he ran on mom and apple pie. Michigan deserves whatever it gets, which is all pretty awful.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I recommend this diary over at gos
For those familiar with him, this excellent diary was written by praenomen. Please give it a view and maybe some love too.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Now, I really want to see our local emergency plan. eom
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
That Awkward Moment
That Awkward Moment When One Nobel Peace Prize Winner Bombs Another
Speaking of attacking hospitals
link
Speaking of bombing weddings
link
2 in 10 days? The Saudis will catch up to us in no time at that rate.
Speaking of that old fox:
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/30/kissinger_poisoned_the_middle_east_ameri...
a cartoon you won't see at dKos
More examples of when we've bombed a Nobel peace prize group
I have forgotten this
An important student loan case
link
Orlando is the same way, Shaharazade.
Downtown Orlando, specifically Parramore (the neighborhood I live in), is experiencing the "joys" of gentrification slowly but surely. Once the Orlando City Soccer Club stadium is completed, I expect to see a lot more of it. The city's determined to transform the western bit of Church Street from Division Avenue all the way further west to the Citrus Bowl.
The Orlando Magic have taken over the properties across the street from their Amway Center, with a view to building a new headquarters/entertainment complex (their current one is in Maitland, 10 minutes north on I-4 at the RDV Sportsplex). Currently there are shuttered shops (used to be a candy store, hair salon, a good dry cleaners, an African art shop, a Jamaican restaurant, and a black-owned bar/lounge that had a lot of African American clientele), the current Orlando Police Department HQ (which will be relocating soon), and the homeless shelter (which will be relocated to a much better facility, but a bit further away from where it needs to be).
In the downtown core, while many of the established spots are still around (Tanquerays, Hamburger Mary's, Casey's, Independent Bar, Cleo's Lounge, Wally's), but many of the newer places are the same--sanitized, cookie-cutter...attempting to attract the New Age Yuppies and hipster crowd. And the newer investors are your basic Martin Shkreli types.
Buddy Dyer, the mayor, is up for re-election in November. Just got my sample ballot in the mail last week. Dyer's your typical neoliberal, but not as bad as Rahm Emanuel. His main opponent is some quasi-libertarian named Paul Paulson. I got a mailer from him as well and it had the usual right-wing economic stuff in it--cut everything, fiscally responsible boiler-plate jargon. The other candidate is Randy Ross, a local radio personality with some legal issues (insurance fraud, for one) in the past. He switched from Democrat to Republican. But party affiliation doesn't really matter, as the mayoral races down here are nonpartisan.
In the end, I predict Dyer will win handily. He's well-liked, connected to the right people, and brings in money to the city.
NATO threatens Russia
This is not good
No word yet in protecting Iraqi airspace from Turkish bombings.
I recommend reading this diary on the gos
because I know nobody wants to talk about the tensions that exist between those the diarist more or less accuses (I feel a couple of them are in this community here) and those who can't stand the diarist's accusation here.
The meaning of "life-long civil rights activist," for me. - byDenise Oliver Velez
I have a lot of feelings over this issue. I also know that I can't voice them easily. I am just saying this: I remember having seen a Netroot Nation panel through a video posted, showing the discussion in which Meteor Blades sat in on a panel. It was a small group. Meteor Blades was asked if he had ever "put his life on the line" and to me that felt like people thought, that it is necessary for someone to defend his reputation by proving they put their life on the line. Couldn't help finding that a bit arrogant to ask for, especially if the person asking that question probably hasn't ever put his/her life on the line. At least I felt uncomfortable to watch how Meteor Blades had to answer that. I think he didn't feel that good about it either, but I guess that wasn't easily to see for most people.
So, what is then a real "life-long civil rights activist"?
If you happen to have been beaten up during a demonstration and bleed and get arrested, you are more of a hero or life-long civil rights activist than the fellow who marched a couple of rows behind that person and didn't get beaten up and didn't die or wasn't arrested?
Is this a competition for being the real life-long civil rights activist among those people, who believe they support with their small contributing activities the cause?
Who made it necessary for Sanders to "explain" or "defend" his reputation, saying he is "insensitive" to racial issues? If he or his supporters wouldn't have started to "explain the Sanders view points through his past activities" the same people, who accuse them for doing so, would accuse the Sanders campaign for "not reaching out to the black community".
Have I now white splained so successfully that my being white and a closet racist is all written over this comment?
I am with her in this, ie behind that wish to unite.
I guess people will hate me for this comment.
https://www.euronews.com/live
My issue
with this diarist is even though she is right on a technical aspect of what is a lifelong activist, especially from the black experience, is the way she presents it is extremely divisive. But what she does, in effect, is she shuts off all conversation. This is exactly the same thing she did with her STFU/GTFO diary. That is the day she lost me.
It appears that she is using this diary to take a back handed swipe at Bernie Sanders and his supporters. Notice how she avoids mentioning all the harm that the Clinton policies have done to blacks and other minorities? Further she grades Bernie's credentials in the activism and his voting record as being far worse than Clinton's out and out racist pandering in 2008. I am assuming that she sees this as whitesplainin' which apparently is a far greater sin than the racist pandering that her candidate used in 2008. I guess those white people who see the light in their twenties like Bernie and try to rectify the wrongs of racism should have just STFU and GTFO rather making any attempt to do something about them instead if we are to listen to her.
My comment here is not to discount what she and her fore bearers have had to endure. Black people in this country still have to fear for their lives every day and that is horribly wrong. I respect that to no end, but if you must continually diss your potential allies to make a point, that I have a problem with. I am very much for building alliances because we are so much stronger working together than we are dividing ourselves over who has the best credentials. And yes, I know that was a rant on her part, and it is her right to do so. But what is her purpose in doing so other than to continue to shame Bernie Sanders and his supporters?
I am probably digging my own grave here by being honest in my comment.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
You're not digging any graves at all, gg.
I didn't read the diary in question (I skimmed through enough of it to get the gist, though). But remembering the deplorable "Why are you here" diary from a while back, knew exactly where deo was going. She didn't just lose me that day, she out-right pissed me off to the point where I had to just walk away from the keyboard and have a drink. And I'm the most chilled out guy around.
Thank you, Cybrestrike
Your comment means a lot to me. Thank you again, my friend.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
this is just another deo pissing contest...
so, deo wants to control a particular terminology, such that it cannot be used except as she and her co-believers demand.
bernie sanders, i watched martin luther king on teevee - and you're no martin luther king!
bernie sanders is not martin luther king. but isn't that beside the point, really? bernie sanders is not running to replace martin luther king, he is running for president - and as such we want to know, will he do the right thing? we look for a pattern of words and actions to support the idea that a candidate will, indeed work assiduously in the interests of people of color and other groups.
the question of whether the terminology "lifelong civil rights activist," is a perfect fit is, in the context of the ongoing candidate wars, a red herring.
if it's not exactly a perfect fit, then perhaps deo, who seems to have a broad command of what everyone should be doing and how they should be categorized should examine bernie sanders life and the evidence of his character and propose a proper replacement terminology.
Joe, as always!
Thank you. You said it far better than me.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
yes, I thought, what was missing in her diary
was the suggestion to find another expression for "lifelong civil rights activist" as well as an explanation what in her mind makes up a real "lifelong civil rights activist". She talked only about who is not one and just slightly touched why they are not. But I guess that's a very internal US Afro-American centered problem.
I guess I just should forget about it. I could think thought about a lot of civil rights violations in the world that are not Afro-American exploitation and discrimination related.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Holy Cow!!!! Kevin Nc Carthy has dropped out
According to the New York Times, Kevin Mc Carthy has dropped out of the running for Speaker.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I am sure there will be a lot of cheering
over this latest development, but this pinpoints a terrible problem for governance in the House. The majority caucus now has nihilists running it and we all know they want blood. They want to destroy the government and drown it in a bathtub. Along the way, they will be doing irreparable damage to the United States. I just hope the Dems do not bail them out this time. This is what we end up with when people who hate government are elected to govern.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
heh...
i wonder if they will shut down the government again. perhaps if they do it for long enough, we'll just have to create us a new government.
Heh!
Now that is a thought.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy