GENERAL STRIKE AT 12PM ON AUGUST 1ST!!!!!!!!

If you're like me, you're sick and tired of the people in the U.S. Senate and House playing games with our economy, the full faith in the United States in order to pay our debts! You're sick of them toying with the idea that on Tuesday we won't even have money going out for Social Security and other government-funded programs!

The economy is suffering, and they're fine with letting it die!

I'M CALLING FOR A GENERAL STRIKE FOR AUGUST 1ST AT 12PM YOUR LOCAL TIME!!

The idea is simple: Since the people in Washington, D.C. can't seem to get their act together and solve this fiscal crisis, we need to have some massive public show that we're not going to take this laying down! We've already called our Congressmen and Senators, and now we need to take to the streets and protest!

At 12PM EST, leave work, go to your local meeting space (City Hall, Park... wherever there normally are large gatherings of people and protests) and PROTEST! Make signs! Call your local media if you have enough people interested!

If these idiots want to risk us having to pay higher mortgages, higher interest rates, higher credit card bills, student loans, and more, all while the price of everything possibly goes up because no one wants the U.S. Dollar anymore, THEN WE WON'T WORK!

Don't have a job? Then just go out and protest anyway! What else are you going to do? These guys haven't done much about the 9.2% unemployment in this country, anyway!

TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
TELL YOUR FAMILY!
TELL YOUR COWORKERS!


GENERAL STRIKE AT 12PM ON AUGUST 1ST!!!!!!!!

Twitter: #strikeaugust1st

Why the Insults Against the Right's Protests are Hypocritical

This weekend we saw a protest in Washington D.C. The protests gathered little to no coverage as a group of Americans, angry and upset at their government and leadership marched upon the Capitol Mall to voice their opposition. In the end, they were marginalized, insulted, and told they were nothing more than a group of rouge crazies! They insulted the President, comparing him to Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and countless other horrible dictators! They insulted him and called him on what they saw were foolish policies that would destroy America.

The problem, though, is that this is exactly what happened in 2003... and 2004... and especially 2005. In 2005, I attended a Impeach Bush rally in Washington DC. Save the crowd being anti-Bush and being much, much larger, we were treated just like the people who protested on September 12th. In 2003 and 2004 at the anti-war protests, the crowd was much smaller, but it was growing.

One thing I keep hearing is that the protesters against Obama are doing it on racial lines, or at the very least, that there is some deep-seated racism in it. Admittedly, I wouldn't be shocked if that is the sentiment of 10% or less of the people protesting, but it is far from it for the majority! Some people are there simply because they don't like his policies, some are anti-Obama because of Fox News.

But the simplest explanation makes the most sense: That the people who are anti-Obama are politically driven. After 8 years of bush and the Republicans in control, when they were able to live in a country more their way, the fact that you have someone coming in who represents most of what they're afraid of (Democrats, economic and health care reform, ending the Iraq War), especially when he is basically trying to undo everything Bush did in only 9 months... well, can you at least understand their fear? Their anger?

Here's footage of their protests on 9/12:



And here's the anti-Bush Protests from 2005:



I'm not asking you to agree with them, but I am saying that we need to realize that it isn't as black-and-white as "well, they hate black people" or "they hate Democrats". We need to listen their side and understand them better.

Image Courtesy of the Seattle Times.

Iran Vigil in Philadelphia

Tonight, a vigil was held in Philadelphia for those who died opposing their government in Iran.

It was, to me, one of the most humbling moments of my life.

Normally, I like being the center of attention. This time, I stood back and watched... and it was nothing short of beautiful. I had gone to a protest at Rittenhouse Square on Saturday and no one was there. No one. It was disappointing and I went home. Later, I saw someone post on Twitter that they wanted to get a protest together for that night. I helped and we held on at LOVE Park at 9PM. I stood there with a "Don't Tread on Me" flag and a sign that read "Free Iran!" We talked and decided to try something different since it was just us.

A vigil for those who died.

When I got home, I quickly made a blog post and put it on Twitter. I didn't know what would happen. I checked the stats and it got about 200 hits by 7PM, 2 hours before it started. That's amazing since most days I only get 20 to 50. A lot of people were going to it from my Twitter post and a lot of people were e-mailing it to each other.

I got to 5th and Market at 8PM. No one was there.

I stood there with my "Free Iran!" sign, and I tried to light my candle in the wind. I was quickly joined by others, mostly Iranian-Americans, and we all lit candles. Someone from Philadelphia Weekly came by to report on it. A child held my sign.

The group was small, just twelve people... but it was touching and moving in a very big, very real way. When a woman took out a large amount of candles and spelled out "Iran", I almost cried.



I'm not Iranian. I have no connections to whats going on there on a personal level. Me? I'm just someone who is seeing what he is and felt compelled to do something, anything, to show support for those who are dying now for this thing I love, this thing I care so much about. They fight for democracy, they fight for their rights... and it is, to me, the most beautiful thing I've seen.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming out to the event, and to those who didn't... please hold an event. Just go ahead and organize it. All I did was make a post on my blog and it got bigger than I could imagine.

I wish you all well... and peace be with Neda.

Read more about the Philadelphia Weekly story here. They interview a man named "Q", and its incredibly interesting.

IRAN PROTEST: Candle Light Vigil At The National Constitution Center

WHEN: JUNE 21st - 8PM
WHERE: National Constitution Center Lawn - 5th and Market

On June 21st, a large group of people will converge on the lawn of the National Constitution Center to hold a candle light vigil for those who have died in the protests in Iran over the past week. Please come out and support the fallen and support the people of Iran as they peacefully strive for Democracy in their home country!

PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN CANDLE! This is a very sporadic, spontaneous event, put together by myself and a few other people who want to go out and do something in recognition of those who have lost their lives in this horrible battle for freedom!

Look for someone with a Mohawk. I won't be hard to miss.

TWITTER INFO: Please use #PhiladelphiaVigil as your tag when posting about this event, and please spread the word!


UPDATE: Thanks to EVERYONE who came out to the vigil! It was incredibly moving to see so many people, and I'm glad you were able to make it! If you weren't, please check out the photos and my words about this. Thank you.

The Tea Bag Protest: What Went Good, What Went Wrong

Today is Tax Day.

To some people, it is a day of dread and fear, one when American's are afraid of making sure they file their taxes on time. For others, it's just another day since they already filed them, or they are so poor they don't have to.

But this year, a portion of our American public has decided that enough is enough. Are we Taxed Enough Already? Apparently so. Today the TEA Parties were held at cities around the country.

Now, the best thing I can do is explain what this protest was originally about and go form there.

ORIGINS:

The idea for the protest, depending on who you ask, basically boils down to opposition to the Federal Reserve. At it's core, people are sick and tired of paying a yearly income tax. The solution to this varies, but plans have gone to taking more from your pay check to creating a national sales tax. I'm not in favor of either move, but another reason for the protest was anger over the stimulus bill and passing, and that is something I agree with to some degree.

So, let's get this straight: The protests were meant to go against the Federal Reserve.

Now, who organized this movement? Again, it differs on who you ask, but it was largely Libertarians. The Libertarian party is a mixture of conservatives and liberals, a group of people who strictly believe in the US Constitution. Ron Paul, who ran as a Republican for President last year, was a member of the party not too long ago.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MOVEMENT:

What happened is that, over a period of time, the protests were hijacked... sort of.

Around the end of March, more and more members of the Republican Party started to latch on and use the protests as a sort of "rallying point", a way to restore the Republican Party brand. Conservatives began to latch onto it as well, and soon, Fox News began to muscle itself in as a sort of "sponsor". In response, liberal media reporters such as Keith Olbermann and the Huffington Post began to label the event as nothing more than an "anti-Obama event", "A conservative rallying point", among other things.

Other media outlets began to take some sides, namely showing the event as a group of fringe extremists on the Right taking their anger and frustrations out on the Obama Administration.

In return, the movement was virtually eaten away from the inside out. What could, and to a degree, should have been an event to simply protest the federal reserve became a rallying point for conservatives, basically aimless, and muddled with things that it did not need.

But did it entirely fail?

THE RESULT:

While it is frustrating and angry as a supporter of this to see it corrupted, it didn't fail. It made national headlines without the derogatory "tea bagging" jokes, and President Obama himself stated that, starting now, that there would be changes to the US Tax Code to make the tax system more fair. In my opinion, the protests helped to push that along a littler faster and made it more of an issue, which means that, to some degree, it did succeed.

MY 2 CENTS:

It's a shame that the protests were so heavily marginalized. A movement that started organically, a movement to protests what citizens thought was wrong with the US Banking and Federal Reserve was , instead, turned into a rallying point for a political party that did not represent their ideals, or, at the very least, may have begun to re-embrace those ideals. I was going to one here in Philadelphia at Love Park at noon, but found out that the organizers pushed it, foolishly enough, to Saturday at noon instead.

People still attended. And Philberity decided to play a dirty, dirty angel:

1) It’s on, with a cast of perhaps 200-all-whites.
2) Not a lot of anti-Obama setiment on the signage, but man oh man, what did European Socialists do to these people?
3) Biggest applause for…the mention of Glen Beck

Nuff said.

To their credit, they are quoting a reader, but still, a dirty thing to print. I would have attended but, like I said, I thought it was postponed.

THE END IS NEAR!

So there is now a photo of me floating around that was taken by someone when I was walking around with a sign that says "The End is Near". I've been asked to comment on this, and so far, I have none. Nothing. Nada. For a man who normally won't shut up, I have nothing to say for once.

Well, at least, not yet.

A few people have called and contacted me about the photo, asking what it's about. I already got a call from a friend asking if I was, of all things, running for District Attorney! I just said, "Well, your going to have to wait for an answer, just like everyone else."

So watch this space, and remember... The End is Near.

Civil Rights and a Possible Crime Emergency: Part 2

THE CHARLES RAMSEY EFFECT

Hello, and welcome to Part 2 of my discussion of the Crime Emergency and the Crime Emergency. Yesterday, I discussed the basic civil rights issues that I feel could be threatened by declaring a Code 10, and asked the question of how long this would last and if it was needed.

Today, we'll start the discussion on the new Police Commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey. But before we do, I want to mention a few things first that I forgot to mention yesterday.

A large amount of my problem with this is, of course, Civil Rights. In all of my writing yesterday, I neglected to mention something that has been bugging me about all of this. Back in May, when Nutter's "Stop-and-Frisk" program was being called to task for violating civil rights, supporters brought up a Court Case where it was declared constitutional.

It was Nutter himself who coined this phase: "It's a Civil Right not to be Shot."

This bumper-sticker phrase was done so well, it is next to impossible to argue against it. To do so seems to allow for the same type of argument used by Conservative Republicans when you disagree with them; "What, do you mean you WANT people to be shot? You don't think it's wrong to kill and murder people?! No wonder you didn't win the election, you cold hearted bastard!"

The fact of the matter is, you don't. You have a right to live, a right to the pursuit of happiness. You have a right to be free and happy, and to live in a safe environment.

You don't have a right to not have bad things happen to you.

Being shot is something that can be prevented. In terms of federal legislation, you could easily create tougher gun laws, make better living conditions, and do everything you can to make the world a better case. At the same time, it is up to society to make sure that we are all raised well and correctly, that we allow everyone to be safe and happy.

The pursuit of happiness. To me, this is the very basis of our democracy and the idea that this nation is built upon. "Do as you will, but harm none." Not just a good idea, but words to live by if you ask me.

And this brings us to Charles H. Ramsey.

While police chief in Washington D.C., "on September 27, 2002, the MPD made a mass arrest of a large group of demonstrators who had assembled in DC’s Pershing Park to protest the World Bank and IMF meetings. The police enclosed over 400 people in the park and arrested them without ever ordering them to disperse or allowing them to leave the park. Many of the arrested were not actually demonstrators, but were journalists, legal observers, and pedestrians. On January 13, 2006, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the arrests violated the Fourth Amendment and that Chief Ramsey could be held personally liable for the violations."

http://www.philebrity.com/2007/11/15/good-news-about-the-new-guy-he-loves-your-civil-liberties/

In his time as chief, he declared Crime Emergencies as well. Not just once, or twice, but at least 4 times. My answer is to focus on this using the proven method of community policing and cracking down on minor crimes (Broken Windows Theory). When it comes to the Community Policing aspect, Ramsey has been declared an innovator for using it. Nevertheless, we have a new commissioner that has used Crime Emergencies in the past to reduce crime as well. According to the last record I could find, the one he declared in 2006 lasted over 2 months and, during the last week of it, there were 3 teenagers shot and killed.

http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/age...4/release/9745

At the same time, what was the result of civil liberties because of it? Admittedly, referring to the September 2002 protests where he was held accountable for the unlawful arrests of people there may be a bit much, it still need to be taken into account.

More than anything, we need to consider the effects this will have on the people on Philadelphia, and ask if there is no other way to combat crime here. There is massive personal rights we would eliminate in order for the proposed safety this could bring, and should not be done unless it must be.

I, personally, considered declaring a Crime Emergency the last result, the final straw when all else fails. In the eyes of some, this may be the case, but this is not a matter of organized crime, either. I feel this type of action should be reserved if the killings were more organized and done by a group of connected people. It has been proven that most murders are done, in fact, but random people.

Has this city as a whole really lost it's way so much that we must put everyone on lock down? Do you feel, personally, that you deserve it as well?

The questions I raised, about how long it would last and how it would be implemented, and valid questions and I simply wonder where the political discussion is on this. The elephant in the room of the Nutter election is that he wants to declare a Crime Emergency, but has not once explained how he would do it. Not once. The only parameter given has been that it would be in "targeted areas", and those areas were never explained.

While I may be asking for a hard answer from Mayor-elect Nutter, I am asking for an educated guess on your parts. I'm looking at what has happened in Washington D.C. and the fact that 4 Crime Emergencies were declared by this Chief by 2004. I'm also looking at the overall result in it which was a drop in murders on a whole.

But why did it take 4 of them? How long did each one last? Do they really work as well as it appears? Was the reduction in homicides there largely because of the fact that they declared a crime emergency or was it because of more community policing? Do you think it was a combination of the two?

Tomorrow, we'll probe a bit more and try to wrap this up.