The newest song from political group, Rooftop Revolutionaries.
This movement can, with the right direction and organization, break the chains.

Think. React. Do Something.
Rooftop Revolutionaries


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Amidst the commemorative tributes, the solemn moments of silence, the reflection gives way to a question: where have we been? And from there, where are we going?
As with any tragedy, it's almost hard to remember what life was like before 9/11. And psychologically speaking, it makes perfect sense. When something that shocking happens, your mind is so preoccupied with trying to understand and get through it, the world around those events matters little. And when the haze of shock and awe wanes, your eyes blink open and accept what they see, accept the changed world with little rebuke.
I make no statement as to whether this is right or wrong - it's human. Shocking events don't effect the critical thinking areas of our brain. But as we sit here now, 10 years down the line, the critical thinking should really be in high gear. It seems however, that is not the case.
From journalists to economists and teachers to unemployed servers, this decade is being stamped as one of the worst in our history. Of course, as soon as that argument is suggested, someone inevitably points out that since 9/11, there hasn't been a terrorist attack on our soil.
Yeah, but there wasn't before that either. It wasn't as if 2001 was the first year we were deemed unpopular by extremist groups in the Middle East.
And how does one explain the trillions of dollars spent on wars? Afghanistan is still a sad and sorry excuse for a transitional democracy, not to mention this past month having been one of the bloodiest for our troops there to date. And Iraq? At this point, I think most people that haven't Hellen Keller-d their way through the past decade can agree Hussein had fuck all to do with any of it. He was quite happy killing his own people, using our arms and trained forces to do it. Oh, and let's not forget Bin Laden who used to be on the CIA's pay roll.
That aside, what have we got to show for those two wars? A wrecked economy and one terrorist floating in the middle of the ocean...supposedly? Are we really safer?
As Iran continues to gain influence and our idea of diplomacy is little more than drones, undercover operatives and threats, I don't feel much safer. And yet, I was never really scared.
I have long felt that the product we are best at manufacturing is fear. We took Bush's word and stormed into Afghanistan. We continued to shrug and wave flags as we blazed into Iraq. We nonchalantly accepted legislation that crippled our economy, infrastructure and rights. Again, the shocking haze...
But again, that haze should have lifted - the fog from fear and hate created on that day 10 years ago should be gone. We should now be able to look at cold, hard facts. Yes, this decade has been utter shit. Yes, on this day we are still saddened and effected by the attacks. We can take both in stride. What we took away in the days following the attacks was that together, we are strong. Together, we can get through anything. Where is that sentiment today?
As Congress continues to tear itself apart with bitter in-fighting, as apathy and distrust snowball throughout hearts and minds, can we not bring those sentiments forward with us? And leave the haze back in the rubble where it belongs?
I sit here tonight, a flag above me as I write, and I am proud. I am proud to be a US citizen. I am proud of the ideals and foundations of this country, that can not be brought down in falling buildings, that live inside, intangible yet stronger than steel. It dictates to me that this is wrong. This decade is not deserving of those who are not here to see it. It is not deserving of those who fought so hard to protect it.
This is our country and our future. In this moment of silence and reflection, consider our past and our future. Consider this day 10 years ago. Consider this day 10 years from now. What has changed and what needs to change? It must come from us, we, the people.
Think. React. Do Something.

 

Looking for any women who in have worked or are still working for Wal-Mart. I am writing a documentary biography of the current issue with Wal-Mart and its female employees.
I am looking to do an interview and will not use your real name unless specifically asked to do so. Just sign a release and we're good to go - I'd like to get your voices heard by the people. Tell us your story.

Looking for any women who in have worked or are still working for Wal-Mart. I am writing a documentary biography of the current issue with Wal-Mart and its female employees.
I am looking to do an interview and will not use your real name unless specifically asked to do so. Just sign a release and we're good to go - I'd like to get your voices heard by the people. Tell us your story.

So, I went to a hockey game, which could seem odd for the simple fact that I live in LA, but something else happened, just before the game that sent chills.
As with any professional sporting event, there is the time before the first pitch, puck, punt or plunge where some adorable or fittingly famous person steps up to sing the National Anthem.
It was quiet, eerily so. I could barely even hear a chair squeak in the cavernous echo chamber that is Staples Center. Everyone stood, having sprung up at the mention of the Anthem, as if it were a knee jerk reaction, almost involuntary. I stood, slowly, surveying the crowd.
The little girl vibrato-ed her way through the Anthem at a snails pace, giving me more gloriously grotesque time to clench my fists and shudder.
Why are we standing? For what are we showing respect? What does the flag mean - to you, to me, to anyone in that crowd? It doesn't really have to mean anything. It's a program, a system. We stand and stare blankly upwards, at a strategically placed flag, mumbling the words to ourselves, eying the nachos on the floor, fidgeting with our keys. We become empty. And to ponder the inverse of this phenomenon, what are we full of? I'm not trying to be cheeky, I'd really like to know - what goes on in the hearts and minds whenever something nationalistic or patriotic is mentioned or performed? As a lyricist, I have an almost incessant need to dissect and analyze the lyrics to any song. If one were to listen to the lyrics of our National Anthem, really listen to them, not just through our ears but into our minds...would we still stare blankly - would it make us feel uncomfortable at the mention of a Utopian land of the free? A hearkening back to the days when our forefathers fought for the ideals we either don't have any more or are too far removed to protect and enjoy.
It made me wildly uncomfortable. If we, the people, if only for a moment, pondered the stark contrast between the lives we lead today, and the foundations of this country, we could start that revolution so desperately needed to effect change. Break the corporate chains, and do something.

...I have a question...
Has anyone even fucking noticed?
You know in those "end of the world" movies where an overpaid actor trudges through the snow looking like he just walked out of a spa, complaining of frostbite and the ignorance of the few who could have done something?
I feel for him right now...not the actor, the actual character.

Although I'm sitting in sunny California, my scope is turned towards the literal and figurative rumblings across the globe.
I am not at all superstitious. I do not subscribe to the bat shit crazy wailings of extremists and loony tunes; that we'll all be judged and 2012 is it so get your shit in order.
I think that is just another example of the psychotic projections of our shortcomings onto the past and/or a higher being.

For example, all the hullabaloo surrounding next year. Many historians claim that the ancient peoples of South America who we credit with this prophetic observation, just got tired of fucking counting so high, and figured they'd continue later. There is actually no hard evidence to suggest that they thought it was going to be the end of the world.
I stopped writing in birth control reminders once I got to December 2011 in my calendar. That does not mean that I expect to wake up pregnant on December 1st. It just means I can fill that in later. However, this is not how we, the people, think.
There is no need to take care of our ills and sins now, because the world will simply end whenever it wants to ; God will simply pull the plug when he feels like it ; mother nature will shrug us off when we get too obese and dirty to carry, etc, etc. The problem with these ideas isn't necessarily the fact that people believe them, it is that they feel it relieves them of any sort of responsibility in crises, from the local level to the global level.

If I had a dime for every time I heard some religious nut say "It's not in our hands," I could probably single-handedly bring this country out of debt.
And while I enjoy picking on religious extremists, it's not just them. Even people who are not extremist (either secular or non), find it easier and more convenient to rest on the assumption that their actions will make no difference in the impending doom of our species and our world.
So, we sit and watch with detached apathy, thinly veiled with a facade of care, as the world takes a swan dive.

New Zealand experiences two major quakes in less than half a year...oh, shame.
Libyan civilians are fired upon from helicopters by their own people...oh, bummer.
Our own government is ready to literally just fucking shut down because nobody can agree on a damn thing other than the fact that we're broke and in deep shit...oh, well, I'm fine.
From the Pyramids at Giza to the royal palace in Jordan - like dominoes along the Northernmost countries of Africa, civil unrest marks the end of an era in the mid-east and all Americans care about is whether Steven Tyler eye-fucked the next candidate for musical poser of the year.
We have had the most fucked up weather ever this year and all people do in response is crank the heat, keep the engines running and buy some more fur.

Why?

How?

Is our apathy a sign of devolution or of evolution? Is it a sign that our brains have progressed to the point that we are able to use it as a defense? Is it, like I said, a conscious projection? because somewhere we fear the truth - we fear the outside confines of our cuddly bubble? Or is it subconscious or not even? Is it more cynically the simple dumbing down of a nation? Is it just the continued idiotization of the great U S of A?

These questions aren't rhetorical. I would really LOVE a response.
Although, I don't expect anyone to really have the answer. Even if I knew exactly why, the question needs to be how can we fix it?
How do you get people to care about their own lives and world?
It seems an asinine question to ask. But that's where we're at.

My heart goes out to the people in New Zealand, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Afghanistan, the homeless man I passed today, the man I saw commit suicide last week. My heart goes out to the people who can not help their situation, who are born into mayhem or it is cataclysmically brought upon them.
I have no pity, however, for the people who do nothing, who pray for change. Who sit and wishfully think about a better future but don't DO anything. That's pathetic and ultimately, psychotic.
It is up to the people to change the fate of this world. It is not up to the Mayans. It is not up to God. It is not up to the Tooth Fairy or Santa or Obama or Palin. It is up to you. It is up to me.

Let's Do Something.

Yesterday was the Answer LA sponsored march from Hollywood and Vine to Hollywood and Highland, about six blocks, all told. Over all, it was crap. Let me explain why:

1. 6 blocks on empty streets is not enough. The only people reading those signs and hearing those slogans are the people already there and the cops paid to be there.
2. Many protesters used images and hearkened back to times like Vietnam, Civil Rights, 8 hr. work day, etc. Those were all more than 40 years ago. There has been no significant new legislation in over 40 years. Those people effected change because they walked past the barricades and made law makers uncomfortable. It's easy to ignore what you can't see and don't hear about. We're just recycling their ideas, and not even productively recycling.
3. The march was not organized, or streamlined. People were carrying signs and mock coffins, but in no orderly fashion. Everyone there had a separate agenda. I spoke with anarchists, socialists, communists, veterans, feminists, latinos, palestinians, all with separate goals and reasons for being there. That's fine, but when everyone is shouting something different, when everyone is pushing their own ideologies instead of a common goal, it becomes a shit storm of nonsense as opposed to an actual protest. A bystander asked what the march was protesting. I looked at him and said, take your pick. It made everyone there look like a complete idiot. Not only are we marching to no one but we're also marching for nothing. The only point in the whole protest that I felt emboldened was when the mother of a dead soldier came up to the mic and complained that this was not enough, that she'd been going to protests for 6 years since her son's death and nothing was changing, we needed to step it up. So, the people in the first few rows started shouting "step it up" while the people behind continued with whatever drivel they'd thought up.
4. Another thing that truly bothered me was that there were no American flags. What country are you supposedly fighting to change? The coffins were all draped with Iraqi and Palestinian flags. My friend asked me, "What about my friends that died?" No one seemed to have an answer for that.
So many people at that rally seemed more concerned with freeing Palestine and waving Iraqi flags, it makes me wonder if they even mentally live in this country. The Palestine/Israel conflict is none of our business. It is not our place to choose sides. These people choose sides merely because the American government chose the opposite. They are no farther above the left/right rift than the lobbyists and pundits in Washington D.C. I agree, let's get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and all the other countries we push our way into. Let's concentrate on our own issues, our own problems.

If you're a socialist, fine. If you're a feminist, fine. If you're latino, fine. But if we want anything to get done, we have got to pick some issues, and goals and fight for them. It will take time, it will take hard work, but it will be worth it, if we can unite as one people and fight for what we deserve, truly fight, not just walk up and down empty streets. It is better to move slowly in a deliberate direction than to move quickly in all directions.

Sorry, can't come up with anything more clever than that for the moment. I'll work on it...

As I'm sure you have all heard, the Coffee Party is gaining momentum as the "answer" to the extremist conservative Tea Party Movement. The Coffee Party had their official kickoff yesterday, which was apparently a great success, with between 350-400 meetups held across the country, aptly held at coffee houses.

Now, I have to say that I was rather skeptical of this group at the beginning, being that they started purely as a response to an extremist movement. I was waiting for a polar opposite, an exact pull in the opposite direction.
However, according to their description, they are not aligned with any party and the founder refers to the two party system as out of date.
The meetings were awash with people from all age groups and races, conservative and liberals alike.
Annabel Park, the groups founder, said "Just like in the American Revolution, we are looking for real representation right now. We don't feel represented by our government right now, and we don't really feel represented well by the media either...it's a simple call to action for people to wake up and take control over their future and demand representation. And it requires people standing up and speaking up."
That sounds a lot like the Tea Party and I'm not gonna lie, sounds a lot like me too. However, I don't cite the Revolution or Constitution as much as these two groups do.

I feel that the return to certain ideals on which this country was founded on is very important, but we still need to move forward. This is not the 1700s. Our past brought us to our future but we can not re-live that past. We must continue to build upon it. I sometimes feel that groups such as these have good intentions but fail to differentiate between our country's past, present and future. The return to the good ole days mentality isn't what we need. We need a strong step forward with a clear cut, solid plan for our future.

I'm interested to see where the Coffee Party heads next. But for now, I'll wait before I jump on their bandwagon. How bout you?

Hey all DU'ers. I've started a group that focuses on the goal of moving forward, not left or right. So many people in this country simply throw insults at the other side and never actually move forward with any key issues. I'd like to change that, with your help. I believe that a group of informed, concerned citizens can facilitate change. Just like yesterday's Bloody Sunday anniversary showed us, people working together towards a common goal can yield significant results.

Our group had a skype chat last Saturday and will have another one this coming Sunday. Please check out rooftoprevolutionaries.blogspot.com for more info as well as meetup.com/Rooftop-Revolutionaries.

Hope to see you this Sunday the 14th @ 5pm PST on skype.


A silent people is a helpless people. We must speak for ourselves.

CNN released results from a poll stating that 86% of people questioned believe that the government is broken. Of that 86%, 81% say it can be fixed and 5% say it's beyond repair.

The survey was conducted over the phone, questioning 1,023 American adults.

Now, I'll be the first to say that surveys irritate me, not only because of the badly timed phone calls or emails but because the results are often quite fallible and can be used to support whatever agenda it is that is being pushed.

That aside, even if 50% of those 1,023 Americans thought the government was fucked, wouldn't that be enough to say, "Whoa! There's something seriously wrong here!?"

I know I'm not the only one who's pissed off about the government, about how our country is run. Even if these numbers are skewed, I know I'm not the only one.

So, what's the deal? Why are we all just standing by then? Why are we all just answering phone calls, emailing each other and bitching over beer about the state of the union?

Let's do something about that overwhelming sense of distrust and disappointment.
It's not enough to say you're mad as hell, you have to act, and refuse to take it anymore.