How Much Would You Pay?

"How much do you think I should pay in taxes?" said the one percenter.

The faces on the crowd of ninety-nine percenters went blank. They were not prepared to talk percentages...

For a few weeks now, I have been offering a free download of the book, Battle Stations for All. Had anyone bothered to actually read it they would know two things. First, for an American citizen, no price is too much to pay - no cost too high - to save the United States of America! Second, the correct answer is (for the rich) ninety point five percent until the national debt is paid!

The alternative is: we nationalize all banks and corporate holdings, and we confiscate all unearned wealth!

Oops, there goes the vacation to the Caribbean... But, don't look so downcast. The average Joe can't afford to take a vacation. He can't afford a new Mercedes. He can't even afford to pay your dry cleaning bill.

"Wouldn't you like to be rich too?" says the one percenter.

Maybe, but I'd like to get rich the honest way: by walking into a bank with a gun. That is more 'honorable' than swindling little old ladies, and starving helpless women and children...

The one percenters steal peoples dreams and crush their hopes. And, then they want to wax self-righteously about how cool they are... They think that everybody secretly wants to be assholes like they are.

God, I hope not.

There has to be something more to life than being a hypocritical sonofabitch...

Then some 'Uncle Tom' jumps in and says, "That's what I'm talking about - democratic discourse!"

Let's talk about something else. There is no real democratic discourse in this country. Corporate Capitalism won't allow it.

Then the one percenter says, "Don't blame capitalism. It's the government that has fucked up the economy, and the whole country."

You hear that you stupid politicians? From the gate, the Corporate Capitalist is ready to throw you under the bus. Yet, you are content to keep puckering up to kiss that ass. It ain't nothing like Mr. Smith goes to Washington, is it?

How about some of your stupid cliches, like 'tax and spend'... or 'big government'... or the 'welfare state'. 

Whose welfare?

It damned sure ain't the welfare of the American people. 

You cut food to the hungry and then give yourself a raise... and take those fat envelopes and stick them in the pockets of your expensive suits... talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time... and, then wonder why nobody believes a word you say.

"You're all communists!" shouts the one percenter.

And, they wonder why everybody is joining the Occupy Movement...

Hey Pal, not everybody who hates your ass is a communist. But we all sure are getting sick and tired of your shit.

And, that's the Truth!

The Central Idea

Keep focus, don't be distracted, don't dissipate your energies.

The Occupy Movement that is spreading like a prairie fire worldwide is attracting critics who want it to take on every issue on every agenda: health care, campaign financial reform, environmental concerns, etc.

All are important and all are, on some level, interconnected - but when you try to do everything, you can easily end up doing nothing. Instead of sending out a clear message, you diffuse it, losing clarity and confusing the public.

Where, then, is the point where all the issues are connected?

The inequality of the System. The majority must pay the costs of a system where only a tiny minority benefit. 99 per cent against 1 per cent.

Do the math. The minority is not going to win. Ultimately, we all must work together, with everyone doing their part, or a tidal wave of public discontent will come crashing down on our self-proclaimed masters.

What is the agenda?

Occupy Wall Street has been criticised for not having a programme or a blueprint for change. Yet, that perceived weakness is its greatest strength.

When you enunciate a complicated charter, you lose supporters and give others issues to disagree on. You end up having your own supporters debating the fine points of each issue and risk becoming factionalized.

Occupy Wall Street has spoken out clearly against economic inequality - rule by the one per cent over the 99 per cent. It has protested the banks and the billionaires and millionaires that dominate the economy. The slogans are simple and quite understandable.

And that's precisely why so many have rallied behind it, and why it inspired copycat actions and acts of solidarity in as many as 1,000 cities. I can't think of another time in history when a relatively small group of people managed to touch a global nerve so quickly.

Occupy Wall Street was not even 30 days old when a global day of action showed how widely their message was resonating.

At the same time, police abuse of the demonstrators has both won sympathy for the protests and galvanised marches in protest. If the police become the issue, there could be an escalation of tension and less of a focus on Wall Street and the economy.

New York's police know that, and have the capacity to deploy agents provocateur to exacerbate confrontations. They are already using state-of-the-art surveillance trucks to monitor the protest around the clock, a potentially dangerous intelligence operation that could lead to targeted crackdowns of people they consider "key troublemakers". The CIA has a reportedly close working relationship with the NYPD.

This 24-hour-a-day spying by special units is questionable from a constitutional point of view, but will continue unless and until a court stops it.

Recent surveys in New York show support of the protest by a 3-1 margin among residents. Even more respondents say demonstrators have a right to protest and that they don't support heavy-handed police tactics. A national poll showed more support for Occupy Wall Street than the government.

The Agenda is the creation of a New Society.

Who is the leader?

There is momentum of a kind that makes other social movements jealous. Perhaps it was the absence of leaders and conventional protests. Perhaps it was the building of a community open to participation by all.

Something is working, and working well.

Many people feel that their key challenge now is to build their movement as widely and deeply as possible, and not posture as a lobbying force with a laundry list of demands they can't promote effectively.

Their movement orientation seems to drive politicians and media pundits crazy.

On Wall Street, insiders dismiss the protest as "unsophisticated" as if all their purportedly "sophisticated" strategies are working to promote economic recovery or create jobs. They are not.

That's why some of the Occupy activists think it would be a mistake now to ask a dysfunctional and broken system for anything. They don't think it is capable of redressing grievances that raise structural issues beyond the power of politicians to fix.

They also think that asking the system for anything validates the system.

At the same time, there are many people who want to see an organisation emerge. There has been talk of a national convention in 2012 to bring together all the local occupy groups. This seems to be at the talking stage, not the organising phase.

The Democrats don't have a consistent stance towards the movement - who are far more anarchistic and anti-system than they are. The Obama campaign is spending a lot of money to organise supporters, but many in the movement fear co-option. They are unlikely to take donations from political parties or well known political party funders. Decision on issues such as this are made by a participatory General Assembly that functions in a transparent and consensus-based manner.

Occupy Wall Street is a truly democratic movement - of the people, by the people, and for the people - that is its greatest strength.

The lesson to be learned here is that the people are the real strength of any society, and their voice will be heard no matter what the 'authorities' throw at them.

We cannot predict the eventual outcome of this demonstration of no confidence in the System, what incidents might occur, or be instigated... but we can predict that a change is going to come. 

The people are mad as hell and they aren't going to take it any more....

We Are All In This Together

Republicans are demanding major cuts in a nutrition program for low-income women and children. The appropriation bill the House passed June 16 would deny benefits to more than 700,000 eligible low-income women and young children next year.

What kind of country are we living in?

More than one in three families with young children is now living in poverty (37 percent, to be exact) according to a recent analysis of Census data by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies. That’s the highest percent on record. The Agriculture Department says nearly one in four young children (23.6) lives in a family that had difficulty affording sufficient food at some point last year.

We’re in the worst economy since the Great Depression – with lower-income families and kids are bearing the worst of it – and what are Republicans doing? Cutting programs Americans desperately need to get through it.

Medicaid is also under assault. Congressional Republicans want to reduce the federal contribution to Medicaid by $771 billion over next decade and shift more costs to states and low-income Americans.

It gets worse. Most federal programs to help children and lower-income families are in the so-called “non-defense discretionary” category of the federal budget. The congressional super-committee charged with coming up with $1.5 trillion of cuts eight weeks from now will almost certainly take a big whack at this category because it’s the easiest to cut. Unlike entitlements, these programs depend on yearly appropriations.

Even if the super-committee doesn’t agree (or even if they do, and Congress doesn’t approve of their proposal) an automatic trigger will make huge cuts in domestic discretionary spending.

It gets even worse. Drastic cuts are already underway at the state and local levels. Since the fiscal year began in July, states no longer receive about $150 billion in federal stimulus money — money that was used to fill gaps in state budgets over the last two years.

The result is a downward cascade of budget cuts – from the federal government to state governments and then to local governments – that are hurting most Americans but kids and lower-income families in particular.

So far this year, 23 states have reduced education spending. According to a survey of city finance officers released Tuesday by the National League of Cities, half of all American cities face cuts in state aid for education.

As housing values plummet, local property tax receipts are down. That means even less money for schools and local family services. So kids are getting larger class sizes, reduced school hours, shorter school weeks, cuts in pre-Kindergarten programs (Texas has eliminated pre-Kindergarten for 100,000 children), even charges for textbooks and extra-curricular activities.

Meanwhile the size of America’s school-age population keeps growing notwithstanding. Between now and 2015, an additional 2 million kids are expected to show up in our schools.

Local family services are being cut or terminated. Tens of thousands of social workers have been laid off. Cities and counties are reducing or eliminating their contributions to Head Start, which provides early childhood education to the children of low-income parents.

All this would be bad enough if the economy were functioning normally. For these cuts to happen now is morally indefensible.

Yet Republicans won’t consider increasing taxes on the rich to pay for what’s needed – even though the wealthiest members of our society are richer than ever, taking home a bigger slice of total income and wealth than in seventy-five years, and paying the lowest tax rates in three decades.

The President’s modest proposals to raise taxes on the rich – limiting their tax deductions, ending the Bush tax cut for incomes over $250,000, and making sure the rich pay at the same rate as average Americans – don’t come close to paying for what American families need.

Marginal tax rates should be raised at the top, and more tax brackets should be added for incomes over $500,000, over $1,500,000, over $5 million. The capital gains tax should be as high as that on ordinary income.

Wealth over $7.2 million should be subject to a 2 percent surtax. After all, the top one half of 1 percent now owns over 28 percent of the nation’s total wealth. Such a tax on them would yield $70 billion a year. According to an analysis by Yale’s Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, that would generate at least half of $1.5 trillion deficit-reduction target over ten years set for the supercommittee.

Another way to raise money would be through a tiny tax (one-half of one percent) tax on financial transactions. This would generate $200 billion a year, and hardly disturb Wall Street’s casino at all. (The European Commission is about to unveil such a tax there.)

All this can be done, but only if Americans understand what’s really at stake here.

When Republicans recently charged the President with promoting “class warfare,” he answered it was “just math.” But it’s more than math. It’s a matter of morality.

Republicans have posed the deepest moral question of any society: whether we’re all in it together. Their answer is we’re not.

The American people should proclaim, loudly and clearly, We are.

Homeless Nation

Some of the Occupy Wall Street encampments now spreading across the US have access to "porta-potties" (eg: Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC) or, better yet, restrooms with sinks and running water (as in Fort Wayne, Indiana). Others require their residents to forage for toilet facilities on their own. At Zuccotti Park, just blocks from Wall Street, this means long waits for the restroom at a nearby Burger King - or somewhat shorter queues at a Starbucks a block away. At McPherson Square in DC, a twenty-something occupier showed me the pizza parlour where she can use the facilities during the hours the restaurant is open, as well as the alley she uses late at night. Anyone with restroom-related issues - arising from age, pregnancy, prostate problems or irritable bowel syndrome - should prepare to join the revolution in diapers.

Of course, political protesters do not face the challenges of urban camping alone. Homeless people confront the same issues every day: how to scrape together meals, keep warm at night by covering themselves with cardboard or tarp, and relieve themselves without committing a crime. Public restrooms are sparse in US cities - "as if the need to go to the bathroom does not exist", travel expert Arthur Frommer once observed. And yet to yield to bladder pressure is to risk arrest. A report entitled "Criminalising Crisis", to be released later this month by the National Law Centre on Homelessness and Poverty, recounts the following story from Wenatchee, Washington:

"Toward the end of 2010, a family of two parents and three children that had been experiencing homelessness for a year-and-a-half applied for a two-bedroom apartment. The day before a scheduled meeting with the apartment manager during the final stages of acquiring the lease, the father of the family was arrested for public urination. The arrest occurred at an hour when no public restrooms were available for use. Due to the arrest, the father was unable to make the appointment with the apartment manager and the property was rented out to another person. As of March 2011, the family was still homeless and searching for housing."

Illegal to be homeless

What the Occupy Wall Streeters are beginning to discover, and homeless people have known all along, is that most ordinary, biologically necessary activities are illegal when performed in American streets - not just urinating, but sitting, lying down and sleeping. While laws vary from city to city, one of the harshest is in Sarasota, Florida, which passed an ordinance in 2005 that makes it illegal to "engage in digging or earth-breaking activities" - that is, to build a latrine - cook, make a fire, or be asleep and "when awakened, state that he or she has no other place to live".

It is illegal, in other words, to be homeless or live outdoors for any other reason. It should be noted, though, that there are no laws requiring cities to provide food, shelter or restrooms for their indigent citizens.

The current prohibition on homelessness began to take shape in the 1980s, along with the ferocious growth of the financial industry (Wall Street and all its tributaries throughout the nation). That was also the era in which we stopped being a nation that manufactured much beyond weightless, invisible "financial products", leaving the old industrial working class to carve out a livelihood at places such as Wal-Mart.

As it turned out, the captains of the new "casino economy" - the stock brokers and investment bankers - were highly sensitive, one might say finickity, individuals, easily offended by having to step over the homeless in the streets or bypass them in commuter train stations. In an economy where a centimillionaire could turn into a billionaire overnight, the poor and unwashed were a major buzzkill. Starting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani in New York, city after city passed "broken windows" or "quality of life" ordinances, making it dangerous for the homeless to loiter or, in some cases, even look "indigent", in public spaces.

Story of a pregnant woman

No one has yet tallied all the suffering occasioned by this crackdown - the deaths from cold and exposure - but "Criminalising Crisis" offers this story about a homeless pregnant woman in Columbia, South Carolina:

"During daytime hours, when she could not be inside of a shelter, she attempted to spend time in a museum and was told to leave. She then attempted to sit on a bench outside the museum and was again told to relocate. In several other instances, still during her pregnancy, the woman was told that she could not sit in a local park during the day because she would be 'squatting'. In early 2011, about six months into her pregnancy, the homeless woman began to feel unwell, went to a hospital, and delivered a stillborn child."

Well before Tahrir Square was a twinkle in anyone's eye, and even before the recent recession, homeless Americans had begun to act in their own defence, creating organised encampments, usually tent cities, in vacant lots or wooded areas. These communities often feature various elementary forms of self-governance: food from local charities has to be distributed, latrines dug, rules - such as no drugs, weapons, or violence - enforced. With all due credit to the Egyptian democracy movement, the Spanish indignados, and rebels all over the world, tent cities are the domestic progenitors of the US occupation movement.

There is nothing "political" about these settlements of the homeless - no signs denouncing greed or visits from left-wing luminaries - but they have been treated with far less official forbearance than the occupation encampments of the "American autumn". LA's Skid Row endures constant police harassment, for example, but when it rained, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had ponchos distributed to nearby Occupy LA.

'Out of sight'

All over the country, in the past few years, police have moved in on the tent cities of the homeless, one by one, from Seattle to Wooster, Sacramento to Providence, in raids that often leave the former occupants without even their minimal possessions. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, last summer, a charity outreach worker explained the forcible dispersion of a local tent city by saying: "The city will not tolerate a tent city. That's been made very clear to us. The camps have to be out of sight."

What occupiers from all walks of life are discovering, at least every time they contemplate taking a leak, is that to be homeless in the US is to live like a fugitive. The destitute are our own native-born "illegals", facing prohibitions on the most basic activities of survival. They are not supposed to soil public space with their urine, their faeces or their exhausted bodies. Nor are they supposed to spoil the landscape with their unusual wardrobe choices or body odours. They are, in fact, supposed to die, and preferably to do so without leaving a corpse for the dwindling public sector to transport, process and burn.

But the occupiers are not from all walks of life, just from those walks that slope downwards - from debt, joblessness and foreclosure - leading eventually to pauperism and the streets. Some of the present occupiers were homeless to start with, attracted to the occupation encampments by the prospect of free food and at least temporary shelter from police harassment. Many others are drawn from the borderline-homeless "nouveau poor", and normally encamp on friends' couches or parents' folding beds.

In Portland, Austin and Philadelphia, the Occupy Wall Street movement is taking up the cause of the homeless as its own, which of course it is. Homelessness is not a side issue unconnected to plutocracy and greed. It's where we're all eventually headed - the 99 per cent, or at least the 70 per cent, of us, every debt-loaded college graduate, out-of-work school teacher, and impoverished senior - unless this revolution succeeds.

Sexual Preference and Politics

This humble blog has risen from obscurity to over two thousand 'hits' per day. The amazing thing, to me, is that over 50% of the pageviews show an interest in the post entitled: Gay Couples Wed Across New York. The picture of the black and white men kissing also receives a very large number of 'hits'.

I talked this over with my comrades and they are of the opinion that people want to be told what to think, with regard to the issue of sexual preference.

I am not so sure that this is true. But as far as politics goes, sexual preference is a matter of individual conscience. God forbid, that the government should legislate sexual preference... Or stick its nose into the private lives of its citizens... This is not only un-American - it is also ridiculous!

You can't control people's likes and dislikes. That is not the government's place. That is not the place of politics. And, furthermore, it is not the place of this blog.

Perhaps, if I had the inclination to suggest sexual preference I would choose 'chastity' rather than sexual license... At any rate, It is not my place to suggest anything of this nature to you or anyone else. That is strictly your business. And, I hope we are intelligent enough to keep it that way.

When the day comes that the government tells me with whom I can have sex with, and what I can do with my 'Johnson', I am definitely 'picking up the gun'. In the meantime, and especially in a world suffering from over-population, I don't think that sexual preference should be a political issue. There are already plenty of laws on the books to handle excesses... 

With regard to 'homosexual marriage', the whole purpose of the institution of marriage is the family (children). That's why society gives married people 'tax breaks'. If the family cannot be sustained then there is absolutely no reason for marriage. No piece of paper is going to give society's stamp of approval to an institution that is obsolete. And, marriage for any other reason than creating a family is definitely obsolete.

Still, it is not my place to judge other people. Do whatever you want with your personal life. I'm not mad at you. Only, don't harm another citizen or deprive him of his rights. 

As long as people (and things) serve a useful purpose in society - and are beneficial to the common good - they will be accepted on their own merits. When they put themselves over everybody else... When they harm others... When they become a problem... Then perhaps we should take a closer look....

The Leader of the World

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (and he has a website: click here).

They say, "E pluribus unum" (Latin for "Out of many, one"). The phrase is similar to a Latin translation of a variation of Heraclitus's 10th fragment, "Out of all things one, one out of all things." A variant of the phrase was used in Moretum, a poem attributed to Virgil but with the actual author unknown. In the poem text, color est e pluribus unus describes the blending of colors into one.

Never codified by law, E pluribus unum was considered a de facto motto of the United States until 1956 when the United States Congress passed an act (H.J. Resolution 396), adopting In God We Trust as the official motto.

"Governments cannot do it alone. We need support from business communities, civil societies, philanthropists, and faith leaders, and we need coalitions, we need alliances, multistakeholder platforms. This is our business model, and we know that it works."

Governments cannot subdue their people alone. They need help from Corporate Capitalism, secret societies, liberals, and organized religions. To enslave the people of the world they need coalitions, alliances, multi-stake-holder platforms... they know that it works... the 'business model'.

"These are difficult economic times. Tight budgets. Cutbacks. Belt tightening."

Down-sizing... out-sourcing... austerity for the worker - while the rich continue to bask in the sunshine of unearned wealth at the expense of the people!

"You are living all of this, too. Everywhere, people are living in fear? fear of losing their jobs, fear of being unable to feed their families, fear that governments and public institutions will fail them yet again."

Our government and public institutions have failed us...

"During this era of new austerity, I often say that we must learn to 'do more with less.'”

Kind of reminds me of the scene in Enemy at the Gates where the Russian soldiers go into battle with three rounds of ammunition and no rifle. "Don't worry comrades there will be plenty of rifles laying around."

"The austerity challenge is not merely about quantity; it is about quality. It is not merely about 'doing more with less' but about 'doing better with less'."

Think of all the money you can save by skipping lunch everyday...

"By that, I mean increasing the impact of our work - making a bigger and measurable difference in the daily lives of real people."

The "real" people are the wealthy no doubt... the rest of us - the other 99% are only phantoms!

"In our modern world, so complex and fast-changing, no nation or institution can prosper alone... Only by working in concert, in strong partnership, can we advance our common goals."

The common goals of the System are the exploitation and enslavement of the working people.

The Call of the Sirens

The Agent Provocateurs are saying, that the Occupy Wall Street Movement is "Marxist" and part of a vast "Jewish Conspiracy"... This is to be expected since their Masters (the ones who pull the puppet's strings) have the most to lose by this populist movement catching on... "Yes, we know what's good for the country and the 'race'," they say...

And, yet, after all these years they have done absolutely nothing - except spread hatred, discontent and disunity among the people, and siphon off resources and energy that could've been used for some constructive purpose.

Do you really want to follow self-proclaimed leaders whose only 'original ideas' are someone else's interpretation of books they haven't read?

Someone once said, "When the blind lead the blind they both wind up falling in a ditch."

Welcome to the way out of the ditch - American Socialism!

Day of Mourning

Oct. 26 marks the 10th anniversary of the USA Patriot Act, the first among many bipartisan government assaults on the Bill of Rights over the past decade. It is a time to mourn our lost freedoms.

Our constitutional rights have dramatically eroded, turning the “land of the free” into the “land of the easily intimidated.” We have traded liberty for a false impression of security, and we will regret it.

President Bush originally signed the Patriot Act into law on Oct. 26, 2001, and — despite documented, recurring and ongoing abuses — President Obama has signed re-authorization bills no fewer than three times. Even though more than 400 cities and towns, plus eight states, have issued official resolutions repudiating domestic surveillance, the national security juggernaut has continued to steamroll the Constitution.

The FBI, the National Security Agency and the CIA deploy battlefield surveillance technologies to monitor law-abiding Americans en masse, claim an increasingly vast share of the federal budget and disclaim any meaningful limits on their disturbing powers.

And courts routinely defer to ridiculous claims that topics embarrassing to the government — like outsourcing torture to other countries, or monitoring the e-mail and phone calls of hundreds of millions of Americans without any individualized suspicion — constitute “state secrets” that must be protected for national security reasons.

Meanwhile, Congress has rubber-stamped every executive request (whether from Bush or Obama) to shrink the constitutional rights of Americans. After the Patriot Act was first enacted in 2001, Congress repeatedly re-authorized it over bipartisan dissent, enacted the FISA Amendments Act, and then, this fall, entrenched the FBI leadership beyond its statutory term for the first time since J. Edgar Hoover’s reign of intimidation.

The Justice Department’s own internal watchdog has documented numerous abuses of Patriot Act powers. The federal government has issued thousands of improper National Security Letters.

The Patriot Act has also been used by the Departments of Justice and Treasury to seize charities without due process, even though the work of such organizations could advance U.S. interests by alleviating suffering in war-torn areas and winning hearts and minds. The same provisions have enabled investigations of peace, labor and immigrant rights activists in Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles for what essentially amount to thought crimes.

But the abuses extend well beyond the Patriot Act, constructing a whole even worse the sum of its parts. Under Bush — and with the later support of the Obama administration — the National Security Agency launched a secret dragnet warrant-less wiretapping scheme, which became public only because intrepid journalists risked prosecution to reveal it. Even though every federal court that ever reviewed the program on its merits declared it unconstitutional, Congress authorized the agency’s wiretapping through legislation in 2008 and immunized telecommunications companies that participated in it.

Under Bush, the attorney general’s guidelines governing FBI operations were overhauled, allowing investigative tactics from the infamous COINTELPRO era, such as infiltrating constitutionally protected ideological groups — on the basis of a secret legal standard that has never been disclosed. And even though the CIA is prohibited from operating within the United States, it has smeared critics and trained local law enforcement in counterproductive profiling techniques.

Never has our government been less accountable to We the People.

They Still Don't Have a Clue

We are Americans. Our minds are not held in thrall by the dogma of bygone times. We do not hope to restore the 'nobility' or 'get even' for being 'stabbed in the back' by the bicycle riders (or anyone else). We do not seek to establish a dictatorship, or the 'cult of the leader'. We see leaders as ordinary men who have stepped up to the 'plate', to do the best they can with what they have. They possess no special attributes other than the mandate of the people. (Which is always subject to revocation.) 

As Americans, we have a dream of the way society could be. We will not 'sell out' our dreams to the highest bidder. No one can 'buy' us, or 'sell' us. We are not moved by 'hot air'. The only thing we are impressed by is success. Nothing succeeds like success. The mark of the successful man is supreme self-confidence. We are absolutely certain of the inevitable victory of our cause. (Because it is just and right.) 

As Americans, we are 'fortunate sons'. We have been blessed by Providence. Our nation is rich in natural resources and our people are free and strong. We intend to stay that way. In the past, we have destroyed all those who opposed our 'core values'. We began life as a nation of revolutionaries against the aristocracy of England. We pushed westward in bitter struggle against the elements and the indigenous peoples. We took up arms in order that our nation might stay united and strong. We pushed the European powers out of this hemisphere. We carved out a niche in the world for ourselves. We fought two 'World Wars' so that others might enjoy their rightful portion of 'freedom' and 'democracy'. We fought a long arduous war against the 'red menace' of international communist despotism, and defeated it. We became the number one power on the Earth. And then, through the force of our own inertia, we lost our way.

As Americans, we are resolved to find a way out of the predicament we now find ourselves in. Our core values are still viable in the modern world. This 'experiment' in democracy shall not fail. It shall continue to evolve. Let tyrants beware! Those who oppose the will of the people shall forfeit their lives and their fortunes. Those who betray the United States of America shall suffer the consequences. No one is above the Law. There is no 'state of emergency' which can supersede the Constitution. The Corporate Capitalist devil worshipers have picked the wrong people to try to enslave - we shall crush all enemies of freedom and democracy!

As Americans, we will not allow our sacred Constitution and Bill of Rights to be trampled underfoot....

NOTES:

Toward a More Democratic Society

1.- Uphold the Constitution!

2.- Uphold the Bill of Rights!

3.- A Free Society! End censorship, surveillance, and police powers! Abolish Homeland Security!

4.- All power to the People!

5.- Assassination is murder!

6.- No concentration camps! Release all political prisoners!

7.- An end to war!

8.- Truth in advertising and politics!

9.- Morality cannot be legislated - We demand a separation of Church and State!

10.- Human rights! (All American citizens have the right to a clean and healthy environment, health care, public transportation, education, employment, wholesome food and clean water, a roof over their heads, and clothing to protect them from the elements...)

11.- Abolish the mercenary military - Restore National Service!

12.- Abolish the so-called 'Patriot Act'!

13.- All American citizens are equal under the Law!

14.- Work liberates the human spirit! Therefore work is a duty and not a privilege! All American citizens, from the top to the bottom shall engage in meaningful and productive labor!

Our principles will take shape as we evolve; but freedom, socialism, and democracy are our core values, and they are not negotiable....

What Can Be Done

There is a book called, "Wasp" by Eric Frank Russell. It is the beginning of your journey into psy-war...

In guerrilla warfare, you try to use your weaknesses as strengths.  If they're big and you're small, then you're mobile and they're slow. You're hidden and they're exposed. You only fight battles you know you can win. That's the way the Vietcong did it. You capture their weapons and you use them against them the next time.

The human mind, being what it is, only needs a little 'push' and then its off and running... If left unchecked it will destroy itself through negative imaginings... The 'police mind', the 'conservative mind' is a sick mind to begin with. It imagines that it can survive war... That no matter how wide the destruction and chaos it will emerge unscathed. It happens over and over - the ostrich syndrome - they hide in caves and bunkers and think they will be safe... No one is safe from the forces of 'God' and Nature.

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind! Every decision has consequences; a person's actions will come back to him. What goes around comes around...

Can tyranny be resisted?

Maybe, if one is 100% dedicated to overcoming tyranny. Those who want to be slaves - let them be slaves! You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink... You can, however, make sure that the dumb animal ends up in your field of fire... The Enemy is going to kill most of the slaves eventually, its just a matter of time and mathematics... We have no time to waste on human cattle.

Basically, it's a choice between 'life' and 'death'. The healthy organism will do its best to survive and evolve. Who cares about the unhealthy? 

Certainly, Nature is not concerned if the unfit live or die. Resistance is survival!

The clock is ticking....

Middle Class Targeted for Destruction

Take the time to watch this video...

Imagine a world without pensions, social security, public services - no 'free' libraries, no public parks and recreation, public beaches or camp grounds, no public education, no public hospitals, emergency rooms - a world where the working people (including small business) pay all the costs of society, pay to be brutalized by the police, terrorized by the military - working people living in cardboard boxes and makeshift shelters in 'shanty towns' across the United States...

This is YOUR future - unless you get off your ass and fight for your rights!

The clock is ticking....

Will You Survive the Future

There are men out there who are 'sceptical'. They are sceptical because they are weak, and judge the world by their own weakness. Where they see other men as criminals, liars, and traitors it is because they themselves are dominated by these negative attributes. Where they scoff at the work of other men, it is because they have nothing to show for themselves. They 'mistrust', they 'hate' and they 'fear' because they are not up to the challenge of freedom.

Free men have no protection... they stand 'naked' before the world. They rise and fall on their own strengths and weaknesses. No one 'gives' them anything. Whatever they have is the result of their own actions... whatever they lack is the result of their own inaction. People everywhere are either free men or slaves, depending on their intellect, their courage, and who they are. In this respect, Freedom is a choice that rests on 'genetic nobility'.

Do you have the 'genetic makeup' to resist tyranny? to fight (and die if need be)? to endure without wavering? to triumph over all adversity?

Do you have the 'right stuff' to be a free man in a world of slaves?

The slaves are all around you... the brain-washed minions of the System. They need someone else to call the tune... so they can dance to it. They cannot think for themselves. They need a 'God', a 'government', a 'party', a 'system' to do their thinking for them. Corporate Capitalism wants to fill that niche. So that it can exploit them - until the day it kills them... And, it will eventually have to kill them. One way or another. Because slaves count for nothing. They only live to serve their 'masters' - and, then they are discarded.

Is that who you want to be? A slave who counts for nothing in the scheme of things?

Ask yourself, what happens when we run out of oil? Water? Food? Living space?

Do you think there will be any further need of you? Or your family?

Now is the time to show who you are. To establish, by your actions, if you have the 'right' to live.

It is a matter of life and death!

The End of Modern Society?

This is a very 'harsh' series of videos... There is seemingly no way out of the 'doom' that awaits humanity.

Personally, I believe in optimism and positive thinking. But, this is like a punch in the stomach... It will leave your mind in a state of chaos...

If it is true, and I think it is, then we don't have very much time left. We need to act now. And, we need to act brutally...

Can humanity triumph over adversity?

Maybe. But, in order to do so we must change the way we think... we must change our 'core values'.

Please watch the entire series. So we all can be on the same 'page'.

If you do, I think you will appreciate the challenge that lies ahead for all of us - every man, woman, and child on the planet!

It won't be easy. It won't be nice. It won't be pretty.

The future is going to be a motherfucker....

Ding dong - Gaddafi is Dead!

The triumphant forces of Corporate Capitalism have won another 'great victory' over 'evil' today - Another one bites the dust! 

Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya from 1969 until August this year, has been killed by forces loyal to the country's new pro-capitalist government.

As the 'Battle for Sirte' comes to an end... Libyan interim government fighters hoisted the new national flag above the centre of Sirte on Thursday after completing their capture of Muammar Gaddafi's home town... Misrata Military Council reports that Gaddafi himself has been arrested. 

Mahmoud Shammam, the NTC's information minister said, "We are going to put him in front of the court, we're not going to hang him in the street. We are going to give him the fair trial he never gave the Libyan people. We hope that we are catching some big names so we can put them in the court and let the people have the last word on their fate ...I think every Libyan wants to see Gaddafi stand trial."

Hassan Elamin, a prominent Libyan exile said Gaddafi was arrested by Misratan units in Sirte late last night and reportedly transported to a secure location in the city and that in the same arrest Gaddafi's former defence minister Abu Bakr Yunis was shot dead.

A senior official with Libya's National Transitional Council told Reuters that Gaddafi was captured near his hometown of Sirte at dawn as he tried to flee in a convoy that came under attack from NATO warplanes.

An NTC soldier is telling Sky News: "Somebody shot him with a 9mm." Another soldier says he was shot in the belly.

There is mobile phone footage of the moment Gaddafi was captured, showing him alive, according to Al Jazeera. It also reports that Gaddafi's son Mutassim has been caught alive.

He was killed during the attack on Gaddafi's convoy, according to NTC official.

Sky News is showing the video again that purportedly shows the body of Muammar Gaddafi being manhandled in the streets of Sirte.

Gaddafi, 69, was reportedly found hiding in a drain outside Sirte, where he and and others had taken shelter after their convoy was hit by a NATO air strike as it attempted to escape.

Gaddafi was alive when captured and died in an ambulance on the way to Misrata, according to the NTC's UK representative.

NTC official Abdel Ghoga said, "We will announce to the world that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolutionaries."

"Today the Libyan NTC fighters achieved a glorious and momentous victory..." Yeah, NATO bombs the convoy, Freedom fighters shoot the wounded Gaddafi, after beating him with a shoe, and then they drag him through the streets - like they did in Somalia to the American Rangers!

David Cameron said he said he was proud of the role Britain had played in allowing Libya to move towards a democratic future. (Wait a minute, I thought 'democracy' was where the people get to vote on their future???)

John McCain, the former US presidential candidate and foreign policy specialist in the Senate, has, urged the US to become more involved in helping Libya.

"The death of Muammar Gaddafi marks an end to the first phase of the Libyan revolution. While some final fighting continues, the Libyan people have liberated their country. Now the Libyan people can focus all of their immense talents on strengthening their national unity, rebuilding their country and economy, proceeding with their democratic transition, and safeguarding the dignity and human rights of all Libyans. The United States, along with our European allies and Arab partners, must now deepen our support for the Libyan people, as they work to make the next phase of their democratic revolution as successful as the fight to free their country."

Hillary Clinton, the American secretary of state, being given the news about Gaddafi in Pakistan. An aide handed her a BlackBerry, she squinted at it, her eyes widened and then she said: "Wow!"

"Wow!" is right... 

Let the oil flow!

Is NATO Getting Its Ass Kicked in Libya?

The Libyan Armed Forces have managed to counter NATO's technological superiority - Apache helicopters, used against US Congress rules to strafe civilians, are being shot down and the filth flying them captured (and well-treated), Moussa Ibrahim (Jamahiriya Government spokesperson) has not been captured, Khamis al-Qathafi has not been killed (despite reports of his death no fewer than six times).

The TNC is in utter disarray and chaos, now with in-fighting in Misurat and in Benghazi, and with Abdelhakim Belhadj vowing that he takes orders from nobody as he sets up his private army of terrorists. Bani Walid is Green (Libyan Jamahiriya Government control), Sirt is Green, Tobruk is Green, Ghadames is Green, Al Jufra is Green, Sabha is Green, Fezzan is Green, Tarouna is Green, all the South is Green and the huge majority of the tribes are with Colonel Gaddafi. Al-Zawiyah is Green. Large parts of Tripoli are Green. Areas along the Tunisian frontier are Green.

At Ras Lanuf the US 82 Airborne detachment suffered heavy losses (there are not supposed to be boots on the ground...US breach of UNSC Resolutions) and an AC-130 Hercules transport aircraft was torched.

The Tuareg have declared themselves against the Rats (the terrorists supported by NATO).

Why else are we being fed "final battle" stories outside Sirt? Why else has the western media stopped speaking about Bani Walid? Why else is the TNC so-called "government" (a rat pack) holed up in Benghazi? Why did Cameron and Sarkozy not leave Tripoli airport? Where are the images of a peaceful back-to-normal Tripoli? Where are the pictures of the new Libyan "Government" getting down to business?

There aren't any, because Colonel Gaddafi and his loyalist forces are supported by the majority of the Libyan population. David Cameron is not. So, I am sorry Mrs. Bennet, young Steven will not be able to have that operation, because the National Health Service does not have the funding. Mr. Johnson, your elderly mother's hip replacement operation has been put on hold indefinitely because the hospital wing is closing. And ha ha ha, Miss Taylor, do you really expect that miracle drug for your breast cancer while we are spending money on funding terrorists? Where is your sense of patriotism?

And you will all have to foot the 2-billion-pound bill to install a bunch of terrorists as the "Government" in Libya. There is just one flaw with David Cameron's terrorist operation: human decency dictates that it cannot and must not happen. As David Cameron himself said "If I have to pay anything back, then I shall". Yes, you shall, and you shall big time.

NATO's and Cameron's legacy in Libya is horrific. The numerous war crimes have been well documented, rendering Cameron, Hague, Fox and their counterparts in France and the USA liable for prosecution for war crimes - the case is being drawn up as this article goes to press. The streets of Libya's cities are strewn with stinking rotting bodies.

The fault is not Colonel Gaddafi's. When you are attacked by marauding gangs of terrorists who slit people's throats in the streets, who vow to ethnically cleanse Libya from Negroes, who slice the breasts off women and who impose the burqah in the areas under their control, who loot, who rape and who torch buildings, who desecrate bodies, who torture children... you do not give in, any more than you give the keys to your car to a car-jacker. You fight back. The difference is that Cameron, Sarkozy and Obama support this filth.

Why, you ask? Because Corporate Capitalism needs oil to fuel its 'money machine'... The sinister powers of the rich and famous pull the strings and the puppets dance... meanwhile, the people grow sick and tired of the same old bullshit... NATO and the US are heading toward bankruptcy and taking all their citizens with them.

Ron Paul is right about one thing: The United States needs to bring the boys home and quit playing 'Rambo' in the Third World... before we all wind up in the bread lines, or as slaves of Corporate Capitalism....

Socialism on a Personal Level

You say you want a revolution... Well, that's nice, but have you thought it through?

First, an idea springs up in the imagination. Then it takes form as a thought. The thought becomes an ideal. The ideal becomes a guiding principle of life. 

The 'guiding principle here is "Many hands make work light." Socialism is how we interact with others. The goal in mind is solving the material questions of the New Society... Who will benefit from the material wealth of that society? How will we treat each other? Where are we going to go with this new idea? Who will be in charge? What do we do with those who do not embrace our idealism? How are we going to make it all work?

People and Comrades (other socialists) will put forward the issues that they think are important... Health care, social welfare programs, provisions for old age, public housing, public transportation, etc. - those things that they think will make the world better... These will usually be in the form of slogans: "Feed the Hungry!" "End War!" "House the Homeless!" "Full Employment!", etc. And, they will be in the context of the main political goals: Social Justice, A healthy environment, liberty, equality, and universal brotherhood... 

For us, however, there is another goal that must be addressed. Namely, the continued survival and evolution of the human race. To provide for the needs of the people is a noble undertaking. No one should have to do without the basic necessities of life. Especially, in a nation as rich as ours. But, to ignore the needs of the Future is unwise. No, downright criminal.

Man is evolving... Therefore, our basic consideration is how we can aid in and facilitate that development. The New Man is the goal of socialism. He is the future of humanity. Ideally, the New Man should be healthy, sound of mind and body, as intelligent as possible, armed with the best education and training that the New Society can provide, and dedicated to the principles that we cherish.

The New Man should be free from want and fear. He should be supremely self-confident. And extremely able... His goal should be perfection and harmony with the Universe. Nothing less. For the Universe shall belong to him.

This idea, of the creation of the New Man as the ultimate goal of the New Society, separates us from every other political ideology in the spectrum. In this desire for the survival and continued upward development of the human race we are alone. Others merely pay 'lip service' to the Future, but we realize that Humanity must capture the future in order to survive and evolve!

The alternative is unthinkable...

Making Socialism Personal

As Lao Tzu so aptly put it, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

In the present context, that means living the 'dream' right now, in the present moment. Whatever your vision of the Future, start living your life like you were already there... Achieve your fullest potential - starting in the present moment! You don't have to wait for major changes to happen in society... Those changes can begin right now with you. If you want to get in shape, get a degree, have a family, be a leader of men... What are you waiting for?

There is no time like the present to start being the person you want to be.

Our vision for the Future is not mediocrity... It is, instead, one where all Americans give 100% to build a better society... If citizens of this great land are not prepared to give their all for America, then perhaps we need to rethink the requirements for citizenship... It is going to take a colossal effort to build a New Society. It is going to take unwavering dedication to create the New Man. There can be no 'holding back'. America expects every man, woman and youth to do their duty!

This is not mere rhetoric (bullshit)... What is the point of waiting until it is too late to save the environment, or the economy, or the lives and fortunes of billions of human beings? 

No one could be that stupid or callous - Not even a Republican!

Socialist 'Hoppin John'

The number one Internet search today was "Hoppin' John"... Mainly, because 'Chalky' on Boardwalk Empire was hungry for it after he got out of jail...

Some call it 'soul food', or food for 'po' folks... It will feed hungry revolutionaries at a very small cost. So, we thought y'all would like to have our version of the recipe... It's a West African/Caribbean/Southern innovation... 

Rice

pico de gallo (Google it)

sausage or spam or ham (chopped up)

black-eyed peas

kimchi soup powder (you always have some of this left over - they sell the 'kimchi soup' at Wal-mart).

thyme

cumin

garlic powder

chicken powder (so you can make the rice in broth if you want).

1 T olive oil (or whatever)

• The secret of everything is "Use what you got."
• You can substitute...
• Seasoning by the 'pinch'...
• This is a 'good luck' meal - serve with 'greens' and cornbread.
• Vegetarians can leave out the meat.

How do you make it?

Make the rice... (2-parts water/1-part rice - dump the rice in boiling water and cook for 15-min <at a simmer>  then take off the lid and cook until rice stops fizzlin')

Heat the olive oil in a pot and cook the pico de gallo.

dump in the seasoning and the meat.

Add the black-eyed peas.

Serve over the rice...

Bon Appetite!

For the Good of the People

Some people just don't get it... it is most regrettable but we cannot allow their lack of illumination to slow us down. Negative thinking, clinging to the status quo, and refusing to see the possibilities inherent in changing political conditions are tendencies that lead to failure... The people's struggle for survival and continued evolution demands leaders who can think outside the box.

What we need, more than anything, is a party of workers, soldiers, revolutionaries and youth.

What we do not need is to endlessly repeat the mistakes of the past. 

The Chinese have a saying, "A fool is a person who does the same thing over and over and expects different results." We all have come in contact with fools. The smart thing to do is distance yourself from them as soon as possible and let them go their own way. 

We do not want to be 'baby sitters' for the mentally challenged. We do not need to become mired in endless debates about moot points. Things are exactly as they are, and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change them (for better or worse)... If you want to live in the past you should be trying to build a time machine to transport yourself there. And, even if you could go there you would never fit in... The men of old had little tolerance for opinions - they were more interested in rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done!

The motto of the Totenkopf-SS says it all, "Get in line, shut your mouth and do your job!"

It doesn't matter what the job is. The division of labor requires that every man do his duty. Sometimes, what we have to do is 'unpleasant', sometimes dangerous, sometimes boring, sometimes it is pure joy... it doesn't matter because we fight for the survival and continued upward development of our people. Our people - not some abstract idea of 'fair play' or 'honor'... or the nonsense some people call 'tradition'. 

The System doesn't work. It has never been a friend or ally of National Socialism. Therefore, we cannot, and will not, be bound by any imaginary ties to it. If your desire is to kiss the asses of the rich and famous you have no place in the leadership of the people... In order to survive the people need power. That means that those who have power must relinquish it. One way or another.

The struggle for power is not a game. It is not a 'tea party'. It is a brutal and serious business. The stakes are high. Because if we lose we die. Not only that, but our people will die. (Or live in slavery which is worse than death!)

So be forewarned, we have no time for games. Nothing matters to us but Victory! We will stop at nothing to achieve it!

Listen, and understand. The Revolution has begun. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until all of its enemies are dead.

Now, that is something to think about.... 

Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

40,000 people took to the streets today in 50 German cities in order to protest for a world with more democracy and against the crisis of capitalism, caused by the banks and large corporations. 

"500,000 children in Germany are starving," was the headline in a regional newspaper.

What this is about, more than anything, is that there is always money available to save banks while we are experiencing more and more cuts and cancellations to social services. That is why they are actually saying in New York "We are the 99 percent." The 1 percent on Wall Street, they say, is dictating how things should be. People want to have their say and so they are demanding more democracy and less power for banks. That is something that is just as important in Germany as it is in New York, Spain, Greece or, indeed, anywhere.

"The people have been demanding this for a long time. We saw just that during the first crisis. Or take the Greek crisis, for example. When Greece receives money, that money goes straight back to the banks, including German banks, and the Greek people have to accept cuts and various other measures that damage society. That means that they are trying to have the citizens, average people, pay for the crisis rather than paying for from the profits of the finance markets," said Detlev von Larcher, "National debts are already very large. However, when I hear in discussions that the banks are accusing politicians of getting into debt - when these accusations come directly from the banks that have been saved with state money - this is something that I find quite absurd."

Protesters in London have taken up the rallying cry of demonstrators in the US, with thousands protesting against cutbacks and the global banking system.

Taking their lead from the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in New York, the protesters - who were recruited through a social media campaign - rallied outside St. Paul's Cathedral, right next to the building that houses the London Stock Exchange.

"We are the 99 percent," declared the demonstrators, many waving placards and some wearing masks. The slogan was a reference to statistics that show the richest 1 percent of people in the world own approximately 40 percent of global wealth.

Taking a cue from the 'Occupy Wall Street' and 'indignant' protest movements, demonstrators have taken to Europe's streets, expressing their anger over rising inequality and government austerity measures. 

Protesters across Europe marched against social inequality on Saturday, accusing the banking and financial sectors of triggering an escalating debt crisis that has caused governments to slash popular social programs to reduce public deficits.  

Without a common agenda or leader, demonstrators in Washington have made clear that they no longer want to foot the bill for the rich. A movement that began on Wall Street has now spread to cities across America. 

The question is not why "normal" people take to the streets, but rather why this did not happen much earlier given the growing social injustice. There broad dissatisfaction with Congress directed at both Democrats and Republicans. Many people are also disappointed with President Obama. 

In the afternoon, the flock of Occupy D.C. demonstrators starts to move. They are mostly younger people, but also fathers who have work yet are worried about their children's future. Many have come a long way to participate, from New Orleans and even Alaska. The march goes down 14th Street through Freedom Plaza and then through the applauding crowd of another protest movement that is marching and also plans to demonstrate for days. They call themselves "October 11."

Lisa Simeone, who belongs to the organizing committee of "October 11," claims it's an absolute coincidence that their demonstration has coincided with the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy D.C. movements, thereby gaining more attention. Simeone began to plan the protest months ago to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the start of the Afghan war. Yet she makes her sympathies clear.

"We stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street," Simeone said. 

In contrast to the anti-Wall Street demonstrators, "October 11" has clear demands: End the wars and bring the troops home while removing the influence of money on politics. How the money saved should be spent is also clear, according to Simeone.

"In Jobs, apartments, education, health care and all the things that the people are lacking," she said.

The crowd at Freedom Plaza is a bit older - many union members have come, war veterans and the "Raging Grannies" who criticize the power of the few by singing songs with clever lyrics. The 69-year-old Vickie Ryder from North Carolina is one of these self-proclaimed grannies. They use the Internet and e-mail to organize themselves and protest against a system that Ryder believes works only for the rich.

"My son had a terrible accident and needs a hospital bed at home," Ryder said. Yet her insurance refused to pay, so she has to come up with the money herself.

99 against one percent

There is nobody in this country that's not affected by the cuts in social spending, with the exception perhaps of the one percent which can still buy their champagne, yachts and fancy cars.

The 99 percent has to work hard to scrape by while the wealthy one percent is doing well - that is the central motif of the movement, which is protesting for more social justice in the US.

The demonstrators know, however, the recession in the US has a high price... People die daily from malnutrition, insufficient medical care and other consequences of poverty. 15.1 percent of Americans live in poverty, that's 45 million people!

"If they arrest us today, we will be here tomorrow," one demonstrator calls.

There is much work to be done - but the revolution has only just begun.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way!