A new organization around the Kona scene.
Promoting peace and all that. We will be organizing a graffiti campaign soon as well as free art campaigns, blogs, articles all that fun stuff. We especially encourage artists and graphic designers to join up and help us with our campaign in your area.
If you have a myspace, I encourage you to join up, start some activism shit in your area. That'd be cool.
Teens Changing the World
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2009
New Article/Voting
Voting
By Andrew
In good consciousness, I cannot support the concept of the 'right' to vote. By voting, one instills authoritarian power in the hands of the few, when the power belongs to the individual. Voting is nothing more then an authoritarian
policy. By allowing this policy to take root, libertarian ideals can
never blossom. In a sense, voting in this democratic-republic, that
we call the United States of America, takes away our natural rights.
Voting acknowledges government power. By acknowledging this power, more and more power is given to the government, rather then the individual. If in the next election for president, not a single vote was cast, this democratic republic would cease to function as is. Yet nothing would actually change. The
authoritarian powers would only have to find another way to justify
their power, which is what they would do. Examples of this can be
seen in parts of Africa and pre-invasion Iraq. By this logic, the
democratic-republic's system is inherently flawed at best. This
system actually gives no power to the masses by 'giving' them the
right to vote, only the illusion of power.
I am not apathetic to voting. I actually care a great deal about voting. So much so, that I refuse to vote. The idea of voting is nothing but a dangerous tool created by
authoritarian powers to cement their power.
By refusing the vote, I have cast my
vote to where the power belongs...
By Andrew
In good consciousness, I cannot support the concept of the 'right' to vote. By voting, one instills authoritarian power in the hands of the few, when the power belongs to the individual. Voting is nothing more then an authoritarian
policy. By allowing this policy to take root, libertarian ideals can
never blossom. In a sense, voting in this democratic-republic, that
we call the United States of America, takes away our natural rights.
Voting acknowledges government power. By acknowledging this power, more and more power is given to the government, rather then the individual. If in the next election for president, not a single vote was cast, this democratic republic would cease to function as is. Yet nothing would actually change. The
authoritarian powers would only have to find another way to justify
their power, which is what they would do. Examples of this can be
seen in parts of Africa and pre-invasion Iraq. By this logic, the
democratic-republic's system is inherently flawed at best. This
system actually gives no power to the masses by 'giving' them the
right to vote, only the illusion of power.
I am not apathetic to voting. I actually care a great deal about voting. So much so, that I refuse to vote. The idea of voting is nothing but a dangerous tool created by
authoritarian powers to cement their power.
By refusing the vote, I have cast my
vote to where the power belongs...
This Isn't American Behavior...
I would just like to throw a big thanks out to all the THOUSANDS of people who attended any of the Tea Party protests this week. I'd also like to apologize for not posting in a while. Haven't gotten around to Issue 2, printer problems.
What is the one thing you can say about the political left? They love to protest. So what's the problem here? What's not American here? The fact that the Liberal public in our country is actually outraged that we free American men and women for once in a long time are actually using our voices to protest injustice. I've spoken of dissent before, I'm a fan, it's necessary, it keeps our government accountable.
This is baffling to me. How those crazy bastards on the far left side of the board can hypocritically say that we [conservatives] are un-American for protesting some we think is unfair, something we think is unjust. Well, we must be doing something right. We're putting a ruffle in their feathers. I am proud of the reactions of the left, they say we are un-American, we are un-Patriotic. Because non-Hollywood men and women, those of us who have real jobs, are finding our voices they are getting pissed.
What does this behavior prove?
This behavior is, to me at least, a brief preview of the country to be if we Right-Protesters quit doing what we're doing. We must continue, we must rise up, and we must yell at the top of our lungs: "Do Not Tread On Me."
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
New Article/"Million Dollar" Farms
“Million Dollar” Farmers
By Morgan
You may have heard recently that the House Agriculture Committee voted to ban federal subsidies for farmers making over $1 Million a year. Does this sound like the average income of a farmer to you? Those people whose job it is to put food on our plates? That’s probably because it isn’t. In fact, the average income of an American farmer is approximately 30-40 thousand dollars a year, keep in mind that your average manager of a retail store makes approximately $41, 434 a year (according to payscale.com). You might be wondering with the $1 million comes from, well there are two different incomes that you can look at, there is the Gross Income and then there’s the Net Income.
The Gross Income is your entire income, throughout the year, that adds up your entire income before deductions such as taxes, before any other deductions. The Net Income, on the other hand, is how much money you make AFTER taxes and other deductions. Is it very hard to see which income they seem to be going off of? I would say not.
It seems that ever since Vice President Al Gore, leftist politicians have wanted to stop agriculture in America. I mean, we’re amongst the most successful countries in the world, why should we need to eat? To provide jobs and food for our children?
There are many groups of people, politicians (the Bush administration amongst them) that say that Farm Subsidies need a bit of an overhaul. While this is true because millionaires, foreigners, people who don’t even have enough land or production to qualify as a commercial agricultural enterprise are amongst those getting a piece of the federal dollar pie; the subsidies don’t need to stop, they need to be fixed.
"It will do very little to make our agriculture policies more equitable, will not address the real challenges we face at the WTO, and it will not do anything to help our farmers produce for the market rather than for the government paycheck," said Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis.
I urge you all to write to your senators and your representatives to try and get something else. Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind wrote a replacement for this. In his replacement he writes that rather than removing subsidies from farmers which will do the American and international economies no good, he proposes that the government implement subsidized saving bank accounts that farmers can utilize when crop prices are low or the yield is poor.
Mike Johanns, the Agriculture Secretary has been a large critic of the comity attempting to change farm policy. Southern crops such as cotton and rice are so expensive to produce farmers cannot do it without federal help.
By Morgan
You may have heard recently that the House Agriculture Committee voted to ban federal subsidies for farmers making over $1 Million a year. Does this sound like the average income of a farmer to you? Those people whose job it is to put food on our plates? That’s probably because it isn’t. In fact, the average income of an American farmer is approximately 30-40 thousand dollars a year, keep in mind that your average manager of a retail store makes approximately $41, 434 a year (according to payscale.com). You might be wondering with the $1 million comes from, well there are two different incomes that you can look at, there is the Gross Income and then there’s the Net Income.
The Gross Income is your entire income, throughout the year, that adds up your entire income before deductions such as taxes, before any other deductions. The Net Income, on the other hand, is how much money you make AFTER taxes and other deductions. Is it very hard to see which income they seem to be going off of? I would say not.
It seems that ever since Vice President Al Gore, leftist politicians have wanted to stop agriculture in America. I mean, we’re amongst the most successful countries in the world, why should we need to eat? To provide jobs and food for our children?
There are many groups of people, politicians (the Bush administration amongst them) that say that Farm Subsidies need a bit of an overhaul. While this is true because millionaires, foreigners, people who don’t even have enough land or production to qualify as a commercial agricultural enterprise are amongst those getting a piece of the federal dollar pie; the subsidies don’t need to stop, they need to be fixed.
"It will do very little to make our agriculture policies more equitable, will not address the real challenges we face at the WTO, and it will not do anything to help our farmers produce for the market rather than for the government paycheck," said Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis.
I urge you all to write to your senators and your representatives to try and get something else. Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind wrote a replacement for this. In his replacement he writes that rather than removing subsidies from farmers which will do the American and international economies no good, he proposes that the government implement subsidized saving bank accounts that farmers can utilize when crop prices are low or the yield is poor.
Mike Johanns, the Agriculture Secretary has been a large critic of the comity attempting to change farm policy. Southern crops such as cotton and rice are so expensive to produce farmers cannot do it without federal help.
Monday, December 15, 2008
New Article/Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
By Morgan
The best-laid plans of mice and men
Go often wrong
To A Mouse- Robert Burns
The right to vote has always been one that has been deeply respected, and fought for. From the battlefields of Lexington and Concord, to Fort Sumter, to the convention at Seneca Falls, the right to vote has been a staple issue. However, in the past few years I’ve been noticing a disconcerting apathy in the people of America. The neglect (and often the unwillingness to vote) is a very large issue, and people need to once again be shown the importance of their vote.
We in America are granted a far too often overlooked right. We have the rare ability to actually have a direct say in what our government does for us. As Malcolm X once said, being here in America does not make you an American. To be an American is to share of the great and the fail of our country.
Voting holds importance not only in the present, but in the past and in the future. People such as Sojourner Truth and Lucretia Mott fought for the rights of all to be equal in their ability to vote. Why should we forfeit it now?
Is it not true that we all are equally affected by the outcome of the vote? Why forfeit your ability to make change for the better? Voting is one of the most important rights we have; it keeps our country from becoming what we’ve so passionately fought against. Even when the people have spoken and you stand on the threshold of defeat, you voted. You made your voice heard, and you made use of one of the greatest gifts that your country can give you. Remember the fight for the 19th amendment.
Vote. Be Heard.
Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.
Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
By Morgan
The best-laid plans of mice and men
Go often wrong
To A Mouse- Robert Burns
The right to vote has always been one that has been deeply respected, and fought for. From the battlefields of Lexington and Concord, to Fort Sumter, to the convention at Seneca Falls, the right to vote has been a staple issue. However, in the past few years I’ve been noticing a disconcerting apathy in the people of America. The neglect (and often the unwillingness to vote) is a very large issue, and people need to once again be shown the importance of their vote.
We in America are granted a far too often overlooked right. We have the rare ability to actually have a direct say in what our government does for us. As Malcolm X once said, being here in America does not make you an American. To be an American is to share of the great and the fail of our country.
Voting holds importance not only in the present, but in the past and in the future. People such as Sojourner Truth and Lucretia Mott fought for the rights of all to be equal in their ability to vote. Why should we forfeit it now?
Is it not true that we all are equally affected by the outcome of the vote? Why forfeit your ability to make change for the better? Voting is one of the most important rights we have; it keeps our country from becoming what we’ve so passionately fought against. Even when the people have spoken and you stand on the threshold of defeat, you voted. You made your voice heard, and you made use of one of the greatest gifts that your country can give you. Remember the fight for the 19th amendment.
Vote. Be Heard.
Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.
Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
New Article / Red Sky at Night
Red Sky At Night
By Chris
Money is like muck, not good except it be spread
- Francis Bacon, Essays, 15, ‘Of seditions and Troubles’
A great industrial Nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world ~ no longer a Government of free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.
- Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President
Something is wrong with the world economy, and it is because, not for the first and probably not the last time, we have been betrayed by our politicians. Capitalism, which has been consistently praised as a system of total economic freedom, has resulted in vast monopolies run by small, unelected groups of men (and I say men because that is the truth, this system promotes and encourages few, and those few tend to be male). Money, we are all aware, is power, and that power sits in the hands of these oligarchs, who can control and manipulate governments, not for some bizarre occult purposes or because they are space lizards, but merely for the fact that they want to preserve their awesome wealth. In 2006, the UN released a report stating that the richest 2% of the world's population control over half of the household wealth of the world. In contrast, the poorest 50% own less than 1%.
Obviously something is wrong here, when the manipulators of capital who have not lifted a finger in their lives control the world. Their policies are egocentric, anti-human and greedy, and have contributed to this economic crisis that dominates our news. What have the governments done about it, our elected representatives? They have, on multiple occasions, thrown money at the elite bankers, who have used the influx to buy out smaller banks, give themselves pay raises and generally continue the policies that have led to this crash. However, what do we care if our chocolate bars cost a little more? The majority of people are too ill-informed to realize that this system itself is the reason for the meltdown, and certainly they do not care for those who are hit worst: third world workers, those responsible for bearing the brunt of our economic cruelty throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.
What is the alternative, though? Communism? Derision floats around that system like flies around shit, or perhaps more topically, bankers around money. However, the sharing of wealth, and the granting of the means of production to the workers seems a positive boon in this dark economic age. Why should African farmers toil to produce cocoa and then be sent increasingly small pay packages by the corporate fat cats that buy their crop? Negative climates demand positive action, and the unionizing of these workers could prevent exploitation, or at least lessen it. At home, the sharing of wealth seems a greater idea, too. Health care that all can afford, state-sponsored, and a chance for children of all backgrounds to attain the highest education. Surely such a thing is possible, and perhaps it would have been within the U.S.S.R. had it not been for the corrupt policies of the U.S.A. and its allies drawing states away with the temptation of money, using greed as a weapon against a system which seeks to destroy the self-same principle.
Communism and Socialism demands an international approach, though, and it is this where the U.S.S.R. faltered. In an unfriendly world, the Socialist Republics were besieged, forced to spend ridiculous amounts on defense and policing, leading to paranoia within the government, who famously brutalized the populace. However, Cuba has avoided this mostly, and Vietnam too. Indeed, most of the states used as examples of Communism's failure seem to be corrupt anti-Socialist states that collapse inward due to outside, usually American pressure. Perhaps a world in which the U.S.A. leads a Socialist renewal, or at least adopts some more left-leaning policies we might all get along better?
By Chris
Money is like muck, not good except it be spread
- Francis Bacon, Essays, 15, ‘Of seditions and Troubles’
A great industrial Nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world ~ no longer a Government of free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.
- Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President
Something is wrong with the world economy, and it is because, not for the first and probably not the last time, we have been betrayed by our politicians. Capitalism, which has been consistently praised as a system of total economic freedom, has resulted in vast monopolies run by small, unelected groups of men (and I say men because that is the truth, this system promotes and encourages few, and those few tend to be male). Money, we are all aware, is power, and that power sits in the hands of these oligarchs, who can control and manipulate governments, not for some bizarre occult purposes or because they are space lizards, but merely for the fact that they want to preserve their awesome wealth. In 2006, the UN released a report stating that the richest 2% of the world's population control over half of the household wealth of the world. In contrast, the poorest 50% own less than 1%.
Obviously something is wrong here, when the manipulators of capital who have not lifted a finger in their lives control the world. Their policies are egocentric, anti-human and greedy, and have contributed to this economic crisis that dominates our news. What have the governments done about it, our elected representatives? They have, on multiple occasions, thrown money at the elite bankers, who have used the influx to buy out smaller banks, give themselves pay raises and generally continue the policies that have led to this crash. However, what do we care if our chocolate bars cost a little more? The majority of people are too ill-informed to realize that this system itself is the reason for the meltdown, and certainly they do not care for those who are hit worst: third world workers, those responsible for bearing the brunt of our economic cruelty throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.
What is the alternative, though? Communism? Derision floats around that system like flies around shit, or perhaps more topically, bankers around money. However, the sharing of wealth, and the granting of the means of production to the workers seems a positive boon in this dark economic age. Why should African farmers toil to produce cocoa and then be sent increasingly small pay packages by the corporate fat cats that buy their crop? Negative climates demand positive action, and the unionizing of these workers could prevent exploitation, or at least lessen it. At home, the sharing of wealth seems a greater idea, too. Health care that all can afford, state-sponsored, and a chance for children of all backgrounds to attain the highest education. Surely such a thing is possible, and perhaps it would have been within the U.S.S.R. had it not been for the corrupt policies of the U.S.A. and its allies drawing states away with the temptation of money, using greed as a weapon against a system which seeks to destroy the self-same principle.
Communism and Socialism demands an international approach, though, and it is this where the U.S.S.R. faltered. In an unfriendly world, the Socialist Republics were besieged, forced to spend ridiculous amounts on defense and policing, leading to paranoia within the government, who famously brutalized the populace. However, Cuba has avoided this mostly, and Vietnam too. Indeed, most of the states used as examples of Communism's failure seem to be corrupt anti-Socialist states that collapse inward due to outside, usually American pressure. Perhaps a world in which the U.S.A. leads a Socialist renewal, or at least adopts some more left-leaning policies we might all get along better?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
First Issue Published!
Here is a picture of the 2 copies of the first publication of Outrage! These are the last 2 copies that I've saved. I made 10 copies in all, and I distributed them to surprising satisfaction. Issue 2 is in the works, I'll be printing 50 copies. I'm pleased with how my test went over, it had good reactions from all but one person (who refused to read it).
Cheers!
-The Outrage! Team
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
New Article/We Are Daming Our Society
We Are Damning Our Society
Paul
What exactly is the purpose behind the gross amount of money we as human beings spend on entertainment? Why do these entertainment stars make so much money? And perhaps the most important question is this - why do these entertainers make more money than our teachers?
American football players make an average of roughly $1,400,000 US each year. British soccer players make an average of $1,177,000 US. Even high school coaches manage to make an average of $73,000 US. The average high school teacher, on the other hand, makes only $42,000 US each year.
Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
Something about this isn’t right. Teachers are the people who give up their own time and money (since teachers are grossly undersupplied and are often forced to buy supplies with their own money) to educate our children. These people are raising the next generation of scientists, geneticists, mathematicians, writers, authors, composers, and playwrights. The children these teachers raise will go on to find the cure for cancer and AIDS, achieve heights of technology never before imagined, and will eventually discover a way to help us as a race transcend our own existence.
And yet you people would rather toss your money at people who are willing to entertain you for 30 minutes at a time.
Without teachers, we would have hardly any way to pass on information (for without teachers, who would have instructed us on how to use the internet?) Without teachers, we would all still be sitting in caves, scavenging for our lives (for without teachers, who would have instructed us on how to settle, to grow and harvest food instead of roaming?) A world without our teachers would be a world very different from the one we live in today.
Yet when money becomes tight in a city, where do those in power turn to for the first budget cuts? School systems. Every year, more and more teachers are losing their jobs due to budget costs, cramming more children into each classroom and reducing the amount of time and energy a teacher can spend with each child. Certain activities are often cut out entirely, with fine arts programs being the first to go (God forbid we lose our physical education classes before our fine arts classes!) Teacher pay is often sacrificed before politicians will even dare to think about cutting their own paychecks. And people wonder why teachers hate their jobs.
Despite all this, these teachers come to class every day - to classes where they are ridiculed relentlessly by youths, where they are under appreciated by the head faculty, where they are bombarded with complaints and compromises by parents - to pass along the knowledge to children that will one day mold them into greatness.
So why do we still pay these people so little, barely beans, to put up with all this crap, while sports stars and actors live the high life for doing nothing more than being able to play a game?
I think it’s time we get our priorities in order. If we don’t our society will be forever damned to mediocrity, and we will never become what we truly have the potential to be.
Paul
What exactly is the purpose behind the gross amount of money we as human beings spend on entertainment? Why do these entertainment stars make so much money? And perhaps the most important question is this - why do these entertainers make more money than our teachers?
American football players make an average of roughly $1,400,000 US each year. British soccer players make an average of $1,177,000 US. Even high school coaches manage to make an average of $73,000 US. The average high school teacher, on the other hand, makes only $42,000 US each year.
Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
Something about this isn’t right. Teachers are the people who give up their own time and money (since teachers are grossly undersupplied and are often forced to buy supplies with their own money) to educate our children. These people are raising the next generation of scientists, geneticists, mathematicians, writers, authors, composers, and playwrights. The children these teachers raise will go on to find the cure for cancer and AIDS, achieve heights of technology never before imagined, and will eventually discover a way to help us as a race transcend our own existence.
And yet you people would rather toss your money at people who are willing to entertain you for 30 minutes at a time.
Without teachers, we would have hardly any way to pass on information (for without teachers, who would have instructed us on how to use the internet?) Without teachers, we would all still be sitting in caves, scavenging for our lives (for without teachers, who would have instructed us on how to settle, to grow and harvest food instead of roaming?) A world without our teachers would be a world very different from the one we live in today.
Yet when money becomes tight in a city, where do those in power turn to for the first budget cuts? School systems. Every year, more and more teachers are losing their jobs due to budget costs, cramming more children into each classroom and reducing the amount of time and energy a teacher can spend with each child. Certain activities are often cut out entirely, with fine arts programs being the first to go (God forbid we lose our physical education classes before our fine arts classes!) Teacher pay is often sacrificed before politicians will even dare to think about cutting their own paychecks. And people wonder why teachers hate their jobs.
Despite all this, these teachers come to class every day - to classes where they are ridiculed relentlessly by youths, where they are under appreciated by the head faculty, where they are bombarded with complaints and compromises by parents - to pass along the knowledge to children that will one day mold them into greatness.
So why do we still pay these people so little, barely beans, to put up with all this crap, while sports stars and actors live the high life for doing nothing more than being able to play a game?
I think it’s time we get our priorities in order. If we don’t our society will be forever damned to mediocrity, and we will never become what we truly have the potential to be.
New Article/Help! The Ice Is Falling!
Help! The Ice Is Falling!
By Morgan
According to major news sources, Al Gore, and National Geographic the world is warming to a point that is very beyond the norm, and this is causing enormous amounts of ice to break off from the main parts of the antarctic shelf, which in turn causes the ice on the mainland to melt as well. This is interesting considering the fact that rising water temperatures (largely caused by volcanic activity) are causing ice to melt from the bottom up, not rising atmospheric temperatures, what's also interesting to note is that, while it is reported to the average citizen that very large chunks are coming off the Antarctic peninsula, but what they don't report is the fact that the ice chunks that fall off very rarely only account for roughly 2% of all total ice on the continent, as well that it won't cause anything significant because the ice has already displaced all the water it is going to, melted or not. They also fail to note that in recent years we've had some of the coldest winters ever (people are still reeling from the heating bills!), and the falling snow easily replaces what is lost at the sea on the main land mass. Ice has been cooling and accumulating since the early 1970s. According to Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D, only 2.67% of the Wilkin's ice shelf and only .01% of the entire Antarctic continent, despite the media coverage of it using such powerful words as "collapse", and "explosion". Joseph D'Aleo former director of meteorology at the Weather Channel, and executive director of Icecap.us compared it to "an icicle falling from a snow and ice covered roof".
What else is interesting to note is that for every scientist that favored the IPCC conclusions in any way 792 scientists signed the petition saying that there is not any conclusive evidence for catastrophic man-made global warming. And for every Ph.D who believed it there were 1,800 who signed the petition.
By Morgan
According to major news sources, Al Gore, and National Geographic the world is warming to a point that is very beyond the norm, and this is causing enormous amounts of ice to break off from the main parts of the antarctic shelf, which in turn causes the ice on the mainland to melt as well. This is interesting considering the fact that rising water temperatures (largely caused by volcanic activity) are causing ice to melt from the bottom up, not rising atmospheric temperatures, what's also interesting to note is that, while it is reported to the average citizen that very large chunks are coming off the Antarctic peninsula, but what they don't report is the fact that the ice chunks that fall off very rarely only account for roughly 2% of all total ice on the continent, as well that it won't cause anything significant because the ice has already displaced all the water it is going to, melted or not. They also fail to note that in recent years we've had some of the coldest winters ever (people are still reeling from the heating bills!), and the falling snow easily replaces what is lost at the sea on the main land mass. Ice has been cooling and accumulating since the early 1970s. According to Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D, only 2.67% of the Wilkin's ice shelf and only .01% of the entire Antarctic continent, despite the media coverage of it using such powerful words as "collapse", and "explosion". Joseph D'Aleo former director of meteorology at the Weather Channel, and executive director of Icecap.us compared it to "an icicle falling from a snow and ice covered roof".
What else is interesting to note is that for every scientist that favored the IPCC conclusions in any way 792 scientists signed the petition saying that there is not any conclusive evidence for catastrophic man-made global warming. And for every Ph.D who believed it there were 1,800 who signed the petition.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Senator Daniel Akaka
Senator Daniel Akaka has served the state of Hawaii since the 1970s, he is the first senator of Hawaiian ancestry, and the only member of the senate that is Chinese-American. In my lifetime I've seen Daniel Akaka elected and re-elected many times (despite the fact that he's obviously blowing it) simply out of respect for his position (I'm serious). Daniel Akaka has constantly attempted to pass the Akaka Bill that tries to get Native Hawaiians the same rights as Native American on top of the rights they receive for being of Hawaiian decent. He's been elected amongst America's Five Worst Senators, the article calling him "master of the minor resolution and the bill that dies in committee". He's been a staunch supporter of the democratic party, and has done little more than trying to pass the Akaka Bill.
With a little bit of history on Hawaii's everlasting senator, we can look at what his stance on the environment is. He's been a strong advocate for clean oceans (like most people from the Islands) and has made the point that the protection of the environment isn't a new thing to the islands and its inhabitants, the debate has been going on for nearly 30 years when increased carbon dioxide levels were first detected by Mauna Loa observatory. Senator Akaka has been a constant supporter of technological advancements for the control of green house gases, and has been an ardent supporter of bills that will enable to advancement of alternative energy and the limiting of greenhouse gases.
Senator Akaka has seen most activism towards the islands attempting to combat (with the assistance of Governor Lingle) invasive species, cleaning of debris in the oceans and shores, and helping to preserve the coral reefs. In 2006 he participated in the proclamation ceremony of the NWHI marine sanctuary with President George W. Bush. Akaka has been a strong advocate for the expansion and protection of forests and our national parks, the Senator has had a strong voting record to help our national parks, and has been named a friend of the national parks by the National Park Service.
Daniel Akaka Wiki
Enviro-Issues
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Anthem of Dissent
Dissent-
1. Disagreement with the ideas, doctrines, decrees, etc. of a political party, government or religion.
2. An act of disagreeing with, or deviating from, the views and opinions of those holding authority.
Fascism-
A political regime based on strong centralized government, suppressing through violence any criticism or opposition of the regime, and exalting nation, state, or religion above the individual; A system of strong autocracy or oligarchy.
Anarchy-
Anarchism; the political theory that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.
Dissent is an integral part of a working and free society. Respecting authority and respecting ideals is only appropriate when it does not lead to fanaticism. The ability of dissent is the most important freedom we have, as Thomas Jefferson once said "dissent is the highest form of patriotism", this is to say that disagreeing with the government and questioning it is more patriotic than blindly following it. Through dissent we keep our government accountable, and through the necessary dissent we inspire others to take up arms against social and political injustice.
Without dissent think of where we could be, racism, sexism, all of those social injustices suffered in the past would still be alive and kicking. Direct action is the single most important thing I think any of us can be a part of, rather than simply electing officials to remedy our ills, we must take action against whatever injustice we might perceive. Anarchy vs. Fascism is a common theme in literary works, but very few people take the ideology seriously. Anarchy is not what most people see it as nowadays, it is not some idiotic symbol that skate rats* cling to in an attempt to see 1) intellectual and 2) "punx". Anarchy is often perceived as "chaos" or "destruction", but in actuality it is the most humanistic political ideology that I can possibly think of. It puts the responsibility of governing in the hands of the common people, and through common voluntary cooperation peace and a common good is achieved.
I have included a link to a demo of North Carolina crust punk/sludge metal band Choke Their Rivers With Our Dead. It was formed in the early 2000's by members of several Carolina hardcore punk bands. This is a one time album from a great band, and yet another example of how Crust Punk features some of the best female vocals in the genre.
Choke Their Rivers With Our Dead
*- A skate rat is someone who attempts to be a part of the skater culture, through wearing ridiculous amounts of skater brands, and carrying around an expensive skateboard which is never actually ridden. To a skate rat and skateboard is a fashion accessory, they are completely oblivious to the actual culture surrounding it.
We Are The Future
The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.
-Malcolm X
We are the youth of America, whether you're republican, democrat, white, black, rich or poor you can agree that action speaks louder than words. We are the future of the country, no matter what your parents or your teachers tell you, you have a voice. It may be weak now, but through active participation and objective study your voice can grow strong. Do NOT let anyone tell you that your opinion doesn't matter, because your voice will decide the fate of all of those detractors in the very near future.
You may sit back and think there is nothing for you to do. This is false, pic up a pen and write it, pick up a mic and speak it, your frustration and anger is shared. We have the abilities required, up until now we've been led, it is your duty as a member of the world to take an active approach. Get ANGRY, work out your own salvation through fear and trembling. It doesn't matter who you are, your ideas are eternal, your movement is forever. Take your outrage and turn it into creation, take your frustration and turn it into activism, take it all and push it towards the change that YOU want.
What do petty differences matter? Punk or metal, scene or goth, cat or dog. It doesn't make a difference when you are confronted with the weight of it all, by joining together and learning, use their oppression as a weapon against them. We are louder than you might think.
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