Tom Baker
Author of Haunted Indianapolis , Indiana Ghost Folklore, , Midwest Maniacs, Midwest UFOs and Beyond, Scary Urban Legends, 50 Famous Fables and Folk Tales, Notorious Crimes of the Upper Midwest : http://tombakerbooks.weebly.com
If the Beast Had a Brain
From the Occupy Handbook, edited by Janet Byrne. [1] "One of the complicating factors in the Occupy movement was that so many of the thrown-away people of our society--the homeless, the marginal, the mentally ill, the addicted--came to Occupy encampments for safe sleeping space, food, and medical care. These economic refugees were generously taken in by the new civil society, having been thrown out by the old uncivil one. Complicating everything further was that the politicians and the mainstream media were more than happy to blame the Occupiers for taking in what society as a whole created and for the further complications that ensued. "Civil society contains all kinds of people, and all kinds showed up at the Occupy encampments. The inclusiveness of such places was one of the great achievements of this movement."
Talibanned
The U.S. has "cut-and-run" from the neverending Afghani debacle. The "vacuum" of power left in its wake is filled unquestionably by the Taliban. They have assured the world, during a press conference, that they will respect the rights of women and others. I'm confident we can take that as a given.
Every Fire
"Nothing ever burns down by itself, every fire needs a little bit of help." --Chumbawamba Chumbawamba began life in a squat in Leeds, Northern England, and the accents seem to bear this out. Also, they started as the northern counterparts to southern English crust rockers Crass, who became famously experimental, anti-commercial, and impossible to define easily. Chumbawamba were punk friends sharing a squat, dedicated to anti-capitalism, veganism, gay rights, anti0racism, etc. Soon, they decided to start a little band.
Bottom-Rung Star Wars
Battlefield Earth (2000) is a movie that is so unremittingly awful it has been labeled one of the "ten worst films of the Twentieth Century." That's not true at all, but it does go to show that once the tastemakers of the media machine have "decided" on the relative value or worth of a product, they'll waste no time in piling on the said product if they find it to be wanting, often for unspecified reasons.
The Perils of Capitalism
Last night I dreamt of love. Which, as always, was walking in the opposite direction. I had to stop and grab her hand, pull her back. I noted she was missing an "I".
To the Youth in the Streets
If there is a God, S/He must surely look in favor upon And BLESS the youth in the streets: Masked, hooded, lobbing rocks at the pigs,
On Flag Worshipping
Let me preface this piece by stating that the U.S. can't provide clean drinking water in Flint, Michigan, or Jackson, Mississippi...in the richest country the world has ever known. They can't keep the power on in the entire FUCKING STATE OF TEXAS...in the richest country the world has ever known. (Consequently, a young child FROZE to death in his trailer home...in the richest country the world has ever known.) In the "Land of the Free" they incarcerate more people, many needlessly, than does communist China.
Anarchism in America
"All of history is a struggle of the individual against the institutions." --Emma Goldman Modern America, the "Land of the Free," incarcerates more people than any other nation on Earth, including China. We spend more on military spending than the next twenty-five countries combined. We give more in "corporate welfare" than we do in human welfare, healthcare, or the basic services to common citizens. In the film, Anarchism in America, made by filmmakers Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler of Pacific Street Films (which was founded in 1969 as a way to document the continual struggle of radical groups against the Vietnam War and other social ills), we see the various modes of anarchist thought and philosophy in the emerging era of greed and corruption, the trickle-down era of Reaganomics. These are the roots of where we find ourselves today, so to look at the past (which, to quote a certain film, "is prolog") is important.
