Early in the morning yesterday in Washington DC, on a narrow grass median where a highway off-ramp meets a crossroads, a man leant a large white stuffed bear against the traffic light pole. Let's call the man Tom, and we'll call the bear Dick.
Dick was dressed in torn and dirty clothing and was holding a sign that read 'S.O.S.'
Tom withdrew to the trees on the other side of the road to take pictures of Dick and the cars. For hours, on one knee or standing, he took photographs from many different places at the roadside, usually when the traffic lights were red and the space between him and Dick was packed with cars.
At about 11 o'clock another man crossed to the median.
Let's call him Harry.
So we have Tom among the trees with his camera, Dick the bear, and now Harry.
Harry stood for a moment, looking at Dick.
Dick and Harry were both dressed in tattered, weathered clothes, and Harry had a sign as well, a big one he held under his arm. To Tom's distress, Harry dropped his things in the grass and picked Dick up bodily. Carrying him under his arm, Harry crossed the second half of the street and propped Dick against a trash can on the pedestrian sidewalk and, leaving him there, made his way back to the median.
Harry's sign said, 'Vietnam Vet hungry and homeless please help'
Tom hung around for another couple of hours taking pictures of Dick in his new spot, without moving him. Now Tom took pictures when passersby could be seen reacting to Dick and his sign. At about 3 o'clock Tom picked up Dick and walked off. Harry stuck around.
So; two things.
Firstly, Tom and Dick. Or at least what I think Tom and Dick were all about - I didn't ask.
Congress is considering energy legislation this week.
The folks at wecansolveit.org think that if:
-you care about the recent elimination of the hugely successful and economically beneficial renewable energy industrial subsidies that have boosted the progress of renewable energy in the US
-you're concerned about the push for domestic US drilling being used as an excuse for continued reckless use of fossil fuels (the USA is using 25% of the world's oil and sitting on 3% of its reserves)
-you're a little vexed about the fact that we are on the brink of seriously fucking the earth up
...well then!
You should call your Member of Congress and tell them just that.
Here's how.
Don't use the word fuck like I did.
If you don't have a Member of Congress, call your local governmental representative.
Secondly, Harry.
I don't know what to say about Harry other than...peace and compassion - let them move you.
Downtown Manhattan is again today swamped with visitors attending the memorial service for the victims of the September the 11th attacks. The reading of the names is echoing in the streets near the former site of the towers. The mood is subdued and sad, but today I witnessed none of the aggression and appetite for vengeance I had seen, admittedly only at the crowd's fringes, at previous events. I hope that says something about how people feel, and not the police's policies on demonstrations at the ceremonies. I noticed a huge water cannon under covers in a nearby sidestreet in a row of waiting police vehicles.
A block from the WTC site, a wild-eyed man stared at me in my bank's lobby as I walked in. He was in the process of taping some home-made posters to the glass. I can't really remember who he blamed for 9/11, but the words 'INSIDE JOB' featured. I had just been walking through the crowds listening to the names, and I was feeling very emotional. Upstairs, I let the teller know, and she asked a security guard to go down and talk to the man.
Dick was dressed in torn and dirty clothing and was holding a sign that read 'S.O.S.'
Tom withdrew to the trees on the other side of the road to take pictures of Dick and the cars. For hours, on one knee or standing, he took photographs from many different places at the roadside, usually when the traffic lights were red and the space between him and Dick was packed with cars.
At about 11 o'clock another man crossed to the median.
Let's call him Harry.
So we have Tom among the trees with his camera, Dick the bear, and now Harry.
Harry stood for a moment, looking at Dick.
Dick and Harry were both dressed in tattered, weathered clothes, and Harry had a sign as well, a big one he held under his arm. To Tom's distress, Harry dropped his things in the grass and picked Dick up bodily. Carrying him under his arm, Harry crossed the second half of the street and propped Dick against a trash can on the pedestrian sidewalk and, leaving him there, made his way back to the median.
Harry's sign said, 'Vietnam Vet hungry and homeless please help'
Tom hung around for another couple of hours taking pictures of Dick in his new spot, without moving him. Now Tom took pictures when passersby could be seen reacting to Dick and his sign. At about 3 o'clock Tom picked up Dick and walked off. Harry stuck around.
So; two things.
Firstly, Tom and Dick. Or at least what I think Tom and Dick were all about - I didn't ask.
Congress is considering energy legislation this week.
The folks at wecansolveit.org think that if:
-you care about the recent elimination of the hugely successful and economically beneficial renewable energy industrial subsidies that have boosted the progress of renewable energy in the US
-you're concerned about the push for domestic US drilling being used as an excuse for continued reckless use of fossil fuels (the USA is using 25% of the world's oil and sitting on 3% of its reserves)
-you're a little vexed about the fact that we are on the brink of seriously fucking the earth up
...well then!
You should call your Member of Congress and tell them just that.
Here's how.
Don't use the word fuck like I did.
If you don't have a Member of Congress, call your local governmental representative.
Secondly, Harry.
I don't know what to say about Harry other than...peace and compassion - let them move you.
Downtown Manhattan is again today swamped with visitors attending the memorial service for the victims of the September the 11th attacks. The reading of the names is echoing in the streets near the former site of the towers. The mood is subdued and sad, but today I witnessed none of the aggression and appetite for vengeance I had seen, admittedly only at the crowd's fringes, at previous events. I hope that says something about how people feel, and not the police's policies on demonstrations at the ceremonies. I noticed a huge water cannon under covers in a nearby sidestreet in a row of waiting police vehicles.
A block from the WTC site, a wild-eyed man stared at me in my bank's lobby as I walked in. He was in the process of taping some home-made posters to the glass. I can't really remember who he blamed for 9/11, but the words 'INSIDE JOB' featured. I had just been walking through the crowds listening to the names, and I was feeling very emotional. Upstairs, I let the teller know, and she asked a security guard to go down and talk to the man.
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