Howdy Hellraisers!!

Just wanted to give y'all a quick heads-up that The Battle in Seattle, an amazing new film by my friend Stuart Townsend, starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta, and Andre Benjamin will debut in cities across the United States this Friday.

It's been almost 9 years now since we delivered a people powered peaceful ass-whooping to the Neoconquistadors from the World Trade Organization. They thought that Seattle would be the perfect place to plot the hostile corporate takeover of planet Earth. Wrong!!! Unfortunately, since then we've seen up close and personal what corporate governance looks like. Like when the front office of Big Oil gets to run a large powerful country (say this one for instance).

I don't know about everyone else out there but I was kinda hoping that this presidential election cycle would be all about the critical challenges facing Americans. Stuff like our Energy Future, Healthcare for All, Ending the War, Stabilizing the Climate, and building opportunities for our kids instead of jails. Silly me.

We could and should be charting a NEW New Deal but apparently it's much more newsworthy to peddle propoganda, personal narratives, spin, lies, and character assassinations.

So why not escape the vacuous political realities of our bankrupt electoral system and go catch a flick. The Battle In Seattle's got it all:  sex, violence, humor, pageantry AND real consequential issues. It's a roller coaster of a film. The next best thing to having been there hanging from the cranes, marching through the streets, singing in the jails, and breathing in the sweet smell of tear gas in the morning.

It certainly brought a few tears to my eyes. But mostly because I was swelling with pride at the essential role that the hardworking hellraisers of Ruckus (and all our bad ass allies) played in creating one of our country's finest political moments in a generation, and what's to come with this new breed of Ruckateers and Ruckatistas!

Peace and Love,

John