Grateful Dead

Partial total consciousness added to with the finishing touch. It is total consummation of the bliss and void. Don not fold, shred, spindle or mutilate. Lay way back into it. 100%

RICHARD KIM: You know, a couple dozen anarchist types organized the occupation of Wall Street, and then, within a few weeks, we have a global movement. So, I just wanted to ask you, why this? Why now? You know, what’s the sort of secret behind Occupy Wall Street’s success? MICHAEL MOORE: This is one of the most remarkable movements that I’ve seen in my lifetime, precisely because it really isn’t a movement in the traditional sense. And I think that it has succeeded because it hasn’t followed the old motifs that we’re used to, in terms of organizing. But it has its roots in all the good works that so many people have done for so many years, especially in the last 30 years since Reagan took office and the decline and destruction of the country, and essentially the world, began its modern-day disaster. I think that, you know, so many people have done so many good things, and we’ve always had different groups and different constituencies of people that have been able to rally behind different causes. But this, from what I’ve seen—and I’ve—like you said, I’ve been maybe a half a dozen or more of the different Occupy things. This thing has spread like wildfire. I mean, it is—I wish you could have been traveling with me the last few weeks. It has been the most uplifting, heartening thing to see: so many Americans of all stripes deciding that they’re just going to occupy. And they don’t have to call in to central command for permission. There are no dues to pay. There’s no leader to get permission from. There’s no meetings, subcommittee meetings, you know, all these things you have to go through. It literally is something as simple as some people in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just decide to create Occupy Fayetteville, and then 400 people show up. I was in Grass Valley, California, Nevada City, 400 people there. You don’t hear about any of these, because, well, the media either won’t or can’t cover it, because they’ve been so decimated themselves, in terms of reporters and bureaus that don’t exist anymore. So it would be impossible to kind of show the breadth and the scope of this movement. But it is—it is massive. It is building each week. And everybody feels that they have permission to be their own leader. And the reason why I think this works—I know a lot of people that say, "Well, you know, it’s got to get more organized. It’s got to have a plan. Or it’s got to—what’s the agenda? What’s the way forward here? What’s the next step?" You know, it’s enough right now that this movement just—first of all, it’s already had some important victories. It has alleviated despair in this country. It has—it has killed apathy. It has changed the conversation in a profound way. Seven, eight weeks ago, all we were listening to was about the debt ceiling and the deficit crisis, and [inaudible] nobody’s talking about that distraction any longer. They’re talking about the real issues now that are facing the majority of Americans: jobs, the fact that millions of homes are underwater, that 50 million people don’t have health insurance, we have 49 million living in poverty now, we have 40 million adults who cannot read and write above a fourth grade level, that are functional illiterates. That’s the nation that corporate America and the banks and Wall Street have created. And when somebody asked me the other day, "Well, who organized this? Who organized this movement?" I said, "Well, actually, Goldman Sachs organized it. Citibank organized it. BP organized it. They did—they did the organization." And I think that, you know, it’s—if you want to trace the current roots to this, somebody—I was being interviewed the other day. "Well, you know, at the end of your last movie, you were wrapping the crime scene tape around the Stock Exchange, and you called for this uprising." I said, "No. Yes, I did, but, you know, it’s not that. It’s not a magazine from Vancouver. It’s not—if you want to—if you really want to pin it down to somebody, I would thank Bradley Manning." And here’s why. A young man with a fruit stand in Tunis became very upset because he couldn’t figure out why he was just getting screwed and why he couldn’t make it. And he read a story, put out by WikiLeaks, that exposed how corrupt his government was. And he just couldn’t take it anymore, and he set himself on fire. That event, by giving his life to this, created the Arab Spring movement that went across the Middle East and then boomeranged back here to what has been going on in the fall here in North America. But if one courageous soldier hadn’t—allegedly—done what he had done, if he hadn’t done this, it—who knows? But it was already boiling just beneath the surface, and it just needed somebody to get it going. And thank God for you and your friends, who went down there on that first day, who endured the ridicule first, then the attacks, and then the attempts to co-opt. But they have held strong. And it’s not now—it’s not just the people who can camp out overnight. It’s 72 percent of the American public who say they want taxes raised on the rich. That’s never happened before in this country. It’s people taking their money out of Chase and Citibank and Wells Fargo and putting it in their credit unions. And it’s taken so many forms that—and it can’t be stopped. And it’s so great to watch Fox News and the others try to wrap their heads around it, because they can’t get their brain quite—like it can’t grab onto it, which is great. That’s what’s great. So, I’m a big supporter of it staying leaderless, with a lack of a certain amount of organization, that it remain in its free and open state. And thank God for all the young people who are willing to not take it anymore. And I’ve just been inspired by it, and I’m glad that I got to live to see what I believe, or hope, will be the beginning of the end of a very evil system that is unfair, and it’s unjust, and it’s not democratic. So, thank you.

Wolf Blitzer on CNN was truly frightening. Bachman, on the intelligence committee and subject to background briefings, pandered for votes so hard that she let slip a little news. Terrorists have attacked Pakistani nuclear storage sites 6 times, failing so far. Rick Perry continues to tell the world there should be no aid to Pakistan. Between the Pakistani shit and the Iranian shit these candidates are scaring people into believing there isn't three percent of pork in the military budget to easily cut. I can't stand Mitt Romney and he is the guy that sounds closest to the center, but still worshiping at the throne of Barry Goldwater. I really wish that the Democrats had a challenger in the early primary states. It would take the weird halo of quasi-truth off these clowns.

Making their approval rating now 1%, the lowest of all time. The only reason given for the failure was that John Kerry talked too much. Now Congress has to to undo it's own law that would trigger a 3% cut in the military and 100% of every other program for people except cops and fireman. The cuts are supposed to start in 2013. I can't ever remember a presidential term where a president has has had to battle, almost single-handedly, a reinforced number of wound up conservatives so weirdly bent that they, through their radical actions, created a movement to redistribute the wealth. Who will fall first? Italy or Obama?

All the hippies knew and I think Grace Slick was an unearthly goddess back in 69

but somehow the fire never caught..... My, isn't Grace beautiful ;-)

The real meat & bones of the movement is the ridiculous gap that widens all the time between Rich & Poor. While it has always been that way to a greater or lesser extent, here in the US we lead the world in trending. Though on this one we're trailing quite a few countries, like Tunisia. The chasm has simply become enormous between 1 of 5 Americans on food stamps and 1% owning 75% of the wealth. This is the result, since 1850 or so, between two parties who always win elections in the US. "Occupy" has definitely taken a stance that neither party has the balls to fix this problem and in fact both want the status-quo to continue. What has coalesced this age-old problem is right-wing rhetoric of "Class War" leveled at Obama along with the loss of home value and the social contract between owners and workers that is supposed to provide pension, health and social security benefits. These things are being appropriated by the 1%. The 1% as corporations are being given additional human rights by this Supreme Court. This is not helping the long-term unemployed (defined as more than 208 weeks of unemployment and having given up looking for a job.) Occupy is a word of action and this movement needs to be one of action that uses original ideas and social media and raises the necessary level of consciousness among all Americans. Then they need to Occupy the White House and return priorities towards helping people rather than using up as quickly as possible every chunk of the environment. History has always shown that when violence is used in such a movement it tends to prolong the conflict while nonviolence brings it to a premature end. If Occupy can remain nonviolent in a very disciplined way then they can more quickly reapportion the wealth. The health industry and doctors need to be forcibly put in their place as well as the military and grants for such things as the NEA and NPR must be put on auto-support, along with the more important stuff like kid's school lunches. Beyond that is further nationalization in the name of Eminent Domain. The US must lead the mass of humanity on this planet towards the conscious realization that allowing huge gaps (more than 25%) between the rich and poor only adds to the total of human misery. And there certainly isn't enough opportunity for those with the ability to cross the class boundary. It all must change but I fear it all too late.

What i think should happen is stay in the parks but no camping. Just get people to rotate shifts like i will be there from 3pm to 10pm next group come in 10pm till???. i think. Tomorrow i am going to an occupy the north country info and brainstorming session...hey gonzo you should come on over it is in bethlehem nh...we will see what happens.

I think that the Occupy folks can show their solidarity, power and commitment in a much easier way than camping out in cold parks over the winter. Every once in a while they should announce an occupy event....kind of like a flash mob. Keep it fun and convenient. For instance This Saturday occupy the downtown mall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or at 5 p.m. Friday occupy Rip-off Bank and Loan until 11 p.m..... Showing up in public places in organized and systematic way will show power and organization ....which becomes the message.

When authorities realized that the Occupy Wall Street had some hardcore support in major cities they did what they had to do, clear the parks of camping, for the safety and sanitation of the general public. The movement has met some quick success and could be off to a good start though they face a hard winter of demonstrating without camping. If they were to establish some positions and articulate some campaign leading to an objective that would go a long way toward getting them through the winter in good shape to make a presence in the presidential elections. The movement has already been infiltrated by state and federal provocateurs, causing problems, injury and riot. One thing is sure, if they don't articulate themselves and their means to their goals they are just going to be yesterdays news and irritating as they highlight an acute problem without providing an answer. Am I getting old, or what?