The winds of change have begun to blow

The winds of change have begun to blow
not gust or gale
but cooling breeze
a soothing balm
on a sweltering afternoon
not a clean cleansing down pour
but the promise of relief to come
for storms do not break from still stagnant skies
but must build and roll and break
before the lightening strikes
cleaving the air
and purging the land of heat and grime
not yet
the machine of history runs slow
and the race for Liberty marathon not sprint
but the winds of change have begun to blow
and the strength of the old guard withers
we need not repeat the sins of our forebears
activism followed by contented consumerism
the soul of America is at stake
and we will be the ones to decide
if She lives or if She dies
twisted by fear into the grave
or resurrected by compassion
the winds of change have begun to blow.
It is our time now.

'RBG' A Review

RBG is a documentary about supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Through relatively conventional contemporary interviews and archival footage the film takes a look at Ginsburg's family, work with the ACLU, her appointment, and her time on the bench. It also investigates the genesis of her pop culture iconography and her tremendous youth appeal and influence.

The film highlights a number of gender discrimination cases Ginsburg brought to the supreme court in the 70's and 80's as well as some major cases she tried as a justice. Knowing the specifics of these cases and the trail blazed by Ginsburg for gender equality is fascinating not least of which because Ginsburg herself is so reserved. There is not a lot of volume to her actions only a sharp and deep conviction. Some time is also spent around Ginsburg's marriage, it's importance, and the odd couple pair her more gregarious husband Martin.

The information in the film is broad but not particularly deep but that is immaterial. We get a sense of this important, inspiring figure and the work she continues to do. We get a sense of how vital the court is, how precarious its position, and how divisive the times we live in. But we also get the sense that this has happened before, Ginsburg makes a direct analogy to the red scare, and that the law, lawyers, judges, individuals can make a difference.

Engaging and energizing if not particularly cinematic.

Rent It.

Perseverance

The irony is that fatalism is futile. There is no benefit to doom. Certainly a moment of despair or a time of mourning is something we are all entitled to. But remaining in a place of fear, wallowing in ennui does not serve us personally nor does it effect the society in which we remain. We move on by moving forward, we survive by taking action.

Yes, this election has been brutal. Yes, this outcome is heartbreaking and terrifying. But out of this pain, out of this loss there are opportunities. This pain provides an opportunity to come together as compassionate humans. Provides a real and compelling chance to unite. Not only is it a time to reach out to our friends and family for fellowship but it is a time to connect more broadly, rigorously exercise our empathy and understanding, because only by recognizing each other as thinking feeling valued humans can we hope to weather the coming trials. It also allows us an enemy that is distinct. Apathy has slowed progress for years, with hate and aggression writ large and loud on a national scale there are no excuses left, we must and will take action.

On taking action. To men I suggest this is a time to listen and follow more than speak and lead, whatever the conversation, whatever the battle it is not for us to define. What we can all do, the tools of progress and change remain what they have always been- organize, march, vote, donate. Social organizations will need financial support in the coming months and years more than ever. And aside from the philanthropic we vote with our dollars, research the companies you are giving your money to and be discerning about where and what you purchase.

And life goes on. Life endures. The sun will rise and set tomorrow. There'll still be Thanksgiving and 2017 will still come. We still have to commute and go to work and decide what to do on Sunday afternoon. There are still pleasures, large and small, still love and companionship and joy. The future may look bleak but its reality is something we can determine. We have the choice on how to proceed and I suggest moving forward with hope and kindness. For even the smallest act of generosity can make a ripple that becomes a wave. One day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time we can make the choice not to succumb to darkness but to live in the light.

Fear is the mind-killer. Struggle not submission.

Be True

As you wept
in our bed
I did not know
what to do

I could not know
your despair
or the pain
that ran through you

There are things
that can be shared
but others only
to be endured

Sometimes words
cannot heal
and assurances
have no weight

So I gave what I had-
my ears
and the warmth
of my embrace

For today
it was enough.

Let Them Spin, We Will Win

This is a historic presidential election. The first woman major party nominee who is on track to be president, Hillary Clinton. Some of the singularity and importance of this has been lost due to Clinton's opponent, xenophobic sack of wet falafel Donald Trump, and the resulting exhausting negativity of both campaigns.

Last night was the first presidential debate and unequivocally Clinton won. Before the debate parallels were drawn to the 2000 election where Gore was wooden and scornful of Bush's lack of intellectualism which backfired. Clinton was prepared, poised, and calmly assertive. Paralells have been drawn to the 2008 election because of its historic nature. And leading up to that election it was a similarly "close race" with the subsequent Obama win. Through the lens of history this narrative of Trump "gaining ground" is suspect.

Not to say Clinton isn't flawed or that she will be any more progressive than the somewhat disappointing but steady tenure of Obama but there is only one outcome this election can and will take. The outcome of a Trump win is too bleak to even fathom and for those skeptical of Clinton John Oliver did an excellent piece on their respective scandals.

Certainly the state of the union is in need of massive reform and Clinton may not be able to deliver the kind of sweeping change the nation so desperately needs but things will get better. Slowly but surely. And perhaps pave the way for an honest-to-goodness progressive in the not too distant future.

Regardless of Trump's pandering, his provocative hate-speech, his appeal to the reptile in us all he will fail. His campaign will equivocate, rant, and pervert, its what they do. Let them spin, we will win. There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. A woman will hold the highest office in government. 45th president of the United States Hillary Clinton.

Graffiti 198

"Politics is the art of controlling your environment." -Hunter S. Thompson

"Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable." -John Kenneth Galbraith

"I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies." -Napoleon Bonaparte

"Freedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that 'Oh, I don't get involved in politics,' as if that makes someone cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn't insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable." -Bill Maher

Deactivate

This past week I deactivated my Facebook account. In most respects I'm not an opponent of the digital(love instagram) but I just found myself upset by it while also compulsively checking it. The world can be a cruel place, this isn't anything new, every day there are small and large scale tragedies happening and I think its important to be informed. However.

Overtime I've found the echo chamber, grandstanding, toothless nature of Facebook to be truly off putting. I agree that important information needs to be spread but posting and sharing takes so little effort and even less understanding that it lacks any real meaning. There is also this element of posturing, of narcissism about it all, cultivating a "compassionate" and "informed" digital persona, an element of "look at me I'm so enlightened" that is just exhausting. It propagates the illusion of involvement, of influence, of progress.

In my experience even if the content that is being shared is good and the sentiment accompanying it genuine it does not incite change, it is not actually participation in a political or social discourse. Petition signing, monetary donations to organizations, actual in-the-flesh protests/demonstrations, those have some actual stakes. Sharing a Huffpost article with your circle of friends who have the same beliefs as you doesn't actually do much.

Our culture is more partisan than it has ever been, beliefs more ingrained. There is little ground given in debate and discussion, minds rarely changed. This is no where more apparent then on Facebook where huge threads will develop from that one antagonistic conservative/liberal friend you have from high school/former co-worker/family member who tenaciously comments and uses incendiary language. No one is persuaded, everyone is angry. It's a zero sum game.

This all coupled with the fact that my checking Facebook had become habitual. Whenever I had downtime at work, at home, while commuting, a spare minute in line at Starbucks I'd check it even though it almost unilaterally intensified my boredom and caused me frustration. I couldn't stop I had built it into my muscle memory.

Now I don't say all this out of a sense of self-righteousness or superiority I just got tired of it, it made me feel bad. Social Media and digital technology is suppose to be helpful, make life easier, streamline communication, bring people together. At this point with it so ingrained in our day-to-day lives we have to police how successful it is for us, how much we get out of it, and decide if it is, in fact, useful.

It's important to remember that true change, inspiration, and tolerance are found in reality. Not in a What Disney Villain Are You quiz or 14 Vital Things You Don't Know About Syria article, as diverting as those things may be.

Anti-Comedy 3

10,000 years ago off the coast of TurkeyTown there was a city made of snacks. in SnackCity there was a mayor. his name was Stromboli.  he had a wife Nilla made out Vanilla Wafers, a daughter Ding-Dong made of chocolate cake and vanilla creme, and a son Sun Chip. they lived in a house of Dunkaroos. everyday Stromboli drove his Snowball car to Peppermint Bark city hall, stamped Fruit Roll-Up bills, shat out chunks of Turkish Delight into the Jolly Rancher toilet plopping in the cleaning Koolaid, and conversed at length with all the Sour Patch Kid aldermen.

one day LicoriceMan, a political terrorist and self loathing homo-snackian, slipped a poisoned MilkDud into Stromboli's morning Cherry Shasta. upon arriving home for lunch Stromboli was possessed by an undeniable grumble down in his tumtum. he ate his wife, his daughter, his son, his house, his neighbors, their houses, his aldermen, his constituents, all their houses, the roads, buses and trains, the sidewalks, the parks, city buildings, everything until there was one big hole where SnackCity use to be that looked like a big puckered butthole. an hour later he threw it all up, after a while all that puke clotted became Hurl Huts forming VomitVillage. Stromboli was elected mayor.

Graffiti 77

 "Mass Incarceration + Silence = Genocide" is the title of a lecture given by Carl Dix, founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party.  The idea is the same explored in the film The House I Live In.



"As a society we're so quick and able to spend money on lawyers for someone for incarceration, but we don't make the corresponding commitment to the preventative components of it." -Matt Gonzalez

"You will be judged in years to come by how you responded to genocide on your watch." -Nicholas Kristof

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." Abraham Lincoln

The Fourth Of July

Went to Tisher's for a 4th of July BBQ. It was a real blast. Good friends, good food, and roman candles. It was the first time I'd met Thomas pictured above who, much to my delight, loves movies as much as I do. I spent a good hour quizzing him on what movies he'd seen and what he thought of them. A lot of people like movies, it's rare you find someone who absolutely loves movies. It was a real treat.

The highlight of the evening was everyone gathering on the stoop, while the fireworks were going off, for the annual reading of the Declaration Of Independence. We passed the book around and everyone read a paragraph or two. By the time it got to me the text split into two, what I imagine are two different interpretations, Thomas stepped in and read one half while I read the other half simultaneously.

All in all a great night.