Vote!

I've been in countries where voting is a major challenge. One time, I voted in another country where there was a party mob switching voters' ballots and the volunteers were physically intimidated. After the polls closed, I volunteered to escort the ballot box to be counted, we were stopped at a check point and the box was stolen. In some places, people walk for miles to vote or have to dodge gunfire. In more than a few other countries people do not even have the option of voting.

Knowing that, how could I not just walk across the street and shade in a few circles?

Debate This!

Missing Third Option

There are sixteen (16) candidates on the ballot for US president! 16!

There are also another ten candidates who are on at least one state ballot.

Not done yet, there are another 107 listed as write-in candidates.

So, how many did you hear from in the debate?

I don’t expect to hear from everyone. Let’s just assume that write-in candidates have no shot at winning. And the write-ins are hardly ever counted anyway (that’s another story). Ok, take the 107 off the list, including such names as “Mad Max,” “Love-22,” “Big Bird” and Terry Jones. Wait, Terry Jones is a write-in for President? Ok, good, ignore the 107. (BTW, Big Bird is not on there, should be).

What about the ten on the one-state ballots? Well, being lumped in together as one-state balloters, people may dismiss all, even those on several state ballots. Admittedly, some of these candidates are there just to prove a point or voice a concern (but you’ll never know what that is). That still leaves 16 candidates on the ballot. SIXTEEN!

You know President Obama and Governor Romney, but whom else do you know?

Do you know, or have you heard from these nominees:

Tom Hoefling of the American Independent Party

Merlin Miller of the American Third Position Party

Congressman Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party

Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party

Mayor Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party

Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party

Tom Stevens of the Objectivist Party

Peta Lindsay of the Party of Socialism and Liberation

Rosanne Barr of the Peace & Freedom Party

Lowell Fellure of the Prohibition Party

Andre Barnett of the Reform Party

Stewart Alexander of the Liberty Union Party

Jerome White of the Socialist Equality Party

Wait, Rosanne Barr is on there? You know her. And everyone’s heard of Dr. Jill Stein since she was on the news for being arrested after trying to get into the debates. Yes, a presidential candidate was arrested for trying to get into the debates. So much for freedom of speech, huh?

We all know that this system is set up as a two-party system. Having a third party candidate win votes means that a majority winner would be jeopardized (and there’s the ruling class fear of a truthsayer).

So, what can you do? Continue to vote for Red or Blue? Vote for the lesser of two evils? What about voting for the person who best represents us, the person who actually works for us? That may be difficult. Voting that way may not get him/her elected, but at least there will be another voice registered. People are fearful of voting third party because it may take votes from their second choice. That was the argument when people voted for Ralph Nader and Bush got elected.

At least Nader was heard, even for a little. Today I do not hear any other voices. There is good that comes out of another option, another voice. When other voices are heard the main voices begin to change their approach and include some of your concerns. There may not be total change or total representation, yet it can keep the ruling party from drifting too far away from the people.

Let your vote count, vote for the person you deem worthy, representative and who works for you.

And demand that other voices be heard. After all, what’s democracy without the people?

Order a New World

I am Egypt

Mother of all nations

I am free

Therefore you are free

My voice carries wisdom as the Nile carries life

No longer for the Pharaohs

I am free

A gift to all nations

I am Egypt

Shocking Ignorance

25% of Americans polled believe that Pres. Obama is Muslim. Shocked? Well it makes you think "what else do American's believe or reject?" here is a sampling...

25% of Americans believe there is no such thing as evolution.

21% of Americans still believe in Witches.

20% of Americans believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth.

41% believe that Saddam is responsible for 9/11.

85% of American soldiers in Iraq believe they are there for revenge for 9/11

63% of Americans can't find Iraq on a map.

90% can't find Afghanistan.

That may be foreign to them, but what about what they have been taught,

only 40% can identify the three branches of US government.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I know there's more but just reading this made my head hurt.

Where does this road lead?

Unemployed for the first time

Well, I am now unemployed. Lost my tv producer job of ten years due to cutbacks.

Been on the computer all day looking for jobs.

For a while I was helping friends find jobs, now I'm not sure I can find one for myself.

So pass on any and all leads you can.

Do you speak Interan?

I saw a electronic road sign with an emoticon. At first I though it was strange, but upon thinking about why it seemed even more strange. Was this the evolution of human communication? Or just some kid having fun? Once you notice what is going on with communication these days, you'd probably agree that there is an evolution, and its not just of one language.

More and more people are communicating electronically by text, tweets, blogs, social networking, email bursts and so on. And with more people communicating with others around the world, there is undoubtable a new language being used. Emoticons, symbols, acrynoms, abreviations, code words and other articles are replacing older more established languages. This electronic form of communication is a pidgin ( a simplified form of communication that develops between two people or groups of people with no common language). But there is common language, its just that this form is chosen. That means it develops into a creole (a language developing from a combination of two other languages).

With time and regular use, this will soon be its own recognizable language. There will be no announcement or decleration. But it will soon be a universal language. One that uses symbols, as with hieroglyphics or even symbols as words like Chinese. It could incorporate new words that are abreviations or acronyms of other words. The face-to-face communication can also be altered into short sounds, gestures, grunts, hand signals.

This isn't to say we have the beginnings of Newspeak (Orwell's 1984). Sure the vocabulary may get smaller, but this isn't as scary. It isn't about control. And unlike Newspeak, emotion is limited, this is about expression. At least it's roots are. How it develops, who knows?

If this sounds odd or exagerated, just think have you ever heard someone say lol instead of saying "that's funny" or actually laughing? Just look at your company emails more closely, its even being used there and on road signs and by politicians.

A language evolves from the streets to the establishment. A government doesn't announce it's language (without being oppressive) it adobts the language spoken by the people. The great thing is that is it is not rooted in any country, or race. It can develop as a true universal language. (and no, binary code is not a universal language, you matrix geeks). (also it is not constructed like Esata or forced, or commercial like Net Lingua) There are signs the this is happening today around the world with this new form, founded in the electronic world of communication.

Good luck.

(yeah, I know the title is lame)

I went off to find myself...not sure I found anything special...now where do I lose myself?

Pour dina elixtro wadfhatru, sus?

lost

I've passed that point in life when all the dreams have left me missing by inaction. 

Is it over yet?

I haven't heard anything in a while.

Are the Palestinians all dead yet?

Is the genocide complete?

No? You are not done yet?

Well, tell me how can I help you more than I have already?

My tax dollars were not enough? 

My turning away was not enough?

My silence was not enough?

well, I can sit in my comfy chair and type a blog entry, surely that will help you. 

That way I and many others like me can beat back the guilt and pretend we effect change and return to silence allowing you to complete your task. 

Catching up

Dear accidental reader;

It has been a while since my last post.

Sorry, but I've been pessimistacally engaged.

There are a couple of things worth mentioning.

First, there is that election. I become more suspicious by the day, that this "victory" is a mere illusion, just a bit fancier and more colorful than the last.

Then there is the business of disgust. I just saw a BurgerKing commercial, "Whopper Virgin" I believe its called. Title aside, there is just something disgustingly wrong about using an Inuit to sell your burger, and something wrong in the notion that she would want a burger, and something evil in spreading your diseased fastfood to the world. Commercialism, capitalism, consumerism have no end, no ethics, no decency, no resposibility. This lastest example just reminds me.

And now for something completely different...The whole shoe throwing incident was as funny as it was pathetic. Have you ever seen a president dodge shoes? A fitting end to a miserable eight years. What makes this pathetic is that we had to endure 8 years and war and hunger and environnmental disaster and so on without challenges. How can we laugh now, when we allowed this for 8years?

And now...the larch. Sorry, I meant ladder. I had a fall off a ladder and would have been bed-ridden if it weren't for the fact that I need to continue to work. Sure, I'm fortunate to have a job, or two when others are in need, out of work, or hungry. I am fortunate; however, If we had universal healthcare I would not fear losing this job, any job would do. If we had governments that truely served their people, then I would not need to feel guilty for having a job when others don't. What's a government good for, if it won't serve its people? Commercialism, capitolism, consumerism, I suppose are to blame. Then doesn't something more social and civil sound better? Will another system help?Am I assuming too much? After all we are human, and it seems to be our nature to take more than our share, take more than we share.

Convulsions of a Politico Masochist

These are trying times.

Times in which an end or a beginning is one opinion swayed.

Or is that one perspective?

Or one piece of propaganda?

Will history repeat itself and a people robbed of hope?

Or will history be made?

For me, I see no source of hope. There is only a bleak end.

What will change? What can change? What will be allowed?

The stage had been set and the rules have been passed.

For every election. I am relegated to the pondering of a vote for a lesser evil.

What will change?

Perhaps a perception of change is all that is needed.

Perhaps the belief is all that is needed to cause change.

Perhaps this awakens democracy and truly a beginning of progress sets in.

Perhaps we are fooled again. 

Every amateur political fan predicting a landslide victory for Obama punctuates his statements with “unless…”

There is always doubt, there is always fear, there is always an eerie whisper of unshameful mendacity.

Will there be change?

Will change be allowed?

What will that change be?

True change comes quickly.

Change is a sudden and radical alteration of present reality.

All else is evolution or stagnation, mindless of its color or promise.

After months of contemplating and complaining, I ask myself, will I vote?

The better question is “if I vote will it count, even if I vote for the winner?”

The conclusion is no, on both counts.

There is a play performed. Democracy, socialism, totalitarianism, and so on, till end, are plays performed. Anyone, a politico, is aware of the play. The roles change to suit the times, the philosophies change to hold the masses, but the play goes on.

And to this end, convulsions temper a mind unable to rest, unable to change. 

Elections 08

take me to Ramadan

this will do just until i energize, just until i find Ramadan and live at least one month of peace.

Mahmoud Darwich 1941-2008

And coffee swirls to mud

The smoke circles up mourning clouds
And I’m left gasping at somber news
The death comes an unbound burn
And he’s gone to join his immortal olive trees
The roots cut and dust replaces our precious fruit

Back from Lebanon

I've been back for a week, but it's taken me this long to return to functionality from a long and frustratingly surreal trip. Lebanon kicks your ass even before you get off the plane from a rediculous 17hour torture flight. Then it gets worse. But for those who long for that breath of sweet polluted air of home and that taste of bitter sand, it could seem like heaven.
For all its grime, Lebanon posseses an unrivaled beauty that captivates us and drags us into an intoxicating abyss of nostalgia. 
Lebanon is a disciplinarian that laughs at your pain then gives you ice cream in an ancient village, (damn good ice cream too).
One thought that sticks with me is the description of Lebanon that is too vulgar for print, but it survives in a rythymic khaos that mezmerizes. 
I'll miss it and long to return, so much so that I'd probably lose fortunes and decades seeking the return.

On my way to Beirut

This is Detroit Airport McNamara terminal from gate 60 weighting for flight to Amman with 269 other passangers
This is from inside the Royal Jordanian flight from my seat. At this point only half the people boarded and a woman insisted that I was in her seat. We and one more person had the same assigned seat. Only on RJ. BTW these seats still had ashtrays even though it's been years since you could smoke on the plane.

Take off. I had to look outside. I convinced myslef that the loose parts and paint chips were normal. At least there were no gremlins.
Sunset from 39,000 feet. 
Waiting for my connecting flight to Beirut at the Queen Alia International Airport with my $9 coffe and cheese. At least I found Wi-Fi. 

Next stop Beirut then South Lebanon.  

Experimental design (arabesque doily??)

Ok, this isn't IBJ quality, but that's why it's called practise.

For the good stuff check this out... http://ibnbintjbeil.blogspot.com/2007/03/finalization-of-arabic-design.html

lunatic experimentation

as I took flight, the rivets creaked out of their placement letting parts escape without responsibility.
The hurling down to earth wings gave up on us and let us to our prayers.
I knew I'd always die in a plane over the Atlantic, but it was to be eight years ago. Today was supposed to be a good day





(still messing with a new camera, not the shot I was looking for, but I like it.)