Grateful Dead

absolutely TigerLilly.i wonder how much footage that story will get around the world; some? none? less than nothing? it sure is hard right now to stay positive. suicide bombings in Afghanistan. another earthquake in Fukushima releasing yet more radiation into the water. reports of Tsunami funds being used to finance Japanese whaling operations. that drone killing in Pakistan. the plight of Honduran lobster fishermen risking paralysis and death without any governmental support, while we pay stupid money to dine to our heart's content. the worrying trend of Chinese children being abducted and sold into slavery. the plight of hundreds of children in Burundi, locked up for years without trial in adult prisons, among some of the most dangerous criminals in the country. the appalling gang violence in Trinidad resulting in a murder, on average, every 17 hours. the effect of controversial emergency legislation on Australia's Aboriginal population. the dark side of India's booming economy, where more than 60,000 children go missing every year, as many are kidnapped into domestic slavery for the growing middle class and businesses, and others are kidnapped for ransom by those desperate to share some of the country's new wealth. we all have our worries and anxieties. our hurt and our pain. deep and consuming despair will not help our brothers and sisters on this planet, but let us all focus this holiday season on others who have so little when we have so much.

well i wasn't really posing any questions, just musing a little.i'm sure that if the protesting continues, that paid thugs (if they haven't already), will infiltrate the campaign and create chaos and violence, giving the police a "legitimate" reason to crack down mighty hard. the footage so far has been rather appalling; releasing pepper spray like graffiti paint, hurling citizens over barriers like tossed trash, corralling bodies like an NFL defense squad. but i'm deeply concerned that this prolonged "stagnation" of protest is heading towards cracks and disintegration. paying those with less-than-nothing, who don't give the proverbial, to create trouble and strife inside the campaign, is exceedingly easy to do. having watched footage and reports from many different news channels, i don't think i've seen one response from government officials or, for that matter, God forbid, Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama. Ol' Hilary seems to think it's more important to criticise Russia's voting system (the pot calling the kettle black), and Obama has the Arab league to placate and snuggle with (his hand forced or not). whats happening in Syria is happening in the U.S. and Iran does not pose a threat with Nuclear weapons. yes, they're hurting their own people and violence and oppression in any situation is disgusting and should never be tolerated but we have that in our own countries too (a good example being that documentary i mentioned; does anyone outside of those Chicago suburbs know or care? i wasn't aware until i saw it). drone killings in Pakistan is neither big nor clever either. where have we gone so wrong that 20 or 30 or 50 dead bodies is glanced over in the papers and considered just "regrettable", not "vomit-inducing" or "soul-scrapingly hateful and sickening to the very core"? but, i'm still mighty positive about the recent Occupy happenings. i haven't been able to catch every update, but can anyone tell me if there is a concerted effort to link the protests with boycotts of the corporations so loathed? the news channels don't seem to be showing anything (or indeed connecting any dots). it is very hard to body-swerve everything as these companies have their hands in many cookie jars without us knowing, but the obvious ones, surely, should be highlighted with banners, soundbites and sloganeering. there needs to be a mass, advertised effort, to stop purchasing or using these corporations. a list that is repeatedly held up for the cameras to see that names and shames those involved. no consumer, no power after all. the jamband community also has a responsibility, avoiding Clear Channel and Live Nation and the like. easier said than done when you want to dance and spin to your favourite band after a hard week's toil but you can't have one without the other. making excuses and justifications is no different to religious fundamentalism and "morally condoned murder". all it does is perpetuate. but don't think i'm removed from all this; that i'm not involved in furthering said atrocities and suffering. i am. and i feel shameful about it. but we know in our hearts whats right. we just have to try harder, thats all and dump all unnecessary baggage over the side of this bloated balloon. easier said than done my friends, easier said than done. just don't stop trying.

If I understand your question correctly you are asking why don't the cops and the agents of repression join the side of the righteous? Some do. Most don't. In Tienanmen Square the Chinese were afraid of just such a mutiny and brought in troops of different culture from thousands of miles away, who wouldn't have any sympathy. In nonviolent theory there has to be a catalyst where the ruling regime shows itself be so barbaric that the police and army is ordered to kill hundreds and even thousands of innocent civilians, which include (not always) unarmed women and children. Then we also have the private thug paramilitaries which are much less well trained but can be easily put on the payroll in this bad economy. The Pinkertons are such an example. It was interesting to see how the cops handles the Occupy Wall St. movement. They used kid gloves (for the most part) as opposed to those IMF and G8 protests.

I am generally in favor of ballot initiatives because it's a last resort for people to make law or get a law changed. But when 4 out of 5 of the ballot initiatives favor the monied interests then, on balance, the people of California are just subject to more corporate control. If corporations really didn't like a ballot initiative they could throw money at defeating it and, if not, do another ballot initiative repealing the one they don't like. Corporate person-hood has to go, no doubt.

1,500 Indian Farmers have found no other option for debt to moneylenders to buy Monsanto genetically manipulated seeds and a dropping water table. Double whammy by evil incarnate!! These poor people! http://www.alternet.org/economy/137059/1,500_indian_farmers_commit_mass…

Excellent documentary film "The Interrupters - How To Stop A Riot". Tells the surprising story of three dedicated individuals who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they themselves once perpetrated. These 'interrupters' intervene in conflicts before the incidents explode into violence. Their work and their insights are closely entwined with their own personal journeys, which, as each of them points out, defy easy characterisation. Shot over the course of a year by acclaimed filmmaker Steve James, it is a vivid portrayal of a city under siege from spiralling violence, including the brutal murder of Derrion Albert, a Chicago high-school student whose death was caught on videotape. These wonderful human beings, part of the CeaseFire campaign, are truly extraordinary. They deserve as much support as you can give them. http://ceasefirechicago.org/ on a different note, interesting to see footage of Barack Obama's various condemnations on the Libyan & Syrian governments together with the police crackdown on protesters. something about protecting it's own people and their human rights. mmmmmmmm........ we know the police's hands are kinda tied. risk losing a job in a spiraling economic climate? arrested? worse? but would be nice to see some of them express their discontent together with their fellow communities. at the very least, treat protesters respectfully. as that retired Philadelphian Captain Ray Lewis said, we are supposed to protect people's rights, not squash them. i hear laughing all around me for some strange reason....

but we also got medical marijuana ahead of everybody else too. I favor getting rid of corporate personhood, not the initiative process, thanks.

...where the people can enact any law they want has now run amok and become thew tools of big corporations like Amazon.com, who don't want the State of California to charge them sales tax. Any monied interest could get anything passed in the State. Why hasn't any geared up to rescind the odious "Proposition" that has caused California's budget woes? I actually worked for a ballot initiative in the State of California.

Russian voters have dealt Vladimir Putin's ruling party a heavy blow by cutting its parliamentary majority in an election that showed growing unease with his domination of the country as he prepares to reclaim the presidency. Incomplete results showed Putin's United Russia was struggling even to win 50% of the votes, compared with more than 64% four years ago. Opposition parties said even that outcome had been inflated by fraud.

Does anybody think that Putin's party is really going to lose today's election in Russia, despite the 1st quarter of votes counted show the party losing points?