Time To Tell A Big Bank ‘Good-Bye’
“Occupy” movements throughout the United States are becoming more numerous each day. The masses are talking and yelling, which is encouraging.
They are finally awakening to a world awash in greed and war and no conscience.
The masses have begun a dangerous trek amid police brutality and acts of inhumanity brought about by our corporate-owned governments, both national and state, which have dealt an inside hand to Americans and are glorifying in the defeat of American ideals.
Their bluffery and buffoonery must be attacked.
Occupationists have made a solid first step in trying to persusade the 99 percent of Americans not privy to great wealth and power to join them in shouting down the big boys.
This, of course, will ultimately not be enough.
A not-too-distant future step must involve taking down a major corporation. A specific one or ones.
This will not be an act of violence, since corporations are not human or animal.
They are political structures designed to bring wealth to stockholders.
There is nothing wrong with individuals deciding that they will not do business with a corporation.
An example might be for occupationists to, for instance, choose a specific financial institution and initiate a “run” on that bank, withdrawing all their funds, closing all of their accounts, and refinancing all of their loans. They could put their money in smaller community banks and attempt to bring down the monster. Occupationists could encourage others to do the same thing, while researching the bank to determine which big corporations do business with that institution and provide “no business” runs against those businesses, as well. An international effort would have to be foretaken, since the United States is becoming a small player in some globalists’ financial empires. We alone are not enough.
To bring down one giant, involving no violence, would be a giant victory in providing undeniable strength to the movement and going beyond words and into action to turn things around.
Members of the 99 percent who are reluctant to cooperate would, of course, be proof that they are slaves to the debauchery caused by these corporations. The influence of the mainstream media to their absurd way of thinking will show that they have been brainwashed to not think outside the box….or even for themselves. They are owned.
The recent violence caused by paid-for-hire anti-constitutionalist officers has been prevalent in many cities where free speech advocates have suffered unprovoked attacks.
These baboons in blue illustrate how far our country has degenerated.
But the anti-war messages are being heard, if not by the corporate bosses, at least by other parts of the 99 percent who are daily becoming enraged at how our elected officials have plundered this country and others at the sway of the corporate world for enormous profits, while the rest of us barely get by even while working multiple jobs while our children are becoming victims of officials pushing to “dumb them down.”
Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Banks, Wall Street, and others have vulturized Americans too long.
The time is now to do something about it.
We encourage more of the 99 percent to help, if only to close that bank account and tell the thieves to take a walk, all the way to their cell block.
— W. Leon Smith
The Dark House
The following article appeared in the October 1990 edition of Underground Texas, a newspaper I founded years ago which has vanished from publication. Its message is still pertinent today — The Trenchwalker.
By Agnes Carruthers
UNDERGROUND TEXAS
Sunset is like a candle just before it goes out. It’s pretty; but, oh, how it turns dark so fast. The dark is cold and the shadows are not my friends anymore.
I hate it when it’s windy because of the sounds. The north wind sweeps the vines next to the kitchen and the south wind vibrates the front door – just enough to make noises.
Edgar, I wish you were here.
If someone broke in, I could fight ‘em some, but I don’t know about my arthritis. I don’t know how well I would hold up. I ache so.
My, such a pretty pink and orange. I still like the bright light blue sky the best, though – without a cloud in it. Neighbors’ houses are starting to lose their color. It’s getting late and there’s a bank building up. Wish it would wait ‘til morning to thunderstorm and rain.
While I’ve got light, I better eat. Wish I still had Tabby to keep me company. Edgar sure liked that cat. Was the only cat he ever let stay in the house.
It’s already getting dark in here. Days are really shorter. These cornflakes are pretty good, but I’m getting kind of tired of them, and I wish the milk would last just a little longer. Never could cotton to blinky milk. Mama said when I was a young’un I just wouldn’t drink it and that’s been 81 years, so I guess I’ll never change.
Sometimes I wish I was blind. They say if you’re blind, your ears become like eyes, and that might help me get through the night. I shouldn’t think such things, though.
Used to, when I did the dishes, it would take a lot of time and I didn’t like it. Now I just rinse my bowl and spoon. It’s so quick and easy, but I don’t like it. Sometimes you don’t know when you have it good. How I wish the kids lived close enough so I could do for them and we could talk and reminisce and it would be like happy times again.
Wouldn’t be whole without Edgar in his recliner, listening to everything we say and smiling. I wish Edgar was still here. And my cat. It’s so quiet. Even the quiet is loud!
They say you don’t feel things as much when you get older…that by then you’re used to pain. I don’t mind the arthritis so much, but it does get awfully bad sometimes. The pain I have trouble toleratin’ is the quiet in this house! And then the noise. Little noises that are so abrupt they set my heart to poundin’. I’m so jumpy without my warm gray cat with the gentle purr and the white paws.
The kids are off livin’ their own lives and they’re barely makin’ it. I just wish Edgar was still here and our plans were in place.
Why did the one thing we worked so hard for get so mixed up? We weren’t going to burden the kids and we’re not. We saved so hard and made so many sacrifices. How could anyone be so cruel as that insurance company. We aren’t machines…we’re people!
It’s not fittn’ to set blame, but they warted Edgar to death. If they’d a kept their promises, he wouldn’t of lost sleep and stayed in a worried state! That made him worse. He felt like such a failure, and he was concerned so about me. He knew he was dyin’ and nothing could be done about it, and he knew I’d be alone. Nothing could be done about that either.
I wonder if I will just lie down and sleep tonight, or will I fret and let all the wrong that that insurance company did to us go ‘round and ‘round in my head. I need to get ‘em out of my head.
Why did they send me that letter, telling me how good they did last year? Sure, I got it by mistake. They’re makin’ their stockholders rich by not honorin’ their promises, that’s what they’re doing.
I wish I could turn a light on. It’s getting dark. Electric company raised rates again. If I don’t keep my bill down, I’ll have to dip into my burying money. Can’t keep Edgar’s grave the way I want to as it is, and I miss my cat. Hope Mrs. Cummings’ granddaughter takes care of Tabby and he catches enough rats in their barn to earn his keep. He probably likes it there, but I sure miss him here. Wish I could have afforded to keep feedin’ him. He fit so nicely in my lap and was such a good friend.
Can’t read anymore at night ‘cause it takes light. TV hasn’t been on in so long! Bet the neighbors think all I do is watch TV at night, what with the lights out, and I wish I could. That would pass the time.
When it’s daylight it seems I spend my whole time going back over and over my money. Social Security check just isn’t enough! Ain’t supposed to be and I never expected it to be. Edgar and I had it all worked out, till the insurance company let us down and messed things up for us.
We didn’t like payin’ ‘em, but we did religiously. We didn’t need ‘em till last year. They took our money for 30 years. Then when we needed ‘em to pay for Edgar’s medical expenses, they said he didn’t qualify. Everyone said we needed to hire us a lawyer, but that’s a gamble, too, and Edgar was so tired of the fight and not up to it. He wouldn’t have lasted. I wish he hadn’t a died with this thing unresolved. He was upset and hurt and couldn’t believe this had happened to us. They really walked all over us and there was nothing we could do that would have worked in time.
I try to think of happier times, but when I do I get so sad and can’t keep the tears away. There were many happy, joyful times in this house, but it seems like a hollow shell now…almost like a tomb.
Maybe I could turn just one light on for a little while. I could read some and my eyes might get tired and I could go on to sleep. But if I turn on the light, I won’t be able to pay for my burying. That’s one promise Edgar and I made to ourselves. The kids won’t be saddled with having to do for us in our old age, and that includes burying.
If I hold on to what I get and keep my expenses down, I can do that and the insurance company can’t take that last ounce of dignity away from me, so I’ll sit in the dark and pray for morning.
The moon is my friend. It sees me through the night and smiles down at me. My, how I loved to look up at the stars when I was a little girl. It was mysterious and dark and so vast. It would conjure up feelings of wonder and even warmth. People for centuries have looked upon these same stars and pronounced their hopes and dreams to the heavens.
More of my friends belong to the universe than to this earth. They have passed over and triumphed and are out there telling me it will be all right – that the old ways still exist up there ‘cause they’re up there to see it.
This earth is so cold and the people are not the same as they used to be. I often wonder if humanity is vanishing away and taking our good people with it.
I’ll gaze at the moon and it’ll give me strength to make it through another night. That moon has been my friend since I was a little girl. My mama and papa looked up at it for hope and so did Edgar and I. We made our plans in its wake and at different ages whispered to it our dreams. That was a long time ago and only yesterday.
This dark house has ceased being a home, with warmth and joy. It is more a relic, as am I.
Mine is not the only dark house in the neighborhood. I wonder how many other lonely people, just like me, there are on this street, in this town, everywhere? I wish I could comfort them and we could see ourselves through the night together.
It’s so sad. I would be so nice if we could wait for the morning light together and talk about a time when only old folks were lonely.
Texas Public Education Being Corrupted On Purpose
Officials Really Don’t Care About The Future Of Texas Children
To Governor Rick Perry, Members of the Texas Senate and House of Representatives and the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE):
Okay, we Texans get the message. Most of you do NOT want Texas Public Education to succeed. It is obvious by your actions that educating our children is the last thing on your minds. Most of you are contemptible!
You want our children to fail, unable to become well educated and remove any attempt of successful employed at top-level jobs. It is clear that none of you want this. You rather want to reach out to other states who have paid for their children’s education and then bring them on into Texas and hire them so that Texas does NOT have to pay for educated a work force. Let the other states do that even though the Texas Constitution says that the state is responsible to provide a quality education for Texas children. You officials simply do NOT want to spend the money to make public education successful. You do NOT want to develop the smaller classes and quality programs to make public education a success.
Governor Perry, Texas Legislators and Members of the SBOE: you should all be ashamed of yourselves! But you have no honor or conscience regarding the future of our children.
Historical documentation must and should be factual and NOT political perspectives. While politics plays a role in history, historical evidence and factual data must take precedence over contemporary political agendas. By letting your political constituents dictate how you develop history curriculum and textbooks is detrimental to educating our children and it is just damn wrong! Furthermore, your political agendas are an embarrassment to the state of Texas and a detriment to public education.
You all are hoping that when public schools fail in Texas, and of course they will under the current ill effort you provide, the Supreme Court will permit a school voucher program for Christian private schools. This is the root objective here in the state of Texas. You all want public education to fail and enable private Christian and Charter schools to succeed.
What you are doing is NOT educating our children. You are spreading propaganda and brainwashing our children. You are ensuring their failure in life.
Too many American heroes have fought and died for the right of real and proper education. In my mind, you are traitors to the United States and its citizenry. You are all corrupt and you are endangering the education, lives, and future of our Texas children.
As a 100 percent Disabled Vietnam Veteran, I believe you are working against the U.S. Constitution and you deserve to serve time in prison as traitors to American education and the rights of students and teachers to learn and present true education.
Stop playing politics and games with our children’s education and future lives. It is your constitutional responsibility to provide every child with a quality public education. This past year you have reduced the budget of public education by $4 BILLION!!! Such actions scream louder than words. Texans should be up in arms against Governor Perry, Texas Legislators, and the SBOE!!!
Instead, the people remain as sheep while their children are being led to slaughter. You all are criminals to the state of Texas and villains to our children. It is obvious that you all want public education to fail and for all your premeditated and un-Christian efforts, you wonderful Christians should rot in Hell for eternity. One day you will get what you all deserve and hopefully that day may come soon.
Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.
Outsourcing The Dirty Work: Seattle, Horsemeat & Eye Trouble
http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2011/10/outsourcing-dirty-work-seattle.html
Just three days before I was supposed to go on a two-week camping trip through the Northwest, my eyes started to burn and hurt. And then my vision started to get blurry. Yikes! So I immediately got all upset and rushed off to the doctor — but also started comparing my own vision problems with those of America’s vision problems as well. I am not alone. America’s vision has also gotten pretty blurry recently.
For far too long, we Americans have sat back and placidly allowed just one percent of our number to own 99 percent of our money. And, as a friend of mine in Poland recently wrote me, “Democracy is incompatible with capitalism as long as the three richest people in a ‘democracy’ have more money than the gross national income of the world’s 48 poorest countries.”
So I went off to my optometrist, got acupunctured, bought herbal eye remedies, stuck prescription drops in my eyes, packed up my computer and went camping anyway — hoping that my vision (and my country’s vision too) would somehow miraculously clear up.
The first stop on my tour of the Northwest was Seattle and the famous Pike Place Market, where someone had told me that they sold horsemeat. According to traditional Chinese medicine, eating horsemeat is good for one’s eyes. But I couldn’t find any there. Apparently you have to go to Asia or Europe to find horsemeat to eat. All they sold in Seattle was salmon.
But that’s okay. I really didn’t want to eat horsemeat anyway. Who the freak would want to eat horsemeat? Horses are our friends!
“Here’s the story on horsemeat,” said someone I met while drinking coffee in Seattle (everyone drinks lots of coffee in Seattle, BTW). “It is illegal to slaughter horses in the United States — so they are all rounded up and shipped off to immense slaughterhouses in Canada.”
Hey, that sounds like America’s foreign policy for the last decade or so. Outsourcing slaughter. The Multi-National Coalition helped the Pentagon slaughter folks in Iraq. Israeli corporatists help American corporatists slaughter women and children in Palestine. UN “peacekeepers” help the Bush-Obama administration slaughter Afghans. And NATO is happily helping American oil companies slaughter civilians in Libya. Plus American corporatists are now keeping their fingers crossed that Israeli corporatists will soon be slaughtering Iranians for them, too.
Like America outsources its slaughter of horses, the corporatist “one percent” that now owns Washington also outsources its slaughter of people.
But not all Americans think that the butchery of human beings — either here or abroad — is a swell idea. And in the city that gave us Grey’s Anatomy and the Space Needle and Starbuck’s, “Occupy Seattle” is now in full operation — right down the street from the historic 1999 WTO protests.
And then the next day I went off to visit “Occupy Spokane” too. Perhaps America is finally getting its vision back after all.
PS: In the misty Cascade mountains lies the small town of Leavenworth — not Leavenworth, Kansas, home of the famous prison where Bush, Cheney, Obama and half of Wall Street clearly belong, but Leavenworth, Washington — a cute tourist replica of some small town in Bavaria.
When the railroads no longer stopped in Leavenworth, Washington, and the logging shut down, people there were hurting so they thought of a gimmick to get themselves through the hard times — and went Bavarian. Now Leavenworth is a regional tourist attraction with an Octoberfest and a Christmas-tree-lighting festival and everything. See? You don’t have to make war on strangers in order to survive economically these days.
But I gotta admit that the “Occupy Leavenworth” movement consisted mainly of me. Everyone else was too busy wearing lederhosen and eating bratwurst.
****
Andy Borowitz does it again — puts that whole Wall Street mess into perspective: Wrong People Arrested on Wall Street: Goldman Boss: ‘Thought They Were Finally Coming for Us’
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – Millions of Americans cheered the news on Friday that arrests had finally been made on Wall Street, but were soon disappointed to learn that the wrong people had been taken into custody. “I was like, finally they’re going to get those bastards,” said Tracy Klugian, 27, of Queens, New York, whose hopes were raised by an “Arrests on Wall Street” graphic he saw on CNN. “I guess it was too good to be true.”
NYPD spokesman Frank Hannefy explained the controversial decision to arrest Occupy Wall Street protesters while leaving the people who had brought the nation’s economy to the brink of Armageddon unmolested. “As far as soulless individuals pillaging the country for their personal gain, that’s none of our business,” he said. “But we’ll be damned if we’re going to let people march on newly seeded grass.”
At banking giant Goldman Sachs, chairman Lloyd Blankfein admitted that when he heard police sirens outside his building, “I was sure they were finally coming for us.” The Goldman chief said he started running up and down the halls “screaming at people to feed the document shredder like Chris Christie at a pie-eating contest.”
Mr. Blankfein said that he felt “palpable relief” when he realized that the police had come to arrest the protesters and were leaving the bankers at large. “That was a close one,” he said, chuckling. “We’re all going to have a good laugh about this over the weekend in the Caymans.”
http://www.borowitzreport.com/
November 2011 – Your Guide To The Stars
You can use the chart as a guide when looking at the night sky. The chart shows the sky as it will be at 9 p.m. on Nov. 1; 8 p.m. on Nov. 15; and 7 p.m. on Nov. 30.
Use This Chart In Viewing The November 2011 Night Sky
Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so the “N” representing north is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The center of the chart represents the portion of the sky you see if you look straight up.
To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.
Sun: Nov. 1 – Sunrise: 7:44 a.m.; Sunset: 6:39 p.m. (Daylight Time) / Nov. 15 – Sunrise: 6:56 a.m.; Sunset: 5:29 p.m. (Standard Time) / Nov. 30 – Sunrise: 7:09 a.m.; Sunset: 5:25 p.m. (Times exact for Waco, TX)
Moon: Nov. 2: 1st Quarter / Nov. 10: Full / Nov. 18: 3rd Quarter / Nov. 25: New
Night Sky Events
Held at arm’s length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º . The width of a full Moon is ½º .
November
Nov. 2 Wed. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
6 Sun., 2 a.m.: Set clocks back one hour to Standard Time.
9 Wed. evening: Venus, Mercury, Antares are setting in west southwest 30 minutes after sunset as Jupiter and the nearly full Moon are rising in the east.
11 Thu. morning: Mars is just to the left of the star Regulus high in the southeast and Saturn is to the upper left of the star Spica low in the east southeast.
10 Thu.: The full Moon is called the Frosty Moon, the Beaver Moon, and the Snow Moon.
14 Mon. evening: Mercury is at greatest eastern elongation 23º from the setting Sun.
17 Thu. morning: The Leonid meteor shower peaks but the Moon, which rises after midnight, will interfere with the best meteor-viewing hours of morning.
18 Fri. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.
18 & 19 Fri. & Sat. morning: The Moon passes by Mars and Regulus.
22 Tue. morning: The crescent Moon is just to the right of Spica (nearest) and Saturn low in the east.
25 Fri.: The new Moon produces a partial solar eclipse that won’t be visible in our part of the world.
26 Sat. early evening: Brilliant Venus and a thin crescent Moon are low in the west southwest with Mercury to their lower right.
Naked-eye Planets
The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth’s west-to-east rotation on its axis.
Evenings: Venus and Mercury (setting in west southwest), Jupiter (east)
Mornings: Saturn (very low in east); Mars (east), Jupiter (low in west)
* Mercury is near the southwestern horizon at dusk, just below Venus, most of the month.
* Venus is climbing higher daily, becoming the prominent “evening star” in the west.
* Mars is up in the east well before sunrise.
* Jupiter is well up in the east in the early evening and high in the west by morning.
* Saturn is beginning to emerge from the glare of the rising Sun low in the east at dawn.
Time Change Sun. Nov. 6, 2 a.m.: Before retiring Saturday night, set your clocks back (“fall back”) one hour to Standard Time.
Constellation of the Month: Pegasus the Flying Horse
Diagram: Constellation Pegasus
The constellation Pegasus the Winged (Flying) Horse is now high in the east in the evening sky. While it’s difficult to visualize a horse, with or without wings, the well-known Square of Pegasus is distinctive and easily recognized. Four reasonably bright stars form an almost perfect square large enough that your fist, held at arm’s length, will easily fit inside. (Your fist spans some 10 degrees while the square’s sides extend nearly 15 degrees.)
Jupiter, the brightest object in the east, is now well placed to assist in identifying the great square. Around 8 p.m., Jupiter is 30 degrees (three fist-widths) above the eastern horizon, and Pegasus is another three fists above Jupiter.
Although called the Square of Pegasus, only three of the stars are in Pegasus. The square’s brightest star, Alpheratz (lower left), is the brightest star in the constellation Andromeda the Princess. The stars extending upward from the square (see diagram) represent Pegasus’ neck and head. Other than the great square, Pegasus has little to offer without the assistance of binoculars or a telescope.
Pegasus in Greek Mythology
Image: Bellerophon riding Pegasus the Winged Horse. Illustration by Mary Hamilton Frye in Hamilton Wright Mabie’s Myths That Every Child Should Know (1914)
With its ability to fly, Pegasus the Winged Horse had a prominent role in the rescue of Princess Andromeda by Perseus the Hero. Chained to a remote island, the beautiful princess was to be devoured by Cetus the Sea Monster as punishment for her mother’s vanity. To save her, Perseus needed quick transportation, faster than any boat could take him, as well as a means for subduing the sea monster.
To his good fortune, Athena, goddess of virginity, provided both. A beautiful woman named Medusa had been seduced by Poseidon, god of the seas, in Athena’s temple. For desecrating her temple, Athena turned Medusa into a Gorgon, a dreadful creature with venomous snakes in place of her hair, and banished her to a cave. She was so hideous that all who gazed upon her were petrified with fear and turned to stone. Athena told Perseus to find Medusa, cut off her head, and show it to the sea monster who would turn to stone and sink into the sea.
That solved the monster problem, but what about transportation? Well, Athena thought of everything. When Perseus severed Medusa’s head, she being pregnant from her affair with Poseidon, out of her blood arose the fully grown winged horse. Perseus then rode Pegasus over the sea where, using Medusa’s head, he dealt with the sea monster, and proceeded to the island where he rescued Andromeda, his wife-to-be.
Pegasus, although a horse, was the offspring of Medusa, a mortal woman, and Poseidon, a god, thus he was partly mortal and partly divine. Following his service to Perseus, he was captured by another mythical hero, the mortal Bellerophon, and went on to other adventures, including the slaying of the people-eating Chimera, a creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake. (My those Greeks had morbid imaginations!)
As seems so often with the powerful, Bellerophon’s successes went to his head, and he foolishly decided to have Pegasus fly him to Mount Olympus, home of the gods. But since he wasn’t a god, Zeus, the king of the gods, wouldn’t allow it. He had Pegasus throw Bellerophon off whereupon he fell back to Earth. Pegasus, being partly divine, was permitted to enter the godly mountain where he spent his remaining days carrying Zeus’ lightening bolts across the sky. For his faithful service, Zeus eventually placed Pegasus in the night sky where we see him to this day (night).
Astro Milestones
Nov. 9 is the birthday of Carl Sagan (1934-1996), American astronomer, author, and co-founder of The Planetary Society. Nov. 20 is the birthday of Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), American astronomer for whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named.
Star Parties
The Central Texas Astronomical Society’s simultaneous free monthly star parties are Sat., Nov. 19, at the Lake Waco Wetlands, Belton’s Overlook Park on Stillhouse Hollow, and Hubbard City Lakes Park beginning at dark. CTAS also owns and operates the Meyer Observatory at the Turner Research Station near Clifton, Texas; the next monthly observatory open house is Sat., Nov. 12, 6-8 p.m. See www.centexastronomy.org for more information.
Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. His website (www.stargazerpaul.com) contains an archive of past Stargazer columns, a schedule of his upcoming programs, star parties and classes, and other basic stargazing information. Contact him at: paulderrickwaco@aol.com, or 254-723-6346, or 918 N. 30th St., Waco, TX 76707.
Texas Quilt Museum Opens Nov. 13
Quilt: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (76” x 76”) by Ruth Cattles Cottrell
LA GRANGE, Texas — The city of La Grange soon will welcome visitors from all over the world as quilt artists and aficionados come to see the years-in-the-planning Texas Quilt Museum.
Nestled in the scenic hills of central Texas in Fayette County, the museum is the culmination of a lifelong dream of fifth-generation Texas quilters and cousins Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes, also the President and Executive Vice-President, respectively, of Quilts, Inc., producers of trade and consumer quilt shows around the country.
The Grand Opening of the museum, located at 140 W. Colorado in La Grange, will take place on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m., and admission will be free all day.
Featuring 10,000 square feet of exhibition space and including a museum store, and the Pearce Memorial Library and Material Cultures Center, named for the pair’s grandmother, the museum also contains workspace for exhibition preparation.
The inaugural exhibit will showcase more than 60 quilts featured in the book Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts 1986-2011 (UT Press). It’s the third volume in a trilogy documenting the state’s quilt history.
“With this being the 175th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Texas, we definitely wanted the first quilts that the public will see in the Museum to be from the Lone Star State,” Bresenhan says. “But future exhibits will feature incredible quilts from all over the world.”
The Texas Quilt Museum is housed in two buildings that date back to the 1890s in the heart of La Grange’s downtown historic district. And while much has been renovated and restored in the buildings, they definitely maintain the flavor of past times.
“We fell in love with these structures as soon as we saw them, and felt immediately that they would make a wonderful home for the museum,” Puentes says. “What could be better than viewing great quilts in a historic building?”
In addition, the side of the building will feature a specially commissioned mural, Quilt…History in the Making, that will overlook a planned period garden called “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” after the well-known traditional quilt pattern.
“We just can’t wait to cut the ribbon and invite people in the front doors for the first time,” Bresenhan sums up. “And we’re very happy that people from all walks of life—not just quilters—will be able to appreciate the artistry and history of quilting at this Museum.”
Quilts, Inc. produces trade and consumer quilt shows all across the country, including the largest in the U.S., the International Quilt Festival/Houston, which in 2010 attracted more than 60,000 attendees from over 35 countries.
For more information about the Texas Quilt Museum, visit <www.TexasQuiltMuseum.org>.
RFD-TV To Honor Roy Rogers, Trigger, Bullet
FORT WORTH, Texas – RFD-TV is scheduled to bring the “Trigger and Bullet Happy Trails Tour” to Texas as part of a 48-state tour honoring Roy Rogers (a.k.a. “The King of the Cowboys”).
Trigger “The Golden Palomino” and Bullet “The Wonder Dog” were two of Americas most loved pets and the public is invited to view the duo from Thursday, Dec. 1, through Saturday, Dec. 10, at the 50th NCHA Futurity at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Texas.
Roy Rogers reigned at a time when the cowboy ideal seemed to signify everything decent about a nation in which all things were possible. “The Roy Rogers Show” was one of Americas most watched television shows and over the course of 15 years on air and countless personal appearances with Roy’s horse, Trigger, Roy became an American icon and a pillar of strength, honesty, courage and decency that impacted so many Americans.
The Trigger and Bullet “Happy Trails Tour” began in July of 2010, after RFD-TV purchased Roy Rogers’ preserved horse, Trigger, and his German Shepherd dog, Bullet, in an auction at Christie’s in New York.
The company began traveling the pair in honor of western heritage and as a commemoration to what would be Roy Rogers’ 100th birthday.
The tour began in Omaha, Neb. where RFD-TV is headquartered.
“At every tour stop, these have proven to be very emotional experiences for all as the sight of this simple horse and dog on display brings back a flood of memories from their youth,” said Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of RFD-TV.
Trigger and Bullet will be located in the Amon G Carter Exhibit Hall where families and long-time enthusiasts will have the opportunity to view the “King of the Cowboys” faithful companions. RFD-TV offers the public the opportunity to have a free picture taken with the American icons.
Nostalgic Trigger and Bullet “Happy Trails Tour” merchandise are available online at RFDTV.com. RFD-TV also offers online opportunities for the public to share Roy Rogers stories, download pictures or join the RFD-TV Roy Rogers Riders Club.
“Roy Rogers, Trigger, and Bullet represent values and traditions that have been lost over time,” said Gottsch. “The club allows fans to re-establish that commitment to family values. The tour along with the RFD-TV Roy Rogers Riders Club will bring back very fond memories for many people. It’s values that parents and grandparents can share with their children and grandchildren.”
The Roy Rogers Riders Club boasted over 2.5 million members in its heyday and fans can still join the Roy Rogers Riders Club which inspires good values and helps support rural youth. When joining the Roy Rogers Club on <www.rfdtv.com> riders receive a membership card, a discount on merchandise, and a monthly Roy Rogers Club E-Newsletter.
Roy’s television show was Americas most watched show in its day and can be seen today on RFD-TV. The Roy Rogers Show, a collection of 100 television shows, and Roy Rogers Happy Trails Theatre, a collection of 88 movies air weekly with Roy “Dusty” Rogers Jr. hosting the programs.
For more information,visit <http://www.triggerandbullet.com> or <www.rfdtv.com>.
Texas School Districts May Owe Oil Companies Millions
TEXAS NEWS SERVICE
AUSTIN, Texas – Already hard-hit by more than $4 billion of state cuts, Texas school districts may have to pony up millions more to some of the nation’s largest oil refineries.
So far, 16 companies, including Valero Energy, have requested $135 million in property-tax rebates they say are owed to them for installing pollution-control devices covered by a state incentive program.
Tom “Smitty” Smith, spokesman for Public Citizen of Texas, says the controversy comes at a pivotal time for Gov. Rick Perry, who has announced he would slash both the federal Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency if elected president.
“At a time when the refining industry is making near-record profits, this is a real critical question for Gov. Perry. Are you going to stand up for the school kids, or are you going to stand up for corporate welfare for the biggest polluters in the state?”
Perry has said he trusts the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to evaluate the refund requests, but Smith says TCEQ’s members – all appointed by the governor – have a pro-corporate history. Unless there’s a public outcry, Smith fears, they will side with an industry which has donated heavily to past Perry campaigns.
“The tendency of the TCEQ is to bend over backwards and give these large corporate polluters everything they want at the expense, in this case, of the schoolchildren of Texas and the taxpayers of the state.”
Disagreement remains about whether the equipment Valero installed in 2007 meets eligibility requirements for tax incentives. Environmentalists contend it makes no sense to give state tax incentives for technology that already is required by the feds.
Some of the counties that might have to pay for the rebates include Harris, Howard, El Paso, Jefferson, and Nueces. Many of the school districts which depend on refinery property taxes already have been struggling because of multiple corporate tax breaks.
“These aren’t like rich suburban school districts that have lots of wealthy homeowners to tax. These are amongst the poorest in the country.”
Linda Bridges, president of Texas’ American Federation of Teachers, says some schools would find it impossible to take additional revenue losses after staff layoffs, larger class sizes and program cuts.
“There’s a tremendous amount of money that has been cut that directly impacts kids. And then you add in rebates to Valero and other oil companies. It certainly makes a bad situation worse.”
It’s not clear when the TCEQ will decide the matter, but school advocates are expected to voice concern at the commission’s next meeting Nov. 2. Meanwhile, community-based opposition to the tax refund has been growing, with some parents planning bake sales to demonstrate their need for more – not less – state aid.
El Hierro Island Still Menaced By Earthquakes
New Volcano May Be On Verge Of Erupting
EL HIERRO — The Lone Star Iconoclast’s article “When Will The Canary Sing?” drew considerable attention worldwide. It was about the recent earthquake, volcanic activity on the Canary Islands, specifically El Heirro.
According to Saturday’s report online at the Volcano Discovery website, <http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/view_news/2431/El-Hierro-volcano-Canary-Islands-Spain-deep-earthquake-swarms-in-the-El-Golfo-area.html>, earthquakes continue there.
“While the submarine eruption south of El Hierro Island continues, a large number of mostly deep (around 20km) earthquakes of up to 3.3 magnitude have been occurring in the gulf off the NW coast of this island.
“Yesterday, IGN listed 63 earthquakes, 4 above or equal to 3, 27 in between 2 and 3 and 32 lower than 2. The strongest was a M3.3 quake at 14:16 UTC. Today, Saturday IGN has listed already 32 earthquake, the vast majority with epicenter in the El Golfo area. The tremor of 10:46 UTC this morning was the strongest at M 3.3.
“It is likely that this is related to magma movements at depth, but at present not a sign that another eruption or a major change in the eruption style could be in the making. However, the situation clearly needs to be followed carefully.”
San Antonio, Texas Earthquake
Recently, a 4.6 magnitude earthquake struck near Karnes County in Texas, impacting San Antonio.
No injuries were reported, but the U.S. Geological Survey explained that this was the largest earthquake on record for this area.
In September, an earthquake in West Texas of 4.4 magnitiude occurred near Abilene.
Earthquakes seem to be happening with greater abundance worldwide.
The El Heirro earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are being watched, since scientists have warned that an eruption in the Canary Islands could have a major tsunami impact on the United States.
Texas Lawns Going Native During Drought
TEXAS NEWS SERVICE
AUSTIN, Texas – Facing the state’s worst drought, many communities have doubled down on water restrictions, leaving homeowners wondering what to do about their yellow lawns – which are getting crispier by the day.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has been fielding an unusually high volume of calls and e-mails on the subject. Mark Simmons, director of the center’s Ecosystem Design Group, has been conducting research on native grasses for several years.
“The species that are largely used throughout the Southwest are often non-native species, like St. Augustine grass – they’re not very drought tolerant. So, we’re suggesting that this might be an opportunity to replace lawns with something more native.”
Native grasses requiring significantly less water include buffalo grass and blue grama, Simmons says, as well as a commercial mix called Habiturf – all available in stores. Some homeowners, he adds, are foregoing lawns altogether, replacing them with native plant landscaping.
One strategy Simmons recommends for people wanting to transition away from perpetually thirsty lawns is to let the non-native grasses die off now, and then get ready for planting in the spring.
“We should be thinking about soil preparation, because soil preparation is the key to a healthy lawn. If you do that now or over winter, and get the seed in by March-April, you’ll be in good stead for next year.”
Simmons cautions that even native grasses require a lot of water at first, so it’s best to plant when there are no watering restrictions.
Most climate scientists say drought in Texas will be increasingly common in the foreseeable future, and Simmons says even skeptics of climate change might want to consider native plant options.
“The availability of water is always going to be an increasing issue. There’s a limited amount of water which can go around. So, we see this trend of looking for options continuing.”
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website has a Drought Resource Center at wildflower.org/drought-resource-center with a variety of tips, guides, and articles about converting to native plants and grasses.
Louisiana Bans Cash For Sales Of Anything ‘Used’
BATON ROUGE, La. — The State Legislature and Governor of Louisiana have passed a law that bans individuals and businesses from transacting in cash if they are considered a “secondhand dealer.”
House Bill 195 of the 2011 Regular Session (Act 389) broadly defines a secondhand dealer to include “… Anyone, other than a non-profit entity, who buys, sells, trades in or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property more frequently than once per month from any other person, other than a non-profit entity, shall be deemed as being in the business of a secondhand dealer. ”
The law also states that “A secondhand dealer shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of junk or used or secondhand property. Payment shall be made in the form of check, electronic transfers, or money order issued to the seller of the junk or used or secondhand property…”
According to law specialists, this essentially includes everyone buying or selling anything used., thereby outlawing the free use of U.S. legal tender, and forces businesses to turn over to police authorities the names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and license plate number of vehicles traded, including a detailed description of the item purchased.
Established as a pretense of cracking down on crime, the bill, argues critics, costs individuals their privacy, with personal economic repercussions, civil liberty loss, and is an attack on freedom.
The Death Panel Machine
Dear Editor,
The world’s most powerful computer was given a friendly name, “Watson.” Sherlock Holmes’ assistant, Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant, it’s a helpful name.
Watson was introduced to the public as a friendly entertainment. It beat the best human player in “Jeopardy,” a friendlier game than chess. Friendly. Helpful. Entertaining.
Now, the Watson computer is being used by the WellPoint health insurance company to determine how much health care to grant to each of its customers. This machine will determine who gets medical coverage, how much, and who doesn’t. Who lives and who dies.
So how does this machine work? It is programmed to consider a host of factors to diagnose patients’ disease, then it can determine which patients will be covered. Factors like cost and probability of recovery will be calculated, and balanced against the imperative that WellPoint makes a profit. The owners of the company can have the computer reduce the amount of coverage and thereby guarantee increased profit for themselves. If the reduction is done gradually, no one will know, no one will object. A few more people will die a bit younger than before. The average age for life expectancy drops a little. Some people live longer, so its not a hard-line execution. But gradually, this machine will enable a few to become very, very rich by reducing the health and life of everyone else. It’s one more weapon in the billionaires’ class warfare.
We’ve heard Sarah Palin and other Republican hyenas scream against imaginary “death panels” to discredit President Obama’s health insurance reform. Now a private company has a machine that is programmed to run a death panel. Where are the screamers now? Bought off by the company? Will selected beneficiaries get health coverage no matter what happens?
Watson is a death panel machine, being used by a profit making company to harvest the health of its customers. Soon, every health insurance company will be using a Watson. We need health insurance regulation now, more than ever.
Yours truly,
Bruce Joffe, Piedmont, CA
San Antonio 10-19-11 Terror Plot
It’s a story that bears chilling similarities to the terror attacks conducted against Oklahoma City and New York City, but the Wednesday morning arrest of five Moroccan terrorist suspects in San Antonio quickly passed from the lurid to the ludicrous in media descriptions.
This is what they were saying in the morning:
Terror Alert Bomb Scare (Fox News)
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/19/terror-alert-bomb-scare-after-san-antonio-courthouse-break-in/
Capt. Eric H. May
Documents found inside the van showed the men, all in their 20s, had traveled extensively to high-level security facilities around the country, according to local media reports. Investigators also told the Associated Press that 90-day visas, maps, cell phones and computers were found inside the vehicle.
By the afternoon, though, the story had changed:
Texas courthouse break-in was prank, not terrorism
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/19/us-texas-crime-break-in-idUSTRE79I3BX20111019
Officials in San Antonio say that the five foreign men arrested during a courthouse break-in early on Wednesday were pranksters who were likely intoxicated. “There is no reason to think this is a terrorist incident,” Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Many details of the day, however, raise eyebrows across the Internet, increasingly regarded as the printing press of the Second American Revolution by both the establishment, which wants to nullify it, and the anti-establishment, which wants to nurture it. Those details include:
A large RV parked in front of San Antonio’s Bexar County Courthouse, echoing the 4/19/95 moving van bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Five Moroccan Muslims reported to have a large amount of cash, maps and documents related to critical infrastructure that they had studied and visited, and a passion for partying — idiosyncrasies shared with the 19 hijackers of 9/11/01, as described by the U.S. media.
A hastily and vaguely announced NORAD interception training mission, extending from 10/18 – 10/20, identical to the NORAD interception training mission occurring on 9/11.
A massive gathering of key terrorism officials and companies in San Antonio for the 10/16 – 10/19 GEOINT Symposium, reminiscent of the Carlyle Group meeting that put George HW Bush and power elite partners in Washington DC on 9/11.
The San Antonio affair occurred on a date that decodes from 10/19/11 to 11911 — 911 from the middle to the left and from the middle to the right. There is only one more “palindromic” 11911 left in this century: 11/9/11, two-and-a-half weeks from now. Not coincidentally, FEMA has chosen that date for its first-ever Emergency Alert System Nationwide Test, during which it will take over all U.S. broadcast stations. The date on which the exercise was determined was 6/9/11, or 6911. Cryptanalysts read the 6 and 9 as “rotational twins” — the same numbers, only in different positions. This makes 6911 the same as 6611 and 9911; both numbers are sinister “numeric harmonics” of 9/11. The same number 6911 was used to encode the Japanese body count one week after Fukushima: Japan Death Toll Hits 6,911. 11/9/11, 11/10/11 and 11/11/11 will be days of exceptional danger, worldwide.
Working with such code analysis, I made a comment below my most recent publication at 5:00 a.m. on 10/19/11, in reply to my European colleague, Abu Salem of Islamic Intelligence. It anticipated the San Antonio terror scare story by a couple of hours:
“Salaam! I am humbled by your kind remarks in the comments. I have been wanting to include this in VT for some time, and couldn’t resist doing so on 10/19/11 (11911). Together with 1/19/11 and 11/9/11, today is one of only three palindromic date codes in this century with 911. Of course Cabalists are quite aware of this, which makes today and 11/9/11 most perilous.”
Captain Eric H. May, the Lone Star Iconoclast intelligence editor, has developed an international readership for his false flag analysis. Captain May, a former Army intelligence officer, is the commander of Ghost Troop cyber militia.
GOP ‘Debate’ in Las Vegas: the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
First off, this was NOT a debate. It was a three-ring circus NOT hosted by Ringling Bros.
Notably missing from the “da-bate” were former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. So, are they both finished as GOP candidates or will they still fade in and out of debates?
In my humble opinion, Alice In Wonderland could not host a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party any madder than the debate held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann have approximately one percent of the poll votes, so what are they doing in the debate? They need to leave.
At this point after several debates, none of the candidates appears to have anything new to say. Bachmann gives her ongoing response of “I am the mother of all mothers who speaks to mothers all over the nation and I say mothers, hold on to your homes and take care of your children.” speech. Santorum doesn’t realize that the only folks who may vote for him (and I emphasize MAY) are the voters of Pennsylvania.
The remaining candidates: Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul point fingers at President Obama and each other. Congressman Paul seems to be the only candidate that does not appear to be one of the clowns in a Ringling Bros. circus.
Although Ron Paul often is fixated on eliminating the Federal Reserve, the Congressman appears to be the most knowledgeable of the real issues facing the nation and has some good ideas on how to cut government spending, reduce regulatory interference over business, thereby creating jobs to boost the economy.
Mr. Cain touts his 999 proposal almost as the only doctrine that will work for the nation, which really has quite a few flaws in it. It is not as simple as Cain would like Americans to believe. Meanwhile, Cain wants to model his economic big-wig after loser Alan Greenspan. That alone should cause concern and must highlight why Americans should NOT consider Cain for the GOP candidate.
Mitt Romney seems smooth as silk at the podium, but he has had his hands in the financial sector as a CEO and corporate rebuilder. The former Massachusetts Governor also favors deregulation, as do all of the GOP candidates. However, the reality is that big business will NOT oversight themselves in an appropriate manner. In fact, more corporations are becoming corrupt than every before.
The truth is that there is no “perfect” candidate on the scene for the GOP, but it seems that of all of them the better choices are Ron Paul or Mitt Romney, neither of which truly merits the nomination. Yet, President Obama is no prize either.
In addition, it should be realized by now that there is no one person who could make the changes that are needed in Washington D.C. Both major parties are too busy playing political games and rustling their feathers for power & control.
Americans may be doomed to another four years of inaction and a more dismal economy, which will hurt millions while putting more profits into the hands of the corporate elite.
On the positive side, the current marches and sit-ins by many Americans throughout the nation may be a signal that Congress needs to change its ways and start working for the people as intended by our forefathers when they wrote the Constitution so many years ago.
What do you think?
Peter Stern, of Driftwood, Texas, writes on political issues, is a former Director of Information Services in private industry and government, a university professor, public school administrator and teacher, a disabled Vietnam veteran, and holds three post-graduate degrees.
Gov. Brown Defecates On Calif. Parents
California 12-Year-Olds To Be Vaccinated Without Parents Knowing
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law AB 499 which will allow 12-year-old children to be vaccinated without parental knowledge or consent.
It was idiotic for the state legislature to even forward such a destructive bill for his signature. But now Gov. Brown has not only reduced the status of parenthood in California by signing it, he has also proved his ownership by Big Pharma and is offering human sacrifices of California’s schoolchildren in the name of greed.
Gov. Jerry Brown, California
If ever there was an “occupy” movement crying out for a new vista, Gov. Brown’s doorstep should be permanently trounced upon, with Brown followed everywhere he goes for the rest of his political life and chided for the psychological, physical, and destructive influences he has wrought upon his constituency.
His actions, and those of every legislator who voted for this insanity, are due a revolutionary recall. The state of California has unsympathetically taken away parental rights and lost all integrity in the process.
According to Eileen Dannemann, director of the National Coalition of Organized Women, the emphasis of this new bill currently applies to the Gardasil and Hepatitis B vaccines, “but will expand to include ANY new STD vaccine that is brought to market in the future.
“This means that as of tomorrow, boys and girls as young as 12 will be alone in their doctor’s office, or pulled into the nurse’s office at school, be offered a vaccine and told that if they don’t get it, they can get sick and die, the child will be given the shot and parents will never know.
‘This also means that parents no longer have access to their child’s full medical records, but are only able to request PARTS of their child’s heath records once they turn 12.”
Dannemann notes that the package insert for the Gardasil vaccine is 30 pages long.
“Take a look at it,” she advises. The State of California has decided that 6th graders are competent to read and properly digest this information, to fully understanding the risks and benefits of this vaccine, and to make an informed consent decision. Absurd.
“This is nothing more than a marketing ploy for Merck (who makes Gardasil) to get around parents who understand the risks of these specific vaccines, and the corrupt public officials in Merck’s pocket who are handing innocent children over to them for power and profit. The California legislator that introduced this bill, Toni Atkins, took money from Merck and then lied about it when confronted on her motives for this bill.
“And this morning on Fox, our friend and Canary Party member Rebecca Estepp, who is the communications director for the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy, debated former California state assembly woman Sally Lieber, who previously introduced a bill making the Gardasil vaccine mandatory for 11-year-olds. Lieber had to remove her name from the leadership on the bill when it was discovered that her family was heavily invested in Merck.”
Unfortunately, other states will likely now be in Merck’s scope, as Texas was a few years ago under Gov. Rick Perry, who tried to sell out his state for personal gain and that of his favored lobbyists.
It will be interesting to see how parents in California react to this abominable decision.
The first time a little girl dies or become permanently ill due to the administration of one of these secret vaccines caused by governmental abuse should awaken a call to sue every individual lawmaker and the governor for letting this happen. We are talking about a criminal lawsuit, with a sentence of decades in prison, or worse, for they will have become premeditated accomplices in physical abuse or murder.
Of course, if a child becomes ill or dies due to administration of one of these drugs, will parents know how to trace the symptoms and get treatment for their child? Will they have any clue as to what has happened to their loved one and will there be time to coordinate appropriate medical help — or is the secret safe for Gov. Brown and his illicit cronies?
Accountability is everything. This ridiculous law must be overturned and it will require a definitive, continuous march against the perpetrators of this horrible crime to have any impact.
— W. Leon Smith
D.C. Pepper Spray Incident A New False Flag
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Saturday’s pepper spray incident at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall, where nearly 1,000 peaceful protesters were eventually denied entry, has been tagged a false flag incident enacted by an assistant publisher of The American Spectator, Patrick Howley.
Howley revealed in his own “breaking story” that he had consciously infiltrated the group on Friday with the intent to discredit the “occupy” movement. He stated that “as far as anyone knew I was part of this cause — a cause that I had infiltrated the day before in order to mock and undermine in the pages of The American Spectator…”
Since the protesters were “unwilling to be confrontational,” he snuck past the guard at the first entrance in order to infiltrate the building and then confronted another guard. He then “sprinted toward the door” at which time he was first hit with pepper spray, he reported.
The incident caused numerous individuals to suffer from exposure to the spray, including tourists who were not involved in the peace movement. Guards closed the museum in conjunction with the spray incident.
Howley described himself as an “agent provocateur.”
The peace activists from the October2011.org encampment at Freedom Plaza had ascended the museum steps, chanting, “When drones fly, children die.”
Their message is to “Stop the Machine! — Create a New World!” and is intended for “all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism, and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater, and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. It is about courageously resisting and stopping the corporate state from destroying not only our inherent rights and freedoms, but also our children’s chance to live, breathe clean air, drink pure water, grow edible natural food and live in peace.”
According to Dennis Trainor, Jr., “We intended to stage a die in under a drone exhibit. We don’t think a U.S. museum should glorify weapons of mass destruction. We were denied entry, physically beaten back by police, and at least 12 of us (myself included) were hit with pepper spray.”
Said Mike Ferner, acting director of Veterans for Peace, “ Approximately 50 members of Veterans For Peace participated in a march this afternoon from Freedom Plaza to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. The museum was featuring an exhibit on unmanned drone bombers that a group of about 250 people from the October2011.org encampment at Freedom Plaza intended to protest.
They opened the doors at one of the three entrances, and when that entryway became full, they went to the second and third entrances.”
Ferner explained, “I was at the first entranceway, holding the door open for people to enter. I saw a police or security officer in a white shirt hold his hands up, telling people to stop. The marchers continued and the officer began pepper-spraying everyone. From everything I saw until that moment, there was no reason for the pepper-spraying. The door of the museum clearly said ‘free admission.’ It did not say ‘Free admission if you are quiet’ or ‘Free admission unless you have opinions contrary to government policy.’
“This was a clear abuse of authority and a use of force far beyond what was called for. Our members are consulting with National Lawyers Guild attorneys who are working with the october2011.org encampment.”
Veterans For Peace is an organization composed of U.S. military veterans from WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq wars and every period in between.
Said David Swanson, author of “War Is A Lie,” “I’ve been coughing and vomiting, and my head aches from pepper spray.
“We intended to hold signs and sing inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, protesting its promotion of unmanned drones, missiles, and bombs, including its sponsorship by and promotion of weapons corporations. We don’t have any museums promoting health coverage or education or retirement security.
“We had marched from the Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square occupations, taking over the streets of D.C. The museum knew we were coming. Some of our group got in and dropped a banner. Hundreds of us did not. Instead, we were greeted at the door with cans of pepper spray.
“There were three sets of entrance doors. I was among the first to open the third set of doors. A guard shook a can of pepper spray in front of me and demanded that we back out. But a dozen feet away at the second set of doors, people were staggering out and collapsing in pain, having been pepper sprayed in the face. I started to go toward them, but began coughing and vomiting. A lot of people were effected, directly or — like me — indirectly by the pepper spray.
“It is not true that we assaulted the police. Nobody was accused of or charged with that. I didn’t hear about it until later from the media. A young woman named Thi Le was told she’d be charged with assaulting a police officer after she was pepper sprayed and handcuffed, but they switched the charge to disorderly conduct and released her a few hours later.
“It is not true that they only pepper sprayed one person. Many people were pepper sprayed.
“It is not true that the crowd dispersed. The guards locked the doors and closed the museum. We had not planned to close the museum but to demonstrate and leave. With the museum closed and one of our own in custody, we held a rally on the steps as more people made their way over from Freedom Plaza to join us. We were there for hours. We will be here for as long as it takes.
“Congress comes back to this town on Tuesday. We’re ready. We’re nonviolent. We’re not scared. We’re not discouraged. We’re not fooled. We’ve got demands as clear as a blue sky: ‘Occupy Wall Street, Occupy K Street, Occupy Everything, And Never Give it Back!’”
A march was planned for Sunday, Oct. 9, with a noon arrival at the White House with the purpose of asking President Obama, “Where’s our beer summit?”
According to Col. Ann Wright (retired), “It’s high time that President Obama met with military families, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and veterans from other wars who don’t agree with his policies on war and their effects on veterans and families.”
Jeff Merrick, Military Families Speak Out board representative from California and Hawaii, noted that “currently, the American public is overwhelmingly in favor of troops leaving both countries, especially in light of our economic crisis where funds for veterans’ care are needed because of the continuing casualties and families are devastated by long-term care for their wounded.
“We want some answers, and President Obama is the commander-in-chief; he owes answers to those who sacrifice much everyday and have sacrificed in the past for this country.”
When Will The Canary Sing?
Evacuations of Canary Islands Begin
A 4.3 magnitude earthquake struck El Hierro, the smallest of The Canary Islands, late Saturday night — the strongest earthquake to be recorded on the Spanish island since an unprecedented earthquake swarm began a few weeks ago.
The Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) has reported an increase in the intensity of earthquakes recorded on El Hierro, the smallest of The Canary Islands, during the past 48 hours.
The number of earthquakes recorded since July 17 , 2011 on El Hierros has now reached 10,000, according to the IGN.
The IGN has also confirmed surface deformations exceeding 35mm on the 280-sqkm island, where residents have been put on alert for a possible volcanic eruption.
The agency has confirmed that 886 earthquakes, most of them located in the sea to the southwest of the island, have been recorded in the seven days since Oct. 2.
Since Friday morning, there have been more than two dozen earthquakes exceeding 3.0 on the Richter Scale with epicentres both North and South of the NW Ridge and depths between 10 and 15 km have been recorded. The strongest of the two dozen earthquakes exceeding 3.0 on the Richter Scale measured 4.3 magnitude on the Richter Scale. It was recorded on Saturday night at a depth of 12 km. The quake produced small rockslides with no injuries reported.
Hierro, a shield volcano, has had a single historic eruption from the Volcan de Lomo Negro vent in 1793. The eruption lasted approximately one month and produced lava flows.
The recent surge in the number and intensity of earthquakes prompted officials from the IGN and The Canary Islands Government to raise the alert level for the Hierro volcano to ‘Yellow’ late last month. The alert remained in place on Sunday.
An Oct. 8 advisory by United States Army Intelligence reported that “An intensified sustained earthquake swarm is now taking place at the Canary Islands and it appears the magma is now on the move again bubbling closer to the surface and incinerating
more rock in the process. Over the last 24 hours, we’ve seen the depths of the tremors rising up to within 11 km from a depth average of about 14.5 to 15 km. The number of seismic volcanic tremors has also doubled at El Hierro since Wednesday.”
The dramatic rise in recorded earthquakes on El Hierro last week prompted officials to evacuate some local residents, shut El Hierro’s main tunnel, and close local schools.
Scientists from several countries have cautioned that should a volcanic eruption occur and part of the Hierro land mass sluff off into the ocean, a mega-tsunami could erupt and have a dramatic effect on the Eastern shores of the United States, where people within a 20-mile radius of the coast would have about eight hours to evacuate.
Bank of America Cries Poverty……
Whew! That was a mouthful for a title, but it’s the truth!!!
Bank of America needs to trim its own mega fat and uncontrolled atmospheric costs before it charges customers more and more to do their daily business.
Bank of America takes months and months to set up home closings and then more months to send checks to sellers who just sold their homes. I have a friend whose family sold its home 6 months ago and just received their check.
I sent a request to Bank of America to send me six check registers, a simple request I thought, but first customer service sent only two registers, then another two after I complained and then finally the last of them after complaining five times that the company cannot even perform the simplest requests.
And then the big stuff…
Forbes recently had an article about Bank of America spending millions for the retirement and severance packages of previous executives:
“Bank of America revealed Friday that it forked over $6 million to Sallie Krawcheck, former head of its powerful wealth management arm.
In an SEC filing today, BofA said it awarded Krawcheck a severance package that includes one year of her salary, $850,000, and a one-time, supplemental lump sum payment of $5,150,000.”
Bank of America is a financial institution poster child for what is wrong with our economy. Once upon a time in America big businesses governed themselves intelligently. They made their profits but they also enabled American citizens to take part in the successes, e.g., providing lots of jobs and good lives.
These days, big business like Bank of America have gotten too big and far too greedy without giving back any stability to the U.S. community.
And THAT is why we no longer can support complete deregulation of businesses in this nation. It is why we need a fairer Fair Trade Agreement with our overseas constituent nations and why we need to stop screwing ourselves into the ground by borrowing more credit from foreign sources and we must stop outsourcing American jobs to cheaper, but NOT better qualified, overseas personnel.
It is why we need new anti-campaign contributing laws that prohibit large contributions, gifts and perks by wealthy special interests to our elected and appointed officials.
Peter Stern, of Driftwood, Texas, writes on political issues, is a former Director of Information Services in private industry and government, a university professor, public school administrator and teacher, a disabled Vietnam veteran, and holds three post-graduate degrees.
Mohawks Investigating Mass Murders Of Children
BRANTFORD, Ontario – Elders of the Mohawk Nation in collaboration with the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) and its Secretary, Kevin Annett, have begun the commencement of forensic excavations on the grounds of the oldest Indian residential school in Canada – the Mohawk Institute run by the Church of England.
Frustrated by the ongoing whitewash by the Canadian government of the murder of residential school children by Catholic and Protestant churches, the Sovereign Mohawk nation of Grand River has begun digging for children’s remains to “finally give them a proper burial and bring to trial those who killed them,” says Mohawk elder Bill Squire.
Squire and eight other Mohawk elders have granted authorization to Kevin Annett and the ITCCS to conduct Ground Penetrating Radar surveys and excavations at the Brantford residential school in order to bring the evidence obtained to international tribunals and human rights courts.
Initial evidence obtained at these digs today confirmed eyewitness accounts of the deaths and burial of children at the Brantford school, as well as the cover up of their remains. It has been noted that the children had been tortured.
According to reports, aboriginal children have been a prime target of the Vancouver Club pedophile ring, which involves senior judges, church lawyers, businessmen, and politicians. A BC Supreme Court witness said, “Indian children go into the Vancouver Club and are never seen again.” As recently as the summer of 2009, aboriginal children have been observed being taken against their will into the rear entrance of the Vancouver Club at 915 West Hastings Street from the Squamish Indian reserve in North Vancouver, during the hours of 1 and 3 a.m.
The Mohawk elders and the ITCCS are issuing a call to other indigenous nations to commence similar excavations at former Indian residential schools across Canada, “rather than rely on the Canadian government and its churches for justice or disclosure.”
