Hey folks,

If anyone is still reading this regularly, you can probably tell that I haven’t been updating this thing too much.

I’ve come to a point where I really want my writing and thoughts to focus on making sense of what the hell is going on economically and politically in these crazy times that we find ourselves in. Thus, I’ve re-focused my other website, The Cheddar Path, to try and look at what’s going on in the world from a progressive economic perspective, and will pretty much be putting all of my “blog energy” into that. I am also really trying to get my own personal finances in order, and  want the Path to try and provide personal finance tips for progressives and explore ways to build wealth without sacrificing progressive values.

Here’s some recent posts that give you an idea of the direction I’m trying to go in:

“The Schwab/Credit Union Combo“

“Blue Scholars: New Music, New Business Models”

Much love and appreciation to anyone who’s come through here and enjoyed the random brain farts I’ve been spewing out over the last couple of years. I still might post up a youtube video on here every now and again, but hopefully I can get ya’ll to head on over to The Cheddar Path and see where it goes from there. Peace folks!

KC

Hilarious, “Obama WHY?”

Head over to the Path for some info on checking account options. Holla!

Benicio Del Toro is a boss, and this movie looks sick. Based on an old Marvel comic book, of course.

While reflecting on a recently released report detailing even more shit that was fucked up about the situation surrounding the killing of Oscar Grant, I wanted to give Denizen Kane some shine. Very simple, dope video directed by Jason Mateo. This is the first new Kane track I’ve heard in awhile (and I’m late on it as I think its been making the rounds since early this year), so here’s hoping that the brother continues to put in work.

I’ve been reading this guy’s stuff recently and have definitely dug it; just finished Omnivore’s Dilemma and have now started In Defense of Food. If you’re interested, I’d recommend checking out Omnivore’s first because In Defense really kind of seems like a sequel, expanding on themes of the first book.

Just some really dope explorations into how food gets to our tables and our whole culture (or lack thereof in the States) of eating. Depressing at times for sure, but his writing style is really easy to read and the guy never came off as preachy or pretentious to me.

Sorry for the hiatus, been taking some time out to settle back into the Bay Area. Don’t even know if anyone’s reading this anymore, but we’re gonna keep things rolling either way. Peace.

I was supposed to travel by bus through Honduras on my way to Nicaragua, but the Honduran borders have been closed due to the crazy political situation there right now. Naturally, the country, and its people have been on my mind a lot. Counterpunch has been running some great analysis on the events there, so definitely peep their coverage if you want to get a better idea of the situation beyond the frame of the corporate media.

I’ve been in Xela, Guatemala for about two weeks now, and just wanted to share some initial thoughts and observations. For one, the country is pretty materially poor. By that, I mean that a lot of the buildings are pretty old/damaged, the roads are pretty fucked up, the plumbing system can’t support toilet paper, the tap water isn’t suitable for drinking, etc. Basically, a lot of funds are not being put into infrastructure. I’ve learned that a lot of the challenges have to do with their being a pretty crazy oligarchy in place, in which the twenty richest families in the country run everything and the wealth isn’t really trickling down to the people. It’s also important to point out that nearly 75% of Guatemala’s population is descended from the indigenous people here, but those twenty families in power most definitely ain’t indigenous.

When I look at Guatemala, I can’t help but be reminded of a trip to Cuba I was blessed to be able to go on a couple of years ago, at least in terms of the material conditions. However, while Cuba is still a socialist country,  Guatemala is a “democracy.” So, while Cuba is pretty cut off and isolated from the rest of the world (ie, US corporate interests), Guatemala has McDonalds and Wal-Mart. But what has this gotten them? Even though Cuba is just as materially poor as Guatemala seems to be, at least the government there is providing the people with their basic necessities and then some (ie, food rations, education, healthcare, etc.). Here in Guatemala, a lot of the families that I’ve talked to are struggling to pay for groceries, medication perscriptions, education costs, etc. just like families are struggling to do so in the US.

All of this is just another reminder to question what the government or the media means when they say things like “Cuba needs to open itself up to democracy.” Is it really true democracy they’re talking about, or just the desire to put in Wal-Marts and Egg McMuffins?

(A local comadrona,”midwife,” shows us an herb garden they use here at a midwife clinic they have set up for pregnant women who can’t afford the high costs of going to a private hospital.)

At the same time, I’m very inspired by the people here in Guatemala. The school I’m studying at is engaged in some real dope social justice work, and I see many women who still dress in the traditional indigenous style of clothing. I think those small acts of resistance mean a lot in terms of trying to retain culture and also hold the government and people in power here accountable.

Peace,

KC

***

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but The Box has moved out of the ATL and has temporarily relocated to Central America. I’m studying Spanish for the next several weeks at an amazing school in Guatemala called the Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Espanol (PLQE). It’s definitely a blessing to be able to travel in the midst of a global economic recession, and I’m only able to do this with some savings that I´ve put away over the last year and a half. My Chinese side says: ”Save your money, kids, even if it´s only $50-$100 a month.” Who knows, that could be the deciding factor when you decide to leave your job and do something spontaneously ridiculous.

More to come soon, but in the mean time, check out PLQE’s website. I’ve only been here two days but am really impressed with the school and the folks who run it.