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from honolulu advertiser:

venezuelan president hugo chavez called president bush 'the devil" in a speech to the united nations yesterday, making the sign of the cross in a dramatic gesture and accusing him of "talking as if he owned the world." the fiery speech by the leftist leader, one of bush's staunchest critics abroad, was harsher in tone than that of iranian president mahmoud ahamadinejad, who sparred with bush the previous day over tehran's disputed nuclear program but avoided any personal insults. "yesterday, the devil came here," chavez said, referring to bush's address before the u.n. general assembly on tuesday. "right here. right here. and it smells of sulfur still today, this table that i am now standing in front of." he then mad the sign of the cross, brought his hands together as if praying and looked up at the ceiling. "yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the united states, the gentleman to whom i refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. truly. as the owner of the world," chavez said. chavez's words drew tentative giggles at times from the audience, but also applause at the end of the speech and when he called bush the devil—a wod he used no fewer than eight times. at the start of his talk, chavez held up a book by american writer noam chomsky, "hegemony or survival" america's quest for global dominance," and recommended it to everyone in the general assembly, as well as to the american people. "the people of the united states should read this... instead of watching superman movies," chavez later told reporters.

091906
for those who are into anarcho/crust/hardcore/punk: click to subscribe to the radio schizo podcast.

and while you're at it, go subscribe to the anykine kine show podcast. it's good stuff.

091806
i came across these old, but interesting, articles about football matches between anarchists (kronstadt f.c.) and communists (left wing) in the bay area.

from infoshop:

as match time neared, the kronstadt f.c. players began to arrive at the playing field already full of numerous left wing players, practicing their drills, with half of the stands nearly full of supporters for the communist team. for eyes unfamiliar with a.s.t. (anarchist standard time), it would have looked as though the only handful of anarchists that came to cheer for kronstadt would be grossly outnumbered, which evened out as more kronstadt supporters eventually trickled in as the match progressed. kronstadt's players, however, were largely outnumbered as the heavily recruited left wing looked to have brought over thirty players compared to their squad of about twenty. the style of both teams' jerseys also contrasted with left wing's professionally printed, numbered soccer jerseys and kronstadt's d.i.y.-style printed t-shirts. while there were no signs of revolutionary hooliganism that were reported, there were some heated chants that were exchanged between the two teams' supporter sections. one memorable example of such was when left wing's supporters shouted "all power to the people!" that was immediately met with "smash the state!" by the anarchist opposition which turned into a back-and-forth chant. unbeknownst to some, during the second half there were police liaisons from both teams dealing with angry piedmont board of education members who demanded the unpermitted match be stopped immediately. refusing to listen to the liaisons' explanations, the angry capitalists notified the piedmont police department who showed up to the field with no less than one officer. the police liaisons put their protest organizing skills into practice and stalled for time by negotiating with the capitalists and their enforcer. unfortunately, the capitalists' patience ran out and the match was ordered to be stopped with about 12 minutes to go until full time. satisfied with taking a point each with a draw, both teams agreed to end the match, choosing not to face the outnumbered piemont p.d. officer hiding behind the fence, waiting to call for backup if necessary. the two remaining matches of the tournament promise to be very exciting when both teams, coming in from the draw from the first game, will look to settle the score on this entangled historic saga between the two opposing revolutionary theories.

from san francisco chronicle:

in some ways, the [football] game played in north berkeley sunday afternoon was a typical matchup with cheerleaders, hearty competition, a rousing band and proud parents on the sidelines. but the anarchists vs. the communists [football] match veered off pretty quickly from there. the brass liberation orchestra, a patchwork band of musicians, played everything from saxophones to drums and a tuba, getting the crowd going with a lively rendition of "internationale," an anthem of communists and socialists, while players jumped up and down and raised their fists in the air. the cheerleaders chanting "give me an a, a, a for anarchy," wore black motorcycle boots and fashioned their pom-poms from strips of a black garbage bag. instead of advertising, the sign on the sidelines of gabe's east field was painted half black for the anarchists and half red for the communists, reading "for a world without borders. for a world without bombs." the idea behind the game was a noble one, players said: to bring people together from across the political spectrum to build a community around the values they share—and to have fun, of course. the two teams were born from the protests against the war in iraq earlier this year. many of the [football] players had protested in the streets together during the days before and after the start of the war and they wanted to make sure they stayed together. "there is a history of political tension between the anarchists and the communists, but we are united on our opposition to u.s. wars abroad and at home on poor people, working people, people of color," said chris crass, 29, of san francisco, a member of the anarchist team and an organizer of anti-racist and political workshops. and so, the activists—men, women and even a 6-year-old boy—settled on the creation of two teams. the anarchist team, kronstadt f.c., was named for the 1921 revolt of workers of the kronstadt army base against the communist government in russia. the players wore black t-shirts with the insignia of an a with a circle around it, a black star and a [football]. the communist team, left wing, sported shiny jerseys in communist red, of course, with a fist holding a flag with a red star. the game took engineer daniel murphy, 48, of lafayette by surprise. seeing a game forming, he had plunked his folding chair down on the sidelines while he waited for his son to finish skateboarding at the adjacent skate park. "it sounds like a typical berkeley [football] game," he said. "i'll have to think about who i'll root for. it is a grand thing." true to the communist ideals, everyone got an equal chance to play, with the game split into quarters instead of halves to allow for more players. "people here have different ideological ways they see the world achieving peace, but we think everybody who is against the war should work together," said maria poblet, 27, of oakland, a tenant organizer on the communist team. "it is also just for fun. millions of people across the world love [football]. we are no exception just because we are activists." in the end, it was a victory for the anarchists, with kronstadt f.c. winning 4-2. the communists will have one more chance during the third and final game, to be played sometime in october. "people are serious about having fun, but the community building is more important than who wins," crass said. and what were the teams going to do after the game? "celebrate the hopeful demise of the u.s. government," he said.

091606
from honolulu advertiser:

duane "dog" chapman, released on bail and still wearing the blue garb of the federal jail, assured his fans last night that he would be cleared of all charges. his personal security guards rushed him through a crowd of supporters and reporters as he left the federal building and entered a sport utility vehicle. on the way, chapman thanked his fans and said he was happy to be free, while his wife, beth, kept shouting at him to "shut up." "we're glad for our support," duane chapman said. "we're glad for everything. everyone loves us, thank you very much. if it wasn't for the people that love us, we don't know what would have happened. "we love america. the federal marshals treated us with great respect. but let me tell you, you never want to go to a federal prison because it's terrible." when asked if he will be vindicated of the charges, he said, "absolutely, brah. absolutely."

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local hero dog the bounty hunter is arrested for, uh, bail jumping.



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the annexation of hawaii, august 12, 1898.

president mckinley signed the resolution on july 7, 1898, but it took a week for the news to reach hawaii. on the morning of aug. 12, 1898, troops from the warship u.s.s. philadelphia came ashore for the ceremony at iolani palace. to the strains of "hawaii ponoi" the national anthem that later became the state song, the hawaiian flag was lowered, and as the strains of "the star-spangled banner" filled the air, the u.s. flag was raised. it was said that nightfall on the day of annexation brought a wail of sorrow from hawaiians that could be heard throughout honolulu.

house of un-american activities committee investigating communism in hawaii, april 10, 1950.

seven honolulu residents, dubbed the "hawaii seven," were arrested and charged with advocating the violent overthrow of the u.s. government. the communism issue, seen as a barrier to statehood, would linger for years. as the house committee hearings concluded, u.s. sen. hugh butler said that communism "seems to be the rule" in hawaii.

the u.s. senate votes in favor of admitting hawaii as the 50th state, march 11, 1959.

statehood for hawai'i was being considered as far back as the 1850s, during the reign of king kamehameha iii. the king—fearing his isolated and defenseless islands could be overtaken by foreign powers—began secret negotiations with the united states with the intent of making hawaii an american state. on august 21, 1959—105 years after king kamehameha iii had tried and failed—president dwight d. eisenhower proclaimed hawaii a state.

anti-war protest at the university of hawaii - manoa, 1968.



president clinton signing the apology resolution, november 23, 1993.

near the end of a 12-minute speech on waikiki beach in july 1993, president clinton was interrupted by a pro-sovereignty group chanting: "justice for hawaiians." clinton turned to them and said: "i hope we can provide it." four months later, clinton signed a congressional apology that acknowledged the illegal overthrow of the kingdom of hawaii. the apology resolution explained the events that led to the overthrow of queen liliuokalani on jan. 17, 1893, and admitted that u.s. officials in hawaii sent marines to invade honolulu and intimidate the queen and her government. the resolution, signed on nov. 23, 1993, as hawaii's congressional delegation looked on, apologized to native hawaiians on behalf of the u.s. government. it also stated a commitment to acknowledge the ramifications of the overthrow and find a foundation for reconciliation between the u.s. and native hawaiians.

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finally got a chance get on the new i.i.s. system at work today. the text-recognition software is really impressive. this is going to change how we process taxes in hawaii—it's exciting stuff.

ok, not really.

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"ask for work. if they do not give you work, ask for bread. if they do not give you work or bread, take bread."

- emma goldman

happy labor day.

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"love your neighbor as yourself."

- mark 12:31

go check out the church of the crossroads' website. arguably the most left-leaning christian church in hawaii. the transcripts of the sermons are a surprisingly good read. i love it.