Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

Hello readers, please take a few minutes to read the previous blog before digesting this one. While I am definitely shifting gears, what I am writing here clearly connects to what was already expressed. I think it has something to say to progressive organizers. In my life, I have come to realize that the most paramount factor is other people. Think about it, unless you live somewhere deep in the Himalayans, and somehow have a fully sustainable yurt with near-daily air drop services -- you probably interact with a lot of different folks. You learn from them, you share good and bad times with them. You struggle and debate with them. If it's someone you click with socially, you thoroughly enjoy hanging out and sharing life together. At least, that's it in a nutshell for me.  As I previously mentioned, listening is a required part of communication. It is also socially required to show respect for your fellow human beings who you encounter. I like the old idiom, "You ar...

" You know that this broken world, with its rising seas and hungry mouths and bodies riddled by police bullets, can be so much better. We can end the toxic corruption that gives us militarized police, and oil-slicked pipeline deals, and hopeless shoeless migrant children like the ones I went to school with in Texas.  We can get to the other side together. One road, many lanes."  ~Justin  Jacoby  Smith, American activist "How can an organization trying to fix our democracy operate undemocratically? How can an organization tell us that real change happens from the bottom-up. when they themselves operate top-down?" ~Kobi Azoulay, American activist "In the end, the most important thing is not to do things for people who are poor and in distress, but to enter into relationship with them, to be with them and help them find confidence in themselves and discover their own gifts." ~Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche "The greatest challenge o...

Contact:  Pete Perry,  202-704-3963                Helen Schietinger,  202-344-5762 Four Democracy Spring Activists Acquitted                                         Sept. 2, 2016 WASHINGTON -- In a stirring victory for First Amendment rights in the nation's capitol, four pro-democracy activists who had participated in Democracy Spring's week of actions on Capitol Hill in April were acquitted Friday by Judge Diane Lepley of Blocking, Crowding and Incommoding, and Failure to Obey a Lawful Order.  Helen Schietinger and Pete Perry of Washington, Alex Park of Virginia, and Manijeh Saba of New Jersey were thankful for the decision, recognizing its importance for those who travel to the Capitol Building and congressional offices to speak with their elected representatives. "I want to thank Judge Lepley ...

This presidential election year the citizens of the U.S. are faced with two of the most unpopular nominees of the major parties in our nation's history, Hillary "neoliberal warmonger" Clinton and Donald "spoiled bigot" Trump. It is quite a toxic choice for most Americans, many of whom know little or nothing about the Green and Libertarian options, which also exist just outside of the duopoly. And many who do know a bit about Jill Stein and Gary Johnson will still vote out of fear; they will cast their precious ballot for what they view as the lesser evil in order to defeat the greater evil. The truth with the American corporate duopoly running the U.S. government is that there is precious little separating the two parties. True there are some differences on social issues, such as gay marriage and abortion rights -- both reveal that the days are numbered for the G.O.P. However the Democrats, from the 1990s until recent years, have shifted sharply to the right w...

Contact: For Immediate Release Pete Perry, 202-704-3963 July 12, 2016 Democracy Spring Activists Conclude Their First Amendment Trial, Await Judgement Washington, DC -- Four activists who took part in Democracy Spring’s week of peaceful protests at the Capitol Building calling for corporate money to be removed from the American political process are waiting a decision in their trial before D.C. Magistrate Judge Diane Lepley. On Monday, the government prosecutor and the defendants concluded their closing arguments. Lepley scheduled the decision in the case for 9:00 a.m. Friday, July 15, in D.C. Superior Court, Room 116. Defendants Peter Perry of Philadelphia, Manijeh Saba of New Jersey, and Helen Schietinger of Washington, D.C. are defending themselves in court. Defendant Alexander Park of Virginia is being represented by Attorney Mark Goldstone. The four activists participated in Democracy Spring’s week-long protests on Capitol Hi...

Bruno and I are enjoying ourselves as we settle into our new home city. Future posts will cover my recent activism and my life-work at New Jerusalem Now. But this post will touch upon my great love of exploring new restaurants! OK, so I love walking the bustling streets of Chinatown Philly! What I have noticed is the boba (or bubble) tea phenomena has exploded in popularity. There must be about a dozen establishments here dedicating their focus to this. Also, where else can you find several Internet Cafes within a five block radius without jumping into a time machine and journeying back to the mid to late 1990s? A bit odd. But perhaps I will explore those two types of businesses in future posts. Now back to food. Honestly, I love Chinese food and would not have a problem eating it every day if given the chance! Pho 20 -- Located up on the northern end of Chinatown Philly is this family run establish with generous hours (unlike many places in the neighborhood, this one actually sta...

I know it has been a long time since I have written in this blog, I guess some might have written it off as long-dormant, and probably to be forgotten. 2016 will certainly bring changes into my life and more spiritual development. I look forward to the remaining 358 days. I joined a community house in Syracuse, and tried to make it a Catholic Worker house of hospitality. I faced a lot of disagreements, and the various ideas for a mission, from the individuals involved, were never on the same page. Then there was anger and a lot of frustration. Now there is a lot of uncomfortable silence. There were some personality clashes (I accept my role in that). I am not pointing any fingers. Maybe I was wrong to push my vision. The house here has been many things over its 40 years of existence. But it seems like its longest running mission was being a part of the Central American Sanctuary movement and offering hospitality to that affected community on a family scale for about 10 years (mid-80s...

On Tuesday, I returned from a 16-day journey to the Midwest to visit two Catholic Worker communities. The first was in Kansas City and the second one was in Davenport, IA, and I must say they are very different. I loved KC and I would probably want to live there if it was on the East Coast. They provide breakfast, showers, laundry services, and free second-hand clothes to homeless folks three times a week. In addition, they have a small urban farm, which includes more than two dozen egg-laying hens, honey bees, fruit trees, okra, bell pepper, and much more! I also think the four regular CW members: Jodi, Eric, Allison, and Lonnie are remarkable people. Davenport on the other hand is small, basically two houses of hospitality for long-term guests run by one amazing CW member, Michael. I will be upfront in saying that I developed quite a crush on Michael, but I think I am growing past that now. For a number of reasons, I don't think Davenport would be a great fit for me over the long...

I surprised myself to realize just how long it has been since I last wote a blog entry. A lot has changed in my life, but I think even greater change is just around the corner. As I type this long-awaited blog entry at a little after 2 a.m. on September 27, I realize my view of the world, and my life in  particular, continues to evolve. I hope my activism becomes much more proactive, rather than reactive. I also want to embrace my share of responsibility for creating more peace and justice in the world. I grow weary of attending protests and vigils where we seem to be just appealing to "the powers that be" rather than seizing the initiative ourselves. Furthermore, my spirituality which I often silenced or suppressed, has now truly begun to blossom. I now wish to grow and nourish my relationship with God. To me my activism was never separate from my spirituality. My belief in pursuing justice, doing good, and resisting violence in the world has always been very important to ...

2013 was not a great year, but there were a few exciting highlights, such as my great trip to Ecuador. As I expected, I loved this small South American republic. I stayed nearly the whole time in Cuenca (except for the first night in the capital city of Quito), which is rapidly becoming a major haven for ex-pats from the U.S. and Canada. It is a charming small city, about one-third the size of D.C. I can easily see myself retiring here in a city with several museums, where you can buy fresh produce from an amazing farmer's market, and have a three-course lunch for under $3. Where you can relax in a nice park next to a huge cathedral for hours and then wander the streets until you find a quaint cafe where you can have a cafe con tinto for $1.50. 2014 will be a better year. I am sure of it. After seven months of unemployment, next week I will begin a digital archives job in downtown D.C. I also plan to begin yoga regularly and continue to live frugally in order to save some mon...

"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." ~ Emma Goldman, anarchist leader and philosopher "It's time to bring the global pro-democracy movement into the belly of the beast." ~ Howie Hawkins, co-founder of the Green Party U.S. During the last three years, I have on occasion described myself politically as an anarchist. And now I have a confession to make. I am not a very good anarchist. I write this now, as I believe there is still some utility to voting within the current capitalist-imperialist structure of the U.S. government. I vote for Green Party candidates. I have thought for a while now about this internal conflict of mine. I do believe that most humans have come to a point in their evolution where they don't really need a large centralized government managing their social customs, enacting laws over their lives. We certainly can now handle direct democracy and find it far more preferable over the corrupt and quite literally bro...

OK, I desperately want to do some wildly creative things, as well as land a job that doesn't drive me insane, pays me a salary above the poverty line, and is at least someway related to an archives or a library's special collection. But more on the job hunt later. So with the long neglected creative side of my persona yearning to be unleashed, I decided I am going to write in this here blog a lot more frequently, and I am going to make a second attempt at working through my sci-fi, near-future dystopian novel. I might also try and get back into meditation and poetry. Meditation, I think I need to bring more peace and discipline into my life. And poetry just would help me express myself new ways, bringing me more joy; something I used to do more -- before I became obsessed with a quest to save the world, or at least the empire from itself. That struggle, I am convinced, slowly took over my life and enslaved me to my own hubris. So, let me state quite clearly here: I will becom...

Three and a half days ago Col. Denise Lind sentenced Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning to 35 years imprisonment for releasing information to the public, which exposed war crimes, massive wrongdoing and knowledge of deep-seated corruption of regimes our government long supported. There was of course the famous Apache Helicopter video from Baghdad, dubbed "Collateral Murder," but there was also State Department cables such as the one about the severely corrupt ruling family in Tunisia which helped spark the Arab Spring, as well as information on Guantanamo prisoners, most of whom are still being held in this gulag despite being cleared for release, and more accurate civilian casualty counts from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq than had ever previously been released. Much of this information was indeed embarrassing to the U.S. government, but no one was directly harmed by the releases, despite the prosecution's best efforts (even in closed door sessions from what Manning...

One week ago I was laid off from a job I did not enjoy. Yes, I loved the salary and was quite enthusiastic about landing this job nine and a half months ago. The pay was significantly greater than I had ever earned before. My friends and former co-workers seemed surprised when I started looking for a new job, and then my unmasked relief of actually being laid off and seizing the opportunity to collect unemployment. Yes, it was related to library science, but it was not in a library or an archives (my specialty). It was also boring, I did not like the unpredictability of contracts, and frankly didn't really care for some of the big name clients our firm had (and in fact a couple I worked on). I also felt a little out of place, and don't think I ever want to do private consultancy work again. Ever. Unless it's later in my career and I am providing some consulting work for an archives and historical collection. That's enough about me. I am job searching for something in ...

It has been far too long since last I wrote in my blog. I have been working very hard at a job for which I am now losing all enthusiasm. I also have little hope that living conditions will improve for most Americans within the existing paradigm, and that prospects appear dim for any sort of major shift away from the existing status quo. My friend Debbie and I will be scouting out our future home in Ecuador at the end of the summer. However, I find myself compelled to write finally. This past week, the Washington Peace Center celebrated its 50th anniversary. I am proud to have been associated with this great small progressive org. There were times when it appears this org would not make it to 50 years of life, but it did. And I would say a lot of the credit goes to the activists associated with it for so long, its generous donors, and its past and present board members. They have never given up hope that positive social change could occur through the vision and organizational leadersh...

Troubled white male guns down 20 schoolchildren is a headline that shouldn't happen. But it does. I am truly sickened and exhausted by what happened yesterday in Connecticut. I plan on retiring to Ecuador and the commonality of gun violence in America is just one reason. Our foreign policy (which is also terribly violent) is another reason. The natural beauty and lower cost of living in the Andes are two more reasons. There are some more reasons for my Ecuador plans, but I digress. I want to deeply discuss and try and make some sort of sense out of this mass shooting of innocents by -- the first three words I wrote. Troubled. White. Male. Adam Lanza a resident of Newtown, Connecticut, was quite young himself, 20, and lived with his mother who was a teacher. Not much else is known about him. What is known though from the reports coming out now was that he was severely socially awkward, avoided eye contact, had been on medication for some time; many neighbors said he was a ...