I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post these. This bike trip was one week ago Sunday.

I went on a 4 hour bike trip of the East Side of Buffalo, there was about 16 of us. Our Tour guide was David Torke from Fix Buffalo Great group of People. I stayed and had Lunch with David, Cynthia Van Ness, and Scott. It was a lot of fun talking about the city.

I always wanted to see more of the East Side, it's so vast and unfamiliar. Bike riding was great, you're able to see everything from a human perspective, not in a car.

We mostly toured architectural treasures that were abandoned, some badly decayed. But we also got a feel for what it is like to live on the East Side. We saw some of what has been done to help or hinder these communities. We saw some of the worst streets in broad daylight. And we saw how few people there are in some areas.

The thing that struck me the most was how much it felt like the country. The East Side is pretty sparsely populated in some areas. You have streets with 14 houses 8 of which are abandoned, then 6 open lots from demolished homes. The abandoned homes become sweet unsupervised hangouts for neighborhood kids, and then trouble starts. Fire, drugs, violence, sex. After seeing these neighborhoods first hand I have a lot better understanding of exactly what it is like to live in a state of worry. You also begin to the roots of problems.

David Torke mentioned trying to get people organized on the East Side, he said people are kind of 'suspicious' of each other. That struck me as a profound insight into the environment and the people, and the types of tensions one encounters.

The East Side really isn't so bad, I dispelled a lot of my myths and fears about it. A lot of it is abandoned, but some strips are active, and there are things going on. We rode by a couple of storefront churches with their doors open, and there were gospel bands playing with a full drum set, and bass. People live there, they have just been ignored for so long that they don't expect the government to help.

But the appeal of the East Side is that, in a weird way, it's kind of like the country. There are some open spaces where homes have been removed and fields of grass have taken over. Areas around train tracks and dead end streets that are mostly abandoned. Some times there will be 4-8 open spaces next to each other that create a field.

Last Chance to take the tour this summer!! Saturday September 2nd start at Coe Pl. and Main St. at 11:00. More info at Fix Buffalo

I posted a whole bunch of photos from the trip on Flickr in fact there are 54 photos in the set

Here are some, but there are way too many good ones. We went to the train Station and I took a lot of pictures. I was also riding with the camera around my neck and taking pictures without looking. What a great opportunity.



Yes, that is on the East Side. off of Clinton Street. Realy neat feeling to the place.





/ This is the back of the church below /



Transfiguration Church at 929 Sycamore Street.













Urban Prairie on Koons Avenue. Really interesting spot.



More on Flickr
Check it out!

Molly, my wonderful fiance, is on the other side of the planet, in Indonesia. She has always wanted to travel and do service work. I couldn't go because I am a photographer and I work in a studio of 4, so I couldn't abandon my wedding commitments. so I am miserably lonely, she is gone for a month.

She is helping build and start a pre-school. then she is going to facilitate Alternatives to Violence workshops, she is a certified AVP facilitator. She will be around Ache most of the time, where they had the tsunami. She is doing well, I got a couple updates from her. She's been gone about 2 weeks. I got her a 1 gigabyte memory card for her camera before she went, that will take about 700-1000 pictures, so I will get a pretty full tour when she gets home. They're not high tech so she can't e-mail any pictures to me now.

I miss her.

Ok, so YouTube is my new best friend, Why pay for cable, just get DSL.

I love the YouTube interface, it really allows you to sort of 'channel surf' by displaying related videos on the right, along with some random favorites all the way to the right. You can find out so much about an issue in 20 minutes by just surfing through the related videos.


Today, I ended up checking out US election fraud in 2004 mostly. Here's a video to get you started, it's a computer programmer testifying before the Florida State Legislature about how HE WROTE a program to rig the election for Tom Feeney (who got elected by the way). The Legislators ask him some fascinating questions and really get to the fine details of how easy it is. also check out parts 1-4 of Votergate in the related videos.




Yesterday I checked out evidence that contradicts the government's explanation of why the twin towers fell on 9/11. Search for "World Trade Center", "Explosives" the evidence is astounding. And it uses first person testimony and video evidence. So the credibility of the director is not usually an issue, because you are watching first hand evidence with your own eyes. Flip through the related videos for first person testimony and news coverage about explosions around the trade center.




Last a movie about the 3 innocent British Muslims who went through Guantanamo
Links to the trailer and a clip from the movie, plus a description here



More Movies about 9/11, and some music at my random blogger account.

Just got home from work, I'm a photographer, and I did a military wedding tonight, Marines actually. They make me emotional. It's just that these people disserve infinite respect, and they don't fucking get it. They're used like goddamn pawns in a giant game of risk. and you know what's at risk? it's not peace and security, it's fucking profits. When I'm at these weddings, I just cherish the presence of the people that have lived to be there, and they joy of their families to be able to celebrate something after a year of frightening uncertainty apart from their child. For me it's heavy stuff, and the Marines are all their to forget and try to celebrate, despite the fact that they've lost friends on the battlefield. These guys today were all from Iraq, and their platoon did suffer casualties and injuries. The day was never sad, they didn't have speeches lamenting any tragedy, but it still made me emotional. Maybe just because these guys could have died, I don't know... it's rough.

People:
1. How did you find out about/why did you become of estrip?
Shawn Rider and the DMS community at UB, I had stumbled on the site prior to that but never signed up for an account.

2. How "out" are you about having a publicly accessible online journal. Do your friends know? Does your family know? Do your co-workers know? Does your boss know? Do you use your real name? Do you use your real photo?
I don't write or use anything I don't want to be public. Don't use my real name. My journal will be more public soon because I have set up a basic API and will give it a simple address.

3. How many epeeps have you met real life? 4-5, most at the Geek Meet or UB

4. How has estrip changed the way that you meet people, on and/or off line?
Not much, sometimes I am more social on the site, but I don't use it to meet people outside.

5. How has estrip affected you love life?
None.

6. How many of your friends have joined estrip because of your influence?
None yet, though I have tried.

7. Are you from Buffalo/do you live in Buffalo?
Sure do, yes to both questions.

Equipment:
1. What type of hardware or software purchases have you made as a result of using estrip?
none

2. Have you used the mobile version of estrip? Why or why not?
No, seems very cool but I have no phone. Like the idea of posting from Concerts or news events.

Lifestyle:
1. In what way has estrip changed your Internet surfings habits? Describe the amount of time you spend on estrip, when you use it and about how long?
Depends on the week, at first I was on (e:strip) about 2-3 hours per day, now it depends on whether I am having a discussion on the site.

1a. How many journals do you usually read per day?
I don't check the site every day anymore, I did for the first 3-4 months. Now I check probably twice a week. Average, I'll read 4-6 different user's journals.

2. In what ways has estrip changed the way you perceive your local community?
It allows me to see a range of perspectives from people who live differently than I do, I understand more facets of my community. I might not be able to find such a variety of perspectives otherwise.

3. How has journaling about your life affected the way you spend your free time?
Well, having a journal that people can easily read and respond to, has kind of filled the role of my old paper journal. Much of that had gotten political, rather than too personal to share. And I always wanted to publish some of my journals someday, (e:strip) provides a great audience.

4. Has estrip changed your living situation in any way?
Nope.

5. Do you find that you mediate/document more of your experiences now that you share them with others?
Sometimes. Most of my pieces are opinion rather than personal stories. I find that my personal stories tend to be expressed and remembered through pictures, now that I think about it. I like to have my camera around when I do fun stuff that I might like to remember, concerts, hiking, traveling, etc. interesting, never thought about that. But I think I do write more about politics than I would without an account on a welcoming and functionally thoughtful site like (e:strip).

6. Has publishing on estrip affected the way that write?
I haven't particularly noticed, but I do generally pay attention to my audience. I actually have gotten to be a little less picky about my writing, but I don't know the cause of that really, maybe just laziness.

7. Do you have other online journals? If so, with what service and has estrip affected your usage of that journal?
Blogger, I just use that for news articles, not my own writings.
WNY Media, I use that just for longer more important articles that I write, though I usually post them on (e:strip) too, or they start on (e:strip) and turn into longer pieces as I do research.
Myspace, never really used it, just played with the interface.
Flickr, I should post more pictures on (e:strip) but I don't.

8. Have you ever gotten in trouble for using estrip at work?
Almost, I've definitely posted from work.

9. If you have stopped using estrip, why?
Decreased now just because I'm busier.

In response to (e:libertad,50) This started as a comment, but it is something I've been wanting to write about for a while, so I'll post it here.

"A patriotic company isn't just concerned with the bottom line, but for the environment in which it operates, the welfare of its employees and the image they are portraying of their country." Hell yea to that Brother!

We have been fooled, in so many ways, by those who make a profit. They have convinced us that the most profitable course of action is the most enjoyable.

Paying less, has become more valuable than walking to the corner store, interacting with your neighbors and being part of your community.

There is no community at Wal-Mart, just miserable underpaid staff and impatient irritable customers. Is that Life? Does it mean that society is doing well if we have more faceless warehouses selling us cheap crap? Paying $3.99 instead of $4.99 for a garbage can is supposed to make my life complete?!

Instead how about, running a small business doing what I love to do, a hardware store, clothing store, a bike shop, shoe store, camping store etc... That's life, waking up each morning and doing something I enjoy.

Instead we are convinced that if we can buy more things, then our life will be fulfilled. What we own determines how happy we are, not how we live. What a bunch of crap.

Personally I'm careful of where I spend my money, I will pay that extra dollar at a local business to get a plunger for my bathroom, instead of looking for the cheapest price. Because local businesses make my community a better place, they are more enjoyable to visit, and I feel like I am giving the owner a gift by helping them to live peacefully. The paradigm in this country has got to shift.

Yea, it seems more and more, that Fascism and Neo-Conservatism are one in the same. if you haven't read the recent Beast article "top ten signs of an impending police state" you definitely should. it's a quick laundry list of the atrocities being committed against us by our imperial president. I'm sorry, but this stuff is seriously getting out of hand.

Now the whitehouse is tapping journalists phones the reason, so they can find out who is leaking information to the press. You know like Abu Graib, our secret prisons in Romania and other un-american atrocities committed by the Bush administration. The goal apparently is to stop the american people from finding out any damaging info about the Bush administration.

And PS, they're tapping your phones too . actually if you want to be technical, they aren't actually listening to your phone calls, they are simply recording every number you dial. So they know everyone you call. the daily show explains .

And if that wasn't bad enough, they're spying on the Internet. The following quote is from a key witness in the lawsuit against AT&T saying it was against the law for the them to comply with the NSA spy program. Hello Totalitarianism!
"In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities."
More of his story here

This all clearly has little to do with terrorism, and it has everything to do with detecting ANYONE who disagrees with the policies of the executive branch. Watergate was nothing compared to this.

the "Legitimate power of the executive" as dick Cheney calls it, is just a polite way of saying, the imperial president.

I'm leaving North Street and heading a few blocks up Richmond into a much nicer apartment. the one we're in now is dirty, small, and a haven for too many crackheads. Molly and I are moving into a much bigger and nicer place now.

A picture of the new apartment on Richmond.



It has a porch in the back, off-street parking, all utilities and appliances included, 2 bedrooms, a big living-room, a real kitchen with counters and storage, and it's in a nice building, not like this one.
Very excited, I can't wait to have a porch and more space, it's going to be a good summer.

__________________________________________________

I'd also like to mention one of my new favorite beverages,
Wild Irish Rose. one bottle costs a whopping $3.50, and after about half of it you start slurring your words. It's a red wine with 18% alcohol, but it's not bitter or cough syrupy, it's like a light sherry, easy to drink. Great for bonfire parties, camping, and barbecues. it's my fun summer wine.




At this point in the bottle Molly and I were too drunk to stay inside, so we went for a drunken stroll around the neighborhood. it was too fun, we aren't lightweights, this is just good wine.

Thoughts,
ok supply and demand right, if America raised the fuel efficiency standards on vehicles we would all save money. if there was some incentive for car companies to make more fuel efficient cars, or if there was an incentive for people to buy more efficient cars, the price of gas would go down and everyone would save money. do you think that this is a good use for government?
We need to demand that car companies make more fuel efficient cars. The fuel efficiency standards haven't been raised since the 1970s, raise them 2-6 mpg and we'll be saving a lot of oil and paying a shit load less for gas as a nation. We will be using less gas because we have switched to more fuel efficient cars.
Thoughts from you guys?

I'm tired of the short term political 'solutions' to the increase in gas prices. Artificially lowering the price of gas by giving a gas tax holiday, or rebate checks, and all the other bs will just screw up supply and demand, and ignore the real issue of declining fossil fuel supplies. I'm also pissed that we are giving tax breaks to the richest company in the world Exxon-Mobil, which has made record profits the past 6 years straight, but they still get breaks from the government.

La Times sums it up well


Oil and politics don't mix
April 28, 2006

NO DOUBT PRESIDENT BUSH hoped his Tuesday speech to the Renewable Fuels Assn. would mollify grumpy Americans tired of high gas prices. But by proposing dubious policies that - at best - might save a few cents per gallon in the short term, while doing little to address the underlying problem of U.S. oil dependence, the president did something worse than nothing: He ushered in a silly season for wrongheaded, economically ignorant proposals by headline-chasing politicians.

Just a few short months ago, Bush was paying lip service to addressing the country's oil "addiction." On Tuesday, he offered us gas junkies a cheaper, faster fix by deferring new deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And now, after a week's worth of 1970s-style economic rhetoric, the prospects for successful detox seem all the more distant as public officials scramble to follow the president's lead in dreaming up their own "solutions" to the oil market. Like most insta-legislation rushed to the floor in the wake of controversial news - think Terri Schiavo - the gas-price proposals should be ignored and scorned.

Take the calls to root out alleged misdeeds by oil companies. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) wants to look at Big Oil's tax returns "to make sure [they] aren't taking a speed pass by the tax man." Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) proposed breaking up the industry altogether. And state officials want their piece of the witch hunt too. On Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he had sicced the California Energy Commission on the case. In Arkansas, a candidate for attorney general also pledged to investigate oil companies, even though that state's anti-gouging law only applies during emergencies.

Everyone likes to see a villain squirm. The problem is, the Federal Trade Commission already has been sniffing out price gouging in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and has yet to uncover one instance of illegal behavior. Election-year investigations into marketwide collusion and gouging are window dressing, nothing more.

Worse are renewed calls to authorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and to relax environmental restrictions on polluting refineries. A still-lower circle of populist hell is reserved for embarrassingly baldfaced sops to voters, such as the Senate's $100 taxpayer refund. Or that body's proposal to increase farm energy subsidies by $1.5 billion. Or its push for a 60-day federal gas tax holiday.

All of these proposals would provide scant relief even while encouraging continued fuel overuse. As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress on Thursday, "Unfortunately, there's nothing, really, that can be done that's going to affect energy prices or gasoline prices in the very short run."

Sensible policy would focus on curbing consumption. Indeed, if politicians were being honest about breaking the addiction, they'd admit that it might make sense to hope that gas prices stay high - which would drive down demand and perhaps spur businesses to get real about alternative fuel technologies and improved auto mileage.

As a Texas governor running for president wisely said in 2000, the "Strategic Reserve should not be used as an attempt to drive down oil prices right before an election."