{ { { who am I? worldly»about me. what's with the grasshopper? random»why sbg. not inside frames? reload. } } }

{ Friday, July 27, 2001 }

12:39 PM | link

Armstrong looks like he's going to secure his third consecutive Tour de France victory, but do you care?
A hundred years from now, the world probably will celebrate Armstrong and his athletic achievements ahead of Shaq and Kobe, Michael and Magic, McGwire or maybe even Tiger. A hundred years from now what we are seeing Armstrong do might be considered one of the greatest athletic achievements ever. But for now, it would require an almost un-American approach to appreciate what this 29-year-old Texan is doing. We would have to pay attention for three weeks. We complain that a three-hour baseball game is too long. We can’t produce world-class runners who want to travel much more than 400 meters. We need our TV timeouts.

And yet maybe the best thing Armstrong can give us is our naiveté back. Maybe we need to believe in this man, that he tells us the truth when he says in his commercial, "What am I on? I’m on my bike."

{ Wednesday, July 25, 2001 }

11:13 PM | link

Redirect some of your rebate:
On the one hand, this is real money that could pay debts, buy kids' shoes, and cover the bills. On the other hand, this rebate is a sugar pill meant to get us to swallow the whole Bush tax cut, which is really a windfall for the wealthiest one percent. So here's one way to protest...redirect some or all of your tax rebate to organizing work for social change.
I'm part of the 26% not even getting a rebate, but I signed the pledge and donated a good chunk of change to two local non-profit organizations. From now until November 1st, if you donate through them, Give for Change will match your rebate donation.

Even if you're not receiving a rebate or if you can only afford to donate a small portion of your rebate, you can still sign the pledge!

{ Saturday, July 21, 2001 }

4:19 PM | link

Instead of subscribing to a "news magazine" like Newsweek or Time, consider supporting a news publication from the alternative press, such as Utne Reader.
Did you know that just five companies -- Viacom, Gannett, Knight-Ridder, Hearst, and Time-Warner -- own more than 75 major magazines, 150 newspapers, CBS, UPN, and FOX, another nine cable networks, and more? Think about how much control those five companies have over the information available to you. Do you think a society is healthy if only five voices control this
much of the information?
If Utne Reader doesn't meet your taste, try out something like Mother Jones, The Nation, Multinational Monitor, or more.

{ Tuesday, July 03, 2001 }

12:30 PM | link

Moulin Rouge is the best movie I've seen lately. It's definitely one of those movies that's best on the big screen, so catch it before it's too late! After you see it, you'll probably want to run out and buy the soundtrack, which is exactly what I did.