Building The Perfect Beast

jackalito

Something to remember the next time you hear the term lame duck.

For every victim of this needless war.

Emerging Evidence of Karma

Last Weekend's Peace-In

It was truly an honor to be among such thoughtful and committed presenters, organizers and attendees present at the Denton Peace-In. Loathing much of the human species as I do, no one would mistake me for a joiner. But knowing that which I resist is often the very thing I should be embracing, I'll occasionally force myself to do the right thing - if not always for the right reasons - and, subsequently, more often than not, I'm glad for having made the uncharacteristic effort. That's certainly the case with this weekend, and I look forward to future involvement with Peace Action Denton, Peace Action Texas and Peace-Action.org.


Stealing a few hours of conversation with Joe Bageant (pictured above) this past weekend, it occurred to me what a weird and wonderful and rare thing it is to meet someone whose karmic coordinates correspond so closely with my own. Our kinship as heretical southerners, surly leftists and unapologetic advocates of cognitive exploration was a joy to discover in person. Joe is every bit as charming, insightful and fun as one might imagine from reading his essays. It will be nothing less than fascinating to witness reactions to his forthcoming book - Drink, Pray, Fight, Fuck: Dispatches From The American Working Class - when Random House rolls it out in grand style (which, I think, is set for Spring 2006). America is not the least bit prepared for the encounter.

Have a laugh

Bush In Free Fall

You can alter the dynamic of the fall with your mouse.

Peace, Love and White Trash America

To hell with Santa Claus. Joe Bageant is coming to town!




The Second Annual Peace-In Denton will be featuring a number of activists who know how to get things done. Certainly, no self-respecting leftist would dare miss Joe's presentation, Organizing for Change in White Trash America, nor will I. What better starting point for reconstructing The Republic.

Joe tells me this peace-in is one of several such events taking place in many US cities next weekend, but it looks like the national chapter could use a bigger megaphone for getting the word out, as I have not seen any mention of it in the Land o'Blogs. This is unfortunate because the poli-blogosphere is comprised of many thousands of people longing to transform their talents into real world activism within their communities, so I hope to do a better job of banging the drum for next year's Peace-In.

Thanks very much to the good people of Peace Action of Texas, Peace Action of Denton, Tour of Duty and everyone else making Peace-In Denton a reality.

This is how fires get started. Burn, baby, burn.