I'm Outta Here!

This is my resignation as a Wakefield Etudiant administrator. It's been a long, strange trip, to say the least and I've enjoyed every second of it. All thanks to Ben and Chris for creating it, to Glen for inviting me (though it was late on his part lol), and to all the WE writers that have contributed along the way. Along with Glen and many others, I am pursuing a new, bigger project that is currently in the works and welcome for all to join. By the way, I have already drafted some future posts! Well, in short, it's time to move on. Peace out and Power to the People!

Sympathy for Leon Czolgosz

On September 14, 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated by a man by the name of Leon Czolgosz. Czolgosz was found guilty and was soon executed by electrocution. For the record, I do NOT endorse Mr. Czolgosz's "propaganda of the deed," however I sympathize for him. Good old Leon murdered a mass murderer (the war with the Philippines created a genocide of over a million killed alone, amongst other bloody conflicts during McKinley's time in office). He was a victim of a cruel and vicious system and was perhaps guided into making the wrong political decision, but nonetheless he should not have received the death penalty and if it were up to me he'd have served no prison time! Anyway, in the following classic article, fellow Anarchist, Emma Goldman says it best and offers her defense for Leon. NOTE: the article was published in her Anarchist paper, "Free Society," while our anti-hero was behind bars waiting to be fried. Support for him was rare and even taboo amongst other Anarchists. To begin with, the man was lonesome and was basically rejected by other Anarchists, so this further isolated him. Anyway, enjoy!

The Tragedy at Buffalo

"For they starve the little frightened child
Till it weeps both night and day:
And they scorge the weak, and flog the fool,
And gibe the old and gray,
And some grow mad, and all grow bad,
And none a word may say.

—Oscar Wilde.

Never before in the history of governments has the sound of a pistol shot so startled, terrorized, and horrified the self-satisfied, indifferent, contented, and indolent public, as has the one fired by Leon Czolgosz when he struck down William McKinley, president of the money kings and trust magnates of this country.

Not that this modern Caesar was the first to die at the hands of a Brutus. Oh, no! Since man has trampled upon the rights of his fellow men, rebellious spirits have been afloat in the atmosphere. Not that William McKinley was a greater man than those who throned upon the fettered form of Liberty. He did not compare either in intellect, ability, personality, or force of character with those who had to pay the penalty of their power. Nor will history be able to record his extraordinary kindness, generosity, and sympathy with those whom ignorance and greed have condemned to a life of misery, hopelessness, and despair.

Why, then, were the mighty and powerful thrown into such consternation by the deed of September 6? Why this howl of a hired press? Why such blood-thirsty and violent utterances from the clergy, whose usual business it is to preach "peace on earth and good will to all"? Why the mad ravings of the mob, the demand for rigid laws to curtail freedom of press and speech?

For more than thirty years a small band of parasites have robbed the American people, and trampled upon the fundamental principles laid down by the forefathers of this country, guaranteeing to every man, woman and child, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." For thirty years they have been increasing their wealth and power at the expense of the vast mass of workers, thereby enlarging the army of the unemployed, the hungry, homeless, and friendless portion of humanity, tramping the country from east to west and north to south, in a vain search for work. For many years the home has been left to the care of the little ones, while the parents are working their life and strength away for a small pittance. For thirty years the sturdy sons of America were sacrificed on the battlefield of industrial war, and the daughters outraged in corrupt factory surroundings. For long and weary years this process of undermining the nation's health, vigor, and pride, without much protest from the disinherited and oppressed, has been going on. Maddened by success and victory, the money-powers of this "free land of ours" became more and more audacious in their heartless, cruel efforts to compete with rotten and decayed European tyrannies in supremacy of power.

With the minds of the young poisoned with a perverted conception of patriotism, and the fallacious notion that all are equal and that each one has the same opportunity to become a millionaire (provided he can steal the first hundred thousand dollars), it was an easy matter indeed to check the discontent of the people; one is therefore not surprised when one hears Americans say, "We can understand why the poor Russians kill their czar, or the Italians their king, for think of the conditions that prevail there; but he who lives in a republic, where each one has the opportunity to become President of the United States (provided he has a powerful party back of him), why should he attempt such acts? We are the people, and acts of violence in this country are impossible."

And now that the impossible has happened, that even America has given birth to the man who struck down the king of the republic, they have lost their heads, and are shouting vengeance upon those who for years have shown that the conditions here were beginning to be alarming, and unless a halt be called, despotism would set its heavy foot on the hitherto relatively free limbs of the people.

In vain have the mouthpieces of wealth denounced Leon Czolgosz as a foreigner; in vain they are making the world believe that he is the product of European conditions, and influenced by European ideas. This time the "assassin" happens to be the child of Columbia, who lulled him to sleep with

"My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,"

and who held out the hope to him that he, too, could become President of the country. Who can tell how many times this American child has gloried in the celebration of the 4th of July, or on Decoration Day, when he faithfully honored the nation's dead? Who knows but what he, too, was willing to "fight for his country and die for her liberty"; until it dawned upon him that those he belonged to have no country, because they have been robbed of all that they have produced; until he saw that all the liberty and independence of his youthful dreams are but a farce. Perhaps he also learned that it is nonsense to talk of equality between those who have all and those who have nothing, hence he rebelled.

"But his act was mad and cowardly," says the ruling class. "It was foolish and impractical," echo all petty reformers, Socialists, and even some Anarchists.

What absurdity! As if an act of this kind can be measured by its usefulness, expediency, or practicability. We might as well ask ourselves of the usefulness of a cyclone, tornado, a violent thunderstorm, or the ceaseless fall of the Niagara water. All these forces are the natural results of natural causes, which we may not yet have been able to explain, but which are nevertheless a part of nature, just as force is natural and part of man and beast, developed or checked, according to the pressure of conditions and man's understanding. An act of violence is therefore not only the result of conditions, but also of man's psychical and physical nature, and his susceptibility to the world surrounding him.

Does not the summer fight against the winter, does it not resist, mourn, and weep oceans of tears in its eager attempt to shield its children from the icy grip of frost? And does not the winter enshroud Mother Earth with a white, hard cover, lest the warm spring sunshine should melt the heart of the hardened old gentleman? And does he not gather his last forces for a bitter and fierce battle for supremacy, until the burning rays of the sun disperse his ranks?

Resistance against force is a fact all through nature. Man being part of nature, he, too, is swayed by the same force to defend himself against invasion. Force will continue to be a natural factor just so long as economic slavery, social superiority, inequality, exploitation, and war continue to destroy all that is good and noble in man.

That the economic and political conditions of this country have been pregnant with the embryo of greed and despotism, no one who thinks and has closely watched events can deny. It was, therefore, but a question of time for the first signs of labor pains to begin. And they began when McKinley, more than any other President, had betrayed the trust of the people, and became the tool of the moneyed kings. They began when he and his class had stained the memory of the men who produced the Declaration of Independence, by the blood of the massacred Filipinos. They grew more violent at the recollection of Hazelton, Virden, Idaho, and other places, where capital has waged war on labor; until on the 6th of September the child begotten, nourished and reared by violence, was born.

That violence is not the result of conditions only, but also largely depends upon man's inner nature, is best proven by the fact that while thousands loath tyranny, but one will strike down a tyrant. What is it that drives him to commit the act, while others pass quietly by? It is because the one is of such a sensitive nature that he will feel a wrong more keenly and with greater intensity than others.

It is, therefore, not cruelty, or a thirst for blood, or any other criminal tendency, that induces such a man to strike a blow at organized power. On the contrary, it is mostly because of a strong social instinct, because of an abundance of love and an overflow of sympathy with the pain and sorrow around us, a love which seeks refuge in the embrace of mankind, a love so strong that it shrinks before no consequence, a love so broad that it can never be wrapped up in one object, as long as thousands perish, a love so all-absorbing that it can neither calculate, reason, investigate, hut only dare at all costs.

It is generally believed that men prompted to put the dagger or bullet in the cowardly heart of government, were men conceited enough to think that they will thereby liberate the world from the fetters of despotism. As far as I have studied the psychology of an act of violence, I find that nothing could be further away from the thought of such a man than that if the king were dead, the mob will cease to shout "Long live the king!"

The cause for such an act lies deeper far too deep for the shallow multitude to comprehend. It lies in the fact that the world within the individual, and the world around him, are two antagonistic forces, and, therefore, must clash.

Do I say that Czolgosz is made of that material? No. Neither can I say that he was not. Nor am I in a position to say whether or not he is an Anarchist; I did not know the man; no one as far as I am aware seems to have known him, but from his attitude and behavior so far (I hope that no reader of "Free Society" has believed the newspaper lies), I feel that he was a soul in pain, a soul that could find no abode in this cruel world of ours, a soul "impractical," inexpedient, lacking in caution (according to the dictum of the wise); but daring just the same, and I cannot help but bow in reverent silence before the power of such a soul, that has broken the narrow walls of its prison, and has taken a daring leap into the unknown.

Having shown that violence is not the result of personal influence, or one particular ideal, I deem it unnecessary to go into a lengthy theoretical discussion as to whether Anarchism contains the element of force or not. The question has been discussed time and again, and it is proven that Anarchism and violence are as far apart from each other as liberty and tyranny. I care not what the rabble says; but to those who are still capable of understanding I would say that Anarchism, being, a philosophy of life, aims to establish a state of society in which man's inner make-up and the conditions around him, can blend harmoniously, so that he will be able to utilize all the forces to enlarge and beautify the life about him. To those I would also say that I do not advocate violence; government does this, and force begets force. It is a fact which cannot be done away with through the prosecution of a few men and women, or by more stringent laws-this only tends to increase it.

Violence will die a natural death when man will learn to understand that each unit has its place in the universe, and while being closely linked together, it must remain free to grow and expand.

Some people have hastily said that Czolgosz's act was foolish and will check the growth of progress. Those worthy people are wrong in forming hasty conclusions. What results the act of September 6 will have no one can say; one thing, however, is certain: he has wounded government in its most vital spot. As to stopping the wheel of progress, that is absurd. Ideas cannot be retarded by restraint. And as to petty police persecution, what matter?

As I write this, my thoughts wander to the death-cell at Auburn, to the young man with the girlish face, about to be put to death by the coarse, brutal hands of the law, walking up and down the narrow cell, with cold, cruel eyes following him,

"Who watch him when he tries to weep
And when he tries to pray;
Who watch him lest himself should rob
The prison of its prey."

And my heart goes out to him in deep sympathy, and to all the victims of a system of inequality, and the many who will die the forerunners of a better, nobler, grander life.

Emma Goldman "- http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_at_Buffalo

Bill Killed Bill

'"Kung Fu" actor Carradine found hanged in Thai hotel

BANGKOK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s U.S. television show "Kung Fu," was found naked and hanging dead from a rope in the closet of his luxury Bangkok hotel room Thursday, Thai police said. No signs were found of other people in the room and the body of the 72-year-old actor was sent to a hospital for an autopsy, police said. Results are expected on Friday." - Washington Post

Damn, our thoughts are with the Carradine family (and friends). He is best known for playing Caine in the TV series, "Kung Fu," as well as Bill in the Kill Bill series of Quentin Tarantino directed movies. His skillful acting will be missed.

Updated Recommended Reading

Incendiary Material:

1)The Catcher in the Rye By: J.D. Salinger

2)Our Band Could Be Your Life BY: Michael Azzerad

3)A People's History of the United States By: Howard Zinn

4)Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas By: Hunter S. Thompson

5)Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution By: Kevin Booth With Michale Bertin

6)Heavier Than Heaven By: Charles R. Cross

7)Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media By: Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

8)From Yale To Jail By: David Delinger

9)1984 By: George Orwell

10)Fight Club By: Chuck Palahniuk

11)Of Mice and Men By: John Steinbeck

12)The Perks of Being a Wallflower By: Stephen Chbosky

13)Failed States By: Noam Chomsky

14)Crashing the Party By: Ralph Nader

15)Dark Alliance By: Gary Webb

16)Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It By: Judge James P. Gray

17)To Kill A Mockingbird By: Harper Lee

18)Lord of the Flies By: William Golding

19)The Motorcycle Diaries By: Che Guevara

20)Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs By: Chuck Klostermen

21)A Clockwork Orange By: Anthony Burgess

22)Macbeth By: William Shakespeare

23)Steal This Book By: Abbie Hoffman

24)Anarchism and other Essays By: Emma Goldman

25)I Am the Messenger By: Markus Zusak

26)Girl, Interrupted By: Susana Kaysen

27)The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family

28)Black Panthers Speak

29)The Outsiders By: S.E. Hinton

30)The Shining By: Stephen King

31)A Raisin in the Sun By: Lorraine Hansberry

32)The Chocolate War By: Robert Cormier

33)Charlie and the Chocolate Factory By: Roald Dahl

34)Inherit the Wind By: Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee

35)Steven Spielberg By: Susan Goldman Rubin

36)On the Road By: Jack Kerouac

37)Naked Lunch By: William S. Burroughs

38)Get in the Van By: Henry Rollins

39)American Hardcore: A Tribal History By: Stephen Blush

40)Here, There and Everywhere: The 100 Best Beatles Songs By: Stephen Spignesi and Michael Lewis

41)Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop By: Jan Greenburg and Sandra Jordan

42)Fast Times At Ridgemont High By: Cameron Crowe

43)The Simpsons and Philosophy

44)Holes By: Louis Sachar

45)My Father's Scar By: Michael Cart

46)Monster By: Walter Dean Myers

47)Black Boy By: Richard Wright

48)The Great Gatsby By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

49)A Separate Peace By: John Knowles

50)Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead By: Tom Stoppard

51)The Autobiography of Malcolm X As Told to Alex Healey

52)Kingdom of Fear By: Hunter S. Thompson

53)Flashbacks By: Timothy Leary

54)Lies My Teacher Told Me By: James W. Loewen

55)Live From Death Row By: Mumia Abu-Jamal

56) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest By: Ken Kesey

57) Guerrilla Warfare By: Che Guevara

58) The Autobiography of Abbie Hoffman

59) Fugitive Days By: Bill Ayers

60) My Disillusionment in Russia By: Emma Goldman

More incendiary material to come....

Germane Chomsky Article

http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20090521.htm
Obama and his ultra, fascist, right wing, American President policies. But, as Steven Colbert put it, "but, he makes the kids like it." This is Noam's key line here: "Small wonder that the President advises us to look forward, not backward -- a convenient doctrine for those who hold the clubs. Those who are beaten by them tend to see the world differently, much to our annoyance."

That's All Folks!

Though,I do have much more material to share, I think I've done plenty of dust blowing for now. Peace!

-----------------------

Editors Note: So Chris decided to post every assignment he's worked on in school this year. It might take a while for his posts, many of high quality, to disappear into the great horizon. Just sayin'. Also, people who are interested in stealing his work, do it! That's real anarchy, something Chris advocates after reading Abbie Hoffman. Only kidding, of course. Don't do it. It's plagarism.

The Gnome

The Gnome

There once was a tiny gnome
who lived in a humongous home;
But his wife, named Alice,
Had too much malice, because she
left him for another gnome in Rome

Brief On The Road Review

Hailed as “the novel that defined a generation,” Jack Kerouac’s On the Road grabs the reader by the lapels and takes him or her for a rapid ride through the ups and downs of the nascent “Beat” America of the late 1940s and early 1950s. This tale is based on Kerouac’s own wild experiences with fellow Beat icon, Neal Cassidy.
The story begins in 1947. The narrator is Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac), a young, intellectual writer; fascinated with America, jazz, women, and drugs, but disgruntled by social norms and middle class conformity. Sal tells us about his friend, Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassidy), who was just released from jail, having been incarcerated for grand theft auto. He describes this as,” the part of my life you could call my life on the road.” To Sal, Dean represents rebellion, nonconformity, freedom, and essentially heroism. As the pair hitchhike across America, they meet a variety of outlandish characters.
As the story progresses Sal slowly begins to see Dean in a new light; he sees him as a failure. Unfortunately, life on the road loses its initial charm. Jack Kerouac’s timeless classic masterfully captures the beginnings of the American underground. His stream of consciousness style of writing invites the reader into the mind of a young, optimistic rebel in the midst of social change.

Tom Morello

Tom Morello

Tom Morello a.k.a. the Nightwatchman leads a double life. One half, a Grammy award winning guitar virtuoso and the second half, a tireless, committed, political activist. Tom was born on May 30, 1964 in Harlem, New York, to Mary Morello and Ngethe Njoroge, a Kenyan Guerilla soldier and eventual first Kenyan ambassador to the United Nations. Morello then moved to Libertyville, Illinois. At an early age, the guitar hero received his first tastes of racism and oppression.
Libertyville was a virtually all white, conservative community. Much of the townspeople were prejudice and hated Tom for simply being a different color. Morello would later describe some of this prejudice he experienced in his famous folk ballad, “One Man Revolution.”- “Found a noose in my garage, now about that, so tonight I’m in the bushes with a baseball bat.” The white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members his town placed the nooses in his garage to scare him away. Tom felt small and inferior at first, and then he discovered music.
Initially Tom listened to heavy metal greats such as Black Sabbath and KISS, but by high school he found his solace in politically charged Punk Rock, with the likes of The Clash and The Sex Pistols. Music was an escape for Morello. He claims it made him see past the constraints and boundaries of his small town and see a world that needed change. In 1982, Morello graduated from Libertyville High School and began attending Harvard University. During his college years, he began practicing guitar seriously. This means eight hours a day, no matter how much work he had to complete. By 1986, he graduated with a BA (with honors) in Political Science. In 1988, Morello landed a slot as lead guitarist in the glam metal band, Lock Up. Unfortunately, they found very little success. His next band, however, would permanently alter the role of Politics in music.
Rage Against the Machine was formed in 1991 and took the world by storm. In the past, artists have incorporated social and political issues in their craft, but none like RATM. Every single song by the band preached some sort of radical, revolutionary message. The band saw themselves as renegades in a corrupt world fighting injustice wherever they saw it. In 2000, they broke up and it’s safe to say they were a success: selling millions of albums world wide and more importantly educating their audience about social issues and how they can actively prevent them.
Morello then moved on to form Audioslave, which after six years also became a huge, commercial success, selling millions of albums along the way. However, fans and Morello himself, felt he needed to play political music again, having been in what Tom calls “A right wing purgatory.” He had been playing as The Nightwatchman on the side, but now he is taking it more seriously: Albums and touring. The music is far different from his previous work (heavy metal), being folk and folk rock.
Throughout his adult life he has been a committed activist, specifically in the areas of peace, human rights, social and economic justice, and various other issues. Personally I admire Tom more for his dedicated activism and this is why I chose him. Specifically, I admire his non-profit organization, Axis of Justice (which he formed with Serj Tankian of System of a Down). The organization was formed in 1999, when Tom noticed an overwhelmingly large amount of fans sporting Nazi Swastikas and other hate symbols. The organization has made it clear that they are Anti- Racist and Anti-Fascist. Through the organization, concerts are performed in small communities where all the proceeds go to charities and activist groups. On top of that, Tom and his buddies go into the impoverished communities, where they’re playing and they help them out during their stay.
I can relate to Tom Morello, because he also sees the need for change in the world and like me, he believes in peace, freedom, and equality.

Ted Bundy

Typically, when we think of serial killers our brains conjure an image of a sadistic miscreant with distinct physical features a la John Wayne Gacy in his clown get-up; and as uneasy as that sounds, what is even more terrifying is a savage killer concealed beneath the appearance of the All American, average Joe. For such a case study, one needs to not look any further than Ted Bundy, one of America’s most horrific mass murderers.
Ted Bundy rose to infamous celebrity in the mid to late 1970s after Bundy had allegedly murdered over 30 women. As a result, Bundy is considered America’s most notorious serial killer and in fact, the term “serial killer” was first used to describe Bundy. It has been said that he was constantly charming women (even while in prison; he received hundreds of lover letters and wedding proposals just months before his execution). Of course, everyone asks the same question: “how can someone so seemingly pleasant commit such unspeakable crimes?” Well, the answer to said question is not easy and requires careful analysis of our case study. Let’s begin with his childhood.
Theodore Robert Cowell was born on November 24, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont to Eleanor Louise Cowell. The boy’s father was unknown and so Eleanor was an unwed mother, which was practically a crime in a 1940s, devout Christian America. So, to make sure she was not ostracized, she became the boy’s “older sister” and his grandparents became his “parents.” Ann Rule, Bundy biographer and one time companion, claims that “he sensed that he was living a lie.” Despite this speculation, Ted was a “good” boy: he did as he was told and loved and respected his authoritarian parents (or grandparents). On the other hand, it is now clear that there were several warning signs that he was not the most stable child. In one instance, a three year old Bundy took all the household knives and placed them around his sleeping teenage aunt, with the blades pointing in her direction.
Though Bundy is often said to have had a “normal” life, this is not true. The home he was raised in was not as peaceful as it looked on the surface. His grandmother suffered from clinical depression and his grandfather was a bizarre and extremely violent man. Sam Cowell excessively read pornography (as we will see this medium will play a significant role in the killer’s future life) and even worse threw his daughters down the stairs for sleeping to late. As strange as it sounds, for some reason the young Bundy was deeply attached to his “father” and when he was forced to move to Tacoma, Washington (3,000 miles away from Vermont) he was severely devastated. Fortunately, he adjusted to his new life and soon made friends. It should be noted that beneath Tacoma’s beauty lied a nasty underbelly: the downtown streets were filled with honky-bars, peep shows, and pornography shops. Not too long after the move, his mother married Johnny Culpepper Bundy, officially changing his last name. Ted rejected his new father and he looked down on him for not having a higher position in life, like his uncle Jack, a college professor, someone he admired. This internal conflict in the Bundy family never was resolved and as a result the two never had a chance to really know one another. When disciplining his child, Johnnie used a belt as a form of corporal punishment. This may have been a typical form of obedience for the time period or this could be seen as a cold, abusive, ultra-authoritarian tactic leaving Bundy’s relationship with his father even more torn and jaded. It is possible, that this could have contributed to the boy’s disdain for rules/laws and his lack of impulse control.
From a young age, Ted seemed special and his mother believed that he displayed the most potential out of all her children. He was active in school and usually maintained a B average. Unfortunately, besides being an above average student, his school life in Junior High was miserable. According to former classmates, Ted was shy, introverted, and often stuttered, causing the boy to bear the brunt of some of his classmates’ worst bullying, particularly during physical education class. Supposedly, Ted showered privately, instead of the open showers, where the other boys were. The tormenters took pleasure in pouring icy cold water down the back of an unsuspected Ted. Mortified, he would chase the boys away. As several other cases have proven, bullying has been a contributing factor to many serial killers and related criminals. In comparison to others of his kind, like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the Columbine perpetrators), Ted’s experience with bullying was minimal, and yet at the same time at close inspection some factors can be deduced. All of Ted’s killings were sexually motivated and followed brutal rapes; it is possible that in his youth he was frustrated with his physical appearance (small, skinny, slender, etc.) and therefore did not want to shower where he normally would have. As an adult he expressed this rage through his atrocious behavior to gain power and it seems by doing this he could accept his self-identity. Since, he was fascinated by women his entire life, one would think Ted would chase after girls left and right in high school, but this was not the case.
Luckily for Ted Bundy, high school proved to be better than junior high school. According to former friends and acquaintances, Bundy was popular, eye-catching, extremely well-mannered, stylish, and yet he never dated. Despite this clean cut image, at a young age he engaged in various petty crimes. By the age of fifteen, he was a skilled shoplifter, and he was a suspect in a couple of auto theft and burglary cases, though never being arrested for said crimes. Of course, over the years these minute details were expunged from the Bundy profile, thus contributing to the theme of the clean cut, charming male. However, these tidbits tell us something even more important. They further demonstrate Bundy’s severe lack of impulse control. Bundy’s contempt for the law can be applied to his all around attitude toward women and social norms altogether. He desperately needed immediate gratification. As claimed in Bundy’s A&E Biography, the constant shoplifting made Bundy feel narcissistic because he could outwit the police and get away with it. This same feeling of entitlement would remain during his murders.
Besides the fact that Ted Bundy was introduced to pornography at a young age, there were other earlier warning signs of his obsession with the other sex. During his teen years, Bundy was said to have been a Peeping Tom, taking great pleasure in spying on various girls and women he found attractive.
The most disturbing “warning sign” is the theory that Ted Bundy may have begun his killing at age fifteen. Though, there is no actual evidence to support this, in hindsight, after knowing what crimes Bundy would later commit, it seems very plausible. During Bundy’s paper route days, there was an eight year old girl that he delivered the papers to and one day she was missing; she was never found. Various analysts, including Ann Rule, believe she was Bundy’s first victim.
For much of his youth, Bundy was very awkward and shy around women, but by the time he reached college, this would all change. He began creating a new façade in which he was confident, well-spoken, and cool. With Bundy’s natural charm it worked. In college he began his first sexual relationship with Stephanie Brooks. Brooks represented everything he wanted: an attractive, well-rounded, wealthy, female. To Brooks, the two were merely college sweethearts, but to Bundy this was everything, he found someone he fell in love with for the first time in his life. When the couple broke up, Bundy was left devastated. She evidently ended their relationship because she felt that he was immature and unmotivated. It can be surmised that this is why Bundy maintained an accomplished career in psychology and law (as ironic as it seems). Along with this incident, he also discovered his “older sister” Louise was actually his biological mother. It appears that these two seriously traumatic events strongly damaged what was left of an already fragile psyche. Within the next few years he would have relationships with other women and he would go back and forth with Brooks, in fact he eventually dumped her. Following this he began his murderous rampage in 1973 which lasted until 1978, when he was finally imprisoned. His trials were infamous and devoured by the media. Bundy was treated like a rock star, where court rooms were filled with adoring fans (all women, oddly enough). Archive footage displays a giggling Bundy, grinning as if he was the homecoming queen trying to decide who will go to the prom with her. He remained on Death Row until January 24, 1989, when he was executed by the electric chair to cheering families of victims, celebrating the announcement of his death, outside the prison.
In conclusion, as the film Ted Bundy asks, who was Ted Bundy? Or more importantly, who is Ted Bundy? The answer to this question as well as the question I posed before: how can someone so seemingly pleasant commit such unspeakable crimes? is still not simple and it turns out we could spend every waking hour studying Ted Bundy’s life and we still would be unsatisfied. If I’ve learned anything from Bundy’s story is that we need to be more honest about ourselves to our families, our friends, and most importantly to ourselves. Bundy desperately needed to discuss his impulse control or lack thereof with someone. He deserved to know who is real mother was as soon as possible. He needed to accept his self-identity. We, as a society can no longer discriminate and realize that anyone could be a serial killer, no matter what they look like.

The Congress

The political system of the United States is divided into several branches of power. The most powerful branch is the Congress. Congress can independently execute many powers and thus satisfy the people they represent. Alas, this is not always the case, and often Congress does not act in accordance to public opinion. There are two ways to analyze Congress: in theory and in practice. In theory, the Congress represents Americans and in practice they often represent their special interests.
Congress, as granted by Article I of the United States Constitution, has more power than any other branch in the American Government. The Constitution states that Congress shall “make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States.” In theory, Congress appears to satisfy our representative democracy. Legislators are supposed to determine their votes on laws by how their constituents feel on the issues. Congresspersons are elected to represent the people and make decisions that the people allegedly cannot make themselves. Since, both major parties (Republicans and Democrats) our in Congress, Americans of various ideological views are supposed to be satisfied, to an extent. It is also key to note that, party leadership is fairly divided in Congress. Each party has a Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Whip, Minority Whip, Chairman of the Conference, and various committees. Both public and private bills are introduced in Congress.
Unfortunately, Congress’ power and service to the American people is merely limited to theory in most instances. In practice, Congress do not represent Americans’ views and are actually subjected to the highest level of criticism amongst governmental bodies, with approval ratings often below ten percent. Well, there certainly is a reason for this. American citizens feel that Congress serve private and special interests rather than the majority of Americans’ interests. There are various examples that demonstrate why this statement is accurate. Mostly it is because members of Congress feel they have to vote the same as the other members or vote party line; there are few challenging personalities. For example, Congressman Ron Paul, a challenger, can testify to this when he voted against the War in Iraq and voted against the Patriot Act. Paul was one of the few Congresspersons to vote against these measures, and he suggests that other members of Congress may have voted for them to avoid being unpopular and therefore unelectable. In more recent examples, the gigantic $700 Billion (many say it is actually in the trillions) Wall Street bailout was an action the majority of the American public did not favor and yet Congress passed it anyway. Another example is President Barack Obama’s Stimulus Package, which once again most Americans do not want. The people feel this package does not satisfy their needs, but rather special interests and certain constituents. This all brings in the factor of party domination, which currently is the Democrats. So, the Democrats can use this package to spend money on their special, political interests, such as research for Global Warming. If you asked most Americans, even after viewing An Inconvenient Truth, they would not support spending millions on such an issue that does not stimulate the economy.
In closing, the Congress is the center of the United States Government because it is granted the most powers in the Constitution, but unfortunately it does not execute its powers as it should in theory to represent the people that elect them.

Random Short Story

Two Wild and Crazy Guys

At 4:32 A.M. Village Street, Fife Alabama our tale begins. Village Street contained various, heart warming, sweet inhabitants, but this story isn’t about those people. Rather, it revolves around two country bumpkin hicks named Harley and Davidson. Village Street was a quiet, tranquil neighborhood until this dynamic duo arrived.
Harley and Davidson do not live in a house. Ohh no, they share a nice, cozy, trailer park home. And of course they are always accompanied by their fiery wolverine, Wolvy. All cuked up together in this small space, they have loads of fun!
“Hey Harley, where’s my pants, I have a hot date tonight and I want teh look good?” hollered the belligerent Davidson.
“How the hell should I know?” his Neanderthal counterpart fired back at him. The trailer constantly rocked back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, creating a creaking noise that creped up on your ears. There were no bathrooms, the pair simply did their filthy business outdoors (sometimes in front of neighbors), like most animals do.
Their pad was basically empty. No real possessions. They hunted for food and cooked their prey with a grill they stole from a naïve neighbor. They slept in Ghost Busters sleeping bags, and in fact there is a wicked story behind these bags. Our heroes had purchased these sleeping bags from some junior high boy scouts in exchange for beer. Unfortunately, it was unbeknownst to the boys that O’Dools was non-alcoholic beer. Of course, not the kind they knock back daily. Which brings us to their next item, the fridge, their most prized possession for it stores all of their beer, whiskey, and just some food.
“So, what ugly, misshapen toad you dating tonight Davey?” inquired Harley
“Err, that chick Agnes, with the gold teeth and that long beautiful beard,” Davidson replied. “But, she’s not as hideous as you think. In fact, she’s far prettier than any other lady I’ve had the pleasure to date”
“I can believe that.”

Mission of Burma Poem

That’s When I Reach for My Revolver (Mission of Burma)


Mission of Burma
Don’t be Fooled by the title
The trio are
Boston Natives
From Way Back When
When the Great Brennan was a young lad
In the 80s
But, they reformed in 2002
And continue to play
“Our Kind of People’s music”
There shows are HIT or miss
This concert was definitely a HIT
Dual Vocals
LOUD
FAST
NOISY
What more can I ask for?
It is Crystal Clear that
Burma's legacy is alive and well
They are Loved and Respected
More than ever Before

Morrissey Poem

The Boy With the Thorn in His Side (Morrissey)

First Time
At the Orpheum Theater
First Time
I attended a concert
On a SCHOOL NIGHT
First Time
I saw Morrissey!
Being one of my favorite singers
I adored his work with
The Smiths
And his Solo Career
The entire audience was
ESTATIC
Not Mopey
And
Emo
Like some critics think
We Went Wild
When our hero rocked into “Shoplifters of the World Unite”
Everyone was dancing
To the sounds of Rebellion

Psychedelic Furs Concert

Pretty in Pink (Psychedelic Furs)

My First Concert with Glen
We stood in the Front Row
Waiting through Two
Clichéd British Acts
The Alarm
And
The Fixx
Before the Furs hit the stage
We were the Only ones
Under 45
It seemed
Numerous Drunkards Surrounded us
Slurring Along to the Songs
The Band were an aging, forgotten act
From the 80s, but
Their Energy and Showmanship
Shined Through
Glen even High Fived
Singer, Richard Butler
The Evening Foreshadowed
Many More, Great Concerts to Come

Radiohead Part II Poem

(Nice Dream) (Radiohead Part II)

When the quintet appeared on stage
They immediately burst into their hit song “Reckoner”
Sending an Arena full of die hard fans into a Surge of Joy
I was completely Mesmerized by the Light Show
The Best I’ve Ever Seen
The Lights changed Perfectly with Respect to the Mood of every song
At one point, I saw Little Fishes
In the shapes of Golden Spots
Projected on the Big High Definition Screen
Then the Lights Shifted into the Lyrics
“Everything in its Right Place”
From the Song of the Same Name
The Greatest Performance was of their classic, “The Bends”
The Fans were more Enthusiastic and Energetic thane Ever.
Some people think Radiohead is just another mopey, downer band
They Have it All Wrong
I felt like everyone was united during "The Bends"
When everyone sang together, "Where do we go from here?"
The song might be pessimistic, but if Everyone is Together
Then they Realize that they're
Not Alone

Radiohead Part I Poem

Paranoid Android (Radiohead Part I)

It was all Smooth Sailing until 7 O’clock reared its ugly head
We ran into massive traffic.
I'm not Talking about any old back-up
I'm talking about
BUMPER to BUMPER
NO MOVEMENT
For more than an Hour
The traffic was longer than any soul would expect
Glen suggested we do something I never envisioned myself doing
And I made the Mistake of agreeing with him
We hopped out of the car and ran in the Breakdown Lane
Under Glen’s rationale that the Comcast Center was right around the corner
A Minute Away
GLEN WAS HORRIBLY WRONG
The venue was a good 2 to 3 MILES Away
As we Ran as Fast as we could
Patrons screamed out their car windows,
“You guys are Fucking crazy!”
While Dodging cars was Fun and all
I ran out of breathe and couldn’t run anymore
We decided to hitch a ride with a couple of hip college kids
Finally, we arrived at our destination

Dinosaur Jr Poem

Little Fury Things (Dinosaur Jr)

Loudest Band I’ve Ever Seen
Dinosaur Jr
“Left Me with Permanent Ear Damage,”
Once Declared the great Mr. Brennan
And I couldn’t have agreed more
With Constant
RINGING
RINGING
RINGING
In my Ears for the next week
SIX AMPS!
Is perhaps Too Much
Over this Clamor
The MASS Trio
Played various songs from their legendary late 80s to early 90s era
Including “Little Fury Things,” “Out There,” and
“Feel the Pain,” which
Garnered the most Admiration from the Audience
Best of All was the Diversity of Age Groups
From Teens to Twenty-Somethings
To Middle-Aged Folks

Animal Collective Poem

Summertime Clothes (Animal Collective)

Never underestimate the 18-24 age group
Solid Souls filled the House of Blues
Squashed together to see
Panda Bear, Avey Tare, and Geologist

Buy the Ticket, take the Ride
A Fervent Fan cried
Fifteen to twenty minutes with my jaw dropped
As the trio bashed out electronic anthems
I pushed my way through a Sea of fans to get closer to the band
The dancing grew Wilder and Wilder than I had expected
Unlike anything else I had encountered before
The crowd was one giant hug fest
With everyone on top of each other
Sweating
At times obnoxious and unnecessary to the point that I was almost
Falling Over
But, Ultimately it was an amazing
Musical, Social and perhaps Spiritual
Experience

Meat Puppets Poem

Sexy Music (Meat Puppets)

What’s a Meat Puppet?
That’s what I hear whenever I wear my Meat Puppets shirt
I don’t know
I don’t want to know
But, what I do know is that they are one hell of a live band
Blending Rock and Roll with Country and Punk Rock
Is no easy task
But, the Puppets were able to execute it and more

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to witness the band
Up Close and Personal
But, I had decent seats at the Orpheum
So, I could still enjoy a long night of
Passionate Songs
Long Guitar Solos
And Best of All
Heavy Distortion
With one song simply seeping directly into the next
Without any pauses in between
When the trio finished their set
I was blown away
I knew I would be writing about my experience one day