apple juice

Billed by organizers as "the largest rally yet to protest mass surveillance", Stop Watching Us was sponsored by an unusually broad coalition of left- and right-wing groups, including everything from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Green Party, Color of Change and Daily Kos to the Libertarian Party, FreedomWorks and Young Americans for Liberty.

via Thousands gather in Washington for anti-NSA 'Stop Watching Us' rally | World news | theguardian.com.

Maybe Stop Watching Us will become a great unifying political movement? Maybe Stop Watching us and Rootstrikers can get together and create some change in our system.

Sounds like a great book: The Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz

There is a video collection to go with the book. If you love Wes Anderson movies, you’ll love these video essays. Here is the first, on Bottle Rocket:

THE WES ANDERSON COLLECTION CHAPTER 1: BOTTLE ROCKET from RogerEbert.com on Vimeo.

I have never voted. Like most people I am utterly disenchanted by politics. Like most people I regard politicians as frauds and liars and the current political system as nothing more than a bureaucratic means for furthering the augmentation and advantages of economic elites. Billy Connolly said: “Don’t vote, it encourages them,” and, “The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever being one.

From a barn-burner of an essay from Russell Brand about politics. We no longer have the luxury of tradition

His observations about left-ist political movements lacking excitement are pretty interesting:

As John Cleese said, there is a tendency to confuse seriousness with solemnity. Serious causes can and must be approached with good humour, otherwise they’re boring and can’t compete with the Premier League and Grand Theft Auto. Social movements needn’t lack razzmatazz.

The right has all the advantages, just as the devil has all the best tunes. Conservatism appeals to our selfishness and fear, our desire and self-interest; they neatly nurture and then harvest the inherent and incubating individualism.

The amazing thing about this – besides the lack of precaution in speaking in public on a train – is that someone from the NSA calls up Heyden to let him know someone is listening in on his conversation! Yikes.

Former Spy Chief Overheard Giving Off-The-Record Interview from Acela Train

The episode came to a remarkable conclusion shortly after Matzzie noticed Hayden receiving a new phone call, and joked on Twitter that Hayden’s office must have heard what was happening and called to warn the former spy chief.

photomelissa:

Looking west with the sun.

I would love to move to NYC. I miss the bagels and the Pizza. What would I do with my Red Sox obsession?