Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

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 ...

Good evening one and all... I am at home writing for my Traveller campaign, and getting a start on a novella. This story will be dear to my heart.It is a look at a future where we have lost basically all of our civil liberties, and corporations control our food, our media, our politicians. Doesn't sound far off from what we have now! But anyhow, I am re-committing myself to supporting local businesses. You will soon see more restaurant reviews/shout-outs here. Why am I excited about turning my back on some major corporations? Well, one is the recent expression of blatant and outrageous greediness of Papa John's owner and CEO. He refuses to raise the price of his pizza 11 to 14 cents in order to help cover his worker's health insurance. In fact, he is slashing all of their hours so there's no way they could qualify as full-time employees entitled to some important benefits in a civilized society that actually begins to care about its workers. This callous creature has ...

Winter seems to be rolling in about a month early here in DC, and yesterday was the election. One wing of the corporate party won more electoral college points than the other. More drone wars killing thousands of civilians, more off-shore drilling furthering our fossil fuel addiction, and more jobs will now be shipped overseas with the soon-to-be signed Trans-Pacific Free Trade Pact. Sadly, the American people and the future of our planet is not benefiting from the destructive and exploitive nature of our current political system. As Americans, we are also harshly divided over vague and outdated ideologies, which are little more than abstract and little understood titles we hang on one another -- chief among these are capitalism and socialism. Neither in any of their original purity exist in reality today. In better news, I have been enjoying some meals here in the Eastern Market neighborhood of DC. One of my favorite food haunts is Tortilla Cafe, 210 7th Street SE, Washington, DC....

Hello dear readers, I am sorry that I have written so little on this blog during 2012. No, I am not going to comment on the presidential race between the two wings of the corporate party. I will say that Presidential Green candidate Jill Stein will of course get my vote, and I am pleased that she will appear on more state ballots than any other Green presidential candidate before (I think the number is above 40 now). I landed a much better paying job, which I enjoy. I am continuing to game. I am the GM of a cool Traveller campaign, which will have its first full-length session later today. I guess you will now see more writings about role-playing games, movies, and restaurants here. But let me pull your attention toward the wonderful canoe trip I just came back from in Maine. I enjoyed canoeing down the Penobscot River with college buddy Matt, before enjoying two nights and three days on the Maine coast in and around Acadia National Park. If you have never been to Maine -- go! It...

Today was a very small protest at the Ecuadorian Embassy, as part of a campaign pleading with that country's president to grant asylum to WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange. Currently Assange is staying inside the London embassy waiting for a decision. Here is an email, I sent out earlier this evening to other activists: Hi all, Well, despite the low numbers I consider it a success! Within the first 10 minutes David, Steve and myself were invited into the embassy where we met with the Deputy Chief of the Mission Efrain Baus Palacios. He listened to what each of us had to say, and was very sympathetic. He said the embassy is receiving thousands of e-mails every single day supporting Assange, and urging Ecuador to grant him asylum. He said Pres. Correa is presently reviewing all legal issues connected to the case, and is not sure when a decision will be announced. He also said Assange has his own bathroom with a shower and a bed, but it is indeed just an offic...

Super diva Donna Summer, 63, passed this week. I should have known I was gay when I enjoyed dancing to her inspirational and soulful singing when I was 10 years-old. Beyond her glorious days of disco, Ms. Summer never quite made a successful comeback, nor was she ultimately successful in battling cancer. That's the beautiful and sad reality of many lives; great but often unfulfilled and over far too soon. On the activism front, I am still on my sabbatical, however, a few weeks ago a major highlight thus far this year for me was attending a pre-trial court hearing for Pvt. Bradley Manning , the greatest government whistle blower since Daniel Ellsberg. He is once again being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, although his own government is trying to put him away for life. I was overjoyed to see Bradley smiling in court and engaging in detailed conversations with his attorney. He seemed engaged and a bit hopeful during the proceedings. At one point, Bradley entered the court f...

I went to a rally for Trayvon Martin, a Florida teen who was murdered in late February by a violent racist for being himself, yesterday in front of DC City Hall. At the time, Martin was wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag of skittles.  Under the insanely fascist "Castle Law" in that state (and I believe a dozen others), his murderer, George Zimmerman, remains free. Carrying a gun, Zimmerman uttered a racial slur ("f#@king coons") and said "these assholes always get away" into his cell phone during his 911 call. You can listen to the recording .  A 17 year-old walking home and chatting with his girlfriend on his cell phone should never be murdered. And yet it happens. What is so horribly wrong here is George Zimmerman has not been prosecuted. Shame on Florida. And shame on us if we let this stand. My hope is that people will really be motivated to act. At the rally yesterday there was a lot of urging people to vote. That is not what we need. We need p...

At the beginning of October, I met a couple of the folks who were in their first week of occupying McPherson Square, located along the corporate lobbying corridor of K Street in my hometown of DC. They were determined to stay and spread a message about income inequality, crony capitalism, and the wrong direction our government was headed. They stayed and they multiplied. At the time I was attending The Stop Machine multi-day rally at Freedom Plaza. I had earlier been associated with helping to organize this older, more strictly anti-war mobilization, but I had withdrawn from the steering committee both because of constraints on my time (busy work days and moving to a new apartment with my dog) and disagreements with the organizing style of others involved. I fell in love with Occupy DC at McPherson Square and even as I attended Stop the Machine at Freedom Plaza, I became even more disenchanted with them. This is my story about the two occupations in DC, and how one has always bee...

Last week and this week has been the pre-trial Article 32 hearing for the brave whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning. I am proud that OccupyDC joined the rally last Saturday demanding Bradley's freedom. The military wants to put this great gay American behind bars for life. His crime? Reporting war crimes and widespread government corruption, which helped light the fire of the Arab Spring. That in turn inspired Occupy here in the states. This is a good review of Bradley's case at this point: Punishing the whistleblower? - Inside Story Americas - Al Jazeera English

Today is Gandhi's birthday, and yesterday I think I witnessed a hopeful future for humanity. David, Laurel and I went to lower Manhattan to take part, if only for a day, in Occupy Wall Street centered in Zuccotti Park, about a block from the New York Stock Exchange. What I saw there was a few hundred young folks (and a few older folks) occupying a space, and creating a community of resistance to the burgeoning and oppressive plutocracy in the U.S. One of the most frequent, and powerful in my mind, themes touched on by this growing movement is the concept that we are the 99% and we are being sold out and exploited by the richest 1% and their enormous corporations (recently given First Amendment rights by the US Supreme Court). The ones who get generous tax breaks and simply want to feed their own greed with no concern for the overall health of the nation. The disparity between the billionaires and the rest of us has increased and is quickly beginning to resemble many third worl...

With the passing of the 48th anniversary of the great March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s milestone speech, “I Have a Dream,” once again, a gay black civil rights organizer and strategist has been forgotten. This man was someone who greatly influenced both Dr. King and the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and deserves to be remembered by all Americans and honored by the LGBT community as a hero. Bayard Rustin, born in 1912, studied the nonviolence philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, and never sought the spotlight, but his impact on American social movements of the 20th century is undeniable. A Quaker and a talented singer Rustin became involved in the gay rights movement during his later years. Sadly the dedication ceremony of Dr. King’s Memorial was rained out because of Hurricane Irene. Yet his legacy will never be dimmed or overlooked. However many are unaware of Rustin who played an incredibly influential role in the young Atlantan preacher’s life...

The market is collapsing, unemployment remains high (especially for people of color and recent grads), America's credit rating was just downgraded, and the U.S. is engaged in several hopeless and costly wars and military occupations... I am now actively helping to organize and build the October 6th to whenever occupation of Freedom Plaza. This could be the beginning of the paradigm shift many of us have been pushing for. The time is now to act (before it is too late)! We just need enough people to stop business as usual in DC, the capital of the empire. Here are some videos about October2011 made by Dennie Trainor Jr.: Why I will be in Freedom Plaza

Rep. Kucinich and eight other brave members of Congress are currently suing President Obama for Peace. Their case states that the commander-in-chief is in violation of the War Powers Act when it comes to the War on Libya. Obama absurdly contends that our military is not engaged in "hostilities" when it bombs buildings and kills people in this North African nation. Therefore, the pres claims the law does not apply. The War Powers Act was passed in order to further clarify Article 1 of our Constitution (that Congress and the President need to make such war-making decisions jointly). Passed in 1973, it was designed to check unlimited presidential military actions. Sadly, it has been ignored by presidents and Congress for at least a couple decades now. I doubt this lawsuit, although a very honorable step, will gain much ground. If folks haven't noticed things have not gone well for the peace and justice movement for the last few years... The American people, however, are gett...

There has been a call put out to the entire peace and justice movement to assemble in Freedom Plaza (downtown DC, along Pennsylvania Avenue), and to not leave until the U.S. Government begins withdrawing all it military forces from Afghanistan (this will be at the same time our nation completes a decade of war in this Third World country) and begins to redirect war funds to desperately needed social programs and protections for the environment. The original organizers are encouraging people not to leave until the demands are met. I think this does need to happen. But I also realize that those leaving their homes and camping out on the concrete slabs of Freedom Plaza will need support. They will need food and water brought into them. Folks will need to begin to organize themselves, as did the courageous protesters in first Egypt and Tunisia, and now currently in Spain. So will it last longer than a couple days, will the mass media largely ignore us? Again, I will repeat, this needs to h...

I have neglected my blog for too long. Work at the LoC is going well, although not very exciting. I did pass the criminal background check during the last month, and they know all about my past arrests and convictions. Here is a pic of a lotus at Lake Artemesia where I walk Bruno nearly every day. My current activism remains almost exclusively focused on courageous whistle blower, Bradley Manning (now moved from Quantico to more humane Leavenworth). The prosecution and persecution of Bradley and other whistle blowers reveals the repressive nature of Barack Obama’s presidency. Although he claimed “hope” and even pushed “government transparency” during his campaign, the reality of his time as president has proven to be the opposite. We (the Bradley Manning Support Network) had a tele-press conference for Bradley (exactly one year after his arrest) recently which featured Pentagon Papers’ Daniel Ellsberg and WikiLeak’s Julian Assange. It proved to be wildly successful. Here are a couple n...

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Life is good. 3/20 in Quantico was a big success, and now I am signed up with Zipcar so Bruno and I can be a bit more mobile. Here is the latest on Bradley Manning (securing his freedom is my focus now)... Mistreatment of Manning Criticized by UN Torture Investigator, Hundreds of Legal Academics and Hundreds of Thousands By Kevin Zeese Colonel: "Obama Could End Torture with One Phone Call" For Immediate Release For Further Information Jeff Paterson Kevin Zeese (301-996-6582 cell) Bradley Manning Support Network Email address removed 1-202-640-4388 Mistreatment of Manning Criticized by Leading Law Professors & UN Torture Investigator Hundreds of Thousands Write Obama Urging End to Manning Abuse Washington, DC: The eight months of solitary confinement of Bradley Manning at Quantico has drawn national and international criticism in the last week. Support is growing for him around the world with 500,000 writing President Ob...

There is a lot going on for me in March. And the weather was warming up nicely today; Bruno enjoyed his walks. March 13th we have the fundraiser for Bradley Manning's Legal Defense Fund. Location: Busboys and Poets at 5th and K Streets NW. March 19th Veterans for Peace lead a big protest and civil resistance action at the White House. March 20th we have a rally and march to the gates of Quantico (similar to what was done on MLK Day). Buses have been reserved to take folks from Union Station. Meanwhile, the resistance to union busting and the further destruction of the Middle Class intensifies in Wisconsin. Hundreds of protesters have reclaimed their state capitol building in Madison, staying overnight in the rotunda. This same beautiful resistance is now beginning to spread to Indiana and Ohio. I really don't think the corporate servant boy, Gov. Walker of Wisconsin will be re-elected in three years from now. It must also be pointed out that this beautiful show of people standi...