Fucking pigs... #OccupyWallStreet

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What the fucking hell. I would be remiss if I didn't at least briefly mention this -- Occupy Wall Street.
(Did I say brief? Cuz I meant it.)

For starters - Great list of news articles here.
And for personal stories: We are the 99 Percent
SUBMIT!!!

I seem to have misplaced my anger at the moment, due to an excruciating headache and lack of sleep (see next post for why), but OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT THE HELL. NYPD. Attacking peaceful protesters in the middle of the street like they're some sort of fucking heroes saving New York from... from what exactly? A bunch of people standing around, doing nothing worth getting upset and arresting them let alone forcefully throwing them to the ground... Bullshit. It's fucking disgusting. (And it brings me back to my psych student days... As to why they acted that way... [smh]...)

Though can I also say... While I support this movement and what it stands for, I'm not sure that it will be effective. It's not enough. Not yet. But I think this will be the start of something big-- if we can build up momentum and KEEP it. Stretch across the entire country.

Anyway, I really need to get some sleep. I've had a really rough weekend, and yes, I do want to talk about it. So yeah, next post.

Statement to America's Youth-- a Call to Progressive Action

 The definition of insanity- doing the same old shit over and over again and expecting different results.

"Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement of danger. It demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease." - Robert F. Kennedy 

After the last disaster of an election, many of us have been wondering where we should go from here. Do we stand by the progressive policies and ideals we've held on to for so long, pushing our President and Congress for the reforms we so desperately desire? Or do we give in to compromise and moderate thought, realizing that the fight has just grown that much more difficult, & that the only way to even get minor changes accomplished may be to attempt to find a bipartisan agreement (by pandering to extremists who believe that refusing to work/compromise is the ultimate form of patriotism)?

After the Rally to Restore Sanity, I had expressed my disappointment in Stewart's message to America... And as I, and other critics, continued to discuss and reflect on that weekend, and the state of our "Union," I realized that the answer I was looking for was very clear.

It may very well be time for a "revolution" stretching far beyond the ordinary realm of "sanity." Our generation has already faced so much adversity, and if things continue on this path, it is possible that we can and will find ourselves in an America even more hostile to our worldview-- at which point, "sanity" is an illusion. Or rather, a delusion. I'm not saying that we have to give up on civility. Quite the contrary-- I'm saying that in order to restore civility on a national level, we as progressives need to rethink how we participate in the political/democratic process, and that includes how we respond to our bullies. I hereby propose that we should find a way to restore youth to democracy. Literally.

We grew up during the September 11th attacks; amongst never-ending war and global conflict; with a society that continues to deny both human and constitutionally protected rights to minorities purely on the basis of hatred, fear and religion; and with an economy in shambles. We as a generation are overwhelmingly more progressive and accepting than our parents and our grandparents-- just like every generation tends to be. Yet we see the same mistakes played over every time—older generations ignore us. And we are growing increasingly frustrated with the complete lack of progress on issues that matter to us. We were promised so much, and have gotten so little. Unemployment among our age group alone is actually the highest it has ever been, holding steady at almost 20%. However, most of us do not have enough experience to get the few jobs that have been available. Nor do we even qualify to get unemployment benefits, despite the fact that, like our parents, we do have bills and responsibilities as well. We were tossed out from college into the harshest job market faced since the Great Depression, with little to look forward to. We are voters, we are citizens, yet for the vast majority of law passed in this country, we are simply caught in the crossfire between our warring parents. Our rights as citizens are ignored in favor of maintaining the status quo, or bashing the other side's bad politics. It's frustrating to see that we as a generation are already so much more mature than these so-called "change-makers" in Congress. Grow up already!

 I don't want to get too far into this, because there is a very special message from Storyteller Knight to follow and I want to let it speak for itself; but this is a massive problem we face-- we need to mobilize as a demographic. We are a very powerful group I've had quite enough of the "adults" in this country acting like children and ignoring the fact that . We are old enough to think for ourselves now, and it's about time we have someone to actually represent us in Congress. So this is a call to peaceful arms. I'm sick and tired of them saying it's "their country" and "their future." This is OUR time. The future belongs to us, their children. Yet too often we are pushed aside and forgotten, treated as mere "children."

We as a collective group have been grossly underestimated. Have they forgotten already? We are the ones who elected Obama by a landslide, the majority of the voices that cried for change. We had a few victories... And then, just as quickly, we were forgotten by every single person in Washington. I guess we thought it was enough to just get the guy into office, and everything we were promised would just fall into place. It might be slow, but it would happen if we were patient. We thought we could just let all the "grown-ups" take over the dirty work from there. We were wrong. They told us they could handle it, that our future would be in good hands.

To all of those who continually tell us-- "We know what's good for you." NO YOU FUCKING DON'T. Or you would have listened to us by now. Why haven't you learned from your parents? We are the ones getting hurt because of the asinine policies of YOUR generation. We are the ones who want a better life for ourselves and our posterity, because our parents are too busy screaming and arguing to notice that we are the ones who have to live with their mistakes. Therefore, WE are the ones who are going to have to fight for it.

Being the Change isn’t enough when they’re not paying attention, when they're not actually taking to heart what we feel and what we say. We have to make them pay attention.

So here's the deal- DC doesn't listen to us now because we're "just a bunch of kids." It's time we take charge and demand to be recognized. We need young, loud, Progressive voices to represent our generation in Washington. Not just as activists, but as lawmakers, as governors (ages 18+ in most states) and state senators, as lobbyists, and as Representatives in the House (25+). It's time to tell them-- Enough is Enough. We the Young People of the United States have had enough of this pathetic bickering between the Right and the Barely-Left-of-Center. We want action. We want results, and we want this "bright and shiny future" that we have been promised.

I will personally volunteer to launch a campaign for anyone willing to stand up for us. It will be a difficult battle before we get there, and then the real war begins. We need to spread the message far and wide, which is why we need to start now. We have seen what we can do when enough of us get involved—in the past few months alone, we have raised awareness about bullying in schools, especially against LGBT students; we have raised awareness about corporate corruption, and the need for environmental protection, problems in our education system, and inequalities in our society-- and our concern for our own futures as America's workforce-in-training. And sometimes, yes, Washington eventually heard us. And said they would do something... Maybe. Eventually. Clearly, our government officials have lost sight of what truly matters, in favor of "winning" against the other team. We need to make them care. We need to make them take action, NOW. It may be too late to redo this election, but we can be ready for what’s coming next. As I stated early, we are a very powerful demographic and a force to be reckoned with, if we can come together to work for progress. If they could do it in the 60s, fighting against an idiotic war and demanding social change, we can certainly do it now. We can demand equality. We can demand freedom. We can demand social justice. We just need to organize, the way we did in 2008. To do this, and to win, we will need strong, smart leaders who are able and willing to stand up to the Tea Party, and to the weak Democrats in congress. We need REAL change we can believe in, and clearly if it's going to get done right, we just have to do it ourselves. We need someone on the inside, to remind them that we are here. (Also, we totes need to get the PCCC in on this. I’m working on it, but it would be great if a bunch of us could convince them. K thnx.)

If you are interested, I urge you, I implore you-- let your voice be heard. We have Facebook, and Twitter, and other social networking sites at our disposal, and we know just how incredible the power of the internet can be. We need to transfer that power back to IRL. Let's be real-- the MSM occasionally pays attention to us because it makes for a good story; because we are original, and different, and because we . But now, more than anything, we need to drum up that kind of attention in Washington. Let your voice be heard! Let's let them watch and learn how it's done.

In the meantime, we have 2 months to mobilize and convince Congress to get a move on it before the TPers arrive. This may be our last chance for awhile... Let's make it count.

Rally4Sanity - Part 2 (Reasonably Satisfied... & Disappointed)

If you look over at my "shared items" list you'll see the same article listed twice. One of those contains my comments on an article, actually. I decided I'm going to post it here, so as not to lose it entirely... I said I was going to explain what I said on Twitter-- for all the hype- meh. i'm reasonably satisfied (and/or disappointed...)- so here it is (Warning- semi-irritated, yet hopefully rational rant to follow):

Finally, someone said what I was thinking while I was standing there, waiting for it to end... Not exactly my first ever rally, but a) I really didn't like that Kid Rock song (um, dude, you can & should do SOMETHING more than just care! Seriously, even a tiny donation goes a long way. Caring is NOT enough. Simply caring gets us nowhere unless someone is willing to take action or say something. "Oh yea, I totally care about ________, but I don't do anything to change it or help." Uh, yea, thanks for being useless. That's all that song says to me - I care, but not enough to even make the tiniest attempt to try to change what I don't like. It doesn't even take a huge action, something small counts too. Change happens, but only when we care enough to do something to make it happen. Just pointing it out doesn't make things different. We can't all be passive, and we certainly can't be passive forever. That's the "definition" of insanity- doing the same shit over and over again and expecting different results every time. Things don't change unless we actively change them.

and b) Part of my frustration with it all - I mentioned I didn't feel like there was much engagement. When I left, I didn't feel encouraged. I wanted to feel like we were actually going to DO something to end the craziness. Not just point and laugh at how insane we are, but actually discuss what we can do to get things back to civility. There wasn't as much of that as I had hoped. (Way too much music. I didn't spend 10 hours on a bus, 2 hours driving to Queens, & an additional 3 hours lost in Northern NJ for a concert of musicians I don't particularly enjoy.) Ignoring problems doesn't make them go away. I get that they are comedians and not politicians. I've always known that. But seriously, sometimes I wonder if Stewart really understands just how much influence he has (really, around 250,000 people showed up to see this) or how much potential he has as an agent for real, legitimate change and progress in this country. It's because of him, and Colbert, that I even ever took an interest in politics. It's because of him that ever even though to challenge my own (Church-&-parent-instilled) beliefs. If he ran for President, he would absolutely have my vote, even against Nader or Gore or Grayson or Franken-Weiner. (Ok, maybe I'd have to think about that...) I am all for promoting civility, and peace, and disagreeing without being a total ass about it; but at the same time, I think it's also important that we encourage people to get involved in changing the things that we can influence. We can work together to promote civility, we can work together to achieve change, and we can find common ground - if we're willing to get engaged in the process, and change the process when the situation requires. This rally felt like it was all about "caring," when I (and many others) strongly desire and need "action."

So like I said, reasonably satisfied, yet still somewhat disappointed. Enjoyed the comedic parts, but for all the hype, I expected to get more out of it than I did. Guess I feel that way about a lot of things, huh. But one of them still has 2 years, and I know that it will eventually get done, whether it's because of him or not. I can be patient now, and still fight for what I believe in. If we can compromise to get progress, that's great too. As long as it works. It will happen, we just all have to pitch in. Caring isn't enough if it doesn't lead to action. I can't stress that enough... That really, really bothered me. "I can't feed the poor." Uh, yes you can!!! Grab a few sandwiches and head outside. Donate a few cans to a food bank. Bring lunch for a friend who lost their wallet. Little actions add up! If we all wander around acting like we're helpless and can't solve anything so we shouldn't bother to do anything except care about it, then yea, we can't solve shit. Useless. Grr.YES WE CAN.  

Take the T off of CAN'T, and you CAN. 

I used to hate it when Mr. Foster said that to me, because sometimes, yea, we can't, no matter how hard we try. Often it's just because we have yet to find a way around the barrier. But you know what, fuck that, I'm still going to try my best. Fake it til you make it. So thank you, Mr. Foster, & President Obama. I do have hope that things can and will change. It's kept me alive when I wanted to die. It keeps me going, even when things get hard and I feel like everything is going wrong. Things will change. Even if you can't do it, that doesn't mean we won't stop (politely) trying.

Sunday Updates - Post Rally4Sanity

Alright, you know I've been talking about it, everyone else is talking about it, blah blah it's the latest thing-- the Rally for Sanity and/or Fear. While I was there, I did have some mixed feelings regarding the actual content and execution-- the energy level I expected simply wasn't there. It was slow, and quiet, and rather low-key for a rally. I mean, really, John Legend? To me, rallies should be "peppy" and lively, regardless of cause. The point is to engage people, not put them to sleep! And for such a large crowd, to spend so much time playing music (the Roots were on for almost 40 minutes) just left us all standing there, watching more so than participating. For all the hype, I honestly thought it would've been... I don't know, more, on some level. It just took a while to get to the heart of it all, the Stewart/Colbert spark and snark we all love. When they finally did, it was great.  Ultimately, I do think it was a huge success, with numbers far outshining those of some of this year's previous rallies at the National Mall-- it's estimated that the Rally For Sanity and/or Fear drew a crowd of about 250,000 people. (You know, just in case you care about that sort of thing - the whole "we beat Beck!" thing, I mean. Mainstream/Sanity "won" over Extreme/Fringe Crazy. Meh.)


Oops. lol. So I guess I may've cheered for the wrong thing this one time.. I think I misheard something or other... Oh well. If you haven't heard by now, it was seriously difficult to hear or any of what was going on. By the time the 10,000 HuffPost bus riders arrived, most of the available space was all the way back by the Washington Memorial, and there were only a few JumboTron screens set up in the middle, by the Smithsonian and the Air & Space Museum (where I was). For at least an hour and a half of the rally, the speakers were too low/quiet for any of us in the middle and back to really hear anything. And even then, the sound would falter in and out, before the chants of "Louder! Louder!" started, before it was later replaced with "Louder, please! Louder, please!" :-D (See, we were polite and cordial with each other, and it was wonderful!) News reports of the rally referred to is as "underpowered." Say it like it is, guys -- the speaker system was crap. They should have known what to expect-- and that goes for the city transit as well. Someone decided to shut down several of the closest entrances to the Metro right when the rally ended. Yay, geniuses!

The Rally/March's schedule was kept a secret up until... well, til it happened. Which made for some pretty cool surprises - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ozzy Osbourne and Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam (same guy, name change for some reason...), & the Mythbusters (which, no offense guys, was kind of lame actually. We love to see them blow things up and do geeky science things, but when we can't hear what the hell you're trying to do/measure and all we see are a bunch of cues on the screens, well... Point not made. Just felt silly and irrelevant. Rather insane, actually.)

I definitely feel like, despite the "distraction" of the entertainment - all of the random musical performances and typical Stewart/Colbert comedy-- the point of the day was pushed hard, especially during Stewart's final speech. It's not about picking sides, or sensationalizing the crazy. We work together every day for the little things, we can work together to get the big things done too. There are the extremes and radicals-- but there are more of us in between than both ends put together. So when we ignore the crazies, and partisanship, and psycho-fringe babble about the world coming to an end, we remember that life isn't all that crazy. (I take that back. Stewart, speak for yourself! XD) We're not as different as we (or, as Stewart stressed, the media) try to make ourselves out to be. (I feel like I said that before... Ah, I remember. In an earlier post on politics & conservative/liberal values, I said that ultimately we all want the same things, and we do value the same things. We just have apparently different views on how to our goals.) And Stewart and Colbert did this cute little song about how no one is more American than anyone else here, and everyone can be patriotic in their own way. You already know how I feel about that (agree wholeheartedly, if not fervently.) All in all, it was a fun (and exhausting) day.

Some of our favorite signs/slogans:

• Down With This Sort of Thing...
• Anyone for Scrabble Later?
• Equal Opportunity Lover - I Hate-Fucked a Republican!
• I Masturbate AND Vote! (though usually not at the same time)

While the insanity of America may finally slow down (especially once the mid-terms are over), the insanity of my life is about to pick up. Midnight begins NaNoWriMo!!! Though I'm not sure I'm ready to start yet... I don't plan on writing the entire 50,000 words, but I would like to get at least halfway through... Anyway, I won't be around for a while, so remember this- stay sane, America! Don't get sucked into this crappy political hell of name-calling and violence. Listen, learn, & love. And don't forget to vote on Tuesday! (I can't wait until all of these stupid campaign signs go away. They're plastic/not biodegradable/non-recyclable, look horrible plastered all over the damn highways, and honestly, I stopped caring a while ago.)


Another thing - I'm officially dropping the Discovery network boycott. I can't bring myself to start watching again, because I made a promise/commitment and I like to keep those. But I don't see a point anymore. I've never been a fan of "reality" shows other than the dance competitions, because I find the shows in general to be extremely exploitative. This show is no different, other than the fact that it also features a person whose personality and political history I dislike; and that political history directly conflicts with the overall purpose and message of the network. She does not practice what she preaches (to some point, thankfully), but what she preaches is exactly what the network has been fighting against, especially regarding animal rights and the environment. (If you weren't aware, TreeHugger & Planet Green are part of the Discovery Network, along with Animal Planet.) The only way the network is dropping the show is if their ratings are terrible and no one's making money. So from here on out, the focus is getting the advertisers to drop out, and convincing people to simply avoid the show altogether. I think once people actually see what it's about, odds are few people will watch it, or like it, and it will all fizzle out on its own. Wishful thinking, but what else can we do? An ineffective boycott is an unproductive means of achieving one's goal, so it's time to regroup and restrategize.