Yet again I am humiliated, completely and utterly humiliated at the absolute irreverence for human lives that our president harbors. This humiliation stems from a bill (H.R. 1298) that the president signed in May of 2003. The bill concerns the distribution of $15 billion abroad to help fight HIV/AIDS primarily but also tuberculosis and malaria. The idea of spending such a substantial amount of money on such a justifiable cause seems noble enough but it's what lies beneath the surface that makes the bill absurd and has brought it back into the forefront of the public eye again. This component of absurdity is due to a small clause in the bill that "requires all organizations that receive U.S. federal funding - regardless of their mission - to explicitly pledge to oppose commercial sex work"(ACLU.org). To contrast this statement with the one the President made in 2003, while signing in the bill, regarding the value of ALL human life, "America makes this commitment for a clear reason, directly rooted in our founding. We believe in the value and dignity of every human life."(Whitehouse.gov). I guess that people in the commercial sex industry life's are not dignified enough to merit their protection. I guess that they are so immoral that we would all be relieved if they just all stopped breathing (pardon the sarcasm). 

I certainly hope that the appellate court that the ACLU is appealing to is realistic enough to remove this clause from the bill so that it may actually be effective. We must be honest ourselves and with the fact that the commercial sex business is an active contributing factor to the spread of AIDS/HIV. We must come to terms with the fact that citizens of all walks of like patronize the sex business in many different ways, even those who seem most upright and most opposed to "deviant" sexual behavior i.e. Pastor Ted Haggard. Hopefully more news will be out soon regarding the status of the appeal of this bill, for the sake of its efficacy this clause must be removed. I really hope politicians stop playing politics with people's lives in the future and that bills as flawed as HR 1298 never see the light of day, but that's just another naive notion I harbor.  

All sorts of new cerebral cycling experiences have been in my life as of recent. On Friday night my friend Alex and myself rode our bikes down to Denver to check out the bicycle film festival. We departed at about 7:15pm, so it was already dark and cooling off. This was my first night ride so I was full of anticipation and a little nervousness. We cruised along the bike path for a bit and then we hit the streets and jogged our way around to down town along 32nd and 29th. Once we were moving the temperature was perfect and the few motorists we encountered were very friendly. We eventually found the mercury cafe and sat down for some delicious organic blueberry pie and some quirky films about cycles in some form or another whether it be high cycles, high wheels, fixed gears, road bikes, or unicycles. We only caught a couple but the film called, "The Warriors," which didn't so much parody as it did parallel the classic film which bears the same title, was a really interesting film. It was about an alley cat race in New York City where cyclists were on teams and rode around to check points in different corners of the city where they had to perform absurd tasks; like spinning this huge cube as many times as they could in one minute or bunny hopping one of their teammates.

The movies got over a little earlier than expected so we rode over to saint marks all the while meandering throughout traffic in the dark of night, very fun. Drank some tea there and then hit the road back to Golden. By this time the ambient temperature was somewhere around 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the cold the ride home went very smoothly and was very serene. 

Allow me to take this moment to say that traveling on bicycles is a beautiful way to travel. All partitions and barriers to the outside world are removed. You are actually one with outside, whereas in your vehicle your surrounded by thousands of pounds of steel and amenities of all sorts. On a bike it is you and nothing else. Every contour of the land becomes part an intimate part of your own experience and that experience itself is more full since it is your own horsepower that is allowing you to negotiate the landscape. Also things which normally go unnoticed or are not fully appreciated appear more glaringly, like the beauty of the 32nd and Wadsworth cemetery at night and the surrounding groves of trees.

Now, allow me to take this moment to say a thing or two about purists. Purist bike punks can suck my dick. Let me make the distinction, I have nothing against the whole bike punk movement, at least nothing outstanding. Those god damn purists though. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you purists. You don't give a shit about cycling and overall you are worthless. Why I mention this is because after the film festival Alex and I were basically insulted by some PBR drinking, pole smoking purist who told us to grow balls and stop using brakes. His goal was to demasculinize us and part of me wanted to laugh in his face and the other part wanted to punch him in his face. I did neither, I kindly rode my bike away laughing hysterically all the while. To all you bike punk purists, don't forget what bicycling is about, bicycles. Whether it be a huffy, a keirin bike, a fixed gear with one or two or no brakes, a mountain bike, or whatever else. If it's on two wheels its cool, don't forget that. If you do maybe you should think about a different hobby, like sucking dick because you're probably already proficient at that.

 

Alright folks, if all goes as planned this one is going to be short and sweet...

On college. I don't sleep anymore. I'm always laboring in some form or another and when I'm not laboring I'm trying to maintain some semblance of a social life because although I do estrange myself from the world that surrounds me from time to time  I do believe that social interaction is key to spiritual health. Also it is through my interactions with my friends, certain ones in particular, that I challenge myself intellectually. When I introvert myself and spend all my time with my own thoughts I can end up spending a lot of time preaching to the choir, granted that my introversion goes well otherwise it can be sort of a self malice and an act of mocking myself for harboring such tendencies. Such is life, I guess. Before I go and spill my guts out at the expense of myself and for the entertainment of the world wide audience, let me just reiterate, I don't sleep enough anymore and I hate it. I love sleep. I feel like a well oiled machine when I have enough of it and I feel off when I'm in a deficit.

On cycling. I don't cycle enough anymore. I have a new fixed gear on the way so that will be good motivation to get out and ride my bike despite the fact that that damned sun is going down so early nowadays. I'm so psyched for this bike! Also, I figure that sixty minutes of pedal mashing twice a day a couple days a week will at least allow me to hold on to my fitness. I'm drawing inspiration to get back in the saddle and stay dedicated to my training from what I saw today. Today I went up to boulder and watched some really phenomenal cyclists perform spectacular feats of athleticism. That comment's a bit enigmatic. What I did, specifically, was go watch the United States Grand Prix of Cyclocross which is one of the biggest cyclocross events in the nation. Every big name in the sport is there and from what I can gather it is about sixty minutes of the most intense pain imaginable. The hills are short but steep. There's a sand box where riders futilely attempt to deliver power to their wheels and expend what I can only imagine is a lot of power only to have to put the throttle back on in a big way as soon as they hit the dirt again. There are 40cm tall obstacles that you can take your chances on trying to bunny hop over or dismount and jump over it carrying your bike on your shoulder or at your side. Oh yeah, and then there's the pain, did I mention the pain? Watching these athletes today was inspiring, I'm thinking about next season again now and that's a good thing.

Today is a monumental day, today represents the passage of a new act, the Secure Fence Act. What the act will achieve can be pretty well deducted from its name, soon the South Western border will be dotted with about 700 miles of fence. That's enough fence to go from Denver, Colorado to Des Moines, Iowa, just to help you envision the magnitude of this fence.

This fence is not a solution, it is an evasion. Ever since immigration made its way back to the headlines the American media has done a wonderful job of paint immigrants, specifically Latin-American immigrant, as criminals. Yes they did come into America under the radar and completely undocumented. What provokes illegal hispanic immigrants to emigrate to the US, they can smell the bait. Anyone can. The bait placed in the water by employers who are willing to pay bottom dollar to ensure low costs, high margins, and in turn low consumer prices. The most perplexing thing then, is why we've criminilized undocumented workers and are now building a 1.2 bn dollar fence yet we haven't brought attention to the employers of these people? Where's the accountability? It's at times like these that it becomes obvious that there is no accountability and accountability is a useless device provided you have a scapegoat. So let us demonize hispanic workers becuase its easy becuase we need a whipping post. Anyways, what do those Mexicans have to offer anyways? A language barrier? Pardon my sarcasm. Undocumented workers have been making contributions to our economy with the only victims being themselves. We, us, you; we've benefitted off this tremendously. In fact our entire comfortable and decadent consumer based lifestyle is contingent upon the exploitation of migrant workers as well as exploited native workers abroad, we reap what they sow, both metaphorically and literally. So if America wants to point fingers at the immigrants for any number of reasons let them point their fingers at the employers who provoke this.

This problem will not be resolved by building a Cold-War-esque wall. This a naive notion. When the problem is taken apart and we look at who precipitated as well as exacerbated this problem and who acted reflexively. It then is evident that the employers are the agonists of the problem. Take the bait out of the water, I promise it wont hurt and I promise we'll see change. I'm so dissapointed right now.  

There was a time when I had things figured out. I held the reins that steered the course of my life. My objective was clear, my course was set. Now my paradigm has imploded and I harbor nothing but disillusionment. I feel like I have no niche, no calling. It's one thing to be undeclared, it's a whole other ball game to be befuddled and on the brink of despondency. This is more than a change of taste this is a wake up call. This is coming to terms with the fact that I'm not everything I've always imagined myself to be. I may be more, but not in the way I've envisioned.  Every apprehension feels like a weakness, every weakness lends itself to fracture. I'm fractured...

It can hurt to say youre wrong, but I was wrong, or at least narrow sighted. Im talking about my animosity towards Israel. So heres where I rescind some of my comments.

 

Israels wrong, what they do is atrocious and they represent a grossly unethical government. My narrow sightedness may have seemed to portray Palestine as embodying benevolence and they dont. Both are wrong in their approach, but in all honesty those who have approached peace adamantly and eagerly are few and far between. Heres an outline of where my animosity, although somewhat quelled arises from:

 

1. Israel acts like they represent diplomacy and they dont.

2. Israel wants to act victimized, theyre hardly.

3. Israel has been imperialistic for a long time i.e. Six Day War.

 

This piece is beginning to feel like a half assed repudiation, but its not. I have to ask myself now, How has Palestine responded? Not well, they act like they want diplomacy but for quite some time they let groups like the PLO(Palestinian Liberation Organization) wreak havoc. Time and time again Palestine has met force with force creating a shoving battle reminiscent of an eighth grade gym class. So in all actuality theyre both pretty despicable and childish, I apologize for my partisanship.

Well now that all the white girls have been found our news is now providing material that is actually pertinent to Americans e.g. immigration. Turn on CNN, FOX, BBC, MSNBC, any news channel for that matter and you're bound to there something pertaining to the current controversy over illegal immigrants and their status in America. First off, all Americans must have at least some empathy for immigrants, unless of course you're a Native American, because you too my friend are then some sort of immigrant who is now just too damn proud to recognize the viability and importance of immigrants.. Also, aren't we the land of the American dream, where you can come from nothing and arrive at excellence? It seems as though this dream has become no more than a wet one where everyone wakes up sticky and disappointed. Another reason for immigration is the fact that much of America has moved to being education based, so there's a more than likely chance that if you're reading this you're in college in the hopes of never having to clean toilets for a living. On that note, immigrants do grunt work that nobody wants to, don't kid yourself into thinking that picking strawberries is some sort of glorious profession, because it's not and you'll never find yourself doing it. To piggy back on that idea again, if produce were go up in price, due to employers employing non-immigrants, everybody would have a tirade e.g. "God damn it, these fucking peaches are so expensive, WTF?!?!" Don't act like it wouldn't happen either, look at how up in arms we are when gas goes up e.g. "fuck fuck fuck damn it $2.49 for 85 damn it fuck fuck." The immigrants aren't taking your jobs and they are a viable part of our economy. 

Let me clarify though, I am by no means an advocate of unregulated immigration, I just think immigrants are important and people need to come to terms with this. On the other hand I am not an advocate of a fortified border, it just elicits too many uneasy, cold war-esque, martial law feelings from me. I am also not an advocate of the guest worker program that makes it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in the states that is not here under the guest worker program. Making it a felony will only inundate our already inundated prison system. So Bush's guest worker program, which I thought I might have supported(thanks Gabe for straightening me out on that one), is in all actuality a dangerous piece of legislation that will only fuck us in the end. What I think we need to do is be observant of the numbers and maybe put some more boots and binoculars on the border, we need to be more compassionate to these people becuase they want what we have and that says a lot about our potential as a nation, and also we have to remember where we came from because it sure as hell isn't here.       

 Last week I went on a rant about how much I hate Israel and how much of a travesty much of their actions are. Well yesterday morning the Israeli's shelled Gaza in a flawed attempt to uproot insurgents. Instead of insurgents they hit civilians and killed an eight year old girl.

Are these sort of things the face of war??? Well yes and no. In a conflict there will almost always be an innocent individual caught in the midst of it. Does Israel practice adequate disgression? Not nearly as much as they could and it in turn makes you think about how a country such as America can sponsor a country like Israel when they use such tactics as night time raids and shellings? I mean aren't we (America) supposed to epitomize ethicality? I mean we are exporting our ideology on the grounds that we do embody right conduct, philanthropy, et cetera. It all seems a bit beyond me, maybe a tad bit contradictory, just a tad though...

 

Every time I get on the web and go to BBC news I can't help but be overwhelmed with feelings of vehement hatred towards the Israelis. You know that old proverbial wisdom, "Give someone an inch and they'll want a foot." Well, that pretty much epitomizes Israels incessant striving towards acquiring more and more land of the Palestinians, particularly the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem.

Real quick history, before 1947 Israel was Palestine, enter World War II and widespread feelings of sympathy Jews. So we (The US and the UN General Assembly) go and turn Palestine into an approximately half Jewish state half Arab State. Immediately after this Israel begins its conquests into the Arab part of the state and in turn Palestine loses much of what had been partitioned as belonging to them as a result of the armistice in 1949. Enter the Six Day War; in 1967 Israel goes on an uber conquest taking Gaza, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights. In the decade following the Six Day War Israel slowly gave back the land it had acquired to all of the proper parties.

Then, since 1980 Israel has annexed parts of Jerusalem as being part of their state, this however is recognized by most people to be a violation of international law. The way in which they have attempted to procure these areas has been quite devious as well, which brings us to my anger today. Israelis have purchased two housing complexes in east Jerusalem as part of their continuing attempt to subversively colonize areas which do not belong to them. Israel stop! We all hate you, and if there's a God he/she/it probably hates you all too. I know its a tad bit nonsensical for me to say this being an American, but if Israel wants to be part of a progressive diplomatic movement they need to cease their childishness.    

It seems as though this conversation pertaining to the absolute travesty of a political party the democratic party has come to represent has come up a lot lately. I've come to the realization that the democrats are pathetic. They're a bunch of bleeding heart stoners that can't get a damn thing done becuase they're so infatuated with advancing the idealogies of their own special interest groups. The democratic party is the epitome of the a bureaucratic cluster fuck where nothing ever gets done. Democrats put down the bong and rise the fuck up!