Will’s Speech to San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Here’s the speech I tried to give in person to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today. Perhaps Kevin succeeded in giving it as my proxy after I had to leave to the volunteer meeting at work.
Will’s Speech to San Francisco Board of Supervisors

I’ve been out on the streets of San Francisco protesting against the aggressive and illegal war of the U.S. against Iraq over the last two weeks. Last Thursday, I spent the night in the Bryant Street jail after my arrest for nonviolent civil disobedience in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. I joined other nonviolent protesters in what as far as I can tell, with 2300 arrests and counting, is collectively the largest civil disobedience action ever to have taken place in the history of San Francisco. In addition, it may be the largest number of people arrested in opposition to the war in any city around the globe.

On the streets and in the jails, I witnessed abusive behavior both by protesters and by police. Massive police presence led to unnecessary confrontations between police and protesters as citizens watched the clear abridgment of our constitutional right to peaceful assembly.

I urge the Board of Supervisors to take measures to rein in dangerous police abuse, such as illegal and intimidating street sweeps, sidewalk blocking, closures of public parks and squares, and the beatings, pain holds, and detention of nonviolent protestors without due cause.

However, the root cause of this problem is not so much in the San Francisco community but from the federal government of the U.S. Indeed, last October this Board passed by a vast majority a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to refrain from any injust war in Iraq which I believe accurately reflects the views of the vast majority of people here in San Francisco, including many of the police. I believe the Board should seek federal funding, whether by appeal to the administration or through the judicial system, to compensate the City and County for the costs of maintaining the peace in San Francisco due to the U.S. government’s aggressive foreign policy.

In addition, and perhaps more controversially, the Board of Supervisors should adopt a resolution freeing the City and County of San Francisco from the State of California and the United States of America, so that we the citizens of San Francisco can organize ourselves into a truly democratic, participatory free state that will more properly implement the will of the people of this fine city with its long tradition of diversity and respect for human rights for all.

Cob Visit, Mouse in the House

Cob (Jacob), who I met at the last Breitenbush radical faerie gathering, will be visiting my place starting tomorrow for about a week. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.

In other news, we’ve had a mouse running around the kitchen for about a week. My housemate Jack got a mousetrap, but the darn mouse has so far evaded it.

Jack and I have started jamming, him on the electric guitar and me on the bass guitar. He bought me a book to help me learn how to play better.

Protesting for Peace

You can see pictures from the San Francisco peace protest I was at today at
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/03/1583088.php

Yesterday, I bared my breasts along with forty or so “Boobies for Ashcroft” who marched from Van Ness Ave. to the Federal Building as employees left the building for the day around 5:00pm. The crowd bared their breasts as they chanted “Boobs Not Bombs” or “More Boobs in Public, Less Boobs in Office” and carried signs condemning U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s policies including the war against drugs and against sexuality, noting particularly his decision to cover a barebreasted Lady Justice statue with curtains during news conferences at the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, DC. Following the march, the group entered a local pub and fraternized with federal employees while discussing the issues of the day. See http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/03/1582640.php

de cerca

te sientas con las piernas cruzadas
haciƩndome frente
mis piernas sobre las tuyas
rodillas a los tendones de la corva
las raĆ­ces pusieron a tierra
espinazos que zumban
manos en cada otros corazones
ojos a los ojos
mirando
respirando
el tercer ojo emerge

p.s.
de cerca
y cerca
viviendo