Mitakuye Oyasin

Privatized Warriors

2011-12-01T12:07:00.002-06:00

The following is a commentary by Glen Ford, taken from Black Agenda Radio Commentaries.

"The best thing for the U.S. any movement that truly wants an end to U.S. wars, would be to bring back the draft. “The all-volunteer military has made it far easier for the United States to wage unjust and illegal wars, because the vast majority of the population has no direct stake in keeping the peace.” A new study shows the disconnect between Americans and their military is deeper than ever. “This vast experiential chasm between the general population and the U.S. military has reached an all time high during the same decade that has seen ‘the longest period of sustained conflict in the nation’s history.’

Back in 2003, readers argued heatedly that a draft would encourage U.S. militarists to concoct even more expansive war plans, because they would have access to more manpower. But, in this age of drones, smart bombs and million-dollar per man armies it is not manpower concerns, but domestic politics, that dictates how many wars the generals can fight. The Pentagon will wage as many wars as the American public will bear. At present, the U.S. is busy killing people in four large theaters of war and many smaller ones, yet the Pentagon shows no sign of having a full plate. Indeed, the last thing the U.S. military wants is a return to the draft, because they know that selective service would instantly shrink their options for war, because more people would oppose them." the rest...

Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We are fools to make war
On our brothers in arms.

Jobless Citizens Organize

2011-11-30T05:17:00.005-06:00

By the end of the 19th Century, Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor were accepting American capitalism. This was a huge shift from the existing AFL model whose founding Preamble had been constructed around the reality of class consciousness. Prior to this shift from class consciousness to class collaboration, the organization had stood for abolishing wage slavery and preached that capitalism would inevitably create class conflict. After the shift, the organization began proclaiming that class harmony was possible under a benevolent form of capitalism. Under this "benevolent" form of capitalism, organized labor moved away from the horizontal member run model and began structuring itself after the corporate structure of the top-down hierarchy. This is when Labor moved away from class-consciousness and into trade-consciousness, and Business unionism was born!

Here we are 100 years later and the Business Union model has all but disappeared, primarily at the hands of those benevolent capitalists. Years ago Dave Neal did a piece concerning the future of organized labor. The article can be found at H.E.A.R.D., and also at IWW. The piece was pertinent prior to the turn of the Century, and given the further demise of collective workers and the political attack on the public workforce, it's even more pertinent now. The future of the working people arrived at this crossroads years ago, and the devil sang such a sweet tune we were individually mesmerized and Lucifer received the better deal. He walked away with our soul of solidarity. This is what Neal has to say about Business Unionism and its future.

It is my belief that business unionism will eventually die out, and we'll be back to where we were at the turn of the century, where Capital dictates the conditions under which we work without consideration of the consequences -- which are invariably measured in the lives of working people everywhere.

Business unionism won out in the past struggles between Labor and Capital, but in the long run, their vision of worker/owner solidarity is a false one, which is unravelling as we speak, particularly in the wake of NAFTA, GATT, and now MAI. Increasingly, it is Capital who calls the shots, and Labor who takes the lumps -- which explains why hundreds of thousands of working people have been "downsized" for the sake of corporate profits.

What we do from this point forward is what will shape the terrain of the working people for a long time to come. It is time for those in authority to step up and help be the change that our working families so drastically need. Yes, we will all have to make some unwanted sacrifices, but if organized labor truly cares about the working people out here, now would be a good time to show it and carry the torch of social change that will benefit all working people, not just a chosen few. When it is all said and done, it's not the capitalists who are Labor's allies, it's the working people of our world.

I am not naive, I know a shift from craft-consciousness to class-consciousness will not be an easy transition. Any progressive social change will inevitably be a fight of will. Power never cedes power readily; it has to be fought for by the people -- and given the wealth disparity which is so apparent in our country -- as the people participating in the OWS Movement have so eloquently pointed out -- the time for change is ripe!

However, with the continued withering away of business unions, an opening has grown for renewed radical unionism. The challenges are enormous, but the opportunity is there. This has been made possible, conversely, by the greed and machinations of Capital itself -- as the bosses seek to reduce American workers' pay, increase their hours, and slash their benefits, they have themselves created a revolutionary situation.

Management is very aware of this situation, however -- which is why there has been a proliferation of "empowerment sessions" and "team-building" initiatives in companies, where they seek to buy off the workers they still retain with union-style benefits without the unions. In other words, the appearance of empowerment, versus actual workplace empowerment. This masterful PR effort by management reveals the extent to which they'll go to see unionism finally destroyed. Companies want workers to think they're on the same team as their bosses, the way business unions believe. But it's a lie, and always will be.

To all of Organized Labor, there are two questions that need to be asked, followed by sincere discussions of how we can help be the change our people so desperately need. — "If not now, when? If not us, who?"

OWS Poetry Anthology

2011-11-19T05:47:00.005-06:00

People from around the world have been sending poems to the People's Library of Occupy Wall Street in order to create this anthology and show solidarity with the movement. As the OWS movement is horizontal and democratic, all poems are accepted in any language and are subject to be included in the anthology which is updated weekly. The details of submissions can be found on the OWS page I have linked following this poem by Stuart. It is the very first one in the anthology. Keep Occupying!

Taking Brooklyn Bridge
By, Stuart

I apologize Walt Whitman,
when I was young you spoke to me,
I would sit in the old church cemetery
surrounded by the tombstones of patriots
reading you out loud to the stray cats
and you came to me, you sang to me,
showed me myself in everyone and everything,
taught me a democracy of the soul, to live
in the rough and tumble world with dignity,
to grant that same dignity to the people around me.

I apologize Walt Whitman,
I let the song fade into the din
of everyday life, there are excuses
I could make, I will not make them,
I did not carry your song through the streets,
I worried about the strange looks and awkward postures
I might see in those who needed to hear it.
I got complacent, I was informed,
yes, informed, I read the papers, watched the news,
debated over dinners,
knew full well since the days of Reagan
what was happening to the common people like me
that you taught me to love, watched as we were turned
from citizens to consumers to the dispossessed,
and I did not rise up, I did not take to the streets,
did not risk or struggle, did not sing your song
that you so generously gave me.

Over the years I saw the passage of events,
I began to wonder why I and so many others
did not pour into the streets when our votes
were laughed off and our presidency stolen by
fools and plunderers, I wondered why I and so many
others did not challenge the brigand government
when they led us into the unjust war, did not let them
know that the battle we would wage here at home
against that corporate sponsored, oil sopped war of lies
would be far more passionate and just,
I began to wonder why so many citizens did not see that
they were being sold out, duped with the frivolous,
hyped by the hollow, bankrupted by spurious ideologies.

And this unrest began to churn within me,
as I watched the fall of the people, watched
as the great common people were being baited
and cheated by robber barons who would
delight in rekindling the gilded age, to gloat from
their palaces at the miserable, and I wondered
how this could be, how I could be watching the country
I grew up in, the heirs of independence, the tough,
decent, imperfect, hardworking people I venerated
lose the freedom that so many before us fought and died for.

There was a silent book on the shelf, your book,
Walt Whitman, I had kept the exact same copy
I discovered as a youth, inert on the shelf, the song
you taught me muted in the dark, and I was the same
as that book, a song stifled in the closed pages,
serving no one, a dusty decoration.

Then I saw the people who occupied Wall Street
on the news, heard their chants, read their signs,
was drawn by their passion and courage,
and I realized I had watched and wondered
for far too long, that I was perhaps even more guilty
than those who had perpetrated and even profited
from the disaster they now expect us to pay for
because I had done nothing.

My family and I came to stand with the occupiers,
to be one with them,
to raise our voices and march with them, so, that,
at the very least, true freedom and real democracy
would not be ground down without a struggle,
that we could look in the mirror and know
we fought for the just cause, not only for ourselves,
not only for America, but for all people,
now and one thousand years from now,
to tell humanity, to teach them, that freedom is not
purchased on a shopping spree, does not glow
on a TV screen, cannot be put on a credit card,
freedom is a responsibility that one must choose to bear
each and every day and no one can carry it for you,
that you must fight for the freedom of others
in order to have it yourself.

I came to atone for my apathy,
I came to teach the future vigilance,
better to be loud, be awkward, be dirty, be flawed,
you who are to come, make the people uncomfortable
because they are too timid to join you,
make the leaders uncomfortable
because they know you are unafraid,
I tell you that it is better to be one of the great democratic
people than it is to be a lord or a peasant.

We began to march from Liberty Square, a place
that now fully deserves its name, toward
the Brooklyn Bridge, and we chanted and sang
and called to those who watched to join us,
and there was a feeling in the air, a passion that
joined together every hearty soul, we all knew
we were on the side of the just, that we meant
no harm to any person, that we sought no more
than what was fair and sought it not only for ourselves,
and several times on the march my eyes welled with tears,
my emotions overwhelmed by the chaotic, brilliant
beauty of those marchers, of that which we marched for.

The long line of the protesters wound beneath
the towers of those who would squander the world,
devouring all that is good with their insatiable appetites,
making our way to the Brooklyn Bridge and when I saw
the towers of the bridge before me I started to laugh,
what better way to pay back Walt Whitman than to honor
his song at the crossing to Brooklyn,
to march across the bridge
over the waters he crossed so many times,
the bridge that poets have embraced as a symbol,
not only of ingenuity and progress,
not only of endeavor and perseverance,
but as a symbol of democracy,
of the great crossing of humanity from tyranny to freedom.

They are here Walt and I am with them, the African father
pushing his daughter in a stroller,
she holding a sign that proclaims
she too will fight for her future, the old man singing
‘Happy Days Are Here Again’ with wit and irony,
the veterans who know only too well of betrayal,
the young girl with bright fiery hair
whose strong voice chants, “We got sold out,
banks got bailed out!” the unshaven college boy
who has slept in the park for two weeks
seizing the future with determined hands,
the middle aged lady, vibrant and experienced, rallying us
to raise our voices, the mother and daughter holding a sign
that reads –
America, Can you hear us now! All ages, all races,
all voices, songs and chants overlapping, strangers becoming comrades.

As the marchers cross the bridge
on the pedestrian walk way
we see that a radical few have veered off onto the road,
blocking the traffic, arms linked, faces resolute,
an infectious spirit fills the air,
there is no way I can not join them,
my family and I climb the rail,
with many hands reaching out to help us,
we jump down and walk with them, this is not a day
to be a pedestrian, it is a day to agitate.

Many more come clambering down and you
can feel the tension rise, the police growing in number,
the people marching, earnest, a point has to be made,
the bridge has to be taken, and then we see the barricades
before us, the crowd jamming together
as those behind us keep coming forward,
the police now closing in from both sides,
we are trapped not quite half way across the bridge,
and many are firm that they will not just leave,
some climb on dangerous girders to escape as others
call out to them to be careful, others sit and get ready
for their arrest, some are confused, not knowing that they
would come to this end, I see an older man,
the first I think to be arrested
and there is both strength and weariness on his face
as he glares at the police with fearless eyes,
and though as it turned out
we had been stopped there and would go no further,
our true momentum was not halted,
I knew we had triumphed, because we had taken action,
the people had risen, and with no violence or hatred,
we had shown our willingness
to risk and struggle for our liberty,
and while it might seem a small thing to some,
an event to go largely unnoticed, not as bloody as a battle,
or news worthy as a riot,
I knew that we had come to the Brooklyn Bridge
and given it the meaning poets had sought
to give it in their words,
we had brought the rough,
sacred spirit of democracy to the Brooklyn Bridge,
we had restored Whitman’s song to it’s very birthplace,
for he had called to us, the future,
in his song, he sings to us now,
he knew that we would be here,
he stands with us, chants with us,
and here I am on the Brooklyn Bridge
on a day as important as any day that has ever passed,
watching Walt Whitman above the bridge towers,
sounding his barbaric yawp
above us, calling down the sign of democracy,
calling us to remember, not just one amazing day,
but the task to come - Sing on – Sing on – Sing on!

Much, much more! Visit the OWS Poetry Anthology page for more. The anthology is on-going, but you can download the current PDF compilation here. Pass the word and keep Occupying!

Run - The Anarchists Are Coming

2011-11-14T07:51:00.002-06:00

We all have heroines and heroes. Mine just happen to be those who have gained my trust. People such as Howard Zinn and Utah Phillips. In my humble opinion, honesty drips off these two anarchists like honey off the comb.

I wince every time I see or hear the attacks on anarchism. With the occupations on-going, the word anarchist or anarchism will likely cross your screen numerous times - if not now, it will in the future. Inevitably the media will do their part in trying to portray anarchism as chaotic and destructive. I have an issue with that big brush - one sided - definition of an anarchist. Some of my most favorite people are anarchists, and I'm glad they are!

Can any critical thinker really say the anarchist Howard Zinn was representative of chaos and destruction? Do you feel threatened by his dissent?

Does the anarchist Utah Phillips conjure up visions of destructive behavior and physical threat in your mind? Is it possible that anyone would see Utah's anarchism as a threat?

Please do not let the media place you into their self-constructed boxes which seem to destroy humanity and its values more times than not. My personal belief is that we need more anarchists and less ideology! At least more like these two!

The Spin Model

2011-09-12T07:52:00.008-05:00

The model seeks to explain how populations are propagandized and how consent for various economic, social and political policies are "manufactured" in the public mind due to this propaganda. — Propaganda Model

Be afraid! Be very afraid of the evil that is "out there"! Our leaders will tell you who the terrorists are. We will be told of who and what to be fearful...just stay focused and avoid mirrors. There is no need for critical thought. It is already being done for you. No need to worry ourselves about all those complicated issues when we have representatives to do it for us! Choose your side - listen to the party leaders - know the evil of the other side and keep your chosen party strong! Above all else, just remember---be afraid!

I recently read a piece from Glenn Greenwald on the once again overstated damage done by WikiLeaks. The following is excerpted from Greenwald's piece entitled Orwell, 9/11, Emmanuel Goldstein and WikiLeaks

Directing all this passionate hatred toward the state's identified Enemy and their Evil Acts has an added benefit: the resulting mass contempt, by design, distracts all attention away from of the evil committed by those stirring that passion. Thus do we all stomp our feet in righteous fury over the potential, speculative harm caused by WikiLeaks while steadfastly ignoring the actual, massive death and destruction on the part of our own leaders which WikiLeaks reveals.

This is nothing more than a slightly less raucous rendition of Orwell's Emmanuel Goldstein/Two-Minute-Hate ritual. In Orwell's 1984, Goldstein is the shadowy, possibly-fictitious-but-possibly-real former Party official whose betrayals of the State, ongoing treason, and array of other incomprehensibly evil acts make him, in the lore of State propaganda, the Prime Villain, the Root of all Evil, whom Good Citizens blame for all societal evils and on whom they exclusively focus their rage.

The ultimate benefit of this ritual is it enables the citizenry to ignore their own plight and the violence and oppression of their own government (political parties use a similar process -- endless focus on marginal, hated figures in the other party -- to keep fear levels high and party loyalty strong).

We the people, with our emotions and conscience are easily duped by the concentrated efforts of those who are lacking in morality, values or conscience. These professional propagandists seek power regardless the cost to the masses. The people must recognize these power mongers and learn to recognize their Bernays style of public opinion manipulation. We either submit to be controlled by the few, and continue our stampede toward our very own Buffalo jump — or we can make a conscious decision to end the reign of this injust system and the destructive nature of the people who maintain it. At some point we must realize it is our responsibility to place the Earth's future in the hands of the people who must become its caretakers.

Talking Over Tea

2011-06-06T12:53:00.002-05:00

Visiting with the old timer this past week was a much more sustainable endeavor than spending the hot part of the day in the convection oven that passes for the current weather in North Mississippi. My way of dealing with the Southern summers includes the art of always working on the shady side, and doing the yard and garden work before 10:00 AM and after 7:00 PM. But that's just me!

The old timer and I shared a fresh glass of tea and spoke of all the trending headlines in the current news. From local to international we covered the hot spots and argued our opinions on the issues. But as usual, around the second glass of tea the conversation turned more toward the basics, and I heard myself asking him if he thought the people would ever realize the power they possessed in sheer numbers? The old man grinned and said, "Do I look like a fortune teller to you?" I laughed, and agreed that the possibility of our species surviving themselves was indeed a tough call and we should possibly consult some prominent futurists on the subject.

After discussing a few of the popular predictions with their mix of differences ranging anywhere from hopefulness to doom & gloom, the old timer had this to say. "Recognizing and reciting our many differences is easy and unending. It does not take any talent or higher intelligence to discover the chasms of our differences. Concentrating on our differences is a formula which robs the power of the people, and carries almost as much value to me as a grain of sand. It is the scarcity of common ground and the solidarity built on it's foundation which makes it the rarest social gem these days. The people should cherish, cultivate and promote these rare and valuable grounds where we find ourselves in agreement. Any hope we might have as a species will depend on us always being watchful, and always discerning...we should keep our eyes open and search for the threads that weave our power, rather than accept its unraveling."

Myths and Truths of American Health Care

2011-05-11T06:08:00.001-05:00

Americans spend $477 billion a year MORE on health care than other advanced countries. So why do we pay so much compared to other wealthy nations? This infographic is part two in a two part series which dissects the state of our health care system and presents some alarming numbers. Here is part one of the series.

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Will You Stand

2011-03-16T07:52:00.003-05:00

When the media is democratized and as the corporate control over information wanes, we will see a new media which will shift the power of information from the hands of a few into the hands of the many. Exposing abuse and crimes within governments and corporations is now an act of heroism. Transparency is the new norm in the 21st Century, and authoritarianism and deceit will soon exist only in the 20th Century history books. You will not find this transition of power on any of the corporate/political controlled media outlets. You will find this revolution right here in the notes, videos, blogs, and alternative people powered media. You will find the masses of concerned and active people who are struggling for change in the Tweets on your screens and in the streets of your cities. Will you stand?

I will stand with you – Will you stand with me
We will be the change that we hope to see
In the name of love – in the name of peace
Will you stand, will you stand with me

When injustice raises up its fist
And fights to stop us in our tracks
We will rise and as one resist
No fear nor sorrow can turn us back

I will stand with you – Will you stand with me
We will be the change that we hope to see
In the name of love – in the name of peace
Will you stand, will you stand with me.

Thanks to Amy Carol Webb for the inspirational song Stand.

Labor Movement — Flames or Ashes

2011-03-06T11:25:00.002-06:00

I have been reading about and discussing the events unfolding in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio the last few weeks. There have been scores of articles pertaining to the unrest that has sprung to life over the issue of workers rights to organize and bargain collectively. The ideas and plans surrounding which is the best strategy have been numerous and most could be listed under two main headings. On the one side we have proponents who suggest we use this awakening to strengthen the existing ties between the Democratic political machine and the AFL-CIO/CTW labor umbrella organizations. On the other side we have those who propose to use this momentum to build a grassroots all encompassing worker movement apart from the business as usual compromises we have become so accustomed to seeing from the system over the last 40 years or more.

The Democrats and their allies have told the protesters to move along and thanked them for achieving something that hasn't been seen in decades. The protesters were told they have invigorated the progressive wing of the Democratic party and they will use them actively in upcoming campaigns. Upcoming campaigns? Can there be another campaign more important to the working people than this one that is happening right now?!! Will there ever be such a high level of active participation and wakefulness as what we are witnessing right now?!! From where I sit in this totally red state of Mississippi, this is a defeatist approach to forming any kind of labor movement. By taking the power out of the people's hands and trying to incorporate this energy into the structures that have either become neutered by corporate interests or have been basically destroyed by those same interests, I am afraid the spark that has been struck in Madison will never grow into the flame the people so desperately need. Removing the tinder from the spark is not the way to build a fire.

Of all the resources I have read lately concerning the upwelling of activism, a couple of articles by Dan La Botz stood out as shining examples of what is happening, and what should be happening during this time. The first by La Botz is A New American Workers Movement Has Begun. In his article La Botz lists four points concerning labor movements which deal with the known of the past and the unknown of our future. Here are the basic five points from the article:

1) First, we know that when masses of workers go into motion, as they have now begun to do, political consciousness grows and changes rapidly. Workers who today simply fight to defend their union rights will, if they succeed in resisting the right's attempt to destroy them, go on to fight to expand not only their rights but to improve their working conditions and standard of living. Most important, workers will fight to expand their power. We are just at the beginning.

2) Second, when workers discover the strategy and tactics of their movement, those quickly spread to other groups of workers in society. When the rubber workers in Akron, Ohio discovered the sit-down strike in 1936, it quickly spread not only to the auto industry leading to the great strikes of 1937 and 38. Remarkably, the sit-down also spread to such unlikely workers as the “shop girls” of department stores. During the 1950s and early 1960s, African American civil rights activists rediscovered the power of the sit-down, transforming it into the sit-in in lunch counters, bus stations, and other private and public places across the South.

3) Third, real labour movements ignore the artificial separation between economic and political, taking up either or both as they follow the logic of the struggle. Industrial workers' struggles for higher wages in the 1930s became transformed into struggle for the employers' recognition of the unions and labour legislation granting workers the right to organize. Similarly, public employees in the 1960s fought for the right to organize unions and collective bargaining which then flowed the other way, to a fight for higher wages. What is today primarily a political fight in Wisconsin, that is to defend the right of public employees to have a labour union, bargain collectively and enjoy the right to strike, will inevitably become a struggle for better conditions, higher wages, and health and pension benefits.

4) Fourth, when a real labour movement arises, that is, a movement not merely of thousands or even tens of thousands, but of millions, it necessarily becomes transformative. Labour union officials who hesitate, who waver, or who knuckle under will soon find themselves challenged by new, younger leaders who will either force those officials to fight or push them aside. Such a movement will change the unions – often by changing the leadership first and sometimes by changing the very institutions themselves. Such was the case with the rise of the industrial workers movement in the 1930s which broke the shell of the old AFL to create the new CIO.

5) Fifth, and finally, a new American labour movement of millions will challenge the old political relationship between the unions and the Democratic Party. The unions will fight at first to force the Democratic Party to give up its own conservative budget, tax and labour policies, and failing to do that, will seek another vehicle. Unions may first attempt to change the Democrats by running union candidates in Democratic Party primaries, or they may attempt to take over the state party. Whether the new American labour movement will have the power to put forward a political alternative remains to be seen.

The other essay by Dan La Botz I would like to mention is The New American Workers Movement at the Crossroads. In this La Botz mentions how organized labor continues to use the old models of organizing power which continues to plague them and actually help the organizations become irrelevant. Compromise, regroup, and begin a new campaign. Rather than play an active role in a movement of the people, the structures are content to turn it into a political rather than social battle. Anyone who is capable of even a small amount of critical thought, knows that both parties in our duopoly suckle off the same teats. This from the essay:

Following the model they use in political campaigns, they have reached out to established organizations to build coalitions. They have sent organizers in to take charge and to reach out to communities. Their goal is to rebuild their institutional power and their relationship with the Democratic Party, hoping to turn the upsurge in support for public employees into a political victory.

History will once again record the outcome of labor during this time of America's corporate/political influenced Great Recession. Whether it will be a positive force for change in our country or just another little section in the labor history books with a couple of paragraphs of unimportant facts and some commentary about a lost opportunity, we will have to wait and see!

Organizing Collectively In The 21st Century

2011-02-28T06:07:00.006-06:00

Workers have lost trillions of dollars in income, their homes, jobs, and years of savings and retirement funds. While the banks and corporations that were the cause of the economical meltdown have used taxes from those same workers to subsidize and consolidate more power and economic control. So in answer to this atrocity, what do we see happening? We see our good people being rallied by corporate interests through astroturfing in order to redirect their anger towards the government's ability to limit corporate power and regulate the economy.

None of the criminal activity of these Wall Street and corporate cartels have ever been prosecuted. And I expect they never will as long as we allow them to continue unabated. Until the people understand who the real enemy is, we all will continue to suffer under the rule of the real elite whose complicity in crimes of nature and humanity knows no bounds. The Academy Award winning documentary Inside Job traces the rise of this rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.

These new attacks and stategies we are seeing in Wisconsin and other states from the corporate shills is not really new. It has been waged on collectives since the idea of organized labor first saw the light of day. And the corporations have been very successful at making unions the scapegoat. I am certainly not saying that organized labor is perfect. Not by a long shot! As many of my brothers, sisters, local and international officers can tell you, I have been a small thorn in the structure's side and I have always pushed for more socially community oriented organizations, basically social unionism.

But all the blame for organized labor structures cannot be piled solely on their shoulders. Political and corporate laws have built unions into what they are today. The business union model was by design. The labor laws were put in place to restrict the union's power and limit the size and power of people collectives. It is the laws of big business which have constricted their power and dictated what organized labor can and can not do. Unions structured themselves to accommodate the ruling class as much as the working class. Just another big concession the working people have had to make to satisfy their masters.

The free market ideology has held us hostage for far too long, and organized labor has even adapted those same beliefs. Much like labor's version of the Stockholm Syndrome. Organized labor has been playing defense forever in this market system and operating without an effective offense. And the corporate designers and negotiators have known all along they could effectively limit the power of organized labor by keeping them on the defense. By forcing unions to fight constantly just for the ground they held, the corporate interests could effectively keep them from organizing and expanding. By accepting this all mighty economic system as the only one possible, organized labor has effectively corralled itself into a defensive corner.

Concentrated power in the hands of a very small economic elite will destroy not just organized labor, but every last one of us. It is a game designed by the corporate house and the odds are always in favor of the house. The old cliché of "What is good for business is good for America" is a lie. We should be screaming "What is good for America is good for business." Not only are corporate profits financially and morally bankrupting us, they are literally killing us here in the states and around the globe. Organized labor does not need to be on the side of the corporation. We should distance ourselves from these corporate criminals and wage war against the atrocities leveled on their behalf over the entire world.

Collective bargaining can no longer be entirely about wage and benefit packages. It has to address and encompass the community and social problems that have occurred due to these entities that have broken our industries and who have created this economic armageddon. It has to address business practices that exploit the people and pollute our environment. Entire communities must have collective bargaining as a tool to organize their power as a way to fight against corruption and to better their self-interests. Now is the time for organized labor to put on it's work clothes and begin rebuilding a real social movement to fight against these embedded corporate interests.

Now is the time for organized labor to break the chains that have kept it bound, gagged, and controlled by the corporate/political model of capitalism that feeds a few and starves the many. Not since the last depression have working people needed as much help in organizing against such atrocities. Injustices which worsen as each day passes. Now is the time for organized labor to publicly ostracize all politicians who take money from those who created these dire straits in which we now find ourselves. It is time to take a moral stand and initiate an effort to remove high finance out of our political system because it has destroyed any semblance to democracy we might have once had.

Organized labor should embrace this opportunity to energetically support alternative transportation, energy and infrastructure rebuilding. It is time to work with environmental and economic groups in developing new sound and sustainable industries and community models that work for the people rather than against them. In short, it is time for organized labor to play some offense in the name of what is right and what is good for all the people. Not just in a short term focus on wage and benefit packages, but on our future as human beings on a mega-connected and quickly changing over populated world in crisis.

We must use collective bargaining for the common good, and begin connecting our unions with other groups who fight for the common good. Economic justice advocates, civil rights advocates, food safety coalitions, and financial reform groups must become part of a broader community of social justice unionism. There has never been a better opportunity to redesign organized labor into a major force for needed social change. We can either continue playing defense until the big money offense completely annihilates organized labor, or we can go on the offense and help create a better future for all of humanity. We must build our power of people from the bottom-up and fight corporate/political criminality from the top-down.

Critical Thinking Through Altered Consciousness

2011-02-04T07:17:00.002-06:00

A trusted friend mentioned that many of her friends are critical thinkers and she asked the question, "How did you learn to analyze this way?" The question itself was a little problematic for me. First, if I chose to answer the question, I felt it might be somewhat presumptuous of me to consider myself a critical thinker. Even though I would like to think of myself as having the ability of critical thought, I really do not think I am qualified to make such an assumption. Secondly, I was not sure if what I consider to be critical thought could equate to a one size fits all definition that would be accepted. I view the process of critical thinking to be a personal undertaking in analyzing myself. I can only understand the exterior of my world and all its integral parts if I have an understanding of my inner self.

Most people seem to relate the ability of critical thinking to lessons learned from family, education, or as a prerequisite of a chosen profession. I have given it much thought, and I cannot reasonably say I can attribute any ability I may have to either of these examples. The closest my Dad came to urging me to use critical thinking was when he told me, "Son, don't believe anything you read and only half of what you see." Perhaps that was enough, seeing how it has stuck with me all these years. I can't say the 30+ hours of community college instilled in me the process, although it may have helped to a certain extent in developing skills in researching, analyzing, and evaluating information. And although problem solving in the pipe trades was indeed an attribute worthy of possessing, I do not see it as being an essential building block to learning or increasing the process of critical thought.

In reply to her question I half jokingly said that the use of mind altering drugs of the late 60s were possibly the building blocks to my thought processes. After giving the question much more thought, I have concluded that my experimentation with mind altering substances were indeed my most influential teacher of critical thought during my life. It is not something that is easy to talk about, and even harder to explain. I find this subject is not one that is readily accepted in most social interactions and I am always hesitant to speak of it. I suppose the labels which mainstream society attached to these things have even left their mark in my psyche as well, and tend to cheapen the profound effect of the experience. But the truth is, those experiences in mind altering realities did change my life. They forever changed how I would relate to the world, and more importantly, in how I was to think about every single thing from that point until the present.

In the past I have tried to relay these feelings and changes I experienced in these altered states, but have found it most difficult given my limitations of language. However I am aware of many other individuals, who are much more intelligent than I, who have just as much difficulty relaying their same experiences with the altered states of consciousness. So I decided to let them tell their stories and relay their thoughts on how they were influenced by their introduction and use of these now illegal substances. Albert Hofmann is the Father of LSD, and this enlightening documentary done by Connie Littlefield is entitled "Hofmann's Potion". I hope the documentary says what I am not capable of saying, and somehow relays how this chemical alteration had so much to do with what I feel to be my awakening to the process of critical thinking.

Does Wikileaks Really Matter?

2011-01-20T21:42:00.003-06:00

There has been another important symposium discussing and deliberating the potentially paradigm shifting phenomenon which Wikileaks has helped bring to the forefront of the world. While the majority of the mainstream continue to reinforce it's biparisan world, and the people trudge along dealing with the new austerity movement — I am thankful we do have some critical thinkers out there who understand the importance of this issue, and are at least willing to attempt to reach some kind of understanding of how these transparency and freedom of information issues and the associated cause and effect could impact our future rights, freedoms, and even the very structure of democracy.

I continually wonder if I come off sounding like the paranoid Chicken Little with all this continual information on shifting paradigms and how we should play a much more active part, or at the very least, pay closer attention! Sometimes I think I should just shut up and read, and stop coming off as some wacko alarmist. But when I do step back from the stream, this guilt builds within me and I feel as if I am not doing my part. To be honest, I no longer know if that is because I feel I am letting everybody else down or if it is because I feel I am cheating myself. Regardless, seeing as I really hate feeling guilty, I suppose I will continue to tell of our falling skies. I apologize.

The speakers of this panel include, Daniel Ellsberg, Clay Shirky, Neville Roy Singham, Peter Thiel, Jonathan Zittrain, and moderated by Paul Jay. — "A panel of leading thinkers explores WikiLeaks and its implications for access to information, security, first amendment rights, innovation, and more." Once you start the video, you can click on the Watch FULL Program at the bottom right of the embedded video. This will transport you to the main site and you can choose full program or individual chapters.

If you missed the previous symposium from Personal Democracy on the Wikileaks issues, you can find my post on the discussions here as well. It's entitled How Do We Survive the Leak

Wikileaks — Plug the Hole or Irrigate Democracy

2011-01-19T06:02:00.003-06:00

Mention Wikileaks to an average slice of the U.S. population and the feedback we get back is not as predictable as what we would hear when mentioning issues such as single payer medical care, gun control, or taxes. On most issues the ratio can be expected to be somewhere around 50/50, give or take a few percentage points, and supporters and non-supporters will fall into the yin and yang of the conservative/liberal, democrat/republican division. From the majority of that slice of people, we would not have to guess if they are for or against an issue. Most would announce emphatically what they support and why. However, when it comes to the Wikileaks issue, the dividing line is not so clear, and the deathly silence that accompanies it's mention is very noticeable.

Some of this silence is likely due to the strong steps taken by our government and corporate interests in defianace of the whistleblower style of Wikileaks. From the slice of people I have come to know on-line, only a very small number will say anything concerning Wikileaks, and the majority of those remain on the sideline waiting for some other shoe to fall. I believe the reason for this is because this higher level of transparency due to these leaks is not just one of our every day issues us voters face. There are no clear defined lines for us to choose. Wikileaks offers us an alternative world through the proverbial looking glass. The world on the other side is unknown and unpredictable and we struggle to find our footing. Wikileaks does not focus on, or make us think about issues. It forces us to think about the entire structure of our representative democracy and brings to the surface many of our suppressed feelings concerning the state of democracy and how it will survive this new thing referred to as the Information Age.

Do we really want a pseudo democracy whose foundations are built on lies, and if not, are we ready for the responsibility that accompanies a true open democracy? Or would we rather continue living the lie and remain in our comfort zone of denial? Consider the words of Slavoj Žižek:

Consider too the renewed popularity of Leo Strauss: the aspect of his political thought that is so relevant today is his elitist notion of democracy, the idea of the ‘necessary lie’.Elites should rule, aware of the actual state of things (the materialist logic of power), and feed the people fables to keep them happy in their blessed ignorance.

The only surprising thing about the WikiLeaks revelations is that they contain no surprises. Didn’t we learn exactly what we expected to learn? The real disturbance was at the level of appearances: we can no longer pretend we don’t know what everyone knows we know.

What WikiLeaks threatens is the formal functioning of power. The true targets here weren’t the dirty details and the individuals responsible for them; not those in power, in other words, so much as power itself, its structure. We shouldn’t forget that power comprises not only institutions and their rules, but also legitimate (‘normal’) ways of challenging it (an independent press, NGOs etc) – as the Indian academic Saroj Giri put it, WikiLeaks ‘challenged power by challenging the normal channels of challenging power and revealing the truth’. The aim of the WikiLeaks revelations was not just to embarrass those in power but to lead us to mobilize ourselves to bring about a different functioning of power that might reach beyond the limits of representative democracy.

These excerpts taken from an essay by Slavoj Žižek entitled, Good Manners in the Age of WikiLeaks.

Us is the Word!

2011-01-02T07:38:00.002-06:00

Through my interaction within a community far, far away, I discovered the remarkable Christine Kane and her thoughts concerning how we should stop "hoping" and start "creating". I believe I first heard of the "Word of the Year" from Christine, but for me it was Fine Line, a friend and trusted member of that community, who turned Christine's thoughts into action. Although I do not "officially" participate in the "Word of the Year" program, that does not mean I do not think it is a wonderful idea. On the contrary, anything that will empower us has my support and praise. So last year I gave some thought to this idea and decided on chosing a word for myself. To be honest it did not take much thought to come up with my word, as it seems to have somehow chosen me. Now it is "Oh Eleven" and a word has chosen me once again.

The word I have chosen for the new year is the same word I chose for 2010, and the same word that began being such a large part of my life back in 1999. It is the same word that has remained in my thoughts and in my notes ever since. That word is us, not to be confused with the abbreviation of our country. We are the key to solving many of the problems we now face. As our societies dissolve into a global pool of uncertainty, I can not emphasize enough how important we are in the equation. To quote Christine Kane, "Be Creative. Be Conscious. Be Courageous." So to kick off "Oh Eleven", I choose a hero of mine to emphasize the importance of us as the new year begins. We have a rough path ahead, and let us hope that reason will conquer ignorance, and we will come to understand the power we possess.

The idea of saviors has been built into the entire culture, beyond politics. We have learned to look to stars, leaders, experts in every field, thus surrendering our own strength, demeaning our own ability, obliterating our own selves. But from time to time, Americans reject that idea and rebel.

These rebellions, so far, have been contained. The American system is the most ingenious system of control in world history. With a country so rich in natural resources, talent, and labor power the system can afford to distribute just enough wealth to just enough people to limit discontent to a troublesome minority.

In a highly developed society, the Establishment cannot survive without the obedience and loyalty of millions of people who are given small rewards to keep the system going: the soldiers and police, teachers and ministers, administrators and social workers, technicians and production workers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, transport and communications workers, garbage men and firemen. These people-the employed, the somewhat privileged-are drawn into alliance with the elite. They become the guards of the system, buffers between the upper and lower classes. If they stop obeying, the system falls.

The Coming Revolt of the Guard by Howard Zinn

Visualizing Our Re-Depression

2010-12-31T10:23:00.002-06:00

Source:

Online Courses

Us Now!

2010-12-28T06:59:00.003-06:00

Most of us continue to be socially fractured between certain ideological issues. We are bombarded every minute of every waking hour by the mainstream media and it's fracturing tactics. While we continue down these manufactured paths, there is a quickly growing movement of people who have risen above these ideological barriers and are actively building a collaborative world. This movement is growing exponentially and it's supporters are moving beyond our black and white, left or right world, changing the story, and building a world based on trust and a new reputation capital. Self-organizing online networked structures are now threatening to change the fabric of government forever. When we look at these collaborative projects, we quickly see they are based on transparency, self-selection, and open participation.

We tend to superficially gaze upon the river and never give much thought to the immense active system which lies below the surface. Being superficial, there is no way we can determine the integrity or health of that system. These growing collaborative approaches to social governing are spreading, and these organizations represent the lives within the system — what lies below the surface. The people choosing to participate in self-governance are rewriting the stories and they are not encumbered by social or political borders. They are moving beyond the deadly corporatized/institutionalized models of society and building a world which will be structured of, by, and for the people.

This flim shows us examples of the collaborative efforts of a fan owned soccer club, couch surfers, and even a bank where everyone is the manager. We have been bombarded with the WikiLeaks issues in 2010. I admit I have been guilty of being a participant in that bombarding. What is important is — the issue is not about Assange or WikiLeaks; those are only the surface of the river. What we do not hear about is the hundreds of thousands of people over the entire world like you and I who lie below the surface and make up the actual system. The time in our history when information was effectively locked away for only a certain chosen few is over. It's Over! So we can continue to choose to sit on the bank and ooh and ahh over the stillness or choppiness of the water's surface, or we can choose to be a living part of that river and become one of it's caretakers.

— As our bureaucratic structures argue and debate over their ideologies and dogma, it is more common to see the people doing a much better job of building a future built upon transparency, accountability, and sustainability.

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.

WikiLeaks Documentary — Freedom Fighter or High-tech Terrorist: You Decide

2010-12-25T21:18:00.002-06:00

Is it art? Revolution? Banksy or Bang For The Buck? You Decide:

Many thanks to WPB/NYC for bringing this to my attention! Outstanding!

Hedges' Empire of Illusion

2010-12-25T06:14:00.002-06:00

There is nothing I can say that will add to Chris Hedges' profound understanding of our current situation as an empire in decline. Hedges' unveiling of this corporate regime in his book, "Empire of Illusion", should be required reading in all institutions of learning. But we know that will not happen as long as corporate America is supporting an educational system built around the job market rather than critical thinking. So as autonomous individuals, it is our responsibility to seek out the truth for ourselves.

"It is time for all of us to step out of the mainstream — to give up on the democratic party which has betrayed us, and in particular betrayed the working class — and fight for what is left of our anemic democracy." — Chris Hedges

Multinational Corporations and Global Consciousness

2010-12-16T11:27:00.002-06:00

I was watching the video with Mike Prysner delivering his Winter Soldier speech back in 2008. It reminded me of the enormity of the people's enemy, the enemy of our planet — the globalized corporate rule. Prysner had this to say:

The ruling class - the billionaires who profit from human suffering, who care only about expanding their wealth and controlling the world economy - understand that their power lies only in their ability to convince us that war, oppression, and exploitation is in our interest. They understand that their wealth is dependent on their ability to convince the working class to die to control the market of another country.

Just for a reminder of what the people are up against in a fight for a more egalitarian world. Given the growth rate and power of multinational corprations, egalitarianism would appear to be a lofty goal. Of the 100 largest economies on our planet, 51 are corporations and 49 are countries. I would also submit that a majority of the political/economical ties of those 49 countries are friendly and even complicit in the planet's corporatization.

Formidable enemy I would say! I suppose it would make sense if we knew as much about corporations as possible. Anup Shah quotes from Stephen P. Robbins book in his article The Rise of Corporations:

Technically speaking, a corporation is what [Stephen P. Robbins] describes as a “social invention of the state” (Robbins: p.98). That is, a state grants a corporate charter, permitting private financial resources being used for public purposes.

Shah also refers to Linclon's 1864 letter to Colonel William Elkins voicing his concerns about the power being placed within corporations.

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. ... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.

Corporations only know expansion and consumption, and in their wake is death and destruction. Globalized corporations have very few strict bounds or borders. The only way I see to fight such a foe is by globalized citizenry. Just as the corporations have gone multinational, so must the people. I see the next R-evolution as one of global consciousness that seamlessly crosses between man made borders. The future R-evolutionaries will be people whose hearts and minds work in unison rather than in opposition. People who will understand the value of trust and integrity, and who will sow those seeds of solidarity on a global scale.

How Do We Survive The Leak

2010-12-12T09:59:00.004-06:00

As I watched the Personal Democracy flash conference yesterday, my concerns about the real issues involved with Wikileaks were affirmed. If possible take the time to watch the entire conference. Considering the information provided by this great panel of speakers, the 3.5 hours is a good investment or time trade. I am afraid most people do not realize the importance of this moment. This appears to be one of those moments in history when a big shift takes place, one that affects the entire world.

pdfleaks on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Lines are being drawn very quickly and it is imperative the people make some difficult but necessary decisions concerning the future of the web. Who controls the web? Who controls all our information? And who really has jurisdiction over the world web? Where/how do the people fit in on the decision making?

I listened to Zeyner Tufekci make her presentation at the symposium, and so much of what she had to say about this mirrored what I have heard so many others say. Zeyner is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She researches social impacts of technology, web theory, inequality, and social media. Here is a quote from her blog, Technosociology:

Many commentators have noted that the confidential U.S. embassy cables published by Wikileaks contain nothing that would surprise an “informed observer.” I agree and have said so as much myself. However, I think this actually is the real scandal exposed by Wikileaks: there is a fairly large circle of “insiders,” which include much of punditry and journalists, who have a fairly accurate picture of most issues, who nonetheless cooperate with, and in fact, make possible, the efforts of modern states to portray themselves as making decisions dictated by pure motives and high-minded principles rather than by power and interests. In my view, the potential impact of Wikileaks and similar efforts is not necessarily about leaking well-guarded secrets, which these were not; rather, it is about changing the audience for a particular discourse from insiders to outsiders. Rather than expose unknowns, I think it is more accurate to say that Wikileaks has collapsed the distinction between the “front” and “back stages” of the modern state, and exposed the gap between the day-to-day reality of modern statecraft and its civic front.

I also listened to Jeff Jarvis talk about us being at a huge change in society and how now even more than ever, we need a Bill of Rights in Cyberspace. Jeff firmly states that ..."the press must gather around to defend Wikileaks. Wikileaks is the press. If we do anything less, we risk a terrible precedence being set." The Cyberspace Bill of Rights Jeff has laid out is as follows:

I. We have the right to connect.
II. We have the right to speak freely.
III. We have the right to assemble and act.
IV. Information should be public by default, secret by necessity.
V. What is public is a public good.
VI. All bits are created equal.
VII. The internet shall be operated openly.

Jeff also noted on his blog prior to speaking at the symposium:

We are passing from a world organized around power-to-power transactions to one based on peer-to-peer engagement. I’ll argue that we in the press, especially, must defend Wikileaks’ right to free speech as it speaks truth to power. I’ll say that we must make transparency government’s default; we are far from that and risk moving away from that target rather than toward it.

All of the speakers made some wonderfully enlightening points and I urge each of you to watch the sysmposium...invest the time. I probably seem like the proverbial "Chicken Little", but I truly believe this is one of those hinge moments in human progress where we need everyone actively engaged in writing the story of our future. As Zeynep says in her presentation, "The democracy you save could be your own."

Lesser of Two Evils = Unacceptable

2010-11-05T08:05:00.002-05:00

Our choices in elections always seem to bring us to the same old "lesser of two evils" decisions which just continues the cycle of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". This should be unacceptable to all voters. But yet we continue to allow ourselves to be controlled by "the system." I keep hearing the same sound bites declaring how apparently some of us do not understand how the system works. Please! We do know how the system works...the system is the problem.

I keep hearing that's how our democracy works. Well apparently my definition of democracy must be a little pooched because I do not see any chance of democracy existing within an oligarchy. What are the chances that a third party will gain enough strength to balance out this two party oligarchy we have? Slim to none! So what alternatives do we have in a country whose people are so easily swayed by the media driven hype which keeps the oligarchy in power? I don't see the masses ready to hit the streets. I don't see the majority of my sisters and brothers seriously considering revolution. So what can be done.

Well, the binding "None of the Above" initiative is one way each of us can become involved on a state by state basis. It is an initiative which can begin at the grassroots level, spread from community to community, and eventually reach the floor of the state legislatures. Yes, it is a long shot. But from where I sit here in Sardis, any shot at all gives me hope and allows me the mental fortitude to continue placing one foot in front of the other.

Just what is meant by "None of the Above"? —

"A nonpartisan dedication to enacting Voter Consent laws, giving voters the ballot option to reject all candidates for an office and to call for a new election with new candidates to fill that office.

In any state with a binding "None of the Above" ballot option, the list of candidates for each office would be followed by the votable line "None of the Above; For a New Election", or something similar. If the NOTA option gets more votes than any candidate for the office, then no one is elected to the office; instead, a follow-up by-election with new candidates must be held to fill that office, until a candidate wins a plurality of votes among all other candidates including "None of the Above."

You can find out more details at Voters for None of the Above.

Translucency and Diffused Government

2010-07-25T23:04:00.004-05:00

The following excerpts are from the LA Times on the WikiLeaks release of six years worth of classified military documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan —

*National Security Advisor James Jones says the disclosure could endanger lives and U.S. security.*

*In a statement, President Obama's national security advisor, Marine Gen. James L. Jones, deplored the "disclosure of classified information" that he said could put the lives of Americans and U.S. partners at risk and threaten the nation's security.*

Endanger lives? Just what the hell does a nine year war do? Did I miss the class that covered all of this? — Threaten the nation's security? Don't they mean these whistle-blowers like Julian Assange and his commie anti nationalistic cohorts are threatening the *securities* of the organizations who profit on war? Their carte blanche "*Homeland* security blanket of war profiteering held in place by fear has outlived it's believability. We either evolve sanely...or insanely...and I choose the former.

You can't preach transparency only to choose which windows the public can look through. That does not fit my definition of transparency. The people *NEED* the whistle-blowers...they are our life line...the carriers of truth...the people's stories. They are us! The whistle-blower laws here in the U.S. can be treacherous unless your legal fees are paid. The Whistleblower Act of 2007 is so deep in the bureaucracy, a person could drown fighting their way up the slick muddy bank of shit creek. So once you decide to crawl out that skinny limb — you best have some heavy hitting supporters, or an entire community of supporters the size of Texas. The laws that really do protect the people, are always vague, toothless, and I find myself embarrassed that we as citizens accept this as the norm.

First we need to understand what a whistleblower really is, and how and where do they fit in the scheme of things.

A whistleblower is a person who raises a concern about wrongdoing occurring in an organization or body of people. Usually this person would be from that same organization. The revealed misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. Whistleblowers may make their allegations internally (for example, to other people within the accused organization) or externally (to regulators, law enforcement agencies, to the media or to groups concerned with the issues).

Whistleblowers sound a lot like public heroes from what I'm reading. Apparently our government does not feel the same way. What of the transparent and participatory government referenced in the whitehouse memorandum on "Transparency and Open Government"? Here is a quote from that memorandum:

Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use.

See, it's when they throw that "consistent with law and policy" into the mix that they muddy up the waters, and obscure the transparency. How many levels of transparency do you think there are? I only recognize "one". Perhaps it was a typo, and what they meant was "Translucency and Diffused Government".

You may ask what sort of organization is WikiLeaks? What kind of staff and funding do these commie subversives have?

According to a January 2010 interview, the Wikileaks team then consisted of five people working full-time and about 800 people who worked occasionally, none of whom were compensated. Wikileaks has no official headquarters. The expenses per year are about €200,000, mainly for servers and bureaucracy, but would reach €600,000 if work currently done by volunteers were paid for. Wikileaks does not pay for lawyers, as hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal support have been donated by media organisations such as the Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Its only revenue stream is donations, but Wikileaks is planning to add an auction model to sell early access to documents. According to the Wau Holland Foundation, Wikileaks receives no money for personnel costs, only for hardware, travelling and bandwidth.

Subversives? Not in my eyes — on my screens here in Sardis, they look more like responsible citizens and caring human beings! Hey emperors, we like this new transparent fabric you are wearing...we most definitely need to take care of those weavers who can spin their transparent threads with such talent. Thank you WikiLeaks for promoting honesty, openness, and for empowering the people! And thank you for the excellent view from the box seats. It makes the game much more interesting...it's always hard to tell the players from those cheap seats in deep center field!

David and Beth

2010-07-11T18:57:00.005-05:00

Take a walk with Beth through her and David's lovely garden! I agree with her, there is nothing more cooling than a walk around the vegetable garden...especially one as gorgeous as theirs. I'm sure most of you who live and breathe folk music...know of the musical talent of David Francey — and Beth acts as his full time partner and manager in the business side of his music. But have you ever seen the beautiful artwork of Beth Girdler? I am thankful Whole Wheat Radio introduced me to David's music, and now through David, I have been introduced to the wonderful talent of Beth. They both just seem to radiate warmth and happiness...and man, what a beautiful garden! :-)

But wait, there's more! David also likes to paint as well and has some of his work displayed on his artwork page. He also has a Road Journal and Beth is a writer as well and you can read some of her work at the Log Cabin Chronicles. I wonder if Canada knows how fortunate they are?

The Communal Waters of The Well

2010-05-05T06:53:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to give a shout-out of thanks to all the thinkers who I have had the great fortune of meeting thanks to this flow of base-2 numbers we have compiled, stored, and shared in this experiment we have named the Internet. A personal thanks to my nephew Marcus for the many inspirations (his early work on the Apple) and the level of knowledge he possesses; and to my sons who have kept me active and up to date on technology as it's unfolded — even if they believe I am truly crazy, they have never failed to provide support! A collaborative thank you to my all my on-line communities for the knowledge they have always been willing to share; for their true concern toward humanity; and for the support they have continually given me as a web traveler through the years. Great thinkers — and every single one of them deserves a tribute — but this time I will concentrate on "The Well"; it's value as a community; and it's place as an oasis of thought and change within our social context!

I do not have a clue how many of you are aware of the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL) — but if not — you can now consider yourself aware. In the late 80s and early 90s, there were many bulletin board systems (BBS) available when I made the jump from the game of Pong to the computer. However, The Well was my first introduction to a viable and valuable community of what I consider to be some of the first Internet citizens — or what we now call Netizens. Although I never personally was a member of The Well — I followed the trails of the thinkers who were active members of the community. Such as author of "The Whole Earth Catalog" and co-creator of The Well, Stewart Brand. Or The Well's other co-creator and current director of Google's philanthropic arm — "Google.org"— Larry Brilliant. Another early participant of the community and the author of one of the bibles ("The Virtual Community"), was Howard Rheingold. The list of influential thinkers and groups is very long — from Craig Newmark of Craigslist — Barlow, Gilmore, and Kapor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation — to the Grateful Deadheads.

From the early days until now, The Well has passed through the hands of Bruce Katz, the founder of "Rockport" shoes — and since 1999 has been owned by "Salon.com" whose co-founder Scott Rosenberg, was an early participant in The Well. Cliff Figallo presented his paper on The Well at Harvard back in 1993. Here are a few of his quotes from — Small Town on the Internet Highway System:

The main attractions of these local Internet "towns" will prove to be their characteristic online conversations and social conventions and their focus on specialized fields of knowledge or problem solving...The WELL is a seminal example of what these small pioneering towns on the Internet highway system will be like.

...The discussion and dialog contained and archived on the WELL are its primary products. The WELL "sells its users to each other" and it considers its users to be both its consumers and its primary producers.

...It is my assertion that the actual exercise of free speech and assembly in online interaction is among the most significant and important uses of electronic networking; and that the value of this practice to the nation and to the world may prove critical at this stage in human history. I regard the WELL as a sample of the kind of small, diverse, grassroots service provider that can and should exist in profusion, mutually accessible through the open channels on the Internet.

I recommend reading the entire paper, it is great food for thought. Then take a look at how the web has changed. Now we have Facebook, Twitter, and scores of other social data gatherers to aid in organizing a community of interest. Given the networking capabilities we have now, we can organize a web presence in a matter of minutes. A community can quickly be built around a cause, event, group, or interest of any kind. The opportunities are there for all of us to utilize — but we must also understand a sustainable community such as The Well requires a belief in the overall mission, faith in humanity, and the power of grassroot activism in that belief. At least that is my take on community, and your mileage may vary.

The creation and growth of a community is definitely not an easy task — and through the trails blazed by the community of The Well and others that have followed it's lead, I have come to believe it is the level of participation and involvement by the members of the community which creates the glue of sustainability and it's value. It was organized labor that lit the candle I followed toward virtual communities, but it was my concern for the future of humanity that enticed me to stay once I had arrived! It is the people like each of you — who share that same concern — who inspire me to continue forward. Even during times when I could easily withdraw from the wired life and spend the rest of my days here on this planet in a much more natural and simplistic existence.

Upon reflection — I am not sure if I should be thanking you...or dissing you! :-)

Road Rambling with Mississippi Fred

2010-03-19T15:02:00.009-05:00

A short slideshow from today's ramblings. A couple of years ago I mentioned "Mississippi Fred McDowell" in another piece entitled Runnin' The Roads. In that piece I mention that Fred is kind of special to me, seeing how we both at one time in our lives lived and farmed in Rossville, Tennessee - and in the end, it appears as if we both will share the same territory as well. Today I decided it was time to pay my respects to Mississippi Fred...and I thought it was only right to share it with you.

From Wikipedia: "The memorial stone was a replacement for an inaccurate and damaged marker (McDowell's name was misspelled) and the original stone was subsequently donated by McDowell's family to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi."

To view larger photos and the captions and GPS coordinates, just click on the slideshow or click here.

The Fourth Purpose of Education

2010-03-11T10:20:00.003-06:00

My education is much slower than most - it works more on a "as needed" basis without a formal structure. But as haphazard as this seems to most - occasionally I do trip over a few jewels along the way. For example, I do remember when I was initially exposed to John Taylor Gatto - I automatically felt a sincerity within his stories and a harmony within his critical pedagogy approach to teaching. I was spellbound by his views on how our educational structure was complicit in the destruction of free thought...literally a basic social structure control which Gatto calls our "dumbing down". Here is a slice of his after college life:

Mr. Gatto worked as a scriptwriter in the film business, was an advertising writer, a taxi driver, a jewelry designer, an ASCAP songwriter, and a hotdog vendor before becoming a schoolteacher. During his schoolteaching years he also entered the caviar trade, conducted an antique business, operated a rare book search service, and founded Lava Mt. Records, a documentary record producer, which won several awards for cover design and content, and which presented the horror of H.P. Lovecraft, dramatized, and the speeches of Richard M. Nixon and Spiro Agnew, exactly as given.

Gatto was New York State Teacher of the Year when he wrote in the Wall Street Journal, I Quit, I Think.

We don’t need a national curriculum or national testing either. Both initiatives arise from ignorance of how people learn or deliberate indifference to it. I can’t teach this way any longer. If you hear of a job where I don’t have to hurt kids to make a living, let me know. Come fall I’ll be looking for work.

It was Gatto's influence which led me to Freire's earlier thoughts on the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and later to Douglas Rushkoff's ideas on Open Source Democracy. All of this related information seemed to fit like pieces of a puzzle - a puzzle just a few years ago I did not know existed. It spurred me to think about how we could liberate education - how we could liberate ourselves.

If through these links you read something you may relate to on some level - if you find enough interesting subject manner to warrant a more detailed look of Gatto's work or at least a bookmark for later - I would urge you to concentrate on reading or bookmarking Gatto's The Underground History of American Education. Thanks to the Odysseus Group and the Oxford Village Press for making this e-book possible. Of course, this and other work is available for purchase at the bookstore.

My Tool of Choice

2010-02-17T15:07:00.003-06:00

In effect, I feel like a blind, deaf, and illiterate person working through the sensibilities and multiple, real talents of other people. Everything I do is collaborative. - Godfrey Reggio

Perhaps it's my background in labor that has honed my intent. Just maybe it was my life within the building trades and the familiarity with tools that have helped focus my use of the Internet as yet another tool? I can't be sure how much of my history has influenced the paths I take today - but after all is said and done, I have to believe my history is my personal map of paths, my compilation of life, my stories - and therefore I alone must assume the responsibility for my actions!

Reggio's quote reminded me of the countless numbers of multi-talented people I have been exposed to thanks entirely to this technological tool. The thought of the combined knowledge and wisdom of these learned people I have met on the web is enough to keep alive my hope for a better world. If not for the Internet, the possibilities of my life paths intersecting with such talented people would be sparse at best. I am thankful to be alive in a time when people from all stripes can come together and share thoughts and ideas in meaningful discussions. I have been fortunate indeed to have met so many people around this globe who understand that our sustainability - our future - depends on our connections and the use of this social tool. I thank them all for their willingness to collaborate and for their sincerity and honesty.

Lately I have been told by a few people to lighten up...have fun...quit bitching. Due to my responses to these people, a few of them have chosen to "deface" me on "The" book...some were even long term friends in my physical world. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not complaining...this is highly acceptable to me...I would much rather they deface me than continue to have to endure my social activities of which they do not agree. Many of my acquaintances also feel the web's primary purpose is for shits and giggles rather than activism and social responsibility. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the web for entertainment and for having fun...it's just that I see it's use for this function as secondary to it's use as a social tool.

I mostly agree with Switzerland's Paula Uimonen in her piece from '97 entitled "The Internet as a Tool for Social Development". In the essay, Uimonen argues that - "the Internet can only become a tool for social development if it is applied in a way that addresses the complex challenges of improving the lives of the least-privileged and most-needy millions around the world. Social development here means in improvement in the living standards and general well-being of all members of any given society. Accordingly, if the Internet is to be socially beneficial, it needs to be used for alleviating poverty, improving access to health care and education, conserving and fairly distributing resources, and strengthening participation in decision-making processes. Thus the success of the Internet should be measured less in terms of sheer numbers of connected individuals and more in terms of accessibility and contribution to social progress."

Uimonen also mentions a very important aspect of our new communication abilities...that technology in itself is not a determinant of change, only a facilitator. She continues, "As with any other technology, it is the social context within which these new technologies are introduced and, more importantly, implemented, that determines their usage and impact. Accordingly, we are not hopelessly caught in a wave of historical change; we are the ones bringing it about." Nelson Mandela also pointed out - "If we cannot ensure that this global revolution creates a world-wide information society in which everyone has a stake and can play a part, then it will not have been a revolution at all."

When I finally decided to become "wired", it was not because I was seeking a new means of entertainment. I took that step to "rewire" because of the injustices I was witnessing, and because I felt it was necessary - out of social responsibility - to participate in the conversation and discussion concerning the social issues that have proved to be detrimental to humanity. Yes I began this Internet journey as a union reformist, but as I quickly discovered...that was only the door into the bigger web world of social justice. The quote comes to mind, "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

To try to button up this drivel, I understand those who choose to use this technology for things other than promoting social well being around the world, and that is their right. I will not be pointing my finger at any of them and wailing about how they are not being socially responsible and missing a great opportunity. But I expect the same consideration from them...I think I am quite able to determine how I choose to use my time on the Internet. So to paraphrase the old Rifleman's Creed...I give you the Keyboarder's Creed:

This is my keyboard. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My keyboard is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My keyboard, without me, is useless. Without my keyboard, I am useless. I must use my keyboard true. I must expose untruths that my enemy plants to destroy me. I must expose him before he destroys me. I will....

My keyboard and myself know that what counts in this war is not the amount of words we post, the noise of our outbursts, nor the number of stories we post. We know that it is the truths that count. We will share the truth...

My keyboard is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weakness, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its USB and its shortcuts. I will keep my keyboard clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before Gawd I swear this creed. My keyboard and myself are the defenders against injustice. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory belongs to the people and there is no enemy, but Peace.

Mitakuye Oyasin

My Roots...A Love Story

2010-01-29T07:24:00.003-06:00

Reflecting on the power of community this morning, I felt compelled to write a little bit of my history within Whole Wheat Radio...the roots of our communal connection. I began my initial online presence as a union member who was/is active in the grassroots unionism that has been growing with the web. That is another story for another time, but it was that activism that allowed my introduction to Anne Feeney and her music. It was the lead she posted in her newsletter that led me to Whole Wheat Radio. Anne wrote in her September 2006 Fellow Travelers' Advisory: "The next time you're sitting in front of your computer for a while, tune in Whole Wheat Radio from Talkeetna, Alaska ... they have a really wonderful mix of independent music that I think you'll really enjoy."

Anne was right! I did enjoy the place...so much so that I'm still hanging around the place regardless of how many times Jim tries to run me off! :-)

This is a big old hug and thanks to Anne...you rock! I wrote the following on Anne's artist page at WWR, and it continues to hold it's sincerity: "I first met Anne on the old union reform site of Members for Democracy. Her participation and level of concern for people led me down the path of her music and more importantly...her stories! I have always admired her level of activism when it comes to social justice for the common people! By following Anne down that path, I discovered a new love, a light in the window for wayward travelers. Anne brought me to the cabin door of Whole Wheat Radio! So there just isn't enough I can say about this little girl with a huge heart! Thank you Anne for your willingness to stand up for us...and for bringing me home!"

Keep fighting the good fight my friend, and we'll try to help you keep the paths lit along the journey! The pertinent question is...

"Have you been to jail for justice?"

That was September of '06 and my initial checking of the WWR waters so to speak. Of course I couldn't wiki walk back then, but I did begin crawling around on the media wiki, copying code from others, and playing in my sandbox. The more I learned, the more trust and belief I had in this unique person to person, all volunteer, listener/artist community whose goal was creating a neighborhood of support for the greater independent music community. It's worth was derived from the personal commitment of the volunteers, and the humanness that radiated throughout the community. These shared goals are what has created the value of the physical/virtual village of WWR.

My next large step at WWR was a direct involvement with artist Jen Sygit. She has that rare quality that is unfortunately missing in so much of this see-saw physical / virtual experience of ours. She seems to have bridged that gap between the heart and the mind. Her roots run deep! Simply said, "Leaving Marshall Street" blew me away! Jen's music was the first to move me to action, which resulted in my editing her artist page...the first wiki editing of an artist page for me...and also my first web contact with any artist. That was back in December of '06, so Jen will always be my first...and my most memorable! Thank you Jen for being so gentle with me, and we look forward to the latest release! ;-)

"Dig a little deeper boys...back to the roots! Just a little furthur boys...till the truth is absolute!"

So my roots are forever woven with those of these two awesome people who happen to be independent artists. I want to thank Anne and Jen for sharing so much of their life with the world. This thanks goes out to all the great independent artists I've discovered through WWR. For those of us who are fans, the positive side of this sharing has allowed us the opportunity of getting to know them through their wonderful music. Now we bump into each other in all the latest social gathering places...WWR, Facebook, Google, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, etc....and I'm thinking it's never easy living under a public magnifying glass. For that sacrifice and commitment, I sincerely thank you all. The independent music revolution rocks!

Roots run deep and they tend to draw from the riches of the community...it's goals, character, ethics, and transparency...the richness of which creates it's value as a supportive community. We are real flesh and blood folks who donate their time and effort in this support of independent music. I know it is an overused cliché, but there really is such a thing as a labor of love. Rule #1: Nobody gets rich or famous around here. Remember it, believe it, believe in it ... and you'll be just fine. Hey, my community fed me for a whole week after my surgery...just doesn't get much better than that my friends!

Want to give us a listen? You can use Whole Wheat Radio's popout players in three flavors of quality...Low, Med, and High. Or if you prefer, you can use your own player with our Low, Med, and High streams.

Tania Opland and Mike Freeman Concert

2010-01-14T11:25:00.003-06:00

Tania Opland And Mike Freeman House Concert & Webcast this Saturday. 8PM Alaska time, 9PM Pacific, 10PM Mountain, 11PM Central, midnight Eastern. Or use this handy time zone converter for other locations.

Another Old Coot's Birthday

2010-01-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

The year 1956 gave us Carousel. That special year was also witness to the debut of a rock-n-roll pioneer when Heartbreak Hotel hit the music charts. And 1956 was the year that New Yorkers had the opportunity to see the musical My Fair Lady open on Broadway. It was also the year that the lovely and vivacious Norma Jeane Mortenson changed her name to Marilyn Monroe and also when actress Grace Kelly became Princess of Monaco. It was the year our country witnessed the writing of the Southern Manifesto by 101 of our Congressional leaders. And 1956 was the year of the first hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll.

During that year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was instrumental in the addition of the words In Gawd We Trust as the motto of the United States and also in the creation of our Interstate Highway System. Also in that glorious year, the people came to know two of our most recognized news commentators when the Huntley Brinkley Report debuted on NBC TV. And later that year, the long running screen adaptation of the story Wizard of Oz, is shown on television for the first time. People witnessed the debut of the game show, To Tell The Truth, and were introduced to a new game show host named Bob Barker.

But of all these extraordinary events and people that have been captured for posterity in the annals of our history, one event and one person stands out above the rest. I'm speaking of the birth of a boy from Ohio. His name is Jim Kloss, and he is the dreamer who had the courage to follow his dreams and the creativeness to establish Whole Wheat Radio. January 8 is a day for all Wheatheads to celebrate for sure! Happy Birthday Jim, and thanks for all the inspiration and all the hard work and efforts. The world is a better place for you having been born my friend. Hope it's one of the best!

When We Were Extras

2009-12-19T17:20:00.003-06:00

Back in January of this year, I mentioned the work of Joe York and the Ole Miss Media and Documentary Projects Center. That particular project was Sorry, We're Open.

When We Were Extras is another well done piece from Joe which shines a light on, and traces even more of our local history. This documentary's focus is on the 60th Anniversary of the movie release Intruder In The Dust, based on Faulkner’s 1948 novel by the same name. The movie was produced and directed by Clarence Brown, and was filmed in and around Oxford, Ms with many of the local people used as extras. I hope you enjoy!

Utah and Ani Talk Politics

2009-09-20T07:46:00.001-05:00

Utah Phillips told Ani DiFranco in the following video, the people from the depression era had to deal with anxiety in the face of uncertainty. As the corporate/industrial era of consumerism blossomed, the people began experiencing frustration in the face of certainty. Sounds about right I'm thinking. I have never been one of those "color in the lines" kind of people, and corporations supported by state institutions have allowed for the commodification of the people. In the corporate world, where profit is king and the bottom line is the "Holy Grail"...everything is a commodity...especially the people. We are groomed to maintain this structure of self-destruction through continued consumerism.

Truth and the Other J.C.

2009-09-20T06:04:00.002-05:00

This whole Jimmy Carter thing has weighed heavily on my mind the last few days. I'm having trouble understanding how speaking the truth can somehow make a person less in the eyes of society. This seems to be the case regardless if the person speaking this truth is a notable person or just a mechanic down on the corner of Main and First. Maybe it is just a southern thing, but maybe it is not...but my view is the only perspective I have.

I guess this whole thing is just more fuel for our religious (slash) political commandos. They can't let the tank run dry, else risk being stranded out there in no man's land with no gas! I suppose the reality is, the human race has a very long row to hoe before they can get past all of this. It is just that I was hoping we could have at least seen a hot coal by now...maybe not a hot blaze...but at least an ember which would offer us a little hope of fire. Maybe this JC thing will be a spark...perhaps it will create enough animosity between our religitical machine heads to supply the wind to spread the blaze. We could have a nice roaring fire before you know it! However that is very doubtful. The whitehouse has already distanced itself from the issue...the racial issue I have heard referred to as a political minefield. I am sure it will be downplayed by the media with hopes the entire suicidal fiasco will disappear from the radar screens.

After all, it is health care we need to be focusing on right now, and this is just another distraction from our goals. Although I can not help but wonder how the hell we can expect any significant changes in corporate/government policy if we choose to ignore the problem society has with the most basic of human rights? Yes, I think health care is very important, and I believe it should be a civil right...not a privilege. We have yet to really establish our other civil and political rights which the people have had to fight for...our freedom of expression; our equality before the law; or our economic, social and cultural rights...including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education. Now we have health care on the table, and it is a tough one. All civil rights are tough, and we have proven that even though we can change the laws, we have a much harder time enforcing them.

Social truths about injustices always seem to create plenty of friction. A society, which works hard to maintain a certain way of life, does not like giving up it's power by admitting it is wrong. Yes, social laws which promote justice and equality can change for sure, as we have seen through history. There is one problem we have as a society though...we the people never stop, sit down, talk, and figure out how to change our hearts. I think we all need a little anarchy in our hearts, otherwise it never changes. Society will try to convince you that anarchy is chaos...it is evil, and should be avoided else it will drag us into the depths of destruction. Bull shit...it is our only hope of salvaging this social patchwork quilt covering our little planet. Who knows, you may already be an anarchist and you did not even realize!

Before I get really windy, I think I will defer to another who does not have any problem speaking the truth. Just another Scots-Irish codger who can be honest to a fault, which probably makes him less a person somehow! Reading back on this piece, Howling in the Belly of the Confederacy, it's easy to see, even though we have changed presidents, the power structures have not changed one iota that I can see since Joe wrote this almost six years ago. The same structures are in place, and the people remain powerless and subervient to these unjust structures which promote exclusivism while advocating a desire for justice.

But something new and more ominous is afoot down here. Something that scares even a hardened tobacco-stained old toad like me -- a clammy, repressive chill. One that not only dampens all political conversation not Pro-Bush, but can even cost you your job in a small town like this one. I'm serious. When I invite like-minded people for cocktails, the atmosphere is distinctly that of a "safehouse," as the few local liberals all but whisper their opinions and eye one another, judging just how safe it is to speak one's mind. It's spooky, so spooky almost none of us is willing to admit it.

Yeah, we live in a new south now, one with equal rights guaranteed by the law...as long as your rights do not interfere with those who interpret these laws! As Joe says, "It's the newest "New South" ladies and gentlemen, much like the old one, but with three more layers of lawyers and realtors. Free market capitalism, Dixie fried."

Whole Wheat Community

2009-09-17T09:54:00.002-05:00

Jim Kloss and Whole Wheat Radio are creating new definitions of community. As our government structures argue and debate over their ideologies and dogma, it is more common to see the people doing a much better job of building a future built upon transparency, accountability, and sustainability. These are the key factors...the very foundation stones of our future...and community is the tool of choice in this millenium.

So what is so unique about the Whole Wheat community? Well, it has a lot to do with demonstrating fiscal responsibility by being publicly accountable for all income and expenses. It has a lot to do with initiating a local mission along with an Internet mission, and melding the physical world with the virtual world. WWR is not your average run-o-the-mill Internet Radio station streaming music and webcasting house concerts. The community's roots go much deeper than that. As an example, last December WWR hosted one of the Transition Health Policy Team's community discussions with participation from the Talkeetna residents and the online members. It's all there, it's transparent...take a look! Whole Wheat was an active participant in the Talkeetna Community Playground Project, and purchased the monkey bars. We were there as the 2008 Talkeetna Democratic Caucus was webcast. The Internet community was even involved in the decision making process when the question of whether WWR should remain a member of the Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce.

Now there is a new twist to the Chamber of Commerce story which has brought to the forefront the need for a Whole Wheat Radio Event Contract. Jim's quick summary of the new twist:

I am trying to establish a generally non-discriminatory policy for holding events here. What do we, as the listening community, get in exchange? The right to webcast, record and document whatever that activity is. I realize that many of you won't be interested in listening to the meetings, but the deeper issue is: the local community will have a media resource they or their organizations can potentially use. This will hopefully encourage more local participation in all aspects of WWR.

I have participated in many online communities over the last 10 years, and I am really loving the directions taken by the WWR community...that is why I have remained and supported not just the wonderful independent music offered for play by some absolutely wonderful artists...but also because of the idea of an open community. A model that bridges the gap and encompasses both worlds...one which allows everybody, whether physically or virtually, to be part of the overall value of the community. Whole Wheat has been the perfect place for allowing people the opportunity of creating a valuable community.

I am sure most people get overwhelmed by the multitude of social sites out there. They all have qualities and can be beneficial for many reasons. I have enjoyed my Google Reader, and I have also utilized a few of the social sites other than Facebook. All of them have their place, pros and cons, but when it comes down to basics and feeling at home...I'll choose the Whole Wheat community over all the other hyped social sites every time!

Longshoremen of Notability

2009-09-14T11:12:00.002-05:00

While doing my morning reading, I happened upon the thinker Eric Hoffer. Being in organized labor, I should have been aware of him already, and I may have read parts of his work through the years and just never followed through and read more from him. What really interested me in Hoffer was that despite his accomplishments as a writer, he remained a longshoreman until retirement at age 65. He was a member of Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 10.

It was inevitable this would launch me down the rabbit trails of the web...forever in search of that next piece of information which could just lead to the missing piece of the puzzle. You just never really know what each trail is going to have to offer. Similar to the downhome philosophy of a box-o-chocolates I suppose.

There is no doubt, the following of these trails is more like an exploration rather than a structured and more focused study...but just as rewarding and enlightening. The trails I chose this morning led me to other (according to Wikipedia) notable longshoremen besides Hoffer. The first one I will mention is Geswanouth Slahoot.

Dan George is well known for his soliloquy "Lament for Confederation". Geswanouth spoke of using the white man's tools for building political activism within the First Nations.

But in the long hundred years since the white man came, I have seen my freedom disappear like the salmon going mysteriously out to sea. The white man's strange customs, which I could not understand, pressed down upon me until I could no longer breathe.

When I fought to protect my land and my home, I was called a savage. When I neither understood nor welcomed his way of life, I was called lazy. When I tried to rule my people, I was stripped of my authority. more...

Another from the list is J. S. Woodsworth of Canada who had left the ministry of the church because of his difficulty accepting the Methodist dogma. Woodsworth also became involved in the labour movement...to the point he was arrested and charged by the King for publishing seditious libels and speaking seditious words. Woodsworth eventually become the first leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...the prelude to Canada's New Democratic Party.

I am no longer interested in the Heaven above. I believe it is the duty of the CCF to make a Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

These three former stevedores were able to reach great levels of accomplishment and I am delighted I went down this particular rabbit trail this morning. I have known a few longshoremen as a labor activist and it did my heart good to find and share such character!

ASIDE: I would feel derelict if I did not mention Charles Manson met with Wikipedia's notability guidelines as a famous stevedore, having worked as a longshoreman for a couple of years. ;-)

Must Be the Heat

2009-06-24T07:08:00.002-05:00

It has been a reflective kind of morning here in Mississippi. You know the kind of reflection I mean don't you? When the need to think your own thoughts outweighs the need to listen to others. Or perhaps it is just that occasionally we need to season the recipe with our own spice. We all know the secret is in the seasoning...right?

I have always believed any one of us would be considered very fortunate if we have at least one other person in this world that we consider to be kindred. Now explaining kindred can be very difficult...it's almost as if it's an unspoken and indefinable knowledge...something beyond our understanding or maybe our evolutionary capabilities of reasoning. I have found that this feeling of kinship or relatedness is just as prevalent in the virtual world as it is in the physical world. Here in lies the power of the Internet in my personal opinion. It is this ability to connect with other human beings and the realization that all living things are related. Mitakuye Oyasin

I have been very fortunate to have been allowed to become a member of two outstanding communities since I embarked on this web experiment in earnest back in '98. Two communities I am proud to call home. Perhaps it has been the shared morals, values, visions, as well as the mutual respect for each other that has enriched my life more than I can possibly say. Or maybe it is just the reassurance from the knowledge there are others out there who understand the human dilemma and are willing to search for the right questions, in hopes that somebody will find the right answers.

One thing I discovered early on was that we must all be students and teachers at the same time. It is this give and take that allows us to grow and use our combined knowledge. Learning and teaching are the same...one is no more important than the other. Every entity has particular strengths along with particular weaknesses. By the time our ego convinces us we finally know all the answers, the questions have already changed. Regardless of our diverse backgrounds, when all the pieces are sewn together...we are then a quilt...a cover...a blanket...or as it's commonly known this millennium...a community!

Communities are self-educating in my opinion...or they should be if they expect to survive the building of the new structures that are bound to grow out of this shared knowledge! Yes, I am a believer, and that said...I suppose it's safe to say I still believe in imagination and the people's ability to organize and govern themselves. I'm thinking if we can't possibly imagine a better world...there is no reason to expect one will fall out of the sky! Now it seems as though I'm rambling. Sorry! It must be the heat, or maybe the humidity...or both? But I do have some wonderful communal neighbors! So thanks for being there my friends...I'm honored!

What is Viral Spiral?

2009-06-02T10:17:00.002-05:00

I watched a video this morning with David Bollier on Governing the Digital Commons. This video led me to Bollier's book Viral Spiral. I found much of the book very interesting and insightful, especially on some of the points concerning the social shift that has seen commoners transform from consumers into creators. Creators of not only text, videos, or music, but creators of entirely new social structures!

Below is a couple of quotes from Chapter 5, "Navigating the Great Value Shift":

I call this the Great Value Shift...a deep structural change in how valuable things are created for commerce and culture. The shift is not only a fundamental shift in business strategy and organizational behavior, but in the very definition of wealth. On the Internet, wealth is not just financial wealth, nor is it necessarily privately held. Wealth generated through open platforms is often socially created value that is shared, evolving, and nonmonetized. It hovers in the air, so to speak, accessible to everyone...

"What we are seeing now," wrote Yochai Benkler in his book, The Wealth of Networks, "is the emergence of more effective collective action practices that are decentralized but do not rely on either the price system or a managerial structure for coordination." Benkler’s preferred term is "commons-based peer production." By that, he means systems that are collaborative and nonproprietary, and based on "sharing resources and outputs among widely distributed, loosely connected individuals who cooperate with each other."

David Bollier's book, Viral Spiral is available for purchase or as a free download. Yochai Benkler's book The Wealth of Networks is freely available as well. As always, if you find either of these Ebooks worthy, please think about purchasing a hard copy in support. Thanks!

Music: Passion or Commodity?

2009-05-30T06:24:00.005-05:00

The issue of the performance rights organizations has reared it's ugly head once again, and as in the past, this issue has once again taken over my thoughts on another sleepless night. In early 2008 a Royalties page was created on Whole Wheat Radio concerning the effect SoundExchange would have on our little Internet radio community. SoundExchange, which is an offspring of the RIAA, quickly became the most prominent corporate oligarchy with the help and blessing of the federal government. The U.S. Government and the U.S. Copyright Office basically privatized and outsourced our national copyright system over to RIAA. Now the RIAA ignores the Copyright Royalty Board Judges who once made our copyright determinations. Since SoundExchange was put in charge of collecting royalties by Congressional legislation back in December of 2006, it has taken on the appearance of a syndicate strong arm collector for the RIAA Corporate Mob.

I have witnessed the world which corporate power has created, and I have seen how corporations through lobbying efforts and payoffs have successfully converted our government from a people oriented form of democracy into a oligarchy that represents an elite few. It has been painfully apparent in my eyes, that we have allowed this to happen so easily with very little opposition. That does not mean we have to continue to keep our eyes closed to the corporate hegemony and it's dominance of our culture. It is simply not the model of governance in which I want to participate...and I certainly do not want to support such a socially detrimental system for our future generations. What I do want to support is a more sustainable model of community interaction. An interaction between the artists and the people who love their art.

Is music a passion or is it merely a commodity? I for one am tired of the consumer society, and do not see art as a commodity to be consumed. Music is a passion...artists are passionate about their music and this passion is passed on to their listeners. For the life of me, I can not see how music can be defined as a product, it goes way beyond the labels the corporate world places on it!

I found Whole Wheat Radio back in 2006, and I found something unique and reviving about the place...so I stuck around a while. I was exposed to a world of independent music I had never known existed, and I have never looked back. I have purchased so many CDs through our community I have literally had to move and rearrange furniture to compensate. When I exhausted those options, I had to begin burning them to a new hard drive and either sharing the CDs or storing them in containers. Now I am just one member of the community, so just multiply that times all the members of our community who have found the same amount of extraordinary independent music via the music library and Whole Wheat House Concerts. Yes there is another way to do it rather than the existing unsustainable model. We have found out it is possible, and we have also found out how important it is to share in the building and maintenance of a community that supports independent artists. It is a shared experience in a collaborative approach for the future of music. Maybe even beyond that, perhaps it is a shared vision of what our future communities will look like and how we will mesh our local and virtual communities into one!

There is a quote from the documentary Before the Music Dies that is so profound in my humble opinion...

Never have so few companies controlled so much of the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores. At the same time, there are more bands and more ways to discover their music than ever. Music seems to have split in two - the homogenous corporate product that is spoonfed to consumers and the diverse independent music that finds devoted fans online and at clubs across the country.

I truly believe the power of change lies in our willingness to support real non-profit grassroots communities similar to Whole Wheat Radio. We can either decide to take those steps necessary to oppose those who have corrupted the common good of the people, or we can continue down the same road that got us to this unsustainable state in which we now find ourselves. As always, our future in this quickly changing world lies in each of our hearts. We are the change and it is in our hands!

Transfer Industry into Community

2009-05-15T09:41:00.002-05:00

As always, what I will relate is just my humble opinion, as I'm not a songwriter, nor do I make a living as an independent musician. I am certainly not an expert at anything, but only a fellow human being with another opinion! I am merely one who loves the art of music and believes in the artists right to have control over their art. I also realize the sacrifices the independent musician has to make in order that those sacrifices will hopefully bear fruit. I also believe in the power of the music community's organizational culture and it's shared goals and values. That said, here is my take on the issues brought up by Bob Lefsetz which Jim Kloss linked to yesterday.

I'm sure they are doing the research, but if those who do the research continue to have ties with the old music guard, that research is going to be filtered to show those ties. What is wrong in the music industry mirrors the turmoil within our little planet's social and economic structures. These structures based on "who can get the most marbles wins"...are dying, and the handlers of these 20th Century models are scratching and clawing to hang on to their power over the artists in the music industry.

As Bob Lefsetz mentions, if suddenly the artists had control over the rights, it would be a whole new ball game. But unfortunately it will not happen suddenly, there will not be a clap of thunder or a bolt of lightning which will bring about the shift of power. Due to the power pooled in the top of our little pyramidal structure, it is going to take a consolidated effort on the part of the artists and their fan base; and it will be a slow turning...not an overnight U-turn. This is the very reason I became part of the Whole Wheat community back in 2006; because of the potential for artists and listeners to organize into a vibrant and active independent music community. A community which places the value and love of that art above the bottom line. Like I mentioned yesterday, to me the ideal community embraces the principle of "Give according to your abilities, receive according to your needs!" Perhaps I am a little naive and maybe I do dream a little too much...but if a person does not believe in positive change, it certainly will not happen.

I've read and heard all the alternatives that have been introduced by the music futurists and industry pundits, and all seem to somehow keep one foot in the existing corporate world as some sort of appeasement of the beast's ravenous appetitie. The existing corporate music biz does not want a diet; it is not capable of tightening it's belt; it will feign approval just to sate it's unending and unsustainable hunger of profits! Profits which it needs to maintain it's power structure of the few at the top and the many at the bottom supporting it's mass weight. While I respect many of the enlightened authors and activists who are attempting to create a vision of the music industry's future...I'm afraid they must extricate themselves from the prominent, yet outdated structures of the past. In order to build a sustainable model, they must go beyond what is accepted and take that leap into the unknown.

I spoke yesterday about The Wall that keeps all of us in a state of obedient subservience to the existing order. This wall is not a physical wall, but one built of our own fears about changing what is accepted as the current reality. This article comes from the hearts and minds of union reformers and workplace democracy advocates, but it is just as pertinent to all people who find themselves in structures that just do not make sense, or fail to offer any end to the injustices which are by-products of the current systems in place. We have to be willing to take those steps; willing to walk that unlighted path towards something sustainable that works for all of us!

Take Lefsetz quotes of Malcolm Gladwell from the New Yorker, David only beats Goliath if he puts in incredible effort and is willing to do what is "socially horrifying". "Socially horrifying" means you challenge the rules, and break them. Or as Gladwell states, "He couldn’t fight the establishment, because he WAS the establishment." "The price that the outsider pays for being so heedless of custom is, of course, the disapproval of the insider."

Socially horrifying and most certainly the disapproval of those who still work within the current system. It takes guts to stand up to power and build something completely outside their realm. My background is steeped in organized labor and it's struggles, but the struggles are the same. It has always been the same. It's always been a powerful few who want it all against the rest of us! The power has always lied within the hands of the people and their willingness or foresightedness to come together under common goals and values. This is where communities such as Whole Wheat Radio or other like minded communities hold great potential to pool like minded people, artists and fans alike...who believe in the power and justice within grassroots organizations.

Yes, it will be a slow turn as we morph from the "ME" social standard into the sustainable "WE" model. Yes, it will not be easy, power never concedes without a fight, but to quote Lorde...When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

The Other Wall

2009-05-14T07:16:00.003-05:00

I was reading one of my favorite feeds this morning from Open Culture. The part of the story that caught my attention was the link to an Internet Archive collection of some wonderful private photos and home movies of the Berlin Wall, it's collapse, and the reunification afterward.

When I was growing up we only knew it as "The Wall", and it was as much a part of our lives as was the continual nuclear holocaust stories associated with the "Cold War". After the Berlin Blockade there was a constant U.S. military presence in West Berlin. I remember sitting in front of the television and watching JFK's Ich bin ein Berliner speech with the wall as his backdrop. Then came the fall of "The Wall" in 1989, and during this time I remember reflecting back on what that wall represented. Now once again I find myself reflecting back to a 2003 article from the Members for Democracy community. Another kind of wall separates the people and keeps us from our freedom. I just felt the need to share this, and I feel it has not lost one bit of relevance over the last six years since it was composed. We still have a wall to climb over or tear down, but this one seems to be built much better than the one made of stone, concrete, and barbed wire. This wall has been constructed within our own minds!

A great wall separates us, in our current reality where the powerful pee - figuratively - on us, from the emerging new era with its limitless possibilities. It's not a physical wall, but rather a wall built of our own fears - fears about changing the current reality, fears about looking at conventional wisdom and saying "oh piss on this" and fears about moving forward on our own steam to our own future...

If you're having a hard time picturing this figurative wall of fear, think about this well-known wall. Residents from the oppressed side would come to the wall to look at what was on the other side. Some would even go over the wall at great personal risk. For many years the wall seemed impenetrable. Then it came down pretty much overnight. How'd that happen? What lay on the other side was more desirable and more important than bigger cars, nicer homes and more money: It was Freedom.

Read the entire article of Freedom for our People.

Whole Wheat Radio-Independent Music& the PROs

2009-05-13T06:32:00.005-05:00

Bad Moon Rising

2009-03-09T20:56:00.002-05:00

I see the bad moon arising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin.
I see bad times today. John Fogerty

It is amazing how profound one small verse can be!

Austintatious 70s

2009-02-19T11:29:00.006-06:00

I'm not sure why, but I have been reliving some of my stories and trying to get them into some sort of record. Well, that is not really true. I do know why I've been doing a lot of thinking and typing lately...it is partly because the boys want to have some of those stories for future reference. More than likely these stories will turn out to be dust collectors for them like most of my collected "stuff". Years from now, when one of my sons has enough age on him to begin reflecting, he will be saying something like, "Honey, do you know what we did with Dad's CDs when we moved?"

To be honest, it's not all because of the kids. I also am fond of oral history...the voices of the people. Not to be confused with the dressed up historical manuscripts doled out to the population through the educational systems. I have personally found that in order for me to gain an understanding of what I consider historical truth, I need a combination of both the socially accepted facts along with a good portion of good old down home stories from those who actually lived it! I also believe history is a weapon that can aid human beings in their efforts to define civilization. I am not satisfied with the definition of the word yet, but maybe we are getting closer and the right definition of a civil society is only a few generations away. At this point in time, I am almost certain that if any good at all comes from the Internet, it will come from the sharing of "Our Stories". I have only a handful of friends who ever read this little corner of the web, and that is another reason I tell these stories. It is also for that little handful, the true friends I have met on this journey through the millions of web sites, pages, links, and discussions. Always remember...quality over quantity...quality is sustainable, and quantity is not!

So here is another story whose inspiration comes from Wheathead Danny Schmidt. I hear Danny's following has grown considerably and recently along the independent music railroad we have been witnessing the birth of a new breed of collaborators. I have heard these collaborators being called "Schmidtheads", but I have not been able to nail down where this term originated. We will have to keep our eyes on the progress of this new sensation of social networking. Why did Danny inspire this story? It is because he reminds me of the typical good folks that I knew down there in Austintacious. He reminds me of the Austin, Texas I knew back in the early 70s. That is a good thing, and I have mentioned a bit of that history once before in the Tribute to the 'Dillo. It is reassuring to know the spirit that I knew back then, is still living, breathing, and carrying on. Oh yeah...the story...

First I will try to establish my niche, my community within the Austin area and a sense of what the area was like prior to the sprawl of Austin. I lived in this little fourplex of studio apartments from '71-'74. I was the assistant manager at the time...free rent was the pay. At this time, Austin's growth was just beginning to ignite and these apartments were only a short walk from the aquifer fed Barton Creek, which was still very remote once you were a half mile or so west of Zilker Park. Where I lived was on the edge of the then mostly uninhabited hill country. The Barton Creek area contained beautiful limestone cliffs with caves scattered along different points throughout it's length. This area would eventually be called the Greenbelt. I am sure it is still beautiful, but I am also almost certain I would be disappointed if I were to see it today. So I think I will hold on to my memories and savor the time. While I lived in this are, the local watering hole just up the street was the old Broken Spoke. A quiet place during the week, but it was kicking on the weekends!

A good friend of mine from Louisiana was drumming with different groups throughout '71-'72. I seem to recall one of the bands called themselves "Donnie & Clyde" in reference to the ~~heroes~~ outlaws whose names sounded very similar. Donnie and Clyde were actually brothers who had a small faithful audience that followed them from one hitching post dancehall to the next in a radius of 30 miles of Austin. These places were much different than what I was accustomed to in Tennessee, and entire families would pack into the dancehalls...every age. The atmosphere was very real and the people were very warm. Most of the time, once the place was closing, somebody would invite the entire crowd over for a community breakfast! Great times...and I wish we could see a revival of that comradery.

It was late in '72 if my memory does not fail me, that my friend Randy was approached by an old Jimmie Rodger's style yodeler named Kenneth Threadgill. Threadgill's bass and guitar players (Charlie Davis and Buzz Dolim) knew Randy from different gigs around Austin and they persuaded Kenneth to offer him a steady job. Randy fell in love with the old timer, which is what happened to everybody who met Threadgill. There just was not anything to not like about him...he was real. It didn't take long before I had to have a yodel fix at least once or twice a week. The old guy was addicting!

Sometime either late '72 or early '73, Kenneth would bring a pretty little Texas girl into the mix as his relief. I am not sure of the spelling or of what happened to her, but Janie Hart was her name. And she could sing like a bird, performing the current popular Nashville country as well as the new sound of Austin that had been labeled as progressive country. This is about the time their band took on the name of "The Velvet Cow Pasture". I'm not sure whose brainstorm that was but the next time I talk to Randy, I'll try to remember to ask.

Janie would sing a set while Kenneth would sit on his stool, one foot on the stage and one on the rungs of the stool, while he drank his favorite bourbon. I do not remember what his favorite was, but I have seen him drink a variety of labels, even what we referred to back then as "J W Don't"! The second set belonged to Kenneth and he would belt out those old railroad blues and have the house eating out of his hand. After his first set and during Janie's second, the band would watch out for Kenneth because he had been known to tilt his stool too much and come crashing down to the stage. Everybody kept a watchful eye on him and would yell at him if they saw him coming close to the precipice. Every time I showed up for one of their gigs, Kenneth would sing my two favorite tunes, Blue Yodel #1, and the Wreck of the Old '97. He was a generous man, but he also knew if he sang my faves, he could depend on me helping to load and unload equipment when I was around.

In '73, following a gig at the Shakey's Pizza Parlor on Guadalupe, I tagged along in Kenneth's old motor home with the Cow Pastures and we headed north for a Willie Nelson homecoming concert in Abbott, Texas. There was an old boy with us, can't remember his name, but if I remember right, he worked at the old Picking Post music store on Lamar. He had brought his girlfriend and he was intent on being married at the concert. Sure enough, the next day, right after Michael Murphy did a set with his son in his lap, this preacher they had found somewhere in Abbott performed the marriage ceremony for them right on stage to the complete enjoyment of the crowd. I have often wondered if the uniqueness of that moment in their lives helped the marriage or hurt it. I suppose I will never know, but I choose to think it helped it and they are still together chasing their grandchildren and talking about that special day once upon a time in Abbott.

Another opportunity arose back in '74 and when asked, I accompanied them in the old motor home once again. This time I was privy to the first outdoor Kerrville folk festival. I had the original LP album until a house fire in '76 turned it into an unrecognizable blob. I am certain Randy still has his copy somewhere and although I wish I still had the original vinyl, it would probably just be collecting dust with my other stuff. I found this album review that lists the performers of those early years. Whew! A lot of memories from Kerrville, and yet there is a lot I just do not remember! Nobody to blame but myself for that loss of memory!

Now I'm beginning to feel self-conscious as this is starting to sound something like bragging...but that really could not be farther from the truth. Now if I had been talented enough to play at these venues...then maybe I would brag a bit, but truth is, it's just a piece out of my life that I wanted to share. And the reason I have added all this unimportant text to the web (as if there were not enough already) is all because of this honest to goodness, real Texas troubadour I discovered on Whole Wheat Radio.

This has taken much more space than I realized it would, and I have really condensed and tried to remain focused on Threadgill. Maybe next time I can talk about another old friend I worked with in Austin. He and his brother were some of the best fiddlers I've heard to this day. I worked with Walter Collins while painting houses in the Austin area. Walter had perfected his fiddle playing while tagging along with his brother on the road. His brother was Cotton Collins who was a member of the Lone Star Playboys. Cotton is best known in Texas for his tune, "Westphalia Waltz". Cotton and Walter are both gone now, but I'm sure they are still making the hair stand up on Gabriel's neck when they draw the bow across those twin fiddles. But that is another story for another time!

To end this story, and bring it back into focus, I would like to offer a three part playlist of the film "Singin' the Yodeling Blues". This is the work of Claude Mathews. Thank you Claude for your work on this and for your willingness to share!

You can watch all three videos here.

γνῶθι σεαυτόν

2009-02-06T11:27:00.003-06:00

We long for that special leader who will ignite socially responsible change. We wait and hope for that one special person who can lead us out of this unjust and deteriorating economical slavery. We are only fooling ourselves into continued submission with our longing, waiting, and hoping. To paraphrase Debs, if any one person could lead us out of oppression, then any one person could lead us right back in. The answer to our problems is in the mirror!

The EFCA Rumble

2009-02-05T12:01:00.002-06:00

Workers and Corporate America are Ready to Rumble over the Employee Free Choice Act. The news and political pundits have swamped the newswires and blogs with an unending supply of feeds concerning the proposed legislation. So I figured I would throw my meager few cents into the pot by taking a look at a few of the people and organizations that are fighting against the EFCA.

Regardless how the corporate entities play this to the people, I have personally seen what happens to a group of workers who really want to organize their workplace. With the current limp labor laws that are in place, the workers who are targeted as the leaders in the campaign are innevitably forced to endure hardships and most of the time they are even illegally fired once the intimidation tactics against the workers finally crushes the organizing campaign. I'm not saying the EFCA should be interpreted as savior legislation, but it does level the field and removes the high ground from the battlefield. The list of business and corporate interests are long, but here is a short list of the business side that is fighting against the EFCA legislation.

Randel Johnson of the US Chamber of Commerce has pledged $10 million toward the battle against EFCA. Johnson is an active participant and the Chamber of Commerce is co-chair of the following anti-EFCA organization:

Coalition for a Democratic Workplace...which has no workers as members, but does have the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Associated Builders and Contractors, and the National Retail Federation as affiliates.

Americans for Job Security is a Chamber of Commerce front group financed by the insurance industry to fight political efforts by organized labor.

Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot recently participated in a conference call, hosted by bailout recipient Bank of America, where he stated that the EFCA is the demise of civilization. Marcus insisted all the clients of those involved in the conference call send large contributions to groups working against the EFCA, as well as to vulnerable Republican Senators.
Richard Berman who through his lobbying company has run numerous media campaigns criticizing and even ridiculing advocacy groups concerned with the dangers of obesity, smoking, mad cow disease, drunk driving, the minimum wage and other issues. Berman's companies operate several secretive front groups:
- Center for Union Facts opposes union activities.
- Center for Consumer Freedom opposes efforts of doctors, health advocates, environmentalists, groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
- Employment Policies Institute Foundation is a public affairs firm which lobbies for business interests including the alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries.
- American Beverage Institute which opposes any lowering of the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers.
Lee Scott, until January of 2009, was chief executive officer of wal-mart. Lee is well known for his implementation of corporate policies such as low hourly wage standards and anti-labor union policies which led to lawsuits involving 187,000 workers. When Lee was asked about EFCA, he replied, "We like driving the car, and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us." Lee's wal-mart also holds political partisan sessions with it's employees and lists the EFCA on it's disclosure forms, as well as these other legislative issues which they opposed:

Family and Medical Leave Act

Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act

I know there are no CEOs out there who would agree to work without a contract guaranteeing their pay and benefits, so why are they so against the American worker having a similar contract? And why do so many of them participate in such atrocious behavior such as this?

30% of employers fire pro-union workers.

49% of employers threaten to close a worksite when workers try to form a union, but only 2% actually do.

51% of employers coerce workers into opposing unions with bribery or favoritism.

82% of employers hire high-priced unionbusting consultants to fight union organizing drives.

91% of employers force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors.

The corporate interests continually market the spin for our citizens and rarely do they touch on the truth, and you never hear them honestly portray what really takes place during organizing campaigns. I see this as more of the same old corporate views and tactics which have brought America to it's gluttonous knees! If you choose to buy into the corporate spin, and think it has something to do with individualism...may Gawd help you...because you certainly do not have the sense to help yourself.

(David) Tenenbaum v. (Goliath) RIAA

2009-02-04T04:45:00.002-06:00

This is merely a shout out...a show of support for Joel Tenenbaum. If you have not heard of this unique case, I urge you to take a little time and do some exploring. Last year Professor Charles Nesson and a team of his students from Harvard Law decided to defend Tenenbaum against a lawsuit initiated by the RIAA back in 2003 for his file-sharing activities.

Reading about the case, I found there have been 30,000 others who have had lawsuits filed against them for sharing and downloading music. All of those cases were settled out of court excluding one, which ended in a mistrial. Tenenbaum's case will only be the second RIAA case to go to trial.

Please take a look at the material offered on Joel Fights Back and if you feel this is a righteous fight, take a moment and sign the petition below, if only to show your support for the work Nesson and the students have done. Pass it around in your communities and gather the surge. As is mentioned on their website...this is not a vendetta. It's just that Joel Tenenbaum chose to stand his ground.

It’s about defending the average Davids against the corporate Goliath.

The student lawyers who are helping defend Tenenbaum are Isaac Kriegman, Nnamdi Okike, Debbie Resenbaum, Matt Sanchez, Dmitriy Tishyevich, and Aaron Dulles.

What is a Democratic Culture?

2009-02-03T09:03:00.002-06:00

"If art which is now sick is to live and not die, it must in the future be of the people, for the people, by the people; it must understand all and be understood by all" - William Morris

John Holden is an associate of the U.K. based think tank Demos. Holden's expertise is culture, and he has a new report out on the web I found interesting. If is offered freely as a PDF, and it's entitled Democratic Culture.

As I began reading, I realized something important...I already knew and used this word in discussions and short pieces of writing, but I had failed to grasp exactly what the word "culture" meant to me...or how I would define the term. Even the Wikipedia article on culture begins with this sentence:

Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate") is difficult to define.

So perhaps I'm not alone in my confusion and my inability to nail down a meaning of one of the most important ingredients of humanity?

Holden mentions three interrelated spheres of culture which I would like to touch on and try to define each one as I currently understand them.

Publicly funded culture

Commercial culture

Home-made culture

In my small acreage of the world, publicly funded culture would dismiss the roots culture excluding an occasional journey into our past as a way to share the historical arts...our heritage. Public funding sounds great at first, but at least in the southern part of the states, what it means is a select few in a hierarchical system choose what stays and what gets culled. With this type of culture, even the arts become a top-down structural enterprise which is well known for it's ability to turn the majority of the people into the powerless and the minority of the people into the elitist.

Commercial culture again falls into the top-down structure where marketing and mass media dictate the terms of culture, of which we are all expected to adhere. Mass production and mass consumption is a false culture in my opinion, and robs the people of the real culture of the people. Our artists suffer in this form of culture, and I agree with Holden that success or failure is completely market driven and access into the popular culture is controlled by a mandarin class. So many great artists and artisans never get an opportunity and the people, as well as our artists, suffer from this cultural desert.

Then finally there is what Holden calls home-grown culture. We all are familiar with folk culture, but I think Holden's idea of home-grown takes this much farther and relates how changes in awareness and connectedness come into play in a web driven society. Home-grown better describes the collaborative culture in my opinion, by expanding the spectrum of historical folk arts with the new independent arts of the here and now and the what will be. Creativity has exploded due to the available venues given us through the web. With the growth of independent artistry on the web, we see the decision of what is quality art is being placed more and more into the hands of those who actively collaborate and support these independent artists within the participatory communities that are growing and redefining value.

Now exactly how do we define "democratic culture"? UNLV operates a research and public service organization called Center for Democratic Culture According to their mission statement:

Civil society thrives in the culture which encourages trust, tolerance, prudence, compassion, humor, and withers away when overexposed to suspicion, hatred, vanity, cruelty, and sarcasm.

According to Jack Balkin, a democratic culture is a culture in which individuals have a fair opportunity to participate in the forms of meaning-making that constitute them as individuals. Democratic culture is about individual liberty as well as collective self-governance; it concerns each individual's ability to participate in the production and distribution of culture. Removing the political, economical, and cultural elitists from their thrones and allowing everyone a chance to participate in the production of culture, sounds like a wonderful idea in my opinion.

Holden goes on to say that arts are indeed "special", but they are also simultaneously, inextricably and healthily part of the everyday. As a supporter of Whole Wheat Radio and also of Folkstreams, I definitely believe art can be found readily in the everyday of our existences here on earth. Our people and their home-grown cultures add so much richness to our world, and they create an unparalleled source of art which should be given a rightful place among what I would consider a democratic culture. As Holden mentions however, defining art can be just as problematic as defining culture.

Holden mentions three gatekeepers who work towards keeping the public out of the creation of culture through their respective practices of exclusivism.

The first gatekeeper is professionalism. Holden notes that at it's worst, professionalism could become malign or antagonistic professionalism.

Just a personal note...I had a lifetime in the work force installing fire protection piping...and I always viewed my work as an example of personal art. An art that could only be appreciated by the few other professionals in the fire protection trade...but regardless, the completed system's symmetry and functionality could still be considered an art form within this small niche. Perhaps creating a culture of and by the people will be more about these niches and their cross collaboration between other niches...perhaps? No?

The next gatekeeper listed is the snob culture, which is elitist in nature but a group which can be diluted as more people acquire access to these arts. Arts such as opera, ballet, and drama are more readily accesible with the Internet and I would think this has the possibility of diluting the power within any elitist group. Although there is nothing which can be compared to attending a live performance, appreciation for the art can be spread via the web quite easily which tends shift all of the people into the horizontal world of cultural decisions.

The third gate-keeper mentioned is the avant-garde opposition to democratic culture. According to Holden, the avant-garde must either alienate or completely withdraw from the public in order to maintain it's own self-worth and status.

Holden holds that there is a way out of the opposition between authority and anarchy, between cultural exlusivism and a debased, diluted popular culture.

In culture, we will have to stop thinking of a dispute between high and popular culture, and enter into public debate about cultural quality wherever it is manifested across all three spheres of publicly funded, commercial and home-made culture...in opera, crime writing, ballet, salsa, art galleries, TV, MySpace and so on.

I see we have the opportunity to initiate needed change and build our own culture...one that we decide is best for all inhabitants and one which we decide has value. However, having the opportunity and actually utilizing that opportunity are still worlds apart in my humble opinion. As was pointed out yesterday by fellow collaborators, Google's resources are so highly under utilized, it is almost embarrassing to be a member of the human race.

I see a need for all of the people to work toward the development of more participation and better cooperation. I see a place where the educators are likely to become the student, and the student will likely take on the role of educator. We have drawn too many lines and hailed democracy as a true gift of humanity. I think it's time, now that we have the opportunity, we actually tried to collaborate and see if it truly is a gift! If it is a gift, I think it's time we unwrapped it and used it for the people!

Collaboration...what's it worth?

2009-02-02T16:52:00.001-06:00

As we continue the shift away from the industrialized and service models of civilization, where do we place value? We have seen what can happen to the monetary value system. It is not a sustainable model and is prone to corruption and failure. So what does that leave us, and what is a sustainable system of capital? I wish I knew without a doubt, but all I can give is an uneducated guess mixed with a little common sense and a whole lot of hope. Just my humble opinion, but I believe collaboration will naturally give us a new definition of capital and in turn create an entirely new value system. These are just a few of my thoughts, which hopefully will continually change as we progress!

Collaboration...just what is collaboration and what do we get out of it's growth as a social norm in this age of expanded communication? According to my sources, (Wikipedia), collaboration exists when two or more people or organizations work toward a common goal. The Internet is allowing a low cost and instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge, and skills in order to create sustainable communities of niche interests.

Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together toward an intersection of common goals: for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature...by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Collaboration does not require leadership and can sometimes bring better results through decentralization and egalitarianism. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.

As an individual, what can one expect to receive from their collaboration? It's been said that in the not so far off future, there are three types of capital the individual will receive from their participation in the new collaborative society.

The first is knowledge capital, or perhaps a better definition would be human capital. Knowledge is acquired from the experience of collaboration, as opportunities to learn are inherent within collaborative communities. As knowledge is shared it is expanded and becomes self-generating with use. The more experience, the more the knowledge base will increase. The economics of self-generation eventually replaces scarcity economics. Regardless how narrow or broad the focus, this self-generated knowledge tends to assimilate in niche communities and knowledge management evolves as the process of sharing and learning continue.

The second type of capital is social capital, or relationship capital. Relationship capital allows people to know others who work on a large variety of projects...some of which overlap. Through collaboration on projects, lasting relationships are built with others. There is a mutual sharing of knowledge that takes place between these relationships and common goals are reached through the help of all involved. These voluntary associations and communities will hopefully be conducive of altruism as we learn to give it away in order to receive.

These voluntary associations also connect people with each other, build trust and reciprocity through informal, loosely structured associations, and consolidate society through altruism without obligation.

The third type of capital is reputation capital whose essence can be summed up as trust. The actions of an individual or a community translate into their reputation. Reputation can be the sum total of a good name, good works, and validation. A good reputation creates demand and helps define what is expected of an individual or community.

Reputation Capital is a label given to any attempt to measure this in a comparative way, which is often seen as a form of non-cash remuneration for their efforts, and generally generates respect within the community, or marketplace where the capital is generated.

The order seems to be accumulation of knowledge, then selection of the most useful knowledge, and lastly protection of the knowledge project from inappropriate use. All three of these happen at the same time and run parallel in order to avoid the knowledge from being privately appropriated.

The New Humanities

2009-01-29T07:36:00.003-06:00

A future, indeed, for which we are not prepared, largely because no pedagogies exist to teach it. - Kevin Jarrett

It scares the hell out of people when there is no structure to maintain their illusion of control. My peers and I have discussed, cussed, and argued about a so-called "structureless society". Our discussions were based on labor union organizational structures, but they are the same as our current social structures here in the states. I think a lot of the problem is the name that is used. Structureless is a misnomer. There is always structure, it is just that the structure takes different forms depending on necessity, and recquires different interactions between the participants. Most of the good folks I hang with strive for a level playing field where no human life is any more precious than another. It's the basics for being a human being in my opinion...there is either humanity, or our history as inhabitants on this poor planet continues to repeat itself. There continues to be hunger, suffering, death, and destruction. Why do you think that is? Perhaps because we want to hold on to that structure our entire lives are built around? Maybe we want to hold on to that little embedded piece of DNA that gives us that exhilarating feeling that we are of some importantance...that we are above other life forms?

Our quest should be to change the story of humanity, and the only way to change our story is to write it ourselves. As we venture into this unknown, we must understand that technology is moving faster than we can define our critical pedagogy! For the first time, people have the power to write the story of our future. We do not have to rely on any hierarchical beings to envision and design the structures for us. This is our opportunity to discuss, share, design, and build our own world. The people will define humanity and understanding...it's our chance. Are we as a people ready for such a huge undertaking as this? Is this merely a pipe dream, or can we really get this done? After all the past failures of civilization, can we hope to succeed?

Professor Richard Miller of Rutgers is co-author of New Humanities Reader. I strongly recommend you watch his presentation on the new humanities in the two videos below.

What are our thinkers doing to make this shift toward cooperation possible and manageable? How do we adjust as we head from an ownership society into a shared society? Stanford has some wonderful lectures pertaining to these questions. The Literacy of Cooperation Lecture Series is part of the interdisciplinary study of cooperation and collective action being conducted by The Cooperation Commons. Below is a compilation of some of the lectures.

Memories of Tar Heel

2009-01-28T12:09:00.004-06:00

I have been reading many articles about the Victory for Smithfield Workers. This victory comes after a sixteen year battle against the mega-agricultural powers in this southern state of North Carolina. Although this is a labor battle for worker rights, this particular Smithfield operation in Tar Heel has been on the front pages for other atrocities which their environmental record shows.

I wish the workers well, but having been in North Carolina and currently residing in Mississippi, I'm thinking that although this battle seems won...the war is not over, and unless some state laws can be changed, it has only begun! However, my congratulations to the people for a well fought battle. A battle that has seen illegal arrests from Luter's corporate paid armed police force, unfair and undemocratic elections, public demonstrations, work lockouts, and protests. Many people have suffered physically, mentally, and financially to reach this point! I'm proud of these people and what they have accomplished, but I sincerely hope the union who is going to represent them lives up to what these people deserve.

Another reason I share this is because I worked on the initial construction of this Tarheel, N.C. plant, I believe in '87-'88, and it triggers some of my memories from the road. I think Smithfield acquired the plant back in '92 and it's my opinion that this hog processing plant was snakebit from the git-go. It was a project agreement contract which meant the contractual hourly wage scale had been compromised by actively negotiating individual contracts on any job that meets state and federal standards for the use of government funds. One of the feds requirements was that the construction project would be manned entirely with union labor. Nobody liked these agreements...they only harmed organized labor's efforts in the south. But I don't want to talk about that crap this morning...just the good stuff I remember about the Tar Heel, N.C. area while I worked/lived among the folks who called those rich coastal plains home. (Street view of Tar Heel in Google Maps.)

On my crew there were two local sprinkler fitters who lived in the nearby Penbroke area. Both were members of the contested Lumbee Tribe and I became very good friends with both. Their family names were Oxendine and Locklear. Of the two, Locklear was more like a brother than a friend and at the time of the construction at Tar Heel, he and his family were farming a small truck patch of cucumbers on a few acres outside of Penbroke. The first time I had the opportunity to talk with Brother Locklear, he and another worker were talking about religious denomination as I walked up to meet them. Locklear turned to me and asked, "What are you?" I thought for a moment and then replied, "I am a human being". This brought a big smile to his face and he said, "You're different aren't you?",to which I replied, "I try to be!". I suppose the Gawds of humanity smiled on us and the next thing I knew he was inviting me over for potatoes, pinto beans, squash, cornbread and sweet tea...and the bond between myself and the Locklear family was made. They couldn't get rid of me after that! ;-)

His son was in college at Florida State on a grant. His two girls were young teenagers and already knew they were also going to attend FSU. The girls called me Moses from the very first day I met the family...they were true jewels...a wonderful family. Ms Locklear and the girls were the members of the family who loved fishing...so we got along really well and they put me on to some good bass fishing and beautiful country. Country which I would never have seen if it had not been for their willingness to share their little part of the world with a guy 800 miles away from his own home. Yeah, they welcomed me, made me feel at home, and they gave me a reason to look forward to going back to work after the short infrequent trips to my home here in Mississippi.

I was introduced to the Cape Fear and the Lumbee rivers. The Cape Fear River has been associated with such pirates as Bonnet and Blackbeard. To navigate these waters I was also introduced to a new type of one person boat I had never seen...and to this day have no idea what it is called. It was built with two identical halves that were hinged. It served for a wood storage container, but when emptied and unfolded and locked into position, it transformed into a small dinghy of sorts. Worked well, and balance was similar to a small canoe. You had to be aware of your center of gravity at all times and much care was needed less the excitement of hooking a good size largemouth bring about an unscheduled swim.

Brother Locklear had a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis which eventually was cause for an early medical retirement. He had tried all the current medical treatments without much success and was relying more on a healer by the name of Cooper. He introduced me to Cooper and on many occasions while we were out and about, we would drop by his home and bring him some staple items from town. Cooper was one of those healers whose medicine was a mix of faith based laying on of hands, herbs, and down home common sense. He was a great human being and very selfless, but eventually Brother Locklear's only relief would come from surgery that removed those baseball size growths on his elbows and ankles.

It was difficult to say goodbye once the project was finished. There were some great memories and friendships built while I was there. There are so many stories attached to my life as a construction worker on the road, and this is a summarized recollection of one of them...and it is all thanks to the victory of the workers at Smithfield Foods. Now if only the Lumbees can finally receive the federal recognition they have fought so hard for over the last 50+ years! Good luck with that folks, but regardless, just remember that recognition, like beauty and notability, is in the eye of the beholder. Thanks for the memories friends!

Whole Wheat Radio Concert Setup

2009-01-22T18:53:00.004-06:00

These videos are of Jim Kloss allowing us a glimpse of the preparations that must be made prior to hosting one of Whole Wheat Radio's famous House/Web Concerts. Did I say famous? Yes, I did...and all it takes to understand why I praise them so highly, is to experience just one of the concerts on-line...and no more explanations will be required.

Below is a playlist of four videos Jim made available today. The player will automatically play all four videos. I hope you enjoy! Don't Forget! Tonight! Whole Wheat Radio Easton-Stagger (without Phillips) Concert! 10:00 pm Central! Be There!

Sorry, We're Open

2009-01-16T19:06:00.003-06:00

I enjoyed this film so much that I couldn't help but share. This documentary was made by Joe York, who is a film maker working with the UMCMD Projects. York also produces the Highway 61 Radio, a blues show that airs on Mississippi Public Broadcasting stations.

This video is of an old cotton warehouse that was turned into a theater in Oxford, Mississippi...and of course Ole Miss! Ron Shapiro was the owner of the converted warehouse who named the new place "Hoka" after the legendary Chickasaw Indian, "Princess Hoka". Her name was the first to appear on the Lafayette County deed records. I'm not certain of the date, but I do know the Chickasaws were forced off their lands and relocated between the years of 1833 and 1840. Shapiro and associates were actively operating The Hoka from 1976 until 1996.

These days the Oxford Film Festival organization passes out the "Hoka Awards" to the winners. But so much for the history lesson and on to the movie.

The movie is entitled "Sorry, We're Open" and I hope you enjoy it.

nv-wa-do-hi-ya-da

Easton, Stagger, Phillips Web Concert January 22

2009-01-14T14:42:00.004-06:00

Part time troubadours will come and go. For Tim Easton (JOSHUA TREE, CALIFORNIA), Leeroy Stagger (VICTORIA, CANADA) and Evan Phillips (ANCHORAGE, ALASKA), traveling the world and singing songs isn't just a diversion. It's a way of life. It is how they survive in this world, and it is what caused them to cross each others paths.

The three singer/songwriters first came together at Easton's Joshua Tree desert home in 2007. They had mutual respect for each others work but the thought of forming a band was the last thing on their minds. Fast forward to January 2008 where Easton and Stagger are the support acts for Phillips' band The Whipsaws on their Alaskan CD release tour and the three start to collaborate. With the assistance of Anchorage resident and recording engineer Greg Benolkin, the three musicians found themselves laying down tracks during a winter storm in a cabin in Girdwood, Alaska. The snow was falling and the tape was rolling and what came out of that three day session was a lifelong friendship plus a beautiful record of songs the three had been stockpiling. The majority of ONE FOR THE DITCH was recorded at that session, and on the third evening, their first performance as Easton, Stagger, Phillips took place at Vagabond Blues in Palmer, Alaska.

On January 22, 2009 at 10:00 pm Central time, Whole Wheat Radio will host Easton and Stagger at the Wheat Palace for a house concert that will be streamed live on the web for all to enjoy. I invite everyone to listen in through either of the three audio links provided on Whole Wheat Radio. If you have trouble listening, just go to the Tune in page where all the options are spelled out for you. I hope you can make the time to witness how a house concert and it's independent musicians can reach out to a much broader listening base by using the web to their advantage. Hope to see you there!

Yes We Did!

2008-12-08T17:21:00.002-06:00

Bottom up, grassroots, organizational masterpiece! Nice work people! I had faith in your abilities!

Sitting at Obama's Table

2008-12-06T19:56:00.004-06:00

John D. Podesta, the Co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition Project, made the announcement Friday, December 5th, that the transition team are making all policy documents available for review and discussion on the Change.gov website. These documents and policy recommendations are from outside organizations as well as from official meetings with outside organizations.

This means we're inviting the American public to take a seat at the table and engage in a dialogue about these important issues and ideas -- at the same time members of our team review these documents themselves.

The transition team is trying very hard to embed transparency within the Obama-Biden framework of government. By reaching out to the public, asking for their input, and promoting an open door policy...they have reinvented the wheel of politics.

All of the documents are posted at the Your Seat at The Table section of their website. The documents are available for view or download in PDF format, and each has it's own open discussion thread for the people to share their thoughts on each issue.

I would like to share some thoughts on some of the problems I have discovered and what has worked best for me so far to alleviate some of those problems and make the discussions more manageable. First, although Change.gov offers Open ID, I found that it's best to sign up with the commenting plug-in system Intense Debate that is also offered on the discussion pages. Once signed up with Intense Debate, each of your posts and the thread where the comment was made will remain on your user page for future reference. Plus the user interface gives you the option of following other contributor's posts and an RSS feed is available for each user's page.

For myself, I've found it imperative to subscribe to each thread via it's RSS feed. I can monitor the discussion as it changes and chime in if I feel the need to ask questions or posibly even answer a few. I personally would love to have a wiki set up for each of these policy issues. I believe it would be much more manageable and the people could actually build their own document by taking the best points of the proposed documents along with the best ideas from the people. Don't get me wrong...I'm not whining! I think the current system could be improved, but I'm sure thankful we have this opportunity. I have always desired an open door policy to government, but now I seem to have a loss for words. Now that this door of open government has been unlocked...it somehow seems so surreal. Pinch me!

Surfs Up-Corporate Tsunami

2008-11-15T16:59:00.004-06:00

Having read Alvin Toffler's book, The Third Wave, and participated in many discussions over the years concerning his futuristic claims, I pulled his book out this morning and was re-reading some of his points on corporate identity. I couldn't readily remember the particulars when it came to corporations as we traveled out of one era into the next.

Toffler notes that the most immediate change which will affect the corporation will be a crisis in the world economy. Corporations thrived during the Second Wave as they created an integrated global marketplace, but a global crisis will bring a global need to redefine the corporation. The simultaneous emergence of gross inflation along with increasing unemployment will begin to take corporations to their knees. New technology with it's new levels of communication will add to the destruction of corporations as we know them. It's not about socialism over capitalism, but as Toffler believes, it will be the general crisis of industrial civilization as a whole.

Toffler predicts this upheaval in the world economy will threaten the survival of the corporations and will throw it's managers into a wholly unfamiliar environment. During the second wave, the financial structures put in place at Bretton Woods by the capitalist world powers were solid, and the rise to affluence was steady. The financial economists were confident in their free market and their abilities to predict and control the economic machine they had built. But then came the new technology that allowed faster communication and this began restructuring in the world markets. A global world banking network grew with the use of technology which allowed the sprawling global bank networks to create a sort of stateless currency which was outside of any world government's control and oversight.

According to Toffler, the Second Wave economic system saw the corporation grow up based on national markets, national currencies, and national governments. This nation-based infrastructure, however, is utterly unable to regulate or contain the new transnational and electronic currency bubble. Now the entire global framework that once stabilized world trade relations for the giant corporations is crumbling and in danger of coming apart. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade are or will come under attack. As I'm writing this, the world financial leaders, G-20, are meeting in Washington D.C. in order to attempt to find a solution to their financial system's meltdown.

Toffler mentions that the Europeans will scramble to bolt together a new structure to be controlled by them. The less developed countries on one side and the Arab countries on the other will clamor for influence in the financial system of tomorrow and we will begin to hear talk of creating counterparts to the International Monetary Fund. The dollar will be dethroned and the world economy will go through jerks and spasms quite similar to the dying rattles of the millions of people their system has destroyed.

In his book he mentions after these preliminary effects, corporations will have no wish to relinquish corporate power, and will continue to battle for profits, production, and personal advancement. However, faced with soaring levels of unpredictability, with mounting public criticism and hostile political pressures, the managers of the corporate systems will begin to question the goals, structure, and responsibility of their organizations. Can Toffler be right? Are his insights into this new age accurate. It would seem from what I've read, that he isn't too far from the mark so far.

Farther into Toffler's predictions, he mentions the redefining of the corporation. The corporate identity crisis will deepen due to emergence of a worldwide movement demanding not merely modest changes in corporate policy, but a deep definition of it's purposes. In the past, critics of the corporations leveled their scrutiny on the entities, but they were willing to accept the corporations per their own definitions. The critics of old shared the view of the corporations as an inherently economic institution. Today, we see the corporation's critics attack them for their artificial divorce of economics from politics, morality, and other dimensions of life. The corporations are being held responsible for not just their economic failures, but also their links to pollution, poisoning, racism, sexism, and their deceptions of the populations of our world. They are targeted for their support of our unsavory regimes in under developed countries across the globe, and for using poor populations as guinea pigs in their drug testing. The world view of corporations has dramatically changed during my life time, and I have no reason to believe we will not see what Toffler talks about when it comes to a push for a new corporate identity.

Toffler mentions the Third Wave will bring with it a rising demand for a new kind of institution altogether. He speaks of a corporation that will no longer be responsible for only profit and the making of goods, but one that will contribute to the solution of extremely complex ecological, moral, political, racial, sexual, and social problems. The corporations prodded by criticism, legislation, and it's own concerned executives, will become a multipurpose institution.

All I can say is..."Surfs Up!"

Tribes

2008-11-03T20:12:00.003-06:00

I was listening to Brother Jim's short audio magazine this morning. It was entitled, Quotes From Seth Godin's Tribes. The original audio can be found here as an Mp3.

First I would like to mention that Seth Godin, who Jim mentions, not only has the book "Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us", but he offers a free downloable pdf e-book of the "Tribes Casebook" which is meant to be a companion to Tribes. This e-book has been written by a private online group of people using a Ning social networking format. Seth also mentions..."Feel free to share it or post it or print it, but please don't sell it." Here is a quote from his website concerning the group who has been instrumental in the writing of the e-book:

Three months ago, I posted just once about joining a private online group (it's on Ning... sort of like Facebook, but by invitation only). Well, quite a few people joined in, and about 10% became seriously active. On good days, there's a new post every minute or two. There are hundreds of groups, thousands of discussions and a lot of energy. The tribe taught me a great deal about the dynamics of a group, and they've been a terrific resource, not just for me, but for each other. This ebook represents some of their thinking. The group remains closed, but feel free to start one of your own.

That is an extraordinary accomplishment in my book. I've seen small pockets of like minded people sprout up on the Internet over the last nine years or so, which is how long I've really been participating in this extraordinary human experiment of collaboration via the web. I've had the extreme good fortune of participating and contributing in two memorable groups and have communicated with many more that overlapped both those groups. Being more progressive minded than most of the close neighbors in my physical world, the Internet offered me a venue to reach others who had the same values and ideals. This venue has led to me discovering other like minded people in my physical world, maybe not necessarily in the nearby community, but in my real world where we do share our front porches, a good cool or warm drink, and some warm and stimulating conversations. It seems the parallel of the online and physical communities lies in the open communication or collaboration within each. Without this, neither community will accomplish much more than a bunch of folks making small talk.

I've often wondered if it were possible for other communities of like minded people to combine into a single entity. I think I now believe that this probably is not good for the community. I'm not saying the communities shouldn't overlap in places of like interest, but from what I've gathered doing my time on the web trails, it's best for the small groups or communities to remain autonomous and work together with other groups of interest on a flat playing field, on our porches if you will. Yes, I do know of, and have contributed to much larger websites that pool people together with an intent of focusing large numbers toward particular interests and goals. There are hordes of political action and coalition websites that accomplish many goals and help to activate people. These are some wonderful websites, but they are just that...websites...not communities in the sense I view a community. They have their place, but those sort of social sites mostly use the old hierarchical structure of our fathers and forefathers. Just my humble opinion but these are aged structures from the Industrial Age that no longer seem to fit within the context of community as it's being defined by many progressive people these days. I guess I'm one of those who is searching for that perfect definition of community. That search will more than likely continue until I'm dust in the wind.

Jim's talk made me think back to where I began. I really didn't begin to reach out in earnest until July of 2000. It wasn't easy for a self-educated pipe fitter to feel at ease along side of the thinking heads I was constantly coming in contact with as I went deeper into the Internet. Some of the first folks I opened up to were over at the old Members for Democracy website. That site was constructed as a Canadian local union's election platform which morphed into a union reform site because of the undemocratic elections themselves. The site then began to attract other reformers from over the world. As it continued, it became a haven for labor activists as well as business and law representatives. So there I was in the middle of all these learned folks and my eyes spent as much time in the dictionary as they did on the screen. But I discovered it wasn't the vocabulary or the sheepskin that made a real human being. It was about being honest and following your conscious that made the thoughts I had to share valuable. Once that realization hit home, a freedom came over me and the chains fell free! The more I spoke up, the more the people of the community supported and helped me out through the learning process. It's about sharing, teaching, and learning. I owe practically everything I've learned during my participation on the web to all these wonderful people who "get it" and understand that giving it away is the right thing to do.

I would like to share a story that is somewhat related to Seth's book "Tribes" and his views of leadership. One of the earlier times while I was just beginning to have the courage to speak, there was a discussion started by Bill Pearson, who was a local union president at the time, concerning transformational leadership and even leaderless groups. The discussion grew pretty ugly as it went on and two sides of thoughts on the subject of leadership quickly emerged. This discussion was one of the first times I had felt confident enough to join in and give my opinion on how I saw leaders. Of course this discussion was built around our labor union leaders, but leaders and leadership are the same, regardless if we're talking organizational, communal or political.

IMHO, leaders must be selfless, and place the goals desired by the people who vote them into their position, above any and all personal goals. A leader is a tool the voters use to achieve these desired goals and the leader must be willing to listen to, as well as help educate, their brothers and sisters. The thought of one individual knowing what is best for the majority is unsettling to me unless they have listened to the people who have placed them into their position. Leaders can no longer be arrogant or overbearing when it comes to the masses who have chosen them to lead. Bottom line, a leader IMHO, is a person who labors or exerts himself for the benefit of the people who have placed their trust in them. In this context, we should all be leaders within the labor movement.

The reply to that statement was liberating! At that moment I didn't feel as if my beliefs were so far out there that they would be deemed insane. A reassuring moment for sure, and one that flipped the switch for me! ;-) Here is the reply I received:

The only thing I would add is that leaders should also inspire and encourage creativity and inquisitiveness on the part of their colleagues (and that's what they'll be: colleaugues, fellow members, partners, allies - anything but "followers"). They will encourage people to question conventional wisdom and push out the boundaries of what is known or accepted.

The reason we have so much trouble getting our heads around these new notions of leadership, is that this is all so foreign to us. We've had centuries - millenia actually - of conditioning against this notion. The conditioning tells us that we are too stupid to decide what's best for ourselves and too selfish to work collaboratively towards our goals. We need strong leaders who will take us to some goal that has been decided as "best for us" by others. This is the purpose of dogma - to provide a place where we can led by some guy who thinks he'll be proven right when he gets us there.

The notion of the leaderless organization is scary because we've been told that we're not up for making it happen.

I mentioned later that there was no doubt there were many leaders who post on the forums. Some may be born leaders, others possibly are taught to be leaders, some are not leaders who think they are, and others are leaders who don't think they are. But the leaderless structure which was discussed in that thread had struck a chord within me somewhere. I just couldn't get that out of my mind and to this day I believe this is possible. We are all leaders and as responsible human beings, we should be in a constant teacher/learner frame of mind and maybe...just maybe, an egalitarian civilization will be possible. Throughout my life, the word civilization has been a negative connotation that represented anything but equal or civil. At least that's how I've viewed it through my experience. It was the support of the community that created my energy and spurred my attempt to write my first real article. Civilized To the Edge of Uncivilization. I was no longer a nOOb but was very self-conscious about my abilities as I still am to this day. Surrounding oneself with great human beings is key to getting through all this!

Eventually discussion once again turned toward the idea of leaderless organizations and the possibility of reaching consensus due to the small nature of the structures. The book The End of Management, and the rise of organizational democracy was introduced into the discussion and described as a new business perspective on how 'networked' groups or 'webs' will do away with the need for 'heads'.

The leaderless group is small enough that it can reach consensus. Those who can't mesh with the rest of the group will move on and join groups where they can reach consensus. Each of the groups will expand, contract, disappear and reappear with different participants. Those groups, or nodes, will seek out other nodes to network with. When an issue arises, which affects the nodes, the ones affected will begin to network and 'web' to address the issue. When the issues or 'event' to address the issue is exhausted or resolved, the nodes dissipate to resume their networking with like-minded nodes.

To see the ideas still surfacing surrounding the necessary changes needed in our leadership structures is a great thing! Seth Godin's book "Tribes" is definitely a good sign that people are "getting it" and we are still heading towards something better. This is a great time to be alive, and whether we can see it or not...we are in the middle of a huge global transformation. A transformation toward better values and a more just and peaceful world.

Repressed Confidence

2008-10-20T07:41:00.003-05:00

Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. - FDR's First Inaugural Address

While I was reading FDR's speech, I couldn't help but see quite a lot of resemblance between he and our next president. The more I see and hear on the political and financial news sources, the more I realize whoever wins our presidential race, will have a very difficult job to accomplish while the eyes of the world grade their every decision. The more news I absorb, the more difficult it is to know which term I should be using to describe our social dilemma. Is this just a downturn, or should we all agree that we are in fact, in a full blown recession? Perhaps we are merely hanging on to the illusion of the American Dream, kicking and fighting to resist using the term depression? It's not impossible to imagine someone insisting on calling the culprit political repression.

According to Wikipedia, political repression can be recognized by the following:

Political repression may be represented by discriminatory policies, human rights violation, surveillance abuse, police brutality, imprisonment, involuntary settlement, stripping of citizen's rights, and violent action such as the murder, summary executions, torture, forced disappearance and other extrajudicial punishment of political activists, dissidents, or general population.

Maybe it's just me, but on just a quick glance, I recognize way too many of these indications of political repression. I also found Wikipedia's talk page on political repression offers even more ideas on the subject. I find this has been categorized as a Wiki Human Rights Project and has been rated as High importance. Personally, I would think this needs to be rated Top priority, but the article needs to be expanded with more coverage of local and state facts. It's definitely a place I should be spending more time! As a matter of fact, I added a table of contents to the page so I could access the data much easier.

Shameless plug time...the TOC is omething I became familiar with over on Whole Wheat Radio. I don't know if the Wiki Gawds will like the TOC, but it's helped me out this morning searching through all the pages! Wiki Rules!

Could it be possible, as in FDR's day, we could blame our trouble on a lack of confidence? If that is indeed the case, I think it's necessary, while we find ourselves at a crossroads, to determine just where is the best place to base our confidence. This looks like an opportune time for necessary changes within our social framework. The opportunity for change has not seen this much light since the civil rights movement. Maybe it's time for the people to place social value on common sense rather than dollars and cents?

Plum Point Walk

2008-10-14T13:49:00.003-05:00

The water levels are slowly dropping around the lakes here in north Mississippi. It always seems like I'm in a rush for the water to recede this time of year. Although it's still fairly hot on the lake bottom. So a little drop in temps as well as lake levels will be welcomed.

Not much here to look at, but I thought I'd share the day with you anyhow. At least for a little while, the lake somehow makes all the political and social noise go away and makes me feel somewhat human once again. ;-)

Pop!Tech 2008

2008-10-03T12:26:00.005-05:00

Since David VanAmburg turned me on to PopTech last year, I've been anxiously awaiting this year's speakers. This year's conference looks as if it will be just as electric as 2007. Yahoo will once again live stream the event between October 23-25. This year's theme is scarcity and abundance.

This year, we will pay particular attention to the 21st century dynamics between systems based on scarcity and those based on abundance, in areas ranging from digital social networks to environmentalism, from biology to business, from peacemaking to politics. We’ll chart the core scarcities that humanity will face in this century, and how a wealth of new innovations, new bottom-up approaches to collaboration, and new insights into collective wisdom might hold the key to addressing them.

The guest speakers who have been scheduled so far for this year's conference can be found here. I'm listing a few below that have caught my interest and I will make a special effort to watch. If you can't make it for the conference or the live stream, I'm almost certain the pop!casts will be posted at a later date. View the introductary video for the conference below as well.

Stephen Badylak, who has been leading the field on regenerative medicine with his work with extracellular matrix. Badylak is currently a research professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

Saul Griffith, is a co-founder of Instructables.com as well as a number of other companies, including Lowcost Eyeglasses. He is a proponent of open-source information and co-writes the comic HowToons.

Matt Mason, co-founder of the nonprofit Wedia, and author of the book, The Pirate’s Dilemma: How Youth Culture is Reinventing Capitalism.

Jay Parkinson defines himself as a new doctor for a new century. Ray Parkinson M.D., has an unusual practice that utilizes a unique doctor/patient interaction. Parkinson's practice uses the communication tools of the Internet. Through Hello Health, Parkinson and his colleagues provide care to any age patient, insured or not.

Poetry with a cup of tea and a biscuit...

2008-06-03T04:08:00.001-05:00

This poem first appeared on uncharted.ca.

Enter the mysterious , nether regions of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.... peer , if you dare , through this murky portal at the still beating heart of the organized worker; the phantasmic dimension where debt ridden and free mingle and slither about from 9 to 5 , bound & strangled in the tangled knot of wagism; stepping lively to commerce's pacemaking drum rattle;...straining to survive amidst the competing cries of solidarity and hucksterism, pitching hither and froe , lurching spasmodically to Mammon's hellbound trumpet call and by fingerholds and sheer luck gripping the slippery face of dignity ..... holding on in the teeth of the gale force winds of surrender, propagated Hollywood style, in the hack- ridden back lots of labor's insane aristocracy.....where addled ex- clock punchers with thumbworn expense - account logs & hyperlinks to multiple pension plans string defective extension cords to the castaway hot air machines discarded on the cheap by generations of genuine American accumulators; the plutocrat bunko artists dressed to kill by Brooks Brothers , perched & preening like dry-cleaned vultures on the living soul of throbbing dreams ; pitchmen by trade , robots by avocation, the worn out flim flam men's deadly cornball routines re-cycled now by the pale betrayer's of Lucy Parson's ghost , arrayed by morning's light in stagnant formation , seated in their cubicles ; row on row of idea - shorn men , barbered smooth as eggs in the office building incubators of Sweeney's apprentice bagmen; dining on dues near Dupont Circle until dusk and by the winking light of the sly Potomac moon , filling the dumpsters with the untraceable residue of overheated shredding machines ; making mincemeat of the ancient bannered slogans they hunt like fugitives:" An Injury to One is An Injury to All " ....for one illustrious example .... churning out the clanking , clunking , cinder -bound journals of Trumka's memorized chanting on the adjacent page makers; destroying honest words and cloning fatuous confections with both hands tied behind their backs , smiling dummy like into their digital mirrors , cleverly arrayed to amplify the grinning reflections of the carefully glued smile masks ; plastic faces & shrunken pin-point pupils leering from the empty , hollow , underpinnings of that old reliable greed.....

- John A. Joslin ( Detroit, 2005)

Rebirth of 2008

2008-03-01T12:20:00.004-06:00

I just had to take the time to smell the flowers. Ah, Spring at last! There is just something hypnotic about Spring and it's rebirth. With the bright greens, dazzling colors, and the sweet aromatic fragrance of the first blooms...there seems to come a peaceful feeling, along with a sense of hope for the future. I just wish I could share the fragrance. But I suppose we're a few years away from that technology. Perhaps we will have that option before my carbon cycle here on this planet is over. We will see!

Maybe humanity will see a rebirth as well. Maybe we are getting closer to a changing of cycles, where we will see a rebirth of our consciousness. There is that hope that we will become conscientious caretakers of our planet and all it's life forms. Yeah, hope...we still have hope!

The National Mall: Ours or Theirs?

2008-02-27T10:32:00.005-06:00

When you set foot on the National Mall, the Founding Fathers speak to you. From their marble monuments, and across the centuries, they tell of the ideals that gave birth to our government “of the people, by the people, for the people…”

This morning, I read a story from AlterNet, National Mall Redesign Could Seriously Restrict Free Speech. The story is about how the National Park Service is considering redesigning the National Mall. I think it's imperative the people take a long hard look at this proposal and at our democratic history which is woven into the marble and the soil of the National Mall. Don't let them keep taking, taking, and taking...put a stop to our loss! Do a little research, and see how many of our important social justice initiatives began at this memorable place! Don't let them take our history and allow them to place us into more little free speech corrals!

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the first memorable demonstration that I can remember during my lifetime. That march and demonstration that took place on the National Mall grounds back in 1963, is the one that brought us the historical I Have a Dream speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. There were an estimated 250,000 people in attendance that day. Even the folk singer icon Bob Dylan sang during the demonstration.

In 1969, the National Mall again was one of the demonstration sites for the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. Although the numbers in attendance vary according to the source, some say there were an estimated 250,000-500,000 in attendance at the National Mall and another 500,000 attending demonstrations across the United States, including 50 members of Congress!

In 2004 the National Mall was once again the location for a huge demonstration. In April of that year, somewhere between 800,000 to 1,500,000 people converged on Washington for the March for Women's Lives.

And just last year, on January 27, 2007, the march against the Iraq War, sponsored by United for Peace and Justice, ralleyed at the National Mall to let their voices be heard against the U.S. involvement in the Mid-East. There were an estimated 500,000 people in attendance at the National Mall.

Just take a look at the National Coalition who is determined to save the National Mall as a symbol of our country's founding ideals and a stage for our evolving democracy.. Take a look at their publication and perhaps pass it around to those who you think may understand the message.

How We Look At Our World

2008-02-26T03:01:00.005-06:00

Thanks to my friend David VanAmburg, who I met via Whole Wheat Radio, I was fortunate enough to catch the live stream of the 2007 Pop! Tech Conference last October. The entire conference was far greater than I ever could have imagined. And I would urge anyone, who is concerned about the future of our planet and the people who call it home, to check out Pop! Tech's archives from 2007. And put the 2008 Conference on your calendar of "not to miss" events of this year! I promise, you will not be sorry!

All of the sessions were incredible and the speakers who participated in these sessions were the top movers and shakers of their selected fields of study. So you'll have to go to Pop! Tech's website and watch the many, many presentations for yourself. But I'm noting one of them right now. Perhaps the reason I chose this one is because it was the very first session of the conference and the impact this initial speaker/artist had on me set the stage for the rest of the conference. In other words, once I watched this first session with Chris Jordan (The Human Impact)...I was hooked...and there was no way I could miss the rest of the conference!

Artist Chris Jordan brings the enormous scale of our mass consumption into high-resolution. He shares Running the Numbers, composite photographs of discarded cell phones, computers, aluminum cans and other modern detritus, urging us to consider the consequences of our consumer culture while insisting that each of us has the power to make a difference.

It's all about running the numbers. Add it up for yourself, and then you decide if this system of consumerism is a sustainable social model.

To me, it's important that we learn to look at our world and ourselves much differently if we are to acheive something greater than what we currently are offered. And it's important that our creativity be unchained, unbridled, and free to flow in the most natural way possible. There is another group of movers and shakers other than Pop! Tech. This other group is called TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). I have only watched some of their archived material, but I have been impressed with what I have been exposed to so far. And I urge each of you to check for yourselves the huge library of media that is offered. But I want to share one presentation by Stanford professor and lawyer Larry Lessig. The title of his presentation is "How creativity is being strangled by the law"

The 2008 TED Conference begins this week...February 27th - March 1...to be exact! But it doesn't look as if TED offers the conference to us grunts out here who can't afford or who don't have the time to travel to Monterey or Aspen. So while TED looks to have some astounding speakers, and they will eventually make the conference available online, they would do well to follow Pop! Tech's lead and make the conference available to anyone via a live stream over the web.

The Contagious Affluenza

2008-02-11T09:12:00.001-06:00

affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. de Graaf

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. PBS

Anthropologist/Psychologist Oliver James believes there is a connection between the increasing nature of affluenza and the increase of material inequality! Consumerism at it's best...and according to James, along with the idolization of this consumeristic push of cherished stuff comes the innevitable mental disorders.

Below is Part 1 of the documentary...watch the entire six parts of the video and draw your own conclusions!

Runnin' The Roads

2008-02-09T01:02:00.001-06:00

Well, things are getting somewhat back to normal here in the hill region of north Mississippi after the freight train of tornadoes roared through February 5th. All that is left of the storms are the scars on the land and the people's lives who were unfortunately placed within their paths. But today was bright and sunny and the temps were in the low 60's. A beautiful day, and I hope somehow it helps to mend some of those scars.

Since the weather was so nice, I decided to do a little rambling today(runnin' the roads as it's called down here), and as I had a few chores to accomplish also, I incorporated work and play into a very enjoyable day! I live in the hill region of Mississippi which is just east of, and borders, the famed delta region and it's world renown blues artists and culture! As I was runnin' the roads, I passed through quite a few small towns and communities that lay claim to some very impressive bluesmen. If I mentioned them all, this could turn into a documentary very quick...so I thought I would cover just two of these legends. And the two I chose happen to be buried in the hill region, but only a few miles from where the bluffs abruptly drop off almost 200 feet into the delta area.

The first artist I want to mention is Mississippi Fred McDowell. Mississippi Fred is kind of special to me, as he was born in the small town of Rossville, Tennessee. The reason I feel that is special is due to the fact my family sharecropped on 320 acres just outside of Rossville, Tn. from the year 1960 - 1963. That property was owned by Berry B. Brooks who was the president of the Memphis Cotton Exchange during our tenure at this farm. This old plantation was one of many throughout Fayette County and was located on the northern side of Wolf River. I'm not sure what the name of the plantation was, but all we ever called it was the Bell Place. I've searched on the web for information but have yet to find out the history of the place. One of these days, I'll drive over there and do some research through the county records. But I digress and that's a story for another time. It's just the fact I could possibly have kicked up some of the same dirt clods that Fred did when he was young that gives me that little special feeling. And surely it's possible that I could have met some of his relatives down at the old country store? Probably not, but it's nice to imagine the possibility.

Mississippi Fred is a member of the Blues Hall of Fame and he is now buried no more than 8 miles from where I currently live. His burial site is located at the Hammond Hill M. B. Church in Como, Mississippi.

I've listened to quite a few of his older recordings and watched some of his videos that a few caring people have thankfully uploaded to the web. Fred's complete discography can be found on the American Music site. Here is one of them on video, but more can be found if a search is done. I chose this one because I think both of us had to work the same Wolf River bottomland, even if not the same ground. This tune is called, "Goin' Down to the River".

The next bluesman I want to mention is the great Mississippi John Hurt. Mississippi John was born in the small town of Teoc, Ms. but was raised in the little delta community of Avalon about twenty miles to the west of Grenada. John also worked in the cotton fields as a field hand when he was young and later as a sharecropper while he played his music for his local friends and family. Mississippi John did get the chance to record a couple of tunes that just didn't ever get off the ground during the depression era of the late 20's. John stated that he made $20 for each song he recorded. However, a man named Tom Byrd Hoskins had listened to John's recordings and set upon the trail to find this Mississippi John Hurt. I think an entire novel could be written about "Fang" Hoskins, but that is for another time!

John's performance in 1963 at the Newport Folk Festival launched his musical talents into a new direction and his fan base began to grow among the youth in the 60's and his popularity grew so, that he did a performance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. John had finally left the fields and was getting to share what he loved.

Mississippi John is also a distinguished member of the Blues Hall of Fame and much more can be learned of John at the Mississippi John Hurt Museum, which is maintained by John's grand daughter, Mary Frances Hurt Wright. Later this month, there will be a dedication ceremony honoring Mississippi John Hurt. There will be a new state "Blues Trail Marker" unveiled in Carrollton, Mississippi to honor John's contribution to the history of the blues. His contributions are some of the greatest that our state, our country, and our world have ever known.

Mississippi John Hurt was buried at Saint James Cemetery in Avalon, Ms. The burial site hunter duo, Death 2UR even have a video documenting their hunt for Mississippi John's gravesite.

There are some of Mississippi John's tunes available at the Internet Archive and there are quite a few available videos also. The one I'm sharing here is entitled, "You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley"

I hope you enjoy these extraordinary artist's music as much as I do. Perhaps in the near future, I'll do a little more rambling and visit a few more of these wonderful blues artists stomping grounds as I am runnin' the roads. Maybe I'll even begin a pictorial journey of the historical places they were born and even performed. At least for now, it sounds like something I really would like to do, especially with Spring just right around the corner. We shall see!

Lessig on Barack Obama

2008-02-05T10:10:00.000-06:00

This video from Lawrence Lessig says it all...and there is nothing left for discussion! Get out there and show your face...cast your vote...be the change that we so desperately need!

Happy Christmas

2007-12-11T04:03:00.000-06:00

Before we get to the Christmas message, I would like to discuss something I heard today. I was listening to a recent audio magazine from Utah Phillips when he quoted Abbie Hoffman: "Nostalgia is another form of depression."

Now I had to ponder on this for a while and take a good look at myself. Because I do tend to go back in time and reference more revolutionary times within societies. And I have always thought of our turbulent history as a great tool or yardstick for measuring gains within society. Why? Because by looking back, I can pick and choose times within our struggles when the people actually made a difference and forced a necessary change within our social norms. I can look at what worked, what didn't work, and what could have worked if the people had focused more in another more pertinent direction. Is this considered "nostalgia"? I suppose it could be seen as such. But I really don't think in my case it could be considered a depression. I definitely wouldn't want to go back and relive my past, although I do consider many of those memories priceless. Both the good and the bad, because those times were my learning experiences and life lessons that have woven the threads of my entire being!

I tend to agree with author Margaret Barber who is known for her quote, "To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward." I think the key words here are "refresh and restore" and dwelling on anything I think can be detrimental to us frail human beings. As humans, we more easily adapt to, and handle things in small bytes where moderation is key. So now I've convinced myself I'm not in a state of depression from looking back occasionally on our history as a so-called "civilized society". Whew! Thank Gawd for the Internet where I can search until I find something written by somebody that can rationalize my actions and portray them as the actions of a sane human being! I am saved once again!

So now that we have that out of the way, and I've once again convinced myself that I am a normal human who is stable enough not to let nostalgia get such a strong hold on me that it would turn me into a depressed babbling old timer...I can now with a clear conscious share a historical Christmas message from the past. It is the season, and I can think of no better message than one of "Peace"! A message which should encompass our past, present, and our future thoughts! I don't find this historical event nostalgia at all, and it looks and sounds just as fresh now as it did back then.

Happy Christmas world, and may we all live long enough to see our world finally "Give Peace A Chance".

Homegrown Thoughts

2007-11-20T09:41:00.000-06:00

This is a citizen wake up call prompted by the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, or as it's known by our dedicated and loyal public servants, H.R. 1955. WAKE UP! Did you hear me? I said...WAKE UP! The dark veil is being placed over our heads, and the noose is being tightened around our pretty little naive necks. When is it enough people? When do we finally realize our democracy is failing? How long before we fully understand that the very principles on which our country was designed, can no longer be seen within our political structures?

Within the Bill, one of the findings is that the Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically bsed violence, and the homegrown terrorist related propaganda to the U.S. by providing access to citizens! Well now, Gawd knows our citizens can't be trusted to make up their own minds concerning what's best. So perhaps we do need some government oversight established to filter what the citizens should have access to. Maybe it would be in our best interest if we had some established pararmeters as to what the citizens shouldn't read, what videos they shouldn't watch, and what music they shouldn't listen to. Hey, China has established something similar to this and it seems to be working for them...doesn't it?

Let me see if I understand how this would work...If we establish some new parameters that will focus more on the ideology of our citizens rather than their actual criminal activity, we could establish a heightened scrutiny of our citizenry that would enable us to nip it in the bud, so to speak! We could bust them before they actually commit a criminal offense! Yeah! That could just work! I mean the majority of our citizens don't participate in the democratic process we have now, so why not give totalitarian democracy a chance? Perhaps that is what will be the wake up call. Only one problem...we've already hit the snooze too many times, we are late, and our positions we once held within the democratic process have been given to a committee to facilitate the protection of the Homeland.

Harman’s bill would convene a 10-member national commission to study “violent radicalization” (defined as “the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change”) and “homegrown terrorism” (defined as “the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States […] to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”).

Hmm...sounds familiar somehow! The Bill also directs the Department of Homeland Security to designate a Center of Excellence, based in a university which will require academics, policy makers, private sector participants, and other stakeholders to collaborate in order to better understand and prevent radicalization and homegrown terrorism. But...the Bill also stipulates that this Center of Excellence be chosen on the basis of merit according to existing Department of Homeland Security protocols!

So it sounds as if this Bill will skate right through the Senate with very little resistance if any. Just as it did through the House. So consider yourself warned that with the passing of this new measure, even your thoughts may be considered a crime to the DHS. So people, choose wisely what you read! Be very discriminate about the words you use! Be careful of which charity you donate money! Brother will be watching you!

The historian Henry Steele Commager, denouncing President John Adams’ suppression of free speech in the 1790s, argued that the Bill of Rights was not written to protect government from dissenters but to provide a legal means for citizens to oppose a government they didn’t trust. Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence not only proclaimed the right to dissent but declared it a people’s duty, under certain conditions, to alter or abolish their government.

What's that sound? Oh...it's that stupid alarm clock again! I should get up, but it's so comfortable here in this warm little cocoon I've built! I wonder if I should bother with hitting the snooze again or just turn the damn thing off? I do have many things I really need to do...but what the hell...there's always tomorrow!

Mike Santana at MO's Edge

2007-11-07T11:12:00.000-06:00

Being a member of the grassroots independent Whole Wheat Radio community has allowed me to meet some extremely talented artists. And last night at MO's Edge, I was fortunate enough to hear a fellow Wheathead perform in MO's intimate setting. I'm speaking of Mike Santana from the Memphis area. I got to know Mike from his participation at Whole Wheat and was introduced to his music that he had submitted to our library. Mike's artist page contains his three CDs...Point of Departure, In Transit, and Night Flight. All of which are extraordinary releases!

For the last couple of years Mike's new business has required that he put his music activity on the back burner. I asked him last night if he was ready to wade back into his music career with both feet and he admitted he would love for that to happen, depending on how the night went. And if what we heard at MO's last night is any indication, I believe we will be seeing Mike Santana playing venues once again around the mid-south! At least myself and many others are definitely hoping that's what will happen!

Accompanying Mike's extraordinary harmonica playing and vocals was old friend Joseph Aaron Fick ("Slick" Joe Fick) on the doghouse bass. Some of you may be aware that Slick Joe Fick runs the bass lines in the very popular band, The Dempseys. The Dempseys like Mike, also have their music in the Whole Wheat library. Two CD's...Drinking Songs For Your Grandparents, and Radio Friendly Hits For Your DJ To Play, both of which are available from their website.

And rounding out the trio was another of Mike's friends, guitarist "Big Al" Rollag, who was with Mike a few years ago when together they formed the band Metropolitan Avenue with Steve Earnshaw on bass and Mike Karcz on drums. "Big Al" with his uptempo electric blues and his low down jazzy licks was absolutely awesome!

Mike told me this scheduled performance was quickly put together and the three of them only had a couple of sessions prior to the gig. Sitting there sippin' on my double shot espresso and listening to their wonderful sound...I would have bet the farm that they had been playing off each other for years! A truly amazing non-stop two hour set that left everybody wanting even more! Others wanting to know where they had been playing, and where was their next gig. Two thumbs up for these three guys! They provided a wonderful night of entertainment for this old codger from Sardis, Ms.! ;-)

Water: The Next Natural Resource to Peak

2007-10-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

Today is Blog Action Day and this blog entry is the fulfillment of my promise to participate in the initiative to bring awareness to our environment's sad state due to our mismanagement or over indulgement. As of right now, there are over 14,000 blogs participating in the initiative with a combined readership of over 12,000,000. What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?

One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

"Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water." - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi -

Rachel Carson, who through her activism was instrumental in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, once wrote, "In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water has become the victim of his indifference."

As civilization continues to increase developments in a uncivilized manner, we see flood plains and wetlands destroyed, industrial growth that continues to pollute our waterways, and water consumption rates that overtax mother nature's regeneration abilities. Now on top of this progress, we have privatization from corporate interests that are turning our public water resources into their economic gain. We can't keep ignoring what is taking place, and we must understand that we are drawing near the point where we will require more than our world has to offer!

Our global demand for fresh water is now doubling every 20 years! This is more than twice the rate of our global population growth. This can be broke down by sectors and varies greatly between regions across the globe. But globally, the numbers are 69% for agriculture, 23% for industry, and 8% for our domestic purposes.

Agriculture uses the largest portion of our fresh water. So let's summarize the impact this sector has on our global water demand:

For rice alone, it takes 1,000 tons of water to produce 1 ton of rice. The impact of agriculture on the demands for water can't be ignored, especially on the global scale. According to Bridget Scanlon, senior researcher and hydrolgeologist at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, irrigated agriculture has increased by 480% over the last 100 years, and is expected to increase by another 20% by 2030 in developing countries. Scanlon and her colleagues also state that irrigation across the globe has accounted for almost 90% of our freshwater consumption on a global basis! And there is worry over the increased interest in ethanol because it takes 4 gallons of fresh water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. And much of the water used in the industrialized world is subsidized which means there is little incentive for agribusiness to introduce any sort of conservation measures. An assessment of the benefits, costs, and impacts that agriculture has had on our water, can be found at the CGIAR website. And just for a reference point, take a look at one of our world's largest aquifers located here in the United States...The Ogallala Aquifer whose supply of groundwater is being used four times faster than it is naturally replaced!

Privitization of our fresh water resources is having a huge impact on our future. Here's a glance at who and how this will impact our future :

Vivendi claims to be the world's largest water controller in the world. This is how their corporate/lobbyist powers that be sum it up..."Water is a critical and necessary ingredient to the daily life of every human being, and it is an equally powerful ingredient for profitable manufacturing companies."

As private companies increasingly control water resources, the people's needs for survival no longer rank up at the top of the list...it's the bottom line which holds the number one position on the list. Our poorest countries around the world are constantly being forced by multinationals to turn over their water systems in exchange for debt relief. As corporations control water, the rates go up while the services go down! And as the people who can't afford their prices are forced to drink unsafe water, they risk their very lives.

In the book, Blue Gold, the authors provide a look at the growing Global Water Lords and the possibility of a Water Cartel where fresh water will play a huge role in global trade in the near future!

As we continue to use more than can be reintroduced, the more we will see privatization allowing corporations to gather up control of fresh water supplies throughout the world. And the United States isn't immune to this type of water privatization. And the more this happens, the more people are going to suffer from lack of fresh water resources!

The world faces a massive crisis. About one fifth of our fellow human beings on Earth do not have daily, immediate access to the most basic of necessities: safe drinking water. That's 1 out of 5 people, or 1 billion people, who do not have adequate water to drink. As a result, there are almost 6,000 deaths each and every day due to lack of safe drinking water. It has been estimated that half of the world's hospitals are full of people who suffer from water born disease.

But there are efforts being made to raise awareness of our looming crisis and to solve the problem of providing safe drinking water to the people who currently do not have access to enough fresh water. Projects such as the Blue Planet Run Foundation:

Blue Planet Run Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to raising global awareness about the lack of safe drinking water, and funding working solutions today for the billion people living without ready access to this life sustaining resource.

BPR Foundation initiated a drive and an awareness campaign, "Thirty Dollars". Thirty dollars is all it takes to furnish a lifetime of safe water for one person. Below is the three part video produced by Blue Planet Run entitled appropriately, "Thirty Dollars"

And we can't let ourselves off the hook either. There are many ways we as caring human beings can reduce our usage of our precious water resources. We need to remind ourselves and others to begin thinking outside the bottle and support the people over the corporations! We must fight to protect our water because nobody will do it for us! It's as simple as that! It's our chore in life to protect our lives and the lives of those who will be coming after us! It is our responsibility to be caretakers of our earth rather than thoughtless consumers of it!

Blog Action Day

2007-08-20T12:18:00.001-05:00

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day? One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

Well, this October 15th, we are going to find out exactly what sort of impact the blogging world can have when they focus on a single issue. It's about focusing; it's about thousands of people uniting their voices; it's about using the Internet to accomplish something good for the human race! This inaugural year of Blog Action Day will be focused on the environment. Each participating blog will simultaneously post about the environment in any way they choose. It's entirely up to each blogger to determine how or what to post. For example:

A blog about money might write about how to save around the home by using environmentally friendly ideas. Similarly a blog about politics might examine what weight environmental policy holds in the political arena.''

The initiative was launched August 15th with this press release. Since then, the number, as of this writing on August 20, has grown to over 1400 bloggers who have registered their blogs with Blog Action Day and have chosen to participate in the October 15th initiative! I signed on with them on August 17th and there were only just over 200 blogs signed up. That number has been increasing exponentially since then and it's really gathering momentum. My very humble little blog which is rarely updated these days has no more than six or seven subscribers. So I'm guessing I'm one of the smallest niches if not the smallest blogging niche on the entire Internet. But taking that small number into consideration; if you were to multiply the seven subscribers of Mitakuye Oyasin by 1400...well I'm sure you get my point! As of this writing, the 1400+ blogs are generating a combined RSS reach of 1,000,748 human beings! That's over one million people who will be reached concerning the issue of the environment and the number is growing quickly every hour!

The potential is here! And this could be just the beginning, as any issue which affects us as human beings can become the focus of Action Blog Day! The organizers of ABD state that they adhere to the principle of Unity in Diversity rather than uniformity.

As long as human beings in any part of the planet are inhibited from developing their individual potential the entire species will remain handicapped. True unity will be achieved when each individual becomes an active and functioning participant in the whole, performing the skills they possess as constructive and productive contributors to their local, regional, and global community. This goal can be accomplished if a balance between the physical and spiritual dimensions of human existence is achieved, enabling productive contributions to human society to be offered as service to the ongoing progress and development of the world without fear of exploitation and oppression.

One Issue...One Day...Thousands of Voices! Please consider signing on and adding your voice as we attempt to use the Internet in a positive way...a way that will help us all! Thanks!

Are You a Patriot or Are You Just Crowing?

2007-07-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

I was drinking coffee and talking to a friend of mine the other morning concerning the past/present/future knowledge and wisdom of the earth's inhabitants. I mentioned what I had learned from painting houses for a living was that just throwing a coat of fresh paint over underlying structural problems is very temporary and only for show. It looks good...attracts attention...may even help sell the place, but underneath the glitter the structure is still rottening!

Well, my learned friend thought that was a good analogy and went on to say that it describes contemporary society/government quite well. "Shine the surfaces! Make it attractive. Who cares what's really underneath. A lot of our new knowledge is self-indulgent, more for entertainment, distraction, bedazzlement than anything useful. We've become like crows snatching glittery objects and flying off to our nests with them."

"We've become like crows!" Now I really liked that statement. It was one of those simple little tidbits that has the power to make one think and reflect. Of course, it doesn't seem to take much of a tidbit to activate my simple little mind, but that's fodder for another time. Given that research has shown numerous times that crows top the bird IQ scale, I thought this was a good reason to ponder on how our civilized society can't seem to get past the bait...the glitter, the fresh shiny coat of paint!

Being from the country, the old folks always told us kids how crows love shiny objects of any kind. And I've actually seen them pick up gum wrappers and small pieces of tin foil and I've also found their caches before. One in an old hollow knot on a red oak tree and another in the corner of a hay loft in our barn. I even found a couple of dimes in the cache in the barn! I understand that it's probably the younger crows that do this and it probably has to do more with food posibilities than anything else, but we humans do like our anthropomorphisms don't we?

And it just so happened that our conversation was just before our 4th of July holiday, which I have mixed feelings about anyway. All the color, glitter, and celebration just doesn't have the same meaning to me as it did back when I was more innocent and naive. It's much harder for me to immerse myself into the big show that surrounds this supposedly patriotic holiday. At least to this boy, the ugliness and the deterioration of the underlying structure can no longer be hid by the glitter and the shiny colorful surface! I am no longer attracted to the shiny objects like I once was when I was willing to sit back and accept what society expected me to accept. And this makes it very difficult to interact with other members of society who look down on an American who they believe isn't patriotic. What so many of us consider as patriotic, I consider as nationalistic! I consider myself to be a patriot, and at least in my eyes, there are entirely too many of our citizens who do not really know the difference between patriotism and nationalism! Patriotism requires commitment and struggle while nationalism requires only a love of shiny objects.

I wrote a piece back in April of 2003 voicing my concerns with the divide that has been wedged between the people. And I mailed these concerns to Noam Chomsky in an attempt to understand what the hell was going on in this country. And I was searching for an answer to my own questions about my personal feelings. A good friend of mine published the entire thing over at the old site of Members for Democracy. The piece was entitled Patriotism v. Nationalism: Keeping Workers Inside the Box.

When war advocates encourage and defend the Federal Government and they do it under the cloak of "Patriotism", I have to ask, "Is it for the love of their country and its people or simply loyalty and support for the central government which motivates them?" If they advocate war out of loyalty for the governmental hierarchy, then I would call that "Nationalism" and not "Patriotism"! The Constitution and its principles are where patriots' beliefs are rooted, as a nation that follows the rules of law and not the rules of men. The statement made by President Bush, "you are with us or against us" has left no room for neutrality, and puts a large segment of the world on the defensive against U.S. aggression and unfortunately has segregated the people of the U.S. The dissenters of the current government's doctrine are looked upon as traitors.

There are times when I think we should have a citizen license that must be renewed just like our driver's license program. Wouldn't it be funny to find out our immigrants know more about America, it's history, and it's inner workings than the majority of our born in country citizens? Yeah, that would be hilarious wouldn't it? It's so easy to take the position of a nationalist and cover oneself with the flag of patriotism in order to hide ignorance! As long as you have the flag draped over your shoulders, nobody will question whether you have enough knowledge to call yourself a good citizen!

Yesterday morning, the 4th of July, I read an article in Taylor Marsh entitled No Independence Today. The article started out with the sentence, "America wakes up in bondage today." Now that will make the hair on a nationalist's neck stand straight up!

I was one of those people who put partisanship aside after 9/11. Mr. Bush has proven unworthy at every turn. So this latest betrayal put on top of all of the other ones does not surprise. However, as Mr. Bush prays to his God, which hasn't resembled anything I know spiritually, morally or religiously for a very long time, our president should come prostrate and humble, on bended knee and asking for forgiveness for himself, because he has committed the gravest sin against us all. Mr. Bush has taken the oath of office he swore to his God and we the people of this greatest nation on earth and turned the Constitution and everything for which we have stood and the Founders and Americans die to preserve, and made it all a mockery. Turned it all to ashes.

You see, progressive thinking people are very rarely associated with the word patriotism! Everybody knows that patriots display the American flag at their homes while progressives turn it upside down and show disrespect! There is a well kept secret concerning our country's patriotism which very few know about. Our country's patriotic culture is steeped in progressive movements, radicals, and even socialistic ideals. Real patriotic Americans have endured mental and physical abuse in their fight to fuse their love of country with their dislike of the government's policies. It's part of our patriotic history that you won't hear from the nationalistic jingoists. It's patriotism's secret history.

The progressive authors of much of America's patriotic iconography rejected blind nationalism, militaristic drumbeating and sheeplike conformism. So it would be a dire mistake to allow, by default, jingoism to become synonymous with patriotism and the American spirit. Throughout our nation's history, radicals and reformers have viewed their movements as profoundly patriotic.

Howard Zinn's 4th of July message this year, Put Away the Flags, dealt with the same issues of nationalism portraying itself as patriotism. How the devotion to a flag and a feeling of being uniquely moral compared to the rest of the world can change a country into an empire. And with power of the sword of "Manifest Destiny", we have the right to mold this world, our solar system, and conceivably the entire universe...in our image!

And nationalism is given a special virulence when it is said to be blessed by Providence. Today we have a president, invading two countries in four years, who announced on the campaign trail in 2004 that God speaks through him.

The flag waving hides the fact that although we are the richest country in the world, tens of millions of our citizens do not receive adequate health care and our health care system comes in as 37th in the World Heath Organization's Report. And according to Food Research and Action Center, we have literally millions of children in our country who go to bed hungry every single night! And our educational system is leaving our children behind and imprisoning them in a cycle that concentrates more on readying our children for the workforce rather than giving them a real opportunity to realize what "independence" really is! Perhaps it's time to take a look at liberating our educational system!

And still today, thanks to the focused agendas of a few corporatists, we have people who readily criticize FDR's ''New Deal" as something un-patriotic and un-American. According to Katrina Vanden Heuvel wrote in an article in The Nation, "The definition of patriotism is fighting to make sure your country lives up to its highest ideals." Somewhere along the way we have forgotten that patriotism in this country was founded on the principle of dissent in the face of tyranny...not in the knee-jerk, reflexive flag waving that is so prominent now! So if you want to show your patriotism, Act Now has listed five areas we can show our support in order to form a more perfect union.

Healthcare for All

End Torture, not Habeas Corpus

Voting Representation for DC

Employee Free Choice Act

Save Internet Radio

Now these five don't necessarily have to be the ones at the top of your list, but they should be ON the list for sure. The important thing is that it is imperative that you show your patriotism...the real patriotism...through your actions. And I don't mean cussing or throwing rocks at the neighbor because he displays the flag upside down! I mean real action! Action that comes from independent thought, not from the colorful, glittery, fireworks, and celebrations that are designed by the few to keep the people in mark step with their agendas. Their little glittery objects that we keep caching away in our comfortable little flag draped nests.

There is one right that we have, that many people have either forgotten about or during this time of wire-tapping and loss of freedoms, they are just simply afraid to think about. This is the Right of Revolution. A very important right if not "the" most important one. So here I go writing another one of these pieces that will most assuredly alienate me once again from community and family. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the part about alienating yourself from friends and even some family members once you have finally had enough and decide to make a stand for true freedom and support true patriotism. Dissent can be a breathtaking roller coaster...but I would still suggest you pay the admission and take a ride!

What...National Healthcare?

2007-07-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

The United States National Health Insurance Act H.R. 676 should be on everybody's lips, in their discussion groups and forums, in their blogs, and on their elected representative's desks! Here is an explanation of H.R. 676 from the Healthcare Now website. From the Healthcare Now website:

Under HR 676, a family of three making $40,000 per year would spend approximately $1600 per year or about $133 per month for healthcare coverage. Everybody would pay something into the national healthcare fund -- on a sliding scale -- depending on their income. But they would no longer receive healthcare bills. They would no longer pay co-pays and deductibles; they would no longer be denied prevention, a doctor of their choice, and care when they need it.

The United States National Health Insurance Act would allow the United States to reduce its almost $2 trillion health care expenditure each year while covering all of the uninsured and all of us for more benefits than we are getting under their current insurance company plans.

And here is the entire Bill in pdf from the Physicians for a National Health Program website. From PNHP's website:

The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita. Yet our system performs poorly in comparison and still leaves 46 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered.

This is because private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment though a single nonprofit payer would save more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.

Please pass this information on to friends, family, and even the people you might consider your enemies. And watch the following video of Michael Moore at Capitol Hill, sponsored by Politics TV.

Michael Perelman on The Trap of Individualism

2007-07-01T12:04:00.000-05:00

I would like to take an opportunity to highlight the work of Michael Perelman. He has written on The Social Meaning of Pensions, and on Privatizing Education. And back in October of last year Seth Sandronsky did an Interview with Michael Perelman which appeared on ZNet.

Now with his latest book release, Manufacturing Discontent: The Trap of Individualism in Corporate Society, Seth Sandronsky does a book review which is hosted by ZNet and is available to sustainers and donors. I am publishing Sandronsky's review in it's entirety and if anyone is interested in receiving such timely news and articles such as this, please go to ZMag to inquire. Here is Sandrondky's book review:

Manufacturing Discontent: The Trap of Individualism in Corporate Society

By Seth Sandronsky

Book Review: Manufacturing Discontent: The Trap of Individualism in Corporate Society By Michael Perelman, Pluto Press

Capitalism loves those who love it. Thus Michael Perelman, a radical economist at California State University-Chico, labors in relative obscurity. In Manufacturing Discontent: The Trap of Individualism in Corporate Society, he writes for the layperson. To this end, Perelman offers analysis and information on the social causes and effects of modern capitalism. Academic and media praise about the pristine perfection of market competition has made this kind of study hard to find, but Perelman's book is a strong corrective.

Case in point is the corporate production of autos in the U.S. by unionized workers after WW II. Then, unlike now, business was good for General Motors, and supposedly also, therefore, for the nation. Perelman delves into the underlying reality during this golden age of U.S. capitalism. A central feature of this time was the deliberate design of poor quality cars built not to last but to boost shareholder value via "planned obsolescence."

Greater quantity did not mean better quality. For Perelman, such waste defines corporate production and distribution under the capitalist economy.

With respect to the individualizing effects of capitalist auto production, GM elites, with a cold calculus, planned to weaken labor union solidarity by offering autoworkers a defined-benefit corporate pension program. They ultimately succeeded. Crucially, the plum deal for this small fraction of U.S. workers was unavailable to the rest of the nation's populace. Here we see shades of the past policies and practices of the U.S. labor movement, which chose to exclude rather than include all workers into the "one big union" favored by the radical, multi-racial Industrial Workers of the World.

Perelman explains clearly how the United Auto Workers' involvement with the GM pension fund was limited to their identifying, as individuals drawing retirement benefits, with the carmaker's future profitability.

Administration of the pension program remained with GM. The devil was in these details. This flawed approach on the union's part could hardly be more crucial to workers and retirees today and in the future. GM shareholders are responding to market competition from foreign carmakers by attacking UAW pensions. As corporations in the U.S. airline industry use federal bankruptcy courts to liquidate union employee pensions, the UAW's decision to cede control over their pensions to GM looms large, indeed.

Perelman makes pointed reference to Adam Smith regarding the deception of people who seek pleasure via consumer purchases. Smith's critique of industrial capitalism would later be deepened, on this point, by Thorstein Veblen, who discussed how the working class became dehumanized by aping the competitive consumption of the status-seeking upper class. Cogently, Perelman mines the writings of Marx, Smith and Veblen concerning money. The store of value that we call currency affects the development of real and imagined human happiness. For Perelman, alienation in a market economy cannot be understood so long as its corporate origin is obscured. His aim is to empower social movements by giving them a firm grasp of the society's flawed workings.

In the mainstream pro-corporate rhetoric of the past twenty-five years, government regulation harms business and the "free market." Presumably, a hands-off policy works best for businesses and the consumers they serve with new goods and services. The myth centers on an imaginary community in which consumer and producer thrive whenever government steps aside for the market to work its magic. Perelman refutes this view by focusing on the class-structured conflict shaped by the inequality of social relations.

"[T]he government sees fit to put strict limits on consumer sovereignty," he writes, "Especially when any substantive consumer sovereignty might collide with corporate interests."

Take food. The federal government's complicity with the Monsanto Corp. enabled Monsanto to poorly inform consumers via deficient food labeling of dairy products containing recombinant bovine growth hormone, given to cows for them to give more milk. Corporate accountability for such criminal wrongdoing is shockingly absent. "The government takes corporate crimes so lightly that it does not even bother to publish statistics on this subject," Perelman says. He makes clear that class control of the state-the "executive committee for handling the common affairs of the bourgeoisie" in Marx's famous phrase-is, for corporate America today, alive and well. Such control enhances corporate profits- rightly so, according to leading "free-market" economist Milton Friedman, who sees politics as standing apart from economics. Perelman demolishes this notion of supposedly separate spheres which has shaped the past quarter-century of public policy in the U.S.

Besides being kept in the dark about what food they buy, people are subject to constant corporate advertising that appeals to their individualizing preferences for this or that commodity. The commodity form, of course, was a key concept for Marx in his seminal work on capitalist production. As this dynamic and revolutionary system has spread, the production and distribution of commodities has engulfed new spheres of life. One is gender. The beverage industry, for example, targets teen girls with new products that pander to issues of body appearance and self-esteem. Firms such as Abercrombie & Fitch hire workers in Asia to make thong underwear, which are then marketed to pre-teen girls in the U.S.

This corporate push for individuals to pursue competitive and destructive consumption, to "keep up with the Joneses," supposedly equals consumer power, according to the conventional wisdom. In Naming the System: Work and

Inequality in the Global Economy (Monthly Review Press, 2003), economist and editor Michael D. Yates analyzes such thinking and finds its assumptions and conclusions faulty. The owner/ producer, and not the consumer, is king/queen of the market. In Manufacturing Discontent, Perelman complements Yates's critique.

Workplace relations in corporate society may be the "strongest example of consumer sovereignty-that of the employers who purchase the services of their workers," Perelman writes. Such wry humor is sprinkled throughout his book. Daily, working people come to understand that the boss need not be right; s/he need only be the boss, a proxy for the employing class extending and intensifying the working day. This workplace process, in both material and psychological terms, cramps the lives of people by squeezing leisure time from them with grim precision, of which Perelman says: "Such is the reality of our modern version of individualism in which commerce triumphs over all else!"

In terms of political triumphs, the neo-conservatives on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2007 favor the rhetoric of persons being accountable and responsible. This language is highly selective, however. Perelman hammers the point home with reference to the utter lack of accountability in the taxpayer-funded fiasco of the scientifically untenable missile-shield defense technology, backed by weapons makers and the members of Congress who represent them. This is one example of many that Perelman cites to illustrate how corporate-government collaboration harms individuals and society generally. To this end, he helps readers to better understand the national security state for corporate America. With U.S. imperialism and militarism increasingly harming the lives of its citizens and people abroad, Perelman's fleshing out of the economics of the congressional-military-industrial complex is timely.

For many people most of the time, the experience of class power comes on an individual basis. Alone they lack power, exactly where corporations want to keep them. "Although individualism might seem to be antagonistic to corporate power," Perelman argues, "it reinforces corporate power."

Crucially, this contradiction flows from patterns in U.S. history established under racial slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Anglo-American slave owning class, which resulted in the imposition of hereditary lifetime servitude on Africans and African Americans and the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans.

This long history of racialized colonialism and racial slavery defined in no small way who is a citizen and who is not. Considering this factor in the U.S. national identity can, I think, enhance the required coalition-building and learning based in the grassroots to reverse the rise of corporate capitalism and the demise of labor unionism that have helped to atomize the U.S. populace since the end of the Vietnam War. Perelman's thesis in Manufacturing Discontent is essential to the popular understanding of political democracy, in militant opposition to corporate rule.

Perelman writes in an era that finds U.S corporations in a position of unprecedented strength. One result of this social triumph is that the left is mired in organizational disarray. Progressive actions to reverse this corporate trajectory require laboring and oppressed peoples to join forces around improvements to the common good-a goal that stands in stark contrast to a competitive ownership of corporate commodities. To realize such a society will require ordinary people to have accurate facts and information about ruling circles of wealth and power. Reading Perelman's book is a useful step in this direction.

Seth Sandronsky lives and writes in Sacramento . He is a co-editor of Because People Matter, Sacramento's progressive paper Because People Matter

SICKO: What's The Ruckus?

2007-06-29T10:02:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of controversy over Michael Moore's most recent film ''SICKO''. I don't think there is any need to list these, as I'm sure we have all heard the arguments. So in my opinion, what needs to happen is for everybody to view the film and draw their own conclusions. I would ask if anyone finds the film enlightening, and agrees that this film is an important documentary, that they please think about sharing and supporting this film and the issues it brings to light!

Michael Moore speaks about the Internet release of the movie SICKO and states he's never been a big supporter of copyright laws in this country and he is just glad people are getting to see his movies. In this short video, he addresses this issue of the early Internet release of the movie.

Moore brought his critique of healthcare to Congress earlier in June and proclaimed, ''You wouldn't expect your fire department to turn a profit. You wouldn't privatize your local police force. ... We need to look at healthcare the same way.'' And Moore made a point to tell everyone in attendance that there are four health care lobbyists in Washington for every member of Congress. Although 900 health care lobbyists were invited to an advanced screening of the movie, only about a dozen showed up to watch. The American Medical Association is the third largest lobbying group in the U.S. And in 2000 alone, the collective of health care lobbyist groups spent $209 million to gain passage of bills to benefit their members or either to sideline legislation that might harm them.

I had embedded the entire full documentary early this morning but the video has either been disabled or removed from Google's database. Of course if you have a pirate's heart, there are hundreds of copies around the web which can be downloaded via BitTorrent.

Even though the video is no longer available at Google, there are many copies which can be downloaded via [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent BitTorrent] if you have a pirate's heart or you can go to the closest viewing. But here are a few more tidbits I picked up this morning concerning SICKO. I do highly recommend watching this movie. It is worth the effort.

Michael Moore with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

A movie review of Moore's SICKO by Slate Magazine.

A movie review of Moore's SICKO by Truthdig

The Liberation of Education

2007-05-29T07:23:00.000-05:00

Back in 2005, I wrote on an article which was published in Ode magazine concerning Humanity's Future. In the piece there is mention of the liberation of education. By liberation, I'm referring to the end of standardized tests and the so popular one-size fits all assembly line schools. These educational corrals which are used to modify our youth's social behavior are quickly losing their popularity among those who are capable of envisioning possibilities which can create a more sustainable and humanitarian society.

There is a very old quote from the legendary labor leader Eugene Debs which has remained with me since the very first time I read it. "Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out if I could; for if you could be lead out, you could be led back again. I would have you make up your minds there is nothing that you cannot do for yourselves.” It states exactly how I feel about our future and our ability to change it for the better. We must all be leaders! We must push ourselves out of the box that has constrained us for centuries! Free thought gives birth to new ideas. And it's these new ideas that can possibly save this abused planet of ours. The lyrics from an old song whirl around in my head...Teach your children well...Teach your parents well. Our future has, and always will be, our responsibility.

I touched lightly upon a few "out of the box" schools that utilized a much more democratic, consensus oriented style of teaching children which enforces their strengths over punishing them for their weakness in certain areas. This style of education is known as Sudbury Model, which was named after the school that was the pioneer in this style of learning. There are now more than forty schools around the globe that are based on the Sudbury model of teaching. And I believe they will continue to expand as the real people see the advantages of free thinking.

The model can begin very early as can be seen in the Preschool Coop which is a parent run organization in Baltimore! The preschool was begun on the premise that children need more freedom and playtime for their healthy development. According to the Preschool Coop's website, there are seven important ideas for raising kids who think for themselves:

How to Raise Kids Who Think for Themselves
By:Hara Estroff Marano

1.Children are full human beings who, from about the age of 5, can direct their own education and build their own lives—if they are given trust.

2.Good teachers model self-expression and the ability to stand up for ideas. They don't just pass on information.

3.Free play is crucial to natural development. The better people are at play, the better they are at fashioning new models with which to understand the world and at learning to take risks.

4.Conversation and collaboration are keys to learning, the exchange of ideas and the ability to tap into another person's world.

5.Learning is driven internally by curiosity, a drive that normally can't be stopped at any age. Rote teaching is the opposite. It's driven by coercion, which, given human nature, breeds resistance. The assumption that there's no learning without teaching flies in the face of human experience.

6.Creative children are often labeled mentally challenged in traditional schools, simply because they cannot pay attention or tolerate the unnatural confinement of the classroom. They are often medicated and think of themselves as losers, while kids who never learn to think on their own are treated as healthy.

7.Children have to grow up practicing responsibility to ultimately take responsibility for themselves. That means allowing children to exercise their interests and use their judgment to solve problems—and giving them the freedom to make mistakes.

The Sudbury Valley School, which pioneered this model of teaching, firmly believes that individuality and democracy are an integral part of the learning experience. Children of all ages are allowed to explore the world freely in their own unique ways at their own pace. They take responsibility for the outcomes of their actions and are allowed to freely associate with other members of their unique community. The essay by Michael Greenberg is very informative and discusses practically every aspect of the school from the actual founding of a school to empowering the students through conversation.

Another school located in rural Maryland is Fairhaven which boasts of their student's emotional and intellectual growth as well as their creativity levels.

Motivated by curiosity and the drive to become competent adults, Fairhaven students grow emotionally, creatively, and intellectually through play, school governance, conversation, the arts, classes, computer activities, reading, and the exploration of nature.

Fairhaven is a true democracy. A weekly School Meeting made up of students and staff votes on all aspects of the school’s operation—from school rules to budgeting to hiring staff. Issues of justice are resolved by the Judicial Committee, on which everyone serves on a rotating basis. Students learn firsthand what it means to live in a working democracy, with the freedom and responsibility it entails.

The growth of these democratic schools deserves watching in my humble opinion. They may not be the complete solution to the problems within our educational systems, but they definitely seem much more educational than the traditional job preparatory institutions we have now.

Just listen to some of the Voices from the New American Schoolhouse and check out the links at the New American Schoolhouse.

The Rise of Activism

2007-03-19T08:27:00.000-05:00

First, this is a tribute to the schools, organizations, and all the thousands of individuals who participated in the March 20 Student Day of Action. And secondly, this is dedicated to the movers and shakers of Students for a Democratic Society, and their historical activism of the 60's! And SDS's current campaign...Call for March 20 Student / Youth Action Against the War.

I've witnessed arrests from sit-ins at military recruitment stations. There is an increase in organizing and new SDS chapters are showing up. I also see an increase in our students support of worker's rights.

But there are those who are critical of the new SDS. But these critics are few and far between and the majority of the reports I've been reading have been very supportive of this new level of activism among our youth! And we as citizens have learned much since the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. Today with the technologies available, we can use the FOIA to the people's advantage.

There are now sites like David Kaplan's that offer us resources in the how-tos of obtaining government documents. Just last week, the U.S. House passed four different open government bills. And the proliferation of information has led to a huge increase in people over the entire world calling for Access to Government Records.

Transparency and accountability have never been so acheiveable as they are right now. This is primarily due to the social networks we have established on the web and the ability and speed at which we can share information. Our youth are grabbing the torch of humanity and justice, and I truly believe they know exactly what to do with it! This rise in activism that I am witnessing gives me increased hopes that our future is going to be in good hands!

A Voice from Walter Reed

2007-03-15T09:30:00.000-05:00

With all the current mainstream media beating the Walter Reed scandal in every direction possible, I as usual much prefer my stories from the source! The following is from a new blog called Walter Reed: This Veteran's Life.

I once had a voice, but it was taken from me. I once had a life, but that too has changed. Somewhere in all of this confusion there is clarity. And somewhere in all these words I find it. This is how I find peace with myself, and with the world around me.

I have been called a patriot, and treated like a criminal. I have been called a Soldier and treated as the enemy. I have been told to get a hair cut and not to eat the civilians. My humor misses most people. Sometimes it is too rough, too dark, and too close to home. But that is what happens when you have seen too much and spoken too little. It finds a way to the surface. A way to be heard.

I urge everyone to read these first hand stories! These stories go way beyond statistics, reports, and finger pointing we see in the mainstream. This veteran's stories tell us of the importance of healing the soul as well as the body. According to this blogger, they may never be able to change anything, but they hope they will be able to change themself. And you can read of their hopes that this blog offers them.

I may not ever be able to change anything. But maybe I will be able to change me. Maybe this will give me a place to scream into the void when my screams fall on deaf ears.

We need more of us telling our own stories. It's up to all of us to listen and to speak up! Only by writing the stories ourselves can we hope to change our current physical and mental degradation!

The Festival's Main Attraction

2007-03-13T12:08:00.000-05:00

As an add-on to the last post concerning the Festival of Nukes, I wanted to embed this video as an addition or maybe as a refresher course in the power of a nuke. But mostly because I've been too busy in other places to spend much time here! No matter how much time a person has...they still have to allot portions of their time in the best way they see fit.:)

But it is a mind provoking video and thanks go out to GOODMagazine for making the video available!

The Festival of Nukes

2007-03-03T07:31:00.000-06:00

Okay...I'm sitting here scanning through my Google Reader with the morning's first cup of coffee...and the headline of this story grabs my attention, "Bush administration picks Lawrence Livermore warhead design!

My first thought is "Warheads?". But as I read on this little tid-bit of information seemed to add weight to the already bad start of this news release!

United States and its allies are trying to curb the spread of nuclear technology.

OH...but wait...I'm reading on and the story continues to spiral out of control, and my increasing apprehension is fueled by another pertinent question, "What the Hell?".

Many of the warheads in the nation's stockpile were designed and built 40 years ago, and their plutonium and other components are deteriorating in ways researchers do not fully understand.

Now that is some real important information! The words plutonium ...deteriorating...and don't understand...just somehow automatically raise the hair on the back of my neck. So let me see if I have this right...

Our nuclear weapons are getting old and the thousands of self-destruct warheads we have are becoming unstable. And the answer to this problem is to make more warheads to replace the old warheads that are already unstable in ways our best scientists and researchers still do not understand. And while we're doing all this, we're honestly attempting to convince the entire world's population that we are trying to curb the spread of nuclear technology!!?? Could this be more hawkish posturing for Iran's benefit?

But perhaps I'm reading this all wrong? Maybe the mindset is we're not expanding...only replacing. We're not adding to the number...we're merely occupying high ground we already hold. But I guess in all their wisdom, it's smarter to have the new warheads "first", before we dismantle the unstable old ones? Then when our specialists finally disarm the old heads, all we have to do is go bury them out their in Navajo Land, and not worry about the deadly radiation anymore! Besides, the operation could make a millionaire out of a few Navajos right?

There is an interesting OpEdNews article concerning the supposedly good reasons for newer nukes!

In September 2000, PNAC drafted a report entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century." The conservative foundation- funded report was authored by Bill Kristol, John Bolton and others. The report called for: ". . . significant, separate allocation of forces and budgetary resources over the next two decades for missile defense," and claimed that, despite the "residue of investments first made in the mid- and late 1980s, over the past decade, the pace of innovation within the Pentagon had slowed measurably." Also that, "without the driving challenge of the Soviet military threat, efforts at innovation had lacked urgency."

The only hope we have seems to lie so far in the unsupportive nature Congress has shown towards the idea of introducing new nukes! But there is growing concern that the new democrats may defend the building of these new nukes even though common sense tells us "real people" that this is a "deadly" mistake!

According to the Nuclear Posture Review Report which was leaked and reported on by the Los Angeles Times back in 2002, our nuclear direction has been planned for a good while now. But now as we continue to open windows and expose the entire story, we all are beginning to be offered a good view of the destructive nature of our increasingly omnipotent politicians and their desire to perform in the "The Festival of Nukes".

Artful Perceptions

2007-02-24T08:21:00.000-06:00

The art technique known as Trompe-l'œil is deceiving to the eye. From what I understand, this art form dates back to early Greek and Roman times. It can be seen in the still life of William Michael Harnett.

And you can see the art form in the work of Richard Haas.

But the artist I find very interesting is English chalk artist Julian Beever. His three dimensional pavement drawings are something to behold!

Just my opinion and I guess we must take into consideration that I also like dirty winshield art. Maybe it seems to mean more when you put so much of your soul and effort into a creation, knowing it's only temporary and the rain could wash it away at any time. There's just something fresh about that idea. :)

Perhaps it's the revolutionary feeling I get when I see this art form. Seems to be as much about protest as it is about an art form!

Presidential Candidates, Activism, The Future

2007-02-23T04:40:00.000-06:00

I have to say, this particular presidential campaign of this young senator from Illinois, is impressing me more and more each day!

Speaking to members of the Wake Up Wal-Mart campaign group, Obama said: "You gotta pay your workers enough that they can actually not only shop at Wal-Mart, but ultimately send their kids to college and save for retirement."

And speaking to health care advocate group, Families Care, Obama said:
"The days of using the war on terror as a political football are over...It is time to give Iraqis their country back, and it is time to refocus America's efforts on the wider struggle yet to be won." According to his speech, Obama also called for a phased withdrawal of American troops starting in 2007, and an opening of diplomatic dialogue with Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Iran.

More than a week before Barack Obama announced his candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, 3,500 students--many of whom had driven for hours from out of state--packed into George Mason University's Johnson Center in Fairfax, Virginia, brimming with idealism. As the Senator took the stage to address the frenetic young crowd, he was visibly taken aback.

Obama has been podcasting from the Senate since late 2005 and is responding to the people through web-based grass roots groups who happen to agree that our future lies in "our" hands and we all know the basics here; it's number crunching time again. What really impresses me about this campaign is the way in which the campaign is organized through the use of Internet communities. Internet Politics are here to stay, at least all of us should understand this truth. Yes, it is brand spankin' new, and as a matter of fact, wikipedia needs some writers for their entry of Electronic Politics. Perhaps some of us here should explain to the people exactly how electronic politics are playing a vital role in the rising wave, and which direction will this type of politics travel? Will it's growing power be controlled by the "media elite" or will grassroots communities begin to force accountability and transparency as the standard and transfer power from the hands of the few into the will of the people...the majority?

Internet Activism is without a doubt the best opportunity for the people and to deny this fact is deny your very future...what a tool it is. As individuals, we are armed with a seemingly endless supply of cybertools at our disposal.

Internet activism (also known as electronic advocacy, cyberactivism, and online organizing) is the use of communication technologies such as e-mail, web sites, and podcasts to enable faster communications by citizen movements and deliver a message to a large audience. These Internet technologies are used for cause-related fundraising, lobbying, volunteering, community building, and organizing.

And as we build links and expand and embrace other communities, our strength to "change what needs to be changed" builds as well. And it's this growing sense of community that bonds us together. It is in essence, your neighborhood. Here are two definitions of sense of community from wikipedia.

For Sarason, Psychological Sense of Community is “the perception of similarity to others, an acknowledged interdependence with others, a willingness to maintain this interdependence by giving to or doing for others what one expects from them, and the feeling that one is part of a larger dependable and stable structure” (1974, p. 157).

McMillan & Chavis (1986) define Sense of Community as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”

I'm keeping my eyes and ears open to this young Senator's campaign...definitely a social experiment in social computing. And it seems our youth also is being active and participation levels are sky rocketing. In my personal opinion, when we begin to witness unrest among the youth of our countries... change is in the air. The wind of change is blowing once again and the answers have always been blowin' in the wind!

There have been 27 universities participating in social protests throughout the nation, including Columbia, UCLA, UC Davis, Berkeley, and UCSB. In the article entitled, The Pulse of the Youth the author writes:

Protestors sat on the pavement of Highway 217 and listened to speakers address the group with words of encouragement, news of other opportunities for political activism and the like. “I wasn’t planning on coming today. I was on the bus,” said Dos Pueblos High School student Adam Rothman, referencing a public transit vehicle trying protests%20110.jpgthat had been completely stopped from circling the roundabout when the march halted it. The crowd met this identification with cheers. Other speakers spoke about the protest being sadly uncharacteristic of the crop of young adults. “Our generation is the one that will be remembered for iPods and ignorance,” said a speaker. “We’re the generation that is willing to get arrested for public intoxication on the weekend on [Del Playa Drive] and not in a protest for civil disobedience.” Jeronimo Saldana, a member of UCSB’s Associated Students Legislative Council who took part in the protest, praised the crowd for coming as far as they had. “We shut down the university as of now. We’re showing our solidarity,” he said. “This is beautiful. Let’s keep this going on.”

This is our future and it's this shift in powers that we as concerned citizens and families should embrace and engage in my humble opinion at least. The shift is inevitable and we can expect to get no more out of it than we are willing to put into it. This is the opportunity to lay the foundation blocks of our future. The way I see it, it's two choices and it's not rocket science...either help build it or continue to let "somebody else" build it! If you don't have the time left to help build it, and are willing to accept what comes down the pike, don't be surprised to one day find you no longer have the freedom to actively participate in your own future!

But take note, if you make the choice to help build it, this will definitely require a "time payment" or your part. You will have to sacrifice some alotted time in your daily life and redirect energy toward more...reading, researching, discussing, comparing, and writing. It boils down to active participation and there are many here that are already concerned enough in our future that they are willing to do anything to help. It's the dreamers who always chart new paths. These dreamers have faith in creating a society that is built on justice and participatory democracy. It's getting late...do you know where your Senator is?

Another version of this post appeared on Uncharted.

More Talking and Less Banning

2007-02-19T22:24:00.000-06:00

Well, just when I think the people may be heading in the right direction with somewhat of a concerted effort, there is always something which shows up that snaps me back to reality and allows me to see that we are not even close! In the midst of the ongoing death and destruction from the Iraq War, the melting polar ice caps, the possibilities of a dollar crash, and the ever-widening wealth disparities, one word has surfaced in the mainstream that puts all the aforementioned catasrophes in their place. And the focus of the people is once again misdirected and sidetracked in the same old way it has been for eons! What word could that be you ask? What single word could have this much power?

First off I want to mention Susan Patron, a public librarian from Los Angeles. Susan's latest book won the 2007 Newbery Medal which is considered the most prestigious award for children's literature. The book entitled, The Higher Power of Lucky, deals with a 10 year old motherless girl in a small town. But one word which appears on the first page of the book has offended conservative librarians and school teachers. And libraries all over the country have already banned or are considering banning the book citing moral shock! The word that has created this uproar with visions of book burning is scrotum.

Like I mentioned, just as I thought I could see a little light at the end of the tunnel, one solitary word becomes a social stumbling block and the light disappears! In a New York Times article, Pat Scales, who is a former chairwoman of the Newbery Award committee, said that declining to stock the book in libraries was nothing short of censorship.

“The people who are reacting to that word are not reading the book as a whole,” she said. “That’s what censors do — they pick out words and don’t look at the total merit of the book.”

I have to say that I'm losing faith in the future of humanity. How shallow and misdirected can we be? I continue to witness new highs in mass ignorance and I truly can't understand. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but come on people! Scrotum! C'mon people! Perhaps these poor misguided people should try a little honesty and good old fashioned common sense. Be open with the children and read to them and actually "talk" with them. Not to them...but with them. It was John Stuart Mill who spoke On Liberty.

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

Banning books is not the answer! Freedom of thought and honest communication is what is needed! There are times when I really think there is absolutely no hope for the human race! I think Susan's use of the word was eloquent and scientific. I have to admit our kids down south would probably question the meaning of the word scrotum. Not because we shelter our kids, but because us "rednecks" use a different terminology down here. I think it would be safe to say a large percentage of our kids wouldn't recognize scrotum, but if you said nut sack, they would know exactly what you were talking about! You see I actually talk "with" my kids and always have! We need to communicate with our children and talk openly about everything, not guide them through life with literary and social blinders! Let them think!! Give them the freedom that their minds need. Our future will be in their hands and I know for sure we don't need more of what we've already seen! I already see how destructive we've been up to this point in our so-called progress! And I know our kids, if given the opportunities, can do a much better job than we have so far!

To quote from Patricia Zohn's piece Scrotum Wars:

Anna Freud was reaching maturity and began to show an interest in her father's work so Freud gave her some of his writings to read. About a month later he asked her if she had any questions about what she had been reading. "Just one," she replied. "What is a phallus ?" Being a man of science, Freud unbuttoned his pants and showed her. "Oh, Anna exclaimed, thus enlightened, "it's like a penis, only smaller!

Apathy, America's Greatest Danger

2007-02-17T20:15:00.000-06:00

I want to share a speech I inadvertently found while cleaning out an attic in the home the family and I are purchasing. The speech is from Douglas Dillon, who was appointed by President John Kennedy to the position of our 57th Secretary of the Treasury back in 1961. Dillon's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury was unique as he was a republican who was appointed by a democratic president. And Lyndon Johnson kept Dillon in his position after Kennedy's assasination. Dillon was also an important member of the ExComm during the Cuban Missle Crisis.

I was unable to find this particular speech on-line but that may be due more to my inability rather than availability. The speech is entitled, "Apathy, America's Greatest Danger", and the importance of the speech doesn't seem to have diminished through the years. Democrats, Republicans, Greens, and Independents all talk about apathy as being a danger to democracy.

The vast changes taking place in our civilization have had one thing in common. They have often seemed to reduce the efforts of the individual citizen to insignificance. For this is certainly the age of the mass market, the mass media, the mass civilization. Out of this age, two great dangers have arisen - mass ignorance and mass apathy.

As the industrial era has accelerated, it has been the specialist - the market analyst, the computer systems designer, the neurosurgeon, the nuclear scientist - in short, the expert - who has become important. Experts are indeed necessary. But with their increasing importance, we too often are tempted to say, when considering matters of public policy, "What do I know about it? I'm no expert."

I say to you that the individual, despite indications to the contrary, is more important than ever, and that the ability of our citizens to influence public policy is also more important than ever.

In our system, it is how much the ordinary citizen knows - and even more important, how much he cares - that will determine the outcome of large issues. Experts of course are necessary, and their advice should be heard, but in the end, it is often the non-expert who must make the decisions.

An active Citizen in our democracy must hold forthright opinions. But if his opinion is to be of significant value to his country, three thinngs are required:

He must have derived that opinion from a reasonable understanding of the facts, and not from mere prejudice.

Second, he must care about the issue, whatever it may be.

And third, he must do something about it.

Even if all he does is talk to his neighbor, a purpose will have been served, but in a nation like ours - where only a small fraction of the population takes an active part in election campaigns beyond the act of voting - the latitude for effective political action, if one cares to take the trouble, is extremely broad.

A Citizen of the United States has a greater duty than merely to register an uninformed personal preference at the polls, and the college graduate, in particular, has a responsibility to commit himself to some larger cause than the mere pursuit of an ever-higher standard of living for himself and his family.

The facts are available. They are given to us every day by newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. But to many of us, the public business often appears to be too complicated to make interesting reading. Because we cannot foresee the outcome of the disarmament talks, or because we cannot fully comprehend the complexity of tax problems - or, most often, because we feel no personal involvement - we skip to the sports page or to the fashion column.

This public apathy, in my opinion, may well be the greatest single danger we face today. It gives rise to an automatic process in which blind prejudice is substituted for reason - and thus all problems become over-simplified. Out of such reactions have grown both the hysterical right and the hysterical left. One contends that the real danger in the world today is subversion within our country and within our government. The other maintains that our whole society is manipulated by a small clique of businessmen, military leaders, and power-hungry politicians.

Both views are, of course, nonsense. Power in this country rests today more than ever with the people. The problem is that they use their power too seldom...

With the Internet, we now have the best communication tools the world has ever witnessed, and yet apathy is still a problem that faces democracy. But I have seen a change, an awakening of the people. They are becoming empowered and are beginning to really believe and understand they can make a difference. STAY TUNED...the best is yet to come!

Wikocracy and Wikitics

2007-02-14T08:32:00.000-06:00

What would politics look like if they were actually democratic and the people were able to discuss and decide which goals were the most important to society? And what if they were allowed an active voice in political directions and decisions? Well, it seems at least one representative from Utah, Steve Urquhart is finding out how it should work and is putting it to good use on his Wiki Politicopia! A Wiki where users create summaries of bills, pro and con arguments, comments, links, and more.

Extreme Democracy -- When Wikis Inform Legislation.

To bolster his new effort at interaction and transparency, Urquhart posted his school voucher bill in its entirety on Politicopia before he distributed it to his colleagues in the Utah House. Soon the page expanded with pro and con sections with findings from states like Vermont and Wisconsin accompanied by a section for comments, as wel as links to news articles about the bill.

“For six years we’ve been chasing our tail on this bill, and today the bill passed in very large part because of Politicopia. When private dialogue was made public, the main area of criticism was publicly revealed to be fictitious,” Urquhart told WebProNews in an email.

Modern advocates of direct democracy often suggest e-democracy (sometimes including wikis, television and Internet forums) to address the problem of the lack of direct democracy in this country. There have been tests on this premise of what is sometimes called Wikocracy.

On the Wikocracy platform, you can freely edit the USA PATRIOT Act, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, your State's law on gay marriage, your city's zoning ordinances. If you'd like to change a law that is not yet on this platform, you can easily create a page and import the text you want to change. You can also write your own laws, post blogs, collaborate and spar with other users.

And there are even experiments in direct democracy on a global scale at Worldwide Direct Democracy Movement. It is a new initiative and there are many obstacles to overcome, but a more worthwhile endeavor I haven't seen in a very long time!

Nothing Divine About Divine Strake

2007-02-10T04:44:00.000-06:00

The people have very high stakes in the proposed Divine Strake. It's time the people stood up to this kind of atrocity to our environment and the health of our citizens. People are beginning to make a stand and are willing to fight the machine which has dominated our society for way too long.

Michelle Thomas always suspected there was something in the Utah dust that was unhealthy for her family. The dust from the nuclear test site in Nevada was always settling on her lawn, the cars, and the other houses in St. George, Utah. St. George is just a few hours drive from the Nevada Test Site (NTS), where between 1951 and 1992, a total of 925 announced nuclear tests were conducted. The ensuing radiation from the test site is said to be responsible for cases of thyroid cancer totaling between 10,000 to 75,000 cases. The people who were exposed to the radiation fallout have been labeled non-chalantly as downwinders.

The 100 atmospheric nuclear tests done by 1962 was instrumental in dubbing St. George, Utah the new title of Fallout City because of the amount of fallout dust that settled over the town. In a piece by AlterNet, Thomas recalled the memories of her childhood.

Born in 1952 in St. George, Utah, just a few hours' drive from the Nevada Test Site (NTS), nuclear explosions were routine for Thomas. She can recall her mother -- wrapped in overalls, boots, and gloves, and with a dishtowel covering her mouth -- pulling the laundry from the line when they heard or saw another bomb go off.

Now the government wants to test a 700 ton atmospheric explosion at the NTS and the people are rising up in opposition to the detonation. Last April the test was postponed due to a lawsuit filed by the Western Shoshone Tribe. The lawsuit claims that the blast will take place on ancestral land and violate a historical land-use treaty.

Additionally, the suit says the Environmental Assessment is lacking, and the tribe calls on the government to conduct a full environmental-impact statement, which requires the agencies to further scrutinize the potential impact of the test.

Raymond Yowell, chief of the Western Shoshone National Council, said in a press statement in April that the Council opposed military testing on Shoshone lands as a violation of international law and "an affront to [their] religious belief [that] Mother Earth is sacred and should not be harmed."

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) prior to the lawsuit had determined the test was safe and would not affect the environment or the quality of human life. But once the lawsuit was filed, the NNSA withdrew their initial statement and in an attempt to quell public discourse, have opened public dialogue asking for comments which just ended February 7th.

Citizen Alert has put up this fact sheet to inform and educate our citizens about Divine Strake. And we need to listen to the real stories of the real people who have had to endure these atrocities. And Thomas' story is one that should enlighten as well as enrage the rest of us.

Downwinders like Thomas are refusing to be silenced, even as they continue to battle physical hardships.

In addition to suffering from the debilitating muscle disease Polymyositis, Thomas was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993. "We are doing double-whammy," she said. "We're going to our chemotherapy and our surgeries and our funerals, and we're trying to inform the people about what happened to us in the past and light a fuse with them and help us fight this."

Please support our neighbors in the southwest, for what affects them will definitely affect us all. Government supported terrorism on it's own citizens can no longer be accepted! Make a stand, sign a petition, write or call your elected officials! Let your voice be heard and join with other real people who are fighting the fight for all of humanity!

Folk Streams...Keeping It Alive

2007-02-03T08:27:00.000-06:00

The website at Folkstreams.net has two goals. One is to build a national preserve of hard-to-find documentary films about American folk or roots cultures. The other is to give them renewed life by streaming them on the internet. The films were produced by independent filmmakers in a golden age that began in the 1960s and was made possible by the development first of portable cameras and then capacity for synch sound. Their films focus on the culture, struggles, and arts of unnoticed Americans from many different regions and communities.

This is just a sampling of the videos that are available at Folkstreams.net. And I encourage everybody to visit their site and view these cultural treasures! The permanent link for the complete stream of the films is located below each of the short introductory film clips.

Appalachian Journey

Peg Leg Sam Jackson

Cajun Country

Catching the Music

Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old

It Ain't City Music

The Affluenza Virus

2007-01-25T19:34:00.000-06:00

The clinical psychologist Oliver James has always been critical of conventional psychiatric approaches toward mental health. His methods and views have been highly criticized in the past. Such was the case in his 2005 piece in the Guardian concerning how many people find the thought of climate change too depressing to think about, and therefore find it easier just to pretend it doesn't exist. Oliver states that most people live in a world of unreal positive illusions.

Oliver wrote on the myth of prosperity in Moving the Goalposts. He notes that most of the time most people are at best not unhappy. And the truth is that we've been deceived into believing that our pursuit of happiness and fullfillment is meaningful. Happiness is very transient and is quickly replaced by the feeling of unhappiness and unfullfillment. By placing happiness as our primary goal, we set ourselves up for depression because our feeling of happiness is short lived and we must constantly set new goals for other forms of happiness. What a frickin vicious circle!

Despite our astonishing technological advances and far higher average standard of living, when I looked at the statistics, they revealed that we are dramatically more likely to be depressive, compulsive and violent compared with in 1950. All mainstream political parties make economic growth the central tenet of their electoral manifesto. "It's the economy, stoopid," we are told - except that, as far as psychopathology is concerned, it's not.

The World Health Organisation did a study of fourteen different nations' health. From their study they found that Americans were six times more likely to have a mental illness than people in Shanghai or Nigeria. According to Oliver, we're all sick with a middle-class virus which is brought on by material envy. He calls this illness Affluenza, which just happens to be the title of his new book. Through media advertising onslaughts, we tend to get hooked on the earn more, spend more, want more cycle of consumerism. Once hooked, our mental health deteriorates and there isn't much chance of any extended happiness and there is a much greater increase of mental illness.

I named it the "affluenza virus" and its symptoms are characterised by the placing of a high value on money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame. It results in an obsessive, envious keeping-up-with-the-Joneses state of mind that increases our vulnerability to emotional disorders, and is responsible for rising levels of depression, addiction, violence and anxiety in the developed world. It is, I believe, a contagious disease of the middle classes.

So are we doomed to just keep repeating this consumerist cycle over and over until we basically destroy each other? Once we have been infected with this epidemic mindless consumeristic virus, can we hope for a cure? In Oliver's words, "An epidemic of mindless consumerism is sweeping the world with the compulsive pursuit of money and possessions making people richer but sadder." And not just sadder, but much more self destructive it seems! I truly want to believe the people will come to their senses in time, but my depression over the direction we've taken keeps telling me there is not a chance!