Props to Father Nathan Monk, a gifted speaker and a man to admire.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Father Nathan Monk Serves Pensacola City Council
Props to Father Nathan Monk, a gifted speaker and a man to admire.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Occupy City Council
Yesterday my wife and I attended a Pensacola City Council meeting. I'd never been to City Hall before. I know, that's pretty sad for someone calling himself Citizen but I think that makes me like most everyone else I know who lives in Pensacola. Pensacola's city hall is bigger than I'd imagined it would be. It also looked different than I'd expected. I figured it'd look like some vaguely Roman or Greek structure with columns in the front and a clock near the top. Instead it's red brick and looks like a cross between a theater and high-rise public housing...albeit rather nice public housing. Once inside the council chambers I felt like I was in a room that was part theater, part church. Interesting that City Hall's exterior and interior remind me of a theater.
The reason I attended the City Council meeting was to lend support to a friend who gave a presentation on Manna Food Pantry's community gardening projects. Another time I will write about the glories of community gardens. At this point, suffice it to say that it's stupid to not have as many community gardens as possible.
After we sat down, a contingent of about a dozen or so young adults filed in. They ranged in appearance from the standard shorts and a t-shirt, to gutter punk, to Indiana Jones. (Seriously...dude had a sweet leather satchel!) I knew who they were as soon as I saw them: representatives from Occupy Pensacola. I thought they'd be rowdy and disruptive but they weren't at all. They were very calm and polite. They waited quietly as the meeting was called to order. I had no idea what they were doing there until the Council President announced that the meeting would start with about half an hour of time allotted for people to address the Council. I figured this was when the rowdy protesting and fierce diatribes would begin. Once again my preconceived notions were wrong. A few of the Occupiers spoke. They spoke calmly and they mostly spoke well. When the speakers said something the rest of their crew liked, instead of loudly cheering and applauding, they silently held their hands up and moved their fingers, doing the sign language sign for applause. (I learned that from one of the Occupiers, who held up a note on loose leaf paper which said, "It's sign language for applause. Thanks, man.) The Occupiers spoke about the rich, controlling 1% and the downtrodden, exploited 99%. They spoke about their rights to free speech and assembly. They spoke about how they represent a group that includes the City Council members themselves...that we are pawns in a game controlled by people who only see us as a means to accrue more power and wealth.
It was interesting that on the same night my friend was speaking about Manna Food Pantry and community gardens, Occupy Pensacola spoke about the overburdened masses and community action. It was a fortuitous synergy.
The civility of last night's council meeting and the civility of the protest as a whole says a lot about the protesters, our elected officials, and the police department. I hope the movement continues to be peaceful and that it leads to progress in all areas of our society, and I'm thankful that I live in a country where such a civil uprising is possible. What I saw at last night's City Council meeting was a thing of beauty.
The reason I attended the City Council meeting was to lend support to a friend who gave a presentation on Manna Food Pantry's community gardening projects. Another time I will write about the glories of community gardens. At this point, suffice it to say that it's stupid to not have as many community gardens as possible.
After we sat down, a contingent of about a dozen or so young adults filed in. They ranged in appearance from the standard shorts and a t-shirt, to gutter punk, to Indiana Jones. (Seriously...dude had a sweet leather satchel!) I knew who they were as soon as I saw them: representatives from Occupy Pensacola. I thought they'd be rowdy and disruptive but they weren't at all. They were very calm and polite. They waited quietly as the meeting was called to order. I had no idea what they were doing there until the Council President announced that the meeting would start with about half an hour of time allotted for people to address the Council. I figured this was when the rowdy protesting and fierce diatribes would begin. Once again my preconceived notions were wrong. A few of the Occupiers spoke. They spoke calmly and they mostly spoke well. When the speakers said something the rest of their crew liked, instead of loudly cheering and applauding, they silently held their hands up and moved their fingers, doing the sign language sign for applause. (I learned that from one of the Occupiers, who held up a note on loose leaf paper which said, "It's sign language for applause. Thanks, man.) The Occupiers spoke about the rich, controlling 1% and the downtrodden, exploited 99%. They spoke about their rights to free speech and assembly. They spoke about how they represent a group that includes the City Council members themselves...that we are pawns in a game controlled by people who only see us as a means to accrue more power and wealth.
It was interesting that on the same night my friend was speaking about Manna Food Pantry and community gardens, Occupy Pensacola spoke about the overburdened masses and community action. It was a fortuitous synergy.
The civility of last night's council meeting and the civility of the protest as a whole says a lot about the protesters, our elected officials, and the police department. I hope the movement continues to be peaceful and that it leads to progress in all areas of our society, and I'm thankful that I live in a country where such a civil uprising is possible. What I saw at last night's City Council meeting was a thing of beauty.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Pensacola Seattle
Pensacola is the Seattle of Florida.
It rains a lot here and Pensacolans drink lots of coffee.
We have a some great fish markets, too!
It rains a lot here and Pensacolans drink lots of coffee.
We have a some great fish markets, too!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Ashton Hayward Provides Excellent Constituent Service
Last Wednesday I emailed Mike Wiggins and Ashton Hayward. I asked them what their stances are on Florida's Amendment 4 issue.
Wiggins promises on his website to personally respond in 48 hours. I have yet to hear from him.
Hayward responded the next morning. He is against Amendment 4. I disagree with him on that issue but I heartily commend him for his rapid response.
If I voted today I would vote for Hayward. Even though Diane Mack, who I endorsed in the mayoral primary, is endorsing Wiggins, I am still leaning towards Hayward.
There is still much race left to be run and there are a series of debates coming up which promise to be very interesting.
Friday, October 15 at 7:00 PM First Baptist Church, 500 N Palafox St
Monday, October 18 at 6:00 PM Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church, 201 W Leonard St
Tuesday, October 19 at 7:00 PM Televised on WSRE (Cox channel 8/Broadcast channel 23)
Tuesday, October 26 at 5:30 PM Pensacola Civic Center, 201 E Gregory St
Wiggins promises on his website to personally respond in 48 hours. I have yet to hear from him.
Hayward responded the next morning. He is against Amendment 4. I disagree with him on that issue but I heartily commend him for his rapid response.
If I voted today I would vote for Hayward. Even though Diane Mack, who I endorsed in the mayoral primary, is endorsing Wiggins, I am still leaning towards Hayward.
There is still much race left to be run and there are a series of debates coming up which promise to be very interesting.
Friday, October 15 at 7:00 PM First Baptist Church, 500 N Palafox St
Monday, October 18 at 6:00 PM Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church, 201 W Leonard St
Tuesday, October 19 at 7:00 PM Televised on WSRE (Cox channel 8/Broadcast channel 23)
Tuesday, October 26 at 5:30 PM Pensacola Civic Center, 201 E Gregory St
Monday, September 27, 2010
Florida Vote YES on 4
From time to time, during my wanderings around Pensacola, I see little political signs that say something like, "No on 4". I didn't know what it was about so I did some research.
My take on it is that it has to do with requiring a city to get the approval of its citizens before changing land usage rules. I don't know much about the whole municipal land use process but I do know that I think citizens should have as much say as possible in what the government does. It's beyond me why someone could seriously defend disallowing citizens to vote on ANYTHING. The only reasons I can come up with are greed and power-hoarding.
Picture someone looking you in the face and saying, "No, I don't think you should be allowed to vote on that." Seriously? Negative thoughts would bloom in my mind, but I'd remain polite.
Amendment 4 would put people out of work? That's a tired ploy. When in doubt, say that something will kill jobs. Then nobody will like it. It's not based on truth; it's a guess. If what you're saying is true, prove it. ("You'll see when Amendment 4 is passed and people can't get jobs." We'll see.)
I poked around the Web for some reasons as to why I'd want to vote for limiting my say in government and I couldn't find any. Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm ignorant of some key facts.
Government exists for the benefit of the masses, not the fortunate few.
To learn more check out:
Florida Hometown Democracy
Florida Comprehensive Land Use Plans, Amendment 4 (2010)
Vote No on 4
My take on it is that it has to do with requiring a city to get the approval of its citizens before changing land usage rules. I don't know much about the whole municipal land use process but I do know that I think citizens should have as much say as possible in what the government does. It's beyond me why someone could seriously defend disallowing citizens to vote on ANYTHING. The only reasons I can come up with are greed and power-hoarding.
Picture someone looking you in the face and saying, "No, I don't think you should be allowed to vote on that." Seriously? Negative thoughts would bloom in my mind, but I'd remain polite.
Amendment 4 would put people out of work? That's a tired ploy. When in doubt, say that something will kill jobs. Then nobody will like it. It's not based on truth; it's a guess. If what you're saying is true, prove it. ("You'll see when Amendment 4 is passed and people can't get jobs." We'll see.)
I poked around the Web for some reasons as to why I'd want to vote for limiting my say in government and I couldn't find any. Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm ignorant of some key facts.
Government exists for the benefit of the masses, not the fortunate few.
To learn more check out:
Florida Hometown Democracy
Florida Comprehensive Land Use Plans, Amendment 4 (2010)
Vote No on 4
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
US Citizens Cannot Afford Federal Government
No wonder our country has such massive debt.
[chart courtesy of Cato Institute's Downsizing the Federal Government]
[chart courtesy of Cato Institute's Downsizing the Federal Government]
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Obama Works for the Culprits but It's Not His Fault
Some thoughts generated upon viewing
I thought that when the President had something to say then he commanded all the television stations. Now he's relegated to a business cable channel? I didn't watch any TV last night so I don't know if other channels broadcasted it. If they did, did they have to say that it was "hosted by CNBC"?
If this isn't further proof that Obama is a corporate talking tool then I don't know what is. Did GE/Comcast hire Obama to speak on their behalf? "Appear tough on big corporations, but not too tough." "Appear tough on net neutrality, but not too tough."
The President of the United States of America responded to an amorphous, miscellaneously defined political(?) movement on a niche television cable channel owned by a massive international corporation and the US's largest cable provider. Weird. No wonder nobody hardly even cares about the President. Despite the fact that everyone has an opinion on the President, half of them didn't even vote, and probably more than half of the ones who did don't really know what they're talking about.
Yeah, it's less intrusive into the machinations of megacorps.
Don't let all these supposedly myriad new regulations fool you, the business elite control the world now more than ever. Government somehow continues to increase its staff but also shrink away from responsibilities at the same time. Blows my mind.
And the fact that these corporate issues are major talking points is majorly back-asswards. You have to draw some long lines to seriously connect half the shit they talk about as far as major political issues back to your own daily life. No wonder it hardly matters who our President is. They're all corporate shills.
I laugh at you when you say how much better this or that guy (not a girl!) would've been as our President. It's like this:
To conclude, I'd like to state that I think it's important who our President is. I think they become tools after they're elected but if they're strong enough they can inject at least a little personality and reason into the mix and maybe after a succession of good Presidents we can reach a truly worthwhile state of politics and honest democracy which works for the betterment of humanity.
Obama: 'tea party' wrong on 'culprits' of economic woes
For slightly over an hour, Obama appeared at a town hall style gathering called “Investing in America,” hosted by the business cable channel CNBC at the Newseum journalism museum in Washington. He admitted that “times are tough for everybody right now” and noted that the recovery fostered by his policies “is slow and steady as opposed to a quick fix.”
I thought that when the President had something to say then he commanded all the television stations. Now he's relegated to a business cable channel? I didn't watch any TV last night so I don't know if other channels broadcasted it. If they did, did they have to say that it was "hosted by CNBC"?
If this isn't further proof that Obama is a corporate talking tool then I don't know what is. Did GE/Comcast hire Obama to speak on their behalf? "Appear tough on big corporations, but not too tough." "Appear tough on net neutrality, but not too tough."
The President of the United States of America responded to an amorphous, miscellaneously defined political(?) movement on a niche television cable channel owned by a massive international corporation and the US's largest cable provider. Weird. No wonder nobody hardly even cares about the President. Despite the fact that everyone has an opinion on the President, half of them didn't even vote, and probably more than half of the ones who did don't really know what they're talking about.
Obama disputed tea party activists who argue that the government is now engaged in activities which go beyond the scope of what is authorized in the US Constitution. He argued that the federal government is probably less intrusive now than 30 years ago.
Yeah, it's less intrusive into the machinations of megacorps.
Don't let all these supposedly myriad new regulations fool you, the business elite control the world now more than ever. Government somehow continues to increase its staff but also shrink away from responsibilities at the same time. Blows my mind.
And the fact that these corporate issues are major talking points is majorly back-asswards. You have to draw some long lines to seriously connect half the shit they talk about as far as major political issues back to your own daily life. No wonder it hardly matters who our President is. They're all corporate shills.
I laugh at you when you say how much better this or that guy (not a girl!) would've been as our President. It's like this:
To conclude, I'd like to state that I think it's important who our President is. I think they become tools after they're elected but if they're strong enough they can inject at least a little personality and reason into the mix and maybe after a succession of good Presidents we can reach a truly worthwhile state of politics and honest democracy which works for the betterment of humanity.
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