Changethethought

Well, this is all over the news today and for good reason. This site and about a million others would fade away in a record sweep by the American Congress. Early rumors are that it is not going to pass despite a large corporate backing. It shouldn’t pass either. The people are pissed off enough already and now this? Keep the internet free.

“Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW! – fightforthefuture.org/pipa

PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting “creativity”. The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites– they just have to convince a judge that the site is “dedicated to copyright infringement.”

The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that’s for a fix that won’t work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.”

written by Christopher | tags: Blackout, Legislation, Piracy, Politics, SOPA

If you want to witness just how far a fascist autocracy can slither it’s way into the very consciousness of an enslaved people than look no further than this video of North Koreans publicly prostrating themselves after the death of their ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong Il last Saturday. Why has the world allowed these people to suffer for this long?

written by Christopher | tags: Autocracy, Death, Dictatorship, Kim Jong Il

A little less than two weeks ago young director/filmmaker Shelby Smith headed downtown to the Occupy Denver camp with camera in tow. This is what he captured.

written by Christopher | tags: Denver, Movement, Occupy, Politics, Shelby Smith

Over this weekend, the local police clashed with the protesters taking part in the Occupy Movement here in Denver. At least 20 were arrested in a stand off that erupted into a clash that made the headlines of national news this morning. A few protesters were injured by rubber bullets and pepper spray. The 99% movement has brought forth the constitutional right to peaceful assembly versus the operation and ownership of private or public property.

However you feel either way, I think these people have a right to protest peacefully and assemble on public space. We wanted to extend our support toward the movement. We ourselves have been laid off from downsizing employers and are home owners, parents and debt slaves like many of the rest of us have become in this country.

It is an interesting time here in the U.S. at the moment, and will no doubt be a time that our children will look back upon. We just hope that no one else is injured and the message the protesters are trying to communicate is received and in time genuine change will be initiated. It’s taken nearly 10 years of war, lies, bail-outs and deceit from both sides of the aisle here in America for citizens to finally take to the streets. It does not seem like this protest will be ending any time soon. We extend our support and wishes for a continued peaceful protest that helps bring about the kind of reform the 99% in this country deserves.

written by Christopher | tags: News, Occupy Denver, Occupy Wall Street, The 99%

The mainstream media has in many ways chosen to ignore the rising ‘Occupy’ movement which is now spreading virally across the U.S. Political pundits are already murmuring the sound byte ‘American Autumn’ after the ‘Arab Spring’. Here in Denver the Governor is currently at a loss as to how to deal with the protesters now camped out in front of the state capital.

In response to the lack of coverage one amateur filmmaker decided to shoot his own video at the source of the movement.

Directed by Alex Mallis + Lily Henderson
Cinematography by Ed David
Edited by Lily Henderson + Alex Mallis
Assistant Camera: Andrew McMullen + Diana Eliavoz
Assistant Producers: Dana Salvatore + Jillian Mason
Titles by Jason Drakeford.

BrooklynFilmmakersCollective.com

Alex – AnalectFilms.com
Lily – thinplacepictures.com
Ed – kittyguerrilla.com

written by Christopher | tags: American Autumn, Occupy Wall Street, Politics

Unless you have been living under a rock (slight pun intended) then you must have heard that one of the most notorious men on the planet was killed yesterday by U.S. Navy Seals. Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistani estate, yes estate which was far from the ‘cave’ he was always supposed to be hiding in, was raided and Bin Laden was shot dead. Lets just hope that this effectively draws to a close an era of U.S. politics that has cost this country trillions with little to no explanation as to why this took so long, cost so many lives and now finally ends in a ‘mansion’ where Bin Laden may have been living for years. Our hearts go out to all who lost loved ones on 9/11 as well as the families who gave their sons and daughters in servitude to our country. We have lost many freedoms since that fateful day and now it is time to rebuild and restore.

How does this news make you feel. This is a globally trafficked blog and out of pure curiosity we would love to hear your thoughts.

written by Christopher | tags: Killed, Navy Seals, Osama Bin Laden, World News

We at Changethethought wanted to express on this historic day that we stand in solidarity with the young people of Egypt who have demanded a change for themselves and their families. To have finally achieved success in their endeavor with the resignation of Mubarak is something the world will always remember and the effect of this revolution will no doubt echo throughout the Middle East.

The Egyptian military has done the right thing in choosing to protect the people versus the fascist government. It’s a proud moment for all people who have been subjugated not just by a dictator but by the global body politic.

Of course we recognize the danger that now exists for upheaval and the possibility for another poisonous regime to eek it’s way into dominance. We will continue to pray that this change stabilizes and becomes what the people have fought for and that a new opportunity will arise allowing for the democratic freedom and prosperity that working Egyptians deserve.

As free people ourselves, we feel compelled to support this revolution and extend our best wishes to the amazing people that pushed this radical change. Our heart is with you on this historic day. This is a true moment for peaceful demonstration that should never be forgotten and stands as a real example of what it means to ‘change the thought’.

written by Christopher | tags: Egypt, Egyptian Revolution, Mubarak, Regime Change

The New Leaf is a website designed by I Shot Him that helps to explain Prop 19 and what the legalization and taxation of marijuana will do for California. This is a hotly debated subject here in Colorado, especially in Denver where we now have more marijuana dispensaries citywide than Starbucks (yes, that’s true). The problem that a lot of people aren’t seeing is that if legalized under the stipulations of this proposition, the space allowed (only 25 square feet) for growers as well as a wealth of new regulations will seriously cut down on the types and possibly the quality that growers can provide. So it’s not an all together great proposition although many would like to see it legalized to help bring money into the state. My take on the subject for a while has been that big tobacco companies like Phillip Morris are probably waiting in the wings for something like this to be passed so the entire process can be commercialized and we end up buying marijuana at the local liquor store with a six pack of beer. That day might be far off but it would be nice to keep dispensing as independent as possible so long as the product is regulated and meets a list of criteria. It will be interesting to see where this goes and if it even stands a chance of being passed. Definitely a hot button issue for younger voters more than old. But, I seriously believe the day of legalization may not be too far off in the future. Overcoming the social stigma attached to marijuana however is likely a long way off in the future, even if it is one day legalized. There is definitely an age divide on this issue.

Leave a comment and share your opinion. Since this blog reaches a global audience, it would be great to know what those of you out there think about this issue and how it is being regarded outside of the U.S. as well.

written by Christopher | tags: California, Dispensary, Marijuana Legalization, Politics, Pot

Falling Whistles is a special campaign to both raise awareness and give money to an important cause that for some reason the world has chosen to ignore. The cause is the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa that has so far claimed the lives of over 6 million people and continues to end the lives of more than 1500 people every single day. It is one of the most violent regions in the entire world and has famously involved the training and murder of child soldiers. Why so many countries have decided this conflict does not matter is one of the greatest tragedies in human history.

You can donate directly to the Falling Whistles campaign or purchase a whistle which is meant to stand as a symbol for blowing the whistle on this terrible human crisis. I’d like to personally thank the wonderful people behind this campaign for standing up and doing what they can to make people aware of this issue.

written by Christopher | tags: Congo, Falling Whistles, Politics, Social Issues, War

“The Red Shirt political protest in Bangkok, Thailand has been active for nearly two months now, and has entered a new, deadly phase in the past week, with at least 36 of the total 60 deaths occurring in just the last few days. Anti-government protesters have barricaded themselves against government troops and the Thai army has declared certain protest areas to be “Live Fire Zones”. A state of emergency is in effect, covering 17 provinces in the country, as protesters have refused orders to leave, and news just emerged that a renegade general who supported the Red Shirts, Khattiya Sawatdithol, died today from a gunshot wound he suffered on May 13th. Collected here are photos of the recent turmoil in central Bangkok. (39 photos total)”

Amazing pictures from Thailand. What a truly turbulent time we find ourselves in.

written by Christopher | tags: Bangkok, Politics, Red Shirt Revolt, Thailand

The Design Director of the Obama campaign, Scott Thomas contacted me several months back about a project he was putting together to chronicle the grass roots art and design contributions toward the historical campaign. The finished product is shaping up to be something really special. The book is 360 pages and hardbound. They are currently accepting donations to print the book and will only print as many books that are ordered. You can read more about the project at the official website.

Some of the work I created over the course of the campaign (that is still free for download on this site) will be in the book. Some of the same work was also recently featured in another book: Art for Obama: Designing Manifest Hope and the Campaign for Change.

The participating artists from the book:
Justin Hampton, Aaron Allen, Aaron Axelrod, Aaron Nagel, Eddie, Adam Culbert, AG Ford, Armando Lerma, Carlos Ramirez, Michelle Page, Amanda Martin, Annie Weatherwax, Ben Speckmann, Billi Kid, Delicious Design League, Brett Yasko, Brian Flynn, Christopher Smith, Caleb Kozlowski, Chad Mize, Chuck Anderson, Cody Hudson, Christopher Beaumont, Derek Gores, Deroy Peraza, Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, Erika Iris Simmons, EMEK Studios, Emily Gallardo, Evan Bench, Felix Jackson. Jr, Frank Chimero, Graye Smith, Paula Scher, Greg Beauchamp, Gui Borchert, George Vlosich III, Greg Vlosich, Lance Wille, Aaron Meshon, Herb Williams, Christopher Cox, Jonathan Hoefler, Michael Murphy, Alex Fuller, Antar Dayal, Derek Hess, Martin Schoeller, Armando Lerma, and Carlos Ramirez, Leon Bedore, Reuben Raffael, Billy Baumann & Jason Teegarden-Downs, Jason Munn, Jeff Domke, Jimm Lasser, John Locke, John Steins, John Sokol, Judy North, Ales Bask Hostomsky, Josh Wisdumb, Jessica Witkin, Kishore Nallan C, Ratha Sok, Lance Wyman, Larry Roibal, Michael Leavitt, Mr Brainwash, Margaret Coble, Adam S Doyle, Michael Forbes, Manick Sorcar, Marc Scheff, Marco Pece, Mason Fetzer, Max Estes, James O’Brien, Melvin Heng, Michael Jacob, Don Garcia, Christina Alexandra, Oliver Barrett, Gugger Petter, Phillip Clark, Frank Plant, Rafael Lopez, Ray Noland, Renan Molin, René Garcia, Jr., Robert Haining, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, Ron English, Russell Young, Steve Deer, Rick Sealock, Shana Barry, Shawn Hazen, Shannon Moore, James Widener, Sofia Fridman, Melinda Beck, Scott Hansen, Thomas Brodahl, Todd Hirsch, Todd and Cain Benson, Tristan Eaton, Charis Tsevis, Ralph Ueltzhoeffer, Van Monroe, Wade Hampton, Wes Winship, Zara Gonzalez, Zilly Rosen, Zina Saunders

Is it just me or have we lost some steam since the amazing days of the campaign? It seems now that we are as mired as we ever were. Where did our voices go? Why did we stop after he got elected? Wasn’t that just the beginning? I guess I need to get off my ass and start doing some political design work again.

written by Christopher | tags: Barack Obama, Designing Obama, Graphic Design, Scott Thomas

I just saw this posted at Surfstation and decided (after reading a passionately written post) to listen to a talk by Gordon Brown as part of a recent TED conference. Brown delivers a really unique talk for a man in his position and really espouses some unusual views on how he believes the world is being shaped by emerging technology. The juxt of his position being that we are now in a unique era where we have a genuine opportunity for real change driven by people who are able to connect instantaneously. It’s a ballsy thing to put into the stream of consciousness from a politician but that is exactly why it is hard not to take it as a genuinely heart felt cry for real change and progress.

written by Christopher | tags: Gordon Brown, Internet, Politics, Technology, TED

Good Magazine is suggesting the idea that organs could be harvested from death row inmates. Currently no plan for something like this exists within the United States. It’s a dicey issue considering strong feeling about capital punishment. Personally, I am against it. Although I know there is absolutely no way I could ever understand what it would be like to lose a loved one to murder. I have had someone in my family nearly die in an accident and that forever changed my outlook on life and the value of life. It’s been hard for me ever since to side with terminating another person’s life for any reason. To me, it highlights a flaw within our societal makeup that is not addressed by capital punishment. It cuts the weed but doesn’t pull the root.

So, what do you think? Does this sound like a good idea? Good is suggesting, so long as we have capital punishment, it might as well be used to save lives in turn even though one is lost through the saving. It sounds like a smart idea to me and I know it could help a lot of people but it is hard for me to get around my personal feelings toward capital punishment.

written by Christopher | tags: Capital Punishment, Death Row Organ Harvesting, Good Magazine

Happy Earth Day everyone. Keep it green. As soon as I am finally unpacked and moved into my new home, I am going to be looking for green alternatives for power. Do what you can, the world needs it now.  Thank you to Katrina 2353 whose photo I used after a quick search for ‘Earth’ on Compfight. She has some beautiful photos of beautiful places in her Flickr-folio.

You can visit the Earth Day Network website here to find out more about what is going on and what you can do.

written by Christopher

Well, if the Whitehouse website is any indication of Obama’s intention to ‘get things done’ we might actually be in for some real changes. The code validates and the site was updated pretty much the second he was sworn in. Hooray for good design in the White House.

C’mon folks. Its the little things you know. Bit by bit. We’ll get there.

written by Christopher | tags: Inauguration, Obama, Politics, White House, Whitehouse.gov

Tuesday will be an important earmark in American history as Obama will take office and put a new face on the American body politic. We have come a very long way since Bush was first inaugurated in what seems like a lifetime ago. I wish very badly I could have been in Washington for this historic day but just living here in Denver during the DNC was special enough. I am thankful for having been here in that special place in time.

As much as I want to just drown myself in the excitement and hype of the inauguration, I still feel very troubled about where both America and the world are right now. It has become impossible to ignore the dire straights we are in and even more impossible to know what to do about it. We so desperately need real leadership right now to put America back to task. I cannot admit to having much faith in our political system or leaders at this point, but I do still believe in the American people. I do think we are good at heart and truly want to make the world better, but we have lost our way these last few years. The best thing for us now would be for Obama and his administration to help lead us back to collectively working to solve some of the issues we face.

I am in no way claiming that we are helpless sheep, but we elect our officials for a reason, and that reason is to provide a constructive leadership that improves both our national situation and global situation. However, we have let our officials get away with too much for too long and part of the reconstruction process of our government will have to include prosecuting the politicians who have been operating and continue to operate outside of the law. Corruption has become the norm and real effective change that benefits the working class cannot happen under the watch of greedy, corrupt and criminal politicians.

Obama will only be as good a leader as we push him to be. If we expect a savior who will work while we continue to drown ourselves in debt and excess then we will be sorely disappointed and continue to spiral into apathy. We cannot afford this any longer and we must both elect better representatives and force them to be responsible. The government should fear the people and not the other way around. It is easy to say this but it must also be backed by action. If this means protesting in the streets, then so be it. We control this country, not them, and it is time that we use the law to remind them of that. Corrupt politicians and white collar criminals in this country should suffer penalties that are equal to their crimes. As far as I am concerned some of the worst offenders deserve no less than life sentences in prison for the damage they have inflicted on the economy and in turn a massive amount of people, including people outside of our borders.

It has become much harder for the working class in this country over the last decade and it keeps getting harder. We have been living out of league with sustainability for too long, and I think now we are feeling the result of that lifestyle. Hopefully we can learn to fare with less from here on out. It is painful though to see so many people becoming so disproportionately rich that it is beginning to topple the middle class in America. The middle class is and always will be the solid backbone of this country, and without it America will fail. As exiting as it has been to see Obama’s inaugural celebrations, it does stick in the back of the middle class Americans’ throat to see the front rows of the events lined by the rich and famous, when it seems those rows should have been saved for the working class people who went out of their way to make sure Obama reached the highest office of the government. Those people did not have the luxury of donating large sums to Obama, but instead paid him with time away from families they were trying to support and jobs they need to survive. I am not so blind that I do not see how it is those very rich and liberal people that the conservatives feel are completely out of touch with average Americans, and how they are angered by their access to everything while that access is denied the rest of us. It will be up to Obama to balance out his relations with the rich and famous in a way that he can still remain the peoples’ president and not lose touch with the average American. I hope he can do this because if he cannot, I fear people will not follow his lead. I hope to live to see the day that celebrity will not be so celebrated. It would serve us better to start sincerely rewarding our teachers, thinkers and scientists instead of those who entertain and sometimes distract us. If we continue to refuse to do this then America will continue to fade into the background of the continually progressing outside world.

Through it all, I remain optimistic because there is only one alternative that is not worth consideration. I am ready to work to make this country better, and I know I am not alone. The world and America are in desperate need of healing, and I fear we are losing precious time. Lets lift this administration up and force it to hold it’s mantle while we work to put this country back into the hands of the people it belongs to and was created for. Congratulations to Mr. Obama, and while we behold this historical day, let us do so in productive spirit as now is the time to turn the page of history and stop talking about change and make it happen for real.

written by Christopher | tags: , Barack Obama, Inaguration, January 20, Politics

An interactive map on the NY times website gave an insightful look today at just how much the voter landscape changed in just 4 short years. It is by far one of the most detailed maps on the subject to appear so far. It is really amazing considering what all the talking heads were saying just how much the public shifted in this election.

There is little doubt that the Obama campaign will be studied down to the smallest detail in the future.

written by Christopher | tags: Democrats, Election 2008, Interactive Map, NY Times, Obama

The right speech for the right moment. I was amazed at how composed Obama was last night and also surprised to already see in him the realization of how much work he has to do and the enormity of the responsibility that he has been given. He already looked like a president.

I went to see Jesse Jackson speak in my hometown of Kearney, Nebraska when I was very young, probably 13 years old or so. He spoke in a cornfield to a small group, in front of a grain silo or something like that if I remember right. I was really young at the time. I remember wondering then at that age if I would ever see a moment like this and also feeling confused as to why Americans could be so shallow as to not be able to see past a persons skin color. It was never an issue for me growing up as I was raised not to even consider it. I was taught to just see people and judge all people on their character and nothing else. So to see Jackson there last night crying last night, really brought back a lot of memories and stirred something in me that I don’t think I even realized was there. What a night.

written by Christopher | tags: Obama Acceptance Speech, Obama Won, Yes We Can