(no subject)

[go_team]

I need to go to the store for basic food staples like eggs and bread (we've finally admitted that the bread machine isn't working) but in the meantime, a little brain dump.

Previously worrisome tax stuff about the house has been sorted with our big scary corporate lender; now all I have to do is remind Lane County that I own this house, too. That's not so bad. However, while I'm on the subject of taxes, I for one am not happy to hear that the Bush administration's tax reforms may focus on taxing consumption instead of income. That translates as "big tax cuts for people with more money than they can spend", mmkay? It is bad news if you are spending anywhere near what you earn, living paycheck to paycheck, or borrowing money, you will be paying proportionally more. Isn't that kind of the definition of regressive taxation? I haven't looked it up yet, but I'm definitely feeling suspicious. If any of you want to beat me to researching this and writing or drawing it up in catchy Internet meme form, please feel free.

I think maybe I need one of these shirts. Longsleeve, though; my t-shirt collection is still pretty out of control. I'm glad to report that my crew at work is mostly shell-shocked and/or disgusted by the events of this Tuesday; the one guy who probably voted for Bush isn't scheduled to work with me for at least another two weeks, so that's all good. By then I'm sure he'll be rooting for some other team he thinks is a winner, or else I can always kick him in the balls accidentally bump him with a hot pan add him to my list of "okay, so you voted for the guy, now explain me why" interviewees. I think I'll probably be able to maintain horrified curiosity, but if he gets obnoxious, there's always the hot pan fallback plan.

I am loving SorryEverybody.com. Part of me still wants to be writing letters to everyone I know outside the U.S. to remind them that 3.5 million is not that big a lead and there's no way of knowing how much of it is faked or stolen or due to voter intimidation or crappy machines or provisional ballots or whatever but most importantly there's still millions of people in this country who are not actively trying to bring about the Eschaton. But actions are louder than words, yes? Better than a personal letter from me to a few friends and relatives is for many more people to see the world news have report millions of U.S.-ians protesting the stupids in charge. Hint, hint, y'all.

Speaking of news, self-censorship can suck it. Last night after I finished closing, I stopped by the office to chat with my manager, as I am wont to do. He's in "turn off the TV'" mode, which I can respect a bunch, oh yes. But I was never big on the TV to begin with, and I do still want to keep informed. This is where all y'all help me make a list of independent media sources so I can see things through more filters than just The New York Times, AlterNet, and whatever generic Associated Press-style shows up on my Yahoo! homepage when I make my daily email check there. I check out Common Dreams from time to time, I don't read or listen to Democracy Now! nearly as much as I should (note to self; independent radio news is kewl) and I like Salon, maybe even enough to put my money where that comment is and subscribe (they do, after all, publish Lynda Barry and Keith Knight's comix, which is reason enough to love them right there). But where else should I be looking? Keep me posted, kids!

I don't want to take the No on 36 sign out of our window. I'm thinking of adapting it to say "Constitutional Amendment 36 is still wrong".

At the very least, I'm working on compiling a big list of the good and hopeful and productive and just interesting things people are saying in the wake of this election. I'll probably write some more about hope, since that's my theme for now, but after that I'm not sure where to go. Do I try to make it into a book? Would any of you who wrote in last time be interested in contributing to a book about hope? How about a more self-published indie zine-type thingy that we sell on the Internet all underground economy style because it's easier than trying to shop things around to publishers? Again, bring the ideas, please.

Note to self: write defiant "Dear U.S. of A." letter.

Comments

[siobhan1.livejournal.com]

I got a permission denied for the sorryeverybody.com thing... :/

[goteam.livejournal.com]

That's very sad and ironic. Try it again, and I will email them to say "um, your site might not be visible internationally". The site authors themselves admit that their HTML is not the best, so it could just be a browser error or something.

[siobhan1.livejournal.com]

Yay - now I can see it. Thanks :)

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

I got a subscription to Salon for my birthday, and I am really liking it.

Also, if you do zine stuff or a book, I will of course do stuff for it.

[auranja.livejournal.com]

i would totally contribute to a "hope" project. this past summer, my theme was redemption. the two are so close.

[goteam.livejournal.com]

Redemption, especially in the Christian sense, is a concept that has always baffled me somewhat. (I didn't really realize how bad the disconnect was until we were studying The Scarlet Letter in 11th grade and the teacher's big themes were sin and redemption, and it turned out later she was Christian and assuming the rest of us were more or less familiar with these concepts.) quizro gallantly attempted to explain it to me awhile back, but we seem to be operating from different starting points. I haven't given up on learning more about the idea, though, so if you ever find yourself wanting to write someone email or a letter about the subject, consider me the one in front bouncing up and down waving a hand, hollering "Pick me!"

[beanworks.livejournal.com]

I'm all about looking for new ways to communicate, so your book/zine idea is neato. I'd be happy to help out.

[linley.livejournal.com]

I've been too busy to write about hope for you, although I would like to at some point. I'd definitely contribute to a book/zine. You can self-publish books pretty easily nowadays; tomorrow I'm going to a publishing party for a friend who has just self-published a book about how to write screenplays. He's a big proponent of self-publishing, and I'm sure he could point you at resources if you decide to go that route.

As for news, a lot of people I know like Google News. It draws from a wide range of news sources from around the world, so you get lots of different perspectives on things.

media

[cosyne.livejournal.com]

i used to read news.bbc regularly for a non-cnn/fox perspective
http://cursor.org/ is, iir, left wing-ish
if you really want a non-us perspective, you could see what's on http://english.aljazeera.net

[cubetime.livejournal.com]

I don't want to take the No on 36 sign out of our window. I'm thinking of adapting it to say "Constitutional Amendment 36 is still wrong".

You totally should. There's a guy whose office I walk by a lot at UCLA. He used to have a sign up that said "Defeat Bush in 2004". I'm kinda sad he took it down. I suppose that it lacks relevance. It gave me the idea of making a t-shirt or poster or something that says "Defeat Bush in 2008".