Some Sweet Day

Some sweet day, I'll make it closer to the top of the pile of homework steadily building around me and regain contact with the outside world.... some day.

Chavez Remarks

DO NOT TRUST any media coverage of this speech. Read it for yourself and make your own opinions from what he actually said and not how it is being presented. Educate yourself open your mind and allow your own ideas to form:

The following is a transcript of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's address to the 61st General Assembly of the United Nations, September 20, 2006:

HUGO CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): ... over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but for the sake of time, I shall just leave it as a recommendation. It reads easily. It's a very good book. I'm sure, Madam, you are familiar with it.

(APPLAUSE)

The book is in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German.

I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is in their own house. The devil is right at home. The devil — the devil, himself, is right in the house.

And the devil came here yesterday.

(APPLAUSE)

Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of.

Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.

I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.

An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: "The Devil's Recipe."

As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.

The world parent's statement — cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything.

They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that's their democratic model. It's the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that's imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.

What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy.

What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I'm quoting, "Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom."

Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother — he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.

The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It's not that we are extremists. It's that the world is waking up. It's waking up all over. And people are standing up.

I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.

Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.

The president then — and this he said himself, he said: "I have come to speak directly to the populations in the Middle East, to tell them that my country wants peace."

That's true. If we walk in the streets of the Bronx, if we walk around New York, Washington, San Diego, in any city, San Antonio, San Francisco, and we ask individuals, the citizens of the United States, what does this country want? Does it want peace? They'll say yes.

But the government doesn't want peace. The government of the United States doesn't want peace. It wants to exploit its system of exploitation, of pillage, of hegemony through war.

It wants peace. But what's happening in Iraq? What happened in Lebanon? In Palestine? What's happening? What's happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and in the world? And now threatening Venezuela — new threats against Venezuela, against Iran?

He spoke to the people of Lebanon. Many of you, he said, have seen how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut with millimetric precision?

This is crossfire? He's thinking of a western, when people would shoot from the hip and somebody would be caught in the crossfire.

This is imperialist, fascist, assassin, genocidal, the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, "We're suffering because we see homes destroyed.'

The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples — to the peoples of the world. He came to say — I brought some documents with me, because this morning I was reading some statements, and I see that he talked to the people of Afghanistan, the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran. And he addressed all these peoples directly.

And you can wonder, just as the president of the United States addresses those peoples of the world, what would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? What would they have to say?

And I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people think. They would say, "Yankee imperialist, go home." I think that is what those people would say if they were given the microphone and if they could speak with one voice to the American imperialists.

And that is why, Madam President, my colleagues, my friends, last year we came here to this same hall as we have been doing for the past eight years, and we said something that has now been confirmed — fully, fully confirmed.

I don't think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let's accept — let's be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless.

Oh, yes, it's good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel's (ph) yesterday, or President Mullah's (ph). Yes, it's good for that.

And there are a lot of speeches, and we've heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.

But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.

Last year, Madam, we made four modest proposals that we felt to be crucially important. We have to assume the responsibility our heads of state, our ambassadors, our representatives, and we have to discuss it.

The first is expansion, and Mullah (ph) talked about this yesterday right here. The Security Council, both as it has permanent and non-permanent categories, (inaudible) developing countries and LDCs must be given access as new permanent members. That's step one.

Second, effective methods to address and resolve world conflicts, transparent decisions.

Point three, the immediate suppression — and that is something everyone's calling for — of the anti-democratic mechanism known as the veto, the veto on decisions of the Security Council.

Let me give you a recent example. The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented.

Fourthly, we have to strengthen, as we've always said, the role and the powers of the secretary general of the United Nations.

Yesterday, the secretary general practically gave us his speech of farewell. And he recognized that over the last 10 years, things have just gotten more complicated; hunger, poverty, violence, human rights violations have just worsened. That is the tremendous consequence of the collapse of the United Nations system and American hegemonistic pretensions.

Madam, Venezuela a few years ago decided to wage this battle within the United Nations by recognizing the United Nations, as members of it that we are, and lending it our voice, our thinking.

Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.

This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar's home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.

Let's see. Well, there's been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.

The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.

And I would like to thank all the countries that have kindly announced their support for Venezuela, even though the ballot is a secret one and there's no need to announce things.

But since the imperium has attacked, openly, they strengthened the convictions of many countries. And their support strengthens us.

Mercosur, as a bloc, has expressed its support, our brothers in Mercosur. Venezuela, with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, is a full member of Mercosur.

And many other Latin American countries, CARICOM, Bolivia have expressed their support for Venezuela. The Arab League, the full Arab League has voiced its support. And I am immensely grateful to the Arab world, to our Arab brothers, our Caribbean brothers, the African Union. Almost all of Africa has expressed its support for Venezuela and countries such as Russia or China and many others.

I thank you all warmly on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the truth, because Venezuela, with a seat on the Security Council, will be expressing not only Venezuela's thoughts, but it will also be the voice of all the peoples of the world, and we will defend dignity and truth.

Over and above all of this, Madam President, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. A poet would have said "helplessly optimistic," because over and above the wars and the bombs and the aggressive and the preventive war and the destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is dawning.

As Sylvia Rodriguez (ph) says, the era is giving birth to a heart. There are alternative ways of thinking. There are young people who think differently. And this has already been seen within the space of a mere decade. It was shown that the end of history was a totally false assumption, and the same was shown about Pax Americana and the establishment of the capitalist neo-liberal world. It has been shown, this system, to generate mere poverty. Who believes in it now?

What we now have to do is define the future of the world. Dawn is breaking out all over. You can see it in Africa and Europe and Latin America and Oceanea. I want to emphasize that optimistic vision.

We have to strengthen ourselves, our will to do battle, our awareness. We have to build a new and better world.

Venezuela joins that struggle, and that's why we are threatened. The U.S. has already planned, financed and set in motion a coup in Venezuela, and it continues to support coup attempts in Venezuela and elsewhere.

President Michelle Bachelet reminded us just a moment ago of the horrendous assassination of the former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier.

And I would just add one thing: Those who perpetrated this crime are free. And that other event where an American citizen also died were American themselves. They were CIA killers, terrorists.

And we must recall in this room that in just a few days there will be another anniversary. Thirty years will have passed from this other horrendous terrorist attack on the Cuban plane, where 73 innocents died, a Cubana de Aviacion airliner.

And where is the biggest terrorist of this continent who took the responsibility for blowing up the plane? He spent a few years in jail in Venezuela. Thanks to CIA and then government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government.

And he was convicted. He has confessed to his crime. But the U.S. government has double standards. It protects terrorism when it wants to.

And this is to say that Venezuela is fully committed to combating terrorism and violence. And we are one of the people who are fighting for peace.

Luis Posada Carriles is the name of that terrorist who is protected here. And other tremendously corrupt people who escaped from Venezuela are also living here under protection: a group that bombed various embassies, that assassinated people during the coup. They kidnapped me and they were going to kill me, but I think God reached down and our people came out into the streets and the army was too, and so I'm here today.

But these people who led that coup are here today in this country protected by the American government. And I accuse the American government of protecting terrorists and of having a completely cynical discourse.

We mentioned Cuba. Yes, we were just there a few days ago. We just came from there happily.

And there you see another era born. The Summit of the 15, the Summit of the Nonaligned, adopted a historic resolution. This is the outcome document. Don't worry, I'm not going to read it.

But you have a whole set of resolutions here that were adopted after open debate in a transparent matter — more than 50 heads of state. Havana was the capital of the south for a few weeks, and we have now launched, once again, the group of the nonaligned with new momentum.

And if there is anything I could ask all of you here, my companions, my brothers and sisters, it is to please lend your good will to lend momentum to the Nonaligned Movement for the birth of the new era, to prevent hegemony and prevent further advances of imperialism.

And as you know, Fidel Castro is the president of the nonaligned for the next three years, and we can trust him to lead the charge very efficiently.

Unfortunately they thought, "Oh, Fidel was going to die." But they're going to be disappointed because he didn't. And he's not only alive, he's back in his green fatigues, and he's now presiding the nonaligned.

So, my dear colleagues, Madam President, a new, strong movement has been born, a movement of the south. We are men and women of the south.

With this document, with these ideas, with these criticisms, I'm now closing my file. I'm taking the book with me. And, don't forget, I'm recommending it very warmly and very humbly to all of you.

We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We've proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.

(APPLAUSE)

Ladel Rat Rotten Hut

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Taken from Exploratorium

Tunes I Just Couldn't Live Without

For what it's worth:

Mad World (Gary Jules), this song was love at first sound. I saw the video at the Telluride Film Festival a few years ago during a Michel Gondry program and fell in love. The simple construction and sound of the song stuck with me and I have never been able to let it go.

The Stairs (INXS) is still one of my favorite concert moments of my life. INXS was the first concert I bought my own ticket for and went to without my parents. A neighbor boy and I went and it was amazing. I want to use this song in a film, in fact the scene is written in my head and I don't know that I could ever see the scene I have without these words. My favorite part is the pause two thirds of the way through the song, a perfect place for a cut.

All Souls Night (Loreena McKennit) still brings back vivid memories of a night so many years ago, fifteen to be exact, the smell of candle wax and the warmth of life on a cold dark Alaskan night. I can't hear this song without thinking about that night and smiling, even though it would begin the avalanche of emotion that would lead to one of the darkest periods of my life.

Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin) there is something abut Aretha's voice in this song. I have no idea what my specific connection to this song is other than to say that it moves me each time I hear it. This is one of my favorite songs to listen to first thing in the morning. I think it is a great way to start my day.

The Wall (Pink Floyd), I once sold this album when I really needed the money. When it came back into my life, I vowed that I would always have a hard copy of it and so far, I've kept that promise. Personally I think this is the greatest whole concept album that I have ever heard. Every time I hear a song it makes me want to listen to the whole album from the beginning to the end. This album is also tied to one of my most vivid childhood memories. It was the first time I have ever heard the album and I can still remember almost every small detail of the night. My favorite song Mother still makes me stop whatever I am doing and listen to it every time it comes on my iTunes.

Mind Bomb (The The) is among my favorite whole albums. This is one of the very few cds that I have always had with me. I can't tell you the first time I listened to it but I can bet it was dark, late and loud. The album is political, sexual and intense. I love it.

Mississippi Goddam (Nina Simone) and she means every word of it. If you haven't heard this song, run out and get it now. Listen to it, feel it and live it. No matter how old the recording, the song still has resonance today. Whenever I feel like stepping off the trail and allowing the harbingers of hate get to me, Nina helps. Seriously a great song to get the juices flowing.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day) is my favorite song to plug into and walk across campus. This is the best soundtrack to have on campus lost in a sea of faces and not connecting with any of them.

Gold Watch and Chain (Garrison Keillor & Meryl Streep) is a recent addition to the list but I don't know what I ever did without this great piece of Americana. Their voices meld together to form the memory of a Nation that I never knew and probably never will. The banjo and fiddle are lost in the world of electronics we currently find ourselves in and I think we are worse off for the loss.

Why? (Tracy Chapman) give me Mississippi Goddam and Why? and I'll start the revolution. One of my favorite lyrics ever is in this song: "The time is coming soon when the blind remove their blinders and the speechless speak the truth."

And last but not least....

La Vie Bohem (Rent) brings out all the things in me I wish I could be and has my second most favorite lyric "The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation."

A Hard Days Work

According to the CBS website, President George W. Bush acknowledged that the hardest part of his job is connecting the war in Iraq to the war on terror. Perhaps if he has to work that hard at it; it doesn't exist. Just a thought.

A Light Extinguished

"Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels." -- Ann Richards

You will be missed, at least by me.

Alive and Well

In recent years the move to have a more civil and politically correct society has, in my opinion, done nothing to actually cure race relations in our Nation. Instead, it has only turned it into a closet issue where racists feel not that they should amend their hateful ways, but that they can no longer spew their hatred openly. So what is a blatantly racist person to do? Turn to the internet.

I have written on the Rants and Raves section of craigslist.org previously but I feel like I should comment again on a string of shocking and racists post currently on the Denver site. I feel fixated on these posts because I believe that they reflect the current state of our society and culture as a whole.

First, because of political correctness, people no longer feel comfortable being out about their racism. Of course, the racism of the past is still quite alive and well in our Nation. Only people no longer feel comfortable speaking their racist views aloud. However, the relative anonymity of the internet allows people to express their views openly. The freedom to express one's point of view isn't limited to racism. Internet posters often tackle issues of sexuality, gender, nationality and political ideology. These rants are not limited to targeted "free speech zones" like craig's list either. Often reading other sites, such as movie responses on IMDB, one can also find language that people would not feel comfortable to express face to face. So instead, they post it on the internet.

Second, the "shock and awe" impact of the language some of these posters use is another example on how the dialogue surrounding real important issues that face our Nation have been reduced to utter insanity. In a world where Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Micheal Savage run the airways and drive the political dialogue, it isn't surprising that race relations are reduced to name calling. Instead of actually addressing the issues at hand, we can rely on childish responses and the fact that we can always fall back on spin, infancy and outright lies when we need to.

Third, one of my largest criticisms of those who espouse hate often only feel comfortable doing so from the back of the room where they can safely toss hate bombs and run. I am reminded of a rally we held on the CSU campus on National Coming Out Day several years ago. A group of GLBTQQS students gathered on the stump to talk about NCOD and what it meant for us to come out of the closet. The talk turned slightly political when a small line of College Republicans standing at the back of the crowd wearing "God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve, Support Amendment 2" t-shirts were invited to stand before the gathered crowd and share their comments. They declined the challenge and chose instead to continue to stand in the back and attempt to intimidate those of us who were willing to stand up before a crowd and speak our minds. They, like many of those who share their views, were afraid to speak them aloud before the very people they would silently protest.

That is the difference between the current progressive and the neoconservative movement. As progressives, we are more than willing to stand up and publicly declare our beliefs and challenge those who oppose. We believe in open dialogue between ideas and that great things can come from open and honest discussion on the issues that face our Nation and World. I am very frustrated by the students in my college courses who will voice their disagreement with what the professor is saying quietly, privately but not openly in class. Instead, they will retreat to their neoconservative strongholds and complain about how their liberal professor is indoctrinating young minds to the liberal point of view.

My challenge is this, if you disagree with what I write, speak up. Don't just read and silently complain; sign your name and send me your email address. We can open a discussion and hopefully both learn more about ourselves and what we believe. Then I would imagine we would be on the road to a better Nation. I know it is difficult for someone who has been told that dissent and critical thinking is the devil's right hand to break out of that and think on your own but some of the Republicans and yes even NeoConservatives that I respect most are the ones that do just that. If we all take a moment of our day and speak out engage in discussion then maybe we can move beyond our labels and come to a consensus and find that we probably agree more than many would think.

And that is Today's Warm and Fuzzy Thought

A Week In Review

For the past two weeks, we have been off our schedule. It seems like we have been going nonstop but have little to show for it. We are feeling the extent of our poverty this week and it is going to be a difficult one to get through. I know we will but, it ain't gonna be easy.

So far, the school semester has been going well. I am really enjoying my classes and have had the chance to step into the teaching role, something I love more with each opportunity.

We really want to move out of our apartment but won't have the money to do so for quite some time. We stepped down as building managers, even though the building doesn't seem to know it yet, after we realize that we just weren't made out to be apartment building managers. We went from being private occupiers of an apartment to being the building's parents. Some of these people living here should never have left home. Last night at 11 PM I was dealing with a feud between two neighbors, one who's music is too loud and the other who locks their puppy in the bathroom for hours and hours on end instead of properly house training it.

I am meeting today with an small independent business owner to talk about picking up a part-time job. Mostly weekends and evenings to help us with some more money. I have been fighting the need to get work but we recently realized that my not working isn't a realistic goal. So, it is off to work I go.

Val and I are both really ready to move on to the next stage of our life, we just need to really try and make it happen realistically. We want a house, a car and even a child. I hate to think that it is age, or that I have finally succumb to the American Dream, but these are the things that now occupy my mind more than anything. Maybe it is just a phase..

So, where do I go from here? Who the hell knows. Until then, I will be along for the journey and hope that some of you come along with me.

Shaych

Pninko Commie

You are a Social Liberal (83% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (5% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Another Day

When I woke up this morning, I was seduced first thing by the E! top 101 guilty pleasures. After watching the program for far too long, I began to ask myself "Is my understanding of myself and the world gaining anything by continuing to watch this program?". The answer was obviously no and the irony that I was enjoying one of my guilty pleasures (top 100 anything shows) on guilty pleasures wasn't enough for me to continue so I stopped at number 10 and walked away from the television. I also found it quite interesting how many of the top 101 guilty pleasures were products that could be easily advertised on some cheesy excuse for a countdown show. Oh well, I live in a capitalist society so I should stop bitching, right?