Tag: Protests

Street Feet

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Street Feet

Street Feet

 

By John Curran

I’m told we’re gonna have another Saturday street fest. A ‘pop up’ they’re callin’ it. The next big ones not gonna be ’til March 28th, 2026 but I guess since this party thing has gotten to be so much fun; well Grants Pass just can’t wait til then. So much fun and actually, the shit has gone nationwide. Killer you could say, don’t we know.

And since I help out my presence is definitely encouraged, I push wheelchairs see, among other things, chores, alla’ that. ‘N hey, I get into it too. It’s a hoot. Maybe I’ll bring my little bongo drum, its a good excuse to do something with it besides having it just sitting there in the corner of my room. Yeah there might be a drum circle, for sure there’s good DJ action, There’s a guy workin’ it out of the back of van. People are decked out in all kinda’ crazy ways, bunny outfits,  dogs dressed as dinosaurs, clown acts, everything.

Speaking of clown acts, we got two sides o’ the street setup to really liven it up-kind of an us ‘n them sort of standoff. Its great. We yell at them and they yell back at us, man you hear all kinds of funny and amusing ranting and raving and I must say, the excitement is in the air. Usually there’s a whole lot more of us than the themmers on the other side, some people just more inclined to party I guess, but the thems are catching on, I think,  they know we be serious about some lively action and this, without  fail, will be that.

‘Course we don’t have the real edge that some city’s been having, the kind of thing that really sends the shit into overdrive, not yet, anyway. And actually, if you think about it, nothing spoils a good party more than a public execution of an innocent person right there in front of everybody, definitely a party pooper that.

So we be good, so far; so I will say, Minneapolis ain’t so far away so, serious partiers we are and will be.  I push wheelchairs see,  and whatever. Just glad to be there and glad to help, however I can. Do I love it? Damn right I do, and all the dogs and cats do too.  ‘Course the one cat will make ya wonder, sometimes. One in every crowd, I guess.

40 Reasons To Smile

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40 Reasons To Smile

40 Reasons To Smile

D. S. Mitchell

Relish Routine

Here at Calamity Politics, a Wednesday is pretty much the same as a Friday, or a Sunday.  I’m not complaining. In fact, I relish it. I am an individual that loves routine. Up at 5:00, in the pool @5:45, walk the dog at 7:30, coffee @8:30. @9:00 I start scanning the internet for breaking news on the Trump fiasco, going on in the White House. I turn on CNN or MSNBC to get their view of the situation. If it’s a big scandal, I’ll turn on FOX to get their spin. I usually leave the TV playing in the background. You get the idea.

Things That Make Me Smile

But, at least once a week, I stop, and consciously think about how blessed I am, and all the things in life that make me happy; those things that never fail to bring a smile to my face.  Here’s 40 Things That Made Me Smile Today:

  1.  Painting old furniture; giving something old a new life
  2.  Danish Brie and California Chardonnay
  3.  New shoes; makes me want to dance
  4.  Nap time
  5.  Visiting the Planetarium
  6.  Palladian style windows, a whisper of elegance
  7.  Flower baskets in bloom
  8.  The Celtic Cross
  9.  My dog, Lily
  10.  Whales and elephants
  11.  A box of old black and white photos, worth more than gold to see my daddy again
  12.  Taking a Community College class and pulling an A
  13.  Towel warmers in the bathroom
  14.   Reading my daily horoscope
  15.   The Bobble-Head toys in the back window of my friend’s car
  16.   The newspaper. A real newspaper, one that I touch, that I unfold, that I read over coffee
  17.   Street musicians
  18.   YSL Black Opium, perfume
  19.   Glass bowl filled with sun bleached shells
  20.   Three-day week-ends
  21.   My new iPhone
  22.   Wall size antique mirrors
  23.   The delicate beauty of Orchids
  24.   Travel magazines
  25.   Roller coasters
  26.   Drawstring sweat pants
  27.   Little boxes of Sunshine raisins
  28.   Hummingbirds feeding in my garden
  29.   Patsy Cline on my play list
  30.   The muted colors of Madras fabric
  31.   Holding a baby in my arms
  32.   Sharing a banana split with a calorie counting friend
  33.   A handmade greeting card
  34.   Author book signings
  35.   Reading scandal magazines at the grocery checkout stand
  36.   Having help with a big job, four hands are always better than two, if you have six, all the better
  37.   My kitchen junk drawer
  38.   Wrist corsage
  39.  Pagodas in the mist
  40.  Fog horns in the night

The  Protests Go On

I’m about to go watch the kids fly their kites. It is just about a perfect day for kite flying; clear sky, great breeze and a strangely lonely beach for this time of year.   Have a great week, and remember we always have time, to smile. I’m hoping that while you are grinning ear-to-ear you are busy planning for the July 17, 2025, “Good Trouble Lives On” protest. Make a new sign, The protest will be the fifth national day of protest against the Trump administration. The protest will also honor Civil Rights activist icon, congressman, John Lewis. Turn out; make your voices heard. No cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, VA benefits, SNAP or Child Tax Credits. Call your congressman/woman tell them to stop the Big Ugly Bill.

Join the New Resistance

Illegal

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Illegal

Illegal

 

By John Curran

Well, it looked like my chimp Charley was leading the charge, as he’d just slipped his leash and was racing on ahead toward where all the people were already gathering on the Courthouse lawn. It was the Protest, and me and my people were following up behind, me pushing Dave in his wheelchair and Darlene and Vajra carrying the signs and cowbells.

I was trying to keep an eye on Charley, my chimp. He’s a pretty good chimp, but he’s a chimp, in a world of humans. But like I said, he’s a cool chimp. I see him over there. He’s gone right over to that shady patch of lawn where two weeks before me ‘n some other fellas had had a drum circle going. That had been at Protest 2. We were now at Protest 3, and it must be said that at Protest 2 we had sat right there where Charley was now and we banged on our bongos and everything had been fine.

Charley hadn’t been at Protest 2, we’d left him at the ranch, he’d thought he was in love with the neighbor chimp. Now he knew better but that’s another story. Now he was here with us and amazingly enough having gone on ahead with my bongo and his bag full of ping pong balls and was now sitting in the very spot where we’d sat for our bongo party.

And then I saw it all. Charley hadn’t been there ten seconds when up walks this uniformed big white dude acting like Security, saying no one was allowed there buddy, you gotta go in front of the wall like everybody else was suddenly being told they had to do. Well, Charley wasn’t having it and went into full on bad chimp mode. He’s a pretty good actor Charley is and when he puts on this one I gotta say, he’s pretty damn convincing. Anyway you shoulda seen that Security guy step back one time and back his big butt slowly, away from Charley. If he’d had a gun he probably woulda’ drawn it.

Anyway, he hooks up with some other ‘Security’ guys down at the far end ‘n they all come up in a bunch but by that time Charley’s gone right up the nearest tree and he’s throwing ping pong balls down on these guys. I decide at this point I better step in here and declare myself. Well, they told me I could probably be charged. I said, “yeah, I know,” that much I know. They were really kinda’ alright though, we all had a laugh, and Charley came down and acted like he was sorry. Very convincing too, was Charley.

And later, nine days exactly, it was reported in our local newspaper that what the ‘Security’ had been doing telling people (and chimps) that they couldn’t sit on the Courthouse grass had been illegal. I showed it to Charley and he just laughed; as if he had known it all along. Pretty convincing ‘n, I ain’t lying, maybe sometimes even a little scary, in that way. I mean, what is really going on, Charley?

 

David Shadrick “Protest Problem”

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David Shadrick “Protest Problem”

 

David Shadrick “Protest Problem”

Calamity News and Politics is happy to welcome Dave Shadrick back with some valuable information if you intend to join a protest demonstration. Stay tuned, stay informed.

 

COVID-19 And Murder In Minneapolis

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Police form ranks to break up protests in Portland, Or

COVID & Murder In Minneapolis

By D. S. Mitchell

Grasping At Sanity

I hadn’t known, until I stayed home that the mailman stopped at my mailbox everyday at 11:30, like clockwork. Never before did I start planning dinner at breakfast time, but, I do now. I wash my hands at least twelve times a day, once for every hour I’m awake, unless I have to go out, or I get a delivery, then I hand wash compulsively every five minutes for at least an hour. Sometimes, I wonder how long I can hold onto my sanity.

Vacant Streets

The strange thing about the COVID-19 pandemic has been the quietness of the streets. The 24 hour buzz of the busy freeways is gone. The roads have been  almost vacant. Not in a post-apocalyptic sense, but certainly a sense of disturbing, quiet unfamiliarity. There is, however, an awareness of danger. A danger lurking on every surface and every person. The danger, although  invisible, has been scary enough to have people locked down in their homes, until Monday, May 25th.

Silent Killer

Someone called it, a “willing paralysis.” I’m not sure what to call it. Physical contact with another person could be a death sentence. The bullet, nothing more than a cough. As we have social distanced, we have heard new sounds. The sound of chirping birds. The sound of a singular child bouncing a ball against a wall. A neighbor, whom I’ve never met, playing his acoustic guitar, like a resurrected Michael Hedges. Not all killers are silent, or invisible. Some are intentionally visible and they kill with impunity for the camera. And now our country hears a new sound. A cry, a great and powerful cry.

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