He who does not work shall not eat

Lenin via State and Revolution as recorded in Wikipedia,

The socialist principle, "He who does not work shall not eat", is already realized; the other socialist principle, "An equal amount of products for an equal amount of labor", is also already realized. But this is not yet communism, and it does not yet abolish "bourgeois law", which gives unequal individuals, in return for unequal (really unequal) amounts of labor, equal amounts of products.


This is a “defect”, says Marx, but it is unavoidable in the first phase of communism; for if we are not to indulge in utopianism, we must not think that having overthrown capitalism people will at once learn to work for society without any rules of law. (Chapter 5, Section 3, “The First Phase of Communist Society”)

Codified in the 1936 Soviet "Stalin" Constitution as article 12,

In the USSR work is a duty and a matter of honor for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”

They didn't mean lazy here either by folks who don't work; as Wikipedia writes,

...the bourgeoisie as the group of those who buy the labor-power of workers and engage it in the process of production, deriving profits from the surplus value thus expropriated.

Clerics don't fare well when The Party values their labour either.  Something to ponder when you next to those Worker World guys at Occupy.

(11-30-11) Busra Al-Shaam Daraa General Strike in the City

The big calm

Russell Walther Meand writing us it's the Weather stupid.

 Andrew Revkin has called attention to this post fromRoger Pielke’s blog which shows that as of today it has been 2,226 days since the last major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) hit the US mainland.  Unless a big hurricane hits this winter, it means we are on track to break a 100 year record for the longest gap between major hurricanes hitting the coast.  (The last Big Calm was between 1900 and 1906.)

U.S. Relations Have Soured Worldwide

Pete Wehener via Commentary, U.S. Relations Have Soured Worldwide:

Under Obama, we were supposed to see the flowering of diplomacy; what we’ve seen instead is a relentless (and welcomed) commitment to kill terrorists. As for the diplomatic failures we’ve experienced over the last three years, they cannot all be laid at Obama’s feet. The world is complicated; the problems we face are often vexing; and the United States cannot control how every country on earth conducts itself. Pakistan would be a tough nut for any statesman to crack.

Now in saying this, it should be pointed out, I’m extending significantly more grace and understanding to President Obama than he ever extended to his predecessor. Back when he was running for office, nothing was beyond Obama’s powers, or so Obama seemed to believe. Conflicts, intransigence and a burning hatred for America were easily fixable; the world would be as simple to shape as hot wax. After all, how difficult can stopping Iran’s nuclear program be for a man who said his election would heal the planet and reverse the ocean tides?

In Henry IV, Glendower says, “I can call spirits from the vasty deep.” To which Hotspur replies, “Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they come when you do call for them?”

Obama has learned the hard way that he, like any man, can call spirits from the vasty deep — but often they will not come. And what then?

I'm not at all surprised Obama pursed terrorists relentlessly and in fact feared he'd do it recklessly with plenty of collateral damage. That's not been the case with drone wars. The final piece yet to come though with Iran. That's coming to a head sooner rather than later.

Illinois Review: Tenaska legislation passes IL Senate

Illinois Review: Tenaska legislation passes IL Senate

Durbin's Tenaska clean coal buring plant passed the Illinois Senate. Kinda wonder why not Natural Gas?

Illinois House rejects Occupy Chicago resolution

Illinois Review: Illinois House rejects Occupy Chicago resolution

No idea what the vote was but Democrats run the place, and Speaker Mike Madigan runs the Democrats. He's a guy who remembers 1968 and what it did to the party and I'm guessing wants no part of #occupy for fear of what it will do to the party.

Link above to the story over at Illinois Review and a copy of the defeated resolution.

Update: The votes here. 15 voted present...

Fast Trains and Slow, Puny, Expensive Cars | The Weekly Standard

Fast Trains and Slow, Puny, Expensive Cars | The Weekly Standard

The Standard on (above link) on the Administrations closed door deal with Big Auto on emission standards after taking the rule making authority from Congress.

This represents nearly everything that’s bad about the Obama administration: a disdain for the normal legislative process and the rule of law; a disregard for consumer choice; a commitment to intrusive government regulations that sap Americans’ liberty and empty their wallets; and a general arrogance that this administration, not the American people, knows best. House Republicans would do well to respond to this with high-profile legislation to restore the rule of law and a sense of sanity.

Doing the deal Chicago style with Lobbyists behind closed doors doesn't inspire any confidence in outcome either. Here's from Issa's letter to Obama,

“It has come to my attention that the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and EPAvehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) standards announced by President Obama and select automakers on July 29, 2011, were negotiated in secret, outside the scope of the law, and could generate significant negative impacts for consumers. Specifically, I am concerned about the lack of transparency in the process leading up to the agreement, the expected increase in cost per vehicle, and the negative impact these standards could have on the safety of automobiles.”

And here's   Edward Niedermeyer saying planning anything out to 2025 a bit of a crock,

According to my sources, a mid-way review of 2017-2025 standards was agreed to in principle by all the major stakeholder stakeholders some time ago. And for obvious reasons: with disruptive new technologies under development and the trajectory of fuel prices remaining an unknown quantity, nobody knows precisely what technologies will be available and what the market will demand come 2017. Like California’s ZEV mandate, a push to kill the mid-term review makes CAFE even less responsive to the market than it already is. If anything, environmental groups should embrace a review of current standards because there’s a good chance fuel prices will be higher and the nation will be more determined than ever to sacrifice for higher emissions standards. Besides, if CAFE loses touch with the market and has no opportunity to sync back up, the industry could be in for another disastrous downturn. And no matter how pro-regulation you are, it’s tough to argue that CAFE should be totally unresponsive to market forces. Unless you know exactly what the market will look like in 2025 (in which case, let’s start a hedge fund), trying to set 2025 emissions standards in stone now makes no sense at all.

I vote for the hedge fund.

Democrats need to get real about U.S. energy policy

Democrats need to get real about U.S. energy policy

Democrats have gone a long way from FDR the builder of Dams and LBJ lighting up West Texas.

Marathon Pundit: Video: OccuFlop Chicago

Marathon Pundit: Video: OccuFlop Chicago

I don't think Unions and Progressives in Chicago are going to back a movement that threatens the status quo here. Way too much at stake.

Video below via Marathon Pundit who has been doing yeomen service covering Occupy Chicago.

Occupy SF: Protesters Close Old Navy on Black Friday

Pretty senseless stuff...

Sandhill Cranes

Two flocks of them just flew over the house. Probably over a hundred of them. Can't mistake 'em when you hear and see them.

Occupy Fannie and Freddie

Or maybe just get Gov out of the business of assuming the debts of these monsters more apt.

Bob Corker on his bill. Must reading for UU Preachers gone Red recycling their 60's ideas through #Occupy foolishness.

November 25, 2011

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moving-beyond-freddie-and-fannie/2011/11/22/gIQAUyPhtNstory.html]

The term "permanent conservatorship" is an oxymoron. By its very construct, the conservatorship of a corporation is meant to be temporary. And yet three years after the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we are no closer to transitioning them off government life support than we were the day in 2008 when they came under direct government control.

This is unacceptable.

A delay in dealing with Fannie and Freddie was partly inevitable, as policymakers worried that any misstep could negatively affect a fragile housing market. But we have come to a point where continued inaction impedes the ability of the private market to take over a function the government has completely mismanaged. We must move beyond Fannie and Freddie, immediately.

This task will not be politically easy. Many of the institutions that have come to rely on the corporate welfare Fannie and Freddie provide have argued that we cannot have a housing finance system without the support of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). This argument not only ignores the risks taxpayers are forced to bear but also fundamentally misrepresents the structure of the housing finance system.
Broadly speaking, the risks inherent in mortgage lending can be placed in two categories, interest rate risk and credit risk. Interest rate risk stems from the fact that homeowners can prepay their mortgages at any time, and they generally choose to do so when interest rates are low. This leaves the lender with the tricky job of managing an asset-liability mismatch. But the private sector has proved capable of the task. In fact, the development of the risk management infrastructure to deal with this challenge remains a great accomplishment of modern finance.

The second risk in mortgage lending is credit risk, or the risk that a borrower will default on his or her mortgage. Today, mortgage credit risk is almost completely priced and managed by the government. Having "crowded out" private investors by charging an insurance premium that was too cheap, the GSEs are saddled with $5 trillion worth of bad credit. This is a tragedy of our own making. During the boom years, the GSEs' affordable housing goals were coupled with a Congress and an administration that saw only the bright side of rapidly increasing homeownership rates. That meant that as housing prices began to spike, it was impossible to make credit slightly more expensive. Without countercyclical market mechanisms able to operate naturally, as housing prices went higher, the GSEs simply raced each other to lower guarantee fees, out of fear that they might lose business from mortgage originators such as Countrywide and Washington Mutual. The result, we now know, was a government-induced bubble followed by a painful collapse.

This month I introduced legislation that can help bring private capital back into this market in an orderly fashion. The Residential Mortgage Market Privatization and Standardization Act would reduce the federal government's exposure to GSEs by 10 percent per year for 10 years. It will do this by gradually diminishing the percentage of an agency mortgage-backed security that is backstopped by the taxpayer. This methodical process will allow for clear market signals, so everyone can easily see where the market and the government each price credit risk. Additionally, the bill includes some basic infrastructure improvements, such as creating uniform servicing agreements, putting in place some minimum underwriting standards - such as a 5 percent minimum down payment and requiring that loans be fully documented - and making available for public consumption the large amount of data sitting in the vaults at Fannie and Freddie. Such initiatives would put us on a path toward a sustainable housing finance system for the long run.

Ultimately, the market will price mortgage credit risk much more efficiently than does the government. We should not be deterred by red-herring arguments to the contrary. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year. We must begin the process of unwinding the GSEs. "Permanent conservatorship" is not a credible plan.

The writer, a Republican from Tennessee, is a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Marathon Pundit: America has 14,000 abandoned wind turbines

Marathon Pundit: America has 14,000 abandoned wind turbines

A lot of waste...

California's wind farms -- then comprising about 80% of the world's wind generation capacity -- ceased to generate much more quickly than Kamaoa. In the best wind spots on earth, over 14,000 turbines were simply abandoned. Spinning, post-industrial junk which generates nothing but bird kills. ---Abandoned Rusted Wind Turbines Reflect The Hoax Of Environmental Activists

Occupy SF: Protesters Close Apple Store on Black Friday

Defend a free and Secular Middle East and North Africa

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: World Citizens.

----------------
Defend a free and Secular Middle East and North Africa

The 2009 protests in Iran followed by the Arab Spring have the potential to herald a new dawn for the people of the region and the world. The protests have clearly shown that people in the region, like people everywhere, want to live 21st century lives.

We, the undersigned, emphasise their modern and human dimension and wholeheartedly welcome this immense and historical development. We are vehemently opposed to their hijacking by Islamism or US-led militarism and support the call for a free and secular Middle East and North Africa made by citizens and particularly women in the region.

Secularism is a minimum precondition for the freedom and equality of all citizens and includes:

1. Complete separation of religion from the state.
2. Abolition of religious laws in the family, civil and criminal codes.
3. Separation of religion from the educational system.
4. Freedom of religion and atheism as private beliefs.
5. Prohibition of sex apartheid and compulsory veiling.
----------------

Please join me in defending this important cause.

You can also click ‘like’ on our Facebook page to support this important campaign: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Free-and-Secular-Middle-East-and-North-Africa/271164176261820#!/pages/A-Free-and-Secular-Middle-East-and-North-Africa/271164176261820 and Tweet: #freesecularMENA in support of a free and secular Middle East and North Africa.

Sincerely,

Bill Baar

Faith, Hope, Love and Prophesy

Faith, Hope and Love found often in old Universalist Churches. Here's a translation of 1 Corinthians 13 and it's interesting to see how prophesy fares here.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love

I'm guessing the old Universalists similarly discounted prophecy, but It's a guess, just a guess.

The Prophet Armed: Trotsky: 1879-1921

The Prophet Armed: Trotsky: 1879-1921

Evidence one could be Prophet and totally fail? Or just a false prophet? I lean towards false prophet but I fit the disgruntled former young follower mold too.

Illinois Review: Reagan Statue Unveiled in Former Soviet Republic

Illinois Review: Reagan Statue Unveiled in Former Soviet Republic

Illinois Review posts a picture of the Reagan Statue in Tiblisi, Georgia. One characteristic of a prophet is they get better reception outside the homeland. Might Reagan qualify?

Amazon.com: The Prophets (Perennial Classics): Abraham J. Heschel: Books

Amazon.com: The Prophets (Perennial Classics) (9780060936990): Abraham J. Heschel: Books:


Googling around trying to get a handle on Prophetic Faith and just what it might be, and whether Unitarian Universalism can claim to be one.

According to the popular definition, a prophet is one who accurately predicts the future. But in the Jewish tradition, as Abraham Joshua Heschel explains in The Prophets, these figures earn their title by witnessing the world around them with outstanding passion. Prophets are those whose "life and soul are at stake" in what they say about "the mystery of [God's] relation to man." They are "some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived," and yet they are also "the men whose image is our refuge in distress, and whose voice and vision sustain our faith." Heschel's book, one of the classic texts on the subject, contains sophisticated, straightforward discussions of each of the Hebrew prophets, the primary themes of their preaching, and comparisons of Israel's prophets to those of other religions'. Throughout, Heschel avoids the two great temptations in any discussion of prophesy: overstating the supernatural quality of a prophet's epiphany ("A prophet is a person, not a microphone"), and reducing prophesy to a merely human phenomenon. Instead, Heschel describes the prophet's peculiar status as God's spokesman in a way that does justice to its complexity: "He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation." --Michael Joseph Gross

Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries « Looking at the Left

Zuccotti Utopia: Portraits of The New Revolutionaries « Looking at the Left

El Marco's walk with camera through the Zuccotti Commune. Where here, We're unclear, Get used to it #Occupy

Visit the link to El Marco above to acclimate yourself.

New Poll: Is Unitarian Universalism a Prophetic Faith?

Prophetic seems a buzz word of late among UUs.

I know we've had our Prophets (although I'm not sure they'd describe themselves as such).

I'm not really certain were a Prophetic Faith though. Feel free to educate and explain in the comments.

Poll to the right.

Update: If you vote Yes, I'd find it helpful if you'd leave a short note about just what you think a Prophetic Faith is.

Poll Results: HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR MINISTER TO THE LIFE OF YOUR CONGREGATION?

Voting's in. With n=9 results are,

Congregation couldn't function without the Minister. 1 (11%)

It's a partnership. 6 (66%)

We were here before the Minister. We'll be here after. 2 (22%)

How do we fire our Minister? 0 0%

No surprises here.

The Facts About Income Inequality - Reason Magazine

The Facts About Income Inequality - Reason Magazine:

A good analysis (for starters) on income statistics, and a quick take away below on something obvioius to anyone of a certain age.

I could also add that what matters is not one’s positionrelative to the richest, but one’s absolute position and itsimprovement year to year. Studies demonstrate that for decadesthe time it takes the average worker to earn the money to buyany given consumer good has been shrinking. (And the goods areoften of much better quality.)

This statistical picture seems well confirmed by observation. Anybaby-boomer should be able to attest that living standards acrossthe board in America have palpably improved over the decades. Todaylow-income people have things the middle class didn’t dream of 40years ago—and even some things the rich couldn’t have had at anyprice because they hadn’t been invented yet. And this is notprimarily due to consumer debt.

Revealing True Meaning of Thanksgiving – Forward.com

Revealing True Meaning of Thanksgiving – Forward.com

Goldberg's conclusion from The Forward,

It’s instructive, too, to read the psalms that follow the iconic No. 118. After urging gratitude for God’s eternal mercy, the psalmist grows steadily angrier in the ensuing psalms over the wrongs inflicted on the Israelites. By the time we get to Psalm 136, we’re repeating the opening words — O give thanks, for his mercy endures forever — but now the mercy looks different. Instead of visions of salvation and the wonders of nature, we’re treated to a bloody litany of revenge upon Israel’s enemies.

Then comes Psalm 137. You may recognize its opening: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.” You may not remember its conclusion: “O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed, happy shall he be that repayeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.”

That’s Thanksgiving as the Good Book intended it: Gratitude when we receive our fair share — and hell to pay for those who grab it away. Class warfare? That’s when people enrich themselves at others’ expense. Getting it back is called justice.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/146434/#ixzz1eXu60P00

It's the Fair Share adjudicators that spook me in logic like Goldberg's. I'm grateful for human institutions (called markets) habituating the exchange of goods and services through prices instead of the ancient habits (and not so ancient) of wars and dashed heads.

I sat once, years ago, at a Socialist Party convention in Milwaukee with Motl Zelmanowicz listening to his stories of Bundist debates in Warsaw in 1938 about whether or not to participate in the Communist's Popular Front. Debates that were as vivid to Motl in the 1970s as they were in 1938. All I could think was what a senseless debate for Jews to have at the abyss; that couldn't have been that hard to foresee.

Be thanful maybe for freedom from the 20th century's dreadful "isms". Pray for the liberation of those still enthralled to this foolish stuff.

Occupy Rahm

H/T Chicago's Progressive blogger Carl Nyberg

Calling for Americans to turn on one another the worst thing Obama could have done and most of the damage will be done on him. This goes to the Democratic Convention next year and it'll be a royal mess for the party.

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

Occupy Corzine?

Gee, why would I think not? Despite this and this.

Crony Socialism at work.

UUs Can Believe Whatever They Want: Yes, But… « Spiritual RevolUUtions

UUs Can Believe Whatever They Want: Yes, But… « Spiritual RevolUUtions:

Via above link,

Just as Unitarian Universalists cannot allow someone to advocate a racist or sexist theological ideology because it demeans the inherent worth and dignity of every person (1st Principle), so must individuals within the interfaith movement be mindful of when religious freedom becomes detrimental to the wellbeing of individuals within a community.

I'm not entirely certain how UU's enforce this. The case that comes to mind is Stephen Hole Fritchman case and his dismissel as Editor of the Unitarian Registers (read Eddis's recent book: Stephen Fritchman: The American Unitarians and Communism

Even that firing though was over Fritchman's censorship of dissinting views rather than Fritchman's own views.

Rummaging through YouTube yesterday, looking for the closing scenes of The Fall of Berlin, where Stalin salutes the crowd cheering long live Stalin with Peace, and Happiness to all of you (my fav scenes start about 6:00).

Fritcham I suspect cheered too. I know the old comrades like Norm Roth at Third U did. I saw him defend the Soviet Union in the Churche's basement after bringing back one of the first groups of students to visit in the 70s. There's really no way not to allow it save the democratic rules of congregational and association life, and when it comes to Democratic enforcement, we're loath to criticize beliefs that run against the grain of liberal convention.



Curious thing about Fritchman post Editorship was he became far less doctrinaire per Eddis's book.

Syria Army Defectors to Fight Assad Army - US Must Arm Freedom Fighters 11-7-11

Syria - Why NATO Can Beat Assad Army and Free Syria in 7 days or less 8-4-11 new clip Hama

Via Souria2011archives's

Incompetent Syria Security Force Buffoons fail to Gain entry to a Civilian home and settle on capturing a roof Pigeon instead. these Alawite Mountain Monkeys would not last 7 days against a real adversary, so NATO need not be Shy about coming to help Liberate us from the criminal and corrupt Assad Police State.

The Syria Army and Assad's Private Militia have not fired one Bullet at a real enemy in over 40 years, since the 1973 war. In the decades since that War, the Syrian Army has been used by Assad solely to attack and rob houses of Lebanese Civilians and now to arrest, torture and kill unarmed peaceful pro Democracy Protesters and to bomb its own Syrian Cities. when the Israeli Air Force buzzed Assad's Latakia Summer Home the dictator hid and pretended it did not happen as he is a Coward. Likewise, when the Israeli air force then went and bombed Assad Nuclear plant in the north, the Dictator once again hid and pretended it did not happen for a number of months.
The Syrian Army is probably the World's only army that has treated its own Towns and Cities as Enemy territory, using Naval Gunships on Latakia, using helicopter Gunships on Maarat Al Numan and on Jisr Al Shugar, and using Tanks and Heavy Artillery to destroy whole sections and neighborhoods in Hama, Homs, Tal Kalakh and Daraa, to mention just a few cities that have been razed by Assad Regime forces.

When NATO finally decides enough is enough and comes to help liberate Syria from the baath party alawite fascist dictator Bashar Assad it will discover that half of the Syria Army will immediately defect and join NATO (the Brave and Honest Patriotic Sunni members of the Armed Forces) and the other half, the alawite baath party and criminal shabiha half will quickly shed their uniforms and flee to Iran with whatever gold they have stolen from the Syrian people.

More dissident soldiers and officers joined the Free Syrian Army in Hama city in Syria 19.11.2011

The Free Syrian Army creates a new battalion in Daraa province in Syria 19.11.2011

Kafarzeta Funeral in Hama

(11-20-11) Free Syrian Army Promises to Protect People, Denies Attack On Baath Hdq

Also via

(11-20-11) Battalion "Freedom" Under Cpt. Ibrahim Muneer is Formed

Thrill Is Gone? Matthews Turns On Obama; 'I Hear Stories That You Would Not Believe'

Ahh... I'd believe. I've followed Chicago Democrats for a long time. No surprises.

Pandering to the Petrophobes

Brian Lee Crowley via the Ottawa Citizen,

Folly is too kind a word for this decision. It is the crassest pandering to a tiny minority of Americans whose demands run demonstrably contrary to U.S. interests. And even that electoral calculation is misconceived, for it will weaken, not strengthen, Barack Obama.

Mark Steyn: Penn State’s institutional wickedness | assistant, graduate, state - Opinion - The Orange County Register

Mark Steyn: Penn State’s institutional wickedness | assistant, graduate, state - Opinion - The Orange County Register

Mark Steyn finds Penn State as Wicked Institution (link above), and today Rev Harper gives us a run down of Religious Liberals and wicked social structures.

Collective wickedness gone institutionalized a two edge sword though.

It offers the perfect defense to the accused. What's a deputy Coach to do in a wicked institution (and wicked world of course) except compromise. I'm just a guy taking orders you know.

It also offers the perfect solution. When a whole system of people goes wicked (or some of us become convinced that's the case), simply get rid of them.  I suggested in Rev Trumbore: ...with grave consequence for the obscenely wealthy quoting Lenin's kick-off words to the Chekist team in the DeKulakization campaign in Nizhny Novgorod as an example.

"Comrades! The kulak uprising in your five districts must be crushed without pity ... You must make example of these people. (1) Hang (I mean hang publicly, so that people see it) at least 100 kulaks, rich bastards, and known bloodsuckers. (2) Publish their names. (3) Seize all their grain. (4) Single out the hostages per my instructions in yesterday's telegram. Do all this so that for miles around people see it all, understand it, tremble, and tell themselves that we are killing the bloodthirsty kulaks and that we will continue to do so ... Yours, Lenin. P.S. Find tougher people."

Like any good Coach, Lenin was always looking for tougher players.

Institutions are nothing more than collections of habits. Actions people undertake without much forethought. Some habits are good, and some are bad. Their thoughtlessness though doesn't exonerate one from guilt, or cast guilt upon the collective.

We're each --in the United States at least-- responsible for ourselves and behavior. That's the habit our founders institutionalized for us, and it's a good one.

Habits and institutions can always be tweaked for the better, but I hope we don't lose sight of the habit of individual liberty and responsibility 'cause it's real slippery slope when we cast the wide sweep on lots of people.

Because there are tougher men out there, always it seems; willing to take on a Great Coach's mission and enforce the judgements on who plays well or not, who has too much and should give up, and sometimes just enjoy the lust of abuse.

We are the 79%

The final paragraphs from Yuval Levin's Liberals Playing to Type

Indeed, the cultural stereotypes of the left have long been more powerful, and more harmful to liberals, than even the political and economic stereotypes. And now, as the fourth year of the Obama administration approaches, we find ourselves confronted with the reincarnation of perhaps the most damaging liberal type of all: the snarky, pseudo-alienated, disheveled young protester. There is much to complain about regarding Wall Street and its cozy relationship with the government, but the Occupy Wall Street protesters do not seem to have a clear idea of what that complaint might be, or what should be done about it. They seem increasingly to give vent, instead, to a vague unfocused ennui, unaware that their bizarre reenactment of their professors’ wistful exaggerations of the 1960s threatens to offend a great many Americans whose cultural memories extend further back than the invention of the iPod. 

As the Occupy Wall Street movement has gradually turned ugly in recent weeks, the Democrats who had earlier associated themselves with the protests have no doubt begun to recognize the peril in which they have put themselves and their party by even tacitly encouraging the resurrection of this most disagreeable liberal type. They have yet to fully grasp, however, just how much damage the simultaneous reemergence of so many harmful and unpleasant aspects of the modern left may yet do to the Democrats in 2012. 

A Gallup poll published this month showed that only 21 percent of Americans consider themselves liberals. The rest of the country might well put up with liberals in power now and then, but not if the left insists on constantly reminding us why, to coin a phrase, we are the 79 percent.

I'd wager Rev Morales's and other UU's embrace of this increasingly nasty type puts Liberal Religion at equal peril.

Midas and Greed

Since Greed a topic of late, maybe worth a reread of the Midas story found here, and the opening paragraphs below to jog your memories.

Midas was the king of Pessinus, capital of Phrygia, a region in Asia Minor. He was the adopted son of Gordias and Cybele and was well known for his pristine rose garden and love of the pleasures of life.

The most famous myth about King Midas is when he received the golden touch from Dionysus, god of the life force. Dionysus was associated with intoxication and was followed by a group of satyrs -- half human, half goat individuals with a lust for wine and sexual pleasures. The leader of the satyrs, entrusted with Dionysus' education, was Silenus. One day, completely in character for a satyr, Silenus became intoxicated and passed out in Midas' rose garden. The peasants found him and brought him before their king. Luckily, Midas recognized Silenus and treated him well for five days and nights. During this time, Silenus entertained Midas and his court with fantastic tales.

Dionysus came to Midas and was glad to be reunited with Silenus his surrogate father. He decided to reward Midas for his hospitality and granted him one wish. Midas wished that everything he touched be turned to gold.

Was Midas's greed in the wish for the Golden Touch, or instead in hoarding the proceeds from things touched? (Given the parties for Silenus, Midas doesn't seem the hoarding sort either.)

If Midas's didn't share the output of stuff touched, should it have been taxed away from him?

If so, by whom? At what tax rate? And who would have authority to direct the distribution and/or investment of Midas's Gold?

The link says the story of Midas an example of the common motif of the "short sighted wish". Blinded by greed, Midas wished for something not really worth having in the long run.

But it seems though the modern take on the story might be Midas darn well ought to have made that wish of Dionysus, and once granted used it in industrial strength! 

Just kick-points to the rest of us with banquents 'cause the greed lied not in the blind acquisition of Gold, but in the hoarding.  Some undetermined power at this point is going to enforce the anti-hoarding laws. The Modern Myth silent on those to enforce the anti-hoarding laws .

Now who is greedy?

Avenue Jew

Anti Semitic graffiti in Brooklyn.

Subway Sign Defaced in Bias Incident: MyFoxNY.com

Stalemate in Afghanistan

A statement from the Awami National Party Afrasiab Khattak's on the eve of the Peace Loya Jirga in Afghanistan: Stalemate in Afghanistan

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy's nudity

Watch this story: Muslim artist defies Islamic prudes by baring all on the web

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/muslim-artist-defies-islamic-prudes-baring-web-article-1.977883#ixzz1dxqJQodm

This is youth revolution where the young revolutionaries likely to pay with their lives.

أحصل على العديد من الزيارات الآن على بلدي بلوق لهذا المنصب. يرجى ترك لي تعليق باللغة الانكليزية أو العربية. أريد أن أعرف ما الناطقين باللغة العربية يقولون عن هذه القصة.

شكرا

فاتورة البار

Greed and our Natures

Are we born Greedy?  Is it part of our Nature we can't escape?  Some of use endowed with more of it than others, but all of us with some portion of Midas?

I suspect Christians would say Yes,  Greed's part of our sinful natures.  Something to be kept in check, but an urge and lust for wealth we can never really overcome. We can only be forgiven it with God's grace.

I suspect UU's would say no.  That Greed is learned and one can in fact build a society that would create sharing, rather than greedy people.  The notion people greedy by nature, and the greedy person's argument that they should be freed in a capitalist society to fulfill their greedy orientation, for they can be none other than greedy, quite false.

Right?

Greed and Universal Salvation

Is it greedy to expect Universal Salvation?

It strikes me as greedy. Maybe the ultimate greed. Not gold but everlasting life for our souls.

As for me, I expect God to take me seriously, and I really expect that; and only that.  I present at end-of-life as the sum of my work, and thoughts; for what ever those worth.  Perhaps concerned not so much with God's judgement, as with History's.

Rev Trumbore: ...with grave consequence for the obscenely wealthy

If ever one needed evidence of the wheels coming off Political Liberalism, it's hapless UU Ministers gone revolutionary and spouting tough talk.


Obscene consequences at the hands of Rev Trumbore?  Despite the beard, Iron Felix (at left) signing off on executions of rich Kulaks, Trumbore ain't.

And I'm not certain who passive-voice Rev Trumbore expects here to wield the coming swift-sword of the next Red Terror here.

Make no mistake, as long as unemployment is high and the perception of the country is the economic playing field is controlled by global corporations who do not have the American people in their hearts, and the mega-wealthy continue to hold their wealth closely rather than use it to stimulate economic development that create lots of jobs here, they will be fueling the Occupy Movement.  And that may eventually change from a small movement to a mass movement, with grave consequences for the obscenely wealthy. For all their money power, people power is stronger.

When Lenin brought the Red Terror to Nizhny Novgorod he telegraphed the local Chekists,

"Comrades! The kulak uprising in your five districts must be crushed without pity ... You must make example of these people. (1) Hang (I mean hang publicly, so that people see it) at least 100 kulaks, rich bastards, and known bloodsuckers. (2) Publish their names. (3) Seize all their grain. (4) Single out the hostages per my instructions in yesterday's telegram. Do all this so that for miles around people see it all, understand it, tremble, and tell themselves that we are killing the bloodthirsty kulaks and that we will continue to do so ... Yours, Lenin. P.S. Find tougher people."

Find tougher people. Lenin did. So did Stalin; then Mao, Pol Pot, and today Kim in N. Korea. Careful what you call for Rev Trumbone 'cause I doubt you're Chekist tough. 

Others are though. Civilization's thin. Shed it, and the weak go first, and you may not be lucky enough for the Philosopher's Ship.  


Update #1: on Chekist Tough.  Here's a trailer for the 1992 Russian film: Chekist 

A small Russian town in the early 1900's is the backdrop for this deeply disturbing film about a group of communist revolutionaries called the cheka-men who spend their days rounding up their political rivals for execution. The majority of the film takes place inside the basement of a charnel house. We are witnesses to execution after execution as people are killed with rapid expediency and professionalism. Men, women and children are forced to strip, stand against a wall, and then are shot. When the dead are removed, five more are brought in and the atrocity is committed again.

There is not a moments reprieve from the brutality as director Rogozhkin plants the camera and the story inside that basement. I found his examination of the assassin's mindset most interesting. Early on, the cheka-men seem indifferent to their jobs, but as the film winds down, we see that all the killing has slowly begun to erode their very souls. Igor Sergeyev is amazing as the ambitious chekist who finds himself caught up in a machine of death that he helped to create and slowly losing his mind. The film is like passing a car accident on a highway, it's horrible and you might not like what you see but you can't take your eyes off of it. A disturbing film that is hard to forget.

Wickedness, Knowing, and Stupidity

A comment from me, to Dan, about this.

As a rule I never attribute to wickedness what I can attribute to stupidity.

So if credit swaps are wicked things, devised by wicked people, try making the case. I think it’d be easier though, to just suggest, the notion one could strip the risk out of securities and sell it separately may be more easily attributed to smart people outsmarting themselves, and equally smart people buying these things…

….rather than wickedness.

On a post all about “knowing” Dan, you’re going to have to sort this one out.

I know plenty of smart people who do very stupid things in all sorts of industries (and Churches).

I know very few if any really wicked people. Even the hoodlums and mobsters I know have a strain of decency in them.

Union PAYS Occupy Protesters- (EXCLUSIVE)

H/T Illinois Review

Le Pen to visit Occupy Wall Street protesters - France - United States - RFI

Not exactly Paris 1968 again. History's skipped the tragic iteration and just just repeating itself as farce.

Le Pen to visit Occupy Wall Street protesters - France - United States - RFI:

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was set to meet Occupy Wall Street protestors on Friday to share her ideas on anti-globilsation as part of her week-long trip to the United States.

Why We Study “Useless” Things

Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. on Why We Study “Useless” Things

It's not time wasted.

Poll on the roles of your Minister and Congregation.

I wanted to do something with the blogger polling gadget so you'll see a poll to the right. I picked Ministers because I thought I'd gin up some interest, and because I heard one make the comment that Congregations were going to have to take over the roles of providing continuity in the Church because the era of long serving Ministers was coming to a close.

I'm betting that's very true, and I'm also betting most UU Churches can't function without a strong Minister, although they tend to turn them over regularly, and as a rule, don't treat them particularly well.

That's just a guess.

See if anyone takes the pull.

If suggestions on rewording (I do this over a cup of coffee before 6am) put them in the comments and maybe I'll start all over.

The Occupation Devolution

Via Tea Party Television,

Where should UUA go?

UUWorld writes they're thinking again:Location of UUA headquarters under review again

The options are:

• Staying in the current building and investing in the necessary upgrades;
• Exploring the possibility of submitting another bid for the Hebrew College site in Newton, Mass., which has not yet found a buyer;
• Moving to another location in central Boston;
• Moving to another location in the United States.

I'm betting there's a lot of empty corporate campus HQ space out there available. The kind of space that could house UUA plus offer space to host GA and other conferences and assemblies. Ideally a campus located in a mid size sort of city with good air connections. It would be an ideal solution I think if the proceeds from selling the Boston properties can get us there.

Air force intelligence colonel Muhammad Hassan Kairout announces his defection - Free Syria

I'll try and get and English transcript.

The Best of Occupy

H/T Steve Tucker

Rev. Peter Friedrichs: Moses & Pharoah « Standing On The Side Of Love

Rev. Peter Friedrichs: Moses & Pharoah « Standing On The Side Of Love

Israel's starring anniliation in the face given the November 2011 IAEA report. You can bet Israelites not going to wait for Love, Rev Friedrichs, or much of the world to stand by their side. We'll see if anyone does.

Occupy Mom Taunts Black Security Guard

H/T Pat Dollard

The woman appears the same as the woman who pushed her kids into the middle of a confrontation here. She's quite a piece of work.

Hula Hoop Economics

The setup via Inventors,

Knerr and Melin started the Wham-O company from their Los Angeles garage in 1948. The men were marketing a slingshot originally invented for training pet falcons and hawks (it slung meat at the birds). This slingshot was named "Wham-O" because of the sound it made when it hit the target. Wham-O also became the company's name.

Wham-O has become the most successful manufacturer of hula hoops in modern times. They trademarked the name Hula Hoop ® and start manufacturing the toy out of the new plastic Marlex in 1958.

Twenty million Wham-O hula hoops sold for $1.98 in the first six months.

So was $1.98 per Hula Hoop a fair price? If not, what was? More importantly, who should have judged and imposed a fair price?

Were the makers greedy? What were the buyers (my Dad thought fools at $1.98 so I never had one)?

Was this socially useful back in 1958? If not should someone have directed Knerr and Melin to invest else where instead of Hula Hoops?

If not socially useful, who should have redirected Knerr and Melin's investment and how?

James Taranto: This Is What Anarchy Looks Like

Mike Basham via James Taranto in WSJ.

My elderly mother lives in a building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Like many of the buildings in that area, most of the floors are offices, but the top three or four are private apartments (this was the brainchild of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who lived in the building next to my mother).

On Sunday, a rowdy group of "protesters" were blocking all the entrances to the building, apparently not realizing that some of the doors they were obstructing were not for evil bankers and businessmen but for elderly ladies who just wanted to get to their homes.

My mother wheeled meekly up in her motorized scooter and politely asked the punk blocking the door to step aside. When he refused, she explained that he was standing in front of an apartment entrance, but he didn't seem to care. So my saintly mother rammed him with her scooter, and he was so surprised, he moved out of the way.

As she was gliding past him and into her home, she turned to him and yelled, "And put out that damned cigarette!"

William Galston looks at the Polls

For UUs who think #Occupy points towards a move to the left in the US.

While the ideological center of gravity of the Democratic Party has moved left, the country as a whole has moved in the opposite direction. In early 2008, 35 percent of Democrats and leaners called themselves liberals, versus 23 percent conservatives. (The rest identified as moderates.) By 2011, the liberal share of the part had risen 2 percentage points to 37 percent, while the conservative share shrank by 3 points, to only 20 percent. At the same time, conservatives increased their share of the total electorate from 40 to 42 percent, while liberals dropped a point to only 21 percent.

These aren't trivial shifts either.

The Case for Optimism « Commentary Magazine

The Case for Optimism « Commentary Magazine

From John Podhoretz above, at his best, explaining our moment.

Somehow, we still think of the United States as a young country, and in comparison with the other great nations of the Earth it is; but its political and social system is now among the world’s oldest. Indeed, the amazing durability of the American system over 235 years is the primary reason for optimism about the American future. The glory of the United States does not reside in the untold wonders of its people—that is politician-speak—but rather in the flexibility of the American system. The nation has weathered crises far worse than the present crisis and come out the better for them eventually because the spine of the American system is at once sufficiently ironclad and sufficiently flexible to bend, but not break—the exception, of course, being the Civil War, when that spine was fractured and, at enormous cost, put into traction and forced back into alignment.

That system, the direct outgrowth of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, extends beyond the country’s political structures to an idea that courses through all its public and private institutions—the primacy of the individual. The centrality of the individual over the collective in the American system has not been cost-free for this nation and its people. Taken to extremes, it can destroy communities and induce a hunger for the material and a taste for the superficial that can corrode the character of the nation’s citizenry. Still, the American system has functioned because its revolutionary acknowledgement of the primacy of the individual also confers on the individual a sense of responsibility for himself, his loved ones, and his community that is unique in history.

The Root of All Oakland

The Root of All Oakland

Deb Saunder's from above link quoting an Oakland councilmen about that tiny violent group,

Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente is sick of hearing about how peaceful the majority of protesters were. "The reason the minority's here," he sputtered, is "the majority's here."

The majority of Occupy protesters aren't victims; they're enablers.

There was no positive political message. The goal of the general strike was supposed to be to "liberate Oakland and shut down the 1 percent." That's not positive. They want to shut down the city, but they don't want to get anything done. The strike didn't hurt Wall Street bankers or other big shots among the top 1 percent; it cut into the pockets of baristas and truck drivers.

Next time you're in a bank branch look around at the people who work there. Then imagine those same people in the building surrounded by lunatics in ninja outfits breaking the windows. What in the world is achieved by all of that? Not to mention those working at the bank a far more diverse crowd than found at most UU Churches.

Maybe you ought to apologize next time your at the bank if you've encouraged this mayhem.

Jim Wallis and Richard Land

Sojourners hasn't been filling my inbox with rubbish on #Occupy either. Instead I find Wallis and Land meeting at the National Press Club to the ... packed room of reporters demonstrated a high degree of interest in what the faith community’s role might be in the upcoming election, at least in the opinion of two Christian leaders who are usually on different sides of politics, but who still call each other friends.

Maybe ex-SDSer Wallis realizes from experience how far south negative and angry youthful energy can take politics. Instead, we get the hard work of Democracy, the tough argument and discernment that yields political solutions from Wallis here. A packed room of reporters comes to watch it too.

So why can't a leading UU do this? Spain's nice, but do European trips, or lip service to #Occupy build UU Churches? Will that bring people to us willing to do the hard work of building Churches?

Abdullah Saeed:The Islamic Case for Religious Liberty

Article | First Things

Rather than foolish exercises like #Occupy, tactics I suspect we UUs will find turned upon us someday in a GA by some faction of ourselves (go view the videos of #OccupyDC crashing he Americans for Prosperity meeting, I wish UUA would engage Muslims such as Abdullah Saeed here and build the shared Liberal values. First Things offers a forum for just that, while we run off with the nasty kids, swearing, and knocking people over.

What an embarrassment for a Church.

Occupy DC at Americans for Prosperity Dinner

Great bunch #OccupyDC knocking over the old ladies at AFP then wondering why they get run over protesting in the street. This was the same intervention where the #OccupyDC mom pushed her kids between cops and protesters during a scuffle.

Occupy Mom using her kids as human shields

Via The Blaze A mother using her children to block a door as part of #OccupyDC's seige of an Americans for Prosperity conference.



Update: Another POV.

Jean Quan Strikes Back on Occupy Oakland

Jean Quan Strikes Back on Occupy Oakland

Den Saunders writes, This may surprise some readers, but liberals often love it when I take on fringe leftie groups. They’re sick of lawlessness. Their sick of having trouble getting to work because of the protests. So keep it up, Occupy Oakland. Who knows? Maybe you’ll make a conservative out of Jean Quan.

Good story on #Occupy 's potential to build the next generation of NeoCons.

Hate Crimes At Queens Libraries and Jewish Temple

As a teen, once in a while I'd hear the Jews killed Christ from local hoodlums in the neigborhood. Now I hear more sophisticated voices, although they can lapse into some crude moments too, telling me while the world would certainly be better off without Israeli; which sounds a whole lot like the world would be better off without Jews to me.

Per below, things aren't getting better.

The ADL survey found that 15 percent of Americans - nearly 35 million adults - hold deeply anti-Semitic views. That's up three percent from 2009.

"The fact that anti-Semitic attitudes have increased significantly over the past two years is troubling and raises questions about the impact of broader trends in America - financial insecurity, social uncertainty, the decline in civility and the growth of polarization - on attitudes toward Jews," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

19-percent answered "probably true" to the statement "Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street," an increase from 14-percent in 2009.


Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/hate-crimes-at-queens-libraries-and-jewish-temple-20111104-lgf#ixzz1cprl0iEY

Hate Crimes At Queens Libraries and Jewish Temple: MyFoxNY.com

Mike McNally: Occupy London Mob Takes Aim at Mammon, hits God

What if Jesus had been born in an #Occupy camp? Via Mike McNally on COE made fools.

What has been especially dispiriting about the episode is the willingness with which so many senior church figures have offered themselves up as useful idiots for the Occupy movement. When he resigned from St Paul’s, Dr Fraser, in what was almost a parody of “trendy liberal vicar” speak, told the media that he could imagine Jesus being born in the protest camp.

If he had, he would likely have been brought up an atheist. Those protestors who have a semblance of an ideology, as opposed to those who are just there for the party, are leftists, and it’s doubtful that more than a handful will have ever seen the inside of a church. But they’ve cleverly leveraged the moral authority of the church, such as it is these days, to lend respectability to their cause (a “What would Jesus do?” banner is prominent in every TV news report).

Why church officials worship these protesters No attempt to depict Occupy London as a Second Coming of angry Jesuses can disguise the fact that it remains a shallow moral gesture.

From Frank Furedi via Spike,

Why is there such widespread endorsement of a movement that appears to lack principles and objectives? The main reason is that this movement provides a vehicle through which everyone can recycle their own agendas. Everyone from the angry taxpayer to the lifestyle anarchist can join together and let off steam against various targets.

Furedi lays #OWS on the coach and gives the best insight I've read about what's going on inside supporters heads. He says it'll be with us a long time. I suspect he's right. With us until the left can recover itself and redefine what it means to be left post Obama-administration's failure. Agendas after agenda, public and covert, ground away until only reality left if OWS dare look. That'll be a grievous moment to watch too.

RealClearPolitics - The Lawless Heart of OWS

RealClearPolitics - The Lawless Heart of OWS:

Lowry above getting at the heart of OWS. What a fiasco for UUA to lend our good name too.

They shut down the fifth-busiest container port in America. Why would anyone acting in the name of people harmed by the Great Recession interrupt the flow of commerce, especially at a hub employing dockworkers and truckers? It was a symbolic blow against our economic system as such, and by definition a radical act.

It’s become clear during the past few weeks that there is a lawlessness at the heart of Occupy Wall Street. It has created little ungoverned spaces in cities around the country, into which homeless people, addicts, and criminals have flowed. It believes that the rules of a fundamentally corrupt system shouldn’t apply to it, and its self-image depends on conflict with the agents of that system, the police.

Read the whole thing for Lowry's comparison to the civil disobediance of the Civil Rights movment.

After 44 months, Tony Rezko asks to be sentenced to time served - Chicago Sun-Times

After 44 months, Tony Rezko asks to be sentenced to time served - Chicago Sun-Times

I'd give him time severed if he'd just give us all the details on this,

In making his case to get out, he claims he was a philanthropic businessman who spent 20 years in Chicago politics supporting politicians like Blagojevich and Obama because he was impressed they could have influence in the American political system.

“The underlying motivation for Mr. Rezko’s political activities was never ideology, greed, or the desire for power,” the filing says. “Rather, Mr. Rezko was genuinely fascinated by the notion that a poor young immigrant like himself could participate in the political process, influence politicians, and impact policy. To Mr. Rezko, the idea that a black man could be elected mayor of Chicago, or that a man named Blagojevich could be considered a presidential candidate, was proof of the greatness of America’s political system.”

Participated, influence, impact, yep, I want to hear the full story please. Let Tony speak. If giving him time served the way, go for it. He owes Americans the whole story.

Lawyers said Rezko’s own success in business led him to branch out and support numerous national, state and local politicians.

“And, of course, Mr. Rezko was a friend, advisor, and early supporter of a young politician named Barack Obama,” they wrote. “ ... Mr. Rezko viewed fundraising, like voting, as a way to have his voice heard, along with the voices of the many racial, ethnic, and religious minorities whom he encouraged to participate in the political process over the years.”

He sure did! So lets here the story.

Anti-capitalist Movement Turns Violent - By Stanley Kurtz (So is Unitarian Universalism an anti-Capitalist faith?)

Anti-capitalist Movement Turns Violent - By Stanley Kurtz - The Corner - National Review Online

Kurtz above from NRO notes: So an “anti-capitalist” leader of the demonstration did oppose the violence, but he also aimed to close the port of Oakland as part of an effort to jam up a system he hopes someday to overturn.

So is Unitarian Universalism an anti-Capitalist movement? At least to the extent UUA's endorsed such efforts as shutting down the Port of Oakland?

At left the cover of Bishop Montgomery's Communism and Christianism. I bought my copy from Murf at the IWW bookstore on Lincoln Ave in Chicago probably in 1970 or 71, so over forty years ago. Originally published in 1920, Montgomery's ideas were even older.

Is this what Unitarian Universalism's plunging backwards into time at full UUA gallop?  Shutting down American commerce?  Surrounding a Bank and probably scaring the heck out of its staff (and a more diverse staff then found in most UU Churches I bet.)? 

What a heck of a thing to be proud of.  We look fools.

Dumber than the fools from #OccupyRockford who proudly sent me this. 

Dumber than Bishop Montgomery who at least didn't have Le livre noir du Communisme to inform him.

We do, and the God's of History won't be kind when they look back and pass verdict.

What Have Protesters Done to Oakland's Beloved Whole Foods?

What Have Protesters Done to Oakland's Beloved Whole Foods?:

A handful of anarchists besieged an Oakland Whole Foods a few minutes ago, after false rumors circulated that managers had threatened employees with termination if they participated in today's Occupy Oakland general strike. Whole Foods hasn't seen such strife since the Great Kombucha Shortage of 2010!

One window was broken and a giant "STRIKE" spray-painted across others, as Bay Area shoppers who were happily browsing locally-sourced, organic produce were trapped
by members of a locally-sourced, organic protest

And if the rumor had been true? Then it would have been ok? Video below from Putin's TV,



Here's the attack on the B of A. Having worked with glazers and plate glass, I don't advise this. It's a good way to get your head lopped off if a piece comes crashing down on you if you really break the window.

MEMRI: Iranian Students Hold Demonstration in Support of "Occupy Wall Street": Wall Street Is a Symbol of Evil

Iranian Basji casting their lot with #OWS, MEMRI: Iranian Students Hold Demonstration in Support of "Occupy Wall Street": Wall Street Is a Symbol of Evil

View the video above. A bit from the transcript below,

Student Basij Representative Mostafa Hozouri: I have three questions for Clinton.

One: Why does the US, which claims to be a leader in freedom and human rights, oppress the protests of its own people?

Two: Why do the authorities confiscate the heaters from the protestors, who are in the cold?

And three: Why do they beat some protestors, in a way for them to need brain surgery?
[...]

Reporter: Iranian students, talking in support of the Wall Street movement, say that Wall Street is a symbol of evil and the root of all troubles the US has had with the rest of the world.

Movements | Religion and Other Curiosities

Movements Religion and Other Curiosities:

Peter Berger's column on movements. Should be read along w/ Linda Laskowski's post on UUA pondering just what it is (hopefully not a movement along Berger's lines).

Then this wonderful take away from Berger on the ossified interests of today's left at #Occupy.

Here and there one can still see grandpa himself, no doubt swallowing pills supplied by Medicare (thanks to George W. Bush), his sparse grey hair defiantly tied in a ponytail. It was reported that a lending library was set up for the campers in downtown Manhattan. The books most in demand were by Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky (who said that young people today have no interest in ancient history?).

As certified ex-60's/70's lefto long past Zinn, I find the younger crowd down at Chicago's America's Future Foundation a much more interesting bunch.

Google mapping the homes of OWS protestors

Occupy Wall Street | Arrest Records | Mansions | Housing | The Daily Caller

DC runs the stats on addresses of those arrested at OWS in NYC and google maps some of the homes of the 99 percenters. A well heeled crowd of protestors.

Those folks in #OccupyChicago who were shouting out Rahm Emanuel's address ought to ponder what Zillow's wrought.

Thomas Sowell: Greed is no explanation whatever

Thomas Sowell via RealClearPolitics - Democracy Versus Mob Rule:

I like Sowell's take on Greed below,

Among the favorite sloppy words used by the shrill mobs in the streets is "Wall Street greed." But even if you think people in Wall Street, or anywhere else, are making more money than they deserve, "greed" is no explanation whatever.

"Greed" says how much you want. But you can become the greediest person on earth and that will not increase your pay in the slightest. It is what other people pay you that increases your income.

Love and Justice

I bought a used copy for six bucks off Amazon.

Can one stand on the side of Love and Justice at the same time, and sometimes not? If not, does one, or should one, have a preference with which stand?

Only Niebhur knows I think.

Rockford Police Take Penis at Occupy Protest

From some of the knuckleheads our UUA's cast their lot with. Rockford cops show a lot of class. #OccupyRockford looks like College Frat Boys.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rockford Police Take Penis at Occupy Protest

Rockford IL, On the Morning of October 29th police confiscated an 88 inch wooden structure in front of the Rockford Federal Courthouse. Occupy Wall Street protesters arrived that morning to voice their concerns on a host of federal policy issues and were just in time for the newly constructed Rockford Federal Courthouse dedication ceremony. Numerous local politicians were in attendance including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Congressman Don Manzullo.

Tensions rose mid-protest when youthful occupy supporters arrived on skate boards bearing the 88inch wooden structure with the names “Dick Durbin” and “Dong Manzullo” painted along the length of the structure.

Rockford police immediately responded by confiscating the structure, sighting city ordinances prohibiting the erection of structures on city streets.

“I think it’s a sad day when cops can just grab your Penis in public!”, says occupy supporter Joe Downey. Police were further perturbed when they attempted to load the 88inch penis shaped structure in to a patty wagon and it would not fit. The patty wagon was eventually forced to roll away with its doors open and the penis shaped structure hanging out of the back of the vehicle.

Though no arrests or citations were made at the protest, the penis shaped structure remains in police custody. Continued inquiry has revealed that the case is now being looked into by the states attorney’s office and Assistant Deputy Jim Brun says the case is currently under review and pending further investigation.

For more Info contact: Eric Howanietz (815)621-5170
ericmoveon@gmail.com
Penis confiscation photo by: Vanessa Raab
Banner photo by: Elizabeth Lindquist