WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5

Pauly:

If more Americans read books every night instead of watching TV, we'd live in a more productive society. If more Americans watched the news and read real newspapers and magazines, instead of crappy programs like American Idol, then I'm confident that George Bush would not be our president. But heck, that's what our leaders really want deep down... a mindless, uneducated populous that will work 40 hours a week so they can earn enough money to buy things to keep them distracted from the evil deeds that our leaders and suits in Fortune 500 companies are conducting everyday under your noses.

Posted by Wil at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

This made me laugh out loud. It's allegedly written by John Cleese, but it turns out that it originally came from Satirewire.

Continue reading "The Axis of Just as Evil" »

Posted by Wil at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (64) | TrackBacks (7)

This made me laugh out loud. It's allegedly written by John Cleese, but it turns out that it originally came from Satirewire.

Continue reading "The Axis of Just as Evil" »

Posted by Wil at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (64) | TrackBacks (7)

This made me laugh out loud. It's allegedly written by John Cleese, but it turns out that it originally came from Satirewire.

Continue reading "The Axis of Just as Evil" »

Posted by Wil at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (64) | TrackBacks (7)

Yesterday, I marched through Hollywood with my mom, her friend, and about 100,000 other people. We raised our fists and joined our voice to millions of other voices around the world. We sent a clear message to the Bush administration: This is just the beginning. We will stop your war machine. Your policies endanger America, and enrage the world.

I hope you are paying attention, Mr. Bush. The masses are speaking -- the world is speaking -- and we are rebuking you, your plutocracy, and everything you represent. Your time is over, Mr. Bush. The Supreme Court can not silence the voice of the world, as it silenced the voice of the American people. It is time for you to fade into history.

I hope that those who politically oppose Mr. Bush are also paying attention. There is a minority, on the cusp of becoming a majority, who are anxiously awaiting your leadership. Rise to the challenge, and give us representation in our government. Greens? Libertarians? Democrats? Who will represent the people? This is your moment. Do not squander it.

Peace.

UPDATE: Thank you, Senator Byrd.

UPDATE: I understand the visceral reactions that come when reading a post like this. If you'd like to comment or discuss, you are welcome to go to the Soapbox.

Posted by Wil at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (262) | TrackBacks (1)

Yesterday, I marched through Hollywood with my mom, her friend, and about 100,000 other people. We raised our fists and joined our voice to millions of other voices around the world. We sent a clear message to the Bush administration: This is just the beginning. We will stop your war machine. Your policies endanger America, and enrage the world.

I hope you are paying attention, Mr. Bush. The masses are speaking -- the world is speaking -- and we are rebuking you, your plutocracy, and everything you represent. Your time is over, Mr. Bush. The Supreme Court can not silence the voice of the world, as it silenced the voice of the American people. It is time for you to fade into history.

I hope that those who politically oppose Mr. Bush are also paying attention. There is a minority, on the cusp of becoming a majority, who are anxiously awaiting your leadership. Rise to the challenge, and give us representation in our government. Greens? Libertarians? Democrats? Who will represent the people? This is your moment. Do not squander it.

Peace.

UPDATE: Thank you, Senator Byrd.

UPDATE: I understand the visceral reactions that come when reading a post like this. If you'd like to comment or discuss, you are welcome to go to the Soapbox.

Posted by Wil at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (262) | TrackBacks (1)

Yesterday, I marched through Hollywood with my mom, her friend, and about 100,000 other people. We raised our fists and joined our voice to millions of other voices around the world. We sent a clear message to the Bush administration: This is just the beginning. We will stop your war machine. Your policies endanger America, and enrage the world.

I hope you are paying attention, Mr. Bush. The masses are speaking -- the world is speaking -- and we are rebuking you, your plutocracy, and everything you represent. Your time is over, Mr. Bush. The Supreme Court can not silence the voice of the world, as it silenced the voice of the American people. It is time for you to fade into history.

I hope that those who politically oppose Mr. Bush are also paying attention. There is a minority, on the cusp of becoming a majority, who are anxiously awaiting your leadership. Rise to the challenge, and give us representation in our government. Greens? Libertarians? Democrats? Who will represent the people? This is your moment. Do not squander it.

Peace.

UPDATE: Thank you, Senator Byrd.

UPDATE: I understand the visceral reactions that come when reading a post like this. If you'd like to comment or discuss, you are welcome to go to the Soapbox.

Posted by Wil at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (262) | TrackBacks (1)

Today is Veteran's day, and I've been trying to think of a way to thank and honor those men and women who have ensured that I can sit here, safe and warm in my house, and proclaim, "George W. Bush is a Jerkass."

Well, I have a friend, and she and her husband are both veterans. She wrote the following, and reprinting it here is the best tribute to Veterans, and the best way of saying thank you that I can think of.

This weekend, with Veteran's Day coming up, a friend asked me "What are some things about people serving in the US military that you think we civilians under-appreciate or don't understand?"

It was a tough question. On Veteran's Day, it's not only about those who have died, but those who have served and sacrificed and come away forever changed.

The military is really a separate culture within American culture. When we'd talk about "civilians," it was almost like talking about a different species. How can someone understand, truly understand "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" without living in that culture?

Before joining the military, I'd hear on the news "40 US troops were killed in today's bombing of such-and-such" and think, "Gee, that's sad." But you know, in a way, it was just numbers. After joining the military, the word "troops" took on a whole new meaning. "Troops" meant me. My husband. My friends. My brothers and sisters. It meant loving, caring, intelligent, funny human beings were dead or injured.

When CNN would report, "The US has deployed several thousand troops to somewhere," it meant that mothers were being sent away from their children. Sons were being sent away from their parents. Families and friends and lovers were being separated, never knowing if they'd ever see each other again.

Some of them WOULD never see each other again. Would never be able to get
that one last hug, a last kiss, hear a word of kindness or forgiveness. Yet these troops went willingly into that uncertainty.

When you hear "troops," when any civilian hears "troops," what does it mean to you? It's such a sanitized word.

Another thing I wonder if civilians understand is this: service is often boring. Really boring. Running preventive maintenance checks on vehicles and equipment in the hot North Carolina sun at Fort Bragg. Sitting in a tent in a field in Korea in 10-degree weather waiting for aircraft to land. Driving through the desert in Saudi Arabia where everything looks the same on your way to your camp. Sitting in a foxhole in Panama in the rain, watching. Constantly going over common task training: how to treat a sucking chest wound. How to get your protective mask on as quickly as possible. How to disassemble and reassemble your M-16. Over and over.

Preparing, trying to stay prepared.

How boring is it? Someone sent a box of romance novels to my old unit when they were in Saudi. The guys in the unit snapped 'em up to read faster than the women did.

No one talks much about the sitting around part.

The "troops" are people. They do wacky things too. Some of the guys in Saudi were going through magazine ads, writing to every company they could find saying, "We're in the Persian Gulf. Could you send us a sample of X?" Some companies sent samples -- and a few of the tents got their own pink lawn flamingoes and artificial raccoons.

There's also some adrenalin rushes like when you get caught in an Anti-American riot in Seoul or run into an area marked with signs for chemical attack in the Saudi desert. Or get shot at.

Or have to shoot back.

In the back of your mind is this: you could die. You could lose an arm or a leg. You could die in a training accident. You try to keep this very, very far back in your mind.

But I think it's always there.

Probably most importantly, and most difficult, is you have to trust in the chain of command that they will not use you poorly. You've taken an oath of service to your country, and you must trust that the orders you receive will allow you to be of service in some positive manner. I hear people say all the time, "If I were in the military, I would never have gone to Saudi" or "I would never have done those kinds of things they did in Vietnam/WWII/etc." Truth is, maybe they wouldn't -- but they probably would.

Or they wouldn't be in the military.

Because that trust is essential, even with the training we have in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and what constitutes an "illegal order." You go where you're deployed. You bomb the targets you're supposed to bomb. You place the Claymore mines "front towards enemy" and you trust, you hope, it's for a greater good.

You must live with it if, later, you find that there was little to no positive effect from your actions. Think of finding a baby bird and putting it back into its nest, after which the mother rejects it and it dies. You were trying to help, but nothing good came of it. Now imagine being involved in a military action where, at the end, nothing of significance has changed.

Military service changes you forever, even if you serve only a 4-year term in peacetime. You'll never get those years back. Never.

And through all this, you know that civilians don't much care about you. Not really. Oh, perhaps they'll come out on Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, maybe lay out some flowers, wear a ribbon, but most will just see it as a day off from work.

Still we serve. We serve because the Constitution of the United States promises something good and true. We serve so that opposing viewpoints can take the stage, or the microphone, and protest actions they feel are unjust. We serve for ourselves, for our families, for our future. We serve for a variety of reasons, some selfish and some pure, in the hopes that something positive will come of it. On Veteran's Day, I would wish that everyone would remember and think of the men and women who have served in the past and who serve today, and honor their humanity. The laughter, the tears, the love, the pride in a new baby, the intelligence, insight, and humor that is part of all of us. I wish people would take one moment to think of that girl in a tent somewhere in the desert, or that
guy in a foxhole in the jungle, and understand that it could be your daughter, your son, your wife, your husband.

Instead, I fear that when they hear "25 troops were killed in some foreign country today," they won't bat an eye.

It was just "troops."

Of all it means to be a veteran, perhaps that may be the hardest thing of
all.

Posted by Wil at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (105) | TrackBacks (1)

Today is Veteran's day, and I've been trying to think of a way to thank and honor those men and women who have ensured that I can sit here, safe and warm in my house, and proclaim, "George W. Bush is a Jerkass."

Well, I have a friend, and she and her husband are both veterans. She wrote the following, and reprinting it here is the best tribute to Veterans, and the best way of saying thank you that I can think of.

This weekend, with Veteran's Day coming up, a friend asked me "What are some things about people serving in the US military that you think we civilians under-appreciate or don't understand?"

It was a tough question. On Veteran's Day, it's not only about those who have died, but those who have served and sacrificed and come away forever changed.

The military is really a separate culture within American culture. When we'd talk about "civilians," it was almost like talking about a different species. How can someone understand, truly understand "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" without living in that culture?

Before joining the military, I'd hear on the news "40 US troops were killed in today's bombing of such-and-such" and think, "Gee, that's sad." But you know, in a way, it was just numbers. After joining the military, the word "troops" took on a whole new meaning. "Troops" meant me. My husband. My friends. My brothers and sisters. It meant loving, caring, intelligent, funny human beings were dead or injured.

When CNN would report, "The US has deployed several thousand troops to somewhere," it meant that mothers were being sent away from their children. Sons were being sent away from their parents. Families and friends and lovers were being separated, never knowing if they'd ever see each other again.

Some of them WOULD never see each other again. Would never be able to get
that one last hug, a last kiss, hear a word of kindness or forgiveness. Yet these troops went willingly into that uncertainty.

When you hear "troops," when any civilian hears "troops," what does it mean to you? It's such a sanitized word.

Another thing I wonder if civilians understand is this: service is often boring. Really boring. Running preventive maintenance checks on vehicles and equipment in the hot North Carolina sun at Fort Bragg. Sitting in a tent in a field in Korea in 10-degree weather waiting for aircraft to land. Driving through the desert in Saudi Arabia where everything looks the same on your way to your camp. Sitting in a foxhole in Panama in the rain, watching. Constantly going over common task training: how to treat a sucking chest wound. How to get your protective mask on as quickly as possible. How to disassemble and reassemble your M-16. Over and over.

Preparing, trying to stay prepared.

How boring is it? Someone sent a box of romance novels to my old unit when they were in Saudi. The guys in the unit snapped 'em up to read faster than the women did.

No one talks much about the sitting around part.

The "troops" are people. They do wacky things too. Some of the guys in Saudi were going through magazine ads, writing to every company they could find saying, "We're in the Persian Gulf. Could you send us a sample of X?" Some companies sent samples -- and a few of the tents got their own pink lawn flamingoes and artificial raccoons.

There's also some adrenalin rushes like when you get caught in an Anti-American riot in Seoul or run into an area marked with signs for chemical attack in the Saudi desert. Or get shot at.

Or have to shoot back.

In the back of your mind is this: you could die. You could lose an arm or a leg. You could die in a training accident. You try to keep this very, very far back in your mind.

But I think it's always there.

Probably most importantly, and most difficult, is you have to trust in the chain of command that they will not use you poorly. You've taken an oath of service to your country, and you must trust that the orders you receive will allow you to be of service in some positive manner. I hear people say all the time, "If I were in the military, I would never have gone to Saudi" or "I would never have done those kinds of things they did in Vietnam/WWII/etc." Truth is, maybe they wouldn't -- but they probably would.

Or they wouldn't be in the military.

Because that trust is essential, even with the training we have in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and what constitutes an "illegal order." You go where you're deployed. You bomb the targets you're supposed to bomb. You place the Claymore mines "front towards enemy" and you trust, you hope, it's for a greater good.

You must live with it if, later, you find that there was little to no positive effect from your actions. Think of finding a baby bird and putting it back into its nest, after which the mother rejects it and it dies. You were trying to help, but nothing good came of it. Now imagine being involved in a military action where, at the end, nothing of significance has changed.

Military service changes you forever, even if you serve only a 4-year term in peacetime. You'll never get those years back. Never.

And through all this, you know that civilians don't much care about you. Not really. Oh, perhaps they'll come out on Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, maybe lay out some flowers, wear a ribbon, but most will just see it as a day off from work.

Still we serve. We serve because the Constitution of the United States promises something good and true. We serve so that opposing viewpoints can take the stage, or the microphone, and protest actions they feel are unjust. We serve for ourselves, for our families, for our future. We serve for a variety of reasons, some selfish and some pure, in the hopes that something positive will come of it. On Veteran's Day, I would wish that everyone would remember and think of the men and women who have served in the past and who serve today, and honor their humanity. The laughter, the tears, the love, the pride in a new baby, the intelligence, insight, and humor that is part of all of us. I wish people would take one moment to think of that girl in a tent somewhere in the desert, or that
guy in a foxhole in the jungle, and understand that it could be your daughter, your son, your wife, your husband.

Instead, I fear that when they hear "25 troops were killed in some foreign country today," they won't bat an eye.

It was just "troops."

Of all it means to be a veteran, perhaps that may be the hardest thing of
all.

Posted by Wil at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (105)

Today is Veteran's day, and I've been trying to think of a way to thank and honor those men and women who have ensured that I can sit here, safe and warm in my house, and proclaim, "George W. Bush is a Jerkass."

Well, I have a friend, and she and her husband are both veterans. She wrote the following, and reprinting it here is the best tribute to Veterans, and the best way of saying thank you that I can think of.

This weekend, with Veteran's Day coming up, a friend asked me "What are some things about people serving in the US military that you think we civilians under-appreciate or don't understand?"

It was a tough question. On Veteran's Day, it's not only about those who have died, but those who have served and sacrificed and come away forever changed.

The military is really a separate culture within American culture. When we'd talk about "civilians," it was almost like talking about a different species. How can someone understand, truly understand "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" without living in that culture?

Before joining the military, I'd hear on the news "40 US troops were killed in today's bombing of such-and-such" and think, "Gee, that's sad." But you know, in a way, it was just numbers. After joining the military, the word "troops" took on a whole new meaning. "Troops" meant me. My husband. My friends. My brothers and sisters. It meant loving, caring, intelligent, funny human beings were dead or injured.

When CNN would report, "The US has deployed several thousand troops to somewhere," it meant that mothers were being sent away from their children. Sons were being sent away from their parents. Families and friends and lovers were being separated, never knowing if they'd ever see each other again.

Some of them WOULD never see each other again. Would never be able to get
that one last hug, a last kiss, hear a word of kindness or forgiveness. Yet these troops went willingly into that uncertainty.

When you hear "troops," when any civilian hears "troops," what does it mean to you? It's such a sanitized word.

Another thing I wonder if civilians understand is this: service is often boring. Really boring. Running preventive maintenance checks on vehicles and equipment in the hot North Carolina sun at Fort Bragg. Sitting in a tent in a field in Korea in 10-degree weather waiting for aircraft to land. Driving through the desert in Saudi Arabia where everything looks the same on your way to your camp. Sitting in a foxhole in Panama in the rain, watching. Constantly going over common task training: how to treat a sucking chest wound. How to get your protective mask on as quickly as possible. How to disassemble and reassemble your M-16. Over and over.

Preparing, trying to stay prepared.

How boring is it? Someone sent a box of romance novels to my old unit when they were in Saudi. The guys in the unit snapped 'em up to read faster than the women did.

No one talks much about the sitting around part.

The "troops" are people. They do wacky things too. Some of the guys in Saudi were going through magazine ads, writing to every company they could find saying, "We're in the Persian Gulf. Could you send us a sample of X?" Some companies sent samples -- and a few of the tents got their own pink lawn flamingoes and artificial raccoons.

There's also some adrenalin rushes like when you get caught in an Anti-American riot in Seoul or run into an area marked with signs for chemical attack in the Saudi desert. Or get shot at.

Or have to shoot back.

In the back of your mind is this: you could die. You could lose an arm or a leg. You could die in a training accident. You try to keep this very, very far back in your mind.

But I think it's always there.

Probably most importantly, and most difficult, is you have to trust in the chain of command that they will not use you poorly. You've taken an oath of service to your country, and you must trust that the orders you receive will allow you to be of service in some positive manner. I hear people say all the time, "If I were in the military, I would never have gone to Saudi" or "I would never have done those kinds of things they did in Vietnam/WWII/etc." Truth is, maybe they wouldn't -- but they probably would.

Or they wouldn't be in the military.

Because that trust is essential, even with the training we have in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and what constitutes an "illegal order." You go where you're deployed. You bomb the targets you're supposed to bomb. You place the Claymore mines "front towards enemy" and you trust, you hope, it's for a greater good.

You must live with it if, later, you find that there was little to no positive effect from your actions. Think of finding a baby bird and putting it back into its nest, after which the mother rejects it and it dies. You were trying to help, but nothing good came of it. Now imagine being involved in a military action where, at the end, nothing of significance has changed.

Military service changes you forever, even if you serve only a 4-year term in peacetime. You'll never get those years back. Never.

And through all this, you know that civilians don't much care about you. Not really. Oh, perhaps they'll come out on Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, maybe lay out some flowers, wear a ribbon, but most will just see it as a day off from work.

Still we serve. We serve because the Constitution of the United States promises something good and true. We serve so that opposing viewpoints can take the stage, or the microphone, and protest actions they feel are unjust. We serve for ourselves, for our families, for our future. We serve for a variety of reasons, some selfish and some pure, in the hopes that something positive will come of it. On Veteran's Day, I would wish that everyone would remember and think of the men and women who have served in the past and who serve today, and honor their humanity. The laughter, the tears, the love, the pride in a new baby, the intelligence, insight, and humor that is part of all of us. I wish people would take one moment to think of that girl in a tent somewhere in the desert, or that
guy in a foxhole in the jungle, and understand that it could be your daughter, your son, your wife, your husband.

Instead, I fear that when they hear "25 troops were killed in some foreign country today," they won't bat an eye.

It was just "troops."

Of all it means to be a veteran, perhaps that may be the hardest thing of
all.

Posted by Wil at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (105)

I don't support the resolution that congress just passed. I don't support the Bush administration's obsession with Oil^H^H^HIraq, and I think it gives way too much power to the president.

So I wrote my senators (my US Rep is a hardline Republican so I didn't bother) and I asked them to please oppose the vote.

Boxer voted no, Feinstein voted yes.

I was very upset with Feinstein's yes vote...but after reading this from her, I am absolutely apoplectic.

"I serve as the senior senator from California, representing 35 million people. That is a formidable task. People have weighed in by the tens of thousands. If I were just to cast a representative vote based on those who have voiced their opinions with my office -- and with no other factors -- I would have to vote against this resolution

Yeah.

If she'd, oh, respected the wishes of her constituents, and *gasp* represented> us, she'd have to vote no.

If she'd listened to those pesky voters who put her into office so that she'd carry out our wishes in this silly representative republic we have here.

But there are these mysterious "other factors" that she speaks of, right? Maybe she knows something that we don't, because she refers to herself as

"...a member of the Intelligence Committee, as someone who has read and discussed and studied the history of Iraq...

Well, that's pretty compelling stuff, isn't it? I know that after a year of nebulous warnings I've certainly learned to be afraid of my own shadow and turn to my big government to protect me...maybe she's onto something there, and we shouldn't mobilze the entire state to throw her out for failing to cast a representative vote based on those who have voiced their opinions with her office.

But there's this other guy, you see, who ]co-chairs the same committee, and who is privy to the same information. His name is Senator Bob Graham, and he's a Florida Democrat who disagrees with Feinstein:

Iraq is ''the wrong target'' in the war on terrorism, Graham said in an impassioned speech moments before the Senate early Friday gave President Bush sweeping powers to attack Iraq. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the resolution, 77-23, with Graham among the ``nays.''

''I predict we will live to regret this day,'' declared Graham, who is co-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and privy to a gamut of classified information on global terrorism. Graham said it would be ''irresponsible'' to go to war with Iraq before confronting more imminent terrorist threats to the United States.

Surely he can't be serious! Isn't he privy to the same information that Feinstein has? Maybe he's paying more attention to the report from the CIA:

Then there is the awkward matter of the CIA report on Iraq released last week, which concluded that U.N. inspections actually worked before they were halted in 1998, leaving Saddam's military and his chemical-weapons program weaker than they were in the 1980s.

In other words, the head of American intelligence and a top military man don't think Saddam is planning terrorist attacks against the U.S. now, but might if he was convinced we were coming in after his head. And the CIA says that Saddam's military machine poses less of a threat to the U.S. than it did a decade ago.

Boy, it sure seems that anyone who doesn't have something to gain politically is telling us all that the war against Iraq is at best unnecessary, and at worst A Very Bad Idea(tm).

Dianne Feinstein may not be "against us" by the Bush administration's definition, but she's certainly against the wishes of her constituents, and is therefore unfit to represent us in the future.

I'll be thinking about this in November 2006.
----
Sources:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/11/senate_iraq/print.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4266351.htm
http://www.salon.com/news/col/scheer/2002/10/09/cia/print.html
http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/10/10/intelligence/print.html

Posted by Wil at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (197)

I don't support the resolution that congress just passed. I don't support the Bush administration's obsession with Oil^H^H^HIraq, and I think it gives way too much power to the president.

So I wrote my senators (my US Rep is a hardline Republican so I didn't bother) and I asked them to please oppose the vote.

Boxer voted no, Feinstein voted yes.

I was very upset with Feinstein's yes vote...but after reading this from her, I am absolutely apoplectic.

"I serve as the senior senator from California, representing 35 million people. That is a formidable task. People have weighed in by the tens of thousands. If I were just to cast a representative vote based on those who have voiced their opinions with my office -- and with no other factors -- I would have to vote against this resolution

Yeah.

If she'd, oh, respected the wishes of her constituents, and *gasp* represented> us, she'd have to vote no.

If she'd listened to those pesky voters who put her into office so that she'd carry out our wishes in this silly representative republic we have here.

But there are these mysterious "other factors" that she speaks of, right? Maybe she knows something that we don't, because she refers to herself as

"...a member of the Intelligence Committee, as someone who has read and discussed and studied the history of Iraq...

Well, that's pretty compelling stuff, isn't it? I know that after a year of nebulous warnings I've certainly learned to be afraid of my own shadow and turn to my big government to protect me...maybe she's onto something there, and we shouldn't mobilze the entire state to throw her out for failing to cast a representative vote based on those who have voiced their opinions with her office.

But there's this other guy, you see, who ]co-chairs the same committee, and who is privy to the same information. His name is Senator Bob Graham, and he's a Florida Democrat who disagrees with Feinstein:

Iraq is ''the wrong target'' in the war on terrorism, Graham said in an impassioned speech moments before the Senate early Friday gave President Bush sweeping powers to attack Iraq. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the resolution, 77-23, with Graham among the ``nays.''

''I predict we will live to regret this day,'' declared Graham, who is co-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and privy to a gamut of classified information on global terrorism. Graham said it would be ''irresponsible'' to go to war with Iraq before confronting more imminent terrorist threats to the United States.

Surely he can't be serious! Isn't he privy to the same information that Feinstein has? Maybe he's paying more attention to the report from the CIA:

Then there is the awkward matter of the CIA report on Iraq released last week, which concluded that U.N. inspections actually worked before they were halted in 1998, leaving Saddam's military and his chemical-weapons program weaker than they were in the 1980s.

In other words, the head of American intelligence and a top military man don't think Saddam is planning terrorist attacks against the U.S. now, but might if he was convinced we were coming in after his head. And the CIA says that Saddam's military machine poses less of a threat to the U.S. than it did a decade ago.

Boy, it sure seems that anyone who doesn't have something to gain politically is telling us all that the war against Iraq is at best unnecessary, and at worst A Very Bad Idea(tm).

Dianne Feinstein may not be "against us" by the Bush administration's definition, but she's certainly against the wishes of her constituents, and is therefore unfit to represent us in the future.

I'll be thinking about this in November 2006.
----
Sources:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/11/senate_iraq/print.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4266351.htm
http://www.salon.com/news/col/scheer/2002/10/09/cia/print.html
http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/10/10/intelligence/print.html

Posted by Wil at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (197) | TrackBacks (1)

I don't support the resolution that congress just passed. I don't support the Bush administration's obsession with Oil^H^H^HIraq, and I think it gives way too much power to the president.

So I wrote my senators (my US Rep is a hardline Republican so I didn't bother) and I asked them to please oppose the vote.

Boxer voted no, Feinstein voted yes.

I was very upset with Feinstein's yes vote...but after reading this from her, I am absolutely apoplectic.

"I serve as the senior senator from California, representing 35 million people. That is a formidable task. People have weighed in by the tens of thousands. If I were just to cast a representative vote based on those who have voiced their opinions with my office -- and with no other factors -- I would have to vote against this resolution

Yeah.

If she'd, oh, respected the wishes of her constituents, and *gasp* represented> us, she'd have to vote no.

If she'd listened to those pesky voters who put her into office so that she'd carry out our wishes in this silly representative republic we have here.

But there are these mysterious "other factors" that she speaks of, right? Maybe she knows something that we don't, because she refers to herself as

"...a member of the Intelligence Committee, as someone who has read and discussed and studied the history of Iraq...

Well, that's pretty compelling stuff, isn't it? I know that after a year of nebulous warnings I've certainly learned to be afraid of my own shadow and turn to my big government to protect me...maybe she's onto something there, and we shouldn't mobilze the entire state to throw her out for failing to cast a representative vote based on those who have voiced their opinions with her office.

But there's this other guy, you see, who ]co-chairs the same committee, and who is privy to the same information. His name is Senator Bob Graham, and he's a Florida Democrat who disagrees with Feinstein:

Iraq is ''the wrong target'' in the war on terrorism, Graham said in an impassioned speech moments before the Senate early Friday gave President Bush sweeping powers to attack Iraq. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the resolution, 77-23, with Graham among the ``nays.''

''I predict we will live to regret this day,'' declared Graham, who is co-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and privy to a gamut of classified information on global terrorism. Graham said it would be ''irresponsible'' to go to war with Iraq before confronting more imminent terrorist threats to the United States.

Surely he can't be serious! Isn't he privy to the same information that Feinstein has? Maybe he's paying more attention to the report from the CIA:

Then there is the awkward matter of the CIA report on Iraq released last week, which concluded that U.N. inspections actually worked before they were halted in 1998, leaving Saddam's military and his chemical-weapons program weaker than they were in the 1980s.

In other words, the head of American intelligence and a top military man don't think Saddam is planning terrorist attacks against the U.S. now, but might if he was convinced we were coming in after his head. And the CIA says that Saddam's military machine poses less of a threat to the U.S. than it did a decade ago.

Boy, it sure seems that anyone who doesn't have something to gain politically is telling us all that the war against Iraq is at best unnecessary, and at worst A Very Bad Idea(tm).

Dianne Feinstein may not be "against us" by the Bush administration's definition, but she's certainly against the wishes of her constituents, and is therefore unfit to represent us in the future.

I'll be thinking about this in November 2006.
----
Sources:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/11/senate_iraq/print.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4266351.htm
http://www.salon.com/news/col/scheer/2002/10/09/cia/print.html
http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/10/10/intelligence/print.html

Posted by Wil at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (197)

Posted by Wil at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (70)

Posted by Wil at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (70)

Posted by Wil at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (70)

Overview of Changes to Legal Rights
By The Associated Press

September 5, 2002, 11:44 AM EDT

Some of the fundamental changes to Americans' legal rights by the Bush administration and the USA Patriot Act following the terror attacks:

• FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may monitor religious and political
  institutions without suspecting criminal activity to assist terror investigation.

• FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has closed once-public immigration hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges, and has encouraged bureaucrats to resist public records requests.

• FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information
  related to a terror investigation.

• RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government may monitor federal prison
  jailhouse conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to
  Americans accused of crimes.

• FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES: Government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror
  investigation.

• RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Government may jail Americans
  indefinitely without a trial.

• RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being
  able to confront witnesses against them.
  

Posted by Wil at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (161) | TrackBacks (1)

Overview of Changes to Legal Rights
By The Associated Press

September 5, 2002, 11:44 AM EDT

Some of the fundamental changes to Americans' legal rights by the Bush administration and the USA Patriot Act following the terror attacks:

• FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may monitor religious and political
  institutions without suspecting criminal activity to assist terror investigation.

• FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has closed once-public immigration hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges, and has encouraged bureaucrats to resist public records requests.

• FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information
  related to a terror investigation.

• RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government may monitor federal prison
  jailhouse conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to
  Americans accused of crimes.

• FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES: Government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror
  investigation.

• RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Government may jail Americans
  indefinitely without a trial.

• RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being
  able to confront witnesses against them.
  

Posted by Wil at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (161) | TrackBacks (1)

Overview of Changes to Legal Rights
By The Associated Press

September 5, 2002, 11:44 AM EDT

Some of the fundamental changes to Americans' legal rights by the Bush administration and the USA Patriot Act following the terror attacks:

• FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may monitor religious and political
  institutions without suspecting criminal activity to assist terror investigation.

• FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has closed once-public immigration hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges, and has encouraged bureaucrats to resist public records requests.

• FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information
  related to a terror investigation.

• RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government may monitor federal prison
  jailhouse conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to
  Americans accused of crimes.

• FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES: Government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror
  investigation.

• RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Government may jail Americans
  indefinitely without a trial.

• RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being
  able to confront witnesses against them.
  

Posted by Wil at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (161) | TrackBacks (1)

We all know that I feel very strongly about the need for a 3rd party, and I will end up voting 3rd party this year in my state's governor race.

But the sad truth is, we in California are going to end up with Bill Simon or Gray Davis in our governor's mansion.

Can we stop this ride? It's making me sick and I want to get off.

Now, I can go off on a major rant here, but I won't.

Instead, I just want to share this hilarious link that I saw on memepool this morning: eGray. It made me howl, because there's a joke here in California that goes like this:

How do you get Gray Davis to change his position on an issue?

Tell him the check bounced.

It looks like this site is run by supporters of Class-A moron Bill Simon, who is running on his "business record," but won't let anyone have a meaningful look at his books...which is understandable, I guess...I mean, poor Bill Simon is very busy right now dealing with the 78 million dollar judgement against his company...for fraud. No wonder Bush called him "a prudent businessman." He said it with a smirk...but he seems to always have that smirk, so maybe I'm reading too much into it.

D'oh! I said I wouldn't rant and then I went ahead and did it. Dammit.

Boy, Bill Simon or Gray Davis...talk about the evil of two lessers. Talk about bottom feeders. Talk about a hobson's choice.

Did you know there's a saying, "As California goes, so goes the nation?"

Oh, will someone please stop this ride? It's making me sick and I want to get off.

Posted by Wil at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (103)

We all know that I feel very strongly about the need for a 3rd party, and I will end up voting 3rd party this year in my state's governor race.

But the sad truth is, we in California are going to end up with Bill Simon or Gray Davis in our governor's mansion.

Can we stop this ride? It's making me sick and I want to get off.

Now, I can go off on a major rant here, but I won't.

Instead, I just want to share this hilarious link that I saw on memepool this morning: eGray. It made me howl, because there's a joke here in California that goes like this:

How do you get Gray Davis to change his position on an issue?

Tell him the check bounced.

It looks like this site is run by supporters of Class-A moron Bill Simon, who is running on his "business record," but won't let anyone have a meaningful look at his books...which is understandable, I guess...I mean, poor Bill Simon is very busy right now dealing with the 78 million dollar judgement against his company...for fraud. No wonder Bush called him "a prudent businessman." He said it with a smirk...but he seems to always have that smirk, so maybe I'm reading too much into it.

D'oh! I said I wouldn't rant and then I went ahead and did it. Dammit.

Boy, Bill Simon or Gray Davis...talk about the evil of two lessers. Talk about bottom feeders. Talk about a hobson's choice.

Did you know there's a saying, "As California goes, so goes the nation?"

Oh, will someone please stop this ride? It's making me sick and I want to get off.

Posted by Wil at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (103)

We all know that I feel very strongly about the need for a 3rd party, and I will end up voting 3rd party this year in my state's governor race.

But the sad truth is, we in California are going to end up with Bill Simon or Gray Davis in our governor's mansion.

Can we stop this ride? It's making me sick and I want to get off.

Now, I can go off on a major rant here, but I won't.

Instead, I just want to share this hilarious link that I saw on memepool this morning: eGray. It made me howl, because there's a joke here in California that goes like this:

How do you get Gray Davis to change his position on an issue?

Tell him the check bounced.

It looks like this site is run by supporters of Class-A moron Bill Simon, who is running on his "business record," but won't let anyone have a meaningful look at his books...which is understandable, I guess...I mean, poor Bill Simon is very busy right now dealing with the 78 million dollar judgement against his company...for fraud. No wonder Bush called him "a prudent businessman." He said it with a smirk...but he seems to always have that smirk, so maybe I'm reading too much into it.

D'oh! I said I wouldn't rant and then I went ahead and did it. Dammit.

Boy, Bill Simon or Gray Davis...talk about the evil of two lessers. Talk about bottom feeders. Talk about a hobson's choice.

Did you know there's a saying, "As California goes, so goes the nation?"

Oh, will someone please stop this ride? It's making me sick and I want to get off.

Posted by Wil at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (103) | TrackBacks (2)

This afternoon, you can watch me on TechTV's The Screen Savers. Then tonight, I head into the DNA Lounge in San Francisco to defend your right to free speech and parody on the Internet as I go toe to toe with Barney in a celebrity boxing match brought to you by the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Chilling Effects project.

If you're in or near San Francisco, and your value your rapidly diminishing rights of free speech and free expression, I encourage you to come and check it out.

However, if you can't be there, for whatever reason, here is a copy of the speech I'm giving tonight.
--
"Copyright law is a good idea. It allows actors, writers, and musicians to create and own intellectual property, and hopefully derive a living from their creations.

As an actor and writer, I have a personal stake in making sure that Copyright law is enforced. If I can't own the works I create, then I can't feed my family.

The music labels, publishing houses and studios who release our creative works would have you believe that unless we strengthen copyright laws, their clever euphemism for eroding your rights to parody and free expression, all artists will suffer.

Don't you believe them. As a negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild, I have firsthand experience with these men who claim to care so greatly for artists, and I call shenanigans. The greatest danger to musicians is not Gnutella. It is the label. The greatest danger to actors and film makers is not DeCSS. It is the studio. These corporate masters care little for the artists who are filling their 4 car garages with new Porsches and filling their private jets with fuel and "hostesses."

What they do care about is controlling how you listen to music, or watch movies, and, increasingly, how you discuss and react to our creations.

Copyright law was best described as "a balance between expression that the owners can control and expression that is left open to the commons."

Right now we are facing the complete destruction of that delicate balance. Corporations, and their congressional lap dogs, are doing everything in their power to ensure that the "expression left open to the commons" is forever removed, leaving only "expression the owners can control."

That is a truly terrifying statement, which bears repeating: "expression only the owners can control."

Do you want your freedom of expression controlled by a studio, record label, or multi-national corporation? Do you want Sony's goons kicking in your door because you dare call Shakira SUCKira? Do you want Paramount to have the right to tell you that you can't write that Star Trek fan fiction you've been working on while your wife is asleep? You know, the one where you're the captain and Counselor Troi is giving you a "special session?" Do you want Best Buy telling you that you're a criminal for expressing, on your website, your opinion that, "Best Buy sucks?"

Of course we don't. We all value our freedoms of expression and our rights to satire and parody. Can you imagine a world without "The Onion," or "Satirewire?" Area Men everywhere would be slienced. I don't want to live in that world.

Corporations know that they're wrong. They rightfully fear the Internet, and those of us who know how to use it. They don't like it when we step outside of the narrowly defined, consumer culture they've created for us.

They have seen "expression left open to the commons" running counter to "expression that the owners can control," and rather than respect our rights, they are working feverishly to destroy that all-too-delicate balance.

Corporations regularly abuse copyright law to silence dissent. Best Buy, Wal*Mart and Starbucks have all sent Cease and Desist letters to angry consumers who feel that they've been ripped off, and, like me, taken their case to the public via the Internet.

So they are shoving money at congress, and sending lawyers after us.

Our fundamental rights are under attack by a terrified cabal of corporate monsters, who have bought and paid for the DMCA and CARP, and I say that the erosion of our rights stops right here, right now.

I will continue to parody public figures and cherished icons.

I will state, on my website, in 100 point flashing red type on a blue background: "Barney sucks! Best Buy sucks! Sony Sucks! Microsoft sucks, Bill Gates is the anti-Christ and John Ashcroft can kiss my ass!"

I will promote artist's rights. I will educate, enlighten, and empower. I will write, call, FAX and email congress.

Copyright Law is not a tool of repression granted to an unaccountable corporation by a corrupt congress at the expense of an ignorant public.

It exists to protect and promote artists. Don't ever forget that.

Tonight, we are ignorant no longer, and as ignorance goes, so goes complacency. The EFF has created an online library where you can research your rights, at chillingeffects.org. Get online, get educated and get involved.

Individually, we can get angry. Together, we can, and will, make a difference."

Posted by Wil at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (151) | TrackBacks (1)

This afternoon, you can watch me on TechTV's The Screen Savers. Then tonight, I head into the DNA Lounge in San Francisco to defend your right to free speech and parody on the Internet as I go toe to toe with Barney in a celebrity boxing match brought to you by the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Chilling Effects project.

If you're in or near San Francisco, and your value your rapidly diminishing rights of free speech and free expression, I encourage you to come and check it out.

However, if you can't be there, for whatever reason, here is a copy of the speech I'm giving tonight.
--
"Copyright law is a good idea. It allows actors, writers, and musicians to create and own intellectual property, and hopefully derive a living from their creations.

As an actor and writer, I have a personal stake in making sure that Copyright law is enforced. If I can't own the works I create, then I can't feed my family.

The music labels, publishing houses and studios who release our creative works would have you believe that unless we strengthen copyright laws, their clever euphemism for eroding your rights to parody and free expression, all artists will suffer.

Don't you believe them. As a negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild, I have firsthand experience with these men who claim to care so greatly for artists, and I call shenanigans. The greatest danger to musicians is not Gnutella. It is the label. The greatest danger to actors and film makers is not DeCSS. It is the studio. These corporate masters care little for the artists who are filling their 4 car garages with new Porsches and filling their private jets with fuel and "hostesses."

What they do care about is controlling how you listen to music, or watch movies, and, increasingly, how you discuss and react to our creations.

Copyright law was best described as "a balance between expression that the owners can control and expression that is left open to the commons."

Right now we are facing the complete destruction of that delicate balance. Corporations, and their congressional lap dogs, are doing everything in their power to ensure that the "expression left open to the commons" is forever removed, leaving only "expression the owners can control."

That is a truly terrifying statement, which bears repeating: "expression only the owners can control."

Do you want your freedom of expression controlled by a studio, record label, or multi-national corporation? Do you want Sony's goons kicking in your door because you dare call Shakira SUCKira? Do you want Paramount to have the right to tell you that you can't write that Star Trek fan fiction you've been working on while your wife is asleep? You know, the one where you're the captain and Counselor Troi is giving you a "special session?" Do you want Best Buy telling you that you're a criminal for expressing, on your website, your opinion that, "Best Buy sucks?"

Of course we don't. We all value our freedoms of expression and our rights to satire and parody. Can you imagine a world without "The Onion," or "Satirewire?" Area Men everywhere would be slienced. I don't want to live in that world.

Corporations know that they're wrong. They rightfully fear the Internet, and those of us who know how to use it. They don't like it when we step outside of the narrowly defined, consumer culture they've created for us.

They have seen "expression left open to the commons" running counter to "expression that the owners can control," and rather than respect our rights, they are working feverishly to destroy that all-too-delicate balance.

Corporations regularly abuse copyright law to silence dissent. Best Buy, Wal*Mart and Starbucks have all sent Cease and Desist letters to angry consumers who feel that they've been ripped off, and, like me, taken their case to the public via the Internet.

So they are shoving money at congress, and sending lawyers after us.

Our fundamental rights are under attack by a terrified cabal of corporate monsters, who have bought and paid for the DMCA and CARP, and I say that the erosion of our rights stops right here, right now.

I will continue to parody public figures and cherished icons.

I will state, on my website, in 100 point flashing red type on a blue background: "Barney sucks! Best Buy sucks! Sony Sucks! Microsoft sucks, Bill Gates is the anti-Christ and John Ashcroft can kiss my ass!"

I will promote artist's rights. I will educate, enlighten, and empower. I will write, call, FAX and email congress.

Copyright Law is not a tool of repression granted to an unaccountable corporation by a corrupt congress at the expense of an ignorant public.

It exists to protect and promote artists. Don't ever forget that.

Tonight, we are ignorant no longer, and as ignorance goes, so goes complacency. The EFF has created an online library where you can research your rights, at chillingeffects.org. Get online, get educated and get involved.

Individually, we can get angry. Together, we can, and will, make a difference."

Posted by Wil at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (151) | TrackBacks (1)

This afternoon, you can watch me on TechTV's The Screen Savers. Then tonight, I head into the DNA Lounge in San Francisco to defend your right to free speech and parody on the Internet as I go toe to toe with Barney in a celebrity boxing match brought to you by the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Chilling Effects project.

If you're in or near San Francisco, and your value your rapidly diminishing rights of free speech and free expression, I encourage you to come and check it out.

However, if you can't be there, for whatever reason, here is a copy of the speech I'm giving tonight.
--
"Copyright law is a good idea. It allows actors, writers, and musicians to create and own intellectual property, and hopefully derive a living from their creations.

As an actor and writer, I have a personal stake in making sure that Copyright law is enforced. If I can't own the works I create, then I can't feed my family.

The music labels, publishing houses and studios who release our creative works would have you believe that unless we strengthen copyright laws, their clever euphemism for eroding your rights to parody and free expression, all artists will suffer.

Don't you believe them. As a negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild, I have firsthand experience with these men who claim to care so greatly for artists, and I call shenanigans. The greatest danger to musicians is not Gnutella. It is the label. The greatest danger to actors and film makers is not DeCSS. It is the studio. These corporate masters care little for the artists who are filling their 4 car garages with new Porsches and filling their private jets with fuel and "hostesses."

What they do care about is controlling how you listen to music, or watch movies, and, increasingly, how you discuss and react to our creations.

Copyright law was best described as "a balance between expression that the owners can control and expression that is left open to the commons."

Right now we are facing the complete destruction of that delicate balance. Corporations, and their congressional lap dogs, are doing everything in their power to ensure that the "expression left open to the commons" is forever removed, leaving only "expression the owners can control."

That is a truly terrifying statement, which bears repeating: "expression only the owners can control."

Do you want your freedom of expression controlled by a studio, record label, or multi-national corporation? Do you want Sony's goons kicking in your door because you dare call Shakira SUCKira? Do you want Paramount to have the right to tell you that you can't write that Star Trek fan fiction you've been working on while your wife is asleep? You know, the one where you're the captain and Counselor Troi is giving you a "special session?" Do you want Best Buy telling you that you're a criminal for expressing, on your website, your opinion that, "Best Buy sucks?"

Of course we don't. We all value our freedoms of expression and our rights to satire and parody. Can you imagine a world without "The Onion," or "Satirewire?" Area Men everywhere would be slienced. I don't want to live in that world.

Corporations know that they're wrong. They rightfully fear the Internet, and those of us who know how to use it. They don't like it when we step outside of the narrowly defined, consumer culture they've created for us.

They have seen "expression left open to the commons" running counter to "expression that the owners can control," and rather than respect our rights, they are working feverishly to destroy that all-too-delicate balance.

Corporations regularly abuse copyright law to silence dissent. Best Buy, Wal*Mart and Starbucks have all sent Cease and Desist letters to angry consumers who feel that they've been ripped off, and, like me, taken their case to the public via the Internet.

So they are shoving money at congress, and sending lawyers after us.

Our fundamental rights are under attack by a terrified cabal of corporate monsters, who have bought and paid for the DMCA and CARP, and I say that the erosion of our rights stops right here, right now.

I will continue to parody public figures and cherished icons.

I will state, on my website, in 100 point flashing red type on a blue background: "Barney sucks! Best Buy sucks! Sony Sucks! Microsoft sucks, Bill Gates is the anti-Christ and John Ashcroft can kiss my ass!"

I will promote artist's rights. I will educate, enlighten, and empower. I will write, call, FAX and email congress.

Copyright Law is not a tool of repression granted to an unaccountable corporation by a corrupt congress at the expense of an ignorant public.

It exists to protect and promote artists. Don't ever forget that.

Tonight, we are ignorant no longer, and as ignorance goes, so goes complacency. The EFF has created an online library where you can research your rights, at chillingeffects.org. Get online, get educated and get involved.

Individually, we can get angry. Together, we can, and will, make a difference."

Posted by Wil at 07:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (151) | TrackBacks (1)

I've been asked my more than one person to respond to the Open Letter to America, which is currently burning up the internet so fast, you'd think it was written by rtm.

I am reminded of a time in my own life when I got a letter from someone I really cared about, telling me what I refused to tell myself: I was an asshole.

Set the wayback machine circa 1988 or 1989. I am on top of the world. I travel in limos and fly first class to events where hundreds and sometimes thousands of people scream for me. Everywhere I look, I see my face staring back at me from Teen Cheese and Non-Threatening Boys magazines. I am getting more fan mail than anyone else at Paramount.

I am also desperately unhappy.

===

In the summer of 1988 or 89, I had this huge crush on a girl from school. She was really beautiful, sexy, and fun to be with.

We dated a few times, hung out a lot, and I was really falling for her. Then one day she stopped returning my calls, and coming over.

I was crushed. I didn't understand what had happened.

Then one morning I got a letter from her. In it, she told me, as delicately as possible, that she just couldn't be around me any more. I was arrogant, rude, ungrateful for what I had, and I treated her like property. I was demanding, overbearing, unwilling to listen to or respect other people's opinions. I was a dick, an ass, a jerk. She described to me a person I wouldn't ever want to sit next to on a bench, much less be.

I was stunned. I took the letter to my best friend Darin, and showed it to him, looking for comfort. He'd help me feel better about this frigid bitch, I thought.

When he was done reading it, he asked me what I thought. I declared, with righteous indignation, that she "didn't know what the fuck she was talking about", and that she could "fuck off, because it was bullshit."

Darin looked at me, and he said, gently, "Wil, you should read it again, because she's right."

I looked at him, he looked back at me. This was not the reaction I was expecting.

"What?" I asked, wondering if maybe I'd brought the wrong letter.

"[Her name] wrote you this letter because she cares about you, and she doesn't like what you've become. Frankly, none of your friends do. So you can read it again, and take it to heart, or you can blow it off, and continue to alienate yourself from everyone who cares about you, including me."

I really respected Darin. He was (is) the most tolerant, patient, loyal, honest person I knew (know). His words, added to those I held in my now-quaking hands were a Rosetta stone. Everything I didn't like about myself but was unwilling to address was all on those 3 sheets of hand-written 8x10 spiral-bound notebook paper, translated by my best friend into language I could understand.

A door was opened in that moment, and I had a choice to make: walk through and face myself, or ignore it and walk past.

I walked through, and on that day I began the process of re-evaluating my life, my priorities, and most importantly my attitude. It was scary, it was uncertain, it was vital. It was a long process, taking nearly 6 years, but it started that day.

People ask me all the time why I haven't ended up dead or drug-addicted, or in trouble in the law. The answer is still written on those sheets of paper, long-lost but not forgotten.

To this day I carry more than a little bit of guilt for the way I treated her. I've been able to apologize to everyone else who I've wronged in my life, but never to her. Maybe she'll read this and hear me say "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

So, back to the Open Letter. Do I agree with all of it? No. I think some of it is wildly off-base, and I think the message would be listened to by more people who need to hear it if it wasn't so inflammatory.

On the other hand, I think that America has an opportunity to walk through an open door, and take a long hard look at ourselves. The simple fact is, America, most of the world really doesn't like us. We're arrogant, irresponsible, and unaccountable. We loudly an constantly remind the world that we are a Superpower...well, with great power comes great responsibility, right?

The great thing about America is that We The People have a voice, and the louder that voice, the more insistent that voice, the harder it is to silence.

Let's raise our voice, and walk through this open door. It's scary. It is uncertain, but it is vital that we do. It will be a long process, but we can do it.

I'll take the first step, with this Thought for Today:

"If you succeed through violence at the expense of other's rights and welfare, you have not solved the problem, but only created the seeds for another."

Posted by Wil at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (201)

I've been asked my more than one person to respond to the Open Letter to America, which is currently burning up the internet so fast, you'd think it was written by rtm.

I am reminded of a time in my own life when I got a letter from someone I really cared about, telling me what I refused to tell myself: I was an asshole.

Set the wayback machine circa 1988 or 1989. I am on top of the world. I travel in limos and fly first class to events where hundreds and sometimes thousands of people scream for me. Everywhere I look, I see my face staring back at me from Teen Cheese and Non-Threatening Boys magazines. I am getting more fan mail than anyone else at Paramount.

I am also desperately unhappy.

===

In the summer of 1988 or 89, I had this huge crush on a girl from school. She was really beautiful, sexy, and fun to be with.

We dated a few times, hung out a lot, and I was really falling for her. Then one day she stopped returning my calls, and coming over.

I was crushed. I didn't understand what had happened.

Then one morning I got a letter from her. In it, she told me, as delicately as possible, that she just couldn't be around me any more. I was arrogant, rude, ungrateful for what I had, and I treated her like property. I was demanding, overbearing, unwilling to listen to or respect other people's opinions. I was a dick, an ass, a jerk. She described to me a person I wouldn't ever want to sit next to on a bench, much less be.

I was stunned. I took the letter to my best friend Darin, and showed it to him, looking for comfort. He'd help me feel better about this frigid bitch, I thought.

When he was done reading it, he asked me what I thought. I declared, with righteous indignation, that she "didn't know what the fuck she was talking about", and that she could "fuck off, because it was bullshit."

Darin looked at me, and he said, gently, "Wil, you should read it again, because she's right."

I looked at him, he looked back at me. This was not the reaction I was expecting.

"What?" I asked, wondering if maybe I'd brought the wrong letter.

"[Her name] wrote you this letter because she cares about you, and she doesn't like what you've become. Frankly, none of your friends do. So you can read it again, and take it to heart, or you can blow it off, and continue to alienate yourself from everyone who cares about you, including me."

I really respected Darin. He was (is) the most tolerant, patient, loyal, honest person I knew (know). His words, added to those I held in my now-quaking hands were a Rosetta stone. Everything I didn't like about myself but was unwilling to address was all on those 3 sheets of hand-written 8x10 spiral-bound notebook paper, translated by my best friend into language I could understand.

A door was opened in that moment, and I had a choice to make: walk through and face myself, or ignore it and walk past.

I walked through, and on that day I began the process of re-evaluating my life, my priorities, and most importantly my attitude. It was scary, it was uncertain, it was vital. It was a long process, taking nearly 6 years, but it started that day.

People ask me all the time why I haven't ended up dead or drug-addicted, or in trouble in the law. The answer is still written on those sheets of paper, long-lost but not forgotten.

To this day I carry more than a little bit of guilt for the way I treated her. I've been able to apologize to everyone else who I've wronged in my life, but never to her. Maybe she'll read this and hear me say "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

So, back to the Open Letter. Do I agree with all of it? No. I think some of it is wildly off-base, and I think the message would be listened to by more people who need to hear it if it wasn't so inflammatory.

On the other hand, I think that America has an opportunity to walk through an open door, and take a long hard look at ourselves. The simple fact is, America, most of the world really doesn't like us. We're arrogant, irresponsible, and unaccountable. We loudly an constantly remind the world that we are a Superpower...well, with great power comes great responsibility, right?

The great thing about America is that We The People have a voice, and the louder that voice, the more insistent that voice, the harder it is to silence.

Let's raise our voice, and walk through this open door. It's scary. It is uncertain, but it is vital that we do. It will be a long process, but we can do it.

I'll take the first step, with this Thought for Today:

"If you succeed through violence at the expense of other's rights and welfare, you have not solved the problem, but only created the seeds for another."

Posted by Wil at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (201)

I've been asked my more than one person to respond to the Open Letter to America, which is currently burning up the internet so fast, you'd think it was written by rtm.

I am reminded of a time in my own life when I got a letter from someone I really cared about, telling me what I refused to tell myself: I was an asshole.

Set the wayback machine circa 1988 or 1989. I am on top of the world. I travel in limos and fly first class to events where hundreds and sometimes thousands of people scream for me. Everywhere I look, I see my face staring back at me from Teen Cheese and Non-Threatening Boys magazines. I am getting more fan mail than anyone else at Paramount.

I am also desperately unhappy.

===

In the summer of 1988 or 89, I had this huge crush on a girl from school. She was really beautiful, sexy, and fun to be with.

We dated a few times, hung out a lot, and I was really falling for her. Then one day she stopped returning my calls, and coming over.

I was crushed. I didn't understand what had happened.

Then one morning I got a letter from her. In it, she told me, as delicately as possible, that she just couldn't be around me any more. I was arrogant, rude, ungrateful for what I had, and I treated her like property. I was demanding, overbearing, unwilling to listen to or respect other people's opinions. I was a dick, an ass, a jerk. She described to me a person I wouldn't ever want to sit next to on a bench, much less be.

I was stunned. I took the letter to my best friend Darin, and showed it to him, looking for comfort. He'd help me feel better about this frigid bitch, I thought.

When he was done reading it, he asked me what I thought. I declared, with righteous indignation, that she "didn't know what the fuck she was talking about", and that she could "fuck off, because it was bullshit."

Darin looked at me, and he said, gently, "Wil, you should read it again, because she's right."

I looked at him, he looked back at me. This was not the reaction I was expecting.

"What?" I asked, wondering if maybe I'd brought the wrong letter.

"[Her name] wrote you this letter because she cares about you, and she doesn't like what you've become. Frankly, none of your friends do. So you can read it again, and take it to heart, or you can blow it off, and continue to alienate yourself from everyone who cares about you, including me."

I really respected Darin. He was (is) the most tolerant, patient, loyal, honest person I knew (know). His words, added to those I held in my now-quaking hands were a Rosetta stone. Everything I didn't like about myself but was unwilling to address was all on those 3 sheets of hand-written 8x10 spiral-bound notebook paper, translated by my best friend into language I could understand.

A door was opened in that moment, and I had a choice to make: walk through and face myself, or ignore it and walk past.

I walked through, and on that day I began the process of re-evaluating my life, my priorities, and most importantly my attitude. It was scary, it was uncertain, it was vital. It was a long process, taking nearly 6 years, but it started that day.

People ask me all the time why I haven't ended up dead or drug-addicted, or in trouble in the law. The answer is still written on those sheets of paper, long-lost but not forgotten.

To this day I carry more than a little bit of guilt for the way I treated her. I've been able to apologize to everyone else who I've wronged in my life, but never to her. Maybe she'll read this and hear me say "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

So, back to the Open Letter. Do I agree with all of it? No. I think some of it is wildly off-base, and I think the message would be listened to by more people who need to hear it if it wasn't so inflammatory.

On the other hand, I think that America has an opportunity to walk through an open door, and take a long hard look at ourselves. The simple fact is, America, most of the world really doesn't like us. We're arrogant, irresponsible, and unaccountable. We loudly an constantly remind the world that we are a Superpower...well, with great power comes great responsibility, right?

The great thing about America is that We The People have a voice, and the louder that voice, the more insistent that voice, the harder it is to silence.

Let's raise our voice, and walk through this open door. It's scary. It is uncertain, but it is vital that we do. It will be a long process, but we can do it.

I'll take the first step, with this Thought for Today:

"If you succeed through violence at the expense of other's rights and welfare, you have not solved the problem, but only created the seeds for another."

Posted by Wil at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (201)

When I heard about the US Government's TIPS program this morning, I nearly choked on my breakfast. I've been struggling with my outrage and astonishment at this program all day, trying to compose myself long enough to write about it, but my friend Tom Tomorrow has managed to put into words exactly what I am feeling, far more eloquently than I ever could, so I'll freely steal it from him:

"Facism is a term thrown about too freely, and I don't believe we're at a point that its use is justified--but an oppressive and intrusive government, however you want to label it, does not ride into town wearing the uniforms and waving the flags of recognizable evil. It creeps in slowly, wrapped in the flag of your own country, and speaking the language of patriotism and duty, and at each step along the way, its actions seem plausible and defensible--until one morning you wake up and realize the gulf between the way things were and the way things are has grown so wide that there is no going back. Sinclair Lewis tried to point this out more than a half century ago, and given the current climate, It Can't Happen Here is well worth re-reading (or reading for the first time, if you've never come across it before)."

Posted by Wil at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (148)

When I heard about the US Government's TIPS program this morning, I nearly choked on my breakfast. I've been struggling with my outrage and astonishment at this program all day, trying to compose myself long enough to write about it, but my friend Tom Tomorrow has managed to put into words exactly what I am feeling, far more eloquently than I ever could, so I'll freely steal it from him:

"Facism is a term thrown about too freely, and I don't believe we're at a point that its use is justified--but an oppressive and intrusive government, however you want to label it, does not ride into town wearing the uniforms and waving the flags of recognizable evil. It creeps in slowly, wrapped in the flag of your own country, and speaking the language of patriotism and duty, and at each step along the way, its actions seem plausible and defensible--until one morning you wake up and realize the gulf between the way things were and the way things are has grown so wide that there is no going back. Sinclair Lewis tried to point this out more than a half century ago, and given the current climate, It Can't Happen Here is well worth re-reading (or reading for the first time, if you've never come across it before)."

Posted by Wil at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (148)

When I heard about the US Government's TIPS program this morning, I nearly choked on my breakfast. I've been struggling with my outrage and astonishment at this program all day, trying to compose myself long enough to write about it, but my friend Tom Tomorrow has managed to put into words exactly what I am feeling, far more eloquently than I ever could, so I'll freely steal it from him:

"Facism is a term thrown about too freely, and I don't believe we're at a point that its use is justified--but an oppressive and intrusive government, however you want to label it, does not ride into town wearing the uniforms and waving the flags of recognizable evil. It creeps in slowly, wrapped in the flag of your own country, and speaking the language of patriotism and duty, and at each step along the way, its actions seem plausible and defensible--until one morning you wake up and realize the gulf between the way things were and the way things are has grown so wide that there is no going back. Sinclair Lewis tried to point this out more than a half century ago, and given the current climate, It Can't Happen Here is well worth re-reading (or reading for the first time, if you've never come across it before)."

Posted by Wil at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (148)

If you don't like reading the political stuff, you may rather read a cool story about Pac Man today. :-)

Continue reading "Think" »

Posted by Wil at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (107)

If you don't like reading the political stuff, you may rather read a cool story about Pac Man today. :-)

Continue reading "Think" »

Posted by Wil at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (107)

If you don't like reading the political stuff, you may rather read a cool story about Pac Man today. :-)

Continue reading "Think" »

Posted by Wil at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (107)

Metafilter was the first to share this story from the democratic underground. It seems that Bush was speaking at Ohio State University's graduation. The students were told that they were expected to provide a "thunderous" ovation and if they disrupted the ceremonies in any way, they'd be arrested.

That's right. At a public college, the students would be arrested and expelled if they expressed their unhappiness with George W. Bush.

One student, who exercised his constitutionally-protected 1st amendment right of free speech, and turned his back on Bush tells his story here.

Let's get something straight, because I'm really tired of being told to "move to Afghanistan" because I'm "anti-American": If we allow the Bush Administration to goose-step all over our civil rights, and we sit back quietly while Ashcroft dances all over the constitution, we no longer have a country worth fighting for.

Things like this transcend political ideology, IMHO. It doesn't matter if it's the Democrats or the Republicans who are currently in charge.

The thing that is so amazing about the USA is that I can (as of June 15, 2002) stand here, and loudly proclaim, "I DO NOT SUPPORT GEORGE W. BUSH, OR HIS POLICIES!!," without fear of reprisal. When graduating students are subject to ARREST for an action like turning their backs on a person who they don't respect, we have a very serious problem.

I hope that everyone can take off their various political mantles for a moment, and see this for what it is: the unconstitutional silencing of dissidents.

McCarthy would be so proud.

Posted by Wil at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (228)

Metafilter was the first to share this story from the democratic underground. It seems that Bush was speaking at Ohio State University's graduation. The students were told that they were expected to provide a "thunderous" ovation and if they disrupted the ceremonies in any way, they'd be arrested.

That's right. At a public college, the students would be arrested and expelled if they expressed their unhappiness with George W. Bush.

One student, who exercised his constitutionally-protected 1st amendment right of free speech, and turned his back on Bush tells his story here.

Let's get something straight, because I'm really tired of being told to "move to Afghanistan" because I'm "anti-American": If we allow the Bush Administration to goose-step all over our civil rights, and we sit back quietly while Ashcroft dances all over the constitution, we no longer have a country worth fighting for.

Things like this transcend political ideology, IMHO. It doesn't matter if it's the Democrats or the Republicans who are currently in charge.

The thing that is so amazing about the USA is that I can (as of June 15, 2002) stand here, and loudly proclaim, "I DO NOT SUPPORT GEORGE W. BUSH, OR HIS POLICIES!!," without fear of reprisal. When graduating students are subject to ARREST for an action like turning their backs on a person who they don't respect, we have a very serious problem.

I hope that everyone can take off their various political mantles for a moment, and see this for what it is: the unconstitutional silencing of dissidents.

McCarthy would be so proud.

Posted by Wil at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (228)

Metafilter was the first to share this story from the democratic underground. It seems that Bush was speaking at Ohio State University's graduation. The students were told that they were expected to provide a "thunderous" ovation and if they disrupted the ceremonies in any way, they'd be arrested.

That's right. At a public college, the students would be arrested and expelled if they expressed their unhappiness with George W. Bush.

One student, who exercised his constitutionally-protected 1st amendment right of free speech, and turned his back on Bush tells his story here.

Let's get something straight, because I'm really tired of being told to "move to Afghanistan" because I'm "anti-American": If we allow the Bush Administration to goose-step all over our civil rights, and we sit back quietly while Ashcroft dances all over the constitution, we no longer have a country worth fighting for.

Things like this transcend political ideology, IMHO. It doesn't matter if it's the Democrats or the Republicans who are currently in charge.

The thing that is so amazing about the USA is that I can (as of June 15, 2002) stand here, and loudly proclaim, "I DO NOT SUPPORT GEORGE W. BUSH, OR HIS POLICIES!!," without fear of reprisal. When graduating students are subject to ARREST for an action like turning their backs on a person who they don't respect, we have a very serious problem.

I hope that everyone can take off their various political mantles for a moment, and see this for what it is: the unconstitutional silencing of dissidents.

McCarthy would be so proud.

Posted by Wil at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (228)

I think it is important that everyone reads this.

If anyone sees this in an American paper, please let me know.

Posted by Wil at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (278)

I think it is important that everyone reads this.

If anyone sees this in an American paper, please let me know.

Posted by Wil at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (278)

I think it is important that everyone reads this.

If anyone sees this in an American paper, please let me know.

Posted by Wil at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (278)

I swear to god.

I hope these useless motherfuckers from Enron die a slow and agonizing death.

We all knew this was going on, and we all screamed about it last year, we all knew that this deregulation of the power industry in California(pdf) was a BAD IDEA but those incompetent morons in the California legislature and that mouthbreather in the governor's mansion didn't do a damn thing about it.

You know what makes me so goddamn angry? "Kenny Boy" is such a close friend of "President" Bush, and Enron has bought so many members of Congress (You know, those people who are supposed to represent us in government?) not a damn thing will happen to him.

Me, and thousands of my fellow Californians will be paying for his hubris for DECADES, and he is going to walk.

Grrr.

If you're interested, there's lots more Enron info here, and here.

*whew*

Sorry. Got off on a bit of a rant there.

Hey, it happens.

Posted by Wil at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (129)

I swear to god.

I hope these useless motherfuckers from Enron die a slow and agonizing death.

We all knew this was going on, and we all screamed about it last year, we all knew that this deregulation of the power industry in California(pdf) was a BAD IDEA but those incompetent morons in the California legislature and that mouthbreather in the governor's mansion didn't do a damn thing about it.

You know what makes me so goddamn angry? "Kenny Boy" is such a close friend of "President" Bush, and Enron has bought so many members of Congress (You know, those people who are supposed to represent us in government?) not a damn thing will happen to him.

Me, and thousands of my fellow Californians will be paying for his hubris for DECADES, and he is going to walk.

Grrr.

If you're interested, there's lots more Enron info here, and here.

*whew*

Sorry. Got off on a bit of a rant there.

Hey, it happens.

Posted by Wil at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (129)

I swear to god.

I hope these useless motherfuckers from Enron die a slow and agonizing death.

We all knew this was going on, and we all screamed about it last year, we all knew that this deregulation of the power industry in California(pdf) was a BAD IDEA but those incompetent morons in the California legislature and that mouthbreather in the governor's mansion didn't do a damn thing about it.

You know what makes me so goddamn angry? "Kenny Boy" is such a close friend of "President" Bush, and Enron has bought so many members of Congress (You know, those people who are supposed to represent us in government?) not a damn thing will happen to him.

Me, and thousands of my fellow Californians will be paying for his hubris for DECADES, and he is going to walk.

Grrr.

If you're interested, there's lots more Enron info here, and here.

*whew*

Sorry. Got off on a bit of a rant there.

Hey, it happens.

Posted by Wil at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (129)

If you're a SAG member, please "read more" below, for an important letter from Richard Dreyfuss regarding the SAG/ATA agreement, which is currently being considered by the membership of the union.

I am completely opposed to the agreement, and could go on, at length, about what a bad deal this is for actors, and how my guild, under the current "leadership" is poised to blow it, yet again, but Richard says it much more clearly than I ever could.

Continue reading "Important Letter to SAG members" »

Posted by Wil at 05:49 PM | Permalink

If you're a SAG member, please "read more" below, for an important letter from Richard Dreyfuss regarding the SAG/ATA agreement, which is currently being considered by the membership of the union.

I am completely opposed to the agreement, and could go on, at length, about what a bad deal this is for actors, and how my guild, under the current "leadership" is poised to blow it, yet again, but Richard says it much more clearly than I ever could.

Continue reading "Important Letter to SAG members" »

Posted by Wil at 05:49 PM | Permalink

If you're a SAG member, please "read more" below, for an important letter from Richard Dreyfuss regarding the SAG/ATA agreement, which is currently being considered by the membership of the union.

I am completely opposed to the agreement, and could go on, at length, about what a bad deal this is for actors, and how my guild, under the current "leadership" is poised to blow it, yet again, but Richard says it much more clearly than I ever could.

Continue reading "Important Letter to SAG members" »

Posted by Wil at 05:49 PM | Permalink

This is a public service announcement...with guitar!

Tomorrow is our primary election in California. This is just a reminder to all registered California voters to get out there, and make your voice heard!

Personally, I think the only thing worse than not voting at all, is voting without being well-informed, and if you'd like to get some non-partisan info on the various candidates and ballot measures, I'd suggest looking here, and here.

Posted by Wil at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)

This is a public service announcement...with guitar!

Tomorrow is our primary election in California. This is just a reminder to all registered California voters to get out there, and make your voice heard!

Personally, I think the only thing worse than not voting at all, is voting without being well-informed, and if you'd like to get some non-partisan info on the various candidates and ballot measures, I'd suggest looking here, and here.

Posted by Wil at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)

This is a public service announcement...with guitar!

Tomorrow is our primary election in California. This is just a reminder to all registered California voters to get out there, and make your voice heard!

Personally, I think the only thing worse than not voting at all, is voting without being well-informed, and if you'd like to get some non-partisan info on the various candidates and ballot measures, I'd suggest looking here, and here.

Posted by Wil at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)

From Salon:

"Missouri is determined to execute Joseph Amrine for murder even though every prosecution witness and the jury foreman now say he's innocent and new witnesses point to another man. Why? A federal law says the evidence came in too late."

The whole story is here.

Please read this, and if you feel that this man may be innocent, contact the governor of Missouri, Bob Holden, asking him to grant a pardon, or at the very least a new trial, using the following contact information:

Governor's Office In Jefferson City
Missouri Capitol Building, Room 218
PO Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0720
Telephone: (573) 751-3222
FAX: (573) 751-1495

Posted by Wil at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (80)

From Salon:

"Missouri is determined to execute Joseph Amrine for murder even though every prosecution witness and the jury foreman now say he's innocent and new witnesses point to another man. Why? A federal law says the evidence came in too late."

The whole story is here.

Please read this, and if you feel that this man may be innocent, contact the governor of Missouri, Bob Holden, asking him to grant a pardon, or at the very least a new trial, using the following contact information:

Governor's Office In Jefferson City
Missouri Capitol Building, Room 218
PO Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0720
Telephone: (573) 751-3222
FAX: (573) 751-1495

Posted by Wil at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (80)

From Salon:

"Missouri is determined to execute Joseph Amrine for murder even though every prosecution witness and the jury foreman now say he's innocent and new witnesses point to another man. Why? A federal law says the evidence came in too late."

The whole story is here.

Please read this, and if you feel that this man may be innocent, contact the governor of Missouri, Bob Holden, asking him to grant a pardon, or at the very least a new trial, using the following contact information:

Governor's Office In Jefferson City
Missouri Capitol Building, Room 218
PO Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0720
Telephone: (573) 751-3222
FAX: (573) 751-1495

Posted by Wil at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (80)

This makes me sick. Just plain sick. According to a report in the New York Times, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent, civilian Afghan citizens have died in US attacks, during the undeclared war on terror.

Now, let me be clear here, because my posts like this usually bring out the name-callers: I am horrified by, and I am still processing the reality of the terrible, terrible attacks on September 11th. I want very badly for the people who did it to be brought to justice, and pay for what they did, and I want to be sure that things like this don't happen again.

But I don't think that killing innocent people, identified as "collateral damage", is right.

Consider this: the people in the WTC and Pentagon, and on those planes were completely innocent, right? Just people, going through their day. Maybe some of them had left a sleeping spouse, at home, or left their kid at school without a goodbye kiss.

The evil sub-humans who murdered thousands of innocent people didn't have a quarrel with them, personally. Their quarrel is with the leadership and foreign policy of the United States, right? So, from their horribly twisted perspective, the people who died on 9/11: the mothers, sons, infants, fathers, daughters, husbands and wives, were just "collateral damage", right?

NOTE (4:14 PM): Wrong. They were, as has been pointed out, intentional targets. After many notes and emails, I have really reconsidered my thought here: these people who died on 9/11 were intentional targets, murdered by terrorists, and not collateral damage, as I said. I was way, way, way off, and I'm putting foot into mouth. There is a huge difference between a bomb that goes astray, and the intentional targeting of civilians. I'm really glad that people have pointed out my glaring error, and, rather than pride fully insist that I am correct, it's much more important to me to admit that I was wrong.

I guess that my point is that I don't like this concept of "collateral damage", regardless of whose side you're on. I also don't even like the term. It's too antiseptic, and fails to convey the brutal reality. It should be called what it is: The Killing of Innocent Civilians.

Innocent people do not deserve to die, especially because of a conflict that isn't between people, but between nations.

If I, or someone I loved had died on that day, I would not want an Afghan child to die in the pursuit of my, or my loved one's killer.

It also really bothers me that everyone, from the man in the street, to the members of the media, to the leaders in our government, are calling this a war, when congress hasn't declared war. I realize that this is probably pedantic to most people, but I think that the separation of powers is extremely important, and if the cause is just, the President should ask for, and receive from Congress, a declaration of war. Doesn't this bother anyone else? I mean, of course it's a war. But why hasn't it been formally declared? And, while I'm at it, because I'm pretty sure the flames will begin to surge my way, shouldn't the my government take a good, hard look at why the rest of the world hates us so much? I mean, let's get the bad guys, absolutely, but shouldn't we also take a good, honest, fearless look at our foreign policy, and ask ourselves if maybe we need to make some changes?

Let me clarify just a few other things, too: If you're a serviceman or woman, I don't have a problem with you, or the choice you've made to defend our country. It seems that every time I question the morality of a war, or the motives of our leadership, I get flooded with emails and comments from insulted members of the armed forces, and I'd like to head that off, if it's at all possible. The same way that I don't want to be blamed for a lousy episode of TNG, I don't blame you for a war that I don't agree with. I know, a thin comparison, but I think you get my point.

I realize that, in war, civilian deaths are inevitable, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it, and I fear that there are people who will read this story, and it won't bother them a bit that a mother lost a son in our pursuit of the terrorists.

Countless Iraqi civilians died during the Operation Desert Storm, simply because they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and I heard people proclaiming that they deserved it, because they were Iraqi, and therefore automatically supported Saddam. I think that's insane.

So this started out as an indignant post about the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan, but it's turned into some rambling thoughts on the deaths of innocents in any war...I bet I'd get a low grade if I turned this in as a paper, but it's what's on my mind today. So there.

I also realize that most Americans are still reeling over the events of 9/11, and I apologize in advance if my thoughts here offend anyone.

Posted by Wil at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (283)

This makes me sick. Just plain sick. According to a report in the New York Times, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent, civilian Afghan citizens have died in US attacks, during the undeclared war on terror.

Now, let me be clear here, because my posts like this usually bring out the name-callers: I am horrified by, and I am still processing the reality of the terrible, terrible attacks on September 11th. I want very badly for the people who did it to be brought to justice, and pay for what they did, and I want to be sure that things like this don't happen again.

But I don't think that killing innocent people, identified as "collateral damage", is right.

Consider this: the people in the WTC and Pentagon, and on those planes were completely innocent, right? Just people, going through their day. Maybe some of them had left a sleeping spouse, at home, or left their kid at school without a goodbye kiss.

The evil sub-humans who murdered thousands of innocent people didn't have a quarrel with them, personally. Their quarrel is with the leadership and foreign policy of the United States, right? So, from their horribly twisted perspective, the people who died on 9/11: the mothers, sons, infants, fathers, daughters, husbands and wives, were just "collateral damage", right?

NOTE (4:14 PM): Wrong. They were, as has been pointed out, intentional targets. After many notes and emails, I have really reconsidered my thought here: these people who died on 9/11 were intentional targets, murdered by terrorists, and not collateral damage, as I said. I was way, way, way off, and I'm putting foot into mouth. There is a huge difference between a bomb that goes astray, and the intentional targeting of civilians. I'm really glad that people have pointed out my glaring error, and, rather than pride fully insist that I am correct, it's much more important to me to admit that I was wrong.

I guess that my point is that I don't like this concept of "collateral damage", regardless of whose side you're on. I also don't even like the term. It's too antiseptic, and fails to convey the brutal reality. It should be called what it is: The Killing of Innocent Civilians.

Innocent people do not deserve to die, especially because of a conflict that isn't between people, but between nations.

If I, or someone I loved had died on that day, I would not want an Afghan child to die in the pursuit of my, or my loved one's killer.

It also really bothers me that everyone, from the man in the street, to the members of the media, to the leaders in our government, are calling this a war, when congress hasn't declared war. I realize that this is probably pedantic to most people, but I think that the separation of powers is extremely important, and if the cause is just, the President should ask for, and receive from Congress, a declaration of war. Doesn't this bother anyone else? I mean, of course it's a war. But why hasn't it been formally declared? And, while I'm at it, because I'm pretty sure the flames will begin to surge my way, shouldn't the my government take a good, hard look at why the rest of the world hates us so much? I mean, let's get the bad guys, absolutely, but shouldn't we also take a good, honest, fearless look at our foreign policy, and ask ourselves if maybe we need to make some changes?

Let me clarify just a few other things, too: If you're a serviceman or woman, I don't have a problem with you, or the choice you've made to defend our country. It seems that every time I question the morality of a war, or the motives of our leadership, I get flooded with emails and comments from insulted members of the armed forces, and I'd like to head that off, if it's at all possible. The same way that I don't want to be blamed for a lousy episode of TNG, I don't blame you for a war that I don't agree with. I know, a thin comparison, but I think you get my point.

I realize that, in war, civilian deaths are inevitable, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it, and I fear that there are people who will read this story, and it won't bother them a bit that a mother lost a son in our pursuit of the terrorists.

Countless Iraqi civilians died during the Operation Desert Storm, simply because they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and I heard people proclaiming that they deserved it, because they were Iraqi, and therefore automatically supported Saddam. I think that's insane.

So this started out as an indignant post about the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan, but it's turned into some rambling thoughts on the deaths of innocents in any war...I bet I'd get a low grade if I turned this in as a paper, but it's what's on my mind today. So there.

I also realize that most Americans are still reeling over the events of 9/11, and I apologize in advance if my thoughts here offend anyone.

Posted by Wil at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (283)

This makes me sick. Just plain sick. According to a report in the New York Times, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent, civilian Afghan citizens have died in US attacks, during the undeclared war on terror.

Now, let me be clear here, because my posts like this usually bring out the name-callers: I am horrified by, and I am still processing the reality of the terrible, terrible attacks on September 11th. I want very badly for the people who did it to be brought to justice, and pay for what they did, and I want to be sure that things like this don't happen again.

But I don't think that killing innocent people, identified as "collateral damage", is right.

Consider this: the people in the WTC and Pentagon, and on those planes were completely innocent, right? Just people, going through their day. Maybe some of them had left a sleeping spouse, at home, or left their kid at school without a goodbye kiss.

The evil sub-humans who murdered thousands of innocent people didn't have a quarrel with them, personally. Their quarrel is with the leadership and foreign policy of the United States, right? So, from their horribly twisted perspective, the people who died on 9/11: the mothers, sons, infants, fathers, daughters, husbands and wives, were just "collateral damage", right?

NOTE (4:14 PM): Wrong. They were, as has been pointed out, intentional targets. After many notes and emails, I have really reconsidered my thought here: these people who died on 9/11 were intentional targets, murdered by terrorists, and not collateral damage, as I said. I was way, way, way off, and I'm putting foot into mouth. There is a huge difference between a bomb that goes astray, and the intentional targeting of civilians. I'm really glad that people have pointed out my glaring error, and, rather than pride fully insist that I am correct, it's much more important to me to admit that I was wrong.

I guess that my point is that I don't like this concept of "collateral damage", regardless of whose side you're on. I also don't even like the term. It's too antiseptic, and fails to convey the brutal reality. It should be called what it is: The Killing of Innocent Civilians.

Innocent people do not deserve to die, especially because of a conflict that isn't between people, but between nations.

If I, or someone I loved had died on that day, I would not want an Afghan child to die in the pursuit of my, or my loved one's killer.

It also really bothers me that everyone, from the man in the street, to the members of the media, to the leaders in our government, are calling this a war, when congress hasn't declared war. I realize that this is probably pedantic to most people, but I think that the separation of powers is extremely important, and if the cause is just, the President should ask for, and receive from Congress, a declaration of war. Doesn't this bother anyone else? I mean, of course it's a war. But why hasn't it been formally declared? And, while I'm at it, because I'm pretty sure the flames will begin to surge my way, shouldn't the my government take a good, hard look at why the rest of the world hates us so much? I mean, let's get the bad guys, absolutely, but shouldn't we also take a good, honest, fearless look at our foreign policy, and ask ourselves if maybe we need to make some changes?

Let me clarify just a few other things, too: If you're a serviceman or woman, I don't have a problem with you, or the choice you've made to defend our country. It seems that every time I question the morality of a war, or the motives of our leadership, I get flooded with emails and comments from insulted members of the armed forces, and I'd like to head that off, if it's at all possible. The same way that I don't want to be blamed for a lousy episode of TNG, I don't blame you for a war that I don't agree with. I know, a thin comparison, but I think you get my point.

I realize that, in war, civilian deaths are inevitable, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it, and I fear that there are people who will read this story, and it won't bother them a bit that a mother lost a son in our pursuit of the terrorists.

Countless Iraqi civilians died during the Operation Desert Storm, simply because they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and I heard people proclaiming that they deserved it, because they were Iraqi, and therefore automatically supported Saddam. I think that's insane.

So this started out as an indignant post about the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan, but it's turned into some rambling thoughts on the deaths of innocents in any war...I bet I'd get a low grade if I turned this in as a paper, but it's what's on my mind today. So there.

I also realize that most Americans are still reeling over the events of 9/11, and I apologize in advance if my thoughts here offend anyone.

Posted by Wil at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (283)

Roughy, if ever there was a website for you, this is it.

I have been reading this book, The Four Agreements, in my spare time (when I'm not reading computer books, to help make WWDN not suck), and I have really fallen in love with it.

Has anyone else read this book? I really love it, because, while I actively eschew organized religion, I am drawn towards spirituality and philosophies for bettering yourself.

(yes, I cribbed this from my post in the soapbox, but I thought we needed something nice to talk about, after the flame-fest earlier today [grin] Read "more" for a great comment from that post)

Okay, I know this is totally lame, but I didn't watch "The Practice" last night, and I wonder what happened...would someone post it in the comments?

Time for bed. There's some SpongeBob on the way. I promise.

Continue reading "Shut that bloody bazouki player up!" »

Posted by Wil at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (59)

Roughy, if ever there was a website for you, this is it.

I have been reading this book, The Four Agreements, in my spare time (when I'm not reading computer books, to help make WWDN not suck), and I have really fallen in love with it.

Has anyone else read this book? I really love it, because, while I actively eschew organized religion, I am drawn towards spirituality and philosophies for bettering yourself.

(yes, I cribbed this from my post in the soapbox, but I thought we needed something nice to talk about, after the flame-fest earlier today [grin] Read "more" for a great comment from that post)

Okay, I know this is totally lame, but I didn't watch "The Practice" last night, and I wonder what happened...would someone post it in the comments?

Time for bed. There's some SpongeBob on the way. I promise.

Continue reading "Shut that bloody bazouki player up!" »

Posted by Wil at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (59)

Roughy, if ever there was a website for you, this is it.

I have been reading this book, The Four Agreements, in my spare time (when I'm not reading computer books, to help make WWDN not suck), and I have really fallen in love with it.

Has anyone else read this book? I really love it, because, while I actively eschew organized religion, I am drawn towards spirituality and philosophies for bettering yourself.

(yes, I cribbed this from my post in the soapbox, but I thought we needed something nice to talk about, after the flame-fest earlier today [grin] Read "more" for a great comment from that post)

Okay, I know this is totally lame, but I didn't watch "The Practice" last night, and I wonder what happened...would someone post it in the comments?

Time for bed. There's some SpongeBob on the way. I promise.

Continue reading "Shut that bloody bazouki player up!" »

Posted by Wil at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (59)

Hey party peopole!

I'm doing this thing that I think is really, really funny, and cool: I'm sponsoring the "Weblog of the Millennium" in the anti-bloggies!

See, in their rules, the antibloggies clearly state that I'm not even eligible, and since they're anti-, and since WWDN recieved so many bloggies...I just thought it was very funny, and stuff for me to sponsor that category. So you should head on over and nominate some cool sites, that aren't WWDN.

How about that Super Bowl? I missed most of it because I was working, but I'm so glad that New England won...way to go Underdogs!
I did get to see this one commercial, that said that if you use drugs, you're supporting terrorism, which is nice, because I thought that giving 43 million dollars to the Taliban to kill opium poppies was supporting terrorism, but TV learned me good.

Speaking of Emperor Bush, how about that new budget? Yay! Defecit spending is back! We're gonna party like it's 1989! Pick up your Rubik's Cube, and put some shoulder pads in your T-shirt!

I mean, I didn't think Bush could do much better than declaring war on the entire world in his State of the Union address, or trying to sneak in another broadside against women's rights to control their own bodies...but he totally went and did it! That crazy G.W...you never know what he'll do next!

Darnit. I totally have to leave for work now, just as I was getting my sarcasm mojo workin'

I hope everyone has a great day.

Try this: hold a door open for a stranger today. It's a nice thing to do :)

Posted by Wil at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (258)

Hey party peopole!

I'm doing this thing that I think is really, really funny, and cool: I'm sponsoring the "Weblog of the Millennium" in the anti-bloggies!

See, in their rules, the antibloggies clearly state that I'm not even eligible, and since they're anti-, and since WWDN recieved so many bloggies...I just thought it was very funny, and stuff for me to sponsor that category. So you should head on over and nominate some cool sites, that aren't WWDN.

How about that Super Bowl? I missed most of it because I was working, but I'm so glad that New England won...way to go Underdogs!
I did get to see this one commercial, that said that if you use drugs, you're supporting terrorism, which is nice, because I thought that giving 43 million dollars to the Taliban to kill opium poppies was supporting terrorism, but TV learned me good.

Speaking of Emperor Bush, how about that new budget? Yay! Defecit spending is back! We're gonna party like it's 1989! Pick up your Rubik's Cube, and put some shoulder pads in your T-shirt!

I mean, I didn't think Bush could do much better than declaring war on the entire world in his State of the Union address, or trying to sneak in another broadside against women's rights to control their own bodies...but he totally went and did it! That crazy G.W...you never know what he'll do next!

Darnit. I totally have to leave for work now, just as I was getting my sarcasm mojo workin'

I hope everyone has a great day.

Try this: hold a door open for a stranger today. It's a nice thing to do :)

Posted by Wil at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (258)

Hey party peopole!

I'm doing this thing that I think is really, really funny, and cool: I'm sponsoring the "Weblog of the Millennium" in the anti-bloggies!

See, in their rules, the antibloggies clearly state that I'm not even eligible, and since they're anti-, and since WWDN recieved so many bloggies...I just thought it was very funny, and stuff for me to sponsor that category. So you should head on over and nominate some cool sites, that aren't WWDN.

How about that Super Bowl? I missed most of it because I was working, but I'm so glad that New England won...way to go Underdogs!
I did get to see this one commercial, that said that if you use drugs, you're supporting terrorism, which is nice, because I thought that giving 43 million dollars to the Taliban to kill opium poppies was supporting terrorism, but TV learned me good.

Speaking of Emperor Bush, how about that new budget? Yay! Defecit spending is back! We're gonna party like it's 1989! Pick up your Rubik's Cube, and put some shoulder pads in your T-shirt!

I mean, I didn't think Bush could do much better than declaring war on the entire world in his State of the Union address, or trying to sneak in another broadside against women's rights to control their own bodies...but he totally went and did it! That crazy G.W...you never know what he'll do next!

Darnit. I totally have to leave for work now, just as I was getting my sarcasm mojo workin'

I hope everyone has a great day.

Try this: hold a door open for a stranger today. It's a nice thing to do :)

Posted by Wil at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (258)

Today, we in America are observing the birthday of the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I admire Dr. King for many reasons, among them his commitment to nonviolence. In the face of great violence and adversity, he chose a policy of nonviolence to bring about a very necessary change.

I think that Dr. King's words about violence bear repeating, and ring especially true to me, today, given all that is going on in our world:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it... Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Dr. King is one of my heroes, and today, I honor him, and his great legacy, by reprinting a speech he gave, which still moves me to tears when I hear it.

Dr. King delivered this speech on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. It is commonly known as the "I have a dream" speech. Within this speech, Dr. King said, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

I share this dream today and everyday for all people. Let us resolve today to judge a person only by their character. It will be a better world for our efforts.

--
"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation
until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to
Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

Posted by Wil at 11:04 AM | Permalink

Today, we in America are observing the birthday of the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I admire Dr. King for many reasons, among them his commitment to nonviolence. In the face of great violence and adversity, he chose a policy of nonviolence to bring about a very necessary change.

I think that Dr. King's words about violence bear repeating, and ring especially true to me, today, given all that is going on in our world:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it... Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Dr. King is one of my heroes, and today, I honor him, and his great legacy, by reprinting a speech he gave, which still moves me to tears when I hear it.

Dr. King delivered this speech on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. It is commonly known as the "I have a dream" speech. Within this speech, Dr. King said, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

I share this dream today and everyday for all people. Let us resolve today to judge a person only by their character. It will be a better world for our efforts.

--
"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation
until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to
Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

Posted by Wil at 11:04 AM | Permalink

Today, we in America are observing the birthday of the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I admire Dr. King for many reasons, among them his commitment to nonviolence. In the face of great violence and adversity, he chose a policy of nonviolence to bring about a very necessary change.

I think that Dr. King's words about violence bear repeating, and ring especially true to me, today, given all that is going on in our world:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it... Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Dr. King is one of my heroes, and today, I honor him, and his great legacy, by reprinting a speech he gave, which still moves me to tears when I hear it.

Dr. King delivered this speech on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. It is commonly known as the "I have a dream" speech. Within this speech, Dr. King said, "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

I share this dream today and everyday for all people. Let us resolve today to judge a person only by their character. It will be a better world for our efforts.

--
"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation
until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to
Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

Posted by Wil at 11:04 AM | Permalink