SPACE-TIME UPDATE: The following article about YAMAM was written as a sidebar for Motorcyclist magazine, where it did not run due to size constraints. Because I admire the guys profiled here and because Middle East conflicts are perennially timely, I’ve elected to run it here. Mounted police officers seem to spend most of their time … [more]
Oh, you silly kids…
6-October-2011 by 2 Comments
Dear Occupy Seattle: How can you expect us to take you seriously when you can’t figure out a simple, integrated message and just harp on it like professionals? Hell, even FOX News can stay on message, and they’re basically trained monkeys who fling poo on command. It’s no wonder you kids are all over the … [more]
Field Training Exercise
6-October-2011 by 2 Comments
Here’s your challenge for today: Set up a protest site. Make it defiantly public. Bring in a few hundred people, but make sure they have a thousand political causes. Refine your message for public consumption. Feed your protesters. House them in tents. Make medical care available. Negotiate with government. In the face of repeated rumors … [more]
Button on
6-October-2011 by 3 Comments
The tents were gone, and many of the people. We went downtown again last evening. We took an airpot of coffee and disposable cups. Walking around, we handed out java and listened to organizers try to rally the decimated crowd. In exchange, we received copious thanks — and a sporty Occupy Seattle button, white background … [more]
Massacree!
4-October-2011 by 2 Comments
Twitter trolls et al: To quote Jon Stewart, “Settle down.” I spent an hour and a half down at Occupy Seattle tonight, and the rumors of its eviction by the City are stupidly exaggerated. There are more than twice as many protesters in Westlake Center as spent the night there last night. The tenting ground … [more]
Date night
3-October-2011 by 4 Comments
We spent last evening making PBJs and hot chai as fast as we could run our little kitchen. The call from Occupy Seattle was for food and tarps. There was a contact number listed. It went to the cell phone for “Erin,” who cheerfully assured us that they didn’t need high tensile strength grommeted tarps, … [more]
Making ends meet
2-October-2011 by Leave a Comment
From an ABC News report by Olivia Katrandjia on the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it all into perspective for his protectorate. “The protesters are protesting against people who make $40,000 to $50,000 a year who are struggling to make ends meet. That’s the bottom line,” Bloomberg said. … [more]
Social Studies questions
1-October-2011 by 4 Comments
Three-quarters of American voters (and 63 percent of global investors) support the “Buffet Rule” to raise taxes on our wealthiest citizens. Calls to Congress ran 300:1 against bailing out bankers. When TARP passed, investment bankers paid each other one-time bonuses that outweigh your entire life’s earnings. The top one-hundredth of one percent of Americans now … [more]
"Jack Lewis takes the overall literary crown with his new book...there’s a lot more to Lewis’s work than what it feels like to ride motorcycles.” — Ultimate Motorcycling
"Insightful and from the heart ... a driven and much recommended look into the mind and conflict of the next generation of war veterans. " — Midwest Book Review (Reviewer's Choice)