11 Notes That I Would Attach to Bricks I've Thrown Through Bank Windows

May 3

11 Notes I Would Attach to Bricks I've Thrown Through Bank Building Windows

I was reading this interesting Uncle Scam post and it got me thinking what note would I attach to bricks or pieces of concrete that I've thrown through bank building windows. Here's what Social Youth Chaos wrote:

“No entry was gained and nothing was taken, so it appears this was the delivery of some kind of message by the perpetrators,” Andy Oakley with Bremerton police said.

Police said the content of the notes were all the same and read as follows:

“Directions: Attach to brick and throw through window”

“Here is your brick back."

"Recognize it? You should.”

“It is part of the wall that you, as one of the elite upper class, have helped to build between the minority ruling class, and the majority working class throughout history. By flaunting your decadence, you have made yourself a target.”

“Get used to it!”

“Social youth chaos-f___ s___ up!”

I came up with 11 such notes. This certainly isn't an endorsement of perhaps justified vandalism against the state. As I've been saying quite a bit lately: I have the same respect for the rule of law as does the current president of the United States, perhaps even slightly more, which probably isn't saying much. (Note to ineffective local hooligans: Notice they attacked banks and not eco friendly food stores.)

1. Look, I read the financial reports, its not as if you'll be standing here a long time anyway...

2. I'll turn myself in as soon as the attorney general I appointed charges me.

3. I would appreciate it if you would ignore this brick just like you ignore impeachment and a million dead iraqis.

4. Hey, I tried voting...

5. If life was fair, I'd get a parade and you would be locked up for usury you bankin' bitches...

6. Hey, you said you wanted the house back because I couldn't pay the mortgage...

7. Redline this!

8. And I'm not too thrilled with the insurance industry, either.

9. There might be some anonymous people out here who aren't just only upset about scientology. Just sayin'...

10. This is in no way a modern day cointelpro psyop meant to trigger massive detention camp arrests, followed by subsequent rioting and thereby a legitimate "shock doctrine" excuse to cancel elections and permanently keep Bush in power. But if you need more explanation call me at NSA headquarters, across the street from the book deposity and remember the codename is "Operation Grand Slam".

11. I'll have you know that despite this latest attack against the evil institutions of the state I still have more respect for the law than the current president of the United States. I mean, at least I haven't killed anybody, yet.

Labels: and so it begins, social youth chaos

My Endorsement of Obama or Anybody But the Clintons

Booman, the Anti-Kos, seems to think that Obama has it in the bag. I agree.

Anyone that reads this blog knows that I am pulling for Barack Obama and that I have low personal regard for Mrs. and Mr. Clinton. So, yeah, I am biased. But Obama won the night tonight by every available measure. Chuck Todd on MSNBC has done the national delegate estimate (using the most optimistic Clinton campaign projections for California) and got: Obama 841 Clinton 837. It will probably be a slightly larger lead for Obama, but not more than 15-20 additional delegates.

Obama didn't just win the delegate battle, he won the states battle. Obama won (14) Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Alaska. Clinton won (8) New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Arkansas, California, Arizona, and Oklahoma.

Then there is the expectations game. Obama had two big upsets in Connecticut and Missouri, while Clinton had none.

The next set of primaries favors Obama. Of course, it will never be an inevitable win for the first viable African American candidate. Even The Great Orange Satan has it right:

So how will this shake out? Beats me. But task one is for Obama to survive this Tuesday. If he does, task two is for Hillary to survive this month. If she does, then they both have to survive the mini-Super Tuesday on March 4th. If they do, this thing goes to Pennsylvania. Or to North Carolina.

Or to the convention.

You know, when I was growing up as a young black man, other older African Americans would say something to me at various times, usually at church or a social function. And what they often said was "We are not loved." Just out of the blue. I always wondered what that meant as a young person full of optimism, back then anyway. Now, as a grumpy older black person, and winner of about $20000 grand from discrimination lawsuits against two allegedly "liberal" institutions, I now realize that was a slightly more subtle way of saying "We are a deeply hated people". Last hired, first fired. Watch as black men with college degrees get turned away from the job while the white man who uses yinz as a noun and no high school diploma not only gets the job but also gets the promotion. If you're a lucky black person, you might even get to train him. I live in a country where black men are, really, if you look at it, groomed for the prison system and/or low grade wage slavery where you never ever get to get out.

That's why I didn't originally endorse Obama. We're not loved. Really. I still think the safest bet was John Edwards. You run a risk nominating either a woman or an African American to the presidency. But if it's a choice between the Clintons and Obama, then Obama is clearly the better choice. Both have strongly hinted that they're corporate dems which means, probably, very little changes in the lives of ordinary Americans. On the other hand, I think that when the Democratic Party controls the White House then things can get a little better. Sane people on the courts would be nice too.There would be no Americorps if Bill Clinton hadn't become president. True, when I worked for Americorps I worked at a church which is as symbolic of the Clinton legacy as anything (I never told any of my students to pray though. I told them to think their way out of problems). Remember: The Clintons left the country in the hands of fascist republicans and a cave in mentality that has really turned both parties into the servants of the Republican ruling classes. I guess I've seen what the Clintons have done--and I also have this sneaky feeling that they didn't mind losing democratic party majorities in both houses because it strengthened the presidency and their own personal war against the party's base--and I think its time to give a family other than Bush or Clinton a chance to do good or even ill. Couldn't do any worse quite frankly.

One more thing on why the Edwards choice wasn't only the most progressive choice, but the safest. If you were appalled by the tactics of the Clintons (okay mostly Bill. He loves his hawt wife. Who knew.), then just wait for the GOP onslaught. Expect Obama's middle name to be used in all of those unauthorized yet effective 527 ads. Horrible stuff. I mean, I think the country is ready for a big change but it won't be easy. Not to mention that the country's real terrorist threat comes from the American right. They're the ones who kill with impunity. I like to think those Nazi Stormfront groups will just sit on their hands and blog about it, terrified of secret service protection but I doubt it....

Mittens dropping out isn't good. Mike Huckabee is a nightmare candidate in that he's completely likeable, strikes me as authentic (non McCain trophy wife and all...) and the Republican wall streeters hate him. Now Mike gets a one on one race with McCain, or Bob Dole II, who I think is a very beatable candidate in a general election. I'd much rather face Bob Dole II in a general election than Mike Huckabee. Not that I would vote for MIke. See here and here. More GOP awfulness...Related: Why Richard Dawkins is a mean ol' atheist.

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Decent Americans Acting Decently Featuring Cindy Sheehan

In the very short feature I call "Decent Americans Acting Decently" (also see above post) Cindy Sheehan wrote a piece called: "Pro Democracy Means Anti-Fascism". Here's what she thinks the next congress should do:

There are just a few measures that we can use to stop this slide and Rowthorn articulates what has become an important part of my platform. Only vote for candidates that promise the following things…for president, or any other federal elective offices:

* Repeal the Patriot Act
* Repeal No Child Left Behind
* Scale down the Department of Homeland Security and rename it so it loses its Nazi
tone and is brought under civilian control.
* Restore habeas corpus and close all torture camps by repealing the Military Commissions’ Act.
* Repeal all contracts with paid mercenary killer companies.
* Restore the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
* Repeal all BushCo-Presidential directives (especially Directive 51) and review all laws that contain signing statements.
* Restore the 4th Amendment by enforcing warrants for spying on Americans.
* Impeach Bush and Cheney-post presidency so they can’t receive federal benefits.
* Bring all troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan and review military needs for other bases around the world.
* Repeal all free trade agreements.
* Kick AIPAC and other lobbyists out of the halls of Congress where they have no business.

Why I Read Marx and Support the Real News

We have a token libertarian over at Amsat (Trevor. See Post below.). He questions the wisdom of Marx. Of course, I find that Marx works best when you look at his writings and writings of his followers as accurate criticism of how capitalism works. Not necessarily as a system to follow. In fact, hardcore capitalists I'm told read Marx for that very same reason: to better understand how capitalism works. I suppose its not much different than when the old bad East Germans used to read 1984 for tips on what to name their organizations and rooms and so forth.

I just find that Marx's description of the ills of Capitalism to be pretty much right on the mark.

So, in today's episode of "Sure, I'm a Marxist" contrast this statement written by Lenin:

The present "freedom of assembly and the press" in the "democratic" (bourgeois democratic) German republic is false and hypocritical, because in fact it is freedom for the rich to buy and bribe the press, freedom for the rich to befuddle the people with venomous lies of the bourgeois press, freedom for the rich to keep as their "property" the landowners' mansions, the best buildings, etc.. The dictatorship of the proletariat will take from the capitalists and hand over to the working people the landowners' mansions, the best buildings, printing presses and the stocks of newsprint.

With this Youtube video about the Real News. It just strikes me as being a correct view of how the press works in a capitalist society. That's why I read Marx. I want to understand how the world works.

Obit for Joseph Zawinul or Saying Goodbye to Mr. Gone

Sept. 12

Saying Goodbye to Mr. Gone

Joe Zawinul b. 1932 d. Sept. 11, 2007

Whenever noted jazz police fascists like Wynton Marsalis or Stanley Crouch talk about all that "bad" jazz that doesn't meet their pre 1962 standard they usually refer to people like the late great Joseph Zawinul. Unfortunately for them and yet fortunately for us Mr. Z produced a lot of demanding world class work that the entirety of the imagination/vision starved Marsalis clan will never ever touch in the forever Kind of Blue continuum that they're hopelessly trapped in. (And what's sad is that they don't realize its a trap.) Z even wrote better trad standards than Wynton or what's a Marsalis tune that's as memorable as "Mercy Mercy Mercy", or "Country Preacher"? I still can't believe a white dude from Austria wrote those tunes.

Zawinul understood that the beauty of jazz is in its growth and reach. You're supposed to improvise and experiment in jazz. Bebop and smaller than Big Band ensembles used to be heresy too. Thank you Z for music that expanded my ear and blew my mind. I never needed drugs thanks to you. Not to mention music so futuristic fluid and cool that 30 years later it still sounds futuristic fluid and cool. By the way, Z isn't only the father of acid jazz but he was one of the first samplers. A fuckin' genius.

Thanks to the Youtubes you can visit the entirety of the Z canon from his days with Cannonball Adderly:

to his peak work with Weather Report and even, and I admit this as a fan, his somewhat disappointing work with the Zawinul Syndicate. Just about every song from Heavy Weather, definitely their masterpiece even though Night Passage is a beautiful album as well, is online. You can find tunes from Heavy Weather here, here, here, here and here.

As for showcase pieces, I think these two songs from Mr. Gone kind of catch Z at his best. I just wish someone had taped the 79 Weather Report that I caught at the old Stanley Theater with Jaco. Still one of the most memorable concerts that I had ever seen. I was actually not a big fan of Mr. Gone when it came out but these tunes have aged very well or maybe its Jaco's sinewy live bass lines. Z or Weather Report was never as good post Jaco. Just an opinion. (Another opinion: He probably needed another heavyweight like Wayne Shorter to occasionally tell him no.)

and River People:

You'll never be forgotten Z. I can't imagine my life without your sound.