this could have been anyone of us

In this story right here, I find a very familiar young man:

went to evergreen and became slightly radicalized. got a girlfriend and did what he thought was best -- take action instead of talk. got caught and ran for his life to Dali, a place i know well. ran around the town and got into the drug trade there, got caught up in the dragnet last year that we all knew about when it went down. none of my people got got, except for this kid right here, whom i never met.

good luck kid.

The Bailout ...

YO:

Read this Wikipedia entry about the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act"

then go here and read through this article about where the cheddar is going ...


then get pissed.


then sign this. (and wonder if being the 40th person to do so without doing the math makes you an idiot or a hero.)

and then go on and read some Garet Garret or Noam Chomsky or just watch Fox and CNN and get even more pissed, then check your bank account and start feeling the heat hit you in the face. Call up yer buddies and see how they're doing ... skim the web a bit and find out who is getting bailed out and check out their personal sites ... you might be as mad as me by now ... then holler back at me and tell me what you found.

Obama is selling out because he believes firmly that "the People" are weak and have no voice and can influence nothing, whereas "the Establishment" in DC -- all of the people in his Cabinet and at his ear -- are the real power brokers and he would be a fool not to choose the stronger posse.

sigh. (Now i stop and look at myself)

I guess if you are getting by and saving money and got a woman that loves you don't worry about any of this shit because they ain't never gonna come for you like in the movies. And if yer broke and woman-less than go and find out why ... or become a monk and renounce all of this. (I demand action then become a cliche all in the same post ... thats what society does to you.)

The Last Transport is Away

Saw my man Doc Possible and his girlie Therin off to the Amtrak today. Doc is headed to illi-noise to re-tool and rest before embarking on a long and drawn out trip to take over the planet via gem dealing. We stopped by the China Garden in downtown Portland and head some Tie Guanyin oolong tea amidst the Japanese maples, magnolias, holly and of course the magnificent 100+ year old Osmanthus tree at the very entrance of the garden.

Life resumes, now that my tribe has dispersed again.

And life here is great in Portland. I love this society no matter what. But sometimes I hear something or read something or see something that just sets me off.

I was thinking today as I sat in Powells about the true impact of the "Greatest Gneration" of our grandfathers and grandmothers. And this is what I have come to:

WE all have the hero that stormed the beaches inside of us, but the Baby Boomers have discarded that hero and sold out. Now they revere Granpa who was a WWII hero and hate on us, the grandkid who rebels. When the true criminal in all of this is the 40 - 60 year old who is just now realizing that all his life he stomped on his world and blamed his kids for "not getting it." and only now is he figuring out that I have more in common with a WWII vet than he ever will. I have no more sympathy for the ignorant who claim that dreamers and hippies and antiwar activists and such are "anti establishment radicals who would never fit into a corporate world" and therefore of little regard to the "world at large." Where were these fools when MLK died? When Kennedy was shot? When NIxon was elected? When the war dragged on? They hid and sold while the hippies and Panthers were incarcerated and now they hate on us as we struggle hard against the coward they want us to be ... fuck them.

any man who believes that the established corporate world at large is the reality Man has been aspiring to is deeply scarred in some way that I have no more patience to even try and comprehend. I am sick of you people. Like Genghis I feel its time you were all rooted out, made to stand before your creations and held accountable. Quit hiding in your homes, behind your jobs, inside your cars and take responsibility for the shit I and my kids will have to deal with. How stupid do you have to be to destroy your planet in the name of quick and fleeting monetary profit and then turn to the kids trying to stop you and imprison them? I suppose the righteous have to believe in God because there is no solace for the rational benevolent man on Earth. Such men end up on the trash heap of society -- either in jail, on the streets or hiding out in the woods -- praying that he'll die a happy man before "they" come to get him and throw him back to the wolves. And I am preaching to the choir. If anyone even reads this to the end they are my friends and if they don't they'll "bounce" and shake their heads at just another pissed off half-rebel typing away on a busted Mac. Cliche, says the disinterested reader. Touche, says the bored soapbox pundit.

What made me think of all of this was a report from Brooklyn in which a man was sodomized by a cop for smoking a joint on the street.

A society that would even consider the justice of such an action is fatally sick. To beat the horse: How could you possibly rationalize the criminalization of marijuana unless you are so goddamn stupid and sheltered and disregarding of any and all facts?

When was the last time a man who was high beat his wife, died of cirrhosis, drove into a family of four, started a bar brawl or some other stupid drunken act?

When was the last time someone died of lung cancer, emphysema or some other long drawn out disease because he got high too much?

This is a small microcosm of our society that speaks volumes about the overall philosophy. When Blackwater mercenaries burn down weed fields and leave tobacco growing you know the world is all out of wack. I am sick of the hypocrisy and accusing tone of the "pillars of society" whose crimes make me vomit so bad i need to head to the local marijuana dispensary to get a repreive from the nausea ...

i am so sick of the bullshit. I see a face in my mind as I rant, its a fat pink face framed by glasses with a flattop haircut and Dick Cheney grin. I am infected by him and everywhere i go -- SE Asia, Africa, China, Tibet, S. America -- i not only see his virus spreading but i realize i am a carrier. Burning myself would give them too much satidsfaction so i guess i'll rant and fume and escape jail and the streets as long as i can untill i have my wilderness enclave to hide in. I get bitter when i think of Irvine, CA and the power they wield.

so i just think of my tribe scattered across the globe and hope the antidote we carry spreads as far as the virus. Godspeed Doc and take the revolution with you baby. I got you and believe i will hold it down in Portland ... me and the choir ...

Ma Shan acts like a Child!

I heard this a lot when i was in China (and sometimes here as well) and i always wanted to put across my response: Thank You!

Over there in China, children and women should never be listened to, according to an old saying attributed to some white-bearded sage. For China to become what it wants to be, this heavy sack of historical and cultural wisdom must be sifted through and held up to the light of day.

For example: Du Fu, one of the greatest poets China has ever enjoyed, was a hobo and a drunkard. Everyone in China can quote a few poems of his and everyone laughs about his and his contemporaries love for drink and play, but very few of them actually learn the lessons of this man and throw of the shackles of their society to CREATE themselves.

I remember thinking that a lot of travel will result in a child-like mind-state at times. This mind-state allows one to absorb surroundings and sounds much better than an "adult" filter and I have found a little bit of childishness goes a long way toward establishing communication with the scions of Babel (people who don't speak my language). And whose imagination can rival a child's?

This little blurb by a designer in Shenzhen talks about these issues.

What we deserve

I went to watch the Vp debate at Nicole's friend's house. A lot of very liberal women were there and we basically laughed a lot at what Palin had to say and especially how she said it ...

But i had a sick feeling in my stomach as I watched, because I know that a large chunk of America identifies with her grammatical errors, down-home smarmy sarcasm and appeals to the lowest common denominator.

I urge everyone to vote (for Obama) and come November if the ignorant bastards manage to pull out a win and we have a McCain Administration, well then the US deserves whatever consequences come out of that. By US i mean the nation as a whole. In my backyard, I will be doing my thing and living my way and that is still possible in this country.

Even with fears of Depressions and Never-ending Wars, there are regions and cities throughout the US that can and should carry on with Obama's vision of our society, regardless of which politician makes it into office.

I have always thought that Obama represents a return of hope and energy and his victory means more as a symbolic message to every American and to the world at large. Do we need him to win to feel and embody and act upon a message of change and hope?

Shit. We thought 8 years of idiocy was enough to convince Cracker America. But i guess we overestimated the nation and underestimated the impact of all those studies that point to the dismal state in our education system. Yesterday i saw a dude roll around in a car that had "Barack Obama is a fascist" written on the back in white paint.

I doubled over in laughter, then shook my head in disgust. I am so tired of people thinking Americans are fools, but then again it is time we moved away from this silly belief in abstract nationality. I love the trees, mountains, rivers and the skies, no gov can take those away.

Vote Obama! Live the Dream!

"you don't have to believe in your government to be a good American, you just have to believe in your country"

Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo is the ill.

The Security Establishment

Now that I have finished my stint in a semi-corporate setting in a security company, i can let you know a little bit about how things work.

These companies do business here with the permssion of the Chinese government. This means that they are under the constant supervision of the Public Security Bureau. As such, they censor themselves and many of the reports they provide their clients in order to maintain the goodwill of the CCP and continue to do business.

I myself had to delete two posts because they contained viewpoints and information that at the time could have gotten back to the government, then to my company and might have hurt people who have nothing to do with me or my political views.

After all of the free thinking words i write in here, it really hurt to have to censor myself, but i did it because hurting someone so I could have a cute blog is inappropriate. Well, things have changed so I can re-post them here today.

I know there are a couple security guys here who read my blog and get annoyed with what I say. They have labeled me a "left wing anti-establishment guy who could never fit into a corporation"

to you i say: thank you very much, i appreciate the compliment.

The self-censorship of the security community here has led them to make the same type of mistakes the US security establishment made leading up to 9/11. The establishment naturally rejects analyses and viewpoints that do not mesh with their convenient worldview. Such is the case with all establishments.

The only saving grace is a conversation i had with a security guy in which he said that the intelligence community is now looking for people like me to turn the coat and work for them, because we don't stand out like sore thumbs and our perspectives, although anti-establishment, are also valid and sometimes much more so than the "professionals" they have working for them now.

here are the deleted posts, the first one was called:

Saturday, July 19, 2008
Beware of Government Promises

Lying, cheating, bribing, beating ...

This is how governments treat the people. All over the world. No matter where, no matter what the situation. Even if the government manages to re-build and re-store -- never will they take responsibility.

Last night I read about the US government's response to the shooting of an Iranian passenger jet by the American warship Vincennes in 1988 -- denying everything then paying them off ten years later.

Today I read about the Chinese buying off the parents of children who were killed by the earthquake and shoddy construction. At least the Chinese pay people off right away ...

Basically many things the Chinese promised to have in place for the Olympics will not be in place. I'll start with the media:

All news networks that use mobile broadcasting vehicles will have to register their routes and broadcast plans in advance with the PSB. Beijing residents have been warned to either keep their mouths shut when meeting foreign press or better yet toe the Party line. The huge media building set up for the thousands of journalists coming through to cover the Games will be sending their reports through a controlled and monitored Internet pipeline.

Many longtime China-based journalists manage to get around these restrictions, but the point is that China promised unfettered media access. Of course, anyone who believed this is a fool.

Another media issue with serious implications: NBC's coverage of the Games must first go through the Chinese pipeline before it is sent to the world. All TV broadcasts -- I repeat, ALL TV BROADCASTS-- will have a 10 - 45 second delay on them. The Chinese first said 45 seconds, the media haggled it down to 10. But in the end, this is just another "promise" from the CCP that should be considered worthless.

This means that what you think is live happened from a few seconds to almost a minute ago. So protests or things of that nature will probably be scrubbed from TV coverage, giving any activists much less of an incentive to hold up the "T-sign" in support of Tibet or flash a Dalai Lama medallion or any other "anti-China" demonstrations.

As for pollution, I will put up a couple pictures later tonight of the view from my building. Beijing has not met the requirements, period. We have some days where I can not see the building 100 meters from my window and some days where it is clear and cloudless. What this means for the Games is hard to predict, because the real serious policies -- road restrictions, construction bans, factory closures etc. --do not begin until tomorrow. We might yet have clear skies ...

And as for money issues, Visa, McDonalds, GE and other foreign firms have banded together to force the Chinese government to honor their pledges of marketing the companies' brands during the Olympics. What has happened is, the Chinese have accepted a huge payment for these companies as sponsors and then reneged on their promises for exposure by giving Chinese brands such as Haier and Lenovo prime coverage at the expense of foreign companies. In response to the complaints from Visa and friends, the CCP said: you are getting enough coverage, period.

And as for security, the Chinese require that all foreign companies and entities that need security details must hire from a Chinese pool of companies and talent. If they do not hire Chinese, they do not receive their registration papers. There are three plans available for companies to choose from: a 160 man detail, 120 man detail and a 90 man detail. Normally, a 90 man details would cost about 150,000RMB. The prices have risen to 4 million RMB for the Olympics.

The Chinese are restricting foreign access, smothering the media, covering up their pollution and raping foreign companies trying to do business during the Olympics. These are just a few examples, if I write any more I might risk my access.

Is this unprecedented in Olympic history? Do all nations play this game when hosting the Olympics? Are we naive to suggest that the spirit of the Games should come before political concerns and security? Listening to people in Beijing speak of the Olympics, I find all agree that the situation is tense, draconian, staged and nationalistic.

At the same time, I notice that if you walk away from the glittering buildings and massive venues, you will find side streets filled with curious and hospitable people. It reinforces my belief that the governments of the world are to blame for our social ills and if we as people can (like true socialists and capitalists) just meet without their interference, we could solve many of these problems over tea and cigarettes.

Governments distort and de-humanize ... but I am yet too weak minded to come up with alternatives in this modern world.

The scary thing is I thought it would be counter-productive for Muslim terrorists to bring China into the War on Terrorism as an active force. Right now China uses the whole deal to do what it does best: crush its own people. But i was informed yesterday that a united front of anti-terror states like Europe, US and China would lead to a united Muslim Front, which is the end goal of the Muslim terrorists

So it makes sense for them to attack here. Does it make sense for me to be here?

The other one was called:

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Olympic Insecurity

After just a few days here, i have been briefed on security, given dozens of pages to read and have spent hours rolling around the city. All of this week will be spent in the sweltering heat checking the venues for security gaps and figuring out evacuation routes.

As of now, I believe that the authorities are in no way prepared for serious attacks and that if something does indeed happen, it will be chaos. Now any country hosting a big international party is vulnerable and there is no reason to single out China -- chaos ensues wherever there are bombs and such.

I guess what i see here is just typical Chinese BS as opposed to typical German or Greek BS.

A few things:

-- All of the prostitutes have been kicked out, the Mongolian, Russian and now even the local hussies have been swept from the streets and remain in hiding.

-- random sweeps of areas like San Li Tun net all foreigners (and a few locals) who have no ID with them i.e. passport. They also pick up every black man they see -- recently deporting 40-some Nigerians

-- it is illegal to send water, electronic devices or other such things to Beijing via the mail

-- they have missile batteries near the venues in case of air attack.

-- there are 100,000 anti-terrorism troops and 350,000 volunteers. I have seen these people. The "anti-terrorism" troops are average run-of-the-mill guards with new uniforms. They have no special training, not even first aid. The other 350,000 are random "volunteers" such as an Anhui girl selling clothes in the silk and pearl market and random civilians with red armbands. They are responsible for their areas if the poo hits the AC.

These are to me classic Communist control methods and I would expect them to happen in China from time to time regardless of what the situation is ... but they don't make me feel safe.

The metros are unsafe, the shopping centers are unsafe and Beijing is not that easy to navigate -- even with all of the ring roads. Restrictions placed on vehicles and such near the venues hamper as much as protect and typical stonewalling from the local police keeps foreigners in the dark about possible threats.

Basically, China has spray painted the grass green, sent out all undesirables, thrown hundreds of thousands of half-cops onto the streets, made a bunch of posters and promises and put flowers everywhere to make the place look beautiful and modern and on lockdown. But its a paper thin lockdown. Anyone who really wanted to make problems here would be able to do so with ease.

China has good relationships with all of the pariah states in the world. Sudan and Iran are both friends of the PRC. North Korea is a trusted lil buddy, so China believes few international terrorist orgs or states want to upset the Olympics.

For China, the threat is domestic in the form of "extremists and splittists" in Tibet and Xinjiang and international in the form of Western NGOs and human rights orgs who may stage a public protest. So they crack down hard domestically, shooting up Uighers and having a strong Party presence in the monasteries, while keeping a tight grip on all the foreigners through the registration and visa process.

The most Westerners would do is (for example) throw a fist up for Tibet or disseminate posters in support of the Falun Gong, but these things will not cause chaos. If anything, they will re-enforce unity. So although China is very nervous about the Olympics, at the same time I get the feeling that they do not believe anyone would really bomb them. After all these years of non-intrusive international diplomacy, it would indeed seem crazy for any foreign nation or terrorist group to attack China. But this, of course, is provided that China is the target.

But if one believes that any nation attending the Games is a target (ahem: the US), then the face-based security measures that China has in place seem not only feeble but bordering on the tragic: a thin veil of colored rice paper meant to stop a bullet from hitting the guest ..

mad love atcha ...