David Swanson's Blog, page 198
November 25, 2011
November 23, 2011
Video: When the World Outlawed War
Tonight at 6:30 at Busboys and Poets at 14th and V in DC
November 22, 2011
The Last Whistleblowers
Whistleblowing in our federal government may soon be a thing of the past, not because whistleblowers face more vicious retribution than ever before -- although that is true; and not because important acts of whistleblowing now result in fewer reforms and less accountability than they used to -- although that is also true and is getting closer; but fundamentally because the actions against which we need whistles blown are publicly acknowledged.
November 20, 2011
Bloomberg Ties Terror Plot to Lex Luthor
In a hastily thrown together press conference Sunday afternoon, several months in the planning, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his efforts to spread freedom beyond New York City had included the deployment of 1,000 NYPD officers to Schenectady, where they have just apprehended a young man inspired by Al Qaeda and Occupy Wall Street propaganda provided to him by the NYPD on a regular basis since September.
Bloomberg Ties Terror Plot to Lex Luther
In a hastily thrown together press conference Sunday afternoon, several months in the planning, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his efforts to spread freedom beyond New York City had included the deployment of 1,000 NYPD officers to Schenectady, where they have just apprehended a young man inspired by Al Qaeda and Occupy Wall Street propaganda provided to him by the NYPD on a regular basis since September.
November 19, 2011
Save OccupyCville on Monday
Billionaire Bloomberg, Militarized Police Commanders, and the Editors of the Charlottesville Daily Progress Believe . . .
... permitting any exercise of First Amendment rights is an act of generosity, and all acts of generosity must end.
According to the Daily Progress, we're even free in Charlottesville to insult presidents, although the "insults" may consist of attempted citizens arrests for openly confessed felonies, and although the "freedom" may consist of being forcibly removed by armed police.
According to the Daily Progress, Cville Occupiers should go home and then vote for a president and Congress that will do what they want.
Oh, gee, now you tell us.
November 18, 2011
Painted Torture
You walk into a large, bright gallery full of large colorful portraits, portraits of men. They are fairly ordinary looking men. They could be from Western Asia or the "Middle East."
You approach one and look at him for an instant. He looks normal, relaxed, almost expressionless, certainly expressing no very strong emotion.
Before you can look long, your eyes are drawn to the curving lines of words swirling around the canvas like leaves in water. You read words like these, twisting your head almost upside down to follow them:
"FROM THE TIME OF MORNING PRAYERS THEY WOULD DRAW A CIRCLE ON THE WALL, AND I HAD TO STAND ON MY TOES TWO HOURS WITH MY NOSE TOUCHING THE CIRCLE."
Occupy Thanksgiving
I'm thankful that a growing number of us reject the idea of a mysterious being to which we should be thankful, and for the concomitant growing assumption of responsibility for our own fate.
I'm thankful that there are so many people doing so many things for which I am thankful.
I'm thankful for the best family I can imagine. Scratch that. I'm thankful for a better family than I could merely imagine.
I'm thankful too for better employers than I could merely imagine.
I'm thankful that so many other people have families and friends and allies and bosses and colleagues that facilitate work that benefits us all.
I'm thankful to those who are alone and find the strength to push on productively.
November 17, 2011
Video: A Way to End War
David Swanson discusses his new book When the World Outlawed War in Charlottesville, Va., November 16, 2011.
November 16, 2011
Tonight and Monday in Charlottesville
Charlottesville Event with David Swanson's New Book: "When the World Outlawed War"
WHAT: David Swanson with his new book "When the World Outlawed War" and thoughts on activism past and present
WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m., November 16, 2011
WHERE: Random Row Books
315 West Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434-295-2493
http://randomrow.wordpress.com
Flyer: PDF.
THIS EVENT IS A DICK CHENEY FREE ZONE
NO ALUMINUM TUBES OR YELLOW CAKE ALLOWED
*****
Occupy City Council
At 5 p.m. on Monday rally at Lee Park.
Wear red.
March at 6 p.m. to City Hall.
At 6:30 everyone sign up for 3 minutes of speaking time at the 7 p.m. City Council meeting.
The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." But Congress has abridged freedom of the press by giving our air waves to international mega-conglomerates and granting them monopolistic control over what an overworked undereducated populace learns. Our local governments have abridged the right to peacably assemble by forbidding gatherings in public places without special limited permits. How are we to petition our government in Washington for a redress of grievances? Mail, faxes, telephones, and emails don't seem to be working. The government is radically opposing super-majority opinion on taxing the wealthy, taxing corporations, ending wars, cutting military spending, protecting the environment, enforcing laws against the powerful, criminalizing bribery and otherwise reforming the election system. Not everyone can move to Washington, D.C., to exercise their First Amendment rights. And if they did, how would their particular mis-Representative and Senators pick them out in the crowd? Local Occupy camps are a means of petitioning the national government and identifying the petitioners.
Occupy Cville is located across the street from Wells Fargo, to which the occupiers have brought their message. Wells Fargo is arguably a branch of the U.S. federal government. Wells Fargo is one of the largest institutions in the nation. It pays negative taxes. That is, it is richer after taxes than before. It receives funding from our tax dollars. To be specific, Wells Fargo has been given $18 billion in tax breaks during the past three years, resulting in its negative tax rate despite its massive profits. Our federal government is also committed to bailing out Wells Fargo when it runs into trouble and has given it tens of billions of dollars in recent years. Unlike human beings, schools, the economy, the natural environment, our health system, our grandparents, our children, the ill, the hungry, or the unclothed, Wells Fargo is guaranteed protection and assistance whenever it is in need. Wells Fargo pays for our elections, funnelling millions of our tax dollars back into the campaigns of its preferred candidates. In return, Wells Fargo is free to ruin families and neighborhoods through predatory lending, housing cost inflation, insider trading and speculation without any risk of criminal prosecution.
It is in the interests of the City of Charlottesville not to interfere with the First Amendment rights of flesh and blood human beings in assembling and petitioning our corporate-congressional complex for a redress of a great many grievances. —D.S.
