Tuesday, May 27, 2003
More Debordante . My web site is new and still in an early construction phase as I learn how to make this HTML work for me.
I hear the word freedom tossed around today not like a frizbee which takes some understanding and respect for the nature of the object, but tossed like an egg that is bound to break in your hands because you haven't considered its fragile nature. Here's the start to an article on the nature of freedom....
In 1969 nearly half a million young people gathered at Yasgur’s farm in upstate New York for three days of music, peaceful communal living, and freedom to do as they pleased. Many of those freedom seekers were raised in Christian homes where songs of praise, and words of peace, love, and free will would have been part of their daily lives, or at least spoken on Sundays. At this gathering, however, the atmosphere swelled with an anti-government sentiment, a radical “hippies make-love-not-war” consciousness, and an energy aimed at breaking loose from the ties of the establishment. Freedom took the Woodstock stage when Richie Havens immortalized it in an impromptu song. The freedom of the moment promised happiness for each individual and offered equality for all without the burden of boundaries. This new voice of freedom, with slogans like “If it feels good, do it,” had been growing in America long before the Woodstock generation was born. When the Woodstock music ended after three days, the freedom rage continued and lives on today not just in America, but around the world. The 21st century cry for Operation Enduring Freedom begs us to take a closer look at what freedom truly means.
Deep within the human spirit is an understanding of the precious nature of freedom. In the U.S., our forebears spoke of freedom as an inalienable right. We must be careful not to confuse the worldly idea of freedom, as in making our own decisions without restraint, with the sense of true freedom that is inherent in our humanness, intimately connecting us to our creator, God. Like the Woodstock palmers, early Christians gathered in large communities to celebrate peace, love, and freedom. In the letter to the Galatian community,
we hear St. Paul’s counsel, “For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love” (Gal 5:13). Paul, writing to them in Greek, knew that the Galatians would not misinterpret what he meant by “” (freedom--blogger doesn't support Greek font).
In 1969 nearly half a million young people gathered at Yasgur’s farm in upstate New York for three days of music, peaceful communal living, and freedom to do as they pleased. Many of those freedom seekers were raised in Christian homes where songs of praise, and words of peace, love, and free will would have been part of their daily lives, or at least spoken on Sundays. At this gathering, however, the atmosphere swelled with an anti-government sentiment, a radical “hippies make-love-not-war” consciousness, and an energy aimed at breaking loose from the ties of the establishment. Freedom took the Woodstock stage when Richie Havens immortalized it in an impromptu song. The freedom of the moment promised happiness for each individual and offered equality for all without the burden of boundaries. This new voice of freedom, with slogans like “If it feels good, do it,” had been growing in America long before the Woodstock generation was born. When the Woodstock music ended after three days, the freedom rage continued and lives on today not just in America, but around the world. The 21st century cry for Operation Enduring Freedom begs us to take a closer look at what freedom truly means.
Deep within the human spirit is an understanding of the precious nature of freedom. In the U.S., our forebears spoke of freedom as an inalienable right. We must be careful not to confuse the worldly idea of freedom, as in making our own decisions without restraint, with the sense of true freedom that is inherent in our humanness, intimately connecting us to our creator, God. Like the Woodstock palmers, early Christians gathered in large communities to celebrate peace, love, and freedom. In the letter to the Galatian community,
we hear St. Paul’s counsel, “For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love” (Gal 5:13). Paul, writing to them in Greek, knew that the Galatians would not misinterpret what he meant by “” (freedom--blogger doesn't support Greek font).
Friday, May 23, 2003
End of the week folow-up:
The Bolozone is still condemned. They will need to start from scratch with building plans, etc. before the city reinstates any kind of residency permits and building permits.
Those who choose to live this community existence where they rely on one another for the cooperative living style call themselves Anarchists. An interesting title to choose. They are opposed to all forms of laws, and only desire for people to take responsibility for themselves and their neighbor, desiring what is only mutually good for all. Isn't that a lovely thought? The forces in the world threatening this ideology are mostly the corporate structures and governments. The latter mostly because they impose laws which tend to protect the corporate structures. The corporations are out to get you and me and all our money and enslave us under the misconception that we really want TV's, microwaves, gas guzzling cars, and 9-5 jobs in tall glass buildings. We are all fools, it would seem. Anarchists want nothing more than to free us from our foolish materialistic desires.
Anarchists, anarchists, anarchists, what can I tell you? I have found it interesting to note that they do not refer to themselves "a community" or "coop" or even "commune." Nope, they call their merry little haven of cooperative living "a collective." That's right, like the BORG from Star Trek. As they free us from our unhealthy and enslaving desires, their motto is "resistance is futile."
Coincidentally, the police have the same motto. The only difference, so far as I've been able to tell, is the anarchists are non-violent in their persuasion, whereas the police have nothing against violence. Anarchists will bring us all into the collective without law or force. For their message is GOOD and for our own betterment. The police, governments, and corporations need laws to keep us all in line; therefore, their message is BAD and leads to destruction.
I think I've got this right. If can help clarify the picture for me, please write to me, soon.
The Bolozone is still condemned. They will need to start from scratch with building plans, etc. before the city reinstates any kind of residency permits and building permits.
Those who choose to live this community existence where they rely on one another for the cooperative living style call themselves Anarchists. An interesting title to choose. They are opposed to all forms of laws, and only desire for people to take responsibility for themselves and their neighbor, desiring what is only mutually good for all. Isn't that a lovely thought? The forces in the world threatening this ideology are mostly the corporate structures and governments. The latter mostly because they impose laws which tend to protect the corporate structures. The corporations are out to get you and me and all our money and enslave us under the misconception that we really want TV's, microwaves, gas guzzling cars, and 9-5 jobs in tall glass buildings. We are all fools, it would seem. Anarchists want nothing more than to free us from our foolish materialistic desires.
Anarchists, anarchists, anarchists, what can I tell you? I have found it interesting to note that they do not refer to themselves "a community" or "coop" or even "commune." Nope, they call their merry little haven of cooperative living "a collective." That's right, like the BORG from Star Trek. As they free us from our unhealthy and enslaving desires, their motto is "resistance is futile."
Coincidentally, the police have the same motto. The only difference, so far as I've been able to tell, is the anarchists are non-violent in their persuasion, whereas the police have nothing against violence. Anarchists will bring us all into the collective without law or force. For their message is GOOD and for our own betterment. The police, governments, and corporations need laws to keep us all in line; therefore, their message is BAD and leads to destruction.
I think I've got this right. If can help clarify the picture for me, please write to me, soon.
Saturday, May 17, 2003
Saturday morning and a jolt of energy sent me to the basement for some exercise. Midway through my "routine" I received a call from our oldest daughter. I was happy to hear from this 24 yr-old self-declared anarchist today. Last night one of her friends called to tell us they'd been arrested.
We checked the evening news, and sure enough, there they were. Well, not their pretty little faces, but the name and address of the house that police raided (which we quickly identified as her house, which they call the BOLOZONE). The World Agricultural conference is being held right in River City this week. Naturally, the anarchists are interested in exposing the anti-life-nano-bio-technical nature of those nasty chemical engineers at MONSANTO who run the organization. Next to Anheiser-Busch, Monsanto is likely the next most important (read $$$$) corporate giant in St. Louis. It seems that a number of (200-50,000 depending on whose counting) protesters are in St. Louis staying at "homes" in the area and being fed, we can safely assume, non-genetically altered vegetarian food, by the residents in these "homes." The "homes" like the one my daughter lives in are inhabited by artists and puppeteers and grass root organizers and you know the rest. They don't have 2 cents between them. The house was once condemned, and the city sold it for $800 to some rehabber-anarchists. The group that lives there has been rehabbing it for two or three years. They've done some hard labor, like a new roof, a concrete retaining wall, a garden, maybe interior renovations (i've never had the courage to go inside). But the work and improvements are obvious from the sidewalk. In a neighborhood like this one, these kinds of improvements stand out!
When the police caught wind of the national protesters (the 200 to 50,000) converging on the River City, they decided to cut 'em off at the pass, so to speak --this was once the wild west, ya know. In all probability, the $$$$$ folks at Monsanto made a few phone calls to the city and - well, you know how it goes- the city inspector was sent out to those condemned houses to throw those squatters out on the street - after a night in jail. First thing the inspector did, wisely on his behalf i'll say, was to rip that building permit out of the window, before escorting the police to arrest all the people who live there. And what a "lucky break" says the policeman, that they found roofing nails, metal rods, and concrete forms in the house to confiscate. Those nasty 200 (or is that 50,000) protesters (the puppeteers?) were going to throw these things at the Monsanto led Agro supporters. The local news channel was allowed to film a table in the house that had an obvious brown bottle with a rag in it with roofing nails all around it on the table. The residents have stated when interviewed, after they got out of jail, that the items were the same things every renovated house has in the garage. But the news reporter on TV was saying the words, "And the police found the makings of homemade bombs and nails and whips" etc. just as the table of objects appeared on the screen. A brown bottle with a rag in it now looks awfully suspicious.
Our daughter has never before been arrested (of course, there are things you shouldn't tell your parents). She has a degree in Art, tries to live off her art sales, and tutors mostly immigrant children at the city library for money to really live on. The police took some of her art with them. I don't blame them, some of it does look dangerous to me. I'm her mother. And she can't get back in to the house for several days, at least. She most misses her bite-plate and her bicylce. She has the use of our car, which is parked in front of her now condemned house, but her driver's license is locked in the house. And she won't drive without a license. Probably a wise a move.
Here's a kid that will no walk into a building through and exit door. She never breaks rules. But she calls herself an anarchist. She does believe in equal rights and equal opportunities for all human beings.
We checked the evening news, and sure enough, there they were. Well, not their pretty little faces, but the name and address of the house that police raided (which we quickly identified as her house, which they call the BOLOZONE). The World Agricultural conference is being held right in River City this week. Naturally, the anarchists are interested in exposing the anti-life-nano-bio-technical nature of those nasty chemical engineers at MONSANTO who run the organization. Next to Anheiser-Busch, Monsanto is likely the next most important (read $$$$) corporate giant in St. Louis. It seems that a number of (200-50,000 depending on whose counting) protesters are in St. Louis staying at "homes" in the area and being fed, we can safely assume, non-genetically altered vegetarian food, by the residents in these "homes." The "homes" like the one my daughter lives in are inhabited by artists and puppeteers and grass root organizers and you know the rest. They don't have 2 cents between them. The house was once condemned, and the city sold it for $800 to some rehabber-anarchists. The group that lives there has been rehabbing it for two or three years. They've done some hard labor, like a new roof, a concrete retaining wall, a garden, maybe interior renovations (i've never had the courage to go inside). But the work and improvements are obvious from the sidewalk. In a neighborhood like this one, these kinds of improvements stand out!
When the police caught wind of the national protesters (the 200 to 50,000) converging on the River City, they decided to cut 'em off at the pass, so to speak --this was once the wild west, ya know. In all probability, the $$$$$ folks at Monsanto made a few phone calls to the city and - well, you know how it goes- the city inspector was sent out to those condemned houses to throw those squatters out on the street - after a night in jail. First thing the inspector did, wisely on his behalf i'll say, was to rip that building permit out of the window, before escorting the police to arrest all the people who live there. And what a "lucky break" says the policeman, that they found roofing nails, metal rods, and concrete forms in the house to confiscate. Those nasty 200 (or is that 50,000) protesters (the puppeteers?) were going to throw these things at the Monsanto led Agro supporters. The local news channel was allowed to film a table in the house that had an obvious brown bottle with a rag in it with roofing nails all around it on the table. The residents have stated when interviewed, after they got out of jail, that the items were the same things every renovated house has in the garage. But the news reporter on TV was saying the words, "And the police found the makings of homemade bombs and nails and whips" etc. just as the table of objects appeared on the screen. A brown bottle with a rag in it now looks awfully suspicious.
Our daughter has never before been arrested (of course, there are things you shouldn't tell your parents). She has a degree in Art, tries to live off her art sales, and tutors mostly immigrant children at the city library for money to really live on. The police took some of her art with them. I don't blame them, some of it does look dangerous to me. I'm her mother. And she can't get back in to the house for several days, at least. She most misses her bite-plate and her bicylce. She has the use of our car, which is parked in front of her now condemned house, but her driver's license is locked in the house. And she won't drive without a license. Probably a wise a move.
Here's a kid that will no walk into a building through and exit door. She never breaks rules. But she calls herself an anarchist. She does believe in equal rights and equal opportunities for all human beings.
Friday, May 16, 2003
The Joy of Blogging. --I guess someone already wrote it.
How can sitting all day with your eyes on the screen
make your think of new things and say what you mean?
The keys are alive with the power of words
though the thought of it all is something absurd.
In Bloggsville they type and they type and they scroll.
They read and they search trying to make themselves whole.
But all that arrives on the screen are the bits,
the tids and the flotsom and whatever fits.
The blogging goes on, day in and day out,
as they wonder out loud and shift with each doubt.
It's a Zeuslike land all the words that they blog.
Yet, the bloggers blog on, blog, blog, blog-blog, blog.
How can sitting all day with your eyes on the screen
make your think of new things and say what you mean?
The keys are alive with the power of words
though the thought of it all is something absurd.
In Bloggsville they type and they type and they scroll.
They read and they search trying to make themselves whole.
But all that arrives on the screen are the bits,
the tids and the flotsom and whatever fits.
The blogging goes on, day in and day out,
as they wonder out loud and shift with each doubt.
It's a Zeuslike land all the words that they blog.
Yet, the bloggers blog on, blog, blog, blog-blog, blog.
