Granola Lesbians Rule!

While in Washington DC an activist friend said I was “granola.” I was so pissed, I about knocked the shit out of with her with my birkenstocks.

Counting The Dead

I’m probably going to feel “the wrath” from this post. Hell, I figure it’ll probably get me put on a watch list, if I’m not already on one. But if I didn’t post this I would be a hypocrite, if only in my own mind. I feel someone has to say this.

Personally, I find counting the number of dead soldiers offensive. Hundreds of Iraqi’s are murdered IN MASS, and the response by most Americans is a numb shrug of the shoulders. Yet, when 32 people are killed at Virginia Tech it’s a sad and disturbing event!?!??? This kind of irrational nationalism makes me ill. The Iraqi’s that have died are not much different than you, except for location. How is it that we can strip the humanity from anyone outside our borders? 9/11 sucked and was horrifying, but how does it compare to the war in Iraq? Estimates are that the Iraqi body count is from 50,000 to 600,000. That’s 16 to 201 times the number of dead from the 9/11 attacks.

I’d never wish ill on any soldier, but really, who should I feel sorry for? If you are a soldier in the US military, you have made a conscious choice to join the most powerful killing machine that this planet has ever seen. I’m not a fan of Rush Limbaugh, but he said it best… the military exists to “kill people and break things.” In contrast, the dead Iraqi civilians only crimes were location and existence.

Protests, as they are carried out now, have no weight behind them. The protests of the sixties mattered because they were bold pronouncements against the popular consensus. They also were very disruptive in the lives of your average Joe. The protests of today do neither. Permits are accessed, rules are followed, people talk, then go home. Protests today aren’t disruptive, don’t cause any disturbance, and in that, I don’t think they actually have impact or notice to your average every day Hoosier.

The reality is that those things that have impact, because they come at a cost. Jail time, personal safety, or other personal sacrifice usually follow such a sacrifice. The question is, are people fed up enough to make that kind of sacrifice?

The answer reminds me of a quote from “V for Vendetta”

“Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well, certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now High Chancellor…”

“More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives.”

I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t know what we SHOULD do, I just know that protests and demonstrations aren’t the answer.

I’ve come to a point in my life where I am horrified by what my country is, yet inspired by what it could be. Right now the only thing I know I can give are my words.

The Next YouTube?

I really dig this thing… I found OUTFOXXED on it..but there’s sooo much more. It seems way more put together than youtube. I’m gonna investigate it a bit more….

In the mean time…enjoy…

Find this video and thousands of others at vSocial!