Quiet spot of the day

I am posting a pic each day on twitpic I am calling the quiet spot for the day. A little reminder to clear the mind every now and then.

Finally a nice day

Happy 420 folks. We had a truly wonderful day, warm and calm. I rode over to Old town and the Waterfront. On the way I ran across another of those scenes in life that begs for a back story. Something about the quiet old guy down the street that rented out a spare room to desperate co-eds?
A few folks were enjoying the open air and a few birds joined me on the water.
The plaintive quacks of the little ducky caught my attention and I thought you might like to share it with me. I think the shadows of the gulls were freaking the little dude out but what do I know. I was unable to get the reunion with mommy on film.
Rode for a little over an hour but decided to shun the crowds to the north. I felt a little introspective today.

Some Random Thoughts

Have been trying to get back into training and have done a couple of long rides. Want to ride the "Tour of The Unknown Coast" next month. Rode by some of Sarah Palin's "Real Americans" at a Tea Bagging party in Eureka. They were some of the same faces I saw at rally's for the District Attorney recall that was defeated a few years back. They had no answer as to why they were protesting now when they were getting a tax cut. Why had they been silent as Raygun and Shrub bankrupted the country with 10 trillion dollars worth of debt? Their reply was that they were conservatives and that Bush wasn't a conservative. I laughed in their faces, I know that is rude but I meet ignorance with contempt. I am posting a little video that I had put up as an Ireport at cnn. They had tech problems and that ended up skewing the story. I think these folks are for the most part frustrated with their inability to win the election. Because they are conditioned to believe the irrational by their church they think they are right. the abject failure of their policies doesn't phase them in the least as they are fact averse.

The turnout was about the same in the sun as the Peace march brought out in the Hailstorm. In Arcata, not so much.

I was unhappy that only the Arcata flick made it up on Cnn and I felt that spun the story inappropriately. Here I express my opinions but when I put things up as news I try to be factual.

Looking Out Back

Was looking outback as the wind was rending the trees and came up with a little interlude.

A little raw footage

Here is a little raw video from the Peace Rally in old town today. The weather was awful with pouring rain and hail. About 300 of us, mostly old hippies and very young kids.And here are a few photos.

Pulling something out of my Year End

I hate the arbitrary assessments that come with certain dates. They are obligatory in some sense and as a conventional nonconformist I thought I would chime in. 2008 was alright in the end. More up than down. I was never able to get more than a few hundred miles on the bike trips but the idea of that was laughable just a few years ago.
I had a good year creatively. While I didn’t make much head way on the DJ project I did put out some good short stories, I had some tough nights in the wilderness but the good times more than made up for it. The video front has been fun but I need to put forth more effort in scripting and editing. The Radmul channel has been fun to build on YouTube and is starting to take on a new shape that I like.
I had forgotten how oppressive it is to be depressed when everyone else is happy so the end of the holiday season is always welcome . I still hurt too many days. I have lost any conditioning that I had gotten and have gained too much weight.
The year in politics has been interesting. I have enjoyed my debates on Dkos and Hufpo. I have a post in the works wrapping up my political thoughts for the year. For now I am out for some fun on the last day of the year hope you are doing the same.

Why the sex trade will stay illegal.

Today is the international day to end violence against sex workers day. The key to this in my opinion is to destigmatize and decriminalize these activities. I am sad to say I see neither of these things happening anytime soon.
The rich need to have low cost whores available to the rabble or they will agitate for enough money to have the same access to sex that others have. Once they stigmatize an individual through a criminal record the worker has many fewer options for making a living. They keep the options limited they keep the prices down and prevent the workers from garnering enough resources to change their life in a capitalist system.
The second factor is the prison industrial complex. Many parts of rural America are dependent upon incarceration for their economic development. We lost our manufacturing and built prisons and those cells need to have occupants. The police exploit the poor at all levels forcing them to become informants and extorting the poor workers for favors. This is more control of the underclass.
If legalized the workers would be entitled to police protection like any other commercial enterprise. The policing of the lower classes is punitive not protective for the most part.
The moralists are too wrapped up in their superstition to allow reason to get in the way of punishing sin. These are a powerful constituency and sex workers are not. The patrons that have a modicum of power are shamed into silence so the puritans get their way.