Zorra
Zorra's JournalRipple - Grateful Dead
(lyrics by Robert Hunter)If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung,
Would you hear my voice come thru the music,
Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken,
Perhaps they're better left unsung.
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air.
Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
If your cup is full may it be again,
Let it be known there is a fountain,
That was not made by the hands of men.
There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
And if you go no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone.
Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.
But if you fall you fall alone,
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way, I would take you home.
If I knew the way, I would take you home.
Jefferson: "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself.
Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."
Thomas Jefferson
It appears that history, and our ruling 1% "angels in the form of kings" have resoundingly answered his question:
47% of Congress Members Millionaires — a Status Shared by Only 1% of Americans
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/47-of-congress-members-millionaires-a-status-shared-by-only-1-of-americans/
Of course, the 1% are exempt from the laws under which we the people are subject. They own the lawmakers, and justice/law enforcement agencies as well. And they've made it so we basically can't do anything about it without engaging in mass, innovative, non-violent direct action.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
I'm a yellowdog Democrat from birth. A radical, liberal/progressive, non-violent FDR Democrat and a peaceful Occupier. While I see valid reason for some very necessary, stringent gun control regulations, I also see many good reasons to not make these regulations too restrictive on honest, law abiding citizens. My main reason for not wanting these laws to be unreasonably restrictive is because plutarchs (the 1%) control our government. I most sincerely believe that this is an excellent reason for me to not want to see firearms regulations overly restrictive. Some will disagree, saying "oh, the tyrants are too powerful, their weapons are too powerful you can't fight them off with deer rifles, so you might as well submit to their wishes, because there is nothing you can do". Well, I prefer to make that decision for myself, thank you very much.
I want the 1% to be fully aware that we the people have hundreds of millions of firearms.
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Thomas Jefferson
I repeat: Of course, the 1% are exempt from the laws under which we the people are subject. They own the lawmakers, and justice/law enforcement agencies as well. And they've made it so we can't do anything about it without engaging in mass, innovative, non-violent direct action.
snip---
We are five years since Wall Street’s excesses blew up the global economy, and the scandals just keep coming. Each scandal reinforces the need for tough regulation and tough enforcement. Each scandal proves over again the importance of breaking up the big banks. Each scandal raises the question of personal responsibility. How come borrowers are prosecuted for defrauding their banks, but bankers seem never to be prosecuted for defrauding their customers? George Osborne, the conservative British chancellor of the Exchequer, put it succinctly: “Fraud is a crime in ordinary business — why shouldn’t it be so in banking?” He is demanding action: “Punish wrongdoing. Right the wrong of the age of irresponsibility.”
We haven’t heard anything like that out of Washington. Libor-gate once more exposes how lax this administration has been on the banks — and how irresponsible and, frankly, craven Republicans and Mitt Romney have been on this question. Romney echoes the know-nothing Republican right’s call for repealing what little bank regulation has been passed since the financial collapse — primarily the Dodd-Frank legislation. He touts deregulation in the wake of a global economic calamity caused in large part by the misguided belief that banks can police themselves.
Not surprisingly, Romney and Republicans are raking in donations from Wall Street. But they are catering to banksters that know no shame. For example, one of the most powerful Wall Street lobbying groups is the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which has been leading the drive to weaken Dodd-Frank and exempt derivatives from transparency. Its chair was Jerry del Missier, the COO of Barclays, who lost his job and apparently his chairmanship in Libor-gate. Why are we not surprised?
Last January, Barclays’ hard-edged CEO Robert E. Diamond Jr. announced that it was time for bankers to get their brass back. “There was a period of remorse and apology for banks,” he declared. “I think that period is over.” More and more of the customers defrauded by bankers might agree. They are tired of fake remorse and ritual apology. That period is over. It is time for prosecutions to begin.
If we ever succeed in overturning Citizen's United, ending all lobbying of elected officials, and completely remove wealth and profit as a motivator for government policy and action, only then would I ever consider that extreme firearm regulation might be a reasonable suggestion.
☮ccupy
Start with a powerful police agency -- The Dept. of Internal Control and Confiscation of the United
States, (or DICCUS for short).
[div style="display:inline; background-color:#FFFF66;"][font color="blue" size="size" face="face"]SUBMISSION. SAFETY. SECURITY.[/font]
Then, pass legislation suspending the 4th Amendment, citing that it is necessary for the safety and security of the nation. Name the legislation the Patriot Act or the National Defense Authorization Act Good Citizen Domestic Security Act (don't think they've used that one yet). Attach a [font color="red" size="size" face="face"]SUNSET PROVISION[/font]
to the act, knowing full well that the Sun is never really going to Set on the legislation.
Search every dwelling thoroughly. Confiscate all firearms or any other illegal items/persons. Warrants are no longer no necessary. Set up security roadblocks between all state border crossings. Use gun/drug/immigrant/criminal sniffing police dogs at every checkpoint, along with x-ray surveillance of all persons and vehicles
Arrest anyone in possession of illegal items/substances/etc, convict them, and put them in prison for 3 years.
Do you have a neighbor you suspect may have a firearm or marijuana? Call the DICCUS HOTLINE at 911-555-5555!
Remember, there is a $500 Reward for each conviction!
Don't be afraid to give up your rights! We live in a different world today. Multi-national Corporations now run the government. They need to be free from all fear of democratic revolution in order to keep people safe from democracy. The Corporate State knows what is best for you.
[div style="display:inline; background-color:#FFFF66;"][font color="blue" size="size" face="face"]SUBMISSION. SAFETY. SECURITY.[/font]
[font color="red" size="size" face="face"]Obey[/font]
Rural areas of the west are deadly. The fierce critters that live here prefer the flesh of urban
folk who naively come here to hike and camp.
Mountain lions, bears, wolves, coyotes, eagles, rattlesnakes, gila monsters, scorpions, tarantulas, snipe, and jackalopes prowl at will, preying on hapless city folk as they lie quivering with terror in their tents or, where available, motel rooms. Crazed hunters sit in trees with rifles and bows, waiting to pick off anything that moves.
Urban folks should never attempt to hike or camp in the rural west!!! They should absolutely never try to move here and live in this deadly environment!!!
We don't want to see folks get hurt. Ain't that right, tularetom? 
Folks should stay in those cities, where they are safe, safe from nature and all those nasty critters.
2010 Data
Amen. Most of the idiotic arguments and opinions concerning political issues
that I see or hear are put forth by people who are basically clueless about history.
They have almost no clue about the events that happened in the past, events that led the world to be the way that it is today
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
Karl Marx
Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
Thomas Jefferson
We are not makers of history. We are made by history.
Martin Luther king
Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.
Winston Churchill
History education is being sidelined throughout the country, especially at the K–12 level. The recurrent standards controversy over what part of our national history should be taught and when (as in the cases of Texas and North Carolina) should not overshadow a larger cause for concern. Over the past few years, counties, districts, and schools have begun to implement plans to reduce or eliminate history courses in the lower grades. When districts decide to drop history from their curriculum, administrators assert that they must do so because their students read and write far below grade level. To address and remedy this lack of proficiency, districts direct teachers to focus exclusively on English-Language Arts instruction, a focus that will almost surely intensify with the near national adoption of the Common Core State Standards.
Improving student literacy certainly merits attention. However, dropping history instruction from the curriculum will not ensure that reading comprehension and writing ability improve. Indeed, history must be part of the curriculum if the goal is to improve student literacy: research as well as educators' empirical experience suggest that studying history improves a student's ability to read analytically, think critically, and write effectively. Moreover, the discipline of history prepares students to take part in a pluralistic democracy by requiring them to consider multiple perspectives, analyze and interpret information, and draw conclusions from evidence.1
....Many other states evaluate schools through similar federal/state accountability systems. In general, these scores focus on two NCLB measures: reading and mathematics. Schools with student test scores that do not meet goals established under these systems risk losing funds and autonomy. To improve school ranking, schools therefore focus heavily on these two disciplines, with the result that administrators often eliminate history from the curriculum entirely, or reduce it to as little as 30 minutes per week.2 While the United States Department of Education is currently reviewing state applications to the NCLB law, few view these waivers as a serious challenge to our discipline's marginalization.
Most members of the Anti-Social Justice Movement are just jealous because they know
deep down that they will never have the courage to get off the couch, shut off the TV, get a life, and really do something.
They fawningly obey their 1% corporate masters, lovingly kissing their gilded asses for the mere chance to serve them in the smallest way possible. Any threat to the fragile security bestowed upon them by their self-acknowledged superiors leads to immediate attacks on the barbarians who dare challenge the status quo of their beloved plutarchy.
The rest of the members of the Anti-Social Justice Movement are the 1% themselves
These are typical examples of *snarf* members of the bipartisan Anti-Social Justice Movement conservatives who hate Occupy. Conservatives universally hate Occupy:
In contrast, these are typical examples of socially conscious people love Occupy. The cops, mmm, not so much.
Most liberals love Occupy:
Which one are you? Which group best represents your feelings toward Occupy?
Yes. That. It certainly contributes to the perception that both parties are owned by the 1%.
And any reasonable person would become suspicious under these circumstances.
But there is a really good reason that Obama/Dems did not go after the banks. The explanation for this is simple, and obvious:
The dichotomy between two spheres within the Keynsian-Smith parabellum cannot be reconciled within the chrono-simplastic infundibulum, which automatically negates the equation that 1 + 1 = 2. Therefore, no action could Constitutionally be taken under premise that the banks committed a crime. The appearance of what seems like an obvious crime is simply a refraction of the quantum basis for the seeming incompatibility between the Rimini protocol and the Calmfors–Driffill hypothesis.
Obviously, Glass Steagall could not be reinstated as it would have been rendered un-Constitutional by the Khazzoom–Brookes postulate of 1863.
Now, I know that you believe you understand what you think I wrote, but I'm not sure you realize that what you read is not what I meant, and that is not the case. You must realize that there are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns.
There are things we don't know we don't know, and these are not things we know.
Therefore, under these conditions, 1 + 1 does not equal two.
I hope this clears things up for you. 
Well, there you have it. One seriously bullshit elitist post.
"We do not live in fear and we do not dwell on what others have.
We are happy with our lives..."
.................................
Perfect. That is the quintessential mindset of those who despise Occupy.
"Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud"
Maybe you don't give a damn about what others have. Well, good for you. You got yours. You're happy with your life. YAY!
Just please, stop pissing all over those of us who really do give a shit about others, particularly those others who are suffering from injustices. Stop pissing all over us for endangering our life and health, and laying out our time and cash, for trying to make a better world.
Pissing on people that are making sincere sacrifices to try to make a better world.
That's some nasty shit right there.
Because you are unquestionably right; Occupy really does care about what others have. In fact, that's what Occupy is all abou/i]. We care about what others have.
The paragraph below is exactly how we care about what others have:
Do people have enough food? Do they have medical care? Do they have shelter? Do the have a clean, livable environment? Do they have protection from oppression? Do they have equal rights? Do they have opportunity? Do they have the possibility of obtaining an education? etc.
What can we do, how can we work together to bring about social and economic injustice and make sure all people have the possibility of having these things?
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we wont understand
Don't accept that whats happening
Is just a case of others suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away
Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that were all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
Its not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away
Yeah. Why would any Democrat despise a group founded on these principles:
Makes no sense. Occupy is the opposite of the GOP - you'd think all Dems would support it, at least in conscience if not in physical participation. Republicans universally hate Occupy. Over half of Occupy will vote Democratic this election, and the rest either won't vote, or will vote for a liberal third party candidate. But no Occupier would ever vote for a republican. So why are all these anti-Occupy Dems on the same side as the GOP on this issue?
This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on September 29, 2011
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
Generally, conservatives will dig up every insignificant little thing they can to hate on Occupy
with, or for, no matter what we do. If they can't dig something up, they make it up.
These conservatives are always on the wrong side of history.
"Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better." MLK, Jr.
*Sigh*...it's just the nature of the beast, I suppose...
snip---
Disparate conservatives share a resistance to change and acceptance of inequality...
snip---
The avoidance of uncertainty, for example, as well as the striving for certainty, are particularly tied to one key dimension of conservative thought - the resistance to change or hanging onto the status quo, they said.
snip---
While most people resist change, Glaser said, liberals appear to have a higher tolerance for change than conservatives do.
Those who hate on Occupy are basically the same people that hated on us when we were protesting the War in Vietnam, the same people who were hating on us when we protest the WTO. They are the same people who supported corporate rights and corporations over the establishment of labor unions throughout history. They are the same people who were offended that women, and black people, and LGBTIQ folks, etc. would march in the streets for their civil rights.
Some of those who despise Occupy do not see themselves as these people. That is because the people who fought for their rights in the past, and won, made their rights a part of the status quo and collective consciousness ie, a part of the system. This, despite mass conservative opposition. The people who despise Occupy don't know or understand history, don't really understand that real people made real sacrifices to bring about real change, despite their conservative opposition to real change.
If blacks, women, LGBTIQ, labor, etc, had not marched and struggled back when they did, and not yet achieved the recognition they have today, and they were marching in the streets today to achieve this recognition, the same conservatives that hate on Occupy today would be hating on the blacks, women, LGBTIQ, and labor. Of course,the more extreme among them still do hate on minority groups.
We LGBTIQ persons are still struggling for our recognition and rights, in the face of extreme hostile conservative opposition, opposition that, until very recently, came from conservatives in both the Democratic and republican parties. There are still more than a few conservatives in the Democratic party who hate us and oppose the legal recognition and protection of our Constitutional rights and equality. We have had to struggle mightily, and force the issue in order to make the gains we have made up until this point.
A point where we have finally convinced even some of the conservatives in the Democratic party that we are equal human beings deserving of respect and equality.
These gains would not have come about without our direct action/civil disobedience outside of the electoral system.
All these constructive social changes would never have occurred without the direct action/civil disobedience of courageous people who stood up and said "Enough is enough, we're not going to take it any more". These changes would never have been brought about through the electoral system if people had not spent laborious decades struggling for change from outside the system. Who opposed them at every turn?
Conservatives.
They always support the cops, violations of the Constitution, and the corporate system over the people who are willing to risk their health and freedom engaging in whatever non-violent actions they can think of to help bring about the end of war and social and economic injustice.
They are the conservatives. It doesn't matter what political party they belong to. Reagan Democrats brought us Ronald Reagan. Conservatives. It's always the same people, those people who oppose the leftist radicals who struggle to eventually bring about the significant changes that make a better world.
Those same people that hate on Occupy.
Conservatives.
Same shit; different day.
"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."
--Martin Luther King Jr.
"
When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong."
Eugene V. Debs
"When the power of Love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
Jimi Hendrix
Conservatives.
Wake up!
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleCurrent location: Earth
Member since: Tue Sep 23, 2003, 11:05 PM
Number of posts: 27,670