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.
