some words from arianna huffington:

In 2000, we were taken in by a charming, affable man who promised us compassion but gave us war in Iraq, a soaring deficit, millions of lost jobs, two million more people living in poverty, and the rollback of vital environmental protections. I look at Arnold Schwarzenegger, and see more of the same. We don't need another figurehead for all the usual Republican special interests. Let's not be fooled again.

When this race started, Arnold Schwarzenegger was an unknown quantity. And a week before the election there is still far too much we don't know about him.

If, as he says, he is going to balance the budget but raise no taxes, shouldn't he have to tell us -- before the election, not after -- precisely what vital programs and services he proposes to cut to make that happen -- and precisely who is going to feel the pain of those cuts?

Arnold Schwarzenegger has spent millions of dollars crafting and selling a political persona that is completely contradicted by reality:


He promised to take no special interest money, but then turned around and raised millions from special interests for his campaign.
He painted himself as an outsider, but then surrounded himself with Pete Wilson operatives and a Who's Who of GOP insiders.
He went on Oprah to appeal to women, but didn't include a single woman on his team of economic advisors. In a state where there are tens of thousands of women in positions of power, including both U.S. Senators, there was not even one woman who he thought worthy of adding to the mix?

A vote for the recall is a vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. We must not vote for a fantasy leader and end up with a nightmare: a Bush Republican who thinks the answer to all of California's problems can be found in making life even easier for businesses and giant corporations.

these past two days have been about escape.

and breathing.

relief that architecture project the first is over and i can finally have a weekend to just chill (first one all semester!) inspired by progress of concert (everything is coming together)... until this morning, that is. too much drama and heartache and it's all because of... yes, you know the magic word... money.

by the way, latest polls say proposition 54 will pass.

if it passes i'm moving to the bottom of the sea, living in a submarine with turtles.

to understand the radiohead concert experience, imagine a company of dancing imps, a freight train with wings careening off a cliff, apple juice on hot nights, and indiana jones pausing for his breath as he dares to push open the lost ark.

thank you thank you thank you

it was a splendid experience beyond the most senseless imagery that i could ever imagine.

i'm listening to michael franti sing "don't fear your father/because a father is just a boy without a friend/don't fear to walk slow/don't be a horse race/be a marathon/and don't fear the long road/because on the long road you got the time to sing a simple song" and my heart is erupting, my soul is swinging along my hair, and a living light is exploding out of my spine.

why michael franti still isn't recognized as one of the soulful musical legends of our times is sadly beyond me...

"you can bomb the world to pieces but you can't bomb the world to peace."

for the dreamers and daily strugglers, please peep his cd and blare it loud wherever you may roam til your speakers blow out but never your beautiful words, your voice will never run low.

fritz and lucy are swiss children who eat gelato ice-cream every day. their father is a german nazi officer who had a forbidden love affair with an american woman and desperately fled to switzerland (what makes a good love story is the degree of desperation.) they hid well but one unfortunate foolhardy mistake led to their apprehension and inevitable execution. fritz and lucy grew up alone, except for the quiet friendship of their ice-cream desserts. while fritz dreams of owning a hat store (hats remind him of gelato ice cream), lucy is haunted by the ghost of her grandmother, a cranky peg-legged woman who was once hitler's girlfriend (hitler has a thing for stumps.)

i don't know why but i'm unable to properly channel my creativity into my life right now. i feel like a ghost, ungrounded from my body but bairly hanging on by the strands of my hair. i'm too old to wish for fairy godmothers.

another political post (third in a day!):

damn, i've been a howard dean (progressive democratic candidate for president) supporter these past few weeks but today i discover the potential coolness of retired four star general, former supreme comander of nato, wesley clark...
- vehimently against the patriot's act
- firmly pro-choice, pro-affirmative action
- anti-war

yes. the same general my dad loved a decade ago during the gulf war just might be an alright guy. i think this cat's got potential. let's hope he turns out to be the real deal.

this is a desperate must-read, from michael moore himself (written on september 15):

"
1. GEORGE AND LAURA ON 9/11 -- A BARREL OF LAUGHS!

The following is an interview with the First Couple from the current issue of one of my favorite magazines, Ladies Home Journal (Oct. '03). They are asked about what September 11, 2001, was like for them personally, and, although over 3,000 people had just perished, George W. was able to find some humor by the end of that day:

Peggy Noonan (the interviewer): You were separated on September 11th. What was it like when you saw each other again?

Laura Bush: Well, we just hugged. I think there was a certain amount of security in being with each other than being apart.

George W. Bush: But the day ended on a relatively humorous note. The agents said, "you'll be sleeping downstairs. Washington's still a dangerous place." And I said no, I can't sleep down there, the bed didn't look comfortable. I was really tired, Laura was tired, we like our own bed. We like our own routine. You know, kind of a nester. I knew I had to deal with the issue the next day and provide strength and comfort to the country, and so I needed rest in order to be mentally prepared. So I told the agent we're going upstairs, and he reluctantly said okay. Laura wears contacts, and she was sound asleep. Barney was there. And the agent comes running up and says, "We're under attack. We need you downstairs," and so there we go. I'm in my running shorts and my T-shirt, and I'm barefooted. Got the dog in one hand, Laura had a cat, I'm holding Laura --

Laura Bush: I don't have my contacts in , and I'm in my fuzzy house slippers --

George W. Bush: And this guy's out of breath, and we're heading straight down to the basement because there's an incoming unidentified airplane, which is coming toward the White House. Then the guy says it's a friendly airplane. And we hustle all the way back up stairs and go to bed.

Mrs. Bush: [LAUGHS] And we just lay there thinking about the way we must have looked.

Peggy Noonan (interviewer): So the day starts in tragedy and ends in Marx Brothers.

George W. Bush: THAT'S RIGHT-- WE GOT A LAUGH OUT OF IT!

(end)

Although America had just suffered the worst attack ever on our own soil, somehow this man was able to end his day on a funny note. I wonder how many of the 3,000 families who lost someone earlier that day had a funny ending before they went to sleep? Please read the above exchange aloud to anyone who will listen. It speaks volumes.

2. WE HAVE JUST WRECKED OUR KIDS' FUTURE.

The first paragraph in yesterday's New York Times story on how Bush has taken a record surplus and demolished it into a record deficit was one of the best lead paragraphs I have ever read in a newspaper article.

Here's how it went:

"When President Bush informed the nation last Sunday night that remaining in Iraq next year will cost another $87 billion, many of those who will actually pay that bill were unable to watch. They had already been put to bed by their parents."

Bingo. Gee, I hope the kids thank us some day!

Here's the next paragraph (my emphasis added):

"Administration officials acknowledged the next day that every dollar of that cost will be BORROWED, a loan that economists say will be repaid by the NEXT generation of taxpayers AND THE GENERATION AFTER THAT. The $166 BILLION cost of the work SO FAR in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has stunned many in Washington, will be added to what was already the largest budget deficit the nation has ever known."

Every conservative friend of yours should weep when they read that, and then you should hug them and tell them that it'll be okay, once we all do what we need to do.

3. WHAT WOULD $87 BILLION BUY?

If you can't get through this list without wanting to throw up, I'll understand. But pass it around anyway. This is the nail in the Iraq War's coffin for any sane, thinking individual, regardless of their political stripe (thanks to TomPaine.com and the Center for American Progress)...

To get some perspective, here are some real-life comparisons about what $87 billion means:

$87 Billion Is More Than The Combined Total Of All State Budget Deficits In The United States.

The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]

$87 Billion Is Enough To Pay The 3.3 Million People Who Have Lost Jobs Under George W. Bush $26,363 Each!

The unemployment benefits extension passed by Congress at the beginning of this year provides zero benefits to "workers who exhausted their regular, state unemployment benefits and cannot find work." All told, two-thirds of unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]

$87 Billion Is More Than DOUBLE The Total Amount The Government Spends On Homeland Security.

The U.S. spends about $36 billion on homeland security. Yet, Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) wrote "America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs" for homeland security without a funding increase. [Source: Council on Foreign Relations]

$87 Billion Is 87 Times The Amount The Federal Government Spends On After School Programs.

George W. Bush proposed a budget that reduces the $1 billion for after-school programs to $600 million -- cutting off about 475,000 children from the program. [Source: The Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee]

$87 Billion Is More Than 10 Times What The Government Spends On All Environmental Protection.

The Bush administration requested just $7.6 billion for the entire Environmental Protection Agency. This included a 32 percent cut to water quality grants, a 6 percent reduction in enforcement staff, and a 50 percent cut to land acquisition and conservation. [Source: Natural Resources Defense Council]

There you go. In black and white. A few million of you will receive this letter. Please share the above with at least a half-dozen people today and tomorrow. I, like you, do not want to see another approval rating over 50%."

an inspiring e-mail from peter gee. i feel like i'm in the fight club.

"The election is STILL ON for October 7th.

For at least the next seven days, the election is still on! Although the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted today to postpone the election, the decision does not take effect for seven days (September 22nd). The pro-recall parties have said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and we will have to wait to see whether the Supreme Court decides to get involved before we know whether the election has really been postponed.

Given the uncertainty in this situation, we must not relax our efforts to educate and mobilize voters across the state. If the Supreme Court decides to allow the election to proceed, we will only have two weeks to get our voters to the polls, and we must build on the momentum of the past few weeks. So we must continue � and even intensify � our efforts to Defeat 54! Now, more than ever, we still need your energy, your time, and your financial support.

Victory is in sight.
This October 7th, Vote NO on Proposition 54."