“As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they ask — and rightly so — what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.†Continue reading Look What I Just Tripped Over
Tag: Culture
Keeping Them Honest?
Well it’s been a few days since I managed to witness a CNN television news anchor interview an employee of the US Food Safety and Inspection Service. Regarding a story the Humane Society broke in late January. And I’m not feeling a bit better about what I saw.
An “Undercover Investigation Reveals Rampant Animal Cruelty at California Slaughter Plant,” which showed “downed dairy cattle” at, or presumably entering the Westland Meat Co. slaughter house killing floor by means of a forklift pushing them. That’s right, pushing them. With a forklift! Continue reading Keeping Them Honest?
Nothing More To Say
You know, I couldn’t possibly hope to successfully describe just how I’m feeling about life right now. Not my life, specifically, but that of life in general. Let me tell you, it feels pretty fucking shitty…
I had an opportunity to read the article, “People Are Still Scared Of Expressing Themselves,” which recently appeared in the Ottawa Citizen. It was regarding a woman from East Timor, named Bella Galhos. Yep, that’s right, the person who inspired the song “Mate Ka Moris Ukun Rasik An.”
What’s it been, nearly 7 years since Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes was released? And, sadly, today I finally, fully understood what Chris is singing about. Continue reading Nothing More To Say
Happy Holidays
I’ve seen my share of counter productive behavior this holiday season. On TV, especially. I’m referring to the greatly misplaced act when people insist on being wished a “Merry Christmas,” rather than the more appropriate “Happy Holidays.”
Think about it, whether intentional or not, wishing others a “Merry Christmas” may make one feel recognized, sure, but what about those who don’t regard the same traditions as “you?” And could possibly feel, uncomfortable or slighted by such a salutation? Continue reading Happy Holidays