randomWalks

LAT photo essay on the DMZ.

originally posted by daiichi

The Lysistrata Project was conceived just six weeks ago by New York actors Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower. "Before we started Lysistrata Project, we could do nothing but sit and watch in horror as the Bush Administration drove us toward a unilateral attack on Iraq," says cofounder Blume. "So we emailed all our friends and put up a web site. The response has been enormous." Co-founder Bower adds, "Many people have emailed us to say they now feel empowered to do something, and foster dialogue in their own communities about the dangers of this war."

originally posted by xowie

I put this on as a modest riposte to men with flags in their lapels who shoot missiles from the safety of Washington think tanks, or argue that sacrifice is good as long as they don't have to make it, or approve of bribing governments to join the coalition of the willing (after they first stash the cash.) I put it on to remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what Bin Laden did to us. The flag belongs to the country, not to the government. And it reminds me that it's not un-American to think that war — except in self-defense — is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomacy.

originally posted by xowie

Guy Dauncey’s 101 Ways to Stop the War in Iraq.

originally posted by xowie

If you had known about Hiroshima in advance, what would you have done to stop it? Today’s war-makers are telling us what they plan to do, including the possible use of nuclear weapons. This war will visit unspeakable terror and suffering on the people of Iraq, in the name of ‘liberating’ them. It will put people all over the planet at risk, in the name of protecting them. It will, no doubt, be accompanied by even more severe repression within the U.S. against immigrants and against resisters.

originally posted by xowie

There is a basic weakness in governments, however massive their armies, however wealthy they are, however they control the information given to the public, because their power depends on the obedience of citizens, of soldiers, of civil servants, of journalists and writers and teachers and artists. When these people begin to suspect they have been deceived, and withdraw their support, the government loses its legitimacy, and its power.

originally posted by xowie

BLOOD. America’s blood supply, already at such a seriously low level that some parts of the country have less than a one-day supply, may be stretched to dangerous levels if a war in Iraq proves to be bloody. A Red Cross official explains that many American service personnel are ineligible to donate blood because they may have been exposed to Mad Cow disease while stationed in Western Europe. With a reduced pool of military donors, the Red Cross may have to ask civilians for more blood, blood they haven’t been providing over the past few months.

originally posted by xowie

This American Life, May 11, 2001:

Act One. Mr. Rothbart’s Neighborhood. When he was just a kid, Davy Rothbart and his family visited the most famous neighbor in America – Mr. Rogers – at his summer cottage on Nantucket. Two decades later, as an adult, Davy went back for another visit with Mr. Rogers. This time he brought stories from his own neighborhood, stories of neighborly conflict and distrust – to see what kind of advice Mr. Rogers could give him. (20 minutes)

My long experience with human nature - I'm 80 years old now - suggests that it is possible that fascism, not democracy, is the natural state. Indeed, democracy is the special condition - a condition we will be called upon to defend in the coming years. That will be enormously difficult because the combination of the corporation, the military and the complete investiture of the flag with mass spectator sports has set up a pre-fascistic atmosphere in America already.

originally posted by xowie

NYT has gone bonkers over the 50th anniversary of DNA:

• Intro.
• Interactive feature.
• Nature vs. Nurture.
• Watson and Crick.
• Pop culture.
• More...

originally posted by xowie

DXing.info: Monitoring Iraq: War of the Airwaves. (For the shortwave radio fetishists among us.)

originally posted by xowie

“For evidence, I
submit the fact that we’re not
yet at war.” (dayku)

pencil carving

A prosecutor was trying to block a death row inmate from having his conviction reopened on the basis of new evidence, and Judge Stith, of the Missouri Supreme Court, was getting exasperated. "Are you suggesting," she asked the prosecutor, that "even if we find Mr. Amrine is actually innocent, he should be executed?"

Frank A. Jung, an assistant state attorney general, replied, "That's correct, your honor."

originally posted by xowie

A camera crew and I followed Hollywood legend Ernest Borgnine at the wheel of his beloved 40-foot luxury bus The Sunbum as he barrels across the Midwest. Yep, he actually drives it! A special thank you to my brother Michael who drove the crew RV.

originally posted by xowie

Hammer’s treachery by Anil Dash.

I would like to own a radio that doesn’t need batteries.

"Congressman Kucinich has been at work thinking about a lot of these issues, and his votes reflect a thoughtful journey," said NARAL President Kate Michelman. "I do accept, and I do welcome, that he believes the right to choose is fundamental."

originally posted by xowie

randomWalks archives for Dec., Jan., Feb.
rW posts about music, books, peace, prison, marijuana.

originally posted by xowie

Old Navy has vegan belts on sale for $9.50.

‘In the green hour’

Think of the number of police officers, judges, lawyers and prison guards — not to mention prison construction firms and other providers of basic prison services — who are employed through marijuana's criminalization. It is apparent by any measure that the marijuana laws are more harmful to society and to the individual than the behavior they are attempting to regulate.

originally posted by xowie

Tough numbers to deny, nonetheless. Over 600 cities across the globe, all staging major anti-war rallies against America's aggro attitude and insipid war posture, millions and millions of people -- teachers and salespeople and politicians and doctors and students and workers, every creed and gender and age group and nationality and hairstyle -- and yet Geedubya simply equates them all with some sort of negligible "focus group." And he said he doesn't base his policy decisions on focus groups, of course, because naturally he uses Barbie's Super Magic 8 Ball and old secret codes from his Vietnam draft-dodging days intermixed with his father's late-night gin-soaked advice and a cassette of Dick Cheney whispering demon-conjuring incantations in Latin.

originally posted by daiichi

How many is too many?

I dig the Cornell Daily Sun. E.B White and Kurt Vonnegut worked there once. Jessica Saunders and Kate McDowell work there now.

originally posted by xowie