my sister shares her story about the I-69 tree sit

This past weekend a tree sit protesting I-69 was “evicted” by DNR, the Indiana State Police, and other “law enforcement” agencies. My sister was right in the middle of (some of) the action, and she’s shared her story on her blog.
An excerpt:
I was just going to stay in the sidelines but through their disgusting behavior, [...]

Musings on meat and the recent recall

Well, unless you live under a rock you’ve probably heard by now that 143 million pounds of beef coming from a particular meat factory in California have been recalled due to concerns over health and safety related to the improper health-related treatment of certain “downer” cows. A few thoughts:
1) I saw on the news today [...]

Support our troops?

This morning, my grandfather sent me an email “action alert” from the American Family Association urging protest of the recent Berkeley, California City Council resolution that declared the downtown Marine recruiting office “unwanted” and urged the recruiters to leave town. This article does not respond to that issue, but rather to the subject line of [...]

Guest article: America the Fascist

My friend Steven Kippel wrote this post, and I requested permission to reproduce it here. Just so no one who has a loved one involved with the military will hear this the wrong way, my brother is in the last stages of mission training before going to Iraq - so this is quite a personal [...]

“[I] had been living inside their imagination.”

Recently I read the excellent novel Imagining Argentina by Thornton Wilder. The book is set in Argentina under a military junta of the type the United States tends to support in our so-called “ally” countries. People are constantly disappearing, being abducted by agents of the regime, including the wife of Carlos. Carlos possesses a mysterious [...]

Christ, the universal/particular, and Eucharist

One of my Livejournal friends asked this question on her journal:
Can I ever see from a non-western, non-American viewpoint to have only a “Christian” worldview? Oh, to receive truth from revelation and not only through analyzing the world through my lens. I wish I could be objective of my own self. My housemate said [...]

Orwell Rolls in His Grave

A documentary exploration into how the Media is anti-democratic.

I-69 planners on ‘High Alert’

story from Evansville Courier-Press
I-69 is essentially the NAFTA highway.
NAFTA superhighway built under the radar screen - from WorldNetDaily
NAFTA superhighways threaten North America - from Asphalt Strawberry
If completed, it would stretch from Canada to Mexico and would be a part of the corporate strategic machine for enabling the more efficient flow of goods, workers (legal and [...]

The obligatory 9/11 post

I wasn’t going to do this, I was just going to let the post about Stirling Bridge stand as my statement about 9/11, but I just wrote this for my Livejournal and thought it was worth sharing here.
“Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, [...]

Read this if you care about what you eat

I don’t usually get into campaigns trying to leverage the government but sometimes even anarchists have to work within the system, and then brush our teeth later to get the bad taste out of our mouths.
Got this from the Urban Sisterhood:
The FDA wants to allow food from cloned animals into the food supply without labeling.
Please [...]

the Katrina of 2007?

That’s how Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York refers to the current scandal regarding the treatment of wounded Iraq vets at Walter Reed hospital.
While comparisons may be apt on the count of massive government negligence and indifference regarding both the poorer denizens of the Gulf Coast and the wounded soldiers returning home from Iraq, [...]

a brief musing about FOX media

It’s funny… I remember when I was younger that FOX was trumpeted, at least in the circles to which I had access, as being this great socially subversive “liberal stronghold” that presented programs that undermined traditional morality. The Simpsons is the example that most readily comes to mind, but there was also Married… With Children [...]

two quotes on American politics and economics

“The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist — McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell-Douglas, the designer of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley’s technologies is called the US Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.” — Thomas Friedman, “A Manifesto for the [...]

Peak oil, alternative energy sources, infrastructure, and the future of America

First, I’m going to assume that people will at least recognize that using sources of energy that create less pollution is generally a good thing, and even if you’re reading this and don’t believe in global warming (you poor, poor corporate dupe) it can’t possibly hurt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So it would [...]

Food article and September 11

I know I haven’t updated in over a week. Sorry about that, I’ve been busy in the real world with a few things. You know, the real world? That place where we breathe, eat, and sleep? Ok, well, some of you probably sleep.
I have some good stuff brewing in my mind, just can’t [...]

Happy Labor Day (tomorrow)

cartoon by Jeff Parker, Florida Today, found via Killer Coke.

The Hot Topic Phenomenon

Or, see the bit on my About page, “The revolution will not be televised, instead it will be analyzed and sold back to the ones who start it. And the rest of the world can watch via podcast.”
The tendency of the pop-culture market is to take that which is on the fringes and make it [...]

Love of money and corporations

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. — The Apostle Paul (1 Timothy 6:10)
Or, as it is rendered in The Message, by Eugene Peterson:
But if it’s only money these leaders are after, [...]

ABC news story on global warming

Methane Burps and Heat Waves: Global Warming Made Visible
(Supercomputer predicts rising temperatures as escaping gas bubbles rise up through the sea)
Corporate, industrial, and political power is more important than taking care of the earth. And it’s going to kill us.
I resist now in every way I can, and I’m actively trying to modify my [...]

The Future of Food

I have to say… this perhaps one of the most frightening films I have ever seen.
official website
The point is not necessarily that the science is bad, per se, though I do have some issues with potential consequences. It seems like, even though there is potential to do good in society with genetic modification, particularly in [...]