Blah Blah Blah!!

And I thought Japan was weird before

2009-10-10T19:41:52Z

Room for rent

2009-09-14T02:25:24Z

If anyone wants to move to Santa Fe I have a room coming up to rent in Santa Fe at the beginning of the month or the beginning of november.

Some art I made

2009-09-12T02:58:33Z

These are the two pieces I did, with mad help, for the most recent art installation at the art collective I'm a part of.

Thought you might like.

Almost doored

2009-08-13T17:44:30Z

I was on a loaner bike the other day and someone parked on the curb and in the bike lane just about opened their door into me. I wasn't paying attention at all and would have been hit if the didn't actually notice me at the last minute. I would have taken it straight to the face and chest, bad times. Thank goodness some people are at least slightly aware of bikes, it saved my ass.

Hate Crimes Against Women

2009-06-02T00:53:21Z

The murder of doctor Tiller may have been immediately directed at a man, but it was in fact a hate crime against women. This doctor saved the life of innumerable women and we can't know how many women will now be denied life saving abortions because he is no longer here to perform them. Make no mistake, this happened because the perpetrator considered women to be less than human and thus not allowed bodily integrity.

On a similar note, I have never read, nor heard, of someone being prosecuted for committing a hate crime against a woman qua woman. That is, there are prosecutions against people who commit hate crimes against women, but only because of some other group to which they belong. If a Woman of Color woman is the target of a hate crime it is prosecuted as if the crime was solely because she of color, not a woman of color. If a lesbian is the target of a hate crime it is prosecuted as if the crime was solely because of her sexual orientation. Perhaps I'm wrong and there are a number of prosecutions of hate crimes based on gender, but I imagine that given how much media I consume, and specifically how much feminist media I consume, I would have heard about at least one prosecution of a hate crime directed against a woman or women.

It is far past time that this issue be addressed. We as a society have recognized so many different types of hate crimes, why can we not recognize the huge number of hate crimes against women? Those women are of every class and race and sexual preference, but so often they are attacked because they are not only of those other groups but also because they are women. Women are and have been under attack and it is time that we do something about it.

Oh yeah

2009-05-15T03:02:24Z

A New Home

2009-04-29T02:44:31Z

I moved into a new house on Saturday. I am extremely happy. I live with three photographers. They rock.

Swine Flu in Mexico

2009-04-25T00:28:38Z

This is a preemptive post of sorts. Right now Mexico is having an outbreak of deadly swine flu and is doing their best to contain it. There is a decent chance of this flu hitting the U.S. I fully expect U.s. racists to use this as an excuse to bash on immigrants of color, as they have plenty of times before.

So yeah, people of color=disease. Thank you white supremacy.

coathangrrr @ 2009-04-20T20:20:00

2009-04-21T02:20:34Z

The soft glow of the sun above the low roofs of Santa Fe enamours me of this place.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

coathangrrr @ 2009-04-13T19:42:00

2009-04-14T01:42:42Z

Porch couch weather is here again. Happy times!

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Which Side are you on?

2009-03-05T05:06:35Z

Nationalize lending

2009-03-03T07:26:55Z

This post is inspired by Dave's righteous anger.

Nationalizing banks is becoming more and more acceptable as a solution, or partial solution, to the current crisis. I'm going to go that one better and say that we should nationalize lending. One of many problems that the financial system has right now is that lending is at a stand still. Obama's plan to fix that involves giving banks tons of loans so that they will lend that money to businesses and people. Why not cut out the middle man. The Fed, which is where most of the government "loans" to banks will go through, can just start lending directly to people and businesses. To do this they can simply nationalize a couple more banks, or just Citigroup, and then use their lending capabilities to lend at Fed rates, or just above.

Check out the link above for a move detailed explanation of how it might work.

Ellen Tauscher

2009-03-03T01:11:48Z

I know that some of you who read this live in Concord and Walnut Creek and are represented by Ellen Tauscher. Right now she's doing her best on behalf of the financial industry to throw a wrench in the Homeowners Rescue bill Obama is trying to get through congress right now. If you can call or write her office and make clear that this bill is important to you as a constituent.

Or go to her office in Walnut Creek and talk to her staff in person, it's right near down town:

2121 North California Suite 555
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
p: 925.932.8899
f: 925.932.8159

If you are in San Francisco you can call Pelosi and tell her to stand up to the corporatist dems

Jesus and the Zombies

2009-02-28T16:24:37Z

The Future

2009-02-25T02:56:52Z

I've had a lot of bad things happening and a lot of bad news recently and it's really affected me. I've been reevaluating my life and where I want to go with it. I've realized a lot of things. I'm probably not going to be moving back to the Bay Area for quite a while. Right now my plan is to move to Beirut in the next couple of years. I'm going to ride to NYC then fly to Paris, which I think is the cheapest US to Europe flight, then ride from Paris to Beirut. I might end up having to take a ferry from Turkey to Lebanon depending on the Political situation in Syria at the time, but hopefully I can ride the whole way.

For now I'm just saving up money, paying off debts and figuring out what all I'm going to need. I'm hoping to leave within two years from now, and hopefully early next year. I don't know how long I would stay in Beirut, but I'd like to spend a couple of years there, then maybe ride east. If Obama's whole negotiating with Iran thing works out then I'd like to head there, then maybe India, then Thailand.

Recipes for my records

2009-02-24T02:17:38Z

fried polenta with honey(from morris)

1) Cook Polenta; polenta, water, salt to taste
2) Cool for a few hours or overnight, even easier if it's spread on a pan 1/4"-1/2" high
3) Make into 1/4"-1/2" high slices and pat with flour (here's where I wish I used the pan)
4) Fry in olive oil, butter, or a blend for ~5 minutes a side, med-high

Spinach and mushroom quesadilla

Grate cheese (or use Feta)
Chop up spinach and mushrooms(I've used both regular and oyster mushrooms, the oysters are my fave)
throw some olive oil in a skillet and start sauteing mushrooms, spice with cayenne(mostly) and tumeric,
saute mushrooms until they are mostly soft then add spinach, push around with spatula until spinach is nice and cooked, not too long.
Put cheese on one tortilla and put mushrooms and spinach on top of that, keeping skillet hot.
close up the quesadilla and cook until cheese melts and tortillas are browned.

The Porch Couch

2009-02-08T01:58:34Z

It is totally porch couch weather and I am so, so happy.

I'm posting this from the porch.

Fuck yeah.

Republicans to imitate Taliban

2009-02-05T18:48:47Z

No, it isn't a joke, nor is it some tortured metaphor. Pete Sessions (R-TX) literally said that the House republicans would be looking to the Taliban in terms of tactics if Obama and them Democrats weren't obsequious enough for them.

"Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," Sessions said during a meeting yesterday with Hotline editors. "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. No, that's not what we're saying. I'm saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."

I'm amazed that they would actually come out and say this. Not that the press will pillorize them for it as they would the Democrats, and I'm sure Sessions knew that when he said it.

Nationalize lending

2009-02-03T18:49:26Z

I like this idea even better than just nationalizing banks.

An excerpt:

Instead, what needs to be done is to just have the Fed lend directly to consumers and businesses. Let everyone switch their credit card to a Fed card, and as a one time thing everyone can switch over up to a $10,000 balance. The interest rate? How about the top end of the Fed Funds rate +4%? Right now, that would mean a 4.25% interest rate. If people default, well, garnish their wages. You're the government.

Start lending to businesses. Base it off credit ratings after you take over the ratings agencies, or force reform, because they clearly are worthless (having rated much of the junk that's now imploded as great credit risks.)

In time what you make this money conditional - you can borrow money from the Fed only for certain things. Want to buy a house to live in? Sure, you can borrow the money in one of 5 standard mortgage styles. Want a vacation home or an investment home? Go to a commercial lender. On your credit card, want to buy food? Great. Want to put a vacation on your card? Forget it. Want to buy a fuel efficient car? Sure. Want to buy a gas guzzler - get your financing somewhere else (not that this is much of an issue, given the low rates car companies give.)

I would go one better and say that there should be extra incentives for worker owned and run businesses, that's what a real "ownership society" should look like, not just people owning their house. I'd love to see a Federal level organization that helps people start just that sort of thing, something like the Small Business Administration but for worker run and owned coops.

I want this as a poster

2009-02-02T04:08:29Z

New Bike

2009-01-30T22:05:02Z

Well, my new LHT is on the way. Hopefully I'll have it Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. I'm already planning a ride :)

It's a new day

2009-01-21T01:49:24Z

I posted this before, but watch it again. I teared up something fierce at work watching Obama's speech. I still don't trust government, I still dislike it in a lot of ways, but I don't distrust my country any more. I don't distrust the people in places I haven't been, people I've never met. I'm not afraid to go places like Mississippi and Georgia and Tennessee. And I was.

I WENT TO SLEEP LAST NIGHT

TIRED FROM THE FIGHT

IVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR TOMORROW ALL MY LIFE

YEAH I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING BRAND NEW

CAUSE THE DREAMS THAT IVE BEEN DREAMING HAS FINALLY CAME TRUE

ITS A NEW DAY

None of this was real until today, until Biden took his oath and all I could think was that Cheney wasn't VP anymore, it was really over. An entire Quarter of my life lived under what was without a doubt the most corrupt, vile, illegal government this country has seen in a long time. The death of millions is on our hands. It's easy to think that everything that Bush did was just him, and a bad administration, but it wasn't, we could have stopped him. Not just me or you, but us. But it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth the inconvenience it would have caused us. For some of us we were responsible to others, responsible for the lives of children or parents or siblings, or even strangers, but I don't have that excuse. The sad fact is that I didn't do everything I could to stop the slaughters in Iraq and Afghanistan. I didn't do everything I could to stop the decreasing availability of Abortion. I didn't do everything I could to make sure children get a good education. I didn't think I could do anything about a lot of these things, but that doesn't make a good excuse, you don't really know what you can do until you try.

This is a new year. A new age. I don't just mean that we have a black president whose middle name is Hussein. No. We live in a country that looked at an old, white man who preached war and hate and anger and oppression and said "no." Obama isn't perfect, no one is, but for once in my life I've seen the people of my country make a choice between two stark poles and they've chosen the more peaceful, the more thoughtful of the two. Maybe Obama won't be everything we hope for. Maybe he'll turn out to be just another guy who wanted power and made a lot of promises. The point is that we have a country that voted to talk rather than fight, to think before acting, to face the challenges that are before us rather than acting as if they don't exist.

Most importantly, we can't expect Obama to do everything, we can't expect him to know everything, we can't expect him to fix everything. Government is not a thing that causes change, it never has been. People are what bring about change, me and you and everyone else in the world. Government is just the vehicle most often used. Some of us are the people who make up the government, some aren't, but all of have to be involved to fix these problems. We cannot sit idly by and hope. Hope by itself is nothing. It is only useful when it allows us, compels us, to act. Yes, it feels great to hope, but unless it's a catalyst for action it is an empty emotion.

If you hope the world will get better, if you hope to end oppression, if you hope to have a world that is qualitatively different, better, then you need to do something. Each and everyone of us knows something that is wrong with the world. Maybe not something big, maybe something that almost no one else would even recognize as being wrong. We need to start speaking and working on those things. Change, real, lasting change for the better, doesn't come from the government, it never has. It comes from us, that's you and me, together.

P.S. Also, this, so much this. Thx Colin.

It's over

2009-01-20T17:32:44Z

It's finally over.

We have a new president.

That was an amazing speech.

I can't believe how happy I am.

Full text of his Inaugural Speech

Civilian Support

2009-01-16T07:41:42Z

There certainly are a lot of people in Gaza that support Hamas, but there are also a lot of people in the US that support the invasion and occupation of Iraq. If having a neighbor that supports militancy against the enemy is a reason to kill someone then nearly every one in the US is morally killable. I don't want it to be ok for someone to kill me because I happen to live near or go to school with someone who thinks that some government or another isn't a valid government. And Israel is, as I type, doing just that.

To bring it home. I support a woman's right to an abortion and if I were able I would provide abortions to women. Whether you think that is right or not, there are some people who think that is murder. If my neighbor thinks abortion is murder and an anti-abortionist bombs my house and kills my neighbor, it isn't right, no matter what morality you subscribe to. Especially if said bomber knows, for a fact, that they will kill someone who does not materially support abortion.

In Israel, and the US, the vast majority, excepting tax resisters and those in open rebellion, intentionally materially support the killing of civilians. In Gaza, there are people who have been killed by Israel who do not intentionally and materially support Hamas. That means that accepting the civilian casualties that Israel has inflicted is the same as accepting casualties inflicted upon almost anyone you know in the US or Israel.

That is the difference that I see between the actions of Hamas and the IDF.

New bike(s)

2009-01-10T04:10:50Z

I'm pretty positive that I'm going to get a Charge Plug Grinder when we get them into my work. It seems like it'll do everything I want a commuter to do, and it'll fit the cross tires I like to use, and maybe some nice spiky snow tires as well. Plus it's pretty cheap.

I'm really looking at making the leap to more than one gear. I know it's possible to do long distances with a single, I did it for work, but if I'm going to go on camping trips or tour I want something with gears. I haven't looked much, but so far the Raleigh Sojourn looks like about what I want, and it's under a grand, which is within my price range. I was looking at the Surly LHT, but it's heavier than I want. I think the sojourn might have that problem as well. I'm going to try a test ride tomorrow and see.

I hit up one LBS today, I'm going to hit up another tomorrow, get a better idea of what I want.

Any suggestions for a bike that I can use on roadie rides and for touring?