On villains and vengeance.

Earlier today, I had this half-formed thought that I shared on Twitter: “The danger of basing national pride on the vanquishing of enemies is that it requires an endless supply of enemies to maintain.” “Enemies” is a word I used to make a point. We allow politicians and media to use this word to categorize people — individuals and whole groups — as caricatures that, once extinguished, remove some of the evil from our perilous world. I just started this post and yet I am written out on the topic. I have said it all before. Nothing and everything has changed. We killed one man, and we gave up a hundred freedoms. And it’s not over. The war isn’t over; which war are we on now? The tiny humiliations, the groping and the...

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Posted on 2 May 2011 | 3 comments

Some links about the potential U.S. government shutdown.

As I was doing some research this morning, I found some links about the potential U.S. government shutdown that you might find useful. Live coverage from BBC News and CNN What’s Closed — And What’s Not — In A Shutdown (NPR): This is a thorough rundown on what the immediate repercussions will be. United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996 (Wikipedia): I was blissfully ignorant of current affairs while in college — sad, I know — so this was a good recap. Bay Area Braces For Possible Federal Government Shutdown (SF Appeal) Government Shutdown Would Have Wide Ripples (NY...

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Posted on 8 Apr 2011 | Comments Off

eight years ago

In remembrance of 9/11, I am sharing these excerpts from my written reactions eight years ago. From 11 September 2001, “the act itself”: On the way to work I heard a cor­re­spon­dent on the radio say some­thing about how the act itself was shock­ing, but the fact that it hap­pened was not. This is the scari­est thing I’ve ever heard. From 12 September 2001, “the aftermath”: I do not want vengeance. I do not want more vio­lence, and I espe­cially do not want more civil­ians — inno­cent peo­ple, regard­less of nation­al­ity — to die. I real­ize how seri­ous this act was, and is, and I real­ize that our gov­ern­ment will exact pun­ish­ment on those it thinks are respon­si­ble. I also real­ize we may be wrong. If...

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Posted on 11 Sep 2009 | 2 comments

dear hissyfit fussypants

To the current political naysayers regarding the American economy: we tried your way. For years, decades even. It did not work. Now someone is trying something else to keep the capitalist machine running. If you think this is socialism, you had best sit down in front of a dictionary. You want me to buy American? I do, when the product is worth a good goddamn. But none of us can continue to have the standard of living to which we have grown accustomed, shitty American products or no, so here is a thought: stop losing your tiny minds over the fact that the only constant is change. And no, this is not directed at fiscal conservatives. This is directed at everyone.  You too.  Everyone who whinges about how everything is in the toilet: what are you doing about it? ...

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Posted on 6 Mar 2009 | 12 comments

some wordplay with your gunplay

Campers may now pack heat along with their sleeping bags when they travel to national parks. The Bush administration on Friday struck down federal regulations banning loaded guns in most national forests, a move that was widely seen as a parting shot on behalf of the National Rifle Association. The ruling overturned a 25-year-old federal regulation severely restricting concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The new rule, which would take effect in January, would apparently allow anyone who already has a concealed weapons permit in his or her state to also tote a gun in federal parks within state boundaries. Guns will be allowed in national parks: Thanks, SFGate, for “pack heat along with their sleeping bags” and “parting...

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Posted on 6 Dec 2008 | 1 comment

now what

I was at work when the news came, when the world changed. I was at work and we are not supposed to show our emotions on our sleeves, our choices on our lapels, but we couldn’t help it, and we clapped our hands and laughed and said yes. My father called and said, “Thank you, California!” and I replied, “Thank you, Pennsylvania!” and for a few minutes it was like we were in the same place. I sent my mother a text that read, “Yes, we can, and yes, we did! Congratulations on a new America, mooms.” She replied that she was with me, and for a few minutes, she was. On the train home, I sneakily studied the faces of the people around me, thinking: does he know yet? Is she happy? And then I pretended as if I didn’t know yet,...

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Posted on 5 Nov 2008 | 3 comments