activism

Roy decided to bring the proceedings to a close with a joke from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.”

“In the movie, this man, Brian, asks a band of guerrilla fighters, ‘Are you the Judean Peoples’ Front?’ ” Roy said, mimicking a British accent. “And the reply he gets from this really offended group is: No, absolutely not. ‘We’re the Peoples’ Front of Judea.’ ” The joke, an elaborate parody of radical factionalism, made Roy laugh heartily. It also changed the emotional temperature of the room. As we came out of the house and milled around in the alley, the various groups seemed easier with each other.

via Arundhati Roy, the Not-So-Reluctant Renegade – NYTimes.com.

Always enjoyed this firebrand, for somewhat obvious reasons.

Mt. SAC professor on the run in Beijing after protest – DailyBulletin.com

Edward Romero is on the run in the Olympics host city of Beijing.

According to friends and colleagues of the La Puente pastor and philosophy professor at Mt. San Antonio College, Romero is being sought by Chinese authorities for painting two upscale Beijing hotel rooms with anti-oppression slogans like, “Speak out for those who have no voice,” and “Beijing 2008 Our world Our nightmare.”

The incidents have caught the interest of news outlets and Internet users worldwide, who have flocked to Romero’s YouTube page – “Diary of a Gadfly” – where the La Puente resident videotaped his antics and uploaded them online.

“It’s going all over the world at a furious pace,” said Tony Thomas, a longtime friend of Romero who has been appointed Romero’s unofficial spokesman. “He has had the vision to do this (for years), but I think most people didn’t really know exactly what he was going to do until he actually did it.”

You can follow the action here…