This morning, at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, Long Island, crowds waiting to take advantage of a pre-Christmas sale broke down the doors to the store and trampled an employee to death. According to reports, while the 34-year-old man was stepped on and around while struggling to breathe, none of those entering the store attempted to assist him. Even as emergency responders were working to save the man’s life after the store had been closed because of the incident, those that had stormed the store largely streamed passed unconcerned.

November 28, 2008 82 Comments

Over the last several years my family has become quite disenfranchised with Christmas. Last year we talked openly about it, how it seemed empty and self indulgent, which led to my mother and sister-in-law formulating a few ideas with regards to this year. The plan they’ve come up with is so good that I wanted to share it with everyone in hopes of maybe starting a minor trend.

Rather than buying gifts, everyone in the family is going to contribute what would have been spent on them into financing a care package for a family in need. Second, prior to Christmas day, we’re going to volunteer to serve dinner at a homeless shelter or at an outreach program in the community.

As my mother put it on the telephone this morning, our family gets by and that’s more than enough to celebrate. I agree with her completely. I have no time for the consumer frenzy of Christmas or its historically inaccurate religious significance. As a man that believes that the problems of this world must be solved by those that live in it rather than those that believe it is little more than a giant waiting room for the afterlife, it is a holiday that impassions a spirit that, in truth, should be ever present in our daily lives. That at our most fundamental level we are all the same, that we are only as strong as our weakest link, and that no amount of gifts or religious devotion can alter the fact our most basic commonalities supercede the fears and divisions that plague us. That, in the end, we are all members of a single family.

October 9, 2007 93 Comments

Last night, during my performance in Thunder Bay, I ventured into unknown waters for the first time on this tour – I mentioned the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The response was, as expected, muted, though I would learn after the performance from my soundman that people in the back of the theatre were deriding me for mentioning it and exclaiming that I should simply ‘shut up and sing’.

It’s here that I should mention that while broaching the subject of Canada’s role in Afghanistan I made perfectly clear my feelings regarding the separation of military service and policy, something that always seems to float straight over the heads of those that choose to disregard any debate on the subject out of hand. That said, no one in that theatre had the balls to say anything loud enough for me to hear in response, save one individual who claimed that there were certain things worth killing for. And while I disagree, I still commend him for having the guts to yell it out and state his opinion.

True, it’s a concert, and those in attendance have paid to hear me perform. Then again, if you’ve bought tickets to see George Carlin, you expect most of his show to be politically charged. Given what I spend the majority of my time on this website, and elsewhere, talking about, you’d think those who would willingly purchase tickets to one of my performances would at least think it a possibility that I might bring something up. And yet I am always surprised when people find it shocking that I do.

That said, the Burmese Junta has detained 4,000 monks and is planning on interning them in the far north of the country in an attempt to quell their role in recent protests. According to reports, they have been “disrobed and shackled”.

It’s important to remember that Burma’s monks did not resort to violent action in the recent protests, and in doing so have captured both the attention and imagination of the world in the process – ironically, even those that turn to violence as their favoured course of action. Of course, they cannot expect the cavalry to arrive, guns blazing, to secure their release and bring freedom to their country. Having said that, it’s of vital importance to point out that even though they have helped lead this latest charge against the current regime, they would not wish violence to be employed to see its downfall, nor their release, ensured. Many will, instead, go on hunger strikes and forfeit themselves, if need be, to continue their protest – but they will not advocate the use of violence.

There is something to be learned from the realization that only with the perception of greatness comes the arrogance of power and ultimately the need to ensure its continuity to protect the fragile shell of ego. To embrace the wisdom that power is, in truth, the drug of the weak, is to realize that the way to defeat it is to refuse to acknowledge it as anything but.

October 1, 2007 124 Comments

The APEC Summit has returned to its birthplace, Australia, where a small number of people, mostly youths in their school uniforms, peacefully demonstrated the presence of President Bush today in Sydney. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the authorities from insisting that Saturday’s protest, which they believe will attract tens of thousands, will result in a ‘full scale riot’…

“Chief superintendent Steven Cullen, head of the state Public Order and Riot Squad, said he had never been so worried about a demonstration in his career, predicting “horrendous” implications for public safety.

“Police lines will come under attack and a full-scale riot is probable,” Cullen told the Supreme Court.

The Stop Bush Coalition protest group agreed to change the route of the march so it did not pass the US consulate in the centre of the city’s financial district.

The court also ordered the protesters to stay away from a 2.8 metre (nine foot) high steel and concrete fence that snakes five kilometres (three miles) around the city centre, creating an exclusion zone for the visiting dignitaries.

Cullen told the court he had “absolutely no doubt” minority protest groups would attempt to violently disrupt the march and people would be hurt if there was a crush near the fence or they were pushed into glass-fronted buildings.

While police fear a repeat of the violence at last year’s G20 meeting in Melbourne, activists have labelled the unpredented security lockdown over much of Sydney as an attack on their right to peaceful protest.

“Protest is not violent, war is violent,” student Rainee Lyleson told Wednesday’s rally. “We will not be intimidated.”

Students dodged truancy officers and ignored police warnings to stay in their classrooms to attend the rally, organised by the left-wing group Resistance.

There was no sign of protest earlier when Bush held a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard at a hotel in the centre of the exclusion zone.

Police searched the bags of pedestrians passing the venue, as helicopters buzzed overhead and officers with binoculars scanned the streets from rooftops.

Many of the city’s usually bustling streets were almost deserted amid the security operation involving 5,000 police and troops, with just a few onlookers hoping to catch a glimpse of the US leader through the security fence.

Some retailers, particularly high-end fashion and jewellery stores, were closed — with signs in their windows saying they would reopen after APEC.

Pavement garbage bins were sealed off with plastic covers while private security guards stood on duty outside office towers.”

So now we wait for Saturday to arrive to see what happens. Will there be those who will act like idiots? Probably. As they say, shit attracts flies.

The Australian government recently released a YouTube video in which Prime Minister Howard said…

“There will be some individuals who want to protest against Apec. I simply ask them to stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried about issues such as poverty, security and climate change, then they should support Apec, not attack it.”

Interestingly, how many of the nations attending the summit are economically exploited by the world’s foremost powers? The Philippines? Indonesia? Malaysia? Thailand? Vietnam? Papua New Guinea? In fact, many of those in attendance, such as South Korea, Japan, and others, also have arms agreements with the United States, which would fall under the ‘security’ umbrella of Mr. Howard’s preamble.

Some of you might remember a time when the United States was an economic global powerhouse. And while the US economy still significantly influences the markets, the fact of the matter is that their economy is, in truth, primarily based on consumption, not production – which would be why they owe the Chinese in excess of 1 trillion dollars. In fact, they’re actually a debtor nation to Mexico.

Were the foreign debt of the United States to be called tomorrow, the country would be devastated on an unprecedented level. Ironically, it would also result in a global panic that would cause a global recession of immense proportions. That’s rather interesting, isn’t it. But that’s what happens when the world primarily trades in your dollar.

Will this APEC summit result in any real change? Will Indonesian factory workers end up making more because of foreign investment? Or will they make the same, or less, because the demand for work is considerable and those paying them are all too aware of it? The reality is that foreign investment makes those holding the cards wealthier, and that that wealth doesn’t really impact society in general in such places. That’s why most of the clothes worn in North America are made in such places and not by North American workers. Because North American workers have this terrible habit of getting up to no good, such as forming Unions, demanding decent pay and medical coverage.

Now why on earth would anyone want that when the exact same product can be made overseas for next to nothing without all the hassles, driving the purchasing price down and thus allowing US retailers to maximize profits by massively over inflating prices?

Of course, such an application is entirely unsustainable. One simply cannot consume more than they produce without eventually succumbing, which is why the miraculous wonders of globalization were thrust upon us as if a summer blockbuster were being launched to justify the exploitation of cheaper markets. Unfortunately, one day, people are going to start waking up in those regions that are being exploited and realize that the distribution of wealth isn’t at all equitable, and they’re going to go about making changes – primarily in government. That, of course, is when we’ll step in and paint such movements as dangerous to our national interests and work to ensure that they fail.

It’s as old as the crucifixion. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, but no one wants to bake it.

September 5, 2007 11 Comments

From the BBC…

“Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by “guerrilla artist” Banksy.

Banksy has replaced Hilton’s CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?�?

I suppose it should come as no real surprise that Paris Hilton’s recent release is doing poorly, though debuting at #29 in the United Kingdom is far better than I’d ever do, so who am I to talk? Then again, Nick Drake did only sell a handful of records during his lifetime and he was utterly brilliant, so.

I was once quite close to someone that thought Paris Hilton an absolute genius, if only for being able to remain so globally popular for being and doing absolutely nothing of import. In response I said that it’s a sad comment on our times when individuals applaud the success of millionaire debutants turned unwitting (or perhaps calculating) porn stars, among other things, and it’s a view that I still hold.

The majority of those that spend their time buying into the vacuous nothingness that Paris Hilton so resounding represents often attempt to justify it by passing it off as a frivolous indulgence, one that is by no means serious. Yet it’s the very same people that often either emulate her or grant individuals like her the attention and support required to allow them continued exposure and success, not to mention the apparatuses that support and promote them. Like it or not, there is simply no way to justify the support of such an empty and idiotic sector of society without, at some point, admitting that without the support of the public, people like Paris Hilton wouldn’t be worth mention.

There are entire magazines, websites, and television programs dedicated to nothing. The question you need to ask yourself is why are they vastly more popular than magazines, websites, and television programs dedicated to something?

There are those that might claim such views uptight. To that I would reply that while we overwhelmingly indulge people like Paris Hilton, and the entire infrastructure that supports people like her, supposedly free and participatory societies are lied to without rebuke, the next Nick Drake is probably being overlooked in favour of television talent show competitors, and the intellect and respectability of our society as a whole is diminished.

Now, if that’s something that you can dismiss by saying that it’s all in fun, I guess we know where you stand. Ultimately, that’s the choice we make in this life. Either we stand up and are counted or we perpetually talk about getting around to it while spending our lives trying to justify our cowardice by pointing to convenient scapegoats.

You don’t have to be rich, famous, or powerful to be a success in life. You just have to be something other than a convenient nothing.

September 3, 2006 Leave a Comment