profits are up, people are down, and the symbol for health care in america is burned black — tattered, torn, cracked and crumbling, despite patchwork attempts at reform. ha! the sad fact: we have the most pathetic, inefficient, ruthless health care system on the planet. and we have an ingrained aversion to the -ism we dare not speak and government intervention we claim so feverishly to be the most hideous of outcomes. as it will apparently lead us to a weak, dependent society. and with that, complete moral decay. or something like that.

as a system, the headline reads: just don’t get sick. in the vocabulary of pre-existing conditions, “experimental” surgery, and high risk, the business of health is a highly profitable, money-making machine. it’s a racket. and a disgrace to the idea of life and liberty. while the ever-so-simple-answer of single-payer is mocked in the establishment press and denounced as some great evil.

well maybe, but you tell me another way to create a simple answer to the most budget-crushing question of our time and i’ll be happy to forego my demands. those being: cover everyone, and treat us like people. -jk-

We suckle like babe to bottle on black gold. Our lungs breath in that sweet, sweet crude, even as the canary chirps on the window sill. The laws we enact pound down billions in quarterly profits while a media lens pities all that those poor misunderstood fat cat executives sacrifice to deliver us to the American Dream. And we hum the battle hymn of the republic, “drill baby, drill.” Just so long as the oil is cheap, and their sand stays the hell out of our way.

A favorite topic on the PTTP site is oil. And its grip — its pervasive infiltration is driving our very existence. From cheap energy mind, to cheap energy lifestyle.

But in the everywhere that is this fossil fuel economy, there is impending reality: the way we do things is not sustainable, there is no longview, and we won’t be able to do it much longer. Hence, the task at hand. Change the cheap energy mindset, change the cheap energy way we do things. Problem solved. (more…)

The following is a work in progress, are words or phrases certain people will use as reasons for not doing things, are great cloaking devices, makes me chuckle.

The Liberal Media. Socialized Medicine. Big Government Is the Problem. The Free Market. The Patriot Act. Free Trade. They Want to Raise Your Taxes. They Are Taking Your Jobs. They Hate Our Freedom. Pro-Life. War On Terror. Trickle-Down Economics. Small Town Values. Family Values. Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps. Liberal Latte Drinking Elites. It Would Hurt the Economy. The United States Does Not Torture. Out of My Cold Dead Hands. What’s In It for Me. An Imminent Threat. Ownership Society. They’re Just Lazy. Unlimited Growth. 9/11 Changed Everything. The American Dream. -jk-

by Justin Kemerling

One of the most powerful, single images of the last seven years has been that figure. Standing there isolated. Arms outstretched, wires attached to his fingers. That hooded figure. Beckoning for some sort of reason in the madness. A why. A how. And there is one explanation in that inhuman display that strikes the root problem of our democratic experiment.

The people are at the mall.

We the people say it’s terrible, horrific, but… we’re in the war on terror, we have to defend the nation. Part of that is ramping up the consumer engine of shop-shop-shop so there’s no time to second guess. We must continue our spending resolve so the terrorists don’t win. The hood might as well have polka dots on it, the new fall fashion. We probably would pay more attention. Really, if it’s not on sale and doesn’t fill up our tanks at less than $3 a gallon, then we don’t care. (more…)

by Justin Kemerling

There is an unfortunate fact that I was confronted with recently. The idea that nationalism bubbles up from the bottom too. Sadly, for all the activists out there, this bubbling up is not only for the peace, justice & equality movements. Some people like feeling superior, and will fight like hell to keep it that way.

One of the origins for this poster project came from a gallery show several graphic designers participated in here in Lincoln. The work I designed called Paste Up For Peace was a 12 x 8 foot wall plastered with 11 x 17, B/W posters commenting on our current war situation. It was early 2006 and at that time 2168 U.S. troops had been killed.

Three of those posters are particularly relevant today, mid-2008. Whether it’s the theatrical absurdity of the “war on terror,” or that peace is simply an Impeachment or two away, these war issues keep lingering in our communities with a subtle, yet commanding presence. (more…)