Please sign! It's still important.
The world - especially the Fox-News-ignorant world - needs to see that military grade pepper spray is not as harmless as this brainless bint would have you believe.
A Poem - not mine.
Australia
When the shearing sheds are silent and the stock camps fallen quiet
When the gidgee coals no longer glow across the outback night
And the bush is forced to hang a sign, ‘Gone broke and won’t be back’
And spirits fear to find a way beyond the beaten track
When harvesters stand derelict upon the wind swept plains
And brave hearts pin their hopes no more on chance of loving rains
When a hundred outback settlements are ghost towns overnight
When we’ve lost the drive and heart we had to once more see us right
When 'Pioneer’ means a stereo and 'Digger’ some backhoe
And the 'Outback’ is behind the house. there’s nowhere else to go
And 'Anzac’ is a biscuit brand and probably foreign owned
And education really means brainwashed and neatly cloned
When you have to bake a loaf of bread to make a decent crust
And our heritage once enshrined in gold is crumbling to dust
And old folk pay their camping fees on land for which they fought
And fishing is a great escape; this is until you’re caught
When you see our kids with Yankee caps and resentment in their eyes
And the soaring crime and hopeless hearts are no longer a surprise
When the name of RM Williams is a yuppie clothing brand
Not a product of our heritage that grew off the land
When offering a hand makes people think you’ll amputate
And two dogs meeting in the street is what you call a 'Mate’
When 'Political Correctness’ has replaced all common sense
When you’re forced to see it their way, there’s no sitting on the fence
Yes one day you might find yourself an outcast in this land
Perhaps your heart will tell you then, 'I should have made a stand’
Just go and ask the farmers that should remove all doubt
Then join the swelling ranks who say, “Don’t Sell Australia Out!”
Author unknown
—Graffitti, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, 1997
—Miles Vorkosigan | Cryoburn | Lois McMaster Bujold.
Sometimes, I Dispair.
There are times when the human race amazes me. There are also times, like this morning, when I just want to leave the race and sit on the sidelines until all this unholy malarkey is good and over with.
People elected Obama in the hopes that he would be able to fix things. Then the people woke up and realised every last politician has been sold to corporations. Now we expect a politician [sold to the highest bidder] to fix things? Um. He can’t. Sorry. He’s legally owned by the corporations who paid for his campaign. He has to do what they tell him to.
Especially when that means not saying a word or doing a thing about the actual problem - the corporations who bought him.
Is anyone getting the irony that corporate greed essentially put a slave into the white house? And they’ve been doing it for years, not just with Obama. Black, white, brindle, male or female… whoever the POTUS is, if they are funded into office by corporations, they are a slave to corporations.
You are bought and sold, America.
You should be angry.
Right-wingers should be angry at the establishment because corporate-endorsed bully-boys have abused at least one pregnant woman and caused the baby to miscarry. According to your own abortion-is-wrong gospel, those police officers are as good -or bad- as murderers. You should also be angry because corporations are the worst kinds of welfare cheats. They own most of the country, they earn most of the wealth, yet they pay no taxes and get massive handouts from the government teat! That’s got to be worse than thousands of welfare mothers. Come on!
Left-wingers who somehow don’t support the occupy movement [statistically, they must exist] should be angry because the very rights America was founded on are being routinely ground into the dirt. They destroyed books in those camp raids. They deliberately smashed computers in a vain attempt to silence the people. You have a right to be as mad as hell! Stand up!
Anyone who is not rich and somehow believes this is not their problem because they’re “getting along okay” is only doing so because it’s just a matter of time before some company decides to fuck them over. If you don’t do something now, the corporations will have bought the right to do so. If you honestly believe that playing by the rules gets you ahead, then why are you not as wealthy as your corporate overlords? Blame yourself? Why not? That’s what the corporations keep telling you to do.
Gotta do what Massuh tells you.
Yes, I just did the race card. Yes, I just called you a slave. No, I don’t care what colour you are. No, I don’t care how you worked your ass off to fulfil your American Dream.
The people who own your rights are changing the rules of the game. They are cheating. They are buying your voice and freedoms and stealing justice from all around you and you apparently don’t give a shit because you’re “doing okay”.
Wow.
The only thing America can really do at this stage in the game is this:
Stop. Feeding. The Beast.
Don’t use your credit card. Hell, pay off your credit card and leave a little extra in there. That really annoys them. Move your money to a credit union. Make gifts for this Yule season. Spend your time. Use your love. Make an effort.
It’s the last thing they expect from you.
It’s the last thing they want.
Starve the Beast.
Stop giving them your hard-earned money and start valuing yourself.
Perhaps, together, America can buy its freedom back.
It’s my only hope.
Slogans From My Back-Brain
I keep thinking of things to chant, even though I’m currently unable to participate.
Stuff like this:
All day! All night! Occupy our rights!
We want (clap clap) us free (clap clap) to build a better e-con-o-me!
You had your fun! You got your bonus! Now pay us back! The banks owe us!
Yeah, the last one’s a little complicated for chanting and marching. It’s more of a last minute thing. I’ll doubtless think of more, long about 1AM…
I should share more when they’re ready.
A modest proposal for OWS.
Give the CEO’s these kinds of stocks and bonds >:)
Cherry Lollipop: I know this has been going around, but I want to reiterate
The pepper spray used at UC Davis was 0.7 rating. The normal formulation for police is 0.2. 0.7 is military-grade stuff. There are only two formulations more powerful. One is used in training exercises for the Marines. The other? Primarily intended for use on bears. You normally use pepper…
(via luchagcaileag)
Open Source Freedom
I had one of those ideas that can only get better the more you share it, so I thought I’d throw this out there. I hereby give it free and clear to the world. Just please, if you implement it, keep it honest and transparent.
What is Open Source Freedom?
Open Source Freedom, or OSF, is an organisation and system by which citizens help other citizens help each other out of debt. Not for any kind of profit, but for the simple notion that debt is a form of legalised slavery.
The money you put in stays that amount of money. At any time it is not working, you can have that money back.
OSF is not a new system of handouts. It is citizens giving citizens a hand.
How Does Open Source Freedom Work?
People in debt sign up for a hand and state honestly how they got into debt and how they plan to repay the citizens who help them out. People who have a little money to spare pool it through OSF to help out a citizen in need.
When your money is given to OSF, you can check on its status by logging in and seeing how it’s doing. You can browse through the stories of people in need and check a tick box saying “I would like to help free this person”. You can check as many tick boxes as you like. There are no limits to the good you can do.
Once you sign up for help from OSF, you can log in to check the progress of help coming to you. You can see how much is pledged to help you out, and how many people are helping you. Once the pledges meet your debt, the money you need becomes yours to borrow!
Remember, it’s never yours to keep. You can pay off the debt you owe to the interest-charging corporation, and pay back OSF at your own speed. Just the amount you owe. No interest charged. Ever.
You can pay your debt back at a dollar a week if you want to, but remember, it is other people’s money. The sooner it’s back to OSF, the better for everyone!
We want to help everyone get out of debt, not just you.
What if I Can’t Afford to Give Open Source Freedom Money?
If you don’t have any money to spare, maybe you have time to spare. You can become an OSF volunteer! Based on your skill set, you can help represent OSF in numerous fields.
OSF needs people to run it. People to maintain the website, people to keep tabs on whose money is doing what. People to check up on people taking a long time to pay OSF back and see how they’re doing. People to make certain that nobody is doing anything unethical. Even people to create advertising or awareness art for OSF.
What if it Turns Out I Paid for a Bad Debt?
Not everyone is honest. There are some people who will try to take advantage of a system like OSF.
Since this is a system geared towards freedom, some serious decisions have to be made. You, and the other citizens who have lost your money to a bad debtor have a say! You can vote together on whether or not to declare the debtor as “lost”.
Once a debtor is “lost”, OSF takes out a loan in that debtor’s name, with the information they provided, and returns the money to the people who lost it. The “lost” debtor no longer receives any help from OSF, and is back on the treadmill with all the other debt slaves.
I know, it’s not nice. But neither is taking people’s money, given in good faith, and never giving it back.
Who is in Charge of My Money?
You are. If money is speech, then you should have a say about what gets done with it. All OSF does is bring it together to help people.
What Can I Do Once I’m Free?
It’s your choice. OSF would like to see you give a little towards helping another citizen get free, but if you want to walk away, we won’t make pests of ourselves.
The most you’d see from us is an email on the anniversary of your freedom, congratulating you and asking politely for you to share a little for someone else who is in the same trouble you once were.
What if There are No More Debts to Pay?
Wouldn’t that be wonderful? OSF would love to see that day arrive. However, there are still lots of good things to be done with your money.
OSF can take on Green Projects, to help free the entire planet from its dependency on petrochemicals! Fund local factories to produce products for the people and by the people! Subsidise organic farming or fund some research. Perhaps even create some Open Source Medical Care!
Wouldn’t it be nice?