crimethinc now sucks

Almost out of here.

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:31:24 GMT

In less than three weeks now I will be in Palestine. When I applied for this university back in October, it seemed like a thing that was so far away, now, only a few days away, the realization of leaving my home for a year is really starting to hit me hard. I have developed close relationships with some friends and family in the past year, and all that will stop come June 22nd.

I have so much to do to prepare for this trip. I have already got my international driving permit, and registered as an absentee voter. That leaves things such as buying luggage, buying clothes, buying dc plug converters, forwarding all my mail, canceling insurance policies/utilities/cable and internet services, registering for online classes at Brookhaven, buying gifts for my family in Palestine, moving all my stuff into storage. And I am sure this a lot more that I have forgotten.

This past year has been very rewarding, I have done very well in my education, and I will complete my associate's degree in Journalism after completing two online publications courses. All this after dropping out of high school.

I was offered the opportunity to apply for a job as a media liaison for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. I have been doing an internship with them for a few months now, and the brother in charge of the DFW chapter is an ex-National of Islam member, and Black Panther Party member is really informed about radical ideas in our society. I have learned a lot from, and I hope I can get this job with a starting salary of $35,000 a year.

In Palestine, I hope to become more fluent in Arabic, I have learned the basics of it, including colloquial speech and reading/writing. It also looks like I will be able to complete my 18-hour minor in political science while there. This is very interesting to me, as the political science courses all have to do with the Palestinian question, and other various forms of Middle Eastern/Arab politics. It will also be great to reemerge myself in a culture that I find so fascinating, and a culture that I can learn a lot from.

Of course, there are a lot of things that I have no idea about. After the 12-hour layover in London, who knows if I will be denied entry at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv or if I will have to retain a Palestinian passport from Ramallah, and exit through Jordan (a very hectic process). Not to mention the daily checkpoints, the humiliation by Israeli soldiers, the nightly incursions by the Army, curfews, random searches. Basically life under occupation.

I feel that so many people in the United States who are trying to do good are becoming so disillusioned with what they are doing, that they completely lose touch with the rest of the world that is suffering on behalf of our nice little empire. I have played this game for a while now, I have been to many protests, many black-blocs, started and maintained a radio station and community center, and I have even been arrested. I lost my vegetarian edge when I realized the rest of the world is starving while we sit here like little activist yuppies debating wether or not our food is vegan or non-vegan friendly.

This kind of stuff is not important, and I hate to say that. I would love a world where humans and animals lived in peace and harmony, or holding a sign outside of a jail suddenly freed all illegal immigrants, but it is not going to happen. It is a classic example of doing stuff to make ourselves feel better. And the better we feel, and the more money we spend or organic groceries, and more protests you have been to does not do a damn thing to stop the suffering we see in this world. I wish if people would want to feel better, they could get a massage at a locally run place or something. But all this nonsense and arrogant self-indulgence is not changing anything.

Living under a military occupation should show me more than anything what needs to be done. Because milk that you didn't drink is not going to stop a bullet from going into a Palestinian child's' head, or stop the genocide in Darfur. It will make us feel better about ourselves, though. But we will accomplished nothing living in a position of privilege, doing this kind of non-sensical stuff. And until we realize this, we are no better than the people who have implanted this notion of self-fulfillment in our society's brains.

Four and a half

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 03:21:01 GMT

Four and a half more months until I am out of this country. I don't know why it much more appealing to live in a warzone than to live in some crummy apartment in Dallas.

fuck yeah

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:33:34 GMT

maaster gaiden is playing on a boat that goes through a river in downtown stockholm sweden with this guy.

fuck yeah, best summer evr

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 02:45:41 GMT

I forgot I had this thing until I realized I had to log in to read some people's juicy information. Lately in my life; upside: my band, went on tour, released and album, releasing a split 7" with this band from Washington DC called the Points, going on a West Coast/Midwestern tour in May, and going to tour Europe here sometime soon, courtesy of Savage Records from Stockholm Sweden. This has to be the best part of my life currently. Downside: Girls!!!

The past few months, simultaneously, have been the best and worst months of my life. So incredibly crazy. It does me good to remember all the awesome friends I have, that is amazing.

But here is a survey i ripped off from Sarah.

over & out.

HAVE YOU EVER...
1. Kissed your cousin:no
2. Ran away: no
3. Pictured your crush naked: of course
4. Skipped school: all the time, still do, even though im in college.
5. Broken someone's heart: Yes
6. Cried when someone died: Yes
8. Wanted someone you knew you couldn't have: Yes
9. Broken a bone: I can't even remember, I think my right ring finger, my right arm and right ankle. Fucked up right side.
10. Done something embarrassing: no. never.
11. Lied: yes
12. Cried in school: no

WHICH IS [BETTER]...
13. Coke or Pepsi: neither
14. Sprite or 7UP: neither
15. Girls or Guys: girls
16. Flowers or Candy: pretzels
17. Scruff or Clean shaved: i love my girls fucking hairy.
8. Blondes or Brunetts: Brunetts
19. bitchy or slutty: that is a really hard one. idk
20. Tall or Short: short
21. Pants or Shorts: pants
22. Night or Day: night.
WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX...
23. What do you notice first: i can't really pinpoint.
24. Like Being Spanked: hell yeah!
25. Worst Question For HIM to ask: i dont know
28. Had Sex: yea

ABOUT YOU...
29. Ever been Engaged/ Married: hell no
30. Your Good luck charm: none
31. Person You Hate Most: this one dude from seattle who wants to fight me.
32. Best Thing That Has Happened: the news i am going to be touring europe next december
34. Picture on your desktop: a japanese woodblock print
36. Movie: anything really
37. Artist or band: the kinks.
38. Cars: mazada protege
39. Ice Cream: chocolate
41. Food: i love me some middle eastern food!

42. Makes You Laugh The Most: Alx
43. Makes You Smile: I don't really smile a whole lot, its weird.
44. Can Make You Feel Better No Matter What: God. Haha
45. Has A Crush On You: Apparently some girls from the school newspaper.
46. Do You Have A Crush On Someone: Nah. There are a bunch of cute girls though.
47. Who Has It Easier?: i dont know
48. Gives You A Funny Feeling When You See Them: jeff burke haha

DO YOU EVER...
49. Sit By The Phone Waiting For A Phone Call All Night: no
50. Save AIM Conversations: i log them all, you never know when you might need something. actually, i find it really usual for phone numbers and addresses.
51. Save E-mails: gmail! i save them all!
52. Forwarded Secret E-mails: if i got them i would.
53. Wish You Were Someone Else: no
54. Wish You Were A Member Of The Opposite Sex: hell no
55. Wear perfume: no
56. Kiss: yeah
57. Cuddle: yeah
58. Go Online For Longer Than Eight Hours At A Time: no, not eight hours, but wikipedia does suck minutes away from me.

HAVE YOU EVER....
59. Fallen For Your Best Friend?: not yet.
60. Made Out With JUST A Friend?: yes
62. Had Sex With Two Different People In The Same Day? no
63. Been Rejected?: yes
64. Been In Love?: yes
65. Been In Lust?: yes
66. Used Someone?: no
67. Been Used?: i dont think so.
68. Dumped Someone?: yes
69. Been Cheated On?: yes. ouch.
70. Back Doored It?: the only way to go.
71. Done Something You Regret?: yeahhhh
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON...
72. You Touched?: My cousin Suliaman.
73. You Talked To?: Arturo Commando
74. You Hugged?: Sarah
75. You Instant Messaged?: Jozef
76. You Kissed?: Ana
77. You Yelled At?: Ana
78. You Dreamed About?: About this one girl in Illnois, and I was teaching her how to play drums. fucking weird. But she's really cute.
79. Who Text Messaged You?: Ana
80. Who Broke Your Heart?: Ana
81. Who Told You They Loved You?: My grandmother

DO YOU...
82. Color Your Hair? no, but i did cut it myself the other day.

83. Have Tattoos? not yet.
84. Have Piercings?: no
85. Boyfriend/girlfriend?: i am not sure if i understand this "DO YOU...Boyfriend/Girlfriend?" Um, I don't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
86. Own A Webcam?: MacBook!
88. Ever Get Off The Damn Computer?: yes
89. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?: My grandmother does, infact we call her Oma instead of grandma!

90. Habla espanol?: no se
91. Buy Designer: no

HAVE YOU / DO YOU / ARE YOU...
92. Stolen Anything?: yes
93. Smoke?: never
94. Schizophrenic?: no
95. Obsessive?: kind of
96. Compulsive?: yes
97. Obsessive compulsive?: Yeah, it really sucks, though I do have a very clean apartment.
98. Panic?: a few times
99. Anxiety?: yes, a lot
100. Stressed?: a lot lately

deep south

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 18:42:43 GMT

So I am here in Georgetown, South Carolina visiting my mother for the holidays. South Carolina is not too terribly great despite being more northern geographically, it is way more southern in the shitty sense. But we went to the Myrtle Beach Aquarium, and I snapped this cool photo.

But, I will be leaving here on Monday, and returning to Dallas to embark on a Mid Western tour of the United States. and not returning until January 6th. I am looking forward to that.

Some other good news, Ana is not moving so that makes me happy. Things have been good with that.

So, that's that!

It all started with a striped pencil.

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 04:13:10 GMT

I have such a huge crush right now. This girl is awesome, she thinks I am cute, and she likes it when I don't shave. Amazing. Fall is wonderful.

holy hell!

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:29:17 GMT

I just saw the adVANtage, holy shit, best live show in a while. you can't go wrong with a band from the west coast that does all NES covers.

Since last time, I have/will be
-moved out
-started school
-finally in successful band
-sufferring through work
-starting a band with JOJO from The Marked Men
-meeting new people such as Daniel, Jeff Humper, Joe, Jason, and Ashley (Ashley actually isn't a "new friend", my sister was friends with her 8 years ago, we all went to elementary school)
-going on a midwest tour Dec 26 - Jan 8. nearly 50% of it is booked already

Mainly everything is new with music. Incase you all didn't know, we recorded a full-length album with Mark Ryan (Marked Men, of course), Big Action Records will be releasing it as our debut album "Like It Never Happened" tenatively for November 30th. We will be playing a lot of shows in the next coming month, and our pal Jeff Humper will be booking some blowout shows at Beerland and Emo's in Austin with the Ape-Shits.

I am also re-discovering garage punk, probably the best genre from the 90's that is still thriving today. I am listening to Teengenerate right now, and I have a boner....gotta go.

i am really starting to hate...

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:46:01 GMT

rubber gloves, and the stupid stunts they try to pull, it's getting old.

and we marched together for the eight hour day...

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 04:36:20 GMT

I have never experienced so much exhaustion. I am so tired, I can barely get my fingers to move. I have a job now where I am working 11 hours a day making smoothies for rich, sweaty, jocks who just got done working out at 24 hour fitness. It is horrible, 6 dollars an hour is it. My schedule is as follows, I wake up at 6 30 in the morning, take a shower, get dressed, leave for work. I get there at 7 30, work straight until 1pm, peeling bananas, measuring sugar, and makeing smoothies. By the time I get home it is 1 30, I make something to eat, (which takes about an, not being a fan of microwavable food), and eat with in that time, I crash on the couch watching the World Cup around 2 30, sleep for an hour, wake up, leave for work AGAIN at 3 40ish, get there, work straight shifts ALONE UNTIL 9 O CLOCK PM. Yeah, that's right, ALONE, I have only been working for two days, and we have like 10 people at a time in some instances. Only to make six dollars an hour, and to receive about two dollars in tips. After that, I go hang out with friends for like two hours, (because that is really the only free time I have), and then come home, and fall asleep. Only to do it all over again the next day.

This is god damn horrible, I hate it.

Oh well, at least I am moving out in two weeks, going on tour, and gettng a sweet MacBook, 2.0GHz.

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 03:39:09 GMT

I suppose since I last updated this, there have been a lot of events.

Starting in a chronological order, here goes...

I went to Chaos in Tejas back at the end of May. It wasn't very impressive itself, it just kind of reminded me why the Liberty House was depressing. The Marked Men were sweet, and if it wasn't for that one perosn stage diving and braking his neck, I would say that would be the best Marked Men show I have ever seen. (i have seen like 2293329). What I really liked about the show was being able to hang out with Joe and Mark from The Marked Men while the other bands were playing. We had talked together at shows, but other than that, nothing really came of it. So I feel like I really gained a friendship with those two during that show, so it was cool. We skipped out on the show the next day, hung out with Baku, and had vegan pizza (which I burnt the roof of my mouth on), and saw a 77 style punk band play at Monkey Wrench, all and all, it was a good time.

The week after, I made a visit to Portland Oregon, to visit some old Indymedia friends. It was awesome. When I got out of the airport, the feeling of breathing in fresh mountain air, ohhhhhhhhh, it was nice. So after Arturo picked me up from the airport, we went and saw Team Gresh, (an awesome riot grrl band from Portland), they were doing a reunion show. It is pretty amazing to see how show atmospheres work in different parts of the country. This music was punk rock down to the core, but there were very few people moshing, but instead, people just dancing and having a good time. After that, Arturo, Bastard, Justin, Juggo, Sophia, Beth and I went back to Beth and Justins house to hang out, but I feel alseep after 20 minutes.

Mostly the tripped was just laid back as hell. I stayed with Justin Jen and Beth, ate good food, and went with them to look at houses. I had no idea Portland was as inexpensive as it is, they were able to find three bedroom homes for 900 dollars a month! In really nice neighborhoods too.

The last night of being there, I saw The Marked Men (again), and it was a perfect way to close out a perfect trip.

So when I got back to Dallas, Alx had some news. Big Action records wants to release some sort of 7" of us this coming fall, and two venues in Houston and San Antonio asked us to play. So sort of spir of the moment, we set up a Texas tour, which we will be leaving to go on on the 28th The Dates are as follows.

June 24th, J&Js Denton
June 28th, 1919 Hemphill (Actual tour kick off)
June 29th, Super Happy Funland Houston
June 30th, The Gormon House San Antonio
July 1st, TBA Austin (anyone reading this in Austin, feel free to help)

But this tour has been consuming. Just figuring out how the shit is going to fit, and who to bring along with us to drive....ughhhhh.

So in preperation for this we released a self-titled EP which will be out this Saturday! Which reminds me of the show at Wills (Druids On Parade) with Druids on Parade and Censored this Saturday. That should be fun, and if that wasn't enough fun, Boogdish is playing after us at 1919!!!!

Other than that, I am starting college full time, with high school out of the way, in August. I am enrolling tomorrow, woohooo...Brookhaven.

But yeah, that's basically it in a nutshell.

i just noticed something.

Thu, 11 May 2006 07:04:11 GMT

nevermind

Sat, 06 May 2006 05:11:55 GMT

I had a good night tonight. I got out of school, talked with my father a little bit, and then went home. I waited around for a bit, for my new friend Liz to show up. We went to Cafe Brazil, and a bookstore. She is really cool, she is nice, and charismatic, and she reads. Sometimes I thought I was the only one. I had a good time.

Other than that, I am planning on going to Austin in two weeks, it is going to be awesome.

Subjective media, objective world.

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 09:23:33 GMT

Fox News is the epitome of neo-conservative mass media conglomerates that dominates American media today. Every time I find my self draining my brain by watching this bullshit, I have to ask to myself, how naive must the typical American be to accept this news as fact?

First off, any sort of media conglomerate advertising the fact that they are "fair & balanced" should raise great concern to any sort of open-minded person. Or not? Have we been so desensitized to such a level in this country, where we expect news media to be wrong? News and journalism, by definition should reflect fundamental truth of the world, and if people are not expecting that every they tune into CNN or Fox, then change the fucking channel.

Fox News in particular, draws disgustingly close similarities to the old Soviet Union "Evil Empire" type media propaganda systems. One way they function similarly, is the nationalist type regalia the drapes the visual aspect of the broadcast. I would comfortably say, 75 percent of the time you turn to Fox News, you will find some sort of patriotic flag or banner in the background. What is the media suppose to represent in this country? Ideally they would want you to believe it serves in the interest of the people, operating under the second amendment. But when the media is is supporting the agenda of an administration and/or a system that, fundamentally, is crushing all types of free speech, it is bent to serve that system of control. As Jello Biafra pointed out, in the Soviet Union, they starved you with too little information, and this country, we drown you with too much useless shit, we can't figure out what is news and what is bullshit.

it is 2 30 in the morning, i am going to bed. i am tired and angry.

--more to come--

4/5-4/8

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 04:13:54 GMT

This week playing out.

Wednesday, April 5th- Against Me! @ Ridglea Theatre, Fort Worth
Thursday, April 6th- Robert Jensen Spoken Word @ UNT, Denton
Friday, April 7th- The Subhumans @ The Galaxy Club, Dallas
Saturday, April 8th- The Fencekill @ Bar of Soap (100 dollars baby!), Dallas

I am liking this week so far!

"Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution"

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 06:06:18 GMT

From Wikipedia:
Written partly as a response to Social Darwinism, Kropotkin drew on his experiences in scientific expeditions during his time in Siberia to illustrate the phenomenon of cooperation in animal and human communities. After examining the evidence of cooperation among the animals, the "savages", the "barbarians", in the medieval city, and in modern times, he concludes that cooperation and mutual aid are as important in the evolution of the species as competition and mutual strife, if not more important.

http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/mutaidcontents.html

This would be my ideal solution to back and forth anarchist/libertarian rhetoric. it makes perfect sense.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to write up a Libertarian Socialist criticism of Kropotkin, mainly stemming off of his support for the the allies during World War I. I will be trying to branch off of Alexander Berkman's rebuttle. They are all Anarcho-Communists, but whatever.

ohhhhh lottie mae

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 07:04:05 GMT

happy...i am happy. :)

new

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 01:41:52 GMT

I was using the crimethinc.net blog, but the people on there are dicks, and I didn't want to talk about more personal stuff on there. So here we go.

I enjoy, so much, anytime I get to spend with my friend Scott. He is, perhaps, one of the most intelligent person I have ever met. He puts a lot of things into perspective for me; as far as- anarchism, collective organizing, self-reliance, group sustainability. Less than a year ago, I proclaimed myself to be an "anarchist", but I would always doubt to myself, if it would actually work or not, I just kind of held on the to the title. But after becoming really good friends with Scott, spending time with him in Austin, and at the Wayne ST house in Dallas, I have no shred of doubt in my mind, that a far out idea, such as Anarchism, would work.

It is these kind of people I wish I could meet more of, why oh why.