Don't worry, I still read your LJ posts even though I've only updated, like, once since June.

"A Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican"

Joe gets up at 6:00am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to insure their safety and work as advertised.

All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employers medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs this day. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

Joe takes his morning shower reaching for his shampoo; His bottle is properly labeled with every ingredient and the amount of its contents because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some tree hugging liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government subsidized ride to work; it saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees. You see, some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day; he has a good job with excellent pay, medicals benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some liberal didn’t think he should loose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

Its noon time, Joe needs to make a Bank Deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten Mortgage and his below market federal student loan because some stupid liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his life-time.

Joe is home from work, he plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive to dads; his car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. He was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electric until some big government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification. (Those rural Republican’s would still be sitting in the dark)

He is happy to see his dad who is now retired. His dad lives on Social Security and his union pension because some liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to. After his visit with dad he gets back in his car for the ride home.
He turns on a radio talk show, the host’s keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. (He doesn’t tell Joe that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day) Joe agrees, "We don’t need those big government liberals ruining our lives; after all, I’m a self made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have".

I found today of the Pansy Division song "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" set to Star Trek video clips.

Enjoy!

Seriously, Temple is a college campus, wouldn't you think that there would be a damn bike shop closer than 2 miles away? I got a flat on my way here and found out that there is no bike shop very close by....

So last night I went to the Street Sweeper Social Club, Nine Inch Nails, and Jane's Addiction concert. Originally I was not going to be able to make it (you might have seen some posts from me on here seeing if anyone wanted to attempt to buy my tickets), but I ended up being able to go and I am REALLY glad that I did!

First off, I didn't know that Streetsweeper Social Club (SSSC) was going to be playing until right before we left! SSSC, for those of you that arne't in the "know," as it were, is a band featuring Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine and Boots Reilly from The Coup--these are two of my absolute favorite bands! And, unlike when the band from Rage teamed up with Chris Cornell to form Audioslave, this combination of amazing bands featuring at least one member from Rage is AWESOME (Audioslave is not even a little bit awesome, even though they should have been, really...).

Second off, my seats at the venue were, like, 100ft from the stage (if you've never been to the Susquhanna Bank Center / Tweeter Center / Whatever the hell else they used to call it, those are some damn good seats), so I could see the whole thing really well. SSSC put on a great show!

Second up was Nine Inch Nails. I have to say... NIN might put on what is absolutely one of the flat out BEST live shows I've ever seen. Seriously, they're spectacular live. I'm guessing that it would have been even more spectacular to see them during the Closer tour in 1994 or 1995, but that's just a guess, because last night they were AMAZING. I've rarely seen so much energy being poured out on stage. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to see NIN live, DO IT!

Jane's Addiction was also REALLY good. I thought that they put on a great live show, and Perry is awesome on stage. I think one of my favorite things about seeing him live is that he RUINS anyone's assumptions about gender and sexuality roles. The dude comes across as stereotypically "gay," if such a thing exists, but we know he's married to a woman and has two kids (which doesn't, of course always discount being gay, but for the sake of the now, he does perform straight). I'm always a fan of ANYONE who fucks with people's assumptions like that, and to be a really rad musician fronting an awesome band makes it all the better.

My only complaint is that Jane's Addiction actually should have played second and NIN should have finished out the night. The reason for this is that NIN's set was SO DAMN GOOD that I seriously doubt that almost ANY band could have possibly followed it up and not have come up at least somewhat wanting. And I say that having LOVED Jane's Addiction's performance and thinking that they were really good. It's just that NIN was so good, I mean, they're set was a CLOSING SET, if you know what I mean.

Kerrie and I had driven to the concert due to the shitty weather last night, and when we got back out to the car traffic in the parking lot was SHIT. Man, was it bad. Some douchebag though started driving up the side of where everyone was waiting trying to bypass the traffic that the rest of us were patiently, if not happily, waiting in. Of course people started yelling at this arrogant prick and a few people threw shit at his fucking Lexus SUV. Finally, a girl in the car in front of me got OUT of her car, walked over to where the Lexus asshole was stuck, blocked his way, and started directing traffic. It was AWESOME! Traffic was still slow, but people LOVED this girl (well, except for the guy in the Lexus and his douchebag friends, who called her all kinds of names, that she threw right back at them with equal vigor but more fun). She threatened to sue them, as they were trying to "lightly" bump her with their car. Eventually the douchebag Lexus motherfucker got out of his car with his friends. I actually would have LOVED to have seen what might have happened if they laid a single finger on this girl, because I GUARANTEE that I was not the only guy there who thought this girl was awesome and had removed his seat belt the SECOND these neanderthals opened their door. I'm pretty sure if they touched her they would have had half the guys in the parking lot pounding on their asses. Fortunately, they just got back into their car, but not before pointing out that he "Works hard! That's why I have a Lexus!"

Fucking pretentious, ostentatious, pathetic, arrogant motherfucker.

So anyway, the concert was AWESOME and it's been a good week for vigilanteism.

Oh yeah, and I have a co-op FJAR (Food Justice and Anti Racism Working Group) meeting Wednesday night that I forgot to mention in my busyness post.

Studying for pre-lims, which I take in August, has been keeping me really busy--I'm basically treating that like my job. It's not all I've been doing though. With school out for the summer I've fallen right back into activism oriented stuff, thankfully. With school taking up so much of my time I've felt like a real schmuck for not being more involved with shit. Here's what I've been doing other than studying...

Rally to stop the shutdown of the Hartmarx Factory: A bank who received a $25 billion bailout from the federal government wanted to take that money and then shut down the factory that produced Obama's suit that he wore during his inauguration. Seriously. There were rallies all around the country, including one in Philadelphia that I attended, and the factory will be staying open. Though I doubt any ONE rally produced this result, I think the nationwide activism probably played a major part

Northeastern Anarchist Network Assembly in Ithaca: I was one of two representatives from Philadelphia via The Wooden Shoe to attempt the Northeastern Anarchist Network Assembly (NEAN) in Ithaca, NYC. It was really great. If you have FaceBook or MySpace you can see my pictures from it on my pages there. They've asked if Philly would like to host the next assembly.

The Wooden Shoe: Last night I attended my first Shoe meeting in a while. I had sort of been on leave due to overwhelming school responsibilities, but I'm glad to be back, attended a meeting last night, and will be staffing again next week! I'm excited. At the meeting last night the Shoe consensed to host the next NEAN assembly, as long as NEAN does not mind waiting until December to have it, as the Shoe will be moving to its new location in October.

Rally This Wednesday for TAUP: There will be a rally this Wednesday for the Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP). They are the union that represents the profs. and so forth at Temple and who the University administration is straight up fucking right now. They've been without a contract for a long time, though not as long as Temple AFSCME. Temple is supposed to be the college of the working class... well, now they're the college of busting unions just like anywhere else.

Another Rally this Wednesday for EFCA: Rally later that same day for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Apparently some young capitalists or some other damn idiots are coming to Philadelphia. There will be a rally in support of EFCA and working people's rights to unionize outside of that meeting.

Next Monday: Earlier in the day I have an e-board meeting for my union, TUGSA (for those of you that haven't heard I've moved from being the Treasurer to being the Co-President of my union). That evening I have a meeting at The Shoe regarding the move. I'll be participating with the Space committee there, figuring out how to best use the new space we'll be moving into and so forth.

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Oh, right, and we're buying a house, I'm studying for my exams, and I've found some work doing sporadic academic stuff for one of my professors whenever he needs something done so that I can make a few bucks this summer. Oh, and next weekend I'm going to see Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction. I almost had to miss that concert due to a union conference in Eugene, Oregon, but after to moving things around we'll be at the concert instead (why we're doing that is a story in itself that I don't feel like typing out). Oh, and on June 13th Ghost Mice are playing Philadelphia. Earlier that day a friend from Delaware is supposed to be in town, and I'll be grabbing lunch with her.

Oh, and in addition to studying for pre-lims I'm doing occasional work in preparation for the class I'm teaching next Fall so that I don't have to have all that work hitting me as soon as I'm done pre-lims.

Seriously, I'm crazy busy. Yet somehow I still have spare time and am enjoying life, as always!

OK, well, back to studying for me.

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine is looking to move into a house in West Philly somewhere in between August 1st and August 15th (the move in date would be flexible within that range).

Do you have room in your house? Or do you know someone who does?

If so, please let me know who I should tell my friend to contact.

Thanks,
Ed

I'd love to see country get back to it's roots like this: criticizing the state for siding with capital while screwing the workers and the farmers, scenes about fighting the damn police, and drinking beers.

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This is a pretty good video about the Greek insurrection. It has a lot of text, so I hope you don't mind reading, but it also has a lot of video and photo footage.

I just wrote the thing below the cut and I'd love some feedback. Here is what it is...

My experience as an anarchist is that most people who oppose anarchism do not, in fact, oppose anarchism. Most people who oppose anarchism instead oppose some caricature that they have constructed in their head of what this mythological ideology of “anarchy” must mean. It is this that they oppose and, rarely, does this have very much in common with what most anarchists who have actually thought long and hard about this over the last 200+ years have had in mind when discussing anarchism as a political philosophy and a practical lived experience.

However, I am also of the opinion that if these non-anarchists who oppose something that is not quite what anarchists mean by anarchism do not properly understand what anarchists actually propose when they claim to be “against” anarchism then that is as much our fault, as anarchists, as it is theirs (I’m not going to say it’s not their fault: they’ve taken a stance on an issue without educating themselves, and in the age of the Internet that is their fault. The point is that, as anarchists, we should be actively engaged in disseminating and propagating our ideas, as we know very few people are likely to hunt them down without our assistance.) Therefore, I am writing this as a short and to the point introduction to what many anarchists would mean by their political philosophy.


Anyway, I just wrote it and I'm sure it needs improving. I'm hoping to hear what people think!

Thanks,
Ed

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So a friend of mine has this idea for a generally left-wing gun club (as opposed to the overabundance of right-wingers who seem to have a monopoly on the gun rights movement). I really really like this idea. The basis of it is that members all collectively put money together to occasionally buy weapons that can then be stored in a safe location that is accessible to all members but not accessible to non-members (safety first!). The club would then work together to learn proper gun use, gun safety, firing techniques, and gun use and care in the name of self/community defense.

Interestingly, this is an idea I had been toying around with in my head before my friend mentioned it to me. Unfortunately, he and I do not live in the same area, so I'm not sure if we'll get this off the ground, but the idea really excites me.

Me and this dog would get along.

OK, so the guy ALMOST hits a cop (who appears to be standing in the middle of a high way). He then attempts to get away. He crashes, of course. He is then laying UNCONSCIOUS ON THE GROUND and a bunch of police descend upon him and beat he hell out of his UNCONSCIOUS BODY.

I seem to find a new reason to hate the cops everyday.

OK folks, here's the deal...

I have two tickets to the upcoming Nine Inch Nails / Jane's Addiction concert that I CANNOT USE. I'm really pissed that I can't use them, but I can't, I have to be out of town and would lose MORE money by cancelling my flight than by not using these fucking tickets...

Here's the second part of this complete shit-fest... in an attempt to combat scalping NIN prints the buyers name ON THE TICKETS and requires ID to pick them up on the day of the concert, thus making it difficult to give them to anyone else. They also do not allow you to change the name on the tickets or get a damn refund...

So here's what I'm thinking...

If anyone reading this wants to go to the NIN concert and wants to ATTEMPT to pick up the tickets then I will give you an ID with my name on it so that you can TRY to get them. If you cannot pick them up then you will not owe me any money for the tickets. If you can pick them up, however, you can pay me for the tickets after the concert.

The tickets were $153 for BOTH (so, like, $75 each after all the bullshit fees and whatnot). I'd love to get the money for them, but if no one uses them at all then they just SIT THERE and I lose the money. So if anyone wants them and is willing to pay ANYTHING for them then this is better to me than just losing ALL my money AND no one using the tickets.

So, in short, if you want to go to the NIN/JA concert PLEASE PLEASE contact me ASAP and let me know what you'd be willing to give me for the tickets IF you are able to pick them up. Then we'll arrange something where I give you either my school ID or an old driver's license (whichever makes it more likely that you'd pass for me, basically... I have some old licenses where I have short hair, or a school ID where I have long hair--you could claim you cut it).

PLEASE contact me if you're interested... the concert is on Friday, June 5th...

Thanks...
Ed

Click below to see some pictures of the house Kerrie and I are planning to buy. We had our home inspection this morning, which went very well. There are some minor cosmetic things that we'll probably ask him to fix and two or three things that we are going to insist he fix if he wants us to buy the house, but nothing serious or major.

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So that's that! I'll keep ya'll updated!

I don't seem to update this very often. So I'll do a brief outline of my life as of now...

1. Finished classes at Temple. This means that I am completely done taking college level classes. This also means that in August I have my prelim exams / comprehensives. These are basically two enormous exams that are designed to make you "prove" that you've mastered two different sub-topics of Sociology. I'll be taking mine on the topics of The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity and Political Sociology. I feel fortunate though because, unlike some schools that make students sit down for 8-10 hours and pound out their exams, Temple allows 2 weeks at home.

2. In relation to the above, this basically means that I am spending all sumer studying. I have to read A LOT to take these exams. I'll have to find a way to do something for money, but I have yet to start looking, as I don't quite need a job YET, so I'm dedicating myself to studying all day long.

3. Kerrie and I spent last weekend as a BnB in Lancaster. We did lots of cool stuff and had a blast. I also have come up with an idea: when I have my PhD and a tenure-track position at some university, I REALLY want to do a sociological study of the Amish. I've long been mildly obsessed with the Amish and their culture and would like to conduct an in depth ethnographic study of them. Of course, I'd have to find out if the Amish will allow such a study to be conducted.

4. Perhaps the most important thing--Kerrie and I ARE BUYING A HOUSE! Yes! The house is at 1047 South 50th Street here in West Philadelphia and is fucking BEAUTIFUL! Pictures will eventually follow. Tomorrow we have our home inspection, so I may try to snap a few pictures then and describe the place in more detail.

5. Next weekend I'll be in Ithaca. They are hosting the Northeastern Anarchist Network annual gathering and I'll be driving up there with some other folks to attend. Should be cool!

OK, I think that is about all for now. It is back to studying for me...