#also anyone remember the chants of four more years at one of his speaking engagements while pro-palestine protests were happening

[timcurry-imgoinghomedotmp4]

not people saying that france's elections are proof that voting works when what seems to be a huge part of why it worked is because shittier candidates fucking dropped out so those who voted wouldn't split between two candidates. all of the usa you have to vote vote voteeeeee rhetoric has this incredible failure of imagination. the only thing to do for leftism to go anywhere in this country or to defeat trump according to these people is to throw support behind a geriatric incumbent who has been conservative in everything but political party affiliation since his career as a politician began.

what france's elections actually demonstrate is not that voting is essential, it is that clarity of purpose and unity of party perspectives, and politicians sacrificing their career interests for moral and strategic purposes IN TANDEM WITH voting works.

something i also never seem to see being discussed on my slice of tumblr is that at this point Biden and Trump are only PRESUMPTIVE nominees! We didn't have primaries and this debate was the earliest we have had in recent memory and neither of the candidates officially is one yet!

why the fuck are the endless streams of vote blue people incapable of imagining anything beyond "it will be biden versus trump and the only moral lens for looking at this situation is voting between two openly genocidal candidates on the basis of who will have more favorable domestic policies. Is that not reprehensible? Aren't you fucking tired and ashamed and angry? don't you feel any desire to push for literally anything else?

[liviastudiespsych]

My week on Waterloo Bridge

Hi guys, as you may or may not know I spent a week and a half (on and off, not all the time) protesting with Extinction Rebellion. It has been one of the best experiences of my life and I will never forget it. I really wanted to make a post about it to clear my head, put my thoughts black on white and to share a few things I have learned.

I don’t want to, because I really want people to read this, but I’ll have to put a read under the cut cause this is tooooo long.

First of all, what is Extinction Rebellion (or XR for short). XR is a non-violent movement that was mostly rooted in the UK but present in several countries around the world, about climate change. By that I mean that the whole scope of the protest was to sensitise the public about climate change and demand an action from the governments through acts of pacific social disobedience. Such as occupying a bridge, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it (I’m so funny lol). Social disobedience in the case of XR has been disrupting traffic, occupying major spots and raising the voice against a perceived wrong doing of the government who hasn’t been listening to the science, the warnings and the speaking up of people. To be precise, XR wants to stop climate change to stop the otherwise inevitable and catastrophic changes that will happen to our planet in 12 years if we don’t act NOW. This was based mostly, but not only on the 2018 IPCC report (which you can find here if you are interested x) that explains how the rise of the planet’s overall temperature could cause irreparable damage to the amount of global ice which would in turn mean a rise of the ocean, floods and other natural disasters that would possibly mean migration of humans to better areas, overpopulation and starvation. These are not opinions. XR feels that if we don’t act now, there will be a problem in the near future so they set 3 demands:

Government must tell the truth and declare climate emergency

Government must make laws to reduce all carbon emission (which is related to global warming) by 2025

Creation of a citizen assembly to oversee and asses changes

It’s important to mention that none of this was legal. And part of the movement’s idea was that getting people arrested is important because it brings visibility and it forces the government to engage with the protest (more on this later).

Good, now that we have cleared this first let’s dive into my experience.

I got involved with XR on the second day of the London protests (tuesday the 16th of April, 2019) when a friend of a friend came from Edinburgh to take part and brought us along. What I saw that day was I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E an entire bridge, one of the mostly used in London, was completely empty of cars. We could walk on the bridge and there were plants and music and people. It was so beautiful. That day I spent it all there, on that bridge. We even slept there, or tried to. I left at 3 am because I was too cold. But not before we had a massive dance party on that bridge. Day 2 was wednesday. And that day too I spent it on the bridge and that night we went around the other occupied places in London until 6 am in the morning when we collapsed home to sleep for a few hours. I danced in a completely empty Parliament Square. I sang in front of a pink boat in the middle of Oxford Circus. I had an animated discussion about climate change next to a sea of tent in Marble Arch. London was like a place I had never seen. Day 3 was Thursday which too I spent on and off that bridge, leaving only when the police started to arrest people only to be back for another night of roaming the occupied streets of London and I saw the most beautiful dawn on the City. On Friday I was there again as my friends were being arrested and almost got in trouble myself. I took a few days because if four days I had slept about four hours in total not per night and I was sleep deprived. I was back one final time the 23rd to march to Parliament Square and show the MPs what we were about.

Some things that will forever stay with me of those days are the amazing people I have met all over those sites and the awesome stories I have heard all through the protest. The chant of “whose bridge?” “OUR BRIDGE!” will forever be in my memory. The overall feeling of being together, sharing something everyone was so passionate about, to discuss important topics and to feel like even if this might not result in nothing at least we tried, at least we did our best. For my future. For my children’s future. I thought about my future children a lot this protest. A bit sombre and a bit happy. Maybe we created a chance for them, maybe their generation will be better. I saw those days what London (and a lot of cities) could be like. There was a place for children to play, there were trees in the middle of the road - something I personally am not used to as having grown up in a big city - and the human interaction was warm and welcoming. I hope, if nothing else, that we will keep this at least in memory to change the way we interact with others, to make us more open. I learnt what it means to be able to socialise like that. I learnt what it mean to be part of a real community. I learnt how to make myself useful for others. I learnt how to talk about important topics. I met extraordinary people and honestly, I had a blast.

I also will remember the opposition and critics we got.

We were called “Cunts!” shouted at us from a motorbike as we were simply walking. We were called “You fucking cunts.” again, with no provocation. We were called “You fucking hippies.” by a punk drunk dude at 4 am. We got called “Socialist scum” to which someone I don’t know replied “Yes and proud of”. I want to point out that the movement was non violent. That it was the most peaceful protest ever seen by the met police. That no police officer got hurt.

I heard a lot of people say “I support you and your idea, but not how you are doing it.” which I understand, I honestly do. From outside we must look like a bunch of assholes blocking a bridge and not letting you get to work. But other ways were tried before and no one listened. This got everyone’s attention. I am not saying you have to agree with the way, but keep an open mind, support in other ways. We are not doing this to hurt you personally, we are doing it to save the planets.

I also heard a lot of “Well, what’s this going to do?” to which I am simply going to say: what’s that going to do? Being all pessimistic about it. At least we are trying.

Also a few more notes. It was not a privileged movement of stuck up middle class. It was not. I met people from everywhere, every social extraction and a lot of different backgrounds, I promise you.

Now, the arrest. I know 3 people who got arrested. 2 of which I consider good friends at this point. And I met countless more who shared their stories. No one I know has been charged. Why? Because there were more than a THOUSAND arrest in the UK alone and there was no way they could process everyone. So unless you glued yourself to something, you were not charged. I did not get arrested because I can’t. And I know a lot of people who did the same and left when the police moved in. But I respect those that did. Because it really helped to put the story on the news, it made people stop and say “ah, if they are willing to get arrested there must be something really going on.” No one EVER asked me to get arrested. That is not how the movement works. You can if you want, but no one forces you. Ever. To do anything. There are no requirements. So, no. No forcing, no radicalisation. Nothing of the sort. Just plain and simple social disobedience and people very passionate.

I will continue to be part of XR and we will be back if the requests aren’t met, if we aren’t listened. I am doing this for myself, for my children and for the planet.

TLDR: if it’s too long I will sum it up like this. Help our planet by asking the government to act. I had an amazing week protesting. I will not stop. Climate change is happening. Join Extinction Rebellion

thanks for reading, if anyone did. I will block people being rude under this post. If you have questions/want to PEACEFULLY discuss the issue please do. Basically, don’t be shit.

[pattie-remembers]

Famous muse Pattie Boyd says she neglected herself in her rock star marriages

10 April 2018 — 10:21am

If you remember the '60s, you weren't there: so it is said of that explosive decade of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll when girls sashayed down the Kings Road in tiny skirts and Biba boots, boys wore ruffled shirts over tight velvet trousers and London was the epicentre of cool.

Oblivion came with the territory: Eric Clapton was supposed to have slept with more than 1000 women but as he told me in an interview for Fairfax Media, "I wouldn't know, I was in a blackout for quite a few of them".

George Harrison and wife Pattie Boyd.

Photo: Keystone Pictures USA / Alamy Stock Photo

Pattie Boyd was both muse and wife to Clapton, to George Harrison before him and no stranger to drug and booze-fuelled partying. But there was little danger of failing memory for her. She kept a record of the wild years – portraits and reportage style snaps taken with a Polaroid and, later, on a Hasselblad.

As fans and paparazzi clamoured at the door, Boyd had the inside track, hanging out with The Beatles and friends, at home with George, on tour with Eric. "I took endless photos," she says. "It was something to do, otherwise you could feel a bit spare."

Pattie Boyd and her then husband George Harrison in England in 1968.

Photo: Pattie Boyd

We are talking in her Kensington flat ahead of an exhibition of her photographs and a series of speaking engagements in Australia in May. I'd spent several minutes on the rather grand doorstep, repeatedly ringing the bell and wondering if I'd got the wrong address. Perhaps she'd been having a nap; she is 74 after all and it is that snoozy, post-lunch time of day when I often feel like one myself. She does seem quite dreamy, half-heartedly remonstrating with a friendly Irish terrier called Freddie who inspects me thoroughly before jumping onto a large pouffe, not quite as pristine white as the matching sofas. "He's allowed on that one," she says.

Boyd is wearing skinny jeans on her long, slim legs and a deep blue mohair jumper; a fall of blonde hair frames what is still recognisably the face that launched, not a thousand ships, but three of the greatest love songs of the 20th century.

George Harrison wrote Something in the first flush of his youthful marriage to Boyd; the soaring guitar chords of Layla expressed Clapton's yearning obsession with his friend's wife. Then, when he had won her, he wrote Wonderful Tonight – and who hasn't danced dreamily to that, wrapped in a lover's arms?

There is a photograph of a 19-year-old Boyd in the flat: blonde fringe, huge blue mascara'd eyes and a tiny Union Jack stuck on the end of her nose. It is from a weighty coffee table book, Birds of Britain, containing portraits of London's posh totty – society girls who roamed the bars and vintage clothes stalls of Chelsea. Boyd's face is on the cover.

George Harrison, 1968

Photo: Pattie Boyd

She was a model then, on the run from her dysfunctional family, broke and living on Birds Eye chicken pies in a shared flat. "You had to go round the photographers persuading them to use you for shoots," she says. "Norman Parkinson said, 'Come back when you've learned to do your hair.' It was all DIY hair and make up back then."

Did photographers hit on her? "Well some might try it on but you didn't submit and say, 'Oh must I?' You'd get out of there and warn the others." So it wasn't a #MeToo scene? "No! I don't know why these women don't just say, 'F--k off, I'm not having a meeting with you in your dressing gown with nothing on underneath.'" Is she a feminist? "Well not in the old 'hate men' way, but I don't like women being treated badly. I think the young generation – what are they called, snowflakes? – don't take responsibility for themselves."

George Harrison and Eric Clapton in England in 1976.

Photo: Pattie Boyd

She met George Harrison on the set of A Hard Day's Night – she played a schoolgirl – and they married when she was 21. They moved into Friar Park, a gothic pile in Hampshire where the Beatles came to record, friends drove from London to stay and she threw herself into decorating, cooking and entertaining. She was, she says, blissfully in love but often lonely: wives and girlfriends were not allowed on tour and Harrison was frequently absent. After the Beatles had discovered the Maharishi Yogi and they all went to India to learn meditation, Harrison returned gripped by eastern mysticism. "He chanted a lot," she recalls, "it's difficult to talk to someone who's chanting."

He had also discovered that he was attractive to women: "He was famous, good-looking, had tonnes of money and flash cars – what a combo. Girls were offering themselves everywhere and he loved it. To come home to old wifey must have been a bit dull."

I took endless photos. It was something to do, otherwise you could feel a bit spare.

Does she think all men would be like that if they could? "Yes I do," she says firmly. What constrains them? She shrugs: "Society, women, family?"

Eric Clapton had been a frequent visitor to Friar Park, laying siege to Boyd and, famously, playing a guitar "duel" with Harrison in the kitchen: she was the putative prize. "It was John Hurt [the actor] who described it as a duel," she says, "and he was so on the button. I sensed it but I hadn't formulated it."

She was attracted to Clapton, by then a rock deity – the legend "Clapton is God" was spray-painted on city walls – but determined to stay in her marriage. Her parents had split up when she was 10, her stepfather was a cruel and unusual man who tyrannised the family and left her mother for another woman: "As a child I always thought I would do anything to avoid divorce."

By the time she left Harrison – "He didn't want us to be together, it was a life of rejection" – Clapton had made good on his threat to take heroin if he couldn't have her. It would be four years before they got together.

Propped on an easel beside the window of Boyd's flat is a rather beautiful black and white photograph of John Lennon. Did she take it? "No, I bought it." Wasn't he the most interesting of the four? "He was, yes, he was. He was quite volatile, you never knew what he would say next. He was a pretty sexy guy actually." Did they have a fling? "No!" she exclaims. I explain I'd seen it suggested somewhere in a newspaper article. "How cheeky," she says comfortably. Later, reading her autobiography published in 2007, I find another reference to the rumoured liaison. True or not, I don't think she minds the idea.

Boyd and Clapton married in 1979: "I was madly passionate about him," she says. "We lived at Hurtwood Edge [Clapton's home for the past 50 years], I was in my 30s and ready to have babies; I used to wander round the house thinking, this will be the baby's room, the nanny can sleep here." But it was not to be: despite visits to a series of doctors and several rounds of IVF, the longed-for baby never arrived.

Clapton, meanwhile, had replaced heroin with alcohol and was drinking heroically. Boyd joined him on tour where he and the band would have girls to their rooms after the show. Cruellest of all, two of his extra-marital relationships produced babies: a daughter Ruth and two years later a son, Conor, who would die, aged four, in a fall from the window of his mother's New York apartment. Boyd and Clapton divorced in 1988.

Asked once who was the great love of her life, Boyd nominated Harrison: "I think he always loved me … Eric loves himself. She admits now: "In both my marriages I had neglected myself, and got lost in a big cloud of fame, I got lost in their lives."

When the music stopped Boyd found herself with a legacy – cardboard boxes full of photographs which she exhibits and sells as prints from her online gallery. They are the archive of an era: here is an angelic George lying in bed in an Indian ashram, Eric in a woodshed leaning on an axe and looking Lawrentian in corduroy trousers, Paul and Linda McCartney at Boyd's wedding to Eric, Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull at the Brixton Academy. They are candid and intimate: did anyone ever object? "No, not at all," she says, surprised, "I would never show a photo where someone's not looking good."

The collection has been a useful earner for the girl who left school with three O levels and had no need to work while married to rich men. She has continued to take photographs – portraits of actors for their books and pictures from her travels. Does the contemporary work sell? "No one's really interested," she says without rancour.

Freddie needs a walk so we put on coats and set off for Holland Park where the trees are still leafless but there are daffodils and a hint of spring. Boyd has been with her partner, property developer Rod Weston, for 20 years – "we are old friends" – and they wed in 2015. They share the Kensington flat and a cottage in Sussex bought for her by Clapton. Why did they decide to marry? "We have lots of nieces and nephews between us," she says, "we wanted to put everything in order so there wouldn't be any tears." We walk on a few paces: "It's funny," she says, "Rod has been much nicer since we married and I am happier and less selfish. I didn't anticipate that."

She remained friends with Harrison until his death from cancer in 2001 and has stayed in touch with Clapton, many years sober and married with three more children. Last year she accompanied him to the launch of a documentary about him, A Life in 12 Bars, in which she features, naturally. "He rang me and said, 'It's a bit raw Pattie, I hope you'll be OK.' I said, 'I'll be fine Eric. I'm a grown-up now."

George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me: An Evening with Pattie Boyd will be held at Sydney's Four Seasons Hotel on May 15. Boyd's work will be shown at the Blender Gallery in Paddington from May 5 to June 2 as part of the Head On Photo Festival.

Morning & Afternoon Newsletter

Delivered Mon–Fri.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/famous-muse-pattie-boyd-says-she-neglected-herself-in-her-rock-star-marriage-20180409-h0yi6e.html

[theunderdogwrites]

Trout Mouth & Freedom of Speech

The building I currently live in has been having an increase in break-ins to our underground parking. Storage cages are being forced open to gain access to bikes (easy to pawn for quick cash) and car windows are being smashed when valuables can be seen from just looking inside. There is now noise within the complex, with people screaming that they want cameras installed and a security guard to patrol the parkade during the early morning hours.

While this MIGHT help the situation there is no guarantee that it will stop these wanton crooks from their dastardly deeds. One, because they can simply cover their faces from the cameras and avoid the security guard. And two, because the real issue of security isn’t being addressed – people are not taking any responsibility for the safekeeping of their own building. Not waiting for the large parkade doors to close before leaving the property. Buzzing up SkipTheDishes drivers instead of going down and meeting them at the front doors, therefore allowing anyone to follow them into the building and gain access to the parkade. Leaving their key fobs in their cars where they get stolen. And caring only about themselves to the point where they fail to report any strange activity around the property.

The lack of personal accountability is a real problem. And not just in my building.

The definition of Freedom of Speech as given by Dictionary.com is as follows:

“the right of people to express their opinions publicly without governmental interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitement to violence or rebellion, etc.���

Let me Coles Notes a few things here:

-    Wednesday January 6, 2021 Trump gives a “spirited” speech at a rally in Washington that manages to provoke his feistier followers into marching down to the Capitol Building and storming inside using force. Five people died and dozens were injured.

-    Within a week Trump is banned from Twitter, Facebook, suspended by Instagram for two weeks and Parler (social media app used by many vocal extremists, Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists) was booted by hosting services such as Amazon, Apple and Google.

-    Trump is reduced to only being able to use the Amazon product reviews section to intimately reach his supporters

-    Uproar over censorship/freedom of speech begins.

Below is a link to the transcript (and video) of Trump’s “Save America” speech he gave just before the attack on the Capital Building. It’s long of course, but I encourage you to skim through it, or put the video on and listen while you’re doing other things. You may think it’s not significant and you don’t want to hear the ramblings of #45, but it IS important if you care about freedom of speech and the obligation we have to not be total raging assholes with no regard for morality or law and order.

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-save-america-rally-transcript-january-6?cjevent=47b9f152576311eb8162015f0a1c0e10&cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww

Since the election Trump has been peddling his theory that the election was stolen from him by way of shifty voting and ballot counting procedures and a conspiracy to turn Trump votes into Biden votes. He’s been pushing this idea hard and without reprieve despite no creditable evidence and despite his hand-picked Supreme Court ruling against his claims. I don’t feel anyone with a brain thought he was ever going to go quietly if he lost. You don’t spend your first term in office talking about how they should allow for three or more terms if your plan is to exit with grace.

I never had a problem with Trump wanting to challenge the election results. Whatever floats your boat Cheeto. I didn’t like that he asked for donations from supporters during all this and managed to gather over 200 million dollars. Something I feel he did just to fill up his own coffers with zero respect for those putting their money behind him. But I digress…

Without tangible proof, Trump is now hawking these inaccuracies to his supporters, of which there are MANY. And breeding within those MANY are the extremists. And within those extremists are those who just love the chaos.

“Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Alfred Pennyworth, The Dark Knight

Yes, I just quoted a Batman movie.

You can say that Trump has been telling lies for over four years and you’d be right, but the difference now is this latest set of fabrications has inspired some of his supporters to engage in acts of violence (it’s being called domestic terrorism) against their own democracy. These individuals are currently being hunted down and arrested and WILL be charged with a number of offences while Trump throws them under the bus and takes no responsibility for anything. Oh, and he blamed the Democrats for causing all this anger.

Side note: One day people will listen to me about this… one day.

Below is a link to the trailer for a Netflix documentary titled ‘GET ME ROGER STONE’. Roger Stone is a political strategist with over 40 years on the Washington scene. He is credited with inventing negative campaign attack ads among other diabolical maneuvers. He is also partially responsible for Donald Trump’s effectiveness in winning over voters and his ability to seemingly get away with everything. I’ve been yelling about this guy for four years, but he is so slick. He was recently indicted in connection with the Russia investigation. Trump issued him a full pardon. He has this thing called Stone’s Rules (with regards to operating within politics) and one of those rules is:

-          Never admit to any wrongdoing

-          Deny. Deny. Deny.

-          Go on the attack.

Does that sound like anyone you know? Maybe someone who was just impeached for the second time for something he won’t admit to doing, has adamantly denied and blamed on others?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IPyv4KgTAA

I am 100% for freedom of speech. I believe you should be allowed to say whatever you want to say, whenever you want to say it.  If you wish to chant at the top of your lungs, “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!” you have every right to engage in comedy. If you wish to strip down to your soft cotton bush pants and yell, “the President personally invited me here!”:

 Then you’re probably this guy who is quickly learning that actions often have consequences, as does freedom of speech.

While you’re allowed to use your voice to express your opinion, there is this little pesky caveat that comes along with speaking freely and that is – you will be held accountable. And rightly so.

Do you remember the old school yard mantra – sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me? Am I the only one who never bought that baloney? Words can hurt. The power of words is far greater than that of sticks and stones. Words spoken, no matter how hard your try, cannot be taken back. You can’t put them back in your mouth. Or back in your head. Once they’re out, they’re either doing some good or they’re doing some damage. Speak freely and speak often, but know your audience and take some fucking responsibility for the ripple effect your words might create.

Was banning Trump from pretty much all social platforms the right thing to do? Or is it a scary precedent that threatens freedom of speech?

For starters, Trump was banned by COMPANIES, not the government. These companies therefore reserve the right to ban anyone from using their platform who they consider to be in violation of their terms and conditions (user agreement). Within that wordy legal document that we all barely skim over is usually a part about not using the application to abuse and harass others and not posting anything that incites violence or brings harm on groups or individuals. In other words, don’t use a service like Twitter to spread bullshit amongst your unhinged supporters who then get filmed at the Capital Riots chanting “the President sent us!!” as they throw fire extinguishers at the police.

Over the course of four years Trump sent out an estimated 56,000 tweets. I have a Twitter account. I tweeted once then gave up, so I have to give it to the old guy, those early morning toilet tantrums on Twitter really added up. During that time, he was fact checked A LOT and to the surprise of NONE he lied MANY times. My one and only tweet was also a lie. I believe I said something along the lines of “Happy to be here!”.

During the 2020 election year many of his tweets were flagged and labelled as misinformation. He wasn’t banned until after the Capital Riots out of fear he would continue to ramp up his extremist supporters and provoke them into further acts of violence. Without Twitter and Facebook etc. Trump has been deprived of his oxygen – his ability to intimately interact with his followers. Because when you strip back all the yelling and flag waving and crying about the right to say whatever the fuck you want… you are left with a simple lesson we all (should have) learned when we were children. If you choose to behave badly, then the consequences you shall suffer.

Here is a link to a list of all the platforms that have banned Trump. Whether it be hashtags or online shopping stores, companies are taking a serious stand NOW on the spreading of anything Trump: (you should read this as it goes into context as well)

https://www.axios.com/platforms-social-media-ban-restrict-trump-d9e44f3c-8366-4ba9-a8a1-7f3114f920f1.html

It’s funny how some people believe they deserve to be able to use and abuse a free service like Twitter for their personal needs such as attacking others, but don’t believe in things like universal health care, equal pay, unicorns, Covid-19, love, climate change and the possibility that Walter White is still alive.

I personally have never broken any online platform user agreements with regards to abusive speech. In person, most definitely. I’m rarely inspired to battle online people who are looking for a fight because by not engaging with these keyboard warriors I am performing acts of charity for the cerebrally challenged. In the real world, well, you know what they say – it’s hard out here for a pimp.

Trump has behaved poorly for years now. His Republican party members (looking at you Mitch ‘melty face’ McConnell) hid behind him like the bottom feeders they are and got fat with power in his wake. The GOP will never be the same again. Trump’s grip on this party is akin to that of an uncatchable boa constrictor lost in high rise building’s plumbing. Slithering around deep in the bowels of the structure threatening to re-emerge as something far worse. If you lived in that building, you’d never be comfortable again. Your whole existence would be based on fear. Fear, which just so happens to be an effective weapon when trying to control others.

There is another concern floating around right now and that is the power of the big tech companies to control what we can see and what we can’t see. I’ve not given this enough thought yet to be able to provide any coherent ramblings. BUT it is definitely something we all need to be aware of and watching in our very near future.

I’m left with one question – was Trump responsible for the Capital Riots?

It would be so easy to blame him, as many have. And now that he is literally on his way out, getting those final kicks in is giving many people a stock pile of delight. So, the most satisfying answer is – fuck yes. But let’s not forget all the Republicans that have remained silent for the past four years as Trump went on TV’s around the globe and called Africa and Haiti “shitholes”. Mocked a disabled reporter. Stated that Americans who died in wars were “losers and suckers”.

And all of this:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html?_r=0

If you are a parent or a care taker of children are you prone to sitting silently and allowing those children to run amuck in a restaurant yelling at people and causing havoc in hopes the manager will give you free ice cream to shut that child down? Is it that child’s fault you refuse to discipline them out of fear they’ll replace you with a more agreeable parent? Are you getting my point?

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” — Robert F Kennedy

One final thing…

Let’s not forget not all Trump supporters agree with what happened at the Capital. Over 74 million Americans voted for him because they believed he made their life better. And maybe for some of them, he did. Within those 74 million voters, are good people. Individuals who didn’t vote for insurrection, but for hope for their future.

[alamante]

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

PORTLAND, Ore. ― Police did a good job on Saturday preventing what could have been the most violent far-right rally since last year’s deadly “Unite the Right” gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia — all they had to do was protect the proto-fascists who came to town, and use riot control weapons, flash-bang grenades and chemical irritants against anti-fascist counter-protesters.

For hours, dozens of officers in full riot gear stood across a closed section of Naito Parkway along the Willamette River, keeping the two sides apart. On one side of the parkway, in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, stood hundreds of out-of-towners belonging to the Proud Boys — a punch-drunk far-right group of self-described “Western chauvinists” dressed in helmets and body armor — and those aligned with Patriot Prayer and its leader Joey Gibson, a Republican Senate candidate from Washington state who has held a series of increasingly violent rallies in the Pacific Northwest since 2017.

Both groups have deep ties to white supremacists.

So it’s noon in #portland and right now police are keeping the two sides separated. Hundreds of Anti-fascist counter-protesters with a brass band look across the street at Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer. More PBs and PP on their way. #AllOutPDX pic.twitter.com/m3cIokJxKx

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 4, 2018

On the other side of the parkway stood hundreds counter-protesters belonging to a broad coalition of local anti-fascist, anti-racist and social justice groups. They had a clear message: This is our city. Get out.

“We remember Charlottesville!” they chanted.

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Referring to the 32-year-old counter-protester at last August’s gathering who was run down by a car, they yelled, “You got Heather Heyer killed!”

They chanted the names of Ricky Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, two men allegedly killed by a white supremacist named Jeremy Christian last year in Portland when they tried to stop Christian from threatening two black teenage girls. (The month before the murders, Christian had attended a Patriot Prayer rally.)

The counter-protesters held signs detailing the assaults and other crimes allegedly committed by Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer members in the Portland area.

A couple signs. #AllOutPDX pic.twitter.com/2hODEyYFqa

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 4, 2018

And yet, when police decided the standoff was too tense for comfort, they targeted the local anti-fascists. As officers lobbed flash-bang grenades at them — ear-piercing explosives that temporarily disorient the senses —  Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer members cheered on the cops, claiming victory against the “violent leftists” they’d come expecting to fight themselves.

One police flash-bang canister reportedly pierced an anti-fascist’s helmet, cutting into his head. “I’m certain he would be dead if he wasn’t wearing a helmet,” 39-year-old Jenny Nickolaus, an anti-fascist demonstrator and friend of the victim, told HuffPost. “The trauma nurse said as much.”

CW: very graphic.

My comrade was shot in the back of the head by @PortlandPolice today. He was hit with the very first flash bang the cops shot. Make no mistake this was an act of aggression and there will be hell to pay @tedwheeler #defendpdx #AllOutPDX pic.twitter.com/oSHqhpyzfC

— Dimestore Guevara (@wherestherevolt) August 5, 2018

Portland Police Sgt. Chris Burley told HuffPost he was “not aware of anyone that received medical treatment for injuries suffered by actions of law enforcement today. If someone reported being injured by police action today we would like to speak with them.”

A woman also was hit by a flash-bang grenade, her boyfriend told The Willamette Week, leaving her with cuts and a possible arm fracture. Eder Campuzano, a reporter from The Oregonian, went to the hospital after being struck in the head by an object thrown by counter-protesters.

Bob Strong / Reuters

Christopher Mathias HuffPost

This is America’s modern “free speech” rally in the era of President Donald Trump. Trollish far-right leaders, like Gibson, plan a battle royale disguised as a celebration of the First Amendment. People come decked out with weapons and armor to fight anti-fascists, and one of two things happens: The two sides beat the living snot out of one another en masse, or police break it up.

At the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, the former happened, ending with a neo-Nazi allegedly driving a car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters, killing Heyer and injuring 19 others.

On June 30 in Portland, the city declared a riot after police let Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys brawl with anti-fascists in the streets. Some half a dozen people were sent to the hospital after the day’s chaos, one with a brain hemorrhage.

There were fears that Saturday’s rally would be even worse. But this time police successfully kept the sides separated — yet as they have at other Patriot Prayer gatherings, they targeted counter-protesters with their weapons and defended those aligned with white supremacy.

“Police launched a violent attack on the left that was unprovoked in an attempt to allow Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys to go on their march,” said Effie Baum, spokesperson for Popular Mobilization, a coalition of anti-racist and anti-fascist groups formed for today’s counter-demonstration.

“When people say there was no violence today between the right and left, there was absolutely violence, and it was perpetrated by the police on the left.”

Here’s riot cops in Portland rushing and hitting me, @DonovanFarley, and others on the sidewalk. I don’t know why they did this. #AllOutPDX #DefendPDX pic.twitter.com/mra0fanen0

— doug brown (@dougbrown8) August 4, 2018

After I took this video an anti-fascist was hit with some kind of projectile shot by cops. He seems fine. Cat and mouse game between cops and anti-fascists in Portland right now. pic.twitter.com/Fxk12pgbQO

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 4, 2018

At about 2 p.m., cops warned anti-fascist demonstrators that they needed to move west, away from the parkway, or “face arrest” and “impact weapons.”

The reason for this initial order was confusing. The police claimed they spotted anti-fascists with weapons, but HuffPost saw Patriot Prayer members and Proud Boys armed with weapons as well (and police confiscated some of them).

The police claimed that the anti-fascists were blocking traffic — but in order to protest against Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys, there was, at times, nowhere else to stand but in the road. HuffPost did not witness anti-fascist protesters provoke or attack police before the initial dispersal order.

The anti-fascists didn’t budge. And police launched their attack. 

A cat-and-mouse game ensued throughout downtown Portland, with cops chasing after anti-fascists from corner to corner, demanding each time that they disperse or face arrest. More flash-bangs. More tear gas. A handful of anti-fascists then started to hurl rocks and water bottles at the riot police.

“The groups involved in the protests escalated in behavior and threw projectiles, including rocks, smoke bombs, firework mortars, unknown chemical agents, bottles, items from a slingshot, and other projectiles at officers and protesters,” the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement.

Police also claimed that, at one point, they “learned multiple police vehicles, possibly with officers inside them, were trapped in a group of protesters who were throwing an unknown chemical agent as well as other projectiles at officers.”

Police ultimately found no officers inside the vehicles, but did say three police vehicles sustained some damages.

Portland Police Bureau

Police said they arrested four people on a slew of charges that included resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, attempted assault, harassment, assault on an officer and unlawful use of a weapon (a slingshot).

Baum said four Popular Mobilization counter-protesters were arrested.

As cops chased anti-fascists through the streets, Patriot Prayer and Proud Boys were also on the move, marching west from the river into downtown. (A couple had been injured, having reportedly walked through a throng of anti-fascists, and had cuts on their heads.) They were flanked by police in riot gear, who never engaged them despite demanding that they disperse several times.

A few people on Patriot Prayer side were pulled from across the street, bleeding from their ears and eyes pic.twitter.com/WlUhYsHkep

— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) August 4, 2018

The Patriot Prayer and Proud Boy demonstrators eventually ran into the anti-fascists, and cops rushed to keep the two sides separated. Police then declared the day’s demonstration a “civil disturbance” and ordered both sides to disperse or face arrest and the use of “riot control agents and impact weapons.”

Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys made their way back to the waterfront park, where they cooled off in a fountain and celebrated what they claimed was a victory.

Tusitala ‘Tiny’ Toese, a Proud Boy and Patriot Prayer member implicated in the May assault of an anti-Trump person in the Portland area, donned a “Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong” T-shirt, referring to the far-right fascist Chilean dictator who murdered some 40,000 of his own people.

“Make communists afraid of rotary aircraft again,” read the back of Toese’s shirt, referring to the penchant of forces loyal to Pinochet of throwing political rivals out of helicopters. (Toese’s shirt was made by a white nationalist clothing company called Right Wing Death Squads.)

Asked by HuffPost how he thought Saturday’s rally went, Toese described it as “awesome” and “beautiful.” The Portland police, he said, “did their job.”

Forgot to post this earlier: I asked Proud Boy/Patriot Prayer member Tusitala ‘Tiny’ Toese about his PINOCHET WAS RIGHT t-shirt.

“Didn’t Pinochet kill like 35,000 people?” I asked him.

“Aren’t they all communists?” he responded. #AllOutPDX pic.twitter.com/dzVcYIgHaV

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 5, 2018

“Today was a victory for America!” he later told a group of his cheering supporters.

Later, journalist Brendan O’Connor reported on Twitter that some Proud Boys “sprayed bear mace” at a group of anti-fascists as they drove out of Portland. 

Anti-fascists across America have long accused police of siding with, and protecting, white supremacists and fascists. Earlier this year in Newnan, Georgia, heavily militarized police charged at anti-fascists demonstrating against a neo-Nazi rally, pointing guns in their faces.

Proud Boys in a truck just sprayed bear mace at antifa blocking their way, leaving a street full of coughing, tearing people behind pic.twitter.com/nt6uEYREAK

— Brendan O’Connor (@_grendan) August 4, 2018

“We expected state repression,” Baum said.

Still, Baum added, it was the anti-fascists who were actually victorious. The left, Baum said, is often marred by divisions between more militant “black bloc” anti-fascists and more liberal, non-violent protesters.

Saturday saw “a very unified anti-fascist opposition” of some 1,500 people that “quite literally almost made me cry,” Baum said.

By Baum’s count, they outnumbered Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys by four to one.

America does not do a good job of tracking incidents of hate and bias. We need your help to create a database of such incidents across the country, so we all know what’s going on. Tell us your story.

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[eitherandor-blog]

White Flag

It’s been a month.  

A full month and a day.  If we only go at this for four years, that means we have only (roughly) 47 months remaining.  React accordingly.

In that time, we have said goodbye to one president, and hello to another.  Although to be fair, I don’t think Adele is singing to this man..

We will get to Trump momentarily but in the interim, take a minute to reflect on where we have been:

In 2008, we elected Barack Hussein Obama the 44th President of the United States.  I remember where I was, early in my Sophomore year of undergrad.  With ample uncertainty- and my house divided- I cried- happily, to be clear- after listening to the acceptance speech from Obama.  I watched and listened as he was met with applause amid a dark November night, near my hometown in Chicago.  Shortly after, I rushed to central campus (colloquially referred to as “The Diag”) to celebrate.  I was met with a mix of students, pouring out of dorms- I mean, residence halls.  Music was played as we frolicked across campus, filling streets, singing and chanting.  It was one of a few moments in my life where I was filled with a tangible synergy, some shared sense of unity between myself and others, some students who I knew, some strangers, to commemorate this occasion.  

Barack Obama was not perfect.  He deported more people in his tenure than any president (..before him), and had a different but related immigration ban to some countries ‘of concern.’  Obama did not enter office supporting Gay Marriage or [initially] recognize the multiple identities part of the LGBTQ+ communities.  He was instrumental in the creation of the Affordable Care Act (mostly a positive) but left it suspect to critique and possible erasure by his successor.  Though war and conflict were not prominent to his presidency, they were present.  Our systems of prejudice were sadly not undone.

Some thought he did not live up to the hype, did not change enough; others feel like his 8 years in office were THE WORST.  There were those that thought the president spent too much time talking about issues of race and equity, while other people *hoped* he could undue the historical, cyclical American pattern of subjugation so core to our country.  He also- fairly or not- will be connected and blamed by some for an inability to unite the Democratic Party and pass the torch to a subsequent Democratic President rather than our current status.

Not perfect nor exempt of fault.  No politician, president, or person, is perfect.  Nor am I, as is reiterated in one of my favorite films, “Now I ain’t saying I’m perfect cause I’m not.”  That is not an excuse, merely a fact to consider as we evaluate his time in office.  

Like him or not, he was our President.  He was definitely my first President: the first I really, truly remember; the first I voted for; the first I followed.  As a young person- and maybe as someone liberal though I would argue it exceeded ideology- President Obama made me care about politics.  I feel like I learned a lot and took an interest in our political system in a new and vital way.

Some of this was that he coincided with my own maturation.  This may have been relevant for many young adults before me and their corresponding president.  Some will say he was one of the greatest, while many others may say he was chronologically speaking, just the 44th.  He was mine, and one for so many.  I know his goodbye as President was something I focused on, I critiqued, I felt, and will remember.  And, as someone now living in Chicago, I welcome his arrival and return to the city where he got his start.  You never forget your first.

...

Okay, enough nostalgia, back to the current reality.  We got this new guy in the White House (and how fitting that THAT’S the name of the building.  Remember that portion of FLOTUS’ speech?  The 360 from then to now is eery).

The day after getting elected, people showed up, the world over, to “acknowledge” this election.  Women’s marches spawned around the world as millions of people stood, rallied, and protested the Trump election.  Several marches had to be redirected or even canceled due to the expansive turnout.  Though these were dubbed as marches for women’s rights, it seemed like the whole world participated..but they didn’t.  People in part avoided the march due to messaging that it was exclusive or narrow-minded, and other people ended up surprised as they were welcomed into the fold of activism and action of Women’s Marches.

I know for me, I was always going to be marching.  Although I identify as a man, I know there were too many people, too many reasons to march.  For me, this felt like something much bigger than me, than gender, than a binary.  I know not everyone agrees, and it’s why we have to work to keep being inclusive, making space and seeing the full scope of identities, experiences, and issues that affect more than the most privileged among us.  

Now I want to take a minute and talk about the intersection of privilege and activism.  Anyone can participate, right?  Well, kinda-sorta.  In my humble opinion, everyone should always be included, engaged, and wrapped up in the work as it’s our struggles are all interconnected.  However, we also know that there are gatherings that media, politicians and police may describe as “peaceful protests” and others “riots,” often based on who was in attendance rather than any action/inaction that transpired.  

The costs are also higher for those with more at risk.  For me, to show up, to march to be civilly disobedient, I’m pretty much guaranteed safe passage from home to event and then back home.  This is in part due to my whiteness, my cisgender, ability status, being a US citizen, among others.  For other folks, even the mere possibility of speaking up or out can be met with law and order, or worse.

What we also need consider is not to step on one another (the lesser, weaker, quiet or oppressed) in our efforts.  Many may have grown familiar with the ‘Hope’ Obama signs during the campaign trail many moons ago (refresher here).  Well, the artist returned to demonstrate nationalism across the broad American landscape.  Unfortunately, this was done without fully considering impact or the folks offended- specifically the woman wearing an hijab of an American flag (here).  If your action, your activism and your protest denigrate another, what have you done but further your own at the expense of another.

...

Still, he’s president.

There have been subsequent marches, protests, rallies and- dare I say it?- riots, too.  I hope if you showed up for the first, you have continued to support the others that have followed, however you can.

While the marches may get the most publicity, there are innumerable other forms of activism, now and forever.  Letter-writing campaigns may be a thing of the past (though please, go ahead and send that email!).  However, there’s no shortage of online petitions or politicians to call.  Can we find a way to text Paul Ryan?  Or better yet, if Barack wants my number, I’m cool with him getting in touch..

Other than texting with former presidents, you can do so much more.  I know, some folks are not super comfortable cold-calling a political figure and complaining/advocating on a topic (Me too!  Here’s a road map to get started.).  We have to keep doing, because we have so much more to do.  Others have contemplated next steps to take. 

So to prepare, first educate yourself!  There are a bounty of resources out there to learn more about politics and lauding (fingers-crossed) the system of checks and balances in play.  You can learn more about how we have gotten to this point in our history, even hidden aspects that uphold our hierarchy and systems.  You can also arm yourself with words and reading from this list of defiance.

The concrete moments that have followed are hard to track.  As one who follows the sports world (maybe too much sometimes), I have appreciated witnessing the political climate evident among athletes and the sports world at large.  It’s on the lips of the outspoken and the more soft-spoken, even brought up by nasty coaches; politics of the SuperBowl halftime show as well as some victors’ plans to celebrate (or not) at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  

This is not without cost- for athletes and the rest.  That does not mean to speak; instead, it requires speaking louder.  It requires listening, making room for other voices beyond one’s periphery.   

Now there are a plethora of opportunities to savor the artistic licenses employed in response to the latest president.  Sure, there are the memorable memes and SNL performances- eager to see where these go next.  A few European countries are taking part in the fun, responding to the notion that America need be 1st, exclaimed by the new President.  

And while that humor is important, it is rooted in truth.  Truth of a new president, a fragmented nation with many echoing his actions and provocations, and a country with a history to support it.

Recognize too the power of the people.  I am a bit embarrassed to say that I am just learning this truth now.  There are so many others, leaders and true activists, who have been knee-deep in the filth for quite some time.  When I look across my world of people, I am reminded of the chorus to the blog title, White Flag:

I could surrender but I'd Just be pretending, no I'd Rather be dead than live a lie Burn the white flag Burn the white flag

I do not often know what is the right action or next move to make.  I know that I am weary from the world but that I am also safer than others.  It is on me, on us, to respond, to hold our government accountable, to work toward a more perfect union.  Nevertheless, she persisted.  She was not alone.  We too must remember: we are not alone.  We are not obligated to endure.  We are obligated to object, to mobilize, to act.  No time for a white flag.  Not now, not ever.

(This blog is named after a song written by Joseph, not to be confused with the Dido hit.  As I would guess most are not yet familiar, Joseph is a trio of sisters, singing and harmonizing on a mix of topics.  This song seemed appropriate, one of many I listen to to stay motivated.  The full album is one of my recent faves; check it out and get a little introduction via White Flag.)