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The War Against Everything and Everyone, Endlessly

By William Blum

Nidal Malik Hasan, the US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 and wounded some 30 at Fort Hood, Texas, in November reportedly regards the US War on Terror as a war aimed at Muslims. He told colleagues that “the US was battling not against security threats in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Islam itself.”

Hasan had long been in close contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric and al Qaeda sympathizer now living in Yemen, who also called the US War on Terror a “war against Muslims.” Many, probably most, Muslims all over the world hold a similar view about American foreign policy.

I believe they’re mistaken. For many years, going back to at least the Korean war, it’s been fairly common for accusations to be made by activists opposed to US policies, in the United States and abroad, as well as by Muslims, that the United States chooses as its bombing targets only people of color, those of the Third World, or Muslims.

But it must be remembered that in 1999 one of the most sustained and ferocious American bombing campaigns ever—78 days in a row—was carried out against the Serbs of the former Yugoslavia: white, European, Christians. Indeed, we were told that the bombing was to rescue the people of Kosovo, who are largely Muslim. Earlier, the United States had come to the aid of the Muslims of Bosnia in their struggle against the Serbs.

The United States is in fact an equal-opportunity bomber. The only qualifications for a country to become an American bombing target appear to be: (a) It poses a sufficient obstacle—real, imagined, or, as with Serbia, ideological—to the desires of the empire; (b) It is virtually defenseless against aerial attack.

William Blum is the author of “Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2,” “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower,” “West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir,” and “Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire.” This essay is excerpted from Blum’s latest Anti-Empire Report. Previous Anti-Empire Reports can be read at http://www.killinghope.org/.

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7 more reasons why you wouldn't want coal in your stocking

When those of us who preside in industrialized nations hit a light switch, we take for granted that we’ll immediately be bathed in the glow of flickering bulb. But how many of us are perpetually in the dark when it comes to the high cost of our modern conveniences? A brand new Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) report aims to, uh, shed some light upon our myriad blind spots.

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A green day in NYC?

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Book news:

My new book/pamphlet, Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, can be ordered online for only $4.95 here (you’ll also find info about me, reviews of the book, etc.).

The e-book version is only $3.00 and can be downloaded here.

If you prefer to order via Amazon, here’s the link. (Of course, 5-star reviews at Amazon are always welcome)

Finally, please ask your local bookstore and/or library to order Self Defense for Radicals, and please spread the word: via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and of course, face-to-face conversation.

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Poem: “The Accidental Trainer"

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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Jared Diamond's Ecocidal Op-Ed

By Stephanie McMillan

On Sunday, Dec. 6, the New York Times published an outrageous op-ed piece by corporate cheerleader Jared Diamond, who states, “I’ve discovered that while some businesses are indeed as destructive as many suspect, others are among the world’s strongest positive forces for environmental sustainability.” The examples he provides? Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Chevron.

His title asks, “Will Big Business Save the Earth?” That’s not a difficult question to answer: No. No, big business will not save the Earth. Instead of being honest, though, Diamond, answers the question in the affirmative and subjects us to a poorly-argued, mind-warping, illogical and denial-drenched apology for some of the most destructive corporations that curse our planet with their existence.

His overall argument doesn’t hold up to even the most casual scrutiny. He spends the whole column arguing that we shouldn’t hate big corporations because market forces are causing them to make changes to help the planet. “Lower consumption of environmental resources saves money in the short run. Maintaining sustainable resource levels and not polluting saves money in the long run.” He attempts to show that Wal-Mart, Coca Cola and Chevron are transforming their production practices to reflect their concern for the natural world (and that this also improves their bottom line, so it’s a big win-win).

His actual agenda is revealed in the last paragraph, which is partly a plea for the government to give corporations incentives like tax breaks and money for research to facilitate these changes. But if they’re already modifying production practices to help the environment because that is good for profits, then why do they require incentives? I don’t get it.

Mainstream liberal environmentalist groups lack credibility among real environmentalists for many reasons, one of which is the presence of corporate executives on their boards, and another of which is the huge amounts of money that they accept from corporations. The World Wildlife Fund, for example, landed a $3 million contract with Chevron in the early 1990s to implement an “Integrated Conservation and Development Project” in Papua New Guinea, where Chevron’s oil drilling was vehemently resisted by the affected indigenous people. (See “Shilling for Chevron: Jared Diamond Greenwasher.)

Diamond happens to serve on the WWF board. I’m sure it’s purely by coincidence that he praises Chevron’s efforts to improve the environment in his book Collapse, and again in this NYT op-ed piece. I can imagine him hanging out with his fellow board members, business execs who complain of being misunderstood while sending him meaningful glances brimming with unspoken promises of millions of dollars in donations. I can imagine him deciding, “Hey, these guys aren’t so bad! I’m going to convince the American people to give them some love, damn it!”

In his op-ed piece he states, “I … have had frank discussions with oil company employees at all levels. I’ve also worked with executives of mining, retail, logging and financial services companies.” In contrast, he seems to have carefully avoided speaking with even one of the countless victims of these companies. There’s not a single quote by an indigenous person in the Amazon whose forest home was leveled for oil exploration and contaminated by oil spills. Not a single statement by a farmer in India whose crops died because Coca-Cola depleted and contaminated the village ground water. Not a peep from a single exploited factory laborer in China suffering with illnesses caused by the pollution generated by producing cheap plastic crap for Wal-Mart to import and sell to us.

The motivations for these companies to rein in their destruction of the world are, without exception, self-serving and purely concerned with the bottom line. It costs too much to clean up oil spills, retrofit factories, and crush angry natives. Diamond’s sympathies are 100% in line with this, and his only desire seems to be to assist these corporations in their accumulation of profit. “We should reward companies that work to keep the planet healthy,” he urges. He doesn’t express the slightest concern for the well-being of the natural world itself or for the living beings who comprise it.

He talks about the challenges that Coca-Cola faces in finding acceptable sources of water, and tries to convince us that “Hence Coca-Cola’s survival compels it to be deeply concerned with problems of water scarcity, energy, climate change and agriculture.” But the obvious point remains unsaid: Coke is not a necessity. It is in fact harmful to those who drink it. We don’t NEED to solve the problem of how Coca-Cola obtains water, or provide incentives for them to do it less destructively, because they could just fucking stop making it. Now there’s a simple solution.

Diamond tries to confuse us by conflating slightly restrained rates of massive destruction with a net positive effect. Even if companies make changes that cause them to destroy nature at a slower speed than they have been accustomed to, this is hardly the same thing as not destroying it at all (which is what sustainability means), and the exact opposite of helping the planet heal.

As a collaborator with and propagandist for ecocidal corporations, Diamond should not be granted space to spread his lies. Both he and the NYT deserve scathing contempt for this op-ed piece.

Stephanie McMillan is the creator, with Derrick Jensen, of the graphic novel “As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial.” She also draws “Code Green,” a weekly editorial cartoon about the environmental emergency, and the syndicated comic strip “Minimum Security."

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Monday, December 07, 2009

Direct Action, Liberation and the Need to Persist

An interview with Jason Miller exploring radical dissent and animal liberation

By Frank Joseph Smecker

Jason Miller, Senior Editor and Founder of the radical blog, Thomas Paine’s Corner, is a tenacious forty-something vegan straight edge activist who lives in Kansas and who has a boundless passion for animal liberation and anti-capitalism. Addicted to reading and learning, he is mostly an autodidact, but he has also studied liberal arts and philosophy at the University of Missouri Kansas City.

An accomplished and prolific essayist on social and political issues, his writings have appeared on hundreds of alternative media websites over the last few years. He is also a press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office and the founder of Bite Club of KC, a grassroots animal rights activist group.

Frank Joseph Smecker: You founded Thomas Paine’s Corner in March of 2005 as an act of commitment to “ending the unnecessary suffering of oppressed and exploited sentient beings and to the total liberation of human animals, nonhuman animals, and the Earth.” Can you explain, in further depth, the content managed on the site and its relationship to the direct action that is needed to halt the dominant culture’s destructive behavior?

Jason Miller: Thomas Paine’s Corner (TPC) exists as a platform from which our editors, writers, and I can educate, promote, persuade, convince, criticize, and help evoke profound social change. TPC also helps amplify the press releases of the North American Animal Liberation Press Office by simulposting many of them. These anonymous communiqués from underground activists demonstrate TPC’s support for the “direct action that is needed to halt the dominant culture’s destructive behavior,” as the NAALPO press releases deliver the communiqués in a format that both informs the world of the action and explains why the activists did what they did.

I do tend to focus heavily on animal liberation issues with the pieces I publish on TPC, but our content includes a wide array of human and Earth liberation essays, polemics, articles, rants, critiques, and poems as well. As you noted in your question, my editors and I promote Steve Best’s concept of total liberation of human animals, nonhuman animals, and the Earth. You can get a much better idea of what this entails by visiting the Total Liberation section of TPC at http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/total-liberation/.

FJS: Evidently, you’re a proponent of animal liberation; can you explain why animals need liberation, what animal liberation entails and, its alliance to the total liberation of all sentient beings on the planet?

JM: This question goes to the heart of my unwavering dedication to the animal rights movement. Our species annihilates 50 billion nonhuman animals per annum—10 billion in the US alone…

FJS: That’s incredible…

JM: I know…

FJS: In a really horrific sense…

JM: I know. Nearly defenseless against humans, the most dangerous and destructive species ever to stalk the planet, nonhuman animals suffer egregious exploitation.  Circuses, rodeos, vivisection labs, factory farms, zoos, puppy mills, public and private areas where hunting and fishing are permitted, and numerous other entities and places objectify living, sentient beings, using and abusing them as they see fit to derive profits and pleasure. It is morally abhorrent that our species subjugates, tortures, and wantonly massacres millions upon millions of individuals from other species day after day—and we could readily live without the benefits that we derive from these heinous acts or we could attain those benefits in other ways.

Animal liberation naturally aligns with other liberation movements because the exploitation and oppression of nonhuman animals occur to such a broad extent and because humans are able to perpetrate these reprehensible acts so readily—due to the defenselessness of the animals and because law, culture and society endorse, condone, and promote these abject cruelties. Slavery, exploitation, and oppression of humans trace their roots to the objectification and subjugation of nonhuman animals that began some 12,000 years ago when we started “domesticating” them. Many of the tools (i.e. shackles and branding) we used to enslave people are still in use today for enslaving “farm” animals. To learn far more about the undeniable parallels between human and nonhuman animal exploitation and enslavement, I highly recommend Marjorie Spiegel’s book entitled “The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery.”

If we are to break the chains of economic tyranny, patriarchy, racism, classism, imperialism, and other forms of human oppression, we need to get to the root of dominionism and liberate nonhuman animals—allowing them to live free of human-inflicted enslavement, torture, and death.

FJS: It’s been said that in order to exploit someone you must first silence them. This can be done by stripping one of their subjecthood and objectifying them as a resource to be used and managed. Can you talk about how science and industry objectify nonhuman animals and the rest of the animate world? And what are the implications of this?

JM: Science and industry don’t have to objectify nonhuman animals or nature. Our sociocultural indoctrination has already done that for the vivisectors, factory farmers, and their ilk. As a species, we have created layer upon layer of myths, falsehoods, delusions, and dogmas to convince ourselves of our superiority and separateness. Blinded by hubris and deluded by profound narcissism, we’ve convinced ourselves that we are little demigods, endowed with the right to plunder, exploit, consume, pollute, torture, and kill with virtual impunity.

FJS: Define speciesism.

JM: Speciesism is the deeply flawed belief that the human species is superior to all other species. Like racism, the more powerfully embedded such a belief is in society, the more immense the suffering of those individuals deemed “inferior.” The widespread prevalence of speciesism in our dominant culture gives morally stunted people a ‘license to torture and kill’ nonhuman animals.

FJS: So why protect animals? I mean, I know why, but many attempt to excuse speciesist behavior with this benighted question.

JM: Right. Why not protect animals? Or another question: Why protect Homo sapiens, a species of animal that’s destroying the planet? Rhetoricals of course…..

We need to protect nonhuman animals for several reasons:

1. They are sentient—they have central nervous systems and feel pain, just as we do. We have no right to enslave, torture, or slaughter them.
2. Many species of nonhuman animals are far more intelligent, emotionally developed, and socially complex than most people realize. They deserve the opportunity to live free of human-inflicted subjugation, suffering, or death.
3. Our species has triggered the Sixth Great Extinction and it is our responsibility to mitigate it to the extent we’re able.
4. Contrary to our delusions, we are not separate and distinct from nature. Despite the numerous artificial barriers we’ve created, there’s no escaping the fact that we’re part and parcel of the web of existence, or life if you will, on this planet. Each individual, each herd, each flock, and particularly each entire species that we annihilate or eradicate further disrupts the ecological balance that we’ve already adversely impacted in significant ways.

FJS: You’re vegan, is this correct?

JM: I am a vegan.

FJS: Why veganism?

JM: My reasoning is relatively simple. I do not objectify nonhuman animals. I view them as individuals and sentient beings with rich emotional, social and intellectual lives, each bearing the basic rights to exist free from human exploitation, subjugation, torture, and murder. Eating rotting animal flesh, which is what “meat” actually is, is as abhorrent to me as cannibalism would be to most of the “meat” eating world.

FJS: I have a great recipe for a tofu potpie; would you like me to share it with you?

JM: Sure. Veganism is an integral part of my spiritual beliefs, so I generally eat to live and could subsist on nearly anything that gave me the nutrients I need. BUT, I’m certainly not one to turn down an offer of good vegan food.

FJS: Alright, here we go:
- First, make your piecrust; pre-bake the bottom layer of the crust for 10 minutes on 450˚ F.
- Then, cube the tofu and fry it in olive oil until it gets nice and crispy. Add some nutritional yeast, flaky not powdered (and some garlic/onion powder for some flavor).
- Cut up one onion and sauté it. Add chopped celery and carrots and peas respectively. Add some tamari (optional), garlic, etc.
- Next you want to make the gravy. This gravy kicks ass, btw. What you need to do is toast ½ cup of nutritional yeast and ½ cup of flour in a skillet on medium high until you can smell it – but don’t let it burn! Add some olive oil until absorbs all of the flour/yeast and continue to toast. Slowly add water – a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency (keep heating to thicken, add water, etc.). Add tamari and a dash or two of hot sauce (I prefer Frank’s Red Hot Sauce) and other spices.
- Now, put the cubed and crispy tofu over the bottom of the crust. Next, add the layer of sautéed veggies then the gravy, allowing the gravy to settle over everything. Then add the crust-lid, i.e. the top crust.
- Last, bake the pie for 30 minutes at 350˚ F or until the top crust begins to brown.

JM: Thanks.

FJS: My pleasure – let me know how it comes out.

Sorry to jump tracks there; at any rate, where do you believe our desire to protect and defend the wild comes from?

JM: I think that answer would be different for each person. My desire to protect and defend the wild (and nonhuman animals in general) stems from my hair-trigger sensitivity to injustice, the empathy and compassion I developed through the course of my personal struggles, and from the realization that our species is inextricably connected with the rest of nature. 

FJS: Personally, I support any movement working toward stopping the destruction of the planet, by any means necessary. Not only are you an advocate for direct-action needed to stop the injustices and cruelty perpetrated by those in power, but you propound and support militant direct-action. Can you explain why?

JM: Our species is waging a war on the Earth and nonhuman animals. We need to defend them by any means necessary. Whether an individual engages in militant direct action (MDA) or not, if a person is seriously dedicated to total liberation, they must at least support MDA and those who engage in it.

FJS: The U.S. has singled out the A.L.F. and E.L.F. as domestic terrorist groups. Why do you believe this is so? What is your response to this?

JM: The corporate state complex of the US has targeted underground militant direct action groups that fight for nonhuman animal and environmental justice as terrorists for two principal reasons. One is that their actions are effective. Secondly, groups like the A.L.F. represent an existential threat to the predominating cultural meme of dominionism and to the precious profits of the corporate state complex. So of course they label them as terrorists and attempt to neutralize them with state repression.

My response is that those exploiting the Earth and nonhuman animals are the true terrorists and groups like the A.L.F. and the E.L.F. are freedom fighters.

FJS: Can you talk about the comparative qualities and aspects between modern-day liberation movements and historic factions such as the abolitionists of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the freedom fighters, Nazi resistance groups, and other estimable groups who risked much to put an end to oppression and violent exploitation?

JM: Modern day liberation movements are fighting with the same sense of moral purpose and employing some of the same underground, militant tactics as Abolitionists and Nazi resistance groups. Sometimes force and violence are necessary to defend and free the innocent from powerful, malevolent people.

FJS: Why do you believe so many radicals, leftists, progressives et al. overlook the importance of Animal and Earth Liberation?

JM: Unfortunately, many radicals and leftists—people who would be nearly ideal allies for animal and Earth liberationists—are hardened humanists. Their anthropocentrism inflicts them with a human-centric myopia that prevents them from recognizing that defending nonhuman animals, the Earth and oppressed humans are struggles that we need to integrate. Many leftists take the position that we need to focus on human suffering and exploitation first and then focus our efforts on animal rights and environmental justice. Why pick and choose which sociopathic tendencies of our species we work to eradicate? We need to go after speciesism and dominionism as tenaciously as we do racism, classism, and patriarchy.

FJS: You’re a pretty radical thinker – which is great to be. Were you always so radically inclined? Or was there a specific catalyst for your change of perspective; was it a sudden epiphany? For me, the transition from being a “good little capitalist” to a radical writer and thinker, recognizing the atrocious imbalances intrinsic within the dominant culture’s power complex, was a painful experience. Was this the case for you?

JM: No, as in no I’ve not always been “radically inclined.” My indoctrination into our planet-murdering capitalist socioeconomic and cultural paradigm was pretty thorough. I spent my first 26 or so years on this planet as an allegiance pledging, money-driven, relatively narcissistic, speciesist, meat-eating, property-worshipping, anthropocentric, NFL obsessed “good citizen” of the American Empire. I didn’t flee to my position “far from the maddening crowd.” I walked at a very slow pace. My evolution to anarcho-veganism was gradual; there was no epiphany. It was painful though in that the catalyst was my self-inflicted descent into spiritual, emotional, social, and financial hell. Yet hitting rock bottom was the best thing that could’ve happened, as my intense soul-searching, tenacious struggle to pull myself back from the brink of self-annihilation, and loss of nearly everything and everyone in my life enabled me to shatter the shackles of the dominant culture. I reconstructed my worldview from scratch—and it bears little resemblance to that of my inculcation.

FJS: Are you ever castigated as an extremist?

JM: I’m often castigated as an extremist.

FJS: What’s your response to this?

JM: My response to this gross mischaracterization is that our planet and animal murdering system is extreme, as are its ardent proponents and its recalcitrant, unrepentant enablers and participants.

FJS: It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by today’s atrocities and I really like what Derrick Jensen has to say about this, which is: “We’re so fucked. But life is so good.” What makes you most happy? How do you remain grounded despite a surfeit of calamitous problems we face in these times?

JM: Following my conscience, fighting for my core beliefs, and being with nonhuman animals and with people who share my worldview are sources of great happiness for me. I stay grounded by knowing my purpose in life (which is defending nonhuman animals and the Earth as a polemicist, thinker, publisher, and activist) and fulfilling it.

FJS: Who have you been influenced by?

JM: My influences are far too numerous to name without writing a book. As an autodidact and one who is addicted to reading, many people have mentored me in the abstract—through the pages of their books, but I also have forged my eclectic and holistic worldview with the help of a number of excellent mentors, teachers, and allies. Dr. Steve Best, a leading theorist of the animal liberation movement whom I met several years ago, was my most recent mentor and remains a very close ally and confidante.

FJS: As a writer, I often wonder how significant of a role we (writers) all have in the struggle for emancipating the planet from the fetters of a dominating culture. Can you talk about the importance the role of the writer plays in influencing effective activism?

JM: I’m a bit biased on this topic because I’m a writer too. However, I also engage in on-the-ground activism, so that adds a bit of objectivity to my response. Emancipating the planet and its other sentient inhabitants is a revolutionary undertaking. Polemicists, propagandists, theorists, and philosophers, who are writers of course, have been essential participants in every major revolution and social movement in history. Thomas Paine catalyzed the American Revolution with his widely-read pamphlet, Common Sense. Without Marx, Lenin would’ve had no philosophy on which to base his praxis. William Lloyd Garrison was instrumental in both the Abolition and Women’s Suffrage Movements. There are myriad other examples.

FJS: What role do corporations play in the exploitation and destruction of the world and its inhabitants? What role does the state play in all of this?

JM: The corporate-state complex bears nearly all the responsibility for the exploitation and destruction of the world and its inhabitants. While it’s important for individuals to evolve towards anarchist, vegan, and anti-capitalist worldviews and ways of being, the system and its most unrepentant and malevolent overlords are our enemy. Most people have years of indoctrination to overcome in order to evolve, but many can change and join us. Nearly every individual is a potential ally. We need to work to educate and convert individuals while assailing the corporate-state complex, an entity which utilizes pernicious propaganda and hollow materialistic incentives to lure most people to act as accomplices in its profit-seeking, murderous agenda.

FJS: How does the notion of an industrial collapse impact your strategies regarding the defense of the wild?

JM: Actually, I hadn’t really considered industrial collapse as I’ve waged this prolonged and intense battle to protect the deer in Shawnee Mission Park (which is well-chronicled at Bite Club of KC http://biteclubkc.wordpress.com/). My line of thinking is that as long as industrial civilization is extant in its present form, I want to do what I can to defend as much of the wild and as many nonhuman animals as I can from its metastatic toxicity.

FJS: What do you believe the future holds for dissidents and direct-activists confronting the corporatist-statist union?

JM: I suspect the future for dissidents and direct-activists will become increasingly challenging as we confront the corporatist-state complex. As the existing socioeconomic paradigm (unsustainable, unjust and unstable as it is) continues to wobble and deteriorate, governments will become increasingly repressive, even in so-called liberal democracies like the US and the UK. Applying tools like the Patriot Act, the AETA, the FBI, grand juries, and massive deployments of well-armed law enforcement personnel (i.e. at the G-20 in Pittsburgh), the corporate-state complex has put serious constraints on dissent. The Green Scare has paralyzed many activists with fear. Nevertheless, we need to persist.

Frank Smecker is a student, social worker, and writer from Richmond, Vt. He can be reached at: frank.smecker@gmail.com.

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7 Things You Need to Know About Superfund Sites

Superfund Sites may involve “soil and/or groundwater contamination, and are often contaminated with heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and zinc; pesticides, including aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, and DDT ; and chlorinated solvents such as carbon tetrachloride, methylene chloride, and tetra and trichloroethylene. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), cyanide, benzene, toluene, vinyl chloride, and radionuclides, including strontium, plutonium, and uranium are also found at hazardous waste sites.”

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Let’s go crazy like Swayze

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What does December 7 mean to you?

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Book news:

My new book/pamphlet, Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, can be ordered online for only $4.95 here (you’ll also find info about me, reviews of the book, etc.).

The e-book version is only $3.00 and can be downloaded here.

If you prefer to order via Amazon, here’s the link. (Of course, 5-star reviews at Amazon are always welcome)

Finally, please ask your local bookstore and/or library to order Self Defense for Radicals, and please spread the word: via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and of course, face-to-face conversation.

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Poem: “On the court"

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Sunday, December 06, 2009

How to Celebrate a Low Impact Big Apple Holiday

Spreading holiday cheer to the Big Apple denizens on your list is the perfect place to start practicing your DIY eco-skills. After all, anyone can buy a video game but it takes real chutzpah to pull off a radical walking tour.

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GMO rice to go?

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Book news:

My new book/pamphlet, Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, can be ordered online for only $4.95 here (you’ll also find info about me, reviews of the book, etc.).

The e-book version is only $3.00 and can be downloaded here.

If you prefer to order via Amazon, here’s the link. (Of course, 5-star reviews at Amazon are always welcome)

Finally, please ask your local bookstore and/or library to order Self Defense for Radicals, and please spread the word: via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and of course, face-to-face conversation.

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Poem: “Election Day"

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Saturday, December 05, 2009

Remember John Lennon's "Revolution"

December 8, 2009 marks 29 years since the death of John Lennon. Many of us still “wanna change the world” but unfortunately, we’ve yet to “give peace a chance.”

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How well do you know your own backyard?

22 Bicycle Facts

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Book news:

My new book/pamphlet, Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, can be ordered online for only $4.95 here (you’ll also find info about me, reviews of the book, etc.).

The e-book version is only $3.00 and can be downloaded here.

If you prefer to order via Amazon, here’s the link. (Of course, 5-star reviews at Amazon are always welcome)

Finally, please ask your local bookstore and/or library to order Self Defense for Radicals, and please spread the word: via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and of course, face-to-face conversation.

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Poem: “Mellow and calm in Manhattan"

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Friday, December 04, 2009

8 Reasons to remain concerned about Mad Cow Disease

Could it be that the most lethal weapon in the twenty-first century human arsenal is the fork?

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Welcome to Plastic Planet

How to do crunches

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Book news:

My new book/pamphlet, Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, can be ordered online for only $4.95 here (you’ll also find info about me, reviews of the book, etc.).

The e-book version is only $3.00 and can be downloaded here.

If you prefer to order via Amazon, here’s the link. (Of course, 5-star reviews at Amazon are always welcome)

Finally, please ask your local bookstore and/or library to order Self Defense for Radicals, and please spread the word: via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and of course, face-to-face conversation.

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Poem: “Ratt’s Rumble"

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Thursday, December 03, 2009

Does your drinking water taste like shit?

Sewage, “including human excrement and dangerous industrial chemicals” is spilling into waterways across America.

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What exactly is the greenhouse effect?

This Xmas, say no to fir

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Book news:

My new book/pamphlet, Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, can be ordered online for only $4.95 here (you’ll also find info about me, reviews of the book, etc.).

The e-book version is only $3.00 and can be downloaded here.

If you prefer to order via Amazon, here’s the link. (Of course, 5-star reviews at Amazon are always welcome)

Finally, please ask your local bookstore and/or library to order Self Defense for Radicals, and please spread the word: via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and of course, face-to-face conversation.

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Poem: “Basketball at St. Francis"

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Wednesday, December 02, 2009

The Real Mother Earth: 10 inspirational women

The word ecofeminism has been called a new term for an ancient wisdom. The women you’re about to meet have shared and/or continue to share such wisdom.

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11 staycations that begin at Grand Central Station

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(Thanks, Zen Prole)

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Poem: “That’s entertainment"

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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Sorry, Charlie: 8 reasons to stop eating tuna

Let’s put aside ideology—for a moment—and instead state an unadorned bit of common sense: Bluefin tuna (and other large fish) would not be in danger if humans didn’t kill and eat them.

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Eat your pasta

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Poem: “the day we won the lottery"

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Monday, November 30, 2009

What are we afraid of?

Could we be afraid of learning that much of what we’ve been taught is no longer relevant? Are we afraid to open our hearts and minds and start caring like we’ve never cared before? Maybe, just maybe, we’re afraid of ourselves and what were capable of accomplishing.

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The first rule of Green Club is...

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Poem: “Mickey Z. and Sparrow take inventory"

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Saturday, November 28, 2009

Factory farming is the real evil, not vegans

Every time I write a vegan-related post, I get grief from dedicated green omnivores who run or support small farms and only choose organic, grass-fed beef, etc. I’d say it’s time for a sit-down.

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Excerpted from a recent article by Richard Oxman:

If Che hadn’t been captured and killed in Bolivia, and was still operating there today… he’d have the additional problem of now not being able to drink from any number of the country’s contaminated rivers without succumbing to poison. Or, because of deforestation, hide easily. [Pause.] If he were elsewhere, the lack of potable groundwater, carcinogenic air, or increasing toxicity in other forms might do him in prematurely. [Pause.] And this is without any reference whatsoever to the decline of Beauty — possible Beauty — in our lives, without which life is not worth living. The world isn’t ending. It has already ended in places. For both humans and other species.

Read the full article here

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Poem: “redemption"

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Friday, November 27, 2009

Weather forecast

Mark Twain famously said: “Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” If only. Profits, salaries, and the employment rate may be down but there’s never a shortage of human, um...over-reaching, shall we say?

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Bird Watching: Not Just for Dorks Anymore

How to Ride a Bike

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Poem: “Joy and madness"

Counterpunch just posted a poem of mine (click and scroll down)

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving, birthdays, music, comedy teams, and all that jazz

For starters, please join me in wishing Michele a Happy Birthday...

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Thanksgiving Prayer, by William S. Burroughs

(Thanks, Pirate Rick)

In fact, besides the above cartoon, Pirate Rick has a batch of my usual T-Day stuff on his site so I’ll defer to him and urge you to also check out his music blog.

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Greening the future, Bronx-style

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March of the Wooden Soldiers: A new perspective

A couple of Thanksgivings ago, I went to the gym in the morning and found myself watching March of the Wooden Soldiers as I pedaled on the LifeCycle. Viewing this 1934 film was a Thanksgiving tradition in my family...but it had been years since I’d seen it and this was the first time I trained a critical eye on the particulars. All I say is: Yikes.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Laurel and Hardy but March of the Wooden Soldiers essentially tells the tale of an idyllic white community being threatened by dark bogeymen from deep inside the bowels of the earth. Just when it seems the dark ones—who, by necessity, are led by an evil white man—are about to not only take over the white town but also kidnap the pure little blonde girl, L&H choose the military option and unleash legions of soldiers to save the day.

Another fine mess...

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Poem: “My old friend, Boch"

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving: A Time to Imagine

By Frank Joseph Smecker

Imagine if aliens from a galaxy light years from Earth decide to seek out a New World. Imagine they discover Earth, it’s the New World, they assume. And they pursue a relentless campaign of occupation, colonizing the planet. One by one, these aliens systematically remove, with much violent force, the people of the planet, starting with the First World dominant culture, because, of course, they’ll want what that culture has: access to the land and resources which that culture controls. Imagine these aliens succeed with such a crusade, centuries later marking the genocide with an annual feast celebrating a deluded history that claims they were embraced with much alacrity and congeniality, that, while they were killing off human beings to clear the way for their own culture, human beings weren’t fighting back but teaching them how to make mashed potatoes and gravy and pies and roast turkey and things. “C’mon, Frank…” you’re probably saying, “this is a bit too much, don’t you think?”

I know, I know, so this scenario is a bit kooky. Such a concept is a little too bonkers for the sociological imagination. Okay. Fine. Let’s try it another way.

Imagine if white settlers from a continent 3,325 miles from the eastern shorelines of an already inhabited continent decided to seek out a New World putatively, circa 1620 AD. Imagine they discover “America,” it’s the New World, they assume. And they pursue a relentless campaign of occupation, colonizing the continent. One by one, these settlers systematically remove, with much violent force, the people of the North American continent, starting with the indigenous nations of the east, because, of course, they’ll want what those cultures have: access to the land and “resources” which those cultures inhabit and employ sustainably. Imagine these settlers succeeded with such a crusade, centuries later marking the genocide with an annual feast celebrating a deluded history that claims they were embraced with much alacrity and congeniality, that, while they were killing off the native indigenous to clear the way for their own culture, natives weren’t fighting back but teaching them how to make mashed potatoes and gravy and pies and roast turkey and things.

There. Not so crazy now, is it?

“About three-quarters of all adult Indians suffer alcoholism and/or other forms of substance abuse. This is not a ‘genetic condition.’ It is a desperate, collective attempt to escape our horrible reality since ‘America’s Triumph.’ It’s no mystery why Indians don’t observe Thanksgiving. The real question is why do you feast rather than fast on what should be a national day of mourning and atonement. Before digging into your turkey and dressing on Nov. 23, you might wish to glance in a mirror and see if you can come up with an answer.” - Ward Churchill

“One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.” - Robert Jensen

“We suffer from a poverty level of 69 percent, which must be unimaginable to many people in this country, who would equate a situation such as this to one found only in Third World countries.” - Tribal Chairwoman Kathleen W. Kitcheya speaking about the San Carlos Apache Reservation

“Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword, some hewed to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so as they were quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived that they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink and scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands and give them so speedy a victory over so proud and insulting an enemy.” - William Bradford, a settler, describing Captain John Mason’s attack on a Pequot village

This Thanksgiving, rather than thoughtlessly stuffing yourself with food and then sauntering over to the couch for some postprandial football, think about how you can play your part in stopping the dominant culture from removing more indigenous cultures from their landbases to extract raw materials for industry that is destroying the planet’s ecological and climatic infrastructure. Imagine a world made right through action. Now act.

Frank Smecker is a student, social worker, and writer from Richmond, Vt. He can be reached at: frank.smecker@gmail.com.

More from Frank Joseph Smecker

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The dark green choices are not supposed to be easy

Choosing the easy steps can be okay as a way to get started but it’s by making the more difficult choices that we can change the world.

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Poem: “Michele and I met in a gym"

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Eco-nomics: Green, not greed

“Money can’t buy life.” Those were Bob Marley’s last words. Our job is to make sure these aren’t everyone’s last words.

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Mark Hand reviews Self Defense for Radicals

Pre-order e-book version of Self Defense for Radicals here

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Poem: “wireless haiku"

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

A Sharp Elbow to Power's Jutting Jaw

Review of Self-Defense for Radicals: A-Z Guide for Subversive Struggle by Mickey Z. (PM Press, 2009).

Mickey Z.’s Self-Defense for Radicals is more than a metaphor for resisting the oppression of governments and corporations. It’s literally a manual for helping you defend yourself when attacked by a mugger, political adversary, bully or anyone intending to commit physical violence against you.

Whether you should use the advice offered by Mickey depends on the situation, of course. If you’re walking down a city street and you’re confronted by a mugger armed with a gun, you may want to think twice about attempting to fend off the attacker by biting him or head-butting him — two self-defense techniques described by Mickey in the book.

However, let’s say you’re walking down the same city street and you’re grabbed from behind, but there’s no hint the attacker is armed. If you’re able to free your arms, why not follow Mickey’s advice and “deliver a sharp elbow to power’s jutting jaw.” Or try to use your elbows as a weapon by aiming them at your attacker’s eyes or groin. Just to be safe, Mickey suggests that if your first elbow lands cleanly, follow it up with several more strikes against your attacker.

Mickey is a martial artist, kickboxer and personal trainer. His decades of training in the martial arts — and his focus on combining a calm mind with a keen understanding of the body and the physics of action — have served as the foundation for his views on violence and how it should be avoided in most cases. However, as Mickey writes:

“Learning how to fight and/or defend yourself is not the same as promoting belligerent, anti-social behavior. We live in an exceedingly violent society. … While talk of non-violence is understandable and the struggle for peace has never been more essential, let’s face it: the odds are, that sooner or later you’re going to end up in a confrontation that may escalate into physical violence. So, why not be prepared?”

Mickey’s years of experience as a martial artist and personal trainer qualify him to write about self-defense. But he also says you shouldn’t worry about qualifications when wondering how to fight back. “You don’t need credentials to kick an oppressor’s ass,” he says.

Self-Defense for Radicals, published by PM Press, contains fewer than 40 pages. But as Derrick Jensen says in a blurb on the back cover: “This small book packs a powerful punch.” And Richard Cole’s cartoons, scattered throughout the book, provide a potent complement to Mickey’s self-defense instructions.

Following in the tradition of his other “list” books — The Seven Deadly Spins and 50 American Revolutions You’re Not Supposed to Know — Mickey’s Self-Defense for Radicals serves as an easy-to-use alphabetical manual for protecting yourself. The book’s target audience is women. In the “S” chapter, Mickey offers some statistics on the level of violence against women in the United States, much of which is committed not by a stranger, but by a husband or a boyfriend. For example, 232,960 women in the United States were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006. That’s more than 600 women every day. Also, 14% of all American women acknowledge having been violently abused by a husband or boyfriend.

Mickey also quotes Martha McCaughey, author of Real Knockouts, who explains that women who take self-defense instruction are offered a critique of the ways in which gender is constructed in a culture of male privilege that rests on the abuse of women. McCaughey continues:

“What is usually taken for granted as a fact of nature — that a woman simply cannot physically challenge a man — is revealed as a social script which privileges men at the expense of women. … Self-defense offers the possibility of a critical consciousness of gender’s influence on what we see as male and female bodies.”

While the book is tailored as a self-defense guide for women, most of the tips and lessons also can help men fend off an attacker. Eye gouges and groin punches can be just as effective when used by a man.

You may wonder why the book is titled Self-Defense for RADICALS. It’s because Mickey’s goal is to instill confidence in the minds of those people — feminists, environmentalists, activists for animal rights, human rights, civil rights and all rebels and dissidents — who are “putting their asses on the line” for fundamental change in our society. In defining “radical,” Mickey gets an assist from Angela Davis, who he quotes early in the book: “Radical simply means grasping things at the root.”

Along with his instructional guidance, Mickey’s message is motivational. In a world where oppressors have been operating scot-free for so long, Mickey offers an uncomplicated rallying cry: “It’s time to not be nice.”

- Review by Mark Hand

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"Self Defense for Radicals" to be released next month

“This small book packs a powerful punch. It will help you prepare emotionally and physically to fight back. Read it, read it again, and then practice. As Mickey Z. says, ‘The life you save may be your own.’”
- Derrick Jensen

Read the first review here

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Roadmap for Coast-to-Coast Activism

Water: learn about it and conserve it

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Poem: “situational haiku"

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Jazz saxophone legend, Sonny Rollins, issues a global warning

Sonny Rollins sez: “This is a finite planet. How much oil can we take out of the earth? How much fish can we take out of the sea before we reach the end? I think that the abuses have been so horrendous that people are finally beginning to realize that we can’t keep it up. People have to wake up in time to change this profligate lifestyle which we enjoy ... I think we are in the midst of this period where we are committing this suicide on the planet and everybody is just using up all of our natural resources like a bunch of insane people. That’s what I worry about more than I worry about jazz. What I am more concerned about is whether our whole civilization will be around in the next 25 years.”

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What the Hell is Eco-Art?

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Poem: “Welcome back my friends"

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Why wait till 2012?

It’s the end of the world as we know it...and I’m not just talking about 2012. Forests clear cut, oceans depleted, widespread extinctions, toxins everywhere, and peak, well...peak everything. I’ve said it before, but I can’t say it enough: what an amazing time to be an activist.

8 Quasi-Serious Ways to Ward Off the Apocalypse Now

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How to fix a flat tire on your bicycle

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Poem: “the paradox of love"

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Enjoy an island staycation (Staten Island, that is)

Beaches, diverse eco-systems, art, ponds formed by glaciers, Baby Bombers, a working commune, and yeah...there’s the whole matter of a garbage dump big enough to be seen from space. That’s Staten Island in a nutshell.

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Be all you can be?

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Poem: “Providing Appropriate Tools"

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Which countries have the most endangered species?

Hunting, habitat loss, livestock grazing, climate change, overpopulation—these are just some of the reasons why our planet is losing species at an alarming rate. And there’s one thing all these reasons have in common: Us.

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How to be a cycling activist

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Poem: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen"

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Eco-Workers of the World, Unite...in The Bronx?

Groucho sez: “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

8 Ways to Be a Green Groucho Marxist

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Bonus post:

A beach, old growth trees, unmatchable sports history, high and low culture, a waterfall, and wide open green spaces—welcome to the only New York City borough with its own definite article: The Bronx (or perhaps you prefer the hip hop version: The Boogie Down). It’s also the only borough that the World Champion New York Yankees call home.

Take a Boogie Down Bronx Staycation

(please vote for this one, too)

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Poem: “right place, wrong time"

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Taking inventory as High Noon approaches

Talking about going vegan or selling your car and buying a bike or dismantling industrial civilization doesn’t reflect our priorities. What we do reflects our priorities and our eco-legacy will be based on actions, not intent.

Read the full post here

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Bonus post:

Our eco-system is finite and there is a point of no return. With this in mind, we could all kick things up a notch or three in terms of urgency and methods.

High Noon for Planet Earth

(please vote for this one, too)

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Poem: “blotter"

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Yes to militant vegans. No to mainstream lefties.

At some point, we each have to decide: Do we respect all life or not? If we choose life instead of death, then we must view the culture holistically. To divide issues of animal suffering, eco-destruction, and human rights, is to fall into the trap of the dinosaur Left.

Read the full article here

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Attn: Poets

Calling all feminists, wizards, Queer theorists, ex-Black Panthers, Christians, Green activists, avant-gardists, Kabbalists, vegans, Hawaiian nationalists, kickboxers, Punks, Hip Hop evangelists, New New Leftists, pink-haired emo warriors, Communist grandmothers, organic gardeners—submit your work for “The Big Book of Revolutionary Poetry” (or something like that) edited by Sparrow and Mickey Z. 

Send up to 3 (short-ish) poems by November 30 to: sparrow44@juno.com and/or info@mickeyz.net

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Signal your bike turns

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Poem: “Pepino"

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

More Militant Vegans, Less Ethical Butchers

By Mickey Z.

A friend of mine recently brought to my attention a former vegan who has now re-invented himself as the “Ethical Butcher” (a title right up there with Peacekeeper missiles, limited autonomy, and military intelligence). The butcher writes: “After 14 years as a vegetarian, a few of those as a quite ‘militant’ vegan, I became a butcher. The factors that went into me taking the position are many, but the result was maybe quite predictable. Within a month I was a full-fledged meat eater. What has not changed is my passion for the welfare of animals. Through my work as a butcher and chef, I now see a more direct way to influence and work for change in the meat industry and to improve the quality of life for all of the animals we rely on for food.”

Such backlash in the face of compassionate evolution is not uncommon. For example, just as more and more women begin to challenge gender roles, the patriarchal culture countered with Howard Stern, Maxim, and Spike TV. But I digress ...

Becoming a butcher in the name of animal welfare is like joining the Marines to promote peace. What’s next, the Ethical Executioner with his “passion” for the “welfare” of prisoners? Surely, he’d just be choosing a “more direct way to influence and work for change,” following the lead of his butcher comrade.

In a society less and less capable of critical, independent thought, this pro-meat character will probably be widely praised as the antidote to “militant” vegans. You know, the food Nazis. By current standards, you could pack a calf into a veal crate or pump food down a goose’s gullet or grind up live male chicks to fertilize your fields and run no risk of being called militant. For that matter, you can clear cut forests, blow off mountain tops in search of coal, and drop white phosphorous on villages filled with brown children and garner virtually no attention at all…let alone be labeled a militant.

Choose a lifestyle of compassion and logic, speak out against vivisection, or protest the use of fur? You, my friends, are a worthy of a Hitler mustache.

With the global economy collapsing like a house of cards, 80% of the world’s forests cut down, 90% of the large fish in the ocean gone, more military conflicts than anyone can count, and our eco-systems rapidly approaching the point of no return, there’s never been a more urgent time to be a truly militant vegan.

At some point, we each have to decide: Do we respect all life or not? If we choose life instead of death, then we must view the culture holistically. To divide issues of animal suffering, eco-destruction, and human rights, is to fall into the trap of the dinosaur Left. For example, ZNet founder Michael Albert, who writes: “I see no comparison in importance between seeking to eliminate the roots and branches of sexism, and seeking to eliminate the roots and branches of violence against animals. I see no comparison in importance between how chickens are treated and how women or any humans are treated. In fact, for me the animal rights agenda resonates barely at all, and the anti-sexism agenda is part of my life.”

Let’s be clear: Attempting to separate sexism from violence against animals (and all nature) is like trying to separate the human circulatory system from the respiratory system. If such obvious connections are not being made by the entrenched Left, I have to wonder: Why is anyone wasting even 5 minutes of their time on such myopia?

Since Michael Albert can’t seem to stop quoting Dylan, this song excerpt is for him, the Ethical Butcher, and all those who seek to fragment and obscure the big picture:

Don’t criticize what you can’t understand … your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

Mickey Z. is the author of two upcoming books: Self Defense for Radicals (PM Press) and his second novel, Dear Vito (The Drill Press). Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, he can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.

More from Mickey Z.

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What's happening while you read this blog post (Part V)

(As RMJ reminded us yesterday: every life is precious)

(Part I here) (Part II here) (Part III here) (Part IV here)

As you read this, I’d like you to contemplate just a tiny sampling of what’s happening elsewhere.

As you process these words, a young girl is being sold into slavery in Thailand. Who’s doing the selling? Her own family. “Over generations of hunger and desperation, selling a child during hard times became an acceptable, though not preferable, practice,” writes Kevin Bales in Disposable People. “As Thailand, particularly in the south, has become more industrialized, the division between rich and poor has become greater. It has also brought an increased array of things to buy. Whereas the poor used to seek after food and shelter, they now covet TVs and cars. Because the culture has grown to accept selling daughters for need, it was a small step for selling daughters for want to be accepted. A survey stated that of the parents in northern provinces who did sell their daughters, two-thirds could have afforded not to, but did in order to buy color televisions and video equipment.” The child being sold right this very minute will be raped and beaten into a life of prostitution for Japanese tourists until she contracts any number of diseases and gets kicked out of the brothel to die on the streets.

Being able to sleep well should be impossible while such depravity continues…

Such posts often provoke questions as to why I focus on the “bad stuff” about America, the “bad stuff” about capitalism, the “bad stuff” about industrial civilization. I’ll let Dick Gregory reply for me.

As James Baldwin sez: “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”

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Rocky goes green

“It ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

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Poem: “change we can bereave in"

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

This Thanksgiving, tell Aunt Betty about industrial civilization

Holiday get-togethers present an excellent opportunity to spark a much-needed discussion.

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V is for Vegan

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Poem: “only the lonely"

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Monday, November 09, 2009

All the RAGE: Bunnista Picks New Acronym for Human Fifth Column

Bunnista has chosen a new name, with an explosive acronym, for his fifth column of humans tasked with subverting the dominant society in order to save the Earth. Our fearless one-eyed leader decided to adopt the succinct Resistance Against Global Ecocide (RAGE), instead of the descriptive Dedicated Individuals Smashing Machines And Nations To Liberate Earth (DISMANTLE), a name endorsed by Press Action.

DISMANTLE has a lot of letters, Bunnista told Press Action, questioning whether one could spray paint the entire name on the side of a building fast enough to not get caught and also for it to be legible. RAGE, on the other hand, has fewer letters, thereby giving Bunnista more room to pontificate in the Minimum Security comic strip, including on Nov. 30, the day Bunnista has chosen to publicly unveil the new name of the group.

“In a crowded, late-stage economy, there’s brand overload,” Bunnista said last month. “You need people to remember it long enough to spay paint it on the side of a bank.”

So, there you have it: RAGE is in, DISMANTLE is out. Heed the call and spread the word. Join Bunnista’s Resistance Against Global Ecocide.

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Sunday, November 08, 2009

How green is your Zen?

Calm down. Your Zen methods may already be plenty green so don’t stress...yet. At least wait till I provide some background.

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Oft-Maligned Big Apple Inhabitants

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(More cartoons here)

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Poem: “machine guns in the kitchen"

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Saturday, November 07, 2009

DISMANTLE: Bunnista's Save-the-World Resistance Group Name?

It will only happen if you let your voice be heard. Vote for DISMANTLE—Dedicated Individuals Smashing Machines And Nations To Liberate Earth—today! Help Bunnista save the Earth by letting him know DISMANTLE will encourage millions to join his cause.

Please write to Bunnista at saveouracronym@minimumsecurity.net and let him know you strongly support DISMANTLE and will join his cause once he unleashes DISMANTLE on the world.

Here’s the list of finalists:

http://minimumsecurity.net/blog/

And here’s info about Bunnista’s contest:

http://minimumsecurity.net/blog/2009/10/20/assistance-needed/

Please vote today!

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Free advice

I thought it might be a good time to re-run these three passages from One Minute Wisdom by Anthony de Mello:

The monks of a neighboring monastery asked the Master’s help in a quarrel that had arisen among them. They had heard the Master say he had a technique that was guaranteed to bring love and harmony to any group.

Having said that, he was gone...

To a disciple who begged for wisdom the Master said, “Try this out: Close your eyes and see yourself and every living being thrown off the top of a precipice. Each time you cling to something to stop yourself from falling, understand that it is falling too.”

The disciple tried it out and never was the same again.

"How shall I get liberation?

That was the moment of Enlightenment for the disciple, who suddenly became free.

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Happy raw food holidays

Look for Expendable Charles (a.k.a. Chuck) in this post

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Bird’s eye view of the Yankee parade:

(Thanks, Mark)

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Poem: “Delays @ LGA"

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Friday, November 06, 2009

Take a Brooklyn staycation

Further proof that Big Apple fun during the holiday madness doesn’t require a car, lots of cash, or a deep carbon footprint.

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This Thanksgiving, don’t eat turkey

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Poem: “Another character in my old neighborhood"

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Thursday, November 05, 2009

10 reasons to hug the nearest tree

Sure, trees are fun to climb, to swing on, to picnic under, or to hug...but we’ve reached a critical point on Planet Earth and without proper appreciation and love for our barked co-inhabitants, well...we’re screwed.

Read the 10 reasons here

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Go Yanks:

Here’s a pic of my Mom and I—watching the Yanks in Texas, August 2007—the last season she got to see:

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Poem: “BIG haiku"

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

A slaughterhouse shut down for animal abuse? What about the other 5,700?

(With thanks to RMJ for telling me about this story)

Let’s not focus only on extreme cases but rather on entire systems designed for slaughter.

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Reduce your chances of getting doored

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Poem: “skillz"

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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

An environmentalist walks into a bar... (10 eco-jokes)

It should be obvious that it’s okay to sometimes joke about what’s serious...and that includes the environment.

“Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.” (George Carlin)

Read all the jokes here

(please vote for it)

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Poem: “Madlock"

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Monday, November 02, 2009

Not Local? Not Organic? Not Humane

As many of us prepare for a season of gastronomical over-indulgence, here’s some food for thought: In the late 1960s, thanks to Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW), deciding whether or not to buy grapes was a political act.

But today’s migrant workers still face inhumane treatment.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

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Poem: “Resume"

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Sunday, November 01, 2009

What's happening while you read this blog post (Part IV)

(Part I here)
(Part II here)
(Part III here)

As you read this, I’d like you to contemplate just a tiny sampling of what’s happening elsewhere.

All across the globe, humans are flicking a switch to light a room—without a clue about mountaintop removal mining and valley fills. The Sierra Club explains: “In places like Appalachia, mining companies blow the tops off mountains to reach a thin seam of coal and then, to minimize waste disposal costs, dump millions of tons of waste rock into the valleys below, causing permanent damage to the ecosystem and landscape.” As you read this, valley fills are polluting the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions.

No one is healthy as long as mountaintop mining and valley fills are a reality…

Such posts often provoke questions as to why I focus on the “bad stuff” about America, the “bad stuff” about capitalism, the “bad stuff” about industrial civilization. I’ll let Dick Gregory reply for me.

As James Baldwin sez: “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”

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(please vote for both of these)

Top 10 vegan cookbooks

The greenest poem. Ever.

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(More cartoons here)

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Parental poetry

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Friday, October 30, 2009

The Carrot Juice Conspiracy

By simply ordering a cup of locally grown organic carrot juice, you can strip away the alienation of modern industrialism and recognize that you are directly linked to millions upon millions of people across the globe and they are linked in some way to you.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

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(More cartoons here)

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Cubicle poetry

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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Hit or Myth?

Contrary to our post-modern pomposity, there’s no shortage of myths making the rounds today, e.g. the media is liberal, Iraq has WMDs, and there are an abundance of wealthy Nigerians who need your help transferring money between accounts.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

(please vote for this one, too)

Cycling with your laptop

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Us vs. Them poem

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Music to compost by: Top 20 Eco-Songs

The noted environmentalist and headbanger Friedrich Nietzsche once declared: “Without music, life would be a mistake.” (He also said, “What does not kill me, makes me stronger,” so we can likely assume he’d seen a few episodes of “American Idol.") Which brings us to the intersection of music and mistakes: eco-songs. 

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

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Poem to induce a deep sigh

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A simple "thank you" will do

While you were updating your Facebook pages, I was busy keeping the homeland safe from invading evildoers...

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(please vote for it)

Backyard wildlife

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Subway poem

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

What's happening while you read this blog post (Part III)

(Part I here)
(Part II here)

As you read this, I’d like you to contemplate just a tiny sampling of what’s happening elsewhere:

A mink is being prepared to be skinned for its fur. Almost three million of them (also foxes, chinchillas, and raccoons) are raised on so-called fur farms where they are imprisoned in cages often as small as 2.5 square feet for four animals. Since no federal law protects the animals on these farms, the conditions are predictably horrifying. The animals display the behavior of any creature under incredible duress: pacing, climbing, self-mutilating, cannibalism. After a life of misery, death does not come swiftly. The preferred method of execution is anal or genital electrocution. Described as experiencing “the intense pain of a heart attack while fully conscious,” the animals literally are burned from the inside out…to prevent damage to the coat, of course. Alternate fur farm approaches include suffocation or neck-breaking—however, this often results in the animals only being stunned and therefore skinned alive.

While anyone can comfortably wear fur in public, our culture remains criminal…

Such posts often provoke questions as to why I focus on the “bad stuff” about America, the “bad stuff” about capitalism, the “bad stuff” about industrial civilization. I’ll let Dick Gregory reply for me.

As James Baldwin sez: “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”

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(please vote for it)

Enigmatic fruits

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(More cartoons here)

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Workplace poetry

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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Do zoos and captive breeding help endangered species or address habitat loss?

You don’t need me to tell you that we’re in the midst of an almost unprecedented mass extinction. Each day, over 100 plant and animal species become extinct. The causes behind this eco-crisis are well-documented: habitat destruction, hunting, the animal-based diet, climate change, etc. One of the more common and widely accepted mainstream solutions to animal extinction is captive breeding performed in zoos or “wildlife centers.”

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

(please vote for this one, too)

Protect your bike

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Oceanic poem

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Leather or not?

The fur industry is often in the crosshairs (justifiably, to say the least) while the $1.5-billion-and-100-million-animal-skins-per-year U.S. leather industry enjoys a long cool reputation. Fonzie wore leather. Brando wore leather. The Ramones wore leather. What could possibly be wrong with leather? I’m very glad you asked and invite you to read on for a leather report.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

Bonus link:

Radical holiday gift idea

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(More cartoons here)

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Neighborly poem

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Halloween 2009: 10 Real Life Things Way More Frightening Than Frankenstein or Freddie

Eco-crisis is a whole lot more terrifying than the whir of a chainsaw echoing down a desolate Texas highway.

Read the full post here...if you dare

(and please vote for it)

Bonus links:

Cheeseburgers and deforestation

Love pomes (apples and pears)

(please vote for both of these, too)

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Poem to confuse

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Ultimate Central Park Staycation

Imagine taking a vacation day that includes nature, art, history, sports, culture, wildlife, and the ultimate big city vibe. Now imagine that it all happens within the confines of 843 walkable/bike-friendly acres. If this sounds ideal to you, it may be time to visit Central Park. An ancient obelisk, creeping crawdads, a violin-toting hippopotamus, retro roller disco, and green everywhere: what’s not to love?

Read the full post here
(Take some time to click on the hyperlinks, okay?)

(and please vote for it)

(please vote for this one, too)

Are you retro-progressive?

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Poem to annoy

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Noam Chomsky on industrial civilization

“Modern industrial civilization has developed within a certain system of convenient myths. The driving force of modern industrial civilization has been individual material gain. Now it’s long been understood—very well—that a society that is based on this principle will destroy itself in time. It can only persist—with whatever suffering and injustice it entails—as long as it’s possible to pretend that the destructive forces that humans create are limited, that the world is an infinite resource, and that the world is an infinite garbage can. At this stage of history, either the general population will take control of its own destiny and will concern itself with community issues guided by values of solidarity and sympathy and concern for others or—alternatively—there will be no destiny for anyone to control.”

Read the full post here

(and please vote for it)

(please vote for this one, too)

Green ideas: some good, some not so good

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Eco-idiocy poem

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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Local musicians need your help at Central Park's Strawberry Fields

I told you about Strawberry Fields...but here’s a chance for you to help some local musicians—The Meetles—keep John Lennon’s music alive in this urban oasis. As John sez: “Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.”

Read the full post here

(and please vote for it)

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Charles Bukowski sez: “The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship, you don’t have to waste your time voting.”

(insert rimshot here)

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Geeky poem

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Saturday, October 17, 2009

What's happening while you read this blog post (Part II)

(Part I here)

As you read this, I’d like you to contemplate just a tiny sampling of what’s happening elsewhere:

A fishing boat is engaged in the practice of bottom trawling, dragging nets along the sea floor. Greenpeace explains that bottom trawlers “will destroy deep sea species, before we have even discovered much of what is out there. Think of it as driving a huge bulldozer through an unexplored, lush and richly populated forest and being left with a flat, featureless desert.” The ocean—where 80% of all the life on Earth can be found—seems destined to become nothing more than a watery landfill.

Don’t even begin to talk about progress until bottom trawling stops…

Such posts often provoke questions as to why I focus on the “bad stuff” about America, the “bad stuff” about capitalism, the “bad stuff” about industrial civilization. I’ll let Dick Gregory reply for me.

As James Baldwin sez: “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”

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Bonus links:

(please vote for both of these)

Eat your root vegetables

Perfect your pedaling

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new Jerzy poem

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

What's happening while you read this blog post (Part I of a series)

As you read this, I’d like you to contemplate just a tiny sampling of what’s happening elsewhere:

A man named Bill is lying in a hospital—close to death—surrounded by family members who haven’t seen him in years. Why? They rejected Bill long ago when he came out as gay. Seated outside alone in the hospital waiting room is a man named George, crying uncontrollably. George has been Bill’s lover for the past six years. However, since he’s not legally recognized as a family member, George is not allowed inside Bill’s room. As a result, the last people Bill will ever see are the members of his family who loathed him and disowned him.

We can’t contemplate justice until situations like this are non-existent…

Such posts often provoke questions as to why I focus on the “bad stuff” about America, the “bad stuff” about capitalism, the “bad stuff” about industrial civilization. I’ll let Dick Gregory reply for me.

As James Baldwin sez: “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”

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Bonus link:

Top 10 vegan books

(please vote for it)

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High Tech Poetry

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Is Climate Change Creating Mutant Rodents?

According to a relatively recent study by Oliver Pergams, a researcher at the University of Chicago: “Changes in the head shape and overall size of rodents has been linked to human population density and climate change.” Pergams found the size and head shape of rodents has shifted substantially during the last 100 years. “Species can adapt quickly to rapid environmental changes - quicker than many people have thought, especially for mammals,” Pergams explained. “Those mammals that can adapt quickly have a much higher chance to survive big environmental changes caused by humans.”

Rodent size is nothing new to Big Apple residents but dig this: A rat can fit through an opening that is just one half inch wide, can breath under water for two minutes, can swim for three days before it drowns, and can chew through concrete. In fact, when rats were pitted against college students to learn their way through a maze, the rats learned three times faster than the students.

If you’re still not feeling it for your average Norway rat maybe I should tell you that it’s the only animal other than man which has been scientifically proven to both laugh and dream.

Thanks to human-induced climate change, these captive rats may be dreaming of having a normal-sized head.

Ain’t progress swell?

(To borrow from Agent Smith in The Matrix: “Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment. But you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area.")

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Bonus links:

Edible nuts

Eat your legumes

(please vote for both of these posts)

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A poetic scolding

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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Pollution = corporate crime

Sure, we all know someone who doesn’t recycle or uses his car for errands of less than three blocks or refuses to switch to CFL bulbs. And yes, we must help them recognize what desperately needs to be done. But despite all the greenwashing and social conditioning, multi-national corporations deserve the bulk of eco-blame.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

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Bonus link:

Go Green, Bruce Lee-style?

(please vote for this one, too)

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Gay marriage poem

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

A Tree Falls in Queens

Imagine a Great White Oak tree 70 feet tall, 18 feet around, and more than 100 feet end to end. Imagine it was born more than 600 years ago (well before Columbus invaded the “New World"). Imagine this amazing tree living all that time in (drum roll, please) Douglaston, Queens where it was granted landmark status in 1997. Now...imagine it being cut down, piece by piece.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

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Bonus link:

Enjoy soy

(please vote for this one, too)

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Poetic disclaimer

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Obama and Hussein: A tale of two rewards

(Any truth to the rumor that Kanye West is saying Beyonce deserves this award more than Obama?)

Question: What do you win when you give the orders to a military that invades other countries, participates in war crimes, and kills scores of innocent civilians?

Answers:

If you’re the leader of Iraq and your last name is Hussein, you get this:

If you’re the leader of the free world and your middle name is Hussein, well...here’s your prize:

(insert rimshot here)

(Thanks for the Nobel link, JOS)

(More cartoons here)

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Imagine:

I found this video already up from Lennon’s birthday yesterday (Oct. 9) at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. It shouldn’t be too hard to see me in there, singing along.

Also: Singing “In My Life" brought tears to my eyes as I thought of hanging with James, Keir, Charles, and JOS at Strawberry Fields two months ago.

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Bonus link:

The magic of mushrooms

(please vote for it)

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Religious poetry

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Friday, October 09, 2009

Vegan Twinkies?

Woody Harrelson is a vegan but the character he plays in his latest film, Zombieland, loves Twinkies . Problem? No problem. “My character is searching for the ultimate comfort food, which to him is not another human being but a Twinkie,” says Harrelson. “I’m not a Twinkie lover. I don’t do sugar or dairy either. When we finally shot my Twinkie-eating scene in the movie, they had to give me a specially made mock Twinkie made of corn meal. It could spur a healthy Twinkie revolution.”

Read the full post here

(please vote for it)

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Bonus links:

Eat your seeds

Cycling indoors

(please vote for both of these, too)

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Earring poem

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Thursday, October 08, 2009

We Don't Need Them (who remembers "Joe from Oregon"?)

Depending on how long you’ve been been visiting this blog, you may or may not remember a popular regular who used the moniker, “Joe from Oregon” who just so happens to be the one who dubbed us “The Expendables.” Joe opted out of the comments board a while back but when he was here, I was always encouraging him to put his thoughts into an article or essay. He finally did so on November 2, 2005. I just found and re-read that essay and thought I’d share the link now:

Read Expendable Joe’s essay here

Joe, if you’re out there, say hello...

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Imagine:

Friday, October 9 is John Lennon’s 69th birthday and that means there’s a big party at Central Park’s Strawberry Fields.

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In other news: Ernesto “Che” Guevara was executed 42 years ago on Oct. 9, 1967, in Bolivia.

Che sez: “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.”

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The new “Our Father”?

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Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Compassion has its limits, right?

I recently came across this powerful daily reminder from Thich Nhat Hanh:

Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion.

I felt genuinely inspired when I first read this but I also had an almost uncontrollable urge to add an asterisk alongside the words “all beings” and create a long list below. You know what I mean?

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Bonus links:

Don’t be a vegan hater

Which city emits the most greenhouse gases?

(please vote for both)

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The Citarum River in Indonesia via TreeHugger

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Psychology poem

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Sunday, October 04, 2009

A "Ghost Bike" for James

I was not able to attend the ride and “ghost bike” dedication for James on Friday night...but the following day, Michele and I went to Queens Boulevard and 69th St. to pay our respects at his ghost bike.

By coincidence, we met a man who was there at the time of the accident. He is a laborer who lines up each day on the opposite corner, looking for work.

I asked him about the evening James was killed and he said, simply: “It was too much to see. Too much.”

An article about bicycle safety, dedicated to James

P.S. Keep your bike clean

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Bonus links:

Eat your winter squash

Eat your grains

(please vote for both of these)

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NASCAR poem

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Friday, October 02, 2009

Say No To Dairy

Human beings are not designed to drink any milk except human milk (only during infancy, of course). Consuming dairy products—milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, etc.—is not green and it’s not healthy. It’s also a nightmare for the cows themselves.

Read the full post here

(please vote for it, too)

P.S. Alternet reposted the above dairy article and one look at the comments will yet again illustrate the mindset of most “liberals.”

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Next Stop: World Series?

Outside Yankee Stadium after the last home game of the season (9/30)

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Obama poem

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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

How to stop worrying and love the collapse

Emma Goldman once spoke of not wanting to take part in a revolution that didn’t include dancing. Unfortunately, most dissidents rarely have a chance to stop and take stock and do an impromptu jig. So, if you’re one of the lucky activists—of any stripe—and you’re able to slow down, regroup, and then jump back into the fray for yourself and others: do it. Rather than allow the state of the planet to deter or even paralyze you, learn ways to navigate the madness and provoke change.

Read the full post here

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Bonus link:

Keep exercise in perspective

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Hospice poem

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities...

...in the expert’s, there are few

We are so inundated with corporate propaganda on a minute-to-minute basis that we rarely even stop to consider what a word like “natural” means. After all, arsenic is natural, isn’t it? So are uranium and E. coli, for that matter.

Read the full post here

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Bonus links:

9 powerful quotes to inspire green action

Try tea tree oil

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Poetic true story

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Fuck the New York Times

When telling his loyal readers about a group called “Students for Justice in Palestine” and what they were calling for, propagandist Urbina was extra-cautious to use quotation marks: “the Israeli occupation.” A practicing journalist might have at least used a search engine to include some context from United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (1967), which refers to the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and calls for the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.”

Read the full article here

P.S. Most of the folks at Daily Kos either seemed unable to get past my use of the word fuck or unable to understand the article. Oh well…

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Bonus links:

All the leaves are brown...

How green is your green tea?

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Meaning of life poem

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Friday, September 25, 2009

There's No Time Like Right Now

When else in all of human history has there been a time when we were in better position to shape the future? Eco-systems are screaming for mercy and our landbase is practically an endangered species. What we do (or don’t do) in the next few years could quite possibly tilt us all toward either the point of no return or a far more sane form of society. In other words, each and every one of us can take part in creating the most important social changes ever imagined.

Read the full post here

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Bonus link:

Stay visible when cycling

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Paperback haiku

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Thursday, September 24, 2009

"Screams from a Dying World"

What would get if you crossed Derrick Jensen with Philip K. Dick and Stephen King? As far as I can tell, the answer just might be: David Agranoff. I just finished reading his latest fiction collection, Screams from a Dying World (Afterbirth Books). It’s a scathing critique/salient analysis of pre-collapse America...all dressed up in a sometimes gory and graphic horror/sci-fi cloak. Cell phone towers are downed, trees are clear cut, genes are spliced—and that’s just the beginning. Agranoff brings his vegan, non-sexist, pro-justice, anti-civ sensibilities to every story but best all, he’s an excellent writer and storyteller first and foremost. The closing story, “The Network,” is a tour de force not to be missed.

Highly, highly recommended...

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Pop Quiz

What is the world’s #1 killer?

a) Heart disease
b) War
c) Cancer
d) Poverty
e) Infectious diseases
f) Industrial civilization

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Bonus links:

10 green “movements"

Upcycle, downcycle, freecycle, and more

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Poem, re: art

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Another look at "normal"

More than 20 years ago, the Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons into the Prince William Sound, Alaska. The oil eventually covered 11,000 square miles of ocean. In the aftermath, the National Transportation Safety Board made a number of recommendations, such as changes to the work patterns of Exxon crew in order to address the causes of the accident. In other words, things in the oil business basically got back to normal (e.g. offshore drilling, air pollution, sprawl, climate change, wars fought in oil-rich nations, and all that).

We seem to have an insatiable craving for normal.

Read the full post here

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Congratulate me: I won a haiku contest

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Bonus links:

Eat your leafy greens

Eat your seaweed, too

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A squirrel gets comfortable on our fire escape

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Classic poem

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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Revenge of the dammed

FEMA may tell us, “Dams provide a range of economic, environmental, and social benefits, including recreation, flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power, waste management, river navigation, and wildlife habitat.” But Jacques Leslie, author of Deep Water: The Epic Struggle over Dams, Displaced People, and the Environment, explains: “The world’s dams have shifted so much weight that geophysicists believe they have slightly altered the speed of the earth’s rotation, the tilt of its axis, and the shape of its gravitational field.”

Read the full post here

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Why vegans don’t eat honey:

...and why it might save the honey bees

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Bonus link:

Throw away your remotes

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Getting chased by a T.Rex at the American Museum of Natural History

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