Re:
1 year ago
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mercury Soapbox Presents The Crossing Bridges Art Sho!!
Featuring the photographic art of Nell Hernandez (www.flickr.com/nellynell) and Lucas Nowakowski (www.flickr.com/omgitslucas), the musical stylings of hip hop messiah brokeMC (www.brokeMC.com) , DJ E-Money and inviting all freestylers, mc's and beatboxers to throw it down in a freestyle jam. Don't forget about our trademark interactive art pieces...
$5 cover
18 to appreciate
21 to inebriate
Mercury Soapbox Presents the Crossing Bridges Art Sho
Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 9:00pm
Club Europa
98 Meserole St.
Brooklyn, NY
$5 cover
18 to appreciate
21 to inebriate
Mercury Soapbox Presents the Crossing Bridges Art Sho
Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 9:00pm
Club Europa
98 Meserole St.
Brooklyn, NY
IT's Also Nells Birthday!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
New disgusting police brutality! click link for video...
thanks for the tweet alison!
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/402005_schene03.html
The 15-year-old girl might have been sassing the officer, and the sneaker she kicked off could have hit his shin. She might have, as accused, even stolen a car.
As interest in the case builds, the girl and her father appeared Monday on a CBS morning news show.
Malika Calhoun said during the interview on "The Early Show" that she screamed as the deputy kicked her, shoved her against a wall and tossed her to the floor.
"It was horrible, like my head hit the wall when he first came in and kicked me," she said, appearing with her father, Curtiss Calhoun of Covington. "And then he ... threw me to the ground, was pulling my hair constantly."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/402005_schene03.html
The 15-year-old girl might have been sassing the officer, and the sneaker she kicked off could have hit his shin. She might have, as accused, even stolen a car.
As interest in the case builds, the girl and her father appeared Monday on a CBS morning news show.
Malika Calhoun said during the interview on "The Early Show" that she screamed as the deputy kicked her, shoved her against a wall and tossed her to the floor.
"It was horrible, like my head hit the wall when he first came in and kicked me," she said, appearing with her father, Curtiss Calhoun of Covington. "And then he ... threw me to the ground, was pulling my hair constantly."
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Octo Mom Is Bat-Sh*t Crazy
Childbearing is awesome. I love babies and children - it lends hope that there is a future and it can be bright.
Then I read about Nadya Suleman.
And I decided to revise my previous fuzzy feeling.
Because she's fucking crazy. And if I ever met her, I'd be inclined to punch her in the face, and I mean that.
Nadya is single, unemployed and still in school. She has 6 children....and just gave birth to 8 more. (But wait, there's more!)
She conceived these children...drum roll please....via in-vitro fertilization.
TADA!
Did I mention that she was selfish?
This is wrong on so many levels. SO MANY. I am a pro-choice woman, although the thought of aborting a child would put me in a place I'd rather not be, I believe that women should have a choice what happens to AND inside their bodies.
Of course, Nadya has the right to have IVF done; it's every woman's god given right to house her offspring. However, it's socially irresponsible.
She now has 14 mouths to feed and she's single and unemployed. How she afforded the procedure in the first place, I'm not sure.
But how selfish could you be to subject your children to potential danger. Isn't it instintual to want to shed your children from all possible dangers. So how could this woman openly throw them to the dangers, of oh say...STARVATION.
Not to mention, the possibility of developmental problems that come along with multiple births.
Raising a child who has a mental or developmental disability costs money, a lot of money. How does she intend to raise them with those kinds of odds? Oh, she said that she's planning on finishing school and that will enable her to provide for her children.
Right, she's going to finish school while taking care of 8 infants and her 6 other kids, on her own.
I'm all for having kids, I can't wait to have my own. And I respect any woman who goes through the process of carrying and raising children. But there comes a point where you have to ask yourself, "will having this child inhibit my ability to provide for them fully?"
How can you have a child and not have the means and resources to raise them? That's irresponsible parenting. It's much more than the 9 months that you carry them. It's a lifetime's worth or work AND money.
I feel physically ill thinking about the futures of those 14 children. I come from a huge family and I'm well aware of the intrinsic value of a big family but I'm also aware that it costs a lot of money to maintain and sustain a healthy lifestyle. What's going to happen to these kids if she can't do that? Foster care? Adoption?
As a woman, I strongly feel that this is wrong, morally and ethically. I don't get it. She wanted to be a mom, that's great, how about you be a mom to the 6 children you already had? Was it necessary to implant 6 embryo's? 1 of which split into twins.
I would love to be a mother one day and I empathize with those who try and cannot. But I feel nothing but sorrow for the children of those women who are entirely selfish, delusional and just plain irresponsible. I hate you stupid women who are selfish. You take away the real meaning of being a mother and substitute it with something to fill the gap for your lifetime of "not being loved".
Just because you have a uterus - doesn't mean you have to use it.
Then I read about Nadya Suleman.
And I decided to revise my previous fuzzy feeling.
Because she's fucking crazy. And if I ever met her, I'd be inclined to punch her in the face, and I mean that.
Nadya is single, unemployed and still in school. She has 6 children....and just gave birth to 8 more. (But wait, there's more!)
She conceived these children...drum roll please....via in-vitro fertilization.
TADA!
Did I mention that she was selfish?
This is wrong on so many levels. SO MANY. I am a pro-choice woman, although the thought of aborting a child would put me in a place I'd rather not be, I believe that women should have a choice what happens to AND inside their bodies.
Of course, Nadya has the right to have IVF done; it's every woman's god given right to house her offspring. However, it's socially irresponsible.
She now has 14 mouths to feed and she's single and unemployed. How she afforded the procedure in the first place, I'm not sure.
But how selfish could you be to subject your children to potential danger. Isn't it instintual to want to shed your children from all possible dangers. So how could this woman openly throw them to the dangers, of oh say...STARVATION.
Not to mention, the possibility of developmental problems that come along with multiple births.
Raising a child who has a mental or developmental disability costs money, a lot of money. How does she intend to raise them with those kinds of odds? Oh, she said that she's planning on finishing school and that will enable her to provide for her children.
Right, she's going to finish school while taking care of 8 infants and her 6 other kids, on her own.
I'm all for having kids, I can't wait to have my own. And I respect any woman who goes through the process of carrying and raising children. But there comes a point where you have to ask yourself, "will having this child inhibit my ability to provide for them fully?"
How can you have a child and not have the means and resources to raise them? That's irresponsible parenting. It's much more than the 9 months that you carry them. It's a lifetime's worth or work AND money.
I feel physically ill thinking about the futures of those 14 children. I come from a huge family and I'm well aware of the intrinsic value of a big family but I'm also aware that it costs a lot of money to maintain and sustain a healthy lifestyle. What's going to happen to these kids if she can't do that? Foster care? Adoption?
As a woman, I strongly feel that this is wrong, morally and ethically. I don't get it. She wanted to be a mom, that's great, how about you be a mom to the 6 children you already had? Was it necessary to implant 6 embryo's? 1 of which split into twins.
I would love to be a mother one day and I empathize with those who try and cannot. But I feel nothing but sorrow for the children of those women who are entirely selfish, delusional and just plain irresponsible. I hate you stupid women who are selfish. You take away the real meaning of being a mother and substitute it with something to fill the gap for your lifetime of "not being loved".
Just because you have a uterus - doesn't mean you have to use it.
Monday, February 9, 2009
AUAS Jan 30th Recap!
A huge thank you to Bazooka Falcon and Sauce for rockin' the joint hard! Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in our collective art pieces. Sorry that security was kinda dickish but the next event will probably be at a new location.
Remember guys, i'm always looking for people to show or play and we are movin on up Y'all, so look out!
Remember guys, i'm always looking for people to show or play and we are movin on up Y'all, so look out!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Changing Names, Static Faces
Posted by Calculating Condor
For all those opposing, recently betrothed to and indisposed of by our fair state: we have a new face for freedom. Our new man, new management has an oddly clean history. Barack Obama has had several homes in different nations over his lifetime but he is about to encompass the very helm of Western Civilization, as we know the term. No doubt, this man’s attributes and actions will be the prime focus of the watching world, wondering how he plans to depose our Texan oil baron brand of despotism and employ a formative approach towards governing our yet-to-be sheared bleaters.
Despite the man’s blood relation to two of our former administration’s executives, set back about nine generations, he is seen as the glimmer of hope in modern politics. And by bringing him to this seat, we are yet again instrumental in our own fate. I felt him to be the clear cut choice early on, forecasting Hilary’s deliberate departure from the eye of favor with her oddly ominous comparison of Obama’s then lead to RFK’s commanding lead in 1968 immediately prior to his assassination. These politicians don’t just say these things, their rhetorical intent always seems to be met and their meager promises to us take their lonely back seat.
But we know Hilary’s sordid past. The string of deaths connected to her and her slick and slippery Willie during their decades in politics. (http://www.ssqq.com/ARCHIVE/intern03.htm PLEASE READ AND SPREAD).
But what does our Kenyan joy boy have in his past? Not as ugly of one as virtually every single one of his predecessors, an apt prescription for a power-weary populace that sees fit only an alignment of private and public interests. Here, we demand not a uniform standard of life since we only know the damaging effects of socialization but at least a fair view, an equal shot whether in business or politics, but more importantly, a fresh start.
God knows we need it. At this stage, with our leading economic experts assuring us the worst is yet to hit us, the public has no will to crowd and clamor about our war fueled economy and how its certain progression can only have the exact same effect it has had for centuries, a perfect transfer of wealth from the unwittingly indentured debt classes to the iniquitous intelligentsia of global industry.
It did not take too long but following the past century’s great equalizer- WWII, US might allowed us to form the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These institutions and their management has single handedly put the developing countries into an apt iron vice grip from which the only relief remains an assurance of servitude to the debtors for all foreseeable future.
But that prospect of progress urges us on, right? This hope that the future could be better has been misplaced into the hands of those who see their resolutions coming to fruition beyond that of their wildest dreams, and this new age’s constituency sees Obama as any sort of a departure? In a time when all of industry is at the mercy of the Federal Reserve, our idea of nationalization, instead of reaping the benefits of our regional fruits, is to further tarnish our collective credit with grab bag style gift packages allotted not to the most faulty businesses, but the most favored and obedient.
Take the case of Goldman Sachs, making the right maneuvers before the subprime mortgage crisis you’d think that they’d have no right to claim any of the 700 billion dollar package awarded by congress. This company had netted a 4 billion dollar profit by expecting a market collapse and then receiving even more from the 85 billion that went to AIG(http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2093881/posts).
Now these sort of actions that warranted no investigation on the part of the SEC, shit, they understand the fiscal prudence of the decision, these actions should certainly be condemned by a leader that has pledged to repair the cracked and crumbling gears of the American machine run ragged by republican ruin.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama has received close to 900 thousand from Goldman Sachs(reported,) his second top contributor. Now a mere million, even less is a marginal figure compared to the four billion gained from the mortgage-backed securities in addition to whatever part of that 37 billion dollar bundle went to Goldman, but it may have been just enough to keep the most credible law man in the eye of the public, the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, the first black president of the United States with his lips firmly sealed, smiling at the public his demagogy so fiercely empowers.
When you judge a candidate, as you must, just consider their motive at every step. From every sight, every standpoint. Now Obama mentions nothing of this unbelievable racket by which Goldman Sachs scours our pockets, can he be trusted with the control panels of our military?
One massive conflict zone that Obama has a root in is Africa. Now one word that has been absent from his speeches is AFRICOM. Its installment came at a timely month before Election day and was the pet project of Donald Rumsfeld, you remember him. Well, Obama fully supports AFRICOM as well as this idea of creating a Shared Security Partnership Program, a means of international and regional alignment on American terms with the common goal of combating our enemies. Not only is this out of touch with the American people, based on both recent and distant military history, this is far out of line with moral decency. He vows to close Guantanamo Bay detention facilities and act where Bush has failed, by focusing on the real targets. In the case of Iran, he contends that their nuclear development has to subside and their counter-position to Israel may decide their fate and in a detailed interview
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/02/AR2008030201982_pf.html)
he outlines how our efforts at diplomacy with only one obvious tyrant must end and be replaced with a stronger pursuit, with the hopes for their people almost at the priority our inexorable quest to root out the fabled danger of the middle east, Al Qaeda. Now with the cases of Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, countless other nations and even Al Qaeda, we always seem to have a strong bond in their upstart and then a sudden backlash against them, citing their crimes as independent when we maintained strong strategic with such terrorist organizations and financial support on record.
Clearly such a massive conflict of interest should be investigated, at least mentioned, something, man! But, no, no such luck. Obama is ever vigilant in reassuring America what side we’re on and why we’re there. And his position on human rights seems an echo of pretty much all of our past presidential candidates before winning and right before every fucking war they start. Strategic revision must be done on a broader scale and claiming that these international standards do not hold us in far heavier contempt than the smaller states we tend to demonize is enough reason for us to question Obama’s credibility and his devotion to substantial peace.
One organization that always seems to have ideological leverage on every presiding seat since its creation in the early 1920s is the Council on Foreign Relations. This think tank wrought from the spoils of the first major world even of warfare, following the biggest flu pandemic since the black plague, gave way to the build-up of wealth known as the roaring twenties. But the purpose of this non-partisan spoiled brats’ club has always been to find a comfortable place to take over the world outside of the glare of the media. The founding member of the CFR was the personal attorney to JP Morgan who, himself with the Warburg and Rockefeller clans, sought to finalize a true economic hierarchy for the world.
Well, this hierarchy is currently in top form, feeding on the defenseless bottom. And it is barely surprising that Barack’s wife is a member of the Chicago chapter of the CFR or that his two head picks for the Treasury department are a man directly from the Federal Reserve and one from the legendary Skull and Bones society, which may have certainly propelled the Bushes, John Kerry and Bill Clinton, among others, well into political prominence.
Two weeks after the election of Obama, I attended a conference, Transition 2008: Advising America’s Next President, held in the Schimmel Auditorium of the NYU Stern School of Business. On the panel were: the executive editor of CFR.org, Michael Moran, international correspondent Lane Greene for The Economist, and an NYU professor of financial institutional history Richard Sylla. Their moderator was a writer for Slate Magazine, Alexandra Starr, who focuses on South America. The entire time, the vision portrayed was grim and heavily reliant on a vamped approach towards those recurrent evils. The threat of an escalating conflict with China or Russia was noted. The most dissenting voice on stage was that of Lane Greene, while he expressed not a single qualm with the impending administration. One audience member asked what else could be done to revitalize the economy along with the recently passed stimulus package. Professor Sylla assured him that similar packages are on the way. I decided to ask about the creation of AFRICOM three weeks prior, and how the American people should expect a different tone from Obama when his support for this early and aggressive military project is hidden from most media outlets and from his own lips yet certainly not from his thoughts. The moderator decided to refer to her experience with SOCOM, the South American military apparatus, claiming they are very effective in handing out aid to people in the countries they feel the right to inhabit.
Michael Moran, the CFR website editor then took the question, stating that this is a chance for America to change its image broadcast around the world by taking charge in a volatile region. He delivered this in a tone of assuming international complicity with America’s new impulses, as if everyone is ready to trust us again.
At least Lane Greene echoed my concern for allowing the management of such a rich and struggling continent to a country with so dirty and dismal of a track record, our footprints fading far from memories as we approach a more local, a national struggle. Well that last part wasn’t said by Greene, considering he knew right away what I was talking about yet doesn’t seem to mention it in his articles.
My question was followed by a young woman asking if due to Obama’s popularity, could we lift the two term limit on the office of president to which the economics professor answered “Well, the country isn’t New York.” This was followed by roaring laughter of a public misunderstanding the grave necessity of such a law. The twenty second amendment is very much in honor of George Washington who refused to run for a third term despite such popular support. Thomas Jefferson followed his example, implying that the most effective governance is the limiting of power, to be able to spread it out amongst a larger part of the country. But in trying times, New York changed the laws in order to allow Bloomberg to reign for another term. It comes as no surprise that a New York representative introduces a bill aiming to repeal the 22nd amendment. (http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/representative-serrano-d-ny-wants-to-end-term-limits-for-presidents/)
Now how many people do you know that would support the passage of this law for Obama? If you still aren’t convinced of Obama’s true approach at navigation of our feeble vessel, take a look at Obama’s pick for deputy secretary of defense William J. Lynn III who was the chief financial officer of the Department of Defense 1997-2001 and the appointment of Robert Hale, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force from 1994-2001 concerning financial management.(http://solari.com/blog/?p=1983) Under these men, 3.3 trillion dollars went missing from the Department of Defense, 2.3 trillion of which secretary of Defense under W., Donald Rumsfeld admitted to in a press conference on September tenth, 2001.(Just type in the words RUMSFELD 9/10/01 into youtube or googlevideo.)
It is hopeful that Barack Obama wouldn’t allow such an act of piracy of the tax payer’s money, but if such actions warrant a promotion in Obama’s cabinet, rather than a deep investigation into government actions surrounding the attacks of 9/11, then there is clearly no distance drawn from the tactics of former administrations.
The beauty of ideology is that it can distance a person far from their actual position, their coordinates of character. But every one of us is a product of a typhoon of trails, myriad in number, genetic projections bringing about the most applicable attributes and we need not deny a single integral member. Who knows what characters comprise our family trees? All their exploits and triumphs, buried beneath, yet being the perfect precursors to our own minutiae. The problem is, our most powerful politicians are in a family, carrying on royal roots through the most dismal future possible, making damn well sure that the right strands survive. Well, the plebeian, the proles, breed of banality, whatever you want to call us are the purest and proudest part of society, never mind our size. There is no reason that the seed of kings still have a central role in politics. While we have the will to change, being led astray in order to impose regulations by the actual arbiters of our own downfall must stop. And the most destructive agencies to our world, our welfare and our wallets must go. We cannot remain placid in the presence of an altered expression on the face of an eternal wretchedness.
For all those opposing, recently betrothed to and indisposed of by our fair state: we have a new face for freedom. Our new man, new management has an oddly clean history. Barack Obama has had several homes in different nations over his lifetime but he is about to encompass the very helm of Western Civilization, as we know the term. No doubt, this man’s attributes and actions will be the prime focus of the watching world, wondering how he plans to depose our Texan oil baron brand of despotism and employ a formative approach towards governing our yet-to-be sheared bleaters.
Despite the man’s blood relation to two of our former administration’s executives, set back about nine generations, he is seen as the glimmer of hope in modern politics. And by bringing him to this seat, we are yet again instrumental in our own fate. I felt him to be the clear cut choice early on, forecasting Hilary’s deliberate departure from the eye of favor with her oddly ominous comparison of Obama’s then lead to RFK’s commanding lead in 1968 immediately prior to his assassination. These politicians don’t just say these things, their rhetorical intent always seems to be met and their meager promises to us take their lonely back seat.
But we know Hilary’s sordid past. The string of deaths connected to her and her slick and slippery Willie during their decades in politics. (http://www.ssqq.com/ARCHIVE/intern03.htm PLEASE READ AND SPREAD).
But what does our Kenyan joy boy have in his past? Not as ugly of one as virtually every single one of his predecessors, an apt prescription for a power-weary populace that sees fit only an alignment of private and public interests. Here, we demand not a uniform standard of life since we only know the damaging effects of socialization but at least a fair view, an equal shot whether in business or politics, but more importantly, a fresh start.
God knows we need it. At this stage, with our leading economic experts assuring us the worst is yet to hit us, the public has no will to crowd and clamor about our war fueled economy and how its certain progression can only have the exact same effect it has had for centuries, a perfect transfer of wealth from the unwittingly indentured debt classes to the iniquitous intelligentsia of global industry.
It did not take too long but following the past century’s great equalizer- WWII, US might allowed us to form the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These institutions and their management has single handedly put the developing countries into an apt iron vice grip from which the only relief remains an assurance of servitude to the debtors for all foreseeable future.
But that prospect of progress urges us on, right? This hope that the future could be better has been misplaced into the hands of those who see their resolutions coming to fruition beyond that of their wildest dreams, and this new age’s constituency sees Obama as any sort of a departure? In a time when all of industry is at the mercy of the Federal Reserve, our idea of nationalization, instead of reaping the benefits of our regional fruits, is to further tarnish our collective credit with grab bag style gift packages allotted not to the most faulty businesses, but the most favored and obedient.
Take the case of Goldman Sachs, making the right maneuvers before the subprime mortgage crisis you’d think that they’d have no right to claim any of the 700 billion dollar package awarded by congress. This company had netted a 4 billion dollar profit by expecting a market collapse and then receiving even more from the 85 billion that went to AIG(http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2093881/posts).
Now these sort of actions that warranted no investigation on the part of the SEC, shit, they understand the fiscal prudence of the decision, these actions should certainly be condemned by a leader that has pledged to repair the cracked and crumbling gears of the American machine run ragged by republican ruin.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama has received close to 900 thousand from Goldman Sachs(reported,) his second top contributor. Now a mere million, even less is a marginal figure compared to the four billion gained from the mortgage-backed securities in addition to whatever part of that 37 billion dollar bundle went to Goldman, but it may have been just enough to keep the most credible law man in the eye of the public, the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, the first black president of the United States with his lips firmly sealed, smiling at the public his demagogy so fiercely empowers.
When you judge a candidate, as you must, just consider their motive at every step. From every sight, every standpoint. Now Obama mentions nothing of this unbelievable racket by which Goldman Sachs scours our pockets, can he be trusted with the control panels of our military?
One massive conflict zone that Obama has a root in is Africa. Now one word that has been absent from his speeches is AFRICOM. Its installment came at a timely month before Election day and was the pet project of Donald Rumsfeld, you remember him. Well, Obama fully supports AFRICOM as well as this idea of creating a Shared Security Partnership Program, a means of international and regional alignment on American terms with the common goal of combating our enemies. Not only is this out of touch with the American people, based on both recent and distant military history, this is far out of line with moral decency. He vows to close Guantanamo Bay detention facilities and act where Bush has failed, by focusing on the real targets. In the case of Iran, he contends that their nuclear development has to subside and their counter-position to Israel may decide their fate and in a detailed interview
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/02/AR2008030201982_pf.html)
he outlines how our efforts at diplomacy with only one obvious tyrant must end and be replaced with a stronger pursuit, with the hopes for their people almost at the priority our inexorable quest to root out the fabled danger of the middle east, Al Qaeda. Now with the cases of Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, countless other nations and even Al Qaeda, we always seem to have a strong bond in their upstart and then a sudden backlash against them, citing their crimes as independent when we maintained strong strategic with such terrorist organizations and financial support on record.
Clearly such a massive conflict of interest should be investigated, at least mentioned, something, man! But, no, no such luck. Obama is ever vigilant in reassuring America what side we’re on and why we’re there. And his position on human rights seems an echo of pretty much all of our past presidential candidates before winning and right before every fucking war they start. Strategic revision must be done on a broader scale and claiming that these international standards do not hold us in far heavier contempt than the smaller states we tend to demonize is enough reason for us to question Obama’s credibility and his devotion to substantial peace.
One organization that always seems to have ideological leverage on every presiding seat since its creation in the early 1920s is the Council on Foreign Relations. This think tank wrought from the spoils of the first major world even of warfare, following the biggest flu pandemic since the black plague, gave way to the build-up of wealth known as the roaring twenties. But the purpose of this non-partisan spoiled brats’ club has always been to find a comfortable place to take over the world outside of the glare of the media. The founding member of the CFR was the personal attorney to JP Morgan who, himself with the Warburg and Rockefeller clans, sought to finalize a true economic hierarchy for the world.
Well, this hierarchy is currently in top form, feeding on the defenseless bottom. And it is barely surprising that Barack’s wife is a member of the Chicago chapter of the CFR or that his two head picks for the Treasury department are a man directly from the Federal Reserve and one from the legendary Skull and Bones society, which may have certainly propelled the Bushes, John Kerry and Bill Clinton, among others, well into political prominence.
Two weeks after the election of Obama, I attended a conference, Transition 2008: Advising America’s Next President, held in the Schimmel Auditorium of the NYU Stern School of Business. On the panel were: the executive editor of CFR.org, Michael Moran, international correspondent Lane Greene for The Economist, and an NYU professor of financial institutional history Richard Sylla. Their moderator was a writer for Slate Magazine, Alexandra Starr, who focuses on South America. The entire time, the vision portrayed was grim and heavily reliant on a vamped approach towards those recurrent evils. The threat of an escalating conflict with China or Russia was noted. The most dissenting voice on stage was that of Lane Greene, while he expressed not a single qualm with the impending administration. One audience member asked what else could be done to revitalize the economy along with the recently passed stimulus package. Professor Sylla assured him that similar packages are on the way. I decided to ask about the creation of AFRICOM three weeks prior, and how the American people should expect a different tone from Obama when his support for this early and aggressive military project is hidden from most media outlets and from his own lips yet certainly not from his thoughts. The moderator decided to refer to her experience with SOCOM, the South American military apparatus, claiming they are very effective in handing out aid to people in the countries they feel the right to inhabit.
Michael Moran, the CFR website editor then took the question, stating that this is a chance for America to change its image broadcast around the world by taking charge in a volatile region. He delivered this in a tone of assuming international complicity with America’s new impulses, as if everyone is ready to trust us again.
At least Lane Greene echoed my concern for allowing the management of such a rich and struggling continent to a country with so dirty and dismal of a track record, our footprints fading far from memories as we approach a more local, a national struggle. Well that last part wasn’t said by Greene, considering he knew right away what I was talking about yet doesn’t seem to mention it in his articles.
My question was followed by a young woman asking if due to Obama’s popularity, could we lift the two term limit on the office of president to which the economics professor answered “Well, the country isn’t New York.” This was followed by roaring laughter of a public misunderstanding the grave necessity of such a law. The twenty second amendment is very much in honor of George Washington who refused to run for a third term despite such popular support. Thomas Jefferson followed his example, implying that the most effective governance is the limiting of power, to be able to spread it out amongst a larger part of the country. But in trying times, New York changed the laws in order to allow Bloomberg to reign for another term. It comes as no surprise that a New York representative introduces a bill aiming to repeal the 22nd amendment. (http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/representative-serrano-d-ny-wants-to-end-term-limits-for-presidents/)
Now how many people do you know that would support the passage of this law for Obama? If you still aren’t convinced of Obama’s true approach at navigation of our feeble vessel, take a look at Obama’s pick for deputy secretary of defense William J. Lynn III who was the chief financial officer of the Department of Defense 1997-2001 and the appointment of Robert Hale, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force from 1994-2001 concerning financial management.(http://solari.com/blog/?p=1983) Under these men, 3.3 trillion dollars went missing from the Department of Defense, 2.3 trillion of which secretary of Defense under W., Donald Rumsfeld admitted to in a press conference on September tenth, 2001.(Just type in the words RUMSFELD 9/10/01 into youtube or googlevideo.)
It is hopeful that Barack Obama wouldn’t allow such an act of piracy of the tax payer’s money, but if such actions warrant a promotion in Obama’s cabinet, rather than a deep investigation into government actions surrounding the attacks of 9/11, then there is clearly no distance drawn from the tactics of former administrations.
The beauty of ideology is that it can distance a person far from their actual position, their coordinates of character. But every one of us is a product of a typhoon of trails, myriad in number, genetic projections bringing about the most applicable attributes and we need not deny a single integral member. Who knows what characters comprise our family trees? All their exploits and triumphs, buried beneath, yet being the perfect precursors to our own minutiae. The problem is, our most powerful politicians are in a family, carrying on royal roots through the most dismal future possible, making damn well sure that the right strands survive. Well, the plebeian, the proles, breed of banality, whatever you want to call us are the purest and proudest part of society, never mind our size. There is no reason that the seed of kings still have a central role in politics. While we have the will to change, being led astray in order to impose regulations by the actual arbiters of our own downfall must stop. And the most destructive agencies to our world, our welfare and our wallets must go. We cannot remain placid in the presence of an altered expression on the face of an eternal wretchedness.
It's Only The Beginning
Today is inauguration day. Coincidentally, it follows Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's almost kismet.
I've been reading countless headlines, blogs, editorials, articles for the many weeks leading up to this historic day. The consensus is the same and most Americans are feeling the way I feel when I think about what today represents.
And while my heart is full of hope and pride at the thought that today could be the changing day for all of us, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed and embittered by certain things that are happening that surround this seemingly fanaticized event.
Firstly, I do want to say that I recognize this to be a milestone for us as a society and people. It lends optimism that maybe racism is facing its demise. Yes, Barack Obama will be the first non-caucasian president; at least that's how I see it. However, I keep reading and seeing "THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT" in almost every article- I will reiterate that this is a great stride for us as a people and society - but race WAS NOT the centerpiece of this election and campaign.
Wow AMERICA! Shocker; you did it yet AGAIN! You took something COMPLETELY out of context. Have we all forgotten that we are in probably one of the worst economic crises we've ever seen since probably the Depression? Have we forgotten that Gaza and Israel are at it - yet again? Have we forgotten that our foreign policy was completely muddled during Bush's occupation? Parts of New Orleans are still in complete shambles.
Yes, Obama is black. We all can see this. But, I can't recall one occassion where he flat out said "I will be the first Black president". Obviously, it was implicit in his campaign that being half-black was something to set him apart from McCain - but he NEVER flat out said it. Even in his victory speech; not one mention of being black. Actually, what he did say was this:
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America."
And just in case you wanted to read his speech to get some clarification, here's the link: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/
This was a victory for all of us. Everyone! Not just for one group. We are all suffering. I'm sure that in one point or another in our lives we've been overlooked or taken advantage of or punished for something we had no control over. We are meant to be a united people. Our race should not be what seperates us but what brings us together in understanding one another.
That is Obama's message and I believe that is his purpose; bringing us together as a nation so that we may face the future together. (I know, it all sounds so "Cumbaya" - but w/e, a little never hurts)
Secondly, Barack Obama is only a man. Flesh and blood. He's human. He is not God nor the Second Coming (Although, his eloquence is worthy of some Christ-like comparison)
He hasn't even taken office yet and we're all weepy-eyed and joyful that our trouble are over. We don't even know how he's going to be once he's taken office and gets into the swing of things.
Production houses are already planning movies and speculation about who will be cast as Obama is circulating all the celebrity and enterainment websites (I know this because I spend a better part of my evening after work checking these websites out - it's a guilty pleasure).
Pump the brakes. Didn't momma ever tell you, "don't count your chickens before they've hatched"?
We all needed a change and hope - but we cannot rest ALL of our hopes and dreams on this one man.
Hello America...Obama's job is to help us get our sh*t together. That's what we need. We don't need a savior. We need a guidance counselor.
You ever heard the saying, "teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime".
Well, Mr. President [as of noon on 1/20/09], teach me how to fish.
Who's coming with?
I've been reading countless headlines, blogs, editorials, articles for the many weeks leading up to this historic day. The consensus is the same and most Americans are feeling the way I feel when I think about what today represents.
And while my heart is full of hope and pride at the thought that today could be the changing day for all of us, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed and embittered by certain things that are happening that surround this seemingly fanaticized event.
Firstly, I do want to say that I recognize this to be a milestone for us as a society and people. It lends optimism that maybe racism is facing its demise. Yes, Barack Obama will be the first non-caucasian president; at least that's how I see it. However, I keep reading and seeing "THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT" in almost every article- I will reiterate that this is a great stride for us as a people and society - but race WAS NOT the centerpiece of this election and campaign.
Wow AMERICA! Shocker; you did it yet AGAIN! You took something COMPLETELY out of context. Have we all forgotten that we are in probably one of the worst economic crises we've ever seen since probably the Depression? Have we forgotten that Gaza and Israel are at it - yet again? Have we forgotten that our foreign policy was completely muddled during Bush's occupation? Parts of New Orleans are still in complete shambles.
Yes, Obama is black. We all can see this. But, I can't recall one occassion where he flat out said "I will be the first Black president". Obviously, it was implicit in his campaign that being half-black was something to set him apart from McCain - but he NEVER flat out said it. Even in his victory speech; not one mention of being black. Actually, what he did say was this:
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America."
And just in case you wanted to read his speech to get some clarification, here's the link: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/
This was a victory for all of us. Everyone! Not just for one group. We are all suffering. I'm sure that in one point or another in our lives we've been overlooked or taken advantage of or punished for something we had no control over. We are meant to be a united people. Our race should not be what seperates us but what brings us together in understanding one another.
That is Obama's message and I believe that is his purpose; bringing us together as a nation so that we may face the future together. (I know, it all sounds so "Cumbaya" - but w/e, a little never hurts)
Secondly, Barack Obama is only a man. Flesh and blood. He's human. He is not God nor the Second Coming (Although, his eloquence is worthy of some Christ-like comparison)
He hasn't even taken office yet and we're all weepy-eyed and joyful that our trouble are over. We don't even know how he's going to be once he's taken office and gets into the swing of things.
Production houses are already planning movies and speculation about who will be cast as Obama is circulating all the celebrity and enterainment websites (I know this because I spend a better part of my evening after work checking these websites out - it's a guilty pleasure).
Pump the brakes. Didn't momma ever tell you, "don't count your chickens before they've hatched"?
We all needed a change and hope - but we cannot rest ALL of our hopes and dreams on this one man.
Hello America...Obama's job is to help us get our sh*t together. That's what we need. We don't need a savior. We need a guidance counselor.
You ever heard the saying, "teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime".
Well, Mr. President [as of noon on 1/20/09], teach me how to fish.
Who's coming with?
Friday, January 9, 2009
First Events Of '09
What's up Y'all? Happy New Year to all, just to start off. I wanted to try and post a giant thank you to everyone who performed or showed with us in our first year. It wasn't always very easy but we all tried to have a good time and support each other and the arts, and I, for one, am so very happy that we did.
I'm going to start checking everybody's page soon, hoping to find a Mercury Soapbox banner or link, thats the only way to really spread this thing and help each other. If you need a banner or want one customized just email me at mercurysoapbox@gmail.com.
I'm still looking for artists that want to show work, so if you're interested or have a friend who might be, please hit us up.
With out further ado...
DJ E Money- who djed many shows with us, has his own night at club europa, so make sure to check that out.
AND NOW!
The next Mercury Soapbox Event!
Monday, December 29, 2008
If This Isn't Irony, I'm Not Sure What Else Is
Submitted by OhSnaps!
So, the government in the end decided to bail out the Big 3 motor companies of the US: Ford, GM and Chrysler, with a nice, ripe figure just shy of $17 billion. Fantastic; people still have their jobs, social security isn't losing a massive amount of depositors, and the American Dream is still alive.
I wish the government had done a little market research before they decided to gift a federal loan to these companies. For the last...umm...I don't remember how many years now, Toyota has been the American favorite brand of car. And though the American car companies produce a seemingly viable product - who really drives Fords, Chrysler's and GM's?
American cars brands have been fighting tooth and nail for marketshare in the modern world since "imports" were introduced to Americans. Since then, the American car companies have sought after to acquire or merge with non-American brands to expand marketshare and what I'm assuming was a move to make themselves look prettier to Americans. Daimler-Chrysler was a merger between Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz (a German based car company) in 1998. Ford owns brands such as Aston Martin (English based car company), Jaguar (English based car company), Land Rover (English/Welsh based car company) and Volvo (Swedish based car company).
While I will note, in fairness, that American car companies have done their share to stay in the spotlight alongside the import brands and have gone to great lengths to make their cars economical and environmentally resposible - they're still second best, if that.
So when I came accross this article today [follow the link: http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/23/news/companies/auto_stocks/ index.htm?postversion= 2008122312 ] , I wasn't suprrised to read what it said.
I am appalled, however, that the government chose to prolong the inevitable - which the cost, would inevitably come out of MY pocket (and yours too).
I think that the American car companies are experiencing the ebb and flow of capitalism and big business. Nothing lasts forever - we all know this. Businesses come and go - and while its normal to compete for your place in the world, particularly in business, the day will come when you must close that file and move on, cut your losses - that sort of thing.
It's natural - I think. Like Darwin studied and theorized, it's survival of the fittest. It's a dog eat dog world out there, and if you can't hack it, maybe you should rethink what you had planned because it obviously isn't working. So maybe that should've been the fate of these 3 car companies. Don't get me wrong, I'm very patriotic, I love my country and love the American dollar. While, it sometimes burns me to see my hard earned money going into some Japanese dude's pocket (because I happen to really like Nissan's) they, at the end of the day, provide a better product.
Will the bailout help prevent these companies from going bankrupt? I highly doubt it. Would the benefit outweigh the cost? Don't think so. It seems as the years go on, these companies are doing progessively and consistently worse in their annual reportings. (To be fair, Toyota is anticipating reporting a loss for the first time since 1950 in their upcomping reporting period.)
It's a lost cause!! Why, oh why, goverment, would you help this already painfully sinking ship? Could the money have not been better invested elsewhere where the return was almost gauranteed and not at a diminishing rate? Look at our economy!!! Don't you realize how we GOT HERE? Borrowing money isn't FREE!!!!
Fund our future, please! Stop trying to preserve the past. Our children will lead us out of this, if only we give them the opportunity and tools to do so.
You're shooting us in the foot, I hope you realize.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Mercury Soapbox Benefit Sho!!
Mercury Soapbox Presents The Benefit SHo!! 
Raising money for Transitions Cambodia, a non-profit that builds homes for sexually trafficked teens and kids, through arts and music! Come hang with us while we take in the artistic wonderment of Raquel Manuela, Jana Gouchev and Amanda Perez AND musical guests Sauce, Mala Reignz and many more!!
$5 Donation
18 to appreciate
21 to inebriate
$5 Donation
18 to appreciate
21 to inebriate
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