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ebonlockCan I just say how much I worship ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
undone27? Not only does she give me pretty Lij pictures to look at every day, but she also tells me things like:
Weird Al is Touring This Summer!!!!
June 21 Santa Clara, CA Paramount's Great America
Anybody interested?
A brief public service announcement:
For all impatient drivers out there who feel that it is their right to tailgate, honk their horns, or bellow at fellow drivers, please take a moment to consider that maybe, just maybe the person ahead of you in traffic isn't necessarily an "idiot". Perhaps from their vantage point they can see something you can't. For example, John and I were in Chinatown this weekend and a woman was sitting on Grant street attempting to make a left hand turn behind two other vehicles. She got impatient and started screaming out her window, "Will you just move?" Now I'm not sure if she was aware of this but the reason nobody was moving was because there were about 30 pedestrians crossing the road at that time. Short of mowing them down there was nothing to be done but to wait.
And who in the name of the gods cuts through Chinatown on a Saturday afternoon and expects to get through it quickly?
A second example. This morning I was tailgated down a residential street by a man in a large SUV with an American flag plastered over one of the windows. When I got to a red light and put on my right blinker, I paused as the lane to my right had a green turn arrow. Now I paused because it was possible (and very probable) that people were making U-turns. This didn't seem to have occurred to the fuckwit behind me who honked because I hadn't instantly started to turn. There were two cars turning, which took perhaps 3 seconds of time at any rate. The temptation to put my car into park, step out, and explain this to the asshole was nearly overwhelming, but I reminded myself that there was a very good possibility that he was armed, and he'd already shown himself to be belligerent, and I was right anyway. Sorry if I actually like my little Bug and don't want to see it get smashed because it might cut a second or two off your commute. Dick head.
So, in short, please don't be like this shit-for-brains, and think before you honk, tailgate, or scream.
End public service announcement
Blacklisting, it's an ugly word, and embarassing one too. It was part of an era in this country that represented the worst qualities of the American psyche; the ugly and loathesome acts that fear and paranoia can drive even the most intelligent and thoughtful human beings to. It was typified by rabid patriotism taken to its extreme, to fundamentalist levels. Either you were with "us" or you were the "enemy".
I've been concerned about what I've seen as a quiet, but inexorable slide towards this level of fanaticism since 9/11. The vitriol with which many people who've dared to question the decisions of our fearless leaders are pummeled with is alarming. And the suggestions that the government have more and more intrusive rights where the privacy of citizens is concerned is downright terrifying.
Some articles I found particularly disturbing lately:
Hollywood unions raise 'blacklist' specter
America's other president under attack
Santa Fe Police Detain Library Patron over Chat-Room Visit
Frankly, I'm getting a bit nervous about even posting this stuff on my LJ...Not that it will stop me, of course *G*
Also I've been hearing an awful lot about how quick the war will be over, how decisively we'll win, but nary a word on what happens next. I'd like to recommend the following article:
A cautionary tale from colonial Baghdad
Two lessons from the past that we can either learn from, or simply repeat the same mistakes over again. I suppose history will ultimately be the judge of that.
And again I say, each and every one of us can do something when it comes to the future of our country and our world. Regardless of which side you're in favor of here, take some action. Write an email, sign a petition, carry a sign, but do something.
Want a place to start? Well if you agree with the following:
The U.N. was created to enable peaceful alternatives to conflict. The weapons inspections under way are a perfect example of just such an alternative, and their growing success is a testament to the potential power the U.N. holds. By supporting tough inspections instead of war, you can show the world a real way to resolve conflict without bloodshed. But if you back a war, it will undermine the very premise upon which the U.N. was built.
President Bush argues that only by endorsing a war on Iraq can the United Nations prove its relevance. We argue the opposite. If the Security Council allows itself to be completely swayed by one member nation, in the face of viable alternatives, common sense and world public opinion, then it will be diminished in its role, effectiveness, and in the opinion of humankind.
Then go to the Emergency Appeal to the U.N., and add your name to the petition. It'll take all of 30 seconds.
undone27? Not only does she give me pretty Lij pictures to look at every day, but she also tells me things like:Weird Al is Touring This Summer!!!!
June 21 Santa Clara, CA Paramount's Great America
Anybody interested?
A brief public service announcement:
For all impatient drivers out there who feel that it is their right to tailgate, honk their horns, or bellow at fellow drivers, please take a moment to consider that maybe, just maybe the person ahead of you in traffic isn't necessarily an "idiot". Perhaps from their vantage point they can see something you can't. For example, John and I were in Chinatown this weekend and a woman was sitting on Grant street attempting to make a left hand turn behind two other vehicles. She got impatient and started screaming out her window, "Will you just move?" Now I'm not sure if she was aware of this but the reason nobody was moving was because there were about 30 pedestrians crossing the road at that time. Short of mowing them down there was nothing to be done but to wait.
And who in the name of the gods cuts through Chinatown on a Saturday afternoon and expects to get through it quickly?
A second example. This morning I was tailgated down a residential street by a man in a large SUV with an American flag plastered over one of the windows. When I got to a red light and put on my right blinker, I paused as the lane to my right had a green turn arrow. Now I paused because it was possible (and very probable) that people were making U-turns. This didn't seem to have occurred to the fuckwit behind me who honked because I hadn't instantly started to turn. There were two cars turning, which took perhaps 3 seconds of time at any rate. The temptation to put my car into park, step out, and explain this to the asshole was nearly overwhelming, but I reminded myself that there was a very good possibility that he was armed, and he'd already shown himself to be belligerent, and I was right anyway. Sorry if I actually like my little Bug and don't want to see it get smashed because it might cut a second or two off your commute. Dick head.
So, in short, please don't be like this shit-for-brains, and think before you honk, tailgate, or scream.
End public service announcement
Blacklisting, it's an ugly word, and embarassing one too. It was part of an era in this country that represented the worst qualities of the American psyche; the ugly and loathesome acts that fear and paranoia can drive even the most intelligent and thoughtful human beings to. It was typified by rabid patriotism taken to its extreme, to fundamentalist levels. Either you were with "us" or you were the "enemy".
I've been concerned about what I've seen as a quiet, but inexorable slide towards this level of fanaticism since 9/11. The vitriol with which many people who've dared to question the decisions of our fearless leaders are pummeled with is alarming. And the suggestions that the government have more and more intrusive rights where the privacy of citizens is concerned is downright terrifying.
Some articles I found particularly disturbing lately:
Hollywood unions raise 'blacklist' specter
America's other president under attack
Santa Fe Police Detain Library Patron over Chat-Room Visit
Frankly, I'm getting a bit nervous about even posting this stuff on my LJ...Not that it will stop me, of course *G*
Also I've been hearing an awful lot about how quick the war will be over, how decisively we'll win, but nary a word on what happens next. I'd like to recommend the following article:
A cautionary tale from colonial Baghdad
Two lessons from the past that we can either learn from, or simply repeat the same mistakes over again. I suppose history will ultimately be the judge of that.
And again I say, each and every one of us can do something when it comes to the future of our country and our world. Regardless of which side you're in favor of here, take some action. Write an email, sign a petition, carry a sign, but do something.
Want a place to start? Well if you agree with the following:
The U.N. was created to enable peaceful alternatives to conflict. The weapons inspections under way are a perfect example of just such an alternative, and their growing success is a testament to the potential power the U.N. holds. By supporting tough inspections instead of war, you can show the world a real way to resolve conflict without bloodshed. But if you back a war, it will undermine the very premise upon which the U.N. was built.
President Bush argues that only by endorsing a war on Iraq can the United Nations prove its relevance. We argue the opposite. If the Security Council allows itself to be completely swayed by one member nation, in the face of viable alternatives, common sense and world public opinion, then it will be diminished in its role, effectiveness, and in the opinion of humankind.
Then go to the Emergency Appeal to the U.N., and add your name to the petition. It'll take all of 30 seconds.
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-04 11:06 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-03-04 11:14 am (UTC)As soon as tickets go on sale I'll post a link here, promise. This does remind me that I need to go check and see if anybody else is going to be at Great America this summer. I'm dying to see some great live shows!
no subject
Date: 2003-03-04 11:37 am (UTC)One: Tailgunner Joe McCarthy was an asshole. But he also happened to be right. There's been a historical whitewashing of the Red Scare era; the reality was that a number of Hollywood and political elites were card-carrying Communists, and were passing information along to the Soviets. Heck, the Rosenbergs gave Stalin the bomb. I'm as concerned about legitimate violations of civil rights as the next libertarian, but I don't have a lot of sympathy if genuine traitors or stooges get called out.
Two: More often than not, when Hollywood elites complain about being "blacklisted" or whatever, they're chiefly just upset that they're not taken seriously by ordinary Americans. The reason people heap scorn upon Martin Sheen is not because of some giant conspiracy, but because he's a partisan shill who can't form coherent arguments and yet pompously expects to be afforded credibility and freedom from criticism because he's Martin Sheen for crying out loud, and don't you people know who he is?!? Sorry, but I don't have a lot of tears to weep for him.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-04 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-04 01:16 pm (UTC)If I take that moment and conclude "Yes, this fellow in front of me is a raving asshat," do I have justification to honk and make rude gestures?
The weapons inspections under way are a perfect example of just such an alternative, and their growing success is a testament to the potential power the U.N. holds.
The only reason U.N. weapons inspectors are in Iraq at all is because 200,000 U.S. soldiers are waiting to "inspect" Iraq if Hussein wouldn't let the UN back in.
Re:
Date: 2003-03-04 01:37 pm (UTC)All I ask is that you take that moment, that's all, just think before you honk. Just a little something we can all do to make the world a slightly nicer place, don't you think?
no subject
Date: 2003-03-04 01:48 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-03-04 02:07 pm (UTC)Oh I do it too, and one night last week I was swearing up a storm and furious because I was running late and in a big hurry, hungry, tired, etc. But seeing those two things I described in my post made me stop and think. It seems like a good idea to try to give folks the benefit of the doubt.