Xmas still remains an old-styled story of kindness

X-mas is not X defined, but one time to remind us that the December 21st winter's solstice has been shifted into human form and decorations to symbolize the giving in the colder weather's CHANGE of seasons.

CHANGE and IMPERMANENCE and the joy shared
with what stuff can be saved, shined, eaten, and enjoyed remains. Or then to be luxuriously decorated and admired by those who have-less to envy. The benevolent smile of an elder male saint-like, who has accrued more and he might be willing to share, if the others act as if "good" family.

The times when racy and sexy forms were not the norm and where stores did not have cheaper-sales as their reason for existing. Times when images and hopes of
older wiser men might lead the seasons and nations into more benevolent spheres. Times when stories told could not actually exist - but be pretended to be - with imagination providing what real life could not. Times when we were all not yet born or not 'operational' in this economic technological chaos of 2009.

Times when wishes were heart-felt, and not on the internet or TV, and when wishes were personal and shared in real-live persons. Times when those who had-more were very separate and segregated, without media to make them available as 'friends to fans'. Times when envy was less lecherous or malicious but part of the imaginative hope for being more like the elite. Times that are not here now.

Santa. The image. This is not christian or actually religious so much as representing those who-have and who- share. willingly. The sumptuous velvet and white furs, the expesive musical instruments and ornaments, the colorful shine in otherwise gray, dulled hard lives was the image-present, then given with pictures, cards and memories of what hopefully could be, but was not in most-lives possible. That imagination that titillated and glowed in all who had-less to spend on purchased gifts or materials. That love that was transmitted by hand-work, recycled materials renovated, and the time with effort each person dedicated to only the few to whom they could afford to give gifts. Sweet foods for those to whom they could give value but less.

Nostalgia means wishing for the past to re-emerge as it was before. Not now. Remembering what may have existed before... that we can now revive and rekindle as a delight image of what the Winter Solstice Season can provide in meaning and sharings. The tree symbolic of nature, decorations the fruit of nature, candles shining as sky lights, et al.

Let us remember that we can share - without buying more, spending too much, or expecting to get another object for our crowded spaces.

Let us remember that the coming together in warmth when the cold outside is darker and just as the en-lightening days begin lengthening is the physical meaning of this sharing time, words, feelings, love, together, again.

Let us be here in other ways, in this store-filled, media-exaggerated, mis-aligned, and politically-dangerous world that has scared so many of us into retreat and realizations - remembering too that the 'old' still carries positive reminders of meaning. And that we are still just barely human. And this prior-time Santa elicits images that can give kinder, deeper thoughts of each to one another - than the buy-buy-buy ones promoted all around our media-saturated minds now.

Let this aged image be just what good feelings and thoughts emerge from the assumptions, wishes, that times-were-better-then, even if not so to most people.

Let the images that brought kindness and sharing as the themes of giving prevail and uphold the cold and dark outside.

Let the inside light up and smile benevolently on you too, and you on others and sweetness refresh our cynical ways and views of these automated fear-full days.

Let this be a reminder that we are still who we and our families were before, regardless of religion, region, wealth or hard-work-options of a while ago. We are still family, in a more strained but still close way. Human family.

Merry X-mas on any X day to you.

there is no stopping Thanks and Giving, even the day after

The day after

with most of us remembering the food gifts of yesterday

in this USA

where most people were given special foods

and then feasted to overload and more

because we are still filled with our food baskets

as even the homeless - in Venice CA and elsewhere

ate 3 platefulls and still came back for More again

and smiled or groaned

even if without a room in which to sleep

but eat plenty we all did

TOGETHER.

Here, on the beachfront, a generous benefit provided

by many volunteers bringing MORE & more...

home-cooked delicacies nutritious goodies

to fill their own hearts with their giving

and knowing

that both giving and getting are at least

equal in filling life purposes, bodies, and self-esteem[s].

The day after

is just the same as the other one

without the filling of stomachs.

The remaining memories,

the left-over sensations in tummy, and some still have food stored

in plates hidden under benches

or deep recesses of refrigerators [“iceboxes”, of before].

And the rememberance that “Yes ! someone cares”

for “me” too and shares with me, too

and we are still plentiful even in these harder economic times

even with scary stories around each of us, yet still

we wont give up our treasured

traditions created to EAT and eat more -

to also share, that pleasure, be it small or huge,

with one ANOTHER.

The day after

to maybe even carry on these fulfilled ruminations -

keeping the positive alive

and the propaganda-fears so pushed on us, in remission.

The day after

we need to INTEND to continue

those good-will greetings, feedings, smiles, and openness

that emerge mostly when good food is given

yet that can continue when it is all digested and gone

and we can still be FAMILY with strangers,

the less-washed, the drunks, the crazies, the silent ones.

We can continue

to stay open in hearts and greetings

even without food-filled bodies

but still keep filled hearts and willing minds to be receptive

to any one

human or animal or insect or plant or any being in-on our earth

to keep CONNECTED, to stay attentive to more than just ‘me’,

to be alert and even sometimes

LOVING-like, courteous, cautiously-friendly-stlll, honoring any being.

The day after

is not different

not too late

to continue the feasting of friendship

at any level, be it light or more intense

not too late

to continue to honoring of all souls.

not to late

to remember who we really are:

all this is together.

even the day after

and the day after that one

and on and on and on

Delight also in This DAY AFTER that cycles on in impermanence forever.

delight in change

delight in strangeness

delight in playing with your fears

delight in nature’s tiny surprises

delight in your next food experience

delight in being here with me too.

[or just check your swarming-filled-with-thoughts-mind out to see what is cycling therein. ]

plus......below

[image of animals enjoying the feastings are at www.photosbyalexandria.com. go see....]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornucopia

http://www.answers.com/topic/cornucopia

http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/cornucopia_pagan_symbol_of_abundance

(c) maryjanie 2009

Did I really steal your jacket that cold night, friend ?

a real story that may ...or not..incriminate or embarrass me. I had to admit it and write to my friend that I had ...well read on and find out if you like story-telling....

Caught !

but by mistake...of course... I would never do this to YOU, especially after telling you how COLD IT IS OUTSIDE last night...
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR......rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

so I was saying...
how cold it was last night
how I did not bring a warm enough jacket when they switched me from indoors to parking monitor and then I saw you, and and you looked SO GOOD IN YOUR JACKET
that
later
I put my emergency 2nd jacket on what I THOUGHT, honestly !, assumed
was MY OTHER OLD JACKET ON MY WHITE HANGER in that tight closet
but since the thin coat I wore earlier was not there
[oh, I had cleverly put it in my car when I got the wild giraffe B&W not-thick-enough jacket out]
and since I had brought some of my own white plastic hangers when we were low of these in the fitting room that we all inhabit together...
and when I took MY to-use-in-an-emergency-only B&W jacket, assuming it was my other old thin black jacket under it,
and went to my car
and drove home
and then or until...the next morning
I found this thinnner-than-even-my-thin jacket
humped and wilted and crushed and dying
under
my fancy animal-like NEW B&W jacket.
and I smoked all the cigarettes you had saved and asked about - as I had not investigated the pockets for loose change
knowing I had little money, much less loose change
[and did you see that documentary, by the way ? wow, did you see the 9-11 towers go down ? ]
and so not having pilfered the pockets carefully, even now, I thought it might be good to take up smoking, tho I never have all these years prior to this opportunity.

oh, and there is more !!!!

I am scheduled to work there again, so I walked that thin jacket you seem to think so highly of and want back, all the way to the work closet we share at work.
No one home.
I went tumbling down to basement and rang bell persistently , knocked, rang dulled bell again, and yet no one answered down in the managers' office.
so I had to carefully WALK BACK UP STEEP STAIRS all by myself, with the stolen, ahem, I mean lifted, or rather taken, by mistake of course ! , that skinny black jacket with all it's contents intact
to my car again...

look up if you might be working tomorrow cuz I thought to maybe leave it outside the doors or in closet for you tomorrow, but NO,
you did it wrong
by not working tomorrow, the result is that you will freeze w/o your silly black jacket.
There is no work tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow either
so where I sit here now ...dejectedly..afraid to reveal my real name...
knowing you cannot decipher who I am by my story or my clever emails,
oh, I forgot to change my "psuedo-name" on top of email heading, oh well....
the story is
I will bring that old torn and ugly jacket back to you in a few weeks....even if I am not working,
because I come for other friends and coffee and visiting near there anyhow
and then
you can get your stupid jacket !

is this clear ?

my long story is not an apology, of course, because I did nothing wrong
except to write a very very very long accurate to every detail, almost, of what has happened so far, so when you inspect your jacket, then you will know it's true story - a real story - an honest story.....and you will treasure how many places and adventures it has been through without YOU.

anyhow,
if there is another way to get that rag to you, like if you are near here, let me know cuz I can bring it to somewhere, if it's not too far from wherever I am at that time and since I am coiming to an event there soon enough, I mean a few weeks is nothing to get upset about, right ? Not like I stole your cheap nylon top to keep it for some other purposes or to give to Joe instead ...

I may be no friend of yours, but I am friendly with that that that ....jacket
now

PS....I hope you have more than 1 jacket, even if it is not your favorite or a best-black-one either.



(c) maryjanie 2009

Pacifica and iED has been maligned so easily on Indymedia. What is going on here ?

"Wow, some [ article of which this is a comment to ] tinged with angry
words [t]here ...but where are the substantiating sources for that info ?"

[= no references, no apparent fact checking noted in article, so is th is just another smear campaign? And why is this written anyhow ? & why now ? ]

Thursday, Oct. 08, 2009

reposted here from http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/10/230955_comment.php#230978

these are some quotes of much written above to address here : [snipped from much more malignments and claims that remain unsubstantiated in that article ]


"Under the revised governance structure and byelaw changes, a small number of listener-subscribers and staff elect biannually a 25 member Local Station Board. The logic of such “democracy” entails a tiny fraction of listeners electing a board with a great deal of power."


"...led by an unwilling reject of the Church of Scientology,"


"Since Aaron’s cabal has come to power, the financial situation has markedly deteriorated."


"...these positions have mostly gone to board cronies without even a pro forma gesture towards open hiring"


"Notwithstanding elements of farce and a descent into snake oil peddling, there is an enormous amount at stake in the struggle for the soul of Pacifica."


So here are our Questions and concerns from that article [too long to be reproduced here, but can seen on link above - that also contains others' comments as well ] :


" electing a board with a great deal of power."


There has been a big to-do about the LSB, getting voted on, or who gets to represent [no one anyone can name as] a legitimate KPFK group, and hoping to affect the programming or get a program of one's very own...


but it has also been questioned just how much "power" is given or available to the whole LSB, and how ineffective that group is, maybe mostly because of the intense factionalization, continual distractions, the rebellious outbursts that often interrupt any work presented. And all theo bstructions that keep it's own members from provoking dramas for their own image making rather than dedicating their energies to producing benefits for the station and it's management.


So the question of how "powerful" other than in name is to be explored, investigated and surely questioned seriously.


Then repeated references to the iED Aaron attempting to malign her by some extraneous label and describe her work as "led by an unwilling reject of the Church of Scientology". Does this mean she is not even qualified for that unpopular organization and it's believers ? Or that if she is a Scientologist, she certainly cannot belong or be rational and effective working for the stations ?


Or what does that reference intend anyhow ? And who is going to verify that this is current, or what the prior circumstances of her life was that now makes her unqualified or inept ?


Another great declaration: " Since Aaron’s cabal has come to power, the financial situation has markedly deteriorated."


Who has determined that she is in any way a cause or contributor to Pacifica's continual money troubles and not a solver or working to improve that forever-impoverished condition ? And is the word "cabal" a negative implication or a description of whom and what ? It appears to be another attempt to demean, discredit and allude to Ms. Aaron's person and colleagues also.


Is that statement verified somewhere that was not included in the historical article above ? Does the public information of the financial condition mean it is to be kept secret from it's stakeholders and those concerned about the stations' stability ?


Or does this big implication only mean that the iED has so much power now, more than any ED just prior to her becoming a temporary one, that she alone can make and break Pacifica's banks? Huh ? Explain please, with actual direct causal facts, not just hearsay and rumor or deliberate malignments.


Let's get real here. Indymedia is hopefully not just a place to vent and rant and rage and hope someone else might agree and then act in your behalf.


Another statement : "these positions have mostly gone to board cronies without even a pro forma gesture towards open hiring"
Can this be shown, proved, verified ?
What are the rules for open-hiring at Pacifica ?
What does a manager do when there is no one yet visible who is qualified or hire-able permantly and the work needs to be done ?
Use a temp agency maybe ?
Or put up an ad on Monster Board ?
Or find someone to fill in until all can be done properly, knowing everyone who is not "in" will accuse and complain for sure, and loudly so.


The competition for any of these stressful positions is strong, and the in-fighting with accompanying stress must surely deter many qualified individuals from joining such wildly buffeted organizations.


And while there is much more to question and answer for above, this quote : "notwithstanding elements of farce and a descent into snake oil peddling, there is an enormous amount at stake in the struggle for the soul of Pacifica."


So where can one find the "soul" of a non-profit NGO like Pacifica ?

How did a soul [however defined even in Wiki if need be] ever get into such a changing of leadership corporation ?

And how did it then evaporate or escape from it's cubby hole?


And the farce that is an eternal Pacifica drama - yes, that many enjoy without even paying their pledges to support this theater of the absurd- continues.


Here some of us agree that "farce.... struggle... " are more useful descriptions, meaning there is more drama and theatrics than actual working towards a goal in LSB and maybe other board or committee meetings. Many love and make provocations and shout-matches to produce these intense and involving theatrical experience.


Just like the old Greek dramas but in an odder modern version with ' any minority defined as victim to get an immediate defense' and so the next power-struggle for poorest victim to be saved' forms the basis for the next diversion from managing business that must get done.


To be sure, the battle for Pacifica is being fought on a ground not of our own choosing. The entire landscape of internal communications , in Pacifica and it's station, and from the author above, needs to be clarified, and made more factual. Or else everything said and written must be contested and questioned.


Some phrases above are well said and there is some agreement about the concerns of how and by whom all is handled.


Oh, yes, and thanks to author for not being hidden behind a pseudo-name, tho some of us who live locally and try to help affect and improve our local Pacifica station do NOT TRUST the individuals who fractionalize and vent and act-out in some angry ways those who do not just 'agree' and defer to their righteous views. [self-righteous to enhance some demanding very smart people who dedicate enormous amounts of time and energy to doing something for or against their preferred station


(c) 2009 akpfker

Pacifica and iED has been maligned so easily on Indymedia. What is going on here ?

"Wow, some [ article of which this is a comment to ] tinged with angry

words [t]here ...but where are the substantiating sources for that info ?"

[= no references, no apparent fact checking noted in article, so is th is just another smear campaign? And why is this written anyhow ? & why now ? ]

Thursday, Oct. 08, 2009

reposted here from http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/10/230955_comment.php#230978

these are some quotes of much written above to address here : [snipped from much more malignments and claims that remain unsubstantiated in that article ]


"Under the revised governance structure and byelaw changes, a small number of listener-subscribers and staff elect biannually a 25 member Local Station Board. The logic of such “democracy” entails a tiny fraction of listeners electing a board with a great deal of power."


"...led by an unwilling reject of the Church of Scientology,"


"Since Aaron’s cabal has come to power, the financial situation has markedly deteriorated."


"...these positions have mostly gone to board cronies without even a pro forma gesture towards open hiring"


"Notwithstanding elements of farce and a descent into snake oil peddling, there is an enormous amount at stake in the struggle for the soul of Pacifica."


So here are our Questions and concerns from that article [too long to be reproduced here, but can seen on link above - that also contains others' comments as well ] :


" electing a board with a great deal of power."


There has been a big to-do about the LSB, getting voted on, or who gets to represent [no one anyone can name as] a legitimate KPFK group, and hoping to affect the programming or get a program of one's very own...


but it has also been questioned just how much "power" is given or available to the whole LSB, and how ineffective that group is, maybe mostly because of the intense factionalization, continual distractions, the rebellious outbursts that often interrupt any work presented. And all theo bstructions that keep it's own members from provoking dramas for their own image making rather than dedicating their energies to producing benefits for the station and it's management.


So the question of how "powerful" other than in name is to be explored, investigated and surely questioned seriously.


Then repeated references to the iED Aaron attempting to malign her by some extraneous label and describe her work as "led by an unwilling reject of the Church of Scientology". Does this mean she is not even qualified for that unpopular organization and it's believers ? Or that if she is a Scientologist, she certainly cannot belong or be rational and effective working for the stations ?


Or what does that reference intend anyhow ? And who is going to verify that this is current, or what the prior circumstances of her life was that now makes her unqualified or inept ?


Another great declaration: " Since Aaron’s cabal has come to power, the financial situation has markedly deteriorated."


Who has determined that she is in any way a cause or contributor to Pacifica's continual money troubles and not a solver or working to improve that forever-impoverished condition ? And is the word "cabal" a negative implication or a description of whom and what ? It appears to be another attempt to demean, discredit and allude to Ms. Aaron's person and colleagues also.


Is that statement verified somewhere that was not included in the historical article above ? Does the public information of the financial condition mean it is to be kept secret from it's stakeholders and those concerned about the stations' stability ?


Or does this big implication only mean that the iED has so much power now, more than any ED just prior to her becoming a temporary one, that she alone can make and break Pacifica's banks? Huh ? Explain please, with actual direct causal facts, not just hearsay and rumor or deliberate malignments.


Let's get real here. Indymedia is hopefully not just a place to vent and rant and rage and hope someone else might agree and then act in your behalf.


Another statement : "these positions have mostly gone to board cronies without even a pro forma gesture towards open hiring"
Can this be shown, proved, verified ?
What are the rules for open-hiring at Pacifica ?
What does a manager do when there is no one yet visible who is qualified or hire-able permantly and the work needs to be done ?
Use a temp agency maybe ?
Or put up an ad on Monster Board ?
Or find someone to fill in until all can be done properly, knowing everyone who is not "in" will accuse and complain for sure, and loudly so.


The competition for any of these stressful positions is strong, and the in-fighting with accompanying stress must surely deter many qualified individuals from joining such wildly buffeted organizations.


And while there is much more to question and answer for above, this quote : "notwithstanding elements of farce and a descent into snake oil peddling, there is an enormous amount at stake in the struggle for the soul of Pacifica."


So where can one find the "soul" of a non-profit NGO like Pacifica ?

How did a soul [however defined even in Wiki if need be] ever get into such a changing of leadership corporation ?

And how did it then evaporate or escape from it's cubby hole?


And the farce that is an eternal Pacifica drama - yes, that many enjoy without even paying their pledges to support this theater of the absurd- continues.


Here some of us agree that "farce.... struggle... " are more useful descriptions, meaning there is more drama and theatrics than actual working towards a goal in LSB and maybe other board or committee meetings. Many love and make provocations and shout-matches to produce these intense and involving theatrical experience.


Just like the old Greek dramas but in an odder modern version with ' any minority defined as victim to get an immediate defense' and so the next power-struggle for poorest victim to be saved' forms the basis for the next diversion from managing business that must get done.


To be sure, the battle for Pacifica is being fought on a ground not of our own choosing. The entire landscape of internal communications , in Pacifica and it's station, and from the author above, needs to be clarified, and made more factual. Or else everything said and written must be contested and questioned.


Some phrases above are well said and there is some agreement about the concerns of how and by whom all is handled.


Oh, yes, and thanks to author for not being hidden behind a pseudo-name, tho some of us who live locally and try to help affect and improve our local Pacifica station do NOT TRUST the individuals who fractionalize and vent and act-out in some angry ways those who do not just 'agree' and defer to their righteous views. [self-righteous to enhance some demanding very smart people who dedicate enormous amounts of time and energy to doing something for or against their preferred station


(c) 2009 akpfker

Harvest Moon is Shiny Energized Synchronous Time

to all my October 2009 mooney friends,
[written at 4:30 AM, unexpectedly on full moon night time ]


I know for sure the moon's expansive phase affects some of us more than others, Some sleep more fitfully, being inwardly energized. Others get into fights and arguments and dont understand they are maybe also affected.

the ocean tides and fish and other animals KNOW they respond to the natural forces of Our Universe, as we are it, not just part. It allll is us and we are it, as we are body and mind and more, not a "me" inhabiting these forms.


I heard tell that we are having a Harvest Moon, it looking fuller for a few days, not just one...this Oct season...not a common happening. So enjoy it, dont be howling too loudly or others will know for sure who you really are and flow with this enhanced ENERGY and electricity + magnetism + whatever more emerges with the emissions connecting with our own forces and beings.

hard to put words to what science cannot clearly come to agreement is happening, when some want to deny all that is not commercial or man-made. Yet some are less aware, not very sensitive, and in denial

while others, like you must be to be connected to me as you ARE,
must be intuitive,
sensitive,
alert
and OPEN to more of what we all are,
contain,
connect with,
and use to live our magical lives.
together.

enjoy

see for good info below site:
http://www.almanac.com/ecards/moon

Judge says CIA can cover up destruction of CIA interrogation tapes * 911 investigations

Reposting from : The Associated Press Friday, October 2nd, 2009 NEW YORK

A judge cited national security concerns in ruling Wednesday that the CIA does not have to release hundreds of documents related to the destruction of videotapes of Sept. 11 detainee interrogations that used harsh methods. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said he believed he had an obligation to let the CIA director decide what should be released when it pertains to methods used to make uncooperative detainees divulge information.

"The need to keep confidential just how the CIA and other government agencies obtained their information is manifest, and that has to do with the identities of the people who gave information and who were questioned to obtain information," the judge said from the bench.

He ruled after reviewing in private 65 of roughly 580 documents sought by the American Civil Liberties Union, including 53 field reports to CIA headquarters about interrogations. An ACLU lawsuit already has forced the release of legal memos authorizing harsh methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning, and slamming suspects into walls, techniques described by critics as torture.

The judge said he expects to order the release of six pages of written notes from a CIA field officer who spoke about the interrogation videotapes with a CIA lawyer, but he gave the government two weeks to submit new arguments opposing the release. He said it was only important that he decide whether the issue before him was a fit subject for intelligence gathering, not whether it was legal "If so, my job is to defer to the extent appropriate — and that is substantial — to the decision of the director of the CIA," he said.

CIA Director Leon Panetta had told the judge in court papers that releasing documents about the agency's terror interrogations would gravely damage national security. NY judge: CIA can keep 9/11 videotape info secret - NY judge says he wouldn't have ordered release of destroyed 9/11 interrogation videos by ....AP News Sep 30, 200 .....A judge cited national security concerns in ruling Wednesday that the CIA does not have to release hundreds of documents related to the destruction of videotapes of Sept. 11 detainee interrogations that used harsh methods.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said he believed he had an obligation to let the CIA director decide what should be released when it pertains to methods used to make uncooperative detainees divulge information. "The need to keep confidential just how the CIA and other government agencies obtained their information is manifest, and that has to do with the identities of the people who gave information and who were questioned to obtain information," the judge said from the bench.

He ruled after reviewing in private 65 of roughly 580 documents sought by the American Civil Liberties Union, including 53 field reports to CIA headquarters about interrogations. An ACLU lawsuit already has forced the release of legal memos authorizing harsh methods, including waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning, and slamming suspects into walls, techniques described by critics as torture.

The judge said he expects to order the release of six pages of written notes from a CIA field officer who spoke about the interrogation videotapes with a CIA lawyer, but he gave the government two weeks to submit new arguments opposing the release. He said it was only important that he decide whether the issue before him was a fit subject for intelligence gathering, not whether it was legal. "If so, my job is to defer to the extent appropriate — and that is substantial — to the decision of the director of the CIA," he said.

CIA Director Leon Panetta had told the judge in court papers that releasing documents about the agency's terror interrogations would gravely damage national security. The judge said he believes he would have used the same rationale to rule against public disclosure of the videotapes documenting new harsh questioning techniques if the CIA had not destroyed them in 2005.

A criminal investigation into why the videotapes were destroyed continues. The judge, who presides over thousands of lawsuits filed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said he reached his conclusions in the CIA case after more "agony of decision-making" than any other area he has ruled upon. He said he studied earlier judicial rulings and concluded "there has been a reluctance on the part of the courts to interfere with the discretion conferred by the mandate of the statutes on the CIA."

The judge, though, said that the CIA has to obey laws, and he cautioned: "We have to square what we do in the gathering of intelligence with who we are as a people." ACLU lawyer Alex Abdo, who argued in the Freedom of Information Act case, said he was disappointed. "We were surprised at the level of deference to continue to maintain the secrecy of a program the president himself has declassified," Abdo said.

"This is a new level of deference to the CIA's decision to withhold information about an interrogation program the whole world knows about." He said the ACLU would review its options before deciding whether to appeal. Government lawyer Sean Lane declined to comment.

The government has said 92 videotapes were destroyed, including interrogations of al-Qaida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah and another al-Qaida leader. The destruction was revealed nearly two years ago. The administration of President George W. Bush had said some tapes were destroyed to protect the identities of the government questioners while the Department of Justice was debating whether the interrogation tactics were legal.

Source: AP News

Full Moon comes to us with gifts of openness and energy, unbidden

dear moony friends,
[written at 4:30 AM, unexpectedly on full moon night time ]


I know for sure the moon's expansive phase affects some of us more than others, Some sleep more fitfully, being inwardly energized. Others get into fights and arguments and dont understand they are maybe also affected.


the ocean tides and fish and other animals KNOW they respond to the natural forces of Our Universe, as we are it, not just part. It allll is us and we are it, as we are body and mind and more, not a "me" inhabiting these forms.


so I borrowed this image from an online source, to not share you address elsewhere [free cards mean they have more info to sell to others ].


I heard tell that we are having a Harvest Moon, it looking fuller for a few days, not just one...this Oct season...not a common happening. So enjoy


it, dont be howling too loudly or others will know for sure who you really are and flow with this enhanced ENERGY and electricity +magnetism +whatever more emerges with the emissions connecting with our own forces and beings.


hard to put words to what science cannot clearly come to agreement is happening, when some want to deny all that is not commercial or man-made. Yet some are less aware, not very sensitive, and in denial,


while others, like you , must be to be connected because you ARE already probably ...to be reading this means you have made a connection with intention, to learn, to see, to find more... so you may also be intuitive, sensitive, alert and OPEN to more of what we all are, contain, connect with, and use to live our magical lives.


together.

enjoy

see : http://www.almanac.com/ecards/moon
there you can select your own full moon image of your choice....
and honor all that this planet implies, not only in imagination
but in our surprising realities too.


and always remember :

"No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this we become free. FEAR is always an anticipation of what has NOT yet come.

(c) maryjanie 2009

Racism screams but has little to say, anywhere anytime....

Racism screams but has little to say

[this was written by someone, in response to yet another claim of racial discrimination in a national NGO - when people of color are moved, removed, shifted, or changed, for reasons other than their external appearance]

From an article in la.indymedia : this is quoted from above "simply because you replaced fired people of color with people of color means you can't be, or be called, racist is shocking. The fact is it does not matter what the color of the person is you replace a fired person of color with. The firing itself for racially motivated reasons is illegal irrespective of any subsequent actions.

[snip]... ignores the fact that [NGO]ʼs attorney at the time of the firings warned the [NGO's] Board against those summary firings precisely on the basis that it exposed the network to possible charges of racial discrimination"

if all the reasons for any employment or election moves are all based on colors of any kind, what else could arouse more easy-to-identify loud accusations of "discrimination !!!"....repeatedly.

it has been noticed in many other areas as well as Pacifica that the only two races in USA that have any say are "black" [of varied hues} and "whites" [ actually pinks and of varied hues]...no one else need apply.

Checking census data though....interesting as it may be to ignore...[ see this site re census data : http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmcensus1.html ]
"...As of July 1, 2007, the estimated population of black residents in the United States, including those of more than one race. They made up 13.5 percent of the total U.S. population..."

but from all the accusations vehemently made repeatedly in that article , as any place else also, the black population appears to be at least 49-1/2% or more when demanding not only inclusion, but insisting on being part of every single group or event.

The entitlement of 13.5% pretending to be 3X that number in this USA makes for questionable basis for representations righteously claimed as entitlements.

Not that blacks should be invisible or fired or replaced, but the claims of racial discrimination keep making the news and loudly and repeatedly, and the numbers just dont give that claim validity.

Why are not hispanics who may have arrived [back again] to these lands claiming they are 65% when they too are only about 16% of the USA total [see census data on URL below ]

Now ....if anyone is talking about individual people, with talents, skills, experience in this work, with managerial abilities, with good personalities that can accomplish more than another of the same type, that is different.

But if race is the constant and main factor of every dispute, there is something skewed happening, not just in Pacifica, but in the USA and it's media too.

so the article writer [above] focuses, as usual, on the same easy-to-repeat and easy-to-claim but not prove story: race matters more than anything else.

what is wrong with this picture?

it contains no colors, black and white are not colors, but absence of color and all colors make white or blankness...

can we get past this same framework and talk about real people and what they have done, can do, will do, promise to do, and can prove it too ?

Then [that NGO] will be setting a progressive and novel scene of how we run our business and our stations. Otherwise, the same old same old accusations and demands are not going to do more than going to war in some other land does for us all.

death to old ways of thinking and repeating.

growth to formulating human examination and humane selections for jobs, programers, and board members. Wouldnt it be good to move on by now ? huh ?

but who will allow this to happen...easier to use the old bludgeoning words, weapons and never think past the old versions of who we thought we were...back so very long ago...

ugh

quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

(c) 2009

One person's Opinion about what breaks economies...from WSJ

Below is an article interesting enough to share with others too This being an "opinion" piece in Wall Street Journal means it not officially the newspaper's reporters' views, but if the history is accurate [yeah, but who is going to look it up ?] and the slant not too severely bent, it bears reading and pondering..

The man is saying we should not raise taxes, even by other means, like calling it "fees, or taking away other benefits while taxing the same way for those benefits, or adding to our budget and then we are having to pay for it when we did not 'know' the cost 'beforehand' - which is what is happening all over the governments' places still and right now...

The deficit....ugh....has blown up bigger both in the last Bush administration with wars and other spendings, and is also now still growing even more [under the table mostly] and comes with the usual, with promises of reform [ that costs us too but that is barely acknowledged].

This is not an opinion on health care... but on what & how "we" are being spent and how much less we are "worth", just as our saved dollars [in whatever place we have stored them] are diminished forever...

and how we are being maybe manipulated by bailouts "giving back" to banks, by helping financial firms who are still gambling on our taxes as guarantees for their stability, and losing our control and choices - as our IRA's, bonds and stocks, and jobs are shaved and erased by the principal being dropped with loss of value of whatever numbers appeared to be there - even thought we put our earned money into those assumed to be 'safe' harbors.

oh well....another view from this sinking ship...globally now called 'our earth'.

and if you think this is a depressing and therefore an unwanted message, you are RIGHT, here, as you cannot be right in trying to move your funds around and take back [presumed] control over your MONEY, as money itself has already dropped in value.

And as your government has not helped you [even if you think you've got-some- now] keep what you have earned and saved so far. Better admit what is happening than 'hope' for what does not appear on any horizon, not to people we know at these regular levels.

Oh well...there is still the sun shining sometimes, and clean water where it can be found, and all the everywhere advertising and PR [public relations is the image-making, propaganda-selling, forming and framing of news and opinions, and media used mostly for the purposes of the PR maker...a seller of a view you are bombarded to believe without question,... hopefully] so prevalent constantly on every single sound / sight available.

Note the proliferation of billboards, the buses totally wrapped & covered with advertising, the TV/ internet/ radio and all sound sources are all sales advertising / commercials that fill every nook, spot, cranny, hole, space available anywhere ...continuously.... without any space to stop-to-think-for-yourself.

Getting overwhelmed with all that barrage into your
brain ?

Read and reflect. Sleep and dream of another world that is possible, still... maybe later.

Question every bit of 'news' and wait for another version to appear to whet your violent and purchasing urges, to replace the ones already aroused.

And dont believe anyone fully, not even me or this writer below.

Check all that you can to find a wider variety of other versions.

Find someone who does not agree with you already.

Talk and dis-cuss without personal relationships being damaged for differences.

And Let Go of the illusion that you have any or much control over external circumstances, especially that Federal-Reserve-manipulated cash and Your Government's "good intentions" to be working for you, little guy / gal.

But all that money is to repesent what you thought was wealth. It never was.

Your health. Your mental clarity. Your clear relationships with a very few other people.

Your trust in your life and nature and your beliefs of how it works [any way you define it]. Your clarity and awareness of the IMPERMANENT PROCESS YOU ARE...not an object thing, but an every changeable flow of life with all that we contain - together.

Now, these are Yours, to regulate, not control. These are within your control- range, partly.

And death and exiting this scene is also easy and not a bad thing, but also not just in your control either.

Be willing for whatever happens to be unwanted, but not destructive or obliterating to YOU or others either.

Be assured that you are much much more and other than you have been defined as being while here now.

And ENJOY this movie of which you are a star and active part, not just a pawn. It is all intended to be played, as in any drama, with your best moves and flexibility and with the easy motto:

"I do not do anything harmful to any one or animal or any natural thing.

I give only what I want to be given.

I act with all the honest awareness of my good intentions put into genuine actions.

I am not 'used' by this temporal yet current zeitgeist [ the moods & ways of this time / place fashion / culture] for any purpose other than that which I agree with full alertness,

I chose to realize the forces that push / pull on me and not just follow like a stupid fool.

I am smarter than most think I am and prove it with each choice I make.

I respect all life forms and act in accord for our mutual livelihood.

I am spiritual and more than this fancy body [which operates extraordinarily without my concious attention most of the time anyhow].

I am glad to be here as this is now, any how it may be, anyhow.

Yep ! Grateful to be alive even now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this we become free. FEAR is always an anticipation of what has NOT yet come. "

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
this article is reposted from Wall Street Journal - opinion page, September 2009

author is ARTHUR B. LAFFER

The 1930s has become the sole object lesson for today's monetary policy. Over the past 12 months, the Federal Reserve has increased the monetary base (bank reserves plus currency in circulation) by well over 100%. While currency in circulation has grown slightly, there's been an impressive 17-fold increase in bank reserves. The federal-funds target rate now stands at an all-time low range of zero to 25 basis points, with the 91-day Treasury bill yield equally low. All this has been done to avoid a liquidity crisis and a repeat of the mistakes that led to the Great Depression.

Even with this huge increase in the monetary base, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has reiterated his goal not to repeat the mistakes made back in the 1930s by tightening credit too soon, which he says would send the economy back into recession. The strong correlation between soaring unemployment and falling consumer prices in the early 1930s leads Mr. Bernanke to conclude that tight money caused both. To prevent a double dip, super easy monetary policy is the economy.

While Fed policy was undoubtedly important, it was not the primary cause

of the Great Depression or the economy's relapse in 1937. The Smoot-Hawley tariff of June 1930 was the catalyst that got the whole process going. It was the largest single increase in taxes on trade during peacetime and precipitated massive retaliation by foreign governments on U.S. products. Huge federal and state tax increases in 1932 followed the initial decline in the economy thus doubling down on the impact of Smoot-Hawley. There were additional large tax increases in 1936 and 1937 that were the proximate cause of the economy's relapse in 1937.

In 1930-31, during the Hoover administration and in the midst of an economic collapse, there was a very slight increase in tax rates on personal income at both the lowest and highest brackets. The corporate tax rate was also slightly increased to 12% from 11%. But beginning in 1932 the lowest personal income tax rate was raised to 4% from less than one-half of 1% while the highest rate was raised to 63% from 25%. (That's not a misprint!) The corporate rate was raised to 13.75% from 12%. All sorts of Federal excise taxes too numerous to list were raised as well. The highest inheritance tax rate was also raised in 1932 to 45% from 20% and the gift tax was reinstituted with the highest rate set at 33.5%.

But the tax hikes didn't stop there. In 1934, during the Roosevelt administration, the highest estate tax rate was raised to 60% from 45% and raised again to 70% in 1935. The highest gift tax rate was raised to 45% in 1934 from 33.5% in 1933 and raised again to 52.5% in 1935. The highest corporate tax rate was raised to 15% in 1936 with a surtax on undistributed profits up to 27%. In 1936 the highest personal income tax rate was raised yet again to 79% from 63%—a stifling 216% increase in four years. Finally, in 1937 a 1% employer and a 1% employee tax was placed on all wages up to $3,000.

Because of the number of states and their diversity I'm going to aggregate all state and local taxes and express them as a percentage of GDP. This measure of state tax policy truly understates the state and local tax contribution to the tragedy we call the Great Depression, but I'm sure the reader will get the picture. In 1929, state and local taxes were 7.2% of GDP and then rose to 8.5%, 9.7% and 12.3% for the years 1930, '31 and '32 respectively.

The damage caused by high taxation during the Great Depression is the real lesson we should learn. A government simply cannot tax a country into prosperity. If there were one warning I'd give to all who will listen, it is that U.S. federal and state tax policies are on an economic crash trajectory today just as they were in the 1930s. Net legislated state- tax increases as a percentage of previous year tax receipts are at 3.1%, their highest level since 1991; the Bush tax cuts are set to expire in 2011; and additional taxes to pay for health-care and the proposed cap-and-trade scheme are on the horizon.

In addition to all of these tax issues, the U.S. in the early 1930s was on a gold standard where paper currency was legally convertible into gold. Both circulated in the economy as money. At the outset of the Great Depression people distrusted banks but trusted paper currency and gold. They withdrew deposits from banks, which because of a fractional reserve system caused a drop in the money supply in spite of a rising monetary base. The Fed really had little power to control either bank reserves or interest rates.

The increase in the demand for paper currency and gold not only had a quantity effect on the money supply but it also put upward pressure on the price of gold, which meant that dollar prices of all goods and services had to fall for the relative price of gold to rise. The deflation of the early 1930s was not caused by tight money. It was the result of panic purchases of fixed-dollar priced gold. From the end of 1929 until early 1933 the Consumer Price Index fell by 27%.

By mid-1932 there were public fears of a change in the gold-dollar relationship. In their classic text, "A Monetary History of the United States," economists Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz wrote, "Fears of devaluation were widespread and the public's preference for gold was unmistakable." Panic ensued and there was a rush to buy gold.

In early 1933, the federal government (not the Federal Reserve) declared a bank holiday prohibiting banks from paying out gold or dealing in foreign exchange. An executive order made it illegal for anyone to "hoard" gold and forced everyone to turn in their gold and gold certificates to the govern- ment at an exchange value of $20.67 per ounce of gold in return for paper currency and bank deposits. All gold clauses in contracts private and public were declared null and void and by the end of January 1934 the price of gold, most of which had been confiscated by the government, was raised to $35 per ounce. In other words, in less than one year the government confiscated as much gold as it could at $20.67 an ounce and then devalued the dollar in terms of gold by almost 60%. That's one helluva tax.

The 1933-34 devaluation of the dollar caused the money supply to grow by over 60% from April 1933 to March 1937, and over that same period the monetary base grew by over 35% and adjusted reserves grew by about 100%. Monetary policy was about as easy as it could get. The consumer price index from early 1933 through mid-1937 rose by about 15% in spite of double-digit unemployment. And that's the story.

The lessons here are pretty straightforward. Inflation can and did occur during a depression, and that inflation was strictly a monetary phenomenon.

My hope is that the people who are running our economy do look to the Great Depression as an object lesson. My fear is that they will misinterpret the evidence and attribute high unemployment and the initial decline in prices to tight money, while increasing taxes to combat budget deficits.

Mr. Laffer is the chairman of Laffer Associates and co-author of "The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy—If We Let It Happen" (Threshold, 2008).

Article was pinted in The Wall Street Journal, page A25
Sept 22, 2009
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574402822202944230.html

Blocked by being Censored & Blocked too by Los Angeles Indy Media....what does this mean ?

This article about another one that was censored by "hiding" it...so is it still available to be read...is it still there now ...?

After the article below about "Americana" being spoken or not in this USA, it was also posted on www.la.indymedia.org on same date, but quickly in another day it was "hidden" and not accessible if link was not already saved elsewhere.


The question of censorship was left "unhidden" momentarily but then the computer ID'd by their hacker-organizer-volunteers have a clever way to insure NO MORE BAD THINGS ARE EVER POSTED ON THEIR PRIZED WEBSITE. Though many articles saying opinionated and some extremist views are posted regularly. But only the extreme Left Side Only, so-called "liberal" views are allowed, and who decides who is Left-enough ?

or Liberal-enough ?

or who authorizes the elimination of access to a so-called Free Speech and open communications local website ?

The actions were not announced nor will they probably be admitted, but the act is clear in that there is No Access allowed from the writer's computers [which are easily identified by numbers available on programs that are accessed by any website's clickers].


So the secret game continues, with apparent non-action while eliminating anyone who has anything not-postitive, not-wanted, not-complimentary on the 'owners' of Independent Media in Los Angeles' website. Of course, they have the right to exclude anyone, for any reason, right ?

Anyone can stop someone from making any unwanted statements on their blogs, websites, or commentary. It is called "monitoring" not for consistency, but for convenience. Most often, websites inform the ones who are being excluded with any form email to not just leave the writers waiting and wondering..."what did I do wrong here ?"


"WRONG" is whatever someone doesn't like or agree with. "wrong" is any dissident, different, "other", or questioner that wants to disagree with the prevailing propaganda or messages.


Most blogs and comment sites only monitor out not what is "other" than their main theme, but those who use many nasty malicious words intended to insult or tittilate or offend. Not for being "on the other side" of a controversial issue.


This is the article that was previously available for anyone to read, or to comment or disagree or criticize on the LA Indymedia website. It is being reposted and exposed here, though this writer can NOT access it any more to find out if it still exists visibly or has been "hidden" or eliminated altogether on the Indy site.

The Dictatorship style of demanding only agreement & obedience & alliances & bowing & kowtowing & deferring & subservience & all that is not usually called "American" by preference or tradition either is prevalent there, but not in many web places now. Some people get huffy and righteous and take their power of control OUT on anyone who criticizes them, but they are not claiming Freedom of Publishing speech and free thinking as their main motto either. Indy medias do. But dont act on their own words and beliefs. Wonder why ?


Independent Media is NOT AT ALL INDEPENDENT - but demanding the submissive dependence of it's writers to be only in it's 'good graces' and thus it's readers are limited & controlled. or self-censoring as well. No differences allowed. No questioning the rulers of that website and their censoring ways. No admission of their prejudices or biases either. No letting others learn of how the site is actually run, obviously differently than their written Editorial Policy and Mission proclaim. The hypocrisy is now complete and their rule over their website is truly owned and run by those who have the very same biases...only ! no one else allowed there !


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/07/229271.php reads as this :

"CENSORSHIP AT INDYMEDIA REPEATS AGAIN and AGAIN"

posted on Friday, Jul. 31, 2009

summary: Indymedia every so too often decides to CENSOR an article by hiding it from public view...but based on nothing more than it's own group's version of what they like politically or an article that someone there with the power of that clever click who has decided what was offered to the LA public readers now needs to be "gone !" out of sight ! Why they do this is unrevealed and non-transparent. And LA.Indymedia offer no way to reverse their discriminating acts either as there is no one ‘home’ when a letter is written to info@la.indymedia.org either !”

see http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/07/229219.php which has been hidden, because it was what ? Nothing according to la.indy’s editorial policy or mission, for sure !

This has happened at least twice before to this writer and probably more often to others who may not check back after initially publishing their divergent views. Has it happened to you ?

Can anyone please explain the repeated hiding/censoring of articles arbitrarily or even deliberately discriminating against any writer who does not strictly FOLLOW some undeclared formula or bias held by this site ? As this hypocrisy of saying that they are believing in 'free speech' but then they eliminate that freedom at will has to also be exposed elsewhere now.

An article that was reposted from another published journal that was obviously not "liked" enough to keep for open reading, so that article was HIDDEN [as in hidden posts, all in pink and not available unless one knows how to access these ]....

for what visible reasonable cause ? Because someone did not agree ? or Someone who has the authority to 'take out' information that may be reliable, actual, accurate or even debatable was not wanted on la.indymedia.org ?

Is this not contrary to the intentions, purpose of this free speech website ?

other very weird articles appear all the time, but only from those who claim victimhood and thus are obviously acceptable in that case...

other articles berating any authority are loved and left intact.

a comment to the article was left visible while the re-poster was blanked out to not be seen unless a clever person happens to click the right button because they already know a Censored Article exists .

What is the explanation ? none given.

What is the purpose of choosing which side Indymedia prefers over others they dont happen to like or agree with ?

What is the propaganda bias located in these pages ?

The article about language speaks against corporations and businesses pretending to cater to certain groups to gain their favor and for more profits and customers. The capitalist nature of procedures pretending to be ‘for the people’ is noted to be actually more for the benefit of the capitalists than the populous.

dont ask because no one wants to tell. We expect this article to be quickly eliminated as well, as criticism, even constructive and accurate criticism surely cannot be allowed within such a self-righteous group that makes unilateral decisions contrary to it’s own mission & policies.

However, quoting here directly from la.indy’s posted editorial policy and mission, they claim one thing and then do another. Here is what the website states - see for yourself please ! :

[Note: underlined statements are for sorting thru the platitudes]

“We support local, regional and global struggles against exploitation and oppression”. [ but does this mean not allowing another group view that also claims this intent besides the particular ones they chose to believe and

support ????]

“ We function as a non-commercial, non-corporate, anti-capitalist collective.” and “... collectives organized along anti-authoritarian principles of open and transparent decision-making processes, [snip]... and the elimination of hierarchies. Los Angeles Independent Media Center participants shall not act in a manner that endangers, intimidates, or physically harms any member of the group [snip]...Indymedia members shall strive to act in a respectful manner to other members of the collective as well as the public.”

and their posted

“Mission Statement: To encourage a world where globalization is not about homogeneity and exploitation, but rather, about diversity and cooperation. [snip] To cover local events that are ignored or poorly covered by corporate media.... [snip] ”and environmental justice directly from their perspective. [snip] To encourage, facilitate, and support the creation of independent news gathering and organizations.”

So why are these statements on the la.indymedia site while the actions of it’s members doing otherwise ?

(c) 2009