Photos: Anatomy of a State Police Mobile Command Post

[ For informational purposes only. ]

wide view, driver’s side

battery compartment, front passenger side

rear fender, driver’s side

rear, top, center

Line Down…

That’s a power line that the tornado-storm felled and wrapped around my van. No way am I touching that thing. The universe just does not want me to drive this vehicle.

Politicute!

Got to stop by the kids’ Mayday event for a few minutes today while they were making signs.

Cross-Referencing Bullshit.

This sticker was pasted inside a telephone booth outside a Richmond 7-11. It seems to intentionally aggregate the most common exploitative ideas in society into one place.

“Have your lack of privilege or poor choices fucked you over? Obviously. You’re using a pay phone. Give us a call, and for a small fee, we’ll beg God to change things for you (since he’s obviously done a poor job thus far). We’d also be glad to give you a loan at exorbitant interest rates until things are looking better. Once you’re in debt to us, we’d be glad to help you find a job with the one of the shitty companies that paid to advertise to the most underprivileged and desperate elements of society. (They tend to complain less about minimum wage, working conditions, unpaid overtime and the like.) If all this fails, we’d be happy to get you a credit card that will sufficiently bury you in debt for years, making the hole you’re in even more difficult to climb out of.

Also, it will be breezy with a high of 74 degrees today.”

FUCK THESE PEOPLE.

Sierra Nevadas & the Tahoe Basin

My annual trip into the Sierra Nevadas was breathtaking. There are a thousand ways to look at the landscape, and they are all beautiful.

Occupy Richmond: Take II

Unfortunately, I left an hour before the police raid on Occupy Richmond.

I had planned on getting arrested.

Not to worry. We’re not done by a long shot.

There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? – V

Weekly Sedition: Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army & Ryan Harvey

Another all-anarchy Weekly Sedition.

First we catch up with the Mysterious Rabbit Puppet Army here in Richmond…

… followed by a couple of songs from radical folk musician Ryan Harvey.

Christiane Simo @ Globehopper

I discovered this young artist at a fundraiser/benefit for Girls Rock RVA. Christiane is an electric guitarist and bassist who strings together minimalist pop/rock chord structure (along with a tasteful selection of covers) and laces them with the softest, most intimate voice she can manage. Despite the reserved vocal expression, her melodies are quite strong, and her lyrics well-conceived. Christiane Simo won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but the next time I’m relaxing and drinking one, I just might hit up her SoundCloud page. Looking forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Defiant Burial Ground Victory

Yesterday I attended an event celebrating the struggle to reclaim and memorialize the “burial ground for negroes” underneath the VCU parking lot at 15th & Broad. If it seemed as though there wasn’t as much press as might be expected for such an event, it was because the date of the “official” celebration had been changed from April 3rd (Richmond’s “Emancipation Day”), to April 10th.

Ironically, it was VCU’s basketball game that incited the city to postpone the celebration. The institution that had purchased the site and fought its reclamation was now being offered the incredible concession of moving the event from a relevant date of historical significance. Many of the community organizers who had worked on the issue for years decided that this was unacceptable and that they would not be attending the “official” celebration.

Here’s what they had to say…

The Radicalization of Virginia Farmers

I attended the Sustainable Family Dinner Table event in rural Beaverdam, Virginia this week.

It was essentially a conference for local organic and sustainable farmers to get together, network, hold workshops and support each other’s businesses. I was struck by the open tone of defiance to the laws being written and enforced by industrial agriculture giants like Monsanto, the FDA (which now has Michael Taylor, a Monsanto attorney, at its head thanks to Obama!) and the USDA. The words “civil disobedience” were spoken more than once, along with specific mentions of illegal activity and it was refreshing to hear it coming not from the mouths of young, urban activists, but from the local farmers that I’m getting to know.

The world is changing, folks.