...and then my head exploded.

You know, John McCain and I don't have too much in common. He has more houses than he knows...I live out of a suitcase; He has a private jet...I have a metro smart card; He thinks "The Surge" has been a success...I think that the US has killed or bought off enough people to make the statistics look better. The one thing we do have in common is that neither of us is an expert on the economy.



In the last month, I have struggled to learn as much as I possibly can about the economic crisis the world is experiencing. Derivatives, Fanny and Freddy, sub-prime, bubbles, bonds, mark to market....it all makes my head hurt. Unfortunately, the events unfolding in this country leave us little choice but to learn and learn quickly. Burying our heads in the sand can only lead to more misuse our our tax dollars, more undeserving CEOs walking off with the store and more corruption. Learning this stuff has become the job of the responsible citizen.

As much as I would prefer to spend 100% of my time working to end this horrible war and to ensure that the troops and vets are truly supported, this economic crisis seems to have it's tentacles in ever issue including the war and so learn I must.

Here's a snippet of video of our protest the day of the first bailout vote..


The BBC recently featured a "Layman's Finance Crisis Glossary" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7642138.stm The article includes graphics and word definitions along with analysis for those of us, like me and Senator McCain, who are challenged by the topic.

In this graphic, the venn diagram gives a perspective on the size of the bailout.



The following terms are also defined in small chunks for us amateurs:
Administration
Assets
Bear market
Bond
Bull market
Capital
Chapter 11
Collateralised debt obligation
Commercial paper
Commodities
Credit crunch
Credit default swap
Dead cat bounce
Derivatives
Equity
Fundamentals
Futures
Hedge fund
Hedging
Investment bank
Limited liability
Leveraging
Libor
Liquidity
Loans to deposit ratio
Mark-to-market
Mortgage-backed securities
Nationalisation
Negative equity
Preference shares
Profit warning
Rating
Recapitalisation
Recession
Retained earnings
Securities lending
Securitisation
Security
Short selling
Spiv
Stagflation
Sub-prime mortgages
Swap
Tier 1 capital
Toxic debts
Underwriters
Unwind
Warrants
Write-down

I have found this quite useful. Whether you check this out or something else, it's of the utmost importance that we grasp this crisis, before the greedy grasp all we have left.

Stop Loss, The Movie, The Policy and The Troops

Last night, I went with friends to watch the film Stop Loss as part of the DC Labor Film Series. Our friend, Adam Kokesh, of IVAW was scheduled to speak afterwards and we wanted to support him and the film series. I had heard from folks who saw the film in the theaters that it was disappointing and missed the mark.

The idea that our country makes an agreement with it's soldiers only to renege on that agreement is infuriating. So many of our young soldiers have been through so much by the time their enlistment has ended and still the country sends them back until they are dead or used up. I run into people all the time who oppose my protesting the war. They are always under the impression that the troops and the veterans are being treated great. This film, however flawed, is a vehicle for bringing information to the masses.

The battle scenes were realistic and the movie did touch on many of the issues facing the veterans I've met. It was tough to watch. I've come to care so much for so many of the young vets I've met that it was hard not to personalize the movie.

The ending of the film had the main character returning to the Army and redeploying with his friend rather than going to Canada or Mexico. I think the movie would have done much for those being stop lossed if it had shown the character choosing to resist the redeployment. Adam felt that the ending was unrealistic considering how far the character had gone to escape the stop loss.

As the film ended, I was so full of emotion. I'm not a fan of war films as a rule and this one hit close to home. I could see many around me crying. I had such an urge to go and hug Adam, not just because he's a friend, but that at that moment he represented the men and women who's lives have been forever altered by this insane war.

We walked down the street and each had a shot of tequila before going home. It seemed the thing to do. Thank you to DC Labor for hosting this event.

Activist Hospitality

No matter where you are, activism takes some personal sacrifice. It takes time, energy, dedication, faith, money and more to devote your life to a cause. I left a comfortable job and home to come to DC and fight against the war and government abuse. Many others have done the same and more.

One thing that makes it possible to go on is the hospitality of other activists and concerned citizens. I want to address the support we activists give each other. We feed, fund raise, sit in court and outside of jails, we make posters and hand out fliers for each other.

The DC antiwar community is no different. I have slept on couches, enjoyed meals, a much needed glass of wine and gracious hospitality here in DC. I have given rides to, wiped the tears of and nursed the ills of other activists here. It's what makes the work possible. This is no utopian thing, it's a family with fighting and button pushing and the whole nine yards.

Last night, I attended the Wednesday night potluck dinner at the Code Pink activist house. There is a lovely atmosphere of welcome in the "Pink House". The Pink House is a hub of activity everyday, but on Wednesday night you can get a great meal, meet fascinating people and share a belly laugh. This kind of hospitality is the fuel that powers the movement.

Check out more about the work of Code Pink and their house at www.codepinkalert.org or codepinkdc.blogspot.com .

Travels With IVAW: Northeast Winter Soldier

This past weekend was Rochester's long awaited Northeast Winter Soldier. The event was still in it's planning stages when I left for DC. What the activist community in Rochester can achieve is such a source of pride for me.



This Winter Soldier event is the third I've attended. Winter Soldier in Silver Spring and on Capitol Hill before the Progressive Caucus were powerful thought provoking events and I will never forget any of it. What these veterans have to tell us about the war, courage and humanity is awe inspiring. Holding a Winter Soldier event in Rochester brought this message to more people.




We started out from the DC IVAW Activist House. My traveling companions were Nick Morgan, Adam Kokesh and Geoff Millard. Don't tell any of them, but I had a freakin blast with them. I got to know them a bit better, eat some sour patch kids, and I learned a whole lot more words you shouldn't say in public.



I got to Monroe Community College, the site for the event, at 9 am and there was already a flurry of activity. So many folks showed up to volunteer that there were some leftover to organize a coffee run. (I have my priorities straight) It was freakin beautiful to see the number of people taking the time to make this event a success.

I got a ton of hugs, got to see Lobo and Elliott Adams shootin the shit together with Bill Fischer, got to see my homeboys Jake and Mark and it all just makes me smile thinking about it. Everything seemed to be running without a hitch. If anything was going wrong you would not have known it to look at Bryan Cassler, the president of the Rochester IVAW chapter, or Brian Lenzo, Rochester Against War Facilitator.




The first session were the speakers Elliott Adams, Michael Schwartz and Tod Ensign. Michael Schwarts and Tod Ensign addressed topics from their new books Elliott Adams' perspective as a Vietnam vet and his years of experience in activism is a great example to the Iraq vets.




The second panel was the Testimony of Iraq vets. I'm not sure I can find the words to describe the jumble of emotions one gets from witnessing the testimony of these brave veterans. The closest I can get to describing this is a combination of horror, sadness, anger, empathy and an overwhelming sense of honor for getting to be there with them.




The march that followed was great. The crowd left the auditorium and marched down East Henrietta Road to the VA Clinic that isn't open on the weekends, stranding local veterans without health care from Friday night til Monday morning. Not only did we take the street, but this one was a 6 lane job in the middle of a big old burb-o-tropolis. We did manage to piss off the police because we didn't pay any attention to them. At one point I had a cruiser right behind me blowing it's policey horn and I didn't even turn around to look. The organizers got a stern talking to and managed to send the officer away scratching his head.

The next morning (read 1:00 pm) we started out for our trip back to DC. We stopped quickly at the Storefront at the beginning of the RAW meeting. I was never so proud of the Rochester antiwar movement. I'm glad DC and Camp Casey friends got to see what's going on in Rochester.




On the drive back to DC I got to hear more good music, eat some suspect candy bars and learn even more words I should probably not say in polite company. Thanks guys!

RELATED LINKS...

Rochester Iraq Veterans Against The War
www.rochesterivaw.org

Iraq Veterans Against The War
http://www.ivaw.org

Veterans For Peace
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/

Rochester Against War
http://www.rochesteragainstwar.org