NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

 The website Common Dreams is a very good resource for those interested in a wide range of progressive topics. You'll find Democrat politics articles, which aren't very critical or radical. You'll find pieces that both support Israelis right to defend itself but also condemn it as a nation that is perpetuating genocide and colonialism. There is plenty of environmental coverage and economic justice news on everything from unions, to climate change, to resource wars. For me personally, as someone who comes from an island in the Pacific that is known as the tip of the spear and an unsinkable aircraft carrier, I truly appreciate the coverage that Common Dreams provides on militarism, in particular American militarism. Naturally, their lens for filtering through the possibilities of news focuses primarily on the hotspots where Americans troops are currently bombing, fighting and occupying and so it doesn't attend much to places where the bases have existed for a long

Even though I wish I was at the Rallies for Sanity and Fear today in Washington D.C., that desire to be there is more for the fact that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are funny shows and I enjoy watching them, and so a rally based on them, will most likely be ridiculous and hysterical. My desire to go isn't much of a political desire, after all, even though The Daily Show is about politics, it is not really supposed to be about politics, but about making jokes. Jon Stewart has shown regularly over the years, that he is a comedian and he has no political loyalties. Even though it is obvious he is more liberal than conservative, more Democrative than Republican, the worst thing you can do is approach him as if he should be on one side of the issue or the other, because then the comedian in him will want to irk you by completely bashing the things you thought he should respect. I can understand Jon Stewart not wanting to be reduced to a liberal fire-thrower or water-carrier,

FOR MORE INFO ON EVENT, HEAD TO Latin American Solidarity Coalition . ***************************** Call: Day of Action to Confront US Militarism in the Americas October 11, 2010 Our organizations urge you to join us in a National Day of Action to Confront US Militarism in the Americas on Monday, October 11, 2010. October 11 is the day the United States “celebrates” the beginning of the European invasion of the Americas and when indigenous peoples mark as the 518th year of resistance to invasion and colonialism. We represent Latin America solidarity and peace groups. We are initiating and urge others to undertake the formation of local and regional coalitions – across movements for indigenous rights, immigrant justice, fair trade, peace, human rights, labor rights, gender justice, drug policy reform and other urgent goals – to confront the growing militarism of our culture and budget, the increasing propensity to commit national resources to wars of aggression, and the milita

I recently re-watched Capitalism: A Love Story, and saw Elizabeth Warren's parts in the movie, and so since she's popping up on all the US progressive blogs lately, I wanted to post something about her. But first, after watching Michael Moore's latest film again, I saw it in a slightly new light. When I first saw that movie last year I didn't completely grasp how radical what Michael Moore is proposing in that film, how he created a mainstream artifact which didn't only talk about the evils of capitalism (which any film about big corporations as bad guys does), but he also called on something to replace it. And in coming up with his replacement he places under the wholesome signifier of democracy plenty of old and new socialist imagery. Things which you can invoke as the bad guys of action films or straw-men-nations of economist fantasies, but never as something offering much to the world (remember what Francis Fukuyama said, history is over, it ended with the fall

The highlight of today's trip is a visit to the city of Pyeongtaek to visit the Pyeongtaek Peace Center and also hear the latest news of that community's struggle against the expanding US military bases nearby. In 2006 there was a very big conflict between the residents of two villages who were to be displaced to expand the size of two bases, Osan and Humphreys. Over the years I have heard small snippets of information about what has happened there, seen images of violent repression by police, different tactics of resistance employed by the villagers, and the tragic faces of those who eventually lost their fight and their land. I looked forward to learning more about this area and its history. A note on the title of this post. The first image above is the logo for the Pyeongtaek Peace Center, and I find it a very creative variation on the famous Bible verse, now world peace and UN slogan: They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation