Protect Yourself In the City: How to Avoid Becoming a Statistic

This article is now available on my Substack account!

Are You Tea Party Material?

(I originally wrote this back in 2010. The "Tea Party" is a political organization that acts like it's grass-roots, but is in reality backed by wealthy donors and corporations in their efforts to reduce the influence of government. They managed to get several sympathetic politicians elected to office.)

Ever wonder if you would fit in with the Tea Party, the new political force that's sweeping the nation?

Answer these ten questions to see if this party is the party for you.

1. Do you believe that spending billions of dollars we don't have to provide more citizens with health care is a moral outrage, but spending billions of dollars we don't have on the military is a moral imperative?

2. Do you believe that reasoned debate is for egg-headed pansies, and the best way to get a point across is by some combination of yelling, process disruption, and violence?

Some Thoughts About Labor, Money, and Capitalism

In honor of May Day, here are some general thoughts I’ve been having about life in these United States, in 2009, the Great Recession…

1. The main lesson these last three years have taught us is, we can’t all be rich. The idea of everyone living in a 4 bedroom house, driving a fancy car, and watching a big-screen plasma TV are nothing but Bear Sterns and Wal-Mart pipe dreams.

2. Believe it or not, May Day used to be (and still is) a big deal in many parts of the world, including the USA. There was a time when Socialist candidates routinely ran for public office, Socialist newspapers were for sale right alongside the major dailies, and discussions about unions extended beyond the concerns of pro athletes and Big Three automaker pensioners. These days, it seems the only collective action that’s spoken favorably of in the media is military action, and the idea of mobilizing workers to petition for their rights is basically equivalent to treason.

A 2011 Flyer About the Afghanistan War…

This flyer was given to me on my way to work years Ago. And with more troops (at the time) returning to Iraq to "advise" the warring factions there, the ideas expressed below are as relevant now as they ever were.

Afghanistan War: What Benefit?

The Pentagon spends $5.3 billion a month on Afghanistan. U.S. taxpayers will pay $533 billion for proposed Defense Dept. budget for fiscal year 2012.

As Congress battles over cutting spending, the government continues to borrow nearly $10 billion a month to pay for the war, adding to the debt. "Where is the sense in borrowing money to build a bridge or school in Afghanistan that later gets blown up - while telling our cities and towns that we have no money to help them with their needs?" ask Massachusetts Rep. McGovern & Matthew Hoh, former Marine Corps Captain & State Dept. official in Afghanistan and Iraq. Development efforts in Afghanistan are worthy, but at what cost to U.S. lives & economic or national security?

The same amount of money could provide for 1 year: 283.5 million U.S. kids with low-income healthcare, or 8.5 million elementary school teachers, or 70.1 million scholarships for university students, or 8.4 million police or sheriff's patrol officers.

The U.S. Invaded Afghanistan to ensure that the Taliban would no longer provide a safe place for Al-Qaeda. Today, Al-Qaeda has been almost entirely uprooted from Afghanistan, and the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden proved that neither 100,000 nor 70,000 troops are necessary to weaken the organization. After 2012, roughly 70,000 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan (with gradual withdrawal) & will continue to fight for a mission they have already completed.

The Original Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Chicago Statements

(I originally posted these items back in 2012. I was wrong about the timing of more protests. With the killing of Mike Brown by a policeman in Missouri, direct action in the streets is taking place right now in Winter. Reactions to that event now and Occupy Wall Street then share the same basic demand for justice for all Americans.)

As the weather gets warm again, it will be time for more protests in the streets. The Occupy movement spread all over the world last year. Here is the original Occupy NewYork City statement in its entirety. I wanted to post a copy on my blog because this may end up being one of the most important political documents of the 21st century.

Is it possible to agree with the statements here and still be a good Capitalist? I say the jury's still out on whether American-style Capitalism can last beyond the few hundred years it's existed, but if a truly sustainable Capitalist state is to endure, its citizens MUST address the issues laid out in this statement.

How to Survive the Winter Solstice

December 21st is the beginning of the darkest two weeks of the year. The winter solstice is December 20th and 21st, and during the week before and after those dates those of us in the northern hemisphere will be getting the least amount of sunlight than at any other time during the calendar year.

I'm already feeling it. Getting up for work in the dark, coming home from work in the dark, spending most of the day either indoors or in the dark...it's definitely a good idea to guard against the seasonal depression and natural urge to hibernate for 14 hours a day. Keep to a schedule, seek the company of good friends and good beer, exercise whenever possible, and know that soon the days will be getting longer.