Bombs and Shields

I just wanted to stop by and bring attention to one of my favorite blogs, Bombs and Shields. It is always a good read and has good stories and pictures from around the globe. It is a good way to keep up on things happening that you may not hear about. So take a second from trying to find yet-to-air episodes of degrassi: the next generation (is that just me?) and check it out.

Reading is Fundamental

Hey Kids, it's every freedom-haters favorite time of year: Banned Book Week. Light those bonfires and put on your best Nazi-wear (available at Walmart), we're having us an old-fashioned book burning! Pulitzer Prize winners get a door prize!

I'm proud to say that I've read about 90% of the books on this list. I'm better for it.

The Much Maligned Middle Ground

This blog has more counterpoints than my kitchen. That's good. It would be boring if we all agreed on everything (unless you are all agreeing with me, then of course that would be fine).

Our world is a paradox of blue moons, pink hearts and purple horseshoes, a regular bowl of Lucky Charms (sorry, I've been eating a lot of cereal) but it is also black and white. It is grey.

First and foremost allow me to address one of Deep Shit's concerns, and that is the legitimacy of having these conversations on the internet, specifically this blog. I will not argue that the preferred manner of conversation is face to face, even better with stiff drinks and some Monk playing in the background. That is the romance of conversation.

However, technology has presented us with a forum to fill the time between thinking aloud. A chance to sit around in our underwear, drink coffee and do something that I am not used to- thinking before I speak, which I've decided is somewhat overrated. I like the passion of speaking without thinking, and the subsequent slaps that follow. Redundant I know. But I digress, and yet I make a point, something else I seldom do, that the typing on a keyboard does not need to inhibit the free flow of thought.

I don't think this should be a battle, but rather a tool that when yielded correctly can become a weapon against the demons that we are facing. Plus, there's easy access to porn.

As for activism (like how I nonchalantly toss that one out), I applaud it, but I don't live it. Not as a rule anyway. When a battle presents itself I fight it, and they present themselves often enough.

The thing is that I am as anti-establishment as I have ever been, and yet I am submerged in it further than ever before. I think Bush is an idiot but I love Crate and Barrel. I am the grey area.

I don't take it to the streets anymore, not often anyway, I tend to show my support through other means, mainly money. I cut checks to my beliefs, each dollar another piece of peace of mind. It's not much different than filling the collection tray in church every Sunday, every dollar renting a bit of salvation and allowing the parishioners to wallow in another week of sin.

I'm not proud, but I'm not embarrassed either. Every battle needs soldiers and every battle needs supplies. I traffic in the supply trade.

It's a big bowl of grey- sprinkled with yellow stars and little marshmellow diamonds.

Is there any hope for us?

After sitting here for half of a hour I am still not sure what direction this is headed. So be it.

At what point should our activism manifest itself?

It's a thought that runs though my head over and over the last 10 or so days. Driving to work, finding something to eat, watching videos on youtube, listening to music, the moments before sleep, the moments after. What am I doing? Am I doing enough? Am I doing anything?

Bill and I met this guy, "King Anarchy", and as much as a pretentious bastard he could be, he said/wrote something one time that made a lot of sense. (In terms of vegetarianism/veganism/eating whatever the fuck you want): Not eating meat doesn't stop the creation/production of cows for consumption.

He is right. Me not shopping at walmart does not make walmart go away. But neither does shoplifting at walmart. The thing most likely affected by that act is some other human working there to support themselves or family.

That is where I am. Do I eat meat, shop at walmart, drive a suv, vote, watch 10 hours of tv and work at a job that supports sweatshops abroad and the exploitation of workers at home? Or does it matter? Me not doing those things doesn't tear down the giant, but doing those things builds it up, right?

I've heard the saying "be the change you want to see". I like it. I agree with it. But sometimes it feels like it doesn't matter.

I'd like to say I feel better. I think I will go to bed instead.

It Was Funny the 1st Time (wasn't it?)

So as not to get hopes too high I am going to start my ranting and raving here at Drunken Bicycle Collective on an extremely lame note and make a post that is not original. Consider it my training wheels. When I wrote this on that other blog it seemed pretty good, but now it's just me being lazy despite you deserving better. Get used to it.


Bush's Clear View & Policy in Practice

We all have awkward moments, like having to respectively decline that proposed threesome from your boss and his partner at the company Christmas party. It's uncomfortable.

However, this man is not only your boss, but the boss of your boss and so forth and so on. He is not just proposing a quick and drunken act of unmentionable frivolity, but rather a full-force group effort of international sodomy- and without foreplay.

To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, being patriotic is loving your country, not the president. Wise words that fit this stupid man. What the hell were you thinking Wal-mart America? I support the office of the president. I respect it. I just wish Bush did. He mocks it.

It's getting hard to tell the difference between oil and blood. Both are green in the hands of W. and his buddies. Luckily, he has the future square in his sights (see above): dark days ahead.

Welcome!

Hello to all. I finally got off my ass and got this working in a different way than originally expected. This is a gathering place of people involved in different aspects of the Drunken Bicycle Collective. How it will be used, we can only guess. Enjoy!