Tag: donald-trump

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We know people, who know people, who are being terrorized & assaulted by ICE here in our beautiful town, and surrounding localities. ICE is acting like a lawless force, snatching folks off the streets: Mothers, Fathers, hard working folks, carried away to god knows what gulag-hell-hole, leaving young children Motherless & Fatherless, crying and alone. Totally ripping families apart. This is madness. It’s happening out on streets blocks away from our home. It’s happening in beautiful Chicago Neighborhoods like Little Village, Pilsen, Lakeview, and yes, our sleepy little Town, Evanston. Such cruelty, pointless, heartless, nihilistic cruelty, with no purpose. Really, just raw power imposed on the defenseless Humans. Very, very sick. 

ICE is an obscene abomination. Of course, it should be abolished. It is being used as a tool for this Facsist/Authoritarian regime. It is ugly, counter to everything we hold dear here in America.

We spent time at a little art-space, Compound Yellow a truly extraordinary art-space last night. A shaggy, welcoming, friendly room, well-lit, and comfortable, filled with creative, engaged, intelligent Human Beings. The Crimes Against Humanity out on the streets loomed over us all. We are the kind of people who see an attack on one of us as an attack on all of us. We see ourselves as part of a beloved community, a collection of beings that includes folks of all colors, creeds, & persuasions. We are diverse & inclusive. We open our arms and hearts to all. We talked of the pain, the sadness, the disgusting displays of power being inflicted upon our Brothers & Sisters, and how we are all deeply wounded, but at the same time absolutely firm in our opposition.  

Folks are rallying to help the children. Folks are out on the streets witnessing & filming the atrocities, and voicing their deep contempt of the actions & crimes of the ICE thugs. Last night we played music, we gathered together as a community of souls. We think of this creative pursuit as the good work, soul-work, enriching & life affirming, we think it is the antidote to the tragedies unfolding across our country. We are filled with sadness and righteous anger. We oppose this super-charged cruelty with all of our hearts and heads. A disciplined non-violence. and a dedicated, deep in the bone, opposition to this terrible shite. – Jammer

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We sat on our favorite bench and watched the waves yesterday, late afternoon. One of our favorite activities, or is it a glorious in-activity? Another perfect Autumn day, blue skies, summer-like temps, a golden fading of the light. Folks were out, swimming, sailing, walking, biking. A little scene of perfection.

We should have been chill and full of peace, love & understanding, but, of course, all is not well in paradise. My partner & I were swirling down a dark tunnel in our minds. Our conversation was all about the raid & brutal assault on the residents in an apartment building on Chicago’s South Shore. The current very corrupt, unwell, President is at war with Blue State America,  with the Big Cities, & with Immigrants. Agents zip-tied little children, moms, dads in a disgusting & immoral raid. We are the kind of people, who believe an assault, an attack on “those people,” is an attack on us too. You know, solidarity with humanity.

Hard to believe this adminstration has decided to make America a fascist, rat-fucking Dystopia. Yes. A dark fascist turn, no doubt. We have lived through bad Presidencies before, especially: Nixon, Reagan, Bush II, but this has gone so bad, so quickly, it is hard to believe, but it is  undoubtably true, this is the New Ugly America, and we are under the thumb of the worst of us. We have a hostile President & Adminstration that is at War with Americans.

We struggled through a conversation. How to keep our heads above water? How to keep calm & carry on when atrocities against our fellow human beings are being carried out by our Government just south of our beautiful vista?

A fellow traveller came riding by on his bike, he stopped at our bench. We exchanged “Hello’s,” and then he talked about the horror that was on his mind too. Funny. It’s was an oddly-uplifting conversation. It was strangely gratifying to know that someone else was also consumed with thoughts & feelings of disgust, dismay, & Helplessness. At least we knew that someone else was Awake too.

Our friend is a father of three children. “What do I tell my kids? I can’t tell them they are fucked, I have to be positive for them.”

Then we reviewed the reality of our collective situation. What to do? March. Protest. Write. Speak up. Alive. Aware. Awake. Be a Witness to the atrocities. And denounce them. And, of course, Vote when & if we can. We all still want to live in the country we grew up in, even if it seems to be vanishing right before our eyes & ears.

Our fellow traveller wished us well, and then he went on his way. We got up from the bench, & walked down the path, wondering to ourselves, what fresh fuckery will be next? And how the hell do we live with it? – Jammer

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“It was a crazy, bad week, in a string of crazy bad weeks. 

First, the righ-wing purveyor of hate speech, Charlie Kirk, was murdered. His killer, Tyler Robinson wrote to his lover: “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.” 

Why did Tyler murder Kirk? ‘One person familiar with the federal investigation said that “thus far, there is no evidence connecting the suspect with any left-wing groups.’‘Every indication so far is that this was one guy who did one really bad thing because he found Kirk’s ideology personally offensive,” this person continued.’

Of course, as a ‘What’s So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding’ Guy, I abhor the use of violence. I am anti-gun, anti-violence, anti-death penalty. But Kirk was no saint.  He spent most his time attacking Americans that he didn’t like with bad-faith, straw man arguments. He stirred up the hate. But even hate speech is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Still, it is not so surprising that it was hate that struck him down. Chalk his death up to another casualty of hate & the culture of guns.

Then the Trump Government put the squeeze on Disney to silence the talk-show host & comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Clear violation of Free Speech. 

Seems the Kimmel story has swamped the Kirk story. Why? We are so numb to murder. It happens every day in America. But not so numb to taking  our right of Free Speech away. It is foundational to our country. It is an attack on each and every one of us.

The mask has fallen away, the Trump Government has revealed itself in all it’s Fascist, Anti-American glory. The Trump Government has declared war on it’s own citzenry. Democracy is under assault. The rule law is  under assault. Free Speech is under assault.

We have entered a very tricky, dangerous time. One can only hope that cooler heads will prevail. Seems we are at a precipice. The Trump Government is clearly out to fan the flames, to go after anyone who speaks up in oppostition. We must all speak up in opposition. We do outnumber them. And we have a long history here in America of freedom from tyranny. 

I am firmly in the camp of “Anti-facism.” You know, it’s an idea, not an organization. 

Yes. I have my Antifa decoder ring, my Antifa morning cereal, my Antifa rose-colored glasses. Listening to my Antifa soundtrack: Massive Attack, Invaders of the Heart, Tracy Chapman. Where and when is the next Antifa potluck, picnic & confab?! In my Dreams Brothers & Sisters!” – Jammer

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This ad campaign running on the streets of London? Absolutely brilliant. An amazing series of ads. Truly creative and provocative and on-the-money. Darkly-hilarious too. It’s from the group Everybody Hates Elon. The good folks in Britain are pretty wised-up on Nazis, and the hard-right, white-supremacy movement. Many still-living humans have vivid memories of bombs raining down on London in World War II. Dark times in the last century. 

It’s quite the unbuilding the brand idea. Once Tesla’s brand ambassodor revealed his Nazi-sympathies, the process of unbuilding, dismantling, destroying the brand took hold. What’s great, it’s a serious, non-violent, movement. Using advertising is just so elegant & perfect.

It folds in nicely with the Telsa Takedown movement in the USA. Divest from Telsa stock. Sell or trash your Tesla automobile. It’s funny the Tesla was the darling of wealthy, environmentally-conscious, progressives in America. Then, Musk revealed himself, and declared war on the “woke mind virus.” It turns out that the rich woke-folk were his best customers and investors.

The stock is tanking. The cars are crashing. It became obvious that the stock price and the car company were madly, wildly, super-over-inflated. Sort of a shiny, techy, Ponzi scheme. As someone remarked: “Telsa is no longer a car company, it’s a bank for Fascists.”  Reality is now rearing it’s ugly head. 

Musk then multiplied the damage by going after Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security programs here in the States. Something about an over-amped billionaire attacking the social safety net of the common folks just doesn’t sit right.

How does this all end? Who knows?! It is gratifying to watch the stock price tumble. Can’t wait for the next ads to drop. People Power. It is an awesome and inspiring phenomenon. – Jammer