October 3, 2011 archive

BREAKING NEWS – BREAK NEWS – ABC HAS BREAKING NEWS

thank God, Diane Sawyer was on the tube with this breaking news:  the Italian Judge reading the verdict in Amanda Knox’ trial.  She was the young woman being held for murder in Italy for 3 years – a terrible thing.  I’m glad she’s freed.  however,

has ABC shown much of what’s going on in Wall Street rallies.  ???  I don’t watch much MSM, so I don’t know but I don’t think so.

As I said to the News Department which I just called:  Diane Sawyer who was trembling with excitement when we bombed Iraq now tops her career with this piece of spectacular news.

Are you covering the kids being beat up by NYC cops?  ’cause Russian TV is and the world has seen it.

Anyone got a valium?

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Occupy Wall St. Livestream: Day 17

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

OccupyWallStreet

The resistance continues at Liberty Square, with free pizza 😉

For those who still don’t understand what motivates this protest that has spread across the US and gained the world’s attention even before the so-called progressives finally stopped negating it, here is the statement of grievances from the  Occupy Wall Street NYC General Assembly:

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

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.

The entire list is below the fold.

And a special h/t to RiaD for her article with the links and videos to many of the web sites and facebook page for Occupy Wall Street.

From OccupyWallStreet:

JP Morgan Chase recently donated $4.6 Million to the NYPD, coincidence?

New York City Police Foundation – New York

JPMorgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple. The money will pay for 1,000 new patrol car laptops, as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD’s main data center.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly sent CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon a note expressing “profound gratitude” for the company’s donation.

“These officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe,” Dimon said. “We’re incredibly proud to help them build this program and let them know how much we value their hard work.”

And Matt Yglesias is an idiot who thinks that “this looks like a well-timed investment as direct action protests against banks gain steam”:

To my way of thinking, this is a healthy dynamic. I’m not a radical anti-capitalist. But something you saw during the Cold War was that the possibility of radical anti-capitalists taking over helped create incentives for the business class to ensure that the “free world” organized market economies in a way that was broadly beneficial.

From Stephen Eldridge in comments:

Seems to be the better dynamic would be to tax these people more and give the money to the police that way.

Occupy Boston protesters plan rush hour rally

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff

Demonstrators who have descended on Boston’s Financial District — one of several such demonstrations erupting across the country — plan a round of protests tomorrow that could snarl traffic in the city.

The protesters, who decry what they see as the economic hardships of ordinary Americans, said they will rally during the morning rush hour near their base, across from South Station and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The group, called Occupy Boston , is inspired by Occupy Wall Street, a demonstration entering its third week in Manhattan’s Financial District that led to the arrest of 700 people Saturday on charges of blocking the Brooklyn Bridge. The effort has spread to dozens of communities nationwide, with tens of thousands of people participating.

In Boston, the protests had been building for several days, and on Friday swelled to about 1,000 in Dewey Square. Police arrested 24 people on trespassing charges when they refused to leave the Bank of America building nearby.

‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests spreading to Canada

As police clamped down on anti-Wall Street protesters over the weekend, Toronto activists said they are planning similar demonstrations against corporate greed later this month.

Organizers from a group called Occupy Toronto plan to descend on the city’s financial district on Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. The event is inspired by Occupy Wall Street, a group of demonstrators which has camped out near New York’s Financial District for two weeks.

Similar protests are being planned that day for Calgary, Montreal, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria, according to the website Occupy Together, which bills itself as an unofficial hub for similar demonstrations worldwide.

Occupy Toronto had its first meeting on Sept. 29, according to its website. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 3,000 people had “liked” their Facebook group and more than 800 people had confirmed attendance at the Oct. 15 occupation.

On This Day In History October 3

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

On this day in 1967, Woody Guthrie, godfather of the 1950s folk revival movement, dies.

In 1963, Bob Dylan was asked by the authors of a forthcoming book on Woody Guthrie to contribute a 25-word comment summarizing his thoughts on the man who had probably been his greatest formative influence. Dylan responded instead with a 194-line poem called “Thoughts on Woody Guthrie,” which took as its theme the eternal human search for hope. “And where do you look for this hope that yer seekin’?” Dylan asks in the poem, before proceeding to a kind of answer:

You can either go to the church of your choice

Or you can go to Brooklyn State Hospital

You’ll find God in the church of your choice

You’ll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital

Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children’s songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is “This Land Is Your Land”, which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton have acknowledged their debt to Guthrie as an influence.

Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, earning him the nickname the “Dust Bowl Troubadour”. Throughout his life Guthrie was associated with United States communist groups, though he was never an actual member of any.

Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including American folk musician Arlo Guthrie. He is the grandfather of musician Sarah Lee Guthrie. Guthrie died from complications of Huntington’s disease, a progressive genetic neurological disorder. During his later years, in spite of his illness, Guthrie served as a figurehead in the folk movement, providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians, including mentor relationships with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan.

Folk revival and Guthrie’s death

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a new generation of young people were inspired by folk singers including Guthrie. These “folk revivalists” became more politically aware in their music than those of the previous generation. The American Folk Revival was beginning to take place, focused on the issues of the day, such as the civil rights movement and free speech movement. Pockets of folk singers were forming around the country in places such as Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. One of Guthrie’s visitors at Greystone Park was the 19-year-old Bob Dylan, who idolized Guthrie. Dylan wrote of Guthrie’s repertoire: “The songs themselves were really beyond category. They had the infinite sweep of humanity in them.” After learning of Guthrie’s whereabouts, Bob Dylan regularly visited him. Guthrie died of complications of Huntington’s disease on October 3, 1967. By the time of his death, his work had been discovered by a new audience, introduced to them in part through Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, his ex-wife Marjorie and other new members of the folk revival, and his son Arlo.

Huntington’s Disease Society of America

Muse in the Morning

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Muse in the Morning

Time for a break from poetry…in order to create some art.

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.

–Dalai Lama



Shades 2

Obama Owns This Economic Mess

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Vice President Joe Biden said it:

“Even though 50-some percent of the American people think the economy tanked because of the last administration, that’s not relevant,” the vice president said. “What’s relevant is we’re in charge.”

Biden added that he doesn’t blame people who are mad at the administration, and said it is understandable and “totally legitimate” for the 2012 presidential election to be “a referendum on Obama and Biden and the nature and state of the economy.”

And American’s agree that the economy “stinks”:

Three years after a financial crisis pushed the country deep into recession, an overwhelming number of Americans — 90% — say that economic conditions remain poor.

The number, reported Friday in a new CNN/ORC International Poll, is the highest of Barack Obama’s presidency and a significant increase from the 81% who said conditions were poor in June.

The persistent pessimism indicates that Americans are feeling a level of hardship in line with the official statistics. Unemployment stands at 9.1%, economic growth is barely above stall speed, and the housing market remains tied in knots.

To add to this Democrats dispirited about voting:

Click on image to enlarge

In thinking about the 2012 presidential election, 45% of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic say they are more enthusiastic about voting than usual, while nearly as many, 44%, are less enthusiastic.

Photobucket

Democrats’ muted response to voting in 2012 also contrasts with Republicans’ eagerness. Nearly 6 in 10 Republicans, 58%, describe themselves as more enthusiastic about voting.

Photobucket

What was that about electoral victory?

H/t AMERICAblog for links

Late Night Karaoke

Tapper grills White House on assassination of American without due process

whut’s this?  A momentarily functioning press corpse?

Here’s what I heard:

Pique the Geek 20111002: The Things we Eat: trans Fats

We hear a lot about trans fats in food and the negative health effects of them.  However, most folks without a background in chemistry do not really know what that means.  Tonight the object is to clear that up, and to point out sources that are high in them so they can be avoided.

Contrary to the opening statement, not all trans fats have deleterious health effects.  There are a couple that seem to be beneficial, but unfortunately they are sort of rare.  They are also some of the few trans fats that occur naturally.  By a huge margin, most trans fats consumed are artificially produced, and we shall get into that as well.

To understand the topic well, a chemistry lesson will first have to be given.  However, this IS Pique the Geek!

Deerfield Fair

Each year our family heads North to a real country fair in Deerfield NH.  Yes, Topsfield Fair is closer but has become dominated by that un-countryness typical of suburban…what is word here….Massholianism.  Right off the bat Topsfield means pay to park, pay to get into and once in this once agriculturally oriented fair is now mostly food and midway.

Deerfield by contrast is alive with horse shows, oxen, tractor dealers plus that long ago memory of my daughter coming home with a Yorkshire pig.  A family story passed down is the day I heard the announcer utter my daughter’s name for the pig scramble.  Oh crap, I thought, now we have to take a pig home.

We drooled over the new John Deere Gator model.  It became the family meeting spot.  The kids argued with the ATV dealer about the new dune buggy type vehicles not being to our woodland ready specifications.  Very fast yes but would get stuck instantly in the swamp.  

We ended up all buying cowboy hats from a very friendly vendor.  Our troop of pre-schoolers was a hit.  A not even two year old Tyler wanted to walk into the horse ring.  Hey, you are not at home.  Good thing he knows what you are saying.  A new type of solar hot water heating system, then a new pellet stove maker adding some neat new ideas yet somewhat deficient in the pellet hopper size category.

The most uneasy feeling for me at least comes from walking down “Veteran alley”, a collection of money seeking war veterans selling “patriotic” stuff.  My wife is even uneasy and says “Not your people”.

I reply with the simple comment “mainstream”, and then she knows I won’t bother to make a scene with the family in tow.  It felt much like our East Berlin while we watched real Russian soldiers dust snow from their monument accompanied by our favorite active duty Army sargent.

On reflections on this Sunday?  I do think people are waking up.  Finally and desperately.  Can such things alter our world.  Do we, all of us.

Does the Kingdom of “God” lie within and or especially if you don’t believe in the crap of organized religion,can we manifest our own destiny by breaking away from the sociopathic assholes who always rise to the top of our rotting western capitalist nightmare.

The horses themselves sense my unease.  The inactivity that is the remote and distant plan for family survival and salvation or not.  I just don’t know.