Catfish
Volumes 31-35
©2015
Andrew Bushard
Catfish
Volume 31
Andrew Bushard
3/10/02
Hello wonderful Catfish fans. The latest issue of Catfish is before your eyes. Hopefully it will be a delicious feast that you will savor.
For the author, graduation is near. After 5 years of college, ending time is within reach. Although college is almost done, education itself is not. Graduate school is on the horizon. The plan is first the master's then the PhD. For the master's, the author is going to go to a cold city, Mankato Minnesota to attend the sociology graduate program at Minnesota State University in Mankato. Hopefully, after the master’s the author can migrate to a warm climate. The author detests the cold . A huge plan is to continue the revolution of Federation Without Television. Mankato is the plan for FWT's second chapter.
There is a fear that graduate work will take away from the revolution due to the time and commitment involved. Hopefully, it won't be way too much more intense than undergraduate work. The revolution of Federation Without Television is a must for this existence, so the author is determined to make it go strong. Not only is there the course load of graduate school, but I also am fortunate to have a graduate assistantship. The assistantship requires about 20 hours a week of work. That is a major time commitment. Hopefully the specific details of scheduling for the assistantship can be fleshed out early, so lots of planning for FWT can occur when the schedule is out of the way.
The assistantship is wonderful because it will pay 8000 a year. To most Americans, this doesn't seem like much. But to college students that at the very most made 3000 a year, it seems like a gold mine. This last school year including the summer, the author delivered newspapers, which pays 80 dollars a month. Adding only 300 dollars for the brief time at the summer camp, this is only slightly over one thousand dollars. Having such little income, helps one value 8000 dollars. The fact that many Americans would not be content with 8000 dollars demonstrates how spoiled we are. 8000 dollars is sufficient if one is dedicated to living at least relatively simply. 8000 dollars is sufficient to provide the basic needs of life and extra comforts. All that money will feel great to have.
Federation Without Television recently came out with a series of 5 new leaflets. Each leaflet addresses a particular political view, hoping to attract the proponents of the view over to our cause. Leaflets are targeted to Liberals and Progressives, Conservatives, Socialists, Libertarians and Anarchists. Television's damages is so powerful and pervasive, television is clearly an enemy to the actualization of all of these groups. Anyone who seeks to cultivate a better society is threatened by television. The harm of television is evident when we consider it is disastrous to all these groups. Federation Without Television seeks to be very dynamic, we want to be a hope where all this groups of people feel comfortable. An organization that can attract such a wide collection of peoples is truly a powerful organization, we hope to be such an organization. A successful movement is a movement that can unite diverse peoples together for a common purpose. The above mentioned groups have very different views, but all should find power in our anti television movement because television discourages critical thought and social evolution. Television is a tool of the status quo, and these groups recognize ills of the status quo that need changing. All these beautiful people can be a great service to the actualization of the Federation Without Television.
You the reader should get involved in Federation Without Television. Any commitment is helpful. If nothing else, read our literature, the FWT book, Federation Without Television: The Blossoming Movement: essays and leaflets available at Xlibris.com. or Amazon com. Also great is listening to our wide array of audio taped programs. Even better is distributing our literature. Visit our website https://bushard0.tripod.com/federationwithouttelevision/. It would be great if you could join the organization. Ultimately awesome, would be starting your own chapter.
In order to become better focused next year, this author desires to stop spread himself too thin. Although the author is currently able to devote lots of time, energy and resources to the Federation Without Television revolution, the author realizes that other activities prevent yet even more time, energy and resources being used for the FWT. The author is involved in probably too many organizations. The assistantship will be an extra crunch, so belonging to too many organizations simply isn't feasible. Focusing can also make one happier. It can be peace inducing to center the energy. Great knowledge of the self leads one to utilize the energy most effectively for what they really love.
Next year, the author is thinking it should be best to participate actively and centrally in only two groups: Federation Without Television and Toastmasters International. Many of the tasks accomplished in other groups, can often be accomplished in Federation Without Television. FWT is so beautiful that it allows one to flourish socially, politically, intellectually and creatively. This is not to say that the work of other groups is not important, just not what is ideal to center most energy on for this existence. The author doesn't like to quit, so when the author graduates, the author will not be quitting. Sure, particular involvement at an individual location will change, but the underlying motivation will not change. It's simply not possible to belong to a local only club at a different locality, thus ending involvement in a local club when a move is necessary cannot be considered quitting. It can be addicting to belong to every worthwhile club, but it's not best for one's energy or sanity or effectiveness. It can be hard to resist other's pleas to get involved in other organizations. It can be hard to be perfectly assertive when one digs what another group is doing, but really shouldn't belong for energy and time reasons. It's tough to be assertive to turn down something you support. Hopefully, I will have the strength to turn down offers of getting involved in other groups.
I do not desire by any means to give up activism, it is integral to me. The activism will either be non organization based or within the framework of the very dynamic Federation Without Television. Too many meetings can be draining. Draining energy from what is most dear to one's heart. It is a matter of concentrating on the core. It is optimal when we can tap into our true calling(s), preventing anything less than vital for us, to drain our energy.
In this issue, are editorials mostly about peace and justice issues. These essays attempt to make powerful statements and encourage people to approach matters most justly and rationally. There are almost some press releases which describe a few activities FWT has been up to. As is most often the case, there are also reviews.
Sleepout for the Prohibition of Alcohol press release deserves mention. This event was inspired by an event a bunch of us did at the end of 2001 called "Sleepout for the Homeless" Due to various experiences and thinking, neo-prohibition has been deemed the most just and liberating approach. On Friday night, the event occurred. Only the author was there for the cause of prohibition. A wonderful friend Blanca Martin was so cool to provide support and company. It was raining badly. It was cold. The temperature was near freezing all night. But due to experiences of other events, what to wear was known. In fact, there were 2 extra layers on top. Blanca was cool because she was there when she didn't agree with the cause, but also when the weather was far less than ideal. That is what one calls a friend! Some of our activist friends, Jim Missey (a retired professor) Dana, Deanna, and Katie checked up on us. The author only slept for about an hour which was when Blanca went home for awhile to get extra supplies and to get warm.
A fabulous idea of Blanca's was bringing a blow dryer. It was a wonderful source of heat that kept
us warm. We notice that the heat made the night very bearable. There was almost no shivering. Going to the bathroom was unpleasant because it involved getting feet wet out in the cold rain. The time went by really fast largely because the author and the author's buddy Blanca had really cool conversation. All considered, staying outside wasn't too unpleasant at all. It's empowering to stay a long time outside during the cold, one is able to realize all that they can truly do.
The author made some minutes of recording at the start of the event, discussing the purpose of the cause and the novel event. Blanca's friend Ruthie stopped by and we got some words from her on the tape. We were underneath a building ledge since it was raining. We were very near to many bars. There wasn't a whole lot of people outside. Most people didn't notice us or at least didn't acknowledge that we were there by any comments. We really only had one conversation with someone we didn't already know, a dude that talked alot about homelessness and the Salvation Army. Right before he left, he made hints about devotion to god.
Saturday was a miserable day. There was lots of snow blowing, strong wind blowing and very cold temperature. Although the event was planned to also be on Saturday, it simply was not prudent to stay outside. The author asked Ben Stites the main organizer of Sleepout for the Homeless about when the event should not occur, he said "We are insane but not suicidal. We don't want to stay outside if there is a threat of hypothermia." This standard was applied to the Prohibition event also.
A bunch of great anti-alcohol and prohibition literature was printed on the computer. But since we had almost no interactions with outsiders, none was distribution. The author discovered a great site that had material from back in the day prohibition organizations. The author was thinking that it might be cool to have a "Prohibition camp" inspired by the Peace Camp we did during the beginning of the Afghanistan war. Maybe during the end of the school year when the weather is beautiful.
Dig Catfish. Have a great day, reader.
Andrew Bushard
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