Strike Strike Strike Say the Transit Workers

I love a good strike. Not so much when I need to take a train or a bus somewhere, but still- I love a good strike. And as of right now, supposedly, the NYC Transit workers are on strike. Now many of you might say –boo, i have to get to work/school! But please, won’t you join me in celebrating one of the last labor unions in the country that still has some goddam pull around here!

I’m telling you, it’s exciting, you just have to look at it from a different point of view. Nevermind that its raining, icing outside right now, and nevermind that its that silly pagan holiday coming up and you need that pay check to buy the kiddies their pine tree for the living room. Ignore all those seemingly earth shattering things, and marvel at the power of people’s collective power when they are organized. I love it! Hell, I wish I could be a transit worker for a day, cause you must feel truely alive when you stand up to the authorities, risking everything because you demand certain standards and respect. I even heard there’s a law that says transit workers can’t strike? Psshhhaw, if every transit worker stands arm-in-arm on the streets of NYC, they could never arrest you all. Hmm.. unless they call you terrorists, then they can just shoot you and ask questions later.

So after meeting with Michael and Jamie at what was allegedly my listener/reader meetup in the village, we had some dinner at Yaffa’s, discussed vital social issues (and stuff), and we each headed towards our designated underground transport. As the PATH train took me back to New Jersey and the wonderous Hoboken train station, I kept wondering how Jamie and other New Yorkers would react to the transit strike. Somehow I doubt they’ll be as big a cheerleader as I am, sleeping in and watching it all unfold on the internet.

JUST WOKE UP UPDATE: A limited strike? Whats this world coming to? Joe Hill is turning over in his grave…. limited strike… @^%#$^#.

Crazy Paths That Often Cross

I haven’t been talking about the meetings, the observations, and the thoughts, Ive been having since being back in New Jersey. Mostly because days melt into days and like some kind of battery-recharging, I don’t tend to do much with my time here, besides read blogs, play with the A-Ren, and take care of xmas shopping.

However last night was one of those great meetups, the kind that I look forward to long before making the trip out here. As you may have read elsewhere, I had dinner in the East Village with Ms. Thingk and Jamie of the Known Universe. I’ve been saying those two names alot lately, perhaps because they are great friends with whom I’ve always felt at ease around, or maybe because they both live in Brooklyn and can easily meet up with me at say, the Starbucks at Cooper Square.

And just as I had anticipated, it was pure joy to be around them again. Ms Thingk who I had met in the fishtank at the U of Amsterdam, with whom I had so often explored Amsterdam with and blogged about our adventures. After her wonderful adventures in DC, it is fun and almost fitting to watch her progress as a New Yorker. Jamie who I somehow met through bloggging and blog comments, who later came to Amsterdam and I remember sitting with him in my living room (one of my old living rooms) drinking Scotch and talking about his friend who was travelling to India. He handed me a copy of his book last night, and I haven’t been able to put it down since.

The three of us ate our Moroccan dinner and then proceeded to start taking photos of each other – obviously for our blogs. I recorded some audio but have decided some things are not meant to be shared. That and I messed up the volume level pretty bad. No matter – it was good to be back in the neighborhood that used to greet me every morning, and it was even greater to see good friends with whom I share so much in common.

bicyclemark88: Reaction to the Williams Execution and Dissecting Jersey Media

I react to Tookie’s Death, play his final interview and other observations from outside San Quentin. Also New Jersey’s number one newspaper is in my crosshair.

AudioCommunique #88(mp3)
28min+, 80kbps, 16Mb+

Discussed:

Tookie’s final interview on WakeUpCall
The execution and an actor-turned-governor’s decision to kill
Reviewing the useless content of NJ’s most important newspaper
Had Dinner with MsThingk and Jamie (read his account of the meal)
Jamie’s book Envy the Rain, will be discussed once Ive read it
The Listener/reader meetup, Thursday starting at 4pm, St. Mark’s Ale House on St. Mark’s place

Music:
The Stars – Celebration Guns
Rush – Closer to the Heart (yes Rush!)
Coralie Clement – ça valait la peine
Vinicius Cantuaria – Pena de mim
Death Cab for Cutie – Soul Meets Body
Simon and Garfunkle – America

California Murders Proudly

Stare at this photo. Picture it… think about it… the lethal injection.. the solution so many Americans (and lots of people in other countries too!) see to the issue of crime. Stare at it – it is done in your name. In our name. Doesn’t matter what your nationality, you’re human, and these are follow humans who carry out this practice.


Did you stare at it? I have. I keep looking at it. The last phonecall they make will be to rich Austrian-American who a few years ago decided he should be governor and make such decisions about whether people should live or die. Apparently he can be trusted to make the right decisions. He spent a few days reading the case, and he’s now qualified to decide if the case of a prisoner on death row was fair or not. Even though everywhere there is evidence that the cases are anything but fair and properly carried out. Case after case have appeared where lawyers and judges and trials were botched and flawed, and yet they keep killing people anyway, believing they’ve carried out justice.

In a few hours.. this room will once again be occupied. Humans will strap another human to the chair. They will insert poison into that humans body and end his life. They do this because we have accepted this practice, we allow it to go on. We go out for coffee tonight and laugh at television programs, while a man is injected with poison, and people watch from behind the glass. The whole world watches this, and they think – “I don’t understand that country.” Of course, we don’t understand this country either. Yet another murder is being carried out in my name, and I hate it and I will carry the blood of Tookie Williams on my hands forever.

bicyclemark87: Driving in New Jersey and Condeming Air Travel

Not even 8 hours after arriving, I’m driving around New Jersey and recapping how terrible air travel has become thanks to paranoia and irrational policies.

AudioCommunique #87(mp3)
30min+, 80kbps, 17Mb+

Discussed:

I’m driving
Listening to WBAI New York member supported radio which I was raised on
My terrible flight with KLM
Irrational drama queen passengers
Apparently Air marshalls kill people for behaving strangely or being mentally sick
Disgusting cars on the highway
My brother’s blog
I mixed in Utah Phillips talking about the military draft
ended unexpectedly.. thats how it goes sometimes

Music:

“Im from New Jersey” theme that Tim sent me
Utah Phillips – Tom Stribner Story (Fellow Workers album)
Death Cab for Cutie – Brothers on a Hotel Bed (Plans)