There are a few things you should know about me.
One is that I am not Chinese, so you can be sure that I write my first name first and my last name last. Another is that "Avedon" is not a screen name, it's my name.
Quick bio - I was born in Maryland and grew up in walking distance of the Kensington Beltway exit (although it wasn't actually there at the time I was born). I used to be a singer but then I discovered that I had to write. I graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park and worked in the newsroom at The Baltimore Sun during my final year. I like to read sf, and so do most of my friends. Much of what I do in London revolves around civil liberties, principally anti-censorship work. I have been part of the editorial team of all but one of Feminists Against Censorship's books and am solo author of one of them and of a number of our other publications. Other articles by me have appeared in law journals, magazines, and newspapers. I have also been known to be a talking head on radio and television.
My father raised me to hate Nixon, and grew out his hair in protest during his presidency, culminating in a ceremonial haircut mere moments after Nixon resigned. I've often thought that, much as I miss my dad, I'm glad he never lived to see our country stolen by thieves in 2000. He was enormously proud of my work. My weblog, The Sideshow, begun in November of 2001, is dedicated to him and to the dreams he had for his children.
What I believe
I believe in what is known as "liberal government" - that is, government by, for, and of the people, constituted not merely to protect the wealth and position of the extremely rich and powerful, but the welfare and prosperity of all of the people.I believe in the values I was raised with in school, where I was taught the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which told me that our government exists to serve the people and protect the rights of the people.
I believe in the values I learned in church, where I was taught that the worship of money is evil, that we should help each other - particularly those who are most in need - and in the Golden Rule.
I believe in honest pay for honest work, and in freedom from all tyranny, whether it be imposed by invaders or from a home-grown power base.
I believe that abridgement of our individual rights is unacceptable, whether the tyrants are agents of government, commerce, or religious institutions.
And I believe that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance in protecting and promoting those values.
[YouTube Audio, "What I believe", 8 January 2011]
