Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor

Today I went with my husband and three of our friends to see the Slamdance film “B.I.K.E.” This film is
an exploration of the Black Label Bicycle Club and the wider tallbike subculture that has grown up around it. Comprised mainly of artists driven by anti-materialism and a belief that the impending apocalypse will render cars useless and bicycles in power, BLBC battles mainstream consumer culture and rival gangs for its vision of a better tomorrow. The film chronicles the trials of co-director Anthony Howard (“Tony) as he tries to become a member of the club.
After the film the audience met with the filmmakers and held a discussion.

This was an interesting film. The Black Label Bike Club has chapters in Minneapolis, New York, Texas and a couple of other states. This film focuses mainly on the New York Club. Black Label members belong to this club to experience a self-sufficiency and a sense of family. Their meals come from dumpsters, they ride their bikes everywhere, and they take care of each other. One of the activities of bike club members involves “bike jousting” on the tall bikes (two bike frames stacked on top of each other, with the handle bar, pedals and seat on the top frame and wheels on the bottom frame.) To become a member of this club you have to “hang out” with the club for a period of time and also pass the initiation – the “jousting” test.
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A judge in my home state, Maryland, has ruled that a Maryland law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional.

The decision was immediately stayed until the appeals process by the Maryland attorney general’s office is complete.

Same sex couples were delighted. 19 men and woman had filed suit taking to task a 1973 law which defines marriage as between a man and woman.

The Governor of Maryland, disappointed in the ruling, says he will take all the necessary steps “to protect marriage”.

This truthout artcile also outlines the timeline of the gay marriage issue in varous states.

Earlier this week I wrote on how Google is refusing to hand over records to the Feds.

Bush and Company are being aggressive in their eavesdropping techniques – stopping at no boundaries. Under pressure from a provision in the Patriot Act, several major search engine services handed over search engine records to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that possibly includes billions of search requests by Americans.

Google is still refusing.

There is an article posted on today’s Common Dreams from the Los Angeles Times entitled
U.S. Obtains Internet Users’ Search Records
Yahoo and others reveal queries from millions of people; Google refuses. Identities aren’t included, but the data trove stirs privacy fears.

“Their demand for information overreaches,” said Nicole Wong, Google’s associate general counsel. “We had lengthy discussions with them to try to resolve this but were not able to, and we intend to resist their motion vigorously.”

Yes! Resist!

Shamelessly stolen from San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center
From the article:
If I hear one more rendition of “We Shall Overcome” and then watch the vigilers or marchers go home and turn on their TVs and crack open a brewsky, content in the fact that they have done something for peace that day, I am going to scream! We can’t overcome unless we take the proverbial bull by the horns and overcome!
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The Opposite Of Good Is Apathy
By Cindy Sheehan
1-15-06

“The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and hasten the resurrection of the dead.” — William Lloyd Garrison

The apathy of most of America is stunning and appalling to me. When I found this quote I was filled with wide-eyed wonder that there is one statue left in America complete with statue, or one grave or tomb still occupied.
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There is an excellent article posted from Tomdispatch on Common Dreams by John Brown entitled “Our Indian Wars Are Not Over Yet” — Ten Ways to Interpret the War on Terror as a Frontier Conflict.

The article addresses the history of terrorism in the U.S., since before it became a country and compares that with U.S. policy on terrorism today.