save us

i am astounded at all the commentators who have been hailing bush's address to the un general assembly yesterday as a "voice for moderation" and reaching out to the people of the middle east. what?!?!?! the speech i saw was one of the most condescending and offensive pieces of poorly authored propaganda i've ever witnessed. bush talked to "the people" as if he were god, assuring them that he and the good ol' u s of a would swoop in and save them from their governments that are tricking and confusing them. umm . . . who's gonna come save us???

and, just a picky note on the structure of his speech: since when do his speechwriters write his speeches to sound like a mass email? (to the people of iran: i lost your phone # - call me! to the people of lebanon: it's been too long - let's hang!, etc.) aaargh.

lessons from the tv

i have the flu. this is my excuse for the following admission:

last night i watched a dateline nbc "undercover investigation" of tv infomercials.

it exposed the horrible lies that the tv marketing industry perpetuates daily on the helpless american people (note my sarcasm). what distrubed me most about watching this idiocy was how incredibly outraged random people in random shopping malls became when they found out that these televised commercials could actually be making stuff up to get viewers to send them some money.

this was far more rage and disillusionment than i have ever seen from "ordinary americans" (read, not progressive activist-types) finding out how the systematic lying machine that is our government perpetuates lie after lie, causing death after death all around the world. apparently, this nation is not apathetic, it just cares more about the possibility that "HeadOn" might not work (even when applied, as instructed, directly to the forehead) than the fact that its government has abandoned the will and well-being of its own, and the world's, people.

SHAME.

US animal rights activists sentenced to 4 to 6 yrs

please go learn about the plight of the SHAC7 at www.shac7.com. they are a group of animal rights activists being used as pawns in the government's attempt to paint activism as terrorism - and their convictions in march and sentencing today and tomorrow show that the government will stop at nothing to enrich its pet corporations. in today's america, when speaking your mind means speaking out against the gov't and giant corporations, it can also mean serious jail time .

these people are not "thugs" or "drunk on power" as the prosecutors want people to believe. they are friends, partners, siblings, sons, and daughters - downright good people doing good work. i was at the sentencing today, and, while it was heartening to see how many supporters were there, it was also crushing to see the defendants and their friends and loved ones (some of them friends of mine) as they were handed news that would forever change all of their lives.

this nation's criminal "justice" system is absolutely out of control. what/who will be next???

what you secretly wanted

vulnerability and victimization. an amazing feminist poem on a deeply emotional and difficult subject. think some.

Rape

There is a cop who is both prowler and father
he comes from your block, grew up with your brothers,
had certain ideals.
You hardly know him in his boots and silver badge,
on horseback, one hand touching his gun.

You hardly know him but you have to get to know him:
he has access to machinery that could kill you.
He and his stallion clop like warlords among the trash,
his ideals stand in the air, a frozen cloud
from between his unsmiling lips.

And so, when the time comes, you have to turn to him,
the maniac's sperm still greasing your thighs,
your mind whirling like crazy. You have to confess
to him, you are guilty of the crime
of having been forced.

And you see his blue eyes, the blue eyes of all the family
whom you used to know, grow narrow and glisten,
his hand types out the details
and he wants them all
but the hysteria in your voice pleases him best.

You hardly know him but now he thinks he knows you:
he has taken down your worst moment
on a machine and filed it a file.
He knows, or thinks he knows, how much you imagined;
He knows, or thinks he knows, what you secretly wanted.

He has access to machinery that could get you put away;
And if, in the sickening light of the precinct,
And if, in the sickening light of the precinct,
Your details sound like a portrait of your confessor,
Will you swallow, will you deny them, will you lie your way home?

~ Adrienne Rich