"still 14"

Another week passed by and I kinda think it’s been wasted,
And I can’t find my way off this carousel.
While looking out my window I felt a strange sensation
That if I don’t change now, I fear I never will.

It’s been nineteen years, but I feel like I’m still fourteen
So confused and so naive but not yet broken
And everyone is telling me exactly what they think that I should be,
And I just don’t know who I should believe

And they say “Time’s running out and now you gotta make decisions
And no you cannot major in playing kickball.”
And I wish that I could say “well you know, that’s not my problem”
But then I wonder “is anything at all?”

I see some people change. And they call it progression.
And while looking back at me, they have a strange expression.
But a year ago I imagined that I couldn’t live without certain friends
Well, it’s sad to see how much has changed since then.

-tmle

I feel like a coward. I only make things at night when no one is around. I don't understand why I care. I miss last year. I miss the people I used to love. I miss old friends. I miss being creative. I miss getting my hands dirty. I miss making things for people. No one appreciates things anymore. I want my freedom back. I feel like I've been saying all the wrong things at all the wrong times. I feel like my girlfriend deserves someone better. No one seems happy anymore. I want to take care of myself but there never seems to be anytime. I started writing again. I wrote two scripts this week. I hate going out. I miss late night walks on pico. I hate that not all ideas seem possible anymore, leaving you depressed with the emptiness of passion.

and expectations become a horrible burden.

Reason to vote By Geoff of Defiance, Ohio.

Reason #2 is that while Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the police chief (who was hired after Palin fired the previous chief) made it the policy of the police department to charge survivors of sexual assualt for their own rape kit (the examination and collection of evidence that is used if survivors want to pursue criminal charges after they've been asaulted). In most places, survivors are not charged for this.

In stark contrast, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was instrumental in drafting and passing the Violence Against Women Act which provides support to many national, state, and local programs that provide support for survivors of violence:

Senator Biden wrote the ground-breaking Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the 1990s that set the national agenda on criminalizing violence against women and holding batterers truly accountable. It encouraged states to set up coordinated community responses to domestic violence and rape; was the catalyst for passage of hundreds of state laws prohibiting family violence; and provided resources to set up shelters so battered women abused by husbands and boyfriends had a place to go. The law also established the national hotline that over 1.5 million abused women have called for help.

I know that such legislation and the programs it supports does not go far enough to address the root causes of gender violence in our culture, but I strongly believe that there is a huge difference in the cultural and political context that is created by the different candidates. In the case of Biden, the state is urged to support survivors of violence and in the case of Palin, the state acts to victimize survivors and place a financial burden on people going through some really difficult experiences.

So Fu**ing Good!! ahaha.

YACHT - Summer Song from Jona Bechtolt on Vimeo.

Moenie And Kitchi

signed to Fat Cat.
Now in company with mum, no age, and sigur ros.
The new album doesn't sound as organic as the demos but still not over produced.

I love these people.

Go show your support & remember to be good to your city.

modest mouse

What a simple, yet wonderful video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcTcLP9YF04

Protest at the RNC. Sept. 1

(I just can't help it ask why the Republicans are so scared of there own people.)

By Cohn, Marjorie

In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, the FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force actively recruited people to infiltrate vegan groups and other leftist organizations and report back about their activities. On May 21, the Minneapolis City Pages ran a recruiting story called "Moles Wanted." Law enforcement sought to preempt lawful protest against the policies of the Bush administration during the convention.

Since Friday, local police and sheriffs, working with the FBI, conducted preemptive searches, seizures and arrests. Glenn Greenwald described the targeting of protestors by "teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets." Journalists were detained at gunpoint and lawyers representing detainees were handcuffed at the scene.

"I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault rifles, pump action shotguns," said Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who is representing several of the protestors. "The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children were held at gunpoint."

The raids targeted members of "Food Not Bombs," an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group that provides free vegetarian meals every week in hundreds of cities all over the world. They served meals to rescue workers at the World Trade Center after 9/11 and to nearly 20 communities in the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina.

Also targeted were members of I-Witness Video, a media watchdog group that monitors the police to protect civil liberties. The group worked with the National Lawyers Guild to gain the dismissal of charges or acquittals of about 400 of the 1,800 who were arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. Preemptive policing was used at that time as well. Police infiltrated protest groups in advance of the convention.

Nestor said that no violence or illegality has taken place to justify the arrests. "Seizing boxes of political literature shows the motive of these raids was political," he said.

Further evidence of the political nature of the police action was the boarding up of the Convergence Center, where protestors had gathered, for unspecified code violations. St. Paul City Council member David Thune said, "Normally we only board up buildings that are vacant and ramshackle." Thune and fellow City Council member Elizabeth Glidden decried "actions that appear excessive and create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation for those who wish to exercise their first amendment rights."

"So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protestors who have committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by months-long espionage efforts to track what they do," Greenwald wrote on Salon.

Preventive detention violates the Fourth Amendment, which requires that warrants be supported by probable cause. Protestors were charged with "conspiracy to commit riot," a rarely-used statute that is so vague, it is probably unconstitutional. Nestor said it "basically criminalizes political advocacy."

On Sunday, the National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against Police Brutality filed an emergency motion requesting an injunction to prevent police from seizing video equipment and cellular phones used to document their conduct.

During Monday's demonstration, law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. At least 284 people were arrested, including Amy Goodman, the prominent host of Democracy Now!, as well as the show's producers, Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. "St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city to be," Greenwald wrote, "with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations."

Bruce Nestor said the timing of the arrests was intended to stop protest activity, "to make people fearful of the protests, but also to discourage people from protesting," he told Amy Goodman. Nevertheless, 10,000 people, many opposed to the Iraq war, turned out to demonstrate on Monday. A legal team from the National Lawyers Guild has been working diligently to protect the constitutional rights of protestors.

NEW ORLEANS: BANKSY

His juxtaposition of the sniper holding the rifle with the left hand. Implying that snipers have no control over there weapons.
Its strong because his pointing it at a children's hospital. And its funny because the press didn't catch on and stated he should do more research before making something thats not factual.

"A More Perfect Union"

This is a brave speach. I think this shows how he can own up to his beliefs and actions. Which is what a great leader needs.
He isn't giving excuses for people he has connections with or people he has supported in his life. The people are challanging him and throwing things at him and his handeling it in a brave and honest manner. He is well connected with todays problems and knows he can't change things but he can start a platform for change, which is the only way that change can be initiated.