Six Months For A Poster

Thats right ladies and gentlemen - three activists face up to six months in prison for the postering of an electrical box. You can read more over at Grassroots America. But just for the sake of it, here' a blip from the page:
{Photo from Washington Post}

"Adam Kokesh of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Tina Richards of Grassroots America and Ian Thompson of the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition where arrested during a press conference near Lafayette Park where the National Park Service deployed mounted police and a SWAT team to disrupt it. The press conference was called to display the lawful way to apply posters in response to almost $40,000 in postering fines levied against the ANSWER Coalition."

Holy bullshit Batman. In my opinion I think the severe punishment for such a trivial event has to do with the fact that someone has their head on a chopping block for not stopping the march on the 15th from happening. Or, at the very least weren't able to squash it and keep it small enough to gently rub the sore Ego's of Those Who Are In Charge - who are of course responsible for the shit sandwich we are now being force fed. They probably don't want to hear how badly they are doing in their respective positions of power - and undoubtedly did not want to hear it en masse on the 15th of September.

So now it is the activists who are paying the price - America is a capitalist country after all, and someone always has to pay the price.

Usually, its the little guy.

Everyone, please show your support for the three activists in any way you can - let our government know that over criminalizing people for using their Constitutional Rights will not be tolerated. Let 'em know that you'd prefer they go after rapists and child molesters, murderers and crack dealers all while managing to keep those SOB's in jail, and leave innocent citizens alone.

I decided I would make a post of a comment I had made over the past week - Its about the painting "The Death of Marat" and at the request of Enigma4ever. This is what I wrote:




The painting represents the death of a revolutionary in France during the Reign of Terror, Jean-Paul Marat. He was the writer for a paper called "The Friend of The People" (Translated). The portrait portrays his death, at the hands of a woman. Marat was often found in a bathtub, as respite from a disease (or current speculation an allergy to gluten). The woman supposed Charlotte Corday came to see him to kill him, to save France. But as the story goes, she had a second reason. If I remember correctly she needed a written statement from Marat to help save her son during these troubling times. She sought the help of Marat, in keeping her son safe. So after he signed the paper she needed, she killed him.

In my synopsis I went into great detail about the actual artwork involved, and less about the story behind it - the brushwork, the color, composition and such - but these things are not mutually exclusive to the story. Notice the heavy color and brushwork at the top of the painting, weighing down on Marat, the pen and paper still in his hand. Notice the peaceful look on his face, and the position in which he is lying. Even the bathtub is a symbol in my mind.

I chose this painting as a visual representation of my thoughts because here is a revolutionary man, quite disabled at times, who died helping an enemy in a spurt of compassion. The tub to me, represents a cleanliness, his position reminiscent of Jesus in Michelangelo's Pieta, his face peaceful - not in pain or horror as one would expect to see on the face of a man who has been betrayed, and then murdered, after giving aid to a worried mother. He, Marat, sleeps with a clear conscience. He, Marat represents all of us who are here, doing our part to create a better world for worried mothers, and fathers, and brothers and sisters.

Be it the peaceful resistance of the Monks in Burma, to the most violent Black Bloc riot, whether it is in silence, or words, or bricks - to the Average American Patriots, Angry patriots, the Anon's, the Enigmas, the Kokeshes, Brian Beckers, Tina Richards and Cindy Sheehans - We are all coming together in the same spirit of Marat, are we not? Fighting for what is right, showing compassion in the face of betrayal.

And while we may lie awake at night, Damn it all to hell if our conscience isn't clear.

America The Great - Ha

So I was having a fairly heated discussion this morning, with a person whom I care for a great deal, about politics. It started out innocent enough, talking about political mouth-pieces and their shenanigans. It quickly took a turn for the worse however, when we went outside of the shock-jock arena and into foreign policy and war.

I won't get into details for right now, but lets just say this much - after facts and opinions were aired, and my dearly loved, yet argumentative debater decided there was nothing left to really defend the State of The Nation at its current point - the argument degraded into the

"America is an influential international superpower and the World can't live without America and its decisions and the rest of the World is crap and full of wimps yadda yadda yadda We are the superpower...yadda yadda yadda...the World can't do squat without us and always comes crying to America for help blah blah blah...."

Maybe I'm remembering history incorrectly here - but America, as the economic globalization, capitalistic and military superpower is still a relatively new phenomenon....yes? The World got along just fine before America, and I'm sure it would do just fine without America. I'm quite certain that America isn't God's Gift to the World and the World's Only Salvation.

But thats not really why I was writing this blurb. I couldn't help but realize that this argument - one I've heard often - comes from a person who's only news source is the local paper. This person also stated that the government is privy to information that we are not, and so we can't form solid opinions unless we have all the facts.

Think about that for a second

Its not a dig - but it is a good point to understand that when information is so limited - so too is he mindset and opinion of the person reading it.

Perhaps this is a major problem to the seeming lack of outrage from a portion of population- perhaps I'm a little slow on the uptake with regards to this. But I just can't understand how people put so much faith into one little source - when there is a world of sources out there to look at! Granted, looking at so many sources can create conflict within one's own opinion and thoughts - but I think that only when you have all the facts can the truth be clear.

That said, and with regards to the idea that all the classified information that our government is using to wage a war on other countries - all I can say is that we may not have the exact information that has been classified however, when you have so many conflicting reports and stories you can be sure that the classified information probably isn't on the up and up. Too much misinformation for the public smacks of cover-ups and bad doings...not of anything that I can think of that would justify the deconstruction of the Constitution, the suspension of Habeas Corpus, and the unprovoked attack and occupation of another country and plans to do it again.

Maybe its just me though.

Banned Interview from Ireland