Bill Moyers. God bless the man, even at 77 he just can't seem to retire. Though his infamous "Journal" aired it's final show last summer, Moyers has begun a new series that's digging deep to the roots of political and economic corruption that plague our country and our economic environment.
In this video Bill interviews economists and authors Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, who make the case that income and class inequality in America have been intentionally engineered by the strategic collusion of Big Business and the Federal Government over the last three decades. They argue that the extreme wealth currently realized by the top fraction of income earners is no accident - and that the political ramifications for a Democratic society are indeed dire. Going beyond the obvious problems that extreme inequality produce in society, Hacker and Pierson present strong evidence that highly concentrated wealth indeed threaten the very solvency and integrity of a Democratic state. More info and full transcript link here
Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson on Winner Take All Politics from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
Hacker and Pierson co-authored Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer — And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class
More great info, video, and interviews at billmoyers.com
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
BMX Right to Ride in Gresham Skate Park
It's been awhile since my last post. The new year was busy and I got pretty sick. But feeling better now, and new ideas are kind of backed up in my head, so here we go:
First order of business, kids are supposed to be able to have fun, right? That's what being a kid means, having fun while learning about yourself and the world. When kids' rights to have fun are threatened, then something has gone very wrong.
Things have gone wrong in Gresham, a suburb of Portland. The mayor and the stodgy, stuffy, fossilized old white men of the Gresham city council are doing their best to kill fun for kids in Gresham. They have made it a crime to ride a bmx bike in the city's only skate park.
If you've never been to Gresham, let me tell you something important about the town, as I spent part of my own childhood growing up there: even on a good day, there isn't a whole lot for kids to do. Despite this fact, city "leaders" have decided that banning bmx'ers and spending already-spread-way-too-thin police resources on citations, bike confiscations, and the general harassment of minors is somehow a sensible way to burn taxpayer dollars.
They say bikes are dangerous, they say skaters and bikers can't get along, they say bmx is a public nuissance. Blah, blah.... blah.
Gresham is among the only cities in Oregon that do not allow bmx and skaters to ride together. From other smaller parks like Tualatin and Oregon City to the professional training grounds (and largest indoor skate park in the state) at Windell's in Welches, all manor of riders are able to coexist in peace. Not to say there aren't problems sometimes, but as any athlete knows all sports have some tension and in general folks figure out ways to make things work for everyone - think skier/snowboarder on the mountain or longboard/shortboard in the waves. At Windell's, word is that older riders and skaters actually help and assist younger members to learn the ropes and get along.
Imagine that - kids solving their own problems when air-headed adults get out of the way long enough to give 'em a chance.
So what happened in Gresham? Well, the kids and their parents organized and fought back. On December 17 they staged their first peaceful protest at the park - see amazing pictures here. More at the group's main facebook page here.
An online petition was started after one well-intentioned parent was veritably cussed out of the mayor's office for trying to discuss sharing the park.
Sign the petition!
Not long after this incident Occupy Gresham and the PDX Bike Swarm got word of the struggle to legalize fun, and in support of the BMX riders all three groups held a demonstration for over 4 hours in a snowstorm on January 15th. After which all parties retired to eat pizza at the nearby Wall Street Pizza. And what do you know, the Mayor finally sent one of his city managers to come chat.
Check out the video of the day's events, including the discussion with the manager afterwards.
While some progress has been made, the Gresham skate park remains closed to BMX bikes. The brave riders are not deterred, however, and come Spring I think we can count on a lot more action at the park.
In the meantime, sign the petition and keep an eye out for future events!
First order of business, kids are supposed to be able to have fun, right? That's what being a kid means, having fun while learning about yourself and the world. When kids' rights to have fun are threatened, then something has gone very wrong.
Things have gone wrong in Gresham, a suburb of Portland. The mayor and the stodgy, stuffy, fossilized old white men of the Gresham city council are doing their best to kill fun for kids in Gresham. They have made it a crime to ride a bmx bike in the city's only skate park.
If you've never been to Gresham, let me tell you something important about the town, as I spent part of my own childhood growing up there: even on a good day, there isn't a whole lot for kids to do. Despite this fact, city "leaders" have decided that banning bmx'ers and spending already-spread-way-too-thin police resources on citations, bike confiscations, and the general harassment of minors is somehow a sensible way to burn taxpayer dollars.
They say bikes are dangerous, they say skaters and bikers can't get along, they say bmx is a public nuissance. Blah, blah.... blah.
Gresham is among the only cities in Oregon that do not allow bmx and skaters to ride together. From other smaller parks like Tualatin and Oregon City to the professional training grounds (and largest indoor skate park in the state) at Windell's in Welches, all manor of riders are able to coexist in peace. Not to say there aren't problems sometimes, but as any athlete knows all sports have some tension and in general folks figure out ways to make things work for everyone - think skier/snowboarder on the mountain or longboard/shortboard in the waves. At Windell's, word is that older riders and skaters actually help and assist younger members to learn the ropes and get along.
Imagine that - kids solving their own problems when air-headed adults get out of the way long enough to give 'em a chance.
So what happened in Gresham? Well, the kids and their parents organized and fought back. On December 17 they staged their first peaceful protest at the park - see amazing pictures here. More at the group's main facebook page here.
An online petition was started after one well-intentioned parent was veritably cussed out of the mayor's office for trying to discuss sharing the park.
Sign the petition!
Not long after this incident Occupy Gresham and the PDX Bike Swarm got word of the struggle to legalize fun, and in support of the BMX riders all three groups held a demonstration for over 4 hours in a snowstorm on January 15th. After which all parties retired to eat pizza at the nearby Wall Street Pizza. And what do you know, the Mayor finally sent one of his city managers to come chat.
Check out the video of the day's events, including the discussion with the manager afterwards.
While some progress has been made, the Gresham skate park remains closed to BMX bikes. The brave riders are not deterred, however, and come Spring I think we can count on a lot more action at the park.
In the meantime, sign the petition and keep an eye out for future events!
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Ceremony
The following poem transcribed from the preface to the book Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko, 1977:
Ceremony
I will tell you something about stories
[he said]
They aren't just entertainment.
Don't be fooled.
They are all we have, you see,
all we have to fight off
illness and death.
You don't have anything
if you don't have the stories.
Their evil is mighty
but it can't stand up to our stories.
So they try to destroy the stories
let the stories be confused or forgotten.
They would like that
They would be happy
Because we would be defenseless then.
He rubbed his belly.
I keep them here
[he said]
Here, put your hand on it
See, it is moving.
There is life here
for the people.
And in the belly of this story
the rituals and the ceremony
are still growing.
- Preface to Ceremony, (c) Leslie Marmon Silko, 1977
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