A tryenta ng Disyembre ng binaril ng mga guardia sibil si Rizal sa Bagumbayan na naging hudyat naman ng himagsikan sa bansa. Hindi man ganap na nakamit natin ang kalayaan ay naging daan naman ito upang magkaisa ang karamihan sa mga Pilipino at naitatag nga ang Unang Republika ng Pilipinas. Iyong nga lamang ay naudlot dahit muli tayong sinakop ng mga Amerikano. Dumating ang pangalawang digmaan at sinakop naman tayo ng mga Hapon. Muling nagkaisa at nakipaglaban ang mga dakila nating sundalo at gerilyerong Pinoy. Napatalsik ang Imperyo ng Hapon sa Pilipinas sa tulong na rin ng mga Amerikano. Nakamtan natin ang kalayaan noong July 4, 1946 mula sa Estados Unidos at tayo’y naging isang malayang bansa ng Asia.

Ngayon at tayo’y malaya na bilang isang bansa ay katakot-takot naman problema ang ating hinaharap dahil na rin sa hindi magandang pamumuno sa gobierno at ang di pagkakaisa ng mga Pilipino dahil na rin sa ideolohiya at pulitika ng bansa. Gayon pa man kahit sabihin nilang “run like hell” ang ating bansa mas maigi pa rin kaysa tayo’y Kolonya ng makapangyarihang Amerika. Bagamat ganon ang ating sinasabi, sa hirap ng buhay ngayon sino nga ba ang ayaw manirahan sa Amerika?

Maganda ang pangarap ni Rizal para sa bansang ito kaya kanyang isinakripisyo ang sariling buhay. Ngunit hanggang kailan kaya tayo na maghihintay upang mabuo ang pangarap ng ating dakilang bayani?

This hilarious dark comedy set in the 1960s follows the dysfunctional Field family as their 3 teenage daughters each choose their own path of rebellion, sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Winner – Best Director – Director’s Guild of Canada.

NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD

Hunter or the Prey

If your like me and you can’t get enough Alien or Predator action then you’re going to love this trailer put out by Sega and narrated by the man himself Karl Bishop Weyland. The story reads a lot like Aliens with a colony as the backdrop and the all to eager space marines landing to investigate. The trailer opens with an ad pitch from Weyland-Yutani, a corporation promising to “build a better tomorrow” on a planet dominated by a conflict between Aliens and Predators. You can play the game as ether an Alien,  Predator or the Marines

Weyland-Yutani Trailer

The game is set 30 years after the events of Alien 3

” On the  planet BG-386; a human colonist mining group discovers an ancient pyramid containing a dark and horrible secret. Across the galaxy, a race of warriors is alerted to the discovery of their pyramid and a hunting party is dispatched to ensure that it remains sealed at all costs. Deep inside the ruined pyramid meanwhile, nature’s deadliest species awakes from centuries of hibernation intent on finding new prey. “

Alien Terror Trailer

The game will be released on February 16, 2010 for the PC, Xbox 360 and Ps3.

I thought that I would try to write a post to explain Christmas as I understand it to everyone who is foggy on what it is all about. I hope I am not making any theological errors here, after all, I am just a software engineer.

Basically, we know from a variety of scientific arguments that the universe was created and fine-tuned for life by an intelligent agent that existed causally prior to the beginning of the universe, because this agent brought the universe into being. Our purpose as humans is to enter into a two-way loving relationship with this Creator/Designer of the universe. This is the only way that we can ultimately be happy and fulfilled.

The mess we were in

Now, when you look at human experience, none of us is interested in finding out about the character of this Creator/Designer, because we are afraid that if we find out too much about him then we will have our freedom to do as we please constrained by the demands of a relationship with an all-powerful, all-good being. Just knowing that such a person exists and has a character distinct from our own is enough to cause us to flee from him so that we can stay autonomous from the obligations of the moral law that he expects us to follow.

Christians believe that this universal desire to avoid an all-powerful, all-good God who will judge us is a result of bad behaviors inherited by us from the very first rebellion against God by our ancestors. Ever since that rebellion, the capability for relating to God has been lost, because we no longer have the ability to stop our rebellion against God. Christians call the first rebellion of our ancestors “The Fall of Man”.

What does this rebellion look like for us today? Well, we want to do whatever we want, in order to be happy, and to ignore God’s demands. We want to have happy feelings, including security, community and being morally good, all without a relationship with God. We want to acquire and rearrange matter for our selfish ends without acknowledging and honoring the Creator/Designer of that matter. And, of course, we would like other people to affirm, voluntarily or involuntarily, that our rebellion against God is really the height of moral goodness.

Additionally, some people imagine that God, if he exists at all, must desire our happiness. And of course when their needs are not met by this invented God, then they become even more bitter at God, and eventually decide that God could not really exist since their selfish needs are not being met by him. It never seems to occur to us humans that some pain and suffering may be permitted by God in order to turn our attention away from pleasure and security in this life, and back towards a relationship with him.

This is the mess we find ourselves in. This propensity for turning away from God and trying to pursue selfish happiness and security apart from a relationship with God is what the Bible calls “sin”. Every single one of us deserves severe punishment for refusing to pursue a genuine two-way love relationship with the God who is there. That is the mess we are in before Jesus appears to address this problem.

The birth of Jesus

I cannot say much about how Jesus solves the problem of rebellion against God, because that is really the story of Easter, and today we are dealing with the story of Christmas. But I can say that the solution to the problem requires that God step into history to communicate with his creatures and to perform actions in order to be reconciled with them. That is the message of Christmas: God is stepping into history to do something to end our rebellion. Easter is the story of what he does.

This is talked about in the Bible in John 1, for example.

John 1:1-5:

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning.

³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

You can substitute the word “Word” there for Logos, which really means logic or reason or wisdom. This is a person with a divine nature, identified with the eternal being of God, who exists causally prior to the creation of the universe, who is going to take on an additional human nature, including a human body. (Christians believe that there is one divine “what” being and three divine “who” persons). Software engineers, you can think of Jesus having two natures as multiple inheritance in C++.

And it continues in John 1:10-14:

¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Here the word grace doesn’t mean like a graceful ballet dancer. It means an instance of mercy received from a superior. A person (a “who”) identified with the divine being (a “what”) has decided to make us a top-down offer of mercy.

The same message of God stepping into history is found in the Christmas carols that people sing at Christmas.

Christmas carols

Here’s the best one, “O, Holy Night“, and it says:

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

When we were in rebellion, we had lost our most valuable capacity – the capacity of being in a direct relationship with God. And if Jesus can accomplish his mission, then we are going to regain that capacity for a direct relationship with God.

Now look at “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing“, which one of my favorites:

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”

Basically, as I often say, there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are people who are willing to respond to the offer of a relationship with God, with all the little sacrifices and compromises that a relationship entails, and then there are people who are not willing to respond. For the people who are willing to respond, the appearance of Jesus is the best thing that could possibly happen, because now we are finally going to have a chance to deal directly with God, face-to-face, to find out what he is like, and change ourselves to be more like him, with his help.

And that is why people celebrate Christmas. It’s the anniversary of the birth of Jesus. It is the story of God stepping into history to be reconciled with his rebellious creatures. It’s the story of the divine Logos divesting himself of his glory and subjecting himself to the life of a creature in order to rescue us from our sinful, self-destructive rebellion. This love for undeserving creatures is above and beyond the call of duty. We didn’t love him, but instead he loved us first, and he loved us enough to come down here and suffer with us so that we could be reconciled with God.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(from addair)

I’m in the early stages of working on an art show/happening and am interested in getting your feedback.  The following is a rough draft of the event’s manifesto (entitled “starter kit to actual rebellion” – I’ve posted a portion of it before).  The show’s intent will be to gather and empower people toward education and action.  The “starter kit” will be printed on a single sheet of paper in a text-as-art format and distributed through an interactive art installment.

Send me your thoughts so I can make it better (it’s a long way from finished) via the comment feature or you can email me (see “about addair”).

beauty keeps me grounded in the important (photographs from our visit in bristol, tennessee)

Starter Kit to Actual Rebellion

We are living in an illusion of wealth, progress, and democracy as we drown in loneliness, apathy, and toxic waste. The powerful pretend to administer resolution while exploiting our lifeblood. It is time to rebel because the injustice has pervaded nearly every inch of everything. We are poisoning our bodies. We are poisoning our air, water, and soil. Too many of us have lost a sense of community and our connection to place. Too many of us wake up only to move through the motions of a vague purpose, to earn the right to survive in a system that sours the condition of life. Our vitality is reduced to the breadth of endurance while material goods and fleeting facades serve as a poor substitute for the richness of the human experience. We are forced to run in a race that we cannot win. We are sick. We are guilty.

Humankind has adamantly placed itself as exploiter of nature, rather than recognizing its place as member of a living community and so we are detached from our environment. We are made helpless and foolish by our disconnect and ignorance of how we get our food and other basic needs. We are so sheltered from the natural rhythms of our earth and our sustenance that we forget our basic dependence on it.

gives me hope

 We take but we do not give. Careless urbanism has stolen many opportunities for simplicity and leaves us with compromised and limited choices. We are enclosing ourselves in stores of sewage and waste; we are relentlessly administering wreckage to ourselves and future generations.

The economy’s primary objective is to create more consumer goods: not wellness, education, or less poverty and hunger, but to produce more stuff. This stuff costs more than the dollars it takes to purchase it; consumer goods are drawn from the Earth and eventually they are returned to the Earth as harmful waste. Other costs include the energy it takes to construct and deliver the products, leaving the water, air, and soil defiled and depleted.

in redemption

What we consume affects nature as well as our daily experience of being. We consume and we let ourselves be fed with readymade answers and identities. We’ve become pawns, distracted from the real venture of living. We don’t make meaning, we buy a packaged version and it has drained us of our own humanity. We are trapped in an arbitrary and flawed system that insists we consume more to secure prosperity but in the same motion dooms us to hollowness and collapse. Purchasing might provide a rush of temporary amusement but the void is insistent, creating an empty cycle. A system that centers on self indulgence and competition has left us isolated and cold. The present economic system is not a natural one, it is not sustainable and it is crumbling. If the economy doesn’t work for us, then we have the right and the duty to overthrow it.

To keep the monster functioning we must feed it, without the fuel of our participation it must die. We can rebel and take our culture and lives on our own terms. Science, technology, or politics won’t assuage our crisis. We will continue to make a forever updated mess until we reevaluate our standards, thinking and ways of relating. The solution will take time, energy, creativity, and courage. The necessary rebellion is dangerous and authentic because it requires a shedding of apathy.

and love too

We must become fully connected and present to bloom in the responsibility of being a human. We need to fuse our individual actions to the fact that they have real, lasting, and communal consequences. It is time for a rebellion because it’s necessary, but know that it comes with responsibility. To maintain liberty, we must learn to sustain our significance. We do not have to participate in perceived power structures. We have the power. Ban together. Forget about party affiliation. Refuse to be divided. Act for yourself and for others. Vote with your dollar. Give your money to real people that make real meaning. Don’t feed the monster. Eat real food. Support your local economy.

for all the corrupt, we cannot ignore this

Take the little steps and make the stout ones in chorus. Don’t wait for government action. Speak up. Urge elected officials. We can stop fighting the source of our sustenance and start living in a symbiotic relationship with it. We can reclaim our right to enjoy the authentic pleasures of living and loving and working. Wake up and do the things that are important and that you care about. Everyday.

The new Alien vs Predator game in development could very easily go one of two ways. It could be the pant-wetting creep-fest that we’re all sadistically after or a complete let down like the movies. The most recent trailer reaffirms some confidence as it looks great! There’s just enough freakiness to make it a fitting homage, a decent helping of “how cool would it be to play the Predator” and lashings of Alien carnage. What more could we need?!

{Thanks TheSixAxis}

Welcome to my blog. I have recently published 1960s Decade of Dissent: The Way We Were with AuthorHouse. Please see below for a brief description.

This historical novel can be read on three levels: the flawed romance of Ginny and Montana; a profile of misfit, troubled people who drifted to the cause celebre; and a history of the nation’s 1960s decade of dissent. Students at Berkeley led sit-ins and protests, in virtual open rebellion. Ginny even joined the violent Weatherman organization, and fled underground from the FBI.

1960s DECADE OF DISSENT: now 50 years later — here we go again. Déjà vu.

Sometimes, even the most common, the most “feminine” act, can be an act of rebellion.

As a schoolgirl, my idea of rebellion was wearing a white shirt when the school handbook CLEARLY STATED IT SHOULD BE LIGHT BLUE.

It might not sound like much, but where does torching the physics teacher’s pet cat with a Bunsen burner get you? Or spraying ‘Fr Mulroney is a cock’ on the gym wall? I’ll tell you: expelled, and double detention with a wire brush and bucket of soapy water respectively. Whereas I was subversively picking away at the very fabric of authority via my choice of fabric colour. You’ve got to admire the symmetrical anarchy of it.

It gets better. When apprehended by a teacher, I would apologise profusely, except that – get this – I WASN’T REALLY SORRY AT ALL. Oh, how I used to laugh behind the bicycle shed later, unbuttoning that same shirt while the boys lined up to see my jugs in exchange for five quid or a king-sized Mars bar.

Most of that preceding paragraph is pure fabrication (still with the textile analogies). I never worked up the enthusiasm or morals to be much success as a slut.

But I did laugh, a LOT.

Many years later, I realised that wearing a white shirt was not the sartorial spit in the eye of The System it could have been because, while my defiant shirt may have been white in a previous life, it was more often than not an off-white blue. Although there were days my white shirt was shot through with brilliant vermillion streaks like the rising dawn – or more pedestrianly yet accurately, streaky bacon – which was quite the statement.

The statement being that my mother had washed my shirt with a red sock.

For many years – in the region of 25 – I thought a side effect of the washing process was that it turned white clothes grey. Sometimes it took only one wash; sometimes more. Occasionally white garments emerged from the wash still pristine but for a violent pink spackle over one nipple; or a joyous blue Catherine wheel effect radiating from the armpit.

For mum, laundry is an outlet for all the pent up creativity she never had the time to burn off with a spot of watercolouring, or extreme macramé away. I’ve never caught her at it, but I imagine her with a basket of dirty clothes before her front-loader, rubbing her hands, going, “So, three white t-shirts and some cotton knickers . . . in we go . . . lalala . . . what if I casually toss in this green scarf with . . . a blue singlet? – no – let me see – mmm lala lalaa . . . oh! – what have we here? ah, my maroon harem trousers . . . oh yes, I think that would be lovely and festive . . . LalaLAA. I wonder whether the expression ‘evil genius’ has been coined yet? Mwa ha haa. Mwa ha ha ha haaaargh.”

But the pinnacle of her achievements, the jewel in her crown, the Kleenex in the pocket of mum’s laundry career, was my first boyfriend’s Eric Clapton t-shirt.

In the fragile, tender days constituting the birth of our young love, JP brought me to see Eric Clapton play in the RDS in Dublin. It was the best date I’d EVER been on – possibly because it was the ONLY date I’d ever been on, unless you count Gary Hayes trying to excavate my tonsils with his tongue in the back row of The Grand, which I don’t.

JP and I snogged like we had gills for the entire duration of ‘Layla’. God, the romance of it all *sigh!* Afterwards, JP bought himself a limited edition Eric Clapton t-shirt from an Official Merchandising Material vendor. It featured a handsome globe overlaid with a giant guitar: a masterpiece of screen printing.

Evidently, mum still feels guilty about it – as well she should – because even now, fifteen years later, I’ll say, “Hey mum, can you-”, and she’ll splutter, “Look, why the feck was I feckin washing your boyfriend’s feckin Eric Clapton t-shirt in the first place?” and stick her chin out aggressively.

It was because JP sometimes lent me his prized Eric Clapton t-shirt to demonstrate his True, Deep, Abiding Love Which Would Never Die, and at the time I was living at home where mum was the only one who knew how to program the washing machine.

Not only did she dye JP’s Eric Clapton t-shirt grey (alternatively she might have been wiping down the fireplace with it), in a brilliantly devious manoeuvre she managed to shrink it as well.

Our True, Deep, Abiding Love Which Would Never Die did not survive my mother’s washing – or, for that matter, the juxtaposition of JP’s personality with mine.

Mine more than his, admittedly.

At least when we broke up and I compiled a cardboard box of JP’s possessions including the ruined Eric Clapton t-shirt, it was an appropriate metaphor for the demise of our relationship.

I was reminded of all this the other day, when mum put on a load of dad’s and her clothes. It takes a rare degree of skill to mangle clothes in our washing machine, since there is no hot water supply to the tub. Yet somehow, freakily, mum managed to streak dad’s favourite white t-shirt blue.

Bear in mind that, for over 40 years, mum has washed dad’s clothes. So you would expect that, picking his t-shirt out of the wash, a range of emotions might cross his face: futility, bewilderment, dismay, weary resignation, a half-hearted attempt at fury.

You would be wrong.

Bless him, dad actually looked genuinely SURPRISED.

This may be symptomatic of extreme delusion, but I like to think it’s reflective of dad’s abundant hope, optimism, belief in the inherent good of his fellow man, and his love for his wife.

Call me a sucker.

Links to Photo Credit

There is little more excurciatingly dull than the Uk’s Christmas No 1. I refererence this to the ‘battle’ for the much coveted no1 position, as well as the mediocre warblings of reality stars. But like an awkward teenage sychophantic confession I must say I’m gleefully excited by the fact this year things are a little bit different. It’s Joe McElderry, this years X-Factor Winner vs Rage against the Machine. It’s a heavily orchestrated, calculated business decision vs a grassroots movement.

Joe McElderry is the well-presented, nice, puppet of a business that relies on the wonderful virtues inherent in capitalism while Rage are the foul mouthed, dirty rockers who stand in the forefront for a nation who are tired of a system that has been monopolised for far too many years (And yes, I do know they are on Sony but feel that’s another argument for another day.). The public have become disillusioned with the pre-packaged, glossy songs that through heavy, heavy media are assimilated into their psyche. This campaign has given people the opportunity to say ‘No, thanks. We want something else’, or more accurately ‘Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me’.

And that is the glorious beauty of it. This lovely little act of rebellion that has turned everyone into Punks for the day. It has made people consider they don’t have to simply accept what it is given to them, that they can cause a stir, and succeed in upsetting the status quo. It is hopefully an example of the strength of a united nation.

Links to Photo Credit

Some people have, however, entirely missed the point. The most common argument is that Rage are ‘just noise’. This is a narrow minded argument but the most valid, as musical taste is subjective. But, on this issue, it has to be argued that if people think this is noise then they obviously have become too complacent in their ’safe’ radio station that only play ’safe’ songs about love and, erm, more love. What comparison is original writing with a highly charged political message to the re-hashed, over produced, cover of a borrowed song? As much as I have no problem with Joe, how can he really connect with a song that wasn’t even written for him?

Other’s have argued about Rage Against the Machine’s credibility. Suggestions over the intersphere have challenged that the band and their management synthesized the whole campaign. To which it must be interjected, what would be the point? Although there is no denial that pretty much every band would enjoy the No1 spot, the band would no doubt consider it a fairly minor thing in comparison to their beliefs. Protesting naked with gaffa tape about the lack of freedom of speech in front of thousands, speaking in support of prisoners on the floor of the UN, protesting about human rights, supporting the Zapatistas…getting a No 1? Doesn’t really seem so significant anymore. The point is while Rage do gain from the situation, it is extremely doubtful they sat around and thought to themselves ‘ We need to conquer the UK, you know, get a No 1…maybe round Christmas?’

Links to Photo Credit

As the heat has increased in the ‘race’, comments have flooded in that have bordered on absurd. Rage, dumb? If we must go there, read ‘Ivy League Educated’. Like Hitler? Seriously? Referred to as ‘Sulking’ for having their music used as torture in Guantanamo Bay? Simply an insult. An embarrassment to the left wing, anti-capitalists? Make your own minds up about that one.

A more defensive stance has been taken by a few who suggest this is victimisation of ‘poor Joe’ McElderry. They believe ‘he deserves a No 1′ and this is sheer ‘bullying’. As far as I am aware he is 18 and this is the beginning of his career. His talent will assist him to endure the obstacles of the music business, and to receive that No 1 when and if it is due onto him. In truth, it could have been anyone. Any artist who won the X-Factor, or anyone who had released their little musical gems the week before Christmas. In simpler terms he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Links to Photo Credit.

The campaign was also not a direct attack at Simon Cowell, but as the mastermind behind the monopolisation of the British Chart, it inevitably affects him. And as for someone who has been paramount in the four year consecutive occupation of Christmas Chart land, not to mention instrumental in almost every single no 1 of the past few months, I really don’t see the basis of complaint. He has sold just as many, if not more records as a result of the campaign. If anything he should be delighted by the increased media coverage, not that he needed any more.

The symbolism of this gesture really has little to do with who is or isn’t Christmas No 1, it is more evident that the ability to unite a nation still exists, and that people are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. Over 1 million people have joined the Facebook Page that started this act of anti-consumerism. It’s inspiring to hear the people as a collective voice, to know that we can’t be ignored forever. It is with overwhelming (desperate and naive) hope that such organic movements could happen on a bigger, more politicised level. That maybe one day when a million people march against a war, they may be heard. That when we say ‘No Trident Replacement’ we mean it. That when we protest against the G20, someone doesn’t have to die before the Government and media finally accept that police brutality exists. While that is an ideal, and far off, Rage’s message about corruption in society, resonates in our minds and for the meantime, is Britain’s coolest bit of anarchy for a fucking long time. I, along with many others are very pleased that they are this years Christmas no1.

Why do we buy into the rat race so readily?  Why do we accept what other dictate as ‘normal’?  Why are we so afraid to shatter the status quo?

It’s sort of strange that we at once so strictly conform to some ideal called normal, usually that which is familiar to us, and yet, we espouse the saying, ‘familiarity breeds comtempt.’  If we hold suck contempt for things that are far too familiar, then why not shake off the ordinary, the common, and create a new normal?

Because the norms that are sold in commercials, in magazines and in our company picnics and the tired ideals passed on and pushed by families and friends are tired and mostly lies.  We don’t have to have children or marry.  We don’t have to aim to be rich.  We don’t need to work 9-5 or drive a car or wear Abercrombie and Fitch.

It’s okay to rebel against the pressures.  It’s okay to refuse to be the drone bee in the hive.  In fact, it’s better than okay; it’s what we ought to be striving for.

Extraordinary should be the new ordinary.

Day 102:  Rebellion (Lies) – The Arcade Fire

I’ve been railing against the injustices in the world ever since I was old enough to find politics and philosophy interesting. Year in and year out I’ve screamed into the wind, but in all that time only two things seem to have changed. I’ve grown weary of screaming, and the wind has gotten stronger.

Let me explain quickly what I’m talking about without using metaphors. The minority of world population who control the majority of the world’s political and economic power have consistently exploited that power to exploit the majority of the world’s population. Worst of all is it’s happening right in front of us. Every single bit of it has been analyzed in fine detail, the root  causes of the problems inherent in our world political system have been identified and solutions have been worked out and are publicly available. Yet none of those solutions are being implemented. We’re just sitting by bitching about our lives being devalued and exploited waiting for our turn to die.

There is one thing changing, but I can’t say if it’ll be a change for the better or the worse. The general population is learning that the people controlling the system are exploiting and killing them, and they’re getting angry. Real angry. The world is turning into a powder keg, and if/when it ever explodes I’m afraid the general population will be burnt more than the powerful minority.

Over the years I’ve been getting more and more angry at the powerful minority. There have been days when I’ve been so angry I thought my head would explode, but I came to a realization several days ago that deflated my anger.

Yes, the powerful minority are exploiting and killing people, but remember, they’re only a minority of the population, and they aren’t even getting their hands dirty. They’re sitting in ivory towers having meetings and signing papers. All the real work is being done by the general population.

It was the general population who bought more than they could afford. It was the general population who bought wasteful crap they didn’t need. It was the general population who bought the name brand goods made by children in sweat shops. It was the general population who put handcuffed their fellow men for victimless crimes and threw them into prisons to be raped and beaten while being watched over by the sadistic, apathetic eyes of guards…who came from the general population. It was the general population who campaigned for their corrupt leaders, funded their political campaigns and voted them into power. It was the general population who fought unjust wars for corporate profit. It was the general population who has been turning the gears of the system. It was the general population who refused to do anything meaningful about the problems in the world. It was the general population who chose to watch mind numbing television instead of reading and researching. It was the general population who neglected to use their brains to find solutions to the problems affecting them and chose to rely on the solutions offered by corrupt sociopaths.

The powerful minority pointed us towards the cliff society is barreling towards, and they should be held accountable for that, but it’s the general population who are stampeding over that cliff. We don’t have to overthrow any government to solve all our problems. We just have to think and act responsibly. We just have to stop supporting corruption.

Until the majority of the population ceases to act irresponsibly it won’t even matter if we can manage to dispose of the powerful minority who are acting irresponsibly because we won’t have solved the root of the problem.

It’s that time of the year again to look over the last year and sum it all up in a catchy slogan.

Fuck…there’s not much to brag about this past year, but what’s outstanding to me is the level of utter “crap-tastic” pop culture being pumped out, synthesized, digitized, for mass consumption. Not an original or authentic sound or message being sold.

The last decade has been about the lack of an original idea. New mainstream music is nothing more but ripped off and recycled beats with some spoken word or rap tracks, and re-hashed 80’s pop tunes on the top Billboards. The whole package deal being sold to us via magazines in press hand-jobs and ass-licking fuck-fests promising that [insert generic name] will become the “next” Michael Jackson or Madonna. Do we even need replacements for them? Shit, did we really even need them in the first place?

Disney has been the biggest offender. Start ‘em young and raise future pop stars regardless of the soul of the artist being pillaged and raped in the process. Pure Disney exploitation.

I blame the removal of all art, art appreciation, and music classes being taught in public schools for the downfall of this decade. Most people couldn’t decipher true classic literature from a dime-store novel. Stop watching the boob-tube so much and read a fucking book sometime. Read motherfucker, READ!

Be a real rebel and refuse to support corporate “rip-off artists” that you think are full of shit. How’s that for a revolution?

The corporations will not invest in anything that is not tried, true and tested formulaic and marketable to the masses. They will not invest in artists that are a possible threat or a potential loss; to do so, would be fiscally irresponsible. In order to make profits they must play it safe and keep control. They gotta play it by the numbers, baby, because the numbers better add up.

It’s not about the art, but about the profits. Don’t think for a minute it’s not. Corporations are not in the business to enhance your soul.

Even the Revolution is brought to you by Wal-Mart®. The youth are rebelling against the man or machine yet line-up like sheeple to buy their CD’s at the mega-corporations that they are supposedly rebelling against.

Nothing screams rock n’ roll like having your CD’s for sale at Wal-Mart®.