Vigil (to End the War) - [MTV Vid 3-25-08] and Obama in Eugene Pt. 1 [MTV vlog 3-28-08]

ON THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the Iraq Invasion, MoveOn held vigils all over the country at the same time. This video commemorates and captures the public vigil held in Eugene, Oregon to call for an end to the Iraq Occupation.

OBAMA IN OREGON (PT. 1) is the name of the new video shot and edited by yours truly, Oregon's Official MTV Choose or Lose Street Team 08 Citizen Journalist, and just as the title foreshadows, there will be two more parts to this tryptych of political goodness. Clicking the picture above will take you to the video page. Playing the video will bring you a little closer to the excitement that hit the city of Eugene when Obama came to town.

The latest videos for my MTV Citizen Journalist gig.

Crossposted at The Unapologetic Mexican (1 & 2), Culture Kitchen (1 & 2), and OpEdNews (1 & 2).

Symbol and Essence: The Power of Naming

ANOTHER BLOG POST exclusive to MTV, as it is part of my Street Team 08 duties! This one delves more into one of my favorite paradigms, Symbol and Essence.

Words that came to me while thinking on our many forms of warring with the Other.

Crossposted at The Unapologetic Mexican, Culture Kitchen, and OpEdNews.

The Unnamed War Unfolding Around Us

RECENTLY I posted on YouTube's yanking of a vlogger's account due to the torture practices he was exposing that are perpetrated by Egyptian police. I was definitely disappointed in YouTube, although I sort of expect any large corporate entity to ultimately suppress free speech, because inevitably, free speech involves telling the truth, and at the end of that road can be found many ideas that might not support the agenda and behavior of corporate entities. As the RAND Corporation, "a California based think-tank with close ties to the military-industrial-intelligence complex" sees it:

RAND maintains "homegrown terrorism" will not be the result of jihadist sleeper cells. Rather, it will result from anti-globalists and radical environmentalists who 'challenge the intrinsic qualities of capitalism, charging that in the insatiable quest for growth and profit, the philosophy is serving to destroy the world's ecology, indigenous cultures, and individual welfare.' ...

Further, RAND claims anti-globalists and radical environmentalists 'exist in much the same operational environment as al Qaida' and pose 'a clear threat to private-sector corporate interests, especially large multinational business.'

—Truthout.org, The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act: A Tutorial in Orwellian Newspeak

So through these types of statements, we begin to see it all come together. The War of the future, already taking place now. Those who refuse to consider any ill effects upon the world and the animals and the poor and simply the common gente, a breed who refuses to let go of a philosophy of greed, despite the mounting consequences of such a failed paradigm vs. those of us concerned first and foremost with the weakest of us, the meekest of us, the poorest of us, and Mother Earth herself.

We already know the weapons that the State will use against the people who dare to question all the powers that are wreaking havoc upon our world. They will call us "socialists" and then "terrorists," and they will lump free speech in with "treason" and Empathetic and Concerned Human with "Al Qaeda," and they will spy on us using our own consumerist and increasingly networked goods, and then lie about it and nobody will stop them (because in this unnamed war taking place now, the Government is by necessity on the same side of the corporations) and even suggesting these kinds of actions should be actionable or halted is to be seen as anti-American (a word which will continue to be broadened and already includes those who simply want Peace between all humankind!), they will tase us and disappear us and the choice will be before us to either bow down and get with the New Brave World (even as it destroys the natural world), or to be seen as a "jihadist," an "anti-american" or an "extremist." Even though there really is nothing more extreme than choosing not to stand against the harm being done against the world and the people and the creatures and the environment today.

For now, it seems the monstrous (and growing bigger and more all-seeing and powerful every day) Google has chosen the wise tactic:

We are committed to preserving YouTube as an important platform for expression of all kinds, while also ensuring that the site remains a safe environment for our users. Balancing these interests raises very tough issues. In this case, our general policy against graphic violence led to the removal of videos documenting alleged human rights abuses because the context was not apparent. Having reviewed the case, we have restored the account of Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas - and if he chooses to upload the video again with sufficient context so that users can understand his important message we will of course leave it on the site.

—Google/YouTube's statement, according to The Skeptic

And so Wael Abbas' YouTube account has been restored. For now. But really, it all depends upon exactly what he is saying, doesn't it? Of course it does.

I do hope everyone is paying attention to the statements that come from RAND et al. They have been echoed by Gonzales and Rumsfeld and we have every reason to believe these people see it exactly this way. They are making the declaration of war, the ultimatum on belief, and the assault even on (rational) thinking.

Either way, there's no more time to be pulling punches or using euphemism, unless we want to be fully unprepared. Because as I see it, sooner or later, we will all be forced on one side of this fight or the other. Truth...or comfort at the cost of everything else. Maybe there is another way to say it, but that's how I see it. Some people I know think the Democrats will save us from such fates as we now teeter before, but I'm not counting on it. I think it must be "us" who must save us. But maybe that's more socialist thinking, or anti-American talk. It's hard to tell about such things anymore, in a day and age when being against torture is anti-American.

For now, I'll be glad there are these means of speaking and sharing information and telling stories and waking each other up. These seem the types of things we wouldn't, as a People, need to thank anyone else for. These seem like rituals that every culture and civilization have, and with good reason. It is so we do not forget, do not go blind, and do not become controlled and owned and abused by those more powerful, or fall prey to the worst of our own natures.

But this is where we do our talking in this age. Through this series of tubes is where we do so much of our storytelling and our speaking truth to power. And if that's where many energetic and concerned people are reading, then it is good that we do. My thanks, as always, go to Wael Abbas, and to Brad Will, and to Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Amy Goodman, Michael Moore, Al Gore, Helen Thomas and all the other storytellers and truth-seekers with whom I share esta planeta, and especially the ones who risk their own perch for the good of the Whole. You are a huge part of our survival as a planet and a People. Thank you, mil gracias, and keep the faith.

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nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez blogs as the unapologetic mexican, and is blogging to give peace a chance.

Crossposted at The Unapologetic Mexican, Culture Kitchen, and Corrente.

Spies Dousing Fires

THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY is now training firefighters to inspect your home and your behavior when you are visited by them, even for emergency purposes! According to FOX "News," aside from blueprints, chemicals, flight manuals, and bomb-making books, one of the things they are going to be on the lookout for is "hostility to Americans."

So! Word to the wise. Make sure you are only nasty to fireman without green cards. Maybe you can suss this out with some small talk at the hydrant. But even if not, if one day your kitchen explodes and your roof is on fire and you happen to be talking, yelling, or otherwise communicating with the brave men who are lugging their hoses into your driveway, it's probably best to sprinkle a few pleasant words about the country and the government in there while you're at it. You know, like right after you scream "my cousin is trapped in the attic!" just drop in a "God bless America!' or something. Just slide it right in there. "HELP! We want to keep on living in the USA! Help us!" Something casual. Something that clears you right away. Because the last thing your cousin needs is for the firemen to get caught up rooting through your junk drawer on their way upstairs.

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nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez blogs as the unapologetic mexican, and recommends keeping a working fire extinguisher in the house.

Crossposted at The Unapologetic Mexican, Culture Kitchen, and Corrente.