All Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and grassroots movements require the ability to think for yourself, on the part of organizers and participants, against a tide of corporate advertising assaults, and amidst conflicting religious and political agendas. Somewhere inside this whirl of spin doctors and commercialism, exists a people who still operate free of the machine. There is great freedom in knowing you can trust your own intuition, independent of peer pressure, the status quo, or criminalization of thought. Most great art, music, literature, et al, comes from people who follow their own drummers, to paraphrase Thoreau. The cost for this thought freedom is courage. The courage to follow your own eyes, beliefs, instincts, logic, and visions, off the beaten path, is like the boy who points and shouts the Emperor has no clothing. It is dangerous and risky, but necessary. And you are sure to have failures as well as successes. That is also one of the prices for this freedom: accepting the risk and reality of occasional failures. But the only real failure is the failure to try.

A mysterious mystic from the East, and esteemed Wise man visits the City Council meeting, but can't find a quorum to hear him.

Even in the middle of January, thousands of Americans find it necessary to voice their dissent towards the Bush Administration.

Photos from an unpermitted Anarchist convergence and March to the security perimiter as the official Inaugural Parade began

Self contained summary of events at the Santa Cruz counter-inauguration rally. 3:45

note: the word shit is used in the story...