Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resistance. Show all posts

Saturday, March 28, 2026

NO KINGS 3.28.26


I am marching today.
Each time I attend a rally and march, the crowd gets bigger and bigger. Protesting is a way to energize, to gather strength, to embolden your friends and neighbors to join. To be a wrench in the machine, to create a wall of resistance. The right don't like these marches and rallies ... which is exactly why we need to continue gathering and marching and protesting. I love my country and I am not going to watch it turned into a controlled, propagandist, intolerant regime ... that is not what the United States was ever meant to be.

https://www.nokings.org/

Here, below, is the Declaration of Independence. It reads like a current list of transgressions by the current occupant of the White House and his entire administration.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.


He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:


For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Keith says "RESIST!"


"In 1988 Keith created the logo for an organization called Refuse & Resist! R&R! opposed censorship, war and police brutality. The organization dissolved in 2006 but this image still resonates very strongly today & is one of the most widely shared Haring images on the internet."
--The Keith Haring Foundation


https://www.haring.com/

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Just finished reading...

"Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy" by Joyce Vance (a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law at The University of Alabama, and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017 appointed by Obama).


A friend of mine gave me her copy of this uplifting book to read, saying that she found it to be a helpful antidote to the fear and disappointment many of us in the former United States of America are living with. And she was right, it was wonderful to be reminded that the government is not broken, the principles are not broken, Congress is not broken, the Supreme Court is not broken, the office of the President is not broken, the concept of Democracy itself is not broken...these things remain whole, innocent, waiting to be used in an ethical, moral way. It is some of the people within these positions and institutions that are broken. The bedrock is intact. But we the people have the power and obligation to remove and replace the broken ones with those who believe in the Constitution, Democracy, and the ideals of what we can continue to achieve as a Nation.

The book's blurb says:

We’re in this together.

For the past several years, Joyce Vance has signed off posts on her chart-topping Substack, "Civil Discourse", with these four words. In that time, she has guided readers through a continued erosion of democratic norms, the unprecedented felony conviction of an ex-president, and the constitutionally calamitous beginning to the second Trump administration. Here, Vance offers a blueprint for avoiding burnout and despair, and for strengthening our democratic muscle.

Giving Up Is Unforgivable is a clarion call to action, putting our current crisis in historical context and sketching out a vision for where we go next. Vance’s message is hopeful at its heart, even as it acknowledges the daunting challenges that lie ahead. She is the constitutional law professor you never knew you needed, explaining the legal context and the political history— and why the rule of the law still matters. At the same time, she empowers the reader to do something, both as individuals and collectively.

Consider this the birth of a countermovement to Project 2025, a rallying cry for citizen engagement to combat the second Trump administration and save American democracy.

Recommend? Yes, it is a wonderful, easy read: six succinct chapters allow her to make her case and outline a paradigm. If you could use some fortification against the daily onslaught of vicious cruelty and ineptitude, buy a copy and read carefully!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/801635/giving-up-is-unforgivable-by-joyce-vance/
https://joycevance.substack.com/

Friday, February 20, 2026

"American Obituary" by U2

As someone living in the former United States of America, I tearfully thank you, U2.

"American Obituary" is from the new U2 EP "Days of Ash" out now.


The cover was photographed in Chapelle Saint-Pierre in the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, one of my favorite places. The interior was painted by the legendary Jean Cocteau, previously here.


https://www.u2.com/

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

PROP 50 WINS!


https://stopelectionrigging.com/
https://cadem.org/prop50/
https://couragecalifornia.org/yes-on-californias-prop-50/

VOTE YES ON PROP 50!


"WHAT IS PROPOSITION 50?

Since day one, Californians have been on the frontlines of protecting our communities under attack by the Trump administration and his MAGA Republicans. With Proposition 50, California voters have the opportunity to fight back against the Republican cuts to healthcare, the rising cost of living under tariffs, and the cruel abductions and forced removals of immigrants.

Proposition 50 is a direct response to a Republican power grab orchestrated by President Trump and state leaders in Texas, who redrew Congressional district lines to gain five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Proposition 50 proposes new lines for many of California’s 52 congressional districts, which would negate the five Republican seats drawn by Texas. Under the proposed lines, Democrats could gain up to 5 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. With a majority in the House, Democrats can fight back against Trump and Republicans’ MAGA agenda."



November 4: ELECTION DAY
VOTE!
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by November 11, 2025. Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by mail, at a drop-off location, or your county elections office.

https://stopelectionrigging.com/
https://cadem.org/prop50/
https://couragecalifornia.org/yes-on-californias-prop-50/

Monday, November 3, 2025

Robert Reich Urges A YES Vote For Prop 50!


https://stopelectionrigging.com/

VOTE TOMORROW! YES ON PROP 50!

If you live in California and haven't voted yet, I urge you to vote YES on Prop 50 tomorrow!


"WHAT IS PROPOSITION 50?

Since day one, Californians have been on the frontlines of protecting our communities under attack by the Trump administration and his MAGA Republicans. With Proposition 50, California voters have the opportunity to fight back against the Republican cuts to healthcare, the rising cost of living under tariffs, and the cruel abductions and forced removals of immigrants.

Proposition 50 is a direct response to a Republican power grab orchestrated by President Trump and state leaders in Texas, who redrew Congressional district lines to gain five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Proposition 50 proposes new lines for many of California’s 52 congressional districts, which would negate the five Republican seats drawn by Texas. Under the proposed lines, Democrats could gain up to 5 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. With a majority in the House, Democrats can fight back against Trump and Republicans’ MAGA agenda."



November 4: ELECTION DAY
VOTE!
Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by November 11, 2025. Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by mail, at a drop-off location, or your county elections office.

https://stopelectionrigging.com/
https://cadem.org/prop50/
https://couragecalifornia.org/yes-on-californias-prop-50/

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

YES ON PROP 50!

If you live in California with me, I urge you to vote YES on Prop 50!


"WHAT IS PROPOSITION 50?

Since day one, Californians have been on the frontlines of protecting our communities under attack by the Trump administration and his MAGA Republicans. With Proposition 50, California voters have the opportunity to fight back against the Republican cuts to healthcare, the rising cost of living under tariffs, and the cruel abductions and forced removals of immigrants.

Proposition 50 is a direct response to a Republican power grab orchestrated by President Trump and state leaders in Texas, who redrew Congressional district lines to gain five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Proposition 50 proposes new lines for many of California’s 52 congressional districts, which would negate the five Republican seats drawn by Texas. Under the proposed lines, Democrats could gain up to 5 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. With a majority in the House, Democrats can fight back against Trump and Republicans’ MAGA agenda."



IMPORTANT DATES FOR VOTERS:

October 25:
Vote centers open for early in-person voting in all Voter’s Choice Act counties.

November 4: ELECTION DAY
VOTE in person!
Note that vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by November 11, 2025. Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned by mail, at a drop-off location, or your county elections office.

https://stopelectionrigging.com/
https://cadem.org/prop50/
https://couragecalifornia.org/yes-on-californias-prop-50/

Friday, August 22, 2025

COME AND TAKE IT!


It’s official. California’s special election is ON for November 4th.

The People of California will be able to cast their vote for a Congressional map.

Direct democracy that gives us a fighting chance to STOP Donald Trump’s election rigging.

Time to fight fire with fire. If you are in California with me, I implore you to vote YES.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

"Toughen Up"

At a private fundraiser, President Obama gave a speech that expresses what many of us are thinking and feeling right now. As today is Good Trouble Day in honor of Rep. John Lewis on the fifth anniversary of his death with protests around the country (I will be attending one!), please read on...


Original MSNBC post on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMGhdeVSVPw
President Obama: https://barackobama.com/
Democratic Party: https://democrats.org/

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Democracy at a Crossroads

I am proud of my governor for his fearless speech and actions. And he is right, the theatrical overreaction from the Empire of Darkness was for show, to intimidate, sow fear, and escalate the tension; the situation in L.A. was not dangerous. 98% of protests were peaceful. The L.A. Times published an article, here, refuting the idea that the city was on the verge of collapse and calling out the grotesque distortion of reality.

"California may be first but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next, democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we feared has arrived."


https://campaignfordemocracy.com/
https://www.gov.ca.gov/

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

"Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Every Wednesday of this National Poetry Month 2025, I will be sharing exquisite poems by monumental poets. And today I share the powerful, urgent "Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, because we live in desperate times and this poem is needed.

Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I am signaling you through the flames.

The North Pole is not where it used to be.

Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.

Civilization self-destructs.

Nemesis is knocking at the door.

What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?

The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.

If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic.

You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words....

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

This Moment Might Be Dark, But It Is Not Our First

Author and organizer Garrett Bucks had this to say after Tuesday night's "speech" to the nation by the convicted felon:

"Last night’s address wasn’t technically a state of the union, but it was one more chance for Trump to lay out a story of a country whose hearts are small and shriveled.

But if he gets to tell his stories, than so do we.

You know damn well that the state of the union isn’t strong.

The state of the union is cruel, which means that we must be more caring than ever.

The state of the union is teetering, which means that we must both block and build at the same time.

The state of the union breaks our hearts, which means that we must love each other even harder.

The state of the union has us questioning our own mettle, which is why we must remember that we are not the first who’ve been asked to be brave.

The state of the union is, as it has always been, unwritten.

The state of the union is, as always, what we make it."


https://thewhitepages.net/p/the-state-of-the-union-is

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Here We Are Again

Hello, readers. I have started to write this post several times already, approaching it from different angles each time: talking about resisting, talking about disappoinment, using humorous images to address looming dystopia, posting a list of rules on How To Survive An Authoritarian Regime, but none of it seemed right. None of it captured the entirety of the swirl of conflicting thoughts and emotions I am sure all of us are feeling. So I just want to say two things:

I still believe in everything I did before last night, with even more conviction. For whatever the next administration has in store for us, I intend to be a grain of sand in the eye of heaven, which will manifest itself against them in many ways.

Just like the last time we did this, living well is the best revenge. I re-dedicate myself to beauty in all its forms. The arts are a healing balm and they come to our aid in distressing times. I pledge to continue to live my life, and turn the volume up a bit. They don't get my liberal tears...they get my liberal self.

We are not going away.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

LGBT History Month 2024: Willem Arondéus

Willem Arondéus
Photo courtesy of Marco Entrop,
Het Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam (Dutch Resistance Museum)

Future hero Willem Arondéus was born in 1894 in North Holland, Netherlands. After a career as an illustrator, he began writing poetry and novels, illustrating many of his books himself. But everything changed with the coming of the Nazis and WWII.

Wikipedia recounts his work with the resistance: In 1942, Arondéus started an underground periodical called the Brandarisbrief. In 1943, the Brandarisbrief merged with another publication called De Vrije Kunstenaar. Through the merger, Arondéus met Gerrit van der Veen, the editor of De Vrije Kunstenaar. In the resistance, van der Veen specialized in forging identity cards. As a result, Arondéus also became involved in creating forged documents, along with lesbian resistant Frieda Belinfante. A major detriment to the success of these forgeries was the Municipal Office for Population Registration as its existence made the forgeries less useful, since their legitimacy could be checked against the registration lists and determined to be fakes. Arondéus and van der Veen, along with a number of associates, developed a plan to destroy the registration office.

Their attack, which took place on 27 March 1943, was partially successful, and they managed to destroy 800,000 identity cards (15% of the records), and retrieve 600 blank cards and 50,000 guilders. The building was blown up and no one was caught on the night of the attack. However, due to an unknown betrayer, Arondéus was arrested on 1 April 1943. Arondéus refused to give up the rest of his team but his notebook was found, and as a result, a majority of the group were also arrested. Belinfante was the sole person from the group to have survived, forcing her to take on a man's identity and go undercover.

On 18 June 1943, Arondéus was tried and sentenced to death by firing squad, along with 13 other men who participated. Two of the group received clemency, but the others were executed on 1 July 1943. Arondéus pleaded guilty and took the full blame, which may be why two young doctors were spared from execution and given custodial sentences instead. Before his execution, Arondéus made a point of ensuring the public would be aware that he and two other men in the group, Bakker and Brouwer, were gay, asking either a friend or his lawyer (accounts vary) to "Tell people that homosexuals are not cowards." (In Dutch: "Zeg de mensen dat homoseksuelen niet per definitie zwakkelingen zijn.")

In 1945, after the liberation of the Netherlands, Arondéus's family was awarded a posthumous medal by the Dutch government in his honour. In 1984, he was awarded the Resistance Memorial Cross. On 19 June 1986, Yad Vashem recognized Arondéus as Righteous Among the Nations.


December, page from a calendar illustrated by Willem Arondéus,
at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
November, page from a calendar illustrated by Willem Arondéus,
at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
October, page from a calendar illustrated by Willem Arondéus,
at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Illustration by Willem Arondéus
Illustration by Willem Arondéus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Arondeus

Friday, July 26, 2024

BEAUTY: Painting--BENKA

I just discovered the work of  BENKA. His artist statement on his site explains it all:

BENKA opposes mankind´s dangerous game of underestimating the consequences of AI. Whether it is the digitization of our social relations through the invasion of smartphone screens, the progressive introduction of humanoids and cyber-surveillance, our contemporary society is facing a crazy mutation.

His artistic approach aims to expose the question of the robotization of our world. If we are still very far from a war against robots as seen in the series of Terminator, our time calls in his opinion to the questioning of our relationship to artificial intelligence. If A.I. has a considerable advantage in fields such as medicine or astronomy, on the other hand, it presents many drawbacks and raises both questions and concerns.

These numbers and letters in his paintings are captchas.

A captcha is a program that protects websites from bots by generating tests that humans can perform unlike malicious computer programs (robots). The captcha is used to verify, for example, that you are a human when connecting to an interface (login) or to avoid "SPAM" on your mailboxes for contact forms on your website.

These captchas are interpreted by BENKA and transformed into a symbol of his artistic struggle.



https://www.instagram.com/benka.1