You Are Here Columbus

The blog of the social collective of Arawak City, Ohio.

20 June 2009

Worst Day of Riots So Far



At 19:05 June 20th
Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st.

A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes.
The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St.


Stay tuned for time and place of a protest in solidarity with Iranians being organized by local Iranian-Americans here in Columbus.

15 June 2009

Protests Over the Presidential Election in Iran



YAH's resident Persian has sent the following links for our consideration:

25khordad at Wordpress
Rayeman kojast? at Wordpress
tehranlive.org
Daneshgah Sanati Esfehan at blogspot

My limited Farsi knowledge tells me that these are all pretty much from university areas. Note that these are pictures and videos from Iranian bloggers and activists from the past couple of days in the wake of the re-election of Ahmadinejad, who is believed to have stolen the election from the reform candidate Mousavi due to the unprecedented number of young voters (think the past US presidential election except Obama loses by a landslide). It's pretty intense.







Smash the Suburbs!!!

Intriguing Plan in Michael Moore's Home Town: Bulldoze the Ghost 'Burbs, Return Them to Nature

By Tom Leonard, The Telegraph (UK). Posted June 13, 2009.

Concept of razing post-industrial "rust belt" empty neighborhoods draws interest in Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other cities.

The government looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, Michigan, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature.

Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 percent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.


http://www.alternet.org/environment/140629/intriguing_plan_in_michael_moore%27s_home_town%3A_bulldoze_the_ghost_%27burbs%2C_return_them_to_nature/

10 June 2009

Check Out This Site and Help End Poverty

http://hoenir.himinbi.org/

I’ve always admired Hunter S. Thompson. I love his sense of a story from the edge of something. I also love the idea of duplicating him. Wouldn’t “crazed rambling drunk” be an awesome job? To Hunter S. I dedicate these two weeks of semi-coherent rambling.




(I can’t figure out how to get rid of that sidebar player atm, sorry.)

I’m not going to watch the video before posting it and most of it is a blur, but I know I said I had a plan to save the world.

I actually do have a plan to save the world. My goal for this little experiment is to sell people on an endearing mix of rambling and philosophy so they’ll follow me on Twitter. A week and a half from now I hope to be taping these videos on my way to Oprah’s show. I actually do have an idea that can fundamentally alter how our economy works. I just need fame since I’m too poor to pay people to do all the things I need done to move the plan forward.

The ending poverty idea is more entertaining than the Homage to Hunter S., a million Twitter followers and the siege on Oprah, so by all means stumble this post and stop by again. If enough people do, I’ll get my audience with the queen.

08 June 2009

Free Artem Loskutov!



When I was in Russia I spoke to a few people about their interactions with the KGB and it is FUCKING SCARY to know that post-Soviet interrogation practices are more-or-less the same.

On May 15, the young contemporary artist Artem Loskutov was arrested in his native Novisibirsk and charged with possession of a narcotic substance (marijuana) by the local branch of the Interior Ministry’s notorious Center for Extremism Prevention (Center “E”). Loskutov and his supporters claim that the police planted the marijuana in his bag in order to incriminate him. As one of the inspirations behind the annual “Monstration”—a flash-mob street party in which young people march with absurdist, non-political slogans—Loskutov had long been an object of the Center’s attentions. At a pre-trial custody hearing on May 20, it was revealed that the Center had been tapping the phones of Loskutov and his friends for the past six months. In April and on May Day itself, Loskutov had been summoned to the Center for “discussions”; his parents had also been called and told that their son was a member of a dangerous sect. The circumstances of the case and the way that he was arrested thus point to a campaign of intimidation directed both at Loskutov and his fellow free-thinking “monstrators” in Novosibirsk.

"Judge: This person is guilty!
Fighting for increased wages - guilty!
Not loving the police - guilty!
For the inclination towards critical thought - wanted!
Cosmopolite. Internationalist. Atheist. Extremist. Are there any such people among you? Are any of you extremists???"

http://www.metamute.org/en/free_artem_loskutov

07 June 2009

FIELD TRIPS

(YOU ARE HERE) FIELD TRIP TO THE DAYTON AIR SHOW JULY 18th or 19th
-confront the militarized spectacle!

http://www.usats.org/

more details soon...

_________________________

also im sure you have all heard-

G20 SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN PITTSBURGH SEPT 24th and 25th
-oh SHIT!

xo
brett

About

This blog serves as a transparent point of discourse for You Are Here--a Columbus collective that grew out of the Comparative Studies Undergraduate Group at the Ohio State University. It consists of people from all academic and social backgrounds with an emphasis on social theory. Most succinctly put, it is creative scholarship in affect--whether it be from academia, popular culture, art, language, or personal observation. The ideas expressed in this blog are by no means reached by consensus and do not necessarily reflect those of other members. The comments doubly so. Feel free to critique, question, or agree with any views expressed. You don't have to reside in or be familiar with the city of Columbus. As far as we're concerned, you are here.