Who’s paying the bill, who’s tendering the bill?
U. S. gas prices have hit over three dollars per gallon. Let’s see: we have oil men in charge of the country, they conduct secret meetings with energy companies, they convince us to invade Iraq with the world’s second largest oil reserves, the oil companies post record breaking profits, and we’re paying twice as much as we used to for gasoline. Who’s the patsy? Though that word might be a little insulting if you’re the parent of someone killed in this charade.
 
Whose conscience was not bothered by secret prisons?
If CIA officer Mary McCarthy was not the source of the leak about the network of secret prisons to which America is abducting people, the question that comes to mind is not who was, but rather, who else was not? Who among the CIA, government and military administrators knew about the illegal un-American activities and didn’t blow the whistle?
 
Diplomatic immunity for beachheads?
On the subject of flouting international law, it has been revealed that plans for the American embassy in Baghdad include facilities for mounting military operations. Since when has it been permissible to treat embassies as military beachheads? When Iranians stormed the U. S. embassy in Tehran, they claimed that the diplomats held hostage were in reality CIA operatives. Our country vehemently denied these charges, but history has shown the Iranian accusations to have been true.
 
Air quote, Zaqawi, end quote.
A recent Al Zarqawi videotape issues new warnings to Iraq’s occupiers. It renews the defiant posturing and reiterates the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. When the BBC reported the latest story, they used quotations when refering to “Zarqawi.” Whose quotes might those be? Of what footnote to the Zarqawi story is the BBC reminding us?

At the prospect of our nation executing Zacarias Moussaoui for perpetrating his unforgivable evil, conspiring and lying, let’s invite the big league lawbreakers to consider turnabout is fair play.

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People on all sides of the anti-war issue ask me what we’re doing with the peace camp. What are you thinking you can accomplish with it anymore?

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What’s a coffee-free coffee? Does it say on the bottle it’s a “Crappuccino?” What is that? It’s not a milk-frapped espresso. Is it a strawberry milkshake? Is it a smoothie? A Yoo-Hoo? A DQ Freeze? Maybe it’s Pepto-ccino.
 
When Starbucks begins to sell burgers like Dairy Queen too, and when their customers begin avoiding Mad Cow foods, Starbucks can sell hamburger buns without the hamburgers [burger-free hamburgers] and call them crapwiches!

I attended Colorado College’s symposium about the expected effects of climate change upon the Rocky Mountain region. There was less discussion about adapting to the certain change than there was about hoping still to prevent it.

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When he introduced the screening of his documentary at UCCS on Wednesday, Austrian filmmaker Hubert Sauper told us that for the five years he had worked on the project, DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE had been his nightmare. Sauper predicted that in two hours, after we’d seen it, the story would become our nightmare.
 
The film was billed as a tale of fish, men and guns. The American release poster features only fish heads. It was about all three, and about just one as well.

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Are you worried that your children might be suffering from Affluenza, a degenerative virus pervasive among the world’s affluent cultures? Many of America’s youth can easily grow up insulated from an understanding of the human condition. Here are some recommended films for introducing affluent children to the larger world.

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This picture was taken in Nepal shortly before soldiers began swinging their sticks and firing into the crowd. Recent events have wrought inumerable protests such as this. Except for the Ukraine, Haiti and Bolivia, few have ended favorably. Protestors in western nations have thus far faced only tear gas, rubber bullets and trunchons, nothing like the massacres in Uzbekistan and China.

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If you absolutely must excercise your racist compulsions, here’s how you can do it and do your part to combat the illegal immigrant problem in your neighborhood. When you see hispanic workers, report them!
 
More specifically, if you see what look to be underpaid laborers where you might expect to see hardhat union workers, report what you’ve seen to your state labor board, or local union. Tell them the contractor or subcontractor name you see printed on the side of the truck. That’s who’s breaking the law.

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One of these likable dweebs may not be a complete asswipe.
 
But it isn’t Penn Asswipe Jillette.
 
I just caught an episode of BULLSHIT in which the dynamic duo was poking fun at the Endangered Species Act. The ESA is complete bullshit apparently because it doesn’t protect animals which may or may not be endangered, rather it protects land to which property rights advocates may feel they are entitled.

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Day 3: Wednesday
Was it because I hadn’t had any non-violence training? Is that why everyone jumped in to enforce a stand down from my assailant?

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Day 1: Monday
On Monday we stood, nearly two dozen of us at the corner of Lake and Lake Circle, we sang our song to an Oscar Meyer melody, we held banners, we blew our whistles and we handed out our baloney sanwiches. And nearly got arrested.

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The Salvation of Yasch Siemens. The title of Armin Wiebe’s novel gives the story away. I would like to postulate that this coming of age tale depicts a young Mennonite imperiled by worldy lures. Yasch faces selfishness, sexual idolatry and homosexuality until he is ultimately saved by the guidance of a woman who asserts nature’s will with his semen.

It’s called the 2006 Space Symposium, and this year it is seeing a record number of attendees. But the participants are not space explorers, they’re arms manufacturers. Space exploration is for NASA I guess, the symposium is about coordinating the militarization of space. Near space. The space from which whoever owns the hardware can rain terror upon whoever is beneath.

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Cindy Sheehan has no peer in the world. She can travel to any country and be received by their governments as a dignitary. Few celebrities or politicians can expect such treatment, and when they do, their entitlement comes from being plugged into the establishment.
 
Cindy Sheehan’s power comes from the people. It comes from our belief that an outsider could make a difference in the turn of events. The American media could easily have ignored Cindy Sheehan’s stand in Crawford Texas, but Sheehan had captured the public’s fascination. Why? Because she reflected the public’s idealism. As long as the ordinary people of the world believe that there exists someone who could call President Bush to the carpet, Cindy Sheehan will be imbued with her power. Who other than one improbable woman could face off the man who holds the fate of the world in his hands?

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I’d like to address Scott Ritter’s recent Alternet post where he criticises the anti-war movement for not schooling itself in the tactics of those who are pro-war. Among his recommedations were that the movement adopt a centralized command structure, which he was volunteering to advise.
 
My advice? The anti-war movement comes from the grassroots, by definition without central control. Neither Sun Tzu, nor other strategists wrote for the grassroots. Waging war was never in the interest of the common man. Sun Tzu’s advice was for leaders.

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I just received an exciting call from LA. The Imagination Liberation Front wants to bring their acclaimed production of “I’m Gonna [bleep] [bleep] [bleep], a Capital Offense” to Colorado Springs. The cast is coming through town April 18. Details to follow. We’ll rendezvous at a designated time and place, then be led to the undisclosed venue.
 
I cannot tell you the name of the play without risking unwelcome surveillance. Follow this
link to see what this is about.

Which came first? This is not a question. To think that there is no answer to this question seems to dismiss the reality that both exist dependent upon one another.
 
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, was the impact any less material? Is the impact of a tree to hear it?
 
I heard a writer pose this question: if she visits her mother, but her mother has alzheimers and doesn’t remember the visit, should she have bothered to visit?
 
If everyone’s lives come to death in the end, how much should we bother with life?

Tonight was Gwyn Coleman’s Art Wars III at the historic City Auditorium, a great success as usual, everyone on the youthful side of the Colorado Springs art community was there. Spika had a performance piece in the show, and here’s what Spika did, the big goof.

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When reporter Jill Carroll was released after being held hostage for 84 days, fellow reporters wanted to confirm: surely Carroll had been coerced to say the things she did on a video interview made by her captors.
 
They accused Carroll of Stockholm Syndrom, of showing too much sympathy for her captors, and ultimately of being in a “Fragile” mental state.

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