The Fire This Time

Finally. Why didn't this happen sooner?
Happy New Year, everybody.
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DC Voted "Yes", Dammit!

 Y'know that old joke about how if voting could really change things, it would be illegal? Well, check out the shit that's going down right here in DC. Go on -- take a good, long, steamy LOOK.

The Democrats -- yeah, the same Democrats who bitched about having an election stolen nearly 15 years ago, and who are still bitching today -- were ready to bargain away the franchise for residents of the District Of Columbia just so they could get a budget authorized to keep the goddamn' government from shutting down.

Cromnibus Island

Just sit right back, and you'll hear a tale --
a tale of a fateful bill...

 
Remember when Obummer said he backed DC on marijuana decriminalization? Me, neither.

Yesterday, Obummer stated that he disapproved of Congressional meddling in DC's ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, but that he wouldn't veto the "CRomnibus" budget bill.

You got that? He's willing to let Congress overturn a free election in the Capital of the United States if it'll get his goddamn' budget passed. He says he opposes interference with Initiative 71, but HE WON'T UPHOLD THE ELECTION.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Still standing with Hillary? 

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Intifada Everywhere

So, another filthy pig has gotten away with murder, this time in New York City -- where a dude named Eric Garner was held down and choked to death while being arrested for selling loose cigarettes on the street, f'crissake. I can't even, man. I just fucking can't even.

This is in solidarity with people rising up against occupation and state brutality in Ferguson, Gaza, Ayotzinapa and New York City.

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Bringin' It On Down To Georgetown

Bringin' It On Down To Georgetown, Nov 29 2014 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.

It may not have been as huge as the crowd last Tuesday night, but it was nonetheless a big, healthy and sprited bunch that took the streets of Georgetown yesterday afternoon in solidarity with the people of occupied Ferguson, MO and cities all across the US where black and brown people are being terrorized and murdered by police.

Total running time: 06:46

 

Second American Revolution, Day 1

Second American Revolution, Day 1 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.

Ten thousand in DC in solidarity with Ferguson, they were saying last night. No matter what, it was still a healthy, enthusiastic crowd -- not violent at any stretch, but they sure as hell weren't "peaceful". Total running time: 06:49

The Only Good Protester...

So, the Ferguson grand jury let that murdering pig walk. Disgusting, but not surprising.

Now the people's rage is spilling into the streets, and the corporate media -- and their Liberal flunkies -- are trying to divide the people's movements against each other with that tired old bullshit about "good protesters" and "bad protesters" -- with "bad protesters", in this case, being anyone who actually does something to disrupt the status quo to bring about real change instead of just standing around with a sign singing "We Shall Overcome".

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In Search Of Legacy

With the conclusion of the recent Dempocalypse, President Sparkle Pony is about as lame as a duck can get. In fact, he holds the record, having been a lame duck pretty much since he took office.

So, according to this recent report at Al Jazeera, he's jetting off to Asia trying to forget about the election and be all Presidential and statesmanlike n'shit, trying to beef up his "legacy", whatever the hell that means.

I don't know what he's so worried about; between the drone warfare, the shielding of war criminals, the climbing into bed with bankers, the corporate healthcare sweetheart deal, and the NSA, it looks like President Hope's got more legacy than he can shake a stick at.

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Remember, Remember...

 
Remember this day, DC!

Here's my best bud, DC Cannabis Campaign Chairman Adam Eidinger, on election night last Tuesday:

   

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This Time, Next Year?

Last week, I was over at a friend's house when he pulled out this lid of something really fresh, pulled out this big stinky bud, handed it to me and invited me to take a good smell -- and man, was that some stanky-ass stuff.

So, anyway, my buddy asked me to guess where it was from; I ran down the standard guesses -- Humboldt, Maui -- but you could've knocked me over with a feather when he told me that sticky, smelly bud was grown right here in DC, in Ward 8.

All I could think of is how things could possibly be, this time next year, if Prop 71 goes through, allowing three mature plants. It also reminded me that DC has a state fair now. Can't wait to see next year's Blue Ribbon Ward 8 Skunk Bud.

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Nobel War Prize

With the commencement of operations in Syria, and sneaking back into Iraq, this makes seven Muslim nations Obama has attacked since he took office.

That's seven countries in six years. Dude deserves some kind of prize for that.

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Umbrella Revolution

Ever notice how the "Occupy Central" protests in Hong Kong are getting so much positive coverage in the US Media? It's no wonder, when you consider how much funding and training their "leaders" have gotten from US State Department front groups like the NED and USAID.

If your revolution has its own color or a cute nickname, then you just might be in a co-opted, stage-managed, NED-funded fake "revolution".

The (NED Financed) Hong Kong Riots, Moon Of Alabama, 09.29.14
On Occupy Central's Ties With The NED, CommonDreams, 10.02.14
US State Dept Funding And Occupy Central, The Ties That Bind, Revolution News 10.01.14

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A Few Bad Apples

As far back as I can remember -- the late '60s or so -- after every outbreak of police violence, government officials and media droids would try to blow it off with some hand-waving bullshit about "a few bad apples".

I didn't buy it back then, and I'm not buying it now.

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Another Beheading

Police thuggery escalating? Economy in the toilet? Approval rating approaching Justin Bieber levels? What's a Nobel Peace Prize winner to do?

Of course! Start another war in Iraq!

And, needless to say, the Ferguson police are all like "Awright! News cycle! Woo hooooo!"  

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God Save The Queen

Y'know that old saying about how history happens the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce? Well, what happens if it happens as farce the first time? You know, like when Obama was first running, and all the Liberals were screaming about how if you didn't support him you were some kind of racist, even though anybody who did even the most cursory examination of his background would've told you that the guy was a total sham, a lightweight who pretty much skated into every office he held, a classic Clinton Democrat, a flunkie of the Pentagon and Wall Street?

So, here comes Hillary Clinton, taking another stab at it now that Obama's warmed the seat up for her, and I can just see it now, the same old shit -- if I don't support Hillary, I'm a mean old sexist Teabagger, even though anybody who hasn't been living in a goddamn' cave for the past twenty years totally knows the score on this nasty old harpie. Anyone who points out her involvement on the board of Wal-Mart, her support for Israeli atrocities in Palestine, her support for the disaster in Iraq, or her support for corporate dictatorship is going to get a bunch of shrieking from geezing old '70s dead-enders who can't talk about anything but Roe V. Wade and the Glass Ceiling™.

So, folks, would it be safe to assume that American Feminism is pretty much dead? I mean, c'mon -- Glass Ceiling? "Lean In"? Roe V. Wade? Is that all you tired old broads have got for us?

But, more importantly -- who's going to hold Hillary's crown while she takes the oath of office?

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American Handala

You'd have to be living in a cave to not see the clear parallels between the Israeli treatment of Palestinians -- and Gazans in particular -- and the police abuse and brutalization of poor black neighborhoods in the US. Poor black neighborhoods are occupied by militarized police who murder with impunity, collectively punish, threaten, harass and humiliate residents with tactics learned from the Israeli military. Tear gas, concussion grenades and other weapons used by police in towns like Ferguson, Missouri are manufactured by the same corporations which arm the Israeli military. It's no surprise that during the Ferguson Rebellion, Palestinians in Gaza provided residents of Ferguson with tips on street fighting and proper techniques for the handling of tear-gas grenades.

This cartoon is in honor of dissident Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali -- who was assassinated in 1987 -- and his iconic Handala character, and is a call for solidarity between victims of US police brutality and Palestinians enduring the same kind of oppression at the hands of Israel.

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DC Says "No More Mike Browns!"

"No More Mike Browns!" Wash DC 08.30.14 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.

The explosion of public outrage over the current wave of police terrorism shows no signs of letting up. Here's the third night of actions in Washington, DC. We took H Street Northeast and held it all night long.

Don't look now, folks, but the Moment is turning into a Movement.

TRT: 05:10

A Message To America

As I post this, the US media have taken a short break from dishing out bullshit on the Ferguson situation in order to crap their drawers over the beheading of journalist James Foley by ISIS militant fighters in Iraq -- and once again, the US media's hypocrisy has pegged my Crap-O-Meter so hard that the needle broke off.

I'd like to take this moment to suggest that if the US media are unable to address the ongoing police bullying and brutalization of journalists covering the Ferguson Rebellion, then they should just shut the fuck up about James Foley.

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From Gaza to Missouri!

Nothing bugs me more these days than listening to posh-living white Liberals whining about the "rioting" in Ferguson, Missouri.

Affluent, NPR check-mailing White Liberal Americans have never had to deal with being denied economic opportunities, decent housing opportunities, or educational opportunities, nor have they had to endure the threat of brutality and murder at the hands of police every day of their lives.

So, just shut the hell up, white Liberal America. You can call it anything you want, but don't call it "rioting". I prefer to call it "uprising", or perhaps "intifada".

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A Few Imbecile Comments On Ferguson, Stop Me Before I Vote Again 08.15.14 
Protesters Say Ferguson Feels Like Gaza; Palestinians Tweet Back Advice, Huffington Post 08.14.14

Toys In The Attic

Just in case you haven't been following the bloody shitshow in Gaza, it isn't just the Israeli state and military that's batshit these days -- it's the whole damn' nation of Israel that's hopped aboard the crazy train.

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Thousands March for Gaza in DC

Gaza Solidarity Mobilization, Washington DC 08.02.14 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.



Far more folks than I expected rolled into DC yesterday afternoon to pack Lafayette Square and get all up into President Farting Rainbows' face about Gaza.

 

The word I heard flying around the park was that this was the biggest Gaza solidarity demonstration in the US so far, which was a surprise considering how big the Chicago march was.

 

Total running time: 02:58

Congressional Oversight

Those of you who've been following the recent decriminalization of marijuana in DC -- and the current Initiative 71 legalization campaign -- have had a little taste of how badly Congress jerks us around in terms of self-government and self-determination.

We've had meddling Congressmen trying to scuttle our gun control laws, prevent us from funding abortions and, most recently, the notorious Maryland Rep. Andy Harris trying to stop us from implementing marijuana decriminalization -- and probably one of the biggest fears right now is that Congress will try to interfere in the upcoming election here, where we'll be electing a new Mayor, and voting on whether or not to legalize marijuana.

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Reporting Is Resistance

From police assaults on citizens photographing Occupy protests to Al Jazeera reporters' imprisonment by the Egyptian regime, journalists have endured escalating attacks by authoritarian regimes both in the US and abroad.

It's gotten to the point where simply reporting the news is an act of resistance.

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Soggy, Used Teabagger

So... when we last left DC, it was being bullied by the Federal Government in the person of one US Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, over DC's city council vote to decriminalize marijuana.

What I didn't find out until just last week is that Harris ran with the Tea Party and was elected as part of the big Teabagger Wave. And here he is, using Federal power to interfere with the affairs of State and local governments. So, how's that going down with the "base", Mr. Get The Feds Off Our Backs?

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These Hands Have Been Touched By God!

As most of you in DC will recall, the City Council voted to decriminalize marijuana some months back. Predictably -- and unlike any other city in the United States -- this law passed by a local government is being interfered with by the Congress of the United States, in the form of an amendment to an appropriations bill prohibiting Federal and city money to administer the new law, introduced by a no-name clown from Maryland named Andy Harris.

The prevailing opinion among legalization and home rule advocates in DC is that if Rep. Harris wants to help govern the city of Washington, DC, he should become an official resident and run for City Council. 

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Detroit Everywhere

Here's one in solidarity with the nearly 150,000 residents of Detroit whose water is being shut off as part of a water system privatization scheme.

I'm not surprised to hear that the people of Detroit are appealing for United Nations intervention in what is obviously a humanitarian crisis in the making right here in the bad old USA. For me, the question was not "if", but "when".

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DC Pot Legalization Initiative Celebrates Successful Petition Drive

 Prop 71 celebrates successful petition campaign, 07.01.14 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.

DC Marijuana Legalization Initiative Petitioners "Git 'er done"!
 
 

The staff and volunteers for Initiative 71 celebrate the end of a successful petition campaign to put the legalization of marijuana on the November ballot in Washington DC. Petitioners gathered over 55,000 signatures, more than twice the required amount.

Now, on to November! 

Total running time: 05:35

#BringBackOurBoys

Here's one for our friends in Israel, just to let them know I'm thinking of them as they search diligently for their precious missing teens. 

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Israelis Kill Palestinian During House Searches In West Bank, Al Jazeera English, 06.17.14 
Israel Teens Search Aims To "Break" Hamas, Al Jazeera English, 06.18.14

FIFA Gets The Red Card

Fifteen thousand families have been forcibly relocated to make room for stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup in Brazil. A thousand military-backed police and 200,000 soldiers have been deployed for "security" and the suppression of popular protests against the eviction and displacement of poor families to make room for the World Cup. Police have raided the homes of activists and pre-emptively arrested at least 8 on the eve of the tournament.

Enjoy the football, everybody.

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God Save The King! (new Spanish flag)

One thing I'm thankful to Al Jazeera for is that it lets me follow the recent events in Spain in far greater detail than I ever could on CNNMSNBCFox.

Here's one in solidarity with Spaniards all over their country taking the streets to protest economic "austerity" and the ruination of their economy by the bankers, and to demand an end to the monarchy following the abdication of King Juan Carlos.

God Save The King -- and his fascist regime! 

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Prop 71 Petition Drive Hits Capitol Hill

 

Total running time 03:52.

The petition drive for Washington, DC's cannabis leglization ballot question hits Capitol Hill on one of the first rare perfect spring days in DC.

Find out about the "Super Sunday Signature Gathering Blitz" at the DC Cannabis Campaign.

UPDATE: CORRECTION: Tommy Wells is, in fact, the Ward 6 City Councilman, not "at-large".

Egyptian Landslide

What if they gave an election and nobody came?

I caught this article on Al Jazeera the other day, reporting that owing to poor turnout, the Egyptian election commission has been forced to extend voting for a third day. In fact, Egyptians are avoiding the polls in such large numbers that the election commission is threatening fines for not voting -- which kind of pushes not voting into the realm of non-violent civil disobedience, when you think about it.

I couldn't help thinking that dissident/third parties in the US -- especially on the Left -- could learn something from this. For many years now, Americans have staged a sort of de facto boycott of elections, but it hasn't been organized and sent no unified message about oligarchy and corruption. Perhaps instead of pissing away time and energy trying to get "elected", outfits like the Green Party could instead send a message about the state of US electoral politics by calling for a boycott -- a "No Vote" campaign, mobilizing non-voters to take to the streets to express their intent and their reason for not voting, smashing the old stereotype of the "apathetic" non-voter.

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If You See Something, Say Something

For the past couple of months now, it seems as if every day my Twitter feed is packed to the gills with horrific police brutality stories: cops gone wild like gangstas, tasering, beating, shooting children, disabled people, homeless people, old people -- kittens, f'cripesake -- and walking free in court even though they've been caught red-handed on video.

In the meantime, Liberals and Progressives are doing their level best to push gun control laws which disarm the citizenry, while the police are allowed to shoot, beat, and torture anyone they want, anytime they want, without fear of punishment. That's right, Liberals want to disarm the people, when the real danger of violence comes from the State. Cripes, what the hell is wrong with you people?

So how about it, Liberal America? When the hell are you dumb motherfuckers going to wise up and pitch a gun control law that disarms the State?

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NYC Cops Arrest Cyclist For Videotaping Interaction With Cellphone Following Red-Light Stop, The Gothamist, 05.02.14
Man With Down's Syndrome Beaten By San Diego Police For Walking Down Street, Free Thought Project, 05.03.14
6 NYC Cops Charged With DUI; 3 Of Them Shot At People, Free Thought Project, 05.04.14
Outcry Over Latest Fatal Shooting By Albuquerque Police, Al Jazeera America, 05.06.14

Out Of The Closet

This poster addresses a long-standing problem faced for many years by marijuana smokers, including myself: that of being demonized and ostracized by society at large, which has made it difficult to speak out on government policy and organize for legalization.

In many ways, the problem faced by marijuana smokers is similar to that faced by gays and lesbians prior to the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 -- being treated as if what we are doing is somehow evil or deviant.

This art is a call to action for DC voters to support the current Initiative 71 petition drives and seize the opportunity to "come out of the closet" by voting to legalize marijuana in DC.

Here's "What You Need To Know About Marijuana In DC". 

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Reject And Protect!

This past Saturday, April 26, was the culmination of a week's worth of actions and educational events at the Cowboy & Indian Alliance (CIA) camp on the Mall protesting against the KeystoneXL Pipeline.

 
"Reject & Protect" Keystone Pipeline Protest, Wash DC 04.26.14 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.

There's No Place Like Rome

 In Rome this week, thousands hit the streets against state-enforced austerity and for "home, income, dignity for all!" This cartoon is in solidarity with the thousands who braved horrific police violence, and in particular with the youth whose hand was blown off by a firecracker during a battle with police.

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Ripple Of Action

Apparently, some kind of Worldwide Wave Of Action started last week, billed as a rekindling of the Occupy movement. Having covered at least half a dozen previous “international days of action”, my well-honed cynicism kicked into gear as I remembered how all the previous “worldwide” action days drew hundreds of thousands in cities outside the US — while inside the US, the turnouts could be generously described as pathetic.

The current “worldwide” Wave Of Action was no different, judging from what I was seeing on my Twitter feed. Cities in the UK and Europe turned out healthy numbers while in the meantime, in the US, I saw the usual sad smattering of thin, weak protests, with small veterans’ contingents and others gathering in places like the NYC Vietnam War Memorial and Zucotti Park, only to be chased off or arrested by police.

I was also somewhat less than inspired by the vagueness of their rhetoric and sloganeering. On Twitter I saw pronouncements like “movement of movements” and “bring your own goals”, with no mention of any specific issues, such as war and militarization, unemployment, state-enforced economic austerity, the destruction of civil liberties, or the US-instigated “revolution” in the Ukraine — just lots of lofty faux revolutionary hype and empty poetic slogans.

I won’t speak for the rest of the world, but in the US, the “Wave Of Action” was more like a “ripple of action”.

Oh, yeah — and, cupcakes.

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Pizza! Pizza!

In the aftermath of a massive hydraulic fracking well explosion in Bobtown, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, Chevron Oil engaged in what had to be the silliest, most boneheaded PR gesture ever -- offering free pizza to local residents near the well.

Christ, man... where the hell do you start with shit like this?

This cartoon was inspired by this tweet by Josh Fox, director of the documentary Gasland. Thanks, Josh! (Follow Josh on Twitter.) 

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Angry Birds no. 2

For the record, I own a smartphone; I have a grand total of one third-party app -- Twitter -- don't let Facebook anywhere near my phone, and I sure as hell don't waste time playing Angry Birds. So, I wasn't exactly surprised to discover that the NSA was slurping smartphone users' private information by taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of "leaky" apps, and that Angry Birds was apparently the worst offender of the lot.

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Happy Anniversary, President Drone!

 It was five years ago this week -- this past Thursday, to be exact -- that President Sparkle Pony kicked off his murderous drone warfare campaign. Not even a week in office, and already we had some change -- you've got to give him that.

So, I was reading this article over at the Bureau Of Investigative Journalism and saw this graph showing President Sparkle Pony's massive escalation of remote-control murder compared to President Chimp, and on viewing the layout of the bars showing the figures for Obama, I couldn't help noticing something...

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Follow the Bureau Of Investigative Journalism on Twitter.

...and, here's some more of El Presidente's dronetastic moments from days gone by:
"Well, Waddya Know?" December 2013
"I Have A Drone" January 2013
"I Am The Joker" July 2012
"My Little Party" February 2012
"Are You In?" April 2011
"Yes, We Can!" October 2010

Almost Hell

Back in the ’70s, the entire DC Metro area — especially the Virginia suburbs — was awash in tourist shop T-shirts bearing this design with the two-word slogan taken from the notorious John Denver song being beaten to death on Top 40 radio at the time. As I let my mind chew on the Al Jazeera America news reports on the continuing chemical spill situation in West Virginia, I somehow stumbled over the memory of this cheesy T-shirt art.

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Chris Christie Festival

It's time once again for the latest headlines of the day on MSNBC... and here with the headlines is Barbie Anchorbabe...

It's not as if there hasn't been a metric shit-ton of important news happening in the past week or so. You've got the Mexican "autodefensas" battling the drug cartels, the Fullerton, California cops who beat and tasered a homeless man to death, Obama's worthless tap-dancing NSA speech -- but probably the biggest story of the week has to be the massive chemical spill in Elk River, West Virginia, which left 300,000 people in nine counties without fresh water.

Of course, you wouldn't know that from watching the Democratic Party noise machine in action at MSNBC, which has spent almost all of its available air time this week on the trumped-up "Bridgegate" scandal in New Jersey involving Governor Chris Christie, who's also considered a major hopeful for the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination. Coincidence? Naaahhhh.

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