best of ltl
Re: Generation Gap -- jakethorn's Offspring post
Okay, so I've been struggling with these things for a long time. The generation gap of the 60's, the generation gap today, activism, etc. My parents used to be major hippies, and whereas I feel my mother has kind of lost touch (yay mercedes! marble bathrooms for all!) my pop is really still in tune with it, and understands my frustration with the current 'way of the world.' I spoke to him at length about the 60's. The few things that hit me (and that I wrote down) went as follows:
The War
Most of the posts I make about the war, I’m summarizing a specific development or event. But today I’m going to write more broadly and at greater length. This is my whole take on Iraq.
Like anyone who cares for human rights, I’m glad that Saddam Hussein is gone. But I’m also extremely angry at the cost in terms of life, money, time, effort and credibility.
Do you believe in Global Warming? -Wha?
I am sitting in my 8 o'clock class while my geography professor asks us what we believe and what we don't believe. One of the questions: do you believe in global warming? Me and several others raised our hands. And the opposite question: how many of you think that it is just a natural part of the earth's cycle? And more than half of my 120-person class raised their hands. It was shocking.
A Little Civil Disobedience
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
That is the key for every HD-DVD disc on the planet. You see, the movie industry doesn't trust you to act like an adult with your own property, so they decided to lock it all up and only give the key to people that paid them enough.
The reason they can do this is because of an odious little law called the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. The DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent copy protection, even if that protection infringes on your fair use of your own property. I'm not a big fan of that, and I'm sure you wouldn't be either if you knew more about it.
Hey Can Someone Help Me Out?
Hey.
This summer I have to get a job. I want it to be activist orientated or some sort of internship. I'm learning French, and very liberal. Also are there any scholarships for queer kids to travel abroad? Thanks! I live in CA and I'm under 18...that should help your search if anyone wants to help me out.
Black Armbands -- May 1st: Chain Invite
This is a tactic meant to create explosive, exponential growth for the "Black Armbands -- May 1st" project Jerome started. I have no idea if this will work, but I'm trying anyway. There's nothing to lose.
First, the straightforward part.
- you RSVP for the event.
- I make you an admin
- you invite 100+ people
That's when it gets more complicated.
Why I give a damn (or how I learned to stop sleeping and love LtL)
I present to you two facts about myself.
1.) I love my country. A well of pride springs up in my chest when I read the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address. I love singing the Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful. I always smile when I see an American flag flying. I take the day off on Election Day to vote, and to encourage others to vote.
2.) I hold some fairly radically liberal -- some might even say socialist -- beliefs. For example:
- I believe that health care is a right that everyone holds, and is not a privilege for those who can pay for it.
- I believe that a good education and free access to all knowledge are critical if we are to save our education system.
- I believe that patenting software makes about as much sense as patenting calculus.
- I believe that a woman should have the right to choose what she does with her body, and that that choice is absolutely none of my business unless I'm directly involved.
- I believe that our economy is fundamentally flawed, in that it favors growth regardless of the cost in human lives or ecological disaster.
For a long time, I felt that it was pretty cool that those two facts were able to coexist peacefully. Because I am an American citizen, I thought, I don't have to reconcile them, or compromise on one because of the other. I can be the tree-hugging, dirt-worshipping, flag-loving nerd that I am and nobody can tell me otherwise.
And then Bush stole an election and 9/11 happened.
Human Rights Watch report on China protests, repression
Very interesting read today over at Human Rights Watch about China. If you have five minutes, definitely worth a click. Here's the jist.
(Hong Kong, March 14, 2007) – China’s annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing has been marred by increasingly violent crackdowns on protesters, petitioners and rights activists across the country and a surge in house arrests of activists, Human Rights Watch said today.