Occupy Ashland on Black Friday

It was a warm and pleasant day, in the mid 60s and sunny. We walked the line from a little before noon until about 2:15. We got exceptionally good responses today, with 60-70% approvals and perhaps 30 percent of that, honks and beeps... everyone must be in the holiday spirit. It’s interesting how agreeable people are when they are about to spend a lot of money, but I digress...;-)~ We also met Kate and her family from the Cincinnati Occupation, who were in town visiting family for the holidays. They participated with us for awhile as we talked and compared notes about the divisions within their movement and the ones in ours. They have a strong group of anarchists, who would rather tear down than modify, but who are going along with the Consensus of the rest, as far as strategy and campaigns go. They no longer have an encampment either, but are involved in multiple campaigns and mobilizations. They also have at least fifty picketing and carrying signs around the clock.

Judd Plaza corner, Black Friday, 2:05pm

A couple from New York, in to see family for the holidays, and their mother, also stopped by to talk with us and took some pictures. They’ve been down to the Wall Street site too. They were excited to see our little “Occupy” here in Ashland.

If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.--Don Marquis 

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.--Aristotle 

The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.--Albert Einstein

Getting ready for the parade

Getting ready for the Thanksgiving Parade

We served dinner at the Community Kitchen today after walking the line at Judd Plaza, signs in hand, both of us... The Thanksgiving Parade was tonight, very soggy, so we didn’t attend. We return to the plaza to keep the spirit of the movement alive. If we can maintain a presence through the winter, I’ll feel pretty good about the depth and strength of the movement. Spring should tell the story. But who can say for sure. If police, mayors, university presidents continue to aggressively over react to non violent provocations, then the movement may really take off. I don’t think average Americans approve of the tactics they have seen played out on their TV screens the last couple of weeks. Those images only strengthen the movement and the support there of.


Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving Dinner at the Community Kitchen. We’ll help serve from 11am till 1pm, then we’ll go walk the line for a couple of hours at Judd Plaza. We’re hoping to see many of our friends and fellow 99 percenters there too.

Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.--Susan Ertz 

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.--Alfred Adler 

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.--Charles Bukowski

Occupy Ashland...November rain

It was rainy and in the 50s-60s today, and we were out on the picket line from about 11:20am till 2:15pm, and then helped to serve dinner at the Community Kitchen from 4-5pm. My mood is as good as can be expected, since there are so few of us actually walking the picket line. We supposedly have vast support, with followers on the internet and Facebook (so I've heard), but that's certainly not evident on site, where we need boots on the ground, holding signs, and interfacing with the public. We have a half a dozen or so (at best), who like me, are part timers, have jobs and/or other commitments too. So, for all the talk (and “support”), there's little to show for it. There are a couple of us on site during the lunch hours, roughly 11am to 2pm every day, plus the dinner hr 5-8 a couple of days a week, and one who spends about 10hrs a day, three times a week. Once in awhile there's one or two others. Some days we have a couple of people there during the dinner, evening "rush," but not every day. We just need more people, willing to walk the picket line. They are few and hard to come by. Don't know why... May have something to do with commitment, or maybe just "stamina." Most people I know can't even commit to an exercise class... they'll go once or twice, or for a week or two, then they're done... no staying power since, what, no instant gratification?... As far as I'm concerned, anything worth achieving takes time and effort! It doesn't happen over night.

And even though there seems to be a lot of support for us, there is still a huge number of (I don't know how else to put it) plainly apathetic or outright stupid people, who know nothing about the influences in their lives, or their own self interests, and could care less... It's mind boggling, the absolutely stupid, knee jerk responses we get. And oh so many can't seem to get up off their bar stools longer than it takes to flip us the bird and order another Bud Light.

I think too many may be taking FOX News and the like, their dismissive propaganda campaigns, more seriously than they deserve to be taken. They claim that Occupy has no agenda... which is the main argument from all those opponents of Occupy. The occupy movement has had and continues to have a clear agenda: get big money out of politics; prosecute Wall Street and corporate criminals; make the 1% pay their fair share; and bring good manufacturing jobs back to the US! There are many who would also like to see the Federal Reserve Bank abolished, one of the main cause of our financial problems, along with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – all making the worlds economies worse.

I stand by my indictment, that people in general either don't have the commitment or stamina to walk a picket line, or they're just too stupid to stand up for their own self interests, for all of our interests... sad but true. And actually, that's undoubtedly why this country and the rest of the world are in this situation in the first place.

Is the media the problem? Certainly, many of the media with their own agendas (very conservative, i.e. FOX) are huge obstacles to enlightened discussion over the direction we as a people and nation should take, what our national values are, or ought to be. Be assured that all conservatism is based in FEAR. And the "no agenda" argument is definitely a fear based argument. (Be afraid of the Occupy Movement; they don't know what they want, all those commies, fascists, Nazis, hippies, and drug fiends - every red flag, negative image they can think of, relevant or not)... yeh, right... blow it out their asses...

And when it comes to the voluntary, willing blindness of huge portions of our population to the realities of the absolute decline and moral corruption (especially) at the highest levels of our society, it is certainly another huge obstacle to that enlightened discussion.

The powers that be have EVERYTHING to LOSE, so they will pull out all the stops to ensure the status quo, or to increase their shares of everything... that's capitalism (greed-ism); and they will not give it up. Unfortunately, it will probably have to be taken from them by force. And since they have it all to lose, you can be assured that they will fight to the death, because without their lauded positions, power, and wealth, life just isn't worth living. I say good riddance... (oops, did I say that out loud?...;-)~ And, oh yes, I'm just getting started, 'cause now I'm really getting pissed! And sometimes it takes getting really pissed off to make yourself do the kinds of things that need doing.

Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!--Friedrich Nietzsche 

Courageous, untroubled, mocking and violent-that is what Wisdom wants us to be. Wisdom is a woman, and loves only a warrior.--Friedrich Nietzsche

Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?--Chico Marx

People should not fear their governments...

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.--V 

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.--Thomas Jefferson 

Artists use lies to reveal the truth, politicians use lies to conceal the truth.--V

From Google Images, and from youTube -- V's Speech

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine — the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than 400 years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.--Thomas Jefferson

Last-minute Message for a Time Capsule...

To continue with yesterday's ending theme...

Last-Minute Message for a Time Capsule

By Philip Appleman

I have to tell you this, whoever you are:
that on one summer morning here, the ocean
pounded in on tumbledown breakers,
a south wind, bustling along the shore,
whipped the froth into little rainbows,
and a reckless gull swept down the beach
as if to fly were everything it needed.
I thought of your hovering saucers,
looking for clues, and I wanted to write this down,
so it wouldn't be lost forever --
that once upon a time we had
meadows here, and astonishing things,
swans and frogs and luna moths
and blue skies that could stagger your heart.
We could have had them still,
and welcomed you to earth, but
we also had the righteous ones
who worshipped the True Faith, and Holy War.
When you go home to your shining galaxy,
say that what you learned
from this dead and barren place is
to beware the righteous ones.

from New and Selected Poems,1956-1996
University of Arkansas Press, 1996

Philip Appleman, a Foundation member, is also the author of six earlier books of poetry, three novels, and several nonfiction books. His third edition of the Norton Critical Edition of Darwin was published this year and he is editing a new edition on Malthus. He is married to playwright and poet Marjorie Appleman and is distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at Indiana University.

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.--Steven Weinberg

Election day musings 11-8-2011

Another election day... After voting, we went down to Judd Plaza to “occupy” during the lunch hour. Later, we helped to serve dinner at the Community Kitchen for the supper hour.

No issues on our ballot today, only off-year candidates, governor and such.

I've noticed that those who seem to favor corporate views of the economy (especially those with jobs) are certainly intimidated by the prospects of no job security, as well as their hope that they too will become one of the one percent... In recent polls, 60% of high school and college graduates believed they'd be rich one day... How does 60% make it to the 1%? Ben Franklin said that anyone who is willing to trade freedom for a little security deserves neither and will lose both. And what they are hoping against hope for is security in their jobs and comfort zones... Security, as we have all painfully learned, is an illusion.

I think it's a little early for us to be talking about any lessons learned from the Occupy movement, but I'm keeping my mind and eyes open; time will tell.

Our corporate overlords, the plutocracy, have intentionally underfunded pensions and retirement packages for the last 20 years, at least. That has been one of their strategies to increase "profits" for their share holders and officers. They also buy million dollar life insurance policies on their employees, even minor ones, so that when one dies they collect... none goes to the families of those so covered, only to the company income ledger... the company is the only beneficiary.

Some complain about those who become bankrupt, as if they are the problem. They are not the problem, but a symptom of it. Fact is that bankruptcy is an inevitable outcome of a central bank (FED) and monetary system built on debt and interest, i.e. every dollar put into circulation includes, perhaps as much as 40 cents worth of debt already attached, and that's before anyone spends a dime. It's a system doomed to produce bankruptcy, recession, even collapse and global depression. And it's intentionally so, as those in charge increase their holdings and wealth at exponential rates during the financial bad times for the rest of us, for the planet, for the 99.9%... That's exactly what they want, as everything is for sale, and at fractions of their worth. They make out like the bandits (terrorists) that they are, and the rest of us suffer.

Unfortunately, there's no where else to go to escape our slave masters... We have to stay here and fight for our rights, right here where we stand. It's always a fight... fascist, plutocratic forces are, and will always try to enslave us, as they have from the very foundations of "civilization." Slavery has always been the most efficient means of wealth production for them, whether it's actual physical slavery (but then they have to house and feed us), or the slavery of paid labor, debt, and interest (where we have to house and feed ourselves)... better form of slavery to enrich them without having to sacrifice anything for us... Time to stand up for the rights of every person born on this planet. Its wealth is not the divine right of the plutocrats, though I know they believe otherwise. The more we (the human masses) suffer, the more they (plutocrats) obscenely prosper... Time to bring them down into the muck with the rest of us! We are all children of the universe, and no one person has any more divine or intrinsic worth than any other of us. If there is any divine right, then we all share it equally as children of this universe. I just wish that everyone could/would think long and hard about their own impact on this planet and each other, if for nothing else than the survival of our species and home; for the survival of our own children, grand, and great grand children, and their children's children's children... Humans can be so short sighted; I'm surprised we've lasted as long as we have. But nature has a way of taking care of species that over specialize (fail to adapt) and don't learn from their mistakes, as we have apparently not done. It's called "extinction." And if we don't change soon, the earth (and the greater universe) won't have to worry about our destructive actions, we'll contaminate and destroy that which gives us life, and we'll ALL die... end of story!

So, I say again, we have to stand up right where we are and fight, because sooner or later (probably sooner) it will be too late, and the process of our extinction will be irreversible... it may already be...

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.--Aristotle 

The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.--Sophocles

Tootles Pumpkin Inn with Dale Kulchar - Nov 3

Thursday Nov. 3rd, went to Tootles Pumpkin Inn in Circleville to see my old friend, Dale Kulchar, perform. He was excellent (as usual)! Here are a few pictures...

 

 

We enjoyed the show Dale...;-)

All of life is a dispute over taste and tasting.--Friedrich Nietzsche  

Art is the proper task of life.--Friedrich Nietzsche   

For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.--Friedrich Nietzsche 

Occupy update and Boggs West Landing

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - barge coming in

Update

Worked the line on Judd plaza over the lunch hour, roughly noon till 2pm... Was informed by one of our members, who had been to the local college (ACTC - Ashland Community Technical College) to rouse support for the cause, that his group could only speak from the "free speech square," a bathroom tile sized square marked on the pavement. The Political Science department head came down and told him that if the group didn't stand on the square, they'd be removed from the property... (What the ....!?). Even the college security was more concerned that the flag he was carrying not touch the ground than his freedom of speech or his groups ability to all stand on that 4 inch x 4 inch square...  What ever happened to the "Student Movement?" We volunteered to serve dinner at the community kitchen for the dinner hour. Then we went to relax at Boggs West Landing in Catlettsburg and watch barges moving up and down the river.

A mob's a monster; heads enough but no brains.--Benjamin Franklin
Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power.--Benjamin Franklin
It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.--Alfred Adler

Here are more of the Boggs West Landing pictures:

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - barge coming in

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - looking SE at OH, Boggs East Landing?

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - looking at coal barges on OH side

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - looking at OH side

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - looking at coal barges on OH side

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY - looking at Boggs East Landing, OH?

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY

Boggs West Landing - Catlettsburg KY