news

earlier this week bernie sanders, sadly, endorsed hillary clinton for the democratic nomination for president. i, like so many other bernie supporters was disappointed to hear the news. rather, i had hoped to see him take the nomination fight to the convention.

still, to call bernie’s endorsement of hillary a sellout i think is hyperbolic. it’s impossible to know the details, the nuances of the conversations and agreements made between bernie and hillary. it seems to me the “bernie-or-bust” folks who have turned their ire on their one-time hero and leader is egotistical and, maybe, short-sighted. bernie hasn’t called it quits on the “revolution.” quite the contrary, in fact.

we have to remember that bernie’s been fighting the good fight longer than many of his supporters have been alive. as for myself, i’ve been navigating the ebbs and flows of local and national politics as an activist for a decade and i won’t presume to judge the strategic decision bernie made to endorse his former rival.

but let’s take a look at what bernie’s actually saying.

has it called off the revolution? nope. in fact, despite his endorsement of hillary, his campaign hasn’t officially been suspended and it continues to actively engage its supporters, particularly those who have been elected delegates to the national convention.

the contrary is actually true; he’s talking about next steps and about how to transform the presidential campaign to a long-term enduring movement for economic and social change. from the beginning he’s told us it’s not about HIM, it’s about US.

he’s talking about working and channelling our energies into congressional races and local races in which there is a progressive candidate that share’s bernie’s, shares OUR ideals. it’s not as if a magic veil would have lifted and all our hopes and dreams would be realized if bernie were the next president. this work that would have been necessary even if he were to be the nominee, even if he were elected the next president.

sure, with clinton as the nominee and potentially the next president our work may be more difficult, but no less important. nothing ever truly worth-while came without hard work and a long-term commitment; in politics, forward movement comes in excruciatingly small steps. don’t give up, don’t be angry with bernie. instead, stay focused on the issues.

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as i begin, yet again, to try and post regularly, i’ve been giving some thought to the kinds of things i’d could write about. in addition to personal matters and glimpses at my life, i think it might also be good to share my thoughts on current events, politicts, etc. i had originally set up a entirely separate blog for that purpose, but years later i’m not sure it’s valuable.

to that end, i’ll be closing down and migrating my other blog, peoplesdialectic.com, to this site, and forwarding the domain. maybe making it a sub-domain of this site, though i’ll need to do some research to ensure that’s the best choice.

in the meantime, i’m looking for good new agregators. though facebook is my default, a recent announcement to what it prioritizes in our newsfeeds, has sent me on a search to find an alternative. initial searches suggest flipboard may be the best option, based on how it functions and some of my own personal preferences.

still, i’m curious what sources others might use, or if, similarly aware of facebook’s announced chagnes, if anyone has found other interesting new aggregating alternatives.

as an aside, now that my flickr account is easily accessible via the blog, i’m hoping to share more photos, both recent and not-so-recent. so come back occasionally and take a look.

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though i am a loyal apple customer and think they’re products are generally think they’re products are pretty great. do i think they’re perfect? certainly not. nor would i say everyone should get an iphone, over an android, especially given their cost. there are some cool things androids do that apple doesn’t and i recognize that.

still, whenever apple comes out with a new iphone and it has problems, the media and everyone else freaks out. since i’ve never owned or used an android phone, i don’t know much about them, but i can’t imagine they’re perfect and free of flaws when new versions are released, though i’ve never heard the press say anything about it.

when apple released the iphone 5 to problems with its antenna when the phone was held a certain way, that was a pretty big snafu and to me a legitimate cause for griping.

the things people are complaining about now, to me, are not good reasons to complain. they’re complaints by stupid people and they should be dismissed as such.

 

if you’ve subscribed to my youtube channel, but aren’t getting emails when i post a new video, here are the steps:

  1. go to your youtube channel
  2. click on “my subscriptions”
  3. on your subscriptions page, you should see a link that says “manage subscriptions” click on it
  4. check mark the box next to my channel (regardingfrost) under “send me updates”
  5. then, on the activity drop down, you can either select “all activity” (default) or “uploads only”

if you have trouble, let me know, though i think it’s pretty straight forward. and of course, that’s if you want such notices (i think you do).

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…and the referendum vote in scotland to stay part of the united kingdom.

i do my best to stay up on world affairs, but as the world seems to be spinning out of control at an ever-increasing rate, it’s hard to stay engaged knowing there’s little i can do about it without wanting to give up and set the whole thing ablaze.

still last thursday’s historic vote in scotland on whether or not to leave the united kingdom was particularly interesting. i watched patiently as the votes were counted, while political commentators discussed the vote from every angle imaginable. actually, part of what was so entertaining for me was how much the coverage seemed to mimic election coverage here in the states: reporters camped out at the different watch parties, talking to supporters on both side of the issue, and speculating on the outcome.

in the end, somewhere around 90% of scotland voters decided to continue on as a partner in the united kingdom, with both sides promising there would be positive changes in the future.

i know the politics in europe are different than they are here, but i will be nonetheless surprised if there are any real, substantive changes to the benefit of the scotish people….

laborfest was great fun. and what an inspiring way to spend an evening. the keynote speakers were gerald horne, moors professor of history and african-american studies at the university of houston, and steve early, a labor journalist, lawyer, organizer, and union representative. both were entertaining and interesting, but i have to say professor horne was great. i bought his book, fighting paradise: labor unions, racism, and communists in the making of modern hawaii. my friends bart dame and bill puette also participated, as well as others from various backgrounds.

if you’re interested, you can see the whole event broadcast on olelo:Screen Shot 2014-09-20 at 3.32.16 PM

also, check out hawaii alliance for progressive action (hapa). it’s an organization from which i expect great things. consider getting involved and help make hawaii a better place for all of us and for future generations.

and stay tuned for exciting news about the new collaboration project with my old friend shawn steiman.

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i’ve acquired all sorts of new music, including additional tmbg, tracy, the decemberists, and much more. mmm, new music goodness….

while in search of album art, i came across the tmbg homepage. it’s been while since i visited and i’m pretty sure its all new and shiny looking. it includes a store and all sorts of videos, which i’m working my way through watching. also became a ‘fan’ of theirs on facebook, because their awesome! this is a statement found on their merchandise page:

This site is artist owned & operated. We proudly accept these creepy forms of corporate payment:

you gotta love’em…. here’s a video from them.

also, a facebook friend posted this video and i thought it was just too damn funny not to share with all of you:

translation: you’re all just jealous of us!

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