China Plans to Halt Rain for Olympics
o.k....huh?
I am too tired to do anything besides watch tv, read news online, and evidently blog.
The Olympic torch was in SF today, and at one time I had thought about trying to be there. Tibet is on my mind a lot these days. It used to be on my mind all the time. There are the Olympics and the protests that are targeting this massive event, the uprisings of late in Tibet, and then last night Orion brought home a copy of the film, Free Tibet, that I haven't seen since Milarepa made it. It seems like a million years ago. At times I thought the film had disappeared into the ether. The film is not really what I want to write about. I am thinking about when I stopped feeling like an "activist" and when I lost the drive to protest for the things I believe in. I'm telling you, between the evening's news and that Idol fundraiser (keep reading), I am thinking I should use my new *open calendar* and return to activism. It is just such a tough road. And I think I must have had more energy in my twenties.
Tibet. Darfur. Burma. New Orleans. Los Angeles. You name it, I could start anywhere.
To be continued...
2 comments:
Sarah
I know what you mean about losing the drive for protest. When I was a student at UI I had a bit of a run-in with some teargas in the basement of the student union during the Vietnam War....now you know how old I am! Then a few years later I was escorted from Hancher when several friends and I protested a Ted Kennedy speech. He was running for President after the Kopechne incident. My friend Jamie was decked out in full scuba gear....complete with a snorkle and flippers. I no longer remember what we were yelling but I know it was damn good. Years after that I rode all night on a bus from IA to DC to march down PA Ave. in protest of the impending "first" Gulf War. Then I rode all night back. Now, although I pay attention and have the same views I had in the past, I am so jaded....I don't believe anyone pays attention to protest anymore. People are much more interested in the results of Dancing With the Stars, or who won the Super Bowl. How the heck did this country come to this? Crap!
weather modification. i've never heard of that one. seems like we could be spending that money, time, and energy on other things. hmm. i agree on the activism. i keep thinking it works better for younger, single people. once you have a partner, or kids, or a purchased home... anything remotely stable...you seem to lose contact with what it means to give your all to other causes. i still care a lot, but do precious little these days. not that protesting takes a lot of one (unless it means a trip to DC). i think that in general americans protest and practice civil disobedience too little. other governments sometimes seem a lot more scared of what The People will think or do, since riots and revolutions can happen. as we've seen from the last 8 yrs of our current president's regime here in the States, a US leader can get away with anything and face little more than a little backtalk on the airwaves (thank you jon stewart.)
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